(Flashback) The Exchange (Adder)

[Blythe]

Blythe looked down at her feet. What to do, what to do, she thought, not like there was much she could do, her arms were still bound after all. But still, she liked to think there was actually something she could do, in what appeared to be a meeting that was about to turn into an even greater mess than it already appeared to be.

Ignoring everything around her to the best of her ability, trying to shut it all out to give her enough time to think, Blythe kept looking down at the floor, slowly clearing her mind, until she was jerked back into reality by a loud cracking noise. Blythe looked behind her, just as the guard fell to the floor, Adder was holding a silver candlestick, the edge dripping with fresh crimson blood. Blythe looked up at him with horror, as the guard crumbled to the floor, his hand falling down her body, starting from her arm, tracing the length of her right leg, before it hit the floor. It sent a chill up Blythe's spine.

Blythe looked down at the man, blood was trickling out of the side of his jaw, and pooling around her feet. His eyes were rolling around in their sockets, and starting to glaze over, his jaw was off-set and appeared broken. Had Adder killed him? Blythe wondered, as she stared at him, wide-eyed. It was then that the man's moans became more and more audible. Phew? Blythe thought, he had ONLY broken the guy's jaw. Wait, is that good, or is that bad? She wondered as she shifted her weight from her right to her left foot, and looked up at Nero nervously. He seemed rather... angry... to say the very least.

"Nero..." Adder hissed, as a whooshing sound was heard. It sounded like Adder had drawn his blade, and was talking a small step forward. It was nearly inaudible. "I want my money..." Adder's voice trailed off, it was laced with pure anger, hatred, and disgust. Slowly, Nero stood, eyeing him with undisguised fury. Clearly the situation was escalating, into what was sure to be a disaster, and Blythe was caught, bound, in-between two angry, more than likely, armed men. Her eyes darted from the left side of the tent to the right, over and over again. Blythe was biting her bottom lip, her palms felt sweaty. Petch, she thought.

[Adder]

Nero stood up, large hands on the table's paper littered surface. His mouth was twisted in a vicious snarl. "You assaulted one of my men... For that I will break you..." the words were uttered just audibly and Nero slowly made his way to the corner of the table, drawing his short sword. The blade was slightly longer than Adder's dirk which meant it was less efficient for fights like these in close quarters.

Adder Rayne bent his knees ready to strike, he hissed lowly as to destract or scare his opponent, it was something his Dhani heritage commanded.
Nero thrust the tip of the short sword forward and aimed for the middle of Adder's torso, a killing blow if it had hit home, but Adder had taken a step to the side and turned his body so only his shoulder was facing the muscular slave trader. He cut Nero's forearm, be it not deeply as the man had put too much strength behind his attack and lost his balance for just a hint of a second. A small trail of blood began to trickle from the cut. Though nothing major Adder felt a slight feeling of triumph, which he supressed for he could ill afford distractions. The fact that Nero hadn't called for help meant he was confident in his superiority to the Dhani halfblood, something which, judging from his look, he began to doubt now.

Adder let his bloodied blade move through the air in fluent movements like a cobra would to to hypnotise its prey. Nero struck again, though less recklessly than his first. Adder parried the blow but didn't manage to avoid the blow to his ribs. Nothing was broken but surely some bone was bruised and he grunted in pain. Rayne kicked Nero's knee but without much effect as he took another step back, followed by Adder who swung his dirk across horizontally to press Nero back even further.

[Blythe]

Nero stood up, large hands on the table's paper littered surface. His mouth was twisted in a vicious snarl. "You assaulted one of my men... For that I will break you..." Nero said as she walked around the table, unsheathing his short sword in one fluid movement. Nero's eyes were tiny slits of anger, a raging fire seemed to be growing steadily within them, and not wishing to be consumed by it, Blythe slowly backed up, to the left, so that she stood in the corner of the tent, as opposed to the middle.

Since she wasn't really looking, she nearly fell backwards over a large wooden chest that was sitting on the floor. Whoops, she thought, as she stepped over slightly towards Nero's table, as the two men started fighting. A table which had, sharp pointy edges? A candle lit up over Blythe's head, she now had an idea. Blythe stood innocently in front of one of the table's edges as Adder and Nero went at it. She wasn't really sure who was winning, and she wasn't paying much attention. Instead, she was rubbing the rope that bound her against the edge of the table, hoping that it would be sharp enough to help her break through it. This way, with the use of her arms, she was more likely to make her escape successfully.

Slowly, and then more quickly, Blythe rubbed the rope against the table, and for the longest time, it didn't seem to make much of a difference. The rope didn't even feel as though it were fraying, becoming any looser. All it felt like was its usual annoying itch, and the subtle soreness that surrounded the rope. But slowly, Blythe managed to fray the rope, then get it to snap off completely. Not wanting to alert the men should they suddenly take their eyes off of each other, and place their gaze back on her, Blythe held tightly unto the rope that was behind her back, taking turns holding it with her right hand and then her left, so that she could stretch the other one a bit. Her fingers still felt heavy, like they hadn't been used in a long time, and their movement was slow. Her wrists were still sore and red. Blythe watched the battle some more, still unsure of who was winning and how she should attempt at taking her leave. It wasn't like she was a skilled fighter, or had a weapon to defend herself.

[Adder]

Nero had succesfully parried the small piercing blows Adder had attempted. Fighting in such close quarters made everything risky, one misstep and *slid*, sudden death. Rayne retreated a bit, giving some respite to his opponent. The slaver was clearly skilled with that short sword but the wound Adder had innitially dealt him was beginning to tire him. "I spit on your mother's grave you serpent! What kind of whore would copulate with a snake?" As to emphasize he indeed spat on the floor, soiling the expensive carpet. "You're not only the son of a whore but also an abomination, a freak!" Nero spran forward and released a flurry.

Adder grunted under the violence and force of the assault and only just managed not to get hit. He kicked Nero's knees again to make him step back so he could retaliate. Another swoop and Adder ducked just under the blade, saw his chance and thrusted his dirk into Nero's stomach. The slaver's movements froze and he let drop his sword. Adder turned his blade around and sculled it to Nero's side, thereby making a long clean cut from his navel to his enemy's kidneys. Entrails spilled out and released the stench of undigested food and components...
Sweat was pouring on Adder's face as he cleaned his blade. They had to get out, get out now.

With fast determined paces he marched to Blythe, standing at the corner of the table. "Let's go..." he said firmly.

[Blythe]

Blythe watched in horror as Adder and Nero fought each other, Adder miraculously coming out victorious after wounding his opponent, who quickly fell to the floor, blood trickling down his side, and pooling around his body along with his entrails. If the sight wasn't bad enough, the smell was worse, and Blythe scrunched up her nose as Adder crossed over to her, and said "lets go." Blythe sighed, although she had her hands free, it would more than likely prove to be rather foolish for her to try and escape the markets on her own. Of the two of them, Adder was more than likely the better fighter, and her only way out.

The thing was, however, that she must somehow find a way to escape with him, and hopefully, keep him from noticing that she had managed to sever the rope that bound her. "You lead... you know the area best," was all Blythe said as she gave Adder a slight nod, as her brain started racing with various thoughts and ideas, everything that could go wrong, and just how slim their chances of survival, or rather, chances of passing through the area undetected were. She sighed, knowing that if by some miracle, the two of them managed to actually escape, she had no one other than Avalis to thank. Not only that, but if she was lucky, she could use the rope to her advantage, say to choke Adder with when he least expected. But not to kill him, no, that wasn't in Blythe's nature... but knocking him out wasn't something she would so much as pretend she was opposed to... especially after everything he had done to her thus far.

[Adder]

Pushing the little Konti in front of her, with one of her pale arms in an iron grip, the Dhani offshoot marched through the streets of Sunberth. "No deal" he snarled at the guard standing outside, only to discover he wasn't there anymore. Rapidly he looked around but found no trace of him, so he scooted off with Blythe. Reluctantly he restrained from hurting her, despite being furious. He was happy he had killed that impudent Nero and quickly went over the possibilities it would trace back at him. He spat on the ground as he would most likely end up into trouble...

Adder turned some corners and they entered the quieter streets of the sprawling polis. Shackles lined the streets and beggars and thieves lurked in them. He shoved her against the wall of a remote alley. "I thought you Konti's were supposed to bring good luck but after today..." He was still visibly struggling with stuff. Should he finish her off there and then?
"Give me one good reason not to get rid of you." Adder was mad, pissed and hyped with bloodrage.

[Blythe]

Blythe's back was resting against the wall of a medium-sized building. The wall was cold and stiff, not in any way shape or form even remotely inviting. Not even comforting, when all she needed was something solid to hold on to. Blythe's heart began to pound in her tiny rib cage, threatening to break free and fly away like the single crow that was circling in the sky, cawing ominously. Her palms were sweaty, and her eyes were wide and filled with trepidation as Adder's eyes blazed, and his hands held her against the wall.

"Well, for one, I doubt it was me who gave you bad luck, Kontis have no such ability. Secondly," Blythe began, as her eyes darted up and down the street, "we're not alone, if you kill me now, there are people who will notice, and should one of your traders see you... well I'd imagine they wouldn't be too happy if you killed off a perfectly good Konti. Now would they?" Blythe asked, raising one of her brows, feeling only slightly more powerful than she had a few minutes before, which was something, but not nearly enough to quiet her pounding heart.

Blythe's hands were resting behind her back, the palms pressed into the wall, as though attempting to divine some strength from it. She was surprised Adder hadn't noticed that she had managed to free her hands during the time he and Nero had been fighting. "But then again, if you wish to ignore that, then you could simply kill me now, but then you'd have my life and death on your conscience, while I have a grudge against you staining my soul, which would more than likely lead me back here as a ghost, in which case, don't be surprised if I haunt you until the end of your days," Blythe paused, "or possess you and wreak havoc upon your soul..." Blythe's eyes glimmered as her voice trailed off.

[Leviathan]

Thread Award! Blythe   Skills Skill Gain Info. Observation 2 -- Escape Artist 1 --   Lore The Game of Slavery Dishonor Amongst Thieves Escape: Cutting Your Bonds Adder   Skills Skill Gain Info. Leadership 1 -- Business/Bartering 2 -- Brawling 1 -- Weapon (Dirk) 1 --   Lore The Game of Slavery Dishonor Amongst Thieves

Additional CommentsThere wasn't a great amount to give exp for, but if you think you deserve otherwise, feel free to pm me.