<Continued from But No One Answered, in Nomads>
Arrmand waited impatiently outside the battered looking hotel. It's grimy walls and slowly decaying balconies had been his home for the last few months and the Inn keepers who owned it had known him well enough not to ask questions about the girl slung over his back. They simply nodded and handed him his room key. Now, with Vissir safely locked away beind the closed doors and uncaring eyes of the Inn, Arrmand was anxious to be gone, he had important dealings to attend to.
A few early morning people were walking groggily past, off to whatever jobs, legal or otherwise, they had waiting. The sun was beating away the colors of the dawn and soon the sky would be a brilliant blue. Yet he could not just leave Vissir, she may raise the alarm and have every guard in Serendipity knocking at his door within an hour.
If the guard I hired doesn’t show up soon, Arrmand sighed, than I'll just kill her. I can't be late. He had told the guard the name of the building, Reservation Inn, and to recognize him by the large scarlet pouch he now tossed carelessly hand to hand, which contained a large amount of sparkling gold coins whith which to pay whatever price was needed to win cooroperation.
His fingers moved over his blood stained black sleeve, as he gazed past into the growing crowds, wondering…
Matai walked down the street, her raven black curls falling well past her shoulders bounced with the rythm of her pace. Her bright green eyes scanned the streets in front of her, watching with caution though she held the air of the confident in her stride.
She had never liked this part of town, always avoided it when possible, but not today. She had a bit of business to attend to today. Well, actually if her half-witted brother hadn't forgotten to make the order on Tuesday she wouldn't have to be walking to the nearby grocery store to pick up a few supply's for their pub.
She shook her head and a half smile spread across her mouth. Her eyes shifted to the left and she noted a man standing in front of a run down hotel with a bag in his hand. She noted the dried blood on his sleeve and wondered if he was in any trouble. She shook her head and kept walking, looking in front of her once more. Then a pang of guilt ran through her stomach as she remembered when she received her healing powers, and the promise she had made to herself on that day. She promised that she would help any and every being that was in need of medical attention no matter what the situation.
She then stopped in her tracks, sighed to herself and turned in his direction. She was muttering to herself as she crossed the street toward the man. "You and your damn promises. And not to mention your soft shell you nitty. Well, here goes nothin." She didn't walk directly up to him, instead she stood at the sidewalks edge on the street, just to be on the safe side. She lifted a hand up to her hair and brushed a stray curl from her face.
"Hey are you hurt? I noticed the blood and thought I could help."
She called up to him before wrapping her arms around herself a bit uncomfortably
"You should probably leave." A voice resonated from behind the young woman, though no steps or sounds had harrolded it's arriving. The voice was low and calm, and quite obviously male.
Kanto Strike stood silently now, the source of the quiet warning. He was a living shadow with a splash of white.
From his feet, in their heavy boots, to his head, he was all black. Baggy pants, tight shirt, and leather jacket all held the ebony hue of night. And even his skin was black. Not a brown-black, but a true black, like his dark clothing.
His eyes were a sharp, light purple, his long hair a starking white. It was held in a loose ponytail that trailed down his spine. Slightly pointed ears were adorned with a silver hoop each.
Across his back was a huge, wide sword of silver metal. It was much taller than his own well-muscled frame, and so was at an angle to avoid scraping along the ground as he walked.
"I suppose you're the one he spoke of." This time, he was speaking to Arrmand. He recognized the red bag from the unfortunate man's discription.
Of course, the original man hired was dead.
"I'm here for the guard job."
Arrmand looked at the two arrivals, than up at the rising sun and the filling street.
"Bout time too." He grunted tossing the bag carelessly into the air, he hoped with his horrid aim it would land somewhere near its intended destination.
He flicked the black of his cape over his bloodied sleeve, "I'm fine," he called to the woman, than, as a rapid series of thoughts clicked through his mind, he said, "But, if you would see to a...uh...friend, of mine. She has had a rather bad fall," Not very ingenious, Arrmand admitted, since one who fell usually didn't cut their head open, but, it was the best he could think of at the moment. Damn, if he was late! But if the girl died while he was away, than what good would all his trouble to keep her imprisoned do?
He didn't wait for the woman's reply, instead he turned to the man, "Room 1030, second floor. I will be back at sunset. Pay or dispose of this, "Arrmand gestured to the black haired woman, "Kind lady after she has tended my...friend, as you see fit. There is more gold where that came from if all is well on my return."
I have too much of the damned stuff.
Than, he spun on his heel, his black cape swirling around him, and disappeared into the crowds.
Room 1030 of the Reservation Inn was disheartening at best. Vissir scratched at the crumbling walls, and kicked a bare foot at the woe begotten rug. Her head hurt terribly.
Slowly she got up, smoothing her long light brown hair, touching the green feather that pierced one ear and glittered the same intense hue as her eyes. Her sleeveless, knee length, green dress was only slightly tattered, the pants she wore beneath only slightly muddy.
She took a step towards the door, watched curiously as the world spun around her, thought better of it, and sat back on the bed. She was rallying herself for another try, when the doorknob began to turn.
Matai listened to the mans response when she asked him if he was in any need of help. And she immediately regretted her offer of any help. Her and her damn promises. She sighed and walked up to the inn door, opened it then walked inside.
The place was definately in need of some major repair... Or at least a good cleaning. She avoided the looks of the inkeepers as she tossed her black curls behind her back, trying to seem as though she had been there a thousand other times.
As she ascended the stairs the words of that man came back to her. "Pay or dispose of this kind woman..." Dispose? She thought to herself bitterly, What the hell did he mean by that? Damn rude bastard. You should have just walked away when you had the chance Matai.
She sighed as she reached room 1030, stopped in front of it and paused before opening the door slowly. There was a pretty girl sitting on the bed looking pale and a bit confsed. Matai closed the door behind her and put on her best smile she could bear and walked to the bed, sitting next to the girl.
"Well well now. Looks like ye've gotten yerself a nice and big one, now haven't ye?"
She said in a very thick irish accent as she gently pulled the girls hair away from the large gash on her head.
"And lost a good amount of blood already."
She said looking at the bed and seeing the large blood stain.
"Well don't ye worry, I'll get ye fixed up before ye know it."
She said with a smile, not showing the worry she had. She didn't see how this girl could have aqcuired this nasty gash from just a mere fall. And if she didn't get it healed she could very well die from loss of blood. So she moved quickly, reaching her hand up and placing it upon the wound and closing her eyes. Warmth radiated from her hand and onto the girls head as the process continued for about a minute before the skin slowly began to magically mend itself together. After about 3 minutes the process was complete and she lowered her hand slowly and then reached into her bag pulling out a vile of some powder and a mug. She looked up at the girl and smiled as she rose from the bed toward the sink.
"I always keep an extra with me. Just in case."
She filled the cup with hot water from the sink and poured the contents of the vile into the mug before walking back to the girl.
"Drink this, it will help get yer blood circulating properly. Trust me ye'll thank me after."
In the blink of an eye Kanto had caught the bag haphazardly thrown by Arrmand. It dissapeared into a dark pocket immediately. Sharp eyes watched the man leave them, and then surveyed the young lady as she went into the Inn. He didn't particularly mind being ignored.
Kanto followed, and found himself in a shambled Inn in desperate need of repair. He snorted softly, muttering "Rul'selozan..." as he passed through the tattered reception area. He ignored any and all looks recieved from the keepers of this dirty place.
Heavy boots made no noise as he moved up the stairs after the healer, though they most certainly should have. Many things about this man were quite obviously not human.
The door shut in his face as the healer entered the room, taking no heed in the fact there was somebody behind her. Brushing back some of his long white hair, Kanto turned his back on the door and stood guard, as he was supposed to. Nothing that went on in the room behind him escaped his sensitive hearing, and he followed the movements of both bodies with ease.
Arms crossed, a stern gaze in place, Kanto took up his new job smoothly. Hopefully nothing would go wrong. Complications always did ruin his mood...
Matai watched the girl for a moment as she handed her the mug and then remembered suddenly that there was another man that was probably outside the room door by now. She stood up, leaving her bag on the bed with the girl and walked to the door. She peeked out and saw the man standing with his back to the door, then she opened it the rest of the way, clearing her throat.
"I'm sorry, I forgot that you were behind me. Me mind has been a bit... Pre-occupied, I guess you could say. I'm normally not the rude typ."
She knew he wasn't human, and well neither was she exactly, but his appearance did shock her just a tad when she first saw him. She put on the best smile that she could manage and leaned against the door jam.
"It would be more comfortable for ye to come inside if you like. Or if ye would rather stand outside that is just fine too."
She added, seeing that he seemed to be on guard of the room. She didn't ask any questions about the situation, not wanting to get herself into any trouble, but she wanted to hang around long enough to see the girl was going to be alright.
Vissir sat, looking at the mug in shock. She hadn't been able to utter a single word the whole time. Vissir had expected to be killed, instead...Instead, she thought, touching her head.
As the girl who had healed her opened the door, Vissir jumped up, ready to shove her way through. But as the door opened wider, and she saw the man behind it, she gave up such a silly notion. Behind her back, one hand flicked the air, and her nails became as long and strong as dragon talons.
Her mind filtering through an endless supply of useless escape plans, she walked calmly up to the healer...and the open door. Her breath was a bit off, and for some reason the world tilted at an odd angle every now and then, but she knew, or at least she could guess, what Arrmand would do with her when he got back. For all she knew, she had minutes, seconds before he returned. For all she knew, the person who had healed her may have piosened her. For all she knew... okay, she had to admit it, she really knew very little.
Hand still behind her back, Vissir smiled awkwardly, and asked, "Where is he?"
Her blazing green eyes strayed to the man behind the door. Waiting for a chance, only a chance...
Matai jumped a bit as the girl approached her from behind and spoke. She had thought that maybe she was mute, or at least in too much shock to speak since she hadn't said a word since Matai had entered the room to perform the healing. She turned around, noting that some of the girls color had returned and she smiled a bit awkwardly herself.
"Ye know, I'm not sure me'self." She said, her voice a bit strained at this point. Her brother may be worried about her by now. "I know less about this whole thing than you do. But this kind man may know a bit."
She added, wishing that she had never stepped foot inside the inn, thinking that she more than likely got in the middle of something very sticky.
(Suggestion. Ok, alot of people who have been Rping on SotE for a long time, like myself, have sorta come up with a way to make sure nobody gets skipped in threads with more than one player. We basically take turns, so that each person has a chance to reply to the posts (two in our case, since there are three players) above them and doesn't get swamped with tons of posts done while they weren't online. Just a suggestion though. ^_^)
Kanto only tilted his head slightly as the healer appeared from the room, casting her a very slight glance. His purple eyes were just as cold and emotionless as before, but sharp with the knowledge of killing and death.
"I am fine where I am."
Was his curt reply, before his attention apparently shifted back to the hallway, his gaze off her yet again.
His tall form had not moved the entire time, his huge sword covering almost his entire back in its slanted rest. Who knew how he managed to weild such a massive weapon. It had to weigh at least twice as much as he.
As soon as the injured girl appeared behind the healer, Kanto had turned to face the door head-on, not missing a beat. When standing behind him, the intimidation was lost, but now that he faced the two women, his dominating presence was apparent.
His face was still an expressionless mask, but he was staring directly at the one he was to guard. The injured young lady. His gaze flickered over to the healer as the words 'kind man' were uttered, a small flickering of uncharacteristic humor blinking into his eyes, and then dissapearing just as fast. His attention was again on the captive.
"He is away."
He hadn't been given any specific orders on what he could or could not say. And the question was simple enough, and therefore his answer was simple as well.
Kanto, with his huge sword slanted at a diagonal across his back, took up the entire doorway. Vissir would need to think hard on any possible escapes, for she might find herself unconcious again in an instant.
OOC: I like that, turns are fun!
Vissir clicked her talons behind her back nervously. So he isn't here, than where? She thought a second, than decided it wasn't important. She had a tendency to concentrate on the extremely unimportant, and she couldn't allow herself to do that now.
Her mind ran through a few more useless escape plans, she needed more information, actually, she didn't. She needed a way out.
"Oh?" She said lamely. Her eyes strayed around the room, a bed, now stained with blood, a table, falling apart, a window, caked with grime, threadbare rug, falling plaster...
Her mind flashed, Idea!! Vissir thanked her dragon eyes, their perception had helped her over and over. Now how would she manage it? If the door wasn't open, but it was and that man would be a big problem.
"You know," she said glancing at the sword on the man's back, "I'm glad Arrmand hit me with a tree branch and not that, I doubt I would be awake right now if he had." She grinned at him, her teeth a little sharper than most, but barely.
Vissir opened her mouth as if to say something else, but instead she turned on her heel, and in the process stumbled, falling against the healer, her talons still hidden from view. She muttered under her breath, "Sorry, if you could help me, I...I think I need to sit down."
In her mind, Vissir finished, A little closer to that window. Dragon blood will come in very handy, if only I can get through that window.
She made an attempt to stand on her own, smiled weakly at the healer as she wobbled unsteadily, and said, "Could you, could you help me over to that table? I don't think I want..." Vissir gestured towards the bloodstained bed.
OOC: Oh, sorry about that :) I'm new to all of this. I won't skip anyone again.
IC:
As the man turned around to face them, despite her best efforts Matai jumped a bit again. The power that he held showed through in his appearance and ran cold through his eyes. She smiled weakly, raised her hand to her hair, brushing the curls away from her face absently as she turned to watch the girl observe the room. She noted that the girls color had completely returned by now and she seemed to be feeling strong enough. Then she heard the girl say something about the man that Matai had seen in front of the inn hitting her over the head with a tree branch, and then her color left her face.
I promised to heal anyone who is in need, She thought nervously to herself, I never said anything about savin their ass from lunatics.
Just as she turned to try and leave, the girl fell - more like threw herself she noted - in Matai's arms. Matai braced herself and caught the girl, looking down into her face... The color was still there. Damn it kid, don't try anything stupid She thought before the girl asked her to help her to the table. Matai sighed a bit and nodded, draping one of the girls arms around her shoulder and slowly walking her to the table.
"Of course me girl, the sight of yer own blood can have that effect on ye."
She said as she helped the girl lean on the falling apart table by the window.
(Tis ok, we're all new to something at some point or other. ^_^ And yes, turns are good. They make me happy. Lol)
One white brow arched at the healer's reaction to his turning around. He wasn't entirely sure which side of him found it amusing, and it bothered him slightly. However, nothing substantial appeared on his face or in his eyes. His thoughts were wholly his own. Well, mostly his own anyway. Their behavior did strike him as odd.
"Folt b'vecko jalilen..." He muttered to himself softly, fairly certain the two women could not understand him.
The injured girl's comment again sparked his buried sense of humor, and a ghost of a grin appeared. A small splatter of blue appeared in his stern purple gaze as well, but was gone relatively fast, as was the grin.
"You would probably be dead." He answered coldly, the humor again being hidden away somewhere until it managed to break out once more. And he wasn't sure if he wanted to keep it hidden, or fight to free it, either...
Kanto watched them both stumble towards the window warily, stepping into the room to follow them, his boots again silent. He practically glided across the floor, but it wasn't a concious effort on his part. It just happened.
His intelligent eyes were again watching the injured girl very closely, knowing full well she would try to escape at some point if she had half a mind. And he figured she did, so he had to be aware. Fortunately, he was good at that.
Vissir smiled at the healer, "Thank you, what did you say your name was? I love your hair, my sister has the same color, except she keeps it very short."
Vissir watched her guard wairly as he stepped a further into the room. She had hoped he would stay by the door. If she was her sister, than she could have won his help with some well placed words, but, she was just little 'ol Vissir. And, she thought, I have no idea what I'm going to do.
She fingered the green feather that pierced her ear, the last trace of her dragon-mother. She always did that when she was nervous.
What the hell.
Suddenly her hand that she had kept hidden shot out, her talons glinting like five green jewels in the filthy light. She turned the table over, flinging it towards the guard, in some corner of her mind, she hoped she didn't hurt him. Damn, for someone who was supposed to have some of the darkest blood imaginable running through her veins, she sure had inconvenient thoughts.
Her talons streaked through the air, easily smashing the window. There was a balcony on one side, belonging to the adjacent room. She grabbed the healer's hand, not sure why, possibly just so that there would be yet another thing between the man and herself, than swung them both out, her feet gripping the wall's imperfections, and grabbed the balcony railing.
In her mind, Vissir admitted, that that was a really stupid move. But, at least things were going to get interesting...
She sincerely hoped that the woman wasn't afraid of heights.
Matai turned at looked at the man who was guarding the door as he walked into the room a bit further, noting that he did not take his eyes off the girl that had her arm still draped around her shoulder. She pursed her lips and turned back to the girl, helping her steady on her feet.
She smiled sincerely at the girls compliment of her hair and she absently reached up to brush a stray strand that had fallen into her eyes.
"The name's Matai, me girl."
She stated before noting that the girl had tensed up. She knew that she was about to do something stupid. In a flash the table was in shreads at her feet and the window broken out. She shrieked from her gut and ducked down, hiding her face. But before she had the time to run, the girl had taken her hand and the next thing she knew she was hanging high above the ground, her heart in her throat.
She let out another scream before she turned and grabbed the balcony railing, holding on for dear life and praying that she wasn't about to die... But it just seemed so hopeless at this point hanging 3 storie's above the ground in the middle of some battle between a dragon girl and a man that looked as though he had killed a countless amount of people in his life-time.
Despite her best efforts she began to shake and before she knew it, tears had started streaming down her cheeks as she held on to the cold railing of the balcony.
Kanto watched the girl with a cold stare that was nearly preditory in its precision. She would try something, he knew she would. He was not stupid, and neither was the girl.
A flicker came across his flace just moments before the action started...
There....
The table flew at him, and the sword whistled off his back, cutting the table in two with no effort at all. Either side of the table flew around him harmlessly. He held the massive sword like it weighed no more than a normal blade might.
"Xsa !" He shouted angrily, and in a flash leapt through the window after them. However, he had a bit more tact in his plan, and landed smoothly on the balcony railing like it was as wide and flat as the floor he had just leapt from.
Crouching within a split second of landing, one hand shout out and grabbed the healer's hand, which was clinging desperately to the balcony railing. Without a word, he pulled her up with unnatural strength, while at the same time keeping his balance and reaching for Vissir's hand, which had a hold of Matai's free hand. He didn't want either of them to fall, and for a moment wasn't even thinking about retrieving the girl so much as saving her from possible injury or even death.
"Waele ligr..." He muttered softly in his dark language, hoping Vissir wouldn't jump and make this all the more difficult and dangerous. All the while, he still balanced, and held Matai close to him so as not to drop her accidently.
This day was going to be a bad one, he could tell...
Vissir wasn't stupid enough to try jumping from so high up. Even dragon blood wouldn't stop her from breaking every bone in her body. She sighed and taking the hand offered her, she spun herself up without putting any but the slightest pressure on it, and landed gracefully beside him and Matai.
She sighed, quickly repressing the flash of hopelessness that flew over her face.
Smiling, she leaned against the rusty railing and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, it was worth a try, no? Don't worry, I won't try again for awhile, one must plan one's foolhardy escapes, mustn't one?"
She winked at the guard.
And it was true, she wasn't about to try the "Jump and Pray" thing again. But oh, she thought miserably, If I can't get away, if I can't find Nadia soon...
As Arrmand rushes headlong into yet another crowd of people, late for yet another one of his dealings, he does not think to stop when he passes the Reservation Inn. He was sure that he had given Vissir a bad enough injury to keep her off her feet. And the guard must have things well under control.
He would be back later, and he was positive that Vissir would be there waiting for him.
It was a lucky thing, that Arrmand didn't look up and see the events taking place on the balcony. Very, very, lucky.
He dissapeared into the crowds.
Matai could hear Kanto rush out of the window with a loud whoosh of wind that set her curls to flying over her face. Then in a split second she could feel the warmth of another hand cover hers and jerk her upward. So relieved to be in the hands of someone more stable than she, she turned her body and held on dearly to her rescuer, before she realized that it was in fact Kanto who had snatched her from the long fall that was bound to occur. The action was so fast she could barely believe that this man had so much speed and agility.
She looked over at Vissir, a small scowl on her face which was still white as snow and her body still shaking, her hands clamped tight to Kanto's clothing.
"Why ye wee little wench!" She exclaimed with as much vingeance that she could muster with her voice still on edge and shaking. "What in Saint Peter's blessed name were ye thinking?"
She then turned her head to look down at the ground, another chill running down her spine before looking at Kanto, his wild white hair blowing in the wind and his purple eyes watching Vissir intently.
"I thank ye kindly m'lord, but could we find a place that's a bit more stable and less far from the ground?"
She asked, still holding to him tightly, her fear of heights now reinforced to the fullest.
Kanto narrowed his eyes only briefly at Vissir as she swung her way onto the railing and perched there much as he did. It really was a poorly thought out plan. And though she said she would try nothing else for now, he didn't release her hand. His grip was not so tight it was painful, but it was firm enough that one would have to fight dearly to free themselves from it.
He waited for the healer to wrap up her scolding before speaking in his usual calm tones.
"That was really stupid. Next time, look before you leap. And try to make some planning ahead of time. I'd rather to only have to worry about getting you back than having to worry about your life as well."
His gaze then flickered to the pale woman clinging almost desperately to him. His eyes flashed blue for a split second before he nodded his consent to her words.
And with a small snort, he pulled Vissir close to him for the moment needed to jump back into the window, still holding all the grace he had before despite now carrying two full grown bodies with him.
Landing on the wooden floor with both bootclad feet, he set both Vissir and Matai down gently.
He turned back to the window then, though did not let Vissir completely out of his line of sight. Brushing back some of those long white hairs, Kanto concentrated on the window, one hand held palm foreward toward the broken panes.
"Draeval...yutsu." He spoke softly, and then, as if time were running backwards, the glass repaired itself and as it was when they first entered the room.
Turning now to the blood stained bed, he preformed the same little spell and the bed was clean. Well, clean of her blood anyway. He could do little about it's original condition. His stern gaze was again fully on Vissir, the coldness back. "Sit down, and don't move." He ordered, there being no room for protest within his command.
He next addressed the healer, in no less cold a voice. "How much for the healing?"
She sighed, and watched as the window was fixed.
Vissir sat down on the bed, contemplating her position. Yup, she was in trouble.
Once again she let her foot swing and brush against the threadbare rug. She let her green eyes rest on its progress as she said despairingly, "Sorry 'bout that Maitai. I seriously didn't think you would be that frightened. High places have never bothered me or my...family."
As her fingers tapped restlessly on her mattress, she flicked the air, letting her nails become jewel-green talons. After a second she repeated the process, letting the talons become nails, than the nails talons, than the...
She sighed again. As her guard, What was his name anyways? As he asked Maitai about payment for healing her, something broke and Vissir dug her talons into the mattress, tearing the bed and letting the rotting stuffing leak out.
"Dammit, why did you heal me anyways? Wouldn't it have been easier to just let me die? Wouldn't it have been kinder? You knew I would try to escape! Both of you did, I am sure. Well, I would rather die trying to escape than by Arrmand's hands, lemme tell you. And..."
Vissir, who had never had her sister's self-control or restraint, started crying.
"And, and ya! Some healer you are, heal someone so that they can endure a nice, long death. Or be kept as some, like, pet dragon or something!!!"
She wondered how much they were getting paid, how long Arrmand was going to be gone, if she should try running for the door, or tunneling through the floor. God knows it was moldy enough. She wondered why it was that she always, always found herself in these situations, and whether or not she ought to just jump out of the window and be done with it all.
Matai held on tightly as she was swung back into the hotel room with Vissir. She straightened as best she could with her legs still like jelly below her. She hated heights with all her heart. She looked up at Kanto with a look of thanks, and watched as he fixed the window with a bit of amusement before she turned to Vissir who had now plopped herself on the bed. She wondered with a bit of sympathy what was going to happen to this girl. Her attention now went to Kanto who was addressing her with the question of how much money she wanted. She shrugged her shoulders, not really expecting to get paid for helping this girl.
"Well, I honestly wasn't expecting anything, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get repaid the hours that I missed at the pub for this... Let's just say five gold coins."
Just as she finished she heard the loud ripping sound coming from behind her on the bed. She turned around quickly, with a bit of a start, and saw Vissir enraged and tearing up the dirty mattress. She listened to the girls accusations toward her with a very surprised look on her face... And then Vissir began to cry. Matai close her eyes, sighed loudly, hung her head and brought her hand up to pinched the bridge of her nose with her finger and her thumb to relieve some of the pressure that was pounding. Anger and yelling she could handle, hell, it's what she did best. But crying... Now that's a different story, she was out of her element.
Matai threw her hands up in frustration and walked a bit closer to the bed where Vissir still was. "Okay, okay, calm down for the love of Pete! Stop ye'r crying, ye'r not dead yet lass!" She exclaimed feeling at her wits end. She looked like a very peaceable young woman, small in frame and kind in face so her outburst was un-expected. "And who the hell do ye think ye are? Yelling at me as if I had something to do with this whole situation. And after ye pull me out the window to me near sudden death! I don't even know ye, or this man," She said gesturing with her hand toward Kanto, "or Arrmand, or whatever his name is. I just did me part with no questions asked because I'm tryin to keep me hide safe. So don't ye start pointing those talons of ye'rs at me lass."
She said while pointing her own finger at Vissir in a warning, not that she could do much, but when she was pissed she wanted you to know it. She reached her hand up to her curls and shoved them out of her face with vengeance. "Now, if I could help ye more than I already have I would, but what do ye expect from me? Honestly? I mean I am only a healer for Pete's sake. And frankly, lass, I think that ye should be just a wee bit more thankful, it's not like I didn't just save ye'r ass from bleedin' to death."
She turned now, feeling out-numbered and guilty. She wanted to help Vissir but she didn't know what else to do... She was nothing more than a mere healer. She turned to Kanto, still infuriated at this whole situation, pointed a finger at the huge man and scowled her best at him. "And you! If ye had any balls at all in those pants of ye'rs ye would be trying to help this lassl! She isn't an item to be sold ye big brute! And ye can tell this Arrmand of ye'rs that he is a no good son of a whore who is as dim-witted as a pile of donkey dung and twice as revolting!"
She stopped yelling now, dropped her arms to her side, standing with her feet spread, shoulders set and fists clinched. Her normally pale skin was now pink with the exhultation and her eyes were a much darker shade of green. She stood there, staring at Kanto for several seconds in a challenge before turning on her heal, walking to the bed to collect her things. She turned her face to Kanto again while she was bending down picking up the items from her bag that had spilled on the floor.
"And ye can take those gold coins of ye'rs and shove them! I don't need ye'r filthy money ye damn shameful bastard!" She found the mug that she had given to Vissir sitting on the night stand next to the bed with the liquid still in it. She picked it up, turned to walk toward the sink but before she reached the sink she threw the liquid in Kanto's face, getting much satisfaction from it. She stood there for several seconds, face turned up to Kanto's in a challenge... Not much of a challenge would there be seeing as though she stood to be about 5' even, not even coming up to Kanto's shoulder. Okay so she knew that this was probably not all Kanto's fault, but he was the only one there to take her anger out on at the time. She knew she had gone too far but she was pissed off and wasn't thinking straight, not to mention looking for a fight. She then tucked the mug back in her bag before turning on her heal with an arrogant air about her, and walked back to the bed to pick up the rest of her things, the whole time muttering to herself below her breath. I'm too young foor this...
Kanto stood back for a moment as Vissir suddenly exploded into a violent flower of emotion. That was...unexpected. And he was no surer of how to deal with it than Matai. Probably even less so, being the cold male individual that he was.
Wonderful...
He decided it best to stay silent while Matai gave Vissir a dose of her own medicine, one eyebrow cocking in slight amusement. And then, out of nowhere, all the womanly vehemence turned on him. Both white eyebrows now arched as he was thoroughly chewed out, blue trickling into his purple eyes.
By the time she was finished, his eyes were entirely blue, the swirling of their color having overtaken the cold purple. These were the eyes of a cheerful, laid back, and easy going young man. Not the stiff, cold hearted guard.
He blinked a few calm times as he was splashed most saucily in the face. My, but she was pissed. But his reaction was far from what one would have expected.
A grin broke out, slowly at first, and then growing in mirth. Before long he was chuckling with semi-hidden amusment, that quickly turned into a warm laugh. His entire dark face simply lit up with his laughter, and it took a few moments to regain control of his lungs.
He whiped the liquid from his face with ease, no anger even remotely apparent as he grinned at Matai.
"Oh, I think you should tell Arrmand just what you think of him. You do it much better." He chuckled again. "All my insulting skills have just been put to shame...That was one hell of a vent."
Both hands were suddenly rested behind his head in a laid back sort of way, as his entire personality changed. His skin, once midnight black, suddenly seemed shades lighter than before, and his eyes remained that playful blue.
That same gaze flickered back to Vissir, a grin still in place, and seeming to be a gesture he used to wear quite often. "Calm down miss. I think if he wanted to kill you, he would have already. And he damn well wouldn't have hired a healer to take care of you."
He pondered for a moment, glancing up at the mildewed ceiling.
"And maybe I'll stick around and protect you, if I can stay in this good mood of mine..."
Her head spun like she had just been hit, and she was almost sure that she had gone mad. For a second, Vissir didn't realize that Maitai had stopped rebuffing her, and instead had begun to yell at the guard!
When Maitai threw the drink in his face, Vissir's eyes got very, very wide as they peeked over her fingertips. When the guard started to laugh, she wailed in confusion.
"Are you bad, or good?" she asked them, falling into the moldy stuffing of the once-bed. "Please, please make up your minds, I'm going to go crazy otherwise!"
After a little while, Vissir managed to gulp down her tears compose herself. However, she didn't manage to sit up.
She smiled at the fly buzzing around on the roof, "Well, I probably am crazy already huh? So I guess we don't really need to worry about that." She dug her fingers into the mattress stuffing, and felt something cold and slimy slip through them. Gagging, she quickly remembered how to stand up and flicked mold, or whatever it was that she had lain in, off her hand.
"Gods! What kind of a person decides to rent a hotel room like this anyways?" She quickly washed her hand off in the sink, pushing away the flood of hopelessness that had engulfed her, and locking it up until it once again managed to break free. She was a very unpredictable person when it came to her emotions, you never really knew how she would react to something. Maybe it came from her childhood...
Turning back to the others, she smiled shyly at them, "I'm good now. Er, sorry." After a second she whispered, "Will you really help me?"
ooc:sorry, quickish post, tests and stuff ahhh
Matai's hands stopped suddenly from their task of picking up her scattered belongings, and she sat frozen for a few moments as she heard Kanto begin to laugh. She lifted her head and her green eyes gazed at him in confusion, she was sure she was in for it when she threw the tea at him. But instead of seeing the infuriated man she was sure was going to be standing there, there was a rather jolly looking man, blue eyes filled with amusement. Even his skin had lightened up. What a change.
She stood up, bag still clutched in hand, eyes still watching Kanto, and when he finished his laughing he managed to surprise her even more... He complimented her insults. Her mouth twitched at the corner, a bit of amusement showing through before she smiled braodly and chuckled a bit herself in the oddity of it all. She reached in her bag and braught out a green handkerchief and walked up to Kanto handing it to him so that he could wipe his face off better.
"Well now, if I had known that it would have had this affect on ye, I would have insulted ye the moment I laid eyes on ye." She said with a small smile, in a bit of shock at the change in him. She now turned to Vissir, who had apparently just stuck her hand in something unmentionable on the bed and Matai winced at the thought. Boy that girl had a million emotions flying out of her, now she appeared fine.
Matai had enough motherly instinct inside her - once you get past the piss and vinegar - that she genuinly felt for the girl as she watched her face change when she asked Kanto if he would really help her. She seemed so lost and alone, Matai just wished that she could help her. She smiled a bit, left Kanto's side and walked to Vissir at the sink. She laid a delicate hand on her shoulder and tried to act as annoyed as she could, it was her only guard.
"Well, now that we're on solid ground again and ye've stopped ye'r hell sent wailing, maybe ye'll get out of here in one piece yet." She said with a huff in her voice. She now turned to Kanto, eyes still a bit of a darker shade than normal, and shrugged one shoulder in a helpless manner. "Well, I don't know what help I may be, but if ye haven't changed ye'r mind, I'm here if ye need me." She said with another small sigh, her hand still on Vissir's shoulder. "Me pub's just down the way and me apartments just upstairs from it. If ye need a place to stay for a few day's or anything, there would be discreet. No one knows it's even up there.
Kanto grinned at Matai and took the cloth offered. "Oh, I'm sure you would have. But, I'd rather not be on the wrong side of one of your insults again." His skin was still lighting itself, until finally settling at a lightly tanned tone that was far more humanistic. His ears were still vaguely pointed however, and his hair was just as long as before.
The friendly gaze watched Vissir for a moment, and he had to choose the right time to speak. No need to get chewed out for a second time today. "Well, I suppose I'm somewhere in the middle right now. Not good, but not bad either. Neutral?"
He gave her a sympathetic smile and sighed at her soft question. "Well...Arrmand is obviously going to notice the change in me, but I can bluff my way through that. Um...I suppose if I step lightly, I can help as much as possible. The only thing is that Arrmand is the unknown variable. I can't say what he will do or how he'll react." He shrugged, at a bit of a loss, but willing to help if he was able.
He nodded at Matai's offer, shuffling it in with all the other information he had about this sticky situation. He blinked suddenly, and felt at the back of his head. His hand traveled down a bit, and one white brow arched.
"Ah, Drow hair...crap..."
And without much explination, he swung the sword off his back, pulled the extremely long ponytail out to the side, and sliced it off in one clean swipe. He left a good couple of inches still bound in the ponytail, but it was no where near the length of before. He whispered something at the hair in his strange language and it dissapeared, and he proceeded to shake his head a bit.
"Ahhh, much better. Never did understand why some people insist on having their hair long. It's such a pain in the ass to keep up..." He grinned again, and it was cool but rather goofy at the same time. He had a wonderfully odd sense of humor when he was like this, and was just now getting back into the swing of things.
(*Smashes head into things* Gar, my brain has turned to mush! >.< )
It was at this point in our story, that Arrmand decided to come back and check in on things.
As he slammed the door of the Inn open, making yet another letter fall off of the sign proclaiming its name, in his naturally good-natured mood, and the oily, sallow skinned lady behind the reception desk winced, he thought of all the fun he would have with his new toy.
Perhaps he would practice his knife throwing skills with her as a target. That would be fun.
Arrmand stomped up the rickety stairwell. On the top step of said stairwell his black boot crashed through the wood. He cursed loudly, and tried in vain to free himself.
"Treva, your floor is eating me!" He yelled.
The sallow woman scampered up the steps, her face seemed to yell her dislike for the man at the top of its lungs. She would have sent him packing long ago if he didn't pay triple the rent he was asked to.
"So sorry sir...sorry, horrible misfortune...so sorry." She muttered, helping Arrmand free his foot.
"You should be! Why I ever bother to give you money for the right to stay in a room meant for..."
"So sorry, do everything I can, limited budget and all."
She scampered off, the oily knot of blonde on her head bouncing as she descended the stairs.
Arrmand growled and stomped down the hall, past rooms 1025, 1026, 1027, 1028...
Vissir suddenly went very pale as she heard Arrmand's yelling and cursing. She looked at the door, and heard his boots thudding towards them.
"Oh my gods."
Humans. She hated humans. And as the footfalls came nearer her mind was transported into another place...
Running, footfalls.
"Nadia, wassis happening?"
A cry, a wing, soft with sparkling green feathers enfolding her, pressing her to a pearly scaled side.
Nadia roaring, fire, it was everywhere.
And the footfalls, and the cries of the men, and the fear.
Coming closer.
Vissir blinked, and grabbed Kanto's arm, which just happened to be the closest solid thing around, and tried to bring herself back to reality.
It wasn't very pleasant either.
You know, she thought in some corner of her mind, maybe I should have jumped out of that window after all...
OOC: So sorry for the taking so long to post! My computers been acting all screwy so I havn't been able to do anything. And I also got a new job so I am just trying to post as often as I can, so sorry for the short post!
IC: Matai felt Vissir tighten up, her hand still upon the girls shoulder, and she turned her green eyes to look at her. Vissir had suddenly become very pale and scared looking. Matai followed her gaze to the door and then heard the footsteps approaching the door... It must be Arrmand.
Matai suddenly had a bit of panic well up inside her at the thought of facing the man. She removed her hand from Vissir's shoulder and clenched her hands together, wringing them slightly. She didn't know him, but seeing the shape that Vissir was in earlier at Arrmands hands, she didn't want to take any chances.
She didn't know whether or not to stay, not knowing which would make the situation better. So she decided to stay, for either way she would see Arrmand.
Kanto blinked down at Vissir as she attatched herself to his arm in a fit of fear and panic. But he could understand why...that man had nearly bashed her head it. He'd be pretty scared too...well, if he wasn't so sure he could take care of himself, that is.
His other gloved hand came up to cover hers on his arm, and he gave her a reassuring grin.
"It's alright." He said softly, glancing at Matai and sensing the same feeling in her as well.
So, the same grin was turned on her as well, trying to reassure her some little bit if he could.
His newly blue eyes then turned to the door and watched it closely, awaiting Arrmand's arrival. He would protect the women now, he knew it. It wasn't so much of a decision he had made. It was simply that he wouldn't feel right letting them fend for themselves against a potentially dangerous man.
It must be his chivalrous side sticking out again...
(Ah, tis ok! ^_^ Congrats on getting a job!)
He entered the room with a quite litany of cursing.
As soon as Arrmand closed the door, he knew that things had changed. As he saw his plaything's hand on his guard's shoulder, he was suddenly glad that he had not paid in full. Arrmand stepped towards them and grabbed the healer by the hair. Pretty thing, not as pretty as his toy though.
"You, I believe that you are done with your job, yes? Good, " Arramnd went on without pause, walking over to the restored window. His hand firmly on the woman's wrist, he opened said window and shoved her onto the small landing outside it. "In that case you may as well get going."
He turned, one hand perched non-chalantly on his dagger, one of six.
"I can take it from here, thank you for your services,"
He grabbed Vissir's free arm and pulled her roughly, hoping to dislodge her grip on Kanto.
"I seriously hope that you kept her from causing trouble, and that your new bond..." He glanced pointedly at Vissir's hand on Kanto's arm, "...was not forged in bed. I think I can handle her myself now, you are dismissed."