Fable - Ask An Escort to Vel Anir

[Colette]

The lump in her throat was difficult to swallow as she repressed the welling tears.

She was sad and angry and terrified all at the same time.

Gerald was a seasoned veteran. Grumpy at times but he cared for the guardsmen and women under his charge. Phillip was only a year or two her senior. Now they were both dead.

Gears turned in her head as Colette contemplated upon the possible fate that lied before her. That just made stifling the tears that streamed down her face even harder.

But before she began full-on sobs her elven co-prisoner mentioned something about an escape. She would’ve guessed he was just trying to calm her down but something about the way he spaced the words. The tone he used.

He was serious.

Colette straightened her back and palmed the tears off her cheeks. ”H-how?”

Her voice remained shaky but the trembling of her lips and the flow of moisture from her eyes ceased as the hope of an escape kicked around in her head.

 

[Varo]

"Hey hey hey." Varo said as he slowly scooted himself a bit closer to Colette and reached into his inner pocket.

From it he pulled out a monogrammed handkerchief, the side of it stenciled with a row of vines that budded in beautiful flowers along the bottom. He offered it to Colette, seating himself down besides her as he spoke again. "It's going to be alright."

The assurance wasn't a lie either, at least not in his mind.

"Bandits like these are morons." Varo had seen it a million times, well...no he hadn't, but Wren and Irari both had told him stories. There was always a way in with these kinds of people, and Varo knew exactly what his way would be. "They care about three things. Machismo, Gold, and...well the third one isn't important."

He grimaced for a moment, but continued before she could ask. "So, we're going to use that against them."

All that he would need was a little bit of a lie.

"I just need you to play along." He told her quietly, offering her a smile.

 

[Colette]

A nod from the blonde-haired Anirian came as she reached for Varo's handkerchief. Even through blurred vision she could tell was a lovingly crafted piece of fabric as she dabbed it against the corners of her eyes.

"Thanks," she said with a rasp. Colette followed up her gratitude with a sigh before placing her emotions on pause and listening intently to the caged elf.

Her tongue pressed against the inside of her cheek when he refused to mention the third thing these brutes cared about but she dared not ask.

Once he had finished speaking Colette had nearly wiped her face entirely clean. She stretched out her hand to return his handkerchief and forced a lukewarm smile. This was no different than basic training or the sparring with Talus or the grim conditions of life in the northern frontier of Vel Anir. Clear your head, focus, and you can get by.

"Whatever you need me to do."

Her voice was low but determined. One nervous arm hugging the other not-withstanding. "You're right. We're going to escape this place."

And if Colette had it her way they'd alert the nearest Anirian detachment to this camp's location and see it wiped off the map to boot.

 

[Varo]

He nodded his head. "Keep it."

Varo said with a smile, looking out of the cage past Colette towards the Bandits that were still celebrating their victory.

He studied them closely for a few seconds, trying to map them out in his head. He had always been good at reading people, knowing what they wanted, where they would go. It was a part of his job for the Gang, and even before that life had Court had always been about what the person across from you was hiding.

"Okay." He said softly, pointing towards one of the men. "You see him?"

The bandit wore a leather vest and carried two daggers on his hips. There was a gold pouch on his belt, and every time one of the others stepped close to him he seemed to reflexively turn away. As if to hide the gold in his pouch.

"We need to talk to that one." He told Colette.

That would be their mark.

 

[Colette]

Colette carefully folded the monogrammed fabric and tucked it into the pocket sown into the shirt of her fatigues.

She gazed at the group of bandits as Varo studied them intently. The guardswoman was unsure what it was he was looking for as all she could see were a group of rowdy criminals drinking themselves into a stupor. There was no doubt in her mind that if the pair managed to get out of this cage they'd certainly manage to slip away considering their state of intoxication.

A knowing chin nudged upwards as she confirmed, "I see him."

Talk to him? Why him? Was he a boss or something? His leather vest and odd demeanor didn't signal anything to noteworthy to Colette. But then again, the worst thing she'd ever done was lie to her father about borrowing his tools.

"Why do we need to talk to him? Do you think he'll help us?" Perhaps Varo knew him from somewhere.

 

[Varo]

"No." He was quickly learning about Colette, and the most ardent thing about her was...well, naivety.

It was a mark that he imagined was treasured in Vel Anir, but in an environment like this? There was a danger there that he would rather not even think about. He was glad that he was here for her, in an strange sort of way.

Without him she would...

Varo grimaced, pushing the thought away and deciding then and there that he would see her through this.

He was no hero, far from it, but she had been kind to him, and he would not let that kindness go to waste.

"Not willingly anyway." He told her quietly, leaning in to whisper. "We're going to convince him that the Guard had more gold, gold that the others missed."

It wouldn't be a stretch. "We'll tell him we can take him to it, and if he does it can all be his."

The plan was simple really, but he had often found that those were the best.

 

[Colette]

"But we weren't carrying any more," her mouth hung agape as she realized what Varo was getting at.

He was going to lie to this man and perhaps their dagger wielding captor would release the pair and ask them to lead him towards the treasure. It was brilliant! Was lying always such a rewarding tactic?

All of her life she'd grown up being taught that liars weren't to be trusted. That lying was an elvish quality and that you could never trust an elf. Yet here she was with her life in the hands of a lying elf. Suddenly lying, nor elves, seemed that bad.

Her senses kicked into overdrive as the thrill of what they were about to attempt set in."How do we get his attention?" She assumed it was unlikley he'd just wander over here but maybe Varo knew something that Colette did not.

Just like that she was over her sorrow and into survival mode. Although a lingering thought managed its way to the surface... "what do we do if he only releases one of us from the cage?"

She thought it was a fair question. Only one of them had been adorned in the raiment of the guard a few hours prior.

 

[Varo]

Varo had now realized that Colette did not have a single deceitful bone in the entirety of her body.

It was an entirely endearing quality, one that he couldn't help but like. Of course in a moment like this it was the exact opposite of helpful, but when you were constantly surrounded by tricksters, criminals, and thieves it was a nice breath of fresh air to come across someone who was actually innocent.

He smiled for a brief moment, and then cleared his throat. "That part is fairly easy, I just need..."

Slowly Varo looked around, searching for a few seconds before he found what he was looking for. A small rock scooped up into his fingers. A smile touched his lips, and then he looked back to her.

"This." It wasn't complicated, but it would due.

For a moment he judged the distance, and then with an uncanny agility he threw the rock at the man he had picked out. It struck him in the back, and in an instant he whirled around and scowled at Varo.

The elf shrugged, motioning for the man to come over.

"Oh." He said quietly, clearly not having thought of the question Colette had asked. "Pretend you're mute."

He hissed as the man stalked towards the cage.

 

[Colette]

Colette gasped as Varo let the stone fly.

It flew true, indicating that his aim was decent enough, barely any height to its trajectory. Perhaps it was the guardswoman's natural talent at archery that allowed her to admire how well his skill was at flinging stones. Part of her expected the target of the stoning to be agitated but her companion had, apparently, been gentle with his throw.

Instead of stomping over in a fit the villain walked casually, glancing over his shoulder at the partying bandits to ensure he wasn't followed. He seemed... intrigued.

Pretend I'm mute?

If the bandit wasn't so close she would've protested. Instead her brow furrowed as she simply nodded in agreement.

"What da fuck do ya want?" his words were short and his breath stunk of onion rations from Vel Anir.

That was a bad sign. If he were as intoxicated as his comrades she assumed he'd be easier to take down. But still, Varo seemed to know what he was doing. He had picked this one in particular for some reason.

For a split second Colette contemplated what a mute person would do in this situation. Obviously not speak. Maybe they'd point? Shrug? Instead she wrapped her arms around herself and glanced at the rough-looking man with doe eyes.

 

[Varo]

"Well I want to get the fuck out of here." Varo said to the man almost immediately, his expression stern and serious.

It was hard for him not to smile.

He had often been told that his smile was incredibly disarming. It made people want to be friends with him, but Varo didn't want to be this mans friend. He just wanted him to get them out of this fucking cage and away from this cesspit.

"Ha. Well wait a week and we'll toss ya out into the slave pits in Yak'thar. You'll be out then."

The man let out a chuckle. It was a forced thing, stinging the ears and clearly just meant to be cruel. "Aye well, I could wait until then..."

He looked the man in the eye.

"But then you'd miss out on the rest of the Gold." Almost as soon as he said the words the man seemed to draw closer. His lips thinned and he grabbed the Iron bars.

"Gold? What fucking gold? We got the gold."

Varo allowed himself a smirk.

"Well...not all of it, they buried some of it for later retrieval, standard Anirian protocol." He motioned to Colette. "My little Guard friend told me, hell she was the one to bury it."

The Guard looked at Varo for a moment, then to Colette.

"This true, girly?"

 

[Colette]

Mute people didn't say anything. They were incapable of speech. But what about grunts? Or uh... chirps? Did they chirp? Colette wasn't even sure how to chirp.

Instead she sat there in silence when the vested man asked her a question. After a quick glance towards Varo she looked back up at the towering brute before her and nodded her head in the affirmative.

"You slow girly? I asked you a question."

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she continued to shake her head up and down. Seeing the frustration grow on the man's face meant either he didn't understand or he didn't believe her little act. Maybe now was when she should attempt to make sounds?

Instead she leveled her index finger against the sand on the bottom of the cage and traced out two words as swiftly as she could. 'Yes,' was followed up by a capitalized, 'GOLD!' With as much enthusiasm as she could muster the young guardswoman pointed at the two words and nodded up at the man.

He was visibly confused at this point and cocked an eyebrow up at the pair of prisoners. "What the hell is wrong with her?" He eventually asked of Varo as Colette continued to nod her head up and down at point at the words she had drawn into the sand.

Being mute was pretty hard.

 

[Varo]

Varo looked at her for a moment, staring, and then nodding his hand.

He offered her a subtle thumbs up, one hidden from the brute of a bandit. Varo turned his attention back towards the man outside the cage. "She's mute."

The cutpurse explained.

"Then how the fuck she gonna tell me where the gold is? You ain't no Anirian and she ain't gonna draw me a fuckin map is she?"

Varo enjoyed it when he got things right, especially when it came to people. It was obvious this man had about as much of a clue as a dog who had just found it's own tail. A smile touched his lips, and he leaned forward.

"Well that's where I come in." He told the bandit. "I know fingertalk."

Varo turned to Colette for a moment, flashing odd signs with his hands...that meant absolutely nothing. "Right?"

He asked Colette, staring directly at her.

 

[Colette]

"Fingertalk?" the bandit's one-word question was filled with more curiosity than it was skepticism.

Luckily he had been staring at Varo as Colette's face was almost as confused as the man they were duping. She had no idea how to do 'fingertalk' and the gesture that the elf shot her was complete gibberish to her. Maybe that was the point though, maybe this was more deception.

It turned out that contrary to her prior beliefs lying was actually pretty fun.

The straw-haired girl pressed her left index finger and thumb together to form an oval shape while holding up two of her fingers on her right hand. She collapsed both hands into one another and pressed them together before retracting them and creating another odd combination of finger movements.

This actually seems like it's working.

With a hand placed upon his hip the grunt barked, "well I'll be damned. That's fuckin' incredible." He scratched at the stubble along his chin in contemplation before eventually bending over and lowering his voice. "Take this girly, tie his hands real good, then I'll let ya two out and you lead me to the gold." He unsheathed one of the daggers along his hip and added, "no funneh business or I'll take a finger from each of yous."

Colette drew nearer to her co-captor and began to tie a loose knot around his wrists. It was an Anirian knot that held tight but was easily to unravel if you pulled against one specific piece of the knot. After she had finished tying it she tapped on the part of the rope to pull against in case Varo needed to free himself in a hurry.

A brief glance at the rope followed and satisfied with the work Colette had done the man inserted a key into the cage to free pair. Colette gestured a meaningless finger motion for good measure.

 

[Varo]

Varo nodded along as she made the motions with her fingers, offering no objection a few seconds later when the Colette began to tie him up.

A small smile touched his features as he faced away from the man, and in his head he played over half a dozen scenarios in which this could go. The most important thing was that they got away from the other Bandits. If they were alone, he was confident they could handle just the one bandit.

"Right, it's to the east, that way." He told the Bandit as they stepped out of the cage, glancing towards the rest of the Bandits who were still celebrating.

None seemed to have even given the prisoners a second glance.

"Do you want to alert your fellows?" He asked, twisting the man's thoughts in the exact direction he wanted. "I mean you want to share the gold with all of them right?"

For a second the Bandit hesitated, looking back at them.

"Fuck that. Bastards can fend for themselves. I'll be takin that gold for meself."​

Varo looked at him, then shrugged. "No skin off our backs."

He flashed a few more useless signs at Colette, as if instructing her to do something, then began to walk. The Bandit quickly took up position behind the two prisoners, the trio quietly sneaking away from the bandit camp and into the woods.

 

[Colette]

Pine needles crunched under the three's feet as the terrain transitioned from the open field into the treeline.

Colette cursed herself silently for not asking for more details about this plan of his. The spontaneity of it all was disarming to her after a lifetime of diligent planning. The guard even reinforced the importance of having a well-thought out plan. Yet here she was, her very life in danger, and she had no idea what came next.

Was Varo planning on taking on the rapscallion that was following them into the brush? He was armed. Dangerous.

There was no doubt in her mind that if Colette had her blade or her bow she could probably handle their lone overseer. But unarmed? How were they going to wrestle his weapons away?

Crickets crooned while moonlight shimmered through tree branches.

"How much further?"

The Anirian girl turned to face him and formed an erratic pattern with her fingers before nodding towards Varo to translate.

Everything will be ok. Nothing bad will happen. She kept repeating those words in her head as they continued to stumble through the ever thicker forest.

 

[Varo]

She was quick to catch on, something he would have to commend her for when they were free of all this. Varo turned back away from Colette and peered through the woods, as though he were searching for something, then pointed towards a large rock outcropping that stuck out through the treeline.

"Up there." It wasn't the perfect spot, but he wanted to make sure that they were far enough from the Bandit Camp that no one else would hear any screams.

Briefly he glanced towards the sky, almost wishing that one of the moons was full. It would have made things so much easier for him, so much simpler...though Colette would have been torn to ribbons along with all the other bandits.

An internal sigh passed over him.

"Christ that's a far walk from where we ambushed you bastards."​

His heart skipped a beat. "Well, you know these Anirians...thorough."

The Bandit seemed to stall for a moment, and then nodded his head as they continued their trek. Before long the three of them found themselves beneath the tall base of a cliff, the Bandit still behind them. Varo stepped up first, looking around for a moment.

"This is it, she said it was buried over there." Varo said with a gesture, holding out his hands.

"Well, best get to diggin then."​

Varo frowned for a moment. "Right, I can do that...Just let me..."

Slowly he looked around for a moment, turning his back to the Bandit as he slipped the knot Colette had tied free. The bonds came loose, and in the same instance Varo turned on his heel and suddenly launched himself at the man.

It was like a switch had been flipped somewhere. The cutpurse suddenly turning from good-natured goof to something far more bestial. He pounced on the Bandit, his fist smashing into his face.

"YOU LITTLE SHI-"​

The words died on the man's throat, as Varo's fist struck his face, though not fast enough to stop the Bandit from slicing his blade over the cutpurses ribs.

 

[Colette]

When the man in the leather vest stalled and commented on the length of their journey Colette found it increasingly difficult not to look alarmed. Keeping a calm face and demeanor was a challenge for her as it seemed like maybe the bandit was close to realizing he'd been duped.

Fortunately his lust for gold outweighed his common sense and he continued on until they reached the cliff. He asked them to dig and the Anirian woman made a scooping gesture with her index and middle finger as Varo affirmed their decision.

Then she noticed her partner loosening the knot he tied.

Then the rope fell.

Then he struck.

It all happened so fast that she didn't even have to time to think about how important having a signal was. The moment of hesitation she had allowed the elf to land a single punch but their assailant was able to take his own pound of flesh from Varo's mid-section. Colette winced at the sight of blood before springing into action herself.

She jumped upon one of the broad-shouldered man's arms and bit down hard on his hand.

"ARGH," was the only sound he could muster as the wind still seemed to be expelled from the other escapee's punch. Blood seeped from his left hand as he released the dagger stained with Varo's blood.

He wildly swung his other blade and Colette managed to just barely evade it, only its tip stinging at her thigh. A mild cut, nothing more than an annoyance. His rapid and erratic action proved to be just enough time for her to scoop up the fallen blade off the ground.

For her part she plunged the dagger into the attacker's knee cap, sending him plummeting to the forest bed and howling in pain.

"Are you ok?" she called to the blue-eyed smooth talker who'd helped her escape.

 

[Varo]

Varo heard the crunch as the man hit something below, likely a boulder or rock. He seemed to flinch slightly, though he wasn't entirely sure why.

The man had tried to knife him.

Slowly Varo rolled over onto his back, clutching the knife wound at his side and grimacing as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. Blood poured from the wound at his side, though just from the pain of it he knew that it wasn't all that deep.

"I'll be alright." He said with a grimace, though he knew he was lucky that the blade hadn't been silver.

"We need to move." Varo said with a grunt. "They'll be after us quick, and I don't know about you..."

Slowly Varo pushed himself up. "But I have no intention of going back into that cage."

They needed to get out of here, but as he stood Varo seemed to waver slightly, his body half sliding to the side as his head went a bit woozy.

 

[Colette]

With the palm of her free hand the guardswoman wiped the blood from her lower lip at the same time that the elf affirmed he was ok. He rose to his feet, giving Colette a sense of relief.

”Let’s get moving, I’m not going back into that ca-”

Her sentence was interrupted by off-balanced motions of Varo. His copper hair seemed to wave back-and-forth as he stumbled to keep himself centered. She gave him a once over in the dim moonlight and saw the crimson stain near his ribs.

In a swift motion she rushed over to brace the side he was favoring, gripping his shoulder to ensure he didn’t topple over. ”You’re hurt,” she insisted in a firm voice.

Unfortunately for the both of them Colette wasn’t an Anirian medic. She was a footsoldier. Treating wounds wasn’t something she was knowledgeable enough about to know how dire his injury was. Judging by the laziness in his eyes the blood loss alone was getting to him.

”We need to rest, let you recover your strength.”

Doubly unfortunate, the man she had stabbed in the knee let loose a low groan as he shifted in the leaves and foliage.

A pair of blue eyes peeked over her shoulder as she checked to ensure he wasn’t rising. Should she slay him, ensure he doesn’t scream out for help or hobble back towards his camp? That would be wrong. He was defenseless and while he was a criminal he deserved to face justice not death by her blade. She was a member of the guard, not a judge or an executor.

Colette grasped Varo’s wrist firmly and draped his arm over her own shoulder. She slid the bandit’s dagger into the waistband of her tanned pants and steadied him by pressing her other hand against his back. ”We have to keep moving, at least find a secluded place to let you gather your strength. Are you ok to move?”

She prayed the answer would be, “yes.”

 

[Varo]

Varo let out a hiss of pain as she slid into his side, fingers still clutching the wound.

The movement made him take a breath, sucking in air through his teeth as she helped him stand. A small yelp passed his lips.

Varo wasn't used to that pain, that hurt. His head still felt woozy, and as he looked down at his ribs he could see that he was losing more and more blood by the second.

He knew that the Wolf would fix it, knit the flesh back together faster than it should have for an ordinary man...but it wouldn't be fast enough. "Yes."

Varo said with a nod of his head.

"I can move." Even if it would hurt like a bitch. "Let's get down the other side of the ridge."

The cutpurse told her. "Find a cave, something to hide in."

A grimace pulled over his lips.

 

[Colette]

Right. A cave.

Or some such place to hide in.

That should be really easy to find in this dense forest, right? She jostled from side to side doing her best to support her new ally’s weight.

Navigating the brush and trees was a job all to itself although their slower pace made it much simpler. She had time to keep an eye out ahead to guide the pair through the worst of it while she attempted to examine their surroundings enough to find a suitable hiding spot.

They had to clear at least some distance first though. Their pursuers would certainly check the surrounding area.

Pressed against the injured man she stated, matter of factly, ”you aren’t allowed to die.”

It maybe wasn’t the most prudent thing to say but it was the thing that was dominating her thoughts. Colette was in a rare form where she actually didn’t care much for what her forced companion thought of it.

”I have no idea where we are,” she explained in a more relaxed tone than her previous statement, ”and I’ve lost too many people today. So, you’re not allowed to go.”

A few twigs snapped underfoot to interrupt the end of her sentence as the two trudged along.

 

[Varo]

"I'm..." His head felt woozy, it spun with every step.

He was losing blood, quickly, even with his hand clamped over the wound. Varo felt himself slipping, an odd cloud drifting over his thoughts. Lips thinned. "I'm alright, Blondie."

Another breath passed his lips, labored now.

A frown touched his lips as he realized something. It had only happened once before, a week after he had turned for the first time. It had been sudden, and he'd been on the run from hunters. His body had been bruised, broken.

It had overwhelmed him. Taken him in order to save his life.

Fuck. Varo thought to himself.

"Listen." He said as they hobbled their way down the ridge-line. "Listen."

Varo repeated with a bit of panic. "If I tell you to run, leave me. You leave? Okay? Trust me, you have to. I'll be alright. It might not happen, but if it does...run as fast and as far as you can."

The words were a rasp as they continued to walk, Varo holding onto her a bit more tightly as they continued.

 

[Colette]

For a split second Colette wore a smile after the blue-eyed halfling assured her that he was alright.

But then she saw the look of panic on his face as they stumbled along. He was losing too much blood, he was hurt worse than either of them had even realized. And now…. now he had the audacity to ask her to abandon him?

She’d just told him he wasn’t allowed to die and now he was resigning himself to death and asking her to run so that the bandit camp wouldn’t catch up to her? Men were absolutely unbelievable.

”I’m not going to leave you,” she said in an annoyed tone. ”You’re just going to have to keep pushing on. We can rest soon, I’m sure we’ll find a downed tree or a cave or something to hide in.”

Varo gripped her tighter which was certainly unusual. The rest of what he said began to click too. He insisted he’d be alright. Was it just more of lies? Or was there something… else?

”If you tell me to run then you’re running with me.”

 

[Varo]

He grimaced for a few seconds. "No it's not..."

Fuck how did he explain this? How did he tell her if he hadn't even told his friends back in Alliria? He gently bit the inside of his lip, fingers tightening for a moment as he took a breath.

"Just..." Varo grimaced.

He wouldn't die. Just the opposite. If the wolf took hold, if it came out...his wounds would heal and the beast would seek out the nearest meal that it could. Right now that meant Colette. She was prey, and he knew that he would not be able to hold it back.

"Let's just keep going." He would keep it together, keep himself whole. "Keep going."

Varo breathed as he felt another twig snap beneath his feet.

He didn't want to turn. He didn't want to lose control. He didn't want to take her life.

 

[Colette]

Varo grimaced before agreeing with her. In fact, his entire demeanor had seemed to shift.

He must have been in far worse shape than he was letting on.

”Yes, keep going, just a bit further.” At least that’s what she hoped. Just a bit further.

To his credit, he was pressing on instead of fighting her on his silly notion of playing at hero. The guard never left one of their own behind and Varo might’ve been an elf but Colette owed him her life. The least she could do was repay the debt.

Shambling around a large oak, moonlight spread through the clearing illuminating her bloodstained shirt. ”Let’s rest for a second. Let you catch your breath, see if we can staunch the bleeding a bit.”

She attempted to be forceful, yet gentle, with her motion to rest Varo against the tree bark. Anticipating he’d protest.