| 45th Day of Summer, 510 AV |
| Akiva ran through the forest, clad in naught but a quiver. Her left hand held a bow, her right an arrow, drawn hastily from it's resting place in the quiver. As she ran, the arrows jostled around in the quiver. Unrest was in the air tonight. The moon was nowhere to be seen, and as much could be said for a breeze. Everything was still as she ran, to where, only the gods knew. The trees were thick overhead, and broken branches lay like a blanket over the forest floor. The forest was thick with life, and Akiva's running had awakened many a creature. She was not stealthy tonight, not so much as she could be. She cared not for the animals of the forest tonight though. Tonight she hunted something even more dangerous. The darkness around her began to fade into light slowly as she approached a flame, an encampment of some sort. She knew what it was, it had been what she was looking for all along. A single figure sat slumped on a log, obviously asleep. The other was nowhere to be seen. Coming to a stop, she watched for a minute, waiting to see if the other figure would emerge from the surrounding forest. He did not. She took this opportunity to her advantage, sauntering into the camp site to stand before the sleeping man. Akiva raised her bow to the man, arrow ready to fire, and cleared her throat. "Where is your master?" She demanded of him, and he awoke. "Huh? Wh- huh?" He mumbled as he was jerked from his sleep. "I said, where is your master? I must have a .. word.. with him." She said again, harsher than before. She knew she wasn't very bright, but she knew even better that the two bandits that had been pursuing them were even dumber than she. "Oh, he ain't here. What do you want?" Said the large man, now fully awake. He began to stand, as if he did not see her and her bow as a threat. "Put that thing down, or get out of here." "Sit down! I shall do no such thing. I am here on business matters. Sit now or I'll shoot!" She half yelled at the man, her voice filled with anger. He did as he was told, sitting back down on the log. She stepped back, across the campfire from the man, in case he decided to make any sudden move to attack her. Besides, shooting him at such a close range would likely cover her in his blood, and she didn't want that. The man sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll stay here. What do you want with us anyway?" His words were that of a frightened man, but his voice did not show it. To add to this, his eyes were obviosly wandering, exploring her body. He was a disgusting bag of stupidity. "You're useless, tell me where he is, or I'll kill you." She said, using her bad girl voice she had practiced so well. This brought an actual understanding to his eyes, as if he knew he were going to die. "Oh boss, he's uh... he's out wandering." She readjusted her aim and cleared her throat again. "Err he's uh... he went in search of a pretty lady we saw on the road, she looked just like you and uh.. haven't I seen you before?" "Tell me more." She said, her voice cold. The bandit shook his head, "I'm under orders not to speak to our hostages. Or about them." He said, as if this were some childish game he and his 'boss' were playing. "Tell me more!" She yelled at him, not caring to hear his stupid explanations or excuses to not tell her where he was anymore. She was fed up with these bandits. "He said he was going to find the camp yous guys was stayin' in, and that he'd take the girl and kill the men while they was sleeping. He said I couldn't come cause I would mess somethin' up like I always do." He seemed slightly panicked now. "Thank you," she said in a calm voice, her lips curving in a sedistic smile. She aimed for the mans neck and let the arrow loose. It buried itself deep in his neck, to the point where the arrows that dressed the end of the feather were covered in blood and broken flesh. She left him laying there, slumped over a log, bleeding all over his dead corpse. "Now, for the boss." She ran into the forest again, back towards her own camp. If he had been on his way as she was coming here, he would probably nearly be there. She knew that he wouldn't be as fast as her, and probably not as quiet. It would be easy to find him, she was sure of it. Darkness surrounded her once again in all directions as she threw herself through the forest, flying past tree after tree. The creatures of the forest were louder now, they knew death was about, and it was she would would be the bringer of it once again. Adrenaline was rushing through her veins as she neared her camp again. She had not passed him on the way, which only somewhat surprised her. He was slow, but she imagined he had left a bit earlier than she expected. The fire was still lit in her camp site, Keorvic and Azerix were nowhere to be seen. Keorvic was likely in his tent, asleep, and who knew about Azerix, he preferred to sleep in trees. She hoped that she wasn't too late, and that he hadn't murdered the two as they slept. She was sure that he wouldn't have been able to do that anyway, he wasn't very bright either. A dark figure crouched behind a bush, hidden from the view of the camp by the trees surrounding the bush. 'Perfect' She thought, and stealthed her way across the distance between them until she was right behind him. He didn't notice her. She knew he wouldn't, not when she was really trying to be quiet. "Looking for someone?" She whispered in his ear. He jumped and spun around, but she already had her bow up and ready to shoot. He was knocked back by the hand that held the bow, his face colliding with her fist. "You're not very bright, are you?" she asked him as she looked down at the bandit laying on the ground. She could see he had an eyepatch now, from their last encounter. She hadn't meant to shoot him then, but tonight, she did. "Damn, it's you. What are you doing sneaking around like that? I should have brought him, at least he's good for watching my back." He said, obviously angry. "I'm sorry for your loss, then. You won't be using him for that anymore." She said, the image of his dead body still fresh in her mind. His eyes widened as he understood what she was saying. "You killed him?!" he half shouted at her, apalled. He made no move to stand up, knowing she would shoot if he did, not that she wasn't going to anyway. "Shut up you blathering idiot. I don't want you to wake my companions over there," she said, pointing her bow to the tents they slept in. "Yes, I killed your friend. And I'm going to kill you." "Then get on with it already, I'm tired of listening to you," he said, his eyes closed, waiting. "Okay," she said, her voice oddly full of joy, and let loose another arrow, which landed squarely in his chest with a thud. It buried itself about halfway in before it stopped. Blood gurgled out of the wound and from the corners of the newly dead mans mouth. He lay still now. She walked by on her way to her tent and kicked him lightly to make sure he was completely dead, though she already knew he was. She removed her quiver and set it, along with her bow, by her pack, and crawled into her tent and her bedroll. The night would be over soon, and she wanted as much rest as she could get, now that she knew it would be peaceful. Her eyelids fluttered shut as she drifted off to sleep. She awoke with a start later that night, the fire had been stoked. Keorvic was outside, keeping watch probably. Her muscles were sore for some reason, and crawled out of her tent, waving a greeting to the sleepy looking Keorvic as she walked past, toward the edge of the clearing they had made camp in. There was no sign of the body she had left there earlier. "It must have been a dream," she said to herself, still sleepy. She headed back to camp and sat next to Keorvic. Though she was now pretty sure that her night's adventures and her killing of the two bandits who had been chasing them was a dream, she was still convinced that she wouldn't be seeing any more of them. She rest her head against Keorvic and closed her eyes. She would let the rest of the night pass this way. |
| End |
