⌘ Common ⌘ Rakahi ⌘ Euthic Sign ⌘ Grovokian ⌘
26th of Zi'da, 712The night was falling and it was getting bloody cold - the perfect time for an ambush in her opinion, even if she couldn't stop shivering in her furs. The Naerikk had worked hard, finding a large branch and dragging it to the middle of the road. Besides it being heavy and difficult to move, she had to find one large enough to make a traveler stop, and with luck, that was exactly what she did. More than once Navyri eyed her handiwork, hoping it looked natural and tried to simultaneously fuss over hiding her snowy footprints and the deep rivets that showed it had been dragged. She did her best to try and clamber among the tree tops, but she was gloveless and her fingers ached and had turned a bright red as they scraped against the frozen bark. It would have been useless anyway, she reasoned. Afterall, without the cover of leaves, a vantage point was nice, but it exposed her for all to see. Instead, she settled behind the base of a tree and gave three, short and sharp whistles that pierced the air. Bits of silence and then - a brown and white owl called back, and she faintly saw it outlined in the sky as it circled and moved above.
Curio. From his vantage point, he could scout for quite some distance and she hoped that would allow them to spot any carriages coming down the dirt path. After all, he was her faithful companion who never drew any suspicion... Well, usually. There were those few incidents in the inn and-
Curio gave a shriek and changed his flight patterns and her breath caught. It was time. She straightened her back and pressed against the tree, aligning her own shadow with those being cast around her. All she needed was the merchant to stop long enough to strike.
Snow crunched and she heard the faithful clip-clop of horse hooves and the creaking of an old wagon. It wasn't very loud, which was good. She listened harder... One horse? A lone traveler perhaps? Even better, although it meant to loot would be far less.
Like a perfect series of events, the carriage came around the bend and sitting atop, with a blanket draped over his lap, was a round man with a flat cap and bushy mustache. He appeared older, perhaps fifties, and called for the horse to slow. She watched him look at the forest and she leaned into the tree, only one blue eye watching him. Cautious, he had no choice but to cast the warmth away and hobble into the road. He grunted as he climbed down and patted the side of the horse's neck affectionately as he moved to the obstacle.
Navyri's fingers wrapped around the hilt of one of her tamo daggers and began looking for his coin purse. Her boots crushed snow openly now, and the man's back stiffened, "I thought this a trap. A poorly executed one, but-" The man had been straightening back up and turned at the sound of her approaching, and stopped short at seeing her. From his expression, it was clear he had not been expecting a young woman, nor one with the same appearance.
"Hello," she greeted smoothly, offering a small smile, "It seems you've come into quite the predicament."
He knew not to trust her, and he took a step back. Good man, "What do you want? Money? I don't have any."
"Easy, friend. We can discuss payment later..." she moved around the horse, looking at it distrustfully and then waved to the small carriage, "What's inside?" When he said nothing -- and she could tell he was mentally deciding whether or not he could, or would, fight her -- she continued her descent, "Allow me to introduce myself. I can see you're wary of strangers."
She pulled her dagger free, the steel emerging from her cloak, "I am a Naerikk," she watched his expression, the recognition, carefully. Oh, it was so sweet to have your race be so renowned (or feared), "And the night is falling. Do you know what happens at night?"
Navyri smiled, and could see the fear begin to creep into his eyes, "I don't want... much. You know, I'm even feeling generous. Leave your things, and I'll let you take your horse." She waved to the beast. It was what? 8 years? 5? That was a healthy, sturdy animal still. He could feed a family with such a gift.
She continued to prey on his fears, "You can't run from shadows, after all. You should really take my offer, as I won't offer another deal. I get what you have, and you live with interest. Simple, really. But-" The dark haired beauty waved her knife around carefully, pretending the cold wasn't biting at her hands, "Go to town, and tell guards about this encounter... Well, you better keep running, because I will hunt you and your kin from this day, until my last. Do you understand me?"
The rest of their encounter was insignificant to her. He was shaking, either from fear or cold, she couldn't tell, but he read her bluffs just as she had intended. With bumbling hands, he cut his horse loose and was off, leaving Navyri to sing a soft tune, yanking the blanket from the front seat and throwing it over her shoulders as she meandered to the back of the carriage and pulled the tent flap back to expose two chests and a barrel of provisions.
Navyri smiled and began to rummage in her new treasures, captivated and far too pleased to hear the footsteps of another. That was perhaps her first mistake.
. She is definetly looking sharp for daddy delroth, jewel grabbing, thieving and running off into the night with wid dem rings woo get it girl. These are the things that really do pull a great story together.