Pascal

Hunted (Pascal and Merbella)

The stranger’s return startled Rhys, but his exchange with Endi surprised her more. She didn’t respond to him for a few moments, still trying to grasp the fact that he knew the exact excuse she had given the creature. He had made noises towards it before, and while that had just been ticks in the crazy column in her head, she was beginning to think that he could actually communicate with…whatever Endi was. Stop being ridiculous. Rhys told herself, and proceeded to try to convince herself that he had been hiding out nearby, and listened to her tell the creature those things. But that was nonsense, and she knew it. Why would he have been hiding out, and then waited so long to return? As a matter of a fact, if he was so far away, how had he heard her at all?

More likely, he heard the scream, finished whatever task he was doing, and then wanted her to be apologetic and so rushed back just a few moments before. Rhys felt a little better, having a more ‘reasonable’ mindset regarding the stranger’s response. Though that still left a strange silence between them. She didn’t apologize for screaming, and instead she looked back down at the paper, finishing a few lines before closing the book gently. What could she tell him that wasn’t an apology? She sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him the truth--that she had visions of events that might just come to pass. Out of spite could tell him a half-truth; she had nightmares every night. But what would he care? He barely spoke to her, and never answered her questions.

The stranger approached and dropped a red apple on the ground. She looked at it for a few moments before picking it up and rubbing it on her dress, which wasn’t clean by any means, but made her feel better. She was about to thank him for the apple when he apologized, catching her off-guard once more. He reminded her of someone who wanted so desperately to be disliked, but still couldn’t help doing nice things. There was a guard in her town like that, for a short while. He got himself killed, doing nice things. Rhys took a bite, and thanked him before taking another. He mentioned that there was water, and her gaze flickered in the direction that he pointed before going back to him. He put a few more apples down, telling her to eat, and then they would leave. She finished the first apple, spitting out only the stem and some seeds, and put the other three in her bag. She never ate a lot in a sitting, and changing that now would give her a stomach ache.

With their short exchange finished, the pair lapsed into silence once more. Rhys cleaned up and prepared to follow him once more. Just as he had suggested, there was water about an hour’s walk away. How had he gotten that far before? She wondered briefly, and then dropped the matter. She wasn’t going to get answers from him, and not asking fared better for her in the long run. Rhys filled up her water, drank most of it, and then filled the skin again, wanting to have water to bring with them. She ate another of the apples there, offering one to the stranger as well, before they moved on. In truth, she didn’t entirely mind the silence. Her house had always been loud. Her sisters were always yelling and fighting, and her father, when he came home, was always drinking and angry. Rhys took after her mother, who was far too soft-spoken to advocate for herself. They got along well, for the most part, but Rhys still couldn’t talk to the woman about her nightmares.

Hunted (Pascal and Merbella)

Her dreams that night were turbulent, and they were mixed with strange visons. Some were just jumbles of images, like herself running, or a stranger injured. She usually didn’t even draw those because there wasn’t enough detail. One vision, however, was quite detailed that night. She was a patron at a tavern, getting a drink and some food. In the vision, Luka was with her, complaining that he wasn’t going to stay. He soon left, having better things to do, but Rhys didn’t complain. She took a seat in a corner. The dream grew hazy, and there was music being played, some strange melody, along with some gypsies dancing in the room. Most of the patrons in the bar were wet, and the floor was a bit slippery, causing one of the dancers to fall. That wasn’t the source of distress, though. The source of distress was the sound of a crack followed by the building shuttering. It was lightening, and the dampness of the tavern couldn’t stop the spread of flames, which engulfed the door. People were burning to death, and Rhys woke screaming.

It took her a few moments to calm herself, longer because she was in a strange place now, and alone. Wrapping her arms around her legs, Rhys forced herself to take deep breaths. She had to stay calm, and draw the tavern so she wouldn’t forget it. She scooted out from under the tree, and looked up at the sky, seeing that I was overcast. Calm down, Rhys. You cannot prove that this is ever going to happen, let alone soon. She reminded herself. Rhys was actually relieved when she saw that Luka was gone. She didn’t see Endi immediately, because the creature had to move back a bit when Rhys screamed. See, Rhys… The man has already left. He is not going to follow you into a town. She reminded herself as she opened her bag.

It was then that her gaze fell on Endi, and she realized that the man might be coming back. “It was just a nightmare.” She told Endi quietly, her throat now hurting more than a little from screaming and her general state of being parched. Rhys quickly worked on the sketch of the inside of the tavern, trying to push her mind to the point before the lightning. She jotted a couple of notes on the paper: lightning, wet clothes and floor, and then began to draw some of the gypsies, trying to remember the decorations on their clothing and that of the tavern itself, so she could distinguish it at a later date.

She was incredibly protective of the drawing, and even as Endi neared, she pulled the drawing away a little, not wanting the creature to see the things that she drew. No matter how much she tried to focus on the tavern, the images of the people burning was stuck in her mind, and so she finally flipped the page and began to sketch the part that haunted her, hoping that putting it on paper would help take it out of her head.

Hunted (Pascal and Merbella)

Though she had asked a different type of question this time, the man’s response made it obvious that he was not interested in answering questions at all. She was surprised by the snapping, but she didn’t complain to him. After all, what would be the point in arguing further? Maybe he was just exhausted from the travels, or whatever had preceded them. He seemed to fall asleep, which surprised Rhys a bit. She was not sure she was going to sleep at all around this strange man in a strange forest, but he seemed to do so with ease. Rhys noticed the creature coming around behind her, and debated putting the book away. She was so used to guarding the book that she reflexively pulled it closer to herself, before she scolded herself and continued to work. What would be the harm in Endi seeing it, really?

Rhys didn’t have too much time to debate just how much of her book the creature could see, because the man spoke up again. She hadn’t expected him to reply to her comment, and she was taken aback when he did, and responded so angrily. She was left sitting, confused, her mouth agape as he insisted that he wasn’t a bad person. She had never said he was—she had thought it a few times, but mostly when he was acting hostile towards herself or the guards. She watched him pull his boots and shirt on, and she wondered for a moment if he was just stepping away to clear his head. When he kept walking, she realized that he was possibly just leaving, and she closed her book, signaling apparently for Endi to go and catch up with him.

She took a few moments to compose herself. Unlike his clothes, hers were still wet, since she hadn’t felt comfortable taking them off by the water with him. He was a fair distance ahead of her, and she didn’t rush to catch up. Perhaps a little space was what he needed right now. She walked behind him, gradually picking up her speed to close the distance between them, but giving him a few yards still. They walked until after it got dark, and Rhys found herself hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. Further, she could barely see the steps in front of her. After she tripped on the third root, she put her hand on the tree, stopping. “Sir…I am going to stop.” She said. It wasn’t a request for him to stop as well, just a statement that she couldn’t go any further. She had no idea how far they were from her home, or from water or food, and she didn’t have anything in her bag to help with that. While it wouldn’t be the first time she had gone to sleep hungry, she preferred not to sprain her ankle when tripping over these roots as well.

Looking around, Rhys saw a spot where the tree roots had grown out on a bit of a hill, leaving a small area beneath the roots that was concealed. She knew that the woods were not a safe place, and she wanted to provide herself as much cover as she could, so she began to move a few branches to go underneath of the roots. There was quite a bit more space under the tree, though she didn’t request for the man to join her. He would do what he needed, and she would do the same. She couldn’t force him to stay with her, and so she saved herself the frustration of being refused.

Hunted (Pascal and Merbella)

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.

Hunted (Pascal and Merbella)

(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.

Hunted (Pascal and Merbella)

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.

Hunted (Pascal and Merbella)

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.

Hunted (Pascal and Merbella)

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.

Hunted (Pascal and Merbella)

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.

Hunted (Pascal and Merbella)

heading off to bed, since its after 2am. gnight.