Spirits of the Earth

OOC: Tags to @Cinnabar

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A man by the name Crampas was about as old as dirt, and perhaps as faithful as it, but he was also as muted, too.  He himself, was unassuming in nature, being a man with a peg leg and a bad back, weighing barely over 50 lbs and adorning a long, wispy white beard. There was more hair on his chin than growing on his bald head, which was wrinkled and well speckled with spots from age.

Clearly Crampas was too old for anything conniving, and that's exactly what made the 70 year old quite valuable to the Blood Wardens. Although the man suffered on occasional boughts of dementia,  his heart was true, as was most of his information. Crampas had sons, and his sons had sons, and many of his family was well rooted into the military. He himself, had once been a great military leader of his past, but arthritic hands lamed any chances of him ever lifting a sword in the name of the crown.

But if the old man could spit on the Grand Duke, he certainly would! He follow Ansgarism to the 'A', regarding mages with pity, not fear- especially since he himself had sired many generations of mages as well! He himself, was no mage, but to see his granddaughters shipped off so mercilessly left little love towards the current Grand Duke- too bad no body ever paid much attention to the old man's angry prattles.

One man had, however, as James Cullen couldn't have even fathomed the benefit of the relationship forming from nearly a year ago. Now it seemed Crampas almost saw James like a son, and was using his own family as a means to leak knowledge back to the Blood Wardens-
And also, apparently, to The Red Legion as well.

Being so old, Crampas couldn't remember one rebel from the other, and hadn't realized that when he associated with a young lady named Maddison, that her rebel team wasn't the same as James Cullen's rebel association, and was trying to plan to meet the pair for a drop off of knowledge. Most precisely, he had a satchel full of letters, all of which held at least some amount of military intel. They were mostly discarded letters from soldiers writing home that just 'never made it' to their final destination. But even Crampas was well enough aware of what some of the letters held in value.

Had the old man's feeble mind been not so well known, Cullen may have caught on that the drop off was actually meant for another- and a woman, no doubt. But he blamed the inconsistencies on the man's failing mind, and chose to meet him out on Lake Athervann to collect these military letters. He just hoped Crampas would remember to come.

He was trusting Crampas's grandson, a potential new recruit into the blood wardens, but the boy was a bit too young for even Cullen to bring on board without guilt. So this was simply seen as a test. The young boy named Jent would bring old man Crampas out onto the lake. Row boats weren't too uncommon and in fact, were out on the lake quite a plenty that day. But the sun was setting and casting the lake over in a mild rainbow of orange shades that was too pretty to ignore.

Cullen had been admiring the view, coming quite early out on the water, that he wasn't entirely worried if the old man showed up or not. They both agreed to meet precisely in the middle of hte lake, and with the waning hours of daylight, all other row boats began to make their way towards shore. Sure, other fishermen who believed night fishing was the best time would be beginning to make their way across the great lake soon, but Cullen wasn't catching a bite. perhaps he should have tried some better means at fishing than a simple rod and no bait, but he wasn't really out on the water for this sort of a catch. And he was glad not too many were, either.

He'd worry for being the only boat out there as the stars were beginning to freckle the skies as the sun was closing it's eyes for the night, except he did see one other row boat making it's way and smirked. Looks like Crampas hadn't fallen asleep and Jent had gotten the old man out at such an hour. Hopefully no one would question it, but then again, if one knew Crampas, the old man held odd habits for one so old.

However, the closer the boat got to where his was bobbing upon the waters he began to realize it wasn't Crampas at all- and no other rowboats were even beginning to come his way. And as the boat neared, he saw it was a woman-
By herself.
And also seeming to scan the waters for something...
Or was it someone?


Cullen had been wearing a tricornered hat, which he lowered a bit on his head. Yes... the boat was definitely heading his way..... but why?
The woman was close enough for him to make eye contact as he tipped his hat to her, soft white wisps of smoke puffing up from his pipe.

"Lovely evening for a fish," he told her, giving a smirk behind his pipe.

When the old man had met with Maddison and told her of the kind of information he had access to, it had seemed almost too good to be true. Even if most of the letters contained outdated or otherwise unusable information, anything that was usable could could be instrumental in turning the tides of a battle- perhaps even a war. The fact that he would be willing to give up such crucial information was sketchy to say the least, so it wouldn't be entirely out of the question to suggest that the whole thing might be a trap. After all, there were quite a few people out there who would want to take her out of the picture, and luring her out by herself like this would give them a pretty good opportunity to do so.

On the other hand, though, Crampas didn't exactly seem like the type of person to lie... or even bother trying to lie. From what Maddison had heard from some of the other people she'd met with, the man wasn't exactly silent when it came to his opinions on the Duke. Unless he was somehow being manipulated by someone else (which was technically possible, considering the unfortunate side effects that old age could have on one's mind) then she had little reason to believe that she was heading into an ambush.

She couldn't really risk missing the opportunity to get her hands on the letters, either. Not only could they provide potentially vital strategic information, but the fact that she would be willing to accept help from an ordinary citizen would hopefully serve as a message of sorts to the people of Connlaoth- that even if they couldn't serve in the fields of battle, there was still plenty they could do to help influence the war. The Red Legion would need any kind of help it could get if it was going to stand against the armies of the Duke. If going along with this meeting could help to achieve that, then she was more than willing to take a few risks, possibly at her own expense.

That being said, she would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little bit nervous, paddling out there in her little rowboat. She was incredibly vulnerable in a place like this, not only because she was by herself, but also because there wasn't much she could do in self-defence. Naval combat definitely wasn't her specialty, especially not when it was done on a boat barely bigger than she was. She'd be in a lot of trouble if anything happened to the boat, that was for certain.

She tried to push those thoughts to the back of her mind as she made her way to the middle of the lake, passing a few other boats on the way. She couldn't afford to turn back now, to falter and lose the confidence of her troops, and possibly even the entirety of Connlaoth. They needed her to be strong, and that was exactly what she would do.

Eventually, she spotted another rowboat in the distance, floating in the spot where the meeting was supposed to take place. Maddison originally assumed that the person inside the boat was Crampas, but as she got closer and began to make out more details, it became increasingly obvious that it wasn't the person she had agreed to meet with. He was a lot younger, for starters, and was seemingly preoccupied with taking in the sunset and searching for fish. It was rather odd, considering that all the other fishermen she'd seen had already begun to head back to the shore. She couldn't be sure if he was an ally, or an enemy, or someone completely uninvolved. Instead, she simply pretended not to notice him; if he had business with her, then he would surely bring it up himself. Only when he starting talking to her would she acknowledge his existence.

"Hmm? Oh... I suppose it is. I've never actually learned how to fish, though."

Which was true- she'd never really had the chance to learn something like that. Come to think of it, she'd never learned how to swim, either. All of a sudden, the calm waters looked a lot more menacing to her, and she anxiously gave a few more glances around the lake. Where on earth was Crampas?

"What about you? Caught anything good yet?"

She didn't really care what the answer to that question was, but talking helped to pass the time... and keep her mind off of the water.

Red head. The woman was a red head. He always liked red hair. He courted a young woman once with such hair, brilliant ringlets of red like the sunset- and a fiery personality to match, too. But a pretty face was something to be most cautious of, especially in times of war. He had found out that women were the best key players in such a game. Unassuming, out-shined and beautiful.

When she mentioned fish, she'd be able to see his white toothed smile in the dark as the smoke from his mouth dissipated.

"I haven't caught a single one." He gave a tap to the rod. "Perhaps I'm doing it wrong. But I heard the middle of the lake was the best place for a big catch."
He peered over at her own small boat, bobbing simply in the water and gestured with his chin.

"I don't see your rod. Aim to catch a few with your bare hands?" Again, he gave her a broad smile, a contrast of white to the shadows of the oncoming night.

To many people, the man sitting in the other boat would most definitely be considered to be "attractive". This wasn't really the case when it came to Maddison, although it wasn't as if she thought he was unattractive- rather, she simply didn't have an opinion of him one way or the other. A while ago, she'd essentially taught herself to ignore the appearance of others in an attempt to keep herself from growing attached to anyone. She was a White Lily at one point, so forming relationships like that was frowned upon, to say the least. Even now, years after she'd left the Grand Duke's army, was still cautious of growing too fond of people.

...Although she had to admit that he had a pretty nice smile.

"Oh, no. I'm not out here to fish, and I'd rather not risk tipping the boat over by leaning over the edge. Though I'm sure that would be fun to watch."

Fun to watch, yes, but decidedly less fun for whoever was unfortunate to go overboard. Giving a slight frown, Maddison subtly pulled her arms inwards, slightly further from the water.

"I'm waiting for someone else to show up, actually. You don't mind if I wait here, do you? Hopefully I won't scare all the fish away... if there even are any out here."

"Oh?" This time Cullen lifted his face up so she might have a better look, one brow was raised in question. "Meeting your boyfriend for a mid-night rendez-vous?" He looked around, grinning at the idea then up at the sky. "Seems a pretty romantic night. Wish I could say the same," he went on, tossing a wink her way.

"But now, my lady, I would never turn down being in the company of one so beautiful. And I doubt your presence would scare the fish away anymore than my own." But as he moved around to get a little more comfortable, his small boat rocking, he noticed how uncomfortable she felt in her own.

"I take it you're not a fan of water."
An odd thing for a young lady who was all alone and very much surrounded by it. Perhaps she was a mage? It would make sense. He'd have her back if that was the case. How unfortunate for her she'd need to meet her lover in this way. But ahh.. true love could be a beautiful thing. Too bad he never the time for it.

The mental image of Crampas being Maddison's "boyfriend" was... well, it was humorous, if nothing else. It wasn't as if she'd really had a chance to develop standards for herself, but even she knew that the old man was way out of her age range. It was odd to imagine herself being in a relationship with anyone, let alone someone who was more than twice as old as her. Stifling a chuckle, Maddison allowed a small to creep across her face before giving her reply.

"I think I may have given off the wrong impression. I don't have a boyfriend, or anything like that. This is more like... hmm. I guess you could call it a business meeting."

She decided not to explain why such a meeting had to take place in the middle of a lake, of all places- there was still a chance that this man couldn't be trusted with that kind of information, despite what his appearance and personality might suggest. In fact, now that she thought about it, maybe it would have been better to have gone along with the whole "boyfriend" thing.

Her smile faded as quickly as it had arrived as the man gave her a wink, followed shorty afterwards by a compliment. She never knew what to feel when people did stuff like that; it was sort of nice, in a way, but it also felt... weird. Thankfully, the conversation moved to a different topic before she had to think about it for too long.

"Well, I can't say I'm particularly fond of the idea of falling in. I'd imagine it would be very cold. And embarrassing."

And terrifying, she thought to herself.

Even for a man trained so well in masking his face, it was hard for him not to get surprised by her reason for being there. Either she was timid in who she was actually meeting with,... or there was another trade off going on here that, for all rational, made him uneasy and have a gut feeling that...
Somehow, they were both meeting for the very same reason.

But then she went on about the bit of the water and he couldn't help but become charmed. Were he not careful, or not so paranoid, he might have considered toying with her a little and see if she wouldn't wnat to join him on his much 'safer' boat. But sharing a boat with the enemy...

Why the hell not?

"You know, if you're that scared of the water, you should have chose a better place to meet. And if you are that ashamed of your lover, perhaps you shouldn't have left yourself so open by being alone. After all, a single man might think it would be okay to begin with some flirtations, being he is the only man that he can see for at least a quarter mile in all this water. And, if you are not ashamed and there is no man to meet, perhaps I could persuade the fair lady to a date involving fishing and protecting her from the dangers of cold water," he went on, his grin oh so charming because, well, Cullen only knew how to be charming.

Maddison noted the man's reaction to her explanation as to why she was out on the lake. It seemed that he was caught off guard for some reason- maybe he knew about the meeting this whole time, and was just now realizing who she was? If that was the case, then he could very well be her enemy, simply waiting for his chance to sabotage her mission. She couldn't really afford to let her guard down now, but she also couldn't allow Crampas to meet with a potentially dangerous individual on his own. No, she would have to stay here, doing what she could to discern what this man's true intentions were.

"Hey. It wasn't exactly my idea to meet out here. And I never said I was afraid of water, did I? I said it would be cold, because it would be cold. I doubt you'd enjoy freezing half to death in the middle of the lake," she protested, but the way he was acting told her that he'd already caught on to her fear. His offer of protection clearly bothered her- what kind of commander was she if a simple thing like water was enough to best her? Not a very good one, surely.

"Do you do that with every woman you meet? Start trying to date her the second you find out she's not with anyone? If you're going to do that, you could at least introduce yourself first."

She averted her gaze from his shining grin, instead directing it out across the water. If he was expecting her to fall head over heels for him in a matter of seconds, he had another thing coming.

Oh, he loved her type of woman. The playful, stubborn sort were always the best beneath the bed sheets.

"Thomas. Thomas West is my name, my lady," he went on, tipping his hat to her with one hand, the other, still keeping  a lazy grip on his fishing rod. "And forgive me if I come off too brash. Sometimes the sight of a true gem makes a man drool over his brains." And again, he gave an apologetic tip of his hat. "But if I'm a nuisance to you and your rendez-vous, then by all means, you may carry on. I can assure you, I'll take no offense to that."

But he held a playful glint in his eye and a knowing look. He had the sneaking suspicion she wanted to be around. He just couldn't figure out her reason as of yet and he didn't want to presume her an enemy, not when she could potentially be a future lover, instead!

"Oh? Well, as long as you're not drooling out of your mouth, then I suppose that's alright. I'd be more cautious of calling someone you've just met minutes ago a gem, though," she challenged, looking up from the water to meet his eyes. "After all, we hardly know anything about each other. For all you know, I could be some sort of deranged serial killer. Unless, of course, you're into that kind of thing... in which case, maybe I really should get going."

Despite her original intentions of keeping her guard up until she had the man completely figured out, Maddison was beginning to warm up to him. It was nice to be able to just talk to someone like this, to have a conversation that didn't revolve solely around the war. Perhaps it was selfish of her to think that way, but everyone needed a break every once in a while.

"Well, in any case, mister Thomas West... I appreciate the compliments, however uninformed they may be. I'd give my own name, but unfortunately, I was raised not to give personal information to strange men. So, you'll have to call me something else."

Of course, she couldn't just give her name away like that. She was an important member of the rebellion, after all.

"Oh, I get it. I get it a lot more clearly than you could know. It's not everyday a man gets to meet a beautiful strange woman on the lake, especially this late in the day."

He shook his head,  and was all smiles.

"You don't need to explain anything to me," he went on, tipping his hat to half hide his smirk. "I'm good at reading people. But everyone needs a name... " even a fake one like his, which was what he expected. "But I guess it's up tgo me to give you a name, or perhaps guess your real one. But the real question is, what types of names do lake mermaids have?"
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Or I could just call you what you are. How about that, Mermaid?"

She managed a smile, thankful that "Thomas" didn't feel the need to pry for any of her personal details. Of course, there was always a possibility that he already knew who she was, which would eliminate the need to ask. If that was the case, though, and he really was here to intercept her, then presumably he would've already tried to get rid of her. It wouldn't exactly be difficult to knock her into the lake, after all.

"Mermaid, huh? That's a bit of an odd name for someone who's supposedly afraid of the water, don't you think? And I thought being a mermaid required you to be at least some part fish. If you wish to liken me to some sort of mystical creature, then maybe a siren would be a more suitable candidate. You do seem a little obsessed with my appearance, after all."

That was how the story usually went, right? A sailor happens across a beautiful woman in the middle of nowhere and, captivated by her appearance and song, sails obliviously towards his demise. Of course, Maddison hadn't come all the way out here with the intention of killing someone, but it was technically still possible.

"But in the end, it's up to you to decide what you want to call me. Whatever floats your boat, so to speak."

He couldn't get rid of his smile. She corrected him and he couldn't argue. His basis seemed more like a siren. But he didn't argue, he simply shrugged.

"I dunno.. you just.. look like a mermaid," he deduced. "Calling you a Siren would mean I'd be calling you a man killer. And quite frankly, I don't feel like my life is in an ounce of danger." Though perhaps he should? But in all honesty- he didn't.

"And just because I take kindly towards your looks doesn't mean I wouldn't presume you might be lying to me, Mermaid. For all I know you have a tail beneath those skirts and are waiting to slip back into that water the first second you've got. ONly to laugh at me after you capsize my boat and watch me flounder on the lake."

"Well, if it's Mermaid you want, then Mermaid it is. I have to admit, it is kind of a cute nickname, albeit pretty silly. I'd better not catch you looking for a tail, though. You do that, and you'll have a lot more to worry about that just losing a boat. And I assure you, I will not be laughing."

She was mostly joking, but in the event that this guy ended up being some sort of creep, she wouldn't want anything to do with him. The fact that he apparently didn't think she posed any sort of threat to him wasn't exactly comforting, either- what if that was how everyone saw her. Though to be fair, she wasn't wearing her armour, or wielding a weapon, or anything like that. To anyone who didn't know better, she would simply appear to be on ordinary woman.

...or a mermaid, apparently.

After glancing up at the darkening sky and checking around for Crampas once again- old man sure was taking his sweet time- Maddison let out a sort of defeated sigh and turned her attention to her new acquaintance.

"...so, anything biting yet? It would be a shame to come all the way out here only to leave empty-handed."

"Well, to be truthful, I thought I had a nibble, but I think that fish was only testing the waters." He gave her a leftward smirk and glanced down at where his fishing line bobbed in the waters. He gave a bit of a dramatic sigh as he stretched out in his boat. "I fear I might have chased the fish away. And I was certain I'd catch it out of all the fish here on the lake. But perhaps the fish is too smart for it's own good. After all, maybe it's become wise to a man's fishing boat in it's water, and maybe it knows it must be cautious. But what am I to think? And who will ever know what a fish thinks."
And at that, he flashed her a toothy smile and leaned casually in his boat, just admiring her in the fading light. He might as well enjoy the moment. Crampas seemed to be taking his sweet time getting there. And part ofhim had to wonder if the old man hadn't forgotten or had fallen asleep. It wouldn't be the first (nor last time).

"So you've been trying to catch one specific fish? Well, I guess it must be a pretty special one, then. Although, I can't say that I can think of any specific quality a single fish could have that would drive a man to seek it out over all the others..." Maddison's voice trailed off briefly as she stared idly into the water, hesitantly dipping a couple fingers inside before frowning and pulling them back out. "...then again, maybe it's the fact that the fish is so elusive that makes it enticing. But just because it's difficult to catch doesn't necessarily mean it's impossible. Maybe you're not using the right kind of bait. Or maybe it's just a little... I don't know. Skittish." She got the distinct impression that they weren't talking about fish anymore.

With the slow vanishing of the light came the creeping cold of the night, and soon she began to regret not bringing a coat with her- she hadn't been expecting to be waiting out here for so long. Wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to conserve warmth, she looked back up at the man, who looked significantly more comfortable than she was... for several reasons.

"You know, I don't want to speak too soon, but I'm starting to think this meeting might not actually happen. It's starting to get pretty late."

He saw her shiver and moved to shrug off his jacket. He was warm with it, and the cool night air felt nice. He knew he might regret that later, but he had a long sleeved shirt on beneath it, so at least that would keep the mosquitoes from biting off his arms.

He was close enough that he reached his arm out, jacket in hand.
"I didn't think mermaids could get cold, but you're shivering. Here." He kept his arm with the jacket out. He wasn't close enough to simply put it over her shoulders, or he'd have done so. It would only be polite enough to keep his distance while the two were still very much strangers out here on the water.

But what she said made him believe the same thing. Damn Crampas. He was probably asleep.

"Take my jacket before you catch your death out here." It was still a long row back to shore.

She frowned slightly as the jacket was extended towards her, clearly unfamiliar with the gesture. It was the sort of thing a couple might do for each other, which was of course an area she had little to no experience in. And she didn't really want it to seem like she needed protection from the cold...

...oh, to hell with it. The only other person there didn't even know who she was, and he didn't look like he was going to give up very easily anyhow. Taking the jacket from him, she took a few seconds to drape it over her shoulders before giving him a nod.

"Thanks. I appreciate the sentiment, but I guess you're probably going to be pretty cold now, huh?" After all, it was only going to get chillier as the evening transitioned further into night. She couldn't just sit here for hours until one of them froze to death... and the sooner she got away from all of this water, the better.

"Hey, uh, 'Thomas'? I think I might start heading back now. Reschedule the meeting, or something. I don't know if you're still waiting around for that big catch, but if you wanted to come with me, that would be nice. Though I suppose you'll be wanting your jacket back at some point..."

"Oh?" he perked up at her announcement. He even gave her a little pout. "Leaving so soon? And here I was hoping you'd accept my jacket and stay out here to help me fish."

"Help you... fish? I mean, like I said, I've never really gotten around to learning how to fish. And I don't have a fishing rod, either. So, I'm not sure what help I can offer you when it comes to fishing. Not unless there's some kind of... mermaid magic that I'm unaware of." She tilted her head slightly, unsure of what to think of his invitation. Did he really think her company was worth sitting out in the cold like that?

"I just don't want you to start freezing for my sake. You shouldn't have to wait all the way out here without a jacket just because I neglected to bring one myself."

Cullen shrugged at the idea of freezing.
"I highly doubt I'll freeze. Hypothermia seems like an irresponsible way to die and I, my lady, am a very responsible man. No, I think you might observe the jacket is made of overly thick and heat creating wool- of the finest stock, I assure you. The type to really make you itch and sweat."

"...Itch and sweat."

She gave him a puzzled look. Was that supposed to be a good thing? Or a bad thing? Or maybe he was just saying it to tease her? Whatever the reason, the way he worded it sounded strange and off-putting to her. To be fair, though, the jacket was pretty warm, so she was grateful for it nonetheless.

Finally deciding to afford the strange man some of her trust, she carefully paddled closer so that her boat gently came to rest against his. She couldn't yet bring herself to trust him fully, but she was confident enough in her ability to fight him off if things went south.

"Well? How might a mermaid be of assistance to this unfortunate fisherman?"

Cullen eyed her with casual interest when she approached and at her question, a smile itched upon his lips.
"How can a mermaid help, indeed," he repeated with some thought as he leaned back to study the waters over his shoulder.
"I wouldn't mind hearing a song-" he began, with a playful twinkle in his eyes. "Perhaps one to tempt the fish closer to my side of the lake?"

"An alluring song, hmm? And you're certain that 'siren' wouldn't be the proper description if I was indeed capable of something like that?"

She raised an eyebrow slightly at the suggestion, but ultimately decided that it was a harmless enough request. "I could try, I suppose, but I can't promise it will be any good." Truth be told, it had been quite a while since Maddison had sung much of anything. She had often found herself much too preoccupied to partake in music, or other similar activities. It took her a moment to settle on what song she wanted to perform, but she eventually settled on a lullaby she was familiar with from her childhood. There was little hope of her remembering all the words properly, so she opted to simply hum the tune instead.

Throughout the song, she would occasionally stray from the proper tune- whether this was because of her lack of practice, her vague memories of the song in question, or something else entirely was unknown. Regardless, she resolved to finish the song before speaking up about it.

"...You'll have to excuse any mistakes you might have heard. I'm afraid I'm not much of a musician."

He was all smiles the entire time she hummed. Well, at least the might was proving interesting, Crampas be damned.

"What lovely lyrics to your song," he jested, eyes bright with his smile. "But if I were to guess correctly,  you somehow made a hodgepodge of twinkle twinkle little star and row, row your boat. "

And he leaned forward,  resting his chin upon his knuckles as he waited to see if she got his playful joke.

"Ha-ha. Very funny, Mr. West. Perhaps I should have left the job of attracting the fish to you and your jokes- I'm certain they're lining up as we speak to hear some more."

In all fairness, she did actually think the joke was pretty clever, and a smile creeping its way onto her own face betrayed this fact. In any case, she definitely preferred whatever joking remark he could have come up with over a serious critique of her musical talent. Deciding to try and keep the mood light, she gestured over at the fishing rod.

"Well, how about it? Any biters yet?"

He stared at her fishing rod with disinterest before lifting it up and revealing...
"Hrmm.. I might have better luck catching fish if I had some bait." For the hook was empty. He smirked and rest the rod against the side of the boat.

"I don't suppose you have any spare worms?"

An empty hook. Well, that was probably as close to a complete confirmation as she could hope for- there was little chance this man was out on the water with the intention of catching fish. The man's jacket may have helped to keep her warm, but in that moment, her blood ran a bit colder. Subconsciously, she once again averted her gaze to make another quick scan of the surrounding water.

"Mmm. Well... I'm afraid you're out of luck on that one. Like I said, I didn't come out here to do any fishing. Although, I must admit it's made me curious- what kind of fisherman decides to wait all this time without any bait? Surely you should know better."

Cullen smiled and didn't miss a beat.
"Well, I had bait. But seems I've run out."
He wasn't sure if she'd buy it. He made a note she was a clever one and he would need to be more careful. He appreciated the brains, but it lead him to wonder back to just why she was here.

He wouldn't have time to answer her as another boat was beginning to approach,  and whoever was on board Cullen could not see, for they were masked in deep shadows of the dying light of day.

Maddison frowned a bit at his flimsy excuse, but figured that it wasn't something she needed to dig too deep into at the moment- after all, something more immediately relevant to her had just caught her eye.

A boat in the distance. Finally. It had to be the old man, right? Her posture relaxed quite a bit at the sight, and she turned to address the "fisherman".

"...I think that's the person I came out to meet. I'm afraid I'll soon have to leave you to your poor, fishless fate."

She forced a small, apologetic smile. In all honesty, even she couldn't tell how genuine it was.

Internally he winced. It was foolish of him to admitted such a thing, considering what his ruse was hiding.  But as his eyes followed out to the boat, he sank back into the shadows and tried to see who was coming. Was it trouble? Was it Krampas? He couldn't be certain and a pickling sensation tickled up his spine.

What if she was here to intercept them? To flush the old man out? What if she was a city guard? And this, her disguise. He felt his smile, still worn,  grow tight,  as did the knot in his belly. He would need to be careful... incase his true identity was found out and if the old man came into danger.

He idly touched at the hilt of a knife in his boot. He hoped he wouldn't need it...

Maddison, on the other hand, had little concern over who was actually occupying the approaching boat. Perhaps it was it was some side effect of her wanting to believe in the competence of her supporters to make the plan work without any issues, or maybe it was the fact that most of her suspicions were already directed at the mysterious fisherman, or both- whatever the case, she expected Krampas to be on the boat.

Eager to finally get her meeting underway, she briefly considered rowing out towards the other boat to close the distance, but instead paused as she came to a sudden realization.

"Oh, right..."

The jacket. It was the fisherman's, wasn't it? As much as she had her suspicions about the man's true intentions, it wouldn't do for her to take off with it if he truly was an ordinary citizen. Pulling the jacket from her shoulders, she flinched a bit as the cold bit into her once again, but tried as best she could to maintain a pleasant expression as she reached over and offered it back to him.

"You should probably have this back. I wouldn't want to leave you without it if you're planning on staying out here."

Cullen could have kicked himself, but was all polished smiles, handsome and carefree. He had too many years of training for it- and perhaps remaining well groomed and confident was just something he'd never be able to shake. Good breeding was good breeding.

He accepted the coat with a nod.
"I suppose this is where we unfortunately part ways..."

As he pulled his jacket closer, his eyes drifted towards the approaching boat.

The figure loomed closer, a soft mist drifting up from the waters, causing the murky reflection of the evening sky to become shrouded. The boat moved forward, and with a purpose, and by the time Cullen had his jacket settling over his form- he was able to more clearly see whom approached...

And it wasn't Crampas. Not by a long shot. In fact, it just so happened to be one of the city guards he knew...
And one whom wouldn't hesitate to drop his dead body into the cold lake without remorse.

Tonell was a grim looking man, face hardened and stubble and scruff hair tamed as best as it could be and was peppered with silver. His brows hung low, and his lips as well, making him appear brooding and almost scowling as his dark eyes shined by the faint light of the moon.

The noises of their boats was the only thing that stirred on the water, outside of the occasional insects that dipped across the surface of the water, and the croaking of bullfrogs hidden in deep reeds of the lake shore.

Tonell was the last person he'd hoped to find out here, and he was careful to lower the hat over his face, hoping the shroud of the nightly mist would be enough to keep Tonell from figuring out his identity. He even went so far as to be sure his pony tale was tucked into his jacket and now he was grateful the young woman had returned it.

As the boat approached Maddison's, he made no motion in moving forward, rather letting her go to greet the boat without his aid. But his eyes never once left the approaching one, and his hands smoothed over a hidden knife in his boot, thankful he opted to bring his much larger knife rather than the slimmer one he typically kept (which made travel easier..) but being on a boat.. and being he had limited means to 'hide' weapons incase things went wrong...

Perhaps sometimes his intuition was on point. Let's just hope that Tonell's wasn't that night.

"Halt your boat," came Tonell's cool and commanding tone. Tonell was standing now, making the boat appear dwarfed beneath him. A large sack sat oppose of him, in the back of the boat with oars resting beside it and over the lip of the boat. Another, smaller man sat in the shadows behind him, one of whom Cullen couldn't see at the compromising angle that he was, and remained idle, watching what the woman might do-
and to see what Tonell might be up to.

"Identify yourself." His eyes were fixated upon Maddison, but Cullen's second boat was not lost to him. "And you there," his voice grew louder, directing it at Cullen. "Halt your boat and identify yourself as well. This is the City Guards commands. As ordered by the Grand Duke himself, identify yourselves at once and state your purposes here."


Well.. so much for trying to remain as an ignorant fly on the wall. Cullen stiffened, but said nothing- allowing the woman to speak, first.

The reveal of the approaching figure as a city guard was, understandably, quite the shock to Maddison. Her brief moment of relief was abruptly cut short, and instantly her mind filled up with racing questions and concerns. How had this guard learned about her presence out on the lake? Had he somehow gotten the information from Krampas- and if he had, was the old man okay?

And finally... by the orders of the Grand Duke? Was that actually true, or was it just an attempt at intimidating her into compliance? In any case, she certainly wasn't pleased with the situation she now found herself in.

Nervously, her hands began to clench themselves into fists as she silently considered her options. There was almost certainly no chance of her being let off if she revealed her true identity, so that was clearly off the table. If it really came down to it, she could try to fight him off- it wouldn't be the first time she'd taken a life, but it would be the first time doing so off of the battlefield. Something about that felt distinctly wrong to her, and so she preferred to avoid that situation if at all possible.

That left her with one last option. The guard didn't seem to recognize her, so giving him fake name shouldn't cause any issues for now...

Well, she hoped.

"Lily. Lily Mason," she added, hoping the answer would sound confident enough to be convincing. "As for why I'm out here, well..."

Something had occurred to her while she was scrambling to figure out her plan of action. Judging by the fact that the guard had also asked for the fisherman's name, it was possible that he wasn't in a much better position than she was in. Perhaps it was fortunate that the two had run into each other after all.

"It's a little embarrassing to say, but we were actually on a date together. I've never actually learned to fish, so he offered to meet up and teach me. It was supposed to be a private meeting, but... well, I suppose these things happen sometimes. Isn't that right, love?"

She turned to Cullen with a smile, but a certain coldness in her eyes conveyed a silent message.

Work with me on this, or we're both going to be in trouble.

Well, the tug on his lips was hard to hide. Interesting. She was playing the liar's game. So he has been correct in being cautious about her- except now they were on the same boat.

As the lamp light was directed his way, Cullen bowed low and feigned sheepishness.
"Th.. Thomas.  Thomas Savage."

The man at the rear of the boat held up the lantern higher, making a twisted expression that was hard to read. Tonell's expression, however, could be felt, even if Cullen could not see it as he kept his gaze downcast.

There was an awkwardly weighted silence between them, barely masked by the nocturnal chirping of insects and the croaking of frogs.
"Rendez vous on the lake are forbidden after sunset. A law of which must be upheld. You two, I'm sorry to say, are by no means exempt of the law and a night in the cells ought to remind you of it. Now.." Tonnel have a snap of his fingers. "Produce your identification papers."

Cullen stiffened. He could feel the cold, predatory malice in Tonell's gaze. His own fingers itched on the grip of his concealed blade.

"That is.." the man went on, nonchalantly raising a pistol to Cullen's face. "Unless You want to come up with another name."

Maddison wasn't sure what she expected to come about as a result of her bluff, but it certainly wasn't this. She froze as she watched the guard take aim at her "partner", only breaking her stillness a moment later as she shivered once again.

So much for a peaceful solution.

Of course, there was no way she could produce identification under a name she'd made up on the spot, and allowing herself to be arrested was out of the question. The guard didn't necessarily have to know that, though, and so she slowly began digging around, pretending to search for the requested documents as she planned out her next move.

If one thing was for certain, it was that the gun needed to be dealt with somehow. Maddison made small subtle glances at it as she shifted around in her seat, her eyes wandering between the weapon and the gap separating her boat from the guard's. She took one last deep breath to compose herself, and before she had a chance to start second guessing herself, she sprang into action. She lunged at Tonell, leaning precariously over the gap between boats as she attempted to wrestle the gun from his grasp.

Their boats rocked furiously at their scuffle, Tonell crying out in alarm, and scrambling now to keep a hold of the gun as he used his other arm to try and push her away.But she had too much momentum when she sprang at him and Tonell lost his footing and tumbled forward as he crashed onto the from of the boat and it dipped down with a splash. Unfortunately for Maddison, Tonell took her down with a tangle of limbs.
The second he heard the gun shot he moved to shove Maddison away, shouting, "What do you think you're doing?!"

He wanted no time snatching onto her wrist with a merciless grasp, and attempted to pull her into his boat.
"You could hang for this!"

And that's when 'Thomas's' form appeared, the man letting out a cry as he lunged from his boat to the other. He managed to knock into Tonell's legs as the rest of his body hit the side of the boat and water with a splash.  Tonell cried out in alarm as he fell, but his grip on the girl forced her down with him.
Cullen saw the pair struggle and pulled himself onto the edge of the boat, off balancing Tonell as he did so and Cullen saw his opportunity to free her of his grip as he struck out at his face with a punch.
It earned Maddison her freedom but Cullen got a boot to the face. He fell back into the water with a splash, resurfacing a moment later without a hat and the second man on the boat turning the lamplight onto him.
If there ever was a doubt of his identity it was cast away now.  His long, signature blond hair slicked back into a tail and his face, shown as a pretty accurate sketch on many wanted signs throughout the city, was no longer hidden by the mask of night.
"Cullen!" Tonell growled.  "You will hang!"

Maddison's hastily-formed plan may have succeeded in neutralizing the immediate threat posed by Tonell's weapon, but there was little time to relax as she found her momentum being used against her. She was lucky enough to avoid dropping into the water, but there was little she could do to brace herself as Tonell tightened his grip and pulled her into the other boat. She hit the floor of the boat hard, letting out a cry of her own as she collapsed and struggled to escape from his grasp. Her vision blurred momentarily from the impact, only clearing back up when she felt the boat rocking again and Tonell releasing his grip.

Seizing the opportunity that Cullen had provided for her, Maddison scrambled backwards as far as she could go without sending herself overboard into the cold water. Upon hearing Cullen's name, she spared a glance towards the man to observe his full appearance before returning her focus to Tonell. She could worry more about who exactly she had gotten involved with later- for now it was enough to have full confirmation that they were on the same side.

Climbing carefully to her feet, Maddison took advantage of the temporary distraction provided by tthe reveal of Cullen's identity. She moved to tackle Tonell to the floor of the boat, aiming to keep him occupied long enough for her newfound ally to get into a better position.

Except the man with the lamp finally sprung into action, grabbing onto the woman roughly by her arm and attempted to yank her off of Tonell.

By now the boat was rocking again and Tonell struggled under the weight of the woman. It wasn't until his partner stepped in that he was able to break away, and in doing so he cried out in anger and shoved the woman bodily aside towards his partner as the boat rocked again.

Even though they were all still floundering, Tonell took the moment to look around for Cullen as he stood up, but before he knew what was going on, one of the empty boats crashed into the side of theirs, causing the boat to tip and spill Tonell into the empty one and the boat he left now had taken on a good amount of water. Yet the thing still was afloat.

The other man sloshed about. Hoping to get better purchase of the woman now that it was just him and her.

Once again, Maddison felt her body hit the bottom of the boat as she was tossed aside by the combined efforts of the two men. She worked as quickly as she could to get back on her feet and reclaim her previous advantageous position, only to be knocked off her balance as the boats collided, ultimately leaving her alone with the other man. She sized her new opponent up, preparing herself to go at it once again- only to be stopped in her tracks as the initial shock from the impact wore off and the reality of her new situation fully sank in.

The water. It was troubling enough to be surrounded by it during her initial boat trip, but to suddenly find herself soaking in it was something else entirely. For the first time that night, she was entirely gripped by her fear of it, and it prevented her from returning to a fighting stance despite her best efforts. At least for the moment, all she could bring herself to do was slowly back away from the man, coming dangerously close to falling off the back of the boat in the process.

Right before it seemed the other man had her, Cullen sprung from the water like some sort of shark, snatching onto the starteled man with a cry, and he was soon dragged under the waters with Cullen, where splashes skewed their struggle.

Tonell, having been left disoriented,  now reoriented himself and saw the struggle in the water and bared his teeth in rage. But then he spotted the woman on the water bogged boat and wasted no time drawing out a long knife as he leapt onto her boat and snatched her by the arm. 

Maddison had a moment to catch her breath as the man vanished before her eyes, but it wasn't long before she found herself in danger again, this time at the hands of Tonell. Her eyes flickered quickly towards his knife, and the sight of it gave her the boost she needed to temporarily push through her fear- after all, if she didn't, then she was undoubtably going to die.

In a flash, Maddison's near-frozen state of panic gave way in exchange for a massive surge of adrenaline, and she began to struggle against Tonell with even greater vigour than before. She pushed back against the man's grip in an attempt to throw him of balance while she took a swipe at his legs with a vicious kick.

Fighting in a boat full of water was a precarious thing, water bogging down all movement while the lake's waters rocked the boat as the pair struggled. Her kick landed true, and Tonell was sent off balance as be floundered. The boat rocked heavily beneath his weight and it seemed that was the tipping point- as the rowboat flipped, expelling both into the waters.

She might have bought herself some time and safety by repelling Tonell's attack, but being flung off of the boat certainly wasn't what Maddison was expecting, and it was hardly what she would consider a favourable outcome. A new wave of panic surged through her body, this time manifesting in a stream of wild thrashing as she struggled to stay afloat. It was enough to keep her head above water for the moment, but it drained her energy quickly. Desperately, she reached out to the unflipped boat, her fingers scratching against its side as she attempted to latch onto its edge.

She wasn't the only one scrambling for purchase upon the boat. On the opposite side, a sputtering mad Tonell was clinging to it, and once he saw the woman attached to it, he let out a growl and attempted to climb onto the upturned boat.

Tonell's presence on the other side of the boat was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, having someone's weight pushing down on the opposite side made it stable enough for an increasingly exhausted Maddison to pull herself onboard without tipping the boat over on herself. On the other hand, it made being on the boat considerably less safe. She threw a desperate punch at him as she climbed up- it was plenty powerful, but not particularly disciplined.

Tonell managed to duck Maddison's punch, only to lose his grip as he splashed back into the dark waters. He was furious, and went to reach for the overturned boat again when one of the abandoned boats suddenly rammed into his head. He let out a noise and was forced under the water, splashing, and in the moonlight, Maddison would see Cullen pushing the spare boat behind with powerful kicks of his legs.
He then called over to her, "Grab the oars from the water!"
It seemed one of the rowboat oars had made its way closer to her, all the while its partner drifted further and further away.

Maddison flinched back a bit as the spare boat collided with Tonell and he vanished from her sight, but it was admittedly quite relieving to not have to tangle with either of the two men from the guard boat- at least, not for the moment. She wasn't keen on waiting for them to pop up again, though, so she quickly obliged when Cullen urged her to go for the oars.

Getting hold of the oar closest to her was simple enough. All she really had to was reach out a bit (albeit a bit gingerly- she wasn't particularly thrilled to be putting herself closer to the water again) in order to grasp it and pull it into her arms. The other oar, however, would be more problematic to retrieve. It was too far away to reach with just her arms, and there was absolutely no way that she was going to jump back into the water to retrieve it. Instead, she made use of the paddle she was holding, using the tip of it to latch on to the floating oar and carefully pull it towards her.

By the time Maddison retrieved the oars, Tonell had resurfaced and was attempting to go after Cullen.
"You won't get away this time, Cullen! You've betrayed your country and deserve to hang."

Cullen, naturally, had other plans. He wasn't about to just let himself die that day, nor the lady. He was a gentleman after all, and the fairer sex deserved to be protected from such harsh realities as this.  Besides, were they not on a 'date '?

Cullen and Tonell struggled over the spare boat, leaving Maddison to the upturned one and elsewhere splashing in the water, Tonell's lackey.

And Tonell did not wait nor hesitate to fetch out his knife, smashing it into the side of the boat and missing Cullen by mere inches. He growled and yanked the knife free, then pulled himself up into the boat just as Cullen tried, but he struck his blade out again. Cursing, Cullen fell back into the waters and after a long moment, everything went still. Tonell hesitated before peering over the side of the boat, but didn't see a sign of the damn former captain of the guard anywhere.

By now, she'd been bailed out quite enough times by Cullen- it was time for her to take action and return the favour. Noticing Tonell take a look over the side of the boat, Maddison took the opportunity to finish gathering the oars, then subtly pulled one up into her arms while leaving the other floating close enough for her to grab. She felt the full weight of it resting in her hands- not quite what she was used to, but it should work well enough for what she had in mind.

She adjusted her grip on the oar, balancing the weight of it in a way that maximized her control over it before taking a swing at Tonell, aiming to hit his head with the edge of the oar. It was certainly a motion that she'd practiced many times in the past, and the oar chopped cleanly through the air, flinging water droplets in a neat arc as her makeshift weapon sailed towards its intended target.

The oar struck, cracking across his face as Tonell nearly toppled off the boat. He managed to cling into it, but not without giving Cullen a chance to spring into action. He knew  if he were to disarm Tonell, now would be the best opportunity to do so.  And soon the two men were struggling, Cullen seizing his knife arm and Tonell trying to reinforce his stance,. Too bad the man was smart and dropped down low, making it near impossible for Cullen to take advantage of his instability. And as the two men struggled,  Tonell attempted to throw Cullen off balance, which worked, but more than he intended as Tonell's lackey managed to grab one side of the boat, and Cullen spilled over ontop of Tonell as the other man managed to rock the boat beneath his weight while boarding.

Watching the two struggle with each other in an attempt to gain the advantage, Maddison's attention was soon diverted to the other man attempting to board the boat. Her grip on the oar changed again, this time holding it more straight almost like a spear rather than using the more glaive-appropriate grip she'd used before. Hoping that whatever instability the man experienced while climbing onto the boat would make up for the raw power she would lose by switching up her grip, she began taking jabs at Tonell's buddy, aiming to at least keep him from getting involved long enough for Cullen to gain the upper hand over Tonell.

Maddison's strike hit home, sending the lackey over board with a splash. The boat rocked with the effort,  sending the already unsteady Cullen stumbling backwards until he too was back in the water with a splash.

Tonell scrambled to look over the side of the boat,  eyes piercing and waiting to see where the damn treasonous bastard would resubmerge., but it was only his companion that resurfaced and he was quick to lend him a hand.

It was only now, as Maddison worriedly scanned the waters in search of her newly submerged ally, that it really started to sink in just how precarious her current position on the boat was. Leaning forward to attack with the oar wasn't exactly helping the boat to remain stable, and subconsciously she shifted backwards a bit to put herself further away from the water and keep the boat steady. Her grip on the oar tightened as she waited for Cullen to resurface, ready to act if she needed to while also remaining careful not to put herself in an unnecessary amount of danger.

Cullen thankfully was a quick thinker. He had managed to swim beneath and to the other side of Tonell's boat. Using what momentum he could, he sprung out of the water and used the entire weight of his body to force the boat to rock and toss the other two men overboard. It seemed he had timed it just right as the men fell off. Over the opposing side of the boat,  Giving Cullen time to swim towards Maddison and as he grabbed onto the edge of her boat he gasped out, "Go! Paddle to shore! Hurry!"

A mix of surprise and relief lit up Maddison's face as Cullen popped up and tossed the two guards into the water, but she was quick enough to give a nod of compliance as he latched on to the boat, and she moved to set the thing in motion. Retrieving the other oar from its spot floating next to the boat, she hurried to set the paddles in place and began rowing to shore. It took a moment to do so- she only hoped that whatever amount of time Cullen had bought them previously was enough to give them a sizable head start over Tonell and his lackey.

Cullen clung to the boat as Maddison turned to paddle. Without crawling in, he clung to the side and began to kick, aiding in propelling the boat forward while Maddison could direct them with a paddle. It was a noisy affair and his legs burned like hell, but they had to maintain their lead.

"Don't head towards the docks but the marshes to the south!" He shouted over the splashing. "I've got some things stashed we can use to aid in our escape. "

Under different circumstances, Maddison might have hesitated to steer the boat towards somewhere that you clearly weren't "supposed" to dock at, but any sort of advantage that they could use at this point sounded like a pretty good idea to her. Deciding to put her trust in Cullen, she altered the course of the boat enough to point it towards the marshes before continuing to push it forward.

Speaking of Cullen, Maddison couldn't help but notice that he sure was taking his time getting into the boat. She could hear the splashing as he kicked through the water, though- was he really planning on clinging to the side for the whole trip?

"Make sure to tell me if you need to climb in, alright? I don't want you to drown down there," she called back over her shoulder.

Cullen raised a single brow at her and smiled, then he stopped his kicking and hoisted himself into the boat. He was breathing hard as he moved near her,  pointing over her shoulder as waters rushed down his form.

"See the tall cattails? That's where we're headed. But be careful. Rocks line this side of the lake shore. We don't want it to rip apart the hull."

He paused a moment to wipe at the waters tickling at his forehead before turning to address her with a smile.


"Name's Cullen by the way, James Cullen." He gave a curt nod. "Felt a real introduction was in order."

Maddison gave a nod as Cullen pointed out the direction to head in. Watching out for rocks was certainly a good idea, especially considering the fact that she wouldn't have another boat to cling to if this one went under.

"So I've heard. It seems you've become rather well-known around here. Honestly, I should have known better than to get involved with a strange man out on the lake. It could only ever lead to trouble, and here I am- in trouble." She teased, briefly returning his smile with one of her own before returning her focus to the waters ahead of them.

"As for me, you can call me Maddison. Maddison Hart."

He  couldn't erase his smile if he tried.
"I do apologize, my lady. Had we met under different circumstances I'm sure our troubles would be dryer."

Dryer would be nice, his clothing felt impossibly heavy soaked as it was. He stood there for a few minutes just letting the water pool at his feet and nodded once she gave him her name.

Maddison Hart? The name sounded familiar somehow.

He thoughtfully studied the lake shore. It was much harder to see the rocks at night. They should be just upon th-

A rock scraped beneath the boat and jostled it, unbalanced him as he stumbled ontop of the woman with an 'oof'.

Maddison just sat there for a brief moment after he collided with her, apparently stunned by the impact of the rock against the boat, or Cullen falling on top of her, or both. It wasn't long, though, before she snapped out of it and attempted to move out from underneath him, clearly no longer in a joking mood as she glanced over her shoulder with a look of concern.

"Shoot, I'm sorry about that. We're not taking on too much water, are we? I... really would rather not swim the rest of the way if we can help it."

Cullen got to his feet and assessed.
"No, I don't think so. " He moved to look out at the waters.
"Here, I'll take the paddles and guide us. Just let me know if you see any more rocks."

And off on the distance, he could still hear Tonell's screams.

They were almost there, and Cullen- eager to be out of the lake, paddled faster with heavier strokes. He dodged a few rocks before land became nearly palpable and he turned the boat and allowed it to float past another sharp row of rocks before the reeds cut open and obscured their view.

The waters were much more shallow here and Cullen didn't waste any time jumping out of the ship. The water was barely knee deep.
"Come on," he offered her a hand. "Gotta go on foot now. Leave the boat behind."
And once he had gotten her off the boat, he gestured for her to follow.
"Keep low and move fast."

Maddison was willing enough to shuffle aside and allow Cullen to take the lead for a bit- he knew the way they needed to row more than she did, and it would do her good to take a small break after the frightening experience of thrashing around in the water just a few minutes earlier. She didn't allow herself to relax too much, though, and she made sure to point out any rocks she caught sight of along the way.

She seemed reluctant to step off the boat and into the water when they arrived at the shallow waters, but was quick to take Cullen's hand when he offered it and joined him in stepping off of the boat. It didn't take much convincing for her to keep up with him, considering she was quite eager to both get out of the water and put some distance between them and Tonell.

"What are we looking for, exactly? You said you had some sort of stash around here?"

Cullen nodded.
"I purchased a teleporting stone. Cost me a pretty penny. We just have to find it in the reeds. The bag will blend it, but I counted my steps so we should be able go find it that way."

His eyes studied the bank before he decided he found the spot, grumbling about dark vision and nightfall.
"Should be thus way.. seventeen paces." And he stepped put of the waters and began to count.

"One.. two.."

Off on the distance it seems Tonell and his lackey had gotten onto a boat and were heading their way.

"Three... four.."

And that's when the counting paused, as black snake suddenly snapped its jaws from out of the shadows. Cullen cursed, kicking his boot hard at the snake and sending it back into the bushes before quickly counting to seventeen and seeing the near hidden bag and snatching it up. He then stumbled back into the waters.
"Got it."

He made quick work to open the bag and produced the stone. It just looked like any other stone, except a small yellow mark notched onto it's smoothed edge. He smiled at Maddison.

"Looks like lucks on our side. Give me your hand," he commanded, but soon as he did he grabbed her suddenly and pulled her to his side, as rhe black snake emerged again and bit at her, but ended up biting Cullen's arm instead as he put himself in the way and let out a curse.

He stumbled away from his companion and into the rocks and weeds, taking a few more bites to his arm before finally smashing the snake's head into a pulp. At the effort, Cullen wilted through a sigh and swore at the bite marks, now bleeding and seeping into his clothes.

"A teleporting stone?"

Maddison went a bit wide-eyed as Cullen explained what he had in mind for an escape plan. She supposed it was possible that such an artifact existed, although she wasn't well-versed enough in magic to be sure. What she was sure of was that even if such a thing existed, it definitely wasn't going to work on her.

She considered bringing this up a couple times as she followed close behind him, but the snake's interference interrupted her each time. The first strike was little more than an inconvenience, but it took all of the discipline she had to stop herself from crying out when Cullen yanked her away from the snake's second attack. She moved quickly to catch up with him after he fought off the snake, gently taking his arm and looking over it to assess the damage.

Concern crept across her face as she examined the bite marks. All things considered, it wasn't the worst injury she'd ever witnessed, but it had the potential to get a lot worse if nothing was done about it. Letting out a small sigh of her own, Maddison shot a quick glance over her shoulder to check for their pursuers before turning back to Cullen and letting go of his arm, taking a few steps back to put some distance between them.

"Listen- you should get those bite wounds care of as soon as possible. I don't know how severe a bite from that kind of snake usually is, but it's a bad idea to leave something like that untreated for too long regardless. You should use the stone to get yourself somewhere safe. As for me, I'm... well, the stone isn't going to work on me, so I can't come with you. You'll have to go without me."

Cullen's face skewed at her words.
"What do you mean. We have to...." and then it clicked. "You're a mordecai... aren't you..."
And thinking back to their tussle on the boat....
She might even be more than that.

She stood her ground, but fumbled a bit trying to find the right words.

"Well... yes? I mean, not precisely. Look, it's not important right now. What matters is that the stone should work for you as long as I stand back like this. If you're going to use it, you should do it now- I doubt your 'friends' back there are going to wait too long for you to make your choice."

Well this complicated matters. They needed to make a get away, and he wasn't about to leave the woman behind.

"Well, if the stone won't work for us, then I suppose we ought to leave the old fashioned way. You know, to run like hell. Think you can manage?" He asked with a grin.

"I know a safe house nearby. But it'll still be quite a run and Tonell will still have to contend with his sea legs, " he gestured for her to follow,  he pocketing the stone and moving swiftly from the river.

Maddison blinked, taken a bit aback by Cullen's decision. She could understand working together temporarily in order to get away from Tonell, but it was another thing entirely for him to refuse to use the stone for her sake. Then again, she wasn't particularly eager to try to completely fend for herself in a situation like this, so she gave him a quick nod and once again began to follow behind him.

"Hey, thanks for deciding not to leave me behind. To be honest, I didn't have much of a plan for... well, things going the way they did," she spoke up after a few moments. "I want you to let me know if you start feeling worse, though. It won't do either of us any good if you collapse on the way instead of just using the stone."

Cullen's eyes went to the water. Tonell was closing in.  No doubt close enough he'd see them flee. Atleast they wouldn't have his gun to deal with.

He gestured for Maddison to follow, tossing his pack upon his back and moving low and fast through the weeds. He'd use the concealment for as long as he could, but eventually the reeds ended and he Whispered to Maddison, "Stay close.", and moved with haste across the open grasses. He spared one chance back to where Tonell began to dock the bought and snarled out a curse.

"We gotta move." He picked up speed, heading for the city fast as he could and hoping they could lose their pursuers on the narrow streets. The path he desired of course was being patrolled,  forcing him to take the long way towards the safe house where he paused in an alley way to catch his breath.

"We're almost there. See the red stone house? That's where we're going. We'll have to take the basement entry once the back alleys are clear of the scheduled patrols. "

It wasn't too difficult for Maddison to keep up with Cullen as the pair moved stealthily through the weeds. While stealth may not have been her area of expertise, she was a trained soldier at the end of the day and something like this was well within her capabilities. At least, that's how she viewed the situation, but when they stopped in the alleyway she couldn't shake the feeling that something felt off.

She took a moment to glance down at her hands, noticing them faintly trembling despite her efforts to remain collected. Damn. The whole ordeal must have rattled her more than she realized- adrenaline had been doing a lot of work in keeping her moving, especially during the brief scare when she had fallen into the water.

The built up exhaustion from the previous events of the night began to take hold of her, and for a brief moment Maddison had to brace herself against the wall to prevent herself from stumbling over. She closed her eyes and took some deep breaths to steady herself before opening them back up and glancing over at Cullen.

"Alright, sounds like a plan. Do you have an idea of when it'll be safe for us to start moving?"

Cullen studied the guards and looked towards the sky.
"They'll be rounding this quadrant of town all night. But each block they move in figure eights," he gestured with his finger an example. "I see two infront of us, meaning two more might be heading this way, leaving only a gap of a few minutes between. Once these guards round the bend, we make a run for it."

He turned to Maddison and noted something seemed off.
"You alright?"

Maddison gave Cullen a quick nod of understanding as she listened to him explain the guards' movements. It was reassuring that he seemed to have a thorough understanding of when exactly they would need to act. However, she frowned a bit at his show of concern.

"Yeah. I mean... I should be. It's just... being tossed into the water like that must have taken a lot out of me. I'm not really used to it. Not like that, at least." With that, she finished steadying herself, pushing herself back off of the wall and standing back upright before continuing. "It's nothing to worry about, really. Besides, I'm the one who should be concerned about you. You are injured, after all."

Cullen gave her a toothy smile.

"We can worry about my snake bite after we get rid of the guards." He returned his attentions back to the streets, ignoring the sweat and heat growing across his brow.

It seemed like an eternity until it was the right moment, but then he gestured to Maddison to be silent, still..then he moved.


Cullen moved fast, hunched low as he walked and kept to the shadows. At one point it seemed as if one of the guards was going to double back, and Cullen kept himself pressed against a wall and held his breath. But after a few moments the coast was clear again and soon the pair made it to the safe house, and Cullen made quick work to open the double doors on the ground that lead to the basement. It was difficult to see as the night was still dark,but he went in first and a few steps down he offered a hand to Maddison.

"We're almost there," be Whispered, giving her a small smile and keeping his eyes wary incase a guard decided to head back this way.

Maddison resisted the urge to glance around at the patrolling guards as she followed Cullen silently through the darkness, remaining intensely focused on making her movements as inconspicuous as possible. It was a good thing she did, too, as it was quite possible that she might have run straight into Cullen when he came to an unexpected stop if she'd been paying less attention.

She hesitated for a moment when Cullen gestured for her to take his hand- she could tell her hands were still shaking a bit from earlier and she wasn't particularly keen on letting him in on her nervous energy- but she figured it was better than taking her chances waiting around or stumbling aimlessly down the dark stairs. She took his hand, giving a quick nod before following him down the steps.

The basement was dark quiet and a heavy scent of mildew and musk clung to the air. Cullen remained tense, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness before it seemed his own tension lessened as he sighed.

"Come. Stay close," he Whispered, and lead them slowly towards a boarded up window that allowed just a few faint fragments of blue silver light rays in from the outside. It was just enough light to show off a nearby series of shelves built into the wall and a stool to sit upon beside a rotting old chest.

Cullen gestured a moment for Maddison to take her choice of seats before he swayed a little but caught himself against the wall. The cracks of light revealed his far too sweaty form as he kept his eyes closed in hopes to quell the dizziness that befell him.

Given their close proximity to each other and the fact that they were holding hands, it wasn't hard for Maddison to pick up on Cullen relaxing as they entered the basement and she soon found herself following suit, letting go of his hand and taking note of his gesture to sit down.

She moved to take a seat on the stool, only to suddenly stop herself short as she caught a glance of Cullen's illuminated form resting against the wall. This time around, it was her turn to show concern for him as a moment later she was at his side, gently taking hold of his uninjured arm in an attempt to offer him some support.

"Please, Cullen... don't try to act like you're feeling okay if you really aren't. I won't have you suffering needlessly for the sake of easing my worries. If you need to rest or if there's something I can do to help, I want you to tell me, understood?"

Cullen smiled inspite of himself and studied her face.
"Thank you for your concern, but I don't think rest will fix this." He grimaced and moved about in the low ceiling room, careful not to bump his head as his eyes scanned the scattering of shelves.

"I.. need to find the medicine box," he went on, vision clipping some as he paused a moment to rest his eyes. The room felt like it was spinning.

Maddison frowned as he pulled away from her and started to search through the shelves, but she ultimately decided against trying to stop him.

"Alright, I'm not going to force you to rest. But if you're not going to, then you can at least let me help look for the medicine. It's the least I can do, and I'd never forgive myself for sitting around doing nothing." With that, she left Cullen to his search as she hurriedly began one of her own, struggling slightly to make out objects and labels as her eyes adjusted to the dark.

"Eastern... eastern wall," Cullen began, grimacing as he sputtered over the words. "That's where we always plan to keep healing provisions in our safe houses," he explained. "If this place still has it, let's check there first."

He paused a moment, still resting as his mind spun from the poison and attempted to get his barings. Recalling where they came from and the direction of the river, he was slow to turn and pointed at a back wall, mostly cloaked in darkness.

"Provisions, medicine and the likes ought to be along that wall. Hopefully.." he added, smiling a little in spite of their situation. "They'll be some antidote. Other wise, this is a rather poor place to die."

Maddison paused her search for a brief moment to hear him out before giving a silent nod and hastily making her way over to the wall that Cullen was pointing at- so hastily, in fact, that she misjudged the distance to the wall in the darkness, bumping into a shelf as she arrived. If Cullen was listening carefully, he might have picked up on some... uncharacteristically colourful language muttered under her breath as she felt around, but soon enough she returned to focused silence.

A small shiver overtook her as Cullen casually brought up the possibility of there being no antidote stocked up, although there was no telling if it was out of concern or simply a result of her unpleasant encounter with the water earlier. She spoke up suddenly, half trying to distract herself from her growing anxiety.

"Please tell me you'll sit down or at least lean on something if you feel like you're going to collapse. It won't do you any good if you fall and hit your head on something before we even get the chance to treat your bite."

Cullen couldn't help himself, despite their situation, he had to smile.
"Certainly would make your job easier," he jested. "Either the blow would kill me and resolve this issue quickly,  or I'd fall unconscious and wouldn't be able to fight back any disgusting medicinal remedies you might need to pour down my throat. Either way, sounds like winning. "
And somehow he made his dark jests sound charming.

Maddison visibly tensed up, apparently not particularly amused with Cullen's attempts to keep the mood light. "I do wish you'd take your own life-threatening situation as seriously as I do..." She pushed a few more objects aside before pausing to examine one that looked particularly promising. "Although... I suppose it's comforting to know you're at least well enough to still be making jokes." She gave a small smile, although it was fairly obvious that she had to force it. Taking the container off of the shelf, she turned to hold it out to him.

"What do you think? Is this what we're looking for?"

Cullen made his way closer to her side, ignoring the swells of nausea and fever that he could feel as if swelling from the bite wound itself. 
He gave her a tired but cheeky grin when she scolded him and had to counter, "It's nice to know you are taking these seriously."

When she produced the box, he exhaled in relief.
"Yes, that's it! There should be various items inside. If there's an antidote for snake venom or poison, it ought to be labeled..."

He paused a moment as he felt himself swaying- except he wasn't moving at all, it was just rhe effects of the venom as it spread. 

"It.. shouldn't be locked. And see if there is anything else useful like.."

A wave of nause hit him and he grew quiet, the sensation ringing up through his body like the clang of a bell, clear once it struck, then a flooding, fading sensation in its wake as it chilled and equally warmed his body.

"Useful like...?" She repeated after him, waiting expectantly for him to finish his sentence while she began taking note of whatever she could identify within the container. It was only after a good few seconds of waiting for an answer that she looked back up at him and took note of his rapidly deteriorating condition. Instantly she was at his side, gently sliding an arm under his in preparation to support him in case he started to fall.

"Hey... hey. Stay with me, alright? At least for a little bit."

She gave his arm a gentle squeeze, monitoring him closely for a reaction before continuing.

"We really should get you sat down. There's no sense in taking the risk of you falling now that we've found what we need."

Cullen gave a soft laugh. 
"I can not disagree with you. I.." he made a noise as he was lowered to sit on the ground, brow furrowing deeply in pain. 

"Fetch me the antidote," he felt himself away again and paused, groaning. "Please.  I.. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep conscious. "

Maddison found herself relaxing ever-so-slightly as Cullen agreed with her suggestion, allowing himself to rest on the floor. That was one less thing to worry about, at least. She didn't let her relax too much, though, as there was still the matter of the snake venom to deal with. She wasted no time in opening up the container and producing what she believed to be the antidote.

"Right, this should be it. Here," she spoke, kneeling down to match his level and offering it to him.

Cullen sighed with relief, and shivered from the fever that continued to grow and plague him. Then he moved to take a sip, but suddenly doubled over, vomitting on the floor with a groan. The smell of the antidote had been too much in the moment, and he needed a moment to set his stomach right. He grimaced and knew he had to get it down. But what good would it do if he simply tossed it all back up?

Maddison recoiled from Cullen's reaction to smelling the antidote- it was far from the worst she'd witnessed during her time as a soldier, but that didn't didn't make it any more pleasant to witness, especially out of nowhere like that. Regardless, this was no time for her to start getting squeamish, so she quickly leaned back in after taking a deep breath to compose herself.

"Are you alright? Do you... think you'll be able to keep it down?" For both their sakes, she really hoped he would- the last thing she wanted right now was for Cullen's earlier jest about forcing the antidote down his throat to become a reality.

Cullen grimaced.
He hated feeling useless against this and closed his eyes, trying to focus, focus, focus on anything but the fever, the shakes, the sickness and the pain.

He thought through it, reminding himself why he was here and that it was too easy to die like this. And like the soldier he was, he steeled his resolve and downed the thing, pausing a moment where be thought it all might come back up, before groaning dizzily as he wilted against the wall.

A moment later, he cracked a weak smile.

"And now we wait."

Maddison managed a smile of her own in return, relieved that Cullen was able to down the antidote without incident. Feeling a sudden surge of exhaustion coming on, she moved to take a seat beside him, closing her eyes and leaning back against the wall as she finally allowed herself to relax a bit for the first time that evening. She curled up slightly on herself, beginning to shiver as the last of her adrenaline wore off and she once again felt the cold sinking in.

"You know.." Cullen began, taking a tired moment to study the young woman beside him. "I wouldn't have left such a pretty young woman waiting for our rendez-vous."

He afforded her another, genuine smile. Despite their situation, he was taking the effort to make light on it.

"You and I will... need to have a conversation after all this." He glanced around the basement, then grew quiet, listening into the night.

He still felt so damn hot. And so very exhausted. But then he noted her shivering and frowned.
"I'd offer you my coat, my lady, but I'm sure it's lost forever now in the lake."

He sighed at that. 

"It was a nice jacket."

Then he thought more of it and smirked, eyes truly sparkling.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't have been much to offer a soggy jacket anyway."

"We will indeed," she responded when Cullen brought up the suggestion of discussing... whatever this was. "There's a lot I'd like to ask you and I'd imagine there's plenty you'd like to ask in return."

Cullen's joking around might have helped to keep the situation from seeming too dire, but it did little to help Maddison put the chilling cold out of her mind. She gave him a wary look, weighing her options in her head before shuffling close enough to press her body against his, gently nestling her head against his shoulder.

"Sorry about this. Just... trying to preserve some body heat if possible. I can stop if you're not comfortable with it," she said, although she wasn't entirely certain whether she was trying to reassure Cullen or herself with those words.

"And... sorry about your coat. I'm sure the other mermaids will appreciate the gift, though, soggy as it may be."

When she shuffled closer he hadn't thought much about it but then..
They were cuddling. 

Well not cuddling, but...

"You know.. if that rendez-vous had been for us.. this would have been a nice out come."

He then smiled about the jacket. 

"No worries, I'll just try to steal it back from the mermaids tomorrow."

And though weary to the bone, he moved to put an arm around her to keep her close.

Was he... flirting with her again? She supposed it made sense now that they weren't in any immediate danger, but she'd never been particularly good at identifying when she was being flirted with. She wasn't certain how to respond to his first statement, but she was happy enough to offer a joking response to his second.

"Well, good luck with that. Mermaids are quite possessive- once they find something they like, they're not likely to let you pry it away from them. Might as well try to steal from a dragon's hoard."

Maddison shuffled around a bit as Cullen's arm wrapped itself around her, debating inwardly how she felt about the gesture until eventually deciding that whatever extra warmth it would give her was worth the added awkwardness. She fell silent for the next few minutes, eyelids sliding shut as exhaustion got the better of her and she slowly drifted off to sleep.

How long had they been asleep? The pair must have been thoroughly exhausted to have fallen asleep in such a state. But whatever serenity the moment offered was abruptly disturbed.

"Hey, you two! Wake up and identify yourselves!" A loud, gruff voice demanded. The man was tall, heavy of muscle and had the homeliness of a mill worker.

Maddison sat up straight as the man abruptly startled her awake. Damn. She really should have known it wasn't going to be that easy. Internally, she was kicking herself for allowing herself to fall asleep instead of keeping watch, but outwardly she did her best to keep a straight face as she stared back up at the man.

"...You first. I think you owe us that much after barging in on us like this," she responded with a level of annoyance quite appropriate for someone having so rudely woken up. She never took her eyes off of the stranger, but on the side she was subtly attempting to nudge Cullen awake in the hopes that he might be better prepared with the situation than she was.

She'd likely be able to see the angered glint in his eyes, which soon focused on Cullen as he groaned awake. It seemed the man had a mouthful to yell, but as soon as Cullen lifted his head, his face softened some at his words.

"Hey Ruger, long time no see."

"You unhealthy rat bastard," the other man snarled.  "What kind of trouble did you get into this time, Cullen?" He paused as he considered their state.

"Ah, so it was you two that had the guards up all night. Should have known your plan couldn't go off without a pitch."

"Hitch," Cullen corrected  , groaning a little as he attempted to stand.

The other man didn't seem to realize Cullen was correcting him.

"You two look like hell."

Cullen smiled ruefully at that and peered over at Madison.

"Yes, well, the worst of it was the snake bite."

The man's brows climbed ontop of his head.

"Snake bite? So you're telling me you let the guards chase you all through the town and in the end you let yourself get bit by a.snake?"

"Well, not exactly. I mean... who really let's themselves get bitten by a snake? Why, if anything, it was brought about because of my good luck."

"Good luck my ass. Told you karma comes around goes around." But then Ruger turned his attention towards Maddison. "So whose the broad?"

"I suppose introductions are in order.  Ruger, this is my mermaid rescuer and snake bite doctor."

Maddison's hands curled up into fists as the man prepared to give her an earful, ready to spring into action to defend herself in case things went south. It didn't come to that, however, as Cullen woke up and immediately defused the situation- apparently the two knew each other? Which was probably a good thing, but it also meant that she was once again out of the loop.

She moved to stand when Cullen did, offering one arm as support if he needed it while her other hand combed and brushed through her hair in an attempt to make herself slightly more presentable. She was content enough to wait and listen to the two men converse for now- well, until he said that.

"B-broad?!"

She went wide-eyed at that, apparently not quite familiar with being referred to in such a fashion. For a moment, she wasn't sure if she was more offended or just plain surprised, but by the time she'd collected herself enough to offer a response other than utter disbelief the conversation had already moved on. For now, she decided to hold her tongue until she had a better idea of who exactly she was dealing with.

"Maddison," she introduced herself rather bluntly, accompanying it with a brief nod. "I get the feeling that the two of you have a better understanding of what's going on here than I do."

Ruger nodded towards her, but his gaze was obviously wary. Cullen wasn't too out of sorts not to notice.

"Relax, Ruger, I have every reason to suspect she'll turn on us once I'm well enough to fight back. "

Ruger didn't seem to get it, blinking once before reaching for the weapon on his belt.
"Woah, hey, Ruger. It was a jest! She's likely on our side!" Cullen went on, moving to sheepishly stand between the pair the best he could.

"Likely? Cullen... Did you even check her story out? She could be a spy. Or worse.. a mold."

Cullen sighed.
"She's no mole, Ruger. Please...put the weapon away."

Maddison backed up as far as she could, thankful for the gap in space that Cullen provided by placing himself between the two. She trusted him enough to keep her relatively safe for now, but it never hurt to be careful, and while the two men argued she was silently plotting an escape route in case things went poorly.

"He is right about one thing, though. You don't know who I am, Cullen, and I don't know who you are. At least, not really. It was pure coincidence that we ended up working together. We could just as easily have been at each other's throats if it wasn't for those guards showing up."

She paused, looking Cullen's friend up and down before giving a sigh of her own.

"If it would help settle things down, I could start by giving my side of the story."

Cullen gave a sympathetic yet grateful nod her way.

"Sounds like a logical solution," Cullen went on, not moving to sit back down until Ruger put away his weapon.

Although Ruger complied, his eyes never once left Maddison, nor his hand his weapon.

There wasn't much point in hiding the truth now, she supposed- if these two were somehow working for the Grand Duke, they already had plenty reason to arrest her. She leaned back a bit, crossing her arms in front of herself somewhat defensively before addressing Cullen with a nod.

"I work with the Red Legion- mercenary company-turned-army with the goal of fighting back against the Grand Duke. I was out on the lake expecting to receive a drop-off of letters, some of which may have contained important military information. There wasn't supposed to be anyone else there that night, but then there you were, and as inconvenient as that might have been for me, I didn't want my contact to be mistakenly approaching you if you turned out to be an enemy. We started talking- I wanted to see if you would let any information about yourself slip, and I imagine you were doing the same.

"So... there we were. Sizing each other up. I can't say I know how that would have ended if it weren't for those guards showing up and interrupting, but in the end, I suppose we both decided we were better off taking a chance on each other than letting the guards take us both in. Cullen had an escape plan involving a magical artifact but it... didn't exactly work out. We had to do some sneaking around in order to get here safely and neither of us were in particularly good shape afterwards."

Ruger lowered his weapon as she began to explain.

"The red legion?" He repeated, turning towards Cullen. "They're a big deal ain't they, Cullen?"

Cullen smiled, nodding.

"And it seems Crampas can't remember which rebellious club he's helping. "

"Club?" Ruger blinked, but Cullen waived it off. He never understood Cullen's jokes.

Cullen sighed. 

"Well, either Crampas' mind is that bad or he was trying to set us up on a date," Cullen flirted, giving a grin towards Maddison. "Either way, atleast it turned out we're more or less on the same side."

Hopefully Ruger wouldn't press too much. Even if she were lying and the enemy...
She had saved his life.

Maddison's defensive posture loosened slightly as Ruger lowered his weapon. She raised an eyebrow at Cullen when yet another one of his jokes sailed completely over his companion's head, but decided it would be best not to make too big a deal of it- they did seem to be making some progress now, and there was little sense in jeopardizing that by getting Ruger any more riled up.

"So you've spoken to him too... that certainly simplifies things. I take it you were out on the lake for the same reason I was, then." She gave Cullen an affirmative nod before cracking a small smile at his joke. "Somehow I doubt his plan involved getting us together. But hey, that is pretty close to what ended up happening. Perhaps the old man is more clever than he gets credit for.

"I'd say that's enough about me, though. What about you? Whose clubhouse have I stumbled my way into?"

Cullen smirked at her question.
"I'm surprised you haven't guessed us by now, but I suppose we try to keep our reputation as secretive as possible. But we're apart of The Blood Wardens," he professed, Ruger visibly stiffening at this as he gave Cullen a look.  Cullen motioned for him to calm as he returned his attentions to Maddison. 
"Strong holds in secret and missions more likely so. Bonds cemented by blood oaths and desires to right the wrongs... and all of those sorts of galantries."