Fuck his throat burned, the adrenaline had long since worn off and now that he was alone, the others a ways back had chosen to set up camp and rest for the remainder of the night. He'd instead picked up slight marks of the girl, or what he hoped was the girl, and followed it. By the time the ache started to set in the sun was high in the sky, peeking through the trees at him.
He'd sat down at a small creek and washed his face with the cool water, cupping some in his hands and pouring it down his throat. It hurt to swallow, but the cold liquid had some soothing capabilities to it. After the events of the past night he could see why the girl had ran and why her sister had said Ervlin was mean. The man had tried to kill him, not that he was the first one to do so. He'd lost count on how many people and things had tried to kill him.
The thing that bothered him most was the strength in the Bosmer, it was inhuman. The Elf was nothing but muscle, even so, if Cyn wasn't the offspring to who he was the man would have surely crushed his windpipe right there in mere moments rather than merely cutting off his air supply and leaving behind dark bruises and soreness.
He cupped some of the water and splashed it onto his neck, letting it trickle its way down into the collar of his armor. The sound of footsteps had him standing in seconds, hand on the sword at his hip until the Imperial came out of the brush. "You caught up quick." He remarked with a shallow voice, shoulders relaxing.
"You left quite the trail to follow." She smiled warmly.
"Where are the other two?"
"With the horses on the clearing, I said I'd go ahead and get you."
He walked towards her, noting the bruising under her eyes, his head had connected with her face when the two hit the ground and he'd trapped her under him. She was lucky she'd only got bruising and a bloody nose, he could have broke it.
The two of them walked together in silence to the others who were bickering quietly when they arrived, Cyn saying nothing before he took the lead and continued forward. He wasn't up for talking, it was painful to speak and he knew Rin would want to speak of nothing but the events prior and he had nothing to say. He was still trying to work everything out in his own head at the moment.
When they'd made camp again well after nightfall he stayed this time, taking the first watch and sitting by the fire to read over the information he gathered on the girl from the few hours they had in the camp after the Altmer had left them. Adria is young, but not a girl, yet not fully experienced either but one who has many strengths; the strange Bosmer who had sat across from him on the ride to the tribe was her betrothed. Ervlin was his name. She's a hunter, a good one at that; a crafter, a painter, a gardener, a healer, a daughter, a sister, and newly made aunt.
She likes foxes and often went out on her own, regardless that she feared the cries of the wolves at night. It didn't matter that it was the symbol of her tribe and you'd find it at every turn. She'd never seen war, even though it plagued the land; she thought Ervlin to be brutal and feared him according to her younger sister who spoke it in hushed tones. It was evident the two kept secrets among each other.
He narrowed his brow at the ache in his throat, the memory of the man's hands trying their hardest to fully wrap around his neck.
Adria is smart, knows the land and how to make it sway to her will, according to her Father. Her Mother had said positive things too, and from what the general public has said, she is strong but yet naïve to the dangers outside the protections of their so called God as her Mother confided. She has long brown hair that's usually pulled back into a ponytail or braid, better kept out of her face, for her preferred weapon is the bow. She's a beauty with green eyes like her Mother's and assumed average height for a Bosmer so fairly short.
He turned the page to find the drawing her sister had done, large almond shaped eyes stared back at him. The leather of the journal protested when he shut it, tucking it back into his belt with a sigh. He'd heard the Dunmer approaching and the last thing he wanted was him reading over his shoulder.
"What do you want?" He forced out, voice still barely above a whisper and harsher than it had been earlier. He swallowed against the pain, closing his eyes for a moment.
"Why don't you just heal yourself?" Rin all but collapsed onto the ground next to him.
"Because that takes more effort than it is worth."
Rin shrugged his shoulders. "Anyways, Viviera says you need to sleep."
He glared over at the man.
"Go give her that look not me." He groaned, leaning back on his hands. "We've all had our sleep, but not you so she does have a point, Cynlius."
"I wasn't giving him an option."
Cyn looked over his shoulder to find the woman with her arms folded against her chest, the fire making the damage to her face appear worse than it was. He huffed with protest, not wanting to force words out.
"You want to track this girl? What good will you be if you can barely keep standing?"
Rin shook his head, they both knew it would take more to knock Cyn down then this, but the Dunmer kept his mouth shut.
"You can play this act after you've had your rest."
"You are getting pretty grumpy." Rin teased, a smirk forming on his face while he stared at the fire. "I didn't want to say anything after you snapped at me for trying to help you up."
Cyn groaned, pushing himself to his feet. At least if he agreed he'd escape this fool and sleep did sound like an appealing idea at the moment. An escape from the insistent ache in his neck that just dragged on and on.
Viviera pointed to where Krohel was already curled up on a bedroll with ax in hand. Great, he could be hacked to death in his sleep if the Orc had a nightmare.
"Go." She ordered, pushing on his arm.
He obeyed, moving towards the large beast, pulling the extra bed roll away by a few feet first before falling onto it with a sigh. The soft voices from the fire lulled him into his sleep and before he knew if he was being nudged awake by small hands softly patting at his face.
«·´`·.(*·.¸(`·.¸* *¸.·´)¸.·*).·´`·»
Cyn sat up, confused by the early morning sunlight that was just barely lighting the sky. The stars still visible above them. He took the metal cup Viviera held out to him, drinking the contents quickly to sooth his screaming throat that had gone ignored all night.
"I knew you were exhausted." She remarked with a smile, taking the cup when he'd finished.
He tried to speak, but nothing came out and he rolled his eyes.
Rin's loud laugh surrounded them. "There goes his voice, think that Elf did more damage than ya' thought."
Cyn grasped his throat while glaring up at the man, a warm sensation that had his nerves standing on edge spilled over his skin.
"What a baby, I think he was playing up the whole wounded thing. Don't get why he didn't do this sooner." Rin remarked with a shake of his head.
The magic faded away and Cyn coughed slightly, testing the pain level before he cleared his throat completely. "I didn't do it before because it isn't my chosen skill, jackass." He forced out, voice still harsh but the pain much duller than it had been before. "It's always a fucking coin toss on the outcome."
"Good morning to you too, sunshine." Rin growled.
"Fuck off." Cyn countered with venom now that his voice had returned, even if it didn't sound like the prettiest thing to hear.
"Asshole."
"Do you want to play this game, Rin?" Cyn suddenly turned on him, Viviera jumping between the two and pushing against the Breton's chest. "I'd be more than happy to jump with you, I was ripped away from satisfying that adrenaline rush with the Bosmer."
"Don't threaten me." Rin glared at him but didn't move towards him at all.
"You know me well enough to know I don't do threats."
"And you should know me well enough to know I won't put up with your shit."
"No, you'll wait till I turn my back on you to make your move like the coward you are."
The moment Rin turned and made to move towards him Cyn had gripped Viviera's waist, a squeal escaping her as he turned her behind him and rushed the Dunmer. The two colliding in nothing but fists and insults, the sound of impact as each made contact with the other in nothing but an all out raw fight.
Cyn had forgot how hard the Dunmer could hit until his fist hit him in his rib and knocked the air from his lungs. Gods it felt good though, all the pent up anger he'd had was unleashed and he dealt it right into the other man's body. Landing blow after blow into any opening the Dunmer gave him until a hard, closed fist punch to the jaw knocked him to ground.
Cyn towered above him, spitting the blood that had collected in his mouth to the ground. Rin had got in some good ones on him, blood was dripping from his eyebrow into his line of sight and the way his mouth was quickly filling with blood once again was a tall tell sign that he'd busted his lip somewhere.
The Dunmer wasn't any better, his nose bled down his face, a gash on his chin and the left side of his upper lip was already swelling. From the dazed look in his eyes while he stared up at the branches that blocked out the sky gave away just how hard that last hit had landed. His eyes darted back and forth trying to gain stability at his shifting world.
Rin rolled onto his hands and knees, dry heaving before finally relaxing and sitting back on his heels to stare up at Cyn. "Feel better?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Asshole." He smirked holding his hand out to him.
Viviera stared at them confused while Krohel chucked and shook his head.
