Forever on the run }{ ~OPEN~

[Kilaray]

Echo's message about the supposed spies took Jarrah by surprise at first. He was in such a habit of not feeling the need to pay such close attention so soon after an encounter with Alaron's mercenaries that if anyone else was around, he hadn't noticed them.

But he didn't have any reason to doubt her, so he simply returned the smile and eventually joined the other two back at the fire. Once there he sat down again and didn't outwardly seem to be much aware of his surroundings. But he was listening more closely for signs of these spies.

[[OOC - Oy, that was crummy. But I don't wanna hold this up anymore just cuz I'm brain dead. ]]

[laraine]

Echo narrowed her eyes at Tal, but closed her eyes quickly and waited until Jarrah returned. She sighed softly and looked up at the sky while speaking softly.

" I know these guys more than I care to admit. I have chased them far and they carry a distinct smell. I'm not sure if either of you can detect it. But the smell is blood. Blood of innocents." She stopped for a second, as if debating whether to tell them both or not.

"Remember that village I led you two to? They were the ones who did that."

"I can spell the blood from here, it has taken over any other body odor that they had. Believe me or not I could hardly care. The problem isn't if they follow us in though. Its when we come back..after the battle we may have, I'd rather not come back to face a small army of bandits determined to kill me. Especially when we will already be weakened. Call it planning in advance if you will."

She yawned openly and stretched. "Well, I'm ready for bed. We have a big day tomorrow!" She smirked at the two. "Ah no worries I'll be sure to wake you two up if you sleep in okay? Goodnight!"

With that she made herself a bed and planted herself down upon it. She covered herself with her cloak and closed her eyes.

((OOC: hahahha! No worries! really And I am patient so don't fret!))

[Talwyn]

Accepting Echo's explanation with a shrug he remained silent as he stared off into the sky. Still, he couldn't fully shake it off and after Jarrah rejoined them, his patience ran out. "I'm going to circle around them. I'll imitate the sound of a rook to let you two know I'm ready." Making sure he kept his voice low, he went on. "I'll be fast, don't worry."

Getting up lazily, he raised his voice, making sure it wasn't sounding forced and fake as he gestured with his hands. "I'm going to make a round to check the traps I set earlier. Would be a waste if I caught a rabbit and a fox were to run off with it during the night right?" Laughing at his own statement, he continued to show no outwards signs of noticing anyone watching them as he casually walked off into the other direction.

The second he was out of sight, he started running and circled around the camp. As he came closer to where Echo thought the spies were, he slowed down and started to carefully sneak around. Sudden movement up ahead caused him to freeze dead in his tracks. Without making any sudden movements, he hid behind a tree before continuing his approach even stealthier.

Well, seems like the girl was right after all. Two man were carefully eying the camp. Making sure he could not be spotted, he waited a bit longer before putting his hands to his mouth and making the call of a rook to signal Echo and Jarrah. Pulling his sword free, he waited for his companions to make a move.

[Kilaray]

Jarrah remained quiet throughout Echo's explanation. For a moment he also wondered if it was worth going to the trouble of confronting the supposed spies. But her reasons for wanting to do so made sense so he didn't even consider arguing the matter.

After Talwyn wandered off, he found a tree to lean back against and tipped his head back against the bark as his eyes drifted shut. It might have looked like he had drifted off to sleep, but he was actually listening to what was going on around him. He was able to follow Tal 's movements until he slowed down, and a moment or two later, he heard the signal.

These people who were tailing them were half-way decent spies. Jarrah didn't hear them make a sound until after Tal's rook call. It was only a soft rustle of clothing - a minor slip up, something most with normal hearing wouldn't have picked up on. Granted, it wasn't up to par with a full-blooded elf's, but his sharp hearing came in handy more times than he could count.

Now that he knew where the spies were hiding he was able to use his magic to quickly pick out their energies. Talwyn hadn't made a move yet, and Jarrah didn't know whether Echo just wanted these guys dead or if she would try to get some info out of them first where the rest of their group was located.

So he decided against attacking just yet and instead made a gesture with his hands in his lap as he muttered, "Shol." The two men were bound with light similar to the way the last of Alaron's mercenaries had been. But this was a little different. Rather than just bind them, the spies would experience an intense burning sensation from the light. Nothing fatal, but they would sure feel it and it would weaken them a bit.

Thing is, Jarrah couldn't let his concentration stray too much from what he was doing or the light would fade. For now he wouldn't do much in the way of offense. This way it left the situation open for the girl to do whichever she preferred with their unwanted tail.


[[ooc: ugh...finally XD]]

[Talwyn]

Noticing the binds, Talwyn leaped into action. Aiming carefully, he landed squarely on the knee of one of them with his full weight. Being made of rocks he naturally weighed quite a bit, completely shattering the man's knee cap.

Sheeting his sword, he grabbed both of them and started dragging them out. Tossing them to the ground when he reached the fire, he grabbed his sword again. His eyes daring them to tempt him into using it.

"If you could do this, why didn't you say so earlier?" He calmly asked Jarrah, his eyes still trained at the men. "Also, since you didn't just flat out kill them, I assumed you wanted them alive? Was that the right assumption, or should I remedy my mistake?" Whether he was just bloodthirsty, or trying to scare the men into cooperating was impossible to tell for anyone but Talwyn himself.

[laraine]

Echo sighed at the two as they drug out the would be spies, tied up and rather injured from what the two boys did to them. Raine didn't know who she was more mad at, the bandits themselves or Jarrah and Talwyn for acting without her consent. Still, she let it past, focusing mainly at the bandits before her, one seemed to be in great pain from Tal's attack. The other one seemed to glare hatefully at them all, especially Echo.

"Filthy creature." He growled, staring at Echo. She didn't bat a eye at his insult, instead only glared at the man. "You should be glad that these two didn't slit your throats while they had the chance." She said in a expressionless voice. "Now answer me this bandit scum, are you two the only ones tailing us from that murderous group?"

The man turned his head away. " I have nothing to say to a corpse."

Echo bit into her lip, her eyes alight in rage. She slapped the man across the face hard. "At least I don't enjoy taking hundreds of lives for fun! Now answer me or I will not hesitate to use my powers against you both and send you to the pits of the underworld!"

The man remained silent.

Echo couldn't take it anymore. "It's your funeral, now burn.." Making sure Tal and Jarrah were far enough away, Raine set both men on fire with her power. She turned away and sat back at camp, not saying a word.

[Kilaray]

[[ooc - sowwy...this time I's guilty of forgetting... ]]

Jarrah kept his attention focused mainly on holding the bindings when he heard Talwyn's question, though he did give a bit of a shrug. To be honest, he hadn't thought to do this until after the other had taken off. But even if he had it would have been tricky to locate the spies since he didn't know where to look for them. So Tal's sneaking around was actually a huge help.

He stayed silent for a time after Echo did away with the two men, and her clear anger hadn't gone unnoticed. But although a couple things the one spy said had caught his attention, Jarrah figured it was better to leave the situation alone for now.

So after a moment he said, "Get some sleep, guys. I'm wide awake, I'll take the first watch."

[Talwyn]

Talwyn too, remained silent as Echo burned the men to a crisp. Glancing towards Jarrah, it was obvious he worried about the girl. Still, he remained silent. It was none of his business after all. And if there was one thing he hated, it was others prying into his past. So prying into the lives and past of others seemed hypocritical to him.

When Jarrah told them to sleep, he nodded and sat down, waiting for Echo to fall asleep. When she finally was, he whispered softly so she wouldn't wake up. "That anger within her is not natural. If she is not careful, such emotion can consume her." He spoke rather matter of factly."Not that I have any right to talk about topics like this. For I have been consumed by strong desire as well. So it is not my place..."

Touching his face, the tone of his voice turned grim. "It does however, make me very much aware of the dangers if giving in to such all consuming desires. I thought I was being granted my deepest wish. Wishes however... tend to not turn out the way you want them to..."

[laraine]

Echo noticed the two boys sitting, awaiting her to fall asleep. She shrugged, lying down. She grasped her cloak and cocooned herself within its warmth as she closed her eyes. Her breathing soon became even and peaceful to signal her sleep.

But even as she slept her mind was working overtime. The screams of the two men she burned still tore at her heart. But she managed to convince herself that she had done the right thing. Even her god said it was the right thing to do. So why did she feel so tortured?

She also wondered what her companions thought of her now. The bandit had called her a corpse after all. Would she have to run away? She couldn't let them know the truth.
Anything but that. Either they would try to kill her or save her.

Either way, it would end in agony.

Memories buzzed behind her closed eyes, scenes of people she loved and ones who tried to save her from her fate.

But in the end, it always ended the same.

Nothing would change. She would get revenge for her family's death. She would kill the bandits.

Still, she thought it was nice to have traveling companions. She had been working alone for so long, having others along might be a small relief before she had to leave.

Even as the night slowly became morning, Echo's mind never rested. Even as her body regained its powers and strength she awoke as soon as the sun appeared over the horizon. She got to her feet and grabbed fruit from her bag, beginning to eat like crazy. One, two, three, four, five apples later she finally started to lag as she ate. She finally finished by the sixth apple. "Ah that feels much better." She smiled softly.

[Kilaray]

It took a second for Jarrah to interpret Talwyn’s remark about thinking he was having his wish granted. If he had to guess, it must have meant Tal wanted to be stronger somehow - so the crazy wizard he mentioned earlier made him look like that as some joke.

He elected not to comment, only nodding in response. He understood completely what could happen to a person when they let their emotions and desires consume them. It was the reason Alaron had turned into the dangerous man he was now. Jarrah would hate to see anything similar happen to someone as young as Echo.

Then again...it wasn’t his place to be concerned. If she was as stubborn as he believed, then he could talk until the Apocalypse came to try to convince her to ease up and it was unlikely she’d listen.

By the time morning came, Jarrah had dozed off with his head resting against his knees. Waking shortly after sunup, he sat up and stretched before realizing Echo was already awake. He hadn’t forgotten the remarks the spies made towards her the night before, but for now he decided it wasn’t all that important.

Flashing his typical smile he gave a small wave. “Morning, all.”

[Talwyn]

Talwyn eyed Jarrah a bit longer before deciding the other was going to offer no response. Putting his head down, he closed his eyes and let the sleep take him. His sleep however, was not gentle and refreshing. Tossing and turning, something seemed to be bothering him.

When morning came, he woke after Jarrah did and couldn't help but feel ashamed he had slept through the night. With a loud yawn, he stretched himself while taking some food from his travel sack. Taking a bite, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

Getting up, he went to his horse and mounted. His impatience almost tangible, he waited for the others to be ready. When they finally did, all he did was sigh and nod and got his horse moving.

The soon learned, that his warnings the other day had not been exaggerated. The path was very tricky to navigate, and only due to his constant diligence, did he manage to not fall down one particular nasty cliff.

Stopping the group, he dismounted. Without looking at his companions, he spoke with obvious concern. "The path is worse then I thought... I think it'd be best if we either proceed on foot or let me scout it out a little."

[laraine]

"We should probably continue on foot, the horses seem a bit frightened of the cliff." Echo's horse was tossing its head and pulling back from the cliff. She tried to console it by petting its nose. But the horse seemed intent on not moving one inch. Echo sighed, giving up and turning back to the others. She shrugged.

[Kilaray]

((ooc - eek! so sorry for the late response! how the heck did i keep missing that last post? *smacks self for being so scatterbrained*))

Great... Cliffs.

This would be difficult enough - at least for him, anyway - without skittish horses to deal with, so Jarrah gave a quick nod in agreement to Echo's comment and hopped off his horse as well. Guess they would just have to walk the rest of it. It would take a heck of a lot longer, but oh well.

For a brief moment he had the childish thought of how he didn't want to go this way, that there had to be another path around it. But that would take forever and Tal was impatient enough already. So he tried to hide his growing anxiety at the idea of traversing these cliffs as he grabbed his bag.

[Talwyn]

((OOC: I am terribly sorry! I had no idea it was my turn. Why doesn't anyone ever tell me anything T_T))

Talwyn couldn't help but grin at Jarrah's anxiety. "What's the matter? Afraid of heights?" He commented as he took a few more things from the horse's saddle bags and placed them into his backpack. It was obvious that the man was not scared by the thought of plummeting to his doom.

After the others had made their preparations, he merely nodded as he started walking, his head held high, paying no attention to the dangerous cliff on his right. It was obvious however, that Talwyn was not in a talking mood. Not that he ever was, but it was more obvious than usual now.

Instead, he guided his companions silently, saying no more than he absolutely had too. In his mind, he was still questioning whether or not he had the right to bring them along on this dangerous journey. In any case, it became clear that Talwyn was a seasoned adventurer as he guided them skillfully.

After several hours, they reached what appeared to be the entrance to a cave and Talwyn stopped as he gazed inside. Gesturing the others to wait, he went inside silently chanting a spell. "Lumina, keeper of light, I pray to thee to let thy power gather in my hand, and let it illuminate my path."

A globe of light appeared in his hand, allowing Tal to inspect the cavern. It seemed structurally sound, there were no signs of a cave in further in. But, of course, this didn't mean there were none. Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths, taking in the scent of the air and trying to feel the gentle touch of a draft.

After quite some time, his return was shown by the globe of light suddenly appearing visible to Echo and Jarrah once more. Clutching his hand into a fist, the globe died out and he looked at his companions. "I think, " He started, sounding not completely sure of himself, "the way is clear. And if I recall correctly, going this way should cut our travel time in half."

He eyed them closely and sighed with some reluctance. "However, I cannot guarantee the exit is clear." Noticing the setting sun, he looked inside once more. "I do however, recommend us to halt here. The path turns after several meters, which will give us some protection from the cold nights."

[laraine]

Echo nodded. "Alright then, let's go ahead and rest here." She set down the bag she had been carrying and began to set up camp. She turned to her two companions and gave a soft smile. All of a sudden her stomach growled and she sighed. "What a time to get ..."