The Trials of Sacae [PM for entry]

[Kyle]

Kyle walked through the sweltering afternoon heat of the Sacaen plains with a self weaved hat on and the winds at his back. It had been weeks since he left his Father's house. It was an. . . inconvenient visit to say the least. That fool Orcleous had shown up in the middle of no where but that was dealt with easily enough; The boy was as weak willed as he was incompetent. The real trouble lay in the maiden that he had to wait on. She was quite bossy, not that he didn't mind that part, but she was so annoying with her requests. She wouldn't last long in the real world with that attitude and that outlook on life, hopefully she got it together,she wasn't that bad to look at.

He continued walking through the empty nothing ness before spotting a tree in the distance. That seemed as good a place as any for a resting stop so he made his way over to it stopping once he was there.

It seemed to be a common rest stop, there was an area that was charred by previous fires surrounded by things for sitting far enough away fro the tree to be no danger. It also seemed that a source of running underground water surfaced in this area as a little spring. Over all a decent place to stop, and it was getting late now too. He should stay the night and continue tomorrow.

Kyle began to set up camp, checking his maps before starting a low fire for warmth once night truly fell. It got cold on the plains at night, but Before the sun fell he refilled his water skins, drinking some himself and eating a meal of dried deer jerky and dried fruits. He had so much jerky after the buck at his Father's place.

With his stomach full and his thirst sated Kyle climbed into the tree to hang his pack out of sight so that no scavengers would get into it at night, keeping only his bow, some wax, some arrows, and his sleeping pack with him. He dozed off halfway in his pack leaning up on a log in the middle of waxing his bowstring.

[Bones]

"Alright unload and rest up", shouted Bones as she threw her backpack at the tree. The bag hit with some force and the sound of clanking pots could be heard. Behind the maiden were three other individuals that were about half of her height. They all shared the same face and were only distinguishable by the way their hair grew out of their head. Shu, Wu, and Wei were their names and the young blacksmiths had a exhausted expression that ran down their faces.

"Man what a trip", spoke one of the triplets as he laid back onto the tree. His eyes staring up into the branches.

"Hey Shu don't go to sleep yet", spoke the boy named Wei as he dropped a pile of sticks onto the ground. "We still need to set up the camp fire."

"Yeah we need to dig the two trenches", spoke Wu as he pulled out a hand shovel and began to get to work.

"Come on is that not what Bones is for", spoke shu, but a swift boot to his side made him jump from his comfortable seat next to the tree.

"Get to work Shu we don't have time for you to be playing around", spoke Bones as she then began to look around.

With a annoyed look Shu got up and began to move. He drew his hand shovel from his bag and then began to dig a hole not far from the one Wu was digging. Bones however began to look around the tree to see if anybody was heading their way.

"Once you all set up the fire we will eat and then I will take first watch", she spoke just before her eyes notice small embers in the dirt. "Embers", she spoke as she realized that somebody might be there. The maiden immediately drew her axe and began to look around. "Shu, Wu, Wei on guard we might have company", spoke Bones.

[Kyle]

Kyle woke with a start as he heard something, something loud. Something that sounded like a lot of metal banging together, that wasn't good at all. Wait, he was asleep? Oh no! That means that he must have fallen asleep! Crap! It was much later than he would have liked and the fire was mostly out now. In fact this late at night no one should be moving around. What could it be? bandits? Another traveler? Either way whatever it was was noisy so they must not know that he was there. That was perfect, Now he could probably ge- Wait! His stuff was still in the tree! He should have just kept it with him, that way he could have made a clean escape. It was a bit late for that now, it would be. . . difficult to survive the rest of his trip without his supplies.

He scooped up his bow and arrows, leaving his sleeping pack where it was before he dove into one of the thick bushes. At that point he began to hone in his hearing and he heard voices. Multiple. That was bad, he could probably easily take out one person with his bow, maybe two people. But there sounded like there was more than that. What should he do. . .

He waited a little bit, hoping the group would fall asleep o he could get his stuff and leave, but that was not his luck. One of the members of the group noticed that someone was around recently. Great, they probably wouldn't leave now. Great. He knocked one of his arrows into his bow and sprung out of the bush, drawing the bow back and aiming it at the first person he saw and that person was wielding an axe. "Drop your weapon and kick it towards me. Now." he was in such a head rush that he was only focusing on the weapon trying to sense any hostile movements from it.

[Bones]

"Drop your weapon and kick it towards me. Now."

The voice came from Bones right flank. The war maiden stopped and slowly turned her head. A archer, she thought to herself. Her eyes scanned the bushes behind him to see if their was anybody else behind him.

"Bones", a voice rang out as Wu took notice of the situation that was going on. The excitement and grim tone in his voice alerted the other two that Bones words were not pure paranoia and that their was a real threat. Immediately the young blacksmiths grabbed their daggers and moved to help, but they were soon stopped by the voice of reason.

"Stop", spoke Bones as she looked in their direction and raised her hand. She could not have the fools simply charging in and getting themselves shot. Shu, Wu, and Wei were brilliant blacksmiths, but when it came to defending themselves they were as weak as newborn babes. The three fools were her charge and she could not let them hurt themselves. At the same time she could not just give into this guys demands. Who knows what was going through his mind, especially at this time of night.

"Everyone stay calm", she spoke mainly to the archer as she was sure the three stooges arrival probably made him twitchy. The maiden clenched her fist on her axe as she reluctantly tossed it in the air. Taking advantage of the moment Bones ducked once her battle axe had reached its peak of its toss and grabbed her hand axe strapped to her belt from behind. Without a moments hesitation she tossed it at the archer hoping to get a hit or to throw him off balance by making him dodge it.

[Kyle]

Kyle watched as the person he was defending himself against slowly turned to face him. He was actually surprised to finally see that it was a girl. A girl wielding an axe? That seemed a bit out of place, axes were heavier weapons that were more brutish. Something he'd expect from another guy, not a girl.

Someone else came into the scene followed by two more with only one word. Bones. That was strange, but at least it confirmed that there were more people. three of them to be exact, and they were all armed with daggers. Daggers and an axe, exactly something he's expect from a shady group. Maybe not just straight up bandits though. Daggers were a bit hard to do some damage with although they could if you were skilled. Like the bandit that cut Near's friend's throat just by throwing it.

As he aimed his bow at the three approaching people the girl spoke up again telling them to stop, and they listened to her. That must mean that she was the leader. Or at least the superior in this situation. That likely meant that she was more dangerous so he trained his bow back onto her again. Waiting for her to drop her weapon. If she waited too much longer then he'd have to. . .

"Everyone stay calm" She spoke

"Stay calm? I told you to drop your weapon." Then she did something that could only be considered stupid, she threw her axe up into the air at him. "I told you to drop it no-" Then she did something that made oh so much sense. She pulled another axe out and tossed it directly at him. He released his arrow and it grazed the axe sending the arrow at the girl. But at least the slight angle gave him enough room and time to dodge the throw, although it left him off balance as he fell back into the bush as he struggled to nock another arrow for the obvious follow up attack. "D-damned bandits." He muttered as he fumble with the arrow.

[Bones]

The arrow flew, almost, true. The axe had knocked it off its bath and instead of hitting Bones straight on it cut the side of her face. Blood began to escape her left cheek, but the bandit ignored it. At the time her own bleeding was not important. What was important was making sure the archer did not put any space between them. Archers were deadly at range, but up close they were as weak as newborns. Bones was determined not to let him get another shot off.

As he fell back into the bushes the axe maiden rushed forward. Without skipping a beat she grabbed the handle of her original iron axe and moved forward. If she was going to defeat the man she needed to get in quick. "Stay out of it", shouted Bones as she moved toward a bush. Like a mother Hen knows her chicks Bones knew the three fools would have tried to jump in. Shu, Wu, and Wei were blacksmiths, young ones at that. They were no fighters and knew very little of combat. If they had tried to follow her they would just get in her way or end up getting themselves killed.

"You are going to pay for trying to rob us", shouted Bones as she pushed into the bush. She was wary of her moves as she knew her enemy would have recovered by now. If only she had actually hit the man. At the end of this engagement Bones needed to make a not to train with her hand axe some more. If she was a better shot she might have ended the man's life before this struggle even began.

[NotWright]

Wright rode steadily through the night on horseback, padding quietly across the plains. He strained his eyes, peering into the darkness. He was hoping to spot some place to stay the night. Ideally a village, yet to no avail. "Still nothing." He commented quietly to himself. He had not seen a single tree since he had broken camp the morning before, and had grown more and more frustrated as a result. "This grass stretches on forever." He mumbled to his mount. "I am beginning to wonder if we have not died and been condemned to purgatory." The Horse nayed wearily, and Wright sighed. He patted its mane, looking back to the never ending stretch of flatland.

His eyes narrowed once more and to his surprise, a tree loomed invitingly in the distance. "We're in luck." Wright said with an air of relief, and he began his approach at a moderate pace. Wright urged his horse forward as bushes and a small spring came into view but halted his progress upon the sight of a man armed with a bow leaping through the bushes. He strained to hear their voices, but could not make them out. Then suddenly a throwing axe cut through the brush, and the man let fly an arrow.

It was then that Wright concluded that this was no friendly altercation. He spurred on his horse and began his approach from the cover of darkness...

[Kyle]

After fumbling for a bit, Kyle successfully nocked an arrow. He could hear the bandit approaching. Then again, why wouldn't she? It was probably in her best interest to kill him so that she could take his stuff. But that stuff was not going to happen today. Oh no, If anything the bandits would be doing the dying. He had no plans to fall here, this close to his Mother's village where he was supposed to face something. Something to do with his heritage, something important according to his father, and his father sounded serious when he said it. When his father was serious about something instead of being downright mean about it then it was something that should be taken seriously at all costs. And he was going to do just that.

Then the bandit said something strange that made him confused. She told the others to stay out of it. The best strategy would have been to swarm him. In theory he was only able to shoot one arrow at a time so they would have been able to overwealm him. This way he could easily take them out, even from up close. As the bandit got closer he let loose an arrow right at her leg intending to cripple her. It was probably the most reliable shot from this angle.

Kyle rolled away from the bandit and jumped up, going to nock another arrow in the process. She claimed that he was going to rob them when they were CLEARLY the robbers here. She probably just wanted to get his guard down. Was she really that fearful that she would lose? It was then that he heard something else. It was something very soft that probably only those that spent time improving their other senses would here. There was a horse, or horses approaching. It sounded like one, but a team could step in unison. Either way he could hear them, just not see them. Curse this darkness. "Stop lying you bandit scum! I know you have more on the way, so drop your weapons now and I might Let you live." Things were going to get bad real soon when those reinforcements got there.

[Bones]

With her charges no longer trying to jump into the fight Bones could not fight more freely. She did not have to worry about those idiots getting themselves shot while she was trying to close the gap, though that worry came a bit to late. As Bones pushed through the bushes she took a arrow to the leg. Smart of him to aim for her lower body rather than a kill zone. Bones chest was covered in a decent breast plate and her head was a small target. Taking her leg out would not only give him more time to shoot another shot, but it would also tire her out. Her opponent was keen in use of strategy or at the very least had good instincts.

"Son of a whore", spoke Bones under her breath as her eyes turned to the arrow in her leg. The maiden knew she could not simply pull it out. Instead she broke the shaft from the iron tip and simply left the head lodged into her flesh. She would pull it out once this engagement was done and stop the bleeding. The archer had got her twice now. Bones was not going to let it happen again.

The young archer began to scream something about bandit and letting her live. The gall of this man. To think he had the advantage over her. Not to mention he was speaking as if she started this confrontation. The man with the bow playing the wounded party but truly the aggressor. "Arrogant and delusional", spoke Bones. She let the words hang in the air for a moment. "Not only did you start this fight, but you also want to act as the innocent party. Do you really thing this would be enough to stop me", spoke Bones as she pushed forward despite the pain in her leg.

Bones had heard the sound and by the reaction of the Archer this new threat was not on his side, nor was it on her side. However stopping and accessing the situation was not a option. She would not dare turn her back to a wolf. Less that wolf end up biting you from behind later.

[NotWright]

Wright galloped along the width of the conflict, just within earshot, but just out of sight. Or so he had hoped. He strained his ear to hear the vexed outcries of the two adversaries, so as to get a fair grip on the conflict. From there, depending on the situation, he would either assist the archer, or the other whom he had yet to see.

As he scanned the area he heard the voice of the archer as he shouted. "Stop lying you bandit scum!" He sounded angry. Unsurprising, as most do not take kindly to being robed. Although, the situation seemed a little off. An efficient bandit would have slit the archers throat, and stole his belongings without a struggle having to occur. The bandits he was dealing with were either poorly skilled or very sadistic. Nevertheless he grasped the reigns of his horse prepared to advance. Then something stopped him.

"I know you have more on the way, so drop your weapons now and I might Let you live." Evidently, Wright was not as stealthy as he believed himself to be. The archer must have heard him, and assumed he was an enemy closing in from behind. A reasonable assumption he thought. But the man's tone was very aggressive, and Wright was not about to charge in only the be shot by the very man he sought to help. He concluded that if he were to advance, he would have to declare himself an ally.

"Not only did you start this fight, but you also want to act as the innocent party. Do you really think this would be enough to stop me" A feminine voice. Female bandits were not unheard of, but Wright considered it highly unlikely. Not only that, but she was claiming that the archer was the antagonist, and not she. Wright weighed the possibility of a misunderstanding in his mind for a brief spell.
"An altercation in the dead of night. Perhaps this could all have been born of confusion."

Wright could not remain neutral for much longer. If he failed to intervene, innocent blood might be split due to his inaction. He yanked the reigns of his steed, and as the beast reared up and whinnied loudly. He drew a standard iron longsword from its scabbard, his steeds cries mixing with the metallic scrape of his blade as he raised it high. He held fast the reigns, as he thundered toward the battle.

"Fear not, archer! I have come to assist!" Wright exclaimed loudly over the relentless pounding of hooves on the grass. Doubt weighed on him. He was aware that the good Samaritan act was a ploy bandits used often, and the archer thus far seemed unnecessarily jumpy. Wright hoped the archer would heed his call, but figured that in the end, it would come down to whether or not the he believed in luck.

[Kyle]

The arrow that he flung flew true and struck the bandit girl in the leg. Perfect. A leg wound could potentiality be the most dangerous one and one that could have long lasting effects if it wasn't treated right. If the individual survived the encounter that is. And at this rate it appeared that at least one person was going to end up dead with how much the bandit wanted to fight.

The bandit proceeded to break the arrow while it was in her leg, great there was another arrow gone. That was a stupid move in his eyes, if she lived there would be less of the arrow to grab on to to remove it. But it also made it so that it would be less likely to be caught on stuff which could cause even more damage. Maybe it wasn't that stupid, but more of a decision made in the heat of battle. At that point the decision could be respected.

The next words that flowed from the bandit's mouth confused him. She dare accuse him of being the bandit? "Me attack you? You are the one coming around here like you own the place, making a lot of noise in the middle of the night. Only bandits would be so careless and noisy because they'd know they were under no risk of being attacked. And you were the one that came here with an axe drawn."

Suddenly someone else called out. To him in particular, and that person claimed to be coming to his aid. What was with all of these people coming from out of no where in the middle of the night? It was dangerous out at night, people must not know the dangers. That wouldn't last long.

He was. . .confused, by this new arrival to say the least. He Came out of no where and claimed to be helping him. Either he was telling the truth or it was a ploy to get close to him so he could kill him. That wasn't going to happen. "Keep your distance from me rider, you're obviously another bandit." He called out.

By now His bow was trained once again on the girl as he began backing away from her. "Now, Drop your axe unless you want another arrow in you." While he didn't didn't particularly enjoy killing people he could do so easily. He'd already killed bandits before.

[Bones]

A horsemen, thought Bones as she heard the man cry out. It seems that the archer had reinforcements. Now this was getting difficult. She was sure she could take this archer. He may have another arrow notched however this time she did not have a bush blocking her view. The first shot was luck. All she needed to do was dodge and close the gap and the fight would be over. Bones took a deep breath preparing to make her move when the archer shouted for the man to keep his distance.

So they are not working together, thought Bones. This made things easy. The archer demanded that she drop her axe again. As if that was going to happen. Rather than drop her axe Bones pulled back on the handle and made herself ready. With a roar she charged forward. Bones was not going to let him dictate how the fight was going. She was a proud warrior of Bern and a sacean archer was not going to show her up.

While Bones dealt with the archer the triplets went to work. They knew Bones did not want their help, but they were not going to simply let her fight the battle herself. Shu had taken upon himself to go ahead and gather the medical supplies they had to treat Bones wounds. While Wei gathered up a few rocks. Wu however took the time to find one of his chestplates that he had stored in their bags. Strapping the thing on he grew in courage as his mind remembered every hammer blow that forged the harden steel. With this on he had no reason to fear the man's arrows. Or at least his arrows toward his chest.

"Alright lets go help Bones", spoke Wu as he pulled a short sword from his bag. His brother Wei had already moved ahead and pushed his way through the thick bush to were Bones and the Archer were fighting. With a strong arm and decent accuracy Wei tossed a rock at the archer, but only after that he noticed the horsemen. "Its a rider", spoke Wei looking to his brother Wu who just passed through the busdhes.

[NotWright]

"Keep your distance from me rider, you're obviously another bandit." Wright heard the archer cry over the pounding of his horses hooves. It was as he had feared. The Archer believed him to be a bandit after all. "Awfully paranoid" Wright thought to himself as his advance continued. He felt a tad dejected that his first strategy had failed, and a pang of irritation at the archer's declaration. However, he pushed these feelings away for the time being. This complicated the matter even more, and as a result he would need to adjust.

Wright broke into full view and saw the archer and the woman engaging one another. He registered her as the source of the feminine voice he had heard before, and she seemed for the moment to be at the archers mercy. This could imply a number of things, namely that the arrow he had seen the archer fire earlier had found it's target. But more importantly, it meant that the archer was also more likely to turn his bow on him, as he believed Wright to be a foe. He was adamant in his opinion that removing the archer from the fight would be the quickest most effective way of ending this fight. However, he was almost sure that if he chose to advance toward him, he would find an arrow burried somewhere in his body. Although, given the low levels of light, his fight with the woman, and her close proximity to him it was possible that the archer might miss him. Regardless, it was becoming abundantly clear to him as the moments passed that none of them were likely to exit this situation unscathed, and that some of them may not make it out at all.

Suddenly, the maiden roared loudly and lunged toward the archer. This would hopefully assure that the archers attention was not on him, and presented the opportunity to continue his advance toward him. With a tug of the reigns he adjusted his course and headed in the archers direction, with a means to get behind him. And probably not to aid him. Unfortunately, Wright was now totally and unequivocally involved. And by the look of things, to minimize fatalities he would have to pick a side. Ideally, a reasonable, more level headed side, that was not going to shoot him. From there perhaps there would be a chance to negotiate. However, it looked more as if the maiden was going to maul the archer, no matter the outcome.

[Kyle]

Kyle gritted his teeth as everything around him exploded into action. He could hear it all, although it wasn't that hard. It felt just like the times he was surrounded by the pack of wolves in Nabata, and the time he was surrounded by the fighting undead in Bern. He got out of both those situations with nothing but two arrows. He wouldn't fall here. Not to mere bandits. He had fought the living dead, giant spiders on multiple occasions. He'd fought some of the fiercest animals in nature and he'd even survived nature itself when he was all alone, trapped on an island. Bandits? That was something that happened at the beginning of his journey. Not now. He refused.

Everything felt like t was going slower in the darkness, he could use that to his advantage. His sharp eyesight combined with his honed hearing almost certainly made sure he'd have an edge over his opponents here. And he would need it since it now seemed that it was five against one with the young ones joining in. He knew he was right in not trusting the horseman. Bandit's are always trying to be sneaky. But why would they be so sneaky when trying to fight one person? Bandits were rarely ever this cautious from what he saw. In fact most just went from using a surprise attack to fleeing when they start losing.

With these odds things weren't going in his favor. He was going to have to do something drastic it seemed. Oh well, they probably deserved it at this point from all of the others they killed. Not that he particularly cared what these bandits did before. He had no quarrel with them until they tried to get him.

Kyle loosed another arrow at the woman's other leg, twisting immediately after the shot to dive roll back into the brush, avoiding the thrown rock. He could use the kids trying to help to his advantage. If they cared about their people at all that is. He knocked another arrow with surprising nimbleness as he pounced out of the brush again behind one of the kids, far enough away to avoid any strikes from him but close enough that he couldn't miss the shot. "All off you drop your weapons now and toss them into the darkness away from me. Else you want this one dead. Any other action and I will shoot." If they cared for his life they should stop and listen. But if they didn't, as he expected, then things would get bad.

[Bones]

Another arrow, thought Bones to herself as she saw the archers body twist. From the angle he was moving Bones realized the he was aiming for her other leg. Quick on her feet Bones stopped mid step and allowed the arrow to pass by without hitting her leg.Her actions however caused her to fall over into the dirt, but a quick combat roll put her back onto her feet, or at least what she thought. Even with her adrenalin high Bones could feel the pain of having the arrow head in her other leg. The pain was sharp enough to cause her to pause for a moment before she continued onto her war path. That pause however was long enough to turn the tide of battle against her.

"All off you drop your weapons now and toss them into the darkness away from me. Else you want this one dead. Any other action and I will shoot."

"A curse upon you", shouted Bones as she saw the archer point his bow at Shu. Immediately the other two brothers dropped their weapons as they stared at there brother. It was a tough situation. Bones wanted to rush forward and split his head open, but she could not risk Shu's life. Shu, Wu, and Wei were under her watch. I any harm came upon them it would be her head that would pay. Not to mention the fact that Bones actually like the three rug rats despite their unhealthy obsession with annoying her. With only a moments pause Bones tossed her axe to the side. Her vengeance was not worth Shu's life.

"Alright you win", spoke Bones as she looked at the archer. "However you should know if you harm a single hair on that boy's head I will come back from the abyss itself to kill you."