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Kaelmin had been a wonderful home. I had found myself at ease among the kobolds and dwarves of the city who seemed so accepting and ready to offer alms to a poor outcast like myself and an exile like Gaerr; they even appreciated my music here and would cheer for it without trying to trick me into servitude. Life within stone walls of Kaelmin seemed so perfect, utterly perfect indeed, for all about three days. It hadn't taken long for a runaway slave such as myself, and an exiled gnoll such as Gaerr to become the center of a particularly negative portion of attention. Even after Jorn had come back from the council that first day to plead our case, he had warned us that their regards and kind sentiments were nothing but honeyed words and lies. Those lies manifested themselves during our third day when we had decided to travel among the common folk and search for a bit of meat to buy and bring home for Jorn; after all a bit of grocery shopping was the least we could do for our dear friend that had shacked us up after such a traumatic event. That was when we saw the council's true feelings manifest before us in the most audacious of manners. From behind a stall where a friendly kobold had been selling meat, a dwarf leapt out warhammer in hand knocking over the poor kobold and narrowly missing my head. If I had been alone I would have been crushed by that massive steel skullcrusher! But Gaerr, Gaerr my precious gnoll lover and fellow bard pushed me aside and gored the dwarf's throat with a decisive strike without mercy using his claws! A singular assassin, perhaps meant for me, since I had been planning that entire day to go alone to the market for a bit of shopping. Such an event had left my heart shaken and my trembling fingers barely able to hold a thing, yet again thankfully I had Gaerr their to slap me to my senses and bring me back to Jorn's home and workshop immediately. An attempt on one's life is never something taken lightly, and in a public environment that had all the attention centered on us. Gaerr had acted too quickly as well, too rashly. That dwarf had been dead before I could blink really, and with no criminal to be had and only a corpse, the foreign pair that we were, looked rather suspicious to any bystanders that were unlucky enough to witness such a thing. Perhaps, perhaps it was time to find a home far, far away from this place. Gaerr hated the lack of sunlight and cramped spaces anyway.

"We should have never come to this place," snarled an angered Gaerr, pacing from side to side in our room, Jorn at the door tapping his foot, looking just as furious if not more reserved about it. I myself simply sat on the bed and looked between the two before opening my mouth, only to be rudely interrupted by Gaerr, "Who has done this dwarf?"

Jorn grumbled, "My guess would be the council doesn't care for ya', but who can really say? The man died and the only thing singing from his lips was blood, so the little folk say, lucky that butcher kobold was there to say you weren't a murdering lunatic, but people around here are still on edge because of it."

That sobered Gaerr for a moment, and myself. Gaerr blinked before sitting down next to me, his eyes narrowed and his paws held together at his lap as he breathed to most likely steady himself. Seeing that sudden stiffening of his body I brought a hand to touch his shoulder, clasping it gently as I broke my silence, "Well, you did tell us that you thought that the council wasn't really happy with our presence...They ever send out assassins to do their wet work in the past?"

Jorn sighed and pinched his brow the look on his face a cross between pained and tired, "Occasionally the council thinks it a great idea to do whatever they please, because they have the power, and for the greater good of the city. Outsiders are their number one fear in their cloistered little tower. Whatever the case, you need a way out and for that we'd need someone on the inside who can get you through the tunnels and passages of this city without a problem, but all those types are on the council's pay so who the hell could we trust?"

For a moment I had a flash of inspiration. Perhaps my cavorting about could pay off, though, it may wound a bit of my sweet gnoll's pride. I stood and clasped my hands together happily, "Luckily, I've had one such guard in my pants plenty of times before, a friendly little ruby scaled kobold by the name of Ruk."

I wasn't looking at him, but I could feel a burning gaze upon my back that most likely belong to Gaerr. I myself certainly had no problems with Ruk, but Gaerr had established himself as an alpha male, a dominant force in my life that desired to hold my attention, and body, with his arms only, and I at one point had slept on more than one occasion together with that kobold. Ruk was a much more liberated soul than Gaerr so he wouldn't care too much, but perhaps he would tease the gnoll just a bit, as was his nature, regardless Jorn gave a grunt with a nod and replied while Gaerr remained silent, "I'll fetch the man. I know him, he's a good scout too. Knows his way 'round the tunnels and the area around the gates. Y'think he'd be willing to leave with you three?"

Gaerr stood to answer for me, but I was quicker this time, placing a hand on his arm gingerly as I spoke with a smile, "I'm sure Ruk would be happy to leave with us. We're good friends and there is no sour feelings between us...Besides, I'm sure he'd like to listen to Gaerr's new lute that you made so expertly, so please, do get him with all haste...I'd rather not be here when the second attempt happens, or the common folk try to take us in themselves."

Jorn nodded and his only reply was a curt grunt as he turned to walk away and shut the door behind him, leaving Gaerr and myself alone in the room. Taking a seat back on the bed I let out a huff and placed a hand upon my aching forehead, "Such a day. Assaulted by an assassin and then forced to flee a wonderful city, what a wonderful world."

Gaerr added so eloquently, "At least you get to travel with a past lover."

Quick as a whip, and just as harsh. With a sigh I laid back upon the bed, letting my arm fall to the side as I replied dryly, "Why, yes I do Gaerr, but he's also our only quick ticket out of here. I'd rather not wait here while another assassin or group of assassins are prepared," Gaerr simply huffed at that and as I turned my head I could see him sitting there with his eyes shut and his head turned the other way. He was pouting like a child and to me it was humorous, to me it was more than just that, it was absolutely darling. I chuckled and sat up to give his shoulder a tight squeeze, "Gaerr, come on...We've had this conversation in bed and out of bed, while making love and without, and even while drunk...You needn't worry about your place in my life. I care about you."

Gaerr remained quiet at that still, but at the very least he cracked open a single red eye to look at him, his gaze soft as he finally broke his silence, "I care for you too, and if we must share a camp with the kobold, then so be it."

It wasn't long before Jorn arrived with our friend and new member of our group, or at the very least we assumed that he was here to join us. Ruk seemed a bit confused as he stepped into the room, the lantern that had been hanging from his tail hanging on his belt now instead and unlit, his black cloak drawn in close, "Whats this all 'bout? I'm on break grabbing a bite of spiced dry meat and Jorn comes sayin' he has a new knife and crossbow for me, and a book on pyromancy? Then when we get in the craftshall he say's you're up your own ass in danger again, don't imagine you fucked the wife of a council slob?"

I couldn't help but smile a bit at that. The kobold had quick lips, not unlike myself, but a bit more brash and less pretty than anything I'd say. Seeing as he seemed to be a bit out of the loop I explained our situation ending with the words, "This will probably be a risk to your place in this city, and your life, so we understand if you're not willing to--"

"A chance to leave is what you're givin' me here," The kobold said with a fang filled grin. He began pacing back and forth a single clawed digit tapping at his own snout, my own lips quirked in a small smile as I gave a sideways glance to the strange little kobold that seemed so excited about leaving his home, "So, you need some secret tunnels out that'll get you to a good place. I can probably steal us some mounts from the stable and we can head off from there, but hell, I'd like to know where you plan on going now that the council doesn't want you here Aellen?"

Gaerr snorted, "I agree, where would we go? My kin would certainly not welcome us knowing that I am an exile."

With a sigh I sat back on the bed, arms crossed, eyes shut. That was a good question. One I had been trying to answer ever since Jorn had left to fetch Ruk. Jorn himself stood at the entrance of the door, stone arms crossed and his eyes closed, perhaps in just as much thought. I found myself wondering about the little friends that I had here and there, the places that I had gone and visited where I had been welcome with open arms. If we went further north then we'd be heading into Fae territory, and things could become a bit strange if we decided to head there, but possibly less deadly. Among the Fae races I had a few friends I could count on, it was just in their nature to be a bit tricky and mischievous, but it was either that or head down south and find myself interacting with the elves that I had slighted. Perhaps if I apologized I could be on better terms with their kingdom, but for now I decided braving the Fae forest would be a better idea than swallowing my pride and possibly the head of an arrow. Finally when most eyes were turned upon me I shrugged my shoulders and stood, dusting myself off casually as I mentioned where we should go, "North. To the Fae lands. As tricky as they might be, they don't have a vendetta against me, and I have a friend or two we can meet up with. We shouldn't run into problems there."

Gaerr snorted and spoke in a tone as if he has tasted something truly foul, "Fae...Sylph, Karesh and more. Tricksters."

I planted a hand upon the head of my lover, ruffling the fur between his ears as I soothed my poor gnoll lover, "Yes, tricksters, but they don't have a reason to kill any of us," I then thought of the fact that Jorn would be left behind in the city by himself. Him having helped Gaerr and myself meant that he would be in danger, with a small frown I offered, "Jorn, you could come with us too. I'd rather not come back here one day and hear a grand ballad of your death at the hands of some political scheme."

Jorn snorted and waved me off, "They wouldn't dare. I'm a crafts master. I hold a hall bigger than any other and they wouldn't rid themselves of something useful, not before these stone hands of mine begin to chip and flake away from old age and I find an apprentice. Besides, this is my home, my craft, I'd like to see them throw assassins at me! I'd have this entire quarter breaking bones and using them to craft tooth picks and rings," I found myself cringing at the mental image that Jorn's comments had conjured, but I smiled either way. If he said he was going to be fine, then it meant he would be fine.

With direction and decisions made, there was one last thing Jorn had wanted to do for us. Along with Gaerr's instrument, he had crafted me a fine thin blade perfect for a bit of fencing that fit upon my belt perfectly, one that I hoped that I wouldn't be needing to use too often. Blood, death, it wasn't my art, nor was it something that I desired to see a lot of. Gaerr on the other hand, received his gift with an approving glint in his eye that I had seen occasionally during our late hours together. Jorn had given Gaerr a sword befitting a gnoll. A long and thick blade that would take two hands for me to even bring it up, but for Gaerr the blade was easily brought up in one paw, and with one paw he sheathed it at his belt. At the very least we would be going well equipped so any surprises should have been less messy on Gaerr's claws. I'd rather not have my lover's digits covered in blood while we make love, although I don't mind it too much when it is my own. Ruk already had his own equipment ready to go, including a supposed, 'secret' weapon should we get into too much trouble. I knew he had a history of experimenting with pyromancy, but from what I heard about his exploits, that never went well and I shuddered to think of what type of secret that could be.

Garbed in cloaks of black we said our goodbyes and followed the red scaled kobold, not into the crowds heading through the regular ways, but directly to the right of Jorn's home where a simple rock face met us. Ruk scrawled something upon a certain point on the wall with a single claw in a manner far too fast for me to catch and a portion of the wall slid down. I looked to Gaerr for a moment before staring at the sight just as dumbfounded, before both of us were ushered in by Ruk who seemed rather impatient, and for good reason. Inside the rock face tunnel was a bit cramped and a bit too tight for my tastes. It felt as if it had specifically been made for kobolds, and looking ahead I could see that Gaerr was practically crawling. Every so often he'd grunt or snarl at hitting his head upon the low ceiling of the tunnel, a chuckle sounding off from Ruk who held the only light source.

There in the darkness of that cramped tunnel we made our way without much problem, it was a long process, or at the very least seemed long to myself who was used to large open spaces; and personally I hated the silence. Unfortunately the first conversation that sprouted from the abyss like darkness was one that I had hoped would wait until we were out of the city safe and sound, "So, do you two stain the sheets red when you have at it?" Asked Ruk much to my dismay, and much to the annoyance of Gaerr before me.

Gaerr's reply was curt, and too quick for me to retort, "None of your business."

Ruk only chuckled in reply, "Come on now, I've had myself a bit of fun with him too, we can swap stories like veterans of sorts." His words had my cheeks flustered red, never had I been referred to as a battlefield. I had no idea whether to be flattered or irritated, perhaps a mixture of both since it seemed to be pushing at the wrong bits of Gaerr's patience.

Gaerr snapped, "You'd do well to keep that trap of yours shut and keep walking runt!"

Again the kobold at the front only chuckled, responding in almost sing-song tone, "Hmmm, a jealous type. I think we'll get along juuuuust fine big guy. Oh, by the way, the name's Ruk. Good to meet you too." Gaerr grumbled and growled just a bit, but that conversation was over, for now. I knew that on our little journey I'd be hearing a bit more of it, if not a lot more of that type of talk. Gaerr could be easy to tease if you knew how to push at the right places, and Ruk was certainly the type to exploit those places.

For a while we padded through the tight tunnel with little more than Ruk's promises that we'd eventually make it to the exit. We found ourselves winding and twisting through various ways the tunnel taking different and strange directions until I myself certainly wasn't sure where in the world we were going. We had noticed there were several splits in the tunnels, but not for a single moment did Ruk pause, his eyes simply focused ahead as he continued moving on. When suddenly he paused I looked to the front and whispered, "What? Are we there?"

Ruk's reply came back as a happy chirp that echoed off the walls, "Yup! Just have to crack open our exit and be careful on the way down!"

Before I could ask what Ruk meant, the light ahead of me literally fell out of sight and I blinked looking to Gaerr who groaned before he crawled forward and suddenly what little I could see of him fell from sight as well. Blinking I stepped over to see a hole directly above the stables near the entrance we had used to first get into the city. With a sigh I slipped through the hole, holding in a scream that would have made me seem far less brave than I actually was and landed in a stack of hay. Shaking myself from the hay I looked around to see Ruk gathering three horses already saddled with supplies and everything, "The hell did you get this all ready Ruk?" I asked, brow raised as I looked over the mount's and supplies.

Ruk looked to the horses and then to me before grinning, "We're borrowing them."

Without pause Gaerr took the reins of his horse and shrugged, "I have no problem with doing this again."

I frowned, the words at the tip of my tongue before Ruk interrupted so rudely, "C'mon c'mon, I'd rather not get caught and have to kill a fellow gate guard."

With a sigh I gripped the reins of my own horse and there we went, stealing again. Taking the horses we lead them through the tunnel leading to the outside, Ruk opening the hidden gate for us with little trouble. My eyes were nearly blinded by the day sun, but even before my vision had the time to unblur we were on horseback and riding off, yet again on stolen horses and again from a group of madmen who wanted to kill us. Perhaps we'd find our peace among the Fae, and what is more we'd actually need to find something to keep us sustained. I hadn't been able to perform, hadn't been able to really work at all, and we certainly couldn't keep stealing no matter how little it bothered Ruk and Gaerr. Perhaps I could put that killer instinct of Gaerr's to use with a bit of bounty work, even the Fae had criminals, and certainly some of them would enjoy music enough to pay to listen. My only trouble now, was the fact that we were leaving so much hate behind us, and that was bound to catch up one day or another.