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He would stop breathing for a moment, his body still. The twitching would stop, and his hands uncurled. It felt like he was trapped in his own nightmare. Awake, but still stuck in this ‘dream’. Weak but believing he could fight no matter the pain.

He was clearly stubborn and wrong.

Fortunately, he gained his breath back for a moment. Lightly, he would inhale and exhale sharply, struggling to get oxygen.

Ember thought the white-haired man's breathing had increase and very small movement coming from him, drawing her full attention for a couple of seconds. She had seen it before and it never ended in reunion. With no knowledge of healing she wouldn't be much help...but it was better than letting him die. So with another quick glance around and a number of tentative strides forward, Ember took a knee beside him and thought about what to do.

The tips of Lief’s fingers would twitch ever-so-slightly, signaling he was still alive. Even if it meant barely.

His thoughts were jumbled, and his memories were flying past like a hurl of wind from a hurricane. One moment, his feet had hit the ground, laughter ringing throughout the air as he clumsily stumbled over his sibling as he leapt over the tall grasses of his parents' old farmhouse, and the next, he was sneaking through the village, swiping a loaf of bread from one stand and a few coins from a man's pouch before darting to his alleyway- his new home, as he used to call it. He had been banished from the farm for cursing at his step-mother, kicked to the streets with no hesitation. He figured his parents could care less about him, so he turned his life down a new path and started from scratch, making everyone's life miserable as long as he was in it.

Lief picked up the habit of lying before stealing, and stealing before killing. The vision hit him like a brick, and he vividly remembered making a foolish deal with the Lord of the village a couple years down the road. He became a guard-in-training, playing a dim witted act before he found himself lighting a match and tossing it into the Lord's room. Before fleeing, he had stolen the crown and a handful of jewels, only to be thrown into a cell and living among the rats later on.

Years in the future, his memory returned to a few hours ago, when he had first stepped into the loud, obnoxious bar in hopes of a few drinks and maybe a conversation or two. He wasn't expecting to nearly come face-to-face with Death multiple times, let alone fall unconscious plenty more times than he could count.

Then, here he was.

Lief was facing the darkness of Death's punishments, losing his life piece by piece.

Ember sighed in frustration, not thinking properly, but took back her coat from under his head. She could feel her soul die little by little as she used her teeth and free hand to rip the bottom part of the clothing; she had it for as long as she could remember. After getting a few strips and folding a two spare strips the red-head pressed the folded ones to the man's leg wound. Keeping it there with one hand she used her other to wrap the strips around it to keep it there, hoping that it might stop the bleeding.

Doubt clouded her mind the whole time. Very basic medicine for sickness where she came from was common- at times there would be herbs to clear early infections as well. The only advanced medicine she knew was for burns or anything of the like. The male also seemed to be a different race, and without knowing how he can heal or what works best, she was lost in what to do further besides stay near and hope for the best.

Gasping, Lief's eye would flutter open slightly, and he immediately sat up. He ignored the pain erupting from his back as he did so, a series of curses flew from his mouth before he could grasp the situation and what was causing the extra misery.

Coughing, he batted her hand away from the wound, glaring. He didn't enjoy the clothing being placed around the wound, a low scowl coming from his throat as he unwrapped it.

"I-" He had to catch his breath. "-am.. fine.. Clearly, you've.." His words were slurring and he was trying to keep himself awake, let alone breathe. "..never met.. someone like me, hmm..?"

He made a small gesture to his horns by perking his oversized, elf-like ears, still focused on unwrapping the cloth with shaky hands.

Ember gave a start when the man sat up suddenly. Enough to send her to sit on her bottom and blink in surprise and slight fear. She thought he was dying and then he acts as if he was set on fire. It made no sense to her.

At his words she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. "It means not of who or what- you are bleeding and it needs to be stopped.", she fixed herself back onto her knees, giving him a small glare of her own. Her voice had risen at the end and she realized how loud it was, then ducked slightly as if it was going to lower her pitch. "Keep it there if you continue the will to live...", Ember trialed off, remembering she knew not of his spoken name.

He gave a weak smile, forcing it through the agony. He stopped removing the cloth, gritting his teeth. "I'm- foolish, aren't.. I?" He chuckled, though it turned into a small cough. "Lief.. Thous. Pleasure to.. meet ya." At this point, he had began swaying back and forth. He knew he was on the verge of passing out, which is why he forced himself onto his feet.

Though he wore a smile and continued joking, he stumbled and propped a hand on her shoulder as he was close to falling. "..Apologies-!" Lief 'laughed' once again, awkwardly fumbling backwards a few steps. Despite being dizzy, he scanned the bar. "Where.. is Erika..?"

Ember followed his movements closely, glare fading and light worry replaced it. She stood up with him and at him stumbling backwards she took hold of his sleeves, gently pulling forward to help keep the man on his feet. He was acting loosely like how Hans' close was before she turned violent so she made sure to keep her next words in check. The spoken name of Airica sounded unfamiliar to her but she guessed it to belong to Hans' close. Airica is the spoken name.

"Unknown. Hans' close...Airica...had gone but is here.", she explained in a murmur. The woman glanced around, looking for anything that might aid the Liefthous with his odd behavior and possible death. The cups of drink caught her eye and, with one hand still holding onto the man, reached for one that had fallen over. A sniff later confirmed that the foul drink had been in there and she looked behind the drink table for something not foul.

Clear drink sparkled not too far from Ember and she filled the cup with it, testing for foulness and coming up empty, before turning back around and passing it gently to Liefthous. "Drink.", the grey-eyed woman commanded softly but firmly.

He was taken by surprise when the women had held his sleeves, keeping him balanced. He hid his smile, curious as he watched her shuffle with the drinks. He raised an eyebrow, lowering his chin slightly so he could meet her eyes for a second. He grinned, noticing the unique gray color. He seemed to trust her, for he took the drink and sipped from it. Hints of toxic beverage were noticed, though he still mumbled a small, "Thank you."

He lowered the cup, moving his focus to the crowd. He had taken note of what the stranger had said. 'What is it that Erika wants..?' He wondered, exhaling as he corrected himself. 'Sir Hans. I must be a fool. But why go through the pain of harming so many people?' He kept his thoughts to himself, gazing over the different people in the tavern.

Ember nodded at the small 'thank you' she was almost certain she heard. She kept the eye contact he made with her for a while before he turned away to look elsewhere into the crowd. Looking for the Airica most likely. The woman slowly let her hold on him go though stayed close enough just in case he would stumble again. She, too, looked through the crowd for a while.

Though she looked back to him not long after- suddenly remembering her self-promise. "Thank you.", she said with a blink of rough friendliness. Not entirely used to thanking people for things.

His ears would rise, and he turned his head. His emerald eye was shimmering with bewilderment as he raised a brow. "Pardon..?" He was overall confused, seeming as he had used her as a prop seconds ago.

He wasn't used to receiving thank-you's of any sorts, assuming that the sarcastic comments didn't count. He straightened his posture, awkwardly turning back to the crowd. He didn't fully understand, but he would act as if he did if needed.

Ember tilted her head to the side, partly wondering if she had offended him with her words. Not wanting to make him anymore upset, she continued. "You had risked your life for that of mine. You do not know of me from previous. So I thank you for that.", the red-head finished with a look in her eyes. Faded and dull.

Then she rolled her shoulders once and turned her head back to the crowd. "Though it was an act of a fool and Liefthous should not do it again.", Ember stated with a new look of agreement with her own words. She popped the bone in her neck before rubbing it gently.

He snorted, failing to catch his breath as he laughed. Gaining the ability to breathe again, he would glimpse at Ember. "An act.. of a fool? How.. so?" He would flash a smile. "I.. ruined my terrible reputation helping those.. people along with yourself, thank.. you. I s'ppose.. I'll have to cause trouble in a nearby.. village or something."

Cautiously, he kept as little pressure on his wounded leg as possible, setting down the drink on a close by counter. He returned to his perked posture, still chuckling to himself quietly. He grinned at the name 'Liefthous', the name sounding as if it wasn't two separate words. He didn't correct it, though.

Ember blinked in confusion at his snort at first but let the emotion fall soon after. Once he finished though...it came back tenfold. A few seconds went by as the woman tried to work everything out in her head but to no avail. "A terrible reputation...I have not heard of you previous.", grey eyes squinted at him, no memory coming up of either his looks nor his spoken name.

The man suddenly reminded her of a fighter. Worn and experienced, but young and courageous. Many burdens but not many of anything else. With these in mind she looked at him harder, now trying with all her might to remember him from anywhere.

He winced. He had thought she would let the words fall by, but he was wrong. Lief laughed anxiously, turning to face her. His hand slid to his pocket, checking if he still was holding the 'Wanted Dead or Alive' poster with his face beneath the salary for turning him in. With a tilt of his head, he cocked an eyebrow.

He was thinking of ways to lie, but speak the truth at the same time. Lief grinned as if to cover the internal struggling. He had changed his name quiet often, which is why he had threatened Aleron for calling him by the name of 'Lawrence'.

"I s'ppose I travel.. sometimes.. I tend to jump from place to place after awhile." He finally spoke. "I'm not the social type, so I prefer to avoid large crowds." He shrugged weakly, avoiding eye-contact. "I s'ppose I needed a drink, and I had wished for a moments of silence." He scoffed with a smile. "To think of coming to a bar with over a hundred drunk folk and praying for the silence." He tried swerving the topic to something else- anything else- though, he was failing miserably.

Ember nodded slowly with his words and kept quiet. There was a fair pause before he spoke and he seemed to smile a lot- which was odd to her but she brushed it off. After listening to Liefthous until the end of his talk, she too paused before speaking. "Quiet is found in a home. Moving brings the rustling of clothes and steps of your feet.", the red-head pointed out with a look around the Hall. "Moving also brings blood to your body and clarity to the mind.", grey orbs placed themselves back onto the man. "Hardships are good for Liefthous. The harder the hardships, the stronger the outcome. Liefthous is an outcome.", Ember concluded with a single nod of her head.

A few seconds pass before she mumbles, "Though a drink is in need so.", and looked around for another tipped over cup of drink.

He fell silent, his expression darkening. As she looked back at him, he did the opposite and turned away. The words 'Quiet is found in a home' had made him flinch, but he attempted to cover it by undoing his messy ponytail and repositioning it higher on his head.

As she searched for a drink, he lowered his head and spoke beneath his breath. "If only you were right.." He sighed, lifting his gaze from the ground as he watched the woman. He was wondering why she was in search of yet another drink. For herself, s'pposedly, he would say in his mind through the mess of his own thoughts.

Ember eventually found one and, though she wasn't happy that it had foul drink in it before, filled it with the clear drink that was also in the man's drink. After a sip and a the wince from the foul smell and tainted taste she walked back to him with the cup in both her scarred hands. Stopping abruptly, the woman sneezed, the smell from the foul drink filling her sense. It spilled onto the floor a little. Sighing silently, Ember turned back around to fill it again- then went back to the white-haired man.

"There is a reason for travelling.", Ember stated once in earshot. Cue another small sip.

"Bless you-" He blinked awkwardly before chuckling to himself. As she approached him after refilling the cup, he lifted an eyebrow. "..I believe there is.. But why is there a reason for traveling from your view?"

Lief was trying to avoid questions about himself, so he directed them towards her. He had to build a throne of stretched truths to sit upon if he wanted to keep his head, and he didn't mind that. The only true reason he 'traveled' is due to him risking being turned in or someone recognizing him after he had change his name, which put him in the same amount of challenge. Though, he wasn't going to tell her all of this. He would simply avoid questions to avoid lying.

Or.. he would try to.

Ember took his question into consideration as she licked her lips, bringing the cup down to the table nearest to them. She thought of her own reason for coming to the Hall, of all the people who relied on her but who she left. Of the duties she had but have currently abandoned. Of the land she was birthed into, but no bond. Of all she had accomplished to get where she was, but felt no happiness. Of the sacrifices and losses she witnessed, but refused to move on. Flashes of memories crossed her vision for a time.

"...To get away.", she replied simply to Liefthous. She had been staring at said man's neck as she thought, but now realized it and instead brought her eyes up to meet his own. "I return the question to you Liefthous. To get away or to not get away.", she looked at him in expectation.