Battle Scars

[LittleAndClumsy]

TeaMMatE11 and LittleAndClumsy

​

The girl just had one job to do, just one simple little job: kill the enemy soldiers. However, as she came across one particular soldier who had lost his helmet in battle, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Years later, the two cross paths again though will this time be any different?

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

Character Sheets


Name: Viviana Williams


Age: 24


Alliance: The Western Kingdom Arados


Weapons: Polearm and crossbow


Personality: Viv is known for being quiet, the female doing her best to keep a low profile due to the circumstances of her service. She very seldom trusts others and prefers to keep all others at a distance for fear of being hurt by them. However she does have a soft spot for children and animals as well as the elderly and the injured, which has been causing a problem with her as it creates a moral dilemma for her. The woman is very loyal to her King and would do anything for him, however she is starting to realize that even she has limits and that is causing some confusion because she wants to do right by her people, however she also wants to do right by others. 


Background: The Williams family has dutifully served the Kingdom of Arados for many generations and while it is rare for women to serve, after Viviana lost her younger brother Alleren in battle she took his place. The King would not allow her to serve alongside his men and so it became her duty to kill any survivors from the other Kingdom. 


Appearance: Viv

 

[TeaMMatE11]

Name: Drakon Nightingale


Age: 25


Alliance: The Eastern Kingdom Sevete


Duty: knight


Weapons: longsword


Personality: leader-like, quiet, does his duty as a knight.  Has battle scars, both physically and mentally.


Background: Born poor, he had no way to rise up in society.  When the war started, he began his climb up the ranks.  He's been in successful battles against the Western  Kingdom, and wants to kick down every single tower the Western Kingdom has.  He has the spirit of a warrior, and was always was loyal to the Eastern  Kingdom.  While he's been injured, it has been nothing serious so far.  just scratches and gouges of skin and meat.  As time passed, and he grew of age, he began to climb the ranks among his warriors, earning their respect and the ability to command troops in battle.  Many have fallen to his sword, and his attacks have caused the deaths of many soldiers as well.  He believes he can shorten this war, using tactics that the King of the Eastern Kingdom disagrees with, and his tactics, have led to many successful battles.


Appearence: 

Without armor: short brown hair, blue eyes, fairly skinned, stands at 5'9".  

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

The sounds of steel clashing was all Viviana could hear from the spot where she had been stationed, the female being told to wait before she was to join into the fray. It was her duty to kill any survivors and that couldn’t quite be done if the battle was still going on. The Eastern Kingdom had attacked their borders yet again, causing yet another horrendous turf war. When they would give up, the young woman would never know. This war between the Eastern Kingdom and the Western Kingdoms had been going on for decades and it continued to get worse and worse.


Finally they had made the Eastern Kingdom’s knights fall back and she knew it was her job to kill off any survivors that had been left behind. It was rare for them to leave their own but in the cases that they did, it was Viviana’s duty to make sure that none of them went home. As the trumpet sounded, she marched forward with about five other knights and began to search the field for any remaining Eastern soldiers. Any that she found were immediately stabbed in the throat, a blow that was sure to finish the job.


It went on like this for at least four hours until she found herself approaching a ravine, the female confused to see a glint of armor not far from the bushes. While she had originally intended to rest for a brief moment, she knew that was no longer an option because there were bigger things to worry about, such as making sure none of the enemies could report what the Western kingdom was up to or what they had supply or rank wise. Her duty was serious.


However, as she found herself staring down at a brown haired male with fair skin, a feeling of pity rose up in her gut, the dark haired female removing her own helmet and leaning down to observe him. She set her weapon next to her on the ground, looking him over with a frown. Never before had she found one with their helmet off, never before had she been forced to look these other humans in the eyes as she took their lives.


Those blue eyes of his were mesmerizing, even in the weakness displayed in them as he was struggling for his life. “Shh. Just stay down until we’re gone. You’ll be okay.” Viviana soothed, patting a mixture of herbs onto one of his visible wounds. She stuffed the mixture of herbs into his gauntlets and looked around to make sure no one had witnessed this act of betrayal. Hearing familiar voices, she looked down at Drakon worriedly and then to the approaching band of knights who had come to find her.


Immediately she rose to her feet, the female displaying her blood covered hands and smiling grimly at her fellow knights. “Some of the blood sprayed up onto my face, I had to remove my helmet so I could clean it off.” Viviana lied, turning to kick the Eastern knight’s body and then turning her attention back to her party. “I think that’s the last of them.”  Viviana spoke, her head held high as she began to lead the crew away from Drakon.


She allowed herself to cast one more glance towards the fallen male before sliding her helmet back on and continuing forward, trying to forget the face that just caused her to betray her people. It was a momentary moment of weakness – one that won’t happen again. She reassured herself, though she knew that if she had been caught assisting one of the enemies that she would be named a traitor and killed.

 

[TeaMMatE11]

Just hours before, the Western Kingdom came knocking on the Eastern Kingdom's door.  They were hopelessly out-manned, and Drakon knew this.  He was in front of his legion, ready to fight.  The battle was worse than he expected.  As he charged into battle, a Western Knight charged him, and Drakon sidestepped and pummel'd the knight's head.  He moved on.  He clashed swords with another soldier, blocking, parrying, and eventually getting the stab through the plates of his opponent, by placing one hand on the blade to make for a more accurate stab.


As time passed, the soldiers grew weary, and so did Drakon.  His heavy plate armor kept getting heavier, along with his sword.  He was eventually knocked down by one Western Knight.  Drakon hit the floor, hard,  He nearly died there as well, if another one of his legionnaires didn't save him.  As the battle raged on,  Then that is when he got stabbed in the back.  Non-leathally.  One of the Western Knights was carrying an armor-piercing sword, one made to destroy chain mail, which Drakon was wearing in places where the plate didn't cover.


He was in agony.  In great pain.  He couldn't do anything.  He was falling, falling down, not able to grasp his sword, and it fell right next to him.  One second he's up, the next he's laying flat on the ground.  His helmet was knocked off.  That's when the executioner appeared.  He closed his eyes as the Executioner came.  He opened them again, and saw a...female?  He blinked.  A female knight?  He wasn't thinking.  What he should have done was to try and grab his sword.


Which he did.  His reach was very small.  He gave up reaching when she tried to give him medication.  There...others?  He was too weak even to speak.


After she left, he passed out.  The next moment, he's on a stretcher, headed into unknown territory.  His vision was blurry.  Where am I...  He saw the flag of the Western Kingdom.  He feared for his life.  Where are they taking me?  They put the stretcher down, and tossed him onto the bed.  He also noticed his wound was patched.


That's when 3 guards and an important looking person came into the room.  "Who let you live?   there was supposed to be no one alive."


Fearing what would happen to the girl if he told the truth, he said, "Sir, I know you're not going to trust me-" He paused from the pain.   Grunted a little bit.  "Everything happened so fast, I don't know who or what happened."


"Hmph.  Then one of my executioners didn't do their job.  I will find out who."  The general left the room.

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

It wasn't often that Viviana did anything foolish, but this one time had surely taken the cake. This time, she had gone too far and she followed her party, the female debating on sneaking back and finishing the job. They always found out when one of the executioners didn't do the job, this time would certainly be no different. With that in mind, she thought of a way to turn around so that she could go back and put that Eastern Knight out of his misery. 'When you left him, he wasn't moving. He's unconscious. They won't know whether he's alive or dead.' She tried to reassure herself, however, no matter what she thought, she knew the truth. They would eventually find out, and they would come for her. 


It didn't take them long to return to the battle camp, her eyes focusing on the familiar flags that were posted at the entrance. Her Kingdom's sigil, a wolverine stood in front of a green and gold background. Under the wolverine's feet laid a raven, the creature dead. That's what they did to their enemies - they decimated them. The Western Kingdom was relentless in battle, vicious warriors that were bred to battle. The girl walked herself to the general's quarters with her team at her sides, the team being prepared to tell the general the good news, that there were no survivors. Or at least, that had been the original plan. However, the sound of a trumpet playing caught her attention and she turned to see the Eastern knight that she had helped being carried in on a stretcher. 'No.' How could they have known? How could anyone have known? 


The executioner team was dismissed as the general began to interrogate the man in question, trying to find out who had let him live. Viviana was quick to dismiss herself from the others, claiming that she was going to the dinner hall. But that wasn't her intentions at all. Instead, she snuck behind the tents to the stables, the female grabbing herself two of the white stallions that were used in the grand march for battle. 'You should have just killed him! What were you thinking?!' It was too late to go back now, even if she did go and finish the job, she would be beheaded for helping an enemy knight. 


A few moments after Viviana had removed herself from the area, the one who had investigated her work stepped forward into the general's quarters, the male surrounded by the general's guards. "Sir, if I may. That knight came from Viviana's quadrant. I saw her leaning over him. She had taken her helmet off, claiming that she had been sprayed in the face by this man's blood. I knew she was lying once I saw that there was no blood." Jon spoke, looking between Drakon and the general. He wasn't above betraying his own people to get ahead, he would do anything to rise to the top. 


Soon the search began and Viviana silently cursed as the hounds were brought out, many guards heading straight for the dining hall. She didn't have long and she watched as Jon lead the general toowards the dining hall. This was her window, she needed help. Slowly, she crept past them, going for the general's tent with the two horses she had stolen. They had already tagged her for betrayal, what could hurt her now? Certainly not theft. She tied the horses up behind the tent, rushing in through the back and finding Drakon on the stretcher and looking around hurriedly. Part of her was tempted to kill him, to end this now and turn things around on Jon but she knew that he wasn't the only one who knew the truth. They all did. Drakon had come from her quadrant. 


"Can you move? We've got to go now, before they find us." The female spoke hurriedly, kneeling beside Drakon and watching the opening of the tent. If he didn't hurry, she would leave him behind. 

 

[TeaMMatE11]

He heard someone rustling outside his tent.  Then the girl appeared again, telling Drakon that they need to go.  There was a certain urgency the girl was showing, along with signs of stress and compassion for him.


"Oh.  You again?  I can try, but..."  He grunted as he attempted to get off the bed.  He stood for a few moments.  "I...I guess so.  Where are you taking me?  Aren't you supposed to kill me?"  He was confused, but at the same time, in awe that the girl went out of her way to try to get him out of here.  He was in pain, as the injury he took earlier was a stab just above the right hip.  "Ugh...I'll follow you as fast as I can."  This female was stunning-her glowing skin, her brown hair flowing down her shoulders.  It was a sight to see.  The odds were not good at all that both would make it out alive.


Drakon shook his head.  No way, is that going to happen.  She's my enemy.  


But she's helped you out.


How?  By getting us both in trouble?


Well...possibly.  This isn't a chance meeting.


And how do you know that?


The voice in his head kept going back in forth, leaving more questions for the girl's motives.  He wanted to know why she was doing all of this.  Why she spared his life.  This question bugged Drakon to the point where his head started hurting.  Surely the Eastern Kingdom won't kill her on sight?


What?  What makes you think that you're going back home?


The voices still haven't disappeared.  He was going to be driven to insanity at this point, with all the in-the-head bickering on the Western Knight's motives.  He was slightly edgy, as he didn't know what the girl was planning.  After all, they literally just met, and she was supposed to kill him.  But she didn't.  And now they're stuck in this situation in which either kingdom wanted their heads.  If the Eastern Kingdom finds out he's alive, they will raid this base.  If they escape from the Western Kingdom, the girl and Drakon would have a bounty on their heads.  

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

A look of shock and confusion was sent her way from the Eastern Knight who lay on the stretcher, the male clearly being surprised to see her returning so soon. Or maybe he was surprised to see her in general. Even part of Viviana was surprised that she was standing here in front of the injured man from the Eastern Kingdom, the man whom she had left alive. “There is no trying here, you get up or you die. Now come along, we’ve got to be leaving now.” Viviana urged, hesitantly moving forward to help him to his feet. He was asking so many questions and she narrowed her eyes at him irritably. “No time for questions, they’re coming. They’ll kill us, we have to go now!” Viviana snapped, the female starting to think it would have been better to leave him behind. Why was she so keen on risking her own life for him, not once but twice?


Once he was up and moving, she removed herself from the tent, heading straight for the two horses that she had stolen for their escape. What stood waiting for her made her stop where she was standing, her eyes widening as Jon and the General stood with smug smiles. All she had weapon wise were her polearm and her crossbow, the latter option being useless unless she hit the other two with it. “What’s the meaning of this, Viviana? First you fail to do your job by allowing this man to live, and then you go back to rescue him. Who is he to you?” The General was watching her closely and the woman looked between him and Drakon and the back to him again, just hoping that she could convince him that she had meant to finish the job. “Sir, I was mistaken when I had checked him. I had thought him to be deceased. I came here to take him back to the spot where he was fallen so that I could finish the job. I simply wanted to kill him where I originally find him, so that the Easterners have no reason to suspect that any of their men survived today.” It was a solid attempt at a lie but between the way that Jon and the General were looking at her, she knew they weren’t buying it.


“If that is the case, why not kill him here?” Jon questioned, causing her to tense and look between him and the General. “If I were to do that, it would be hard to sneak him back to the spot where he should have originally died. It was better to get him to willingly go with me.” Viviana replied, the female glaring at Jon. Of course he had been the one to rat her out, she really shouldn’t have been surprised. “If you will allow, General, I’ll go and I’ll finish the job.” Viviana told him, doing her best to stick to her original lie. Maybe if she insisted on finishing the job enough, they would feel bad for her and believe that she had really made a mistake. The second the General stepped forward she knew that wasn’t going to be the case and so she looked to the weapon rack that stood next to her, the female grabbing one of the broadswords and pointing it at the General. “Don’t make me do this.” Viviana warned, stancing herself between Drakon and the General.


What happened next was a surprise to everyone as the General drew his sword and charged at Viviana. She was quick to raise her own sword, meeting his with a screech from her own sword. “Kill the boy!” The General ordered, pushing down on the sword, trying to break Viviana’s grip on her own sword. The female spiraled out of the way, drawing her sword away from the General’s and sending his sword into the ground. She brought the hilt of her sword down onto his head, knocking him unconscious and turning her attention to Jon as he charged. “You’re no better than the whores who beg and plead for his attention. You’d do anything to be one of his guards, wouldn’t you?” Viviana sneered, stalking towards Jon with a malicious glare. He would die by her hands for his betrayal, she would make him pay. He was weaponless, the male now stood no chance against her.


She lunged for him, the female doing her best to knock him back onto his back. He was quick to jump out of the way and she was quick to change her pursuit methods, the girl now slashing at his face. He rose his arms to stop her but the blow landed and she watched him fall onto his back, blood slowly pooling around him. Green eyes peered up into her blue eyes, the male looking at her as if he thought that she wouldn’t follow through. This time, she completed her mission and she sunk the blade into his mouth, sending it through the back of his skull into the ground. Slowly she turned to face Drakon, her eyes narrowed at him. “We need to leave now. Mount your horse.” She ordered, the female leaving the sword and mounting her own horse.


Once Drakon was on his horse and situated, she gestured for him to follow her out of the camp. While the horses were trotting through the camp she focused on loading her crossbow, the female preparing to take out the archer that was posted in the sentry tower. No doubt soon word would spread about her betrayal if it hadn’t already, they didn’t have time. Upon leaving the encampment, she shot the archer, hitting him square in the shoulder. That would make it nearly impossible for him to shoot at them and once they were out of the tents she set her horse into a full gallop, speeding towards the battlefield.


Really, she had no idea where she was going to go but she had more important things to focus on right now. They would be searching for them, they needed to get across a river, do something to keep the hounds from following their scent. Their howls were loud and she knew that it was only a matter of time before the search party came rushing out of the camp. The only river that she really knew of was the one by where she had originally found Drakon on the battlefield, that was her best option. Though she found herself looking back at the Eastern knight, wondering what to do with him. Obviously she couldn’t go to the Eastern kingdom and the Western kingdom wanted her head on a stake so there was no going home. Her best bet was to pretend as if she were going north and then turn around and go south. The Westerners seldom dealt with the Southern Kingdom of Crehenson so that was her best course of action.


"We go to the river and we part ways. If your people will take you, you should go back to them." Of course she wasn't going to tell him where she was going because if he got caught or chose to pursue her with his people to catch her for information she didn't want him to know where she had gone. So far her plan was to cross the river and follow the current to the east and then head south before she got too close to the eastern border. That meant that she would be traveling with Drakon for a little while and that was until she decided to get rid of him.

 

[TeaMMatE11]

Drakon stood up, from the bed, hand on the wound.  He saw all the commotion go down, the  girl killing her own people.  Well, no turning back now.  I can't exactly revive them.  He followed Viviana, as quickly as he could, and mounted the second horse.  He still didn't know what the girl was planning.  As they rode away from the camp, Viviana told him to cross the river and head back.  "Wait!" he shouted.  He stopped his horse, and Viviana would hopefully stop hers as well.  They were far enough from the military camp that they won't be found for hours.


"Number 1) why did you save me?  And 2, where are you going?  You're wanted by your kingdom, ours will kill you on sight.  And 3...why did you spare me when you've not spared others before?  I'm in your debt for saving me."  He looked into her eyes once more.  Eyes that you could so easily get lost in just by staring at them.  He looked away for a quick second.  "Look, I don't know how I feel about this."  There was definitely a trust barrier between them.  As far as I'm concerned, you can't trust her.  But why can't I trust her?  She's save my life not once, but twice now.  She should be loyal to the Western Kingdom.


But she isn't.  


Are you saying that you WANT to trust her?  You can't.  It's part of war.  You NEVER trust your enemies.


This one's different.


How?


Enemies...kill each other.  We haven't killed each other yet, have we?  Nope.  Then there's something deeply wrong with this picture if we're enemies.  We're not friends, either.  But the least she could do is let me go with her.


Thoughts were crossing his mind.  Part of him wanted to trust her.  Part of him wanted to get away from her.  Part of him wanted  to be in her life.  He was being torn into shreds right now, with his body pulling him in several different directions.  This incident may have blurred the lines of war for the both of them.  On the outside, he looked fine.  On the inside, it was his mind and his heart that were screwing him over.  The sun was starting to set over the Western Kingdom, leaving a nice glow of orange in the sky.  They would continue onward after his questions were answered.  "I promise I won't ask anything more until we're out of here.  I know you don't trust me, and I don't trust you.  But I am in your debt, either way.  I can convince our High King to let you in after I explain what happened and what is going on."


He tried to sound as convincing as possible, almost coaxing her to come with him.  "You'll be safe under our protection.  I don't know how else to repay you.  I don't have any gold coins on me, nor would the amount settle saving the life of a knight."  He tried to sound as convincing as possible when you're riding on a horse and injured with a stab wound.  He hoped the High King, or at least the guards would let her in.  After all, he was high in the ranks, an important person.  Most of the people Viviana has executed were mainly grunts.  If I can tell them that...that will surely let her in.  He was gambling a lot-her life, and losing his position.  He knew that.  He would risk it anyways.  As they rode furhter and further, and crossed the river...he didn't know if she has made up her mind.


She's had several hours to think about this proposition.

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

All Viviana wanted to do was get as far away from the camp and her people as she possibly could but the man who she had just saved seemed to have other ideas. While they were far away from the camp and could afford to wait for a little while, she still didn’t like the idea of taking such a big risk and stopping so soon. Despite this, she stopped and turned to face Drakon, wondering what was so important that he had decided that they had to stop. They really did not have the time for this, if they waited too long her people would catch up. Hopefully he made this quick.


Soon after she found herself being bombarded by questions, the female narrowing her eyes at him in irritation. “There really is not any time for you to be asking questions. I have no idea why I did the things I did, I do not know why I spared you.” Viviana admitted, watching him for any signs that he would turn on her. Even if she had just saved his life he was still rightfully skeptical of her and she kept a hand on her polearm as she watched him, the female making it clear that if he tried anything she would not hesitate to put him down. “I am not going to your Kingdom. I will be parting ways with you once I am sure that my people have lost my trail.” Viviana stated, though she was careful to avoid talking much about her own plans. “You do not owe me anything. It was not a good deed, after all, I have no idea what happened. Maybe a momentary lapse in faith.” She explained, shrugging her shoulders.


With this enemy knight now knowing that she really had not had any good intentions when she had spared his life, Viviana was worried that he would try to kill her. She didn’t trust him and he didn’t trust her, neither of them would be getting any sleep for fear that the other would slit their throats in their sleep. “Enough questions. We need to get going.” Viviana insisted, clearly not happy with the idea of chatting. She just wanted to get to safety and it was bad enough that she had to go close to enemy lines just to get to safety. Her kingdom may be expecting Drakon to go East though she figured that with their given political status, with her as a traitor and him missing in action, he couldn’t go back yet. Hopefully that would confuse the Westerners long enough for them both to get to safety and to hide themselves in the communities where they wanted to hide.


After the barrage of questions the Eastern Knight had gone silent, seeming to debate what to do next which was enough to put Viviana on edge. And as he opened his mouth again, she gave him a cold glare, immediately shaking her head. “I will not have betrayed my people to live with a bunch of savages such as you Easterners. Don’t think that I don’t know what you’re doing. You offer me protection and safety, only for you and your people to take me as a prisoner and use me for the information I have on the Western Kingdom. Nice try.” Viviana scoffed, glaring at him and nudging her horse forward. It was obvious that she was debating this offer though as she gave him a second quick glance and then slowly moved forward, the female wondering if it were possible for her to go to the Eastern Kingdom with him. There was a lot they were bargaining on, as he couldn’t guarantee her safe passage or immunity for the crimes she had committed against the Easterners.


Of course his people had never seen her in action and so they didn’t know what she was, but the fact of the matter was, she was an enemy to his people, a Westerner. No matter what she did that fact would never change. The rest of the ride was silent, the female leading Drakon deeper into the forest and pausing as they came across a cliff wall, the female following it for a little longer until they found a cave. That would do for cover, she would have to cover it but it would work for the night. She slowed at the mouth of the cave, inspecting the ground carefully for any tracks or any objects that would suggest that it was inhabited. This time they were lucky and it looked like it was hers and Drakon’s for the night.


Once she was sure that it was safe she dismounted her horse and tied the equine to a near-by tree, the female already starting to work on gathering firewood and other branches so that she could start a fire and cover the entrance to the cave. Later on she would distance the horses from the cave and cover their tracks just to play it safe. “Make yourself useful and work on getting a fire started inside the cave.” Viviana ordered, looking at Drakon and then at the spot he had been holding for the entire ride. He needed medical attention but with the sun going down, she did not want to venture too far in the dark in unknown territory. “If that can wait until tomorrow I’ll tend to it then. I’ll cauterize it tonight if you need me to.” Viviana offered, her voice nowhere near as harsh as it previously had been.

 

[TeaMMatE11]

As they reached the cave entrance, before Drakon could even get off the horse, the female was already cutting up wood, thinking about the conversation.  Her look in her eyes...  He knew that she was as conflicted on the inside as he was.  Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.  She's a fugitive.  But even with that in mind, Drakon didn't have the nerve to pull his sword out and kill her.  In fact, he didn't want to kill her, far from it.  Then his wound started hurting again.  He groaned a little before shuffling over, putting log after log in a fire, with some tinder on the bottom.  He eventually started it, and sat down in front of the fire, watching the sun go down, with his right leg strecthed out to ease the pain.  He heard Viviana, saying she wanted to help him.  


He looked down, and blood dribbled out, meaning it wasn't fully closed up yet.  And it was painful.  "That...that would help," he responded.  As it got dark, there was no light inside of the cave, except for the fire.  His wound felt better already, just laying next to the fire.  He could only see the face of Viviana, as he sat in the opposite corner as her.  He saw her face on the otherside of the fire.  Fire should last us the night.  The cave had a not-too-narrow, not-too-wide mouth.  It was a perfect size that a person could slip through.  



The entrance wasn't steep, and the silence was getting creepy.  The sound of the caves sank in.  The dripping of water, some bats inside.  It was a good makeshift place for shelter, and he wanted to praise Viviana for spotting it.  He knew it wouldn't go well.  Spending the night with the enemy was...well...weird, and awkward.  It was even more awkward, in Drakon's eyes, that she was just straight up beautiful, in every aspect of the word.  Eye candy.  Any fool who wandered in front of her and said the wrong thing would surely be killed by her blade.  He shook his head, and thought, She's the enemy.  Grab your sword.  He reached for it, slowly, but gave up right away.


The thought of killing her crossed his mind again.  Nope.  Not going to happen.  Night settled in, and from their point of view, they could see the sky and all the stars.  The night sky surely was astonishing to look at.  Neither Drakon nor Viviana has taken the time to look at the starry sky, because both were always getting ready to battle each other, in a mindless slaughter that costed thousands of lives.  Who lives, and who dies, was determined by the skill of the one wielding the blade.  War is hell, they said.  You're stupid if you enlist.  That's what his parents told him.


He didn't regret signing up to join the legions.  But right now, in the awkward of dead silence, he didn't know what to do or say.  He started humming a tune, a recognizable tune, a song that both kingdoms should know.  He was trying to break the silence, trying to get into the mind of his frenemy (friend and enemy).

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

From the moment of their arrival the executioner had set straight to work, not even hesitating to busy herself. Work was all she knew, the female was literally always doing something. Standing still had never been a strong point for her, it was something that she had frequently gotten in trouble for as a kid, her constant fidgeting and moving. Now was no different, however she was actually working now, the woman grabbing fire wood and taking it into the cave. You should have sent him in, that would have been one way to be sure that it was safe. Of course if the cave had been inhabited Drakon would have stood no chance against a Direwolf or a bear. Even she didn’t have the best of odds against either creature.


N0 matter how hard she worked her mind wouldn’t allow her to think of something other than his offer to her, the female grimacing as she considered it. It would be a gamble and while the chances were slim no matter what, she knew that with her helping Drakon and with no one actually knowing her role or her identity within the Western Army’s ranks, she had chances. She could have lied and said she came from a brothel or something of the sort but she was not the type to work in such a place. Even if she lied, there was still a chance of her being killed just because of her nationality, just because of where she was from. If she went South, all she had to worry about was blending in.


“Let me cover our tracks and then I will cauterize it.” Viviana told Drakon, the female grabbing some brush and pulling it up against the opening of the cave. She left the top part of the cave open so that it would look like natural shrubbery had covered the cave opening. Once she was done she entered the cave and shed herself of her armor, the female grabbing one of her blades and heating it over the fire. “I need you to expose your wound. We’ve got to stop it from bleeding. I can’t put any herbs on it until tomorrow morning but I’ll gather herbs while I’m out hunting.” There had been no invitation for him to join, even if he could possibly come along. She didn’t trust him.


Once Drakon had followed her orders and shown his wound to her she pressed the seething hot metal against his flesh, effectively closing the wound. At least now he wouldn’t bleed to death in the midst of the night. The second she finished tending his wound she had moved away from him and sat on the opposite side of the small cavern, keeping a watchful eye on him. “Why would you want to take me back to your kingdom when we both know I would be killed? If I wanted to die I would have allowed my General to execute me for my mistakes.” But it was too late to go back now and while she wasn’t sure how much time she had left, she was a fighter. She would push forward and move on with her life. She would forget her name and her people.


The girl had been leaning against the cool rock wall behind her when the male started to whistle a familiar tune, something that made her go tense. Of course it was a well known tune, anyone within the region knew it. It just sounded weird coming from the lips of one’s enemy.

 

[TeaMMatE11]

From the moment of their arrival the executioner had set straight to work, not even hesitating to busy herself. Work was all she knew, the female was literally always doing something. Standing still had never been a strong point for her, it was something that she had frequently gotten in trouble for as a kid, her constant fidgeting and moving. Now was no different, however she was actually working now, the woman grabbing fire wood and taking it into the cave. You should have sent him in, that would have been one way to be sure that it was safe. Of course if the cave had been inhabited Drakon would have stood no chance against a Direwolf or a bear. Even she didn’t have the best of odds against either creature.


N0 matter how hard she worked her mind wouldn’t allow her to think of something other than his offer to her, the female grimacing as she considered it. It would be a gamble and while the chances were slim no matter what, she knew that with her helping Drakon and with no one actually knowing her role or her identity within the Western Army’s ranks, she had chances. She could have lied and said she came from a brothel or something of the sort but she was not the type to work in such a place. Even if she lied, there was still a chance of her being killed just because of her nationality, just because of where she was from. If she went South, all she had to worry about was blending in.


“Let me cover our tracks and then I will cauterize it.” Viviana told Drakon, the female grabbing some brush and pulling it up against the opening of the cave. She left the top part of the cave open so that it would look like natural shrubbery had covered the cave opening. Once she was done she entered the cave and shed herself of her armor, the female grabbing one of her blades and heating it over the fire. “I need you to expose your wound. We’ve got to stop it from bleeding. I can’t put any herbs on it until tomorrow morning but I’ll gather herbs while I’m out hunting.” There had been no invitation for him to join, even if he could possibly come along. She didn’t trust him.


Once Drakon had followed her orders and shown his wound to her she pressed the seething hot metal against his flesh, effectively closing the wound. At least now he wouldn’t bleed to death in the midst of the night. The second she finished tending his wound she had moved away from him and sat on the opposite side of the small cavern, keeping a watchful eye on him. “Why would you want to take me back to your kingdom when we both know I would be killed? If I wanted to die I would have allowed my General to execute me for my mistakes.” But it was too late to go back now and while she wasn’t sure how much time she had left, she was a fighter. She would push forward and move on with her life. She would forget her name and her people.


The girl had been leaning against the cool rock wall behind her when the male started to whistle a familiar tune, something that made her go tense. Of course it was a well known tune, anyone within the region knew it. It just sounded weird coming from the lips of one’s enemy.

As he finished up the song, Drakon laid down and pretended to go to sleep, making sure that Viviana lowered her guard.  Frankly, this was a time of stress, 2 enemies cross each other paths, yet they can't seem to kill each other.  How ironic.  After she goes to sleep, Imma tie her and take her with me.  She will be my responsibility.  


Drakon planned on taking Viviana with her, whether she liked it or not.  Before he could actually bond her hands and feet together, he needed something to tie around her wrists and ankles.  It would be a long ride back to the Eastern Kingdom, but no matter.  It was a long ride to get this far from the Western Kingdom, and their scouts will be hot on their heels.  Stupid injury makes it much more harder to move about..  If he hadn't been injured, he wouldn't have been stuck in this situation.  But this situation was better than being dead.  back to the plan.  I'll bond her, then I'll bribe the front gate to let us in, talk to the general and make it so that she is under my care, not the governments.  If we encounter any soldiers from the West, We're making a run for it.  If we run into the Eastern Kingdom's soldiers, I'll tell them who I am.  Sounds like a decent plan.


The fire continued burning, and Drakon got as confortable as he could in full plate armor, excluding his helmet.  

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

Once the song ended and the male laid down and started to drift off to sleep the female watched him for a couple of moments, her eyes narrowing at him. Why am I wasting my time here? He's dead weight. There were a lot of questions that she had yet to answer, the most important one being why she had spared his life. The woman didn't believe in fate as she knew that no one's life was easily determined by one simple look at another person but she had never had thought twice before doing her job, not until she had come upon Drakon. And now that she had, she was regretting it but even if she finished her original job and proved that she had, she could never return home. She was a traitor no matter what she did and because of this, she was allowing the male to live unless he gave her reason not to. 


Despite being wary of the male and their situation she was unable to stay awake much longer, the female double checking that the fire would burn through the night and that there were no signs of anyone watching them from outside the cave. Once she was sure that they were safe she made her way back down into the cave, choosing her spot carefully. It gave her a clear path to the door way should she need to flee but it also kept Drakon in her sight. She carefully settled down on the cave floor, bunching up the saddle blanket and using it as a pillow. After what seemed like an eternity of tossing and turning the dark haired female finally drifted off to sleep. 

 

[TeaMMatE11]

A few hours passed, and Drakon fell into a light sleep.  


As the dawn started breaking, he woke up.  Viviana was still asleep.  Perfect.  He walked outside, as quietly as he could, and once he was outside, he took off one of his gauntlets.  He then undid the leather strips, causing all the plates to not have a form anymore.  He took off his other guantlet and did the same thing.  He buried the metal plates, but it was obvious what he had done.  As he walked back into the cave, he hoped Viviana was still sleeping.  In fact, she was.  He then went over to her body, and quickly tied her hands and her feet.  She would definitely feel herself being tied, but he would manage to get her hands.  Her feet were the tricky part.  "Rise and shine," he said sarcastically, after finishing tying her hands.  His wound was still, in fact, hurting.  Such is a case with a stab wound.i


He then proceeded to attempt to tie her feet together, without him getting kicked in the face.

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

Eventually lack of sleep had kicked in and for once, Viviana was completely vulnerable. In the past few weeks she hadn't been sleeping well and during the previous day she had constantly been on edge and wore down. Due to this, the woman wasn't waking up any time soon or her body had no intentions to until a movement around her hands caught her attention. She groggily woke up to see that Drakon was making a move, her eyes narrowing at him angrily as she pulled back against him roughly. "Stop! What are you doing!?" The dark haired female yelled, twisting and turning her body in an attempt to keep him from finishing the job. Her struggling only got her so far though and she found herself sitting in front of the male, glaring at him as if her looks could kill. 


"You need to release me! They'll kill me! I'm not going back with you!" She insisted, though she was past forgiveness. Not only had he put her life at risk and made her an enemy to her people, now he had betrayed her. Instead of sitting around helplessly, the dark haired girl struggled and did her best to free herself from her bindings, even daring to lift her hands to her mouth so that she could try and untie the knot with her teeth. "I'm going to kill you once I free myself." Viviana warned, briefly looking up at Drakon before focusing on trying to free herself. 


(( I didn't forget about this! Life hit kinda hard! ))

 

[TeaMMatE11]

(Understandable.  All good.)


"Look, your people-" Drakon grunted in pain.  "Your people already see you a traitor to their cause."  With the female struggling, this task became harder and harder.  "Alright...well...struggling is just going to make this harder for the both of us."  He sighed, looking away from Viviana for a second.  The next second he looked up, she was trying to untie the knot with her teeth.  "Oh no you don't!"


He figured that dragging her across the floor wouldn't harm her.  He grabbed Viviana's ankles, and started dragging her across the cave floor, and out to the mouth of the cave, preventing her from biting the binds off.  "You don't trust me after what I just did.  However, you are under the law in the Eastern Kingdom, you are under my care and they can't arrest you or interrogate you.  And most importantly, they can't kill you."


His wound still burned.  He would have to fight through this in order to bring her back to the Eastern side.

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

The male’s speech was strained, a sign of hope that Viviana could still harm him if she got the chance to lash out at his wound. “It doesn’t matter what my people think! I’m not going back there! And I’m not going to your kingdom, either! You can’t do this!” The woman argued, cursing at him relentlessly as he began dragging her out of the cave. Immediately she was forced to stop chewing at the leather bindings, instead twisting and turning her body in an attempt to stop him. The gravel of the cave was cutting into her skin and she was sure that there would be a painful series of cuts later but for now she had to worry about stopping him.


“You can’t promise me that. You’re leading me straight to my death!” Viviana spoke, knowing that the risks were serious if he followed through with his plan to take her back with him. “I won’t go with you! You may as well kill me because you’re about to cause my death.” She seethed, still twisting and turning as she looked around. The horse was standing still, its reigns still tied to the tree where she had left it. Maybe if she managed to scare it off it would leave and that would foil Drakon’s plans? No, she wouldn’t be that lucky. The horse had been on various battlefields, it was a hard one to spook and she was in no position to spook it.

 

[TeaMMatE11]

"Would...you...just...stop...squirming.." Drakon said, through gritted teeth.  Almost to the horse.  Almost there.  He considered his options on what to do.  "Forgive me."  Drakon then slammed Viviana's head against the ground, effictively knocking her out.  He chose a softer spot to bang her head against.  He then struggled to lift her body onto the horse.  As soon as he did that, he mounted and made absolutely sure that he held onto her so she wouldn't fall off.


They only traveled a few miles when the sun turned into late morning.  Most likely, Eastern legions are scouting the area.  This should be interesting.

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

Hearing his attempts to stop her from moving, Viviana only glared at him, her eyes locking onto him angrily as she twisted and turned her body. Surely he’d eventually lose his grip? She was desperate to get away but it seemed that nothing she was doing could help and things got worse as he told her to forgive him. They were way past that but before she could tell him exactly how she felt a sharp pain spread through the back of her head and her world turned black.


By the time she finally woke up it was late into the morning and the female was having trouble adjusting herself. She could see the ground moving beneath her and she could feel a firm hand holding onto her. “You.” Viviana growled, her voice weak due to a dry throat. “I don’t want this. I’ll be fine on my own. You can’t take me there.” She was getting desperate, she knew what her fate would be if he took her back to his Kingdom. No matter how much he promised to protect her, she was facing certain death.


Though she was aware of something else, the fact that the territory was looking familiar. They scouted this area. “My people scout this area. We need to leave.” Hopefully he would be smart and believe her.

 

[TeaMMatE11]

"This is Eastern Kingdom's territories.  Any Western Knights that are so brave to come out would be killed on sight."  The horse was galloping at a good rate, one in which they could get to an Eastern outpost within a few hours.  "Getting off now and going on your own at this point would be completely suicidal."  In the distance, 3 horseback riders in the distance started galloping towards them.  Dragon squinted, trying to find their coat of arms, to figure out which legion.  As they got closer, it was apparent that they were Eastern Knights, based off of their general outlines of plate armor.  As the 2 parties approached each other, Drakon slowed his horse down.  The other party did the same.


Staying on the horse to prevent Viviana from leaving, Drakon hailed the scouts.  "And what are you doing out here?" he asked them. 


"Usual scouting business...sir."


The scout, in the midst of his talking, looked at the cost of arms on Drakon's shoulder guard, which signifies which rank and which legion.  The scout continued.  "We assumed you were dead..." The scout's eyes wandered towards Viviana, and reached for his sword.  Drakon quickly tossed the scout a bag of coins.  "Remember, she's not the government's prison of war.  Government personnel may not interfere. In any case, any words about alliances with the Southern Kingdoms?"


The scout replied with, "Last we heard, they declared war against the Eastern Kingdoms.  However, we're not in a formal alliance with them."


"I see.  Take us to the nearest outpost."


"Yes sir."


Drakon quickly glanced at Viviana, before continuing to follow the Eastern Kingdom's scout.


(If I'm changing the scenarios too fast, please let me know.  Also, I believe we are in Eastern territory, not western...)

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

“You think that matters to my people? We have to keep an eye on you, make sure you’re not trying anything.” Viviana snapped, glaring back up at him. She cursed as he continued forward into his kingdom, the woman knowing that she was definitely screwed at this rate. “Please. I’d rather have the choice to fight rather than be taken to a place where I know I’ll die. At least out here, I’ll have a chance. I don’t know why you’re doing this.” Really she was growing desperate, this was the last place she wanted to be. She could faintly see three figures in the distance, immediately making her curse in frustration. This couldn’t be good.


Regardless Drakon continued forward and she stayed silent as they approached the other group, the woman glaring at all of them. Upon seeing the movement towards the male’s sword she immediately knew her life would be in danger as if it weren’t already. Surprisingly, Drakon was able to stop the male but how long would this ruse last? He wouldn’t always be able to protect her, surely he had his own superiors to report to and no doubt they’d want her dead. As the two spoke, she froze at the mention of the Southern Kingdom declaring war against her own kingdom.


As they began to follow after the group of scouts Viviana rolled her eyes in annoyance before glancing up at Drakon. “Still think you can protect me? Your people will kill me upon the first chance they get. My blood will be on your hands because for whatever reason, you chose to bring me here against my will.” She huffed, blowing at a stray strand of hair that was falling in her face. “May as well kill me now.” Viv grunted, mentally preparing herself for whatever was due to come next.


(( You’re okay! If it keeps the story moving, it keeps it moving. And scouts always trespass, regardless of territories. Sorry for the late reply. My work did a HUGE remodel and we only had a few days to get it done so I got a bunch of hours plus college is picking up. Things are still super busy on my end but should be slowing down soon. Didn’t forget about ya. ))

 

[TeaMMatE11]

((AHHHH FORGIVE ME I COMPLETELY FORGOT. I hate myself. I AM SO, SO SORRY!))

As the day got brighter, they saw the castle in the distance. Archers were lined up against the walls, overlooking a potential battlefield. The scouts ahead of Viviana and Drakon stopped at the gate and the gatekeeper opened it. The big, iron gates were lifted as the horses gently walked through. His armor had bloodstains on his front plate. One of the generals came out to see him. The scout started talking.

"Sir...an interesting situation developed. I will let Sir Drakon explain."

Drakon stood next to Viviana in case anyone tried to make a move. He cleared his throat, and said as loud as he could with an injured chest, and spoke.

"People of the Eastern Kingdom. What I am about to say is preposterous. But first, agree to this. You will NOT draw your weapons, or harm her." He was inferring Viviana. The general and surrounding soldiers nodded their heads in agreement. "She's from the West." Immediately chat spurred among the center courtyard. "However....she saved my life, not once....but twice. She got me out of one of her own outposts."

Everyone relaxed, including the general. He turned to her, and asked, "is this true?"

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

"Can we just not do this? Just let me go back to my people, the fate is the same for me no matter where I go." Viviana muttered, feeling certain that she was about to face the blade of an axe. Despite her efforts to convince Drakon to cut her loose she was still taken to their castle, her body growing tense at the sight of all of the archers. The closer they came to the gate the more she grew tense, watching each of the scouts as well as the gatekeeper. Upon the appearance of a general, she looked away from him, her eyes focusing on the ground as Drakon made an appeal for her safety.

He's a mad man. Why in the world would he feel the need to protect me? Really she didn't understand, given the situation she may have traded his life for her own like she should have done in the first place. She was surprised by the amount of authority that overcame his voice as he started to make his case regarding her safety within the walls of the Eastern Kingdom. She was expecting them to make comments that regardless of what she had done, she was to be killed. Instead, she was given the chance to speak on her behalf - to state whether or not Drakon's statement was true.

"Yes." She stated simply, though she had no good reason to give regarding why she had performed such an action - even she didn't know why she had spared his life and saved him.

 

[TeaMMatE11]

"How can we trust her?" One of the archers shouted from the wall.

"I would be dead already if I didn't," Drakon responded to. "Hell, look at my coat of arms, smartass."

The soldiers all looked at his shoulder. "Sir." Most of the soldiers kneeled to him. "We thought you were dead after We heard you heard you lost the battle," the general responded.

Drakon talked quietly to Viviana. "Please, you have to trust me more." He said quietly.

"Ma'am, we have an extra quarter for you," the general said to Vivana. "And Drakon, you have your quarters next to her."

Drakon dismounted the horse and helped Viviana get off.