Snippet #2671198

Cae finished another pint of whatever this local drink was, and set the mug down a bit roughly, a large grin on his face. He got up and stretched for a moment before making his way towards a group of other men, pretending to chat with them for a bit before moving on to another group.. and another, until he was near the door. Before exiting, he gave a fake little wave to the bartender who hadn't noticed him slipping out the door without paying his tab. "This town is too easy."

He chuckled, as he flipped his bronze coin a few times as it grew dark, never worrying about losing sight of it, his better than average night vision wouldn't allow for it. Catching the coin a final time, he looked around, his ears almost twitching at the noises he heard. For a quiet place like Kirlsa, there sure was a lot of yelling going on in a few different places. Ah well, probably just some drunks. Nothing new.

It wasn't long before Cae's ear twitched again, two sets of footsteps rapidly approached him. His hand readied on his blade if need be as he turned around to face the two approaching him. Even with crimson cloaks on, Cae could tell they were armed, they surely didn't hide it well. "G'day gents." He gave a single wave with his left hand once he was sure that the two were coming for him, and not headed elsewhere. "What can I do for ya?" He flashed them his signature smile as he looked the two over. Early thirties the both of them, one fairly tall, the other average. Their hair were mostly hidden by a hood, but both had brown eyes. Clean hands, new cloaks, new leather chest armor, not much mud on their boots. They were green, hardly worth his time, and so his right hand released the hilt of his blade.

"You need to come with us." The tall one commanded as the shorter one gave Caedes a good look for the first time, the many scars and sword on open display, adding in, "If... if y-you resist.. it will not be pleasant."

Caedes gave the two a genuine grin, looking between the two before laughing heartily. "Oh man...That's rich. That was just the thing I wanted to hear before going to bed." He took a step towards the two, both their hands moved to their respective blades, ready to draw. "Oh no... You don't want to do that..." Cae warned, his eyes noticeably getting sharper, his grin becoming more wild, unbeknownst to Cae as he blinked, they shifted for a moment, becoming an almost golden color before returning to their normal look of deep red. As he took another step, the taller one, with either more backbone, or less brains, pulled out his sword, and thrust it forward. Caedes simply moved his right leg back, rotating his body so he wasnt facing the two, and leaned away from the thrusting steel, his hands raising slightly as he did so. In that moment, the man shifted his head to look up at the smug Cae, but before he could react, Cae's right hand had gripped the man's own hand that was holding the sword, and pulled it further, right into Cae's left fist, backhanding the man's face and toppling him. The ex-pirate looked to the shorter man, his grin never fading, though his eyes were still fierce. "If you use a weapon, you best be prepared to die by one... These are no toys. Now tell me..." He moved to where the toppled man who was clutching at his jaw was struggling to get up, drawing his own shortsword and pointing it down at the man, right between the eyes. "...Am I going to have to teach you more lessons?"

The two men shook their heads, staring at Cae in silence. "Good then. Now run before I think up more things I could teach you." They certainly didn't hesitate, running with their tails between their legs, the taller one even forgetting his sword. "HEY, YOU FORGOT YOUR SWORD, CATCH~!" Cae yelled after them, laughing to himself as he took the guard's longsword and hurled it at them, dropping to the side as the man ran, not even bothering to pick it up. "Ya try to be nice, and get no respect." He smirked as he shook his head lightly, starting his way back to where he told Cel he would meet her.

A familiar voice pierced the area, "CAEDES" was all it said, and was all he needed to hear before sprinting off towards Cel's cry for help. She wasn't too far off luckily, but Cae cursed. "First those two weaklings... now what?" His mind raced a bit as he picked up the pace. Maybe someone had recognized him and seen her with him? No... they wouldn't send two greenies after him if they knew who he was... So just what was going on..

He arrived near the village center and saw the scene, two men holding down Celsia with a third near by. As he ran closer, he could see one of the men was bleeding, and a bit of a smile formed on his face. 'Huh... so you can fight some.' Shot through his mind before he swiftly ran forward and punched down the standing man before he could realize who was approaching. Cae stopped where he was, his left hand rubbing over the knuckles of his right as he looked down at the two men holding Celsia. Although on the inside Cae was relieved, and excited for a fight, his outward appearance was that of a killer. His eyes narrow, his lips tight, no grin on his face. "Would you two mind getting off my friend there?" The two men looked up at him, not sure if they had just seen what they thought they had seen.

Celsia strained to turn her head towards the familiar voice, her hair still in the grasp of her assailant. "Cae! Go, these men have blades, you're going to get hurt-" The cloaked figure pushed her face into the cobblestone.

"Shut up girl!" The cut man yelled as he pushed Cel's face down. "And you! Just who the fuck..." He trailed off for a moment as he looked up at Cae clearly for the first time. "You! You're the other target. Just what are those two idiots doing, they should have found you by now."

"Oh... they're dead." Cae said bluntly as he lied to the man. "And... if you'd like, you can meet up with them, if you don't release my girl here and tell us just what in the fuck is going on." As he spoke, he slowly drew out his shortsword, letting the tip of it drag a bit in the sheath so that the noise lingered for a moment. "So... what's it gonna be? Or do I have to cut you up more than you already are?" Cae could see that this man was more experienced than the others, but with his injured arm, he was hardly worth the time, and it seemed like he knew it as well. After thinking about it, while the other man sat their dumbfounded, the two let go of Celsia, stood up, and backed up a little, out of reach of Cae's shortsword. "We were told to find certain people, and bring them to the windmill over there." He said with a point to the only tall structure in the area. "Honestly, that is all we were told, to escort you there, by force if necessary."

As soon as she was able, Cel scurried over to where Caedes stood. She looked to him with wide eyes, "Remember how I said I thought I saw someone in that reflection..." She gingerly touched her ear where the man had cut through. Did he really kill two of those men? she wondered. His blade didn't look like it had been used, but she wasn't sure.

"Well maybe you should tell your men to make that a bit more obvious when approaching someone.." Cae sighed as he let his arms drop to his side. He looked towards the windmill, but only for a moment, his gaze drifting as it scanned for any other lurking guards. The one he knocked out was rousing a bit next to him, but other than that, no one else seemed to be around, not that Caedes could sense anyway. Finally turning back to the two standing guards, his smile returned, his eyes not longer looking as sharp. "Tell you what boys. You are going to gather up your friend here," He said while pointing to the still rousing man, "And get out of my sight before I force you to join those other two. And we, "His hand moved to point to himself and Cel, his tone was that of talking to a child, "Are going to go to that windmill without you." At the words you, he pointed at the two soldiers. Each point vexed the cut guard, and it was making Cae quite happy. Without waiting for a reply, Cae sheathed his weapon, put his arm around Cel's shoulder to turn her as he turned himself and started to walk towards the mill. "Let's go Celsia. We're leaving."

Behind him he could hear the two guards moving to check on their comrade, and helping him to his feet to drag him off.

After they were out of ear shot, Cae let go of Cel's shoulder and looked down at her with a smile as they walked, "So... what happened to defending yourself?"

Still trying to calm herself from the turbulence, Celsia gave him the stink eye. "I did just fine without you, thanks. Didn't you see how bad I cut them up?" In truth, the thought of her injuring someone else was a little unsettling to her, but at the same time she felt very capable. "I mean, they got me back, but.." She tugged on her ear, "That guy will have a sizable scar as a reminder, at least."

He gave a laugh as he brought his hand up, then down onto her head, patting her gently. "You did just fine on your own. But I'll give you some training sometime so that doesn't happen again." The man said, smiling reassuringly to the girl, finally moving his hand from her head as they headed on through the night towards the windmill.

Celsia ran the events through her head again as she walked. "Wait- did you just refer to me as 'your girl'??"

Cae tilted his head back for a moment in thought, both hands moving up again to rest behind his head, right above the ponytail, his eyes looking down through their corners, a wide grin on his face, "Huh? Oh nothing~" He teased as he began to hum to himself the song she had sung earlier, getting close to arrive at the windmill.