Far Falling

[Marianne Greire]

What was Mari coming to? She killed someone the other day, the first person in two years. Was she really stooping that low? Was she really succumbing to her inner demons? She shook her head. Quite possibly was the only answer she could say with conviction. She couldn’t give up just yet. Sabby and Pieter weren’t quite dead yet. Hell would only know what would happen to her if they did end up dying. The chaos of it all…it wasn’t what she desired. It was really getting to her head. Declaration of war against the Magic Council crusaders, Magic Council loyalists whom she had no head or tail of what was going on, angry guilds, angry civilians. And to think peace had only lasted for two years after the war ended. It wasn’t fair. All she wanted to do was complain to whatever god existed out there – but life went on and so she had to too.

It wasn’t that bad she was now participating in more missions than she ever had before though. It meant less time around the guild and also meant that she had the capacity to grow stronger. She needed her strength now more than ever with tensions increasingly getting higher. It was also a sort of buffer. It didn’t matter she was getting her hands dirty again. They already were full of it and someone was always going to be needed for those icky not as pleasant jobs.

243/1000

[Marianne Greire]

Once at the request board she decided she’d take on the personal request of Noburu, the Shadow’s Hand and ace of the guild. One of those people she didn’t like but requesting a mission that wasn’t so much bad as it was greedy. She didn’t know how many people would have seen the request but she was taking it anyway. Nice way to bide her time. Well perhaps not nice but still a way to bide her time. It sounded easy enough; just to steal some jewels and trinkets from a cart. She didn’t get why Shadow Heart needed more money but she guessed Noburu always struck her as the type of person who had his own agenda and was merely tagging along with the Shadow Lord because he benefited from it. Nevertheless, the Shadow Lord was the one benefiting from Noburu’s services right at the current moment.

The girl made her way out of the guild and paused outside. She only needed to be there are 3 o’clock. She tilted her face towards the sun. The sun was just beyond midpoint in the sky indicating she had at least a few hours before she really had to be at her destination. Well it never hurt to be early.

452/1000

[Marianne Greire]

Mari made her way down the east road, strolling leisurely at her own pace. To take her mind off her own issues she looked at the scenery. Nothing exceptional caught her eye. The day was pleasant and for once she felt at peace. Nothing like heading away from Shadow Heart to bring a calm over her. And not the violent kind either. She spotted a nice spot on the side of the road and sat down with crossed legs. She still had an hour before the caravan was due to calm. She closed her eyes. Soon, a layer of drowsiness washed over her and she started to drift off.

“Hey,” The voice shook her awake and she sat up, blinking in confusion. She took a moment to reorientate herself with the world. She must have fallen asleep. She looked at her surroundings. She was on the middle of the road in front of a caravan. “You’re in the way of this caravan ma’am, would you please step aside,” His voice was brusque and he appeared to be in a hurry. She still sat there, confused as to what was happening. And then she realised.

“Oh…I’m sorry,” She said apologetically before she remembered she was going to loot from the caravan. Right. She gave a quick glance to the side again, seemingly fearful to the guy. “I’ll…I’ll move as quick as I can,” She took her time positioning herself in the right way to get off the gravel. The man made a coughing noise. “Right, I’ll hurry up,”

She crouched on the ground, quickly thinking of what she should do. The best thing she could do would be to knock him out swiftly. The man reached towards her and without putting too much thought in it, she stood up quickly before getting him into a choke hold. She cursed as his bow got in the way and she kneed him down, ignoring the pain she was receiving from the impact of his armour. She shoved his face into the ground and put him into a sleeper hold.

798/1000

[Marianne Greire]

The guy taken by surprise soon fell unconscious on the ground and Marianne busied herself by taking his sword off him. It wasn't long till the other soldiers noticed her presence and came out to attack her. The girl could tell that they were both proficient in the use of his sword by the way they were holding it confidently. Unfortunately for them, they were outclassed in this instance. It would be too easy just to take their swords away from them wouldn't it? Mari dropped her acquired weapons and raised her hands. They stopped for a second, eyes alight with confusion. She could just imagine the questions they were mentally asking themselves. Their grips slackened against the sword handles and Mari made her move. With a sudden release of magical energy, she grabbed the swords with her telekinetic grip and ripped it away from their loose grip. Their faces further showed their alarm and Mari smirked. Without a moment's hesitation she flicked her wrists and caused the swords to gash the men.

It wasn't enough to incapacitate both of them - or any of them, though. One yelled in pain and the other one simply grimaced, his face wrought and dripping with sweat, from fear or heat she didn't know. And didn't care. She didn't relent on her grip on the swords and purposely attacked them again. More prepared this time, one whipped out his bow and caught the grip. The other merely went down. To ensure he stayed down, Mari flipped the blade around and caught his head on the flat of the blade. It hit with a loud thwang and there he went, unconscious. Mari returned her attention to the other guy and continued to assault him. He was good with his bow, she admitted but he wasn't going to be good enough. Eventually she gained the upper hand and he too was out cold.

Being the non-killer she was, the girl proceeded to tie the three up weaponless. After doing so, she stood up and surveyed her situation. She could either leave her new hostages with the carriage and grab the money or grab the money and the hostages. Well...there was also a third option. And that was to just take the carriage with her to Shadow Heart. She pursed her lips. Hmmm. That could be a possible option. She didn't know what she'd do if a Magic Council member came up and asked up what she was doing. In fact, that'd would be a bit of a sticky situation for her. She wouldn't know head or tail what the carriage was supposed to be doing if she faked saying that she was replacing the three guards. Also, if the possible Magic Council member looked into the actually cargo section they'd see three unconscious and tied up people and that would most certainly be suspicious.

Mari shrugged. Oh well. It wasn't going to be that bad was it. And it was only a possibility. She'd just be sneaky and take a back entrance. Or somthing. She'd do it. Then all she'd do is collect her money from Noburu and all would be fine. She hoped.

1327/1000 + 250 (for extra reward)

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