forum I summon thee @Young-Dusty

Started May 08, 2019 by @amber_is_in_a_loop

tune

Rick didn't sleep as soundly this time, but still did his best to rest himself over the next couple hours.

After one other silent exchange of guard, morning came. Charlotte opened her eyes to a damp morning, feeling only halfway rested.
(was the skip alright?)

(perfect, I was running out of things to say lol)
Rick was up and sitting on the bank of the river, doing some fishing. A couple small trout were already hanging from a branch at his shoulder.
"Mornin," he said amiably when he noticed she was awake. "Good fishing around here."

She was up on her feet in an instant, all tiredness gone, or ignored. She rustled through her own bag, pulling out some bananas that she placed near the charred circle in the clearing before starting to eat.
She watched Rick at work. "I guess deserted areas are attractive to hunted animals."

Rick reeled in a third fish, trying not to stare at the bananas like they were magic items. "So it seems. If we're lucky, we'll find a lot more places like this as we're goin' west. Might get a little boring, but I'll take that over trouble any day."

Charlotte nodded, chewing thoughtfully. "Is there anyone we're looking out for, other than Deorns?"

"Well, there ain't usually bandits in this area, but it won't hurt to keep 'em in mind. We might also have to worry about some paranoid homesteaders too–they tend to shoot anything that moves, but I don't blame them considerin' how risky it is to live in a place like this." He carried the fish over to the fire and started to fry them in the oil left over from last night's meal. "Other than that, we should be fine, I think. The Deorns will definitely be the biggest issue. This is the time of year you see a lot of younger adults wanderin' around looking for territory, and they're the most dangerous kind. If we run into one of them, we'll have to play our cards just right to get out unscathed."

"Okay." An apology was on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it. She'd only been defending herself against… a love-able ally who just happened to be a mercenary. Right, that was it.
She shook off the thought, instead starting to pack her bedding so they could leave as soon as they'd finished eating.

Rick thought about mentioning last night, then decided against it. Charlotte obviously didn't want to talk about it, and he didn't want to push the already strained tolerance she had for him. "Should be able to make good headway today. Looks like the weather'll be nice, and I don't see many opportunities for difficulty on the road ahead. If this keeps up, we might even reach our destination early."

(man these guys are so oblivious to each other)
Despite her pride Charlotte sank further into herself: it was soon, so soon, that she'd have to face Axel.
She was younger than she looked, not as tough as she pretended to be, and though she'd never admit it she was downright terrified by the situation. Could she really handle defending children in the face of a ruthless, much stronger man than she?
She kept a straight face though, and zipped up her bag. "That's really great, actually. We might have the time to go get help in town if we arrive early."

(lol so true XD)
"Good point. You know anything about the folks in that area? They're not on Axel's side, are they?"

"Not as far as I know. Axel would keep to himself, be as self-sufficient as he can."
That's how he taught me. "If we stick to the more populated areas, and stay away from the borders, we would we fine."

"Sounds like a plan." Rick let the fish cool for a minute, then popped one into his mouth while he quickly packaged up the others. "Shall we go, then?"

Charlotte nodded, swinging her bag onto her back. She kicked some dirt onto the embers of the fire and turned around to face the direction they were headed.

Rick tucked his fishing pole into his backpack and joined her, starting to whistle a tune as he headed up the road.
"So Axel works alone, eh," he said between verses of whatever song he was whistling. "I guess he must be pretty capable then."

Charlotte nodded with a sigh. "You have no idea."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Do give me more details, please, I'd like to have a good picture of this guy's style before I step on his toes much."

"He's incredibly smart, ruthless, and has, as of now, nothing to lose; he's lost everyone he ever cared for save for me. He's angry, guilty, and is fueled by every painful emotion you can conjure up. He was of the more wealthy side and therefore received top training in every style you can think of and wields about three quarters of every existing weapon. He's probably got a guard and a team of… your people. He can read people very well and can guess specific weaknesses to take you down. I don't even know what else to say except do not underestimate him or the lengths he'll go to."

(It's okay! I've been really busy this week too ^^; hugs)
Rick sighed. "Great….I'll try to remember all that. And does he have any exploitable weaknesses you can think of? Any at all?"

(hugs back)
Yes. "No, he doesn't." He does. She cast her eyes to the ground, hitching her bag higher onto her back. There was a good reason she didn't want to say: if they started bringing up Jess again, he'd lose his mind. And then God only knew what he would do.

Rick frowned thoughtfully at that. "Well, okay then. I've always held that everybody's got a weakness of some kind, but I s'pose it might be helpful to proceed as if he didn't. For the sake of not underestimatin' him, like you said." He rubbed his forehead. "Thanks for the info, anyway. Anything's better than walking into this with no idea what to expect."

(8 finals and 13 breakdowns later I'm back, sorry!!)
"Agreed. He's one for planning, so he'll have gone through every possibility and every outcome possible. He'll be ready for probably everything we could throw at him. I say we proceed discreetly at first, get the children first and make ourselves known after if possible. "

Oh shot hon, that sounds like a rough time! No need to apologize, I'm just glad to hear from you again ^^)
"Sounds good. You know the guy better n' I do, so I'll let you lead the way." Rick scratched his jaw. He seemed a little distracted now, watching the road ahead. "Hey, uh….this is a little off-topic, but have you ever heard of Travis of Red Creek, Miss Charlotte?"