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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 20, 2009 8:08:44 GMT -5
Lea smiled as she followed Monkuta.
"Well, one place is usually much the same as another. I just go where the wind and chance take me usually. Got no family anymore." her face darkened at the thought of family. She hadn't had a family since she was a child.
"What about you? Is this your fief that you two are assigned to?" Lea asked the girl, hiking her skirts back up into her belt so they fell just below her knees. She was wearing tall leather boots under them so her ankles weren't showing. She hoped the daggers she had stashed in her boots were not showing either, but she hated wearing skirts. They were such a nuisance, especially for treking across country.
She carried a sack over her shoulder that banged against the opposite hip and it was filled with her meager possessions. Most of which were weapons rolled up in clothing, a brush and a flint kit for starting fires. Captain Dougal didn't trust her with explosives. At least not yet. She had vowed to change his mind about that.
This mission was a step in that direction.
Lea followed along, wondering what their "ranger" business was and if she could trust them enough to tell them her mission. Were they on the up-and-up, or were they on the 'take'? She didn't know enough yet to take the chance.
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Post by ivory on Jun 20, 2009 8:18:53 GMT -5
Marina shrugged at the question asked her. "I don't know." She turned to the ranger with a glare. "You never told me we got to look after whole portions of the country." With an apologetic smile, she faced Lea again. "I'm kind of new at this. You probably know more than I do, so we can both just bug him until he answers." The apology in her grin was completely overtaken by mischief.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 20, 2009 12:11:11 GMT -5
Monkuta thought for a moment, listening to the two women chatter on. When he decided the moment was appropriate, he shot Marina the same glare over his shoulder that he had on her first day as he threw daggers past her head to get her to shut up. He said, "You know, for a girl who is so desperately trying not to be a 'lady,' you're certainly just as chatty and annoying as one." Then he turned around and kept walking, praying for silence.
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Post by ivory on Jun 20, 2009 12:17:23 GMT -5
After a glare she stuck her tongue out at his back. A childish gesture she knew, but it felt good. Probably not as good as hitting him in the back, but she didn't want to seem violent to Lea, she was after all, trying to soothe her. So she kept herself from doing so, instead turning another smile at the Lady and whispering quite loudly, "Go ahead and ask him as many questions as you want. He seriously won't mind."
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 20, 2009 12:39:16 GMT -5
Monkuta growled quietly, cringing. What a malicious little girl she was. Without turning around this time, he said, "You know, I could just tie the two of you to a tree and leave you here for whatever poor traveler happens to come across you. I wasn't even supposed to bring you on this mission. Either of you." He squinted. It was getting light out as the sun came up over the horizon. Soon they would either have to compromise their secrecy or travel only in the forest.
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Post by ivory on Jun 20, 2009 12:56:34 GMT -5
Marina stuck her tongue out at his face this time before splitting in a grin. "I'll have ma and da ruin you." She didn't usually use that card, but hey, she was desperate. There was no way she was going back to becoming a Lady. She supressed a shiver at the thought. "And besides, it's not like we're just going to stand here and let you tie us up. We'd fight back, won't we Lea?" Mischief was high in her eyes.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 20, 2009 13:01:37 GMT -5
Monkuta laughed inwardly, both because Marina was so sure that she could win and because she really had no suspicions about this woman at all. She certainly picked a good time to start being so trustworthy of people. He would fix that later... Just as soon as he got this woman to reveal her true identity. He turned his head towards the forest, calculating for how long they would be safe on the road when something caught hie eye. In his peripheral vision he saw something in Lea's boot. A blade? He gave no indication of his discovery on his face. That settled it. The moment they entered the forest, he would confront her.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 20, 2009 17:12:46 GMT -5
Just let him try tying me to a tree, Lea thought with a smirk, he would be in for a big surprise. Then again, maybe not quite so big of a surprise- maybe. She had seen him glance at her feet. Damn! She knew she should have left those cursed skirts down around her ankles.
She lowered her voice and leaned in towards Josh, "Is he always this grumpy?" She whispered, knowing full well he could still hear her. She didn't wait for a reply though, before she said, "he does have a point about the talking though. What if Boston is still out here somewhere looking for me? We should be quiet just in case." Lea whispered and looked behind them again.
She trudged along behind the ranger and made sure the knives up her sleeves would slide out easily should she need them. She would not kill a ranger, but she wouldn't let him tie her up either. Maybe it would have been better to have skirted the pair and not revealed herself, Lea debated. She needed some help though, to get on a ship at the docks. Her face was known among the captains and they had all refused to take her on board. No one went against Boston and some of his special clients. Not if you wanted to live to tell about it anyway. But Lea wasn't going to let that stop her. If worse came to worse she would illiminate Boston and his cohorts. She hated to do it though, because it would leave a trail. She wanted to keep as inconspicuous as possible.
They passed behind a small cottage that had some middle class clothing hanging on a line. Lea hopped the low wall and helped herself to a new outfit. She flashed a silver coin at the ranger and his apprentice and smiled sweetly at them as she left the coin in the basket by the back door. Then she hopped back over the wall and drew the loose fitting dress over her head. She had more trouble with the head piece and veil, though.
Lea turned to Josh, "can you help me put this on?" She had no idea how noble women wore such contraptions.
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Post by ivory on Jun 20, 2009 17:24:26 GMT -5
Marina nodded her head just as Lea was saying, "He does have a point about the talking though. What if Boston is still out here somewhere looking for me? We should be quiet just in case."
She nodded after that too, eyes shining to show her excitement before flicking them back behind them. Though she listened hard, she heard nothing but the whisper of the trees. She'd always wondered at that saying and deciding now was as good as time as any to brood on it. Trees didn't have mouths she well knew, so they could hardly whisper. And it didn't even sound like whispering most of the time. When the wind blew really hard they were extremely loud. And the wood cracked more than not and the leaves twisted and turned. No, they were hardly whsipering. She wondered what idiot had thought up the saying, but before she could start to list possibilities, Lea had once again stole her attention.
Marina watched, mouth open as the Lady stole clothes from a hanging wire. Ladies she'd been told repeatedly were not supposed to steal. She started to say something when Lea flashed a silver coin and quickly did a few calculations, coming to the conclusion that it was more than a fair trade on Lea's part. With a silver coin she probably could've bought two or three similar dresses.
"Can you help me put this on?"
After a shrug, she quickly straightened the head piece and viel before taking a step back in consideration. Frowning, she glanced around the yard, but unfortunately no shoes had been left outside. With another shrug she turned to Lea. "You could use some shoes, but..." she trailed off and added instead, "And a good washing. That rag harmed more than helped." She cocked her head to the side. "And you walk more like a man. You're a middle-class woman now and they're always trying to act like the nobels so you have to practice your walk." She demonstrated for her, saying over her shoulder, "Like that." Turning back to face the two, she added, "This way Boston won't even recognize you."
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 20, 2009 17:57:44 GMT -5
"Thanks!" Lea smiled back and imitated Josh's walk. She found it very amusing to be taking ettiquette lessons from a young girl, but she wasn't too proud to do so. What she learned about nobles frm Josh would probably come in handy on another mission some day. Assuming she survived her current one, of course.
She hoped her primping and practicing was irritating the hell out of the ranger. He hadn't even bothered to tell her his name and she found that more rude than his surely attitude. Still, he hadn't sent her packing, so she didn't push it too far.
She practiced her walk, "like this?" she asked Josh softly as they moved away from the cottage, trying not to fall behind Monkuta.
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Post by ivory on Jun 20, 2009 18:04:15 GMT -5
"Don't use your shoulders too much and be more uh..." she trailed off as she thought of the right word, "flowy, uh graceful. Not that you're not graceful, it's just," she shrugged. She didn't think Lea was graceful, but it was impolite to say so to a Lady. "Like this." She demonstrated instead. "And make sure your chin's up. You think you're above everyone else, but always have an ear open for juicy gossip."
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 20, 2009 18:09:20 GMT -5
Monkuta cringed as the two talked, mostly just because he knew they were trying to annoy him. He took a sharp turn off of the road and entered the forest, not checking to see if they were following. He could hear their footsteps. It was time. They came to a small pond in the woods and Monkuta leaned over the water, splashing his face. He hadn't gotten the full night's rest that he needed. He doubted he would until they returned home. Ignoring the deprivation, the ranger turned to Lea, crossed his arms and asked, "Who are you really? I've never met a barmaid who carries daggers in her boots."
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Post by ivory on Jun 20, 2009 19:20:31 GMT -5
Marina gapped at his rudeness before regaining her senses and snapping at him. "Where else is a barmaid supposed to hide them? She has to use to her hands if you didn't know and she can't well carry them in her teeth! Neither, mind you can she carry them at her waste since guys have the bad habit of-of," she sputtered, "well, claiming!" She fixed her best glare on him as she planted her hands firmly on her hips, feet shoulder-width apart. "And you've no right to be checking out her legs! She's a Lady and she should be treated as such! Not like, well, not like you're treating her!"
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 20, 2009 19:24:51 GMT -5
Monkuta rolled his eyes. When he was an apprentice, he'd learned when and when not to talk in the first week. Marina was having quite a bit of trouble with this. He laughed inwardly, remembering how her father had treated him. He turned to her and said, "I'm your mentor. Shut up and treat me like it. She is no barmaid. She's been stringing us along this entire time. You'd be wise to learn to tell the difference between someone panicking and someone who just wants you to think they're panicking." That was all he intended to say to Marina. He was focusing on Lea now. If Marina had a problem, she could quit. At the rate she was growing to dislike him, it seemed like a fair possibility now.
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Post by ivory on Jun 20, 2009 19:30:59 GMT -5
Marina's mouth dropped open in shock, but she refused to sputter again, so kept quiet. That didn't stop her in the least from glaring at him and inching between him and Lea. Lea was a Lady and Ladies needed protecting. It was the rule of society. He should know that.
In her mind, he was dead wrong.
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