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Alice bit back the urge to giggle, pretending to rub her nose in order to hide the smile that had formed on her mouth. Turning her head away and quietly tried to take a deep breath. Her tail had fluffed up and as she did. Like it does when she sneezed or had overpowering urge to do something, but didn't dare.

(Sorry for the delay, had a very distracting couple days.)

Ervaina slid along, staring up at the clouds and trying to remember the map she had been looking at that detailed the area after Nathan asked about it. Apparently she had let her mind drift longer than she thought, because by the time she recalled the details Nathan was in the midst of a conversation with Artair and Alice. Continuing on in silence and listening to Nathan and Alice's stories with an odd grin on her face, once they were done she spun on her heel and came to a stop. "Sorry to interrupt the chit-chat everyone, but we've got a camp to clear out!"

Gesturing down the hill they had reached the top of, an old ruin built into a mountainside was maybe a five minute walk straight down the road from them. Outside the ruin was a makeshift camp, smoking rising presumably from a pair of campfires. Even from the distance it was clear they had set up some kind of makeshift wall to protect their sides and archer posts stood on either side of the only visible entrance. There were a few trees and some overgrowth along the approach, but calling it a forest would be too generous. The camp was big enough outside to suggest around two, maybe three dozen outlaws, not to mention however many had set up inside the ruin.

"What do you think? Piece of cake for guys like you, right?" Ervaina asked, clearly confident even though she had no idea what each hire was really capable of.

Artair got down on one knee and looked down. "Well not by myself of course." He turned to look at the group. "Guess thats why you guys are here." He gave a grin then looked back down. "Well we could get Fire lady to set fire to their camp. That should cause some mayhem, and during that we can walk in and start doing what were meant to do."

Taromae nodded. "Easily the simplest solution, Sir Artair," she finally spoke up. She seemed incredibly quiet through the entire chit-chatting session, however much she was listening in.

She moved her hands as if she were playing an invisible piano. She hummed a soft lullaby at first, with calm, peaceful movements of her hands. Around her, fire began to move slowly away from her body in small, dancing wisps circling around her. "It only takes a small amount to do a lot of damage," she sang in the same tune, "But let us be generous. At your command."

"Whoa, clam down there, I'm not in charge here. Chef, unless you or someone else has a better idea, tell her to let loose." Artair said standing up. "Plus you should wait for us to get a lil but closer..."

Alice watched, but did not speak as Mae and Artair discussed burning down the camp. She looked at the place over again. Fire would either burn down the building or alert the gang of the prominent danger allowing them to escape. Plus, she fingered a piece of a stem, she wasn't sure if the place was dry enough for a fire. Alice squatted and ran a finger through the dirt then looked at Bella. If Bella could go into the place and scare them out towards the group, they could ambush them. But, It would be putting Bella in danger as well.

Nathan peered down on the sight before them. He'd been right to bring out his daggers. He adjusted the grip on his longbow and then sighted down it experimentally.

"Actually," he interrupted and lowered his bow again. "If you could spare the fire a little longer, that might be for the better. I assume we don't want 12-to-1 odds? I can probably take out a few of the guards from this range, but they'll catch on. If we could draw them out...that might be for the best. We can pick 'em off as they come out. What we really need is a scout to tell us how many more are around." He looked over at Ervaina. "Could your little, ah, cheese-fairy do that?"

He glanced at Bella who raised her nose to the wind. She looked relaxed and why shouldn't she? She was used to hunting wolves, not people, and Nathan grimaced. How well would her training hold up once she learned sometimes it was okay to attack people? There was no time like the present to find out.

"Hey I like that idea." Artair turned to look at him. "But instead, if Chef would send the cheesy man in there, then into the trees, Nathan and I could be waiting in there. When they enter, we can take them out one by one. While we do that, you ladies could head to the camp and look after who ever left over."

Ervaina scratched her head. "Brie could act as a scout easy, but keep in mind I only need them out of the way so I can get to the ruin. Whether that's solved by fire, an arrow in the throat or just running them off makes no difference to me." She said, holding out her staff and summoning the little fairy again. Once it had appeared and solidified, she smiled. "Brie, would you run ahead and see how many people are in the camp down the road? Try not to be seen if you can help it."

Brie stood on the end of the staff, its spindly arms crossed as it eyed everyone in Ervaina's group. "All right, Chef, but I have to say you've recruited some odd help for this." It commented, before hopping off the staff and sprinting toward the encampment.

Ervaina turned back to the team after watching Brie run off. "All right, so we've got a burn them to the ground from Taromae, pick them off one by one from Nathan and a divide and conquer from Artair. Something tells me my thought of just asking for access to the ruins won't work too well, so how about you two? Any other ideas before we commit to something?" She asked, looking at Alice and Bella expectantly, as if she actually expected the latter to say something.

"I'll show you whose odd..." Artair growled at the cheese man as he ran off. "Were not done yet..." Artair said, as he glared at him

She shrugged and smiled as the woman asked her and Bella. "I like the ambush idea, just how are we going to convince them to run out? If we start a fire, judging by the number of people in there, they could quite possibly put them out." Then she studied the place, "If we get divided, we may become lost and or trapped. Without any way to communicate." She thought about it longer.

"If I take to my demon form, I could easily start a ruckus and at least try steering them out to you guys to pick off. If we take something that can be easily burned lining a trail, we can set it on fire as they run out, herding them into shooting position. Bella could take any that may be smart enough to figure out the reason of the fire." Tilting her head and staring at nothing. "That is about all I have."

She could easily be accepted in a group of evil people, if she told them what she was and convinced them that she could be highly dangerous to all that they meet. It was a really good plan to her.

Artair still keeled there, looking down at the camp. "Well Chef, it's up to you, I don't care either way though."

Nathan looked at Bella who perched atop the hill with them. She cast a look back at them, her tail down, her ears forward as though asking what the hold up was.

Nathan looked at Alice, surprised that the meek girl would risk such a thing. "Demon form or not, that's a bold move. Unless you can fly, it looks like they'll be able to see anyone approaching fairly quickly. And as they're tucked into the mountain, fighting our way in won't be easy either. At the very least, I'll need to take out the archers so you can get close enough to cause a disturbance."

His fingers itched and he began to warm up the bowstring of his longbow in preparation for some shooting. "It's kind of nice to have time to prepare," he murmured, "instead of reacting on short notice."

"Well I thought, that I could get in by pretending to be one of them. I mean people don't like me already. I'd fit in their category quite well. But if they seem become hostile it would be good know you have an archer on your side." She looked over her shoulder at him. "Shall I go then?" She asked.

Nathan relented a little. It was a good strategy, providing the other side bought the act. "I'll have to get in position first. Probably, as Artair suggested, somewhere in the trees where I'm not so visible or susceptible to incoming arrows. And in which case we should split up a little to cover more ground and give you more cover if you are pursued." He directed the last part to Alice.

Finished warming his bowstring, Nathan started to reach for an arrow before quelling the urge. He clapped his hand to his leg instead, calling Bella to his side. She rose and gave his quiver a precursory sniff.

"So now, we wait for the scout to return--and hope he doesn't bring an army with him." But so far as he could tell, it remained quiet in the bandit's post.

"Something easily burned." Ervaina spun her staff in her hand, mulling it over. "I can do that. Heck, give me enough time and I could douse a whole mountain to ignite at a moment's notice and still have plenty of fuel left over. Maybe even enough to set the whole world on fire." She said, an odd grin on her face. "Times like these people should be glad my obsession is with food instead of pyromania, huh?" She added with a laugh.

Thinking for a moment, she focused on Alice. "Demon form, huh? That sounds like it might be powerful, so you'd better save your energy. Trust me on this, bandits are lightweights compared to some of the other things that'll probably be getting in our way. I mean, when I think about what happened last time, I almost didn't make it out alive and my partner at the time drowned in custard! It's enough to put you off the stuff!" She exclaimed, then noticed she was rambling again and now wasn't really the time.

"Anyway, I don't want to put anyone that isn't expendable at risk, so don't be doing anything crazy, Alice. We'll leave that up to Artair. If storybooks have taught me anything it's that the guy that looks like a mighty hero doesn't go down without one hell of a fight! Isn't that right, Arty?" She said brightly, walking over and patting him on the shoulder. Movement down the hill caught her eye and she noticed Brie running back. With three of the bandits in hot pursuit. "Oh dear. I guess bright orange cheese against a green backdrop isn't good for stealth, is it?"

"Last partner?" He asked before the cheese man came into view. "I suggest everyone back up a bit, don't let them see us until they come up over the ledge, then we hit them..." Artair stood up and walked back a bit "Also, Chef. No custard please..."

Alice saw the men and got into a defending stance after backing up so they wouldn't be noticed, if they don't see that they are outnumbered before they reached the top of the hill they will be in for a nasty surprise.

Artair drew his claymore. "Nathan, take out the closest one to you with your arrow. I'll get the closest to me, anyone wanna jump in for the last, help yourself..."

Nathan's chuckle was cut off by the mention of approaching bandits. In the blink of an eye, he had nocked an arrow to his bow and he drew it, sighting for his target.

He loosed without any warning; the snap of the bowstring the only indication he'd fired. The loosed arrow soared true--striking one of the bandits in the throat.

"I forgot how much easier it is to fight when you can actually look at your opponent," was all he said, fitting another arrow to his bow, just as Artair's words reached him. "Ah, sure thing, Artair."