TheEmma

The Realm of Men

Miriam
Chapter 7: Heralds

Lowburg was alive with activity, its citizens bustled about the lower streets. The usually muddy streets had been washed by both rain and broom and now the cobbles beneath your feet were at least visible. The walls of both houses and town had been decorated with flags and banners, every other way you looked the King's sigil and colours were proudly shown. Miriam and Leia walked down market row, they passed the celebratory smallfolk and the various minor nobility who wished to impress their king with extravagant displays of wealth by bringing out the most coulorful items for the parade. A few soldiers wandered the streets as well and kept an idle eye on the preparation of tonight's celebrations. Seemingly more interested in joining them, than guarding. At the very least; they didn't pay a second look at the muddy huntress as she passed, which she was always appreciative of. Miriam went into one of Lowburg's many narrow back alleys. Leaving the booming chorus of gleeful voices behind her as she slunk into the more familiar shadows. It wasn't far to her destination, she took a right and skipped over a vagrant, going in between two tightly placed houses. Leia ran ahead of her with a happy bark and vanished down a small set of stairs by the right house. Miriam wasn't far behind, she walked down the steps and clicked her tongue once in preparation before rapping her knuckle against the door casually. There was a second of waiting.
"Sorry. We're closed." A young voice returned through the door. Miriam blinked in brief surprise and then smiled, she went up to her tip-toes and tried to peer through the small square-shaped hole that went through the door.
"Theodore?" She queried. There was a pause as her own voice was undoubtedly being recognized. Miriam slumped back down on her feet as usual and spoke again. "Get your mother, please." A shuffle of steps followed as the boy had left the door, Miriam listened idly to the muffled voices speaking on the other side. The conversation was intangible but the intonations were enough to know all she needed to do was wait. Leia panted happily at her side.

"Miriam!" The door thrust open inwards and the greeting was followed by a hug, speedily made, so the scavenger couldn't slip out of it. "Ah, look at you, girl. Skin n' bones, you half mud, at this point!"
"Yeah, hi 'Thema..." Miriam puffed out, scrambling out of the hold, Leia had already slipped through the door, no doubt in search for food. Anathema laughed heartily, ruffling Miriam's thick hair with a hand as she looked her over.
"What you standing outside for? Go, go! In you go." Anathema practically pushed Miriam inside and led her into the house. The first room looked as it usually did. Extraordinarily tidy and packed with exotics. Every wall was packed with shelves and lockers. Containing books, trinkets and the more common pieces of clothing and food as well. Meeting the door was a counter for business, more shelves with oddities behind it. Including a certain skull Miriam had brought in. Its empty eye sockets tinted with an odd blue hue. There was a door, as well that Miriam knew went into storage. There was also a flight of stairs that led into the rest of the house. Judging by the trail of wet dog, Leia and Theodore had already gone upstairs. Anathema ushered Miriam on through the cramp store and to the counter, to then walk over to the other side of it. She looked as usual as well, wearing a flowing skirt with a colourful flower pattern and a thick wool sweater. She was winter and summer at the same time. Night and day.
"Girl. You chose the worst times ta come in, telling you true!" Anathema started as she analyzed Miriam, the woman held tightly to her southern accent, and Miriam often suspected it was forcefully added, but didn't mind. It was charming.
"'Thema. It's not like there's a good time, is there?" Miriam said with a smile and dragged her large bag unto the counter. Anathema only scoffed and with patented sass wiggled her finger in the air.
"What you think, girl. People wanna come buy these tings' with all these knights around, huh?" Anathema grew sour and leaned unto the counter, she peered up at Miriam. "You heard 'bout Lerman?" She asked. Miriam shook her head.
"No, what about him?"
"He's dead. Both him and the boy." Anathema shook her head in quiet mourning, after sparing a glance towards the staircase. Miriam tilted her head, taking in the information with a sullen silence. Which she eventually broke by asking.
"How?" Another shake of the head as Anathema rose up from where she was leaning. She busied herself with Miriam's bag. Opening it and sticking her hands down the gap.
"Word is somebody ratted 'em out. Same word is someone got a hold of a..." The woman lowered her voice. "- Walker. Is all hush now." Anathema pilfered a few of the wooden totems from Miriam's bag and stored them somewhere beneath the counter as she kept talking, it was something you could always count on Anathema to do. "Knights made a whole deal of it, cut 'em down in the streets, they did. Just two days ago, now." Miriam listened with peak curiosity.
"That's awful." She admitted, at last. Making a mental note to stroke them off the list. "Who told you?"
"Nathaniel." Anathema replied. "Man was spooked out his mind, can imagine how fast he wanted to skip town."
"And you helped him?" Miriam queried.
"Sure ting'. He'll be out in a day. You ought ta leave, too, you know." Anathema left the counter as she had come across Miriam's collected books, she inspected their covers casually while walking up to the shelves.
"I wasn't planning on sticking around. Really." Miriam turned and half sat against the counter, while looking at Anathema sort the books.
"Didn't expect you back. So soon, anyway." The woman had turned to peer at Miriam. "Guess you always were bit of a stray cat." Miriam shrugged.
"I got scooped up. A side track. - How much do I get?" She was quick to steer away from her side-track and who exactly had scooped her.
"Not much of a haul, what about values?" The woman had walked up and waited as Miriam looked through her bag. Eventually the scavenger found the golden necklace and its shining ruby. Which she brandished proudly and handed over to the shop-keep.
"How's this?" She asked. Anathema paused, blinked and then snatched the necklace, inspecting the gem.
"This'll do." She pocketed it into one of the many pockets in her colourful skirt.
"Great. Refill me on the usual supplies." Miriam said as she walked past the woman and headed for the door. "And look after Leia for a while."
"Where you goin'?"
"To find Nathaniel." Miriam smiled over her shoulder and adjusted her flanking cloak before opening the door and exiting into the streets. Anathema watched the shut door in dumb silence before sighing out in depravity.
"That's one stupid, stupid girl..."

The Realm of Men

Walter
Chapter 1: The end of an age

Walter pressed his head against the wood. He was surrounded by a cluster of golden hay which nestled its way into his sleeves and caused severe itches across his face. The cart bumped for a moment as the mule that dragged it brought it over a larger rock. Walter peered next to him where Olive lay, the woman attempted a smile but it came across as anxious and pale. They had been hiding like this for hours, he had kept count.
”How much farther?” She whispered over carefully.
”I'll check.” Walter nodded his head against the planks and then brushed his way out of the hay, to peek his head out through the top. He looked to the cart's driver, the man whom he had paid his last sovreigns and for a moment considered what exactly he might say to him. The driver spoke first, however.
”Nobody's out here, son.” The driver gestured his free hand across the green landscape and its many dots of ripe farmland. Walter looked around, canvasing the area. In the far distance he could see the dark blot that was Monarch's rise, standing out as a beacon of luxurious civility in the otherwise simple, yet beautiful landscape.
”You and your missus can come out.” The driver continued, grabbing the reins of his mule again as he spared a glance back at Walter.
”Oh! We're not...” Walter felt a blush strike his face, he cleared his throat and stroke a hand across his lightly bearded cheek, Olive appeared next to him, her usually smooth hair was cloven and tangled in strings of both hay and wild brown curls. She gazed around the landscape before smiling timidly over towards Walter. Whom was caught without something to say. He stuttered for a moment, touching at his own hair, jet black and also unusually untamed.
”You eh, got some...” He mumbled. She trailed his hand with an emerald eye, then touched her hair, finding the bother. To which she only giggled delightfully and ignored. She moved her gaze to the front of the cart and then climbed over the railing which held the bundle of hay in place. She sat herself next to the driver and went on to excitedly thank him for his help. Walter watched their conversation without listening, he found himself smiling as he was staring at Olive, her simple sweater and ankle-low skirt were scrunched and fit well with the poor state of her hair. She had never been so beautiful. Walter caught himself smiling and abruptly shook it off. He couldn't think about that, not after everything that had happened. There were still so many things to do and the future had no place for his feelings. He sighed in mute insecurity and looked back down the road they had traveled, he had never been one to look back but Walter felt that this would haunt him forever.

They were far away from the capital now, off the main road and on their way to safety. The landscape was slowly changing and trees started to pop up around them, eventually becoming a surrounding, green forest. Walter looked back from his nature gazing with a snap as he heard Olive say his name.
”Huh? Yes?” He exchanged his brooding stare with a kind look. Olive giggled and smiled effortlessly in return. It seemed she was unbothered. Walter could only give her a flawed smile and spare her of the harsher truth as best he could.
”I said... Where are we going now?” Olive smiled, leaning her arms over the railing to peer at Walter. He sighed out of his mouth and looked past both Olive and their paid off driver, down the forest road they were travelling.
”We're going home."

The Realm of Men

Miriam
Chapter 6: The Caged Nightingale

The bars of the cell were made out of wood. It was the third one down the corridor of holding cells, crampt enough to feel claustrophobic while still being wide enough to pace impatiently in. Miriam sat in one corner against the wall, staring dryly out from beneath her messy drapes of damp hair. She had an ache in her stomach and a hollowing sensation in her chest. She thudded her forehead against her propped up knees and groaned in frustration. So far, isolation had not helped with her dampened spirits. Suddenly, she heard a voice from her left, from one of the cells she had passed on the way in.
"Well. That could have gone better." Miriam raised her head and peered towards the voice. A face smiled through the bars, looking back at her with anticipated recognition. Miriam blinked in a short moment of surprise, but responded with a tired sigh. Silence fell as Miriam did not respond, instead, she burrowed her face against her legs again and ignored the voice completely. There was no need for it, however, as it said nothing more.

Miriam did not count her wallowing time in the cell, it could have been nothing more than an hour so far. But to her it felt as if she was drowning for eternity. Eventually the doors of the holding opened and the metal clanking of boots could be heard walking down the corridor. Before long it stopped and a new voice spoke up, from outside Miriam's cell.
"Good evening." Miriam looked up and saw the outline of a man outside of her cage. He was blocking the source of light so his face was hidden in shadow. The man cleared his throat and sat down on the bench on the other side of the narrow corridor, he adjusted his sword and placed it on his right.
"My name is Arthur." He said, as an invitation to the conversation. With the light unblocked Miriam could see his face. It was rough and weathered, the man's eyes spoke of loss and sorrow but his mouth held an indifferent smile.
"Well. Screw you, Arthur." Miriam mumbled back, not moving from her spot in the corner. This bought another moment of silence. Until Arthur spoke again.
"And you're Miriam. No?" Miriam flicked her gaze up more alert now. She hadn't shared her name with anyone but Walter. She glanced briefly to her left into the other cell but there was nothing there but darkness to be seen. Miriam looked back at Arthur and pursed her lips firmly. The less she said, the better.
"It says so here, at least." Arthur had gotten up from the bench, and from a pocket he produced a small leather bound book. "Journal of Miriam's marsh?" He read off the title. "Interesting read." Arthur did not seem ironic, the man had squatted next to the cell and now looked at Miriam. "What were you doing out there, Miriam?" He inquired calmly. Miriam sighed in defeat. He could get the information from out of that book, anyway.
"I gather things from the wilds and I sell them to people, and I was only in that cabin to avoid the storm. Really, that's all there is to it." Miriam looked at Arthur as she spoke. "What did they do with Leia?" She added glumly. The knight quirked a smile and made some sort of gesture towards the entryway. There was the creaking of a door opening and then the familiar scampering of rushed paws. Miriam dragged herself to the bars of the cells and arrived at the same time as her shaggy companion. "Leia!" She burst out, stretching her arms out through the gaps of her wooden bars to embrace the dog's head lovingly. It was met by a jolly bark and unrelenting face licking as the dog could not find its way into the cell. Miriam pressed her face against the fur of her friend and murmured her thanks to the universe.

Later; Arthur had resumed his spot on the bench, Leia sat next to him, enjoying the casual pet from the knight. He looked to Miriam where she sat inside of her cell, her journal lay on his lap, open to the middle pages.
"Who taught you to read, Miriam? To write?" He inquired conversationally.
"I taught myself?" Miriam retorted with a poor bluff.
"I sincerely doubt that."
"Does it matter?" Miriam knew the answer already.
"It does. Was it this ghost I've been told so much about? He... teaches you?" Miriam crossed her arms and huffed a breath at her hair. "No. And I will tell you the same as the others. There wasn't a ghost. Some guy that said he was a scout, he went away before you arrived at the house. Just some guy." She looked towards the dark cell to her left in a moment of forethought, Arthur caught the glance and trailed it, before looking back at Miriam.
"Walter?" Arthur rose an eyebrow.
"Yes. Walter."
"You'll admit, this all seems a bit odd, right?"
"Fine. It does, but it hardly means I'm a witch." Arthur scratched Leia behind the ear calmly while humming mutely in thought. "No, it really does not. The men can get... superstitious, at times."
"So, are you going to let me out?" Miriam perked her head up alongside her hopes.
"You are a very peculiar young woman, Miriam." Arthur said as he tossed the book into the cell casually. "But you're not a witch."

The Realm of Men

Miriam
Chapter 5: Lowburg

The gate made its grinding climb to let the army in, they marched into the walled town as neatly as they had across the miles of road just before. Miriam kept her head low, most of the town had come out to see the arrival of the elusive king Averheim, whom rode first into the plaza of the simple township. Miriam spied the noblemen coming up to greet the arrivals, she spied the simple folk flocking behind them, eager to watch. Some of the faces she knew, she had come through this town several times over the years, to trade and resupply, she hated them all. This wasn't to say that the people of Lowburg were bad people, which they admittedly were, but Miriam's sour feelings were more of a general dislike towards everyone.

Miriam couldn't observe for long, she was pushed along by one of her guards and further escorted by three swords to the side of the square. She stumbled along and was eventually faced with an unusually tall man, he was dressed in plate and wore a soaked tabard above, which bore the King's sigil. The man casually eyed over the mud-crusted Miriam and eventually folded his large arms. He spoke up in a simple greeting, calm and without prejudice.
"Witch." Miriam puffed out a breath of disbelief, she slumped her arms out which made her tattered cloak flap.
"I am not a witch! You idiots." The knight shook his head and sighed tiredly, while one of the soldiers who had escorted Miriam blurted out accusingly.
"Just what a witch would say!" Miriam turned to glare at the man.
"Just what everyone would say, moron." She turned back to the presumably more intelligent knight and adopted a somewhat sweeter voice. "I'm just a traveler. Honestly, I haven't done a thing wrong." The knight looked from Miriam to Leia at her side. He then sighed and waved one of the soldiers over, he scuttled towards the knight quickly, carrying Miriam's bag with him.
"We found some things." The knight started, as he opened the bag. From within he produced one of the animal totems Miriam hoarded. "- Like this." Miriam threw her hands up.
"I burn those! It's wood, man. Not magic."
"And these?" The knight had put the totem back, to instead retrieve a simple, leather bound book which he waved slightly. "You read?"
"What do you think?" Miriam folded her arms up defiantly, one of her dirty strings of long hair had fallen over her eye but she was too upset to correct it. "I'm not a witch, and those are just things." The knight had kept his cool throughout the interrogation and seemed in no rush to mob Miriam like the other soldiers had.
"She spoke with a ghost. She's mad, I tells ya." The guard from before spoke up, and earned another glare from Miriam, whom delightfully found he flinched away from it. "Tha's a threat, she threatened me!"
"Pipe down, Mallard." The large knight grumbled. "Explain this ghost, miss." He nodded back to Miriam impatiently. Miriam blinked and furiously shook her head.
"There wasn't a ghost! It was a man, his name was Walter and he said he was a scout from your army! Not a ghost."
"And what happened to this man?" The knight queried calmly. Miriam had had her time to mull on that one during the march here, and submitted the end of her own thoughts.
"I can't say for sure, he must have gone out through the window, just when I opened the door."
"We didn't see anyone, sir. We would've, tha' window wassint' big enough, no chance." The guard named Mallard blurted out. This time Miriam turned and wiggled the fingers of one hand at him, he ducked in a gasp of fright. Naturally, nothing happened, but it had earned Miriam a tiny chuckle. The large knight gave Miriam a look of indignation.
"Stop that." He began by saying. She returned a sly smile. "And to my knowledge, there is no scout named Walter. I will be sure to check with the Captain on that matter."
"I haven't done anything wrong. Are you going to call me a witch just because I have books and firewood?!" Miriam stomped her foot into the mud, it was hardly resounding but she felt the urge to hurt something and the ground below her was a strong enough target. The knight looked over Miriam's head and glanced to the bustling center and presumably his king, he grunted and looked back down at the rogue.
"Lock her up for now. Let her family come pick her up." The three soldiers clicked their heels together and nodded in unison, two came from either side to cease Miriam by the arms.
"Wh- Hey!" The began dragging her down the road. At first she didn't struggle, to avoid more trouble but at the sound of Leia's yelp Miriam turned and stopped. The third soldier had tightened a rope around the dog's neck and began to pull fiercely on it, to drag Leia the opposite direction. "Leia!" Miriam called, she pushed against one of the soldiers who held her but was forcefully kneed down, then dragged further. Leia howled in lament, grinding her paws through the mud in desperation. Miriam cried out again, trying and failing to claw her way past the two guards. "Don't take her, please! You can't!" Miriam grunted and reeled over in a flinch, jabbed in the stomach by a gauntlet. The men then kept hauling her down the road, with much less resistance. Miriam felt the dab of tears beneath her eyes, her heart lay heavily in her chest and with a stuttering breath she fought her urge to cry. In the distance the yaps and barks of her friend became fainter, until she did not hear them at all. "I'm sorry..."

The Realm of Men

Miriam
Chapter 4: In harms way

Miriam glowered intently at Walter. Whom answered the stare with a saddened sigh.
"I am only trying to help you." The old man shook his head in pity. This was met by Miriam's usual ambivalence, she puffed a breath up at her raggedy bangs and watched Walter dubiously.
"I have done fine by myself for twenty years, alright? I do not need your help." Walter quirked a brow of curiosity, and for a moment inspected the woman obtusely. After an extended pause, he submitted.
"Why?" Miriam only scoffed dismissively. Then paused for a moment, she paced the room half a lap then thrust her arms out in an unknowing shrug of frustration.
"I don't know! It's just, what I do." The conversation met its end and Walter's concerned eye was set on Leia, as she barked out in alarm, facing the west-most window. Miriam quickly approached it, leaving any existential debate for later as she peeked out through the mostly shattered ruins of glass remains of the window. The rain had let up since last she looked, yet the storm was incessant, wind howling alongside the occasional roll of thunder.

"What now?" Walter mumbled as he joined Miriam's side, peering out through the window, they both stared at the incoming rows of gray inching closer along the dark path. Dotted among the gray lines were bits of light that swayed through the black, rainy abyss that was outside. Miriam and Walter stared dumbfounded until the one of the dots of light left the blob of gray rows, as it approached the house further, it was obviously a lantern on a pitch. Said lantern was accompanied by three men, the two who did not carry the light had drawn their swords, and they were approaching the door ahead of the other lights.
"Miriam." Walter began to say as he looked over to his side at the shifty woman. "Get the door, please." There was then a quick rapping on the barely hinged door and a voice spoke up from outside with shivering urgency.
"Hello?! We saw your fire, is anyone in there?!"

The men were drenched through, far worse than Walter had been just a few hours ago. Miriam held a hand on the door's edge as she eyed them like one would a broom salesman, that was how she hoped she appeared, at least.
"Can I help you?" She inquired with a false sing-song voice. This was met by a suspicious exchange of looks and one of the men spoke up, exclaiming their dues.
"We are the army, miss. Are you alone here?" As he spoke the actual army came into view behind them, the rows of cloaked soldiers, filed neatly and efficiently, trudged along the road behind them, some spared glances into the cover but most only kept walking. Miriam gave a content smile.
"No, actually. There is someone else here - Oh, Walter." The three soldiers trailed Miriam with their eyes as she turned to look across the room, she had expected the old man to be either pale with fear from his exposed lie, or smug, from having proved himself truthful. Instead, she didn't find the man, at all. He simply was not there. Miriam blinked, opening her mouth in surprise and confusion. She scanned the interior of the shack, and there was nothing to hide behind, no exit other than the door, and finally, no Walter. Only Leia sat in the center of the room, upon the four sets of eyes ending at her, the dog barked happily. "Walter?!" Miriam exclaimed, before looking back at the three soldiers with a blundering smile of apology. "He, was here, just a second ago..." The three exchanged another look of suspicious concern, they kept their swords at hand but remained generally nonthreatening, primarily to the fact that they much too soggy, and much too tired. The man holding the light eventually spoke, his voice concerned and slightly uncertain.
"You, had best come with us, miss."

Miriam looked back over her shoulder as the house faded out of view. She glanced around her immediate surroundings, unsure what was going on, still trying to puzzle out how Walter had left so abruptly and so quietly. She saw one of the soldiers from before, he was still keeping a hand on the pommel of his sword and a suspicious eye on Miriam. She passed her gaze onward, and saw another soldier, and then five more. They surrounded her and Leia in a semi-circle, all trudging forward down the muddy road, Miriam found herself keeping pace with them, walking out of instinct rather than will. She looked around again, and then voiced her question to the men around her.
"What's going on?" The soldiers looked from one another, before one responded dryly. "Just walk." Another soldier at Miriam's other side returned that comment with a frightful tone.
"Don't talk to her, Arwyth. She'll put a charm on you!" Some of the men grunted, most returned to a moody silence. Miriam blinked, hopelessly confused.
"... Okay. I didn't want to talk to you, anyway." She tutted out in an attempt to save some of her pride, which failed.

As Miriam looked around once more, she saw the same dots of light scattering the lines of gray warriors that marched both ahead and behind her. At her sides were the semi-circle of soldiers guarding her, Miriam found herself in the middle of the King's army, whom in addition believe her to be a witch. Miriam looked down to see Leia pattering onward, her usual jolly self. Miriam however, sighed and looked up at the rain clouds above her, she shut her eyes and whispered angrily.
"Screw you, Walter."

The Realm of Men

Miriam
Chapter 3: Cats and dogs

"Wake up." Miriam bumped her foot against the snoozing old man with dry humour. The soldier only turned in his rest, grumbling something hazy about retirement. Miriam afforded a heavy sigh and sagged her shoulders before speaking up more soundly. "Wake up, old man!"
And so with a startled twitch Walter threw his head up and bumbled his response.
"Wh'- Yessir, I'm quite alright!" Miriam rolled her eyes and turned around from the groggy man.

Miriam looked out through the door, the time was impossible to tell as the storm was still raging madly above them, there was another flash of lightning which lit up the endless vista of bogs before her. And then the thunder rolled around. Miriam turned back around to look at the stirring soldier, or whatever he was. Huddled in a thick cloak and yawning. At least someone had gotten some rest.
"Young miss?" Walter politely began as he was standing up.
"What?" Miriam retorted inhospitably, tucking her hands under her own cloak for warmth.
"I'm afraid I didn't catch your name.", he looked to Miriam with a mild smile under his gray beard. Idly adjusting pieces of his leather attire.

Miriam left the entrance behind in silence and returned to the center of the house, she sat next to the sleeping dog and busied herself by petting its head. Walter observed her uneasily before clearing his throat. "I don't meet many people in my work. Do you mind if I ask what you're doing out here all by yourself?"
"Yes."
"Pardon?"
"Yes, I do mind." Miriam nodded firmly.
"Oh. Well." Walter bristled his whiskers in a mumble before speaking more clearly again. "Alright, then. - It is only, such a rare sight, is all. But what about your name? It is only proper, since I gave you mine." Miriam groaned shortly and set her eyes on the bothersome old man.
"It's Miriam, and now that you've gotten your rest. You can be on your way." She nodded towards the door hastily.

Walter stroke a hand over his beard thoughtfully, nodding to himself.
"Miriam.." He then trailed her nod and looked outside. "Out there?" Walter chuckled heartily. "You'd sentence me to drown in that rain, miss Miriam."
"Frankly, I don't much care."
"Hrmph, you should. Abandoned lands such as these, it is the kingdom of the wights now." Another thoughtful stroke of his beard came along the warning.
"Wights?" Miriam cocked her eyebrow sarcastically and then scoffed. "Next you'll tell me about dragons and Pegasus." A moment of silence fell as Walter only returned a look of concern against Miriam's ambivalence. "-Listen, old man. There's nothing out here besides graves and mud. You can tell your king that." Walter perked up in confusion.
"Tell the king?"
"Yes? Since you're some scout..." Miriam suspiciously dragged on.
"Oh, yes." Walter chuckled nervously. "Indeed." A moody silence fell over the house. Walter cleared his throat and casually eyed the building, Miriam kept her eye on the man, more suspicious than before. "What breed is that?" The awkward silence was broken as Walter had set his eyes on Leia. Miriam canted her head, bemused.
"She's a dog?" Walter chuckled, shaking his head.
"I can see that, miss. What kind of dog?" Miriam's confusion was interrupted by another crack of thunder, as the house was lit up by a nearby strike of lightning. Once it had settled Walter continued, unaffected. "A winchester, must be my guess." He nodded to himself, pleased with his own answer. Miriam shook her head, looking down at the half-asleep dog by her side. Her constant companion, her best, if only friend. A winchester, whatever that meant. "I realize you will most likely not answer me, but might I ask where you will go next?" Walter queried, eventually. Miriam looked up at the old man and for a moment, she regretted her decision not to axe his face. She sighed and allowed a waft of the hand.
"West, probably."
"Is that so? We travel the same direction, then. It'd be best for both of us to travel together, no?"
"I don't rea-" Miriam started
"Miriam!" Walter bristled gruffly and suddenly. "I am not blind. Travel with me, and you may share my food. Take this offer now, girl, lest it becomes the last one you get." There was a flash of lightning which lit up the house, as the moody scavenger met the fierce gaze of the supposed soldier. As the flash subsided, the thunder came..

The Realm of Men

Miriam
Chapter 2: The persecuted

Clouds. Dark, threatening and impending rain clouds. Miriam ran a hand through her raven hair while watching them hover closer towards her. Of course the forces of the sky weren't actually pursuing her, but sometimes she wondered if Mother Nature had something particular against her. Miriam tediously dragged her shoddy hood over her head and glanced back over her shoulder towards Leia.
"There's a storm coming." She declared idly. The dog returned a blank stare before settling down on her belly and noising a gruff of disapproval. "Fitting response for such lame conversation, I suppose." Miriam continued as she strolled back beneath the roof of their cover. Some old farmer's house off the main road, several miles from anything alive, which hopefully meant it was far away from anything dead, as well.

Miriam settled down cross-legged by the fireplace she had built in the center of the small house, she picked one of the items previously gathered and casually dumped it into the fire for kindling. A wooden statue of an owl, made for warding off evil presence or the likes. Miriam scoffed at the idea and leaned back, proclaiming to the area.
"Come one, come all, Evil spirits. Can't be worse company!" She nudged her notched boot against the resting dog and snickered. Leia only exhaled in a derisive snort which made her floppy ear flip over her face. Ignoring the blatantly insane human and her rambling.

Before too long the rain caught up with them, a single roll of thunder struck out above them and then the pouring started. The heavens opened and the drench swatted the muddy ground remorselessly. Miriam glanced up at the ceiling and listened to the rain pelt it, and for a moment she considered herself fortunate. Alas, the universe had a way of taking from Miriam and a sudden creak alerted her senses. Both Miriam and Leia twisted about from their sitting positions to face the noise, Miriam looked from the far end wall to Leia, then back at wall. She pursed her lips in anxious discontent and made ready to stand up when a voice spoke out from behind her, at the door.

"Hi there!" Miriam turned, alarmed, to face the voice. Spotting the posture of the man and how much he clearly despised the rain, he was certainly no undead. Miriam did not resign her guard however, and grasped her pick-axe, while giving the man a scrutinizing gaze. He entered past the door, giving its frame a light tap for good fortune before raising his arms in peace. All very confident about himself.

"Ho' there, friend. I do hope I am not intruding in your home." It was an elderly fellow, his voice was grandfatherly and quite soothing, in a pipe-smoker sort of way. He was dressed in a large flanking cloak and soaked through and through, so Miriam couldn't quite pinpoint what he wore beneath. His face was covered by a hood but Miriam could distinguish a scraggly beard on his chin. "Though, I doubt this is your home, truly." The man continued, taking a few more steps into the house, he was approached by Leia who arched back and murmured a threatening growl.
"Who are you?" Miriam returned, she had met her share of brigands in the wilds, and knew better than to be naive.
"Ah!, yes. My name is Walter, and I am a scout for King Averheim's army!" The old man tutted proudly and seemed to strike a pose, though his eye was kept attentive on the wary pooch. Miriam scoffed, folding her arms up. A soldier true, or a lying bandit, Miriam wasn't sure which she preferred at this point. The man kept speaking, as Miriam did not. "Now, I realize you have little reason to trust me, young miss, though I ask humbly of your assistance. Or at the very least to share your shelter until this terrible storm passes?" Miriam clenched her lips in consideration and gave Leia a short glance while clutching her pick-axe...

The Realm of Men

Miriam
Chapter 1: A girl and her dog

Miriam held the item up against the dim light of her torch. A brilliant ruby locked within a rustic, golden pendant. Stunningly beautiful but ultimately useless, she stuffed the item within her mud-crusted bag nonetheless and drew a weary sigh as she glanced around the room. Once, it had been a home for some nobleman or merchant-lord, now it was nothing but a breeding pit for filth and sorrow, and the only inhabitants were people like Miriam, hoping to find salvage within such graveyards of the past.

She tried not to imagine how the house had once looked, how this whole town could have looked, but found the depressing thought hard to erase. She stopped to glance out onto the streets from her vista on the top floor, the row of smaller houses encircled the ruins of the mansion, all faded replicas of torn, gray roofs over frost-touched streets. She drew her fur scarf tighter around her neck and left the depressing sight. Had to keep moving.

The corridors of the mansion weren't much prettier to look at, and even worse, they held even less loot. Miriam puckered her lips and gave off a sharp whistle that rang through the halls, after a moment of silence it was returned by a jolly bark and some scampering one floor down, now she knew where Leia was at least. Miriam walked with idle steps to the final room on the floor and twisted the knob on the door, unlocked, but the door wouldn't budge.
"Typical." The scavenger mumbled lowly to herself and for a moment set her bag down, from it she retrieved a small pick-axe and swung it into the door frame, she twisted it in and then pressed, forcing the door open by result. It was a movement she had practiced enough.

The dust and crust of time was easily wafted aside and Miriam stepped into the dark room, torch held before her to provide some light. She scrunched her nose and sneered, unlike the rest of the house, which smelled like damp wood and soggy cloth, this room had a much stronger and suffocating stank. The actual space was very wide, what was once a nice carpet lay spread out on the floor and in the center there was a large fireplace that led to the chimney. Miriam glanced around the area as her low light allowed, scanning it with idle boredom, she had given up on finding any food in here a long time ago, and anything else, while maybe worth something back in town, was useless to her out here.

Once she had gotten halfway around the room something began to appear out of the darkness at eye-level, Miriam squinted her gaze and focused in on it, taking a few steps forward. A face, staring down at her with unmoving, cold eyes. Miriam skipped half a step back and inhaled in sharp fright. She froze up in anticipation, torch held defensively in front of her. Waiting for something to pounce, but nothing came. Could it have been one of the dead, she had seen them before but had always had the availability to run, in here, she wasn't so sure she had the luxury. She felt her heart pound, eyes staring ahead into the darkness where she had seen the monster, there wasn't a sound aside from her breathing and the more she waited, the more she realized, nothing happened. She dared to inch forward and take a second look, which forced her to scoff irately at herself, it had only been a painting. Miriam examined the man in the picture with dour emotion, a lord, no doubt. With his velvet cloak and stupid, chubby face. Then, Miriam heard a shuffle behind her and made to turn, meeting her canine companion. "Leia-" Was as far as she got started before her eyes twitched upon the truth of the situation. Somehow she recognized the face of the lord, he was pale, sickly thin and entire face sunken and hollowed, completely opposite from the regal man in the picture. His maw opened and gave a chilling shriek while groping his arms forward in desperate flailing. Miriam fell back, she stumbled into the wall and gave off a yelp, dropping her torch in the process. The hollow remains of the lord pressed on after her, it took a stumbling step as it tried to sink its frail fingers into the scavenger. Miriam twisted aside by instinct and twitched her gaze about, her torch lit up the feet of the dabber dressed corpse but nothing else, she couldn't see her exit, or anything else for that matter. The dead man came shambling after her again, moaning incoherent words with his decayed throat. Miriam gulped, clenched the hilt of her pick-axe with a shock of fright and in the same movement swung it out vertically in frightful desperation.

As she opened her eyes again she tugged at her pick-axe, finding it stuck in something firm. She grimaced in disgust upon spotting what, its point had gone through the head of her undead opponent and appropriately stuck into the painting of the very same man. Miriam let out a "Blech" as she twisted the pick-axe out of the mushy skull and the corpse sagged unto the floor with half a jaw less. She coughed out and fought the urge to spew, scampering over to her torch and quickly making to leave the room behind.

Leia waited for her down the stairs, letting out a giddy yap at the sight and thumped her shaggy tail against the floor. Miriam passed the large dog speedily, patting at her own thigh to call it along. "Come on." She called, and Leia followed obediently. Miriam gathered the few things she had found and swung her bag around in short adjustment before leaving the estate, she looked up at the gray exterior and felt a chill down her spine - She shook it away and started off, if there was one of the dead here, there might be more, and Miriam did not intend to find out...

The Realm of Men

Name: Miriam Marsh
Age: Late-twenties
Gender: Female
Bio: Born a midst swamp and bog, Miriam's trade has always been survival. Since she was old enough to walk, she has gathered her own tools for living in inhospitable environments. She has lived a tragically simple life of poaching and random odd jobs and now longs for some excitement. Plus, she has a dog, Named Leia. Leia is a good dog.

Title: Huntress of Stuff, the Stray cat of Lowburg