Rory
Open, likable faces were dangerous. Rory knew better than to cave in and try to assuage Remi's disappointment—he'd learned most of this while growing up. An unforgiving and harsh land bred unforgiving and harsh people.
Still, it pricked his heart to see him change, to watch him drift back to the woman.
But what had Rory expected? For the handsome stranger to ally with him, against someone he obviously knew? No—while he had held on to some sort of hope that he would try to pacify the situation, he remained silent, but the woman spoke. ”Deal.”
Rory sat still a heartbeat longer, surprised at how easy it had been, and.. concerned about her sudden shift of demeanor. In the blink of an eye she went from strong and ferocious to, well, weak and tired.
He didn't trust it. And while he would've liked for her to drop her glaive entirely, he still had his ten yards, and he'd mounted enough ponies on the go to know that he could get back up on Bakshi in a heartbeat again if need be. So with a little sigh to steady his nerves, Rory swung a leg over Bakshi's withers and slid off.
Barely had his feet touched the ground when it rumbled and shook.
Perhaps the biggest sign that this was out of the ordinary was Bakshi's reaction: the normally placid pony tossed his head and took a couple of prancing steps until the reins stretched. "Easy," Rory murmured to him.
The woman—now sitting on her butt—demanded an explanation, and while he very much preferred this slightly less threatening version of her, he didn't trust it one bit.
But why go to such extreme lengths if she only wanted to lull him into a false sense of security?
He discarded the thought. They had other, bigger things to worry about. "No," he responded distractedly, not quite sure what an earthquake was but pretty sure it wasn't this. Licking his lips, Rory turned around on the spot, trying to figure out which direction was the best to head in, because if something was going to happen, he didn't want to be caught out in the open.
Again, he was torn: what he should do was take advantage of the woman's physical lapse, get up on Bakshi, and leave them to their own fate, but..
Likely they had no idea where they were.
Likely they had no idea what could happen.
And it wasn't as if Rory knew all that much better: he'd heard stories, he'd seen some things, he'd had some inexplicable encounters, but this had been a first for him. He wanted to curse, but Vi's name died on his lips. "You are in Caido," he said as he turned his attention back to them, an urgency in his eyes, his voice. "A barrier exists around this place—nothing comes in, nothing goes out. It's been in place for some three centuries, or so we reckon. It's—" He paused. Licked his lips. He'd never known any other life than this, had only heard tell of stories of the Caido outside, memories of great-great-great-and-so-on-grandparents who spoke of a time and society so different that surely they'd been warped in the retelling. Such a place couldn't exist.
But life here was hard, on everyone. It was an isolated place full of lean creatures. Only evil could thrive here.
"You're probably stuck here with us. This—the outskirts—is the worst place to be. That tremor—might've been nothing, might've been a precursor to something worse. What? I don't know. You, lady, can you walk? Because I advise we do our best to get out of here before we find out which it was."
Which was Rory for I'm getting out of here in about ten seconds and if you're not coming with, I'm not stopping for you.
Still, it pricked his heart to see him change, to watch him drift back to the woman.
But what had Rory expected? For the handsome stranger to ally with him, against someone he obviously knew? No—while he had held on to some sort of hope that he would try to pacify the situation, he remained silent, but the woman spoke. ”Deal.”
Rory sat still a heartbeat longer, surprised at how easy it had been, and.. concerned about her sudden shift of demeanor. In the blink of an eye she went from strong and ferocious to, well, weak and tired.
He didn't trust it. And while he would've liked for her to drop her glaive entirely, he still had his ten yards, and he'd mounted enough ponies on the go to know that he could get back up on Bakshi in a heartbeat again if need be. So with a little sigh to steady his nerves, Rory swung a leg over Bakshi's withers and slid off.
Barely had his feet touched the ground when it rumbled and shook.
Perhaps the biggest sign that this was out of the ordinary was Bakshi's reaction: the normally placid pony tossed his head and took a couple of prancing steps until the reins stretched. "Easy," Rory murmured to him.
The woman—now sitting on her butt—demanded an explanation, and while he very much preferred this slightly less threatening version of her, he didn't trust it one bit.
But why go to such extreme lengths if she only wanted to lull him into a false sense of security?
He discarded the thought. They had other, bigger things to worry about. "No," he responded distractedly, not quite sure what an earthquake was but pretty sure it wasn't this. Licking his lips, Rory turned around on the spot, trying to figure out which direction was the best to head in, because if something was going to happen, he didn't want to be caught out in the open.
Again, he was torn: what he should do was take advantage of the woman's physical lapse, get up on Bakshi, and leave them to their own fate, but..
Likely they had no idea where they were.
Likely they had no idea what could happen.
And it wasn't as if Rory knew all that much better: he'd heard stories, he'd seen some things, he'd had some inexplicable encounters, but this had been a first for him. He wanted to curse, but Vi's name died on his lips. "You are in Caido," he said as he turned his attention back to them, an urgency in his eyes, his voice. "A barrier exists around this place—nothing comes in, nothing goes out. It's been in place for some three centuries, or so we reckon. It's—" He paused. Licked his lips. He'd never known any other life than this, had only heard tell of stories of the Caido outside, memories of great-great-great-and-so-on-grandparents who spoke of a time and society so different that surely they'd been warped in the retelling. Such a place couldn't exist.
But life here was hard, on everyone. It was an isolated place full of lean creatures. Only evil could thrive here.
"You're probably stuck here with us. This—the outskirts—is the worst place to be. That tremor—might've been nothing, might've been a precursor to something worse. What? I don't know. You, lady, can you walk? Because I advise we do our best to get out of here before we find out which it was."
Which was Rory for I'm getting out of here in about ten seconds and if you're not coming with, I'm not stopping for you.
