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 Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 3:28 am
The man frowned at her question, rolling it over in his head several times, before finally, he nodded slowly. His eyes came up, looking up the woman, trying to read behind her mask. He had a faint, weary smile on his face, "Yeah... I do what I can... I mean... someone like you... you can do a lot... me... I just do what I can... it's not much... but... it's all I can..."
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 3:40 am
"Why do you talk of yourself in such a degrading manner?" She snapped in a somewhat irritated manner; he seemed to do this everytime he spoke to her and he was so nervous! In certain circumstances she would have used it to her advantage but now it only served as an irritant and if there was one thing she was going to do, she was going to remove it.
"Not only is it irritating but it also highlights that you will be incapable of doing anything until such times as you have more confidence in yourself - you say you have no talents and no wonder you say as such, perhaps you do have them you just refuse to see them!"
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Epine de Rose Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 3:44 am
"I... because... it is the truth..." Roger told her, stammering out the answer, his face was turning slightly red, his eyes downcast, towards his arm that he still cradled to his flesh. His shoulders seemed to collapse under some intense weight, and his head bowed down before her. He seemed to be trembling slightly, as he spoke, "What... do you want from me?"
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 3:53 am
"Nothing." Dune replied quietly as she turned her gaze away and continued to survey her surroundings - it was becoming a very repetitive occurance to say the least, "I have never asked anything of you and if what you say is true and you have no skills, then I will continue to refrain from asking anything of you." She pointed out before she released a quiet chuckle of amusement.
"Besides, code of honour denotes that I do not take advantage of one who has nothing of value anyway."
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Epine de Rose Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 3:58 am
"Why... are you like that?" Roger asked her, his voice sounding quite confused by the whole occurance. He looked up slightly, and started walking forward, stopping, leaning against the railing next to the woman. He was really starting to hate that mask, he couldn't read her, didn't understand her. She seemed so much at first, like those thugs he knew from the Den... but... something was different, to say the least.
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 4:12 am
"Why am I like what, exactly?" She presented another question in reply to his own; if he was seeking answers then he was going to have to be a little less vague on the subject so that she knew exactly what she was being presented with. She couldn't give answers if she didn't know what he was referring to and as she stretched her back ever so slightly by arching it, her gaze rose to the sky and she released a sigh of relief - her back crunching rather loudly in the process.
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Epine de Rose Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 4:22 am
Roger sighed, and reached into his pocket, pulling out the loose coins, from the card game they were playing previously, "You should take that... I wouldn't have won... can't read you..." he muttered, as he set the coins down on the railing between them.
He shook his head slowly, letting out a sigh. He could feel his back knotting up, and hearing her crack her's, just reminded him of how much his hurt. Regardless though he leaned against the rail, and didn't do anything about it.
The man took in a deep breath, letting the scents of the forest calm him, before he continued, "you're... you... aren't like the others... I've... know a lot of spies... and thieves... and mages, and warriors... You're... different..."
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 4:44 am
"Different?" The woman released a snort and cast a side long glance towards the gold in which he had left upon the ledge, "And keep it, I forfeit." She added calmly, walking along the ledge with her hands slipped into the belt that fastened her sheath to her waist. With each step she swayed from side to side, the cloak shifting easily with the occasional flutter of sound as she went - for now she would refrain from looking at the scenary for she would have to keep looking at it for a lot longer and it was easier not to waste it by taking it all in at once.
"Perhaps that is because I follow a code of honour, perhaps it is because where I come from we look at things in very abnormal lights - perhaps you should be more specific or I cannot explain myself." She murmured at last.
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Epine de Rose Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 4:52 am
"See.... that... that's what I'm talking about..." Roger said, shaking his head, and leaving the coins on the rail as he pushed off, and shuffled a bit towards Dune. He was rubbing his forearm as he stood, and his weight shifted onto his right foot. The man seemed confused, and a little frustrated, as though Dune was some puzzle, just a few steps beyond his comprehension.
"Others... would have killed me... or left me behind... or robbed me... or just ignored me..."
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 4:55 am
"As I said, code of honour denotes that I leave those who have nothing of value, alone." Dune repeated her previous statement, continuing to move along the wall as though the sheer height was of no concern to her, "If you have nothing of value to me, no skill and you hold no threat then I have no reason to remove you from my path - that much you confirmed for me in the process of you stammering." She mused calmly, glancing round ever so slightly before moving along the wall again.
"If you desire to trail after me then all I desire is that you remain quiet while I work, if you desire to be robbed then find a bandit - I have a little more class than that."
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Epine de Rose Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 5:00 am
"What honor is there?" the man asked her, shaking his head as she walked along, the man feeling slightly nausiated just watching her walk along like that that. "I mean... all you seem to do is... just threaten people and start fights... doesn't seem very honorable to me..."
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 5:26 am
"Have you seen anyone die yet? Have you seen anyone harmed yet?" Dune replied and shook her head, "Honour is defined in many different ways; I view mine as correct and those who do not lead my life will always fail to understand the concept of such a thing." She took a breath and leaned dangerously to the side of the wall to gaze down upon the ground level once more before continuing along it, her stride jaunty and almost uncaring.
"Those who insult are insulted back, those who provoke are responded to with violence - you saw the girl flee at last when she grew tired of arguing, pitiful for her to retreat in such a manner but she remained unharmed." She shrugged a little and then adjusted her plumed hat thoughtfully.
"Honour is to serve yourself and your kind without question. Honour is to protect and fight for the beliefs of your people. Honour is to maintain the secrecy that shrouds your people and yourself. Honour is to obey the codes outlined by those you follow - honour, duty; they are in my heart and may differ from the honour defined by a knight but they are there...not everything is black and white you know."
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Epine de Rose Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 5:33 am
Roger was going to point out that she cut the other person, thus, did harm them, but, it didn't seem worth it at the time. The woman was wrapped up in some speech, and while he tried to absorb, some of it just went past him, either too alien, or too contradictory to his mind. The last sentence though hit him like a thundershot... 'not everything is black and white you know.'... No... he didn't know. He didn't believe it to be true. It was just so, alien to the center of his being.
He filed away that comment, to be thought about later however, as he dropped down to one knee, his arm hurt, and now, his left ear hurt horribly. His left hand came up, clutching at it, and looking at the woman and the ghost. They were the only ones there, after all. He could feel the wet, red blood on his hand, thus, one of them must have done it...
"Why?" he asked Dune. He was shouting slightly, his hand pulling away from his ear, ear and hand both stained with blood. The man felt dizzy, and voices sounded far away. But there was always a constant, piercing pain in his ear, to match the dead throbbing of his arm.
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 5:44 am
"Why what -?" Dune glanced round in exasperation as if about to launch down the man's throat for being so vague again and then frowned. Her gaze went immediately to the blood upon his hand and then towards his face, had her mask been off she would have looked mildly surprised but thankfully her mask helped her to maintain her dignity - regardless, under no circumstances was she prepared to listen to further yelling simply because his ear was bleeding and with a light sigh she leapt from the wall and marched towards him.
Her footsteps were swift yet silent and as she drew nearer she caught his chin in her gloved hand and with her free hand, bundled up part of her cloak and pressed it against the side of his head to try and stem some of the blood flow.
"Sit." She ordered, knowing full well that such things could lead to extreme dizzyness and she was not going to nurse someone comatose back to health when it could be avoided in the first place...
When he did sit though, she would make sure to take other measures to try and stop the accursed blood from pouring out of his head.
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Epine de Rose Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 5:49 am
The man's eyes were tearing up, and his face was a mask of his own, one of agony and sheer unrelenting pain, as he sat down, the woman's command cutting through his ear like a razorblade. He shouted back, unknowing of the volume, "Don't have to yell!" at her.
The tears started flowing, and his hands curled up into fists. This was pain, unlike anything he could remember, it was always there, making it hard to think, hard to act. But he had a clear image in his mind, one that would not go away. He looked up to Dune and asked, barely a whisper, "Why'd you do that?"
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