Rowdy Arphen [Ended]

[Roin Valor]

Outside the tavern, the Mercenary captain simply smirked at the proposition.

"I think my boys would rather show a pretty Sacaen woman her place. But I suppose we'll show you and the loudmouths what happens when you mess with my band!"

He quickly escaped behind two other looming men, their thick helms and shields blocking the path to the leader as he retreated through the company. The eight mercenaries had been joined by these two armored individuals, most likely ex-knights or impoverished nobles. All the same, it would be ten on three. As Roin emerged, he pulled free his sword and dropped his sheath against the doorway.

"Careful not to let your horse get hurt, woman. I'll see that these behemoths are handled...fancy armor can stop an arrow, but a blade's stab can be as effective as any arrow ten times over."

He wished he had his bow, but instead he'd rely on his blade. What had been initially planned out as a fist fight had turned into a clear battle. These men held edged weapons, wore armor, and carried shields. They had no intention of letting anyone off without a scratch. Roin sighed, but charged off at the two knights immediately. One of the nearby mercenaries let out a yell, charging at him only to be side-stepped by the Yeoman, his familiarity with snow allowing him to easily move while his attacker stumbled past and then fell to his face and into the snow. The furthest back of the two Knights charged off in another direction, going past him toward Tamaya with two other mercenaries quickly following. Two others hovered near the second Knight as Roin crashed into the man's shield and, using his momentum and shoulder-guard, tossed him back and smack-dab into the two bodyguards before all of them collapsing to the ground.

As Roin's grouping all struggled to their feet quickly, the remaining two charged off toward Marric. Their leader had abandoned them, his tracks leading off down the streets. It was clear they'd need to see to the nine remaining mercenaries before they could go after him. It'd likely be a tough fight, however, thanks to the tight streets and the number differences.

[OOC: You're controlling your groups, so to recap: Tamaya 3 Mercs (various classes) 1 Knight, Marric 2 Mercs (various classes). Doesn't mean you can't group up, simply splitting NPC control]

[Marric]

NO! Marric shouted when Tamaya drew her bow and threatened the mercenaries. What had he done? This couldn't be happening... He'd been fine with the shame this had already drawn him, and fine with the possibility of gaining a few bruises. Now however, this had gotten deadly, which he'd been fine with as well in any case but this one. His mind raced faster than he could keep up, but everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The Sacaen drew the weapon, made the threat, these men, not Marric and Roin, were defending themselves...

YOU FOOL!

Of course, they cared less, they seemed to welcome the oppurtunity to kill the three, and now they had a lawful reason to do it. Marric didn't care if he died, he cared that no matter what happened, dead or alive, he'd be shunned from his family, his home, everything. His mother would curse his name, as well as his adoptive ones. If he died he imagined they'd either spit on his grave, or simply toss his body to freeze in some remote area of Ilia. If the mercenaries had drawn their weapons first he'd been saved this damnable fate, but the damned woman had drawn a damn weapon in a damn brawl fight! They had become the aggressors, and the mercs the innocent party. At least before he'd had a reason to fight them, they had insulted the woman, and his drinking partner, but now his only chance at getting out of the shame to come was to die without harming the mercenaries. But... He couldn't die like that, it would as good as suicide.

His thoughts were cut short as the two mercenaries, bearing an axe and a sword respectively, yelled a battle cry moments before they would have cut the young man down. He had enough time to simply dive in between them, letting their weapons collide together where his head had been a moment before. He quickly gathered his bearings and thanked whatever god had been watching over him that the two were drunk, otherwise his dive would have been futile, the mercenaries would have been fast enough to recover and stab him before he could react. While the two took a precious few seconds to readjust themselves, Marric reached down to unholster his axe... His axe?

WHERE WAS IT? He'd been so flustered about the new developement of the situation he'd forgotten he'd left his axe on the bar's table. He knew it was to be a fist fight, he had left it there out of good faith he wouldn't use it.

STUPID STUPID STUPID! Marric repeated in his head, perhaps since he was unarmed he'd be given the benefit of the doubt? He highly doubted that. The merc with the sword noticed his expression of surprise and started laughing at the man's lack of a weapon, and the axe man laughed at Marric's missfortune along with his comrade.

Looks like you picked the wrong team lad! The axeman jeered and the two approached marric lazily, they had nothing to fear. Marric fell to his hands and knees, he'd once given a helpful piece of advice to his bond-brother Samuali about evening the odds however you could, and Marric saw no other option. The mercenaries laughed, ignoring any of the chaos happening from the fighting of the others, and marric felt a sword tip being placed on his shoulder, and even more snickering.

Giving up so soon?

We can hardly blame you, begging for mercy that is.

Why should we show a sacae lover like you mercy, eh coward?

I don't know Gravis, i feel sorry for the lad, he's such a pitiful excuse for an Ilian, i bet the only friends he could make were the savages.

They laughed heartily, enjoying the fact the younger man was seemingly grovelling at their feet. The arrogant sarcasm the two used was infuriating, Marric was almost mad enough to kill them for it. Then they had called him a pitiful excuse for an Ilian, Marric was now mad enough to slaughter the whole band and never look back. His rage turned into a kind of eery laughter and the mercs looked at each other with confused expressions.

Why's you laughing, you touched in the head'er some'thin? The swordsman asked.

Idiots... Marric shot his hands out from the snow, grabbing the close-by ankles of the mercenaries in respective hands. The mercenaries had wandered within grabbing distance, probably a mistake they'd have made even if they weren't drunk, they didn't seem all too bright. They hadn't thought such a desparate move like that could happen, being drunk, they probably never even thought for a moment Marric would attempt anything at all. He pulled, and the two slipped from the icy snnow covered ground, cursing like sailors.

Marric was able to easily get his hand on the one mercenary's axe and stood up, he didn't plan on letting the two do the same. He used the club-like blunt side of the axe's head to smash the newly unarmed merc's knee cap, which, due to the screaming and crunching sound, he'd guessed it was enough to keep him down for the rest of the fight. He turned his attention to the other one, but was met with the sight of the man standing and pointing his blade at the tricky fighter.

YOU WORM! I'LL MAKE YOU SUFFER! He said as he charged the axe-fighter. Marric silently did the same, and the weapons clashed. At least now he'd have a chance at living.

[Tamaya]

"Sky... Wind.. Earth...

LIGHTNING!"

With an eerie cry, Tamaya pivoted and loosed an arrow, quickly drawing another one and readying her bow. However, her eyes narrowed as she saw the arrow simply dent the helmet of the advancing knight.

"Aaah!" Tamaya shouted, a note of anxiety present in her voice. How would she defend herself against a wall of steel? Maybe... Maybe...

Spurring Shikoba, she shot towards the thin comrade, who fought with... Nothing?! Her eyes wide, she aimed as she approached, her arms quivering slightly as she targeted the face of the one who was taunting the downed man. But as she prepared to shoot, the man miraculously emerged from a brief flurry of motion with an axe in hand, charging toward the sword-fighter. Angry at the concept of attacking a defenseless man, Tamaya waited until the two clashed, and seeing them lock blades, she let the arrow fly, uttering an oath to the sky to let her bolt fly true.

With a resounding, meaty thud, the arrow lodged itself through the man's cheeks, entering one side and protruding from the other. It was by no means a fatal strike, but...!

"Aaah!"

The knight! Shikoba had jolted into motion, and she winced as she felt a sharp sensation in her side. Wait, that wasn't the lumbering giant -- instead, an axe-wielding, foul-smelling man had sliced her in the side. It wasn't deep, but it was a wide, diagonal cut -- and it hurt like nothing she'd ever experienced. Screaming in frustration at her weakness, anger, and fear, Tamaya punched the man square in the face from the horse, hearing a satisfying sharp crack. As blood gushed from his nose, the enraged man grabbed her wrist, smiling devilishly as he threw her off of Shikoba, sending her slamming into the snow with a thump. If the other Sacaean were to turn around, he'd see her laying practically at his feet, but behind her, with a stripe of red and compacted snow showing her path of 'flight'. As she struggled to catch her breath, she saw Shikoba rear up and kick mightily, catching the man again in the face and causing him to crumple straight down. His comrade, another axeman, and the armored knight both retreated warily, while Shikoba pranced and reared, putting on an intimidating display.

"Urrgh. I must..." Tamaya groaned, doubled over. If she didn't get up soon, she'd be an easy -- oh, no.

The armored knight was making his way for her, leering as he boomed out "Well, well... Looks like you really are nothing but trash! I'll have lots of fun with you. Lots... and lots... of fun."

[Roin Valor]

While the other two had their initial skirmishes, Roin had been watching his targets get up. He let out a breath, his voice low as he tuned out the others as best he could. It wasn't to ignore them, but so he could focus purely on the aim of his blade. Half-stepping back, he spun around and brought his sword around rather low, cutting a small groove in the snow before bringing the blade up hard. The mercenary who had initially charged him was thrown up and back slightly, his weapon falling as he fell back and into the snow. The strike was quick and clean, as he had been trained all his life, and had put the man down without much pain.

The jeers behind him snapped him out of his state, spinning around as the two mercs rushed him. While he focused on parrying one, he had to work hard just to dodge the other. Both were using swords, so he held no advantage in this fight. As they stepped further toward the entrance, he snarled and blocked one of their strikes, the snarl turning to a wince as he felt the other's sword smack against his shoulder guard. It didn't get through, but the sting alone caused him to lash out, pushing his blade to throw the other mercenary before turning and cutting wide, the man's armor shattering and rending as the blade cut through it and threw him to the snow either dead or gravely wounded. Roin had strength, but his skill could turn his blade into a weapon strong enough to cut lighter armors.

His celebration wasn't long, though, catching the sight of the dismounted woman and her looming attacker. His own attacker was getting up as the other knight advanced, keeping his lance ready. Roin didn't seem to react, but he knew the situation was dire. Looking at his opponent, he narrowed his eyes and charged once more. He had raised his sword to block, but Roin instead kicked him in the gut, throwing him to the snow before he charged and, with all his weight, once more shoulder-slammed a Knight, this time hitting the one who had been looming over his fellow Sacaen. The man would be stumbled, at least, but Roin had also stumbled and tumbled to the ground nearby. The move had been too fast and thrown him horribly off balance. As he slowly got up, he now faced the situation she had been facing. Except his knight was still approaching while her knights was possibly still standing.

"Damn it...need to catch my breath..."

It wasn't exactly a very energy-preserving fight either. Roin was getting tired from all these tackles and strong kicks. Keeping focus was one thing, while wielding a sword, but doing unorthodox strikes while keeping his blade in hand wasn't the easiest thing in the world.

[Marric]

THe two weapons clashed and clanged, sparks flew from each meeting of the metal. Marric had been slowly but surely forcing the swordsman backward, towards Roin's group. The swordsman was too angry and drunk to realize he had given up too much ground until it was too late. The axeman however, was at least an observant drunk, He kicked the swordsman dead in the chest after finally breaking the fool's guard. This sent him tumbling into Roin's knight, knocking both the mercenaries down, or at least causing them to stumble.

Help the girl, I have these two. He brought the Ilian made weapon in his hand up to bear. It felt odd in his hands, alien. He was so used to the separate styles of bern from Ilian craftsmen ship, they weren't exactly inferior or superior to the other. It was simple a matter of opinion. In any case, Marric awkwardly swung the axe around his body in a constant motion, it would be ideal to have the heavy blade be moving at all times. That way Marric wouldnt have to waste time in bringing it to speed for an attack or block. Both the mercenaries stood and faced their fellow ilian. While he prepared for the two on one, MArric remembered their leader was still around somewhwere, where had he gone?

[Tamaya]

"Graah!"

With a grimace, the young woman forced herself to her feet, grabbing her bow out of the snow and stumbling to the side, clumsily trying to draw an arrow and fire. However, the thin axeman deftly maneuvered the knight so that he again teetered. Off balance, the man was vulnerable, and Tamaya bet it all on a risky maneuver. Jerking her body as if to leap at the knight, she caused him to flinch, and he pinwheeled his arms as he tilted...tilted... YES! The knight, off balance, had tilted too far backwards, and went backwards into the earth with a thump and a clank of armor. Even downed, he was still dangerous... She'd leave him for the other Sacean.

Wait. She needed to punish that man.

He was at HER mercy now. And she was angry. Her grey eyes narrowed to slits and seemed to dance with fire as she drew an arrow and aimed it at the man's face.

"No, please! I... Aaah!"

An arrow lodged itself the man's face, piercing the cheek. The poor knight began to writhe in agony, but gave a tremendous jerk as yet another arrow arrived on the other side. Cursing her poor aim, but attributing it to the still-bleeding and really, really painful slash on her side, Tamaya finally hit the man straight in the forehead with her third arrow.

Breathing heavily and shaking from exhaustion, Tamaya hoisted herself back onto Shikoba, who had come trotting over, and wearily drew another arrow. She felt awful. A little light-headed, and very tired... Hopefully this would end soon. She wasn't doing so well...

"Light...ning..." she said, her voice cracking midway through, as she pulled her bowstring back and fired at one of the standing mercenaries. However, the arrow made it only about halfway to the man... Which was bad. Very bad. Her strength was draining... She was becoming a liability.

[Roin Valor]

Roin gasped for breath, but had finally recovered with the delay Tamaya had brought. As he stood up straight, his free hand moving to his chest to give himself some false support, he finally looked toward the sluggish Rider. She was weak and he could see it. Which meant so could their foes. Roin turned as the surviving Knight finally reached him, narrowing his eyes at the Sacaen as Roin carefully fixed his posture, his breath returned to him.

"Sacaen dog!"

Roin simply smirked at that, his voice coming out smooth in his mother's Ilian accent. "I would rather be a wolf of the plains than a sheep of the herd!" The strange words caught the Knight off balance, Roin turning to face him just as a the final free Mercenary ran into sight beside him. With a yell, both men charged him. However, Roin didn't hesitate, the faster Mercenary reaching him first. Roin dropped to his knee without hesitation, dodging the initial slash flawlessly. These foes were easy to read, but that didn't stop the obvious factor. Roin had been tired, his movement just slow enough to have the band and a part of his ponytail caught. His hair fell free, spilling over his shoulders in a wild, Sacaen manner before he rose and turned, his hair following his movements before he cut through the hip of the attacker, the man stumbling past him to fall to the snow mortally wounded. Roin turned his gaze to the Knight, his feral look now complete with the release of his hair. The shield of the Knight raised just in time to deflect his two-handed back-swing, the sword crashing off it with a loud exchange of sparks. The Knight immediately stabbed outward, but his aim was off, going just left of Roin as he side-stepped.

Roin was completely focused now, his eyes set on his sole-opponent. A swordsman should always be aware of his surroundings, but he had the advantage in the snow as well as with his lighter gear. This Knight was at his mercy. He stepped in, dropping his blade lower toward the snow before moving it from the right to his left hand as a main focus. It would be a weaker swing, but it gave him the angle. Bringing his sword up, he cut along the Knight's armor, catching the bottom of his pauldron and staggering the giant backward with a cry of pain from the main. As he slowed, he looked to the shredded armor, snarling at Roin a moment later. Roin simply smiled through the mess of his hair.

"Your leader...was right to run so fast."

The Knight hesitated one last time, Roin spinning with his step toward the Knight to throw the Knight's vision. It worked flawlessly, Roin lowering and then rising with his blade aimed to stab under the lip of the Knight's helm. The sound of iron on flesh marked the hit, but the fact the Knight locked up made the hit very real. He pulled the blade before it could get any blood on it, the blade streaked pink as the Knight collapsed. Roin, fell to his side, breathing a bit heavy as he watched Marric. It was up to him to fight the last two, now that Roin had expended most of his strength punching through the thick armor of the Knight.

[Marric]

Outnumbered once again, Marric took comfort in that this time he actually had a weapon. The Knight and Swordsman could have ran away, but undoubtably they were too proud to do so, as was Marric. It was a silly thing, pride. One moment a man accepts an offer to help in a fist fight, the next he was bloodletting in a normally crowded street. If he was a wiser man, he'd most likely have stayed out of it, but of course that would have been an act of cowardice. Though, now that the circumstances had changed so suddenly, sitting it out might have been the best course of action. Unfortunately, he hadn't sat it out. He wasn't paying too much attention to his comrades, but he wagered they were either fighting or they had finished and were choosing to watch him instead of help. Either way, it didn't make his life any easier to keep.

Run, I don't want to kill either of you. He pleaded with the two men as they closed in on him. He had injured the axe fighter, but he doubted he could try that again with any success.

Ye say it as if ye know the outcome already! The knight scoffed, catching a glare from his sword wielding comrade. The knight seemed to be willing to retreat, his partner however, did not.

Even if you kill me, my friends here, and my family in the tavern won't let you leave this road alive. Marric bluffed that his family of knights would avenge him, but it was a believable possibility at least.

True, we seeme to have over-estimated our capabilities. Felian, we should leave. The knight said, he must have been sober enough to realize the fight was helpless. His companion, however, was either dull witted or too pproud to accept defeat at the hands of a boy and two sacaens.

I'm staying. Do what you will, coward. The knight simply shrugged and grabbed the injured axefighter, throwing him onto his shoulder. That man was a true mercenary, he wasn't willing to die for no reward, he had probably only joined in because he was ordered to, or because a certain woman had thrust a bow at his face. The swordsman paled and realized he'd have to fight all three if it came down to it. But the man continued in his path with admirable resolve, but foolish intentions.

He led another full on attack at the waiting Marric, who in turn danced with his opponent. He was nearly as fast, even as an axe man, he was as agile, and possibly stronger. It took a great deal of strength to fight with a large axe as he did, but he didn't have quite the physique for it. What he lacked in muscle, he more than made up for in cunning. Marric used everything he could to press the swordsman into withdrawing, letting multiple opportunities of a kill to slip by. Finally, he realized he had no choice but to put the man down. Their weapons locked a final time. The swordsman stepping back to attempt a quick lunge, but Marric had seen the predictable move seconds ahead. As he lunged, Marric sidestepped and caught the sword with his axe's beard, and yanked it free. In a fluid motion he went with the axes momentum to spin around, and found his mark on the enemies temple. He was dead before he hit the ground and Marric threw the bloody weapon to the snow.

At least two of them didn't die. Marric stood motionless in thought. He heard no more clanging of steel, and didn't bother to check who won. The knight wouldn't have ran if he saw a possible victory. They were done.

[Tamaya]

Whew. It was over.

Tamaya was breathing heavily, her breathing ragged and a diagonal streak of red beginning to show through her thick robe. Getting off of Shikoba, she managed to lurch unsteadily over to the other Sacaean, swaying as if drunk.

"Thank you... I..."

With a limp, wet thud, Tamaya collapsed from a combination of her wound and the shock and exhaustion of battle, crumpling in a heap at the man's feet. Had she been awake, she would have been mortified, but, given that she was out as cold as a stone, she wasn't feeling any emotions. Her hair, tangled and askew, was laying over her face, and only the unsteady and faint puffs of air from her breathing moved the strands, showing she was in fact alive.

[Roin Valor]

Roin was his own mess, though not bleeding he was instead covered in some of the snow and some of his own sweat. When Tamaya collapsed nearby, he cursed under his breath and righted himself, moving over to her side with a hand to one hip while the other sheathed his sword. They had won, but he was exhausted to the point it hurt to move and would likely make him gasp for air if he spoke. It wasn't the hardest fight, but he had used his full strength to fight and it showed in his sluggish stride. Once he reached the injured woman, he lowered to one knee with a sigh, pulling free a vial. It would be visible as an Elixir, a magical formula that could heal one's wounds greatly, though it did take a bit of time. Removing the cork, he moved to let the Elixir drip into her mouth briefly before he pulled the vial away and corked it, looking to Marric with a sigh, his voice coming out more like a coughing fit.

"Good work, Marric...you certainly held your own in a fight." Putting the vial away, he moved a hand to her bloodied section of robe. It would seal the wound shortly, but he had to keep some pressure on it to avoid the wound bleeding more. The Elixir fixed the damage, but didn't bring the blood back quickly.

The snow had stopped, the warm sun peeking out, though it was rather low, over the city. Arphen seemed to have calmed considerably, though Roin didn't look anything like an Ilian now. Rather, he looked far more like the woman he aided, his long hair making his Sacaen origin clear. While he may think of Ilia as a home, he was truthfully more Sacaen than his blood deemed him to be. Carefully, he looked around the fallen mercenaries. One of them had a piece of armor he rather liked, but he'd remove the section later. For now, he simply looked to the Sacaen woman.

"I'll see that she gets a room and properly tended...I'm glad I had picked this elixir up on my way to Arphen...but you should probably get out of here, Marric. I'll see that she knows you helped save her as well, but her horse surely can't take all three of us from here."

He turned his gaze to the mercenary, finally putting on a smile through his messed up hair.

"Try not to die...I'll keep in touch, as this is likely not the last time we'll come face-to-face with this bunch...their company head survived after all."

[OOC: Bringing the thread to an end, either on Tamaya (if she doesn't get up to walk off) or on my next post (if she decides to run off alone).]

[Marric]

Don't compliment me... I've done a terrible thing, Roin. The dread in his voice quickly disapated. He must stop pouting over events he could not control. The man turned to the Sacaen, and regarded the fallen woman with a worried glance before acknowledging Roin.

I would flee the city, Sacaen. The men who fled have undoubtedly reported us. Our friend there provoked them into drawing steel, we're the offenders. He stated bluntly. The man spoke about keeping the woman here, but did he even stop to think this bloodshed would go unpunished? Marric shook his head, and sighed.

You'll be killed, or captured if you stay. I'm grabbing my axe and leaving. I suggest you throw the woman on her steed and do the same before the word gets around that six mercs got killed by two obvious Sacae tribesmen, and another man with scars on his neck. Marric stepped up to the Sacaen with a slight smile. He had been proven wrong about the stereotype of Sacaens fighting dirty. These two were rather adept at least.

Take to the south east, and do not falter. You'll freeze to death or be found otherwise.

Finally, he attempted to grasp Roin by the shoulder, and whether it was allowed or not, he gave his final parting words.

I'm leaving for Etruria, find my mother and sort this out, or perhaps follow a lead i tracked down... In any case, if you must contact me, I will be in one of the border towns of Etruria. Best of luck to you two, you'll need it. With that, he went into the tavern one last time to retrieve his prized axe, much to the shock of the patrons. He waved to his speechless mothers and entered the cold air once again. Marric nodded to Roin, and walked down the empty street at a brisk pace, eager to put this night behind him.

[THREAD END ooc note: Roin, if i missed somethings, go ahead and post]