Knyn, alert for sounds as always, had already slipped out of his meditation. He nodded at Rumour, put a finger up to his lips, and gestured at the cave floor. He lay back again with his hand on the hilt of his greatsword and peered out through half-shut eyes.

_________________

Rumour sighs, bored with the waiting. The men outside have not moved away, but have not come any closer, either. So they either know they're there, or have no clue. Suddenly Rumour melts into complete blackness and slipd out of the cave. No sound is heard as she slithers throught the bushes in front of the cave and over to the first figure, who has its back to the cave. A misty black hand clamps over the figures mouth and a dagger is shoved into the back of it's neck, slitting the spinal nerves and the jugular vein at the same time. The dark thing moves on to each figure, cutting them down in the same way, while confusion reigns among the remaing few. When Rumour reaches the last one, who is standing with his back to a tree, eyes wide, her dark hand clamps over his mouth and the pommel of her knife smashes into his temple, dropping him to the ground, unconcious.

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For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not die, but have everlasting Life. ~John 3:16~





~The Mercenary A-U Gentlewoman~

"I don't think we need to hire an army," Knyn said, not moving from his spot and regarding Rumour with an expressionless look. "You can defeat our enemies for us, can you not?"

_________________

Rumour looks at him silently, reaching down and grabbing the unconcious man by the back of his cloak. She hauls him over to the cave and shoves him inside, still silent. A long dirk with a black blade of jet seems to appear in her hand as she sits down beside the unconcious man. After a moment of watching the two concious men, Rumour begins to speak. "No..... I can't kill all your enemies.... I can't kill a whole army, not quickly, anyway.... But a small group of Shapeshifters could.... Easily..." A slight smile curves the corners of her lips, which are a dark red and look almost black in the faint light. Rumour's eyes glitter eerily in her pale face. "Besides, I don't know if I want to kill all your enemies...." She tilts her head to the side slightly. "What's in it for me?....." A wicked smirk spreads across her face......

_________________
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not die, but have everlasting Life. ~John 3:16~





~The Mercenary A-U Gentlewoman~

Rumour watches the prince carefully, her eyes boring into his. "I find you interesting, traitor prince.... Why d'you think I've helped you this much?..." She raises an eyebrow slightly. "Because I've gotten bored with my normal life, and I crave some sort of adventure... Your predicament offers it...." Rumour continues staring the prince down, her black eyes never leaving his.

_________________
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not die, but have everlasting Life. ~John 3:16~





~The Mercenary A-U Gentlewoman~

Knyn climbed nimbly to his feet, his face still concealed beneath the shadows of his hood. He bent down beside the unconscious man and prodded him experimentally. He sliced a gash across his leg with his greatsword. Their prisoner didn't flinch.

"Did you kill the rest?" he asked Rumour as he relieved their prisoner of his weapons. Knyn began working on the pressure points throughout the man's body. Thankfully this was a live human, not the horrors whose bodies dissolved at death.

Presently the man grunted, spasmed. His eyes flew open. Knyn's greatsword was at his throat in a heartbeat.

_________________

Rumour stares at the prisoner dispassionately. "Yes, of course I did.... I'm not stupid...." Her lip curls in derision at the idiocy of not killing the rest.....

_________________
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not die, but have everlasting Life. ~John 3:16~





~The Mercenary A-U Gentlewoman~

Orien's eyes narrowed slightly, but not in an oppressive manner, in fact it was more out of fascination. " Ah, but I find you just as interesting. If you are suffering from adventure lust, then why do you ask for pay?" His sorrowful eyes trailed absently over to the man and Knyn, but he spoke to Rumour darkly, " By the way..don't call me that. Ever. You haven't a splinter of evidence of what happened."

Standing up, he crossed the way and stood opposite of Knyn, on the other side of the trembling man. For all they knew those men could have been there to help, but it mattered not anymore..Hopefully Rumour had left the most intelligent of the group, and not the village idiot. Nudging the man's chin up with the dagger hilt in Orien's hand, he asked dryly, " Who are you?"

[ I assume you're going to play the man, Luinnar?]

(Alright...*shrugs*)

Rumour watches Orien for a moment, then speaks. "I am not saying that you are a traitor... I am merely saying what I've seen on the posters.... In fact, I'm almost positive you are not a traitor..... The only ones who are imprisoned are the innocent ones, we all know that...." Her black eyes watch him as he questions the prisoner.

_________________
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not die, but have everlasting Life. ~John 3:16~





~The Mercenary A-U Gentlewoman~

The man stares up at Orien, his eyes wide. "Wh-what happened?...." His voice stutters slightly at first. "M'name's Dran..." Dran swallows against the blade, wincing slightly. "Are you th-the prince they're looking for?...." Her places a slight emphasis on 'they're', as though scared to say it....

_________________
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not die, but have everlasting Life. ~John 3:16~





~The Mercenary A-U Gentlewoman~

Knyn suppressed the urge to snort and poked the tip of his greatsword further into the man's neck. Dran gulped, edged away from the blade.

"I tell you, I didn't do anything!"

"Nice job, my lady," Knyn muttered under his breath. "You've captured a dimwit."

Dran cowered under Knyn's piercing glare and flung up his arms. "All right! I'll tell you everything."

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Rumour snarls, her black eyes glittering. "Perhaps if you didn't scare him witless...." She shakes her head at the two men, sighing in exasperation.

Dran stares up at the two men and the woman, slowly calming. "Those things are hunting for the prince.... They hired us to track him...." He swallows again. "I guess we found him.... Err, you, rather...." He nods to Orien, then starts again. "Those things aren't human.... They captured our minds.... Please, I meant you no harm, 'til they got hold of me...." Dran sighs.

_________________
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not die, but have everlasting Life. ~John 3:16~





~The Mercenary A-U Gentlewoman~

Rumour rolls her eyes and leans against the side of the small cavern.


Dran shakes his head. "Nothin'.... We didn't want nothin', they did somethin' to us, we couldn't help it....." He shrugs and sighs.

Rumour snorts. "Well, you aren't very useful....." She sighs, wondering why she left him alive in the first place....

_________________
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not die, but have everlasting Life. ~John 3:16~





~The Mercenary A-U Gentlewoman~