Matthew sighed as he walked through the thick, red Oak. He looked around, seeing life flourish everywhere. From the little builder ant, to the furry red fox that stalked across the path.
The forest itself felt dense, moist, and oddly humid, since it was summer time. He looked around to find a place to sit and look through his equipment . He found a cut down red Oak stump, which was partly covered in a red-ish moss. The moss itself seemed to be sentient, like it had a mind of its own. It moved away from Matthew when he sat down on the stump. He opened up his travel pack and checked over his rations. He had two red apples, a few pieces of bread, and a few raw slices of deer meat.
He pulled out a apple and took a bite out of it. The taste was sweet, but a bit mushy. As he ate the apple, he continued to look through his equipment. He saw his pouch of gold and three rubies, including a few silver pieces. He moved the pouch aside, and saw his sheathed dagger, which had two Nordic symbols on it. Finishing his small meal, Matthew closed his sack and stretched, running a hand through his blond hair before he continued along his trail.
Matthew walked along the forest trail until he got to the Village of Alþjófr. A shady little town off the bank of the rauða, one of the more minor rivers throughout the land. He clutched his satchel close as he passed the pub, which was flooded with various species. Halflings stumbled out drunkenly, while Teflings howled out old drinking songs. He sighed in relief as he passed the pub without being stopped, until someone decided to stop by and mess up his day.
A much shorter figure in a cloak slammed into Matthew and both went sprawling across the dirt street. They both went unnoticed by the people until a patrol man shouted, presumably at the mysterious person, to stop and come quietly. They shoved a small, but weighted bag into Matthew's hands and ran. All the while, their hood obscuring their face.
The officer sped past him and chased after the person's already fleeting figure, their cloak billowing out like a cape. Matthew stood and brushed himself off and slightly opened the bag the person had forced upon him. Inside was a good amount of gold, silver, and a few small random jewels.
The boy shivered, because usually when one had a run-in with a thief, one tended to end up six feet under. Matthew knew it was wrong, but pocketed the oh so obviously stolen goods anyways. Any form of cash was welcome, seeing as he didn't have much.
Matthew closed his eyes and tried to forget that any of that just happened, yet all he could think about was that moment. He slowly walked away from the scene and proceeded to the nearest inn. The entrance to the inn looked like it belonged to a much classier city. It had polished wood walls and waxed pine wood floors. He pulled out his gold pouch and cautiously paid the clerk behind the counter, deciding that it was in his best interest to not argue with the clearly overpriced charge.
As he trekked to his room, he observed that the hallway was covered with various paintings. Some were based on the gods, like Odin and Frigg. Some were of the kings of the five kingdoms. Matthew quickly located his room and proceeded to walk in.
His room was a bit plain to say the least, but a nice mahogany dresser was off to the far corner, and at least it looked nice. The bed was fair enough, though did seem sort of lumpy. That was sure to leave a ache in his back in the morning. There was a small room off to the side he could only assume was the bath, or a closet. And there was a dirtied widow just to the left of the bed. The walls and floors were like those of the lobby, except they weren't as polished and shined.
Matthew was starting to think the lobby was more for show to draw in unknowing tourist and passerbys. Not to mention their coin.
The young boy set his now two bags on the bed and sat down, relieving the pain in his feet from walking for so long. He takes off his shirt, only to reveal a few scars along his back and one across his forearm. They seemed to be more jagged then clean cuts. He yawned lightly as he arched his back, extending his sore muscles.
Matthew laid back onto the lumpy mattress, and could already feel the sore back in his future. Still, he slid under the sheets and did his best to get comfortable. With a exhausted sigh he gladly closed his eyes and felt himself start to drift into a very welcome unconsciousness.
XoXoXoX
Matthew awoke to the loud squeak of the small window opposite of his bed. He laid still as possible to make it seem like he was asleep, when I reality he was waiting for a moment to grab at the dagger in his dresser. He heard almost invisible footsteps that made their way over to his dresser that his back faced. Matthew remembered he put both bags of gold there when he got in bed.
Adrenaline rushed through his veins as he heard the movement of metal coins from one of the sacks. He heard no retreating steps though. Matthew swiftly and quietly snagged his weapon and decided to "toss in his sleep".
He flipped over, keeping the knife concealed, as if he was having a bad dream. There was a sharp intake of breath and Matthew cracked his eyes open just a sliver.
A somewhat familiar figure in a cloak was watching him intently. After a moment's hesitation they scooped up the stolen bag from before, but paused to look into his original stash. Apparently they liked what they saw because they went to slowly scoop that up along with the original loot.
Aw hell naw. Matthew sprung up and pushed the robber against the wall behind them. Their back connected with a heavy thud and their head was jerked, causing the hood to fall off. He leveled his knife next to the robber's throat, his sturdy arm across their chest, pinning them there.
When Matthew finally looked up... Er, down, rather, at the thief he came face to face with green and gold glowing eyes. The owner of the aforementioned feature was a pale, young looking female with long chocolate brown hair that gathered in her cloaks hood. A grin that could almost pass as a smirk was painted across her face as mischief gleaned from eyes that screamed "snake".
"Damn, if being sexy were a crime, you'd be guilty as charged." she purred.
Matthew loosed his grip is shock.
The girl's grin suddenly turned sinister as she swept his feet out from under him. With a cold laugh, she jumped over him and took the bags of cash from the floor. She casually walked over the the window as Matthew groaned in pain.
"Hm. Seems you fallen for me already. Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have places to be." she chuckled darkly before leaping from the window.
Matthew groaned as he slowly gets up off of the floor. He clutched the dagger in anger as he stumbled to the window to see what he had to do to get down. Out of the window there was a small sliver rooftop, but beyond that there was a seven foot drop. He sheathed his dagger as he walked onto the roof. His balance was off as he walked, soon slipping and falling on his back with a thud.
He grunted, looking up at the sky and seeing little moving lights. He couldn't tell if the lights were hallucinations or fireflies, but that wasn't the matter. What mattered was that he got his gold back.
He quickly got up onto his feet and started to walk. The now revealed woman ran, almost to the woods. If she passes the tree line, he'll never find her again.
Her mocking laughter echoed through the empty streets as she picked up her pace, forcing Matthew to pump his legs harder. By now his breathing was labored and he was definitely struggling to keep up.
"Did you forget to put a shirt on or are you just trying to show of your 'rock hard abs'?" She called back sarcastically.
Matthew's face went red, aside from the blood rush, and growled in annoyance. The girl in front of him suddenly skidded to a halt though, and he gained on her quick.
He would soon wish he hadn't.
She was standing with a shocked expression and facing an law officer.
"Heheh. We've got to stop bumping into each other like this..." she grinned nervously. The officer scowled and she glanced over at Matthew before spinning on her heel and sprinting off in the other direction, seemingly not exhausted.
The officer then turned to face Matthew. "You're coming with me." He growled, mistaking him for the girl's accomplice.
Matthew's eyes went wide as he turned and followed after the already fading out of sight thief.
"Hey!" The officer shouted as he began to give chase.
Matthew lost sight of the girl as she turned a corner and disappeared. This didn't last long as a firm hand shot out and dragged him into a alleyway.
A hand covered his mouth before he could scream, and two very familiar yet angry eyes glared into his own. "This is your fault, pretty boy." She spat with venom.
The officer passed the two on the fact they were concealed in the shadows.
The thief snarled in anger once he was gone. "Now the fuzz are gonna be crawling all over this shit town!" She sighed and ran a hand through her messed up mane. Growling, she led Matthew, who was still in a surprised daze, back to his hotel and instructed him to climb back up.
"Why?" He asked, semi regaining his senses.
"You're seriously gonna run like that?" She snarked, looking him up and down with disgust.
Matthew looked down at his bare chest. "Oh."
After some scrambling and very aggravated instructions, Matthew scaled the side of the building and crawled back up into his room. He gathered his belongings (and threw on a shirt), before climbing back down... sort of. He had to have his new acquaintance catch him as he jumped from seven feet, but both agreed never to mention it again.
"Here." She passed him his bag of coin.
Matthew looked up at her questioningly.
"I'm gonna hold the least amount possible if this is gonna happen. You're on the run now too, remember?" She patted his arm. "Besides, a big, strong man like you should be able to handle it, yeah?" She spun on her heel and made her way through the back allies until both of them reached the tree line.
"After you." She bowed low while gesturing towards the woods.
Matthew looked at her hesitantly before entering the previously welcoming forest.