Bonds of Wind (Painless Sorrow and Erranruin)

[PainlessSorrow]

He watched her go first, she seemed quick and ready. He smiled a little it was nice to know that she wasn’t going to hesitate or complain-she seemed like an active and accomplished fighter. He brought his hand to his face after the thought came through his head. He was certainly having conflicting emotions at the moment. Regaining himself he crossed over to the edge and slid himself down on the rope crawling over next to her quickly when he saw the bandit. He didn’t think long before he spoke to her, “I will go out and get him, remain here and cover me.”

At that he waited for the man to turn before darting at him. He drew his sword during the running process which he found to be not so effective as he was hoping but it managed at least. Ailean was but a yard away from the other man when he turned around and saw him coming. It was obvious that the bandit was not geared well and Ailean would have no match with simply one of them.

Sword and axe met in a single swing, more muscle was behind Aileans strike than the bandit had been expecting and he quickly fortified himself trying to overcome the attack. During this another bandit who had been far enough in the cave entrance that he had gone unseen was coming out to join the skirmish; weapon raised.

[Erranruin]

Nimue trained her arrow at Ailean's opponent and was ready to release when a quick flash of movement registered just to the side of her. Suddenly her bow and arrow were in one hand while her other pulled a dagger from her belt, the blade glinting just as she rushed up to the new opponent and pierced him through the back. The dagger quavered once as the heart it was embedded in gave one last stuttering thud before the bandit gasped as rattlingly died.

She was now directly in front of the entrance and as she stood two more men exited the cave. Both stopped in sudden astonishment and the brief pause was all she needed to bring back up her bow and feather both their chests well. The blood from her knifed one had dribbled down her hand and stained her sleeve while making her fingers slick to easily released the string.

She turned to Ailean once more, awaiting his lead, perfectly trusting in his ability to kill his bandit.

[PainlessSorrow]

That small one on one fight hadn't lasted very long before the man lay bleeding on the ground. Just as he turned around he saw Nimue standing on the ready; a man dead nearby and two more bandits coming in there direction. He grunted a little; how persistent, he gave her a quick nod of appreciation for killing the other man he took a defensive stance. "Can you stop the-never mind." The were coming at them to quickly for him to even manage something out of what he was going to say. "Stay here, use your bow." At the last word he darted at the two bandits raising his sword to crack in there skulls. He quickly manuevered to the left hand side as he noticed one of the two trying to get behind him; that was the only situation he could not fight in. The bandits completely ignored the woman seeing her as not much of a threat while they attempted to kill the other man.

[Erranruin]

Nimue nodded to her partner with certainty and assurance. In this battle he was growing on her, he seemed perfectly capable of ignoring her gender and just letting her fight. It was a new feeling, to be trusted, and Nimue loved the way it felt. That feeling clashed with her anger as the Bandits ignored her. She almost laughed at herself, to be angry at her own opponent for under-estimating her was folly. Still she pulled the string a mite too tightly just for a target only a few metres from her and the arrow buried itself deeply into the closest man's chest, the head coming out the other side.

The second arrow came moments after the first and was a superb shot even for her. She aimed it in an act of almost reckless self confidence that afterwards she even scolded herself for. Still the arrow was loosed and it sliced through the throat of her second target. But the bolt went further, it carried on and embedded itself in another man's shoulder, burying itself deep.

She drew her sword as the fight was drawn deeper into the caves and came towards the fray.

[Erranruin]

Painless's post, posted on his behalf...

They were powering down on him. No one could fight a lopsided fight for ever, but then again no one could fight a one on one fight forever either. His eyes widened a little as an arrow dug through one of the men’s chest. He let out a terrible shriek as the blood began to cover his clothes. Ailean sidestepped and allowed the man to fall forward; shortly followed by another who received an arrow through his throat. A thin smile grew on the man’s face; she was a magnificent shot. He didn’t have long to relish in this however before more bandit came; drawing the fight further into the cave.

They bandit were not very strong, they wore mainly clothe and their weapons were third rate at best. The only thing they really had going for them was their number and once they began to see how things were turning out several of the bandits turned their coats and fled for the escape exit. The man had very little wish to see them all dead but regardless of this it was not only his order to finish them all but he knew that if they were allowed to live they would seek revenge. Bandits were simply not the type of people who just let things go. At one point all the remaining bandit found it futile to remain and the turned dousing the lights and leaving the two dragon riders in total and complete darkness.

“Brilliant.” His tone was slightly sarcastic something that was not often so. He decided to remain still for the moment. “Nimue are you alright?”

[Erranruin]

Nimue came into the cave with confidence but while Ailean almost always drew the attention of their attackers, Nimue was a more sneaky attacker, slipping around the sides and silently killing opponents without them even knowing she was there. By the time she could hear the roars of their dragons as they tore through fleeing men bodies strue the tunnels and blood caked her clothes, although some small amout was her own.

Far from making her regrettful, she found it worryingly easy to cast off the lives of the bandits from her conscience. Perhaps it was the feeling of uselessness that women felt and the label of replaceable that was pressed upon them that aided her supression of morals. For the moment all she cared about was the sudden and complete darkness that surrounded them.

She closed her eyes to allow her to better concentrate on her other senses and carefully followed Ailean's voice in the dark. Her light hand came to rest on his arm and clutched at it a little.

"A little scratched but yes, I'm alright. And you?"

She could hear the footsteps of faraway bandits but she wasn't too concerned about them for the moment, knowing that they were already scared and running with their tails between their legs.

[PainlessSorrow]

Ailean began to reach around in the dark a little. trying to find the side of the cave; he remained silent as these actions transpired. Finally letting out a sigh when he failed to find anything. "I am mostly fine." He had been scuffed a little but unless he had been hurt so badly that he was numbing he doubted that there was anything seriously wrong with him. The dark was really making him feel uncomfortable; a dark haze without the slightest of light, this was most concerning because there should be a light from where they came in-had the tunnel really been that twisted? Reaching around a little more he felt a little relieved when his hand met the solid side of the cave. At least now options were present and he already knew where to start. "Nimue, come here. Come slowly and be careful of your footing." They would have to follow the walls out..

[Erranruin]

Nimue nodded even though he couldn't see her and placed one soft hand on his back while the other ran along the cave wall, feeling the abrasions and dips on its surface. They edged their way towards the roars of their dragons slowly at first but they gained momentum as they became more confident in the dark. Feeling him so close to her became a comfort, he was some kind of warm rock in a dark sea and she liked that he trusted she would be ok.

They came to a curve in the tunnel and Nimue heard a sudden movement in the air. Without thinking she had let grasped her bow and let fly and arrow into a creeping bandit behind them. They both stopped for a second but no other movement was heard. Her hand was replaced on his back and they continued on.

[PainlessSorrow]

She had placed a single hand on his back, it felt much smaller than those of his former comrades, it felt much more slender and gently. It was a small and warm comfort in this place; especially with the small creeping anxiety inside of him. He ran his gauntlet covered hand along the ways imagining the roughness had his hand been bare. He twitched at the noise and the sound of a bow firing in the dark. They continued on their way following the sound of their dragons.

Relief washed over him like a wave on the beach when a light could be spotted. There it was the exit out. It was rather narrow and bent but golden light was shining through it and granting him a comforting light. Once at the base of the small amount of stones they would need to climb their way up he smiled just a little before speaking. "Shall I go first or shall you?" A small uplifting tone carried in his voice, he had had a small premonition that this cave would be his death and was more the relieved that he would get out unscathed.

[Erranruin]

Nimue looked up the bank, judging it carefully.

"Perhaps I should go first to test the way since I am lighter and less likely to pull rocks free. Also if I do fall you will have an easier time catching me than I would you."

She chuckled pleasantly, given confidence by his happy tone and similarly glad to see the light of day. After he gave his approval she reached for the first stone and began her climb. She enjoyed climbing generally and the slope wasn't too steep. She got quite far before looking down to check her distance. Oddly enough the height made her slightly dizzy which made no sense since Eloras took her far higher than this. Perhaps it was because it was Eloras.

She made it to the top without much incedent and called down after taking a quick look around. It opened out to a wide cave where the bodies of bandits lay scorched and battered about her. The two dragons rested happily in the sunshine outside, seemingly unconcerned.

"Ailean! Come up but watch out for one rock halfway up, it feels a little loose to me."