[Crossing the Trail]
The hour grew late: the moon was high over the Tower grounds and the wandering guards were preparing for the nightly lockdown. As the guards would go around the large Tower some could be seen harassing some of the servants and initiates, saying cruel things and even causing them physical harm. Others would stop to watch the scene before them only to be yelled at and threatened causing them to run off to their living quarters.
All the while Unison and Sydran lingered not far from the tower, having made a narrow escape from the tower through a secret passage near the graveyard. Unison and Syd clad in black leathers they had purchased to blend into the night. Sonny’s obsidian sword was strapped to her back, her hair tied into a curly scarlet bun.
Sydran was a bit stiff from her nervousness, she hadn’t done this in ages. She followed closely behind Unison peeking over her shoulder out of paranoia. Syd slipped throw the opening to the passage, her armor make an awkward sound that made her want to laugh, she refrained knowing that if she did in fact make a noise, they probably wouldn’t live through the night.
Once they had made it far enough away from the tower that they could speak, Unison turned to Sydran. Under the moonlight, the circles under her faintly glowing eyes were exaggerated, and she was pale as a ghost. “I’m sure he’s this way.” She whispered, gesturing through the trees. “It’s quite possible that he’s made refuge somewhere… Hopefully he hasn’t gone too far.” She swallows, her throat dry. Syd nodded, she was still slightly afraid to speak. With a light clearing of her throat, she spoke quietly, “So, this, man.. Why is he taking refuge? Is he a wanted criminal? I already told you Lady, if this is deeper than your telling me and we get caught. I’m denying everything.” She peered around Unison to the wall of greenery behind her. The red-headed knight closed her eyes for a moment, cutting off the faint glow they emitted. “I promise you, I am not a woman of deceit. To be honest… I never imagined I’d get myself into such a mess.” Unison opened her eyes, peering down at the small elf. “I don’t know why he’s hiding. There’s a lot I don’t know, but I trust that he is a good man. I know it doesn’t seem very believable at this point, but you have to understand that I’m a pious woman. A woman of the light. I wouldn’t bring you here for unholy reasons. I just want to find him… I miss him so much,” she says softly, frowning at her own words. “Let’s keep moving, then. As I’ve said, even if we fail, you’ll still get your payment.” As the two would search they would occasionally find spots of rather old blood, a trail of sorts seeming to lead south through the plagued wood, though some of it was a trail already seen before by others who went in search before them. Sydran sighed and tapped her boot on the floor softly, “Alright, but I’m telling you, if we get into a scuff, I don’t fight, so your own your own. I was paid to search, not to kill.” Syd scanned the floor as they walked, spotting the trail, she smacked the side of Unison’s arm, “Ay, if he’s this way. That’s probably his, huh?” Unison eyed the spots uncomfortably. “I suppose so. This means we’re on the right track.” She chewed the inside of her lower lip, her breathing shallow as they walk along. Every now and then she reaches back to feel her sword. The woman frowned deeply, finding more and more traces of blood on the ground. Her mind raced with thoughts of finding him dead. She inhaled sharply and turned to Sydran. “I think I need a moment. I’m sorry.” She sits on a fallen log and rested her face in her hands. Sydran grunted, feeling she was being a bit insensitive. She patted the woman’s back lightly, “I’m sure he’s fine, and if we find him in a poor state, I’m really handy at aiding wounds.” The small elf gave a sheepish smile, not really a professional at comforting people. “Take your time, I can wait as long as you need.” She lowered herself, not by much, to a sitting position next to her on the log. Syd reached into the small satchel that was attached to her waist, pulling two of the four strings and releasing the tension so the bag was able to be opened. She withdrew a small chunk of bread and held it out to her, “Here.” Sonny lifted her head and raised her eyebrows slightly. “Oh, thank you… It has been a while since I’ve eaten.” She reached out a gently shaking hand and took the bread. “That is comforting to know. I can heal quite well myself. It’s a good thing we’re the ones looking for him.” She ate the bread slowly; once she had finished she holds onto her stomach. “I get awful cramps when I haven’t eaten enough,” The adept commented, standing up from the log. “We mustn’t linger for too long.” The short elf smiled and followed, standing herself, “Well, I have more, if you need it. I’d hate to have to faint, I’m strong but I don’t know if I could carry you for long.” Sydran let out a small chuckle, trying to lighten the mood, “Anyway, yeah. I hate to say it, but we should probably follow the trail.” She furrowed her brow, a bit uncomfortable with the situation herself. Though she was glad she wasn’t alone, Sonny was still quite tense despite her partners attempts to lighten the mood. As they walked along, she continued grasping at her sword rather obsessively. The girl, in short, was quite obviously scared. She breathed sporadically. The walk would last for another hour before the redhead had leveled out her breathing and began to walk with purpose. She realized that the silence hadn’t been broken in a long time. “How are you doing, Miss Sydran?” While walking, Sydran was intrigued by the nature around her, she didn’t leave the city much. As the woman spoke her ears perked with a bit of a jolt, “Me?” She looked around with a slight scoffish-laugh, “That was a dumb question, I’m pretty good, I guess you could say. I feel like an asshole saying this, but I don’t remember your name, apologies.” She continued looking around, eyes darting to every tree they passed, craning her neck to glance behind it, paranoia would be the death of her. Unison walked much quicker now, seeming sure of where she was going. “Unison Bloodmourn,” She told her, watching as the small elf looked at every tree. “Are you scared?” The girl asked quietly. Syd flicked her head to face Unison, “Me? Scared. No.” She puffed out her chest lightly and locked her head straight forward, walking with the same stride as her friend there, even though she was scared, nervous and had no idea where she was going. The journey would last them several hours in the night, but with a few stops here and there, they managed to make it to where all the clues led them, just before sunrise. Exhausted and sleep-deprived, the girls had been led into Twilight Highlands. As the trek seemed endless, Sydran began dragging her feet as they went on, “So, what are- going.” Her brain turned her words to mush, due to it not functioning as it should. Once in Twilight Highlands the two would find that the trail had ended, there did not seem to be anything out of place that could help them. Through the trees and bits of risen land they could not see much the only thing that seemed to be around was what looked like a mostly destroyed farm. Unison took in the landscape with tired eyes, seeming to ignore what Sydran had said. “That’s it, he has to be around here somewhere,” She said mostly to herself. She marched on, into the trees and out into the farm. The adept wasted no time searching though the rubble, lifting pieces of wood and shoving them aside. “Cross!” She called out, her voice a bit raspy. She cleared her throat and called for him again, seeming to have forgotten about Sydran. Around the farm would be several bones of different sizes, some having bits of rotting meat others looked clean. The bones would mostly be cluttered around what looked like a door. Having accidentally picked up a bone, Unison tossed it away from her with a shriek. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light of early morning, she noticed the heap of bones. as she backed away from them, she noticed the door. She slid the obsidian sword off of her back and held it out in front of her. “Sydran stay back,” she warned quietly. Cautiously, she approached the door and moved the bones with the tip of her boot. “Hello?” She said softly. There would be no response from inside the dwarven style home, though their surroundings would become eerily quiet. The red-headed woman lowered her sword. Her ears swayed and perked, trying to hear anything on the inside of the home. She didn’t say another word, becoming nervous. She looked to Sydran, standing a fair distance from her. “Cross?” She asked, looking back to the door. She knocked gently, then heaved her sword back up in front of her. As Unison would knock the door would slowly creak open showing a rather gruesome sight, bloody scraps of what seemed to have once been clothes lay over the floor mixed in with even more clean and meat covered bone.. But not far from the door, resting on a table would be a familiar set of daggers atop some also familiar leathers. Sonny backed away from the gruesome sight, but not before she noticed the familiar items. She covered her nose with her arm, turning her head away. She felt faint, and staggered a bit. After searching for her voice for a moment, she called out to Sydran. A loud noise would come from inside the home as if several things had fallen, followed by what sounded like a grunt, the sounds did not seem far from the door. With her sword out in front of her, Sonny pushed her way back into the house, ready to defend herself. She placed a holy shield around herself and Sydran as she entered the home once more. Peering around, she called out to Cross. Moving through the house they would find even more bones that would seem to lead to a bed that was covered in blood, and it seemed something was moving under the sheets. With her sword gripped tightly, unison kicked the bed with her boot, testing whatever was under the covers. “Hello?” She called to it, nudging it harder. A groan would come from under the covers and then a growl soon after. “That was not very nice.. Miss Unison..” With slow movement two clawed fingers would pull down the sheets just enough to show a dull red eye and a few familiar dreadlocks. The woman dropped her sword with a thud onto the floor and leaned onto the bloody bed, wrapping her arms around him. Despite her exhaustion, she clung to him with an iron grip, saying nothing for a long moment. Cross blinks, sitting up slowly, his upper body bandaged and covered in blood but he would hug Unison in return “Hm.. Hello to you too.” He lifts a brow slowly. “Why are you here? This is not a safe place for you..” When she pulled away, her eyes shown with red-rims and her cheeks wetted. “Why do you think I’m here?” Unison punched his chest softly. “I thought I’d never see you again,” she said, sniffling. “What happened to you? What is all this?” She sits close to him, peering around the room. Slowly his eyes shift about the room. “I.. am not sure you wish me to answer the second question.. As for what happened I.. was betrayed.. more or less..” He sighs, placing his hand over his bandages. Her head spun slowly as she contemplated what all the blood and bones must be from. She leaned against him slightly. “Is it safe for you to return?” She asked, blinking away her dizziness. "If it was safe Miss Unison, I would not have been attacked by one of our brothers.. though it is quite unlikely it is safe for me to go back." He shakes his head lightly. "It could make things much worse." She looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Please, you have to come back. You have to. You can stay with me. We can… I don’t know, go somewhere else, but not here. You can’t stay here.” She looks to the doorway, peering out into the early morning light. “I’ve worked so hard to find you, I’m exhausted and sweaty and hungry,” she complained, trying to earn his sympathy. He stared hard at her, lips twitching slightly as she began to complain. A soft “Hm” would escape him as he shook his head once more. “Fine.. I will return with you.. but I will need time before facing those within the tower walls.” He rubbed his hands over his face, letting out a small muffled groan. “Let me just grab my things I suppose.” She stood and went to the door, giving the man some space. “You can stay with me,” she repeated, seemingly entranced by the whole situation. “I promise to keep you out of everyone’s sight. I won’t tell anyone,” Unison went on. “Do you need help?” She spoke as picked up her sword from beside the bed. "No, I will be alright I just need to get dressed and we can leave.." He gave a soft nod, slipping off of the bed, taking a moment to stretch before dressing himself in his torn leathers. "Are you certain you wish for me to hide in your home?" Unison nodded without hesitation. “Of course. Of course.” She blinked and walked through the door, dragging her sword behind her. She approached Sydran, who had kept her distance the whole time and takes her arm, gently guiding her over to the house. “Mister Cross, this is my friend Sydran. She helped me find you.” Sonny seemed out of breath, still feeling faint. The red-headed adept presented him with the strangely short elf, who waves at him gingerly. "Hm.. nice to meet you." He spoke, quickly pulling up his hood to cover most of his face. "We should leave before you end up falling down Miss Unison." Unison smiled softly, nodding. “Yes, sir, let’s get out of here.” She slung her sword onto her back and lead the way back through the trees. Cross shook his head slightly as he followed behind Unison, a small smile forming over his lips as a sigh escaped him. “I do hope this is the right choice.” He mumbled.
