Malcom stood up and sheathed his rapier, brushing off his shorts. "Shame, I don't have much of a love for this government. If it weren't under someone's claims I would've burnt it, or made it my new playground." He also had an accent, Polish, but it did resemble a Russian accent. "My name is Malcom Rose, or the Rose Knight as people have taken to calling me. I used to wear a suit of armor, but it really is such a pain to get around in those."
Patch smiled under the mask. “I mean, you seem like a decent guy. I have more land than I need under my control. I’ve been looking for a decent neighbor to split the claim with. Care to take up the offer?” She tossed the dagger once more before clipping the sheath to her belt. “As long as you don’t take up wearing armor again. That stuffs way too noisy for this environment. It’ll scare off all the prey I lure in.”
(Aaa! I've been heckin busy. And yeah I'm not super comfy RPing a character that isn't of my making or a character that I know well, sorry. Gonna have Candy just vibing in the woods obliviously, I think it'd be cool if maybe one of you guys's characters recognized her from years ago? So they have a reason not to kill her lmao. And since I don't have much backstory, I could just say she moved and moved back recently or something. Or not, whatever you guys are cool with.)
Candy sighed as she made her way through the woods. It'd been forever since she'd been here. The place carried a lot of memories from when she was younger. She could almost see her friends, around eight years old, running around with sticks and pretending they were swords. Candy would almost always play the princess, not because she particularly wanted to, but because they needed one and she didn't really mind. After all, fun was fun, right?
She didn't notice the noises in the distance, didn't catch any movement near her. The teen was stuck in a world of nostalgia, absently humming a tune to herself as she meandered through the trees. Sure, it had been a long time, but she still knew the forest like the back of her hand. The big moss-covered rock was still there, even if it had a few weird new brown splotches on it. The lightning-tree stood, scorched and dead and apparently sporting some odd cuts. Maybe they were made by a bear? No, they were too clean. A lost hiker? That seemed the most likely. Candy turned away from the trunk and continued her humming. The woods were a little different, but they were still her woods.
Or so she thought.
(Patchwork would be the best option for recognizing her. She’s probably the more friendly and human of the two.)
Malcom clicked his tongue, tapping his finger against his chin. "Perhaps. I tend to move around a lot, but this area does seem to have some decent playthings. I will take you up on your offer and don't worry, I discarded the armor quite some time ago." He nodded, hand moving back to his side as he continued to stare at Patchwork. He wished Wolf were here, Wolf was fun. Maybe this girl would be fun? Maybe.
Patchwork grinned. “Glad to hear it.” She suddenly heard another tune nearby. “Another uninvited guest…? This is very unusual…” she murmured to herself before turning to Malcolm. “Care to join me in checking it out?” She had drawn a knife, and was tensed to leave.
Malcom's unchanging look finally changed, turning into a small smile. "I would love to." He flicked his arm downward and the knife that he had hidden in his sleeve came back out, fitting into his hand with grace. He tilted his head toward the sound, trying to figure out just how far away it was.
Patchwork grinned back beneath the mask, giving a thumbs up before she scrambled up a tree and started hopping like a squirrel from tree to tree. She stopped every now and again to make sure Malcom was keeping up down below.
Malcom was running pretty fast, obviously he had some sort of training. He didn't seem to be looking up anywhere, but was listening to Patchwork's movements and following those. He had a small frown on his face, but it was relaxed, probably some sort of resting face.
Patchwork abruptly stopped on a branch, looking down at a normal girl who appeared to just be wandering through the woods, seemingly fairly familiar with the place. Patch frowned, thinking this normie looked familiar. She stayed hidden, just observing, before dropping down next to Malcolm out of the girl’s sight. “It’s some girl.” She said softly. “She looks weirdly familiar to me and she seems to be familiar with these woods, but I don’t remember seeing her since I staked my claim….” She sheathed her dagger and pulled out some yarn, which she fiddled with in agitation.
"So…" Malcom slowed, hand resting on the hilt of his rapier. "Is she a kill? I don't usually ask, but since you're being so nice as to let me hold some of this lovely forest…" He trailed off, taking note of Patchwork's antsy movements.
Candy heard something move above her and stopped humming, looking up. The branches swayed gently, like something had just taken off of them. No birds in the area, though… Candy frowned. That was weird, what caused it? She looked around for the source, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
“I think we should hold off on the kill for now. I don’t normally kill innocents, personally, and I have no clue who this person is or their misdeeds. I’d have to find out who they are and research before moving in for the kill. Of course, if she sees us, and decides to try and run, we’ll have to kill her. Can’t let it get out we’re here.” Patchwork was now doing a cat’s cradle, before nervously slipping her mask up a bit to chew on the end of the yarn.
(Bump?)
Malcom made a noncommittal noise. "I'm gonna go talk to her. Hold my rapier? Thanks." He threw down his sword and walked out to the space where the girl was. "Hi, are you lost? I don't see a lot of people out here?" A smile, one that looked real, slid onto his face.
Patch’s hand shot out and grabbed the sword as it fell, watching Malcom interact with the new girl rather smoothly. ‘huh. He’ll be useful… That’s for sure…’
Candy laughed light-heartedly. "Oh, no, I'm not lost, but thank you. Back before I moved, I used to play in these woods a lot with my friends. Kinda crazy, but I swear I remember pretty much everything about this place all these years later!" She smiled brightly. "I'm Candice, by the way–but call me Candy if you want. What's your name? And what are you doing all the way out here?" Candy asked amicably.
"Oh, I'm Malcom. I'm living in a small cabin out here, I'm renovating it to sell." He stuck out his hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you."
The lie was made up on the spot, but pretty believable, there were a number of old hunting cabins that he could find and pretend he lived there.
Patchwork didn’t come out of hiding as she was clearly in garments that would arouse suspicion in this Candy….. Wait. CANDY!?!? She swiftly came out, pulling off her mask for the first time, revealing her heterochromiac eyes. “Candy, that’s you!??!” She jogged up. “What are you doing here!? You left years ago…!”