(Flashback) What? The Arrow Slipped (Berus)

[Aello]

Aello trudged through the snow. Her muscles ached, and her feet were starting to feel heavy, if not somewhat numb. How long had she been out in the cold? Aello wondered, and why weren't her boots and woolen socks enough to keep her poor feet warm in this weather? Did the Vantha have some sort of secret to keeping warm that she wasn't privy to? Aello wondered as her feet pushed through the snow, trailing long lines of glistening mush behind her. Aello growled as the sun's rays hit her directly in the eyes. "Ohhh! Like the cold wasn't enough, now you have to pester everyone!" she shouted at it, as she walked along. We can't be far from the Vanta's home now, Aello thought, as she forced herself to walk a little faster. After several minutes, she spotted a large wooden building. The planks were a reddish-brown color, which gave way to a large, snow-covered roof. Wafting out of the building was the smell of freshly baked bread. Aello sniffed the air happily, "now that's better," she said as she approached the building. There was a Vanthan man walking out the front door, carrying a stack of flour in his hands. "Hey, you!" Aello called. The man looked around wildly from left to right, before settling his eyes on Aello. He readjusted the sack of flour he was holding, before he answered her. "Yes?" he asked. "Would you mind telling an outsider what building is that behind you?" Aello asked. The man smiled as she readjusted the sack of flour yet again. Well it must be pretty heavy if he is struggling so darn much. That, or the man is unbelievably weak. "That would be the Winterflame Hold, home of the Vanthan cooks." With that, the man turned and began to walk away. "Thanks," Aello called. "But, do you know where the local tavern is from here? Surely you guys have one." The man stopped again and looked at her, "aren't you a bit young for alcohol?" Aello took several steps closer to the man as she chuckled under her breath. "Not really, so which way is it?" The man jerked his chin to signal her. "Up the hill?" there was a nod. "Thanks," she said, as the two of them went on their way. "Hopefully they'll have something warm to eat there, and perhaps a fire going as well," Aello commented under her breath, as an icy cool breeze swept through Avanthal, rustling her hair, and whipping her clothes wildly around her.

[Berus]

Berus winced as his friend grabbed his overly bandaged leg. “Does this hurt?” Jasten asked predictably, his wide toothy grin stealing any anger the boy might have mustered. He even smiled right back, just too relieved that he was now sitting in the nice warm tavern with his ‘wound’ all bandaged up and no longer spilling a deep red liquid all over the place. In fact, now that he was out of the snow, it was quite a benefit to have a gaping wound in his leg!

People gathered all about him, asking how he had been assaulted and offering to buy the poor little boy a few drinks to drown away his troubles. Berus wondered why Jasten wasn’t actually the angry one, since his party had been cancelled and the new one in the tavern featured Berus as the honored guest! He looked down into his glass, viewing his disheveled look in the bottom of the glass with a bit of sadness. His drink had run out!

Steryn, over at Berus’s left, let out a bout of laughter at the look of extreme sadness that struck the boy’s face. “You’d think he’d be grateful to just be out here, but now he’s crying over an empty glass,” the larger Vantha joked, winking at Berus playfully. Berus managed to grin back at him, setting aside the empty glass at Steryn’s comment and successfully hiding any embarrassment. If it weren’t for Steryn, after all, he would have met his death down there in the snow.

Berus had been dragging himself stubbornly along for quite a while, despite the hopelessness of his situation and the alarming amount of blood flowing from his wound, when Steryn had finally arrived atop his horse. Steryn, who had apparently come out to check on Berus after he’d taken too long getting back with the wine bottle, wasted no time in getting him to a healer to be patched up.

So, thoroughly warm, surrounded by people and great friends, and a little buzzed, Berus found himself wondering what was happening to the archer-bandit who’d given him so much trouble. Probably out there having a grand ol’ time with that wine bottle, he realized, though he hoped that something had befallen her given her a little bit of payback for him.

[Aello]

Aello walked through the snow until she reached a large wooden building. "Hopefully this is it," she muttered as she pushed the door back, allowing a strong gust of icy cool air to sweep into the tavern. Aello took a step forward, and dropped the door. It slammed shut behind her; locking out the sound of the whistling wind, and the sight of the snow. Only a few of the Vanthan people bothered to look up at her as she strode further into the room, her boots clicking against the floorboards beneath her feet. As she walked past the bar, Aello noticed that the keep was drying out an old beer mug with a dirty white rag. Aello turned to him, "so what are you serving tonight?" Aello asked. There was no reply. Well isn't he polite? Aello thought as she strode away from bar and towards the other end of the tavern. It seemed empty over there, and far quieter than the space where all the Vanthas seemed to have gathered. Now what could they all be fussing about? Aello wondered as she pulled her bag off her shoulders and plopped it down on the table. Aello walked around the side of the table to the nearest seat, and pulled it back with her free hand before sitting down. She rested her father's old shortbow on the table beside her bag. She turned to face all the other Vantha. They all seem engrossed in their own conversations. Did they even notice anyone else come in? Frustrated with the odd behavior of those in the bar, Aello decided to try again. "Hey, do you have anything hot on the menu?" Aello called over the keep. He had finished drying the glass, and had tossed the rag over his shoulder, so that it dangled over the side. The glass he had placed gently back down on the table with a soft clink. "No, we have nothing for another few hours," he called back. "We're still waiting on the hunter with the daily catch." There was a slight pause, "would you be interested in a pint?" he inquired. Aello shook her head. "It's a bit early for that," Aello called back. "Especially on an empty stomach." There was a slight pause. "Perhaps when the food comes, I'll order a pint or two." But no sooner. "Just holler when the meat is ready!" she called. The barkeep nodded, and then proceeded to wipe the counter off with his cloth. Well at least you got an answer out of him this time, Aello thought as she turned back to the Vanthan congregation. She was starting to feel more and more left out, but she knew it wasn't likely she could remedy the matter, after all, she was an outsider. Aello sighed, as she began to regain feeling in her feet. They were still deathly cold, much like her hands, and she almost wished she hadn't. "They're probably just as blue as your hands," Aello muttered under her breath as she wiggled her toes. "If not more so." Perhaps Aello had gotten lucky however. She didn't seem to have acquired any frostbite while on her sad excuse for a hunt. So perhaps, she should count her blessings.

[Berus]

Berus leaned back dangerously in his chair, his injured leg now propped up on the table. He grinned devilishly at Jasten’s look of disgust as his leg bumped against the poor guy’s drink, completely ignoring the following daggers thrown by his friend’s eyes. Steryn excused himself with a laugh and headed back out into the wilderness to see what had become of Berus’s archer friend, leaving the little ‘victim’ surrounded by excitedly chattering Vantha of all ages.

Though he certainly did not complain, Berus was a little at a loss to explain why they were still interested in his little injury. Sure, it was rare to have a mugger out and about, but people got hurt out in the wilderness all the time. Heck, his story would have been even more common if Steryn had stumbled across his frozen corpse. After a moment he sighed and chalked all the chatter up to fear that they might also be mugged and end up with a worse fate than the lucky little boy who’d gotten away.

In any case, all the loud voices were starting to give him a headache after the ordeal he’d just gone through. Heaving mightily, he pushed himself shakily to his feet. He waved aside Jasten’s half-hearted, half-drunken attempt to ask Berus what he was up to and hobbled toward a more vacant part of the tavern. His journey turned out to be a more roundabout and much longer one than he anticipated as he was forced to move from table to table so that he wouldn’t put his full weight on his injured leg.

After he was far enough away from the constant chatter and his head was feeling a little better, he chose a chair at a random table and sat down. He propped the wounded leg up on a chair and was relieved to notice that the bandages weren’t soaked in blood. Sadly, he hadn’t had a chance to get new clothes, however, so there was still a bit of blood clinging to the edges of his thoroughly torn pants. The healer had been quite hasty in getting to the injury and did not waste even a moment.

Berus leaned back contentedly and cast his eyes about the room, starting to feel a rush of relief that the whole experience was behind him-

The two chairs clattered to the ground as he leapt to his feet, startled by what his eyes fell upon. The Archer! Berus backed away until his rump bumped against the table, his leg stinging him as he looked upon the familiar face. She didn’t look quite so dangerous now, he noticed, only a bit worn down and battered by the elements.

Still, it was best that he get far away from this vile scoundrel as fast as possible. With that thought in mind, he started edging ever so slightly away from her, trying to make as little noise as possible despite the racket he had caused only a moment before.

Then his skin paled to a bright white as the archer’s eyes found him.

[Aello]

Aello's eyes wandered over to the other side of the bar. It seemed quieter now that some time has passed. As she looked around, she realized that a few men had left the circle of Vanthas. Funny, didn't hear the door slam shut behind him. The few men that remained seemed to be chattering amongst themselves, while another figure, one that seemed slightly younger than the rest, was lurking around the bar. Aello narrowed her eyes, he did seem somewhat, familiar... As the boy continued to make his way around the bar, Aello realized he was limping. The boy from the mountains. Her eyes widened, now how did he get here? she wondered. The girl was simply staring at the boy when his aura came into view. It was a pale red mist, that spread outwards, no more than five inches above the outside of his body, in every which direction. The aura seemed to pulsate, slowly at first, and then more quickly. Laced through the red was a dark yellow color. At times it seemed to bubble. If Aello sniffed the air, she was convinced she could smell beer coming from the aura. Or perhaps, that was merely the half empty mug of beer that seemed to be littered here and there. He is afraid of you... and at least a little buzzed, Aello thought as she pressed her feet into the ground and pushed the chair back. It scraped across the floor. After it had been pushed back as far as it could go, without hitting the chair at the table behind it, Aello got up. She stared at Berus for another moment, before she took a few steps closer to him. As Aello moved closer, the aura disappeared. Her concentration had broken as her pupils dilated. She had reached the boy in a few strides. The first thing she noticed was his leg, "well it looks like someone bandaged you up good and proper," she commented absently. "Well that's good... but um, shouldn't you lay off it so you don't lose even more blood?" Berus seemed to shrink into the table as she moved a little closer. "Don't be afraid silly," she commented, as she extended her right hand towards his shoulder. "No one will hurt you... you just need to sit down before you hurt yourself even more. You stubborn little guy," she giggled.

[Berus]

Berus winced as his leg cautioned him that it would start pouring out blood soon if he didn’t get the pressure off of it. Reluctantly, he listened to the archer’s curiously helpful words and sat down in one of the chairs that remained upright. Confusion washed over his thoughts, for he didn’t see the wine bottle anywhere on the archer’s person. Could I have been wrong? he wondered. He defensively placed a chair between himself and the archer, his pained leg demanding that he be cautious around this possibly dangerous person, even when he was in a public place surrounded by people who would surely jump to his aid.

The archer’s giggle set him back a bit, made him wonder exactly who this person was and what composed her disposition. She had shot him quite ruthlessly back there and caused him quite a bit of trouble, but nothing beyond that had been negative beyond a little frustration brought on by his justifiably combative attitude. Though it could be clever deception, she had seemed to attempt to patch him up back there in the frozen wasteland and her voice reflected nothing beyond concern and amusement.

Berus leaned forward, chin resting against the chair that he had placed between him and the strange archer. “Well, I do suppose I’m okay when I’m in this bar surrounded by people aren’t I?” he said pointedly, fiercely blue eyes flicking toward a couple of rather muscled people over at the bar. “Who are you? And why did you shoot me out in the wilderness?” he blurted rather hotly, wanting to get to the bottom of this whole mess. He was confident that he’d catch any betraying tremors in her voice that denoting lying, having quite a bit of experience in coming up with hasty explanations himself.

His uninjured leg tensed, despite his bold pronouncement that he wasn’t in any danger, as it prepared to send him careening down to the floor and hopefully out of harm’s way should she prove to be more dangerous than she looked.

[Aello]

Aello's smile seemed to vanish as the boy felt into his seat. How foolish is he? Aello wondered. Does he think that those who are not of the Avanthalian people wish to eat the flesh of other humans? Gross. "Surely it depends on the sort of people in the bar with you," Aello replied. She glanced around the bar. "The men you were with, perhaps they'd help you in a fight," Aello continued, "unless of course, the fight was unfair, or you started it, right?" Aello turned to the other side of the bar, where a cloaked figure was sitting, several empty glass mugs lay on the table before him. Aello jerked her head in his general direction, hoping it would draw the boy's direction to where she was pointing. "That one is more than likely too drunk to know what is going on... if he keeps it up, he may just black out, don't you think?" there was a slight pause as Aello awaited an answer. Aello's hands were resting on her hips as she caught her breath before continuing, "and well, the barkeep himself isn't likely to get involved... well, unless you count the part where he asks those brawling to get their arses outside to finish things. You know... to prevent extensive damages." Aello's eyes seemed to flash playfully as she looked down at the boy. It is funny when they are afraid of you. He seemed to sink into the chair."Now as for why you ran into someone's arrow, one cannot be certain. Do you have a death wish boy?" Aello asked as she pulled up a chair and sat beside him. "Or do you simply long for such injuries? It makes a great story, doesn't it? Makes you look... a little tougher. Well, until you begin to whine about how much it hurts." There was a pause. "You know, you're quite stubborn, proud, for pushing people away, you could have died out there in the snow." Another pause, "so who dragged your arse back to the bar anyway?" Aello asked. "And did you try fending them off with a stick? Or is that something you only do to newcomers? You know, to welcome them into the city and what not." Aello paused for a moment, as she waited for him to reply. "You didn't honestly believe someone would go out of the way to shoot you did you?" Aello giggled. "You did, didn't you, you silly boy." Aello slapped her knee happily. "And why would they do that hmm? How many cannibals do you know mister?" Aello asked as she pulled her hands off her lap and onto her hips. "Surely you think a rabbit, or perhaps a deer is a far better meal." Aello leaned in a bit and cupped her hand over her mouth. "You're not a cannibal are you?" she asked playfully, as her eyes darted back and forth across the bar. When she had finished speaking, she lowered her hand again, and placed each of them by her sides. She sat back in the chair, and simply stared at the boy. What a silly one we found. "Now as for names... Aello. It's Aello," she said. "Now, who might you be? He who runs into arrows and bitches about it later like a small child?" Aello laughed. Although she hadn't meant to hit him, she was truly starting to enjoy making fun of him for it.

[Berus]

The archer-bandit, to Berus’s shock, leaned in near him and chatted amicably, actually teasing him a little! She only seemed amused when his face whitened several shades beyond the norm. Berus’s poor leg got tired of tensing repeatedly as he considered leaping away to safety several times, only to convince himself that it would hurt to go sprawling into the table nearby and wasn’t really worth it.

Instead, he sat quietly and took all of her teasing and rapid talking without any response. When she paused to have him answer, he let the silence hang awkwardly as he struggled to get a response past the bile that blockaded his throat. It was simply too much for the poor boy to know that the heartless one who had mercilessly shot him out in the wood was now speaking to him as if they were friends! He kept glancing left and right as she continued, hoping someone-anyone!-would come and save him from this really, really weird situation!

His head snapped up, however, when she mentioned that he had run into her arrow! What a preposterous statement, his leg thought. To suggest that it would subject itself to this kind of agonizing pain and torture was absolutely insane! Indeed, if his vengeful leg wasn’t in its current condition, it would have snapped out and kicked that impudent little girl for her crazy statement!

Berus himself, however, was not in any sort of vengeful mood and was left staring dumbfounded at the archer-bandit named Aello. Several thoughts crossed his mind, each less coherent than the last, as his eyes attempted to match the painful wound at his side with the diminutive, seemingly cheerful girl before him. She laughed loudly and Berus jumped, nearly leaping sideways into the next table. He held himself back, however, and, after her merry laughter had died away, attempted to speak. He knew he had to respond to her friendly overtures while she was still in a good mood lest she perhaps send another arrow right into his head!

So, he leaned back and elegantly managed to push a word past the lump in his throat. “Gaah.”

[Aello]

Aello laughed, what a funny little Vantha Berus was. "You don't talk much do you?" Aello asked, as she slowly began to swing her legs back and forth, waiting for the boy to do something other than shrink away from her and grunt. "You know, some people would think that your silence is rude," she commented absently. "Others, such as the archer you have just met, thinks it's a nice change of pace. It seems like a lot of people you meet these days just don't shut up," the girl giggled. Kind of like what you're doing now. The girl's legs continued to swing back and forth as she stared silently at the boy. He is definitely afraid of you and unlikely to talk, Aello thought, as she slowly got to her feet. "Well, it was nice meeting you," Aello said, "hopefully you feel better, and don't try running into any arrows again in the near future," Aello giggled. The edges of her cheeks had turned a pale pink as she left the bard's side, and proceeded to her old table to gather her things. She slung her bag over her shoulder, and picked up her father's old bow. She held it tightly in her left hand. When she had everything, she turned back around. There didn't seem to be anyone worth talking to, and she supposed she had a few things to get done still, before the end of the night. Slowly, Aello made her way across the bar, past the rows of tables, the raging fire, the bar, the remaining patrons. When she reached the door to the tavern, she gently pushed it open using her elbow, a cool breeze swirled through the open doorway, sweeping the young spiritist's hair off her shoulders. She stepped through the wooden door frame, and out into the cold. Her body trembled with the new-found lack of heat. "Suppose it is time to find a place to stay for the night," Aello whispered into the wind, as she stepped further and further out into the snow, and away from the tavern. OOCWith you talking so little, Aello would get bored and simply leave, now that's she had her laugh. Thanks for the thread though, perhaps we can revisit this incident at a later time and date. >.<

[Berus]

Berus sat there quietly as she continued speaking, still too stunned to chat calmly to the person that just shot him in the leg! Relief washed over him as she finally got up and started toward the door, apparently bored with taunting her victim. He frowned, unsure if he should call after her to get her to stay and explain her story or just let her leave. In his defense, this was a very, very new and even more odd situation for him and the normally charming, if mischievous, boy had no prepared reaction for it.

When she reached the threshold, however, he leaned forward and finally decided to call out just a few words to the archer. “Bye, Aello!” His voice was a bit shaky and his reasoning was even more so. He sat back in his chair, unsure of what had pushed him to say goodbye. He eventually shook his head and chalked it up to his friendly attitude.

Then he rested his head against the table; suddenly very, very tired as the events of the day sunk in.