Volatile [M]

[Lowen Thorn]

Amaya smirked.

"No," he replied honestly. "I don't care about much, Yona. Haven't you figured that out about me?"

It was true. There were very few things the bounty hunter cared about. He lost the ability a long time ago back in Serendipity. He supposed the only thing he really cared about now was staying alive. He didn't like the idea of not being able to control how and when he dies, and would choose the time and the place himself when the time came.

"You're kind of a nervous wreck, you know that?"

[DragonSong]

Her jaw dropped open. "Excuse you?!"

Alright, so she was skittish, and maybe a little flighty. But she thought that understandable, damnit!

Folding her arms, the elementalist looked away and muttered something under her breath about "rude foreigners".

[Lowen Thorn]

Amaya had to muffle a laugh, and continued pressing forward. They would continue their stride for some time before they reached the next town, and he finally slowed down long enough for her to catch up when they were just outside of the gates.

"Okay, game plan," he said, spinning on his heel to face his skittish companion. "Let's go in as quietly as possible, get some food, and hit the road. Just stay close, and everything will be alright."

He meant that. Though he was still undecided as to what to do with her, he was becoming more open to the idea of helping her, rather than hunting her.

[DragonSong]

Yona could do little but hurry in an attempt to keep up with the near-stranger. Though when he gave her his plan, her eyes widened a bit in fear and she instinctively started to shake her head.

"I don't-- I can just wait in the trees?" she tried desperately. "I, um, I have a bit of money I could give you..."

The words were barely out of her mouth when she realized what a spectacularly bad idea that was. She knew next to nothing about this man, why on earth should she trust him with coin?

With a sigh, she dropped her eyes and nodded assent. "Alright."

[Lowen Thorn]

"Great," he replied with a bit of impatience. "Stay close."



The two entered the city and he found the best grocery merchant for their needs: hidden away, out of the limelight, poor-lit, and just a tad bit shady. Any establishment that housed merchant goods and a bar in a bad part of town was good enough for him, he thought.

"Go ahead and get what you think we'll need," he said as they entered. "I'm going to go out back and take a leak."

Manners was not his strong suit.

[DragonSong]

Even if Yona had not been a fugitive, she thought she probably would have been just as skittish in this place. She'd been raised in a mountain temple for gods' sakes, she just wasn't built for-- for this.

She wanted to protest Amaya's absence, demand that he stay with her, but before she could work up the nerve he'd already gone. She huffed out a breath and all but pouted at his back, feeling a tingle of wariness crawl up her back.

Trying desperately not to call attention to herself, she began sorting through the available goods, shoulders hunched and eyes lowered.

[Lowen Thorn]

"Did you see that?" one man whispered from the bar just a few feet away from Yona. Small as she was and minding to herself, neither of the two patrons seemed to notice her. "Is that who I think it was?"

"Yeah," the other man, his voice gruff and lowered, answered. "That's Amaya Midgar."

The scene was tense. The first man's face went pale with worry, and the other was on alert - overly cautious for man trying to enjoy his ale.

"What's a bounty hunter doing at this place? I thought it was common knowledge that this was a safe haven for fugitives? A no-go zone for people like him!"

The other man shrugged. "He comes in here all of the time," he answered, taking another sip of his drink. "I think he just likes to make people nervous."

"I've never known anyone to get away from that guy once he had his sights on them," the first man said, his voice shaking as much as his hand on his glass. "He got Red, y'know? Red."

"Yeah, I know," the second man replied. "I hear he use to run with a really mean gang back in Serendipity. Like, cut out your eyes and send it to your family kind of mean."

"Gods," the other guy all but gasped. "Fuck this. Let's get out of here."

The two didn't have a chance to make another move before Amaya returned through the back of the bar, giving the boys a playful wink as he passed as greeting them with a quick 'Gentleman' before returning to Yona.

"We ready?"

[DragonSong]

Yona had gone very, very still, every line of her body taught and sharp. Amaya's voice earned just the barest twitch of her head in his direction. She could feel magic pounding through her blood as though it was trying to break through her skin.

I can't, I can't, it's too dangerous...

You know what? Fuck it.

She twisted to face Amaya, hands flying up as she did, bringing with them a blast of air strong enough to throw him back against the wall.

Then she turned and ran, her pack forgotten on the floor behind her as she fled back to the jungle.

[Lowen Thorn]

"SHIT!"

After his unexpected collision with the wall, he jumped to his feet and tried to compose himself. What in all fucks just happened?! Scanning the room, he saw the two bar patrons with guilty eyes - trying to avoid all contact with him.

"Did you tell on me?" he spat before walking over to them.

Without a moment's notice, he grabbed both men by the back of the head - each in one hand - before slamming their skulls together.

Now that that was taken care of, he high-tailed it out of the establishment and set off for the woods. That's where she would be. He was sure of it.

[DragonSong]

Her magic was buzzing along the surface of her skin, anxious and hungry and...volatile. It sensed that she was in danger, and it wanted to protect her.

No no no no no. Yona bore down on the power as she ran through the trees; she wasn't doing a particularly good job of hiding her presence, too focused on trying to wrangle her errant magic back under control.

She never should have used it in the first place.

[Lowen Thorn]

Amaya was fast on his feet, despite his injury that should have prevented him from even walking. He was also a lot tougher than Yona probably knew, but would start to understand soon enough. Cat was out of the bag. Fuck.

"C'mon Yona," he called out as he ran through the thick of the woods. "It's not that big of a deal! Why don't you come down here and we can talk about this?"

[DragonSong]

She could already hear him calling. Damn, he'd caught up faster than she would have hoped.

Not really thinking clearly, Yona managed to stagger over a massive tree root and shouted aimlessly, "St-stay away from me!"

Her magic writhed and roiled through her body, curling into a tight ball just beneath her chest. "No, no, stop, please stop," she whispered, stumbling to a halt and clutching at her chest with one hand desperately.

[Lowen Thorn]

Amaya huffed a breath of aggravation. Gods dammit. Gods dammit all. He was this close to gaining the girl's trust, and what's worse is he was actually all but over the idea of collecting a bounty on her. He actually wanted to help her! Now this. Wonderful.

"Don't you think if I was going to take you in," he started, trying to keep his voice level as not to spook her further. "I would've done so already?"

[DragonSong]

Yona was hunched over, backing away from his voice-- she couldn't see him with her eyes clenched shut as they were. "Leave me...alone!"

She backed up another step. She was panting now as she struggled to contain the magic. "Why should I believe anything you say?!"

[Lowen Thorn]

Amaya through his hands up in the air in further frustration. "Well, I never said I wasn't a bounty hunter," he said, his voice clearly irritated. "You never asked what I did for a living."

She's going to garner us some much unwanted attention.

He could just leave. He really could. He had pretty much decided to drop the bounty and help her instead, but if she didn't want to be help, there was nothing more he could do. He could turn around, walk away right now, and let her fend for herself.

Gods dammit.

No he couldn't.

"C'mon Yona," he said again. "Yeah, you probably shouldn't trust me - but I promise you I'm on your side. Let's talk about this."

[DragonSong]

The very air around her started to shimmer, a heat haze shivering around her form. The earth beneath her feet seemed to ripple, just slightly, a tremor that started from her heels and spread out through the trees around them.

"Please, just..." Yona finally managed to open her eyes, power and fear warring for control in their depths. "It's-- it's not safe. J-just leave me alone..."

[Lowen Thorn]

"Yona, please don't make me start climbing trees."

His voice was less annoyed and more the tone of an adult getting onto a young child for wrongdoing. He sighed, thinking it through.

"Found you!"

Oh gods dammit fuck.

Amaya jerked his head around to see the hunters from before, quickly filing into his vision with their blades drawn, and a few more recruits were now in their numbers. "Where's the girl?!" they demanded.

"Don't know," Amaya lied calmly.

He wasn't in the condition to fight them, but he would if he had to.

[DragonSong]

Yona's eyes snapped open with a sharp gasp.

Only a thin band of trees separated her from the bounty hunters down. She could feel it, could sense their footsteps on the earth, their passage through the air, the water in their blood...

"Leave. Me. ALONE!"

The earth beneath the enemy hunters exploded upward, sending them flying into various trees with a series of sickening cracks. The trees themselves seemed to bend down toward the young elementalist as she stood shivering in the small clearing, her arms wrapped tight around her small frame. Wind whipped her hair, and the barest hint of flame licked at her fingertips.

[Lowen Thorn]

Holy fuck.

So this is the power he was told about. This is what gave her the bounty on her head. It finally made sense. He wouldn't lie that seeing the hunters before him launch in front of him was not only a huge relief, but pretty amusing to watch. He's just damn lucky he wasn't in the mix of it.

But then the sound bones cracking followed. The sounds of cries abruptly ended from the impact of wherever their bodies landed. She killed them. She killed all of them.

"That's fucking crazy," he thought to himself aloud, mouth slightly agape and eyes wide as he tried to contemplate what happened.

"Okay, Yona," he began cautiously. "You've got my attention. Now come down. I'm not going to hurt you. Hells, after that, I don't think I can."

[DragonSong]

He didn't need to tell her to come down. The effort of struggling with her magic, the backlash of the sudden release of it, had utterly drained her.

Yona collapsed to the earth, just barely managing to avoid hitting her head off a rock when her body slumped against one massive, gnarled tree root at an angle.

It almost looked as though the root had curled specifically to catch her.