"Virgil probably had some cash, but I imagine Kebrik spent far more than he kept." The lack of weight in one coinpurse made that hypothesis seem accurate. "Let's make this partnership official, shall we?"

Danica returned the handshake enthusiastically.

"Perfect!" she crowed, all thoughts of sleep gone. "What's say we head up the hill and celebrate our new partnership, eh?" She lifted the pair of purses she'd snagged from Aedan's former crewmates and jangled the loose contents between them. "Drinks on your buddies!"

Aedan was a bit surprised when she grabbed his arm. Aedan slid the sword into his sheath. Her compliments certainly didn't hurt her case, but he wouldn't decide. When he heard it was for the Blackbloods he stopped for a bit. He sheathed his sword and stood up as she finished.

"Any other day and I'd say no to a job with the Blackbloods. I can't exactly get choosey right now, so you have yourself a deal." He grabbed her hand and shook it. A horse neighed weakly in its stall nearby, and Aedan spotted a beetle skittering about in the hay Danica had just gotten up from.

Danica rolled back out of the straw and took two long strides towards Aedan, a gleeful look on her face. Seemingly heedless of the sharp steel he held in hand, she reached out and grabbed at the corded muscle of one arm, testing the size of it.

"You'll look like a godsend to those skinny Argonians," she insisted, leaving out that they'd essentially called her the same when she'd first offered her services. "Told me they needed strong arms for what they were hefting - not a pretty face."

They really had said nothing of the sort, at least to the subject of her charms, but who needed to know that?

"There's a gang 'round Solitude looking for help unloading a ship quick-like," she explained. "Call themselves the Blackbloods, headed by a pair of siblings. They're a bit racist, but their coin's as gold as any crook's. I'll bet they haven't found any other bodies yet. I only met them this morning. What do ya say? Head back up the hill with me tomorrow?"

Aedan smiled. Depends on what you mean by lifting. I'm nobody particularly good at carrying much, but if you mean what I think you do, you've come to the right man."

Aedan surveyed the knife before finding it to par. He drew his right-hand blade and began to hone it as well. The straight blade was a simple, yet reliable steel sword that had seen some use but was in good condition. It needed little more than a quick clean up.

"Tell me. What's the booty and where is it getting lifted from? I'm out of a job, so I'd like to make some gold quick. Staying in Solitude isn't particularly smart for too long."

Danica flopped down on the straw pile, already fairly confident that if they hadn't been found by now, she was pretty sure they wouldn't be. City guards were the worst. At least the ones in the smaller towns would keep hunting her out of boredom. The city ones were lazy.

Business or pleasure?

"You mean there's a difference?" she laughed. "Adventure's my business, and it's a pleasure to do!"

She lifted her head from the fold of her arms to glance at him, a thought occurring to her.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to be any good at lifting booty, would you?"

Hearing Danica ask if Virgil and Kebrik were his friends surprised him. "Friends? If they ever thought we were friends, that certainly ended today. We were all from the same... organization." He didn't want to say that they were pirates. She likely could have guessed from his comment about raiding ships, but saying it outright to a stranger seemed a bit unwise. "Then again, frostbite isn't outside of the realm of things those two deserved."

Aedan sat back down, leaning against the wall, From the pack that held his sculpture, he took out a whetstone, then drew his knife. "You don't mind, do you?" He began sharpening the knife, wanting to do something with is time. He kept his eyes on Danica, occasionally glancing at the blade.

"Are you in Solitude for business or pleasure, Danica?"

Danica snort-laughed.

"Haven't found one can outrun me yet!" she said. "Kinda hard when you're wearing all that metal junk, though. I hear it chafes, too."

She looked him up and down. Sensible leathers seemed more this guy's speed. That was acceptible. Meant he was used to fighting, she supposed, or at least being fought at.

"Well, I was going to get a drink," she replied to his question. "Maybe even a bed. All that's out the window now. Guess I could just head on up to the Winking Skeever."

She didn't really like the idea of climbing all the way up to Solitude for a drink and a nap. The gently-lit, bard-saturated inn on the hill would seem boring in comparison with the night so far. And the bards up there sucked anyway.

"Then again, this straw pile looks kinda comfy."

She fluffed a stack of fresh hay close to the stables, not really tired, but still on the eye out for a place to crash that wouldn't involve any more physical activity. It wouldn't be the first time she'd gone without a bed.

"What about you?" she asked, more interested in talking than walking. "Those assholes your friends, or what? Because I'm not going back to take the spell off. They deserve the frostbite they get."

Other than leaning back a bit as she suddenly came towards him, Aedan didn't do much to react to Danica leaning in. He was surprised to see the light come out of her hands, repairing all the damage his face had taken in the altercation.

He peeked off, seeing that they had apparently lost those that were following them. "The guards here aren't exactly all that great, huh?" He turned back to Danica.

"So what are you doing around here, besides getting a good run in?" He returned his knife to his belt and the small sculpture to the pack on his side.

"I'm Danica," the mage replied, getting back to her feet and holding out a hand to shake. "Archer mage extraordinaire!"

She noticed his split lip just as they grasped hands.

"Ah!" she said, pulling herself closer. "Here, lemme get that."

Without any preamble, the tall Breton put a hand to Aedan's face and called a glowing light. In a few seconds, the cut had healed and several promising bruises on Aedan's body had cleared right up.

"There we go! Good as new."

"You always this much fun or is it just my lucky day?"

Aedan laughed a bit. Considering how much they had just gone through, it was funny to see her just shake it all off and call it fun. He decided to play along.

"If you thought that was fun, try raiding ships. That was the most exciting thing in the world." He sat down, leaning his head against a bale of hay, trying to get his own heart rate down.

Talking about his ship made him realize that he had just completely lost any chance he had of being a captain again. His organization didn't take kindly at all to traitors, and he had just been an accomplice in attacking and robbing two of his former allies. He wouldn't be scoring any points with the higher ups with that one. He dabbed at a bleeding cut on his lip.

"My name is Aedan by the way. Guess we didn't have time for an introduction with all that action." He took out a block of wood that he had half shaped into a horse sculpture and began whittling away with the knife from his belt.

The minute the rune was activated, ice exploded every which way, scattering the various bar-goers. Glacial shards sprang up and over the legs of the two brawlers, anchoring them to the floor. As they struggled to free themselves, Danica strolled up to them, laughing aloud.

"Looks like you're not going anywhere, gents!" she giggled, waggling a finger at them just out of reach as they growled and sputtered their indignation.

"You'll just have to cool your heels for a while!"

As she laughed until tears came to her eyes, she didn't see the other bar patron scampering out the back to warn the guards of the rogue mage. The others glared daggers at her, some drawing real ones from their belts. Danica was too distracted by the idea of a new and fresh torment.

"Here, wouldn't want you fine fellows to catch cold," she said with barely-concealed glee. "Let me help you out."

She called little flames into each hand and began singing off bits of clothing from the two men, giggling all the while.

"Whoops!" she cried when one's belt fell off and his possessions clattered down the ice and onto the floor, taking his pants with them. She bent to retrieve the belt purse of the marginally better-looking one, admiring the leg muscles on her way back up. Shame he had such an ugly soul.

She held out the purse before him.

"For my troubles!" she piped, just as a hand reached out and grabbed her.

"Oy!"

"We should get going," said the nicer of the bar brawlers, dragging her to the door.

"Hey!" she cried again, then saw a man who had been advancing on her from another direction, dagger drawn. She looked around - there were some similarly pissed-looking bar-goers headed in their general direction.

"Wow, you sure are popular, huh?" she said to the guy dragging her out of the tavern.

As they exited the tavern, they nearly barreled over two dock guards being lead in by the errant patron.

"Halt!" they cried.

Danica knew when it was time to leave. She let out a gleeful whoop and flounced easily out of the way of one of their grabs, then put on her full speed, sensing the other brawler somewhere behind her.

"Stop!" the guards cried after them. "Halt right there!"

They ran and ran and then they were running uphill. Danica's lungs began burning, but still she pushed, knowing a safe haven wasn't far off. When the farmhouse loomed nearby, she shouldered into the bar brawler fellow, pushing them both towards the farmhouse, rounding it and halting, keeping the large walls between them and whatever guards might be following.

She half collapsed against the stables, panting hard, grinning from ear to ear. It was hard to hear over the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears, but she'd know the sound of armor if it got anywhere close. So long as they didn't hear that, they were safe.

She let out a huff of air that was half laugh, half pant.

"That was brilliant!" she said. "You always this much fun or is just my lucky day?"

It wasn't until after Aedan had taken and dished out a few hits that he noticed the girl was nowhere to be seen. He looked around, spotting her crouched over a frost rune. She moved her lips, trying to get him over the frost rune. Just then, he was given the opportunity to move backwards and pull the fight there anyways. Virgil's fist rammed into his jaw, so Aedan began falsely reeling backwards.

Virgil and Kebrik followed him, but the moment Virgil's foot touched the edge of the circle, he and Kebrik found themselves well-frozen to the tavern floor. The girl began to taunt the captives, but considering the reactions of the tavern's patrons, he didn't exactly want to stay put. In particular, the bow being pulled out behind the counter.

"We should get going," he said, halfway dragging her out of her taunting. She likely saw the action about to unfold because she went with him before breaking into a run. He followed until they reached Katla's Farm, catching their breath behind the stables.

She began to speak after that.

Danica stumbled back, suddenly free of her captor. She searched for the flame she'd cast, and found it had landed on the shoe of the ugly fellow who had held her, but his shuffleing across the floor had put it out. She huffed and crossed her arms. It wasn't fair that she couldn't call a great smouldering flame without serious concentration - many of the flames she called did little better than light campfires. Not without a rune of power to augment its strength.

That's when she got an idea.

She moved out of the path of the scuffle, letting the three boys settle whatever differences their attack on her had brought to light. Nearby, she quickly began sketching out a rune from memory on the wooden floor of the inn, out of sight of the barkeep. She was grateful that most of the room's attention was on the three men, or someone might have noticed what she was drawing and put a stop to it. She'd found that most people didn't like being nearby when a rune trap went off.

Once it was complete, the rune glowed slightly and was suddenly ringed by the much more complex symbols associated with the language for calling great power. She always loved it when that happened - it was like the magic was approving of her. A little victory that had nothing to do with the results of the spell. She would be just as pleased when it was activated.

She stepped back then and began waving, trying to get the attention of the one guy who had interrupted his companions' rather rude attempts to strip her. Perhaps he would appreciate her efforts to help him out. If not, she'd still make it out of this well enough. She'd managed to lift the ugly one's purse when he'd taken a swing at the nice one.

Over here! she mouthed when she'd caught his eye, pointing at the place where she'd drawn the ice rune on the floor. If the nice fellow could simply lead the other two over here to where she'd drawn the rune, his troubles would be over right quick.

Aedan stepped in, pushing Virgil. The two stood off, Aedan staring down his co-worker of sorts. Virgil in his surprise, snarled at Aedan.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Virgil began to turn the knife towards Aedan, who quickly sent it falling to the floor. Aedan then retorted.

"What the hell are you doing? You're demanding that some stranger give you her clothes! Is this what we're all about now? Are we common thugs? I, for one, am better than that."

Kebrik, both in response to the fireball starting in the hand of his captive, and in seeing Aedan stopping Virgil, stepped up, planting a punch into the back of Aedan's head. Aedan turned to swing, connecting and elbow with Kebrik's cheek before turning, putting him and Virgil in front of him, now standing right next to the mage he had just rescued.

Danica glanced behind her as she was grabbed, mouth upturning.

"Hey, no touching!" she griped, tugging at his hold. When he wouldn't give, she turned back to the fellow in front of her and changed tactics. She smiled, this time a more wicked curve to her lips.

"Sorry fellas," she said. "I'm not up for a party. That's at least a six-drink kinda thing, and you wouldn't even buy me one!"

She called a fireball into one hand bound at her back and flicked it at her captor, intending to make a sprint for an open space the minute he let go.

Aedan watched as Virgil's face twitched a bit in anger. There were only two other customers besides Aedan, Virgil, Kebrik, and the woman. The barkeep stayed out of their business after he was "taught a lesson" by other members of their organization. Virgil nodded to Kebrik who grabbed her from behind. Virgil drew a blade from his belt and Aedan stood up to move towards them. Virgil began to make demands, keeping his eyes on the woman.

"Oh no, you don't understand here. You'll be taking the robes off and handing them over."

Danica stepped into the Siren's Call well after nightfall to escape the icy winds off the Sea of Ghosts. She knew the Winking Skeever was a better place to find her next job, not to mention it was a bit warmer, but the ale was as good here as it was anywhere else, and it was that time of night.

She'd only just tried to get the barkeep's attention when someone bumped into her.

"Hey!"

She turned just as he laid his line on her. Their eyes met on-level. She glanced down and back up, taking him in.

"No way, friend," she said. "I haven't had any drinks yet and you're about a... three mugs kinda guy. You're welcome to help me get started, though."

She flashed a shining grin, bright eyes steady and suggestive.

It had only been a couple months since Aedan's ship, The Almadeus, had been destroyed in a storm. Now he found himself among the lesser members of his pirate brethren. They were referred to as "Shore Guards" but they did little more than carry cargo off of ships and wait in taverns. To make matters worse he did the job with two men that honestly weren't worth the time of most people.

Virgil, the self-proclaimed leader of the Solitude section of the Shore Guard, sat with a bottle of booze in hand, looking around with beady eyes. His lacky, Kebrik laughed softly to himself. Aedan sat near the fire, warming himself after being out in the biting winds. They sat in The Siren's Call, a tavern in the docks of Solitude. Some people mocked it, until they realized that less people were stumbling down the path from Solitude to their ships.

"Aedan, you see that one?" Kebrik gestured to bring his attention to a woman walking in. She wore mage's robes, and had a bow as well. He nodded to Virgil, who stood up, bumping into her.

"Pardon me, beautiful." Behind her, Kebrik rose, his usual idiotic laugh coming out.