Survival [Closed]

The streets pulsated all around her, the girl feeling sharp pains in her chest with each step that she took. Every time her foot touched the ground she staggered, and her breathing was ragged and heavy. The pains in her stomach were slowly becoming too much, and she could barely count the time it had been since she had last eaten. Was it four hours? Five? Seven? She didn't know if she was on time, too early, what. She simply knew that she was hungry, and being hungry was the biggest danger to her life. Her heartbeat had quickened, and the Arcana pulsing through her veins was moving at its highest speeds in order to be able to simply _sustain_ her. It wouldn't be long before it started eating away at her musculature. The white-haired woman was definitely out of her comfort zone--she thought back to a mere few days ago.

Her home--the place that she had been living for her entire life--had been taken away from her. The repercussions of her ousting her parents from their schemes was far more painful than she had known. They owed several thousand gold to a few nasty people, and what better way to get that money back than to take away the house? Lucia had gathered up all of the money she could and fled into the night. The first couple of days had been okay, but her funds were rapidly running dry. She had been unable to get into the vault, so anything left in there would belong to the bastards who took the house away. Her last gold had been spent on the room to rest in last night; even though she did not require sleep, she needed a way to get out of the rain. She couldn't exactly fix that. Her only possessions were the (actually functional) clothes on her back and the armor hidden away in the circlet on her wrist. Neither of those were being sold, for Lucia Durand required her pride to exist. However, even that pride was slowly eroding away.

Lucia Hargreave Durand required six meals a day to function as normal. As one would expect, this is an expensive prospect indeed. Certain places that remained open late were her new home, but without money, what was she to do? Her stomach growled, and she heard several voices. Was that a market? She stepped through an alley--well, stumbled--and approached the crowd with a weakened gait. A grocer was peddling their wares, and suddenly Lucia felt even _hungrier_. What harm could there be in taking a couple of apples, really? Even if she got caught, she could just promise to pay it back later! Her parents had done that a lot. She made the decision there; she didn't exactly want to die from starvation.

Lucia approached the cart with a bright smile and looked over the wares, pointedly testing one or two of the apples for ripeness. She felt the watchful eyes of the owner on her face and shivered a little bit, almost faltering. It had to be now or never--so she grabbed a couple of apples, turned and made to bolt. Unfortunately, Lucia was just a bit too slow, and a bit too hungry. She tripped. The apples dropped from her hands as her body hit the ground, and she groaned quietly. She heard the footsteps of the grocer approaching her, and shouted in pain as the first kick hit her waist. "Get up, thief. Y'er gonna pay for this."

The first kick was bad. Considering that her stomach was already reeling from the sheer hunger, the pain from the foot digging into her side was almost too much to bear. Lucia couldn't stop her voice from escaping her throat and shouted out in pain. Her body doubled up as she held her hands where she had been kicked. She noticed, out of the corner of one eye, that the man was going to pull his leg back and kick her again. She wanted to put her arms out, to stop him from landing that blow. She had to, had to, or she wouldn't be walking right for hours--if she even survived for any longer than a few. "Hey." She yelped at the sudden voice and noticed a foot stamp down onto the one that was aiming for the kick. She blinked a couple of times and looked around, before looking up at the source of the extremely deep voice. A particularly harsh face looked towards the grocer, scowling deeply. He was, for lack of a better term, scary. "Back off." She swallowed a bit and crawled forwards, trying to get to a wall so that she could scramble back up it. The man's entire posture was intimidating, and as he let go of the grocer's foot, he kicked out and hit the man's stomach, causing the grocer to fall back into his stall, knocking about barrels. A few oranges rolled on the ground near Lucia, and she grabbed them as well, greedily holding them against her chest. Any food she could get, she would take. It was a do or die situation. "It's just an apple. You can hear her stomach. She's hungry. Back off." Just an apple, eh? She looked back down at the oranges and let them go, before looking up and realizing that her, er, 'savior' was standing directly over her. He crouched down over her, and Lucia got a better look at his face.

He seemed to wear a permanent scowl, and the lines--or lack of lines--on his face suggested that laughing was a rarity from him. She blinked a couple of times as she looked at him, wondering what he was going to do next. As if to punctuate her worries, her stomach growled again, rather loudly. "Stupid girl." She narrowed her eyes in response, but at the same time, wasn't exactly sure how to react to his presence. Was she supposed to be scared of him? He was intimidating, yes, but no more intimidating than her father had been. He was tall, scary and definitely a person to watch out for, but Lucia's eyes showed something of a defiant streak to him--as if she were daring him to scare her. In almost response, she felt a rough hand grab her shirt by the chest, pulling her up from the ground and putting her back on her feet. She made a quick motion to dust herself off as much as she could, before having an apple almost tossed in her face, the man holding the other one. "I'll take this as payment." She nodded rapidly and raised the apple to her mouth.

There is not a measurement of time in existence that can fathom just how quickly Lucia demolished that apple. Good thing she did too, because she felt a hand roughly grab her shoulder and start pulling her along. She fought the grip for a couple of seconds, but her strength hadn't really returned. Eventually, Lucia just relaxed and allowed herself to be pulled along. Whispers were spoken, and she picked up a couple of them--"That Durand girl has really fallen in with the wrong crowds. Losing her parents, and now this?" She narrowed her eyes and swallowed the bile that had approached her throat, before turning her head slightly to look at her 'savior'. "Wh-where am I being taken? I can walk on my own two feet, you know." She grumbled a little bit to herself, before letting him dictate the continued course of action. If she were let go, she would walk alongside him, not attempting to run. Her side hurt, her legs were still weak, and he definitely had a lot more energy than her. If she were not let go, she would allow him to continue dragging her until such a point as he wanted to put her down. Either way, she had questions. And an appetite.

Things were looking pretty bad, to be frank. She still hadn't regained enough strength to fight back against him, even with the Arcana substituting itself for her regular nutrients. Apparently her system had decided that it didn't want to play nice right now, instead keeping her legitimately weak until such a time as it deemed necessary. Stupid thing--what was the point of being better than everyone if you couldn't use it? She mumbled something to herself, before feeling another rough pull as she was let go of. She noticed that she was pushed towards a ladder, with the man motioning towards it, "Climb." No point in refusing his lovely offer. She placed her hands on the ladder and started to climb, at least feeling a little bit of strength returning. Nothing to turn and fight the man with, but at least if he tried to hurt her too badly, she could try and get away. It was a better prospect than having the strength of a newborn pup. She inhaled deeply and started further up the ladder, generally ignoring (barely) the hand on her ass that pushed her up faster. She clambered to the top and hopped lightly over the edge, looking over the rooftop. Interesting, she noted. Was this where he lived? She saw some possessions in one corner in a bag, but not much else other than that. The man finished climbing up and laid the ladder up. She noted the distance she'd climbed--she was trapped up here, mostly. There were no other real escape routes. She could jump off of the edge, sure, but at what cost? She muttered to herself a little bit more, before realizing that the man was offering her both bread and jerky. She accepted happily. "It's all I got; I'll have more later." She nodded, though she hoped that she didn't have to stick around for later.

Once he had taken his share, she quickly delved into it. While it didn't vanish as quickly as the apple had (core and all), it was definitely eaten quickly. Just from having the food enter her gullet, Lucia felt a surge of strength returning. It wasn't the usual amount she was used to--though that was probably due to a lack of lavish meals--but it was enough to, if nothing else, stand up for herself in any probable situation. The man pulled out a canteen and drank down a lot of it. Good, that meant that it was safe, right? He tossed it over to her, "Here. Drink." She nodded and opened it up, sniffing the drink and recognizing it as some kind of wine. She gladly took a couple of good swigs, feeling the lukewarm but sweet liquid run down her throat. She closed it up and let out a breath of satisfaction, closing up the canteen and tossing it back to him. She finished the last of what she had--after he took a bit more for good measure--and swallowed it down, rubbing her face and shaking her head. A meal of bread and jerky--quite possibly the best meal she had ever eaten. "So... What the hell are you doing stealin' shit? You obviously don't now how. Rich girl like you shouldn't be that hungry." She frowned slightly, irritated that he'd already worked that much out. How much was she going to tell him? She could tell him everything, but then he could just decide her worth enough to sell.

"Long story. Homeless. Family debts. Baaad week." He'd be able to see the look of irritation in her eyes at those memories. She didn't really feel like going over it too hard. "It'll be all over the news soon enough, I'm sure." She waved her arms in frustration, "House Durand, gone for good! People will be all over it for about a month." She sighed softly, shaking her head and crossing her legs. "Most people are smarter than you." No, most people weren't. "You didn't even fight..." He said before chuckling. For some reason, chuckling seemed completely unnatural when regarding his demeanor and voice. It made the entire thing slightly frightening to Lucia. She watched him carefully, eyes narrowed, lips pursed. "You came up here without really any hassle at all. The things I could do to you... And no one would ever know." She leaned back from him when he said that, eyes slightly wider. He wouldn't, would he? No--if he wanted to attack her, then he would have done it while she was weaker. She doubted that she'd have been allowed to even get any kind of rest from the trip. She didn't understand that getting someone to let their guard down was a perfectly legitimate strategy. Her cheeks reddened--though out of annoyance rather than embarrassment. He wouldn't kill her, would he? He could torture her. He could make her into a red splatter on this roof, and nobody would know any different. They probably wouldn't even hear her scream. Any other connotation flew right over her head. "B-bastard..."

"First ideas was to ransom you off, but your parents are dead." She raised an eyebrow. He wasn't a local. He didn't know. "I think the slaver ring outside Aria might enjoy you. Dunno why, but they seem to like your type." She bit her bottom lip and shook her head, laughing softly. "Well you're wrong, on two counts. Firstly, my parents aren't dead." Her mouth curled into a slight smile, "At least, I don't think they are. They're in prison. I put them there." She chuckled at this, "And secondly, no, you don't want to sell me to slavers." She looked up at him, meeting his gaze with the sweetest smile she could muster, "I'm worth so much more than they could give you, especially with the right training. Funny things happen when a girl doesn't need to sleep." At that, she grinned. Fuck it, she was probably dead (or equivalent) anyway. Might as well make a show of it.

The look of shock was expected. He probably didn't think of this 'poor little rich girl' as somebody who would be able to stomach doing something like that. She didn't blame him, not at all. Most rich people he met were either scheming fucks or unable to take care of themselves, but Lucia didn't really read as either. "That smile is freaking me out." She blinked a couple of times. Honestly, that was partly the point. She wasn't really trying to be cute. The smile fell from her face, though, and she looked to the side. "Alright, I'll stop it then. No point in pissing off the guy holding the gun." She sighed and shook her head, looking back at him and watching his face. She was looking for reactions to the things she said. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the sun was beginning to set. Was it getting that late already? She quietly frowned, tilting her head when he spoke again, "You don't sleep?" She blinked and nodded, "You one of those mystic vampire things?" She shook her head in response to that one, "No, I'm just a regular human. Parents put some shit in my body that makes me not need sleep... but I kind of need to eat a lot to make up for it." She sighed softly. Being rich had its perks--for instance, food. Lots and lots of food. She was going to have to learn to live on less, which was in itself a frustration. She didn't know what her limits were; she'd never really needed to. She didn't know how much food constituted a survivable meal, and whether not eating enough when she felt hungry would actually get her killed. Over the past couple of days, Lucia had definitely learned one thing: She knew absolutely nothing.

"I'm going to bed. If you run off, fine, but don't be surprised if you run into someone worse than me." Like that, he terminated the conversation. She didn't even know his name, so saying goodnight to him directly wasn't exactly going to work. She sighed softly, watching him turn his back to her and use his arm as a pillow. "You're in the slums of Aria, farthest from the castle, and the least amount of guard... Someone else'll grab you up... And they won't be as nice as I am. See them getting you something... to eat..." She frowned. She didn't like it, but he was right. Putting her back up against the wall, she looked up at the sky as the blue began to fade into a black, and small dots spattered the vastness of the void.

When one does not sleep, one learns of ways to make the time pass. Sometimes, using the energy you have isn't always the best idea. Inactivity could help her last longer without a meal--while sleeping wasn't really something she could do, it was possible for Lucia to put herself into a minor trance. It would allow the hours to (mostly) pass by quickly. So she sat, and she watched. Eventually, however, she noticed. He was shivering--the breeze was there, but Lucia's own body heat generally ignored it. The man was cold. Sighing softly, she leaned forwards and crawled over towards him. She didn't know if she'd get stabbed for doing this, but some people would appreciate the warmth. She pressed her side up against his back and leaned over, looking at the rooftop with a sigh. She noticed the bag out of the corner of her eye and quickly scrambled over to it, searching in and pulling out a single piece of fruit. If nothing else, it would at least stop her from starving herself. The apple was demolished, and she once more placed her side against his. When he woke up, he would feel something warm pressed up against him, trying to stave off the cold he was feeling.

She really hoped he didn't stab her for this.

"Why are you so close to me?" She made a shocked noise and rolled away from him, looking at him with worried eyes--please don't shank me--before relaxing herself slightly. "You looked cold, so I warmed you up... my body tends to radiate a bit more heat than most peoples'... side effect of the thing." She shook her head and stood up, brushing herself off.  She'd gained a bit of dust on herself, but was generally okay. He looked over at his bag, and she winced when he spoke again, "Really? All of my food?" He cleared his throat and continued, "You eat lots." She nodded weakly, "It's a problem that I have to deal with." She blinked when he didn't turn to attack her for it, and instead simply admonished her, telling her to sleep next time. She wanted to open her mouth and tell him that it didn't actually work that way, but she was worried that he'd get mad. Instead, she simply nodded. She'd deal with working out how to get food another time. Maybe she'd ask him for tips on how to steal. "Time to move." She nodded and watched him lower the ladder down. She felt guilty about eating all of his food, and watched him as he disappeared from the rooftop. She looked around at her temporary resting spot and sighed, before hearing him almost demand her to come down after him. She nodded and clambered onto the ladder, trying not to look down as she went towards the ground--good thing, since she would have noticed that he could see things otherwise. When she was completely down, he would lead her off--putting her in front of him and telling her which direction she was to go. She followed his directions until they found themselves at a bakery.

As she stepped into the building, the scent of fresh bread filled her nostrils, and she felt herself feeling slightly hungry. She didn't really pay much attention to what was going on, until the baker finally acknowledged their presences. "Come in! Come in! Everything is fresh this morning! What can I g-... O-Oh, Alex." Apparently the baker recognized the man, grabbing a pretty sizeable bag of bread and sweets and handing it over, asking for payment--and receiving it. Suddenly she felt eyes on herself and looked up at the baker, who had begun talking to her. "Oh. What have we here? Are you traveling with Al-... Wait, Aren't you the Durand girl? I'm sorry to hear about your parents. Here take this, on the house." She blinked and bowed politely as he handed her the pastries. "Thank you for your consideration." She smiled sweetly at him as she was led out of the building by Alex. "Free food. Convenient." She frowned, pulled out one of the pastries and left the other one on her hip in its bag. If she was going to be scarce where food was concerned, she needed to take what advantages she could get. Unfortunately, the first pastry didn't last very long, and the temptation to eat the second was pretty great.

Eventually, they reached the gate of Aria, and she blinked a few times. This was a problem. She'd never left Aria before. "You make a scene... I'll kill you." She nodded. No need to die to the man. She wanted to survive, for good reason. "You know my name now, so what is yours?" She felt the arm lean over her shoulders, holding them together. Her mouth turned into a frown. "Lucia." No point in hiding if Alex told her his own name--it was in her best interests to be completely truthful with him. "And we're leaving? I know of a way to get a pretty damn good amount of money, that doesn't involve selling me to slavers." She felt his arm tighten around his shoulder. The two guards looked over and recognized Lucia, almost completely ignoring the man holding onto her. She was afraid--and only her wits were stopping her from falling into a frightened mess.

She gave her suggestion, and she hoped like hell that he took it. She wasn't lying, but the road was, at the very least, going to be a little difficult. This turned out to be a good opportunity, however, since it meant that she'd be able to actually eat decently, and he'd get enough money to hopefully not sell her to the slavers. In Lucia's eyes, this was a clear-cut win-win situation. Hopefully he saw the same thing, and didn't just decide to sell her off. "If you're lying to me, it will not end well for you. She nodded in understanding at his warning. She was definitely not lying. They turned back into the city proper and he led her to a nearby park. It wasn't the nicest-looking park. She didn't care. He told her to sit, and she complied.

He pulled out a sweet roll, and Lucia decided to take her last pastry out and bite into it. Thing goes well enough, they'd be able to eat well anyway. "So..." She watched him for a second, noting that he really had no manners. "Exactly how are we supposed to get this money you're talking about?" She took in a deep breath, waiting to make sure he'd asked everything before she started her rather long tale. "And how much is it? I ain't doin' nothing crazy without a big reward." She prepared herself to speak again, before hearing him make one last remark about slavers. She narrowed her eyes at him and started.

"There's a vault in some caves beneath my house. I was never given the access codes, but my parents had a secret rear entrance built in case of... interlopers. They mentioned specifically that it required two people to get through, else I would have already been and gone with most of the money. As for the amount, I don't honestly know. The last counted amount in their books was approximately one-hundred platinum, but I don't know how much they smuggled out before their arrest. I'd count maybe fifty plat, sixty tops. How much would you get for me from slavers? Twenty gold max?" She raised an eyebrow at him and chuckled. "There might be some kind of creature guarding, but I can deal with anything like that." She shrugged lightly--he'd probably doubt her combat skills. She, once more, did not blame him.

"So, what do you say? Can twenty-five plat buy my freedom?"

"Well, as long as you're still a virgin..." Her face turned bright red and she narrowed her eyes, "Wh-what's that got to do with anyth--" He reached out and touched her neck, her hair. He made her look up at him and checked her figure, putting his hands on her waist and even her chest. She wanted to slap him... so badly right now, but she held her hand back. Instead, she simply gave him an insipid glare. He was checking her value, wasn't he? "White hair is a plus... Around six plat'. You're an expensive one." She grumbled. Six plat, eh? She'd make a good whore, eh?

"You shouldn't sell yourself short. Twenty gold ain't shit for someone who looks like you." He spoke about that in a way which irritated her--he was speaking as if she were just some piece of money, not actually a human being. Slavers did that to you, she'd heard. Made you into something that wasn't human. Even if she took more meals a day, not needing sleep meant that they could work her for as much gold as they wanted. There might not even be a moment where she wasn't working. "If you want to handle some beast, go on ahead. I'd rather not deal with it." She nodded. He then told her to lead the way, which she did.


It took them roughly an hour to reach the estate on foot. She knew the way pretty well, and when they finally reached the fence, Lucia looked up at it with an almost forlorn expression. She had no idea who was in this house right now, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Instead, she motioned for Alex to follow her around the wall, quietly leading him to what seemed to be a well in the strangest of places. The mechanism looked far beefier than most, and there wasn't so much a bucket as a platform. From a distance, one would not see these kinds of features--even up close, you would have to really study it to understand. "We're here. You first." She motioned towards the platform. "If you have any worries about its sturdiness, you should know that my father weighs 325 pounds. It's sturdy." She waited for him to get on. If he showed any further hesitance, she would make a frustrated noise and get on it herself, pointing out how to use the mechanism, and explaining how to use it to lower her in. The way out was slightly different, and she'd explain that when they had to leave.

If he went first, she would lower him down and then bring it back up herself, before waiting for him to lower her down. If she went first, she would wait for him to get on and lower himself down. She expected that his greed would outweigh anything else. Hopefully.


The cavern that they were being lowered into was large and echoing, with a small, clear river running through the centre and disappearing into places unknown. A few bats were awakened from their slumber by the sounds of the mechanical pulleys lowering the pair into the passage, and flapped around making loud squeaks as they did so. As Lucia placed her feet onto stone, she looked around for a moment, allowing her eyes to rapidly adjust to the burgeoning darkness. It wasn't too bad; there was a smattering of light from other holes in the ground, which was enough for her to at least see somewhat. If she had been lowered first, then she would approach the mechanism with a learned hand. It was different than the one up top; though this had a lot to do with it not needing to be disguised as a part of a well, as opposed to it being a different mechanism. Theoretically, if she were to allow him to go first, he could leave her down here without food; if those people who were trying to get into the vault were to find her in here, she'd probably be flogged for even allowing someone to get at their money. Unfortunately, she didn't really have an exit strategy. It was either this, or become a slave for some bastards. When she could finally speak to Alex again, she looked him over for a second and frowned. "I don't know exactly what's down here, but there is something. I can deal with it." She turned around and took a deep breath, waiting and watching. As she stepped forwards, her foot echoed throughout the cavern... and a low rumbling growl echoed back.

"It's probably an animal; You smell that right? Dung." She nodded briefly and steadied herself, closing her eyes. When she reopened them, she was standing in a more relaxed stance, watching the distance with a careful gaze. Her mind wandered back to her training momentarily, and she stretched out in preparation. "Alright. Which way is the vault?" She pointed in a direction, explaining one or two things, but not really taking too much thought about it. She was giving all of the right information, but she was unsure why he'd be so quick to get off in that direction when there was a Godsdamned creature waiting for them. "You take care of it and I'll go get the money." She grumbled, and nodded, watching the distance for what was going to come out of it. He faded off into the darkness, and she was almost certain that he vanished a few steps too early to leave her vision. She looked back at where the noise was coming from and took a few steps forwards, placing her hand on the bracelet on her wrist. One of her few prized possessions remained, and there was no way she was going to let something like this leave her. The armor and weapon that her family had given her--the way that she had to defend herself was here and now. She'd really only trained against immobile targets that didn't exactly fight back. Biting her bottom lip, she waited for as long as she needed. The growling continued, and footsteps began to rumble outwards, echoing throughout. She watched it lumber into the main cavern area, sniffing at the air. She didn't need to be told that this was a bear--and a particularly large one at that. Corded muscle rippled throughout its body--she was pretty sure it was the size of a market stall. It sniffed some more, before noticing Lucia. She took this as the moment to go, and pressed the pressure point on her wristlet, running forwards at the creature.

The armor clattered to life over her body, covering her wrists and chest, before moving down to thigh-high boots and a visor that fell over her face. The sword was the last thing to materialize--and while it was completely mundane, it shone with a light that suggested otherwise. "Haaaaah!" Stepping underneath the bear's first paw swipe, Lucia slashed her blade through its flank. It pierced some skin, cutting through muscle and eliciting a pained roar from the beast. In exchange, it swung around back at her, and this one connected, sending Lucia sprawling forwards. She managed to retain her footing, instead turning around and jumping back over its leg, cutting at its paw and then causing a line of red to travel up its foreleg. Another cut crossed its muzzle, and she continued hacking at the creature's body, dodging some blows, taking others, and generally giving the creature a beating. It wasn't long before her armor was coated in red, and as the bear continued to take cut after cut--remember that Lucia's strength rivals that of a man twice her size--it was beginning to fall back to the ground. One last cut along its throat and down to its stomach was enough to turn it over, and Lucia finished it off with a thrust through its skull. It made one last noise of defeat before sprawling, disembowelled and most certainly dead. Lucia's breathing was ragged as she wiped her weapon off on a clean patch of fur and placed the tip against the rough stone beneath her feet. She pulled the visor up with armored fingers, noting Anton on his way back. "Good job." Most complimentary words she'd ever get from him, she was sure. Turning to follow him wordlessly, she let the armor and sword vanish back into the wristlet (the magic cleaned it, don't ask how).

He was the first back up the mechanism, and when it reached the top, Lucia lowered it back down to herself. She sat upon it and shouted up to him that she was ready. Thirty seconds later, she tried again--no response. Suddenly, she realized her mistake. She had let him go first, and she was certain that he had the money. Looking up with an expression of utter horror, she tried shouting again, and again. Two more minutes passed by before Lucia heard the voice call back down, "You on it?" "What do you think, you scrag?" Suddenly realizing her choice of words, she thought that she was going to be left alone again, until she felt the mechanism shudder to life, lifting her upwards. When she finally reached the top, she saw Anton standing there, sack over his shoulder, looking thoroughly bemused by the situation. A pang of anger shot up inside of her, and she reached out to slap him. It wasn't a particularly hard or fierce slap, but it was enough to make something of a noise. She quickly pulled her hand back after that and stared irritatedly at him, before climbing off of the edge of the well and standing at her full height. "Asshole. But there's your money. Is that fine with you? Because I'm going to get paid." Her irritation with him was mostly gone after that slap, though she was definitely going to keep an eye on him until they no longer had to deal with each other.

"You're alive, you're unharmed, I'm not taking you to the slavers, and I let you out of that disgusting hole when I could have left you down there to die or be found by the people who want this money..." She bit her bottom lip and sighed pointedly; of course he was going to do this, wasn't he? She expected to at least get one plat, if not a couple more. To be denied this much... she grumbled quietly as he started to walk off. What was she going to do? He'd taken all of the money while she was fighting the damn creature; there was no way that she was capable of getting anything else this way. Her family name was sullied, and everything was looking to be going downhill. "Oh, damn it all." She started off after him, keeping a decent pace behind him. "Tell me... What exactly do I owe you? I gained nothing but this money throughout this entire ordeal, why should I share it?" She frowned.

"What do you owe me? You would have sold me off for six plat--instead, you got at least five times that! Even if you don't want to give me most of it, I kind of got you down there, distracted the beast, gave you a way in, and an out! If you can't give me half, give me one or two. I need to eat, you know." She snarled at him, still following him through the streets. "So exactly how long are you going to bother me? It's not the smartest thing to do." She sighed softly, shaking her head. "I'm going to bother you for as long as I need to be able to eat. I have to survive, and right now this is the only opportunity I can see." She scowled at him, folding her arms. "I'm leaving Aria. If you choose to follow, fine." She stopped for a second, taking in a deep breath. "But I'm not responsible for you while out there." She looked to the side, and turned around to look back at the street behind her. "You know, I really don't have much choice in the matter. Guess... I guess it could do me good to no longer be in this city." She smiled weakly and turned back towards him, one tear running down her cheek. She reached up and wiped it away, before following after him. "I'm going to come with you for now. You're my best bet at this time."