Expedition: Resupplying and Resting [ABANDONED, DO NOT JOIN]

[Samuali]

The brown haired man directed him to the tavern to look for the boss. He headed towards the tavern and once he was out of sight turned and got the last of his things. He kept walking. "That was a close one..." Samauli mumbled to himself as he continued on. He would be more careful from now on.

[Samauli left thread]

[Ryuzaki]

"Hmph," Ryu thought as Oichi dragged Rogus aside and the boy ran off, clearly afraid. Good. That's what he wanted the boy to do... Run away.

Ryu put his scythe away and headed in the opposite direction of everyone. He wanted to be alone. Instead, as he wandered, he came across a strange sight... A field of flowers. It was beautiful, and, since he was alone, Ryu relaxed, wandering through the flowers... Wait. What?

Ryu saw Kyle, lying facedown, a little ways away, with his dog sitting tensely, hackles raised.

"Oh, damn. Hey! Kyle! Are you okay?!" Ryu shouted, trying to see if the kid was dead.

[Oichi]

"Oh right", spoke Oichi. "Well let me start off by apologizing. It was rude of me to forget your name Connor. I would not have grabbed you shirt if I had remembered. Still there is no excuse for such rudeness. We are traveling companions after all", spoke Oichi.

"Well let me get to the point why I wanted to talk to you. I have noticed that there is some hostility between Ingrid and both Near and yourself. I was hoping to find the source of the problem and try to at lest create some common ground to soften the mood. I talked with Near earlier and heard his side of the story. I can understand why there was so much friction between you all and Ingrid, but I would like to hear your side of the story before I speak with Ingrid about it. I can understand if you don't want to tell it", spoke Oichi as she raised her hands in defense. She was not sure what she was going to get out of this, but she needed to calm the friction in the group. They were going to need each other if they hoped to survive.

[Rogus]

Now this girl was TOO polite. She asked him of the past between Near, Ingrid, and himself, but what had Ryuzaki told her? Surely she had spoken with him first. The prudent thing to do would be decline to speak of it, but that would be far too boring, and he'd be seen has having something to hide.

So you want to hear that tale, eh? Rogus let a small grin tug at his lips. I warn you, its not quite for the feint of Heart, and I will tell you exactly what happened. Near, and the girl? They had their emotions flaring, can't really count their testimonies as absolutely accurate, eh? He had to provide such a hook to make the story more fun to tell. Teasing the listener with subtle hints, adding mystery to the tale, it was enjoyable indeed.

I found the lass in a tavern in Caelin, she was starving, so poor that she had been forced to eat the dish water of the tavern to avoid dehydration. I offered my coin to pay for a meal if she provided a small favor in return... No, its not what you think. You see, I told her a noble was to wed my lover on the following morning, and that she would act as an injured traveler for an excuse for my stay at the church the wedding was supposedly held at. This was a lie of course. What I really had planned was hardly a worthy cause for a plainswoman, you know how they are about honor and such. In any case, the ruse worked, and I was allowed to stay the night there to watch over the poor girl. Near, he sensed I was up to something, he asked to help play a part, and that was that. He paused to take a deep sigh and look out to the tavern, the green haired boy had run. Maybe that was for the best right now.

It was night, the acolytes, priests, clerics etcetera; they were gone. Near and I took that opportunity, did a bit of skulking about in the treasury of the place. Ingrid woke to find us gone, immediately figured that our motives were less than genuine, she came after us screaming her head off about honor and the treachery of our ilk. By 'our' i mean Near, and I of course. She drew her blade, after shouting enough to wake the whole of caelin up, Near and her clashed for a few moments before the light magic started blowing things up.Long story short, Ingrid ran, Near and I barely escaped with our lives. He'd stop and examine the young girl's reaction.

She tried to kill us after we fed and sheltered her. Albeit, we did so in a deceitful way, but Near; he feels she owed us enough to have at least kept her mouth shut. Sacaens you know how they get... He feels she has no honor for betraying us in such a way, she considers us to have no honor because those who share our profession tend to... have a bad reputation. That's why they butt heads so often. Ingrid thinks us honorless scum best kept in a cell, Near feels she betrayed the Sacaen code. Me? I can't say I blame Ingrid, if I were in her shoes as a child I may have reacted the same way, and I don't disagree with Near's anger. I'm just happy i wasn't incinerated by light magic that night.

[Oichi]

It seemed that Connor was more down to earth than Near was. He explained the whole story with such a factual statements and a distance from the events. Near seemed more emotional about it than Rogus did. That would explain why he did not react so violently towards Ingrid as Near did.

The story however was a bit more surprising from Rogos point of view. Near had left off many parts of the tale like the two nearly dying from light magic or the whole deceit thing. From his point of view it seemed that Ingrid was more an active participant while in Rogus point of view showed that Ingird was more a tool to a means. Still it would be a complicated matter for Oichi too find some common ground for both Ingrid and Near to get along. Rogos on the other hand seemed to have put it all behind him.

"Thank you Mr. Connor", spoke Oichi. "I have a better idea of the situation." The maiden began to play with her pink hair a bit. She still needed to put a end to this, or at least suppress it to their job was done. She at the very lest needed to talk to Ingird. She needed to hear all three parts of the story.

"Oh", spoke the maiden as she suddenly broke from her deep thought. "I forgot to thank you for steeping in earlier. The situation could have gotten out of hand very quickly. Your help was greatly appreciated."

[Ingrid]

After "Ro" left she decided to head to the Inn, hopefully there would be some soup in the place. She at on a random table and ordered, yes there was soup. She laid back on the chair thinking about what was she going to do with "Near". He was the one pointing and threatening and she wouldn't tolerate that however if the kept acting like that it would turn dangerous to the rest of the group, not to mention Oleg seemed really anoyed by that. Then how would they fix it? It seemed clear that one of them had to apologize, so the question was. Who wronged who? Had she really been ungrateful or was their crime bigger? This sort of questions where hard to answer, specially with an empty belly. She sighed and awaited for her so expected meal to show up.

[The Madness]

Oleg was at his fifth or sixth glass of wine as he noticed Ingrid sitting down and ordering something. Oleg slowly picked up his glass he moved to the table Ingrid was sitting at, slumping himself down as he then stared to her for a moment before speaking. "How's the situation? Still at eachothers throats, or?" While he spoke, he begun to empty his current glass of wine.

[Ryuzaki]

"This is not good."

Ryu turned around and sprinted back into the town, breathing lightly and reveling in the exercise and adrenaline. Arriving at the tavern, he burst through the door. Looking around and seeing Oleg, Ryu quickly moved beside him and muttered into his ear, "Kyle has fallen and he can't get up. I think he's out cold, and his dog won't let me near him."

[The Madness]

Oleg flickered his ear as he looked to Ryuzaki, slowly murmurring to himself as he took a pouch from his belt as he held it out to Ryu. "Get a kennel master and a cleric. The kennel master to handle the dog without it being harmed, and the cleric for... Well, I think you get the picture." Oleg nodded slowly, sipping some of his wine.

[Rogus]

My dear, it was but only my deepest pleasure to do so! He bowed theatrically, and watched the others enter the tavern, excluding Kyle. Odd, where was the lad? No matter, he can take care of himself. All that talking dried my throat... but I should find that lad Kyle first. Run to the tavern and buy me a glass of whisky, will you? Here's a coin for it.

He turned and walked toward where Ryuzaki had run to the tavern from. He stopped midway and called to Oichi:
And Don't let Near and Ingrid try to kill each other, they tend to try that sometimes! he chuckled and walked to the area Kyle was... sleeping in? The boy's dog was guarding him; err rather violently as it seemed to have scared his companion off.

Rogus looked around for a stick. Dogs loved fetch right? He made a big show of the stick to the dog. What's this eh?! He said excitedly, Its a stick, here boy! FETCH! He shouted as he hurled the piece of wood into the flowing field of grass. Hopefully the dog would follow it so he wouldn't have to sustain anymore injuries.

[Ingrid]

Ingrid was about to reply when Near came in and told them about Kyle and then they all rushed out to see what was going on. She looked back at her food that had just arrived. She sighed and filled her mouth with all the soup that she could had and chased after the rest.

Everyone was out there staring down at Kyle who apparently decided to take a nap in the grass. What was so weird about that?.- Isn't he just asleep? does anyone has a stick to poke him or anything like that?.-

[Kyle]

These people must stay away. They won't get close to master. I will protect him. Especially the man with the stick. These were the thoughts going through Kyle's dog's head as people tried to draw close to him. Kyle's dog would utter a low menacing growl intended to keep everyone away.

His head was swimming. Where was he? He couldn't move his body; it appeared to be numb. Oh wait, he is in the field he was in earlier. But why was he on the ground? What happened? Should he really be with these people? The leader said that there would be undead, but he didn't really say anything about killing other people, even if they were bandits. And he had helped kill them. Think about it made him sad, for what if those people were brought that low because they were trying to provide for a family? Would a now widowed woman and child die of starvation now? All of this weighed down upon this young teenager's conscious as he lay in the field. But now was not the time to seem weak, especially in front of these people. Using every ounce of his willpower Kyle forced his body to sit upright.

Upon sitting up, Kyle's dog ran over and licked Kyle's face and spread blood about his face. Before any could see though, Kyle wiped the blood off. His nose was bleeding, it had slowed down considerably now to the point that no one would notice. Good. Pretending to pet the dog, nah he was actually petting it, he used the dog to help stand up. It's a good thing that dog is so sturdy. Standing up, his vision got extremely blurry, almost to the point to where he fell down again. With his willpower, however, he was able to remain up without much of a clue at all. Looking at the people who had gathered he noticed that some looked concerned. Great, that might just be the last thing he wanted here. He didn't want to look the like weakling that he felt like inside right now, so he calmly looked at everyone towards where he thought the Inn was, even though he had no idea where it was. What happened? did he really pass out? It was noticeably later than he remembered, and wiping his nose again he still saw a little blood which he was quick to hide in case any were trying to watch him. His dog ten walked up and nudged his had as he walked down the road and Kyle gave him a scratch. "Now let's find that Inn before something else happens." He muttered under his breath to his dog. And he walked completely drained of energy. He really could use a rest now.

[Oichi]

"Umm sure", spoke Oichi as Rogus gave her the coin. He had been so helpful she at the very least had too at least do this. Oichi walked into the tavern and saw Ingird. Oh she thought to herself that made things easy. After she got Rogus his drink she could walk over to Ingrid and complete her investigation. Then suddenly everyone rushed out. Apparently something was wrong with Kyle. This was not a good sign. Oichi began to wonder if he was sick, or if someone had attacked him.

"Here is your drink little missy", spoke the bartender.

"oh it is not mine I am just getting it for a friend", spoke Oichi as she grabbed it. She did not like the idea of being associated with whiskey. It was a vulgar drink and in her mind should not be associated with a woman. Well that was at least what her mother use to say, and she was a mercenary.

Oichi traveled back to where Rogus had moved too. From what she could see Kyle seemed to be up. The maiden walked over to the thief and handed him his drink. "Umm is there anything wrong with kyle", she asked.

[The Madness]

Oleg frowned as Ingrid ran away. He let out a sigh, simply returning to his wine as he stroked his chin. The caravan could use some restocks, although the fort should be nearby. Then there was the problem of the fort itself. Traps. Possible undead... Too many things to think and handle in one sitting. Oleg sighed once more as he leaned against the table.

[Rogus]

Seeing the situation handled, his drink in his hand, and the bar cleared besides the boss man himself; Rogus quietly slipped away and headed for the tavern, unnoticed hopefully.

Got your mind on something Oleg? Rogus said as he slipped into the barren tavern. He slid into a chair and took a drink of his whiskey. He looked at the man with a curious eye and finally sighed and leaned back in his own chair, propping his boots up on the table in his usual manner.

Y'know, i hear that wagering on a game of cards is highly soothing for those troubling themselves with meddlesome thoughts. He winked, Better yet, drinking games usually end with the participants forgetting almost everything. What'dya say boss?