semi-closed (The Ellwood Forest) Missing Persons Report

[Outsane 418]

Marlo took in every bit of information, nodding her head as the woman spoke. It wasn't the answer she was hoping for, but it was an answer. Any bit of information was what she wanted. She sensed a shift in her partner's demeanour, however. She cast him a sidelong glance, but turned back to the woman. She stepped on his toes, she knew that. It didn't matter, though, she got what she wanted. As they walked out and down the road, Marlo stuffed her hands in her pockets, hiding them from view from beneath her large cloak. Her mind was swimming with thoughts and possibilities. No one saw anything strange before his disappearance. He went for lone walks often, and the last one he went on he happened to be jumped. It seemed more like a crime of opportunity rather than a planned one.

 

She was torn from her thoughts when Delgue turned and confronted her. At first, she looked up at him, staring directly into his eyes as he lectured her. A twitch of her eye caused her to avert her gaze and tilt her head down. Her lips pursed together and her nostrils flared as she struggled not to quip back, but oh, how she wanted to quip back; however, she knew she was in the wrong. Marlo did exactly what he told her not to do, but at a worthy cost. It narrowed down the search area, in her mind. "If no one saw anyone or anything suspicious, it probably means whomever is responsible didn't go in town at all, or even near it beyond this trail. You saw how everyone gawked and stared at you when you arrived. They'd surely do the same for anyone else. No one new would go unnoticed." She didn't feel like arguing with him about anything at that point. Seeing that woman... Marlo sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, scratching her scalp as she tried to forget the images haunting her.

 

"Look, I just needed to know that answer," she added at length. "Any bit of information is good, yeah? Next time I'll just... run the question through you." Her arms were then crossed, her body language closed to Delgue as she stared at the ground and around the trail--anywhere but at him.

[Beedis 182]

Delgue nodded at Marlo's response as they walked he was almost disappointing. He didn't think she would give up the fight that easily but it was probably for the best. They wouldn't get much done if they were at each others throats all the time. She did bring up a good point though. Whoever or whatever caused the disappearance never came through town. This didn't really surprise him though. He was still convinced it was some feral creature that had gained a taste for blood. Nothing more, nothing less. If they were lucky they might come across some tracks on the road. From there all they would have to do is track the beast, kill it, and go home heroes. The thought elicited a smirk, all he really wanted was to get out of the woods.

After what seemed like an hour of walking they came across a faded wood signpost. The waning daylight made it difficult to make out. Unfortunately it gave no useful information. It was merely a marker displaying how many miles remained to the next town and the town they had just left. He crossed his arms and grumbled breaking the silence. The trip had been mostly quiet up to this point. It seemed his partner wasn't quite enthused with his advances just yet. He spoke up "It's getting dark, we aren't going to be able to help anyone stumbling around at night." he explained. "I have everything we need to strike up a camp in my bag, we just need to find some fire wood." he offered. "We can cover more ground if we split up. So gather what you can and we'll meet back at the sign in about half an hour or so." he ordered before beginning his search.

Following an uneventful search he returned to the sign carrying a handful of firewood with him. It seemed Marlo had already deposited her stack nearby, at least she knew the basics of setting up a camp. He gave her a curt nod before he began clearing ground for the fire pit. When he was satisfied with his work he removed a flint from his pack and unsheathed his blade. The crooked edge shone in the dull light before he struck it with the flint. The sparks soon lit the kindling and the fire began to grow. He then unrolled a sleeping mat from the bottom of his pack before laying it down on the ground and taking his seat. "Well come on don't be shy miss bruiser, take a seat." he offered with a lascivious wink patting the spot next to him.

The drinks he had earlier had worn off at this point. His shoulder throbbed from the blow he had taken earlier. "So where did you learn to hit like that?" he asked patting his shoulder where he had been hit. Not waiting for her response he removed the upper half of his armor setting it aside. A nasty bruise now occupied his shoulder adding to the already grotesque display that was his torso. Scar tissue occupied much of his upper body. He gave the new addition a light touch revealing how tender the spot was. He finally spoke over the crackling of the fire "I'm still convinced we're after some kind of wild animal." he explained. He cackled "And Yeah I know. Go ahead take your free shots. I won't stop you" he offered before grabbing his armor and re-dressing.

Edited September 17, 2015 by Beedis

[Outsane 418]

Marlo had done what he asked without question. She could do with a break from him anyways. She needed to clear her mind of these depressing thoughts and get her head back on track. There was no more time for mourning, only action. She went about finding the firewood, ensuring to stay clear of the branches that were wet or looked mouldy. The kindle could be found at the camp, so she spent no time looking for dead leaves. She was the first to return with a large bundle of sticks of varying sizes, so she did her part in clearing out the camping spot. Branches that couldn't be used were thrown into the shrubs, rocks tossed into a circular pattern to mark the campfire spot. By the time she finished, he had returned and nodded to her. Marlo stood there, watching him start the fire, since she'd be of no use without flint of her own... which she dropped somewhere along the way.

 

Once the fire was started, Marlo pulled off her cloak and gloves, leaving her arms and shoulders bare with just her crimson tunic with the sleeves rolled up, her pants, the satchel hanging over one shoulder and resting at her hip, and boots. Bruises that were yellow and a faint blue colour crawled up her arms, but mostly they were on her forearms. They looked to be at least a week old and were healing up quite well; they didn't even hurt when touched. As he patted the spot beside him, she shrugged and sat down and began to unroll her quarter-length sleeves. The shirt was of a fine quality, strange to see on a brawler, but she didn't seem to make a big deal out of it; however, when he took off his armour, she glanced to him and raised her brows. More than the bruise she left, cuts and burns marred his body. She wanted to ask, but his comment made her keep her mouth shut. She didn't want to pry and it seemed like he was probably embarrassed about them, or at least still sensitive about the subject. "Blue looks good on you," she remarked with a smirk before turning back to the fire.

 

"When I was a kid. Papa noticed I liked to fight a lot, so he paid for a trainer to teach me in secret so mother wouldn't find out. After a while, I quickly matched his skill, so he got one of his buddies to teach me how to fight dirty, like real bar fights. Eventually, I started going to taverns and bars and fighting for money. I tried to challenge the guys who weren't hulking pirates, but sometimes, you just gotta try it out," Marlo explained with a lopsided grin on her face. "Mother nearly fainted when I came home one night bloodier than a slab of butcher's meat. That's when she found out I was scrapping instead of sleeping and she kicked me out. Papa had already left by that time, so I had no reason to stick around."

 

At his last comment about the wild animal, her brows furrowed and she looked to him. "I think you're wrong." She murmured. How could he think it was just a wild animal? There were too many clues left behind that made it appear planned! "Animals don't just clean up after themselves, there'd be evidence somewhere."

[Beedis 182]

Delgue raised an eyebrow at Marlo as she removed her cloak revealing the high quality tunic below. She was a mystery alright. A pretty woman who hangs around in bars in the middle of nowhere, punches like a truck, and has expensive fashion tastes? He shrugged, it didn't quite make sense but he was never one to shy away from expensive things himself. As she made a remark regarding his bruise he smirked. "Right back at you." he responded before tapping her arm playfully. "So, I gotta ask. Whats up with the shirt? An interesting choice for somebody who fights with their fists." he asked with a cackle. "I'd like to think its to impress me but unfortunately I'm not that naive." he finished with a smirk.

Soon he got the answer to his previous question in the form of a short story. As marlo spoke he lazily toyed with a coin from his bag spinning it around his fingers. It was strange and funny even how close her situation mirrored his. It seems they both got kicked to the curb by their folks for deviant behavior. "Heh well I guess I owe you a story of my own now huh? It's only fair." he offered. "I bet you're curious how a resourceful young man such as myself could find himself in a situation like this?" he asked rhetorically. "Well I started work as a sword for hire, guess the money got to me." he explained. "I picked up some unsavory habits because of it. You know gambling, street crime, the works. I spent a lot of time in seedy places" he said. "Folks threatened to disown me after that so I decided I'd try to straighten out, joined up with the black heart and well here I am." he finished with an almost wicked cackle.

"But enough about that." he stated changing the subject back to the task at hand. "Come on think about it, what would anybody have to gain from systematically capturing villagers." he added. "They aren't rich, they don't have any useful skills, they mostly aren't gifted fighters. It just doesn't make any sense to me." he concluded.

 

"Well its getting late...We should probably call it for the night and get some shut eye, arguing about it now won't get us any closer to getting this over with." he explained. "I hope you brought something to sleep on by the way. Because if not you're taking the floor, unless you are looking to share that is." he offered with another cackle.

[Outsane 418]

Marlo couldn't stop the eye roll from coming at his comment on her shirt. "Mother bought me fine shirts because I refused to wear dresses, let's leave it at that," she replied to his probing. While she was proud of her fighter's heritage, revealing too much about her family wasn't something she was looking to indulge him with. Although a part of her figured by that statement alone, he'd figure out why she wore fine shirts and her mother disowned her as quick as she could once it was revealed Marlo brawled around town. She remained politely quiet as he recounted his own history. She smirked and rested her chin on her hand. "Parents, eh? Would sooner toss people out than try to help fix the problem." She said through clenched teeth. There was a twinge of bitterness in her words, but she didn't dwell upon it.

 

She was going to offer her counter argument, but he was quick to put it, and themselves, to sleep. Marlo sighed and stared at the fire, and when he offered to share the mat, she looked at him with a bit of shock. Did he just... hit on her? Shock was quickly replaced with ire and she stood up while speaking. "I'd sooner snuggle up with a starved bear." She quipped, then walked to the tree adjacent to him and sat down. Marlo threw the cloak over her and relaxed against the tree, lifting her gaze up and staring at the sky. She seemed lost in thought as she frowned slightly and furrowed her brows. Her thoughts went back to her friend. After a bit of thought, she adjusted herself, closed her eyes and began to slowly doze off. She looked perfectly comfortable sleeping on the ground. It was clear she slept there frequently, if not on rockier ground.

[Beedis 182]

Delgue smirked at her sarcastic response, he expected nothing less from Marlo. "Oh come on that's no way to be, we're partners after all. I was just trying to be friendly." He replied with a cackle as he watched her walk to a nearby tree trunk. Well on the bright side Marlo moving meant he had the entire sleeping mat to himself. He gave his partner one last sidelong glance before laying down on the mat. He let his gaze drift up to the branches and sky above him thoughts drifting to better days filled with debauchery. It wouldn't be long until the quiet crackling of the fire lulled him to sleep.

He awoke to the sounds of rustling leaves and the calls of local wildlife. "Ugh...another night in paradise..." he groaned as he rose to a seated position taking a quick survey of the surrounding area. The fire had long since gone out leaving nothing but a few glowing embers in the pit. From where he was sitting it looked as though Marlo was still asleep. Stretching he rose from his mat. After a moment he rolled it up neatly packing it in his bag. Slinging the pack over his shoulder he walked to the fire pit kicking dirt over the embers to snuff them out before crouching to scatter the rocks that marked the perimeter of the pit. As he rose from his crouched position something in the distance caught his eye. One of the tree trunks in the distance looked to be carved. He didn't remember seeing any carvings on the trees from last night when he was collecting wood. Naturally he moved closer to inspect the markings.

He chuckled at the absurdity of it all as he closed in. The tree had what appeared to be a crudely carved eye decorating its trunk. He smirked at the sight it looked like Marlo was trying to get one over on him. Well if she wanted to play hardball he'd humor her. His smirk grew as he turned back to the remnants of their camp. "Oh Marlooooo!" he called out as he walked. He walked around in front of her giving her a moment to collect herself before continuing. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the all too convenient carving on the trunk over there would you?" he asked pointing to tree in the distance. "Look you are going to have to do a better job than that if you want a rise out of me. Its tough to con a conman." he quipped. "Come on, you were really that desperate to get me on your side? You woke up in the middle of the night to carve up a tree?" he asked.

[Outsane 418]

Marlo slept heavily that night. Being outside rather than in rooms made her sleep deeper, which she found odd and disconcerting, but at least she had a good sense of some one being too close to her, and sensing danger. Last night, however, she didn't wake up at all. Even more odd, she didn't wake up early as she habitually did. It wasn't until Delgue woke her up by approaching her and calling out to her that she stirred. Her eyes snapped open and her fists clenched while her head jerked up to look at him. Her pupils were dilated again and nostrils flared. She looked like she was about ready to attack him, but the expression quickly vanished as her whole body relaxed upon seeing it was just Delgue. She groaned as he continued speaking and rubbed her eyes, questioning herself why she missed waking up early. When he made a joke about the carving, she glanced over to where he pointed and stared a moment.

 

A shiver ran down her spine as she saw the eye. She quickly scrambled up to her feet and reached to her side, finding the hilt of her blade. She pulled out the knife and examined it, then back to the carving. She moved closer to it, then touched it with her fingertips. "This wasn't me, Delgue," she murmured, then looked at her blade. It was curved, like a miniature machete. Meant purely for hacking and slashing, not carving. Goosebumps ran up her arms and she shivered as the hairs on the back of her neck rose. "Some one's sending us a message..." She said while turning back to Delgue, a worried expression on her face. "They're watching us." A pit formed in her stomach as she said those words. She had hoped to remain under the radar, but teaming up with a member of the Black Hearts was bound to get her put on the map.

 

Part of her wanted to chop a line across the eye, but she didn't want to ruin the evidence. Marlo quickly walked back to the clearing, dug into her satchel, and pulled out a paper and grabbed a piece of charcoal from the fire. She then returned to the tree and dragged the piece of charred wood across the paper until a perfect replica of the carving was on it, as well as a few of the bumps from the bark of the tree. She stepped back and looked around at the other trees, then down to the ground for footprints. Her gaze settled back on Delgue where she scowled at him. "How's about helping me instead of standing there like a smug idiot? You think I did this, then prove I did it! Find the evidence I did!" She barked. The fact he wasn't taking this seriously bothered her. More than that, however, was the fact that some thing--or some one-- was near the camp and she didn't even sense it. This caused another shudder across her body.

[Beedis 182]

Delgue shot Marlo a doubtful glance as she scrambled to her feet to inspect the eye. She was really trying to sell this huh? Well if anything at least she was thorough. Playing along he walked with her back to the trunk as she confessed her sincerity. It wasn't until she pulled the small blade she had on her out of the sheath did he realize Marlo was not the culprit. The knife she held lacked a sharp tip it would be unable to carve something with any real precision. As she voiced her concerns his smirk faded and he closed his eyes. There was still no cause for alarm in his opinion. It seemed a little far fetched that there was somebody who had both caught on to them and was watching them.

 

He chuckled as she frantically moved back to her belongings in order to trace the carving. He stood idly by as she worked to look for any footprints or any other carvings. The only place this was going to lead them was to some punk kids or disgruntled villagers. It wouldn't be long until his idleness upset Marlo as she stopped her investigation to bark orders at him. "Heh, you really think this was the work of some nefarious force?" he asked. "Someone was probably upset with us making asses of ourselves yesterday and wanted to scare us out of the woods." he stated. "But if you are so hell bent on wasting both of our time Marlo your wish is my command." he said his tone biting. "I'm nothing if not a ladies man." he finished with a cackle before uncrossing his arms and moving to investigate.

 

He separated himself from Marlo giving her some space as he investigated the other side of the camp. He checked everywhere low and high. No other trees had been carved up and the leaves covering the ground made it difficult to look for footprints. If he was being honest with himself he wasn't quite looking that hard. He still felt this lead wouldn't be getting them anywhere. He remained convinced some wild animal was behind the disappearances. "Marlo, find anything over there?" he called from his crouched position as he continued looking for footprints.

Edited October 4, 2015 by Beedis

[Outsane 418]

Marlo's hope had risen when she saw the smirk fall from his face. Surely he thought the same thing she did now! It wasn't just her playing tricks. His next comment, however, diminished her hope for him empathizing with her cause. Rolling her eyes again, Marlo muttered under her breath, "You're not much even at that." then proceeded to comb the area. She paid special attention to the areas that looked recently disturbed. A broken twig here and there, some tousled leaves, an overturned rock... nothing was truly identifying as they could have easily been from when they were looking for firewood. It wasn't until she came across a bush that was partially trampled down that something truly interesting turned up. Hanging from one of the thicker branches, torn from its main body, was a piece of fabric. Marlo quickly snatched it up and examined the thing, rubbing it between her fingers and holding it up to the dappled sunlight. Not only did it look like shoddy craftsmanship, it felt like straw and smelled... Marlo gagged and coughed violently at the smell. "What devil's ass was this used to wipe?!" She choked. Served her right to go sniffing things that looked like it had seen better days... and that was about three years ago.

 

Further inspection of the bush revealed an imprint of a butt and hands in the dirt. Some one tripped over this bush, no doubt practically strangulated by the cloak, if that's what the fabric was from. She moved back up and started back to Delgue, but a glimmer of something caught her eye. Stopping in her tracks, Marlo turned back to the bush and stared at it a moment before falling to her hands and knees and laying her face flat to the ground to examine it closer. It was then that Delgue shouted to her, but her eyes were transfixed on the shining thing beneath the bush. A dagger, hidden within the leaves and broken branches. "Delgue," she called out while sitting back on her heels and looking passed the bush at him. "I found a dagger!" She crumpled up the piece of fabric in her hands. There was one person she knew who could help give a general idea of what this fabric was and where it would come from but... she wasn't ready to use that venue just yet. Silently, she hoped the dagger would be enough of a clue to send them someplace solid.

[Beedis 182]

Delgue couldn't help but sigh as she called out. Even if Marlo had found someone camped out in the bushes he still felt they had no lead here. If he was kidnapping people he certainly wouldn't go out of his way to notify the people investigating those same disappearances. Then again if the culprit was someone from the area maybe it would make things a little more believable. Most of the locals were nothing more than uneducated farmers. To them a threat like this would seem very effective. Unfortunately for the perpetrator he had seen his fair share of horrors and he wasn't quite ready to abandon his mission at the first sign of danger.

It took Marlo calling out again to drag him away from his thoughts. "Yeah, yeah I'll be right there." he called back before rising from his crouched position. Turning to face his partner he paced over to the bush she was standing near to investigate. It was obvious someone had tripped over it, the poor shape of the bush and the hand prints near it made that abundantly clear. He reached down into the bush to collect the dagger Marlo had pointed out. He gave it a quick once over before commenting "Great job detective, now don't get too far up your own ass. This doesn't help much." he retorted sarcastically before beginning a closer inspection. It was easy to assume the dagger had been used to carve up the trunk. It wasn't very impressive looking and the craftsmanship was poor. Perhaps it was crafted locally? If that were the case they would be able to see if this lead was worth anything. He stashed the blade in his bag before standing back up.

"Well the thing is a piece of crap that's all I can gather...maybe crafted locally...we could look around to see if any of the nearby towns has a forge. Maybe they would recognize it?" he offered turning back to face Marlo. "If we get that lucky we'll see if this paranoia of yours has any merit. Ten to one it was some bored kids, this still seems too amateurish to me. If I'm right get ready to pay up." he added with a cackle. It was then he spotted the piece of cloth poking out of one of her hands. He shot her an accusatory glance "What have you got there?" he asked pointing to her hands.

 

Edited October 8, 2015 by Beedis

[Outsane 418]

Marlo rubbed her face with her hand and sighed. "You don't need to worry too much about me getting full of myself," she grumbled. The smell of the dirty cloth had rubbed off on her hand and she nearly gagged again and pulled her hand away from her face. If she had to smell that thing one more time, she'd surely toss her cookies.

 

As he observed the knife and jabbed at her theory, she scoffed at him and leered at Delgue. "You seem awfully nonchalant for it being, what is it you think it is? 'A creature having a taste for human blood'? I'd be at least a little bit worried if it were that only. You know, because you're human, too." Marlo was about to stand up, but he caught sight of her hidden clue and she flinched. "It's nothing big. Well, at least it won't be to you, O Aloof One. Just a piece of stinky cloth. I was going to follow up on it on my own." She held out her hand, showing the crumpled piece of cloth to him. She didn't want him to know about this specifically for the reason that she'd eventually ditch him sometime soon and get answers about this thing on her own, without him tagging along to learn about the skeletons in her closet.

 

"Let's just go find some forge around here and get some information on that dagger," she replied, standing up and dusting off her pants. "I'm sure we'll have better luck with that thing than we would some smelly piece of fabric." Marlo insisted while heading back to the camp to gather her things. She replaced the cloak around her shoulders and put her gloves back on, then the wide-brim hat. Once again, she looked very unremarkable, save it be the locks of blonde hair falling down her back.

[Beedis 182]

Delgue couldn't help but chuckle at her cynical remarks. Always one for snappy wordplay he thoroughly enjoyed having a foil, he found it so boring without resistance. "Pfft. What is there to be worried about? I would be elated if it was a beast we were after. Beasts are predictable. They are dimwitted, slow, and easy to deal with. If you can track them all you need is a trap, or solid aim." he explained. "Humans on the other hand...well they are a different story and they present their own slew of problems. I'm sure you don't need me to explain those problems though do you? With that in mind I'd take a hulking beast any day of the week." he added with a cynical smirk. "Like I said though, this dagger will hopefully give us some more info on who or what we are dealing with, we'll take it from there once we find out." he explained.

He then rose from his crouched position before Marlo revealed the clue she had been trying to hide from him. He shot her a glare as she explained her intentions. "You remember what I told you right?" he asked rhetorically. "I'm the boss here, if you go hiding things from me and that stops us from getting to the bottom of this it'll be my ass on the line. You understand? Unless you want to end back up at that bar you follow my rules, copy?" he asked his tone losing its regular sarcastic charm. The piece of cloth was unimportant to him but that was besides the point. He wouldn't let her tag along if she was going to hide things from him. As she tried to appease him he waved her off. "Evidence is evidence no matter how mundane." he reprimanded.

After their argument they collected their belongings and continued along the trail. It took Delgue a while to cool off and even longer for the tension to settle. According to the sign they had camped near the next town was roughly 20 miles north from where they had set up. It was a hike but they would make it easily within the day if they kept a brisk pace. They had made it about two miles before he decided to break the silence. "So...Marlo..." he spoke up. "What do you say to a friendly wager?" he asked pausing to let her consider it before continuing. "If you're wrong and this dagger is a red herring, how about we kiss? I'm talking no half assing it either, you gotta get into it." he offered with a wicked cackle. "But if I'm wrong and it leads us to something else you get to punch me in the face. Full force gloves and all." he added. "Come on it'll be fun. You have to admit it's hard to refuse. If you're right you not only get to rub it in my face but on top of that you get to hit me." he said.

Edited October 11, 2015 by Beedis

[Outsane 418]

She let him have his say in the matter, but she remained unconvinced that he thought this was all a joke. The fact he would shoot down her idea that some person--or persons--was doing this, yet be willing to investigate the source of the dagger irritated her. "Better make sure we know what we're up against. Could be a knife-wielding bear for all we know. Carving eyes into tree trunks and buying knives from blacksmiths with coin..." The fact he thought that these people going missing was because of a dumb animal offended her on a personal level. Of course, she was up to her eyeballs with emotional investment in this case, so that didn't help much.

 

As he chastised her for withholding information from him, she rolled her eyes again. "Oh please. Would you know what to do with this thing if you saw it without me? You'd probably disregard it since, y'know. Animals don't wear clothes."  It was easy to hate him. Delgue had no redeeming qualities in her eyes and to be snappy at him was just fine with her; although he seemed to be enjoying it, almost. The sick bastard. The thought occurred to her to challenge his leadership, but she kept her mouth shut about it. He seemed to like pretending to be the boss and she figured crossing that line would go too far and he'd surely dump her off at the next village.

 

She relished in the silence as they walked. Not feeling obligated to carry a conversation with him granted her the chance to think on her own, despite the air of awkward unease between them. She tugged her hat down, pulled the collar of her cloak up, and walked with her eyes facing the ground. She didn't get to wash up that morning, nor do her exercises and stretches. She figured one day of skipping them wouldn't hurt. She'd make up for it tomorrow. Marlo pushed her glasses up on her nose and pulled out the stack of paper from her satchel and found the page with scribbles all over it. Marlo slowed her steps, not wanting him to read her letter. Notes she had taken, but they were completely covering the paper in a bizarre pattern. Words overlapped, some of the sentences were upside down or incomplete, it was a jumbled mess, but she read through it. Her attention was divided when Delgue spoke. She stuffed the letter back into her satchel and caught up to him so they were once again walking side-by-side.

 

Marlo's eyes widened as he laid the wager out. She stared at him with disbelief and tried to convince herself that she heard him wrong. At his last sentence, she grinned fiendishly, her knuckles clenching. "You really are that desperate," she teased. "Normally, I wouldn't take you up on this... pathetic attempt for you to get some action, but there's no way that I'm wrong, and I would love to break your face." The poor fool. He was so confident in his theory that he was willing to maim himself over it. Whatever. Not having to hear that damn cackle for a month or so was so worth it.

[Beedis 182]

Delgue's smirk grew as he watched her reaction change as he laid out the bet. She went from looking to him in horror to leering at him with malevolence. "Desparate? No I thought a friendly gamble would be a good team building exercise. You know, inspire us to work just that little bit harder." he responded sarcastically with a chuckle. "Go ahead and stay defiant, it'll make it all the sweeter when you're wrong. Heh, I can almost see the look on your face." he taunted with a wink.  Despite only knowing her for a day he already had a pretty good read on his partner. It was obvious she hated him. Anyone could figure that much out though. The way she bantered with him wasn't exactly friendly. It had an edge to it that was for certain. He couldn't really blame her though, he wasn't exactly making it easy for her to like him. He had also gathered that Marlo seemed to have a sadistic streak to her. She reveled in opportunities to inflict pain perhaps a little too much.

After they established their little wager things grew silent again for a few miles. He got lost in thought as they traveled in silence keeping their pace from earlier. He had begun to notice Marlo kept herself a few paces behind him. Whenever he looked back over his shoulder she seemed to be reading over some papers. He paid her no mind. He knew she wouldn't show him the papers no matter how assertive he got. The notes probably contained diary entries or more of her crackpot theories anyways, nothing he would be interested in.

After another half hour or so of walking he took it upon himself to break the silence once again. "You know this reminds me of this job I was on back when I used to do freelance work." he began. "I was escorting a merchant through the woods. If you can believe it I was the only guard my boss at the time could afford to hire." he continued. "This guy wasn't transporting anything too valuable maybe some silver jewelry? I can't really remember but that is besides the point. The guy was paranoid, afraid of his own shadow paranoid." he explained. "Daylight was fading when we were walking down this country road. We see some silhouette in the distance and the guy goes nuts and starts panicking. I do my best to calm him down it was no use, he was sure we were going to be robbed." He paused. "So to make him feel better I pull my crossbow out and take aim at whoever was out there closing in to investigate. The silhouette moved and the guy freaked and bashed into me causing me to pull the trigger. Turns out our brigand was just a woman who out looking for lost livestock. Luckily the bolt hit her in the shoulder." he said with a cackle. "Oh boy was that a hassle I had to get the bolt out and stitch the wound myself with what little we had while they were both losing it, but hell I got it done. My boss felt so bad he sent her off with a necklace for free and I still got paid. So I guess everything worked out in the end." He finished.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Beedis

[Outsane 418]

Marlo listened to his tale with a quiet patience. As he revealed he shot the woman, a thought shot through her head. 'This insane bastard is going to end up shooting me.' She had kept her head ducked down to prevent him from seeing her expression, but she looked mildly terrified. She made a mental note to put something between the two of them whenever he had his crossbow out. After his tale was finished, a silence settled between them. Marlo didn't bother to laugh out of sympathy for him, she thought he was careless. She didn't know how crossbows worked, but to go as far as to shoot an innocent person... Of course it would be him that did it. She recalled his other story about his past and she chuckled a little. The poor guy had a string of bad luck. What's worse is he ended up being stuck with her.What a bad streak indeed. She let it slide that he alluded their current predicament to that story, she assumed he was referring to the paranoid business man as being her.

 

"My papa and I were walking home from the clothing store one day," she murmured, lifting her head up so he could hear her. "It was well past dusk and my house was on the outskirts of town, so we had to walk in the dark on a sketchy road. We both had a bad feeling, since we were carrying a few bags stuffed with fine fabric. A few guys jumped out on us and I was already on edge, so I didn't even hesitate to lash out on them. Busted one guy's nose and knocked him out, the second guy I almost broke his knee, but before I could knock him out, the third guy jumped between us. I tried to attack him, but he blocked all my attacks and hit back pretty hard. The worst part was he had one full arm and he was able to subdue me until I bit his only hand." Marlo chuckled, a genuinely happy smile on her face. "I was only 13 at the time, and he was maybe 17... I knocked him out while the other guy limped off. So my papa and I dragged the two unconscious ones home... I don't even remember why we decided to. Papa had a big heart and didn't want them to suffer, I guess. When the one-armed guy came to, he couldn't stop praising me. Promised if I let him go he'd teach me how to fight like him." 

 

Marlo laughed again and combed her fingers through her hair, pulling it over her shoulder so she could play with it a little. "He taught me how to fight with one arm and with my legs. He said I could kick like a horse and could swing like a barbarian." Suddenly she realized she spoke too much. Marlo went quiet after that and dropped her hands down to her sides. She always talked too much when she spoke of him. She didn't want to give away too much of her past to Delgue, either. Nothing that she wanted him to hold over her head if things took a turn for the worst.