Neive - Snippet 2

Jered squinted. “I dunno, the guy’s alone so I reckon – “

A familiar hand had clamped down on top of his head as Neive forced him to the ground. Mid-word, he hadn’t had the change to close his mouth and was rather effectively gagged by dust for the next few minutes. Neive hadn’t spoken yet and, trying to ignore the grit grinding its way between his teeth, Jered hazarded a hushed “What the hell was that for?”

The exasperated roll of the eyes and the soft, annoyed ‘Tcht’ was something he was never going to get used to. “It’s Devin.” Neive finally answered, obviously thinking him an idiot for not knowing all about this stranger. “Violent. Likely to shoot first, ask later, to use the coined phrase.”

“You know him?”

Neive took a moment to answer, instead moving to peer over the rock debris she’d pushed them behind. Her eyes were focussed on Devin, and she didn’t look at Jered as she replied. “We got off badly. He shot me, then we slept together. Now I’m out to kill him.”

There was an awkward pause. “Wait…shouldn’t that be in another order?”

“What tipped you off?” She didn’t seem particularly off put by his assessment, simply squatting down and unhitching her crossbow. “Devin or not we have to get in there. You’re it, I’ll get him away from the door.”

“I thought you said he’d shoot on sight?”

“He will, but not me. Go down that embankment and wait. You’ll know when to go.”

“How will I – “

“Oh for the gods’ sake, just go already!” A quick shove sent him stumbling out the other side of their rocky shelter. It was some sort of miracle that Devin didn’t see him; it was at least two-hundred meters between the quarry cast-off and the shrub infested embankment. Every loose pebble, every fallen twig he snapped in his haste Jered thought would alert the guard, but Devin’s eyes seemed fixed in the other direction. Magic, Jered though, though from who or where he had no clue. Ne didn’t feel like pushing his luck though and refrained from throwing anything at the motionless Devin. The embankment really wasn’t an ideal place for any sort of hiding. The earth was dry and crumbly like week-old cake, and the view over the edge slowly rose above his head as he slipped further down. It was his third time scrambling up to see – this time he’d found a sturdy root to brace himself against – when he finally saw some motion in Devin.

He’d studied the man in his brief glimpse. At least five minutes had passed, he’d had time to, and though he was no fantastic judge of character he’d come to agree with Neive’s assessment of Devin. The way he held himself reminded Jered of some rabid animal, tensed up with some target in his sight. It was easy to mentally draw some foam seeping from the brunet’s mouth. He was built, not overly so, yet his alert position made him seem so. From this distance Jered couldn’t make out his face yet he didn’t have time. Devin’s position abruptly changed from tense and alert to casual in less than a second, his head tilting haughtily and his shoulder slumping, the very picture of self-assured confidence. For a moment or two Jered couldn’t work out what had brought on this sudden change until he saw her.

“Neive, are you bloody insane?”

AN: Yes, snippet two. XD Just another snapshot of Neive and Jered, those nutters, with a cameo of Devin, who is :devTatgemi:'s character.

Now this one, unlike Snippet 1, is written in third-person. It'd be great to get a heads up on which view works better for these two, plz.

Enjoy!