Welcome to Gaia! ::

Saris walked back into the village as the sun set. Most of the people were closing their shops and settling in for the evening, and they didn't notice the young warrior stumble down the road toward the two story Inn along the towns Western edge. Dark drops of liquid fell to the earth with every step he took. The street becoming stained in a pitter pattered path of life being lost. Saris's breath came heavy, but it was more from his fury than pain. When he reached the Inn's doors he practically kicked them off their hinges, and the joyful chatter of the patrons ceased.
"ODIS!" Saris growled and his blue eyes raked across every seat and table. Blood soaked his cloak and leather armor, and the patrons could see a puddle of the crimson liquid forming on the floor underneath him. The man in question was cowering behind a wooden beam, in desperate hope that Saris would not notice him there. "Odis.." Saris took quick strides toward the cowardly man and grabbed him by his balding hair. Odis cried out in pain, but there would be no mercy from Saris at this moment. With a heave he slammed Odis against the wooden pillar; Saris's bloody hands soaked the mans clothes and his eyes bore into the older mans like serrated daggers.
"It was you.." The Inn remained silent; no one dared to get in between Saris and the old man he had a quarrel with. Odis trembled in fear as he heard those words, and he shook his head violently to deny the accusation.
"You've got it w-wrong Saris! The s-slavers took the village! I-i was in the f-fields when the-" Saris cut him off with a fist to his stomach. Odis letting out a gasp and nearly retching from the iron hard punch.
"Don't you dare mock me with your lies old man.. I went to the slavers. They were just where you said they'd be. And I killed every one of them.." Odis was still gasping for air like a fish out of water, and his eyes widened when those words struck him. "Before I killed the last of them though they told me an interesting story.. how they had been tipped off on when the villages defenses would be down, and how you let them through with anyone noticing. This town was next on you're little scam wasn't it Odis?" He struggled to get out of Saris's grip and shook his head more.
"No! I swear Saris! They were lying!" Saris crunched his fist into the old mans cheekbone and let him drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Odis groaned in agony and Saris slowly drew his blade. It was stained red, and dull and chipped from recent fighting. The people started to back as far away from the two men as they could; all the patrons knew that there was not gonna be a happy ending tonight.
"They had letters from you. I know your guilty Odis." Saris was holding his side now, blood welled out from between his fingers whenever he moved. His wounds were serious, but he didn't care even the slightest about what happened to him now. He only cared that the man before him suffer. Odis tried to plead for mercy, and he rolled on his back and looked up at the young man with terrified eyes.
"Saris please.." He opened his mouth, presumably to defend himself and beg for forgiveness, but instead Saris plunged his sword into the mans mouth. The man choked and coughed as blood started to pour over his lips and then Saris finished him by driving the dull blade through his skull with a sickening crunch. People stared with horror and disgust as blood soaked the floor of the tavern, and Saris stood over the mans corpse shaking uncontrollably. All these years that he had searched, and it was done. He could barely stand. His body was tired and weak from blood loss, but still he stood. His eyes locked on the mans face without a trace of remorse, only years of hatred and anguish finally being released.
"Save a seat in Hell for me."

Saris blinked at the woman a little confused. The loss of blood and fury he had felt clouding his head. When she touched his hand his whole body went rigid, and he gripped his sword hilt tight ready for a fight, but the soft glow that came from her hand relieved some of his pain and cleared his head, so he relaxed a little and leaned against the pillar he had just interrogated the dead man against.
"Lottie... Thank you. My name is Saris." Though he looked calm enough after killing Odis his mind was really in turmoil. The rage and hate that had led him down this path still bubbled and boiled inside, but he didn't know what to do with it now. "I need to.. to go." Saris turned toward the doorway and stumbled across the room to the exit. The healing had stopped most of the bleeding, but it hadn't fixed all the blood loss and fatigue from fighting. He would need serious rest and healing. If he could even find a proper healer before dying on the road somewhere.

Saris wanted to argue with her that he didn't need help, but he was no fool. He would die if he went out alone. They exited the Inn and he vaguely pointed down the road leading into the woods. "An abandoned cabin.. Just outside of town. I've been living there recently." Saris gritted his teeth and forced himself to stay conscious. He had suffered injuries just as bad before and lived. He would not succumb to these ones. He wondered why this strange woman was helping him. He had murdered a man in front of a bunch of bystanders, but she did not seem to be in the least bit mortified. In fact, Saris should be feeling the most mortified. It was one thing to kill bandits and slavers, but an old man? Saris should have felt horrified that he could do such a thing, but.. He felt nothing for the deed he had done. Killing was killing he supposed. As long as they deserved it, it mattered not whether defenseless or armed.

Saris didn't care. Or rather, he was too out of it to feel embarrassed or anything else. He just sat on the bed and let the woman do what she needed to do. Thankfully he wasn't wearing too much. His leather armor came off easily enough and underneath was just cotton clothing that was pretty torn up at the moment. After she had stripped him down to his undergarments he gripped the sheets and forced himself to stay sitting up. His body may have been getting weaker but his will would not wain so easily.
The worst wounds were on his sides, where his armor would not protect him so easily. There were several deep gashes from sword strikes, and his skin was turning a pale color around them from blood loss. He also had a hole in his thigh from an arrow, but he had removed it a while back, and there were other bruises and scars from older injuries scattered all over his body. Saris was young, but he was no stranger to combat. This, though, would have to have been his worst battle. His rage had blinded him to rational thought. He had attacked like a demon and forgot all about his well being. He would need to control that anger in the future if he wanted live long enough to savor his victories.
Saris took a slow deep breath to steady himself and looked down at the woman treating him. "Can you treat the wounds..? I'm not sure how much longer I can stay awake." Despite his voice sounding steady, and his demeanor very calm. His vision was slowly getting darker and blurrier and he would not be able to stop it soon.

When Saris woke he was a little confused. Why was he in the cabin? Wasn't he back in Umbram going to see Odi-... The memory of running Odis's skull through with his sword rushed back. He let the memory play by in his head a few times, unsure how he should feel about it still. Saris lied awake staring at the ceiling for quite some time before remembering there had been a woman who helped him here. He sat up and saw her lying asleep at his bedside, and he smiled as he looked himself over seeing no trace of his recent wounds. A handy woman to have around. Careful not to wake her he slowly rolled out of the bed and groaned, still a little achey and stiff. Most likely because of the terrible bedsprings. He found his torn up clothes and sighed going to a chest by the window and pulling out new ones. It wouldn't do to go around the place half naked with a woman in the room.
Saris changed and sighed; completely exhausted feeling still, but at least his pain was gone and he wasn't on death's door. He didn't know how long it had been, but the sun was completely gone now and he had to light a candle to see clearly in the room. He took a seat back on the bed and gently shook the woman, not wanting her to sleep the whole night like that. "Miss.. You should get up and take the bed if you need more rest."

Saris sat in an old rocking chair that looked like it might collapse under his weight, and slowly rocked back and forth in it as he smiled at the girl. "Sore, but very good now thanks to you. I probably would have died in the streets back there if you hadn't helped." He studied the woman curiously. Now that he wasn't dazed with pain and dying he wanted to see the person who had rescued him. She didn't look so old, but as he recalled, she had called him young. She had also carried him most of the way here, and she did not look to be built that strong. There was probably a lot more to her then meets the eye. Not usually one to probe, he had to ask her a question that itched at the back of his mind. "Why did you rescue me? You could have easily let me leave to whatever end fate desired of me."

Saris couldn't help a little smirk playing on his lips. Potential aye? His teacher had once said that. In the days of his youth were everything and anything could become the subject of his anger. What gave him potential he wondered? There was nothing special about himself that he could think of, but his teacher had always stressed that he had great power. Saris had worked hard to get the skills he had today. While there were secrets he had, dark powers that he did not often delve into, Saris had always felt like a normal person. He sang the same songs as the common folk. He ate where he could get food. He did hard work to earn money. He wasn't a lord or a king. He wasn't a demon or an angel. He was a man who's life was dictated by fate. Yet this woman said those same words his teacher had. Potential.

Saris did not know what he should think about being a 'valuable soldier' in King Lucian's ranks. He had heard rumors of the man, but he had enough common sense not to listen to every tale the commoners told. The woman had him hooked though; that single word giving him this tug in his stomach. His destiny had brought him far in his quest for revenge, now that it was all over maybe this is where he had to go next. Saris let his interest show and voiced his thoughts clearly. "I do not know what potential you may see in me, and maybe it's better I don't. If I could be of some service to you or this King Lucian; however, I would be grateful and honored to use my blade for a new cause." Saris did not want to jump into anything just yet though, and asked politely, "Before I dedicate myself to another's cause though, I'd like to know the person I'm fighting for. How far is Valaria from here?"