Just business [Adelaide]

[Luke Pendragon]

Luke has been and will continue to be on plenty of bounty missions in his life. It was an easy way to make a pretty coin in his profession and the basic way of doing so. What he didn’t particularly enjoy about it was when a target needed to be brought in alive, especially when said target needs to be dragged from one place to another. That was what he was stuck with today, having to haul some scum from his previous location to a new destination, man who was wanted for various crimes and had a nice price on his head.

He was to pay for his crimes once Luke got back to a town not too far from their current location, bustling town which apparently had a bit of a reputation for being a lively place, and one great for mercenaries like himself. Once he got paid for this job he’d certainly kick back and relax and have some fun. For now though he had decided to take a break, sat down on a large rock in the middle of forest just outside a path. Wasn’t a smart idea to walk out in the open dragging a tied up man with you, unless you wanted to get attacked.

Luke took a sip from his flask as his eyes wandered over to his catch. The bandit he had caught was pleading for his life, or at least that’s what Luke assumed the guy was gagged, and struggling to get out of his restrains. The young lad shrugged and went back to drinking from his flask. Even if the bandit could offer him more money than he was getting for dragging his ass through this forest he still wouldn’t do it. Luke might be a mercenary but he had some honor damn it. Going back on your word was bad for business in most cases.

Once he was done with his little break he was going to keep moving. This bandit did have friends at it was best that Luke put as much distance between him and them as he could. Last thing he needed was for an army of bandits to come chasing after him. Granted he did have some doubts that this guy even had many friends outside of the few that Luke took care of already. There was also the possibility that he wasn’t the only one that was tracking this guy down. Fighting amongst mercs to get the bounty was a part of the job.

[Adelaide]

North-northeast, forty-five degrees.

That was the direction Adelaide was gliding her faithful serpentine steed into, for her destination was the outskirts of a supposedly "lively" town where her mark was slated to be prowling. There was much irony in the statement; for such a "lively" Bernese town, Adelaide had never heard of it. Thuringer or Thursdayville or something or other, whatever. The deeper she cudgeled her brains, the foggier her memory seemed to become. She wasn't the type to get hung up on names; as it were, only a few managed to stick around in her head.

"Astoria, hold," she instructed to the olive-green wyvern as she commenced her descent. "Our orders were to bring the knave back alive. Sucks, I know, but that means no loud roaring. I ain't screwing this up."

Astoria huffed what Adelaide assumed to be veiled exasperation, or whatever the reptilian equivalent of it was. It bothered her too, since it seemed her target wielded an axe. Apropos to that revelation, she had recently acquired a new lance that specifically bore an advantage against axe users. It was a shame that the lance's debut would have to wait for the time being.

Either way, Adelaide eased Astoria to a final hover and subsequent thump on a narrow strip of dirt before them. Their target had last been seen fleeing due northeast. While it would have normally been prudent to scout the situation from the air, the miscreant was likely using the canopy of trees to his advantage.

It didn't take Adelaide long to realize that there was a debacle forming in front of them. A distant man in red, apparently dragging a man bound and gagged. Recalling the crude charcoal sketch that she had been provided with by her employer, he looked familiar, though she couldn't be sure from the back. It wasn't uncommon for employers to task their bounty hunters with the same target in order to judge competency. No sense in keeping those that failed to thrive in the trade.

"Astoria... hold up. I don't think we're alone," Adelaide cautioned to her wyvern, her right hand wandering to her back, where her older, yet still effective lance was fastened. There was little honor to be had among hunters and mercenaries at work.

[Luke Pendragon]

His break time was interrupted by the sound of flapping wings, and big ones at that. He was familiar with this sound and sometimes it was a comfort and other times it was anything but. This was one of those times that the noise was a sign that he was in for a pain in the neck at least that was what he figured. Hopefully things wouldn’t go as bad as he was thinking they could. He had hoped that the rider hadn’t noticed him but it seemed pretty evident to him that whoever it was they were aware of his presence.

Were they a rival mercenary coming after his target? A traveler just taking a break? There was no actual way of telling now but Luke didn’t want to come to blows with the rider. Fighting wyvern riders wasn’t something that Luke found fun. If the rider didn’t gut you like a fish there was still the large flying lizard with dangerous claws and teeth. With the trees there was cover and it would make it much harder for the rider and wyvern to coordinate and fight, which was probably why they decided to land on the dirt path not too far from where he was.

He had to make a decision here, did he make contact or did he try and keep moving. Right now the rider wasn’t on their wyvern; made it easier to handle them, but it was clear that the two were aware of each other at this point so the rider would surely track him down if they were a rival mercenary. But if there was the off chance that the person was just a passerby he could clear this up and keep on his way after they leave. There was also the issue of what to do with his mark while he was dealing with this.

When he finally made a decision he moved, dragging his mark a bit further away and out of sight. He would then tie the man up securely against a tree to make sure the gagged man wouldn’t be able to get anywhere before Luke moved towards the rider. He made sure to have a throwing knife tucked away just in case. As he got closer he noticed the rider’s tense stance, he couldn’t blame her for it. ”Why hello there!” He’d give the rider a wave as he approached her. ”My name is Luke Pendragon, it’s a pleasure. Fine wyvern you got there.” He leaned up against a tree, not stepping out onto the dirt path in case things went south. ”What brings a lovely lady such as yourself out here today?”