[centre][b][h1][color=f7976a]Jamie[/color], [color=004b80]Darius[/color] and  [color=0076a3]Elyra[/color][/h1][/b][/centre]

Jamie crouched by her gear, carefully rummaging through until she found a suitable knife to skin the deer, although she was sure James would have one, but she wanted to feel like she was doing something at least, rather than standing around waiting for Elyra to reach the camp. She couldn't even tie up the stupid laces of her damn armor. Furious at herself, Jamie put the knife where james would see it, before turning once more to the laces, twisting slightly, she flexed her fingers, and began to try once more. If her hands weren't bandaged, it wouldn't be so hard, as it was the added bulkiness of the bandages hindered her movements, as well as the pain. 


If she could just take the bandages off...she frowned to herself, wondering if that would do any damage. She really didn't want to get on Elyra's bad side. She gave up on the laces again, resigning herself to having Elyra help her. 


She checked her water supply instead, and decided that while she had the chance, she had best keep her stock full. Ands at least it was something to do. She hated this feeling of helplessness, she gathered up the water skin she had drank the day before, and one that was half empty, starting towards the water. . 


Darius washed his body with rag, cleaning it of the mud and blood splattered on him. Last night, when he dissapeared, he went to go train by himself. He learned long ago that if you can train yourself mentally it can affect you physically. He had walked a great deal so no one could see him and began. He spent the rest of the night doing that, and wore himself out. He passed out for one hour, then awoke and headed back to camp. After he gathered his equipment he headed towards the river. 


Which is where he was now. He tried to watch his surroundings, but he was admittedly tired and this was relaxing. He stood in the water waist deep, and facing away from the direction he came from. This showed the scars and wounds on his back and the backside of his arms, show casing a lifetimes worth of injuries from several things.


Jamie cursed silently to herself upon seeing that Darius was in the water, and then simply steeled herself, approaching the water, kneeling, not saying a word, and definetely trying to not make a sound. She uncapped the water skins, gently dipping them into the water, being caring not to get her bandages wet, although she was sure she couldn't avoid that completely. She watched the water, waiting for the bubbles to stop, a good indication that the skins were full. 


Darius calmed himself, and closed his eyes. He snapped his rag against the water, then sent it flying in the air. He moved swiftly, practicing martial arts, throwing punches gracefully and kicked the water then slicing it with an open hand slicing motion. Darius stomped the water then front flipped through the water he kicked up. Darius kept his eyes closed the entire time.


Jamie refused to look up, instead she kept her eyes trained on the water. As she went to cap the skins, she fumbled the second one. She stared at it for a few seconds as it fell into the water, and she almost seemed to not be breathing. Why? Why did even that simply thing have to be so hard? This time she cursed outloud, and crouching, began to try and fish the skin out the water before it got to far. She would have just walked away and left it, but this might be the last source of water they saw for a while. She couldn't just leave it. 


Darius paused mid strike, caught the rag as it fell close to him, tightly rolled it up, and threw it at whoever or whatever made that noise. It sounded as if something small was nearby but he felt like someone was watching him. 


Jamie batted the rag away, and standing up, she threw the water skin she had just retrieved at Darius,  not caring anymore. She was angry, and in pain, and she just wanted to let a little bit out. Without waiting to see what happened, she spun on a heel, holding the second skin tightly as she started back towards the camp. 


Darius jumped forward out of the water, and grabbed a knife from his breast pocket of his shirt which was on the ground. He took aim and threw it, the knife landing in front of Jamie. He stood there, slightly breathless and naked, he stood there as he watched Jamie.


[color=004b80]"Halt, perverted spy."[/color]


Jamie's stride halted for a moment, before she stepped over the knife. She debated about not answering, for a second. She stopped, [color=f7976a]"Throw a knife at me again..."[/color] She bent smoothly, scooping the knife up in her left hand, the less injuried one, and as she rose, she spun flicking the knife back towards him. 


[color=f7976a]"Don't flatter yourself, I was filling up my skins. Its not your lake"[/color] She turned back, starting to walk once more. 


Darius was slightly confused. He caught the knife right before it struck him, and caught it smoothly, but was slightly not as ease. This is what he wanted, for her to leave him alone. So why....


Darius shook his and when he stopped he threw the knife again, landing in front of Jamie once more.


[color=004b80]"I do plan on killing you after all this is over, but I refuse to kill such a weakling. Stop pouting and come over here. I have something for your wounds."[/color]


Jamie resisted letting out a fury filled cry, barely. What the hell did he want? {i]leave  me alone, oh,  but don't. Screw him![/i]. [color=f7976a]"I am not a weakling"[/color] She wanted to yell it, but ahe kept her voice low. [color=f7976a]"And I am not pouting"[/color] She slowly turned around, keeping, she hoped, her expression neutral. 


[color=f7976a]"What is it that you want? You said to leave you alone, to not talk with you. And now you won't let me leave. What the bloody hell do you want?"[/color] her voice rose now, as she demanded the answer, refusing to go over. 


Darius rolled his eyes at Jamies words and sighed.


[color=004b80]"And we got along so well at first. You challenged me what did you expect? Im an assassin, and you truly thought you could escape unharmed?"[/color]


Darius shook his head.


[color=004b80]"Im not going to apologize, but I will offer to treat your wounds. Im not a doctor but I can numb the pain your feeling so you can fight. Stop being sensitive."[/color]


This time Jamie couldn't keep her anger in check. [color=f7976a]"You know nothing! I didn't expect to escape unharmed. But you crossed more than one line. You went for my [i]hands[/i]. You used your strength and weight to make me helpless. Any girl would retaliate, would fight for any ounce of control they could get back. 


The difference? I didn't want to cause physical damage."[/color] 


It might be petty. It might be foolish, but she stayed where she was,  not letting herself be drawn closer. [color=f7976a]"So I fought in a different way"[/color] She looked away, [color=f7976a]"I'll stick with Elyra's treatments. I don't mind pain."[/color] And she didn't want to owe him anything, not now. And she might, perhaps out of spite, kiss him again, and she didn't really want any more lasting injuries. Because she knew she would resist causing any damage. 


[color=f7976a]"Why do you even care?"[/color]


Darius walked out of the water, fully naked and soaking wet, and walked over to Jamie. He could tell he terrified her, and some part of him was happy. He was someone to be feared. But another side of him was slightly ever so torn. He walked up to Jamie and stood up straight in front of her. He reached out, and could see Jamie almost jump away but for some reason she didnt. He took her injured hands in his and softly touched the palm of her hands where he imagined the wounds would be.


[color=004b80]"Two years ago, I was given a contract. The contractor was the emperor himself, paying me to root out an insurgent bent on toppling his rule. So pretty standard, nothing I havent done before for others. I spent days trying to track down the insurgent, I went with every little snippet of info I could grab and was given by the emporor, and I could not find a trace. This upset me greatly because that was unusual. Then I had an idea. Maybe I couldnt find the insurgent because I was given less than trust worthy details. Turns out, after stalking the emporor for a bit which is way too easy in my opinion, this contract was all a set up. He was going to de fame me, learn anything about me, and then.....I am still not sure what the plan was that. Enslave me? Kill me? Fuck me silly? Either way, I never let it dampen my spirits. I ended up finding an actual traitor in their midst by following the emporor, and turned in his hand and plans. But did the emperor care? No he double crossed me in a fit of blind rage. He set his soldiers on me. I will admit this was not my proudest moment."[/color]


Darius took Jamies right hand and put it over his heart where a lower case t looking scar presided.


[color=004b80]"They attacked me, and I fended them off well but numbers were not on my side. They overpowered me, held me down, and tried to impale me through the heart. Through sheer will power, and possibly the ancient entity of murder, I was spared. The sword missed my heart by a fraction of an inch."[/color]


Darius looked Jamie in the eyes.


[color=004b80]"After that I obviously killed everyone, the emperor paid me, and then hired me from time to time again with no repeat of his previous error. The point to my story, is I do understand. Your right not exactly, for I was not you when I hurt you. But I get the feeling, of being wounded in a place that you desperatley need with a man pinning you down. I will not apologize I said this more than once. I cannot. But......please understand that.......I wont do it again."[/color]


Jamie resisted leaping back. She didn't know why. She flinched though as he traced the bandages, wondering why that gesture seemed...tender. She listened as he told his story, keeping her gaze anywhere but on him. She didn't quite know what to make of this sudden...exposing. It seemed to be totally out of character for him especially after everything. How was she meant to react? She wasn't too sure. 


She shook her head, [color=f7976a]"Sometimes, actions are worth more than words."[/color] She pulled her hands back, now understanding the knife. For a moment, there was a flash of amusement across her bruised features. [color=f7976a]"The emperor would have sought to break you and then use you for his own ends. Just like they want to do now, with the bombs."[/color]


A small laugh escaped her, and she shook her head again, [color=f7976a]"Which they may find will come back to hurt them"[/color]. She thought about the knife he had thrown-given-to her the night before. [color=f7976a]"What is the D.M on the knife?"[/color]


Darius glanced in all directions, then leaned in and whispered into Jamies ear.


[color=004b80]"My name. It was suppose to be.......a sort of peace offering. I shall tell you, It is my most closely guarded secret. One I would die before sharing................The D stands for Darius. Tell anyone and you die."[/color]


Jamie pondered that a moment, and then nodded. She didn't bother saying anything. Sometimes actions were louder then words, quick as the blink of an eyelid, she scooped the knife up, and she pressed the hilt into his palm. And then-to hell with it-she gave him a quick kiss, before dashing back to camp, hoping Elyra was there, finally. 


Elyra happened to be looking for Jamie and she had realized that she was not the only one missing from camp. Elyra came across them and she blushed when she realized that this was the second time in an hour she had run across one of her male companions naked. This difference was this one was an ass.  Just after Jamie moved out of the way Darius was struck in the forehead with a stone. It left another large mark on his head. 


She chuckled to herself and walked back towards camp. Once she got there she waited for Jamie and then she said, [color=0076a3]"Why in the world are you messing with that guy? You are so much better than that and he flat out tells you he will kill you."[/color] Elyra put the leather in her mouth and reapplied the salve. The burning wasn't quite as bad as it had been the night before. Looking at the wound Elyra was pleased at the results. She hugged Jamie.[color=0076a3] "Stay away from him, he can only hurt you." [/color] Elyra walked over to help with the food.


Jamie just gave a smile and a shrug, letting Elyra deal with her hands. She wasn't too sure just what she could say. Relieved that it wasn't as bad as the night before, Jamie eventually said, after the leather was out of her mouth, [color=f7976a]"At least he says he will kill me, unlike the people that simply injected us. I did try to stay away.  He wouldn't let me. As for why? Well...I can't truly say"[/color] She flexed her fingers once more, testing them again. She returned Elyra's hug, [color=f7976a]"I know what I'm doing, Elyra."[/color] Well, at least she thought she did. After all, she still had half the engraving to solve. [color=f7976a]"Hey, can you tie up my leathers?"[/color]


Darius held the knife in his hand, pondering his words and actions. It has been a long time since he told someone his first name, and he did not lie he would rather die than give in to duress and say his name. He felt it was both a blessing and curse. He flipped his knife, grasped the handle, and walked back to his gear. He was clean enough he supposed. He fully clothed himself, checked his weapons, then walked back to camp. He munched on a few nuts and small things had he to munch on. As he walked he felt his forehead where their healer had struck him again. She wa starting to become an annoyance. This contract was becoming more than it was worth. He already found one contract already after this one was over, but he wasnt careful and if their healer did not stop with the insolent rocks, he was lash out. She had done this twice now. A third will not happen. But Darius thought of it as training. He was still prone to his emotions somewhat, even though he was completley hollow inside, like a dead man. 


When he arrived back at camp, he could see most everyone was up and about, and he walked over to his favorite spot. When everyone began moving he would stay on the groups side, keeping a watchful eye for beasts and traps.


Elyra was watching the food cook and she glanced over at Darius and she walked over to him. She glared at him. [color=0076a3]"You didn't think I would know who you are. You should remember me. You killed my brother five years ago. I immediately made it my mission to find out who you were. I hate you and all you stand for.If we weren't linked by this incendiery device I would have already killed you. I will heal you if necessary for the duration of this mission but that is it."[/color]  Elyra turned to walk away.


Darius watched as Elyra turned to walk away, and while normally he would just let stuff like this go, he was having a very strange morning. He spoke up.


[color=004b80]"Miss Elyra isnt it....would you remind me who your brother was? I apologize but you see, I have killed so many peoples brothers it is hard to keep track. Five years ago? Refresh my memory. I killed a lot of peoples brothers five years ago."[/color]


Elyra stopped and flexed her hands to keep her control and she said, [color=0076a3]"My last name was Navarr of the Navarr clan. He was an elf like I am. Figure it out."[/color] She went back to walking towards the food. She looked up and smiled when she saw James.


Darius eyed Elyra, and in fact knew exactly who she was referring to when she first approached him a few moments ago. He knew this wasnt going to end well......and if she was not bluffing.....then he just found his second contract after the mission was over. He caught Jamies glance, and for some reason could not help but smile at her.



[@Gareth][@dabombjk][@Wick][@Ashevelendar][@venku]