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Hide and Seek|CaraxRichard [sjdude & ViolentlyBeautiful76]

V

ViolentlyBeautiful76

Moon
Joined
Apr 4, 2010
Cara Brethell raced down alongside the embankment of the river on horseback. She and Richard Cypher, the Seeker of Truth, had been separated from Kahlan the Confessor and Zeddicus the Wizard in order to chase a group of banelings -- basically, a zombie from the Underworld who kills one person each day to maintain their ability to 'live'.

Focusing to maintain her balance, Cara placed a dagger in her mouth, picking up her bow and arrow. She released her grip and the weapon flew into the baneling's back. The humanlike creature dropped to the ground, dead, just like all the others she and Richard had killed.

Immediately stopping, the leather-clad Mord-Sith dismounted her horse and picked up the baneling to throw into a pile with the others.

"We're going to need to burn them, correct, Richard?" She said, eyeing her Lord.
 
"Yes," He nodded, dismounting his horse. The hunt was over, thankfully. He ran a hand through his hair. "Well, the one time it would be nice to have wizard's fire..." He shook his head, knowing that Zed was at least a few days away.

"Well, best thing we can do is get some dry wood and get a controlled burn going." He said, knowledgeable. "Can't have these things coming back and killing more." He nudged the baneling's bodies with his booted foot.
 
Cara nodded, cracking her neck and getting to work on collecting the firewood. "And when do you suppose we'll get back to seeing the others?" She wanted to go back to a hot meal and some restful sleep, and because Kahlan usually kept the supplies, Cara herself and Richard would have to hunt. Although hunting was something Cara enjoyed most, right now all she wanted to do was rest.

She scattered the wood around the corpses, the stench of rotting flesh burning her nostrils. "Let's get rid of these already." And she placed her agiel on the firewood, creating steady flames until they grew. With a nod Cara turned to take Richard by the arm. "Come on, let's go back. We have to find Zed and Kahlan." The last thing she wanted her "Lord Rahl" to do was to order her to make camp. No fucking way would she do his bidding. At last, not at that moment.
 
Richard found himself regarding Cara with a wary eye. "We've been hunting these things for the past two days. We told them to head on without us, so..."He made a few quick notes in his head. 'We're probably two or three days behind them, at our best speed."

He reached for the pack on his horse. "We'll rest for a night. We'll double-pace ourselves beck to Kahlan and Zed tomorrow." His mind instantly darted to Kahlan, and how he would dream of her. "Does that sound fair?"
 
Cara pursed her lips into a thin, tight line. This wasn't exactly fantastic, because it still required making camp, but Richard's calculations were correct, and she'd tire out faster if they tried to get back to the others.

"All right," she said reluctantly, "But just this once." Cara really didn't want to, but the prospect of sleep was too tempting, and maybe it'd be better for Richard. He'd probably have a better sleep anyway without Kahlan there. For some strange reason, when an image of Kahlan popped into Cara's head, she felt a tinge of jealousy. What the hell?

"Well, then we'd be better off making camp a little farther away from this stinking place. Closer to Kahlan and Zed though, perhaps, to make our trip a little bit shorter." She shrugged, it was a decent suggestion. Certainly she shouldn't be forced to sleep with the smell of burned corpses.
 
He nodded as he unslung a skein of water from his horse, drawing a few gulps before returning it to its place. He smiled just a little. "Sure. Wouldn't want any disease or anything from the corpses either." He remounted his horse, then waited for Cara to mount as well.

He consulted with a map, divining their location and where they needed to go. He set off, leading Cara back to a trail that would lead them to Zed and Kahlan. "I'm wondering if we should be expecting any more of these banelings. They're a right annoyance." He remarked.
 
"Oh I don't know... I like to kill," she said, giving him a sly smile. "The enemies, of course." Cara added, her smile immediately wiped off from her face. Kicking her horse at its sides she sped off into the distance.

"Whoever arrives there last has to set up the camp!" she yelled back teasingly, silently congratulating herself on her quick thinking. The blonde woman enjoyed the feel of the cold night air whipping past her face. The full moon was high overhead, and the night still had to show her its thrills... and with situation like this, who knew what it included?
 
Richard rolled his eyes, groaning. He kicked his horse to a faster pace, though, meeting her challenge. She might have had a lot of things going for her, but he'd been raised riding horses, and he proved in the long run more apt.

The pulled in to where they'd agreed to camp perhaps an hour or so later, and Richard dismounted quickly, a grin on his face. "Careful how you wager against a farmboy." He teased her.
 
Cara let out a huff of indignation. She crossed her arms, and couldn't help but pout a bit. Obviously Richard Cypher was a capable man, and she liked that, but sometimes he could irritate her to no end. Without thinking she walked up to the Seeker, and couldn't help but smirk.

"All right, all right! You've got me," she admitted, her face just inches from his. She cocked her head and gestured towards the woods behind her. "At least you can help me?" Cara's eyes scanned his face, looking Richard up and down.

Interesting...
 
He rolled his eyes, then reached to grab one of the bedrolls. "Fine, fine." He grumbled, deciding to help her unpack. "Besides, you're a lady and all..." He wouldn't let her do all the work on his own. He'd been raised too right.

Cara certainly was an odd one, he had decided, but she was a useful fighter. But, she was still a Mord-Sith, and those memories still haunted his dreams to this day.
 
Cara let out a small sigh, and studied Richard's actions. For some reason she felt a strange and sudden feeling of attraction towards him. But... it wasn't really sudden at all. She felt like it was already there for a long time, and she had only been distracted when Leo came. Perhaps she only gave in to Leo because he wasn't Kahlan's and she could pretend it was Richard himself. It was hard though, because then Cara had grown feelings for Leo.

Or maybe it wasn't attraction, maybe... maybe it wasn't even something. It could just be a feeling of loyalty and admiration towards him... But something told her it wasn't, that it was something much much more.

She swallowed and began to work, collecting firewood for another fire, but this time it'd keep them warm. She noticed her breath in the cold, and after a large pile of wood was made, she set to work on the fire. In no time at all -- with the help of the agiel -- Cara successfully created a fire, and she stood up to see Richard was probably near finished unpacking.

"I'm going to hunt us some food," she said, averting her gaze. If these feelings were really attraction, then it wouldn't be right to act on them. Especially since Kahlan was a friend, and Richard obviously loved Kahlan. The love here wouldn't be love at all, it would only be lust, and Cara had made a promise to herself about keeping her heart intact.

"Well, I'm off." and with that, the blonde turned to disappear into the woods.
 
Richard watched as she left. His own thoughts had been wandering of late, thinking about the woman he had been travelling with for some time now. He was sure that she was a beautiful woman. Even an idiot could have said that. Though while he still harbored a deep fear, if that was the right word, of the Mord-Sith, Cara was definitely intriguing.

He started a fire, shoving those thoughts to the back of his mind. They'd have to wait until some more appropriate time,when he wasn't alone with her for the next two days and nights. The nights part was what really worried him, though, and he felt a certain stirring within himself.
 
Finding something to eat and kill wasn't terribly hard, and she enjoyed the hunt. It made her feel powerful, and Cara's thoughts had been pushed to the back burner to cool, once she had slaughtered two rabbits, enough for tonight's dinner. Cara didn't grab any animals for tomorrow night. She might need to use the excuse of hunting to avoid Richard when needed.

"Say hello to dinner," she said, dropped the rabbits at Richard's feet. "Obviously I'm not going to cook, I'm horrible at that and you know it."

Suddenly she realized there wasn't much else to do, and Cara knew that if Richard had to cook, then she'd be stuck watching him do work and she did nothing. While the blonde woman relished the idea, she also knew it'd be extremely humiliating.

"Well, anything else you want your slave to do?" she said, cocking an eyebrow at her superior. Cara liked to challenge.
 
Richard rolled his eyes. "All right," He shrugged, and started to prepare the rabbit. He worked methodically on it, guessing it would be a while before it was actually ready. He took out his gear and started to clean the thing.

"No, there isn't anything else." He said. "And you're not my slave." Again, he rolled his eyes. "Something bothering you, Cara?"
 
"Well, then, if you say so," Cara said, cocking a brow. She sighed and collapsed onto a bedroll. The softness and warmth relaxed her, and she let herself drift into a half-sleep. Suddenly she began to dream up the sound of flowing water, as if she were nearby a waterfall... But wait, that wasn't a dream.

"Hey, do you hear that?" The blonde said, breaking the silence as she sat up. "Listen, Richard!" Cara hissed.
 
Richard had been going about cooking the rabbit. He sat up, his head dancing to look around. "What's that?" He furrowed his brow. "I, uh, I don't hear anything." He said.
 
She sighed, frustrated. Tilting her head to listen a bit more intently, the sound of rushing water had vanished, since the crackling of the flames in front of her masked the sound.

"Mmm, it smells delicious," Cara observed, giving Richard a sweet, demure smile. The expression left her face as quickly as it had appeared, and she stood up, stretching. Taking a seat next to her companion, she grinned. "May I have the honor of a taste?"

In the light of the fire, Cara realized the strong, prominent features Richard had. He was handsome, all right, and it didn't do her any well that he seemed oblivious to nearly everything. Ironically, he was the Seeker of Truth, and while he could slash away at tyrant rulers or creatures of the Underworld, the man had seemed to have no real experience with a woman. The Mord-Sith smirked, unconscious that she was positioned so close that she could feel his body warmth.
 
Richard took the rabbit, cut off a piece of it for Cara with his knife, and offered it to her. "Of course," He said, flipping the knife so she could taste the rabbit. He noticed that she had moved closer, and he started to wonder. She was beautiful, he would admit, but there was always the frustrating problem of Kahlan, and that they had not consumated yet.
 
Quirking a brow, Cara picked off the piece, and placed it in her mouth. She savored it for a bit and when she downed it, the girl felt a sense of embarrassment. She was a woman, and yet she didn't know how to cook. Something inside her filled her with a sense of sorrow. If she hadn't been taken by the Mord-Sith as a girl... if she didn't murder her father, and they had all lived as one happy family -- perhaps her mother could have taught her everything she knew. Perhaps at this point she could have had a family of her own.

Then again, she wouldn't have met such a fine man sitting next to her. All alone, and like that -- it was so tempting.

"Richard..." she began, staring into the flames. Cara debated for several moments whether or not to drop the bomb. she decided to head straight to the point. Well, somewhat. "If you and Kahlan aren't allowed to be together, why do you still attempt to have her?" The Mord-Sith fought the urge to smile, and she looked back towards her companion, a questioning expression of interest on her face.
 
He performed a double take as she spoke. "What? Um..." The thought had crossed his mind, but the simple fact of love had kept him from doing anything bold. "Well, it's complicated." He said, really wishing that her face did not simply look so cute as it did right then.
 
Cara bit her lip, preventing a laugh. She had been taught to keep her emotions well tied up, and tonight she had begun to let them loose. No one save for Leo knew how she was during laughter, and no one else in the world would know... perhaps. Richard was so funny, looking so shocked. It wasn't as if it was top-secret information that Cara had uncovered. Obviously she'd notice these things.

"Well, explain," the Mord-Sith replied, the corners of her mouth turning up into a small smile. "We've got tonight, and the next two or three days together."

The blond was about to add "without anyone to interrupt us", but she restrained herself. She didn't want so many things to... be taken out of context and misinterpreted.

But would it even be misinterpretation? Cara herself didn't know.
 
The crickets chirped, filling the void of silence that came between them. Cara took in a deep breath and placed a hand on her companion's shoulder, giving him a slight smile. "Richard, are you all right?" she said, giving his shoulder a slight squeeze.

Suddenly a thought crossed her mind, and she stood up, taking out a dagger. Cara wanted to take the tension and turn it into something useful, that way both of them could relieve the awkwardness they had both felt. Perhaps she could also use this as a chance to see if she could what she wanted.

"Duel?" the blond asked, a sly smile forming on her face. "The food's not going to cool for another ten minutes, we could use the time to practice." The girl cocked an eyebrow, challenging Richard playfully.
 
He furrowed his brow, giving her a level look. "I suppose some sparring would be nice." He said. He lifted the Sword, testing it. "Though this wouldn't be very fair.." He was one of the best swordsmen alive, with the Sword of Truth in his hands.

He stood, setting the rabbit in a bundle and setting it near the fire. "Our standard weapons?" He inquired, wondering if she would use the agiel.
 
Cara didn't want to use the agiel. It pained her to use it, not just physically but emotionally. After all, she had killed her father with the same weapon. She only used it in real battle to defend the Seeker and his purpose, not to mention there was a magical bond that kept her from being separated from the objects.

"I prefer to use nothing but this sword and my skills," she said with a wry smile, as she slid the dagger back into it's sheath, and picked up a spare sword that lay on the ground. It was a sword she had taken from a D'Haran general, and it was made from a fine steel. In the light of the fire it shined bright. Taking a stance, Cara held the weapon in front of her, wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into.

She could just barely notice the Sword of Truth glowing in Richard's hands.

Ha.. she thought, nodding and bringing sword down. The girl already knew he'd be able the block it, but she was curious whether he'd go easy or hard.
 
Richard adopted a a defensive posture, holding his sword low. "All right," He nodded, and started to pace, circling around. When he had first started, his foot work had been atrocious, though he was picking it up. He let his blade dance, licking and parrying the blow, lazily at least.

He would admit, he was interested to see how far she would go. He thrust out, his blade flashing in the dim firelight as it rushed to hack a blow.
 
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