[RP]Obake Blade

[JasraLantill]

Overhearing Akira's question, Aya, who had been quietly walking alongside Bob the whole time, finally spoke. "I have," she said casually. "Lots of times. With my father, of course, but I know the way to where the Northern Monks are. Beyond that, I'm not so sure. Lots of small towns up North just seem to up and disappear. There one year, gone the next. It's kind of odd.

 

"But, the easiest way to the monestary of the Northern Monks is to take the Great Northern Road. It's not really that 'great', but for the fact it's the only real road. And there's a toll to pay. But last I checked it was only a few schillings per person."

 

The fact was that she and her father hadn't taken the more navigable toll road North in quite sometime. There was a toll-free and shorter trail north through Rock Snake canyon, though inherently more treacherous. Of course, with the others travelling with them now, and the fact that Kyo had been so gruff with her earlier, Aya thought that Kyo probably wouldn't want to hear her suggest taking such a dangerous route. Rockslides were common, and it was known that many a brave soul had gotten lost in the maze of canyon passages and had never returned from their venture. Nevertheless, when they got to the gate, Aya would suggest to Kyo that she would take the canyon route and meet him and the rest on the other side.

 

"The toll used to be collected by the King's soldiers," Aya continued to Akira, "but the last few years it's been Wolf and his men who control the gate. Subcontractors, they called themselves." She snorted with disdain. "Not that Wolf or his son will actually be there themselves today, especially not after the beating they received from Kai and Xan in the ring yesterday." She looked at the others. "Right?" she asked, although she didn't sound very sure.

[Jason Skywalker]

"Heh, yeah," Akira grinned, "We can always... "fight" our way out of the toll if it's Wolf's men. But that option might not be very famous."

[Rogue Nine]

"Not that Wolf or his son will actually be there themselves today, especially not after the beating they received from Kai and Xan in the ring yesterday." She looked at the others. "Right?" she asked, although she didn't sound very sure.

Carwyn laughed. "I don't know Aya, some of us might want to have a go at them as well," he said merrily, cracking his knuckles. "Can't be letting Xan and Kai have all the fun."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo chuckled. "Indeed. That wouldn't be fair to the rest of us, now would it? Though perhaps Miss Aya should get first dibs." he looked over his shoulder at the merchant. "Seeing as she's known him the longest."

 

He pulled Bob along, guiding them further down the road. The northern gate was just coming into view.

 

"As for your question, Takara..." he said, "I plan to stop at the Northern Monestary. Hopefully, the monks there will have some information for us. Suspicious ruins they had discovered and the like. And, if they know nothing..." he looked to Takara with a smile, "Well, they call me a wanderer for a reason."

[Jason Skywalker]

"Hear the voice of reason! I still am in need to get a payback for that capturing," Akira said, joining his hands and spinning them.

[JasraLantill]

"Well, you just fire on ahead, payback boy," Aya said mockingly to Akira. "As for me, Kyo... yeah, I suppose I have known Wolf for a long time, and although I don't want to have anything to do with him or his son, neither would I want to see them killed for petty revenge. I don't like killing. Not one bit. Not even for nasty people," she added with some finality.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo looked over his shoulder at the woman, studying her a moment. He turned away as she finished her speech, seeming rather impressed. This man had made her life and her father's life hell. He had stolen her spot at the market, almost forced her to marry his son. And yet she didn't wish for his death. He nodded in approval.

 

As he looked up again, they were nearly at the gates. A few lone wagons sat waiting along the sides of the road, a few travellers traveled on foot and horse through the open gates, but very few were there compared to most other days.

 

"There." he said, "The gate. Within an hour or so, we should arrive at the toll. We'll see then who will get the first punch."

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn cast a sidelong glance at Kyo. "You'd think the toll would be at the gates instead of after them." He grinned. "Otherwise, couldn't people just find a way around it? Not that I'm not eager to pay it, of course," he said, shifting the large longbow across his back.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo shrugged.

 

"The tolls were, at one time. But they slowed down much traffic coming on the Great Northern Road - it wasn't good for buisness. So they moved it back. Now runs alongside Rock Snake Canyon. Not many people are willing to cut through that dangerous terrain, and they have guards to watch the opposite side. It's not very easy to escape the toll."

[JasraLantill]

"Plus which," Aya added to the conversation, "once you're already on the toll road, it's a bit late to decide that you're not taking it. And when the options are hand over a few coins or risk getting lost in the canyon, most people chose the money. It's easier. The canyon trails can be dangerous--rock slides, narrow trails, and alot of the twists and turns look remarkably alike." She paused for a minute. "Or so I've heard."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo looked over at Aya, raising an amused eyebrow. "I take it that you've traveled Rock Snake Canyon before?"

[JasraLantill]

Aya shrugged. "Once or twice," she replied. "But the Great Northern Road is a lot easier to traverse, albeit a bit longer."

 

Bob snorted loudly in apparent disagreement.

 

Aya frowned at him. "Ok, so it's a quite a bit longer, but it is safer. And safer is good."

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn shrugged. "I'll take both of your words for it. I've only ever visited the North coming up from the Western side, and even then, it wasn't for that long." He put his hands out to either side of him. "I've seen maps, and from the looks of it, the North is pretty damn big." He grinned toothily at Kyo and Aya. "So hopefully things haven't changed too much since you've last been there, because it sounds pretty wicked already."

[JasraLantill]

"It's not wicked," Aya said. "Just a bit...hmm, what's the word I'm looking for...." She paused a moment. "Unruly. That's it."

 

They walked for a few more miles, and then Aya pointed to something in the distance near a high cliff wall. "There they are," she said. "The Collectors, they call themselves. Position themselves right at the entrance to Rock Snake Canyon. You either pay, or get lost in the canyon. Most people pay."

 

She began to rummage through her pack, and pulled out her small leather pouch with her coins. "I should have enough to pay for us all...."

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn put a hand on the merchant's arm. "Now, why would you go and do something like that?" He looked around at the group, then back at Aya. "I'm sure we've all got enough to pay for ourselves."

[JasraLantill]

The heat from Carwyn's hand seemed to burn through Aya's sleeve, and for a moment, she did nothing but give him a doe-eyed stare as she revelled in the sensation.

 

Then, coming back to reality, she cleared her throat. "Oh... well, I didn't mean to imply that no one had any coin. I just thought that... well, since I had extra...." She shrugged, then began to rummage again in her pack. "If you want to take up a collection, I've got a hat here someplace...."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo watched the exchange between Merchant and Ranger, not failing to notice the dreamy-eyed stare Aya gave to Carwyn. He shook his head - this 'attraction' the two of them shared would soon become tedious, he guessed.

 

"Alright." he said, surveying the toll ahead of them. "Everyone put your fare in the hat. That way none of us go poor trying to get past these worthless men."

 

And so they did. Aya passed the hat around, and each of those in the group tossed in their two-cent's worth. Within a few minutes, a pretty sizable amount of gold and silver had been collected in the hat.

 

"Should be enough." the swordsman said, glancing at the coins.

[JasraLantill]

With Kyo holding the hat, the group moved forward to where a dozen or so men, The Toll Collectors, were camped out at a fork in the road. To the left, were steep rock walls--the entrance to Rock Snake Canyon--and a crudely hand-painted wooden sign with a skull and crossbones staked in the ground by the entrance. To the right, the Great Northern Road continued on a gentle upwards slope.

 

Aya had seen most of these men before. Most of them were ex-soldiers but now that they worked for Wolf, they were more like a group of surly outlaws than toll collectors for the King. Still, she and her father had never had any problems with them--even when they had politely declined to pay the toll and opted to take the shortcut through the canyon. But as she drew closer, she sensed that something was...different.

 

"Good evenin'," one of the Collectors greeted the group. "Fifteen dinars per person." He looked at Bob. "Horse is an extra twenty."

 

"Fifteen dinars each?" Aya's mouth hung open. "But last time it was five cents each and horses were nothing!"

 

"The rates have changed," said a gruff voice from behind the rest of the Collectors.

 

Aya's eyes narrowed. "Wolf." The man gave her a snaggled tooth grin as he stepped into her line of vision. "I thought you'd be home in bed, nursing your wounds from that fight that you lost."

 

Wolf shrugged. "What can I say? Doc Waverly does wonders." He eyed the group over. "Oh, and the Canyon Road is closed, Miss S'Ornaku. Dangerous landslide the other day, you see. And when I informed the King's Exchequer, he prudently decided to close it. For safety reasons, you understand."

 

"Oh, I understand," Aya said. "You're trying to extort money from us."

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn's eyes narrowed as he sized up the dozen potentially hostile men ahead of them. Wolf had apparently caught wind of their group's intention to travel Northward and had come out early to personally see that they paid the toll. He glanced over at Kyo, whose eyes were hard and set on Wolf's pudgy visage. The swordsman's hands were balled into fists. I didn't think we'd be paying with currency, Carwyn thought grimly as he surreptitiously shrugged off his rucksack and placed it on Bob's back.

 

He moved closer to the front, where Kyo and Tellis were standing. "Somehow, I don't think this is going to be resolved peacefully, no matter what Aya does," Carwyn remarked ruefully.

 

Tellis shook her head slowly. "Fair enough assessment, my ranger friend." Her voice had a determined, almost icy tone to it. "Doctor Waverly will be quite angry if he finds out I've undone his handiwork."

 

Carwyn raised an eyebrow at the bristling Tellis. "Oh, my."

[ForceFightWMe12]

"It seems we will get a bit of exercise after all." Kyo murmured, looking from Tellis to Carwyn. Neither of them seemed very happy - the usually calm and level-headed Tellis was now getting extremely cool, her eyes icy. Kyo adjusted the gloves on his hand as he stared down Wolf.

 

"Fifteen dinars per person is quite an extraordinary price, don't you think?" the swordsman said, giving the corrupted merchant a hard look. "What would happen if we don't have that much? For, you see, it is quite imperative that we get by you and continue along the road."

[Rexraptor2000]

"I should have borrowed Bob," Toa muttered to himself as he hefted his pack. The scrolls the filled every inch of it were quite heavy for some reason, and the didn't help the fact that he had to make up lost miles to catch up to the group.

 

Hedri followed Toa closely, furious that he couldn't sleep in the pack. He would just add extra weight. So he got his revenge by nipping at Toa's ankles, keeping Toa in a jog. That didn't help his chest at all.

 

Toa sighted the group at the toll and let out a sigh of relief, slowing his pace until he reached the back of the group. He took a moment to catch a breath before realizing that the group had stopped, suddenly in a tense mood. He did manage to catch Kyo's last phrase to the now visible Wolf.

 

"Fifteen dinars per person is quite an extraordinary price per person." the swordsman said, giving the corrupted merchant a hard look. "What would happen if we don't have that much? For, you see, it is quite imperative that we get by you and continue along the road."

 

"15 dinars at a road toll?! You might as well be taxing the right to go outside!" Toa exclaimed. The Swamp Lands, the area between the North and the West, had a main road that was only three cents. Granted, it wasn't the prettiest scenery, but it was in better shape than this road.

[JasraLantill]

Wolf raised an eyebrow. "Indeed? Well, well,...." Wolf rubbed his stubbly chin. "Perhaps we could do a bit of... bartering, sir. You have weapons, provisions, and other..." His eyes raked over Aya and she shifted uncomfortably and stepped back closer to Bob. "...commodities to trade with. Even a horse," he added. "Surely we can come to some sort of peaceable arrangement."

 

But even as he said the word 'peaceable' his mouth appeared to sport a snarl and his men readied themselves--checking their grip on their weapons and nocking their bows.

 

"Be careful," Aya whispered. "I don't see his 'cub' Crispin around." She looked upwards to the cliffs. "And that's a perfect spot for an ambush."

[Grace]

"They really don't know who they're dealing with," Takara murmured softly. "Don't worry, Aya. If there is an ambush on the cliffs, Katsuro and I have it covered..."

 

"Thought you wanted to..." Katsuro began. His mother cut him off.

 

"If it's absolutely necessary, I see no reason to keep it hidden. Same goes for what you can do..."

 

Katsuro nodded, staring up at the cliffs as if searching for something...

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo's arms folded behind his back in a military fashion, seeming perfectly at ease. What Wolf and his goons couldn't see was the small throwing knife that he was currently slipping out of his bracer.

 

"A peaceable agreement?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. With a subtle shift of his body, he now blocked Aya from Wolf's eyes. He shot a glance to Carwyn from the corner of his eye, nodding back to Aya as if to say 'protect her'. The swordsman turned back to Wolf, his eyes calculating. "I'm listening."

[Master_Archon]

Xan had been enjoying a rather blissful walk, and didn't mind throwing in his fee to the toll, in the hat, when, as soon as Wolf's ugly mug came into view, Xan was pushing forward darkly, his mood changed drastically.

 

He was now standing next the swordsman, as he stared the man down. Xan didn't like Wolf, not one bit, and seeing him ticked Xan off!

 

Xan had put his newly acquired Pu Dao, and flail on Bob as he had approached the front. His hand was relaxed, but it was right near one of his throwing axes in his belt, he was ready to hurl the weapon at a moments notice, though it didn't look like it.

******

A raven flew above the group, surveying them, keeping a close eye on Wolf and his gang, it's green eyes glinting in the sun.