Private Tales Foosty Gobshytes

[Riley]

"Kaius!"

Fingers dug into the mane of her black horse. Teeth grit in her mouth. Trees and branches whipped past their faces. Charcoal hair flew wildly behind her. Kaius had proven he certainly knew how to irk her. Sometimes even more than Arwyl.

But the elven man had the NERVE to grab HER horse's reins and lead them AWAY from the small patrol of Anirian soldiers.

Hazels narrowed on his back as if she could burn holes into it as he continued to ride, dragging them further away.

"Kaius, there weren't that many. We coulda taken them! Stop. Stop."

Foosty gobshyte.

She was going to smack that beard right off his face as soon as they stopped. As soon as he let the reins of her horse go. Just because he thought he was in charge on this little mission didn't mean he was.

 

[Kaius]

Humans.

Rileys...

Her name was quite perfect for her, there hadn't been a day that had gone by that she hadn't riled him. The girl had a fucking death wish, and as much as she would likely deny it, she had much more in common with Arwyl than she thought. Ready and eager to dive head first into trouble at the first sight of it. Sure and over zealous. They'd be the death of him, they'd make sure of it some day.

"Hush." he snapped with a glance over his shoulder at the woman as she yelled his name, his jaw clenched irritably and he muttered to himself as he navigated his stallion through the thick wood. And still she complained and Kaius tightened his grip on their reins until his knuckles paled but managed to bite back his words.

They came to a stream and a clearing and both horses pulled up next to one another and he turned to her with an expression of exasperation. "Riley we're not out hunting the fucking Anirians. I'd like to avoid killing people or being killed for one day - we need to find a safe path through the border and that's what we're going to do." he frowned at her with a huff.

 

[Riley]

Riley was very much like a mayfly. She burned bright, hot, and fast. But her life compared to the rebels she joined? Short. A short, bright, hot, and fast life. She wished she could yell at Kaius that he didn't understand. But she knew he did. Since her time with the elves, she knew they'd lost a lot at the hands of the Anirians.

Just like she had.

At the hands of her own people.

Hazels with flecks of amber and greens glared at her companion. "And you don't think camp coulda used their weapons and food? Do you think they'd give us a chance? Do you think they'd want to have one day without killing us?" Face scowled, olive-skin pinching on her brows.

The hooves of their horses splashed across the small stream as they crossed.

"Take yer fukin time at letting go of my reins, Kaius."

 

[Kaius]

"Aye." he answered sharply. "They could have. But there were ten of them and there are two of us. All it takes is one decent shot.. I hope for everyone's sake you start using that pretty head of yours someday." Kaius huffed. It wasn't like him to speak to her that way, he tried his best to be respectful, he'd always been diplomatic and his manners had been, of course, fit for royalty. But his temper had flared as the woman had almost led them straight into a fight, putting not only her own life but his life at risk in the process.

"You can't be trusted not to rush head first into the jaws of Vel Anir." he frowned and tugged her reins firmly in protest. "We'll camp here. There's not enough daylight left to reach camp by nightfall." the elf grumbled and slipped from the horse's back after they'd crossed the stream.

 

[Riley]

Harumph.

Eyes narrowed on him further.

Wait...pretty?

She blinked.

The slip of the word did nothing to douse the fire already welled up within her. Clenched knuckles slowly unwound from the horse's mane and she dismounted, boots hitting the grass of the small clearing with a light crunch. Turning her back to Kaius, she began rummaging around in the saddlebags, preparing for camp.

A quick glance over her shoulder at him when he wasn't looking.

"Do you not think I can handle myself?"
Am I not enough? Do you not trust me?

She dug out her bedroll and some cookware, unspoken insecurities deeply beneath her voiced question.

 

[Kaius]

Kaius sighed at her question as he unsaddled his horse, pausing for a brief moment of thought before glancing over his shoulder at her when she wasn't looking.

"You've proved that you can handle yourself well, Riley. I don't doubt it. But you've no fear." he growled quietly and threw out his bed roll and blanket. "Fear is just as effective at keeping us alive as our abilities with weapons and magic." he told her quietly and rubbed at the back of his neck with both hands as he turned back to her with another deep sigh..

"It's a full time job trying to stop Arwyl from making impulsive decisions as it is, lass. You need to think of the cost of your magic, weigh it up, think about it first. You're a smart lass, but a stupid decision will get you killed." he frowned gently at her and started preparing their camp for the night.

 

[Riley]

No fear.

Perhaps that was the fault of the academy. She'd been pushed there since she was snatched away from home around the age of ten. Only the strong survived. Only the clever. Only the ones who proved they could keep up with their magic and battle skills. Visiting the med-tent was always more of a punishment that a relief.

She'd never been able to trust anyone before. Anyone to have her back until she'd met Arwyl, Kaius, and Riz. And it would take her a long time to get used to the idea. Even listening to Kaius now showed growth in the young woman. Even if she was listening with clenched teeth and a roll of her eyes.

"I've been almost killed for less," she grumbled quietly and dropped her bedroll and blanket in a pile on the field. "At least I'll be going out on my own shitgoblin terms. But," she inhaled sharply and looked back at those verdant eyes of his. "I'll try to fukin make your job easier on this trip."

She said she'd try.

Leaving her things in a messy pile, she began walking the small area to gather wood for fire. "Y'know. You don't look at me like Arwyl does. Like the others. Not that I blame them."

She was a human among elves and orcs. Folk that had been severely mistreated by her kind. Of course they looked at her with suspicion and many with hatred in their eyes. She heard the insults whispered beneath their breath as she walked among camp. Riley was used to that kind of treatment from her fellow students at the Academy, so it didn't bother her much.

"Why is that?"

 

[Kaius]

He couldn't help but smirk at those words she said, he didn't know what they meant, he spoke her language fluently and yet she always seemed to throw some new words in there that he'd never heard, and yet he simply knew they were foul or offensive in some way just by the way in which she spoke them. His head shook and he laughed under his breath.. "Well, thank you... I appreciate that." he rumbled, ridding himself of his weapons and rolling his shoulders in effort to rid the tension of the day.

Kaius frowned at her words, his jaw clenching slightly as he thought on his answer.. "Well.. You don't look at me the way other humans do.. Why is that?.." he shrugged his shoulder and with his back to her, curled his fingers under the hem of his shirt to lift it off over his head, his olive skin decorated with scores of silvery lash scars. He tossed the shirt aside and knelt by the stream to wash his face and neck as thoughts continued to race through his mind..

"Humans destroyed our lives. I was in the service of Arwyl's parents.. I loved his mother very much. Our home, Arwyl's home was destroyed and barely any were left alive. His mother wanted Arwyl to rebuild, she charged me to protect him. He's so hell bent on a revenge that he'll never get that I wonder if he'll ever be who he was supposed to be. Hate consumes people.. I just.. Don't want to be like them.." he frowned and sat himself down to watch the water flow by..

 

[Riley]

A quip was on the tip of her tongue as he parroted her own question back. But she managed to swallow it down in order to listen. That and when he stripped off his shirt, she was too busy checking out his muscled back. Olive skin much like her own.

FIREWOOD RILEY.

She stooped down to swing up another piece to her bundle. And another. Unlike Kaius, she kept her daggers on her belt. She could understand Arwyl - completely and in a strange way. Whereas Kaius, she admired because she didn't think she could ever be like him.

"You two - your people have lost a lot," hazels with flecks of burnt yellows mixed with greens and browns flickered to the elf. She wanted to apologize on behalf of humans but figured it would fall far flat. Instead, she answered his question as she knelt down in the meadow, arranging the wood.

"You can thank my mother for why I look at elves differently. There were refugees outside the town I grew up in. We bordered the coast and the Falwood. She'd sneak out at night and we'd try to help. She wasn't always like that. Maybe because they took my brother first."

A small quirk of her lips.

"That and you're hot." Hard to tell if she was joking. With a whisper of magic, the kindling caught on fire.

 

[Kaius]

His eyes remained on the tumbling stream as he listened to her speak. He'd always found the sound of water soothing, his ears were so sensitive to everything that it seemed to drown everything else out and offered him some peace for a while. But right now he focused on her voice, as she expressed some semblance of understanding for their plight, as she spoke of her mother and brother, as she opened up a little.

Hot?..

Kaius wasn't moving in the first place and still he felt himself freeze. After a moment he looked over his shoulder at her. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt his skin warm the way it was right now, nor was he ever short for words and yet they stuck in his throat as he tried to speak. Whatever the spell, it lasted a long moment before he finally cleared his throat with a smirk at her and looked back to the stream for solace.

"Now you really are playing with fire, lass.." he mused aloud and scooped up a handful of pebbles to throw them one by one against the current. "Flirting with the enemy is a dangerous game." he commented, and yet he couldn't stop the grin he wore bleeding into his voice.. "You are quite hot, yourself, Sparky." he rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly..

 

[Riley]

"Sparky," a derisive snort. "You know me," she poked at the wood, shifting them to fan the flames. "Don't like to play it safe." Her smirk widened and head shook, her mop of charcoal hair flopping about.

"And 'course I'm hot. I'm next to the fire, you smoky giant." She sat back on her heels as her gaze tore away from Kaius and back to the flickering flames. "Still," she huffed. "I didn't realize you thought dirt-smudged vagrant rebels were so attractive."

The upward curl along one corner of her mouth remained.

What the hell was she doing?

"You gonna catch some fish for dinner?"

 

[Kaius]

Kaius suppressed a smirk at her obvious displeasure over the nickname. She was a spark. But with her it was endearing, most of the time, and he was well aware of how much the name irked her and she only ever proved herself worthy of it when she reacted to it. Well, it amused him at least.

"No.. You don't, do you?.." he muttered as fingers kneaded into the back of his neck and shoulders. He really had to stop being so tense, but when every minute could be his last thanks to the company he kept, it was difficult not to be. He could've left years ago, found a peaceful piece of land of his own, had a decent night's sleep for once. But Kaius was a man of his word, sadly, and this was his life - a fact he'd long ago accepted, and still he held hope that Arwyl would one day see sense and that he'd be alive to see it.

"Smoky giant?..." Kaius' brow rose and he shifted to look at her with a mixture of amusement and confusion, a way he found himself looking at her often. Kaius couldn't be sure if she was flirting with him or insulting him, but she was never dull, he'd give her that. He felt his skin heat a little as he watched her at the fire for a moment. The woman was undoubtedly attractive, he wasn't blind, but he gave no more than an awkward laugh under his breath as his answer and got to his feet.

"No.. Too much bother and not enough meat." he smirked, and lifted his bow. "I'm sure I can find us something a little more satisfying." he looked down at her and offered his hand to help her up.. "Do you hunt?.."

Change the subject, Kaius, good job..

 

[Riley]

Oh shite. Was he going to leave his shirt off the rest of the night? Eyes up Riley.

She took his hand and much like her own, it was calloused. Warm. But as soon as she was on her feet, she didn't let it linger. Gaze actively tugged away from his bearded face and went to the encircling treeline.

"Yes. Usually the smaller stuff."

Most of the time she'd hunt on assignments or when they were thrown into the wilderness to go against the beasts of the wild as well as fellow students. Killing larger creatures always seemed like a waste of meat if it had been just her. And she didn't want to think about how easily it had been for the students of her class to kill each other.

She didn't have a bow, though. She hadn't found another since fleeing the Academy. She'd managed to pick up the daggers she had now on some of their previous raids.

"Been awhile since I held a bow, though." She walked with him toward the wood. "Maybe the only thing I miss from the Academy. The weapons were always choice."

A sideways glance at the elf.

"But am I in the presence of greatness? Could you hit a squirrel in the eye?"

 

[Kaius]

"Good.." he smirked down at her.. "The smaller stuff are hardest to catch.." he gave a husky laugh as he followed her through the thicket, and when she mentioned a bow he paused and lifted his over his shoulder and handed it out toward her.

"Oh, here.. Just, be careful. She's been with me for a very long time." he laughed under his breath. The bow was obviously elven made for someone far more wealthy than he'd ever been. It's upper and lower limbs were smooth dark oak, carved with elven design and the grip was solid silver with elven inscription.

He couldn't help but grin at her questions and his brows rose.. "Perhaps you are.. But luckily for you, I'm humble.." he winked, but his expression paused for a moment and he asked her seriously.. "Why?..Where would you shoot a squirrel?.."

 

[Riley]

Dark brows raised on olive skin. Hand brushed against his as she took the bow. Surprise flecked across her features at the weight. So light.

"It's beautiful," she whispered. Hazels squinted at the writing. "What does it say?"

She could understand spoken elven. Something she hadn't told any of them yet. She preferred to hear what Arwyl really thought of her, though often, he shared that just fine in human. But she couldn't read it. At least, not fluidly.

"And the eye," she answered just as seriously. It was quick and humane, killing the squirrel instantly with a shot through the head and it didn't ruin the rest of the meat. "Sometimes the back of the head or between the shoulders where the heart is." Just as quick of a death even though it ruined the meat a bit more.

"Okay Mister Humble, you gonna hand over an arrow?"

 

[Kaius]

Kaius' cheeks dimpled as she appreciated the bow. He was precious about it, it'd been a gift, and to allow anyone else to hold it let alone shoot it wasn't like him. His eyes were every hue of the forest, rimmed cooly with dark moss, and they hadn't failed to notice hers, a melt of autumn tones fending off a winter's frost. For a selfish moment of quiet he let himself willingly drown in them.

After a while he answered her question, and spoke in elven first, his words tumbling out gentle and proud.. "It means, every man is the guardian of his own honour.." his gaze narrowed and he dropped it to look at the bow in her hands, his jaw clenching slightly.

He huffed out a quiet laugh at her and took off his quiver to loop it around her shoulder. "There.. I'll trust you can catch us something decent then." he smirked and stepped back with a gesture for her to lead the way..

 

[Riley]

The rhythm of his voice made her still. And the way he spoke the words in his tongue. And after, so sure, firm, but also soft.

Oh, fuk it, she was in a lot of trouble.

"I've never heard anything like that," she admitted," And I hope so." She felt his eyes on her. And it was hard to look away from his verdants. No one had ever looked at her like that. It made her nervous, scared, hopeful, and dangerous all wrapped up into a tight foosty bundle.

"Else my stomach grumbling will be keeping us up all night."

Easy to fall back to her roguish grin. Keeping things light. Not think too hard on what she was feeling. She moved quietly and surely through the wood. Footsteps tried to stay quiet. Picking the soft spots of the earth to walk. Eyes darted along branches and the ground. She didn't think she'd ever be able to walk as light-footed as an elf though.

Several squirrels.

But Riley was hoping for something a little bit more.

There was a small flap and flutter of wings. Bow was raised, her fingers gripped the bow carefully. Other arm drew back an arrow. With a steady exhale, she released the arrow at a pheasant hopping along the forest floor. She'd never held this bow before. It had a different weight to it. She'd used countless bows at the academy and been fine.

This time?

The arrow whooshed and missed the startled pheasant, burying itself into a trunk just behind.

"Rat bastard," she breathed.

She never goddamned missed.

 

[Kaius]

He smiled and huffed out a laugh, letting his gaze fall away from hers as he spoke.. "It was supposed to be something of a reminder, in a time when I believed I'd forever lost my honour. I was given a way to regain it." he answered and rubbed at the back of his neck as he lifted his eyes back to her face and gave a grin and a subtle wink..

"Lets go then.. You have enough to grumble about.."

Kaius was quiet and careful, and he was more than impressed by how quiet she too could be for a human, they were usually such clumsy people he could hear trundling through the forest from a mile off. But Riley was light, agile, and he wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't be able to sneak up on even him.

His eyes found the pheasant that she was aiming for and he watched as she drew, fired and missed. He winced.. "Mmm.. Tree.." he teased with a quiet, husky laugh and kept moving. There were two more pheasants in a small clearing, and Kaius turned to her..

"Take your time. It'll be lighter than what you're used to, and shaped differently.." he moved around her, waiting for her to nock an arrow so that he could gently guide her elbow up a little higher and straighten her bow arm and then, more hesitantly, he placed his hands on her sides to straighten her gait..

What the fuck are you doing, Kaius?

"Let the feather brush your cheek, and loosen your grip on the bow just a little.." he whispered by her ear and glanced at her as he tilted her aim on one of the pheasants before stepping back silently.

 

[Riley]

She wondered what Kaius could've done to have come close to losing his honor. Riley had known him a short time but since they'd met he'd shown nothing but it. And very possibly because of his honor, she wasn't rotting in some mass Anirian grave for traitors right now. Or being tortured by the proctors.

She had to shuffle that thought away as he stepped in behind her.

A light touch on her elbow.

A warmer touch on her sides.

His voice cascading down her neck.

Nine levels of hell.

She was missing because of all these things. Still. It was hard for her to swallow down a jerk reaction. A bristling at help. A prideful indignation.

"I hope you know I don't just let anyone help me," she grumbled lightly. Hazels remaining on her target as the erratic beat of her heart betrayed her. She just hoped elves didn't have super sonic hearing. Exhaling slowly, shaft of the arrow pressing lightly against the corner of her lips, she released.

The pheasant was killed instantly , a few feathers bursting into the air as it hit the forest floor. The other one quickly squawked off. Riley decided they just needed one.

Bow lowered and she turned to Kaius, holding out her hand to offer it back as well as the quiver. Sure she could've used magic to reach out and snap a pheasant's neck. But that magic always took a bit more energy, more of a cost out of her. And she liked hunting. She enjoyed using a bow.

"Don't tell Arwyl about this or I'll never hear the end of it." That uppity pissant would rub it in her face for a very long time.

'don't miss Riley.'

 

[Kaius]

He could hear it. The frantic thrum of her heart a contrasting ambient for the calm and assured tone of her voice. His own pulse piqued as though the condition was contagious and he frowned at himself , his arms folding as he watched her and thought on her words.. He thought of making some light-hearted quip about how lucky he was but instead he offered only silence and allowed her to concentrate.

His lips twitched into a smile as the arrow hit home and he conjured the taste of pheasant in his mind causing his stomach to give an agony pang in protest. "There you go.." he grinned in amusement at her as he gratefully took the bow back and pulled it over his shoulder and across his back. "Nice shot. We'll eat well." he smiled at her with a nod of approval.

Kaius' grin widened with her request and he laughed with a nod in reassurance.. "Not a word. So long as you don't tell him you used my bow.." he smirked. He'd only assume something was going on and pester him about it, he really didn't want the grief. His throat cleared as he realised that his eyes were once again lingering a little too long on her face and he turned himself away to retrieve the pheasant. He picked the bird up by it's legs and jerked his chin toward the direction of their camp.

"Let's go, Sparky."

 

[Riley]

A snort through her nose.

"You have a deal." Eyes rolled lightly at the nickname but the smallest of smiles twitched on the corners of her lips. She walked alongside the elf, noting that she had to walk slightly faster to keep up.

As easily as his eyes got lost in hers, she couldn't help but look back.

And the man still had his goddamned shirt off. And she had a hard time looking away from the ripple, rise, and fall of his muscles. Scars that told a novel of his life that she found herself wanting to read the pages to. A life, she assumed, long lived before hers.

"How did you end up in the service of Arwyl's family?" Riley had never heard the full story and she was curious. Ahead, she could see their campfire through the trees and the quiet meadow that would make a resting spot for them for the night. The horses lazily nibbled at the grass and wildflowers.

 

[Kaius]

Kaius looked down at her as he walked, his brow knitting in a gentle frown at her question. It wasn't something he enjoyed talking about, he'd managed to develop a far better reputation for himself and preferred to leave the old version well in the past.. He hoped she wouldn't judge him as he judged himself.

"I was their prisoner, a long time ago when Arwyl's grandmother and grandfather ruled.." he started with a quiet sigh. "I came from a much different background. I was a thief and a cut throat, I fell in with a rough crowd when I was younger and I was so good at it that soon I lead them, but in truth I worked for my father. He wasn't a kind man, he threw me into the pits a lot and rather than fighting for my life like that I took up thievery to make his coin instead.. Cowardly, but my father didn't care as long as the coin was coming in." Kaius frowned and his jaw clenched.

"One night I was badly injured when a heist went wrong.." he tapped on a thick scar on his chest.. "They left me there. I suppose they thought I'd die anyway, we weren't the most honourable of friends.. But guards seized me and threw me into one of the palace dungeons. I'd been causing them trouble for quite some time." he muttered and sat himself down in the tree root as they reached their camp, and started plucking at the bird's feathers rather than look at Riley as he spoke..

"I was healed, flogged for my crimes and awaited my trial.. The princess, Arwyl's mother used to visit me there. She was a little rebellious I suppose, but kind, she took pity on me and made sure I was well fed." Kaius laughed under his breath. "I'll never know why she pitied me." he muttered more to himself and shook his head.

"But she begged her parents to spare my life, convinced them I deserved a second chance, that I'd had no other choice, that I could be a better man. She gave me my life. I trained with their army, and I became so good that I lead them too, for a time... When Arwyl was born I was entrusted with being his mentor, to protect him at all costs and keep him on the right path.." he shook his head, deciding to leave out a large chunk of history..

"Some job I'm doing with that."

 

[Riley]

Riley knew elves far outlived humans.

And she wondered how Kaius saw her. As nothing more than a wildflower in a field. One day thriving and the next plucked away by a gust of wind?

And she had no idea how long Arwyl had already been alive. How long Kaius had lead the army. When Kaius had been the man before the princess changed his life. Perhaps before her parent's parents. Perhaps before Vel Anir became the way it was and such a superpower and war machine.

She listened quietly, hazels flickering to the scar he motioned to on his chest. Eyes lingered a little too long. A series of emotions rippled across her face as she looked down at the elf.

She had her own demons from a much more recent past. She'd done monstrous things for the Academy. She'd always told herself she didn't have a choice. Even after she'd faced the punishments for initially resisting.

She was a coward.

She could understand the self-loathing all too well.

She took a knee to the dirt in front of him. "Kaius," she began and repeated his name again until he looked up. Olive and dirt smudged, calloused fingers reaching out to firmly still his hand at plucking off those feathers. "Arwyl is lucky to have you and I think...he knows it too. When you passed out...when we first met. Arwyl was scared. Determined to make sure we weren't found. For shite's sake, I thought the three of you were lovers at first."

A cracked lopsided grin on her face. Awkward rub of her other hand at the back of her neck, through charcoal hair. "But as much as he's a pain in the ass, I can tell he respects you a lot. Maybe not always with his words. But he does."

 

[Kaius]

Kaius didn't want to look up as she spoke his name, there was too much shame in his eyes that he'd rather avoid her gaze entirely, but as she repeated herself and gripped his hand with hers, he glanced down at it and reluctantly lifted his eyes to meet her own..

Her words caused his brow to furrow gently. Kaius had known Arwyl for the young elf's entire life, he'd watched him grow, raised him as much as his own parents had he'd loved the boy like a son. He was just so terrified of losing him that their relationship was at times strained, for Kaius was his mentor but Arwyl was also a Prince, a leader whom Kaius still took rule from, there to protect and defend him and take orders where he must.

Kaius couldn't help but laugh at her initial impression about the three and he dropped his gaze again to rub at his brow with the back of his wrist.. "Well, that is certainly not the impression I'd have hoped for.." he grinned and shook his head. "Though I suppose, the bickering like a married couple might have given you that idea.." his nose wrinkled.

He glanced up at her again as she spoke more seriously.. Riley was an enigma. As stubborn and quick tempered as a child at times and yet, as she spoke he saw maturity, wisdom and compassion. She amused him, and Kaius was not generally one to be amused by people, he was much too serious for that. The little spark, it seemed, had warmed him a little.

Stop staring.. He huffed silently and lowered his attention toward the pheasant and continued plucking as he cleared his throat.. "Thank you.. I hope he does. He doesn't always appreciate my advice, but he needs to understand that I try to guide him as best I can and that what matters most is his safety. But that is where you are both alike.." he smirked to himself and glanced up briefly..

 

[Riley]

She squeezed his hand and quickly let go, as if afraid of getting burned. Standing, she turned to check on the fire, adding some wood. Re-building it.

"I think I understand," she finally said. Voice quiet and barely carrying over above the crackling fire. She didn't know what it was like to have someone else care about your safety and just because they cared. Actually cared. The proctors never cared. They only wanted the strong to survive to use them within the Vel Anir machine. Her own parents gave her up easily for gold.

She assumed if she ever met her dreadlord brother, Talus, he'd be the same.

It was a strange feeling.

"Are you saying I don't always appreciate your advice?" A quick crooked smile his way as the flames licked up toward the sky. A light, mock sniff.