{M} Seekers of Village Vengeance. {Oddysen & ScottishGal}

[Oddysen]

Alick caught himself looking at Fia, her face blushed slightly, and spotted with cute freckles, her long red and wet hair clinging to her pale skin... Snapping himself back to reality, he took his eyes of her, and readjusted himself slightly, raising his leg slightly higher, to cover himself even better, and moving the other as he twisted slightly. He focused his eyes on the water behind Fia, the forest reflected clearly but blurred by the slight motions of the water. He could still see her, at the corner of his vision, and was wholly unable to not notice her slim build, and pretty blue eyes, as his eyes slid towards her again. As she spoke again, he snapped his eyes back to the water.

A bit surprised at her question, he answered quickly "Oh, yes, I work in the forest. I work for Mr. Miller." Motioning towards his axe, which lay next to him, with his head as he continued "Mostly a lumberjack, cutting down trees and limbing them, but i've helped them at the sawmill a couple of times, like when one of the Miller lads were sick." As he though of Mr Miller and his other friends in the logging crew, he couldn't help but think of poor Moray, and the fact that the others had surely met similar fates already. As the vivid memory of Moray being eaten flashed to the forefront of his mind, he had to swallow down hard to not empty his stomach onto the fire, his hand reflexively covering his mouth. Taking a few breaths, he moved his hand off his mouth, and wiped away a tear from his right eye. "They're all dead" He whispered in horror, without really meaning to. "Aren't they.". Behind him, sitting on a branch of one of the trees on the forest edge, a raved gently croaked in sympathy.

[Scottie]

She tilted her head to one side and then raised an eyebrow. For Mr Miller. She had known of Mr Miller, his daughter came to her stall every second day. She was very pretty, long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. She was always polite and always bought at least two large slices of fish. Fia shook her head gently, removing herself from her memories. A lumberjack, that would be explain why he was so close to the lake. She nodded gently and flicked her eyes up to the man. Watching something flicker across his features, perhaps fear...maybe sorrow. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. When he spoke next, she blinked rapidly and opened her mouth to speak. She dropped her eyes and violently shook her head. "Don't say that....Not yet...We don't know for sure." Her words bitter as they reached him. All she could see was her mother heading off for market, rushing as she had forgotten the time. Tying an apron around her waist, she would have just reached the market when....Her father had just come in...He was tending the stall, her brothers would have been in the market. If they didn't escape before those creatures hit the market...then none of them survived.

"Don't say that." She said again, a small tear dribbled down her cheek. Fia just wanted something, a message of sorts to say that her family were alright. That they weren't lost to a horde of spiders. She violently wiped away the tears that had started and glanced over at her dress. The centre of it was still damp but the ends had dried. Not just yet. But soon, she would go for another swim. She sniffled softly before glancing up at him. "Don't think about it. Think about something else.....like um..." She was stumped for the next line of conversation. Her eyes flitted up to the bird that sat above him, "Might intelligent creatures my grandpa used to say. He said they remembered a face...and if ya treated them well or not." She said trying her best to keep those horrific thoughts out of her head. "He used to say....that they were messengers of the gods. They would spy on you and run off to tell your secrets." She chuckled gently before returning her eyes to him. "Had loads of stories that man did. He told me about the lake and it's swords." A smile returned to her face as she stretched her toes out towards the fire. Wriggling them to bring life back to her bones, "Strange old grandpa." She said gently to herself.

[Oddysen]

Drawing upon what willpower he had, Alick forced himself to not think of the village, to not see the mental image of his brother trying to barricade them all in their house, only to have one of the spiders crawl in one of the windows and... Shaking his head, he turned his focus back to Fia. When she was finished speaking, he followed her gaze to a nearby tree, where Hugin sat looking at them, inclining his head as Alick looked at him. Smiling, Alick answered Fia "Yea, they ARE very cleaver." He whistled softly, and Hugin flew over to them, landing besides Alick, but clearly a bit vary of the fire. Still smiling, Alick turned back towards Fia, "He's Hugin. I named him after a old tale i heard, probably the same one your grandpa told you." Reaching down to gently and lovingly ruffle Hugin's feathers, he continued "He might have very well saved my life today too. I was taking a nap in the forest when he woke me to alert me to the spiders. Don't think I'd have stood much chance if the spiders had woken me..." Once again, his mind drifted to the image of Morays mangled body, and for a few seconds, looks of horror and sorrow crossed his face as his emotions threatened to overtake him. With another great effort, he suppressed the thoughts and emotions and continued "He has a friend too, Mugin. He's a bit smaller, but every bit as clever and kind. They're together more often than not, so if Hugin stays a while, you'll probably see Mugin too. You never do know with wild birds though."

[Scottie]

Life came back to her feet, the faint purple colour fading away. She flicked her eyes up when he agreed with her statement, her forehead furrowing when he whistled. Her eyebrows shot up when the bird flew down, were they his pets. The creature was incredible tame if it was. He allowed the man to ruffle his feathers and came closer than any other bird would dare. "He woke you up...." Her words faint as she snapped her eyes to the bird. It's beady black eyes fixed on her and she felt like it was judging her. His words trailed off and she caught the look of horror on his face as it flashed over his features. Mugin. Hugin. Her forehead creased and she shook her head gently. Wild birds, so they weren't pets. "You speak to them...What else can you do? Can you fly?" She chuckled gently, imagining a man floating up to the tree tops.

"For one with so much talent it's a surprise you spent your days as a lumberjack." She said sweetly as she tucked a curl behind her ear. Her eyes up on the tree tops, flitting back and forth in search of the second raven. Her skin felt tight from the fire now. She flexed her fingers and glanced at her dress. Finally, it was done. She reached over to the material, taking care to keep herself covered at all times. She undid the small piece of rope that was tied to her belt. Raising her arms, she tied her now dry hair up into a tight bun. "I'm getting my locket...and perhaps my skirt." She informed him. "Don't look." She said a sternness to her voice that had not been their previously. She didn't move until he responded, her arms crossed over her chest as she waited for him to close his eyes.

[Oddysen]

Alick chuckled quite a bit at Fia's joke, as if a poor man like him could use great magic like that. Fia was quite charming, as she almost sensually tucked some of her hair behind her ear, whilst her sweet voice complimented him. Alick had to stop himself from blushing, but was quite sure he managed to do so, but he still felt a bit embarrassed at being praised like that, and suspected it showed. "You're quite talented yourself, quick thinker, resourceful, and I saw your magic too, I haven't seen anyone able to toss water like that before." His smile fading slightly, he continued "But lets both be honest here, not like tricks like these are actually useful enough to get either of us a better job. And no way either of us could ever make more of our talents on that front, we're not nobles after all." His smile now widening a bit, he continued, sounding and looking slightly melancholic. "But I was quite satisfied working as a lumberjack. It's good, honest work, and i got to be in the forest, and i have always loved the forest." His eyes turned to the forest, taking in the beauty of it all, as he'd done so many times before, while trying to not let his mind wander to less pleasant things.

Alick glanced back at Fia when he noticed her stretching her arm towards her dress. He smiled at her when she said she was going back into the lake after the thing she'd lost, a locket apparently. His smile faltered a bit when she sternly told him to look, but he obediently closed his eyes, covering his eyes with his hands for good measure. "I won't look." he said nonchalantly. Once he could hear the pebbles rustle as she moved, he opened his eyes, looking through the small gaps between his fingers. She was a pretty thing, her chest bouncing slightly as she made her way to the water. Once she was in the water, and thus he couldn't get a good look anymore, he used the opportunity to gather up her clothes, so she couldn't easily cover up once ashore. When she crawled up from the lake, and saw him inspecting her intently, she was quite furious, her anger turning to confusion as Alick whispered "April fools" And as Fia contemplated the unknown phrase, I hoped Scottie wouldn't be too mad at a bad joke. The entire paragraph is a bad joke. Sorry. Real one is the one after this one. I hope this is actually funny, and not just crude...

Keeping his eyes averted as he noticed Fia reaching for her clothes (he was quite sure she'd keep herself covered, but no reason to tempt fate). A look of worry flashed his face as she said she'd dive back into the lake, but he stopped himself from that line of thought. They'd gotten the heat back into their bodies, and she was no doubt a confident swimmer, the two of them DID come from a fishing village after all. As her suddenly stern voice admonished him to not look, he held his hands up in defence as he answered "Of course I won't look!" he answered, a bit louder than he intended, but feeling slightly insulted at the lack of trust she seemed to have. Though, as he thought about it a bit, she had little reason TO trust him, they hadn't known each other very long, and besides, she was already showing a lot of trust, behaving as she was. He closed his eyes as he continued, his voice gentle. "No need to worry. I'll turn my back to the water once I hear you dive in, and keep my eyes closed till then. But be careful okay?"

[Scottie]

Her eyes flicked back to him when he spoke, a small smile spreading over her cheeks. Fia chuckled, "I've got plenty more up my sleeve", she gave him a wink before frowning gently. He sounded like her father in that moment. When she first realised that she could do magic...he had told her bluntly that it was nothing more than a party trick. It would never get her a job, it would never make her someone. She shook her head gently but refused to speak. She saw the small glimpse of worry and she shook her head again this time with a small smile on her features. She didn't settle his mind and instead raised an eyebrow as he defended himself. "Good." She said bluntly before waiting for him to close his eyes. "Okay. Don't worry about me. I've done this many a time before."

Fia waited until she was certain that his eyes were closed and she gingerly moved from her seated position. Raising herself to standing while haphazardly covering herself with her hands. Another glance to him and she made her way to the waters edge. Pebbles shifted gently until her toes reached the water. She smirked and keeping her back to him, dropped her hands. She allowed her eyes to travel around them, ensuring that nothing would appear at the forest edge when she was swimming. When she felt safe, she continued further into the water. It was when she was at waist height that she dove in. Her body had been warmed by the fire and she felt a cool rush float through her veins. Fia stayed under the water until she got closer to her belongings. She rose from the water and floated over to her skirt. She lazily glanced over to the place where they had been sitting and then sunk under the water again. Her fingers made quick work of releasing her skirt. She let it float up to the surface as she searched for her locket.

She dove her hands into the sand, shifting rocks and tearing plants out to try and pin point her locket. Panic slide up her throat. Fia couldn't see the locket anywhere. She felt the air leave her lungs as she frantically dug through the sand. Until her nails hit something solid. When the sand cloud dispersed, she noticed the bashed bronze locket nestled between two rocks. She snatched it up and held it close to her chest as she allowed herself to rise to the surface. She clasped the locket around her neck as she took in a deep breath. The panic slowly settled back in her stomach, no longer stopping her from breathing. Her first glance was to Alick, to ensure he had run off... or thrown her clothes elsewhere as he fled...or stole them. But he remained there and she turned to set her sights on her skirt. It now floated in the centre of the lake. She let out a loud giggle, her laugh piercing through the silence. She started to swim towards the bobbing blue material, loving the feeling of water trembling over her bare skin as she swam.

[Oddysen]

Alick listened intently as Fia waded through the water, waiting for the telltale sound of her diving in, which she eventually did. By that point Alick had grow a bit impatient, but had stayed true to his word and kept his eyes shut. Once she was properly in the water, Alick didn't hesitate to open his eyes, and get up. It was hard to avoid seeing slight silhouette of Fia swimming underwater, though the ripples and the water made sure he couldn't make out much. Still, he, slightly embarrassed to have forgotten to do so before he opened his eyes, turned his eyes away. he looked down on where he'd laid out his clothes, and inspected them. His tunic was still a bit too wet to wear, and though his pants were a bit damp still, he decided he'd rather wear them as they were than not. He hadn't lined his clothes up as neatly as Fia had, and they'd as a result not dried as well. He could see with a glance that Fia's clothes were dryer than his tunic. After putting on his pants and braies and laying out the rest of his clothes to dry better, Alick sat back down by the fire, back to the fire as promised.

He kept his eyes scanning the forest, though hoping he'd not see anything. He had to admit it was slightly agonising to not even steal a glance towards the lake and Fia, but despite his older brothers' best efforts, his mother had raised him well. He was unsure if his brothers had really been raised less proper, or if they'd just been trying to get him into trouble back then and they weren't REALLY doing the things they said they were. Thinking of his brother soon brought to mind what he considered their guaranteed fate. Fia seemed to be in denial, or perhaps she truly believed someone could survive that. But Alick knew the truth. He hoped they hadn't suffered much, but the memory of Morays final scream was too vivid in his mind for that to be likely or comforting. He didn't want to think about these things, but without Fia's company and conversations to distract him, it was practically impossible. He cursed his own mind as it thought up horrible image after horrible image. He felt sick, and he could feel himself panting. He tried to distract himself by studying an odd looking tree. He tried to speak with Hugin, but his voice quick trailed off. He sat like this, trying to scan the forest line, trying to find way to distract himself, as torrents of terror and torture befell the village in his mind.

Fia's giggling snapped him out of the horrid trance. Fia is right out there. He reminded himself. I'm not alone, I'm still here, and so is she. Alick took a few deep breaths as he thought, trying to get his breathing back under control. He needed to help her. Or maybe she need to hep me. She seems to be coping a lot better than me after all. She's out there giggling to herself, while I'm sitting here wallowing in misery, maybe I'm just weak? A Real Man wouldn't be sitting here crying, a Real Man would- Alick stopped himself there, nothing good ever came from thoughts like that, he knew that much. But the fact remained that he was struggling, badly. Maybe if he had something to do he'd do better. If so, he hoped he'd have few idle moments from now on...

When he could hear Fia getting into the shallows, he called out to her "Did you find your locket?" He said, trying his best to sound confident and relaxed. He also listened intently, trying to guess by the sounds how she moved through the water, just to have something to focus on. Recalling how she'd been teasing him til now, he let a smirk onto his face, which his voice reflected as he spoke again Try to get dressed quickly, okay? It's getting rather dull to look at these trees, and if i get much more bored with it, I might decide to find something more interesting to look at, clothes or no clothes.

[Scottie]

Fia's giggles trembled the water around her. The weeds and plants brushed past her skin as she headed for the centre of the lake. The skirt bobbed away happily from her and she snorted as it moved suddenly from her fingertips. She pushed herself forward and grabbed a handful of the material. Dragging it with her as she swam. It slowed her down, the material truly had soaked up a lot of water. She kept swimming until her feet hit the soft sand of the shallows. She heard him speak and shook her head violently to drain some of the water from her hair. "Yup. I got it. AND my skirt." She said the pride shining through her words. She had turned slightly to drag the skirt in when he spoke again. Instinctively, she placed a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. "Oh really eh?" She stared at his back for a moment before realising he wasn't turning around. Another tug of the skirt and she scowled at the material.

It was rather heavy for just water. Turning back towards the material, she attempted to haul a little further and then something wet and slimy hit her thigh. She squealed loudly and her foot slipped on a slime covered rock. Her backside hit the pebbles harshly and she kicked out at the fish stuck in the folds of her skirt. "Stupid creature." Her back remained to Alick as she reached inside the skirt and dragged out the small fish. It was barely bigger than her palm and it sparkled a deep blue against the light. She let it drift back under the water and then scurry away. She chuckled to herself and then shook her head violently again. While sitting in the water, she undid the bun on her head. Rinsing her hair so that it would dry easily. She raised the skirt up to eye height and surveyed the material. No other poor stuck fishes. She left her hair down as she stood, the water crashing around her as she was finally able to tear her skirt from the water. She did the same with the skirt as she had done with her hair. Showers of water hit the surface of the lake and sent small vibrations rippling across.

"False alarm." Fia said over her shoulder as she shook the last few drops of water from the skirt. She turned to head back to the fire and laid out her skirt. Perhaps in the few moments she was getting dressed it could start to dry. "Gosh darn fish got in my skirt." She said the smile on her face clear in her voice. Glancing at his back to make sure he was still turned away from her, she tied her hair up. Within seconds, she had her under dress on. It had dried quickly due to the light material and she regretted not waiting a moment to dry before the fire. Huffing at her mistake, she plonked herself back down onto the pebbles. The dress was simply cut and hadn't been ripped that badly. "I'm going to wait a little longer. You can turn around now." Her hands already outstretched to the fire as she tried to dry off again.

[Oddysen]

Fia was showing audible pride at having gotten her dress back, though Alick had to admit, to himself at least, that it didn't seem that impressive to have retrieved it. He was very tempted to take her challenge, and turn around, casually saying something like "Yes, really" as he did, but he resisted the impulse, opting instead for what he hoped was humour. "Yea, but might be hard to find something worth looking at here." Alick had to admit, to himself at least, that he was quite pleased with that one.

Suddenly, a sharp yelp cut the air. Alick was on his feet instantly, turned towards Fia, to see her sitting in the water, back to him. He let out a sigh of relief that she seemed to merely have tripped, muttering something about a "stupid creature", but Alick still half yelled as he asked "Are you okay? Everything all right?" Fia seemed slightly preoccupied, but seemed to have things under control, and the answer came just as Alick turned back around ans was about to sit down. Alick chuckled slightly at the clear mixed amusement and annoyance, as well as the mental imagery, and, though he'd not admit it out loud, in relief.

When told the coast was clear, Alick didn't hesitate to turn around. He was however, slightly taken aback by the sight that greeted him, though he manged to, mostly at least, hide it. The contours of Fia's chest clearly outlined by the thin and slightly wet under dress as it hugged her skin. With slight difficulty, Alick shifted his eyes as he sat down, looking Fia in the eyes and smiled kindly. "Good that you managed to find your locket, would have been a real shame to have lost it like that." Curiosity creeping into his voice and features, he continued "If you don't mind me asking, where did you get it? Its real pretty, but it seems to mean more to you than just that."

[Scottie]

Fia was dragging her fingers through her hair when he turned around. She gave him a small smile and continued to tear her fingers through her long hair. She shook her head gently, letting her hair float onto her shoulders. She glanced and watched his eyes flick away from her chest. She raised an eyebrow and chuckled gently. "Yes. It was hiding as well." Her fingers dropped to the chain and pluck the locket up. Holding it before her fore finger and thumb. She opened the locket and let a drop of water fall from the interior. She heard his question but kept her eyes on the locket. "It..It was my da's." She said softly. "But well it was his mothers before him. She gave it to him before she passed." She slowly dragged her eyes up to see him and smiled gently. "It has somethings in the inside but it's more like a bashed but beautiful family heirloom." She said sweetly.

She let the locket fall again and bounce against the material stretched over her chest. She wriggled her fingers out at the fire again, feeling her skin grow tight as it dried. "Hopefully my skirt will dry soon. Another layer will be needed where...." She trailed off and her forehead creased. "Where are we going? I mean....Home is not home anymore." Her gaze drifted off to the way she had come from, where home was. Where her mother would normally call from when she was late for dinner. Where her brother would chase her into the water when she was younger. This lake held so many difficult memories, learning to swim with her da or skimming rocks with her brothers. Sitting here...drying her hair...she had nearly forgotten what had happened. She slowly turned back to Alick, dropping her eyes to the fire.

The oranges danced with wooden logs and she swore she could see faces laughing back at her. She shook her head violently. "Do you know of anything near by? Like a house or something...Somewhere to get through tonight before we figure out what to do." Her eyes snapped up to him and she smiled sweetly. She didn't air it, but she truly hoped that some had survived the attack. That they had jumped into the water or fled into the fields...or anywhere. She moved her fingers back to her locket, clasping it tight in her palm. She was putting an awful lot of faith in this stranger, but right now, she had no one else.