His breath felt hot, burning his lungs with each sharp inhale as feet flew across the ground, almost silent as he ran through the crowd. Many cries of outrage could be heard in his wake as Luka barged through people, knocking some to the ground in his haste. But there was no time to stop and offer an apology or help. Even further back his keen ears angry shouts to move and a clanking of metal as guard weapons clanged against other pieces of their gear. They were far enough behind that he couldn’t see them if he looked back, but close enough they were able to follow the trail of confusion and chaos the boy left behind him.

His deep, sharp, blue eyes scanned the buildings rushing past him as his feet practically flew across the ground, his speed hindered only by the people in his way. There were few gaps in the crowd, no alleyways in sight. No place to escape. The bright noon sun was beaming down upon him, sweat dripping from every pore in his body. He couldn’t, or perhaps didn’t want to, think about how long he had been running. Suddenly his eyes widened with surprise as up ahead of him he saw a small gap in the crow, not much but just enough to offer a small chance at maybe a rest.

Quickly the boy darted through the gap that led to a small building, probably a shop, he suspected. Bursting through the door he slammed it behind, breathing heavily his eyes scanned the room he had just entered before they landed on a young woman with brown hair and they widened in fright. With lightning fast movements he dashed forwards and took a hold of her upper arm in one hand and placed the other over her mouth to stop her from crying out.

“Please,” he managed to gasp out between ragged breaths. “Just… be quiet. I’m not… not going to hurt you.” His eyes flickered to the side for a moment, towards the door and he fell totally silent, holding his breath despite the burning urgency in his lungs as if he was listening to something. However there was nothing to be heard outside, just the usual hustle and bustle of the city. However after a minute or so he seemed satisfied with whatever he was waiting for and took a long gasp for air before returning his attention to the girl before him, which he now realised he was intimately close to, their bodies practically touching in places.

“I’m going to move my hand away.” He said softly, searching her eyes for some kind of sign as he slowly peeled his hand. “Please… don’t scream.” Releasing her and taking a few steps away Luka stood rigidly, his entire body tense like a deer that sensed danger and was ready to flee at a moment’s notice. All it took was one shout, one call for help and people would hear and with the guards so close they would be upon them within minutes. There would be little chance for escape.

The market in the small city of Renward was busy, though not unusually so for the height of the season. Local farmers had set up stalls with their crops to sell, and entertainers put on their best shows in the square, to get the attention, and the coin, of the generous folk in the town. Some business people stayed in their shops, but most owners went out to shop and find clients, leaving others to fend for their shops. Rhys was one of the lowly shop employees. Being the third daughter of a man who was not wealthy enough to afford three daughters, she had resolved herself to the life of a spinster. She had been taught to sew at an early age, and her current job was at a leatherworker’s shop, where she mostly worked on embroidery for saddles, sword sheaths, and even some shoes.

She had been standing in the shop, walking around as she worked the needle through the material to follow the pattern. Leather was not easy to embroider, and she was pretty confident that this shop was one of the only that was stupid enough to do it. In any case, she was paid, and had a roof over her head all day, able to stay away from prostitution, fortunately. She was contemplating just this fact when the door opened. She opened her mouth to ask how she could help the gentleman who entered, only to see the panic in his eyes, and her own widened in fear.

In a moment, he had grabbed her arm and clamped a hand over her mouth. She struggled for a moment, but then steadied, not wanting to compel this man to act in haste once more. She had no idea what sorts of weapons might be hiding on his person. He urged her to be quiet, and she forced her breathing to steady, though her hands began to shake. She still had the needle in her right hand, she could probably stab him, though with his clothing, it might not even graze the skin. A needle was no weapon. She watched his gaze move to the door, and she watched it as well.

He finally moved his hand away, telling her not to scream. Yes, if she screamed, she probably would get the town guard in here, if there wasn’t a brothel next door. They had stopped responding to screams on this street some time before. That was half the reason the owner was away, he was looking for a new shop for his fine leatherworks. Further, he would likely slice her open before she was saved by the incompetent guard. Her eyes moved to the door, but with his hand still firmly latched on her arm, she knew that she wasn’t going to be able to get there. Despite her fear, she kept her voice steady for the most part. “Please, sir… Let me go. I mean nothing to you. There is nothing here, no gold… Just leave.” It was true, mostly. The owner didn’t keep riches that he expected his employee might steal out in the open; that would be reckless of him. There were some fine leathers in the building that were actually worth a decent sum to the right buyer. If he stole anything, though, she would be held responsible for it, and she was already only making a pittance. She couldn’t afford to let him steal anything from the shop owner.

Luka’s eyes stayed glued to the girl as he slowly let his hand fall from her arm and he took a few steps away from her, giving her a safe amount of room so that she may not fear any attack from him. The more in control and safer she felt the less likely she was to make too much noise or draw attention to herself. He felt slightly confident he could overpower her if she tried to attack him, but doubted there was the intent. She was scared. He could hear it in her voice, see it in her eyes and even hear her accelerated heart rate.

The boy held up his hands in a show of piece. “I… I don’t want gold. I’m not here to steal anything.” He insisted, his breath still heavily laboured as he raised his arms, but winced and dropped one to his stomach, where a sizable patch of blood had stained his shirt. Cringing as he felt the adrenaline start to leave his system Luka sank slowly to one knee, clutching at his side. “I mean you no harm.” He repeated, looking up at the girl. “I just need a place to hide. I will go, I promise. As soon as it’s safe-”

His words were cut off as there was a crashing sound in the back room, as if something had toppled off a shelf and fallen to the floor. Luka’s head snapped up and he watched as a small blue, cat like creature, though leaner than most would be casually strolled into the room as if it owned the place, jumping up onto the counter and looking at the girl with the knife, blinking its large black eyes. “Hey!” Luka hissed, causing it to turn its attention towards him, still with a slight air of indifference about it. “What do you think you’re doing here?”

The cat-like creature blinked at him for a few minutes and eventually made a strange, soft whistling noise at him, which seemed to quell the boy’s annoyance and he sighed softly, letting his head fall again. “And you’re sure no one followed you?” Once again it whistled at him as it sat down and began licking its paw, a soft pink tongue running along the fur before it ran it over its head much like any normal cat. “Fine, just be careful okay? Come get me when it’s safe to move.”

The cat’s ears perked up at this and it jumped off the counter, walking over to him and licked gently at his hand before pressing its forehead into his. He smiled very slightly at this, though with his head hung he wasn’t sure if the girl would see. “Go one, get out of here.” He said before it turned and ran back into the back area, disappearing silently out whichever hole it had used to enter. “As soon as its safe, I’ll leave you. You’ll never see me again. I just need a minute to rest.” Luka spoke to the girl now, his eyes cast down on the floor, his hand still pressed to the wound at his side.

He didn’t seem quite so terrifying when he backed away from her, and even less so when he held up his hands, revealing a patch of blood. Don’t bleed on his floor! she thought to herself, knowing that her boss would be furious, especially if the man bled on any of the products. She should have felt guilty for being concerned about the product first, but she had no idea if this man was a serial killer, or what. She didn’t get the chance to address his words about needing to hide before there was a crash in the back room. She turned, half-expecting to see an accomplice robbing her blind, but instead she saw some sort of creature that…she had most certainly seen before.

It took her a few moments to place the creature, because she hadn’t seen it when she was awake. No, she had seen this creature in her dreams, in her visions. The man seemed to communicate with the creature by whistling, or this was some sort of extravagant ploy to make her think that she was insane. She stood in frozen shock until the creature left, and the stranger spoke to her again. “You…” She paused, turning back towards him and looking down at his wound. “You cannot bleed on this floor… Come.” She gestured, but didn’t reach out to touch the man.

Going into the back room, Rhys saw that a few boxes had been knocked over, nothing disastrous. There was a work-table back here with a stool and some supplies for cutting and templates for shoes and other products. She gestured to the chair and scooted some things out of the way. “If my boss finds you here, you threatened me and my family with a gruesome death and making sure that we could not confess our sins…He is deeply religious, and otherwise, he might strangle me for allowing you here. Do you understand?” As she spoke, she became a bit more authoritative, taking control of what little she could.

She grabbed another needle, and a thin string, along with a clean cloth from her gown. “Let me see your wound.” She said, kneeling in front of him as she thread the string. “You likely need it stitched if you have a chance of getting out of here quickly.” She said. If he doubted her ability, she would gesture to the intricate work he had seen in the front of the shop. Blood didn’t particularly make her squeamish, having two sisters, and a father who worked in construction. They couldn’t afford proper medical care, so her mother would sew her husband back together when he injured himself.

Rhys was usually quite shy around boys, but her desire to get rid of this stranger quickly propelled her to act. When it actually came time to touch the man, however, her nerves would begin to set in, and she froze for a few moments before she regained her composure and would be able to clean and then stitch the wound properly.

Luka looked up at the girl as she addressed him. The pause made him think she was about to start freaking out again, call him a monster or something, run away, anything. What he didn’t expect was her to say that he wasn’t allowed to bleed on the floor. The words made him smile to himself, almost laugh. But he didn’t. He looked up at her again as she gestured for him to follow her as she moved towards the back door. The boy’s eyes flashed back to the door and the windows as he hesitated.

He wasn’t sure he liked the idea of going back there. He was fast but it would be too easy for the girl to catch him off guard and out speed him to the door in this state, closing it behind her and locking him inside whilst she went to get the guards. He eventually resolved to do as she asked if it allowed her to feel a little bit more comfortable. This way he’d at least be out of sight, no one would be able to look in the window and see him bleeding all over the floor.

Inside the room it was darker and smelt of dust and fresh leather. His nose wrinkled at the smell but he moved to sit where she made space for him, slightly surprised when she told him what the story was going to be if her boss showed up. He found himself caught very off guard and taken aback, blinking in surprise but nodding in understanding all the same. However the next thing he knew she was in front of him, a needle in her hand as she told him to let her see his wound. Luka simply sat there in shock, looking at her, taking in details.

There seemed no malicious intent in her eyes, none that he could see anyway. Her entire body held no traces of aggression, though maybe a hint of readiness as if she still suspected he may try to harm her. He kept his senses alert, listening for any sounds of someone else in the store or the door opening, but nothing. He found her scent entering his nose and he took it in, quickly taking it to memory. However when she said she was going to stitch his wound the boy tense and recoiled slightly, shaking his head firmly. “Don’t!” He quickly gasped, one of his hands moving to shield the wound.

“Don’t touch me. Please…” Finally fear started to trickle through the deep blue eyes. It was strange, now he was fully thinking about it, which was proving difficult. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so close to a person, well one who didn’t seem to want to harm him anyway, throngs of people not included of course. Another thing he could not recall was the last time a person had touched him that hadn't harmed him in some way. The idea scared him.

He didn’t say anything until after she tried to stitch his wound, and then he begged not to be touched. She could sense that he was off-balance, and clearly had some trust issues, and she paused, not wanting to encourage him to act rashly. “Sir…” She said, her voice barely a whisper. “You are bleeding too much for it to be a graze. If you do not have your wound tended to, then you will only sit here and continue to bleed. I would normally suggest proper medical treatment, but I am pretty sure that if you could have gone to a proper doctor, you would have. So you have to decide. Option 1, you sit here until you bleed to death, and then leave me to clean up after… or you let me close the wound, and then you can leave and we can both get back to our lives.”

A part of her had thought that maybe he was stuck-up enough to think himself better than her, but he had already grasped her before, clamping his hand upon her mouth. Ruling that as unlikely, her next guess was that he simply had issues with trust. “Do you think that you can stitch this yourself?” She asked, her voice a bit skeptical. He was bleeding, there was no way that he could easily keep his hand steady enough to do more than just hurt himself more.

The woman was trying to be patient, but the sooner she stitched him up, the faster he would leave. After a few more moments, she gave another offer. Most people would think it was insane, and would serve no purpose, but to Rhys, it made all the difference, and maybe…just maybe, such was the case with this man as well. “I can put on gloves, if that would make it easier.” She offered.

For Rhys, sometimes contact with the skin was too much. It was rare for her, as usually the haunting visions came in her sleep, but there were times, especially when she was under great stress, that she found physical contact to be too great. Touching someone showed her their future, or the future of their loved ones, and she couldn’t handle it. In the workroom there were thick gloves for handling large amounts of leather, but she also had a smaller pair that fit her more snuggly in her apron, for occasions when she was worried about being around other people. It was another reason that she wore two layers, one of which had long sleeves, even in the summer.

Luka turned his head away from her, his eyes cast downwards at the floor, his hands shaking visibly. “I’ll be fine.” The boy protested again, his voice quiet but with an underlying bitter tone to it. “I… always am.” However even as he said the words he knew she was right. The blood loss wouldn’t have been so bad if it hadn't been for all the running, which had increased his heart rate and blood flow. He wasn’t sure whether he actually would be okay or not, it was hard to tell, it was getting hard to concentrate.

His head nodded slightly, even before he realised it. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d accepted help from someone. It made him wonder why she was even bothering. He was a stranger to her, someone who clearly wasn’t a person you wanted to associate yourself with. It would be far easier for her just to let him bleed out. It made no sense. It caused him to begin to question almost everything he’d begun to believe. It caused him to be suspicious. He wanted to deny her again, but she was still right. He’d likely bleed out sooner or later, so it would make everything quicker if he just agreed.

What was the worst thing that could happen that wouldn’t happen if he didn’t let her do this? The boy took a long breath in, winced and eventually peeled back his shirt, lifting it slightly to reveal a fairly significant puncture wound to his side as if he’d been stabbed by something, fresh red blood oozing out. However it didn’t look like a fresh wound, at least a day or so old that just hadn't had time enough to heal. “Do what you must.” He said begrudgingly, turning his head away, as if his pride was preventing him from being thankful when he should be, like he didn’t want to admit he needed help.

What was he doing? No. What did it matter? Soon enough he would be gone. She would be out of his life and they’d never see each other again. All he had to do was make sure he wasn’t found before he left and then this would be the end of it. It had to be. For her sake. The world didn't exactly smile upon a person aiding a wanted criminal.

Eventually, the man let her being to close his wound, and when he lifted his shirt, she saw that it was more of a puncture than a gash, which was worse, really. She took her cloth and gently began to dab the blood. “Please stay still.” She requested, knowing that the less he moved, the less he would bleed. She wiped away the blood until it was almost all gone, and then took the needle in her left hand, pinching his skin and pulling it away from him as she began to poke through it. “This is going to pinch.” She warned him, though she was already forcing the needle through his skin. Fortunately, her needles were very sharp, and clean, since her boss insisted on such to make sure that the leathers were completed with the best quality.

Stitching the wound only took a few minutes, since it was a puncture wound. “There might be bleeding beneath the skin. If so, I am sorry.” She said, dabbing at the spot once more as she cut the thread and leaned back away from the man. “I have done all that I can.” She walked over to a washing basin and began to wring the blood from her cloth and her fingers. By the time her boss returned, the man would have to be gone, and she would be back to stitching, hopefully a bit faster so that he didn’t suspect she had taken a break. He was a demanding individual, and there were many women that could sew.

“Do you think that you will soon be able to leave?” She requested. Rhys didn’t want to force him out when he was physically injured, but he was likely a criminal, and she had to save her own skin, first. “And…do you think that someone will come here, looking for you?” She was thinking drastically, but she was wondering if she should have some sort of injury, that way it looked as if she was held against her will, rather than aiding him by her own suggestion. Of course, if she could just get the man out quickly, then she wouldn’t have to worry about any of that.

Rhys waited a few moments for an answer, and then turned to the door, not to escape, but to check the floor in the front and make sure that there was no blood. She took the damp cloth and walked out of the back room to scrub a few spots on the floor, just to be safe. Her boss would be frustrated with her for taking time off to scrub, but he would be more angry about his place of business not being kept looking beautiful—despite the fact that the traffic on this street was practically nonexistent.

Luka sat still as the girl requested, however barely responded to her as she began sewing up the wound, as if he either didn’t feel the pain or simply wasn’t letting it show through. The truth was he was far too anxious to move. There were slight flickers of flinching with every move, though this was more from a terrified anticipation rather than a reaction to the pain of the stitching. In truth it was a rather mild pain compared to that which was already emitting from his throbbing side. When she was done her words caught him by surprise, causing the boy’s eyes to widen.

He knew he should thank her, but he was willing to let anything through. Mainly for risk of letting himself get attached to her. “I suspect so.” He answered when she asked if he’d be able to leave soon. She just wanted him gone, the same as him. The next question caused him to frown slightly. “I’m surprised they haven’t already if I’m honest. They would have realised quickly enough that they’d lost me and once they do they’ll double back and begin checking houses… shops.” He looked up as suddenly the small blue cat from before poked its head through a hole in the ceiling and whistled at him again.

“What?!” The boy stood up quickly however it was too late as he heard the front doors open and a set of heavy footsteps enter. The boy stood slowly and backed away slightly as he looked around for a way to escape or hide. He could hear the man outside looking around, before eventually he began to question the girl, asking her if she’d seen any suspicious characters around. The boy had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. Luka felt his heart rate accelerating again as he moved to stand behind the door to the back room. If nothing else it may give him a chance to get the drop on the guard if or when he came looking.

He looked up to the blue cat as the small creature was still looking at him and he waved his arm silently. “Go!” The boy hissed softly, waving his arm again. “Get out of here. I’ll catch up to you.” It looked at him for a long moment, blinking innocently before pulling its head back in and disappearing through the roof. “Be safe.” He whispered softly to himself, turning his attention back towards the guard in the other room. However something was wrong. He was quiet now. Too quiet. Once again Luka tensed. Had he been heard? Had the girl given him away whilst he had been distracted?

He heard the door lock, and the man crossed the room back to where he thought the girl might be. “Well I’m sure you can find… some way to make my time spent here… not a complete waste…” His eyes widened slightly at the realisation. This was not good. It was things like this that made him lose hope in the human race. With him they at least had reason. There was no reason for this. No excuse. His eyes began searching around the room. He usually wasn’t fond of weapons, in this case there may be no other option.

Rhys nodded as he suggested that they would begin doubling back. That certainly made sense, but she hoped that the guard would find themselves distracted at the brothel. There were many rooms in that place, and men who were not so eager about being seen by the guard, engaging in whatever acts they pleased. She moved back to the front as he argued with the strange creature, and began to scrub, only to have the door swing open once more. Hadn’t the stranger locked it before? Rhys frowned, but couldn’t do much to stop the guard now, since he was already in and questioning her.

“Have you seen any suspicious characters? Probably with an injury? He is tall, with dark brown hair.” He supplied. Rhys stood as the man spoke, holding the wet rag in her hands still.

“No, sir. I have not. The shop has been quiet today.” She said, looking at the guard, but not meeting his eyes. For one thing, she wasn’t sure that she could lie to his face directly. Further, she knew that these sorts of men tended to embrace their position, and he would likely feel that she was disrespecting him if she met his gaze. “I am sorry that I cannot help you.” She said, bowing slightly and turning away from him to go behind the counter. She wanted to make sure that she looked busy, and hopefully the man would take his leave, eager to catch this criminal. Rhys fought the urge to ask the question that was on the tip of her tongue, whether the man they sought was dangerous. If he wasn’t dangerous, then they wouldn’t be going door to door.

Rhys tried to make herself look busy, but glanced up to make sure that the guard was taking his leave. He looked around the shop for a few moments before he turned to the door, and when he placed his hand on the knob, she almost breathed a sigh of relief. Until she heard the door lock move into place. Rhys looked up at him quickly, and took a step back as he spoke, implying that he wanted some sort of gratification. There was a house of ill repute literally next door! Why did he have to want to demand something from her?

“Sir, I am sorry, but my boss has many things that he wishes for me to accomplish today. I cannot be distracted from those tasks.” She said, trying to sound apologetic. She couldn’t get around him, she was behind the counter, and so was he, now. She didn’t have weapons, and wielding them would be the end of her job, most certainly. “Please…” She begged as he grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her. She cried out in pain as he pushed her against the counter, leaning his weight on her arm. She couldn’t resist without breaking her arm.

“Miss… I can make things easy for you…or I can make them very…very difficult.” He said harshly, his other hand beginning to roam over her body. “You might even enjoy it.” He said, a hint of pride in his voice. His leg kicked forward prying her legs apart. She wore a long gown, but he would begin to pull that up shortly.

Luka took a few deep breaths, willing his body to relax and prepare itself. He was going to have to fight and it was going to hurt. With nothing that would really provide a suitable weapon he’d have to just go hand to hand with the guard. Judging by the noises he could hear from the other room they were behind the counter, which wouldn’t give him much space for anything. The noises in the other room were beginning to worry him, reminding him he didn’t have as much time as he’d like to form a plan of attack.

Then again, he was rarely given the time he’d like to do that. So in that sense, this was exactly like every other conflict with these people he’d had. Getting a quick lay out of the shop in his mind the boy quick turned before he let the distraction outside drag on too long and stepped out into the other room. “Hey!” He called loudly. Originally the sound of just an angry sounding male voice caused the guard to jerk back, probably thinking he was the owner or perhaps a friend of the girl. However once he realised what he was truly looking at, his face only grew in surprise.

“Looking for me?” Luka asked, his face twisting into a slightly scary smile. The guard, on the other hand, looked stunned. No doubt he hadn't actually been expecting to find their quarry here. Shifting his stance very slightly Luke raised his arms defensively. “Well? Come on then,” he baited as the guard stumbled out from behind the counter as he reached for his sword which, in reality, was not the wisest weapon for close combat indoors. The sword caught, whether that was from neglect of the gear or the guard’s fear Luka didn’t care.

Once again displaying that almost inhuman speed he had shown earlier he darted forwards, swinging his arm around and connecting a full powered punch to the guard’s temple before he could react, causing him to drop to the ground. The boy winced slightly, holding his side, once again breathing a little heavily as he looked up at the girl. “He’s not dead.” He assured her. “But…” His eyes cast down slightly, becoming shadowed by his hair. “You can’t stay here anymore.” His voice was quiet, almost barely audible.

He looked back up at her once more as he gestured to the guard. “These guys have been on my tail for… a long time. Willing or not they’ll think you helped me now and they don’t like people who aid criminals.” There was sorrow mixed in with hatred in the boy’s voice and eye now. “If nothing else this one will want to ensure you never cause him trouble about that incident before. I… I am sorry. But you need to come with me. Now. Stay here and you’ll only face death… or worse.” And he knew very well, there were things far worse than death.

Rhys began to grope around the counter, looking for something to grip to hit the man. She wasn’t going to just let him hurt her. Men like him always took what they wanted like they had earned it, and it greatly bothered her. She began to hit him with her arm and fist, trying to dissuade the man. Right now the short term greatly outweighed the long-term desire to be on the good side of the guards. The last thing she expected was for the injured man to come out of the back room and distract the guard. She pulled herself away from the guard quickly, and straightened her gown for a moment, wiping the tears away from her face, and then turned to face the situation. The stranger looked even more terrifying than he had looked when he got into the workshop in the first place.

A brief scuffle resulted in the guard being knocked unconscious. In truth, she was relieved. He posed a much bigger problem for Rhys than the stranger had, and while she knew the stranger was dangerous, he hadn’t tried to attack her. The man came to the conclusion faster than Rhys had, saying that she couldn’t stay here. She took a few more moments to process the words, but she knew that they were true. She looked towards the door and took a big breath. “You are right.” She said. She thought that she could talk out of helping the stranger, but she couldn’t get out of the guard being attacked and outright refusing to submit to him.

The man had offered for her to come with him, and she looked up at him in surprise. He didn’t have to offer that. He could have simply told her good luck and left her on her own. Rhys bit her lip and looked around the shop. “Okay…” She said, mostly to herself to cope with the situation. She didn’t have time to go home, to get her things. But she didn’t have a pack here, with some of her belongings. Rhys went back over to the counter, and opened up a cabinet, taking out a leather satchel. She opened it for a moment, confirming that it carried the objects she had brought with her. She then took a small leather water skin off of the wall—though it was empty now, she knew that she would be away from the town soon, and she would need to have some tools for survival.

Stepping into the back room, she took a blade that was usually used for cleaning leather, and another for simple cutting, and then stuck them in her back. “I don’t have much…But I can’t go home.” She said. She lived on the other side of town, and by the time she got there, they might have closed the borders, or be looking for her. She walked over to the door to the shop, and turned the lock. “Are you ready?” She asked. It was the only exit, and he was very much a wanted man.

Luka waited patiently for the girl to collect anything she thought she’d need and he moved over to the door, looking out cautiously. That guard wasn’t getting back up any time soon. The street wasn’t as crowded as before, which was good. It was still daylight though, which was less than desirable. And guards were busting through doors left right and centre, which was a problem. He turned to the girl as she turned the lock and looked at her seriously. “Are you?” He questioned in return as he walked over to her and took her gently by the wrist. “Try to keep up.”

He opened the door and suddenly pulled the girl close. They were looking for him, but they also weren’t expecting him to be with another person or walk out into broad daylight. He knew that whilst they were undetected they’d draw much less attention if they just tried to act like everyone else. Running off would have just alerted people to his presence quicker. However they seemed to have a fairly strong idea of where he was; Luka saw both ends of the street blocked off by guards, inspecting everyone who passed and many were patrolling the streets.

He froze, not really out of fear but just as he took in the surroundings, trying to gauge just where he could go. Luka suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and his entire body tensed. “Excuse me, sir but have you-” However he was cut off before he could finish his question as Luka spun around, momentarily letting go of the girl at his side as he swiped the guars feet out from underneath him, sending him falling to the ground, dazed as his head hit the cobblestone. Cries of fear and alarm erupted around them and the boy cursed softly, grabbing onto the girl’s wrist again.

“Let’s go.” He said as he took off running at an alarming pace. His leanness suddenly became very reasonable, the muscles conditioned to running for a long time at speeds not usually sustained by normal people. Even behind him he could feel the girl lagging, kept up only by his force pulling her along. Guards seemed to be popping up out of nowhere, causing him to quickly change the direction he was going. Still, he was aware he was strapped. There was no escape from either end of the street. He stopped suddenly, listening to the sounds around him when he heard it again.

Turning he took off in another seemingly random direction, a dog suddenly appearing beside them, running along and barking at them before it turned and ran back the way they had just come. Luke suddenly took a turn down a very narrow alleyway, leading the girl to the very edge as he knelt down and lifted up a heavy, round disk covering the ground, leading to the sewers. “After you,” the boy said as he moved aside and practically pushed the girl in, jumping down after and replacing the lid, sealing them into the darkness.

Rhys didn’t know how to answer the man when he asked skeptically if she was ready. Of course she wasn’t, but she needed to hold herself together for now, and so she did. She wasn’t happy when he took her wrist, but they did need to stick together. She was well aware that he needed her right now as well. Without her, he would get picked out in a moment. She followed him, and they moved quickly, but not suspiciously so. For the most part, she kept her head down, only thinking when he paused that she should have suggested leading, since she knew her way around the town. It was a little late now, but hopefully he would be able to get them past the guard.

One guard began to ask him about the suspect, and instead of quietly saying that he hadn’t seen anything suspicious, he knocked the guard to the ground, and then took off running. Rhys couldn’t really keep up, not in the dress at least. She stumbled a few times, but he didn’t let her go. She couldn’t discern which directions he was choosing, and just followed along, keeping her feet moving to keep up with him.

When he finally stopped, it was only to lift the edges of sewer drain. Surely he was setting it up so guards would think they went down when instead they were going somewhere else. “What?!” Rhys had kept her cool with everything that had been done so far, but going into a sewer to escape was the final straw. She opened her mouth to outright refuse, when he literally pushed her in. The fall wasn’t far, fortunately, though Rhys had no way of knowing that ahead of time. Rhys landed in a way that she knew was going to form a bruise, and she began to get up only to be bathed in darkness. It was only about 5 feet tall, and she had to duck a little in order to stand, her hand holding one of the walls.

“I can’t see…” She said softly, her voice shaking. She reached out with her other hand, unsure of which direction they were even going. “And the smell…” She began to gag, which was made worse by her general state of panic. “Sir? Are you there?” She asked, still whispering. The guards up on the street above them couldn’t likely hear anything down there, but she was terrified, and somehow whispering kept her from crying.

It was beginning to set in, though. She had run away from home with a man whose name she didn’t even know, a man she knew was a wanted criminal. What was she thinking? Maybe she could still turn back, apologize to the guard and say that she was so scared of the man that she had gone along with what he had told her to do.

Luka stood there silently as he listened to the sounds around him, he knelt down and felt the water trickling past his fingers before holding them up in the air and even sniffed the air a few times for good measure. He could hear the girl stumbling along in the dark and realised she was having a hard time seeing, which he’d partially forgotten about so he stopped and went back slightly, reaching out in confidence and taking her hand, prompting her to hold on his shirt, it would be too awkward to try and lead her around in the dark by the wrist again.

“No doubt they’ll have the city’s borders under guard as well. There won’t be escaping above ground. This way.” He said as he began leading her through the pipes with an unusual confidence, barely pausing whenever they came to a point where the pipes led off in different direction. He seemed to know exactly where he was going. Even so the pair was forced to crawl through the foul smelling darkness for over half an hour, Luka never allowing for a break, before light could finally be seen from somewhere up ahead. It was only small at first, a small distinction against the darkness but it quickly grew.

When they turned the next corner the light hit them full on and the exit lay before them. Luka approached it cautiously. The pipe let out to a large lake surrounded by a small, stony riverbank which eventually gave way to a layer of grass which then transformed into large trees, an entire forest spreading out before them. Luka stopped suddenly at the edge of the pipe, holding his arm out to stop the girl as he turned to her, one eyebrow raised slightly. “You can swim right?” He asked as he looked back down over the lip of the pipe.

It was a fair drop, a couple of metres but the water was deep. That was the part he was worried about. Swimming was nothing for him, but he was also aware many people couldn’t as he had used rivers to escape pursuers many time. However most, having grown up within cities never developed a need for it. He also knew the risk a drowning person could present to him if he tried to help them, panic flooding their system as they tried to climb on top of him to keep themselves above water. It seemed cruel to bring her out here, save her from certain death in there, only to let her drown.

The man returned to her side, and encouraged her to hold onto his shirt so that she could follow him. She preferred to hold on to the wall, since it was rather steady, but she didn’t complain. He could have just left her in the dark sewer, if he had wanted to. She followed him silently, trying not to be sick as they moved through the sewage from the town. When they finally saw the light, she fought the urge to pull away from him and run towards it. For all she knew, there were more guards out there already. The stranger was much more cautious, approaching the opening and clearly searching for any potential threats.

She stopped as the man held out his arm, looking down at the water below. “A bit.” She answered. “I flail mostly…but I can keep myself above the water.” She had to be honest. She and her sisters used to play occasionally in the water in town and near the town. Being the youngest, she had been picked up and thrown into the water against her will. She had learned the sorts of things that kept her above the water because she had already experienced those moments of panic, as her elder sisters looked on and laughed.

Rhys checked her bag, making sure it was secure. Some of her things, like her journal, shouldn’t get wet. The inside of the bag was lined to keep away water, but it wasn’t going to last forever. She needed to get the bag dry quickly if she had any hope of saving her things. Again, the gown would make it a bit harder to swim, but she would have to do her best. “After me?” She questioned, glancing over at the man. She imagined that she looked rather disgusting, and she was grateful at least that she had the chance to clean herself off, and maybe eventually she could find some cleaner water to use to fill up her waterskin.

Jumping into the water, Rhys was glad that it didn’t look or smell as bad as the sewer. She wiped her face with the water, trying to rid herself of the smell and grime from the sewer. As she had promised, she was able to kick her way to the surface, and paddle over to one of the sides, lifting her bag out of the water first. Rhys climbed out of the water on her own, and sat on the shore, her layered gown stuck to her and still dripping. She took the cloth and bunched it up a bit, twisting it to wring out some of the cloth.

Fortunately, it wasn’t cold outside, so she wasn’t terribly uncomfortable. With the immediate concerns out of the way, at least in her mind, Rhys opened her bag and pulled out her journal, breathing a huge sigh of relief when she found that it was still dry. She lay in on the grass beside her, and took a few other items out of the bag to ensure that they were still dry as well. In her mind, they didn’t need to keep running, not right now. She needed to get her bearings, and with all of the added weight from the wet gown, she would be even slower to move.

(This will probably be my last post for a while because I have work soon)

It was a relief when she told him she could swim, meant less hassle. However when she asked if she’d be going first he shook his head. “Not this time.” The boy said as he took a small step backwards before launching himself out and into the water. The cool, fresh water quickly closed in around him and Luka kicked back to the surface, taking in a breath as he swam towards the shore, checking over his shoulder as he heard a splash from behind him. However, as promised, the girl was able to make her way to an area where she could stand though maybe her form was a little lacking.

Finally allowing himself to relax Luka let his body begin to succumb to exhaustion. He pulled off his boots, tipping out the water from each, laying them on the rocks and pulling off his shirt so that it could dry out too the boy moved to the grassy area and lay down on his back, letting his eyes close. It had been clean enough to get rid of a lot of the dirt, sweat and gunk but he wasn’t about to drink it any time soon. He wasn’t sleeping, just finally taking a few moments to rest. However that didn’t last very long as he suddenly sat up, looking over his shoulder as something darted out of the forest towards him, jumping into the boy’s lap and nuzzling against him.

“Hey! Endi!” He said happily as he took hold of the small blue cat from earlier and stroked it. It was probably the first time the girl would have seen him display any true form of happiness. “I was wondering when you’d show up.” The creature looked up at him and dropped something shiny in his lap, Luka picking it up and inspecting the silver coin before smiling back down at the creature. “Thank you.” He said softly to it, receiving a small noise in return before he allowed himself to lie back on the grass, tucking the coin back in his pocket.

The sun was bright and the skies clear which meant there was little chance for rain, which would be a nice. Lying there on the ground it was clear the boy had experienced many kinds of wounds like the one on his side before, with many scars crisscrossing along his chest and torso, some small, obviously more puncture wounds from arrows or daggers and some longer, slices from swords maybe. In all honestly he didn’t remember the source of most of them. As he lay there, clearly enjoying the sun on his skin the small cat, Endi as he had called it, sauntered its way over to the girl, watching her from a distance with big, curious eyes.

She was a bit of a mystery in herself, really. He hadn't asked her for help. She knew the consequences yet she had patched him up when all he had asked for was for her to let him hide there until he could move. It made no sense to him. Went against everything he believed and he was finding it hard to wrap his head around it, so decided instead to just let it go. The more he thought about it the more it was going to bug him. A better topic would be his next course of action.

(That's cool. It's my bedtime.)

With everything important taken out of her bag, Rhys spared a glance over to the man. He was laying on the grass, bathing in the sunlight, until that strange blue cat appeared once more. She tried not to gawk, but she had to open up her journal and flip through the pages, comparing the drawing she had with the creature that was sitting in the man’s lap. From her view, it most certainly looked like the same type of creature, but he couldn’t tell if it was this one exactly.

She still remembered some of the vision it came with, too. There was a building on fire, but most of the building was non-descript. In her visions, the building was gray, and the flames were bright orange. She remembered staring up at the bright flames, thinking that the sun itself couldn’t be brighter, and then this patch of blue leapt out of one of the windows. She had been so stunned by the blue in the vision that she hadn’t even drawn the building in her journal after waking. She had only drawn the creature, wishing that she had colors with which to draw, rather than stubs and half-used pencils that she had gotten from shops.

Now she could barely remember the building, which was a testament to how poor her memory was, or how frequent her visions plagued her dreams. She had dated the vision, and it was over a year before. It was certainly possible that this vision had already come to fruition, and what would she do if it hadn’t—warn the creature that it might just leap out of a burning building sometime in the future? There was no way, it was foolish of her to even think about it.

Flipping through the other pages, she almost didn’t notice the creature saunter over towards her, watching her with its big eyes. She closed her book slowly, and put it back on the ground, only meeting the creature’s gaze for a few moments. She heard the man talking to it, but she didn’t know if it could really understand her, or if the man was simply insane. “Why were they after you?” Rhys asked, speaking up in a way that seemed abrupt, and broke the silence of their sanctuary. She saw the other wounds on his chest, reminding her of a bodyguard or pirate of some sort, but she didn’t like to make that many assumptions.

With her book set aside, Rhys slowly began to take her hair out of the braid it had been in, and pulled it back into an easier ponytail. It was still wet, and it didn’t feel that gross, but she really just wanted the hair out of the way. It also gave her something to do with her hands, since she wasn’t sewing or drawing, which were her two most common hobbies.

As the girl asked why he was being chased Luka opened his eyes, lifting his head slightly to look at her as a puzzled expression crossed his face. He sat up and moved to lie on his stomach instead; however his attention wasn’t on her, rather on Endi as the small cat crept forward towards the girl cautiously, keeping low to the ground as if it were stalking prey. She stopped just out of the girl’s reach, somewhere she deemed ‘safe enough’ and raised her head slightly, sniffing lightly. Luka was at a loss for words as he watched the strange behaviour from his friend.

“Odd,” he commented instead, completely ignoring the girl’s question. Whilst he didn’t think it to be an unreasonable one, it was also one he was not going to answer. His life was his business, he didn’t ask her about hers, but at the same time this was mostly because he didn’t care. He didn’t plan to have her with him for very long. She’d no doubt prove a hindrance, slow him down. The overall bottom line was he couldn’t allow himself to get attached. “She’s never acted that way before towards… well anyone… except me of course.”

Then again he’d never really allowed himself to become so relaxed around another person either, now that he thought about it. Maybe she was simply picking up on that and following in suit. He wasn’t sure really. This was new territory, for the both of them. Still, it didn’t alter the new plan, which was only slightly different from the old one. There was a small town that was a few days travel from here, he’d escort her there and then they’d part ways. Whilst he knew it couldn’t make up for the destruction he’d brought to her life it was certainly better than leaving her back there at the guard’s mercy or leaving her out here to fend for herself.

The woods were no safer than anywhere else these days for people. Wild animals prowled, along with bandits. It didn’t matter what species you were, something always seemed to be after you. It wasn’t going to be an easy few days, he was aware of this. Travelling in silence was more difficult when someone was asking you questions. More awkward too. Sighing softly the boy let his eyes close again. “We’ll get moving again once everything is dry, no point gallivanting through the woods whilst we’re both sopping wet.” He said softly as Endi continued her distanced observation of the girl and her behaviour.

Though Rhys had never had a pet, when she was young, she used to spend a bit of time at the local stables with horses. They had always been nervous around new people, and would move closer slowly until they could smell her to see if she was a threat. She got used to being patient, waiting for them to be comfortable. The stranger didn’t answer her question, but instead addressed the behavior of the creature that was still edging closer to her. “She?” Rhys questioned, though she didn’t wait for an answer.

Instead, Rhys straightened a little, slowly, and turned to the creature. “Hello, Endi.” She said, repeating the name she had learned from him before. Rhys didn’t reach out, or try to grab at the creature, she simply let the creature continue to assess the situation. The man said that they would depart soon, and he sounded like he was going to fall asleep. He had moved closer to her, but he certainly didn’t inspire confidence. He had never answered her question about why he was running, but what bothered her more is that he simply ignored it. Had he stated that he didn’t care to answer her, she would have been much more content. His lack of response had the intended outcome, though. Rhys didn’t bother to ask any more questions. He clearly had no interest in answering them, or in posing his own to learn anything about her.

She was tempted to ask where the nearest town was, so that she could depart there, unsure of whether that was his plan as well, but she didn’t really want to break the silence again. Though she considered herself a decent person, she could be a bit stubborn, especially when she felt someone was being unnecessarily rude. After some time in silence, though, her frustration fizzled away, and she remembered that without him interrupting, she would have been raped by the guard. Whether or not he had been in the back room and she had helped him, the guard would have likely made the same demand, and so she really ought to be thankful.

Rhys shifted positions in order to help dry a bit more of her gown, though it would certainly take longer than his clothing, before she spoke again. “Thank you, for stopping that guard.” She said, figuring that if it wasn’t a question, she wasn’t really ruining his peace. Letting the silence fall between them once more, Rhys took out her writing pencil and journal, and continued to sketch on one of the pages. She was filling in a few more details from her dreams last night, which didn’t involve the ones surrounding her, at least to her knowledge. She usually had dreams that didn’t seem to mean anything, but she could never be sure, and so drawing them and jotting down details helped her get the images out of her head, especially the more violent ones.

This one wasn’t particularly violent. There was a small vending stall with some produce knocked on its side in a busy market, and a figure running through the parting crowd. Most of the people were blurs, and so she didn’t add a lot of detail in, but it was a very complicated image, and so it was a good way to pass some time. For all she knew, this was part of the scene that had played out that morning, with the man running through the crowd. She didn’t have a good image of him in her head, and since she had been in her shop until he burst in, she had no idea if a few stalls might have been knocked and its items on the ground. A little while longer passed, and she began to pack her items back in her back, saving her journal for last so she could look through it once more. The journal was her most important possession, and she kept it very private. People would think she was strange for drawing such dark things, and even more so if they knew why she kept a journal at all. With everything packed away, Rhys rose to her feet to continue to walk, unsure what direction the man would be choosing, and quite confident that he would want to do the navigating.