Fire Emblem: Fates Collide

[Scrin]

"Oh? ACTUAL employer? Sounds exciting, though I doubt your employer is as cool as Lady Hinoka!" Lelei skipped along the road beside Ruin, humming a tune as she went. Secretly, she was sizing up Ruin as they went along, though in a way he would never notice her doing. Fact of the matter was, he had no chance against her if she decided she wanted him dead, but on the other hand, he was able to land a decent blow on her, which is something she never expected. "Maybe Mr. Mysterious Mercenary here has a few secrets of his own. And secrets are exciting. If I want to find out his secrets, I gotta follow him around. Time to see what else Mr. Mysterious has up his sleeves."

 

[Ja13n]

"My employer isn't as old as Lady Hinoka, but is just as cool." They walked for an hour or so before they passed by a village, and Ruin took a side path to avoid it, the less he was seen the less the locals would think an invasion was happening, hell if they saw him it wouldn't be the first time he had to avoid pitch forks. "So, Lelei, why do you honestly want to travel with a Nohrian last I checked that would put a stain on anyone's reputation."

 

[Scrin]

Lelei giggled at Ruins question, then placed her hands together and batted her eyes at him. "Aww... Is the big bad mercenary worried about little 'ole me? Come on, Mr. Nohrian, just come out and confess your love for me. I know you want to..." Lelei had only been travelling with Ruin for a little while, but she knew already that she enjoyed picking on him. "But to answer your question, I told you already: I'm the Legendary Hoshidan Thief. How positive of a reputation do you really think I have?"

 

[Ja13n]

Ruin kept walking, 'she's defintely something else, love? She loves her jokes' He smiled slightly, "little one, I don't much care for your reputation to be honest, I'm trying to figure out why a 'legendary thief' would ever want to travel with someone who draws as much attention as I do, I'd be wary if I was you, they might start thinking you were a double agent and try and kill you." He defintely knew the dangers of betrayal, and of being called a traitor. This thief not seeming to care just made he happy for some reason, maybe having someone as strange as she was as a traveling companion would be fun, but at the same time age flipped her attitude really quick earlier, from attempting to kill him to wanting to travel with him.... 'It would be best to remain cautious for now'

 

[Scrin]

Lelei waved off his comments, not really concerned about it. "You would be surprised what you can get away with, even with everyone watching. Adds an extra layer of challenge, you know? Besides, everyone knows I'm a mercenary for hire, just like you. Lady Hinoka knows that better than anyone, in fact. That's why she gives me so much work and so much pay for that work. She knows that of she stops giving me challenges to complete, then I will go work for Nohr in search of more bounties. She basically pays me to be exclusive to Hoshido." Lelei giggled once more. She was definitely sneaky, but coming out with the advantage over a Royal Princess like Hinoka? That was one of Lelei's greatest accomplishments. With any luck, travelling with a mercenary like Ruin will challenge her skills more than Hinoka's bounties ever could.

 

[Ja13n]

Ruin shook his head, 'Doubt I can convince her to just leave me alone. God why did someone else have to have a bounty on the same bandits.' He sighed, she wasn't going to give up, not until she figured out more about him, and he really didn't want her to know about him. "Well, I bet you're good at taking things while distracting people with your other hand, or with your feminine charms." So she was a mercenary like him, not an actual loyal subject, that did make things somewhat better. "You seem to be one of the 'I just want to have all the fun' types. Just don't get us both killed while our job is incomplete, I'll be willing to travel with you."

 

[Scrin]

Lelei flipped one of Ruin's throwing axes (that she had slipped off his belt 5 minutes earlier) around in her hand. "Yea, I am really good at stealing, in case you didn't notice. Distractions, sure, but not so much on the feminine charms. That's just kinda creepy, you know? As for getting us killed, I'll be just fine, and you're probably gonna die even without my being around, so no use worrying about it." Lelei wondered just how much further this employer of Ruin's was...

 

[Ja13n]

Ruin noticed that Lelei was looking around inquisitively, while playing with one of his axes, though he did feel her take it just a small weight difference was still easily felt if you were used to working with assassins and cutthroats, "My, looking for my group, or possibly looking for the one who hired me? Well, we're about three days travel from where they're at. And that's if we're lucky enough that they weren't called to another place." He smiled. 'I wonder if she realizes I know she took more then one of my axes, maybe, she does know more then she seems.'

 

[Scrin]

Three days... Ugh, walking is so boring... Lelei steeled herself for the boredom. Hopefully some bandits or soldiers would find them eventually, give them a fight to add some excitement to the trip. Lelei took the axe in her hamd and threw it at a nearby tree. Unfortunately, she was far better with knives than axes, and the axe simply hit the tree with its handle and bounced off. "Mmm... No wonder I use knives and not axes like you do." Lelei retreived the axe and continued her throwing practice with it, with little success.

 

[Ja13n]

"Axes are good if you learn to throw them correctly, and they can inflict good damage no matter where they hit unlike knives." Ruin said off-hand, not really thinking about it. Three days of walking wasn't that much in the ways of entertaining, but it was good for the legs, that is to say, you kept yourself in shape. Seeing that she had a frustrated look on her face he smirked "I take it you're not the type of person who enjoys long quiet journeys, are you?" He also was watching how she threw the axes, she was adding to much spin to it, a rookie mistake, and he wouldn't be surprised if she was just throwing them to keep herself somewhat amused.

 

[Scrin]

"Haha, you think I don't like quiet, eh? So you noticed. I'm not surprised." Lelei continues throwing the axes, hurling them with entirely too much force for them to be effective at all. In all actualily, she had grown bored very quickly with throwing axes at trees, since there was no fun in it, and she was only doing it to blow off some energy. Her legs had certainly grown tired, but throwing the axes around was Lelei's way of exhausting her upper body as well.

 

[Ja13n]

After walking for half the day Ruin pulled out some jerky from his small pouch, luckily only a small portion of it had 'vanished' and took a few bites before finally asking what had been on his mind "So, you're a mercenary right? I didn't see that one coming when you introduced yourself as a Hoshidan thief, not just a legendary thief, or with how much you praise lady Hinoka, are you truely a freelancer, or have you been thinking of settling down here in Hoshido?" Ruin said, trying to figure out if she would be a good travel partner in the long run, or if he was going to be forced to cut ties at the first chance. Looking ahead he saw the path and the forest, and a felt little presence other wise, so now would probably be the best time to ask.

 

[Scrin]

Lelei could see it as plain as day on Ruin's face, as she munched on the jerky she took from Ruin, since Nohrian meat was better than Hoshidan meat in Lelei's experience, and she was fresh out of the Nohrian kind. The fact of the matter was, Ruin still hadn't decided if he was going to allow her to follow him around. The simple answer to this was that Lelei still hadn't decided if she was going to kill him or not. If she did, Lelei could probably get a good amount of gold from Hinoka for killing a Nohrian swordfighter, but on the other hand, the guy was rather interesting to watch, and Lelei loved interesting things. "I call myself a Hoshidan thief because that is where I was born, simple as that. I have no interest in who wins this war we're in. As for Lady Hinoka, she appears to be the only royalty I have met that possesses the same fire that I do. She is interesting, and rather lively, and I like that. Shes not bad, especially for a princess."

 

[Ja13n]

"Well, that makes sense I guess, I doubt you've had the...... Experience of working with one of the royal Nohrians, they are an exotic bunch, that's for sure, and luckily living as a mercenary the king normally just let's his children work with you." Ruin realized he was rambling and went silent. That man had personally killed the chieftain of his tribe. Luckily he had survived due to the eldest daughter's request to make him a soldier. He mumbled something and kept walking.

 

[Scrin]

"I worked with one of the princesses once. Rode a giant wyvern, but flying has never been a mode of travel that I could work with. Plus, she wasn't exciting, she just kept flirting with me all the time." Lelei shivered a bit. That particular princess just creeped Lelei the hell out.

 

[Ja13n]

"I..." Ruin stopped talking, the past should stay there, in the past, he had a job to complete and then he was to relax for a few days, before crossing the border and going to do a bounty for Nohr, had to keep his numbers balanced, 'that's right, I'm not loyal to anyone, I just need to keep myself from going under and keep moving forward.' He took a deep breath, if she didn't want to follow him beyond the border then fine, but he knew that she wouldn't stop following him until she wanted too. "Well, since I doubt you're going to stop following me around, I guess I'll just consider you my friend for now, little Lelei."

 

[Scrin]

"So, does this mean your employer is in Nohr? Sounds intriquing, I haven't been in Nohr since that last princess made me get out of that place." Lelei laughed nervously. "Is that the person we are headed towards? Because I might have to hide behind you when we get there."

 

[Ja13n]

Ruin laughed "No little Lelei, we're headed to the palace here in Hoshido. I miss working for the Nohr siblings, they normally have very bloody missions for me." Ruin cracked his knuckles and smirked, when fighting for Hoshido he did his best to make the things he killed as clean as possible, but he wasn't so kind when working for Nohr. He didn't mind the Hoshido way, nor did he mind the Nohr way, both he could stand behind, and both he enjoyed. Realizing he probably had a strange look on his face he shook his head. "...Not saying I only care for bloody missions though, simple ones where I only have to deliver goods or escort people aren't so bad either."

 

[Scrin]

Lelei giggled at Ruins very obvious enjoyment of bloody missions. "Boy, this guy is so easy to read." Lelei enjoyed the violent missions herself, but also the missions that require her to break into highly secured castles and get out without being seen. She enjoyed the challenge of being basically a ghost to the guards, but also having to fight in a battle that normally someone like Lelei had no place in. It was exciting and an adrenaline rush either way. "In that case, who in the Hoshidan castle is your employer...? You can't keep me in suspense like this..." Lelei crossed her arms and feigned pouting like a child, something that has gotten Lelei's out of trouble with some people catch her in their home on a few occations, hoping that it would work on Ruin as well.

 

[Ja13n]

"You'll find out in two in a half days, I'm sure you already met them before." Ruin smiled at her 'pouting and patted her head' "You're cute, fake pouting to get me to tell you more. You'll know when we get paid who they are, then we can find another bounty to go and do." Ruin smiled and kept walking, 'She won't be that bad to travel with, she's most definitely interesting and curious. I think this will be a fun little trip, at least, until she kills me in my sleep or wanders away due to being bored.'

 

[Scrin]

Lelei pushed his hand off her head, then turned her face from him and grumbled. "Well, what the hell are we gonna do for two whole days, Mr. Buttface?" Lelei perked up a little bit, putting her hands on the hilt of her knives. "Maybe I can beat you in a few more fights while we travel! You know... Sparring partners!"

 

[Ja13n]

Ruin couldn't stop smiling, she truly was like a small child, so full of energy and with such a disdain for being bored "Maybe tomorrow, or when it's time for us to settle for the night, I don't mind sparring, but I don't want to waste time or have us both tired for another group of bandits or anything like that." He did look forward to the chance to fight her again, this time not with as much of a chance to be killed, but he also didn't want to waste the time, once this bounty was done he would be able to leave and find another job, maybe even earn some trust from nearby villages. His armor and his hair was pretty unique, so there was a dead give-away to who he was, after all, even in Nohr most people didn't dye their hair how he had his, multi-color sure, but purple wasn't used often at all.

 

[Scrin]

"YYYYYAAAAAAAAYYYYYY! I get to beat up the Meanie McSwordsman again!" Lelei started blinking all over the pathway, into trees and anywhere else in sight while cheering like a schoolgirl with ADHD and a puppy.

 

[Ja13n]

Ruin hand his hand though his hair, letting it cover his right eye, and straightening it out a little bit 'She is way too excited about fighting me.' "Do you think we might actually run into fun though? I really wouldn't mind a much larger group of bandits charging us right now, it would be nice to see you fighting without the element of surprise." He said jokingly, though in their last engagement she did have a good advantage, he was playing the role of a simple swordsman, only fighting hard enough to not worry about dying to the bandits, and she wasn't, she seemed determined to get all of the kills she could, plus she had the element of surprise. He doubted he would ever match her speed, but she was slower then the assassins he used to run with, so he knew he could land more hits, though how efficient they would be.. that was another thing entirely, nothing lethal would land directly, unless he tired her out, and seeing how energetic she was... that was unlikely.

 

[Scrin]

"Without the element of surprise? Oh, how little you have seen of my combat style... I ALWAYS have the element of surprise!" Lelei blinked back beside Ruin, taking his hand and walking close to him. "I doubt there are very many bandits exist between here and the palace, since Lady Hinoka has had me taking bandits out for quite a while around the Capitol, but I hope we do run into some."