The Failure and the Brat... What Could Go Wrong? (Zozee)

[TheHighwayman]

All in all, things were going alright for Thrivaok Ledriol. He'd gotten out of his homeland without his parents sending anybody after him (which admittedly worried him about whether or not they even cared if he left), he'd had good luck keeping himself fed, and he could already feel his sword skills improving. At present, the young man was dressed in full chainmail, sword and shield in hand and an unlucky tree before him. The loyal black charger he'd taken with him in his flight, Spire, stood at the other end of the small camp, giving him an almost exasperated look.

Clunk came the sound of blade on wood as Thriv struck again. Quickly he shifted his footing and pulled back the longsword for another blow, raising his shield to ward off the imaginary counter-attack. Now would be the time to finish it, he thought, shoving his shield to push away the mental blade of his leafy opponent and making one, two, three quick cuts across its bark. To any observers, the young man's form would have actually been rather impressive- albeit his strikes were somewhat clumsy and off the mark, they still would have served against an average bandit.

"Alright," he muttered to himself. "Time to try it with the other thing." This time the young man didn't imagine the living suit of armor he had before. This time he held the picture of a real man in his mind's eye. He envisioned the man coming at him, sword raised to come crashing down on his head. Thriv lifted his shield and pushed the attack aside and stepped forward and to the side to counter-attack with a slice that would cleave the opponent in half. Once again, Thriv felt it coming before it happened. His breath caught in his throat, he saw the man's face drained of all color, all life, he imagined a sobbing wife and children at home- all cursing his name. Thriv froze mid-step, the blade slipped from its intended arc, and the man felt himself lose his footing, crashing to the ground and staring up at the sky. The longsword ended up embedded in the tree a good foot and a half above where any human head would have been.

Groaning and climbing to his feet, the would-be knight dusted himself off and pulled the sword free, sheathing it at his belt. "That's enough practice for today, I think. Good thing it was just in my head, huh Spire? I'd be dead otherwise." With that the young man gave a cheery grin, patted the charger on the nose, and sat down to tend to his stew. Most people- especially most people raised in wealth- would get tired of beans and slightly charred bits of chicken after a while, but any hot meal was good enough for Thriv. He was just about to take his first bite when he lifted his head and looked around. "Odd, I thought I heard something... Ah well. Mmm."

[zozee9]

Elizabeth's day had been horrible. First, she had to leave her town to head for her aunt and uncle's place. Nobody was even escorting her, seeing as everybody she knew had apparently assisted in her dad's hoax. So she left with five overstuffed bags and her pure white horse, Snow, who had the bags slung over her, tied together with a few pieces of rope. To add to that weight, Elizabeth was also sitting on the horse princess style—both legs off of one side.

Snow was just about the only horse Elizabeth would tolerate, seeing as she raised her from when she was a fawn. Even still, she hated when her horse got a rebellious streak and went off the path (but really, who could blame the horse?). This was one of those times. So instead of going on the nice, paved route around the hill that Elizabeth had planned on, Snow decided to go straight up it. Normally, she might be able to just pull on the horse's reign and the horse would listen again. But this apparently wasn't normal.

So Elizabeth was stuck going up a hill full of bumps, trees, and, to her disgust, bugs. Just as she was in the middle of ducking under and around various branches, Elizabeth felt something under her dress on her calves. And... it felt like it was moving. With a mouse-like squeal, she leaned forwards to lift the hem of her dress and see what it was. But the leaning through her off balance, causing her instead to fall face first into the dirt with a thunk.

Moaning, Elizabeth sat up, helplessly watching as her horse (which had now sped up) ran up the hill with her luggage. She was wiping some of the dirt off of her supposedly perfect face when she felt the same thing she had felt earlier... but now on her thigh. Eyes wide, Elizabeth pulled up her dress only to reveal a centipede. A two inch long centipede. Screaming as loud as she would have been if she was getting attacked (perhaps even louder), Elizabeth sat there staring at it. Then, after it started to crawl even higher, she quickly grabbed a stick from beside her and flung the bug off of her. She scrambled back, pulled her dress back down, and kept her eyes glued on the surrounding ground, flinging all bugs in her reach away with her stick.

Yes, Elizabeth was having a horrible day.

[TheHighwayman]

Thriv was already halfway done with his stew when he heard it again. Hoofbeats, and coming his way pretty quickly by the sound of it. He peered behind him just in time to see a strange white horse burst into view and run around his small camp. Spire whineyed and stamped at the ground, looking between the newcomer and Thriv impatiently. The knight just grinned and asked, "Lady friend of yours, Spire? Hmmm... saddle... looks like she belongs to somebody, Wonder where they are-" That was when the other sound reached his ears. Thriv winced and dropped the bowl of stew in his hand as he heard the unmistakable screams of a young woman.

Jumping to his feet, he tossed himself up on Spire- surprisingly well, given his clumsy nature- and gently kicked the charger's flanks. In no time at all they were leaving the campsite behind at a rapid pace, flying downhill at the speed only a warhorse built for speed could manage. Neither the slope nor the foliage seemed to give Spire any trouble as they got closer to the source of the screams, and the horse gave one easy leap over a fallen tree-trunk as Elizabeth came into view.

Thriv quickly took in the scene before him- there was the woman, as expected, but...  where were the bandits? The hungry predators? The monsters? As far as the young man could see, the young woman was perfectly fine- a little bit dirty, sure, but perfectly fine. As Spire came to a halt, Thriv kept one hand on his sword and one eye alert for any danger. Concern over danger didn't stop him from extending the woman a hand and a friendly smile, however. "Hello there, miss. Are you alright? I heard you screaming from up the hill. Something the matter?"

[zozee9]

Elizabeth heard horse hooves coming her way and immediately stood up, expecting it to be Snow. After all, no matter how many times Snow ran, she would always come back. But when she saw a black horse instead, she scoffed.

The man riding the horse was definitely not good looking nor rich enough for Elizabeth to normally accept conversing with, but she was desperate. Plus, it looked like he was a knight. Maybe he would be noble enough to bring her to her aunt and uncle's place.

But as he spoke, she reconsidered that thought. Raising her chin in the air, Elizabeth tensionally shouted, "Of course I'm not okay! I'm on a journey alone, my horse ran away, and now I'm stuck in these stupid woods full of-" she scrunched her nose "-bugs!" Sighing, Elizabeth wished that she had been born in an actual rich family, not just one that got money off of drugs.

If that was the case, she could be in her room, having the troubles of figuring out which dress to wear. Instead, she had to deal with dumb strangers and the wilderness. Why couldn't she just have a cup of tea and have no worries?

[TheHighwayman]

Thriv let the hand on his sword fall to his side- okay, clearly the lady wasn't under attack by anything. Paying no mind to her snobbish attitude, he just kept up with his stupid grin. "Ah. Well miss, I think I found your horse. She's probably messing up my camp now, as a matter of fact." The young man climbed down from his horse, gave a short bow, and once again held out a hand. "Thrivaok Moriandon Ledriol, or just Thriv if you'd prefer. Spire here can give you a lift- not quite as many bugs that way."

The horse, meanwhile, looked incredulous at the idea. Spire shot an annoyed look at Thriv and then just glared at Elizabeth, scraping his hoof across the ground. Thriv sighed and patted the horse on the neck. "Come on Spire, just give the lady a hand for a minute or two, would you? It's not gonna kill you." The horse stopped scraping at the ground, but he kept his glare firmly fixed on the woman.

"That's a yes, miss. Sorry about Spire, he doesn't really trust strangers. He's a good horse and a good friend though. Probably saved my life more than once. So, I can help you find your horse, and you're welcome to some of my dinner if the horse hasn't knocked it all over the ground." The young man stood there expectantly, that stupid grin still on he face. He bent down to help the woman onto Spire, should she agree to come along.

[zozee9]

Elizabeth glared at Thrivaok as he talked about her horse. Obviously Snow wouldn't do a thing to disrupt the camp, she was a polite and obedient horse—well, usually. But she definitely wouldn't mess up a camp unless there was some dire need of it.

Elizabeth looked at his hand as if it was covered in horse dung and decided, yet again, to ignore it. Looking at the fool's foolish horse, Elizabeth had a hard decision to make. In any other circumstance, she would never dare to ride such a hideous black horse that belonged to a stranger. But seeing as her only other option was to wait for Snow to return, perhaps she should ride Spire anyway.

With an overdone sigh, Elizabeth accepted Thrivaok's help to get on the horse. While she could get on it herself, if she so pleased, why put in the effort if somebody else would help? She sat as she had been on Snow—princess style—which was definitely not the right way to ride a horse through the woods. Nonetheless, it was the only way Elizabeth was willing to do it.

Looking down at Thrivaok, she annoyingly said, "My name is Elizabeth Largentine, heir of one of the wealthiest Serendipity families." Technically, there was a lot less money for her to inherit now that her dad's money was useless. Nonetheless, seeing as her aunt and uncle didn't have any kids, she would most likely still get all of their money.

[TheHighwayman]

Once Elizabeth was on the horse, Thriv started up the hill, Spire obediently following a step behind- though the horse did shoot the young knight a look that almost said, 'you owe me one.' Thriv, meanwhile, focused on the way ahead, happily humming to himself- even if the lady were a little on the snobbish side, it was good to have a bit of company. He'd not quite realized how lonely one could grow while traveling; Spire was a good friend and all, but the warhorse didn't exactly carry a conversation well. It never even occurred to the young man to mention his own lineage (which, considering he was actually minor nobility was probably more impressive)- he was on the road to prove his own worth, after all.

"So miss Elizabeth," he started, pushing a tree branch aside. "What brings you out to the middle of nowhere? Especially by yourself. The roads are dangerous these days you know. It's not safe to travel without some sort of bodyguard or other." That was actually a good point, Thriv thought. What was she doing alone? Surely a wealthy family could afford a little bit of protection for their daughter, right? Maybe she was a runaway? In any case, he couldn't in good conscience leave her to keep going unprotected. "Speaking of which, I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I could help you get to wherever you're going-" The young man was interrupted by a snort from Spire, and the horse nudged his shoulder in warning. "Oof- easy there, buddy. Anyway, I'm not traveling anywhere in particular, so it would be little trouble for me to escort you."

[zozee9]

The horse didn't ride as well as the one she had—it was bulkier and not as smooth of a walker—but Elizabeth managed to stay on it without trouble. Thrivaok was humming, something that seemed rude and annoying to Elizabeth, but she did her best to ignore it.

But then he started talking. Doesn't he know how to enjoy silence? Elizabeth thought. While small talk might be polite at parties, she preferred not to converse with fools. Sadly, ignoring him would be rude.

"I'm visiting family," Elizabeth responded, including as little detail as possible. "In Essyrn." She had been there once before, when she was little, and remembered how beautiful the city was. Golden City was the perfect name for it. But while it was a great place to visit, she was still unsure whether or not it would be a great place to live. And it took so long to travel to. "I doubt that's within your plans of traveling, even if you have no destination."

[TheHighwayman]

Thriv scratched his head, giving a thoughtful "hrrmmm." The young man shrugged and said, "I've always kind of wanted to see Essyrn, personally. And when I said I've got nowhere in particular in mind, I meant it." Perhaps the man wasn't getting the hint, or perhaps he was simply stubborn. Either way, he kept trying to persuade her as they reached the small campsite. "There's bandits, slavers, and all sort of trouble out there. That's a long way for somebody like yourself to travel unprotected. I'd be failing in my duties as a knight if I didn't at least assist you long enough for you to find a bodyguard."

The young man offered her a hand down and looked about the campsite, happy to note that the horse hadn't really disturbed much. His food was still there, his equipment hadn't been disturbed, and the horse was grazing a short distance away. The young man shot her another of his stupid looking grins. "Whew, was worried I'd have to make another dinner for myself. Hungry miss? I've got plenty of chicken and beans to spare, if you like."

[zozee9]

While Elizabeth was debating whether or not to accept Thrivaok's offer, they reached his campsite. Upon seeing Snow, she immediately slid off of Spire, somehow landing perfectly despite wearing heels. The horse was just happily grazing and Elizabeth sent her a glare. The horse, upon noticing the malicious look, walked over to Elizabeth and bent its head down, as if it was apologizing. Which, in Elizabeth's mind, it better be.

Looking at Thrivaok with a face full of pure horror, she responded, "Chicken and beans!? Yeah right!" Those were peasant foods. She didn't eat peasant foods.

Squinting her eyes intently, Elizabeth finally said, "I suppose you can have the honor of bringing me to Essyrn, but there will have to be rules. First off, don't touch me or my horse. Secondly, you will cook all the food—but good food, not chicken and beans. You can eat those, but I will eat other things. If it helps, I brought all of my food." Though she didn't bring nearly enough for the trip. "And, lastly, you have to protect me from all thieves, bugs, and anything else with bad intentions out there." Once again, Elizabeth raised her nose into the air, as if she was better than him.

[TheHighwayman]

"Well, as long as your supply holds out, I can try to cook, but I'm afraid my only experience cooking comes from hunting trips, so I'm not much good with fancy stuff." At that the man sat down to quickly polish off his remaining stew. Thriv wasn't exactly a neat eater, either, as it appeared his main concern was scarfing down as much of the stew as quickly as possible. At least he was polite enough to swallow before he continued. "As for the thieves, that's why I offered to come along. You might have to learn to deal with the bugs though, miss. Not much good a sword can do against them."

The young man still didn't seem to have much problem with the young lady's demands. After all, his upbringing had put in him the company of plenty of other women who thought they were one step down from being queen of the world. This Elizabeth wasn't even the worst he'd met- though he did get the feeling she'd get grating after a while. Still, somebody had to make sure she didn't get herself hurt.

Filling up another bowl of stew, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "So why is it you're traveling alone? Essyrn's a long way from here. Surely your parents wouldn't let you go the whole way by yourself?"

[zozee9]

Good thing I can cook, Elizabeth thought when Thrivaok responded to her cooking part. She backed up a little and averted her eyes when he ate. It was so disgusting... did that man not have any manners? And he couldn't even deal with bugs. Elizabeth sighed in disappointment. But it was still worth having him along to ward off the thieves.

If only he would stop asking questions. "I don't have parents. I have a parent. My mom died in childbirth," Elizabeth started, matter-of-factly. It was an old story that caused her no pain. "Don't feel bad. I was going to have some escorts, but my dad got held up in some business stuff and wasn't able to get them in time." It wasn't a full lie and it was much better than telling the truth.

[TheHighwayman]

Most people would have questioned that story- anybody who could afford bodyguards for their daughter could afford to hold off on sending her on a trip for a few days, or find an alternative. Fortunately for Elizabeth, Thriv was perfectly happy to take the story at face value and didn't press her on it. Downing this bowl as quickly as he had before, he put the bowl in the pot and stashed it all away- he'd not come across a stream in a while, so there wasn't really any place to wash them out right then.

Stretching and clearing the fire for Elizabeth to use as she wished, Thriv went back to the tree he'd been practicing on earlier. Sure, he'd said he'd call it quits, but... well, he hadn't been planning on protecting somebody else when he had. Most bandits would leave a lone armored man be- too much risk for not enough reward. If he had the young lady and all her bags with him, however, that scale might tip against him. And if he were being perfectly honest with himself, he wasn't entirely sure he could actually do any good at present. Best work on that while he could. "Just let me know if you need me for anything," he cheerily called before drawing his sword and resuming his training. "Raah!"

[zozee9]

Elizabeth averted her eyes yet again as Thrivaok basically drank his meal, but made quite a repelled face when he put his dirty dishes in his bag. She would rather throw away dishes than put them in her bag. But if he wanted his bag to grow mold, she wasn't going to stop him.

She saw the fire cleared, but stayed where she was nonetheless. After all, there weren't any chairs for her to sit on. Watching Thrivaok practice with his sword, she started to wonder if maybe he would be able to protect her. While Elizabeth may not have any sword knowledge whatsoever, she hadn't actually expected the fool to be able to wield a sword. But, impressed or not, she was not happy.

"Shouldn't we be heading to Essyrn?" Elizabeth asked irritably. "I don't want to waste time!"

[TheHighwayman]

Thriv paused his practice at her question, looking back and tilting his head. "We could, I suppose, but it wouldn't be a good idea unless you plan on traveling through the night. We couldn't cover much ground and still have time to set up camp before nightfall though." With a shrug, he started back for the fire and began collecting his packs and tossing them onto Spire. "Your call though." The horse gave Thriv another one of those impatient looks, as if to say 'You're letting her lead us around?'

As Thriv tossed himself up on the horse after his bags, he thought- clearly the girl didn't know much about traveling, especially traveling alone over land. You couldn't rush trips like this- traveling anywhere took time, and rushing it more often than not caused more problems than it was worth. Ah well, ignorant and irritable as she was, the trip couldn't be that bad, right?

[zozee9]

Elizabeth scoffed as Thrivaok questioned her, but was glad that he didn't disobey her anyway. While she may not have noticed the horse's attitude still, Snow definitely had. So when Spire gave Thrivaok that look, Snow whinnied as a warning. She wasn't planning on trotting with a rude horse. (Elizabeth's horse had the same arrogant attitude as her).

She got up on her horse, not helping Thrivaok with his bags at all. Luckily for him, her bags were still on her horse. Otherwise, she would have told him to pick them up for her. Though Elizabeth didn't actually know where she was heading, she assumed Thrivaok (as foolish as he was) would lead her the correct way. Snow would just follow Spire wherever he went... as long as it wasn't too dirty or dangerous.

[TheHighwayman]

Thriv gave a brief stretch and then dug up his mental map. Essyrn was far to the south, he knew that much off the top of his head, but what would be the best route? Due south would force them to travel through some of the sparser areas of Serendipity and less effective roads, as well as forcing them through most of the Draconi forest once they hit the Adelan border. On the other hand, looping around might take longer then it was worth... "Hrm... we'll follow the road as due south as we can, adjusting for any bad news as it comes. That sound good to you, Elizabeth?"

At that Thriv gave a flick of the reins, and Spire started off. The pair set a pretty brisk pace, as Thriv knew Spire had the endurance for it and the warhorse wanted this trip to be over as soon as possible. "We shouldn't run into too much trouble for now- maybe one or two groups of bandits, but nothing you wouldn't risk running into anywhere else for most of Serendipity and Adela. Once we reach the Thunderblacks though, the trip gets a bit more dangerous. I don't know how much good I can do against a dragon, or the hordes of nomads once we reach the other side. Good news is, once we get through that bit we're most of the way there."

There were other options, of course- they could head to the coastline and try to book passage on a ship for most of the way, but Thriv figured if the lady had the money for that she'd have done so earlier.

[zozee9]

Elizabeth and Snow were both startled when Spire started moving so quickly. The horse quickly adapted and sped up to match him, not wanting to be outdone. But while Spire might be a warhorse, Snow was much closer to a show horse. She was best at walking and trotting and could do a marvelous smooth jump.

One way or another, Elizabeth managed to stay on her horse, even though she wasn't sitting the proper way. She was stubborn and not planning on falling any time soon... unless there was another centipede on her, of course.

Focusing on staying on her horse, it took her a few seconds to process what Thrivaok had said. But when she did, her eyes widened and she shouted, "A dragon?!" Dragons were dangerous creatures, according to what Elizabeth had read about them. "Surely we wouldn't be bothered by any dragons," Elizabeth added, as if it were an obvious fact. But although her words may have been confident, her voice was trembling in fear. Dragons were not anything she had ever planned on seeing, unless they were a trophy head, part of her clothes, or her food.

[TheHighwayman]

The young knight looked back and flashed a short grin. "We just might. The Thunderblacks got the name because of the roars of dragons. Technically speaking, they're called the Southern Terrins. We'll probably won't end up getting attacked by any, but you never know." Turning back to the road ahead, Thriv started to hum again, as if he he'd totally forgotten that they'd just been talking about the possibility of being eaten by dragons.

Honestly, he was kind of happy about this whole situation. Sure, the young lady was a brat- not even Thriv was thick enough not to see that- but this would be a good chance to prove himself. It was a noble enough cause, wouldn't interfere with his training, and would let him see Essyrn himself. All in all, not too bad a deal. Thriv looked back and noticed that the girl was riding improperly, and spoke back up.

"You know, typically your legs are supposed to be over the saddle, miss. Anyway, just let me know if you need anything back there." With that, he resumed his rather poorly tuned humming. "Hmmm-hrmm-hmm-hmhm-huhuhhuhuhum."

[zozee9]

Elizabeth looked at Thrivaok as if he was utterly insane. How could he talk about dragons in such a casual manner? Not even the brave knights she had met dared to take on a dragon without large forces. And, based on his looks, she doubted he was stronger than them.

Her attitude was not improved when Thrivaok criticized her riding and then went back to his horrible, off key humming. Keeping her legs where they were, Elizabeth snottily replied, "You know, typically humming is supposed to be on key, mister. Or, even better, silent." Even if she had wanted to sit on her horse normally, which she hadn't, it wouldn't have been nearly impossibly in the poofy dress she was wearing.