Mission Impossible [closed]

[Gildor]

"A talent is a talent, no matter how common," he said as they passed by what sounded like another tavern and inn. More faint music and laughter tickled at his pointed, pierced ears as it drifted through the cracked windows.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Amerylis asked him before he could become too absorbed in the distant melody, "Even after the tea, I'm still sore... In some places more than others."

Gildor couldn't keep himself from sneering in dark delight at that. He hadn't intended for her to fall on her behind so many times; that was just how their fight turned out to be. "Taught myself," he answered with a smirk, "In combat and magic, I'm almost entirely self-taught.

Now what about you?" he asked before she could say anything else. "Your teachers clearly supported creativity in combat, or else you would have never been able to take my staff from me." She had managed to, after all... not once, but twice.

[Amerylis]

"Now what about you? Your teachers clearly supported creativity in combat, or else you would have never been able to take my staff from me."

Amerylis grinned. "My grandparents. They taught me that 'brains beats brawn, and creativity is key.' You should probably put wards over your staff next time as well as yourself. That won't really help against physical attacks, however it wouldn't be able to be summoned by magic."

She turned down an empty street, on of it's lights had been extinguished, most likely by a strong gust of wind. "I also trained with my cousin's in archery. Though they weren't that good, so I suppose it's a natural talent."

Avalon screeched in annoyance, wanting some attention. She hopped off Amerylis's shoulder and swooped to Gildor's farther shoulder. She peeked past Gildor's head to Amerylis and blink twice then rubbed against his neck lovingly. Amerylis scowled at her, but made no move to take her back. No use, she'll just fly away. Or bite me.

"Sorry about her." She said crossing her arms, feeling a bit embarrassed because she couldn't control her own animal.

[Gildor]

Gildor listened quietly, and rounded a corner with her as the street began to curve. The desert night chill was beginning to settle in, and like Amerylis, he too was beginning to long for his traveling cloak back at their campsite. His face and neck were getting cold, even with his long bangs and the short collar of his shirt there to block some of the breeze.

"...they weren't that good, so I suppose it's a natural talent..."

The falcon on Amerylis's shoulder suddenly let out a cry, interrupting her owner for want of attention. The unexpected noise didn't phase him, but he halted in surprise when fluttering wings swooped passed his head. Sharp talons clung lightly to his right shoulder a second later; something that would have made anyone unaccustomed to the feeling cringe or wince. Soft feathers brushed against his neck as the bird nuzzled him, seeking affection.

"Sorry about her," Amerylis apologized with a hint of embarrassment in her voice. He got the feeling her falcon wasn't as trained as well as she would have liked her to be.

"It's fine, really," he insisted as the falcon continued to cuddle him lovingly. He would have returned the gesture with a gentle pat if his right hand wasn't busy holding his staff, and if his left arm wasn't tied up in a sling. "I've owned a few hawks myself." She could have probably guessed that, seeing has how he always kept a couple of large hawk feathers tied to the top end of his staff, even when using it to fight. He was actually much more experienced with the care and handling of birds of prey than he was letting on, but he didn't really see much of a reason to bring it up at the moment.

Avalon stopped rubbing against his neck when he stopped walked a second time, and shifted her weight from foot to foot impatiently. Gildor stopped raised his head and craned his neck to the left, sniffing the air lightly.

"Your dinner is ready," he stated and turned around, the tip of his staff skimming through the dirt in front of him. "We should head back to Kaala and Mirror."

[Amerylis]

"It's fine, really, I've owned a few hawks myself."

For the first time Amerylis noticed the feathers. She smirked. "As long as she's not a problem." She said stopping by Gildor. The mead was almost completely out of her system. She felt more energized than before, though her bum was still aching.

"Your dinner is ready, we should head back to Kaala and Mirror."

She raised a brow then turned on her heel. "So.. have you always been blind?" She asked cautiously. She didn't know if this subject wasa touchy on, and she didn't feel like ruining their trip by making him angry or annoyed on the first day.

[Gildor]

As Amerylis turned around with him to head back, she asked him the one question he hadn't expected to get on their first night together.

"So... have you always been blind?"

It was probably better that she asked him sooner than later, but it had still caught him a little off-guard. He wasn't sensitive about it like she might have anticipated, but it wasn't like he was asked about his disability every day.

"Yes, I have," he answered after a moment's hesitation, though he sounded just as casual as ever. "Towards the end of her pregnancy with me, my mother fell ill with fever. I was then born prematurely, and... well... blind."

His story was short and unspectacular, but it was all he had to tell her. He could have continued on with various subjects relating to his blindness, such as how he had to travel all over Du Weldenvarden when he was a child to visit different healers, or how his mother went insane with guilt when it became apparent he couldn't be cured, or how his father had refused to teach him to handle a sword because he believed him to be too weak... but he decided it was much too early to bring up that sort of disheartening thing. Besides, he wasn't the type to go searching for sympathy.

The conversation awkwardly died after that, and they continued to walk back through the row of closed shops and inns in silence. Gildor didn't mind the peace, but he wondered if he had made Amerylis uncomfortable with anything he said. After running the last of their conversation through his thoughts, he decided he couldn't find anything wrong with what he said, and carried on with enjoying the quiet until they reached the tavern they met in earlier. Loud violin music and giddy laughter could still be heard from inside. Humans certainly knew how to have a good time all the time, which was one of the reasons why Gildor liked living with them so much.

"Don't mind me if I skip out on a bite of your stew, Kaala," Gildor called as he and Amerylis re-entered their small camp on the outskirts of town. "I don't mean to be rude, but I already ate. Smells wonderful, though," he complimented kindly.

[Amerylis]

"Yes, I have, towards the end of her pregnancy with me, my mother fell ill with fever. I was then born prematurely, and... well... blind."

Amerylis nodded, taking in the new information. She decided to keep her mouth closed the rest of the way back. Her previous comment seemed to have surprised him, and she didn't feel like doing it again. After a few minutes she guessed that he wasn't going to say anything else either.

Out of curiosity Amerylis closed her eyes and began walking with them closed, using only sound to lead her. Mostly the sound of Gildor's footsteps. To her surprise it wasn't that hard, since they had only walked straight down the road. That is until she tried turning to the campsite.

Right as Amerylis opened her eyes, so that Kaala didn't see what she was doing, she smacked into the outer side of the tavern. She quickly sidestepped it before anyone could figure out what she had been doing.

"I uhm... I thought I heard something... behind me... wasn't watching where I was going." She said, only having a few seconds to think up an excuse.

"Don't mind me if I skip out on a bite of your stew, Kaala. I don't mean to be rude, but I already ate. Smells wonderful, though."

Amerylis sat by the fire, where no one could see her blushing from the glow of it, and pulled the blankets over her shoulder to protect her from the cold. She pulled out a bowl and poured some broth.

Once Gildor sat down, Avalon hopped down to his right leg. She nibbled on the hem of his shirt, another attempt to get attention.

Amerylis took a bowl and filled it with stew. Her face was aching from the collision, but, on a lighter note, her bum had stopped.

[Gildor]

Gildor couldn't stop himself from snickering when Amerylis hit the side of the tavern. It didn't take a genius to figure out what she had been doing.

"I uhm... I thought I heard something... behind me... wasn't watching where I was going," she stated nervously, trying to cover up her embarrassing little misstep.

"Sure you did, love," he said over his injured shoulder with a sly grin.

With another soft chuckle and a light shake of his head, he hooked the strap of his travel bag with the end of his staff and moved it closer to the campfire, (away from Kaala's still slumbering mount). After setting both his staff and bag down, he pulled out his tattered black cloak and sat down before putting it on. As though she had anticipated his movements, Amerylis's falcon hopped to his knee once he was seated to allow him to slip the worn cloak over his head. However, she refused to give up her quest for attention and began nibbling one of the decorative flaps on the end of his tunic. She didn't stop until his long-nailed fingers were stroking the back of her head repeatedly.

"What are you, a bird or cat?" he asked in faintly amused confusion. In his experience with birds of prey, falcons weren't usually this affectionate or attention-seeking... nor were they quite as soft as this one was. If she were bigger he might have mistaken her for his old seeing-eye hawk, Nerwen.

"Does she respond to a name?" he asked across the crackling campfire flames while the falcon nipped playfully at his nails.

[Amerylis]

"Sure you did, love,"

"I did..." She mummbled in the ancient language. Technically it WAS true. She had heard music from the bar and she wasn't looking where she was going. She had always found a way to bend the truth in the anceint language and never lie.

"Does she respond to a name?"

Amerylis jerked her head up to look at him. "Avalon. My mother's name." She said uneasily. "But she isn't fully trained. Just as a messenger bird." She continued with her stew. "She is constantly craving attention." She said grinning, as she finished off her stew.

She gave the bowl back to Kaala and fixed her bedroll. She climbed in and curled her legs up till she was warmer. She closed her eyes, but didn't fall asleep. She planned to stay awake and learn more about Gildor, who she knew little about, since they would be spending countless hours together.

[Kaala]

Kaala watched as her two companions rounded the corner, Gildor looking slightly uncomfortable. She watched as Amerylis smacked into the wall and quickly side-stepped, her face turning a bright scarlet.

"I uhm... I thought I heard something... behind me... wasn't watching where I was going."

"Sure you did, love,"

Kaala couldn't help but let out a peal of laughter at the two, their conversation brightening the mood around the camp.

"Don't mind me if I skip out on a bite of your stew, Kaala,"
"I don't mean to be rude, but I already ate. Smells wonderful, though,"

"I kind of thought as much," She said, fixing a bowl for Amerylis and herself, giving it to her as she sat. "so I only made enough for two people." She gave him a soft smile and turned back to the fire, drawing a sharpening block from her packs, getting her rapiers, nagi-nati, and her dagger. With that she began the task of sharpening the weapons.

"What are you, a bird or cat?"

Kaala looked up in time to see Avalon perched on Gildor's knee, ruffling herself comfortably. She gave a slight smile and continued her task.

"Does she respond to a name?"

"Avalon. My mother's name."
"But she isn't fully trained. Just as a messenger bird."
"She is constantly craving attention."

Kaala slowly began to tune herself out, only half focusing on the conversation at hand, instead, letting her thoughts wander.

[Gildor]

"Avalon," Gildor repeated, and got a chirp out of the falcon on in response, "Good strong name... Though it seems you have yet to live up to it." He stroked a single finger under Avalon's beak in silence for a long while, gazing distantly past the bright light of the campfire. It wasn't his usual sort of stare. He looked as though he were considering the possibility of something...

Gildor didn't realize it, but he remained like that for at least an hour, staring with far-off, half-lidded eyes and absentmindedly stroking Amerylis's falcon. When he finally came to, he realized his traveling companions had already cleaned up their dinner bowls, laid out their bed rolls and, judging by the sound of soft and steady breathing, had already fallen asleep.

Free from his thoughtful trance, he offered his good arm to Avalon, who cautiously stepped onto it and climbed up to his shoulder again. Moving as quietly as he could manage, he picked up his staff, stiffly stood up, and found his way over to where Amerylis was keeping her travel bag. After silently rummaging through it's contents for a moment, he found what he was looking for; a bag of treat pellets used when training birds of prey. He figured she would have a bag after mentioning Avalon not being fully trained yet. The falcon began shifting her weight from foot to foot at the sight of the treat bag, and was about to let out an excited shriek when Gildor quickly reached out to her with his mind and calmed her. He wasn't planning on getting much sleep, and didn't want the girls to stay awake because of his insomnia.

After hiding the bag of treats in a pocket on the inside of his cloak, he took up his staff again and began walking away from the camp, into the darkness of the bleak Surdan desert they would all face come morning. Gildor had a few things he wanted to do with Avalon before then, and hopefully her owner wouldn't mind.

[Amerylis]

"Avalon. Good strong name... Though it seems you have yet to live up to it." Amerylis just smiled. She yawned and rubbed her eyes in a vein attept to stay awake. After a few minutes she happily gave in, rolled over, and pulled her pillow closer to her. She slowly drifted off.

Amerylis's eyelids fluttered. She was reluctantly pulled from her dream. She was pleased to find that the morning had not given way to heat. She opened her eyes and took in the campsite. A small wind blew, with it the smell of liquor and the smoldering fire.

She quietly pulled herself from her bedroll, so not to wake Kaala and Mirror. She shivered as the wind blew agian agianst her bare arms. She pulled them closer to her.

She looked agian and took note of Gildor's and Avalon's absence. Amerylis shrugged it off. The bird had been drawn to Gildor and he had been drawn to the bars. Though she doubted he would be there this early.

In silence, she walked to the fire and fed it small twigs, then blew it back to life. She reached for her bags, taking no note that they were open, and took out a pot. She put a pot over it and began cooking another stew. She added a few potatoes and other vegtables from her bags. She reached for her carrots then realised they were gone. She looked up at Arsen, and could only smile. A half bitten carrot was only a few inches from his mouth and the bag she kept them in was empty. She shrugged. Hopefully they won't notice.

She sat back and watched the fire. A dazed looked washed over her as she stared into it's dancing flames.

(OOC) Happy Gildor? No carrots.

[Gildor]

An urgent screech interrupted the morning silence and Amerylis's fire-gazing as Avalon flew overhead, coming from the empty Surdan desert to the north. She was flying at top speed, racing towards the camp as fast as her fluttering wings could carry her. She probably could have gone a lot faster if not for the long stick she was carrying in her talons. It was throwing her slightly off-balance in her hurry with each gust of desert wind that blew by.

She at last made it to the campsite and threw down the stick at her master's feet, which actually wasn't a stick at all. It was an arrow. One of Amerylis's arrows. If she had really bothered to look around her things, she would have noticed not only her travel bag being open and her carrots gone, but also her missing bow and quiver of arrows... and her pouch of training treats for falcons, but that was beside the point.

Avalon refused to stop hovering in front of her master until she picked up the arrow and examined it. The bladed tip and a bit of the wood was covered in a sticky red liquid... and Avalon, still frantic, was already heading back in the direction she came... back out into the desert.

[Amerylis]

Amerylis looked up as Avalon flew into view. "There you-" The bird dropped something. She reached down and picked it up. One of her arrows. She ran her hand over the tip. It appeared to be blood.

Amerylis's heart skipped a beat. "Where's Gildor." She asked the bird, then realised it was a dumb question, obviously the bird couldn't talk.

As if anwsering, Avalon headed back to where she came. Amerylis quickly took the stew off and grabbed her sword and sheath. She tied them on and ran over to Arsen. She threw her leg over him and dug her feet into his flanks. The horse reared back, then ran after Avalon.

Avalon, no longer wieghed down, was considerably faster then before. Still, Arsen caught up with her in no time. Amerylis was forced to slow down, in order to follow behind her.

[Gildor]

Avalon eventually began to slow her rushed flying pace as she lead her owner towards an old grove of dead, petrified trees and twiggy shrubs fighting to grow in their shade. They weren't very far from the campsite when they reached the grove, and Avalon skimmed straight over the tops of the leafless trees to make Amerylis follow her deeper into it. Some of the thin, somewhat sharp old twigs that still remained on their low-hanging branches snagged cruelly at the young Elf's hair and clothes. It was almost as though the forest were reaching out to her, trying to drag her in deeper to join it in death. The place would have been unsettling for almost any Elf to see.

Finally, just ahead of her, the falcon perched herself at the top of a particularly tall tree that seemed to be centered in the lifeless heart of the grove, where she screeched again anxiously. Propped up against it's base was a feather-tipped wooden staff, Amerylis's bow and quiver, and Gildor. He was still wrapped in his tattered old traveling cloak, and appeared to be fast asleep with his chin on his chest... or he would have appeared to be fast asleep, if not for the arrow sticking out of his lower left shoulder.

[Amerylis]

Arsen soon slowed more as they reached the grove. He anxiously presued the falcon. Amerylis lowwered herself agianst the horse's neck to escape from the branches. Her attempt, however was in vain.

Amerylis felt Arsen slow more as she reached the large tree. When he had reached a certain speed, Amerylis threw her other leg over him and lept off."Gildor!" She rushed by Gildor's side and slid to a stop. Sheput her hand on his neck to check his pulse. He was still alive at least. "Gildor! Are you okay?"She asked franticly. She shook his unharmed shoulder a bit. She muttered a few elvish curses then refered back to the human language. "Damnit Gildor what did you do?" She exclaimed. Her mind flashed back to the arrow in his shoulder.

Her hand reached down and found the arrow. She wrapped her arm around the arrow and gently pulled it out. It came out resonably easy.She seem didn't notice. She looked at the arrowhead and then sat it down beside her. She covered the bloodsoaked spot on his traveling cloak and mummbled, "Waise heill." She didn't feel as drained as she had expected, but once agian didn't seem to notice.

[Gildor]

Gildor woke with a start after his arm was healed, and inhaled sharply with surprise. "Amer... Amerylis...?" he asked with a light cough, and slowly and stiffly began to push himself up from the base of the tree with a pained grimace. For a while he hung his head and sat, breathing in short, quick gasps... which soon turned into small choking noises... then a brief silence... which was then followed by bright, uncontrollable laughter.

Unable to help himself, Gildor threw back his head and laughed long and loud into the crisp morning air. For a moment, it seemed as though the entire petrified grove were filled with sweet, melodic Elvish laughter... with perhaps a touch of insanity in it.

"Thank you for the heroic rescue, love," he said, still chuckling to himself moments later. He almost had another laugh attack as he reached into his cloak where the false wound had been. "I thought I was never going to get that arrow out of my breakfast!" he joked, and pulled out a large pomegranate with a gaping hole in it's tough exterior for her to see. It was bleeding the same sort of sticky red juice that covered her arrows and the spot on his cloak. He peeled off a chunk of the pomegranate and bit into the hundreds of tiny, fruit-covered seeds hungrily.

Not wanting to be forgotten, Avalon swooped down through the branches of the dead trees and fluttered over to Gildor's shoulder, where she perched and nibbled his ear delicately. "O'course love, you deserve it," he told her with a mouthful of seeds and reached under his cloak once more. "Wonderful work," he complimented the falcon as he offered her a couple of Amerylis's treat pellets, which she snatched up and swallowed eagerly.

After turning his head to the side to spit out some seeds, Gildor wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and smirked. "You should have heard ya'self just then," Gildor told his traveling companion with a light snicker, "Your voice practically cracked!"

[Amerylis]

Gildor began coughing. She wrapped her arms around him for a brief second, "What hap-" then pulled away as he began laughing. Her face turned bright red. Then it clicked. She listened as he went on making a joke of her.

"Thank you for the heroic rescue, love. I thought I was never going to get that arrow out of my breakfast! You should have heard ya'self just then, your voice practically cracked!"

Amerylis stared at him with a blank expression. Her rage was concealed well. She stood up and looked down at him. Gildor began to stand up, still laughing. He grabbed his staff and leaned on it for support. With one quick movement, she slapped him across the face. Her nail caught the side of his cheek. A small line of blood trickled down his tanned cheek. "I don't even know why I cared about you..." She said glaring at him. "I-i mean cared about saving you. You're nothing but a pigheaded bastard." She added venomously.

Amerylis bent down and pulled her bow and quiver to her. She cleaned her arrowhead on the ground and put it back in the quiver. She wrapped her arms around her legs. She streched out her arm then wiped a stray tear from her cheek. She didn't quite understand why she was crying.

[Gildor]

Amerylis soon stood up and stepped back from the tree trunk, giving Gildor enough room to gather his staff and haul himself to his feet. He was still so pleased with his little prank that he didn't notice the amount of rage building up in the air around him... at least not until it was already too late. Avalon screeched, jumped from his shoulder, and fluttered off just in the nick of time... because at the next moment, Amerylis's long-nailed hand collided with Gildor's cheek.

"I don't know why I cared about you," she said venomously as he stood there with his head turned to the side... although her voice wavered a moment later. "I-I mean cared about saving you," she corrected, then added with renewed anger, "You're nothing but a pigheaded bastard."

With that, she walked around the tree to where her quiver was and bent down to grab it, leaving him with only the streak of blood on his face... or so he thought she was leaving him. But instead she just... squatted there insecurely, and not a moment later Gildor could have sworn he heard a couple of soft gasps. She was undoubtedly crying.

Hm... crying girl. Not something he was very used to dealing with. After taking a minute to wrack his brain for options, he decided to try telling her everything she wanted to hear to make her feel better. It was worth a shot. Besides, there was some truth in what she said about him being a pigheaded bastard... but just some.

"You know..." he started to say as he slowly stepped up and squatted down beside her, "You're far from the first girl to tell me that... but you're by far the most decent girl who has." He turned his head slightly in an attempt to face her, something he usually didn't do when speaking with anyone. "<I'm sorry I scared you. I haven't been around many other Elves in near a-hundred-and-fifty years, and have forgotten the proper way to act>" he said, switching to their native tongue this time so she could heard the comfort of truth. "<No more pranks for the duration of this whole egg-hunt, I promise.>"

He was still smiling faintly, but his words seemed sincere... and he was now bound by the magic of the Anicent Language to keep those words.

[Amerylis]

"You know..." She heard him step closer and bend down closer. She didn't dare look at him.

"You're far from the first girl to tell me that... but you're by far the most decent girl who has." She turned her head to face him as he had done. His milky eyes looked past her, as if looking past her, but still she smiled and looked him in the eyes. Their emptiness made a shiver run down her spine, but she also found them to be full of life. She opened her mouth to say something then he began agian. She was taken back to find he was speaking in the ancient language.

"<I'm sorry I scared you. I haven't been around many other Elves in near a-hundred-and-fifty years, and have forgotten the proper way to act. No more pranks for this whole egg-hunt, I promise.>". Amerylis looked down, from his eyes, to her feet.

"I will forgive you, if you will forgive me. I acted rashly. I can usually control my emotions. Lately they have been as wild as Avalon."

She looked at his bleeding chin. "Allow me to heal you once more."She got on her knees and scooted closer to him. She wiped away the blood, as if wiping away a tear, and put her hand agianst his cheek. "Be healed." She murmured in the ancient language. She moved her hand away from his cheek cautiously. "Better?" She asked leaning a bit closer, clearly it was. "And what about your shoulder?"

[Gildor]

There was a moment's hesitation before Amerylis gave him an answer... but when she did, her words were gentle, unlike before.

"I will forgive you, if you will forgive me. I acted rashly. I can usually contain my emotions. Lately I've been as wild as Avalon."

"No worries," he told her lightly with a careless flick of his right hand, "Not the first time I've been slapped like that. First time in a long time, but certainly not the first time."

With all the women he or owed money to across Alagaësia, it was a miracle both his cheeks were still intact.

"Allow me to heal you once more," she said, and before he could so much as accept her help, she had moved herself compromisingly close. She placed a delicate hand on his bleeding cheek and got on her knees before him. Blast it, if only they were drunk!

"Better?" she asked after making the cut vanish with only a few words, "And what about your shoulder?"

"Oh, um... still sore, I'm afraid," he answered uncertainly, though mostly because he was unsure as to whether or not his shoulder was just badly bruised or slightly fractured. His injury didn't stop him from offering his good arm to help pull Amerylis to her feet again.

Once they were both standing again, he handed her his staff for a moment so he could take off his cloak. Sure enough, his left arm was still tied up in a sling. It was strange that he hadn't healed it himself yet. He was either horrible at healing or couldn't at all...