Kyero's Story

Aetrius nodded as Linde and Kyero spoke back at the Pony, and she was prepared to leave when Linde stopped her and whispered in her ear saying that she wanted Aetrius to go back to Cre' Est with her for some time, that left her a bit empty of words, especially when she said she wanted Linde's parents to meet her. That then gave her more anxiety than she already had, but she managed to keep it down and go about it with a brave face, she would think about Linde's request later but now it was what they were going to do and succeed in.

After they arrived at the inn where the auction would be held, and after they made their way in and Aetrius made small talk with other real noblemen and women, the auction eventually began. And her heart raced, she hoped they wouldn't be singled out and targeted, but they managed to fool everyone where they were left alone in their part of the balcony and watched from above as the auction eventually started, and it was a very slow process. Slave after slave was bid upon until they were all bought out, until the very end, which Aetrius dreaded. It was the final auction, the real reason why they were there. She tried to remain calm as it was announced who the one was, and Aetrius' eyes widened and her heart sped up as she saw a tall, slender but built, red headed woman that strode out onto the stage wearing a surprisingly more modest slave's outfit and posed on the stage in multiple ways and waited for the bidding to begin. She wanted to stand up and give the highest bid as she was growing to impatient, but she remembered the plan and remained calm the best she could. The bidding began at a simple 10 gold, which almost everyone in the room shot their hand up, including Aetrius, but at a slower and more confident pace. Every few minutes they would look around at the bidders and nod, then would announce the next amount, which was 15 gold, which everyone yet again raised their hand. Aetrius wanted this to end, she wanted her to be able to have the highest bid and just be done with this, but she knew that if a new comer came in and bought out the most saught after slave it would arise suspicion.

So Aetrius played the waiting game. More bids went up, starting at twenty, and all the way to fifty gold, by this time many hands started to stop being raised, which Aetrius took note of. She peered over the side more, and saw Kieran better. She looked exactly the same as the day she left, just lacking more clothing. She felt her face grow red and hot, not from what others would have thought, lust or desire, but of anger and frustration. From knowing she failed at keeping her safe, and this was the life she lived. Eventually she was brought back to reality when she heard the man yell, "Seventy gold! Anyone?" Aetrius shot her hand up, as did three others, two men, one woman. Aetrius growled under her breath, and kept her hand up. The announcer smirked and looked around the room, eyeing Kieran with a disgusting look. Aetrius remained calm as much as she could, and looked around, "Do we hear, seventy five, gold?" he asked, Aetrius kept her hand up, and looked at the others from the corner of her eye. The two men put their hands down, remaining the woman and her. Aetrius smirked, she could tell the woman had money, but did she have the money Aetrius was willing to put on the line? Or at least bluff, more than likely. She remained seated, but looked down, Kieran had examined above, and even looked right at her, but from Aetrius' point of view and knowing how Kieran reacted to things, she knew Kieran didn't recognize her, not yet anyway.

The man moved a bit on the stage and looked back up, "Do I hear, Eighty gold?" Aetrius kept her hand up, and the other woman put her hand down and sighed, "She's worth it, but I'm not spending eighty gold on some whore." she mumbled. Aetrius growled under her breath, You will be the first to die, then...bitch... she mumbled in her mind. Aetrius looked back at the auctionier, and listened intently, "Eighty going once, twice, and thrice...That's it, the lady in the red wins the most prized slave, Kieran of Sahar-" but he was cut off as someone else in the other balcony shot up and yelled, "Two hundred gold!!" Aetrius' eyes widened, and her fists clenched, two hundred? From eighty to two hundred as soon as she would have been her's? Aetrius growled, and reluctantly put her hand down, and saw that Kieran looked saddened and reluctant, as she would have probably had a better owner with the unknown woman than with the otherwise hungry man. Aetrius sat back down in defeat and let the man take the bid, and sadly as it was, he was the last one to bid.

"And so, the lovely Kieran, The Flower Of Veilbrand, goes to the man that bid two hundred!!!"

Aetrius clenched her fists, and casually looked at Lolan and gave him a nod, signally for him to go to Kyero and Rose and to get ready to leave, watching as the winner nobleman was guided to the lower levels to claim his prize. Aetrius knew it, she knew they'd be taking the lower levels, not the exit Kyero thought. But as she turned back, Lolan had already left to fetch Kyero and Rose. She looked back at Linde and swiftly managed to leave the main auction room and swiftly began to make way to the lower levels, going after Kieran herself with Linde at her side.

Aetrius was determined and was going to do whatever it took to get Kieran, as she walked with Linde it was obvious. But she was not expecting to be pulled backwards by Linde and then having her face be held by Linde as she spoke, questioning if she even had a plan for this. Aetrius gritted her teeth and then spoke with a hushed but purposeful voice, "Of course I have a plan for this. I had a hunch this would happen, so...So I kind of went against Kyero's orders of things and made my own....modifications to this place." she said as she pulled the skinning knife from her boot, and then looked behind a wall and the border of it, and removed a rather large dagger from its hiding place, as well as a sword. She turned back to Linde, "I came here earlier and planted several weapons and supplies here, I wouldn't go into this so blindly." she said with a slightly hurt voice, and started to walk away from Linde and back towards her goal.

"For once, Linde...You need to put some faith in me...You can either go this way with me, or you can leave now as you still can. Up to you, but my mind isn't being changed. Not while it's this close." she turned her back and walked at a brisk pace, but stopped as she reached a doorway, seeing heavily armed guards on the otherside, but as she examined the hallway she was currently in, their was a vent or at least crawlspace into the ceiling leading out of their room, she scaled the wall and easily got it, and looked back to Linde, "Last chance...You with me or no?" she said as she held her hand down to Linde, this time if Linde rejected, Aetrius would continue on without her from here on out. Even if this would end up getting her killed by the guards, or if they got out with few casualties and she ended up getting killed from Linde herself after giving her another angry speech, this was still worth it in her eyes.

Aetrius and Kieran were prepared to fight off as many as they could, but before even their blades clashed with the guards', blood splattered and covered the room and utter chaos and mayhem rang out as an all too familiar figure entered the room. Kyero... Lolan did get him, good. But after the bloodbath ended, Aetrius looked at Kyero who stood up and with an obviously angry tone spoke to her. Aetrius glared back at Kyero and spoke up, "You don't always have to be the one to do this, ya know? We would have been just fine without you coming in at that very moment. While I do appreciate your help, I could have-No, would have handled this by myself." she said angrily as she examined the room. Kieran looked at Aetrius, then back at Kyero with a look of shock and confusion. "Wait...Let me get this right. That's Kyero, the Red Eyed Demon, and you...You're friends with him, Korriban?" she asked in an obviously very confused state.

Aetrius looked at her as she quickly looted the bodies for what she could get, which was some money and more armor tossing it to Kieran who quickly put it on, even with the quickly drying blood. "Look, a lot has happened in the past few years...We'll talk about it all later when we're not fleeing for our lives, but yes. Kyero and I are, other guess you could say friends. While he is deadly, he is an ally to us, okay? Just trust me on this, Kieran." she said standing back up, now with some leather armor of her own and sheathed one of the swords by her side. Kieran looked on in confusion at the new friends that her sister acquired, "Okay...But you'll owe me a few drinks, got that? You know I can't take much in when I'm sober." she said with a light chuckle. Aetrius grinned and nodded, "After all of this is done, I think we'll all need some drinks...Now, let's get back to Lolan and Rose, we need to get out of here." she said as she pressed on, back the way they came. As Aetrius led them, Kieran walked beside her and whispered in her ear, "So, Linde...She's your girlfriend, huh? Finally landed one, aye old chap? Took ya long enough, sis. She's also rather hot, if I'm gonna be honest." she said with a chuckle at the end, purposefully trying to make Aetrius get flustered.

She groaned at Kieran's comment about Linde and continued marching on down the tunnel, "Yes, Linde is...She's something. But don't let her pretty face fool you, she's...terrifying at times." she gave a slight chuckle, but contained a serious look on her face and led the others to another part of the tunnels, seeing more guards flood the underground, "Don't let them escape!" one of them shouted. Aetrius grinned and peered over at Kieran, who only looked at her and grinned back, knowing exactly what she was planning on as she noticed her go for the pouch by her side, "I think it's wise to cover your nose and mouth, you two." she said as Kieran and Aetrius did so, and Aetrius took out the second to last smoke bomb, and tossed it at the soldiers. A cloud of smoke filled the room and coughing could be heard, and as the soldiers struggled, Aetrius and Kieran charged them keeping their mouths covered until the smoke died down and engaged in combat as they had the upper hand thanks to some masks they procured. When the dust settled, it revealed Aetrius and Kieran standing victorious over four dead bodies, as Kieran and Aetrius dispatched of the final guard together, both plunging their swords into his chest and abdomen, dropping his lump body to the ground. Aetrius motioned the others to join them as they proceeded to escape the tunnels and out of Valoc.

Aetrius glared just as hard back at Kyero as he spoke, he had a point but she wasn't as foolish or naive as he made her out to be. She nodded as he left and made her way to the horses where Lolan and Rose were and spoke with Rose, "We'll be getting you out of here soon, sweetheart." she gave the girl a smile, which resulted in Rose smiling back. Kieran had turned to look at Linde as she introduced herself and smiled a bit, "Pleasure to meet you, hun. Name's Kieran Borral, obviously I'm Korriban's sister. Glad to see she found someone to be with, always told her she would. Glad to know she got someone who's not bad on the eyes." she said as she looked up at Aetrius, who only glared at her as she tossed Kieran a robe to put on.

"Good god, Kie. You're still like this, even now? And it's Aetrius, no longer Korriban..." she said as she felt her face turning a bright shade of red as Kieran commented on Linde's appearance. "Still like what? A tease? Yes, yes I am. And Aetrius, huh? Interesting choice, but okay." She said with a grin and put the robe on, covering her mostly unclothed form and to disguise herself for the most part. "You'll ride with Rose, Kieran. Linde, you're with me." she said as she helped Linde by pulling her onto the back of Bree, and they adjusted themselves properly on the horses, Aetrius grabbed the reigns and looked towards the others, "Let's get out of this shit hole, shall we?" she said as she led the others where Kyero had gone, making sure the way was indeed safe. Kieran looked at Aetrius as they began their way out, "So, who's the kid? Another friend or what?" she asked in reference to Rose who she was stuck with for this portion. "Rose? She was a slave, like us....Helped her get out, and am going to help her start over when we get out of here."

Kieran gave her a smile and a soft chuckle, "Always were surprisingly soft when it came to kids, and slaves...Haven't changed a bit, have you?" she chuckled softly. Aetrius chuckled as well and shook her head, "When people deserve freedom, yes. As for changing...There's more than you know, Kie..Again, for another time though." she said as she looked back at Linde and gave her a sheepish smile, "P-promise you're not mad at me?" she said a bit nervously as she looked back ahead of them, preparing to receive a hit on the head or worse from Linde as a form of reprimand for pulling a stunt that could have ended far worse.

Aetrius blushed as Linde said she wasn't mad at her and wrapped her arms around her, cuddling a bit. She chuckled softly and shook her head, "We'll need to make sure they don't know where we went, otherwise they'll easily track us and just cause more trouble than good...and I don't want an innocent village of people being killed because of us...But soon, soon you'll be able to rest, Linde." she gently caressed her hands, and rode up to Kyero, and when they were all together again, "Good job, now. We're to? Far enough from here I'd assume so they can't track us, Kyero?" she asked as she could hear some yelling a good distance away, obvious that the people from the auction were already aware of what happened and were after them.

Aetrius nodded and looked in the direction he put and mentally noted where they were told to go. "Alright, will do. I'll lead them there safely. And...Kyero..." she called to him before he left to go deal with the angry auction leaders, "Thank you...We'll see you at the border...Be safe." she said, even though she knew he would be fine, she thought she at least owed him a small bit of kindness as he did help her with about everything up to this point. She looked at the others and led the group to the Cre Est's border, and headed to southeast, whever they would find themselves she wasn't sure, all she cared about was getting out of Veilbrand, to a safe place, and drinks and sleep. That is all she desired at the moment, and would eventually get it when they arrived to a safe place.

Their treck was a long one, a surprisingly long one, but when Kyero had rejoined with them, a weight was lifted off of Aetrius' shoulders. They traveled for a few days when they took camp, and Aetrius managed to sleep, knowing that Kieran was safe and with them relieved most of her stress. But her peaceful sleep was suddenly awoken when they heard horses coming their way, Aetrius' heart skipped a beat when she heard the horses and shouting, as it would only have been one thing, the people from the auction somehow managed to find them and were hunting them down. She, as well as the others scrambled to their feet and armed themselves, but what awaited them was something Aetrius never expected.

It was a group of bandits going against one female warrior, all by herself. Aetrius was going to join in and help her, as well as Kieran, but they were only able to stand by and watch as the woman managed to single handedly fought off all of them, swiftly and almost in a beautiful and dance fashion. Aetrius watched as her draw dropped, and she stood their awstruck as one individual managed to fight off a whole group of people. When all was said and done, she expected her to attack them as well, and readied her hand at her side to go for her sword if needed be, seeing how she was already in her armor, and her hair tied tightly to her head, as it had started growing slowly over time. But that is not how the stranger acted, instead the woman walked up to them peacefully and asked how they were fairing, Aetrius looked as Lolan introduced himself and said that he was well, as well as the others.

Aetrius stepped forth and spoke with a slight tone of uncertainty of the woman, but enough courtesy as to not ward her off. "Like Lolan, I can suppose we're all managing, if not shaken up by the least. Aetrius is the name.", she started, and was about to end it there, but she decided to reveal more than she wouldn't normally, "Of House Borral, we appreciate the help, but...You didn't have to. Why did you, if you don't mind me asking." she said as she kept Linde and Kieran close and behind her, incase she needed to shield them from any attack, as this could possibly be an ambush as things went too well with the new girl. "Like our friend Lolan said...Who are you, love?"

Aetrius listened as the woman introduced herself as Josephine of House Dezantro, from Triveila. Her eyes widened at the name, she wasn't their daughter, was she? Especially hailing from Triveila, she had no mistaking it. She was a born warrior and was a natural at if if anything less. As Josephine explained herself, but then pardoned herself after making sure they were all alright, Aetrius stepped forward again, "Wait, Josephine. Please, if you want, you can tag along with us if you wish. We're headed for Cre' Est for a short visit, and after that, we're not sure yet. We just left Veilbrand, and wouldn't mind having someone else join our group." she said with a silver tongue, but was being genuine with her words. She pondered for a moment and looked at the woman, examining her from head to toe, but quickly scanned over the parts of her that were not fully clothed, just examining her for whether she was about to make the right offer or not.

"What I'm requesting is, join us. Even if it's only for a short time, come with us to Cre' Est. Seeing as how you are more than capable with a blade, some may say you could possibly match or even outmatch me and Lolan combined-" Aetrius was cut off as an, "Ahem" came from Kieran who was standing behind her, "And Kieran, or hell, you could probably even stand toe to toe with Kyero. But my point or well, my offer is, come with us to Cre' Est, even if it's only until we reach the border, then you can go back where you were headed. For now, I think large groups would be safe to travel in. Besides, I think we wouldn't have a problem having a new comer tag along, even if it's only for a short time. But if you reject, we understand. Just thought I'd offer on our small group's be hath as a way of saying thank you for your unexpected help. And if you reject, may Heresta bless you and keep you safe, m'lady." she said as she brought her right hand up to her heart in a first and gave Josephine a small bow, only bending from the waist up, signalling the Saharan salute for well being and departure.