Post by dawneliz on Apr 22, 2011 20:57:36 GMT -5
The sky above Jordavin was illuminated in stars, though the trees around him were casting dark shadows over him. Stars, ironic how signs of hope were everywhere, even in the places hope was lost. Jordavin recalled when he was young, wishing upon the stars that his life would get better. They never helped, he had to make his life better on his own, alone. He changed his life alone. For a while, that was how it stayed, he fought, ate, and worked alone. Once he trusted another, and it proved to be disastrous to him later.
It was a girl by the name of Isabelle, young. But if Jordavin had to describe her in one word, even after the events, it was beautiful. Her golden blond hair shimmering in the sunlight, her green eyes that seemed to look straight into his very soul. Isabelle's smile seemed to have the power to convince him of anything, he would have done anything to see her smile one more time, even trust her. That was the problem. With Isabelle, she always looked so innocent, like she couldn't hurt a soul, certainly not him.
It started one day. Jordavin was working in a village with the town's guard. . Recent rumors of bandits had come from the merchants who traveled through selling their goods, or what was left of their goods. If they got lucky they would stay at the town's inn for a night and talk to everyone before getting a good night's rest and heading off the next morning. So, as it was, guards were clearly needed, and immediately trusted. Jordavin was in the guard for only a little while, he didn't like arresting people or anything, he was a man who looked out for himself. Had been a man like that for over ten years now. It seemed to be working so far, so why change something that has done you well for so long?
One day, though, as acting as patrol towards the main road the merchants traveled on. He saw a figure lying in the grass to the side. He didn't run to it immediately, he looked around for signs of anyone, making sure no one was there to ambush him. He saw no sign of anyone. So, slowly he walked towards the figure. It was a maiden, with golden blond hair. She seemed to be unconscious, nothing was around her, though there was cuts on her arms from what was likely a dagger. She wasn't bleeding to badly, though there were red stains on her simple lilac dress. Her injuries were simple, but would still need to be looked at. Jordavin took one more step forward and knelt by her. Examining the maidens wounds. The cuts weren't very deep, and just needed to be bandaged. Jordavin started to reach into his bag and pull out a roll of bandages when he felt a cold metal dagger lightly pressed against his back.
In shock he shifted position a little, which only made the dagger push against his back harder. He heard a slight whisper. "Move, and you both die." The voice was clearly male, but Jordavin was at a bad position to disobey, the dagger so close to stabbing him in the back anyways, and then, his actions would punish the maiden. So, since he had little choice otherwise, Jordavin complied to the man's demands and stayed still. For a while after that it was absolute silence. Did the man really expect just to keep Jordavin sitting there with a dagger at his back forever? Eventually the maiden would wake from her unconsciousness. Of course, the silence mad Jordavin more aware of his surroundings, more aware of the many footsteps not that far in the distance. He wasn't good at estimating, but he was intelligent enough to realize, that unless the men there were guards, he had no chance of escape.
Was that the reason he was just kneeling there, was that part of the man's group? The footsteps started becoming louder and louder. In his ears each footstep sounded like thunder roaring over the lands. A little while after the footsteps suddenly stopped, however, just by glancing towards the ground there were more shadows above him. He heard them whispering to each other, but was unable to make out the words they were speaking. Even if he managed to make out the words, what could he do? There were far more of them then there was of him. He was by himself, they were there together. A group is always harder to face then a single individual.
The whispering slowly stopped. Jordavin felt as if a thousand eyes were watching him. The shadow hovering over him grew and got darker. A hand was pushed against his mouth and an arm over his neck, the arm moved to bend at the elbow. Jordavin felt his throat close together, he tried to breath, but couldn't. The man was choking him, did they mean to suffocate him until he died? He wasn't sure, but slowly, everything went black.
Chapter 2:
When Jordavin finally regained consciousness he was alone in a dimly lit room. A single lantern lay lit on the desk not that far from him. The door behind him was closed, but not locked... Which was unusual, but understandable since Jordavin's hands were tied in extremely tight binds behind him. He chances of escape at the moment were close to none, espically
if the place was guarded.
He sighed and leaned back, his eyes scanning the room another moment, though it would be to hard to grab anything anyhow. The only sound in the room was the steady sound of his breathing and the soft scurring of mice against the wood floor. . . Wood....
After thinking a moment, Jordavin tried to move himself closer to the desk... It was a stuggle, but after a few minutes he was next to the desk, the lantern on the desk, he couldn't stand up, couldn't walk... But he could still roll... He pushed his weight to the right, hitting against the desk... The lantern tottered closer to the edge, the flame inside flickering a little before straighening itself. 'Even if I knock it over, the flame will just go out...' he realized with a sigh. Then something caught his attention, footsteps. They were soft one, like someone who knew how to sneak around when they wanted too... Listening closely he heard two echoing sets of steps afterwards, a total of three people.
A few seconds after that sure enough, three people entered the room. Two of them were rather large, tall men, dressed in armor and equipped with short swords. The third however, was of average height, yet slim and soft on his feet. He wore black leather armor and his head was masked by the shadows of his hood.
"Well, well, well.." The one in black spoke, something about the voice reminded Jordavin of someone... "Look who the cat finally dragged in, the rat himself. Tell me Jordavin, how have things been going?" Through the shadows Jordavin could see a grin on the mans face. He stepped closer and knelt down by Jordavin before pulling down his hood to reveal short black hair.
Jordavin blinked a moment in disbelief, then shook his head with a sigh. "Well enough Erik. Captured again maybe, but you know these things never last very long." He spoke calmly. "How have the years been treatin' you? Last I saw I had ditched ya in.... The Templars dungeons I think it was." His voice sounded calm and casual yet his mind was anything but calm. "Ya leadin' this group now?"
"Aye, I am leadin' them." Erik replied easily. "And the
years 'ave been treatin' me well enough. As you can see by our
surrondings." He guestered around the room. "Course, 'nough
bout me.... Why you in the Watch? Turnin' your back on the
theif's life?" He asked, fingering a dagger from his belt idly
before he walked over and cut the ropes that bound
Jordavin's hands.
Happy to be free of the bonds Jordavin rubbed his hands around his wrists a moment, streching them out and such before he answered. "Hard ta actually leave that life behind, am I laying low a while? Yeah. . . And no one suspects one in the guard, do they?" His words were a lie, but they came out naturally, years of practice.
"True 'nough... Just be careful ya don't get your sword stuck up yer arse like the rest o' them." Erik replied, grinning. "Now, I just have one thing ta think about, I captured you, Jordavin... Basically a legend among theives, though not by name, what was it that you used to go by? The Melted Shadow or somethin'?" Erik paused a moment, but then continued before Jordavin could say anything on that... "Well, no matter what ya went by, it's still you. Captured by me and my men, you are our prisoner, which leaves me the choice of what ta do with you."
Jordavin looked at the guards a moment. Wondering his chances of defeating them in battle. He didn't see much use in the attempt, so he turned back to Erik. "The Masked Shadow, because no one know my face, they never had the chance to see me in much detail before I would disappear." He had to smile at the memory. "Ah, those were the days, wanted posters everywhere, more gold then I could count."
Erik was quiet a moment, as if debating something. "Well, if you miss the ol' life... Join me." He said simply with a grin. "It'd be an honor ta have ya as part of my crew."
"Part of your crew... Those words just make it sound like I would actually work under you. You of all people outta know that I work only under myself." Jordavin replied, he had a reputation, working under another thief would ruin that.
This, is when a devious smile came across Erik's face. "True, but you don't really have a choice this time.... That is, unless you want us to kill that blond." He threatened.
Jordavin didn't know why, but he tensed up at that. He didn't even know the girl, why was he so worried about her? Why did he CARE? "Hmph, fine. You win." He said, staring at Erik with a look of defiance in his eyes. "Boss."
The key to his words, 'you win' Jordavin never spoke those words... Not honestly at least. Funny how games are, you can think your winning, but then, your opponent pulls out a peice you never knew about, and the tides turn. Jordavin was the Masked Shadow, a master thief, and along with that, a master of escape.
Either way, the lie was sold. Erik grinned, "Good, I knew you were smart enough to agree." He motioned behind him for the two guards to leave, and with loud footsteps, they did.
It was a girl by the name of Isabelle, young. But if Jordavin had to describe her in one word, even after the events, it was beautiful. Her golden blond hair shimmering in the sunlight, her green eyes that seemed to look straight into his very soul. Isabelle's smile seemed to have the power to convince him of anything, he would have done anything to see her smile one more time, even trust her. That was the problem. With Isabelle, she always looked so innocent, like she couldn't hurt a soul, certainly not him.
It started one day. Jordavin was working in a village with the town's guard. . Recent rumors of bandits had come from the merchants who traveled through selling their goods, or what was left of their goods. If they got lucky they would stay at the town's inn for a night and talk to everyone before getting a good night's rest and heading off the next morning. So, as it was, guards were clearly needed, and immediately trusted. Jordavin was in the guard for only a little while, he didn't like arresting people or anything, he was a man who looked out for himself. Had been a man like that for over ten years now. It seemed to be working so far, so why change something that has done you well for so long?
One day, though, as acting as patrol towards the main road the merchants traveled on. He saw a figure lying in the grass to the side. He didn't run to it immediately, he looked around for signs of anyone, making sure no one was there to ambush him. He saw no sign of anyone. So, slowly he walked towards the figure. It was a maiden, with golden blond hair. She seemed to be unconscious, nothing was around her, though there was cuts on her arms from what was likely a dagger. She wasn't bleeding to badly, though there were red stains on her simple lilac dress. Her injuries were simple, but would still need to be looked at. Jordavin took one more step forward and knelt by her. Examining the maidens wounds. The cuts weren't very deep, and just needed to be bandaged. Jordavin started to reach into his bag and pull out a roll of bandages when he felt a cold metal dagger lightly pressed against his back.
In shock he shifted position a little, which only made the dagger push against his back harder. He heard a slight whisper. "Move, and you both die." The voice was clearly male, but Jordavin was at a bad position to disobey, the dagger so close to stabbing him in the back anyways, and then, his actions would punish the maiden. So, since he had little choice otherwise, Jordavin complied to the man's demands and stayed still. For a while after that it was absolute silence. Did the man really expect just to keep Jordavin sitting there with a dagger at his back forever? Eventually the maiden would wake from her unconsciousness. Of course, the silence mad Jordavin more aware of his surroundings, more aware of the many footsteps not that far in the distance. He wasn't good at estimating, but he was intelligent enough to realize, that unless the men there were guards, he had no chance of escape.
Was that the reason he was just kneeling there, was that part of the man's group? The footsteps started becoming louder and louder. In his ears each footstep sounded like thunder roaring over the lands. A little while after the footsteps suddenly stopped, however, just by glancing towards the ground there were more shadows above him. He heard them whispering to each other, but was unable to make out the words they were speaking. Even if he managed to make out the words, what could he do? There were far more of them then there was of him. He was by himself, they were there together. A group is always harder to face then a single individual.
The whispering slowly stopped. Jordavin felt as if a thousand eyes were watching him. The shadow hovering over him grew and got darker. A hand was pushed against his mouth and an arm over his neck, the arm moved to bend at the elbow. Jordavin felt his throat close together, he tried to breath, but couldn't. The man was choking him, did they mean to suffocate him until he died? He wasn't sure, but slowly, everything went black.
Chapter 2:
When Jordavin finally regained consciousness he was alone in a dimly lit room. A single lantern lay lit on the desk not that far from him. The door behind him was closed, but not locked... Which was unusual, but understandable since Jordavin's hands were tied in extremely tight binds behind him. He chances of escape at the moment were close to none, espically
if the place was guarded.
He sighed and leaned back, his eyes scanning the room another moment, though it would be to hard to grab anything anyhow. The only sound in the room was the steady sound of his breathing and the soft scurring of mice against the wood floor. . . Wood....
After thinking a moment, Jordavin tried to move himself closer to the desk... It was a stuggle, but after a few minutes he was next to the desk, the lantern on the desk, he couldn't stand up, couldn't walk... But he could still roll... He pushed his weight to the right, hitting against the desk... The lantern tottered closer to the edge, the flame inside flickering a little before straighening itself. 'Even if I knock it over, the flame will just go out...' he realized with a sigh. Then something caught his attention, footsteps. They were soft one, like someone who knew how to sneak around when they wanted too... Listening closely he heard two echoing sets of steps afterwards, a total of three people.
A few seconds after that sure enough, three people entered the room. Two of them were rather large, tall men, dressed in armor and equipped with short swords. The third however, was of average height, yet slim and soft on his feet. He wore black leather armor and his head was masked by the shadows of his hood.
"Well, well, well.." The one in black spoke, something about the voice reminded Jordavin of someone... "Look who the cat finally dragged in, the rat himself. Tell me Jordavin, how have things been going?" Through the shadows Jordavin could see a grin on the mans face. He stepped closer and knelt down by Jordavin before pulling down his hood to reveal short black hair.
Jordavin blinked a moment in disbelief, then shook his head with a sigh. "Well enough Erik. Captured again maybe, but you know these things never last very long." He spoke calmly. "How have the years been treatin' you? Last I saw I had ditched ya in.... The Templars dungeons I think it was." His voice sounded calm and casual yet his mind was anything but calm. "Ya leadin' this group now?"
"Aye, I am leadin' them." Erik replied easily. "And the
years 'ave been treatin' me well enough. As you can see by our
surrondings." He guestered around the room. "Course, 'nough
bout me.... Why you in the Watch? Turnin' your back on the
theif's life?" He asked, fingering a dagger from his belt idly
before he walked over and cut the ropes that bound
Jordavin's hands.
Happy to be free of the bonds Jordavin rubbed his hands around his wrists a moment, streching them out and such before he answered. "Hard ta actually leave that life behind, am I laying low a while? Yeah. . . And no one suspects one in the guard, do they?" His words were a lie, but they came out naturally, years of practice.
"True 'nough... Just be careful ya don't get your sword stuck up yer arse like the rest o' them." Erik replied, grinning. "Now, I just have one thing ta think about, I captured you, Jordavin... Basically a legend among theives, though not by name, what was it that you used to go by? The Melted Shadow or somethin'?" Erik paused a moment, but then continued before Jordavin could say anything on that... "Well, no matter what ya went by, it's still you. Captured by me and my men, you are our prisoner, which leaves me the choice of what ta do with you."
Jordavin looked at the guards a moment. Wondering his chances of defeating them in battle. He didn't see much use in the attempt, so he turned back to Erik. "The Masked Shadow, because no one know my face, they never had the chance to see me in much detail before I would disappear." He had to smile at the memory. "Ah, those were the days, wanted posters everywhere, more gold then I could count."
Erik was quiet a moment, as if debating something. "Well, if you miss the ol' life... Join me." He said simply with a grin. "It'd be an honor ta have ya as part of my crew."
"Part of your crew... Those words just make it sound like I would actually work under you. You of all people outta know that I work only under myself." Jordavin replied, he had a reputation, working under another thief would ruin that.
This, is when a devious smile came across Erik's face. "True, but you don't really have a choice this time.... That is, unless you want us to kill that blond." He threatened.
Jordavin didn't know why, but he tensed up at that. He didn't even know the girl, why was he so worried about her? Why did he CARE? "Hmph, fine. You win." He said, staring at Erik with a look of defiance in his eyes. "Boss."
The key to his words, 'you win' Jordavin never spoke those words... Not honestly at least. Funny how games are, you can think your winning, but then, your opponent pulls out a peice you never knew about, and the tides turn. Jordavin was the Masked Shadow, a master thief, and along with that, a master of escape.
Either way, the lie was sold. Erik grinned, "Good, I knew you were smart enough to agree." He motioned behind him for the two guards to leave, and with loud footsteps, they did.