Volatile [M]

[Lowen Thorn]

He could feel the panic in her chest as if it were his own, and the timbre of her voice  had changed just enough for him to know he struck a nerve.

He shrugged carelessly before laying down on his side - his face propped up by an open palm as he looked at her curiously. "Oh, c'mon," he almost teased. "I know someone on the run when I see one. Hey, I'm in hiding too. The only difference between you and me is I hide in plain sight, and you're just bad at it."

His words, though may come across as harsh, were delivered in a light, friendly tone.

"My name's Kalen," he lied. "What's yours?"

[DragonSong]

The elementalist just stared at him for a long moment. She had absolutely no reason to believe this man was being at all truthful with her-- if he was running from something, why would he just tell her outright?

Unless he was really that stupid.

Yona bit her lip, glancing toward the thicker forest behind her once again, calculating.

"Listen to the voice in your heart, little one. One soul in need will always hear another."

Once more Ruka's voice floated to the front of her mind and she gritted her teeth. Damnit, Sister. She wasn't a priestess anymore-- she never really had been! Why did those maxims haunt her so much?

"I'm...Kana," she lied, her voice just a little too tight to pass off as casual. "And if you're trying to hide in plain sight, what are you doing out in the jungle?"

[Lowen Thorn]

"Oh, I just decided to take a stroll, it got late, and decided to camp out for the night. I'll head back into town first thing in the morning."

There was no real way to tell if the bounty hunter was lying or telling the truth. That sort of action would not be out of the ordinary for him, so it was easy for him to say it with the casual assurance that made him seem genuine.

"Look," he said. "I'm not sure who you're running from, but if you act nervous and panicky like the way you did in the cafe this morning, you're going to draw attention to yourself. People will always look for the worst in folk, and you - first impressions - strike me as the person who has something to hide."

"I'm just loud," he continued, smirking at the thought. "Loud, clumsy, but with a certain amount of charm if I do say so myself."

Following that, he sat back up to face her. "I'm also a very good liar," he said with a wink. Extending his hand, he shared a cheeky grin in hopes that she would return the shake. "Come on. Let's be friends. My name's Amaya," he said, this time telling the truth. "What's your real name?"

[DragonSong]

Yona just stared at him in silence, making absolutely no move to take his offered hand. "You just told me you're a very good liar," she pointed out softly. "Why on earth should I trust anything that comes out of your mouth? Why should I give you my name?"

Her whole body was tense to the point of trembling, every instinct urging her to just run back into the trees. This foreigner wouldn't be able to find her in the jungle, once she got deep enough in...

[Lowen Thorn]

Amaya laughed at the truth of that statement.

"Yeah," he said, scratching the side of his face with sheepish glee. "You probably shouldn't. Buuutt.. ask yourself: what could it hurt?"

He knew that alone would not be enough to sway the girl, so he continued. "What do you have to lose by telling me your name? And honestly, isn't sharing the company with someone with similar circumstances better than being alone, in isolation, if only for a moment?"

He took his hand back - no hard feelings on the girl not returning the gesture. He couldn't really blame her, after all.

"Tell you what," he said calmly. "How about I tell you my story? I'll give you all the juicy details on why I'm in hiding in exchange for your real name. You don't have to tell me any more than that."

[DragonSong]

She scooted just a little bit further away, clutching her pack to her chest and still eyeing him warily, but she didn't move to run. Not yet, at least.

"...Yona."

She glanced away, worrying at her lower lip with her teeth. "I'm not... I'm not trading my name for information. I'm just telling you. It's Yona."

Gods but it actually felt nice to simply say her name aloud. It must have been weeks since she'd done that-- maybe months?

[Lowen Thorn]

Amaya noticed her small movement away, but didn't think much of it. Instead, he flashed an appreciative grin and gave her nod that all but said now we're getting somewhere.

"Beautiful name," he replied. "Now doesn't that feel nice?"

Well, there was the confirmation he needed.

"I know it feels nice for me to tell you my name," he added, though not necessarily true. "So it's settled - we're friends now."

Before she could answer, he leaned forward a little more and stared at the woman intently. "You're really pretty," he said bluntly. "Not sure how you've gone unnoticed with looks like that. You got a man somewhere?"

[DragonSong]

Yona stiffened. Her eyes cut across to his and suddenly there was something sharp and steely in her gaze, something dangerous.

"I do not see how that is any of your business, gaijin," she hissed, using a stylized dialect of Thanati to dub him "foreigner", separating him from herself.

[Lowen Thorn]

"Hey, easy."

His tone was apologetic, but the bounty hunter could never bring himself to apologize - especially over something as minuscule as that.

"You're right," he admitted, shrugging off the tension. "It's none of my business, but how do you find out anything about a person without asking? Why sit with a stranger you don't know, in the middle of the woods, if you don't want to have a conversation and learn a little bit about each other?"

Knowing full well what the woman was capable of, what exactly she has done to garner such a hefty bounty, the man should have proceeded with caution. However, though it may not have been the wisest trait he had, he did not fear a thing. And work aside, he was actually enjoying her company.

[DragonSong]

She gave him a dry look. "Why sit with a stranger I don't know, in the middle of the woods, at all? Particularly one who seems to know that I am hunted," she pointed out. Her head tipped slightly to one side. "What makes you think I will share any information about myself with you simply because you ask?"

Of course, despite what she said...she still made no move to leave. Not yet, anyway.

[Lowen Thorn]

"Beats me," came his near-instant, flat reply.

His eyes finally left the woman, and found themselves resting on the fire. He wasn't tired, but his eyes looked it. He was alert, but his body looked relaxed. He was finding it more difficult to carry a conversation with this woman as the night went on, but he could milk it for hours if need be. Hells, days even. Not that she would want him around that long.

"S'pose you don't have to," he said. "But why not? Why not share- Wait. Do you hear that?"

The man was interrupted by the sound of rustling leaves. It wasn't very close, but not too far off either, and he was pretty sure the wind wasn't the culprit. The sound was just precise to set off his internal alarm.

[DragonSong]

Yona was on her feet in an instant, skittering back toward the treeline and grabbing for her pack frantically as she did.

Wide eyes snapped toward Amaya, sparking fire. "What did you do? Who is that?"

[Lowen Thorn]

"Don't look at me!" he shouted in defense, getting to his feet. "I'm not the one so obviously on the run!"

He peered over his shoulder, and then in front of him, and then all around them again. With a smirk, he cracked his knuckles and positioned himself to strike. "Hope you're ready for a fight," he said smugly. "Someone's coming."

[DragonSong]

A fight?

Yona felt her stomach drop down into her toes and she jumped to her feet, scrambling backward. "Are you insane?" she hissed. "We have to run!"

She turned to dart away into the trees, but a rustle in the foliage stopped her short. They were surrounded.

There was no where to run.

[Lowen Thorn]

It was too late to run even if they wanted to.

The unwelcome guests soon made their appearance, through the thick of the brush and in position to where they had the two completely surrounded. Amaya held his tongue long enough to get a quick look at every single one of them. There were at least... ten. Ten men. Bounty hunters. Proper bounty hunters. Not the loose canon, devil-in-disguise who could quite frankly give a fuck bounty hunter like Amaya.

These guys took their job seriously.

"Yona," one of the men said as they circled in. "You have a high price on your head, ma'am."

"Boy, I don't know who you are," another started, focusing on Amaya, "but if you know what's best for you, you'll get out of here now. This woman is incredibly dangerous."

"If you don't we'll kill you too," the first guy chimed back in with authority. "No sense trying to take this one alive."

"You fellas must be mistaken," Amaya finally said, his stance both confident and on the defense. "This is my wife Abigal. You've got the wrong person."

He spun around to keep watch on the hoard the best he could. "Best get the fuck out of here," he hissed, playing the act of a husband losing his temper.

[DragonSong]

Yona just stared at him.

Abigail?

Almost despite herself, she glanced down at her own form, then back up at Amaya incredulously. She was quite clearly a native to Thanatos-- Abigail? Really?

The hunters took a choreographed step forward, closing them in, and her heart jumped into her throat. "W-wait."

"Courage is not the absence of fear, little one," Ruka's voice sounded in her head. "It is merely a judgement that there is something more important than your fear."

Taking a breath, Yona drew herself up to her full-- admittedly tiny-- height and lifted her chin defiantly. "I'm the one you want here," she said, locking her eyes on the lead bounty hunter. "This-- this man is just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just...let him go."

[Lowen Thorn]

The bounty hunter's eyes could've rolled right out of his head after the woman completely blew their cover. Oh well. He knew it was a long shot, but still.

"Like hell," he smirked.

Stepping up to bat, Amaya cracked the knuckles of his right hand with the open palm of his left, and then vise versa. "Seems like I was at the right place," he said. "At the right time."

He moved between the lead hunter and Yona, a twinkle in his eyes and a cocky smile tugging at his lips, with his towering figure looming over the opposition. "This is how this is going to go-"

The last word hadn't completely rolled off the tongue when the man grabbed the lead hunter by the scalp, forcing his head down to meet a thunderous knee to the nose, and followed through with a left hook across the rest of his face.

It happened in less than an instant, and their leader was on the ground.

A collection of swords unsheathed around them.

[DragonSong]

Yona froze again, eyes wide as she looked around. They were completely trapped, hemmed in on all sides.

"Are you mad?" she hissed at Amaya. Why had he gone and provoked them?

More importantly-- how in all hells was she supposed to get out of this? She'd tried just turning herself in-- though honestly in retrospect that was a terrible idea-- but she highly doubted the bounty hunters would be at all pleased to simply take her quietly now.

[Lowen Thorn]

"Aren't we all?" he replied, all-too-excited to be in the middle of a brawl they had no chance of winning.

As one of the men charged him, he grabbed the man who's face he promptly broke, lifting him and hurling him at the oncoming attacker. As the chaos rose, and shouts could be heard through the thick of the trees, Amaya spun on his heel and made a quick dash to Yona.

Here goes nothing.

Nearly tackling her, he hoisted the woman over his shoulder and ran as fast as he possibly could - removing them from the disadvantage of being surrounded.

[DragonSong]

Yona shrieked, instinctively starting to kick and flail as she was all but knocked off her feet and scooped up into the air. Thankfully her brain caught up with her body and she managed to hold herself still, though she clutched awkwardly at Amaya's back.

"What in all hells do you think you're doing?!"