Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » The Thief and the Fox (1x1 Closed RP)

The merchant waved as he rode away, completely unaware that his chest had been broken into. When he was a good distance away Ophelia emerged from the grass, laughing and carrying Kitsu's clothes as well as her loot. "You really have a terrible sense of style, dear. I liked you better when you dressed more elegantly. Here," she set Kitsu's clothes neatly on the rock and laid out the silk dresses as well. "The spoils. I do say, you play the innocent victim very well. Too well. Even I would've stopped to try and help you."

She kicked sand on the fire and began packing her things. "You're not upset are you? We'll be on the move soon and I really wouldn't want to start things off on the wrong foot."

Kitsu watched as Ophelia approached her, and frowned as she sat her clothes down. She made to strip off the clothes that the man had given her, and put on her own. But she looked to Ophelia in disbelief when she was told that the man had been robbed.

"You stole from someone that was trying to help me? You used me to take his things?!" She was really in disbelief now. After she had tied her furs, and rebraided her hair, she turned, leaving Ophelia there, and making her way down the road. She was a little upset. At the thought of being used, and actually assisting someone in taking things from a man that had been trying to help her.

Normally Ophelia would've let a companion leave. But this one was carrying something she wanted and she was never the type to let someone go until their usefulness has expired. She turned her head away in mock disappointment.

"Fine," she said, mounting her horse, "When I see Fallon at the guild I'll tell him you said hi. And maybe give him a kiss for you... and maybe more. Do you want me to pass on any other sign of affection of to him?"

And Kitsu was immediately back at Ophelia's side. "No! Don't do that," she said, almost flailing. She grabbed Ophelia's leg, and clung to it, almost pleadingly. "Just... please don't use me anymore, for purposes I don't approve of."

She didn't want to be left behind, being this close to finding Fallon. Who knew when she would find someone else, that might be able to lead her to where she was going.

"Use you? Kitsu, you're not a victim. You're my accomplice," she said, offering the girl a hand, "All these silks that I have here are shared between you and me. And if you want anything let me know, maybe I'll put the effort to get it for you."

She kicked and the horse trotted along the path into the forest. After the forest was the city of Corwen. She could pawn off the jewelry and left over silk there and be able to get food fit for a king. Or at least a noble. If thieves were shop owners they'd be working at pawn shops. Her biggest concern was Kitsu, though. What if she ran into this Fallon guy along the way? What'll happen to her blue gem then?

Kitsu was quiet on the ride now, giving a little sigh every now and then. She couldn't help but feel bad that she had helped trick that man into losing his things. But, what could she do now? Hopefully, karma wouldn't come back on her.

Eventually, she would completely dry off, and would be in a much better mood. Soon, she was gazing out at the scenery around her, almost turning around completely once when she caught sight of what she thought to be a person traveling through a set of trees near them. She said nothing to Ophelia though, not really having much to say.

Ophelia hadn't noticed the figure at all and was quite distracted by the scenery around her. Trees as tall as city spires protected the forest floor from the sunlight. The flowing stream along the river created that feeling of serenity that Ophelia appreciated every time she rode through this area.

"You know, they say this place is haunted," Ophelia mused in an attempt to break the silence. "A woman wanders the forest, day and night since the sun can barely penetrate the leaves. Her appearance, they say, is like a snowflake in the distance that gradually looks more human as you approach. Some say she is very beautiful and guides lost travelers safely out of the forest. Others say she's the ghost of a witch who got lost in the woods, herself and her spirit is still searching for her home. And if you get close to her, she'll lock you in a trance and force you to drown yourself in the stream. I believe in the latter. I've seen bodies flow along the stream before. Not a pretty sight."

Of course this was all made up, as far as Ophelia knew. Her story was a combination of different folklore that she had picked up along her travels. "Do you believe in ghosts? I heard that horses and other animals are supposedly 'attuned' to the so-called spirit realm and can see ghosts before us humans can."

After having seen the figure in the woods, and Ophelia's story, Kitsu found herself clinging to the other girl. She had her eyes closed, hoping that whatever had been out there, wasn't planning on attacking them. Especially if it was a murderous witch ghost.

"I believe in ghosts..." she said quietly, and thought back to some times she had seen one. "I've heard that animals can see them too. But, usually they don't see such dangerous ones." She hadn't seen any spirits lately, but she figured that was due to her current state. But then again... what had been in the woods?

She laughed to herself when she felt Kitsu hold on tight to her in fear. She hadn't realized how new of a sensation this was: someone actually depending on her. Though she wasn't so sure about this feeling of responsibility that came along with it. "Aww... Don't worry, Kitsu. I'll keep you safe. If anything we'll probably just run into a bandit or something. And if we do run into a ghost, well, I don't know how to fight them but we got a horse to outrun them."

It was about noon when they crossed a cobblestone bridge that went over the increasingly powerful stream. They were well into the thick of the woods now but so long as they followed the trail, they would be able to reach Corwen by late afternoon.

Kitsu nodded her head against Ophelia's back. "Um... right," she said, daring a peek out into the wilderness around her. There was no sight of that shadow she had seen previously, so she relaxed a little bit.

The sun arced over them slowly, and Kitsu would ask random questions to Ophelia... Like what her favorite food was, or what animal she liked best. She was curious, not knowing exactly how different humans really were from one another. And asking such little random things, always peaked her curiosity.

She answered Kitsu's questions with a grin. Grilled salmon was her favorite. Partly because that's all she had the guts to catch and kill back when her parents kicked her out during her teen years and the flavor just grew on her. Her favorite animal was a fox simply because they lived a similar life to hers: scavenging and stealing. Ophelia went ahead and asked the same from Kitsu. All the while, she thought to herself how nice this all was. She had someone to talk to which made the time it took to traverse through the forest fly by.

It was about mid-afternoon when she passed by landmarks marking that they have gone more than half-way through the forest and, and by then, the stream they had followed had turned into a what would be considered a decent-sized river.

Kitsu had never thought of what her favorite food might be. Though, she had to say it would most likely be smaller animals... but she didn't quite know how to words that without seeming odd. So, she stumbled around her answer for a bit, before she finally answered what her favorite animal might be. She wanted to say a human, because they were so interesting. But, that would have been odd as well. She replied a fox as well, because she could relate well with them, much like Ophelia.

It was quite nice having a conversation with someone, especially when she rarely ever did so. But something ahead, stopped said conversation. A man, dressed in a dark cloak, stood in the middle of the path, attempting to block their way.

So Kitsu liked buzzards and other normal forest critters as food. Nothing too out of the ordinary. Her answers seemed a little disappointing and Ophelia frowned when she didn't get much of a backstory for her choices.

Ophelia was quick to notice the figure up ahead, standing in the middle of the road. Naturally, if anyone was blocking the road, it often meant they were about to be robbed. Ophelia knew this too well and was immediately on her guard when she saw this man. "Can I help you?" she said, bringing the horse to a stop a good distance away from the man. Ophelia could feel something bad was about to happen and she clutched her blade and extended a protective arm between her gem and the stranger. "Remember what we did back on the fork?" Ophelia whispered, "The same thing might happen to us here. Keep your guard up."

She gave a sort of an 'eep' sound before she clung to Ophelia a bit tighter. She didn't want to have any trouble right now; not when things were going so nicely. But, that seemed to be only hope at the moment.

The man raised his head to look at them when he had been addressed, and under the hood, his eyes were glowing a bright green. A very unnatural thing.

"The gem, is all I want," he said, holding his hand out before him. And then Kitsu shuddered, as if she knew what he was talking about, and she clenched the gem around her neck. Though, she had never seen this man before in her life, she just... knew.

Her horse was inexplicably spooked and took a few steps back despite Ophelia handling the reigns. When she saw the green eyes, she too, felt a chill run down her spine and was more aware of how tightly Kitsu was holding on to her.

"Gem? What gem?" Ophelia asked, her eyes shifting left and right. Was he alone? Surely he wasn't thinking of taking on the two of them by himself. "Listen, I have no idea what you're talking about so if you don't mind we have to get going..."

She kicked at her horse to move but it refused to even get close to the man. C'mon, she thought, at least go around him.

"I'm not foolish," he said, rather harshly as he raised his hands. "The old man had it last, but lost it. And here, I have tracked it to that... creature..." His have gave a slight glow of faded green, and dancing green flames rose around the horse, doing their best to scare the horse into rearing or bucking. And then he would wait for the perfect moment to strike.

But Kitsu had heard his words, and had become somewhat curious. Had he seen the old man, and Fallon? And if he had... did he hurt them?

Creature? Did he mean the horse? Surely it was nothing special other than the fact that she stole it from a supposed black knight who had a thing donning anything black. "My horse doesn't have anything of value-" The flames surrounded them. What was this guy? Some kind of powerful wizard?

"Stop, you stupid horse!" she said, pulling harder on the reigns. This inadvertently caused the horse to rear back, knocking Ophelia off the horse. With no one to pull on the reigns their only means of transportation takes off the opposite way, back into the dense forest.

She scrambled to her feet, drawing her blade and checking to see if Kitsu was okay. It then hit her that the man was referring to her and the gem. "Creature? Surely he can't be talking about you, is he?"

When the horse reared, Kitsu fell with a heavy thud. She winced a moment, before looking at the flames around her. She looked up to Ophelia when she spoke to her, but didn't reply. Creature was probably the correct term, but she didn't want to bring that up now.

The man infront of them, raised his hands to them, sending large green flames right at them. Kitsu ripped the gem from her neck, the string that had been holding it falling to the ground, and now the gem was glowing a bright blue, floating just above her palm. She threw out her hand, and the gem crossed in front of them both, bringing up a light blue barrier that would absorb the flames cast at them before fading away.

"Now, now... I want that gem. It has a countless number of souls in that gem," the man said, his eyes flaring green mists. He started approaching them.

Ophelia shielded herself, feeling the intense heat of the flames but receiving none of the burns. When she peeked out, she saw the blue orb and the way Kitsu controlled it. This was all very confusing now and she could do nothing but gawp at what was happening.

The mention of souls only raised more questions about the gem and she slowly began to understand the gist of what was happening. "Kitsu," she said, gripping her blade more tightly, "I'm glad you managed to block all that but please tell me you have something else up your sleeve. Maybe some way to actually kill him? Because I sure as hell ain't going to fight him alone like this."

She looked to Ophelia, trying to think of something she might have up her sleeve. But the man was approaching quickly, and nothing was coming to her mind. She had never had to use her abilities before now, and she was drawing a blank on what would work best in this fight.

Her gem began glowing once more, and she threw each hand out, and fire shot from the orb in front of her repeatedly. They seemed to hone in on the man, who merely raised his hands and shrugged them off.

"You don't even know what you have there, do you?" he smirked, and continued to hold his hand out.

Kitsu began stumbling, as the earth beneath her began to quake. A solid piece of rock shot up, knocking her back into the air. She landed with a grunt in the grass, sliding back a little ways.

"Do you encourage her? I should make sure to destroy you as well," he said, looking at Ophelia, the earth beginning to quake beneath her as well.