Life O'Reily
 

The road had been clear for most of the trip, aside from a small skirmish with a group of thugs who thought it was smart to take on the body guards of this merchant's wagon. The elder horse walked slowly and the wheels of the cart creaked with each rotation as it edged forward slowly. One person was walking along side the cart with a sword at his side, though his build hardly made it look like he knew how to use such a weapon. Aside from the merchant there was only one other person, they were sitting inside the cart holding a staff across their lap.

Rolling his eyes he let out a slight sight, it hadn't been that far of a walk. Just from the last town, at the least he could act like he was on duty. But Luden knew better then to question his brother's lack of effort... in anything. Though his complaints were pushed aside seeing as the town was within viewing distance. At the least they'd get some gold for the assistance and then be able to restock on supplies, plus if the pay was well enough they might be able to get a room for the night instead of sleeping in yet another stable.

The merchant finally spoke up the closer they got to town explaining that if the two helped him unload the crates and other supplies he'd throw in a bonus and they could use the back room for the night if they needed a place to stay. The idea sounded good to Luden, besides knowing that his brother wasn't going to lift any crates. they'd be lucky if he lifted a finger let alone a box of supplies.

luka perked up an ear but otherwise showed no sign of listening. he knew his brother would throw a fit if he tried to help so he feined disinterest


leaning into a stretch that was more painful than soothing he leaned over the side of the wagon

'this is boring, why are we going this way again?'

He scowled at his brother for not remembering why they were doing this. "Well.. to put it bluntly Luka, it's because we're broke!" He hissed a little with his last words, it was Luka's fault he was poor at managing money. He could see in the future he'd be the one gambling it away or wasting the funds they needed to live off of on women and other pleasures.

"Be thankful.." He said slightly scolding Luka though he figured he was talking more to himself then anything as they entered into the town's gate. He kept following the wagon as it turned a corner and stopped just outside of a small shop like building and the merchant informed the two that this was it.

"well time to get to work" He looked towards his brother and didn't expect any help so he made a motion to shoo him out of the way instead and started assisting in carrying the crates inside or at least to the front step of the building.

luka rolled his eyes, so what if he was not the best manager of money, it was his brother's fault for not holding onto it himself. he looked up at the town as the wagon turned into the merchent's side court. his staring was rudly interupted by his brother waving hands and telling him to scram. he hopped down and wandered into the shop where he was hoping to find someone who could give him some news about this place and maybe tell him any news of his beau

There was a young woman inside the shop, from her looks probably a daughter of the merchant. She greeted Luka as he entered the shop and thanked him for helping her father get his supplies here safely, explaining that they had trouble in recent weeks with bandits stealing most of the supplies. They had even lost a few of the horses during one of the trips back between the towns.

Luden went about helping carrying the crates inside the building once they were off of the cart, the merchant turned hi attention to the old steed as he walked it and the cart to the side of the building where a small stable was located.

After a few moments of this Luden sighed heavily setting the last crate down where he was told to. The young woman was still tending to Luka's questing about the quest they were just on and about the town. It was a simple town and only a handful of guards to protect it and they did the best they could.

"Sounds like they could use a few hired hands." He said listening to the conversation. The girl nodded a little knowing he was right. Luden saw this as a good place to stop in the travels get a little bit of pocket change and then they could leave all the while doing the town a favor, maybe if luck was with them they wouldn't be kicked out due to something Luka did....

luka waited until his brother was out of earshot to whisper to the girl 'have you heard of fenris' hunter?' he waited a moment to see if she recognised the phrase for what it was. she nodded worriedly as luden came back within earshot, luka wasted no time skipping back to the conversation from before hoping the girl had the brains to do the same '...so that is our prediciment' she nodded along to her words as his brother piped in 'sounds like they could use a few hired hands.' he took the moment to wandered over to the wares on sell.

he'd give an eye tooth before admitting that he needed his brother to survive outside of their village but he was tired of being babied too the constant mothering was enough to make him sulk, he just wanted to clear his name and go home

The merchant quickly thanked both of them repeating that they could make use of the back room, though they'd have to supply their own bedding if they wanted any. A roof was good enough for Luden, it was better then a damned stable that was for sure. "We'll be back later then.." He sighed a little waving the merchant off taking notice that his brother was lollygagging around. He shrugged this off as he left the shop, he figured Luka couldn't get into but so much trouble.

But now he thought about it and he had nothing to do once again, aside from walking around the town and hoping to get some odd job to pass the time. He was easily labeled as a workaholic. 'For a town with troubles everyone's in high spirits at least..' or that's what he thought to himself as he walked along the shops and houses. It was almost too peaceful here at the moment as he made his way to the guard house. Though he quickly got a odd look from the man behind the desk at the front door.

Probably for good reason, his eyes were white almost unnatural looking and he carried a runed blade at his side. Aside from that he looked young to be a mage and didn't look like he was strong enough to properly wield the blade at his side. He frowned a little knowing it was the same look as always. "I'm here for work" He said aloud abruptly "I was told that the town has bandit problems.. and that the guard hires to help with the issue." He'd have to wait for his answer to such a request as the what seemed to be commander of the guards here looked him over.

after his brother left the girl came over to luka 'the one who can answer your questions is master anson the bandit lord, but sir, he takes no companey, you will be killed if you work for the queen and forced to join if you are not. the entire town is his personal park' she shuddered a bit 'you are best not knowing anyway' she quickly left his side and played at cleaning the other side of the room. luka figured he'd get no more out of her and my next morning the word on his asking would be out. he left the shop in hopes of finding his brother

The man seemed to be done looking this 'kid' over "How old are you anyway" He finally piped up and asked as he stood, still seemingly unsure about why a boy of the age he was thinking was out and about let alone looking for work in a town he didn't live in.

"19 sir.. " He didn't skip a beat in answering the man about his age, he had nothing to hide though he knew the next question easily enough.

"Why are you not in a training camp then? At your age you should be at one of the many.." He was cut off by the from Luden. "Our town .. is a small one sir we don't ship off any for training." It was true enough, he had wanted to go but his parents had forbidden it at a early age and then later down the road he ended up with the task of caring for his brother. He had a will to be one of the white knights, the group that traveled solving problems as they went along. Though it wasn't going to happen not anymore anyway.

The man seemed to think it over a little before he spoke again "go home, we have enough troubles without watching over a brat as well"

Luden didn't like the answer at all but bowed either way to show his respect before walking out of the building. "tsk... damn it.." Sure they had funds from helping the merchant but it wasn't going to last no time. Upon walking out of the door he noticed that Luka was walking about as well as he approached him.

"decided to walk now huh?" He smiled though it was a forced one and it was easy enough to tell it too. He was merely picking at his brother and the fact he had road most of the way here.

'tch, only because you forgot to carry me' he replied with a light smile. he had overheard the conversation and was dissapointed to find the older man so unwilling, he didn't like to decieve the local populus but he knew they needed the money and figured since he had spent nearly all of it himself he should help get it back

hearing his brother's light laugh at the response he continued 'do you want me to convince him to hire you?'

He seemed to consider the offer for a moment before declining it. "We'll make do, always have" It just meant that meals would be tight till the next town, or until trouble crossed into this one and he invoked his rights as a sword for hire if he took care of any problems that crossed his blade. Most of the time the latter happened it wasn't that uncommon for towns to turn his offer down, he just had to wait out till their birthday, what the hell another year meant to the human mind was beyond him.

"what to do..." he finally said aloud, it was easy to tell having nothing to do bothered him to no end. He'd give anything to always stay busy though it hardly seemed to happen. Nothing like when they were back home and father and mother both made sure they had their fair share of chores at all times. Though he needed to stop thinking about those days that were long past.

"oh here" He said pulling a small purse from his belt and forcing it into Luka's hand "try to hold onto it or we'll really be in for rough times eh?" Though he was just teasing.. even if it were true.

he took the pouch his brother handed over a bit reluctantly, he was sure he would have been taken up on his offer. now he was going to have to lie to two people today

He noticed something seemed a bit off with Luka's mood though he never questioned it. Whatever was on his mind would come out sooner or later, though normally if it were later it was never anything good. "well.. I guess time to go bother some of the shop keepers..." With the guard's not willing to accept help probably out of pride and in spite of themselves he had no choice but to do some odds and end work. Every bit added up and could turn out to save their asses if it came down to it.

He reached a hand up and patted his brother's shoulder "stay out of trouble hrm? just a few hours. Or better yet help me, you can lift things even if you use your magic" though he was against that idea not everyone liked magic users. Or that was the experience so far through the travels.

he smiled softly at his brother, they both knew he couldn't help but meddle though luka knew not to be too dramatic, the memory of the last village was the only one where he could honestly say they left of their on violation 'nah, i don't want to get my clothes dirty, actually could you hold my staff? it's too bulky to carry around all of the time' he handed it over 'thanks'

luka wandered back around the corner to where luden was before, the men were all still there 'here goes nothing, lets see if this trinket was worth the toungue lashing' he softly said as he ran a finger over the runes in the bangle around his wrist, the warmth of magic filled his hand and arm. he walked up to the tallest and ugliest of the lot and bowed

'hello' m name is luka reily' he held out his hand. the man looked at it scornfully before taking it into his own. luka took a small breath in and sqweezed the proofferend hand, small pops and crunches ussued from the other as luka crushed his hand warningly 'sir,' he dropped his voice 'my brother and i are traveling through, we wish to help you with your....problem, i am not as strong as my brother but i think we can fix what ails this town if you give us a chance' he let go smoothly noting unflinchingly at the white marks left in the other man's hand, a mirror mark to his own soft unmarked digets

'thankyou for your time, please think it over' he walked away in a bored easygoing posture. he knew this way they'd get work even if they'd make no friends doing it, hopefully his brother would not find out too quickly how he got the gaurd master to change his tune or at the very least pretend he didn't notice until they were well on their way

He sort of stood there as Luka forced him to hold the staff. "what the... " He couldn't even get his sentence out before his brother had walked around the corner. 'great now what is he up to..' he thought to himself knowing that it wasn't uncommon for his brother to get into trouble when he walked off on his own.

Once he saw his brother walk back around the corner he walked forward and handed the staff back giving him a sort of look as if asking what did he do now. He shrugged it off for now as he started to turn and walk towards the main road of the town to start his hunting process.

Though this was cut short as one of the guards walked around the corner as well and stopped them both. Though the canniness that they both looked almost identical threw him off for a moment. The guard explained that his commander had changed his mind and that they had gotten word of a planned raid on the town tonight.

This would work well enough seeing as they were staying in town anyway. Though the man left out that he was only asking for the help and paying them for it to prevent from making the mage angry... it was feared among many areas to have the gift of magic wasn't the most common thing in the world. Though if Luden went about flaunting that he had magic in his blood as well he might get more people to pay attention to his words, but his was a different type of magic compared to his brothers.

He listened to what the guard had to say before he parted ways with the brothers leaving them to their will. He didn't say a word that he knew Luka had done something, he wasn't going to complain not when they were in dire need of funds. Besides what did he care he needed to get off of his act of trying to stay on the path to becoming a knight, it wasn't happening not when they were both common bloods and orphans to boot. There was a stack of other complications to the matter as well but he didn't need to remind himself in his head that this world had something against him and his sibling.

luka looked as nonshaloant about it as he could when the fellah came up a few minutes behind him and stared, double unlucky twins were said to be and potentially magical ones worse. he did a passable job as well in standing there looking idle while the man talked about a raid but when he and his brother were left alone he let his eyes close 'luden...' he said in a bored voice hoping to hide the tiredness, he started to feel woozy 'i think i got too much sun, where were we staying again, i forgot, this aweful place looks just like the last one' he stablized himself the best he could but kept his eyes closed, the pain in his head from unfamilliar magic had started to let itself be noticed, but it was a safe pain compared to the frightful magic he himself, and maybe even his brother weilded

He frowned a little before getting Luka to start walking back towards the shop where they had helped the merchant. "The merchant we escorted here said we can make use of the the back room, come on" He said shaking his head, he wasn't sure why Luka suddenly seemed ill and asking him would get no where. It wasn't uncommon for him to hold information and asking only lead to the two fighting each other, as brother's do.

(ew short post from me DX )

luka let out a little breath, he was relieved his brother did not askabout the sudden change of behaivior as he was reilved and gratefull of every time over the several months of this journey that he had spared luka this question. anwsers would lead to unhappiness and tears but avoidence would lead to words and fists and luka could not bear those from his brother. they walked together back to the building where they started and were shown to a short set of stairs


(s'okay)

Once he made sure his brother made it to the room ok he looked at him a little worried. "Need some water while I'm here? I was going to go back out and see if I could get a better idea of what to expect tonight.." He wasn't trying to mother hen his brother but.. it was all he had left as far as family went, what was he going to do if something happened to him. He knew his brother wasn't as strong as he was but he was still strong in his own way.

(then again you said you liked short and sweet so xD)

before his brother could go luka grasped his arm 'brother, i have been thinking, you know i love you, but lately i feel us growing away, and it is all my doing, you are my family, there is noone more impartant to me than you. please have faith in my words for a little longer' he squeezed his brother's arm lightly 'we are reilys, we stick together'

(yup, fast posts fast replies, oh and fix the title, it's life o'reily')

(yeah i just thought about it.. want me to post the current art on the front as well?)

He had started to walk off but when Luka stopped him he listened. He felt almost bad really he blamed Luka for a lot of things, when he already had enough on his plate without him scolding him at every turn. He put a hand over his brothers and nodded a little "I've never doubted your words for a second, mother and father would be proud of how far we've come on our own and we've done it together."

Sure they didn't always see eye to eye but that was to be expected, they were siblings so fights were bound to happen once in a while. "get some rest and stop worrying yourself, you'll end up sick again"

(please<3)

his brother's words soothed him, they had been in a silent fight for a very long while now and it good to reconcile even if only for a little while. luka smiled and let go of his brother's arm. 'fetch me when it's time to go, this place is too boring to do nothing at all' he took off his leathers and bag and leaned them up against a barrel against one wall and layed down resting his head upon them.

He nodded before turning to leave the room to let him get some rest. Really he felt a bit better after that sudden outburst, though he had no idea what had caused it. He went about looking for places to get information from and to figure out the best place to set up for the job they currently had, though from the sounds of it the odds of doing well seemed slim or thats what the towns folk were saying. They had never dealt with the Reily brothers he thought boldly to himself.

After a few more hours of walking around it was slowly getting darker outside so he figured itd be a good time to wake his brother and tell him it was time to work. He did say he was bored after all. Walking back to the shop and down to the room he walked in and gently shook his brother's shoulder. "come on, it's time to get to work" Sure his brother was a bit on the lazy side but he was at least always there when it came to a real job.

luka laid there after his brother left awake and after the rebound from the prop fully aware, he spent hi time as he always spent it now thinking back to the time before the accident, he thought about lavender eyes and was torn between the love he still felt and the cold anger that had mostly replaced it. he was not sure anymore if it was right to be pursueing this road but he had little left in him but that anger anymore.

he was startled back into reality by the door opening, he relaxed feeling his brother's gait across the floor 'come on, it's time to get to work' his brother said shaking him lightly. luka wordlessly got up and put back on the bulk of his gear leaving behind the sachel and a small ward to protect it from sticky hands. he did not look his brother in the eye, the shamefulness of acting like such a child stung a bit but he wore a smile now

Really the two were never good at communicating with one another. Luka has his own demons as well as his brother did. Though it was more of regrets that he didn't try harder thinking he could have saved at least mother all the years ago. It had forced him to grow up at a early age to keep his brother out of harms way the best he could manage. But with what work they could find it seemed he was putting him in harms way all the more with each town.

He explained what he had gathered from the town and the best spot he had come across to lay in wait for the town to be under attack. Going into the forest was out of the question it was asking to be surrounded and the night did not help matters. Once they reatched a small barricad of sorts he had managed to set up with a broken down wagon and some sand bags he had found laying around gathering dust he drew his sword and waited.

The waiting was like the calm before the storm, he allowed himself to collect his thoughts and focus his energy it'd be ready when he left this to strike, the barricade was more to protect Luka seeing as he did better at a distance. He stayed rather silent though through most of this, the town had reminded him of home how cold the people were to help him with any information at all, it was a struggle to even get supplies when he was more then willing to pay.

luka followed his brother closely and as he could his left hand on his staff his right hand in his pockets, he was better casting left but hopefully he wouldn't need his prop for anything more magical than whacking someone on the head


he dug a bit more until he found what he was looking for, a bit of faded pinkish grey ribbon. he smiled a bit and activated it's magic careful to keep the light from showing by cupping it to his theigh and only using his thumb to read the blood runes scrawled on it. 'luden' he whispered 'sword' he touched his brother's hand with the ribbon knowing only he could see in the gloomy darkness.

he and his brother were not very good at comunicating with words but he was glad at least their bond was still strong enough for words not to matter so much, anyone else would not have understood that that bloody little crusty thing was a powerful spell aimed at keeping the weilder safe from death or understood that it took a drop of blood to work, only high level mages and twin brothers knew that

Complying with what Luka had asked he kept his eyes forward letting his brother do what he needed to do. He cursed being a human at times if they ever crossed into other territories then they could find themselves in real trouble during the night. Or least that's what he was told he had never crossed that far rage wise to worry about the other many races of the lands.

Hearing a slight rustle off in the distance of some bushes moving he guessed it was about time. Though he hardly needed to voice this seeing as a sudden scream from inside the town proved what he had thought. Now the real fun began, he saw a few of the guards rush blindly with torches in hand, but a torch made it harder to fight it left you open for the enemy to strike you. He never voiced his thoughts as he stood from where they were judging one last time the best tactic to take here, if the two were to get split up or something went array they would seek the next town to meet up again, though this town was already in the middle of no where the next town was a good three if not four days travel from here.

he saw as soon as he heard, the men were on the move, he redied his staff

"time to earn our pay" He laughed a little before volting himself over the barricade leaving his brother there and dropping his sword directly into the shoulder of one the bandits in the process. He almost made this look graceful as he landed and drew his blade back from the screaming male. He quickly made another strike at the man's neck. Pulling the blade back to his side he flicked to to get the blood off in a hasty manner before he bothered moving.

He almost seemed like a different person when he was focused in combat, probably one of the main reasons he wanted to be a knight when he was a child. He had trained daily he was probably more skilled then some of the knights of the area and surely more talented then the guards.

luka wanted to watch his brother, grace and fluidity like that was a rare and amazing sight but there was no time for such lollygagging he had his own to worry about. when the first hand touched the baricade it's owner recieved a hard blow with the side of luka's iron staff, the second an third fared no better but a fourth, who had better vision or a larger brain than his fellows came in through the ground cover to luka's right where a side swing would not be fast enough or strong enough to do much more than unbalence the mage. luka in a single fluid ark cut his right finger on a sliver of glass tied into his ponytail and continued a downward arc to the staff, takinng it in both hands he whispered a single word and the area lit up with light as his magic's seal was broken on the runes of the staff. a taste of lightning in the air was all that anyone at 10 feet felt before they fried their ways into the afterworld. this all had taken only a few seconds but it was enough. all those who were close enough to see the light but far enough to be out of it's reach fled blindly back the way they came.

luka took a deep breath in, the breaking of the seal made him feel invigorated and refreshed in a way he had not in a while, since his last charm making spree, it was a dangerous sign and one he hoped to have not had happen he quickly reached into one of his pockets for a cloth to clean off the blood and take the minute or so needed to reestablish the binding wards keeping him mundane. he hoped desperatly his brother would not need him before then

"Tsk there's no bloody end to them" He hissed out as he ended up getting backed against a wall. Though he lowered his sword for a second before smirking a little "There's a reason why we're not welcome in most places..." He whispered before the blade glowed suddenly before a pinkish flame appeared around the sword's blade. This wasn't anything really impressive magic wise went, but it got the job done either way in adding a bit more damage to his attacks. Bringing the sword back up to in front of his face he opened his eyes again before forcing himself forward and driving the enchanted blade into the closest man's chest.

The screams from the burning wound seemed to force a few of them to back off while others continued trying their luck with the young boy.It took a bit longer then he wanted it to but he finally finished off the small group that had been trying to corner him. His breath was a little heavy by now as he worked his way back to his brother's side noticing that he was being targeted. "Well... heh.. this has been fun eh?" He asked with a slight laugh, though he doubted Luka would agree with him.

'most fun in ages' luka drawled clearly displeased 'it's like they are targeting us' he was sure his brother knew this but it was safer to say aloud and be certain

'we have not been conspicuous have we? did you see anthing or one strange today?' he turned to his brother 'tell me you said nothing and i am smply parinoid"

He shook his head a little striking out quickly at another who got too close to his personal space. "Hardly, I spoke to the guardsmen and even then I didn't get my name out." This was odd why would the raiders target them, this was a planned raid of this town even if they weren't here right?

"Your just being paranoid .. I didn't see anything today out of the ordinary" Though it was easy enough to tell something was amiss here.

'surely then someone saw you?' he made a wide swing at an attacker to the side clipping person's shoulder, his brother finished dispatching the hapless fool. 'the room i was in had no windows and we were glamored on the ride over up until after we passed into town' he grew uneasy, the girl from before would not have known they were part of the raid until much too late and the merchant was much too dumb looking, someone must have followed them he thought

'luden, stay with me, if we get sepperated i fear something bad will happen, this is much too convinently timed'

"I'm not going anywhere.." He gritted his teeth a little. "We need to get information out of one of them, to find a leader to end this foolishness." He said as he struck out at another one and then pulling his foot back to keep close to his brother, not that Luka couldn't take care of himself but it seemed that they were trying to get the two brothers apart.

"Here I thought we could relax finally" He sighed a little when would the gods smile upon them once more, what happened to the happy simple life they once had.

'actually not the worst idea you've had' he waited a few moments for another to attack, when they did he grabbed an arm and tossing the person into his brother's arms grabbed them both closing them both in his own arms and the handle of his staff. the spell of transition wove into the fabric of the staff flared as luka sang a single word 'move'

the speed of the assualt and the lack of direction given did not help the three people as they landed roughly in the grass several meters away from the hillock where they had been only moments before

He groaned a little still managing to keep his hold on the new found captive they had collected though he was quick to recover and let this brother what he thought of such a stunt. "Warn me next time!" he snapped a little in his words, his stomach wasn't agreeing with that last little stunt that was certain. Though he made quick work to free his arms from the captive as he pulled the belt from the captive off and bound his hands, sure this wasn't the prettiest method of binding but at least he wouldn't be running far either if he wanted his pants to stay.

He let out a heavy sigh once he was done an redirected his attention to the man they had before them. "Now the fun part, you get to amuse us with answers to our questions. after that I might think about letting you live to pass a few choice words onto your boss" He grinned a bit with his words, his calling in life may have been missed by a long shot seeing as he already had the blade he carried with him drawn and to the mans neck ready by any means to use it.

'sorry' mumbled luka, i had a bad reaction earlier' he rubbed the seal on his arm too much force' he shook his head to clear it and watched his brother tie up their newfound captive. the man sqirmed and writhed and looked terrified with the two but it didn't stop him from trying to buck away when the sword came out, luka turned away, if his brother couldn't control the other then he'd rather not watch the end result. he knew all to well how horribly one could die from a cut from the neck

He noticed his brother turning away he sighed a little keeping the blade just far enough to keep it from cutting the man let alone him moving and doing it himself "you can stop looking away I'm not going to do it" The captive seemed to sigh a little glad to hear that but he was hardly out of harms way. "though that doesn't mean im letting you live unless you tell us something useful, like why are we being targeted! We just got to this town and no one knows our names even... i'd advise you talk and now"

luka sighed too. death was no stranger to him but it did not stop his gorge from rising when he saw blood. his brother began to talk again 'though that doesn't mean im letting you live unless you tell us something useful, like why are we being targeted! We just got to this town and no one knows our names even... i'd advise you talk and now' the man smiled sickly in his assurance of survival 'fenris is hungry' luka blanched. he took the two steps up to the man and rammed the broad of the staff into his neck effectivly breaking it. 'luden! luden we have to go NOW, we are not staying a moment longer than we already have' without seeing if his brother was following he ran to the town in hopes of gathering what little of his stff remained