Private Tales Reckoning

[Emilie]

Her fingers brushed over his jaw as he kissed her and she returned the affection with a soft sigh and a smile against his lips.

She felt the shudder, and then his grip on her tightened. She smirked to herself, wrapping herself around him and nuzzling against his chest. How perfect this would be if it were real life. He was just passing through, and perhaps they'd have each other again before he left, but he would leave and so she'd already been trying her best not to get attached. She wasn't finding it particularly easy any longer.

She huffed the thoughts away and dragged her mind back to now, where they lay naked and entwined and relaxed with pleasure. "Mh..I should get back soon.." she sighed.

 

[Mako]

No you don't. Mako thought to himself, his fingers flexing and gently digging into her rear in rebuke.

His own thoughts were wandering, reminders of reality, of what he had to do. Why he was here.

But he wanted to deny them. Push them away. Mako knew he could never justify that, could never stop it, but that didn't meant he couldn't make this moment last just a bit longer. His other hand threaded free from her hair, thumb drawing slowly down her jaw.

It stroked across her cheek and crossed her lips, silencing her.

His head shook.

An hour. A minute. A few seconds.

That was all he needed. All he required to feel normal. To feel like he didn't need to go back to cutting throat. To feel like he didn't need to kill.

His thumb trailed down her lip, his arm tightened and pulled her on top of himself. Before she could object Mako pulled Emilie into another deep kiss, drawing away the horrors of reality and indulging further into a fantasy that could never be.

 

[Emilie]

He didn't have to ask her twice. She was so damned besotted that she'd lay out here all night if that's what he wanted. Her jaw ached from smiling, and she kissed in answer at his thumb as he shook his head at her. A quiet chuckle escaped her as he rolled her on top of him, and something akin to a purr rumbled in her throat as she surrendered to his kiss.

She wanted to stay, she wanted him to stay with her tonight and to spend the entire day with him tomorrow, just doing this, before he had to leave. A brief romance, like some few pages in a book. Her breath spilled over his lips, fingers pushing his hair back from his face as she studied it up close.. "Spend the night with me.. And tomorrow, I'll tell Marcus I'm sick.." she whispered, stealing another soft kiss.

 

[Mako]

There it was. The small door opening, a step in his mission.

He would rather have forgotten it all together. Would as soon as left it behind without a thought, but he couldn't. The longer it was left the more likely it was other Reckoners would appear. Some were likely already on their way, particularly with how much time had actually passed.

If they came before he could finish this, kill whomever it was Emilie was hiding...then things would be much worse.

They would tear through Emilie, through the whole town If he had to guess. Most of the other Reckoners were not like him. They were practically legends in the underworld. Thieves, killers, murderers, all deadly in their own way.

Mako had to do this. At least that was what he told himself. What he tried to convince himself of.

His head nodded in answer to her. Fingers gently dug into her rear as he scooted her higher up, his fingers trailing over her skin as he took in a deep breath.

Perhaps in her room he'd find another clue. Something he could use.

 

[Emilie]

Time trickled by, though she hardly noticed. One moment she was tangled with him and the sun was up, the next she was tangled with him and it was dark. She had no idea how long they'd spent there, laying on the bank enjoying one another, but as a cold breeze stroked at her back she shivered slightly and pressed a kiss to the inked name on his shoulder.

"Come on, before we freeze." she smirked at him and rolled to reach for her clothes. Her body felt pleasantly sore, and she couldn't help but groan a little as she dressed, a coy grin curling at her lips as she shot him a mock glare, sure she had bite marks and small bruises where his fingers had so desperately dug into her flesh.

She got to her feet to stagger around as she pulled on her boots, and offered her hand.

 

[Mako]

Mako reluctantly reached up and took her hand. The hesitation didn't come because of her of course, but what he knew he would have to do. Internally he sighed, cursing the mark on his back which still itched more than he would have liked. The feeling wouldn't go away until it was done, but it seemed to wear on him more and more as the days went by.

Quickly he drew himself up, offering that easy smile once more as he comically posed for just a brief second before going to gathering his own clothes.

Trousers and shirt were thrown on quickly, boots picked up last. The sword he'd usually carried on his back was slipped into his palm, it's oddly shaped sheath feeling heavier in his hand than it usually did. He cast a glance down at the weapon for a moment, but didn't think anything of it.

Quickly he stepped up behind Emilie as she finds she'd dressing, his hand squeezing her rear.

A cocky grin flickered over his face, and when she turned to look up at him his expression would drop to one of silent innocence.

 

[Emilie]

And like that her cheeks were flushed once more, her teeth latching onto her lower lip to suppress the grin that grew wider as he posed. Her eyes rolled and she shook her head.. "Silly ass." she laughed softly.

She let out a meep of a sound as he grabbed at her, turning to him with a gasp of incredulity and grinning wide at the look of innocence. "Oh so now you think you can just paw at me whenever you want, hm? Last guy who did that to me got his hand forked to a table." she warned playfully, her arms snaking around his neck and teeth tugging at his lower lip as she kissed him.

Perhaps it was a good thing that this wouldn't last, if he hadn't been leaving she doubted she'd be able to concentrate on a day of work again. He was intoxicating. She breathed him in, unable to stop smiling long enough to soothe her aching jaw, and she tugged him along with her, lacing her fingers with his and resting her head on his shoulder. She'd seen sweet couples walking like this and thought it seemed nice, she could pretend for a little while, that her life was still normal.

 

[Mako]

Mako smiled as they moved back through the glade towards the town.

In truth he didn't mind indulging in the little fantasy either. There was hardly a life of pleasantry and peace in store for him once he finished with what he was supposed to do here. Radic was not cruel, not to him at least, but the Red Crow wasn't what anyone would call an ideal life. They were smugglers at best and slavers at worse.

Many would have given anything to avoid that ship, even as part of it's crew.

For Mako it had always been a better alternative than a life lead in the depths of the Bayou. It had been his escape from an abusive mother and a father who saw him as less than dirt. Yet with a snapshot of another life, another peace of what could be more?

It was nice.

Fantasy though it was, Mako did not mind indulging within it.

As they headed back into town he could feel eyes flickering over towards them. Some with raised eyebrows, and more surprisingly some with looks of approval. A few of the more...progressive villagers glad to see Emilie with someone who wasn't pawing at her in a tavern. It wasn't one of them who spoke up though.

"Getting close to strangers, eh? Might wanna try the other two that just came to town."

Mako frowned a moment, his head tilting at the words and his fingers tightening around the sheath of his sword.

 

[Emilie]

Em's brows furrowed in annoyance at the voice and she turned to scowl at the snarling man. Mitch hated women, particularly women who rejected his advances, which put Emilie at the top of his list of most hated women. He had tried his luck until she left a nasty red handprint on his face a fortnight prior and since then he'd been nothing but nasty thanks to his dented pride.

"Maybe I will." she smiled sweetly to the man but her eyes rolled as she looked away. "Just ignore him. He's an ass.." she murmured to Mako with a shrug. She thought nothing of the strangers, she was too busy feeling far more pleasant things that she forgot all about fear.

 

[Mako]

Mako tensed for a second, even as Emilie whispered in his ear.

The idea that someone would insult her in such a way made him scowl. Everything he knew of her, everything he'd learned about her in the last two days object to such a statement. The fact that such a wretch would even suggest the hint of incredulity from her made him want to scream.

Fingers tightened on the hilt of his sword, the blade bared an inch before her touch let the blade fall back into it's scabbard.

He frowned for a brief moment, then looked to her.

For a moment his mind seemed focused on the insult, and then it drew towards the greater implication. Strangers. Foreigners in this tiny town. Lips thinned, and then he glanced at Emilie. He crouched down and scribbled in the dirt.

How often do strangers come to town?​

Radic had taught him from day one, coincidence was key to death. You had to watch out. You had to be careful. Some might have called it paranoia, but Mako couldn't help but feel the paranoia crawl up his spine.

 

[Emilie]

Em glanced down at his hand, hearing the scrape of steel as his blade returned to hilt in it's scabbard. Her brow furrowed, but her lips tugged into a ghost of a smile as it seemed he'd been about to defend her. Still, though she was used to seeing the violence of a city, and by the scar on her neck it might be obvious that she'd had her own taste of it, this wasn't that sort of place.

She'd been about to reassure him that it was fine when he crouched to write something. "I.." she paused, realising in that moment too what had been said, and swiftly reminding herself that she was supposed to be wary of strangers. She'd been too complacent, too caught up in her whirlwind romance that she'd dropped her guard.

"Not often." her head shook. They weren't really on the road to any major cities. She paled slightly and took a step back, looking toward the Inn, and then in the opposite direction toward the workshop. "You should head back." she forced a smile. "I forgot about an errand." she waved her hand and rolled her eyes with a quiet laugh at herself.

 

[Mako]

Radic had never been quiet on coincidence. The man had always taught Mako that there wasn't such a thing. Everything had meaning, everything had a place. Outside of that there was only suspicion and things that were trying to kill you.

Those were the words that stuck in his mind as Emilie spoke of strangers.

Lips thinned for a moment, and he looked up at her with no small amount of concern. His hand reached low to wipe away the writing within the dirt. For a moment he considered, thinking of his response, and then he quickly scribbled.

I thought we were spending the day together?​

As soon as he finished the last word he looked up at her inquisitively.

There was no accusation or anger in the way he looked at her, just simple curiosity. An act. A small play that he was performing. Mako already knew where she was going.

Who She was going to warn.

 

[Emilie]

Her head tilted and she mouthed the words as she read them.. "Yes, we are I just.. I really have to do something first, and then I'll meet you back at The Inn?.." she nodded insistently and bit on her lip as she took a few steps back.

"Sorry, I won't be long." she assured. It was a lie, of course. She had to get her father out of here for a few days, maybe longer, and by then he'd be gone. Her shoulders slumped, but she tried not to look as disappointed as she was that their little fling had come to a premature end.

"I'll see you soon." she smiled and turned to rush away.

 

[Mako]

Mako frowned as he watched Emilie suddenly run off towards the other end of town. Fingers tightened on the sheath of his sword, and he looked around at some of the faces on the street. Most were focused on themselves, but a few glanced up at him in curiosity.

His lips thinned, and a quiet curse passed through his thoughts.

A breath filled his lungs, and then he suddenly stalked off towards the left. He didn't follow Emilie, not directly, but instead headed east first before shifting in direction towards the workshop that she had approached on her night outing.

He thought it was the safest bet to where she was going.

Though of course what he did not know was that two men had already beaten Emilie and himself to that workshop. Two men dressed in black leathers, with faces matching one anothers. Each of them carrying blades, one stepping forward and kicking in the door, marks similar to Mako's carved into their necks.

 

[Emilie]

Em didn't stop running until she skidded to a halt on the path to the workshop, her chest heaving as she stared with dread at the two males just as one kicked the door.

"Hey!" she snapped, hoping to divert their attention and give her father a chance to get out if he hadn't already. Now that she'd yelled however, she had no idea what she was going to do. She cleared her throat and lifted her chin.

"That's my workshop door you're kickin'.. Is there somethin' I can help you with?" she asked with as much conviction as she could muster, her muscles already tightly bound to flee.

 

[Mako]

The two men seemed to turn i unison towards Emilie. One of them raised an eyebrow and glanced at the other, then they both shook their heads in perfect synchronicity.

Without a word the one who had kicked down the door moved into the building, the other remaining behind as his shoulders squared and he stared at Emilie. There was a strength to his features, a hardness born of years of unpleasantness. "Step back, girl."

His voice was a gruff growl.

"Only one man has to die today." He said simply, his brother drawing a knife from his belt as he moved into the workshop.

 

[Emilie]

She felt her face drain of the flushed colour she'd worked up from her run, her breathing suddenly stiff as she watched the second male draw his blade and go inside. She was moving instantly, running toward the workshop, ready to punch, kick, scratch and bite her way passed the brute if she had to.

"No!! Wait!" she screamed, loud enough that her father would hear her. She could only hope that he'd known, that he'd had a chance to get out or at least to hide.

 

[Mako]

The man in front of the door reached out and grabbed after Emilie as soon as she got close.

His hands were fast. The blink of an eye. A viper snatching out after it's prey. He moved to grasp after her throat and simply throw her onto the ground. Her punches landed, connecting to his chest and side, but their impact were as though they struck stone.

He didn't flinch, didn't move. Simply reached and tried to toss her harshly against the ground in one quick movement. "Last warning, lass!"

The man growled as he tried to toss her down.

In the distance Mako circled through the forest, moving as quickly as he could through the wood. He appeared on the corner of the clearing, his amber gaze falling upon the man standing outside the door just as he grasped after Emilie and threw her to the ground.

A call echoed from the door as he arrived.

"EMILIE! Emilie! Are you alright? Who-Who are you? What have you done to my gi-"​

The words died with a loud choking sound.

 

[Emilie]

The man's strength was effortless. Rocks punched at her back, gravel tearing into her skin. She let out a cry as she heard her father's voice call out for her.. "Father RUN, PLEASE!" she begged, rolling to her knees and forcing herself up in another run at the door as she heard his words cut short.

"NO!!! PLEASE STOP!" she screamed, her voice cracking in fear.

 

[Mako]

The man batted Emilie to the side with the back of his hand, smacking her hard enough to send a thunderclap echoing through the clearing.

Just behind the man there was another cry, the sound of her brothers voice as he charged. Then there was a sudden cut off of a scream, a gurgling sound which seemed to breach out into the room. Emilie would hear the horror in her fathers voice.

"S-son? No. No!!!"

The sound of footsteps echoed out as her father either charged or tried to get away, the man looming over Emilie looking down at her. "Well, may as well take care of all three o' yeah. Stop those nasty little revenge plots."

From his belt slipped a knife, and then Mako broke through the trees.

He rushed forward as fast as he could, his scabbard flicking away from him as his sword left the scabbard with a ring. In the blink of an eye he stood over Emilie, his sword catching on the other Reckoners knife.

 

[Emilie]

Her head reeled, the weight of the man's hand striking her so hard was dizzying and she had to blink hard to rid her vision of dark spots. Still she tried to crawl toward the door, stopping to scream as she heard what she knew could only be her younger brother's death.

"Simon!!!" her voice broke and she let out a lamenting cry, her fingers curling into the dirt. She couldn't do anything but collapse and cry, even as she heard that she would be next, there was little she could do to stop him.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry..." she was whispering frantically. She felt the man standing over her and her eyes closed tightly as she trembled in the dirt, waiting to die. The sound of clashing steel caused her to flinch and her eyes to open wide as she looked up at Mako, a shuddered breath tumbling from her lips as she tried again to crawl to the door and get to her father.

 

[Mako]

The man was fucking good.

Mako was barely able to keep up with him. Their blades flicked left, right, low, high. It was all the rogue could do to keep up with him. His thin blade bounded up and down, sparks flying as their clashed outside the little hut.

He didn't even have time to follow Emilie, to notice that she was crawling into the one place she shouldn't have been going.

Bounding step backwards lead himself and his foe into the midst of the clearing, both of them covered in a thin sheen of sweat. The twin was about to open his mouth to speak, but Mako didn't give him the chance. He rushed forward, his blade darting in attack.

The two of them clashed once more, and this time Mako was quicker. From his sleeve darted a knife, pulling free and cutting forward towards the man's throat as his sword held the man's blade.

Yet he stopped.

In the midst of his slice the blade halted, hesitation drawing over him as he noticed the mark on the man's throat. Reckoner.

Mako thought with dread, the hesitation being met with the man's forehead slamming into his face and throwing him to the ground.

 

[Emilie]

Em struggled to her feet and stumbled inside the workshop, her hand covering her mouth at the sight of her brother laying face-down, blood pooling from his body. She didn't have much time to let it sink in as a clatter dragged her back into the room, her attention snapping toward the two men grappling over a blade.

The man was a good foot taller than her father, but the older man still had strength in him to hold him off for a short time, but Em knew he stood little chance of surviving him alone. She didn't have to look far inside the workshop to find some sort of weapon, and she rushed to lift the wood cutter's axe from her father's desk and turned back without a moment's thought, and cleaved the axe into the man's skull with a sickening crack and a spattering of blood.

 

[Mako]

Mako didn't hear the crunch, didn't see the blood spilled, but he felt the itch roll over the mark on the center of his back.

No. The thought reached through his mind as he realized what it meant. The only thing that it could mean. Lips thinned, and the man that had bashed him in his face suddenly turned with a violet scowl on his face.

Mako tried to lash out, tried to grab him, but it was too late.

The twin rushed forward, knife spinning in his hand as he broke into a sprint and rushed into the door of the little workshop. His eyes darted between Emilie, the corpse now sprawled on the floor, and the man who should have been dead. "You little bitch."

He said as he rushed forward.

Outside the cabin Mako began to slowly pull himself to his feet, dragging himself up and stumbling towards the workshop on unsteady feet.

 

[Emilie]

Em flinched at the spray of hot blood across her face, her hands letting go of the axe in shock as she stumbled backwards and caught herself against the workbench, staring wide-eyed as the corpse crumbled like sand into a twitching heap on the sawdust floor. Her father went to Simon, rolling the teen onto his back.

Her father's voice was a muffle to her as he spoke to his son. She didn't dare look, she was frozen, her breathing laboured and her body shaking as though a sudden fever had gripped her.

You little bitch.

She didn't move quick enough, her feet too heavy to lift. The male's hand lashed out at her throat, gripping it tightly and slamming her into a wall of tools, squeezing hard as she squirmed and kicked in his grasp. She could see the hate in his eyes and she knew that he and the man she'd killed were siblings. Twins, more likely. At least she understood his rage.

Her nails tore into his wrist, but nothing was working and her vision was blurring, her kicks growing weaker. She reached her hand to the wall, grabbing at whatever she could, tools clattering to the ground in her panic until she finally found grip on something and aimed it at his eye.