Kotov Syndrome

[Everett]

Everett dashed throughout the forest, avoiding trees and bushes alike. His long strides were like those of a deer, any sort of object that would hinder his run he easily leaped over. By now all signs of chase had ended. It was the perfect time to quickly rest and he did. He half crouched forward putting his hands on his knee for support. He breathed heavily for about thirty seconds before he grinned wickedly. It was the thrill of the chase, the adrenaline. The elf lived for it, and it was only sweeter when it came with a reward afterwords. Everett held it in his hands, the spoils of war. It was a leather bag, stained red from blood. The previous owner had apparently held it dearly, it was perhaps too important for the man. Which meant the elf had to have it. But blood had to be spilled to have, It wasn't Everett's nor the blood of the last owner; an apparent leader of a group of bandits. They were held up in a town, perhaps east of his current location.

There were still no signs of his 'hunters'. Perhaps they had given up. He did not see a human nor did he smell or hear one. In victory the elf fell flat onto his back, followed by a smile and sigh of happiness. Caught in his own little happy place he nearly forgot of the bag. He laid the pouch onto his chest and opened it just enough for him to see. The smile on his face only grew brighter. "My own little mission suddenly became much easier." He spoke to himself while closing it shut.

[micaylah]

Eavan smiled as she looked down from the canopy of the trees that held her sight. The lush foliage of the trees was perfect cover from both air or ground. She watched the elf below her with amusement wondering what had given him such joy. She dropped down from the branches, landing softly without a sound near the reclining elf. She smiled as she looked at him. "Hello friend or foe. How are you this fine day?"

[Everett]

The elf quickly jumped onto both feet and turned to face the female elf. Everett unsheathed one of his short swords and pointed it at the woman. He would not be cautious. There was a slight look of frustration on his face. What was with people dropping from the sky without the elf noticing them. He scowled before speaking. "For a moment I was doing rather well, but right now I can't help but wonder how longer you were up there for." He grinned. " Enough about me. How are you this fine day friend or foe?" Chances were there weren't any other elves about to fall out of the tree.

[micaylah]

Eavan shrugged. “I was hanging around so to speak, for about an hour before you happened along.” She smiled as she looked to his sword. “You have no need for metal unless you wish to play. I am neither friend nor foe. It’s hard to be friend when I do not know you and you have done nothing to me to be considered foe.” She moved to sit on a fallen tree as she watched him carefully. “My name is Eavan and before you say it…yes it is a human name. I am of mixed parentage.”

[Everett]

"Well then." He sheathed his sword. " I don't play unless I'm confronted and it usually ends with death." He slowly backed away to lean against the tree. A mutt? The elf smiled and kept the thought to himself, he was trying something new. Being a half decent person. "I am Everret." He managed a half bow, a habit of his noble life that had not yet been broken. He did not give his full name, in fear of recognition ."A pur-" The elf reached for his weapon and once again crouched. "Awww crap." The elf whispered. Humans shouting at each other could be heard in nearly every direction. It appeared as if they were giving orders to one another. Did they really trick me? He thought to himself, maybe he had been a bit too confident. Yes that was usually the problem. Was she one of them? His mind quickly processed the thoughts as he shot a glare of distrust at Eaven. The shouting became more clear, it became obvious that there were many approaching men. Their tone of their voices said they had ill intent.

[micaylah]

Eavan rose quickly as she heard the voices. She looked at Everett and noted the way he glared at her. She motioned to the canopy above them indicating with a gesture that they could take cover there and listen. Without waiting, Eavan leapt up grabbing a thick branch and lithely pulled herself quietly into the thick tangle of leaves and branches. She crouched on the thick branch, her hand resting on the hilt of her short sword, watching for the approach of the humans.

[Everett]

Everett nodded as she seemed to suggest hiding within the canopies. It was almost predictable that she would return to her hiding spot. He quickly jumped, grabbing the sturdiest branch. The elf pulled himself up onto the branch, crouching he waited with a sword in his hand. He looked up at Eaven and then back down.

"He ran this way deeper into the woods." A deep voice could be heard. "These parts have been undisturbed for a long time. You can see his footsteps within the grass and they continue-" The voice stopped in frustration. "DID YOU LOSE HIS TRAIL?" Another one spoke obviously angry. " If we don't find this elf we'll both be dead." Everett smiled in satisfaction at the statement. They seemed to be about fifty feet away. The deeper voice spoke quietly, too low for the elf to hear him. "We might as well burn the forest down! Smoke him out of the woods." Their footsteps could not be heard as they walked into view. There were about ten men, armed rather well. One of them was flustered, apparently the leader of their group, only another of the men stood out. He was middle aged, with a rather large black beard and long black hair. He could be defined as scruff, he was bigger than the others. Another man came running to wards the group. He stopped panting loudly. "That dang thief could not have gone much farther. Theres a cliff only one hundred yards away, It runs from the east all the way to the west. He has to be around here. Theres no way he would of survived the fall."

The men decided they would meet with the other five groups. One man ran off, they came to the decision they would bring dogs to hunt the elf. The group was to split, to find the others. They were to return and secure the perimeter until the dogs arrived. Of the ten only three remained in the spot, literally standing below the two. Everett adjusted his body slightly as slightly began to grow stiff. He was ready to make his move, before there had been too many. The numbers could have been handled by two, but he did not know how will Eaven could fight, in fact he did not know if she would even aid him. But now with only three of them, he would move in for the kill. His red eye seem to have a glint, a sign.

[micaylah]

Eavan listened intently as the men spoke beneath them. The canopy of the trees provided them excellent cover but once the dogs arrived, their scent would be easily found. She watched Everett seeing a glint as she nodded softly. Eavan dropped down from her perch within the tree. The men turned to look at her as she distracted them. “Hello boys,” she said as she bent over, smoothing mock wrinkles from her lengthy leg extended gracefully before her. “Now what could possible bring…gentleman as fine as you out on a day like this?”

The men exchanged looks between them as a slim smile came across their lips. “Well, well, what have we here? A wee lass alone in the woods. Lucky for you we happened to come along. For a…favor…we may be so inclined as to see you…safely through the woods.” One of the men moved behind Eavan, his arms wrapping around her waist as he took in the scent of her hair. His cheek pressed to the side of her head.

Eavan smiled slightly as she wrapped her arms across the mans. Her hand brushed the handle of the blade as she gripped it. Her eyes closed as she let out a slight moan. “Oh, I might be so inclined as to favor you or….” The knife pulled free of her sleeve as she spun slowly, seductively within the man’s embrace to face him. He smelled of sweat and ale. She pressed her lips to his in a mock show of feigned passion, her body held tight to his as her hand rested below his waist. Eavan pulled back from the kiss looking deeply into the man’s eyes as her smile widened. “You could just die.” She said as her blade pulled up within her hand finding the artery within his groin. The blood flowed freely, swiftly as the man’s eyes widened with delayed realization. She pushed him back from her as she turned to face the others. “Anyone else want a favor?” she asked.

[Everett]

Everett looked down, quickly yet quietly holding tightly on his sword's hilt. He delayed for a second to watch as the woman worked her magic on the men. He shook his head in part disgust and disbelief. The disgust was based off the fact the men oh so quickly fell for her. It brought satisfaction to him that he was one of the stronger men in the world; will wise at least. He patiently waited to strike for the perfect moment; slightly moving to a spot behind the men. His moment came as Eavan kissed the man. He dropped down wards from the tree. He landed on the man's back, knocking down him onto his face. His life will end quickly, Everett thought to himself as he shoved his sword through the man's neck. It came out of the humans throat, sticking into the ground. The former shade quickly pulled out a dagger as the other bandit turned to face him. Everett did not spare a second for the kill, his weapon cut into the side of the man's throat. He then pulled out wards, literally cutting open his throat and bringing the juggler vein with it. He quickly stepped back, avoiding the blood squirting from his throat.

"That all happen too quickly." He said with remorse speaking more to himself than Eavan. Everett then crouched, cleaning his dagger on one of the dead men's clothing. He looked up at Eavan and slightly smiled while shaking his head.." Some women use their looks to take advantage of men. You... You abuse them." He knew women could be dangerous, he hand underestimated this one yet he was still skeptical if she could manage herself in a fair fight. Finished with cleaning his dagger he quickly searched the corpse for a bag of money. Nothing... he thought to himself. He disposed of the body and moved to the next one. Everett grunted quietly as he pulled his short sword out of the ground and the man's throat. He repeated the process of cleaning and then disposing before he finally completely stood up. He quietly clapped his hands to remove the dirt. "So why did you help me ?"

[micaylah]

Eavan looked as Everett made quick work of the last two men. She grinned as he crouched to relieve the corpses of whatever of value they may have and cleaned his dagger on the bandits clothing. “What?” she asked with feigned innocence. “Would you not use whatever means at your disposal to achieve your goal? Why even you capitalized on the moment my “looks” afforded you. “Why seek open confrontation that could alert others nearby when guile offers you opportunity to dispatch of your problem with small expenditure of effort and relative stealth?” She cleaned her own dagger on the bottom of her pant leg.

“Hmmm. Now that would be the question would it not? Why did I help you?” She placed her index finger upon her cheek, elbow resting on her arm crossed over her waist. She shrugged her shoulders as she dropped her hands to her waist. “Nothing better to do at the moment.”

[Everett]

Everett grinned while shaking her head. "Technically you're right, but I would of taken the same course of action. I would of handled all three of them with ease." He opened a small pouch he had taken off the small corpse. The elf wrinkled his noise and dropped it. Copper wasn't worth taking up his space. " Besides It is unfair. I've tried it." He said sarcastically. "It back fired." The elf slowly moved his hand to belt, checking on the previously small pouch. He looked away smiling to himself. "And what made you choose me instead of them." He gestured to a bush where he had hidden two of the bodies. It was a necessary procedure, even if it wouldn't make a difference in the current situation. "Was it discrimination? Are you a prejudice half-human?" He replaced human with elf purposely, to see her reaction. "Regardless, If I needed your help or not. I owe you some sort of thanks." The elf quickly ran his possible escape options. Going East, North, Or West would lead to a cliff. Apparently the drop was too high to risk scaling without the proper equipment. He would be the judge of that though. Everett turned North his cloak fluttered slightly. He turned his head to look over his left should, would she follow or not?

[micaylah]

Eavan looked at the elf. “I know you could have.” She watched as he checked the pouch then dropped it. “I would enjoy hearing that story some time I think.” She said as she smiled wondering. She looked toward the bush where two of the bodies where hidden. “Well if you must know. When I dropped in on you, though you were cautious, you didn’t seek to take me forcefully. They on the other hand…that was the first thought that crossed their mind. So if that is discrimination then yes. I discriminated based on the evidence of who treated me with more dignity and respect. As far as insulting me, don’t waste your breath. My parents were fine people who loved each other very much. I am proud of my being a … mutt.” She grinned at him, tipping her head to him slightly as she turned to follow him.

[Everett]

"It really doesn't live up to the hype. You might be disappointed." Everett began to walk away while shrugging his shoulders. The woman's argument was rather reasonable. "Granted you did approach them knowing they would react accordingly. Do you approach all men as so? Did my reaction surprised you or did you not approach me as so. Forgive me for I do not recall." The elf once again turned to look over his shoulders, he hadn't heard footsteps which meant she was not following. To his slightly surprise; which he didn't show she walked very quietly. Almost like himself, He thought. The elf smirked at the usage of the word mutt. She either read minds or it was a co-incidence. The latter was chosen, the former not even considered. "Wait... Insulting you? I'm appalled." He said. "When did I insult you? Was it the half-human." The elf stood still in his tracks and turned around crossing his arms. He smirked. "If so would you prefer it if I referred to your race as half-elf?"Once again he turned to continue his trek.

[micaylah]

Eavan looked as he walked ahead of her. “Somehow I doubt that.” She said in regards to his story not living up to the hype. She thought about his words. “You did not have the look within your eyes that those men did. That is how I knew. That is why I helped you though clearly you needed no help.” She smiled as he looked back over his shoulder. She stopped abruptly as he rounded on her, his arms crossed. “Why must you refer to me as anything other than Eavan?” she asked him with quiet calm. “My heritage is that of human and elf. It is not who or what I am.” She began to follow again as he turned and continued on.

[Everett]

Everett shrugged his shoulders. " Well you would have to be the judge of that." He said, the edge of the woods could now be seen. The elf slowed his pace to either let Eavan walk aside him or in front. Was it paranoia? Perhaps but as the cliche said he would rather be safe than sorry. She did appear to know at least where to stab people. "Ahhh apparently I can't tell when a man has that look." He joked. The elf moved his hand to rub the back of his head. "Well for future reference. I constantly refer to individual's by their race. Is could be called a bad habit but..." He turned his head to look at her. " It makes people feel less individualistic, more part of a group. You'll find it really puts certain people down, it can kill their ego." He then looked forward, the tree's seemed to go no further. There was a fourteen feet clearing between the edge of the woods and the cliff. " It puts subjects in their place, but I will refer to you as Eavan from now on if you wish." He looked down. "dang... They were right." The drop was at least a thousand feet, it was difficult for Everett to judge distance. He began to scratch his chin. " You wouldn't happen to have a couple thousand feet of rope would you?.... "

[micaylah]

Eavan shook her head at the elf laughing softly at his joke. “What is your name? Or did I miss it?” She looked at him with interest as she tried to figure him out. “I see by your family crest that you are of the house of Evudirucecibi. What brought you so far from home if you don’t mind my asking?” Eavan drew in step beside him as she spoke then stopped to look down to edge of the cliff. “No I don’t have any rope but…” she looked around then closed her eyes so that she could listen and smell the air about them. She was looking for a water source.

[Everett]

Everett continued to smile as he looked over the cliff edge. He strafed left and right. It was just forest at the bottom as far as the eye could see. There was though the distant sound of a roaring river, to the south east a rather good walk away. " Did I?" He believed it did. "It is Everett..." The elf turned away from Eavan. "Ah so you recognize this old thing. " He spoke while gentle running his thumb over the crest. " Yes I am actually. Most nobles can hardly recognize their own. Let alone the common folk." He used a relatively harmless term. "You've done your research huh." The elf turned back around, apparently she was doing the questioning now. "It was simply time to leave the safety of my home." His smile was somewhat grim as he thought of the Irony. "Life is much more entertaining away from home. I grew tired of the stuck up personalities trying to get everything they can out of you." It was partly true and partly a lie, as he grew older he had spent the majority of his time away from the manor doing 'business'. The people weren't as stiff as rumored; he was actually fond of a few. "You should make your way across the human wall they've formed. I'll think of something." Avoiding the topic the elf walked away.

[micaylah]

Eavan laughed at the ‘common folk’ reference. “Well, Everett, I know it because my father was part of the royal guard.” Eavan remembered her father showing her the family crests of the nobles at royal functions. She loved those days and the times that he had taken her to the training grounds with him. She turned back in the direction of the roaring river. She had never tried to summon from this distance but what the heck. She hadn’t been able to train in a while. This would be a good exercise.

She stood at the edge of the cliff, rocks shifting and rolling down the side beneath her feet. She reached out to pull the water toward her. She smiled as it came before her in the form of a thin, flat path leading to the river itself. She picked up a large rock and threw it onto the water to test its strength. It held. Eavan smiled as she stepped out, walking slowly down the incline toward the river. She didn’t know if Everett was still close enough to see but it didn’t matter.

[Everett]

"Oh really?" He stopped walking and smiled while reminiscing. "I have been to the royal palace on a number of occasions, perhaps I have met him. My father is a good friend of the king, The prince was almost a brother to me." The elf walked away, there was a relief that she did not question him more. It was as if she hadn't heard of the death of his brother, the bodies of the assassins within his room or his disappearance. Or it could of just been news within the region he grew up in. His family had power, they were very influential especially in the north east. It was a relief to know he was not a suspect of the random shade murders following his leave. Then again only the Emperor truly knew all of the members. Where many of the people were perhaps more loyal to the Evudirucecibi. The elf walked away quickly, it was almost a run. He felt that she would not follow him this time.

Within ten minutes the elf had spotted the wall of bandits. "dang.." The elf crouched behind a log, well out of the distance Humans could see. He jumped over the log, and began to crawl forward. His white hair usually stood out, but he was use to it. He eventually entered a bush, he peeked out. There were about fifty men, about a yard and a half between each. He tried to distract them, he used a couple rocks and what not but they wouldn't move. He was beginning to grow impatient, it was then he heard them. There was barking in the distance, accompanied by the sound of horse hooves. crap... The elf thought to himself without a second delay he busted out of the bushes revealing himself. Either way the men did not chase, they gave way to the horses and dogs that soon followed. He was heading to wards the cliff, he had a plan. The elf did not know if the woman was still around either way he shouted "Their coming!!" The barking was getting ever so closer.

[micaylah]

Eavan heard Everett yell out to her. She ran back towards the cliff to him seeing the bandits horseback thick around him as she heard the dogs. She yelled to him, “This way hurry.” Eavan pulled one of the short swords from its sheath on her back. She guarded the entrance to her egress as she waited for him. The horses neared, one of the riders drew a cross bow from over his shoulder. Eavan quickly grabbed one of the hidden throwing knives from the bodice of her leather shirt. With a quick outward throw of her arm, she loosed the dagger at the man burying it to the hilt into the side of his neck. His hand shot up to grab at the dagger and she smiled as the fool pulled it free. The artery began to shoot blood in far spurts, the pressure of the blade being all that had kept it from showering upon the ground. She turned to find Everett, her eyes searching the scene. If she could find him before the full force descended on them, they could ride the tide of water to the fast moving stream below.