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Sticky was a word for that night in the modest township of Gladdale. The cobbled streets glistened with the spray from a brief but rude rain, and the air felt heavy with the warm early summer humidity. It could have been enough for decent and simple folk to remain indoors, but at the Lonely Stable tavern (a not so modest place) the place was filled with all the energy lost during the day's gloomy weather, where men and well-endowed ladies sassed and laughed away. Drinks, both lost and enjoyed added more stickiness, but didn't seem to bother any of the party goers.

Only one stood out. A person with high patience or tolerance to wear a thick, gilded hood seemed to be detached from the rest. Two, small hands held the chilled pewter mug quietly, while studying a very small, tattered, single sheet of brown paper.

Three pairs of eyes watched the solitary drinker from the main bar. In the mess of cheering men, toasts, and drunken outbursts, their pink faces blended in with the merriment, unless your tolerance to the local brew was higher than others...

Beau sat alone, nearest the furthest corner of the packed bar-table. He had just finished his first ale, placing the large mug down onto the splintered wooden tabletop with a muted thump. The liquor began to creep up on him, causing a haze to fill his normally acute eyes -- but he was far from incoherent. It was a trait that seemed to follow the blonde wherever he went, regardless of his sobriety; his posture and mannerisms would lead one to assume he was lazy at best, and dimwitted at worst. Of course his speech impediment only solidified such judgements -- it was safe to say Beau was used to analyzing his surroundings quietly while being taken for a fool.

And such was the case tonight, as he relaxed onto his elbows and leaned over the table in a look of pure nonchalance. In truth, he was sizing the place up -- watching the more hedonistic of the townsfolk drink and be merry with quiet mirth. He noticed someone else seated by their lonesome as well, away from the bustling crowds of dancers and drunkards just like himself.

"This makes no sense." Kitty mumbled. Frustrated, with more than just the paper she had been staring at, she threw back the hood at last and wiped her face with a groan. If only wizards and scholars were not so insistent on being as vague as possible. It did not matter if their literary skills would make them appear more intelligent than the average reader. Nay, it only seemed to make other wizards more angry with how indirect they had written their message. And the one message the fair haired Kitty wanted was as vague as they came.

"Enjoying your drink my lady?"

Her eyes shot up at a man that had approached the table. She had not noticed him in her defeat, but did not fail to notice how tall he was.

"I was enjoying my drink." she said quickly, swiping the paper into her satchel.

The grizzled man chuckled with a burp mixed in. "Dont be like that, everyone here is a friend of a friend, and if you're not a friend of ours you'll be one yet." He gestured his drink to the crowd, where several cheered and two similarly tall men waved on their way out of the door.

Kitty's eyes steeled. "If I had wanted the company of the tavern I would have invited myself to join the bar."

"And you still can! Someone invite the lady for a drink!" the man roared, where the tavern cried out in agreement, pink hands and sweaty faces urged her to come over. Some stood up to personally escort her, but the lady seemed only disgusted.

"Excuse me." and with that, the lady tugged her hood down, and made her way for the door. As she left, the tavern booed and laughed at her quickness to leave. Kitty shouldn't have gone to a tavern to relax in, a foolish idea that was! The man who had met her stood still. Quiet, watching her with glistening eyes as she left the tavern. He did not follow her, but clearly, he looked like he didn't need to.

Beau couldn't help but the smirk at the woman's fierce quips, his full attention on the scene before him until the stranger quickly exited the tavern. He ignored the boos and mocking laughter, instead shifting his eyes on the solemn looking man now left alone. He seemed -- pensive, all of a sudden. Surely a facial expression not seen in most drunkards that had just been jolly a few seconds prior.

Silently Beau paid for his drink, leaving a few coins on the table before walking out of the humid space. He needed some fresh air, and the noise of jeers and shrieking laughter was beginning to give him a headache.

The two men who had waved earlier were standing outside, and in the night's shadows their forms turned from merry gentlemen to two clear, merenaries. Tough, and armed. They had left early, with their friend to push the lady out of the bar to give them a chance to catch her.

"Sixteen hundred Garlands." one whispered with crooked teeth.

Kitty rushed out of the tavern, and gave her cloak a sharp tug. Why had she decided to go to a tavern to rest? It had been such a-

The rough brush of a leather sack over her head caught a yelp before she was yanked forcefully into an alley. Tiny Kitty kicked and growled, scratched and scrambled but the enormous arms of the badly toothed scoundral had her her neck tightly gripped under his enormous arm. With a laugh he easily lifted her feet off the ground.

"Such a big price for such an easy grab." the darker man laughed. "Lets go, only alive."

A hand fell to her face, completely muffling her sound now. She felt herself being taken away, and her kicking only intensified. No magic. No magic! You've got this!....Curses! No!

Beau was now outside of the noisy pub, whistling an old tune as he staggered through the empty streets. One could hear a pin drop outside, which is exactly why the blonde's ear twitched at the muffled squeal of a -- was it a cry?

His whistling stopped midway through, as Beau's full attention was grabbed towards a particularly deserted alley. More shuffles could be heard in the dark, causing the young man to pick up his leisurely pace. Seconds later he found himself in the center of the cobbled aisle, taking in the sight of two men capturing a poor soul.

He couldn't stop himself, couldn't reign in his voice for the life of him. Before rationality could set in as to decide a turn of action, Beau already heard his own voice jolt from out of his throat as all eyes turned to him.

"Oy!"

Kitty froze. The men had stopped too, their attention caught by the stranger at the mouth of the alley. In that brief moment her boot slammed into likely the most "gentle" part of the mercenary that held her. A groan escaped, but not Kitty. She howled under the bag but the man managed to keep a tight hold.

No magic. NO magic!

A wizard she might be, but the men knew she was no ordinary one. They were not wearing magic sealed gloves, no enchantments of any kind. They knew that she was the only wizard with a bounty that liked to not use magic. She might as well be any ordinary citizen or mythican.

"Can we help you, Stranger?" the badly toothed one grinned.

Beau fiddled with the handle of the knife-holder secured around his leg, thankful the action was hidden in the shadows of the alley. It'd take a fool not to notice what was going on before him, even more so with the captured squaring a foot right into one of the brute's groins -- but Beau played innocent for as long as he could. With two-on-one it was best not to dive straight into a fight without at least thinking up a plan before hand, if time allowed. But it looked as though time was of the essence.

"Y-You can he-h-h --" he cursed under his breath at the involuntary block, paying no heed to the snickers from the men at his obvious flaw. After a sharp intake of breath through the nose Beau began again, "h-help me by enl-l-lightenin' me 'bout what're d-doin'."

The men had started with snickers, but that quickly rose into full out laughter. Kitty couldn't see who it was who had intervened, but his stuttering made her heart sink. Whomever that poor soul was, he sounded nervous!

"This here Lady has a bounty on her head." The gruffer one chuckled. He held no fear of Beau, so telling him of their plans seemed harmless. Granted the two men only had a pair of short knives themselves, swords were still at the guard post. But they were tall and outnumbered the stranger, and so they both felt stronger. "Do not fear, she needs to be taken alive. The Seven just need to have a talk with her."

The toothed hunter yanked the cover off of Kitty's face. Her eyes flashed with rage at him, and attempted to throw her whole body into the struggle, but the painful tug to her hair held her down.

"So if you dont mind, we'll be getting on our way, unless you want to help us. Bet the wizards wouldn't mind paying extra for the effort."

"...Extra, eh?" Beau spoke lowly, but loud enough for all ears to hear. "T-Times' hard. Temptin' a m-man with money in this d-day'n age -- it's hard to turn down s-such an offer." He could see the eyes of the man on him, as well as the woman's, but he made sure to ignore hers all-together. This needed to be convincing, and he couldn't allow a hint of empathy to seep out.

"How shall I be of ser-service?" he asked with a grin, stepping closer and out of the shadows to gain the thugs' trust. He was only feet away from them now, able to see the sweat on their brow and jagged features.

The stuttering seemed to have an effective influence on the two men. They quickly considered him even less of a threat, and with the way Kitty was fighting it was easy to think so.

Raging blues flared at Beau, now wanting to kick him as well as the two men! Curse you!

The poorly toothed one grinned. "Thats what we like to hear, you can get us some horses." he threw a small, but heavy leather sack at him. "We have quite a distance to go after all. You can accomplish that right?"

"Wait, we need to bind her first. I cant stand her kicking any longer." the other grunted, and looked at Beau, with a brief look of caution, to help him. "Grab the rope on my belt." he said to Beau as Kitty aimed vicious kicks at Beau.

"A'course." Beau nodded, narrowly escaping a kick aimed for his chest as he knelt over to grab the rope. It was an opportunity to strike that wouldn't come again.

In a flash his knife was out, and the stunned mercenary hadn't even a moment to gasp before he was gutted in the liver. Beau tore through the man's gullet in a horizontal line, the splash of his entrails hitting the cobblestone road being the first and only indication that something had gone horrible wrong -- for the brutes, at least.

The other spun around, but was a second too late. The millisecond he spent looking at his fallen partner was the reason for his demise, as Beau's knife slide across the man's throat with frightening ease. Both bodies laid slumped together in the alley, like meat to the slaughter.

Kitty fell into the now wet alley. Her hands and arms were sticky with blood and entrails, and her long, silky blue dress had rotted. All of this she did not notice. Her eyes and attention was at Beau, in a terrified, shocked face.

The execution of her captors was done with perfection, his chosen targets, the liver, the throat, expertly completed. An assassin? She would never have thought the Seven would resort to such trickery. Granted what paper she had stolen was in fact precious, but even then the Wizards were known to be too cheap to hire an assassin. Mercenaries were cheap, but not assassins.

At last, as she finally caught her quivering breath, she now observed where she was. In addition to the blood, and sweat that now caked her body, the danger the either savior, or assassin surrounded her.

"If...if you swear not to harm me, I-I wont resist being taken back to the Seven." she said quietly.

Beau watched the woman drop as he wiped off the blood with the side of his pant's leg. Honestly, he was happy the damsel hadn't began shrieking at the top of her lungs -- her stunned expression was troubling, but it could've been worse for him at least.

"I've... -- I-I've n-no intention of t-t-taking you an-anywhere." he struggled out, his face contorting slightly with each halt in the sentence. "I d-doubt these were the only men sent after you. Y-Y-You should flee."

Kitty still couldn't keep herself from looking at him, stutter or not. "You.." her heart dipped when she saw the crimson blade, and quickly looked away. "You, dont? But, those men.." Kitty began to wipe her hands on the hem of her cloak. Slowly. Her hands were shaking too much.

Flee? She stood quickly, but stopped. She had a harsh journey to take and he was right, those two men would not be the only ones sent to catch her. Despite how well she had successfully traveled, there would be more. There might even eventually be real assassins, not just one on a break.

An idea had come to her, but footsteps in one of the streets nearby caught her attention.

"I think we, should flee. Come with me." she grabbed his arm.

Beau stiffened at the touch for only a moment, before his legs followed behind the stranger's in similar pace. He knew he had to stay hidden -- it wasn't long before the bodies of the men would claim the attention of someone stumbling home from the saloon -- but he hadn't fathomed running with the girl.

"A-And wh-where exactly are we fleeing t-t-to?" he asked with subtle wryness to his tone, not yet having decided whether to ditch the woman completely.

Calm down, calm down. She had to calm herself down, think about what to do next. She had blood on her, needed to get out of that small village, and do so soon before the authorities question the tavern nearby. Good thing she didn't have to resort to magic, its significantly more easy to track than bandits.

Shouting and the chatter of people began to fill the streets behind them. Soon they would start searching.

Kitty took the satchel from Baeu with a smile. "Well, first, we have to buy some horses dont we?" she said with a gleam in her eyes. And with that, she took off running to the stables.

Beau chased after her -- but why, he did not know. He could've easily ran the opposite direction, especially since going their separate ways would make it all the harder for any trackers to find them. And yet he ran, following the mysterious woman towards the stables. It wasn't his first time fleeing a town and it would most likely not be his last; but running with a 'partner' was a new occurrence entirely.

"Why were those m-men a-a-a-after you?" Beau posed quietly once they had reached the stable gates. "If I-I'm to esc-scape with you I'd at least like t-t-to know why there's a-a r-r-ransom on your head -- a-and your name." The latter was added almost playfully, somewhat out of place for the morbid happenings of the night.

Kitty threw on her hood when she reached the stables. A stable boy was asleep in the corner with a sword and horn resting on his lap. She spotted a canteen on a barrel beside him and after a quick wave in front of his face she was reassured that he was out. Depositing some of the gold coins next to the canteen, Kitty raced for the reins to one of the horses.

Only after leading her chestnut horse out did she answer Beau. "You dont have to come with me. But I will make it worth your while if you do." Kitty said, shaking not the coins, but her bag. "If you do come, I'll tell you everything you want to know. Name and all."