Stuck Between a Knife and a Hard Place (Lucian)

by **Kechaiya** on October 12th, 2014, 8:46 pm

Timestamp: Fall 14, 514
Location: Sunset Quarters
Time: 13th Bell, Midday

Syna was high in the sky as the ebony eyed woman was running for her life. Her pack was bouncing heavily up and down, her hands forced to hold the straps to keep from losing her precious supplies. She dashed around a corner, casting a quick glance as she turned, seeing the three angry gang members chasing her angrily, weapons brandished. They were all furious at her, for during their fight, she was helping to fix up their fallen enemies. One of the men she'd patched up managed to return to the fight and slay a friend. Now they were blaming her. Just her petching luck.

She didn't quite know her exact surroundings, for she'd run away in a massive panic. She was in a more abandoned part of the Sunset Quarters it seemed. Many of these homes had doors skewed open in some fashion, some were crumbling, others were just ruins after fire. She could already feel her breath shortening, despite not having run for long. Turning another corner, she took another moment to look back, it appeared they were gaining on her. Her chest was burning from lack of air. She turned her eyes back forward, only to see the crumbled wall of a building in her path.

She was going too fast to stop. She would have to try and jump it, an idea she had very little confidence in. Just as she came up on, it she powered up off her leading leg, extending her following to jump over the rubble. She thought that she was fine, when her hind leg clipped a large rock. Her foot hit hard, her boots probably the only thing protecting her toes from breaking on contact. She found her torso and head tipping down, slamming into the hard dirt, knocking the wind from her lungs. She struggled to pick herself up, not quite on her feet, as someone grabbed her pack. Being lifted bodily was a strange feeling, followed by the dread of having been caught. The man that had her must be incredibly strong, picking her up with one hand, turning her to face him, now her eyes at his, a large knife in his other hand. He pressed it to her face, taunting and teasing.

"We caught the little bitch that patched up that scum that stabbed Freaky Franky. I think we should teach her a lesson about who she makes good with. What you think, carve our symbol into her face as a reminder?"

Kechaiya was kicking out with her short legs, but her feet bounced harmlessly of the man's muscular chest. No matter how hard she wriggled, she couldn't get free. Then she realized that he was holding her up by her pack, not her cloak. She relaxed, as if giving up, "Look boys, she's accepted what we're gonna do to her." Raising his knife to her face, she raised her arms up, and slipped out of her pack. This change of weight threw the man off balance as she dropped down, just on the edge of the rubble. She drew her own dagger, slashing at the man's groin. She turned to try and run, but found herself backhanded by one of the man's companions, knocking her to the ground a couple feet away. The large man threw her pack down, much angrier now, brandishing the knife and an angry snarl, as he stalked toward her, silent now.

by **Lucian Hill** on November 1st, 2014, 8:59 pm

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It was a relatively relaxing day. Lucian was out for a flight, spinning and twisting in the air. Ravens were different from regular crows, and acrobatic flight was one of the differences - one that he liked to show off. He, for a brief moment, tried flying upside down over the emptier, even poorer section of the Sunset Quarters. A small child, for some reason out in the streets at this time, stared. The upside down flight ended fairly quickly as he began to lose altitude, though it was no problem for him to right himself once again and continue flying.

His mind was soon lost in thought and fancy, his mind roaming to the chance of him becoming something great, or even perhaps acquiring a bondmate - though at 5 years old, he felt as if that was something that would never happen. Not particularly soon, anyways. The thought was melancholy, so he forced himself to remain optimistic.

He heard shouting inside an alley, his black, beady eyes peering below him. A woman, in early adulthood, being cornered by thugs. He flew down gently, watching the events happen. The raven observed the woman in particular - though as she turned and tripped, he noticed her eyes. Solid black. He'd never seen someone with such solid black eyes before - dark irises, yes, but there were always whites at the edges. He hopped to the edge of the roof he was perched on, his head tilted.

It was when the woman was backhanded far into the corner, with only a dagger to protect herself with, that Lucian decided to act. On a whim, he lept off of the edge, attacking the man assumed to be the leader of the little trio in a flurry of feather and claws. He pecked at his eyes, scratching at his face, the man roughly grabbing at the raven in an attempt to pull him off. The other two lackeys just stared for a moment, ignoring the girl for the time being and probably more curious as to why a bird had come out of nowhere and started attacking him.

He found himself being crushed in the large meaty hand of the one man a few ticks later, the man bleeding from his face and one of his eyes. Perfect. This man, however, did not seem to flinch from the pain, most likely in shock from it all - though Lucian found himself in a tight spot. He reached his claws up, scratching at the bottom of the man's hand while pecking his hardest at his fingers in an attempt to make the man let go.

It worked, though he fell to the ground in a flutter of feathers. He let out a low croak, but forced himself to stand up and shake himself out. The raven ached from the crushing, but it appeared that he had nothing broken. The other men stared, and Lucian stared back, still a raven. Not quite sure why he had decided to intervene, he didn't know his feelings on the outcome - he wasn't one to be a hero, and he didn't want his somewhat careful secret to come out because he decided to protect a random woman.

by **Kechaiya** on November 2nd, 2014, 11:56 pm

Kech was on her stomach, clutching at her face after that slap. She could already feel the swelling beginning, when she realized she was holding her face with her dagger hand. Frantically she looked around for her blade, seeing it just out of arm's reach. Head swiveling toward her attacks, she saw the leader lumbering over to finish her off, tossing her pack in the dirt. Then things just got weird. Out of nowhere, a crow began scratching and pecking the shyke out of the man's face. The other men didn't help, just as confused as Kech it seemed. The doctor was beginning to wonder if this was an act of Eywaat, one of her people's favored Gods. When she was younger, she'd been told that crows were a particular favorite of his.

Then the bird was being crushed to death by the leader. It seemed her unorthodox hero was a bit lackluster. Using the distraction, she got to her feet, grabbed her dagger, and rushed over to her pack, watching the lackey's eyes, still trained on the insane situation unfolding. She picked up her pack, slinging it over a single shoulder, not believing what she was now seeing. The bird had freed itself, and was now having... a stare down with the man. What in the petch was going on? Had she hit her head hard in the fall and this was all a dream?

Kech had enough with this insanity, turning and bolting down the road, turning left at first intersection. The two lackeys had seen her go, and gave chase, leaving the bird and the leader in their showdown. Kechaiya meanwhile had found herself in a petching dead end. There were several doors, and she began trying them to see if any were unlocked, out of desperation. Pull, clunk, each door she checked, locked. Making her way over to the last one, she pulled on it, squeaking surprise as it flew open, knocking her off balance, falling on her rump. She scrambled to her feet, just as the lackeys came to the intersection seeing her. Bolting inside and slamming the door, she did a quick assessment of her surroundings. It was a simple common area with sparse seating and a set of stairs leading upward, and a door leading into another room.

Kech needed to hide. The stairs were set just away from the wall, forming a nice little niche with plenty of shadow cover. Darting into the darkness, she heard commotion on the floor above. Apparently the owner was still home. The two men charged in, also hearing the noise from upstairs, and bolted up the steps. The first one bashed the door open with his shoulder, the second waiting for him to get out of the way. Kechaiya could hear a third man screaming and a scuffle ensued, as both lackeys forced their way into the room. Taking the moment of reprieve, Kechaiya bolted back out of the house, hoping the distraction was enough for her to get free. Turning back up the alley, there was a loud cracking of wood, as the wall of the second floor exploded. The lackeys, as well as large chunks of wood, crashed to the ground, as Kechaiya looked up at the massive hole. There stood a man with a strange colored arm, dark red in hue and odd pale skin. He was an Isur, and clearly not a man to be messed with. "Sorry for the mess ma'am, but you may want to run before they get up again."

Clearly he knew they were after her, and she nodded, taking the moment to run back toward the intersection, the groaning men getting themselves to their feet. She knew right meant back toward the leader, so she bolted straight through, her lungs burning and legs getting sore. She turned down an alley, and slumped against the wall, forced to take a moment to rest. Petching Hai, Sunberth sucked some days.

by **Lucian Hill** on November 3rd, 2014, 1:40 am

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Lucian flapped his wings and croaked again, taking off as soon as the woman bolted down the street. He followed her, his mind racing. If he was going to save someone from this madcap, he was going to at least learn her name and why the petch her eyes were so dark. The raven soared for a bit, though he lost sight of the girl until a crash caught his attention and a pair of men fell through a wall in a pile of rubble.

Catching sight of the woman again, he continued trailing her from above. The raven settled down in front of her as she stopped to rest in a deserted alley. He stopped before her, hopping a few steps and croaking. Another difference between ravens and crows - crows cawed, ravens made more of a croak. There were many other differences - fluffier throat and wedge-shaped tail on ravens - that Lucian knew, but he doubted anyone cared, and it wasn't as if he could tell anyone about it in this form regardless.

He croaked again, flapping his wings and hopping away. Perhaps she would understand that he wanted her to follow him, as he wasn't very fond of shifting in the middle of the city. People did not like it when birds magically changed into naked humans, especially in Sunberth. Eyeing the woman again, he admired her solid black eyes. They were much like his when he was a raven, as he was now, though he couldn't fathom why they would be that way.

Hopping away a few steps once again, he turned and cocked his head to look at her, willing her to stand up. Sighing internally, the raven flew up, flying off to the roof of a nearby, crumbling building, waiting for her to follow him. Oh, how he hoped he would see her pretty, black-eyed face come out from the alley to follow him, even as strange as the situation probably seemed to her. He knew that if he were in such a place, and a raven came out of nowhere as a sort of semi-effective hero, he'd be curious enough just to see what happened.

by **Kechaiya** on November 3rd, 2014, 5:14 am

Kech wanted to keep sitting, but knew better. So she stood up, put her hands on her thighs and keep wheezing, but she knew better. Placing her hands atop her head, locking fingers, she kept her body straight, forcing herself to breathe in deep through her nose, and out the mouth. It was tedious, and went against what her body thought it wanted, but it seemed to be working. Her lungs were already burning a lot less, not being able to say the same about her legs and lower back.

Then that crazy ass bird landed right in front of her. What the petch is with this stupid thing? Her mind teased her that maybe it was her Guardian appearing after all these years. But that was ridiculous. She'd never gotten the chance to do her Searching. Now it was hopping about making the most ridiculous of noises, sounding more like a frog than a bird. Her head cocked to the side, as the damnable thing kept dancing around. Was it taunting her? It kept hopping further and further, but acting as if it wanted her attention. Did the thing want her to follow it? That was the silliest of ideas.

Maybe Eywaat was guiding her on her own Searching after all. It wouldn't be the strangest of Searching stories after all. She watched it fly over to an abandoned building, resting atop it. Petch it, if it was Eywaat's will, this would go well. Besides, it got her further away from her pursuers. Walking slowly over to the building, still working to get her breathing under control, she peered inside. In the dim light, she couldn't quite make out everything, but was fairly confident there were no dangers within. Hiking a leg up atop the stone rubble, she bounced on her other foot, propelling herself upward, nearly losing her balance in the process, arms flailing. She climbed down, inside, beginning to feel foolish. Maybe she really had hit her head too hard. She was, after all, following an insane bird.

by **Lucian Hill** on November 4th, 2014, 9:16 pm

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She followed. Thank the gods. Lucian did the half-croak half-caw raven noise at her, flying off in the direction of his house and stopping ever few yards to let her catch up. His house was incredibly close to where the were now - it was in a less decrepit part of the Sunset Quarters, to be sure, but it was still practically falling apart at the seams. Finally making it to his house, he flew in the open window. The room, being on the second story and not containing anything of wealth other than a hidden cache of Mizas, though he doubted anyone would find them where he hid them in the short time he was out. It was doubtful anyone broke in while he was gone, and his assumption had been correct as he landed on the floor, shifting.

Grabbing and quickly eating a small, not even a meal's worth, of travel rations, Lucian quickly changed into his clothes and boots and strode quickly outside, hoping to see the strange woman. He was not aware of the Chaktawe's cultural reverence for crows and ravens, nor did he even know what a Chaktawe was. The raven was, however, incredibly curious. He had never seen a human with such a...deformity, if it were, and the reasoning for which he had heard the thugs yell and use as an excuse to attack her was curious as well. If the woman were such a doctor that she could easily patch someone up enough for them to get back into a fight.

He made his way out to her, slowly and almost warily. The raven had led her to his house, yes, but he still felt a healthy dose of suspicion. She could very well try to hurt him, despite his attempts at helping her - he had seen people do this - and though he tried not to bite the hand that fed him, he had done the same. He tentatively held out a hand.

"I'm Lucian. Who's you?" He rarely introduced himself first, but his interest betrayed him.

by **Kechaiya** on November 10th, 2014, 6:46 pm

Kech was cursing and swearing in Tawna as she climbed over the seemingly endless rubble, following this petching bird. At least she was certain now that it was in fact leading her and she wasn't going nuts. When the stupid thing flew into a window though, she hoped this journey was coming to a close. This climbing over rocks and wood was starting to make her ankles hurt and her patience was being sorely tested. It seemed that she had escaped her attackers, for now. So what the petch was she doing following a stupid bird gods know where?

Finally reaching some flat ground, she looked up to see another stranger approaching her. He was tall, thin, pale, and had hair like blinding white pain. He was essentially everything Kech wasn't. Nor was he a bird. So who was this guy? Her hand hovered toward her dagger at first, assuming this to be another attack or trick. Then he stuck out his hand, gave his name, Lucian. She eyed his hand warily, not sure if she should run or fight. She didn't have much experience in sizing up people, determining who was a threat and who wasn't. But she was exhausted, and he looked as if he could catch her or beat her should he so desire. So a leap of faith was required on her part.

Tentatively, she grasped his hand, noting the significant difference in size and skin tone. "I Kechaiya. Who you?" Probably not the most sociable of greetings, but he was a stranger after all. Her eyes began looking around, looking for signs of anyone else, as well as for where to run should things go awry.

by **Lucian Hill** on November 10th, 2014, 10:45 pm

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A small grin tugged at his lips when she took his hand and he realized that she couldn't barely speak Common. His secret would be entirely safe with her, simply because no one would be able to quite understand what she was talking about through her thick accent and low word choice. It was, perhaps, just as much for the fact that she took his hand to begin with - he saw her hand hover over the dagger, and realized that she hadn't drawn the connection between the bird that flew into the building and the man that walked out. She either didn't know about Kelvic, or didn't know very much.

Tiredness tugged at his shoulders despite his best efforts to stand up straight. Shifting was exhausting, the streets were dangerous, and he had some travel rations inside that he was probably going to need to eat soon if he didn't want to fall asleep in the middle of Sunberth. The raven took careful consideration as to whether or not he actually wanted to let her in his house, however. While she had been mentioned as a doctor, she could also just as well be a thief. The realization that the only things he had to be stolen were carefully hidden threw away his doubts that anything truly bad would happen. It only hinged on whether or not this tawny-skinned, black-eyed doctor would follow, as she had over countless piles of derelict apartments and rubble.

"I'm the bird. Wanna come inside? It's dangerous out here." Lucian tried, with his best efforts, to keep his language simple enough to understand - failing miserably. He hoped she'd get his meaning. His smile widened just enough to be friendly. Being friends with a doctor could have its benefits, and while the raven was not planning on being injured anytime soon, it was better safe than sorry, lying in the dirt and bleeding out because there was no one to come to your aid.

by **Kechaiya** on November 12th, 2014, 4:10 am

His succinct answer and lack of a name surprised her, but not near as much as the fact that he'd said he was the bird. If he was the bird, and was the man, then that would explain the bird's incessant need to have her follow him in a manner not befitting such a critter. It also allayed her suspicions that he was to be her guardian. Guardians were always animals, never people. But there was more paranoia forming. If he was both bird and man, then that meant he was not normal, but magical. This brought her guard up faster than a Tsana could catch a goat. Magic was always dangerous. He'd asked her inside, and it had originally seemed like a friendly gesture, but now, now it seemed to have a more ulterior motive.

Kech knew very little of magic, just those gifted by the gods back home. Those blessed by Eywaat and Makutsi were very well known among the Chaktawe. His words had seemed genuine, but that was to be expected of someone who used magic. They were all silver tongues and mass murderers. She needed answers before she followed him.

"You bird and man? How? You no Eywaat. Eywaat far more beautiful. You make magic. You dangerous, here not dangerous. I ask, who you?" This of course was just what the stories the blessed had said. Kechaiya had never met any of the gods, and doubted that would ever change. She stood rigidly, refusing to follow him, but not wanting to climb over all that petching rubble just to be chased again. She drew her dagger awkwardly now, holding it out in front of her, shaking. If she was going to die to a magic user, she sure as shyke was going to go down fighting.