Sunrise for the Damned [sraes]

[Coward]

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<br /><span style="font-size:14px;">Broke ass tabs</span><br /><a href="<___base_url___>/topic/166994-sunrise-for-the-damned-sraes-lore/" rel="">Lore</a>


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<a href="<___base_url___>/topic/166988-sunrise-for-the-damned-sraes/" rel="">Characters</a>


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<a href="<___base_url___>/topic/166989-sunrise-for-the-damned-sraes/" rel="">Original OOC</a>


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[Coward]

If he closed his eyes, he could almost taste it. The dissolution of the bitterness, the removal of Ysanus from the world. His heart was rattling wildly in his chest.


Pink sunlight beat on his back, glared from the red rooftops of Oldtown. White banners filled the air with the sound of snapping cloth, the crisp black sign of the Third Eye staring down on the city from all of them. From this high the city was almost pleasant, where you couldn't smell the refuse in the streets. Below him the crowd was restless now, compressing and rippling like water. Some were letting out the chants of adulation that Sid still knew all the words to, and he found himself mouthing them compulsively. As usual, the god-king made his people wait in the sun, feel the unending scorch. This way they were more desperate for the sacred water, and it tasted sweeter when they finally got it. Around them the masked soldiers shoved any that grew too restless, silent.


Come on.





Another minute passed, his hands checking for the tenth time the tension of the bowstring, the smooth shaft of the best arrow from his quiver. Apart from the complete steadiness of his hands his body was itself as taut as a drawn bow, nearly trembling. Somewhere close a horn sounded, and the crowd cheered.


It was him, the tyrant. He walked slowly, fearless. Sunken deep in pale, sallow sockets, his normal eyes fixed on first one face then another, but the red eye in the center of his forehead only stared straight ahead. Around him strode a dozen men, all of them faceless behind white masks, the mark of the eye painted on their foreheads.The blood red robe he wore flared behind him. As the crowd parted some stooped to touch the hem, before the sacred guards shoved them away.


Sid exhaled, long, slow. Kneeling, he nocked the arrow.

 

[sraes]

Kade watched the goods being taken from the small cart and carried off into the palatial warehouse with a deep frown working its way over his face. The sacks of salted meats and leathers from Baron Nier's small wasteland-bordering region - the God-King's tithe and truly a king's ransom of goods that could have lasted his late family for nearly a year - and it was being stored away amongst piles and piles of goods.


Untouched, unused save at their ruler's convenience.


Off to one side sat a block of cheese left to rot, malformed and moldy. The sheer waste almost made him nauseous. Once the baron's tithe had been absorbed into the similar offerings of other regions, Kade and the two other warriors he'd escorted the wagon alongside over the past nine days were ushered away from the highly guarded warehouses that lay just inside the sprawling estates of the God-King.


Even just from the fringes the sheer opulence left a sour taste in the man's mouth as memories of his childhood flickered through his mind. How could a man claim to be a ruler - claim to be a <em>god </em>- yet hoard away such vast stores while his people starve? Anger boiled in Kade's veins but his musings were interrupted by a hand slap against his shoulder - Serna, a vivacious woman who was as quick to tell a joke as throw a fist, grinned up at him.


"Jobs done for the day, yeah? Vox and I are gonna go out and get some drinks. You in kid?" His agitated expression eased slightly in amusement at the nickname - honestly the woman wasn't more than a year or two older than him and was fully a foot shorter than his 6'2", calling him 'kid' was nothing short of ridiculous.


That had yet to stop her though.


"No. I'll meet up with the two of you in the morning to leave." Kade waved away her offer, not bothering to explain the sick anger that had been lurching in his chest - he doubted he'd make good company tonight.


Serna must have picked up on some of the undertones, though, because she gave him a stern look and told him to stay out of trouble before she and Vox parted with him near Oldtown.


Restless and resenting the sweaty crush of humanity in this part of town - what was even happening to get crowds like this? - the warrior kept a quelling hand on the bastard sword strapped to his belt as he fought his way to an alleyway, then clambered up to the rooftops. The heat up there was, if it was possible, even worse but the grease paint over his face protected his eyes from the worst of the sun's glare and almost instantly he noticed that he wasn't alone.


He would have let the other man be but, just as the murmuring of the crowds below grew notably louder, the man readied an arrow on a powerfully build bow with his eyes fixed on someone below. Tension lined every inch of the man and, almost without considering the stupidity of the move, Kade reached out as if to grab the man's shoulder.


"Do you have a death wish? Because I'm sure there are easier and less painful ways to die."

 

[Coward]

A choked sound tore out of his lungs. The voice behind him sent an instant chill up his spine, even in the heat. He'd been so focused on judging the wind, the angle that he'd somehow missed the stranger approaching.


Even as he thought this he whipped around, snake-quick. The best arrow drew back close by his ear, the string humming with potential. The imaginary point where the arrow would strike moved across the body and centered on the bare throat. He was about to loose, but something in the expression, the voice made him blink instead. The man's empty hand was half extended, as if he'd been about to touch him. Sweaty fingers struggled to regain their grip on the string, only just preventing the arrow from flying. Wild blue eyes fixed on Kade's face. Who?





There was a long moment of silence. Apart from his arms Sid's body was shaking slightly, and his breath came in uneven gasps. His eyes flit over him. First - this was no holy soldier, that was obvious. Then he took in the un-touched sword at his hip, the metal crawling across his skin, the huge bulk. Who the hell is this? His shoulder ached from maintaining the tension on the bowstring, but he kept the barbed arrowhead trained. Unbidden, an answer came to his question, before he could consider whether speaking was a good idea.


"There probably are, but the others won't have the results I'm after."


He swallowed, looking through the dirty blond hair that had fallen over his eyes as he turned.

 

[sraes]

Kade stilled instantly as the man before him turned, arrow now trained on a new target. He didn't fire though, and that was interesting - at this range even his magic would probably not have been enough to save him from an arrow to the throat.


Dark eyes trailed along the arrow aimed at him then to the bow, assessing - the bow was... unusual. Powerful, certainly. The other man didn't seem to have any trouble drawing such a high powered weapon, either. Strong then and fairly disciplined to have not yet let the arrow fly.


Then, disregarding the weapon entirely, Kade looked up and met the wild eyes trained on him with a calm look of his own. Steady, steady; no need for this. He left his normal hand extended, hanging empty in the air as if he were coaxing a feral animal from a corner.


Kade looked like the warrior he was, more imposing than calming at the best of times, so he did his best to convey that he wasn't an immediate threat. He made no move to get closer, the tension that was singing in the air could easily break into violence with the wrong motion, and kept his mutated hand flat to the roof where he crouched.


People tended to find the metallic flesh unnerving.


The unexpected response drew an amused expression to his face, lips quirking up even though his eyes remained serious. "That may be true, but how many lives are you willing to sacrifice for those results?" Kade questioned. He didn't, couldn't, know who the man's ultimate target was but he did understand the panic that firing into a crowd like that would cause. It would be chaos.

 

[Coward]

Sid blinked the sweat from his eyes, unable to keep from meeting that gaze, though his eyes kept flitting back to the sight-line along the shaft of the arrow. Looking at the stranger longer wasn't helping his understanding any. He was a mutant, soldier, with the look of an outlander. By why, in that case, was he on a roof talking to him right now? Why was he so quiet, as if this was some normal, expected conversation? Sheer confusion and the stranger's blank calm slowed his breathing slightly, though the arrowhead still didn't fall.


The question startled him enough that he flinched, glanced up sharply at the man's face. Until that minute, Sid had not considered the possibility that other people in the crowd would die. Now that the stranger had said it though it seemed obvious. They were already packed dangerously close, flowing more like water than a group of humans. When he fired it would be like throwing a stone into that pond.


"Any number would be worth it," he snapped, but sounded more hesitant then before. "In the end he'll kill them all anyway."


A roar rose from the crowd below, filtered weakly through the hot air, and Sid eyes slipped reflexively to the side before he forced his attention back. The ritual was starting - he was missing his chance. Just shoot him, there's no time for this. Teeth bared slightly, but his fingers wouldn't slacken. He met the steady gaze again unwillingly, heart pounding. Shoot, damn it. After another second he was still holding the string, and they were still staring at each other.

 

[sraes]

Unflinching in the face of the arrowhead still leveled at his throat, Kade watched the man as the silence drew out for a long moment while he thought over the implications.


It was obvious the man was desperate for whatever results he was looking to achieve but he didn't seem so far gone as to callously sentence any number of innocent civilians to death - he was hesitating, even as he stated otherwise. Kade could work with that.


"Maybe he will," he agreed easily; he didn't know who 'he' was, but the man seemed certain enough, "but your hands won't be stained by their blood then. You are not responsible for the actions of others, only yourself; if you go through with this their deaths will be on you. Find another way."


A sudden uproar in the crowds below them drew the archer's attention for a split second and instinct screamed for Kade to use the distraction to his advantage while he could. To disarm the threat to his life, knock the man out, be done with it.


He ignored the desire and didn't so much as twitch when the blue eyes were focused on him once more, the man visibly warring with himself over what action to take. Kade merely tipped his head back slightly in offering, eyes steady; if the archer was going to fire Kade wouldn't try and stop him. He'd have to make that choice for himself.

 

[Coward]

His focus was gone, the usual roar of conflicting thoughts filling his skull again. Blood on my hands? Bullshit. But it wasn't, he knew. It was easy to imagine, the way the soldiers would react, the random and unstoppable deaths. Trampling, beatings. And still this bastard was staring at him, implacable, as if he felt some certainty that Sid could not possibly imagine. Why was this stranger willing to die? For nothing at all? He found the point of the arrow was shaking, and not just because of the pain in his arms. The sun hammering down on them suddenly seemed unbearable. Shit. Below them some animal had started screaming, a wavering sound that seemed to drill into him. The crowd's chanting had peaked, a driving rhythm like the pulse of a monstrous heart.


His gaze broke, he looked at the tile beneath them. Slowly the arrowhead fell, and his shoulders creaked with strain as he allowed the tension to ease. Hard breaths sucked in and out of his lungs. I failed. The thought rattled around in his skull. Blue eyes flit back up, unreadable.

 

[sraes]

The moment stretched out tense and humming like the string of the archer's bow, potential buzzing in the air; the stalemate held while the energy from the crowd below built to a crashing crescendo.


He didn't know what was going on down there, had never been to the Inner Kingdom before, and felt a distant curiosity about this odd gathering - there were more people below than he'd seen together at any one time, even including Baron Gaole's fights. All of his focus, however, was centered squarely on the man before him.


Only a few moments had passed before the arrowhead wavered and dropped from its deadly position, but it felt like an infinity.


When, at last, Kade was released from the threat he watched the man silently for a time until his blue eyes once again rose to meet his own. Then he gave the archer a wide smile, warm and quietly pleased at the decision despite the blonde's misgivings. <em>I'm glad.</em>


"You'll find another way."

 

[Coward]

He let out a helpless bark of laughter, then reached up, rubbed his face with one hand. It seemed meaningless to continue holding the bow ready, after all, he'd already proven he was too weak to use it. After another second he reached back, sliding the best arrow into his quiver. The warmth of the soldier's smile made him wince, turning away again. Why is he doing this?


"If there's another way to kill Ysanus I'm too stupid to think of it." he said, voice hollow.


A pervasive nausea was overtaking him, welling up from the tense pit of his stomach. At last he let out an explosive sigh, and turned back to the edge of the building, staring with blank eyes back out over the crowd. It was stupid, he knew, turning your back on a man with a sword, but he found he didn't really care. Down below the small figure of the god-king stretched up an arm stained red to the elbow, teeth bared in a rictus grin. His eyes were shut, except for the unblinking red orb of the one in the center of his forehead. At the end of the arm he held up the head of a sacrifice - what looked like a pig, only the face split, radiated. Three mouths, three pairs of eyes fused together, three slack tongues. No wonder it had screamed like that, Sid thought absently.


"What do you want?" he asked, finally, not looking back.

 

[sraes]

The arrow returned to its quiver and the archer looked away. Seeing that the danger had definitely passed for the time being, Kade rocked back on his heels and truly looked the man over for the first time.


He wasn't obviously mutated - though that meant little - and, while obviously well trained and equipped to fight, didn't have the baring of a soldier either. His clothing, too, was odd. Like it had been richly made once but had been worn down - a nobleman down on his luck? A looter who'd stolen it? Kade felt curiosity tug at him but now was not the time to sate it.


Giving no outward reaction to the man's intended target - the God-King? Why would... - Kade stood quietly and took a step nearer the edge the archer was poised over, looking out over the grotesque tableau of a blood stained king holding court over a fanatical crowd.


He wasn't sure of the symbolism of the gesture, honestly. What purpose did the pig's death serve? The God-King, himself, was a distraction. His appearance unconsciously drew the eye - probably an intentional move to remain the center of everyone's attention - and he radiated a sick, pulsing power that made the air feel heavy to those attuned to magic.


It was almost sickening to Kade, that much power, similar to how he'd felt seeing the warehouses earlier. So much waste.


Dark eyes drawn back to the man next to him at the question, he gave a slight smile. "Me? Nothing as complicated as you do, I'm afraid. I mostly just want to rest before I have to trek back through the kingdoms for several days."

 

[Coward]

The ritual complete, the god-king was washing his hands in a golden-edged bowl that a servant was holding for him. The crowd had surged forward, tripping people at the front. All of them clamoured to be closer, to be ready for what came next. The acolyte raised the bowl above him, and then leant forward, handing it off the platform and to a soldier, who in turn passed it into the crowd. The first woman raised it to her mouth, took a long gulp, passed it backwards.


Meanwhile Sid looked in surprise now at the man next to him. In spite of himself a lopsided smile had crept onto his mouth at the absurdity, and he raised his eyebrows.


"So... so you really are up here for no reason at all?"


Suddenly he laughed, a warm, rasping sound only slightly tinged by hysteria. It felt good, and the nausea faded slightly. I can't believe this. He put his arm up, rubbed the sweat from his eyes on the ragged edge of his sleeve.


"But, who are you?"

 

[sraes]

Kade watched the ritual below unfold with a perplexed frown. Rituals he'd seen and participated in before - usually naming ceremonies back in his home village after a child had survived it's first year or blessings of new homes - but nothing of this scale.


The people in the crowd seemed almost desperate to drink from the basin - he wondered if it was supposed to bring luck or something? Perhaps he'd ask some other time.


"No specific reason, no. I was just looking to get up above the crowds for a better view." Kade answered with as little care as if he stumbled upon attempted regicide everyday. A small smile quirked his lips at the hoarse laughter even as he kept an eye forward at the ceremony taking place below. This was certainly not what he'd expected when he'd accepted this escort job.


"My name is Kade, I'm just a hired sword - no one important. Yourself?"

 

[Coward]

Kade. Sid looked at him, incredulous, then he shook his head, sighing. Typical outworld name, it meant nothing to him. There were a thousand questions he could ask of this man, a half-metal, warpaint-marked monster who suddenly appeared on a rooftop to stop Sid from shooting a god. He didn't bother with any. It felt like all of them would net him equally as unsatisfying answers as 'hired sword - no one important'. It was almost enough to make him forget his miserable failure... almost.


Suddenly enraged with himself again, he picked up a ragged cloth from where he'd dropped it on the roof, and started wrapping the precious bow in it. It made it harder to get to when it needed it, but experience had taught him that having it easily visible was a bad idea. And, here in his birth city, there was always the slight chance someone would recognise it. He hadn't expected that to be a problem, except for some reason he was still alive, and now had to walk out of here.


"Daniel," he said, flatly, "Also no-one important."


Normally Sid was a terrible liar, but this was an old one that he'd had time to get used to. Still he had to look away as he said it, concentrating on the bow.


Down in the square the god-king's procession was slowly moving away, which gave rise to the usual wails of disappointment. Sid remembered the feeling - standing in the sun for hours, and then the bowl was empty when they handed it back to you. Or worse, it wasn't. If he shut his eyes he could still taste lukewarm water, acidic with sweat, with the faint metallic hint of blood.

 

[sraes]

The basin, emptying with each person it was passed to, glinted in the dying sunlight as it made its rounds amongst the god-king's people. Kade let his eyes slip over the people gathered below, noting the differences to what he'd grown up seeing.


The contrast was stark: the majority of people he could see below looked fed - maybe not gratuitously, but they lacked the gauntness that stood out so sharply in his earliest memories - and few if any of the commoners were obviously armed while even the youngest villager near the wastes had at least a sling for protection against beasts or raiders.


A dark look crossed Kade's face at the inequality he could so easily see in only a day. He had never liked the god-king or his tithes but he was finding a depth of hatred for the man and his system that he hadn't previously known he was capable of.


Still, he was glad to have stopped the archer from causing a bloodbath. 'Although' - he thought with a glance at the man angrily securing his bow - 'it seems I'm the only one to feel that way.'


Kade was a bit amused to find that he didn't know if the man's - Daniel's - anger was directed at himself, Kade, or the God-King. Possibly all three. He also wasn't sure if he believed him to be 'no one important', assassinating Ysanus hardly seemed work that would fall to just anyone. Then again Kade readily admitted to knowing too little of politics to be sure and, more importantly, he didn't care.


Everyone had their secrets to keep.


"Well Daniel," the darker man grinned easily, clapping the archer on the shoulder when he looked about to wander down roads in his head best left for later, "my colleagues are in a nearby tavern getting drunk right now and I say we join them for the night. If anyone needs to be dunked in an ale barrel tonight, it's you."

 

[Coward]

Sid blinked at the clap on the shoulder, but then managed a wan smile to Kade's grin. He couldn't decide if the man was insane or just supremely calm and self confident. Most people would not invite a strange bowman from a rooftop to drink with them, but then, most people would not have done what Kade just did. He thought about the head tipping back, baring his throat. Hired sword. No-one important. Sid realised he really, really needed a drink.


"I think you're right about that."


He thought about other things to say, but none of them made it out of his mouth. Thank you, maybe, but the bitter taste of that was too much.


"Are you mercenaries? or?"


There was a barred patch on his shoulder, but Sid had never paid much attention to Outer Kingdom politics. Keeping up with who was in power over what required a kind of dedication he didn't have. Slinging the bow over his shoulder he followed Kade down the slope of the roof, watching the broad back. On the streets the heat was worse, but they were at least out of the sun. They turned between blank red buildings, sometimes close enough on each side you could touch both walls at once.

 

[sraes]

"Glad you agree." Kade replied, grin - if possible - getting even wider at the easy agreement. He spared a last glance at the emptying streets below, the people bustling off to their homes or whatever it was they did while the sun began its slow descent from the sky.


Honestly he considered it a bit early for indulging usually, but today was nothing if not unusual.


"Let's get going before they drink the place dry without us." He set an easy pace down from the rooftops, a relaxed grip on his sword to keep it from jostling against his leg at the movements.


"I'm a mercenary, yes. Serna too, although I think she might be looking to sign on to Baron Neir's guard after this is over - Vox already works for him and could probably put in a good word for her." Chatting easily, as if they were all old friends getting caught up even though they were strangers to Daniel and Kade himself had only met them two weeks prior, Kade let the way through the narrow set streets towards the tavern Serna had mentioned earlier that day.


Luckily it wasn't hard to find. The tavern was a single story building crammed into a space that didn't seem big enough for it, but for all that it was brightly lit even in the daylight and looked clean enough to pass muster. Loud too if the good-natured yelling he could hear from the streets was any indication.

 

[Coward]

Sid frowned at this, slipping along behind him, worn boots quiet on the stone. There was no reason Kade shouldn't be a sellsword, but it did make the apparent willingness to die for a crowd of Oldtown civilians more confusing. Most mercs would have slaughtered those same people if they'd been paid enough. Hell, they might have given a discount for fighting unarmed opponents. But he moved like a man who lived with a sword at his hip, like someone who should be avoided. Sid watched the glint of metal rippling up his arm, red light bounced from the walls.


"Sounds alright, but signing with some baron sounds like -"


A quiet tapping, dragging rattled down the cross street in front of the tavern, that they'd just been about to cross. Familiar. Without thinking Sid reached out and grabbed a fistful of the armor on Kade's shoulder, pulling.


"Wait -" he breathed.


Slowly the slithering, dragging grew louder - scale on stone. Then the chimera stepped into view, walking slowly. This one was female - the bare-breasted human torso fused from the waist down into black chitin, gleaming red in the sunset light. Six many-jointed legs dragged a thick, plated tail on the cobble, producing the dry rasp. It was big enough that walking through the street was difficult - claws scraped at the walls as it dragged itself through. Chimeras in daylight, now? Things were worse than when he'd left.


When it reached the crossroad it stopped. Slowly the head turned, silent, and Sid's hand tightened on Kade's shoulder unconsciously. He swallowed. The eyes were hollow pits under the white mask, fixed on first Kade and then him. He flinched, trying to maintain the blank expression. After another second it's head snapped forward again, and the spider-like it resumed it's patrol.


Sid exhaled, forced his hands to uncurl from Kade's shoulder.


"Definitely time for a drink."

 

[sraes]

If Kade noticed the archer's disquiet at his admission of being a mercenary, he didn't comment on it. Instead he hummed a question when he stopped talking mid-sentence and glanced back curiously at the abrupt stop; he didn't expect to be grabbed and tugged back, almost overbalancing at the force, but a quick step back and his footing was solid.


A question was at the tip of his tongue, but the man's wariness and quiet admonishment kept him quiet and he quickly caught on to what the other man had heard.


The sound was familiar enough, but the setting threw him off enough that he didn't truly realize what was coming until it stepped into sight. Already tensed from Daniel's reaction Kade held onto the hilt of his bastard sword, readying it for a quick draw should the creature attack.


He honestly hadn't expected to encounter one here - he'd heard tales of the God-King's pets but had never put any stock in them, but this was... something else. Eerie, how it was so calm and controlled when every chimera he'd faced - and he'd faced many - wouldn't stop baying for blood until they were dead or their prey was.


Even worse when the thing looked over and examined them. Creepy.


He must not have been the only one to think it, either, because the hand on his shoulder tightened sharply. Kade took a subtle half step sideways, easing himself further between Daniel and the chimera, and waited for the thing to strike.


It was almost anticlimactic when it merely continued along its' way.


Once they could no longer see the beast, he turned back to Daniel with a slight grin despite the wariness still in his eyes. "Mm, nothing like a surprise visit from a chimera to wake the thirst." He agreed, ushering them both the rest of the way to the tavern with his hand still wrapped around his hilt.


The inside of the tavern was as almost stifling with the heat of the bodies inside, but cheerful enough despite that. Which may have had to do with the freely flowing ale in ready supply. "Marcus! Thought you weren't joinin' us tonight?" A rough voice called out from a crowded table off to the right - Vox, all lanky angles and dirty brown hair, waved them over with a half-drunk grin.

 

[Coward]

He let out a short laugh, trailing along behind him. It had looked for a second as if Kade was going to draw on the thing, and he was still awash in relief that he hadn't.


Grateful to enter the bright shelter of the tavern Sid stretched, arrows rattling in his quiver. He'd never been in this place, but the familiarity of the setting instantly started leaching the tension from his limbs. The heat was like a living thing in here, wrapping itself around him, and he loosened the collar of his shirt as far as possible. Adjusted the bow over his shoulder. The sight of ale was intensely alluring, and he was about to swerve away to find some when Kade started towards the table. Curious in spite of himself he followed, hanging back slightly.


He wasn't sure what he'd expected, maybe a calm table of half-metal folk, but these were exactly the people you would expect to be sellswords, doing exactly what sellswords would do. In a way it was comforting. His smile was almost natural.


"I forced the issue."

 

[sraes]

Kade was glad to see that the man looked more relaxed here and not like he was about to vibrate out of his skin like when the chimera had shown up - not that he had been all that better off, there were things you just really didn't want to imagine were lurking in dark alleyways no matter how good a warrior you were.


They reached the table easily despite the packed room and Kade shrugged with exaggerated sheepishness at Vox's accusation, but Daniel beat him to a reply.


"Well then, kiddo, you are my new favorite!" A cheerful voice belted out, Serna pushing her way through with a fistful of sloshing mugs and a smile. She barely topped five feet tall but she was a solid wall of muscle who could wield the staff on her back with punishing force and had a temper as fiery as her hair - wisely, no one got in her way.


Shoving two of the mugs Kade and Daniel's way, she eyed them both. "How'd you manage to wrangle him along, anyway? Kade's about as boring as mercs come - I figured he'd be asleep already."


Kade's "Hey!" was summarily ignored by the woman, though Vox - a mage nearly as tall as Kade but not even half so muscular as he left the physical fighting to others - laughed at him.

 

[Coward]

Sid was grinning in spite of himself now, and accepted the mug maybe slightly too eagerly, mumbling thanks. But he froze at the question, groped helplessly for an answer. I was trying to assassinate a god and for some reason he stopped me. Stalling he lifted the ale, tipped back a long swig. The sour, piercing taste was a relief, even if it was almost as hot as the room itself.


"I... asked him where a tavern was..."


Cringed internally, trying not to let it show on his face. Awful. At least they were already half-drunk, maybe this would fly.


Without pausing he took another long swallow, focusing on the lanky one, unfolding like a spider from his bench. Mage. There was a certain look to them that you got to know after a while, like they were always listening to something no-one else could hear. Despite this Sid still hadn't picked up that Kade also had the gift, although the mutation should have been a strong clue. Maybe because of the sword, or maybe because he was so confusing in general.


The ale was disappearing fast, and he was already feeling the pathetic relief of knowing he'd be drunk soon. This wasn't a day he wanted to see out sober.


"He tells me you might sign on with Neir?"

 

[sraes]

Sipping cautiously at his own brew - not too bad all things considered, but he wasn't planning on getting drunk tonight when he still felt too on guard to completely relax - Kade watched the archer flounder for a moment.


Serna was not nearly drunk enough to have missed it, but before she could start picking the words apart for the truth he rolled his eyes at her and bumped his shoulder against the other man's.


"Don't let him lie to you; Daniel here managed to get himself so lost looking for a tavern that I found him damned near on the other side of Oldtown!" Easily stepping in to the conversation, he quickly shifted it into another direction. "I would have left him to wander but then one of those damned chimeras showed up - after that I figured we both needed drink."


An expansive gesture took in the tavern around them as if to say, 'and thus here we are'. Vox and Serna both accepted that with a grimace - the three of them had come across a rather nasty chimera duo on the road up here and none of them had enjoyed that fight a bit - and let the subject drop.


"That's the plan. Neir seems alright for a Baron - bit stuffy, but fair to his people yeah? Better than roaming around working for scraps like I have been. Why, you looking to join up too?" She asked, looking him up and down. He looked like he'd be better in a fight than Vox at least.

 

[Coward]

He met Kade's eyes, a short flash of relief. At least one person here was a good liar. Then to mask it drained his mug. Although now he needed more ale. He was still looking about when Serna asked if he was interested in joining. Sid blinked in surprise, reached up to rub at his face. Am I? It was no worse an idea than staggering back to the outlands with his tail between his legs. At least he'd have money for drink that way.


Eventually he shook his head though, grimacing slightly.


"I'm not much for barons, even the good ones. Though I hear Neir pays well at least."


Nor was he much of a soldier, which was the real reason. Despite the bow he was sure he couldn't hold up for long pretending to be a merc. No, what he had to do was go back to his scavenging. Maybe in the next three years he could think of a better plan for killing Ysanus - one that he could actually execute without folding like a paper doll. Unbidden his blue gaze went to Kade again, flit away.


"Next round on me."


His pockets were empty, but he needed another ale.

 

[sraes]

Kade grinned slightly at Daniel's relief and left him to Serna's less-than-tender mercies while he joined Vox next to the table.


"About those chimeras, have you seen them before?" he questioned the other mage, quietly grilling him for ideas. The sight of that creature so docilely walking away without so much as an aggressive look was really screwing with him. If there was a way to control them, even only temporarily, it could make living near the wastes infinitely easier on many people.


Serna, who had no magic and cared for it even less, ignored the conversing mages and shrugged at the newcomer.


"Pity, making a living in the Outer Kingdom can be difficult without steady employment - as i'm sure you know." She stated with a glance at his clothing, having noted the nice but worn look of them much as Kade had earlier that night.


Feeling eyes on him briefly, Kade looked up but Daniel had already glanced away. Assuming that meant he wasn't needed to intervene again he beckoned the two to sit down and pressed his mostly full mug into the blonde archer's hands. He looked like he needed it.


"I'll get this round, you can take the next."