[ Oh, they are well and truly distracted, and one might think Bruno would be freaking out to be surrounded by the same flames he'd foreseen killing Silco, and yet that wouldn't be the case at all. Instead, his worry shifted to confusion, and that became... a laugh, and he crouched down to be closer to their level.
As it would be, they liked Bruno, and so that off-handed guess that being Silco's total opposite had been right on the money. ]
...geez, you guys are pretty cute lookin'. [ Which got a few dismayed cries of 'nay, we are not cute!' to which Bruno raise his hands to motion for calm and then added, ] And very brave and bold looking, too, right?
[ And from there, well, Silco simply won't have to worry. He'll keep them occupied. ]
[ Barely able to hold back the eyeroll, Silco's quick to get his business taken care of.
He may be no blacksmith, but he'd worked the mines as a boy, and some things are just muscle memory, even if they are old muscles out of use. He can pick them up easy with the tongs -- it's not unlike trying to use tools to get something far back into the fissures with ones hand stuck all the way into a gap, feeling until he can tug free the glimmer he'd caught sight of deep within the rock.
These are easier, really, and although the pots can only hold one rock each, it's enough. At least for the first. Without a hitch.
The second, though... it slipped out of the tongs, and landed with a clang.
Silco doesn't even wait to see if they look up, he picked them up -- heavy though they are -- and he starts to move, trying to ascend the slope as fast as he can. ]
[ A resounding clang that brought the attention of the knightly little flames around to him. A gasp ran through them, tiny swords and spears were raised into the air, and cries of thief, bandit, ne'er-do-well were raised. They would begin to trundle his way at a surprising speed but... ]
No, no, no, wait, he's! He's with me! He's fine! He's... uh...
[ The advance Silco's way crawled to a halt as Bruno admitted that they were there together. The flames turned to look, to stare, and then, again, they raised their weapons. ]
A liar! He's with the thief! They're both thieves!
[ Oh boy, that wasn't good. Bruno began backing away from the flames. ]
[ Silco looked over his shoulder at the gathering of the flames, he'd made a mistake by looking back, noticed that they had halted going after him as Bruno started to --
What, try to convince them? Please. He grunted in frustration, and started ascending as fast as he could. The flames were moving quick, even so. Some of them had peeled off to come after him, while the rest accused Bruno of being a liar and a thief.
Go figure.
He scrambled up, one foot caught on a pile of dirt, before he kept moving, trying to get up, up. His fingers caught the edge, and he hoisted one pot, and then the other. ]
[ Get moving? Get moving. Right, that was an idea, a good idea! Bruno took a few more stumbling steps back away from the advancing flame knights and that was that. He couldn't think of some amazing way to convince them not to set him on fire and inevitably take Silco's place in the very vision that brought him here, so...
Moving he was! He whirled around, ruana billowing out around him with the motion, and scrambled for the edge of the crater. He was quick on his feet and similarly fast to claw his way up out of the damnable hole in the ground. ]
[ Silco is not quite as fast as Bruno -- good on him for all those years of not smoking -- but he finally hoisted himself up and over the edge of the crater.
He grabbed the two pots as they ran, and he started to wheeze, as he made a beeline for the trees, more interested in getting out before he spent any time dealing with finding Bruno, or avoiding the flame knights, or anything else. They had been... so furious, which wasn't surprising, given that they'd tricked them, but...
Well, they had the goods, at least?
Once he made it to the trees, he paused, and looked around, trying to figure out where Bruno was, so they could get the hell out of here. ]
[ Minutes pass, two, four, six, and just as it began to seem that Bruno wasn't going to be making a reappearance, Bruno burst out of the underbrush with a gasp and more or less stumbled and fell at Silco's feet. ]
Oh... geez... they... they were not cute, not cute at all, very. Very made of fire.
[ The hem of his ruana might be smoldering a bit, a little burnt around the edges, but still good, so there was that. ]
[ Bruno mumbled that. They had been! Cute in tiny knight gear with tiny swords and then they got mad. It wasn't great. Anyway, he took a look at the pot being held out and then dragged himself back to his feet, dusting himself off as he did. ]
Uh, what, did you drop the sack?
[ Oh no, was he going to have to carry the pot directly... ]
I'm afraid, in the effort of running for my life, I misplaced it.
[ He hoisted his own pot, and shook it. He was going to carry one too. They were both on the older side, but for some reason, this reedy, small man looked less distressed by the prospect of carrying the heavy pot. It wasn't that bad, right? ]
Hmm, that'll make hauling these back through the door a little odd if anyone spots us... but I... guess we just. Don't. Let anyone spot us?
[ Look, his vision had been an entirely unhappy montage leading up to Silco's death. The return trip? Not so much. Regardless, Bruno claimed the second pot, hauling it up into his arms. Metal skidded against metal inside but it would do. Better than burning one's hands right off, right? ]
Alright, alright, let's get outta here before those lil' guys find us.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
As it would be, they liked Bruno, and so that off-handed guess that being Silco's total opposite had been right on the money. ]
...geez, you guys are pretty cute lookin'. [ Which got a few dismayed cries of 'nay, we are not cute!' to which Bruno raise his hands to motion for calm and then added, ] And very brave and bold looking, too, right?
[ And from there, well, Silco simply won't have to worry. He'll keep them occupied. ]
no subject
He may be no blacksmith, but he'd worked the mines as a boy, and some things are just muscle memory, even if they are old muscles out of use. He can pick them up easy with the tongs -- it's not unlike trying to use tools to get something far back into the fissures with ones hand stuck all the way into a gap, feeling until he can tug free the glimmer he'd caught sight of deep within the rock.
These are easier, really, and although the pots can only hold one rock each, it's enough. At least for the first. Without a hitch.
The second, though... it slipped out of the tongs, and landed with a clang.
Silco doesn't even wait to see if they look up, he picked them up -- heavy though they are -- and he starts to move, trying to ascend the slope as fast as he can. ]
no subject
No, no, no, wait, he's! He's with me! He's fine! He's... uh...
[ The advance Silco's way crawled to a halt as Bruno admitted that they were there together. The flames turned to look, to stare, and then, again, they raised their weapons. ]
A liar! He's with the thief! They're both thieves!
[ Oh boy, that wasn't good. Bruno began backing away from the flames. ]
no subject
What, try to convince them? Please. He grunted in frustration, and started ascending as fast as he could. The flames were moving quick, even so. Some of them had peeled off to come after him, while the rest accused Bruno of being a liar and a thief.
Go figure.
He scrambled up, one foot caught on a pile of dirt, before he kept moving, trying to get up, up. His fingers caught the edge, and he hoisted one pot, and then the other. ]
What are you waiting for? Get moving --
[ He hissed it, but it was nearly a shout. ]
no subject
Moving he was! He whirled around, ruana billowing out around him with the motion, and scrambled for the edge of the crater. He was quick on his feet and similarly fast to claw his way up out of the damnable hole in the ground. ]
Let's go let's go let's go!
no subject
He grabbed the two pots as they ran, and he started to wheeze, as he made a beeline for the trees, more interested in getting out before he spent any time dealing with finding Bruno, or avoiding the flame knights, or anything else. They had been... so furious, which wasn't surprising, given that they'd tricked them, but...
Well, they had the goods, at least?
Once he made it to the trees, he paused, and looked around, trying to figure out where Bruno was, so they could get the hell out of here. ]
no subject
Oh... geez... they... they were not cute, not cute at all, very. Very made of fire.
[ The hem of his ruana might be smoldering a bit, a little burnt around the edges, but still good, so there was that. ]
no subject
Ah.
Bruno.
Much better, because these pots were heavy, and he couldn't lift both of them for much longer. ]
I've never heard someone describe fire as cute before today, and I doubt I will after, either. [ He held out a pot, for Bruno to take. ]
Hopefully this won't offer you trouble?
[ How to ask "are you hurt" without asking "are you hurt?" ]
no subject
[ Bruno mumbled that. They had been! Cute in tiny knight gear with tiny swords and then they got mad. It wasn't great. Anyway, he took a look at the pot being held out and then dragged himself back to his feet, dusting himself off as he did. ]
Uh, what, did you drop the sack?
[ Oh no, was he going to have to carry the pot directly... ]
no subject
I'm afraid, in the effort of running for my life, I misplaced it.
[ He hoisted his own pot, and shook it. He was going to carry one too. They were both on the older side, but for some reason, this reedy, small man looked less distressed by the prospect of carrying the heavy pot. It wasn't that bad, right? ]
no subject
[ Look, his vision had been an entirely unhappy montage leading up to Silco's death. The return trip? Not so much. Regardless, Bruno claimed the second pot, hauling it up into his arms. Metal skidded against metal inside but it would do. Better than burning one's hands right off, right? ]
Alright, alright, let's get outta here before those lil' guys find us.
no subject
[ A beat, and then: ] Don't worry, I think I have a way in once we get back. I made sure I thought of that part, at least.
[ That was the higher risk in Silco's mind, and therefore --
Obviously, he'd made a plan for that. ]
Well, once we get there. We have a walk ahead of us.
[ At least they hopefully wouldn't be chased on the way back... ]