A Long Day's Night (Berry-Tree)

[Lion]

Good gods, he thought to himself.  The noise of the tavern would have made for an excellent distraction had he any desire to lose himself with in the riffraff that lingered there.  They were drunk with reverie, and smoke billowed up from puffing pipes that hung from the dry, cracked lips of mustachioed and haggard men.  Yet another thing that separated him from the pack of drastically wrung out, testosterone induced rag-tag band.

Theon was a bit of a light weight, so it seemed, and the beer he'd ordered was still nearly full.  He sat there in his chair, staring into the amber brew in front of him, the foam flowing low from lack of movement.  He didn't remember drinking much, but the taste wasn't all that bad and he liked the coolness of it as it went down his throat.  But the noise wasn't helping avert the confusion that broiled in his head like the melting pot of a smith's shop.

He pushed his beer away and cast his red-violet eyes out to the crowd, surveying if there was anyone here who was even remotely interested in offering him a job.  Funds were running low as of late.  The weight of his coinpurse was disturbingly light and he didn't even know if he was able to pay for that damn drink in front of him.  The spaces between jobs were getting farther and farther apart that he wondered if he ought to stick with a woodland existence.  Sure he may starve, or he may not, but loneliness was enough to draw him civilization of some kind, any kind.  And that was how he'd found himself in the company of these drunken fools around him.

The establishment wasn't one that was well-tended to, he quickly realized.  The rafters were rotten and in need of repair, and there were holes in the ceiling and the walls were thin and the floorboards were flimsy.  Beneath him, the nails were loose where his foot pressed on a slat of wood, tapping it.  It was a disappointing place, but nobody bothered him and he bothered nobody.  Yet perhaps he should have.

Theon looked up at one of the rafters as a hooded crow fluttered his wings as he landed, cawing lightly.  Jouzan made for pleasant company but talking to birds that talked back was rather frowned upon in polite society and the wandering man made it a habit to appear as normal as possible in a place that seemed so strange to him.  This might not have been his homeland, but he'd have to make his home where ever he so tread.

He took another sip of his beer, which was getting warm by now, and noticed something odd about the atmosphere.  It was quiet all of a sudden.  And all the eyes turned to view an odd pair that walked into the place.  But even if they didn't seem to fit into the atmosphere, the notion soon passed and everyone resumed their conversation and noise.  But Theon kept his eyes on them.  Maybe things were going to look up after all.

[Anonymous]

"It smells." The first words Arya Sanders spoke cut like a knife the second they entered the run-down tavern. And though he agreed, but her loud, obnoxious retort carried through the ale-addled people, catching the attention of more than a few. Arya had taken time to adjust to her new life – so much time to adjust she still even expected a warm, goose feather filled bed every single night and a warm dinner. Her constant harsh remarks about the mud, the summer heat and the daily showers would've grinded any other person to the point of breaking. Yet for him, her whining had become as normal as the birds singing in the background.

"Babs!" Arya spoke louder this time, wanting his attention. He ignored the little bird and her jest of a name for him and concentrated on the tavern around him. Surely they were now the centre of attention. A one eye man toothlessly smiled at the pretty Arya and made a couple of quiet jibs at the girl. The rest were a few more drunks that only blearily stared into their cups. Babs, despite his lazy, half smiling expression, was no fool however. A few sharp eyes had darted up from their cups in interest and Babs was quick to notice. "Sharp eyes mean sharp hands, that what we need..." He thought to himself and finally glanced to the young lady he was accompanying. "How about some food, surely it can't be that bad? We have enough for it, and asides, there's a long journey..." Babs gave her a wonky smile as he spoke out loud and lifted his cloak ever so slightly, revealing a full money pouch. A fine ripe looking peach to anybody hungry in the audience.

Arya pulled at her scratchy cloak, muttering dark nonsense to herself before replying. "Fine." She pouted and looked away. Even if it had been her journey to take, she hadn't expected traveling without a full escort of servants to be this hard. Yet she was a determined, prideful little thing, and wouldn't admit defeat while crossing unfamiliar territory. And the nights had become easier. The scratchy cloak Babs had acquired for her turned out to be quiet cosy on wet grass. The lackluster, plain dress also had a lightness to it compared to her noble clothing she wore previously, useful in the harsh heat of the summer. She refused to pull up the hood of her cloak still though, insisting it would ruin her hair. And as she walked without shame through the crowd of occupied seats, it was clear to everybody in the room that this was no commoner. If a little dirty, she looked far too well bred. "Two of your..." Arya stoutly stopped at the counter, popping her head over the wood to glare at the barman. "Whatever doesn't have fleas in it." She harshly finished, her determined eyes looking up at the now amused barman who took a minute to gather some leftover pheasant and smack it down in front of her on the counter. Babs who had followed, pressed a silver to the barman's outstretched hand and pulled his lady and the food to an empty table. Despite her years of proper "ladylike" etiquette, Arya was hungry and made short work of the food.

[Lion]

Theon knew a foreigner when he saw one.  For certainly he was of that stock, wasn't he?  Yet, these two, an older man and a young girl that couldn't have been anything more than a teenager, were seemingly more out of place than he was.  He was curious about them to be sure and certainly his eyes caught the bulging purse that hung on the belt of the man the girl had called Babs.  What an odd name?  But it didn't seem to bother him much at all, and he almost seemed to carry it with some pride.

Then his eyes drifted to the young one this "Babs" had entered with.  The patrons took their share in glancing at her, one sleazy, greasy man at a time.  His own expression was unassuming and he watched as one man that was red in the face and with a vein throbbing on his forehead took a glance at the pair when they walked back to an empty table.  The red-faced man, bald and thick with muscle, was knee-deep in bourbon, chugging on his mug like he would die from thirst, and his eyes kept tossing back to the pair.  Theon watched as he spoke to the man across from him, and they passed whispers, and the man's face only seemed to get redder.His partner was no happier by his expression and he grimaced every time he looked at them.

A sickness pelted his stomach, and he felt light-headed.  He knew that feeling and watched for a brief moment as the angry drunks took to their feet and made their way over to the newcomers.  The bald one slammed his fists down on the table and snarled at them.  "Y'all need to leave now," he said in a deep, dangerous voice that might strike fear into anyone that might have been listening.

Those that had been sitting around them quickly vacated their seats and attempted to get as far away as possible.

"Ya hear me, you two?" he said, almost spitting at them.  "We know what kinda fools ya're , and we don't like your kind here.  Understand?  So ya'll need to leave now.  Or there's gonna be some hurting going on."

"You're absolutely right," Theon found himself saying.  He didn't even know what he was doing before he did it.  There he was standing before the bald man, who towered over him a good extra foot, looking far too determined for his own good.  "You're absolutely right," he repeated.  "Someone is going to get hurt...and it's going to be you."

He looked like the perfect fool.  But the disgust for bullies was clear on Theon's face and like hell was he going to let these two fools make a mess of what was supposed to be a peaceful meal.

[Anonymous]

Babs' goofy grin seemed cemented to his face as the tavern's customers subtly tried to shift away from the newcomers. A couple of not so secretive angry glances and some chairs were knocked over the process. Arya naturally paid it no heed and was poking at the ugly dry bird on her plate with some suspicion about the grey blotches on the thighs. However he was more wise to what was happening. An obvious high lady treating the local sacred tavern with as much condescending posture as she did would generate some ire. So he was honestly not surprised when a fist landed on the table with a resounding crack.

Arya jumped, as did her plate. The dark, weird smelling broth that the bird had been served with sloshed onto the table with the sudden vibration. It immediately dripped onto her uncovered dress and her anger flared, despite the cheap dress being easily replaceable. She made to stand, her mouth opening to start her tirade of snappy insults but Babs was quick to interject. He grabbed her wrist tightly under the table, so tightly it hurt yet she knew it was a warning. She was physically pulled down and immediately snapped her mouth shut. Her eyes ventured a peek at her travelling companion. His easy-going, bored expression still held, yet his eyes were serious as the drunken men began their slurred speech. Experience had taught her that when the worldly Babs was serious, it was time to keep quiet. At the very least, she could wrinkle her nose. The men were clearly intoxicated from the smell, one of them was even swaying, his half lidded eyes leering at her.

Though they were drunk, their threats were not baseless. There was five of them, and one of him, his little bird would only succeed in aggravating a fight further and he didn't want to chance dragging her into that. Babs shrugged nonchalantly at the bald man covered his face in spittle. His hand still held fast to Arya's wrist and he eyed the half broken door they had entered with as he formulated his response. Yet there was no need. Another man, this time an exotic looking creature had intervened. Now he looked surprised; his eyebrows shot up and then noted he had just been one of the few sharp eyes watching them the second they entered.

His grip on Arya's wrist relaxed and released as this tall, and dare-she-say handsome man made his threats. She stared on surprised as the drunken hooligans recoiled, but the shiny-headed bald one spat onto the floor and snarled his rebuttal. "Yer a foolish man to think ye can take on the five of us." He poked a finger into the middle of his chest, pushing him back ever so slightly. Behind him, his friends seemed to swarm. "Men alike and women like her need'ta know their place, and we'll be sure to make you be put inna' that place."

At that point Babs had enough. This was reaching critical mass on the danger scale for him. He stood rapidly, knocking his stool over. "Fella's." He began, his sword coming out as fast as single exclamation. "We'd all like to not shed blood over this." The men recoiled immediately at the sight of his sword, but he simply turned it over, side to side, as if inspecting the sharpness. "So if you don't want the pointy end, me, my daughter and my associate will be leaving. Seems like our dinner is ruined pretty much anyways." Babs glanced to the man who had come to their aid; it was a toss-up whether he would back down or not. But he gave him a slow nod nonetheless and then sheathed his sword again, smiled, then proceeded to leave, giving Arya the gentle push that was necessary for her to rapidly leave the situation.

The sun had sunk nearly below the clouds and long shadows hung at their backs when they walked out into the road. Babs glanced up, exhaled loudly and looked to Arya who was far more curious about the inside of the tavern more then the incoming and sleepless night they were going to have. She craned her neck, trying to get a good luck at the exotic man who had intervened previously.

[Lion]

Theon only felt anger at the men that threatened these two.  Perhaps he was a fool, perhaps he'd missed something and the newcomers had only brought it on themselves that they were going to get attacked.  Bullies were cowards within, this could easily be seen, and Theon had found he'd been snarling when the bald one poked a finger into his chest.  That was how fights usually started wasn't it?  Finger-pointing and insults.  Theon wasn't one to fool around or waste time where words were obviously not going to keep these men from starting something that needn't be started at all.

His hand was already on Lohengrin's hilt and ready to tear it from its sheathe when Babs pulled out his own sword.  Theon's tensed hand released its grip on the sword, but did not leave its place.  He merely eyed the man with violet eyes and his face visibly relaxed.  He didn't like fighting; he didn't know why anyone would.  But it was not in him to stand by while others got kicked around without needing to be.  The only fools he saw here were the ones that crowded around them.  Theon was severely outmatched, but he expected this too.  Yet something told him that if he took them on all at once, he was more than capable of surviving.

He stared at the bald man dead in the eyes, only to see Babs nod at him from the corner of his eyes.  There would be no blood shed this evening.  Theon clearly relaxed and exited the tavern with them.  It was for the best, he knew.  He felt the weight of his coinpurse, dug in it and flipped a copper to the barkeep before he went through the doors, hoping that was enough to cover a drink he didn't even get to enjoy.  But at least it was paid for...and his coinpurse was lighter still.

Theon looked at both of them once they were outside and sighed.  This shouldn't have happened, he knew it.  All they wanted was a hot meal, and a place to stay.  He couldn't blame them.  So the guilt was readily in his expression when he sighed and decided to speak.  "I'm truly sorry about what happened back there," he said.  "I didn't mean to interrupt your meal, and you shouldn't have had to leave.  I'm sorry for the actions of those men too, but I couldn't stand by and let them cause a problem where I saw none.  And that's no situation your daughter ought to be in."

[Anonymous]

Babs patted the hilt of his blade and leaned against the side of the tavern. Few people were outside at this time. A crooked old woman gave them a sly eye from where she rubbed down some frayed sheets in a barrel of water. He eyed her back then smiled at Arya who was still trying to peek inside. "C'mon, let's go before things get even further out of hand."

The broken door had half closed in the wind and aside, Arya could not see much of the exotic man. Grumpily she stepped aside and looked up at Babs. "What now, we have no food, or shelter..." Her sentence was cut short with a swift bang of the door. They both turned quickly round to see the man earlier had stepped out into open air. Babs dropped his head to make a friendly nod but Arya pouted when he finished talking. "I'm not his daugher you should know... but I'm Arya" She corrected him, but still managed a coy smile. "It's fine, if anything, you got us out of a bit of a sticky situation..." Babs answered himself. "You can just call me Babs, from the looks of it you're not around from here."

[Lion]

Not his daughter?  It was then that he understood what had happened.  He wasn't an idiot, and if he seemed naive at times, it wasn't for long.  There were some disadvantages to having one's memory shattered nearly to bits, and among that being that Theon took whatever was said generally at face value.  And besides, he deduced, they looked nothing alike as a father and a daughter.

They introduced themselves and Theon gave them a nod in understanding.  But he couldn't help a blush when Babs noted that he obviously wasn't from around here.  He knew he didn't look like the others, but he must have been wearing some kind of sign around his neck if he didn't know better.  Theon stepped around them and merely nodded in ascent.  "I am not.  But...neither are you it seems.  My name is...is Theon.  Theon Arand," he said tentatively as if the name itself was a wine he was unfamiliar with.

"Where are you both traveling from?" he asked.  "And furthermore, where are you headed?"

[Anonymous]

Arya bobbed down below the taller men, staring with fascination at Theon. His eyes especially enthralled her. She had never seen anybody with pigment quite like that - even if hers were almost an orange. When he walked from the door around them however, she realised she had been staring and quickly turned her head away to look to Babs again. "Theon?" She echoed with a frown. He spoke it as if it were a foreign word, though she didn't question further, rather-ing to answer his question.

"We're travelling from Ketra." Babs probably would've said differently himself but didn't stop Arya from speaking. "Into Serendipity but..." She hesitated, a slight redness appearing at the tip of her ears. "We got a slight bit lost. No fault of ours of course, this place is so badly signposted and the people here are either dumb or deaf..." Arya pulled a bit at her hair, pushing it behind her ear. "I swear..." Babs made an awkward grin. "Shouting at them doesn't help either Arya..."

He had been lazily watching the sun grow darker and darker behind the clouds but turned his attention back to the conversation when Arya finished her little tirade. "Unfortunately Arya isn't terribly knowledgeable about travelling on the road." He made a clicking noise with his tongue, giving her a sly smile as she grumped at the slight insult. "Not to be blunt, but we are lost, and looking for a guide at the very least to show us back onto the main road... we're heading east." His voice had a strong tone of suggestion, so it would be difficult to miss his meaning.

[Lion]

They were quite a pair weren't they?  Theon never thought he would see the day where such an out of place pair would find themselves together like this.  Babs was older and had the wisdom of age clearly placed on his face, there was no doubt he knew what he was doing and how to do it, no matter what he did.  Arya on the other hand was young, far younger than her companion.  Theon wondered what kind of circumstances brought these two together.  Whatever it was, they were certainly comfortable with each other that he could tell there was a definite trust between them.

The sellsword tilted his head as Arya spoke, raising a brow in thought.  She had a mouth on her didn't she?  He couldn't help a grin of amusement, and gave the slightest of smirks at her.  But he had a feeling it was apart of her upbringing that might have been the cause of that.  She certainly didn't act like any commoner that he knew of.  But at least her companion was patient with her and seemed even to be amused by it.

Theon's eyes brightened up at the prospect of them being lost, a suspicious one that almost made one unsure of his expression.  He wouldn't be surprised to learn that these two were lost.  And it was easy to get caught in the backroads.  And just as dangerous.  Theon grinned widely and looked down the dirt road that stretched south and north.  "I could show you the way if you'd like," he offered, perhaps a little to eagerly.  "I've been in the area for a while now and know a shortcut that might prove useful to get you back on the road faster than this path could.  It is rather late now.  And," he cast his eyes toward the tavern, "I don't think we'll be welcome back in the tavern anytime soon.  If you'd like, we could make camp along the road, and continue in the morning."

[Anonymous]

Babs caught his abrupt answer in his throat and hesitated, making a small sigh as he did. He seemed well intentioned, but Theon's eagerness to help was almost too enthusiastic for him. Still he was never going to ignore a stranger's request. "It wouldn't be for free of course." Babs subtly patted the purse in his cloak. "But we'd be very grateful for your help." Subtly, he nudged Arya too, and she gave a slight bow of her head. "Thank... you." The words were strangely contorted, if she wasn't used to saying them. "We'd be delighted to accept your offer..."

Allowing him to lead the way, the trio carefully plodded along the increasingly darkening road. The further they walked, the more agitated Arya became. At first it was whispered whining to Babs, in case Theon would hear, but soon it went to a sullen silence. She wasn't fond of the dark, that he knew, and she had good reason to be as nervous as she was. Though they hadn't encountered any yet, the backroads were always notorious for bandit ambushes on unsuspecting travelers. Yet the sun was still setting and there was no point in wasting perfectly good daylight. Finally, when it was getting difficult to see much further past the next tree on the country lane, Arya simply stopped. "I heard there was going to be a camp... so I'm putting my foot down, no matter how far you want to go..." She grumpily eyed both of them, expecting a response. Babs simply shrugged and looked to Theon.

ooc: Sorry for the time-skip, but I figured we could jump ahead a little!

[Lion]

They made enough headway with the dying of the daylight.  Theon always liked the evening.  And he looked back when he heard the rustle of wings on the wind and he saw a dark shape fly from the holes in the roof of the tavern and fluttered through the trees.  Jouzan watched them with his beady eyes, ruffling his feathers and looking on them.  Whatever distance they covered, the hooded crow met them, flying a few yards ahead then resting in a tree, and waited until they passed again before repeating his pattern.

When he noticed Arya stopped, Theon turned and looked at her with raised brows.  She was absolutely right, he noted and it was getting rather late.  Theon looked up ahead at the tree and moved off the road toward the grasses.  This was the path he was looking for and they would be able to cut through the trees when daylight arrived.  He nodded to Arya and motioned for them to follow.  "I suppose if you're scared of the dark, we can stop now," he said lightly as he took off his own cloak.  He collected brambles and branches in preparation for a fire and when it was lit he took a seat on the ground and welcomed them to join him.  "Are you two used to sleeping outside?" he asked, looking at them with curious eyes.

[Anonymous]

"I'm not frightened." Arya sharply answered before Babs could break in with something further to add. "It's just dark - anyone sensible would hunker down for the night." It seemed like something flared in her for a moment, maybe out of anger, perhaps out of fear but it disappeared nearly as soon as it came as she was turning away, following the path to a camping area. Babs followed behind, half an ear and eye on the road behind him. It had been only a niggling feeling, but he felt like something was following them. His mouth remained tightly sealed though, lest he worry the other two.

"I am, Arya is certainly not." Babs answered for her with a grin. "Not my fault." Arya shouted back. She had decided to make herself useful in lieu of forcing them to stop for the night and was attempting to pick up more wood for the fire. Naturally, she didn't have the second clue about firewood collection and resorted to plucking the useless branches off the trees when she ran out of twigs to pick up from the ground.

Meanwhile, Babs had started a fire expertly with deft hands using the wood that Theon had collected and it was roaring along nicely. He sat back with a sigh, unclasping his cloak as he did, and placed it under him to sit. Arya came back, arms full of twigs and made a face at the fire. She dropped them on the ground next to it and sat down, facing Theon. "Where are you from?" After a few moments of silence, she asked bluntly but then seemed to catch herself for she lifted her head. "I mean. If you don't mind me asking." Her manners were naturally perfect.

[Lion]

Theon was not unaccustomed to be addressed so tersely, but there was something about her tone that seemed a little condescending and he quirked a brow at her when she addressed him.  Theon took a moment to reach for one of the twigs that she brought for them, and fiddled with the thing as if he were inspecting it slowly.  He snapped it in half, then tossed it into the flames.

Her question surprised him and it was not an easy one to answer.  He looked at her like some kind of creature cornered by a predator, but he grinned away his unease and wondered if it would be better to make up some kind of weird tale of his origins.  No doubt the tale he knew was true, was strange enough all on it's own.  They were strangers too him, just as he was to them and the question was only natural.  They needed to know they were traveling with some crazed lunatic.

"Well...I'm not entirely sure, you see," Theon began, looking at her with an honest gaze.  "About six or seven months ago, I woke up on a ship.  I didn't know where it was going or where it was from, just that it was in the middle of the ocean.  There's not much I remember before that.  I only know what the sailors told me.  We were coming from the east, from a country called Dorneiros, across the sea and we got off at Cerenis, and I've been wandering ever since.  I stick to the backroads and woodlands.  I'm a bit of an outdoorsman, I guess.  What about you two?  Do you seem to travel often?"

There was a sudden flutter of feathers in the trees.  There was a dark shape that passed before the risen moon and it swooped low and landed abruptly in a nearby tree.  Jouzan eyed them with beady black bulbs, merely observing.

[Anonymous]

Arya jumped when the black shape flashed overhead to land on a tree. She steadied her rapidly beating heart and eyed the bird supiciously. Its dark eyes made her uneasy and she looked away, knowing somehow, that it was still watching them. She focused instead on Theon who had finished his explanation. "That's... mysterious." Her eyes lit up. "So you can't remember anything at all?" She tapped her chin, frowning as she thought about it.

"We're... travelers yes. But not for very long." Babs cut into the conversation. "We hail from Ketra." He hesitated. Though he seemed like he could be trusted, they had only just met this man and he was unsure how much he could reveal. "We're looking for a certain family that Arya has business with, I'm just accompanying uh, out of request-." "My mother." Arya cut in as sharp as a knife, her tone businesslike again. "That's who we're looking for."

Babs gave her look but went back to poking his fire with a stick again, trying to keep the dry branches to the middle. She continued quickly. "I didn't belong... where I came from. My Lord's father's house." Her expression was hard, as if she was trying to not let it bother her. "Even if it's selfish, I don't want to be there. The only other place he can't touch me is with my mother." She looked entirely stubborn. "There, you told us your reasons, and I told you mine. Seems fair." Babs heaved a sigh. "Even if a bit stupid." He thought.

[Lion]

Jouzan eyed the two strangers darkly.  He was not Theon and did not see the world in a curious way, as if it were opening up all over again.  He was silent in his vigil and ruffled his feathers as he stared at the ones around the fire.  Though he did not explain it, he was Theon's keeper, for now, at the moment.

Theon looked at her with wide eyes, taking in everything she said.  It was far more fascinating than anything he had to say, but it was the way she told it that made him tilt his head and he narrowed his eyes at her curiously.  "You're father," he started slowly.  "Did he do something bad enough to make you leave?"  He knew it wasn't his business, but he had just as much to worry about his own well-being as they did about theirs.

[Anonymous]

Babs seemed distant while their conversation continued. His ears were pricked and his eyes set dead straight ahead into the inky blackness that had formed while they were talking. He knew he was being paranoid but a life that had put itself on the edge of the blade quite often had given him gut instinct that he had learnt to trust. Yet he knew he was also being paranoid. They had worked for a good solid hour, putting quite the distance between themselves and the village they had tried to hunker down at previously but it was still far too close for bandits and other unsavory individuals to dare cross paths with.

Arya shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It was difficult to explain why she was running from her father without sounding like a selfish child having a particularly long tantrum. And she knew that was mostly true to boot. Yet it was complex, with many factors that had made her unhappy over the years. "He's... well..." She licked her lips, looking for a way to phrase it. "He was as much as a father to me as the hunting dogs in the kennels for me, growing up. I'm not wanted there... Adela is my birthplace but not my home." She frowned at him. "I know what you're thinking. That I'm petulant and stubborn. But I don't care, I won't spend the rest of my life in misery."

[Lion]

Theon blinked at her, who spoke so frankly.  It was positively refreshing.  She might not have looked like a commoner and she didn't really speak like one, but if she had a mind and used it...well, he wasn't going to be the one to tell her twice.  So she was a lord's daughter; the very thought of traveling with a noble made him huff a little irritatedly.  He'd seen how many nobles were.  And with the brash way she spoke, quick and without a pause for concern, it all started to stack up pretty well.  She spurned the very place she had called home and sought refuge in the one place she believed she would be safe.  He couldn't blame her, but she was very young and would understand later in life that safety was a half-remembered dream, one best left forgotten.  Or perhaps he was thinking far too much into the situation.

"I wasn't thinking that, not in its entirety.  But to your credit, at least you are honest about it.  And I can respect that," Theon said plainly and threw another stick into the fire.  He smiled modestly at her and fiddled with another stick when his head suddenly perked up from a faint caw he heard in the tree.  His eyes shot to Jouzan suddenly he felt very nauseous.  And the bird's eyes beamed down on him with ferocity.  Suddenly it's raspy voice pipped loud enough.  "Theon, watch out!" the bird yelled.

The sellsword only saw the flash of steel and the spinning of metal in the air as it flew toward him.  A knife, keenly thrown embedded itself into the dirt between his legs.  His heart leapt into his throat and immediately he was on his feet, having drawn Lohengrin from its sheath.  With the blade in hand his vision lit up and he saw the shapes that surrounded them, clothed in dark garb that blended with their surroundings.  And with it, he heard a familiar voice.  The man from the tavern!

The voice was angry and livid as it shouted at them.  "So you three thought you could run huh?  Well, you didn't run far enough!"  And there appeared the red-faced giant with four other men in his wake.  He came up on Theon's right, looking dead on at him and slashed a sword at him.  Theon ducked and rolled out of the way, parrying expertly.  Theon looked at Babs and Arya, calling out to them, just as three of the men moved to attack them.  "Look out!"

[Anonymous]

"The bird just talked!!" Arya's mind only told her one thing when everything moved into action around here. She sat there stunned for a moment, blinking stupidly at the raven  and then her head turned slowly to the knife that had landed seconds earlier between Theons' legs. He was already up, moving at lightning speed to parry the men that were suddenly appearing from nowhere out of the darkness that now enveloped then. She was nearly stepped on by Babs then. His long blade was already out and swinging down to catch a thrust aimed at him. "Get down." His shout was sharp yet not loud. Arya did as she was told, and covered her heading, trying to shift as fast as possible away from the fire to the safety of the undergrowth.

Babs had moved the instant he heard raven's strange call and the knife whistle through the air. He had already been tense enough, and everything sprang into action the second he stood. His blade had already been pulled and he parried the man who had sprung upon them. Judging from the red face of the wild looking drunkard who had aimed first for Theon, these were the drunkards from earlier. "Yet that was an awfully accurate knife." He didn't have time to think for he was parrying his own block from a sharp man he didn't remember from the tavern behind them. The man grinned and swung again, landing a heavy blow that Babs barely blocked in time.

[Lion]

Theon moved with fluidity and ducked a strike from behind in time to toss a leg back and catch the man in the gut.  He swiftly turned and knocked his head in with the pommel of his own sword, before shoving him back into the dirt.  The man fell with a groan and there was one opponent dispatched without the need for bloodshed.  But he wasn't sure they'd be able to hold out for long, considering their sudden enemies were out for blood themselves.

Theon felt clear of any trepidation or anger that might have clouded his mind for the light, pointed longsword in his hand provided that calm during the raging of a storm.  He was determined and gauged two enemies that attacked him at once.  He saw the spaces in their armor and the vulnerabilities there in as one came rushing at him with his own weapon overhead.  Theon shifted to the side, dodging the blade by a mere inch just as the other man thrust his sword at him.  Theon blocked with Lohengrin and swung his sword around his enemy's blade, disarming him.  The arc of Lohengrin came down on the man's neck, sending him reeling away and to the ground.  Theon used that same momentum to spin his sword in his hands and turn Lohengrin's tip behind him, sticking it into the first man's ribs.  He too fell to his knees and to the cold dirt.

Theon rushed to Babs' side as he barely blocked the blow of his own opponent.  As the man recoiled however, his back knocked into Theon and Theon fell to the ground with a thud.  His head looked up and saw that the drunkard that accosted them in the first place had rushed to where Arya was and reached for her in the undergrowth.

[Anonymous]

After glancing the blow, Babs swung around again, this time catching the sharp-faced man with a low hit that caught his knees. He made a loud shout as the blade cut straight into the flesh and he fell. His head swung round with the amount of momentum and he caught a glance at Theon who had expertly landed a blow on one of their attackers, straight through his chest. "He's good."

He barely had time to think before he was automatically spinning his blade up to dive it into the chest of the man whose knees had given way seconds earlier. Another had rushed at him in this moment and he quickly shifted his grip on the hilt of his sword to lift it, red-tipped from the man's chest. He slashed it across the incoming attacker's face, luckily he wasn't as skilled as the first and handled only a short sword. Vaguely he felt Theon thump down beside him then and he rapidly glanced round to see one of men reaching with a free hand for something - no somebody, his other hand gripping an sword. Babs felt his heart plummet.

Her eyes had been locked on the battle, but Arya suddenly felt herself lifted. "Ye will regret this girl!" Something bellowed above her, spitting bits of flem as it did. She lifted her head, eyes wide, to stare at the red-faced man who was lifting his weapon. Everything seemed to slow then. Anger and fear flashed through her and she lifted her hands, clutching at his gripped hand. Fire suddenly coursed through her, into him, dancing sweetly along his arm first before suddenly catching. He screamed in agony, as it took hold and dropped her. She was shocked for a moment then quickly scurried back into the underbrush.