Why Need a Knight when you can just have a Darik?

[Darik]

oocHay Evelyn you need to clear up what current city you’re. Sunberth, right? That’s why we are having this thread?

Date: 7th of Winter, 511 Pcs Involved: Darik, Evelyn Harrow Because Darik had liven in Sunberth for most of his life, he started to see the a pattern in Sunberth’s daily activity. It was supposed to be the most unpredictable city ever to exist, but because of this fact it was predictable. Every day there would be at least one mugging, every three days a murder, and every week a kidnapping would happen. If they really wanted to be unusual they would have one day without any violence. Now that would surprise people. Sadly, the chance of that happening was the chance of Darik dying. So it was no surprise to see a man hiding behind a wall ready to ambush a young woman. From her angle she could see nothing, but from Darik’s he could see everything. He was of fair size but he gripped a club. No doubt he would mug the unsuspecting girl witless then subject her to his harem. That’s just how life works in Sunberth. Why was the girl travelling alone though? Well not technically alone, she was on a chestnut horse that still walked with youth in its legs. From this distance it looked like a mare, but Darik would never know unless he looked in its private area. And doing that in public is very impolite, especially if someone is on top of the horse and the horse is moving. No matter the gender of the horse, it still wouldn’t be able to protect the girl from the man. But seriously, why was she riding alone with no guard accompanying her? It’s like the definition of suicide! How old could she possibly be? Fifteen? Thirteen? Ten? Five? Two? Okay, maybe the last one was overdoing it but being a woman in Sunberth, no matter the age, wasn’t safe. Darik wasn’t going to help her, there was no reason to. The man would steal most of her possessions and then forget a few. Then Darik would swoop in and take those few measly things left. That was his job as a scavenger, not fighting but still profiting. Yet, if he saved the lady then he could get all the profits himself. Hmm…it was a hard being a twisted human being. He made his choice, no doubt he would regret it later. ” Hay Girl!!” He shouted and jumped up and down to get her attention. “Watch out, there’s a man that’s gonna kill you!!!” He really shouldn’t have gave her that much information, now instead of being a bystander he was now a hero. If the man had any mind at all, he would deal with Darik after he had taken care of the girl. Real men take care of all hindrances.

oocI am going away soon (I don’t know which day) so I wrote this really quick. Sorry.

[Evelyn Harrow]

Timestamp: 7th of Winter, 511 A.V. Evelyn had only been in Sunberth for a few bells, which was plenty of time for her to decide that she didn’t like it. The people were not friendly and earlier she had witnessed a mugging in broad daylight. Not one person batted an eye, never mind actually lending a hand. She scowled, aggravated by the lack of compassion the residents had and told herself she wouldn’t stay long enough to be influenced by such behavior. Barbarians these people were! She tried to focus on her riding. It had taken ages to even mount the stallion and even when she had it was awkward and tense. She was afraid Mau would take off running and she wouldn’t be able to control him. Not that she could control him now. Steering was another problem. Either she would pull to hard and Mau would make too sharp of a turn or she wouldn’t pull hard enough and the horse wouldn’t turn at all. It the past bell she had resolved to just go straight and while her legs were aching and she was uncomfortable, it was at least easy. As Mau moved through the streets Evelyn began to lose focus and within a chime was completely spaced out. A soft breeze tickled her hair and she shivered slightly against it. As she was nearing a corner she heard a shout. Startled she looked around and quickly saw a brown haired boy waving. Confusion riddled her face as she picked out words that he was communicating. She barely got the message before she was effectively dragged off the horse by another man. It took a second for it all to click into place but when it registered in her mind that this man was trying to steal Mau and possibly kill her she began to fight back. Struggling against the much more strength superior man she grasped at the leather reigns and knew it was hopeless. Unless the boy from earlier came to her rescue! She desperately hoped he would.

[Darik]

Darik had been right, the man wasn’t playing hide and seek with the girl. He had grabbed the girl and was about to pull her off. Well, looks like she was going to die. There was no possible way the lithe girl could regain control from the burly man, unless she got help of course. And help wouldn’t come, if Darik wasn’t going to help, then no one would. And Darik wouldn’t help because it would be fatal. If he ran away right now, the man wouldn’t be able to exact his revenge on Darik for almost ruining the mugging. And there was no doubt he could disappear, that was his specialty. How do you think he had lived so long in Sunberth?(Besides you know, he’s invulnerable to all attack.) And yet, the girl’s desperate look pierced his stone heart. He didn’t get to see women like her, and when he did they were always owned by powerful men. And Darik didn’t even dare try flirting with them. Except Libby, but everyman who possessed something between his legs flirted with her. Dammit, he would save her. The sad part though was why he was going to save her. If he saved her, it was going to be the only chance he ever would get to talk to a pretty girl. The life of a teenage male is sad indeed. When Darik cleared the distance between him and the mugger, he didn’t even try to tackle him. That would just be playing to his weaknesses. Darik wasn’t of big frame. Instead he played to his strength. There were a vast amount to choose from and Darik picked one he had gained recently: pissing off horses. He rammed his fist right into the horse’s flank. It was one of the most sensitive parts of the horse (beside the gonads) and Darik had learned that from a very ugly looking bruise. The horse he had groomed didn’t like being touched there, and this horse seemed to be of a likewise thought. It bucked for a few seconds before taking off into a full gallop. If the girl wasn’t a master horsewomen she would only be able to stay on for around a minute. And don’t even get me started on retrieving the horse. But Darik couldn’t dwell on the consequences of his actions, he had to deal with them. The man let go of the reins when the horse had a spasm. He didn’t dare risk getting his arm pulled out of his socket, else he would quickly change from predator to prey. As the girl’s horse disappeared from view he turned around. It was time for him to deal with the do-gooder, he could always go catch the girlie later. When he reached out his hands to grasp Darik, the kid was already ducking. Before he could even take another swipe, Darik was already in motion. The first hundred yards weren’t bad, it was just wide open space. Then the various obstacles started to present themselves. First the sudden turns appeared that were notorious in Sunberth’s alleys. Sadly,(or is it fortunately?) he didn’t experience another one of Sunberth’s prominent features, dead ends. The man must have been quite slow, because Darik outpaced him easily. He stood in a alley thinking of what to do next. He decided to push his luck, there was no telling what might happen if he kept running. For all he knew, he could accidentally run in circles and have another rendezvous with the man. Much safer to stay in place and set up a trap. Darik had never set up a trap before but he figured it couldn’t be too hard. Sunberth’s alleys were littered with junk that could be fashioned into something workable. He was a dreamer so it only took a second to come up with a devilish plan. Putting it in action took a much longer process though. Darik’s dexterous fingers helped, but things kept not working out. Mainly the mechanism that held the whole thing together. In fact, he had to go to a simpler idea because it was physically impossible to build what he had in plan. As he was about to finish tying the last knot, he realized that the man was taking his sweet time getting here. He may have misjudged and the man could have turned back and hunted the girl. As he was lost in thought, the air was pushed forcibly out of his chest. The man had snuck behind him, thus making the whole trap useless. Or it would have been useless if Darik hadn’t been trying to tie the trip wire. Because he still had the rope in his hand, he let go. The dagger that was hanging about nine feet in the air fell into the man’s back. It wouldn’t kill him; Darik had learned recently it wasn’t good to kill random people because for some reason they always had powerful relatives. What it would do though, was disable him for a moment. The man was taken by surprise and let go of Darik. Darik ran to the rope and tugged on it, pulling the dagger back into the air close to its starting position. Its starting position was just below a kettle’s handle that Darik had tied to the wall so it could serve as a slide for the rope. The man moved a bit intending to rip him to shreds, but he let go again. It hit the other side of his back, putting the man down in pain. Doing it a third time would be overkill, but he still pulled back. This time though, he pulled so far, that the knife flew towards him. After a very frantic dodge of a fast knife, he slipped the knife back into its spot with some of the rope still attacked. Who knows, he could develop his own fighting style if he put a bit of thought into it. ”Buh bye, have a nice day.” The man was grunting in pain, not of enough mind to to utter a comprehensible reply. Now, time to find the girl. It took him a bit of time, but he soon found. She was a bit more worse for wear than him. He didn’t sneak up on her, he approached her from the front, waving. ”You’re not around from here, are you?” It was an obvious question, but Darik liked flaunting off his power of observation.

oocIf you want, they could catch her horse together.

[Evelyn Harrow]

oocSounds great

The events that took place happened so quickly that Evelyn was left splayed out on the dirty ground with no horse, no belongings, and not a copper miza to her name. The boy had taken off after pissing off Mau and the man had fallowed. She needed to find Mau, which was her first priority, he was her boy! The thought that he was roaming this particular god-forsaken city made her eyes water. A quick sniffle drew the tears back fallowed by a hard swallow. This was not a time for crying, if she was going to find her beloved horse, the teen needed to keep a cool head. After taking a deep breath she lifted herself to her feet and brushed the loose dirt from her clothes. The ends of her hair were stuck with mud and her right leg was caked with the mixture but, other than a few bruises on her arms where she had been grabbed there had been little injury. Evelyn was overcome with gratitude and reverently gave thanks to her deities for sending the boy to her aid. It was more likely than not that he had saved her life. The prayer was short and sweet and afterwards the teen took the time to take in her surroundings. The street was nearly empty except for the occasional person who would run past quickly, heads bowed, obviously not wishing to draw attention to themselves. A rat scuffled its way towards her and she gently nudged it away with her boot; she was never one to be cruel towards animals. The matted creature gave a loud squeak before disappearing in a pile of trash. Evelyn sighed and ran a hand through her hair, unsure what she should do. She had basically lost everything she owned and had no way or experience to get it back. As she paced the boy returned in a friendly matter. “No, I’m from Lhavit.” She answered simply. A sudden alarm crept on her as she remembered the man. Evelyn looked him over, finally being able to place a face to her rescuer. He was taller than she, and she had to look up at him to see his face clearly. His brown hair and eyes were plain but were just a few shades in difference. He was her age, maybe older or younger, she wasn’t quite sure. Her eyes caught sight of an ugly mark on his hand but she didn’t question it. Instead she offered a soft smile to the boy who had saved her life. “Are you alright? He didn’t hurt you did he?” She asked as she touched his arm lightly.

[Darik]

The girl asked him a very odd question indeed. He looked much better off than she did. She carried the bruises of a fall, while all he had was the soreness of his legs. If anything he should be asking her that question. But he didn’t, it would be wasting words that could be better spent elsewhere. She was obviously fine, just a bit shaken up. “He didn’t have a chance, I beat him to a pulp.” The girl gave him a disbelieving glance. “Ohh okay, not really. I just lost him in this cities many streets. Trust me though, he won’t go for you again. People here have a short attention span.” Did Darik just berate his abilities? For once in his life he succeeded at something, and he wasn’t bragging about it. Women have weird affects on men. He didn’t notice till he spoke that she had her hand on his arm. Usually he would have felt the slightest of touches, yet he had gone unaware of her lovely hand resting on his arm. If she had been an assassin, he would have been dead; stabbed and gutted like a pig. He lightly brushed her hand away from him, he didn’t dare get comfortable with her. His life rested upon his ability to discern the slightest of motions. ”Looks like you lost your horse. I actually work with animals a bit, so maybe I can help. Do you want me too?” He was telling the truth, he did work with horses’ all the time. In fact, he had lost so many he had started to get good at tracking them! It wouldn’t be hard following this one either, the ground still had a little water in it so the horses’ prints were clear. That also meant that if one of Darik’s co workers saw it, they could also chase after the horse. Whatever she said in response, he would start following the tracks. Even if she said no, he would still help her. When Darik offers help, you’re getting it whether you like it or not. His pace was slow, he wanted to make sure she could run beside him. If he ran this for a whole mile, it would take him around twelve minutes. Walking a whole mile took him around sixteen, so it was faster than a walk. It was mind numbingly slow though, but he wanted to make sure that she could keep up with him. Time was of essence, but the only reason he was doing this so he could have some alone time with the girl ”So, what’s your story? Hopefully yours is much more interesting than mine.” He sure hoped she could speak while running. Hell, at this pace he could sleep. But, sometimes he forgot that not everyone was as in good shape as he was. It was a shame really, running while talking was a very joyous thing. You get to have an interesting conversation while working out, and it causes your lungs to work harder, thus making you a better runner in the long run.

[Evelyn Harrow]

E velyn’s eyebrows knitted together in disbelief at his claim; giggling shortly after when he told her the truth, she began to enjoy the company. She began to recall the times in Lhavit when she had talked to the boys her age, most were students of one of the schools, mainly from the Twilight Tower since her home was close by. They had often invited her to come join them for lessons but she had just as often declined. It was now, that she was reminded of them as she watched the boy in front of her. He brushed her hand away and she wondered vaguely if the gesture was rude in this city but quickly cleared her head of such queer thoughts. He was still being friendly anyways. H er interest was sparked when he mentioned his work with animals but before she could work out a reply he was already on the move. His pace was much faster than her own and she found herself struggling to keep up. Her legs felt awkward at such a pace but she was blissful at the thought of seeing Mau again so she moved on. “As I said before, I’m from Lhavit, that was where I was born.” She paused to catch her breath before continuing, “ I grew up there until the Symenstra’s Harvest got to be too much for my parents to handle. They were always afraid it would be me the next go around. I guess I never really gave it much attention until they told me we were leaving. Anyways we split up at Zeltiva and here I am.” E velyn took a chime or two to try to even her irregular breathing out as she moved and at this point in time was wishing sourly to sit and rest but knew that it wasn’t a possibility if they were to find Mau. She glanced at her feet and saw the tracks that they were fallowing and took in their appearance. The U shaped hoof prints began to look familiar as she memorized the pattern. A After sucking in a good amount of air she asked, “What about you? You said you worked with animals.”

[Darik]

She was struggling to keep up with him, her irregular breathing patterns alerted him to this fact. He didn’t know what to do in response to that. He couldn’t keep pushing her physical endurance, that was cruel. Could he perhaps offer to carry her piggyback style while she regained energy? No, he didn’t know her well enough and that could potentially make her feel awkward. He decided to let her save face. ”Wooh, I’m tired.” He stopped his slow jog and went to a walk. He hoped that she was at least fit enough to carry on a walk for awhile. She asked him what he did, didn’t she? “Like I said, it isn’t important and quite boring, but I guess we have time to spare. I ust to live in Syliras till me and my parents had an ahh… disagreement.” He hadn’t worded it truthfully, in reality he had just realized he was being a drain on there money. ”So I ran away.” Should he mention that he stole all his parent’s money? No, then she would see him as a backstabber “Going into the wilderness unprepared isn’t exactly the best way to survive. Luckily, some bandits found me and because of them I learned things about animals.” Once again, he was only saying part of the truth. In reality, the bandits had used him as sport, watching him trying to escape from his various enchainments. When he escaped from them, he had to learn about horses’ else he would have lost it. ”Told you, wasn’t that interesting.” He walked in silence for a bit, till he heard slight chewing. ”Shhh….., stay quiet. I am going to sneak forward.” He spoke quietly to a girl he considered a friend. The horse was much too busy chewing to hear Darik’s stumbling. After checking on the horse from a secure location, he went back to the girl. ” From what I saw, I think it looks like your horse. Now, how do you want to catch him? Usually I would give you a plan, but I don’t know his personality and his habits. As his owner, you should most likely know the best ways to get him under control. Just one comment, he still may be a bit scared. Try to take that into consideration.” He then quietly listened to see what kind of plan the girl could scheme. If she couldn’t come up with one, he would give his. But it would be much less successful, because he wasn’t privy to all the information she was.

[Evelyn Harrow]

O h thank Syna! Evelyn thought as the boy slowed his pace. She was able to keep up more efficiently now though she still struggled a bit. Listening to the boy’s story as they moved along she wondered how he could possibly think his story was boring. Bandits? How exciting! She wanted to ask more about his life but stopped herself in fear of being rude. Her heart gave a little thrill as he motioned for her to be quiet. Mau must be close by! “I think you’re wrong, it’s quite interesting.” She stated quickly when he returned. Then, turning promptly she went to fetch her beloved horse. I t was defiantly Mau and as she approached he backed away. Cooing softly Evelyn slowly extended her hand out to the beast and inched forward. Holding her breath in anticipation it took her several tense moments to grasp the reins. Drawing herself closer the girl placed a soft hand on his snout and rubbed it carefully. Letting out a sigh of relief Evelyn moved her body closer to the warm stallion. She wrapped her arms around his neck in an odd sort of embrace briefly before gripping the reins more firmly. She led him back towards the boy. “You just got to take the bull by the horns, no plotting or planning needed.” D rawing the horse nearer she patted his side lovingly, feeling quite pleased with the reunion. Mau shifted around and shook his head to rid the flies away. Evelyn beamed, feeling truly happy since she first stepped foot in the city. “Thank you for finding him, it really means a lot. Here, you deserve it” She said as she offered him a handful of miza's.

ooc17gm 2sm 8cm