Encounter With a Thief (Darik)

[Talbot]

27 Fall, 511 AV The Kelvic's journey began with an early start. By the time the sun was starting to streak the sky, he'd gathered his bearings and began his trip away from Sunberth, his horse ambling behind him. Now that he had his strength back, he was as eager to get away as he was to arrive. As he trekked through the slums and the outskirts of the city, Talbot kept his guard on full alert, knowing that he hadn't yet escaped Sunberth's grasp. From what he'd heard and seen, he considered himself lucky that he hadn't been assailed by a ruffian as of yet. He kept up a brisk pace, feeling that he wouldn't be allowed to go without so much as a fight. He put this thought down to senseless anxiety and focused on the road ahead. His hand was starting to get twitchy as it hovered by the hilt of his weapon. Vagrants and desperate vendors practically threw themselves on him, badgering him for money. He was on the verge of sticking them with his sword to warn them to stay away, but he managed to keep his temper in check. Instead, he fixed them with a glare that sent them recoiling to their respective dwellings. Unbothered, he walked on, vigilant for signs of danger.

[Darik]

A man of decent build walked unaware of a bringer of death stalking him. No, it wasn’t Essik or Antar, it was Darik! Stop underrating him. He can easily bring death to anything…that’s a foot a less or less. He’s got pycon terrorizing in the bag. Now terrorizing men taller than him is a bit harder, but they say practice makes perfect. Darik followed the man “discreetly”. I use the quotations because what Darik thinks he is doing rarely is. Every step he took crunched some form of leaf as he stalked the man with auburn hair. He rarely looked backward, and when he did Darik would dive to the side out of view. Seems kind of pointless, but Darik did have a good time of it. Why steal something if you can’t have fun doing it? Playing a game always has consequences, and this one yielded blood on his elbows. Ohh well, he had dealt with worse before. Why was he following this fellow when he had done nothing to deserve to get mugged? First off was a discreet pouch hanging off his belt. He was obviously a foreigner to Sunberth, every long time resident knew not to carry their money out in the open. Darik had learned that lesson long ago so he kept his money in either his chest locked tight, or in his dagger. So the man had one strike against him. The second was his horse. Darik was destined to go after horses, because he got paid a heaping amount of money to do so. Also Darik was one of his best horse stealers because he could take the horse without killing the man. The smell of death usually distracts from the horses’ value. When they reached a vendor paradise, Darik pushed his way through it. A few held out their feet to trip the rambunctious fellow, but he easily avoided them. Well most, he tripped once or twice but that was because he wasn’t paying attention to his feet. Its a lot more important than you think to make sure were you step. Because of his fast pace, when they exited the stalls Darik was only a few steps behind Talbot. “Oye wait up!” He called to Talbot He cleared the distance easily. He was a runner afterall. When they were side by side Darik started his acting routine. ”Where ya going mate? It’s pretty dangerous out in the wild. Animals lurk everywhere.” Why was he being nice Because, he had a plan; lure them into a false sense of security then suddenly rip it from them. Fun!

OOC: Hay dude in your cs maybe say what kind of horse you picked? There’s a lot. http://www.mizahar.com/lore/Horses[/ooc]

[Talbot]

OOCI did, it's a Kavinka Paintedmount. Sadly I think him only an accessory, not a companion, so I didn't give him a big, pretty sub-category complete with a picture and his details. He's under the equipment tab. Talbot heard a voice call out behind him. "Oi, wait up!" He didn't bother to turn, quite certain the cry hadn't been meant for him. Only when a boy suddenly fell into stride beside him did Talbot cast a curious look to his side. Apparently thinking himself some kind of a friend to the Kelvic, the boy with the bony frame asked him where he was going as if he'd known him all his life. This was lost on Talbot, who hadn't known anyone to open a conversation with polite curiosity and consideration. Especially not in a place like Sunberth. "Who wants to know?" he asked him, never letting the boy stray from his line of sight. For all he knew, he could be trying to charm his way right into the Kelvic's pocket, which he only then just realised was on public display for any thief to take a gander at. He pulled his coat tighter around him, concealing the small fortune hanging off the side of his hip.

[Darik]

oocHehehe, no prop. Just don’t kill me when I describe him wrong!

The man was obviously smart, yet naïve at the say time. By pulling his cloak tighter around him, he affirmed Darik’s belief. There certainly was something of value in there. Now all he needed to was rip it from the man’s possession. Couldn’t be too hard, the man didn’t look particularly smart. In a perfectly friendly manner Darik replied. ”Darik, I, me,” Was there any other ways of talking about himself? Yes. “he, it, the big cheese.” Now those were all the ways you say Darik. Still even his optimistic and fun loving attitude didn’t make a dent in the man’s somber attitude. Ohh well, he would keep trying. Darik doesn’t start something only to fail! ”Well if you aren’t going to tell me I might as well figure it out myself.” All it needed was common sense to do so. This might not end so well…. “We are heading north so we are going to the big slag heap right. I win right?” Wait a second. “no, we are heading south, or is it east? No it is definitely west so we are heading…. You know, I don’t know! Why not enlighten your friend about this aspect.” Yes, his “friend”. Darik sped up making Talobt think he was going to leave. That was quite to the contrary. He started to skip around Talbot and the horse. While it wasn’t the manliest thing to do it served its purpose. He was taking a detailed analysis of both Talbot and the horse. He needed to know these things, escapes depend on the tinniest detail. Anyway, going unprepared into anything was stupid, its result was usually a corpse decomposing on a street.

[Talbot]

The big cheese? Talbot's expression was vacant as he tried to remember the denotation for the term, he was certain he'd heard it before. When he did, he scoffed as he mused the likelihood in his mind. A little fellow like him, particularly one that prances about like a right pansy, is referred to as "the big cheese"? Talbot was liable to stop right there and slap his knees laughing. The humour left his eyes when he noticed the direction of the boy's interest. He was staring right at his horse, Cheveyo, who was carrying almost everything he owned. Talbot hadn't yet decided to take any course of action against Darik, considering the possibility that he took a genuine liking to horses. But in the case that he could potentially be a thief, the Kelvic had to pry his curiosity away. He gave his answer some thought before he spoke. "Well, Darik, if you really must know...I'm a, a small-time exporter...making my way through Sunberth to deliver...uh, flour. To a baker's shop. In Zeltiva." He glanced away, an unavoidable defect that took place whenever he lied. "Those sacks you see," he nodded towards the bags that hung over the horse's sides, "nothing but worthless powder." Or rather, everything in the world that I own. He hoped the stutters didn't effect the credibility of his story. After all, he was a foreigner, and he wasn't necessarily apt with the Common tongue.

[Darik]

TalbotSorry this post was so lacking. I just didn’t know what to say. :/

Did Talbot say explorer? No, it had a t in it. Must have been exporter. That part of his story made sense but the other part… not so much. ”So we are going to Zeltiva huh?” He viewed the “bag of flour” with his eye. He didn’t believe that for one second, it was much too disfigured to be flour. “To deliver flour?” The man nodded his head, but still he looked sideways. Why wouldn’t he face Darik head on? Was he scared of him? “Wonderful then!” Did the man just let out the breath he had been holding? Probably, because in reality why would you travel so far just to deliver one bag of flour? Logic dictates reason but Darik isn’t logical. The horse was a beaut, that was certain, the man… not so much. He just didn’t look human, but Darik couldn’t put his finger on why. Ohh well, it shouldn’t matter soon he would be taking the horse back to Killroy’s. Though how would he steal the horse with the man looking so intent? He doubted tom foolery would work as a good distraction, this man was much too intent on making sure Darik didn’t steal anything. Unless... Darik pointed to the left of the man. “Dude look what’s happening. It’s devastating. That guy just ripped that girls, ohhh. You got to turn around. Do you… ow. Look at how he… ughh…ahh. I think I am going to throw up.” Would he turn around? It all depended on his disposition and his self awareness. If he did was Darik going to steal the horse? No, it was all part of his plan.

[Talbot]

OOCThat's okay. One small paragraph is sufficient by my standards, at least that's the way I'm used to doing it. Seems it's different around here so I try to add more. Btw, sorry about the delay. Knowing Darik hadn't bought a word of Talbot's lie, the Kelvic was occupied by the notion of being attacked by the boy. He didn't look like a practiced swordsman, or a practiced anything for that matter, so Talbot didn't have any qualms about engaging him in a fight. If he was in fact a thief, the Kelvic had to wonder why the boy thought he would make an easy target. Perhaps he had a much more able-bodied accomplice waiting to jump him at the right moment, and he was merely serving as the distraction. His disorderly brain chatter was abruptly disturbed when the boy began to describe an act of violence apparently transpiring behind him. Who...? He's ripping what? Talbot's unperturbed state of mind hadn't ceased to crumble since he first noticed Darik's particular interest in his valuables. For a moment, he forgot that Darik could maybe potentially perhaps be a hypothetical thief with the intent of stealing his horse. The thought only occurred to him once he'd skewed his head around to look in the direction Darik indicated. Idiot, he exclaimed in his head.

[Darik]

oocNo problem about the delay, it happens to me often for much longer periods.

I lied. Darik had full intention of stealing the horse. When the kelvic’s head turned, Darik leapt into action. He went in between Talbot and the horse and tried to mount it. One problem though, he was accustomed to mounting with a stool. Easy problem to solve, he had a portable stool, by the name of Talbot. As Talbot took a right step Darik lifted up his left foot and pushed down on it. If Tarot was a weakling or had been surprised it would cause it to straighten out. From that higher ground it was easier for Darik to swing his left foot over the horse. Within a second he was seated and ready to go. After all that work he then realized that the horse had stirrups. He could have used those to mount the horse. Poor Darik, always the one to do it the hard way. Up on the horse Darik didn’t look if the Talbot’s hands were connected to the tack. It didn’t matter, he would have to let go when he brought the horse in the gallop or risk being dragged. Darik pushed the sides of his legs into the horse. “Yyyeeeaaahhhaa!” Sadly it just picked up its walk by the slightest of paces. Darik, being a problem solver, realized that the belly contained very few nerves. This time instead of using his legs, he used both of the heels. Let’s say the effect was immediate. The horse got the command for dead out sprint, and it didn’t disappoint. It was exhilarating for Darik but it was also mind boggling terrifying. The speeds he was going could never be reached using his own two feet. The conditions he was in would lead him to fall off very soon. He was gripping the reins for dear life and had ducked all the way down to avoid the overhanging trees. Could anything else possibly have gone wrong for Darik?

TalbotI have a feeling you know, but remember Talbot would have to take off all of his clothes to change. Also I think we discussed about this earlier, but If I need to change anything in my post pm me.

[Talbot]

With lightning speed, or so it seemed, Talbot was assailed by Darik's weight and he was dropped in an instant. From ground level, Talbot flipped himself over to watch as Darik gave his horse a rough kick. Talbot hadn't realised he was still holding the horse's rope until it jerked forward, nearly taking his arm with him. He was dragged through the dirt for a number of paces before he let go. He groped his way back onto his feet, attempting to subdue his assaulter by foot. After a while, he discerned the odds and stopped running. His only chance to make gain with the thief would be to transform into his other self. Talbot was reluctant to shed his clothes to begin the morphing process; the kelvic wasn't sensitive about being nude in front of a crowd, but there was no guarantee his clothes would still be where he left them once he came back to retrieve them. Nonetheless, Talbot began to remove his attire, and within moments he was on all fours. His powerful jaguar legs carried him swiftly towards Darik.

[Darik]

The roar of the wind was immense as the horse ran. Yet, Darik could hear a foreign sound beyond the wind and the horse’s footsteps. He turned his head around and regretted it. First of all, he almost wiped out. By leaning even a little bit to the side he had put himself in immense risk. The wind was powerful coupled with the bumpiness of the saddle made it a wipeout waiting to happen. Secondly, ignorance is bliss. A cat, half of the size of the horse was trailing them. Impossibly, Darik wanted the horse to go faster. The ground was such a petty consequence compared to getting ripped apart by mighty jaws. Trying to get back in a good position in his saddle, Darik realized what was happening. The horse was slowing down, not out of tiredness, but because the shrubbery was getting thicker. He was screwed, the jaguar would start gaining on them. But that wouldn’t matter, because when Darik tried to straighten himself he leaned a little too far the other way. Balance is upmost importance when riding on a horse. Suffice to say, he fell. When he toppled over he did one of the best things he could do. Let go of the reins. If he had held onto them, his arms would have been ripped out their sockets. Even though he didn’t hold the reins, he still hit the hard ground. He rolled, the momentum had to be worked off somehow. Once he was down tumbling about, he raised himself up. He was sore, but nothing felt dislocated or broken. All the practice falling must have paid off! The horse kept running in the distance but it was slowing down much faster now. It was too far away to get there before the jaguar reached him. He had to continue on foot instead. He went in the direction of the heaviest concentration of plants, because there was more chance his tracks would be covered. However, as he shimmied through them he left footprints that even a novice tracker could follow.

TalbotFeel free to describe how close you get and were the horse is going.((Same with the tracks in the end)) Also ((if any)) obstacles that they had to run through.