The normally fitful Scarlet seemed rather pale from her seat in the inn. She questioned just why she decided to visit the yoreiqi isles. Boats weren't her thing. She hated boats. And sea-sickness from the early morning caused her stomach to be still slightly upset. On one hand, she was starving. On the other, she had no idea whether shethe could keep it all in. And by no means did she want to end up retching like she did during noon.
A soft grumble came from her stomach, which seemed to disagree with her sentiment and wanted nothing but food. Well, here goes nothing. With the thought in mind, Scarlet glanced up at the warden who had been staring at her just a tad too long. Well, not at her but at the bunny ears she possessed. It was quite rare, after all.
Instead of swearing at him, she gave the young warden a soft smile to recover from his first impression. "Oh, yes, sorry for taking so long on deciding. A warm meal, extra bread and something to drink with honey," she requested. The warden caught her gesture and nodded, murmuring his thanks and the stereotypical 'I'll be right back'.
She returned a nod and glanced at the large, conical hat and dusted it off with a soft breath, before hanging itis on her staff, rather than letting it rest on the massive leather tome she lugged around.
At the other side of the inn, a man wearing a full set of knight's armor sat alone at a small table, looking through a satchel that contained all of his earthly belongings, save for his sword and shield, the former of which was sheathed on his right hip and the latter resting on top of the table.
'Sixty-four gold coins, a few herbs to perhaps make some kind of healing salve, and a few rolls of cloth to soak up and staunch any bleeding should my armor be pierced. Looks like I have everything...though I do wish that I had more than just the basics,' Richter mused to himself as he finished taking stock of all of his supplies, putting everything back inside now that he was done and strapping the satchel to his left hip.
'Now, to decide what to do next. There's supposed to be a town roughly a day's walk from here, but with all the talk of bandit activity in the area, I'm not certain that I could make the journey safely, let alone do it by myself,' the knight hummed softly, a loose fist propped up under his chin in contemplation.
Then, he looked up to see a woman with bunny ears sprouting from the top of her head, sitting at the other side of the inn and looking slightly ill. The second set of ears wasn't the main thing that drew his attention.
It was the heavy leather tome, pointy hat, and mage's staff that were next to her.
'She's a mage...and more importantly, someone who could help me get to the next town,' Richter thought to himself as he picked his shield up off of the table and slid his forearm into the leather straps that made up the handle before standing up from his seat and making his way to the girl.
Her meal was delivered, she paid the according amount and started to eat. Her stomach seemed to calm down as she ate. So most of her nausea was caused by a lack of nutrition. Good to know, people became weaker if they didn't eat. Quite obvious. She let out a soft sigh. Quite stupid.
She then glanced at the armoured knight who stopped at her table, frowning softly as she did. "Fhejjo?" She inquired, swallowing the bread and beef still in her mouth. "How can I help you?"
"Yes, actually, you can. I was sitting at the other side of the inn when I noticed you sitting here and looking quite ill, but more importantly, I noticed that you were a mage, judging by the tome, staff, and hat that you have with you," Richter responded, giving a short gesture to the items in question. "I have a proposal for you: Once you are finished eating and/or do not have any other obligations or tasks to take care of here, I would like you to accompany me to a town a day's walk from here. I would make the trip myself, but after hearing so much about bandit activity being on the rise in that area, I felt that it would be prudent if I went there with a companion to back me up."
He then pointed at her staff and her tome, "As a mage, you could provide ranged support for me and prevent anyone from sneaking up on me from behind. In exchange, I'd protect you from anyone that got too close to you."
"And even if we don't end up fighting anyone at all, I'd still very much appreciate the companionship after traveling alone for so long," Richter finished, then held his hand out for her to shake. "What do you say?"
The torrent of words in explanation followed and Scarlet could only giggle in return, giving him a soft smile. "Firstly, I'd need a name," she answered, resting her utensils down, gesturing at the seat before her. "And what town is this? I was planning on resting up here and moving inland tomorrow."
She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "And yeah... I'm not that good with boats, y'know," she murmured, letting out a wry smirk. "Grandmaster Ariana Scarlet Titanis, or just Scarlet. A pleasure to meet you too."
"Well, my name is Richter. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Scarlet. As for the town in question: It's a town that's several kilometers inland from here known as 'Prova,' if I recall correctly. So regardless of whether or not you come with me, you'd be heading inland if you decided to go there...though I'd very much prefer if you accompany me there," Richter responded, giving her a small bow upon giving her his name.
"So, will you come with me to Prova?"
"Hmm. It shouldn't be more than a day, then," she mused. "Tomorrow, yes. Today I just want a good night's sleep," she answered, glancing up at him. "I trust you have a room here?" She inquired before proceeding to eat again.
"...Not yet. I was actually planning on leaving here before I saw you and came up to talk to you, so I've yet to purchase a room...and I have only 64 gold on me, and the rent for a single night is about 75. So, unless you want me to camp out outside your room and act like a hired bodyguard or something...or possibly let me sleep in the room with you, I have no way to secure a room," Richter explained, a hint of nervousness and slight embarrassment in his tone.
Scarlet hummed softly with a frown. "I-... Fine," she let out a soft sigh. "You're sleeping in mine, but I got my eyes on you," she answered with a soft pout and a puffed cheek.
"We leave tomorrow," she stated with a soft sigh, finishing up her meal.
"Thank you, Miss Scarlet. If it makes you feel any better, I'll sleep on the floor or against the wall. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or anything," Richter thanked the...'Usagi,' he vaguely remembered her kind being referred to as.
With that, he headed towards the stairs, having been informed by the innkeeper that the overnight rooms were upstairs.
"I'll be waiting upstairs, okay?" Richter softly called back to Scarlet before making his way up the wooden stairs.
"It'd make me feel better, yes," she admitted with a soft sigh, following his movements closely as he made his way upwards. "I'm going to stay down here for some time, why don't you join me?"
She smirked softly. "Pay me some drinks, so you earn that room."
Richter froze halfway up the stairs, then made his way back down to the ground floor.
"...You...want me to pay for your drinks in order for me to stay in your room over night?" Richter asked, his tone conveying a 'frown' as he walked up to her once more. "Unless you've been drinking the cheapest stuff that they have here, I wouldn't be able to afford more to pay for more than one or two drinks. Even if I did have enough gold to pay for your drinks, I likely would have barely anything left to buy food or drink for myself afterwards."
"One or two are fine," she huffed with a dismissive gesture. "And, besides that, just keep me company, I want to know who I'm spending a room with, after all."
Scarlet tutted her lips. "Then what are you planning on doing? How do you make a living?"
Richter sighed quietly and sat down in the chair directly across from Scarlet, "Well, I mainly earn coin by doing various jobs for the people or villages I come across. A pack of wolves that are killing the livestock need to be exterminated? I cut them down. A group of bandits is harassing a merchant and his wagon? I take cars of the bandit problem. I've managed to get by reasonably well on that alone, and until I decide it's time to settle down or I find a steady or well-paying job, that's how I'm going to continue making a living."
The knight drummed his fingers on the table's surface as he hummed in thought, "As for getting to know me...well, I've already told you that my name is Richter. I'm also a knight, as you can obviously tell by the armor. I wanted to become a knight ever since my parents started telling me stories about heroic knights protecting the innocent, slaying dragons, and so on. Then, at the age of ten, I ran away from home to pursue my dream. I managed to get to a small hamlet named Orthos, where the Captain of the Orthos Knights, Noctis Caelum, took me on as a squire."
"For ten years, I trained and served as Noctis's squire, until at the age of twenty, I was knighted by the lord of Orthos, Farris Arlios. After being knighted, I spent four years diligently serving Orthos until...certain circumstances forced me to - with the permission of Lord Arlios and Sir Noctis - leave the Orthos Knights to travel alone. Now, three years later, here I am," Richter explained to the Usagi, finishing with an outward sweep of his arms.
She listened to Richter's story, occasionally nodding and humming her approval. "I see," she answered when he concluded his story. "And, what do you plan to do in Prova?" She inquired, leaning forward to rest her chin on her laced fingers, elbows propped on the table.
"Do you have a contract there? Or just traveling?"
"Well, if you recall, I stated that I wasn't comfortable with travelling to Prova. That's because there's been a strangely high amount of bandit activity in the region. Some suspect that it might be because the bandits have set up a camp somewhere around there, which means that they could attack anyone who's travelli to Prova. According to pretty much everyone I've asked, a significant percentage of Prova's economy and income is made up by trade with other villages."
"With the threat of being raided by bandits looming over the heads of anyone who'd come to trade in Prova, there's been a decline in trade partners coming to Prova, which means that sooner or later, the bandits are going to bleed Prova dry. Once that happens, and Prova is too poor or ill-equipped to do anything...well, you can guess what the bandits will do," the knight trailed off, letting Scarlet reach the obvious conclusion before clearing his throat and continuing on.
"So to directly answer your question: It's a little bit of both. I'm travelling there in order to get a contract/job to wipe out any and all bandits in the area," Richter finished.
"Understood," Scarlet answered, taking a swig from her mug, before her face contorted. Her cheeks got a soft blush. "Alcohol," she murmured softly. Well, it was something with honey in it. She had money, so she could drink. It'd just be a pain to go around and study the given relic with a hangover. "I am early to my appointment," she said with a soft sigh, leaning forward. "A week or so. I can help out," she smirked softly. "Ofcourse, for a share of the coin."
She giggled softly and rose her hand for another drink. The mead laced with honey wasn't too bad.
Rochter shrugged, "Fair enough. We'll split the coin fifty-fifty once we're done...then we'll go our separate ways...I guess."
The knight then frowned underneath his helmet as he noticed how increasingly inebriated Scarlet was getting, "I wouldn't recommend drinking too much. Otherwise, your head will be killing you come morning."
She leaned forward again, smirking softly. "Deal," she answered with a soft stammer to her voice. Growing slightly more drunk. The warden delivered a new mug, nodding in respect at Richter, before leaving again.
"You can't tell me what to do-" she babbled as she had downed roughly half her cup in one go. "I tell me what to do," she added with a crooked grin.
"...Very well, but don't say that I didn't warn you," Richter replied as he fished out all of the coins in his satchel and placed them on the table.
"Now, I will be waiting upstairs, if you need me," the knight said as he turned around to head toward the stairs, only to pause and look back at Scarlet. "Oh, and please do try not to kill yourself by drinking too much. I'd hate to see my travelling companion die before our journey can even begin."
With that, the armored man made his way upstairs, the sound of his metallic footsteps fading as he got further away.
"Bah," Scarlet replied as she downed her second drink. "Stay," she gestured towards the seat. "Someone needs to carry me upstairs," she answered with a soft grin. "Because I know I'll have difficulties doin' so," she said, her state of inebriation only growing worse as she made a gesture for another drink.
Upon hearing Scarlet call out after him, Richter suppressed an annoyed sigh and made his way back down the stairs for the second or third time that day.
"I do hope that you becoming intoxicated does not become a common occurrence while we're travelling together," the knight told the Usagi in as flat a tone as possible, taking a seat next to the bunny-eared woman and simply waiting for the inevitable to happen.
"Nah," she blared resting her head forward on the table. "Jus' this once," she murmured with a soft, content sigh. Her ears twitched slightly, before drooping against the table. She closed her eyes and started to snore softly.
The knight sighed and scooped Scarlet up into his arms, then carefully walked upstairs and made his way to the overnight rooms. Then he froze halfway though the hallway when he realized that he had no idea what room Scarlet (and by extension, himself) were staying in.
He almost resigned himself to giving up and letting Scarlet just use him as a pillow when he realized that she likely had the key to her/their room on her person.
The problem with that was going to be finding the key...and he wasn't about to search her body while she was intoxicated at any point.
Scarlet seemed more than content to be scooped up in someone's arm, muttering some drunken nonsense under her breath.
She snuggled closer to his chest, taking a deep breath and turning slightly in his arms. "I don't like the armour," she breathed softly, before glancing up. "Key in pouch.. Third room to the right."
A silent sigh of immense relief left Richter's lips as he fished the key out of her pouch and, after shifting Scarlet's position so that he was holding her with one arm, unlocked the door and headed inside.
He gently placed her on the bed and went back to close and lock the door behind them, then pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat in it, "Well, I'll be right here, if you want or need anything, Miss Scarlet."
The so called Usagi let out a drunken giggle as he went for the pouch on her belt. "Watch out.. The tail is very [/i]sensitive[/i]-," she croaked, before succumbing to her alcohol induced slumber again.
It was when she was placed on the bed, a soft sigh escaped her. "Help me geddese robes off," she murmured as she tugged at her sleeves.
"...I am not comfortable doing this whatsoever, just to let you know," the knight told the Usagi, carefully helping her take her robes off while averting his gaze just enough that he could see what he was doing...without the risk of seeing anything he shouldn't.
"You're fiiine~" she stammered with another soft giggle. Scarlet didn't really just sit in his arms and let him go ahead, she seemed to have a particularly hard time with her cloak, fiddling with the buttons before pulling the enchanted cloth off.
Once they were finished taking Scarlet's robes off, Richter immediately backed away from the woman and sat back down in his chair, "Alright, is that all you need, Miss Scarlet? If so, then I'm going to sleep now. Oh, and have pleasant dreams, I suppose."
"You too," she sighed softy, snuggling into the blanket. After a brief moment of silence, the inebriated Usagi frowned softly and looked up to him.
"Are you going to sleep in that armour?"
"Yes, actually. Ever since I was almost murdered in my sleep by a group of bandits posing as the staff of an inn, I've chosen to sleep in my armor for the added protection. Plus, with the helmet on - as well as the fact that I never snore or make any sounds that would indicate sleep beyond normal breathing - no one would be able to tell if I was awake or not, which adds both an intimidation factor and discourages anyone from any...'untoward' actions," Richter answered the woman, a mixture of deadpan and amusement in his tone.
The knight paused, then shrugged, "Besides, it's actually surprisingly comfortable. I got used to it after the first three days."
The Usagi, still being quite inebriated, reached down for her robes, leaning on the side of the bed. This gave Richter quite the view from her bare back and rather loose undergarments, her lower back, right above the small line that started between her buttocks was adorned with a fluffy tail.
Scarlet, however, fished out a throwing knife and a paper charm from the belt. She pressed her index and middle finger against the charm and sent a short surge of magic through, before throwing it up in the air.
The throwing knife whizzed through the paper charm and slammed into the wooden door, the hilt shivering softly. "There. Any intruders will be shocked and paralyzed," she murmured as she snuggled back into the pillows.
Richter nodded just before the Usagi buried her face in the pillows, but didn't move from his spot nor made any attempt to remove his armor.
Instead, he carefully and quietly turned the chair around to face the door, then crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes.
Before he fell asleep, his last thought was of the horrid morning that Scarlet was going to have when she woke up.
He pitied the poor girl.
With a soft groan, Scarlet stirred and sat up with a soft yawn, before stretching slowly, rising up with the blanket. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and glanced around the room, before a blush coloured her cheeks as she laid eyes on Richter, a soft squeal of surprise ensuing
She pulled the blanket closer and forced her eyes shut. "Turn around!" She demanded, quite flustered.
Richter was already turning the chair around so that his back was to the Usagi by the time she had let out that surprisingly cute squeal.
"Do what you need to do. My eyes are closed, regardless, so there's no need to worry about me seeing anything," the knight told the girl with a flat tone.
"Good!" She exclaimed with a soft sputter, shaking her head as she pulled her robes underneath the sheets and hastily started to get clad.
Richter kept his back to Scarlet and his eyes firmly shut as he waited semi-patiently for the Usagi to finish getting dressed.
After a short while, a petulant huff came from her. "Done," she murmured as she sat up. "You didn't take my book, staff or hat to this room, did you?" She inquired with a soft frown. Last thing she remembered was that she had left it downstairs in her booth.
The book and stave weren't an issue, the hat was.
The knight simply pointed to one of the chairs at the other end of the room, which had her hat hanging off of the top of the backrest.
"I figured that it had some sentimental value, due to how well-worn it looks, so I snagged it while I was carrying you and heading towards the stairs. As for the staff and tome, they're likely still at your booth from last night, if they haven't already been taken," Richter explained as he stood up from the chair and rolled each of his shoulders individually, a series of satisfying pops coming from his joints.
"Oh," she flicked her hand and the hat came flying towards. Scarlet caught it and tipped the oversized thing on her head, standing up again. "Well, it doesn't matter," she said with a soft shrug and a deep breath.
She walked over to the door and wrenched the throwing knife and seal from the wall after a brief discharge of magic to neutralize it.
Then, she headed to the middle of the room and bit her thumb, before starting to scribe runes of blood on the floor. "The stave and book are linked to me," she explained, before stepping back.
Richter could feel the veil tear, a blue flame flakkered amidst the crimson circle of ruins. And soon, the runes were burned up. And on the floor was the staff and the book, still smoking softly. "Like clockwork."
Richter raised an unseen eyebrow at her little display of magic, letting out a soft chuckle, "Nice show you gave me there. Maybe I could ask you to teach me how to do that, sometime. It'd certainly help me keep track of my belongings."
"If you wish to fragment your soul and part of your essence in your belongings," Scarlet answered with a soft chuckle. "I can teach you how, but you'll suffer of soul siphon from some days," she shook her head. "And with your magical prowess, probably develop several cases of amnesia and insomnia."
Richter stared at Scarlet, and although she couldn't see his face, she could tell from his posture that he was either creeped or weirded out by her statement.
"...I...retract my request. I'd very much like to keep my soul the way it is, thank you very much," the knight replied slowly.
(OOC: I was tempted to make a joke and have Richter say "Pfft, please. I have no soul." then cue demonic screaming and eldritch horrors lurking in his shadow or something. Also, is...this okay, for me to put an OOC note here in a post like this?)
[It's fine, don't sweat it ^^. And; "A soul? Pfsh. I am already dead ln the inside."]
"Hmm. I do imagine a soul in one piece being healthier," she agreed with a soft hum. "But, in essence. These objects possess pieces of my soul." The explanation was rather simplified. But that was what it boiled down to.
She stretches softly and hitched the stave around her back, hanging the massive book from a loop in her belt,. "Anyhow. Ready to go?"
"I've been ready since last night. Since I'm carry everything that I own at all times, I'll almost always be ready before you are," the knight replied, gesturing towards the door with one hand.
"Sure," she replied with a soft quip, not caring for the rest of his remark. She was fully aware it was her choice to spend the night.
But regardless, she made her way down the stairs of the inn, before walking out into the street. She stepped in the middle of the road and started stretching with a soft moan, before taking a deep breath. "Adventure!" She called loudly.
"...You're acting very differently from how you were acting last night. But, for the sake of my sanity, I'm not going to ask why," Richter remarked, making sure that his sword, shield, and satchel were secured to his body before walking past Scarlet. "Now, let's get moving, shall we?"
Scarlet glanced at Richter again, frowning softly. "I was ill yesterday," she explained, before stretching her shoulders. "But, let's move on, yes. Lead the way."
Richter nodded, then pointed in the direction opposite from the port, "That way leads to Prova, according to the map and a few of the people around here that I've asked. Just follow close behind or beside me, and we'll get there."
With that, he walked off in the direction of Prova, his metal boots making hefty thuds against the ground with each step.
(OOC: I am SOO sorry that I didn't respond earlier. College life is a bitch.)
[No problem. I'm also having some matters IRL that require a lot of my attention ^^]
Scarlet rested the staff over her shoulder, hand resting upon the massive, leatherbound tome as she struggled to keep up withthe him. "Oi!" She called after a short while. "My legs ain't as long as yours!" She protested with a soft pout.
Richter looked back over his shoulder at the Usagi and let out a sigh, then wordlessly slowed down his pace so that Scarlet could catch up to him.
She did manage to catchmake up, falling into step next to him. "Much better," she stated, straightening out her robes as she walked. "Tell me about yourself," she quipped with a soft breath.
Richter looked at Scarlet with an eyebrow raised beneath his helmet, "I thought I already told you about my life's story. There's not much else to know that I'm willing to tell you, or anyone else, for that matter. I need to have some secrets, after all."
"I don't need your backstory, silly," she quipped in retort, shaking her head. Hat and ears swaying along. "Who you are. What you like and dislike. Colours, food, all that," Scarlet explained with a soft hum.
The knight didn't respond for a few moments, then nodded and let out a short breath, his gaze drifting up to look at the sky as he hummed in thought.
"...Well, as I've already told you, my name is Richter, and I'm a Knight. As for likes and dislikes...well, I like sunrises and sunsets, being a knight, helping others, honing my skills, maintaining my equipment, seeing the happiness of others, peace and quiet, and simply being alive. I hate bandits, slavers, senseless murder and/or violence, rapists, bigotry, and arrogance."
"My favorite color is red, and...I can't really choose a favorite food, since there's too many delicious foods that I like for me to choose just one out of all of them," Richter finished with a shrug.
Scarlet smiled softly, letting out a hum of approval. "I see. As for myself-" her words were interrupted by a loud yelling.
"Hold right there, travelers!" Came the call as a man clad in leather armour and furs stepped on the road from the treeline next to it. Several others followed him out, shouldering crude axes or rusty swords. "You two seem like the type to be able to cough up some nice coin over there," the man called, making his way over to the pair. Scarlet glanced towards Richter, taking a deep breath.
She pulled the book from her belt, letting it drop to the floor. The tome opened on itself and hovered inches above the ground. "Allow me?" She inquired, glancing over at the man.
The knight let out a low chuckle and drew his sword to hang lazily at his side, "By all means, go ahead."
"Good," she said with a soft exhale. She rested the butt of her staff against the ground, tilting it slightly. Her hand hovered above the book, followed by sparks of lightning springing from the pages to her hand. "Be consumed by the all eating storm," she murmured under her breath, a massive ball of lightning surging underneath her hand.
And so, the bolt surged forward, surging over the road, scorching the stone and sparking between the bandits. Ending the fight before it started.
As the electrically-fried corpses hit the ground, Richter shook his head in either amusement, disappointment, or both, "Shame that most bandits don't understand that it isn't a good idea to attack a mage or a knight when all the bandits have is half-broken weaponry. Shall we go and search them for anything useful, like gold or a map?"
(OOC: I just realized as I'm writing this that I put "Venka" in one of my previous posts on this page instead of "Prova," the latter of which is where these two are headed. Venka is the name of Richter's hometown. I am a derp, sometimes.)
[Aren't we all?]
Scarlet shrugged softly, making her way over to the massacre. "Because they're desperate?" She inquired, leaning down. "And I hardly believe there'd be a map.. Or coins left," she glanced up at Richter, before blowing on one of the heaps of ashes.
The entire group was completely turned to them. Including their clothes and items.
Richter stared at the piles of ashes, almost certain that moments before, they'd still been mere corpses (albeit charred). Chalking it up to a trick of the eyes, he let out a disappointed sigh and shrugged his metal-clad shoulders, "Oh, well. No matter. A map or coin would have been nice, but we can continue just fine without them. All we have to do is keep following this path, and we'll be there within a few days or - if, gods forbid, a storm comes or highwaymen hold us up - a week."
"Understood," Scarlet quipped with a singing voice, before stopping in her tracks. "Shit," she murmured under her breath. "Did you bring a tent.. Or a bedroll to camp out?"
"No. But these bandits most likely do, since I can't imagine that they'd stay out in the rain and sleep on the dirt of their own accord. Since they probably weren't dumb enough to stay too far away from their camp, I'd say that they set up camp somewhere nearby. Let's get looking, shall we? With any luck, they might have some gear or supplies back at their camp," the knight replied, already walking past the piles of ash and searching for something in the dirt. "First things first, we look to see if they left any footprints that could lead us back to where they'd been staying."
"Fair enough," Scarlet quipped with soft hum, she extended her hand. The book slammed shut again, the blow reverberating through the ground, before levitating back to her hand. The Usagi clipped it back to her belt, skipping behind Richter.
The knight's eyes scanned the dirt around them for footprints or any other sign of where the now-deceased bandits had come from, then looked over at Scarlet, "Why don't you use your magic or any of your other senses to see if you can find out where their camp is? Maybe listen for a campfire with those cute bunny ears of yours."
"Cute? Excuse you?" She inquired, before letting out a soft chuckle, shaking her head. She walked up next to Richter, before kneeling down, pressing her hand on the ground, closing her eyes.
A soft thrum reverberated through the ground, before she nodded with a soft hum. And like that, she sprung back to her feet again. "That'a way," she quipped, pointing into the forest. "Several hundred meters."
"Perfect. I'm glad that I brought you along; you've made this trip a hundred times easier, already. Now, let's get to that camp," Richter said as he suddenly grabbed Scarlet just under the joint of her arms, then lifted her up so that she was sitting on his right shoulder and started walking in the direction that she pointed out.
"Oh, and I hope that you don't mind me doing this. I just want to have you as our little lookout as we approach the camp. If there are any other bandits around, you'll probably be able to spot them from where you are before they see us," the knight added with an apologetic tone.
A soft squeal came from Scarlet as she was picked up and placed on a shoulder pauldron, frowning and looking down at Richter. "You could've asked!" She answered with a soft pout, feeling at least slightly uncomfortable that Richter just went ahead and lifted her up. "But yeah, let's go," she answered with a soft huff.
Richter turned his head slightly to look at the Usagi on his shoulder, then lowered his gaze to the ground as if ashamed, "Sorry, Miss Scarlet. For what it's worth, you get to have both the tent and whatever else we find at their camp - supplies, weapons, food, water and so on - all to yourself for the next three days as compensation. I'll just make do with what I can find."
"No, don't," she murmured softly. "Just share.. I don't really mind or care either way," she fidgeted on his shoulder. "Just.. Next time, a warning is appreciated."
"...Alright. Still, I'm very sorry that I forgot to ask permission. It hopefully won't happen again," Richter replied, then fell silent as the two traveling companions continued walking in the direction of their goal.
She flustered slightly, shaking her head. "Just.. Keep it in mind," she murmured.
After a brief period of silence, she spoke up again. "This.. Also isn't too comfortable.. Your pauldron is pushing up in my.. ahem..." She ended with the clearing of her throat. Hoping Richter would at least understand what she meant.
Richter immediately, albeit carefully, set Scarlet down beside him, "My apologies. I didn't know that that would happen. Let's...let's just continue moving forward, shall we?"
Scarlet tried to play it off like it was nothing with but a simple shrug. But it was still very awkward. A warm blush still on her cheeks as she took several quick steps to get infront of Richter. Lest he not see her emberassment, answering his suggestion withwith a murmured "yeah".
Richter walked with Scarlet in silence, his gaze fixed straight ahead of them.
He hoped that they found that damned camp, soon. Otherwise, the next few minutes were going to be awkward.
At least Scarlet looked adorable when she blushed; it made him feel a little better about the situation.
And as expected. The pair did come across a rather shoddy looking camp.
Scarlet made her way towqrds the still sizzling campfire, pressing her hand down against the hot embers. But rather than having her hand completely burned, she murmured softly something under her breath. "What has transpired here?" Was the question she posed the emberstime, her eyes glazing over with a deep red.
Not familiar with whatever Scarlet was doing, the knight merely stood back and kept watch for any signs of more bandits or hostile wildlife.
Within the (relative) safety of his mind, Richter questioned why the spell, or whatever it was the Usagi was doing, required her to shove her hands into hot embers.
Then he remembered that it was magic, and magic didn't need to make sense.
OOC: I am SO sorry about double-posting like this, but I wanted to make sure that you haven't forgotten about this thread, and I wasn't sure if you were reading your private messages, since you hadn't replied to the first one I sent, and I sadly doubted that you'd reply to the second one.
So...please please pleeease notice me, Scarlet senpai?