Closed One for the Road (Aliara)

[Pulren Marsh]

Pulren stood and watched the result of his violent attack, stepping back and observing as the meaty off pulled the razor free. It made a distinctive, wet sound as it was pulled free and unceremoniously tossed aside. Making a mental note of where it landed, the Zeltivan continued to watch, no emotion crossing his features. In stark contrast, the damsel soon began to wail and shriek, taking her own turn to attack and fell the beast.

A small smile formed on Pulren's face as she began kicking the downed man in the ribs, sobbing as she did so. Blinking a few times, Pulren began to realize the gravity of the situation, the sounds of the dock and the groaning of the victim rushing into his ears. Stepping aside and passing the pair, the sounds of the kicking and the shrieking continuing unabated, he knelt down and found his straight razor. Shaking a piece of the man's flesh from it, he folded his shirt over it and cleaned the blade before returning it to his boot. Feeling satisfied, he took the woman by the shoulders from behind, pulling her away from the man on the ground.

"Alright, alright. He got his." He tried to console her. That's where he was coming from. She might not appreciate being grabbed, but hopefully she would realize who it was doing it and not try to kick Pulren. If so, that would be okay. Once or twice, anyway. "Calm down, breathe." He understood where she was coming from to a point.Being male, he had rarely been threatened with rape, though it had occurred on occasion. If she insisted to continue to beat the man, what could he really do about it? He was looking forward to leaving this place and its very nature to corrupt and infect the spirit.

[Aliara Cantrell]

Her head was spinning from emotion and soon so was the world around her. Two strong hands grabbed onto her and started to pull her back. Aliara’s first reaction would have been to scream and lash out but she no longer had anything left in her to scream about. Aliara relaxed and tried to control her breathing but every time to started to normalise Aliara would start to sob again. She wanted to be strong, she wanted to be able to protect herself she wanted to be something that people didn't think they could play her.

“Ali..”

Was all Aliara could choke out in the way of her name, every emotion just continued crash down onto her. Rubbing her hands together Aliara tried to get rid of the blood, it was all over her clothes the question was whether it was hers or his.

“Hurt?”

Looking up at the man that had helped her, Aliara attempted to search his features for injuries. In a way it was helping Aliara distract herself from what has happening to her. It was making her head spin and her world spin, a lump forming in her throat. What was wrong with her? her eyes drifted towards the body of the man. He was choking on his own blood, had Aliara caused this? or did the man behind her caused it. Aliara couldn't take her eyes of the body.

....

[Pulren Marsh]

She was a mess. That was clear and understandable. He immediately felt sympathy for her, as it was clear that she was not accustomed to being covered in blood, much less someone else's. It only showed further how much of an impression that Sunberth had left on the Zeltivan that he would not be so worried to be covered in the red stuff. She said something like 'Ali, which was probably her name. "Ali? Is that right?" He wanted to hug her and comfort her, but after just being accosted by two men, Pulren guessed that it would not be the best action. He kept his hand on her shoulder, nonetheless.

She asked a question. It was one word and its meaning simple. Pulren shook his head. "No, I'm not. Are you hurt, Ali?" Looking back to the spluttering soon to be corpse on the docks, he attempted to guide her away from the scene of the assault and to somewhere more ...sane. Was there such a place in existence in the vile town of Sunberth? Could anything be 'okay there? His fishing pole and his previous spot to catch fish would make a good temporary buffer from the madness. If she would follow, they could try to get a handle on what had happened. Strangely, Pulren was fairly clear and unemotional about it. It was a dangerous thing, acceptance.

[Aliara Cantrell]

The hand on her shoulder calmed her somewhat, this reaction was confusing… The body before her scared her to her bones but Aliara couldn't help but feel as though she was being irrational. She lived in Sunberth of all places, she had even seen dead bodies before. This was different this was caused by her… His blood was on her both physically and metaphorically and she was only young not even in her twenties and some how that seemed important.

Through the numbness in her soul she heard that the man she was with was uninjured which was both good and bad, good that she hasn't caused more injuries but bad because he had put him in that situation. Aliara was stirred away from the body and she was glad, even as the sight burnt in her eyes.

“My… leg…”

She frowned softly, remembering the pain in her leg. It was subtle as they were only shallow cuts but it occurred to her she might not just be feeling this way because of the death but maybe her injury itself. Pointing down at the blood soaked patch of her leg Aliara frowned even more.

“Should… be fine…”

Aliara attempted to brush it off, she had already cause this man grief and who in their right might would go to the local doctor. Aliara had heard rumours that you came back out of there as a nuit. Shaking away the thoughts Aliara stiffly lifted her leg and attempted to place some weight on it. It felt as though her every essence screamed in protest she even let out a little whelp. It was funny, injuries, the adrenaline had hidden it away from her but know she knew it sore it didnt feel as though it would let up

....

[Pulren Marsh]

OOC :

Permission given to lead Aliara and sit her on a crate.

Leading her over to where the fishing pole was, Pulren moved his stuff and patted the crate, helping the young lady to take a seat there and hopefully regain her senses. She seemed to be in some kind of shock and he wanted to help her snap out of it and recover. When he helped her, he could see that his own hands were covered in blood up to the forearms from his carving of the giant. Quickly removing his tunic, he knelt down at the water's edge splashing water on his hands and arms, scrubbing the blood from himself as best as possible so as not to frighten her further.

Standing and returning to her with water cupped in his hand, he gently poured water on the wound on her leg. He knew it was salty and might burn, but it would also help to clean it up a little and hopefully calm her nerves a little. Talking might too, so as he bent, cupped and poured a few more times, he did so. "You're going to be fine, Ali. It's not too deep and doesn't look like it needs a stitch. You were lucky. How are you feeling?"It was probably a stupid question but he hoped that if she opened up and spoke a little it might bring her attention and focus back. Wringing his shirt out, he shook it out and wrapped it over her leg, taking her hand and pressing on the wound with it. "Keep pressure on it. "

[Aliara Cantrell]

Her head was filled with cotton and so was her mouth, it was an odd feeling and Aliara was unsure on whether or not she liked the feeling or not. Blankly watching the man before her she began to wonder why this was happening to her. It was her job to deal with gore and the worst of Sunberth on a regular basis but this was worst. Maybe because it happened to her rather than some complete stranger like it was usually.

That was when he poured the salt water on her leg. It stung and Aliara couldn't help but curse under her breath. Though it did manage to pull some of the cotton out of her head. Frowning softly Aliara grabbed her leg in some sort of attempt to stop the stinging.

“Why did you… come and help?”

It was an obvious question, this was Sunberth no one came to help anyone and that was the way it was. Sometimes Aliara wished it was different but there was barely any chance of that happening. This was her city, a city that was a plague of the region and she would have to get over it. One thing was for certain however, and that was she would be avoiding the taverns for a while.

Looking up at the man that had saved her she took the chance to take note of his appearance, he was very lean. A shape Alaira might have considered her father, she assumed he was a man of the water as well. One thing that drew her eyes was the ragged looking scar that would have been hidden by his shirt. As Aliara scanned his skin she found many more scars that dotted his skin. Smiling sadly Aliara could assume he was the type of person to jump into a situation no matter how dangerous. Afterall he was in Sunberth.

....

[Pulren Marsh]

After a couple of washes of her wound, it was apparent that the saltwater's sting and cleaning was waking her from her shock. This was a good sign as Pulren was genuinely concerned for the girl when he first escorted her over. Her words seemed genuine in her own right and he nodded and stepped away, mostly to help her feel comfortable. Looking out over the crates, it was clear that the big man was dead. The other was nowhere in sight, which could be a bad thing. If he was still alive, he could easily be getting backup and lots of it. If she couldn't swim, they might be in a bad spot.

Still looking out over the horizon for reinforcements, he responded to her query in a nonchalant manner. "Well, it looked like you were gonna get raped, Ali. I don't like rapists. I kill them. It's pretty clear." Confident that for the moment they were safe, he returned to her side and kneeled down in front of her. She was very striking once he actually looked at her. "My name's Palaren Marshall. Call me Uncle. We should probably get out of here in case they have friends. The one is dead but the other I lost track of. He is probably gone licking his wounds, but he could be gathering reinforcements. Do you have a safehouse?"

He stood and continued to scan the end of the pier. He could easily swim away and make his way back to the Quay. He wasn't sure about bringing this girl there, though. If she would trust him enough to lead him back to wherever she stayed, he could make sure that she got there. She would probably need the help walking to with her wound. Either way, the sooner they left the isolated pier, the better.

[Aliara Cantrell]

Aliara watched the man as he watched into the distance, what was he looking at? Aliara frowned softly and looked over her shoulder. The man was lying so still, so perfectly still… must have be in a very, very deep sleep. Drawing her eyes away from the ‘sleeping’ man Aliara turned back to the water and by extension the man. His words however did not calm her by any means. He only named them what they were but it struck a chord somewhere in her heart that made her cringe. It was something Aliara would rather forget in the future, pretend it never happened and so on.

“Thank you…”

It was quiet and slightly mumbled but Aliara hoped the man got the message of her thanks, either way the man made his way over and kneeled by her side. She smiled slightly and met his eyes. Uncle, that was a funny nickname but at least now Aliara had something to call the man. Thinking back to the man ‘sleeping’ on the ground back there Aliara did remember Uncle running off with the other man and he didn't return, would he come back? nodding as Uncle talked Aliara wonder what he meant by safehouse? was that here she lived?

“I live in the… Sunset Quarter, thats a safe house right?”

Gazing down at her leg Aliara cringed slightly, it was going red and nasty however the bleeding had slowed to a small red line where the cuts were. Pushing against the rough wood of the create Aliara managed to wobble to her feet. Her leg burned but it was much better than before, she could put weight on it and by the end of the day it Aliara should only be left with pain where the cuts where. Her head was still fuzzy and her head pounded slightly as she took a small step.

“I think i can get there.”

....

[Pulren Marsh]

The more he spoke to her, the more he wondered if her injuries weren't more severe than she was letting on. He really didn't know how to handle whatever was going on with her, but he felt sympathy for her nevertheless. The way she was speaking, it sounded distant. He could not , in good conscience, leave her to stumble her way home, just to be a more vulnerable target on the way there. When she spoke of Sunset, he began to nod. "I know where Sunset is and it is safer than many places with its anonymity."

She began to push herself up and stand, making Pulren wonder if his meager attempts at first aid had been successful at all. " I know you don't have much reason to trust me. Hell, I know no one trusts anyone in Sunberth. I have learned that for sure in my time here, but I want you to make an exception for me since I helped you." He was already standing at her side as he gathered up his fishing supplies. "I want you to let me help you walk back to your home in the Quarter. I just wouldn't feel right letting you go alone. You could be accosted again and now you would have an even harder time of defending yourself."

He had made his case. It was completely up to her. Of course, even if she refused, he would simply trail her to make sure she made it home alright. "So, what do you say, Ali?"

[Aliara Cantrell]

The pain burnt up her legs and caused tears in the corners of her eyes. Gulping Aliara tried not to let it show as she listened to uncle, it was true that no one trusted anyone in Sunberth but what had Pulrun given her? Saved her life and was only asking to make sure that she made it home okay. Why wouldn’t Aliara trust him, however this did bring up the question of was she placing her trust too easily in those in Sunberth after all it was a city of anarchy.

“Ah… okay…”

Maybe she shouldn’t show uncle where she lived but Aliara wasn’t that worried he would break in she didn’t have much worth stealing only a few pieces of furniture and her stash of Mizas under her bed. Taking a few steps Aliara cringed slightly.

“Yeah, just don’t rob me… I’m saving for a show…”

It was a quite mutter usually over looked but Aliara immediately regretted voicing it out loud. Taking another step Aliara decided not to check to see if he had heard it because it might make him think something of it. Each step filled Aliara with a sick feeling in her stomach and another tear in her eye. The pain was racing up her leg with each step but she couldn’t give in, it was a long way home and she needed to be strong.

“Thank you, for walking me home.”

Now she looked back at Uncle her stark blue eyes studied his stance for any sign that he would go back on his word and drag her back into a dark alley way and she would never see the sun. Aliara was attempting to get better at reading people and this was just more motivation, she did not want to relive this incident again.

Frowning as the pain began to spark again Aliara took a small step and continued her pained walk home taking one step out a time.

....