A Day For The Future - Open -

[Gavin Bates]

Whispers had been circulating around various villages throughout Nottingham about the fair to be held in Knighton - the masquerade fair, the one to introduce the new lord to the masses and show off the pomp and grandeur of the upper class once more.

Gavin hadn't been impressed, until now. The man, Mannering or something, could certainly talk up a storm, and he wasn't one to pass up free food on the one day he could be "alive" again. He'd snuck into the crowd and knocked out a random villager around his size, stolen the man's costume and began wandering round the village, nodding kindly at anyone looking his way and pocketing whatever his itching, thieving fingers found. Already he’d scored quite a few heavy purses and even managed to steal one woman’s pretty little necklace.

He knew he should have told the gang where he was going, but he was sick of them breathing down his neck. One of these days, he was going to leave them for good, perhaps start his own gang… No, he wanted to be alone, work for himself, keep the loot for himself. He didn’t understand the mindset of those so called outlaws - Hood’s gang. What was the point? They made no difference - the Sheriff just taxed the villagers more to make up for whatever he lost to Hood anyway. It would be more beneficial for the man to simply keep his money, kill the Sheriff and take the position of power for himself. It’s what Gavin would have done, anyway, but then he didn’t really have any morals to speak of.

He wandered over to the refreshments, ignoring the end of the lord’s speech, and helped himself to some chicken. He missed good food; despite their business, the gang didn’t have a good source of food and ate a lot of berries. He missed his meat - it was the meal of men, and he was sick of feeling like a weakling.

He was sick of a lot of things.

He took a swig of ale - not watered down, he was surprised to find - and smiled. Today was a day for him. He could hide his loot somewhere, begin to make a stash so he could leave the gang when he had enough. He didn’t want to rely on them forever, after all.

Today was a day to plan his future.

[Daine Merton]

Daine hadn't noticed until a man shoved his way through the crowd around her that her necklace had gone. She'd just been on her way to the seat she was supposed to be occupying, the one next to her brother, when she'd felt something cold at her neck.

At first she thought it had been her hair, the longer strands dangling down from the mass she'd somehow managed to pin up, tickling her neck. Though when she'd gone to brush them away there was nothing there - which worried her. Instantly a hand had gone to the locket that hung around her throat. When her hand had only made contact with skin, she'd searched the crowd.

Then she saw him, a peasant with a stride that was all a little too purposeful. She scowled beneath the green mask, decorated with sequenes around the eyes, which covered all but the bottom right corner of her face. Hitching her emerald skirt, trying to grab a few under-skirts at the same time, she pursued the man who she suspected to be the theif.

It was a foolish endeavour, but that necklace meant a lot to her and she didn't want to see it in the hands of a petty theif that uses fairs as a 'booty call'. Her brows knotted beneath the mask as she grew closer, determintion evident even in the small section of her face on show.

She'd all but reached him when she let go of the skirts and extended an arm to tap this man's shoulder. A brief plan flashed in her mind just before her hand came into contact with the man. It was no use jumping straight in with an acusation, but she felt so angry. Angry at herself for getting her mother's necklace stolen and angry at the man for stealing it - if he'd stolen it. Though she was pretty sure of that, his purse seemed fuller than most's.

"Excuse me? I want to talk to you." She said, making sure she got his attention. In a crowded place like this a purposeful tap could easily be mistaken for knocking into someone.

[Gavin Bates]

And today was going so well… Gavin sighed mentally as he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned, ready to fight off some annoying man or perhaps even a guard, and was slightly stunned to see a woman before him.

Well, this was new.

He couldn’t completely tell from the mask covering her face, but she seemed pretty enough, and she was clearly going to be a challenge if she had the nerve so many of her fellow women lacked; the nerve to approach a man. He was so sick of all these delicate idiots who didn’t have enough courage or wit to scare a dog, let alone speak up about anything.

He took her in quickly; dressed all in green, the mask was a bit wonky (possibly from her trying to catch up to him) – oh, she was the one he nicked the locket off. The noblewoman next to the poncey twit, heading up to the damn stands. He hated nobles. Men or women, they were as bad as each other.

He considered simply turning away again, but decided this could be fun. It was so dull being a dead man, after all.

He gave her a grin, made sure she noticed as he looked her up and down, eyes lingering in certain areas suggestively. He placed a hand on his hip, shifted his weight to his left leg.

”Well, well. What does a pretty little thing like you want with me?” He pretended to look at the people surrounding them, and turned to grin at her again. ”Nice ladies like you shouldn’t be allowed out and about without an escort.” He leaned in slightly, whispered in her ear. ”They say there’s outlaws about in Knighton. You might be stolen away, pretty little gem like you.”

(OOC - omg why do I keep picking/making characters who are complete arseholes/think they're god's gift? I CAN'T FLIRT DAMMIT! XD;; )

[Daine Merton]

Daine resisted every temptation to scowl when he looked her up and down - God how she hated that. It was as if she were a statue there soley for people to assess and gawp at. Instead she pouted and adjusted her mask so it sat comfortably on her face once again.

”Well, well. What does a pretty little thing like you want with me? Nice ladies like you shouldn’t be allowed out and about without an escort.” She rolled her eyes when he looked around, what was it with men at the moment - first Sebastian and now this guy! He was a peasant, possibly even one of the outlaws he spoke about in her ear.

She curved her lips up into a slight smile as she pushed him away from her ear. "I want what you took from me. And I want it now." She said with nothing in her voice to give away hoe she was truely feeling. She acted as though she had nerves of steel, when in truth she was quite scared. This man could snap her like a tiwg. He had a weathered air about him and looked quite rough, as if he'd been fendigng for himself for too long. Yes, he coud definitely snap her.

She stared at him with cold eyes, daring him to give it back without any hiccoughs. Though the likelyhood of that happening was very slim. Daine shifted her foot inside her boot, feeling the little knife stowed away in there. Since their unexpected visitor she'd had that knife with her - just in case she needed it. She never thought she would, but then again she never thought she'd let her locket get stolen from around her neck either.

She held out her hand expectantly, never once taking her eyes off the theif.

[Gavin Bates]

Ah, she was one of these ‘tough’ women, eh? Gavin wasn’t sure if he liked the amount of independent and forthright women Nottingham seemed to be in the habit of spawning. Oh, some of them hid it well enough, behind pretty smiles and little curtsies, but most of the women seemed to think they had a right to be treated like men, even if they weren’t treated so. Gavin didn’t agree with this. Women helped their fathers and their husbands, and did what they were told. That was their role, along with raising kids (but he hated thinking about that because he hated children).

He smirked when she pushed him away. Oh, tough little girl. He couldn’t tell if she was actually as confident as she seemed, but he knew she shouldn’t be - what were the chances of her beating him? Sure, with weaponry, like a sword, perhaps - she may have been trained by her father, who could be anything from a blacksmith to the King of England amongst this crowd, but that was completely beside the point. In fisticuffs, it was all about the strength and speed of you and your opponent. Gavin knew he was fast, and he knew he was stronger than her. He had nothing to worry about, so why spend any longer playing along? Besides, she didn’t know anything for sure - without being able to wrangle the locket from him, she had no proof.

Although, he realised, if he’d been caught out by this woman, he probably ought to leave before a guard noticed his activities (he was positive there were some on duty guards around the area, he just hadn’t figured out who was who yet). He’d gotten a good haul in.

”I’m sorry ma’am but I think you’ve got the wrong person. Not so hard, in this crowd, but you might want to go find your friend somewhere else.”

He took the hand she’d put out in demand for her items, and turned it over, kissed the back, and grinned at her, before straightening up and finishing. ”Have a good day, now.”

[Daine Merton]

”I’m sorry ma’am but I think you’ve got the wrong person. Not so hard, in this crowd, but you might want to go find your friend somewhere else.”

Daine scowled, letting all pleasantries slide. "Now I don't think that's quite true." She glared at him, never taking her eyes off him as he kissed the back of her hand. Anticipating his next move to get away, she grabbed hold of his wrists being sure to pinch him as she held on tight.

She pulled him closer, letting him know she wasn't as weak as she looked. "Now, there is no denying that you are a theif. I only want my locket back. I'll let you go and won't tell the guards about you. But..." She pinched his wrist harder and added a cold edge to her voice. "Harm me now and run, I send a whole troupe of guards after you. I know your face. So it's better for you if you just give me my necklace back."

She smirked at him, hoping that she'd trapped him. But there was always the option of him snapping her - one she hoped he wouldn't take. She didn't condone stealing, and she considered sending the guards after him anyway. It went against her nature to doublecross, but this man had stolen from her and probably half the fair.

"So what's it going to be, sir?" She said, a hint of sarcasm on the sir. She was enjoying this a little too much, her brother's snidey ways must be rubbing off on her. She would have to change that!

(ooc - that's not too Godmodish is it?)

[Gavin Bates]

Gavin winced slightly; the woman had a stronger grip than he’d anticipated, and he let them stay like that for a minute, contemplating his next move. She really thought she had him there, didn’t she? But what could the guards do with a face? There were plenty of guys around that looked like him; he wasn’t exactly handsome and he certainly didn’t have any distinguishing features, so that wouldn’t aid them. She would barely be heard above the throng of people in the crowd at the moment, and most of the other villagers would be too afraid of getting stabbed or something to try and aid her, lady or not. He was somewhat amused that; he wondered if he could tame her. She certainly needed teaching that she was not a man and shouldn’t try to act like one.

He broke her grasp and took hold of her wrist, using the same pincer grip she had on him, but he didn’t mind if he ended up breaking a bone or two in the process. It would serve the little bitch right. He smirked, ran his eyes up and down her body again. Interesting.

”I tell you what, my lady,” he said, using the same mocking tone. ”I’ve got a better idea.”

He brought out a small dagger from his belt, hidden beneath his shirt, with his spare hand, and made to stab her in the gut. He’d be out of there before anyone noticed.

[Daine Merton]

Pain raced through Daine's arm and her mouth opened though she fought the cry of pain - she mustn't seem weak. Though he had proved in the simple action of mirroring her move that he was stronger and more expierenced in a fight. She kicked herself for her stupidity. If he'd have stolen anything else she wouldn't have gone after him. Why did he have to go for the necklace?

She scowled at him, but the scowl quickly turned to fear when he pulled out the dagger. She was stupid for following him, she was really stupid. Of course he was armed.

What happened next was all a blur. She knew she had to move - otherwise she'd surely die from a stab wound to the gut. She lifted her knee and kicked him in the groin. She felt her knee connect with him, but the dagger had still got her.

Pain shot up from her thigh as blood quickly seeped through, staining her dress. She let out a cry and grabbed the theif's shirt to steady herself. A manic glare was flashed in his direction as she tried to cope with the pain by gritting her teeth. "You... are a... dead man for this." She managed to get that much out before screaming once again.

She tried to shift her weight but ended up stumbling. Had her fingers not been locked around his shirt, Daine surely would have tumbled to the floor. She took in a sharp breath and gasped as the pain got too much. Her head started to swim, making her dizzy. Sounds were both distant and close; and her vision blurred, though the theif was still in focus.

She couldn't move, save her arm and mouth. Daine's free hand, the one not gripping onto the stranger, went to her wound. The dagger wasn't embedded into her thigh - thankfully - and she clamped her hand down onto the cut. Pain roared through her leg but it subsided slightly after the initial contact. Her hand soon turned bright crimson, the blood warm to the touch.

She tried to look for the dagger, but the images before her moved on their own accord. The pain! It was too much! She had to get someone's attention for she passed out, or the job was finished. "He..Help!" She continued to cry, voice varying in strength. She could ony pray it was enough.

[nathanielwood]

Nathaniel was pretty preoccupied stuffing his face with as much food as he could. He was sure he'd eaten at least a loaf of bread by now, and he didn't think he could even name the number of roasted meats he'd sampled. He washed his latest mouthful down with another swig of mead, relishing in the warm and fuzzy feeling of being well fed and slightly tipsy.

Over in the crowd there was a commotion. Nate looked up interested, he always had one eye out for trouble and a way for him and Theo to get involved. He nudged his twin in the ribs and motioned in the general direction of the noise then wandered off, not waiting to see if Theodore would follow as he knew he would. Elbowing his way through the crowd with practised ease he quickly reached the source of the disturbance.

It turned out to be a young noblewoman who had a grip on some peasant's shirt. She looked rather pale and the man had a particularly nasty expression on his face. In a split second Nate decided that anyone who looked so shady couldn't be up to anything good. He started forwards, ready come to the lady's aid, and wondered why nobody had rushed to help her already. Then he saw the knife, the blade red with blood, and he realised why the other people in the crowd were choosing this moment to turn a blind eye.

With what must have been the chivalry of too much alcohol he decided that since he was already moving he might as well complete the tackle. "OI!" He grunted loudly and barrelled into the man, breaking the lady's grasp on his shirt and they fell to the ground. He landed with a thump on top of the man and managed to wind himself. At least, he noticed as he gasped for air, the man had dropped the knife so he was in no immediate danger of getting stabbed.

[theowood]

Theodore had been happily munching away on an apple (how he had missed the sweet, sweet juice and delicious crunch!), having already gorged himself far too much on other foods, and had a pint of cider in his other hand, freshly poured. He’d been drinking near constantly since his appalling attempt at archery, and he was feeling much happier about now. He had been eyeing up a pretty girl in a red dress when he felt a poke in his ribs, and turned to see his brother, Nate, as he stalked off towards a small gaggle in the crowd. Taking a sip of his drink, Theo followed, as always. He was fortunate; all the people Nate shoved out of the way stayed out of the way for Theo. No work involved at all. He was pleased.

Taking another sip of his cider, wondering why his brother had decided to bum rush some random guy and his lady friend (Really, if he fancied her he should have gotten in there sooner! Theo thought) and it wasn’t until Nate had pinned the man down, knocking all three of them over, and had seen the blood stained dagger drop from the man’s hand that he really realised what was happening.

He darted forwards, to the lady’s aid rather than his brother’s because it looked like he had the situation in hand. He did grab the dagger and put it behind the woman, though; he didn’t want his brother getting stabbed. He looked at the poor woman, very white and looking like she was about to faint, and smiled at her as softly as he could under the circumstances.

”Miss? Miss, you listening?”

Deciding he oughtn’t wait for an answer, he removed her hand to look at the damage and cringed. That would need a proper seeing to, and he didn’t know if any of the medicine women were around. He shimmied her skirt up a little, deciding that for once proper manners were out of the question, and took his mask off (part of an old sack) and pushed it onto her wound, keeping his hand there to apply pressure. He couldn’t understand why everyone else was just standing around? Couldn’t they see this was serious?

”Miss?” he asked again.

(OOC - just doing a quick Gavin post to follow this up, kk?)

[Gavin Bates]

Gavin grinned as the blade slid into the woman’s leg so cleanly, although he was a little disappointed it had missed her stomach. No matter, he had time for another shot. She had latched onto his shirt, and he merely smiled down at her; silly little girl shouldn’t play with the boys, now, should she? He went to stab her again, when something of a blur tackled him and knocked him down, causing him to drop the dagger he had been holding and the impact sent his purse flying. The wind knocked out of him, Gavin took a moment to catch his breath and scowled up at the man who had knocked him over; ginger, lanky, not particularly old. He’d remember that face, mask or not. No one did that! NO one.

However, he realised that if this idiot (and whoever was now seeing to the stupid bitch who’d gotten him into this trouble in the first place) had done something to try and stop him, he ought to scarper. He shoved the boy off him with a mighty heave, grasped around quickly for his dagger and purse, and, not finding them there, pushed himself up of the ground and ran. So what if he’d lost today? He’d take his revenge some other time.

Everyone went through the forest at some point, and he’d be waiting. For now, though, there were always other people to steal from. Barely anyone was in their homes at this point; if he took a shortcut to Underwood, he might even be able to raid the manor there. Wouldn’t that serve those bastards right?

Happier now that he had a plan to return to camp with at least some loot, he carried on running away, abandoning his mask as he entered the forest. What need did he have of it now?

(OOC - and done! Lates Gav~)

[Daine Merton]

The pain only got worse and Daine thought she was seeing things when someone took out the thief and also went to her side. Had she not been half out of her mind she would have realised they were twins, and therefore two people.

"Miss? Miss are you listening?" She fumbled about as he lifted her hand away from the wound. An explosion of warm flowed over her leg until a rough, scratchy sack covered her wound. In her confused state, Daine didn't even realise that her skirts had been lifted so he could tend to her wound better.

"My necklace..." She croaked as the theif and one of her rescuers still fought. The one by her side apparently didn't hear her because he asked for her again. "My necklace..." She croaked, slightly louder but the extra effort made her dizzy and her eyes fluttered. Her stubborn streak fought to keep conscious - at least until she was in capable hands.

Her eyes scanned the ground, she could have sworn she heard the chink of loot against itself as it hit the ground. A blurred shadow told her the outlaw had run. She sighed gratefully, letting her eyes close for but a second though it was hard to open them afterwards.

She started to mutter thanks, the pain making her feel sleepy. She wanted to close her eyes so bad. But she couldn't, not until she was off the ground being patched up.

Her practical side, the part that had escaped her when she chased after the outlaw, tried to speak up. Though all that came out was incoherant mumbles. If only it had piped up before, then maybe she wouldn't have got herself into this mess.

[nathanielwood]

Nate, who was still trying to recover his breath, could do little as the man shoved at him hard and knocked him backwards. He watched as the guy dodged through the crowd and away, quickly increasing the gap between him and his crime. Nate considered going after him then changed his mind, the immediate danger was over with the man leaving the fair and even though he'd dropped the knife Nathaniel didn't know if he had another one somewhere. No, it would be much safer to report him to the guards and aid Theo with the lady.

"Don't even think about it!" He growled, baring his teeth like a dog, as he spotted a grubby and scrawny child eyeing up the purse the apparent thief had dropped. The kid scampered off looking terrified, well at least he could still scare youngsters even if he couldn't hold down violent criminals, you had to start somewhere. Retrieving the purse he went to stand behind his brother, leaning over to see what exactly Theo was doing to the wounded lady.

"She's bleeding you know." He said helpfully when he spied the blood seeping through his brother's mask, which he had pressed over the cut. "We should probably move her to the Noble's stage thing, she looks rich enough to be up there and it won't do any good to leave her lying on the floor. Some of the people here are so drunk and stupid they'd probably trample her." He shot a glare at the gathered crowd, he was still feeling quite bitter that all of them had stood by and watched while a lady was stabbed. Sure they were all rich folks who were up their own arses, but that didn't mean they deserved to be stabbed. Except maybe the Sheriff, the rustier the blade the better too.

[theowood]

Whoever she was, she was muttering something about a necklace; Theo assumed that was whatever the two had been fighting about, and the result of that had been her being stabbed. Bloody stupid thing to do, if you asked him, but then no one had. He idly heard his twin hiss at a passer by, but he wasn't really paying attention until the lanky teen was leaning over him unhelpfully.

"She's bleeding you know."[/i] Theo wanted to roll his eyes. Didn't Nate think he could see that? Or feel it, for that matter. He looked at the woman, still mumbling about her necklace, and then looked at his brother who had, after his somewhat more helpful suggestion, begun glaring at the crowd around them.
"There a necklace in there? She keeps saying something 'bout a necklace, reckon it'd cheer her up?" he asked, fairly sure the woman either couldn't hear them properly or was too shocked to really pay too much attention. He shifted to grab her legs and put one arm around her back and heaved, and groaned slightly. She wasn't fat, but she was certainly heavier than he had anticipated. He raised an eyebrow at his brother, slightly amused despite the situation. "Care to give me a hand, brother of mine?"

While he waited for a response, he realsied that the necklace wasn't the only thing of value in the purse. "Think that's all hers, or reckon it's so mixed up that perhaps a pair of noble young men, rescuers of a fair maiden, are fit to take claim of the loot?" He had no idea how Nate would respond to this idea, but it certainly seemed fair to him. If they went to the stage and called out "Anyone lost some money?", everyone and their grandmother would be at their feet, claiming a gold coin or a loose bit of change had been taken from their pocket while they were merrymaking. All in all, they wouldn't be able to find the real owners of the coins, so why not put it to some good use?

[Daine Merton]

Daine was fairly certain that her rescuers were two different people, as they had started to talk to each other. When one pointed out she was bleeding she wanted nothing more than to whack him round the head and say "You think!" But the loss of blood had made her weak and the prospect of doing two actions made her even dizzier.

The one who'd been by her side to begin with started to lift her, and he appeared to be having trouble. She wasn't that heavy was she? Last she heard was that she was too thin, Maggie wa always trying to get her to eat more. Daine thought she ate enough...

"Think that's all hers, or reckon it's so mixed up that perhaps a pair of noble young men, rescuers of a fair maiden, are fit to take claim of the loot?"

Daine used the hand that wasn't clutching the rag by her wound to grasp at the young mans shirt. She croaked, "Keep the loot. But please, it was my mother's..." The tears flowed down her cheeks, thoguh she ony noticed when she tasted the salty tang on her lips. She whispered a few pleases, though no sound came out. The last thing she saw before completely losing consciousness was the stage. Who could help her there?