Bladecrest

[Gobbo]

Elias was a little surprised at how she was handling herself, and followed her for a little while longer before dropping silently behind her. He pulled his cloak around himself and tilted his head, watching her for a while. He expected her to freak out, but she did just the opposite. After a short while he walked closer, flicking her tail with his fingers.


"You didn't wait up. What did you want me around for again?"

 

[Shura]

Iris once again started to become more tense and aware of her surrounding as she stopped sulking and paid more attention to her surroundings. She shivered slightly feeling a bit panicked over it but managed to stay calm. The was until she felt something flick her tail and she hissed turning around quickly to claw at what ever it was until she notice it was the thief. She frowned deeply still angry over earlier and just continued on her path. "Thinking you would be a decent guide was a mistake." she grumbled under her breath wrapping her tail around her waist to keep him from flicking at it again.

 

[Gobbo]

Elias leaned back when he saw her go for the strike, chuckling a bit. "Of course I am. I'm a thief. What the hell did you expect?" he asked, walking alongside her.


"I didn't want you to come along anyways, but you insisted that you play the part of my shadow. If you wanna go off on your own, go right ahead." he said with a shrug. He didn't care if the girl stayed with him or not, though she was proving to be rather entertaining.

 

[Shura]

Iris snorted "I don't know what I expected honestly. You seemed skilled enough to hold your own but even that's debatable." She muttered not caring if she offended him in any way. She was still pissed off at his childish prank. She wasn't expecting some duty bound knight but it would have been nice not to have some jester as her so called guide.

 

[Gobbo]

"Think what you want. It's not like we're going to be permanent traveling companions. Any misconceptions you have about me has no bearing on my actual level of skill." he said, oddly articulate for a thief.


"That, and you're going the worst way possible. There's a bandit camp if we follow this road. Keep going this way, and in two hours someone will be wearing your tail as a tie." he said, motioning to a much smaller path that branched off the main road. "This way leads to another road that'll take us where we need to go, and trim a half day off the time." He turned and headed into the trees, his ears twitching for a moment from the cold. The deeper they went into the forest, the colder it got.


"We'll stop and make camp soon. We won't be leaving until sunset tomorrow." he explained. They had been walking for a few hours now, and soon it would be sunrise.

 

[Shura]

Iris blinked looking down the path making a mental not to mark it on the map later as she followed the Thief, still irritated with him but figuring she could tough things out until they reached the next town. She could find a proper guide there. She pulled her cloak around her more feeling a slight chill and was grateful she had grabbed her thicker winter cloak. She sighed softly as they came to a stop not realizing just how exhausted she was until she got a chance to actually sit. She set her bag down and sighed heavily feeling her legs starting to ache. They would be sore tomorrow for sure.

 

[Gobbo]

Elias sat down across from her, leaning up against a tree. The sun was just barely lighting up the sky, and he pulled out his glasses, sliding them over his eyes. "Go ahead and sleep, I'll get first watch." he said, pulling out a simple clay pipe. He packed the bowl and lit it with a flick of his fingers, a small spark of fire lighting from his index finger. He flicked it out and looked over at her, blowing a ring of smoke that drifted slowly skyward.


"Never thought I'd see a prissy, rich Neko wandering these woods. You must have been really desperate to leave if you asked someone like me to help."

 

[Shura]

Iris wasn't really too comfortable with idea of sleep out in the open with only a Thief to giver any kind of protection but she couldn't really be picky now. She sighed softly pulling her bag over to use as a pillow as she wrapped her self in her cloak as a make shift bed. She tugged her hood over her face to shade her eyes from the sun before looking over at the thief from under the shadows. "Yeah.. you can say that..." she muttered before closing her eyes.

 

[Gobbo]

"Hm. Well, tell me... Is it just because Mommy and Daddy locked up the poor princess and wouldn't let her have a life? Or something worse?" he asked, puffing away on his pipe. "Well, I'll tell you this much. You made a stupid choice, relying on someone like me. But, since we're already this far into it, know that I won't do a thing to hurt you unless you give me a reason. I'm a thief, not an assassin." he explained, offering her the pipe.

 

[Shura]

Iris opened her eyes to look up at him a moment not sure if she should tell him the truth or not. "Something worse...." she muttered her voice holding a tired edge to it but had a slight hint of resentment in her words. "Rather not talk about it." She blinked as the piped was offered and shook her head. Residual smell was okay but the smell of tobacco wasn't something she wanted on her cloak. especially if she couldn't wash it. "Doesn't exactly agree with my senses..."

 

[Gobbo]

"Fair enough." he said, leaning back up against the tree as the sun started to grow brighter. He pulled his hood up and sighed a bit, puffing away at his pipe. He couldn't figure out what would drive her to use him for help. He shrugged it off for now, and puffed away at his pipe as the morning weighed on.


---


It was mid afternoon and Elias was getting tired. He had started up a small fire and was cooking up some food, his pipe still in his lips. He watched the girl sleep, keeping an eye on their surroundings. It was a quiet day, just a few hunters had come by and left with little more than a smile and wave. The area they were in was safe from bandits, luckily.

 

[Shura]

Iris has curled up on her side as she slept, her oversize cloak covering her completely still as she rested. For once the girl looked at peace instead of scowling or irritated. Her ears flicked occasionally in her sleep but she never really woke. At one point she started purring as she reached a deeper state of sleep. For a girl born into a high class family she seemed oddly mismatched from where she came.

 

[Gobbo]

Elias cooked up some meat, lighting up his pipe again. The smoke helped him think, and he needed it right now. He watched her intently, having been able to see her in better light now. She certainly didn't have the temperament of a prissy rich girl, she didn't much look like one for that matter. He had learned years prior that he could learn a lot about someone by watching the way they slept. She put up a tough front, and she was rough around the edges... But she was scared of something. Only a scared person could find that much peace in sleep.

 

[Shura]

Iris ear twitched slightly as she shifted in her sleep starting to wake. She grumbled in coherently in her sleep as she stretched out very similar to a feline. Her eyes fluttered open unfocused at first but took in her surroundings confused at first until she saw the hooded thief and remembered she had finally escaped her home. She wondered what her parents must be thinking by that point, what they were doing. Probably grabbing any guard they could afford and scouring the streets.She sat up noticing something was cooking on an open flame. "What time is it...?" She muttered a bit groggy still

 

[Gobbo]

Elias looked at her, though it was hard to tell with his dark glasses. He watched her as she stretched and yawned, she had more in common with big cats than he thought.


Glancing up at the sky for a moment he thought, looking back at her. "1:28 in the afternoon. I made us some food, if you want." he said, taking a long draw from his pipe before picking up one of the pieces of meat. He bit into it, it wasn't the best food he'd tasted but it was better than nothing.

 

[Shura]

Iris squinted her eyes slightly to glance up at the sky wondering how he was able to tell so precisely that or he was just guessing. She nodded slightly "Uh yeah... thanks..." She muttered softly carefully picking up one of the pieces and biting into it. Not exactly the best but she was hungry so no real room to complain. She took note of how much more relaxed he seemed and wondered if that was just because he was tired.

 

[Gobbo]

Elias ate the rest of his meal in silence, scooting a bit around the tree so he'd be in the shade the rest of the afternoon.


"Something must have scared the hell out of you back in Bladecrest." he said, watching her as she woke up.


"I'm not sure what, and I know it's none of my business... But I've never seen someone sleep that heavily unless they were terrified. Sleep's the only respite some people get." he pointed out, puffing on the pipe.

 

[Shura]

Iris quirked a brow as he spoke up wondering if he just wanted to know about why she ran away. She wasn't exactly willing to start spouting off her life story, not some someone who she didn't even have a name for. "Or... it's possibly because I hadn't slept in nearly 24 hours." She suggested the statement being the honest truth. She had forgone a night sleep to get as far away from the castle as possible. She sighed stretching out her legs feeling them already stiff and soar from walking all night. Hopfully with some stretching it would eventually ease some.

 

[Gobbo]

Elias shook his head, checking the bowl of his pipe for a moment. "There's a difference between exhausted sleep and 'I'm finally free' sleep. Trust me, I've seen both." he said with a shrug. "I've seen a lot of things, girl. I know a lot of things. Sure, you were tired, but you're relieved to be away from that place." he said as he watched her.


Finishing off the tobacco he tapped his pipe out, laying down in the shade.


"Keep watch, and wake me when the sun's nearly down. Keep an eye on that fire, I don't need you burning down the forest. Or me, for that matter."

 

[Shura]

Iris tilted her head slightly not really sure what to make of the thief. He was good at reading people that was for sure but it didn't much matter now. She was free. "Alright..." she muttered with out much of an argument. She sighed leaning back against the trunk of a tree mind wandering back to what could be happening back home and how furious her parents must be at the moment. With the money gone it would probably look like she took it... or that who ever stole the money took me as well. Eitherway it didn't seem like she could ever visit this place ever again. She would probably have to cross the ocean before she could finally relax and settle down. She unfurled the map and started to study it figuring out what the best route would be.

 

[Gobbo]

Elias seemed to be asleep rather quickly, though it was hard to tell with the glasses he was wearing. He woke up now and again, though the only telling sign was his breathing went from slightly heavy to normal. He was a silent sleeper, which was to be expected, though occasionally he'd shift or mumble something in his sleep.

 

[Shura]

Iris watched the thief as he slept wondering what he meant by difference in sleep, just because she was relaxed? Well... of coarse she was she was free. Away from all of her old responsibilities and ties. She smirked slightly as she watched the fire and kept an ear out for anything approaching.


---


Iris had gotten half way through the day and started to carve little figurines with her knife. it was one of the view hobbies that ever stuck with her. The later in the afternoon it got the more Iris realized that she needed to get food. She dug around her pack for the food that would start to parish first mostly dried meats and bread but she did have a few fruits she put in there the day before. She pulled out an apple and started to eat wondering how late she should wait before waking up the thief. She held off until the sun was lower in the sky before nudging the thief awake with a long sick unsure of how he would wake up.

 

[Gobbo]

Elias' sleep was rather fitful, though he didn't manage to wake himself up. Though, when she poked him with the stick, something odd happened. The stick went straight through his body. What looked like sand started to pour from the wound, pooling up under his body. The sand spread, the colors of his skin and clothes shifting to tan before falling into a pile where he laid.


His voice suddenly sounded like it was over her shoulder, where he sat crouched on the balls of his feet. "Just say something next time, don't touch me. I hate waking up like this." he growled under his breath, lifting his glasses enough to rub his eyes.

 

[Shura]

Iris dropped the stick the moment it started to press into his body and his body dissolve to sand.She inched closer wondering if he was some kind of sand elf until voice started up from behind her. She jumped and spun around quickly blinked a few times confused. "What... the hell was that?" She asked looking between him and the sand, poking the sand a bit with another stick.

 

[Gobbo]

Elias saw as the sun was going down, pulling his hood back and his glasses off. He blinked a few times, letting his eyes get used to the light. "Kales'ta, protection magic. I always cast it before I go to sleep." he explained, trudging over to where the sand was and picked up his bag, shaking the sand from it. "If anyone touches me or anything I'm carrying, it activates. Makes it so nobody can steal my things or stab me in the back while I sleep." He yawned hugely and stretched.


"Get some food in you, we've got a ways to go tonight. There's a small town on the way that isn't on the map. We should reach it by midnight, we can get some decent rest there."