Guys Night Out: Part Two

As told by Your Friendly Neighborhood Onionboy

(.......ok, Chailain, fine, whatever.)

Hawk tried to be silent as he crept back out of the inn, but it was tough. He'd faced more evil in the past months than most did in their entire lifetimes. Red Mages, crazy assed clowns, a haunted ship, cursed necklaces, the life of his girlfriend endangered by a woman he could only bring himself to refer to as 'The Bitch', and countless situations where he knew he wouldn't be coming back alive. And with all that behind him, he was certain that he had never been so terrified in his life.

Stay cool, Hawk. They won't be able to find you. And they sure as hell won't leave without you. I'll just stay in hiding for a few days till things cool down.....and then buy them some roses. Yeah, roses. Maybe sing 'em a song, too........gah!

Next thing he knew, he was down on the ground. He had tripped over a rather large object lying in the middle of the hallway. Muttering a curse to himself, he stood up and dusted himself off.

....waitaminit....did that thing just move?

The 'object' rolled over, moaning.

......oh, GODS, it's Duran.

The rough and tumble swordsman was lying on the ground in a pool of his own vomit, moaning like a baby.

"Duran!" Hawk whispered fiercely. "Duran, wake up! Wake your ass up, Duran, we gotta go!"

"eh......wha? Urp....."

I don't believe this......

Hawk proceeded to unsheath one of his knives. Looking down at Duran, he muttered "Sorry, buddy, but we gotta go." and nicked his ear.

"SONOFABITCH!" roared Duran, but he was cut off by Hawks hand around his mouth.

"It's me, it's me, calm down you lummox. Now....I'm gonna let go of your mouth. You have to stay absolutely silent. Riesz and Angela are after us. Do you remember who Riesz and Angela are? Well, it doesn't matter if you do or not, because they remember you, and they remember me, and right now it is not a good time for either of us to be remembered by anyone. You got that?"

Duran just grumbled as he shakily stood up.

"...course I 'member who they are. Two'a the best....urp....lookin' women I ever seen....eh...woah..."

Duran nearly toppled over, but Hawk caught him in time.

"Quit doin' that, Hawk. I ain't a baby, I can handle myself."

Hawk smirked in the dark.

"Oh, you ain't a baby, are ya? I just found you unconscious in this hallway, wallowing in your own regurgitated fluids. After two drinks. I mean, damn, Duran, I've seen three year olds hold down more than that. I'm disappointed."

Duran just sputtered drunkenly, swaying back and forth. Hawk caught him by the arm and gently led him out of the inn, breathing a huge sigh of relief as he dragged the swordsman out into the street.

"Ok, first things first," Hawk thought out loud, "we gotta find a place to stay tonight. Any ideas?"

"...uhm.....who are you again?"

Hawk stood perfectly still, licking his lips, then calmly turned around and backhanded Duran, who crumpled to the ground.

This'll be a lot easier if he's unconscious. Now, we gotta find an inn.

Hawk grabbed the warrior by his hair and dragged him off down the street.

***

Angela tried to keep quiet as she tiptoed into Carlie's room. Unlike certain Amazons she knew, Angela actually had some compassion in her. Riesz would have simply stormed into the room, picked Carlie up out of the bed, and dragged her out the door.

She gently stepped over to her bed and nudged the small girl gently. "Carlie? Carlie, wake up sweety, we gotta leave."

Carlie moaned and rolled over, rubbing her eyes and blinking in the dimly lit room. "Angela? Is that you? Why do we gotta leave? I'm tired...."

Angela smiled gently. "We have to go find Hawk."

Carlie's eyes widened in amazement. "But...but....why did Hawk leave? Does he not like us anymore?"

Angela noticed the girls eyes welling up with tears, and held her close, stroking her hair.

"No, no, no, honey. He's just playing a little game of hide-and-seek with us, that's all. We'll find him, don't worry. I know he wouldn't leave us, especially not you. In fact.....," Angela whispered to Carlie, "I hear he has a little bit of a crush on you."

Hey, anything to make her feel better, right? Angela thought to herself.

Carlie glanced up at her, eyes big and bright.

"Really? He said that?"

Angela nodded slowly.

"Yeeup. He said he thought you were the prettiest out of all of us. And definitely the cutest."

Carlie jumped out of bed, bouncing around the room.

"Hawk looooves me, Hawk loooooves me! And I love him! And I'm gonna marry him, and we're gonna have a house, and I'm gonna make him pies! Lots and lots of pies! 'cause Hawk loooooooves Carlie! Yaaaaay!"

Right then, Riesz busted down the door with her spear.

"Will the two of you shutup and pack! We gotta find that bastard NOW!"

Angela rolled her eyes, and Riesz stalked out mumbling under her breath. Carlie had stopped flying around the room, and looked up at Angela with those big eyes of hers again.

"Angela, what's wrong with Riesz? She's mad at Carlie!"

Angela glanced at the girl and shook her head.

"No, no, she's not. She just...ah...REALLY wants to beat Hawk at hide-and-seek!"

"Yaaaaaay!"