Volatile [M]

[Lowen Thorn]

"That's a stupid question," he responded as his stride took them further away from the bounty hunters. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting you out of here!"

Amaya had the uncanny ability to appear and speak calmly even though he was carrying a woman and in a full-on sprint. When he was sure he put enough distance between them and their pursuers, he let the woman to her feet.

"Right," he said, turning around to face away from her. "Better get out of here now. I'll hold them off. Look me up in the future if you ever wanna do this again."

He gave her a quick grin over his shoulder before running back into the direction of the hunters.

[DragonSong]

"You-- but-- wait--!"

Aaannnnnd he was gone.

Yona was left frozen where she stood, eyes wide and jaw slack as she stared after him. He was...going back? Why? They'd already gotten some distance, surely they should have just kept running...

She hovered, torn. Escape and safety were so close, all she had to do was keep running. But-- but Amaya had helped her, and he was running back into danger. Could she really just leave him?

[Lowen Thorn]

Sorry boys, that bounty is mine.

Amaya was an excellent brawler, but a shit mage. For someone born and raised in Serendipity, he was truly shit at anything magic-related. Of course, he did pick up a few tricks that he could sometimes pull off, and outnumbered as he was he felt he may have had no choice.

"Over here!" he yelled as he neared their pursuers, taking a sharp turn and leading them thicker into the woods.

His feet slapped the dirt below him as he ran, a thunderous sprint under the dark sky, when he some how managed (and elegantly at that) to mix some type of potion with a stout whiskey. Muttering a spell under his breath, he tossed the bottle over his shoulder.

It landed just before the other bounty hunters, and Amaya - timing it just right - snapped his fingers.

BOOM!

A small explosion ignited, the men screamed, and their bodies were flung in every direction.

Of course, he didn't get all of them, and they were closing in.

[DragonSong]

The sound of the explosion snapped Yona from her momentary paralysis. With a cry of shock and fear, she turned on her heel and raced away into the jungle.

Guilt tugged at her chest with every step she took, but it seemed that fear was a stronger motivator, at least in this moment.

It's-- it's fine. He seemed like he could handle himself, I'm sure he's fine...

[Lowen Thorn]

They were on him quicker than he anticipated after that explosion, but he managed to tumble out of the way in time to just have the tip of the blade cut him, rather than slice him completely in half. He hissed with the jolt of pain, but it only served to fuel his adrenaline even more.

The same hunter struck again, but this time Amaya was ready. Dodging the attack, he wrapped around the man, disarmed him while simultaneously taking the blade, and held it up to his neck.

"Don't move!" he shouted with authority. "I would think long and hard about what you do next."

There were only four of them now. One in his grasp, and the other three in front - contemplating their next move.

[DragonSong]

Yona could only continue to run, putting one foot in front of the other as her breath started to come in deep, ragged pants. She had been raised a priestess, and it was clear that she was woefully lacking in a certain level of physical fitness that would have greatly aided her in such a scenario.

[Lowen Thorn]

"D-Don't kill me," his captive pleaded, clearly shaken.

"Relax," Amaya said, though not very reassuringly. "I'm not going to kill you. Yet."

"Who are you?" one of the others demanded, standing their ground.

"Amaya Midgar."

There was a moment of silence. They knew the name, and they knew the reputation. There were a collection of looks exchanged among the remaining bounty hunters - not knowing whether to retreat or attack.

"What kind of self-respecting bounty hunters group up and pick on a little girl like her?" he asked, taking one step back with his hostage. "You should all-"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence before his body screamed, the piercing pressure of cold steel jolting into his body. Involuntarily, he let his captive go as he reacted to the abrupt pain. Looking down, he saw the first bounty hunter, the one who he thought he had dealt with in the beginning, on the ground but with his sword planted into his leg.

Fuck. Off.

This was bad. This hurt like hell. He was at a disadvantage now.

He had no choice.

He slung the blade he was holding in the other men's direction to distract him, knocked the grounded bounty hunter off him, and drew the weapon out of his leg. Turning on his heel, he ran as fast as he could.



It had been a couple of hours since the incident, but Amaya managed to lose them. He could only hope Yona was able to do the same. Losing strength, and blood, he found a quiet spot to hide before collapsing onto the ground.

"Fuck," he hissed. "I really don't want to die here."

This would be, by his standards, the dumbest way he could possibly go out.

[DragonSong]

This was stupid. So very very stupid.

But it was also the right thing to do.

Arguing silently with herself, Yona had been picking her way back the path she had come for the last hour or so, trying to retrace her steps back toward where she had left Amaya.

The trail of blood was not entirely surprising, but it made her stomach clench guiltily.

Raised a priestess she might have been, but Yona was a half-decent tracker, and a wounded man was not the most difficult quarry to follow. It didn't take her too much longer to stumble upon him, and her breath caught in her throat.

No. She didn't have time to feel guilty. Steeling herself, the elementalist hurried toward the tree he was collapsed against and knelt beside him, slinging her pack to the ground to better root through it for the supplies she needed.

"Amaya? Can you hear me?" She couldn't even tell if he was still conscious.

[Lowen Thorn]

"Ain't dead yet," was all he managed to say as his head slightly shifted to face her. He had trouble keeping his eyes open, unconsciousness just a breath away as he struggled to keep himself together.

Amaya Midgar. Feared bounty hunter. Killed in the woods by some loser with a knife.

Well, it wasn't a knife, but it might as well of been.

This was so stupid.

He was just out of it to not even realize who was there beside him.

[DragonSong]

Yona breathed a small sigh of relief and smiled quite despite herself. With a soft huff, she set to work, tearing Amaya's trousers so she could get at his wound, smearing a poultice before wrapping strips of linen around the wound in deft, practiced motions.

[Lowen Thorn]

"Don't you get handsy with me, young lady," he slurred, almost drunk on the pain that coursed through his leg. "If I lose my ability to use this leg when we're done I'm going to kill that guy."

Finally coming to some of his senses, he realized that it was, in fact, Yona at his aid. Thank Gods. She got away.

Did he really want to collect the bounty on the woman saving his life? Dirty business, he supposed, but he could think on that later. "Glad you came around when you did," he said, hoisting himself up a bit with his elbows.

[DragonSong]

"Yes, I expect you are," Yona replied with a small smile. She tied the bandaging off and sat back. "Is it just the leg? Are you hurt anywhere else?"

She rather hoped not-- her last stop in town had been to restock on food, she was running low on healing supplies. But she couldn't very well leave him if he was still injured.

[Lowen Thorn]

"Nope," he breathed into his response. "That'll do me."

He looked up and down at the bandages she had wrapped him in, her handiwork, with a small sigh of relief escaping his lips as he did so. "Thought I was done for," he said quietly. "That would've been embarrassing."

He took a quick look around before returning his gaze back on Yona. "I shook those guys a while back, so that should buy us a little time if they're still looking for us. Most likely, they think we're long gone from these woods by now."

"You must be a hot commodity," he said shortly after. "I've never seen that many bounty hunters after one person. I knew you were on the run, but Gods, you must have an extremely high price on your head. You don't have to tell me what you did - I really don't care. But tell me this, why'd you come back? I gave you the chance to escape."

[DragonSong]

"Because..." She paused, drawing her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment before she continued, "Because you risked your life to save me. If I had left you, it..."

She frowned and glanced away, sitting back on her heels. "It would have been a shame on my people. On me." Another sigh, then she looked back to him and added, softer, "And I never would have been able to live with myself if you had died saving me."

[Lowen Thorn]

Amaya couldn't help but grin. Couldn't help but laugh.

"You're sweet, then," he said. It was a minor struggle, but he got on his feet. "And naive. You should've left me to die. You'd be better off."

He took a few steps forward, testing the waters after she doctored up his injuries. Not too shabby, he thought. "I'm not the type of guy you wanna get caught up with," he continued. "Lot of blood on my hands. Lot of hearts broken because of me. Trouble seems to follow me wherever I go, and I tend to follow it right back."

In his rare moment of vulnerability he shared a rare moment of honesty.

"Anyway, let's get moving," he said rather abruptly. "No sense in wasting time here. We have some serious ground to cover if we're going to get out of here before those knuckleheads catch up to us."

[DragonSong]

That...was a bit of emotional whiplash.

Blinking, Yona scrambled to her feet behind him, already hurriedly swinging her bag back over her shoulder. "Wh-where exactly are you planning on going?" she asked, because of what he'd said that was all she found she could really focus on for the moment.

[Lowen Thorn]

"The next town over maybe," he called out, his stride already strong enough to where the man's long legs were putting distance between the two. "Somewhere to lay low. I'll know when I find."

He peered behind his shoulder and tossed a grin. "C'mon, don't fall behind. You need to come with me. We can split ways when things have cooled off a bit."

[DragonSong]

"I... But--" He didn't understand. Well of course he didn't. He couldn't. It wasn't just herself she was protecting by keeping to the jungle; her power was dangerous, and she could not risk staying in populated areas for too long.

If only she'd listened to the priests when she was a girl.

"I can't go into a town with you," Yona mumbled, but she hurried after him even as she said it.

[Lowen Thorn]

"Sure you can," he replied back quickly, hearing her well enough as he paced forward. "Or, by all means, stay here and die. I don't think I'm in the position to protect you again right now, so if that's your thing lady-"

He stopped talking for a moment, letting the steps forward continue their path before peering over his shoulder at the woman. "Come on, we won't stay long. But we can't stay here."

[DragonSong]

"But, but I..." She hesitated a moment longer, almost swaying in place as she warred internally. "It's not— I'm not...safe," she finally whispered, her arms coming up to wrap around her middle.