Looking for Work (Open)

[Riley]

Riley smiled as she went to check in with her friends, then packed the few things he had with him at the moment. He checked to make sure his sword was clear in it's sheath, a old habit of his he wasn't interested in breaking. He tightened his belt, making sure all the pouches on the sword belt were closed after Ana went through them, especially the one with his smoke bombs. He didn't need one falling out and breaking when it hit the ground, that had happened a few to many times. He had developed the habit of checking that particular pouch to make sure it was closed properly. Aside from wasting a smoke bomb, they were expensive. He had yet to learn how to make them properly himself, he needed to figure out the proper measurements for the powder. He either put too much, or too little.

Riley turned to her as she entered the room again, smiling at her as she went to work. He nodded as she asked if he was ready to go, "Yeah, I'm ready to go." He crossed to her and took her hand again, squeezing her hand tightly. "We'll have to share Claudia for now, we should be able to get you a horse in Carvala." He knew of a place they could get one cheap enough, though it would probably have been stolen from someone. Not that he would tell Ana that, Claudia had been stolen three times, once by him. He knew that the two of them would treat her horse better than the people they were going to buy it from.

Riley exited the forge with her, still holding her hand as he whistled for Claudia. "We'll go slow, keep your arms around me." No, he wasn't using riding the horse as an excuse to have Ana's arms around him for the next several hours while they rode toward Carvala. Riley wasn't that kind of guy, or so he told himself until he kissed Ana earlier. Claudia trotted up to them, nuzzling into Riley gently. "Claudia, this is my friend. Her name is Ana, she'll be traveling with us from now on. Treat her like you do me." Riley gently touched Ana's mind with his, letting her know what he said in the ancient language. Claudia moved to Ana, holding her head out to be scratched.

"Animals may not know what the ancient language means, but they understand it's meaning." Riley smiled at Ana, climbing into the saddle and holding his hand out to help Ana into the saddle with him. "They trust what we say to them in the ancient language because when speaking it, one cannot lie." He said softly, his smile softening at her as he recalled calling her beautiful in the ancient language earlier. Now she would know he was not lying about it at least.

[Mali]

Smiling wide, she was gathering her items when he said that he was ready to go. Ana packed up her work tools, anything from her pouches and then turned to see him doing the same. She watched briefly as he checked everything before she turned to face the work desk, picking up the bracers and placing them the satchel that she pulled from one pouch. She always carried one or two spare satchels. It was a good thing that she could fold them and store them away.

As he came over and held her hand, she felt her face flush very briefly. Why should holding her hand bother her? Or rather, it didn’t bother her it just made her blush. However, that shouldn’t be the case with just a simple hand hold seeing as he kissed her twice. Maybe things were just moving too fast right now. They had just met yesterday and Ana wasn’t sure if she believed that feelings could develop this fast or this quickly.

Ana thought it odd how he planned to have her sit behind him on the horse. Shouldn’t she be in front of him on the horse or was this an attempt to get Ana to wrap her arms around him the entire ride? She wouldn’t challenge it though as they were getting along quite well and she didn’t want to spoil the mood. Upon hearing him speak to the horse in the ancient language, Ana felt Riley enter her mind again. It was weird to say the least. She’d never get used to having someone place thoughts inside her own head. Upon his finishing, Claudia stuck her head out to be scratched and Ana complied, giggling. Was it like a conditional clause to allowing her to ride the horse? You scratch you’re okay?

“How long should it take until we get there?” it was something she should concern herself with. If it was more than a day, Riley may get a big ego, having Ana hold onto him for such a long time. Especially if they’re going slow, it should take longer for them to reach Carvala.

She nodded her head. So Claudia liked the ancient language, as did other animals. Thinking about it, Ana thought of something smart to say. “So, if you were hunting, you couldn’t coax your prey in the ancient language, since they would know your bad intentions?” it was a good question and one that she giggled after asking.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Riley]

Riley smiled as Ana scratched Claudia, considering her question. "Well, I say we can do it in about three days. Though I'd say we'll actually reach the city on the morning of the fourth." He would probably keep them a league away from Carvala the night before, he would prefer to reach the city during the day. The area he needed to get into to see his contact wasn't the best around, though he was glad that it was far from the worst. Then he also knew that they would need to get Ana a horse, the couple would then be able to travel faster after that. However, that problem would be addressed soon enough. "Don't worry about it too much, we can take turns riding Claudia. And I know a few shortcuts."

Riley considered it for a few moments, then pulled Ana up into the saddle behind him, being careful not to be too rough. "The time it takes matters little. It's the journey." He said softly, turning the reigns in his hand and starting to trot to the city's gate. "And this journey already proves to be far better than any other I've been on. The company is amazing." Riley felt his face burn slightly, though he smiled, welcoming the weight from Ana at his back. He clicked his tongue, Claudia altered her pace, moving so that the two on her back didn't bounce so much.

Riley considered it for a few seconds, "After we visit Carvala, I need to head to Ilirea. There's a job there waiting for me, by a blind Elf named Laemiri." He said, deciding that he would accept Laemiri's offer. At least for the moment. It was a constant source of income, and would allow him a way to help provide some form of living for himself and Ana. This way she wouldn't have to worry about taking care of both of them, or even have to worry too much at all. Then he laughed at her question about the ancient language. "Well, yes and no. You can say one thing, and mean something else. Though that's a difficult skill to master. Only the Elves seem to have mastered it."

[Mali]

Ana listened to what he had to say about how long it would take them to get to Carvala. Three days and they would arrive on the morning of the fourth day. She wondered who he could possibly know who be of help to her finding her ‘miracle worker’. He must know quite a few people to be able to tell who he had contacts with and would possibly know of her man. However, he had said that he had made many enemies, so she assumed that meant he’d made a few friends as well. Even if they weren’t friends and were just on good terms with each other, she assumed that he’d made a few of those too.

Feeling herself being pulled onto the saddle, Ana quickly caught hold of Riley’s mid section to prevent herself from falling off the other side of the horse. Being pulled onto the saddle by such an awkward angle that falling off the other side of the horse was a good possibility.

“As long as you pay attention when I’m riding, I’ve never been to Carvala before, so we might get lost,” it was true that she’d never left her forge before a few days ago when she’d set off for Teirm. If he wasn’t paying attention to where they were headed, when she was riding and leading Claudia, then they might end up further away from their goal than she intended.

Not expecting Claudia to start moving, Ana quickly reached around Riley’s waist, holding onto him tightly with her face pressed against his back. Easing up her tight grip around his waist, she sat up a bit more as Claudia changed pace so they weren’t bouncing so much. “Well thank you, travelling with company is always much more enjoyable.”

Ana listened to what Riley said about heading to Ilirea about a job offer. If he already had a job offer in Ilirea that he was going to take, why head to Teirm? Weren’t they in the opposite direction? “May I ask what the job offer is for? You’re not having to eliminate someone, are you?” she giggled lightly. She knew that some of his jobs had been to assassinate people, he’d told her himself that he had, however, was it proper to joke about it? She’d find out soon enough.

Thinking about it, it made sense that elves would be better at almost lying in the ancient language since they’ve spoken it longer than humans had. “Still, I’m assuming that if they were to try and coax an animal before killing it, they still wouldn’t use the ancient language.”

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Riley]

Riley nodded, "No worry, I won't let us get lost." He was not however, excited about traversing the Spine, a few of the shortcuts he knew skirted close to it. If not went in it directly. He wasn't worried about the superstitions surrounding the Spine, he ignored those for the most part, but he knew to be formidable creatures in it. Things that would give even a Urgal pause to fight, or so he had been told. Riley had traveled through Spine before, through the forest around it more accurately. He had yet to go near the mountains, nor was he overly excited to do so. He had met his share of dangers in it, a few Urgals, bears, wolves, but nothing he hadn't been able to best or trick. He wasn't overly worried about them, he could take anything that got close to them, and he though she could use her bow if needed.

Riley smiled and laughed, "The Elves don't hunt. Nor do they eat meat. They have adopted the view that since they have felt what animals felt, know what they love, hate, fear, they have no right to kill them for more on their plates. They say that fruits and vegetables can give them everything they need." He remembered his days of training in Ilirea, he had eaten less meat back then, though they hadn't taken it away from them completely. Even to this day, he still ate less meat than many other humans. Though that was more from habit than from respect as it was with the Elves.

Riley then started considering Ana's previous question, letting it run through his mind. "No, no I don't have to kill anyone thankfully." He began, sighing in relief at that thought. "As I said, Laemiri is blind, she would like a guide while in buildings and around cities. She will pay well, and is able to give me access to places that I couldn't get to otherwise. Even a few Elven cities I would guess." It truly was a symbiotic relationship in a sense. Though he wondered what would happen when he was off working on another job and left Laemiri behind, probably with Ana. He hadn't considered the three of them traveling together. He'd have to hope that the two would get along fairly well. Riley guided them out of Teirm, "Say farewell to Teirm Ana, we're on our way now."