Private Tales Broken Compacts

[Órlaith]

It's them..

Them. It was such a vague and simple word and yet the fear that she felt rushing through her at the sound of it was enough to make her feel physically sick. She paled, and stared at him as though waiting for him to come up with a plan, an escape, before her gaze shifted to search frantically through the trees and toward the skies again.

"A-are you sure?.. It could just be a coincidence..." she reasoned, but she got up and did what he said regardless..

"I don't understand, shouldn't we be running?.." her brow furrowed, and she continued to search the surrounding forest as she unpacked the food and water from the mantic's saddle bags, her heart pounding in her chest, and suddenly she felt a little warmer..

"What do we do?.."

 

[Cal]

Cal took the saddlebags, knowing they could form a backpack with just a little bit of work, dragging the tent up and quickly dousing the fire with snow.

His head shook as she talked about running. "We might be able to outrun them, but not with how much energy we'd lose."

They didn't have the resources, the drive, the Inquisitors did. So they would have to do something else. Cal didn't know where the cave behind him lead, but within these mountains he figured that it went somewhere. It was a guess, a gamble, but that was the best shot.

"We send the Mantic north." The Eagle wouldn't be able to tell after all. "They'll think that's where we're headed and in the meantime."

The adrenaline coursing through his veins had vanquished some of the cold now, forcing warmth through his whole body. "We run through there."

He gestured towards the cave as he pulled the last of their things off the Mantic, slinging it over his back.

 

[Órlaith]

Oh Gods..

Just the thought of walking that far on foot was nauseating but she nodded. It was a better alternative to being caught. She picked up what she could, and frowned as she looked in through the cave and back to him uncertainly. Her eyes shifted to the mantic and she chewed on her lip anxiously .. They'd have to trust it to keep heading north on its own..

"Alright.." she nodded. She trusted him, but she wouldn't say it aloud for fear of things going wrong and him blaming himself. She did trust him, but if the inquisitors had followed them this far, it was unlikely they were going to give up without a fight.

 

[Cal]

Cal nodded. Perhaps more to himself than to her, perhaps seeking some sort of confidence that was rooted deep inside of himself.

This was the only way. They couldn't win a fight, not against the Inquisition, they couldn't straight out run, so they were left with only one option. Looking back at Orlaith for a moment he took a breath, his hands tightening on his saddlebags.

A second later he turned to the Mantic, leaning into the beasts neck. "You've been good to us. Do this one last thing, and you're free to do as you please."

It was a quiet whisper, words so silent that Orlaith would struggle to hear them.

Then he reached out and smacked the creature.

Without a second of hesitation the great beast bounded forward, rushing across the field of snow and dashing through the sparse wood ahead of them. Cal took a deep breath, turning back to Orlaith and the cavern ahead.

"Let's go." He said, shifting the bags on his back to grab one of the logs from the flame as a makeshift torch.

 

[Órlaith]

Órlaith's head tilted as she watched him whisper to the animal, a soft frown on her brow. She'd been terrified of the beast initially, but it had gotten her this far, and she was sad to see it run off alone.. Damn her poor empathic heart. At least it was too cold to cry.

She glanced toward the sky one last time before turning to follow him inside the cave, keeping close to him for light. Their footsteps echoed along the rock-ribbed tunnel of the cavern, the corridor slowly growing wider and higher.

"I really hope nothing lives in here.." she muttered anxiously to herself, constantly glancing back over her shoulders to make sure nothing and nobody followed them.

 

[Cal]

He smiled at her, that soft, reassuring smile that he seemed to have on his face more often than not. "I think we would have smelled it by now."

Cal could feel every bit of tension within the air, coming from both him and Orlaith. He knew exactly how she felt in that moment, or something close to it. He also knew that there was nothing they could do, nothing else besides run.

He stepped a bit closer to her, holding up the torchlight so that she could see him better.

As they traversed deeper into the cave, the air seemed to still. The howling of the wind died down, and things even got a little warmer, though not by much.

Cal did not know for how long they walked, an hour, perhaps more. All the while they kept going, moving through the tunnels and descending into the abyss itself. Finally the sound of running water came into being, and not much later they found a small well-spring and an open chamber that extended beyond the light of the torch.

"Why don't we take a break?" Cal said quietly, gesturing towards one of the nearby walls they could rest against.

 

[Órlaith]

Órlaith listened as they walked, listened for any other signs of movement, either from ahead or behind them, sure that it too would echo around the caverns. They seemed to be alone, and with any luck the eagle was now following the mantic further north.

Her tension slowly began to ease, with the help of that reassuring smile and the step closer he took, and she reached out to curl her arm around his as they continued walking. Her legs were aching by the time he suggested a break and she nodded quickly, her gaze wandering around the chamber.

She followed him to the wall and set down the things that she carried before rolling out the tension in her shoulders from lumbering them. With a smile at him, she pulled in a breath and reached to rest a hand on his arm wit her own reassurance this time.

"I think we're alright.." she nodded, and turned to climb down the rocks to the little spring. She knelt beside it and dipped her hand in, her gaze widening as she looked back at him. "Cal, It's warm.."

 

[Cal]

"What?" Cal sounded incredulous as he put down the last of his things, digging a small pit for the still burning torch and setting it down so that it would remain alight.

He thanked the tribunal quietly in his head for taking some of the flame oil from the provisions on the Mantic. Using that, the torch would last for several hours. More if he reapplied it. They had enough for a few days. "What do you mean it's warm?"

Cal said as he turned to face her.

In all his life he'd never heard of such a thing, and he quickly followed after Orlaith. His boots nearly slipped on one of the rocks as he reached down, his cold fingers passing through the water and finding it not just warm...but hot.

He glanced at her, the confusion clear on his face.

 

[Órlaith]

Her eyes wandered over the steamy pool and she looked at her hand as though half expecting it to hurt her. She had never felt warm water before. Whenever she bathed the water had been cold and stale and heat was a luxury not afforded to her sort.

She stared back at him, glad he was just as confused as she was for a change, and when it hadn't hurt her she dipped her hand back into the pool, and then the other. It stung at her freezing hands in the most pleasant way and she let out a breathy laugh and closed her eyes as she let the heat seep in and sooth them.

It took everything she had not to just let herself fall into the water, the thought of it causing her spine to shudder after how cold they'd been. Perhaps, just her feet.. She sat down at the edge and pulled off her boots, her feet so painfully cold that dipping them into the pool felt like ice melt against her skin. She regained movement in her toes almost immediately and let them wriggle under the surface with a chuckle.

"Is this magic?" she asked him with a beaming smile, her fear forgotten.

 

[Cal]

Cal shook his head.

He had absolutely no idea if it was magic or not. It certainly did not feel like magic. There was nothing sinister, nothing planned, nothing...making it this way, not that he could see in the bare light of the fire they had brought down here.

As far as he could tell the water was just water, flowing along the rocks and collecting in large pools that seemed to stretch further into the cavern. "I..don't know. I don't think so."

Cal said quietly, watching with a bemused smile as Orlaith stripped off her boots and socks.

"Is it nice?" Glancing at her and resisting the urge to reach out and touch her as she sat there with that beaming smile.

 

[Órlaith]

Órlaith nodded, biting down on her lower lip to try and suppress the grin that caused her jaws to ache. "It's strange. Try it." she beckoned and patted the rock next to her as she shuffled over a little.

She het her head fall back and her eyes close as she slowly kicked her feet under the steamy water, a deep breath pulled into her lungs and sighed out again in a misty plume in the cold air. "Hmm.. I suppose this is how rich people feel.." she chuckled to herself.

"Good food, comfortable bed, cake, hot water.." she sighed. "I hope I'm not dreaming.." she smirked, but her brow furrowed for a moment and she reached to pinch her arm, her smile swiftly returning when she did not in fact, wake up.

 

[Cal]

Cal smiled for a moment, looking at the water with a certain sort of weariness before he slowly followed Orlaith's command.

His boots and socks slipped off easily enough, trousers slowly rolled up so that they did not get wet when he slid his feet into the water. Pinpricks slid up his skin as near frozen flesh was quickly warmed, a heat drawing through his entire body in a pleasant tingle.

A contented sigh slipped from his lips.

His eyes quickly opened as she spoke of the rich, his head nodding. Briefly he wondered if she knew just how rich her father was, the amount of luxury she could have lived in if it were not for the 'gift' she had been given at her birth.

A small rise of anger flickered through his chest, that same feeling that now came when he thought of such things.

Lips thinned, and slowly his hand reached out to cover hers as they sat there.

 

[Órlaith]

Órlaith watched him for his reaction as he dipped his feet into the spring, her smile growing wider still as she nodded. "Nice right?.." she sighed and let her eyes close again, listening to the soothing trickling of water that echoed in the glittering cavern. She hoped the rest of the journey through the mountain would be like this. This, she could manage.

The feeling of his hand covering hers caused her eyes to open and she looked down at it for a brief moment before settling again, a small smile twisting at the corners of her lips. His kindness was more warming to her than any hot spring. She hadn't realised that such a thing had existed, and it set those dying embers of hope that she carried alight to burn in her chest and course through her veins.

That he would so willingly touch a witch like he did was unheard of. Such a thing was punishable, more so for her, likely, but also for him. The back of her neck tingled with the urge to let him feel what she felt, to reach out empathically as well as physically, to show him how happy he made her feel. But such a thing would only torture her now..

Instead she curled her pinky finger around his thumb. A small thing, perhaps, but a gesture to return his own in some way.

 

[Cal]

Cal smiled, feeling a small bit of calm run through his soul as he felt her pinky slowly wrap around his thumb.

They were still on the run, still fleeing from a force ten times greater than anything they could ever hope to fight. Yet after the panic he'd felt seeing the eagle, after the horror that had dawned inside of him it was nice to feel this calm.

Down here in the quiet, in the dark where only the one torch lit their way.

There were no monsters. No Inquisitors. No Soldiers on their tail. Not even Villagers laughing at their antics.

Down here it was just the two of them, and Cal couldn't help but feel at peace. The water rushed slowly over his feet, trailing over his skin as he allowed himself to relax. Truly relax, for the first time in what seemed like weeks.

 

[Órlaith]

She could feel him relax. There were some things the run didn't work for, some things she didn't really need to be an empath to feel in the first place. She had always enjoyed watching people give way to calm under her touch, she knew what it looked like, and the way he sighed made her remember what it was like to help people feel that way.

Her head fell against his shoulder and she smiled as she watched their feet move under the water..

“Let’s get in..” she smirked after a while. She could do with a bath, and this would be far more pleasant than an icy river somewhere..

 

[Cal]

He looked at her for a moment, clearly somewhat dubious. A glance was shot back towards the dark of the tunnel.

It would be obvious if someone came along. One could not travel quietly through this darkness without being heard, and the torch-light traveled for some time...it would be okay. They would have plenty of warning and time.

After a few moments he nodded his head. "Okay."

Cal said with a nod.

"I'll turn around. Giving her time to get into the water would only be right, after that it would be too dark to see anything beneath the surface. Getting their clothes wet with this cold would be an utter disaster, and they wouldn't exactly have the opportunity to dry them later.

 

[Órlaith]

Her lips twisted as he offered to turn around. She had intended in undressing to her inner most layer of clothing, but given how dark it was it wouldn't be too scandalous. She blushed regardless as she undressed, leaving her clothes in a pile by the side and glancing over her shoulder at him before she plunged into the middle of the pool.

It was deeper than she'd anticipated, and she clutched onto the side as she surfaced and found her footing on a rock. "Oh dear fuck." she muttered to herself with an involuntary moan. The luxurious heat enveloped her, wrapped her in it's embrace and held her so tenderly she almost cried at how nice it felt. Her cold skin and aching muscles rejoiced, and she let out a laugh as she dipped her head back to let the water pull her hair back out of her face to slide down her back instead.

She looked up at him, her grin faltering for a moment as she realised and quickly clambered to turn her back to him with an "Oh.."

"It's really nice.." she smirked awkwardly.

 

[Cal]

Cal had been half undressed when Orlaith had turned to him, standing in only his small clothes and in the process of drawing those down too. He flashed her a brief, awkward smile, hands quickly moving to make sure everything was still covered as she spun herself back around.

For a second he hesitated, not sure if she still wanted him to come in, but after a moment she poke again. His head nodded, though she couldn't see it.

After a second more he slipped free of his small clothes, piling his clothes neatly away from the water. He took hers and placed them besides his own, taking careful measure with them before he slipped himself into the waters.

Heat almost immediately washed over his body, an odd shiver running through him as the cold in his bones was seemingly vanquished. "Ooh."

He gasped for a second, feeling the aches in him slowly soothed away.

 

[Órlaith]

Her cheeks were burning and she was certain it had nothing at all to do with the steaming hot springs. The glimpse of honed muscle lingered on her mind and she rubbed at her forehead with a quiet mutter to herself, her head shaking with a huff.

She waited until it sounded like he was fully submerged before she turned carefully to face him, finding it a little more difficult to meet his gaze. "Hm.." she smiled demurely and wrapped her arms around her chest and sunk a little lower into the pool.

"So I guess.." she cleared her throat awkwardly, trying to make conversation. "We keep going through the caves, and hope it leads us through the mountains?..." her brow arched and she chewed idly on her lip as she settled back against the rock and found a ledge to perch herself on..

 

[Cal]

Cal slid into the water so only his head was visible, closing his eyes for a moment and simply enjoying the feeling of the warmth surrounding him.

"I'm hoping we come out before then." He said just loud enough to be heard over the sound of the water. "We don't have much food."

Though he supposed they had plenty of water now. "And we still had at least a days ride to reach the base of the mountains."

Where the trail they were supposed to have taken was.

"If we're lucky that's right where we'll pop up." Hopefully by that village he had seen earlier on the map.

Cal let himself float around within the water, not remaining stationary like Orlaith had chosen to do. Swimming slowly within the small pool where it was just deep enough.

 

[Órlaith]

"Hm.." she nodded slowly. The last thing she wanted to do was starve to death in a cave.. "At least we're out of the snow.." she sighed deeply and let her head fall back against the rock.

Her eyes opened when she felt the water ripple around her and she watched him, her head tilting slightly. "You can swim?.." she asked curiously. Orlaith had never been in water deep enough to try..

 

[Cal]

He chuckled. "We are."

Cal had never much liked the cold in the first place, and he couldn't help but wonder if it might have been better to run south. The Climate would have been warmer...though it probably would have been easier to find them too.

A sigh escaped him as he continued to swim, only coming to a sudden stop when she asked her question. His head turned, looking towards her.

It was another of those moments. Another of those little things that had never really occurred to him. Of course she couldn't swim. Who would have thought to teach her? Who would have given her the opportunity. That same anger sparked in his chest, but he let none of it tinge his voice.

"I do." He said with a smile. "Would you like to try?"

While they had the opportunity, it might come in handy down the line.

 

[Órlaith]

She didn't have to see or hear his anger to know it was there. At times, she didn't understand why it was there at all, but there seemed to be a pattern to it, and it all revolved around how in the dark she was about the world, how little she'd been afforded, how horribly she'd been treated. It sparked that same warm feeling that he cared enough at all to let it register as emotion.

She smiled brightly at him and nodded, a glimmer of excitement in her hazel eyes as she watched him and stood herself back upright, her shoulders cold as they rose above the surface. "Don't let me drown.." she laughed under her breath and reached out toward him..

 

[Cal]

"Never." Cal said with a smile as he extended his hand and gently grasped her palm.

His legs kicked out beneath him, steadying him as he floated there and drew her into the deeper section of the natural pool. The warm water splashed a little as he joined her there, his voice raising a bit so she would be able to hear him.

"Kick your legs." He told her. "Gently, slowly."

Cal had never taught anyone to swim, but it didn't seem too difficult. His hands prepared to reach out and grab her fully just in case. "Use your hands when they're flat, like you're pushing the water away beneath you."

 

[Órlaith]

She tried to breathe calmly as he drew her into the centre of the spring, her feet searching for something underneath but finding only water. Despite knowing he was there and trusting that she was safe, her muscles tensed as she felt her try to pull her down.

Her legs kicked, and she tried to push the water away from her, but she forgot to breathe and soon the water was up to her chin and her head tilted back as it reached her mouth, only her face above the water as she kicked frantically at the water below her..

"Like this?.." she yelled, given that she couldn't hear anything but water. She treaded water for a few seconds before she couldn't hold her head above water any longer and she went under, leaving a few bubbles on the surface as she let out a breath.