Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » The Mysterious Bandit (Closed)

Being delivered to her own clan, wouldn't that make an interesting story? Of course Iskra hardly knew of the mercenary band that traveled behind the Knights; her sole focus was her life, which, if left in Pentre's hand, wouldn't last very much longer than this night.

She looked to Atoli, listening to her comments; she truly wasn't in the shape to run a long distance, and she wouldn't have the time to call a bird and send a message to her clan, not with the Knights on their tail. Of course she didn't trust the creature, but then again, who did she trust more? Pentre or the beast?

"Your name was Atoli, da? Wherever that place is, the one you know. Lead us there, and quickly. I'd hate to see what Pentre has in mind for us...and that Knight too, now that he knows who I am..."

Well, at least she had done her best to keep Quintus out of trouble. Now if she could only keep herself out of trouble as well.

Atoli stared back at Sokol and nodded before setting off through the forest at an odd, galloping sort of run. She figured it would be quieter if she didn’t flap her wings and would be less likely to be spotted by the guards if she remained on the ground. Though she was, for the most part, unaccustomed to running, the creature could be swift on her slim avian legs. The harpy glanced behind every so often to make sure Iskra kept up. Her pale face stood out in the dark forest like disembodied mask; her black hair and feathers did well to hide her.

Once they made it past the thickest part of the woods and found a river, Atoli hissed out a broken whisper, panting, “Hhh... once we cross this…we should find my…hideout.”

She sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm her heart. Running was much more tiring than flying. She didn’t bother to look to see how Iskra was holding up before taking flight; With a few flaps of her wings she crossed the river easily and looked at Iskra expectantly. She waved one feathery arm, beckoning, still catching her breath.

"Very well" Quintus responded nodding as he watched Pentre leave. Once he was gone he turned to the mercenaries giving them a once over, "Aynor was it? I think it'd be best if we split into 3 groups going North, North-East, and North-West...we'll cover more ground that way. Do you have any trackers among you, if so They should come with me, it'd give me the best chance at finding that damned bandit"

In truth, splitting the group would make it easier for the bandit and Atoli to escape or fend whoever found them off. It also made it easier for him to incapacitate those with him, and finally, having the trackers would reduce the chance any of the other groups found them. The question was would they go for it, he could always pull 'rank' but from what he'd learned mercs could be unpredictable.

Looking Northwards Quintus attempted to push his horse to move,it took a long minute but at last the blasted animal moved. He probably seemed slightly incompetent but no matter, anything that could help lower their guard was a welcome advantage, even if it struck a blow to his ego. Heading towards the area he'd last seen the women, he glanced around, waiting at the edge of the forestry. He sighed, hoping he'd bought them enough time to get away.

Robin chuckled loudly at the words.

"Oi lads, TIN man here... thinks... he is in charge of us all... and without paying us upfront... he wants us to split so he can take us down more easily..." trailed off Robin leaning against a rather cheekily with a somewhat taunting voice



"Shame he asked for all the trackers to join him, I guess that leaves nobody for the other teams then" shrugged Robin arms crossed along the chest causing the group to close in more so.

---

"Trying to take down slavers and rogues single handedly may sound brave and bold but is hardly smart, mighty knight... so... how much will you be paying us for our services?" asked Haldor who mostly thought about rotten money



"You better have plenty available... Pentre ain't here to save you from harm any more" assured Haldor "and that only stretches as much as his gold does..." guaranteed the thug axe resting across his shoulder

---

"If you fail to pay up, I might make a slave out of you yet, you know, a captive... the goods I sell at the slavers and bandits to make the gold..." trailed off Glendale



"Bet you gotta have a large pouch of shiny coin hidden somewhere..." muttered Glendale now considering robbing Quintus for anything that might be worth the while anything valuable at all, including the horse.

"Hand over the goods and you get to live to tell the tale..." offered generously as if doing Quintus a favour

---

"Disgraceful... utterly disgraceful, trying to pass for an honourable knight all the while he wants to betray us all like a callous rogue... disgraceful" scoffed Matthew



"Would you really do that? I mean... what did I ever do to you? uh?" muttered Matthew unhappy "We haven't even talked properly at lenght yet you know?" mumbled Matthew taking a step back as Rufus came to give a piece of mind

---

"I think you better surrender quietly, quickly and willingly, if you don't want a bad beating.... we will drag you along till we get the girls and then sell you all, you to the slavers and the girls... to the lord knight... Enemies pay up double for their foes..." mused Rufus

---

"I will watch him meself whilst we track down the two birds..." muttered Bart eyes Quintus suspiciously if not with an evil eye and distrust. "One foul move, I´ll knock ya to sleep" assured Bart in no mood for games watching Glendale

'Well that plan fell apart quite fast' Quintus thought to himself, not that it mattered he thought darkly, as much as he disliked killing humans if it came down to them or him he was fine with them taking a dirt nap, not that their weapons would do much good against him. Quintus let out a chuckle, turned to look at them and stated simply, "You get paid by Pentre, this is his mission. You don't like it leave, groups of two since you feel like whining like new born whelps. " With that he began entering the forest, a malicious thought occurred to him, may he could just wipe them out here and now, with his skill the likelihood of one escaping was low. And with their non-existent loyalty....... He shook his head a bit and continued onwards, ever focused on the radar on his visor, both in-front and behind. He hoped the girls were alright. "Primitives" He muttered under his breath.

Matthew the more righteous of the group, though following his own moral compass anyhow, paused to ponder Quintus words

"Ahhh he IS right, you know? I took a pouch of gold for each one of us from Pentre, which he gave us and then I robbed from Pentre's horse another ten bags or so..." admitted Matthew openly confessing the crime of theft before the knight in charge



"You did what?!" frowned Robin not at all pleased to hear of it. "Didn't you know that robbing the lord knight of the realm is the surest way to make it to the gallows?" scolded Robin shaking his head

"You better move lads and find those girls, he might accept a life... for a life... in the meantime... TIN man here might be able to help the situation..." winced Robin, the unexpected theft giving Quintus a distinct advantage.

"You heard... pair up... Bart with Matthew... you guard the horses and stay back of the queue. Haldor and Glendale, you two pair up and run ahead, we need scouts, so up the trees and take a good look for signs of the girls.

Rufus and I will make sure Tin Man doesn't get hurt or lost... Pentre would not take it kindly if he finds gold missing and a knight of his missing too" muttered Robin rubbing the back of neck uncomfortably at this sudden turn of tables that placed at disadvantage concerning Quintus.

"Aynor... you go with Tin... with the knight of the realm... chief. You are better at diplomatics than us" reasoned Robin getting a nod of approval from Aynor

Glendale hurried ahead, hiding and lurking behind trees to listen into sounds, crouching to quickly track down with certainty the route the girls had just taken. Atoli's black feathers quite unique giveaway of the direction and location, not to say the heavy footing from Iskra who, being wounded and rushing out with haste was likely to leave deep prints on the muddy ground.



"psst, psst...." whispered Glendale calling Haldor over, the pair of them watching out for danger, ambushes and skirmishes from foes. One would be foolish to think there were alone for other crowds of rogues also plagued the forests as much as they did.

---

In the meantime, lord Pentre had already marched further forward, circling the forest and venturing from the opposite the direction so as to trap the pair of women between his guards and his well paid rogues



"Keep your eyes and ears open... I want the girls found... they cannot have gone too far ahead with such serious injuries" remarked Pentre releasing the hunting dogs and spurring the horse after them, with their help it was a matter of time before he located the runaway fugitive women and brought Iskra back to the scaffolding.

---

It was here, at this very point in time, when the forest is swarming with bandits on one entrance, and ruthless knights and callous guards are advancing from the opposide side, that Taff managed to make a run for it.

It had taken him much work to escape from the bandits grasp and he was certain this group was no ordinary group, they were well trained, they were ruthless, and they were very experienced. If they caught up to him, his life was most certainly forfeit in the most painfully slow ways. Such thoughts, however, did not deter our young warlock from breaking into a run to hide into the dense forest and hopefully find help.

The prince was captive and Taff was but one disarmed servant... he would need all the help he could garner and quickly, before the bandits disposed of the prince or cause prince Merthyr harm.



Not only did he have to seek for help from guards and knights but also he had to keep himself out of the well trained rogues grasp which no easy feat at all, whilst finding his way home. Little did he know that it was but a matter of time until he stumbled into two fugitive girls and a band of thugs.

’She’s actually trying to kill me.’ Iskra thought to herself, breathing harshly as she stared at the frigid waters of the river. When was the last time she had willingly leapt into water this cold? Probably not since she murdered her husband, he had been a bear of a man and was usually enough to warm her up.

“But now he’s dead, thank the gods.” She grumbled. Then again, she could hear the faint barking...but which direction was it coming from? Her head throbbed with the beginnings of what would be a very painful headache, and the barking echoed through the trees— “I don’t have time for zhis!” She hissed at herself.

So Iskra did what any sane person would do. She stripped. Thankfully Quintus had left the binding over her chest, and the woman chose to leave her pants on, but she balled up her tunic and furs and with a light huff of air, tossed them to the other side of the river. She would need dry clothing after this, and that was the best she could do. And then, with a deep inhale, Iskra dove into the water.

The only issue? Iskra couldn’t swim.

Stubborn as she was, she wasn’t going to actually verbalize this. No, instead, the bandit had just leapt into the water, hoping that sheer willpower and fear alone would grant her to motivation to somehow learn. Which it did, to a degree. She made it halfway across before there was a slow in her motions, and with a short yell, the Bandit disappeared beneath the water; she re-emerged a moment later, kicking off the floor of the river, gasping for air and resisting the urge to cry for help.

One would argue swimming would be something vital for a Bandit, and it was. But Iskra had never needed to learn with her husband around; he would help her cross rivers, and besides, they didn’t encounter them often. Her rather short stature didn’t help, since it meant longer before she could kick off the river floor. It was a terrible weakness, and she cursed herself for not learning the skill. After this, she would certainly be practicing.

Iskra dragged herself up the riverbank, gasping for air and pushing her hair from her eyes; the two strands from her neck stuck to her bare skin and she shuddered as the wind blew, wrapping her arms around herself. But this wasn’t the time for wallowing, and she reached over, tugging her tunic over her head and wrapping her furs around her shoulders, ”H-Hurry. I c-can hear the dogs.” Hopefully that lovely dip in the river was enough to erase her scent and throw them off for a bit.

As she watched Iskra leap into the river the harpy winced at the other bandit’s expression; it became very clear that she did not know how to swim. Atoli swore under her breath as Iskra’s head disappeared under the water and paced to and fro at the edge of the water; biting her fisted hand as she did. Atoli couldn’t swim either and looked hesitant about trying to help any further.

‘Curses…’ Atoli thought, a disappointed and immeasurably guilty look crossing her face as she stared at the river, ‘so she’ll die anyway after all that trouble... I might as well have let her die on the road with all the good I did…’ A small bead of blood welled up from where she nicked her hand with her teeth; she licked at it absentmindedly and continued pacing. This was not at all what she had in mind…

When the blond head of the woman burst out of the water the harpy jumped as if she herself had resurfaced from the icy waters. “Ah! Come on!” She squawked the odd encouragement, forgetting for a moment to keep her voice down, and hopped from foot to foot. When Iskra reached the other side and pulled her clothes back on, the guilty look on her face now gone, “Don’t die on me now, ‘kay? We’re nearly there." Atoli chided, and set off through the thickets; albeit at a much slower pace now as she kept an eye on the shivering woman.

Hardly a quarter of an hour passed till a dilapidated barn came into view. In daylight hours, one could imagine that it was a handsome Gable barn when it was first built; But after decades of neglect it looked menacing in the darkness. It was a decent sized structure with an angled roof covered in moss and greenery, and had closed double doors that looked like they had been broken and then naturally fused into place with rotted wood and clinging plants, and gaps in the walls caused the air to whine through the building. But despite its overall wear the barn still held firm, and its loft was where a harpy called her roost.

“I usually just fly in through the window at the top…” Atoli murmured and eyed the pale woman; doubting she could climb up to it. “You could go through a gap where I’ve seen some big coons go through to get to the bottom floor…maybe…” And began to swat away ferns and other growth that clung to the side of the walls; pulling back a few vines weeds to further expose the large hole in the wall.

The size of it looked like a child or a small woman could crawl through it. She squatted by it, considering for a moment, before hunkering further down to lay on her belly and shuffling through successfully; though the harpy was more along the size of a child than a woman. “See? Not too hard...I can help pull you through if you’re too fat though.” Her voice drifted through the black gap, sounding matter-of-fact.

It must've been midnight when they left, and the further into the forest Quintus went the darker it became. Eventually he began occasionally flipping through vision modes, night-vision, thermal, then infrared and back to normal, part out of boredom, part out of caution. The rushing wind gave him a sense that it must be getting cooler, perhaps a storm? it'd be trouble for pentre and the mercs but a boon for him and the girls, assuming they had found safety.

Turning his head to the side his helmet picked out a distinct object....a feather, with a soft sigh he nudged his horse to the side, brushing against it, with some luck the feather would fall into the leaves and vanish in the dark. Quintus swore mentally, it's like they WANTED to be caught, a feather here, a footprint in mud there, it was surprising that the trackers hadn't found them, the darkness really was helpful in this case. Watching his " help's " movements it was clear that they were seasoned, the inefficiencies however, were clear in their actions, he couldn't help but grin as one of them stepped on one of the girls tracks, effectively ruining the clue. As he changed again to thermals he noticed a cooler than normal source up ahead, long and wide, a river!

With some luck the river would have been cut across by the girls, effectively dispelling the trail. He wondered what the mercs and Pentre's next move would be, perhaps they'd finally give up? one could dream...

Haldor paused by the edge of the forest as they came close to the river bend.



"See all these broken twigs, all snapped at the same height, shoulder level.... it must have been the fugitive woman. If it had been the knights, the flooring would have been covered in hooves. They crossed the river at this point... muddy footsprints in the sludge and more the other side too." noted Haldor having crouched.

"They're fresh as well, if they were old, the edge of the prints would be eroded by now. Mud doesn't hold sharp for long..." indicated Haldor looking back at Aynor

"Oh I know I know... they probably went to old Jack's barn!" announced Glendale, running locations through his mind

"But why? Every fugitive and their dog always aims to that very same barn, it is the first place Pentre will check... He is the one that killed its owner for practicing sorcery..." frowned Haldor scratching his head confused



"Never mind Pentre... we are on HIS team now... remember? Since he is not hunting US down we can safely cross and help catch the girls first" concluded Aynor waving the men forward across the river. They knew very well where that disused house was at and they would make haste to get there quickly, before the knights and guards got there.

---

Taff was resting by the river, further ahead, the run had been rather tiring and he was growing thirsty so he thought to himself he could afford a few moments of respite. He sat down and scooped some water with his hand, drinking copiously for a short while.



No sooner Taff heard the barking dogs in the distance that were indeed closing in on his location, he knew he had been found so he broke into a run, assuming the captors he had ran from had now unleashed the dogs to find him.

It was expected, Taff reaching help would mean the rescue of a crown prince and a hefty ransom lost. Taff sprinted all the faster to get to the shelter, hoping the thugs would not know or remember of the forgotten barn that had belonged to his uncle Jack.

He ran afoot, fast enough to tire himself down, reaching that barn rather quickly but pausing stiff and wide eyed.

No sooner he reached the barn he encountered Iskra, back to him as she seemed to talk to the house or someone inside it. She was standing outside in her bandit cloak, the coat of arms an obvious indication of who she was or what group she belonged to.

Taff was shaken to the core, pale faced and wide eyed. He had just ran from said group further ahead... only to fall straight into its leader's lair who had claimed the only safe haven he knew of, home sweet home.

Bad luck and a terrible sense of dread quickly took over him, leaving him benumb. He was much too tired to turn back and run for safety yet again, he also stood on a clearance therefore sheltering in the forest growths was not an option either, not any more. She could be carrying knives and Onyx was deadly with daggers, so he did what he thought might work best... come forth, surrender and beg mercy.

With that thought in mind, he quickly came over to Iskra, crumbling to the ground. He dropped to his knees and lowered the head in a deep respectful bow, his eyes closed as he addressed the leader having been taught, the hard way, never to stare at the bandits.



"Mistress... please... take pity and have mercy on me, I only did it for a friend... strength has left me already... spare my life, I shan't attempt to escape again, spare me and I shall serve you faithfully" pleaded Taff pausing in between words to catch his breath and holding as he awaited Iskra's answer, the louder barks a clear indication that they would soon be upon them.

Iskra’s eyes widened at the sight of him, and before she could think, she clapped her hand over his mouth, kneeling down in front of him. Her eyes were narrowed, but her breathing was labored and her face wore a weak mask of an attempt to hide the pain, ”Shut. Up. Or zhey’ll kill us both, fool.”

Iskra had no idea what her men were doing without her, but obviously whoever had put themselves in charge was an idiot.

“I know not who you are, but it seems....ve’re in same situation. Just shut up and hide.” She didn’t even have the energy to feel offended by Atoli; nimble as she was, Iskra slid easily through the small hole in the wall,letting out a small exhale once inside. Safety, at least for now. She pressed her face into her hands and let out another shaky exhale, and then tugged her furs tighter around her body.

A breaking of twigs and an unfamiliar voice of a male that pleaded to Iskra caught the harpy's attention. Atoli peeked out of the hole in the wall in time to see the woman’s hand cover the male's mouth to silence him. She frowned and withdrew her face from the entryway; deciding not to say anything about the newcomer for now…he might be useful as a decoy incase the hunters found them.

The interior of the barn was dim, but the window from the top of the loft let in some soft moonlight through the trees, causing a latticework of shadows and light. Atoli flew up to the loft, her talons clicked on the dry wooden boards with a dull scrape. Despite the window; the air was warmer in the loft. There weren’t any holes in the roof and the moss on top seemed to add insulation to the space. The harpy kept her stores of stolen food in one corner at the back of the loft, and her bed in the other corner. It was a tidy nest of tanned fur hides and wool blankets heaped on top; no doubt stolen as well.

Atoli peeked over the edge as Iskra entered the barn, “There’s a ladder down there somewhere if you wanna come up here. Better to hide up here than down there...” She noticed the woman’s shaky exhale and continued, “--and I’ve got…blankets…” She whispered in an odd tone that was awkward but not unkind; not used to being charitable. She went to her food stores and dropped the bag that had been over her shoulder, having nearly forgotten she had it; and took out a dried strip of jerky to chew on; waiting to see if Iskra would come up to join her. The harpy peeked over the edge of the loft once more and watched silently. Looking to see if the male from outside would enter the building as well.

Quintus gave a long sigh, he gave up, if they were caught they were caught, he'd have to fight his way out. At least I'll get some exercise he thought whilst examining the tracks in the mud. The water was definitely slow moving if she'd been able to cross almost straight across, and that was WITH wounds...the horses would be able to cross no problem, and they now had a location, meaning that there was not much left to do but hope that they'd found a non obvious place. "They couldn't be that moronic....right?" he said aloud before looking at the nearest bandit, "right?"....."we should get going" he continued urging his horse forwards and through the river, like he expected it was a simple task, watching as the others crossed he turned to examine the trail the girls had left further but found nothing of interest.

A few minutes later everyone was across, motioning to the scouts he simply stated, "lead the way" and they were off.

Taff soon became alarmed at the new situation he found himself in, which he was still trying to figure out. Seeing Iskra so aprehensive and furtive, quickly going into hiding at the disused barn certainly confused Taff no end. Onyx bandits were not known to cower into hiding, never mind one of its leaders.

Still, he decided to leave the matter aside for now, standing up and dusting himself, feeling awkward at the whole interaction.

"I am Taff... royal manservant to the crown prince. I have just escaped from a group of bandits that claim to belong to Onyx and they are literally hunting me down all the way here, they are a day away at most" explained Taff dusting himself

"I am a good healer too, if that is of any use to you two..." added as an after thought, unsure whether to enter the property or not.

"Who ... who exactly are you running from?" quizzed Taff curiously and weary all the same.

He had yet to finish the answer when Aynor released the arrow from a long distance causing Taff to collapse to the ground. This was quickly followed by Glendale running forward, sword to hand, forcing the young man to his knees.

"I yield... please... don't shoot... I mean no harm to anyone" announced Taff raising his hands in surrender

"Lower the arms and be still, you scallawag" spat Rufus in his usual foul mood.

Taff immediately complied to that instruction and Robin the slaver came over in no time at all, binding Taff in chains, glancing back at the house.



"Come out kittens... the place is surrounded... you cannot escape. If you surrender you get to live, mostly unharmed. If I have to make the effort to come and get you out... I assure you heads will roll... and not by Pentre's hand either" assured Robin making gestures to ensure his men scattered to indeed surround the house, bow and arrows to hand, ready to shoot on sight or signal, some climbing up branches to get better sight and well aimed shots.