[IC] On the Hunt (thepeacefulfallen and Merbella)

[Merbella]

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 long, 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 brown 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.

[thepeacefulfallen]

Amaryllis worked quietly through her shop, checking everything and marking it off on the inventory. She smiled to herself as she looked around her small, but perfect shop. It had been her life's dream, to own her own shop. The day she had received the keys to the building was one of the happiest of her life. It was a small shop, just off the main high street but she got by, happily so. She sat on the chair behind the counter, tapping her fingers quietly as she read her book. It had been a hard road to receiving her shop, no man was willing to let her buy off of them, fearing her incompetent. So, her father had helped her out, backing her as a silent partner.

She played absent-mindedly with her long brown hair, twirling the spiral around her finger again and again. Her head perked up as she heard the bell ding. She smiled and helped the women who had entered her shop, guiding them around the shop, pointing out the various objects and engaging them in small talk. Amaryllis chattered animatedly with them and by the time they'd left, she'd sold a good few items to them. Selling was something that gave her great pleasure. Every single time she sold something, she couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face as they left.

It had been a few minutes after the women had left that she heard the shouting, Amaryllis stood, ready to check the news out when the man burst in. She opened her mouth to scream and he had been on her instant. She listened to him talk, feeling uncomfortable in their close proximity. When he finally let her go she jerked away, placing herself behind her counter, where she felt in control and safe. Well. Slightly safe. She took in a few nervous breaths before she stared at the man, taking in his appearance. She just shook her head, unsure of what to say to him. She feared for her life. She didn't know many innocent law abiding men who burst into strangers shops and begged them not to scream.

Amaryllis nodded slowly and reached beneath the counter, pulling out the knife she kept there. "Who the hell are you and what have you done?" she demanded to know, the arm holding the knife out towards him shaking with fear. She let her eyes dart around the shop, surveying the front windows. Her heart sank when she realised nobody was around. "I demand you get out of my shop" she told him, her voice nervous and shaky. She had no idea why this man was here. He could do anything to her and her body would not be found for hours knowing her luck. She loved her shop but she did not want to die here. "If you come near me I'll scream" she warned.

She took one hand off of the knife to run her hand through her hair. God this was a bad situation to be in. All she wanted to do was own her little shop and now some criminal had broken in and wrecked it all. Oh! What was this going to do for business if the town found out about this. No one would want to shop somewhere where the owner herself would be found with a no good criminal.

[Merbella]

Luka’s eyes stayed glued to the girl as she moved behind the counter and he made no move to prevent her from doing so. The more in control and safer she felt the less likely she was to make too much noise or draw attention to herself. When she drew the knife his eyes widened slightly, acknowledging the threat but he felt slightly confident he could overpower her if she tried to attack him with it, but doubted that 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.

No, she was just trying to protect herself. The boy held up his hands in a show of piece. “I haven’t done 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 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.

[Merbella]

Silly double post :/

[thepeacefulfallen]

Amaryllis nodded slowly "Right, right" she said softly. She ran a shaky hand through her hair again, a habit of hers. She put the knife down, leaving it on the counter, the blade pointing towards the stranger. When he raised his arm she noticed the blood patch, it seemed to be his own. So he wasn't a murderer, a thief maybe? When she noticed him sink to one knee she sighed, her eyes widening at the crash. She twirled, her hand going for the knife. When the cat slinked out of the back room she just watched. They seemed to have a deep connection.

Once the cat had left she moved forward, resting the knife on the counter once again. Once she was stood in front of him, she sank to her knees. "If you come into the back room I can look at that wound, maybe fix it up" she offered. She didn't know why she was trusting him, but something about his voice, his eyes, told her he was sincere. She rose gracefully, dusting down her skirt. "If you'd like to follow me" she commanded.

She entered the back room, quietly gathering some basic health supplies she kept in store. She began to place them out on the small table, listening to see if she could hear him following her. She moved towards a cabinet. She searched the pocket of her dress, pulling out the key and opening it. She pulled out a bottle of whiskey, resting that on the table also. She took a moment to rest, relax. Her heart beat had started to slow, once she'd realized she wasn't in any real danger.

Shaking her head she moved back towards the door "Are you coming or not?" she called out into the front of the store. She then realized something and rushed out, locking the door of the shop and pulling the blinds down. "If I'm harboring a criminal I have to make sure no one catches us" she offered in a way of explanation, She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and then moved back into the back room. "If you take any longer you're going to bleed out and I'm going to have to dispose of your body" she said snarkily. "I don't want to clean any blood up, it's horrible to try and get out of this color wood.

[Merbella]

Luke looked up as he offered to help him, distrust and a lot of fear entering those eyes. It made no sense. No sense at all for her to be helping him and certainly went against everything he’d let himself believe to be true about people of the public. However he was not stupid either. The thought that he could overpower her was still in his mind if she tried anything, and he was fairly certain his reflexes and speed were enough to beat her to the door if she made a break for it to try and lock him in or try and alert someone of his presence.

At least he hoped. In this state however he was beginning to doubt his abilities, his thought process was moving a lot slower than it usually did. Suddenly the girl was at the door to the back room stating that she didn’t want to deal with a dead body or blood on her floor as she moved to close the blinds and lock the door. She was smart, it seemed. Then again the idea of being ladled a wanted criminal was generally a strong incentive and slowly he rose to his feet to follow her.

If she tried to attack him then he could fight her off and he’d run again, like he always ended up doing. He moved to sit on the space provided for him and took a long breath in, wincing as he 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. And in truth he didn’t. He didn’t want to accept that he needed help, was still adamant even in his mind that he would be fine even without her. And he was scared. Everything in his body indicated it, tenseness, shaking, though luckily for him this could also be associated with shock or pain so she may not realise. However he was also aware that medical attention could help him in the long run, which was always the end goal; the long run. He would have been stupid to refuse it.

[thepeacefulfallen]

Amaryllis nodded and grabbed the first item she would need. She inched closer to him and rested a small hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly before letting her hand drop away. She grabbed the whiskey and poured it onto the cloth, she then began to slowly clean the wound. "I've got to make sure it doesn't get infected" She informed him, wincing as she imagined his pain. "So how did you get this wound?" She asked, raising her eyes to meet his, even sat down he was somewhat taller than her.

She discarded the cloth and then looked at the tray, picking up the needle and thread. "This is going to hurt" she said, a sorry expression on her face. "I wish it wouldn't but it does, so prepare yourself" she informed him. Sighing deeply she then began to sow him up, nervously biting her lip. "Something tells me this isn't the first time you've been in trouble with our lovely guards" her words were sweet but as she mentioned the guards her voice seemed to be full of venom.

Once she had finished she packed everything up and discarded it. "Don't do anything too strenuous or you'll wreck them. Would you like something to eat and drink before you leave?" she asked, tilting her head as she faced him. What was she doing? He was in trouble with the guards and she was offering him some lunch! Who knows what consequences she could face for just having him here. She sighed inwardly, oh well it was tough, if they were discovered now it would be obvious she was helping him. There was nothing she could do.

Mulling that fact over in her mind she moved to grab some lunch, she was ravenous. She ignored the man behind her, letting him decide for himself. After a few minutes of silence she looked at him over her shoulder "I'm Amaryllis by the way, not that you asked" she said, arching a brow. She plated up her own lunch and moved to sit on a chair in the corner, pointedly leaving the food out for him so he could make his own if he wished to.

[Merbella]

Luka was silent as the girl worked; his face mostly impartial however every now and then he would wince visibly or his body would stiffen in pain of flinch. However not a sound left his lips as a result of the pain, he did somewhat answer her question though. “I was stabbed.” He answered cryptically, looking down. “The less you know the better.” He didn’t mention it would be better for him. The less she knew about him the less she could say if they came through questioning her. Despite everything, he still wasn’t sure if she’d be as accommodating when push came to shove and her life was on the line.

He remained silent for the rest of the procedure, taking note of her words. So she had a grudge against the guards, or at least that was the feeling he got from the sound of her voice. Once she finished and got up he sat there for what felt like the longest time, just sitting there and staring at nothing as he listened to the world outside the house. However there was too much activity, too much noise for him to determine whether the guards were still around, where they were or what they were doing.

Her words burst into his thoughts and he looked up and then his gaze fell to the food before he turned away. His pride was already deeply hurt by having to accept help from her once. He wasn’t overly keen to do it again, despite the hunger he felt. At her name he only sunk further away. The girl puzzled him a lot, helping him and being so open and talkative. Why? What did she have to gain from this? He knew, by social standards he was supposed to respond with his name, but again he felt the less she knew the less danger they’d both be in, in a world where he was generally surrounded by danger.