Heading Home [dead]

[EternallyAlone]

On the winds of heaven
I will take flight
and be free

Aros stumbled and staggered as he made his way to an Inn in the town of Isus. He was drunk currently, having been at a bar, celibrating his latest competed job. He wasn't going to say what kind of job it was. That was between him and the client some where in Isus.

Aros strolled drunkenly into the Inn, smiling smoothly at the woman behind the desk. "Hello, Mi'dear, you gots any rooms avalable?" he asked as he kept his eyes trained on hers. She looked as though she was shocked to see a man talking to her, though, that must have been for the fact that she was dozing at the desk, late at night she must not have expected any business to saunter through the door. "Oh! Um, yes, I believe we have one room left for the evening," she tumbled over her words once she found them in her throat. Turning, the woman knelt on the ground to locate the room key on a key rack located in a place that seemed painfully ahrd to get at, obviouly trying todiscurage others to try and take a key on their own.

"Here it is, number seven, just up the stairs and you'll find the door on that hall," She spoke cheerfully, gaining a smile from Aros who then took the stais two at a time, the exertion sobering him up a little and helping to get rid of a little of his energy.

Aros entered te room, it wasn't exquisit but it would do for the night. The room had light red curtins, and a matching carpet and then the bed set was a dark red, clashing nicely with the rest of the color in the room. he ploped down on the bed, the saggign feel of the bed suggested that it was used at least every other night by a drunken and overy weight man. "This goi-" Aros never finished his sentance becasue he heard a loud noise from outside, sounding vuagely like either glash shaddering or like a big bong being struck.

[Willow]

‘Is a quiet night really too much to ask for?’ Willow wondered as she stared at the slumped, drunken heap in front of her.

She sighed, then grabbed the man under the arms and started to drag him out of her doorway, the neck of the broken bottle of alcohol still clutched in his hand. The other half of said bottle was decorating the carpet of Willow’s room, where she’d smashed it over its owners head to stop him trying to get into ‘his’ room. The poor sod couldn’t understand why there was a girl standing in the way, telling him he had the wrong room. Understandably, to his mind, trying to push his way inside to find some proof that this was the room he’d vacated four hours earlier was perfectly acceptable behaviour. To everyone who hadn’t spent the evening throwing back ale, it was not. Hence Willow deeming it necessary to knock the guy out with his own drink.

Once the drunk was a safe distance from her door and was too far away for his snores to disturb her, Willow dropped him outside number twelve and headed back to her room, number nine, dropping onto the bed on her back with a sigh, one leg hanging limp off the edge of the old mattress, the door left ajar.
She’d just finished a job; a whole day spent trailing one guy from one end of town to the other. Whilst her target had a horse to ride on, Willow had to move on foot, and an entire day of running and dodging was enough to wear even her out.

She’d showered and had just been considering going straight to bed when the sound of a key being forced into the wrong lock had brought her to the door, and the drunken man. Dealing with him had dragged her from the relaxed mood she’d been in, and now she wasn’t sure she’d be able to just go to sleep.

Willow grumbled under her breath, unintelligible curses directed at the snoring lump in the hall.
Sighing again, she swung herself up and headed for the door, snagging her key as she passed and heading into the hall, closing her door behind her and meandering down the hall in the opposite direction to where she’d deposited her unexpected visitor, the passing numbers like a count down.

[EternallyAlone]

On the winds of heaven
I will take fight
and be free

[/right][/i]

Aros stood when he heard a ma snoring in the hall. The blond man stood and walked out, looking at the back of the woman whom had left the drunken fool there. Aros shook his head slightly and walked after her. "Miss, I have a question to ask," he said once he was about four steps behind her, watching her with a mild look of intent on his face.

Aros planned to wait before he asked, becasue that was at least something gentlemanly he could do. Carefully stepping up next to he took a goot look at her face, though she was extreamly exhausted looking she seemed to be determined to get whre she was going this made him think that, perhaps, he should accompany, so no more drunken fools, tried to do anything to her or something of the sort.

"Miss, if you'd take just a moment, I'd like to ask a few things of you, he said as he looked at her, not really paying attention to the table along the wall that was fast approching him. As well as the vase that sat atop is, black, painted with roses and a few falling petals with small, withered lillies inside of it.

[Willow]

At first, Willow didn’t register the man’s words, or rather, didn’t realise they were aimed at her. When he fell into step, however, she glanced up at him, a tired, slightly apologetic expression on her face.
She waited until he’d spoken a second time so she knew what she was being asked, then nodded, showing she was willing to talk, though what could be an amused expression appeared on her face at the title ‘Miss’. Usually if someone wanted to get her attention, it was a variation of ‘hey, you’ or an expletive if she’d recently insulted and/or punched said someone.

“What would you like to know?” She asked in return, flicking her eyes back to face forwards so she didn’t walk into anything, though the angle of her head and the odd glance back to the polite man’s face showed she was still listening.

As a result of her alertness, she noted the table and vase, and moved a little closer to the wall to give both of them room to avoid it. When the stranger made no move to do so, Willow waited until they were only three or four steps away to ensure he actually wasn’t going to alter his course, then lightly took his arm and steered him clear of the delicate vase. No doubt he wouldn’t want to pay the inn keeper for the damage.

“You were saying?” Willow prompted, as if nothing had happened as she released his arm and fell back into step with him, though a small grin tweaked the corners of her mouth. She’d been intending to find a suitably secluded spot to train or run – an activity to wear her out to rid herself of the restlessness the encounter with the drunk had given her. But conversing, whilst not physically taxing, could serve to relax her. Provided there were no more tables to avoid.

[EternallyAlone]

On the winds of heaven
I will take flight
and be free

[/size][/right]

Aros blinked slightly as he was pulled from the table rught before colliding. He nodding his thanks to her before hasitly saying, "First, what happened with that man that I heard you drag through the hall?" Aros watched her, flicking his gaze infronto of him every now and again so that he wouldn't hit anything else.

The man watched her as they walked, seeing the exhaustion on her face he began to get worried, which happened little, but it did happen. "And, if this isn't getting too personal or straight forward, would you mind of I came with you where ever you're going, you look absolutly exhuasted." The blond man moved one hand, making sure his pistol was on his thigh and his knives in their sheaths on his lower back.

[Willow]

Willow just grinned at him briefly about the table incident, then answered his question.
“The guy tried to get into my room with his own key – he thought it was his room, and was rather confused as to why I was in it, and why I was denying him access to the room he paid ‘good money’ for. He tried to barge in, so I hit him over the head with his own cheap wine bottle. Knocked him out, though I broke the bottle, so I’m gonna have to explain the stain later...” She said, frowning slightly. If anyone thought she was going to pay for it, they had a surprise coming. The idiot who’d gotten himself so hammered he couldn’t tell room nine from whatever room his was could cough up the cash for that.

As she walked, the nagging ache in Willow’s legs begged for rest, but her mind was wide awake and unwilling to attempt sleep. In this state of mind, she would lie awake for hours anyway.
She snapped out of her bad-tempered mental assessment as her unexpected companion spoke again.

“I wouldn’t mind,” She replied, slightly surprised. “I’m only going to train or run – the drunk has put me on edge – I’m tired, but I’ve got a lot of excess energy I need to get rid of before I can relax and sleep,” She explained, shrugging. She too had a few daggers hidden in her boots and strapped to her thighs, though her untucked loose shirt covered the small blades that pressed against her leg through her trousers. She hadn’t thought to bring her swords with her when she left the room, but she could do with knife practice rather than sword practice any day.

“Feel free to join me, or just watch, whatever you want. I’m Willow, by the way,” She added as an afterthought, realising she neither knew the stranger’s name nor had given her own.

[EternallyAlone]

On the winds of heaven
I will talke flight
and be free

[/right]

Aros looked at her for a moment before he blinked and shoved out his hand to shake hers. "My name's Aros. Aros Dinistiro," He said the words hasitly, feeling afool for not having said before. The man watched her for a few moments longer before he spoke agian, this time addressing her priveious words, "I wouldn't mind training with you, I usually don't practce with another person, so it'd be nice to get the chance to do so." Aros gave a small smile, then looked around, once they had gotten to the desk in the lobby he niticed that the woman who had given him the room key was out cooled, she looked like a little kid, sleeping on the floor behind her chair as she was.

Aros then looked at the other woman looking her over with spared glances, just to take in her apperence again, not to be perverted. The man then looked infront of them, moving a bit slower now, to allow her to lead him as they neared the door leading out of the Inn.

[Willow]

Willow grasped his hand in her smaller one, her calloused grip firm but not crushing.
“Pleased to meet you,” She grinned over their hands, before letting go to address his answer. “Excellent. Don’t think me rude, but I won’t be holding back just because you’re not used to training with someone else,” She said, her sense of fun still present despite her weariness. “I’ll restrain myself when it comes to serious wounds though. Cuts and bruises will be all you’ll get from me, if I can land them,” She added, the last an afterthought. Willow was pretty confident she’d be able to land her attacks – especially as she could smell alcohol on him, though he acted perfectly sober – but she didn’t want Aros to think she was haughty.

Willow shook her head as they reached the apparently empty desk, looking over it at the sleeping woman.
“Bad security,” She muttered, but left the clerk alone as they headed out the door.
The brisk night wind did its part to wake her up as it whisked her already tousled hair into damp, dark threads, dark brown turned to black by the water that still clung to the strands and the lack of decent light in the street.

“Well, seeing as I don’t want to get arrested, and I doubt you do, we’re best heading to the bay to spar – you don’t get many of the authorities down there at this time of night,” Willow decided, though she looked to Aros for any objections.

[EternallyAlone]

On the winds of heaven
I will take fight
and be free

[/i][/size]

Aros nodded as he watched her, loving the feel of cool air on his skin. The man muttered something under his breath and smirked at her as he replied to her comment about landing hits and not going easy and the like, "I hope you don't, Willow, I'd much perfer to be up against a stronger opponent, if at all possable. I love learning how to better myself. And I have no doubt you'll land a few hits here and there." Aros gave an almost girlish giggle as he walked by the woman, thinking about how the night might unravel as they made their way to the bay she had spoken of.

"I don't mind going to the bay. I'd rather be around the water, personally, I feel a bit more at home around it." The blonde man said as they walked, his eyes straying to the buildings around them, dark and sleeping as the man and woman walked through the streets at the late hour. Some would think them a couple, if they saw them. Or think that one had bought the other for a night of pleasure. But, no, they were just out for a little fighting practice.

Aros walked in silence for a time, idly flicking his gaze here, there, and a little of every where else as he took in the sights that he wasn't sure he had seem as he stumbled to the Inn or not. That was before he had sobered up from the crashing and banging that had occured a few fiveteen minutes ago.

[Willow]

Willow barked out a short laugh, starting to psyche herself up for a fight, be it practice or not. “Good. You’ll forgive me for being a tad vicious then; the people who taught me didn’t like to hold back either. I had to go all-out to just stay on my feet, until I was strong enough to block without my arms giving way,” She grinned at the old memory, the months where she was nothing but a giant bruise. Still, the frustration and effort had paid off – Willow was now confidant in her ability, though she tended to wear her usual over-confidant bravado like a mask. It made people underestimate her, sometimes – then she’d drop the facade and win the fight before her opponents realised her cockiness had been a scabbard to her blade of calculated assurance she could win.

The wall separating the city from the bay broke momentarily to form sturdy stone steps down to the sand, lit braziers on either side of the stairway.
Willow turned down them, the flames light glinting amber on her hair as she passed, casting shadows across her pale face as they left the light of the town behind and relied instead upon simple moon and starlight.

Once they were halfway between the wall and the waves, Willow stopped and turned to face Aros, her grin wide below slim green irises ringing black pupils.
“Well, this should be far away enough that we won’t be attracting the authorities’ attention. Suit you?” She asked, even as she drew one of her larger daggers and fell easily into a fighting stance, rooting her feet in the sand and mentally running through the effects the terrain would have on their fight, and how to counteract them.

[EternallyAlone]

On the winds of heaven
I will fly
And be free

Aros grinned as he followed her. He nodded his head once he touched the sand, quickly slipping his shoes off and placing him on the botom step. The blonde man walked a few paces out infront of her, digging his bare feet into the sand lightly, a large smirk on his face as he glanced arounf them, loving the beach and the sand and the moonlight and such.

Aros rocked back in his heels to gain his relaxed, arms at his sides fighting stance, his feet spread to keep his balance easy and his head cocked to the side, so hie hair wasn't in his eyes. "Ladies first," He said this with a light undertone of glee, though his face and over all tone gave way to only, well, nothing, a light mask to hide thoughts on his part.

On the outside, Aros seemed to be totally unarmed, and nothing could have been hidden in his shoes, because they were not around. This would have left many people thinking they had a large advantage over him, but that was dead wrong. Aros waited paciently for her first move, eyes seeming to flick to the places around her.

[Willow]

Willow grinned and bowed briefly at the offer, then straightened into her previous stance for a moment as she took in his appearance.
‘He’s hiding something,’ She summarised immediately. ‘Either that or he’s far too confident. No defensive or offensive stance, no apparent weapons, and his smirk before he’d settled into his position...all to throw off his opponents, Willow guessed. Hell, she used the same technique, though unintentionally. No one believed a slender teenager would be able to throw a fully grown man with relative ease until they’d either seen her do it or were on the ground wondering what the hell jus happened. The unintentionally misleading appearance was only enhanced when she was out of her battle gear, in normal clothes such as these.

Still, there was only one way to find out what he was hiding, so Willow carried it out.
After her single moment of consideration, she moved forward with surprising speed, covering the distance in two large bounds, swinging her left leg up past its next step into a powerful kick to Aros’ head, her hands held up near her face in a traditional martial artist’s block, even as she lent backwards to deliver the blow. It was only the training imprinted in her brain that kept her balance perfect without thought in the cobra-fast move that would’ve unbalanced many others.

Even as she executed the kick, she was thinking of how he could respond and how to counteract his reaction, or whether she should take the hit if that was what he chose to do in order to attack again in close proximity, where she could do more damage.
Her night-blackened hair almost swept the sand as it trailed behind her, the unusually smooth surface casting the moonlight back at the sky. No doubt it would be wind-tangled once again by the end of the spar, and probably covered in sand to boot. It had suffered far worse; unexpected cuts in the middle of a fight, blood, and who knows what other manner of substances better not thought about.

[EternallyAlone]

On the winds of heaven
I will fly
and be free

Aros watched the movment, bending back just as her kick might have broken someone else's nose. The blonde man flipped back, where his feet had been dug intothe sand the sand went skyward, making a sort of smoke screen of itself. Also, as he landed on his hands to moved back into a standing position, throwing yet more sand into the air.

This lasted for little time, so the man acted fast and went around her, standing five yards to her left, standing in the waterup to his ankles.

Aros gave a smirk as a few thoguhts passed through his head, he couldn't do the same with the water, that'd be to obvious, his next move would need to be an attack, or a way to get the knife from her to fine hand to hand, with less chance of seirious injury. Aros watched that knife in her hand, even as she had lifted her leg to attempt the kick, he had already nearly lost his hand in a fight where his opponent had a knife and he had nothing.

The man watched her, his eyes norrwoed to focus on her, his arms positioned behind his back, one pressed to the hilt of the concealed dagger there, he wasn't going to take chances. If he could not disarm her, then he'd arm himself, that was his plan as of the moment.

[Willow]

Willow narrowed her eyes, wondering why he wasn’t attacking back. Though the sand had made her close her eyes to avoid getting the tiny, blinding grains in them, her hearing worked as well as ever so she had turned to face him, eyes only opening when she was sure the sand had fallen.
Again she was struck by his odd stance.
‘Who the hell fights with their arms behind their back?’ She wondered, slightly peeved at the idea he was underestimating her so much as to carry out the old challenge of ‘fighting with one hand tied behind my back’.

But no, her kick had come too close – anyone who had been doubting her ability would have been made a little more wary after that.
So why the funny stance?
‘Hiding something again – a weapon perhaps? It would explain his odd behaviour, anyway,’ Willow theorised.
If that was the case, she wanted this weapon to be out in the open. Nothing for it but to coax him onto the defensive then.
Well, ‘coax’ was a gentler term that the action would imply.

Willow sprang forward again, this time bringing her dagger into play as she covered the five yards in two powerful bounds and lashing out at Aros’ shoulder. It wasn’t a particularly strong attack, and wouldn’t bite deeply if it hit – it was even easy to parry, if he had a hidden weapon on his person. The only purpose of the move was to try and silently goad Aros into fighting back, and to attempt to discern if he was hiding a blade somewhere on him.

[EternallyAlone]

On the winds of heaven
I will fly
and be free

Aros grinned as he watched her, she allowed the knife to touch his arm before he stoeed right and twisted, spinning his whole body once, he landed his right palm to her back, between her shoulder blades, puching forward and doubt it, but attempting to knock her off balance all the same. 'The lass is rather good, if I might admit that to myself.' Aros thought to himself as a grin again grew on his lips.

The blonde walked back into the sand, his wet feet getting clvered in sand as he walked, this helped to mask his steps by a fraction or what it was. he lifted his arms, finally, in a sort of fighting postion, having yet to withdraw his dagger form its place concealed in his pants. He had yet to make his move on her knife.

"Hey! You havin' any fun yet? I know I am!" He asked as he stood there, diciding to have a little conversation as they fought, made it feel more like practice then if he were to be on a job, and he knew he'd be rejecting those for a while if he was able to do this more often, he hoped that he'd beable to stay in touch with her. This was deathly fun.