Lost Scout

[StarrNico]

Raven stood at the door and listened. The others were still coming closer it seemed. Frustrated she called out again this time to Leathros and Charles, hoping the other would hear and get away "Let me out of here"

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Laethros was sharp enough to take up the charade immediately. "Come on down here then, Gomez. No sense being in the dark."

Gytha stayed still, her heart racing suddenly. She strained her ears. Had she really heard someone calling some kind of warning? Or was she just so exhausted and on edge that she had imagined it?

Gomez took a small step forwards, hoping to coax Gytha into moving closer to Laethros' voice. The first cry for help was faint and in the distance, but the second one was louder and echoed sharply through the dark tunnels. Who else was in the cave? Gomez had no idea, but whoever it was, they were quickly foiling a well thought out plan. "Bring the torch closer, we can't see anything." He called to Laethros. At this point he was debating whether or not to simply grab Gytha and end the trick, or try and draw her in closer. Maybe she would recognise the two men and let her guard down, they were after all, 'loyal' members of Aberdeen-- at least to her.

He decided not to take rash action right away, but remain on his toes and ready to leap in case she spooked. If Laethros could just get closer, the two of them could easily wrestle her in...

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Ruby nodded and knelt down beside her bag, then started to pull her shirt up. She stopped and glanced to Danielle "We come from all over, but I was born in Buna." She continued then reached to her bag for the medical kit and handed it to Danielle "The salve in there is good for most anything, just put some on the cuts, then cover them with the bandages"

"I've never heard of Buna." Danielle admitted, spreading some of the salve on her hand to use on Ruby's back. "My family came from Oakedge, then we moved to Aberdeen last fall. Its a nice little settlement, good land for farming." Once she had a good bit on her hand she began to rub it into the wounds on Ruby's back, making sure to cover all of them.

 

[StarrNico]

"I've never heard of Buna." Danielle admitted, spreading some of the salve on her hand to use on Ruby's back. "My family came from Oakedge, then we moved to Aberdeen last fall. Its a nice little settlement, good land for farming." Once she had a good bit on her hand she began to rub it into the wounds on Ruby's back, making sure to cover all of them. 

" Buna is a very small town. " Ruby said to distract herself from the pain as Danielle covered her wounds. " It was just my parents and me, and we moved from place to place often. We were coming out here to settle down, or at least try to."

 

[Frundette]

Laethros carried the torch as the two men moved around the slight curve in the tunnel and came into view of Gomez and Gytha.


"Charles!?" Gytha's voice was a mixture of surprise and relief and she started making her way toward him quickly. Gomez was exactly right when he figured Gytha would consider Charles loyal to Aberdeen. She'd ridden out to survey the road with him by her side nearly every week for the last three months. And after the ordeal of the past week, a familiar face was the most welcome thing in the world and it pushed aside the fear she had felt at the warning call. There was surely some rationale explanation for that.


"Gytha!?" Charles was equally surprised to see her and rather shocked at her appearance. She was covered in mud, hair greasy and uncombed, clothes torn, cuts and bruises adorned what skin he could see by the light of the torch. "How... where..." he started, but stopped as she embraced him suddenly. "Gytha," he whispered, hugging her back rather awkwardly, feeling a slight lump in his throat and a huge amount of doubt suddenly overwhelming him as he saw first hand the cost of his betrayal.

 

[StarrNico]

Raven heard the two greeting eachother and sighed. She moved back from the door and sat, leaning against the wall. She looked to her bound arms and started working on freeing herself again.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Gomez watched with equal surprise as Gytha embraced Charles. A couple of seconds ago he thought for sure they were going to have to chase her down, and now he was witnessing a rather passionate embrace between the two of them. Humans were so funny, he thought.

Even in the dim light he could see the sudden spurt and guilt and pain reflected in Charles' eyes. The man must have underestimated Gytha's feelings for him, or his ability to mask his own. Either way, Gomez was preparing for quite the show when she found out what was really going on. The relief at escaping the orc camp and seeing a familiar face was going to come to such a grinding, abrupt halt in a matter of seconds-- he could hardly wait.

 

[Frundette]

"Gytha, I'm sorry..." Charles said, breaking away from the hug and hardening his gaze as he realized both Laethros and Gomez were staring at him, judging his reaction. If he wavered or gave them reason to doubt his commitment, he may find himself a 'guest' in the orc camp or worse.

"It's not your fault, I should have never gone out by myself," she replied, misunderstanding his apology.

He nodded over her shoulder to Laethros as he took hold of her upper arms.

"Hold this, will ya," Laethros said to Gomez, handing the orcish creature the torch and pulling out the piece of rope from his pocket that he'd put there upon hearing the two enter the tunnel a few minutes before.

Gytha didn't resist right away, not yet comprehending what was happening, but as Charles slid his hands down her arms until he controlled her elbows and pushed her arms backwards, she looked confused and began to resist, but he easily out muscled her. "What's wrong? What are you doing?" Her voice grew more shrill, more desperate as Laethros began wrapping the rope around her wrists and she felt the hot sting of unbidden tears begin to form in her eyes. "Charles! No... please... why?"

But he only turned his gaze away from hers.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

(Frundette, you're makin' me feel all choked up...

lol)

Gomez took the torch from Laethros and held it so that there was adequate light in the cave for them to see. He was impressed by Charles' commitment to their cause, having been half expecting the man to cave under the pressure of Gytha's feelings. Though not planned to be so, this had turned out to be the ultimate test of his loyalty.

"I'm assuming no introductions need to be made..." Gomez slithered past Gytha, catching her eye. The innocent smile of a mistreated man had vanished from his face, leaving behind a cruel set of cold green eyes which eyed her smugly. The transition was as sharp and sudden as a completely split personality. "I am genuinely sorry to have placed you in this situation, Gytha, but you left me no choice. Naughty, naughty girl you were... trying to escape the orc camp. Tsk tsk... In the interests of our little operation remaining secret, you will be detained here until Aberdeen is but a speck of dust, or you rot. Whichever comes first."

 

[Frundette]

Vorgak trudged along, unconcerned about the falling darkness. He actually preferred hunting in the dark as the orcs often had better night time vision than their prey. He was in a foul temper though and took no care not to leave a trail. In fact, if anything, he was purposefully killing every living thing he touched and squashed small plants into the ground with almost every step.

All of the slaves he had tracked down over the last few weeks, gone! All because the blockheads that had been left guarding the camp couldn't deal with two humans. TWO! By the accounts they'd been able to put together, that was all there had been. One was locked up in the cookhouse, but that did them little good as the other had made off with all their slaves. And to make his mood even worse, they hadn't ever managed to find the human on horseback they'd been tracking earlier.

He wasn't about to give up yet though. The slaves couldn't have gotten that far and would most likely be holed up somewhere for the night. He paused his stride, taking in a deep breath through his nose as he dug in his heel to mutilate a small cedar seedling that dared be in his path. "Smell that?" he asked the others with him, his mood improving immediately. "Humie..."

--

(Awwww... lol)

Gytha's gaze turned to Gomez as Laethros finished binding her wrists. She tried to blink back the tears as he spoke, but could not and she cursed herself for going against her first instincts and allowing herself to trust Gomez. Why? Because he'd showed her a few scars? Stupid, stupid girl!

She opened her mouth, searching for some scathing retort, but no words came.

"Down here, girl," Laethros said, forcing her toward the same room where Raven was being kept. He unbarred and opened the door, then pushed Gytha through. The room was momentarily bathed in light as the torchlight poured in and she caught site of Raven briefly before the door closed again, leaving the girls in the dark, and she could hear the bar being slid back into place.