[The Rearing Stallion] You called me a what!? (Xelin)

[Elhaym]

OOCThe beginnings of Xelin and Pain's meeting took place in the thread linked below.
Original Meeting

77th Day of Summer, 510 AV

"We're one in the same. Us artists got to stick together, right?"

Her brother had always said that. The threatening facade on Pain's face dissipated, slowly replaced by her crooked smile. Insults aside, there was a certain element of truth in what he said. Artists were looked down upon, at least those of Pain's skill level, and often viewed as lazy or untalented vagabonds who had no real calling. That, and there was something in this man's eyes that had caught Pain's interest. He had recoiled, but not without a certain amount of tact. At the very least, he seemed to be judging the distance between them. Maybe he was a bit of a scrapper, just like her.

"... Allright then. I suppose you're right. Xelin, right? Honestly, i'm not in much shape to get into a scrap here in the middle of town anyhow." Pain mumbled, and as if on cue, her stomach mumbled something of it's own.

"I'll tell you what, Xelin. If you're the artist you say you are, meet me at The Rearing Stallion. I've got a few things to do in the meantime, so say... well, two hours. Meet me there in two hours, and we'll see about this artist's camaraderie you speak of."

Pain extended her left hand, making for an awkward handshake, but better than smudging charcoal dust all over a new acquaintance.

[Xelin Sylaaf]

Pain's response threw Xelin off guard more than he'd expected. A kick to the head made sense, but the sudden shift in pleasentries practically broke his brain. He paused for a moment, and reluctantly embraced the young womans hand. "Alright, two hours at the The Rearing Stallion it is." His ear had caught the woman's rumbling stomach, and the thought of food came over him. It made him a bit weak in his own gut. Maybe he could get a meal out of her, now that she was on this camaraderie business. "I'll see you there then."

And with that Xelin leapt up from his crate and shaking the girl's hand he turned away, shocked that he'd be able to walk away without any severe head injuries. Of course you did, he told himself, you're a natural with women, even the quiet, kind of creepy ones. Still, more so than the girl's reaction, his mind wandered off on what she meant about Artists camaraderie. What did she have in mind? A job? Surely she could've seen the instrument on his back. With he believed a spiritual common ground existed amongst artists, their crafts were on very different paths. Oh well, part of the adventure is never knowing what will happen next, he thought. He just hoped the girl wasn't expecting him to pay for her meal. He could only be so generous on a bard's wages.

[Elhaym]

Pain walked about the shattered remains of her room in total darkness, no longer needing a light to navigate the tiny space. Of course, the debris from her destroyed desk and bed, as well as the scattered remnants of her clothes made things a bit more difficult. She had discovered her room ransacked earlier that day, with no explanation other than a note that had had sent chills up Pain's spine. She reached the wall, cursing as she stumbled over a jagged piece of wood that she supposed came from her trunk, and hobbled along the wall until she felt the crack.

It wasn't like there were many places to hide something in a room that could just as easily have functioned as a prison cell within stormhold castle, but the small crack in the wall had sufficed. She slipped her smallish fingers inside, struggled for a moment, and finally retrieved the letter. She had been unwilling to carry it with her, because any search of her person that had produced the note would have ended with an investigation and hence, more trouble for Pain.

Having obtained the letter, there was nothing left to do but to meet Xelin at the Stallion. He was probably all talk, she concluded, but he did have a sense of awareness that denoted some sort of fighting experience. She just hoped his only trick wasn't bashing that lute of his upside someones head and running.

---

Two hours had passed, more or less, and Pain sat restlessly in the back of the Rearing Stallion. Three chairs sat around a thick wooden bar table, the second being occupied by her satchel containing her art supplies, and now the letter she had retrieved.

"Show up, damn it." Pain muttered, burying her chin in her palms. She really was running out of options, to drag a stranger into this.

[Xelin Sylaaf]

Before they would even meet again, Pain would learn an important fact about Xelin: he rarely showed up on time. Twenty minutes late, Xelin sauntered into the Rearing Stallion, a satisfied look on his face. His eyes searched for the pale woman, and caught her in the far back of the room, seated at a table with three chairs. Were they expecting someone else?

Xelin smirked at Pain and headed over towards the table. He took his seat and rested his guitar by the side of the chair. "So," He started off immediately, "Why exactly did you ask me here?"

[Elhaym]

"The truth is... well, lets just say a few people are quite interested in my return to Syliras, and want to say hello." Pain began, leaning back in her chair so far that it tipped up on it's back legs while propping her feet up on the table. She cast a quick glance at Xelin to make sure he was following her story, and upon affirmation he was, stared up at the ceiling as she spoke.

"... probably want to say hello with their fists. Maybe a club or two, a sword if i'm really unlucky. They already trashed my home... well, my room anyhow. It felt more like a cell than a home, wasn't too terribly sad to see it all torn up." Pain spoke quickly, but an edge of tension in her voice betrayed her nonchalant facade. Obviously, whoever these people were, they were troublesome enough to worry her.

"So what I need you to do is... well, you can do two things. You can give me enough money to get out of this city, which I've already tried once mind you... or, you can help me end this. Actually, you can also walk away right now. I wouldn't blame you, you know. You're just a bard, after all... aren't bards known to be somewhat cowardly?"

[Xelin Sylaaf]

Xelin was having a rather pleasant stare up at the ceiling while Pain spoke. He expected a certain level of disinterest going into this meeting, but even he was shocked at how quickly he'd lost concentration. His lazy ears picked up enough of what needed to be heard. A threat had been made and now this girl needed muscle, as was always the case. It amazed Xelin how regularly people neded other people beaten up. No wonder mercenaries were so abundant, the market was overflowing with jobs.

His idle mind, however, immediately switched on to alert when he heard the "c word." A coward? She was calling him a coward? He snapped up to attention in his seat and stared at her, shock covering his face. Suddenly, though, his reason set in, as did a gratified smile on his lips.

"So let me guess, you do think I'm up to roughing up a few thugs who're harassing you?" He chuckled, dropped his elbows on to the table and leaned in towards Pain. "Well, a man thicker in the head would certainly jump at proving his metal against some thugs, especially if a damsel in distress is involved, but I'm not that thick. Yeah, I'm thick, but not that thick." He leaned back in his chair, "However, if I knew there was something in it for me, well, then we might have a deal here. We are of course talking about giving some ruffians a good beating right?" He turned away and shouted to the bartender, lifting two fingers and shouting "Ale, cheap!" He turned to Pain, "Care for a drink?"

[Elhaym]

Pain waved the question away, tipping her chair back even further.

"No. I don't drink. And you may have the wrong idea about who these people are. I can handle a drunkard or two, in fact... thats what got me into this mess. Anyhow..." Pain lifted her legs off the table and leaned forward, the formerly airborne chairlegs slamming to the ground. She unfastened a side pocket on her satchel, producing a yellowish letter that had been folded several times.

She spread the letter out to face Xelin, showing him it's contents. It was no literary masterpiece, for certain. The letter had but a few words scrawled on it's surface, upon inspection reading "We will find you". Underneath, three reddish stains were lined in a row, at second glance being recognizable as bloody thumb prints.

"See that big bulbous thumb print in the middle? That belongs to a fellow named Gaar. They signed a bloodoath amongst themselves to kill me, or worse, for all I know. These guys a mercenaries, not amateurs. Unfortunately, that last bit of information was not available to me when I... well, the past isn't important."

The idea of leaving Syliras annoyed Pain, but she had a feeling it was imminent. No matter how much she wished, she couldn't handle three mercenaries alone, and Pain was nearly certain if it came to a fight, she would be alone. Anyone she asked for help with half a brain would likely walk away without a word.

[Xelin Sylaaf]

By all accounts that should've been that. He'd heard her speech and it was just like he'd suspected, a random stranger in need of an extra armed hand. This was not Xelin's business, he'd barely met the girl and nothing about this promised a decent reward. It did, however, promise a few decent lacerations and a few broken bones. For a moment, Xelin regretted ordering an ale, it meant he had to stay longer.

But something lingered in his mind, and worse, his conscience. The words on the letter disturbed him, no demands, no other threats. Just the promise that they'd find this girl. Worse still, there was the clear signature of a bloodoath, he'd seen enough of the underworld to know it. They wanted her dead, badly.

It was clear now to Xelin that this was definitely not an ordinary girl. Just his luck, he thought, it always has to be a girl with a past. He leaned in and looked up at Pain, his face grew somber. "I don't know what you got in to, but by the looks of this I can tell you're not just an ordinary artist."

He looked back down at the letter, "You're putting me in a difficult situation. On one hand if, I turn away and leave now: I'll most certainly wonder if these men got to you. If I don't live in regret of what I could've done to save a young woman, I would most certainly feel guilt if I heard you died at their hands. On the other side: I don't know what you're involved in, and I can tell by these men's tenacity that this won't be easy. And all in all, I don't even know why you're a target, or why you came to me."

Xelin sat back in his chair. His ale still hadn't come. He could walk away, it was as easy as that. He could tell that this girl wasn't too vicious. Even if she was, she would probably be dead from these threatening men anyway. Leave, his mind thought, just leave.

"I'll help you. What do you need me to do?" He never did listen to reason, even his own.

[Elhaym]

It was pretty frustrating, actually. Pain had planned to leave town that night, and leave this situation behind her. She didn't know why she had asked Xelin to help her for the most part, but she did know that she had been expecting him to say no, at the least. At most, she had expected him to ridicule her and perhaps throw his beer in her face.

But he hadn't done either. He actually had agreed to help, and without even having been told what Pain could offer as payment. To tell the truth, she didn't have much.

Pain leaned forward in her chair once again, gritting her teeth noisily while she searched Xelin's eyes for a reason for his chivalrous decision. She didn't know if her was this desperate for coin, or perhaps thought he could manipulate her into bed. Or maybe he was just an idiot. Pain guessed it was a bit of all three.

---

"I'll help you. What do you need me to do?" he had said.

Pain briefly sat silence before allowing a cascade of words to erupt from her mouth. "If we are to do this, we have to do this in our own terms. There are three of them, and two of us. They are formally trained to kill others, and I know I at least, am not. Though I do have a fair idea of how to do the deed, and i'd imagine you do too. So, we have to make sure that if there is a confrontation... that it is advantageous for us."

Pain leaned back and smirked, as though she had just produced the most brilliant strategy humankind had ever known. Realizing how vague her words had been, she began to stutter.

"But, I suppose.... do you, uh, do you have an ideas perhaps?"

[Xelin Sylaaf]

Xelin went quiet, he was trying to think of a proper plan. He was no mercenary, but he'd been in more than a few scraps and had definitely dealt with more than a few thugs who wanted him dead. He'd never killed a person, though, and it seemed that was their only option in this.

Finally his ale had come, he'd forgotten, however, to decline the second drink and so two mugs were placed on the table. Xelin grabbed both, knowing that Pain didn't want one and held on to one cup as he began downing the other one.

Suddeny it hit him. "That's it!" His eyes lit up. "We have an advantage here. These men don't know I'm with you."

He set the glass down, "We can use that, the element of surprise. No doubt they may think that you're going to act alone, and having ransacked your room may assume you have no money for hired hands. This way, we could lure them into a trap, but we need to make sure we do this right."

He looked back to Pain, "What do you think?"