Alain and Atiya

Atiya

"Well, that'd be just fine with me!" Atiya declared, smiling widely at Alain. "Thank you for the offer, Alain. I think I'll buy something for you in return!"

"No, that's not..." Alain stuttered over his words, unsure of how exactly the plan had gone from working perfectly to everything becoming a huge disaster. This was supposed to be a present, not a gift exchange!

Atiya

"Oh, but I insist!" Atiya replied, giving Alain a charming smile. "It's only fair. Consider it an early birthday present, or something like that, if you want."

Alain opened his mouth to argue back, but then he let out a sigh. There never was any arguing with Atiya. Once she got an idea, it was near impossible to stop her. "I guess..." he said.

He would just have to make sure that he bought her something nicer than what she bought him, something that she would value more.

Atiya

"Wonderful!" Atiya replied, giving a delighted smile as she clasped her hands together. She then gave a bit of a yawn, and scouted up closer to Alain, before resting her head on his shoulder.

"Mind if I use your head as a pillow?" she asked belatedly. But before he could comment, Atiya continued.

"Wake me up whenever the merchant comes to a stop, ok?"

She then closed her eyes and began the journey into sleep.

"Uh..." Alain's face turned a light shade of red and he glanced over at her, glad to see that her eyes were already closed. "Of c-course," he stuttered out in a whisper. While she slept, he would remain on the alert, would protect her from any danger that reared its ugly face.

Syrien

Syrien gave a low chuckle, smiling slightly at his granddaughter.

"My, it seems my granddaughter has fun teasing you. However do you put up with it?" he asked, giving Alain a wry smile.

Alain glanced over at Syrien, careful not to move his body, not to disrupt Atiya's sleep. "Y-yeah," he said, and then couldn't help but smile. "I don't know."

---

"That kid picks up so little," Ana grumbled. Her eyes had long stopped following the trail of Atiya and Alain, and instead she was watching two birds as they twirled around each other while her feet kept her moving forward. They were just so easy to track. Syrien's presence was harder to trace, but it was there.

Good thing that boy had yet to create any real enemies. But she would definently have to spend more time training him on moving without a trace.

The birds flew away, and Ana let out a sigh before turning her gaze back to the road. Her feet slowed, and then came to a halt. The footsteps were scattered, and there were a few new sets. She knelt down, a frown on her face, and placed two fingers into the closest rut caused by the wagons that had also passed this way. They were deeper here, as if they had stopped.

So the wagons had caught up to Alain and his companions.

She looked up, tracing the wagons further down the road. But there was no sign of Alain.

Her gaze fell back down to the extra footprints, and her brow furrowed. Her fingers moved from the rut, to one of the sets of footprints. She traced the shape, not quite touching it, and then tilted her head slightly to the side. There was something almost familar about it, but she couldn't quite place it.

Her head turned to the side, scanning the area right off the road, as if it could offer some kind of cool as to who the footprints belonged to. Her orange eyes widened, and she quickly moved off the road, and onto the grass.

Her hands shook, as she reached for a badly formed dagger resting in the grass, and it was with a great deal of effort that she wrapped her hand around the handle and lifted the deformed weapon, holding it close to her chest.

Formed in a moment of frustration and anger, the dagger was back in the hands of its maker. But only one person could have brought it here, though she had long thought him dead.

"Matias," she whispered as she pushed herself to her feet and turned to face the disappearing footsteps of her charge. "But why? How?"

(I thought that I saved the plan, but I can't find it and I don't remember it very well... Wanna PM me with it?)

((Hm. So, should we do a timeskip now, or...?))

(Sure. To when Ana catches up to them? I don't think that we really have much else to do before that.)

((Sure, that sounds fine to me, I guess.))

Ana caught up to the carriages as the afternoon drew into evening. She kept well away from them, and kept herself out of sight, traveling by the trees as she studied them and the situation. As much as she hated the fact, she knew that Matias knew she was trailing them, but what he did not know was how close she was to them, and she planned to keep it that way until she was ready to make her move.

But what was her move? Matias somehow knew her one weak point, and was sure to keep the boy close to him because of that.

She came to a halt as she noticed the carriages slowing. Probably stopping for dinner, and possibly for the night. That, or her presence had been noticed. She would just have to observe for a little longer.

Atiya

A few hours later, Atiya slowly woke up from her nap as the carriages came to a stop. She gave a yawn and gently removed herself off of Alain. She smiled at him and asked,

"Have we stopped for the night, or something?"

Alain had nearly been asleep himself, but quickly sat up a little straighter, fighting back a yawn as he glanced towards her. It took him a moment to take in what was going on, and then he smiled back at her.

"I think so," he said. There hadn't been any cries of danger or the like.

Atiya

"Good," Atiya replied with a smile. "Now, shall we get out and stretch our legs? We can find out why we're stopping, too, while we're at it."

((Soooooo sorry I haven't posted in this for a month, Casey! I forgot all about this....))

(I was just thinking yesterday that I needed to PM you about it. XP)

"Good idea," Alain said. He pushed himself upwards, his body swaying and objecting to the sudden movement after hours of remaining in the same position. But he just shook it off, and held out a hand to Atiya.

Atiya

"Lead the way, my White Knight." Atiya said, giggling as she took Alain's offered hand.

Alain smiled, a little shyly, in reply and guided her outside of the carriage, fighting to keep his legs, which still felt a little like jelly, underneath him as he did so. "Fresh air," he breathed as his eyes flickered about. "Feels wonderful."

(Crappy post... But it's late and I'm tired and it's better than nothing.)

Atiya

"Indeed it does," Atiya agreed, taking a big breath. "Now then, let's see why we've come to a stop. Shall we, my White Knight?"

((Mine isn't much better. ))

Alain gave a nod of his head, smiling at her. "That's what we got out for, isn't it?" As soon as the words came out, he regretted them. She wouldn't take that the wrong way, would she? He hadn't meant it in a rude way... Oh, what was it about this girl, that made him so stressed and worried all of the time?

But no, he couldn't focus on that right now. First, he had to find out what was going on, and protect Atiya from any danger that was around.

Atiya

"Indeed, it is." Atiya agreed with a smile. Together they then approached the merchant's wagon, where they observed him and two of his guards trying to fix a broken axle.

"The darn thing broken off when we passed over a rock," the merchant explained, taking note of them for a moment. "Sorry for the inconvinence. We ought to have it fixed soon enough."

(Just reread this last page, and wow... we're awful at remembering what we're doing. XP Turns out they were supposed to be stopping for the night, which makes more sense when Matias is waiting for Ana to show herself... So, I decided to have it be starting to grow late. To where they could travel a little further if they wanted to, or where they could go ahead and set up camp and get a little extra rest--especially if it takes a bit to fix the axle.)


"Can't really complain when you've already done so much for us, can we?" Alain said with a smile, and then his eyes moved to the broken axle. "I would offer my assistance, but..." His smile turned sheepish and he reached back, scratching the back of his head, "I"m afraid I don't know much about this kind of stuff."

---

Ana frowned as she watched the scene below and to the right of her. There was Alain, so close, but so far away. And Atiya too. Her mind screamed at her to move, to rescue the two of them, but she stayed motionless, blending in with the shadows of the forest.

Had this been planned? Matias couldn't possibly think that she would be making a move now, did he? But the sun was growing low in the horizon, and, while they had broken down in a clearing, it was a small one, giving her an advantage if they were to stay here for the night--or a trap in disguise.

The question was, would they go ahead and set up camp?

She could feel the cold weight of her deformed dagger where it rested in her belt, and her eyes narrowed at the man who had taught her everything she knew.

He had to know that she knew this was a trap, but he had to also know that she would walk into it anyways, for the sake of that stupid boy who just had to be so trusting of other people.

((Hehe. Wow, you're so right. XD))

"Well, if it takes too long, we can always set up came for the night." Mathias replied, not taking his eyes of the broken axle. "It's getting dark anyway, so it wouldn't be that much of a loss."

(Of course I'm right. XP )

Alain glanced up at the darkening sky as the merchant spoke, and then back down to the axle, before finally resting his gaze on Atiya. "You fine for stopping for the night?" he asked her. A part of him wanted to keep moving, to keep making progress as long as they could, but the other part of him wanted to enjoy a long rest and a good meal. Still, it wasn't his decision to make.

((Aren't you always, Casey? XD))

"If Grandpa is ok with it, so am I." Atiya replied with a cheery smile. "Shall we go tell him?"