Gold in the purse, Game in the bag }Avianna, Open

[Amri Dukhkin']

She said she gave up but that wasn't the end, he was the one who decided when he was done with a person, not them. Life wasn't like a game of childhood tag in which you could yell time right before you got tagged. Giving up wasn't so much the recitation of a couple of words as it was a state of mind of people who simply couldn't take anymore, and she didn't sound desperate enough, so it was obvious she hadn't really given up, it was just another ploy to try and get him to leave. She'd find he was harder to shake off than most people, he was good at sticking to things, whether they be people or convictions.

Now she was back on that stupid bracelet. It seemed like it was a simple enough question to answer, he could just say it was for his sister and be done with it, but he avoided telling people he had a sister if he could. He had too many enemies. The work of a mercenary meant there were always people looking for revenge on him and letting people know he had a sister put her at risk. He didn't know who this girl was, she could've been the sister or daughter or wife or something or someone he had killed and she was just waiting for him to slip. “That's none of your business,” he said with some slight anger to his voice. Why did she care? Obviously she was trying to figure out if he had anyone whom it would hurt him to kill.

[Ava Lynch]

"Oh, I think I hit a nerve there-but you're right. It isn't any of my business. I understand." Ava paused and placed a finger on her lips in thought, "Why are you in town, anyway? You don't seem like a vendor, or someone that loves to shop, and you're much to noticeable to be a thief. If I had to guess, I'd say you're a mercenary-or a barbarian spy." she laughed at the thought. She doubted that many barbarians were smart enough or interested enough in the goings on of the marketplace.

Ava wasn't the least bit concerned about a simple sell-sword on her tail. If he was going to kill her for simply annoying him he would have done that long ago. He did seem good at his job, but she knew how to get out of sticky situations, and it was easy for her to simply cast a spell or two if she thought she was in trouble. She remembered complaining so much when her father taught her magical theory-but she did not regret it now-not one bit.

The energy spell was great for defensive as well as offensive moves, and illusion spells were great for dramatic getaways. More than once she had to sneak off in a great cloud of harmless smoke from usually more than one pursuer. In fact she had no doubt that there were plenty of people who probably did not in fact like her that much. This warrior was now also on that list. She knew enough to not leave too many death wishes in an area, though. Memory charms worked nicely for that nasty business, no matter their difficulty.

Ava didn't like upsetting people more than she liked living. But upsetting people wasn't all that bad, in a life of tracking animals through the forest-it was times like these that made it all worthwhile. To poke and prod and people until you had a nice, clean, fun, memory. That was always rather nice, for those long nights out in who knows where, it was fun to remember the mercenary with a bracelet.

[Amri Dukhkin']

He sulked a bit when she came to the conclusion that she'd hit a nerve, it wasn't a nerve, it was a precaution. Lots of people would love to kill Yuliya to get to them. Nerves were different things, and he didn't have many of them, so she should save the victory party for another time. No point in telling her though, she could think whatever he wanted. That he was secretly and unconditionally in love with some princess and he was trying to win her affections...feh, people and their stupid nerves. Amri didn't have room for nerves, he was pure muscle.

“Very good, you figured out that a guy who's bigger than everyone else and carries a sword kills people for a living, top notch stuff you got there,” he said as he started walking in a circle around her again. He often paced, in fact, both he and his sister often paced when they were restless. But her guessing that he was a mercenary gave him the opportunity to do the same for her, and he would not be so kind. Truthfully, he had no idea what or who she was, probably just some simple merchant's daughter who shot a couple things to sell to the butcher to make ends meet, but that didn't mean he had to say that. “And you? Some bar wench or harlot? Oh, excuse me, do you prefer the term, lady of the night?”

[Ava Lynch]

That was it, that was the last line she would let him cross without punishment. She gasped in outrage and slapped him straight across the face making a rather large smack sound and her fingers tingled. Not that she wanted him to hurt, but she just happened to want to hit something, he was just there. Not that she minded if she caused him a little pain, but he totally asked for it. He proded and teased and was a complete jerk until she lashed out-well. She lashed out. "How... How dare you call me that?", she asked in disgust. "That's not even funny, that's just..." she shook her head and realized something.

"You have no idea who I am, do you. Though I doubt you'd know me by name-I'm not that popular..." He literally had absolutely no idea what kind of person Ava was. She wasn't sure whether to be pleased or offended by this. She decided it was good for her, that she could go about her business without being labelled-but she was still very offended that he'd mistake her for someone as pathetic and grimy as a bar maid or worse.

But for the fact he wouldn't know her name-it was true, Ava's name was not whispered in the backs of pubs with anger or fear. Ava commonly withheld her name or used fake aliases to keep herself known. She travelled between towns a lot and she needed to be the mysterious stranger who came in with meat once and a while, took her money, and left. She wasn't often a chatty type and when she was, she kept herself to herself. "But still, you'd seriously mistake me for a common wench or harlot? I thought I'd made a little deeper of an impression." she gave a little shrug, "But I'm glad I don't give an obvious profile. I'd hate all the attention.", she laughed a little, "What harlot can say that? Huh, Mr. Tough Guy?"

[Amri Dukhkin']

Amri had been slapped a few more times in his life than he cared to admit, but that didn't stop a grin from appearing on his face soon after. It meant he'd gotten to her, and he prided himself on having the uncanny ability to get under peoples' skins who thought themselves untouchable. By now it didn't hurt his pride at all to be slapped, he'd been slapped by many a girl who'd thought they'd had a “special connection” with him when really Amri had just been bored. So maybe she'd thought she'd made a point but all it did was give him another thing to laugh about.

“No deep impression at all, just some whiny girl who likes to think she can hang with the big boys,” he said casually, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. He had a feeling that would insult her even more than his previous comment, which was just great. To really drive his point home, he lifted his sword from his shoulder and spun it around with just his fingers as he continued walking on in his circle. “I doubt you could even swing this sword, let alone use it against somebody, but you think you could make even the slightest impression on me? Please, I have standards,” he said with his famous trademark smirk.

[Ava Lynch]

Ava rolled her eyes, he was still trying to get on her nerves. "I can play, kick and kill with the big boys. I have and I will continue to. And I do not whine." she said in the sweetest, most sarcastic voice she could muster, then her tone became darker and more serious, "And I have a sword, and it is all I need-" she pulled out her sword and held it forward, the tip pointing directly at the ignorant ignoramus's chest, "-to kill whomever or whatever I need killed.". She didn't bother thrusting, she simply sheathed back at her side.

She took a breath and held it while she looked away, thinking for a moment. Her annoyance fading a little, she tilted her head to the side and muttered, "But you're not worth the reputation I'd gain by fighting you here and now. I'm not a mercenary. I don't need contracts to kill or fight, I fight for myself. But here I have a reputation to honour and I don't need these vendors fearing for their lives when I stop by. That does not make me a coward. That makes me smart. And you, obviously have never had an education good enough to understand that. Therefore, I don't respect you, fear you or even care to be near you. Now. I am going to leave and you are not going to follow me." her words were quiet-but still firm. "Understood?"

[Amri Dukhkin']

Did she think it was intimidating to point her sword at him? He really hoped not, because that would just be sad. She didn't even seem to realize that they were on two very different levels. She had maybe picked up a few things from other people, whereas he had been trained to kill from when he was born. It was sad when he had to go kill some young person who fought against him to test their strength...sad but necessary. And it wasn't her place to tell him that what he did was less than anyone else, what he did took skill. Sure, if he was just some sad loner who only worried about their own skin he probably wouldn't have had to hire out his skills, but unlike her, he had someone depending on him.

“See, you've got this all wrong. For you to threaten me, I have to be threatened. And you, standing there about half a foot under me with a sword that would break itself before it broke my skin...not that threatening.” He took a long, leisurely stretch and spun his sword more. “And you, you have to worry about reputation, and that doesn't sound all that smart to me. Me, I can do whatever the hell I please and I get paid the same huge sack of gold and I get to kill people and I can get my sister all the shiny things she could care for. Don't talk to me about smart career choices.” He hadn't even realized he'd slipped about having a sister, but to be fair, he really wasn't the most intelligent of people.

[Ava Lynch]

Ava sighed and stretched her arms out, exhausted from the rather long day and the tedious argument with this lunatic. He obviously wasn't that intelligent, but conceited and bloodthirsty. "Sister, Eh? That makes a whole lot more sense then the ideas going through my head. Whatever. I don't care. Go find an idiot that can't fight for themselves and give them mindless muscle. Without people like you the world would be at peace-and how boring is that?".

She ran her fingers through her hair once more and walked away. Debating with and idiot was pointless, and no fun. She flicked her hand behind at him, "Goodbye Mr. Muscles." she yawned. "It's my nap time. I'm up all night you see, Occupational hazard you see, but you have to give a little to get a little." she shrugged.

She could have further bugged him about his alleged sister, but she really just did not care. She was tired and in fact needed to be up by sunrise. If he made things a little more interesting, it might be worth it. But for now all the pokes were at her unless she used her powers, which she didn't really feel like revealing at the moment, she couldn't actually prove how much she could kick his ass. And why was she letting him get to her anyway? She knew her powers, she knew herself, why did she want to prove herself to him anyway?

[Amri Dukhkin']

He could've kicked himself. When it is avoidable, don't tell people about the sister, this was something he knew. Not because he was smart and had figured it out, but he had learned at an early age that if you want to keep something alive, you tell the least amount of people as possible, and preferably only people who have the same interest in keeping whatever it is alive. She didn't seem to jump at the information though, or at least wasn't acting like it, which was a good thing. But he'd want to keep an eye on her until he was on the road home. He didn't doubt that his sister could take this girl on if she needed to, but he preferred to fight her battles for her, especially if they weren't even hers to begin with.

“See, that's where you're wrong, darlin',” he said, regaining composure and appearing nonchalant, “If there weren't people like me, the fighting would be worse because people would get bored, but if people know there's a top dog, they keep it to themselves. All it takes is a guy willing to sell his soul to murder to keep everyone else in their comfortable little homes. Circle of fucking life. Yet people still want to thing there's something in between soft and spoiled and bloodthirsty savages, but there isn't. You best pick a side soon or they're both going to turn on you.” He took another bite of his apple and couldn't resist giving yet another smirk and another wink.

[Ava Lynch]

Ava kept walking for most of his rather... 'interesting' speech. Is that really how he saw the world? A collection of savages and softies. Ava completely disagreed, she turned heel once more to face him, her facial expression was as if she was talking to a silly child believing in bedtime stories. "Silly Goose! You really live in a world where you're the supreme 'top dog' as you put it, of all of us? That's a sad a wrong picture of someone who has climbed too high on the egotistical mountain and is breathing too thin of air." she gave a tsk tsk of pity.

He was either very unintelligent, or, as she stated before, too narcissistic. The world wasn't split in two, savages and softies, blood thirst for city living. Ava herself was a prime example of it, she had lived in almost every place Frythren had to offer and done good and bad things for her coin, food and personal safety, but she did not kill for fun. She killed for survival and nothing more, that did not make her savage. Ava hunted for animals, but she wasn't cruel to them, she didn't make them hurt before they died if she could help it. No, Ava was better raised than that. Obviously this dog hadn't been.

"It's too bad that you can only see the bad in the world. The snobs and the murderers." she laughed, shaking her head, "Why are you running around chasing me instead of beheading some guy? Wouldn't you find that more fun?"

[Amri Dukhkin']

“I wouldn't carry the burden of being the best if it hadn't been proved to me over and over again,” he said with a fake sigh of resolve. He knew what he said was true. If no one had ever beaten him, then why shouldn't he believe he was the best? It wasn't egotistical. Egotistical was when someone thought they were the best when they had done nothing to prove it. Egotistical was the 12-year-old boy who thought he was best than the most seasoned warrior. Egotistical people talked without ever walking. Whereas he...he felt his power in the looks of fear he received from people he didn't even know, from a reputation so strong he only had to pay people if he felt like it. That wasn't ego, that was skill.

“Oh that would be a lot of fun, but I only kill people if provoked or I think it'll make me stronger...or if I'm getting paid...or if they just seem annoying...or if they're not human, or if they use magic....see anyone like that? Point them out to me.” Amri couldn't disguise his hatred of the unnatural, which was why he hated anything that wasn't human or anything that used magic. It was cheating. It was people too lazy to put in the physical work to become strong so they cheated and got power the easy way. Instinctively Amri looked around himself to see if there was anyone who didn't look human but nothing came to attention.

[Ava Lynch]

Avianna laughed a little, running her fingers though her hair and giving a modest shrug. "Well, I don't know any immortals, or any of you're assigned targets, or anyone else with the spine to tease you and other than myself I can't say I know anyone skilled in the arts of magic. So no, I can't say I can help you." she said very nonchalantly, wondering if he'd take the bait.

Ava didn't usually reveal she had powers unless she wanted to or needed to. Not that she was ashamed, but not everyone liked magic users as herself (including this mass of muscle) and she liked to keep it to herself. Also, she didn't like other people knowing much about her if she could help it. She liked staying in the shadows, they had taken her and she had taken to them. They were much more comfortable than the bright sunlight.

Nevertheless she wasn't even a hundred percent sure he'd take the hint. He didn't actually seem that intelligent, to speak the absolute truth. More like the muscle had attacked his brain and won, or he had abnormally high testosterone levels that poisoned his common sense. Although she didn't really want to go home bruised, she wished he'd just attack her or leave her alone.

[Amri Dukhkin']

“Well that means I better stick with what I have now,” he said, laughing. He didn't catch the part about her using magic, since he never really listened fully to anything anyone said. He'd stopped fretting and feeling tense, which was nice, because at heart he was just a guy who liked to laugh with people, whether it be sharing inside jokes with his sister or drunken drivel shared with guys at the tavern. This wasn't a very good thing for him though, and often resulted in him getting attacked. After he felt he'd threatened someone enough he just let his guard down.

Which was why he wasn't expecting for a knife to fly out of nowhere and hit him in the leg. He knew it wasn't from her, it was from too far away, and after groaning he quickly looked right and left to see who it was before he dove to the side, pulling the girl with him in case they were after her too or something. He leaned down with his sword out, still looking around to try and see who it could've been, while wondering if he should pull the knife out now or wait until the fight that was coming was over so the blood didn't spill too much. “But it looks like someone found me.”

[Ava Lynch]

Ava's eyebrows popped up again, rather impressed with the aiming of a throwing knife-Even Ava struggled with those. Then she was knocked over and she gave a little surprised Woah, when they hit the ground she began to laugh a little, "So now you're a swooping saviour?" she leaned up a little to try and see what it was.

Avianna investigated but couldn't quite make anyone out. She "Crap. Bad day not to carry my bow." she said as she shuffled back a little and turned to the idiot warrior, "See, this is why I keep a low profile." she said coldly, a little annoyance seeping though.

"If you had told me you wanted a knife in your leg I could have done that for you." she pulled up her pant leg to reveal the dagger strapped to her ankle. She removed it sharply and held it tightly in her left hand. She dropped her bag and her coin purse. If there was a fight, she was no damned damsel in distress to sit there and let the men do the bloodshed. She'd fight, if she needed to, or maybe she'd just take her stuff in run, or maybe she'd hold down this great lug for whomever was after him. Choices, Choices, Choices She turned to him and asked, "Who the hell is it? Some failed target of yours?"

[Amri Dukhkin']

“I don't have any failed targets,” he said simply and truthfully, he'd always gotten the job done, “My guess is relative of a previous target or something...or friend or lover or something.” He cursed under his breath and wiggled the hilt of the knife a bit, which wasn't the smartest thing to do, but it didn't hurt him as much as it would've other people. For one, Amri had a high tolerance for pain. He'd been stabbed and sliced and poisoned and broken in all sorts of ways and it all felt the same to him now if it felt like anything at all, but also because of all those previous things, he had quite a bit of nerve damage and scar tissue where pain was simply a nonexistant thing.

He decided then he should definitely leave it in because it didn't hurt enough for him to rationalize risking the extra bleeding that would ensue. He needed to take this guy out and get back to his sister and she could take it out, she knew some rudimentary healing herbs. So he needed to find them. He peeked his head out and scanned the crowd, and across the street he saw a shady looking guy trying to inconspicuously look around...probably looking for him. But he wasn't absolutely sure, and if he ran out at the wrong guy he could be giving the real one an opportunity to stab him in the back. “What do you think of him?” he asked, pointing in the direction.