You can lead a horse to water... [by Nightcandle]

[Rhindeer]

[MOVED THREAD! Heh, hope ya don't mind...I just decided to move it myself, since I have time and am anxious to get this done XD]

Amadeus frowned at the reflection staring back at him from the fountain. Dirty, disheveled, with bloodshot eyes, chapped lips and a dried bloodstain so old it was black and peeling staining the right of his face and matting his hair.

A dull pain throbbed up his feet to his ankles and he sighed, leaning forward to rest his chin on the edge of the fountain. The slight movement the action required woke up more aches in his shoulders and wrists. He tried to move his hands a little, but as always the knots that tied them to his belt were tight and secure.

At least it was morning. There weren't many people on the streets and if they did saw them, didn't get involved. Good, that was good. Amadeus had a heavy feeling in his gut that the creature was using him to try baiting another person into it's clutches.

The creature, Amadeus could see it's reflection from where he propped his chin. It was tall and slender and was swishing it's long horse's tail idly side to side. At the base of its tail, where someone with too big a sense of humor than needed, was a red ribbon that was once tied in a bow. One loop remained, the other end hanging loosely and weaving in the hair of the tail.

The world swayed a little, he closed his eyes and tried to ignore it. The insides of his mouth felt like they were replaced with paper. Dehydration was a bad way to go, hells it almost got him the last time the creature had him, but now it looked like his doorway out.

He smirked, tearing a little gash in his bottom lip. The chapped skin eagerly sucked up the dribble of blood that oozed from it.

The creature, Judal, looked over his shoulder to watch his pet. Here he was, offered the chance to quench his thirst with as much water as he wished, and he was just staring into the fountain like he forgot what water was.

Maybe he managed to acquire rabies while he was wandering free. How fun. Judal turned and sat on the edge of the fountain next to Amadeus' head.

<font color=red face=courier>It-tus-ka</font>, he chimed in an almost chastizing manner. <font color=red face=courier>Afraid of a little water now?</font> Judal pressed a clawed finger against Amadeus' bleeding lip.

As soon as he was touched Amadeus pulled away and glared up at Judal, his eyes crossed and his upper lip curling back, a few crimson lines stretching across it. Judal snickered.

[Anonymous]

A semblance of a smile crept onto the face of Adela's young princess as she gazed from around the corner of a small house, staring off at the two knights that were sent to find and return her to the castle. It never ceased to amaze her how easily the two brutes managed to let her slip through their grasp. Clanking around like lunatics, the two scrambled about continuously before finally settling down across the village.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Arelnath staggered to her feet and quickly slipped her shoes back on before taking off toward the fountain. It was the best little place to sit and think to one's self without ever really having to be bothered by anyone else, and that why she was always sneaking off to it. A safe haven and beautiful place all in one. Much better than that of the castle.

Scuffing her feet on the ground as it slowly came into view, she whipped a few light brown tresses from her face. She could never imagine leaving this place; getting married and carried off to some other kingdom. People began talking about what she was going to do with the rest of her life. Many even complained, saying that she should've been married years before. And here she was at nineteen running the small streets of the village, being hunted like a dog.

How any girl could ever want to leave her home was beyond her understanding, and a slight scowl was given under her breath as she kicked at a pebble. It rolled far ahead of her, bouncing and skipping across the ground before it came to a clashing halt at the side of the fountain.

Exhaling in frustration with her eyes closed, she tipped her head back quite a bit before stopping. Raising an eyebrow as she caught the sight of the two at the fountain her feet carried her back a step. There was the immediate feeling that she was intruding on something that had something to do with her.

As a result, she immediately took a hold of the sides of her dress and curtsied politely with her head tipped down. Her pale face was hidden by the long strands of brown hair that fell in front of it, almost reaching the ground at this point. Though she was a tomboy and told so many times, she did have the proper manors and minded them whenever she desired so. Now seemed like one of those desired times.

"My apologies," Arelnath spoke, her voice a tad bit shaky and softer than one would expect from her. "I didn't know that someone else would be here . . . No one usually is."

[Anonymous]

Amadeus looked over his shoulder when he heard the woman's voice, his pale eyes wide with shock. "Miss," he said softly, in as calm a tone as he could. Having her think he was mad wouldn't do any good. "Run, please you -"

Soon after Amadeus turned to look at the girl Judal grabbed the back of his head and, once he began speaking, shoved his face into the water. "Don't mind him, he's very thirsty and isn't in a good mood. Judal lifted Amadeus' head from the water, stood and grinned. His teeth were pointed and slightly grey-ish in color.

"Hmmm, what mischief-" He began walking towards her "brings you out here-" Judal crossed his arms behind his back and began to swish his tail side to side, he changed his course to walk around the girl when he within two feet of her "so early?"

Amadeus coughed raggedly, water spilling from his nose. His chest, being doubled over the fountain's edge was burning, hungry for air and a release from the pressure.

[Anonymous]

Her feet were all ready to take off just at hearing the word "run" and it hadn't even struck her brain at the time. But she didn't get further than a small step backwards before she notced the other's teeth, causing her to shiver vigorously within that dress of hers.

Pointed. Fangs. Vampire perhaps? No, he had a tail. Vampires didn't have tails, well, from what she knew about them anyway. So then what was he? It was something that bothered her, caused her to think. Right up until he started to circle around her she felt a little at ease. But now she started to shake a little more than she already was. Oh all the days to have not decided to carry a knife or something with her.

"Eh . . ." she somewhat started, her hands clasped in front of herself as she stood upright. "No mischief . . . yet . . ." She swallowed a bit, trying to clear her throat a little from nervousness. "I come here on a daily basis."

Her bright green eyes looked off toward the other at the fountain, a little concerned for him and hoping he'd get his normal breathing back. A little red flag was waving frantically within her head, telling her to make a run for it. But her feet wouldn't budge from their spot. Now was just one of those times she wanted to hit herself and wake up.

[Anonymous]

"Yet," Judal parroted, snickering a little afterwards. He stopped when he was standing behind the girl and placed both hands lightly on her shoulders. "Tell me, what do you usually have planned when you visit?"

Amadeus coughed the last bit of water from his lungs and slid back, landing roughly on his rear and almost toppling backwards. A bit of the dirt on his face was cleaned off by his sudden immersion, and a stain of dark water surrounded the dried blood, it was almost invisible on his tanned skin, but showed up well enough on his blonde hair. He twisted around so he was partially facing the woman and the creature.

The creature didn't seem to be paying any attention to him, but he was very close to the woman. She needed to get away from it, but the creature would have to be distracted somehow.

[Anonymous]

It frightened Arelnath into giving a slight jump when the creature placed his hands on her shoulders, and well, took her off guard completely. She hadn't expected for him to do that and the back of her neck started to get a prickling feeling as her hair began to stand. There wasn't much that she could do even if she wanted to. It was now more impossible to get away than it would've been a moment or two ago when she had thought about it.

"I . . ." she said softly, taking a look over to his hand on her right shoulder. It was indeed a tad bit nerve-wreaking, but she attempted not to let it show that much. ". . . sit here and wait . . ."

She knew it was not very wise to have said something of the sort, but it was the truth nonetheless. Her eyes drifted off to the other at the fountain, a little more concerned for him at the moment more than for herself. She didn't know what to make of it all, other than that it was a bad idea to have come to the fountain so early today.

[Anonymous]

A cold sweat began pricking up Amadeus' arms to his neck and jaw. The woman didn't begin panicing, he didn't know yet if that was a good move or a bad one, the creature was somewhat capricious.

The girl's reaction brought a smirk to Judal's face, humans were so iffity about being touched. He squeezed her shoulders a bit, taking care not to dig his claws into her skin. "What is it you wait for?" he chimed in a sing-song tone.

Quite the inane plan to distract the creature's attention filtered into Amadeus' mind. Anything was better than sitting and thinking though. He slowly rose to his feet, almost falling a couple times due to lack of support from his arms and put a foot on the edge of the fountain. Once that foot was steady he pulled the other foot up, placing it carefully in front of the first. He glanced quickly back at the woman and the creature and began walking slowly along the edge of the fountain.

Judal perked his horse-like ears toward the fountain. That was new, he'd never seen his human walk around on the edge of anything. He watched Amadeus for a bit before refocusing his attention back on the girl.

[Anonymous]

Goosebumps began to form on her bare lower arms just before she decided to wrap them about her stomach to try and conceal them from sight. Arelnath took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, her shoulders moving gently beneath his claws. What was it that she had been coming here day after day to wait for? If she didn't know, then no one else would.

"I don't know what it is . . ." Her attention was drawn to the human at the fountain, tilting her head down a bit but still watching him. He was going to fall, she had the feeling he was going to fall somewhere along the lines. But she tried to pay no heed to that feeling. "All I know is that it'll show up here."

Those gut instincts of hers were usually right on target, yet that didn't mean she always listened to them. Just like she wasn't now. Her entire body began to quiver a bit, and her hands were just itching to grap a weapon. Any weapon. Something that would make for a good defense, though she doubted much of anything would be any good.

Her head turned to the side, visible to the creature behind her but her gaze was not searching for him. Just stuck to the dirt on the ground. "What about you?" she asked, trying to keep somewhat of the calm composure she had started out with. "Why are you here anyway?"

[Anonymous]

((Sorry for my inactivity a general steamrolling of stuff kept me away from the computer ^_^''))

One footfall didn't land evenly, the foot wriggling reflexively to correct itself and send a series of waivers up the rest of Amadeus' body. He held his breath, twisting and trying to set the foot down steadily so he wouldn't fall. After a moment or so the foot found it's balance. Amadeus relaxed and put more weight on the foot, raising the other foot for another step.

And that was when the off balance foot's ankle decided that it had done enough work for the day. It gave and Amadeus toppled sideways onto the street, landing hard on his right side. He groaned softly and layed there, a bit of blood oozing from his lip and a throbbing ache beating in his hip, elbow and eyebrow.

Judal's ears pricked upward and he snickered dryly when the human fell. The event made him forget what he was about to say to the girl, who was looking back at him and asking questions of her own. They were amusing enough, he'd answer this batch.

"I like it here," he trilled. "And this fountain has water that my Ittuska can drink. He is a very picky human and goes through strange moods. A few days ago he was drinking very well, but now he refuses even though he is so very thirsty and almost drowned himself trying to get a drink."

[Anonymous]

(( That's all right. No worries. ))

The thud sound from over by the fountain caused Arelnath to jump, her head immediately turning to look in his direction without second thought. Her hand came up to touch her lips gently, seeing the crimson liquid from his lip, a little more than wanting to go over and make sure that he was going to be okay. Then she thought if she tried to move, harm might come to her and there was no way of explaining that when she managed to get herself back into the castle.

Holding back, she listened to the creature as he replied to her question. He liked it here? That made her think quite a bit. Not many people thought that this place was a place to be liked. It was getting old, even for a kingdom what was newer than the others. There was just an awkward feeling she had when he said that.

"Ittuska . . ." It sounded more like an actual question than a statement when she repeated it to herself. That was a term she had never heard before, probably because of her rank in society. Either way, she shook it off her mind and focused on something else. This was truly a bizarre moment for her, not that much else wasn't. Being basically held in place was new in itself.

"So that's the only reason you're here?" she questioned him again, trying to keep herself out of any more trouble that could occur. "I've never seen you around before . . ."

[Anonymous]

Judal grinned widely at the girl's response to his human, his lips almost stretching back into his hair. He tightened his grip, dragging one claw against the weave of her dress to snag the fabric.

"It-tus-ka," He repeated breathily. "Yes, that is what I call him. Do you like it? Hm?"

Amadeus groaned again, drawing his legs up to his waist. He had to get up again. Of course, that'd be easier if his head didn't start swimming when he lifted it while pulling his legs in. He lifted it again to look back at the woman and creature, trying his best to ignore the waves of dizziness. His vision winked in and out, from the street to darkness and back again. There was a chance he could push himself up to a sitting position. If he didn't black out first.

A pidgeon jumping from it's perch in a tree to flap up to a building caught Judal's eye, he kept his ears focused on the girl and watched the bird. Didn't humans eat birds? When was the last time Ittuska ate? Maybe he should let the human hunt. The girl had more questions. He looked back at her and grinned again, resting his head so close to her ear that his breaths would whisk against it.

"I don't like to be seen."

He chortled, curling the points of his claws down to press her shoulders.

[Anonymous]

The muscle in Arelnath's shoulder twitched as the creature snagged her dress's fabric with his claw, her gaze darting to investigate just as chills began to race up and down her spine. It wasn't the right place to be in, nor was it the time to be in it. Timing, it was never something she was good at.

"It's . . . interesting," she admitted, trying to calm her tense shoulders a bit yet had no success in doing so.

Her senses were all out of whack from confusion and misplacement of time and space. Whatever it was, she couldn't think straight, let alone truly focus on anything other than getting away after she felt his breath against her ear. It sent her into a phase of wanting to leap for the nearest tree despite not even being able to make a leap that great, of going to any length to get away.

Nothing was coming to that hazed out mind of hers. Hopefully the longer she could keep the creature locked into talking, she'd be fine. And her shoulders locked completely as those claws of his pressed into them.

"Why is that? Is there something that you fear?" Arelnath questioned him yet again, doing her best to keep conversation going for her own good.

[Anonymous]

"How cute," Judal chirped. "You are scared-maybe worred-definitely and you still respond with a straight voice."

For the third time Amadeus tried to push himself up. He lifted his head, closing his eyes to stave off a little of the dizziness. Lifted his head an inch from the ground, an inch and half, two inches, three, four, five, five and half. If he could get high enough he could push himself up with his momentum. Then his stomach lurched, his head swam and he leaned forward, his head slowly being drawn back to the ground again.

Amadeus growled softly, there didn't look like much of a chance of him sitting up on his own. If he could get back to the fountain though, he could lean against it for support. His feet were closest to the fountain, just like they'd been when he was walking along it's edge. He wriggled a little, stretching his legs out toward the fountain. Wiggling, stretching and resting until the tip of one foot brushed against the edge. He smiled a little, taking a moment to rest and think.

Judal released on of the girl's shoulders and lifted that hand to paw her hair. He would tease out a little bit, let it fall back against her head, tease out another little bit and so on.

[Anonymous]

The tension in her shoulders only shot through the roof when the creature removed his hand from her shoulder. It was the worst situation she had been in before, but it was certainly starting to feel like it. Each of his movements and every single one of his words sent Arelnath toward wanting to force herself to blackout. But she wasn't exactly certain if it was better to not know what was going on or to know.

"It comes with the social rank," she spoke out before she caught herself, not sure if it was good or not to say where she stood in society.

She swallowed hard. It was getting more and more unusual for her by the minute. Sheltered life never explained how to go about situations like this, let alone life outside of the castle walls. To her, it was out of the category of every day life. Whether it was or wasn't for the villagers, she couldn't be sure.

"You didn't answer my question . . ." Arelnath blurted out, still trying to keep him distracted to the best of her ability. The longer, the better, she presumed; hoping that maybe someone would stumble by. Then again, that was a little much to hope for.

She hushed her voice a little. "Why don't you like to be seen?"

[Anonymous]

"Ah," Judal trilled after the girl mentioned rank. She had to have been a high ranking human, a lower ranking one probably would have broken by now. Collapsed into a little heap and begged for mercy or struggled and ran while this one stood confidently. Well, perhaps not entirely confidently, but she didn't seem as scared as she should be.

He grinned when she asked her question again. That question had already been done with - old news. His continued to drag his claws through her hair, momentarily wondering what she would do if he took his other hand off her. That might make an interesting spectacle, but-

"Ittuska is also of a good rank," he mused, moving his other hand up to her head to move it in the man's direction.

Amadeus, who had curled up a little while he was thinking up his next action, discovered something. His hands weren't too far from his mouth, if he could curl up into a tight enough ball and stretch his hands as far as they could go he might be able to reach. He curled up, nearly touching his head with his knees and stretched his head as far forward as he could, wriggling his hands side to side and then up at his face. There was a little space between his mouth and the cord. He lunged forward and bit. His teeth clipped against empty air. Amadeus groaned and wriggled his hands side to side again.

Judal snickered and drew both of his hands away from the girl's head quickly, stepping back a pace and swishing his tail side to side.

[Anonymous]

That human was of good rank? That wasn't one bit reassuring to Arelnath. All it did was cause her to realize that there was now an even higher possiblity that she wouldn't be getting out of this jam any time soon. Struggling to get away seemed like the only path out anymore, but she didn't want to get roughed up. Standing there before the Queen and what others she had with her was not on the list of things to do. And she didn't want to be chained to her room and on a full lockdown.

Her gaze remained on the man as it was directed, her face going pale slightly. There was the urge to go over and help him up, but she was hesitant as before to make any real drastic movements. Even as the creature drew back away from her a bit, she didn't know how fast his reflexes were compared to hers. It was too much of a gamble right now.

Sliding her foot to the side to relax her stance a bit, her eyes scrunched shut for a moment. Letting out a gentle sigh of relief, she lifted her other foot off the ground and took a step forward. Then the other; now a good three paces away from the creature. Still not good enough distance. Arelnath had to get herself the hell out of there. Whether she had nerves of steel to begin with or not, it didn't matter. They were liquid steel by this point, but she wasn't going to let it show so easily.

"I . . ." she began, her voice a bit shaky as she took another step. ". . . have to go. Bye," she finished hurriedly, her feet no longer hesitating to take off.

She felt one long step, then another. And a third. She was in the clear. Fourth step. It was time to get away, nothing was going to stop her now. Fifth step. A grin came over her lips, her eyes closed tightly. There was no way she was looking back, she didn't want to see behind her.

[Anonymous]

Judal laughed, it was high pitched and shrill, but he didn't follow the girl. He still had Ittuska to play with, and that human had yet to become unamusing. "Goodbye girl," he called once he was done laughing. "Perhaps we'll see each other at a later time."

Amadeus rolled over when he heard the footsteps and saw the woman walking away. The creature was standing with it's arms folded over its waist, casually bidding her off like they just finished a bit of friendly nonsense chatter. The creature was illogical, so he focused on the woman, silently urging her on. Hopefully she wouldn't fall to compassion and try to help him. He doubted the creature would like anyone trying to help him escape. He ground his teeth together and made an attempt to sit up, one shoulder sliding against the edge of the fountain.

Judal smirked and swiftly walked to the fountain, sitting an inch away from his little human and looking down at him. Aww, Ittuska was watching the girl go. Perhaps he was interested in her? How sad that he was bound up and couldn't decide to follow her. Judal's smirk widened into a toothy grin and he propped his chin on the backs of his hands.

[Anonymous]

Arelnath took in a quick glance at the bound human before rounding her way around the nearest home. Out of sight, she slammed her back against the wall and tipped her head up a bit, panting more from fright than that short dash of hers. She balled her fist up tightly and pounded it against the wall, muttering to herself under her breath.

How could she have been so selfish? Leaving that fellow human with that awkward creature . . . It wasn't right, she knew it. Biting down on her lip, her fist started to shake a bit before pounding it on the wall again. Flattening herself against the wall as she heard footsteps, one of the two guards from earlier wandered by; seemingly lost in his own world.

Perfect, she grinned, kneeling down and taking hold of the largest rock she could find -- which turned out to be no larger than the palm of her hand. It would have to cut it for now. Holding it as she crept up behind the guard, she raised her hand and brought it crashing down on the helmet the guard wore. The loud noise caused her to cringe a bit, and she hardly waited for him to fall to the ground before unsheathing the blade at his side. Assault on a kindgom guard; that wasn't going to be looked at too lightly.

Testing out the blade's weight for a second, she tossed it back and forth between her hands before spinning it slightly and letting the sharpness of the blade come to gently rest on her shoulder. Letting out a sigh and moving before anyone could see her, she rounded back to the wall she had been against.

Swallowing as she came back into the opening where the fountain was, both hands behind her back with one clutching onto the hilt of the blade, Arelnath held fast her posture must better this time around. She couldn't back down and desert this human, it just wasn't right of her to do that. Even if she got a scratch or two, and had to stand and explain it all, it'd be worth it in the long run.

"Please, let that human go." Arelnath didn't seem to shake, and neither did her words as she directed them toward the creature after seeing him at the fountain. Her words were stern and more powerful than any of the ones she had spoken before. Even if she was royal, it was wrong to walk away from this all and not try to do something.

She had to try anything at this point. It wasn't so much of a matter of holding up pride or honor for herself. Not even the search for some sort of reward. It was more or less the having guilt ride on her conscience, and she didn't want to deal with that the remainder of her mortal life.

[Anonymous]

Judal's ears pricked up in amusement when he saw the girl walking back towards them, her hands hidden behind her back. Who would have known that they'd see each other again so soon after she skittered off.

Amadeus gave her an odd look, the same sort of confused features a person about to watch someone jump off a thirty story building would have on their face.

After her request Judal snorted, his lips stretching further to the sides and lowered one hand to rake it's claws through the back of Ittuska's hair. [color=red"No."[/color]

Amadeus cringed when he felt the creature playing with his hair, thinking that putting a little trust in the woman's attempt to get him away from it was better than trying to warn her off. She was brave enough to come back to help him and there was a good chance that she'd do better than he had, said a glimmer of metal behind one of her shoulders. He glanced up at her, his face neutral and gave a quick nod while the creature was drawing its hand back between strokes. There wasn't much cord tying his hands at his waist, but if he was lucky she wouldn't need a lot of space to cut them. He held his hands out as far as he could and moved each to the side until the cords threatened to bite into his skin. The space in between was about half an inch of knotted cord that lashed one hand to another and that binding to a cord that went to his waist.

"Unless," Judal said suddenly, a good time after his first statement passed. "You can give me something better." He perked both eyebrows and slid his lips back together, smirking.

[Anonymous]

Arelnath's hands tightened immensely on the hilt of the blade, more than ready to attack the creature head-on without any more thought put behind it when he replied 'no'. Her arms shook slightly until she saw the human give a swift nod of his head. He knew she had the blade, that was good. But did that mean the creature knew about it as well? It didn't seem to be that way just yet.

Her right eyebrow arched up a bit. What was that creature talking about? Something better? What exactly did he want? Gold? Power? She couldn't decide, and she wasn't anything other than hesitant to even respond to his words. They bewildered her, surely it was some sort of thing that any other person holding someone in captivity would want. Unless this being had some sick twisted mind, which wasn't more than obviously assumed so. But she was far from being a mind reader, so as to what he thought was better was a complete mystery to her.

"And . . . what exactly would you be meaning? Whatever it is that you want in exchange for his freedom can be arranged." She was desperate, she had to admit that to herself. That human's life was hanging on it all, and she was going to do anything that she had to to give him his freedom. He didn't deserve that kind of treatment.