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Post by Amri Dukhkin' on Jun 3, 2012 19:12:19 GMT -5
It was not often that Amri left his sister's side. When he left her alone it felt like she would be too vulnerable, even with their dogs and horses. She knew how to fight, yes, but she had been kidnapped before and Amri couldn't bare the thought of that happening again. She was rarely out of his eyesight and he liked it that way. They worked better when they were together, they understood how the other worked and got things done in a perfectly symbiotic manner. When she was away from him, she became sullen and scared, and when he was away from her he became more violent and angry.
But he couldn't avoid being away from her now, because he was going to surprise her. He'd told her that he was going off on one of his mercenary jobs and she should just lay low by a creek in the forest. If they for some reason weren't able to find each other again, Streak, her peregrine falcon, would come find him. That girl had an uncanny ability to voice her needs to animals. But really, he was coming here, to the farmlands, in order to do some old-fashioned thievery. Most of the time, they ate what they could find, which were generally wild plants. But he knew of two things his sister enjoyed that they would not be able to forage.
He glanced up and down the fence of a vegetable patch to check and see if anyone was there, but the place seemed rather abandoned. With a grin on his face, he easily hopped over the fence and dug around in the dirt for those strange tuberous plants that were known as potatoes. There were quite a few and he had the time to take enough to last awhile. He put all of them in his satchel and went back on the path again.
What he wanted to find next would be more difficult. He needed to find a dairy farm so he could steal the real delicacy: cheese.
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Post by Cernunnos Wilde on Jun 4, 2012 4:20:18 GMT -5
Cernunnos was hungry and money was something with which he rarely came into contact. As a result, he had become to stealing a long time ago. Of course, his wings and superior banshee senses made the whole steal-to-eat thing a lot easier. Shortly after being accustomed to his new lifestyle, he had come up with a few rules: no stealing from those who already could not afford to feed themselves or their children, no stealing from children or the disabled, no stealing money unless he absolutely needed it and he wasn't allowed to kill in order to get a meal...unless is pursuers were actively trying to kill him. On such occasions, he would promptly fire and arrow and shoot them.
Luckily for him, today was not one of those days. He had happened across what appeared to be a well-to-do (for a peasant) dairy farmer and his family and Cernunnos had managed to nick a loaf of bread, bowl of milk and half a wheel of cheese and he was currently sitting atop the barn roof, munching on the bread and cheese and sipping his milk, content to watch the cows and the villagers as they went about their business below him. How come no one ever thought to look up?
A curious figure caught his attention: a man with dark hair, who was clearly not one of the villagers he walked among. He was far too physically strong, far too restless to be one of these peasants, but he was no soldier of king's man, either. Cernunnos had seen enough of the world to spot a fellow thief foraging for food when he saw them. Curious to see what the man would do, the banshee youth craned his neck as he ate his lunch.
((I'm thinking Cernunnos will initiate contact after Amri's next post? In your last post, it says Amri hasn't even found a dairy yet, so I'm hoping it's all right for Cernunnos to notice him in the general area.))
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Post by Amri Dukhkin' on Jun 4, 2012 10:43:16 GMT -5
Amri was not one of those jumpy travelers who thought that everyone was going to kill him. In fact, he walked on the path with a confident strut. Even if some farmer had seen him stealing and came after him, there was nothing they’d be able to do to stop him. He wasn’t a member of some kingdom that could punish him, and there was nothing in the world that could hurt him. People had tried, that was certain, but his muscled body and sword ensured that he would always emerge the victor. He was a survivor and no one could stop him.
His eyes lit up when he saw a dairy farm up ahead. He supposed that normally people tried to be sneaky and that sort of thing, but he took no precautions other than to look either way before he entered a sort of barn filled with cows. They were silly creatures, he thought, though his sister would probably tell him that they were elegant and dignified and say that they were treated badly here and then she would set them free, and take one of the orphans to take for herself. Should he steal a cow? No…eventually he’d want to kill it for its meat and his sister would never forgive him for that.
He poked around the cupboards for a few minutes until he found a shelf full of cheese, which brought a grin to his face. Seeing as he wasn’t worried about being caught, he wasn’t worried about being a little greedy either. He pulled out many packages of the creamy stuff and stuffed them into his satchel. It was a satisfying day’s work and he would be rewarded with a bright smile from his sister and they would feast like kings tonight. This was the thought that reigned over his mind as he stepped out of the barn, ready to make the long journey back to the woods.
(That works, you know I'm usually up for everything) |
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Post by Cernunnos Wilde on Jun 4, 2012 18:15:42 GMT -5
He watched lazily from his perch as the black-haired man discovered the dairy farm with the same sort of I'm-eating-well-tonight delight that had been inspired in the banshee, when he had happened upon it. However, the man was a lot...bolder, than Cernunnos had been. He let himself through the yard as if he owned the place (something that was an untruth, as Cernunnos could tell). Drinking down the rest of the milk, Cernunnos quickly wrapped up the rest of his cheese and bread in his food satchel for later. Creeping towards the center of the roof of the barn, he perched right above the hole that the farmer had cut in the ceiling, merely entertained as he watched the stranger discover the same cheese cabinet he had stolen from.
The man greedily loaded up on as many cheeses as he could fit into his bag, paid no attention to the cattle and was turning to go. Cernunnos didn't necessarily support greed -- he only ever took what he needed to survive, but decided to cut the guy a break. Maybe he had a family to feed or his parents had died, leaving him to raise way too many young siblings. So the banshee stuck his head in a little through the hole and called out to the stranger.
"Hey! You! Try the other cabinet. The one on the right side."
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Post by Amri Dukhkin' on Jun 4, 2012 19:34:13 GMT -5
At the sound of someone's voice, Amri's head instinctively shot upwards while he brandished his thick sword, ready to slice off anyone's head who was near him, but when he looked around him, he didn't see anyone...that was strange. Then he remembered that the voice had come from above and with forlorn on his face he looked upward to see a hole with a face in it. Amri did not trust strangers. He wasn't afraid of them, but he always assumed they were trying to kill him, so he saw no reason to let his guard down just because this strange guy sitting on the roof had given him a “helpful hint.”
“Why should I?” he asked, holding his sword aloft so that the stranger would see it clearly. Amri had a reason to be always wary of strangers. Too many times people had tried to rob him and pixies had tried to trick him. He didn't even know if this person was human and he had a dire distaste for anything that wasn't human but pretended to be. All he wanted to do now was get out of here so he could get back to his sister, but maybe he'd have to add another head to his collection before he was able to achieve that goal. He made sure that he was looking threatening, with a scowl on his face and his muscles tense.
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Post by Cernunnos Wilde on Jun 4, 2012 19:51:15 GMT -5
Cernunnos eyed the sword, but as in no way alarmed. What was Amri going to do, jump up eight feet into the air and slice his face off? Cernunnos didn't think so. Admittedly, he would have been wary of strange men sitting on roofs telling him to go look in the other cabinet, but his belly was full and he was in a good mood that day, so he merely smiled, instead of taking offense. Still, if the man wasn't going to accept his helpful hint, he wasn't exactly going to make it easy for him.
He reached a hand into his pouch and pulled out the bread, which he began to munch, visibly, through the hole.
"Oh, no reason." He said, casually noshing on the bread. "It's delicious." He added, pointedly taking another bite and chewing it delicately, in case the dark-haired man was a complete idiot.
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Post by Amri Dukhkin' on Jun 4, 2012 22:24:24 GMT -5
Amri eyed him eating the bread closely. He was pretty sure that he was implying there was bread in the cabinet, but he couldn't be sure, and if he was, why would he be helping him out? This wasn't exactly the sort of situation where people would be helping each other out, in fact, it was the exact opposite. Who the hell was this person anyway? Were they one of the peasants? Or were they just some random guy sitting on a roof eating bread? Who did that? If' he'd been down here on the ground, Amri probably would've stabbed him for good measure, just in case. There was no one in the world who could be trusted.
Still, he opened the cabinet anyway to find many loaves of bread, good and warm. Bread was also a special thing for him and his sister and it would go wonderfully with the cheeses and the potatoes. He helped himself to two loaves to last a few days and immediately turned back to the stranger. He didn't want to leave his back vulnerable. He had no idea what his intention's were and he simply glared at him. He was not the type to thank him for the tip, and he didn't want to leave yet, not while he was still being watched. He couldn't risk being followed...that had happened before and he and Yuliya had been attacked in the night. Instead he just glared at him while he slowly edged his way to the door.
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Post by Cernunnos Wilde on Jun 5, 2012 17:05:24 GMT -5
Cernunnos, pleased that the man had taken the hint and found the bread store. However, he kept silent and merely glared at him. The banshee, still being in his rare generous mood, didn't take severe offense to this, but at the same time, he wasn't going to let his fellow thief just waltz out without giving him some credit, or at the very least an acknowledgment.
"You're welcome." He called, as the stranger stared at him and then edged toward the door. Stuffing the rest of the bread into his pouch, he slipped his bow over his back and took several running steps to the edge of the roof, before jumping off, his wings snapping open and flapping, carrying him gracefully to the ground and he came to rest in front of the barn door, which the stranger would no doubt exit from in a few moments time. To speed the process up a bit, Cernunnos took matters into his own hands, by opening the door and comically giving the stranger a mock bow and holding the door open for him.
"After you, my good sir,"
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Post by Amri Dukhkin' on Jun 6, 2012 10:34:17 GMT -5
Amri was relieved when the stranger disappeared. He tended to agree with his sister on the idea that the less you saw of other people, the easier life was. Perhaps that should be their goal, to leave this land once and for all and find their own land that didn’t have anyone in it, their own wild country…but no, his sister still believed that their goal was to find their tribe again, but he didn’t know how long he’d be able to keep up that pretense. For now, he had to make sure that they didn’t accidentally find their tribe, or they would have to go back to that way of life that dealt with people every day.
But he was surprised when suddenly the darn door opened to reveal the stranger, and what was even worse…he had wings. Amri could not disguise the look of shock and disgust on his face. He hated those type of people, those kind of people who could pretend to be human but weren’t, those people who got through life easily because of things they were born with. No wonder the stranger had acted this way, he’d been trying to trick him or something. He had just been playing with him. Well no more. He held out his sword in front of him with a vicious look in his eye as he said, “Step aside, you filthy pigeon.”
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Post by Cernunnos Wilde on Jun 6, 2012 18:14:23 GMT -5
Cernunnos's hands flew up at first in response to the stranger's drawn sword as a wisp of anger flared up in him. At the same moment, he took two subtle steps back, barely out of reach of the sword before his wings snapped out, flapping slightly, ready to lift him off the ground out of the reach of the foreign weapon if he needed them to.
"Well, that's not very nice." He commented, his voice still level as he eyed the enormous sword. Was it really necessary for someone to lug around a weapon of that size? Wouldn't it just slow you down? Or was he merely overcompensating for something else?
"And I'm not a pigeon, Fabio." Cernunnos added, christening the stranger on account of his flowing locks, "Pigeons are fat little birds that waddle around rooting through rubbish heaps. I'm a banshee. Just a tiny difference."
Cernunnos made the mistake of looking the man in the eyes and immediately, images of a slender blonde girl flooded through his mind. She was surrounded by animals and she wasn't 'all there in the head'. Amri was going home to her, taking the food home to her. He loved her. His wife...? No, not his wife, not his lover, but that...that was unconditional love, all right. Cernunnos could feel it. Not himself, of course, but he knew, as the privilege of his kind. He felt the familiar stab of jealousy. The last time he knew unconditional love, he had been fourteen, forced to venture out into the wilderness on his own after his father had just been slain, never knowing if he would see the rest of his family again.
"Who is she? This woman you love, who is not yet your lover?"
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Post by Amri Dukhkin' on Jun 6, 2012 18:49:38 GMT -5
Amri rolled his eyes as it explained what it was. He couldn't care less about what it was as long as he knew that it wasn't like him and therefore didn't deserve to live. They always thought they were so much better than humans, but Amri could still kill one of them easily. Maybe losing a limb would wipe the smile off his face. Was it scared? It should be scared, Amri had killed many things, killing was an easy way to make money. He lifted his sword just a little bit higher as he started slowly walking past him, but not in a nervous way at all, he was just taking his time and making sure he didn't turn his back on him.
The question he suddenly asked out of the blue questioned him and angered him. What the hell was it talking about? And who gave it the permission to ask him anything? He was the one with a sword out and it was the one with those freakish wings our ready to fly away if Amri struck him, obviously Amri had the upper hand here and therefore he was the one asking questions. What also bugged him was that he was asking it like he knew someone, but that was preposterous. “I don't love anyone,” he sneered, hoping to get close enough to strike out and be able to hit him before he got away.
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Post by Cernunnos Wilde on Jun 6, 2012 19:59:46 GMT -5
Cernunnos saw the man jockeying into a position that would bring his over-sized sword closer to Cernunnos' face and he took another bold step back.
"Nah, uh-uh," He scolded, waving his forefinger too and fro, as if warning a child to stay away from the cookie jar. "My face, not yours. And I happen to like my face the way it is." His free hand had instantly flown to the hilt of his own sword. He would have preferred to use his bow for this particular customer, as, while he doubted the stranger could effectively swing his hunk of metal, he didn't want to get in the way of an unlucky blow. His bones were hollow, after all, and he wouldn't doubt a sword like that would snap them if given the chance.
"Your lies are as thick as your eyebrows, Fabio. I saw her. And she has me to thank for the bread you're bringing her, so either fess up or stop thinking about her."
His wings were twitching. This guy was one of the touchy ones, one of those who had seen his loved ones raped and slaughtered in front of his very eyes, no doubt. Cernunnos was in a slightly less scarred class than he, but he was still little better off than the terribly bitter ones. Hell, even he was bitter sometimes--he just wasn't obsessed. The point being, he knew what this type did when asked about their personal life: they lashed out. He felt a soft swell of summer breeze come his way and he opened his wings, fluttering them as they pulled his boots off the ground.
"She has a peregrine falcon. Interesting choice of pet. The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal known. That coincidence, Fabio? Oh, and his name is Streak."
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Post by Amri Dukhkin' on Jun 6, 2012 20:23:44 GMT -5
If Amri had believed in a god, he would've been reasoning with it that this thing was annoying enough to warrant a quick but painful death. Thankfully, Amri didn't believe in a god, so he was able to come to that conclusion on his own without worrying about eternal consequences. What was the purpose of a thing like that? To go around bothering people who had better things to do? He, Amri, had a purpose at least. He was supposed to protect his little sister and kill people and become the strongest man in the world. Of course, the tribal elders had said differently, and muttered something about “the destiny of the highwayman,” but he knew what his reason was, and killing this thing would help him on the way to that.
How the hell did he know about Streak? What freaky trickery was happening right before his eyes? Or had he gotten that information from somewhere? Panic swept into his eyes as he realized the only person he could've gotten that information from was Yuliya...and she was alone. The thing had wings so it could've easily gone to Yuliya first and gotten to him after. “What did you do to my sister?” he yelled as he rushed at the thing with his sword steady in hand.
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Post by Cernunnos Wilde on Jun 7, 2012 17:03:22 GMT -5
When the man lunged at him, Cernunnos pulled his legs up and flapped his wings hard, rising our of harm's way, drawing his sword in one smooth motion. He wasn't a coward, but he knew his survival depending on his staying in one piece. Besides, he was no knight; it was not up to him to hold ideals of 'courage' and 'chivalry' -- his job was to stay alive.
"Oh, so she's your sister, that explains it." He commented, smoothly, hovering in the air just out of reach of the stranger's sword. Fabio wanted to be an asshat, so Cernunnos would treat him as such, frustrating him while he laughed. Besides, he was the reason for the banshee's rapidly evaporating good mood, and after he had been so generous towards the man too...what a pity. Cernunnos fought off a familiar pang at the example of a brother and sister loving each other so much. He still missed his family dearly, even though the pang was now so well-worn that it was a dull and aching pain, noting more.
"Nothing, considering I've never met her." He snapped. "Now put the stick down before you put someone's eye out, seriously, that thing is excessive. Did you want it to match your hair, Fabio?"
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Post by Amri Dukhkin' on Jun 8, 2012 12:02:02 GMT -5
He didn’t trust it at all. Why would he? Why should he believe that he’d never even met Yuliya? It didn’t make any sense in the first place, how else would he have known about Streak? It wasn’t like her or Yuliya went around telling people the names of their pets. Obviously he was being tricked…he just didn’t know in what way. Was it after him or Yuliya? Was he trying to kill them? Was he trying to capture them? Was he trying to steal their souls or something? One thing Amri knew for certain is that he’d feel better if he were back with Yuliya, and he needed to make sure nothing had happened to her.
“I don’t believe you,” he said, lunging out at him again, only to fall back. He couldn’t waste his time on this pigeon. He seemed a little too flighty to be the type to attack him if his back was turned, and even if he did, Amri could still win. And there was no point in trying to get him now if he was just going to cheat and fly out of reach. So with another sneer, Amri turned and left him, not saying anything else to him, just leaving and going back down the path from whence he’d come, at slightly a faster pace though. He was done with it.
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