Bad Company (open)

[kanoinazuma17]

Andraste trudged in the early morning light. Of course it wasn't her choice to be out here, but she had to deal with it. A werecat, a nutjob rogue with a crazy accent, and some drunken guards. She had the experience of a lifetime, but still she wanted to get back to Feinster. It was going slower than expected. The winds and occasional dust storms that picked up around her were only outclassed by the heat. It had been days since she had seen a river, and she was running low on food. The plains closest to the desert were more like a caked-mud flat that ran for miles in either direction. Grass was sparse, and water was even more sparse on the desolate landscape. However, today promised to be different. Off to her right, she could see massive towering thunderheads in the distance. For once there would be rain and thunder. Perhaps some lightning too. This would be the time to gather more water for her waterskin, which was almost completely dry by now.

Andraste, personally, was glad the storms were coming. Summer storms were always the best, mostly because she didn't have to worry about ice and hail, this time it was just rain and lightning. And, of course, a little wind never hurt either. Her burnished silver hair was pulled back into a french braid behind her, two long bangs on either side of her head. Her skin had grown to a deep tan and her eyes an olive green that almost looked like brown. Her hood, for once, was down to enjoy the morning light. The sun had not yet risen, but it would be rising soon, that much she knew. She was glad to finally be able to drop the illusion of a human

[Wild Dog]

Araris looked around him in amazement. There he was, drinking happily in a bar when wham! He gets press-gained into the army and told to march towards Surda. At first army life was tolerable. The food was good, the pay fine, and the officers weren’t too inexperienced. After a while, though, things turned out for the worst. Once, they were told to wipe out an unoffending village. That was the last straw. Araris looked for an opportunity to slip away. Then the thunderstorm hit. Nothing serious, but those officers didn’t want to get wet. So it fell on Araris to gather the firewood. Seizing the opportunity, he slipped away.

Slipping out of his reverie, Araris leaned heavily on his spear. His black cape flapped wildly in the wind, but he took no notice. After long says of running, he was sure nobody was following him. Relieved with this thought, Araris began plotting his next move. When he first set out into the world, he believed the empire not to be evil. Now, he wasn’t so sure. So deep were his thoughts that he didn’t notice neither the sands billowing around neither him nor the thunderstorm rapidly approaching. Because of this, he saw nothing of the person walking towards him he practically walked over her.

[kanoinazuma17]

Andraste hadn't noticed the black-cloaked man until she got within twenty feet of him, and at that she stopped and tensed, somewhat recognizing the cloak as one of the Empire's soldiers, but she couldn't be sure. After all, a black cloak was a black cloak. She silently drew her dagger in case there was a fight, hiding it in her sleeve. She watched him cautiously, hood pulled over her head and concealing part of her face. "Are you lost?" She asked as she stopped, feet tense and ready to move should he threaten her at all.

She may have been a woman, but she was not throw her weight around. After all, she was an elf, and a swordsmith's apprentice. She immediately thought that comical, an elf apprenticed to a human. That "human", she had found out, had closed up and headed to Aberon for some business temporarilly while she came back. Buisiness trips to sell his trade to the Varden, she didn't think he would be that brash, but whatever she thought Kano would manage to prove her wrong, even if she was an elf. Her attention turned back to the man and his spear. Her eyes peered through the shadow that hid him and over the cloth mask that attached to the hood and hid her face. She looked like she had been equipped for an assasination.

[Wild Dog]

Araris jerked his eyes onto the woman in front of him. So deep was his fear that the lady was with the empire, he didn’t understand what the lady had said. Searching his brain, he remembered what he said and replied, “Yes ma’m”. Just then, he saw her ears pointed and very tall. An elf! Araris didn’t know many elves, practically none at all. But they were rumored to be on the Vardens side. Trusting her, he continued. “I am running away from an army. They pressed me into their army. Mind you, I could have fought with them, but the pay was terrible”. Araris saw that the elf relaxed when he said all of this

While talking, the storm grew worse. Rain now began to fall.

[kanoinazuma17]

Andraste smiled slightly, though it was hidden by her cloak. "Come, My boss has a safehouse down south, in Feinster, the least I can do is help you out." She said before turning and heading south. She was relieved to know that he was a deserter. The storm did not seem bad enough to produce hail, but it was bad enough to start dumping down rain. Luckilly her cloak had been waterproofed with a spell earlier. Andraste looked at the man, then said the spell to herself in her head before letting the power flow.

Once the spell was laid, she sheathed her dagger and motioned for the man to follow, her iron-clad boots trodding the dampening soil. Finally, it had started raining.

[Wild Dog]

Araris followed, but at a safe distance. Always ready for betrayal, he didn’t know how far too trust this traveler. She was an elf, but that didn’t excuse caution. After she cast that spell, rain drained off of him without leaving a stain. He was grateful, but that showed one thing. This traveler was a magician, which, as people said, could not be trusted.

All around him, rain fell and lightning slashed across the sky. The sand not quite soaked came flying though the air, blasting anything in its path. Behind them was the sun, not quite full up in the sky. Just then, Araris caught a glimpse of a helm glinting in the sun light. Only a scout, but where there was one of the imperial bugs, there were bound to be more. Araris quickend his pace and gripped his spear tighter. He hoped that this master was a varden-loving man

[kanoinazuma17]

The wind whipped from behind them, sand blasting at her cloak. She looked to see the gleaming helms from a distance, then turned to the man. "We must move quickly. The storm will hide us for now, but we must keep moving. She began moving quicker, lightning landing a few miles away and shaking he ground like an earthquake. She seemed unphased by the lightning strike and just kept on trudging as if it were a sunday stroll. She seemed aloof, but truly was alert. If they could make it through the storm, they would be home free. It would only take a few days to get to Feinster, but still, it was a journey. It would take longer if they met opposition, which they surely would.

"Hurry up. We have to keep moving, or else we'll be roasted." She said to the man, hurrying along. She wanted out of the thunderstorm. It looked bad, like it would start hailing. She was right, within a minute, they were being pelted with pea-sized hail. As she walked, she saw a rock outcropping with an overhang. "Quickly, over here." She said, dashing and getting under the cover, the hail becoming more intense.

[Wild Dog]

Araris followed the woman, shielding his head from the offending hail. When they were very close to the rock, lightning struck the mud to the side of them, leaving a purple line in His eye. Momentarily, it disappeared. At least this weather would keep the Imperial Rats away. Reaching the outcropping, Araris sat down and took off his boots. Rocks and water dribbled out of them. Wincing, Araris twisted his shoulders, feeling the bruise more clearly now. The hail probably caused this. The pain was bad, but nothing serious. Looking at the elf, he asked, “Who is your master, if I can ask. What does he do?”

[kanoinazuma17]

Andraste smiled, "My master is Kano Inazuma, he is a swordsmith." She said calmly. She removed her hood, revealing her face which was, like most of the elves, slender and elegant. Her eyes were a deep forest green that seemed to sparkle every time the lightning danced in the sky. Her long burnished silver tresses were drawn back in a french braid that kept it out of her way when she was trying to do things.

"I must ask you something as well, why did you really try to escape the army? I'm sure it wasn't because of the bad pay." She asked calmly, wanting to hear it from the man herself. She was about as calm as she would ever get right now, but surely something was being hidden from her.

[Wild Dog]

“Well. In one part you are wrong, the pay was terrible and that might have swayed my thinking. However, that is not the whole reason. They started to ask things of me, like to kill innocent life or to swear oaths of fealty to the empire. You see, I’m a free man. I swear to nobody or nothing. Finally, I got so fed up I decided to leave. Besides, nothing was happening. No glory. No heroic deeds. Nothing.” Araris paused for a moment, and then said, “Your master, he sounds to me like an intriguing fellow. See, I’m a blacksmith myself. Well, long ago. Then I became a hired man, working for money or a place to put my head”. Araris once again grew silent, gazing out into the distance, lost in thought.

[kanoinazuma17]

Andraste smiled. "Master Kano is... How can I put it... Down to buisness. He wastes no time getting right to the chase, and he's made himself efficient at it. When he's working, it's best not to bother him, because he can't be bothered. That is just how concentrated he is into his work. And trust me, he's ALWAYS working." She said, watching the plains as lightning struck the ground half a mile away, causing the ground to shake with the thunder. "Have you ever been to Feinster?" She asked, looking back at Araris. "You might have passed by our shop if you have. It's about half a mile from the city's walls, two story building on the left hand side as you are entering."

She watched the pouring rain and then made a small tripod of sticks and strung her waterskin up in the water, collecting the rainwater for her journey. She did that with two others as well, making sure she would be perfectly fine in the heat as they grew closer south. It was then that Andraste realized exactly where they were. They were two score miles from Uru'baen. It made a shiver roll down her spine, being that close.

[Wild Dog]

Feinster, Feinster. Araris passed through many towns, but never caught the name of them. It didn't matter. Half talking to himself, he said, "Smithing. Hmmmmm. Most of my life was spent at the fire, carving objects of beauty. In my heart, I truly wonder whether a fighting life was right to me. Ahh, my mind wanderes. But still, I sometimes yearn for the old-fashioned days. But not now. Evil lurks in the land. I will not rest until children can sleep safely at home. No, this is the path I will take". Startled, Araris discovered he was talking out loud. Looking sheepishly at the elf, he realized that she wasn't looking at him. She was looking out at the distance. "What do you see?"

[kanoinazuma17]

Andraste stiffened up, pulling her cloak closer. "It's not what I see, it's what I just realized. We are two score miles from Uru'baen...." She said softly, another shiver running down her spine. "As soon as the rain lets up, we'll continue on." She said, listening to Araris' monologue. He was a curious fellow, talking to himself. If she didn't know he didn't mean to by his expression, she would have called him a lunatic. However, she just kept herself silent. However, those thoughts kept rolling through her head. Uru'baen, the place of sorrow for all elves and riders. Indeed it would be a horrible place to be for her.

Andraste looked at Araris. "No one can sleep soundly in this land. Not a soul. The tyrant who calls himself a king must be rid of as soon as possible, but is there anyone who can? Every person added to the resistance would greatly help. No one man or woman can defeat Galbatorix on their own, but a nation. Surely he can be defeated by a nation." Her green eyes sparkled with hope, with a passion for freeing the oppressed. However, she was not going to let anyone else see that side of her. After all, she was trained to kill or be killed, it was the way of the land now.

[Wild Dog]

Araris bolted up, all signs of weariness gone from his face. Uru'baen! This close. "Look, I see from your words you hate the empire. So I can trust you. I am Araris. I was in an inn in teirm and a officer saw me there. Turns out, I murdered his father. Things became bad when he arrested me. Then a dragon smashed through the roof and I escaped, but was pressed ganged into the army under the name of Brand. Under the circumstances, that helped me escape the city. If I ever am seen in the empire for a time, I would surely be caught and killed. I need to escape to the Varden for a while. Only for a while. Then, one day, I will come back. Can you help me?" As Araris said this, the sound of clanking metal was heard outside.

Cyne Kes walked into view. "Brand, or should I call you Araris, You and your friend must follow me." Immediately, soldiers came and bound the hands the two. After being blindfolded, they were led onto a road.

Araris walked for some way, following the guards. Suddenly, he twisted his hands free and launched at the soldier that held his spear. Unfortunately, they were standing on the edge of a cliff. Plummeting down, araris and the soldier hit the ground and blacked out. Cyne, thinking them dead, moved the elf away form the site and carried on, not even blinking at the supposed death that just occurred.

Sorry if I cut this short, I need to tie the loose threads up before I leave.

[kanoinazuma17]

Andraste was caught by surprise, otherwise they would not have caught her. "Bloody hell..." She muttered to herself as she focused her power on guarding her mind. They wouldn't break her, even if they violated her in every way, she would not give in. All she needed to do now is find a way to free herself.