"You're too kind; it's wasted on her." Ashley said, frowning; she opened the door to their home for him and watched him lay her on the couch. Zora sat on the floor to watch as Ashley did her thing; she removed the needle, setting it on the coffee table. She then knelt down beside Lilly and pushed a flow of magic through Lilly's bloodstream. Zora watched with increasing anxiety as the veins glowing blue, where the poison had gone, slowly crawled up her leg, chest, and made its way to the heart. Zora watched as his sister put blocks in the bloodstreams halting the poison's progress, then she slowly eradicated it working her way back to its origination. Finally, she sat back, panting.
"She'll live, but when she awakes, we will have to talk about why someone's after her, alive. That poison would've only made her look dead, and a normal person would have left a thief to die," Ashley explained, "Someone wanted her to disappear, while still getting her alive."
"Okay, but for now, let's let her rest." Zora replied, frowning in thought, as Ashley draped a blanket over her.
"You really don't care for her do you?" Zora asked as he stood up.
"Not at all." she replied bluntly, leaving the room, probably heading to bed. Zora got to his feet, moving to sit on the couch beside Lilly. He watched her chest rise and fall rhythmically, and before long, he'd fallen asleep.
Zora awoke, something warm was pressed up against his side; it almost felt like hair? Suddenly Zora sat up. Did a rat get my bed? Suddenly he felt movement, and Lilly sat up beside him.
"Why are you in my bed?" Zora asked in confusion, glancing around.
"Uhm, last I remember, I was in the alley." She replied, Zora's face flushed with embarrassment.
"I brought you here, and sat down beside you, musta fallen asleep." he explained, realizing where he was, the couch. She got up and wandered towards the fridge; her steps still weren't fully balanced.
"Mind if I get something to eat?" She asked, opening the fridge.
"Sure," Zora replied, "there might not be anything in there though." Lilly frowned, looking at the mostly empty fridge, "what happened?"
"I carried you here after you collapsed, somehow you'd been stuck with a poison needle."
"Oh," Lilly replied, her eyes shifted away, looking a little despondent.
"So, you saved my life?" Lilly asked; she didn't seem very happy about the idea. He got to his feet and stepped into the kitchen.
"No, I only carried you, Ashley healed you, she found out later that the poison wasn't deadly." he replied, patting her on the shoulder.
"Well thanks anyways, I guess." Lilly replied, "Can we head to the dungeons now? I get the feeling your friend doesn't like me."
"Sure." Zora answered, grabbing his knife from the table. Lilly stepped out the door as he quickly put his new light armor on, he then followed her out. The wind attacked Zora like a thousand needless, but the air itself wasn't that cold. The dew glittered on the brick road, even though the sky was barely light. Ashley will be upset that I left before she could interrogate Lilly, but that's okay with me.
"Come on!" Lilly called, waving for him to catch up; she'd already begun to disappear down the street. Zora dashed after her, catching up just as they turned onto the road that the guild ward was on.
"You coulda slowed down just a little." Zora said, panting as he stopped beside her. She nodded, her eyes fixed on a man leaning against the bulletin board designated for bounties. Lilly finally worked up the courage, and they both walked up to the board; the man looked down at Lilly, a sneer appeared on his face.
"Hey, been a while, where you been hiding, we've been looking for you." the man said, grabbing her arm.
"Hey, let go." Lilly said, fear in her voice.
"If you don't want your secret getting out, then you better come quietly." He said devilishly, she went silent and began to follow him.
Zora stared after her, no point in trying to talk her out of going with him or trying to save her from whatever is going on; she wouldn't trust me any more than him. I'm a stranger, I'll save her when I change that.
Zora watched her leave, he was scared for her, and he could tell she wasn't confident of her own survival either. He checked the board; there was a level eight beast with a bounty. Woah! That's a lot of money for a level eight beast. He grabbed the bounty and rolled it up, shoving it into his pocket. I'll do this right away, he thought. He made his way as fast as he could to the dungeon; he was stopped by someone asking about a good place to buy armor, remembering his promise, he recommended Carren's store. Finally, he arrived at the dungeon; he made his way to where level eight monsters usually roamed. After a while, he'd killed a couple of low-level creatures, but still no sign of the giant snake he was supposed to be after. The cavern Zora stood in was rather dark, stalactites, and stalagmites, making it look rather ominous. It was wide open though, big enough for the creature he was looking for.
Suddenly Zora sensed something coming; he flashed his hand up, catching an arrow inches from his face, and without pause, he flipped it and Drew it against his bow and fired it back at its original owner, killing him. A couple of shadowed figures stepped into view.
An ambush! He pulled his knife out and sliced an arrow out of the air, flipping the knife into the air, he quickly fired off two arrows and caught his knife in time to cut another arrow out of the air. He'd killed three of the ambushers, and there were only three remaining.
Boom! An explosion caused the dungeon ceiling to collapse; Zora leaped forward, rolling out from under falling rocks; he landed on his hands and knees, suddenly he felt a knife at his throat.
"Hello, it seems like you've taken a liking to our property, and we can't have that." the man said,
"Oh, you mean Lilly? Yeah, she's the worst thief I've ever met, but she's cute mind if I have her?" Zora replied, purposefully trying to annoy the man.
"What! Of course not, you're going to die here for that." The stranger said, and that's when he made his move; Zora flipped his body backward, hitting the knife his attacker held, with his knee and quickly stabbed his attacker with his own blade. Then he looked around, the cavern had collapsed, but it had opened a hole to the above floor. The remaining two stepped forward, Zora held his knife at the ready as they closed in. The first one to attack had a long sword and swiped viciously; Zora blocked easily, though. The second attacker had two small knives and was more challenging to block against; Zora blocked the long sword, simultaneously dodging the second attacker. Zora grabbed the second attacker's wrist and forced it forward, using it to take the first attacker out of commission.
Now it was one on one with the last remaining attacker, Zora blocked both blades and kneed him in the stomach, stabbing him in the neck. He keeled over, choking on his own blood. Zora frowned as the man died, he climbed through the opening in the ceiling; there's no point in continuing to search for this beast. The bounty had been a trap.
Zora sighed as he stepped into the open. That was rather annoying. But with such a high reward; I couldn't pass that up, even if it was suscpicious. I wonder what Ashley's up to. He shrugged and started walking; he made his way down the main road counting the alleys as he went, one, two, three, four, five, then turn. A couple of stalls were set up, offering different foods; Zora bought a few apples and some meat for tonight. Then he crossed the street to where the house was; he quickly went up to it but hesitated at the door. She's going to be so upset.
Zora pushed open the door; Ashley was sitting at the table writing; she looked up and frowned.
"How'd I guess she'd be gone before I could question her?" Ashley asked, her eyes glittered with anger. "Hey, are you ok?"
"I can't hide dark thoughts from you heh, it's nothing I'm fine." Zora replied, smiling, "hungry?" he tossed her an apple, which she caught.
"Sure." She said, taking a big bite, while Zora put the rest in the fridge. They both sat down to eat; the food seemed to quench her anger for now at least; he spaced out a little as he took his first bite; Selcict had the best apples in the whole country.
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