Fate - First Reply A Desert Rose

[Riley]

Hazels flickered over to Crux. She grunted in response. Was he trying to be nice? In some way, she appreciated the distraction. Her stomach was in knots. The tension across her shoulders was palpable.

She knew they only had one more shot at trying to step the bastards that took the Falwood elf kids.

She just had a feeling that it would be too late if she didn't stop them now. That she'd lose the trail. And so her nerves were dials up to the umpteenth degree.

Another huff of air as she turned to him, keeping an eye on their heading. They'd have to camp in the dunes nightfall. Really close to the wastes. But she had a feeling they wouldn't be able to linger long.

"Listen. You're sharp and rusty around the edges, okay? But I think...yah still got good stuff inside." A truce perhaps? "Turn there. We've gotta find some shelter but don't plan to stay too long. I can see the Serpent's Teeth from here and that's where we'll need to be before first light."

 

[Crux]

Crux's lip twitched at the olive branch she offered him. It wasn't the idea of working on less hostile terms that he fought not to scoff at, but the notion that there was anything 'good' about him. This woman didn't know him. She had no idea what he'd done or what he planned to do in the future.

"I don't need long, just an hour or two. I'm running on empty, and if I don't steal a wink of sleep, I'm not going to be able to kill a three-legged rabbit, let alone a group of kidnappers."

Crux's... 'alteration' did make him a veritable powerhouse, but that otherworldly might came in short, violent bursts. It had been brash of him to let it all hang out like he had, especially when he'd not rested since the fight at the arena against Riley.

Oh, but seeing the terror on that runt's face as his blood ran free was so worth it.

Crux turned where his companion directed him, parking them in the shady valley between a pair of tall, sandy dunes. Shade traps, he'd always called them. People unfamiliar to this climate often hid in such valleys seeking respite from the scorching sun in the morning or evening, not realizing they'd be cooked midday.

Not a problem for the two of them. They'd be gone shortly.

"I'm still not thrilled about going into the Falwood with only the two of us," Crux admitted as he patted Bhala's backside before letting himself slide off the seat to the ground. "But we don't really have a choice. The only people I still have any trust in are on the other side of the damned world." The sullen-eyed man grumbled as he fed his horse with an apple from the goods they'd liberated.

 

[Riley]

Riley disappeared into the back of the cart, rummaging through any supplies that she'd pulled from the wreckage of the other things. Hazels lit up as she found an orange. Meandering back outside, she began peeling the orange. Pulling free a wedge, she dropped it into her mouth, savoring the tarty-sweet liquid.

"Speaking of stealing things. That how your magic works? You just suck other magic out of others? You never looked like you did after you did that to me though. So what the fuk kinda magic is that?"

Another munch on another juicy wedge of orange as she tugged her bed-roll free and lay it on the sand before plopping down onto its surface as she faced the devil himself.

"Why would you go to the Falwood? If we find the kids tomorrow, I don't need a fukin escort back to the Falwood. We can call our business done."

Although...if they did find the kids. It wouldn't be the wisest thing to turn down another escort. She knew she could handle things on her own but protecting those kids was the most important. If they found them. If they were still alive. There were too many 'ifs' for her liking.

 

[Crux]

Crux watched her from the side of his vision as he ran a brush through Bhala's mane. There was something behind his eyes that flickered as she asked about the nature of his powers, but it was not the disdain or anger she was used to out of him. Instead, he almost seemed embarrassed and returned his attention to his loyal girl.

"Don't know." He grumbled. "Born with it, and had to use it or die." Crux had been a slave from his birth until his late adolescence, dragged around the Blightlands by a band of orcs who saw the usefulness of somebody with Crux's unique ability. "That hasn't changed. Doesn't matter what I am, because as long as I'm faster and stronger than the person in my way, then I can kill them before they kill me."

A skewed worldview? Absolutely, but one that had gotten him this far. He'd yet to meet somebody he could truly trust, and while Riley was useful so far, he doubted she'd go much longer without stabbing him in the back.

But he'd be ready when she did.

Putting the brush back into the saddle bag, Crux made his way over to a tree and sat on the ground, leaning back against the trunk as he closed his eyes with a furrowed brow. "As for the Falwood, the deal was that I help you save those kids. If you get them back and then die on the return trip, I didn't hold up my end. I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a fuckin' liar."

 

[Riley]

A quiet huff at his answer as she finished off the orange, pushing the discarded peel deep into the sand. “We can agree on that. You’re a pain in my ass and a lotta things but so far not a fukin liar.”

A part of her just couldn’t see him being around a bunch of kids. Time would tell if she was right. And first they had to get them back. And if the fukin’ fae had them. She knew it was gonna be a shit show.

“Get some sleep.” She stood from her bedroll and began walking a perimeter around the spot they camped in between the dunes. “I’ve got first watch.”

 

[Crux]

Crux found himself smirking at her backside as she walked away to take watch. So fuckin' full of herself, wasn't she? If it wasn't so obnoxious, it'd be appealing. "Don't push yourself too hard, Riley. I only need two or three hours." He slid his eyes shut as he prodded her with his words, knowing they would irk her.

Crux wasn't actually worried. Riley had proven herself capable of handling herself, and she didn't have any reason to try any funny shit with him now. Losing his support would mean she'd gone through all the trouble of helping him for nothing, and she didn't seem the type for charity to a stranger. So, despite his tough front, Crux found himself dozing against the tree quickly.

Tomorrow he could worry about finding those kids, and if they weren't in one piece, it just meant he had some jackasses to rip apart for his trouble. Crux knew what it was like to be an enslaved child, to have nobody come and save you. There were few moral boundaries he wouldn't cross, but that was one of them.

It was personal.

Riley

 

[Riley]

He'd get a choice finger raised silently behind her in response as she continued to walk the perimeter.

A few hours later, she'd kneel next to his slumbering form. A hand would go to nudge him awake. "Wakey-wakey," she'd call out, wondering if it would've been wiser if she used a stick to nudge him awake instead of being this close.

Stars was that a bit of drool dribbling from the corner of his mouth. The man slept like a bunch of bricks. This time her grip tightened on the side of his arm as she leaned slightly over him.

"Crux, wake up!"

 

[Crux]

Crux was only somewhat aware of his surroundings as he was roused from sleep, grumbling and reaching a hand at the arm holding him to grasp it. He spoke, but it sounded like the words were in another tongue, perhaps Orcish, based on the diction.

The man's entire body seemed to tremble, more foreign words spilling from his lips as he shook his head, vehemently denying a question that hadn't been asked of him. Crux's skin was pale, and the palm that wrapped around Riley's wrist was clammy. What little of his voice escaped him was shaky and uneven.

Then, he awoke with a sharp inhale, drawing his head back against the tree he sat against and opening his eyes wide.

"Riley."

He breathed, seeming to remember where he was. Pulling his hand away, he wiped at the beads that had been forming at the sides of his eyes, before averting his gaze and pulling himself up to his feet. "Just dreams." He growled, more at himself than at her. "Thanks for waking me. I'll take watch..."