Return to the Rift

((Will totally get around to my evil character. Promise. >_>; I have half an idea floating in my head but I just can't seem to get the sheet for him down.))

Joey bit the inside of his cheek to avoid saying something that wouldn't be helpful to the situation. Really, it wasn't their fault that they had been dumped unceremoniously in the middle of a foreign land with no resources to their names. He certainly would have loved to arrive more prepared than he was, but he hadn't exactly had a say in the matter. Still, the repeated mention of danger made Joey cast a glance out the window. What might be waiting for them? Couldn't they go one night without a death threat?

Delinae just gave a sort of nod, leaning up against the wall and making no eye contact with Fallyn. Having an excuse to stay behind and not hang around people too much was fine with her. An evening meal in the tavern was one thing; actively going through the town and markets was another. With any luck, the evening would be quiet.

"You had the money," Joey remarked, looking to Veronica. A slight frown tugged at the corners of his lips. She was acting strangely, and he wasn't sure he liked the look she was giving Fallyn. He made no comment on it and shoved the feelings aside, chalking them up to paranoia.

((No worries, of course Sly. C: ))

Ronnie glanced down as Joey mentioned the money, and then smiled. "Oh yeah.." She said, digging in her pocket and pulling out the small bag that Delinae had given them and offered it to Fallyn. "All we have.." She said placing it into his hand. He took it with a smile and a wink, and then stepped out of the room.

"I'll be around." He said, waving them a short goodbye before he disappeared down the hall, tightening the cowl of his cloak around his face tightly once more. Veronica stayed staring after him for a few minutes before she turned to Joey with a little smile.

"I guess we should go sleep then..." She said, glancing at the floor and then back at him and Delinae. She stepped around Joey too, pulling out a key to the room she had gotten from her pocket and handing it over to Joey. "I think its just down the hall..." She said, running her hands through her hair and starting to walk in that direction without saying anything else.

Joey hesitated a moment, looking after Veronica. What was wrong with her? Not ten minutes before she was perfectly fine, and now she seemed to be in a complete daze.

"The hell's up with her?" he wondered aloud, looking to Delinae. She just shrugged in response. Joey shook his head and followed Veronica down the hall. He could guess at the reasoning behind his friend's odd behavior, but didn't want to jump very quickly to conclusions. Besides, it wasn't his business if she did have some sort of . . . attraction to Fallyn.

Delinae, who was a little more perceptive, giggled quietly and hid her smile behind her hand. Seeing Veronica's reaction to the newcomer Fallyn, what was to follow could prove to be interesting. Delinae decided to part with the others for now, retreating to her own room just across the hall from theirs. She was close enough that she could hear any trouble, thogh she hardly expected any. The town, as big as it was, was more often quiet than not.

Veronica made it the few doors down to the room she had secured for herself and Joey, and now it seemed as if Delinae might be staying with them as well. Which was fine, it made Veronica feel better after all the crazy talk about danger that Fallyn had just said. She stopped and glanced at Joey expectantly, since she had just handed the key to him, and then glanced down at the little feline that had followed them as well. She didn't quite see how a cat was supposed to help protect them, but whatever. At the very least, he was good company.

Cadoc, as if on cue, stood up and walked around her legs, rubbing against them as cats often did. Then he went around to Joey and Delinae in turn, offering them each o quick brush and a meow, before sitting back down and bringing up a paw to lick. He looked mischievous, even more so than other cats, it was amazing how much expression the small animal could display. He must have been a good companion for Fallyn, a man who was otherwise alone most of his days.

"I'm so glad that we found some help..." Veronica said, trying to break up the quietness that had settled among the three companions. At the very least, she was bringing it up in hopes that they could talk about Fallyn again, though she doubted Joey would but into that anyway. Joey...he was so oblivious. It was about time she just worked on getting over him. Though, if Veronica had any sense in her at all, she would know better than to start falling (even if it was nothing more than an attraction) to someone from Ferelan. But she didn't much sense at all in the way of romance, possibly even less than Joey considering.

"Yeah. Better than wandering around in circles again. God knows what would have happened otherwise." Joey unlocked the door to their room and led the way in. It was a small room, scarcely any better lit than the last one. Mercifully, it had two beds, pushed up against opposite walls.

He sat tiredly onto one of the beds and took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. As much as Veronica seemed to love Fallyn, for whatever reason, Joey just couldn't trust him immediately. Wiser to the kinds of things that could happen in Ferelan than the first time he had been here, the paranoia was just instinctive more than anything. Not to mention that he had put a knife to Veronica's back rather than simply introducing himself or finding a less violent method of it.

Oh well. Joey lay on the bed on his stomach and rested his chin over his crossed arms. "Hope he doesn't take too long to get back," he remarked, clenching his teeth against an impending yawn. Too much had happened today. Sleep was tempting.

Veronica followed behind Joey and went to sit on the bed opposite his. She pulled up her legs and rested her head on her knees, watching him. At least she did have him, otherwise, she wouldn't have wanted to come back. But still..she wished he would notice things (her) every once in a while. But she was pretty sure he would only ever see her as a friend. That was the problem with this. Oh well...

"I'm sure he knows what he's doing." Veronica said confidently, and stretched out across her own bed. She rolled over onto her back, staring at the dark ceiling. She was tired too, and it was so easy for her to start to nod off, then jerk awake again after a few seconds. She didn't know how much sleep she would be able to get, but she knew that she needed to. After all, Fallyn had said they were leaving in the morning. After a few minutes of attempting to fight sleep, Cadoc jumped onto her bed and curled up beside her. The feeling of the warm feline against her side finally made her fall into a sleep that she could no longer fight. Hopefully tomorrow, they would be able to find out what was going on.

Joey was awake for a little while longer, thinking abstractly even though his body practically begged for sleep. As he had since arriving just a few hours before, he wondered just why they were there. The first time it was because of the dragon. But it was long gone; they had made certain of that. What kind of threat could bring them back there? One that was even worse?

He sighed and shifted so he could free a hand. "Ingefta," he muttered, and a tiny flame sprang to life in his palm. It sputtered out a few seconds later. The corners of his lips pulled up in an attempted smile; at least he could still manage some magic, even if he was out of practice. That would require some work--work that could be continued in the morning, whatever that would bring.

Joey looked over to Veronica for a moment, finding himself a little amused when he realized she was already asleep. As much as her carelessness could get in the way, he wished he could be that carefree sometimes. He stressed himself near to death sometimes. And, he found himself thinking, it was kind of cute in a way how she managed to be so positive about everything.

That ended up being his last thought before he fell asleep, awaiting whatever would happen in the morning.

Veronica was woken up quite early by Cadoc. The little cat had gotten up from where he had been laying at her side, and was now standing crouched at the foot of her bed, ears pressed against his head. Her eyes snapped open, and a moment later, she was sitting up and rubbing her eyes in somewhat of a daze. She looked around, the room was still ridiculously dark, but a glance at the tiny window near the top of the room told her it was still dark outside too.

She then glanced across the room at Joey, and then back at Cadoc, who had apparently heard something. The hair rose along his back, and after a minute more of waiting, he finally leaped off the bed and trotted to the door, still moving stealthily. Veronica pushed her hair out of her eyes and then threw her legs over the edge of her bed, standing. Someone must be here..and she really hoped it was Fallyn. She should probably wake Joey..

She did this jumping onto his bed, and shaking his shoulder quickly, sitting on her feet by his side. "Joey...I think someone's here." She said, although a moment later she heard the rattle of a door knob, making her jump. Another pause, and then the slightest creek of it opening, the sound of two voices talking.

Veronica couldn't see them clearly, but it was Fallyn, apparently learned in the art of lock picking, and back from his night adventure. And he was talking to...someone who she couldn't see at all. That was weird.

Joey groaned softly in protest at being woken up. The first thing he noticed was that he had forgotten to take his glasses off before falling asleep, leaving them askew with the nose pieces digging painfully into his skin. The second was that the room was still dark--why was Veronica waking him up if it wasn't morning?

"What?" he mumbled tiredly, fixing his glasses on his face as he sat up. "Who would be . . ." The door cracking open made him lose his thought. From where he sat, he could tell Fallyn was there in the hall, but couldn't see the source of the other voice. He looked over at Cadoc and frowned at the cat's angry behavior, possibly indicative of someone dangerous.

Joey got to his feet and took a couple of small, hesitant steps toward the door. He tried to speak, to ask Fallyn what was going on, but his voice caught in his throat and he just waited. Certainly Fallyn would explain what was happening.

That didn't explain why the door was open in the first place, though. A shiver of apprehension rippled up his spine. He didn't like what this could be leading to.

There was a sudden moment of silence as Joey left Veronica's side, and she only waited a few seconds before springing out of bed behind him and trailing behind. She too, looked past him at the reappearance of Fallyn and waited, staying close to Joey and brushing against him ever so lightly. For a minute, their presence wasn't yet realized by Fallyn and the other voice, who could be heard still speaking.

"No, two of them are here..I saw them. I think they wanted me too..."

"You know who they were?"

"One I didn't recognize, she looked young. The other was-"

"They're up." Fallyn's words were cut off by the other hidden voice, and at the words, Fallyn raised his gaze. He had appeared to be staring at nothing, no one was on the other side of the door for him to talk to. Veronica couldn't see another voice, and she understood that Fallyn wasn't talking to someone dangerous. He was talking to someone he knew...

"You're up." Fallyn repeated, putting a smile on his face which had been so serious a moment before. On the ground, Cadoc had been sitting, no longer puffed up and alarmed looking, but rather calm, with his tail curled around his paws. He turned to regard both Joey and Veronica, and then yawned lazily.

"Who were you talking..." Veronica started to ask, but then it all became clear to her at once. He was talking to Cadoc. Which made the cat...not really a cat? Or...She glanced at Joey, and then looked harder at Cadoc, who once again appeared to have intelligence beyond his feline capacity. "Oh."

Joey blinked once. It was an ungodly hour in the night, he could scarcely see, and Fallyn was either talking to himself or a cat. Nothing of this was exactly threatening and he wasn't sure he was all that grateful at this point. He was awake for no particular reason.

"What just happened?" he asked, running a hand back through his hair in an effort to get the sleep-tousled strands out of his eyes. It didn't quite work; half of them slid back into place, and he gave up. "And why did it involve opening our door while we were sleeping? Was knocking not an option for some reason?"

He looked down at Cadoc. As much as he liked cats, he wasn't certain he like this one. Especially if it was intelligent enough for Fallyn to be having long conversations with. Granted, he wasn't even certain that was what had happened at this point--he was too tired to ask or truly care, either.

Fallyn stepped inside the room quietly and shut the door behind him, taking the time to make sure every lock on the door was secure. "There wasn't any time." He explained, waving Joey off with his hand. He strode into the room, his serious face quickly fading into something that was a little more relaxed. Now that he was back, and saw that they were safe, then it wasn't as bad as he thought.

"Ran into a little...company. Had to make a quick dash for here." He went on, walking over to the beds and dropping a sack onto them. In it contained new clothes for the pair, as well as a little selection of small weapons. "Sorry." He said, looking up at Joey's disproving look and giving a shrug.

Veronica trailed behind both of them, still slightly confused, but she was so ridiculously trusting that she didn't ask anymore questions about the matter. She walked over to Joey's bed and jumped on it, feeling tired again already. She tried to stifle a yawn and stretched out along it, pulling the bag toward her and rifling through the material that Fallyn had brought back.

"We have to leave earlier than planned. Under the cover of darkness is probably for the best. So...get your stuff together." Fallyn said, taking a seat opposite veronica and watching the two. Cadoc padded through the room and jumped onto Joey's bed, blinking frequently. "It's better this way.." the little cat said, his voice small and petite as he raised a paw to his mouth and began to lick it casually.

"Well that was quick. Eight hours here at the most and we're already in horrific danger. Didn't we get at least a day before that happened last time?" Joey tried to smile, but his mirth fell flat. He dug through the sack and picked out his extra clothing--a plain tunic and slacks. Good enough.

Again he dropped his gaze to Cadoc, blinked, and shook his head. "I should be more surprised by talking animals," he said, "but I don't live like a normal nineteen-year-old, do I?" He grabbed the hem of his shirt, hesitated a brief second, then pulled the garment off over his head. Better to have changed into something less conspicuous before they left.

"So why do we need to leave so early?" he asked with a glance to Fallyn. He grabbed his tunic and pulled it on over his head, pausing to toss his glasses on the bed. "What exactly are we trying to get away from?"

Fallyn just glanced at Joey and shrugged, apparently not really feeling like telling him all the details. It was just easier that way, or so he thought right now anyway. "It won't be a problem if we just leave." He replied calmly, sitting once more on the edge of the bed and pulling out a knife from where it was hidden beneath folds of clothing and began to play with it absently.

Veronica, who still hadn't really asked any questions during the whole ordeal gave him a little smile, her eyes watching his delicate hands as Fallyn spun the knife around several times, and then looked at Joey, her eyes dropping away quickly as he changed his shirt. She reached for her own set of new clothes, which was similar to Joey's, just with a slightly more feminine cut and held onto them. She looked between Fallyn and Joey for a few seconds, a slight frown on her face from Joey's words, but said nothing.

Instead, she just disappeared around the corner to where she could change herself. She wasn't sure yet how well Fallyn and Joey were going to get on, but she didn't think great. And it was in times like this that she kind of missed having Rhiana here with them too. Eventually, she came back around dressed in much more appropriate clothing for the place and resumed gathering up the rest of her things, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Well, if that's all..." Fallyn said, standing up automatically and looking at Cadoc who jumped off the bed and made his way to the door hastily. "Shall we?"

Joey finished dressing quickly and replaced his glasses on his face, blinking a couple times. It was always odd to go from blurry sights to clear ones so quickly. He folded up the rest of his clothes, shoved them into the sack that the new ones had come in, and nodded to Fallyn. "Yeah, I'm good." He then covered his mouth with his hand as he yawned, sighing afterward. This was going to be a long day.

He headed out for the hallway and paused. "We should get Delinae," he said, looking back mostly to Veronica. "Er . . . should we? I mean, I don't know if she's staying with us or if she was staying in town or . . ."

His question was answered when the door across the hallway opened. Delinae stepped out, the hood of her traveling cloak drawn up over her head and her traveling pack slung over her shoulder. She looked sleepy, but she gave them a little smile.

"Coming," she said softly.

" . . . Well then." Joey shrugged a little to himself and started off down the corridor with the others, not eager to spend any more time here than they needed to when danger was (apparently) around.

Veronica was about to answer Joey about Delinae with a very firm 'yes,' just as they met her. She gave the woman a small smile, glad to have her along. She was a comfort to say the least. They both knew her, and knew they could trust her. And she was another girl, which was important to Veronica at least.

Veronica ran a hand through her multi-layered hair and set off after Joey, falling into step beside Fallyn. She watched them both from the corner of her eye, a little smile on her face. It faded away quickly as they stepped into the bar once more, the eyes of the bartender on them curiously. Fallyn only tipped his head to him, and then pulled the cowl of his hood up tightly before he opened the door and stepped into the still dark street.

"Don't draw any attention to yourselves." He said quietly, stopping once more to face the three. He ran his eyes over Joey, Veronica, and Delinae one at a time. Delinae, of course, belonged here and she would bring no attention. Joey blended in nicely, but Veronica and her hair...He reached over and pulled the cowl of her cloak up too, giving her a little smirk despite the grave circumstances. "Leave that up. Your hair is to attractive" He said, giving her cheek a little brush in a gesture that may, or may not have been an accident.

Veronica blushed slightly, which was noticeable even in the darkness, and she just nodded dumbly, glancing at Joey and Delinea from under her eyelashes bashfully before she set off behind Fallyn once more.

Joey watched this carry out, finding himself feeling more annoyed about it than he expected. He tried to maintain an uncaring expression, but the corners of his lips twitched downward, threatening a scowl, and his brow drew down slightly in frustration. He looked away, pulling his own cloak a little tighter around his throat and shoulders as an excuse to divert his attention.

Just what the hell was Fallyn doing, anyway? Seemed like a rather poor time to be making any little advancements. If that was what he was even doing; Joey admitted he had absolutely no sense for the motives behind such things and it could have been an innocuous enough comment and an accident. Didn't seem like it, though.

Whatever. He tried to shove the matter to the back of his mind, failed, and tried to distract himself. Amidst the entire internal dilemma, he still felt a sense of uneasiness. Joey glanced around a few times, even up at the rooftops.

Beside him, Delinae could be caught doing something similar. She was already uncomfortable (as she hardly knew Fallyn as well as she knew the other two and had reverted back to her much more shy persona) and the nighttime village wasn't helping much. Some places were quiet at night. Others weren't.

Veronica obviously did not notice her friend's discomfort. She was to busy thinking over Fallyn's words. She couldn't help, after all was said and done, she was still a young woman who was easily taken by sweet faces. It wasn't like her situation with Joey was going anywhere anyway...Speaking of Joey.

Veronica cleared her throat slightly, and fell back into line with her best friend, her eyes glancing down at his hand. Just this morning, they had been walking into this town unsure of what was going to happen, her hand in his. And now..they were leaving with two new friends. She wanted to reach out and take his hand again, but she knew that he wouldn't appreciate it. So instead, she slipped her folded her hands behind her back and bumped him with her shoulder slightly. "I bet we'll be back to normal in no time." She said, referencing their powers that they had in this world. She gave him a little smile, apparently finally understanding the discomfort she had put him through with Fallyn earlier and trying to make up for it.

Not that she thought he really cared one way or the other...but still.

Joey was jolted from his thoughts when Veronica gently bumped his shoulder. Awkwardly he cleared his throat, quickly trying to gain back some semblance of thought. "Hopefully," he replied with a slight, awkward smile, before once more looking away. One part paranoia and one part discomfort kept him preoccupied--though he wouldn't dare mention the second part. He wasn't even certain himself what was annoying him so much about Fallyn. It was something besides the general suspicion Joey already had for him, but he couldn't quite figure it and had to try not to dwell on it.

Delinae suddenly stopped in her tracks, her gaze snapping upward toward the rooftops. Something had flickered in the corner of her vision. A faint shadow, but she was certain she had seen something. Her gold eyes scanned the area, but nothing revealed itself again.

Joey paused too, concerned by Delinae's sudden actions. "Something wrong?" he asked.

She slowly gave one shake of her head. She wasn't certain. She couldn't see what it was and nothing else came again, but she could feel that presence now, a faint tingling on the back of her neck.

Fallyn stopped moving as Delinae did, his instincts as finally tuned as hers. If she had a reason to be hesitant, then Fallyn didn't doubt it. Not when he knew the ones who were stalking them. His eyes flickered over to hers, and then trailed her gaze to the rooftops, a slight sinking in his stomach. Of course he wanted to get out of here before they were bothered by anyone, but that might not be possible.

"You saw something?" He questioned softly, his eyes dropping back to hers and then glancing at both Joey and Veronica quickly. A frown formed on his face, and he turned back slowly. "We should keep going.." He said, taking a few steps forward, though his eyes remained fixed more steadily on the rooftops.

--------------
From the shadows, Snake trailed them, here eyes a hungry glow in the darkness. She was young still, and irrational sometimes. She shouldn't have been the one in the street without Hawk, but here she was. And from a much higher vantage point, Hawk herself sat calmly, her legs crossed delicately, a smirk across her malicious face. She was both watching her delicate assassin on the street, and waiting to see if another of her companions would join her before she dropped to the street to confront Fallyn and his little band.

Delinae gave a reluctant nod and started walking again, every muscle in her body tensed. Something was going to happen. She just didn't know when. Fallyn was right, the nights were dangerous and somebody was definitely after them. More than likely, they were after Joey and Veronica, and she would do everything she could to protect her friends.

"Lovely," Joey muttered under his breath. "Only here for a few hours . . ." He decided to be quiet after he let the thought trail off. It probably was better not to let their followers know that they were aware.

-----

Raven remained perched on an opposite rooftop, away from Snake but still within her line of sight. He turned a crossbow over in his hands, watching the group walking on the streets below. He could see them constantly glancing around. They knew somebody was watching them.

The redhead seemed to be the most perceptive, though the taller male was certainly just as problematic. Every movement silent, Raven loaded a small quarrel into the crossbow and lifted it, staring down the shaft of the weapon. His sights set on the red-haired girl, he let the quarrel fly.

-----

Delinae gasped out in pain and slapped a hand over the back of her neck at a sudden, sharp pain. Biting her lip she removed a small bolt from the back of her neck, her fingertips red with blood. The quarrel had not dug deep, but immediately she could feel its true intentions: a poison, seeping into her bloodstream, tingling and cold as she felt it course into her veins.

Joey swore and looked around, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Various words of magic ran through his head, but he held his tongue. The enemy still wasn't visible.

Fallyn spun around as he heard Delinae gasp, and Joey swear. That wasn't good. His eyes went to her first, watching as she pulled out a bolt, her hands reddening in her own blood. He didn't know of the poison yet, which would have made him worry so much more. He spun around, whipping out his own bow. He knocked an arrow quickly, though really, he didn't know which way he was supposed to be aiming, so it didn't do much good. Instead, he turned in almost a full circle, trying to find someone. But he saw no one.

With a sigh, he lowered his bow a tiny bit, his eyes settling on Joey and Ronnie. "Keep walking. We'll be right behind you." He said softly, motioning toward the end of the city. They were so close...

-------

From her spot, Hawk looked up, Raven was across from her. She hadn't seem him until she had seen the arrow, but now she knew where he was. She rose, pushing her blonde hair out of her face and made her way across the rooftops with agile speed. Her worries weren't on the group on the street, they were on Raven. She wanted to talk to him, to see what intentions he had.

"Raven." She said smoothly, coming to a halt a little ways away and dropping down out of sight from the street travelers. "Nice to see you." She said coolly, pulling out her matching set of daggers and following his gaze to their target. From this point, she could see snake, and a small smile crossed her face. Poor girl...

Delinae shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, trying to tell Fallyn of the poison, but it was already taking hold. She stumbled in her step, swooning, before throwing out her hand to lean on the wall of a building. It was only just enough to keep her from hitting the ground hard as her legs crumpled underneath her.

Joey moved quickly, catching Delinae before she fell. He swore again. "Poison," he said darkly. "Wouldn't surprise me." As calm as he tried to sound, he felt himself panicking. They didn't even know what kind of poison it was. Would it kill her right then?

-----

Raven flicked his icy blue gaze toward Hawk only briefly before returning his attention to the group. He made a quiet noise, showing he acknowledged her presence, before getting to his feet and carefully moving. He grasped at the hilt of a thin blade that hung from his belt, but did not draw it yet. The blond male still remained before they could reach the children. The woman would be incapacitated--it was not a deadly poison, only paralyzing.

veronica jumped a little as Delinae stumbled forward. She bit her lip, rushing to help Joey support her as he caught her. "Poison?" She asked, her eyes moving up to his in a fear filled glance. She had no idea what to do, and for the first time, the weight of their situation was suddenly on her shoulders. This was her fault after all! She was the one who had jumped through the rift without so much as a backward glance.

"What should we do?" She asked, painfully aware that there was nothing she knew that would help her. They had no idea what type of poison she had been hit with.

At their side, Fallyn was still looking around for their enemy, when he spotted Cadoc. The black cat had wondered away from them momentarily, but now he was coming back, his hair standing up on edge, ears pressed against his head. "There are two...maybe more." He said, his tail twitching. He looked back down an alleyway, puffing up once more. "That way." He hissed, settling back on his haunches and digging his claws into the ground.

Fallyn followed the feline's gaze, and took a few steps. And there she was. Snake had come out from the shadows, two short knives resembling Hawk's in her hands. She smiled, her brown hair was short and shaggy, and Fallyn could see the snake tattoo that wrapped around her hips partially exposed. He narrowed his eyes slightly, she was one of them. But she was so..young. He didn't think she was any older than Veronica. And unless she was unusually talented, there was a reason she was here on the street and another more experienced member wasn't.

----------
Hawk narrowed her eyes at Raven slightly, annoyed by his silence. She was like a cat who liked to play with her prey before she killed it, and she got no satisfaction from his stoic silence. "Well, hello to you too." She replied easily, her eyes narrowed. Snake had stepped out, she would hopefully distract Fallyn enough. If she died...well, then that was to bad.

"That was a nice shot." She said, her eyes moving from the scene on the street to Raven. "Save that elf" she rolled her eyes "for me." Hawk finished with a deadly smirk before she stood up and hopped off the roof.

Joey cast a glance at Delinae. During his previous time in Ferelan, he had tried repeatedly to learn healing spells, several of which he knew would have helped Delinae now. He had never mastered anything more than closing a papercut, though. Damn it! Why was it so impossible?

He shook the thoughts out of his mind as one figure, a brown-haired girl, approached them from the shadows. He would just have to hope that Delinae could wait until they got her real medical attention. The words of a spell were on the tip of his tongue when another figure leaped down from the rooftops. This one was a male, tall and thin, with a very deadly blade in his hand.

--

Raven just rolled his eyes at Hawk. It was not his job to entertain her in any manner. He blithely noted her request for the elf, drew his sword, and hopped down last, advancing first on the boy.

Joey hissed a word under his breath and a flame sprang to life in his hand as he dodged around the first swipe of the man's blade.