[IC] Just My Luck[Icicle and HiddenBeauty13

[icicle]

Drake watched silently as the lady walked over to John and spoke to him about her daggers. As she did so, the guard turned around to find the merchant back at his place. “Your tab, sir?” the merchant asked, raising an eyebrow as he spoke. Drake nodded, then quickly added, “Delta six.” The merchant chuckled after hearing this, then quickly walked down the stairs to the armory, shocked more than amused. Drake turned back to see the thief lady walking back towards him. “Is there a tavern around here? I’m in need of something to eat,” she asked, looking up at the hulking giant as she spoke. I wouldn’t dare, he thought with a quick grin.

“I know of a place,” Drake responded, walking towards the entrance of the armory, “the Greener Club is the name. I suspect you aren’t as wealthy as most around here, so it should suffice.” He stepped through the entrance to the armory and back onto the streets of Talgot shortly after this. “If you want to find the place, head to the tax stand I was stationed at, go towards the money-lender stand to the left and continue straight until you see the sign. I’m going to find that devilish roof-monkey,” Drake claimed. The guard then walked off, looking around for any sign of the bounty hunter. His dull, blood-stained armor barely glinted in the sun as he walked, the sun still low in the sky.

[HiddenBeauty13]

He's on the move again. Raine thought as she jogged outside of the armory behind the man. She then listened to his instructions, making a mental note of the land-marks he mentioned, before heading off in that direction. She would've said thank you but he was already on the move again, talking about finding a roof monkey or something along those lines. Pulling her hood upon her head, Raine took in the scenery around her with a slight smile on her lips. Everything was rather peaceful: the vendor was still trying to sell his loafs of bread, which still held their original smell but the warmth they once held had dimmed slightly. Laughter rang in the air to her right and, as she glanced over, Raine noticed a group of children passing a ball back and forth. Seeing the happy smiles on their faces reminded Raine of her own childhood and she unknowingly slipped into one of memories she usually kept buried deep within her mind.

"Hey, pass the ball Raine!" A boy called as he waved his hands in front of her face, starling the girl from her thoughts. "Sorry Oruin, I was looking at those flowers over there." Raine said with a smile as she tossed the little round ball to her friend. Oruin was a thin yet tall boy, even at the age of 10. His face was covered in freckles and his light brown hair occasionally fell into his face whenever he tilted his head a certain way. His green eyes seemed to glitter with happiness as he caught the ball. "You're always staring at flowers Raine. If you want one, why not go and get it?" He inquired curiously and Raine only shrugged in response, though her cheeks flushed slightly at his question.

The girl was only eight at the time and had a fear of heights, which was something that her father was working on helping her get over. Those patch of flowers that she had been staring at just so happened to be at the top of a hill that seemed very big to Raine at the time. "I don't like climbing that hill." Was all Raine said and she watched as Oruin turned to look at it. He seemed to think about something before finally turning to her once more. "Well, how about I climb it for you?" Raine gaped at him. Why would he want to risk his life and climb that hill for her? "You don't have to--" It was too late. Oruin was already making his way up the hill and Raine could only watch in awe.

Oruin seemed to be void of fear as he scaled up the hill that was like a mountain in Raine's eyes. Once he made it to the top, the boy reached down and plucked a handful of flowers before turning to look down at Raine. "I got them!" He announced with a wide, toothy grin on his face as he waved his hand back and forth. His smile was so contagious that Raine found herself smiling back, even though she was scared out of her mind. "Okay! Now come back Oruin!" She called back hurriedly; Raine figured that he’d been up there long enough and simply wanted him back where they were before. Though, as soon as he stepped forward, Oruin lost his footing and tumbled down the hill at an alarmingly fast pace. "Oruin! Oruin!" Raine ran towards him, thinking that she could at least slow him down but only ended up getting trip up by his rolling body. The girl landed with a soft thud, her forehead knocking against the ground as she did so, and Raine blacked out for a moment.

"Raine? Are you alright?” A voice called to her a little later and, as Raine opened her eyes, she saw Oruin’s green eyes staring at her worriedly. “I’m fine…” She mumbled and had to work hard to keep the tears that formed in her eyes from falling. Oruin, sensing her pain, reached beside him and pulled out the flowers…which were now crushed and missing a few petals. Glancing down, Raine could only stare at the crumpled flowers before bursting into a fit of giggles. Oruin only looked at her in surprise before eventually laughing himself, tossing the flowers to the side as he did so. Their combined laughed filled the air and seemed to last long after the two had gone home….

Oddly enough, Raine could still hear that same laughter almost a decade later. However, as she finally tuned in to the world around her, the girl realized that it was actually the murmur of a nearby couple and the occasional laughter of entertained guests instead of the hearty laugh of children. Somehow, the assassin managed to get herself to the Greener Club while she was in the depths of her own memories. It was something that she used to do a lot after she had first escaped from the assassin’s guild but had stopped doing after a few months. Or so she thought. I can’t let that happen again… Raine thought as she pushed the memory back into the depths of her conscious.

With a now cleared mind, the assassin tugged her hood further over her head before silently gliding through the doors of the Greener Club. It was actually much more fancy than she’d originally thought, as if the exterior wasn’t enough proof. To her left was a podium in which a man dressed up in a nice robe stood. Upon seeing Raine, he smiled and spoke to her in a friendly yet rehearsed manner. “Good afternoon. Are you dining alone?” He inquired and the assassin nodded silently. “And would you like entertainment as well?” When Raine shook her head, he nodded and gestured for her to follow. It was then that Raine noticed that the first floor was actually the entertainment area.

In the front was a wooden stage that took up nearly one third of the room. At that moment, there was a man dressed in a nice shirt standing on stage and, judging by the occasional giggle that erupted from the crowd, he was telling jokes. Raine couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed at a joke and was almost tempted to stay behind and listen but her waiter had already made his way to the staircase that would lead her up to the second floor.

The second floor was just as nice as the first, though there was no stage included. Instead, it was a collection of tables and chairs for people to sit and dine in, along with the kitchen area as well. “Here you are ma’am.” Raine thanked the waiter as she took a seat at a table made for two, though she was dinning alone. It was something that she’d gotten used to after escaping the guild. Shaking the thought away, the girl focused on skimming through the menu. The Greener Club offered many delicious sounding dishes but most were way more than Raine was willing to pay for, so she eventually decided on a cheaper dish that the waiter recommended. “It’s just as good as the expensive ones.” He said and the girl had no other choice but to go along with it.

As she waited for her food to be cooked and returned, Raine’s eyes wondered from the crisp wallpaper to the couple sitting at the table beside it. They seemed happy enough, though it was a happiness that Raine wasn’t sure that she would be able to experience in her life time. No, she was throw out from the life she knew and was comfortable with before she could ever have what many people call ‘love’. Now, after all she’d been through, the girl doubted that her mind could wrap around the concept of love, especially since all she knew of now was loneliness. Sighing, Raine turned her attention to something else as the two leaned in for a kiss. Thankfully, a rumbling in her stomach was just the distraction she needed and she began to count how many times her stomach would growl before the waiter returned.

“Seven times…” Raine mumbled to herself as the man finally approached her table with a plate in his hand sometime later. “Enjoy your meal.” He said politely before hurrying off to server other customers. In front of the assassin was a bowl of creamy stew placed neatly on top of a little plate to keep the waiter from having to touch the hot bowl. The sight nearly made the girl’s mouth water. Picking up a spoon, Raine scooped some up and took the time to blow it before placing it into her mouth. “Mmmm…” The burst of flavor that suddenly invaded her mouth nearly made her head spin. This is actually a lot better than expected.

It didn’t take the girl long to devour the rest of the stew and, after paying for her meal, Raine headed back down stairs towards the exit. Much to her disappointment, the previous act on stage had been replaced by group of singers. That wasn’t a bad thing, but she’d been hoping to catch at least the ending part of the man’s jokes. Shrugging her disappointment away, Raine exited the building, slightly surprised to see that the sun had dipped low into the sky, signaling that it was almost night time. I was in there for a long time… She thought silently to herself but looked up when she heard the sound of a trumpet, along with the rumble of heavily armored feet marching against the ground. Curiously, she followed the noise until she was near the town square where a large group of people had already gathered. Although she couldn’t see, Raine could hear every word loud and clear.

“A census has been declared by our king.” A voice rang out clearly and concerned murmurs began to erupt from the crowd. “I would like to ask that everyone please return to your home towns so that you can be accounted for. We want to make this process run as smoothly as possible. That is all.” With that being said, the crowd quickly dispersed and Raine made sure that she blended in with them. This is bad…really bad. She thought to herself as she quickly made her way through the alleyways. Since they were taking an account of all the citizens in the town, then it would make it easier for her to be singled out and recognized as the murderer that got away. Raine figured that she might be able to avoid getting caught if she hid somewhere but soon realize that it wouldn’t work.

The imperial guards would be checking every building, corner and street of this place to make sure that each citizen is accounted for. The most she could do was run but, even then, she had a little chance of staying hidden for long. “Hey! Why are you not at your home? Did you not hear the news?” A deep voice called from somewhere behind Raine and she took a moment glance back. At the entrance of the alleyway stood three men. In the dimming sunlight, she could make out their gruff facial features and bulky body build and, judging by the armor that they wore, she assumed that they were a part of the imperial guard. At this point, Raine had a few options: she could either engage the three men in combat, run, or play along. The first two options weren’t the best, since the girl did not want to raise their suspensions about who she was. So Raine decided to go with the last option.

“I’m lost.” She mumbled loud enough for them to hear. “That’s no problem kid. Just tell us where you live and we’ll help you.” Apparently, they thought she was a child, which slightly offended Raine. She wasn’t that short and small, was she? Shaking the thought away, she turned to face the men, folding her arms across her chest as she did so. “I’m not a kid. I’m a woman.” The man fell silent for a moment, not knowing how to respond, but Raine wasn’t about to wait around for an answer. “Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go find my home.” She said icily as she walked tried to walk past but, as she did so, one reach out and firmly placed a hand on her shoulder. “Ma’am, we’re sorry we thought you were a kid. Just let us help you.” The assassin tried to shake off his hand but ended up knocking off her hood in the process, exposing her silver hair.

There was a moment of silence before one of the guards decided to speak. “You’re…you’re the girl that killed her own father in the Assassin’s Guild.” He mumbled more to himself than to Raine and she took that moment to slide out of the man’s grip and make her way over to the nearest trash can. She then used it as a staircase to help her reach the window sill of a nearby building and climb up onto the roof so she could make her escape. Only a few seconds had passed but the guards were already telling others that the infamous assassin was back.
~~~~~~

A shadow could be seen running across the rooftops of the town. Her steps were light and not even her breathing could be heard. A slight smile seemed to play across her lips, as if she had no concern for the events that were about to unfold before her. Her silver hair was illuminated in the growing moonlight, making it seem as though was some kind of dark angel, here to wreak havoc on the town’s inhabitants. Green eyes scanned the area ahead, searching for a way out, but this dark angel soon realized that she had been caged in against her will. There was no use fighting, though. She was hopelessly out numbered and the girl had no other choice but to give in, no matter how much her instincts told her to keep running. With one last look towards the sky, the assassin closed her eyes and dropped down to the earth, mentally and physically ready to be captured for the second time in her life. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself surrounded by men dressed in heavy armor. They reached out to grab her but suddenly, the girl had an extra burst of resistance and dodged as quickly as she could. Eventually too many hands began to grab her all at once and sliding past was no longer an option. In fact, resisting was no longer an option either since someone had wrapped her in their arms tightly while another tied her hands together with a rope that dug painfully at her skin. The same was also done with her feet and finally, she was forced to face the reality of the situation:

At last, the infamous assassin had been captured.

[icicle]

Drake watched the lady run off in the aforementioned direction he spoke of, grimacing at the poor directions he gave. I don’t think she’ll have much of an issue with finding it, he thought, walking through the busy streets once more. The solid plates on his body made a racket as he moved, each step sounding like the combined marching of a patrol squadron. He attracted attention everywhere he went, all the way through the town, from the armory to the sweeper’s hall.

As soon as the guard opened the large doors, this action noticeably eased by his immense bulk, three men immediately greeted him. Their voices were all deep and their smiles fake, standard fair for city guards. “As you were,” Drake commanded, walking past them. The high, arching roof and the great length of the room begged the observer to look up, an urge Drake could not resist as he continued through the room. As unnecessarily well-kept as always, the guard captain thought, observing the various changes in furniture and tapestry arrangement. He stopped before a table near the end of the hall, eyed the various paper scraps scattered across it, and asked, “did you see a particular snow demon here recently?”

In response, a noticeably awed young boy sitting in a chair behind the table posed the answer, “a guy in black leather said to give this to a particular dragon, in those exact words,” as he pulled out a wrinkled bounty with an offer, a man’s nickname and picture on it, “Centaur Le Faye.” Drake grabbed the paper, flicked a coin onto the table, and left without a word, his pace slightly faster than as he entered. “Thank you, sir!” the young boy cried, waving farewell to the armored man as he examined the coin with his other hand.

The guard closed the doors of the sweeper’s hall, then started running through the streets. He roughly encouraged stragglers out of his way as he went, shouting, “Make way! Part the Crowd!” as he went. After passing the entrance to the town square, he walked up to the harold’s podium and waited for his arrival. It took a few minutes, and many a person gazed at him in wonderment, however the guard’s patience paid off. As the Harold approached his place in the town square, Drake quickly flew over, in a display of agility none would expect of a man of his stature and armor, and grabbed the Harold by the shoulders.

“Is there any news from the king? Tell me first, before crying,” the guardsman commanded, staring through the eyeholes of the visor of his helmet. The Harold, intimidated by the mere presence of such a heavily-armored man, reflexively said, “the king has declared a census, and Kerbold the Grey has been killed, thus…”

Drake threw the man to the ground, yelling, “OUTTA MY WAY!” and charged through the crowd towards the guard barracks near the entrance of town. He continued yelling such things as “COMING THROUGH!” and “CLEAR THE STREET!” as he hauled across town, causing quite the spectacle. Cold sweat shot down his face, not solely from exertion, but also from fear. Damn it, this is the worst possible situation he invisioned, Drake thought as he ran, adjusting his right gauntlet to a better position on his hand.

The thundering steps slowly came to a stop as he reached the entrance to the barracks, two guards stationed at the front both saluting dryly as he neared the massive building. They both had their spears crossed in front of the door, which was barred from the inside. “At ease,” Drake commanded, motioning quickly for the door as he quickly caught his breath. One of the guards then knocked, and a few seconds later, the wooden door opened and the two guards pulled their spears out of his way, allowing him entrance.

---

Meanwhile, after a long day of hunting in-city bounty and generally being a city-wide nomad, Flake approached the town square and, with a sigh of relief, collapsed on a near-empty stall. “Just what do you think you’re doing?” came a feminine voice to his left, the voice of the owner of the stall. Flake flicked his hand at her as if to say, “screw you,” then closed his eyes and rolled onto his back, careful not to touch the materials left on the stand. The lady stared at him in shock at this, her youthful complexion reddened from both surprise and annoyance. “Get off of my stand!” she exclaimed, a few passersby stopping to view the spectacle. “Why?” asked Flake, suddenly staring deep into the lady’s soul, “this space looked like it needed some visual accompaniment, so I decided to improve it with my presence.”

At hearing this, the lady blushed even more, stammering to get more words out. She was noticeably new to vending merchandise, and even so, few people would react well to such an unusual and mysterious act. Luckily for her, the sound of the town’s crier caused Flake to shoot to his feet, off of her stand. “A census has been declared by our king,” came his voice, accompanied by an almost universal murmur across the crowd, “all legal citizens of Talgot are to return to their homes, all travelers are to leave this city and return to their homes elsewhere.” Flake instantly sprinted through the crowd in the direction of the nearest balcony, thinking up a fury. Drake is fine, Delta Six accounted for this, although I have no idea where he found his information this time Flake thought, launching himself up as fast as he could go.

A few imperial guards from below shouted up at him, “Hey! Who are you, and what do you think you’re doing?” Flake paused in a balcony to yell back, “I lost my wallet somewhere up here, hope you excuse me!” and continued climbing, swinging onto the roof and sprinting off before the guards below could think up a response. After hopping across a few rooftops and searching, Flake saw the bouncing figure of a few guards and a lady with silver hair. He only knew of one silver-haired lady who could make it up to the rooftops and move around like that, thus he assumed it was her.

Flake quickly ran after the figure, ensuring he stayed off the horizon-line and more-or-less out of sight, in case one of the guards looked his way. His outfit was designed specifically to be stealthy in darkness, however it was not quite night time yet, and not all of the rooftops were covered in dirt and smoke. The bounty-hunter stalked the figures as the bobbed around, and the minute they dropped down from the roof, he was at the edge, peering down below.

The silver-haired lady was surrounded and was beyond hope of escape. Even Flake knew that it would be all but impossible to out-match that many imperial guards at such a close range, especially without a weapon. She struggled a little, but was quickly bound and escorted away, probably to the city’s dungeon, located in the guild-district near the center of town. Flake knew the place really well, he had been there both on tour, and under bind. He had plenty of tales to tell, however he was not the type to tell a story while sober, and he only drank with friends.

The bounty hunter shot away after acknowledging the situation and quickly headed back to his humble shack. He did not want those nosy imperial guards rummaging through his rotting food and rat-infested furniture. It was tough enough just to hear his own complaints and contempt. He hopped off a relatively low roof, landed in a rough somersault, then stood up and witnessed a group of ten imperial guards who were meeting. “Hello gentle sirs,” Flake declared, smiling capriciously, “my name is Kenneniah Alphonso the first, and this is my humble abode.” With a few contemptuous snickers and a few bemused looks, the census-taker crossed out his name and moved along, soon followed by the other guards.

Flake rolled his eyes, then opened the door to his shack. The door broke free from its make-shift hinges the second he touched it, causing him undue annoyance, however the man nailed a wooden bar in place so the door could lean against it, then fixed himself some dinner, placed a few heated rocks around the spot he called his bed, then closed his eyes and lay there, awaiting the next day in his humble life. Admittedly, he had not gone to bed so early in many, many years, however he felt he would need the rest, if he was to enact his plan as he envisioned it.

[HiddenBeauty13]

They're smart. Raine thought as she was roughly pulled along by the imperial guards. As soon as they were able to restrain her, they had chained both get wrists and ankles, knowing fully well that she would run away if and when she had a chance to; though, with the chains on her ankles, it would making running away difficult, especially since they rubbed uncomfortably against her ankles. The ones on her wrist were no different as they too scraped and rubbed at her wrists until she was sure that they no longer had skin on them. However, Raine's attention was directed more towards where they were taking her. Would she go back to the Assassin's Guild's dungeons or to where the imperial guards kept the most wanted criminals?

"Where are you taking me?" She demanded more than asked and, when she did not get an answer, Raine projected her voice a bit more. "I said, where are you taking me?" The girl nearly growled. That, at least managed to capture her 'escorts' attention. "Stop making a scene." The one to her left commanded and Raine winced slightly as he painfully yanked at her chains. “That was unnecessary…” She mumbled to herself but it was only then that she realized that they weren’t alone. The streets were lined with curious onlooker, many of which had hatred glowing in their eyes. Apparently they got the message of her return as well. The assassin didn’t mind the stares and continued to ignore them until they began to shout things at her.

“Murderer!”

“You heartless killer!”

“You should go to hell for this!”

“Hey, that’s the girl who punched me yesterday!”

Raine wanted the words to reflect off of her like she was holding an invisible shield that kept away hate but after a while, the words began to make her weak. At one point, all she wanted to do was scream to the crowd that it wasn’t her, that she loved her father too much to kill him and that her traitor of an uncle was the one behind the murder all alone. That devil of a man... The thought of her uncle sparked a fire in her chest that she hadn’t felt since she’d first escaped from the Assassin’s Guild. That fire spread throughout her body until she thought she was seeing red. When I see that man, I promise to make him suffer like my father did. Raine thought venomously to herself, unknowingly glaring at a nearby onlooker. He covered his child’s eyes, muttering something in her ear that Raine had no doubt was about her.

However, their opinions didn’t matter to her anymore, since she believe that they would be apologizing to her for believing a lie soon enough. With that thought, Raine focused putting on foot in front of the other while ignoring the pain that radiated from the spot where the cuffs were. Her walk of shame continued until the city streets and homes gave way to a windy dirt path that led deep into the dense, surrounding forest. Darkness was ubiquitous here and it was as if the moon was unable penetrate through the trees. For a moment, Raine found herself hesitating. Of course an assassin's best place to strike was the dark but this assassin was chained and had no idea where she was going. "Don't slow up. Your eyes will adjust eventually." The one of her right said firmly as they continued to walk forward. It seemed as though Raine had two choices now: get pulled to the prison but those two or at least try to keep up so they don't make her wrists hurt anymore than they already do. Since the assassin actually valued what skin was left on her wrists and ankles, she made an effort to make her pace with theirs.

As they continued to walk, it was true that her vision did adjust to the dark, but what she could hear interested Raine the most. Once she blocked out the heavy breathing and clanking of armor of her escorts, she could hear the peaceful sounds of nature, the ones that reminded her of her life back on the farm with Luna. Crickets called to one another and creatures who were as stealthy as Raine prowled through the trees, occasionally making a distinctive sound to let others of their kind know where they were. The wind would occasionally slitter around their bodies, leaving them with goose bumps to remind them of the invisible thief that would steal the warmth from those who were careless enough to leave their homes without the proper clothing on. While Raine was fully clothed, she could still feel herself shiver slightly beneath her tattered clothing. How much longer do we have until we get there? She thought miserably to herself as she glanced around, hoping that they would be approaching the prison.

Unfortunately, the thief had to walk for another twenty minutes before the darkness finally gave way to the soft light of the torches that were carefully placed along a stone wall, one that wrapped around a tall stone building. Once she was ushered through the iron gates, Raine was able to get a better look at her new 'home': the prison was made entirely of dull grey stones that were approximately six stories high. Occasionally, there was a prisoner that peered through a window, gripping the iron as they watched the newbie being escorted inside. It didn't look very inviting on the outside so Raine was sure that it wouldn't exactly be very inviting on the inside either.

The thief soon realized that the inside was much worst. The floors were covered with dirt and the walls were stained with colors that made Raine raise a cautious eyebrow. Inmates called to one another in loud and rowdy voices that seemed to increase in volume with each word. However, the worst thing about the prison had to be the smell. It was as though the inmates hadn't taken a bath in years and then decided to play around in a pile of dead fish without gong to wash off. The smell was enough to make the girl gag as she was forced to follow the guard along a hallway and then down a set of stairs that seemed to go on forever. Eventually, they came to a stop in front of another door in which one of the guards opened. Before them was a room that seemed to have been made especially for Raine. To their left was a cell big enough for at least two people and to the right was an area set up for a guard to work and even sleep there.

"In you go....and don't try anything funny when we let you out of these chains." The larger of the two guards instructed as he unlocked the chains on her wrist while his companion took care of the ones on her ankles. Once she was finally free, Raine took a moment to examine the damage done to her wrists and ankle before calmly walking into the cell, not bothering to look back when it closed. She was in a building filled with maniacs and guards; she wasn't going anywhere, not when she felt safer in her cell. Moments later, the thief heard a door shut behind her, followed by the sound of a lock turning and she came to the conclusion that she was now alone, stuck with her own thoughts.

Sighing a bit, Raine kicked off her worn out boots and flopped down on the flimsy piece of crap that they call a bed. After finding a semi-comfortable spot, the thief glanced at the blank wall in front of her. "They could've at least given me a room with a window..." she said to herself, liking the sound of her voice when it bounced off the walls and came back towards her. It made her feel a little less lonely. Suddenly, the thought of being down here, all alone until she died popped into her mind and all the feelings that came along with it hit her full force. Raine sat up quickly, letting out a strangled and distressed cry while clutching her chest tightly. I-I can't do this...I can't be this alone for the rest of my days....a-at least let me have s-somebody....! The girl thought; she'd been alone for nearly two years and that was already hell itself. Raine couldn't even imagine living the rest of her life here by herself. The girl then began to panic as it suddenly felt as though there was no more air left the in the room for her to breath. Wheezing, she climbed out of the bed, trying to get help from someone...but who? By that time, Raine's vision had begun to blacken and she collapsed to the ground, gasping for the air that she desperately needed. "Can't....Can't be alone...forever...." She mumbled to herself just before she lost consciousness...

The first then Raine felt when she finally came to was a pair of hands probing at her sore wrists. It was a gentle touch, but the thief found herself slightly annoyed by the action. Didn't that person know that her wrists still hurt? However, Raine decided to keep still until they really got to a sore spot. The hands continued to probe at her wrist before wrapping something gently yet firm around her wrist. The hands did the same to her other wrist and her ankles before the thief decided that she at least owned the person who treated her wounds a thank you. As she open her eyes, they immediately locked onto a familiar pair of green eyes and Raine felt herself gasp a bit.

"O...Oruin?"

[icicle]

A few loud crashing noises resounded from a sealed off room within the garrison, attracting the attention of a number of guards on active-duty. “What is he doing in there?” one asks, looking to his buddies in confusion. “Beats me,” another says in response, crossing his arms as he waits for access to the room once more. A candle hanging from the wall beside the door provided the only light in the room, enough that one could read the inscription on the door, “Captain’s Office.”

Drake finally let out a grunt of pain as he pulled off the last piece of armor from his suit. The blows he received from Flake the other day fractured a few links of his chainmail, which then lodged themselves into his wrists. He was bulky and enduring enough to ignore the pain for an impossible span of time, but that didn’t make it go away. As he waited for his appointed man to return, he decided to remove his armor and tend to his various injuries. The man stood tall enough to tower over almost any man, had enough muscle mass to make an average soldier look like a stick figure, and appeared to have never shaved in his life. His figure didn’t help as he tried to stretch a little, taking his time to enjoy the somewhat fresh air against his skin.

His brown-red hair was deepened by the light of the candle he had placed on his worktable, the same light he used to look at his injuries. Using a very thin dagger, he made a few small cuts to loosen the blood clots around the metal shrapnel, allowing him to pull out the pieces more easily. After he pulled out the last piece, he wrapped some light bandaging around his blood-covered wrists and walked over to a bucket of water to clean himself a little.

After a bit of maintenance, the soldier analyzed his suit of armor. For the most part, the chain links were still functional, despite being over five years old. He attributed this feat to his proficiency in combat. The sections near his wrist were destroyed in multiple places, along the angle of Flake’s cut. He then analyzed the plates, and decided that he’d need a new wrist-section, because Flake’s prank had destroyed the plate in this region. The helmet was salvageable, being a rather thick piece of armor, but he decided to get a full repair soon, just to be sure. “I have the money, so I’ll make it work,” he commented to himself, starting to fit the armor back over his bulk.

By the time he had finished with his left arm, a few desperate knocks on his door sounded, and a voice, “Sir, I have accomplished my task.” Drake yelled back, “hold your’ horses! I’ll address you in a minute,” and sped up his suiting process. Upon tightening the last strap on his wrist, he grabbed his helmet and, walking towards the door, commanded, “Attention!” The soldier outside the door made a loud thump sound as his feet met in the stance of attention, then the door to the Captain’s office slammed open. “What do you have to report, soldier?” Drake asked, his eyes shooting out through the helmet.

“Sir!The prisoner has been escorted to a small chamber near the basement of the First Dungeon, sir!” the soldier responded, saluting briefly as he started speaking. Drake nodded and curtly said, “dismissed!” as he shut the door behind him, motioning for a guard to stand guard as he walked through the garrison towards the exit.

Drake left the garrison and walked through the streets of Talgot without much of a thought. He knew Delta Six by heart now, so he decided to relax as he continued towards his destination. Fairly soon, the captain approached the First Dungeon and stopped at the gate. “I demand entrance,” he commented, staring over at the left turret beside the gate. A soldier in the turret, having noted the giant, quickly motioned to the operators to permit him entrance. After this, a few guards walked over to the outside of the gates and stood guard as the iron bars slowly rose, leaving Drake’s path open.

The guard marched into the establishment and, upon weaving his way through the volatile mess of a place, he reached a much smaller garrison of a few guards and demanded, “Attention!” The guards in the room immediately shot away from their beds and chairs, shooting into the stance of attention with a quick salute. “I am here for a role inspection, provide me with your list of captives,” Drake commented, eyeing the guard nearest the table. Quickly, a different guard ran over to the table, pulled an unsealed scroll out from a drawer, and ran over to Drake, saluting him once again as he held out the scroll. Drake collected the roll of paper and, unfurling it, scanned the lines. “So it is true…” he mumbled, spotting the name of the newest captive.

Another guard immediately talked out of turn, exclaiming, “I was stunned by it as well! I never thought we’d-“ Drake quickly and sharply interrupted, “You are still at attention!” The guard who spoke then quickly silenced himself and returned to his composure. A minute passed of Drake scanning the paper, then he returned it to the guard. “I reserve the right to take control of the supervision of any and all prisoners in the small chambers at any and all hours for the next extended duration. Understood?” The guards in the room all responded, “Sir yes Sir!” and, with this said, Drake turned to leave and said, “at ease.”

From there, Drake returned to the garrison, and then to his office. He had a great deal of reading and paperwork yet to do, because his positions throughout the day prevented him from accomplishing his true task. As a result, instead of sleeping, he decided to remain awake that night to complete his assignments and confirmation requests. “The things I do for this city…” he grumbled, dipping his quill pen in the ink well yet again.

[HiddenBeauty13]

"Oruin?"

Raine repeated his name again, not sure if what she was seeing was actually true. She hadn't seen him since the day she'd been accused of her father's death. Despite that, she'd never forget those eyes, even if he was no longer the scrawny little boy that she used to play with when they were younger. Puberty had transformed him completely: his previously thing built was replaced with one that was more muscular, which could be seen slightly through his medical uniform. His childish face became one that was much more mature and she could even seen hints of a beard growing along his upper lip as well.

"Raine, you're awake." He said, relief apparent in his voice as he looked down at his childhood friend. It seemed that he, too, was surprised to see her here in her current situation. "What...what are you doing here Oruin?" The assassin asked, as though the answer was not sitting right in front of her. "I could ask you the same question ya know...but I'm a medic here in the prison now." The green eyed male said with a slight smile and gestured to the medical bag sitting beside the bed. "After you escaped, I decided that I would become a medic for the prison, knowing that you would eventually come back...though I hoped that I wouldn't be reunited with you in this way." His response surprised Raine. He'd become a medic just for her? The girl was curious to know why but decided that she had more important things to worry about at the moment.

"Oruin....I have to know.." She started then paused slightly before asking her question. "Do you believe that I killed my father?" Raine's voice was soft and hesitant, which was very out of character for the assassin but it was something that she needed to know. If Oruin didn't believe her, then Raine wasn't sure if she would be able to convince others of her innocence. After she asked her question, the cell fell deathly silent and she could hear Oruin take a deep breath before exhaling slowly. "Raine, although I was not there, I can say that I can believe that you did not do it. I know that you loved your father too much to do something about that...nor did you know anything about the inheritance." Both Oruin and Raine knew that, if they had something interesting or important to tell each other, they would share and protect the information, knowing that the other would not tell a soul; the girl knew that if she had found out about her inheritance, Oruin would be the first and only person she would have told. Reaching up, she gently fingered the necklace that held the inheritance for a moment before getting to the other question that she'd been dying to know she she'd finally gotten the willpower to return to her hometown.

"Where's my uncle?" This time, her voice was filled with enough venom to poison every inmate stuck in this prison. It was clear that Raine still held a grudge against the man that had truly murdered her father. She then watched as Oruin's expression turned from a relieved to troubled one. "Huh, I guess you haven't heard then." His statement made the assassin raise an eyebrow. "What news?"

"Well, you see. After you escaped, a lot of things went downhill here...."
~~~~~

Oruin went on explaining what had happened over the course of the last two years and, by the time he'd finished, it was nearly dawn. "Listen Raine. I have to go and check on the other patients in the infirmary but I promise that I'll be back tonight." Oruin said as he stood up, his medical bag in hand. "Okay...see you later then." The girl mumbled sleepily and watched as he left the cell, locking it behind him. Once again, her cell has fallen silently and Raine could hear nothing but the sound of her own heartbeat and breathing. She continued to focus on those two sounds until she finally drifted off into a restless sleep.

It was her second night in the woods and today just happened to be one where the rain decided to pour down heavily on Raine's head, even if she was huddled up underneath a tree. It was practically impossible to light a fire in such weather so the girl was left in the dark in which she could not see, but could hear. The various noises that echoed around her weren't pleasant at all. Animals growling, thunder roaring and the sound of the rain as it hit her soaked clothes, along with the sound of her soft sniffles. This was the haunting soundtrack that nearly drove the girl crazy that night. Rocking herself back and forth, Raine clutched at the wet clothes that stuck to her body, saying: 'I don't want to be alone...I don't want to be alone....I don't want to be alone...I don't want to be alone..."

The dream was enough to startle Raine out of her sleep a few hours later and she quickly sat up in bed, breathing heavily. Although it was just a dream, Raine knew that it was simply her mind remembering the things that happened...and how she almost lost her sanity all in one night.I hated staying in those woods alone like that... The girl thought with a sigh and then looked up as the sound of footsteps echoed in the staircase that led to her cell, making her raise an eyebrow in both curiosity and confusion.

"Who in the world is that eager to see me?"

[icicle]

During the night, hours before dawn, Flake decided that he could sleep no more and shot out of his bed. Immediately, the man disrobed and searched his shack for some normal civilian clothing. He dug down to his hidden chest and shoved his armor, sword, knives, boots, and a few other valuables, then locked it, covered it, and hid its location once more. The man then calmly dressed in a thin woolen tunic, undergarments and thin leather shoes and left, looking little more than a commoner. He was completely unarmed, however his scars were enough to discourage any common man from asking for a fight.

Flake had taken a great many hits over his fighting career. Most of the more visible scars were caused by Drake, but he had a great story for each of them. His neck and face were more-or-less unharmed, miraculously, but the rest of his body had at least one scar over every muscle and bone. For a man so young, he had certainly taken far more than his fair share of hits. The most surprising thing about it is that each hit was taken on purpose, or so he says. He couldn’t help but think about his scars, as he no longer had his armor to cover them up.

After a long walk, Flake came across Drake in the town hall. Drak had finished his work early and left the garrison to meet Flake in this designated location. “Good, you got it!” Flake commented, applauding Drake. “Not so loud,” Drake responded, shushing his comrade as he quickly made his way over to him, “Delta Six?” he asked, frowning at Flake. Flake nodded silently, then pointed towards a vacated fruit stand and commanded, “stand there, and don’t make a big scene out of it.” Drake then nodded, then handed Flake a moderately large knife and walked over to his position. Flake took the knife and walked into an alleyway, concealing the weapon in his sleeve.

The two waited in their positions until sunrise, when activity started to rise in the town square. “Time to shine,” Flake murmured to himself, then he rose from his position and started walking towards the market. Drake saw the man walk out of the alley, then shifted a little in his position, preparing a few lines. Flake walked through the crowd rather calmly, smiling innocently all the while, and headed towards the tax stand. When he made it to the tax stand, the wooden structure across from the fruit stand Drake stood at, Flake pulled out his knife and started madly chopping at the wood, resulting in a sudden panic.

The guards at the stall quickly rose from their positions and apprehended Flake, who gave up immediately after they reached him. Drake ran over as Flake was being chained and commented, “I saw what happened here, turn him.” The guards then turned Flake towards Drake, who stared into the bounty hunter’s eyes and growled, “did you conduct this treason willingly and thoughtfully?” Flake then spat in Drake’s face and shouted, “Yes! Of course, idiots! To hell with you all!” in the most immature tone he could muster. Drake and Flake then barely held in their laughter, in fact, Drake had to slap Flake’s face and grit his teeth to stop himself as the other guards laughed their heads off. “Take him to the small chambers, bottom of the First Dungeon.”

The guards affirmed their orders and two immediately left, practically carrying Flake as they went due to his light struggling. “I can’t believe it…kids nowadays…” one of the guards commented, shaking his head scornfully. Drake thought, a kid who can get me?...I cant believe it either… and dismissed the guard to continue his duty and repair the stall.

Flake got hit a few times on his way to the dungeon, both guards having been agitated by Flake’s act. He got beaten twice, resulting in a black eye, a few bruises, and a possibly broken rib. The things I do for a friend Flake commented, still struggling lightly as they made it to the first dungeon’s gate. “Open, we have a prisoner,” the first guard commanded, saluting the man in the turret, who then motioned for the gates to be opened. As always, the iron bars rose out of the guards’ way and allowed them to walk into the dungeon, carrying Flake. They had to force him through the doorway and into the dungeon, holding down his arms so he wouldn’t grab onto any bars. “This one’s a fighter,” a guard commented looking at the attendance keeper, amazed at the boy’s endurance, “What’s your name, son?”

Flake responded, “The names’ Alphonse. That’s all you scum are getting.” He then amassed a large bit of saliva and spat in the face of one of the guards, who promptly knocked the wind out of Flake in response. “A real fighter,” the guard added, wiping the spit out of his face as the other guard wrote down the name, “we were told to take him to the small chambers in the basement.” The guard with the attendance sheet then commented, “go ahead, there’s plenty of room in the first cell.” The guards then escorted Flake over to the stairwell and practically kicked him down.

Flake landed at the bottom of the stairs face-first, then rolling upright and running towards the other wall with extremely tiny steps due to his chains. “Get the hell back here!” one of the guards shouted in exasperation, sprinting after Flake, then tackling him to the ground. They opened the cell with the assassin in it and commented, “you’re getting friend you might just like! A traitor, just like you!” one of the guards said as the other one lifted Flake by the collar and the leg-chains and chucked him into the room. The guard quickly smacked Flake over the head another time, just to be sure, and unshackled him, hastily exiting the cell and locking the door. Flake lay motionless on the floor as the other two guards left, both commenting on how they deserved a rank-up.

Finally, after a few moments, Flake looked over to Raine on the floor and, after recognizing her, enthusiastically commented, “well whaddaya know! It’s the accursed assassin, in the flesh!” as a bit of blood trickled down his nose. He then dizzily rose to his feet, brushed himself off, and sat down on a “bed." He felt his face for wounds, and thus pinched his nose to stop the bleeding.

[HiddenBeauty13]

Raine watched with wide eyes as a beaten, yet familiar face appeared in the door--or rather on the floor in front of the door that led to the top of the staircase. What the hell s he doing here? The assassin knew that Flake could be quite a mischievous trouble maker but she did not think that he would do something bad enough to get thrown in here with her. Unless... He must have done this on purpose then...but why? Raine knew that she would not get her questions answered if she continued to ask them to herself so, once the guards disappeared back up the stairs, she stood up from her bed and walked over to Flake. As she got closer, she raised a questioning eyebrow that she was sure that he could see.

"What did you do to get thrown in here and why?" The assassin asked, suddenly wondering if he had done it to help her escape. Whatever it was, she was sure that he had done it for some important reason. As she waited for a reply, Raine silently examined the male: it looked as though someone had kicked him in the face repeatedly before stepping on the rest of his body as well. Of course, she was probably exaggerating a bit but that's what it looked like to the girl at the time.

[icicle]

Flake noted that Raine did not respond immediately, to his surprise. As he wiped a bit of blood off his face, he saw Raine approach him from his peripheral vision. “What did you do to get thrown in here, and why?” Raine asked, her tone dripping with curiosity. Flake felt around his mouth with his tongue to ensure he didn’t lose any teeth, then he responded, “long story short: they think I’m a traitor,” with a nasal voice. He was gradually starting to feel the damages he had taken as his adrenaline drained away, resulting in a lowered capacity to retain a neutral expression.

The man had taken quite a few hits, but he had taken them well. The only signs of major damage were present in his face, where he had a black eye and a few bruises. His fighting experience and solid muscles absorbed the hits like armor. It was well noted that the hits he took were not made to kill him. His broken ribs were an unavoidable result of getting beaten, but his tunic was still fully intact, thus there was no visible sign that he took any hits below his clothing. He checked to see if his nose was still bleeding as he finished the last words of his comment, but pinched his nose again after a few drops of blood leaked out.

He then spat out a bit of blood which leaked into his throat from his nose-bleed and paused. Flake needed the time to collect his thoughts and suppress the signals of pain and fear running across his mind. With a somewhat retained composure, Flake looked over at Raine, still pinching his nose, and continued, “I suppose we are traitors…murderers betraying murderers.” He then looked towards the ground, where a few drops of blood had pooled, and asked, “how long do you think they’ll keep us here?” slumping forward slightly to examine the liquid on the floor.

[HiddenBeauty13]

Raine was too busy looking at the horrible condition that he was in to completely pay attention to what he saw saying. "Geeze Flake. Did you let them run all over you or something?" She mumbled, watching as the blood fell from his nose to the floor. He looked as though he needed medical attention now, but Oruin wasn't going to return from whatever he did during the day until later and she was almost sure that the guards would ignore her if she tried calling for help. Flake would just have to deal with it, but she was sure that it wouldn't bother him that much,...at least she hoped that it wouldn't.

"They can keep us in here for as long as they want. We're 'traitors' and they do not want to put the public in danger by letting us go...And sit back, you'll make the bleeding worst." Raine said as she gently but firmly pushed back on his shoulders until he was sitting upright once more. "Now, of course we don't have to stay in here for the rest of our lives...we can always find a way out of here, ya know?" Flake was a smart man; Raine knew that he would be able to think of something that would get them out of this mess. "Also, you'll just have to deal with any pain you're feeling until night falls. Oruin won't be back until then." She add, unaware that she had said her friend's name as if Flake was supposed to know who it was.

[icicle]

After a slight pause, Flake got an unexpected response from Raine. “Geeze Flake. Did you let them run all over you or something?” The bounty hunter looked over at her in confusion, opening his mouth to talk, but instead spat out more blood which was collecting in his throat. His nose-bleed was clotting, but there was still enough blood floating around to pose a minor annoyance. Flake wasn’t a doctor by any sense of the imagination, but he knew enough about blood to know that he’d be fine soon. His confused expression returned as she finally answered his question.

“They can keep us in here for as long as they want. We’re traitors, and they do not want to put the public in danger by letting us go,” she responded. Flake was satisfied with this answer, so he leaned forwards again to stop the blood from leaking back into his throat. Suddenly, Raine continued, “And sit back, you’ll make the bleeding worse,” as she gently pushed him back, further surprising him. What is with her? She’s acting like… he thought, his train of thought interrupted as he started listening to Raine continue speaking.

“Now, of course we don’t have to stay in here for the rest of our lives,” she pointed out, “we can always find a way out of here, ya know?” Flake managed to suppress the urge to grin after hearing this: he needed to keep Delta Six a secret for awhile longer. “Also,” she continued, “you’ll just have to deal with any pain you’re feeling until night falls.” This point did make Flake grin. He had dealt with pain far worse than he was feeling now. Raine then explained, “Oruin won’t be back until then.”

After Raine had finished her speaking, Flake cleared his throat of blood once more, spitting to the side of the bed, then scornfully responded, “The only medicine I need right now is rest. I appreciate the concern, but choking won’t make my nose stop bleeding any faster.” He paused for a moment after saying this, pushing Raine back so he could lean forwards once more, then, with an intrigued look, asked, “who’s Oruin? Never heard of him.”

[HiddenBeauty13]

"Hm?" Raine asked, almost forgetting that she had mentioned Oruin's name a few moments before. "Oh, he used to be a really good friend of mine before I had to escape from The Guild." The assassin said with a soft sigh and walked away from Flake so that she could take a seat on the bed opposite from his. The thin mattress sunk slightly beneath her weight and she looked down at her hands before continuing. "I never expected to see him again...especially not here. He works as the prison medic now." She added, summing up all that she assumed Flake needed to know about Oruin. "Now, I would agree that both you, and I, need some rest until he comes." The girl hadn't gotten much sleep between talking with Oruin all night and then being awakened by the sudden appearance of Flake. And with that, she laid down on the bed and turned her back to her cellmate, falling asleep a few minutes later.

Unfortunately, Raine managed to fall back into the same dream she had before. Once again, she was surrounded by darkness, the cold hands of the wind that seemed to crawl all over her skin and was overcome with an overwhelming feeling of loneliness. This time, it seemed as though she would never wake up, making the girl whimper softly in her sleep as she tossed and turned lightly across the bed. This continued on for what may have been hours until a pair of hands began to shake Raine awake. The shaking managed to startle the girl and she immediately punched in the direction that she knew the hands were coming from; when she finally opened her eyes a few moments later she was only slightly surprised to see Oruin kneeling beside her bed, uninjured. "Raine, are you okay?" He asked, his voice filled with concern. "It seemed like you were having a nightmare so I woke you up." Raine simply stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out how he managed to avoid her punch.

Eventually, she decided that it wasn't that important and sat up before running her hand lightly across her face. "No, no. I'm fine." She mumbled and then moved her hand away so she could look at Oruin, who was giving her a face saying that he wasn't buying it. "I'm fine Oriun...seriously." The assassin said more firmly before gesturing over to Flake. "Can you check him though? He got his ass kicked before he got here." Nodding, Oruin stood and walked over to the other side of the cell. As he kneeled beside Flake, he opened his bag and began to take out a few items that he figured would be best to treat his bruises. He also noticed the blood on the floor and figured that he either had a nosebleed or some type of internal bleeding. I'll check for both then. The freckled male thought before reaching over and gently shaking Flake, much like he did Raine. "Excuse me, but do you mind waking up so I can properly treat your wounds?" He called to the sleeping inmate; Oruin also kept in mind that some people became violent when they were suddenly awakened from their sleep like this, so he stayed on the balls of his feet, ready to jump away if Flake decided to lash out at him. He had to learn the hard way and did not want another black eye from simply waking someone up again.

[icicle]

As Raine responded to Flake, he watched her intently, remaining still as a statue. His cold, grey eyes followed her as she walked over to her bed. He resented how she had not given him a single opportunity to respond as she spoke, continuing to stare at her as she lay down on the filthy bedding. After a few minutes, he sighed and checked to see if the bleeding had stopped in his nose. After releasing his hand and wiping off as much of the red liquid as he could manage, he noted that the bleeding had stopped. With that done, he carefully lay down on his own bedding and closed his eyes, waiting and listening for noise. He knew for certain that he had not a chance at falling asleep at that time a day, so he took the time of silence to think about the past.

Before long, Raine had fallen asleep and Flake had found a comfortable position on his bedding. The minutes passed like hours. All the same, thoughts of dishes he heard of and fantastic missions he missed out on flooded through his mind, distracting him from the minor pain in his side. As he was dissociating from reality, a few brief noises from the other side of the room alerted him. He instantly shot out of bed and looked around to see Raine tumbling around in her sleep, whimpering. Flake got up, feeling slightly light-headed from doing so as quickly as he did, and walked over to observe her. Without his leather armor and boots, his footsteps were all but silent as he approached her sleeping figure.

Once he reached her, he loomed over the tossing girl and his eyebrow shot up. Her expression was terrified, the same as a bounty target pinned against a wall. Sleep, the conversation with one’s self, he thought, grinning slyly. She turned away from him after a few seconds, still turning around in her sleep and whimpering. A sound shot down from the stairwell, calm footsteps following soon after, alarming Flake. He felt his nose once more as he headed back over to his bedding pile, then lay down, relaxed, and closed his eyes, adopting the illusion of sleep. Best to trick than to be tricked he mentally recited, awaiting the nearing sounds.

The noises were not the metallic thuds of a guard’s armor, but the pat of leather boots, the soft type a citizen would wear. Flake heard the cell door open and cracked his right eye open to see who it was. The figure he saw wore the garb of an herbologist, so Flake judged that the man was “Oruin” the prison medic whom Raine had spoken of. He closed his eye and waited, pretending to sleep as he listened to the interaction between him and Raine. The man seemed to be compassionate enough to trust, but Flake questioned his judgment, especially after waking up a sleeping prisoner by contact.

Again, Flake felt resentful towards Raine due to the way in which she described the acquisition of his injuries, but retained his sleeping persona. He heard the man approach and also observed the sound of clinking metal and wooden materials, likely the tools of medicine in his bag. Flake planned a response mentally as the man went about assembling his tools. As he finished, Oruin shook Flake and asked, “Excuse me, but do you mind waking up so I can properly treat your wounds?” Within a second of contact, Flake’s arm shot from under his head to the medic’s wrist, breaking his contact, then used the momentum to sit up.

Once again, Flake felt light headed due to the sudden change in altitude, but the bounty hunter’s cold eyes stared into the medic’s soul. Flake needed a few seconds for his light headedness to go away, then he asked, “How do you expect to treat me, ’properly,’ Oruin?” His eyes shot over to the tools on the ground, then back at his eyes. “Do your tools mend bones and restore blood as well as rest?” he continued, wiping some more blood from his nose. The bounty hunter saw Raine watching from his peripheral vision after his question and thought to himself for a moment with slightly softened eyes.

[HiddenBeauty13]

Oruin barely flinched when Flake smacked his hand away and stayed where he was once the male finally sat up. He had kept in mind that Flake might not have been truly sleep in the first place, which was something that he was, too, used to at this point. The inmates that he'd known for a while often pretended to be asleep when he would come and check on them to see if they could get a hit in. Once Oruin had took a few defensive lessons from the prison guards, it was rare that he took a punch from a 'sleeping' inmate.

"I personally cannot mend your bones but I do recommend that you try to lay down and stay still for a while. It will hurt much less if you do. About your lost of blood, all I can truly do is pray that you get more. Now, about rest, I have no control over whether you will close your eyes and actually go to sleep." Oruin responded before looking up at Flake with piecing green eyes. "Do you have anymore concerns about injuries that you may have? I can pray about them too." As he waited for a reply, Oruin began to take out a simple bottle of water and various sized bandages and wraps to clean the smaller wounds with.

On the other side of the room, Raine watched silently from her bed with an unreadable expression. While her eyes looked at them, her mind was busy thinking about the nightmare that she had already had twice in the past twenty four hours. She knew what had caused it the first time but to have it again? Raine figured that, since Flake was in the room, then it wouldn't plague her dreams once more, but that wasn't the case. It bothered her more than she was willing to admit but the assassin managed to keep a straight face.

[icicle]

As Flake observed Oruin’s response to his actions, he felt underwhelmed. This guy has given me absolutely no help, he thought, frowning at the medic as he reached down for some supplies. Then again, I expected as much from a prison medic, he continued, waiting as the medic prepared a bottle of water and a few healing wraps. Flake had no open wounds, as he well knew, so he figured the medic was pulling out bandages for something else.

When Flake briefly looked over towards Raine, he noticed that her expression had not changed in the least. Looking back at Oruin, Flake leaned in towards Oruin and, in a voice soft enough for an ant, whispered, “the next moon is three days from now. It’s bad luck this cycle,” with a quick, unassuming wink. With this, the bounty hunter stole the medic’s bottle of water and flicked out the stopper. He then drank a bit, splashed some water over his face to clean some of the blood from his jaws, and passed it back to Oruin. As he held out the bottle, he commented, “if you’re going to pray, pray for her heritage and for my blade.”

With all this said, Flake started to lie down on his bedding once more. As Oruin pointed out, it was his decision whether or not he would sleep, but the bounty hunter could not make a decision. He wanted to rest, but it would leave him unaware of his surroundings, a risk he wasn’t willing to take outside of his home-shack. Although, I will need to sleep eventually…otherwise I’ll die of some stupid fault.

[HiddenBeauty13]

Oruin blinked slightly in surprise as Flake whispered something to him about a moon and a bad cycle. While watching the inmate drink the water he usually used to clean people up with, the male wondered if there was some alternate meaning behind his words. Most of the times, inmates began to loose a screw or two in their heads after being in the prison for long so Oruin would only smile and nod at them. However, Flake had recently arrived so there might be some meaning to what he is saying. Deciding that he would keep it in mind, the medic repacked his bag and stood before glancing over at Raine. It looked as though she hadn't moved at all since she first got in that position. "Are you okay?" Oruin voice was soft and gentle as he approached her, peering into her face as he did so. It looked as though she was looking at something on the far side of the room...it was as if she honestly wasn't there, even though her body was. After avoiding getting caught for so long, Oruin figured that she was going through some sort of shock, though there was nothing he could do to cure her but to let her get through it on her own.

"I'm fine." Raine snapped after a few moments later in a much harsher tone than intended. She didn't want people to keep asking her if she was okay when she truly wasn't and she definitely didn't feel like telling anyone why. Eventually, Oruin got the hint and, after saying a soft goodbye, he made his way out of the cell once more. Silence surrounded the two inmates and, despite Oruin's departure, Raine stayed where she was, watching Flake with emotionless grey eyes. She could tell that he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, even though the medic had told him that sleep would be necessary for him to heal. "I'll keep watch." Raine said as she pulled her knees up so she could hug them to her chest. "I don't plan on sleeping myself so I'll keep watch." She repeated, resisting the urge to yawn. The assassin was still rather tired from the lack of sleep she received earlier but the fear of having those same nightmares again. "Don't worry about me attacking you or anything like that. I would have no reason to and, if I did, I'm pretty sure you'd manage to realize what I was going to do before I did it." Raine added, hoping that it would be enough to convince Flake to sleep.

[icicle]

(OOC: ( For Oruin, he is a doctor. At this time, there might not be much he can actually do to help, but if a patient looks somewhat unwell, a medic will do things which might ease a patient’s pain, like give the patient some water, or clean their hands if they look caked in filth. Maybe a prison medic wouldn’t clean the patients, but Oruin can at least give people he likes a damp towel or some kind of herb to chew on. Just something to add to his character a little.))

Unable to keep his eyes closed, as Flake lied on his matting, he stared at Oruin and Raine. When Oruin checked on Raine’s wellbeing, Flake frowned and thought, Is he asking that to an assassin, or a friend? as he weighed the man’s voice. The medic seemed to use gentleness and ease in his speech, but it also seemed to be rehearsed, as if he said it to everyone he met. The bounty hunter smirked after the two briefly interacted, amused by making a mental comparison of the two.

After Oruin rose from his seat next to Raine, Flake watched Oruin flip through a few keys, barely able to see the tooth arrangement of the key the medic used before he put it away. Flake figured that it might come in handy if he needed to pick the lock, in the event that his plans failed. After Oruin opened the door, Flake closed his eyes and relaxed, trying his best to look asleep. He could already feel Raine’s eyes on him, so he knew she would not fall for his ruse, however he kept it up nonetheless.

Once she started to talk, Flake opened his eyes and watched her. The position she took up reminded him of beggar children and sleeping drunks, the position itself shouting loneliness and hopelessness. Flake continued to stare at Raine as she spoke. Her words were quite amusing, but the bounty hunter figured it would not fit the situation to laugh. After she finished her words, he felt that he did not quite understand why she needed to keep watch, but nodded anyways. They were in prison, so nobody was going to try to kill them unless they were condemned to death, and if the guards decided to pop in and beat them up, there was nothing they could do about it.

Of course, Flake did not want to spoil Raine’s fantasies. He only barely knew who she was, so observing her in trying times would be a great indication, especially considering she lost her composure. I had best start talking at sunrise…I likely will not be able to think well at the moment he thought, closing his eyes. He was not nearly tired enough to fall asleep, but as he relaxed on the mat with his eyes closed, he got fairly close.

[HiddenBeauty13]

Raine watched silently from her spot on her bed across the room as Flake finally settled down and laid down, though she highly doubted that he was fully asleep. Still, she did not want to disturb him, so she stayed deathly quiet until all she could hear was her own heartbeat in her chest and Flakes faint breathing. What's gotten into me? The assassin wondered silently to herself, though she was unable to answer her own question. Being captured and put in jail had caused emotions that she had previous buried to resurface all at once and, after not dealing with them for months, Raine wasn't exactly sure how to deal with it now that it had come back at full force. Sighing a bit, the girl brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them before gently laying her head back against the wall. What was she to do now? Simply sit here until someone came down to the cell once? Raine was hesitant to go to sleep for fear of having the nightmare again but, if she didn't get any type of sleep, then she would not be able to function properly when needed. With that thought in mind, she closed her eyes, though it took a while before sleep finally came over her.

It seemed like only seconds passed by before the girl jolted awake at the sound of the door outside their cell slamming closed. "Geeze could you be any louder?" Groaning slightly to herself, Raine rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and it was only then that she realized that she was no longer sitting up but was now laying on her side, tangled lightly in her blanket. I must've fallen over sometime during the night... She thought to herself, wondering what in her dream had caused her to move around that much. Unfortunately, she could not remember a thing of her dream from the night before, though that is probably for the best. Sitting up, Raine realized that the reason for their unexpected visitor was to give them food. On the floor sat a tray that held two bowls with identical substances inside and two pieces of bread off to the side, along with two cups of water. Although she was not particularly hungry at the moment, the assassin knew that she needed to eat in order to keep whatever physical strength she still had. So she stood and leisurely walked over to the tray before bending down and grabbing one of the pieces of bread. "A bit stale, but it's better than nothing..."

[icicle]

As Flake rested on his sleeping mat, he lazily thought about the threadbare, decrepit piece of cloth he pulled over himself, the cloth which was supposed to keep him warm during a frigid night. It was not nearly cold enough in the cell to warrant the use of the blanket, but he was dizzy and, quite frankly, did not like the feeling of being watched. As per usual, he envisioned the room around himself, focusing on key details and painting a picture with what images he could remember, about the blood-stained cobble, the iron bars, the unarmed assassin on the other side of the room…

Flake tried to envision what she looked like, but he heard her shifting around and could not properly play out what the sounds meant. As if to cheat himself, the bounty hunter slowly pried one of his eyes open to see his companion leaning her head against the wall, huddled up in a ball, with her eyes closed. The damaged man grinned at the sight of the woman, not so much due to her appearance, emotion, or circumstance, but due to his own mistake. In his vision, he had seen her with a tear in her eye, but in actuality, her face was dry.

An hour of thought later, Flake peeked over at his companion once again as a reaction to hearing a soft grinding sound. Sure enough, as he peeked open one of his eyes, he saw that she had lost her grip and was gently falling to one side. This time, instead of a smile, Flake frowned. A thought crossed his mind when he saw the lady before him, a memory from the past which he forced himself to disregard. He felt almost angry, his thoughts shifting over to the guards, hearing their mocking, prideful and condescending voices presaged in his mind. He knew that they would patrol to the cell at some point that night, and Flake did not want them to see Raine as she was.

Carefully, slowly, and silently, the bounty hunter pulled the blanket off of his person and stood up on the cobbled stones, taking a full minute to do so in order to avoid rustling sounds. He then snuck over to where Raine peacefully slept and, as he arrived next to her bedding, she flopped down onto the bedding. Chills shot up his spine as he stood there, expecting the assassin to wake up and assault him, but it did not happen. She’s a damn heavy sleeper, he thought, smiling in relief after a minute of suspense. Flake carefully pulled Raine slightly away from the wall, once again taking a long time to do so, then pulled the blanket over her.

As he walked back, he grinned happily, satisfied with himself. He slowly snuck back onto his bedding, pulled the covers back over himself, and returned to his sleeping position. Certainly, he was no assassin. Any assassin would be able to do what Flake did in half the time, but an assassin would surely be able to notice being manipulated while sleeping as well. The bounty hunter imagined that Raine’d be able to manipulate him in his sleep as well if he did not get any that night, so he decided to try his best to get some sleep, ignoring the sound of an unarmored guard making his way down the stairwell.

The hours passed relatively quickly, sleep coming to and fro for Flake as he tossed and turned, barely able to keep his eyes shut. There were too many possible dangers for him to get any proper sleep, so he just attempted to stay still, albeit unsuccessfully. He felt well-rested by the time he heard more footsteps coming down the staircase, much closer to sunrise, but his eyes refuted this feeling adamantly. Despite his efforts to open his eyes only slightly, Flake had to fight to get his left eye to open up for him as the unarmored footsteps approached the cell which he was in.

To his surprise, he recognized the guard which opened the door to the cell. The guard was one of the fellows who arrested him the previous day. Even more surprisingly, the guard did not try anything cruel – he carried two servings of food into the cell, left them on the floor, and left without a word. He even closed and opened the gate quietly, as if he didn’t want to wake the two. Flake took note of the guard’s face to ensure that he would spare him later, then closed his eyes again and tried to sleep a bit longer. He recognized a need for food, however, he wanted to learn about his companion, which would require sacrifices.

After an hour or so, without Flake even noticing footsteps, a door slammed closed with surprising loudness quite nearby. The bounty hunter peeked his eye open to see what happened, but noticed that it was out of his view, so he pretended to sleep once more. He heard Raine complain, a sign that she had awoken, so he peeked his eye open once more to observe her.

He was barely surprised to see that she did nothing of interest. She sat up, looked at the food in the middle of the cell, walked over, and grabbed bread. Flake shut his eyes, deciding that he did not need to give her reason to suspect that he had awoken yet, and waited, attempting to visualize Raine’s movement, having an easier time than he had had the previous night.

[HiddenBeauty13]

After chewing thoroughly on her bread, Raine quietly reached over and grabbed a bowl before settling down on her bed once more. She then brought the bowl up to her nose and sniffed, wanting to see if she could at least guess what was in the brown colored substance. There's some pork in here...and maybe a few green vegetables, all held together by an interestingly thick paste like substance.. She picked up a spoonful of the mixture before placing it in her mouth, savoring the taste of the food. It wasn't too bad for prison food, though the woman would have suggested that they add more salt. As she continued to eat, Raine's grey eyes fell upon Flake's sleeping form and she raised an eyebrow while swallowing a mouthful of her food. She would have expected him to be awake by now, since he seemed like a light sleeper.

In fact, she actually suspected him to be awake at the moment, though there was no way of being complete sure just by looking at him. He was really skilled at faking as though he was asleep. With that thought in mind, Raine continued to watch him intently while steadily eating her food, waiting for him to show some indication that he was awake. Maybe his breathing patterns would change or his eyes would flutter beneath his eyelids or he would make some movement that would suggest that he was not actually asleep. By the time she had cleaned her bowl completely, Flake still hadn't moved. Hmph, he's really intent on staying like that... She thought and then a smirked formed on her face as an idea popped into her mind. Maybe there was something that she could do to get him moving...

Silently, the assassin slipped the spoon from her bowl and placed it on her bed, alongside the bowl. She then inched herself slowly from the edge of her bed, careful not to make the bed squeak in any way. It would ruin her plan if it did. Once she successfully made it from the bed, Raine slowly got down in a crouch, cutting her eyes towards Flake to see if he had moved yet. When she realized he hadn't, another smirked formed across her face. So far, so good. While keeping her breathing steady, Raine began to slowly creep across the cool prison floor, using her hands and feet much like a cat. All she needed was a tail and ears and she would fit the profile. Thankfully, though, the tray that still held Flake's breakfast was not too far away from her and, soon, she was holding his piece of bread in her hand, slowly bringing the stale thing towards her lips...