Thread: Life's Journey (The_Gladiator & darkangel76)

Taurean felt her moving behind him. Slowly moving closer and closer. Had she no sense, if they were to get into a fight she would impede his movement. He gritted his teeth and just barely managed not to push her away. It was more than obvious that she was frightened. The girl was shaking like a leaf on a tree, and even the cold hearted assassin couldnt blame her. There were a hundred things he could have said, that he wanted to say to her heartfelt thank you, whispered in that soft lilting voice, melodic even at the level of a whisper. They ranged from, Shut up and stay quiet, to, dont thank me yet, we could still be dead before morning. And anywhere in between. Fortunately he had enough sense to keep those thoughts inside his head. He was also still trying to be quiet, so his hand merely lifted to settle over hers. Covering the small delicate fingers he gave it a squeeze, which he hoped conveyed, all of those things and more, but most especially that he had heard her and he wasnt merely ignoring her. If you asked Taurean why he had even bothered to do such a thing, he probably would not have answered, but deep down, the assassin knew what it was like to be scared, to be alone. To be. Cold. He stopped abruptly. He felt her pressing even closer even before he stopped and his stopping had her crammed against him. Without words he stepped away from her and sliding off his own forest cloak he rapped it around her slender shoulders. It was his turn to whisper near her ear, Were going somewhere safe. He answered her final question with that simple statement. He trusted her to trust him. He knew she would have to be taking a lot on faith here, but there wasnt a lot he could do about it right now. He needed her to trust him, and he didnt have time to wheedle her into trusting him. He had no choice but to demand it. It was trust him or die, there really was no middle ground in this situation. He hoped if nothing else the cloak would help her chattering teeth, if she wasnt talking the enemy could just hear that probably. It wasnt long before the trees gave way. The waters of a small river lapped against and spilled over its banks, running quicker than normal thanks to the recent rains. Taurean led her, still remaining silent towards the boat. He had taken her hand into his again. He guided her that way for a moment before he tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow, a trick he had once heard of people using to guide the blind, that way the person could follow the movement of the body, and yet unlike the shoulder, the guide had control of their arm, so could move it to get the follower to swing wide around a rock, or get behind them. When they reached the shore Taurean knelt and began to untie a boat. He was sure that she couldnt see what he was doing even though there was a bit more light now they werent completely engulfed by trees. However heavy clouds still rode low over the skyline blocking out the stars. Taurean made a slight splash as he stepped into the shallows. He put one foot into the boat holding it steady. Reaching back Taurean caught Rhonwhyn around the waist, most likely surprising her. He did hope she had the good sense to stay quiet and keep her girly little yips if any to herself. He swung her through the air like she weighed nothing and sat her in the boat. He slid in after her, forced to rap himself around her, arms sliding around her waist, back pressed along her, her ass nestled between his spread thighs. His arms reached and retrieved the paddles and he began to shove them out into the current. Throughout this entire process Brandon was silent save for a slight grunt of pain when he lifted her as it put a strain on his bruised ribs. Even so he never uttered a complaint. He had been paddling for a few minutes, propelling them swiftly downstream, before he finally spoke in a hushed whisper in her ear. His breath so close that it actually teased and moved the fine blonde hairs covering the ear. You can call me Brandon. He was specific about the phrasing, he always was, he never said my name is Brandon it was always you may call me Brandon, or just simply Brandon. And that would be the entirety of his introduction. However, this once he hoped she had not caught his odd turn of phrase, for they had not the time to begin to answer the wealth of questions she probably had, least of all why he introduced himself rather strangely.