RP:Frost Boar Initiation?
Summary: Talyara follows out what she believes is her initiation task to get into the Adventurer's Guild, however it's all part of an elaborate prank planned by the guild leader, and her wicked witch sister, Lanara. The woman finds herself facing the wrath of three menacing boars, in the icy atmosphere of Frostmaw, tumbles from a tree, and while wounded, secures her kill. Thankfully, the enigma, Krice is there to take out the two remaining boars, and carry the elf to safety, where it's determined that she has a broken ankle, broken ribs, and a dislocated hip. The boar, however, will be put to good use at the upcoming pig roast.
Not much later after Krice had left for Frostmaw, Taly found herself doing the same. She thought about reaching out to the warrior but the memory of his standoffishness and that wall she felt between them halted her from doing so. The witch packed a bag and as she climbed the mountain, tugged on those extra layers and pulled the hood of her cloak far over her head so it nearly obscured her eyes. There was a length of rope tied about her waist and a pretty bow in her hand. She stopped for a moment when she reached the gates of Frostmaw—she didn’t come here often and the last time she did, she had encountered Emrith. It was for that reason she hurried past those milling about quickly. She wanted to complete her task as quickly as possible and then leave.
Krice was leaving the fort further north of the gate when Talyara arrived in Frostmaw, dressed in his usual black garb along with black robes for a little extra warmth, a second katana, and some bulkiness around his body that suggested other weaponry hidden beneath his few layers of clothing. He paused at the junction where the road ventured south away from the fort, west toward the middle of town and the wilds beyond, and east into the city where the tavern - and that gate - stood. His eyes were on the path ahead, to the south. Something caught his attention but it was too distant, too caught in the War City's frosted atmosphere for him to register. So he pivoted to proceed westward along the path, his steps relaxed but purposeful.
Talyara did her best to nod to those on the road who caught her eye. It had been a while since she lived in the city of war so her face and her presence weren’t recognizable to most. She breathed out a sigh of relief as she headed west and the woods sprung up before her. They weren’t her woods but they were better than nothing. “Now where can I find that stupid boar...” she mutters to herself, slinging the bow over her shoulder and untying the rope around her waist.
Krice took the same path that Talyara had taken. It was coincidental at first, a mutual want to get away from civilization - for different reasons, but still a shared goal. Eventually, the swirling winds along the cliffs Talyara's scent reached his sensitive nose and he halted, frowning into the whiteness beyond. There he waited for another breeze to whisper across his path, at which point his suspicion was confirmed. Talyara was here somewhere. Shifting his trajectory, he moved to follow that scent - away from civilians and toward the woods.
Talyara didn’t shift from her spot at the entrance of the woods. She had forgotten how damned cold it was out here and her fingers, which were already ice, fumbled over the rope as she tried to tie a knot for a snare she planned to lay out. She shivered and her teeth chattered. Why had Lana sent her to kill the boar? Wouldn’t this have been initiation for the Ranger’s guild maybe? Grumbling to herself the witch didn’t even realize someone was on her trail.
Krice caught up to Talyara before long, noting her figure up ahead. For f--... Continuing onward, the warrior ensured that each step made a subtle shifting noise in the snow, so as not to startle her, and he called to her as he walked. " What are you doing?" His question was spoken firmly but not yelled, and not with aggression. The sternness of his expression told of his displeasure with her presence so far out west.
Talyara let out a small scream as she heard Krice’s call, not expecting anyone out here with her let alone the warrior. She whips around quickly to face him, her cheeks and her nose rosy from the bitter cold. “I d-didn’t come to b-bother y-you,” she assures Krice through chattering teeth, mistaking his sternness for anger at her for being in the very place he said he wanted to be alone.
Krice's expression softened - only slightly - when he noticed Talyara's chattering. Damn it. " It's -dangerous- out here," he grumbled, removing his katanas from his back and securing one to each hip so that he could pull his robes of over his head. A crossbow was revealed, strapped to his back and easily accessible over a shoulder. Dressed now in -only- his usual black shirt, black slacks, boots, and weaponry, he reached out to flop the garment over Talyara's head, tugging at the fabric until it was around her in all directions. His warmth permeated the black robes and would hopefully steal away the chill that had bitten at her skin.
Talyara frowns slightly when Krice mentions it being dangerous out here. It wasn’t that he cared about her well being, but rather the underlying implication (however unintentional) that she couldn’t take care of herself. “Well I h-have to d-do s-something,” she says vaguely not quite meeting his eye. When he shifts his katanas and moves to pull off his robes her frown depends. “What are you do—“ Oof. The garment was thrown over her head and when her face reappears she wrinkles her nose at the warrior. “You’re g-going to freeze if y-you don’t put t-that back o-on,” she chastises him although the warmth of his robes is already leeching the chill from her body. She’s not shaking quite so much and her teeth are less chattery.
Krice's robes were big enough for his tall frame that, on Talyara's considerably smaller one, they pooled around her feet against the snow. He bent down in front of her, silver hair brushing the abdomen of the robes from their proximity, and reached for the hem of the robes to fold them up around her knees, where he pulled the fabric into a slightly tighter circumference and tied it securely at that length. His crimson gaze was down the entire time on the task at hand. " I'm not going to freeze," he muttered argumentatively, sparing a glance at their surroundings for sign of danger on any horizon, just in case their interaction had drawn attention. Nothing loomed in the distance. He lowered his hands from the robes and stood at his full height once more, regarding the witch with a hard stare. " What are you doing out here?"
Talyara looks down at the crown of Krice’s head as he folds up the robes and ties the hem so they don’t get wet from the snow. The witch watches him curiously and her emerald hued eyes follow him as he stands to his full height. He’s an intelligent man and one look at the rope in her hand shows the start of a snare, one that she quickly hides behind her back. “Nothing,” Taly informs the warrior a little too quickly. “I just have to, um, do something. But don’t let me bother you, I know you wanted to get away from...” Taly manages to stop herself before she says ‘me’. “People.”
Krice leveled an incredulous stare at Talyara, crimson eyes to emerald. Clearly she wasn't doing -nothing-, snare or not. Extending his left arm, he reached forward to curl it around her back so that when he walked toward civilization again, she'd have no choice but to follow. Assuming she didn't duck out of his reach. " Time to go." He wasn't leaving her out here in the wilds of Frostmaw.
Talyara does indeed duck out Krice’s reach and fumbles back a few steps towards the woods again and firmly shakes her head. “Nuh uh,” comes her answer and she takes another few steps away from the warrior. “I told you I have to do something. Don’t you have to do something, too? Isn’t that why you came up here?” Taly reaches down and moves to untie Krice’s robes to hand them back. “Look I’ll give you your robes back and then we can each go on our own ways.”
Krice's arm caught nothing but air, and he was partially okay with that. He didn't want to manhandle his friend but if she pushed him to it... His gaze drifted down to her hands as she began to untie the robes. He thrust a hand out to stay her actions, shaking the index finger of his other one. " If you want to stay out here, you have to keep those on. Your chattering teeth are gonna draw hostiles." From the noisiness of her cold-suffering, it was inferred.
Talyara huffs when Krice stays her actions but she does relinquish the robes and stands straight again. The mention of hostile causes the witch to nip at her bottom lip. She didn’t make a habit of coming this far out west when she lived in Frostmaw so she didn’t know. Clearing her expression she gives the warrior what she hopes is to be a reassuring smile. “I’ll be fine I have my bow.” Which she could barely shoot. “And a dagger.” Which was also pretty useless.
Krice withdrew his hand once Talyara stopped fiddling with the robes, therefore reassured that she would at least be warm when the next frost-monstrosity came charging in to kill them both. Very dead, but warm. " Fine," he said, gesturing ahead of them with a wave of his right hand. " Off you go, then." He clearly was not reassured by her smile. The moment she began to walk, the warrior would follow suit, shadowing her steps with casual strides of his own.
Talyara gives Krice a two finger salute and turns on her heel and begins to trudge into the woods without another word. She knows he’s there though—he’s been a big enough presence in her life that she can recognize when he’s near. She doesn’t say anything for nearly five minutes until she suddenly halts and turns around quickly. “You can stop following me now.”
Krice seemed content to follow Talyara forever, apparently, because he didn't deviate or try to change her mind in those entire five minutes. He walked behind her, following her steps, intermittently sending a watchful glance out at their surroundings. Ever the protector. When she halted and abruptly turned to face him, he stopped as well, standing just outside her reach - though with her just inside his. " I want to see you do this thing you need to do," he said, coolly, lifting his chin in defiance against her attempt to get rid of him.
Taly frowns and crosses her arms over her chest and heave a sigh. “I don’t want you to see me do the thing that I need to do,” she counters as she bites the inside of her cheek. It’s mostly for pride. She knew she was going to abysmal at trying to catch this frost boar and she didn’t need the embarrassment of an audience, let alone someone she respected greatly. “Just forget I’m here. Pretend like you never saw me.”
Krice stared at Talyara, his attention unwavering - until she reached the end of her words. Then his gaze drifted across the line of her mouth and fell away to the front of her right shoulder, for no clear reason. It was long enough a time for her to question his mood when he broke his silence, lifting both hands in a gentle gesture of surrender. " Talyara," he began, his tone calm and respectful of her want to be out here. " I know you're not here to bother me, and you're -not- bothering me, but now that I -do- know you're here, I can't let you wander around here by yourself. It's -not-. -Safe-." He arched both brows, as if the animation of his expression would help accentuate the importance of her comprehending his message.
Talyara doesn’t tear her gaze away from Krice as his own lingers on her. She doesn’t say or do anything in those beats of time. “I’m not hopeless, Krice,” she says with a frown. “I’m not a damsel in distress. I’m a girl who was given a task to complete and that’s what I’m doing.” Or at least what she’ll try and do. “Look I’ll send you a letter when I’m done and leaving Frostmaw so you know I’m okay,” she says in an attempt to compromise.
Krice's eyes fell shut in a moment of conveyed exasperation, but he reigned it in. For both their sakes. "I'm not treating you like a damsel, but in your efforts to prove that you're not one, you might get yourself killed." Or maimed and therefore doomed to a lifetime of suffering in agony. His hands fell to his sides and he looked out across the frosted horizon. "And since you forgot, when I first saw you, you were freezing." Strike one against her "I'm not hopeless" column. "What could you possibly need to do way out here?" In the wilderness where mostly only violent - and big - animals roamed.
Talyara frowns at Krice and turns on her heel and continues her march into the woods. She knew he would follow but she wasn’t just going to stand there arguing. “I could have used magic to warm myself,” she counters with a huff, her breath hanging in a heavy cloud around her mouth. “But I need to use my hands.” Maybe not completely hopeful but not so hopeless either. “I just have to adjust to the cold up here, it’s been a while.” She notices some tracks to her left and immediately moves towards them and crouches down to examine them. Not even remotely pig-like—too big. “If you must know I have to catch a frost boar.” She says this with such nonchalance you would think she was going to go pick flowers.
Krice turned to follow Talyara, moving at a relaxed pace now that they were at least talking about the situation. He didn't let her get too far ahead, remaining no more than a metre outside her reach at any given time. When she stooped to check tracks, he moved to look at them past her chestnut curls, scrutinizing them as well. Her revelation drew his focus back to hers sharply and he muttered a baffled, "A -frost- boar? Why?"
Talyara looks up at Krice from her crouched position and nips at her bottom lip. “I’d...rather not say.” Taly straightens and continues along her path deeper into the woods with Krice acting as her shadow. They had agreed not to lie to one another but not giving an answer wasn’t the same as giving a false one. Taly examines her rope again slowly begins to weave another knot.
Krice's gaze drifted to Talyara's mouth. Why did she keep biting her lip? It was irrelevant. He was more curious as to why she was here freezing her witchy ass off in the wilds of Frostmaw. Why she needed to hunt a frost boar. With her answer being an evasive one, he pressed his own lips together in minute frustration and held his silence, quietly observing their surroundings whilst the witch busied herself with that rope snare.
Talyara continues to walk and fiddle with her rope. Had she been privy to Krice’s thoughts she would be able to tell him that biting her lip was just a nervous and unconscious tick of hers. She contemplates her thoughts for a moment before giving the warrior a sidelong glance. “So hypothetically, have you seen a wild frost boar around these parts?”
Krice pressed onward, moving at intermittent angles behind Talyara to ensure that he could see - and hear - everything within a certain distance around their perimeter. He answered her query with a simple, "No - but I don't go looking for them, either." In other words, he hadn't -tried- to see one. Squinting as a thought came to mind, he redirected his gaze to the witch's face and asked, "Is this some kind of initiation? You joining the Ranger's Guild?"
Talyara purses her lips together but doesn’t say anything. His lack of information on wild boars doesn’t help her task at hand but she doesn’t fault him for it. When he questions whether this is an initiation she winces. She couldn’t imagine he would be too pleased to know the truth. “...not the Ranger’s guild.”
Krice frowned, confused. He didn't know much about the various guilds because it had never been an interest for him - and he had never needed to know. But he -did- know enough to realize that the Ranger's Guild had initiations similar to this - hunting animals, or learning to track, or other things along those lines. What other guild would follow those patterns? "Fine," he mumbled. "Keep your secrets. Just be careful."
Talyara nods her head at Krice’s response, assuming that he is going to be leaving her side now. “I will,” she assures him. “You, too. Do you want your robes back?” The witch asks the enigma, halting her steps and finally turning to face the warrior.
Krice halted as well, standing alongside Talyara and regarding her with a quizzical expression on his face. Did he want his robes back... "Are you out of the snow?" No, of course she wasn't; therefore, he didn't want his robes back. He nodded to the path ahead - wherever that went - and said, "Let's get this over with before you freeze."
Talyara blinks slowly at Krice when he nods to the path ahead. Oh he was going to remain as her shadow. This was going to be embarrassing. Even worse than when he relayed Lanara’s message about the oranges. Sighing she continues to walk silently, her tapered ears listening for anything that could resemble an animal. The witch decides to stay focused on the task at hand so she doesn’t worry about how dangerous of a mission this is. After a while of silence she mumbles to Krice, “I’m just going over there for a minute to try and use my magic to track them.” She moves away from the warrior and closes her eyes, a small chant coming to her lips in an old tongue that was neither common nor sylvan. She stays like that for a full minute until her head snaps to the left. “They’re this way.”
Krice slowed to a halt when Talyara mentioned using magic, and there he stayed, respecting -her- respect of his weakness to the stuff; allowing her to gain the distance required to safely use an incantation to locate the boars. He knew next to nothing about those animals, despite his many years wandering Frostmaw's wilds. When Talyara located the animals in question, he nodded and moved in that direction, his steps soundless despite the subtle crunch of snow underfoot; how such a tall, solid man moved so lightly was a mystery. He slowed and waited for the witch to take point, his own sensitive ears and eyes attuned to their surroundings. He wouldn't interfere with her hunt unless he had no choice.
Talyara nods and follows Krice’s trajectory to the left and continues in a north west direction. They walk about fifteen minutes before they hear some type of movement up ahead. There is a dense clearing where the snow is barely deep and three wild boars nose around on the ground grunting and searching for something to eat. Taly creeps as close as she dares and takes shelter behind a tree before shifting her gaze to the warrior. She had no idea what the hell she was doing.
Krice wasn't dressed in attire for hunting; his clothes were comfortable, but he was wearing -black- in a world of complete whiteness. Easy to spot. Before Talyara noticed the boars, he could hear them and see dark shadows up ahead, indicating the presence of creatures. Once close enough, he descended into a crouch and moved carefully toward that tree, not to protect himself but to keep the witch safe - and to help her by -not- alerting the boars. He was in front of her, the woman between his crouched figure and the tree, and he peered around them both to watch the animals in their obliviousness. Poor things. Actually, poor Talyara. With his voice low, he stood and neared the woman, standing but a breath away from her to utter words that the boars would not hear. "They're big. And they'll probably stand and fight instead of run away. Are you sure you want to do this?"
Talyara peeks around the tree to look at the boars again and gulps. They were huge and their tusks looked very sharp and just eager to run through a little witch who had no business hunting them. “I absolutely do not want to do this,” she whispers back turning to look at Krice once more. “But I have to.” Now came the hard part...executing a plan to catch one of these beasts in the first place. The idea of a snare that could entangle their legs wasn’t a bad idea but trying to set it was going to be problematic. She could try and shoot one, but she didn’t have the best aim and she didn’t want to anger them. What to do?
Krice was deadset - and hopefully not soon to be dead, as a result - against helping Talyara. This was -her- mission, and since she insisted that she wasn't a damsel, he had to at least let her -try- to do it. His gaze scanned the boars when she looked at them, but crimson met emerald once more with her attention returning to him. She didn't want to hunt these animals, and that was her first enemy. A lack of desire. "You don't have to," he said quietly, shaking his head.
“Yes I do,” she tells Krice with a bit of a frown. And then without meaning to adds, “Lana told me I had to.” Taly turns from the warrior and looks up at the tree she was stationed behind. Perhaps a bit of height would give her a better perspective? But this one didn’t have any low branches to grab on to. There was a tree about a quarter of the way around the clearing that would do. Taly immediately leans down and unties the robes around her knees before tugging them over her head and handing them to Krice. “I need to be able to climb,” she says and darts off to the other tree before he can protest.
Krice frowned. 'Lana' told her to? She was hunting these animals because her sister said? He knew that resurrected witch was weird, but this was just dangerous. Who puts their own family members in danger? He was in the midst of these musings when Talyara bent to untie the robes. But then she'd be cold! Good god, this woman... He took his bundled robes and parted his lips to protest, but then Talyara was rushing out from behind their tree to approach another. He didn't insist, reluctant to make any extra sounds that would draw the attention of the boars. He stared after the witch with an expression of irritable incredulity, but from this tree he waited and watched, scanning the expanse from Talyara to boars and everything in-between.
Talyara quickly ties the rope around her waist once more as she begins to shimmy up the trunk of her chosen tree. Carefully, she extends her leg and hooks it around the first low branch and pulls herself up. She was shivering again but she continued her ascent up the branches. She didn’t go too high, stopping at around ten feet above the ground. She straddles the branch and gently scoots herself closer to the edge, leaning over slightly to get a better look.
Krice continued to watch from afar, letting go of the various things about this trip that frustrated him in favour of remaining focused on the issue at hand: killing a boar. Perhaps she would think to separate one from the rest? He could only hope. His eyes perused her figure as she ascended the tree and then maneuvered across a branch, following the curve of her shoulders to her hips, to the length of her legs and then to her hands. She moved gracefully, but looking pretty wasn't going to earn her points in her Sister's Book of Crazy.
Talyara had spent much of her childhood scaling trees and hiding in the woods. She didn’t do it much now but her muscles seemed to remember what to do. The witch is thinking along the same lines as Krice; dealing with one would be a whole lot easier than a group of them. She contemplated shooting an arrow in the middle of them, hoping to cause them to scatter but she wasn’t sure if that would be successful. What if they ran in the same direction? Taly’s hands reach forward and she scoots a bit further out when suddenly a loud crack echoes around the clearing and her branch vibrates. Taly’s eyes go wide as the boars all pick up their heads at the sudden noise. Oh no that sounded like...crack. The branch Taly is perched on snaps and with a scream down goes the witch with it. Thankfully the snow cushions her fall somewhat although that doesn’t stop the wind being knocked out of her when she collides the ground. A moment—that’s all she’s granted as the boars are momentarily stunned. She doesn’t wait for them to respond, instead forcing herself to stand, yelping in pain as she puts pressure on her leg, but pushing through it the best she can to half wobble, half run away as fast as she can as the beasts take chase after her.
Krice diverted his gaze from Talyara's figure to the boars below, and then back up to the witch as her final scoot closer to the edge of the branch gave it an unnatural bend that foretold of trouble to come. Well sh--. Whilst he was fast enough to rush in, scale the tree, and snatch the witch before that branch could break, he couldn't do it as silently as he'd need to. Either way, the boars would be alerted. Even in the time it took him to contemplate this, the window of opportunity for a rescue had closed. Now he had to wait for the branch to snap. Only seconds later, it gave under the angle of Talyara's weight and she plummeted to the ground. He was -so- glad that he listened to his instincts to come with her. Not waiting for the boars to react, he rushed forward at speeds that seemed to steal the sight of him away, a blur of black and silver and kicked-up snow crossing the distance in a moment Just as the boars realized what was happening, Krice halted into view at Talyara's back as she turned to run away, a spray of snow displaced from underfoot by his sudden stop. Brandishing a dagger recently procured from its sheath beneath his shirt, the warrior rushed at the boars and turned for the nearest one first, narrowly avoiding its head-tossed tusks to drive the blade through its cheek, piercing the right eyeball and brain beyond. The creature died almost instantly and collapsed into its own path via the force of momentum, taking the warrior with it. He held fast to his dagger and landed on his right side hard, but snow and a robust body ensured that he was not injured. Now onto the other two.
Talyara doesn’t make it very far as pain radiates from her ankle up to her hip, her wheezing breath still labored from the hard fall and she leans against the trunk of a nearby tree. The witch squints her eyes shut waiting for the inevitable death that awaited her. Krice was right she shouldn’t have done this and she vowed to haunt Lana until her dying day for setting her on this ridiculous task. She heard the boars but they weren’t approaching her anymore. Quickly she turns around to see Krice take down one but the others are approaching him and fast. Without thinking Taly pulls her bow from her shoulder and searches in her quiver for an unbroken arrow. When she finds one she whistles loudly, loudly enough to get the other two beasts’ attentions. She couldn’t out run them but she was acting on adrenaline and instinct now as she knocks the arrow into place and aims at the boar who was closest to her. Her arrow not only sticks but hits the boar in the fleshy part of his neck. It wasn’t enough to kill him right away but it would cause him to eventually asphyxiate on his own blood. It definitely made her look more skilled with a bow than she actually was. As that one stumbles to the ground, gasping for air he can’t get the other one continues to charge at the witch. Taly reaches back for another arrow but alas the remainder are all broken from her fall.
Krice managed to free his dagger, and his pinned arm, from the massive skull of the first fallen boar just as Talyara shot an arrow at the second. He spun to his feet, brandished his weapon in his left hand, and rushed at the third. The witch and her would-be prey were not too far from his location, but he utilized his swift-step to ensure that he got to her side with plenty of time to spare. Reappearing clearly in front of the witch, the wind of his movements brushing her front, he rushed forward to kill the third boar as it loped after the witch. The creature was caught off-guard by his sudden appearance but it recognized the dagger - and could smell the blood - as the thing that had felled its kin. It screeched in a combination of fear and rage and darted away, rounding the warrior to use its giant tusks as skewers - straight for his back. Krice twisted, snow spinning outward from his feet, and thrust a hand around one of the boar's tusks to keep it from successfully puncturing his body. The large beast was strong and weighty, the solid warrior struggling to keep it in place. As the beast reared back, Krice allowed himself to be pulled with it and used the momentum to swing his left arm - and thus the dagger - up toward the creature's chest. Finding a space between its ribs, he sought the perceived location of its heart for a mercifully quick kill.
Talyara gasped as Krice suddenly appeared before her, the speed of his movement rustling her hair and spraying her with snow. She watches in horror as the boar, smartening up to what is going on, loops around in an attempt to impale Krice in the back. Taly tosses her bow to the ground and is quite literally about to throw herself between them (because at this close proximity she didn’t trust using magic with Krice so near). However, her sacrifice is unnecessary as his agile strength causes the warrior to turn and grab the tusk, allowing his other arm to swing out and stab the beast through the ribs thusly piercing its heart. It goes still almost immediately and Taly blinks as the world around them is suddenly quiet. Her breathing is still labored and the pain in her leg is becoming too much so the witch begins to sink to the ground. All the fight had gone out of her.
Krice kept hold of the tusk as the creature died upright, so that he could maneuver it away from his body as it slumped to the snow. Only a small grunt parted the warrior's lips from the effort required to handle the hulking creature, but he managed to drop it to the ground beside him - instead of being crushed beneath it - and released its tusk thereafter, wrenching his dagger free of its chest. After wiping the blade across the beast's fur, dipping it in snow, and then wiping it again, he sheathed the weapon and stood, looking for all intents and purposes like he had simply opened a letter, not cut down two of three wild boars. As the weapon slotted into place at his back, the warrior turned to see his friend slump to the ground and he held out a hand in a gesture of, "Wait." Krice walked briskly toward the tree behind which his cloak had been discarded, and although it was a little bit damp on its outside layer, enough of the fabric was dry to wrap around Talyara and protect her from the cold - which he did. Once the fabric was pulled closed in front of the witch, he cast his gaze down to her leg.
Talyara only looks up at Krice when he gives that gesture and doesn’t say anything when he returns with the robes and wraps them around her to keep the little witch warm. Her body trembles slightly but she didn’t think it had anything to do with the cold, although that was troublesome, too. There was a sharp pain in her side with each breath she took and her green eyes followed Krice’s own as they skirted down her injured leg. “I’m sorry,” comes her quiet voice, hoarse, before she quickly looks away again. Shame and guilt plagued the witch more than any damage from her fall.
Krice leaned over Talyara with his right hand in the snow for balance and his left one hovering over her injured leg. He sighed quietly, not from frustration but sadness for her suffering. If only she had listened. In the wake of her apology, crimson eyes lifted to emerald and he noted the shame in her expression, but he said nothing of it. He reached out for her bow, slung the tight string across his chest to position the weapon against his back, and then reached out to gently curl his arms around her - left one under her legs, right one around her back. "Come on. I'll come back for proof of the kill once you're somewhere warm, alright?"
Talyara watches curiously as Krice slings her bow over his back and then as he approaches her. She doesn’t even protest as his arms curl around her back and under her legs respectfully. “I, um, need the whole boar,” she confesses with a wince. “Lana needs it for her pig roast. I’ll pay someone to come back for it.” She’s afraid to look at the warrior’s face at that little revelation. Her figure may have softened in her time away but the warrior should have no problem carrying her. The witch cannot help but snuggle close to Krice, relishing in his warmth. “I promise you won’t have to see me for a long time after this.”
Krice held Talyara in such a way as to keep the robes around her, to keep her warm. As he stood, he was careful not jostle his injured friend, though her revelation made him pause. The -whole- boar? Wow she was grossly underprepared. When Talyara snuggled into the warmth of his body, he lifted his chin slightly perhaps to accommodate her, and set about the trek back into town. His gait was smooth, fluid, one might even say 'comfortable'. "I can come back for it," he murmured, ignoring her sadder comment thereafter. "Gives me something to do, anyway."
Talyara fell silent after that, only nodding her head when Krice said he would go back for the boar himself. She wasn’t about to argue with him after he saved her, shadowing her when she tried to push him away. While Taly is a woman who has conquered many of her demons, an anxious mind is still one she struggles with from time to time. Krice’s lack of comment of her promising not to see him is internalized as ‘he doesn’t want to see her’ and truth be told she couldn’t blame him. So for now she just remains as still and silent as she can, not wanting to cause the warrior any more trouble.
Krice may or may not have felt a need to clear up Talyara's misinterpretation of his want for solitude. It was irrelevant now. What was important was getting her back to civilisation, back to a warm place where professionals could bind her leg and check for other injuries. He was quiet for most of the trip, but as they neared the centre of town where people milled about in their daily routines, he gently asked of his friend, "You doing alright?"
Talyara doesn’t dare interrupt the silence and only once Krice inquired as to her well being does she give a small nod. “I’m fine.” People give the pair a curious look and she lifts her head slightly. “You could probably put me down. I’m sure I could walk the rest of the way.” She didn’t even know where the warrior was intending on taking her.
Krice didn't care about the looks they got. He was forever helping people so for all he knew, that could have just been acknowledging his good deeds. Whatever the case, he slowed to a halt on the main road as soon as they reached a junction; to the south, a clinic often filled with healers helping all kinds of people with all kinds of injuries. Per her suggestion, the warrior tilted his body to ease Talyara onto her feet, his left arm low but his right one remaining around her body in case she couldn't support her own weight. "I was just taking you to the healer tent, a bit further south." If she wanted to walk the rest of the way, well, that was it.
Talyara gently grips onto Krice as he lowers her to the ground wincing as she tries to put weight on her leg. The witch sees stars but she presses her lips together and doesn’t cry out. She turns her face towards the healers tent, she had been there before, visited Lana there. Furious thoughts swirl around her head as she thinks of her sister setting her on this dangerous task. If she did this to her own sister, what had she made the others do?! The ones who held titles especially! “Thank you,” she says looking up at the warrior and releasing her hold on him. It seemed like such an insignificant thing to say to him after all he had done, but what else could she do?
Krice didn't release Talyara because he knew that her leg had been significantly injured. With the woman fighting him at every turn, he held his tongue and simply walked along with her at whatever pace she managed to keep, his right arm rigid and supportive around her back. Once they arrived at the healer tent, he took her cues and reluctantly released her, knowing that at least there were medical professionals just on the other side of the walls. "Go slow," he said. "And don't worry about the boar. I'll deliver it to your sister." Her crazy sister.
Talyara tried to keep up her bravado in light of all her failings this afternoon. But she whimpered as she walked slowly into the tent, easing herself down into a vacant cot that a healer pointed her to. When Krice mentions delivering the boar to her sister, the corner of her mouth twitches in a half smile. “I can pay you,” she assures him. “And it has to be the one I killed, otherwise she won’t let me in the guild.”
Krice watched Talyara with reserved concern as she hobbled over to a cot. Why she insisted on walking on a very damaged leg, he'd never understand. She knew it was no trouble for him to carry her, even with his own residual injuries. And her weight was so slight she couldn't ever be a burden. He almost completely missed her offer of payment, due to these wandering thoughts. "Of course, the one you killed." The one with the arrow damage. "I'll accept no payment from you." One glance at the healer reassured her that he didn't need any assistance. The warrior returned his focus to Talyara briefly. "Rest that foot. I'll let you know once delivery is made. "
Talyara would give her head a small nod at Krice’s decline of payment but if he would allow it she’s reach out her hand, still cold, to take his own. She catches his gaze then, more genuinely she had since the boars attacked. “Hey, thanks for always being there to save me...even when I say I don’t want it. I’m...glad you stayed with me.”
Krice's fingers flexed under Talyara's touch, but he didn't shirk it; her fingers were cool, contrasting to the warmth of his own. She was able to maintain the contact through her clearly genuine expression of gratitude, at which point he said, "I don't tell you things just to annoy you." He had warned her of the danger for the simple fact that it -was- dangerous. He turned his hand out from under her touch as he ventured out of the tent, offering her a final, "Take it easy. No more adventures out west."
Talyara knew Krice didn’t tell her these things to be annoying or difficult. However, she hated feeling like she was incapable of taking care of herself. So any semblance of becoming the “damsel” ticked her stubbornness up a level. Still, it was no excuse for poor judgement and she had to swallow the guilt of putting someone she cared about in a dangerous situation. She doesn’t reach for a Krice when he pulls away nor does she say anything more as the healer bustles over to the witch’s side, clicking her tongue disapprovingly, as she assessed the witch’s injuries.
Krice turned away and exited silently, his presence all at once gone from the area. Now to collect a boar.