Faraway Places

[Yeathan The Mad]

Yeathan peered out over the ledge, slipping his foot against the wall behind him. From his viewpoint he could see all four thugs standing in a tight circle, one occasionally looking backwards to make sure no one was listening to them.

The girl leaned close to him, and began to say something, but within her first words, Yeathan was off the ledge. He had used his foot propped up against the wall as momentum, and was now gliding silently through the air.

He slammed headlong into the group of men, knocking two the ground and sending the others sprawling backwards. He immediately went into a roll, moving over the bodies of the two fallen thugs. They scrambled to their feet, weapons draw, searching frantically for whatever had just hit them.

Out of the darkness came a maniacal laughter. It echoed off the walls, the shrill sound pummeling their ears and playing havoc with their senses. The closeness of the walls made it impossible to tell exactly where the laugh originated at.

Out of the blackness came Yeathan, a slender rapier now in his left hand. With his free hand he pushed off the shoulder of a thug facing the other way, and with one graceful movement slid the blade across the neck of one of the other men. The thug fell lifeless to the ground.

Yeathan spun, parrying a dagger and slamming the palm of his hand into the man’s nose, a resounding crack filling the air. He pressed forward, his foot flying high and catching the man on the chin, sending his stumbling into a darker section of the alley. There was a brief gurgle and then all was silent.

The two thugs quickly jumped into a spot of light, back to back. “The Guild will get you for this Yeathan! Rallaster knows you’re here, and wants you dead!” The thug screamed. “It won’t be long before every assassin in the city is after you! You hear me you freak?”

[Erys]

Erys's eyes widened. After the laughter and the rapier coming out of seemingly nowhere, she held still for moment, incredulous. After this show of violence, she lost any assumptions she had made about this Yeathan character. He was far from helpless, apparently, and she couldn't fathom how he could have ever been hungry.

The thugs knew him, too, it seemed, but it still wasn't clear to her exactly who or what they were after. And, Rallaster, who was that? Erys felt that she had gotten into something that was larger than she had to get herself into. The thought of 'Guild' that kidnaps and injures any that they wish intimidated her, and she decided that any such organization must be more than just a few petty criminals. Of course, she was in a strange land that she knew nothing of.

“It won’t be long before every assassin in the city is after you! You hear me you freak?” At these words, Erys surmised that the other was rather unique. To be called a freak, she believe that there must not be very many of whatever he was.

She couldn't see the remaining two thugs, and it seemed that the man was perfectly capable of handling them, so she dropped herself back down onto the ground. It was nothing as spectacular as the other's flying leap, but she was down without hurting herself.

Erys looked him inquistively, one eyebrow raised. She couldn't see his face, not in the gloom, but she believed she at least saw his figure. "What... What was that about?"

[Yeathan The Mad]

His body blended perfectly with the shadows, and it looked as if the darkness itself was moving melding from the wall. After a startled look from his companion, he gave the quiet sign once more, and for many moments the two waited in the darkness of that alley. Yeathan wanted to be sure the thugs had fled. When he was certain they were gone, he moved up from his prone position and moved towards the girl.

His stance was different now. He didn’t have the nervous, shaky walk from earlier, but it was now a confident, yet silent stride. He was standing fully straight now, not in the crouched position he had been in only minutes ago. His dark eyes seemed to take in everything around them, and not dart back and forth nervously as they had done earlier. The rapier still rested in his hand, the blade nearly touching the ground, but ready to be brought up at a moments notice.

“Are you alright?” He said in a perfectly normal voice. No longer was it the squeaky, childish voice he had spoken in when he entered the tavern, but it was now that of a warrior, calm and collected, with a sense of ease that can only come from the knowledge that you are safe.

With a final glance around, Yeathan looked down at the rapier. With only a thought, it began to shrink until it was either so small it couldn’t be seen, or it disappeared. He looked back up at the woman, waiting for his answer.

“What was that about?” was the only thing she said. Yeathan looked around once more, before suddenly falling to the ground in a cross-legged sit.

“It’s a very long story, but mostly revolves around the whosits at the Guild wanting me to work for them, and mes not wanting to.”

[Erys]

"I can see why..."

Erys put one hand to her head and rubbed her eyes, then looked at him. She had heard of magic, yes, and even knew a few minor cantrips herself, but the rapier disappearing astonished her. It had become part of a long list, though. A list that had started that very morning and that she had already lost track of.

And his speech, and gait. What had happened there? She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know. Anyone that changed so much and was as unpredictable as this fellow wasn't anyone she cared to spend enough time around as to know everything about them. That could unhealthy for herself. If he was prone to change physically and mentally so significantly and so suddenly, she wouldn't discount the possibility of him turning and attacking her for no reason.

Her curiousity was most definitely caught, but she didn't dare inquire as to the rest of the story. A simpler question came to her. "Ah, your name? Yeathan, right?" she paused for only a second. "I am Erys."

She didn't wait for an answer long before turning around to look back into the light. There was no one there, but she hadn't looked since coming down. Feeling somewhat more secure, she returned her gaze to the other.

[Yeathan The Mad]

"Ah, your name? Yeathan, right? I am Erys.” The woman said. Yeathan let out a faint smile.

“Yes, I is Yeathan!” He said with excitement, the shrillness returning to his voice.

As quickly as his metamorphosis has come, it was going back. He began to slump slightly, and his eyes began to glaze over, darting back and forth nervously, he even began to develop a small twitch in his right eye. He let out another smile, this one goofy and twisted looking.

Yeathan looked down at the corpse in the alley; a pool of blood had now circled around it. Yeathan looked back Erys, and though she said nothing, he began to cower. As if she had just demanded some explanation, Yeathan began to stammer out one.

“Sometimes…Sometimes when Yeathan get really scared, or really angry, everything goes away, and then he can never remember what he did. Then when he comes back, all the whosits yell at him, or hit him, or they tells him to do something he cant do. That’s why the whosit…the whosit…ummm….” Yeathan drifted off for a moment, apparently losing his train of thought.

”Rallaster! Dat’s his name! Rallaster! He tells me ‘Yeathan go get shiny gem from dis guy’ but Yeathan can’t do that!” Yeathan stopped his speech suddenly.

“It not safe here, Yeathan need to go.”

[Erys]

Erys was taken aback by his strange behavior. It seemed to have a pattern, but she wasn't sure. From the way Yeathan spoke of him, she believed 'Rallaster' could be the leader of this 'Guild,' or at least a somewhat high-ranking official in the organization. She felt that her health would be much better off if she could leave this alone, but with her set of morals and convictions, that was simply not possible. Even had this 'Guild' not been involved, a character such as him was one that she couldn't leave alone. He needed help with such erratic behavior. That wasn't anything she could change, surely, but it didn't seem that any other person had shown him any kindness whatsoever.

"Need to leave..? Before you go, then, is there anything I could help you with?" Erys didn't understand his perception of safety; she could discern nothing different, and he had seemed fine merely moments ago.

[Yeathan The Mad]

"Need to leave..? Before you go, then, is there anything I could help you with?" Erys said, with just a hint of fear in her voice. Yeathan tilted his head slightly, and his eyes grew wide.

“Yous want to…to help Yeathan?” he said in a high pitched voice. Once again, his lip began to pout, and his eyes grew even more abnormally large.

“No one ever offered to help Yeathan!” He screamed as he began to tear up. For several moments Erys watched uncomfortably as the strange creature sobbed uncontrollably, before finally regaining some measure of control and wiping the tears away.

“The whosit at the Guild won’t leave poor Yeathan alone!” He screamed. He seemed oblivious to the fact that they had just been attacked, and that his voice could easily carry long distances. “It wants me to do jobs for it, to kills whosits, big whosits! Whosits that would kill Yeathan for fun! Yeathan just want to eat!” He said, now nervously rubbing his hands together.

“But Yeathan not want Erys to gets hurt, so Yeathan just follow you. Can Yeathan follow you, please?”

[Erys]

As Yeathan cried, Erys almost regretted asking if he needed help. She wasn't used to such childish behavior, and he certainly seemed to be much older than that. He was pitiful though, in this state, but was obviously more than he appeared to be.

Any "whosits" that could kill him for fun was nothing she ever wanted to see. The two displays of violence she had seen from him had already convinced her that she would never, ever attempt to anger him. This 'Guild' business must be even larger and deeper than she had previously imagined. A great lot of good her coming to Qui had done. She hoped that they knew nothing of her personally, only that she was with this strange man and that she was new to Qui. If they had a personal vendetta against her, Erys was prepared to mark herself as dead. She had no way of protecting herself.

"Follow me..? Sure, you could. I mean, I'm not going anywhere specific, but you're welcome to come along." After his show of killing the other men, Erys wouldn't mind him around.

This is just impossible. How could anything so.. so strange happen?

[Yeathan The Mad]

As he put on his best "lost puppy" face, Erys watched him carefully for a moment, thinking over his offer.

"Follow me..? Sure, you could. I mean, I'm not going anywhere specific, but you're welcome to come along." She said softly. With a great laugh and a clap of his grubby hands, Yeathan screamed "Thank you thank you!" in delight. After a few calming words from Erys, He stood up very straight and laid a hand over his heart.

"Yeathan remembers he never properly introduced hisself." He said proudly. "My name is Yeathan Rolvenguard Pursesnatcher the fith!" He continued. There was a brief silence, most likely the girl trying to piece apart what he had just said, then Yeathan finally burst into a fit of laughter.

"I's just kidding, me just calls me Yeathan. All the whosits just calls me "Getaway". I doesnt know what that means, but they usually hit me after that." He chuckling.

[Erys]

Erys nodded slowly at Yeathan's joking, then was attacked by thoughts of the complications her newfound companion could bring to her. Others didn't seem to be very kind or forgiving of his actions, but she'd never expect him to remain in this harsh place alone. It also seemed unlikely to her that he would have any ideas as to what she should do about this. Unless, of course, he were to revert back to the state of mind she had seen earlier. So, this was something she'd remain silent about for now; it needed some thought about before she brought it up.

The most pressing matter was that very day. She had planned on renting a room for a night or two in the inn. The possibility of him being allowed back in there so soon after the brawl earlier seemed slim to her. If he had his own place to stay, she wouldn't feel bad about going ahead with what she had planned.

"Yeathan," she began tentatively, trying to choose a wording that wouldn't cause him to run off screaming again. "Do you live here, in this town? Is there a place you can sleep at night? Like a house, you know."

[Yeathan The Mad]

“Yeathan, do you live here, in this town? Is there a place you can sleep at night? Like a house, you know." Erys said soothingly, not wanting to upset the boy…man…thing. For a moment he sat there, his jaw slack and his eyes staring up, and then the answer finally came to him.

“Oooh, house, yes yes yes, Yeathan has a house. It very pretty. Very pretty.” He said excitedly. Yeathan motioned for the girl to follow, and began to moving through the alleys. They moved for what seemed like an eternity through the dark, twisting labyrinth of the alleys of Qui, Erys just barely staying with Yeathan. Several times he had to stop and let her catch up, and once he even had to hold her by the hand. When it seemed like they had traveled every inch of the town, he came to a sudden stop.

The two were at an exit to the alleys, and straight ahead of them was a magnificent tower. It was beautifully decorated, in stark contrast to the rest of the building around it. It was a dull gray color, but its craftsmanship shown through it easily. It was built with stone, and lined with some form of marble. There was no discernable door, but for some reason that didn’t surprise Erys in the least.

“Here we is, here we is!” Yeathan said, quietly for once. “But wes must be quiet; the whosits that stay there doesn’t like it when I sleep there.” He said, pointing as a man walked out of the tower, straight through a stone wall.

”I knows all the secret passageways!” He said eagerly. “Is you ready to go in?”