Home again, home again|Haven, Ilyamen

[Kender Bard]

Taurus lifts up a barrier, trying to keep his rage in control. No Mind ever won a battle letting emotion take over their actions. Channel it, Taurus! Waiting for just a split second pause between attacks, Taurus teleports behind Ren and lashes out with his mind in a vicious attack.

[Northen Light36]

Ren howls in pain at the attack and Acqua can't help but smirk slightly, though there's still fear in her eyes. Both she and Ren know Guild law well, and Ren's attack on her has broken it. "And no one is quite so dangerous as the desperate," thinks Acqua, her mind racing. She knows full well that Ren isn't going to let her leave here alive, it would be a death sentance for him, and he clearly doesn't intend to let Taurus go either. "I have to do something!" she thinks desperately. "But what? My water abilities are useless against a Storm and he'll hit me with another bolt before I can get close enough to use a knife..."

"Bad move Mind," growls Ren when the attack passes. "Now you've gone and pissed me off, I'm going to enjoy killing you nice and slowly, although still not as much as I'm going to enjoy ripping your little friend, Acqua, apart." Ren steps back a bit then hurls another thunderball at the gound by Taurus' feet to cause another explosion and hopefully knock Taurus out.

[Kender Bard]

Taurus tries to get a shield up in time to deflect it, but his reflexes are slowed from switching between offensive mental abilities to defensive, and he gets thrown back again, this time knocking his head back against the alley wall and slumping down.

[Northen Light36]

Acqua looks horrified and Ren looks smug. "Now to finish this," he growls, drawing his dagger and approaching Taurus.

"No!" Even as the word leaves her mouth, Acqua's found a new stock of strength and thrown herself at Ren. "Leave. Him. Alone." With every word, Acqua slams her fist into the larger built thief until Ren throws her off him.

"You stupid little bitch," he growls, standing over him. "Fine, if you're so eager to die, I'll take care of you first." Growling angrily, Ren brings his knife down to stab Acqua, only to miss his target when Acqua rolls. However the dagger does leave a deep and painful gash in Acqua's left arm.

"Stupid!" she thinks to herself, drawing a knife with her right hand and cringing slightly at how clumbsy her grip on the weapon is when using her wrong hand. "It doesn't matter Acqua... she tells herself. "All that matters is stopping him killing Taurus." A second later, a lightning bolt from Ren has disarmed her.

"Game over, Acqua," he tells the other thief calmly, smiling as he kneels beside and forces her head back to bare her throat. "Any last words? Regrets? Acknowledgements that I'm your better?" Acqua's mind races, her thoughts desperately searching for a way out even now.

"Oh Forces... There has to be a way out... Something... ANYTHING... I can do to stop him," she thinks. The next moment all she can think to do is scream in agony, causing Ren to stumble back in surprise, as something seems to burn its self out of the flesh of her right wrist. After what seems to be forever to the suffering girl, the pain fades and she looks down to see a storm sign marking her wrist.

"Impossible," breaths Ren. "How could you have gotten another sign?!" Acqua doesn't answer, her mind taken up with only the thought to save Taurus. Years spent with Amaro provides her memory with the knowledge of the storm chant to activate her new sign and before Ren can react, it's his turn to be blasted into a wall by a lightning bolt. With the last of her strength, Acqua picks up her knife and slashes Ren's throat. Even as the Storm thief's life blood begins to poor out of the gash, Acqua colapses to the ground - fear, stress and pain finally overcoming her. Only one relieved thought follows her into the depths of unconsciousness. "It's over..."

With the battle over, the only sound in the alley is the tickling of blood still falling from Acqua's arm and Ren's throat. Slowly Faith creeps out of the hiding place she'd retreated to at Ren's first attack and starts making her way between her mistress and Taurus, licking their cheeks in an attempt to wake either of them up.

[Kender Bard]

After a few moments of silence, two unconcious people and a corpse, Taurus feels his senses coming to him. Wincing, he reaches back and tenderly touches the back of his head where some blood caused his hair to mat and stick over the abraision. Surely, there would be a horrible bump there tomorrow, and he was lucky to be alive. Glancing around as his vision settles from the sickening twirling it was doing earlier, he notices Acqua and Ren and for a horrifying moment, thinks they're both dead. Calm down some unbidden command echoes in his mind, most likely a fragment memory of something one of his instructors had drilled into him at youth. He takes a deep breath and calms down, moving over with more winces to Acqua and seeing if she is alive or not. With a sigh of relief, he sees that she is. But, how to get them both out of there? He dare not teleport. Realizing he'd have to just carry her, Taurus grimaces at the prospect but gets up slowly, waits until he has his strength and bearings again, and picks up Acqua, then unsteadily heads home.

[Northen Light36]

Faith trots along at Taurus' feet until they reach his house, which is the point Acqua starts to come around with a soft moan of pain. "Ugh..." Acqua forces her eyes open then clearly regrets the action as she hisses in pain and squezes her eyes shut. "Someone put out the sun," she mutters. "My head is killing me."

[Kender Bard]

"I sympathise," Taurus says as he tries to open his door and still carry Acqua. Unable to do so, he gives up and uses his powers to give the door a 'shove' open, though the pain that lances through his skull is enough to give him pause and make him groan in agony. Taking deep, calming breaths to fight down his growing nausea, Taurus strides inside and to his bedroom, trying to set Acqua down gently but nearly dropping her instead.

[Northen Light36]

Acqua hisses in pain as Taurus half drops her, but pushes the pain from her injuries aside for the time being - one of the little tricks she learnt growing up in Flux, though she'll pay for it later - and asks, "Are you all right Taurus?" Looking guilty she adds, "I'm sorry about that... If I'd known Ren was following us, or that his grudge against me would lead to him going that far, I'd never have gone with you." Subconciously, Acqua rubs at the still vaguely burning storm sign on her wrist.

[Kender Bard]

Taurus holds a hand gingerly against the back of his head and slumps against a wall, shutting his eyes and swallowing hard. "I'm fine," he says, even though he knows she knows it's a lie. Still, it's a nice thing to say. "Well, no, I'm not. But I will be. I just need to rest, and so do you."

[Northen Light36]

Acqua nods tiredly, curlling into a loose ball and closing her eyes, though not sleeping yet. "Amaro's going to murder me. First I get sick and now I've gotten beaten up," she mutters. "Ah well, it'll give him a chance to yell at me." With a smirk, she adds, "I swear he'd explode if he didn't get an excuse to shout at someone at least twice a day."

[Kender Bard]

Taurus can't help but smile wanely as he reaches over and pulls a blanket over her. "If he yells too much I'll point out all the good you did." With a sigh, he goes and pratically collapses onto a padded chair, getting a position that would at least allow him to rest, if not sleep.

[Northen Light36]

Acqua gives him an exhusted smile before drifting back off to sleep.

---

Very late the next morning, Acqua wakes up with a hiss of pain as she rolls onto her injuried arm. Carefully touching her water marking, she half-heals the gash, which had been reopened by her accidental bump, and - seeing her pack by the bed - pulls a bandage out of it while silently giving thanks to the fact she hadn't trusted her fellow thieves enough to leave her belongings at the Guild while she worked. She doesn't want to use up too much of her healing water until she's seen how Taurus is - bandaging her arm will be enough for now. Once that's done, Acqua gets up with a wince as her burns protest the movement and goes to see if Taurus is awake yet.

[Kender Bard]

Taurus sat in his chair in some awkward position that he'd slipped into. It doesn't look comfortable enough for sleeping, but somehow he manages, though he starts awake hearing her approach. Groggily he opens his eyes and sits up, mumbling, "How do you feel?"

[Northen Light36]

"Sore," admits Acqua with a wince. "What about you? Any injuries that you'd like healed?"

[Kender Bard]

"I think this lump of rock that passes for a bump on my head could use a little soothing," Tauraus admits. "I still feel a bit... off, which isn't a good thing for me, not that it's a good thing for anyone but.." He pauses and stops himself from rambling.