[center][h3][color=DDA0DD]Sasuke Stormwind[/color] / [color=#ff8b8b]Axley Crawford[/color][/h3][/center]

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It wasn’t long at all before Sasuke was done with his meal. He even had seconds, but those were gone just as fast. As much as he thoroughly enjoyed this meal, daylight was burning and he needed to get on the move before the sun went down. He paid for his meal, and left a little extra something for the people there.

There were several things at the top of his list to get. Throwing knives were at the top, followed by weapons, although he observed that Fergus had those well in hand. He mentally moved immediately to the next very pressing item, that being food for the journey. He knew that jerky, however good it might taste and keep, was going to feel like just a chewing exercise if that was all they had to go on for rations after the first week or two. So, dried fruit was in order. 

He had none of those things in hand -- just a day and a half’s worth of rations, and that would never get him (never mind the rest of the group) out of town, never mind to the next. Since Fergus already had weapons and ammunition taken care of, Sasuke rapidly made the assumption that he, too, felt there was little time to waste.

[i]Seems like we leave early in the morning, then.[/i] The notion only made too much sense. He had no idea whether that army was still behind them, and spending hours delaying needed purchases might hasten their collective demise at the hands of those same dead pieces of shit that wiped out the Ruins. So, he resolved to get supplies before the sun went down and [i]finally[/i] get some much-needed rest.

Axley had finished what ended up being quite the delectable bit of onion and fried fat and was quietly wiping her mouth when she spied Snow and Cilia having a bit of a spat with a rather forward barfly. Probably drunk, she figured...the two of them could certainly handle that problem without Axley having to intervene in a particularly unpleasant way. Best not to make a scene anyways, right? Axley figured after this, she’d go up to whatever room she had for the night and practice a bit on her lute. Fergus had already left with her blade to get it reforged, thank the gods….so that just left calming down everyone to get some rest.

As if on cue, she spotted a familiar body headed towards the door, which brought a singular raised eyebrow to the bard. Sasuke sneaking out to do business once again? Axley sighed. He was always straight-minded, thinking about nothing but his next job, or the security of his team...did he even know how to relax anymore? She doubted that, somehow. With a shake of her head, Axley rose from her seat.  [color=ff8b8b]“And just where do you think you’re going?”[/color] Axley shot rather pointedly at the only person by the exit, making it quite clear she intended to chide him.  [color=ff8b8b]“I hope you weren’t planning on leaving so soon to nightfall.”[/color]

[color=dda0dd]“Just getting supplies before the sun goes down. It will save us time if we intend to leave in the morning.”[/color] Sasuke kept his answer short, sweet, and to the point. He had no idea what he did wrong this time, but daylight was burning and he wanted to be back well before the sun said “nope, I’m gone” for the night. [color=dda0dd]“Was there something you need from the general store or something? That’s where I’m headed.”[/color]

As expected. Going out for supplies, with evening close at hand. Axley’s stare would practically burn through Sasuke’s head as she folded her arms.  [color=ff8b8b]“We have to warn the mayor in the morning, remember? We can’t leave until then, and he’s already in the center of town. Might as well swing by there tomorrow, that way we can conserve energy without getting all stressed out. Relaxation’s important to morale, you know…”[/color]

Sasuke shrugged. [color=dda0dd] “All the more reason to do that stuff now. If we swing by in the morning, we can warn the mayor and get on the move without any extra effort.” [/color] He was so used to angry people by now that her look of intense displeasure might as well be directed at a boulder. [color=dda0dd] “Is there something wrong with that?”[/color]

Of course he’d resist. He was so intent on being prepared that he couldn’t even manage to think about a night off. Axley knew he’d shrug her off, but why was she so frustrated with that?  [color=ff8b8b]“Yes, there are several things wrong with that. First of all, you’re making me very annoyed.”[/color] Axley drew closer to the sellsword, the burning look of annoyance still lingering in her eyes.  [color=ff8b8b]“Second, if you’re going to be all gung-ho until we die, then you’re gonna die of stress before zombies or cannons or anything else.”[/color]

Axley snapped her fingers, directing him to turn back at her and meet her gaze.  [color=ff8b8b]“You wouldn’t let me down like this, now would you? Or are you going to make me break out my lethal weapon?”[/color] Axley was going to make this man relax if it was the last thing she did. At the very, VERY least, the two of them needed to catch up, and this could very well be their final opportunity to.  [color=ff8b8b]“The choice is yours.”[/color]

Sasuke couldn’t help but chuckle. All this over taking a break? He had to give it to her. At least she was persistent, and at least she was at least trying to look after other people, in her own way. After all the fighting, marching, and general crap they went through on the way here, a few hours of rest was the least the group deserved.

Once again, Sasuke shrugged. It was clear that he was too dog-tired to argue over something as small as this.  [color=ff8b8b]“Alright, but we’re going to have to hurry it up in the morning. Mayor or no mayor, we need to get those supplies and get out of town quickly. If we can’t do either, then all of us are in for a rough march.” [/color]

That said, he stepped away from the door… but quickly took the opportunity to stare death straight at the unruly drunkard at the bar that he had noticed. Since he was staying put, he might as well do his part since that filth happened to be looking in Sasuke’s general direction. Sure, the monk had it handled and the girl was likely used to it, but it didn’t hurt to take half a second to pitch in. Not only that, he was the only one in the bar who was so obviously armed to the teeth. Besides, if it ended in blows, knocking people like that around was easily one of Sasuke’s favorite parts of the job.

Having done his duty, he looked at Axley as if nothing at all had happened. [color=dda0dd]”So… now what?”[/color]

Finally. Axley was actually mildly disappointed he didn’t fight a little harder. It would have segued better into her plan for relaxing the night. Regardless, the relenting of her friend brought a smile to her face.  [color=ff8b8b]“Yeesh. You’ve gone soft. Few years ago you’d have fought me just to have to stay in for a dinner.”[/color] Sasuke had nearly brought her on his arms deals in the past, and it had taken common sense and her patented death stare to get him to think more wisely. Perhaps he’d grown up a little in their time apart.

[color=ff8b8b]“Well, personally, I’ve been getting antsy with all this marching and running without even so much as a break. I personally am going to my room. You are free to do...whatever, I suppose.” [/color] Axley cast a side-eye at the drunkard, but he was more than dealt with for the time being. [color=ff8b8b]“So I’ll leave that to you, I guess.”[/color] Axley spoke leadingly, knowing he’d likely get an idea of where she was going with this. She turned back to the innkeep, taking the key to the room Fergus had already paid for, and turned away from him, heading towards the stairs to the second floor. Before she did, however, she brandished her lute for Sasuke to see before holding it in her grip tenderly, already getting to tuning her precious instrument. To anyone who’d heard her conversation, they might have gone in the completely wrong direction. But Axley had a date with her lute in mind, and certainly would appreciate the company.

Sasuke’s wheels began to turn, and a brief moment passed in which Axley used her charm to subliminally suggest to Sasuke some sort of activity that might keep him from inevitable boredom down below. It was true that he’d grown up a bit, but in Sasuke’s mind it was more a matter of knowing when to pick a fight and when it was best just to let things happen. With the drunkard forcibly tamed, Sasuke had already lost his potential punching bag. His head had already fizzled out after trying to go through what few ideas he could come up with for entertainment before Axley started waving that lute around. [i]Well that’s actually a solid idea. At least I don’t have to deal with anything awkward tonight.[/i]

[color=dda0dd] “If you want company, I can lend a hand where I can. I haven’t sung for anything in years, so I could use a bit of practice.” [/color] Sasuke paused, and decided to nonchalantly continue. [color=dda0dd]“At least I’ll know whether or not I sound like a pig in heat during the next party [i]before[/i] it starts.”[/color]

It took him a moment, but finally he was giving the response she wanted. She knew how much he had enjoyed her playing two years ago, and now that she was doing it for a living, she had honed it beyond her skills then...at least in her opinion. She let Sasuke follow behind her, walking down a plain hallway before picking the door on the left the key fit into, opening into...oh. Axley nearly smacked her face in annoyance.  [color=ff8b8b]“Double room. Shoulda figured. I guess CIlia’ll have a roommate, at least.”[/color] Axley took three steps and flopped onto the first bed, sighing happily at the feel of a real mattress, not just some straw-stuffed sack that she had known during her worst moments of poverty. Perhaps the inn was not extravagant, but it was enough.

It was a moment before she got back to her lute, carefully working the kinks out of it and making sure spending time outdoors had not damaged it.  [color=ff8b8b]“I had a feeling you might need a bit of this if we were going to catch up again. If I remember one thing, it’s that you always listened.”[/color] A faint smile ghosted her lips as she plucked a string, hearing it make the exact tune she wished it to.  [color=ff8b8b]“Perfect.”[/color] Axley closed her eyes, her fingers gently tracing along the strings.  [color=ff8b8b]“Any requests?”[/color]

[color=dda0dd]“The only songs I know have to do with fighting, so it’s all up to you. I know pretty much all of them, but nothing else, really.”[/color] Sasuke never really kept good company after he and Axley had parted ways. It was always with some mercenary company, a random military unit, or even a noble’s household guard. Just about the only songs he vividly remembered were either ones meant to scare people off the field or get the troops ready for battle during a tense night of waiting for a terrible dawn to break. [i]Hopefully, it won’t be either one for us.[/i]

No request? Axley gave Sasuke a curious eye for a moment, wondering just what he was thinking in that moment. Nothing had stood out to him before, so perhaps she’d have to find that song he had forgotten somewhere. Axley thought to herself a moment, thin fingers tapping the varnished wood gently before she nodded.  [color=ff8b8b]“Okay, I think I have one I can give you.”[/color] Axley closed her eyes as she always did; it truly helped her feel the flow of the music and the tone of her voice if she could shut out everything around her.

Her song was an old favorite of hers, one she played most during the late evenings at the bar when things would wind down...or whenever she felt down late at night. Her fingers gently played across the strings, working out the gentle tune of an old lullaby her mother used to sing her back before she had been forced to learn to be a noble’s wife. A simple, yet hypnotic song, simple to play yet always a joy to listen to, she liked to suck others into the tiny world she seemed to make for herself whenever she played her music. The words were of her own invention-the lullaby itself had been childish, so Axley had written her own lyrics, detailing the end of an era, the final warrior standing over his new kingdom and the wonders he knew he’d bring to those standing before him in awe. A very soft, yet reassuring song that Axley used to calm a crowd down for the night. She didn’t even know how he was reacting; she had lost herself in her world, only hoping he had joined her in it.

There wasn't much in this world that could make Sasuke's mind shut up for once. This was one of those precious few things. Sasuke had fought for years, for people and causes he didn't give two shits about. For him, it was always the next fight for survival. For the first time in two very long years, something vaguely resembling hope entered his life. At the very least, keeping it alive somehow seemed like a worthy crusade.

Before he knew it, he had joined in. He really did sound like a pig in heat at first; it had been that long since he sang a proper song. But, he found his voice and actually sounded decent - well, in his humble opinion at least. The song was simple enough, and he sang along where he could. It was in this moment that Sasuke very briefly forgot about this painful, miserable world. It was the only beautiful moment he had witnessed during the past two years. For once in his life, Sasuke was glad that he had chosen the path of a warrior. Now, he could protect the very few beautiful things that still existed in this wretched world. And for now, that was good enough for him.

Axley’s world had a welcome intruder-granted, a somewhat off-key intruder-but one she gladly embraced nonetheless. Occasionally she would get a drunken voice to join her own in song, but this was the voice of an old friend, whether she’d deceived him or not. Once the song had come to an end, Axley kept her eyes closed a moment longer, simply wanting the world she’d created to be the one she’d opened her eyes to. One free of the strife, worry, and apocalypse that plagued them. One where she was free to simply pursue her desires, her friends by her side. Alas, it was not to be so when she returned to reality, but at least one smiling face was still there.

 [color=ff8b8b]“And here I thought you forgot all but the war songs, you dirty liar.”[/color] Axley playfully punched her friend on the shoulder, sighing.  [color=ff8b8b]“This used to be the song my mother sang to put me to sleep, though with obviously much different lyrics. It’s one of the few pieces of home I still have, besides my sword and my lute. So it feels special to sing that every now and again. If I’m all that’s left of the Crawfords, maybe I can find some way to make my name right again. End of the world’s on us, after all...maybe they’ll forget the shithole my life was.”[/color] Axley laughed softly, but sighed weakly at the end. She suddenly felt very vulnerable. She drew closer to Sasuke, using the larger man’s shoulder to lean on softly.  [color=ff8b8b]“I know I’m the least capable of fighting of us all.”[/color] She spoke gently, her eyes fixed on the floor as she tried to keep herself from worrying too much.  [color=ff8b8b]“I worry I won’t be of much use if hell decides to catch up to us again. And Fergus has the connections at Lord’s Crossing…”[/color] It was clear Axley questioned her role in the group. Even if she was strong...it wasn’t in the right ways for their journey.

When she suddenly leaned on him, he blushed a little, but took it in stride. She was a trusted friend, after all. With that said though, Sasuke knew she was genuinely selfless in saying this. He felt compelled to say something… He just struggled to find something [i]good[/]. Comforting people wasn't exactly his strong suit, after all.

[color=dda0dd]"In all my years of fighting, I've found the toughest wars aren't won with strength of arms."[/color] Sasuke gave her one of the most certain looks he'd had in years. [color=dda0dd]"What matters is your strength of heart. As long as we stick together, they'll never beat us."[/color]

[color=dda0dd]"You've already managed to do the impossible by making it this far. I'd take you over a hundred swords any day of the week."[/color] Sasuke knew it was a pretty stupid line to say, but he knew it was the truth. She survived all the forces of hell could throw her way. He never met a hardened merc or even any Tepet with half that strength of will.

[color=dda0dd]"Besides, if I've learned nothing else, it's pointless to fight you. The same goes for those guys as well."[/color] In a way, Sasuke was right. Even if it was a stupid joke meant to set her at ease, he genuinely felt that she was far more valuable than she gave herself credit for. It was just that he didn't know how to get that message across.

Even though Axley knew what he said was a load of bung, Axley couldn’t help but smile a little.  [color=ff8b8b]“Then you’ll have to show me how not to dislocate my arm swinging one of those swords. I’m not using my lute as a weapon.”[/color] If she wasn’t getting it reforged into something usable, she likely wouldn’t have been using her ceremonial blade, either. Only two tangible relics remained from her old life, both precious in different ways. Still...she could tell he was trying, and that was comfort in and of itself. He wasn’t usually a particularly comforting man, she knew that much. The real world was cruel, he’d say, and bluntness was the only way people learned...yet to her, he’d lie to her face to get a smile.

It still worked.

 [color=ff8b8b]“Well, fighting Cilia would at least get the girl all fired up.”[/color] Axley smirked and shook her head.  [color=ff8b8b]“She’d be your type too, you know. She’s a fighter just like you. Might need to start picking your prize trophy wife before the apocalypse comes and swallows them all up.”[/color] Axley was goading him now and enjoying it; romance was never a topic either of them brought up between each other, and one Axley used to avoid considering how they had been introduced. But with the world beneath them suddenly seeming far away, it felt right to poke a little fun his way.

[I]What?[/I] Sasuke knew he was as smart as a sack of bricks when it came to romance, and he knew something was coming. But, Axley was always a step ahead of him on that front, after all. It only made sense that this one still hit him out of the blue. A reddened face bore the marks of Axley's victory, and there was no denying that she won that round.

Sasuke had to say something to make a comeback, and say it fast. With a playful nudge, he smirked back. [color=dda0dd]"That's if you haven't gotten to her first."[/color] It was life's little moments that made it bearable. He wanted this to last forever, but the back of his mind was always gnawing at him like a cancer to press forward. He only dreamed of the day when he'd no longer worry about that anymore.

Axley couldn’t help but scoff at the sellsword’s comeback.  [color=ff8b8b]“Oh, you’d like it if I just started making out with the redhead, wouldn’t you.”[/color] Axley left her position nestled on his shoulder to give him a light shove.  [color=ff8b8b]“Dirty pervert.”[/color] Axley stifled a giggle before sighing contentedly, leaning back in for a bit of support. For such a well-built man, his shoulder was more comfortable than it had any right to be. She shook her head, thinking about the future...if there was one. What would she even accomplish in what was left in the world? Would she even have a husband? Or would she simply continue being a bard in some city somewhere? And what kind of aspirations were those?

 [color=ff8b8b]“We’re going to be alright, right?”[/color] Axley spoke again, still worried about what was to come. The dark legion had destroyed all of the Imperial Rubble in mere hours. She could only imagine what they’d do to the rest of the area, especially once humanity began putting up resistance. They had to inform the highest-up about this if they were to stand even a chance...no doubt at some point they would be hunted down if any word got out on their escape.

Sasuke felt her warmth leaning in on him, and barely resisted the temptation to give in and just let it happen. [color=dda0dd]"We will. We just have to be smart about it, that's all. I don't think it will be easy, but it's not impossible. Just know that whatever happens, I've got your back. That's a promise."[/color]