Troubled Times [Open]

[Irisvielle Shou]

Lycia's lands had grown quite worrisome for the commoners and a few bandits had been rumored about swarming these lands and said that only the experienced soldiers were allowed to explore the world at night. The dawn had risen and the sky once again was being engulfed with the gorgeous pallet of crimsons, yellows and orange. However, the Shou family farm wasn't any exception to these troublesome bandit attacks. Fortunately a meager about of the crops were stolen and no harm befell her brothers and father. Despite the wonderful news, Irisvielle couldn't abide such odious behavior toward her own flesh and blood and took it upon herself to begin venturing out toward the wilderness and the supposed location of the supposed bandit hideout.

Irisvielle the forests trees were already shadowing the path which Irisvielle had taken upon herself as she wasn't the type to ask for help when it was most desperately needed. The darkness of the forest floor was glossed with a hazy due from the fallen rain which only forced her steps to grow more encumbered by the condensing liquid upon her light form fitting outfit. "This is such a bother, who on earth would have believed that the air could grow so murky in a matter of an hour and to think that I've wandered all this way in search of the thugs and the worst I've come across tonight is an obnoxious amount of bugs. Why on earth couldn't the bandits just show themselves for once in their annoying life when they are faced with a challenger they tuck their tails between their legs and crawl back into the termite hill that they came from."


A single step forward after the other continued sending her to deeper portions of the forest till she had finally pondered her true reasoning for this little adventure. After the moment of contemplation Irisvielle collapsed upon the dirt path in an exhausted heap. A relatively sickened laugh slipped from her lips before releasing an exacerbated sigh, "I suppose that this wasn't a well thought out plan after all what did you honestly expect yourself to do if you truly did run into the bandits stronghold. It's not like they would willing let me fight them all in one on one combat. Stupid. I suppose this is as good as any other time to just turn around."

Her slender pale fingers began to glide through the soil and mixing up the once undisturbed ground. Slowly she pushed her hands against the ground and pushing herself back to her own feet.

[Tamaya]

Tamaya stopped dead when she heard the voice speaking. It appeared to have floated out of the mist itself. How strange. And then it fell silent.

The nomad woman stood up slowly, peering out from under the hide canopy she had constructed and ducking out, leaving her dry log 'seat' behind as she moved out to the road. Shikoba nuzzled her hand silently as she passed, and Tamaya ran her hand through her horse's shaggy mane contentedly as she brought her bow into her hand and nocked an arrow. After all, this could be a trap.

But when she saw the figure laying in a drenched pile on the path, Tamaya put her weapon away and moved forward with concern.

"Are you all right? Here, come with me."

Without waiting, the slender woman's arms wrapped around the recruit with surprising strength and half dragged, half carried her back, seating the Recruit on the dry log under the hide before crouching beside her.

"You are cold and wet. Let me make you some warm tea and some broth. You will catch cold this way, don't you know?"

Without realizing it, Tamaya had begun clucking, quietly clicking her tongue at the girl to accentuate her gentle chiding while she warmed water over the fire and added some herbs and spices.

"What is your name? How did you come to be out here alone in the pouring rain?"

Tamaya's motherly instincts had come out, even though the woman had no children of her own, and she set to drying the girl's hair with a softer fur and blotting her clothes.

[Irisvielle Shou]

Her inexperience was one of her shortcomings that she meant to work on but between the grueling walk and annoyance for her family she was having some issues. Beneath the short dirty blonde hair slicked down over her face till she felt the touch of another person pulling herself off from the ground. Feeling herself lifted to her feet she blinked a bit in shock that she was now weakly being carried off by an individual she had never met before.

“What the who are you?” Irisvielle’s heart began to pump at an accelerating rate till she managed to catch a glimpse of the person who was single-handedly lifting her up from her stupor.

“Wait what who are you -” her nerves and mind got the best of her at that moment as she was now seated down upon a log by the strange female who had taken her off the beaten path. She then began by thinking that this was one of the bandits who may have attacked, but the mere actions proved otherwise as she showed concern toward her general welfare.

“I’m fine, I - you aren’t -” Iris’s mind began to lose all thought as the night was getting quite troublesome as she sat their looking at her caretaker. Iris’s amber eyes sheepishly staring up.

“My name is Irisvielle,” she sniffled a bit. “I’m on route to beat a group of bandits that attack my parents farm, you don’t know them do you?” She began to question whether this was a trap for her as well although the person before her seemed rather genuine.

“I suppose that it wasn’t the most intelligent plan, but I know how to take care of mysel-” Before she finished she sneezes, “Ah choo!”

[Cefia]

Take a walk and clear your head, they had said. It isn’t good to always be so angry, they tried to comfort. It wasn’t like Cefia was always angry and violent. She considered herself a rather civil person. She never punched or hacked anyone that didn’t deserve it. Quite frankly a lot of people needed to have their head and limbs separated from the body. Not everything should lead to a fight, quite frankly her parents taught her better. Merchants avoided violence as much as possible, bad for business and image.

“When did this happen?” she mumbled to herself, taking a good look around her. She had traveled quite far from the village at this point and quite lost at that. There might have been a point about that anger of hers. The long walk to cool off her head worked, but that didn’t make the situation any better. Now that her more reasonable side surfaced, she could feel the disappointment in herself. Battle rage was one thing, but the one assaulted was a young lad that simply had too much to drink. She will have to apologize to the young man, if she ever ended up there again.

A path, she needed to find a path. Eventually said path would lead to civilization, but that was the first priority. It was ridiculous how idiotic she could be and sometimes she wondered if it would have been better to take up a life of learning. No, she had to have her adventures on the high seas or now on land apparently. Was she still dodging her responsibilities as the heir of Silou family business? Hardly, she thought little of her parents, though their teachings and warnings still resonate whenever she had a clear head.

“I need a drink,” she muttered, continuing her search. After walking for who knew how long and getting soaked at that, she finally pushed her way out the foliage. Her axe clanged against each other as she approached two figures near a log. Hearing their conversation, she took note that one seemed really quite young to be out on their own.

“Ahoy thar!” she called out, freezing for a moment at what she said. Letting out a sigh, she adjusted the gears in her head to speak a bit more properly and understandable.

“Hello there! I seemed to have become quite lost, may I implore you for some directions?” she asked, approaching and noting the state of the two.

“I would not mind helping in exchange for any information,” she offered, showing her hands as empty and trying not to come off as intimidating. It had become more and more difficult in these days, especially with the size her axes and her tendency to hurt.

[Tamaya]

"Shh."

Once Tamaya had gotten the girl seated and dried decently, she took the hot broth off of the fire and placed it near the girl.

"This is for you. Drink. You have to warm yourself from the inside."

As Irisvielle introduced herself, Tamaya smiled and bowed her head briefly.

"I am Tamaya of the Cathecassa clan. I hail from Sacae. That is my horse, Shikoba. We will gladly help you find these bandits and exact justice once you are warm and conditions improve. But this was a dangerous idea, Irisvielle. You'd stand no chance alone against a gang of those ruffians."

"Ahoy thar!"

What?

A...hoy?

Tamaya's hand had flown to her bow, and she nocked an arrow before she could even look up to see who was approaching. When the voice began again, Tamaya located the source - a green-haired woman who suddenly switched into much more elegant and fluid dialogue.

Now that was freaky.

And it set her on edge. The woman carried axes - the hallmark weapon of a bandit - and not only that, but two of them. She could effortlessly go from slang to formal speech. And she happened to be lost exactly where two other women were. One woman was young, the other unsuited to close combat.

"Please stay back. This young woman needs peace and rest. We don't seek to fight you. We are merely peaceful travelers."

Tamaya kept the arrow nocked and brought the bow up closer to her, simultaneously widening her stance and narrowing her eyes. She hoped a confrontation would not be necessary, but if it came down to a fight, the nomad planned to shoot fast, throw the girl on Shikoba, and ride like the wind on the plains until the woman with the axes was long gone.

"Irisvielle... Please be ready to move if necessary. I hope we will not have to resort to escape, but..."

[Irisvielle Shou]

A grumble rolled from between her lips that she was now biting feeling a fair bit embarrassed of winding up in the care of her companion. I try my best and still get myself caught being babied, just because I’m new to this recruiting business doesn’t mean that I can’t keep myself safe seriously do I look like a child still. Wincing realizing the answer to her own question was undeniably yes, of course you look like a child, a girl attempting to pass herself as a male is always going to appear younger especially since the older boys always seemed to have facial hair and her feminine curves were too obvious unlike her earlier years of her life. Her arm bandaged with the long silky cloth continued wipe away some of the excess sweat that had congealed to her skin.

Two of her hands began to pull the red loose robe over her head a bit that was already drenched now as the weather began to pick up into a dampening rain. The relaxing patter of droplets upon the leaves of trees was the most soothing part of her night now. But amongst the rhythmic section of nature was the new percussionist who was strolling up to them. Iris’s gaze shot up quickly hearing that another person was now on route to the little section of the world that she had inadvertently met this motherly person.

Iris was a bit taken back as she was told to shush and she caught her tongue gently between her teeth from protesting any more, nodding her head understanding what she was told. The name was one she hadn’t heard before and the lecture further put out her spirit for hunting down barbarians. “I know.” Accepting the bowel of broth she would begin to slurp down a bit before

The armed woman had definitely caught her off guard as she now stared a bit awe stricken at the other woman. T-t-this isn’t one of those bandits is she? What on earth type of night is this I have never seen people strolling about this late and away from the town before. Gulping Irisvielle swallowed down the last of the saliva and fear that she had in attempts to listen carefully and figure out if this was a threatening situation for her.

The awkwardness was broken, at least from Irisvielle's perspective when she heard the original greeting that the second anonymous woman greeted with. “Ahoy thar?” Miming it in as questionable a tone the she could manage.

Being told to prepare herself to move by the woman caused her to question all this a bit.

“I don’t know either of you two so what makes you think I trust either of you. Also, I’m not a little baby who needs coddling I can take care of myself.”

Giving a puzzled stare now she then looked between the two, “Why on earth are either of you even here at a time like this?”

[Cefia]

“Oh my, I do not mean to come off as hostile,” Cefia tried her best to calm the situation. The woman had taken out her bow and an arrow was aimed at her rather troublesomely. It was odd, she was extremely calm to being threatened, it actually made her a bit more at ease than anything. It was understandable though, but unfortunately shooting at someone like her would be a less than…optimal solution. She tried to defuse the situation as best she could, slowly backing away and leaning herself against a tree, crossing her arms, but keeping them away from her weapons.

“If I meant any harm, I can promise you that it would have already occurred,” she warned rather lightheartedly, giving a light chuckle. It wasn’t a threat nor did it come out as such. Instead, she reached into a small pocket within the folds of her clothes to take out her monocle. After adjusting the lens into place, she managed to get a better view of the two. She seemed to put on the lens less and less. In the heat of battle, there was very little need to see beyond the person out for your head after all.

“Th’ lass…err. The young lady here is right, I understand your doubts. Quite honestly I am lost. In shame, I will admit that there were too many drinks going around back in town, a few unsavory words thrown and sadly a round of one sided fisticuffs that required a nice long stroll to clear the head. Ah dear, that does come off as a bit violent, but I am not looking for a fight or money, just a way back. If it means anything at all, my name is Cefia Silou, just a traveler or adventurer,” she explained, to the best of her ability.

[Tamaya]

"Okay. Wait. Everyone... Sit."

Tamaya put her bow away slowly, then crouched under the hide canopy. The dry space was more than large enough to accommodate the three of them, so the nomad woman moved in and warmed up some more soup, handing the bowl to this newcomer... Cefia.

As she settled in, still tense and ready to spring up and away, Tamaya decided to break the ice.

"If we are all truly peaceable and friendly, as I know I am... We had better get to know each other. It's hard to fight alone. We need to watch each other's backs, and that requires trust. So I shall be the first - I trust you both.

My name is Tamaya. I hail from the Cathecassa clan of the Sacaean plains. I fight with the bow, and I am trying to earn the last of the two thousand coins I need to purchase a magical bow. I will strike with the might of the lightning that cracks upon the plains, and I will ride like a thunderstorm. My dream is to bring peace to my tribe and my country, peace with the whole world.

I hate bandits... For many reasons, but most centrally because they tried to burn the great City of Heroes to the ground. They swept onto my beloved plains like a plague. I helped drive them off, and now I seek to eradicate their ilk from this land."

Tamaya bowed her head briefly. She had opened up; if these were friends, they would do the same.

[Irisvielle Shou]

“Well the two huge axes you wield are a tad bit unsettling,” she joked with a relatively concerned tone to her voice as it was obvious she wasn’t certain of what was going on. And she definitely didn’t feel that she was fit enough if the two had been hostile. As the newest addition slipped back to lean farther away against the tree she breathed a tad easier, her stomach churning as the situation was a hair discomforting.

Why on earth couldn’t I have finished my training as a soldier before plotting this petty revenge of my family. She hung her head a bit ashamed before peering back up as the monocle was now and place despite the bow that was trained upon her. Wow she is confident that this chick isn’t going to shoot her or maybe she is just stupid?

Irisvielle blinked her eyes before hearing out the woman who was informing us that she meant no harm and that if she had they wouldn’t be in such a healthy state. She fully believed that was the case as she probably wouldn’t have been able to dodge one deadly swing from such an opponent.

The order was then said again to sit, her confused gaze practiced a few blinks before looking back down toward the ground as she was already sitting from being previously told to relax meaning it was mainly for this berserker-like warrior woman. Her only retort on the motion was, “Uh sitting already?” Her tone taking a rather snide remarks as her manners were in the gentlest terms lacking despite her lineage.

A bit lazily Iris would however crawl under the hide canopy as it was a small form of shelter as the story began. Intermittently she slurped mouthfuls of broth still a bit on edge but fading as she listened.

“Peace loving nomadic warrior,” she cringed realizing that she probably was more experienced at this point in comparison to her.

“Well considering your tale I’m pretty helpless as of now, I’m just the simple daughter of a farmer. One who managed gain a fair amount of influence with the nobility of these lands so I’m also the daughter of noblewoman. Although, I don’t think I really have to explain my reasons for being out but I was hoping to get justice for the victims of the recent bandit attacks. It’s hopeless though, I’m not well versed in fighting let alone with a sword and my lance skills are questionable at best.”

Groaning she would begin to massage her head annoyed with her inability, “Of course on my travels though I would run into you two who would probably prove me right that I’m still no match for them.” Turning to face the last woman she now asked, "So you are a warrior of some type too?"

[Cefia]

Perking up at the sight of the woman lowering her bow, Cefia felt as though there was hope for her yet! It was nice to not actually have to smash anyone's face in for once to get an amicable resolution. Actually that method led to quite a number more troubles, but she kept on doing it. It was obvious that she really had issues and noted to try this method more often.

"Glad to see we're getting along," she commented, taking the offer or rather order to sit. She graciously took up the bowl of soup and offered her thanks. It was definitely more favorably than standing around getting soaked, not that she wasn't used to it. This rain was like a babe compared to the torrents trapped at sea, though likely as deadly if not treated with some respect.

It seemed as though they were getting along quite swimmingly. Settling down, she listened to the two introduce their life's story. It was the humble sort, one that would lead to who knows what more.

"Aye, heard 'bout th'whole debacle thar. Got a ship offer thar meself. Never cared fer them type 'o sorts 'n as far as I be concerned nothin' jolly comes from followin' th' dead. Plus, I be more reputable than just a bandit," she remarked rather casually. While this was all true and the offer was quite lucrative, it simply did not offer anything for her. There was bound to be strong fighters for either side, but there were families in the city.

"By th' the hour me wished to help, th' city was closed off," she contemplated. She could kill a number of people, but not enough to weave her way in there. Now the young lass' story was just beginning it seemed. She realized that her less formal speech pattern surfaced again, having coming out as natural as before.

"Everyone starts at a beginning, but it matters not compared to that of the middle and ending," she shifted her speech back, trying to console the girl in her own way. Now it seemed the attention was shifted directly to her.

"Me, a warrior? Well that would be interesting, but no. I do no believe I deserve a title like that. Alas it was many a years back. When I was a precocious dreamy and stupid girl, I decided that I wanted adventure. Damn the people between me and the high seas. My parents raised me better, but did not realize how influenced I was by the very books they gifted. As well versed as I was in academia, you would think by the time I started I would realize my folly. Alas being a fool, meant a degree of dedication. Ironic that the merchant ships that my family once used, that I would be on the robbing side. At least the ones I sailed with had a sense of...morals. It was never about the money for me, money can never make me happy, though now, there is some disgruntlement and complaint. I have some major anger management issues."

[Tamaya]

Tamaya relaxed slowly as the other women shared their stories. The first girl was young, rash, and quick to leap off of cliffs, it seemed, without testing her wings first. The second seemed to have good intentions, but was consumed by the ‘bloodlust’ the elders spoke of. Apparently, the great Hanon occasionally went into uncontrollable rages in battle as well. Tamaya would be careful to always stay away from the axes when the woman seemed upset.

As they talked, the nomad woman noticed that the rain had slowly drawn to a close, and the sun began peeking out from behind the cloud cover. The damp ground meant that the horsewoman would be better suited not riding; this was of no concern to Tamaya. She could walk.

"The rain has stopped…"

Tamaya began to clean up the camp, quickly using leaves to scour the small bowl clean and then packing it away. She folded the hide canopy, shaking the water out, and then closed the bags on Shikoba in preparation for travel.

"The rain has stopped… If we want to catch the bandits unaware, this would undoubtedly be a good time to move in. However, I don’t know where they are… Does anyone have an idea?"

This would be interesting, if they all fought together. She was skilled with the bow, and this Cefia woman clearly could swing an axe. The only one who was a question mark was the young Irisvielle. She seemed green and inexperienced in fighting. It would be bad if she were to need constant care.

[Irisvielle Shou]

The situation was diffused quite quickly considering the strange assortment of personalities that had met up in the woods. The conversation began to sputter out as all three of them finished conversing about their own lives and a bit of why they all showed up around here. Shockingly the drizzling cloud had also finally passed over their land and now went to dampen someone else's field. She had to admit the accent of the monocled woman was rather thick but her brothers had just as routy of an accent so she managed to figure out what the just of it.

“Well it does look like the rain has finally decided to pass us by,” Irisvielle looked out over the forest that was quite gorgeous particularly with its latest coating. “And I know that we all start somewhere but I have to get stronger. How else am I going to venture forth outside of the reaches of Lycia particularly if I can’t even protect myself from some mizzly rain.”

She was planning on asking another question but Tamaya had noticed the rain to had stop and offered up the interesting proposal once again for taking on the bandits. A bit surprised and startled by the proposition Irisvielle couldn’t believe that she might have gotten some assistance in her plan but perhaps her nerves would get the better of her. She shook her head from side to side at the question of whether either of them knew where they were.

“I know that a couple of villagers said that they may have had a fort around the outside of one of these forests but I can’t be sure. Pretty useless at this can’t even figure out the location that I was suppose to find before wandering off.”

[Cefia]

“Against popular believe, being a pirate does not necessarily mean I am a brigand. So your guess would be as good as mine. I’m quite sure that if they did have a fort, it would be off from the main road or close to a busy one, depending on their tenacity. It is only a theory though, but what do I know?” Cefia quipped in as she stood and brushed herself off. It seemed as though she made herself a few new acquaintances which is always nice, though she was a bit unsure about helping to wipe out the local banditry. It wasn’t a matter of sympathy, but the lack of information they had on them. Do they even know their numbers? At least she could deduce that it wasn’t that many, especially with a town close by. More bandits mean more food and money to be taken after all. They weren’t known for their charities.

“Do not underestimate the rain, I have seen nature take care many strong fighters. The best we can do is limit the ill effects,” she warned as she shifted in her armor. The axes clanged against each other as she stood and took the first few steps. Damn things were too heavy for their own good, their straps always coming loose. If it wasn’t from charging, it would be from wear and tear. It was a wonder how she managed to run around without cutting herself open at times.

“Might I suggest going to a higher ground? Maybe we can spot their location, either that fill your pockets with clanging coins and hope they hear,” she half joked, but by the frequencies of attacks, it might work. It’s a shame she didn’t have that many coins to spare.

[Tamaya]

"Nature is a force to be reckoned with... Cefia is right. Father Sky and Mother Earth are just like us. They fight, they love, they hate... But their passions are much greater than ours. We must be cautious moving forward."

Tamaya whistled softly, calling Shikoba. When her mount came to her side, the woman moved back onto the path, noting that it was thankfully not too muddy. If it came down to a confrontation, she would be able to escape any bandits on Shikoba if necessary.

"I think that moving to high ground is a wonderful suggestion."

There was a hilly ridge a little farther up the path; Tamaya set out in that direction briskly, her bow in her hand and an arrow dangling loosely from her other fingers. She was confident in her marksmanship and her ability to hunt and trap... So if there were any glaring signs of bandits afoot, she would likely find them. The rain made it more difficult, however, and so the nomad woman kept her eyes focused and her mind set on the task at hand.

"If we can assault them, I propose a strategy. Let me begin to harass them from range, with my bow. Once they get too close, I can begin to ride around and fire upon them while you two spring forth and attack with your close-range weapons.

I am a good shot with my bow, and I pride myself on my poise and calm. I will watch your backs as if you were my people."

[Irisvielle Shou]

Irisvielle frowned as she heard to two both lecturing to her that the elements of the world was a fierce opponent that had already taken many souls. She always knew that mother nature was a cruel mistress but most of the people she thought that died to the elements were caused from ship wrecks or horrendous storms, here she was just feeling ill from a few droplets of rain. Groaning a softly as she was lectured she nodded her head as it hung a bit pathetically.

"Yeah I know it is a weakness though one that I intend to surpass quickly one of these days. If I'm gonna die my plan is it to be of old age or on the battlefield after all I intend to be a fierce soldier." Her words filled with as gusto that she could muster before letting another sneeze rip through the air ruining the mood.

"And I would agree higher ground probably would be best in searching for the bandits," she said standing on her feet and already strolling over to a tree in order to get an advantageous view. She stopped though after hearing that the hills were just a little bit further that would surely give them enough height. Nodding her head she began to follow suit behind Tamaya before picking up her pace as she was feeling a bit excited from journeying out and actually attempting to complete a goal that she had planned for the day. As they reached the hill Iris began to squint in hopes to increase her view happily seeing a small fort that was less than a mile away from the base of the hill.

"Hey that looks like their camp we should get going," rushing down the hill without a thought in her mind she sought out the revenge and approval of her family for taking on such formidable foes, at least for her. Her pace continued to slow down the hill as she remembered. "Cripes I forgot my lance at home, gah what am I suppose to do."

Within the bandits encampment was a relatively small number of them, one appeared to be the leader among them or at least the most well furnished with armor. Stowed away inside his tent he was talking with two of his men. The three within the tent were all wearing large axes while two of them outside were sitting about a campfire their weapons still over by the tent. One of them seemed to be a soldier of sorts as his weapon was not the same type. Irisvielle's eyes glistened at the site of the iron lance that was lying within the tent. She waited their behind the tree without drawing any of their attention trying to figure out how to get to the weapon before they were alarmed and equipped themselves.

"Cripes cripes cripes. Come on their has to be an easy way." Spying a few trees she made note that the last 5 meters were going to be impossible to avoid detection.