Shadowwalker - Under Review For Now

16. Conflict

Venarius scrambled back, narrowing his eyes, and drew some kind of tube from one of his many pockets. 'Maybe I should invest in some more pockets,'  Raven thought idly. 'Or some small satchels... Some more pouches wouldnt go amiss either, there's plenty of room on my belt...'
She shook her head, annoyed at herself for getting distracted and mentally returned to the matter at hand.

"Let. Her. Go," Venarius snarled quietly, baring his teeth ever so slightly. 

Out of nowhere, Raven felt a rush of emotion wave over her. Red hot anger, utter frustration and pure, blinding rage- but before she knew it, it'd vanished. She glanced over at her companion.

The man cocked his head as he pretended to consider the statement.

"I think not. After all, you are holding my dealer captive."

Raven eased her head back a little, and shifted slightly. 

"Why are we whispering?"  she asked. A smirk played on her lips as she paused for unnecessary dramatic effect.
"After all," she continued at a normal volume, "it isn't as though there is anyone else left. The first sister can't hear us anyway, and you have already discovered us."

"Very observant of you. But in any case, there are... others about,  many of whom I'd rather not run the risk of having them interfere,"  the man replied, spekaing in hushed tones.

Raven thought for a moment. She turned her gaze to Venarius, sensing his uneasy curiosity.

"Sisters?" he questioned.

"Is he always this slow on the uptake?" the stranger inquired, moving the blade micro inches away from her throat.

"I don't know about always, but these past two days- definitely," Raven answered honestly, the smirk on her lips being replaced by the ghost of a smile. She frowned before reprimanding her partner in crime.
"In any case- Venarius, you're being absolutely useless at this moment. Be a dear and help me out, won't you?"

"Fine," he growled low, and narrowed his eyes.
"But only because after this ordeal is done you'll tell me what I want to know."

"Naturally," she responded haughtily.

The man watched their exchange with a bemused expression on his face.

With that, Venarius raised something to his lips and briefly puffed his cheeks.

"What the.." the man said, and stumbled back, accidentally grazing the knife against Raven's neck in the process, who quickly jumped out of his reach before he could do further damage. The  girl sprung up, fleeing the scene. Raven swore under her breath, but mentally shrugged. She knew she'd see the girls around some other time.

He raised a hand to his shoulder, and touched the small, dark blue dart. He swayed, and fell onto the murky grey cobblestones.

"Is he dead?"

"No, just unconscious. He'll be down for quite some time though."

Raven took several moments to study him. The man was of an average build and height, and she guessed his age to be somewhere in his mid thirties.

He had a large nose, thin lips, and his eyebrows were tattooed on. His skin was weatherworn and very tanned, not unlike the wooden framework in the Dirty Rag. Dozens of small scars littered his skin. She shook her head, disappointed at the rapid manner Venarius had managed to knock out the supposed drug lord. She then cocked her head for, in the distance, she could hear voices. Shouting. Nearing.

They'd been discovered.

She grabbed Venarius' wrist, and janked him along with her. 

"Come on, we must hurry."

***

The two of them ran in silence.

They knew they had to hurry before Moglux' Enforcers arrived at the scene, and neither one of them wanted to have to deal with them.

Suddenly, Raven faltered in her steps. Amber shifted inside, sliding forward, and then scrambled backwards. Their body doubled over, gasping like a fish on land. She stumbled against Venarius, who caught her. Admitted, he almost dropped her- but he caught her nonetheless. She looked up at him. Whilst his face was calm, his eyes betrayed him, revealing a mixture of annoyance, worry, and confusion. Her arms folded over her stomach, she couldn't stand without his help. She closed her eyes.

'Get a grip on yourself!' Amber hissed mentally. 'If you're not stable, how can I keep myself in check?!"

'I am TRYING! As if you're doing so much better, missy!' Raven fumed, even though she had the nagging feeling Amber was right.

'Well, THANK YOU for your support! This whole business is your  doing, your decision!" Amber accused.

Raven didn't answer her for several moments. Her inner voice frail as she quietly responded: "Apologies, Amber. I'm sorry for what happened. But right now, we need to just get ourselves under control. Remember the girl in the dream?"

Amber flinched at the memory.

The two of them struggled to position themselves within one mortal form, and, with that, each other.

After several horribly tense moments, Raven finally straightened up.

She turned to Venarius.

"Thank you. For your patience. And for catching me, I guess. Let us continue. Do you have a place in mind where we can talk?"

He faltered for a moment when he noticed her violet eyes flashed green, but after a few seconds he finally nodded, and started walking.

"Nequitios?" Her voice was soft, gentle even, as she spoke his name.

He stopped in his tracks as she called him that for the second time that day. A stray thought crossed his mind, the realisation that she had been very very close to dying, and that he had saved her from that- and not even because he wanted her to live, but because he had no choice in the matter. The girl had seemed so strong, so breezy, and yet, he suddenly sensed a fragile undertone in her manners.

"Where exactly are we going?" she asked, bracing herself against the wall as the pain from the inner struggle lessened. She couldn't see his expression, which was grimmer than the greyest of rainy days. He hesitated, picking his words carefully before he spoke.

 "Someplace I have not been to in ages."