Private Tales Dark Places

[Sirius]

Sirius was not happy about his current situation. He'd dealt with criminal organisations before, but this was new. An it wasn't as though they were actually criminals either, these people with whom he found himself captive were, apparently, the authorities of the realm. Namely the island of Seketh.

He found himself cast into an oubliette, essentially a deep stone pit where prisoners are thrown to be left and forgotten, not a very pleasant place. But there were a few odd things about this, for one it was bigger than usual, for two they threw his mace down after him, and for three, he wasn't alone.

A woman he did not know, a human by the looks of her, was down here with him. If not for his intrinsic hatred of humans, he might have found her attractive, no, he would have found her attractive. She had odd, black tattoos on the edges of her face.

He didn't care to observe her further before picking his mace up and observing his surroundings. It was an oubliette alright, only there appeared to be a large door in one wall, a solid wall of wood behind a stone arch, no hinges, no handle, a portcullis perhaps? It was hard to tell.

He turned back to his cellmate. "And what are you in for?"

Amaya Thanatos

 

[Amaya Thanatos]

Amaya suddenly found herself staring upwards at a tiefling, a frown suddenly creasing the delicate feature of her face. It had seemed they intended to force her to fight before her inevitable death down in this forsaken pit. Any other name for it was just a way for the rich and elite to feel better about themselves and allow them the sweet comfort of sleep, something she had not truly felt in years. Reaching along her shoulders, she grabbed the hood of her cloak and pulled it over her head, almost instantly shrouding her face within the sweet depths of its darkness

Regarding him silently, she slowly rose from the crotch she had taken upon his rather sudden arrival and ran a hand along each of her sides. Smoothing the cloak, her fingers danced briefly along the hilts of a dagger one resting upon each hip yet obscured by the cloak. Tipping her head upwards, what little light coming from the top of the pit dancing within her golden amber eyes giving them a seemingly eerie glow. Furrowing her brow, she cursed silently, lips barely parting as the light cast its glow upon her face revealing the intricately drawn red tattoos that swept along her cheeks before curving beneath her eyes. One could almost see the faintest of red sliding along her neck before disappearing beneath the cloak that hid much of her body. Sweeping locks of red hair from her eyes, she could almost be heard growling as he addressed her. The sound a low rumble of agitation and the beginnings of adrenaline.

"Great. Here I thought I was going to finally get to some peace. But no! A girl can't even die in peace. Instead, they toss a tiefling down here with me with your horns and mace. Ugh! The nerve of these people."

Disarming him with the oddest of statements was much better than actually answering his question. Better him to think her odd than to be asked even more questions. She should have never taken the damn job and she knew it. Now, instead of making a fat sack of coin and taking her usual retreat into the forest, she was stuck in a hole.

 

[Sirius]

He ignored her statement and said, "very well. Don't answer."

He had absolutely zero qualms about not speaking to this woman. She was a human, and no matter her appearance, humans were the enemy. He snapped his fingers and a fire blazed to life on his hand, engulfing it in yellow fire that lit the immediate surroundings. His leather-padded longcoat draped across the stone floor ever so slightly as he crouched to observe where the floor met the wooden wall. His goats horns were black, curling back and then forward and out, reversing their curve at the tip, they could look almost like protruding tusks if they came from his mouth. His red skin and black hair were the only other things visible as he faced away from her, but she'd be stupid if she thought she could get the drop in him by sneaking up.

He observed the floor and what could potentially be a door, also looking at where it met the stone wall, and sure enough, there was the barest gap between the wooden wall and the stone arch.

He gave her a glance, the fire revealing eyes the colour of cast bronze, no iris, just straight bronze. "If you don't want to tell me your name, I don't much care. But I doubt you'll turn up the possibility to escape. So I need to know what you're capable of, if you can hold your own in a fight. So what about it? If we get ourselves in combat, can you survive?"

 

[Amaya Thanatos]

Frowning at the insult of the question, her hands landed promptly on her hips, revealing the outline of her lithe figure and the hilt of each dagger. She tipped her head upwards to peer at him from beneath the frown that marred her face. Parting her lips, she spoke, her voice surprisingly soft.

"I wouldn't give up the chance to escape. However, there is the small army of guards that I'm sure would just loooove to allow us to waltz right on past them without so much as a fight. " Words laced with the sarcasm and the slight amusement that now settled upon her features, she gave a slight roll of her eyes. Tipping her head to the side, she continued to peer up at him as the arrogance laced words left from lips that had been carved into a grin.

"I could kill you. " With her hands still resting upon her hips, and the echo of the words and arrogance still lingering she turned her back to him, crouching at the door within the floor and wondering what it would take to finish opening it and where this door would lead.

 

[Sirius]

At the words I could kill you he readied himself to reduce her to ash. But her arrogance plus her previous statement kept him from doing so. And he didn't bother replying to her, he simply observed the wall as she had.

He ignored her frame, however pleasant to gaze upon she was a human, the enemy. The only thing that caught his attention was the many daggers. Now all he needed to know was what type of armour she wore. If it was thick padding then he'd have to rely more heavily on his pyromancy, since padding did better at absorbing blunt force, if it was scaled or mail armour his mace would do better but pyromancy would still help a lot. She definitely wasn't wearing plate armour, so his skill with fire would definitely serve a role. And unlike him, she didn't have an inherent resistance to fire, do all he had to do was bathe the entire room in a conflagration of hate and he'd win. But he also knew better than to underestimated humans. With daggers, especially thrusting ones, his leather wouldn't last too long, and she appeared as though she knew how to use those blades.

She was definitely an enemy to observe and learn, and in the meantime he had to keep his own capabilities on the down low, keep her from knowing what he was capable of. But she wasn't a blatant enemy at the moment, though a clear threat, so he'd leave her alone for the time being.

Before they could speak more about it, the portcullis began to rise, and sunlight leaked in. It opened into a large area of grassland with patches of trees here and there. When they stepped out, they'd see that there were tall, stone walls running left and right of them. At regular intervals were towers, from which more people exited, each in pairs. They were each thirty feet apart.

If he were to hazard a guess, he'd think that the inward curve of the wall formed a vast bailey in which they were contained. He had a feeling that things were about to get a lot more interesting.

 

[Amaya Thanatos]

Fingers trailed along the rough stone of what had been their cell just moments ago as the soft swift of the cloth cloak swished around her feet. the hem kicking up little bits of dirt as Amaya moved towards the exit of what had thought would be her grave. She stood there at the exit of their pit, brows furrowed as she squinted against the light. Cupping a hand over her eyes, the sleeves to her cloak slid back to reveal the dark, hard leather of bracers that ran from each wrist to just below the elbow. There would be archers for sure, poised, and ready to fire with a simple hand signal from their commander.

"It's a trap. If we're not meant to fight each other then we're meant to fight others. Either that or they intend to give us the illusion of freedom and then slaughter us like lamb once we step foot outside these walls." The words were spoken as she turned back to look at him, a single red brow perking as she realized they would have to work together. At least for the time. "We have a few choices. We could either work together long enough to insure both our survival, we can work together long enough to kill everyone else if there is everyone else, and then kill each other, or.... we can just kill each other now and let the best girl win."

She gave a soft laugh at her current situation, her eyes finally wandering the length of the tieflings body. He was good looking if you were able to look past the fact that he wasn't human, had horns, and was literally red. She did look past that to see the handsome man before her but she didn't have much use for handsome when she may die. She had had a use for a hulking giant that could make flames appear on his hands.

 

[Sirius]

"It's a trap. If we're not meant to fight each other then we're meant to fight others. Either that or they intend to give us the illusion of freedom and then slaughter us like lamb once we step foot outside these walls." The words were spoken as she turned back to look at him, a single red brow perking as she realized they would have to work together. At least for the time. "We have a few choices. We could either work together long enough to insure both our survival, we can work together long enough to kill everyone else if there is everyone else, and then kill each other, or.... we can just kill each other now and let the best girl win."

He didn’t bother responding, save for a, “make your choice then.”

The only thing he did was step out, look around, then star walking to a patch of trees, if the archers atop the walls were to shoot at him, he would be ready for it. If the woman behind him intended to attack he would also be prepared. But unless anyone attacked him he’d simply make his way to the forested patches.

In his mind, what they were meant to do would become apparent with time, so there was no point in wondering. All that they could do was either stay put or go out. Stay put and they were sitting ducks, if they went to where there were resources, they had a higher chance of survival.

As he had suspected, no archers shot him as he walked, and there was no sign of anyone hunting them. So he continued on his way.

 

[Amaya Thanatos]

She was a lot of things but stupid had never been one of them which was why, as the tiefling stepped out from the shadows and began walking towards the trees she followed closely behind him. If nothing else he would make for a nifty shield or some shade.

"There's no choice to be made. Seems as if we'll have to cooperate with each other until we get this.... sorted. What happens afterwards wel… we'll deal with whether we kill each or not after. Assuming, you don't try to kill me before hand."

She paused a moment as they reached the tree line and moved out from behind him. "We're eventually going to need a plan. Either that or we really are going to waltz out of here with no issues and decide whether we're killing each other or not."

She gave a slight shrug of her shoulders as she turned to face him, peering up at him from beneath her hood. Turning, she stepped lightly into the tree line and began walking towards one of the towers and what seemed like the final exit. She choose her steps carefully, avoiding the leaves and twigs that would snap beneath her feet and give away their position. It might seem like all was well but one could never be too cautious.

 

[Sirius]

"There's no choice to be made. Seems as if we'll have to cooperate with each other until we get this.... sorted. What happens afterwards wel… we'll deal with whether we kill each or not after. Assuming, you don't try to kill me before hand."

“I won’t try to kill you so long as you don’t try to kill me.” He stated simply.

She paused a moment as they reached the tree line and moved out from behind him. "We're eventually going to need a plan. Either that or we really are going to waltz out of here with no issues and decide whether we're killing each other or not."

“We don’t know enough to make a plan. If anything right Noam isn’t the time to observe and adapt, not plan. You make a plan now, and the variables will make it useless.” He told her. “First problem is drinkable water, second is shelter, third is food. If you truly intend to cooperate, then go look for a water source, I will do the same elsewhere, we meet back here in an hour. Agreed?”

She was already watching one direction, so he surveyed the other, looking for potential lakes, or ponds, or any other places where water might be found. He could sanitize water easily with his pyromancy, so where it came from was no issue, but a spring would be preferable.

 

[Amaya Thanatos]

She gave a silent nod. He wasn't wrong and though she hated to admit it, and wouldn't do so to him, he was right. Walking off in the opposite direction as him she silently crept through the trees. Her leather clad feet moved silently through the leaves and twigs as golden amber eyes searched the forest floor and her surroundings for anyone or anything that may do them harm.

It wasn't long before the ground slopped, giving way to a small creek that cut through the forest floor. It was shallow, perhaps only a few feet deep and it was muddy but it was water. Licking her lips, she gave a sharp whistle hoping he would take the hint and follow the sound. They'd taken everything but her weapons from her. It was a shock they'd allowed her to keep those.

Settling into a crouch along the muddy shore of the creek she pulled her hood down, cupping the water within her hand and splashing its coldness over her face. Sliding wet fingers through red locks of hair she sighed, her eyes fluttering close for a brief moment as she surmised the situation, listening for any changes in the environment.

 

[Sirius]

The whistle was heard. While he was more than a little grumpy about being whistled at like a dog, it was a far more sure way of signaling to him that she'd found one. So he followed the sound to where she was.

He found her by the creek, and approached from the side. "Step back a moment."

He waited only a few moments, and if she didn't comply he'd proceed anyway. Snapping his fingers he'd summon fire all across the surface and even a little under the creak, instantaneous bringing it to a boil. The fire disappeared quickly, and he took a knee to get a drink.

 

[Amaya Thanatos]

Scrambling from the edge of the creek, she remained crouched as her eyes flicked between him and the creek. Watching the water boil and the fish, now dead, float to the top she rocked back onto her rear. She sat there momentarily stunned at the amount of pyromancy he had just shown. Tucking away the bit of information, and know he could just burn her to a crisp, she stood. Brushing the dirt from the cloth she moved towards the creek only pausing to grab a stick.

Pulling a dagger from beneath the folds of her cloak, she used the blade to sharpen the edge of the stick into a point. Moving back towards the creek's edge she used the make-shift spear to grab the largest fish closest to her. After about four or five fish she moved towards him, red locks dancing along with the slight breeze that swayed the treetops around them.

"I'm not one to usually, be so picky but since you're here and it's so nifty...." She trailed off for a brief moment as she held the fish up, the beginnings of a grin tugging the corner of her lips. "...Well.... you wouldn't mind adding a little char to these would you?" Snickering softly as she held the fish outwards she carried on. "We've got water, food, and apparently fire. Should we take care of shelter or keep moving?"

 

[Sirius]

He responded by glancing at a stump, setting it on fire and saying, "cook on that."

Her second question was answered after a few moments of thought. "We shelter here. We can more easily watch the wall, and most wouldn't set up this close, so we're likely to remain mostly unbothered."

And so he began to think, where and how.

 

[Amaya Thanatos]

Frowning, she turned towards the now burning stump in dismay before turning back to him, "Surely there's some brain hidden behind all that brawn." She sighed deeply as she shook her head. With no other option, she held the flesh, stick and all, over the burning stump. Muttering softly beneath her breath about the ridiculousness that was her situation. "Should have never taken that damn job." Was but a faint whisper before she turned towards him, her nose wrinkled as she held out the now charred fish.

The look on her face was almost comical, the stench of fish a heavy lingering smell, one that obviously bothered her. With the most sarcasm, she could possibly muster, "Dinner is served. Now, all we need is shelter." Her eyes turned upwards towards him as she glared, almost expecting him to snap his fingers and it quite literally appears.

 

[Sirius]

The look on her face was almost comical, the stench of fish a heavy lingering smell, one that obviously bothered her. With the most sarcasm, she could possibly muster, "Dinner is served. Now, all we need is shelter." Her eyes turned upwards towards him as she glared, almost expecting him to snap his fingers and it quite literally appears.

“Not here, too close to the river. If it floods we’d be sunk in it.“ He said simply. He pointed further up the riverbank. “I’d recommend we head for the crest of the hill, somewhere on the upper half would be optimal.”

He glanced behind him, and scoured the surrounding area for a better option. Finding none he looked at her, “unless you have any input to share. After all, you must have some brains to make up for your lack of brawn.”

It was a jab back for her earlier statement, but it wasn’t sarcastic, but rather very straightforward and serious in tone, as though he legitimately meant what he said.

 

[Amaya Thanatos]

Rolling her eyes, Amaya flicked her gaze along the area before giving a soft sigh. She knew they were limited on options but needed something for the night. Nodding upstream, she took off walking putting distance between them and the water.

"As odd as it may sound, we could take shelter in the tree for the night. The leaves would provide us plenty of cover from those that may approach from the ground and those that may be on the wall. If we sleep in shifts, set a few traps to alert us of anyone drawing close, and make sure to leave no traces of fire or food we should be fine." As she spoke, she used the stick with the now charred fish on it as a sentence enchanter. Waving the stick around she pointed the fish to the trees then back to the ground and all around some more.

She stopped and turned to face him, tipping her head up and peering at him. Placing her hands on her hips, fingers splaying around the hilt of her daggers she grinned up at him. "Is that good enough or would you like to add to it? Perhaps you have something better?" She perked a brow and tipped the fish at him. "We should eat now before we find somewhere to camp for the night. Don't want scales and bones giving our position away."

 

[Sirius]

"Is that good enough or would you like to add to it? Perhaps you have something better?" She perked a brow and tipped the fish at him. "We should eat now before we find somewhere to camp for the night. Don't want scales and bones giving our position away."

He chuckled, "Good to know I'm not stuck with an idiot. There are a few things to consider and that's that if we are found when in a tree we have limited escape options, and my pyromancy would be just as much a danger to us as to those attacking us. On top of that a mace is a short range weapon, I'd need to come down to use it, which is liable to get me speared. Daggers are even shorter, and sure dropping in from above to stab someone in the face looks cool, it is profoundly stupid, especially if their weapon is longer than yours. We'd be better hidden sure, but we'd be done for if we were found. We could dig a burrow and make a cover for it, keeps us out of sight, and our weapons aren't near as useless."

Her tipping the fish at him made him roll his eyes, he grabbed a new dead fish and after picking the scales of began to eat. He didn't bother cooking it, raw fish was safe to eat even for humans. Before too long there was nothing but fish bones left, which he tossed back in the river. "Eat up, we need to move quickly."

 

[Amaya Thanatos]

"Did you just hear sleep in a tree and tune me out after that?" It was her turn to roll her eyes and she did, before plucking the scales from the fish and eating it, tossing bones and anything else unsavory into the water. "I did say set traps and keep watch in shifts. If the traps are set up to alarm us of anyone coming into our area than we should have enough time to extra ourselves from the tree. " She paused a moment, tossing the last scraps of bones into the water.

"If we're quiet enough they could even walk under us. It is a risk but it's slightly better than sitting in the open." She shrugged her shoulders. "The issue with a borrow is we... I'm not sure if you've noticed this but you're rather tall and I've not brought any digging tools with me. You wouldn't happen to have any would you?" She blinked as she looked up at him, the sarcasm dripping from her words.

 

[Sirius]

"Did you just hear sleep in a tree and tune me out after that?" It was her turn to roll her eyes and she did, before plucking the scales from the fish and eating it, tossing bones and anything else unsavory into the water. "I did say set traps and keep watch in shifts. If the traps are set up to alarm us of anyone coming into our area than we should have enough time to extra ourselves from the tree. " She paused a moment, tossing the last scraps of bones into the water.

"If we're quiet enough they could even walk under us. It is a risk but it's slightly better than sitting in the open." She shrugged her shoulders. "The issue with a borrow is we... I'm not sure if you've noticed this but you're rather tall and I've not brought any digging tools with me. You wouldn't happen to have any would you?" She blinked as she looked up at him, the sarcasm dripping from her words.

“No, I heard your explanations, the problem is that if we move out of the tree, that will make noise, which ultimately will give us away. And we can’t spend too much time setting traps, especially if they’re far enough from the tree to let us get down unnoticed, which would be profoundly dumb to attempt, which might also prevent us from hearing the trap go off. And if we did set traps, they would tell whomever is after us that someone is nearby. As for digging implements, that’s what your hands are for.”

He also gestured to her, “and one of your daggers could serve as a trowel easily enough.”

 

[Amaya Thanatos]

Putting her hands up, palms facing him, in a sign of defeat she shook her head and rolled her eyes. Gesturing to the wooded area before them she perked a brow. "We may spend all night digging a hole large enough to fit both your giantness and myself in it but sure.... why not. Pick a spot and I suppose we shall get digging."

Amaya closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the sounds around them as she sighed heavily. This job had not at all gone as planned and now it looked as if she would her time digging, what would probably be, her own grave. This thought brought a deep frown her face, eyes narrowing as she realized she didn't too much of a choice. Though, she could go up and he down, divide and conquer never worked in such small numbers.

 

[Sirius]

Putting her hands up, palms facing him, in a sign of defeat she shook her head and rolled her eyes. Gesturing to the wooded area before them she perked a brow. "We may spend all night digging a hole large enough to fit both your giantness and myself in it but sure.... why not. Pick a spot and I suppose we shall get digging

“I think you overestimate how long it would actually take. We aren’t digging a huge hole, we’re making an indent in the ground, then making a cover. Besides, my size isn’t so big an issue as you’d think.” He told her. “I can dig, if you’ll get to work making the screen, we’ll use that to cover the hole.”

So he did as bidden, went uphill a ways before he began to dig.

 

[Amaya Thanatos]

"I think you underestimate the amount of spiders and other creepy crawlers we'll be dealing with." She grumbled as she followed behind him. Parting lips, she sighed deeply, having half the mind to let him dig his little hole and sleep with the spiders and worms while she nestled within the comfort of a tree. Suddenly, the divide and conquer idea seemed a little smarter... at least for the night. As they walked, she reached down, grabbing large sticks and other debris that would useful for creating a makeshift cover and hiding the disturbed earth around their little foxhole.

 

[Sirius]

"I think you underestimate the amount of spiders and other creepy crawlers we'll be dealing with." She grumbled as she followed behind him.

He glanced at her. “So? It’s not like they can hurt us. Are you afraid of these “creepy crawlers”? That’s cute.”

His voice was, as usual, dead serious. It wasn’t taunting, it was almost monotone. Which might just make it even worse if taken a certain way.

Around an hour and a half later the hole was complete, a little snug for the two of them put together but it had enough room. And just in time, as the sun was beginning to set. He stood back and looked at the hole, then to his partner. “You want to get in first or should I?”

 

[Sirius]

Amaya Thanatos