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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 13, 2009 15:32:06 GMT -5
Phoenix sounded rather dumbstruck and amused when he answered, the thief's head popping up over the carts to look down at her. "He's fine, Rory! You okay?" he beamed, nudging the driver to make sure he was well and truly knocked out. It was true that the road around them did look a bit of a mess, and the cart was all haphazard and would need sorting out before they left again, and the horses were all jittery, but Phoenix, despite his tiredness, actually looked pretty upbeat. "That was easier than I thought it'd be!" he smiled happily, disappearing again to leap down from the cart and calm the horses for a few minutes, making sure they weren't going to end up bolting without any notice, and throwing them all over the place. Once that was done, he clambered back onto the box of the cart.
"Lucky us. Considering this guy must be at least middle aged, he's pretty slim. You won't look too scrawny in his clothes, Rory." he smirked to himself, hoisting the man half over his shoulder so he could drag him down from the cart. "Okay, let's get to business." he murmured to himself, quickly setting about pick-pocketing the driver for everything he was worth, deft hands searching pockets that were meant to be hidden, and soon enough everything that had been on his person was now on the dusty ground in front of them; money, a small pouch of tobacco, a pipe, a small lantern, several papers (some of which looked like the ones Rory would need) and a couple of trinkets from his family, undoubtedly. Next, Phoenix removed his cap, both his overcoat and his waistcoat and his breeches, although he admittedly felt a little worse about that.
Poor guy was going to wake up half naked on the side of the road. It was almost funny, really, although he didn't laugh, because he knew Rory most definitely wouldn't think of it like that. Getting up again and hanging the clothes on the side of the cart, Phoenix clambered back into the box, where he found a leather bag much like their own, which must have belonged to the driver. In this he replaced everything he had taken apart from the papers which they would need, in return for the driver's spare cap; he couldn't risk them getting caught because of his unusual hair colour now, could he? Without a word, he placed the leather bag next to the unconscious driver, nodding and straightening up to look at the papers. It was all gibberish to him. "Rory...? You think you can read through these...?"
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 13, 2009 17:31:43 GMT -5
"I'm alright...I think that I'm alright...yes...I'm alright." She nodded to him, though she didn't particularly sound sure about that. Her arm was hurting, and there was a big red mark there already from where the crate had bashed into her, though she turned a little so that Phoenix wouldn't be able to see, not wanting him to worry about her. It would just bruise, there was nothing that he would be able to do about a bruise. The Princess did seem relieved as he said that the man was alright, a little of the guilt which was settling over her lifting. Just a little...and it all came back again as soon as she clambered from the back of the cart to stand by Phoenix as he emptied the man's pockets and took his clothes.
"He's going to be very mad at us. You think we can pay him back one day?" She asked, looking away and running her fingers through her hair. Rory didn't like this whole being a criminal thing. She could cope with being on the run, just about anyway, but she didn't like being a criminal, it just wasn't nice. She absently rubbed at her injured arm as she lingered by the thief, her gaze following the trail of fruit which was splattered over the road. Everything would be alright, they would leave the man by the road with his bag, and make sure that he was out of sight so that he wouldn't get robbed (again) and that nothing bad would happen to him (again).
"Read them?" She turned to look back at him as he asked the question, nodding and leaning down to take the papers. "Of course I can, hmmm..." She opened the papers out, gaze scanning over the squiggles on the paper for a moment before nodding. "This is the one we need. The others are personal, they should go back in his bag too...oh...but did he have a quill and some ink? I need to add another name to this...it's only rights of passage for one person..." She explained, handing Phoenix the letters before turning to look back down at the document that she had in her hands. "I should be able to copy the handwriting...Chris taught me."
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 14, 2009 10:40:10 GMT -5
"Maybe one day, yeah." Phoenix nodded, taking care now to set the driver down at the side of the road, so he was almost out of view from people and safe from being run down by any other carts. He would only be knocked out for a little while, so it was unlikely that any other unsavoury characters would appear in the meantime to rob him blind, opposed to just robbing him of... well, okay, they were practically robbing him blind, but they weren't stealing any of his money, at least. "One day we'll come and find this guy, and pay him back for letting us lend his cart." he agreed as he hoisted the leather bag from the box in the cart, setting it down next to the unconcious man before straightening up to listen to Rory's explanation about the papers. "Ink? I'll check." he nodded, kneeling down next to the bag.
After returning the family letters carefully to the bag where they wouldn't get crumpled and lost, he searched for anything to write with, eventually coming up with a battered quill and a small pot of ink. "Here." he smiled and passed it to her, leaving her to alter the document while he went to check on the horses again. When he was sure they weren't going to run off when he went too far away, Phoenix flitted about to sort out the cart, hoisting the crates around until they fitted neatly again and weren't likely to topple over, and dashed back across the road a few feet to deal with the crate which had fallen from the cart. This took a few minutes to clear up, but eventually the thief was finished.
"How's it goin' Rory?" he asked as he returned, glancing at the driver to check he was alright (and wasn't waking up too soon) and fiddling with the cap he'd taken from the leather bag. He found himself sat in the back of the cart to look at the driver's jacket, leaving the over-coat for Rory to wear along with the guard's jacket, tearing off anything that would associate it with the Claustrum if she wore it. He then shrugged into the driver's jacket and rolled the sleeves up slightly, before putting the cap on. If you knew it was him then there was no mistake that it was Phoenix, but all his distinguishing features were, for the most part, concealed. "Ta daa." he smirked, leaping from the back of the cart to clamber up into the box and wait for her.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 14, 2009 16:28:25 GMT -5
"Thanks." She smiled as he passed her the quill and ink, moving back to the cart to lay out the paper's, weighing them down the the pot of ink so that they wouldn't blow away or flap up while she was trying to write. The quill was pretty battered, but after examining the nib Rory decided that it would work well enough for what they needed it for. The document itself was pretty simple. Some of the language in it was over the top, but that was to be expected from something like this. All she had to do was add an 's' on to the ends of some of the words to make them plural, careful not to smudge the ink, her hair tucked back behind her ear to keep it out of the way. Once all the 's's had dried she added her name to the bottom of the paper, next to the name that was already on there. Well, she used the surname which was already there, and simply used 'Rory' as her first name.
Once she was finished she stood back to admire her work. When the ink was dried you shouldn't be able to tell the difference between what she had added and the original text, and her hand writing was a near enough perfect match to that which had already been there. There shouldn't be any problem with the papers, the only problem she could envisage was someone recognising them...she wished that she still had her charm. She felt vulnerable without it. Knowing that no-one could recongise her had made her feel safe, but now that little protection was gone and she felt really...exposed. It would be worse when they got to a town, or anywhere where there were lots of people, but she would cope, hopefully this far away from Cressa no-one would know what the Princess was supposed to look like.
"Just letting the ink dry." She called to him, turning her attention to the clothes now; she wasn't looking forward to this. With a small sigh she moved to stand behind the cart, so that no-one from the road would be able to see her, glancing around before swiftly changing. She pulled the trousers on while she was still wearing her dress, and swapped her dress for the shirt as quickly as humanly possible, hoping that no-one had seen anything. For someone as modest as Rory, changing outside was a traumatic experience.
The clothes were huge on her, completly swamping her tiny frame. At least here her boyish figure came in useful, she wouldn't really have been able to disguise herself as a boy if she had been well endowed, would she? She tied the rope belt tightly on the trousers to keep them up, rolling up the bottoms of them because they were too long, doing the same with the shirt as well. Once that was done she pulled on the guards coat, and then the overcoat too, pushing the sleeves up so that they didn't fall over her hands. The shoes, however, were the worst. They were so bit that she practically walked out of them, even though her feet were still bandaged up, and they were heavy too. The best she could manage was a sort of shuffling walk, with the boots heavily thudding to the ground every time she tried to pick her foot up. Running in these would be impossible. The finishing touch was the hat. She tied her hair back in a quick, messy plait before tucking it up inside the hat, just letting the shorter sections fall down around her face. Her transformation was complete! She looked like a rather feminine, adolescent boy...she actually made a rather cute boy really.
Rory wasn't looking amused as she packed her own clothes away in her bag and emerged from behind the cart, going to check that the papers were dry before folding them up and stowing them safely in her bag and going around to join Phoenix in the box of the cart, losing a shoe as she climbed up to sit next to him. "These silly shoes are huge! How could anyone have feet this big?" She pouted as she looked down at the shoe, unwilling to retrieve it because she knew that it would fall off again when she tried to climb back up again. "I look ridiculous."
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 15, 2009 8:53:18 GMT -5
Phoenix admittedly did have to stifle a laugh as Rory shuffled to the box, the thief shaking his head. "Okay... okay, they are a little big. C'mere." he murmured, hopping down from the box, the driver's coat flapping at his heels; it was a little big for him too, but it was very common for cart drivers to have clothes that didn't fit them that well, considering that they travelled a lot and it was cold at night and they would probably be thankful for the extra layers. He moved around the other side of the cart to help her down, instantly leaning down to take the driver's shoes off, depositing them by the unconscious man by the side of the road; he would probably appreciate having something to wear as well. "The trousers are so long, I don't really think that it will make a difference if you wear your walking boots with them." he told her with a light smile.
"Now let's sort out your clothes... you look like a boy, but... a really shapeless boy." he chuckled, taking off her over-coat and the guard's jacket to observe the shirt, lifting a brow. It was just like a huge square of cloth on Rory, and that just made the jacket and everything else look even bigger. "Stay still a sec." he nodded to her, stepping forwards and taking the knife from his boot. In seconds he had cut the sleeves from the shirt, tying both of them together to make a sort of sash. Leaning forwards, he moved to tie it around her waist to pull the shirt in a little, so it wouldn't stick out under the jacket. "There... that's better already." he nodded to her, picking up the guard's jacket and holding it out to her. "That seems okay, the over-coat will cover it." he nodded.
He waited for her to shrug into the jacket before he helped her into the over-coat, having cut the sleeves a little shorter so she only had to fold them up a couple of times to be able to use her hands. He'd also tightened the buckle on the back of it to make it slimmer, so even though it would still be long, it wouldn't look like a bed-sheet. "And the cap is perfect... you look... manly." he beamed at her, the playful glint in his eyes making it clear that he was joking. "You'll pass any inspection with someone just looking at you, at least." he shrugged, clambering back into the box and setting their bags down next to them. He needed Rory to at least be able to walk for them to get through the border, just in case they had to run, so he was glad to be rid of those shoes and much as she undoubtably was. "Ready?" he leant over to hold out his hand to her, to help her back up again.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 15, 2009 9:19:51 GMT -5
"A little big? I never thought that I was that small...I think that we could fit two of me in these clothes and they would still be big." She pouted to him as he helped her down from the box. She was exagerating a little, she knew that, but she couldn't help it. She had never felt this silly in all of her life! When she was back at the palace she had never envisaged that she would have to dress up as a boy to sneak through the boarder...then again, she had never envisaged that she would end up performing amature surgery on Phoenix or sneaking into the most famous prison in Avalas to save him. There was one thing that she could say about life outside of the palace, it was an adventure and it was full of new experiences, it was just that sometimes those adventures weren't very pleasant.
Phoenix did, however, make the situation a little better when he told her that she could wear her own shoes, the Princess glad that she would, at least, be able to walk. In fact, Phoenix's next actions made her completly forget about how stupid she looked, unable to hide the bright blush that rose in her cheeks as he took off her overcoat and the guards jacket. There it was again, that strange fluttering in her stomach, and she could have sworn that her heart had just started beating a little faster. What on earth was wrong with her? Maybe she was ill? She glanced away as Phoenix cut the sleeves from her shirt, raising her arms as he tied the makeshift sash around her waist.
She was, admittedly, feeling a little better about how she looked, once she had overcome her brief bout of embarrassment, shrugging the jacket back on and letting Phoenix help her back into her overcoat. "Manly? You said that you wouldn't tease!" She was pouting at him again now, but there was a playful glimmer in her eyes that showed that she was feeling better. "Ready." She nodded, taking his hand and letting him help her back up into the box. "I should make you dress up as a woman some time, as revenge for this."
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 15, 2009 15:50:34 GMT -5
"I'm not teasing, it's true! You make a very manly man!" he chuckled as he helped her back into the box, taking the reins of the horses and looking outraged at having to dress as a woman. "If the situation ever arises, then yes, I will dress as a woman to make you feel better, Rory. And I will make a very good lookin' woman, I think." he shrugged, smirking to himself and suddenly spurring the horses to life, sending them trotting off along the dirt road. It was weird, he'd never driven a cart before - he'd ridden horses and led horses, but he'd never done this... he found it surprisingly refreshing, after sitting in the back of a cart for God knows how many hours, perhaps even days. And he was pretty good at it, once you got used to how to the horses moved, and how to steer them and the like.
It was early evening by the time they reached the border; it was almost as though they had passed from this lonely, winding road to a thiriving mass of carts and people walking and people, like them, who were hitching a ride on the back of the carts (although they had probably PAID for their ride, unlike Rory and Phoenix) and all manner of merchants and travellers. It was very comforting, in a way, that they would just blend into the crowd. The guards at the border were more likely to take notice and be suspicious of them if there were fewer people about, and the bustling mass of people were definitely going to work in their favour. Phoenix had actually been close to falling asleep for the last hour or so, his head down as he held the reins. He was aching all over from the Claustrum, but at least sitting in the box of the cart was pretty easy to do, and providing he didn't have to run a marathon, they'd be fine.
"It's weird, isn't it..." he commented softly, as they drew near to the camp outside the border with the rest of the travellers. "That just a couple of days ago we had to sneak out of a town, and today were just average people, gettin' through the border to go into Marmosia. Well... that's what we look like, anyway." he looked up and smiled at her. The excitement of finding a way to get through the border was beginning to wear off now, and you could see that he was getting tired again, but he still seemed in very high spirits. "You given any thought about what you want to to when we get to Marmosia?" he asked softly, turning his attention back to the road. "If we stay quiet for a while, Lord Whatshisface should lose interest in us..."
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 15, 2009 16:12:27 GMT -5
"You would make a very handsome woman." She agreed with a giggle, shaking her head at him. Thinking about it, she doubted that Phoenix would have any problems with dressing up as a woman, he was confident enough to do pretty much anything. In Rory's head, Phoenix could do anything, without question, but her opinion of him was a little biased, wasn't it? To her he truely was a treasure hunter, but she had always been naive, hadn't she? In fact, if Phoenix wanted to tell her that he was a Prince she would have believed him. Even after everything that had happened, she still wanted to see the best in people, it was just starting to get harder now. In the palace she had been sheltered from all of the awful things that life had to offer, but out here it seemed that she had been subjected to them all, and they were slowly starting to pollute her view on the world.
She was quiet for the rest of the journey, sat huddled up in her coats as night began to fall, glad for the warmth that they provided. She was starting to stiffen up from being sat still for too long, and all this quiet had left her to dwell too much on everything that had happened. At the moment, she found being alone with her thoughts wasn't very pleasant, they whispered terrible things of her, and threats of a future which would only contain more running. She was acutally glad for the noise and hustle and bustle of the road to the boarder, surverying the people around them with weary eyes, vaguly wondering what they were all doing there and where they were planning on going. She found it strange, so many people all going in the same direction at the same pace. Any other time she would have been sat talking to another carriage driver, or to someone riding along, but tonight she was silent, not really in the mood for meaningless conversation.
"It seems that, over the last few days we have both been a million different people rather than ourselves." She murmured to him, absently fiddling with a loose thread on the sleeve of the overcoat. It was true, since leaving Cressa it seemed that all they did was pretend. Pretend to be running an errand to get into the library, pretend to be delivering a message to get into the Claustrum, pretend to be a boy to get through the boarder...where would it end? "I want to go somewhere quiet, and peaceful, and just rest for a couple of days. I don't know very much about Marmosia, I wouldn't be able to say where to go...anywhere safe with a nice warm bed sounds good to me though..." She nodded before looking up at him, smiling weakly and tilting her head. "What about you? Anywhere you want to go?"
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 16, 2009 6:58:24 GMT -5
He smiled apologetically across at her, sighing softly as they moved towards the central camp where they'd have to line up to get through the border. He'd forgotten how new this would all be to Rory - as a thief, pretending to be someone else was part of the job. Phoenix was that traveller who had just stopped by to look at some of a stall's merchandise, he was the son of that merchant who needed an urgent order of stock, he was the guy with the connections, the house-breaker, the pick-pocketer, and all manner of other things. Pretending was a day to day reality to Phoenix; even his closest friends in the slums didn't use his real name because they knew the implications of people finding out who he was. But for Rory, it was completely different. And at the same time, Phoenix couldn't find how they could have her stop pretending. She was the Princess of Cressa, it wasn't exactly as though she could just go around being that.
"Quiet and peaceful and restful actually sounds like a pretty good idea right now." he agreed with her, smiling a little and shifting in the box so that his legs didn't fall asleep again; he got fidgety if he didn't move, and then the horses ended up trotting in different directions and they almost ended up riding off the road. "Maybe a little back water town where everyone speaks Marmosian and nobody knows our names?" he offered, smirking a little. The reality was that the first thing Phoenix would be looking for when they got to a town and were sure they were safe and weren't going to be stalked by guards or harrassed by anyone was a tavern. One with cheap drinks, and a warm fireplace, and pretty girls. He wasn't actually intending to go there, to be honest; he wouldn't let Rory down like that, but if he was truthful about what he wanted, then that was it.
Of course he didn't actually say any of this to her, sticking to his agreement for somewhere quiet and safe, and he fell silent again until they got to the very outskirts of the camp. There were a few houses in the place for the people who lived right outside the border, and worked there, and there were fires burning in the middle of the place to provide light and warmth for the weary travellers. In the distance you could just make out the solid silhouette of a large wall and a gateway in the blackness, which was obviously the border, armoured guards standing at the entrance ready to receive the papers of anyone who wanted to pass through. Phoenix sighed in relief. "We made it. Finally." he smiled.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 16, 2009 15:31:10 GMT -5
Being the Princess wasn't all that she was though, was it? It wasn't that single thing that defined her as a person. In all honesty, she didn't care much for the title anyway. No, all she wanted to be was herself, for once in her life she wanted people to see her for being Rory, not as being the Princess, or any other role which she was acting out. It seemed like too much to ask though, to be herself. Everyone expected you to be something else. Oh, now her mood was dropping even lower. She needed to get this negative circle of thoughts out of her head, but she was unable to think of anything that would break the cycle. Her natural optimism was rather lacking at the moment, and even she wasn't able to find the silver lining to this situation.
"Sounds perfect." She smiled to him faintly and nodded. A little backwater town sounded perfect, and somewhere that no-one knew their names was even better. It would be nice to have a chance to practice her Marmosian as well, since Chris had left the palace she hadn't really had anyone willing to let her practice the language on them, and the new tutor she had been given was a rather mean, grumpy old man who scared her a little. He was more focused on teaching her dull things, like the complex ins and outs of politics and the principal trades of each Avalan city and blah blah blah. It seemed pointless for her to learn those things, it wasn't as though she would even end up as Queen and have need for such boring facts.
"We're almost there." She smiled faintly and nodded to him, huddling up in her coat as her eyes followed the line of people that were waiting to pass through the boarder. "Do you think that it will take long to get through?" She asked, unable to hide the sleepiness in her eyes as she looked up at Phoenix. She didn't want to fall to sleep until she knew that they were safely through the boarder and on their way to a nice inn, but she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to keep her eyes open for.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 17, 2009 20:38:14 GMT -5
"No, it shouldn't take too long now, I promise." he smiled to her weakly, looking guilty that she was so tired and they had to keep moving. Many carts would stop here for the night to rest up and wait till it was light so that there was a less chance of being robbed or mugged by Highwaymen. It gave them a rest from the cart, a chance to stretch their legs and have something to eat and the like. Phoenix would have offered all of this to Rory if he could have, but they really had to time to dawdle. They had to move quickly, and just one night of rest that they could have gone without could be the difference between getting caught by Lord Valentine (or that cart-driver) and going free into Marmosia and living peacefully for a little while. However little a while that was, it would still be a welcome gift for the thief.
He led the horses on through the camp towards that daunting colossal wall, ignoring the welcoming fires and the chance of a cheap meal, choosing to move straight to the gates of the border and the guards and the like. "We just have to show the papers, have 'em approved and then we're almost home free. Then you can sleep until we get to the nearest village, if you like...? It should only be a couple of miles from the Marmosian border's camp, I'm guessin'." he told her reassuringly, yawning widely. They probably looked even more convincing what with their exhausted looks; he doubted the guards would keep them long, when they seemed so fed up of travelling. They were just a couple of guys (well, guy and a girl) trying to get home so they could go to sleep.
Indeed, the guards did seem surprisingly sympathetic as Phoenix drew the horses to a halt just outside the gates; the only stern one seemed to be the captain, but he seemed like a grumpy type of person anyway. "Evening." one of the other guards greeted them, Phoenix nodding and smiling sleepily in return, sitting up a little. It would be easier for them if Rory seemed half-asleep (not that she needed to try hard), because then they'd not ask her anything, seeming to have realised that Phoenix would be the one they should be talking to. "Are you sure you'd not prefer to stay the night and pass through tomorrow?" the guard suggested, smiling a little. Phoenix chuckled quietly and shook his head.
"Urgent, sorry. I'll get my ass kicked if'm late." he apologised, shrugging and taking the papers from his pocket, offering them over. The guard nodded in understanding, taking them to look them over.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 18, 2009 14:11:33 GMT -5
She smiled to Phoenix faintly when he told her that she could sleep once they had passed through the boarder, nodding to him a little. "Are you sure that you don't mind? I can stay awake until we get to a village if you like..." It wouldn't really be pleasant for him if she fell to sleep. He would be practically on his own, with nothing to do other than drive the cart. Then again, Rory wasn't a source of thrilling conversation at the moment, was she? She resolved to try to be more cheerful tomorrow, for Phoenix's sake. He had to be feeling worse than she was, so it wasn't fair that she was so down too. It might help him to feel better if she at least acted as though everything was alright, even if she was falling apart inside. He had enough to worry about without worrying about her too, it was the least that she could do for him.
The wall seemed more and more daunting as they drew closer, looming between them and safety. One last hurdle, that was what she kept telling herself, it was the one last obstacle that they had to overcome before they were safe, even if that safety only lasted for a little while. She doubted that Lord Valentine had the power, or the resources, to persue them over the boarder, and, with regards to her being the Princess, it was very unlikely that anyone in Marmosia would recognise her. It was probably only a vague rumour that she had disappeared, and they would, of couse, deny all possibility that it could have been a Marmosian that had taken her. Rory guessed they would even go as far as to say that her father had staged her kidnapping just to have an excuse to cause another arguement between the two countries.
Rory shuffled a little closer to Phoenix as the cart trundled up to the check point, averting her gaze away from the guards. All she had to do was look sleepy and not say anything and everything would be alright. She just needed to try not to look guilty, or worried, or anything like that. She wached the guard out of the corner of her eye as he checked over the papers, hoping that she had done a good enough job at changing them. Everything should be alright, she couldn't see that there would be any problems. In a moment the guard would nod, pass the papers back to Phoenix and let them be on their way, and that would be proof that the knot of anxiety in her stomach was all for nothing...any moment now he would give those papers back...any moment...now?
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 18, 2009 16:12:04 GMT -5
"...It all seems in order, Mr. Arkwright." the guard passed the papers back to Phoenix, who nodded gratefully and slipped them back into his coat pocket. "I hope you arrive at your destination on time, and you enjoy your stay in Marmosia. Both of you." he bade them goodbye, tipping his cap to them while one of the other guards turned the crank to cause the gates to rise up. The time between the gates being closed and then opening up seemed like forever to the thief, and he breathed a sigh of relief once they were finally open and they could go through. It was as though everything that they had been suffering through for the last few days would go away just as soon as they rode through those gates into Marmosia. They could be free at last.
"Thanks." Phoenix nodded back at him, urging the horses into a trot again so that they could move through the gates, and effectively, through the border to Marmosia, the thief throwing the guards a light wave. They were through!
They had gotten about one hundred metres away from the border, and the elation was just beginning to clutch at Phoenix's heart when he heard the one thing that brought his spirits plunging right back down to the ground. Someone was calling after them.
He turned in his seat to look over the crates behind them, and to his horror he thought he could see the figure of the cart-driver they'd abandoned, with another driver with whom he must have caught a lift and the group of guards. He was pointing at them accusingly, and the next thing he knew, the guards were mounting their horses, and the two drivers were clambering into their carts, and they were making chase on them. "Oh shit." Phoenix commented quite calmly. He should have known. It should have been obvious. Leave one set of worries behind, get a whole new set now.
"Sorry Rory, looks like we'll have to pay attention to the road for a little while longer before we go ahead and rest up for the night. Hold on tight, 'kay? And when I say, jump from the cart. Jump on my side, and I'll try and catch you." he murmured to her, all those thoughts about Rory being a princess and being delicate and not being used to the rough life on the road flying out of his mind as he stood up in the box and spurred the horses into a gallop, sending them tearing through the Marmosian camp and straight out onto the blackness of the road, into a place without lanterns, with mountain trails and crooked peaks and unknown cities sprawling out in front of them, although they could see none of it.
He didn't even know where they were going, only that the road was getting rocky and there was vegetation on all sides of them and the Marmosian camp that they had so abruptly left behind was in a state of complete confusion, which could probably work to their advantage. Once the guards were briefly out of sight, Phoenix let go of the reins and rose to his feet, moving to the side of the cart. "Okay. Let's go." he murmured, before suddenly just leaping from the rapid moving cart, disappearing into the undergrowth and landing heavily, and not at all comfortably.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 18, 2009 16:43:36 GMT -5
Rory couldn't help but feel a little perplexed as the man handed the papers back to Phoenix and the gate started to rise. What, there were no questions? No drawing of swords? No-one recognised them? They were actually going to pass through the boarder without incident? Honestly, Rory hadn't been expecting that. After all of their bad luck it seemed impossible that they would get through unchallenged, without even a hicup. But, they were. They had finally caught a little bit of good luck and the cart rolled through the gate without any problems what so ever. The Princess even felt her spirits starting to rise a little, if they could make it through the boarder so easily then maybe it was going to be better for them in Marmosia. Afterall, they always said that the grass was greener on the other side. A couple of minutes later, her hopes came crashing down around her. She didn't even need to look back to know that the commotion was linked with them. Instead she just closed her eyes and sighed heavily, barely managing to keep everything together at that moment. She should have been panicking, but she knew that the panic would set in in a moment. For now there was just one thought running though her mind on a continuous loop, something that described perfectly the feeling of desparation that eveloped her at that moment. Here we go again. She barely even heard Phoenix as her panic caught up with her, the world around them suddenly bursting into life as the cart jolted forwards, Rory clinging onto the seat to avoid being thrown off. Her balance wasn't great at the best of times, she probably would have found it difficult to stand in the cart when the horses were only plodding along, so at this speed she found it particularly difficult just to remain seated. More than once a strong jolt had almost loosened her from her seat and sent her toppling from the cart, but somehow she managed to hold on. The Phoenix was moving next to her. The look of disbelief in her eyes questioned his sanity at that moment; how could he sound so indifferent? Then he just...did it. Phoenix was next to her one moment and gone the next, having leapt from the rapidly moving cart. The logically part of her mind told her not to even think about following him, that she would smash into the floor and break multiple bones and generally hurt herself. But, at the same time, there was Phoenix's voice there, telling her that she had to jump. So that was exactly what she did. She jumped. For a second she felt weightless, and all that existed was the rapid thumping of her heart and the whoosh of air around her...and then she hit the floor. If it weren't for the adrenaline the pain would have been ten times worse, the Princess had actually manouvered so that she hit the ground with her feet, bending her legs to take the force of the impact and avoid any serious damage. Plus, the fact that she was wearing two coats as well as her shirt helped as she tripped and went rolling through the undergrowth, the extra padding at least lessening the pain, though she did recieve a nasty bump to her head. Then, as suddenly as her movement had started, it stopped, and the Princess was left sprawled out in the undergrowth, dizzy from the knock to her head, not sure which way up she was supposed to be, or where she was supposed to be. All she knew for certain was that she hurt... .
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