Playing hide and seek

[Anadwen]

Aldanith's frown deepened at the mention of questions. He crossed his arms on his chest, now back in his black shirt despite it being so ripped that he had to tear a part of the sleeves off, which hid the wraps he was practically covered in. "What if I'm not in the mood to talk?" he replied grimly.

He changed his pose shortly after, shifting closer to the edge of the table and letting his arms hang by his sides. Flicking one of the long strings of his hair over to stop it from falling to his eyes, he tilted his head aside, piercing Grace with an ice-cold pair of bright eyes.

[Alegretto]

The half-orc eyed the elf coldly right back. "Then you should talk anyway. We don't take kindly to killings in La'marri, even when only strangers are involved and it's in self-defense. If you have people after you then you might be endangering the citizenry. You could be a menace for all I know. It's my job to keep the peace around here and if your presence is going to disrupt it," her eyes flashed threateningly, "then I will run you out."

Salia sighed and cut in before the elf could make what was probably going to be a very irritated response. "What I think Grace s trying to say is that answering a few questions could be beneficial to all of us. We accept all kinds in the free village of La'marri and live of off principles of sharing and openness. We'd be glad to help you and take you in for as long as you need, but it would be nice to at least know a little about your circumstances."

[Anadwen]

Aldanith winged off. "I'd be leaving soon, anyway. My business is my own, and if I told you, you'd surely regret listening." he glowered. "All that is there to say is that I have no business in your town. And that makes you fortunate. If I did, you would be in trouble."

He sled off the table, slicking more of his hair back, just to have it slide around and into his face again. "I wasn't meaning to stop here, and were I not forced to, I would have already been gone. I don't need to stay." he repeated stubbornly.

[Alegretto]

Salia shook her head at the elf's statement. "Oh no, you're not going anywhere for a while. If you already fainted from blood loss once then you're going to need to relax for a time and let your humors balance themselves out. No patient of mine is going to leave half-healed and ready to keel-over." She stood in thought a moment. "I don't have room to put you up though... Grace, why don't you take him in?"

Frederick and Grace both shouted "No way!" at the same time. Grace eyed her fellow Keeper oddly for a moment, before turning to adress Salia. "I know my place has an extra room but I am not putting up wtih this," she pointed at the elf, "for the time it takes him to heal. You heard him, he wants to leave. Let him be on his way then!"

[Anadwen]

"Gladly." he growled, pinning his hair up with a piece of thread that held the cut of his shirt up till then. "I'd rather sleep on a table in an inn than sleeping in her 'extra room'. Don't think I can't take care of myself."

His strength was quickly returning, and when he walked back to the table, he was already carrying his head high, bearing his usual cold confidence. He grabbed his armour and begun putting on what was undamaged enough to be worn again, not even wincing when he closed the buckles - it didn't seem that he got sewed up not even an hour at the slightest. "Where is the closest inn?" he asked, still turning his back to them.

[Alegretto]

Grace sighed in relief. She shuddered to think about if he had wanted to stay at her place. She wouldn't have been able to refuse him, he was injured after all, but she would have hated every moment of it.

"I'll show you where the inn is." Grace told him. She turned to Frederick, "And you go back to your patrol." Both Keepers of the Peace walked outside, Grace turning one way and Frederick going another. The half-orc conspicuously didn't turn around to make sure the elf was following.

"See you tomorrow Grace!" the Frederick shouted. "Likewise!" she called back to him. She kept going, leading the way to the inn.

[Anadwen]

Aldanith followed her without a word, with steps so silent that one would have to stand right next to him to hear his boots touching the ground. He didn't want to talk, and he wasn't going to, unless she'd ask him something really unavoidable.

He didn't want to be there at the first place, and most of all, he wanted to get lost, and get rid of this woman.

[Alegretto]

It was a short walk to the inn. It wasn't a particularly long walk to anywhere in the village. She pointed at the door, over which a sign hung depicting a bear. "Here you go, the Bear's Den. You can stay here for the night, and it's supposed to be pretty cheap."

She walked over to Aldanith. "If you need anything, I'll be walking around on patrol for another couple of hours." Her eyes locked into his. "Don't need me."

So saying, the half-orc walked away from the elf, ready to conduct a search of town. She hadn't been telling the truth exactly when she'd said she was going back to patrol. She was actually planning to look to see if there were any more strangers in town. Never paid to be too careful. She'd also have to tell someone to monitor the Bear's Den for as long Aldanith was staying there. She sighed. So many things to do.

[Anadwen]

"I won't need you." Aldanith assured her. He entered the inn, and without much words ordered a room and straight several drinks into it. The offered room wasn't too big, only a table and a couple of armchairs in the lobby, and a bed with a wardrobe and some shelves in the bedroom, but it would fully suffice him.

By the time when he entered, a bottle of wine and a wooden goblet already awaited him on the table. He threw his armour onto one of the armchairs, and grabbed the bottle. His bare hand uncorked it, and he sat onto the ledge of the opened window, leading into the street. Leaning onto one of its edges with his back, and with one leg bent and the other one hanging out of the window, he stared out. It was comfortably windy, and the breeze blew his long hair out of his face as he picked the bottle up and took a large drink from it.

Someone walked under the window. Aldanith put the bottle down onto the inner side of the windowsill, and aimed the cork at the passer by. It hit its target straight in the head, and Aldanith cackled, taking another drink from the bottle. Two floors above the ground, he was practically invincible.

[Alegretto]

Frederick scratched his head. It felt like something had hit him but he couldn't tell. Then he sneezed. Man it was cold. blast it to Grace for posting him here to watch this stupid elf, he was supposed to go off duty for the night! Ah well, he'd do just about anything for Grace. Not that he'd tell her that. Frederick walked on, continuing his route around the inn.

In another part of the village, Grace was going through the items the elf's assailants had been carrying. They had all been dressed it black cloaks and leather armor, equipped with short blades, and a few other items of little note. Nothing to point to their identities or where they had come from. She gave up on this avenue of investigation and began hunting down her fellow keepers. She needed to alert each one to look out for strangers and ask them if they'd see anything odd.

She'd already found James and Nichos, neither of who had seen any strangers, and was looking for Herod when she spotted something strange. The half-Orc spotted it out of the corner of her eye, a dark figure moving across the rooftops. Heading toward the inn. Grace started running back, pulling our her cudgel as she went. It might be nothing but it never hurt to be too sure...

[Anadwen]

The night grew cold, but that didn't bother Aldanith. He sat in the window, drinking bottle after bottle, and he felt good, the sweet red wine warming him from inside and letting him forget about all. He carelessly outstretched his arm into the street and dropped one bottle out, letting it shatter on the stones into myriads of small shards.

His incredibly sharp senses, however, caught the sound of something skittering on the roof. Even with the little sobriety he had, he was still cautious. He sled off the windowsill, and snatching his armour, he hid in his wardrobe. It was exceptionally large, hiding even someone of his height without any problems.

Possessing the agility and flexibility he had, he managed to put most of his armour on in the closet without making too much noise.

The sound of footsteps reached his ears, and the wooden floor creaked.

[Alegretto]

Grace arrived at the inn and saw Frederick leaning on a wall by the door. On closer inspection, Grace found that the man was sleeping. She unceremoniously kicked him over. He awoke with a start, "huh what the hell!" He looked up at the half-Orc from the ground. What the hell Grace!?"

"You fault for sleeping bed-wetter." The man jad only stopped wetting when he was ten, and Grace never let him forget.

"I told you not to call me that!" Frederick whined indignantly.

"Whatever Freddie. Now have you seen anything odd?" The man had a dumb look on his face. "Nevermind you've probably been asleep the whole time." She brushed past him and entered the inn. "Dyliam!" She shouted, calling over the innkeeper.

The man walked over. "What's going on Grace?"

"The elf you put up for the night, which room is he in?"

"Uhm..." Dyliam thought for a second. "That's right, it's the third room down the hall-way on the second floor. Why?"

Grace barely heard his question, she was already heading up the stairs. "Thanks Dyliam." She said as she and Frederick brushed past.

She moved quietly up the stairs and down the hall, stopping at the third door. She then quite unceremoniously slammed the door open. Two black-clad figures were inside, and a third one was entering from the window. The one closest to Grace rushed her with a knife brandished but the half-Orc countered with a downwards swing of her cudgel. The blow was aimed at the man's hands, and Grace's speed and ferocity surprised the assailant. The blow connected with his wrists and he cried out in pain. His knife clattered to the floor.

The strike's follow through had brought her shoulder down in line with the assailants chest, and Grace followed up her initial attack with a shoulder-check that sent the man staggering back further into the room. She finished her chain of blows with an upswing from her weapon, but the man was more prepared this time and hopped backwards to dodge. She had stepped far enough in the room now to fit her fellow Keeper, so she yelled back, "Frederick, could use your help in here!"

[Anadwen]

Aldanith, hidden in the closet, listened to the sounds of battle from behind the wood, trying to identify who was on either side of the fighting parties. He recognized the voice of the half-orc, and the keeper... The rest must have been Deneryn's men, then.

The doors of the wardrobe were slammed open, and the dark elf leaped out, straight onto one of the dark figures before him. Bloodstorm in his hand glinted, and as he pushed the man to the floor, its blade sunk into his neck, and with a single straight cut beheaded him.

The other two stepped back at first, but upon sighting Aldanith's face, they attacked again. Those three weren't too much of a match... Definitely less than the previous ones. A single slash was all that it took to get rid of one, cleaving his head open, and a kick to the groin, followed by a stab into the chest, disposed of the other one.

Neither of them got even a chance to respond to Aldanith's lightning-fast movement.

[Alegretto]

Grace could only watched stunned as the wounded elf quickly dispatched the rest of the assailants. She heard Frederick enter, and then quickly exit the room again retching. The violence of the scene was appalling, but it was also beautiful in it's own way...

Grace quickly banished those thoughts. They haunted her sometimes, ideas like those, but they were always quickly dispelled.

She whistled long and slow. "Man, you weren't kidding about not needing help. How did those first three ever injure you?" She asked the elf.

[Anadwen]

"These three were trash." Aldanith scowled at the corpses. "The first three were far more skilled... And this time, I was prepared." His voice was calm, and so cold it sounded heartless. As if he wasn't moved by the fact that he just killed another three men - and he indeed wasn't.

He stretched his right arm and pressed it onto his chest. Brandishing the scimitars around with freshly sewed wounds was not a good idea, and it has taken its toll on him - it was possible that the stitches were torn and his wounds were opening again. Judging by the blood, seeping through the bandages, it really did happen.

"Please, get rid of the corpses. I'll take a different room." he spoke. Suddenly, his voice was tired, and he appeared as if he was just holding the pain away behind a steel-hard mask.

[Alegretto]

Grace shook her head. "Oh no, there's no way the innkeeper's gonna give you another room after this. No one will. Too dangerous." The half-orc stood in thought for a moment, considering her options. She didn't like her conclusion, but she had little choice. "You'll have to shack up in my place for the night. I won't have you putting anyone else at risk."

She walked outside the room, once again not bothering to see if Aldanith followed. She turned to Frederick who was still retching. "Gather up some stout folks and clean this up like last time."

She walked down the stairs and threw a coin at Dlyiam. There's a mess upstairs but Frederick's gonna take care of it. Sorry for the trouble."

She turned back to the stairs and yelled at Adanith, "You coming!"

[Anadwen]

Dropping down onto the bed, Aldanith coiled up on the blankets, and closed his eyes. He was too tired to leave... He didn't follow Grace, instead just tried to fall asleep in the mess around.

It wasn't as simple as it appeared - whatever side he turned to, something was uncomfortably twisted or pressed in a way that stopped him from falling asleep, despite having drunk so much wine. In the end, he simply stayed on his back, what proved to be the least painful position, and pulling his knees somewhat to his chest, he fell asleep.

[Alegretto]

Seeing that the elf wasn't behind her, Grace grumbled and went back up the stairs. She passed by Frederick as he went down them, assumably to find people to help him clean up the mess. She got up there and was going to yell at the elf when she noticed him on the bed, tossing and turning. Instead of yelling she stood watching him for what must have been sometime as he finally came to rest on his back. At that point she walked over to him. This Aldanith was clearly having a rough night. Even in sleep the man looked troubled.

Still, she couldn't leave him here in the room while the cleaning crew worked. He'd definitely wake up. Grace sighed. Picking him up would be tricky too, if he was a light sleeper. Well she did have one solution. Grace closed her eyes, opened her mouth, and sang.

It wasn't normal singing though, it was a Shaman song, one that relaxed the listener and made them drowsy. Her ability to influence people through her singing was apparently a rare and powerful trait found in only a few orc females. She and a wizard friend of hers were researching them, but it was slow going. Still, she'd figured out this one mostly on her own. It was also one of her most potent. The elf wouldn't be waking up for a while.

She concluded her song and proceeded to pick up the elf, carrying him in much the same way as when she'd first seen him unconscious. Being careful not to rock him, Grace carried Aldanith down the stairs. It was lucky that it was late and the common room was mostly empty. She walked out into the street just as Frederick was returning with several of the town's more strong-stomached men. She saw some of them begining to laugh and she hissed in a whisper, "Not a sound, any of you."

She walked past the men who were clearly trying to restrain themselves with slightly red cheeks and began going to her house. It wasn't far from the inn, and it was only a short time later when she arrived. She opened the door and brought him inside. The extra room lay open, and Grace deposited the still body of the elf onto the bed. She closed the door silently and then began making her own preparations for bed.

She awoke the next morning groggy, and had to wipe the sleep from her eyes. She threw on a pair of trousers and a shirt before going out to the front door. She opened it up and pulled in a basket with fresh eggs and milk in it. One of the local farmers left a basket everyday in repayment of a favor she'd done him. She didn't ask for it, but the man insisted and who was she to disagree with fresh eggs and milk. She started cooking breakfast, the aroma of cooking eggs filling the house.

[Anadwen]

When Aldanith woke up, he felt like pure, concentrated death. His head was throbbing, every stitch on his body was burning, and he felt like throwing up after drinking those three bottles of wine the day before. The worst of all was that he didn't remember one thing that happened after coming to the inn and settling down, and he was in a strange room, hungover and in pain.

With a long, loud groan, he stretched his arms, and right after snarled after straining the right one too much. He begun rubbing it with the metal fingers of his left, careful not to press the stitches too much or rip them, and blinked at the ceiling.

He rolled off the bed, landing on the ground with a loud thud as he knocked his left elbow into the floor, and holding onto the bed, he scrambled to his feet. His head was spinning, and it was painful with the bright light, an apparent sign that he had one drink too many... Stumbling to the door as he could, he managed to stand in the doorway. Maybe it was just another inn room.

When he pushed the door open, leaning onto the frame of the door, he found out that he definitely wasn't in the inn. This was someone's house... He cursed, delving into his hair with one hand. He appeared pale, only his eyes were bright in the dark rings that surrounded them like bottomless, hollow wells, and his long hair was a mess on his head, standing around it like a halo and falling into his face. It looked like he was eaten, chewed, and spat back out by a wyvern - like a corpse.

He moaned, blinking in the light. "Where the f*** am I?"

[Alegretto]

Grace heard the elf stumbling around. And then she heard him moan. "You're at my place." She shouted at the elf. "I told you that you couldn't stay at the inn, so I brought you here. Now come over to the kitchen. I'm making breakfast and you need to tell me how you want your eggs." After all, she couldn't let him go hungry just because she didn't like him.