Caught off guard (Open)

[S'aria]

511 AV 1st Day Of Winter
"Huh? Who am I?" The white haired girl asked herself as she woke up. "Oh my god! I must have amnesia. Oh this is horrible, I don't know who I am, I don't know who my family is, I don't know where I live! Oh my god what do I do?!" Not knowing anything, she worried frantically. She looked around. A bag laid turned over on the ground next to her, a blood bathed rock was under were her head lay a few seconds ago. "Okay, remain calm. I hit my head on a rock, and I have temporary amnesia, right?" She turned toward her backpack, and unzipped it. She pulled out a journal, and started flipping through it. "All the entries in this book are signed, S'aria. That must be my name I'm sure of it." As she read on, she learned that she was on her way to the city of Sunberth, to mine for precious gems. She would have continued, but she heard a carriage coming her way. Quickly packing away the things she pulled out, and picking up a pickax she noticed by her feet, she stood to turn towards the noise.

A large caravan wheeled it's way toward her. Were it's cover should have been, a massive cage laid, nailed into the caravan. It was being pulled by a horse, and a scarred man drove it. There were about four other men riding in the back, who had handcuffs, whips, and other things to restrain victims. She instantly knew they were slave traders, but she knew she couldn't outrun them. As the vehicle drew closer, the four men jumped out of the back. They closed in on her, and looked at her as though she was a piece of meat. Scared for her life, she turned to run, but the slavers were quicker. A tall muscled man grabbed her shirt, and dragged her toward the cage. The men threw her in the steel prison, and started to tie her up. They handcuffed her, bound her legs, then gagged her with a wad of rope. She tried to get out of the cage, but naturally it was closed before she could even move an inch. The gate was locked with a padlock, and S'aria felt the wagon turn around. She was heading towards Yahebah, she was worried about what would happen to her, but knew she was lucky to keep her stuff since most slavers raid slaves before capturing them.



Out of character post: The slave traders have two whips total, and one knife each. Most of them are week excluding the stronger one of the bunch who caught S'aria. The slavers also have no armor.

[Darian]

As the the bitter winter dawned across the land, Darian found himself just outside of Sunberth on a unremarkable earthen path. Words from Callik had sent him out this way, the man's wishes needing to not be spoken after spending so long in the slaver's company. A day previous one of Callik's many spies had spotted a young konti woman traveling alone towards Sunberth, a dangerous proposition that had earned her Callik's interest, to her misfortune. Its what found him out trekking on the fringes of the city for the good portion of the day before he finally ran across the woman, or better to say a woman and her company. Just what sort of company it was was what he was trying to figure out.

Light stepping among to scrub lining the edge of the ridge, he rolled his feet carefully as he could against the smooth stones in a heel toe method as he picked his way forward, moving for a position that afford him the best view. His legs found themselves rigidly tense as he crawled along in a crouch, but gritting his teeth, and gently moving barren branches to the side, he managed to ignore the cramping in his legs somewhat by concentrating on the dark hollow of the wide tree trunk that had shattered open from a long ago lightning strike. It would be the perfect vantage point and excellent complement to his night leather armor as he sat in the shadows and looked to see just what the situation was. His booted foot slid on some loose pebbles as he picked his way up to the trunk, drawing a curse from Darian, but he had long been ahead of the traveling party so there was no need for worrying about being exposed to arrows, or whatever weapons they might carry, but the fact he had slipped wasn't exactly comforting. Growling past the setback he reached out to grasp the flexible root of a long shredded bush and shifting some of his weight he pulled hard and bought some reasonable footing with the maneuver, enough so that he could climb up the rest of the way up the slight slope to the comforting shadows of the tree trunk.

* * * * *

In the shadows he waited, and the subtle creak of wheels echoing in the quiet air drew his eye to the side where a wagon wheeled just around the bend. He could make out figures from his perch, and it was nice to see them as more than merely dots below them for now he could at least try to take the weight of each and every man and pit them against his own skill. Whatever they be, he was to get the girl, but just who they might call their profession would affect how he would handle them. After all if they were seasoned guards, thats something he'd like to know for they'd be coordinated and practiced, but if they were just some rabble that got lucky it make his task that much easier. Drawing a deep breath he studied the men escorting the woman in chains, his eyes focusing first on a scarred man driving the horses along, his eyes focused on the road, but occasionally peering up on the ridge but whether it was casual or he expected something, Darian couldn't quite tell. In the back, just behind the bolted iron cage, four men drank heavily, and spoke loudly to one another. They wore plain, dirtied clothes much like the driver did though they did not look around seeming entirely focused on themselves and more pointedly their potent drink, armed to be sure, but not much to be rightly feared by all appearances. Rabble it was then.

* * * * *

More that two bells time farther down the trail, and nearly half a bell ahead of the caravan Darian waited behind a rather large boulder perched precariously among many others on the edge of the ridge that almost bridged over to the other side with a similar cliff like formation flanked the path now making a narrow, sheltered pathway between the unyielding stone. The caravan would pass through here if it was slavers like he thought it was, or at least he hoped it was going to pass just below him. The path was far from the main road that would edge gradually upwards towards Syliras sat, and the territory the holier than though knights patrolled, and he figured that it would be a place men like these would like to avoid thus they might try to take a more western favoring route early on or at least thats how he would have chosen. For the moment he would have to wait, but eyes glancing impatiently at the road behind him, and back at the large broken branch beside him, he took a deep breath, and hoped his observations proved true.

[S'aria]

As S'aria waited patiently, she grew tired of the drunken men riding in the back with her. She was chained, gagged, and bound at the legs, the last thing she wanted was to listen to the drunken bastards who did this to her. Maybe if she could stand, and could lift it without the slavers noticing, she could use the pick to break the lock, and jump out. If she did this, she could at least draw a lot of attention from the locals, and maybe find a savior. The only problem was that her hands were cuffed behind her back.

The Carriage slowly moved forward, and S'aria noticed a tree ahead with a quite loose looking branch. It was probably just broken by some kid climbing around, but if miracles did happen, then maybe someone was watching the caravan from afar, and had used the tree to get to a higher point. The caravan was almost under the tree, when she noticed that the wheels were making a not so reassuring noise. The wheels had to be old or loose, perhaps she could get the crate to tip over. They were now underneath the tree with the broken branch, and she waited to be able to put her plan in action.

[Darian]

Rusted wagon wheels creaked ever so noisily and he found it good that it was paired with the raucous laughter from the men below. It might just serve enough to cover up any noise he might make. Using his back he pushed himself to his feet from leaning against the boulder and leaned over to scoop up the large branch, pulling it out of sight from the road with a quick movement that caused a splintering of wood and a popping noise he hoped was covered up by the creaking wheels of the wagon. There was no time for doubts in any case though, for now he needed to act, and do it fast before they got out from under him and hastily he shoved the tip of the shattered branch just under the edge of the boulder and heaving with all his strength against the opposite end of the large, heavy log of a branch he pressed all his weight down with such movement. He could feel as much as hear the wood creak and crack under the pressure, but he ignored it pressing harder and harder down against the end till he had his feet solidly underneath him and he could press down with the power from his arms and his legs.

Behind him the boulder edged up as the leverage was applied, the sizable rock tipping forward ever so slightly even as the wagon came along, almost ready to cross underneath where the boulder loftily sat. Constant pressure kept it tipping along as it was, and when the wagon was just about under it, it passed the point of no return and with a crack of rock on rock, it finally fell over and bounced down the short sharp slope of the ridge before reaching the empty air. Silent and deadly, the missile fell through the air after toppling over the edge, its destination the dirt road the wagon was just crossing over. Darian didn't stick around to see the fruits of his actions, too busy was he scrambling over the opposite end of the ridge, down a small goat path that lead quickly down to the bottom where the rag tag group of slavers hopefully were running around more confused than anything. The sound of loud crash followed by a horse neighing out in its last breaths, and men groaning aloud in pain filled voices followed him down that slope, and a small smile found its' way to his face.

[S'aria]

S'aria turned forward when she heard the horse whinny. As soon as she had looked, the horse was reduced to nothing by a boulder that had fallen. She stood up awkwardly, and looked at the men frantically racing around. She saw a dark robed figure about five feet away from the cart, he wore a wry smile, but other than that she couldn't see much else, for his body was covered in clothes not unlike that of an assassin. Was there possibly a bounty on her head that she didn't know about, or is this just someone trying to help her.

The driver was on the ground, his legs caught underneath the massive rock. The other men were now looking towards the new dark figure. In the panic, S'aria got a new idea, she wrapped the chain of her hand cuffs around her pick, then pushed the pick through the bars of the cage, turned it sideways, and pulled so that there was no way the pickax could get back through the bars unless she turned it upright again. She pulled hard on the chain, and pressed her foot against the handle of the pick. She could tell that the chain was made of a very weak metal, and trusted it to snap soon, in the mean time, the slavers looked at the dark man. "What the hell do you think your doing?" The tall strongman slaver barked his words at the daring assassin type. "Your going to be sorry you ever crossed us! Now, slaving isn't my usual trade, I'm a hired mercenary, so I'd like to see you try to even harm me. Your much more a toothpick than a hero. What's your name? I like to know who my victims are before I rip their guts out." The mercenary spoke highly of himself.

[Darian]

With every effort to keep his balance Darian scrambled down the narrow path, his right hand scrabbling at the dirt as he attempted to slow his movements down the small path. Just below him he could see the flat ground rushing up at him, but it wouldn't be as simple as running down it if he wanted to retain his sure footing. No, he had something quite different in mind. His right hand clenched a tuft of dirt and grass at the last few feet before flat rocky ground spread wide beneath, and his feet still haphazardly falling over themselves down the steep slope, he heaved himself forward at the last moment, taking the last few feet in a haphazard roll that left him bruised and dusty.

Immediately he shot up, ignoring the pain radiating in his body and shifting the handful of dirt he managed to keep hold of into his left hand as he started sprinting around a corner of rock where the slavers cried out in confusion. In a whisper of steel he drew his longsword and held it aloft in in right hand as he charged forward. His hazel eyes flashed for a moment to meet that of the tall and broad man barking words at him, wasting precious moments to speak when he should have been preparing himself for a fight. His mistake. Another stride put him just feet from the man, and throwing out his left arm he let loose a clod of dirt that filled the air with dust as it smacked against the man's chest just as he worked to loosen his whip from his belt. Darian overbalanced with the movement, toppling forward ever so slightly, and hit the side of the wagon in the next moment. Instinct spurred him on in that moment, reacting even in the brief haze that stung his eyes, and heaving his weight to the side he sent himself into a tight spin, and bringing his longsword to bare, he slashed across through the mist of dust in low, smiling in satisfaction when he felt it hit something and heard a cry of pain.

He had no time to savor the moment though for just a moment later the dust settled and he could see three other men rushing in the other man's wake, all with knifes bared in their hands and bloodlust in their eyes. The leading one happened to be just strides from him, and Darian had to heave himself backwards to dodge a scathing knife blow that skipped off of his leather armor by chance before causing any serious damage. Backwards he went, and as soon as he felt the reassuring stone of the boulder, he brought his longsword up in front of him and waved it threateningly in front of himself, all the while edging away from the driver that was only just clinging to life. His eyes spared a moment to look over at the man he felled only to see the tall mercenary scramble to his feet, though his limped heavy and his calf was soaked in blood. In a few more moments the other men would be joining the one just before him, and would surround him if he didn't handle this one fast enough. Biting his bottom lip, he spared a glance over at the cage.

[S'aria]

After giving the chains one last hard tug they snapped, dropping the pick barely in reach, finally. Now she took out her gag, and unbound her legs. S'aria picked up the gag, and awkwardly threw it through the bars, hitting the tall, supposed mercenary if the face. This caught him off guard, but he didn't realize were it came from. S'aria picked the pickax off the ground, she had enough time to try to break the lock of the cage. The pickax rose above her head, and upon bringing it down, she stumbled in comical manner, and accidentally slashed the bars sideways. Now any normal pick would have merely bounced of, but instead this one went clean through the bars, and still managed to get the lock. Free at last. She wasn't sure how it happened, but she was glad it did.

S'aria stepped out of the cage, ax in hand. She ran up behind one of the slavers, and axed his left leg out from under him. He fell with a shrill yelp. S'aria hurried towards her savior, and hid behind him. "I'll take the ones on the left, you get the right, okay?" She ordered him in a weak soft voice.

[Darian]

His eyes barely glimpsed her getting a hold of a pick axe before settling back on the man charging him with a dagger. His advantage was he had more reach, and the man was seemed as good as he himself was with a dagger. The flip side of it was the man was a lot bigger than him, and he had friends fast rushing to his aid. If he was going to make it out of his alive, he had to take care of this one fast. On came the surly man who smelled strong of ale, his dagger darting in low to try and gut him. Darian's longsword came sweeping before him, hitting the dagger far wide, and leaving the man's body vulnerable. Up went his knee into the slaver's groin, slamming hard to bring the man to his knees, and drop his dagger much to Darian's pleasure. He had no time to savor the moment though, and slamming the crosspiece of his blade into the man's temple, he quickly stepped over the crumpling man to meet the next pair of attackers. He could hear the young woman's voice behind him now, and confusion crinkled his brow, but he pushed it aside as he only offered a brief nod as he parried on man right into his friend, the pair stumbling away, and out of his reach. Darian moved to chase after them, but the man he had gotten with the dirt had recovered at last and limped into his path, and before he could react the man thrust forward, stabbing deep into his left shoulder, and drawing a pained cry. A burning sensation washed over him nearly staggering him, even as the man grabbed him by the pendant holding his cloak together and pulled him close. His longsword had been dropped, but not forgotten.

"Boy's get the girl, going to take this one to the boss" The man grunted or at least tried to for just as he finished his first few words Darian wrapped his hand around the hilt of his iron dagger, and brought it forward to plunge into the man's side before he tore it out of the man's flesh, and left him to drown in his own blood as his punctured lung filled with the precious fluid. Heaving his weight to the side, he narrowly avoided the plunge of a dagger, and fell hard to the ground, rolling onto his back and gritting his teeth hard as pain flared up with the jarring movement. Desperation in his eyes, he dug out his other dagger, one with a curious rat skull hilt, and Darian shuddered as he brought it to bare in front of him only to toss it weakly at the the slaver stalking towards him. As he got to his feet, his own dagger in hand he could see the man picking it up, examining closely the dried blood covering the blades hilt, his smile wide enough to show his full set of crooked yellow teeth.

"Pretty thing you got here, the better to gut you with" The man cackled before charging, but midway he stopped as a weird look came over the man's face and he stopped to look at his body. "What in the-" Darian laughed as he saw the man's discomfort, and in a sudden burst of energy, cleared the few feet between them, and slashed forward, the man only just parrying the strike and knocked back under the weight of the blow. Up high and across his dagger came again causing the man to dunk, and have to keep his dagger to close to be of use. Again and again he slashed fiercely at the man, trying his best to keep the man busy, and from the wild look in the slaver's eyes, he could tell his dagger was having quite the heavy hand in that was well. He couldn't see the woman or the other man who was still yet out there, but for the moment he couldn't focus enough to care why that would be relevant when his life was on the line with his current foe.

Steel continued to ring loud all around, the man's teeth clenched as he parried strike after strike of Darian's while pulling at his clothing with his other hand. Quick as he could he lunged forward with a overreaching strike with his dagger, the hit only just barely blocked and splitting the skin of the man's chest shallowly drawing a stagger. With everything he had, he pushed forward, keeping the dagger far out to the side as he used his sheer weight to topple the man over and drop the dagger. The man's hand came up quick to land a heavy punch across Darian's jaw but he was quick to respond with a dagger to the man's jugular, the man realizing the folly to late. In one movement he tore his dagger from the man's neck, and picked up his skull dagger, sheathing them both with trembling hands, before he ran over and scooped up his longsword. "[b]Where are you? Drop your weapons or meet your companions in the next"

[S'aria]

Standing in awe at the way he had just killed those men, S'aria quickly reverted her eyes from the warrior, and looked at the two other men. They too had been staring in disbelief at this relentless demon-like fighter. She had no choice but to kill them. She picked a knife off of the driver, and hurled it at the closest slaver. It hit him dead in the neck, lucky shot, but she knew that she wouldn't always be able to hit such vital spots without proper training. Maybe she could train herself with knives another time. The slaver fell to the ground with a choking sound. It gave S'aria shrill thoughts to see him fall, but he was a slaver, he oh so greatly deserved to die. She was scared to go forward and attack the next one. Even if she caught him off guard, he would still fight back, and noticing someone so great at fighting as her new acquaintance have such trouble with fighting at close range, she was certain that she would have a very good chance at getting mauled. S'aria had no options though, so she merely held her pickax firm, and charged.

The man must have seen her out of the corner of his eye, he turned and jumped backwards to avoid a slash from her pickax. She decided that if she was going to do any real damage, she would have to do the unexpected to surprise him. She rolled forward after his backwards jump, and though he gave her a good slash to the leg upon her movement, she popped up and jumped planting her feet on his chest. She was now on top of the situation, literally. She brought the ax above her, and planted it upon the man's forehead. She turned her head in horror as the blood splattered all over her. She let out a small squeak, and backed away.

[Ossshamamora]

She had only been meaning to catch a nap after a lame bird had the unfortunate luck to catch her eye, the bright hues drawing her towards it…it had made a lovely toy but she never did enjoy trying to eat around the feathers and had released it after a few moments and made to sleep. But something had once more drawn her attention, it was the swift removal of her napping branch, one moment she was content and drifting to sleep then next she was dropping through the air at an alarming rate. Her first instinct had been to search for her attacker but her defense was unnecessary for it only seemed a group of humans was fighting. Again. How quaint. The rabble though was not what attracted her attention, no, it was the shock of white hair among the group that made her pause. White hair…I have never seen white hair. Inching closer she watched the fight with a bit of interest, she wanted to see if the white haired one would live and if it did she would be introducing herself. As she watched the fight she could not help but hiss a little in annoyance, they had no finesse! They were brawling like drunkards in a tavern bar! Where was the torture? The calculated attacks? Humans! They never seemed to have any flair for the interesting or dramatic. Shifting herself delicately she watched the end of the fight with abject boredom, the only thing keeping her from going elsewhere was the girl. When she was sure they were dead she allowed her body to shift, enjoy the way it seemed to ripple through her body, extending at awkward angles, shrinking and separating. She felt a smile spilt her face as the final shiver of bones placed itself and her hair brushed against her shoulders her eyes snapping open to narrow in the on the blood bath below her. Too bad she wasn’t hungry, a fine meal some of the men might have made, then again she did not enjoy junk food. Glancing around the foliage she noted that her bag was still in place and with a quick step, ignoring the fact that the two below would most likely hear and attack, she grabbed her pack and slid down the hill, stopping abruptly before the only other living beings. She was never one to start a conversation but considering the circumstances it would probably be best if she offered the beginning, “I will help you bury the bodies.”