Spirits of the Earth

Lyra had found herself in a stray inn on Kunata. She liked the thanati, they were nice, friendly people. A soft smile appeared on her lips and she closed her eyes, humming softly along the tunes she produced by pulling the strings of her strange instrument.

She wouldn't sing this evening, no one effectively asked for a song, açd she by far wasn't paid enough to actually sing. Her voice wasn't warmed up, so it would hurt to attain the higher pitches.

But she liked it like this. She knew people were listening to her music. The strange traveler, sitting on her lonesome by a table, with a pint of ale on the table. A small gift from the innkeeper for entertaining his costumers this evening.

Gods did he hate bards.

It seemed everywhere he went, he was doomed to run into one of those fuckers.  Always begging, always dancing, always singing, or strumming on their fucking instruments, smiling their fucking surly smiles as coins were tossed their way.  And just when he thought he got far enough away from them on the mainland, he knew it was only a matter of time before he got another one here in fucking Thanatos.

He was a fool to think the dead couldn't sing.

Vance just stared at the bard sitting along, perhaps he was a little drunk.  Maybe he was a little ornery.  But he didn't care.  He just wished he could set her on fire just by looking at her.

Lyra, however, missed the menacing and drunk stare Vancd gave her, softly plucking the notes to produce soft notes, yet none in the inn seemed to make a move to actually pay her. And the bard seemed content to just sit there and play.

It was one of those nights where she wasn't playing for the money? Why bothef, she had recieved a good paycheck from escorting someone across the island. Her purse was filled and so was her stomach. There was no need to sing and make money with was both her hobby and her profession.

"Stop, please for the love of the gods and devils around us all, stop!" Vance hissed menacingly.

The soft strumming came to a halt as Lyra took exception to that, frowning. And so did other patrons.

The bard sat up with a slow sigh. "You're.. The first and only person asking for this to stop," she started. "Why, hm? I'm allowed to play this instrument when I want," she answered, yet still, she had stopped. The female was now curious to the sudden outburst, not intimidated in the slightest.

"Just quit it because no one else seems to be enjoying it either," Vance growled and shook his head.  "Geeze you think a man could just have a fucking drink in some peace and quiet."

He gripped his glass and leaned back over the bar, the other patrons returning to their conversations and minding their own business.

Some of the other patrons seemed to disagree audibly with him, rude remarks were thrown and some also made the gesture accompanying it, before they indeed went back to their own bussiness.

Lyra however only shrugged in response. "Fine," she answered as she left the instrument in her booth, sitting back and taking a sip from the ale.

"Thank you," Vance said after a few seconds, at first not quite believing that she really put her loot down.  Well, that was something wasn't it.  He wasn't sure how he ought to react to it.  Frankly she gave in too soon, and he was still mad.  But there was nothing he could do about that, and nothing she should care about either.

It wasn't that he felt guilty, but he supposed it didn't matter what he did.

He turned his head back to his drink and he downed the rest of it before dropping a coin onto the counter and sitting up.  He eyed the lute.  Hrmmm, just in case she got any ideas.  Casually he reached down and plucked the instrument up and walked out the door with it.

Everyone had the virtue of patience, by some it was short lived, others however were patient to ridiculous amounts. And then there was everything in between. But everyone also had that one limit that shouldn't be crossed.

And Vance just did that with Lyra.

She acknowledged his request and stopped playing, but as soon as he tried to pick up the lute, she hissed softly and pulled the blade from her back, standing infront if her lute as she pressed the tip against his throat. "Don't touch my shit," she bit out.

Who's there you two! Take it out of my tavern afore I call the guards.  And they won't be happy with a pair of troublemakers like you," the tavern owner said.

Vance quirked a brow at her and even grinned.  "What have you got to lose?"

Lyra glanced at the innkeeper, tsk'ing softly under her breath, before back at Vance. "A pint of ale," she answered with a soft snort as she lowered the sword. "You?"

Vance chuckled, quite amused that she actually put the blade down.  He supposed he wouldn't want to lose his own glass of alcohol.  If drinking anything in here was actually worth it, which it wasn't.  It tasted like piss.

"Nothing at all," he said with a smirk and quickly rushed her, smashing his skull against her skull and quickly reaching out to grasp the lute from behind her.

Lyra staggered at the sudden headbutt. But she sure as hell wasn't going to let herself be defeated just like that.

The woman whipped her head back forth, bringing up the blade to slam the hilt of it against his chest, stepping forward with the blow. Such a strike would most likely wind him, if not topple him.

Vance just used her momentum to pull her forward, snatching arms around her wrist and flipping her over where he could.  He turned and reached for the lute again, wrapping fingers around the neck of the instrument.

She immediately pulled her wrist away from him and allowed him to slip past. But now, she had the upper hand, or so she considered to be.

The mercenary spun on her heel, foot sliding behind her before she stepped forward, her hand surging forward to grip around his crotch like a vice. Provided her rather straight forward attack was indeed succesful, she'd hiss "let it go, or I'll make ya sing a higher pitch than I can,"only tightening the grip even more to enforce her remark further.

The hand on his junk was a certainly sharp way to make her point. But if Vance backed down because someone threatened to make a eunuch out of him, it'd be the first time.  He just grit his teeth and lunged for her neck, gripping the flesh there hard and squeezing in a strong grip.

But it seemed this fight was going to be a short lived show.  When a large glass bottle slammed into the woman's head, Vance laughed.  "HA!  That's what ya get -"

And another glass bottle slammed into his head as well, making his vision back.

And when they would wake up, both would be without clothing, sailing down the nearest river in a small raft in the pouring rain.

[If this is too much, let me know and I can edit it.  Just thought it was a funny change of pace.]

[It's alright! ^^]

And as soon as she felt him grabbing for his neck, she coughed, took a deep breath and only tightened the grip on his crotch. But as soon as the bottle hit the back of her head, she slumped forward against Vance.

Lyra woke with a deep gasp as the rain drummed down on her naked body. She looked around with wide eyes, slightly on edge because of missing clothes, weaponry and tools.

And the person she got into a stand off with yesterday. She whinced in pain and held her face in her hand, groaning softly at the sharp pain.

"Holy shit," Vance groaned, holding his head and looking up at the sky.  It was overcast, the rain pelting down and the steady motion of the raft didn't make his headache feel any better.  He opened his eyes wider, feeling all his appendages to make sure everything was intact and he quickly sat up.

"Holy SHIT!" he gasped and looked up over the water, saw they were heading right for the rapids. 

As Vance stirred to consciousness, all Lyra could do was glare at him, before letting out a snicker and turning her attention elsewhere.

Said attention was pulled by the harsh rapids they were headed towards and her eyes widened in shock, before she looked around the raft and tried to find something to hold on to, which she would proceed to do so desperately.

Oh they were in trouble now!

The raft careened and roiled as it struck rocks and turned round spun the pair nearly off of it.  Vance saw her slipping and lunged for her arm, gripping it firmly and pulling her back up on the raft.  Sure it'd be easier to just let her fall off, but counterbalance was what was keeping the damn thing afloat.

And Lyra damned knew that aswell, as she felt Vance gripping her hand, she immediately enforced the grip with her other, pulling herself up on the raft again to hold his hand tightly while her other hand clenched into the wood of the makeshift raft, nails cracking and blood seeping out.

They hit a hard rapid that tossed the raft in a corkscrew spin.  It was almost impossible to hold onto anything.  As she tried to hold onto the wood, so did he as they were rocked back and forth.  Vance was never fond of rapids, but that was because it was common to find himself on trips like these.

"We gotta jump off!" he cried out and held on for the first chance for still waters.

Lyra also held on and cried in pain as one of her fingernails got torn in half, but she heard Vance's words, noddong frantically.

And as soon as she saw the opportunity with stiller water, she jumped off, diving into the water and swimming to shore as fast as she could.

It was not so easy for Vance.  He didn't have a choice to jump off when a rock slammed hard into the raft and knocked him off.  He was dazed and found himself floundering in the water as it turned and turned around him.

That however, caught her attention. She immediately turned around and swam her way towards him, grabbing him by the first she could grab on, his hair, before trying to swim back to shore with him. This guy was the last one she wanted to be in debt to, so she'd save his life for the time he saved hers, several minutes ago.

Something tugged on Vance's hair.  He panicked at first until he was able to raise his head enough to see it was the bard.  He gasped for breath until he found a rock to pull himself over.  It was still slippery, but it was better than drowning.  Reaching down, he pulled Lyra up with him until they were able to crawl to shore.

"Fuck!" he panted, shaking his hair out like a dog.

Lyra pulled herself on shore after Vance pulled her up on a rock.

The former bard collapsed in the sand, panting heavily. "Holy.. Fuck," she muttered under her breath, before looking at Vance, immediately getting on her knees and covering her breasts with one arm, her crotch with her free hand.

No matter what she did, Vance was too busy trying to regain his composure than oogling her wiggly bits.

"PFffft!  It's not like I haven't seen anything like that before," he said with a sigh and flushed his nose out from the water that still remained.  "Besides this is your fault anyway."

"I don't care what you've seen before, you idiot," she hissed, crawling back. "And just how is this my fault? Your drunken ass got us in this shit." She pressed her arms closer against her body, scowling at him. "If it wasn't for you and your damn desire to have a dick measuring contest with a woman, we would have had clothes now."

"Forget it.  You're head is as thick as a fucking rock.  Look, we're going to freeze to death with we don't find someplace warm.  Someone has my things and I aim on getting them back," he said with a sniff, feeling his head reeling now of all times.

"Get real," Lyra answered with a snort, before pushing herself up. "Anything worth selling is sold, the rest got burned," she added easily, before shrugging. "And we should. Any ideas?"

"Make yourself useful, and grab some damn wood!" he grumbled. Vance wasn't in the mood for her negativity.  He nearly died because of her after all, and with nothing more on him than his skin, they were going to have a hell of a time finding some shelter to hide under.

He reached down to grab stacks of sticks and branches as he started trudging uphill.

Lyra got to work aswell, only rolling her eyes at the bullshit he gave her. There was a fine line between ordering and goddamned barking around. He was doing the latter and she hated it. But she knew he was only going to get worse, to intolerable levels if she talked back now, so she decided to keep her mouth shut.

Oh biy, did she regret pulling him out now. The former bard soghed softly and trailed behind him, hauling a good stock of deadwood with her.

Fighting with her made him quickly realized they weren't going to last long out here.  Damned if he was going to let himself die because of her.  Which he now connected that would be his own damn fault.  Because try as he might, even he couldn't fight logic.

The terrain was uneven and the rain kept pelting down.  Standing beneath large overgrown branches did help some, but not by much and he kept walking as the cold was starting to get to him. He was starting to shiver, but fought against it.  Still, he kept going until he found a small shelf of stone.  It wasn't much but it would get them out of the rain and hopefully keep them dry enough to be able to stay warm.

He sat down, perhaps a bit exhaustedly.  "Sorry," he grumbled.  "Snapping at you isn't helping."

As the rain kept beating down on them, Lyra leaned forward over the branches she had collected, in a desperate attempt to keep some of them dry, else it would be a pain to light them later on. And they needed the fire desperately so, if they hoped to survive.

She followed Vance underneath the stone shelf and sat down, immediately going to work on starting to build a fire with the driest pieces of wood she could find in the heap, starting desperately to light the fire with two sticks. She glanced back at him as he spoke, shaking her head. "It's alright," she murmured, focussing back on getting a fire started.

Vance crawled toward her, setting up some dried twigs he had that were in the inlet.  "Let me try," he said.  "Rubbing the stick back and forth gets better results.  Ahem...I mean the stick for making fire."

Lyra sat back as he came closer, they might have put their dofferences aside for now, but that didn't make it less uncomfortable to be with a complete stranger, completely naked.

So, as she sat back, be it subconciously, she raised her arm to cover her chest again, squeezing her legs together aswell. "Ah.. I see," she answered.

Vance hadn't thought of their nakedness, not really since it seemed moot to their mutual survival.  Sure he'd noticed.  He couldn't not see her body, but he made a point not to stare at her.  She did save his life.  It was the least he could do.

The fire soon started to smoke, and he encouraged it's growth with a few breaths until it took flame.  He threw more fuel onto it and he crawled up close beside her, body still shivering from the raining chills.

"You okay?" he asked, not really concerned but for his own survival he could play nice.  They would need to share body heat.

"Yeah," she answered, glancing up at him, hugging her own knees to preserve bodyheat. She was shivering aswell. "I'm fine," she murmured.

A brief silence, then she sighed softly. "I guess we have to huddle up in order not to freeze to death."

Vance was hesitant to scoot closer to her, but he did so, trying to huddle around the small fire.  "You know...I don't have to...be the big spoon.  I'm okay with being the little spoon."

Lyra shook her head with a soft snort. "You're bigger than me," she murmured, hugging her knees again. "It'd be impractical.."

"As impractical as it is to be completely naked in the middle of the Thanati wilderness?" Vance chuckled.  "It's either that or freeze to death.  And frankly, I don't do well with frontal pressure, and we did just meet.  You didn't even buy me a beer or anything.  So I can do little spoon."

"Fair point," Lyra agreed with a soft nod. "Sorry," she murmured, still shivering lightly, moving to hug herself tighter. "Well, find us a spot that isn't too rocky.. Then let's just.. Get this over with."

Vance scooted over to a patch of ground that was fairly dry but still cupped by the heat from the fire. It wasn't much, but it would keep them warm for the time being.  He cut his eyes back to her and patted the spot beside him.  "I won't bite, I promise."

"Just because you promised," she tried to joke to lift the mood in their grim situation ever so slightly.

She kneeled down behind him and went to lie down, wrapping her arms around his chest and sxooting closer untill her body pressed to his.

Despite their awkward circumstances, Vance decided it was better to ease into being comfortable than to keep himself resistant to her touch.  So he eased back against her and let out a deep breath, closing his eyes and letting himself fall asleep.

The fire would keep going for at least another hour or so, and in the meantime it spread warmth between himself and his tentative companion.

Lyra seemed to have decided the same, closing her eyes and leaning her head against his back, huffing softly before she also fell asleep.

At the crack of down, when the fire was nothing but a smoking piece of ashes and glowing embers, Lyra opened her eyes, blinking slowly before she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

Vance had gotten up earlier than her, enough to not disturb her and when he walked away, he was sure to be quiet about it. When he came back, he didn't come back with much more than a handful of berries each, but it was enough to sate a little bit of morning hunger.

"I've got some berries for ya," he said, emerging around the side of the cave and moving to sit beside her.  "You hungry?"

She had cracked a yawn when Vance sat next to her, holding up her hand to tell him to wait for a second. As her jaws settled again, she glanced at the handful of berries. "Yeah," she started, "my saviour," she added, without thinking.

Well, not like she could take it back now. It wasn't a sarcastic remark, rather just a witty tease. One that would be comical in any other situatiin.

"Savior. I'll take it. If only because you  offered it so graciously," Vance said with a chuckle.  He ate slowly, but it didn't matter since the berries stained his hands no matter what.

Once he was finished, he dusted off his hands and watched her a moment.  "So how long you been a bard?"

Lyra was less reserved about eating slowly. She was starved, manners be damned.

She sat up hen she was done, not çearly enough to statisfy any adult, but it at least was something.

"Hm. As long as I can remember, I  travelled with a bard as a kid, grew up learning the trade. But being a bard alone these days is too hard, hired muscle aswell as.. ahem paid company," she added with a shrug.

"So you're more of a Jack of all Trades then?" he murmured.  Maybe she wasn't so bad after all if her skill set stemmed beyond simple barding.  Even that had to get on her nerves once in a while.

She nodded softly. "More or less," she added to the nod, sitting back. "What about you? What do you do to get around when you're not clobbered over the head and dropped on a raft, completely naked?"

Vance laughed.  "Sister, I can say this is fairly normal for me," he muttered.

"I just regret not being completely drunk while it was happening. I regret not having a drink now.  Nevertheless, in answer to your question, I tend to moonlight between professions. I go wherever I'm needed. Odd jobs, hired to lend a hand when things need getting done."

Because that sounded much better than 'bum'.

She arched an eyebrow, then smirked and leaned back on her elbows. "So, I can rely on you to get an amateur in.. Being naked and dropped on a raft out safe?" She inquired with a soft smirk.

"If we get out of here and with somea money," she snorted softly. "I'll buy you a drink."

He laughed again, this time more out of disbelief than humor. Now she was peachy and friendly?

"I guess it'd be against our best interests to be at each other's threads. But I'd  advise you against making promises you don't intend to keep," he said with a grin.

He brought her food. What was there not to be friendly about? Even if the amount was sorely lacking toto what was required, he still went out of his way to share.

"Oh. I do intend to.keep it," she answered with a soft grin. "I'd say to swear it on my lute, but," she rolled her eyes with a soft sigh. "That's long gone now."

"I'll find a way to replace it," he murmured. "I'm not fond of the instrument, but...it wasn't mine to smash. I'm no bard, even if your ways of making money do seem rather easy.  But then again, seeing the inn you were playing in, it couldn't have been very much."  He chuckled and stirred the flames.

"So you in?  Wanna help me find the bastards that took our stuff?  Maybe get your lute back if its in one piece?"

She shook her head. "Now that's a promise you can't keep," she snickered softly. "That lute belonged to the man who taught me. May sound stupid, but it's an emotional piece," she answered with a soft sigh, hugging her knees to her chest.

"I'm in," she answered with a bitter chuckle. "Even if it's to beat the shit out of whoever took my lute."

"Then I guess we better find that lute in one piece. Or I'll fear the fate of whoever has it or its pieces stashed away," Vance murmured.  "So, who's this guy?  That taught you to play."

"Let's hope it's still in one piece," Lyra answered with a soft sigh. "Roderick," she answered, smirking softly. "I never met my real parents, he told me he found me on the streets and took me in as his," she shrugged softly. "He was a single man who taught me both how to play the lute and to fight."

A soft breath escaped her. "But one night, he was just gone. I don't know why or where he went. But he just disappeared."

"How sad," he murmured. "But that's the way of things. Most does not gather on a rolling stone sort of thing."

He smirked just a bit. "When were you ready to move along? I think my ass has gone numb long enough."

Lyra snorted softly and shrugged slowly. "I got over it," she answered. "It's just a sob story now," she answered. "Though, still got that."

She glanced at Vance and chuckled slowly, pushing herself up. "Let's go, then," she answered with a soft breath.

Vance stood and kicked the ashes of the fire around. It was chillier than he though, and being hidden from the sun only aided in the brief shivers that coursed down his spine.

From the corner of his eye he watched Lyra, vaguely admiring her form.  He didn't say anything regarding it however, and began going back down the path, just grateful for the dry weather.

Lyra turned around to glance at the water, stretching her arms as she did, before turning around to fall into step next to Vance, silently.

The going was quiet, which suited Vance just fine. The way was opened as there was a parting in the trees, and a dirt path was worn and opened up between a vale of trees and some empty stumps up on the right side. Vance looked wary, seeing paw prints in the dirt and mud and the smell of ammonia was present in the air.

"What kind of wild animals are on this island?" he asked idly.

She came up next to Vance, glancing at the prints, sighing slowly. "Big fucking cats, mostly," she answered, glancing around.

"Big as in...big for a house cat. Or...big as in...might as well be a fucking bear?" he asked, and already he felt like something was following them.

"Might aswell be a fucking bear,," she answered with a soft hum. "We'll have toto be careful, those things rip a person to shreds in the blink of an eye."

"You ought to lead the way. I think you know the terrain a little better than I do," Vance said, stepping behind her.

"Terrain, yes," Lyra answered. "Though I have no clue where we are." But regardless, the former bard made her way down the path, ocasionally hissing in pain as she passed over a sharp set of rocks between the dirt.

"Aren't you from here?" he asked with a nudge against her shoulder. "Or are you as foreign to these temple-dancers as I am?"

"I was born in Serendipity," she answered, nudging him back. "Though I don't stay in one place for long. So I'm as foreign as you are."

"That's just great," Vance sighed in resignation. He pushed it past him though as they tread further onto the path, the ground seeming to be recently disturbed.

Something was moving in the bushes to their left.  "Fuck," he whispered, and crouched low suddenly. "You said big as fucking bears right?....  Man, I had hoped you were wrong.  Run... Run!"

"Don't. Run," she answered immediately as she crouched aswell. "If such a cat wants us, if we run, it'll catch up," she whispered softly. "We can't outrun this."

"Are you crazy? What the hell do you mean don't run?" Vance hissed. "We don't have any weapons!"

"We don't," she answered. "Though if we start running now, we make ourselves an easy target. And whatever's watching will feel challenged to catch up."

"Then we're pretty much fucked is what you're saying," Vance growled.  "So what do we do?  We're both rather defenseless against a damn wild cat!"

"We try to sneak away," she answered, sushing him as his voice rose slightly with his last sentence. "That's the only shot we have, trust me," Lyra whispered with a deep breath.

Oh god, was he really going to do that?  Just trust her not to get them both killed?

What other choice did he have?  "Fine!  Belly crawling!" he directed and dropped to the ground, listening as the soft purring of the mountain cat stalked closer.

She nodded curtly and dropped to the ground, slowly started to crawl across the ground, slowly. Her eyes darting back and forth constantly to check their surroundings.

He waited until the sound drew away slightly before shuffling away slightly.  He breathed in tight short bursts and hated the feeling of his junk rubbing against the dirt.  Ugh, he so needed a bath after this.  And he'd personally skin anyone who stole their clothes.  Those fuckers.

He had just gotten that jacket too.

It wasn't more comfortable for Lyra at all, with her female parts dragging across the dirt. She hissed softly under her breath yet moved on, trying to breath as silently as possible.

The moving was the easy part. It was the being as quiet as possible part that was growing increasingly difficult. No doubt the lion was closer now and could smell them, and Vance held his breath in long intervals it was making his head hurt.

Just as they neared the edge of the rock, the mountain lion was perched above it, purring gently.

Lyra send one swift glance upwards, before moving on as silently as she could. There was no use in waiting for any miracle. They just had to move out as fast as possible.

Unable to wait much longer, Vance pulled his feet underneath him and bolted at the first opportunity the cat's vision was side-ways. He lunged for the treeline and gestured Lyra to follow him.

Lyra let out a soft breath as Vance lunged away. While the oversized cat kept perched on its rock, it now stared at the treeline he dove in. Attention remaining there.

The bard glanced around, before finding a rock she could use. She ever so slowly rolled on her back and sat up slightly, before flinging the rock away from the treeline. It landed on another boulder with a loud, yet dry knock. That should get its attention.

And then, she got to her feet and sprinted for the same treeline Vance went for. Disregarding her softt flesh and the thorns most likely present, she dove in.

Thorny thickets did in fact pierce flesh, but there was space enough between the boughs and branches to allow Vance to crawl through.  He pulled a few barbs from his skin, wincing here and there and turning to Lyra once she was through.

"That was close," he hissed.  "And....er, sorry. But that crawling was taking forever. Getting burs on my balls is one thing rather than being eaten alive."