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Fable : Fall of the Guild	By : Samson Category: +A through F > Fable Views: 8222 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Nasty Little Savages.
Fable : Fall of the Guild

Part III - "Lychfield"

By: Jesse Racine AKA Samson

Original Date Written: June 18, 2011

Darrah led Timoteo and Bianca to the local blacksmith. "Stay outside, I'm probably the best trader out of us three." She said. Timoteo nodded, Bianca not reacting. Darrah walked into the blacksmith's, returning a minute later. "The rest of the stuff, too." She said, explaining her return. First, she took Timoteo's carried loot, heading back into the blacksmith's with it. Returning a minute later, she took Bianca's spoils of battle, heading back into the blacksmith with it all, as well. As the two remained outside of the blacksmith's, Bianca looked to Timoteo's eyes. She smiled gently, saying "Timoteo...Tonight, before we sleep...Would you like to kiss some more?..." As she said the word "kiss", a slight tint of pink entered her cheeks. Timoteo smiled a little, a bit of blush rising in his face, as well. "Okay..." He said lightly. Bianca smiled a little more, glancing off to the side, almost shyly. A minute later, Darrah returned, a big sack of gold in her hands and an equally impressive grin on her face.
"We're rich! With everything sold, we got twenty-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-four gold!" Timoteo's eyes went so wide that you'd think they'd be close to popping out of his skull. "Holy shit. Does that include the money we've already got?" He asked. Darrah shook her head, shutting her eyes tight with a big grin on her face. She hugged the large sack of gold to her chest for a moment before saying "No, it doesn't! Oh, I can understand why pirates always bury their treasure in old tales! Look at the size of this bag, it's going to be annoying to carry it around!" Timoteo grinned and raised an eyebrow, saying "We should spend some of it, then. Lighten that bag, a bit." Darrah's eyes flashed slightly, widening a little, as if realization of something had just come to her. "Yes, you're right! Oh, I've got something perfect in mind! Be right back!" Still carrying the sack of gold, she rushed back into the blacksmith's. Timoteo and Bianca waited for another minute or two before Darrah returned.
When she returned, the sack looked like a shadow of it's former glory. It had decreased in size exponentially, until it looked like it barely held a few handfuls of gold. Timoteo and Bianca both reacted in the same way, their eyes going a little wide, Bianca's brow furrowing slightly. "Where'd all the gold go?!" Timoteo said in shock. Darrah grinned. "I commissioned the blacksmith to make me a few things. Don't worry, there's still...Mmm...A couple hundred gold? Enough for us to add to our stash and still keep it reasonably light." Darrah walked around Timoteo, her armour clinking softly. She opened his pack, pushing the sack of what was left of the gold within his pack. "You didn't even buy a shield?" He asked. Darrah walked around him, smiling, raising her eyebrows. "Oh, I did. It just won't be finished for a while. It's part of the commission. A full suit of armour, sword and shield included!" Timoteo shook his head, sighing with disappointment.
"For all that gold, it better be worth it. How long will the commission take?" He said in a bit of a mutter. Darrah grinned. "Something like a few weeks? That's what the blacksmith estimated, anyway. And, I wouldn't doubt it. If it's a disappointment, well...I won't be appreciative. And unappreciative Heroes can be troublesome for a shop owner." Timoteo felt a little surprised. Darrah's words sounded almost like a warning or a threat directed to the absent blacksmith. Timoteo didn't reply right away, and a moment later, Darrah said "Right then, let's get a move on back towards Lychfield. But before that, we both need to clean ourselves up, Tim." Timoteo looked down at himself, seeing the large section of blood still freshly damp on the front of his shirt, over his chest and stomach. Looking back to Darrah, he noticed the blood on her clothing as well as on the side of her face. Timoteo nodded, saying "Okay, true enough. Where should we go to clean up?" Darrah smiled lightly, saying "Bowerstone Quay. Free water, there." Timoteo nodded, saying "Let's go, then." Darrah and Timoteo began to walk off, Bianca following after them, the trio heading through Bowerstone South until they entered the quay.
The quay was a series of large docks, all sitting over a small part of a rather large river. A few warehouses sat around the quay, each warehouse either looking important with many guards protecting them from all sides, or abandoned completely, with some having even fallen into varying states of disrepair. The quay was quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of daytime Bowerstone South, with mostly only the water of the nearby river gently sounding out. As the three approached a nearby dock to get some water, Timoteo heard footsteps approaching them from the side, the mage being the first to look over. He saw a young boy, perhaps eleven or twelve, to be approaching them. He was approaching them with his hands over his stomach, the boy's body bent slightly, as if he were terribly hungry. The boy looked quite dirty despite being by the docks, as if the boy had no interest in washing. His dark brown hair was wild and messy, and there were even some blades of grass visible on the top of his head, stuck into his hair.
He had dark circles around his eyes, and the dullness visible in his eyes showed he was weak. His body was thin, the boy seemed to be very lacking in proper weight. He was wearing little more than rags, with a torn shirt and dirt-encrusted pants, no shoes on his feet at all. Bianca noticed the approaching boy shortly after Timoteo, with Darrah noticing a moment later. "P...Please...I'm starving...Do any of you have any...Spare gold?...Food?...Anything?..." Bianca spoke first. Her hood still down, she looked to the boy's eyes in a slightly unnerving gaze. "I'm sorry, I have no gold to spare..." She said softly. Timoteo didn't feel exceptionally inclined to help the boy, and as a fledgling Hero, he understood that he'd need every bit of gold he could scrounge up, just to keep himself comfortably stocked with potions. "Sorry." He said. Darrah nudged him with an elbow, a little firmly. He glanced over to her with an eyebrow raised.
She was giving him an unimpressed look, bordering on annoyed. She walked around him, opening up his pack, reaching within. He heard a few coins jingle as Darrah reached within. A few moments later, he heard her close his pack and begin to walk towards the boy. He turned and looked to her, feeling a little surprised. Darrah, giving away valuable gold to a random beggar? When she spoke, his surprise only grew and grew. "Here, we have some to spare...Get yourself some food, and some new clothes too, hmm?" She held out a small handful of gold coins to the boy, whose eyes lit up excitedly. "Oh, Avo! Finally, I can eat!" He almost shouted. He took the coins from Darrah's hand, surprising her by grabbing her in a hug around her waist, pushing the right side of his face to the middle of her torso, just under her bosom. He seemed not to care that his face was pressing against chainmail, and neither did Darrah, as she simply smiled in reaction to his embrace.
A moment later, the boy released her, smiling happily. He waved and began to rush off, heading towards Bowerstone South. Bianca sounded a little curious as she said "Soft spot for children, Darrah?" Darrah watched as the boy went on his way, putting her hands on her hips. "You could say that. I don't like seeing kids in crappy situations, is all." She said. When Darrah turned around a moment later, Timoteo was looking towards her eyes, a surprised gleam in his eyes, a little smile on his face. "Darrah, I'm surprised. I wasn't expecting you to do something like that." Darrah glanced off to the side, and a sort of embarrassed look came on her face for a moment before she met his eyes once again. "It's...A long story. Has to do with a really old friend, from before the Guild. Let's drop it. We've got to clean up, right?" Darrah said no more, walking past Timoteo and Bianca, heading towards the quay. Her change of subject succeeded in getting Timoteo and Bianca to stop speaking of the subject, but it didn't cause them to forget the good deed Darrah had committed.
The trio walked down to a nearby dock, walking along the wood out over part of the river. Darrah's armour made clunking sounds against the wood, while Bianca's boots made deep tapping sounds, Timoteo's apprentice boots making little sound at all. "One of these days, Tim, we should get you a proper Will-user robe. They're sold at a few places, you know. Neutral Will-users robes are occasionally at the Guild shop, even." Darrah said as the three of them reached the end of the dock. "Neutral robe?" He asked. Darrah nodded. "I think, rarely, Bright Will-user robes are sold, or parts of them. Never Dark robes, though. You've always struck me as neutral, Tim..." Looking over to his face, Darrah took off her pack and began to take off parts of her armour. "Did you ever think about what alignment you'd fall in? What your beliefs would lead you into? You're a Hero, after all. It's a part of our Guild." She asked. Timoteo shook his head, placing his hands against the railing at the end of the dock, looking out over the river.
"No, actually." He said. "I never really thought too much on it. I guess...In the end, I'd be neutral. But who knows what I'll actually do if I'm under pressure. Maybe I'll lean more towards good, nobility. Maybe I'll lean elsewhere. Hard to say." "Admitting a lack of knowledge is more intelligent than most people realize." Bianca said. Darrah narrowed her eyes towards Bianca for a moment before she said "The deeds you commit show themselves in your body. It's a part of being a Hero. You might want to think about that, Timoteo, if you ever feel tempted to do evil." Timoteo and Bianca, both, glanced at Darrah through the corners of their eyes. "How does doing good change how one looks?" He asked. Darrah shook her head slightly, having taken off about three-quarters of her armour, by then. "I don't know how you don't know this, Timoteo. On any given day, there were tons of Heroes all over the Guild, most of them changed by their alignment."
Timoteo shrugged. "Guess I looked after my own business, and never bothered others much on their looks." He said. Darrah glanced towards the nearby river for a moment before saying "Good Heroes typically tend to have blonde hair, but it's almost unnatural, because it almost seems to glow. A good Hero's teeth glow white, they practically sparkle. Their skin gets light and beautiful. Their eyes turn pristine blue, and can even appear to glow at times. That's all I've noticed." Timoteo took off his pack, too, and began to take off his chainmail shirt just as Bianca spoke. "There are some changes only magi experience, Timoteo." "Like what?" He asked, glancing at her for a moment before beginning to pull his armour past his face. Bianca cast her gaze over the nearby river as she said "My parents, as well as Grizelda, all had perfectly green eyes, like emeralds. Almost like how Darrah explained a pure Hero's eyes, the green eyes of powerful Will users almost seemed to have a glow of their own. And there was the Will lines."
Timoteo and Darrah both raised an eyebrow. "Will lines?" Timoteo repeated. Bianca nodded. "A physical manifestation of the immense Will power within someone. Blue lines appear on your skin in arcane patterns and designs. I believe the connection runs back to the days of the Archons in the Old Kingdom, but I cannot be sure." Bianca looked to Timoteo. "If a mage lives for long enough and learns enough, they may begin to develop Will lines. They start as small blue lines along the skin, almost like additional veins. But as they become more clear and pronounced, they begin to glow blue with raw Will energy. Eventually, they can become so defined that they even glow in total darkness. I believe that the head of the Guild before Weaver and the Hero of Oakvale, a man named Maze, had very pronounced Will lines." Darrah, by then totally out of her armour, asked "If that's the case, then why don't you and Timoteo have green eyes or Will lines?"
Darrah's voice turned a little accusing as she said "Or does evil override magical power? Your eyes are red, after all." Bianca didn't react to Darrah's accusing words, but Timoteo glanced at Darrah with a slightly unimpressed look. "Neither of us have green eyes or Will lines because neither Timoteo nor I have reached that level of skill. It takes a lot of power to begin to develop Will lines, and green eyes, I believe, only develop with time. How much time, I do not know." Timoteo seemed confused for a moment as he said "Weaver's a Will-user...But he didn't have any Will lines. He's probably the most powerful mage I've ever personally met. If he doesn't have Will lines, then..." Bianca nodded slightly, continuing his thought. "...It must mean that a lot of power is needed for the marks." She softly said. "We cleaning up, or what?" Darrah said, beginning to head down a nearby set of steps that lead to a smaller dock, closer to the water. Darrah left her armour in a pile on the dominant dock, Timoteo leaving his chainmail shirt in the same place.
The three of them walked down closer to the water, standing on the small rectangular construct of wooden planks seen as the submissive dock, as it was almost right at the surface of the water. Darrah sat down at the edge of the dock with a sigh, but didn't hang her legs over the edge and into the water. Instead, she sat with her legs crossed beneath her. Timoteo sat down beside her with his legs crossed beneath him, like her. Bianca sat down on her knees on Timoteo's other side. As Darrah began to scoop up handfuls of waters, splashing them on her pants and shirt wherever there was blood, Bianca pulled a silver flask out of the inside of her cloak. Timoteo looked to it, intrigued by it. The flask was small and rectangular in shape. Timoteo had seen one or two flasks before; they were typically curved, but the purpose of the curve eluded him. Bianca's, however, was not curved. It wasn't very large, looking like it could fit in her hand easily.
It looked like it could even fit inside a pocket on Timoteo's pants, quite comfortably, too. It appeared to be made of a bright and polished silver. The fastening on the top was, oddly enough, shaped like a skull, the lower jaw attached to complete the skull. The back of the flask was engraved all along with the shapes of varying bones, as well as a humanoid beast in the center which was covered in fur, had a canine-like face, as well as large claws on it's hands and feet. The front side of the flask had bones engraved all along it, like the back, only instead of a furred and clawed beast sitting in the front's center, there sat a strange circular design. The design was made up of the runes of another language, one Timoteo didn't recognize. The runes formed a circle, almost a barrier against the bones engraved everywhere else. Within that circle, there was a short message engraved in the runes that formed the protective circle. Bianca reached up to the skull at the top of the flask, unscrewing it by turning it around a few times.
When the skull was totally unscrewed, it hung down by Bianca's hand by a thick cord, the other end of the cord attached to the body of the flask. Bianca reached over the edge of the dock, dunking her flask under the surface of the water, bubbles rapidly coming from the flask as it filled with water. "That's a beautiful flask." Timoteo said, a small smile on his face. Bianca smiled a little, saying "Thank you. I took it from a trader who tried to cross Darkwood." Darrah hadn't seen the flask, too busy trying to cleanse herself and her clothing of blood, but when Bianca had finished her words, Darrah, in a bit of a snide tone, questioned "Did you kill him for it?" Bianca glanced at Darrah through the corners of her eyes. She was silent for a good two seconds before looking back down to her flask, pulling it out of the river, the flask filled to the brim. "No. The trader had tried to cross Darkwood, yet found his guards slain by a troll they had unknowingly disturbed.
The trader had fled, and was wholly terrified. Rightfully, so. Nymphs were already beginning to follow after him and torment him. But I stumbled across him, and I led him through to Barrow Field, close to Oakvale." "Were you offered a reward, or something?" Darrah mumbled, a little rudely. Bianca reached her hand into her cloak, replacing her flask within the pocket she had taken it from. "No. I simply led him through with no promise of a reward. Once we were in Barrow Field, though, the trader was so thankful to me that he offered to let me take a few things from his inventory. I saw a few items, a few small reagents, that I could use in a potion or two. Other than that, though, only the flask interested me. After I had taken what I wanted, the trader and I went our ways." "You can make potions?" Timoteo asked with a smile, beginning to use water on himself, trying to cleanse his shirt. Bianca nodded with a small smile.
"With the right ingredients and reagents, yes, I know how to make poultices, salves, and a few potions. Traders don't often go through Darkwood, and if they do, they only do so with several trained guards. If they see anything, they tend to get very suspicious. Heroes aren't the only ones that have heard of the "Witch of Darkwood", either, so neither myself nor Grizelda can easily approach them without instilling fear and ignorance in them. And the few traders that do pass through have no set schedule; such is the life of a trader, they simply go where they please. So, days may pass without a trader going by, or, multiple may pass in one day. It's impossible to know for certain, so..." Bianca took in a deep breath through her nose, slowly exhaling afterwards.
"...With all those problems Grizelda and I would face just to see an ordinary trader, Grizelda taught me that it was simply easiest if we just learned how to take care of every single need we could possibly have, ourselves. That included keeping ourselves stocked with medical necessities. Grizelda taught me which herbs in Darkwood had curative properties, as well as how to prepare them properly to be used. Grizelda knows many alchemical secrets that I doubt are bothered with at the Guild, and all her secrets and wisdom, she passed on to me." "Alchemy isn't bothered with at the Guild because it's mostly rubbish." Darrah said with a hint of annoyance. Timoteo raised an eyebrow, looking to Darrah, saying "If those slimes taught us anything, it's that alchemy isn't all rubbish." Darrah glanced at Timoteo, but said nothing, simply returning to tending her clothing.
Timoteo looked to Bianca, saying "Sounds like you were a daughter to Grizelda." Bianca looked to his eyes for a moment, smiling lightly before looking over the water. "Yes, I believe that's the case. At the very least, she was lonely. I was her company." Timoteo began to get annoyed with the process of scooping water to his shirt, which only seemed to have him spill his water over his stomach and legs, and get very little water on the blood on his chest. In frustration, he pulled his apprentice shirt off, dunking the entire thing down in the river over the edge of the dock. Bianca glanced at Timoteo and subtly did a double-take, her eyes barely widening a little as her eyes scanned along his bare torso. Darrah glanced at Timoteo for a moment, yet she was much more used to Timoteo's body than Bianca was, having bathed with him for almost all of her time at the Guild. Darrah, however, noticed how Bianca's eyes were on Timoteo, and it caused her to furrow her brow slightly.
Darrah brought some water to the side of her face, cleaning herself of sprayed blood. That's when Darrah noticed the necklace around Timoteo's neck. She had never seen it before, and she was sure that if Timoteo had randomly purchased some jewellery, she'd know about it. "Tim, where'd you get that necklace?" She found herself asking. Timoteo glanced over to her, raising his eyebrows curiously. "Hmm?" He mumbled in his throat. Darrah realized what the necklace was holding up; several small silver bones. Darrah narrowed her eyes. Darrah knew that Bianca had several possessions, she had seen several of them by then, and all seemed to be designed somehow with bones or something equally macabre. Darrah instantly assumed that the necklace came from Bianca. Looking to Bianca's eyes, Darrah sourly asked "What, are you marking your territory, now?" Bianca looked to Darrah's eyes curiously. "What do you mean?" She asked softly. Darrah stood up with a bit of a curt sigh, turning around and marching up the ramp back to the dominant dock. Timoteo looked to Bianca curiously, an eyebrow raised. "Huh?" He said curiously. Bianca shrugged. "I think she's upset about your necklace." Bianca said. Timoteo rolled his eyes for a moment before sighing.
He got up on his feet, pulling his shirt out of the river. Holding it over the edge for a minute, he wrung as much water from it as he could. His blood from over his chest and stomach was mostly gone, but there were still dark flecks of dried blood stuck to the fabric of the shirt. Turning and beginning to head up the nearby ramp, he brushed at the chest of his shirt, trying to remove any dried blood left over. Bianca got up on her feet and followed after him. When Timoteo got to the top of the ramp and back on the dominant dock, he saw Darrah to be getting dressed in her armour once more. As he pulled on his damp shirt, he grabbed his chainmail shirt, saying "Darrah, what's-" Darrah cut him off, barely looking at him as she said "There's nothing to talk about, Tim." She shook her head lightly, saying "I have nothing to say." Timoteo raised an eyebrow for a moment before sighing under his breath, saying nothing. He pulled on his chainmail shirt, he and Bianca waiting for Darrah to finish getting dressed in her armour.
When she was ready and dressed in everything except for her coif, which she kept down, she lightly said "Let's go." She began to walk past the two, Timoteo and Bianca following after her. In silence, the trio headed through Bowerstone South until they came to the gate to Bowerstone North. Again, a large group of guards escorted them through the northern side of Bowerstone, ejecting them out the other end. Again, they began to head north, walking the entire day while taking breaks to eat for lunch and dinner. Since they began their trek essentially at the start of the day, by the time the day ended, they had actually reached their campsite from the night before. The corpses of the bandits they had killed previously lay exactly where they had been before, only now, the bits of gore from the bandits caught in Bianca's explosion began to attract flies. "It's getting close to sunset...Maybe we should sleep here, again?" Timoteo suggested, breaking the hours-long silence.
"Good idea. But I'm not keen on sleeping by corpses. Who knows what'll come out in the night to eat them." Darrah said. "Wolves will, surely." Bianca said. "Let's walk for another kilometer before setting up a camp." Darrah said. Timoteo nodded in agreement, and the trio began to walk once more. Heading down the path another kilometer, they stopped once they came to a small clearing by some trees. As Darrah began to get another fire pit ready, Bianca removed her cloak, laying it down on the grass beside herself. She undid and took off her boots, resting them beside herself, as well. She sat down on her cloak, and since she had taken her boots off, she crossed her legs under herself. Darrah set down her pack and began to take off her armour once the fire pit was done, and Timoteo set about looking for firewood. While he found plenty of branches he thought were perfect for firewood, he lacked the brute strength required to tear many of them from the trees they were attached to.
When Darrah was done removing her armour, she tore off the branches too thick and strong for Timoteo to remove, and all the wood was put into the fire pit. Then, Timoteo set the wood alight with a fireball. The three of them seated by the fire, Bianca began to heat up what meat she had left over the fire, the three of them feasting on the sizzling meat for a delicious and filling dinner. Afterwards, as the sun set and the land around the campsite was darkened with night, the three watched the fire, sitting awake by it and feeling it's warmth. None of them spoke, but every few minutes, Bianca would toss another leaf over the fire, blasting a minty scent throughout the camp. With every leaf and every rush of cooling mint through his nostrils, Timoteo felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier, and eventually, he fell asleep.
He felt himself awaken in the middle of the night, but only for a few seconds. After that, there was nothing but darkness. When he awoke in the morning, however, he quickly realized why he must've woken up. He found himself sleeping on his right side, his head resting over a part of his pack. His left arm was draped over a warm figure, the figure huddled close to his body, breathing peacefully. When he looked down to the figure sleeping closely to him, he saw it to be Darrah. For a moment, he was confused, then realized that she must've had a nightmare in the middle of the night, and once again came to him for an easier time sleeping. That must've been the reason why he had momentarily woken up in the dead of night. However, she wasn't in the same position as she had been in before, the two of them weren't spooning like they had when she had had her nightmare on their first night out of the Guild. Instead of facing away from him, her body was turned to his.
She had her arms raised and between the two of them, her elbows lightly pressing to the middle of his chest, her hands near her chin. For a moment, he was overtaken with pleasant surprise, a smile coming on his face, a little shaky from his attempt to stifle it. Darrah's face looked so peaceful as she slept. Her entire face was relaxed, her mouth hanging open just a crack as she quietly slept on. His arm went over her right, his hand resting on the ground by her back. He looked past the then-dead fire pit, seeing Bianca's robe to be lying on the ground, but not her boots, nor Bianca, herself. He slowly got up on a knee beside Darrah, letting her continue sleeping as he glanced around. Eventually, he spotted Bianca not too far from the campsite. She was, oddly enough, kneeling by a patch of shrubbery. Timoteo got up on his feet, not waking Darrah yet, beginning to walk towards Bianca. When he was still several steps away from her, she glanced over her shoulder towards him.
She smiled lightly when she saw him. Timoteo smiled a little, pleased to see that she looked much more well-rested than she had the day before. There was more life in her eyes, they looked less dull from want for sleep. "Good morning." She said softly before looking back in front of her. She was sitting on her knees, her boots on her feet. "Good morning to you, too." Timoteo said pleasantly, reaching her, by then. "What're you doing?" He asked curiously. "Making myself a little potion..." Bianca softly said, looking to the task before her. As Timoteo walked beside her and looked to what she was doing, he felt a little surprised. It might've had something to do with a simple lack of familiarity with Bianca's task, but he couldn't help but feel like she was making no simple potion. She had a small, empty vial sitting on a leaf, resting against the grass by her left knee. The vial was smaller than the one that had housed her explosive concoction from the day before, indeed, this glass vial hardly appeared to be any thicker or longer than one of Timoteo's own index fingers.
It had a black cork resting beside it on the leaf, obviously meant to block the open top of the vial and trap a substance within. Timoteo saw Bianca to be picking several strange herbs from underneath the shrubbery, the pale girl reaching along the ground beneath the shrub in front of her. Timoteo silently watched, curiosity rising in him. Bianca remained silent, not questioning him on his continued presence, a small smile even on her face as he watched her actions. After she had pulled a small bundle of herbs from the unknown patch under the shrubs, Bianca reached to a nearby pebble. It was small and sat in the grass by her right knee, Timoteo realizing that he never could've seen it, it was more or less hidden among the blades of grass. Bianca reached over and picked up her vial, bringing the pebble to the top of the vial. One side of the pebble seemed to have some sort of pale green moss on it, and Bianca scraped a small amount off of the stone, letting it fall into the vial.
The moss now resting at the bottom of the vial, Bianca let the stone rest back on the ground, and grabbed one of the herbs. It looked like a short stock of sorts, standing only a few inches high, with a small bud at the top and several small leaves near the bottom. Bianca picked off the leaves and began to scrape something from them into the vial. It took Timoteo a moment, but he eventually noticed that Bianca was scraping a sort of clear substance into the vial, which looked very much like dust, except seemed to be a touch heavier by the way it fell to the bottom of the vial. Bianca scraped the substance off of all the leaves of the herbs she had picked, the vial almost being full of the stuff, by then. She then reached to the cork, placing it on the ground by the leaf. Then, she grabbed the leaf and turned it over, revealing the ground beneath it. Timoteo spotted another vial, this second one being larger, around the same size as the explosive one Bianca had used the day before.
This second one was filled with a pale, milky fluid, and was only about half full. Bianca, with one hand, popped out the small cork in the vial, the cork coming out easily enough for Timoteo to suspect that Bianca had disturbed it several times before. Carefully bringing the second vial to the first, she held it over her prepared vial, letting a few drops of the milky fluid run into her first vial. Quickly, Bianca held both vials in one hand, using her other hand to grab her two corks. She quickly placed the corks back in both vials, and then placed them back down on the leaf by her knee. "What is that?" He finally asked. Bianca gently brought a finger to her freshly-prepared potion. "That...Is poison. I noticed some plants growing around here that I had recognized from one of Grizelda's many guidebooks on poisonous plants." Bianca looked to his eyes for her following words, saying "More powerful poisons exist, but this one is stronger than typical poison. It will kill a man, to be sure, and the antidote is not easily crafted."
She looked to her second vial, the one with milky fluid, and brought her finger to it. "And this is Harpy Milk. It's a reagent used in many base poisons. On it's own, it's not poisonous, it's barely enough to give you a weak stomach. But it can be used to not only amplify the poisonous properties of regular poisons, but also break down poisonous solids into equally poisonous fluids." Bianca took her freshly prepared poison, holding the vial up. "This Leafrind is very poisonous, but the only way for someone to predictably take it into their body is if it is eaten, or perhaps rubbed on a wound. The Harpy Milk will break it down into a liquid, and the possibilities for using it will be much more useful. It could be poured into a drink, where it would never be noticed. It could be smeared on a blade, and even a simple cut could give a man the full brunt of the poison." Timoteo raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms over his chest, nodding slightly.
"Sounds useful. I have no qualms about poison. Might not want to tell Darrah about it, though. She might consider it unfair or something." Bianca smiled a little, saying "Yes, I suspected as much. That's why I'm not speaking as freely as I feel comfortable doing. While I'd love to tell you of the things I've learned, I get the feeling it would only serve to cause more problems between Darrah and I. So, I've kept my silence." Bianca reached to her picked herbs, beginning to pull the buds off of them, collecting them in a small pile in front of her knees. Timoteo suddenly raised an eyebrow, asking "What's a "harpy"? And how do you milk it?" Bianca smiled with amusement for a moment before saying "A harpy is a mythical creature, supposedly hailing from a land far from Albion, across the sea. They live in dry deserts, according to legend...A creature that appears to be a mix between human and bird." Bianca shrugged lightly, saying "I've never seen one, but then again, I've never left Albion. Harpy Milk is fairly common, though can be a little expensive. I doubt the existence of harpies, or at least that Harpy Milk comes from actual harpies."
"Because harpies are supposed to be mythological, yet Harpy Milk is commonly found?" Timoteo asked. Bianca smiled widely, a moment later saying "Yes, exactly." Timoteo smiled. "What are you going to do with the buds?" He asked. Just then, Bianca had finished plucking all of the buds from the herbs. "Eat them. While the leaves are poisonous, it is only a natural defence against ground-crawling insects. Since the plant always grows under other thick plants, growing in the darkness, no flying insect ever reaches the bud. So, the leaves were the only defence the plant needed. The bud, while it never blooms, eventually drops seeds and spreads the plant. The bud can be eaten as a snack, provided you don't mind the taste of greens." Bianca took all the small buds in her right hand, placing her vials in her left. She stood up, beckoning for Timoteo to follow with a nod from her head, a small smile on her face the whole time. "I'm going to have to wash my hands, though. Just handling the leaves of the plant has left poisonous dust on my fingers. I'll have to wash the buds, too, since I've touched them. Many careless poisoners have died by trying to handle the plant, I'm sure."
As they came closer and closer to the still-sleeping Darrah and the calm fire pit, Timoteo said "Hey, Bianca...About last night..." Bianca stopped walking, looking over to him with her little smile still intact. "Yes?" She asked softly. Timoteo felt a little shy for a moment before saying "We, um...Weren't able to kiss or anything...But..." Bianca continued as Timoteo trailed off, her smile growing a touch stronger. "It was a little silly of me to try and plan a time for us to do such things. Let's just...Wait for a moment, a feeling, hmm?" Bianca raised an eyebrow slightly, saying "I have heard that such things are not to be planned, but simply experienced. When it happens, it happens." Timoteo took in a light breath before exhaling, smiling a little, nodding slightly. "Yeah, you're right. Can't plan that stuff, it just gets a little awkward. Alright, then." Bianca gazed into his eyes for another second or two before walking over to her laid down cloak. Timoteo took the opportunity to approach Darrah, getting down on a knee by her again, gently shaking her shoulder.
"Darrah...Darrah, time to wake up...Sheesh, don't get lazy on me now..." Darrah mumbled something in her throat for a moment before her eyelids fluttered. "Nngh, awake, I'm awake..." She groaned. Timoteo smiled and stood up. Bianca had lifted up her cloak, slipping it on, slipping her poison and Harpy Milk inside a pocket in her cloak, keeping her buds in her right hand. "I'll be right back, just going to go to the stream to clean my hands and buds." Bianca said before walking off into the nearby trees. Darrah groaned a few times before sitting up. Timoteo still stood by her, sticking a hand in one of his pockets as he asked "Nightmare, last night?" Darrah blinked a few times before beginning to rub at her eyes. "Yeah..." She said, a little quietly. Timoteo's face grew a bit worried as he said "That's twice it's happened, now. Do you...Want to talk about it, now?" Darrah stopped rubbing at her eyes, her face calm except for a slightly furrowed brow and barely open eyes.
"No...I can deal with it, it's just dreams, even if they are unpleasant." She said a little coolly, sitting up for a second before getting on her feet. She walked over to her pack, sitting down beside him, practically falling down on her bum due to a rather hasty sitting. Digging around in her pack, she pulled out her last piece of pie, biting into it with a delighted groan. "Avo, I love the taste of warm pie in the morning..." She said, sounding to be practically in ecstasy. Timoteo smiled a little, saying "Mind if I make myself a sandwich? It seems like Bianca picked herself some breakfast, and if you're eating the pie, the only one without breakfast is me. We're out of Bianca's meat, and I want to save my last piece of pie for dessert, tonight." Darrah lifted her pack, bringing it closer to him while remaining seated on the grass, plopping her pack down near him. "Sure, help yourself." She said. Timoteo smiled and took a seat by her, searching through her pack for her bread and jars of jam.
He quickly thanked her, beginning to make himself a sandwich with blueberry jam, smelling the jam drift through his senses, the jam so very similar to Bianca's own natural scent. Shortly after Timoteo had finished preparing his sandwich, Bianca had returned, her buds no longer resting in her hand. By then, Darrah had finished her pie, and Timoteo was just then putting away the bag of bread and jars of jam. "Good morning, Darrah." Bianca said. Darrah glanced to her face for a moment before getting up to her feet. She sighed as she rose to her feet, saying "Good morning" during her sigh, exhaling the words. She walked over to her nearby pile of discarded armour, beginning to dress in it all over again. "Are you both ready to keep heading north?" Bianca asked. Timoteo nodded, Darrah saying "Yeah, just let me get in my armour..." Timoteo smiled a little, pulling on his chainmail shirt, pulling on his pack shortly after. When Darrah was ready, she pulled on her pack as well, and the trio continued their trek north.
A few hours later, near noon, and the trio had begun to ascend Windmill Hill. True to it's name, windmills dotted the sides of the rising land, many people living in the windy area deciding manipulating a windmill was the best possible way for them to make a living. While Windmill Hill wasn't a hill per se, the land did have a very long series of inclines, all going on for many miles. The three spoke little as they walked along; "The farther we go from Bowerstone," Darrah warned, "the more likely we are to run into bandits. So we'd best talk as little as possible, to avoid being heard." Timoteo and Bianca accepted Darrah's warning, and the majority of their trek was spent in silence. Almost exactly at noon, however, danger found them, despite their best efforts.
As they walked along a forested path, a windmill standing up above the trees not too far down their path, Darrah heard something. "What was that?" She hissed, glancing to Timoteo and Bianca. Timoteo's brow furrowed, and he quickly pulled his steel mace from his pack, Darrah doing the same with her steel longsword. Bianca narrowed her eyes and glanced to her left, into the trees. She saw nothing, yet had the uncanny feeling that she was being watched. She thought she had heard rustling in a bush nearby, but the sound quickly died as she turned her head. "We're not alone." She said softly. Timoteo heard a rustle in a bush to his right, glancing over. "How many of them are there?" He said, adrenaline beginning to run through him, his heartbeat beginning to pick up. "Let's just keep going...Keep cool, keep your spells ready..." Darrah said softly. Timoteo looked to her, saying "I can't think if I'm shocked out of my mind from an ambush or something, I need to think to cast!"
Darrah looked over to him, her eyes widening, hissing out "Just be ready, don't let some cowards in the bushes freak you out! Skorm's teeth, feel like a Hero!" Timoteo narrowed his eyes, saying "You don't know what it's like, you're not a Will-user, you-" Timoteo was cut off as multiple bloodthirsty shouts sounded out from the bushes on either side of their path. Multiple creatures burst from the bushes, surrounding the trio. Timoteo, due to his short argument with Darrah, had been able to keep himself from growing worried and distracted. As soon as the shouts sounded out around the trio, he cast his Physical Shield around himself. Something sounded odd about the shouts to Timoteo, though. They didn't sound like humans. They were higher-pitched, and sounded more bestial in nature. When the creatures made their presence obvious, Timoteo, Darrah, and Bianca all looked to them. The creatures looked to barely be half as tall as the three of them, the tallest among them just being tall enough to reach Darrah's waist.
They all had pale grey skin, sort of like Bianca's. Their bodies were humanoid in shape. They had very misshapen faces, with all of them having big chins and big bottom lips, the bottom lips larger than the upper counterparts, causing them to stick out. They had massive brows, the protruding bone of their forehead causing their eyes to look extremely sunken, to the point of keeping their eyes almost permanently cast in dark circles. They had long, slightly floppy ears, which stuck out to the sides to a point, and only four thick fingers and toes per hand and foot, respectively. None of them had a single hair on any place of their bodies. They were dressed in what looked like rags and scraps, random articles of clothing, all seemingly stolen from humans. There were a dozen of them, and almost all of them wore their pants backwards. Some of them had large boots turned upside-down on their heads, like hats. Some were dressed in women's clothing, one even proudly having a vivid pink bra strapped around his chest.
If it weren't for the weapons in their hands, Timoteo would've likely burst into laughter upon seeing them all. They were all armed with an odd assortment of rusty weapons, very typically clubs. The weapons, too, appeared to be stolen; they weren't primitive enough that it was believable that the creatures had created the weapons, themselves. Some had shortswords, some had hand axes, but the prevalent weapon was a type of old club that the majority of the creatures possessed. "Hobbes." Darrah said in a determined tone, not bothering to try and hide her voice. One of the hobbes let out another shout, showing rows of thin, sharp teeth, none of them in order or even remotely straight. His long, pointed tongue quivered in his mouth as he shouted. The other eleven hobbes charged towards the trio, raising their weapons. "Kill them!" Darrah firmly said.
Six to the left, five to the right, the hobbes barrelled towards the young Heroes. Darrah pulled up her coif and threw down her pack, Timoteo following suit and dropping his pack to keep himself light and fast. As a hobbe came towards him, he blasted it with a fireball, sending it flying backwards. He was surprised to see that it already appeared to be dead, lying on the ground silently, the fire spreading along it's body. The hobbe that had shouted, apparently the leader, finally began to charge. With the leader entering the fray, the others seemed emboldened, running towards the Heroes even faster with no apparent regard for their own safety. One jumped at Darrah, launching itself towards her torso with remarkable finesse, only to find itself landing on the tip of her sword, running itself through. Bianca kicked a hobbe across the face as it came near, sending it twirling down to it's front on the ground. Another jumped for her, Bianca blasting the hobbe in the face with some sort of black sphere of magic.
The hobbe's head instantly turned black when the magic hit it, and a moment later, the black lightened to white. Hardly a second later, the white disappeared, leaving nothing but a bloody stump where the head had been a moment later, the corpse collapsing to the ground. Timoteo swung his mace into the face of a charging hobbe, crushing it's face into it's own skull, killing it instantly. He grunted as he pulled the mace out of the hobbe's corpse, feeling another two hobbes attack his backside, feeling the dull thuds of their weapons against his Physical Shield. Darrah swung her blade at the leader hobbe, but he clashed his blade against her with impressive dexterity, matching her blows for a few seconds before Darrah grew frustrated. Taking a step back, she pulled her arm back but kept the point by her right hip, pointing directly at the hobbe's face. Unleashing a Flourish of sorts, she shouted, taking a heavy step forwards while launching her arm forwards.
The hobbe wasn't strong enough to parry her blade. He hit his blade to her's, but he couldn't save himself. The blade blasted clear through the hobbe's head, becoming firmly lodged within the creature's skull. Another hobbe panicked and began to flee back into the surrounding woods. One hobbe jumped up on Bianca's back, grabbing her cloak. Instead of letting the hobbe pull her down to the ground, Bianca slipped her arms out of her cloak, letting the hobbe fall with it to the ground. Now lacking her cloak, she twirled around, seeing the hobbe she had kicked in the face finally get back on his feet. Four hobbes remained; one was attacking at Timoteo's backside, two were looking to Bianca murderously, and the last was now thrashing under her cloak. Darrah shouted furiously as she charged at the hobbe attacking Timoteo's backside. Before the hobbe could turn around, she had viciously bashed it across it's face. In each hand, she wielded one of the hobbe's small rusty clubs.
Having knocked the hobbe she had hit down to the ground, she got over it, raising her clubs and swinging them down with rage on her face. One club hit the hobbe's face, and the other hit it over the chest. Several cracking sounds came out, and blood began to profusely pour from the hobbe. Bianca had been momentarily distracted by Darrah's loud and inciting actions, but the hobbes had been distracted, too. Darrah had taken the attention of the hobbes and placed it squarely on herself. The three remaining hobbes, one just then crawling out from under Bianca's cloak, turned their hateful and hungry eyes towards the nearby Darrah. They shouted in furious defiance, charging and jumping towards her. Darrah, thinking fast, swung her clubs down, striking two of the hobbes in the face. They weren't slain, but stunned quite heavily as they crashed back to the ground. The third and final hobbe crashed straight into Darrah's chest, causing her to stumble back and bump into Timoteo, as well as lose her grip on her maces.
The hobbe swung his small sword into the side of Darrah's coif, hoping to decapitate her, but his blade simply clashed against her coif, his rusty weapon having no hope of getting through. Before Darrah threw him off, however, he grabbed at her coif, trying to strangle her. While his thick fingers didn't meet her skin, they began to constrict enough of her throat to cause a bit of panic to rise in Darrah. She tried to throw him from herself, but he was beginning to grip her with more strength than his size would denote. Timoteo, however, jumped around Darrah, slamming his mace down into the hobbe's face, killing it while it was mere inches from Darrah's face. While that struggle was going on, however, Bianca rushed to her cloak. She fell to her knees beside it, reaching into a pocket within. She pulled out her dagger and, hastily spying a hobbe nearby, she almost dove over. She had been holding the dagger in such a way that the blade protruded from the bottom of her fist, and she slammed her fist down against the hobbe's chest, sinking her blade deep into the hobbe, killing it.
The final hobbe, lying nearby, scampered to it's feet, eyeing Bianca murderously. It yelled furiously before sprinting towards her. Bianca, still partially lying on the ground, wasn't able to react in time. When the hobbe reached it, it gave her a powerful kick to her right breast before lashing out and punching her across her face. Bianca's eyes had gone wide from the hobbe's attacks, the breath torn from her lungs as pain exploded in her chest and face, more her chest than her face. Timoteo ran over, having just helped Darrah with her attacker. He punted the hobbe in the side of it's body, sending it flying in the air. As it flew, he launched a blast of Force Push at it, the rippling sphere of air ramming into the hobbe, causing it to shriek as it flew even higher into the air. The hobbe was above the trees, now. In the blink of an eye, Bianca jumped to her feet. Her eyes were wide, her teeth bared and grit. She held up a hand, looking towards the airborne hobbe.
A flash of orange light appeared in the palm of her hand, almost with a strange wail that sounded ominously like two swords being clashed against one another. Suddenly, Timoteo saw Bianca cast a spell he had never actually seen anybody cast before, but had read about extensively one evening. It was called, simply enough, "Blades". It was a brother spell to "Ghost Sword", only the behaviour of Blades was much different. Instead of bringing forth an ethereal and ghostly blade to fight by her side as a temporary battle companion, she instead created multiple swords that floated in the air, just in front of her hand. There were three of them, and they looked just like shortswords, only they appeared to be made of some sort of physical orange light. They each had their points directed straight at the hobbe, and they spun around in front of Bianca's hand for only a split-second before freezing in the air. Another split-second later and they had suddenly rocketed away from her hand, zooming through the air with a dangerous whining, as if they sang as they shot through the air.
The swords flew through the air towards the hobbe, and hardly a second after they had come into existence, they had found their mark. The three swords impaled the hobbe at three different points: one sword found the hobbe's gut, another found the hobbe's chest, and the last found the hobbe's throat. All three swords went clear through the hobbe, protruding from it's back, blood spraying out on the air. The swords stayed in the hobbe for several seconds, long enough for them to stay with the hobbe's corpse while it crashed back to the earth. Shortly after, though, the swords disappeared with a loud cracking, almost like the crack of a whip. Bianca's face was twisted in pain then, the both of her eyes shut tight, the young woman bringing the both of her hands to her right breast. Darrah glanced around, saying "Where's the one that ran off?!"
Timoteo saw that Bianca was hurt, stepping closer to her, worriedly asking "Hey, you okay?..." Bianca nodded, saying "It'll pass...But...I didn't realize that hobbes could...Nng, kick so hard..." Darrah, who had quickly given up on the hobbe that had fled, looked over to Bianca. With an unimpressed face, she said "Well, that's one of the negatives of having a big chest. Good thing you're not a Hero of Strength, those things would be getting in the way all the time." Timoteo's Physical Shield fell a moment later, and he glanced at his nearby pack, saying "H-Hey, I've got some health potions, a sip or two should have you feeling better in no time." Bianca barely opened an eye, glancing at him for a moment before she had to shut her eye again, throbbing pain blasting through the right side of her bosom. "I'd...Like that..." She said, trying hard to hide her pain. Timoteo quickly rushed over to his pack, pulling out a health potion.
He rushed back to Bianca, handing it to her. She quickly released her bosom, opening up the top of the potion, downing half of it. She was panting gently as she handed the potion back to Timoteo, Timoteo closing the top once more. "That...Feels a little better." Bianca said, letting out a light sigh, opening her eyes once again. Darrah raised an eyebrow, saying "Another negative is that your boobs are gonna sag down to your knees, when you're older. Especially since you're not wearing a bra. A bra keeps your chest up and perky." Bianca looked to Darrah for a moment before glancing to Timoteo. He shrugged, though there was a slightly embarrassed look to his face. Bianca looked back to Darrah, asking "Really?" Darrah nodded, a solemn look on her face. Bianca smiled slightly, asking "Then why does Grizelda have such a perky chest when she never wears bras, and she's over fifty years old?" Darrah's brow furrowed for a moment before she relaxed.
"Obviously because your Grizelda is a freak of nature, her boobs should've hit her knees by that age, if she's anything like you." Changing the subject before Bianca could reply, Darrah looked to Timoteo. Her voice becoming more compassionate, she asked "Tim, you okay?" Timoteo nodded, saying "Fine. And you?" Darrah grinned, saying "This armour's not too shabby." Her face became annoyed as she looked off to the corpse of the leader hobbe. "Though, I need my damn sword back..." She marched over to the leader hobbe's corpse just as Timoteo hoisted up his pack, shouldering it once again. Bianca lifted up her cloak, dusting it off for a moment with a hand before slipping it on. She pulled up her hood, as well, shying away her face. Darrah firmly crashed a foot down against the leader hobbe's torso, keeping his corpse against the ground while she exerted herself, tearing her sword out of the hobbe's head, having to force the blade back out through the tight squeeze of it's skull.
Once her weapon was free, she wiped off the blood covering it on the hobbe's own body, then walked over to her pack. Grabbing it and shouldering it, she replaced her weapon on the side of her pack, Timoteo doing the same with his own weapon a moment later. Meanwhile, Bianca grabbed her dagger again, cleaning it like Darrah had done, wiping the blood off on the hobbe she had used the weapon to kill. "Well, that was interesting. Never fought hobbes, before." Timoteo remarked, the trio beginning to head down along their path once more. "Annoying little bastards." Darrah almost snorted out. Bianca was silent for a moment before she simply said "...If we see any more hobbes, I'll make sure they don't kick me in the boobs again." For some reason, Darrah seemed to find Bianca's words humourous, beginning to laugh to herself. Timoteo looked over to Bianca, smiling comfortingly, raising a hand to her shoulder, rubbing along her cloak for a moment.
He felt her touch her hand to his thigh, and he glanced down for a moment. Bianca had her hand extended to him, her fingers outstretched, the back of her hand lightly rubbing against the outside of his thigh. Her gesture wasn't lost on him. She wanted to hold his hand. He smiled, feeling butterflies run through his stomach for a moment. While Darrah chuckled to herself, Timoteo leaned towards Bianca, subtly whispering her a short message. "We can't for long, she might see." Bianca nodded slightly, her face invisible because of her hood. Timoteo wondered if Bianca was smiling or blushing as he lowered his hand down to Bianca's forearm. Darrah shook her head slightly, saying "Yeah, I doubt a kick to the boobs would feel good, even for me." Darrah seemed oblivious to their only semi-subtle actions. Timoteo ran his fingers along her cloak's sleeve for a moment, heading farther down to her hand. When his skin met her's, they quickly grasped hands, entwining fingers.
Timoteo smiled a little more. Bianca, unknown to him, was smiling and blushing inside the darkness of her hood. She gave his hand an affectionate squeeze, speaking to Darrah then, saying "The pain was excruciating, but the potion helped. I'm fine, now." Timoteo gave Bianca a soft squeeze in return, grinning a little, in reaction. His heart felt like it was soaring. "Yeah, we're all fine, so let's keep going!" He said. Darrah pulled down her coif, finally, saying "Alright, yeah. Gibbet Woods is our next stop!" The trio headed down the forested path, leaving the corpses of the hobbes behind.
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Fable : Fall of the Guild