COMPLETED ~ Eldar X Rogue: CSI DC- There's a murderer on the loose...

“A way out?” Soneya asked after contemplating the question for a while. She was starting to drift off every now and then, exhaustion demanding its toll. Besides, the warmth was really nice, as little as it was. It was infinitely better than being completely cold and freezing however, so she was willing to take what she could get.

“I’m not really sure. Forest might be the obvious option they’re looking for, so maybe we should circle around before hiding in the trees. But it might be a bit too open?” Soneya felt her throat itch and only just managed to bring her arm before her mouth when a violent cough shook her. “Do you think it would be a good idea to just hide in the lion’s den? I’m sure they wouldn’t be looking for us in the middle of the town right? They’d assume we’d try to escape towards the outside world?”

She wasn’t sure she made much sense but it seemed logical to her at that moment, though she wasn’t quite sure how they could possibly go about this.

At least the warmth was starting to do its trick and Soneya was beginning to have a little feeling return to her body. It was probably a bad idea to waste the tiny bit of strength rest is giving back to her but if she was less wet and cold, she’d regain strength faster, right?
So with as little effort as possible, Soneya began draining the water out of her clothes, sending the drops down the slightly slanted rooftop, away from them.

With a relieved sigh, the mage reached her hand out to Lutis and lightly touched him on the arm. “Here,” she said, still keeping her voice low, remembering Lutis’ earlier efforts in keeping her as quiet as possible, though she was excited that she was able to work that little bit of magic again already. What a tiny bit of rest was able to do. Moving of course was still out of the question, but at least they’d dry quicker, and hopefully warm up some more as well despite the general cold everywhere.

“This should make things a little better,” she added when the water began seeping out of his clothes in tiny rivulets. She was still angry at him for his actions, but she was starting to see that he had had a point in doing what he did. Payback would come, but she wasn’t petty enough to let him suffer with the leftovers of a wet t-shirt contest because she was annoyed.

The heat from the chimney was just what they needed, and although Lutis was a little sad that they could enter the building downstairs and take full advantage of the warmth, this was enough to lull him into a temporary peace. He hadn't realised how tired he was; not just exhausted from running and fear and adrenaline and cold but bog-standard lack of sleep as well. He forced himself to open his eyes and look at Soneya, rather than doze off even as she was speaking.
"The forest is big though. Lotsa places to hide, too many t'look in." They could hide here, but where? The town was so small, it would be like playing a game of cat and mouse in the buildings. They couldn't swan in anywhere and just hide out for a few hours in the hope that a villager would put them up- they were both strangers, and wouldn't garner favour over hunting lawkeepers. The town was too sleepy to just happily partake in what looked like a pretty dark crime.

"I can't think properly t'even know what's better to do. Probably not jus' sittin' here, but it's warm." He hoped that that cough of Soneya's wasn't illness on its way, otherwise they were going to have an extra problem to deal with. Goddamn crappy lawkeepers, couldn't even keep the innocent healthy. Who put them in charge? They were definitely going to have to sit and warm up for a while, even if it was dangerous, otherwise she really would be sick.
He found his eyes had glazed over again already when Soneya moved to put her hand on his arm, blinking a few times and looking at her in surprise. A shiver ran over his skin at the feeling of fresh water running down his body.
"Ugh, that's unpleasant. The wet, that is. So cold." He could feel it going though, some small warmth creeping back into his body. Thank the Guardians. "You're a darlin' Soneya. Ahh, that's good." He relaxed back against the chimney, enjoying the feeling of warmth and, for now, somewhat safety.

It felt like only a couple of minutes that Lutis had had his eyes shut, but from the weak sunshine trying to force its way through thick clouds, it was a little bit longer than just that. He sat up with a start, one hand clamping to his head at a headache that quickly made itself known with movement. "Uuugh." Shit, they'd been there way too long. The place was going to be swarming with lawkeepers- it was a miracle they hadn't been caught already. At least his clothes had dried out though, although he was starving, a grumble in his stomach. He reached over to give Soneya a small shake, making himself wake up and pay attention to their surroundings.

Soneya smiled as Lutis thanked her, in his own words, for getting him dry and somewhat warmer again but before she registered anything else, she drifted off into sleep. He wouldn’t wake her up instantly, would he? She needed the rest. So, so desperately... Sleep... Blissful sleep.

It seemed all too soon when she felt Lutis shaking her awake and she had no idea how long she had been out of it. She did feel a little refreshened and a little warmer too but she didn’t felt in any way actually rested. A magical tingle deep inside let her know that she wasn’t completely drained anymore but she pushed it back down. There was no use for magic now; besides, she needs to replenish.

“How long have we...?” Soneya started but didn’t finish the question. Lutis had visibly been asleep as well and he seemed in no way pleased by it. Coughing again, the mage straightened herself a little. There seemed to be quite a lot of activity down below but it had moved away from them already.
“Cat and mouse might be it,” she muttered as she tried to pinpoint the lawkeepers’ location. “They seem to be checking the outskirts of town at the moment. Think there is any chance we could sneak by them somewhere? If we go down now and hide somewhere between edge of town and law headquarters, we could sneak by? What do you think?”

It seemed like a good plan to her but she wasn’t the thief of the pair. She had no clue and barely any experience sneaking about. That was Lutis’ territory. And she proceeded to say as much.

Soneya was still coughing, which wasn't good, but they couldn't really afford to stop any longer than they already had. Lutis was anxious to get off now the pair of them had woken up- they shouldn't really have been asleep in the first place and he was kicking himself now. but, he did admit, that he felt much better for having crashed out for a few hours, even if it was going to make life difficult now.
"Good thing you're not one o'these silly girls with a trunk fulla petticoats," he said stretching out his shoulders a little and pushing himself up to his feet to crouch. His muscles protested, stiff from sitting back against the uncomfortable seat he had made against the chimney. Good thing they could see a lot of the village from their eyrie too, as it made picking a route out of it a bit easier.
Lawkeepers making their way through the streets and questioning everyone they came across weren't a happy sight though.

"The roads look too dodgy to try. First moment we get down there an' we're gaarn get stopped." They didn't really want to go near the law headquarters, it was just tempting fate. Although, perhaps the town would be so swarming in other places, the circle of hunting widened enough for them to slip through with a few dangerous tactics. "It'll be tricky, but y'might have somethin'. Nobody's gonna go lookin' for us in the most dodgy of spots." The whole town kinda counted as the most dodgy of spots now though, when everyone was looking for them.
"I'm really hopin' those lawkeepers've got our mage friend locked right up. That'd just be too crap, if he's got out too." Surely not... but that was a more minor concern now, not worth worrying about unless it came true. Which it wouldn't, right? No.

"Ahreet. Ah, we're so gonna get caught. Hope you're feelin' limber." He straightened up and stretched out his back again, offering a hand to Soneya- the easy bit, standing. "We'll try and take it slow and easy, but if we get spotted, things aren't gonna stay easy."
Circling around the roof, he chose the smallest gap off to the next building, checking around before jumping over the little gap, hardly more than a step... for now. Good thing they had found an easy spot to hide and get out of.

At first, Soneya didn’t quite understand where Lutis was going with his reasoning but she figured, she’d understand soon enough, latest when they started moving. She was glad though that they were somewhat on the same page about which direction to take as the mage was in no mood to argue over anything whatsoever.
Also, she desperately needed to get a blanket around herself. Getting rid of the water was one thing, but gaining warmth was a completely different matter. And warm was certainly not what she was feeling.

When Lutis held out his hand, she took it without hesitation and let him pull her up. It was a small thing, but feeling the touch of his skin made her feel a little warmer. But it was probably just an illusion. He had been just as freezing as her, despite the fact that he hadn’t actually been lying in the water trough.

But then he moved to the edge of the roof…
‘Jump over? What? Was he nuts?’ Truth be told, she did think he was nuts and always had but for some reason, she lately seemed to have pushed that thought further back into the corners, what with everything else that had been going on.
“Guess there’s no other choice,” she muttered to herself as she readied herself to cross over to the other roof. Like Lutis, she kept checking the road beneath her, making sure that nobody could accidentally spot her flying through the air. Generally people didn’t look skywards, but with their luck, if someone was there, they would look up, no matter how uncommon that was.

Luckily this first part of their journey really was easy and Soneya heaved a small sigh of relief when she was on the other side. It may not get any easier and they may not be out of their little pickle just yet, but at least they were moving and doing something. It felt so much better than sitting around and waiting. Despite the warm chimney.

After a last wistful look in the latter’s direction, she motioned for Lutis to lead the way. “You’re the expert,” she simply said and did her best to keep up as they began to weave their way towards freedom, supposedly, hopefully, on a much less travelled road.
“I never thought roof travelling would be fun,” Soneya murmured after a while, keeping her voice low in case it carried. “It may not always be easy, but it really is fun.” Surprised that she enjoyed it, took the next jump at a run to get some momentum and felt herself smiling when she touched down on the other side of the gap.

It was cold up above the buildings, but once they got going properly, they would warm up. Lutis loved travelling by rooftop- he wasn't the best at it by far, but he certainly had had plenty of practice, and was agile enough to find his way up or around places that initially looked impassable. Of course, with Soneya tagging along, there was no way he would be able to take as difficult and as straight a route as he might have otherwise, but it was still good to have fresh breath in his lungs, freedom spread out in front of them and just a run to complete.
Keeping an eye out below, he made sure to pick the easiest course for Soneya to follow, trying not to divert too much to entertain himself in the meantime... Lutis had to keep reminding himself that they weren't in the safest of places, and this wasn't just a fun run over new rooftops. Escape route, that was what they were on.
Yeah, right.

"Wouldn't think it fun? You've been groundbound too long Soneya. Only reason you'd not travel like this is for bein' boring and law abiding." His voice took on a little of a sneer at the end, disliking lawkeepers with a little more vehemence than usual. Which wasn't unexpected. She was pretty good at it too, and he told her so as they came to a higher-up rooftop, giving them a pretty good view of the rest of their path to the edge of the town. That was where it was going to get harder, when the buildings ran out and they were going to have to get down onto the ground, then into the rainforest.
It wasn't always bound to be so easy just legging it across buildings though. Or... bounding. A gust of wind and cold swept against them as a dragon rose up from one of the streets nearby, blue and red paint speckled over its hide, marking it as either a lawkeeper, or at least helping them. Lutis' grin disappeared instantly, skidding to a halt across the tiles of the roof he stood on.
"Fun's over Soneya! Go, go, head for the edge!" There was no more messing around now, no more leisurely jumps and pauses for breath. Lutis chose a more difficult route now to try and avert the dragon's gaze from Soneya (why, why was he actually attracting attention, he should have just been legging it for himself!), weaving around and drawing attention, flying over wide gaps and almost falling off one roof at a point where he misjudged how steep the other side was. Although it was mad, and he could feel gusts of wind and shouts from below again now, it was exhilarating. He could stretch himself, and he could outrun them... and so could Soneya, with any luck.

Was he accusing her of being boring and law-abiding? Soneya’s mood darkened, suddenly not quite so amused anymore by the whole rooftop thing. She felt the urge to yell at him, to tell him off for his stupid statement. Not everyone wanted to be a thief after all!

But she refrained. There was no use. Besides, it was a waste of breath and energy she couldn’t afford to waste. Then there were the nice words that followed soon after, much to her surprise. “Lutis! Was that praise? From you?” Soneya looked at him, openly stunned. “Wow, what’s happening to you?” Shaking her head, she took a moment to catch her breath anew and to actually enjoy the view, which, she had to admit, was really nice from above.

The time for fun was indeed over shortly after when a dragon appeared in their sights, and for a brief, frightening moment, Soneya was frozen on the spot, unsure what to do now. They might be able to outrun humans, but there was no way they could outrun a dragon.
“Wha…” But already Lutis was urging her to go for the edge of the roof while he ran off in a different direction. At first, she was sure they were both doomed, but nevertheless she heeded his advice and ran for the edge, frantically searching for an easy way to get away. Whatever it was Lutis was doing however, it seemed to be working. There was no dragon on her tail as she barely managed to get onto the next roof, heading away from Lutis. She let herself drop flat onto the rooftop, hoping that nobody would see her. Watching Lutis’ progress for a while, she noticed the lawkeepers were all drawn to him. Some of them were glancing around, looking for her but not seeing her, they focused their attention on Lutis.

This was her chance. It was now or never. And so she slid to the edge and scrambled for purchase as best as she could before she let herself drop down, hoping that the landing wasn’t going to be too hard. The house wasn’t too big, but a drop was still a drop. As soon as she hit the ground, she started running. For a time, she followed the lawkeepers, though she couldn’t see them or Lutis anymore, before she branched off and headed for the edge of town, towards the forest where they had been headed.

Soneya wasn’t quite sure what she was doing, or what she was supposed to be doing, but she just ran. She ran and hoped for the best, hoped that Lutis would make it out, because now there was no way she could help him anymore, she had completely lost him and shouts from lawkeepers were coming from every direction.

Ah shit, he was being nice. What travesty was this? Similar thoughts made themselves known to him through the bombardment of curses that primarily occupied him as he legged it away parallel to the town edge now, hearing the sounds Soneya made as she scrambled away to the right direction. Then they receded as they split further away, and then there was just the sound of his own breath, the clatter of his boots on rooftops and the whush, whush, whush of dragon wings.
Guardians, this was crazy. It was a bloody wolf dragon following him too, not just agile in the sky, but way too diligent about what they did to be healthy. More like bloodhounds to a scent than wild dragons, and this one had a howl as well. Don't make life easy! As much noise as it was making though, none others seemed to appear to heed its call- just those human lawkeepers in the streets, which were much less problem than if a pack of dragons had appeared.

He yelled as his concentration was diverted from where he was going and misjudged his footing, tumbling down the far side of a roof with limbs flailing wildly for purchase on anything. This better be worth it, as already lawkeepers were running down the end of the street to catch him if he fell. He snatched out at some bunting and managed to swing across to the other side of the road, shooting between two high buildings and landing on a lower flat roof. And, joy of joys, a smashed window, an abandoned building for him to hide in. Dragging himself up to his feet (and feeling achey about it now, with all these acrobatics, good thing he was used to it), he hefted himself inside and dropped to the floor, avoiding the broken floorboards as he made his way through what turned out to be a complexity of dead buildings stuck together, forcing himself through a gap in one wall and blocking it with rubble, then backing away. He was already covered in dust and bruises, heart beating hard as he regained a bit of his breath. It was a little, dull room, enough to stake out for a while and lie low until either he was forced to make another break for it, or until night spun around again and he could get out to find Soneya... whereever she had hopefully made it to hide herself.

Soneya was still a little dumbfounded by how Lutis had managed to really keep everyone on his track. There was not a single lawkeeper chasing after her, two- or four-legged. It was odd. Suddenly she slowed down. A little too odd for comfort, after everything else that had happened, and especially considering that nobody had told them even a whisper of what had happened to the magician. They had allegedly caught him but…

Pushing such thoughts from her mind, the mage continued on her path. It was hard to judge where Lutis could possibly be, the whole town seemingly being in a commotion, so she just kept running. Her progress was becoming slower with every step however until she had to stop for breath. She couldn’t run any further. The forest wasn’t all too far off anymore but she was still surrounded by buildings, though they looked more unused.

And damnit, that was noise coming closer all of a sudden. Oh this was not good. Not good at all. She started walking at a brisk pace, as it was all she could manage, and looked around a little frantically. There had to be a hiding spot somewhere, right?
She wouldn’t have thought it could happen, but she actually wished Lutis were with her. As a thief, he was sure to find a hiding spot she was likely to overlook.

When she heard a yell, she stopped dead in her tracks. Had that been…? Had something…?
Again, Soneya, pushed away the thoughts. She had to. She had to get out. She couldn’t get distracted or they’d both…
But he had been nice to her, had distracted them.

Gritting her teeth, she hurried in the direction of the yell, hoping against hope to avoid any people she did not want to encounter. About to round a corner, she suddenly jumped back, her heart hammering in her chest. Three enforcers had been heading down that lane at a quick pace and they would soon be upon her. Suppressing the need to curse, Soneya pushed herself away from the wall against which she had flattened herself and retraced her steps.

There! The door was ajar and looked as though it would fall completely off its hinges if a child blew against it, but it was her opening. Surely, they wouldn’t follow her into there. Besides, they didn’t even know she was there and she’d rather like to keep it that way. As quickly and carefully as possible, the mage squeezed her way into the apparently abandoned building. Not taking time to look around, she hurried towards the first pile of rubble she could find and ducked behind it.

Okay, okay, alright, breathe, breathe mate, you're gonna need that for when you're gonna need to leg it again in a minute, oh great Guardians! what the hell was that! There was a horrible cracking and clattering sound from above as Lutis supposed the dragon tried to find him, and he had to steel himself from reacting loudly or leaping from his place, exposing where he was hidden. There was more noise as the dragon tried to work out where he was, but he had managed to stir up dust and dirt jumping in the open window and making even more of a mess. The building was obviously unsafe, and he was taking a risk even attempting to hide in it really... it was made even more evident when the dragon tried to land on the roof, a skitter of claws, followed by a massive crunching, cracking, then crashing. Dust blew up everywhere as the ceiling to the next room came down, the dragon growling in fear as its perch went out from underneath it. Lutis dived underneath a slab of rock, trying to tuck himself under the safety of something solid in case further roof came down. He didn't want to get squished!
He couldn't help his whimpers of fear as the roof settled, small rocks bouncing off his feet and legs where he hadn't quite managed to get himself completely safe, each a new bruise.

Guardians, don't let them come in here and investigate to see if they could dig him out now. After all this, they couldn't possibly dare... Nobody in their right mind would come in this death trap now. Lutis shoved away some debris lying over his shoulders, groaning as the weight lifted a little and he felt new bruises. Lovely. He was going to look a wreck once he peeled off his clothes- which no doubt would never find their normal colour again, not with all the shit they'd been pulled through the past couple of days.
Ah now, don't be stuck. He started to wiggle free, but then there were more crashing noises, then footsteps and...
"No..." his fear was breathed out in just one word, freezing in his spot, his elbows locked straight as he was pulling himself free. Not... no, they couldn't have come in to find him already? He was hidden down low, but he would be spotted with barely any searching. Yes, he was the same colour as everything else with all the dirt and grit, but that didn't make him as effective as an Ebony Hunter in camouflage, and that was what was needed when he was so obviously sticking out.
A mad part of his mind told him to just give it up now outright, that at least then he'd have someone who could help drag himself out of all this rubble, and then he wouldn't have to hide any more. But, then he would be even more trapped, even if not in quite as tiny a spot... physically.

He literally sagged with relief when (was it an illusion?) instead of hunting lawkeepers, it was... oh, he couldn't even believe it. He yelped when his arms bent and his forearms hit the stony floor, but, oh it was Soneya. Utter relief fled through him.
"Ahhh... Didn't I tell you to leg it Soneya?" Wow, dust had even gotten into his mouth. That made it unpleasant to talk. "Leave me behind an' all that hero bullshit?" Get me the hell outta this hole

Maybe this hadn’t been such a brilliant idea after all, Soneya thought as she tried to crouch into the pile of rubble as even more suddenly came crashing downwards. What the heck was going on? And where was Lutis?! She had been lucky in that she had been far enough away from the spot where it all came down but the dust still got into her mouth and nose. Trying hard not to cough, Soneya pressed her arm against her mouth and nose in an attempt to not breathe in any more dust, but it only served in making her actually cough. The cloth muffled the sound however, so she could hope that nobody had heard her.

There were sounds off to her side though! Freezing in shock, Soneya tried not to breathe but that wasn’t possible. She’d suffocate. She already couldn’t breathe properly in the dust that refused to settle down completely. When she finally dared to get out from behind of her pile of rubble, she spotted a crouched figure, so completely covered in plaster and whatnot that it blended into its surroundings. Nevertheless, it was unmistakably the form of a person.

When the figure spoke, Soneya hurried over as quickly as the debris allowed her. “Well, yeah, but it sounded like you could use a little help. Though you’re doing a pretty good job already at getting yourself killed,” she grumbled with a glance upwards to make sure nothing else was going to come down.

“They’re milling around outside so we need to be careful,” Soneya said, as though Lutis hadn’t just been chased here by the bunch of them. Suggesting to play dead was probably a bad idea, in case the lawkeepers got any silly ideas abou checking breathing and taking the ‘corpses’ with them. As the mage looked around, she wondered, what with the size of this building, if she couldn’t find another entrance. There had to be another door somewhere, right? Just one door for such a large building was not enough, was it?

“Or,” she continued, a smile daring to come to her face, “we could just escape into the building next door. They saw you come into this one, right? They aren’t going to check next doors right away, I imagine, so we might have a bit of time.” Pointing towards her find, she added: “See? Right there. Let’s go.”

Seeing the state Lutis was in, she wasn’t sure how good he would be on his feet, so she simply grabbed him and pulled him up as she went for the aforementioned door.

"Naah, I'm doin' just fine. Can't you tell?" Oh man, was Lutis glad Soneya was here to give him a hand now. He yanked himself free of the rubble, rolling over onto his back to give himself a breather. The floor was lumpy with rocks and he was coated in dust. But, those were minor concerns. He was alive! Lutis raised one fist in the air victoriously, celebrating this small thing. Soneya made a pretty frame on one side of his vision, even if she too was greyed out round the edges with building muck.
"Actually," he continued, his voice becoming more rueful as his hand dropped back down to the ground again, "Everythin' really hurts. Did you know it hurts if y'have like, a roof come down on you? I'm not up for another one of those." How the hell could Soneya still be cracking a smile? Things had gone quiet outside, but that probably didn't mean too much. Probably just that the lawkeepers were letting the dust settle (literally) before heading inside. "Guardians, I hate today. What would I give for a bath and a bed." It was just useless moaning though, and that wouldn't get them out of trouble. He had to grab hold of Soneya as she hauled him upright again, leaning on her as his back and muscles protested. Ooh, they were protesting all right.

"Please tell me we're not going far. I could do with a lie down right now." He felt his back click as he straightened up- horrible- wrapping his arm round Soneya's middle for support. Well, they did have to get out of there. In his flight through the building before he hadn't paid any attention to doors to the left and right, just heading for the most direct course away from a dragon that wanted to catch him, so wasn't much help in finding their way next door now. Thankfully there was a door that looked like it joined the two warehouses, but it was securely barred with a heavy wooden log.
"We're so dead, why can't anything ever be easy?"

“Stop whining,” Soneya muttered, though she – for once – didn’t put her whole attitude behind it. She wasn’t feeling all too great herself and her magical strength was still pouting. They had had a rough day so far and she wasn’t sure how long it was going to be until it was finally over.
She didn’t even comment when his hand fell on a place she thought inappropriate, even though putting his arm around her waist was the easiest way for supporting him. But she was all too aware of him leaning against her. They had been doing a lot of this recently and she wasn’t quite sure how she should feel about it.

“Of course nothing is ever easy. It’s us. That says it all.” To say she was not happy about the log blocking their way was understating things. Cursing under her breath, Soneya summoned her magic, the little she had managed to salvage with the brief nap earlier, and put her free hand on the log. Water instantly began to seep into the wood, doing its job a little quicker than she had expected. She stopped before she was completely exhausted again and nudged Lutis. “If we put our backs into it together, we should be able to shift it now. The water should have rotted enough of it for it to alter its nature so that we can shift it. At least, in theory.” Truth was, Soneya had no idea if that fantastic plan of hers had actually worked. She rarely ever worked with wood, and while she had experimented around a little and summoned water into a wooden door, this log was a different matter. Hopefully, it had at least helped a little.

“And by putting our backs into it, I really mean it. I know you’re hurting, but I will hurt you so much more if you let me do this on my own or if we’re caught now after everything we’ve already been through.”

Perhaps Lutis would normally have been amused by Soneya's dry comments, but at this point in time he just was so done with the whole situation, he couldn't even summon a smile. He just let Soneya get on with whatever she was doing, her magic a mystery to him as usual, head bobbing as he closed his eyes.

"Such a charmer," he mumbled at her threats, knowing they were far from empty. He didn't want to help, but wrestled himself sort-of upright before shoving his hands against the wooden bar in an attempt to move it. Nope, nothing, so it was a task of bending down to fit his shoulder underneath it and haul it upwards. Soneya had to help too, the wood creaking and cracking and falling into two pieces on the floor with a heavy set of thuds. He breathed a sigh of relief, and even more so when the doors opened outwards, so they didn't have to get rid of the wood on the floor.

The next building was just as dusty, but didn't seem quite as dilapidated as the one they had found each other in. A few pigeons flapped away and caused a bit of a stir of feathers from their perches in the rafters at the noise they made, making shadows against the open gaps in the roof and the light that came through.
"Let's find the out and go." He pointed to a general direction that looked useful, walking with a mindless need for somewhere to rest.

Soneya was tired, and tiring more with every passing second. And though she knew that Lutis was most likely in the same boat, she didn’t want to consider that. No, she’d much rather think he was still absolutely fit and capable of running for many more miles – while carrying her of course…

Grunting, she positioned herself next to Lutis, trying to imitate his position since he seemed to have some semblance on how to do this. And when the log suddenly gave way, she couldn’t believe it! Her knees were all wobbly and for a brief moment, she feared the prickling in her eyes might not be from all the dust and debris that was intent on getting stuck in her eyelashes or because of fatigue. Blinking furiously, Soneya followed Lutis’ lead through the doorway and into the next building. When a couple of pigeons flew away startled, the mage almost jumped out of her skin but quickly calmed again.

Simply nodding at her companion’s words, Soneya trudged through the building by his side, hoping that this was soon going to be the end of it. Further back, the roar of a furious dragon struck up, followed by a hiss as though it were launching itself onto some kind of prey. For a brief moment, the corners of her mouth lifted and she whispered: “Do you think the dragon turned on one or more of the guards? That would definitely be a big help.”

The way out very quickly showed itself, in the form of a larger broken window, which seemed to have served as some kind of display window back in the day. Peeking through the broken shards and out into the, obviously, shadow-filled alley. Looking at Lutis, she wondered how far they’d still be able to go. He was a mess, so was she and the edge of town seemed a million miles away. Isn’t there anywhere we could just hole up? But she already knew it was a useless question so she didn't even voice it. If they stayed, somebody was bound to find them, and if it wasn’t the law enforcers, it might be someone else, or worse, the other mage.

Forcing herself to take a deep breath and wobble her way over the ledge of the broken display window, she defiantly raised her chin and looked at Lutis: “Strap on a pair, and let's go!”

Forge on, that was all they could do, even though it was exhausting, and Lutis was so dog-tired he could have dropped down and passed out there and then. He took a moment to collect his breath, remove some of the dust from his eyes and pull his clothes straight again. At this rate, he’d be glad to be taken in by the town guard again, just to have some peace and quiet and rest, and not even have to worry about running any further; yes, he would be caught, but that meant he didn’t have to worry any further.
He was starting to lose it. They needed to find somewhere safe and out of the way, recover, then rethink the situation. Trying to start at the last thing and work backwards wasn’t working, and they were going to end up making mistakes- if they hadn’t already.

“I wouldn’t count on it Soneya. Looks like it’s all against us today.” That’d be nice thinking though, especially if the dragon happened to fall upon their rogue magician. Killer; how could the town guard be so blasé when dealing with this entire mess? And that was saying something, from a Kaionar resident.
He wanted to lean on his hands to look through the window as well, but too much broken glass dissuaded him quickly of doing that. It looked safe though- safe as dark, shadowy alleyways got- although he probably wasn’t paying half as much attention as he should have been. It was an effort just to keep his eyes open.
“Alright. Let’s do this gods-dammed thing and get outta here.” He felt like trash, but hauled himself out of the window all the same, following Soneya’s lead more blindly than anything else as they twisted through the alleyways. Happily, it seemed that the guards were still checking out the front of the warehouses, and inside as well. Crashes followed them as they wandered towards the town walls, apparently the infrastructure of the building really not very sound at all.

To his utmost surprise, they finally made it to the town wall, the last hurdle in a very long race. Lutis wasn’t entirely sure how they got over it- a ladder perhaps, or steps, or a heavy jump and fall, or a bale of hay the other side to soften the landing- but then the thick, safe forest was there. Who knows how far they made it before collapsing in a safe, ferny sort of area. With leaves all around, it was as safe as any other spot, and the ground felt as soft as a feather mattress. Never mind the dust and dirt, he was covered in all that already, so it was just a matter of closing his eyes before Lutis was well and truly out.

“Of course that would be too good to be true,” Soneya muttered before they were off on their merry chase towards an exit out this miserable situation. Somewhere along the way, Soneya found herself leaning against Lutis. Whether it was to hold herself up or hold him up, she didn’t know, but it made the enormous effort of racing – shuffling at the quickest possible pace – through town a little more bearable, if awkward.

When the town wall suddenly loomed before them, the mage felt like sobbing with relief but she managed to contain herself and use her emotions to propel her up the wooden crates that had been conveniently positioned next to the wall, allowing them to clamber up them towards the top of the wall. The way down on the other side was much more painful, despite being cushioned by a bale of hay, once again conveniently placed, but it was the other side…

Then there was the forest. Rarely had Soneya seen such a beautiful side, rarely felt as wonderful as when the woodsy smell enveloped them and pulled them deeper into the trees, away from prying eyes. Far in the distance, there was a very loud crash and the mage briefly wondered whether that was one or more buildings collapsing, but she couldn’t even pretend to bother anymore. All that mattered was that they were out of harm’s way – for the time being at least.

Moss, leaves, soft forest ground. Sleep. Bliss.

~~~~~~~~~~~

When Soneya woke the next morning, she didn’t recognise where she was but didn’t particularly care either. Nor had she any idea how long she had been asleep for, but she felt more refreshed, if not completely up to par yet. But anything was better than the complete exhaustion of the previous day. She yawned heartily as she languidly stretched, ignoring the painful pull of certain muscles and scabbed over cuts, bruises and whatnot.

Mid-stretch, Soneya stopped. Why was there resistance when she wanted to roll onto her back? And that’s when she remembered she wasn’t alone.

Lutis slept like a rock, absolutely shattered after their long day full of so many 'adventures'. Adventures, his ass. That was more than enough, and had he been any less tired, then he would have been more than pissed off with the whole situation.
Instead, he didn't even stir until Soneya did, her wriggling taking a time to make it through his foggy brain to register as anything.
He groaned, unwilling to come back to the present, immediately starting to feel the cuts, bruises, scrapes, dust and dirt... his neck was twisted at an uncomfortable angle and he wriggled to improve it, throwing one arm over his face to block out the sunshine. This was horrendous. Soneya kept moving around now though, and he was becoming more aware of their surroundings. Everything smelled damp and earthy, and he smelled even worse- musty. His hair itched. A faint breeze rustled the trees and ferns around them, and he was pretty sure he could hear a lower, more persistent stirring of leaf litter not far away either.

Ugh. Had they just crashed on the forest floor? Of all the awful places to sleep, it really didn't appeal; too many creepy crawlies and unexpected things that could sneak into your clothes.
That thought got him upright quickly enough, shoving himself up into a sitting position and scratching away all the beetles and rodents he imagined were nestling in his clothes. His hair stood up wildly in every direction, and the movement didn't fail to inform him of every ache and pain, cut and bruise across his body. Ooh, that alone was enough to send him back to prone again, wincing at the hard earth beneath his back.

"Where in hell are we?" he asked, squinting at the leaf canopy above them. Safe, at least, which was a novelty. What they were going to do post-sleep (and drink, and food, hopefully) was another good question. "Gods. We're never gonna be allowed back in that goddamn town. I don't think I wanna be." What a horrendous failure of an expedition outside of Kaionar. "We found somewhere with guards crapper that Kaionar. That's gotta be a one-in-a-lifetime."

Was he moving? Was he awake? Soneya stopped mid-movement, afraid that other things might be stirring that she did not want to know about, but Lutis’ movements – because yes, he was starting to wake up as well – were normal. Nothing out of the ordinary, just stretching and general still sleepy movements.

When he abruptly sat up, Soneya followed suit, using the moment to get away from him. What the hell had she been thinking sleeping so close to that man? That insufferable, annoying human being she had sadly become attached to because they unluckily were in the same situation and two were better than one in beating the odds.

“Eurgh..” She shuddered as something suddenly seemed to creep across her skin and she shook herself like a dog, before consciously brushing over every surface of her clothes and skin in an attempt to get rid of the sensation that every cell of her body was currently being invaded with things that had way more legs than she cared to know. “I have no idea, Lutis. Somewhere in a forest, probably just outside of town.”

Gosh, now that they were there, why on earth hadn’t the paid more attention?

“A bath would be lovely,” Soneya muttered. “I feel like I have stuff crawling all over me.” She shuddered again and proceeded to try and shake out her head, combing it with her fingers a little to try and reduce the nest-effect to something resembling actual hair.

“But no, we’re most likely never going to be able to go back into town. Then again, would we really want to?” Soneya asked, shooting Lutis a sceptical look. Straightening up, she cocked her head to the side. “It’s really worse than Kaionar? From the rumours I’ve heard, that doesn’t seem likely. Though…,” the mage turned towards where she thought they had come from, “this place really turned a little rough.”

She paused a little to consider something that had flitted across her mind briefly. The thought was almost gone already before she caught its tail end and managed to hold on to it. “Do you think that may have something to do with the influence of the rogue magician running around?”

"I actually feel... much better than I did, hard as is to imagine." Now Lutis (thought) he had rid himself of the bugs all over, he rolled his shoulders slowly and enjoyed the feeling of just being tired, rather than feeling like he was about to sink into the ground and be enveloped. Poking his fingers into his pockets, he started to rummage for something to eat, hoping that there would be a crushed bit of bread or cheese somewhere on his person. He wasn't hopeful, but it was worth a shot anyway.

Lutis let out a sharp, cynical little laugh at Soneya's question. "I sure don't wanna go back there. Assholes." He stretched his arms out above his head, feeling his spine click. "Ugh. Let 'em stew in their shit." That was him with trying to stick by the law and supposedly stay on the legal side of life. "Ahreet, perhaps not quite as bad as Kaionar, but at least the lawkeepers play nice over there. You know they're gon' take you in for anything illegal, and mostly leave you alone otherwise- an' it takes something for them to actually get on your tail. We didn't even have to do anything here! And more jail time than I've had in years." He rolled his eyes. "Err... I mean, ever." Convincing.

"We're not goin' to keep trying to do something about him, are we? No, good. I am so done with that." Magicians! He scrubbed his hands through his hair, then looked around to see if he could work out which was was towards town. Otherwise known as the direction he really didn't want to go towards. Perhaps he'd be called a coward, but he didn't really care. Better a coward that a smoking dead heap of bad choices. Pulling himself to his feet, he groaned at the aches all over, really feeling it. "Oh man. I'm never takin' on a busted up building again."

Soneya raised an eyebrow at Lutis’ blunder and gave him an incredulous look but didn’t say anything. That he had spent time in jail didn’t come as a surprise to her. She’d pegged him for a scoundrel from the first moment they’d met and his attitude sure hadn’t helped in making her think otherwise. Besides, somewhere down the line it had become clear he was a thief and it was only a logical conclusion that he had spent some time behind bars.

“Of course we aren’t going to do anything!” But as soon as the words had left her mouth, she sighed and slumped back on the floor, giving up hope of completely ridding herself of debris and insects. As much as the mage wanted to agree with not doing anything about the rogue anymore, Soneya simply wasn’t sure.
As a result, when Lutis got up, groaning, she lost it and snapped at him: “Maybe you should use your brain for a change! And yes, taking on a busted building was a ridiculous idea! Just sit down and give it a rest before you kill yourself trying to stretch. You’re no good to me injured.”

Aaand the words were out before she could stop herself, making her even more furious than she already was. Why?! Why was all this so confusing and why was she feeling so lost? The rogue really had messed with her and she did not like it at all. The feeling of being out of his area of influence was a relief, but at the same time it was nagging at her that they were helpless to do anything to protect the rest of the village from it. Or was it just the enforcers? It was all so weird, and it was all so confused. Not to mention so extremely, over the top enraging! She didn’t even consider the fact that she had just told Lutis that she needed him, sort of. She would not go there, nope! He hadn’t listened to her anyway.

Oh good, Soneya agreed. That was nice to know- these honest folk, sometimes the madness that popped out of their mouths. He almost expected her to say that they had to go back and deal with the problem, when nobody else obviously was going to do it.

Apparently sleep hadn't done much to improve her mood, and Lutis didn't appreciate being shouted at. She'd been just at fault this whole time as he had, so it wasn't fair that she just lay it out on him for no reason.
"Yeah? Would you have lost all them guards and a bloody dragon all by your self then? 'Don't hurt me, I'm jus' trying to do the right thing'. Bull shit. So far I ain't been help to you at all from the sounds of it." He huffed, sitting down with a thump anyway. "Intolerable. Can't even think outside the box enough to use your stupid magic and give yourself a bath." Whiny girl. Maybe he would just leave her here sitting in the dirt, cut his losses and bugger off.

Euuurgh! He was so frustrating! “They probably wouldn’t even have let you out the first time round if it wasn’t for me and the fact that I can actually use my brain!” she shouted at him while he was yelling at her, her words getting lost in his own tirade.

She was breathing heavily and contemplating just knocking his feet out from under him when he decided to sit down of his own accord. Seething, she knew he was right and that she had been unfair but it didn’t change the fact that she wanted to strangle him just for being there, while at the same time, she knew she’d feel even more lost if she were on her own now all of a sudden. The threat of the rogue magician was still too fresh in her mind and the fact that she had almost died at his hands was a raw wound the implications of which she did not want to touch with a ten-foot pole.

And then.. then Lutis became really insulting. “What?!” Had he really just said what he had said? A bath? Her cheeks burning with fury and shame, Soneya struggled to her feet. “Fine then. I wouldn’t want to stink up your precious fresh air.”

With a huff, she turned around and hobbled off in whatever direction seemed the best. Even after the first few steps only she realised just how much she was hurting all over. The overuse of her magic had been taxing and though even only a few minutes ago she had felt a little refreshed, her body clearly reminded her that she was in no shape at all to go wandering around the woods without an inkling of a clue where she was headed.

Stubbornly, she walked on, step by painful step.

"I was doin' fine getting out of there on my own, first time round. You just ballsed it all up even bigger for me!" It wasn't the time to have an all-out spat between them both, far from it, but it had been building for a long time. Soneya was going to get as good as she could give when it came to arguing with Lutis, because he wasn't going to hold himself back after such a rough time.

"'Pparently I'm stinkin' up yours just bein' here. Just 'cos I come from Kaionar and I ain't got the prettiest of backgrounds doesn't mean I'm nothing compared t'you, miss high-an'-mighty mage." He continued with his tirade as Soneya got to her feet, apparently unable to take harsh words. A little part of Lutis told him to stop, but there was too much enjoying venting all his frustrations. He sulked on the floor a little longer as Soneya stormed off (slowly, without any real idea of where she was going- it showed), then rolled his eyes and followed her labourously, hands in his pockets. Thankfully it didn't take much effort to catch up with her weary and confused path.

"Where you even going?" Nowhere, by the looks of it. For all the sleep they'd gotten, it had still be on a cold, damp forest floor, and it wasn't conducive to restfulness. "Not back to that town, are you?" A thought flashed through his brain that she might turn him in, although it was quickly dismissed when he remembered that she would be handing herself in at the same time, and that wasn't something Soneya wanted. "C'mon Soneya, quit it with this I'm-better-than-you business. We slept in a bloody wood, an' got half-crushed by a building. Nobody's gonna come out pretty from that one."

Pain laced up through what seemed to be her whole body. Soneya wasn’t even listening to him anymore. Let him rant and whine and whatever he wanted, she was out of there! Though of course that was easier thought than done and she was painfully aware of her snail pace. Worst of all, she didn’t even know where she was going (though she hoped it didn’t show); all she knew was that she wanted to get away from Lutis.

“Leave me alone,” she grumbled when he suddenly caught up to her. The mage didn’t understand why he had followed her after, heck, during their argument but wasn’t about to ask.

Lutis seemed to not have heard her though, or he was simply ignoring her bad mood when he continued talking. “Of course, I’m not going back to town!” Soneya replied, outraged – or rather, she wanted to. But his next words stopped her in her track.

Feeling the heat crawl into her face, she whirled to face him. “I never said I was better than you! I never considered you beneath me!”
Even while she said it, she knew it was a blatant lie. She had treated him like shit most of the time their acquaintance had lasted, but she wasn’t about to admit to that, not when he had wounded her like that. So she kept on not-quite-yelling at him.
“I don’t care where you come from or what you do!”
This time, while she was talking, she realized it was true, despite having been a pain about his background and profession.
“But even someone from your background and knowledge of social niceties should know that this isn’t something to throw into a woman’s face! I know! I know that anyone would look like shit after such an endeavour and would smell the part, but did you have to go and say it out loud like that? Did you have to make me feel even worse than I already do? Has it ever occurred to you that I am not used to being treated like this? That I have never been almost crushed by a building or chased by dragons or nearly killed by a crazy magician?! I don’t know how to deal with this! And I sure as hell don’t need you telling me just how much I suck at leading your life!”

A loud sob suddenly escaped her and she clamped a hand over her mouth, as if that could erase the sound after the deed, or hide the fact that her eyes had filled with tears.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Lutis, so sorry.” She didn’t know what she was saying, she didn’t know what she was doing, and she sure as hell didn’t know how to deal with the aftermath. He was the closest thing to an outlet she had, so she had yelled nonsense at him. She knew it, he probably knew it, but that didn’t change the fact that she had completely lost it and behaved like a crazy nut.

» COMPLETED ~ Party Time! With Liz and Eldar
» Anyone for the rescue? (Cold, Parade, Eldar)
» Chance Meeting [Kor] - Completed
» Height of the Hunt (Eldar & Nen)
» The Altar of Stars (Alex X Eldar)