PM to join The Great Escape

[Alea Davenport]

68 Spring, 514

Alea meant to go longer before approaching the caravan, really she did. But after the third day of trekking through the woods with no civilization to speak of, she was more than just tired. It felt like her soul was weary from being so far from civilization. She hadn't realized just how soft life as a slave had made her. She did not even want to think about the suffering she had endured in the past few days. She was ashamed and bitterly disappointed in herself, but with the caravan so close, it was impossible not to go forward with her plan and infringe upon their hospitality. She wouldn't even mind if she had to pay; at this point, the money was only weighing her down.

So it was, one evening, as the caravan had stopped for camp, Alea told her party that it was time to move forward with the plan. She left it up to them whether they wanted to join her in the initial approach, but soon, just as the sun was disappearing behind the trees, Alea stepped into range of the caravan guards' sight.

Unbeknownst to her, she was very dirty. Days of hiking through the woods with no change to wash had left her hands and feet and face so streaked with dirt it looked like it had always been there. Her once-white dress was now a nearly uniform blackish-brown color, with perhaps a streak or two of dark dirty green.

She tip-toed quietly toward the caravan and softly called out towards the people setting up camp, "H-hello?"

[Faolan Lundgren]

Faolan Lundgren Faolan didn't seem to be bothered at all by the lack of civilization. All the company he seemed to need was that of his horse, his two companions, and the wilderness. He had remained rather unaware to the suffering of others in their party unless someone brought it up. Drifter was carrying all of their things at this point as it felt rude to have the two women lugging their belongings through the forest when there was a perfectly good horse ready and able to carry a few extra bags for them. When they weren't walking he spent his time hunting for fresh food and making sure that the other two were comfortable; well, as comfortable as they were going to get in the woods. Not only was he much more comfortable in their current surroundings, but he was also significantly cleaner than Alea was. She was filthy and he wondered how she had managed to get into such a state. He sported a light dusting of dirt everywhere; only his boots were muddy. In comparison with his friend though he was practically freshly bathed. Then again he did have a propensity towards keeping himself clean. He did have to make sure and wash all the blood off of himself after each successful hunt after all. Walking around covered in blood and gore would only get them ill and get himself covered in bugs; neither of those situations would be pleasant and so he kept himself rather clean out of necessity. He was unsure as to whether it was a good time to approach the caravan or not when Alea informed them of her decision to approach. When she approached the guards he hung back for a moment in hesitation and then slowly trailed out of the cover of the trees behind her. He hung back far enough to be visible, but was clearly ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble. He was trying to figure out what he would do if Alea was in trouble. Should he just leave her to her fate, or should he try and save her? She was one of his only friends after all, he should probably do something to help her should things go poorly. Maybe he could just slip into the trees quietly and wait for the right moment to sneak up and rescue her. While he was deep in thought he stared at the situation in front of him to see how it would unfold, brow furrowed in thought and eyes troubled with a slight frown tugging at the corners of his lips.

[Bartholomew]

Staying on top of a horse was an arduous task. The beast would sway from left to right accidentally if Light kicked its side, and the saddles did little to hold him up. If he shifted a little to the left, he would slide off, same with the right. Light needed to have a strong balance with the horse and a sturdy grasp on the leather that attached to its teeth. If it sounds as hard as described, then one had an understanding of what it took to ride a horse.

"Hey, you," Someone called to Light. He looked their way and almost lost balance. The horse did a 360 turn, which became another thing that almost prompted Light to hit the floor hard. When he had managed to stop the creature from being finicky, he glared at the person who had summon his attention so suddenly.

It was a female. Her hair was short to the point of a males haircut, her skin as pale as snow. She looked tough, angry, and like she could take Light down within a second. Although, Light would not go down without fighting. "We're about to move. Try to control that thing why don't ya? I don't wanna keep picking your arse up because ya fell."

Light rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but was put to silence by the interjection of someone else. "You aren't the one who had to pick him up, Amarilla."

Another horse suddenly appeared next to Light. On it was a man with brown skin and a cheeky, cocky smile. "You'll get the handle of it, Bartholomew. You just need a little more training."

Light sighed. "I would feel better if I could walk on my feet," he said. "But that would mean being left behind. And that's something a can't afford to let happen."

That was correct, Light was going through this for a reason. The Nitrozian's were a wealthy family in Ravok, to be a friend to that family meant being a friend with the biggest business owners in the city. Light was doing this more for future favors than money. But what exactly was he doing? The answer was simple: hunting a slave. One of the Nitrozian females had escaped not long ago, and the expected means of fleeing was by a caravan that had recently left for another city. Light, and three other hunters, were tracking that caravan through the forest, and losing some needed sleep just so they could catch up.

Another man that was bent near the caravan's track suddenly called out- "THEY'RE NEAR!" All looked towards him as he took some of the dirt from the tracks and licked it. "Mhmmm," he said with a groggy voice. "Feet, been tastin' it since last night. Ah reckon someone was followin' them, and gettin' closer to the caravan as they went further from Ravok."

"Could those someone be our target, Roach?" The woman asked. The man turned to her and nodded. One of his eyes were plain white and looked off to the side. Light thought it was weird how he could be such an expert hunter and yet have only one good eye. "Dey been movin' slow, but trail just right! Right as the pain in mah backside," the man guffawed. Does that make sense? Light thought.

The dark man on the horse said- "We can't be sure. For all we know, these prints on the ground could be other people who are apart of the caravan."

"They could be apart of the caravan already," Light interjected. "But throwing away that idea Roach gave might be a bad thing. She is a slave after all, our target could be following them and waiting to figure out how to approach, or sneak through, the caravan guards."

The woman of the group sighed. "That's assuming they don't have enough money for the caravan," she said in a bored voice and fidgeted where she stood. She was reminding Light of a little girl who was forced to stand in one place and listen to adult conversations. "That's also assuming they don't want to waist the money on the caravan. Maybe they want its horses instead," Light retorted.

"None of this matters," the dark skinned man said. "The only information we have to go on that we know is true is that they are with this caravan. We have seen sightings of it stopping and we are catching up with it. Let's stop wasting time and get going!" When he was done speaking, he kicked his horse in the gut and soared with it.

The woman sighed again and hopped onto her horse. "Just like Dor' Kan to rush ahead of the rest. Bartholomew, Roach, let's go." She kicked her horse, yelled the signal that meant move forward in horse language, then raced off to follow the one who had already left. Roach hopped on his horse and followed, leaving Light to slowly trudge through the forest by himself.

[Yoona]

Yoona had had no problems with keeping up for the last five days. Though she wasn't too familiar with the tree-laden outskirts of the lake-bound city, save for the few failed attempts she'd made to outrun her captors a couple of seasons back, she found that she could grow used to it. And in all honesty, there wasn't much that made this journey any different from the countless other ones she had taken since her slave-life had begun. Well...she wasn't chained up in the back of some rickety cart, for once, and Alea hadn't forced her to come along. But aside from those things, it was all pretty much the same.

And so the Chaktawe woman had kept her head raised as they'd walked, fully confident in her ability to endure the surrounding wilderness. She ate enough to keep her strength up, but would drink as little water as possible whenever they took breaks, thankful for the body she'd been born with.

Really, Yoona believed herself to be the best-prepared out of all of them. The boy, Faolan, seemed to fit right in with the trees and creatures, but Alea was painfully out-of-place, and as the days had gone by Yoona had seen her grow more and more tired. It'd been like watching a plant shrivel up in the sun. How ironic, that the one to plot out their escape would be the one who'd underestimated it the most.

But perhaps that was judging the woman a bit too harshly. Perhaps she simply wasn't used to having to take care of herself. Hadn't she mentioned something about belonging to the Nitrozians? They were a wretched, scheming family, but Yoona assumed that they pampered the slaves that they took a liking to, for no other reason than to keep their damned reputations clean.

All in all, the journey thus far had been a decent one, and it was the day after the fifth day that Alea announced the commencement of their plan. Yoona chose to remain in the shadows with Faoloan, watching her from afar as she approached the caravan and its people, her lips curved into a frown. It probably would have looked suspicious for them all to have gone at once, but what reasons would those people have for helping a random stranger? They'd probably want something in return, and Yoona couldn't think of a single thing they had to offer that held some value, other than...well, themselves. Which was out of the question.

For now, she would wait and watch with the boy, prepared to intervene if things looked as though they were going south. As greedy as the caravan-strangers could end up being, they were still human, and humans responded to fear and threats just like every other creature. They could be coerced into helping them out.


"Listen to me" - 'I'm thinking'

[Elias Caldera]

A thunderous sigh escaped cracked and parched lips as Elias's head thudded unceremoniously against the towering pine tree. Leaning against the ancient thing with all the elegance of a drunk pissing in an alley, the sounds of the pale young mage relieving himself in uncomfortable, sputtering spouts heralded the beginning of first respite the man had taken since he had set out this early morning. It had been bells since he had left lakeshore, riding hard and unrelentingly through the trails that slithered their way into the south. His legs cramped fiercely and his mind was dulled and blunted by the endless cavorting of his steed as two galloped as fast as the beast could manage. Tied up only a few yards away deeper in the wood, the poor creature's haggard panting was course and pained as it desperately tried catch its breath. It was weighed down with his hastily assembled gear, including his sword and his bow among other things. As it was now, even Elias had to pity the beast as he watched it feebly attempt to shake off the shining sheen of sweat marring its black coat.

Mercy for the animal would have to wait however, for despite the quick rest he had resigned them both to, Elias wasn't yet done, not when the prize he sought was so close at hand.

The thought of her alone made him shiver as a wild wind blew through the forest, and the mage found himself retrieving the small trinket from his pocket to bolster himself against the unforgiving elements that were so uncommon within Rhysol's hallowed sanctuary. He didn't like being this far away from it, not this soon anyway. It felt unbearably... dirty out here, somehow. Unclean, impure and dangerous was the world that did not benefit from the great god's serene guidance after all. As he glanced down at the small lock of black hair in his clutches however, the ravokian knew he couldn't let himself be dissuaded from his course, not now that he was so committed.

Not when she so sorely needed him, more so at this very moment than ever before.

Fingers rubbed gently across the tiny memento as he studied it for the countless time. Tied up in a little red ribbon of string, the locket of hair was just an alluring piece to a much more exquisite puzzle that cried out to Elias to be completed. Somewhere out there, among the swirling storm of auras and colors, was the rest of that puzzle, and he had been following it with such tenacity, that the rest of the world had been but a distracting blur between moments. The first had been discovering she was missing. His heart had nearly been rent from his chest at the news, and he shook with worry at the thought of the beauty's absence from the glorious city on the lake. After that, learning of the Nitrozian bounty on an escaped slave had swiftly swept away his fears and replaced them with righteous purpose. He was as certain the chaktawe was a part of this ill fated escape attempt as he was of the tender bond they both shared.

Time in the Black Hole had changed him, reshaped and amended the ways he understood the world, and down there, he had had a lot of time to think about his mistakes. Yoona had been one of them. Among the legion, her face may have seemed like just another part of the mural of guilt that had haunted the forsaken Caldera in the depths of that darkness, but with news of her missing reaching his ear, the woman had once again shot to forefront of his thoughts. In his mind, her dark, void like eyes were staring at him in bated expectation as she awaited his return. He had done wrong by her the first time they had met, a fact that became ever poignant during their second encounter not so long ago. Now was his chance to make amends for that, to bring her back into the fold and show the rapturous slave the true magnificence of both his city and his god, something he had failed miserably to convince her of after putting her in chains. A deplorable folly on his part, driven by greed and ignorance at the time. He wasn't wrong to to have sold her off into slavery of course, she was better off for it obviously, but he should have made her realize Ravok wasn't her prison, it was her home.

And as it was his home as well, the ravokian knew more than little about how the city operated. When he had been an apprentice a life ago, whenever a slave escaped, they fool had few options in how they could go about surviving afterwards. Even the kelvics, pampered and primped as they were, struggled in the barbarous wilds that stretched on for miles and miles in every direction. Whenever he had been called upon to hunt down the escapees, the first and foremost train of thought for any stryfer was centered around any recent caravans and merchant parties that had recently departed. To the north there lied nothing, and to the west only a cold, bitter death in the Talderan snow. That left only south towards Nyka and accursed Syliras. With numbers on their side, a caravan was safe as long as they meandered along unforgiving path together, huddled close and secure, but while their size provided them safety, it also hampered their speed, making them sluggish and slow. Slow enough for a lone rider to catch up before they could completely escape.

Soon he and the slave would be reunited again, and as he carefully pocketed the lock of hair and mounted his horse, Elias knew he would see her soon. The only problem standing before him now however, was getting to her before someone else did.

With the strike of his spurs, the mage returned to his dogged pursuit spirit renewed and motive rekindled, riding as hard as his horse and his heart could take him.


PositionI imagine Elias being ahead of Light's party, if that matters at all, but i'm just as fine with him being ahead if he wants, either way.

ReceiptMixed Blood Horse -50 GM
Saddle – 10 gm
Bit & Bridle – 2 gm
Saddlebags - 5 gm
Halter & Lead – 1 sm

[Nemesis]

The caravan was a relatively small one, compared to most that wandered between the cities of Mizahar. The group were not merchants, nor did they have any livestock with them. In fact, the five travellers were carrying absolutely nothing of value - something that was evident from the two small, weathered and tatty covered carts that were being pulled along by horses that didn’t look to be in much better condition than their load.

The five people, who had all unloaded themselves from the two carts were in a markedly better condition, or four of them were. The old man was clearly rather long in the tooth. Their clothes, which were colourful and well-kept, marked them as an entertaining group, perhaps a minstrel, with an assortment of musicians. Maybe even an acrobatics troop. Probably not the latter, given the weaker state of the old man. The question was answered as one of the party pulled out a small harp and began to strum it softly as another set upon the ground to start a fire for their meal.

Other than the old man, who winced as he lowered himself down onto a log, the rest of the travelling party was a rather young one. Two young men, and two women, the younger boy appearing to be no older than about fourteen, and the other was definitely younger than thirty. The two women - who were sisters if they were not twins, were both images of perfection in there early twenties. “That’s the last of the meat Tomás-”

The middle of the males glanced up as he placed three large slabs of meet over the growing fire, raising a questioning brow to the girl. “It would have been sensible to save it. We don’t need all of that; there’s only five of us-”

“Six, Letti,” Tomás interrupted his companion silkily. “And number six is the reason we know we will have meat tomorrow. Even if you are talented with a bow.” He eyed the other for a moment, as is daring her to argue, before turning back to the task at hand. “Anyway, the meat has been exposed for too long. The colouring is slightly off… another day and we would have had to waste it.”

Conversation died for a period, each content with their own past-times as they waited for the old to be prepared, until a soft, nervous voice was heard from behind the harpist. Five sets of eyes looked over to see three disheveled, filthy people standing not far off from their camp. Dark brows shot up beyond his hairline as his poor knowledge of geography helped him to work out that the closest city was Ravok, and even then, that was not close. Apparently he was not the only one who had worked out, for the younger boy said in shock, without any tact, “How are you still [i]alive]/i]?”

“Eden!” Tomás hissed, rebuking the thoughtless boy. Then, he turned to the three strangers, his features hard and unsympathetic despite their struggle being evident on the muddied, ripped clothing. He knew the answer to the question, but experience told him that nothing good could ever come from surprises int he Wildlands of Sylira. “What do you want?”

OOCNothing special here.. hope the design of the caravan I created suits you escapees if not, let me know and we'll discuss changes Light, Cal, gonna let you two set yourselves up a little bit more before I become your hunting companions too?
*
*

[Yoona]

Leaning a bit further out from the cover of the tree, Yoona narrowed her eyes at the caravan. It was a jaunty-looking thing, made of carts that seemed to have a great deal of age on them, the fading wood and tattered cloth mere proof of their constant travels. The people who stood around it, however, seemed to be the complete opposite; they were dressed in all sorts of vibrant colors and, save for the old man amongst them, looked like a young, lively bunch. Not that it made much of a difference, in the grand scheme of things. As unassuming as they were, the Chaktawe woman had no reason to believe that they weren't a group of fleeing criminals or slavers in ridiculous disguises.

Being a few days outside of Ravok's borders made them no less crafty than the Ravokians, themselves.

Yoona watched as all five of their heads turned when Alea approached them, and frowned when a couple of pairs of eyes flicked over to her and Faolan. The younger boy was the first to speak—'I'm sure we look like a bunch of filthy animals, but is it really that big of a deal?'—but the old man snapped at him a tick later. Even from a distance, Yoona could see the scrutiny in his eyes as he turned to study them, silent for a moment before venturing to ask what they wanted.

Immediately, the Chaktawe woman's gaze shifted over to Alea. But the girl looked as though she was too busy hesitating to answer, so Yoona sighed and decided that she would do it for her, stepping out from behind the tree's trunk to walk over and stand at her side.

"You not going to Ravok, are you? We need a ride," Yoona said, firm in her amateur command of Common. There was no real point in dancing around the subject, and if these people weren't slaver-filth, they could at the very least appreciate honesty. Especially when it was coming from a trio of dirty strangers. "To the next city, or wherever you going that's away from here."

She then paused, thinking over something before continuing.

"...we can pay you."

In all honesty, she wasn't sure that they could, but it didn't hurt to throw it out there. Money was a good motivator.

"Listen to me" - 'I'm thinking'

[Bartholomew]

Light squeezed his calves to urge the horse forward. Not surprisingly, it moved on his command. The steed only strolled, however, for all Light could do with his horse when riding it was make it walk. If he made it trot or canter then he would fall off within the first few ticks. He tried before, knowing how to move the horse had made him experiment with his riding skills a little. When he squeezed his calves extremely tight, the horse trotted; When he moved his leg back then squeezed, it cantered. With those two techniques came an episodic series of bouncing, which led to him falling. Whenever Light fell he would struggle to get up and suffer from some serious body pain. So, for now, he walked the horse and planned to learn how to canter later.

The silent ride with the steed wasn't all that bad for Light. It gave him ample time to enjoy natures tranquility. From where he was he could hear the chirping of birds and the interaction of insects. He could also hear the horse that he had borrow'd hooves silently step over the dirt ground. The moist air lightly drenched Light's skin, keeping him in a cool state and also adding to this setting that Light was placed in, which was very peaceful to him.

It was too bad that his peaceful ride would need to end when he came across his three companions who had left him before. All three of them were off their horses this time. Roach was doing what he always did, searching the area for tracks. The other two were talking to each other and caring for their steeds.

It was Amarilla who saw Light first and called him over. Like he was taught before beginning this mission, he leaned back on his horses saddle. It stopped with a large huff and allowed its rider to climb off. So Light did, and when he stood safely on the ground he walked over to where Amarilla and Dor'Kan were. They accepted him with a greeting then told him of the situation and the reason why they were not continuing to the caravan where the target was.

Apparently Roach had found a new set of tracks, a fresh one to his knowledge. He stopped the group as skillfully as he could then told them to watch his back. Roach spoke about what he saw then began searching for more footpaths that matched the one he just found. He said that he saw footprints not far off that were as heavy as the horse prints he was now tracking. After chimes to himself, Roach had returned with a new valuable piece of information. "Some'un passed us," he said. "He movin' faster, probably'll make it to tha' caravan before us. He sure was rushin'. Might be enemy, might be friend."

"He's an enemy," Light said. "It's better to think of everyone as such." Everyone shook their head in agreement with him. "Anyways," he continued speaking. "We need a plan. Luckily for us, I have one." He looked at every person on his team individually, weighing their attributes and weaknesses. There was Roach the master tracker- good in a fight with throwing daggers as his weapon, Dor' Kan the hot headed warrior- excellent with a long sword but very ill-tempered, and Amarilla the spoiled-childish blond- the only long raged fighter on their team with a crossbow on her back. They each were wonderful hunters; however, the only two who was a perfect team was Amarilla and Dor' Kan. They had worked together before- Light could tell that their backs were better watched by each other. Roach was a loner, so was Light, so Roach would more than likely do better alone.

"My plan is simple when spoken," Light began. "What we have right now is the element of surprise. I am sure our target expects hunters to travel after them, no foolish runaway slave would think themselves truly free while Rhysol's eyes could still look over them; however, what they aren't expecting is me."

Light sighed heavily, preparing himself for what he was about to say next and the possible reactions he would receive. "Our target we are tracing... I met her. Not only have I, though, but she has also saved my life. I am probably the only person that could get close enough to capture her."

Light hated admitting that he was saved by the slave who he was hunting. He felt no shame for it, but it made him weak. Here he was planning to recapture someone who had once given him a second chance to live. How would be able to sleep at nights with so much guilt on him? The fact that he was repaying her in such a way was enough to make him want to turn around and abandon this mission. But he told himself that he couldn't.

His parents had assigned this to him, and he had promised that he would see it through. At this moment, what his parents wanted mattered more than what he wanted. Light was their vessel, their will, and their power combined in one. How he represented them was all he had to worry about. The very thought of disobeying them brought enough fear to him to make him stay and carry on his assignment.

"Conventional strategies won't work against them," he said. "And we can't ask a slave that has tasted freedom to be recaptured. So, our only way to acquire her would be to keep her from moving, maybe by taking out her legs or knocking her out, then carry her back to Ravok. I will approach her under false pretenses. Roach and Amarilla will watch my back from the shadows."

Light moved his eyes to Dor' Kan. "I want you to scout the area- within the shadows, of course. Make sure that there are no others around. You are skilled at unarmed combat as well as the long sword, so you should be able to take care of someone by surprised... As silent as you can." His last sentence came as a warning, as though a threat was being made while he spoke.

Dor' Kan clicked his tongue in anger, but accepted Light's plan. Dor' Kan might be a problem if things go bad, Light thought. His constant need for action and danger, alongside his increasingly hot temper, could lead to a mission failure. After all, Light wouldn't be strong, or wise, enough to handle Dor' Kan if he were to do something unconventional- like attacking three enemies who insult his mother, for instance. Light could only have hope that Dor' Kan would have the decency not to go berserk on anyone.

"We'll attack at sundown." Light continued. "I would be very pleased if the slave didn't get killed, however, I would accept the deaths of others. But we must be clear- anyone that fights against us and is not the target will be killed, or quickly left unable to fight if possible. I don't enjoy it when others ruin my missions, and I would like for them to be taken out as quickly as possible."

He gave another heavy sigh while he rested his eyes on the falling sun. "We attack when the world is at its darkest," he said. "Watch for when I make a move, then take down as much people as you can. Dor' Kan, when you have finished your part then return to me. I have a feeling that I might need your skills.

"Amarilla and Roach will remain in the shadows, and when we have acquired the target we ride away as quickly as we can... "

"One last thing." Light said when he figured that he had covered all parts of his plan. "We may have another target," he pointed out. "A chaktawe slave, I believe. Her master said she went missing the same time our main target did. She might be among this group."

"Any problems with my idea?" Light looked towards them. It was Dor' Kan who spoke first after a long moment of silence. Everyone looked as though they were thinking hard, going over the problems with this plan to determine if it was even worth using. Dor' Kan said- "What if this plan fails? We need a plan B and C."

"True," Light agreed. After a long period of deliberation he answered- "Well, let's first determine why we might fail with this plan. One, because we were outnumbered by our target and the caravan, and two, because there was someone there who was wiser or stronger than us put together. Another reason could be because of an unexpected event which jeopardizes the completion of our mission, but that could be an infinite number of things that we can't always plan for. If the answer to the reason we fail will be number two then our best bet would be to murder that person who is stronger than all of us first. If the answer is one... Then we will take a hostage of theirs and try a negotiation route.

"If none of those plans will work then our plan C will be to do whatever we can to make moving that caravan a hindrance. Maybe by harming the horses or destroying the caravan itself. Once we do that we will be able to come up with better plans."

They all seemed to agree to his idea. Although Light wasn't a master strategist, he did pay attention to a few of his fathers techniques. One that was his patriarch's favorites was taking the enemy at their most comfortable moments, when their thoughts on danger did not exist and their heart lay only in a mellow meadow of peace. That was one strategy Light hoped to use now.

He walked back to his horse and climbed on it. Before he moved forward he said- "Remember, stay hidden. Only I should be seen, and only I and Dor' Kan should be seen during battle. I want both Amarilla and Roach to remain a mystery until we have acquired our targets."

With all that said, Light squeezed his calves and ushered the horse forward towards the caravan.

[Elias Caldera]

"What are you up to now, dear?"

He was mumbling to himself now. Surely that was a early sign of madness? "I'm sure talking to inanimate objects and animals isn't a good sign either, huh?" Elias asked absentmindedly, but his horse merely shook its head and pranced anxiously beneath him. He couldn't blame the animal for being so annoyed with its rider, this was the second time they had stopped after all, and despite its panting and wary gait, the intensity and thrill of the chase that had taken over had yet again been so rudely interrupted. It was frustrating, but what the steed didn't understand, and what Elias continued to try and explain to the damn thing, was just how close they were.

That fact had caught the mage off guard truth be told, but as he had summoned up the power of auristics as he would occasionally do in order to get a grasp of where his precious prey awaited him, he had been startled to realize how very near the chaktawe actually was all of a sudden. Why have you stopped I wonder... and who are all your friends? Her aura, though as clear as day to him now thanks to fact that he knew exactly who and what he was looking for, was still muddled and tangled amidst a sea of others just as bright and greedy for his attention. He counted four, maybe five others, probably more, likely less. From such a distance, the only thing he knew for certain was that his count was doubtlessly, possibly off. Still, she was so close, and that was all that mattered. Elias could almost reach out and grab the wondrous woman right then and there, and oh how he wanted nothing else as much as he wanted to do just that.

Brown, muddy eyes gleamed with an unnatural presence as the ravokian stared ahead into the empty roadway splayed out before him. To anyone looking upon him as he was now, it would have seemed like he was a madman or a fool staring intently at a thing in the distance that simply wasn't there. To Elias however, anyone who didn't see the beauty he did was the real crazy one. Yoona was a sunspot on the world's horizon whose light glimmered and shone in all the right ways, and despite his longing urge to draw nearer to the woman, the mage found himself transfixed and unable to take another step forward. All that pride, all that strength and conviction, what was he going to even say once he finally reached her? Elias fumbled for the right words like a boy on the schoolyard speaking to a girl he liked for the first time. It was embarrassing beyond contemplation and his pale, gaunt cheeks flushed with the shame and childish giddiness of it all. Despite the grin plastered on his face however, the slave hunter knew full well how important his words to her would truly need to be.

In the middle of formulating his speech and without warning, Elias's mood suddenly soured. Confusion quickly followed as realized the emotion wasn't his. His eyes narrowed and focused more keenly, scrying what he could from the shifting clouds of color until he recognized what was wrong. You're... nervous? Ready, tense, but still... nervous. Whats going on over there? Does she need my help? A flurry of frenzied thoughts and frustratingly unanswered questions raced around the mage's mind as he desperately tried to make sense of what his magic sight was telling him. He angrily wished he could understand more from the shifting shades and hues. Knowing what she was saying would have been so incredibly helpful at that point, but if ever the day came when Elias became so skilled as to do that, it wasn't going to be this day. There was no use fretting over it though, not when he could so easily walk up and simply ask his favorite runaway what was bothering her so.

On second thought, best not.

With a gentle pat across its neck, Elias squeezed his legs and pulled the reigns of his mount to the side, wordlessly ushering the beast into the depths of the forest. He dreaded the idea, knowing full well what kind of unspeakable horrors could be lying in wait for him in those dark places, but he pressed on none the less. The sight of him would likely excite the poor slave, sending her into a tizzy that neither of them would have wanted, not when there was so much to say and do. Thankfully the group had stopped for whatever reason, giving the mage the perfect opportunity to creep his way into their midst, or at least close enough that he could do away with the blasted arcane machination that allowed him to keep track of her and finally lay his true eyes on her properly. He'd have to be careful and exceptionally sneaky if he intended to surprise the southern girl at most opportune moment. She'd definitely appreciate some privacy, of course, so he'd just have to restrain himself until she and he could be alone.

Such poise and restraint on his part would undeniably be difficult the closer he drew nearer to their inevitable reconciliation, but Elias had known struggle, and he had known suffering. The one thing he'd learned while enduring both at the bottom of lake Ravok was that in the end, the pain was always worth it.


Yoona would come to understand that lesson after they returned to the city. He owed her that much.


SummaryBasically he's just being more of a creeper, but this time he's creepin' through the woods, close enough now to spot the party with auristics. Next post he'll be within sight of the caravan and hopefully out of sight as well, if he can be sneaky enough.

[Faolan Lundgren]

Faolan Lundgren The dark haired Kelvic glanced over at Yoona nervously as Alea approached the caravan. When he really had a good look at the people in the caravan he suspected that they probably weren't merchants. His time with the caravan that he had traveled with to Ravok had shown him that many different kinds of caravans actually traversed the dangerous roads. These appeared to be the ones that played music or entertained other people. What were they called again? Bards or something, he thought as he watched his friend get dangerously close to these strangers. He barely caught what the young boy said as he had been too absorbed in trying to remember if they were really called bards or not, but couldn't help the small smirk that tugged at the corner of his lips. How were they still alive? Well, it helped that there was a wolf among them who could help them survive the rough conditions. He had a bit of a feeling that Alea had asked him to come along not just because they were friends, but because she knew he could help them make it for a little while in the woods. The smirk faded as suddenly as it had appeared as another man chastised the younger for his comment and then asked Alea a question. When Alea didn't respond to the question that was asked of her he shifted his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Why was she hesitating? Wasn't this what she wanted? To join the caravan? He didn't understand why she didn't just say that they would like to travel with them; that they would be willing to work to pay their way and give them what little money they had. Although...since his hunting had been lacking this season he didn't have a lot of money to spare. He really didn't want to part with it in this manner and was saving it for an emergency, but this could probably count as an emergency he supposed. When Yoona walked away from him he hesitated a moment before following her forward towards the group. He still lingered behind the two women. He was unwilling to get too close to these strangers. His eyes darted between the people warily as Yoona spoke with them. When she said that they could pay he wondered if they actually could. He only had a meager supply of mizas and he wasn't sure that the other two had anything at all. After all they were slaves and from what he understood that meant that they weren't allowed to have money. Unless they stole it from their masters before they fled. That was something that was entirely possible. What if they accepted them on the basis that they could pay? What if they didn't have enough? He worried over those questions until his gaze finally came to rest on the old man. There was a feeling about him that let the Kelvic know that the final decision probably rested with him. The others would probably have a say, but the old man would have the final word. That's how he suspected it would play out anyway; whether it would or not still remained to be seen. Not everyone let the elder of a group be in charge.