The Dragon Slayer's Princess (Javorcek X Dame Ghost)

[Javorcek]

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Good God in heaven, are we there yet?!?!

Stuck inside of her own head with no one else to talk to, Danika felt as though she were slowly going insane. It had been days since she had seen another human being on the road, the novelty of talking to her horse had long worn off, and the nights were growing longer, giving her hours of free time that she didn’t want or need. She could entirely understand why solitary confinement was a punishment used to break the wills of men.

Just one more day…one more day… The reminder that she would be nearing a town helped pick up her spirits. As a knight under the good King William of Berges, Danika had been on this patrol before. She knew this road like the back of her hand. Her route wound along the outskirts of Berges, through the Crooked Forest, along the Dravus River that separated Berges and Argis, and then following a branch of that river in towards the city.

Usually Dani loved the freedom of the open road, it was just that it could grow a little lonely sometimes. But there was no other life that she could lead; she found the city with it’s high walls and thousands of people far too confining. And farm life was entirely out of the question, it was just too monotonous in the fields. No, the freedom of the road and the excitement of fighting bandits was definitely the life for her. And after years spent as a slave, having to obey the orders of a lesser man, she deserved this life.

“Abastor! Come on!” Dani pleaded to the massive black percheron that she rode. At this rate, she’d be traveling for two more days instead of one! “Gah…your namesake was supposed to be able to outrun the stars! Why can you not live up to your name?!” The horse gave a disgruntled snort and seemed to slow down even further, making Danika groan. “Fine…when we get to town, you can’t have any apples.” The young knight huffed. Because her bargaining with her horse was not getting her anywhere, she knew that she would just have to set up camp soon and try to make up the time in the morning.

 

[Dame Ghost]

The woman hummed quietly to herself as she watched the small fire flicker. A simple, dark green cloak obscuring her body from view as the smell of roasting meat wafted through the air around her. She'd always enjoyed moments like these. The low crackling of the wood, the slight hiss as the juices from the meat dripped into the fire, the sound of rustling leaves surrounding her. It was peaceful in it's way.

She'd never really found nights such as these lonely. While she wouldn't be against some company, she just always felt more safe surrounded by nature than she ever had in the city. In a variety of ways, she was glad she left. Even if she pissed everyone off in doing so. But sometimes one has to live life for oneself. Selfish she knew, but it was hard to be selfless sometimes.

Her humming was replaced with a sigh as she leaned farther forward, staring past the fire to nothing in particular, listening to the world around her. She'd set up a small ring of tried sticks and twigs around her incase anyone actually was out here. She knew a good woodsman would be able to walk right past without making a sound, but few people were good woodsman, and fewer were woodsmen bandits. While she felt safe out in the wild, she knew very much that she wasn't. Just as she knew walking the streets of a city at night wasn't safe. No point in not putting up a few safety features.

That and most people left her alone when she pointed her crossbow at them. The well-worn wood and dull metal looked fairly menacing in any light, unfortunately, it had taken most of her savings to buy the weapon. A good, sturdy crossbow could cost as much as a decent horse, and she was never one to buy cheap weaponry. She snorted at the thought, nudging the stick holding her rabbit slightly with her foot. The fire hissed as meat drippings fell into the fire. Everything she had on her was well made. Plain, but well made and sturdy.

She leaned across the crossbow in her lap and picked up the stick with the rabbit on the end, setting in just so on a pair of rocks next to her. It kept the rabbit off the ground as well as letting it cool. Now if only she had something else to eat with the rabbit. Sadly, she had depleted her trail rations a couple of days ago on the simple fact that she had forgotten to buy more in the last town.

 

[Javorcek]

It was tempting to not push themselves on further when they were so close to their goal: a warm, comfy bed... Perhaps if we ride all through night, Abastor and I would be at the next town before lunch time tomorrow. As appealing as the idea of a delicious steak for lunch and someone to talk to other than her horse was, if they kept going, Dani would be exhausted and unable to defend herself should trouble arise. No, they had better set up camp soon. Dusk was already beginning to fall, and in the distance she could see that someone else had decided to set up camp.

"Ho there!" Dani called to the cloaked stranger. Her voice was rough from lack of use, and it would be easy for her to be confused for a man with her vocal cords doing such strange things and her helmet and armor hiding any shred of femininity she may have. In her experience, it was better to announce herself and give away her position rather than inadvertently sneak up on someone and get a surprise knife thrown at her. Travelers tended to be a little more welcoming to a member of the king's army as long as they didn't seem to pose a threat. And sure enough, Dani's tabard would tell anyone from this kingdom just who she worked for. For a moment, it crossed her mind that she may just be walking into some sort of trap; but a single traveler did not scare her. Besides, if this stranger had more people hiding in the brush in ambush, then it would be Dani's duty to flush them out and dispatch of the bandits anyways.

As they approached, she noticed the ring of sticks as Abastor began snapping them as he walked over them, alerting everyone and their mother that the pair of them were here. Very clever... She mused as she neared the traveler, noticing the crossbow immediately. But still, Danika appeared unphased by the weapon, after all, even travelers needed weapons. Besides, no one would shoot at Abastor, because such a magnificent warhorse was worth quite a bit of gold. And no one would shoot at her, because she was covered from head to toe in armor.

"Good evenin' traveler. Would you wish for the guardianship of one of the King's knights this evening? There is safety in numbers after all."

 

[Dame Ghost]

Smiling and humming lightly, the woman was lost in thought. Thoughts about music, dances, swirling dresses and long coats, swaying trees and rustling leaves, all accompanied by the crackling hiss of a bonfire. Now that was a party. Not the spectacular balls, with everyone conniving and backstabbing, where people were just there to be seen. The ball itself an opulent expenditure simple to show that the hosts had the money.

No, it was the smiling faces and both the tittering and unquenched laughter that made a true party. When people were enjoying themselves, not calculating the newest way to make even more money. She smiled as she remembered the music, her hand dancing across her fiddle. The light Ho There! as sh- Wait. That wasn't right.

Frowning, she turned her head to the sound, the gentle susurrus of the wind blowing through the forest. Dirt and leaves crunched slightly underfoot as she stood and watched the stranger approach, her crossbow held down and at her side, partially hidden by her cloak. SHe paused a moment, focusing on the stranger through the encroaching dark. Fortunately, the tabard was familiar to her. Annoyingly familiar in fact.

A knight in her father and mother's service. Wonderful. She doubted she would be recognized. Not with her hair the way it was, and the years since she'd been gone smoothing her face from people's minds. Plus, what kind of princess had a nose piercing? That and the rumors were still abound that she had been kidnapped in the dead of night. No one would think to find her on the side of the road, playing the part of the traveling minstrel.

The thought eased her worry some as the knight reached her circle of sticks, whereupon the woman waved in greeting.

That's a big horse. She thought idly as the knight neared and spoke. She smiled in response and gave a slight bow, twitching her cloak out behind her in a simple flourish befitting the rank of Knight. She'd always been good at remembering etiquette. Now, to see how real this Knight was.

"Greeting Sir Knight," She began, her voice somewhere in the line of a young man's or a young woman's, "I do kindly accept your company. I believe my meal has just finished cooking. Perhaps you would wish to partake?" She asked almost formally. It was a simple rule really, and one surprisingly few travelers knew. If offered food, ask simply for water instead, if offered food again, graciously accept or decline of your own inclination.

 

[Javorcek]

Dani was pretty good at remembering faces. Whenever she finished her loop that went around the outskirts of Berges and then back into the city, she would be introduced to all sorts of sketches and paintings of infamous ne’er-do-wells. Even though she could barely make out the features of the figure before her, she had seen the soft swell of feminine hips. There were few women criminals; even fewer with red hair and a pierced nose. The stranger was armed, yes, but she wasn’t shooting at her, so that was a plus.

“Please, do not bow.” Danika’s voice was thick and raspy from under-use, making her sound much more masculine than she usually did. But with a soft cough and a clearing of her throat, she managed to right her voice back into the low but feminine register that she was used to hearing. “I am but a mere servant of our king.” Dani was confident in her abilities and deserving of her title as Knight, but she was a humble young woman. She had spent much of her life as a slave and it still made her feel uncomfortable when people started showing her the reverence that came with her station. “And no Sir Knight, if you wouldn’t mind humoring me. Call me Dani, I insist.” Danika smiled a little bit, something that was hidden with her helmet on. And speaking of that damn helmet… Now that she knew that she was in the presence of another female, she was going to take the heavy thing off. Even though it was doing an excellent job of keeping her head warm, wearing it all day was starting to wear on her neck.

“No, thank you for the offer of food, traveler.” Etiquette was such a silly thing, these complex, laborious dances of manners and niceties. Even out here in the middle of the woods, there was no escaping these masks of politeness that they all had to bear. “I would love some water though, if you have any to spare.”

Once her and Abastor were within the stranger’s camp, Danika dismounted her horse and walked the massive beast towards a tree so that she could strip him off his burden and give him a proper rest. “If you insist on offering me food however, I do have some rations left if you would like to trade. I even have an apple and some fresh berries if you are tired of jerky.” Abastor’s ears perked at the word ‘apple’ and he immediately began trying to stick his massive nose into the leather bags that Danika had unbuckled from him, trying to find the treat that he knew must be in one of them.

“No! There are no treats for you. You wished to move at a snail’s pace all day. Go eat your grass.” Danika chided as she took out a length of rope so that she could tie Abastor’s bridle to a tree so that he’d have plenty of room to graze. Then, feeling as though she probably looked mad talking to a horse, she quickly added for the stranger’s benefit. “Eheh… He’s quite bright…for a horse..."

 

[Dame Ghost]

The woman smirked as she took a step back, letting the the ligh of the small fire flicker to her face. "I'm afraid it's a bit late to ask me not to bow, as it appears I have already done so." She said as she moved, humor evident in her voice.

She watched as the armour clad woman went about her business, obviously knowing what she was doing. The knight seemed a tad uncomfortable by the way that the minstrel was acting. Odd for a knight. Smiling an easy smile, the woman decided to tone back the formalities. They were afterall in a camp, and you don't need to be overly formal in such situations. Plus, she was just a traveling minstrel, she was supposed to be all carefree or something. Of course, she was also supposed to steal babies, but you can't believe all the rumors.

"Of course... Dani?" She said in the half asking way of someone memorizing a name. "I am called Ana, a minstrel of no particular note." She continued, her arms behinning the motion of a bow before she somewhat jerkily stopped herself. "Ah, right, no bowing." This time she grinned, "And come now, if there is to be no bowing, let us discard this showing of ettiquette! We're what? A day or so from the town? I'm sure we can simply share what edible provisions we have! No need for trading."

She began settling back down, poking the cooking meat with a finger before setting her crossbow beside her, "It's just about ready as it is." She called out behind her. She had to admit, she was rather excited to have a guest. Even a Knight. Gave her someone to talk to other than her fiddle. She smiled as Dani spoke to her horse as Ana thought of her fiddle. She turned slightly, to fully face Dani as she spoke, "Oh, don't worry about that. I'm not aloud to judge. I speak to inanimate objects."