The Clashing of Shiny Pointy Things… and Weapons [Murdoch]

[Raiha]

Closed. Murdoch, please.

55th of Spring, 511 AV.

It was the fading moments of twilight as the sun finished setting over the sea, and Raiha was perched on the fence, watching it go down as she listened to the shadows about her and around her, stroking one of them that lurked from the sun’s rays behind the fence. This was their time. What she appreciated the most, really and truly, was how she seemed to have most of the nights to herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t like those around her – far from it – it was just that the evenings were cooler, calmer, and tended to give her a chance to really think and work things out for herself. For her, the night was a time for reflection and in many ways, calmness. You were always safer from your fellows when they were asleep, after all.

She pushed herself off of the fence and into the pasture, stepping lightly over the watered-down grass. Raiha had wanted a break from reading tonight, and as such, tonight was a night for practice. Inasmuch as Kanikra may have wanted to just pound the dummy or bales of hay with her maces, Raiha wanted to practice form with her suvai. She’d been neglecting the three-pronged whalebone blades – her sparring match with Daeva had shown her just how truly rusty she had gotten. She crossed the grass, looking up at the moon and the stars, and smiled before bringing her attention back down to everything around her.

She was dressed simply, as usual, in her leathers, and her long, white hair was braided back into a single plait, tied off with a cord. She took one of her two suvai from her belt, and hooked her thumb under one of the prongs, holding it up, level, in front of her. She wrapped her fingers around the handle, lining the weapon up along the underside of her forearm, in a defensive posture, and let it go, letting the suvai dangle again. It took practice to speed the maneuver up. But it was something she was going to have to do if she wanted to manage it without dropping it. She sucked in another breath before moving it from the dangling position into an upright position by getting her fingers around the handle with a flick of her wrist for a bit of leverage to move the blade upwards, getting her thumb out of the way.

Shadowplayer, one of the shadows teased as she released the blade, letting it hang over her thumb again, looking to grip the handle again to hold it along her arm, and raised her hand as if to block a blow. Shadowplayer, do you hear them? That made Raiha stop and stiffen, looking about and around her as she gripped the weapon. She triggered her Auristics, forcing the Djed to her eyes, and looking at the world around her with a renewed interest, turning slowly. A shadowwalker comes…!

A who? A what? The shadows tended to call her and others marked by Akajia Shadowplayers, but this was the first time she had heard 'shadowwalker'...

[Murdoch]

Doc had been in worse places than Riverfall. Way, way worse places. Truth be told, it wasn't that different from Syliras so long as he didn't hit on any broads that belonged to the big blue guys. Not that he was a hundred percent sure how to tell which ones were owned (or worked for or owed or whatever bullshyke term they wanted to use for slavery) by the big blue guys, so he generally played it cool. Which meant a lot less wenching and a whole lot more gambling.

Which was the source of his current trouble. He was already known to the authorities for being forced to kill that one sailor - and he had actually been forced to it by that idiot Riki's blind and soft-hearted belief in the goodness of whatever-the-petch. But that put him on the radar, which wasn't where Murdoch liked to be. So he'd been laying low and keeping his head down. Only... well. A man had to make some money somehow, right? So he'd played a few games with a few more sailors and, surprise of the century, had won. Which they didn't take too kindly to.

Normally he would have just not cared and dealt with whatever blowback came about the best way he knew how, but that didn't rightly fit in with the whole low-profile thing he was going for. And since they knew where he was staying, and were ashore for two more days, he'd be best served by finding another place to sleep. Peacefully. And the only comfortable place he knew that'd looked even remotely comfortable had been the Sanctuary stables. Wouldn't be the first time he'd slept in a pile of hay, and he certainly wasn't above it.

Of course, getting caught sneaking into a place that valued both its horses and its women probably wasn't a much better idea. But he didn't really plan on getting caught, now, did he? Not that he was any sort of expert at sneaking around in the trees and grass and weird open air - no, he was more the type to blend into a crowd of people in a busy hallway. But you work with what you've got. So he did his best, slinking through the twilight darkness and trying not to step on any loud snappy-looking branches. He wore the only clothes he owned, dark leathers blending into olive skin and mud-brown hair to make an overall unassuming persona.

Except for the rough wool blanket looped across his shoulders, which kept catching on every gods-damned branch he ducked under. It was the only thing that really gave him away: the occasional invective curses he whispered at the poor trees, getting more and more colorful as he got closer to the stables. The last - "Petching cow-humping conifer!" - finally got a frustrated sigh out of him as he yanked the blanket away from the grasping branch and off his shoulders, balling it up in his hands and tucking it tight against his chest in an effort to keep the damned thing contained.

[Raiha]

Shadowwalker, shadowwalker, the shadows giggled. Can you hear it, Shadowplayer? Raiha… definitely could now. She trotted through the pasture grass as her wide eyes absorbed the auras of each of the different blades beneath her feet, undulating with the wind as her long legs ate up the distance, pulling out her second suvai and twisting it in her fingers so that it, like the other, was lined up along the underside of her arm. It was times like this that she wondered where that dog of hers had gone off to, only to discover later that he was gnawing on a bone in the mews. Well, it was too late to whistle for him now. If she did, whomever, or whatever it was, that she was looking for would likely hear it, and it could give up her own location. If she had to make a fuss, she would, and that would bring the dog running.

She rounded the corner, staying low, if only because with her height she tended to attract attention, with her white hair and dark skin, even in the dark. She almost straightened up, though, when she saw the tangle of auras, and the stared, picking them apart. She brought up a hand to cover her mouth with the back of one hand at the exclamation cursing the tree. Raiha didn’t recognize the figure from the back, but it was an intruder, that much was clear. She didn’t know the aura, either, and that was a warning in itself to her. She straightened only slightly, keeping her center fluid, ready to move. Half-hidden in the shadow of the stable, gold eyes glinting and unblinking, Raiha spoke up, her voice soft, but threatening enough. “Looking for something?”

[Murdoch]

Doc froze, looking a bit silly to her surely, half-crouched with the blanket clutched to his chest and suspicion in his eyes. It took him a moment to find her in the darkness, but he zeroed in on where her voice had come from and finally found those strange eyes.

Dark brows rose, and then he straightened up and sighed. He threw the blanket over his shoulder and then put his hands up in a placating motion. "Was looking for a place to sleep, but apparently I suck at it. Look, I don't mean to be a bother, I just need a bit of hay and I'll be out of your hair by sunrise." A roguish grin twisted his lips, and he gave a shrug. "Promise. Cherry on top and all that."