Arianna looked between the two men offering to train her. She definitely needed it, and she sort of wanted to avoid any food for now in an attempt to keep her hands away from it. She still felt awkwardly about it, even though the apple was long gone and the men had forgiven her. She sighed and pointed her iron axe at the training ground. "All right, show me what you got," she exclaimed, accepting the offered help.
Arianna collapsed against a tree on the outskirts of camp. Her head was hung, breath heavy after her training had ended. Fighting with an axe was nothing like chopping wood. She couldn't just rely on gravity to pull the axe down on to enemies all of the time, forcing her to use more muscle, tiring her out more quickly. She didn't let it show to Helath and the Rak'thurrian, though. She pushed through the quick axe tutorial as best she could. It was only now, after training, that she let her exhaustion show.
It seemed as soon as she sat down, however, she would have to get back up. She picked her head up to the sound of crackling fire, and just caught the last glimpse of the town gate before it collapsed in to a heap of burning wood. Her eyes widened at the sight. These bandits were going to destroy her town.
She grabbed her axe laying beside her, using it to push herself on to her feet. Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the area, making Arianna flinch and cower against the tree. The explosion sent fear through her entire body. This is it, I'm going to die, she thought. All of this because I stole a stupid apple...
"You!"
A familiar voice shook the fear out of her. She opened her eyes to see Duraid glaring daggers at her. "Get your ass in the back lines with the mages, and help the townsfolk get to cover! Only fight if ya have too!" His heavy, angry voice paralyzed Arianna for a few seconds before a look of determination flashed on to her face. Come on, suck it up!
She looked up at another voice. This one was the Rak'thurrian fighter. After the training mission, Arianna had hinted at him being some sort of royalty, with him calling her 'm'lady' with a formality that was surprising from someone like him. "Screw that," he said, "I gave you that thing for a reason. You don't look like much, but once you get rolling you'll be a great fighter." He continued by offering some protection if harm were to come with her. Arianna nodded at him. "I'll be fine. But I think you can handle my share of bandits, big guy." She walked in front of him and slapped him on the shoulder. "The citizens of Charten would much rather me save them than avenge their deaths." With that, she sped off in to town, looking for people who were still clinging to their homes.
Everyone had mostly abandoned the town, but a few select people Arianna had to convince to leave. She was a smooth talker, so it only took a few minutes of their time to change their minds. While patrolling the city, she heard a screech. She rushed to the panicked noise. As she did, who she thought was the source of the sound ran past her with a haunted expression. She turned in to an alleyway and found a truly horrifying site. A man was passed out on the ground, gore and blood splattered all over the place, and- wait... Was that the scrawny fella who she stole an apple from? It definitely wasn't Barst, the bigger one... Gods, what was his name? Erksh? That sounded right.
As she was lost in thought, the smell of whatever- or whoever- coated the walls and floor of the alleyway got to her, making her stomach somersault. She gripped her waist and made a pained noise. Ick, it was the most horrid thing to ever grace her nostrils! "Erksh! Hey, buddy, now is definitely not the time for a nap!" After a few seconds without a response, Arianna moved closer to examine his resting body. "Oh jeez, you're out cold," she thought out loud. She didn't blame him. Whatever he did, Arianna probably would have passed out, as well. She sighed and kneeled down beside the unconscious mage, easily hoisting his light frame up on to her shoulder. The book he was holding slid out of his hand and hit the cobblestone alleyway with a thud. She decided to leave it there, since her hands were full and the book was probably replaceable. She had seen plenty of tomes at the marketplace.
Arianna carried the knocked out mage to an empty house, a good distance away from the battle. She kicked down the door to enter, setting the mage down on a chair gently. She then hovered over him, trying various ways to wake him up: Shaking him lightly by the shoulders, then a little harder, then a little harder. Plugging his nose for and few seconds. She even tried tickling the boy's sides. If all of that hadn't worked, Arianna planted a swift slap across his cheek, partly trying to wake the mage up, mostly out of frustration.
Izurich