Flashback A Welcome Escapade

[Raven Nightfoot]

7th of Summer, 510AV Early Morning "So...is this our second or third date?" Raven teased as she and Aoren made their way toward the city gates, having only just left the hot springs. She was referring to the fact that the night had seen two separate locations. Just ahead they could hear the loud voices of another group of people who had decided to visit the springs for the night. It had turned out to be a long and surprisingly eventful night starting out at The Rearing Stallion where Raven had gone to 'make' some money, which had ended in Aoren stepping in(unnecessarily) and getting a bloodied shoulder from a horny drunkard with a bottle. From there the pair had made their way to the hot springs seeking the refreshing warm waters to help quell the pain in Aoren's shoulder which turned into quite an intimate meeting. All in all, a great night for Raven. As they walked through the dark forest illuminated only by the moon in the night sky above, Raven couldn't help but shoot the handsome mage a glance every so often. Although it was just past midnight Raven felt awake and full of energy, assuming it had something to do with the warm waters of the springs in conjunction with the impromptu massage she'd received from Aoren.

[Aoren]

"So...is this our second or third date?"

“Technically speaking it’s our first.” Aoren clasped his hands together behind his back keeping a leisurely pace as he walked beside Raven. He was not in a hurry to be parted from her. He had been enjoying himself ever since the scuffle in the Rearing Stallion. Well…minus the injury to his shoulder.

“The first time we met you didn’t like how I spoke to you so we ended up fighting. I don’t think our little adventure in the Stallion really counts as a date and right now…” He looked at her. Aoren ducked down to avoid getting smacked in the face by a low hanging tree branch. “…I’d say this is our first official one. If that’s what you want to call it.” He gave her a sly wink stepping closer. He didn’t touch her. Aoren was far too nervous to do that if truth be told.

He felt an undeniable attraction toward the woman. She was wild and free with herself but charming and mysterious at the same time. She enticed him one moment and pushed him away the next. It was maddeningly wonderfully confusing. To top it all off he had a suspicion she had similar feelings for him. He wouldn’t capitalize on those feelings unless he felt it was the right time to move but he was glad that there was at least a sliver of them there. Overall the evening had been a pleasurable one. After being mauled in the Rearing Stallion by a drunkard they’d gone to the hot springs. It had turned into an evening laced with rising sexual tension. He had been thankful she’d suggested leaving before either of them could do something they might regret later.

“Thank you, Raven. I’ve enjoyed myself tonight. Drunken mauling and all.” He nudged her playfully laughing softly as was his manner. His laughter was cut short when the otherwise calm night was pierced by a sudden scream. Aoren’s senses immediately went on high alert. There had been a group of people making their way back to the city just as they were ahead of them. The scream had obviously come from them. There was more shouting, the sounds of a scuffle reaching Aoren’s ears. His gaze went to Raven. Without any sort of hesitation he grabbed her wrist and darted off the trail they were walking on pulling her into the bushes with him.

Aoren crouched low in the bushes pulling Raven down into the crouching stance with him. He placed a finger over his lips gesturing for her to be as quiet as possible. He knew that wouldn’t be hard for her. She was a silent, stealthy woman after all. The night was dark but the light of the moon and stars helped to illuminate some of the darkness. The sound of booted feet running through the dirt reached Aoren’s ears followed by hushed voices. Aoren strained to hear what they were saying. The voices were definitely male.

“There were two more, where the petch did they go?”

“I don’t know! You were the one who was supposed to have been keeping an eye on them.” A third voice interjected.

“Shut it. Both of you. You’re both idiots for rushing into things like that. We barely managed to knock those three unconscious. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is picking up slaves this close to Syliras? Come on! We don’t have time to search for those other two. We need to move. Fast.”

Slavers.

Bile built up in the back of Aoren’s throat. If there was thing he hated, one thing he was absolutely repulsed by it was slavers. In Aoren’s mind they were the epitome of scum. They were filthy abominable people who filled Aoren with indignant rage. His clenched his fists. His jaw flexed visibly in the dim light. His posture was strained as he willed himself to be calm. He wanted nothing more than to jump out from the bushes and unleash a well-placed jet of flame upon all three of them. That would have been a stupid move though.

Aoren was unarmed. He had neglected to bring his quarterstaff with him. He was half-naked wearing only his leather pants, a belt and his boots, his shirt was still damp from using it as a dry cloth. Besides, Raven was his chief priority at the moment. Her safety was paramount to him. As much as it grated on his personal morals he was concerned for her well-being above all else at the moment. She was a breathtakingly beautiful woman. Given the chance they would snatch her up without a moment’s hesitation.

When it was apparent that the slavers had left Aoren turned to Raven.

“We need to go.” He spoke softly. Just barely enough for her to be able to hear him.

[Raven Nightfoot]

Raven only laughed as Aoren brought up their first meeting that day in the forest, it was so funny to think that they'd met with a fight and now they were on, according to Aoren, perhaps their first date. She turned to smile up at the handsome mage, amber eyes finding his blue ones as she spoke, "Maybe it is what I want to call it..." she paused, allowing her teasing comment to linger in the air for a moment before continuing, "...What would you like to call it?" The handsome man didn't get a chance to respond before a loud scream interrupted their peaceful stroll through the forest. Amber eyes widened slightly as her gaze shot in the direction that the sound had come from in an attempt to find out why, but the group of people that had left the hot springs just before herself and Aoren were too far ahead for her to see. The scream was followed by more sounds of struggle and with each one her mind began to race faster and faster in attempt to find a reason. Animals? Bandits? What else could it be? As she stood there lost in thought, eyes locked in the direction the noises were coming from, Raven felt her curiosity take over and she took a step forward but before she could take another, Aoren had grabbed her by the wrist and led her off the path and into the bushes, pulling her into an all too familiar crouching stance and gesturing for her to be silent. It took only a second to click that the situation was potentially dangerous and she slipped into stealth mode, fixing her balance so she wouldn't fall over. Luckily, it seemed Aoren had pulled her into the bushes just in time to avoid being caught as the sound of hurried footsteps approached and they could hear the hushed voices of three men. She turned her face away from the voices in order to hear them better, holding a few strands of her dark hair behind her ear for the time being. Slavers? Her eyes grew slightly in surprise, it really was unusual for slavers to be so close to The Fortress City. It was very risky for them, so they must have been quite desperate. There weren't many things that Raven and the Syliran Knights had in common, but one view that they did share was the hatred of slavery, perhaps that was only because she was born and raised in anti-slavery Syliras, but she found the entire concept appalling. She felt a trickle of nerves run down her spine as she thought of the friendly group of people that had greeted them only a bell ago. They didn't deserve to have their lives stolen from them by these men. She may have been a criminal herself, but at least she made an effort to only steal from people who looked like they could afford it. “We need to go.” When the men, who had obviously been looking for herself and Aoren, finally left she let out a soft breath she hadn't realised she was holding and turned to look at the handsome mage in slight confusion. She didn't understand why he wanted to leave when they were clearly the only ones that could help the innocent people. He was a mage after all, she'd seen him use his magic to do amazing things, so these men would be no problem for him. Aoren had his magic and Raven had the darkness, two big advantages on their side. "What? No...Let's go teach those thugs a lesson." she whispered back, excitement at the potential adventure already beginning to flare. “We need to go.”

[Aoren]

Aoren could tell already that there simply would be no getting around the decision that Raven had made. He couldn’t blame her. The threat of slavers was not something the everyday citizen of Syliras was exposed to. Their existence was real. The disgust that Aoren had for them? Even more so. He eyed Raven for a few moments before sighing and nodding. The Drykas man was no coward and he certainly wasn’t just going to abandon those poor souls who had just been abducted. To leave them to a life that was no longer their own seemed to Aoren to be a fate worse than death.

“Alright. We have to be careful though. We don’t know how many of them there are.” Glancing around it was difficult to discern exactly which direction the slavers went. The darkness made for excellent cover but not just for them. It also served to conceal their would-be assailants. If he was going to make a judgment call though he was almost certain of the direction they went. Motioning for Raven to follow he didn’t exactly bother keeping low.

The dark and the shadows of the trees would make excellent cover if they weren’t spotted immediately. The trick would be trying to sneak up on the slavers undetected. Aoren was certainly no master of stealth. He had spent a lot of time working on getting himself nimble and agile but he was a stranger when it came to the realm of lurking in the darkness. He got the feeling that Raven wasn’t so unfamiliar with the idea of sneaking up on people. He was hesitant about the idea of letting her take the lead. What if she wandered too far? What if the slavers got ahold of her before Aoren could intervene? What if…

He had to stop thinking that way. Raven had displayed herself to be a woman of character. She could fight. Neither of them might have been the most excellent of fighters but they weren’t exactly unskilled. She would also resent being treated like something fragile. He knew that much about her already. He glanced at her then inwardly sighed at himself.

“Think you can get us close to them without us being heard? From when they rushed off it sounded like they were heading north.” Aoren couldn’t be certain but he knew that it had sounded like they were running back in the direction of the springs. Whether or not they were actually headed toward them he did not know. If they moved quickly they would be able to catch up to them. He only hoped that they hadn’t gotten too much of a head start.

The dilemma that they would be faced with would be how to deal with the slavers. Aoren had his fists but he only knew so much about how to fight hand to hand. He could fall back on his reimancy but that would cause some serious injury to those he faced. Aoren was not a violent man and he would use it if the time called for it. The slavers themselves were likely armed and not keen on being challenged or leaving potential witnesses to their crimes around to tell them.

“They seemed in a rush. If we move quickly we could catch them by surprise. I don’t think it is a good idea to use my magic on them immediately. If we can subdue them without me having to resort to that, all the better.” It was times like these that Aoren wished he possessed the ability to see the future. With such a gift he might very well have been able to peer into what lay ahead of them. Wishful thinking, but he did wonder if perhaps he might be able to one day.

He would motion for Raven to take the lead. If they were going to do this, it would be better if he learned to move with the kind of stealth she seemed to portray.

NoteNotice: The contents of this plot are endorsed by the DS of Syliras, Radiant.