CIH: A Tale of Epic Proportions - tag Noah

[Noah Washington]

"No need to. I agree," Noah began, turning on a heel to look to the side, "It is embarrassing."

A treaty. He practically felt his ears perk up. Talk of business was pretty much why he was there. When she was finished, she offered a gruff chuckle and folded his arms again. It was all about pinpointing everything that was said to him and figuring it all out. He could have divulged the importance of quality over quantity, but it hardly seemed worth it when she would disagree.

"I'm still unsure as to why it's you offering the orders. What are you to this place, anyway?" He asked. She wasn't a war-chief, that was obvious. Was it due to her betrothed? Because that was even more of a joke.

[Valerie Danner]

She closed her eyes to the insult but let it go, seeing no worth in retaliating.

When he alluded to the fact that she wasn't who he expected to be delivering this news, Valerie had half a mind to grab the dagger and slash his throat. But it was not a diplomatic move so she busied her hands with running it through her hair, a habit her mother taught her to do when she was angry.

"I'm a warrior. My tribe values the strength of a woman because we were borne from one. This tribe is matriarchal in it's core. I wouldn't expect you to understand unless you were raised here." She answered calmly. They were descendants of a proud line of Valkyries. True, they had watered down their beliefs but it still remained that woman were not to be trifled with.

Nobody outside their tribe knew that Dalton was chief by marriage. And when his wife died, he was set in place until their daughter was of age. Valerie hoped that she would be just as fair as her mother had once been.

"I'm the general's right hand maiden." She continued before stopping in her tracks. "Do you deem me unworthy of relaying the orders, sir?"

[Noah Washington]

"Yes, you do look like a warrior." Noah replied flatly. She could take the comment however she wanted to.

In truth, he didn't really understand what was going on in the place he had newly stepped foot into. He had orders, and he had what information was given to him by other sources. While not everything was a well kept secret, some things insufferably were.

"A warrior and a hand maiden," Noah repeated, "Valuing the strength of women while still putting them in their place. It's a bit of a contradiction, wouldn't you say?" He asked, playing as more of an opportunist than anything else. It was why he didn't answer her question.

[Valerie Danner]

Valerie once more quelled her tongue at the representative's words. She was beginning to wonder why she agreed to do this in the first place. Taking a deep breath, she decided against her silence. "Would you rather I be in my army garb, scratching my crotch and stomping my feet?" She asked before stopping in her tracks, figuring they were deep enough in the woods not to be disturbed.

Rolling her eyes at his deduction, Valerie crossed her hands behind her back, leaning against a tree and folding her legs at the shins. "I'm assuming your ignorance is due to how fragile your women are back home that the term hand maiden immediately brings up images of women in nurse garments tending to wounds and children's baths. I have never been put in my place. My job is to guide the general in his decisions and when he is unable to do so, guide the rest of the army in his place."

Though that were true a lot of the time, Dalton was not the kind of chief to take too kindly to being ordered around by any women, except his wife and daughter. It was a stupid trait, and one that could easily be manipulated, but hopefully, it would work to Valerie's advantage once she was married to the oaf.

"Please, indulge me in this. Did you think it would be better were I a man and you could talk to me as an equal?"

[Noah Washington]

"Perhaps." Noah replied sharply. "You'd be more useful in the event of an ambush that way."

He scoffed, rolling his head to one side to look at her with a side on expression. He listened and waited, allowing her to drabble on about how he was wrong and she was right. When she was finished he offered a small shrug. Whether he believed it or not was hardly her business.

"Do you feel like a lesser individual underneath my words? I'm only asking questions and making observations. Why would my opinion make you feel any better?" Noah asked, deliberately keeping his eyes off her. "You're telling me what do to. I'm not assisting you until I fully understand the situation, and yet you seem to be telling me to without giving me the necessary information. What would you even have my people do?"

[Valerie Danner]

Valerie let out a surprised laugh at her response, not even sure why they were even having this conversation.

At least he was good at listening. Or tuning out her words, anyway. She would say she was used to it but something about this man was making it a little hard for her to do so anymore.

She took a deep breath and shook her head in mild amusement, scratching her forehead before looking to the side, also averting his glance. She refused to give in to his insinuations but she itched to just cross the distance between them and kick him between his legs.

"I'm not telling you what to do. I'm simply requesting that you help us. And not try to change whatever we have already planned. Augh, clearly I am not cut out for this." She muttered the last words to herself. She turned around and roughly ran her fingers through her hair.

"I might need to send you to my chief tomorrow without any progress. Maybe he'll know what to do with you."

[Noah Washington]

The request, as she put it, wasn't something that had left his mind. That was why Noah was there in the first place, after all. Why he had endured the stint with her family and why he was subsequently dragged out into the woods. He understood the tactics; at least, he thought he did.

But was that a stint of defeat to her tone, or was he just imagining that she was actually showing weakness?

"Is that a threat?" Noah asked, covering the words with a surprise lack of hostility. It was the kind of statement that was usually ripe with it, but he had no reason to fret. "I thought we were being strong and independent." He grinned through his words, allowing it to fade away as the moment passed with his humour. "Honestly, if you're going to be the negotiator with a representative, you shouldn't allow yourself to get so worked up. A lesser individual would use it to walk all over you."

[Valerie Danner]

Valerie couldn't help but snort at his question. This was clearly going in a direction she didn't want, which is to say it was going in his direction and she rolled her eyes at her stupidity. She did let him get her worked up and she hated that feeling. Having to constantly explain her role in everything.

"Do you want it to be?" She asked sardonically. "You've caught me. Woe is me, I am the damsel in distress. Help me, save my tribe. Please." She feigned a faint before straightening up and leaning back against the tree.

"I swear, I didn't want to let it come to this. I'm pretty sure you will have such choice words." She sighed and rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers. "I can't-"

She was about to approach the representative before she had a huge boom from behind. She ducked instinctively but her head turned to see where it was coming from only to get the worst feeling in the world. "Mother." She breathed.

Without even thinking, she stood back up and ran in the direction of her home. Not even a few steps in, she was blasted backwards by another boom that she knew had come from the direction of her house. "No," the whisper came from her over and over as she got back up, ignoring the pain on her back from hitting a tree and ran. It kept on repeating as she finally came upon her house that was now just a gaping pile of burning wood on the forest floor. "No." Her eyes burned from the flames and she could feel her heart trying to leap out of her throat.

"Valerie! Valerie are you okay?" She didn't see who it was but when arms came around her, she pushed them away to get to the house, to see if anyone was still alive. If any of them had escaped.

[Noah Washington]

"That is what men are for." Noah shot out sarcastically. He could have emphasised his point further, or even the fact that he was joking. But she seemed smart enough to clue onto what he was doing.

Before anything else could happen, an explosive sound shot out from behind them. He ducked instinctively, before turning on his heels and glancing back the way they came. That was not good. He could have sworn if someone was going to get attacked, it was going to be him. Paranoia of the land and all that. She was off like a rocket, and Noah was quick to follow her. Emotions were clearly taking their toll on her thoughts. She took off towards the house, thrown back by another blast. Whatever the substance was, it was clearly dangerous but he was still willing enough to follow along.

That was, until the house in question was nothing but broken pieces on the ground. "We can't stay here." Noah pointed out, taking a step back from the situation. "It isn't safe."

[Valerie Danner]

She was deaf to the world as she looked at her house crumbling to the ground with no signs of life. Her heart jumped up to her throat, leaving her breathless as she tried to find reason behind the attack.

Looking around, she saw people with pails of water trying to douse out the flames. But they were not the ones she was trying to see. There was no sign of people who remotely looked like they had anything to do with this.

Valerie turned back to the smoldering ashes when she realised that she couldn't stay. There was nothing left. She swallowed the lump in her throat and rubbed her eyes from the sting of the heat before turning around to face the representative.

"I need to find my horse. And...and my supplies. If...you need to go, I suggest you do that now." She stated before joining in to help put out the flames. She needed to find the bodies. She needed to give them a proper burial. She couldn't leave without doing something to honor them.

It didn't take too long to locate the bodies and when she did, Valerie tried hard not to let her emotions get the best of her. It barely even registered to her that people were helping her with the digging and the cleaning but once they were done, light was peeking through the horizon.

Even Dalton paid his respects but Valerie couldn't even care less about his presence as she looked down at all six graves in front of her.

Dressed in her army garb, she went over to the stables. As she dressed her horse up, she couldn't help but let out a soft sob. She rubbed at her chest, wishing away the pain that had pushed down against her. It hurt so much to even breathe as she leaned against her horse, trying to catch her breath.

[Noah Washington]

Noah weighed his options. It was clear from the chaos that it was an ambush without any real presence - it felt like some kind of sneak attack with the attackers quickly retreating to avoid detection. He listened when Valerie spoke to him again, giving him the option to go if he needed. He looked at her silently for a few moments, before shaking his head. "I have a family. I need to know they're safe." It might have been paranoia, but it was strong enough to compel him to leave without offering aid.

"If you catch up to me, we'll ride together." He pointed out, but beyond that he was swiftly moving down the trail towards his own village. In reality, they were fine. But how was he supposed to know that?

In his haste he couldn't think clearly. Not long after he started riding along the trail, the horse he rode became spooked by something on the road and ended up throwing him harshly onto the ground before dashing off into the distance. Begrudgingly, he eventually pulled himself up and dusted himself off.

Unfortunately, it was going to be a long walk if he couldn't find the skittish animal.

[Valerie Danner]

Valerie got a little lost in the middle of her journey to the neighbouring campsite and she wondered if the aide was already with his family. The thought made her sniffle as she looked around to find anything familiar that could guide her in the right path.

With a little tight pull on the reins, her horse turned to the left and a few steps ahead, she saw a familiar head of blonde hair. She frowned a little before kicking her horse gently in the hinds and they started cantering over to the tall man.

"Noah?" she called out, her voice raspier than usual due to the crying she had done. "What are you still doing here?" She asked, clearing her throat after.