A new acquaintance. (Closed)

[Chale]

Day 15, Fall, 511 AV

Chale had a tired look on his face, a stubble had began to form on his expressionless face from the long journey he had just made. He was coming in to Zeltiva from Syliras, a city he loathed. He had little trouble getting over from there to the area around the Mirahil Pass. He got there in just over 3 weeks, his record time, his brand new horse was to thank for that. A beautiful and majestic creature that fit him perfectly, he was beginning to form quite a bond with her. Fortunes can change at any time though, first his horse had become ill and he had to walk it the rest of the way. And then, things only got worse; a small group of maybe 3 or 4 bandits who had been harassing travelers in the area had confronted him. He got away not managing to spill any blood, but he had to ride his horse, pushing it to its limits which took its tole on the creature. After resting a few days not far from the pass the horse was better, but not quite healthy. When he had made it to the city it was dark, almost midnight. He was greeted by a place he enjoyed, even though all they have is fish and kelp beer, he was ready to get off the beef jerky and salted pork diet. First things first he had to get his horse taken care of, so he dropped her off at the stables, giving 15sm to the stable groom so the horse could stay up to 3 days. It was fall, so the cold winds were starting to come in from the ocean. He began to wish he had bought a jacket in Syliras maybe he would buy one here. Just as he thought about the cold his stomach began to growl. So he continued into the city, down a back street to try and get to the market faster to buy some food then to find a hotel.

[Aquila]

It's been about 2 weeks since Aquila's birth and having started her life in the portcity of Zeltiva, there was a near-infinite things she didn't know about Mizahar and everything connected with it, yet. But Guss had been the best mentor and friend that he could be. Having taught her alot of things, mainly about Zeltiva and its immediate surroundings, she felt a bit more confident in the new life she was forced to start. After the sun set and the moon slowly started to appear in the beautiful nightsky, she left her safehaven, Guss' house, and cheerfully walked around the city. In those 2 short weeks she had already made quite a reputation for herself. Most people accepted the fact that she was an Ethaefal and doesn't mean any harm to anyone and greeted her in their midst by warm and friendly behaviour, although there were still several humans in the city that mistrusted her, wanted to take advantage of her naivety and even went as far as to hate her. Unfortunately for Aquila, she bumped into one of those people as she walked on a paved lane with only 1 weak lantern illuminating the relatively hidden alley between 2 sides of shabby looking houses. Guss had warned her to stay away from these type of roads and to be careful of who she talked to. He had told her that humans were creatures weak of spirit and will, that they were too often tempted to walk the path of evil. Her hunger for the nightsky was too strong that night and she made to mistake to brave the dangerous territory on her own, just so she could see the darkblue nightsky littered with stars and the gorgeous moon more clearly. The lack of artificial light in the alley was what made the sky more beautiful to behold and as she stood there, staring upwards and not having the slightest clue of what was about to come, she suddenly heard a sharp sound from behind her. She turned and was nearly face-to-face with a man clad in tattered clothes and with a thin and cold stiletto in his hands. Their eyes met and she could see the determined stare in his glare that screamed of his confidence and evil intent. As he approached her with both hands in front of him, gripping the stiletto's handle and pointing it slightly upwards towards her, he grinned a disgusting smile of yellowed, rotten and absent teeth. Before she even realized what she had to do, she had already turned around and started running. She wasn't used to running and she was nowhere near fast enough to outrun him but she ran nonetheless. She knew about her ability to produce djed in her immediate surroundings, but she didn't want to hurt him nor did she want to face the danger of being hurt by that blade. But not everything goes as one wants. The man had caught up with her easily and tripped her with a mean kick and she toppled over in silence before slamming sideways on the hard, paved alley and letting out a gasp of pain. The man stood slightly bent over her, still grinning while holding his stiletto in his righthand. " Please, no, don't. " She whimpered in fear as her eyes followed every moment his blade made. ' Tssss, don't beg for your life. I hate it when they beg for their life. ' The man said with a mocking tone of voice but it was evident he wasn't joking around, he was going to kill her.

[Chale]

Chale contemplated where he would spend the night, most of the taverns by the docks had some of the more unpleasant people, but he also wasn't a fan of the more wealthy people's attitudes. He continued to walk at a slow pace, looking up at the stars and the moon. The site was beautiful, he never cared about the stars anywhere but Zeltiva, almost as if they didn't exist. But every visit to the city he found himself captivated by them. He was not far from the market place when he heard struggling from a dimly lit ally. He paused, looking down the ally for a moment, hand on the pommel of his sword, ready to unsheathe it. After a moment of silence he started to continue but the heard a distressed voice saying "Please, no, don't" and he quickly unsheathed his sword. It could be a trap, just set up to find a compassionate person like Chale. He would soon find out, he walked down the ally at a fast but silent pace. He saw a man trying to mug, or worse, kill an innocent women. So he pulled the man back by his shoulder, throwing him on his back. Placing a boot on his chest and the tip of his sword at his throat. He turned to the lady saying loudly "Whats going on he..." he caught a glimpse of her horns yellow horns. He was speechless for a moment, it was the first Ethaefal he had seen in his entire life. Unlikely as it is, due the facts he's traveled a large chunk of the Eastern hemisphere of Mizahar, this was his first encounter with one of the other worldly beings. He regained his composure "Whats going on here?" in a more quiet tone.

[Aquila]

As she tried to lift his heavy foot from her chest, she whimpered in a panic, constantly repeating " no ... no " very softly. The thought of screaming for help didn't occur to her, it was the first time she was in such a situation and her mind went blank. All she was able to do was react in a panicky way a little girl would act as. While she was trying to breathe through her whimpers and pleadings, which was hard to do due to the heavy pressure on her chest from the man's foot, she suddenly was able to breathe in a large dose of air. Making her cough from the sudden inhalation, she had her head turned sideways for a second and when she turned it back... There was another man there, staring at her and then asking what was going on. The first man, the attacker, was nowhere to be seen though so Aquila was speechless and couldn't find the words to describe what just happened until she pushed herself off the ground and saw the man with the stiletto struggling underneath the rescuer's boot. She almost smiled as she realized how ironic the turnout of events must look for that guy, now in the same position she was in mere seconds ago. Looking at the man underneath the boot while talking to her rescuer she said: ' He tried to kill me. ' That was all that appeared in her mind and all that was of importance really. Staring into the man's eyes she felt no warmth, patience nor wisdom. She could only feel an unknown sensation inside of her. Presumably it was hate or anger, either way, she didn't care what would happen to this man. Whether he lived or died, she didn't care. Or maybe that wasn't even true, maybe she personally would opt for the man to die, that was the fate that he wished her aswell afterall. These were all uncharted feelings for her and it made her confused and slightly scared of herself, but she couldn't shake them off. Eventually she asked: ' What are you going to do to him ? '

[Chale]

Chale looked down at the man and said "Even attempted murderers are executed." He then looked back at the Ethaefal he had just rescued. His face was blank, but his eyes were sad. He then said "I imagine this wasn't his first 'attempt'. I guess I'll have to make it his last." He looked down at the killer, he was trying to beg for mercy, but he couldn't get himself to talk. In Chale's mind he didn't want to kill the man, but he knew the fate of this man's next victim if he did not. Chale was not an executioner, but a warrior, for him it was much easier to kill another being in battle than to serve a finishing blow to an unarmed man. Chale thought about it for a second, his decision was made. He grabbed the pommel with his other hand and with a quick and decisive chop to the neck the man was dead. He now had to distance himself from scene. He looked back at the Ethaefal and said "Come, we need to leave." reaching his hand out to her, sword still dripping with blood.He expected to take her to safety away from here.

((Sorry, I didn't have a lot to write.))

[Aquila]

Blood. She never saw so much of it until now. Aquila's eyes grew huge as she followed the sword's blade motion, from being raised to slashing down in an arc and lodging itself in the man's neck. The man's eyes went from a fearing gaze to a glare that seemed to penetrate the nightsky to an infinite length. The blood itself splashed over the paved street and even onto Aquila's feet and lowerpart of her dress. It was of a deepred color and flowed freely, under gravity's force, down over her feet and sandals to mix in with the bloodpuddle that kept flowing and growing. She looked at the puddle curiously before realizing she had been asked a question and had yet to respond. " Yeah...Ok. " She said as she took the unknown rescuer's hand and ran off at a fast pace together. Her mind kept wandering from staying in the current time to what happend mere moments ago. She didn't felt bad about what happend, but she did feel slightly remorseful although she realized the man had done the right thing. She had a realization that ending a creature's life isn't something she liked to do, but sometimes was justified or inevitable. She made a promise with herself to do her best only to kill when it's either of those things and never otherwise. " Where are we going? " She asked in a calm voice, slightly out of breath from the running.