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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 17, 2009 11:00:33 GMT -5
Monkuta stood, pulling the woman up with him as he did. "Yes, we are. However, we are not leaving Seacliff just yet... Ranger business, you understand," he said, careful not to divulge too much information. He was still suspicious of this woman. "My apprentice and I can easily take care of one man. An arrow through the leg and then we'll turn him over to the proper authorities. I've heard that Seacliff has made quite a few reforms recently as far as law enforcement goes." He turned around, heading back to the tree where he'd left his belongings. As he walked, he subtly turned his head to Marina and mouthed the words, 'Watch her.'
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Post by ivory on Jun 17, 2009 11:09:18 GMT -5
She nodded in acceptance of his words, though she didn't really understand them. What could this uh 'Lady' possibly do? It was obvious that she was hurt and needed help.
Marina let a show of warmth seep into her eyes and a smile curl the edges of her lips though she kept her bow trained on the woman.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 17, 2009 11:35:48 GMT -5
Lea clasped his hand as he helped her up. "Oh thank you! Thank you, kind Sir!" Lea looked fearful again as he mentioned something about shooting her supposed attacker in the leg, "be careful, Sir, he is a mean one and well-connected in the city. A lot of his, ahem!, uhh... clientel are high ranking city officials. His name is Boston."
Lea watched the ranger intently, though she tried to make it look like she was watching the young girl, afraid of the arrow pointed at her. She'd dropped the name on purpose, should the ranger want to check out her story he wouldn't find anything amiss. She had worked briefly for Boston and had run away from him two nights ago. She had not surfaced since that night, so any further probing on his part would likely only lead him to Boston who would back up her story. Lea had made sure of his cooperation. It was amazing what a chunk of money and the threat of removing specific body parts could persuade a man to do.
Lea wiped her eyes and face with the tattered chemise as she waited to see what the ranger would do next. She noticed the girl smiling at her and she smiled tentatively back. "Name's Lea." She rarely bothered to give a false name. She was trained to eliminate any threats to her or the SWC's security. Besides there were lots of girls out there who were named Lea. It was rather common.
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Post by ivory on Jun 17, 2009 11:48:13 GMT -5
"Joshuin," she answered automatically. She didn't think to use a false name either, but neither did she use her first name - Marina. She used that one only for when she was 'a Lady,' choosing the more male name elsewhere. "You can call me Josh though, almost everyone else does." Actually, the only person who had called her that besides herself had been the stableboy. She smiled tentively at the thought of him before swallowing and raising her chin, focusing only on the present.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 17, 2009 11:48:53 GMT -5
Monkuta opened his pack, pulled out a rag and tossed it through the air to Lea. "Clean yourself up," he said. "You're covered in dirt." Even as he said the words, he glanced at Marina and smirked, remembering that it had been quite awhile since either of them had washed... unless one counts their trek across the water as washing. He stringed his bow and narrowed his eyes at the girl, walking back towards the two now. "This Boston must not be a very quick fellow. Or very stupid. With all that screaming of yours, it would take a blind... deaf man not to find you. Especially now that you've left the cover of the trees."
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 17, 2009 12:31:55 GMT -5
Lea caught the rag and examined it, wondering just how clean she would get with a smelly rag. She wiped at the dirt on her knees and arms and then tossed the rag back, having already cleaned off her face and chest with her tattered chemise. She unhooked her skirts from her belt, now that she wasn't running, and let them fall back around her ankles, covering her legs back up.
"He is as big as an Ox and 'bout as smart." Lea muttered as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to tame it. She kept it fairly short so it tended to stick straight out in times like this. "and I did give him a good thwack on the head. Maybe he passed out."
Lea sensed that the man didn't trust her and she couldn't blame him. She wouldn't have trusted herself either, but she thought rangers were a little less suspicious of folks. Then again, maybe they were more suspicious. She had better stick as close to the truth as she could because rangers had an uncanny ability to sense lies, so she had heard. Maybe they really did perform sorcery.
Lea looked around and saw that they were on the outskirts of the forrest that bordered one side of Seacliff. "Oh no, I can't go back to the city! He will find me for sure! I must of gotten turned around back there!" She stepped closer to Josh. "You won't take me back into the city will you?" She grasped her outer skirt and started wringing it out in agitation.
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Post by ivory on Jun 17, 2009 12:39:01 GMT -5
Marina glared at her mentor. "Oh, come on Monkuta. You can't just leave her here." She started to lower her bow, but thought better of it. It wasn't that she didn't trust the woman, but that she wasn't sure if the blow Lea'd given Boston had made him unconscious. He could be coming now...
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 17, 2009 12:42:04 GMT -5
Monkuta sighed. He really didn't want to deal with this, especially if she was lying. Scanning the forest again for any signs of Boston, he said, "We left our canoe in the reeds about an hour's walk north east of here. If you really want to get away from Seacliff, then go find it." Not the most chivalrous thing he'd ever done, but he was tired and grumpy and certain that there was no man named Boston chasing her.
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Post by ivory on Jun 17, 2009 13:08:36 GMT -5
"But you can't just let her go by herself!" Without even waiting for a reply, she turned to Lea. "We'll escort you over there." She glared at Monkuta. "A Lady shouldn't be walking alone. They have reputations to keep." Though this particular Lady looked as if she'd ruined her's a million times over. She simply ignored that fact. She was after all, still a lady.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 17, 2009 14:48:56 GMT -5
Lea looked alarmed when Monkuta suggested she go wandering through the woods to find a canoe. Though Lea was certain she could backtrack them to find the canoe, as a common barmaid she would not have been able to and would have found the thought terrifying. Barmaids simply did not go roaming around the woods by themselves.
She opened her mouth to protest when Josh intervened. She nearly burst out laughing when the girl called her a 'lady'. She had a hard time keeping the fear on her face. Lea had never been a lady. By the time she was this girl's age she had already been living on the streets for several years, earning a living as best she could. No, her reputation couldn't possibly get any worse than it was, at least not in that category.
"Oh could you? You are going back to the canoe eventually? I have no idea how to steer one of those things." That much was the truth. Lea didn't care much for boats and had never been in a canoe before, though she had been on river rafts. She really didn't want to go wandering through the woods to find some canoe. She needed to get on one of those ships down at the docks.
"I was hoping to catch a ship, maybe to another part of Araluen or Gallica or somewhere, but I didn't want to head down to the docks again. That is where he found me before." She looked back towards the city doubtfully, "I suppose if I were to disquise myself and stay away from the usual places, and find a ship that is pulling out immediately, well, maybe he wouldn't find me. Maybe." she said doubtfully.
"Or maybe if he did see me and I were with you he would leave me alone. He has a terrible fear of rangers. Some trouble he was in a few years back I guess." Lea looked up at the ranger who was very near her own age, and put just a hint of flirting in her voice and expression, "Would you by chance take me to the docks, skirting around the center of town?" She smiled at him, "I could make it worth your while," she hinted.
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Post by ivory on Jun 17, 2009 16:43:55 GMT -5
"Oh!" Marina exclaimed in exasperation as she turned once again to her mentor. "Surly you won't make her pay? I mean, just look at her," she shot a no-offense look toward the 'Lady' before continuing, "she probably doesn't have anything to pay with anyways. If you want payment, you'd have to enslave her. Which," she added just in case he didn't know. "Is illegal." She finished her words with a glare.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 17, 2009 20:59:07 GMT -5
Monkuta looked, wide-eyed at Lea and then at Marina. Then he turned around and hit his head against a tree twice. Why would the girl disagree with him now of all times? He scratched his head, sizing up Lea in his head. Either she was telling the truth, in which case she would be useless and a burden, or she was some sort of spy or assassin. He turned around, sheathing his saxe knife as he did. "Alright, alright..." he began, half-glaring at Marina. "You can come with us." He sighed, picking up his belongings. There was no way any of them would be able to sleep now. He would still be keeping an eye on Lea. The moment he had any reason to believe that she was a threat, she would have to die. He would protect this woman, but he would not risk his life for her... or Marina's for that matter.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 18, 2009 5:53:16 GMT -5
Lea pressed her lips together to hide her amusement at the ranger's frustration when he banged his head on the tree.
When he turned back to her she had a half hopeful, half flirting smile on her face. Her eyes lit up as she grinned at him when he said, "alright, alright..." and she nearly flung herself at him to give him a hug as she figured a barmaid would do. She stopped though, remembering that she carried an arsenal of knives on her person and those would be hard to explain if he noticed any of them aside from the obvious belt knife and her bodice knife. So she clapsed her hands together and stepped back again, as if she wasn't sure how he would react to being hugged.
She knew that at some point she was going to have to reveal what she was really doing because as soon as they ran into trouble it was going to be real obvious that she wasn't a barmaid. But she would cross that bridge when she came to it. Right now she was going to take advantage of the potential back-up these two provided. At least as long as they were heading in the same direction.
She saw Monkuta gathering up his stuff and looked back the way she had come to remind them that she was supposed to have a pursuer back there. "Maybe we should get out of this immediate area." She suggested, looking aprehensive.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 18, 2009 13:45:49 GMT -5
Monkuta hoisted his belongings over his shoulder and started towards the road that lay a couple hundred yards to the east. "As I said," he shouted over his shoulder. "One man is no challenge for us. The plan is to follow the road south and so south we shall go." He would let the woman tag along but he had no intention of changing his plan for her. He was on a mission, for Pete's sake. They didn't have time for distractions.
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Post by ivory on Jun 18, 2009 18:51:42 GMT -5
Marina grinned triumphantly as he agreed to her demands. She was seriously going to like being a ranger's apprentice, she thought in glee as she trailed after them, glancing over her shoulder every now and then to make sure they weren't about to be attacked.
"Do you have a place in mind?" she asked Lea. "I mean, where you can stay after you know, we get you away from here?"
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