Disclaimer: One day... one day I will own all of Squaresoft! I will own
Seiken Densetsu, and maybe one day even Nintendo! Bwa ha ha! Until then,
however, I own nothing. Absolutely nothing.....
WARNING: For details on overall warning, see Chapter One (unless you've already read it, in which case, I don't know why you'd want to read it again short of an obsessive compulsive disorder. But hey, who am I to discourage people from reading my warnings? Knock yourselves out!) Nothing terribly unusual to warn you about for this chapter, though just for the heck of it, I'd like to warn people about Emus. Never try and hand- feed one - unless your reflexes are faster than theirs, it could hurt. A lot.
Author's note: This fic is slowly progressing to something interesting one day I hope.... but it might take a while to get there. I'd like to add that since I love my reviewers so much I'm adding another piece to this already lengthy line-up - and that's response to reviewers! Since I do have the tendency to get long-winded in these sections, if you're impatient for the chapter (that sounds like self-confidence. Dammit, my evil other half is influencing my personality again), skip on ahead and enjoy.
Now - the brand-new Response to Reviewers! (Insert fanfare here)
Laine: (Bows to another fan of Hawk/Angela fics). Thank you for the review! I'm so happy I'm not the only one who thinks this is a cool pairing! I actually read your fic, it was really good, maybe I should get around to reviewing it or something sometime. Though I don't share your complete hatred of Hawk and Riesz's coupleship, you needn't worry, it'll hardly be in here I think. I have seen Slayers (great series), and come to think of it, Duran and Gourry must be related SOMEHOW because that's a bloody creepy comparison.... I wrote the phrase "What a hunk!" in there? Woo, no wonder I've been experiencing missing time. I apologise for the lapse of sanity, I should never have tried to watch an episode of the dubbed Sailor Moon without the intake of painkillers first. Glad you liked it otherwise.
Rosa-Aquafire: Thanks! Who's your first favourite couple? (Y'know, just out of curiosity). I'm trying to keep pretty close to characterizations but I might have to stray from time to time for the benefit of the story and also for the fact that most RPG games don't really do that much characterization, even though I'd say SD3's is about the best (in my very biased opinion). Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you keep reading.
Cookie Pixie: Heh heh... thanks for the review. Those romantic tensions are going to be fun to write..... BTW, love your pen name.
Well, there's the long-winded intro out of the way, I apologise for it but at least you all know to expect it from now on. Thanks again for everyone's reviews and consideration and hope you keep reading and reviewing! _______________
Another Witchmaker
Chapter 2 - The Flirtatious Thief, Angela Meets Her Match!
By Sinnatious
************
Angela regarded the two; the blonde female warrior and what looked like your common street thief in front of her. The girl looked angry, not just indignant but really ANGRY, and furthermore, it looked like she knew how to use that spear she was pointing at the stranger. And was willing to.
The man under attack didn't seem too concerned with the situation, or at least not as concerned as she would have been had SHE been the one of the wrong end of a spear. If she hadn't still been wrapped up in the memory of Duran, she probably would have found him similarly attractive, though in a much different way. His features were a lot smoother, his skin tanned, his clothing vaguely exotic for the area, but most intriguing was his hair and eyes - long violet hair pulled back into a thin ponytail and amber-coloured eyes.
"Hey, I'm so far away from Rolante don't you think it's pretty unlikely I'm involved in that take-over?"
She started. That voice - it matched the one of the person who had intervened on her behalf with the beastman! And Rolante? She stared hard at the fierce fair-skinned girl, and a vague sense of familiarity struck her.
"Princess Riesz?"
The blonde momentarily drew her attention away from her quarry to regard the other girl in curiosity. "Princess Angela?"
They resumed to stare at each other for about a minute, before Riesz smiled, though still didn't lower her lance at the man. "What has it been, nearly six years?"
The thief, who Angela assumed must have been from the desert given his complexion, looked reasonably surprised. "You two KNOW each other? Am I surrounded by royal princesses? That must be every guy's dream come true."
Riesz scowled, then in a move that far surpassed expectations twisted her weapon around and thwacked the thief across the abdomen with the handle. He managed to move quickly enough to avoid the brunt of the attack, but still fell back, clutching his stomach in what had to be exaggerated pain, letting out a hiss between his teeth.
"Still beating up people, I see, Riesz," Angela tutted, briefly considering assisting the apparently injured man but dismissing the idea a moment later; he hadn't hung around earlier so she felt no loyalty to him now. "You beat up diplomats who call you a little girl, guys in pubs, your own warriors, and anything smaller than you."
"And you're still dressed in the exact same dress you wore last time. You could have at least upgraded in size, Angela."
The thief muttered from his position on the floor, "Great, a catfight."
That earned him a glare from both of the girls, but he held up one hand in defence, giving a winning white smile, or at least the best he could manage. "Easy now, I'm injured! You've had your point! You can kick my ass!"
The Princess of Rolante snorted in disgust. "Get up off the floor. That hit couldn't have possibly done that much damage."
He smiled again - what was WITH this guy, was he eternally happy? - and with some effort, hauled himself from the floor, barely concealing a wince as he did so. "You're right, of course."
Angela raised an eyebrow. He must have been a real weakling if he couldn't take a hit from just the handle of Riesz's albeit-scary lance.
"Bartender, let me buy these two lovely ladies a drink!" he motioned, and a moment later a glass was offered to both Angela and Riesz. "Now, seeing as it's not every day a low-born like myself gets to entertain two royal princesses, mind telling me what's going on and why I was nearly skewered?"
Riesz snatched the glass from his hand with a glare and all but spat at him. "Are you daft? It was Navarre that took over Rolante, killed my father and kidnapped my brother!"
The thief suddenly looked serious, composure changed dramatically from the cheerful and clumsy character they had witnessed thus far. "You mean Isabella actually invaded Rolante? Using Ninjas?"
"Of course! You'd already know all that, you thief!"
He ignored her. "Was there a blue-haired girl with them?"
The Amazon looked momentarily confused. "No. Why?"
He turned back to his own drink on the tabletop. "No reason. So the Castle That Never Fell finally fell, huh?"
"My God." Angela was shocked. Navarre invaded Rolante... and succeeded? She knew Navarre ninjas were good, but against a much larger army of Amazons? This had all sorts of dire portents. Were the rumours true?
The blonde Amazon was looking more and more upset, but less of her anger was directed at the man now. "Why are you so surprised?"
He shook his head ruefully. "I didn't really think they'd go through with it. Something weird is going on at the Navarre Theieves Guild. Flamekhan, our leader, would never do something like that. It's all that damn Isabella's fault!" He looked as though he wanted to slam his fist into something, but restrained himself. Angela gave him a sympathetic look. It sounded a lot like what happened in Altena.
"I'm a traitor to Navarre now. Long story why," he continued, with a twisted smile. Suddenly, though, it turned cheerful again. What was with these mood swings? "I answered your questions, now mind telling me why you're here? I can't imagine that Jad is at the top of every Princess's holiday destination."
Riesz seemed to have settled down enough, convinced that this stranger wasn't her enemy -the enemy of enemy was her friend thing again, Angela supposed- and likely comforted by the vaguely familiar presence of Angela, to sit down and be rational. She took a long swig of her drink before beginning. "You already know about Rolante. I managed to escape, and now I'm looking for my brother, Prince Elliot. I think the ninjas got him. I'm going to Wendel to ask the High Priest for help."
Angela started in surprise. "So am I! My mother tried to kill me because I couldn't use magic, so I'm going to learn how from the High Priest at Wendel!" She paused for a moment when she finished saying that - it had come out a little too candidly for her comfort.
"Damn. That's pretty harsh," the thief offered. "....Angela, wasn't it?"
The Princess of Altena stuck her nose into the air. "To street trash like you it's PRINCESS."
He shook his violet-haired head, grinning again. "Nuh-uh. You're in exile, too, which doesn't make you a princess. You're just another ordinary pretty girl now."
Angela's face reddened with a dangerous mixture of anger and indignation. "And what might your name be, SIR?" She asked sarcastically.
He cocked his head to the side, gauging the two glaring Princesses. "Hawk."
"Hawk...," Riesz pressed.
"Just Hawk," he shrugged.
Momentarily put off, the two girls regarded the oddly charming character, choosing instead to take a generous swig of their drinks. No last name? Well, Angela surmised, if she'd nearly been the one beaten up by Princess Riesz she probably wouldn't be handing out all of her life's personal details either.
"So, HAWK," she said as scathingly as she could, which was pretty good because sarcasm was one of Princess Angela's famed specialities; diplomats and court officials feared her for it; "What are YOU doing in Jad, other than hiding from your crazy violent thieves' guild?" 'Hypocrite, hypocrite' a cute little chibi-Angela shouted in her head, another chibi-Angela quickly proceeding to beat the little voice up.
For someone who had been thrown into exile, Hawk still seemed incredibly cheerful. "Oh, I'm going to see the High Priest in Wendel as well. This girl I know, Jessica, has a curse put on her by that lady Isabella who has corrupted the guild. I'm hoping the priest can tell me how to remove it."
"How.... noble." She wasn't sure if she could find the heart to beat up the guy now, as tempting as it was; after all, she was going to Wendel for such a selfish reason and he was doing it for no personal benefit whatsoever. Even Riesz, the righteous Amazon, wanted to get HER kingdom back, and find HER brother, both noble causes but with underlying selfish reasons. Of course, she recalled, her new role model in life was the most selfish of all, wanting to go to Wendel so that he could become more powerful.....
Duran! In all the excitement, she'd almost forgotten she had to meet him! How the hell had she forgotten a man like that?! There were more important things going on than the end of the world!
She hurriedly swilled the last of her free and probably cheap drink, blanching at the aftertaste, trying not to reflect on where a thief might get the money to buy girls drinks at bars. Hawk smirked at her expression, then nudged a staring into space Riesz, who had also finished her drink. The Amazon fell onto the counter, and began snoring lightly.
Angela raised an eyebrow. She knew some people had trouble holding their drinks, but that was bit extreme, she'd only had ONE.....
The Navarrian shrugged amiably. "I suppose she didn't indulge much back up at Rolante."
"I think that kind of lack of alcohol tolerance is intolerable in any princess," Angela muttered, grabbing her cane. "I'm heading out now; if I'm going to get out of this city with all these Beastmen, I hear the best time to do it is at night."
To her surprise, Hawk stood, and moved to open the door for her. "Yeah, I've spent the last couple of nights casing it myself; the beastman go into the wolfen forms at night and are too busy roaming and looking for a fight to guard the barricades properly."
Angela paused. "I don't suppose you told that to a Knight of Forcena?"
"I did, a nice guy, Duran I think his name was."
The Princess shook her head in disbelief, long purple hair swishing with the movement. "You're already full of surprises. What are you doing?"
"Going to Wendel," he replied shortly. "You are too, aren't you?"
Open-mouthed, Angela actually stopped walking in shock. "Who said you could come with ME?" She shrilled.
He shrugged. "I simply couldn't turn down the company of such a pretty lady. But, if you really find me too irresistible to trust yourself to keep your hands off me, you don't have to come. It's only coincidence we're travelling the same path after all." He grinned engagingly, daring her to challenge him.
Angela, for the second time that night, was left speechless, mouth opening and closing like a goldfish that hadn't eaten in a week. This upstart.... no, this street TRASH..... was more brazen than even herself. He might have been infinitely more modest clothing-wise, but his attitude was.... so freakin' flirtatious! Was that level of flirting even legal? She made a mental note to banish every ladies' man wanna-be in Altena if she ever got back to that kingdom.
Without any better witty reply, she just glared at his retreating back and the swinging long lavender ponytail, wrapped in a purple satin ribbon. "Well, don't you at least have a weapon, you numskull? You'll get eaten by rabites for sure!" As far as she could tell, he wasn't carrying a sword, a bow, a club, nothing! And given his lithe frame, she doubted he could survive on his fists alone.
He turned back, appraising her with those almost spooky yellow eyes. How odd.... then again, neither of them exactly had common hair colour, either. "Don't you worry, Angela. I'm always armed."
Was that meant to be some kind of riddle? She wasn't blind, the freak didn't even have a slingshot on his person! Scrabbling for anything to get out of having this-this- Tag-a-long! on what she was hoping was a lot of quality time with her recent acquaintance, Duran, she persisted, "But why don't you go with Riesz? She's going to Wendel too!"
He turned and resumed walking, calling behind him, "I already told you! I'm getting out of Jad tonight, and Riesz is currently intoxicated! It's not my problem if you want to turn down my charming company!"
Fuming, Angela was tempted to delay her escape by just a night if it meant getting away from the self-inflated jerk. Then she recalled her promise to meet Duran, and she was already late! Grinding her teeth together in frustration, she stomped as angrily and loudly as she could in her shoes - which was no easy feat given that they were mostly fabric - whilst the thief leading the way didn't make so much as a whisper of air when he moved.
So they walked in that manner through the rest of Jad. There were one or two beastman patrolling as normal, but none of them spared them so much as a glance, figuring they were just likely on their way to the inn or home or wherever else. Your common beastman wasn't exactly known for his intelligence.
The gates loomed, large and open, before them, just beyond that the barricades. They paused, and a long moment of silence ensued.
Angela suddenly realised that Duran was nowhere in sight.
Speechless, she looked around furtively, but there weren't exactly many places around to hide. She, Princess Angela of Altena, had been stood up! This was inexcusable!
"Looks like someone already took all the guards out for us," Hawk whispered, appearing by her side all of a sudden. She started - she thought he had gone up ahead. She'd barely known the guy for a hour and already she was learning that he had a tendency to disappear and reappear without warning. "Level of damage looks about standard for a young swordsman."
She flinched when she saw the bodies of the wolfen Beastmen, though it did leave her feeling slightly ill. Beating up monsters in the field was nothing to her, even with as little training as she had in weapons handling, but even she didn't like to imagine beastman, not terribly likeable people and her most immediate threat, being killed like this. Death, she knew, was something she'd encounter a lot on the road, especially if the kingdoms went to war one couldn't be weak-stomached at this kind of thing, but she was new to the school still, and willing to admit it unsettled her. Oddly enough, Hawk didn't seem at all bothered by the carnage, walking up and removing a money pouch from one of the corpses in an almost casual fashion. Upon seeing this, Angela once again questioned whether she'd chosen her company well... actually, come to think of it, she hadn't chosen at all, Duran had become impatient and left without her....
Shaking her head to clear it of such thoughts - after all, this guy had to be a wimp, he'd crumpled under Riesz's almost gentle blow - she stoically followed the thief as he lead the way through the fallen barrels and bodies, mentally cursing Duran for putting her in this predicament. Of course, it was hard to be mad at someone who you found irresistibly attractive, but she did her best.
She snapped out of her moody reverie when Hawk spoke again. "I thinking from these footprints it was that knight Duran."
She blinked, staring at the Navarrian in surprise. "You actually bothered to notice what types of shoes he was wearing?" Even herself, who had quickly become infatuated, hadn't memorised the man to that kind of particular degree. Was this guy gay or something? What kind of man noticed what shoes another was wearing in an idle conversation?
Hawk shrugged. "In my profession, it helps to be observant of the most minor details. Besides, there weren't too many other Knights of Forcena walking around and these prints are heavy and deep, standard for most Forcenans, and about the right size for his height."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, I believe you," Angela said, waving at him to not bother explaining further; just as well, because it didn't look like he intended to explain anything beyond that as it was.
"Shall we?" He grinned, offering her an arm as they made their way through the remains of the barricade.
She did her best 'I'm-a-royal-princess-who-could-order-you-to-be-executed' glare and swatted it away. The trip to Wendel that two hours ago she'd been looking forward to more than her birthday, was suddenly starting to look a lot like hell.
_________________
Wow.... that chapter was pretty long for me. Don't get used to it. Remember to read and review!
WARNING: For details on overall warning, see Chapter One (unless you've already read it, in which case, I don't know why you'd want to read it again short of an obsessive compulsive disorder. But hey, who am I to discourage people from reading my warnings? Knock yourselves out!) Nothing terribly unusual to warn you about for this chapter, though just for the heck of it, I'd like to warn people about Emus. Never try and hand- feed one - unless your reflexes are faster than theirs, it could hurt. A lot.
Author's note: This fic is slowly progressing to something interesting one day I hope.... but it might take a while to get there. I'd like to add that since I love my reviewers so much I'm adding another piece to this already lengthy line-up - and that's response to reviewers! Since I do have the tendency to get long-winded in these sections, if you're impatient for the chapter (that sounds like self-confidence. Dammit, my evil other half is influencing my personality again), skip on ahead and enjoy.
Now - the brand-new Response to Reviewers! (Insert fanfare here)
Laine: (Bows to another fan of Hawk/Angela fics). Thank you for the review! I'm so happy I'm not the only one who thinks this is a cool pairing! I actually read your fic, it was really good, maybe I should get around to reviewing it or something sometime. Though I don't share your complete hatred of Hawk and Riesz's coupleship, you needn't worry, it'll hardly be in here I think. I have seen Slayers (great series), and come to think of it, Duran and Gourry must be related SOMEHOW because that's a bloody creepy comparison.... I wrote the phrase "What a hunk!" in there? Woo, no wonder I've been experiencing missing time. I apologise for the lapse of sanity, I should never have tried to watch an episode of the dubbed Sailor Moon without the intake of painkillers first. Glad you liked it otherwise.
Rosa-Aquafire: Thanks! Who's your first favourite couple? (Y'know, just out of curiosity). I'm trying to keep pretty close to characterizations but I might have to stray from time to time for the benefit of the story and also for the fact that most RPG games don't really do that much characterization, even though I'd say SD3's is about the best (in my very biased opinion). Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you keep reading.
Cookie Pixie: Heh heh... thanks for the review. Those romantic tensions are going to be fun to write..... BTW, love your pen name.
Well, there's the long-winded intro out of the way, I apologise for it but at least you all know to expect it from now on. Thanks again for everyone's reviews and consideration and hope you keep reading and reviewing! _______________
Another Witchmaker
Chapter 2 - The Flirtatious Thief, Angela Meets Her Match!
By Sinnatious
************
Angela regarded the two; the blonde female warrior and what looked like your common street thief in front of her. The girl looked angry, not just indignant but really ANGRY, and furthermore, it looked like she knew how to use that spear she was pointing at the stranger. And was willing to.
The man under attack didn't seem too concerned with the situation, or at least not as concerned as she would have been had SHE been the one of the wrong end of a spear. If she hadn't still been wrapped up in the memory of Duran, she probably would have found him similarly attractive, though in a much different way. His features were a lot smoother, his skin tanned, his clothing vaguely exotic for the area, but most intriguing was his hair and eyes - long violet hair pulled back into a thin ponytail and amber-coloured eyes.
"Hey, I'm so far away from Rolante don't you think it's pretty unlikely I'm involved in that take-over?"
She started. That voice - it matched the one of the person who had intervened on her behalf with the beastman! And Rolante? She stared hard at the fierce fair-skinned girl, and a vague sense of familiarity struck her.
"Princess Riesz?"
The blonde momentarily drew her attention away from her quarry to regard the other girl in curiosity. "Princess Angela?"
They resumed to stare at each other for about a minute, before Riesz smiled, though still didn't lower her lance at the man. "What has it been, nearly six years?"
The thief, who Angela assumed must have been from the desert given his complexion, looked reasonably surprised. "You two KNOW each other? Am I surrounded by royal princesses? That must be every guy's dream come true."
Riesz scowled, then in a move that far surpassed expectations twisted her weapon around and thwacked the thief across the abdomen with the handle. He managed to move quickly enough to avoid the brunt of the attack, but still fell back, clutching his stomach in what had to be exaggerated pain, letting out a hiss between his teeth.
"Still beating up people, I see, Riesz," Angela tutted, briefly considering assisting the apparently injured man but dismissing the idea a moment later; he hadn't hung around earlier so she felt no loyalty to him now. "You beat up diplomats who call you a little girl, guys in pubs, your own warriors, and anything smaller than you."
"And you're still dressed in the exact same dress you wore last time. You could have at least upgraded in size, Angela."
The thief muttered from his position on the floor, "Great, a catfight."
That earned him a glare from both of the girls, but he held up one hand in defence, giving a winning white smile, or at least the best he could manage. "Easy now, I'm injured! You've had your point! You can kick my ass!"
The Princess of Rolante snorted in disgust. "Get up off the floor. That hit couldn't have possibly done that much damage."
He smiled again - what was WITH this guy, was he eternally happy? - and with some effort, hauled himself from the floor, barely concealing a wince as he did so. "You're right, of course."
Angela raised an eyebrow. He must have been a real weakling if he couldn't take a hit from just the handle of Riesz's albeit-scary lance.
"Bartender, let me buy these two lovely ladies a drink!" he motioned, and a moment later a glass was offered to both Angela and Riesz. "Now, seeing as it's not every day a low-born like myself gets to entertain two royal princesses, mind telling me what's going on and why I was nearly skewered?"
Riesz snatched the glass from his hand with a glare and all but spat at him. "Are you daft? It was Navarre that took over Rolante, killed my father and kidnapped my brother!"
The thief suddenly looked serious, composure changed dramatically from the cheerful and clumsy character they had witnessed thus far. "You mean Isabella actually invaded Rolante? Using Ninjas?"
"Of course! You'd already know all that, you thief!"
He ignored her. "Was there a blue-haired girl with them?"
The Amazon looked momentarily confused. "No. Why?"
He turned back to his own drink on the tabletop. "No reason. So the Castle That Never Fell finally fell, huh?"
"My God." Angela was shocked. Navarre invaded Rolante... and succeeded? She knew Navarre ninjas were good, but against a much larger army of Amazons? This had all sorts of dire portents. Were the rumours true?
The blonde Amazon was looking more and more upset, but less of her anger was directed at the man now. "Why are you so surprised?"
He shook his head ruefully. "I didn't really think they'd go through with it. Something weird is going on at the Navarre Theieves Guild. Flamekhan, our leader, would never do something like that. It's all that damn Isabella's fault!" He looked as though he wanted to slam his fist into something, but restrained himself. Angela gave him a sympathetic look. It sounded a lot like what happened in Altena.
"I'm a traitor to Navarre now. Long story why," he continued, with a twisted smile. Suddenly, though, it turned cheerful again. What was with these mood swings? "I answered your questions, now mind telling me why you're here? I can't imagine that Jad is at the top of every Princess's holiday destination."
Riesz seemed to have settled down enough, convinced that this stranger wasn't her enemy -the enemy of enemy was her friend thing again, Angela supposed- and likely comforted by the vaguely familiar presence of Angela, to sit down and be rational. She took a long swig of her drink before beginning. "You already know about Rolante. I managed to escape, and now I'm looking for my brother, Prince Elliot. I think the ninjas got him. I'm going to Wendel to ask the High Priest for help."
Angela started in surprise. "So am I! My mother tried to kill me because I couldn't use magic, so I'm going to learn how from the High Priest at Wendel!" She paused for a moment when she finished saying that - it had come out a little too candidly for her comfort.
"Damn. That's pretty harsh," the thief offered. "....Angela, wasn't it?"
The Princess of Altena stuck her nose into the air. "To street trash like you it's PRINCESS."
He shook his violet-haired head, grinning again. "Nuh-uh. You're in exile, too, which doesn't make you a princess. You're just another ordinary pretty girl now."
Angela's face reddened with a dangerous mixture of anger and indignation. "And what might your name be, SIR?" She asked sarcastically.
He cocked his head to the side, gauging the two glaring Princesses. "Hawk."
"Hawk...," Riesz pressed.
"Just Hawk," he shrugged.
Momentarily put off, the two girls regarded the oddly charming character, choosing instead to take a generous swig of their drinks. No last name? Well, Angela surmised, if she'd nearly been the one beaten up by Princess Riesz she probably wouldn't be handing out all of her life's personal details either.
"So, HAWK," she said as scathingly as she could, which was pretty good because sarcasm was one of Princess Angela's famed specialities; diplomats and court officials feared her for it; "What are YOU doing in Jad, other than hiding from your crazy violent thieves' guild?" 'Hypocrite, hypocrite' a cute little chibi-Angela shouted in her head, another chibi-Angela quickly proceeding to beat the little voice up.
For someone who had been thrown into exile, Hawk still seemed incredibly cheerful. "Oh, I'm going to see the High Priest in Wendel as well. This girl I know, Jessica, has a curse put on her by that lady Isabella who has corrupted the guild. I'm hoping the priest can tell me how to remove it."
"How.... noble." She wasn't sure if she could find the heart to beat up the guy now, as tempting as it was; after all, she was going to Wendel for such a selfish reason and he was doing it for no personal benefit whatsoever. Even Riesz, the righteous Amazon, wanted to get HER kingdom back, and find HER brother, both noble causes but with underlying selfish reasons. Of course, she recalled, her new role model in life was the most selfish of all, wanting to go to Wendel so that he could become more powerful.....
Duran! In all the excitement, she'd almost forgotten she had to meet him! How the hell had she forgotten a man like that?! There were more important things going on than the end of the world!
She hurriedly swilled the last of her free and probably cheap drink, blanching at the aftertaste, trying not to reflect on where a thief might get the money to buy girls drinks at bars. Hawk smirked at her expression, then nudged a staring into space Riesz, who had also finished her drink. The Amazon fell onto the counter, and began snoring lightly.
Angela raised an eyebrow. She knew some people had trouble holding their drinks, but that was bit extreme, she'd only had ONE.....
The Navarrian shrugged amiably. "I suppose she didn't indulge much back up at Rolante."
"I think that kind of lack of alcohol tolerance is intolerable in any princess," Angela muttered, grabbing her cane. "I'm heading out now; if I'm going to get out of this city with all these Beastmen, I hear the best time to do it is at night."
To her surprise, Hawk stood, and moved to open the door for her. "Yeah, I've spent the last couple of nights casing it myself; the beastman go into the wolfen forms at night and are too busy roaming and looking for a fight to guard the barricades properly."
Angela paused. "I don't suppose you told that to a Knight of Forcena?"
"I did, a nice guy, Duran I think his name was."
The Princess shook her head in disbelief, long purple hair swishing with the movement. "You're already full of surprises. What are you doing?"
"Going to Wendel," he replied shortly. "You are too, aren't you?"
Open-mouthed, Angela actually stopped walking in shock. "Who said you could come with ME?" She shrilled.
He shrugged. "I simply couldn't turn down the company of such a pretty lady. But, if you really find me too irresistible to trust yourself to keep your hands off me, you don't have to come. It's only coincidence we're travelling the same path after all." He grinned engagingly, daring her to challenge him.
Angela, for the second time that night, was left speechless, mouth opening and closing like a goldfish that hadn't eaten in a week. This upstart.... no, this street TRASH..... was more brazen than even herself. He might have been infinitely more modest clothing-wise, but his attitude was.... so freakin' flirtatious! Was that level of flirting even legal? She made a mental note to banish every ladies' man wanna-be in Altena if she ever got back to that kingdom.
Without any better witty reply, she just glared at his retreating back and the swinging long lavender ponytail, wrapped in a purple satin ribbon. "Well, don't you at least have a weapon, you numskull? You'll get eaten by rabites for sure!" As far as she could tell, he wasn't carrying a sword, a bow, a club, nothing! And given his lithe frame, she doubted he could survive on his fists alone.
He turned back, appraising her with those almost spooky yellow eyes. How odd.... then again, neither of them exactly had common hair colour, either. "Don't you worry, Angela. I'm always armed."
Was that meant to be some kind of riddle? She wasn't blind, the freak didn't even have a slingshot on his person! Scrabbling for anything to get out of having this-this- Tag-a-long! on what she was hoping was a lot of quality time with her recent acquaintance, Duran, she persisted, "But why don't you go with Riesz? She's going to Wendel too!"
He turned and resumed walking, calling behind him, "I already told you! I'm getting out of Jad tonight, and Riesz is currently intoxicated! It's not my problem if you want to turn down my charming company!"
Fuming, Angela was tempted to delay her escape by just a night if it meant getting away from the self-inflated jerk. Then she recalled her promise to meet Duran, and she was already late! Grinding her teeth together in frustration, she stomped as angrily and loudly as she could in her shoes - which was no easy feat given that they were mostly fabric - whilst the thief leading the way didn't make so much as a whisper of air when he moved.
So they walked in that manner through the rest of Jad. There were one or two beastman patrolling as normal, but none of them spared them so much as a glance, figuring they were just likely on their way to the inn or home or wherever else. Your common beastman wasn't exactly known for his intelligence.
The gates loomed, large and open, before them, just beyond that the barricades. They paused, and a long moment of silence ensued.
Angela suddenly realised that Duran was nowhere in sight.
Speechless, she looked around furtively, but there weren't exactly many places around to hide. She, Princess Angela of Altena, had been stood up! This was inexcusable!
"Looks like someone already took all the guards out for us," Hawk whispered, appearing by her side all of a sudden. She started - she thought he had gone up ahead. She'd barely known the guy for a hour and already she was learning that he had a tendency to disappear and reappear without warning. "Level of damage looks about standard for a young swordsman."
She flinched when she saw the bodies of the wolfen Beastmen, though it did leave her feeling slightly ill. Beating up monsters in the field was nothing to her, even with as little training as she had in weapons handling, but even she didn't like to imagine beastman, not terribly likeable people and her most immediate threat, being killed like this. Death, she knew, was something she'd encounter a lot on the road, especially if the kingdoms went to war one couldn't be weak-stomached at this kind of thing, but she was new to the school still, and willing to admit it unsettled her. Oddly enough, Hawk didn't seem at all bothered by the carnage, walking up and removing a money pouch from one of the corpses in an almost casual fashion. Upon seeing this, Angela once again questioned whether she'd chosen her company well... actually, come to think of it, she hadn't chosen at all, Duran had become impatient and left without her....
Shaking her head to clear it of such thoughts - after all, this guy had to be a wimp, he'd crumpled under Riesz's almost gentle blow - she stoically followed the thief as he lead the way through the fallen barrels and bodies, mentally cursing Duran for putting her in this predicament. Of course, it was hard to be mad at someone who you found irresistibly attractive, but she did her best.
She snapped out of her moody reverie when Hawk spoke again. "I thinking from these footprints it was that knight Duran."
She blinked, staring at the Navarrian in surprise. "You actually bothered to notice what types of shoes he was wearing?" Even herself, who had quickly become infatuated, hadn't memorised the man to that kind of particular degree. Was this guy gay or something? What kind of man noticed what shoes another was wearing in an idle conversation?
Hawk shrugged. "In my profession, it helps to be observant of the most minor details. Besides, there weren't too many other Knights of Forcena walking around and these prints are heavy and deep, standard for most Forcenans, and about the right size for his height."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, I believe you," Angela said, waving at him to not bother explaining further; just as well, because it didn't look like he intended to explain anything beyond that as it was.
"Shall we?" He grinned, offering her an arm as they made their way through the remains of the barricade.
She did her best 'I'm-a-royal-princess-who-could-order-you-to-be-executed' glare and swatted it away. The trip to Wendel that two hours ago she'd been looking forward to more than her birthday, was suddenly starting to look a lot like hell.
_________________
Wow.... that chapter was pretty long for me. Don't get used to it. Remember to read and review!