Private Tales Staying Low

[Arwyl Minras]

From the treeline it was obvious that someone had returned to the farmstead. It hadn't been Arwylvs troupe either. They wouldn't have left the doors wide open to every house and barn.

The Dreadlord must have come with more than one helper and they had been sent tracing Arwyl's path. They wouldn't have found anything of use and Arwyl's people were too careful to have left tracks back to their home.

They watched from the treeline in silence for an hour. Then Arwyl walked the perimeter before returning to Tessa.

"I think it might be safe to go get some clothes that aren't soaked in blood..."

 

[Kaeda Wynlen]

Tessa nodded and started towards her home. She stepped inside and closed her eyes with a sigh. It was in worse shape than it had been with the bodies on the floor because the Dreadlord had emptied every cabinet and drawer. "Did she think we would be hiding in the cabinets?" Tessa grumbled as she picked her way through the kitchen to the stairs.

"Come on, Arwyl, let's get some clothes." She headed up the stairs and assumed he would follow. He would easily fit into some of her fathers old clothes. They may be a little big but it was better than the current options and they wouldn't be too big. Arwyl would be fine and comfortable.

Tessa walked over to the wardrobe of her parents old room and pulled out a few items of clothing. She then went to her room to grab new boots, a top, and some pants.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

Ill-fitting was much better than the smell of his current garb. He was happy to discard it. There was little worse than being nice and clean, but having to get back into dirty garments.

"I guess we could have hidden in a wardrobe," he replied as he dressed.

"I am more worried that she might have more people out searching the woods," he called back. "I like to think I can move around humans with ease, but its not like they won't recognise me from a description if I get seen."

He was very proud of his hair, but this wasn't a good week to stand out quite as much as he did.

 

[Kaeda Wynlen]

"And I would never suggest doing anything to your beautiful hair," she smiled as she touched it gently before she started to pull off her disgusting clothing. Tessa let a few glances slip in Arwyl's direction. She couldn't help that she enjoyed his body.

After she was dressed again, she sat on the bed to put her boots on. "So what's the plan? Just keep running until we are sure she isn't around?" The prospect sounded terrible but it really was their best option right now.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

Noticing those glances, it was only knowing how risky a delay here could be that kept him from acting upon them. He didn't think anyone was posted to watch them, but if there were scouts in the wood they could return to use the farm as a base.

"I wish I had much more of a plan," he apologised. "If you imagine my home town and where we are now, I'm going to roughly spiral us around the countryside. Get closer to home without leading them there."

"This lot probably had nothing to the mercenaries that we chased to your farm even," he continued as he finished dressing. "They were just common swords for hire trying to grab some coin for the mayor."

 

[Kaeda Wynlen]

"Sounds thrilling," she quipped. She had quickly figured out that she was not a fan of camping. Besides being cuddled up with Arwyl, it was pretty terrible. It was something she was going to have to learn to love though. There wasn't time for her complaints. Not that she had vocalized any. Tessa had been a surprisingly good sport about all of this. Getting attacked multiple times, freezing rivers, being on the run...she could be taking it a lot worse.

"Alright, what should we pack? I am sure we have a few empty bags here that we can bring some supplies."

She wasn't sure what they needed but she was sure there was something.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"You wanted to see more of the world beyond your farm. You didn't specify that a very long walk in the woods wasn't what you meant," Arwyl said.

He was certain that wasn't what she had said. It had been a desire to learn more about her own kind, but it felt like a long time since that conversation.

"You have any dried meat or wine?" He asked hopefully. "We could do with bedrolls. I don't suppose you have a decent knife?"

Knives were good for lots of things out in the wilds. He was still thinking about Tessa learning how to defend herself a little.

 

[Kaeda Wynlen]

Tessa let out a chuckle. Long walks in the woods was definitely not on her list of fun things to do when they originally spoke.

It didn't take very long for Tessa to gather the things he mentioned and set them out on the couch for inspection. Various dried meats that they had made in preparation for the winter months, a few skins of wine, four blankets, and two impressively sharp knives.

"I don't have bedrolls but there are blankets," she told Arwyl with a shrug.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"Wooden bowls are always useful too," he said with a grin. "Always useful for collecting things, eating and drinking water from a stream. We shouldn't live off just wine..."

Arwyl actually chuckled as he made sure everything was packed up. He looked around the farmstead which already felt a little more empty than before.

"I sound like a wildsman. Our lot might have been on the move for almost as long as I can remember but fair to say my survival instinct mostly just led me from tavern to tavern!"

 

[Kaeda Wynlen]

"I think it's cute," Tessa said with a coy smile in Arwyl's comment about sounding like a wildsman. She looked around her home and sighed softly. It was weird leaving the place she had grown up in. She did grab a couple wooden bowls and brought them over to the table to add to the bags.

"And I think my instinct will always lead me from tavern to tavern. I was not a fan of the ground but I guess I have to suck it up." She looked around one more time and bit her lip. "I guess it's time to say goodbye to this place..."

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"We'll be back," Arwyl said, his tone suddenly quite serious. "You don't need to say your goodbyes just yet."

She had grown up on this farm and it was all she had ever known. This, and he supposed the nearby town.

"I won't tolerate a Dreadlord and her followers sniffing around the area for long. If my people haven't dealt with her by the time we're back we'll be out in force tracking her down.

"See if she likes being hounded. Then we'll make sure you can gather your things properly and get a fair price for this place. "

 

[Kaeda Wynlen]

"It is still weird leaving it for some many unknowns," Tessa commented as she hoisted one of the bags up onto her shoulder. "She could come burn it to the ground while we are gone," she shrugged.

"Lead the way, Arwyl," she said with a sigh. "Well first...what should I do with this?" She held out the knife she had taken out for protection.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"To start out, please don't point it at me," Arwyl laughed. "Let's get out of here and we'll practise somewhere out of sight.

It was a knife and there wasn't all that much to it, but he could do some teaching when they were away from the farm.

---

Arwyl didn't lead them far into the woods before finding a small patch of open ground beneath an old oak. They set their bags down against the thick trunk. The shade of the ancient tree swept a great circle of clear ground of the ferns.

Turning towards Tessa, he drew a short blade of spirit glass from the air.

"So I've only given you a knife," he explained. "So the first thing to learn is that you run away from anyone with a sword. I've seen people stabbed several times and keep fighting for a while before they realised. Go straight for the neck with the point."

 

[Kaeda Wynlen]

Tessa chuckled and nodded. "I have been getting rather good at running as of late," she quipped at Arwyl. She held her knife and moved towards the elf. She was excited that he was going to teach her some self-defense. She needed it.

She thrust out with the blade towards Arwyl's neck. She had no doubt he would block her.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

Arwyl took a look step backwards and let the blade catch nothing but air. He slapped her forearm with his free hand.

"Knives are short," he said, "So it's easy to be tempted to lead with it. But then if someone gets a hold of your wrist you havent got a weapon."

"Why don't you put the sheath back on that," he said, decided that he was a little nervous that one of them would get hurt when they got up close and personal.

"Keep the blade close to your body out of my reach. Lead with your free hand. You're looking to get a grip on my tunic and then you strike."

He demonstrated the position, keeping his spirit glass blade almost behind his hip. He left his left hand out towards her. Then, he dispelled his own blade and let it fade away.

 

[Kaeda Wynlen]

Tessa knew he would defend himself so she just let it happen and then listened as he explained what could happen with attacking how she had. She did chuckle when he told her to put the sheath back on and she just nodded before doing just that.

She watched Arwyl demonstrate the move and she brought her blade down to her hip like he had. She stepped forward quickly and grabbed for his tunic. As she grabbed for the tunic, she also brought the sheathed knife up to strike.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"That's it," he said, wincing as the sheathed blade struck his collar bone. It was still quite a hard object.

He gave Tessa a gentle shove to break her grip and put some distance between them. This time he lowered his weight and kept on the balls of his feet to make himself harder to corner.

"Make sure you strike fast and pull the knife back. Anyone sensible will try and grab your knife arm to stop you attacking."

 

[Kaeda Wynlen]

Tessa lunged at him again but he was harder to catch this time and she stumbled forward when he moved at the last second. She glared at him as she right herself and tried again.

She felt silly. She was no fighter. She never had been. Despite how silly she felt, she still tried her best. She eventually caught him and stabbed in and then released him while bringing back the sheathed blade towards herself.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"That's better," he explained, breathing hard from the exertion of making it difficult for her to connect each blow. They could practise more another time. What was important was that if she needed to strike someone and catch them off guard, that she knew how to go about it.

"Do you ever remember a time before this farm?" he asked as he turned to collect their things. The sooner they were back with their people, the sooner he could get on with hunting this Dreadlord down.

 

[Kaeda Wynlen]

Arwyl was not the only one who was tired after the little training session. Tessa had always been active and fit from working on the farm but her cardio had always been lacking. She never had to run after too many things and her trips anywhere were usually done by walking or horseback. This was a new life though.

Tessa shook her head. She had tried many times over her lifetime to go back and search her memories for anything from before and she had always come up empty.

"No," she finally responded outloud. "I was so young when they found me...I don't even know where I was actually born. I have no idea if I was abandoned or kidnapped...I know nothing of my blood kin."

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"I'd like to say that I could offer some insight on where you might have come from," he said apologetically.

"Unfortunately I don't really have roots in this area. The elves that have lived her have seemed quite disparate and nomadic."

He knew that he was apologising for not being able to offer something that she hadn't asked for. It was rather silly, he still felt bad that it was a connection forever broken. It was unlikely she would ever meet any of her really family again.

"What did you get told about elves?" He asked.

 

[Kaeda Wynlen]

Tessa thought it was sweet that he was apologetic over something he had no control of. She did not know much about Arwyl but she knew that he cared about his people. That also meant he cared for her because she was part of this people now. She had no family left so she had chosen her new family.

"Tall, live a long time, some have magic..." She looked down and bit her lip.

Tessa really hated to admit that she did not know much about her own people. "Oh...and pointed ears," an apologetic half smile.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

Arwyl knew that she was choosing to keep her tone light, but he had to take a moment to decide if she was joking with him. In a way she was, but that really was the sum total of her knowledge on their people.

"Not all elves are particularly magical. Where I came from, Keirvarn, different types of magic were often linked to bloodlines. Families had mages who experimented and advanced the knowledge of their particular magic. They added this to a personal family library on their art that grew over time. Over millennia. "

"I'm probably the last of the royal line and maybe the only one left who knows how to summon spirit glass. If your family didn't keep anything from you, that's really all they knew of elven kind?" he asked.

 

[Kaeda Wynlen]

Tessa shrugged sadly at his final question. "That is all the ever told me. I think if elves looked the same as humans, they wouldn't have even told me that much. They loved me dearly but they didn't want me to leave the farm and go exploring. They didn't want me to find my family because for all they knew my family left me in the street to die."

A very very small smile, "I just feel like I am missing so much of my history. I wish I knew my parents just so I could hear their side of the story."

Tessa wished for so much and she was granted so little. It was a small victory that she had Arwyl.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"What can I say about us as a culture..." he thought out loud.

He was a coward and still quite an immature one. Faced with the much more personal issue of Tessa being abandoned by her parents, he would always choose an easy out. Describing his own people was that out here.

"Well...we're not the magical singing tree spirits some humans think. A lot of culture has been lost for my people. We were formed of those young enough to be snuck out of our city before it was burned down."

"We respect age, we respect wisdom and accomplishments of all kinds. I can still just about remember the musicians of my home city. Imagine how exceptional a musician could be if they dedicated two whole centuries to mastery of a single instrument?"