An unlikely partnership (Kamrynn)

[Nyahna Sasin]

"That's... correct. I will speak nothing of who you are or what your business here is to a soul, nor will I make any move to interfere with your actions -so long as Lady Perosii is rescued unharmed."

He moaned inwardly. This was not good. At all. The knight believed him to be a criminal. Well, he was, but the knight didn't need to know that. He needed a reason. A concrete reason as to why he was being so defensive and suspicious. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anything to do but play the racist card. Still, it had rarely ever failed him.

"And you definitely will not tell anyone that you saw a Dhani. I much prefer my scales without swords in them, thank you very much."

He groaned as the knight spoke again. "Sorry, I haven't a flint."

Sasin sighed, and coiled his tail tighter. It would be getting cold soon. He paused for a second, thinking."You didn't intend to wait. So what was your plan? Storm the camp, and hope for the best?"

Another pause. "You can't seriously mean that you intended to run in, sword swinging, and become a red smear on the tree. Because that would have happened, even if you managed to take them by surprise. Not that that would have happened. There were several kelvics there. It's a miracle that they didn't scent us when we were there."

[Kamrynn Sleightyr]

Kamrynn's cheeks burned when the Dhani made mention that race had something to do with the treatment he was receiving. Maybe he had been with some of the more sour knights for too long, the Dhani weren't looked well upon by many in the order; perhaps some of that had rubbed off on Kamrynn.

He resolved to remedy that, and would give this Dhani -no, this man- the benefit of the doubt.

Kamrynn's blushing face turned to a beet red when his uneasy ally condemned his plan of rescue. "You can't seriously mean that you intended to run in, sword swinging, and become a red smear on the tree. Because that would have happened, even if you managed to take them by surprise. Kamrynn's sword arm flexed involuntarily, he felt inadequate. He was a decent swordsmen, but he wasn't the best around -his skill would have had to be legendary to take out the camp all alone.

"Actually, that was pretty much what I had in mind." He admitted woefully. "It's kind of what I do; I always find myself stacked up against bad odds or fighting a losing battle for a lost lost cause -but I always come out on top in the end. I think the Kelwyn twins must be looking out for me, because something always happens to bail me out." He grinned. "Like enlisting your help!"

He made himself more at east, lounging against a tree. "So, what's your strategy then, and what kind of Kelvics do you think they have?" He was hoping they were badgers and squirrels. Swordsmen were bad enough, he didn't much relish the thought of fighting a tiger or a bear.

[Nyahna Sasin]

Sasin snickered inwardly as the knight flushed at his accusation. Humans. He liked the race as a whole, but it was humans like these who he really liked. Liked to manipulate, that was. For a few moments, he entertained the idea that one of this human's ancestors had made a bad impression on the Eypharians, and that impression had stuck.

"Actually, that was pretty much what I had in mind......I think the Kelwyn twins must be looking out for me, because something always happens to bail me out."

He raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "You rely on the gods to keep you out of trouble? Although, I'm not familiar with this paticular god. Care to enlighten me?"

He liked hearing about the gods. It gave him more options. He had never heard of Kelwyn, but then again, he didn't know many gods.

He frowned as he was asked about the camp. "I smelled cat, fox and bear. At least... I think it's cat. It could well be a lion. Or a tiger." He mused. How did one tell the difference just by smell? All he had been able to make out was the smell of something feline, before his instincts creamed at him to GET OUT NOW!! "Assuming it's a cat, our biggest problem, really, is the bear. If either of us try to face it one on one, we will soon be nothing but a bloody footnote in history as the idiots who thought they could take on a bandit camp and win."

He sighed again. Things were not looking good. "You didn't happen to bring another weapon with you, did you?"

[Kamrynn Sleightyr]

Kamrynn grimaced as he imagined going toe to toe with a bear. His short sword seemed more like a knitting needle than a weapon when compared to a creature like that.

"You didn't happen to bring another weapon with you, did you?" Nyahna asked, and the question caught Kamrynn off guard.

He spread out his arms and looked down apologetically. He wasn't even wearing a full suit of plated mail; half a breast plate, some gauntlets and thigh guards. "Sorry, I-" He stopped midway, remembering something. "Actually, I do have a lance tip." He grasped at something tucked into his sword strap.

It was a sharp, glistening piece of steel about as long as his forearm. The lance it had been attached to had snapped, and he had salvaged the tip to re-use on another pole. "I could probably fashion another lance with this out of a sapling before nightfall, but I don't know how much use it would be without a horse."

He paused for a moment, in thought. "I'll go ahead and try to make one, it might still prove useful on foot." He envisioned using the charging bear's own momentum to impale itself -it was wishful thinking, perhaps, but it was better than anything else he could come up with. "And if I could somehow nab one of their horses when we started the attack, all the better. A lance mounted on horseback would make short work of even the biggest bear. What do you think?" He purposely omitted telling the Dhani that he wasn't particularly skilled with a lance or in riding a horse.

He moved towards a small nearby sapling to start his work while waiting for Nyahna's response.

[Nyahna Sasin]

He smirked as the knight brought out a lance tip. "Then we may just have a fighting chance." He thought for a minute, trying to remember the layout of the camp. "I'm not entirely certain there were any horses close enough to the edge of the camp that we could steal. Still, it's worth a shot."

He thought for a moment. "You'd have to do it yourself though. I don't think I can get close enough enough to the horses without scaring them, not in this form."

A glance upward revealed that they still had some time to go before dusk. He started picking leaves out of the ground, clearing out a rough circle. Then, he took a stick, and started to etch out a rough map of the bandit camp in the ground.

"Now, let's just review what we know. There are six small tents, and one large one. I think we can safely assume that Maelstrom is in that one. There are about twelve people in the camp. I know that there are at least three kelvic. I believe there were archers as well as swordsmen. Now, I seriously doubt that lance would be any use against the bear, not if you're on the ground. I'll deal with the bear, you can concentrate on the swordsmen, and then you can go find your lady and bring her back to Syliras."

"Now, how about before the battle? We need to steal a horse, maybe find some way of picking them off. I may or may not be able to poison their food. I might at least be able to poison your blade." He mused. His daggers were already poisoned, of course.

"Apart from that, I'm not sure what else we could do. Our main advantage here is the element of surprise."