Hunting for Jade (Part 2)

((OOC: This is a continuation of this thread.))

Artimus and Indis continued their charge towards Grorr, where he was certain Jade would be. The road was long and hard, and the new horse didn't take to it as well as Azure would have.
As they travelled they discussed possible attack plans, Artimus was fairly certain where their daughter might be being held.

He had pushed the horse too hard, and they had to stop for a while as it was clearly too tired to continue, so stop they did.

The horse had some time to rest, while Artimus continued to pace around along the side of the road. He was walking with nervous energy. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since the morning, but he had no time for that now.

They were nearly halfway to their destination, on a fork in the road. Their destination lay towards Grorr and the Desert, although the other fork back towards Meriddia. The Meriddia to Grorr road was well used, although they hadn't seen anyone int he first leg of the journey.

As he paced, he saw what appeared to be a pair of riders heading towards them, coming from Grorr. He indicated to Indis. The horse was still resting, eating grass and generally getting it's breath back.

Should we stop them and say hello, or keep quiet and hide?

He had no idea who the people were, they might just be a couple of guards heading into Meriddia on a day off, or some mages back from buying weapons, or anyone.

They might have seen something if they came from Grorr.

He looked at his wife, curious to know what she thought.

~she went in her bag and pulled out a few pieces of jerky. She knew he wouldn't have stopped to eat but had brought things this time. and handed them to him.~

"Here eat these." ~she stood and pet the horse as it was eating some grass. as he mentioned the two riders.~


"Hide." ~she went invisible but art could make out the area she was in. she stood next to the horse keeping it calm as it ate.~

From his position, Artimus could see the riders closing, although he knew they wouldn't be able to see him yet. He took the food, glancing around looking for cover, then having spotted what he needed, he turned to Indis.

Good job you're thinking straight.

He darted off towards some bushes, crouching down and waited until he heard the sound of horses hooves go past him. He remained crouched for a while, to make sure they were out of the way before finally rising and looking back the way they had come. It seemed the travelling party had taken the fork towards Draco.

Mages? he asked, knowing his wife probably got a better look at them.

The horse still wasn't fully rested, and Artimus began pacing once more, eating the last piece of food. At least his stomach was felling better now.

~she nodded~

"Yeah but they didn't seem to happy. Looked like one of them had been roughed up." ~she chuckled there was a few mages she wanted to rough up... and well the top one on her list was the one that took art from her. But she watched as he came back up to the road.~

"Some one causing or ending trouble in Grorr.." ~she chuckled cause art always sid they ended the bar fights.

Artimus failed to spot her joke, he was still frustrated at how long the horse was taking. Every minute that passed was another minute he was away from Jade, and another minute someone could be doing anything to her.

God damn Mages. was all he said, his voice a ball of anger and frustration.

He kept glancing at the horse as it ate, wanting to kick it, or punch it, or... He had to be doing something, dammit!

Finally he stopped his pacing and moved back to the horse.

I can't wait any longer. If this damn thing can't make it all the way then so be it. I should have jumped those mages and taken their horses. This last sentence was said almost as if he forgot she was there.

He got back on the horse, then turned to look at her, offering his hand.

~she looks up at him~
"You sure you want me to come or just call me up when you get there." ~she gave him a look~

~she knew he was worried but getting this upset wasn't going to help anyone.~

He looked at her. She had never refused to go with him anywhere before - either alive or dead! Was this some aftermath from him shouting at her earlier? He didn't have time for this conversation right now!

Fine, I'll call you when I need you. he said, slightly more snappier than he meant it, and touched the pendant.

I love you... he said as he willed her away.

Then he turned the horse and charged once more towards Grorr.

~she vanished back to the library she heard him. she wasn't mad at him just worried about him and jade. and didn't want him going in fighting mad...she didn't want his temper to get him to not think right.~

After several hours, the city starting to emerge on the horizon. Artimus could tell the horse was past it now, it had been slowing for the past few miles, but he continued to push it.
He was angry, frustrated and generally not in the best of moods. Hs daughter had been taken, his wife (so he thought) wanted to argue with him, and this damn horse wasn't obeying his commands.

He had jabbed the creature with his heels so many times it was bleeding, but still it wouldn't go faster!

He was starting to feel hungry again, and wanted nothing more than his wife to help ease the journey and take his mind off things. The earlier part of the trip had been better when she had been there. But no, she wanted to go. He wondered where this would take them. Their first argument. Could he divorce her easily? Well he guessed technically they weren't actually married; no priest or cleric had witnessed their union.
Clerics. Dammit! That was what had started this whole thing. Louis and his bloody fibs!

No, no divorce. All he had to do was take the pendant off, leave it somewhere and never return to Draco. That was easy enough to do.

But what of Jade? Didn't she deserve to see her mother?
Fine, he'd give the pendant to her, on condition she didn't call her while he was around.

If Jade was still alive, that is. Or capable of talking any more. Or even capable of doing anything. Gods, she might have had her hands chopped off by now.

No, those thoughts are NOT good. He shook his head. That damn paranoia was coming back.

She would be fine, he had to tell himself.


He rode through the gates, jumping from the horse and not even bothering to stable it. Let it die on the streets. He jogged down the streets, his eye looking everywhere. He knew which tavern Tiberious would have gone to, if he was hiding in a tavern...

His fists were balls, his eyes ablaze with fury. He needed to.... needed to what?

He stopped for a moment. He wasn't thinking clearly. Not at all. He needed a clear head for this, and there was ony one way he knew to clear his head.

He walked into an alleyway, checking it was empty and touched the pendant, thinking of his wife as the mist swirled once more.

Well, come on then woman. Let's get this over with before it's too late. Slap me or whatever you want to do to work it out of your system. His voice was hard, it was clear his head was jumbled.

~she materialized in front of him she looked worried at him and stepped to him and instead of slapping or hitting him she kissed him. then broke the kiss~

"My captain get your head straight. You always said you can't fight mad. You will loose your focus and one of the most important things in your life is on the line."

~she handed him a few more pieces of jerky.~

"Now you are here take a deep breath. Eat those and fill me in on what you think he will be doing or where." ~she looked around at the buildings.~

He stood there confused for a moment.

Bloody women! He'd never understand them!

I thought you... He shook his head. None of this mattered right now, like she said. He knew it. He had to focus.
Why he always manage to think better when she was around, he had no idea, but he did. She had some sort of calming effect around.

He quickly ran through what he guessed so far.

Right, so. I'm guessing they delivered Jade to Tiberious. I'm also guessing Tiberious took her somewhere other than his house. That would only leave another friends house or a tavern.
Other friends house is out of the question at the moment, too many questions would be asked if it was a really good friend. And Tiberious only has one really good friend who isn't family, and I don't live her.
So tavern is the next guess. Of all the taverns in Grorr, that one over there is his favourite. He has his standards, and always said the others were Artimus drops his voice into a rouch approximation of Tiberious' growl Right old pieces of crap

He smiled as he did the voice - not good enough to fool anyone, but enough so anyone who know Tiberious would recognise it.


He took a deep breath. Indis was right. Never fight mad. He had to keep himself calm.
"It was alright", he told himself. "She isn't far away now, just a few bricks walls between me and her. And she'll be safe. She has to be.

Now, a plan of attack. He fell silent for a moment, blinking.
I haven't got one yet. Give me a minute and I'll think of one.

A mindlink was out of the question. Tiberious would hear it. He was willing to do one in Draco, but that was before he knew the situation. If she was really annoying Tiberious, hearing his voice might send him over the edge. And he didn't want that...

~she lays back on the bed and ml without realizing it.~ "What a day..kidnapped and now held up in this room with a hot guy I might get use to this. Oh damn out of whiskey.That was the best stuff in Grorr."

~she chuckled as he did his tib growl.~

~she walked over and rub his shoulders.~

"It will be ok. now do you want me to go in disguise and have a look around or anything? Just tell me what you want me to do. You know the city better then I do."

Artimus froze as he heard the mind link from Jade.
His first thought was "She IS nearby! I was right!", and a smile crept onto his face, his fear that he was wrong wasjing away from him. Then he realised what it was Jade was saying.

Whiskey? He stared at Indis, his eyes wide, but relief showing on his face.
She's drinking bloody whiskey! With some handsome guy??

He concentrated, keeping his thought to himself to avoid sending a mind link out. Yes, hecould sense her nearby, but not at this tavern. She was at another one!

His standards have slipped, it seems. Artimus said, obviously not making any sense. Come on. I've found her.

He turned and started to head for the right tavern, moving slowly to make sure she was going to come along too and not get left behind - in a literal way.

He realised he wasn't making any sense.

I just got a mindlink from her. I don't think she meant to send it out, she's in a state of pure bliss! I've never felt her feel so happy before! What the hell is he doing to her, apart from feeding her wine?

For all his instincts and skills of deduction, Artimus could someones miss the obvious when it was presented to him.

~she chuckles~

"Whiskey does that really surprise you?"

~and raises an eyebrow at the handsome guy~

"Whos standards on what?" ~she was confused but followed him~


"Pure Bliss...Oh god... you don't think...Hon think about when you had a pure bliss moment..." ~she raised and eyebrow to see if he would get her meaning.~

He stopped in his tracks. Yes, he understood what she was saying.

No.. Oh.. NO! Not.... His hands started going into fists once again.

She wouldn't... No. She wouldn't. Not with a man trying to kidnap her... He might have forced her... NO! He wouldn't!

His eyes were wide as he looked at her.

Just.. trust me, she wouldn't. But deep down he knew, she was her fathers daughter...

(( We did this in IM so you know what happened.))

Louis: The horses trot through the gates at Grorr, louis having slowed them down a few miles back when it became obvious no one was following. He sent a mind link to Tiberious, filling him in on what had happened.
They stopped the horses by the training ground and Louis spotted Tiberious walking over. Tiberious was wearing his casual clothing.
Louis dismounted and pulled the sack off the horse, letting them go to the hands of the stablemaster to recover after their ordeal.
He stood and waited while Tiberious walked over.

Erika: Erika followed and nods to Tib seeing him hopping off her horse handing her over. and walk over and crosses her arms standing.

Jade: Jade tries to kick around in the bag as she is moved.

Tiberious : Tiberious walks over.
"That her?" he says, his voice oozing his usual gruffness. He reaches over and takes the sack, opening it up and looking inside.
"Mmmmm." he says in an approving way, then removes her blindfold.

Jade: Jade looks up and blinks a few times...she thinks to herself...what the hell do they all look alike. yet her thoughts moved hello handsome.. if her life wasn't in trouble...

Tiberious : Tiberious continues looking in the sack, clearly looking at all the bits he can see, which is pretty much all of her. Then he looks at Louis.
"You bring her clothes?"
His eyes flick onto Erika for a moment, looking her up and down, then back to louis.

Louis : Louis shakes his head.
"We didn't have time. Just bundled her in here and brought her over here."

Tiberious: He looks down in the sack.
"She certainly has his eyes." he looks back to Louis and Erika.
"Leave her with me. You two get out of here before Artimus comes tearing down every city on the island looking for her. See if you can't try and bait him somewhere away from here."
He pickes up the sack, leaving her head poking out the top, onto his shoulder.
"Oh, and Erika. It's good to see you again."

Erika: Erika grinned at tib," Its good to see you too." Erika turned to louis. "Lead the way hon."

Jade: Jade look around back in grorr I see..."Am starting to think he might not care what happens hell he left me there alone." she said softly. "Your a trainer here..." ~it was weird she was just talking like nothing was going on...~ "I don't remember seeing you..while I was here."

Louis: He turned from his brother, smiling.
"I guess we make a diversion somewhere. Where do you fancy going?"

Tiberious: Tiberious walked a few paces before answering her, his voice still gruff.
"And I don't remember hearing about a Morningstar in training. Sometimes we never see what we're not looking for."
He walked a few more paces, actually making a smooth ride for her. His voice suddenly went down very low.
"Continue struggling while they can see. Once we're out of sight I'll get you some clothes and untie you. I need to get you back to your father. He'll protect you."

Jade: *she wiggles around. and says," It cause I go by blake my mothers name."

Erika: Erika looks at louis," How about Draco? The mages could be fun to toy with."
Louis: He nods.
"We'll get fresh horses and head out then. "

Tiberious : Tiberious nods slightly as he takes them round a corner, between two small houses.
"Listen to me, I need you to trust me. I know you don't right now and you have no cause to, but I need to close the sack up and you have to remain silent. Do you understand?"

Jade: Jades eyes met with his and she looked at him for a moment taking in his features. and then nodded. "Yes."

Tiberious : He pulls out a small knife that just seems to appear in his hand and he leans into the sack, slicing the bonds on her elbows and wrists.
"I know you won't run away wearing only your underwear, and you know I trust you enough not to try and do it anyway."
He turned and started to walk away.

Jade: jade nodded and just sat quiet. She watched what he did carefully.

Tiberious : As he walked away the knife just seemed to blend away somewhere on him. His actions were fast and fluidic - clearly well practiced.
He walked out of view and into a shop to buy a dress, glaring at the shopkeeper as she tried to suggest larger sizes for someone of his size. He was NOT amused.
Then he walked back round, hoping he'd still find her waiting.

Jade: Jade sat there her ribs were killing her she winced as she moved around. and was wondering if she had a black eye or not. Her dirty blonde hair was a mess from being in the bag.

Tiberious: He walked over to her, glad she was still there. He held the dress out for her.
"You might need this."
It was a shortish black dress with short sleeves and a tight fitting middle, covering her thighs down to her knees.
"I didn't know your size, so i had to guess."

Tiberious: Jade she raised an eyebrow at the dress. "Thank you." ~she smiles softly and held the dress up to her. "I would say that was a pretty good guess."

Jade: ~she stood up and held the dress up against her and she slid it down and putting it on it fit like a glove~ "very nicely done."

Tiberious : He smiled - a very faint smile.
"Let's go get you cleaned up somewhere." He started to lead her down a road and towards a tavern.
"I'll get you a room here so you can fresh up. You want a drink?"

Jade: God yes I could use some whiskey.
she smiled softly. she ran her hand thru her hair getting it not to stick up so much.

Tiberious : "Whiskey? You really are your father daughter. I just hope you can handle it better than he can. Three drops of the stuff and he's off talking about pixies and unicorns."
He held the door open for her, looking around inside. He spotted a few people he knew, this was Grorr after all.
Oh yes, let them see him with this girl.

Jade: *she smiled* Yes I can drink him under the table. *she gives him the grin. and walked inside*

Tiberious : "Oh, a challenge?" he said softly. Well, softly for him.
He walked to the bar and spoke to the tavernowner, gaining a set of door keys and a large bottle of whiskey in exchange for some money. He turned to her and started off up the stairs to the room, unlocking the door and walking in.

Jade: Jade follows him up to the room and walks around the room checking it out for anything out of habit. She see the large bottle of whiskey. "So a drinking game?" she flashes the grin.

Tiberious : "A game?" he says, tilting his head on one side.
He recognised that grin, but it looked strange seeing it on a girl.
"No, i just thought you might need a drink to calm yourself down. From what i hear you've had a busy day."
"You trust me, yes?"

Jade: Yes for now I do. ~she walked over to the mirror to look at her face.~ "hmm not to bad..am surprised i don't have a black eye. Erika hit me in the face." ~she ran her hands over the dress and was looking at herself. man this dress doesn't hide anything she thought. She stops looking at herself and walks over to Tib.~ "Look ok?" ~she smiled~

Tiberious : "Apart from your messed up hair, you like fine.if you weren't my friends daughter..."
he shook his head and poured out a shot of whiskey for them both into the glasses that he took from the bar. He picked them up and handed one over.

Jade: Jade smiled and took the shot glass and downed it. "So if I wasn't his daughter what?" she looked at him and took the bottle and poured another shot.

Tiberious : He downed the shot and gave a small laugh
"You wouldn't be in that dress right now. " he took the second one and downed that took.
"But you are, so you are."

Jade: Jade makes a face. "Well how fair is that to hold that against me." ~she pours them a few more shots. and downs it.~

Tiberious : He downs his shots.
"I can easily rip that dress off you, if you want."
he didn't sound like he was kidding.

Jade: Jade grinned and pours another shot. "Do you see me running?" ~she downs the shot~

Tiberious : He narrows his eyes, knocking back another one.
"If you're serious then you won't want me to manhandle you. You can take it off yourself."
Unless she did want to be manhandled. He just had to forget who she was. That was all.

Jade: Jade flashed that cocky grin," After the day I had you can manhandled me all you want handsome."

Tiberious: ((Aww, she has her fathers seduction technique! So, they.. know you..

Jade: ((Yep))

Tiberious : ((You realise Art is going to be one REALLY annoyed man ))

Jade: ((yes and jade is mad him for leaving her ))

Captain : ((Some time later)) "So, I better get you cleaned up and back to your home. Where are you staying?" He got up and poured another shot of whiskey, hading it to her.

Jade: "You going to help with the clean up?" ~she took the shot and knocked it back~

Tiberious : "Yes, i could help with the clean up. I think there's a water trough outside i could throw you in."

Jade: ~she grins~ " Oh that would go over well me thrown naked in a water trough then walking naked thru town.

Tiberious : He shrugged slighty.
"It's a long walk back to Draco for you, but if you want to try it naked...."
As ever with him, you could never tell when he was joking.

Jade:. Draco.. I am not staying in draco...Actually out in the forest.

Tiberious : He sat up more.
"In the forest? With your dad? Isn't it cold?"

Jade: Sure its cold and yes with dad. its great under the stars. I lived her in grorr for a while. I was staying in the castle. but then dad had come back here and he said he would train me.

Tiberious : "Anywhere particular in the forest, or a different part each night? And.. your dad is a good trainer. Maybe not as good as me, but not bad."

Jade: She smiled at him,"I wish i could of trained with you I would have done things differently.. instead of hide everything. Theres a lake in the forest we stay around it so i can train my ablities..." she trailed off... crud I shouldn't have said that..

Tiberious : He seemed to ignore the last bit, deep in thought. He got up off the bed and poured another round of drinks.

Jade: she watched him get up. and then layed back in the bed looking at the ceiling.

Tiberious: He looked over at her, handing her another whiskey

Jade: " Thanks." ~she held it for a bit then downed it.~ "Damn who knew today was going to be this way."

Tiberious : "You start off going to visit friends, get involved in a kidnapping ring and then lose your viginity. So, Louis never said who it was you were on your way to see."

Jade: no he didn't. And at this moment in time Art can look for me. He left me there.. mom was there but cause he left she disappeared.

Jade: ((oh she called him art))

Tiberious : ((Delibrate?))

Jade: (( yes she is mad at him so he is art not dad))

Tiberious : (Ohhh - nasty! ))
He noticed the way she called him Art.
"You think he abandonded you? You could always stay here with me. I can tell Louis where he is and make him pay...."

Jade: it wouldn't surprise me if he did. i mean look what he did to mom and you guys. why not me. hell he didn't know about me until a few weeks ago when he got back.

Tiberious : He nodded his head
"Yeah, the place changed when he left. I'm now stuck babysitting the wannabe grunts and meatheads. NOT what i signed up for."
His voice had changed once again, he was back to sounding like he had when she had first seen him.

Jade: yeah i can imagine I heard you were a royal guard right? then the changing of hands must have not been a good thing. You know that my mom died at the library. but some how Art as a way to bring her to him. No idea how am not aloud to know i guess.
I started my training here...but I never actually try my best cause i wasn't sure how people would think of me being whose daughter am so I went by Blake instead of the other.

Tiberious : He nodded.
"Art always liked to keep his secrets. He felt it gave him the edge over anyone else. He is very paranoid, and if he's got a way of bringing someone to him quickly he'll likely keep that secret to his grave. And as for you training here - I knew someone called Blake was here, but to be honest i thought nothing of it."
"Sure some of us speculated - we all know how he was - but when you didn't start lighting up the board we all just assumed that maybe. You know..
He didn't want to say that he thought her mother might have been sleeping around as well.

Jade: ~pulled the bedsheet around her as she got up to get another whiskey and found the bottle almost empty~

Tiberious : He noticed the whiskey bottle was almost empty, and got dressed. "I'll go get another top up."

~she saw him get mad again. as his hands went to fists.~

~she watched his reaction as he talked she knew he knew what jade done. and decided to not push things.~


"Ok well just keep it in control honey. Maybe he will go get more whiskey or take her down to get some. We should keep an eye on things. Shall we go in? " ~she pulled a cloak out of her bag and handed to him. as she flickered out and back in as a traveler with cloak around herself and she made sure not to make green eyes. and did a nice hazel her hair was red instead of brown and she was wearing earthy colors. she smiled at her husband.~

Artimus pulled the cloak around him, pulling the hood up.

I must find a better disguise he said, almost to himself. Not that he was ungrateful for her having brought it along; he hadn't thought about one, having been in a bit of a rush most of the day. But this disguise was getting old now. Still, he hadn't used it in Grorr yet.

He watched Indis as she changed form, keeping a close eye on her eyes. Not green. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or not over that one.

He was still on edge, and had been since leaving Salarain. He knew deep down he should try and calm down. What was the lesson he had taught Jade? He needed to calm him mind, think happy thoughts. Unicorns and rainbows and things like that.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. A unicorn skipping over a rainbow. A rainbow made of browns and greens. A yellow Unicorn. Yes. He opened his eyes, looking at Indis.

The yellow unicorn is dancing!

And he turned to enter the tavern.

~she raised an eyebrow at art~
"Yellow unicorn? why yellow..? are you drunk again?" ~she followed in after him a few steps behind not looking she was with him and walked up to the barkeep.~

"Red wine please."

~Tiberious finished pulling his shirt on, leaving half of it unbuttoned, then left the room. He didn't glance back at the girl, and as he closed the door behind him, he took the key out of his pocket and locked the door. Just to make sure. He was pretty sure he had her eating out of his hand right now, but if she was tricky as her father....~

~He headed down stairs into the main area, moving to the bar and standing next to some woman with red hair. He glanced sideways at her, then looked over to the tavern owner~

Artimus swaggered into the tavern, leaning against a wall to look around. he spotted Tiberious walking down some stairs and going to the bar, so he took advantage of the distraction to go up the stairs himself. He slowly walked along the row of doors until he could sense Jade, then turned the knob slowly.

It was locked.

Dammit, what had that bastard done to her?

He crouched down and started to pick the lock of the door.

~she looked over to the man that came down. helloo Tiberious she grinned. She pulled off her cloak to reveal a very sexy low cut green shirt with tight leather pants~

"Hello sexy. You wouldn't happen to want to show a woman a good time would you?" ~she ran her hand up Tibs arm. and watched him smiling a sexy smile at him~

~she watched him as he left and heard the lock and chuckled.~

"I better get dressed." ~she got up with the sheet wrapped around her and then heard someone at the door messing with the lock. She grabbed the water pitcher and stood by the door. the sheet wrapped around her like a toga. And she waited.~

~He was indeed looking at the woman at the bar. This could be his lucky night.~

"Hello. You must be new in town. Come to train or watch?"

~His voice was smooth - well, smooth for Tiberious~