First Escape Attempt - Rhifaroth Day Four
A tale freshly told of the Arnorian
The ranger manages to get loose of his ropes and finds that his captures had not found his hidden boot knife...
[Bree Function Object(#106)->Rhifaroth]
================================== Bree Time ==================================
Real time: Mon Jul 07 10:01:09 2008
Bree time: Dusk <20> on Mersday of Spring - May 18,1444
Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent Moon
===============================================================================
[Bree Function Object(#106)->Rhifaroth]
Breelands Weather
The dusk spring air is cool but pleasant around you. The day sky is cloud-filled and gloomy.
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
The night before was ... very strange. Things didn\'t happen at all how the Dunadan had expected. And mostly it was better than feared. When the others left, Rhifaroth became aware once more that the woman, who sounds like it must be Cordelia now that his head is cleared, had loosened his ropes around his ankles. Earlier she had loosened his hand ropes as well, but he hadn\'t tried to do much with that yet as he had been too drugged.
Now, through the night, the man has spent brief periods concentrating on a particular task - with many short stops to rest. He has difficulty telling the time of day, but as what may be morning begins to approach, he has had some success. What has he been up to?
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
Whoever enters into the warehouse the next morning will not see the ranger. But his ropes are there, lying on the floor and scattered. And the man\'s boots are gone. But ... the door to the warehouse was locked and no one was getting in or out without the key to turn the tumbler. The few windows are high and small, and covered. None of them are broken, yet.
[Cordelia(#1394)] It\'s been a long night for Cordelia, as well, the girl sleeping fretfully, quite troubled, against the warehouse wall. Sometime in the early morning before any light had worked its way in here, she had left the place, going out to the outhouse, then finding some water at the pump outside, and washing her face and neck. The sun was coming up before she returned to the warehouse, holding a bowl of broth for the ranger.
She gasps--loudly--when she sees the ropes but no Rhifaroth, the bowl of broth wavering in her hands as she nearly drops it. A curse is muttered angrily in Logathig, and she sets the bowl down, then opens the warehouse door to yell across the field. \"John! Tom!! Hurry! He\'s escaped!\" Then Cordelia herself heads back into the warehouse, standing by the door, eyes searching the place. All windows intact and she had barred the door behind her when she went out--the ranger has to be here.
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
A voice, shouting, rouses the man. He has managed to drag himself behind a crate and some barrels over close to the door. Several days bound hand and foot and he couldn\'t get himself to his feet, couldn\'t climb up to reach the windows.
Trying now not to make any noise, Rhifaroth levers himself to sit up. He likely only has one chance, and already that damned woman is calling for help! Hands smeared with drying blood from the ropes he forced off, no matter how much skin was left behind, now grab at the crate to try and draw himself up ... to his knees first, then dragging a foot under. He has -got- to get up. Almost there... a hand reaches down into his right boot and draws his small boot knife.
Eyes on Cordelia, who stands right by the door, the Dunadan makes a lunge to try and reach the woman! Knife in hand, he\'s not trying to stab her, but get a hold of her!
You blindly attack Cordelia with your Bare Hands...
[Combat(#13388)->Rhifaroth]
Your attack against Cordelia mildly wounds her!
[Cordelia(#1394)] Cordelia is surveying the warehouse, looking for traces of the man--not looking right near where she stands at the door, which of course would be the obvious spot. There\'s a small noise from the ranger as he struggles to stand up, and she whirls toward it, which leaves her off balance as the man grabs for her. She topples over sideways, but not before she lunges with one hand to try to grab at his wrist and pull him along with her.
Cordelia furiously attacks you with her Bare Hands!...
...and she hits! Ouch!
ARB: You\'ve been injured for 1 hp\'s by Cordelia\'s attack...
...you have 99 left. Please RP this injury accordingly.
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
Having faked unconsciousness the night before, again... the man is actually in a little bit better shape than he has been pretending. But days without food and too little water, days of tight ropes binding him, have had their toll. His legs and arms hurt so, trying to use them. His hand can barely hold the knife at all for it is swollen and very stiff with pain. But desperation and adrenelin give the man strength now.
Cordelia\'s twisting and grabbing for the man\'s wrist succeeds and Rhifaroth more or less simply knocks her down, falling mostly on top of the girl. His breath is ragged, he smells foul. The man tries to jerk his right arm free of her grasp, reaching with his left for her throat...
[Combat(#13388)->Rhifaroth]
You forego your chance to attack.
[Cordelia(#1394)] Even in his weakened state, Rhifaroth still outweighs the girl and has far more fighting experience. His left hand starts choking off Cordelia\'s breath, and she has to drop her grip on his right hand in order to try to pry his hands from her throat. She squirms about, trying to make herself into a moving target. But she\'s also thinking: A knee comes up, hard and fast, aimed at the man\'s groin or belly--whatever she can manage.
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
Adrenelin is his friend. Dumping into his blood stream, the man\'s strength may be frightfully surprising to the girl. It is almost as though his weakness were a shame, or for the moment, faded away. His left hand presses down hard, but not hard enough to kill her. He may need a hostage. The man\'s right hand with the knife in it though brings the small pomel around to try and knock her in the head.
His face is close to hers, his teeth bared sligthly, pale eyes intent upon his prey in the struggle. The only mark upon him that she can see from last night\'s episode with Asht is a thin slice at his throat, caked with dried blood.
The tattooed man\'s eyes suddenly wince with pain as Cordelia manages to knee him in the groin. He was too close for her to get much momentum but the hit throws the man\'s weight just a bit off balance. His left hand can\'t grip so much as press and it slips off of her throat, slippery with sweat and blood. His right still tries to clobber her with the knife\'s hilt.
There can\'t be much time. Those men will show up any moment!
[Cordelia(#1394)] With a sudden gasp, Cordelia sucks in air as the ranger\'s hand slips from her throat. Her knee striking home, she kicks with all her might at the man now, trying to plant another knee in his midsection and force him off her. She\'s fighting for her life here--she knows it. Where -are- those workers?!
But then the pommel connects with her forehead. It\'s not hard enough to knock her out, but stars swim in her line of vision for a moment, and any gains she had made in her struggle against the man likely would be lost.
Behind the pair, at last, the door opens with a loud bang as it hits the wall, Aleswyn\'s two men on the threshold.
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
The door bangs open. He has got ... got to get to his feet. The girl beneath him has been knocked silly enough to be dazed. A little bruised himself, Rhifaroth lets go of Cordelia just long enough to try and force himself up. If he didn\'t have so much adrenelin he wouldn\'t even be able to do it but the man gets a leg under himself, up on a knee at least to face the two men. He lays his knife against Cordelia\'s throat, left hand grabbing at her hair and also to lean his weight on.
\"STOP!\" he shouts before they might rush upon him - he hopes. \"I\'ll kill her!\"
[Cordelia(#1394)] Aleswyn\'s men don\'t care about this girl, whoever she is. For Aleswyn, perhaps, Cordelia and Keldean were likely just lures to get the ranger here and to do some of the dirty work. Cordelia seems to be the one who wants to question the man--and though Aleswyn\'s men likely don\'t know exactly what their boss want with Rhifaroth, they -do- know that keeping the man captive here is top priority.
And so the two men press into the door, laughing at the ranger\'s threat. \"Kill her! Just another witness we\'ll have to dispose of in the end!\" the taller one sneers. As if on cue, they both rush Rhifaroth, one on each side.
Cordelia, at knife point, has gone very still, her eyes watching Rhifaroth wordlessly, seeking for an opportunity out of this. As she hears the footsteps of the men rushing the ranger, she kicks out with her legs at Rhifaroth and at the same time, tries to thrust her right hand into his face, going for his eyes with her fingers.
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
Just as it becomes apparent that Cordelia is of no value as a hostage against these two men, he abandons her. The knife jerks away from her throat and his left hand is thrusting to push the man to his feet. Rhifaroth\'s own face is turned up towards the men, not looking down at Cordelia as her hand comes up to try and gouge at his eyes. So she misses his face... but her kicking strikes the inside of his right booted foot!
The man stumbles as his foot is almost knocked out from under himself. Rhifaroth\'s attention is for the two men and in an instant, they are upon him! There is no hope of turning and trying to run. The ranger\'s knife is held low and thrusts up for the larger man\'s belly even as the larger man tackles him. Almost too fast to see, there is a pile of struggling men upon the floor just past Cordelia!
[Cordelia(#1394)] There is a strangled cry as elven knife pierces cloth, then flesh and muscle. Blood, sticky and warm, flows down over the knife handle, and the large man groans in pain, his hands, which were reaching to try to strangle the ranger, loosening.Still, the smaller man remains in this fight, drawing a knife now.
Cordelia, the moment she is free, springs to her feet, dagger drawn quickly and flashing in her hands. The struggle is too confused for her to try to knife anyone, but Rhifaroth\'s head can clearly be seen at the bottom of the pile. With three steps she is at the ranger\'s head, aiming kicks of her booted feet at the man\'s head.
Cordelia attacks you with her Bare Hands!...
...and she hits! Ouch!
ARB: You\'ve been injured for 1 hp\'s by Cordelia\'s attack...
...you have 98 left. Please RP this injury accordingly.
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
He\'s down, and there is at least one large man on top of him. The smaller man has gotten back up and drew a knife but Rhifaroth can\'t see him. The hand with the small boot knife digs in deep, cutting the larger man\'s belly open and slicing for intenstine... if he can cut it up, the man is doomed to die a very slow and most painful death over the next few days.
Trying to think of where to try and place the knife next for more immeadiate effect, the tattooed and scarred Dunadan doesn\'t get the chance. Struggling with the large man and the smaller man moving in, it is Cordelia who makes the decisive move. A foot catches Rhifaroth with a sound kick to his head. The room turns inside out and explodes in pain!
Though he isn\'t knocked unconscious by the kick, the ranger is very definitely rattled. The dazed man\'s struggle eases up abruptly and the larger man on top of him lands a big fist right in Rhifaroth\'s face, knocking his head against the floor in the next instant.
[Cordelia(#1394)] \"Enough!\" Cordelia roars at the Dunadan, aiming another kick at his head in her fury. \"(Sindarin) I tried to help you, you...\" Well, there is no word for that in Sindarin, so it comes outin the common language, \"you bastard!\" She fumes, knife in hand, looming over Rhifaroth--and tears running down her face.
Turning on her heel, the girl lets the two men hold the ranger down while she retrieves the ropes that Rhifaroth has shed. She kneels behind him. \"SIt him up and let me tie him!\" she barks at th e men again--apparently not caring that one has a knife wound to his gut.
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
There is no reply from the downed man as Cordelia yells at him in her fury. As she gets up to fetch the ropes, the two men start to beat on him. The big man with his fists, the smaller man trying to get the Dunadan\'s arms - which Rhifaroth is trying to use to block the larger man\'s blows.
There are sounds of stuggle behind her and when Cordelia turns back with the ropes, they have managed to drag the ranger to his feet and hauled his hands around behind him. The big man now holds him, panting and cursing, while the smaller man throws a bare fisted punch into Seeker\'s stomach.
\"You killed my brother, you son of a b*tch!\" the smaller man shouts, knife still in his other fist.
[Cordelia(#1394)] Grim-faced, Cordelia watches the two men beat the rnager, doing nothing to stop it. She\'s got the rope in her hands, ready to tie up the man again, but first she reaches down and picks up that small knife, turning it in her hands. And then...decision made.
With the men still holding Rhifaroth, she walks up to the man, pressing the knife against his throat. \"Do something like that again and I\'ll cut your throat,\" she hisses at him. \"And not the way Asht did last night, either.\" Still, there are tears wetting her face as she speaks.
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
Despite the blood on it, the knife she picks up is small and slim, and very handsomely made. It might be elvish looking or not to her eyes, but it was actually made in Gondor. A jet black hilt is carved into the likness of a stylized seated raven\'s profile, fitted with small brass accents and a tiny red ruby for the eye. The blade has a faint damasc pattern to the steel. A very handsome little knife.
Held now to his own throat, Rhifaroth struggles now only to suck breath. The two men have stopped hitting him once the young woman has moved up to press the blade against the Dunadan\'s dirty throat. But they hold him tight and the larger man who is bleeding is still cursing!
Trying to get his breath, Rhifaroth focuses on Cordelia\'s face. He can feel something sharp at his throat, see her slender arm, \"I wasn\'t ... I didn\'t ... kill ... you. I could ... have.\" he pants, voice rough.
[<#1394>] The knife point at the ranger\'s throat lessens in pressure ever so slightly, and the young woman\'s eyes meet his, though the threat of that knife is still there. \'You wanted to. I know--you almost did, too. I could feel it.\' She frowns, knife still held in the same spot, eyes not moving off the man. \"
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
\"He bloody knifed me, you b*tch!\" growls the larger man, \"I want at him.\" But it is the smaller man who mutters something about Aleswyn, using the same reminder the larger man had earlier used on him. They do as Cordelia bids them, dragging the Dunadan back deeper into the warehouse and binding his hands.
Rhifaroth swallows, his throat shifting beneath the crusted cut in his skin from Asht\'s knife the night before. Pale grey eyes watch Cordelia and do not leave her, but he says nothing. Not a word.
Rhifaroth is shoved down to the floor, and this time his hands are drawn well up over his head and tied to a metal hook in the wall normally used to secure barrels or things with netting or rope to keep them from falling over while stored.
In a moment it is done, the man\'s booted legs left free. But the larger man gives the ranger one last, hard kick before they depart. In a moment, the warehouse is quiet again - except for the wounded man\'s whining voice outside, cursing and muttering about his gut wound and how he needs tending.
[Cordelia(#1394)] Cordelia pockets the knife as soon as the two men move to tie up the ranger. She rubs her head where Rhifaroth hit her with a knife, feeling the painful bruise welling up there now that fear and adrenaline aren\'t rushing through her. And then she walks to where she had set down the bowl of broth, bringing it to Rhifaroth--and carefully avoiding making herself a target of his feet. There\'s a spoon in the bowl, and she spoons some of the liquid out to offer it to him--not saying a thing, either.
You paged Cordelia with \'It is possible she could help him ... at least by feeding him some. Giliath is snooping around Bree even now, looking for the wagon that matches the one that made those tracks, or the ponies who\'s shoes match the tracks outside of town.\'.
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
It is quiet and dim in the warehouse. The newly rebound man sits where he is, legs sprawled, and makes no move as Cordelia comes near. The only sound is his faintly harsh breathing. Rhifaroth\'s eyes are upon the young woman, watching her. Blood mars his left brow and there are reddish marks upon his face that will bruise and swell later.
Eyes lower to glance at the broth. He is so filthy now. His lip is split. But even if it\'s salty, even if it\'ll make him unbearably thirsty again later, the Dunadan tries to sip the offered broth. It\'s the first time he\'s been offered anything like food.
[Cordelia(#1394)] The broth is not heavily salted, though it has cooled considerably in the time it has been sitting untouched on the warehouse floor. \"I\'ll get water later,\" Cordelia says quietly. She can\'t even meet the man\'s eyes. Dirt and blood streak her face, along with clean tracks where her tears fell.
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
He can\'t catch her eye, but he watches her for a while... accepting the broth quietly, his own breathing easing as he rests. Adrenelin ebbs and leaves fatigue and weakness in it\'s lapse.
In a few minutes, Rhifaroth\'s own eyes have closed, his head lulling a little to one side. If she continues to offer him spoonfuls of broth, the Dunadan is semi-conscious and keeps trying to sip it until she stops, but he\'s hurting and for the moment, worn out from his exertions.