Ravensway: A Headless Encounter [Ein]

[Ahnnie]

They had been walking quite peacefully after she started humming. The night was still, only a small breeze carrying through the trees, but then that was it. From the corner of her eye, she could see Beowulf laying a hand on his sword, but she supposed it was because he was only being cautious. Sacora believed they had not too much walking left until they would reach the village she had been staying at. She did not expect to be blocked on the way there by a group of bandits, though.

Five of them sprang from the shadows, coming around on either side of them in an almost complete semi-circle. It happened so fast that Sacora had not the chance to react; she did not even see the bandit with the mace until the weapon was raised, but before it could even connect with her skull, he suddenly noticed the hulking form of Beowulf in the action of drawing his sword. The bandit fell and looked up fearfully at the headless knight as he approached him.

Of the others, they too were hesitant when they noticed Sacora had a headless bodyguard with her. They had not expected that; they did not see or report a headless spectacle as Beowulf entering with Sacora or any other point in the forest, for that matter. But then, another bandit group they had recently met up with did sort of make mention of a headless man they managed to shoot. They said he was an undead, that his weakness was gold.

"L-leave off him!" one of them eventually shouted at Beowulf and charged at him, intending to protect the leader. As he did so, one other bandit rushed toward the headless knight to back up his comrade; the other two went for Sacora. She kept them away with a sweeping horizontal blast of fire from her hand, careful not to get any in the way of Beowulf. She was also trying not to touch any plants or trees and start a forest fire.

[Ein]

Beowulf was in a good mood. He even thought about letting them go for a second but when they started to charge at him he was convinced that they do not deserve mercy. Without hesitation he stabbed the leader lying to his feet then he stroked the other bandit in front of him. Blood splashed onto his body as the bandit fell to the ground.
The other bandit that was about to attack him however had stopped when he saw his two partners in crime getting killed. He looked completely shocked at the headless knight but soon he started to remember what he had heard about undead.

Beowulf turned around to protect Sacora, who was also fighting off two bandits with her magic. He felt the heat of the flames, but they were hard to locate for him since they came and went so quickly. For him they seemed almost unpredictable and he wasn't keen about stepping right into her field of fire.
The bandit however who was standing a few feet behind him saw the only chance to avenge his comrades and to finally kill the undead creature. He put out a dagger with golden ornaments. Earlier this day the others had been laughing at him, because he believed the story about the headless horseman but now it was time for him to strike. Without further hesitation he started to bolt towards the headless monster and as he reached him he started to stab him into his back over and over again, screaming almost hysterically.

[Ahnnie]

Two down, three to go. Sacora backed herself away a few paces from the two bandits whom she had just lashed out at, coming to a standstill between them. Then one of those bandits fingered something in his pocket, to which Sacora responded with an angry whiplash of fire that burned his arm. He screamed out in pain and, enraged, he reached into the pocket with his other hand and threw a small, dark plum-shaped object at her. She dodged, but then it hit the ground and engulfed her in a thick cloud of smoke.

Smoke bombs! That was what they were. Sacora quickly lifted the collar of her shirt over her mouth and nose, in case the smoke was the sort to make you faint. It was a rather pitiable measure against one who could command fire such as Sacora, but it had succeeded in stunning her for a little bit with the element of surprise. She crouched low and made a sweeping arc of fire with her foot, illuminating the smoke around her and effectively catching fire to one of the thieve's pants. The other one, who came up behind her, received a coincidentally placed elbowing to the groin when Sacora rose back to her feet.

Ignoring him, Sacora ran to where the smoke was less thick. It was beginning to dissipate by this time, thanks to a favorable breeze. When she came out, she released her shirt collar and then stopped dead in her tracks as she was greeted with a most shocking sight. The third bandit had withdrawn a gold decorated dagger and rushed towards Beowulf with it, stabbing him repeatedly in the back.

Sacora was beside herself with fury. Suddenly, the fear of burning down the forest was gone. She whirled around to the two bandits who had been harassing her--the smoke was almost nil by then--and unleashed upon them the biggest bursts of fire she could summon with her hands, aiming particularly for their faces. The flame that had eaten at one of their pants, which he had stomped out, came back at once to consume every article of clothing. The fallen leaves around them also burned, biting at their feet and leaving no inch of them unsafe. All this fire illuminated the space where they stood, shining like a big bonfire on a feast night.

She then ran towards Beowulf's attacker and tackled into him sideways just as he was about to make another stab. "You wretch!" she screamed with so much passion and rage it was hard to believe she could possess. The both of them fell to the ground, the bandit momentarily stunned by falling on his back.

[Ein]

The sudden uprose of smoke confused the headless horseman for a few seconds. Then suddenly he felt a piercing pain in his back. The bandit behind him desperately tried to kill him. Beowulf felt his flesh burning - the dagger seemed to have some gold on it - but it was nothing compared to the pain the arrow had caused. After all it took more than just a few ornaments to seriously threaten him. He wanted to turn around in order to cut of the bandits head but this time Sacora was faster.
At first she summoned a huge fire blast to finish off two other bandits and then she tackled the one stabbing him, resulting in them both falling to the ground. Beowulf did not understand Sacora's sudden rage at first but then he realised that she tried to protect him. Nonetheless she was way to reckless.
The bandit still holding the dagger in his hand was now trying to stab her shoulder, however Beowulf stepped closer and grabbed the bandit's wrist, so he wouldn't be able to do Sacora any harm.

[Ahnnie]

She did not even understand why she was so angry. She had just met Beowulf, and she still suspected him somewhat--but somehow, seeing him getting hurt like that, especially with something that contained his weakness in it. It just felt wrong. Now that she thought about it, it indeed was a foolish maneuver, but she regretted it not one bit. Perhaps it was because she had helped him once, and felt obliged to do it a second time if need be. Sacora wasn't a heartless person, after all.

She had fallen on her stomach and was just lifting her head up when the bandit beside her attempted to stab her in the shoulder. She let out a gasp and, not exactly gifted with fast reflexes, blinked her eyes shut at the sight of the incoming blade. But nothing connected to her shoulder, there was no piercing pain or cold metal blade sinking into her skin. She opened her eyes slowly and found the dead hand of Beowulf clasping the bandit's wrist, preventing him from carrying out the injury.

"Be..Beowulf," Sacora stuttered as she rose onto her knees. "Are you all right? Were you hurt badly?" Turning to the bandit, she spat out, "You'll pay for what you've done, you miserable coward! If I don't burn you to a crisp right now, I swear--" She was cut off by a small cough, for the yelling she had done made her throat a bit dry.

[Ein]

He made sure the bandit wouldn't be able to escape and listened to Sacora's words. He would answer her questions later, but when she started to caught a little he began laughing. Sacora is after all way to nice to really threaten someone. , he thought.
"Don't mind me the wounds will recover soon." , he assured her after he had stopped laughing. "Can't say the same about the bandit's though." He shrugged a little and then he began to thighten his grasp. Soon the sound of cracking bones was heard and the bandit began screaming again, this time begging for mercy. Beowulf then stepped on the chest of the bandit and helped Sacora to her feet once more. "Don't get your hands dirty with the blood of this scrub."

[Ahnnie]

Beowulf started laughing after Sacora made her threat, to which she should probably have felt insulted, but just listened to indifferently as if he were laughing at something else instead. "Don't mind me the wounds will recover soon. Can't say the same about the bandit's though." She let out a huff of breath as if she had been holding it in for the entire time--which, of course, she hadn't been doing, but upon hearing Beowulf's mirth her anger slackened a little. That didn't mean she wasn't annoyed with what the bandits had done, though.

After his last remark, Beowulf shrugged and started to tighten the hand he had around the bandit's wrist. Sacora's neck hair stood on end and she could feel goosebumps forming on her skin as she heard the crackling of bones being slowly broken, surely being malformed under the knight's titan grip, but his hand covered most of the wrist so she couldn't see what was happening to it. She could just hear, and imagine. It was not a pretty imagination either.

The bandit writhed and screamed in pain, adding to his howls pathetic pleas for mercy. When his cries reached an almost unbearable pitch, Beowulf stepped on his chest and then went over to help Sacora to her feet. She readily complied, although she purposefully averted her eyes from the tortured bandit. "Don't get your hands dirty with the blood of this scrub," the headless knight remarked to her.

Sacora turned back to survey the scene. Two bandits covered in their own blood, another two lying limp amongst the leaves, the fire mostly died down but their skin burnt to a crisp, and one on the ground with...well, a not-so-wrist-like wrist anymore.  She shivered at the memory of the attack and turned back to Beowulf. "I...I thank you for coming to my aid. Had I been alone, I don't think I would have..." She decided that, once they found the proper authorities, she would report this incident to them so that they wouldn't be too shocked if they ever came upon the scene. She cleared her throat. "Well, I suppose we can continue. The village is not too far from here." She then tilted sideways to get a glimpse of his back. "You're sure the wounds won't bother you? Are they going to heal like the arrow wound did?"

[Ein]

He enjoyed the sound of breaking bones - it would always make him satisfied at least for a short amount of time. A long time ago he wondered if he had to kill someone specific to find true peace, but since he didn't have any clue about who this person was he began to kill somewhat arbitrarily instead. This had worked out quite perfectly for a long time.
He watched Sacora standing up, stepping away from the bandit. The knight's boots however crushed his thorax as he rested his whole weight on the body. The bandit's screams soon came to an end.
Beowulf nodded as he listened to Sacora. He actually felt like he had been more of an obstacle then a helpful hand. It kinda bothered him that she reacted in such a reckless way when she saw him getting hurt, but maybe it was once again the pride of the knight that caused him to think so.
"They will - it just might take a little longer, since the arrow drained quite a lot of my reserves." He then went on to get Sacora out of the woods.

[Ahnnie]

"They will - it just might take a little longer, since the arrow drained quite a lot of my reserves."

Sacora nodded, and they started walking through the forest again. She was just grateful for his presence with her, viewing her act of protecting him from the bandit as a good turn from one person to another. She helped remove the arrow in his chest, and he took up the first of defenses when they met with the bandits, and so on and so forth. A good turn deserves another good turn, doesn't it? Besides, without him, she might not have stood a chance. Because of this she sent some occasional glances his way to see if he was all right or not; while his wounds would heal, his reserves had been drained, and that was enough of a cause for concern to her.



Soon they were entering the village where Sacora had taken up her lodgings. She was not staying at an inn, but a little cottage on the outskirts of the village that someone had let her rent for the duration of her stay. She paused outside the door to this cottage and then turned to Beowulf, asking him, "Would you like to come inside? Or is this the part where you vanish mysteriously into thin air?"

There was a bit of playful sarcasm in her voice, but she was wondering if he had planned to serve her for a long time to come, or of this night was the only night she would ever be able to see him. While undead weren't ghosts, their habits were just as a mystery as a ghost's, and Sacora wanted to know beforehand out of curiosity.

[Ein]

Beowulf noticed her looking at him from time to time. He actually thought that she wanted to say something but that she was to shy or to indecisive to do so. It would have never occurred to him that she might look after him after all the wounds were already healing up - way faster then a human's would. Again there was no blood but smoke coming out of his body. Beowulf himself wasn't quite sure how his body worked, this smoke however seemed to be what was keeping him alive. Loosing a lot of it would make him tired - just like now. Nedless to say that he usually did not rest.
The headless man was concerned about entering the village. After all a headless encounter wasn't really trustworthy. Luckily Sacora stayed at a cottage at the edge of the village so that no one was going to see him. She then asked him if he would like to come in.
"It is your decision rather you want a headless knight inside your house or not." he joked but then he lowered his voice and once again he put his big hand on her shoulder. "But be aware that even if you think that you are alone I will always be nearby."

[Ahnnie]

"It is your decision rather you want a headless knight inside your house or not."

Sacora smiled slightly, sensing a hint of a joke in his voice. "Well, I think after this night, I would not mind so much. If you want to come in, you're more than welcome to." She was about to say he could have some tea with her when she remembered that he was headless, and thus lacking a mouth to drink said tea.

And then he put his hand on her shoulder, a gesture that a few moments before chilled her to the bone, but now--even if his touch was still cold--felt more encouraging and less frightening than before. "But be aware that even if you think that you are alone I will always be nearby." The words warmed her, for she had not heard such things said in a long time. The last occasion she had been able to hear a phrase such as this was when her foster parents died. They promised to watch over her, even when they were gone, saying they would always be nearby even if she couldn't see them. It almost brought a tear to her eye, but she concealed it in time.

"I...I will be aware," she said a little falteringly in response. She put a hand on the hand he had on her shoulder. "Thank you, Beowulf."

((Is this the end...:'(? Or do you want to continue? (I think I'll pm you later about something) ))