The skin trade. [Lion-O!] [M]

[Rhindeer]

"What? What the--what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Gwen sputtered in surprise when he didn't go for the back rub or rough fuck he'd promised, and instead started to fucking HOGTIE her! There was a moment's dumb shock before her instincts kicked in. She thrashed, kicking her legs and trying to kick him as soon as she realized his intent--the hands tied bit was pushing it hard, but full on trussing up was definitely a hard limit!--but it was too late. The belt looped around her ankle and looped around the other belt, and the click of it buckling might as well have been a spoken pronouncement of, "You done fucked up."

Worse, he wasn't even trying to take this sexy places.

He was leaving her.

Holy Ansgar's asshole.

"Rylan!" she snarled, anger rising above the spark of panic. "Rylan, don't you fucking dare! Don't you fucking dare leave me like--"

She grunted as she flopped enough to turn her head to watch him, and the panic of being completely bound soon turned to rage when she saw what he was doing. Those were her breeches. And he was taking her keys.

"KARO! JESSEN! GET YOUR ASSES IN HERE!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

[Lion]

Because her screaming had startled them before, her men learned to let the woman have her peace when she wanted it.  Likely they had learned the hard way the consequences of disturbing her.  So her screams went unattended to for the first five minutes or so.  Which was good for Quinlan as it gave him time enough to scamper downstairs, casually and bowed his head to a pretty lady, here and there.

And that's when he saw her men rushing by him at Gwendolyn's call.  Well, better get moving!

Quinlan ran out of the tavern and rushed toward the caged carriage that contained all of her quarries, and the slaves looked tired, desperate and panicked when he abruptly unlocked the cage and yanked the door ajar.  "Any one of you named Nina!?  I've come to take you back home.  The rest of you are free to go!"

He grinned when one slave came forward, a small young thing, shivering from the cold but eager to get out of that cracked cramped cage.  The rest of the slaves skedaddled, scattering like roaches in the revelation of light.  Once Nina's clamps were gone, Quinlan snatched her by the hand and ran toward the trees.

[Rhindeer]

Fuuuuck. Gwen thrashed, but her squirming did little--except topple her off the bed and onto the floor with a thud that was surely heard downstairs. She was spitting mad more than panicked at this point, though beneath the rage was the panic of oh shit, what if they don't come? What if they'd decided to be little assholes and disobey her orders? She could be stuck up here who knows how long! Fuck Rylan for making her howl like a banshee! They might not respond to her screams now!

But then, blessedly, she heard the pounding of boots on stairs right before the door burst open--

And Jessen and Karo spilled into the room--and froze. Karo just stared, and Jessen let out a loud groan and threw a hand over his eyes. "What the fu--?"

"Just fucking untie me!" Gwen snarled. "Hurry, dammit! That bastard took my keys! Not both of you, you idiots! How many people does it take to untie a person?! Karo, stay, Jessen, check the slaves and round up the boys!"

Jessen bolted, and Karo snapped to it, kneeling down and unbuckling her without comment. He offered a hand to help her up, but Gwen slapped it away in irritation and rose to her feet, muscles aching. She snatched up her breeches and yanked them on, threaded her belt through them, and threw on her shirt and coat. She shoved Rylan's belt into Karo's hands and sat to pull on her boots.

"Keep it. I'm going to beat him with it," she said, and when she was fully dressed, she bounded down the stairs.

Below, it was chaos.

Her men were shouting that the slaves were gone, and Gwen was many things, but she wasn't surprised. Why else would he take her keys? Fucking asshole! She cupped a hand to her mouth and shouted, "They can't have gotten far! Spread out and sweep the area! And if you find a man--tall, athletic, dark red-brown hair, tattoos--I want him. Bring me my horse and my crossbow."

And with that, she strode out the door, only to be met several moments later by Jessen, who lead her horse to her by the reigns. Another man came, bearing her crossbow, and she slung it over her shoulder before mounting her ride.

Time to get hunting.

[Lion]

Running away on foot, probably wasn't the best idea he had.  Luckily however, he had enough sense to tether a horse some ways down into the forest, on a dinky little path that was secluded from the main road.  He could ride, and ride well enough that maybe he was some Serha Plains savage in a past life.

"A little faster if you please.  Your mistress will turn you into shoes if she catches us."

"She's is NOT my mistress!  I was taken from the fields by some slavers and traded at an auction.  They did not care to see my markings!  They cut my arm to disfigure me...  My master will not be pleased."

Quinlan huffed a laugh as they ran through the woods, jumping over a fallen log and other forest detritus.  "I think your master's displeasure is the least of your worries," he said, looking back at Nina.  "Seems like the woman that took you into her little quarry will move heaven and hell just to find us.  So we'd better get to that horse on the double."

"Who are you?  Why come all this way?  This far!?  And into so much danger?"

"It's what I do.  I'm Quinlan by the way."  Oh, to think he'd summoned yet another demon down on his head was thrilling, he wasn't going to lie.  To live for the chase!  The hunt!  It set his blood ablaze with excitement.  And he untethered the horse quickly and leapt up onto it's back, pulling Nina up behind him.

Yup, getting chased by a bloodthirsty, marauding bitch was going to be fun.  It was definitely better than sex.

[Rhindeer]

Gwen ordered Jessen to come with her on her hunt and had to fight hard not to show her frustration at being had. The slaves couldn't have gotten far, true; she kept her stock fed and watered and made sure that they got taken out enough to keep their muscles healthy, but she never let their bellies get too full, and kept them squished enough in that wagon that it usually took a bit before they got the pins and needles out of their limbs. She liked to keep them a little weak so they were no threat during transit. They wouldn't be going from that to running full tilt right away, but there were still a hundred places they could be by now in a town like this.

However, she still had the advantage in that she knew these streets. She doubted most of the people she'd taken had been a mile outside their home towns.

And soon enough, she was not disappointed, for as she and Jessen galloped down the street several blocks from the tavern, a staggering shadow caught her eye--a young boy, running hard on shaky legs with no real sense of direction. Jessen dug his heels into his mount and soon overtook the lad, snatching him up by the nape of his neck and plopping him onto the saddle before him.

Gwen pulled up next to him and slapped the boy's face when he started to struggle and protest. "Shut up," she snarled, gripping his face tightly in one gloved hand. "Speak unprompted again and I'll have you whipped. Where did the man go? The man that freed you?"

"I...I don't...I don't know!"

She slapped him again. "Liar. Where did he go? Which direction?"

Eyes wide with fear and face pale, the boy pointed a shaky finger toward the woods.

Lips tight, Gwen released him and looked to Jessen. "Return him. I'll be back."

"But boss--"

"Just do it." And then she was off, kicking her horse into a gallop and tearing off into the woods. It was hard to see in the dark, even with the bright, full moon. That meant that, no doubt, her quarry would stick to the road if he had a horse--unless he wanted to risk injuring it. The problem would be if he didn't have a horse and planned on fleeing on foot.

And yet, as she rose, she soon began to hear it--a distant, rhythmic thud, like the hooves of a horse--and a smile broke out on her lips as she pushed her mount to run quicker.

She didn't need to overtake him, she thought as her crossbow bounced lightly against her back. She just needed him in her sight.

[Lion]

Of course Quinlan didn't stick to the road.  Roads were for chumps. Which Gwen the slaver most certainly was.  She let her libido get the better of her, and sure the sex was fun, but ultimately that was all she had going for her.  Shame.

Quinlan rode like the wind, all those old horse riding tips coming back from childhood.  Oh he wasn't the best, but all he had to do was make it to the chasm.  A split that ran for miles between this side of the forest and a northern segment of it.  There was a gap.  Just large enough for the horse to jump.  He could make it, he could!

He moved through the trees, weaving through it as a thread through an eye of a needle.  "Just hang on Nina, this is going to get rough...  Real rough."

She just clung to him, and somewhere beyond Quinlan could hear hooves behind them, somewhere in-between the whistles in his ear.

[Rhindeer]

Well, shit. So the bastard had taken his chances racing through the woods, Gwen realized as she grew closer--and judged the sound was coming from well within the trees. So be it. It was dangerous in the dark, her horse could break a leg, she could get knocked off by a branch, but there was no choice.

The bastard was not getting away. One way or another.

Jerking sharply at the reins, she steered her horse off the road and they cut through the woods, leaning down low over her horse's neck. Leaves whipped by her face and one thin branch she hadn't seen cut her cheek, but she ignored it, her eyes on her goal. It was slow going through the woods, but she imagined if the trees and bushes were hindering her, it would hinder her prey, too--

And then she saw him.

He was far ahead, just a flickering shadow through the treeline, but he was there, and despite her better judgment, Gwen spurred her horse on quicker, leaping over fallen trees and crashing through bushes.

Too far ahead for a clear shot. Just a little closer...

"Stop!" she called ahead of her, giving him just that one chance, because she preferred not to potentially damage her goods. "This is your last chance!"

[Lion]

Quinlan wasn't going to give her any opportunity to shoot straight.  He could safely assume that after duping her as he had, she was armed to the teeth and wasn't about to waste any mercy she might have on him.  There was no incentive to stop.  She had her work cut out for her.

He turned the horse over a fallen log, the horse screaming in the process as the sky began to bleed rain and thunder rolled in its rolled its low throated moan.  He turned to look over his should and aaw Gwen's menacing form in the lightning.  He ducked, just before a low branch could unhorse him.  Nina screamed when she felt something whizzing past her head.

What the fuck?  What was that!? There was no time to think if it as Quinlan saw that ridge coming up. There was only one chance.

[Rhindeer]

It was the sudden flash of lightning and the subsequent roar of thunder that saved the pair, for right as Gwen had been about to loose a bolt, it happened, and her horse whinnied in fright and stumbled. It was just enough to throw off her aim, and the bolt went whizzing by the slave girl's head to thunk into a nearby tree.

Which was a good thing, because she hadn't been aiming for the girl and it would have been unfortunate if she hit her.

With a curse, Gwen loaded another bolt and aimed--

And when lightning lit the sky again, the forest flashing white and shadowy, she fired, and this time her shot was clear.

But she didn't aim for either of the riders.

She aimed for their horse.

[Lion]

Quinlan heard that whizzing and the scream of the horse that followed.  The animal stumbled to the ground, rolling to the side and unmounting Quinlan and the slave.  No, he was not going to be captured this way.  Not by someone as slimy and stupid as that wolf-bitch!  Quinlan didn't want to have to use his magic, but it was a desperate option. 

Quinlan took the bolt from the horse's hind quarter where it stuck in deeply.  The animal screamed and leaked blood out in a steady stream.  He growled, watching Gwen draw closer.  He cupped that blood and felt it grow cold in his hands, cupping it until it pooled, and commanded Nina to do the same thing.

He moved toward the ridge, close enough now and splashed the blood cupped in his hands, and turned the blood into an thin and narrow bridge of ice.  He cupped what blood would drain into his hands, taking it from the slave and commanding her to follow him.

The ice was incredibly fragile, and she held onto the end of his jacket.  As they progressed forward, Quinlan dropped small droplets of blood reinforcing the frost underneath them, and threw the rest of the blood over the chasm to form the rest of the bridge.  And behind them already the ice began to rapidly defrost.

[Rhindeer]

...What in the literal bloody hell?

Rylan and her slave were halfway across the "bridge" when Gwen came to the edge of the chasm and..and saw what was happening. Saw that he and the slave-girl were...walking out into open space? It was so dark she couldn't see, at first, what they were walking on, and out of sheer puzzlement she drew a little closer and leaned to look.

Whatever it was, it was dark, and trailed from the wounded horse like blood.

What the...?

She dismounted and knelt to test the "bridge" with her foot, and heard it crack beneath her. Ice, then? Dark like blood? Maybe it was blood. Either way, she had her prey now. She didn't want to shoot them and damage the goods if she could help it, but she didn't risk walking on the bridge after them.

Instead, she aimed a bolt at the bridge itself. "Halt!" she called. "Turn back around and come this way. If you don't, I'll break it."

[Lion]

Quinlan acted as if he didn't hear her.  The end of the gap wasn't far.  The end was closer than going back.  And when Gwen stepped out onto the ice, already it was cracking beneath her weight.  He had not built it to be strong.  And he wasn't going to give up just because she threatened to break it.

"Go for it!  You'll die too!"  And he cackled.  For the thought of plummeting to his death genuinely amused to him.  Really, it was better than dying slowly and painfully from the curse in his blood. 

Quinlan pulled a blade and slashed his hand, the blood pooling out from there and he threw it out at Gwen, icicles forming mid-air and launching straight for her.  The cracks beneath them both were growing and Quinlan had to make a decision...quickly.  He snatched Nina by the arms and promptly shoved her forward.  "Go!" he barked.

With a yelp she stumbled forward and fell toward solid ground, as the ice bridge shattered beneath them.

[Rhindeer]

Well.

That was unexpected.

The ice shattered, and suddenly Gwen was flying through the darkness. And by flying, she meant falling, the air whistling in her ears and shards of blood-ice stinging her skin where they scratched and prickled and added her own blood to the mix. But she was hardly conscious of the pain, hardly conscious of anything else but the odd sensation of being suspended in the air, floating, even while knowing she was about to become mush on the rocks.

Like a dropped tomato, she thought, surprised that she wasn't afraid--but too surprised to feel anything else, and vaguely wondering when her life was going to flash before her eyes like it was supposed to--

And then there was a snap, an explosion of pain, and even more blackness.

Who knew how much time had passed when Gwen stirred again, but stir she did. She came to with a groan and a hacking cough as every part of her ached and hurt, and her leg had a strange, intense burning pain in it, and was hard to move when she tried. Her head throbbed.

Still alive, she thought, bringing a gloved hand up to her sticky forehead. If she wasn't, she wouldn't be hurting. The question was, how much longer would she be alive? How bad were her injuries?

She cracked her eyes open and saw the sky above her through a patchwork of leaves and branches--and could see, vaguely, that a lot of those branches looked snapped off. There were leaves scattered all around her, and when she stiffly turned her head, she saw more branches. They were probably what had saved her; they'd probably cushioned her fall before she hit the slope and tumbled the rest of the way down.

Her clothes were all torn up and and as she tentatively felt at herself, she found with relief that at least nothing had impaled her. She was scratched up and bruised and had a bleeding cut at her hairline, and her leg was all wrong, but all things considered, she was pretty well off. Fuck. That was lucky. Her crossbow was nowhere in sight, though it must be near.

And Rylan...

Sucking in deep breaths, Gwen managed to crawl to the base of a tree, grabbed onto it, and hauled herself up onto her good leg with its help.

He was down here too, dead or alive, and if he wasn't dead...well, he wouldn't be alive long when she was done with him!

[Lion]

If he was still alive, Quinlan wished desperately that he was dead.  The fall was a bad one, and Quinlan could feel his arm was no longer in the same place it should be.  The chasm was not as deep as he assumed in the darkness of that stormy night. But it didn't matter now, the fall was bad either way.  Quinlan could hope the pain would last long enough to kill him.  And that would be better than what fate awaited him if Gwen was still alive.

"Fuck me," he whispered.  And when he tried to move, he was surprised to find his arm wasn't nearly as broken as he thought itwas.  He saw his wrist wasn't quite correct,  and though his shoulders were sore and would probably bruise and nothing more.  He crawled achingly to his knees, standing on two feet that refused his weight, clutching his wrist tightly to his gut.

He just had to get out of this hole. Forget waiting to see if the crone was still alive.  He scrambled over brush and boulders and the bones of those that had fallen into the chasm and had been long forgotten.  Quinlan wasn't goi to end up like one of them.  "Leave the slaver to die with the broken and forlorn," he hissed.

[Rhindeer]

One of the thicker branches Gwen had broken in her fall (or maybe a branch that had been broken by a previous victim, she thought as she glanced at the broken bones scattered about) wound up coming in handy, doubling as a makeshift staff. Her leg was useless so she had to use it to walk, and her ribs ached (something she noticed more once she was upright), and basically everything was sore. Fuck. She didn't often feel old, but right then she did, limping along all stiff and gimpy-like.

She was going to slaughter the fucker.

And then, the crunch of leaves and bone and rustle of bushes. Gwen perked up like a hunter and, scowling, picked up her hobbling pace--

That was when she saw him. The fucker was alive, alright, and-- "Leave the slaver to die with the broken and forlorn"?

She actually burst into laughter then, loud enough to carry through the chasm they were in. "Surprise, fucker," she said. "Miss me?"

[Lion]

Quinlan whirled around, and scowled dangerously at Gwen.  Well lookie-lookie, the bitch just wouldn't die.  And he wasn't in much of a condition to fight her.  Or was he?  He gave a sneer instead.  "Darling we've got to stop meeting like this," he replied, and raised a single brow at her.  Still he remained toward the cliff wall behind him and his hand searched for ridges to insert his fingers into.

"Lucky me, I guess."  And flashed her a charming grin.

[Rhindeer]

Gwen just watched him, the hand that wasn't supporting her "staff" coming to rest upon her hip. She looked from him, to the sheer cliff face he was backed against, and back to him and arched an eyebrow slowly. She couldn't tell from this distance what sort of condition he was in, but he'd fallen from the same height she had, so unless some sort of miracle happened or he could magically cushion his fall somehow, he had to be at least as banged up as she was.

And she was in no condition to climb anything, much less something that high.

"Going somewhere?" she asked as she limped closer. "That's a pretty steep climb, there."

[Lion]

"You just stay the fuck where you are, gimpy.  I have places to be, people to kill," he said, giving her a sneer and turning his own way to walk on any side of the chasm that involved being away from her.  There were horse hooves that skid to a halt at the edge.

"Shit," one man said, dismounting.  "That's Gwen's horse."

Quinlan shot only one glance backwards, cursing beneath his breath and running as far away as his ragged legs could take him.

"Gwen!  You alive?"

[Rhindeer]

Muted voices and the sound of hoof-beats, and then--Gwen let out a laugh, half relief and half triumph.

It was Jessen, which meant the other was probably Karo. At least the two knuckleheads were loyal. Really, she couldn't ask for a better bunch of lackeys.

"Still alive!" she called back, and smiled. "Now do me a favor and get your asses down here? I've found myself a little fox that needs trapping." And even as she said it, she stalked after Rylan. Let him run. He wasn't running well, and like any good predator, she was patient. Take a chunk from its leg and let it run until it exhausted itself, then just follow the trail to the prize. That was the key here. Patience and--

Her foot hit something that clanged against her boot, and she cursed loudly as the pain radiated up her leg.

At least, until she saw what it was.

With a pleased grin, she stooped carefully and picked up her crossbow. It was a bit banged up, but it had a bolt still loaded and ready to go, and it wasn't so damaged it wouldn't still work.

Ah, yes. She was still in business.

[Lion]

Quinlan knew she was armed when she'd fallen. The shot at the horse was evidence enough of that.  And he knew that she really had nothing more to lose to capture her quarry, which, as events would put it, was now him.  Just in the nick of time too; he thought his bad luck had just about run out. 

Even as he tried to run, there wasn't much of anywhere to run to.  He stopped short when he heard the click of a bolt ready to fire.  He kept his back to his captor, clutching his wrist to his stomach, waiting for the bolt to fly.