PM to join The Great Escape

[Bartholomew]

Light was not the type of man who would betray the very person who saved his life not long ago. He was not cruel to the heart, nor was her evil in the mind. How could he agree to this expedition when the very woman who he was chasing had given her life once to save his. She had gone down into the underworld, the city of the dead, and had brought them both back alive. No, he was not cruel of heart nor evil in the mind, so he turned his horse around and never looked back as he returned to Ravok.

....

"Is there something wrong?"The female who had been playing the harp asked. She had stopped her beautiful strumming when she noticed the first girl losing her voice. She quickly silenced herself when the second filthy girl of the unknown group began speaking.

It was Eden who said something next, going against the warning hiss of Thomas. "How much ya got?"This time Thomas reached over to Eden to give him a slap to the back of his head. "Next time you speak, you won't get any dinner." Thomas leaned back where he was to take a good look at the new girl who was speaking for the strange group. He was staring at them and weighing their level of danger much more than he was talking himself. It was obvious, though, that among this group of performers, he was the leader and the one these people should be negotiating with.

"No, we're not going to Ravok. We're heading away from it. Our next city is twenty-five days away... Since you offered to pay, that's going to be twenty-five gold miza from each one of you. So, if you want to come with us, you need to cough up seventy-five gm-"

Thomas was going to continue, but as he mentioned the final price, the first filthy girl to have said something to the travelers suddenly collapsed next to the one with deep black eyes. Everyone jumped up in surprise, and Eden began to back away and shake his head, terrified that someone was beginning to die in front of him.

Everyone went silent, and it was only Thomas who broke the quiet awed moment of his group by saying:"Is she alright?"

[Yoona]

Again, the young boy took it upon himself to interupt the growing silence, only to be struck by one of the older ones. Yoona kept herself from sending a glare his way; no matter who they belonged to or where they came from, children never seemed to know how to hold their tongues.

She stayed focused on the oldest man, listening to his words as he spoke and trying her hardest to pick up on any ill-intent that lurked within them. But there was nothing but mild wariness in his features, the innumerable lines and crevices that had been carved into his aging flesh over the years giving her the impression of a man who saw no reason to lie to strangers. He said that they were heading away from Ravok—which was beyond a relief—and that he'd need twenty-five mizas from each of them.

Before he could finish, Alea suddenly crumpled to the ground. The Chaktawe woman turned a little and stared down at her, surprised but not overly concerned; the last few days had been especially rough on the young girl, so she supposed that she should have expected her body to give out on her sooner or later. That it had to happen now, however, was inconvenient for all of them.

The caravan people looked a great deal more stunned and worried than she felt, silent until the old man spoke up and asked if Alea was alright. Yoona merely blinked at the girl's motionless body before directing her attention to Faolan, who had remained by the tree. Then she looked back to the man, her expression blank.

'Well...now what?'

"Ah...yes. Just tired," Yoona replied after a beat, sending another glance the girl's way. "Very, very tired...we travel for a few days. She needs the rest."

She then fell silent, unsure of what to do or say next. The Chaktawe woman wasn't one for playing the pity-card, but if having an obviously exhausted and unconscious girl with them was enough to make them feel sorry for their ragtag group, if only a little, it would help. Of course, the fact still stood that they would need to pay, and Yoona had no way of judging whether or not they were being taken advantage of, nor could she bring herself to care. Twenty-five mizas was twenty-five mizas, and if it got them the freedom that they sought, she would be more than happy to hand it over.

Come to think of it, Alea was the one who had the money, wasn't she?

Without hesitating, Yoona knelt down beside the girl and patted her down, her hands sliding across her sullied dress until she felt the slight-bulge of the coin purse. Then she fished it out and stood back up, shaking it a little before turning around and tossing it to Faolan. "Count seventy-five and give them to the man," she said, though the words were more or less of a command. Counting wasn't an issue for her, but at the moment she didn't have the patience to go pawing through all of those mizas, and wanted to give the black-haired boy something to do. Though they were a good distance from the lake-bound city, she was itching to get even further away.

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

[Faolan Lundgren]

Faolan Lundgren When Alea collapsed so suddenly Faolan stepped up closer to her. He nudged her ankle with the toe of his boot and frowned in concern. When Yoona said that the girl was just tired he hoped that she was right and that the girl hadn't suddenly fallen horribly ill. He watched quietly as the dark eyed woman searched Alea for something. The coin purse flew at him suddenly and caught him off guard somewhat. He fumbled to catch it; managing to ensnare it against his chest with an embarrassed expression on his face. He almost wanted to make a comment on her issuing him a command, but at the last second decided it wasn't a good idea and instead opened the purse and sifted through its contents. His eyes darted over the contents and he picked out what they needed to buy their way into the caravan. With the weight of the coins in his right hand he handed Yoona the purse back and eyed the people before him for a moment before slowly approaching. Drifter, his horse, followed along behind the dark haired young man as he took the few steps forward and offered them the money in his closed hand. "Here." he said just loud enough to be heard by the others. He was still very cautious of the people he was approaching and eyed them carefully as he waited for one of them to come get the money he was offering. The horse at his back let out a heavy sigh, blowing hot air against him as though to offer him a little bit of grounding. If things went south he could always grab Alea; fling her onto the horse and run. He had a feeling that Yoona could very well fight off quite a few of them on her own and catch up to them while Alea was defenseless.

[Bartholomew]

"Hey! Wait up!" Amarilla called, prompting Light to stop his horse for her to catch up. She rode up with her steed next to his, a confused look on her young face.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"Far away from here," Light answered. "I cannot do it, Amarilla. I cannot betray someone who saved my life. it goes against my honor."

The woman looked furious. "You promised your father that he will get this done!"

Light was left speechless. In his guilt, he forgot that he gave his father his word that he would return the slaves. Alex was a dear friend to him, yes, but how could he possible disappoint a man like Don Dicey? The sooner he did that, the sooner his father would shun him from his family and make his entire life miserable.

"I know..." Was all Light could say.

"Return with us," Amarilla said. "We are already at the slaves campsite. If we could capture this slave of yours, we could probably ask her owners to go easy on her. Larceny and escape is a bad crime to commit, but I am sure we can work over something."

Light nodded his head. "Sure, but no one gets harmed. That is to be certain!"

Both Amarilla and Light rejoined the group as they stared upon the campfire of the travelers. Roach recognized two women that matched the description of their quarries, but it took Light to confirm that Alea was among the group. However, something was wrong with her, and Light had to fight the urge to run to her aid as quickly as his horse could take him.

When Light's hunting party was done picking their perfect hiding places, Light began to play his part. He trotted his horse through the woods and towards the camp. He made sure to make a lot of noise so that everyone could hear him. He would then stop once they saw him and wait to be acknowledged, staying a safe distance away from them.