Post by Narya on Aug 13, 2006 22:49:23 GMT -5
I just... got in the mood for writting, and out this popped. Enjoy
Liaf lifted his head, pale unseeing eyes staring into the abyss. He could feel the man's presence, but where exactly he hid Liaf could not tell. Despite his excellent control of his other senses, this man still escaped his grasp. With an exasperated sigh, Liaf leaned against the damp wall, running a hand through his blond locks.
"There's no need to hide when I can't see you," Liaf called out, crossing his arms in annoyance.
There was a slight ruffle to his left, or maybe his right. It's echo was wrong, inform the man's sharp hearing it was coming from two places at once. Impossible.
"I hope you don't think I'm that stupid," a voice replied.
Liaf turned his head to the right, pushing off the wall. Could he have really been stupid enough to speak. Furrowing his eyebrows, he turned back to the left, trying to decide where to go. The man could have been messing with the echoes again, telling Liaf something different than the truth with sounds. A mind game, it was always a mind game.
A noise. A knife drop.
The sudden sound contrast sharply to the muffled noises of the alleyway. Liaf cried out triumphantly, drawing his dagger and turning around. He ran down the street, sliding to a stop as he realized he'd been tricked again.
A cold knife pressed against his neck, and his shoulders sagged in defeat.
"You have to teach me how to do that," he muttered angrily, pushing away the knife and hand as he turned to face his opponent.
A young boy with raven black hair stood there, white teeth peaking out from a broad smile. Blue eyes sat in an angular face, they're depths glittering with mischief.
"A good assassin never gives away his secrets," he replied with confidence, re-sheathing his weapon.
Liaf frowned, replacing his own knife.
"So you still want to join the Assassin's Guild, huh, Eethain?" he asked.
"Of course," Eethain replied, turning and walking down the street, "It's the only thing I've ever dreamed of.
Liaf sighed and shook his head, following Eethain with silent footsteps. The two walked together from the dank ally, moving into the crowded main street lined with carts and vendors. A crowd filled down the middle, several people breaking of to move to a shop or browse through a window. A few cast quick glances at Liaf as he passed, their orbs focused on the pale eyes that clearly meant the man was blind. He navigated through the crowd easily, though, focusing on the sounds every person was making, feeling for the vibrations of their footsteps atop the cobble.
Eethain paused before another dark and dirty street, dark orbs focusing on a figure at it's end.
"Never seen him before," he muttered, narrowing the pools with suspicion.
"Who?" Liaf asked, coming up behind his young friend.
"Shady character, at the end of the lane. Looks like he's dressed in black. Dark hair, pale skin. Nice looking sword," Eethain replied quickly, studying the figure carefully. He was use to describing people and things to Liaf, having spent so much time with him. he sometimes wondered how Liaf pictured things when he described them. What images did he see in his mind? Could he really form an accurate picture by simply feeling an object, a face, anything?
Eethain shook his head, shaking the nagging thoughts from his mind. He always seemed to do that when something important was happening. Turning his eye back to the Lane, he groaned as he realized the man was gone.
"Lost him?' Liaf asked, pushing past Eethain to move down the street. He listened closely for any sounds, felt for any vibrations, smelled the air for anything out of place.
There was only the steady drip from the rooftops, still damp from the morning's rain. Nothing greeted Liaf as he rounded the corning, no new sensations came to him. But wait...
The whisper of a knife from it's sheath.
The vibrations of a leap form a high roof.
The smell of blood as the shadowed figure drove his knife into Eethain's back.
Liaf cringed as Eethain cried out, the loud noise hard to his sensitive ears. With a feeling of panic, Liaf turned quickly, tripping over a box he'd forgotten was there. Rising to his feet, he drew his dagger, sliding on the wet cobbles as he stopped before his friend, or where his friend should have been.
"Eethain?" Liaf cried, out, spinning in circle franticly. His fear seemed to strangle him, cutting him off from the world. He couldn't feel, hear, smell, do anything. It was unbearable.
"Eethain!"
A gentle thump behind him.
Liaf growled and lifted his dagger, barely blocking the blow from the heavy sword.. He drew the blade back, doing his best to calm his constantly rising fear. You're no use to Eethain if you're dead, he told himself, slowly regaining control.
"What is it you want," he called into the darkness, praying for a reply.
"I want nothing. I'm simply here to tell you to never turn you back on the Assassin's Guild," a voice growled, followed by another heavy blow.
Liaf pushed this one back, though it took some strength.
"What does he have to do with this?" Liaf asked, listening closely for the reply, gaging the man's distance.
But there was no reply.
A strike from the back, an unpredicted move.
Liaf rolled forward, a dangerous act since he new little of his surrounds. Fortunately, he didn't roll into one of the brick walls, and came to his fee well balanced, ready for a counter strike.
Pushing off from the stone, he leaped past his assailant, slicing his dagger backward and catching him On he shoulder. The assassin growled, spinning around with his sword leading to catch Liaf as he stopped. The man was already gone, though, ducking under the sword to drive his dagger into the assassin's heart, an inescapable strike.
The blade bounced off.
Unbalanced, Liaf tripped, falling into the assassin and knocking them both to the ground. Liaf lifted his dagger once more, stabbing for the assassin's heart, but yet again he felt the blade bounce backward.
A hard punch pushed him from atop his enemy, causing him to fall to the ground. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, slowly pushing off the cobble to his knees.
"It's useless you fool," where the last words Liaf heard from the assassin as he leaped back on to the rooftops, sprinting along them into the darkness.
With a tear slipping down his cheek, Liaf crawled forward, feeling for Eethain. He eventually caught the boy's black cape, gently clutching it in his hand a squeezing the blood from it. With a sob, he reached for the boy's face, finding his eyes and closing their lids.
His only friend, the only one who had ever understood, killed by the ones he'd wanted so desperately to join.
As he kneeled by Eethain, Liaf's mind seemed to shut out everything else. All he knew was the silence, the hot tears slipping down his face, and the cold feeling of his companion's hand.
And the worst part was, Liaf couldn't avenge the boy.
Because he didn't actually know what his killer looked like.
Liaf lifted his head, pale unseeing eyes staring into the abyss. He could feel the man's presence, but where exactly he hid Liaf could not tell. Despite his excellent control of his other senses, this man still escaped his grasp. With an exasperated sigh, Liaf leaned against the damp wall, running a hand through his blond locks.
"There's no need to hide when I can't see you," Liaf called out, crossing his arms in annoyance.
There was a slight ruffle to his left, or maybe his right. It's echo was wrong, inform the man's sharp hearing it was coming from two places at once. Impossible.
"I hope you don't think I'm that stupid," a voice replied.
Liaf turned his head to the right, pushing off the wall. Could he have really been stupid enough to speak. Furrowing his eyebrows, he turned back to the left, trying to decide where to go. The man could have been messing with the echoes again, telling Liaf something different than the truth with sounds. A mind game, it was always a mind game.
A noise. A knife drop.
The sudden sound contrast sharply to the muffled noises of the alleyway. Liaf cried out triumphantly, drawing his dagger and turning around. He ran down the street, sliding to a stop as he realized he'd been tricked again.
A cold knife pressed against his neck, and his shoulders sagged in defeat.
"You have to teach me how to do that," he muttered angrily, pushing away the knife and hand as he turned to face his opponent.
A young boy with raven black hair stood there, white teeth peaking out from a broad smile. Blue eyes sat in an angular face, they're depths glittering with mischief.
"A good assassin never gives away his secrets," he replied with confidence, re-sheathing his weapon.
Liaf frowned, replacing his own knife.
"So you still want to join the Assassin's Guild, huh, Eethain?" he asked.
"Of course," Eethain replied, turning and walking down the street, "It's the only thing I've ever dreamed of.
Liaf sighed and shook his head, following Eethain with silent footsteps. The two walked together from the dank ally, moving into the crowded main street lined with carts and vendors. A crowd filled down the middle, several people breaking of to move to a shop or browse through a window. A few cast quick glances at Liaf as he passed, their orbs focused on the pale eyes that clearly meant the man was blind. He navigated through the crowd easily, though, focusing on the sounds every person was making, feeling for the vibrations of their footsteps atop the cobble.
Eethain paused before another dark and dirty street, dark orbs focusing on a figure at it's end.
"Never seen him before," he muttered, narrowing the pools with suspicion.
"Who?" Liaf asked, coming up behind his young friend.
"Shady character, at the end of the lane. Looks like he's dressed in black. Dark hair, pale skin. Nice looking sword," Eethain replied quickly, studying the figure carefully. He was use to describing people and things to Liaf, having spent so much time with him. he sometimes wondered how Liaf pictured things when he described them. What images did he see in his mind? Could he really form an accurate picture by simply feeling an object, a face, anything?
Eethain shook his head, shaking the nagging thoughts from his mind. He always seemed to do that when something important was happening. Turning his eye back to the Lane, he groaned as he realized the man was gone.
"Lost him?' Liaf asked, pushing past Eethain to move down the street. He listened closely for any sounds, felt for any vibrations, smelled the air for anything out of place.
There was only the steady drip from the rooftops, still damp from the morning's rain. Nothing greeted Liaf as he rounded the corning, no new sensations came to him. But wait...
The whisper of a knife from it's sheath.
The vibrations of a leap form a high roof.
The smell of blood as the shadowed figure drove his knife into Eethain's back.
Liaf cringed as Eethain cried out, the loud noise hard to his sensitive ears. With a feeling of panic, Liaf turned quickly, tripping over a box he'd forgotten was there. Rising to his feet, he drew his dagger, sliding on the wet cobbles as he stopped before his friend, or where his friend should have been.
"Eethain?" Liaf cried, out, spinning in circle franticly. His fear seemed to strangle him, cutting him off from the world. He couldn't feel, hear, smell, do anything. It was unbearable.
"Eethain!"
A gentle thump behind him.
Liaf growled and lifted his dagger, barely blocking the blow from the heavy sword.. He drew the blade back, doing his best to calm his constantly rising fear. You're no use to Eethain if you're dead, he told himself, slowly regaining control.
"What is it you want," he called into the darkness, praying for a reply.
"I want nothing. I'm simply here to tell you to never turn you back on the Assassin's Guild," a voice growled, followed by another heavy blow.
Liaf pushed this one back, though it took some strength.
"What does he have to do with this?" Liaf asked, listening closely for the reply, gaging the man's distance.
But there was no reply.
A strike from the back, an unpredicted move.
Liaf rolled forward, a dangerous act since he new little of his surrounds. Fortunately, he didn't roll into one of the brick walls, and came to his fee well balanced, ready for a counter strike.
Pushing off from the stone, he leaped past his assailant, slicing his dagger backward and catching him On he shoulder. The assassin growled, spinning around with his sword leading to catch Liaf as he stopped. The man was already gone, though, ducking under the sword to drive his dagger into the assassin's heart, an inescapable strike.
The blade bounced off.
Unbalanced, Liaf tripped, falling into the assassin and knocking them both to the ground. Liaf lifted his dagger once more, stabbing for the assassin's heart, but yet again he felt the blade bounce backward.
A hard punch pushed him from atop his enemy, causing him to fall to the ground. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, slowly pushing off the cobble to his knees.
"It's useless you fool," where the last words Liaf heard from the assassin as he leaped back on to the rooftops, sprinting along them into the darkness.
With a tear slipping down his cheek, Liaf crawled forward, feeling for Eethain. He eventually caught the boy's black cape, gently clutching it in his hand a squeezing the blood from it. With a sob, he reached for the boy's face, finding his eyes and closing their lids.
His only friend, the only one who had ever understood, killed by the ones he'd wanted so desperately to join.
As he kneeled by Eethain, Liaf's mind seemed to shut out everything else. All he knew was the silence, the hot tears slipping down his face, and the cold feeling of his companion's hand.
And the worst part was, Liaf couldn't avenge the boy.
Because he didn't actually know what his killer looked like.
