It's been ages since I did any writing so I figured I'd try my hand at reviving those skills. And I'll be using this thread to just post up random stuff I come up with. So like, if anyone is reading feel free to post your opinions and be honest.

[hider]It was a dark and stormy night. Just like every other. No matter the weather of the day or time of year the moment the sun set clouds would begin forming on the horizon. Everyone here was already used to it. She, was already used to it. She gave it little thought even as the first flashes of the evening started churning in the dark. It was not that many moons since she arrived in this forsaken land, this place where few entered freely yet many arrived at before the end. Men feared these dark lands and for good reason. Not her though. Well she did at first. The choice to come here was not one she made lightly. But she had few options. One can after all only run for so long before one runs out of places to hide. And with each new place came new and exciting people she could provoke into wanting her dead. Old habits dying as they do very hard. For the time being though she was safe here. Few dared pass the black boundary for fear of newer coming back. And for its part, her past seemed content to wait outside and let theirs land do their job. She didn't complain. If anything she appreciated the respite. And over time she even learned to relax and feel almost safe, almost at home. Almost... Funny how things work out.

Tonight however that luck appeared to run out. For days now rumor spread that strangers had come to town. Men from far away. Men looking for someone. Fiona knew what this meant. What she didn't know and didn't particularly care to find out was just who it was that had tracked her among the many who wanted her dead. It didn't matter in the end anyway. She would do what she always did and vanish in the night like she did too many times by now. [i]A pity[/i], she thought [i]I was just beginning to like this place.[/i] So it was that evening that she quietly settled her affairs. She packed her small bag with belongings, had one last meal at the inn and vent quietly into her room waiting for the lights to go out. And than, carefully as to not arouse suspicion she cracked open the window to the roof and leapt outside.

Fiona landed in total darkness, what little sound she made touching down obscured by the drizzling rain. She stood up carefully, slowly, like a cat in the night fearful still that she had been seen and prepared to get on her way. Just as she was about to make her step however thunder blasted the sky with a flash illuminating all. And in that second of light among darkness she could heard from behind her a familiar voice.
[i]"Evening, my lady."[/i]

Fiona froze in place. Her mind racing like a rat, cornered with its head stuck in a wheel of cheese. For a moment she hesitated as her instincts returned to her. And than as if by some dark magic a smile slowly crept onto her face. And she responded without turning or pause with a voice of charm.
[i]"A lovely one, isn't it?"[/i]

What the man behind her thought, she could not tell as much as she wanted to. And yet in part she did not. For as useful as it would be that knowledge would take all the fun out of this little game. A game made all the more engaging by the fact that one of them might end up dead. What ever response she expected however she did not have to wait for long. For the man behind her answered promptly and with considerable calm.
[i]"As far as this place goes. It's a bit late for a walk though. I trust you won't mind if I join you?"[/i]

This was not a question and it was not voiced as such. Still, she gave a simple nod as if not to acknowledge it and proceeded to step calmly into the night. The man stepped with her, keeping pace, not letting her out of his sight but newer coming closer than a few steps behind as they continued talking.
[i]"It's been a long time"[/i], she began in a flirtatious tone. 

[i]"Not long enough, or too long?"[/i] He cut her off but not abruptly, and in a tone that seemed to contain every bit as much stillness as the night surrounding them. 

[i]"Is that a question for me, or for your self?"[/i] The quickest way to a mans heart, they say was through his rib cage. And yet sometimes words could cut deeper than any blade. Fiona knew this and she relished this opportunity to drive those words in. The response however was not what she was expecting.

[i]"Neither, and both. Although I know you feel no such conflicts."[/i] The words were not what did it for her but the tone in which they were said. It was calm, peaceful, not the voice of a man scorned or vengeful but that of one fully and completely at peace. This frightened her. Vengeful she could deal with, angry she enjoyed, but calm... calm was something new, something unexpected... It put her at unease. But that was the nature of the game and she still had a few moves to play.

[i]"You've come too far for me to lie to you now. So no, there was nothing. As far as I am concerned what the two of us had was fun and nothing more."[/i] She picked her words carefully, and her tone. It was a standard attack. The honesty was there to pull his guard down so as to gauge the tone of his response.

[i]"I know."[/i] He responded calmly. [i]"That's not what I am here for though."[/i]
Now this was curious. It was at this point that she usually expected either a meltdown or a sword aimed squarely at her neck. But this encounter was anything but usual. And the man she now spoke was quite unlike the one she remembered leaving behind long ago. Well, she figured, might as well get to the point.

[i]"So, why are you here than? Have you come to kill me?"[/i] And that should really have been it. A moment from now, she expected, he would draw his sword and she was already reaching for her blade. They would cross in the moonlight and than... she newer got the chance. For the man did one thing she could newer expect.

[i]"Kill you? No. I've come to warn you."[/i]
[i]"He is back."[/i]

Lightning tore through the clouds and than the night went silent.
[/hider]

PS. I know I misspell newer. That's just my thing. It's something I've been doing since I started writing and it's since become a thing.