Closed Secret Dares (Aerion)

[Amara Waveracer]

Once Aerion suggested hunting for food, Amara realized she was hungry as well. She hadn't eaten in awhile now that she thought about it. She had never been hunting before, otherwise she would have tried to help him. Becoming worried he may hurt himself further she opened her mouth to say something, but bit her lip to stop herself as she was sure she would not be good at hunting.

She had seen a small forest before they reached the lake not too far away. Hoping it wouldn't be too long of a walk, she wrapped an arm around Aerion's waist. Though he hesitated for a moment, he finally wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she started to lead the way back to where she saw the forest.

After they found the small forest and set up camp, she helped Aerion sit by the fire she had helped him build under his directions, then sat down herself. Watching the flames grow, she wondered what would happen if she touched it. She had never had a fire other than the first time they had set up camp. She was startled at first by it, but he did not seem to think of it as a threat, so neither did she. Curiosity got ahold of her, and Amara slowly put her palm in the fire. "Ow!'

Slowly recovering from the shock of it hurting her and the pain of it, she stood up and offered her other hand to Aerion to help him stand as well. She was getting hungrier by the second and wanted some food. She would have went herself but she couldn't.

[Aerion]

Aerion sat by the fire after getting the tent up and directing her how to use his flint and tinder to make a small flame, then to blow on it a bit to complete part of the fire triangle, then to add kindling, sticks, and finally larger pieces of wood.

He saw her staring at it with interest, then suddenly place her hand above it only to yank it back. "I could have told you if you had asked me." He told her, smiling a bit, "Are you okay?" He asked, hoping it wasn't too bad. He took her hand in his and inspected it, seeing no flesh that had been badly burned, just a few places seemed a bit red. Satisfied, he got up with her help and set forth into the woods.

A few minutes later he was on one knee with the wounded leg spread to the side, showing Amara how to look for tracks in the ground, "You look for little imprints, most things that walk leave an imprint, or footprint, in the ground, however I have heard of some magical beasts leaving no tracks." Aerion shivered as he felt the cooling air, having left his shirt and cloak by the fire to dry. "See here," he pointed at a small footprint in the dry ground, "I believe that to be a deer, and judging by the smaller prints around it, it is being followed by at least one fawn." Not having the experience to really discern more than that, he decided to move on, he used her shoulder to lift himself up, trying not to put too much weight on her, and looked around, saying quietly, "If I am judging these tracks correctly, they are fresh and they passed here just under a three hours ago, but I cannot be sure, I never did study this as much as I should have." He frowned at himself slightly.

He continued on, looking at her, "However, if you see any berry bushes, look to see if any berries have been yanked off, or if there are berries, or broken off stems on the ground. That should signify something has eaten off of that bush, if I remember correctly, some things don't eat the stems. The condition of the berries also helps you, my father said something about the weather that I do not remember, but if the berry looks dried out, it was probably a few days or more ago. If it is instead plump and fresh looking, as if you would eat it yourself, it is usually less than a day. A more experienced tracker could probably tell you to the exact minute, I am not that experienced though."He felt he had to press this next part, saying in a slightly stern voice, "Above all however, you must remain silent, do not let your quarry hear you."

They continued on, following the tracks, which seemed to grow fresher by the minute, until he found a bush just outside the edge of a clearing. He did not see the sleeping deer there however, and continued, "See here, the berries look really fresh, as if-" He cut off as she placed a hand over his mouth, when he looked at her, she motioned with her head toward the sleeping deer and the fawn beside, he nodded to signify he understood. He had broken his own rule of being silent in the excitement of finally finding another step of tracking to show her.

He said as silently as he could to where she could hear him, "I am neither fast enough, agile enough, nor silent enough to sneak up on them in my current condition, you must take my sword and plunge it into the body of the larger deer. Then you may either let the smaller one go, or kill it as well. It may not survive without its mother however, so it is more humane to kill it as well. If it gets away, there is nothing we can do for it, since I do not have a bow at the moment." He grimaced a bit, hating to end the life of one so young, but realizing it was necessary. He would rather kill it now, than to take the chance of allowing it to live, and possibly starve, or poison itself by eating the wrong thing. The latter two possibilities were more cruel than to give it a swift death.

He took his sword from his belt and gently placed it in her hand, realizing it was a bit heavy for her, he nodded in satisfaction however, hoping she could go through with it.

[Amara Waveracer]

As he placed the sword in her hand, her arm dropped slightly at the sudden weight. She forced a reassuring smile at him, even though she was worried on the inside. She had never killed anything or anyone in her life, neither did she fish when she was at sea. After a few minutes of stalling by twirling the sword around her hand, she finally looked up at him and nodded slightly. She grabbed the sword tight in her hand, her knuckles turning white, and took a deep breath.

As Amara walked toward the deer, she tried her best to walk as gracefully as she could. The bell on her anklet did not make any noise as she did, which she found good. Her palms were incredibly sweaty as she got there, and she nearly dropped the sword a couple of times. She started shaking slightly but closed her eyes and imagined Aerion and his smile. Wiping her hands on her dress, she opened her eyes and held the sword tight as to not drop it anymore.

She placed her foot on the fawns stomach lightly to not wake it, then drove the sword into the heart of the older deer. Once the fawn had woke from the sound, she pushed her foot down hard to keep it from going anywhere and drove the sword into its heart as it struggled. She found pulling the sword out was harder than driving it back in as it constantly got caught on bones.

It wasn't as hard as she built it up to be, and all the adrenaline she had made it slightly easier as well. Walking back to Aerion, she smiled slightly to show she was okay then handed his sword back. She didn't look back as she grabbed him tightly around his waist and hugged him, trying not to touch the cut on his chest. Tears came to her eyes but she didn't let him see. "Wasn't as bad as I thought," she managed to say without crying. It really wasn't but she still did not like to see dead bodies, especially ones she had killed. Her heart may have been cold, but not that cold. She forced her tears away and would not let go of him until he hugged her back.

[Aerion]

Aerion watched as she left his side to slowly sneak up on the sleeping animals, he saw her almost drop the sword a few times and tried to stay calm, he believed in her. When Amara finally made it to the animals, Aerion saw her put her foot on the fawn to hold it in place if it woke up. He grimaced again but realized it was the right thing.

Amara readied herself by wiping her hands to remove the sweat, and in two quick motions she killed both the animals and walked back over to him, handing him his sword. After doing so she took him by surprise by hugging him. He did not understand what was wrong. Then, with a pang of guilt, he heard what she said, and he realized that she may not have ever killed anything before. He wrapped his arms around her as he knew she wanted him to.

He whispered to her, "I'm sorry, I did not realize you had never killed before. It is something I am used to because we had to kill to survive where I am from. Whether it was the giant Glassbeaks, or wild game, it was the only way we could live." Aerion pat Amara's back gently as she stayed silent. He felt awful for forcing her to kill those animals, having never killed before. However, there were two things that somewhat alleviated his guilt. One, that they needed to eat, and he was in no shape to sneak up and kill anything at the moment, and two, that if she was going to travel with them, she needed to understand that death was part of the wilds. A third thing came to mind as he felt his scars burn, She might need to defend herself at times.. I may not always be around..

He held onto her as she started crying, and told her, "I am proud of you, I hope you know that. You did very well for your first time, and we're going to have a good meal." Hoping he didn't upset her with his remark, he thought about how his father had tried to teach him how to make a spit, he didn't remember all the exact details, just that they needed three sturdy branches. However he did not want to say anything more until she had stopped crying, for fear of upsetting her more.

[Amara Waveracer]

After pulling herself together, Amara let go and wiped her tears on the back of her hand. She was still a bit shaken but she believed she would be fine. It helped her recover as he had said that he was proud of her. She smiled slightly as she remembered him saying it. Looking up at him she saw he had a small smile on his face as well.

She then looked behind him and saw something that caught her eye. There were light blue berries, like the ones on the trail leading to the deer, but they seemed to attract her more. Knowing she was hungry, and didn't wait for something to cook enough to be edible, she started to walk forward towards them. Her dress caught on a few thorns, and she had stood on a few, but she eventually made it there.

After looking them over and admiring how beautiful they looked, she took a handful. Or, tried to. Soon she heard the springing of a trap, but she managed to move out of the way just in time. It was a large metal trap that was on the ground right in front of the bush with the berries on it. Pulling herself away slowly, she started to hear footprints. She looked around for them then remembered Aerion was still there.

She turned and ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Go, please. Take Teren and go away. I don't want you hurt any more than you are, or dead, so please listen to me just this once. I know I'm an idiot and all, but we'll settle that later." She let go of him and backed away, waiting for Teren to come get him. He tried to stay, but she ignored him and kept pushing him towards the horse as the footsteps got louder.

[Aerion]

Aerion heard the springing of the trap, then the pattering of Amara's feet on the ground as she rushed back to him. He also heard what sounded like footsteps, not hers, these were much heavier and there was no attempt made to muffle them.

As Amara came back to him, she held onto him and told him to run. Just after she started speaking, Aerion made to object, but she rushed on. She did not want him to get hurt anymore. Not wanting to panic her anymore than she already was, he turned and limped his way back the way they came. As he walked a little way away, he turned into the trees so she could not see him.

Aerion's personal code would never allow him to leave someone defenseless, he had also promised to never leave her, so he would sooner jump into the deep end of Pavi Lake than leave her behind unguarded, he made his way back and tried to go around behind the footsteps, doing his best to mask his own by holding onto trees as he rushed back toward Amara and what he hoped was just a harmless hunter.

As he neared them, Aerion heard the stranger talking, supposedly to himself, "Darn trap, I knew I should have oiled those springs." He cursed and spit. Aerion made his way behind the man, knowing he would not be able to go toe to toe with hunter, he waited to see what happened. The stranger turned and searched the surrounding foliage, suddenly he heard Amara scream as the man pulled her from the bushes. Aerion's time to act was soon, he could not miss the window. He readied his sword, but as he made his way closer, they started speaking...

[Amara Waveracer]

After he had left, she turned and found a place to hide. It wasn't very good, but it worked. She planned to just wait and make sure they did not find where she sent Aerion. If it came to it, she would kill them to save him of course. Even though she couldn't handle much more death right then, she preferred Aerion to live more than anyone else.

After a few seconds she found herself being pulled out of the bushes. The man grabbed her wrists and held them tightly so she could not punch him like she was about to. "It's alright boys, she's completely harmless." She thought they were going to let her go so she breathed a sigh of relief. "Load up the horse, she's comin' with us. Probably fetch a good price on the slave market." After struggling to get free of his grip, he slammed her against a tree. Tears sprang to her eyes as he pulled out a small knife from a small pocket in his coat.

She gasped and struggled to get away, but her hands were pinned against the tree above her head. She realized it was no use and sunk down slightly as the tears started flowing. He placed the cold steel to her neck to keep her from moving, and her tears fell from her cheeks and onto it as he did. The only thing still keeping her sane was the fact that she thought Aerion was gone and he was safe.

[Aerion]

As Aerion saw the man throw Amara against the tree, his rage became roaring and he wanted to burst in there and lop the mans head off. Think. You know that wont end well. He shook his head as if to clear it, suddenly he head footsteps behind and to the right of him. He knelt down as best he could, keeping his injured leg straight.

Two men came out of the trees, these must have been the men the stranger mentioned. Well, no matter what, Amara must live, and she will NOT become a slave. He thought to himself angrily. One man decided to stay behind and try to reset the trap, while the other went to inspect their prize. Aerion took advantage of this fact by slowly getting up, despite the pain in his leg, he went and circled around behind the man who was resetting the trap. He decided to lay a trap of his own, grabbing a fair sized rock, he hid behind a tree and threw it away from Amara and the two other men. The one resetting the trap turned around and his hand went to the hilt of his blade. The man then started to walk over to the area he had heard the noise. Aerion stood there in silence while waiting for the man to get past him, his heart beating in his chest.

As the man past the tree Aerion was hiding behind, he reached out and grabbed the man by the head, placing one hand over his mouth, while the other hand drew his sword across the mans neck, cutting as deep as he could with one quick, not so fluid, motion, luckily severing the mans artery and his esophagus, causing him to gurgle on his own blood, completely severing everything that could allow the man to live. Aerion stared down at the man, knowing by now that he was a slaver. He watched the man drown in his own blood, with a sneer, and an enraged look on his face. I wonder how many sentient beings have had their lives ruined by these men..

Deciding it was best not to dwell on it, Aerion decided to painfully drag the mans corpse over to a small hole he had noticed, taking everything of value the man had, including his sword, sheathe, whatever Mizas he could find, quickly removed the few pieces of leather armor he had on, and his water skin, thinking the man had no need of them now. He rolled him into the shallow grave, knowing that there were plenty of things out there that would remove the body given enough time.

Aerion slowly limped back over to where Amara and the other two men were, seeing she was crying and the man had her on the ground as they seemed to be waiting for something. Suddenly the man in charge ordered his subordinate to find wherever the third man had gone. Thinking quickly Aerion decided to try a different tactic. He went as quickly as he could over to where the third man was last seen by his companions, placed the third mans armor onto himself, and strapped the sheathe from the dead man onto his belt, placing the dead mans sword against a tree, holding his own in his right hand, which was his strongest.

As the second man neared Aerion, the second man called out, "Nevran, are you there?" Aerion whispered back, "Over here." The second man seemed confused, "Where?" Aerion answered, "Behind the tree, you need to see something." This time the second man seemed a bit suspicious, "Tell me what it is first." Aerion replied with the one thing the man would be careless for, "Gold." The second man rushed over, giggling happily. As he rounded the tree, he spotted Aerion, standing over a hole looking into it, as the second man closed the distance and past him without a thought, Aerion backed up and readied his sword. The second man had just reached the edge of the hole when Aerion struck, piercing the lung of the second man, he drew his sword up, getting it caught on bone but slicing through until he reached the mans heart. The man gave a shuttering gasp and fell into the hole with his friend.

Aerion sighed and smiled. No wonder they must rely on capturing those who cannot defend themselves, they are worthless.

He made his way back to Amara and the first man, who seemed to be getting impatient. Aerion knew this man was smarter than the others, or he would not be their leader, so he decided to bide his time...

[Amara Waveracer]

After a few minutes, Amara had heard something that sounded like Aerions voice. She thought it couldn't be possible though since he had left like she told him to. She had started crying louder as she thought of him, which rewarded her a hard slap across her face. She instantly stopped and stared up at the man with her cheek burning.

Looking at the mans face and cold heartless eyes grew difficult, and she often looked away. The man only briefly took the knife away from her neck and cupped her cheek, pushing it until she was looking at him again which disgusted her beyond belief. Her heart was beating so loud and fast, she was convinced he could hear it. Once again she looked away, but instead of doing his usual routine, he pushed the knife harder on her neck. "Stop that, you worthless slave."

Her rage started to grow as she tried to ignore how scared she was. She managed to push her wrists apart enough that his grip was loosened. She instantly pulled her hands away while she had the chance and kneed him in the stomach before punching him in the chin. She was about to run, but before she could the man grabbed the hand she had burned and punched him with and slashed the knife along the palm of her hand. She screamed in pain and fell to her knees, clutching her hand against her chest as it bled tremendously. It was a deep cut but nothing beyond fixing. She started crying louder than before and didn't try to get away again even though he wasn't holding her.

[Aerion]

Aerion watched and waited for his chance to be able to save her. After several minutes, it finally came, Amara had tried to escape, but the man had grabbed her and cut her palm open to where it was bleeding. He hoped she was alright, and he had a flash of anger where he wanted to just run out of the trees and attack the man, hacking and cleaving his body into many pieces. Stop, you need to THINK. He remembered his father saying that to him as clear as day in this moment. It had been when Aerion was younger, he had gotten angry and his father was scolding him, for it had made him reckless. You need to look at the situation and think about what you need to do, do not just rush in headlong and expect it to turn out alright.

Remembering what his father had told him, Aerion had come up with a plan. He finally felt Teren winding himself between the trees closer to them. He told Teren his plan, and the horse seemed worried, but agreed to it.

A few minutes later, Teren was in place and Aerion made ready to make his entrance, he had taken the third mans pants and replaced his own, so as not to seem familiar to Amara so she wouldn't accidentally blow his cover. Aerion crawled out of the forest groaning with his sword in his bloody hand. "Nevran!" The man said, "What has happened?" Aerion replied, disguising his voice and making it sound raspy, "A beast! A beast attacked us, I only just escaped sir!" To punctuate his reply and to negate any questioning from the man, Teren suddenly made an unearthly whinny that sounded like a screech.

The man ran over to Aerion, who he believed to be Nevran, and tried to help him up. In doing so he revealed Aerion's face, too late, he realized it was not his follower, and Aerion thrust his sword through the mans lower jaw until it appeared out of the top of his skull. Satisfied, he withdrew his sword and crawled over to Amara, taking her in his arms whispering her name, "Amara, it is alright, you are safe now." Teren trotted into view and stomped on the mans skull as if to agree with the statement.