Private Tales Something Amiss

[Lia]

Lia didn't bother dropping her armor, no. Instead from a small pouch on her belt she pulled out a vial, sloshing the liquid for just a few seconds before she clutched it in her free hand.

Her other hand yanked the sword-breaker from it's sheath.

The Ranger was no fool. Though she knew Kaska was a decent warrior, she guessed that the girl was either dead, or had gotten herself captured. If the opposite were true she would already have begun to return, and since that hadn't happened only one of the two options remained.

Oddly enough, she hoped it was the latter.

Lia had no desire to see her fellow Ranger dead, even after the massive fuckup.

Still, if the girl was captured then the band of enemies were very likely waiting for her to creep up upon them. Rangers, no matter how low, would never leave their allies behind. It was a part of their creed. So she had to do this right, else she'd end up tied right besides Kaska.

Quickly she moved forward, clutching her sword-breaker and the vial.

 

[Kaska]

The bandit gave her a good solid nudge to the side to shut her up, not a kick but sharp, pained warning.

"Don't think we're stupid, girl, we know about you."

Oh great. So now everyone knew she fucked the dead guy.

Kaska huffed, trying to curl into herself then. The boot to her back continued to prevent movement, her spine pinned down. "No, really. We split off two days ago, when the bracelet went missing." She laughed dryly, spitting blood off to the side. "But if you want to stay so a barrack of reinforcements can find me, be my guest..."

The bandits looked to each other a touch unsure. A bluff? They glanced warily around the clearing, making sure it was clear.

 

[Lia]

Lia moved forward in a low crouch, following the sound of murmured voices and the crackle of flames in the distant trees. As she went the Sergeant stuffed small bits of fabric between the plates of her armor, using torn pieces of her own clothing to silence the metallic clinking.

As the drew closer she could begin to make out the voices that echoed through the trees, including one she recognized. Unable to help herself Lia smiled slightly as she heard the sound of Kaska speaking, that same snide tone carrying through as she admonished the bandits.

The Ranger grasped her sword-breaker a bit more tightly, the vial in her other hand shifting slightly as her sweaty palm clutched it tightly.

Instead of following Kaska's exact path Lia rounded the camp slightly, moving to it's northern most direction in order to give herself just a few more moments when the bandits found her. Creeping quickly the Ranger pulled herself to the trees, watching every step to ensure she did not make a single noise.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska laughed at their expression, her swollen tongue thick in her mouth. "That's right. Bet you hadn't considered that, huh? She went to get reinforcements. You're fucked," she bluffed, trying her best to do what she could to prevent Lia from landed in this trap too. She bore no false expectations. She knew she was disposable. Whether or not she proved useful here.

She could pull through on one last thing and save another in the process. Regardless of if she liked the woman or not.

"You hadn't! Look at you idiots, you're sitting ducks!"She laughed at their unsure expression, mocking and cruel. A bandit, a man of larger stature of and advanced age, eyed her for a long moment.

"Shut her up," he barked gruffly, turning to take the girl's words to mage inside his tent.

Her vision jolted, her laughter abruptly stopping as the foot in her back become a foot to her head.

 

[Lia]

Lia had not gotten reinforcements, in fact foolishly she hadn't even really thought of that.

Yet she was close enough to hear the words from Kaska now, close enough to realize that was probably what she should have done. A curse echoed quietly from her lips, but it was too late now. She had a plan and she would stick to it, as suicidal as it was. She frowned for just one brief moment, clutched her sword breaker a bit more tightly, and then stood up where she had been laying.

Her left arm whirled forward, tossing the small vial into the fire at the center of the camp.

It spun around once twice, and then a third time before it struck the flames. One of the guards saw it. A puzzled look dawned on his face and he suddenly looked back towards where the vial had been tossed from. He saw Lia there, rushing forward directly towards the group of men. Suddenly the vial within the flame exploded in a great concussive ball, bursting forward and setting to closest guards on fire.

Lia ignored them, letting out a battle cry as she leaped forward and stabbed the man pinning Kaska in the neck.

There was no mercy here.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska gasped as the weight lifted and she could breath easier, wasting no time to turn onto her back and kick out the balls of the next bandit that came at Lia.

Lia!

She stared at the woman in shock for what felt like a long moment, her thoughts growing thick. She had come for her? But why? This was suicide, and she had come for her? After everything?

Time resumed in a woosh. She flipped onto her feet, much more nibble without her armor, and woobled only a little as she stumbled and caught herself. She exposed her back to the woman immediately, needing her hands free to help at all.

"You idiot! What are you doing here!"

 

[Lia]

"RUN!" The screams of burning men filled the air, barely letting her voice echo over the sound of them. Her free hand drew the sword on her back, her other blade tossed into the air quickly before she caught it against and resettled herself.

One of the bandits moved up to attack her, but Lia flicked her blade forward and caught his sword, cutting it back and slicing across his belly.

"Run!" She told Kaska again. "Go!"

She had intended to get both Kaska and the bracelet, had wanted the item that they so desperately needed for their mission, but it wasnt going to happen. They were outnumbered, outmatched and she had no idea where the mage was.

It wasnt worth it in the end.

Not if it meant their lives.

 

[Kaska]

Blood flowed back to her arms as the bindings broke, bringing a sense of capability to the woman as she shook off the ropes and glanced back at Lia in nothing short of shock.

"But the bracelet!" She protested, staggering backwards and reaching for the tent. Lia was utterly right to send them off, but the woman was blind sighted, most rational thought leeched out of her as she stopped thinking and descended into primal reactions.

 

[Lia]

Lia let out a string of curses as the man she'd already cut attacked her again. His blade flashed forward, its edge getting caught in the notches of her sword-breaker as she clashed against him. She frowned, ducked slightly and then sliced her long sword across the mans inner thigh. There was a scream, and then the man dropped to the floor as he suddenly found his leg unable to support his own weight.

"I DON'T CARE! RUN!" She knew exactly what Kaska was thinking, knew why the girl was so hesitant.

Lia had the same impulse. She wanted the bracelet. She wanted to complete her mission, but she knew there would be other opportunity. For now they were holding their own, but twelve on one was simply a battle they couldn't win. Not to mention the mage was still lurking around somewhere unseen. They had to withdraw. They had to go. Otherwise both of them would end up dead.

"Go!" She called, whirling around and practically kicking Kaska in the rear. "I'm right behind you."

She called out just as her blade was met with another.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska stumbled, the woman's kick to her ass and her weaponless state enough to drive her into submission. She ran. She didn't know why, it was so unlike her to throw in the towel. It wasn't even rational thought telling her she needed to go. She ran out of pure fear, her brushes with death enough to rattle even a hardened ranger.

And truth be told, she wasn't that hardened.

She kept going until she stumble and fell. Only to pick herself up and go at it again, running and falling until her weakened legs gave out, leaving her sputtering on the ground. "Li-a!" She hollered, coughing and spiting up blood before flipping to her back and searching for the girl. "Lia!"

 

[Lia]

"Quiet!"" Lia seemed to pop out of nowhere.

Her face was covered in blood, her hands were clutching the two blades. Both of them were slick with crimson, gleaming steel almost entirely covered. She breathed heavily, and behind her half a dozen voices could be heard echoing throughout the wood.

"We need to get to the horses." She said quickly. "Theyre following us."

As of now it was their only choice.

In the back of her mind she could hear a voice that screamed at her to go back, to get the bracelet, but an even louder voice urged her to keep going. To run. She wanted to live. She desperately wanted to live, and running into those bandits would be a sure death.

 

[Kaska]

"How did you- How-Find me- I-" She wasn't in her right mind, and a voice in the back of her own head was replaying the times she had come to the aid of rangers who had been reduced to a similar state as her.

She had always looked on at them with restrained contempt, finding their weakness after an ordeal a bit... distasteful. I mean, she had survived her father. No weakness was allowed around that man, that was the ranger way.

You're not a real ranger, she realized dimly, the shock of it all shutting her blubbering right up and leaving her dumbfounded before Lia.

She submitted to the woman's anxious impatience, pushing herself up numbly and turning to walk deeper into the forest. As it was, she'd need assistance if Lia wanted haste, and that was the last salt on the wound of this all.

She made for the horse, leaning heavily on it standing there for a moment as she went through a small wave of shock.

"Why did you do it?"

 

[Lia]

Lia breathed hard as they reached the horses. The moon was now getting closer to the horizon and she could still hear the echo of voices in the valley bellow. There was no doubt that the bandits would follow for quite some time, likely driven by the mage, but eventually they would have no choice but to turn and return to their eventual path.

Wherever that was. Her chest slowly rose and fell, Lia slipping her sword breaker back into it's sheath. Her sword she kept in her hand, too tired to put away. "I couldn't leave you behind."

That wasnt really an answer, but it was all Lia could think of.

She didn't like Kaska. That was the simple truth. She didn't think of her as a friend or even really as a partner, but leaving her behind had simply not been an option. Her life mattered more than some bracelet, it mattered more than this one shot. They could still achieve their mission, they could do what they needed to, but Lia wouldn't sacrifice anyone for that.

Never would.

"Get on your house." Her tone wasn't harsh, but instead filled with exhaustion. "We'll get our things."

Her head gilded back for a second, a breath filling her lungs. "Follow them from afar."

She wasn't done. Not yet.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska obeyed without further word, gritting her teeth as she pushed her body to move as if nothing had been done to it.

They rode hard to there things. She was surprised at the relief that filled her as she saw her belongings again, not realizing how much she hadn't cared to die until they had gone and done that. She slid off her horse, her legs buckling at the impact and sending her to her knees. She ignored this, knowing it would just a by-product of what was done to her and it would pass in time. Not a weakness, no, never that. She took her and her definitely not weakened limbs to her stuff where she packed them up, never looking Lia in the eyes.

She had drugged her Sergeant. It didn't matter who it was, she had enough decency to bare shame on her face, slowly closing her bag and saying, " I am sorry."

 

[Lia]

Lia took a breath, her fingers stretched for a moment as she thought about what to say. Her face was still covered in blood, as was most of her armor. The brief skirmish had been brutal, and she could still remember the sounds of the burning men screaming at the top of their lungs. She shivered slightly, turning away from Kaska before she let out a breath. Then she finally spoke. "We won't talk about it."

Her voice was firm.

She wanted to scream at Kaska, yell at her, beat her and tell her she was a useless not of a thing. Yet she didn't have the heart for it. She knew why the girl had done it, she knew because she had wanted to do the exact same thing. The only reason she hadn't was because she had just a little bit more sense. Her fingers curled, and she slowly took another deep breath.

Anger wouldn't help them, either of them.

She could practically sense the humiliation that Kaska felt at that moment, and Lia figured that was enough. They still had to recover the bracelet. They still had work to do. Right now she would not rub salt in the wound, and perhaps there would be time for forgiveness later.

 

[Kaska]

She nodded. Strangely enough, the woman's kindness didn't bring her relief. It just made her feel worse.

She slung her bag over her shoulder and brought herself back to her horse, tearing herself up with a gritting groan. Once Lia was up, she would kick off, the ride giving her more of that ghastly time to think.

What had she done.

 

[Lia]

The ride would be quiet as a nun accused of stealing the churches last bottle of wine.

Lia was in no mood to talk, and her mind was focused entirely upon the mission. They still had a chance to get the bracelet, they still had a chance to do what they needed to do. That was what mattered to her at this point. The two of them together could do it, she knew that at the very least, but they had to do it right. They had to actually think about what they were going to do and not rush in.

Unfortunately, the bandits they were chasing now knew for sure that she and Kaska were in pursuit. They would undoubtedly either move faster or attempt an ambush of some sort.

Lia intended to follow them at a distance. They were still a large group and following them would be easy enough. That plus the magic of the runes would mean they weren't in danger of losing the trail. Of course the greater concern now was...what were they going to do when they actually caught up?

Lia had no idea.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska remained silent with her, never talking with out an explicit reason. She had bathed away the grime and piss of the events, and with that locking it away to the back of her mind, where she could pretend it didn't exist. By the third day her body had healed but her mind ...

It was a struggle she worked through alone, the woman going through what all rangers did at one point or another.

She would never look down at them for that again.

The party continued to head north. No opening had yet been found, both girls unspokenly at a loss for how they might handle this next step. They had settled down for camp for an hour before Kaska cleared her throat for the first time, glancing up at her superior.

"Perhaps we can ride on up ahead and make a diversion."

 

[Lia]

Lia shook her head.

It was an option that she had considered once before, but it was too dangerous. Their ambush would at best create a distraction, which meant they were still two against ten plus a mage. She was fairly sure that in her own attack to free Kaska she'd killed at least two, but that still left them outnumbered five to one. Ranger's were good, but even they couldn't fight that many enemies on their own. It just wasn't realistic.

"Too many of them, especially because they know about us." They would be careful, more watchful.

She frowned for a second and then realized something. In their silence Lia had not asked any questions about Kaska's capture, or of she had even seen the mage before they'd managed to snare her.

"The mage." She prompted. "Did you see him?

There was no judgement in her tone, just strategic curiosity.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska took a deep breath in and out, silent for a moment.

"He was a lich. Half his face gone, my sword did nothing to his chest," she reported methodically. She was still without her sword, a fact that caused her no small amount of discomfort. "He had powerful dark magic that ... disables you on the spot. There is no moving past it. He is wearing the bracelet." She dug at the ground with a stick.

 

[Lia]

A lich? Her lips thinned for a moment and she felt a pit form in her stomach. A mage was bad enough, but a lich? That was something entirely different. That was...bad.

She didn't know how to fight someone like that. "I..."

Lia considered for a second more, mulling over the thought. The undead were not opponents that could be easily matched, even by the Rangers. There were silver swords and the like, but they had none of that. Her finger tapped against the outside of her leg.

"That makes things..." She paused for a second. "Worse."

That was an understatement.

 

[Kaska]

"Yes," Kaska admitted, her voice tight. For a moment she wondered if they could actually do this. She truly was never one to throw in the towel, and the theme of that happening here was bothering her greatly. But she had spent the last three days trying to think up a solution and she came up with nothing that would not result in their likely death. It felt to her like there was only one path left to them and she loathed to say it. It would not end well for her.

"If you decide to turn back. And report what has happened for backup. I... I understand." Not exactly an offer, but it would be the most she would get from her, Kaska digging furiously into the ground as she gave commander the proper solution. It had only been three days since the incident, but inside of that she was trying to be the proper version of a ranger. And that meant protical. Even if denied her her one shot.

 

[Lia]

She blinked for a second, her eyebrow raising.

"No." Lia refused to bend. They still had a shot, they could still do this, they just had to do it right. The Lich was a problem, but it wasn't the end of all things. Rangers had fought tougher things in the past. There were stories of just one Ranger taking on everything from Giants to Dragons.

If they could do that...then she and Kaska could handle one Lich. Her fingers tightened, and she laced her fingers together in thought. She tried to remember the weakness of the undead, something that could kill them, or at least stop them long enough for them to get the bracelet.

"You fucked up." Lia said sternly, her eyes meeting Kaska's. "Get over it."

The Sergeant frowned. "That bracelet is getting where it's supposed to."

She just had to think.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska stared uncomprehendingly at the woman, unable to process beyond her words. "What? That's that's it? I fucked up? I drugged you," she stated bluntly, as if to egg the woman from her perpetual impassioned state. She couldn't handle it.

 

[Lia]

Lia smacked Kaska across the face, her fingers rushing across the girls cheek with an open palm. "Happy?"

The Sergeant said flatly, clearly uninterested in continuing on in this conversation.

"I don't care about your mistakes. I don't care about what you did to me. I only care what you can do for me right now." It was as simple as that, as easy as that. "I am not giving up on this mission. I am getting that bracelet and I can't do it by myself."

Her voice was that same stern, but even tone. "I can't kill a Lich, we can't kill a Lich. But I have an idea."

As foolish as it was.