Strangers in the night (Kin no Keifu x Amdarh)

Amdarh

Amdarh

Active Member
What would anyone do in the middle of the night, in the middle of the woods, in the middle of December? Apparently, a short man in jeans and a leather jacket, leaning on a tree. The tall beeches and oaks cast angry shadows under the moon light, and even the owls seemed angry in their hooting. It was a cold night, the man's breath condensating in the still air. He rubbed his arms to bring some warmth in his limbs and checked his phone. 1.37 am. Time to get moving.

The man stepped out of the large oak tree's shadow he had been hugging and picked the duffelbag lying on the floor with a couple of handles popping out. Despite his best efforts, every step seemed to create a deafening crunch as frozen leaves crumbled under his weight. Slowly, he moved towards the clearing he had spotted the day before.

Once he had a clear line of sight to the clearing but wasn't too close, he kneeled down and opened his duffelbag. A crossbow, machete and handgun were put aside until he finally reached the small handaxe and the nylon thread he was looking for. Working as silently as he could, he made notches in the tree barks and attached the nylon thread from trunk to trunk as a trip wire.

The man was nearly done when he heard ominous crunching noise coming from the woods. Picking his handaxe and crossbow, he moved furtively towards the origin of the noise, moving from one tree to the other.
 
It was cold. And dark. And did she mention that is was cold? Cameron gripped the empty glass bottle in her hands tighter, wary of whatever would be anywhere in the woods. She really shouldn't have let her friends anywhere near this place. Now Zach had lost the necklace his dead grandmother had given him and just remembered and now she had to go look for it. All because she lived near the woods. Glory.

Thankfully, he had managed to guess the last place he had it correctly. The iron chain of Zach's necklace glinted in the moonlight; it was barely visible, but still. Cameron breathed a sigh of relief, crouching down and picking it up. Thank God for small miracles, she supposed.

But as she stood fully again, she heard it. There was sound a bit further off, close to a lonely clearing she remembered vaguely. Footsteps, her best guess. Joy. Who else, exactly, was in this forest so late? Curious. She approached the source of sound, uncaring of whatever noise the leaves made crushed under her shoes. "Hey. Who's there? You have an excuse for being here at one in the morning?"
 
The reflection of the moonlight on probably a metallic surface attracted the man's attention and he was going to approach cautiously when he heard a female voice booming like thunder in the silent night

"Hey. Who's there? You have an excuse for being here at one in the morning?"

What! An excuse for... What was going on? This didn't fit with the usual modus operandi of his target. Something was wrong, but as far as he could tell, the female was alone. Taking a deep breath and not bothering to pray to gods he didn't believe in anymore, the man stepped out of the shadows to approach the newcomer. The dim light filtering through the branches showed a man in his thirties, badly shaven, wearing a leather jacket and denim jeans. He still carried the crossbow in his right hand and the axe in the other, though he seemed to have forgotten about them. He looked at her for long seconds, gauging the threat she represented. It was just a girl walking in the woods, or so it seemed.

You shouldn't be walking alone here, lady, strange things happen at night.

His steely stare was locked on hers, ready to duck or shoot at the slightest sign of transformation.
 
(Ah, okay. Sorry.)

Thirty, roughly. Leather jacket. Male. And... weapons. An axe and a crossbow. Not here for murder, then, or at least not a good murderer. The smell would get onto leather easily and not wash out. His clothes looked worn and he wasn't very clean-shaven. Homeless? But there was a shelter, so why risk the woods?

Insane? No, there weren't any signals. Poor, then, probably living out of a van. Maybe he was here hunting something to eat? No, stupid, not to eat. Neglectful of appearance, then. Here for just hunting in general. Probably not too well-off. Cameron shrugged to herself. Closest guess she was going to get this far from the guy. She stepped closer, keeping careful watch on his weapons. The bottle she'd brought for protection, she carefully hid behind her back.

"Strange things? Ha. You're one to talk. You're... honestly one of the stranger things I've seen in the night." Cameron looked him over, a litte confused. He didn't look like someone she'd seen anywhere near this place. He had weapons, too. Definitely a red flag. Maybe convince him she'd be missed if he tried to kill her? "I'm here with my friends. We lost something of ours and went to get it back. I found it, though, so I should probably be leaving. You know the way out of here?"
 
Mark didn't like the way the girl was looking at him. He felt... naked. He had gotten used to having a certain presence, giving pause to most people and silencing even the old judgemental ladies. And here, in the middle of the night, in his element, that girl didn't seem to mind. She even held something behind her back, confident she could hit him. It was galling, but it made him smile at the same time. He didn't show it, of course, but kept a confident, impassive face.

If you think I'm strange, keep that image in your mind, and get lost. You won't want to be here when they come.

He paused and his whole body tensed. His blue eyes scanned the woods around and he could have sworn his ears twitched under the stress. They were coming. Echoes of laughter and pleasant discussion rippled through the silent night, and the flickering light of a torchlight clearly indicated the approach of the intruders. Mark didn't take the time to think and acted on impulse. He dropped his weapons and jumped on the girl, pushing a hand over her mouth and the other grabbing her by the shoulder.
 
Cameron didn't quite have time to think when the unknown man grabbed her. She was running entirely on instinct.

That was exactly why she socked him in the privates. A tried-and-true method of getting people to let go of you, she's sure. It has to have been used. "What the f-"

Laughter. There was laughter coming from the woods. And... talking? She could barely hear it, but it was there, she could tell. And light. The faintest light in the trees. She squinted, focusing, and- yeah. Light.

The brunette stepped closer to her companion, readying the glass bottle in case anyone came nearby. "Okay," she muttered, mostly to the man. It was a rushed sort of whisper that she used. "I don't appreciate being grabbed. Not that sorry. But if it was to stop whoever laughed hearing me, I'll accept it." Maybe.
 
Gggnnnnnn...

Mark was bend over, his hands holding his crotch, trying very hard not to scream. Well played Mark. Well played. He saw the girl steadying her grip on her glass bottle and tried to assess whether he could stop her or should just duck. Valiant hunter indeed...

Instead of hitting him again, the brunette seemed to make her best not to apologise while aknowledging he had saved her. Women. The pain slowly subsided and Mark managed to stand up and give a manly grunt. He put his finger on his lips to make her shut up - that and he didn't want his voice to crack when he spoke to her.

Raising his open hands to show his good will, he pointed to the way she had come. She had to go back, there was nothing for someone like her to do here. Of course, as he silently gesticulated to make her leave, he knew deep down that kind of girl wouldn't just run away in fear.

Mark rolled his eyes in their sockets and abandoned. If she wanted to die, who was he to stop her? Putting a finger back on his lips, he brought her to his hideout where his duffelbag waited for them. The visitors had crept much closer by now and they could distinguish four humanoid shadows walking straight towards the clearing.
 
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