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"Wait until dark, then get in there, kill the leader, and get out," it didn't sound like much of a plan when she said it out loud. Plus there was a multitude of things that could go wrong. But she'd just have to deal with those as they arose.

"What of yours?" she inquired, glancing back and forth between the bandits and this purple-haired stranger.

Silveris was counting the items in his pack to double check if any of the other bandits had stolen anything while he wasn't looking when the bandit leader strolled up to him, his hair dripping with water that he had nonchalantly dunked over his head.

"Silveris, I'm putting you in charge while we go raid the next village over. Keep a sharp eye out for other bandits, I had better not come back to find this oasis taken. And if you even so much as try to double-cross me, I will know and I will kill you. Understand?"

Silveris bowed. He watched his leader swing onto his horse and gallop away. Five bandits followed.

"Well, a few seconds ago your plan seemed much better than mine," said Grey, "but their leader just ran off again."
He grinned mischievously at the girl. "Which means we get to resort to Plan B. Kill them all right now."

Cordell, who had been sleeping under a canvas canopy to block the sun, opened his one good eye in time to see their leader mounting up and heading out. "Where they off to?" he asked with a groan as he stood up and stretched, then scratched his stomach where a sand flea had bitten him. "He leave you in charge again, Hi Ho Silver?" he asked with a sneer.

---

Rook frowned as she watched the small dust cloud kicked up by the half-dozen horses galloping away from the oasis. She had been determined to kill the leader. After all, he was ultimately the one responsible for her brother's death. Although, Mr. Purple's Plan B had a certain appeal to it. With the element of surprise and with half the bandits gone, there was at least a decent chance of actually being able to pull it off. Returning to find the rest of his crew being devoured by desert creatures would be fitting retribution.

Her gaze returned to the stranger and she met his humor with grim determination and nodded, finally taking her hand off the bow and offering it to him in what she hoped was not a death pact. "I'm Rook," she said, "And you're...?"

Silveris stopped rummaging in his pack and turned to glare at Cordell, a one-eyed man lying under the canvas canopy, sneering at him, although in truth Silveris absolutely hated being left in charge but the leader never took "no" for an answer so here he was.

"Indeed he did. You should be on your best behavior, Cordell."

"Grey," he replied, shaking her hand. "Now, I'm about to do a little trick."
Grey pointed a slender finger at one of the bandits and closed his eyes. He concentrated. He heard a chorus of shouts as the bandit rose off his feet and into the air, flailing his limbs in surprise.
"Telekinesis," Grey said, "never fails."

"Wouldn't dream of nothin' else, ol Silver" Cordell said, though there was underlying hostility in his tone. He was older than Silveris and by his reasoning that meant he should be the one their leader trusted with the task.

He started toward the watering hole, when he was suddenly lifted straight into the air. "Silver! What'd you do!?" he yelled as he flailed his arms, jumping to the assumption their fill-in leader was somehow responsible for this.

---

Rook was surprised herself, but was quick enough to take advantage of the distraction Grey had just created. She sprinted from the cover to their small dune toward a large rock that was closer to the oasis, needing to be closer to be within range for her bow. She fired her first arrow at one of the bandits still on the ground and reached to her quiver to ready a second.

Silveris backed away as Cordell suddenly floated into the air, flailing his arms and yelling at Silveris, who was about to say it wasn’t his doing when another bandit fell dead to the ground, an arrow stuck deep in his chest.

Silveris balled his hands into fists and set them on fire, then looked around beyond his panicked comrades in search of the archer who had killed a bandit under his watch.

“There! That girl by the rock! Get her and bring her to me!”

The bandits waved their swords and lunged.

One of the bandits had magic.

Grey watched the fire blazing in the man's fists as he pointed at Rook's hiding spot. Grey cursed under his breath and twitched his fingers. Two bandits rose in the air and knocked over two other bandits. Grey directed the flying bodies towards the fire boy, who also seemed to be their temporary leader.

"Telekinesis never fails. Telekinesis never fails." Grey repeated the phrase to himself as he concentrated.

From his higher vantage point up in the air, Cordell caught a glimpse of Grey. So when he fell back to the sandy ground a few moments later, he climbed quickly to his feet, then sprinted straight toward Grey's hiding place.

---

Rook's second shot had been aimed at one of the bandits that Grey lifted into the air, so the arrow went right beneath his feet and then skidded harmlessly along the sand. The ranger reached for a third arrow. She'd likely only have time for one more shot before the remaining bandits reached her. Two were closing in on her position quickly. She knocked the arrow with a practiced hand and fired at the closest. The arrow had barely left the string and already she was running, knowing that if she let herself get with melee range, she was in serious trouble.

Silveris saw the girl sprint out of her hiding place and immediately ran to intercept her as she fired arrows at the other bandits, and he lifted a flaming fireball and threw it in her direction, where it exploded in her path like a million blazing fireworks, then he noticed Cordell running towards another man behind a sand dune.

"Surround the girl! You two, come with me!"

Silveris headed in the direction Cordell had taken.

Rook had to stop quickly as the blinding fireball exploded before her, showering her with hot sand that stuck to her sweaty face and hands. So that was how they managed to set fires so quickly, she thought, remembering how old Mr. Allerton's home had been already engulfed in flames by the time the defenders of the settlement emerged to try to push back the bandits.

She rushed ahead again, trying to blink away the large colorful spots she was seeing from the bright flash. But her forced paused had given her pursuers time to close the distance and she was barely ahead of them now. Changing course slightly, she dashed for the remaining bandits' horses...

Grey saw Rook head for the bandits' horses and decided not to question her course of action. Besides, he had his hands full.

Grey jumped out from behind the sand dune and leapt over Cordell's head, somersaulting in the air and landing in a run straight towards the fire boy. The temporary leader had two other bandits flanking him and Grey used telekinesis to lift them into the air and hurl them at the fire boy.

Silveris turned and caught both his comrades in his arms, extinguishing the flames in his hands so he wouldn’t burn them, but he couldn’t hold their weight so he stumbled backwards.

Silveris landed on his back in the sand.

“Magic. He has magic.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl running for the horses.

“Somebody get her or I’ll roast all your heads for dinner tonight!”

Cordell cursed and spun back to toward Grey, then lunged at him, intending to pin the slimmer man's arms to his side if he could just get a hold of him. Maybe, he reasoned, if the man didn't have use of his arms, he couldn't use his magic to be throwing people around.

---

((Would you guys be willing to play 1 or 2 of the bandits chasing her? It's more exciting when I don't control both sides of the equation. ))

Rook reached the animals only a few moments before the men following after her. The horses were tied to a single line that had been strung between two palm trees. Only a few of the animals were saddled and she grabbed the bridle of one of those as she cut the rope to the whole lot of them and started to pull herself up.

((Sure thing!))

Grey felt stronger arms pin his own to his side. He flexed his fingers, trying to pull the man off, but he had almost exhausted his telekinesis power. Grey grit his teeth, shut his eyes, and rammed his head backwards, aiming to hit the other man's forehead.

---

Sampson grabbed the reins of the nearest panicked horse and vaulted onto the saddle. The girl with the arrows had cut them all loose and Sampson was reminded of the countless raids the bandits had endured in order to gather so many horses.
He brandished his curved sword at the girl. "You're going to pay for that!" he shrieked at her.

"Let's see ya do tha..." Cordell grunted as he managed to pin Grey's arms, celebrating his victory prematurely. He broke off as Grey's head collided so hard into the brow of his covered right eye that he loosened his grip on the man and staggered backwards a step.

--

Hearing the angry shout behind her, Rook was already urging her new steed to GO, even though she was still trying to get her right leg over the saddle. Holding the bow made it a more awkward task, but she was unwilling to drop the weapon. If she could just gain some distance she could knock another arrow. Her mount, a wild-eyed chestnut, didn't need any additional encouragement and was already running after the rest of the herd as his rider finally managed to pull herself over.

((Sounds good, I'll play the general bandits?))

"Do I have to do everything myself?"

Silveris dispatched the two bandits by his side to round as many horses as they could and capture the girl before running towards the man with magic and aiming a punch for his face while Cordell was distracting him, realizing that since this man's magic was based off of telekinesis, he might not be the best in close combat.

Meanwhile, the two bandits whistled for their own, more loyal horses and hopped on, racing after another bandit who was pursuing the girl, and they branched off on either side of her, trying to pin her in their triangle.

Grey turned around just in time to get punched in the face. His head snapped back from the force of the blow. Grey lifted one hand, palm facing the fire boy's chest, and opened one eye.
"That hurt," he muttered and his telekinesis burst to life.

----

Sampson noticed the two bandits were trying to circle the girl and followed their plan. He spurred his horse on, closing in on the girl's chestnut. From a pouch at his waist, he withdrew a black kunai knife and hurled it at the girl's back.