Thousand shadows (open to 3)

[Rose Silvera]

Standing there in the forest Zilo was sure that there was something that he had heard to his left a little bit he knew that right now he was in bandit territory. Sighing to himself slightly maybe he was on edge for being here but at the same time there was something compelling to him here. A small presence he had been feeling was coming from here that told it was something that he needed to meet or at least find. Looking around he noticed the forest was starting to grow dark as the sun fell down past the sky.

Looking ahead Zilo saw that there was a small cave that he could go to for the night if anything had happened. But when he approached he noticed a small light on the inside from a fire. It was a bandit hide out. The smell of unwashed man filled his nostrils. That was something Zilo did not like. The surroundings growing shadows bigger than men, the trees leaves turned from a green to that of black like the sight of death. Smiling slightly Zilo knew that this meant there might be a fight this night. The wind blowing the leafs.

The whistling from them made a small comfort fill in Zilo. He used the noise of the trees to move closer into the small cave that he had found. Using the wind brushing the leaves to cut out the sound of the leafs being crushed under Zilos steps. Looking around and sighing slightly he was already in a bad situation. He had been spotted by the bandits already. Running deeper into the forest he heard the footsteps of man chasing a pray. Saying slightly he didn’t know what he was going to do and that was what was strange.

He was normally one step ahead of his enemies and that was something that surprised them they had been waiting for him. For some reason they must have known he might try a sneak attack at night. Torches where lit behind him and there was shouting. Finally coming to a stop he turned to count how many bandits there was. Standing from him where three bandits. On his right in the trees there was two archers sitting there with their bows ready to fight. On the other hand he had a small advantage being in the dark and being hidden a bit.

Not knowing what to think at the moment besides finding that he was able to hide in the trees drawing the bandits out of their hiding into the opening and into the small prairie. A small smile came across Zilos face. Waiting at the edge of the forest he knew that he had the advantage of the forest on his side. But the thought of there being five against one this was going to ether be a night for him to remember. Or a night to remember that he had died and failed to help his village. But for some reason Zilo had a small glimmer of hope.

Maybe if the fighting they were about to create would attract some attention from people from other places to come out and help the lone warrior. Though that was something that he had to hope would work. Looking ahead he noticed that the bandits where splitting up and heading in different direction to the forest. But there was one bandit heading straight towards Zilo. Sighing slightly he pulled out his iron axe waiting to see what would happen at the moment. In the coverage he could see the man had yet to bring his axe up to attack.

Standing there he brought his axe down hitting straight into the man’s collarbone with his axe. Seeing the man back up from the blow when he saw the axe come out from the trees. He avoided a serious damaging attack. Still cutting the man on his shoulder, Zilo was happy with what he was able to do. Looking up though he noticed the axe from the man coming straight at him. Moving slightly he was able to dodge the axe making it hit the tree and bouncing off from the slight angle he had.

Laughing softly he brought his axe down again hitting into the axe of the man. Jumping back into the cover of the trees after the surprise attack he had just pulled out. Smiling slightly he didn’t think anything about it. The bandit started cussing out loud about how he had been cut. Reaching around Zilo took off his white shirt and placing it on the tree. Smirking to himself softly he spoke softly out to the man in front of him. “I believe that it is time to get serious. Let’s play this dance of a thousand shadows.” A laugh escaping his lips…

[Grein]

Moving trough the woods slowly on his horse, Grein cursed under his breath. Last night had been too cloudy to navigate effectively, causing him to get lost. After stopping for some sleep earlier in the day he was alert, and watchful as he navigated the dense forest.

He was not the greatest at moving trough the forest however, and after traveling the rest of the day day it had gotten even more difficult as the sun went down. His torch was absolutely necessary for him to keep moving forward, and he was acutely aware of how exposed he must be at the moment.

He heard shouting up ahead and instinctively placed a hand on his staff. He was lucky to have been alerted so far ahead of time, and rather than waste his luck he put the torch out and waited for his eyes to get used to the darkness. It would be a difficult trek, but the trees were less dense as he reached the edge of a prairie, and with the moon out he set out slowly listening for more sound.

Moving near the edge, as close to the woods as possible Grein headed towards the source of the yelling. Suddenly he could see light trough the trees, as a few men with torches appeared to be running for something. Grein didn't stop to count them, instead he turned his horse and with a small trot took off trough the prairie.

At this rate they will definitely hear me - he took off a little faster hoping to reach the other side of the clearing. Positive he heard the men behind him cursing, Grein turned back to look for his pursuers but saw no one. The sounds seem to be coming from everywhere around him, and suddenly screams of pain and rage pierced the evening air.

Completely disoriented Grein took out his staff and tried to hold himself steady. The darkness was scaring them both, and the horse was starting to panic. Grein pointed his staff ahead trying to limit its brightness - the pale silver light was enough to see a way to the trees but it would be too dense to move quickly.

Moving right inside the forest edge, he listened intently making sure the sounds of the fight were behind him. Knowing that every second he was exposed like this could mean his end, Grein found it difficult to come up with a sarcastic remark about his situation.

(ooc: longer intro post im cool for shorter from here)

[Rose Silvera]

Zilo was sitting there taking in his breath the next thing he saw was a axe. It came down fast and strong not knowing what was going on he noticed the bandit had swung at him again. Stepping back slightly the axe tore down his shoulder and down his left arm. Wrenching in pain he spun his axe around smashing it into the bandits head as he let out a howl more bandits came running to his direction. There was two archers left and two normal axe wielding bandits. Breathing heavily he took off into an open plains and into another tree surrounded area.

Up ahead he saw a small glowing coming from the trees. He stood there with his axe in his hand he approached and appeared face to face with the glowing. He noticed that it was a man and one that seemed to be of holy nature thanks to the staff. Smiling softly Zilo motioned behind him. “You might want to go I got a little problem following me and you might not wanna get caught up in it at the moment.” He said he reached over with his right arm and held his left turning back around.

He looked out and could see that only 1 of the bandits where heading towards where he was. That would make things a bit easier but at the current moment he is somewhat in a state that he wouldn’t do so well. Two more hits and he was probably done for. Looking back at the man with the staff he nodded and smiled. “Theres a village a bit south of here you might head there. They will house ya just say Zilo sent ya.” He turned back around and headed foreward enough so the bandit would see him and not the man.

The village he spoke of was his own. They could use a healer right now especially after the bandit raid that had just happened. Unsure about what to do now he needed not to take another hit. If he did then it would be a pretty bad situation and that wasn’t something Zilo was pleased about. Right now he had wished he had stayed hidden and not attack the Bandit he had encountered. There wasn’t really much he could do now besides fight and pray. Though right now his left arm would slow him down pretty bad.

[Grein]

As Grein searched for a way trough the woods he became more and more fearful that he may be right in the middle of the fight. He couldn't tell how many people were involved, but by the sounds there were quite a few in the trees around. The flickering shadows from the torches seemed to become more numerous and Grein had no luck at all finding a path trough the woods.

At this rate taking off trough the darkness would be suicide and he was beginning loose hope as he searched for an exit. Suddenly his staff illuminated huge man directly in front of him. The horse buckled hurting Grein as it stopped hard - the man was raising a bloody axe and Grein pulled the reins back taking a few steps ready to take off.

As the man started explaining that he was somehow involved with the conflict, Grein tried to make sense of the situation. If this guy was here his group must be one of the ones in the fight. He was wounded and it would be a good opportunity, likely the only opportunity, to not be caught in the middle of the battle without any defense.

"Theres a village a bit south of here you might head there. They will house ya just say Zilo sent ya.”

This guy concerned with his safety, primarily given his position? This alone was not a good enough reason to side with him, but given his situation Grein couldn't hope for the other side to be as kind.

He took a torch from his saddle throwing it at the feet of the man. Next he raised his staff focusing on the his gruesome wound. It wouldn't be much, in fact he probably could do better given the chance, but this might be a long night and he knew not to waste the energy yet.

"If I were you, Id start a fire." he said, pointing at the torch "I don't know how many of you guys there are but the woods are crawling with people. Id use it to get out but its too dark for me to get trough the trees at any decent speed. I can help you if you get hurt again, but wont be much good if things go wrong."

Finishing up he eyed the grassy meadow "Yea but like I said. I would start a fire." then patting the one torch he had left "It would create more then enough chaos to get out of here"

[Rose Silvera]

Looking at the man and seeing that he had offered to help with what little that he could Zilo smiled to himself and nodded. "Thanks but you don't' have to worry about anyone else. The rest in the forest are but bandits this is their territory. And by that I mean I am the only one fighting them at the moment the others are back at the village taking care of the wounded and hurt since their last attack." He said laughing he picked up the torch. He heard the man speak about being able to heal him if he needed.

Looking back at him he smiled. "Alright i will take you up on that offer right after I set this fire we will head south and hope to god we beat the fire and get out of this trees." He said laughing. Bending down Zilo picked up the torch the man had thrown at him. Taking a rock and hitting his axe against it he created some sparks. They turned the torch to fire throwing it ahead of him as far as he could he smelt the smell of burning leaves and the howling of branches creaking as they burned.

Looking around he noticed he had stumbled a little bit further then the path he had taken to the bandit hide out. Sighing to himself he looked up at the man on the horse he spoke. "I believe if we head south we should make it to the river and a little east of there is the village that i live in." He said looking at the man he put his axe on his back and started running. "We will have to move fast if we want to out run this fire and not get caught in a battle."

With that he reached up and motioned to follow him. Taking off through the forest he kept insight of the man who apparently never been out this far. Knowing that the bandits where following. Zilo heard some howls coming from the back. Shuddering softly he knew that some of the bandits where being burned alive from the mans torch. OR worse suffering with mild burns after escaping yearning for death but they can't die just feel the pain on them. Looking at the man behind him he smiled letting him know he was friendly he continued to go ahead of the man.

[Grein]

The healer watched the man get the fire started - glad he had agreed to work together, Grein hoped it would just a few moments till they were at a safe distance. As the guy took off he easily found a path trough the trees and with a last look look back Grein smiled to see the small grassy meadow burst into flame.

He figured they wouldn't want their whole camp burned. But this guy here alone, taking on a bunch of bandits? Thinking it was early to ask questions he just followed trough the woods trying to remain alert for any followers. Grein didn't know much about villages getting attacked, and had assumed that it was some lord's responsibility to make sure bandits were kept at bay.

The greatest part of this was that this man knew how the get trough the trees - it was easy to follow him and noticed they were able to move quite fast trough the forest. It seemed like they had been going for hours when Grein was starting to wonder where he was now. Not trying to be annoying or ungrateful to the stranger, he still was starting to feel tired and on edge.

"Hey.. Hey you! How much further do you think it is?"

[Rose Silvera]

Zilo sat there for a minute unsure of what to do then he heard the sound of the man calling to him. But suddenly he was drained out by the water he smiled and yelled back at the man. “The river is right here now we just need to follow it east and then we will make it to the village that we need to be at.” He turned back around and took off towards the village. If he could make it there he would be in a good clear way to be safe. But that was cut short for him.

One of the following axe man had caught up to him. Standing in front of him he started laughing and looking at Zilo with eyes of anger. “You know you killed a nice amount of my friends with that fire of yours. I will admit that was pretty smart way to escape.” Zilo blinked a little bit as the man had spoken to him. That was something he wasn’t used to. A bandit speaking before attacking and complimenting someone for being smart even with their comrades being killed. Suddenly the warrior jumped at Zilo bringing down his axe on his shoulder.

Screaming in pain Zilo took a step back as his chest was sliced and was split open a little bit from the cut. Swinging his axe downwards he didn’t know what he was going to do. Bringing the axe up as high as he could he brought it down cutting deep into the bandit. Knowing it was a killer shot slicing through his neck and his chest. Moving backwards he fell down he couldn’t go on with this type of cut on him. “Keep going east you will eventually find the small village that I speak of. Tell them I sent you.” He started coughing a little bit he needed some rest.

[Sage]

The bandit was indeed cut to near death by the axe of the young journeyman, but if there was any absolute facts about bandits, it's that they were not always too smart, and they were far too proud. The injured bandit managed to gurgle out a strong curse word as he pried himself up from the ground. Blood spilled out of his lethal wounds, and gushed harder still as he pulled back his arm to deliver his last final swing to the axeman. Just as he held his weapon high above his head, his body stopped. A long blade of red came bursting from his mouth.

The bandit fell limp, dead. The blade receded from his face, and as he fell to the ground, the weilder of the sword was visible. A young woman clad in black with contrasting white hair. She took a few steps back from her position to scrape the excess flesh on her blade off on a rock, her nose wrinkled in mock disgust. After doing so, she reached the blade behind her and slipped it into a shabby cloth sheath which was attached to her belt.

"Sure as hell hope that I killed the right man," She commented loudly to herself whilst turning to see the man she had previously saved. He appeared to be young, not a boy but not a man, and wounded pretty bad. To his side was another male atop a horse. He seemed more into adulthood than the journeyman. She looked between them once or twice, a growing awkwardness as the silence built.

"Uh... Hello!"

[Grein]

(ooc: hi!)

“The river is right here now we just need to follow it east and then we will make it to the village that we need to be at.” - glad to be reassured Grein continued on through the trees

As he asked his question Grein couldn't stop trying to peer trough the darkness. It was impossible to see more than a few feet ahead, and suddenly he heard a sound up in front.

It was too fast for Grein to fully understand what had happened - a bandit jumped out and after a quick exchange had lunged at the person that saved him. Grein froze in place completely suddenly flooded by the fear they were surrounded again. He saw the man get hit hard by the axe and realized that he was next. Trying to back his horse up awkwardly there was no room to turn around. Looking back up at the fight his only way seemed to be trough his soon dead comrade.

With a yell the bandit lifted his axe again to finish the guy off - at that moment a long blade erupted from his mouth, blood gushing down the man's front and chin. Wide eyed, this was the last thing the troubadour expected. Unsure what to make of the situation he only knew that whoever the girl stepping out of the darkness was, she wasnt with the bandits.

As he thought on something to say, he realized that the guy up front was bleeding badly by now and lifted his staff to heal him. The wound began to glow briefly closing up leaving a large scar for the moment. Still unsure what to say he addressed his companions.

"Thank you for that" he didn't want to make his fears public, but he hoped that this was the only bandit that had followed. He figured to would let the Journeyman do the talking, as he wasn't very good at that sort of thing anyways.

"My name is Grein, and as you have seen I am somewhat capable at healing" he added quickly to introduce himself.

[Rose Silvera]

Zilo sat there for a minute he could not believe that the bandit was getting up especially from a hit like that though it wasn’t so much of a surprise the adrenaline in his body probably made it possible for him to move. Awaiting a blow he noticed a small crimson sword stick out of the mans mouth as he was getting up. Blinking a little bit he didn’t know what to think or what exactly was going on at the moment he could only guess that there was someone else that was here. Making a small sound as a tch he thought it was another bandit. But then the brute’s body fell and it was a girl around his age. She was pretty small.


Next thing you know you heard her saying she hoped she made the right choice. Laughing softly to himself with a small cough here and there he didn’t think anything about it. These two had joined and helped him without thinking of the other side. All the sudden his pain started to leave his body slowly. Looking up at the man on the horse for the first time he had seen an actual healer that could heal without herbs and other things that his village used. Standing up he presented himself at a height of six foot four. Pretty tall for his age of being near 17. Looking around he noted both of them and smiled. “I am grateful you helped me both of you. That bandit you killed was the leader of the raid that happened on my village not to long ago. It’s a surprise that you guys decided to help me and not the winning side.” He said thinking about how he was hurt.


Looking to the girl he forgot his manners he smiled slightly at his own goof. “I am sorry it seems I have forgotten my manners. My name is Zilo Telavu. I am a bit knew to the fighting I lived in my village as a lumberjack." He said laughing softly. He knew that didn’t excuse the way he had presented himself to her before. “And I was lucky to find Grein here in the forest. It seemed as if he was lost a little bit. But he seems brave enough to be trusted. And well on your decision there. You choose to help us against the bandits. And you took out the leader of the raid. Also the third party leader in their gang. So you kinda just made yourself have a bad reputation with them.”

Looking around for a minute he noted where they where. Right in front of the village snapping his fingers together. He moved some brush and tree limbs away with his axe. Cutting a small pass. “Theres the village Grein, Now if you both will come with me. I will get you two into a warm house and see if I can cook a decent meal you can eat. I’m not totally sure if you two will like what I make. So I will tone down the spices and maybe then you can enjoy it.” He said laughing. Zilo didn’t know if these two liked things with the forest spices and herbs. So he decided it would possibly be best when he made the bear meat into something less traditional in the village. But he stopped for a minute before walking and spoke in a voice serious. “Though I am inquired to something… My mind is telling me to say why is there a myrmidon way out here in sacae?”

[Sage]

Sage watched, unblinking her bright eyes, as the horsey-man pulled a staff up to the bleedin'-man. She tilted her head slightly. This was her first time witnessing an honest-to-goodness healer at work. There wasn't many of his kind 'round her own home back at the Isles. Pirates, sure. In fact- many a young pirate boy there looked a lot like the journeyman in front of her- albeit probably a little rougher and tougher. But healers wouldn't last a minute in her crowd.

As the horsey-man's (Grein, was it?) staff glowed, it began to seal the open wound of bleedin'-man (lessee... Zilo?) and turn it into a huge, lustrous patch of skin. Wow. The side of Sage's mouth twitched up, sync with her eyebrow, in interest. Now that was some real neat fancy magic. She hitched her hands on her hips in idle thought. It would be really snazzy to be able to control such a thing as magic. Something so mysterious to man. Not that she would prefer it over her trusty metal whackin' stick. Nothing could be as satisfying as physically feeling the object of your ass-kicking send vibrations up your sword.

"My name is Grein, and as you have seen I am somewhat capable at healing."

Sage tipped her white head forward with a toothy grin in a casual greeting.

"Name's Sage. After the plant, mind you, not them pro mage guys."

“I am grateful you helped me both of you. That bandit you killed was the leader of the raid that happened on my village not to long ago. It’s a surprise that you guys decided to help me and not the winning side.

"And well on your decision there. You chose to help us against the bandits. And you took out the leader of the raid. Also the third party leader in their gang. So you kinda just made yourself have a bad reputation with them.”

To that, the white-haired woman gave a lighthearted chuckle.

"Welp- I don't regret it either way. S'not like I'm any mercenary or somethin'. I'm interested in a little adventure, not who has the dough to pass out, y'know?"

“Though I am inquired to something… My mind is telling me to say why is there a myrmidon way out here in Sacae?”

"Not for any 'pacific reason, really," Sage answered to the tall axeman whilst following him into his home. It was a beaten village which seemed to hold a lot of character. She looked around while she spoke, gathering it all in to her best ability. So- the big plains of Elibe was where she had trekked to, was it? She'd never seen a Sacaen village, much less been inside one. Interesting. "Jus' happened to be where I stumbled to. I'm not exactly followin' a map. Actually- I didn't even know I was in Sacae until now!"

She laughed loudly.

[Sage]

Sage watched, unblinking her bright eyes, as the horsey-man pulled a staff up to the bleedin'-man. She tilted her head slightly. This was her first time witnessing an honest-to-goodness healer at work. There wasn't many of his kind 'round her own home back at the Isles. Pirates, sure. In fact- many a young pirate boy there looked a lot like the journeyman in front of her- albeit probably a little rougher and tougher. But healers wouldn't last a minute in her crowd.

As the horsey-man's (Grein, was it?) staff glowed, it began to seal the open wound of bleedin'-man (lessee... Zilo?) and turn it into a huge, lustrous patch of skin. Wow. The side of Sage's mouth twitched up, sync with her eyebrow, in interest. Now that was some real neat fancy magic. She hitched her hands on her hips in idle thought. It would be really snazzy to be able to control such a thing as magic. Something so mysterious to man. Not that she would prefer it over her trusty metal whackin' stick. Nothing could be as satisfying as physically feeling the object of your ass-kicking send vibrations up your sword.

"My name is Grein, and as you have seen I am somewhat capable at healing."

Sage tipped her white head forward with a toothy grin in a casual greeting.

"Name's Sage. After the plant, mind you, not them pro mage guys."

“I am grateful you helped me both of you. That bandit you killed was the leader of the raid that happened on my village not to long ago. It’s a surprise that you guys decided to help me and not the winning side.

"And well on your decision there. You chose to help us against the bandits. And you took out the leader of the raid. Also the third party leader in their gang. So you kinda just made yourself have a bad reputation with them.”

To that, the white-haired woman gave a lighthearted chuckle.

"Welp- I don't regret it either way. S'not like I'm any mercenary or somethin'. I'm interested in a little adventure, not who has the dough to pass out, y'know?"

“Though I am inquired to something… My mind is telling me to say why is there a myrmidon way out here in Sacae?”

"Not for any 'pacific reason, really," Sage answered to the tall axeman whilst following him into his home. It was a beaten village which seemed to hold a lot of character. She looked around while she spoke, gathering it all in to her best ability. So- the big plains of Elibe was where she had trekked to, was it? She'd never seen a Sacaen village, much less been inside one. Interesting. "Jus' happened to be where I stumbled to. I'm not exactly followin' a map. Actually- I didn't even know I was in Sacae until now!"

She laughed loudly.

[Grein]

“And I was lucky to find Grein here in the forest. It seemed as if he was lost a little bit. But he seems brave enough to be trusted. And well on your decision there. You choose to help us against the bandits. And you took out the leader of the raid. Also the third party leader in their gang. So you kinda just made yourself have a bad reputation with them.”

Grein winced a little at Zilo calling him brave - he hadn't done anything particularly courageous, rather he was lucky and managed to save his own hide "I just got lost earlier and it got dark before I could find the road again. Was lucky to stumble into you rather than the bandits".

“Theres the village Grein, Now if you both will come with me. I will get you two into a warm house and see if I can cook a decent meal you can eat. I’m not totally sure if you two will like what I make. So I will tone down the spices and maybe then you can enjoy it.”

Grein was glad the village appeared and followed keeping up with Zilo. The prospect of any kind of food sounded great to the healer, as he noticed how hungry he had gotten all day trough the woods. "Thank you, It is very generous of you to make that offer"

"Name's Sage. After the plant, mind you, not them pro mage guys."

Considering how things were looking up, Grein was feeling better and almost wanted to laugh at the way the girl talked. She had saved their lives, it was probably uncalled for and she would take offense. "Good to meet you Sage" he said and decided to save his questions about where she was from for later.

[Rose Silvera]

Zilo sat there for a minute unsure of what was going on again he knew that these two had started talking and that was something that was new. He hadn’t really allowed anyone over to his house in a while so this was something that was different for him in more ways than one. Walking towards his house he opened the door. It wasn’t really much but it was nice and cozy compared to the forest and the night air and you could see in here at least that was something the others would appreciate. Or so he had hoped.

Turning around towards them he began to speak in a soft tone. “Theres a chair and a couch that both of you can use its not the best but it is something better than a floor.” He said laughing at the end. While walking into the kitchen he put a pot on the stove. Cutting off some of the meat he began boiling it in the water. Next he took some vegetables such as cabbage, Acorn squash, Corn and other ingredients. Not sure what else to add he added the meat last. Reaching into the cabinet he pulled out some herbs.

Within the herbs he pulled out was rosemary. Some broth seasoning. A little bit of cayenne pepper. Some basil leaves and a few other herbs that most hadn’t known where usable in a stew type mixture. Finishing the herbs he added in some small rice balls into the mix. The smell floated into the air for everyone to smell. Smiling slightly he was happy that he was having a few guest tonight. Returning back to the room he spoke out to them. “Well not much but this is my home and I can house you two till you have to leave. Or if like the young lady on an adventure I’ll tag along. It’s the least I can do for your help.”

[Sage]

"Ooh! Mine!"

Without a moment longer after being offered the couch, Sage flung her sword to the ground next to it. She shamelessly flung her body onto it and wrapped her arms around her eyes to shut out the light. It felt good. It felt like it had been years and years since she had lay on something nicer than the cold, hard ground or an itchy, cheap cot at the Inn. It felt reminiscent of being back at her own house, in her own bed. The smell of something delicious flowed into her nose's range and even more reminiscent she felt.

After a moment or two, she rolled onto her side to look around the room. It wasn't too shabby, but it wasn't anything to write home to ma and pops about either. There was no paintings on the walls, no carpets, no statues. Nothing more than what's needed. It was almost funny. The myrmidon's own home was always with nice things. Collecting interesting artworks and decorations was a hobby of her mother's.

Having finished judging the stranger, Zilo's, home, she rolled back onto her back and covered her eyes once again. Within a few minutes (possibly within seconds, even) she had given in and began spiraling into unconsciousness. Faintly as she fell, she heard the kid tell them it was the least he could do. Or something. And then about an adventure. Or something.

And then she slept.