Beneath the stars (closed)

[Keorvic]

"Bandits? How many where there? I'll get Azerix and meet you back at camp."Keorvic said, turning to look at Akiva. For all his bluff and bluster, Keorvic had never fought against someone who was actually trying to kill him. preparing himself he walked a ways in the direction Akiva had come from. spotting Azerix he called out to him, "Quickly, let us get back to camp and we can sort out those bandits on turf we know." Keorvic didn't wait for an answer, instead turning and rushing off in the direction he knew thier camp lay. After a few minutes, he reached the camp and quickly headed to where his gear lay. He picked up his breastplate and strapped it on, fumbling with the buckles a few times till he got it right. then, shucking off the leather gloves but leaving the twine that wrapped his hands, he picked up his spiked gauntlets and stuffed his hands in them, then secured them to his wrists. He glanced around again. "Surely I didn't beat Akiva back to camp? she got a good whole five minute start, not to mention she's better at this terrain than I'll ever be." we wondered, slightly worried. "Maybe she is just concealing herself somewhere around here." He decided to emulate her in this, and looked around for good hiding place. Seeing that there isn't many places a large armored man can hide, he decided to sit down in his personal shelter, and pull the entry mostly closed so that he could see out, but it would be hard to see inside.

[Azerix]

Azerix felt Akiva pull away and at first was sad that she left, he had grown so used to her skin on his that he missed it. it wasn't until Keorvic talked to him that he came back to reality and nodded at the man who then left "well...i should get my gear back i suppose" he said walking back to the river picking up his bag and the berries wrapped in a robe "im sure it's nothing" he stated turning back around and heading to the camp. when he entered the camp he saw Keorvic zipping up his tent "surely you are going overboard with this bandit thing? i mean come on one is now blind in one eye and the other surely can't be so bad" he placed his bags on the ground and began to poke the now dead fire "damn, Besides if worse comes to worse we have a Symmestra...well half of one... you, and Akiva...after all i don't think ill do much i'm not much of a fighter" he stated pulling out a Tindertwig from his bag and placed Tinder in between some sticks and a log when he hit the twig against a rock the end of it burst into fire he threw it into the fire pit which soon caught fire as well he stood up once the fire was raging and turned to the Forrest "besides..Keorvic i don't honestly know if i can concentrate right now..my mind is fogged by the lack of sleep. if i use my magic...i could..Overgive and end up worthless" he shivered at the thought he had only heard rumors of mages overgiving and was fearful of it. he sat on the ground looking at the fire.

[Akiva Korvashi]

Akiva stepped into camp, knowing the others would follow. She got dressed, not wanting to tempt the bandits more, after washing herself off, and strapped on her belt and daggers. She slung the quiver over her shoulder again and picked up her bow from where she had left it by her packs and got in her tent, where she found Kipps waiting for her. She sat there listening for any signs of her friends or the bandits, until she heard who she though to be Keorvic walk into camp. The sounds he made were much too boisterous to be Azerix yet much more graceful than the dolts that had been following him. She didn't expect much out of Dryn, he seemed like he was all talk, and didn't think he could find his way to their camp. She was sure it was Keorvic when she heard the clink of metal as he put his breastplate on. She heard another smaller figure approach, probably Azerix, and got out of her tent. She walked over to Keorvic's shelter, "I don't think you need to worry about getting armored, unless we go looking for them...they should be quite pre-occupied for the time being. We should probably head out for Sunberth in the morning." Her mind flashed back to the letter she had been given, as creepy as it was, and felt renewed excitement at the idea of the coming adventure. "Maybe we should tell Azerix..." she mumbled, half by accident. She looked to Azerix, she was pretty sure he was the last to have had her catch for today, and she was hungry all of a sudden. "You have my rabbit, right?"

[Keorvic]

"I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it," he said, coming out of his shelter. Turning to Azerix he spoke "And I never got a chance to apologize to you this morning. forgive me for waking you, as I did not know you would be sleeping in the tree. however, as far as our Pale Friend goes, I do not feel we can count on him." he said. finally, his friends convinced him that there was no need to continue with the caution he was using, as the bandits were apparently bumbling idiots. with a sigh, he realized that he had left all his fishing gear and Akiva's rabbit upstream where he had been fishing. he related as much to his friends, and set out to go retrieve it.

[Azerix]

Azerix looked up as Akiva left her tent "i was wondering were you where" he smiled and began to eat some more of the berries he picked "what do you mean 'we should tell Azerix' Akiva? what are you hiding from me?" he held up the opened robe "berries?" he placed them on the ground taking a few now and then the sugar was good for his brain it allowed him to think more clearly "What is there some kind of treasure hunt" he chucled to himself "i bet there is a giant dragon guarding the stash aswell oh and we will need a 'valiant knight' to slay the mighty beast, huh?" he smiled to himself again "well...looks like you have your rabit and Keorvic has his..fish...guess i get berries for dinner? oh well i don't mind" he said tiredly popping another berry into his mouth "Akiva would you like me to cook the rabbit? if i manage to gut it propperly i can just burn the hair off it and you can have a Hot meal Milady" he asked soon yawning. When Keorvic left he reached into his bag pulling out the Hare "i hope he knows i grabbed this awhile ago.." he looked into his bag "NOOO!!!" he reached in and pulled out his small black book which was now covered in animal blood he wiped off what he could with his hand and sighed "this is just turning out to be a horrible trip..." he held his stomach in pain "starting to think those weren't black berries" with that he stood up and walked into the forrest before he fell to his knees and began to pike up the contents of his gut when he returned he threw the berries into the fire "well..there goes dinner for me" he stirred the fire once more and became lost in its flames

[Akiva Korvashi]

She walked as Azerix pulled the dead rabbit out of his pack, unsure of why he had even put it there. He then walked into the forest, she heard a horrid sound follow when he disappeared. He came back to casually stir the fire, throwing in what she had thought to be his dinner. "You know...why don't you just take the rabbit, you seem to have put more work and..belongings..into it than I have. I have some food left in my pack anyway, I'll be fine." She dug out some dried meat and bread, and pouring herself a small cup of ale from the three gallons she had brought. She started chewing on the meat, mostly ignoring the bread for now, and sipped on her ale between bites. "I can buy you a new book to write in if we see a village or traveling merchant, or when we get to Sunberth...I've plenty of money, and nowhere to spend it." She supposed she should tell him about the letter, I mean..he was going with them. She figured he should know if he were to endanger his life for them. "I met an old man in Syliras, he gave me a letter. It didn't say much, just that we needed to go to an old cottage or something by the shore outside of Sunberth. The man said there would be rewards, before he died." She took another bite of the meat and scanned the forest line, waiting for Keorvic to get back.

[Keorvic]

Keorvic made the trek back to his fishing supplies alone, stopping often and being watchful for threats. he made it to the creek, and followed it up to where the river widened. quickly locating hit stuff, he saw that his fishing pole was again bouncing. "This was quite a good area for fish. I'll have to remember it." he said to himself as he drew in the fish on the line. this time it was another pike, but this one was a big one. he stored it with his other fish, and looked around for the rabbit Akiva had caught. he searched and searched, but found only the little bit of dried blood. With dismay, he figured some animal must have taken it and was now in the process of eating it. with a sigh he checked one last time to see if he was leaving anything behind.

[Azerix]

Azerix looked back at Akiva "no no no it is your catch. you eat it...besides im fine..if worse comes to worse i can scavenge for some other type of berry" he said with a smile handing Akiva her hare Hare "besides..its a leather cover some dried blood won't ruin the book please, don't waste your money on me" he said placing the contents of his bag back in place "where was that tree again..." he looked around until he found his 'bed' and threw bag up back on the branch this time though it slipped down and spilled all over the ground "fuck it i give up...all this because of some old man giving you a LETTER before he DIED! for all we know we could be walking right into a trap and end up being sold as slaves in Sunberth..i'm sure i won't be sold for anything but you would go GREAT in the slave market" Azerix's anger was begining to bubble over due to a lack of sleep and food "i mean come on! 'there might be a treasure here if you read this note oh wait im going to die now' People don't just RANDOMLY DIE after giving a letter that only happens in stories!" he closed his fist and punched the bark. he soon felt the hot crimson liquid run down his hand and drip to the ground "what if there ISN'T anything what if we go through all this trouble and all of the sudden POOF it's all made up OR it was taken long ago...do you know what Sunberth does to people like me?" he shook his hand from the pain he couldn't tell if he had caused any real damage but right now honestly didn't care "i mean LOOK at me, you see me and first thing that comes to mind is a easy jump or rob...DAMN IT!" he kicked his now close to empty bag and stood there for a second "i need to take a walk" he left his bag scattered across the ground and began to walk through the forrest soon coming across a old tree he sat under it trying to make himself calm down "i shouldn't of blown up on Akiva...that was just wrong...it was beyond childish" he looked at his hand and wrapped it up in shirt "i really hope i didn't break anything..that would make this trek even more hellish" he sighed and rested his head on the bark "what am i going to do...what if this really is for nothing...what if i end up stuck in Sunberth and become a slave because im to scrawny to fight anyone...besides i'm sure a mage like me would fetch a pretty penny..." he closed his eyes for a minute thinking of what to do "i wonder if Akiva will even let me continue the journey with her after the way i just acted...i guess i should apologize to her...no i need to there is no guessing about it...but...i should also calm down some more" he opened his eyes and began to look around "where...where am i anyway?"

[Keorvic]

Keorvic made it back to camp in one piece. despite his earlier trepidations, he realized the speedy Kelvic must have managed to shake any pursuit from the bandits. He sat down next to Akiva at the fire and proceeded to clean and gut the fish, giving all the bits that he couldn't eat to Kipps. while he did this, he looked around to see if he could spot Azerix anywhere, but the little man was nowhere to be seen. after making some small talk with Akiva, he slapped the fishmeat onto a flat rock he had picked out earlier and set it on the fire. it shortly began to sizzle, and with a few passes of some spice he had bought in Syliras, he had a relatively tasty meal ready for eating. He offered some to Akiva, but realized she was eating something else already, and helped himself. After Keorvic finished eating, he stowed the cooked fish away, hoping that Azerix had come up with some food of his own, as It was quickly getting dark. Suddenly an idea popped into his head, and he looked over at Akiva lounging by the fire. With quick movements, he had scooped her up and carried her off to his shelter. he kicked the flap open and layed her on his bedroll, and enjoyed her company for a bit while they waited for Azerix to come back.

[Azerix]

Azerix stood up and attempted to find his way to camp instead he found his way to the hill of his old home and took the steps back from there. When he came into camp Akiva and Keorvic had already ate and were cuddling in his tent and silently went back to his backpack picking up the remains from the ground and placing them back into the bag he went and poked the fire so it would stay lit and threw wood back on it to increase the flames and silently began digging through his backpack pulling out a small piece of meat and chewing on it and petting kipps who was sprawled out by the fire "hey there kipps, how is it going there buddy?" scratches the cat under its chin and moves it to his lap running his hand down its back and watching the fire again