Private Tales Something Amiss

[Saul Talith]

Saul glanced at the wound in his side for a moment, noting the stitches. He'd had worse, far worse. The myriad of scars that decorated his body were a testimony to the things that he'd been through in his lifetime.

Most would have thought he was some sort of slave, a man who endured punishment not because he chose to; but because he was forced. His lips thinned for a moment, and then broke into a smile. "Think so?"

He mused.

"I don't scar easily." Not anymore. Not after a lifetime of enduring the evil Arethil had to offer.

 

[Kaska]

She raised a brow, rocking seamlessly onto her knees and walking a step forward on her already extended hands.

"Well I guess I'll just have to fix that." She launched at him, cards scattering every which way as their bodies collided and her long limbs immediately snaked out to wrap around his and pin him down.

 

[Saul Talith]

There were few things in this world that truly surprised him. He'd always had a good eye for things coming around the other side of the corner.

Whether it was friend or foe, a crossbow bolt or a sword, Saul had almost always seen things coming.

This? This was somewhat of a surprise to be sure. There had been a certain level of attraction, he wouldn't have denied this...but the woman jumped him like a ravenous animal who had spotted a bleeding side of beef sprawled on the opposite side of the road. His face colored in shock as she pounced on him, his eyes bulging.

Her found her legs almost instantly tangled with his, her hands wrapped around his wrists.

She wasn't stronger, but...the shock of the moment had him stunned.

 

[Kaska]

Her hand went right to his side, shoving off the tunic and ripping off the once gently applied bandage. She felt his body already coiling, tensing, moments away from bucking as understanding entered him. And with one fellow motion, she pressed her whole palm into the slash, breaking the stitches and reopening the cutt.

It was an utterly dangerous thing for any warrior to do to another. But for a ranger to pull over a templar?

She operated in the moment, shutting him up with an abrupt, heavy kiss.

He distracted with words. She with her body.

The pressure on his side remained firm but not insistent, the damage done. The area just now kept under her control.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul let out a hiss, the pain shooting up his side in a near instant.

He hadn't expected her to pounce on him, and this? This even less so. Saul couldn't help but flinch as he felt her fingers literally dig into his side, the wound splitting open and blood almost immediately bursting from it. Another hiss, and then instinct finally kicked in.

Muscles flexed, hands freed themselves from her grasp.

Saul wasn't the strongest of them, but he was more than a match for a girl a head smaller than him. Calloused hands shot down, one grasping the palm at his side and the other immediately grasping at her throat. He lifted her, pulling her up off him and pushing her to the side.

In an instant he reversed their course, pushing her onto her back and into the dirt.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska felt the world move around her, her breath escaping her in a huff as she was slammed to her back. Breaths in were hard to gain, the hand at her throat every bit as strong and powerful as Thier.

Oh Thier... of all the wrong times to think of you...

Her free hand slid up the arm at her neck, clawing for purchase on his tunic as a real sense of danger flashed through her. Her fingers broke through his hair, finding purchase at the roots and gripping tight.

She yanked his head sharply towards hers, dispersing the tension with another attempt of distracting him with her lips.

Oh yes. The attraction was there. Interesting.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul kissed her, but the iron grip on her throat did not release. It was his sword hand, trained, practiced to hold on to his only weapon with a grasp of steel. There was no amount of clawing, no amount of searching that would remove any of the digits from her neck.

He could kill her.

Tear her to pieces for what she'd done. The thought flashed through his mind for the briefest second even as their lips pressed against one another. He could feel the blood sliding down his side, he could feel his heart thundering down in his chest. His fingers tightened, pressed.

Then slowly stopped.

It was enough, just enough to let her breath.

Just enough not to snap her neck.

 

[Kaska]

She gasped in the air against his lips, her grip growing loose as the rush of oxygen brought a wave of euphoria with it. Or perhaps that was just relief.

She hummed in smug pleasure, letting herself spiral out under that hands that could kill her. But didn't. Yet.

Her head cleared. Her grip on his hair turned fierce. Her lips reengaged with his, her fingers curling tighter over their spot on his side, urging him forward.

 

[Saul Talith]

"Succinct." Saul commented as he found himself flopping onto the Forest Floor. His lips thinned for a moment, a rush of cool air suddenly flowing through the clearing within the forest.

This had all been rather...unexpected.

A frown touched his lips for a second as the cold air reminded him of slick blood that was still sliding down his side, coating the wound found there and more now. The tunic he'd been wearing was tossed to the side, luckily unstained by the blood of his wound. The Templar tilted his head back, taking in deep, ragged breaths.

"I think I'll need stitches." He said with a frown, fingering the wound. "...Again."

Perhaps not what she would want to hear at the moment, but with the rush of endorphins and the heat of their passion fading the pain from the wound in his side was now practically screaming.

A wound she had opened.

 

[Kaska]

A grin caught on her lips, multi-layered satisfaction filling her.

"Hm," was all she said, not entirely sure she wanted to patch him up again. She wanted him to scar. At the very least, she wanted to force him to crawl back to his buddies and admit to all of this just to get properly patched up. Just like the marks of control they had left over each other's bodies, this was another thread for her to dangle over him.

"Do you think they heard?" She rasped, the bruises already forming over her throat and wrists. How she was going to hide this from public eyes, she wasn't entirely sure. His neck, too, was left marred. And the skin and blood from his back sat under her nails.

She tilted her head towards her clothing, realizing she had heard something tore before...

 

[Saul Talith]

He shook his head. "Did they need to?"

Saul's mind was much the same as hers. He doubted very much that any of the men back in the clearing heard this particular set of...antics, but they would only need to take one look at either of them to guess at what had happened.

There would no doubt be ribbing, jesting.

Not something the Templar really looked forward to in truth. He frowned for a brief moment, wondering if she would get in trouble for this sort of thing if it got back to her superiors. The Lord Commander would likely chide him for it, but there wasn't any rule against it. Not that he knew anyway.

He supposed it didn't matter. He would own it either way.

 

[Kaska]

Her smile faltered, her head settling back onto her shoulders as his statement brought with it a slap of reality.

"...No," she answered quietly, no less troubled as she sat up. Aw, fuck. When Lia finds out about this... the night before a big day. How could she let herself digress like this? One glance at the whisky bottle had her knocking it away in frustration.

She surveyed her body, her old tension entering her shoulders again. They were a mess of blood and sweat, dirt sticking to their limbs. "A bath. We need to bathe. The cold might drive the bruising away. I'll see to your side after." She coughed, trying to clear her throat of its aching rasp.

His hands had been... she shook her head, dismissing the thought. "Have you seen a stream?"

 

[Saul Talith]

He blinked at her. "You realize that we came here on a River, yes?"

His voice was clearly teasing, though he seemed somewhat bemused.

"They're sort of like streams, but larger." The Sayve was of course a fresh water river, supplied by the run off from a dozen different mountains that lined each side of the flowing water. Once it had been used as a bulwark of war, now it was mostly trade.

Slowly the Templar pushed himself off the ground.

"Come on." He offered her a hand. "We'll walk down river a bit and wash off there."

Away from prying eyes.

 

[Kaska]

She hesitated, eyeing the hand for a moment. But he was not her enemy here. What had occurred was mildly confusing, and no doubt complicated for both parties. But it had been mutual, if not entirely intended.

Then again, had she meant for that to happen? She wondered to herself as she took his hand. She had kissed him.

Yeah but to save her neck.

She wouldn't have had to do that though if she had left his side alone. What was that about?

She didn't know.

It wasn't the first time she had done something without thought and ... it likely wouldn't be the last. She glanced up at him, the frown reaching the furrows of her eyebrows. What relaxed calm had he just witness had melted away, the woman speaking in her usual stiffness up at him. "...I feel like I should formally apologize."

She had just fucked up a Templar Commander. The internal groan was real.

 

[Saul Talith]

"Don't worry about it." Saul waved at her dismissively, apparently not interested in the conversation she was angling for. The wound in his side ached, there were a few other bruises on his skin thanks to her, but he'd experienced worse. A lot worst.

"It'll heal." His finger gently probed the wound. "Not well, but it will heal."

They had no proper medic out here unfortunately, but that was something he'd just have to deal with. Infection was his only real concern, that and the thought that the Lich might be capable of blood magic. From what Kaska had described he somewhat doubted it but...well one never knew.

His head shaking, Saul turned away from her and scooped up his clothes. "Come on."

They'd have to find a safe way down to the river.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska scowled down at her clothing and picked it up, her footsteps light and bare as she scattered after him. "I know a rune that will help," she told him, following up on his side. "Prevent infection, that is." She told him, her thoughts following his.

"Mind you even if I had something more powerful up my sleeves, I'm rather disinclined to give it to you." She admitted before she could catch her tongue. Which she then bit, glancing side long at him. What would their interactions be like now? She mused to herself.

 

[Saul Talith]

A chortle left him.

"That nonsense won't work on me." He said with a smirk, glancing back at her for a few seconds as he began to trek through the woods. The fact that she was still standoffish was something that seemed to endlessly amuse him, as if he couldn't quite believe it.

He had just been inside her for Alliria's sake!

"Haven't you ever heard?" He mused. "Magic doesn't work on Templars."

That wasn't true of course, but it was funny nonetheless. He doubted that he would need to treat the wound for infection after washing it. Perhaps a dash of liquor when they got back to camp, but after that it would be fine.

 

[Kaska]

His light nature was a relief, a balm on her mind that feared another round of serious repercussion for letting herself drink and fuck. Slowly, her shoulders relaxed. But never in such a way that they had an hour before.

"Bull shit," she challenged. "Your magic is magic too, you can turn it off." She was guessing, actually. She didn't truly know. She had studied Templar only as much as politics required. Which then again, was likely more than most Rangers out there.

 

[Saul Talith]

"Can I?" He whistled, almost as if she had told him something that he himself didn't realize. Of course she was exactly right, but there was no way Saul was going to admit it.

Sure they had slept together, and sure they were working to kill the same Lich, but he wasn't about to go spreading the secrets of Broken Sword everywhere. He'd mentioned it earlier of course, but nothing more than common knowledge. Even if she had studied it, Saul wasn't going to divulge much.

"Wish I'd known." He clicked his tongue. "Would have made things in Elbion a lot easier."

He shrugged as he glanced around for a moment, trying to spot a path through the forest that wouldn't be complete murder on his feet.

After a moment he continued downhill, moving to the left of the camp.

 

[Kaska]

She eyed him skeptically as he circled in place, then started back out, his ass jiggling. She caught herself oogling and jolted into motion, shaking her head as she tried to banish the buzz of alcohol in her.

"What happened in Elbion?" She asked, unable to help her curiosity as she creeped carefully besides him. He moved confidently, standing tall. She took careful steps and glanced over her shoulder with more frequency than she cared to admit to. She looked back up to him, the curiosity pinching in her face.

She recognized she barely knew anything about him outside of what he had divulged over cards. A problem? No. It was hardly unsual for her. Which was maybe why it bothered her.

 

[Saul Talith]

Unsurprisingly the closer they got to the shore of the river the less stable the ground became. Saul found himself moving a bit more slowly as the sounds of moving water could be heard.

'Stuck up mages." Saul said cryptically.

There was a reason that Templars and Mages didn't get along. Thousands of years ago his Order had frequently gone to war with all sorts of tribes, organizations, and clans of mages. There was bad blood between his kind and those who had made their home in Elbion.

Sometimes things were cordial, sometimes not so much.

"Stubborn Templars." He smirked. "And a fight in a tavern."

 

[Kaska]

She snorted in amusement, picturing it. "And their spells did nothing to you? That had to piss them off," she mused. "Though I hardly see why you would want to turn it off there. You'd thi- gasp!" A tumble of rocks slipped out from under her, making her lose her footing on the decent towards the water bank.

She instinctually grabbed out for a branch, but it was thin and feeble and the ground dug painfully into her flailing steps. She fell backwards as her lower half went sliding down the river bank in a small rockslide.

 

[Saul Talith]

In almost immediately reaction Saul's hand shot out like a viper. His fingers wrapped around her wrist, catching her just before she could tumble down the small embankment.

The moment he caught her though Saul came to a realization. The hand he'd used to grasp her had been holding his clothing...all of which had now fallen down the small cliffside and were gently floating down towards the river. His lips thinned as he pulled Kaska back up towards him, his eyes watching as his trousers landed upon the water and quickly began to drift away with the current.

"Fuck." He said quietly.

 

[Kaska]

"Shit." She shoved her clothes at his chest without thought, already moving to scramble her way into the water and attempt to chase after it all without hesitation.

 

[Saul Talith]

It was too late. The current of the river, though not at all strong for an adult human, was too much for his clothing to resist. Almost as soon as they touched the water his trousers, shirt, and undergarments were swept away and sucked out into the middle of the river.

Even as Kaska splashed into the water Saul watched as his clothing was swept away into the darkness of the night.

"So." He frowned deeply. "We were attacked."

His voice was neutral as he stood on the shore and spoke, completely and entirely naked. Kaska was in the water below, but she'd be more than able to hear him. "They cut my clothes to ribbons before we managed to fight them off. Faeries."

The Templar Commander nodded to himself.

"They're known for mischief." At least that was the stories.