Back to the forest (closed)

[Ziad]

Ziad nodded again, making sure that he did not break eye contact. The way she looked at him resembled the stare of a beast of prey and he shortly wondered why that was so. Did she meet every man with this strange kind of mistrust or was it a "privilege" she had reserved just for him?
"I just wanted to make sure you know that you surely noticed by now that nothing is missing from your storage," he said with the hint of a smirk. "It probably wasn´t a good time, but there were matters that needed attending to. In case that annoyed you, that was not my intention."

[Kriss]

She moved Aniel a bit to make his position more comfortable for them both. He had his weight already even if did not look so. The boy caught Kriss' hood with one hand and pleayed with hair with the second one.
Kriss kept the eye contact with the guard and she even did not wink. She could see his strength into these blue eyes. But there was also the shadow of indecision what he affirmed also by his words.
Some deep echo told her that he really wanted to say something elso, just his pride had not let him to do it. She smiled evily
"If that's the apology, it's accepted." She said and before he opened his mouth she added,
"... but I have to say that my wrath was a little exaggerated, too..."
It the same moment she beat her tongue. She could not believe in what she had just said.

[Ziad]

He usually didn´t have a problem with apologies, as long as they were necessary. This one had been a somewhat different matter because even though it had not been a smart move to kind of hide out in that storage room, he had not appreciated the way she had nearly jumped claws first into his face two times now already. All the more surprising was her apology, a far more straight forward one that his.

He raised his eyebrows in mild, slightly bemused surprise. "Good." he said. "I guess then we´re even." And even better: he could keep his face. And his pride.

[Kahlan]

Kahlan entered Kriss's room and approached the chest. She took dark clothes, to not be seen in the forest. She put her own boots so she could easily bring her daggers with her. She crouched to restore order in the chest, a little.. She already felt better in those pants, she far more prefered them to the dresses.
She remembered that her father didn't really approved it, except when she was hunting, of course. He had never known that sometimes, she was wearing short pants under her dresses. Smiling at this memory, Kahlan closed the chest, stood up and left the room.

When she arrived downstairs, she suddenly stopped. Kriss was not alone. A man was standing in front of her, a guard, according to his outfit.
The young woman began to worry. Was he here because he'd found the corpses in the forest? But that was impossible. Even if he had found the bodies, how would he'd known that the two women had something to do with them?
No, he was surely here for something else.

In any case, Kahlan thought it was not the time to face a guard now. She had just arrived in town and that man would surely want to know more about her if he should meet her.
She decided to go straight to the kitchen where she could wait Kriss.

[Kriss]

Kriss heard Kahlan's steps even if they were very stealthy. But she did not show that, since he seemed to did not notice her. He aslo did not seemed to leave so soon. She had to find some good and quick solution. The woman frowned and when she felt how her son is playing with her hair, some idea came to her mind.

She smiled evily at the guard who did not excepet her animus.
"Yes, looks like we are even..." She said walking on the other side of the bar, close to him.
"So would you do me a favor to seal our approval...?"
Kriss did not even let him answered, just put Aniels into his arms,
"Here, watch over him for a while, I have to go... somewhere. It won't take me long." She was talking quickly and convincing.
While she was evacuatting herslef to the kitchen, she poited at Anile's corner, "There some of his toys..." and suddenly she vanished from the room.

She run into the kitchen, grabbed Kahlan's arm and quickly took her outside, just whispering
"Move, move, move..."

[Ziad]

The young woman literally dashed off as if all of a sudden, something had struck her.
"Hey!" Ziad yelled after her, attempting to follow her and hold her back. What in the name of Allah was going on with her being moody like that. One second she´d be in his face, the other she´d apologize and now she was leaving him here as her personal babysitter? But she had disappeared around the corner ere he could catch her and Ziad gave an annoyed growl.
He didn´t mind children. He really didn´t. He had a sister who had two little girls. But he was no babysitter! And he wasn´t quite sure what annoyed him more right now: that she had left the kid with him or that she had been brazen enough to treat someone of his position like that. Probably the latter. No, definitely the latter. And what kind of a mother was she anyways he grumbled inwardly, leaving her child with someone she barely knew, no matter who he was, because that of course entitled him to some initiate trust. Or at least it should.

He glanced down at the boy who was looking up at him with big eyes and had to fight the urge not to make a face. Not because of the kid, but because of how his mother reacted. "You got yourself one fine mother." he said looking down at the child before looking around. The last half drunk guest had just gotten up to leave the place. Great, he thought. So much for his evening off. And he had no matter where this woman had run but she was gone already for sure. So what now...

He briefly considered staying and drinking a little too much on her costs, but abandoned the idea an instant later. He was not that childish after all...

[Kahlan]

Kahlan was in the kitchen since less than 2 minutes when Kriss suddenly appeared and took her outside the tavern before she could react.
She didn't understand what was going on and she showed it through the tons of questions that came out of her mouth.
"What's going on? Who's that man? what did he want? And where is Aniel?

[Kriss]

Kriss took a deep breath of relief. She did not even want to think about what may heppened after her back. It seemed the peace between her and her favourite guard was not going to survive. The question was if she would survive their next meeting. But that was not what she had to worry about right then. The most important thing was to back to the forest and clean up after theirselves.
She turned at confused Kahlan and said,
"That guy was so kind to stay with Aniel... but we had to leave so fast in case he wanted to refuse..."
The sarcasm in her voice and the smirk which she gave to the woman seemed to explain everything.
Kriss took out the torch which was placed on the wall to lighten the door and pronounced
"We better get go."

[Kahlan]

Kahlan giggled at Kriss's answer. She felt a little relieved now. At least that guard hadn't come for her. Besides, the tavern's owner should know him well, to leave him her son like that.
"Alright, let's go. But you didn't change your clothes. And we don't have any tools." She said, showing her empty hands.

[Kriss]

Indeed Kriss had had no time to change her clothes or take something else with her. They needed to do without all these stuff and Kriss needed to stay in her green dress.
"I know, I know, we have to improvise. Now, lets go."

[Kahlan]

Kahlan didn't insist. With all she had lived today, she knew they could come up with something else to make the bodies disappear. So she followed Kriss again through the streets of Basra.

[Kriss]

The both woman were walking step by step throught the town and finally they got the forest. It was very dark already but Kriss know that wood and she exactly remembered that place where they had hidden the bodies.
One good thing for them, it was not very humidity around and the branchs covered the bodies were still dry.
When Kriss and Kahlan got the heap they had built, the archer said,
"Here we are. I think we need more sticks to get better fire."

For her whole life some situation had learnt her that it's not so simle to burn human's body.

[Kahlan]

Kahlan had followed Kriss through the city and the forest without saying anything.
She recognized the place where they've left the bodies as soon as she had arrived.
Burning them, that was the plan. She raised her head up toward the sky. The trees seemed quite tall, but she hoped, however, that the fire would not be seen by too many people.

She nodded at Kriss and started to pick up sticks. A few minutes later, she came back, her arms full of sticks and, threw them on the heap. She rubbed her hands to get rid of dirt when she saw a head in the heap, not covered by the branches. Kahlan hadn't pay attention to Marek's men until now, but then she realized that she knew that man, and probably the others too. They used to work for her father but they were secretly devoted to Marek.
Kahlan stayed, motionless, in front of the heap... a lot of horrible memories running through her mind.

[Kriss]

Kriss was picking up sticks when she came to the heap to throw it, she could see upset at Kahlan's faces. She threw the sticks, took the torch which she had staved in the graund and the heap flared up.

The archer caought Kahlan's arm and asked,
"Everything's okay?"

[Kahlan]

Kahlan jumped when she felt Kriss's hand on her arm. She glanced at the archer and then at the heap burning. She nodded and said with an hesitant voice.
"Y...yes, don't worry. It's just that I don't really realize yet all that happened to me since... since I arrived here..."
*Since she had come back from the hunt few days ago, actually* She said to herself.
She took a deep breath, trying to retain the tears, still watching the burning heap.