The Golden Idol

[Yeorl Oakenleaf]

"Long ago, back before the clan wars, the lord of the stone, requisitioned from the famous paragon Roki - an idol in his likeness fashioned of pure gold. This idol was enchanted and so that which ever family held the idol, their blood would run strong, their feet swift and their arm mighty. The family that for the past five hundred, had the idol in their possession was the Stronghorn family, of course they were never seen with magically enchanted anything and have fallen on hard times recently.. So maybe the magical properties of the idol was just a rumour. But still, I'll be damned if a rock hard idol of gold isn't worth a small fortune. It's a shame that they had it stolen recently by a famous bandit troop, the Blind Eye bandits..." The merchant finished as he set down his glass of wine onto the wooden table, he was brightly adorned in all manner of colours - as was the fashion of all Elvish merchants, his pointed ears just peaking over the sides of his skull cap. Trey had defended his caravan many times while on circuit; because he loved the stories the Elf told, they were always the legends of his people or the dwarves - hearing of more heroes often made it easier for Trey to believe that maybe one day he'd be one too.
"Thanks Lornish, I wish you the best of luck in Redrook, hopefully someone still wants to buy that crap you sell." Trey said laughing as he took the several silver coins that were his payment for the long journey out of Vaylence. They had only been attacked once by a pack of plains wolves but it had taken longer than any of them expected to get to the Dwarven capital. Lornish nodded with a grin on his face and Trey left the tent headed back into the hustle and bustle that was Redrooks market district... He was on the hunt, the hunt for that stolen idol. He hoped that if he returned it to the Stronghorn clan that maybe they'd share some of it's magic.. Or their gold.
He bumped into a stranger without thinking as he was walking heavy in thought.

[Allanon Creel]

Sedg hobbled along, in the guise of an old woman, wearing the appropriate dress and cowl, doing his best to seem the average dwarven citizen, despite his average human height, with surprising success. He thought about how his good luck was running, or rather, how nothing was happening, and it pleased him greatly as he bit into his apple, smiling. Despite the lull in the fighting and the nothingness going on, Sedgwed knew better than to put things off, as he'd already told his daughter that should he be missing for extended periods of time, to wait for his return in their home in the mountains, with all the food stores. That led him to the somewhat disappointing thought of how his wife had refused to leave the mountain home, one he could rarely visit as she did not wish to have to leave the house in costume everyday to not be harassed by fans and chroniclers. He moved that thought to the back of his attention, distracting himself from that fact by checking what different shops had as he passed, when he accidentally bumped into a man, falling off balance. "Forsaken Gods.." He muttered, as people had already seen his purple outlined blue crest with the clover indicating house Dysdenath upon his clothing underneath the dress. He was already hearing snippets of awed whispers, "It's Paragon Dysdenath!!" "Hail!"," It's really the Dragon-Whisperer! See son, if you train real hard at your magic, you'll be like him one day!", " No, I really have met him before!-- Yeah, no joke, me and ol' Sedg there were friends wayy before he became a cross-dressing legend!!" Sedgwed bit his tongue to keep from telling them to stop talking as if he were a god, instead gathering himself and starting to walk by the man he'd knocked into. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention.." He muttered, starting to hurry away. "Paragon Sedgwed! Hold a moment, if you would!" A tattooed soldier called. Sedgwed cringed, knowing why he was being called after. "Paragon Sedgwed, you have not answered our requests for a full week now, we must know your answer!" Sedgwed blew air through his noze, irritated. "Fine, I'll go!" The guard smiled, relieved, "Then come, as we will introduce to you your partner; he has been tracking and eliminating bandit organizations for years, and is a master huntsman, one of the best problem solvers we know." Sedgwed shook his head. "IF I'm to join, then I chose my own partner." The guard chewed on it, then replied, "Fine, I'll tell my lord you had another already in mind, it may make not replying a little more tasteful. Who had you in mind? Which tactical, ruthless Thug hunter had you in mind? Who?" Sedg immediately pointed to the stranger he'd just bumped into, "Him. He's the one. I know it." The guard was appalled, " But you just met him through sheer coincedence!! You don't even KNOW him!" Sedgwed grinned, " Exactly."

[Yeorl Oakenleaf]

Everyone started staring at Trey and the strange man dressed as a woman. He had no idea what was going on but started laughing all the same - the look on the man in drag was priceless, he had the look of someone who knew the jig was up. Trey had pulled that face many a time himself. "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, or what I've just been conscripted to do.. But I can already tell it's going to be a lot of fun." Trey said as he extended a hand to the crossdresser, helping him to his feet after just knocking him down. "Paragon.. Drag Queen or what ever they said.. Horse whisperer?" Trey said with a huge grin on his face, just adding the last bit. "I'm Trey,Trey Sepulcha, it'll be pleasure working with you - Well probably." Introducing himself laughing.
The guards and the 'fans' look on dumbstruck as to what just occurred and how exuberant the random stranger had been.

[Allanon Creel]

Trey helped him to his feet, and Sedg could tell the man was truly enjoying himself, and decided he'd made a good choice, allowing an honest smile to touch his face, without the provocation of someone's stupidity or a sharp comment, since the first since his daughter's birthday had passed weeks back. Yet immediately it was washed away with a look of sadness, "And so another epic and most likely awe-striking story material quest begins, with twists unseen and women whom will fall helplessly for us. I now pity you for having chosen you to follow my company, and hope that this ill-good-fortune does not permanently rub off on you, lad. Ah well, let's start walking, no point in speaking of hindsight." They made their way to a poorer district of the city, to specific, yet seemingly random dead-end alley where a homeless man in a business suit and broken monocle slept against the dead end wall. Sedg coughed, and the man awoke as if on a cue, "Have ya' any chainge, o' maybe sum' foo? If not, y'ah be-ah buggah' oeff, I gota bad sick t'me.." Sedg checked to see if anyone but Trey was looking then sighed, looked to the sky and kicked a dented trashcan that had been put upside down. The homeless man nodded, stood and pulled on a handle hidden under the top-hat he'd been sleeping up, revealing a hidden path downwards. Sedg motioned for Trey to follow and walked down and down, yet forward all the while, and when they could barely see the ceiling, the faint light from the sun from the open trap was cut off as the trap door was closed once more. Yet as sudden as the darkness came, the hallway was brightened once more for intervals of several seconds at a time, with slight darkness for almost a second, inbetween, as appearing and fading images of people in combat, posing heroically or in the midst of other actions seemed to flicker and hover above them, as if they were looking up to a starry night sky inside the underground path, a masterpiece of magic and art together. "It's always too bright for me in here.. I come in expecting a cave or crypt like secret path to go under the walls and out without being seen, yet I always, always am nearly blinded when the first pictures come up.." Sedg grumbled, squinting as they walked. As they passed by a random weapons rack, with guards standing to either side of it looking bored, Sedg took his weapon explaining though he didn't hear any questions from his companion, "Paragons can't carry weapons on them inside the city walls, which are directly above where this rack is, in case of any attempts to overthrow the council, unless there is any specific exception, which I didn't care to read so I simply always go unarmed to the city."

[Yeorl Oakenleaf]

"Ah, sucks for you - I always go armed, especially to places I'm not supposed to be." Trey says flashing a grin as he pulls up his pant leg to reveal an array of knives. He gazes around curiously at the hidden hide out, he'd heard stories of this paragon in the merchants caravan before; he was apparently the greatest hero the dwarves had ever known. But to Trey he seemed more just like a normal guy with a habit of getting caught in trouble; however, Trey loved trouble. He could tell this was going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, just by the unfamiliar way Sedg held his sword and by the look of fear in the Guards eye, upon seeing so legendary a hero preparing for battle. They also gave Trey some curious looks, since Sedg was known more commonly to work alone. "So what's our mission Paragon?" Trey asked mocking the title. He found his thoughts instantly brought back to the Golden Idol he was looking for, realising that it would probably have to wait.

[Allanon Creel]

Sedg looked over his shoulder at the youth, a smug grin nearly consuming his face, and couldn't help but smirk as he looked back towards to approaching exit. He found he like the boy, as the merc didn't show any signs as to giving any care about his title or fame, caught up as he was in his desire to quench his seemingly endless pool of ambition. "Well, first we're gonna scale the highest mountain, then swim the depths of the ocean, hunting for the lost treasure of the fabled Oslorg the Red, then maybe even find ourselves a wench or six. Either that, or do what the messenger was asking on behalf of the council and kill ourselves some sticky fingered bandits, who may or may not possess a fancy dust collection." He drolled. As they reached another trap door Sedg tapped it twice with the hilt of his sword. The door lifted upwards letting in the cold outside air, as the top-hatted, monocled and suited hobo moved to one side and they got out. The hobo closed the door once more and slept on his top hat which once more covered the hatch, and they started their walk to where they assumed the bandits would hide away. As they walked the length of the plain towards the frozen forests on the outskirts of the mountain range, Sedg decided that the place they were in would be best to unpack and set camp. As Sedg made the fire with the wood he'd happened upon, he sighed, "One thing through all this; just call me Sedg, that title shit's a load of crap and I'm sure you're sensible enough of a kid to see it, you got the humor just barely kept from the tongue when you're lookin my way that says you got somethin funny to let out- well I'm all ears. We got time to kill and silence ain't somethin I find pretty."

[Yeorl Oakenleaf]

The pair set up their small camp, they didn't bother to hide their tent fire - as Trey was too cocky to worry and Sedg too suicidal. Trey came back from the forest with three game hares, the land had been kind to them, he'd caught one of the hares in a snare that some other hunter had set up. Trey just considered it an early birthday present, it was quite thoughtful of the hunter who left his snare unattended. "I got us some fresh dinner!" Trey called triumphantly to Sedg who was sitting by the fire quietly. "They practically gave themselves to me Sedg." He said placing the three hares on a spit over the fire. Taking his seat by the fire, Trey stretched out and let out a large yawn - he was happy to finally be on a new adventure, it'd been awhile. He'd learned over the past few days of walking all about the legends revolving around Sedg and he'd deduced that the man was no god in human flesh. Just an unlucky - or rather lucky, bastard who had a knack for finding trouble; just the kind of guy Trey liked as company. The Dwarf also had a cynical sense of humour that Trey enjoyed, or maybe it was just depressing banter - he'd play it off as comedy. "So any idea as to the where-abouts of our friends?" Trey asked grinning, rubbing his hands together before digging in to some fresh hare.

[Fëdyei Brambleglow]

Fëdyei pulled an arrow from her quiver and readied it on her bow. She tread the ground carefully, as to not expose her presence prematurely. Crouching behind their backs, not 20 feet away she listened intently to their exchange. "They practically gave themselves to me Sedg." One of them called, as he placed three hares over their fire. She was taken aback by their carelessness, they hardly had hidden their camp and this one did not even care to hush his voice. Fëdyei decided that the two men were either incredibly stupid and naive, or that they were powerful and had no need to conceal themselves from potential foes. She really hoped it was the former. "So any idea as to the where-abouts of our friends?" the same one voiced. Fëdyei took a deep breath, raised her bow and strode out in front of the two men. "I do not mean to startle you, but I saw you rummaging with my traps and followed you here. I think one of those belongs to me."

Fëdyei swallowed hard as she awaited their reply. She was normally not one for confrontation, but she had not successfully trapped anything in a few days and was getting desperate for a free meal. She hoped she looked intimidating to the men, but her nervousness made her voice falter ever so slightly. She hoped that they had not noticed.

"Well?" She asked taking a step forward and thrusting her bow closer to the loud one's face in an attempt to persuade them of her power over them.

[Allanon Creel]

"Easy girl, you're shaking so much you may end up shooting the herb pouch, and it contains some contents that may...shock you - Quite literally, if tampered with in the wrong way." Sedg said, stretching as he rose to meet the newcomer.

He'd seen the look in her eye in those of the bugbears he'd had to wrestle his way past some time ago; it was the look of one driven by hunger, to the point of irrational action.

"We--" He glared at Trey, "Did not know it was one of yours, and would be more than willing to return it, in exchange for your company at our fire." He said, reaching out and slowly motioning for her to put the bow down.The girl still seemed to hesitate, though he could guess she wanted to do as he was motioning for, yet he had lost his patience. "Look. Shoot me down and chance something inexplicably horrible occurring to yourself beyond my control. Or you could take a seat!" He said cheerfully, with an under-toned seriousness, pointing to a place near the fire.

[Yeorl Oakenleaf]

Trey was laughing at the sudden development but then quickly hushed himself to not look rude. "Hi there! This must be yours." He said as welcoming as possible, handing the girl a hare on a stick. It had been lucky of him to find the hare pre-caught, but the way Trey liked to play; he considered being caught even luckier. "I'm Trey and my partner here is Sedg." He said standing up and bowing, as if he were introducing himself to royalty. He just wondered who this girl was, with Sedg luck he knew there'd have to be something special about her - they'd already had their fare share of troubles to run into and he was eager for more excitement. "We're hunting bandits!" He said with a childish gleam in his eye.

[Fëdyei Brambleglow]

An army of frogs chorused in the distance. Fëdyei breathed in the thick, gamey aroma of of the fire and the cooking hares and felt herself salivate. She hardly needed more invitation to eat than having the hare offered towards her. She lowered her weapon and slung it to her back, replacing the arrow back into the quiver in the same motion. She grabbed at the meat hastily and sunk her teeth in, not caring that it had hardly began cooking, or that she was biting off more fur than anything else.

As filed her belly and came to her senses, she began to realize what kind of situation she had put herself in. These men did not seem hostile. She was the aggressor in this situation and they had done nothing but welcome her. In fact they seemed downright delighted to have her there. She began to feel a bit guilty for threatening them, however poorly she had executed it. Wiping a bit of blood off of her face she said "Kiitos ja lämpöä. Thank you for your kindness, strangers." She graciously bowed her head and allowed herself a toothy grin. Not even ten minutes into their meeting she found herself beginning to like them, or perhaps she was just immensely grateful that they did not want to kill her. She'd have to see.

"I am Fëdyei..." She paused for a moment, deciding which of her surnames to say, but decided it was better to keep quiet for now. "I am a traveler, seeking knowledge of ancient medicines." Her eyes darted around their belongings for the aforementioned herb pouch, wondering if it were carrying anything of interest to her. "And whom do I owe for this unexpected hospitality?"

[Allanon Creel]

"Ah..The man who introduced us is Paragon Trey, and I'm a humble fortune-seeker, looking to make a name for myself and a mark on the world." Sedg said, maintaining a straight face, which was all the harder to maintain by the regal nod of greeting from the 'Paragon'. He did his own little bow, hands splayed wide and in front of him, having noted the look given towards the supplies at the mention of dangerous contents and turned to start unpacking his blanket and bed.

"It's too late to enter the city at this time, so you may want to- wait, you said you were alone, then? No parents, no guardians- so where have you come from then?" He said, stopping what he was doing to properly assess her. He noted the child's height as one of a dwarf yet her face was too narrow to pin her as wholly one of his people's, deciding she was an interracial child and most likely an elf as the other.

Sedg yawned as he finished his nightly preparations for sleep by unbundling his spear, Survivor he called it, and laying it beside his pillow. "You're welcome to sleep here with us, if you don't mind my snoring but if you'd rather brave the dark and the chills then if you want you could bundle some leftovers to take." He said, picking up his spear and whetstone then setting to sharpening the point.

[Yeorl Oakenleaf]

Blood tripping from Trey's mouth due to the nearly raw rabbit, he looked up from his meal with a crude smile. While he was known to be quite adept at wooing women in a pub - he looked more like a hideous monster with chunks of rabbit stuck between his bloodied teeth. "We're not that scary." He said laughing a bit, fully aware by her gaze how disgusting he was being. One hobby of the rather uncouth and youthful Trey was pulling peoples legs. "So long as you don't look in my friends fortune gear, there is a magical treasure of unknown power there. It is said that the trinket has the power to alter time!" He said, putting a hand over his mouth, in a hushed tone - as if it was a secret just between the two of them. From out in the dark a wolf howled at the full moon, the fire crackled brilliantly while they awaited her response. If she decided to leave the two travellers for solitude, he understood and respected her prudence. All the while holding back laughs from his newly given title, 'Paragon'.

[Fëdyei Brambleglow]

"I have parents... and friends. Back home." She said gazing at the brilliant fire for a moment. "As for where that is, it is irrelevant."

She turned to Trey and stared at him, wishing sorely he would wipe his mouth.
"And magical treasure, you say? Some dirty magic trinket is no treasure." She found herself speaking harshly, though she did not wish to. She felt offended that he should suggest, even jokingly, she would steal from them... though she knew she was close to stealing that hare if the situation had gone any differently. The dissonance she felt made her momentarily sick. Fëdyei always had thought of herself as undeniably good, but more and more she was learning there was little she wouldn't do to survive. She realized that that was just the nature of things, but it was hard for her to accept. She brushed the thought away as swiftly as it came.

Still staring at Trey she said his name over and over again in her head. Paragon Trey, Paragon Trey, Para- "Wait a minute, HAHAHA, you mean this guy's a paragon? I don't believe you for one second, just look at him! He looks like a brute, the way he's eating." She let out hearty laughs, and smiled widely, hoping they would find humor in the conflicting image, too. She was accustomed to speaking freely, being the favorite little girl of most of the villagers back home, but she had failed to assess these stranger's dispositions before poking fun at them.

"Anyways," she added quickly as her laughter subsided. "I'll stay the night and keep watch for you two. I owe you for the meal. So how's it sound, one act of kindness for another? I promise I won't steal anything." She really wouldn't, too, but she laid on the sweetest, most innocent face she could muster so that they'd be convinced.

[Allanon Creel]

"Well, that's awful kind of you to offer Fey, but offerin you a meal's nothin, and I highly suggest you get some rest, since we're not going to be taking watch at all throughout the night. You need the sleep more than we do, a growing girl such as you are." Sedg said with a smirk, finishing his sharpening and laying his spear to the side.

Seeing the slight hesitation in the youth he sighed, "Lass we're completely safe, there's not even a need for a watch. I'm guessin' it's gonna get real cold soon too, so we'll be needing this fire burning for as long as possible, and that'd be something a watch'd be needed for if we were in the south or even the east, but again I've slept with my fire goin' for years and I've come out just fine. So Fey there's no need to give up sleep when it's freely given- you never know how much or how little you'll be able to snatch later on." He said, finishing adding the last of the firewood he'd gathered to the now fairly large fire and getting into his covers.

"I hope not to see you groggy from wasted hours tomorrow when I make my secret leftovers stew- here's the secret; Leftovers!" With that, he disappeared into his sleeping pack.

[Yeorl Oakenleaf]

Trey laughed heartily at her catching on to his rouse, even her serious face towards his made up story and accusation. He threw a bit more kindling onto the fire before taking out of his pack his sleeping roll, laying it flat just by the fire. "Just get some sleep girly, we're breaking camp early - so it'd be best for you to get some now." He said in a tone as gentle as Sedg, he could tell by her early comments that the girl had spunk to her and Trey liked spunk; he also admired her bravery for coming into a camp with two strange armed men. Brash and foolish, just like himself. Trey took to his roll with a big yawn, he'd been tired - the old dwarf had put up a good pace, he had felt more like an Imperial soldier than an adventurer. "Good night Sedg, good night Fey." He said smiling, taking the high road and sticking to a casual 'Fey' not even trying to pronounce her name in the Elven tongue. While Trey had done some travelling within Highever; a rarity for Humans, he wasn't going to sit there and butcher their language. "Oh and Fey. Watch out for the twisted Zombie dragon men who haunt these woods at night, they're a famous legend and come upon weary travellers hoping to steal their dreams and youth." He said with a serious look on his face, wondering if she'd fall for that one or impress him again. Within minutes he and Sedg were both asleep leaving the young half-elf to be the only one awake by a quiet and small fire, putting their complete and absolute faith in her - a stranger.

[Fëdyei Brambleglow]

"I'm not afraid of children's tales." Had been her last words to them before their snores joined and complimented the chorus of frogs and crickets and who knew what else.

Fëdyei watched quietly for a few minutes as the two strangers slept. She marveled at the way their features unraveled, leaving them looking worry-less and young. Everyone looked harmless when Rest held them to her chest.

Knowing she would not be able to sleep for a bit longer, she pulled out a worn old book titled Local Medicines of the Chavlarus Mountains. The fire's light danced over the pages and her face, keeping time with some ancient rhythm that Sithis had given it long ago. She flipped to the Index to find the section titled Ingredients by Property, and looked for plants that could shock or paralyze on contact. She had to know if what was in that bag was of any use to her. Of course, she thought that he may have been joking at it's contents, but it never hurt to be prepared. So she read. Rose Hellespore was a mushroom that if spores of it were inhaled would cause cardiac arrest. When crushed with Yhellstalk and water, however, acted as an antibiotic when rubbed on fresh wound. The Mointi Leaf plant bore one flower yearly, that used painful shocks to keep the wandering herbivore from eating it while it flowered. When it's fruit is de-pitted and ingested, it would ease stomach cramps. "Arnika, Bitter Urshock, Thistleclaws." Fedeyei closed the book and sighed. None of this would help Ranion.

Fëdyei inched toward the one with the spear. She could just quietly feel around his things and find that bag.. she'd only just look.

Behind her was a crunch, a crackling of twigs. Fëdyei closed her eyes and listened. The gentle sound inched closer. Eyes still closed, Fed reached for her bow and turned. She was staring into the soft eyes of a deer. It did not run as Fed aimed her arrow. She smiled and bowed. She knew a gift from Gaia when she saw it, the Goddess herself had come to her in a time of uncertainty in the form of a deer. She knew this as a message to gain these people's trust, to not go digging through their things however well intentioned she was. She knew this was a sign to continue her journey with these strangers, and this meal was meant to be shared between them as a token of their new alliance.

She whispered a word as she aimed. "Jädyttä.." and suddenly a fierce, biting cold began to suck the warmth from her fingertips like a starving beast. She winced against the pain and let the arrow fly. It struck the deer in the neck and it seemed to stiffen. It lowered itself and as it did, visible ice crystals inched and crackled all over it's body, keeping it from thrashing about. Without a sound, the deer lowered its gentle head and died.

She silently raised herself and walked over to the animal. She kneeled to the ground and kissed it between the ears. "Thank you, Mother. For leading me when I am lost." She whispered. "May the morning bring to me life from Ervon, love from Fella and growth from Cayrun." And with that, she curled up next to it and fell asleep.

[Allanon Creel]

Sedg woke up at some point in the night to take a piss, and walked a short distance from the camp to relieve himself when he noticed Fey curled up next to a deer, a frost-rimmed arrow projecting from its jugular. "Well, guess we may be havin' more than just Leftover surprise tomorrow, atta way girl." He whispered more to himself, holding off his protesting bladder to retrieve his blanket, which he laid on the girl before finally going into the brush to pass his water.

As Sedg finished and began to walk back to the camp he felt the hairs on his neck rise, but was too tired to care, "Nothin' goin' but sleep and darkness.." He muttered, tripping over the sleeping form of Trey and hearing the hiss of something whizz over his head as he picked himself up from the ground, walking back to his spot. He fell asleep fairly quickly, as his last thoughts were wondering why he couldn't remember the name of the bird, as he was sure it had been, that had swooped over him and made that noise.

Twenty yards beyond him an arrow quivered in the trunk of a broad tree.

[Yeorl Oakenleaf]

Trey muttered and woke up with a harsh kick to the stomach, he noticed Sedg - most likely sleep walking - had tripped over him. He was one of those people who when woken up couldn't get back to sleep and that was when he heard the resounding THUNK of an arrow thudding into a tree trunk - just narrowly missing the formerly standing Sedg. He threw himself up yanking his sword out of his belt and with more pleasure than he should have returned the kick to the sleeping form of Sedg on the ground, he looked desperately for the girl but couldn't find her. He spotted her form nicely hidden under Sedgs blanket close to the now burned out fire pit. "BANDITS!" He cried as loud as he could picking up Sedgs spear and kicking it towards him with his foot. He was unsure as to whether or not the girl was still asleep under the blanket, but she was well hidden and most likely wouldn't need to place herself in a position of risk. The first few men poured through the trees, they were an organised lot each wearing what appeared to be a uniform, dark green studded leather armour and a black mask in the shape of a cat. He didn't recognise the group but they had an air of professionalism to them as the three men jumped through in unison. No doubt they were more than common thieves who had spotted a camp fire and some unsuspecting victims.
"Lay down yer' arms and maybe we won't cut em' off!" Said one of the three men, he was a bit bigger and had what looked like a red ribbon tied onto his arm - Trey assumed some captain or something of minor importance.. He'd be who Trey engaged first. Running at the Bandit his sword drawn he went in to fight him one on one, hoping that Sedg could hold the other two off - or maybe even take them out, before he was finished with the big guy. He knew there were more bandits out of the small clearing and that they had to take care of these three fast.

[Fëdyei Brambleglow]

When Trey yelled "BANDITS." Fëdyei was certain he was pulling her leg again. She wasn't sure if she found it annoying or endearing yet, but she liked the attention all the same.

"Honestly, how many times are you gonna try and scare me Trey, I told you I'm no-" As she uncovered her face, she saw them. Bandits. She quickly covered up again, mind and heart racing. "I thought these dolts were supposed to be hunting bandits, not the other way around." She whispered to herself in an exasperated sigh. She wanted to just lie there until they all were gone, Trey and Sedg could deal with the mess. She'd just pretend she was asleep the whole time. Haha, I'm such a heavy sleeper! she'd say. I must have been so tired from hunting the fantastic meal for us. She'd grin cheekily. She turned slightly to her left and was staring at the soft eyes of the deer again. They were clouded over, no doubt due it's death, but to Fëdyei it looked like eyes containing indisputable wisdom. She nodded slighty to it. Cowardice was no way to begin this friendship.
She creeped around the animal's body, crouching behind the back of the deer and used it's body as cover. The blanket still concealed her, but she knew if the bandits turned around they would see her. She had to act fast.

"Lay down yer' arms and maybe we won't cut em' off!" said the larger one.
She reached grabbed her bow, and with shaky hands, fired an arrow aimed for his head. The arrow whistled past him, nearly hitting Trey who was barreling for the giant of a man, sword drawn. Her eyes widened into two huge saucers. She took a deep breath and a moment to steady her hand.

"Jädyttä." The arrow hit its mark this time. The man's back stiffened with frost, and though it was not enough to still him, it did slow him down and disorient him for a moment.
Without hesitation, she readied another arrow and aimed for the man beside him.
"Sithësih." The warmth crept up the arrows' shaft into her hands, nearly burning her. The arrow pierced the man's calf, and his skin began to redden, then blacken and hiss. Burns sprinted up his body that bubbled and spit as he screeched and writhed in his sudden agony. There was one more to hit, and Fëdyei reached again for an arrow but all she grasped was air. She had only brought a few arrows when she left home, she had figured she would have time enough to make more. "Damn it!" Frantically she tried to pry the ice arrow that was wedged in the deer's muscular neck, but it would not budge. "Gaia, Gaia, let go! Let go, please, I beg you!"


Footsteps sounded behind her and she felt herself lifted out of the air with ease. She thrashed about wildy and screamed at the two men who were holding her up and smirking.
"Aiiieee! Let go you ugly brutes, let go of me!"

[Allanon Creel]

Sedg raced in between the now incapacitated men who'd been charging him, picking up his spear and rushing the two who'd now came to grab Fey, when he realized his hands were stinging. He looked at his weapon to find not his spear but a large flaming piece of timber from the fire he'd grabbed on the run, panicked and threw it into the air, where it quickly lit the treetops on fire, spreading quickly and momentarily distracting one of the bandits. He went in for a swing at the other, but the man dodged and dropped Fey to the ground, stretching his back now that he was unburdened, cracking his knuckles and grinning in anticipation of the bout he was sure he'd win. "Damn, why couldn't you just be some short scrawny bugger like your friend.." He muttered, not even seeing the blow flying towards his crotch, dropping him to his back with a throbbing pain in his groin.

He looked over while on his back to see Fey looking at him, though he couldn't discern the look, then back up to see the man looming over him, a short-sword at his hip that was slowly being drawn as the man thought he'd knocked out the 'Dwarf'. Sedg returned the cheap blow with a kick to the same region, and the man bent over in pain, his face feet from Sedg's own, and was met with a small hunting knife driven through his eye. He got up slowly and grinned at Fey, "Didn't expect such a low-blow from such a big man. Now, --" He felt an arm wrap around his neck and remembered belatedly the second man, squeezing the air from his throat. He strained and strained, but his back-kicks did naught but burn his foot on a growing fire on the ground, from the embers falling upon the grass. He was sweating hard now as he wheezed, straining so hard he passed gas- not a short toot but a long and forceful passing, which created a rather large flatus ignition, burning the man all the same as a normal fire would, who was then holding his face in agony.

Sedg coughed hard both from the smoke as well as the man's grip, "Well..That could have ended..Better, or worse but I guess our survival is of higher priority than how it is upheld for now!" He chuckled, turning to see how Trey was handling himself.

[Yeorl Oakenleaf]

An arrow protruded through the throat of the large bandit who Trey had ran to square off against, damn good shot, he thought as he kicked the body of the man away. Sparing a glance behind him Trey cursed under his breath, two men held a struggling Fey - but his worry was quickly allayed as he saw Sedg rushing towards them. Trey face palmed noticing that Sedg hadn't picked up the spear he'd kicked towards him but instead a burning log from the fire - not only had he managed to miss the spear but he'd picked up the only still lit log from the camp fire. "Oh come on Sedg!" Trey shouted over his shoulder chuckling before being forced to confront two more bandits which entered from the opposite side of camp. He'd have to turn his back on Sedg and Fey, hoping that they wouldn't need his help.
The first bandit wordlessly rushed towards Trey, in his hands he held two short swords - while neither were as long as Trey's, he was no doubt agile with the blades. The bandit swung his swords in arcs to his sides, Trey could just feel the smug grin of the man behind his mask. Lunging forward with his sword in his hand Trey attempted to use his weapons superior length to cause the man to try and close in on Treys exposed mid section - it worked. His father had told him that fighting by the sword was similar to lying your way out of a situation - to do it with any success the shmuck has got to believe you first. The bandit swung both of his blades in wards towards Treys stomach hoping to cut him in two at his abdomen. But Trey nimbly stepped back, with a powerful flick of his wrist and a clanging sound Trey knocked one of the swords out of the Bandits hands with a mighty swing of his own. Trey winced hoping no one was hurt inadvertently by the sword now flung up into the air. The masked man growled and advanced realising that his opponent wasn't going to fall for grandiose displays of spinning blades and he was in a real fight to the death, his comrade armed with an axe left Trey and the bandit alone and rushed off towards Fey and Sedg passed Trey; but Trey put out his foot tripping the bastard who then fell face first onto his own Axe with a bone shattering crunch. "Shit, that was damn easy - right?" Trey asked laughing at the only man who stood opposing him. "Fool.." The bandit muttered under his breath taking a moment to regard his dead companion.
Their blades clashed a few times before Trey launched a kick towards the mans shin and sliced upwards with his longsword - using the length and distance to avoid any significant retaliation. The newly eviscerated bandit fell to his knees and Trey turned his attention behind him.

[Fëdyei Brambleglow]

They had dropped Fëdyei violently, and she landed hard on her right ankle. She had probably only sprained it, but for now it felt broken and she crawled desperately out of the way of the fighting, flinging clumps of bloody leaves and dirt in her wake. Shoving herself along the forest floor, her fingers felt the edge of some sharp object, and looking down she found Sedg's spear. She lifted it and looked to him, trying to ask if he needed it, but her tongue could not find any words to get his attention. And besides, he seemed like he was fully engaged with the bandit that was hovering over him. She looked away for a moment and heard a terrible wet slicing thud and her eyes came back to see he had stabbed the bandit in the eye. She winced.

She glanced beside her and saw the man Sedg had burned in his fortuitous tactical move, writhing and clutching his face. She pulled herself to the body, spear in tow and studied him. She could heal him, she figured. Easily. The burns were not too bad. He'd need a little Yhellstalk for the wound to keep it clean. She could find that in this forest, it wouldn't be too hard. He'd be burned and disfigured for he rest of his life, but he'd be alive. She could... but an anger welled up the more she looked at him. They had attacked with the intent to kill. They would not spare her life if they had found themselves winning this engagement. They would torture her, or cut her throat or force her to lay with them. This very man had likely done these things to many others. Her hands felt laden with hatred, and she let the burden's heavy weight fall with the spear. She stabbed the body over and over, tears brimming up in her eyes.

In some misplaced sense of calm she thought I just want them all dead, so I can eat.

[Allanon Creel]

Sedg looked around for Fey and found her stabbing the man he'd incapacitated... with his spear. "FEYDEI!" He bellowed; horrified and concerned, yet also on top of it all, angry. "Drop my spear at ONCE! Survivor is my family's weapon, to be used only by my blood!"

He clenched his fist in attempt to control himself and managed to lower his voice, delivering in an icy tone, laced with contempt, "More importantly to me, however, is that Survivor is not used as a cleaver, to be used in such an act of crude butchery!"

He began to stalk to where she knelt, when he felt the prick of a sword-tip to the back of his neck. "I did seen what'cha did to me friends a'few moments passed. No quick movin' or I might kill'er too." The oaf behind Sedg said smugly. "Any last woeds?"
Sedg pondered whether there was anything he actually felt like saying and did what he normally did when he was in serious thought; he tilted his head upwards and scratched his chin, and then found he had something to say after all. "You came really close." As he finished his last word the sword he'd seen flying through the air sank hilt deep on an angle into the bandit's shoulder, piercing the man's heart and killing him instantly.

Sedg continued his walk to where Fey still knelt, as if in trance, took his spear out of her hands and wiped the blood on his shirt, and whether she heard him or not it didn't stop him from saying what was on his mind. "Killing in defensive combat is jus' fine, killing in an offensive is conditional, but to commit the killing those that're crippled, unable or unarmed?.." He spat as he walked to look for any other bandits and a safe exit from the forest, which was now almost fully aflame. "..That's the difference between the civilized and honorable, and the men we've killed here."

[Yeorl Oakenleaf]

Trey wiped the blood off of his sword with the bandits shirt and sheathed it, walking over to Sedg and Fey; he let out a low whistle taking stock of the bandit who'd been impaled by the short sword - which as it flew through the air, it's descent arc perfectly aligned the tip with the man's heart going straight through his weak shoulders. He'd chop that one up to more of Sedgs luck. The surrounding forest was absolutely silent and he presumed that either they'd killed all of the masked assailants or that who ever was left had fled back to their lair - more likely the latter. He made out Sedg scolding a crying Fey, at her feet lay a corpse that appeared to have been used as a pin cushion - blood oozing out of numerous puncture holes.
"Well I think that's the last of them - pretty stupid lot if you ask me." Trey said smugly, he was now even more confident about the success of their mission; if who ever was in charge of this bandit group hired guys like these morons they'd have an easy time of it. He placed a consoling hand on Feys shoulder and Sedgs, ignoring the yelling - while he believed Sedg was right; he didn't want things to get serious now. Not while he was surrounded by bodies of dead men and strangely enough a deer; thinking heavy thoughts after doing some killing never suited him. Then again heavy thoughts were never his strong point.
"There, there, you two. It's over." He cooed quietly, a familiar smile once more stealing across his features - he was told once by an Elf tavern maid that he smiled more than a drunk Orc. While he'd never been so far North, he'd heard his fair share that they were easy to make laugh.
"Fey, this is what travelling with us is going to look like. Quite a morbid affair really, but with neutrally coloured garments it shouldn't stain your clothes too much." He chuckled, hoping to downplay the whole sport of murder; he wouldn't let them know but he believed killing - even in defence was murder and that one day he'd have to pay for his crimes. Even if they were always done in defence of himself or another.
He pulled the two in for a close and maybe unexpected group hug. "Come now, let's leave this mess behind - maybe sing a song or two while we walk. I know a funny one you'll love Fey, just don't tell your mother I sang it to you! A fat lot of trouble I'll be in then."

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