A Bothersome Transfer [Closed]

Let's be clear here. Saddles are not made for two people. When Adrian found himself sitting behind Amelia in the saddle of this horse, he found himself pushed up... rather close to Amelia's body. He felt her warmth pushed into his and mingling with it. He could smell her scent from just this short distance. Each of her movements brushed up against him. It was both uncomfortable and amazing for him to experience, though he tried his best to stop his thoughts from travelling down the path of the gutter-mind. He could've chosen not to get on the horse, sure. It would've probably been the smartest idea for him, and yet he realized that if he chose not to, then either way, they'd be going at his pace. A pace that would effectively triple the amount of time it took them to get from here to Zakat on horseback. That was not what he wanted. They needed to get to Zakat as soon as possible. With a grim smile, he rode along on the back of the horse with her, shuffling a little bit and feeling all of the bumps and grinds between them.

Eventually, he felt the horse slow a little. "It's probably going to take a week or so to get there." The girl in front of him noted, to which he simply nodded. It was going to take quite some time, and he wasn't sure that they'd make it even then. Especially if word got back to his old handlers. "They expect me in four days. We have until then to get as far from where we needed to be as possible." He received a glance back in response, just as the horse made a loud, panicked noise. "Whoa! Calm down, calm down..." She was definitely better at dealing with animals than he was... well, animals that weren't human, that is. He chuckled to himself and clambered off of the horse now, getting to ground and looking around at their surroundings. They were at the edge of what seemed to be a massive jungle. It could've been a forest, but he doubted it--jungles were different. Jungles made you feel like you were never going to get out of them. Jungles were terrifying. And if their position was correct and they were indeed back in Zakat, then it was most likely that they were at the edge of the Fell. To get through here would take a mission and a half. It might've been smarter for them to move across to Theoria and take a boat. Actually, that might be the best idea. He'd just have to make sure he either didn't get seen... or paid off a few guards. "... I don't know what to do now. I guess now is the perfect time to take a break." She hopped off of the horse and stared at the jungle. He stared at it too.

"So, we have two options," Adrian was the first to speak, "We could continue this way and make our way through the Fell Jungle. There's no guarantee that we'll make it through, to be honest. I don't know what's in that place, and I don't want to face anything that we can't handle. So we either travel through the Fell Jungle and maybe not make it out alive, or we skirt around the edge and travel to Theoria, where you were kidnapped before. Get there, pay off the local guard so they don't arrest me on the spot, and then take a boat to Iserlohn. Ferries are pretty cheap, from what I know." He folded his arms and looked around. It appeared that the path continued around the forest's edge. They should find their way from there, hopefully. It'd mean that he'd have to stay on the horse with her, but he was over it now. He just needed to be sure that they'd make it without him becoming an inmate. This was the path he'd taken from Theoria. They'd passed the hut about an hour beforehand.

"So those are our options. What do you think, Amelia? It's your show too." He really didn't want to tackle the jungle--and even if cutting through took a week or so off of their travel time, it could also add forever.

She decided to start convincing him that it was going to be better to go through the jungle, as opposed to doing the intelligent thing that following the path. And then, it occurred to him that maybe, just maybe, their enemies would decide that these kids were just going to take the path as well. And maybe they would send ahead reinforcements once they realized that their moneybag had escaped with a pretty decent amount of money that they'd stolen. It was starting to look more and more promising to take the jungle, before Amelia sweetened the deal even further: "What about you? You wanna risk getting caught, stripped naked, tied to a wall, and whipped by a large man with a liking for young boys?" She made a pretty damn good point, that girl. Letting out a long breath of exhausted air, Adrian looked back at the path before looking at the jungle once more. "Either way, I know which direction I am going in. What direction are you headed?" He let out another long breath of air that just screamed 'why do I get myself into this shit', before letting go of the horse's reins, taking the saddlebags off and hanging them around his shoulders. They smelled of horse-butt, but he wasn't taking a damn beast like this through the jungle. It'd be dead weight, and he didn't need any dead weight. Dead weight means dead adventurers. Kicking the horse in the rear, he sent it on its way before following Amelia into the thicket. He already knew that this was going to be trouble, but he didn't quite mention it to her. Instead, he'd simply follow her with a pensive expression, wondering how long it'd take them to get lost and helping her out whenever she needed to. He'd never been here before; he certainly didn't know which way he was going.

Of course, as a matter of course, they eventually got lost. Adrian was the first to point it out; a tree that he'd marked with a pretty distinctive mark. It had only been five minutes since they'd passed it, so they weren't completely lost, but it wasn't a good sign. He then noticed something else--a small clearing that let some nice sunlight down in through the trees and gave the dank depths a bit of fresh air. He nudged Amelia towards that with a grim nod. "If we don't get a bit of rest, we may just come across something that we're too tired to deal with. C'mon, we need to sit down. I might be able to climb a tree and get our bearings as well. Please." He stretched and, whatever her answer, started towards the clearing. He'd seen bulls (and politicians) less stubborn than this one, but he was sure that she was starting to feel a bit of a burn as well. They were a pretty good distance from the road, and it was unlikely that they had any way of flying in the air to scout them. They were basically safe here.

Dropping the saddlebags with a grunt, Adrian looked around the clearing with a cautious eye. There were a few animal tracks here and there, but nothing too major--though he did notice a game trail passing its way out of the clearing. He nodded towards that as well, making a remark: "Game trail. It'll lead to a watering hole, or a river. Either way, it's a lucky find. For now, though..." He nudged his swords off of his back and wandered over to a tree, placing his hands on it and testing it out. "Be right back," he said and began to climb the tree. It took him a couple of minutes to make it to a height that got him looking out over the canopy, but he couldn't see anything of interest. "I can't see much!" came the shout from the treetops as he lowered himself downwards, before looking back into the camp and seeing if anything had happened in the few minutes he'd been gone. For all he knew, she could've just run off on him. Wouldn't surprise him if she had. If she'd even followed him.

Someone had obviously decided that it was his fault in getting them lost, as he could almost feel the cruel and uncaring aura coming from the girl behind or beside him. He almost wanted to groan out loud, to tell her that this was why he didn't want to go through the jungle--you never actually went in straight lines in the goddamn jungle, since direction would always be skewed. Your best hope was always to find a source of water and follow it; and even then you might not exactly find what you're looking for. He felt himself grumbling internally, wanting to turn around and shout at her even more--but he held his tongue and his brain, instead going along with the selfsame strategy that he'd gone along with before. He placed his hands on his hips and stood around in the clearing with a sigh.

"You want to get to the other side, you walk. You keep walking in a straight line, hope you don't run into anything too dangerous, and you find the edge." He held back for a moment, but let out a chuckle, shaking his head.

"It doesn't work as easily as that. How exactly do you know that you're going in a straight line when you do so? The problem with a jungle is that you have no landmarks, since everything is just tree. So if you can get your bearings and find a landmark above ground, then there's the chance that it'll be in a good place. As I said, there's a game trail there--effectively a road that animals use for their treks to water. If we follow it, we might find a river, or we might find sharp teeth. We can also go your way and continue to trek in a line through the jungle. I'll follow you this time." He almost said through grit teeth. He, frankly, wanted to be out of this jungle as quickly as possible. But he also didn't want to lose her in the jungle. If he lost her and got out, then it would haunt him for pretty much the rest of his life. Therefore, he had to take some liberties. This was most certainly one of them. Getting annoyed at her would make the situation worse, so he attempted to keep himself calm and in check. He'd even take abuse if he had to, simply so he could get her out alive.

A soft sigh escaped from Adrian's lips, as he attempted to calm himself. He didn't want to get angry with Amelia, but he honestly felt like things were going to get really irritating between them. He needed to clear the air between them, but there really wasn't any way this was going to happen while they were in the middle of the jungle. While they started to travel down the game trail, he couldn't help but feel that there was something following him. "No, that's impossible. I already know that they can't see me." He grumbled to himself, looking over his shoulder and swallowing. That could be a problem. “I pretty much HAVE to do what you fucking said because you already fucked up my sense of direction by taking us in circles in the first place! Hurry up... and lead the way... Don't. Say. Shit. Just. Go.” He made sure not to say anything in return, since he really didn't want to draw her ire. He swallowed again, starting to increase his pace a little. He felt his heart beating at a slightly higher rate. He felt that something was still following, but he decided to just put his mind forwards. He continued to follow the trail, watching the path ahead and occasionally flitting a gaze over to Amelia's face to make sure that she was still on board. He felt really bad for pissing her off; and he understood exactly why. The girl had been dragged through so much today that it'd cause anyone to go on tilt. He wasn't going to get angry with her, because he really didn't blame her at all. His frustration was more directed towards himself right now, honestly.

"Bah..." He'd thrown it all away. He didn't regret it, but he really felt that he could've done this better. Especially if the twins caught wind--he'd have to keep that sword close to his body at all times; if he didn't, then his body would start transmitting to them again. Those bastards planting that shit in his head--he was glad that his Arcane Item cancelled it.


Despite being so very stuck inside his head, something caught his attention. His eyes widened as he saw it finally starting to break through. How long had they been travelling for? He didn't know, and he didn't care. Excitement took hold, and he reached out to tenderly take Amelia's wrist. "C'mon!" Turns out the game trail had led them somewhere, but it wasn't a river. He upped the pace, feeling dread while he did so, but continuing to bring her along as easily as possible. Breaking through the line of trees, he found himself stepping foot on a grassy hill, looking out over the ocean, and a city in the distance. Considering the direction they'd come from, that was definitely Iserlohn down there. He felt a grin cross over his face, and turned to Amelia to smile. "You were right; and I'm sorry for doubting you. I should've followed you in the first place, alright?" Part of him was just pandering to her--but it was because of her that they'd gone through the Fell Jungle. If they'd gone with his direction, who knows where they'd be? However, he noticed something else... and turned completely around to face the jungle again. "Show yourself! I know you've been following us this entire time!" The area in front of him shimmered slightly, and out of the shimmer stepped a rather attractive young woman, sporting white hair, blue eyes and an alluring smirk. Adrian sneered in return.

"Arianna." She laughed softly, folding her arms and smiling brightly, opening her mouth and speaking in a very heavy accent that was difficult to understand unless you really listened hard.

"Adrian, my dear, it's good to see that the package is unharmed! Hand her over like a good boy, and I'll let you live~" His eyes narrowed in response.

"What does it matter; they already know, don't they?" She simply laughed, shaking her head, "I knew it. It doesn't matter whether I hand her over or not; your orders are to kill me either way, right?" She tilted her head and placed her finger on her chin with a thoughtful smile.

"Of course they are, but I like you. They, of course, never trusted you," She licked her bottom lip sadistically, "Why would they? They couldn't easily get into your head--and even when you finally allowed them, your own weapon neutralizes their tracking. While adjusting for people with Arcana naturally, they just couldn't assimilate people with Arcane Items. But anyway, aren't you wanting to know how I found you?" Adrian's mouth turned up slightly, as the woman's features twisted and shifted. Arianna wasn't a combatant--while skilled with a blade, she was better suited to killing from the shadows. The fact that she had revealed herself to him meant that she was honest in her intentions to let him live. His gaze flit over to Amelia momentarily, wondering. Could he live with himself, giving her up? When he finally looked back, the distraught woman from the bar was standing in front of them, holding the diamond from earlier between her fingers. Adrian's face paled, and he finally understood.

"Amelia... they're not going to let either of us go easily." Arianna's face fell slightly.

"Oh, you know the mark's name? Such a shame. Here, take your payment for your silence, and run, cute little man." The diamond was tossed into the air, and in almost a blink of an eye, the woman found herself with a black blade at her throat, her own façade fading and bringing back the beautiful white-haired seductress. Although Amelia couldn't see the fire in his eyes, she could probably feel the pure rage emanating from his body.

"You want to know something funny? Amelia has been angry at me throughout this entire trek through the Jungle. While most people would get angry in return, I simply held in all of my rage out of understanding for her plight, and maybe because I kind of like her," His expression darkened, but his mouth turned up into a grin, "This girl is under my protection from you sick bastards, and I won't let her go for simple blood money. Of course, you know what this means, right Arianna? It means that, for even insinuating harming her, I'm going to rip your fucking head off." His grin turned into a snarl, and Arianna backed off quickly, putting a bit of distance between herself and Adrian, obviously shaken. He held his sword at the side, slowly drawing out the lighter-colored blade at the same time, standing between her and Amelia. He needed to finish this quickly--the longer they spent playing around here, the faster the Twins could hone in on their position. And Adrian was pissed.

Ack--he really hadn't expected this to happen. Arianna's face was twisted and contorted in a strange shape that showed a mixture of fear and pure rage. Her usually rather pretty visage showed a kind of anger that he hadn't seen from her in a long time. Good; he wanted her to be angry. If she was angry, she would make mistakes. She was also scared--scared of this strange man who was looking ready to take her to her grave. His eyes narrowed, and then something else occurred. Without any warning, Adrian felt a pair of arms slide around his chest. “Calm down.” That was a rather sweet voice, and Adrian was a little confused. Not letting it show on his face, he turned his head slightly to look back at her, and suddenly felt a pair of lips brush across his. He was almost surprised, but realized just quickly enough that it was an act--he held the kiss (that tasted exceptionally sweet and almost kind of right) for a moment before turning back to Arianna and giving her a roguish grin. “You heard the man. Disappear before we make you.” He chuckled slightly, before speaking again, "What kind of distance were you following me at? Because you know how my sword messes up their telepathy. But you never knew how far away, did you? The aura is approximately fifteen yards." Her eyes widened, and Adrian grinned even wider, "You know what that means, right? It means that right now, the Twins have no idea where you are--just that you're somewhere in the Fell Jungle." He withdrew his sword, before bringing up his other hand and socking her one right under the jaw. She fell back onto the ground, unconscious from that one hit.

"She never could take a punch. We'd better get out of here." He slid Amelia's arms from around his body, before turning around and reaching down to pick up the diamond off of the ground, "Might as well hold onto this. It's worth something." He chuckled, sheathed his sword and held out his hand for Amelia to take, knowing that it wasn't far to Iserlohn now.

"Shall we?"