Making sure Max stays away from her, Masalee eats some then lays down and curls up in her cloak and jacket.
(Fair enough. We can check in at odd times of the day and update, and if we get enough characters in here all doing different things and interacting we won't have to take turns responding. Hell, we could have entire conversations by ourselves)
Willow pat Max on the head and lays down too, facing away from Masalee, into the darkness ahead of her. She could've sworn she saw something move but she had been walking a fair amount of the day and was tired so she shrugged it off as her mind playing tricks on her, and finally closes her eyes.
(Yeah, plus that might progress the plot faster and stuff, i've gotta go now so you can continue the gang fight if you want but I should be back on tomorrow)
Silence. After a while, Masalee could hear Willow's breathing slow, but she couldn't relax for some reason. It was probably just the stress of going into town. She got up and began roaming the forest, hoping the nature would settle her.
A twig snapped behind her.
Now certain someone was there, she picked up the sturdiest stick on the ground as casually as she could, taking off the long flowy cloak which could hinder her movement.
WHAM! Her breath flew out of her lungs as she slammed to the ground gasping. The stick was knocked out of her grasp and her palms stung from the friction of the rough bark. Before they could get the upper hand, she rolled away and jumped up, facing her mysterious opponent.
Raspily, a female voice snarled from under a hood, "Traitor!" Using the stick, she swung at her. Too slow. Masalee grabbed the stick, using its momentum and her grip on it to pull her off balance. For good measure, she kicked at her knees.
The figure went down, and Masalee fell on top of her holding the stick to her throat. "How do you know who I am?" She smiled, eyes cold.
Distantly, Masalee wondered if Willow would wake. It didn't matter. She could handle this.
Suddenly, she was shoved forward from behind. The figure was not alone, then. Pain blossomed on her arm as she rolled over and blocked a blow from the new guy. Leaping to her feet, she turned to kick the person behind her. She landed a lucky blow on their jaw, and they went flying, probably out cold. "Are there more?"
A thing happened though. As Masalee turned to face her original attacker, the hood had fallen away. The features she saw were simultaneously familiar and gruesomely foreign. Horrible scarring covered the face of who was once her best friend. "…Lark? Is that you?"
Lark screamed, lunging for Masalee. Out of instinct, Masalee threw her over her shoulder, flipping her and holding her down. "What happened to you?"
"You did, May. You left me there to die, and a part of me did. You BETRAYER!"
Masalee stumbled back in guilt, in horror, in regret. "But I…I–"
Lark got to her feet. "Sure! Go on! Leave again! Look, I'll even make it easy for you! I'll walk away this time. But I promise you this: you cannot run from me, and I will make you suffer every bit as much as you did me." Lark threw an object in Masalee's direction, who caught it. "That was my freedom. Let it be your prison until I come for you again." Lark left, dragging the body of her companion behind her, and Masalee was left holding a rusty key caked in dried blood.
She tried to drop it, to leave it here, but a part of her wouldn't let go. She instead tucked it in her pouch and shakily walked back to the camp. Dazed, she picked up the cloak along the way and instead of returning to her mat she climbed up a nearby tree and sat, hoping for sleep to take her.
(Okay. Sorry this is so terrible, I don't have much experience writing action scenes. Anyway, have fun doing whatever it is you do!)
Willow has a peaceful sleep and wakes up as the sun begins to rise. She cracks her knuckles, stands, and stretches. She begins packing her things up and eats a bit before taking out her map and a notebook. She goes over her route, writing down important town names and estimates the times between each. It should take two days to the next town with a few small villages off the path. When she finished Masalee was starting to stir.
(I had no idea what to write, sorry it's so short)
(Nah you're good)
"Change in plans. We're going to my hometown and getting my aunt, and then we're all traveling as far from here as possible. Actually, you should probably not come with me. I don't want you to get hurt." Hurriedly, Masalee packed up her supplies, which were not much. "Do you have an extra map?"
"Uh, no, I only have one," Willow hands the map over, "also, you really think I'm going to get hurt with Max around, and why this sudden change of demeanor? You seem scared. Are you okay?"
New character!!
Cert, tallish, acts as sort of a detective for the Watch. He's a warlock, and if it's okay with you, I originally gave him the ability to know when people are lying as part of his warlock abilities, but if that's a little op for a roleplay that's also fine.
Cert reviewed the information sheets he'd been given. He was supposed to track down two people, a criminal necromancer Willow and a Watch member Masalee who had been assigned to apprehend the criminal. It was suspected that they were working together and escaped the town. Typically, the Watch didn't give him simple retrieval missions, but the city had been quiet lately and he was bored, so he asked them for something to do. Anyway, this wouldn't be hard. He mounted a horse and began the journey to the nearest town to ask sightings.
"I'm sorry. I haven't told you everything about me, and I should have, because it might put you in the kind of danger Max can't protect you from." Masalee turned around and took off her shirt, revealing the entirety of the tattoo on her back. Except whatever the tattoo depicted was marred by old burn marks, save bits on the edges. "This was the mark of the Silvers gang. I was a part of them. They were why I reached too far and stole the wrong thing. I burned it off myself when I moved, and I thought that might save me the penalty of deserting. But they remember me, and they're coming for me. So I have to get to my aunt before they can hurt her or use her against me, and then I have to get as far from their influence as I can. You should go now, before they've noticed you associated with me."
(Yo, I'm cool with everything about this, do you want to do this character then and I could do like two characters from the nearly killed off branch who are trying to get revenge unless you think that might be too much, we'd have like 2 strands of a gang chasing us and a detective)
(Sounds fun! I can give us some allies along the way)
(Cool, sounds good, our mains just need to run for their lives at this point, I feel)
"See, that's not what I'm going to do. Here is what I'm going to do, I'm going to follow you to your aunts and then we're going to travel to the Isle of Enchantments, that's where I learned Necromancy and I still have a few people there owing me some favors. We can go there and they can set us up. If you feel it necessary then we can buy a boat and hop from country to country, selling it and buying a new one and changing our identities as we go."
"Why? I'm a liability."
"Because you seem cool, and I want to help you."
"That's a lot to do for basically a stranger. I hope you don't regret it."
"I've learnt to live with my decisions and make the most of them so don't worry about that. Let's get going."
"Okay. Thank you." Masalee took the map and began to lead them towards her hometown.
They began walking in the direction of Masalee's hometown. After a few minutes of walking Willow elected to ask, "Do you think the Watch will come after us? How long did you have to find me?"
"I don't know. They didn't really give me a time limit, but I don't think they really expected this to be a chase outside of the city. I guess it depends on how big of a threat they think we are, and if they have anyone available to chase us. If they do come though, it will be a shoot first ask questions later type of situation. Be ready for a fight."
"I'll keep my guard up," Willow says, "so I assume you're good at combat and fighting, did your aunt teach you?"
"No, that comes from being in a gang and training with the Watch."
(The walk will probably be a while, so if you want to timeskip at any point go ahead. I'm trying to decide if it would be more interesting for Cert to catch them on the way or for him to have a few days of delay and catch them in the town)
Willow hums in response. They walk in a neutral silence for a while.
(I'll let you decide that, I don't really mind either way)
Faintly, they can hear the clop of a horse.
It wasn't hard for Cert to figure out what direction they were travelling in, and from there it wasn't hard to catch up with them. They weren't the most subtle walking around towns. He had to admit though, he was curious about what their goals were. After about a day's worth of travel, he saw two shapes on the path. Though it may be others, he's fairly certain it's them.
Willow turns to see a man on a horse and instructs Max to hide, she nudges Masalee and raises and eyebrow in questioning.
Noticing the dark uniform of the Watch, Masalee motioned to Willow to just act natural. More likely than not the figure had already seen them, but on the off chance that they were looking for something else, it wouldn't hurt to feign innocence. However, Masalee prepped herself for a fight and hoped Willow did the same.