Private Tales Falling Snow..

[Rhist]

Rhist seemed entirely unbothered by the look she gave him.

"Yes I did." The answer came after the second comment, cutting off her question of who he was. It was something she would likely ever get an answer to, especially if this trip was as quick as he planned.

Fingers tightened for a few seconds, and then he continued to speak. "Tying them up could mean someone finding them, releasing them, and then I would have to kill them all the more savagely."

Except it would be more difficult.

"Or." He proposed. "An animal would happen upon them, crush them, eat them piece by piece."

A shrug rolled over his shoulders. "I granted them a mercy."

 

[Willa]

"No, you're just a damned coward. There's nothing merciful about you." she growled, tears welling in her eyes again. Instead of taking a step forward, she took one back from him.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, since he hadn't answered her first question. She didn't particularly care for his name anyway. She glanced at the river through the copse of trees and looked back at him, waiting for him to answer, her icy gaze staring at him with sheer loathing and revulsion.

"What are you getting out of this?" her head shook.. "I have coin, valuables. And I know where you can get more, if you let me go I'll tell you. You can have all of it. Nobody needs to know.." she reasoned desperately.

 

[Rhist]

"Are you going to be constantly speaking?" He asked with a frown.

Usually they didn't try to talk so much, either silenced by fear or already knowing that any conversation they might want to have wouldn't be very fruitful. His fingers tightened for a moment and he stopped himself from reaching towards the knife.

They wanted her alive. "I am taking you where they want."

His eyes glanced through the forest, shifting for a moment to ensure that they were on the right path and then putting his hand on her shoulder as he heard the sounds of a cart within the distance.

"I suggest you do not speak, or back up whatever story I tell." He said firmly. "Otherwise another life will be lost because of you."

 

[Willa]

Willa's lips pressed into a thin line at his question, deciding that not answering was probably for the best or he'd gag her again. She huffed instead, drawing him a venomous glare rather than asking any more questions for now.

She went rigid as his hand fell upon her shoulder and she pulled it away from him with a scowl and turned toward the sound of someone else on the road. Her hopes soared for a moment, perhaps there were soldiers, mages, anyone who could help her. She planned on ignoring his warning in favour of possible escape, but his latter words caused her shoulders to sag slightly and her gaze fell..

Because of you..

The blood would be on her hands as much as his, and she wasn't sure she could live with the guilt. If she'd felt hopeless before, she felt more so knowing that she couldn't ask for help even if it appeared in front of her. She gave a brief nod in understanding, and kept her gaze downcast as they continued along the road toward the approaching cart.

 

[Rhist]

The wagon came a few seconds later, two men sitting on what appeared to be a simple hay cart. Rhist did not see anyone else among them, and slowly he stepped half forward, still remaining mostly behind Willa as he waved in greeting.

"Hello there!" A pep clung to the Bandit's tone, one that would likely be utterly shocking for Willa. Before his voice had been flat, dead, as though no emotion was presented from him at all.

"We seem to have gotten somewhat lost." He said. "We're looking for Kysleth?"

The two men looked at one another.

"You're about two days walk away son..."​

Rhist already knew that. "Ah I see."

"How'd you manage to get all the way out here on foot? Ain't nothing this way."​

 

[Willa]

Willa tried to look as casual and comfortable as she could despite her hands being bound behind her. His presence at her back made her nervous however, and she couldn't help but frown at how friendly he managed to sound.

They looked like a father and son, farmers, not soldiers or warriors. Her heart sank, but she forced a small smile at their answer and cleared her throat.. "Wheel broke on the wagon yesterday. It's alright though, we enjoy the walk.. More of an adventure.." she assured with a polite nod and a quaint chuckle.

"Thank you.." she smiled, and her stare lingered for a little longer than necessary before she cleared her throat.. "Safe journey to you both.." she dipped her chin.

 

[Rhist]

There was a pause as both men looked at them, and then the older of the two just offered them a nod. "Let us step aside."

Rhist said as he reached out and grabbed Willa.

His touch was surprisingly gentle, not manhandling her but instead guiding her to step back and move to the side of the road so that the two Farmers would not be gated off by them standing right in the middle of where their wagon needed to go.

"Have a pleasant day." Rhist said as he waved to the both of them.

The Farmer gave him an odd lingering look, eyes clearly fixed on the mask still covering half of his face. For a moment it appeared as though he wasn't going to move, and then his son gently nudged him and the wagon began to crawl forward.

 

[Willa]

Willa wanted desperately to ask for their help, she could feel it written on her face and so she forced the warmest smile she could muster, the strain of it causing her eyes to well with tears and so she dropped her gaze from the two as she stepped back with Rhist, her shoulders sagging with the feeling of hopelessness.

She kept her gaze averted until the wagon started to move, and she looked up to watch them leave, gravity pulling a tear from her lashes which ran down her cheek..

“I thought we were going north…” Willa spoke quietly with a frown in confusion.

 

[Rhist]

Rhist glanced at her for a moment, scowling only slightly as he peered at her. Generally speaking he did not like them to know where they were going, but there had been little choice here.

The Farmers had needed the truth, a kernel of it at least. "We are "

He told her after a few more seconds of silence. His fingers curled for a few seconds, tracing over his outer thigh as he considered for a moment whether to say more. Then he gently nudged her back onto the road to begin their journey again.

"Sometimes." He told her cryptically. "One must go one way to go another."

His eyes briefly glanced towards her, expression never changing.

It course the truth of the matter was far less mysterious than he made it out to be. Kysleth was just a stop over point, a place where a ship was waiting for them. One crewed by men that he had already paid.

 

[Willa]

Her brow knit. She didn't know these lands, she'd been relying on Rand to get her to Elbion. Now, it seemed, they were in the middle of nowhere with another two days walk ahead. She huffed as he nudged her forward, and looked longingly at the wagon as it trundled down the dimpled road before she turned to continue on their path.

"How much are they paying you?..." she asked, glancing at him with a look of pure disdain. "You know they're just going to kill me anyway, right?..". Her head shook and she laughed under her breath.

"I suppose you have enough blood on your hands that it will hardly matter to have a little more." she scowled and drew her gaze to the ground as she walked, slowly.

 

[Rhist]

"Why do you know they'll kill you?" Again, he ignored her first question.

Conversation was never on her term.

He was the one who had taken her prisoner, he was the one who decided what the fates had in store. That, at least, was what he told himself. Rhist had to ignore the thing lurking in the corner of his eye, the creature that sat within the abyss.

Always waiting.

"They might torture you." His shoulders shrugged. "Even rape you. There are a thousand miseries worse than death."

Rhist watched her for a moment. "You might consider them."

 

[Willa]

Her lips had parted with the intention of answering his question before she gave pause to glare at him incredulously as he speculated other possibilities of her fate.

"Might I?.." she snapped. "If that's the case then what sort of a man knowingly takes an innocent woman to her fate of rape torture and murder?.." she sneered. "It makes you worse than they are." she growled.

She doubted they'd torture or rape her. They simply wanted her out of the way without the possibility of her showing up and taking back what was hers. But Willa wasn't ready to die, or to give up. Her mind constantly rushed over possible escape plans, and all she could do was hope that they'd meet someone more capable than he was on the road or in town, or that she could slip away undetected as he slept.

They had a long journey ahead of them, and she was determined not to reach the intended destination.

 

[Rhist]

Rhist blinked. "Ive never claimed to be better."

No, he knew his role in this world. There were few people that did, but Rhist was most certainly one of them. There was no doubt in his mind to his purpose, the reason that he existed and did what he did. Not for him anyway.

His gaze cast towards the shadows for just a meant, then flickered back towards Willa as they walked.

"Perhaps you'll learn just how true that is before this journey is done." He mused out loud, as if cutting the thoughts of her escape off with a threat. His fingers danced over the hilt of his knife for a moment.

 

[Willa]

Willa glanced across her shoulder at him with disgust and faced forward again, her head shaking. "You're despicable." the woman muttered. She'd feel no guilt about freezing the man to death as he slept if she got the chance. She hoped she would.

"Nothing more than a rabid dog." she added at the threat. But the reality of his words were not lost on her. His only stipulation was not to kill her, and she believed him capable of many things. Her eyes closed for a moment as she mutely prayed to her gods that she got out of this mess unscathed.

 

[Rhist]

Rhist did not answer, instead he simply continued to nudge her forward.

The day, as one might expect, was entirely boring. No one else met them upon the road, and eventually the sun began to set. On the horizon one could just barely make out the lights of a city, situated in the middle of a massive field with small farms surrounding it.

Kislyth, as it was named, stood as a fortress among the plains, stretching high into the sky and illuminating the growing darkness of dusk. It would still be half a days walk to get there, but Willa would be able to see the River nestled besides the city.

"Off the road." He said, the first words he had spoken in hours. "We'll camp for the night."

There was no question of it.

 

[Willa]

By the time he spoke again she was exhausted. Her feet and legs aches from walking and her eyelids felt heavy as sleep pulled on them. She stopped to narrow her gaze over the city in the distance.

She silently obeyed and stepped off of the road, making her way through a thick copse of trees and into a small clearing where she stopped and looked at him as though to question whether this spot would do.

Willa frowned “You know these bindings are terribly inconvenient when you have to go to the bathroom.” her brow rose.

 

[Rhist]

"I cut the throat of your friends and watched them bleed to death in front of my eyes." His voice was even, straight, no emotion to it at all. Just like it had always been. "Do you really think I have an issue with watching you piss?"

The implication of course being that whatever 'inconvenience' she suffered didn't particularly matter to him.

"The bindings stay on." Rhist stated plainly. He was not some petty bandit kidnapping a Princess for a few coppers. She was lucky that he did not still carry her over his shoulder or keep the blindfold over her eyes.

Though he would have to think of something for tomorrow.

There was no way he could walk into the city with her bo- an idea suddenly formed in his mind, his lips turning to a smirk.

 

[Willa]

Her jaw clenched at how matter-of-fact he was about killing the only two people she had in this world. How anyone could grow to be so emotionally cold was a mystery to her, and her hatred for the man burned in her chest so much that it hurt.

She let out a sharp huff and shook her head, her eyes tearing as she thought of her friends' and she turned her gaze away from him to find a comfortable spot and settles herself down amongst the root of an old oak. Her eyes lifted toward him as she tried to lay down without falling forward, and her brow furrowed as she caught sight of the smirk that curled on his lips..

"What?." she grumbled irritably, but the look made her skin crawl and she felt her body tense rigid in fear.

 

[Rhist]

"You'll see." Irony was always funny to him.

Rhist knew what he was, had no illusions about the horror of his being. It had been a fact of his life for...well he could not really remember how long. Things didn't exactly come to home easily about his past, not with...his lips thinned.

Head shook slightly. "Get some rest."

One could almost think that he actually cared with a statement like that, though from the tone of his voice it was clear that he did no such thing at all. "Tomorrow will be a busy day."

Oddly enough, he himself made no move to lay down.

 

[Willa]

Willa scowled. He was trying to frighten her and it was working. She was afraid to refuse in case he got inside her mind again, and she hoped by doing as he asked he'd let her rest, at least for a while.

She settled down into as comfortable a position as she could, using her fur collar to make the tree root a little softer for her and she closed her eyes. It took her some time to fall asleep, her eyes opening every so often to see where he was. It wasn't the most relaxing of scenarios.

She managed to sleep for three or four hours before she forced her eyes open again, and she lifted her head to check if he was asleep but it was difficult to see much in the darkness.

 

[Rhist]

Rhist appeared to be asleep.

The clearing was quiet, no fire crackled, no birds moved, even the insects seemed to be silent. No one and nothing moved. The Bandit was leaning up against a tree, sitting down as though a book were in his lap and he was reading it.

When her head moved he did not move, and his eyes were notably closed.

It seemed quiet.

Almost safe.

 

[Willa]

Willa chewed on her lip as she silently considered her options. She hadn't noticed how silent the forest was, but slowly she started to move with the sleekness of a cat retreating from a fight as she tried not to make a single creak.

It took her several minutes to plant her feet into the ground and she quietly rose to stand and she peered around in the darkness, assessing her best route.. Her breaths were visible on the cold night air, but she held in a lungful of air as she lifted her foot in slow motion and made sure there were no twigs or branches in her path before setting it down again. After the third of fourth step she was starting to move a little quicker but just as carefully, glancing at the masked figure every few seconds to make sure he didn't wake.

 

[Rhist]

Twin yellow orbs opened up within the dark of night as Willa took her fifth step. Eyes like those of a cat peered through the darkness, breaking through the abyss of night. A blade flicked free from his belt, slipping into the moon and reflecting it's light for just a brief second.

There was a second, a brief moment.

Then the blade flashed through the air. It spun head over head again and again, reflecting the bare light of the moon as it flew. If Willa did not move, if she did not see it or use her magic, she would find the blade buried deep into the back of her thigh.

No word was said, no warning came.

He had warned her enough.

 

[Willa]

Willa heard the weapon slice through the air and her head whipped around to catch the last glint of moonlight on steel before it slammed into the back of her thigh. A scream tore from her chest and her knees buckled, sending her sprawling onto her stomach to writhe and cry in pain and frustration.

The agony was relentless and her body shook on the needly ground, deep, ragged breaths pulled into her lungs and poured back out with whines and coughs.. She squeezed her eyes tight shut and forced the pain to the back of her mind.

Again the frost came, quicker than it had before, her eyes bleeding milky white as she called forth a gust of freezing wind, flecks of swirling snow crystallising into a blizzard that whipped at him. The frost itself could be heard as it spread across the ground, racing for him, climbing up the trees and causing the rigid leaves to fall, crisp and white as the temperature fell way below freezing.

 

[Rhist]

The cold came again.

A part of him had known that it would, but he had not yet worked out how to properly do...well anything against it. His own magic would not protect against the elements, and the thing waiting for him in the abyss was only too happy to see him die.

He did not want that.

Not yet.

As the frost touched his skin, Rhist clawed at a fist sized rock on the ground. Standing against the whipping winds and suddenly jerking his arm back as he hurled the stone directly at Willa's head.

Not a subtle tactic, but it had worked before.