[Flashback] Scaredy Cat (Gunto)

[Ophelia]

Date: TBA by Gunto Location: Nearer to the Misty Peaks The group of hunters Gunto travelled with talked a lot. About nothing in particular. They chattered about drinking, drugs, women, everything that caught their eye. They seemed not to focus on any one thing. They could be talking about their last conquest of a woman one second, and then discuss whether or not the cloud above them looked more like a camel or a toad. Needless to say, Gunto's nerves were becoming more and more frayed as the days passed. Why he had decided to travel with them from Falyndar to Lhavit was anyone's guess. He needed the passage, sure, but these men in particular - Gods help him. He tried to keep to himself. The caravan of hunters was a bonus - it meant constant food from their catches and safety from whatever beasts could be near, but boy, were they annoying. He flinched everytime one of them spoke to him. Initially, that was a lot. But slowly, they left the Myrian to his own devices. It was a long road between Falyndar and Lhavit. They were smart enough to realise just what problems they would have with an angry Myrian on their travelling band. The hunters themselves had hailed from Riverfall. Gunto had met them in Northern Falyndar, and it just was common sense to travel with them to Lhavit - they had the same destination, after all, and the more people together in the Unforgiving, the better. They both kept mum about what their businesses were. Until now, of course. They were close to Lhavit now. A day or two out, having just begun to enter the Misty Peaks. Those peaks were perilous, and Gunto, despite knowing next to nothing about the area, was in good hands with these hunters. They had traversed it many times before. Making camp for the night, they set up a fire and rolled out their bedrolls. Gunto ate with them tonight. He did not usually. It was just how it worked out. "So, Gunto, I expect you wonder why we're heading to Lhavit, huh?" The leader suddenly said. Silence fell after, as every eye turned to Gunto, to see what his response would be. The leader of the hunters was tall, thick set, but by no means intimidating. It was slightly incongruous. You expected a leader of hunters to be muscular and a clear warrior, but Tirash, as his name was, was not. His skills lay in his longbow that he kept strapped to his back, and in the hypnotism of his words. Regardless of Gunto's response, Tirash plowed on. He was determined, it seemed to get the whole truth out. "We came from the land of the Blue People, you see," A chuckle ran around the group from this. The group was not large - four or five men, and Tirash - but they all seemed to act as one. They were a well oiled machine. "The Akalaks there are really rather unchanging. I mean, once they got something and make an attachment to it, they never change their minds. I swear they have rocks from brains, for all the amount of change that goes on up there." Another chuckle. What Tirash said was always funny. Tirash did not appreciate it when people did not laugh at his jokes. "Anyway, there was a girl. It's always about a girl isn't it? Kelvic girl, actually. A kitty cat. Bought from the Slave Pens of Ravok for some fun times in the owner's bed." A wink here. "The kitty cat, sadly, escaped. Ran off on a vessel all the way to Lhavit." Tirash paused, as if a thought struck him. He tapped his fingers against his chin. "You're a smart man, Gunto. We're not really hunters, of course. We're mercenaries, I suppose. Hire us and we'll do your dirty work. We need to get the cat from Lhavit, capture it, bring it back to Riverfall." His voice was melodic, and finally, Tirash looked Gunto straight in the eyes. Tirash's were twinkling, a soft smirk on his face. He was utterly charming. "I guess what we're trying to say is ... want to help out?"

[Gunto]

28th Day of Summer, 508AV Gunto had thought it a bit odd that such a group had so graciously taken him into their ranks. It hadn't been for his stellar abilities as far as surviving in the wild. No, outside the jungle Gunto had felt so ill at ease and out of place that he was actually a hindrance to the group. He'd floundered along, taking his share of any food they provided and attempting to find solace within their camps. They were a loud bunch, and Gunto several times had to remind himself that they were not intruders in his territory who needed dealing with. If anything, he was the intruder. Tonight, they set up the camp as normal, but due to the cluster of trees they had chosen the spaces were more confined than normal. Gunto begrudgingly sat alongside the others, unable to find a place within reasonable distance that wasn't within eye and earshot. He had just torn off a particulerly charred piece of pork from the slab of meat in his hands when the leader, Tirash, spoke to him. "No." Gunto said, his mouth half full. His Common was plain and he felt it made him sound simple, so he kept his answers and comments brief when they addressed him. Tirash seemed to care little about Gunto's lack of interest, and went on to explain where they hailed from. It made sense to him that they were from Riverfall upon hearing it. His tattooed body and face hadn't made them uneasy at all, and Gunto had heard stories of Akalak men with tattoos all over their bodies. Though he assumed Gunto knew that they were mercenaries, Gunto had in fact not. He was from Taloba; even hunters carried personal weaponry in his domain. You didn't stroll out into the jungle with only a sling or a bow and arrow. You dressed for battle, and prepared for war every time your foot fell out of the confines of the city. That was the way he had lived. For now, he simply nodded as Tirash spoke, and provided him the details of their purpose. "I help. I let you know now, not so often take prisoner in Falyndar. But I help." Gunto said with a smirk, the skull visage on his face curling as his lips turned. He reached to his backside, sliding one of his steel kukris free from it's scabbard. A gift from the Myrian army, the rare commodity of steel crafted into his preferred weapon. Gunto took to slicing another thin strip of meat and dropping it into his mouth. No doubt they would get a laugh out of his accent and limited words, but his answer had been true enough. Gunto wasn't about to be viewed as useless and left behind in the wilderness. Looking for people was something he did regularly in the jungle. How different could it be here?

[Ophelia]

There was the usual snicker at the Myrian's words. The band of mercenaries certainly found it amusing that the vicious fighter they had picked up was not so vicious in thought and word skill, as Tirash clearly was. Tirash raised a hand, asking for peace. It would not do to have an offended Myrian in their ranks. It would not be pretty - and Tirash would let the Myrian do whatever he wanted to his men. They deserved it. Tirash sighed, glaring at each of the men individually, fixing his dark eyes on theirs. They settled down immediately, as if under some sort of trance, knowing that they should be quiet, or trouble would happen. Surely Gunto would notice. It was the only way to keep the men under Tirash's complete and full command, he felt. Turning back to the eating Myrian, he turned off the hypnotic power in his eyes, his eyes seeming to lose some of their twinkle, and he clapped his hands together with jubilance. "Excellent!" he cried. The man was tall, strong, and evidently skilled with the kukri. He was certainly an asset to their group. "You'll need to stay here," Tirash warned. "At least while we're going into the city. Your looks ... well, they draw attention, to be frank." Tirash smiled, and got up, stretching. Immediately, one of the other men scarmbled up and darted towards Tirash. He was tall, much taller than any of the other men, and muscled to boot. "Tirash," he hissed. "It's hardly wise to get a MYRIAN to help on this. He might eat the petching girl!" Tirash chuckled, lightly, as if they were merely swapping jokes. "Nonsense, Bret, nonsense. How ignorant of you." He patted Bret on the shoulder and moved over to Gunto. He threw a hand over Gunto's shoulders, despite the fact that Gunto was taller than he. It was an awkward position, but Tirash still managed to keep the highest status in the scene. "Men, you know the drill," he said, and they did. They had hashed it over many times. "It stays the same. Now we're just slipping Gunto in. He comes to the edges of the city with us, but stays with and minds the camp, and then we make our hasty exit to the Unforgiving. One of you, later, after a few days when it's all died down, will escort him to the Tranquil Port. Any questions? No? Good?" He looked at Gunto, paused to see if he had any questions. "Alright, men, get to bed. We're a day out from Lhavit." They all began to scatter, putting things away and the fire out. Tirash moved over to Gunto, pulling him aside. "Just a note, Gunto dearest," he purred. "Not that it really means much to you, but the cat we're recapturing is a Kelvic daughter of a member of the Shinya. She got enslaved a few years back, sold to the Akalaks. The Akalaks, of course, don't know this - thank the Gods for my contacts with the Ravok slave pens." He grinned, and clapped Gunto on the back. "G'night!" * * * * * Gunto stood alone in the camp the next day. They had walked to a spot, and were about three hours out of Lhavit. The mercenaries had left early morning, and now it was late afternoon. It was better, they said, because Lhavit reversed their times - night was day and day was night. By night it would be less conspicuous. Tirash had thought it better to go during the night, when people were busy, but in his limited experience with Lhavit, he stuck to the original plan. Gunto had waited and waited. There was not all that much to do in a camp all by yourself for a day. Especially not when there was not all that much hunting you could do with kukri knives. If he knew ranged, it would be different. So he sat and stared and sighed and did what little he could to occupy himself. As he did whatever he was doing, he heard the quiet pat of footsteps down the thin dirt trail they had. They had established their camp near to the Amaranthine Road, though Gunto himself did not know this. One could see the edges of their camp if looking into the foilage from the road. This one lone Shinya had. She had been on patrol, and was rather new to the status of full Shinya. She knew she was not supposed to stray from her post, but she had longed to go for a walk. She had done so, walking down the road and out of Lhavit, exploring what she could. The light blue of her robes shone through the darker green foilage. She had thought she had spotted movement - big movement, like something large and sentient was there - not the rustle of leaves or the movement of smaller animals. She had decided to investigate, gripping her katana carefully and focusing on the astral body and the body before her in this makeshift camp. Gunto would hear a cry of unintelligble words, as the Shinya yelled forth in Lhavitian. Not getting a response, she stepped into the clearing of the camp. She stood, tense and wary, but not acting yet. "You... Myrian?" she stuttered. It was clear she was as new to the Common tongue as Gunto. "Why you here?"