Kade bit back a snicker at the man unenthusiastic explanation and even more displeased attempt to put them off their course. Rabbits and spears weren't going to be enough, he should have gone with something scarier. Like roaches.
"Sounds fun," The warrior agreed, nodding his head along Sid's...
Finally feeling the tension in the air disperse a bit Kade relaxed his hawk-like watch on the barkeep and turned his attention more fully on the food in front of him instead, though he still kept a ear on the man's instructions. Southwest, simple enough.
Even if he wasn't one-hundred percent...
Kade could feel the thread of tension seeping from Sid through their shoulders and while he felt a touch of sympathetic anger on his behalf castigating the barkeep would only serve in clamming up their most promising source of information. So instead of outright remarking on the previous...
Kade waited quietly as the barkeep took the coin with a distinct air of not wanting to respond to their questioning - he had a sinking feeling that he was right about the Whitecoats having come through here for business recently.
The big man's discouragement only cemented the feeling...
"Yeah, you'd think they'd be more concerned about stealing kids away right out from under the villagers' noses." Kade sighed, keeping his voice lowered so it didn't carry over to the old women eyeing the two of them.
Then again how long had this little operation of Ysanus' been going on...
After several days of - rather reluctantly - riding horseback, Kade and his mare had come to something of an understanding. Namely that she didn't drop him on his ass and in return he tried not to pull at her mane whenever she moved at anything faster than a walk. It wasn't much but it seemed to...
"Webbed?!" Kade huffed out on an incredulous laugh, nipping once at Sid's neck in reprimand. Then again just because. "As if I'm ever willingly in the water long enough to need-"
The barely audible objection faded away into a pleased groan, train of thought utterly abandoned, as Sid lips...
Kade waited out Sid's reluctance, pleased when he finally looked up at him and relaxed, his laughter rising up to join Kade's. They leaned together comfortably for a moment as the sound petered away into the crackling of the fire. Warmth seemed to blanket the two of them.
It... surprised...
Feeling even more baffled at the hesitant explanation, Kade felt his eyebrows drawing together in thought. Mostly trying to figure out how one would pick things up with a hook - stabbing them maybe? That didn't seem like it would be the most useful prosthetic he could get.
Maybe it was an...
"You miss Hive?" Kade remarked with barely suppressed laughter, thinking about how tense Sid had been when the herd had ran them down in Roke. "I dunno, for some odd reason I don't think Hive would agree to cart us around like these two girls. Even if they do try to break their own necks." ...
"Demanding?" Kade laughed brightly, the sound broken by a groan of pleasure as he stretched his arms over his head to work the kinks out of his back from hours of unaccustomed riding. "Kitten, you haven't seen 'demanding' yet."
Happy to have his feet solidly back on the ground once more...
"Ah, you have such faith in me." Kade mused with a hint of laughter, shaking his head once as if in admonishment over believing he'd be able to do anything more than slip off the horse's back and into a puddle on the ground.
By the time they did pull to a stop dusk was already beginning to...
"Really?" he asked, somewhat disbelieving. Sid looked so relaxed riding that horse that it was hard to imagine him being so new to it that he'd fall off, but then everyone had to start from somewhere. A slight grin tugged at his lips but he quickly suppressed it and listened intently as he kept...
"This is more than enough fun for me, thanks so much." Kade gritted out, smiling slightly at Sid's amusement despite his nerves. He couldn't bring himself to do more than enjoy Sid's attention even if that included teasing him.
Still he looked completely against the thought of moving any...
Kade snorted, not believing that apology in the slightest, but couldn't do much else with his focus so wholly on the mare. It didn't seem he was actually offended by Sid's amusement at his sake, just embarrassed, so it was probably just as well.
The suddenness of her reaction startled him...
Every ounce of Kade's concentration was on the thousand pound creature beneath him, hyper aware of every little twitch of the mare's muscles as if it would help him stay on her. Or give him some warning if she was about to throw him off.
It seemed to work, insofar as he hadn't hit the...
"I'll believe that when we go another day without a giant centipede attacking." Kade grumbled but a grin still held reign on his face - even with the distaste he felt for the slavers' deaths the little bit of good luck was heartening, especially when they still had to make haste to Salt Flats...
"Girl then." Kade corrected himself with a slight laugh as he secured his grip on the female's reins and flashed Sid a quick grin. The two horses, apparently fairly well trained or maybe just resigned to their fates, settled quickly into being recaptured with equanimity. The hard tack seemed to...
"Bribes?" Kade snorted a laugh, not even sure what they would use to bribe a horse with, but accepted the plan easily enough. It's not like they had any other option. Other than leave the horses behind.
Despite his trepidation, however, the speed the horses would give them was worth a...
With his lip caught between his teeth and his eyes unfocused it was obvious that Kade's concentration was elsewhere, steadily feeding his magic into the heavy bruising and coaxing the blood vessels into mending. The sudden tug forward caught him off guard; pleasantly so given that he ended up...