[RP]Obake Blade

[Jason Skywalker]

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well. I mean, you where the first one to sign up for this "journey" to Ryuu-Tokai. Any special reasons?"

[Grace]

"You do your job," Katsuro said indignantly, looking up at the armored man. "Let me worry about me!"

 

-------------------------------------

 

Takara turned and walked over to the merchant's tent, smiling slightly. "Thank you," she said softly. "Your hospitality is greatly appreciated."

 

At that moment, Katsuro came running back, his stone pouch now full. He stopped at his mother's sack and stared at it for a moment before looking up and around.

 

"Katsuro!" his mother called. "Bring my bag, will you?"

 

Catching up his mother's bag, the boy ran over to the tent. Takara turned back to Aya.

 

"My name is Takara. This is my son, Katsuro."

[Rogue Nine]

"Oh, it's all right," Carwyn said. "I was just walking a little too close to him, that's all." He cracked the bones in his foot a few times, then slipped his boot back on. "After all, it's not like that's the first time I've been stepped on by a horse." He spotted Aya's pony looking at them from behind Aya's tent. "No hard feelings, Bob!" Carwyn called out.

 

He turned his attention back to Aya. "Besides, it's a good thing that you've got him to look out for you. I'd not mind having a friend like him watching out for me." He stared at the crackling fire. "There aren't enough horses like that in this world nowadays." Carwyn's voice got a bit quieter. "There aren't enough people either, for that matter."

[Dark_Lady]

Hoshiko was walking near the edge of the camp, back to the place where she had left her gear, intending to get a good night's sleep and try to forget about Xan for a while. Why was he so angry anyway? There were people in this world that didn't deserve to live, no matter how many people they paid off, no matter how well they hid themselves, no matter if she was the only person willing to do something about it. Oh well. She had done what she thought to be right, and so had Xan. She couldn't fault him for that. But it was going to be rather annoying being in the same caravan with him.

 

As she passed one of the fires, she heard Toa mention something about alcohol... to put in a fire? This I've got to see, she thought, crouching down and reaching into one of her saddlebags. Looking to the side, she noticed Xan outside the wagon circle talking to the boy.

 

"Oi, kid, don't you know not to be outside the wagon circle after dark, it's more dangerous than you think out here," his stern voice came to her on the night breeze. She smiled a little. He had a good heart, but he was so tense all the time. Maybe that was why people tended to find him annoying at first. Shrugging, she stood back up and walked back towards Toa's fire, holding a bottle towards him.

 

"Alcohol," she said with a smile. "Just try not to use it all, it's a good... disinfectant." And if any other enemies showed up on the trip, she was likely to need it.

[JasraLantill]

"No, there aren't," Aya agreed solemnly with Carwyn. Her thoughts drifted to her recently deceased father. "My father bought Bob from a rag and bone man a few years back." She thought a moment, and her brow wrinkled. "Quite a few years back, actually. We weren't exactly looking for a pony, (we had one already,) but the rag and bone man wasn't being nice to Bob. Guess my father felt sorry for him, and so he bought him." She gave Carwyn a tight lipped grin. "And we've been together ever since." Her expression saddened a bit. "My father was a good man."

 

At that moment, the young mother approached, thanking Aya for her invitation for lodging.

 

"My name is Takara. This is my son, Katsuro."

 

Aya smiled at them. "And welcome to you both," she greeted. "Come and sit down with us. I think our 'mancer friend, Toa, is about to make some special Volcanic S'mores. That is, if he gets the right kind of stones for them."

 

Aya looked at Carwyn askance. "You're from the West, right? Do you know what kind of stones he needs? Or what he intends to do with them? 'Cause I'd be quite happy with just regular s'mores," she added.

[Grace]

"Stones?" Katsuro's ears perked up. "I've just been collecting some." He opened his pouch and pulled out a small handful, holding them out. "Just exactly what are Volcanic S'mores, anyway?"

 

Takara smiled slightly. "Always the curious one," she said softly, kneeling slowly at the merchant's tent. As she did so, her heavy cloak came open a little, as she was using her left hand to steady her sword. On the other side of her belt, her long knife was barely visible, the tip of its sheath almost touching the ground. Only that slight glance was given before Takara drew her cloak shut again and rocked back to sit on her feet.

[Rexraptor2000]

"Are you sure I can't use the whole thing? I'll pay for another bottle if anyone sells them around here. But once my soldiers come back with the stones, it's going to be time for Volcano S'mores. We'll have to dig a small moat around the fire first, but then it'll be time. And a full bottle is best for it." Toa said to Hoshiko taking the bottle and smiling. Then he said to the child "They aren't big enough for what I need, but they'll help. You can just throw them into the fire."

[Dark_Lady]

"Ah, whatever," Hoshiko said. "Go ahead." She was too curious to insist otherwise, and it wasn't like she couldn't get alcohol anywhere. "So how big do the stones need to be?" she asked.

[Rexraptor2000]

"Well, they have to be oval shaped, and about four feet in length. I also need about eight of them. That would be easier in the mountains, but I think you can find them here." Toa said delighted as battalion of tiny fire soldiers came carrying a plate like that, looking like ants carrying away a picnic.

[Master_Archon]

"Eh, kids, even they disrespect me," he said as the kid ran off back to camp. Xan sheathed his sword and was about to head back to the outside region of the wagons when he felt something ping off his helmet.

 

He turned to find bandits all behind him, obviously they had wanted to get the kid, but ended up going after him instead. There were at least five, and that's less than what was needed to subdue him. But he could tell by the rustling in the vegitation in the distance that more were coming...quite a bit more.

 

"Well...howdy," he said as he drew one of his throwing axes and threw it with blinding speed, it embedded in one of the bandits foreheads, he fell to the ground limp.

 

The bandits rushed him, he drew his war hammer and started swinging left and right, men screamed, their heads smashed in, or pierced by the spike on one of the hammer's sides.

----------

After a long absence Xan returned to the camp, alot of his armor covered in blood. He checked his weapons, yep, they were all there. If you went back to where the fight occured, you would find almost twelve dead men in the area.

 

Xan paused as he saw everyone conversing nonchalantly, as if nothing happened, not realizeing he prevented the bandits from getting to the wagons. He sighed and continued his patrol, watching the others make their s'mores.

[JasraLantill]

"Always the curious one," Takara said softly, kneeling slowly at the merchant's tent.

 

"Yeah, curiosity is not always good to have," Aya commented. She had noticed Takara's sword and knife, even though the woman had quickly concealed them again with her cloak. "Gets you into all sorts of trouble."

 

She doesn't look dangerous..., Aya thought. But the lady's wearing all black, she armed, she's trying to conceal it, and I've just invited her and her son to share my tent. Why do I feel like I'm getting into a situation that I don't want to be in?

 

She shifted her position slightly, moving slightly closer to Carwyn but making sure that she was facing more square to Takara, just to avoid any 'surprises.'

[Rogue Nine]

Peering in the marshmallow bag for a moment, Carwyn closed it up and put it to the side. "I haven't a clue what they are, to be honest, so we'd better save these in case he needs more." He picked up a stray bit of wood on the ground near the fire. Producing a knife from his back pocket, he whittled at it absentmindedly as he watched various caravan members help with the fire preparations. "And yes, I'm from the West, but my mother was a ranger like me and my father was a monk," he continued. "So all this 'mancer stuff is past me. All I know is that I'd rather not be on the receiving end on some of those spells." He made his voice cheerier. "Thankfully, Hoshiko and Toa are on our side." He waved at the white-haired aeromancer as she offered alcohol for Toa's fire.

 

He noticed Aya shift a bit closer to him. She was looking at the young mother, an unreadable expression on her face. Carwyn arched an eyebrow. "It's nice of you to offer that woman a place for the night, Aya."

[Grace]

Takara noticed Aya's movement and glanced down for a moment. When she looked up again, she smiled. "Katsuro knows all about that," she said. "In town before we started, for example..."

 

"I'm never gonna outlive that, am I?" Katsuro sighed, tossing his stones in the fire. His mother chuckled.

 

"Not if I keep talking about it," she agreed. To Aya, she explained the story of the stones back in town. Katsuro chimed in with his usual objection.

 

"And that's not the only time he's discovered his curiosity can be a troublemaker," Takara continued. Katsuro grimaced.

 

"Enough with the stories about me!" he complained. "What about the Volcanic S'mores... whatever they are??"

[Rexraptor2000]

Toa smiled at the child and said "You'll have to wait and see. As a kid, my familiy and I would camp out in our yard and make them, as my father was a Pyromacer. Then when it was dark and getting colder, we would leave our dad alone out there while he was asleep and go inside." He laughed and used a stick to poke the fire as some more soldiers brought stone plates.

[Dark_Lady]

"Oh, I noticed a stone like that when the camp was being set up," Hoshiko remarked. She slipped from the wagon circle and started looking around. Things were always harder to find in the dark... As she wandered further, she came across a dead man. Tilting her head to the side, she knelt and examined him. Interesting. Beyond that, there were even more. They had been bandits, by the look of things. And Xan must have killed them. And he hadn't even bothered to call for help, or even tell anyone what he had done. Well, if he wanted to keep it quiet, she wouldn't start spreading the news. He probably just didn't want to start a panic. Turning back towards the wagons, she found the stone and turned it on its edge, rolling it alongside her as she returned.

[JasraLantill]

"It's nice of you to offer that woman a place for the night, Aya," Carwyn said.

 

Aya gave Carwyn quick grin. "Well, I couldn't just let her and the boy sleep rough," she replied to him quietly. "It's just not right."

 

She let out a tiny, but somewhat apprehensive sounding sigh. It didn't bother Aya that Takara was armed. But the fact that she had tried to conceal her weapons made Aya slightly nervous. Still, Aya thought, Takara might have a good reason for doing what she did, and so Aya wouldn't mention the incident.

 

"I've got a brother about Katsuro's age," she told Carwyn. "Rui." She grinned at the thought of him. "He's ten. I'd just die if he had to sleep out in the cold."

 

She looked at her tent, and then the tent pole that Xan had given her laying in front of the entrance. "Although, if I don't get that tent fixed up a bit tighter, it's not going to be much use to any of us."

[Rexraptor2000]

"Thank you." Toa said to Hoshiko as he rolled the stone for her to the pile of five stones so far. "Need three more stones before the Volcano S'mores can get started." He announced to the group. Then the battalion came with another stone, this time rolling it like Hoshiko had. "Make that two."

[Master_Archon]

Xan wondered around the wagons, keeping in the shadows so as not to attract attention with his bloodied armor. He was getting tired, especially after his fight, so to keep himself awake he started humming. He was moving around a wagon when he stopped, there infront of him was another horde of bandits. They had been staring into the camp, but kept to the shadows, they cocked their heads in unison as he came upon them.

 

'Oh, great!' He thought to himself as he moved to draw one of his throwing axes, only to be stopped short by an extremely hard blow to the head. His helmet took it, and sounded like a quiet bell, from the inside of his helmet, it was like a symphony of bells. He stood there, dazed, then another blow, and another, then a fourth.

 

He finally fell, still semi-concious, he was swarmed, and quickly bound.

 

"We've got one, now let's get outta here," one of the bandits whispered. "He looks like a rich one, look at that armor...and those weapons!" Another said.

 

"He'll fetch a fine ransom," said a third.

 

Xan was out of it, slipping in and out of conciousness, but before he was dragged away, he let out a cry, "hey..." tong, the symphony sounded again, and he was out cold.

 

The bandits drug him laboriously, his armor and size weighing them down.

[Relenzo2]

Even was liking Toa more and more by the minute. Because of him, tehy were finally ghoing to get some grub, and probably darned good grub too! He'd have to watch his back to Toa more. "I am I correct in assuming," he asked Toa, "that volcanic S'mores are cooked over molten rock?"

[JasraLantill]

As Aya rose to go and get the tent pole, she heard a strange sound. Like a bell ringing. She frowned, and looked around. Outside of the campsite, it was black as pitch. They weren't near any type of city or town. Why would there be a bell ringing?

 

She turned to the others. "Is it my imagination, or did I hear a bell ring?" She looked around again. "And where's our grumpy security guard?" she asked, thinking that if there was anything remotely odd happening in the camp, he was sure to pounce on it quicker than a fox on a hare.

[Rexraptor2000]

"That'd be right. There a bit more too it though than the molten rock itself though, as I have a bit of ingrediants, along with the alcohol, that'll- well, lets just say that you wont be cold when you go to sleep tonight. And the mosquitos wont bother you either." Toa said.

[Dark_Lady]

"Okay then," Hoshiko said, leaving to look for another stone. As she wandered about, she noticed a clanging noise in the distance, then a thump and the sound of low voices.

 

"We've got one, now let's get outta here." "He looks like a rich one, look at that armor...and those weapons!"

 

She took off running softly through the grass until she could see the cause of the commotion, a small group of bandits who had a hold of Xan and were dragging him off.

 

"Hey," Xan called, before one of them slammed him over the head and apparently knocked him unconscious.

 

Oh no you don't, Hoshiko thought. She had no great love for Xan, but he was a good man, and those bandits were as evil as they came. Drawing her sword, she slipped silently through the shadows, slashing them apart as fast as she could before they noticed her. By the time they reacted, it was already too late for half their number.

 

"What the... I wouldn't have interfered if I were you, pretty girl," said one of the bandits. He and the rest of them started moving to encircle her slowly. Hoshiko concentrated, a half-smile starting to form at the corners of her mouth.

 

"But you're not me," she whispered, looking him straight in the eye. As the lightning struck around her, she leaped back into action, slicing any of the bandits who managed to escape it. Dropping the point of her her sword, she frowned. Messy. She walked over to Xan and drew the edge of the blade across his bonds, slicing them through, then removed them and tossed them away.

 

"You alright?" she asked. Stupid question. He was probably still unconscious. As she cupped her hands to her mouth to call someone to help her move him, a sudden pain stabbed through her right side. She bent over and grabbed her side with a groan. One of them must have hit her during the battle, and she didn't notice because of the adrenaline. Victory always had its price. She cleared her throat and called out, pitching her voice so it would carry to the rest of the caravan.

 

"Hey, can someone help me drag this lunkhead back to camp?"

[Rexraptor2000]

Toa heard Hoshiko and said to them "I'll be right back." He got up and went over to where she had called from and saw the battle scene. He laughed and said "I don't even want to know." Then when he saw her hurt and Xan unconsious his face grew a bit more serious and he helped drag Xan back to camp.

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn thought he heard the clanging of metal, then Hoshiko called out, "Hey, can someone help me drag this lunkhead back to camp?" Grabbing his bow, he followed Toa as they made their way towards Hoshiko's voice. Carwyn's eyes grew wide as he saw bodies strewn across the bloodstained grass. Hoshiko was holding her side as she was trying to drag the unconscious body of Xan back to camp.

 

"Cripes, what happened here?" Carwyn said as he shouldered his bow. Moving quickly, he took Hoshiko's left arm and threw it over his right shoulder, supporting her as he grabbed Xan's bloody pauldron with his left hand and helped Toa drag the guard back to camp.

[ForceFightWMe12]

((OOC: Pardon the language, but MA, what the hell do you think you're doing?? I'll be posting more in the OOC thread in a moment <.<))

 

Imbiciel. Kyo thought to himself as he caught sight of the aeromacer dragging Xan back to camp. Perhaps if he could swallow his pride long enough, he wouldn't be in such a state.