Closed Conflicting Views (Orion)

[Ana Sol Starris]

Traveller's Row
Summer 46th

The past few days had been utter chaos for Ana, her time spent in her room had decreased considerably. For what had been a few bells of blissful peace, and silence, a safe haven in a city crowded beyond her imagination had suddenly turned into a nightmarish location. Staying within its walls for longer than a few chimes sent her mind into a frenzy, a panick, paranoia coursing through her thoughts telling her they were coming. Orion was coming to get her. He was going to change his mind and she would be at the mercy to the knights, if there was even such a thing..

So, the most time she spent in her rented room was little at all, only returning, and staying for longer periods of time during the night. Sleep was nonexistant during those times. Too scared they would come to her doorstep and take her away, a 'rap' 'rap' on the door, and suddenly she would be no more.
When will the day come.. Ana thought, exhausted, laying in her bed with the covers drawn up and over her body, hiding her from sight. Eyes wide, and dry.

Her eyes peeked out from the hiding spot to glance at the door, unable to tell when the day had come because there was no light to signal its arrival, there were no windows for it to flood in. Not even the crack between the floor, and the door, could tell her when day had arisen. Only when the humdrum of life that did buzz during the day would tell her that she could leave her room quickly, and generally unnoticed, but the throb in her temples, and the rush of her heart seemed to drown out all noise. She felt dead. Sleep was just on the edge, it wanted to take her, she wanted it back.

It wouldn't come. Everytime she shut her eyes, blue eyes stared down at her, anger filled, they were Orions. Reminding her of the incident, what she had done, what he had done, shown her mercy? Or was it a trap... The worst part was that she felt he was familliar, and every time she tried to remember why, she only succeeded in making the headache she had much worse.

His purse lay on the floor across from her bed, unopened, she had thrown it there the same night he had caught her.

[Orion Michaels]

It had only been a few days, but it's all he could focus on. It ate at all of his thoughts, all of his worries, all of his dreams, and all of his nightmares. Dinah knew something was wrong, she bothered him about it constantly. Over and over she requested, pleaded, and ordered that her squire give her an answer, to tell him what was on his mind. It was affecting his training, after all. It was tormenting him to the point where he couldn't focus on what was at hand. It got bad enough that Dinah had dismissed him for the day to go and get his head on his shoulders again. He didn't know how he'd be able to do that, given what was going on.

Why is she here?

What purpose could that woman have?

She was supposed to stay in my past. All of that was supposed to stay there.

Did she come seeking revenge? Is it just a coincidence?

Is she going to try and blackmail me? Try and punish me for transgressions I've hated myself for?

For the evils I hate myself for?

Orion found himself pacing in the corridors of the Traveler's Row. He was more than familiar with the location, as it was his home for several years. A place for transients, but it had worked just as well for someone afraid to commit to anything. It couldn't come a surprise that this 'Starris' would make the place her home for however long she was in this blasted city.

His right hand rested on the hilt of his sword, as he waged a mental battle with what he was to do. It wasn't horribly hard to locate her. She was both inconspicuous and entirely the opposite. Skiddish, uneven, and a beacon for trouble. Plus, saying it was for knightly business made it easy enough. There was only one who met her description staying there.

The problem was much bigger than finding out where exactly she lived. It was what he was supposed to do with that information.

Do I seek answers? Find out why she is here?

Or do I silence her? She's a criminal, taken possession of my coin. She'll lose all credibility if I bring her in.

I..

I just don't know.

What he couldn't do was hesitate any longer. Inaction would accomplish nothing. Even if he had to make it up as went along, he'd have to do something. His nerves were on edge, but he finally did what he had to do.

He knocked. Once, twice, three times, he knocked. His knuckles rapped solidly against the wooden door, beckoning her presence before him. He'd knock the petching door down if need be.

Open the petching door! He kept his hand ready to draw his weapon if she tried anything aggressive. They were both cornered animals in their own ways. It was risky for either of them to prod the other.

[Ana Sol Starris]

It won't hurt to check if its day time.. Ana tried to reason with herself, with her body was more like it, heavier than what she was use to. It was as if everyone in Syliras had decided to sit on her.

Groaning out as she rolled, with every intent to have her feet land on the ground next to the bed while her hands pushed her upper body upwards to sit up. That was the plan. Until three pert raps on the door sounded, echoed, shattered her resolve and she ended up rolling completely off the bed with a thump. Tangled in her blankets. It was just as she feared, they had come for her finally.
Petch, petch, petch! Her mind repetitively shouted, her body trying to disengage itself from the fabric she had trapped herself in.

A chime passed, her panick seemed to simmer down once she had noticed that no one had barged in like she imagined them to do. There were no shouts, no commotion beyond the door, only those three knocks. Had someone mistaken her door for someone elses? Would that mean that they were not here for her? Or maybe they were still there, just waiting patiently.. Ana breathed deeply, held the breath, and then exhaled slowly trying to ease the tension away. Her heart was racing rapidly against her chest still, but no wheres near as bad as the initial panick attack had caused. One arm fumbled in the blanket trying to reach out of it, her eyes following upwards to a shirt on the bed.

It was just the day before, but she had finally deemed it to be time to get new clothes, everyone was sure to be talking about the girl in the purple jacket. Grabbing onto the shirt just barely, she pulled it off the bed and towards her, her body relaxing as she wormed her way forwards and out of the fabric. Right into her new shirt. It was of a duller shade of dark green, comfortable, with sleeves that just ended at her knuckles. It was by no means extravagent, and the qaulity of the item was good, if one were to ignore the small miscolored patch of grey cloth in the front.
I better check whos at the door, hopefully they'll have gone away.. Ana thought as she tried to get a grip on herself.

Up she went to sit, and then pulled herself up via the bed side, not bothering to throw the blanket back on the bed and instead stepped quickly towards the door. Bare footed. It was too hot during the night to try and sleep in all of her clothes, but at least she kept her old pants on.

There was a keen burn behind her eyes, frigid in temperature, but it burned nonetheless, a signal that her body wasn't going to let her sleep any time soon. Her hand gripped the doorknob, turned it, and slowly peeked outside as she opened the door. Wholly convinced that it wasn't who she thought it was. If only she could have been right. When she saw who it was standing outside her door, she attempted to shut the door sharply and with as much force as she could muster into her sleep depraved body into the door.
"Shyke." She whispered with her back against the surface, eyes watering out of renewed terror and paranoia.

[Orion Michaels]

He knocked those three times. Tap tap tap.

Then he waited.

And he waited some more.

But he could hear the rustling in the room, and he knew she was there. Perhaps he'd woken the troublemaker, the specter of his past. He'd wait as long as it took for her to show her face. He'd confront her and find out just what was going on, just what their history was, just why she was here.

When the door opened and quickly reversed direction, he thrust his foot out, only to have it caught in the door. "Gods curse you, woman! Open this door! Ouch. Ouchouchouchouch!" Orion pushed his shoulder into the door, using his weight and strength to overpower the petite woman on the other side of the wooden structure. Once in the the room, he slammed the door shut behind him and took up a position the the handle to make sure she didn't try and make any escape. "Calm down! I'm not here to do anything! For crying out loud!"

The presence of a sword on his side probably did little to alleviate that fear, but he was true in his words. Blue eyes scanned the tiny room, fixating on his coin purse. "Get that," he commanded, motioning to the coin purse. "We're getting dinner. Your treat, apparently." The tone in his voice wasn't one of asking, it was clear he expected her to comply. "The last place you want to be with someone you're hiding from is alone in a room with them, I imagine. At least we'll be in public. I'm an expensive date, though, so we're going to the White Swan. Get what you need, and let's go." He crossed his arms and waited expectantly on Starris. It was cooperate or he'd run her out of town. Her meager possessions were in this room, after al. "Hurry up," he commanded, sternly. He just wanted this resolved, for better or for worse.

[Ana Sol Starris]

Ana didn't know what to do, she had tried to keep him out of her room by pushing the door to shut it but his foot had gotten in her way, he seemed to be in pain, but that wasn't stopping him from overpowering her own meager strength and barging his way right in. Her own weight fell forwards the moment he was inside the room, her body adding to the momentum of the door, and a loud 'slam!' echoed. Her eyes snapped to the doorknob, she wanted that door open. Now. But she saw his hand on it and backed away into the corner. Wall on her right, bed to her left, dagger underneath the pillow, and the canesword propped against the wall next to the bed lay out of her reach. He didn't come at her.

Instead he tryed to reason with her panick-stricken mind. "Calm down?!" Came the shrilly whisper, whether it was hoarsened from a lack of water in the past few bells, from her fear or not, at least it kept her from shouting at him. "You force your way into here, and tell me to calm down?!"
What right did he have to tell her to calm down? Every right, you stole from him, at least he hasn't rammed you with that sword yet or worse. Came the voice, her voice, the conscience at the back of her mind.

Clearing her throat, she leaned against the wall with her shoulder, turned at an angle so she could jump on the bed and circle around if he made any funny movements towards her. She almost did when his hands moved, gestured to the other side of the room, and low and behold in the direction of the purse.
We're getting food? Ana was both confused, and in disbelief, she wanted to know what his motives were. "But.." She started to voice her refusal.

Any choice in the matter seemed to have already been decided for her by him, she would be paying for dinner with 'her' money apparently. Deep down inside, she had to grudgingly agree with his reasoning though, being in this room with him alone had set her nerves alive, tensed up, she expected there to be violence. Gulping. The thief moved slowly along the edge of the bed to sit on the long side of it, eyes remaining on him, ever watchful, ever cautious, it would be obvious that she didn't trust him. Maybe she should prod him?
"How funny, I half expected you to come in waving that sword around, or some shackles, maybe even with a bunch of those knights you mentioned. Not asking for... a date? What the petch is a date anywho?" She questioned him, mumbling the last part out under her breath. "You're not a petching day in a season."

While she spoke, her fingers were already reaching for her boots and slipping them on, tieing the laces up in criss-cross patterns caught on hooks. Her eyes left him momentarily to pick up a black scarf that lay beside her pillow and begin wrapping it carefully around her neck, toying with it, as if to spite his patience, just so it would fit perfectly on her and hide the branding mark. Hopefully he wouldn't have seen it, though, she supposed that if he did she could just say she was a slave for some time and escaped.. Memories of Ximal's own brand wavered in front of her eyes.. The ugly burnt flesh that had healed over many years, from what she could only imagine. Her own brandings were still red, and healing, the healers in Nyka hadn't treated them.

She stood up to straighten out her shirt and to get her belt from the table, taking a few steps to reach for it, and then brought it around her waist for it to be buckled up tightly. Sighing, she cupped the front of her face in one hand, and with the other hand she braced herself against the table, squeezing her eyes shut. Rubbing them with thumb and index-finger, she was still tired but that was nothing new.
"D'ya mind if I make a request before we go?" Ana looked up from her hand, staring at him weary eyed, still wondering why he was doing this. The glance wouldn't be long enough to make eye contact, her attention was swayed to her cane, picking it up with a heavy hand. Her eyes returned to the purse on the ground.

It was his money, really, so why was she being made to pick it up?

[Orion Michaels]

Orion didn't reply to most of what she said. He wasn't at her apartment to talk. He was here to get her out of it. She knew where all of her, well, anything was here. Clothing, money, and of more concern, any sort of weaponry would be in this apartment. He hadn't come to hurt her, he hadn't come to fight her. He was here for answers. Yes, he'd intruded, but if he had allowed her to simply fade from his life he would have regretted it forever.

"Would you prefer that I do? I'd be well within my right, thief. I could end you here, claim you were resisting apprehension, which wouldn't be a lie, I'm sure, and move on with my life, all in the name of good law and order in Syliras. What I'm giving you, Starris, is a chance. So don't you fucking question me here." His hand went over to the hilt of his sword to put emphasis on the threat. He'd follow through if he had to. This woman was dangerous alive. She'd seen a side of him that he wanted to leave buried in Sunberth. But he had to find out what was going on. He just had to.

Orion watched silently as she prepared herself for their trek out to the White Swan. His reasons for the place were twofold. One, if she tried anything there would be plenty of off duty knights to help in apprehending her. The other, and more important reason? They had delicious food. If he was going to be interrogating a troublemaker, he might as well have a good bite to eat during the process.

"Get the money and make your quest so we can get out of here. I'm not feeling terribly patient." He looked to the coin purse and then back to her. His hand never left its spot on the hilt of his weapon, ready to draw if she proved a threat at all. In their previous encounters within the city he'd found her to be quite unpredictable. He had no reason to expect her to suddenly change now.

[Ana Sol Starris]

"Sigh, right, a chance, right.." She mumbled as she hid her face in her hand, somehow she doubted that he was really giving her a chance at anything. If he had wanted the money back he would have just demanded it, taken it, and sicked the hounds on her. Any reasonable person would when they were stolen from. Instead when he had caught her the first time, he pushed her away, told her to get out of there, and now he had returned. There had to be something more to his 'chance' that he was giving her but the question was what? His presence was making her nerves tingle with unease but her composure oddly remained.. Calm.

If one were to disclude the frequent shakes, the troubled tone in her voice, and the quick glances she gave him and the door he was guarding. It must have been the exhaustion that was keeping her from running her mouth any worse than what she already had. Or physically trying to force her way out.

What else do I need.. My own purse.. Dagger, maybe? No, I don't want to give the impression that I can defend myself.. The cane will have to do for now. Straightening, she turned to the side to reach and fumble into her backpack which sat on the table behind her, extracting her purse to tie it onto her belt and then started moving towards Orion's purse that lay on the ground.
"You certainly are testy," kneeling she took it up in hand and stood slowly, using her cane to pull herself back up. "Look, I've anticipated this since... the incident, every action, reaction, escape, and failure, knights, you, and death.. but this.. this.. route? No.. Not at all.. I didn't expect this.."

"I've not slept at all, so I don't have the energy to play catch the criminal, so petching take that hand from that petching sword's hilt, its not helping my nerves.. I just need you to promise me that I won't see Dira if I fall asleep in this White Swan place, if you really mean that I have a chance." Grimly she looked at him, feeling her throat close up as she did so, a quickening heartbeat, screams echoing in her ears. Ana had to shake her head to rid herself of them. The movement made her nausiatingly dizzy but it dissapated with a deep inhale and exhale of air.
This man was bad news, trouble. "Otherwise lead the way, no idea where this White Swan is." She pocketed his purse and advanced forwards, eyes to the ground.

There wasn't any gurantee that this was all real either, she could be dreaming a paranoia induced nightmare. She had dreams like those before and none of them ever turned out well, worry, fear, and an over active imagination were her worst enemies at night. At the problem at hand, however he decided to guide her was up to him, if he did so physically or forcibly then there would be resistance at first on her part. If he kept his hands off her, she would follow, or do as he said, giving the crowds occasional looks of longing to escape but she knew better. He knew where she lived, and she wasn't ready to leave Syliras at such short notice.

[Orion Michaels]

His heart was about ready to beat out of his chest as he tried not to be overcome by anger, confusion, or frustration. The girl was so defiant in her every action since they'd come across each other at Kova's well. It had been almost refreshing at the time, but now her ever word and action got right under his skin. He wanted to yell, he wanted to get in her face and scream. But he couldn't understand why he was so angry at her. He had been the monster. He was the villain in this story. She'd been some stupid girl in the wrong place at the wrong time. A victim of circumstances beyond her control in a city so very, very far from here.

"Just shut up," he snapped coldly. He didn't have time for her to try an analyze his actions or try and get an answer for what he was doing. He wouldn't have been able to answer. He'd been all over the place. The last three days had worn on him, tore him down and left him a shell of man. She'd witnessed things more wicked than anything the people of Syliras had seen or heard of him. It was..terrifying. "If you don't fight me, if you don't try and run you'll be fine. I don't want to cause you..further harm. I will not hesitate if do so, however, if you fail to heed my instruction." He tried to speak matter of factly; a cold threat. But he was as fearful as she was, even if it didn't seem so. His voice was shaky, uneven, and slightly higher in pitch than normal. His nerves, too, were shot. He'd even lingered on the idea of causing her harm again. Even though she'd seemed somewhat confused as to just why she should fear Orion, she knew that she should. This went so much further than a handful of coins.

He wasn't going to listen to her on this matter. "Go." He kept his hand on the hilt, waiting for her to move so he could follow behind her. If she made any attempt to run he would draw and slash in a smooth motion. She had his coin purse in her pocket. No questions would be asked. Another lesson for those who would try to be wicked in Syliras.

He wasn't sure what to expect from her. She'd been nothing but a wild card in their encounters. From climbing down a well, to grabbing his ass, well, he couldn't even begin to predict her actions. All he could do was hope for compliance. If she didn't try and make her get away they would be able to make it to the White Swan without issue. If she decided to be foolish, he'd deal with it in the most knightly way possible.

By stabbing her in the back.

[Ana Sol Starris]

The White Swan

"Shut the door on your way out." Ana muttered, irritated, walking through the entry way and past him to stand in the hallway waiting for his commands. When he would follow after, she gave him a blank stare before following directions. Seeing as he still kept a hand on the hilt of the sword, she supposed it was a little too much to ask but she wasn't so sure that she should have left her dagger in the apartment now.

It wouldn't take long to arrive at the White Swan, she didn't attempt any get aways, and her strides were slow, or depending on how fast he wanted her to walk, they were hurried. The cane was being used like any other cane, a 'tap' 'tap' on the ground intermixed with the crowd's footsteps, it gave her the illusion that she had difficulty walking. It wasn't too far from the truth, the lack of sleep was certainly adding to its part in the way she stepped around people to move past them with Orion at her heels like a bloody hawk. The establishment didn't ease her worries...
What the petch is this place? Came the dumbfounded thought, her eyes scanning the place rapidly. Wealth. The place exuded it.

It was a trap, although only because her klepto-senses were tingling worse than when a limb would fall asleep, and then wake up. When Orion had said he was an expensive date, he wasn't kidding, and somehow she slowly started to understand what a 'date' was. It was a means to make someone spend money on another person. That was exactly what it was. She could imagine the prices already. How much coin was inside her purse alone? Ana hadn't counted, but she could only guess around twenty gold rimmed mizas... If worse came to worse, she could always use Orion's funds to pay for their meals. Or.. An idea bloomed in her mind.

First she would need to see what the prices were.

"Are you sure I can afford this..?" Ana whispered to him in question of her own paying abilities, her voice tense, but quiet as she refused to look at him.
She was a thief, and that meant she had limited cash in the first place, did he really expect her to go through with this extortion? It was a rhetorical question, all he had to do was cry thief.. and then, what? The knights would come for her. When the waiter came for them, Ana could only gawk, the place was foreign, it was too fine for her, too formal, too expensive, too everything. When they were seated, she felt another twitch, and this time in her hands as she examined the fine table cloth at their table. The napkin surrounding a group of utensils, the qaulity of such forks and spoons gleamed their expenditure to her.
Having of set her cane alongside her chair, she picked at the napkin to pick up a fork, looking at it. I fear for my own purse. Orion, you scumbag.

The dinnerware was made of metal, she made a wild guess that it was steel since it looked similar to her cane's hidden blade and what was that sound? There was music in the background, what with all the visual stimuli she had completely ignored the sound of soft flutes, and stringed instruments in the background, there was another instrument amongst them but she couldn't place it as either string or flute. Her eyes flicked back and forth, she was trying to find the source of the music until they rested on a small band of players in a corner on display. There were people talking as well, undiscernable voices, but she felt her ears strain to make out the conversations.

Her attention was evidently not on Orion at that point.

[Orion Michaels]

Orion could almost smile at her reaction to the lavish inn. Almost.

It was indeed a beautiful place, somewhere which Orion had spent many, many bells in the past season or so. The wealthy of Syliras oft spent their time here enjoying the finest of foods and the most exquisite of drinks. He'd downed more bottles of wine than he'd be able to remember, and the coin he'd left here was sorely missed in the days following his binge drinking.

Orion guided Starris to a vacant table, taking a seat and motioning for her to do the same. The waiter that accompanied them requested their order. Orion spoke for them both. "We'll take the lunch meal, naturally." When the waiter left, Orion turned his focus fully to the very unfocused blond woman. He studied her reaction to everything going on around her, and there were a lot of happenings. People were coordinating business, having casual conversation, attempting to woo their dates, and just unwinding after what must have been a trying morning. Toss the entertainment being played as a backdrop and it could be overwhelming to the newcomer.

"You've got nothing to worry about, Starris. You can more than afford it here. That coin purse you found at my side? It had eighteen gold rimmed mizas within it. Five each for our meals, I'll have a glass or two of wine to enjoy with my meal. That'll net you a good five or so gold. Well, after a couple gold tip, you'll have at least one, I'm sure." Orion's voice suddenly dropped to a low growl as he leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Sounds like a fair trade in exchange for me not running you through, wouldn't you agree?" The squire leaned back, a fake smile plastered on lips. He'd have to be pleasant while they were in public. It was as much for him as it was for her.

"Starris, you'll simply love this meal. It's got five courses. Can you believe it? Soup, appetizer, salad, main course, and then desert. I'm praying they have the duck. It's simply to die for." When the soup arrived, that's when he'd start trying to find out what was going on. He didn't want to ask too many questions while there were people running back and forth to them. It would take all his self control to keep himself contained until then. "Waiter, a glass of white please. Anything for you?"