Escort (Alastair, Ben, open)

[Elizabeth Bell]

25^th of Undecimber
Year LV
7.30

The morning had been a cold one. An hour before, the first movements bestirred the marketplace, and Elizabeth had been among the few risen early enough to have prime pickings. On her arm was her basket, the food inside covered over by a thick woollen blanket. A similar blanket was draped over the eldest Bell girl's shoulders, though she still found herself shivering against the chill autumn air. A frost lay over everything, crackling delicately and melting beneath her boots.

She had to both pity and envy the cats at this time of year. They had all of that warm fur, all of the time, yet had no warm stockings or boots to shield their paws from the ice. She turned yet again, sure that Alastair was following along -- though keeping his distance, she imagined, now that the streets were beginning to fill with people. He wasn't the exceptionally social type.

Turning back to face the light slope ahead of her, Elizabeth made her shivery, shaky way past the Meeting Hall and skirted through the fringes of the grave markers on Hallow Hill. She stopped and lightly dusted some frost from the name of one of several now-passed Mrs. Bell's with her leather glove, and then continued. When she finally reached the smithy, she felt her heart pounding. What exactly was she nervous about? Benjamin? They had been around each other since childhood... even though he never played with the other children, she had interacted with him plenty of times, and he had never made her stomach sink before.

She swallowed down her apprehension and rapped upon the door, squeezing her eyes shut lest she be frightened by another pointed pistol. What if he had forgotten his offer? What if it had been made under duress, and he didn't mean it? Was he that type? Maybe, though she didn't think so. But she didn't really know him, did she? Not really. She let out a deep breath, trying to calm down, wishing that Alastair would come stick a comforting claw to her skirt.

[Alastair]

.Alastair.

The morning dawned chill and bright and Alastair was, as usual, up to greet the dawn before the any of the Bell family stirred. He watched the glow of the sun as it rose over the hills to the west, the light making his copper eyes gleam like chunks of gold. Presently, he decided to wait by the girls' bedroom for Miss Bess, padding quietly to the doorway and sitting like a sandy gray statue until he heard stirring from within. He wasn't about to waltz in; Alastair may only have been a cat to the Bell sisters, but he had more propriety than to take advantage of their ignorance so he could watch them undress. Presently, Miss Bess was packed and ready and he followed her out of the Bell place, admittedly quite glad that they had left before most of the family was up. The Bell household was, on its best days, a battlefield.

He padded several steps behind miss Bell, following her through the wakening town, ducking his head and keeping his gaze fixed businesslike and straight ahead as more and more townsfolk awakened. The big gray tom wasn't much for conversation. Luckily, there were few who liked hanging about Hallow Hill, near the smithy. He watched with alert eyes as Miss Bess ministered some fleeting attentions to the graves of her grandmothers' past.
Sweet girl. he thought, and it occurred to him that the only other Bell woman he probably would have agreed to travel with would have been Mercy. But she would likely never do much traveling alone.
Then they had arrived at the smithy. He could swear he scented a bit of anxiety on Miss Elizabeth...and excitement? She didn't look excited but that wouldn't surprise him. Oftentimes humans blocked out their own feelings and forgot how to recognize them. Hmmm. Mr. Cleaver was too old for her, so it had to be Mr. Benson then. Mr. Benjamin Benson. Well that was interesting, quite interesting he thought. If he had possessed human lips, he would have allowed himself a little smile. He could tell Mr. Benson wasn't a bad sort, despite the fact that the young man was clearly not fond of the village cats. It was the one of the reasons he didn't usually frequent the smithy. The other had to do with the sensitivity of feline ears and the noisy nature of a blacksmith's profession.

The young blonde Bell woman let out a sigh after knocking on the heavy door and Alastair tipped his head. It didn't seem right to stand there but he didn't know what to do to make her seem less nervous. There was no response yet and he could still scent the anxiety on her skin. The burly cat flicked his tail in frustration and narrowed his eyes. He despised not knowing what to do. Finally, he took a hesitant step towards Miss Bell, pricking his ears forward positively and giving what he hoped was an encouraging meow in his smokey voice.

[Benjamin Benson]

For the first time in what seemed months Benjamin Benson had finally gotten to sleep…it wasn’t that unusual, but recently his mind had strayed to the woods more often than to anything else. His mind had an overdeveloped sense of revenge…so much so that he didn’t do anything but work his tail off to be ready for the day when he’d finally get to meet one of the wolves face to face. Until that day however…he was stuck on guard duty and working as a smithy. He enjoyed both, but some days he just wanted to run out into the forest with as many guns as possible and just destroy everything that moved. So as he slept that’s what he dreamt about. The mind wandered through the woods killing everything in its path, while the body slept sound in its bed. Suddenly a large door appeared in his dream and the sound of knocking could be heard throughout the woods. That door had not been there a moment ago, he stepped toward it and the world fell away from him, as he seemed to slam back into his body. Form quickly sat up, the world rushing around him as he took a deep breath and steadied himself. There came another knock and his eyes flicked to the window. The sun wasn’t up yet…it was very early and then as the day flittered to his mind he realized that it must be Miss Bell. He had forgotten about the offer he had made…well not really forgotten, but more assumed she wouldn’t take him seriously. He was glad she did though.

Benjamin stood quickly, pulling on his trousers and shoes before grabbing a shirt and jacket. The cloak was last as he pulled it over his shoulders and secured it tightly. The world would be cold…he hoped Miss Bell was as dressed for the weather as he was. There was just something about the idea of her getting cold that just made him ache with protectiveness. He didn’t really recognize that though as he climbed down the ladder, hands reaching for at least two guns, sticking one in a belt loop while the other was stuck in the back of his trousers. It wasn’t the safest way to travel with guns, but this would leave his hands free and they would not frighten Miss Bell. If trouble they should meet he would be well prepared. Hopefully it would not come to that, but one could never be certain anymore. The woods were a dangerous place to be and the place they were traveling to would be through those woods. His hand wrapped around the wooden handle on the door and he pulled the door open, revealing Miss Bell standing there in the cold. He felt horrible about making her wait so long for him, but he didn’t want to admit that he had never believed she’d take him up on his offer. That wasn’t quite the way he wanted to start the journey with her.

“Sorry to keep you waiting Miss Bell. I was running behind schedule,” he said softly, his eyes darting down to the ground. He couldn’t look her in the eyes…the few times he had he’d almost forgotten his place. Still now he wasn’t quite sure if he was ready to strike out alone with her, but he had offered and he wasn’t about to let her go alone. It was at that moment that his eyes fell on the cat. His body tensed slightly…was the cat traveling with them? He met the cat’s eyes briefly…they were too…wrong, they just weren’t right. He’d known cats before…back when he was a young boy. They held intelligence, but not to this degree. There was definitely something wrong with the cats here in Benevolence, but no one would believe him if he said so. That’s why he’d kept his mouth shut and just stayed away from the animals. He didn’t trust them and part of him wondered if they even trusted him…but then again maybe he was just making more out of them than he should have. Whatever the case Benjamin just didn’t like them. His eyes flickered back to Miss Bell. “Shall we begin?”

[Elizabeth Bell]

Bess tensed, waiting, her eyes still tightly shut. When for several moments there was neither an open door nor a pistol, her heartbeat began to slow. Still, she was tightly strung enough to jump when a feline voice broke the chill winter silence like a shattering glass. Her eyes flew open and went immediately to Alastair, and a wide smile broke out on her face at his earnest expression.

"I'm alright," She whispered, eyes darting to the door for a moment in case Mr. Benson chose to make an appearance just as she was talking to the cat. She didn't know what he would think of that. He didn't seem to keen on the Guardians. "No matter what Bea says, I'm not in love with him. We hardly know each other. We just spoke alone one time, and it was nothing unusual." Why exactly should Alastair care? There was still some small question of whether or not the cats understood human language, but she doubted that he would be too concerned with the town gossip anyway.

Several moments passed before the door opened, and she managed to keep herself from jumping again. She was, admittedly, terribly nervous about lodging herself in a castle with an unfamiliar young bachelor in the woods where her own best friend's father had gone missing, in addition to others. Who wouldn't be? She smiled warmly, but Mr. Benson's eyes weren't on her. They were at the hem of her skirts, as usual; so she let the smile drop and suppressed a sigh. Would he even talk to her as they walked?

"It was hardly a long wait," She said, failing to lower her voice to be as hard and quiet as his. She noticed his stare upon Alastair -- he seemed to have frozen with displeasure, and he offered no greeting to the cat. She bit her lip. How rude! But he had never integrated into the village, and was infamous for his disregard for the respected position of the Guardians.

Instead of saying anything she turned about and nodded to Alastair, hoping to make up for the snub he had just received. "Yes, of course. We'd best be going, then."

Bess shifted hesitated. With any other man in the village she would have placed her hand upon his arm and allowed him to escort her; it was the proper thing to do. But she remembered his reaction when she had touched his hand, and didn't think that she could bear the embarrassment if he pulled away. So she stared at him like a frightened deer and flexed her hand at her side, trying to think of what to say. Maybe she should wait. If he offered his arm, she'd... oh, hell, she was over thinking it! She let out a nervous laugh at her own expense, lifting her eyes to the dark grey, winter morning sky in exasperation.

[Alastair]

.Alastair.

The husky tom padded along at Miss Bell's heel, one ear cocked and listening. It wasn't so much that he was interested in the gossip, really, he was being polite because he liked Miss Bell. It wasn't that he didn't care, romance just....didn't hold his interest. Besides a short lived fling or two in his younger years....none of which had been serious...and gods knew he'd never felt anything close to love...romance had never entered into his life. It didn't bother him much and he'd never been around females a lot. Relationships had never interested him. Not that he would refuse happiness if he found someone, he just...wasn't worried about finding it. Whatever it was. All in all, he supposed it was sweet. She definitely liked Benson. He could tell, and by more than just by the tone of her voice. His feline instincts were useful for more than just hunting sometimes.

Presently they arrived at the smithy and waited a few minutes before the door cracked open in response to Elizabeth's knock. The big cat smelled sleep on Benson still and would have chuckled if feline vocal chords allowed for that. The two youth exchanged pleasantries and then Mr. Benson seemed to notice his presence for the first time. Alastair's ears flicked back as the young blacksmith shot him a disapproving glance. He met the young man's eyes brazenly, almost amused.
He'd fought his first Gewin before the young smithy would have learned to tie his boot laces. Ah well, not his problem. If young Mr. Benson didn't like him that was too damn bad. Alastair wasn't about to put any effort into getting on the smith's apprentice's good side. Wasn't worth his time, really. Would have been easier if the young man liked him but things were what they were. Didn't particularly bother him.

Elizabeth spoke again and her soft voice commanded his attention for the moment, amber eyes and pointed ears turned in her direction. He hoped no Gewyn took it into their heads to attack in broad daylight. They usually didn't, most were asleep and the rest would be deterred by his scent which he knew they found as repellent as he found theirs. Good riddance to them: he wasn't particularly spoiling for a fight when he couldn't shift. He had to admit, he'd be damn near useless at this size. Miss Bess definitely liked the boy, he realized, as he watched her fidget. Pity he couldn't play a little matchmaker for them. It'd be worth it to see Bess smile. One of a small handful of worthwhile girls she was. Well, he couldn't do a thing right now except wait for them to be off to the woods. The sandy gray cat sat down and proceeded to groom himself, canny eyes glancing up every so often and ears twitching alertly, as was customary. Alastair let his guard down once in a blue moon. And since it was morning, there was no moon at all, so he'd keep watching.