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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 28, 2009 12:49:38 GMT -5
(OOC: This is open to Lea, Marina, Monkuta. Others may join upon request. Send us an IM if you want to join)
Lea wasn't too fond of boats, but she hated slaver traders far more. It was a vile trade and she was determined to catch up the two who escaped them in Seacliff.
She and Monkuta had secured passage on a ship heading around the mainland and now found themselves being rowed into a series of caves in the Southern Cliffs by a sailor who had been paid well to guide them to the village that was allegedly in the caves.
They didn't have anything more than rumors and Nocul's word to go on, but it seemed this sailor had dropped people off here before.
"How many have you picked up here?" Lea asked him as they pulled up to a dock deep in the labrynth of caves.
"No one." The sailor answered with a big grin on his face. "Never heard of anyone escaping the Arena before. You are both going to die here."
"Mmmfh. I have heard that before." Lea rolled her eyes at his dramatics. If she gave into that philosophy, she would have been dead alongside her mentor/lover back when she was 16. He had been the one who taught her how to fight with knives and they had made a great deal of money street busking and performing at faires, with a bit of theivery on the side. The night he died, they had been set up and ambushed and neither of them should have gotten out of there alive. But she had and had killed nearly all the men who had attacked them. So she wasn't about to fall for one sailor's bravado.
She stepped out onto the dock and shouldered her sack and looked the area over.
There was only one hut right here, but there was a path that led up and deeper into the caves arounda bend. She looked to Monkuta, "you ready?"
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 28, 2009 13:08:15 GMT -5
Monkuta stepped out of the boat and handed the sailor a silver royal piece. "For your troubles," he said quietly. The man took it thankfully but with great suspicion, as most people did when dealing with rangers. As the man started rowing away, it occurred to Monkuta that rangers would receive a much worse welcome in this place.
He dropped his pack to the ground and removed the items that marked him as a ranger. His cloak, his oak-leaf necklace, and his double scabbard all went into the bag. Then he pulled out a normal knife scabbard for his saxe-knife and a smaller, more discreet one for his throwing dagger, which would rest just below the back of his neck. He hated having to use them. They were so impractical, but he didn't have a choice. He couldn't possibly fit his bow into the pack, so he would have to carry it. It wouldn't look too suspicious, he decided. He just had to remain inconspicuous. That would be easy.
Checking his gear and shouldering his pack once again, he turned to Lea and nodded. "Let's go."
It didn't take long for him to realize that these tunnels were, indeed, a complete maze. Light sources were scarce, so when they came to a torch mounted on a wall, he ripped it from its holster and carried it with them. It was near impossible to follow tracks through water and over stone, so they really were on their own in here.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 28, 2009 15:53:22 GMT -5
"I don't mind saying that I don't care much for these caves." Lea muttered as they tried to find their way to the village. "How we supposed to know where to go? We could wander down here until we starve to death if we aren't careful."
Lea searched the floor of the caves for signs of passage. She could still hear the pounding of the waves outside the cliffs. It obliterated any sounds that might be coming from the alleged village.
Lea stumbled and clutched her stomach, lurching up against the cave wall. Her other hand landed on a piece of fabric.
"Look! Someone has come down this tunnel. Here is a piece of their shirt on this jagged rock." Her spirits rose. Maybe they were heading in the right direction. She searched the ground for signs of foot prints.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 28, 2009 18:19:24 GMT -5
Monkuta examined the shirt gravely. Someone had been here. They had either left it as a marker... or as a warning. He dropped it to the ground and turned to Lea, instantly recognizing what she was doing.
"Don't bother," he said, his voice echoing off of the cave walls. "Just because there are footprints doesn't mean that they'll lead us anywhere." He wondered if there really was any easy way through here. They couldn't trust their own tracking skills and they hadn't seen a torch on the wall for a long time. He had long since shut out the sound of the tide against the outer cliffs. It was quite disorienting.
He cursed himself for not having a sense to ask Nocul the way through the caves. They needed a guide of some sort... or a miracle.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 28, 2009 21:43:03 GMT -5
Lea stopped and dug down into her sack for a few minutes. She pulled out a piece of chalk. "I have this chalk. Maybe we should mark which way we are going and have been. In case we have to find our way out again." She suggested, not sure if that would help them or not.
She trudged along behind Monkuta, letting him take the lead because she really was out of her element here in the caves. The lack of torches seemed like a bad sign to her and the ground was slowly sloping downward.
"Do you think the village and arena would be above the cave entrance? It seems like it would be to me." She tried to look around and was worried their torch was going to go out. "Maybe we should go back to the docks, wait for someone who looks like they know what they are doing and follow them."
It wasn't a great plan, because who knew how long it would be before someone arrived, but it was all she could think of. She hated wandering around in these caves. The thought of doing so in the complete dark was sheer terror.
She ripped off the hem of her skirt and handed it to Monkuta. "For when the torch gets low. Might help it burn a bit longer."
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 28, 2009 21:58:03 GMT -5
Monkuta shrugged. "I don't know, Lea. I don't know anything more about this place than you do. If I had to guess, I'd say that this place is as far down as they could make it. Easier to hide, more space to build up. That chalk will definitely help, however. Make it last."
They walked in silence for a long while. Monkuta hopes were beginning to drain. Every turn and dead end looked exactly the same. How were they ever going to-- What was that? An echo. A brief sound... A voice. He looked to Lea, wondering if she'd heard it. It could have just been his nerves. With a quick turn, he ran down the tunnel where he thought the sound might have come from. If it was nothing then... well, they would be no more lost than they already were.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 28, 2009 22:24:23 GMT -5
Lea thought she had heard something, but wasn't sure. Monkuta noticed it too. Suddenly he was running down a tunnel. Lea turned and ran after him, hoping they weren't going to get totally lost. She marked their direction change on the wall and fell a bit behind as she did so.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 28, 2009 22:27:44 GMT -5
As the two came to a sharp turn in the tunnel, Monkuta stopped, dropping the torch into the water at their feet. It went out instantly. Then Monkuta turned to Lea. He could still see her. It meant he was right. Slowly, he crept his way to the corner and looked around. Further down the way, three figures sat around a fire, talking quietly.
This was too perfect. These men obviously must know the way through the caves, to be sitting around so peacefully. He looked over his shoulder at Lea with a smirk on his face that said, 'You thinking what I'm thinking?'
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 29, 2009 5:43:19 GMT -5
Lea nodded back, though not exactly sure of what he had planned, she had a good idea. "Ready when you are." She said, pulling out two daggers in case he wanted to fight them. Personally she would wait until they moved on and follow them without them knowing she was there. Less chance of being double-crossed that way, or getting injured in a fight. Fighting was normally her last resort. Usually she tried to coerce men into doing her bidding by the female arts. Usally it worked like a charm.
She waited for Monkuta to make a move or explain his plan.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 29, 2009 12:29:51 GMT -5
Monkuta rolled his eyes when she took out her weapons. He motioned with his arms for her to put them away. Then he stuck his finger in the air as a signal to watch. He would have preferred to wait and just follow them at a distance, but with what they'd been told about this place, they might not have had that much time.
He didn't dare speak. If they could hear the men speaking, the men would probably be able to hear them, especially with the walls amplifying their voices. Lea would have to figure out the plan as they went along. From the look of the men, they were fighters of some sort. If they were fighters and they were here then he could safely assume that they would jump on a chance to capture some slaves and take them to the Arena.
So he hunched over, clutched his stomach in mock pain, grabbed Lea's arm tightly and limped around the corner to where they were in plain sight of the men. "Oh, thank god!" he shouted. "People!" He pointed at the men who had noticed them now. "Come on, honey. They'll help us get out of here," he said in the voice of a starving, desperate man.
He swiftly pulled Lea down the cave until they stood about a meter away from the closest man. He smirked inwardly as he noticed the man opposite them was already moving for his sword.
"Excuse me," he said to the closest man, seemingly oblivious to the greedy stares and wicked smirks coming about their faces--he was not. "But do you men know the way out of here? We came to the Arena about a week ago for some fun and now we just can't find out way out. Isn't that right honey?" He turned to Lea and squeezed her arm tighter for a moment, silently praying that she knew what they were doing.
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Post by ivory on Jun 29, 2009 20:59:42 GMT -5
Melody wandered the caves silently, head hanging low to where her matted hair made a veil across her face. Her eyes were haunted, her body a lifeless shell as she made her way with one hand upon the rock wall. She moved slowly, her spirit gone.
Time had disappeared for her and eventually she stopped struggling. So much despair, so much hope gone. She was naught but a slave, best to just accept her fate than continue the harsh punishment of Kieran. As long as she didn't fight, people died quicker. Their pains were still slow, just not as slow.
She was dimly aware that something was different as she noticed the powder on the walls. They'd never been there before. She cocked her head to the side as she stopped and studied it, but long fingers tightened around her upper arm and pulled her foward. They released her as soon as she began moving again and within moments the powder was forgotten.
It was time to be heading back. Even the knowledge of Kieran taking over didn't cause her to put up a fight. Her life had been drained a long time ago. Now she was nothing but a shell.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 30, 2009 5:24:10 GMT -5
Lea put her daggers away and followed Monkuta's lead, wondering what he had in mind. She played along though, staggering a little as he pulled her forward, trying to put a dull look in her eye of weariness and despair.
"Isn't that right honey?"
Lea nodded, "Please Sirs, do you have any food to spare? Any water?" Lea held out one hand to them and clutchted at Monkuta with the other.
She hoped Monkuta wasn't planning on getting them captured after all they went through to keep from being captured. Since these people were adept at keeping highly skilled fighters prisoner, she didn't think their chances would be too good if they got caught. But she would play along for now. Until they tried to disarm her.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jul 2, 2009 14:15:04 GMT -5
Monkuta glanced over his shoulder at Lea. She was being patient, but he could tell from the way her arms were angled towards her weapons that she was about to start a fight. He shook his head at her. It was a barely visible motion and the dark of the caves didn't make it any easier to discern from stillness. He just had to hope it would get her to stop. These men needed a reason to take them to the Arena. What better reason than to sell some slaves into combat?
He turned back around to talk to the men and was greeted by a fist to the face. He could have dodged it, but it would have done no good for them to know that he could fight. They also had to assume that he wasn't hiding any weapons. They would see the saxe knife; that was inevitable. But his blowgun and throwing dagger, he could use those to escape once the Arena was in sight. He went tumbling back and hit the cave wall. He grunted on impact.
The men, now armed with swords and rope, were attacking the two of them.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jul 2, 2009 14:41:04 GMT -5
Lea wasn't liking this plan of Monkuta's much at all. She scowled at him as one of the men tried to grab her. She slashed at the guy with her knife awkwardly, trying to make the man think she wasn't a fighter. Maybe they wouldn't look too hard for her myriad of hidden knives.
"Stop that!" she screeched, in character, "What are you doing?" She kicked the guy in the groin and he stumbled back and she took off running back up the tunnel. He gave chase and grabbed her from behind and slammed her into the floor, knocking the wind out of her.
Lea writhed on the floor trying to get her wind back as he pinned her down with a huge foot.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jul 2, 2009 14:46:13 GMT -5
Monkuta rolled his eyes as he watched Lea get pinned to the ground. Just get hit and go down. Is it that hard? As the men grew closer to him, he closed his eyes, pretending to be unconscious from the bash against the cave wall. They bound his hands, but not behind his back--in front. They were stupid. That was an advantage.
He struggled to keep his eyes closed as they dragged him across the rough, sharp cave floor and tossed him into... a cage. He smirked inwardly, remembering the first time someone had put him in a cage. That had been an exciting day. He suspected that this one would trump it, though. Everything was going according to plan, just so long as Lea had the brains to let herself get caught as well.
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