Snippet #2080205

(Post written by Script and Tiko)

Adriaan was seated near the cave entrance, tossing bits of dried kindling into the campfire. The flames had died down to a dull flicker, but the meager supply of fuel that had been scavenged from the nearby thickets was running short. The fire would soon be out, but dawn was only a few hours away. Rubbing his hands together against the chill night air, he cast a glance Klo's way, but fortunately she slumbered yet. Getting her wounds dressed had been a feat unto itself, and Adriaan had come out of it with more scrapes and bruises than he had gone in with. His own injury, a shallow gash down his arm, had been bound in strips of cloth. The tourniquet was rudimentary at best, but it would have to suffice until they reached more civilized regions.

Leaning against the cave wall a short distance inside, Ira had dozed only lightly since the battle. He didn't want the bleariness of recovering from heavy sleep if more soldiers came. He glanced over at Adriaan, leaning forwards. "So tell me," he began, "How is it you and her came to travel together? How did she become your charge, as it were?"

“Hm?” Adriaan asked as he glanced to Ira. “Oh, just chance really. If you saw what they do to people out there, you would understand,” Adriaan remarked. Folding his arms behind his head, he lay back on the rough ground. “There's an old saying, something about bad deeds going ignored. I don't really remember, but eh, if I left her there, I may as well be as barbaric as the northerner's.” Adriaan quirked a grin. “And what can I say, I'm a sucker for a woman in distress.”

Ira laughed, shaking his head. "I had a feeling this was a little more personal than 'the right thing to do'. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure any good man or woman in your position would have acted to help her, but you might want to be careful just how far you take that." He glanced at the sleeping fey girl, "She's far from your ordinary damsel in distress. Think more along the lines of a caged crag wolf. It wants to run, but if it's backed into a corner, throats will fly - and indiscriminately at that. Make sure you don't become collateral damage, or get yourself killed for her." He leaned back again, shrugging his shoulders, "I certainly can't see chasing after her ending well for you. I can only imagine what she considers 'romance', and it involves more violence than is healthy in my mind."

Adriaan scowled and waved a hand towards the cave entrance. “They made her the way she is. What would you suggest,” Adriaan asked with quirk of his brow. “Just turn her out into the desert to die for it?” Adriaan chuckled lowly and shook his head. “Besides, what other options are there? Back to Volary? There was a time when our people were more than a bunch of fops sitting high in their spires and letting the world pass them by. Far as I see it, the crimes of the northerner's are as much our own now, and it's about time people remember that. Looking the other way while this,” he paused with a wave of his hand towards Klo, “is going on at our doorstep?” Adriaan shook his head. “I would just as soon rather die with a clean conscience than go back there. Not that I intend to die at all,” he added with a wink.

Smiling faintly, Ira shook his head, "I wasn't suggesting you abandon the girl, merely that you keep your head about you. Don't let her appearance distract you from her nature, or push you into doing anything stupid. Men are doomed to no greater acts of foolhardiness than the ones driven by the desire to impress an object of their affection." Sighing, he gazed up at the roof of the cave, "I agree with you on the state of our people, though. Perhaps the coteries are less caught up in their courtrooms and politics to see what the world around them is coming to. Unscalable walls and veritable immunity to outside influence can create something of a ... distanced attitude toward what goes on beyond the city."

“We were headed that way, to the coteries out west, but the girl seems insistent on getting to a place called 'Maradar'. I figure I can see her that far, if I can sort out where it is. She seemed to think that woman from earlier could help. She can't have gotten far, it should be simple enough to fly her down come morning.” Yawning lightly, Adriaan glanced over to Ira. “You could come with us you know.”

Ira glanced down again, raising an eyebrow, "Join the outlaw and the fugitive as they forge recklessly deep into the heart of their enemies' territory?" he asked, chuckling.

“Why not?” Adriaan asked before quirking another grin. “You can't possibly tell me that life at Volary is more interesting than anything we're doing out here. And you for one didn't seem too thrilled to be heading back.

"As much as life in Volary is far from ideal, I can take heart in the fact that as much as I might be disliked, the Queen is yet to try to kill me. Going to Maradar as it stands seems to me nothing more than a suicide mission." Ira shook his head, "Do you have any idea what she hopes to accomplish?"

Adriaan's grin widened. “Not one bit. But suit yourself. I'm going to be heading out to look for that woman in an hour. If you change your mind, you know where to find me. For now I'm going to get some more sleep.”

Ira smirked, "Good luck," he murmured amusedly, shaking his head at the man's hopeless optimism.