\'Ere we come a wanderin\'

[Malkavian Riddler]

Joely was both horrified and relieved to be told it was the Captain of the Guard standing before him.  Of course!  He should\'ve known!  Why else would she be so particular about the details of his robbery?  He mentally berated himself for his slow-mindedness.

"No apology needed, Miss Wilson... uh, Captain," Joe declared hurriedly, extremely humbled to be in her presence.

If he walked with her to the guardhouse, he\'d certainly be well-protected from other robbers, but finding himself a place to stay would be difficult as he didn\'t really know the way inside the castle walls - which was why he\'d lost himself from the gates in the first place and judging by the darkened sky, had lost the chance to leave out the front gates already.

"I\'ll answer questions," he promised now, in the presence of her seniority.  His attitude to get away had clearly changed since learning his status - he was immediately obedient and helpful.

He would attack the problem of finding lodgings after he\'d helped her.  He was hoping she would walk him somewhere once her questions were answered.

[Existentially Odd]

She relaxed further as the man shook her hand, then released it respectfully, looking at last like he was willing to trust her. To her shame, she realised that she really should have introduced herself earlier, to put him at ease. Her arrogance that he should naturally comply with her wishes - even though he had no clue who she was or how she might be able to help him - was probably her biggest downfall. That, and her weakness for men that were all wrong for her, of course.

"Thank you, Joely.  I greatly appreciate your time and I will see to it that you have lodgings after I take your statement, don\'t worry. For now, the guardhouse is this way," she directed him kindly, gesturing in the appropriate direction and beginning to move away at a very sedate pace, waiting for him to follow. He was almost as tall as she was, so she didn\'t have any great concerns that he wouldn\'t be able to match her stride, she just wasn\'t sure that he was completely gathered enough - physically, as well as mentally - to walk yet. She had come upon him crawling about in the dirt, after all. She eyed him thoughtfully from head to toe, her body swivelling to allow her to watch his movements in the manner of one assessing a lame horse. "You\'re not hurt, are you?"

[Malkavian Riddler]

"Just uh... catching my breath.  Half my wage was not the only thing she stole," he said with chagrin and trying to make a lighthearted comment about the fact his lungs had taken a pounding when he\'d landed so heavily on his back after being thrown.

It was after he admitted the thief was a woman that he realised his lapse - and under the cover of darkness (only now taken away by a young man running around with a tall pole and beyond them was a newly lit streetlamp) he blushed furiously.

He decided not to elaborate or justify, for he was only going to repeat himself at the guardhouse, after all.

[Existentially Odd]

Wilson laughed, genuinely appreciating the man\'s quick witted response as she continued to look him over. He appeared to be moving a little tentatively - in a manner that suggested more than just winding - but she supposed she would get those details once they were safely ensconced in the guardhouse... all details, in fact. Still, it didn\'t hurt to offer a little more support than was necessary, so she stepped close and wound her arm - almost companionably - through his, her giggle dying down to a sympathetic smile as she made to subtly help him along.

"Well, at least you\'re not bleeding and nothing\'s hanging off. I\'ve seen a few ears that\'ve never grown back, let me tell you!" Feeling that such disclosures were probably in poor taste - especially in light of Joely\'s recent attack - she cleared her throat and hastily prodded a more neutral topic for discussion from her weary mind. "So... you\'re from the farmlands, I take it? What sort of farm do you run?"

[Malkavian Riddler]

As the Captain took his arm, he felt both grateful and humbled.  She was an important person, he felt perhaps too important to bother with petty crimes.  He had the impression that she took on fabulous missions, and solved crimes against the king himself.  Perhaps she would take him to the guardhouse and offload his grievance to one of her guards.  He wouldn\'t be surprised if she did, nor offended.

He licked his lips and wrung the hem of his tunic that he\'d gathered his coins in (for his coin-pouch had been taken and he had no other way to carry them) as the Captain declared how lucky he was that he wasn\'t missing an ear.

He was lucky, after all, that he\'d come out of his ordeal intact, and with half his earnings.  Why hadn\'t the thief taken all of it?  Why had she offered him half in return?  So easily she could\'ve slipped away into the night with everything.  Had she taken pity on him?  Had she shown him mercy?

He was repaying that mercy by walking side by side (even helped along) by the Captain of the Guard, to report her.  Guilt began to gnaw at him, contradicting his righteous anger which insisted that if it hadn\'t been for her, he would still have all his wages.

It was a very confusing turn of events for Joely.

[Existentially Odd]

Wilson could understand the farmer needing a bit more time to fully gather his wits before he answered her - despite her supposition that it was such a quick and easy question that he ought to have an answer on the tip of his tongue, ready to roll off. No, she left him alone with his thoughts for a bit, watching him walk and - when she was satistfied that he wasn\'t about to go end over - even relaxing her grip on him somewhat. It was a vaguely awkward position, given that it looked as if the pair were courters merely out for a stroll, but she owed no-one in the keep\'s limits a word of explanation should, she be seen - in fact, it was she who remained in that dubious position, despite her having found the explanation out for herself... by accident. Once the man was moving with a little more vigour, he would probably appreciate her unwinding herself from his person, but until she was assured of his competence, she would hold his arm with both her hands.

She looked around instead of filling the silence with more words he wasn\'t ready to hear, watching the scenery pass them slowly by. She wondered resentfully how many pairs of eyes might be observing them from the shadows at this very moment; eyes with malicious intent swirling behind them... thieves and scoundrels with nothing better to do with their lives than make a dishonest living from ruining honest folks\' evenings. It disgusted her that life in the castle had come to this; times where a stroll down any street assured nought but a satisfied smile from a bit of exercise had, were gone. Now, people had to be sure they protected themselves and their belongings, moved quickly, possibly took a companion to present a more challenging target to the lowlives waiting to swoop and take advantage. Truly, it filled her with despair and made her wonder if she was actually in the right profession, when she was unable to be everywhere at once, to effect positive change and keep the paths - all paths - safe.  What good was her job when people walked in fear, or barricaded themselves inside of a night, for fear of being robbed?

[Malkavian Riddler]

"My family are wheat farmers - generations old," he said finally, once the question registered and he\'d completed his thoughts. He was aware there\'d been a long pause but was oblivious to how long it had been. They\'d passed many buildings before he woke from his thoughts and pulled into the present. "You don\'t suppose that we\'re being followed, do you?" he asked, voicing the same concerns the Captain had, only going one step further into the edge of paranoia. "I mean, how ruthless are the criminals behind the city walls? I only know of those thieves that steal another hunter\'s kill," he said with a hint of embarrassment, feeling every part the ignorant country folk now that he was walking beside a career-oriented woman.

[Existentially Odd]

She pressed her lips together, indicating her acrimonious thoughts towards the criminals and her reluctance to tell him any more information that would unsettle him. Frankly, she thought he\'d been rattled enough and it unwise of her to elaborate; but she didn\'t wish to insult his intelligence or imply he didn\'t have the wit to comprehend the magnitude of the evil she\'d witnessed borne upon those within the castle\'s walls. She didn\'t have to be graphic about it, though.

"Quite ruthless," she allowed at last. "Lives have been lost. Over less than a prized kill or a hot meal, too. It\'s... not an encouraging state of affairs, I have to say," she sighed, sharing some of her pessimism, despite her vow to protect his sensibilities. She tried to brighten the situation with a smile and an encouraging squeeze of his arm. "I doubt we\'re being followed, though; I tend to be oil to the criminal water, if you know what I mean. Hopefully you can offer another piece of the puzzle and help bring us together - anything that you recall, no matter how slight, may lead to an arrest. I daresay, I have a dungeon specially marked for the one I eventually identify as the head of the snake," she imparted with a growl of relish. It was obvious by her tone that she found such a punishment a just and worthy result - after the torments she\'d seen unleashed upon the hapless citizens she\'d sworn to guard.

[Malkavian Riddler]

"Would the head of the snake show mercy?" he asked suddenly after lapsing into a long silence that had taken them most of the way to the Guardhouse.

A hot meal.  People had killed for a hot meal.  Did that mean that food was so scarce within the castle walls?  Joely had the impression before he\'d come to the markets to earn money (and was subsequently robbed) that the castle residents led a charmed life and that he was having it tough on the farm looking for ways to help his family survive.

There was very little crime in the farmlands, most crimes taken care of by the farmers themselves who would rally their neighbors into eradicating any real threats.  Most of the King\'s Guard patrolled inside the walls, not out of them - so did that mean that they were always busy?

Perhaps the woman who\'d robbed him had been starving (though her strength had indicated likely not).  Perhaps she had a sick family... or perhaps she was greedy.  But why show mercy?  Once again he was in conflict as to whether to give her up.

The right thing to do was the legal thing, to tell the guards everything.  That was how he was raised - but still, his compassion might be his undoing.

[Eclipsed]

A new form found its way onto the dusty paths. Sharp, hollow eyes stared up and down the bare path with a weird amusement. Like the usual travelers, an ornament was used to filter out the dust floating up from the ground below. For this fellow, it happened to be a bandanna, a slate gray cloth cut into a triangle really. Well, it worked didn’t it?

A sigh released itself from the lips of the male figure. He seemed nervous about something, but what? “I can feel it coming.” The barely audible tone worked it’s way from the male’s throat tensely. “Just... what?” But it was odd to be nervous. It was such a nice night, beautiful in fact. Still, there were always reasons for a thief to be nervous.

Brushing slender fingers through his straight, short black locks, Damian couldn’t help but allow another sigh. “I need to stop worrying myself,” he muttered in a quiet voice. Shrugging to relax, Damian decided he would search someone out. Directing his black-clad self forward on the path he headed out. A slim, bright dirk was grasped in his hand.

[Existentially Odd]

She snorted indelicately at his simplistic question.

"Mercy?  Hardly!  If it is as I suspect - that there is, indeed, one central figure in charge of a network operating within the castle\'s walls - then they would have to have their hands in so many pies they wouldn\'t have time for mercy. Of course, that is allowing that they have some sort of goal in mind; some grand scheme to it all. If not - if it\'s all quite random - then I suppose mercy might be an option. It would certainly be leverage, if they felt deserving of compassion in some way - or as if they were about to be caught and campaigning for it, for some reason. Either way, mercy is surely a subjective label, for what a thief might dictate as mercy I might still see as brutal treatment," she shrugged, having spent so long considering his question that they\'d arrived at the guardhouse.