[u][b]The Skull[/b][/u]

collab with [@Applo]

As the Eel ground its way through the sand Tamsyn pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to stamp the tiredness out of her legs. The previous night's scouting expedition had been a long arduous affair and catching up on sleep during the day had been almost impossible with all the hustle and bustle of the preparations for tonight going on although this was all just the tip of the problem. The real problem for Tamsyn was that she had just sailed into a bay full of cut throats, murderers and rapists so that their sworn enemy could wonder in and poke his nose around. People could be very unreasonable about things like that and her mind was filled with images of all the ways these rebels could devise to kill someone, most of which made having your throat slit or being beheaded seem rather pleasant. Even the thought of a heavy purse of gold was failing at keeping her distracted anymore. Mostly she wanted to be sick.

Looking across to the expeditions other boats she watched as prince and his men clambered out of their little skiffs and generally set out acting the part of pirates, it wasn’t a confidence filling site. On her own boat five sets of eyes watched Tamsyn carefully. They obeyed her instructions well enough although Tamsyn was sure this was on for the look of the thing. Their real purpose was to make sure that she kept in line with the prince’s instructions. To the them she was almost as big as an enemy as the rebels. Still at least it meant she had someone to do the heavy lifting.

“Unload everything and pile it up just above the tidemark” Tamsyn said dismissively before quickly adding “and then someone turn my ship around and have it ready to sail.” 

With that Tamsyn retrieved a long and bulky leather package from the cabin of the Eel before jumping down to that sand. She would have preferred to stay and supervise the unloading but she had been tasked with another duty and as much as she hated the idea of it she had felt unable to refuse the order.

The journey across the beach to her arranged meeting point was blessedly uneventful and free of people shouting things like oi you and stop! There had been a plan to explain her unexpected arrival but Tamsyn had been apprehensive how the rebels were going to react. The fact that the worst she had to deal with was lust filled drunkards was a blessed relief. 

When she was sure that she had reached the agreed upon spot Tamsyn to a furtive look around and happy that no one was watching she emptied the contents of her package onto the ground. It was the work of moments to string the bow and after a few draws to test the string Tamsyn rewrapped the bow and quiver in the leather pouch. Every possible avenue of activity and preparation now exhausted she sat down on a nearby rock and waited for the person she was meeting to appear.

Ellion emerged from the sandy cove, the time and the meeting clear, as he made his way out, sword at his hilt, the sight of Tamsyn in front of him, sitting on a rock and preparing her bow. His brown hair was almost black from the beating it had taken from the sea and dirt, but was still long and flowing, blowing in the sea-salt spray on the beach in the evening.
"You're late." He said to her, as he chuckled, nodding.
"So, we have work to do. I hope you're good with that bow. We'll need to be quick footed, skirmishing. We can't pick fights we can't end quickly, or run from." 

"The sound of Ellion's voice made Tamsyn jump but she made an effort of taking her time to turn around. The figure that stood over her was dirty, decrepit and covered in more than a little blood yet somehow to Tamsyn's mind still looked like a knight. There was something about the way the man held himself.

"Don't worry about me, if I couldn't avoid soldiers and guards I wouldn't be sitting here. As for my bow, my parents taught me to shoot the Free Folk way. If I missed I didn't eat, it's rather an effective way to learn something."

The last statement was stretching the truth more than a little but Tamsyn was dammed if she was going to let this Tyrell doubt her. Her father and her brother might scrape and bow to them, but she wouldn't.

"Right lets go then" she said as she slung the quiver over her shoulder before picking up her bow.

Ellion chuckled, as he led the way off the beach, the gentle drizzle pouring down, nodding.
"You seem confident then." Ellion replied, as he looked up the shoreline, aware that they still had another beacon to find. She was attractive, he had to say that to himself in his mind, at least. A pretty girl, a redheaded Northerner, with a charm of a Lyseni smuggler. 

This trip got stranger and stranger, he thought. Into the heart of darkness he had seen his own knightly ways change as a fighter, he had forced himself into a little adventure and found himself as a warm-blooded swordsman, and his talents had changed. It was almost surreal, but Ellion Tyrell wasn't distinctive in this armour, his messy hair partly covering his face, only something observable to those who would perhaps look into the Tyrell eyes and his fine form beneath it all. And slept with one girl so far. Maybe another, if Tamsyn felt that way. She was a rough diamond, that was for sure, and he'd be courteous. Hard to get, perhaps. Maybe not. He didn't really know. He had to stop thinking with his dick and with his brain, because shit needed to be done. 

"The beacon's up that way. Shouldn't be long to get there." He added, as he kept his eyes on a swivel, looking back at Tamsyn.
"So, what brought you into the party then?" 

"Coin. A lot of it. More than I could possibly refuse." She was glad that Prince Aemon and the Greyjoy cow had kept the details of how this little arrangement had come about a secret. After the prince, this Tyrell clown was one of the most dangerous people in the group for her. The Grimm's might be a small family in the reach but they were just a little unique. All it might take could be a few careless words and the idiot in front of her would have everything he needed to work out who she really was. Even though Ellion seemed about as quick in the head as sheep so far it being near him was still a risk Tamsyn wasn't exactly thrilled about.

"How well guarded was the last beacon?" she asked before adding "What should I be expecting?" Tamsyn hoped that talk of tactics and battle would keep Ellion's mind occupied.

"A few good men. Archers though. The men themselves aren't incredibly well trained, they're restless, as rebels are." Ellion added, as he looked back.
"Not much resistance if we're clever." He added with a wry smirk, his voice still holding it's usual charm, not grizzly as you would almost anticipate with a man of that look. 

They headed up the hilly track, the route winding but open. Ellion could hear the distant noise of marching, and already enacted a response. With a firm push, he nudged Tamsyn and dived into some shrubbery, diving onto the floor.

Putting his finger to his lip, he counted the footsteps, listening to what was coming.
"There's too many. Ignore it." Ellion added, keeping his profile low, as he knew that it would be easier to hide than it would be to confront, and risk being exposed.

It was all Tamsyn could do to resist the urge to give Ellion a kick and instead just roll her eyes at the instruction. She had no intention of leading a charge at the men who she could now here coming towards the pair’s position. 

As the footsteps grew louder Tamsyn's hand closed around the handle of her knife and she regretted not having kept one of the sword's she'd just delivered. If it came to a melee a knife wouldn't do her much good, she'd have to trust in Ellion and luck far more than she was comfortable with. With each passing second the footsteps got louder and Tamsyn's heart raced to keep up. She'd hidden in bushes before but the gut wrenching nerves caused by thinking that you were about to be discovered was something that never seemed to go away.

Ellion just kept down, watching them go past, as he looked to Tamsyn, nodding. The patrol had passed, as they emerged out of the shrubbery, knowing that they had avoided a conflict. For now, at least. That was a probelm for later, as he led the way on again, dusting himself down.
"Not far now." 

The task of climbing out of the bushes that they had been hiding in took somewhat longer than diving into them had, for Tamsyn at least. While Elions armour meant that it was easy for him to climb out Tamsyn's clothes snagged and caught on the branches, slowing her down as she had to untangle herself. By the time she was on the road again Ellion was already a good distance from her and she had to half run to catch up with him.

"Do you actually have a plan for this or are we just hoping there isn't a cart load of rebels guarding this beacon."

"Well.....bit of both. Kind of makes this an adventure." Ellion smirked as he remarked it, as they continued heading up the coastal track. It was a strange feeling to be like this, but after all, when with rogues, you had to be this way.
"Where do you come from, Tamsyn? You sound Northern, but....you definitely sound like you spent time from my land." He asked, as they continued walking up, the dirty and dusty track after the rainstorm.

The question made Tamsyn watch her feet for a while as she tried to remember exactly what she had told Prince Aemon and the Greyjoy woman about her background. She had to say something, stubborn refusal would only make people more curious but at she also had to make sure she told the same story. 

"My parents were from beyond the wall before The War. My father wanted richer land than those in the North so he brought my mother south and settled in the Reach which is where I grew up." Tamsyn hoped to the Old Gods and the Seven that this Tyrell was just making idle conversation and wasn’t going to press any further.

"I get it. I was going to say." Ellion replied, as he looked up the path, then back at her.
"It's a beautiful land. My brother is going to be Lord when my father passes. That'll be a funny day."  He chuckled lightly, as he looked up at the beacon, the track diverting off, as he led the way off it.
"This way. Let's head into the undergrowth. Flank the place." He added, leading the route, still heading up through the forest. The distant murmuring of men could be heard, as Ellion leaned on a pine, looking over.

"It's there. About six men. Two archers. Think you can shoot straight?" 

"If you think you can do better than by all means have at it" Tamsyn snapped as she pulled an arrow from her quiver and notched it in the bow. "You give me the signal and half of them will be dead before you can get off your perfumed ass, my lord." Part of her wanted to add that one her arrows would be going throw his perfumed arsehole if he kept questioning her ability, but she knew better and bit her tongue. The image her imagination conjured up was pleasing enough to satisfy her for now.

"Cheeky. I like." With it, Ellion winked at her, as he split off, finding another route in.

Trekking through the undergrowth was slowing going in the effort not to make any noise that might draw the attention of the guards but eventually Tamsyn found herself a spot where she could use the cover of a tree trunk to see as many of the rebels as possible. Working quickly she pulled another ten arrows from her quiver and pushed them gently into the ground at her feet. She was sure she could hit every target in sight with one arrow but why risk not having an arrow to hand if she needed it.

Seeing Tamsyn across the camp, he watched her set up, as Ellion emerged from the undergrowth, not even sneaking in, he went straight towards them, catching the eye of a few.
"Hey, who the fuck are you?" Swords were drawn, as Ellion looked on, shaking his head.
"Gentlemen, you're confused. I'm from Bloodstone. I've got lobster in my cart down the road."
"We're not falling for that....that's what they found on Gulliver's body! You're that fucker!"
"Well, Gulliver was a bit of a bastard to be fair. All take, no give." Ellion drew his sword, as the archers behind the four men drew their bows, Ellion shaking his head.

"Okay, point taken. You can have the lobster. After I feed you to it. Shall we?" And with it, he gave a pulling gesture with his left hand, yelling at the man at the front, who raised his sword and ran.

The instant the first of the rebels made a move Tamsyn loosed her arrow. It wasn't the longest shot she'd ever made but it was also far from the easiest. Her arrow hit her target, one of the bow men, but only through the shoulder. Still she didn't worry about it, he wasn't going to be drawing his bow anytime soon and if the Tyrell moron could be taken down by a bow man with only one working arm then frankly he deserved it. Quickly she pulled a second arrow from the ground, took aim at the second bow man who had already realised that someone else had a bow and released the bow string.

The arrow smushed into the man's skull, as Ellion charged the man at the front, knowing Tamsyn had unleashed hell. These fuckers were going down, and Ellion knew that much was the plan. 

The first one charged forward, too fast, too stupid, as Ellion ducked and went low, pushing him onto the blade as he thrust him over, withdrawing with a subtle movement, parrying another man. He hoped Tamsyn would give a little help at least, as they were swearing, aware that they had to light up the beacon, one way or another. One of the men heading towards Ellion broke away, and headed to the steel cauldron, to light the thing and alert the others.

As the rebel ran from Elion Tamsyn allowed herself a moment of victorious self congratulation, right until she realized what the man was running towards. She knew if he managed to light the beacon then she'd have the chance to find out how accurate her imagination had been as to what these rebels would do to anyone working for the crown. Ellion was still tied up with the remaining swordsman and Tamsyn knew it was down to her to stop the beacon being lit.

It wasn't an impossible shot but at the same time, it wasn't a shot she wanted to be betting her life on. She drew back her bow and tried to get a bead on where the man was going to be but the rough ground meant he was moving erratically. Tamsyns arms were starting to ache from the effort of keeping the bow drawn and her she could feel her arms shaking but she knew that she didn't have time to risk missing and having to loose another arrow. This shot had to count.

The rebel was slowing down as he approached the cauldron when Tamsyn finally released her arrow. The flight seemed to take an eternity and all she could here was the sound of her heart roaring in her ears. Then suddenly the solider toppled sideways, the force of the strike knocking him from his feet. Just to be sure Tamsyn notched a second arrow and aimed it at where the man had fallen but when he didn't stir she released the tension from her bow.
"Are you killing these fuckers or trying the kiss them" she yelled over the ring of clashing steel.

Ellion was not bad, as he parried the swordsman, knocking him aside with a hard push and headbutting him, letting him deal with his friend coming at his flank with a spear. The sword clashed, knocking the spear down into the floor, before a blade entered his abdomen. Pulling his friend around, Ellion was in the flow again, sword withdrawn, as he took on the original swordsman, noticing that his energy was lower. And that was what he'd capitalise.

With a stern parry, he smashed through his block, then thrust forwards, Ellion becoming talented at having a little creativity rather than structure to fight, it was definitely growing out of his tuterlage, but growing right here. Ellion Tyrell was a fighter alright, and more than a dummy or a spar, this was real blood and real guts. And he had to say, the thrill was like nothing else. Better than jousting. This was real insanity.

Withdrawing the sword from the man's chest, he kicked him over, the other two looking on.
"Shame we had to do this the ugly way, you ugly bastards." Spinning the sword in his hand, Ellion saw another swordsman run at him, a little more talented than his friends, the muddy encampment 

And he was good. Christ, he wasn't bad. Second to last man. He knew Tamsyn would get the other, from afar or up close, as he sparred with this man, taking his hits where he had to, seeing that his opponent had more energy than he did right now, and a better than expected skill. Interesting. 

Leaping through the scrubby vegetation Tamsyn cursed herself for agreeing to this mission. She would have preferred to have kept her distance from the fray but with the rebels left were too close to Ellion for her to be able to make a shot without risking putting an arrow through the Tyrell's chest.

As she closed in on the fight one of the sword men broke of from circling Ellion to charge at her. Tamsyn drew her bow and loosed and arrow but the rebel had expected the shot and jinked out of its way, the arrow clattering harmlessly against a rock behind him as he closed on her. There wasn't time for another and Tamsyn threw her bow to the side before launching herself in the other direction to pass under the sweep of the soldier’s sword. The second she landed instinct told her to roll and sure enough the tip of a sword buried its self into the ground where her throat had been an instant earlier. Not wanting to give the bastard another opportunity to skewer her while she was down Tamsyn lashed out with a foot and felt a satisfying crunch as she connected with the rebels knee. 

The few seconds when the swordsman was double over from the pain in his knee were more than enough for Tamsyn to scramble to her feet and draw the steel dirk from her hip. Now the pair circled each other, Tamsyn taking care to stay out her opponents range whilst knowing that somehow she had to get in behind his blade. Her chance came sooner than she expected when the rebel made a wild lunge that was easy to duck under. Unfortunately what this particular rebel lacked as a swordsman they made up for as a brawler and a knee connected with Tamsyn's stomach before her knife tasted blood. Some struck her head before she had a chance to recover and the next thing Tamsyn knew she was flat on the found ground with the rebel kneeling over her and slamming her hand against the floor until the dirk slipped from her grasp.

"Fucking give it up and I'll make sure you live to see the dawn from the inside of the whore tents bitch." 

Ellion looked over, as he parried his own sworsman, watching Tamsyn run in, taking on the other swordsman. Shit, she wasn't going to do that. She was too small to keep up with his power, she was risking a lot. And he didn't have time to focus. Only on his own opponent.

Letting his own target come forward, he parried with his sword smoothly, knocking the man's pommel and kicking low, hitting hard in the thigh, before slashing out with a quick push against his chest, cutting him neatly open, as he turned to the man pushing Tamsyn into the floor.

"I'd think about giving it up, pal." He added, as he walked on over, impaling the sword into his neck, the blade coming out of his mouth in a bloody display, Ellion twisting for good measure as he pushed him off.
"Up you get, love." Ellion said, spitting the blood from the earlier brawl, chuckling, shaking his head, offering a hand to her.

Waving away the proffered hand Tamsyn crawled to her knees and tried not to be sick. 
"Give me a minuet" she groaned. The whole world felt like it was spinning underneath her like she drunk her way through a barrel of cheap wine and she didn't trust her legs to carry her at all. Giving up on the idea of standing up for now she rolled on to her side so she could see Ellion and hopefully keep the contents of her stomach down

"Well, that was interesting. You seem a better archer than in hand to hand. My advice, keep to that for now. I don't want you getting killed." Ellion added, as he walked over towards the cauldron, pulling out the material from inside, wood and general oil-filled rags, dumping it out of the metal, as he wiped the blood from his blade with his leather gauntlet, sighing.

"I didn't want you missing a display by the dashing Ser Ellion Tyrell, after all." He chuckled, fully aware of the irony of himself, as he finished clearing out the cauldron, leaning against it and letting Tamsyn get a look.
"Other than that, you held yourself well." 

"So pleased to be of some small assistance my lord." No sooner than the words were out of her mouth then the pressure from her stomach became too great and Tamsyn only just managed to lift her head off the floor before being sick.

Ellion looked on, knowing he had done it himself.
"It's a bloodbath. Don't you worry, lass. I did it too the first time I saw how much blood comes, the pressure of it all." He said to her reassuringly, knowing it was a weakness leaving, perhaps a focus coming in, and that Ellion had that trust in Tamsyn at least to say those words, as he sat by her side, sighing.

"How's your head?"

"I'll live," Tamsyn mumbled "my bed and a bottle of dornish red would help though. Would you go find my bow so we can get out of here?"

Ellion nodded, as he heard one of the soldiers moaning, the arrow in his shoulder also having him on the floor, as he sighed.
"Shit, one second." Ellion added, as he walked on over, looking over at the wounded man.
"Seven Hells, what are we gonna do with you." Ellion asked, as he looked at the injured soldier, the arrow pushing through his shoulderblade into his upper chest, leaving him pretty broken, he wasn't going anywhere for now.

"Well.....you'll suffer if I don't finish the job. Don't underestimate one good man with a sword. And a girl with a bow." With it, Ellion gently pushed the blade into his chest, withdrawing it after a few seconds, letting the life drain out of him, sighing as he looked across at Tamsyn.
"Try and get them a bit better next time. It's the least honorable thing to do. But it leaves us a lead. We need to get going, Tamsyn." Ellion said, as he cursed.
"Shit, your bow. It's over that way. Come on." He added, pointing out, at least giving her a hand up before they headed away.

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