Theo looked at her briefly, some guilt in his eyes. "I cannot fight right now...so we're going to have to run...." He really hoped that she did not hold it against him. "We may have lost them, but we can't be sure for awhile and we have to get further away...we may have to leave town." He gently pulled her closer, protectively as his eyes darted to the alley entrance. He bit his lip softly. "Time to go."

Blinking for a moment, Vivi nodded slowly, accepting his words yet unable to stop herself from being curious. "Alright," she replied after a moment, inwardly wondering why she was so willing to follow Theo. She supposed it was because she had already come to trust him, despite the fact that they knew practically nothing about each other.
When he pulled her closer, Vivi blinked a few more times before nodding, somewhat confused and embarrassed by the protective gesture. "Where will we go? The south still?"

Theo looked at her and shook his head slightly. "East first, then south. Just in case someone heard what I said." He then held a finger to his mouth, as if saying to be quiet. Then he snuck, soundlessly to the alley entrance. He peeked outside the alley and looked both ways, then nodded slightly back at Vivi, motioning her foreward and to keep her hood up.

Nodding silently in response, Vivi silently followed behind him, adjusting her hood so as to keep it from falling off. Stopping a few steps behind him as he cautiously looked out of the alley, she waited a few seconds until he motioned her forward. Thankful that the thunder had stopped, though wishing that it would stop raining, she quickly made her way out of the alley, focusing on the sounds of the soldiers to make sure if they were getting closer or farther away.

Theo's eyes darted around until he found a stable, then took her arm and pulled her towards it. Trying to get out of the rain, as well as get a ride. Once they were inside, he looked at her. "Stay here and hide yourself. I'm going to speak to the owner. I'll be right back." He smiled slightly at her, hoping it would cheer her up a little. Then he left the stable to talk to the owner about a price for one of the horses.

Raising a slim eyebrow at Theo, she huffed silently before she smiled fractionally in return, though she waited until he was a little bit away before shaking off the water and stepping into the shadow, her cobalt eyes watching the horse next to her a little warily. She couldn't help it. For while horses were convenient, it was very rare for one to like her. Vivi could already feel a little bit of unrest that they felt. Except for the one next to her, which had looked at her for a moment before promptly ignoring her.
Hearing a door open, her ear twitched a little under her coat before she turned to what as a figure walked into the building. She guessed that he was most likely the stableboy, but she remained hidden all the same, keeping her breathing shallow and quiet.

Theo argued with the stable owner, vigorously. He finally settled on a price and the man said he could pick whichever he wanted. Theo paid him and came back to the stable, looking relieved, yet uneasy at the same time. He looked around, not seeing Vivi. Then he saw the stable boy and waved to him. "Have you see a girl in here? She is my companion and I left her here while I bought one of the horses."

Watching the stable boy as he began to take care of his chores, she waited for Theo to come back even as she hid in the shadows, eventually kneeling. However, when the boy turned in her direction the light from his lantern found her eyes and reflected back, making him pause. Realizing this, she wanted to curse but kept quiet, hoping that he didn't notice her. "Here kitty kitty," the youth called out, immediately making her want to sigh in relief and grumble at being mistaken for a cat. Then again, she supposed her eyes did look like a cat's, and she was close to the ground...but still!
Hearing Theo come back, she turned to look at him the same time as the youth. Taking this moment, she slid silently away from her spot before coming into the light, hoping that the boy wouldn't question the sudden disappearance of the cat. "You bought a horse," she asked, even as the boy turned around to gape at her.

Theo smiled at Vivi when she appeared, then nodded slightly. "I was going to eventually. Walking is wearing out my legs." He looked pleased with himself. "Pick which one you like." Then he looked at the stable boy. "Ummm...you alright?" He was curious, though he may have to be careful.

Nodding silently at his response, she ignored the still gaping boy as she went to go examine the horses, though she had to resist the urge to laugh when she heard Theo's question to the boy. "Um...I-I'm fine...but she wasn't here a second ago..." Vivi heard the boy reply, still feeling his eyes on her back as she looked at the horses, staying a good distance away from each seeing as they quickly became uncomfortable in her presence. In the end she ended up back to the first horse she had been next to, the black beast eying her though he didn't move.
"Theo, how is this one," she asked after a moment, kind of liking the beast's almost nonchalant attitude towards her.

Theo watched Vivi examine the horses, then looked at the boy. "She tends to do that sometimes. Popping out of nowhere." He chuckled softly to back up his statement. Then he tilted his head slightly. "Why this one? Got a particular reason?" He came up to the horse, putting his hand up to its nose slowly. Letting the beast sniff him before stroking the front of it's nose.

Grinning at his comment to the boy, Vivi watched as he stroked the horses nose. "I'm very much like a cat, no," she asked jokingly after a moment, turning to look at the boy and winking slightly even as he finally closed his mouth. "And I like him," she told Theo after a moment, crossing her arms over her stomach absently.
"That a pretty good horse," the boy muttered after a second, hearing a silent question in his voice, though she wasn't able to understand exactly what he meant by it.

Theo watched the two, smiling to himself absently. Then chuckled softly and slowly moved to the horse's side, running a hand back across his back and side a little. "Great coat." Then he raised an eyebrow to the stable boy. "Say what now?"

At Theo's question, the boy flushed slightly before shaking his head. "Nothing, nothing. Well, I better check to see what the boss is doing," the boy said quickly, running off to where the stable owner was.
Watching him flee in embarrassment, Vivi gave into the temptation to smile. "What a silly child..." she remarked before turning to Theo. "Do you like the horse?"

Theo raised an eyebrow as the kid ran off. "ok..." Then looked at Vivi with a smile. "I'll tell you in a moment." Theo then did the routine checks. Teeth, legs, hooves, nose, eyes..made sure there were shoes on him. "Well, I see that he's in good health. And a good age." He came back to the front of the horse. "What do you say to coming with us?"

Watching as Theo examined the horse, Vivi raised a slim eyebrow in mild curiosity, wondering whether or not he would decide on this horse. Personally she didn't have very much experience with horses, so it surprised her that so much thought had to put into choosing a horse, though it did make perfect sense. Continuing to watch as Theo came around to the front again, she blinked a few times as it seemed to consider before snorting and bobbing its head, the gesture almost like a nod.

Theo looked pleased at his answer. "Ah. Good. Welcome to the group." He moved around to grab a good saddle and fix him up to ride. "Hey, Vivi. Could you dig around in that large hay stack and grab my stuff?"

Blinking for a second, she nodded slowly before moving over to the stack he mentioned. Brushing aside the hay, she quickly scavenged for Theo's things while she considered her new situation. It had been a long time since she had traveled with others, even if this was a temporary situation, but still. And added to that, she found herself instantly trusting this man. Honestly, Nurse would be laughing at me right now.... she thought lightly, grinning to herself even at she lifted his things out of the hay and walked over to him. "This everything?"

Theo looked at her and nodded, starting to lead the horse from it's stable. "Yep. That's everything. Thank you."

"Your welcome," she replied automatically, giving a small nod when she followed him away from the stable, pausing fractionally to give one last look back into the stable. Though when she saw a flash of mousy hair retreat behind a stall when she turned. Grinning, she resisted the urge to laugh, instead keeping her silence as she walked out of the stable. Though when she got outside, her senses once again became alert as she once again focused on her surroundings.

Theo gently took her hand when the exited the stable. He wanted to make sure he could get her out of the way if he had to. Then he just started to lead the horse out of town at a normal pace. If he were walking quickly, he'd draw more attention.

Slightly confused when he took her hand, she opened her mouth to question him before closing it once again. Shaking her head slightly, part of her wished that she would ask what he was planning, but she remained silent all the same.
Refocusing her attention to the road ahead, Vivi followed him solemnly, finally letting herself feel the guilt that plagued her. It was her fault that they had to sneak out of town. She probably wouldn't have minded so much except for the fact that she had dragged Theo into it. "I'm sorry..." she whispered silently.

Theo was grateful that she'd stayed quiet, but he was a little confused as to why she was...eerily quiet. He'd glanced at her a couple of times, though stayed quiet as well. Then he blinked and almost stared at her. "Umm....what for?"

Hearing his question, she winced fractionally, a part of her wishing that he hadn't heard her. Yet...
"I'm sorry for all of this. It is my fault that you have to leave town..." she continued, her free hand clutching into a fist. "If I had been more careful in the first place, the soldiers wouldn't have come after us..."

Theo sighed and he shook his head slightly. "Please, don't beat yourself up about it." His hand tightened around hers slightly. "I was leaving after the storm anyway. This way, I get to help out a beautiful young woman in the process."