The Lonely Pass.

[Ravenloft]

Nightblade:

"If anyone has gone missing its through sheer ineptitude on their parts... If you want to blame something... Blame them... Not these ghosts and goblins you superstitious fools seem so fond of..." Nightblade mocked as they finally returned to camp. He took Neci roughly by the shoulder and pushed her into a wooden cell, then crouched down to catch her eyes as she had fallen to her knees. "Now, tell me of your family girl... I wish to know exactly how much to expect for your ransom... And be honest..."

 

[Mistress]

Neci

"Now, tell me of your family girl... I wish to know exactly how much to expect for your ransom... And be honest..."

Her big blue eyes looked into his as she softly spoke,"There will be no ransom, the man you killed was my husband."

The man's eyebrows narrowed,"And what of your money then?"

"All that we have is in the wagon, Gault carries all the money. We were moving to the next town, so he could be closer to his Lumber business."

"Business, there should be something there."Stefan spoke up, glancing at the two.

Neci shook her head and a single tear fell down her face,"Being a woman, even if I am his wife, I have no rights to the business. It will be handed over to his brother, and Gault's family would never pay money to have me returned."

She shivered and wrapped her arms around her knees,"I am sorry, nothing can come of me, you should have robbed another wagon." She blinked back more tears, and scooted to the back of the cell,leaning her head against the side. Closing her eyes begins to sob silently.

 

[Morgoth]

Alex stood up and mounted the horse. "I would like to join you. You were right when you said we knights were too noble. But you can at least treat women nicely", shouted down Alex, moving to where Nightblade could easily see him. His position would also allow him to get to the King's court if anything were to go wrong. "If you don't let me join, I'll ride to the King", he shouted.

 

[Ravenloft]

"Girl... Are you worth nothing to your father? Your husband be damned... He surly didn't marry you with love in his heart, else he would have protested more before he met his death... No? Speak upon your OWN family now..." the fool knight, Alex rode boldly into Nightblade's camp. "You again? I should have seen to your death..." Nightblade hissed with irritatation. "What of my treatment of this woman? She is lucky I do not let loose my men uppon her! Your nobility is still showing fool... Tuck it in, I find it offencive... What was that? You wish to JOIN US?"

Raucous laughter echoed in Alex's ears as Nightblades men laughed and laughed at his proposal. Nightblade silenced them all with a wave of his hand as he saw and understood the seriousness in Alex's eyes...

 

[Angelus]

Stefan looked at the knight with a little bit of curiousity but he knew better to trust the man on the horse. He watched the man as he robe closer to Nightblade and knew that if he tried anything to harm the leader of the group then every man here would kill him. He walked closer to Nightblade and leaned forward then whispered in his air, "Sir, I don't think that you should trust this knight. He might be setting a trap for all of us."

 

[Ravenloft]

Nightblade:

"No... You don't say Stefan... I would have never guessed as such!" Nightblade mocked his man after the consperitorial whisper. "Do you say we see him sent to his death then?" He added. His eyes indicated that he expected an answer, and NOW!

 

[Morgoth]

"One little problem. How the hell are you going to catch me?" asked Alex in mirth. But his eyes showed seriousness in joining them.

 

[Ravenloft]

Nightblade"

"I wasn't speaking to you... Fool..." Nightblade hissed as he shot Alex a look of annoyance then returned his eyes to Stefan, still seeming to expect an answer.

 

[Morgoth]

"Oh", muttered Alex.

 

[Angelus]

"No. I am not saying that we send him to his death- I am just saying that we should watch him until we know that we can trust him."

Stefan knew instantly that he had said something wrong and wondered how long his life would be from this moment on.

 

[Morgoth]

Alex felt an urge to say something, but supresses it.

 

[Ravenloft]

Nightblade:

"If he stays... He is your responcibility Stefan... Hearty stock he is to have tracked us here so swiftly... He attempts, or even hints at revealing our location... Kill him... Otherwise... Take him under your wing if you must since you seem so fond of him... Just keep him from under foot... " With that Nightblade returned his eyes to Neci. "Well girl? Are you gonna speak or do I have to let my men have a bit of... Fun with you before you do?"

 

[Angelus]

Stefan looked over to where Alex stood and said, "Oh, that is just great. I have to nurse maid a knight, why is it that I get every good job around this place?"

 

[Morgoth]

"Oh great. I get to be controlled by a pussy. Don't I just get all the luck", mumbled Alex.

 

[Angelus]

Stefan looked at Alex and drew his sword before he walked forward. He stopped in front of Alex and pointed his sword at the knight's throat, "I would like nothing more than to kill you where you stand for that insult but seeming as I have to look after you then I have to let you live."

 

[Mistress]

Neci

Neci's eyes turned cold, “My father forced me to marry Gault Fellowes, because he could not provide for me! Gault married me because I was young and he wanted a child. I had no say in either matter. There will be NO ransom, throw me to your dogs if you must, but you will never get anything out of holding me!" She spat angrily.

Girl! Her brain screamed at her for her words, but it did not matter. She would either be killed or raped, even being raped did not bother her as much after two years of Gault forcing himself on her. She leaned close to the bars of the wooden cell, glaring into Nightblade's eyes.

"Cowering on the side of a road pretending to be some forest ghost, you are not men! You are children out playing as Cowboys and Indians! Who use brute force to get what they want in the world because they are not intelligent enough to make a living on their own accord! If you intend on being Outlaws then grow up and act like it!” She almost shouted at him, her voice shaking.

 

[Morgoth]

Alex stayed focused on Stefan, not really hearing Neci. "You try, and you'll be the dead one. I've practiced unarmed combat against an armed attacker for 10 years", he glowered, taking the blade and deftly snatching out of Stefan's hands and putting it to Stefan's throat.

 

[Ravenloft]

Nightblade:

"...I see..." Nightblade stood, turning away from Neci. He was at Alex's throat with a dagger in an instant. "You two play nice. I do not tollerate infight... If you wish to be a part of this band, you will return Stefan's sword to him..." Pressing the hungry edge of his dagger tighter agaisnt Alex's throat. "Slowly..."

"Besides I have a mission for you by which you can prove your worth as a bandit... Take word of the bitches captivity back to her family..." Tilting his head so the rest of the camp can hear him as well he added. "If her father will not pay then, my boys, it looks like you will have a play thing..." His men laughed and gave Neci obcene looks and jestures at that. With a smile, while still holding his dagger to Alex's throat, Nightblade whispered to him. "Don't worry, I will see to it that there is enough left of her for you as well..."

 

[Morgoth]

Alex smiled. "Whatever you say. Boss", he said, with the utmost respect. He spun the sword once, so he now held the blade, and pressed it to Stefan's hand, where he released it. "If you don't mind, I'll be going now. So I can get this done fairly quick", he said. He moved the dagger away from his throat, then saddled his horse and rode off, making sure his armor and weapons were in fair condition.

 

[Angelus]

Stefan watched Alex check his weapons and said to himself, "I will kill him even if I do have to watch him but I hope that he gets killed by Neci's family."

He then walked back to the main part of the camp and sat down in front of the now roaring fire. He looked into the flames and let his mind fall into them, his thoughts of killing the knight and the creature that was in the woods getting burned away.

 

[Mistress]

Neci

"Fool." Neci muttered and curled up in the small cell, she glanced around the camp and ignored the looks she was getting from the other men. Her eyes moved to Stefan, he was lost in thought again. She wondered about him, he was almost intriguing. Turning her eyes away she glanced over at Nightblade, he was eyeing her. She stared into his cold eyes until he turned his gaze away, then she smiled.

She knew she should be sobbing again, over the death of her husband, but she wasn't. It was as if a weight was lifted off her young shoulders. She reached an arm out of the cell to try to grab the blanket that had fallen from her shoulders when she was pushed in. Right before she managed to touch it, one of the men pulled it out of her reach.

He grinned and made himself comfortable across from her, his dark eyes filled with lust. He leaned closer to the cell, “I might let ya have this here blanket, that is...if you do me a favor."

Sighing Neci tried to reach for it again, he laughed throwing it behind him. She frowned, “I am cold."

"Well now, we can take care of that!" He sneered, slightly running his hand over his crotch.

Neci shivered and brought her arm back into the cell, “I’d rather die of hypothermia."

"Oh, we can't have that now can we?" Another one scooted closer to the cell. Reaching his arm through the bars he tugged on the hem of her skirt.

Neci frowned and swung out her foot, catching his hand against the bars. He let out a howl then stood up, "Ok Nightblade, I want this bitch now!" He began to slip off his coat, throwing it to the ground, his eyes never leaving her. Neci turned her eyes towards Stefan, and blinked, hoping he would do something.

 

[Morgoth]

OOC: How much is the ransom?

Alex, after a short while, arrived in town. He rode up to the place that seemed closest to what he would need, an inn called the Prancing Pony. He wlaked inside and asked for the family of a guy named Gault. They pointed him the way and he went. He knicked on the door and it was opened. "Hello. I am a messanger from my lord. Gault was riding through a pass at the same time as we. Gaukt attacked us. We killed him and for this wronging, are keeping his wife, Neci, prisoner. We demand ransom", said Alex boldly.

 

[Ravenloft]

OOC:Maybe a hundred gold...

Nightblade:

With a hiss of irritation Nightblade caught the man that was stripping under the chin with his scimitar, opening a line of blood to well out over the man's front. "No one will touch the bitch till I say." The man slapped his hands to the wound in shock from its suddeness. "You pull another move like that, fool, and I will not be so generous as to let you live. I am sure the others wouldn't mind splitting your pay..."

"Stefan! See to it the girl is kept well... Until we find weather or not she is worth anything to us..."

 

[Angelus]

Stefan looked over at Neci and grabbed the blanket from off the ground, pushing it through the bars to her. He looked at her and saw that her eyes had none of the life that they had when he had first seen her and he sighed. As soon as he saw that she was as comfortable as she could get he sat down in front of the cell and leaned his back against it. As soon as he was comfortable he turned his head, "I'm sorry if you have been treated poorly but that will not happen again, you have my word on it. I know that my word doesn't mean much as I'm a bandit and the one that caught you, bringing you to this for which I am truly sorry but please believe me when I say that no harm will come to you."

 

[Mistress]

Neci

She looked into his eyes for a breif moment then covered herself with the blanket,"Your the only one who I would beleive right now." she whispered, leaning her back against his.

"It would not matter though, my father will not be able to pay a ransom. Gault's family would rather see me dead then pay it."

Stefan shifted, and lowered his voice, “Why would they not pay your ransom?"

Neci smiled slightly, “Because I am Gault's third wife, um I was his third wife. We have no children, and that was Gault's goal in the first place when he married me. I was seventeen then, and he thought since I was so much younger then him, I would give him a son. After two years, two years of him forcing me to bed him every night, I am still not carrying his child."

"You’re nineteen then, how old was Gault?"

"Thirty-two years old.” She heard Stefan let out a sigh of surprise. "He was friend of my father, Gault's business was doing well, so my father asked him to take my hand in marriage."

Neci closed her eyes and sighed, “Stefan, why are you with this gang? You are not like them, even I can tell that."