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 Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 3:08 am
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Kress rushed to the edge of town, the sound of his boots on the pavement seeming to drown out the sound of the shoes of the leisurely people taking a morning rise stroll. It was only then that he stopped to think that there was no possible way that he would get to the woods before Kaitlyn would. He needed transportation. FAST transportation, considering the fact that the woman was a speed demon when she got ahold of a carriage, and it just wasn't intelligent for someone to deliver a hostage on foot, and Kaitlyn was a very intelligent woman. Kress gave it a bit of thought as he rushed, looking over at a man that tied his horse outside of the local tavern. Kress walked up to him, simply dangling a small pouch of gold coins that was worth way more than the steed itself. The man practically jumped at it. Kress hopped on the horse, though he was never fond of riding them, and took off, hoping to catch sight of the two before they made it too far.
Upon reaching the edge of the city, Kress realized a set of carriage tracks and stopped the horse, his eyes following the tracks into the pathways of the forest. With a small sigh, Kress rode into the forest after the tracks, eventually setting his sights on a carriage going faster than any sane driver would go. Kress hurried his horse, riding along the side of it before matching the speed, knowing that he was wearing the horse out. He would have to reward it when he was done. Kress made a sharp turn in front of the carriage, testing Kaitlyn's reflexes in stopping.
-
Alistair was sitting calmly in his room before Alessandra barged in, speaking to him in a hurried and stern manner. "M'lord, there have been reports from the guards and servants that there is a carriage running amok in the forest. I believe that it may be your mercenary reaching the rendezvous point, in a very non-discrete manner if I do say so myself. She is causing a ruckus. I suggest you take care of it before your parents are to do so." Alistair sighed and gave a quick nod before walking through the manor, cloaking himself before readying to leave. The rendezvous point wasn't far from his home, within walking distance, as a matter if fact. He did, however, refuse to meet at his home. There were tons of reasons as to why that was a bad idea. Just because he was new to this, didn't mean that he was daft.
Alistair grabbed the preset bags of payment and his sword and Alessandra scooped up the rest, a look of determination on her face. "I am going with you, m'lord." The woman said as Alistair simply nodded, knowing that there was nothing that he would be able to say that would sway her decision. The two set off into the woods, headed to the place Alistair would meet with Kaitlyn.
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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 8:59 am
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Kaitlyn noticed as soon as she heard the thundering of another horses hooves and she swore, trying to push the steed even faster, but Kress had a horse that was not attached to a carriage and he pulled in front of her, forcing her to pull back on the reigns and stop the whole thing. She quickly pulled out her pistol. Not an entirely accurate weapon, but boy could it hurt and it was easy enough to keep hidden on her person. Besides, she was getting pretty good at compensating for the weapon error. "Crow . . . just back away now. I don't want to hurt you, but if you get in the way, I will pull the trigger." she said, her steady hand a testament to the seriousness of her words.
Inside the carriage, Nicodemus was still feeling extremely woozy . . . mainly because he'd never been inside a carriage that was moving so fast before and that mixed with the hangover . . . ugh. He just wanted to go back to sleep and see if that helped get rid of the nausea and headache. He dry heaved, not having anymore in his stomach to throw up. God he was hungry too having not eaten since he'd been kidnapped by his brother . . . although he wasn't certain he'd be able to keep down anything he ate. His brother . . . the other had followed him. His eyes widened and he quickly, though clumsily, made his way out of the carriage. "Kaitlyn, don't hurt him!" he said, definitely concerned that she would shoot his brother.
Kaitlyn frowned, but didn't dare take her eyes off of Kress. "Nicodemus get back in the carriage. This is business. Nothing more, and nothing, not even Crow here, gets between me and my business." she said, remaining still on the carriage, her aim still fixed on Kress. This was not the fun-loving Kaitlyn that had convinced the brothers to get drunk, this was the cool, calculating, goal-oriented mercenary who was determined to get the job done and receive her money. "You know how it goes Crow. It's just another job . . . now move." Kaitlyn said, a very clear threat in her voice as her finger tightened on the trigger. Oh, she wouldn't shoot to kill . . . no, no, no, Kress was far too valuable to the mercenaries for her to get away with that. But she would need to at least cripple him. Perhaps if she hit his ankle . . . or his wrist. Make it so he couldn't fight.
Nicodemus's eyes widened. What was going on?! He was absolutely terrified of this side of things. Just another job?! One thing was for certain . . . he wasn't going to stand around here and watch his brother get shot! He took one step back . . . then another before turning and running off into the forest, not knowing where he was going, not even knowing what direction the villa was . . . he just couldn't stay there and be forced to chose between Alistair and Kress. Was it so wrong that he wanted both his best friend and his brother in his life?!
Katilyn heard the running footsteps and swore, but she didn't let up her aim. "Don't go after him or I will shoot you." she threatened. This was the stalemate from hell. She just hoped that Kress would back down.
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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 12:37 pm
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When Kaitlyn stopped, Kress put his had on his blade, ready to pull it. He wasn't fast enough though, as the sharpshooter pointed her firearm at him before he even managed to get a chance to strike. His face was that of a cool and calm one, but his eyes glared death. He was outmatched by the woman, and he knew it, but he refused to get out of the way. Kress could only stare the sharpshooter down before he spoke. "I understand that this is your job, Kaitlyn, but he is my brother. If you shoot me, you better kill me. There is no going back after that." He said cursing slightly under his breath when he saw his brother run away in a random direction. He started to get his horse to trot after him, but stopped abruptly at Kaitlyn's words. "Shoot me if you're going to shoot me." He dared her, though he probably shouldn't have. He knew Kaitlyn long enough to know that she had an iron will and resolve.
Kress was about to leave, regardless of Kaitlyn's threat, before he felt a deep piercing slash across his back. His eyes widened as he dropped off of his horse and watched from the ground as it ran off into the depths of the forest. He could feel the blood dripping down his back and dampening his clothes before looking at his attacker, who was none other than the blonde blue blood that cared for his brother, or so he was told.
-
As Alistair and Alessandra walked through the winding pathways of the forest, they ended up getting deep within it, stopping at a shaded and open part of it where he was to meet Kaitlyn and Nico. Alessandra sighed as she watched Alistair pace, growing restless. "M'lord, calm down. They will be here. Especially with the maniacal way that woman was driving." She said, leaning against the tree with the four bags of money in her possession. Alistair only put two fingers on the bridge of his nose, trying to fight his impatience, but failing at it all the same. It was within a few moments that Alistair heard the neigh of horses coming from the forest. His attention piqued, and his curiosity got the best of him. With high hopes, he darted into the forest, leaving Alessandra in his wake, hearing her voice call out to him. "W-wait! Young lord!"
Alistair followed the sound of the horses and it led him straight to the carriage, though it had been stopped by someone ominous. It was the same man that intended to kidnap him, and he was in the midst of what seemed like a standoff with Kaitlyn. Thinking that Nico was in the carriage, Alistair walked up behind the man's horse before slashing him across the back with his blade. It was when the man fell to the ground that he ran to the carriage, only to find it empty. Antsy and slightly confused, looked over to Kaitlyn. "Wasn't Nicodemus supposed to be with you?" He asked, though his hands were slightly shaky at the fact that he just slashed through someone, which was something he had never done before, and didn't plan on doing again unless he had to.
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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 4:42 pm
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Kaitlyn's eyes widened as Kress suddenly dropped only to see that it was Alistair who had wounded the other. She put her gun away and hopped down from the driver's seat, running over to Kress to help treat his wound. "I had him, but he ran when this dummy showed up." she said, very unhappy with how the events had played out. Why couldn't things just go the way she wanted them to go. Then she would have her money, Nicodemus would have his dear master, Alistair would have his dear Nico . . . and she'd have to deal with an angry Kress. Now she'd have to deal with an angry, injured Kress, an angry Alistair, might lose the money because Nicodemus decided to be an idiot and run . . . ugh! The jobs always sounded easy . . . She should have learned by now that there was no such thing as easy money.
Nicodemus kept running until he couldn't hear anything but his own gasps as he collapsed to the ground, feeling the urge to dry heave again. He was just glad that he hadn't heard a gunshot go off yet . . . although . . . had he run far enough where he couldn't hear it? He stayed sitting there on the ground, certain he could not go any further.
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Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 1:25 am
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Kress's eyes grew heavy as he cringed, feeling Kaitlyn touching the area around his wound. The dull, stinging feel of the gash made the crow more uncomfortable if anything. He had been through worse, no doubt about it, but this was definitely an inconvenience that he didn't need. Kress smirked as he sat up so it would be easier for Kaitlyn to assess his wounds, and took off his shirt, revealing a huge flurry of scars burns, and brands from his past surrounding the gaping cut. For the most part, however, his mind was preoccupied on his brother's whereabouts and his attacker, the blue blood that, judging by the deepness of the cut, intended to kill him. He glared at him and assessed him, wondering what was so special about him. Why was his brother so loyal to this one man? How did he make enslavement feel like home? Kress didn't understand, nor did he care to. He just wanted to find his bother, and he knew that now, he was not fit to.
-
Alistair huffed, his eyebrows furrowed. He ran off? He thought, running a hand through his blonde hair with irritation and panic. He looked over at the man clad in black and as Kaitlyn tended to him. No. It didn't matter. Alistair pulled out his blade and held it to the male mercenaries neck, even slightly piercing it. "Which way?" Alistair spat with malice. He figured that Nico may have ran because the crow had shown up unannounced, sabotaging Kaitlyn's chances of completing her job. Speaking of Kaitlyn, Alistair looked over to the sandy haired woman, curious, impatient, and irritated. "Why are you helping him?!" The blonde asked as if he was demanding answers, his spoiled side revealing itself.
-
Kress's eyes followed the blonde as he marched over to him and Kaitlyn. His eyes darted to the blade as he could feel a bit of blood trickle down his neck in the slightest, the young lord having pierced him in the throat. Kress nodded his head in the direction his brother ran, never breaking his glare. "That way." He said before seeing the blonde run off right before a brunette woman appeared through the trees.
-
Alistair ran into the forest after giving Alessandra fleeting orders to handle the situation. Was he entirely sure that the crow wasn't dimly lying to him? No. But he didn't have a choice. Nico was somewhere, and he needed to find him.
It was after about 30minutes of searching that Alistair spotted him. The black haired male was sitting daftly against a tree before Alistair ran up to him. "Nico!" he said before he embraced him for a long while.
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Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 11:25 pm
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Kress winced slightly at initially feeling someone touch his wound, but his body soon relaxed. Despite what one may initially think, Kaitlyn was surprisingly gentle in handling his cut. The crow laughed a cynical laugh at Kaitlyn's remark before speaking. "It was bound to happen eventually." He said before sighing. In his line of work, he was actually surprised that all he actually HAD were flurries of scars and not something far more serious. Kress's gaze peered over at the brunette that appeared through the trees. Her body stiffened upon matching the mercenary's gaze, but she simply sighed, her face professional and business like. She definitely had dealings with the seedier people of the city before, though it wasn't surprising to Kress. The rich usually send drones to do all the dirty work for them. It's not like nobles directly come to run down bars to deal with mercenaries on their own.
The woman walked to the mercenary duo with her head held tall, tossing four large bags on the ground next to Kaitlyn. It was the rest of the money owed for her journey. "I was told to give this to you." She said. Though one could see on the housemaid's face that she disagreed with the fact that she was giving money before the goods were accounted for, an order was an order. Kress looked to Kaitlyn as much as he could with her behind him, wondering what her reaction would be. She'd been paid. Would that mean that she would leave him to take his brother back? Then again, with his wound, would he really even be able to? Kress sighed as he took a bag of gold. From the ground, basically saying that he deserved a cut after that.
-
Alistair smiled a wide and bright smile as he saw Nicodemus again. He was the one he fought so hard for. Now his life could finally go back to normal. No assassinations, No complications, No mercenaries. Well, maybe those things wouldn't completely disappear. They were already kind of a part of Alistair's ordinary life, but he would at least have Nico there with him. Alistair stopped as he noticed Nico's state. He was in complete disarray. Alistair's gaze shifted to Nico's wrist as he noticed the rope marks embedded into them. Alistair furrowed his eyebrows as he gently took Nico's wrist, only staring at them. "Nico, what did they do to you?" He said softly as he gripped his sword, his weapon and clothes already bloodied from his attack on the crow.
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 12:41 am
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Nicodemus shook his head and pulled his hands away noticing the blood. "I'm fine. I think I'm hungover but fine. You? There's blood on you . . ." he said softly, before he noticed the blood on Alistair's weapon as well. "Alistair . . . what did you do?" he asked, his eyes widening as the pieces started slipping into place. Alistair had hired Kaitlyn, so he wouldn't have attacked her . . . but Kress was there . . .
Kaitlyn scoffed as he took a bag, rolling her eyes. "Half the bag, no more." she hedged, wanting to keep as much money as she could. "I still need to pay off the boss-man for taking Nicodemus in the first place." she tried reasoning. She then shook her head. "Come on. I'm getting you in the carriage and taken back to base where you can be looked after properly." she stated, standing up only to bend to try and help Kress up as well. The job was over, there was no need for her to continue to stay there. Kaitlyn just ignored the housemaid. What did she care what the woman thought as long as she got paid in the end? Besides, it wasn't the housemaid who did the hiring, it was Alistair so as far as Kaitlyn was concerned, the housemaid didn't really factor in much.
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 2:08 am
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Alistair froze for a moment after Nico asked him what happened. His hands started to shake again slightly at the memory. He slashed the crow deep, so it was no wonder that he was soaked in blood. Alistair gulped slightly as he thought about the mercenary. Yeah, he wasn't fond of the man, but he didn't mean to give him a deep slash. He just wanted to keep him from going after Nico...Right?
Alistair began to look to the ground before peering back into Nico's eyes, determination adorning his gaze. "I...I drove my blade across his back Nico. I figured that he would come after you if I didn't do anything." Te last thing Alistair wanted was for Nico to be taken away from him again. He'll be okay. The blonde thought. Alistair took Nico's hand before giving him a pleading look. He was tired of the running and the searching. He just wanted his world with Nico to return to how it was. "Can we go home?" He asked, hoping the male said yes.
-
Kress raised an eyebrow at Kaitlyn, as if she were being unreasonable. "Half a bag? That's all? It has been a crappy day for me as well you know." The crow spouted, growing silent at the mention of Darius. He wasn't going to like this. Though, he would eventually get over it, and Kress knew it. Within a second, the crow felt the feel of lifting, wincing at the feeling of moving. The pain in his back was severely sharp. Kress grew apprehensive at the mention of a doctor. Being in Kress and Kaitlyn's line of work, "seeing a doctor" usually ended with "Time in the prisons." Kress grew apprehensive. "No doctors! I only trust you." The crow said as he climbed into the carriage, hoping that Kaitlyn would take him back to the mercenary base rather than to a doctor.
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 2:20 am
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Nico pulled his hand away again, and his gaze shifted from Alistair to the direction he had come from. "No . . ." he breathed out, terrified for his brother. Without another word, Nicodemus started running again, this time, in the direction he had originally been running from. Alistair had . . . He just had to make sure that Kress would be okay!
Kaitlyn sighed. "Fine. Three quarters of a bag." she conceded. When the other told her no doctors, she glared at him, letting him fall onto the seat. "Of course no doctors. I said we're going back to the base dummy. I'm not stupid you know." she said, feeling a bit insulted. She closed the carriage door and climbed up onto the driver's seat. She flicked the reigns and got the horse moving again, heading back to the base. Thankfully, she kept the going at a more moderate pace. She didn't need to outrace Kress, there was no need for speed this time around.
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Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:56 pm
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As Nico darted off into the dense trees once more, Alistair cursed under his breath as he raced after him. It was only a few moments time before he realized that he was bolting into the same direction as the assailant. "What is he doing?" The blonde thought as he caught up right as the carriage was leaving, grabbing the other's arm to keep him from running any further. He saw the carriage in the distance begin to trot off. "N-Nico, what is it? You're safe now. Why are you running back to them?" Alistair said with simple confusion, trying to deduce why the other would run back. He left when Alistair said that he slashed through the other mercenary. The blonde's dull grey eyes widened. "Do...Do you know him, Nico?" Alistair asked, wondering what was happening.
-
As the carriage began to trot away, in a much slower pace mind you, Kress began to think about what was waiting for him back at the base. He knew that Darius would be pissed at both him an Kaitlyn, primarily because they were both empty handed. Though he and Kaitlyn would probably lie about their pay, give him half of the amount they lied about, and walk off with the rest. Even a false amount would probably end up being more than what he would have received if he had put Nico on the market again anyways. Kress peered out of the carriage window behind him, only hoping that Nico was alright. It was then that he saw him run towards the carriage, only to have the blue blood stop him. Kress furrowed his eyebrows as he banged on the carriage, signaling for Kaitlyn to stop. He had to see him again and tell him that he was okay. Kress looked at the carriage door. This was going to be one of the dumbest things he had ever done. The crow kicked the door open with all of the force he even had left and jumped out, landing on his sliced back.
After the second it took him to get over his pain, Kress struggled to get up before he walked over to the two, limping harshly because of the pain, regretting his leap out of the carriage. Not his smartest move. It was then that Kress noted the same blade used to wound him was held towards him once again, the blond wielding it standing between him and Nico. "Just leave us alone." He said before Kress just laughed, half tempted to slice the other open. He breathed before looking at Nico. "Just let me speak to him and I will leave." Kress said before the blonde narrowed his eyes, skeptical. "Why? What is your affiliation with him?" Alistair asked before Kress sighed. He looked up at him with a bit of a resigned look. "He's my brother."
-
As Alistair listened to Kress, his expression went from skeptical to surprised. He was shocked. This couldn't possibly be the relative that Nico talked about. The older brother that he worked hard on finding. The one whose birthday he always celebrated. It couldn't possibly be. But, how did he know Nico even had a brother? Alistair's hand began to shake slightly, though he refused to put his blade down. He didn't even really know what to do at this point. For all he knew, the crow could have simply been lying.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 2:30 am
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Kress's gaze darted to Nico as he lowered Alistair's blade with his hand. It was within only a few seconds that he had heard Kaitlyn come up behind him, stating that he was crazy. Given, he probably was. No sane person would jump out of a carriage willingly period, let alone wounded. It wasn't smart, and on any typical occasion, he would have just abandoned the idea and kept going. However, he couldn't leave Nico worrying about him. He smiled at his brother. "Like Kaitlyn here said, I'll be fine," Kress said before leaning in slightly, even though Alistair was still standing in between the two, slightly apprehensive. "Though, lets just hope that Kaitlyn doesn't pour her liquor in my wound to disinfect it." He honestly was hoping not, and if she did, he only hoped that it was the local tavern "piss water" and not the strong stuff.
~
Alistair slowly lowered his blade before sheathing it. Nico would have no reason to lie about this. Alistair couldn't believe that the mercenary that meant to kidnap him was actually Nico's older brother. To say that he was different from what he had expected would have been a VAST understatement. He didn't know where to look for him, but he never would have imagined this. Alistair remained slightly on edge. He still didn't know what the crow's intentions were, though he seemed harmless enough. But if this is his brother... Alistair's fleeting gaze wandered to Nico, wondering if he would go with them. Surely, if he went through all of the trouble of finding his way back he wasn't... Was he? What if he came back just to tell Alistair that he was going to stay with his brother? He was looking for him after all. Alistair glared slightly at Kress, not wanting Nico to go with him, though he knew that it was slightly selfish of him and soon dropped his glare.
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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 2:00 am
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Kress was taken slightly by surprise when Nico actually hugged him, as much as he could with the cut on Kress's back anyway. Kress hugged his brother back, feeling a bit of...sadness? He didn't remember how it felt until that moment. He didn't want to let him go again, but he sighed as he released him before smiling his gentle brotherly smile. "Of course I will." He said before looking over at Alistair. Kress honestly didn't know exactly how much he could visit Nico, or even how safe it would be. Being a mercenary was a two way street. He was a dangerous person hunting for targets, but he also had quite a few dangerous people looking for him, be it for money or for revenge. The last thing he wanted was for Nico to get caught up in that. Kress sighed as he looked at Kaitlyn. She probably knew that things weren't that simple. If anything, Kress knew that he couldn't meet Nico in broad daylight in the open public. Maybe if he disguised himself as a slave to see him from time to time. Kress shivered at the thought of being a slave again, even if it were a disguise. Though he would do it if need be. Kress ruffled Nico's hair one last time before saying his goodbyes and turning around, trying to make it back to the carriage on his own.
~
Alistair watched as the crow limped toward the carriage, even stumbling slightly over the dirt and leaves. Alistair sighed as he looked to Nico, a huge part of him relieved that the other had decided to stay at the estate with him, the other part disheartened due to the fact that he gave Nico's brother such a large injury. Alistair softened his gaze as he put a hand on Nico's shoulder, taking a deep breath before doing something rare for the blonde. "Nico, I'm sorry about your brother and that you were held captive in my place," Alistair's eyes expressed concern and over all relief before he softly put a hand to Nico's face as if he still couldn't believe he was there. "but don't scare me like that anymore okay?" Alistair said in a soft voice before saying that they should head back to the villa.
((OOC: Thanks for the heads up chibi! :3))
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