Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Featherweight [1x1 Closed]

Luella thought for a moment at the question. Indeed, she'd given up on being able to larcen anything of real value. She was just too small to hold anything. Besides... Where would she put it? She changed the location of "home" frequently. She couldn't have too many possessions.

Still...

That didn't stop her from wishing. "I think it's beautiful," she sighed. "But... I haven't a clue how to solve it. What do you want to do with it?"

The thief's head cocked to the side at the question, the word 'plan' being forum to his vocabulary but to how he planned to procure any other object to his possession, or acquiring a meal three times a day. Eyeing the ball speculatively, silent for a moment, he shrugs, "Usually, I'd go off to sell it elsewhere for whatever it is worth, and then spend a night on the town to enjoy myself...but I think I'll keep this one..."

His gaze floated back over to the face of the fairy, smiling slightly, his focus changing from object to her.

"...she's a beauty, and she'll be fun."

"Aye... She is a beauty, inn'she?" Luella hadn't taken her eyes off the orb while he spoke. It was only until a moment later that she even noticed he was looking at her.

The approach of numerous metal footfalls made the little Luella a bit anxious. Certainly, the cover of the canopy was enough to keep them safe from view... Hell, no one seemed to react to their earlier debacle in the branches. But she couldn't help but feel the need to get somewhere a bit... Less precarious. "Er... Brockton... What are... What are you going to do right now?" She inched a bit closer to him, worry in her voice.

"Well, with how close those guards are...nothing. It would be very unwise for me, at least, to hop out of this tree. You are a bit more fortunate in this situation...I will be waiting until sunfall before I move," He peers off to the side, eyes searching for the sun through the leaves. Squinting, it appeared to him that the sun was just above the edge of the horizon, to which he exhaled a slight sigh of relief, "...I can leave quietly when it gets dark and those in the marketplace leave. But, if I am discovered with that orb...I'll have a much less quiet exit."

Below them, a skinny hooded figure was brashly forced against the tree by one of the guards to allow them to search him, creating enough force to rock them slightly. His eyes went wide as the golden sphere wobbled and moved past the balance point, and in a desperate attempt to save ball and his hiding spot, he curls forward and down quickly to catch it just before it left the reach of his fingertips. Bent unsteady at the waist, just barely hanging onto the branch beneath him, he stared down with wide eyes, holding his breath in case they had heard him. He waited, strained and frozen, not daring to move a muscle.

Luella had to cover her mouth with her hands to keep from gasping. Her body shivered for a moment in fear. She immediately zipped over to Brockton's face, hiding herself on his shoulder, up against his neck. She had to hold her breath while she looked down.

Had it not been for the person against the tree, the pair of thieves would have remained hidden. Unfortunately, the figure looked up. Which, of course, made the guard look up.

"C-Captain! He's here!" The guard seemed weak in his knees as he pointed up towards Brockton. Luella swore under her breath and tried to hide under his collar. Looked like they were about to get moving.

Brockton didn't even notice Luella tuck his collar as he cursed aloud, realizing that the guard had seen the lower half of his Golden Snitch. Quickly looking around, he searched for the fairy, but she was entirely out of sight, and he assumed she had flew off without him. His time quickly wearing thin, he made for drastic measures, clambering up several branches before making a running jump off of the highest supportive extension. Launching himself in the air, he took a ten foot drop onto the edge of the stone wall that outlined the city, to which his lack of coordination in that instant caused his legs to buckle and him to tumble off -- surprisingly, none of his bones had broken. He attempts to catch himself by his hand, but his fingers slip immediately, only slowing his descent by sending him tumbling. Brockton relaxes his body as he landed feet first, falling to the side. A severe pop and crack was heard, and he cried out as, miraculously, he only dislocated his left arm and broke his humerus.

Brockton blacked out for several seconds, only just waking up in time as several guards made it to the outside of the walls. Confused and disoriented, he stared blankly from his laid out position on the ground at the enraged men sprinting towards him. Someone or something needed to knock sense into him fast.

Luella held tight to Brockton's collar, her body tense. His jump onto the wall absolutely terrified her; his fall, pushing her to scream. Her hiding place was coming crashing down to the ground.

Luella quickly jumped away, catching herself in the air with her wings. She winced when she heard him hit the ground. That HAD to have hurt. She immediately flew back to his collar, at least to keep his injury covered. However... He wasn't getting up.

"Brockton..?" She couldn't believe it. That fall was enough to knock him out. "Brockton, you idiot! Get on your feet, you don't have time for this!" Her head snapped to the side, only to see the worst. The guards were already within view.

Without a moment to lose, Luella flew directly onto his face. She slapped his cheek with her hands, tugged on the edges of his nose and lip, all just trying to get his attention. "Brockton, you ass, wake the hell up!"

"Fffffffffffffffff..." He plants his teeth behind his lips and blows out hair harshly in his half minded state as his lips were pulled against. Brockton noticed an odd stinging in his cheek and stretching of his nose? "What is goin'..." His eyes finally gain focus, unfortunately, on the legion of guards that were careening towards him, and he went tense all over. Quickly trying to move his arms under him, he finds his left arm useless as a surge of new found pain shut up from his elbow to his shoulder, and radiating to his back, leaving the appendage entirely useless. "Ack..." He clambers onto his feet with his other arm, and with nothing else in mind, he runs as hard and as fast as he could, much faster than any of the pursuing guards despite his ailments, towards a very thickly wooded forest.

Brockton would continue running until he was met with absolute exhaustion, collapsing on the side of a river bank, allowing himself to plop down face first into the grass.

Luella hid under Brockton's chin while he was coming to, only because hands usually wipe away things that bother faces. She was happy to see her poking and prodding got the attention he needed to get away, and just barely in time to make another escape. With no time to lose, Luella tucked herself into the front of his shirt, barely holding on while he sprinted away.

After a moment of running, Luella tried to crawl towards his shoulder once more--this time towards the uninjured or the two. She peered over to see the persuers, and more than glad to see them falling behind.

By the time Brockton had finally collapsed, Luella was still worried they weren't completely safe yet. She flew back the way they'd came, and after only a minute she could see the guard still on their tail. Brockton was out in the open... He'd be found if they kept on their path.

Think think think... There must be something to do to get them off the trail. What could she do? Luella was hardly distracting in and of herself. Even if she flew in their faces, they might not even notice her. She looked at her surroundings... There had to be /something/...

It was then she noticed a dead branch, nearly falling off a tree. It was perfect! She flew to it, standing directly on the sinews that barely held the dead thing onto its host. She rose into the air, slamming down onto the threads of bark with all her might, at last making it fall to the ground with a loud crash.

"Men, this way!" The sound of the guard captain made Luella's ears perk up. She was sitting on top of the log now planted on the ground. The guards, previously headed towards the riverbank, now were passing by her, headed deeper into the forest. They'd taken the fallen branch as a cue to where their thief had run off to.

With a sigh, Luella finally lifted herself in the air, now certain Brockton's location was not to be found out for a while. She returned to his side, landing beside his face. "Oh, you pompous fool... Look what you've gotten yourself into," she said with a grin, glad at least to hear him breathing. With him lying on his front, she noticed his injury was not elevated. She took what she could of his jacket and clumped the cloth up underneath him, if only to raise his shoulder a bit. She rest herself beside it, to help push his shoulder up a bit more. At last, a moment to rest.

Brockton had given up hope in that moment with the sound of the guards still at his tail, still approaching with their own energy more efficiently spent in trying to chase him. They had known he would tire eventually, especially with his injuries. Defeated, he laid still and closed his eyes, fully expecting to be overtaken within moments and thrown in jail for years on end, tortured, and perhaps even killed...but then, gradually, their sound seemed to grow more and more faint after an ugly crack and distant thump deeper in the woods. Lying in pure disbelief, he is taken by surprise at Luella's new forthcoming.

"Luella, what...ah..." He groans as she propped up his arm and shoulder the small amount that she did, face contorting from the agony that he was experiencing. Slowly, the pain came to subside, despite his arm still laying disconnected from his own shoulder socket. "ah...god... where have you been? Ow..."

Brockton falls silent for a few moments, just staring at Luella. His opened mouthed pained expression holds, but he exhales a sigh, lowering his forehead to plant into the grass, "Good...good...she's alive..."

"Shhh, shh... Easy now. Without a doubt you've broken something, or at least completely dislocated your shoulder." She gently pet him on his injury to keep him from moving.

"Where have I been? I've been off saving your sorry ass, that's where I've been. Those guards were going to catch right on up to you. Luckily I led them on a wild goose chase through the forest... Only gets thicker from there. Even if they split up, I doubt they'll be headed back here anytime soon... You shoulda seen the loo--" she stopped. Brockton was in no fit shape to hear her rambling.

"I'm, uh, glad to see you're gonna be okay. Just, uhm. Let that shoulder of yours rest." She lay herself down on the grass, having to push the blades away to keep herself in view. With a sigh, she turned towards his face, and offered a gentle smile.

"Mmph, thanks for the diagnosis, doctor wings..." He spoke with his face in the grass, his less than courteous sarcasm a mark of his obvious discomfort, looking upwards to eye her through the grass. His nose and lips would be out of view for the most part, and his voice would be slightly muffled. "Nice to know the thieving fairy is also a medic, dear," He speaks again, but he was grinning, and it could be heard in his voice.

Staring at her in his own silence for a time, he breathed deeply in and out on the grass, taking in the extra air necessary for his next move on himself. Locking his eyes with her own, he rolled to the left slightly, pushing his weight against his arm. Wincing considerably, he whimpered, pressing further and further as he rolled around on the joint. Relaxing away from it for a moment, he shut his eyes tight and grit his teeth, taking a big breath before he pressed his shoulder forward, rolled hard to the left, and then pulled back with a critical force. A sickening grinding and pop could be heard, and a moment later, his teeth were in the grass as he was crying out within his mouth. At the cost of resetting his shoulder, his pain had been great, "Hell, Luella! ****ing...****! Why aren't you one of those magical healing faeries?"

Luella yelped and jumped back behind a rock. His swearing and yelling was, of course, justified. And it was obvious it wasn't directed at her, really... But that didn't change her gut reaction to hide from the person who was angry.

After a moment, she peeked over the edge. "I'm... I'm sorry. I was never... Really good at Magic..." She said meekly. "And I'm not really a medic, either..." She hid herself again. Her current fear was clearly making it hard to catch his sarcasm.

Heavy and pained breathing slowly ebbed into a prolonged groan, accented with a few harsh coughs into the grass. He spits to the side, expunging saliva, dirt, and green stuffs out into the open. His face, now pointed outwards, was in a tight cringe that was slowly fading, still breathing deeply out towards the river bank. Brockton dug his fingers into the cool earth to try and take a grasp for something, finding the feeling of being able to use his fingers properly again to be relieving.

After a minute of silence and collecting himself, the human sighed, releasing his grip from the Earth and lifting up his head with a slack jaw and a bit of drool streaking down from the corner of his lip. Blinking a few times and focusing on the trembling sprite before him, he brought his lips together, swallowing the welled up saliva. Taking a deep breath, he rolls to the right, flopping his sweaty, bloody, and beaten body onto his back. Wincing as his arms and legs shift around a bit, he eyes Luella, now upside down.

"Hey there...thanks for saving my life."

Her ears perked up. Just hearing that he wasn't angry with her eased her. She peeked back over the rock, looking at his upside-down face. "You're... You're welcome." She said hesitantly, then smiled.

She picked herself up and flew herself over to the human's chest, landing carefully on top of him. This way he could look at her right-side-up. "So... What should we do? It wouldn't be wise to stay here long." She sat herself down gently. "They'll probably come back this way at some point... And your shoulder needs to be taken care of."

He puts forth effort to tilt his head up to look at her, feeling the weight of her body that dwarfed in comparison to his. For a reason he couldn't quite conceive, he felt a peculiar comfort in having her using his chest to sit on and speak with him...of course, her size made this no burden. The way she sat down softly, placing herself down with a light grace, brought a smile to his lips and favor for her in his eyes. But, with her more than reasonable advice, he groans again and sets his head back down in the grass.

"Gods...always pushing me around, Luella. Always..." He grumbles, forcing himself to sit up, bringing his good arm under his head to catch the fairy before she'd be launched around. Eventually, he managed to get his feet under him, and while strongly favoring his left leg on the way up, Brockton manages to stand straight. Taking a deep breath, he is holding Luella in his head, looking down at her, "You're probably right. Cross stream to slow them?"

When Luella felt herself being held in a hand, she knew that meant to hold tight. After spending time with human folks, she'd been held at least once or twice, of course.

"That sounds like a good idea." She said with a smile. She wrapped her arms around his thumb and looked up at his scruffy face. "So, eh, where we headed off to, though? Got a place to call home?"

"We?" He blinks a few times, the thought of having any traveling companion striking him as foreign, a concept he had never truly pondered before. He takes a step forward onto his bad leg and falters, nearly falling over, catching himself and only regaining his posture right before he would have tumbled into the stream. His adrenaline had kept him running before, but the pain was much greater now.

"The world's my home, tiny. I stay anywhere, and everywhere...home is anywhere I can stay dry and eat without being interrupted. Now...you're going...you'll need to fly over the river yourself. I'll be going underwater before I get out..." He furthers himself towards the river, doing his best to ignore the pain as he limps, cursing under his breath as he went. Coming over the river, he brings himself down to sit at the side of the river, gritting his teeth. Brockton starts to remove his boots, then socks, stuffing them into the boots. He winds back with his good arm and chucks one after the other to send them to the other side of the river, both landing just a few feet past its edge to sit in the grass.

Luella gasped when she saw Brockton start to tumble. Out of fear, she flew down to his chest and pushed on him, as if any of her strength could help him stand back to regaining his balance.

"... Yes, we! Look at you! You're badly injured. You've got no business going it on your own right now. I may be small... and not able to help in a lot of ways... but I just wouldn't feel right leaving you like this." Luella flew to the top of his head, holding gently to a few locks of hair. "I'm not letting you cross alone, even if it means I have to fly directly over you." Goodness... How silly she must have sounded. She only wanted to make sure he crossed safely. But in reality, it was only her reassurances that she was helping.

Brockton's eyes flicked upwards, trying to eye the woman who had just made claim to her being his new company...but he he hardly had an argument to put up against her. He pushed his lower lip outwards and them blew up, clearing his vision of some of the hair that had removed itself from his lazy hair bind, and possibly blowing some air into Luella's face.

"I've never had anyone with me before. Never thought to have anyone...never needed anyone," He states, gritting his teeth at the end as was removing his pants, "I hope you don't mind, but the way...not that I actually care. I'd like to stay warm after I get out of the river, and wet clothing is not how I'll get that."

It was springtime, and water from mountains above was flowing from melting ice caps, only adding to how cold it would be for him. He removed his pants and his bandolier, shooed the fairy off his head so she wouldn't get stuck in his shirt, and then stripped off his bandolier, jacket, and undershirt. On display to her would be a pointed silver and ruby pendant hanging from his neck and a wide masculine torso complete with a well defined musculature across arms, shoulders, chest, and abdominals. Body hair accented his form: heavy on his chest, lightly sprinkled below his pectoral and above his abdomen, and then increasingly darker as one would look down to his still covered nether region. The man finishes up by eyeing Luella if she had not climbed back on, lifting his clothing over his head, and then finally sliding into the river.