For such a massive thing, the ebony horse was certainly steady. Despite the fact she had led him completely off the beaten path, he merrily continued without much care. Each lift and fall of his powerful hooves brought a bit of anxiety to the savage, waiting to be hurdled off her mount's back at any given moment. Instead he paced on, easily navigating the abundance of undergrowth and small tones here and there. Twigs and leaves buckled and snapped under his gait. In fact, Kaie was starting to believe he was a far better horse than the one she rode across the grasslands of Cyphrus.
They seemed to ride for some time, Kaie not knowing which way was what, only praying she'd find some semblance of a path eventually. Though her ride was confident, Kaie felt like an idiot atop it. Her legs swung at it sides, she rocked this way and that, and her hands were probably clutching the reigns a bit too strongly. All in all, she felt utterly embarrassed. There was no way she possessed any image of speed and grace like even the youngest Drykas child. By the way she so clumsily held herself on the saddle, she felt more like she was riding a Tskanna than anything else. The Myrian could only pray to Myri no one would be around in these woods to see her less than finer moments. Until there was.
"Oi! Watch where ya leadin' that thing, lad! Drive it into the ruts again and your wagon's gonna lose a wheel!"
Immediately the Myrian female pulled back on the reigns. With a snort of disappointment, her ebony companion halted. He stamped his feet impatiently at her, but the savage woman ignored his voiced defiance. Instead she listened and watched. Staring through the trees where the shout came, Kaie searched for the source of the sound. The more she sat in silence, the more she took in.
Hooves. Wagons. Voices. Quite a few of them, too. A caravan?
She waited there with uncertainty, watching the place where she could only guess a road laid. Yet there was a part of her, a small and primitive part, that whispered in her ear alluringly. "Keep going," it hissed in its wild ways, trying to spur her from the path ahead. And a piece of her wanted to listen. Wanted to listen to the wildness inside her heart that so convinced her she was best alone. She saw pictures, images of a world so far away where branches swayed and monkeys howled during mornings like this. A world in which she'd laugh and frolic, racing around on foot with spear in hand. A place in which she was a fearless and feared survivor among the jungles her people dominated. The visual was far too romantic to the homesick woman, and as much as her pride swelled, she knew better.
Kaie could survive in the wilderness. She had done it in Falyndar and in Syliras, where she commuted from Bronze Woods to the city for work. She resented the City of Peace and its pompous knighthood most days, and maybe that's what had always sent her away. But when the worst of the conditions came, she frequented the city and stayed in its local housing. And now she was out here alone, away from civilization, and still technically lost. Sure, she could be resourceful and feed herself, but could she be as efficient with a horse in tow? What would she do when the going got tough and there were no fortified walls to turn to? Kaie knew this was no time for pride. She needed to be realistic, and realistically, she needed a caravan.
She tapped the horse's sides, bringing the animal to a trot toward the sounds. From the angle of approach she had, she'd be coming in what sounded like the end of caravan. If all went well, she could negotiate with them civilly.
"Hold up! I think I heard somethin', boys!
Well, hopefully she could convince them at least not to slaughter her as soon as she was in sight...
"Hold your fire. I'm coming out," She warned harmlessly, slowing her horse to a walk and exiting the disguise created by forest shadows. Before her, three riders approached. The first was an older man taking point, looking to be just past middle aged. His hair was grey and a scraggly patch of stubble stretched along his jaw line. Really just a run of the mill mercenary. The second was a man with odd figure. His build was average but his face was pudgy, hair a dirty black mop on his head. He had the strangest, most massive sword at his waist, too. The third was a man of more dignified appearance who couldn't have been older than twenty. He was tall with blonde hair, not bad looking at all. What really made him stand out was the fact his bow was up and an arrow was aimed at her chest.
"Huh. Just a girl, lads. Long way from home, girl. Where you headed?" The first asked politely, looking from Kaie to his men and back again. The archer relaxed his bow at the mere sight of her. It was all she could do to keep the look of utter disgust off her face. Lowering a bow because she was a woman? Few things could insult a Myrian more.
"North. Your caravan going the same direction?" She inquired casually, her horse becoming oddly docile now that it was with its brethren.
"Aye, we're going North. But we ain't takin' strays here, woman. Best you head back where you came from," He responded like it was the most simple and obvious fact imaginable. The men behind him chuckled lowly to themselves waiting for her to turn tail and head off. The caravan was continuing on without the three. She could only guess they were guarding its back and the travelers were on a tight schedule to keep moving. It wouldn't be long before they either left or forcibly sent her on her way.
"I'm not a stray! Besides, it looks like you could use me anyways," Kaie tried to reason with them, shrugging her shoulders. The men on the other hand looked at one another and began laughing. Some even dared raise their eyebrows suggestively as if she had implied her services could be pleasure. Bastards.
"Yeah. As if we could use a poor woman with hardly any clothes, who isn't even capable of using the tools she carries. Get lost," The third man finally piped up, causing the second to stifle fits of laughter. Surprisingly the Myrian woman's expression remained placid. She did not stiffen. Instead she waited for the man to be done. Inside, however, she was a cauldron of absolute loathing. It boiled within her very veins, the hot blooded woman struggling against her own resistance. And then she could hold it in no longer, and let spill words meant only to inflict equal offense. She couldn't think to care in that moment if it was merited or not.
"Well that was cute. So first off you lower your guard because I'm a woman? Are you even serious? There could be horde of bandits sitting in the brush behind me, waiting for you to drop your bow. I could've led a charge to annihilate your entire caravan by now. And you, since you find your boyfriend so funny," Kaie began with an eerie calmness, nodding her head toward the second man who was still giggling like some Syliras woman far too drunk at a bar.
"First of all, what the petch is that sword? I mean really. Are you a mercenary or an executioner? For Goddess sake, look at the damn thing. Can you even swing that? Unless cleaving off elephant heads is listed in your job description, you look like a petching idiot. What is that thing, like eight feet long? I'd gut you before you'd manage to draw. Either you're the biggest petch up in Syliras, or you're overcompensating for that extra room in your pants," She fired off without hesitation as if she was simply rattling off observations and facts that were obvious. Her words were becoming saturated in her harsh accent, a fire laced in her words. Her eye was just as critical as she was merciless. The man in question raised his eyebrows in surprise, hand grasping the handle of his unnecessarily large sword and releasing it again. His eyes bugged wide in surprise, thick chin dropping and meaty lips parting and closing again. His range of emotions flowered before her, moving from angry and insulted to nervous and self conscious. His comrades turned to look at him with jaws dropped in shock. The Myrian wasn't finished yet, though.
"And look at your formation. Considering how heavy and slow that middle wagon is, I can only assume that's the wagon that actually matters. You should be double flanking that thing. I can see a few nice dings in your back wagon even from here. You got jumped didn't you? Lost a few guys and now you've got holes all over the place. You need all the bodies you can get," She finished her rant, only then realizing how fast she had been speaking when she found herself almost out of breath.
Alright I might be wrong with the whole formations and bandits thing...But it sounded legit. So let's go with it.
"Listen, I'm not trying to get paid or anything. I just need a ride. I can hold my own. What do I need to do to earn my keep?" She asked in an almost melancholy manner, exasperated even from her own monologue. Realizing the message in her speech, she almost wondered if she should be turned tail and galloping as far as her stallion would take her. It was as if her last quote was some form of apology.
The men were utterly bewildered to say the least. Silence filled the space between female and mercenaries for several moments before finally...
"Gods be damned, I like this one! The first man piped up with a hearty laugh, taking in the expressions of his comrades. The second man still seemed pretty shaken up, and the archer just utterly speechless and pissed off. "Miss, we don't make the call, but you've got lot of fire in you. Follow me.
