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New People, New Home, New Life

Started by PumpkinSwift, October 24, 2017, 07:33:24 PM

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Kalak8538

Talbot Blithe walked the captive mage through the village like a pet on a leash. His pace was neither relaxed nor hurried as he marched unyieldingly towards the target. The man made no eye contact with any of the residents, looking only towards the tavern ahead.

Stepping inside, the man entered as subtly as one could while leading someone against their will. Time passed as the man argued with the building's owner.

"I paid for a night here!"

"You paid for LAST night! You should've shown up!"

The interaction continued thusly. Anyone that was not already looking to the back of the building had their attention drawn by the voices of the two men progressively rising in volume. Tensions rose to breaking point. The conversation ended when Talbot brought his mace down onto the wood of counter with a heavy swing. The owner relented then, threatening with no seeable effect on the fighter to go to the marshal.

The armored man took his leave, and practically dragged his charge to the room.

PumpkinSwift

Maria let herself be dragged to the backroom. She felt demeaned beyond belief, to be paraded around like an animal. Worse still, she was tired and hungry. She had walked for nearly half a day without pause for food, and with no rest.

Without being bothered to pay her own situation mind, she looked to Talbot. "Do you think I could get some food?"

Kalak8538

Talbot Blithe took his time settling in the room he had acquired. The bed was actively tempting him, challenging his mind after the night he had just endured. He was able to resist the temptation as the heavy armor was removed bit by bit. Once he was clear of the heavy metal shell, Talbot meticulously organized his limited belongings in the corner of the small room. He refused to look over his shoulder as his charge addressed him. Still, he replied.

"In time, you'll get food and water. Until then, settle in. This may be the last comfortable night we have in a long time..."

PumpkinSwift

Maria only grunted. She sat herself down on the bed, and flipped over on to her side. It seemed like she was going to have to spend the night in the same room as her captor. It wasn't the biggest concern she had right now, but it was still unfortunate. She wondered why he didn't just lock her up in a different room, and wait for the morning to fetch her.

She turned to Talbot. "Aren't you concerned to have me in here with you? What if I tried something while you were asleep?"

Kalak8538

The man looked sternly at the creature on the bed.

"This trip has cost me enough already, and there is still quite a way to go." he replied solemnly.

"The more I spend, the less I get for you. You don't wanna know what happens when you become worthless to me. Especially after all you put me through..."

Grumbling his threats, Talbot began for the door and produced a key.

"You can try what you want. There's not much you have over me with those shackles."

With one hand on the knob and the other pointing to the magic-sapping manacles, he made one more threat.

"All I will say is this... You better succeed, or else I will drag your lifeless corpse back to Conlaoth instead."

With that, the mercenary left and locked the door behind him.

PumpkinSwift

Maria was taken slightly aback. She hadn't expected a threat from the man. She was hoping to maybe trick Talbot into letting her have her own room, but clearly that had backfired. "I..." Maria began, but caught herself, opting for silence as to not potentially anger her captor. Instead, she simply flopped onto her side and began to drift into a restless sleep.

Kalak8538

Talbot arrived back to the room. He carried two metal tins, each with scraps of bread and wooden cups. He scowled silently at the sight of his charge already passed out on the only bed in the room. He unceremoniously dropped hers on the floor beside the bed with a clatter. Few scraps of bread tumbled off the metal disk, and some water slashed out of its container, but the dish as a whole remained for the most part intact.

Talbot then pulled up the wooden chair, positioning it to face the doorway. He set up there with his mace kept beside him, and began to eat. This would be his bed tonight. He had to sleep light for several reasons. First, he had his quarry, and had to be wary in case a locked door would not be enough. Secondly, her friend had raised some dissent in town. While getting food for the two of them, Talbot had overheard some grumbles of disdain. He had to keep vigilant against some idiot villager attempting something "heroic".

Once he was satisfied, the man took up his mace, and let his eyes grow heavy...

PumpkinSwift

Maria woke up the next day, dreary. Talbot seemed to still be asleep. Maria wasn't sure how to react, pulling anything now seemed to dangerous. She slowly sat up, making sure to be quiet as to not wake her captor. She hadn't gotten any food last night, so she was still... Oh wait, there was some food on the floor. Their was an identical tray next to Talbot, so she assumed it was for her. Luckily, Talbot was seeming to not be needlessly cruel. She grabbed the tray and set it on her lap, and began to eat. Not to long after, she heard the door creak. Maria froze, startled and worried. Maria turned to the door to see a stranger. The stranger, and elderly man, put his finger up to his lips, and slowly waked up to Maria, an envelope in hand. He handed the envelope to Maria. The only thing on the outside of the envelope was the name Addison.

Kalak8538

With some light in the room, Talbot began to stir. Once the man realized he was conscious, he slowly rose from the wooden chair.

Despite the early hour of the day, it was already much later than he preferred to be awake by. Cursing himself quietly, Talbot went over to his effects and inspected them carefully. Surprisingly, his prisoner had done nothing to them, as others have attempted in the past. As quickly and steadily as possible, the giant man armored himself up and took up his equipment. It took quite some time, but it was obvious that he had done this many times before.

The last thing the hunter did was take the key from where it was hidden and went to the door to unlock it. To his surprise, the wooden door was not completely sealed, and freed itself from the frame when the metal key was pressed against it. This meant only one thing: they had a visitor sometime in the night...

Talbot was livid. With blades mace ready, he stomped over to the bed where the woman was.

"Someone was here last night! Who?!" he yelled, taking a violent hold in the chain between manacles.

"Your girlfriend? Some townsfolk? What were they here for?!"


PumpkinSwift

Maria stammered, not knowing how to respond.

"I, I don't know what you're talking about!" Maria screamed. "I didn't see anybody! I swear!"

Maria put her hand over her heart, where the letter from Addison was hidden. Her heart beat furiously in her chest. How would she convince Talbot that nothing had happened? Letting him have the letter wasn't an option. She would just have to keep playing dumb and hope he would think he was just being paranoid.

Kalak8538

At this point, there was no time to lose. It was better to avoid any conflict than wait around for whatever surprise the townsfolk may have been plotting.

Talbot grabbed the woman's manacles by the the chains and pulled forcefully. With haste in his heavy step, the bounty hunter hurriedly made his way for the door of the inn. His intention was to leave town as quickly as possible, but first he had to make it outside. With his tall shield readied in front, he opened the door to the street.

PumpkinSwift

Maria decided to stay silent as she was dragged out of the town, bot wanting to make her captor any angrier than he already was. On the way out of the inn, she noticed Addison giving her a sad look, before she quickly turned around, not wanting to attract Talbot's attention.

None of the villagers tried to look at her.

As always, the world had decided to ignore Maria in her time of need.

She felt the letter that had caused all this rubbing against her skin, almost burning with forbidden words of hope and mercy, and Maria wasn't sure if it was worth it.

Kalak8538

The brutish man had expected more. Some apprehension he had made in small villages like this had seen opposition by the locals that did not know the whole story. Despite the pleasant lack of action of the villagers, they were not yet clear. Talbot took the shield off his back and held his mace at the ready.

"Walk." he commanded to the prisoner.

He was cautiously watching everywhere. He readied himself against any that would interfere. He became especially alert whenever anyone came within several feet of himself or his quarry.

"Clear away! Move!"

The man shouted this - and other things like this - whenever the roads became too crowded for his liking. Before long, they approached the outer reaches of the village. It seemed this part was over. The real journey was about to begin.

PumpkinSwift

Maria avoided eye contact with the man as she was dragged out of town. The hidden letter against her chest felt heavy, heavy as the manacles binding her wrists. She gulped back tears. She would wait. She would bide her time until she could get these god forsaken shackles off, and when she did she wouldnt hesitate to kill this man.

Kalak8538

Talbot shoved his quarry onwards. He would stay wary at least until the small village was out of sight. Only then would his defenses be lowered, if only a little. For now, all they had to do was follow the path that lay before them.

The man kept them both going at a steady pace as they marched forward. He was silent, letting the clanking of his heavy armor be the only sound to exist in the forest. He relished the lack of human life around him, but was not foolish enough to believe there was no longer any danger. Cautiously, they went on.

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