Act One [Closed]

It was not very often that Daigoro hired a carriage to take him from place-to-place, but he had come to the realization, at some point in time, that it was a necessity this week. He had been warned multiple times that travelling through the Fell Jungle without actual transport was a potentially dangerous idea, so he had decided that it was in his best interests to take transport. When asked if he wanted to hire a driver to go along with it, however, he had politely declined, citing the ability to drive them himself. He never really gave them much information as to his skills, though it was a simple spell to nudge their minds in the right direction--soon enough, they were driving themselves as if they were being guided by someone with years of experience at the helm. When he felt his control over the creatures fading, it was not exactly difficult to recommand them. Eventually they became a simple pairing of man and beast, travelling through the jungle with little issue. As long as they kept to the roads, there would be no problems. That was, until, she screamed and stepped onto the path. An immediate command from Dai caused the horses to halt, and another quick usage of his spells to calm them down from the sudden shock.

Sighing softly, he stepped out of the carriage and adjusted his clothing--goddamn it was hot here--and wiped his forehead, before walking over to the horses and running a hand over the right one's neck. "It's okay, it's okay. Calm now." He looked down at the girl and raised an eyebrow, as she stood up and reached out to grab his clothing. Good thing he'd adjusted it. "Please... I need help... I barely got away from them." He tilted his head to the side. This was interesting; she had come out from pretty much the middle of the jungle. Her hair was ragged, her clothing sticking to her, beads of sweat pouring down her face. Senhime would have immediately been suspicious, and Dai was indeed slightly suspicious himself. "They're coming after me, I know it... Don't let them hurt me anymore please." He sighed again, noticing the tears dripping down her cheeks. That was how it was going to be, wasn't it?

He wasn't sure yet, he was concerned that this was an attempt at conning him, so he looked around to ensure that nobody was sneaking up on his carriage--nobody seemed to be, so he relented slightly. "Come on, then, I have room for one more." He lifted her properly to her feet and brushed himself off, waving her along to the carriage. Curse his weakness for cute women. The last time this had happened, it had ended in a damn assassination attempt. He sighed, shook his head and clambered into the carriage beside her. He clucked his tongue a couple of times, and the horses started off as if they had never stopped. Not even practiced eyes would be able to tell that he'd been using magic, though the driverless carriage would be enough to give it away anyways.

"So..." he began after giving her a few moments to compose himself, "Who are 'they', and why are they so frightening to you, hmm?" He tilted his head and looked over at her, eyebrow raised. "I assume that they've hurt you somehow, though you must be rather important for them to chase you so deep into the jungle. That'd make you not a toy, at the very least." He frowned, showing a proper and decent expression of concern for her wellbeing. If she really was in danger, then he would have to help her--there was no other choice in the matter. If she was lying to him, however, then he would have to take another course of action. Though depending on the circumstances of her lie, he would be less harsh than most. He was fickle that way.

She had fallen in her attempts to clamber into the cabin of the carriage, but he had managed to catch her and help her up. He lamented slightly about the fact that he really wasn't that good at doing the regular physical stuff, before pulling her up and seating her beside him. He looked her over, noting how her clothing was ragged and torn, and her hair dirty--she had heavy bags beneath her eyes, and a second skin of dirt and grime from the time in the jungle. It wasn't make-up, that was for sure. He asked her his questions, noticing a slight edge to his voice that had been growing recently; his lack of interaction with others had been part of it, while the fact that someone had tried to kill him not too long ago had been the other. She shook her head at his questions, giving her own, desperate reply. "N-No... Their base is out there! They have this entire clearing to themselves!" He raised an eyebrow. Interesting, so they were bandits? He could deal with petty bandits--but he figured that she'd been running for long enough to not know exactly where it was. He almost sighed out loud at that thought; he'd had a lot of pent up frustration over the past little while, and would not have minded taking it out on shitheads that played with women like toys. "Interesting. If I could convince you to show me to them, I'd probably just have my own way with them for a while. I'm not a fan of those types." He sighed and clucked his tongue a couple more times, increasing the pace of the horses. He'd have to feed them extra when they rested, but that would be fine.

"Th-Th-They grabbed me. They grabbed me off the road and had me tied to a tree for two days. Two days!" She held her arms up in a way that showed how she had been tied, or at least he figured that's what it was. "So they tied you like that, huh? Interesting, it means that--at the very least--they had no, er, sexual intentions." She confirmed his suspicions on that part with her next statement, "I don't know who they were, or what they wanted... They were weird... Very weird. I thought they were gonna... you know, take advantage of me, but no... They just... They just kept poking me with sticks?" Ah, okay. He got the jist of the story now. The way that she'd been tied up, the actions--he sighed. "Sounds like you just came across some of the more... native... residents of these jungles. Don't worry, they aren't going to get you now." He smiled reassuringly, mostly believing her story as she gave it. There were a few plot holes, but honestly he didn't particularly care. She gave him the information that he figured he needed the most; he figured that the natives were harmless, and he didn't really want to explain otherwise. Frankly, it was probably her hair that interested them the most. He found himself drawn into its color for a few seconds before shaking it off. "I need a bath..." She closed her eyes, falling asleep beside him. "Bah, what do I get myself into? Dai, are you just some fool for a damsel in distress?" He shook his head, laughed to himself and continued on his way.


It took several more hours, and throughout this time she didn't seem to wake up. He didn't blame her, she looked pretty exhausted as far as he could tell. He had thrown a few Cure spells on her while they'd been travelling, closing up some of her wounds and easing any of her discomfort with Soothe as well. When they finally rolled into the first town out of the Fell Jungle, which had its own small inn. He had carried her inside--she was particularly light--and gotten two rooms, leaving her on the bed in one, and taking up rest in the other. He had left a note on the desk, quickly scrawled out for when she needed to read it.

"Mystery Woman,
You've pretty much got free reign to do what you want here. I don't know who you are, or what you want, but I know that you're probably pretty hungry and had some annoying-looking injuries on yourself. The room's yours for tonight, and I'm next door if you need/want to speak with me. There's a bathroom, if you need to clean yourself up, feel free. I'll foot the bill for food, and a couple of extra nights if you need them.
Hope you feel better,
D."

He'd decided not to sign it with his actual name for now, mostly to keep a sense of mystery, but also so that they could get proper introductions out of the way when they needed to. He had her laying on the bed in the room, propped the note up on the main table in there and then passed through the shared bathroom and into his own room again, laying down on the bed and closing his eyes. Within about five minutes he was napping, and within an hour he had woken up again, stretching from his nap. He couldn't hear any activity from the next room, though he was also somewhat groggy which likely didn't help. Stripping off most of his clothing, he decided that it was time for him to bathe. He wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped through into the shared bathroom, drawing himself a bath and relaxing for half an hour or so. If nothing of note occurred within that half hour, he would dress himself and sit in his room with a coffee (a rather aromatic Cierian Blend), sipping it until something happened.

"Sir, your bill." It was about time, really. The woman hadn't approached him for the entire day, instead spending her whole time in that other room. He'd heard people coming and going, but had not really given it too much thought otherwising that. She was still recovering, after all, and he'd want to give her privacy. When night fell, he decided that he'd probably end up seeing her the next day. While he hadn't quite prepared to go to bed yet, a soft rapping at his door and the voice of one of the housemaids called him to his senses. Dai raised an eyebrow and approached the door, opening it to see a rather pretty young woman handing him a slip of paper. The bill called for over a hundred gold, and he noticed exactly where most of it had gone. A godly amount of food, and some pretty fancy clothing. He didn't blame her, frankly--though the fact that she had not said a single word to him for that entire day irked him somewhat. Stepping through their shared bathroom, he quickly rapped on the door between them. What he got in response was a loud clang that seemed to resonate throughout the building. Frowning at this, he opened the door and walked into her room, finding it cleaned out.

A nearby window was open, and Dai felt his face contort into a light frown. "Really? Come on." Apparently she was frightened about something, because she'd left in a hurry. He looked down out of the window, noting the distance. It didn't look like a fun drop. He looked upwards slightly, seeing one or two people milling about--and the seeing a woman in particularly fine clothing limping away from the inn, bag over her shoulder. "I swear... some people," he sighed to himself, "I could let her go--it's a hundred gold to get rid of a potential pest. But at the same time..." He turned slightly, "It'll be on my bill, I'll settle accounts within the next few days!" Turning back towards the window he looked outside again, peering at her as she limped into the distance. "Right then. Selected Dimensional Hop." With the command word, the very space around him seemed to shift, from being the interior of a warmly-lit inn, to the streets outside. He would be seen calmly walking alongside the woman, with a calm yet frustrated expression on his face. Anneliese would just see him appear out of nowhere. Expecting a shocked response to his sudden appearance, he spoke.

"C'mon, don't give me that. You're the one who is sneaking out in the middle of the night, aren't you? You got a head start, so I simply used my own skill to catch up to you--don't worry, I don't plan on doing anything to you." He looked her over and noticed her limp, sighing, "And you're injured. Alena save me, you could have at least waited until you could walk right before trying to sneak off. You'd have gained more distance that way." At this, he shook his head--he was speaking as if he had expected her not to run, but that was more due to her ankle than anything else. He'd be able to keep up with her pretty much effortlessly. "Look at you, you need rest, not something stupid like this. If it makes you feel any better, I don't exactly hate you for stealing a lot of my money. I confronted you myself, instead of going through the authorities. It'd have at least been nice to have gotten a name, though." He sighed, realizing just how many different tangents he was taking at once.

"I'm Dai. Don't need my full name, don't need my last name. You can give me whatever name you see fit--it doesn't even have to be a real one. I'd just rather not keep referring to you as 'Hotfoot'," he chuckled, "And how about we get you back to the inn and have your ankle looked at? You can try running away from me when that's all done and dusted--don't worry, I have no plans on injuring you, or turning you into the authorities for theft. Well, unless you decide to steal more." He shrugged, acting particularly blasé about the whole situation. Most people would be fuming--but Dai was decidedly calm and collected. His obligation to help the woman had ended the moment he'd left her that note--once the day was up, it had been her choice completely as to whether she stayed or left. She chose to leave, but without acknowledgement of anything. Being foot the bill was fine--he had planned to pay that no matter what--and if she hadn't been injured, he may not have even chased her that hard. But the fact that she ran--no, the fact that she ran when she did intrigued him enough to chase after her. If she said yes, he'd ask her if she wanted to walk the rest of the way--if she did, he'd start preparing something by pulling a pebble out of his pocket. If she said no, then things would go a lot differently.

"You worship the Goddess of Mercy?" Out of everything that he had just said to her, that was the one thing that she questioned the most? What did it matter who he pledged himself to? With a frustrated noise, Dai shrugged her question off and continued on with his speaking, until he eventually asked her for her name. "You're a strange man." Ah, so that was her name. 'You're a strange man'. A rather unusual name, given the circumstances. He watched her carefully, noticing that she had to take a few more seconds to answer him. That implied a few things: She was either going to give him a false name (which he didn't particularly mind), she was having difficulty remembering her name (which wouldn't surprise him), or she didn't want to give him her name (which implied a few other things). "Hannah..." He smiled softly at this, chuckling and producing a small pebble from his pocket, tossing it up and down a few times. This one would do, especially if she accepted his offer of going back to the inn. He looked up and saw that, yes, he could see into her room once more. "It's my name." The look on her face worried him. He hoped her not too suspicious of him and his intentions; they were purely noble. He wanted to ensure that she was completely back on her feet before he cast her out into the wide world. He didn't know the extent of her injury; he was damn sure she didn't either. No, the only way they would really be able to fix it would require either a physician or for him to spend a good ten minutes mulling over it with magic. Either or, he didn't mind--though he'd prefer to do it himself, since most physicians were a mite expensive; she'd already cost him a pretty penny in expenses already. "I'll... go back to the inn... with you... I guess." The smile on his face softened.

"Good. Let me prepare to get us there quickly then. I'd rather you spend as little time on that ankle as is humanly possible." He nodded sagely and tossed the pebble into the air once more, muttering to himself and running the fingers of his other hand over the pebble as it now laid in his palm. She'd be able to pick out the words, "Selected Dimensional Hop," though she'd probably understand little of what he meant. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. But... this may feel a bit weird, considering that it's probably your first time." He reached out and lightly placed a hand on his shoulder, before tossing the pebble in the air once more. As soon as it landed in his palm, their surroundings shifted and changed, becoming the inn room once more. He stepped away from Hannah, letting go of her shoulder and giving her space to get her bearings once more. The first time teleporting in such a way would almost always send a person reeling. The immediate change to their surroundings caused their body to suddenly reject the fact that they'd move, and a lot of people needed about ten seconds to realize exactly what had happened. Once she had finally come to an understanding of the occurrences--whether it took her ten seconds or ten minutes--he would help her over to a chair with a shake of his head. "If you'd like, I can look at your ankle myself--I have healing proficiencies as well. I can, however, call for a physician. That is also acceptable." He looked her over with a furrowed brow, waiting for her response. He wondered how she'd react to Dimensional Jump. Being able to almost instantaneously appear pretty much anywhere in the world had its merits and obvious benefits, but if you weren't used to the transition, it could be absolutely jarring. "So, what'll it be?" He asked if she had yet to respond.

He held the bridge of his nose as she rushed, as quickly as she could, to the bathroom. The retching came a few seconds later, and then the flushing of a toilet punctuated it all. He nodded and let go, waiting for her to come out on her own time. This was a perfectly normal reaction. He'd made sure not to eat too much for a few teleports after the first, so he did understand her pain. He breathed out and placed his hands on his hips, watching the door with a sympathetic expression. The door was opened and she seemed to struggle to get back to her feet, so he stepped over and helped her up slowly, walking her towards the bed and letting her sit down. "You... are weird." He raised an eyebrow and looked up at her as she leaned back, "I've... never met a man that offers to help me after I've practically thrown away his money..." He sighed. Yeah, that probably did seem strange to her. He had a decent amount of money to spare, so he didn't mind letting some of it get thrown away if it meant saving a life. He'd explain this all when she'd finished her part, however. She sat up, narrowing her eyes at him, "So what do you want? What are you going to do with me? I can't exactly get away, so I have my suspicions. If you expect me to stay quiet, you're wrong. I'll scream my head off." She went to stand again, but appeared to wince in pain and dropped back to the bed, rubbing her leg, "With my luck... it's broken. So... You really want to help me? Or... are you gonna...  ya know..." She looked away, and he frowned again before reaching down to feel around her ankle. It was beginning to swell.

"Don't be a dumbass," was the first thing he said to her, letting it settle in her mind for a few seconds, "If I wanted to force myself onto you, I would have done so while you slept in my carriage. We were in the middle of the jungle, and I would have easily found ways to bind your mouth, legs and the like. I could then have cast you back out into the trees; you wouldn't have been heard from again. Now why, if my intentions were impure, would I even bring you back to a town?" He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side, "Now if you've stopped being illogical, I'm going to try and do something about your ankle. I don't expect perfection, and if I can't fix it I'll have to take you to a physician." His fingers moved deftly, and he started to try and find out what was wrong. He muttered a few words and the pain would begin to soothe, though it was merely numbing the sensations. He didn't need her to scream in pain if he hit a wrong place too hard. He got her to wiggle her toes, and to move her foot around--things seemed to be functioning just fine. He wasn't the best at medical stuff, but having dealt with a number of his own injuries from travelling, he at least understood when some things were one way, rather than the other. There was some definite bruising, and the swelling didn't seem to want to go away. She was in pain, and while still having motor functions, had difficulty moving the joint. "It's not broken, which is good news for you. It's a sprain at the worst. I can fix sprains. Fractures have to fix on their own." He ran a finger along the ankle and muttered at few more words. This time, she would feel warmth spread through her ankle. The numbness would fade away--and with it, you'd expect the pain to return. The pain, however, disappeared as well. He grumbled as he worked, and she'd notice beads of sweat drip down his face. Eventually, he pulled away and leaned back, breathing now ragged. "I believe... that's done." He slowly got to his feet and looked down at her for a few seconds, "I recommend resting it, but I won't hold you to it. You're in perfectly fine shape to do whatever escaping act you see fit. If you're going to use almost a hundred gold, you should at least be in a state to survive for a long period of time. Otherwise you've wasted my money, and your life--the latter being the more valuable, obviously."

He turned away from her and stepped into the bathroom, before looking back slightly, "Check-out is at 10am tomorrow. If you're leaving, you have until then. If not, then I'll see you in the morning. For now... I've used far too much energy. I need my sleep." He staggered unconsciously, almost proving a point, before closing the bathroom door behind him and traipsing into his own room. The bed was warm and inviting as he collapsed onto it, fading away into deep sleep. He'd deal with whatever came in the morning.