Volatile [M]

[Lowen Thorn]

"Yona!"

Amaya whipped around to face her, his mouth in both awe of her reluctance and his impatience. "You're safe. I promise. I won't let anything happen to you."

Yeah, he knew what she really meant, but he couldn't let that be known. He knew what could happen, but he had every intention of making sure that it didn't.

[DragonSong]

Yona flinched back from the sudden volume of his voice and stared at him with wide eyes as though she was worried he might suddenly attack.

Honestly, a part of her was.

She set her jaw and narrowed her eyes. "N-no." Though her voice shook, she held firm. "You don't understand, I can't go into town. I can't."

[Lowen Thorn]

"And why's that?"

The bounty hunter folded his arms over his chest, a brow furrowed as he eyed the woman more so in curiosity than suspicion. He was curious, that is, to see if she'd open up and tell him the truth. Her truth. He knew the other side of the story that put a bounty on her head.

[DragonSong]

"I—!"

She stopped, clamping her mouth shut and staring at him balefully. "I'm. Not. Safe," she ground out, trembling slightly now as she clutched her arms even tighter around her body. "If I'm around a lot of people... Someone could get hurt. I can't risk that."

[Lowen Thorn]

"Fine. I'll bite."

Walking back towards her now, he swept past her but grabbed her hand in his in the process, leading them out of the clearing and more into an isolated, hidden area. "Come on then," he said, letting go of her and taking a seat into the dirt. "Tell me your story. What did you do to get such a high bounty on your head, and why can't you be you be around people? C'mon, I nearly died saving you - you owe me an explanation."

[DragonSong]

Yona opened her mouth to tell him that she owed him precisely nothing-- but then he reminded her that he had indeed risked his life in helping her.

Damnit.

"I..." She frowned and looked away, her arms still wrapped around her middle, though her posture had relaxed somewhat. "There was... It's sort of a long story," she sighed, reaching up to drag a hand down her face. Her eyes were tired when they flicked back up to meet his. "I have...abilities," she finally muttered. He was foreign, right? He wouldn't know how sacrilegious her power was--but she still couldn't find it in herself to say it aloud.

"I have abilities," she repeated, a little stronger. "And I-- I can't always control them. Not the way I want to. It makes me...dangerous."

[Lowen Thorn]

"Just learn to control them then," he said with a purposeful ignorance. "And how dangerous are we talking?"

He motioned for the woman to join him on the ground. If they weren't moving, might as well get comfortable.

"What happened the last time you weren't able to control your abilities?"

[DragonSong]

She glanced toward the offered patch of earth when he gestured but did not move to sit, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

Why on earth was she telling him this?

Maybe it was a sick sense of guilt, as though by listing her crimes, acknowledging them, she could somehow...she didn't even know. Begin to atone? Or maybe she'd just been on her own long enough that any interaction was like a drug, addictive and nearly impossible to deny.

"Someone...died," she whispered, gaze fixed on her feet. Then she sighed and closed her eyes, her jaw tensing. "A lot of people died."

I didn't mean for it to happen, I just wanted them to leave me alone, I was scared, they threatened Ruka... Dozens of excuses ran through her mind, but she knew that's what they were. Excuses. So she didn't bother to voice them.

[Lowen Thorn]

He watched her intently as the woman moved nervously from side to side, telling him his story in the most vague way as possible. His mouth would have been agape from the utter shock of hearing something like that, but he already knew all of that.

"Okay, first off," he started in a tired voice. "You're going to give me an anxiety attack moving around like that. You need to sit, right now you're practically target practice."

He did not wait for the woman to respond in any type of way before continuing.

"Secondly, it really doesn't sound like this was your fault. Yeah. It really sucks that people died because of you, but it doesn't sound like you meant for it to happen." He shrugged and sighed. "Guess that doesn't matter, though. I could put a knife in a man's heart and say 'oh I didn't mean to' and I'd still be locked up. So, how many people died?"

[DragonSong]

Yona rooted her feet to the ground, but she didn't sit. She just stared at him for a long moment, silent.

"...Fifteen," she said eventually. Her eyes itched and she blinked, looking quickly away. "You're right. It doesn't matter. I did something wrong, I made a mistake, and people died. That's what matters."

She dashed the back of her hand angrily over her eyes. A deep breath in an attempt to center herself. "So. Maybe I came back for you because I--I owed it to them. I don't know."

[Lowen Thorn]

Fifteen. That was it? This girl truly was as innocent as she acted. He got that impression from their first encounter, but he really couldn't confirm anything until he spent a little more time with her. Hells, he still couldn't count it out that this was all a ruse. He was doing that very thing, after all.

Maybe he wouldn't take her in. If she was as honest as he was starting to believe, she didn't deserve the punishment that would be waiting for her. Torture, execution, the works.

No, he needed a little more time to mull things over.

"Hey, I'm sorry," he finally said after letting silence separate them for a moment. "I'm sorry I asked - that sounds tough. But you shouldn't blame yourself for something like that."

He leaped up, given up the thought of her joining him in the dirt. "So, where to then?" he asked as he folded his arms over his chest. "We gotta go somewhere."

[DragonSong]

She stared at him. "You...what?"

He just...accepted that? She'd just told him she'd killed over a dozen people, and his reaction was Okay, what's next? And how could he tell her not to blame himself-- he had no idea of the circumstances, no idea just what she'd done and how she'd done it.

Unable to fully process what was happening, Yona stammered out, "I-I've just been keeping to the jungles. I only go into town what I absolutely have to..."

[Lowen Thorn]

He couldn't help but chuckle at the woman's reaction.

Again, either she's as honest and innocent as they come, or she's one damn good actor. If it were the former, she'd be scared shitless to learn how much blood was on his hands.

"Sounds like a bad idea," he said bluntly, walking past her and expecting her to follow. "You can only do that for so long. What reasons do you usually go into town for?"

[DragonSong]

"Well...food," she admitted in a mumble. "I can-- I can gather most of what I need, but I'm...not a very good hunter."

She normally just forewent meat entirely, but sometimes she'd be in a rather poisonous part of the jungle and just had no better options-- which meant subsisting off of meat and rice cakes from local markets.

[Lowen Thorn]

"Yeah, me either," he lied. "So it's decided then. To town we go - at least to get some food. And then we can plan our next move."

He stopped walking for a moment to peer over his shoulder, wanting to make sure the woman would follow him. "I won't let anything happen. Trust me."

[DragonSong]

Rather despite herself, Yona found her feet moving to follow him, slow and cautious.

"Why...do you want to stay with me?" she asked slowly, utterly bewildered. She didn't bother to continue arguing about going into a town, at least not now; she could just hang back in the trees when he reached his destination, she supposed.

[Lowen Thorn]

Amaya shrugged and continued walking forward.

Who knows.

To learn more about her. To see if she was the real deal or not. To see if the price on her head would be worth it. He almost felt a certain kinship with her, one out of familiarity, or for the weight they both carried in their respective situations. Of course, they were nothing alike, and neither were their circumstances.

"Guess we're just in this together now," he finally said after some thought. "I put my neck, and my name, out there back there, so now they're going to be looking for both of us. Better we stick together for now, right?"

[DragonSong]

"I--I suppose that's true..." Yona continued to trod after him warily, always a few steps behind, and she tilted her head at his back.

"...Why did you, by the way? I mean...you're right. If people think you helped me, they'll assume you're my accomplice or something. Why risk that?"

[Lowen Thorn]

"It's not like I had much choice," he replied over his shoulder. "We were already together when those knuckleheads showed up. It goes against my nature to just walk away from something like that."

He stretched and let his hands land on the back of his head, assuming a lounging position even as he pressed forward. "Guess we're accomplices now. So, what should call our gang?"

[DragonSong]

Yona narrowed her eyes at his back. "That's not funny," she muttered. "How can you...be so calm about all this? Don't you care?" She reached up to drag her fingers back through her hair, a nervous habit. "If they catch us, you'll probably be killed."

She didn't bother to mention her own fate. There would be more ceremony for her; not only was her crime far worse, but she was native to the isles. Amaya was simply a foreigner in the wrong place at the wrong time, and would be swiftly executed as such.