Eiyuu Kishi Den

Meridian nodded stiffly, struggling with the fact that he had just killed a man, and witness her kill another. You'd better get used to this, a voice chastised him in his mind. Practice, he assured himself. "We'd best move on. That one that got away could go get help," the half-elf said as he walked over to the corpse of the bandit leader. He considered removing his sword from the man's chest, but paused. The bandit had a better sword, and possibly other useful things. Taking this into consideration, Meridian removed the bandit's sword belt and rummaged through his clothes, finding some coin, ironically, more than Meridian had. The half-elf chuckled.

Cebina watched Meridian as he spoke and turned to the bandit. He seemed stiff somehow. Perhaps he wasn't used to the idea of killing someone. The dark elf however, acted as if it was normal thing. The way she saw things, death was better than these bandits deserved and she would feel no remorse for doing what she needed. When she noticed the half elf rummaging through the bandit's things, she decided to do the same. She found a few coins, but nothing too extravagant. Finally she got up and dusted herself off.

She walked over and gave Meridian an encouraging pat on the back, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," the half-elf replied simply. Rising back to his feet, he tucked his findings away in a pocket, then stepped over the body of the dead bandit. "Let's get the hell out of here," Meridian said and continued on the path northwards, picking up a quicker pace.

Cebina quickened her pace to catch up the the half elf. She was silent for a moment, wondering how she was going to get the blood stains of her white clothes, before noticing that Meridian still hadn't spoken.

"Is it the first time you kill someone?"

"Yes," Meridian replied, icily. It disturbed him, but at the same time, it didn't shake his resolve. Even if the act was disconcerting, he couldn't stop his quest for revenge, and he had promised to help Cebina. This would only be the first of many, he realized.

"I suppose it's something you get used too", she said absent-mindedly. "But think of what would have happened if we hadn't killed them. Even if we would have left them alive, they would have only gone after other innocent people. And do you think they would have hesitated to kill us once they were done with us? Trust me. We did the world a favour."

The half-elf nodded. Though he realized that the bandits were a threat to others, it was Cebina's words that helped him cope and push it aside. Meridian sighed, as if expelling his remorse, as he walked on. He still had to kill his father, and he knew for a fact what that man was capable of. He had a similar question for her, and for a few steps, he debated asking it, until he finally decided to go for it; "How many people have you killed?"

"Not that many", the dark elf shrugged, "but I've been around death enough that it's not something that fazes me. I supposed I've grown accustomed to it."

To be honest she couldn't remember the exact count, as it came as a natural reflex whenever she felt threatened. A few bandits here... a few bad customers there... What did it matter?

"I guess I'll have to get used to it too," he said, though his voice was soft, there was resolution in it.

OOC: Don't really know where to go from here. >.<

On foot, the trip took them two days to reach the village, nestled in the higher altitudes near the base of the central mountains. Meridian and Cebina had avoided further trouble on the roads, and camped overnight on the road before they made it to the outskirts of the village. Now, the half-elf and dark elf could see smoke rising through the trees from chimneys, though the village itself was out of sight. Meridian swung off the main road and followed what looked to be a game trail that wove through the forested land they had just entered.

The half-elf tossed up his hood to hide his face. "You should probably cover up too, I don't want to attract attention," he said, casting a shadowed glance over his shoulder at Cebina.

Cebina followed Meridian as he veered off the main road and took a trail through the trees. She brought her hood up to cover her dark elven features, as he requested. She wasn't familiar with this area so stuck close to the half elf. She wasn't entirely certain why they were taking this small trail as opposed to the main road, but trusted Meridian knew what he was doing. He probably wanted to avoid being seen at all if possible, and that was fine with her.

“So, do we have a plan of some sorts, or is this mostly just a sneak in and improvise type of thing?”

Meridian shrugged. "I don't really have much of one. I figured I'd sneak back into the house and wait for him to come home," the half-elf replied. In fact, that was the scenario he had imagined, confronting his father in their home, then slitting his throat--or stabbing him, or choking him, castrating him... he actually had a number of daydreams regarding the situation. The trail they followed arched around the hilltop Ales sat upon, coming up through the forest, and soon buildings came into view through the trees. The trail they followed led behind several homes, and as it emptied into the backyard of one home, Meridian ducked down and darted in behind the wall, avoiding the windows, and waited for Cebina to follow suit.