Takal~
Takal ran into her yard baffled at her recklessness and yelled "What are you doing?" He saw her startle and lose her balance. Cursing himself for distracting her, he picked up speed and directed her to fall out and away from the building and into his arms. He could have stopped her midair from where he was, but he never used more than the minimum necessary to get the job done, and he felt a strange urge to hold her in his arms so he could feel that she was alright. After all, it was his fault she fell.
She struggled, trying to turn over in his arms her hand pushing against his chest. Her eyes were clenched shut and he noted with amusement that she didn't yet realize she had been caught.
She opened her eyes and stared at him like she was trying to place him. Had she forgotten him already? He had trouble keeping his irritation from his voice as he exclaimed "What were you thinking?"
Her eyes darted away to look at her hand, which she then pulled away as if in disgust when she saw what she was touching. Yep, she defiantly recognized him now. If that reaction wasn't enough, she demanded he put her down. He found he stubbornly didn't want to and felt like arguing, but he worried what she'd do if he did. Instead, he forced himself to think logically and decided to listen and lay her down to see if she was ok.
He could see she wanted to get away badly and thinking back to all their previous encounters he could see why. He hadn't exactly treated her nicely. In fact, he had been rather cruel. He didn't blame her for her anger towards him for his earlier judgments, but they had fought together. In his mind, that changed things. Did she not feel the battle bond as he did? Was it because she was a girl, or from another country, or did she really just hate him that much?
All that aside, what could have possessed her to scale the biggest building in town? "What were you thinking?" he asked again trying to hide the fear in his words. "You could have died." Just the thought made him feel a little sick.
"I was fine until you interrupted me." She reminded him. Guilt cut through him, and he tried not to wince, but... what if he hadn't been there? She might still have fallen. He quickly forced the image of her falling without anyone there to catch her out of his mind.
"Maybe," he said. "But you're lucky I was here."
"Ha!" she scoffed at him. "The ground would have been softer than you." she rubbed at her back. The comment caught him so off guard he almost laughed, then something flashed over her face so fast he couldn't make it out before she took on a defensive demeanor as she said "Besides, it was a controlled fall. I would have been fine."
She couldn't honestly believe she could land a fall like that without getting hurt, especially with her eyes shut. "You'd have to be stupid to really believe that." She shoved his hand off her and stood up quickly, putting some distance between them. "I'm not stupid." he knew she wasn't stupid, just as he knew she didn't believe it.
"What are you doing here anyway?" she snapped.
"I came to talk to your parents and tell you that we aren't leaving until tomorrow morning so there's no need for you to be sneaking out yet."
"You are not talking to my parents. Besides Tornjak said I could meet with you guys just out of town."
Anger at his friend's actions burned anew. "Well, he was wrong to say that. You're not. And I am going to talk to your parents."
"Who are you to tell me what I can and can't do?"
He wasn't even listening anymore he was so mad. Why would Torn tell her that? Did he have any brains at all? She had no idea that it wasn't Torn's place to make decisions like that. Now he had to be the bad guy, and he hated that. Normally, he rather enjoyed it; but not this time. However, she needed to know that he was in charge not Torn. "Who am I to give orders?" No one questioned his authority, he might be young for his rank, but he earned it. And he wouldn't let anyone question it, not even her.
"I… am Tornjak's ranking officer." His voice got louder without meaning to. "And if you join, I'll be your ranking officer as well." it was always best to be tough on the new recruits right from the start, or there were bound to be more problems later on. He was used to it and good at it, he'd made several cry... but something felt off and he suddenly doubted himself, but he was committed now. "So, you better get used to listening to me and obeying my orders without all the lip; or you won't be joining us." hopefully she wouldn't call his bluff.
And as far as your parents go, they have a right to know where you are and what you're doing. Running off and not even saying goodbye? That's not fair to them. I cannot respect that decision, you're lucky you even have the chance to say goodbye to them, and you just want to toss it away." He didn't mean to say so much or so harshly, but he found it hard to be calm and think clearly around her. The master of vigilance might have been right. But... how could she just leave her parents without so much as a goodbye hug? He would have given anything to get the chance to say goodbye to his parents.
"First off, it's none of your business"- she jabbed him in the chest.
She didn't even care, did she? She completely took family for granted, when almost everyone at the castle had lost family and friends to the Demons; and they had her sister. Her parents most likely just lost one child, how could Nieka just disappear and leave them to worry about her too? How could it be none of his business? He just convinced the council to let her join. She had been his main priority for the last three weeks. They were battle bonded, all her fights and business were in some way his too.
He shoved her back, knocking her to the ground then pinned her easily with one hand. "You made yourself my business by deciding to join the army." she tried to get up, but he held her in place, her heart was pounding under his hand, and he immediately felt guilty. He had to try hard to ignore it and stay focused on the conversation at hand. Why did treating her like a misbehaving recruit feel so wrong?
Softening his voice slightly but making sure to keep it firm he added "Now, if you can't agree to follow my orders then you will not be coming back with us at all. Do you understand?" She cowered and he felt horrible. He couldn't remember a time when he felt more disgusted with himself. Was it because he'd hoped to try and convince her that he wasn't such a bad guy? In less than five minutes his plan had already failed miserably.
"Do you understand?" he asked again just wanting this to be over.
"Yes." She said and he let her up and gave her a little space. "I understand, Sir," she said robotically turning away from him. He felt sick again, he may have wanted her compliance, but not like this. He didn't want her to fear him. Most new recruits he enjoyed scaring the shit out of, but this was different. Most kids had to be broken so they could build them back up stronger, but she had already been broken, and she'd already proven herself. They were bonded by blood and death, so this kind of intimidation just felt wrong. She was at the stage where a trainee needed to be built up even stronger not torn down.
He remembered her sanding so strong and brave against the demons and it killed him that he had caused her to cower. She was more afraid of him than of them. Great he thought, now she doesn't just hate me she's afraid of me.
She sniffed drawing his attention "I wasn't going to leave without saying goodbye, you know." She said and hunched her shoulders. "And I left them a detailed letter and all…I just wanted a pleasant goodbye." A smile curled the side of her mouth, but nervousness broke it apart. Now he felt like a complete horse's ass for judging her so poorly on top of it all. "I've just... already made up my mind. And I didn't want them to waste their time trying to stop me." She took a deep steadying breath.
He couldn't have felt worse. He came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her, but startled her instead. Then, surprising him, she didn't pull away. Instead, she placed a hand on his forearm, and for a second, he thought she was letting him comfort her. Then in a flash, she flipped an old pair of iron cuffs over his wrist with her other hand and locked them.
She'd tricked him. That little fox! He couldn't believe it. He stared dumbfounded at the lock, the key still sticking out. He yanked his arm back so he could get his hands on it, but so did she. They tugged and fought, she pulled one way he pulled the other, though he was much stronger so it wouldn't last. Suddenly she took one quick leap in his direction and slammed the bottom of the lock on a rock. The key snapped inside. The top fell off, useless. Damn, she was clever. And he was pissed.
"You're insane." He yelled at her.
"And you have control issues." She yelled right back and glared at him. "And you aren't leaving without me." she declared.
Shit, was that what she was so worried about? Was it his bluff that she wouldn't be joining them or maybe the possibility that her parents wouldn't let her go? He'd never actually planned on leaving her behind... But she didn't know that; thanks to him. Even now he couldn't picture leaving without her. But maybe that was because she was cuffed to him…
He was mad and embarrassed that she had tricked him like that, but how was he to have predicted that? Who even thinks to pack cuffs to join the army? It's not anything like being a peacekeeper. This was utter ridiculousness. Did she realize that now she was literally stuck with him until they found a blacksmith? Suddenly he wasn't sure if he should be mad or laugh.