Of Shadows and Swords (Chiarra)

They moved away, and as soon as they were out of earshot, Archer was rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "That seemed like a very unnecessary cold shoulder. How were you to know a psycho maniac would appear in the woods late at night right when you happened to be there?"


Lucius just gave Archer a look and reached over to flick him in the ear. "Just be grateful, Archer." He said when the thief yelped and flinched away. "Don't pry."


"But I always pry! It's in my nature!"


Lucius huffed. "That's why I told you not to. I'll hog tie you."


". . . You wouldn't."
 
Natalie fidgeted a bit as Archer questioned her and she bit her lip softly. That was when Archer and Lucius started fighting. She leaned in close to Melody. "Do they always fight like that?"


"You get used to it," she shrugged. "And it can be very entertaining sometimes. You don't have to answer Archer if you don't want to though." Melody herself was interested in the answer herself though.


She sighed softly and said, "It wasn't really that I was supposed to know he would come after me right then, it was just..." she hesitated again.


"I was already told not to leave the camp and that Raven is the very reason why. Ever since our show a few weeks ago, he had caught sight of me and sensed me somehow. After that first night he tried to get at me, Master put a spell around the camp that would protect me, which is why I wasn't supposed to wander off." She blushed a bit, feeling ashamed of herself. "I hadn't really seen sign of him for a few days now so I thought we had lost him. I thought it would be safe just to go to the stream, but...I was wrong." She sighed again. "I'll leave you alone for the night, so goodnight." She smiled softly at them before leaving. She stopped once more and turned back towards them. "If you would like some dinner, there's some leftovers in the cook's tents," she pointed to it and then left again.


No doubt she would have to scrub the pots again, but she could count herself lucky that her master never raised a hand towards her. He really did care for her, he could just be stubborn and harsh sometimes.


Melody watched the girl go and she understood now. She could sympathize with the girl however, having been locked in her own cage once before. "I'll go get some food," she said as she looked at the boys. "I'll be back shortly." She headed off towards the tent.
 
Lucius opened his mouth to protest, then just flopped down inside the small tent and gave up. "Archer -" He started, but the thief was already moving away to follow after Melody.


"Yeah, yeah, I've got it." Especially after something so dangerous as that man, he knew Lucius wouldn't want her alone. Plus, it wasn't often Archer and Melody got to be alone for any length of time. He caught up to her well out of earshot from Lucius, and just pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before all but dancing out in front of her, walking backwards to look at her with a grin. "I came to help carry things, because that's what us men are useful for." 
((Night!))
 
She gasped when she felt someone kiss her cheek and then calmed down when she saw it was Archer. "Don't scare me like that," she said. She smiled at him though and chuckled at what he said. "I bet that's what you came for. I'm fine," she said. "Natalie said there was a spell around the camp so it should be fine." She let him tag along anyways. When they got there, a man was washing the dishes and cleaning up.


"Who are you?" he asked.


"We're guests, Natalie said we could find left over's here," she said.


"Yeah," he said smiling at her. "Soups over there." He moved and got a bowl and filled it, bringing it to her.


"Thank you," she said. "But we need two more please."


He eyed the other man but just simply nodded and got two more like requested. Luckily the bowl had lids to them which made them easier to carry. They were given spoons too. "Thank you," she said and smiled. On their way back, she stopped for a moment. "Archer?" she asked. "Tell me something about you. Like how did you and Lucius meet?" She so wanted to learn more about him. 
((Night))
 
Archer gave the men that fed them a big grin and a cheery "Thanks s' much!" As they left, and would've waved had he not been holding two bowls and two spoons. When Melody asked him about himself, though, his first thought was 'you don't want to know me'. He held that back, though, and just smiled a little. "I was hurt after I was left an orphan," He said, without any hint of sadness or bother in his voice, as if losing his parents at such a young age had been nothing, just another step in life. "So when Aaric found me and brought me home, Lucius and I met." He laughed. "He was a sad, scrawny little thing as a child. I remember not liking him at first," He shrugged, smiling to himself, "Either of them. But he's grown on me." They were family now, or at least as much of one as he would ever have.


((I won't be on pretty much at all today, I don't think, so I just wanted to get a reply in))
 
((Okay then))


She gave him a sad look, a sympathetic look, as he spoke to her. She couldn't believe how cheerful he could be when he spoke of his past, but she knew it was all an act. He didn't want to upset her. She wondered if he would ever truly open up to her. She said nothing more to him, except, "I can't imagine you two ever not liking each other." She gave him a smile, for his sake, and then started heading back towards their tent.
 
((@~@ So tired))


Archer just laughed and followed close behind her. "It wasn't so much us not liking each other as me not liking him. I was an angry little child and he was a worry wart even then, so he wouldn't leave me alone." It was comical, thinking back, but he knew that at the time he'd had several incidents where he'd nearly hit Lucius, and one where he'd nearly brained him with a statue Aaric kept in the house. Only Aaric's interventions had kept them from physically fighting, and eventually, after Archer had left 'home' a while, they'd started to get along.
 
((I know how you feel lol, getting ready to go to bed myself))


She gave a small smile and said softly, "Well, I'm glad you started to get along with him." Though she couldn't blame Lucius for being a worry wart. Considering what happened to his parents. "How...young were you?" she asked him, wondering if he would even answer her. "When Aaric took you in?"
 
Archer shrugged a little, making a thoughtful face. "Oh, I was . . . ten, if I remember correctly." He grinned a little lopsidedly, thinking back. "I didn't stay long though. Soon as I was on my feet again, I ran away, didn't go back for almost a year." He'd spent most of his time away, with frequent visits back to keep in touch and see the only family he would ever have again. It had worked for him. He couldn't be tied down by staying all the time.
 
She didn't know what to say to that, so she said nothing. They were back at the tent however and she walked inside. "We're back," she said. "And the soup is warm." She handed Lucius a spoon and the bowl she was carrying, taking hers from Archer and handing him the last spoon. She was deep in thought about what he said though, that she didn't realize she was staring at him.
 
Archer sat between Lucius and Melody and ate in silence for a while, as it was late and they were all tired, Lucius especially. After a while of ignoring Melody looking at him, though, Archer finally looked back at her and just raised an eyebrow. "Something on my face?" He asked, though he knew there was nothing. She was just staring at him like he'd grown a third arm, that's all.
 
"Something on my face?" His words snapped her out of her thoughts and she blinked, blushing with embarrassment when she realized what she had been doing. "I'm sorry," she said softly, looking down at her uneaten bowl of soup. She set it down and kissed him on the cheek softly before laying down on her side. "Goodnight you two," she said softly, facing away from them. She had finally learned something new about Archer and she wanted to learn more, but...she had to take her time with it. He no doubt had a horrible past that he probably didn't even like to think about. Her problems, compared to theirs seemed mediocre.


She had had loving parents who, despite having her marry a man they had no idea was evil, would do anything for her to keep her safe and happy, hence why she was so sheltered. Ignorance is bliss, she imagined them saying. Archer had been alone for most of his life, despite when he would come back to visit Lucius and Aaric. She didn't pity him or feel sorry for him though, she admired him. That he could grow up like that and still be able to smile and even laugh at his past. She wasn't as brave as him to do that. Soon, she was in a deep sleep, dreaming of nothingness. 
((Goodnight))
 
((Night))


Lucius was staring at Archer like he had three heads and eleven eyes, and though Archer didnt know where his brain came up with those numbers he thought them anyway. Finally, Archer rolled his eyes, set the dishes aside, and laid down. "Go to sleep and don't ask questions." He mumbled into the arm he used as a pillow, because Lucius would eventually have to find out on his own. Archer thought he would press for more questions, but after a long silence Lucius finally laid down and they all closed their eyes to sleep.
 
The next morning, Melody woke up a bit early and stretched, her stomach growling for the food she didn't eat last night. Sighing, she reached for it and started to eat her now cold soup, not wanting it to go to waste. She looked over at Lucius and Archer and got distracted by what he told her again. She shook it from her thoughts however, no sense in dwelling on it. They had important things to do today like actually getting into the fair.
 
Archer was already awake when Melody stirred, though he hadn't gotten up and had closed his eyes again shortly after waking. Lucius was still sleeping, tired from the night before, so Archer let him sleep and just rolled over with a yawn and a stretch. "Good morning, princess." He said, smiling groggily at her. "Something on my face again?" She was staring, and seemed to have been doing so for a while.
 
She shook her head no and said, "Sorry, must have been day dreaming." She returned her focus to her bowl of soup and finished it off. "So," she said. "How do you propose we try to get into the circus?"
 
Archer shrugged a little, yawning again and then just sitting up. "I propose we ask." He said, picking a piece of straw out of his hair and wondering where it had come from, then just shrugging and tossing it aside. "It can't hurt, and if they want to see what we're worth we'd best have something ready."
 
"I know," she said. "That's what I meant, sorry for not being clear. So...what are you going to try to do?" she asked him, setting the bowl aside.
 
((Agh brb))


Archer shrugged, leaning back on his hands. "I'm not sure yet. Gimme an hour and I'll decide on something." He'd learned many talents over the years, for his heists, and needed to decide which to call on.
 
((Okay ^_^ ))


She nodded. "Well, I'm going to go and take a walk." She gave him a smile and said, "Don't worry, I won't go too far." She grabbed the bowls, intending to set them down by the cook's tent, not sure if he would be awake yet.
 
Archer frowned a little, debating, then got up quickly and followed after her. "I don't trust magic!" He insisted when he'd caught up and she'd given him her 'I can do this on my own' look. "Plus, Lucius is boring when he's asleep, and how else are we supposed to have any time alone?"
 
She gave him that look when he caught up to her. "Plus, Lucius is boring when he's asleep, and how else are we supposed to have any time alone?" Melody smiled then and blushed a bit. "We don't get much alone time do we? And...um...I just hope Lucius isn't upset about me kissing you on the cheek last night," she said. She dropped the bowls off and then looked at him, smiling, before walking off in a random direction.
 
Archer snorted a laugh and just took one of her hands in his, leading her along in no particular direction, just generally away from people. "It's not so much upset as it is his eyes almost fell out of his head." Archer shook his head. "I think if we actually kiss in front of him, he'll have heart attack." Lucius suspected something now, but had no way of knowing for sure. For all Archer knew, the Raven could've dismissed it as a dream.
 
She blushed as he took one of her hands and she happily held onto his. "He's going to find out anyways," she said. "So why don't we just tell him and get it over with?" It would be for the best, she thought.
 
Archer just grinned back at her. "Because I want to see the look on his face, of course!" It would be hilarious, but when she gave him a disapproving look he laughed a little and shook his head. "All right, all right. I'll tell him soon." Lucius wouldn't be happy about it, but so long as Archer didn't hurt Melody, he would be fine.
 
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