Aleth
Hero
Everything you can do I can do one handed!
Posts: 247
Profession: NEET
Affinity: Ice
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Post by Aleth on Feb 4, 2012 10:34:04 GMT -6
Aleth didn't bother struggling much longer. She didn't want to burn herself out, it was far better if she assessed the situation again. There was quite a bit to worry about. She despised the idea of being labelled as a ransom. It made her feel so very useless. She tested her bounds, it was funny, they couldn't tie her up seeing as she only had one arm. The only thing between her and freedom is an arm over her chest.
When she heard Garnet ask if she was alright, she gave a nod. She didn't bother saying yes seeing as it might be muffled with the sack over her head. She wasn't about to just wait for negotiations. She listened and determined that there was only a couple of bandits around her. Yes, she could break away. As she recalled there were plenty of places to hide out.
"The girl is fine," the ringleader stated. She simply waited for a moment to bust through.
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Feb 5, 2012 1:52:44 GMT -6
He thought he saw Aleth's form nod her head, but it was difficult to tell under the bag. The bandits were wanting to get a ransom. Something to make their raid worthwhile, because so far, they'd only taken losses from it. Perhaps they could be convinced to let her go.
"Perhaps I should inform you all of something." The red headed swordsman said, voice growing louder, and a bit more cocky. He was a natural at this.
"She's not worth your time." He took a step closer, using his two-handed sword like a walking stick in the rocky terrain as he slowly, slowly stepped towards the group of brigands. "You see, I've taken a liking to Aleth here, and you've now given me enough time to memorize all of your faces. What this means for you is that as long as you hold her, you're on my personal hit list. And you can be sure you'll die in the most painful way possible. All because of your stupid, misguided attempt to get a ransom.
Garnet was gambling, but he was playing it as safe as he could. The impromptu bandit leader took a step back and stretched his arm out, aiming his axe at Garnet.
[Red]"Stop there! Don't come any closer."[/Red] The man, seeing the redhead's and his companions' handiwork all around, suddenly bought into Garnet's philosophy that things could go very badly for him. To his relief, the merc hero did stop, though not quite as far out as he would have preferred.
[Red]"We've still got a hostage, and we want money![/Red] The crook was trying, but the whole collection was looking a bit more worried, some merely annoyed, at Garnet's reaction.
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Aleth
Hero
Everything you can do I can do one handed!
Posts: 247
Profession: NEET
Affinity: Ice
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Post by Aleth on Feb 6, 2012 16:32:13 GMT -6
After Garnet's remark, some of the bandits were on edge. Aleth was tired of all this, she had to do something. When she determined her plans, she stopped...hard on her captor's toes. The man yelled out and his hold loosened. Without any delay she ran to her right and took off the sack over her bed. While she was doing so, she realized she was running straight towards another armed enemy.
She didn't care much for showing off but her next series of attacks might surprise a few people. She wasn't a great axe user like her mother but she learned a few tricks from the woman. With her hands curled up into a fix, she punched at the man before he could properly defend himself. Than without further delay she picked up the axe.
"Watch it girl, the axe isn't a toy," said one of the bandits making his way towards her.
"Don't worry,l I know how to use it a little," she remarked noticing that it was one of those hand axe. With a good posture she flung the axe towards the man. It was a well placed throw, landing onto the chest.
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Feb 6, 2012 19:58:50 GMT -6
Garnet was caught off guard as Aleth freed herself from the brigand and knocked one of the bandits to the ground with a well aimed punch. To be honest, it looked like everyone was caught off guard. The bandits were pretty slow on the uptake though. Without their hostage, their leverage was gone. And with no hostage, the group of clustered bandits were at the mercy of the soldiers and mercs arrayed against them.
The axe took one, and by then, Garnet was already crossing the last few steps between him and the bandits. With a roar, he brought his two-hander around in a wide horiontal arc, sweeping from the high shoulder to the ankles as he went. Weapons clanged against it as the bandits backpedaled away, trying to escape. Most of them did, throwing hateful or scared looks over their shoulder to make sure the red-haired man wasn't following them.
The hero watched them go, griping under his breath that his weapon was too heavy to run far with and turning back to Aleth.
"That was about the most reckless, and bold thing I've seen in a long time, Aleth." He laughed, glad he was able to tell her so. He turned and scooped up her sword from nearby where it lay on the ground, before walking closer and resting his hand on her right shoulder. He held the weapon out to her free hand for her to take.
"Everything in order? You're not hurt, I hope." The taller man looked down and saw one the bandit she'd punched coming awake, and dropped his hand from the white haired woman's shoulder to make sure he didn't go anywhere before they were ready.
"I think we've got ourselves a guest."
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Caelica
Myrmidon
[M:0]
Sacaeans don't lie? I've just turned every Sacaean into a hypocrite then.
Posts: 36
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Post by Caelica on Feb 6, 2012 21:36:34 GMT -6
Caelica just stood watching the daring rescue play itself out. Though to her, it seemed more of an amazing self-rescue attempt by Aleth, with Garnet lending a hand. Too preoccupied with watching the two veterans push the bandits back, she did not notice a cloud of dust forming in front of her from a body that had just hit the floor.
As the bandits moved back, Caelica began to move forward in their direction. "That was a great show you two put up there! Five stars!" Caelica yelled at Garnet and Aleth, followed up with a playful clap. Caelica began once again to move towards the two. Suddenly, her feet had stopped though her body continued to move forward. Her arms flailed around comically as she successfully kept herself from falling over.
Her feet had hit something, something rather hard that made a dull thud when her foot had come into contact with it. It was the man's body that had fallen moments ago, and her little kick to his head had served to wake him up from unconsciousness. The man rose right in front of her, close enough so that all she could see was his back. He was close enough in fact, that she could smell the dirt on the man, some of which had entered her mouth. Without a moment's hesitation, she pulled her sword behind her and using both her hands, swung in annoyance at the man's head.
More blood than she expected had splattered on her than she initially thought would, if any. Surprised, she stepped back. Half of his head was gone. Now embarrassment had settled in when she realized that she had used the sword unsheathed. Caelica placed her hand on the back of her head, her hair now being used as a hand wipe. Looking at Garnet and Aleth, shooting them a nervous smile, she hoped they had not seen anything. "Well, I guess we're done...Nothing much else to see here...We should probably be heading back to the boss..."
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Aleth
Hero
Everything you can do I can do one handed!
Posts: 247
Profession: NEET
Affinity: Ice
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Post by Aleth on Feb 8, 2012 19:32:12 GMT -6
Aleth checked her sides, the pain was fine, this was enough for her to handle. She probably just got a bruise here and there from the men's rough housing. Compared to her encounter with her parents, she was perfectly fine in her book.
"Yeah, I guess those axe lessons were useful that and I think I got lucky there," she stated retrieving her personal sword from the battlefield. This was quite an ordeal and she disliked the fact that they had let the bandits go so easily. She knew they would go bother the locals or travelers along the roads.
"I wish I could do better," Aleth joked, now talking to Caelica. It was definitely time to go back to the main lines. Perhaps they would encounter those men again. Next time she won't be caught off guard like that. She swore she was running low on luck after all that had happened in her lifetime.
"I'm ready to pull out whenever you guys are!"
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Feb 9, 2012 0:25:48 GMT -6
Garnet gave Caelica a smile, amused by her rating of their performance. It could be bias, but she'd only give those bandits two stars. Tough critic. The brigand near them started getting up, and Garnet let him rise. He kept his weapon trained on the man all the same though.... What was he to do with the man?
The issue was suddenly taken from him when Caelica's sheathed sword bashed through the man's head, leaving splatter and gore in its wake. That was some swing! The Merc hero hadn't seen that kind of brutal attack since.... well, he couldn't remember seeing one for a long time, except his own.
"Alright then. Jordan? How soon can we get moving?" Garnet turned to the spearman, who hadn't been over celebrating with them. He lost some of his excitement on seeing the other man's expression.
[Yellow]"Right away.... they're dead. The other two that were with us.... We should get back to camp, in case those bandits decide to bring friends back with them."[/Yellow] The red haired swordsman could see the anger in his friend's eyes, but also a knowledge that it very well may be him next time.
"You're right. We should leave."
The climb up, much like the climb down, took a few hours, and some of Garnet's muscles and injuries were really starting to hurt by the end of that time. It was the cold, he decided. Everything became aggravated by Ilia's cold. Even so, they eventually did make it back to the army, where it was camped at a point further up the road from where they'd left it originally. He was just glad to get back. This troop felt more like home to him than he'd felt in a long time.
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Feb 19, 2012 20:13:12 GMT -6
"The rest of you should go get some rest. Recover as best you can. I can let the Captain know what happened on my own." At least they'd made it through. He was sore, and beaten up, he had small pricks, bruises, and cuts all over his arms, but he was alive. And the same could be said for... most of the scouting party.
He headed towards the center of the camp, walking in a quick long stride that displayed none of his usual care. The fight had taken alot out of him, and they'd lost two soldiers because he'd not taken enough care in securing the place. The responsibility never grew lighter, but at least it was easier to hate the ones who had done this. Those who would murder, rape, and rob were the blight of the world. He spared little in the way of mercy for them.
"Marle." He said her name as he grew close enough to speak to her. She needed to know that they had bad company nearby.
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Caelica
Myrmidon
[M:0]
Sacaeans don't lie? I've just turned every Sacaean into a hypocrite then.
Posts: 36
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Post by Caelica on Feb 26, 2012 19:35:59 GMT -6
Caelica crossed her arms, wanting to go along with Garnet to report, but decided on following his advice. Garnet had taken hits during the encounter, she could see the evidence on his armor. Compared to him, she was virtually unscathed. A little dirt and fair amount of blood had found its way onto her clothes. And not one drop of blood had even belonged to her.
She dropped her arms, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The actions took all but five seconds to do. Garnet had told her and Aleth to take a rest. To make sure no objections would arise, she had taken a rest, albeit a five second one. Garnet and Aleth had done most of the fighting--Caelica was still full of energy. "Aleth!" She turned around to see if her white haired companion had already gone to rest. "I'm going to go help Garnet with the report. You two took out almost an entire bandit company, and afterwards he goes to report to the boss? That is too much work. Reports are the most tiring part of the job, you know?" Caelica winked and grinned before jogging off.
While heading over to meet Garnet and Marle, Caleica had passed by a double sided axe proped up on a wagon. Red reflected off the face of the axe, an indicator that quite a bit of blood had landed on her face. She lowered her hand to scoop up a filled canteen of water to wet a handkerchief she kept in her pocket. Caelica took the cloth to her face and wiped what she could before stuffing it back into her pocket, all while running. She had no clue if anything was still on her face, but she was in a hurry.
Upon hearing Garnet's voice, she tossed her hand up in an informal hello, then placed her hand on his shoulder to further show her presence. "Hey there, general." Caelica said to Marle. Then she looked up at Garnet. "Well, I'm here to report my share of the information, even your share, if you would like. Either way, letting you say everything seems a bit unfair."
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Feb 27, 2012 18:01:30 GMT -6
The captain turned to acknowledge him on hearing her name spoken, only to frown when she saw the swordsman all nicked and bruised. [White]"Garnet, what happened down there? You were only supposed to scout out the wreckage."[/White]
Garnet fidgeted a moment. Reporting casualties was never easy. Especially when the bad guys had gotten away. He was just glad they'd not all decided to rush them at once. He'd been in a reckless fit during the fight. Thank goodness none of the bandits had felt like sticking their necks out, or the whole group may have followed, even with their leader dead.
He was about to start when he felt a hand resting on his shoulder, and he looked down to see Caelica had followed him over. The girl was still bouncing about, full of energy, it seemed. How that was possible, Garnet wasn't even going to start guessing. He'd just peg it as the unsolvable magic of youth, and leave it at that.
"There's nothing fair or unfair about it, Caelica. It's just a part of the job." Garnet stated matter of factly.
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Marle Daviau
General
The Lance of the North
One word of encouragement, One person believing in me, It's all I need to become stronger.
Posts: 436
Illia Fame: 2
Affinity: Ice
OoC Alias: Marle
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Post by Marle Daviau on Feb 29, 2012 3:50:56 GMT -6
[Would like to amend the last bit of your post regarding my character's action, because I would like to do it myself. I will keep the first parts however.]
Marle had in her hand a piece of scrolled paper, on it were the list of supplies that were left for their detachment that the quarter master had given her about ten minutes ago. She was reading it over thoughtfully, wondering where to cut usage on certain supplies until they were resupplied, but things were going well, other than a small shortage on ale, as some of her officers had been siphoning it off without her knowing, she guessed...or maybe one of the mercenaries.
She had been listening to Garnet still, with her other hand rested on the pommel of her new sword, and shifted her green eyes to Caelica, not quite sure really what was going on here between the two of them. Just by the way things looked, she would, well, could have guessed that there must have been a fight that broke out, indicating the scouting didn't go as planned.
Lowering the paper, and rolling it back up so she could stick it between the belt and her armor a moment later, she crossed her arms. The clinking of metal on metal as she did so while looking at the two with a bit of concern. With Garnet's initial hesitation, she knew already, but it needed to be known.
"I'll hear what you have to say after Garnet, Caelica."
She wanted to smile, but this was clearly not a time for smiling. Marle kept herself steeled all the same.
"What happened, and how many dead?"
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Aleth
Hero
Everything you can do I can do one handed!
Posts: 247
Profession: NEET
Affinity: Ice
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Post by Aleth on Feb 29, 2012 6:42:15 GMT -6
Aleth nodded, agreeing to Garnet's orders. The whole fight had made her tired and she would like to settle down. She didn't want to reopen her wounds before the real battles. As Garnet walked off to report, she began searching for some place to plot down. What she found was a nice clear area on the side of a building. Just as she sat down, a figure turned over and called for her.
"Oh there you are Aleth, I've been looking all over for you," Ephimine called out. She flinched, not sure how to respond to her mother. In many ways her mother was more terrifying than her father. She nodded as if to acknowledge her but what she wanted was to run. However she moved over to stand before her.
"I'm sorry about what happened with your pa but you hid your injury so well," her mother apologized with the same genuine tone. She flinched, remembering the wound she received and how it still tingled by her side.
"You really have grown..." she continued, a sort of nostalgic look crossing her face. Now this made her even more uncomfortable. Just as she was about to shift and try to step to the side, her mother held her hand gingerly.
"Come on, I've prepared a gift for you, just for when I felt you were ready," she stated, winking at her. With that she pulled her off her spot and into the unknown. A part of Aleth just wanted to scream for help but another was indeed curious.
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Feb 29, 2012 9:53:13 GMT -6
The red-headed merc took that as his cue to speak. This hesitation served no one, and only delayed the reports conclusion.
"We found the wreckage, some sort of smashed up wagon. Nothing was moving, so we spread out over the area. Bandits came out of the cliffs and treelines in enough numbers to surround us. Looking for ransom, or perhaps slavers." Garnet maintained his composure, but it wasn't hard to see he had a special hate for their kind. He closed his eyes for a breath, then opened them again.
"We took two casualties. Beckett, and Heightmeyer were overwhelmed in the initial charge." Their loss was a personal failure on his part. He was responsible, and he would have to deal with that, but he was not the cause. His own failures did not nullify the actions of the bandits themselves, nor would it give them any safehaven from their due in the future.
He livened up a bit. Ready to move past the casualties.
"The attackers' casualties were significantly higher than ours, and included their leader, at least the one leading this band. Two separate capture attempts on members on team members failed. And Jordan, Aleth, and Caelica all performed well under pressure. When they scattered, they all headed in roughly the same direction. They may have a hideout in the area."
He wondered what her reaction would be. He wondered what his own would be, were their situations reversed. All he could do at the moment was wait to see what happened in the future though.
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Marle Daviau
General
The Lance of the North
One word of encouragement, One person believing in me, It's all I need to become stronger.
Posts: 436
Illia Fame: 2
Affinity: Ice
OoC Alias: Marle
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Post by Marle Daviau on Feb 29, 2012 17:06:40 GMT -6
Marle stayed mostly still while listening, only taking time to shuffle her feet as she stood. The word of deaths pained her a bit. She didn't enjoy taking losses, no man or woman should, despite it being a possible job requirement. Tightening her grip on her arms as they were crossed, she breathed a heavy sigh, shaking her head while looking up into the cloud filled skies. The young captain could not be filled with the same levity as Garnet showed.
It was true, only two died while taking on superior numbers was in of itself amazing nonetheless, she didn't like the thought of having to write their names down as deceased, and having to contact the families to let them know of the loss. Clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, she looked back down, and nodded to Garnet, who as becoming, from what she could tell, an apt leader in his own right. Shame though, he was but a mercenary.
"I'm glad you all made it back in more or less one piece all the same."
She tried to smile. It had been awhile since she rightfully smiled. Nothing really seemed to make her happy any more. Was she not ready for this command? or was she still immature? Who knew, maybe that'd be reflected in time, but lets stay focused on the task at hand, she told herself.
"You say they went retreating in the same direction...that would make sense they'd have established some sort of base. And if that was their leader, I doubt they'd be running towards it. I think we should pursue then, and route them."
Was this revenge or retribution? Were they really any difference? This was her job, essentially. Not the main task of her operation, but it could be linked. No, this was too good a chance to pass up. Who knows how many they terrorized in these parts.
"Do you think you could track them, then?"
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Mar 1, 2012 9:55:11 GMT -6
"They've got a lead on us, but the terrain here is as rough on them as it is on us. We could catch them if we pressed ahead on the road and found a way down closer to their position."
The idea of hunting these men down and scattering them brought a grim sense of anticipation to the red headed merc. It wouldn't be satisfaction, but he thought it was the right thing to do anyway. He was glad the Captain seemed to think so as well.
"I could track them. My hunting skills are nothing special, but they weren't taking care. Your aerial cavalry could help a great deal as well. Keep us on the right track. While I hate to say it though, I won't be much good in a fight without a rest." He'd taken a beating back there as well. Numerous cuts and scrapes had begun to get through his long coat. They were small for the most part, but stung like mad when bumped and would take days to heal. Never the less, this was their chance.
"You tell me to go back out, and I'll do it, Marle. I just want to make sure you know I'm not in top shape."
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