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((Welcome))

Grey flung out his hands and focused his energy on the fire boy's chest, sending out a burst of telekinesis in his direction. Then he stumbled to the side, spotted the hoof-prints in the ground, and followed them, his face sweating and bruised.
You had better not be dead, Rook. Grey grit his teeth, head pounding in fear and anxiety.

----

Sampson saw the arrow pointed at him, saw the arrow release, and immediately ditched his knife. He tried to roll away, but the arrow pierced his left shoulder and he screamed in pain.
A shoulder for a shoulder. So that was how she wanted to play it.
Sampson noticed the other two bandits and glared at the girl.
"Surrender!" he said. "You're surrounded!"

((Hi everyone! Could the thread do with a character on the morally darker side to balance things out? I can provide another if the need be.))

After getting separated from her caravan with little food or water to speak of, Jez knew stumbling upon a quiet oasis with date-heavy trees was too much to ask for. When she had seen it on the horizon, she was convinced it was just another trick of the desert; she supposed she should be grateful despite the scene of struggle and chaos ahead of her.

Dragging her feet through hot, thick sand, she pulled her hood closer to her face to shield herself from the sun's merciless rays. She was just close enough for the sounds of violence to fall on her ears. Well, she thought, I could risk being butchered over a drink, or wait for the fight to die down and risk passing out and dying right here in the sands. Blinking and swaying a bit in her stride, she drew her long dagger from her hip sheath and reached into her boot for its little brother.
Can I tell whose side to take when I can barely walk in a straight line? Simple answer. The bad guys were whoever stood between her and water.

(( Welcome, mr-mollusk!))

Cordell had been thrown backwards against the small dune where Grey and Rook first met, dislodged sand sliding down on him as struggled to get back the breath Grey had knocked out of him. He was still gasping a little as he managed to climb his way back to his feet.

"Silveris! Give that lousy yaldson a taste of his own medicine," the bandit said as he hurried over to help Silveris back up. Suddenly, now that he'd gotten tossed around a bit more by Grey, he was willing to put aside his grudge against the fire boy to put a stop to this intruder.

He looked up and cursed under his breath as he spotted the cloaked figure coming toward the oasis from the opposite direction. "There's another one!" he shouted. This time he hurried back for his weapon. Enough of this fighting unarmed stuff...

--

Rook could see the other two riders from the corners of her eyes, but kept her gaze on Sampson as she knocked another arrow. "Back off!" she called loudly, aiming the bow once again at the bandit with an arrow now protruding out of his shoulder. "Back off or he dies!" she called again, hoping these bandits had at least enough camaraderie amongst each other to care for the lives of one another. She also hoped they couldn't see her injured arm shaking just slightly from the strain of holding the bow at the ready.

((Hello Jez Holmes))

Silveris let Cordell help him to his feet, slightly surprised that the grumpy man was willing to work with him as a team, then turned to see that Grey was already some distance away so he conjured a fire ball and hurled it at the man's back with all his might before turning to confront the cloaked stranger who had emerged in the middle of the desert.

"Why does this always happen when I'm in charge?"

Meanwhile, the two bandits couldn't care less about Sampson and advanced anyway, cornering the girl and waving their swords at her since bandits knew the consequences of being one and they could never really trust their own kind, and one bandit drew a club from behind his back with the intent of whacking the girl unconscious.

He swung.

Rook realized she had misjudged the bonds of fellowship between these marauders only a half second before the club swung toward her head. She tried to dodge forward, but the club still clipped her pretty hard just as she released the arrow pointed toward Sampson. The shot was clumsy as she staggered, coming off the bow at a low angle and the arrow plunged into the sand mere inches in front of Sampson. The ranger fell to her knees, barely catching herself with her hands, the world spinning too wildly to do more than try to lift her uninjured arm over her head to protect it from another blow.

What's he eyeing me up for? Jez wondered, squinting back at Silveris from under the shade of her cloak. Hasn't he got his hands full enough?
Her eyes wandered from the acting leader of the bandits for a moment, sizing up the rest of the battle. A man and a one-eyed bandit fought off to one side, a heated skirmish she might want to stay away from. To the other side, an archer tangled with several bandits. She looked injured - Jez wasn't sure she liked the odds whether she intervened or not, but it was hardly an honorable fight, and it would be hard to resist aiding the wounded archer when Jez herself was dragged into the fray.
The analysis was over in a second, and her attention was back on Silveris. Her odds seemed poor as-is; unless her eyes deceived her, fire sprung from his hands like some sort of demon.
"I take no issue with fellow travelers," she called out, adrenaline starting to melt the weary haze the desert had left on her. "I hope you don't take issue with me." Empty words, she was sure, for sand-roving criminals.

Grey saw the three bandits surrounding Rook and threw out his hands desperately. Telekinesis erupted from his finger tips, heading for the three bandits. It would be hard to lift all of them into the air but Grey had to try. Rook was injured and needed medical attention fast.

"Go!" he yelled at Rook. "Get out of here!"

----

Sampson took the chance to scramble away from the girl. He wrapped his fingers around the arrow in his shoulder, winced, and pulled the arrow out, throwing it in the sand and trying to stop the blood flow. He was about to make a stab at the girl with his knife when he was slowly lifted into the air.

"Who is - " Sampson spotted Grey and narrowed his eyes. "You."

So where was Silveris?

“Then leave. This is our oasis and if you think we’re going to share even a drop of water, you’re in for a death sentence.”

Silveris growled threateningly at the girl, who looked like she was badly dehydrated but he couldn’t care less because he himself was even sure how long the oasis would last the bandits before they drunk it dry and moved on again.

Meanwhile the two bandits found themselves lifted into the air along with Sampson and screamed obscenities at Grey, waving their swords in the air, and one of them made a last swing with his club at Rook’s head.

"Go!"

The voice sounded far away, but somehow Rook recognized that it was directed at her... the man she'd met... what was his name again? Another blow hit her, this time on the arm she'd been using to shield her head and an involuntary cry of pain escaped her.

"Get out of here!"

Where? The world still refused to quit swaying beneath her, but the rocks were ahead and she started toward them, crawling more than running as she used her hands for balance.

--

By this time, Cordell had retrieved his lasso and a heavy studded club from his tent. Having the rope and weapon in his hand gave him renewed energy and he sprinted after Grey. He was only halfway to the man when he saw Sampson and the other two lifted into the air and the girl starting to make a slow escape. Grey seemed to be concentrating on keeping the 3 in the air, so Cordell slowed, favoring a quieter approach. "Wonder if he can do that if he can't breath," he whispered to himself. When he drew a bit closer, he twirled the lasso overhead a few times in preparation, then sent it flying toward Grey as if he were trying to rope a horse. With any luck, he'd get the man around the neck.

"A death sentence?" Jez cried out. "But we haven't even discussed terms! We could strike a good deal!" She hadn't broken her stride; desperation was a powerful motivator by itself, and she was reasonably miffed that Silveris was so quick to turn her away. This deep in the desert, being turned away from water was just as much a death sentence as getting in over one's head with bandits.
She glanced over at Rook. She's in desperate need of rescue, Jez concluded. Bet he wouldn't be too happy if I stabbed one of his floating bandits for her, even if it meant more water to go around. This is going to get worse before it gets better. The thought made a bit of the desert weariness poke at her brain again.

((Omg thank you grey))
((I am gonna talk first person for this story))

I'd wake up in a desert. Typical situations for me but my wings were gone and I could not go to any realms. But I still breathe fire and turn into a dragon. I look around to see if I saw anything was here but all I saw was some people fighting in the distance. I was now walking for hours and I found a village that had a pool of water so I was like 'Score!' Until...I started to drink it and it was blood...this was an illusion! "Looks I found my lunch!" A person would say in a psychopath's voice. The person would be a bandit with blood everywhere and start running at me with a dagger. I would roll away and try to find something I could fight with. The Bandit would grab me by the neck and about to stab but... stopped then fell down he died of dehydration.

The sun was setting and I stayed in one of the village houses. This dessert was a fight for survival and if I did nothing I would be toast.

I'd wake up and be surrounded by bandits. "Give us your supplies and we'll leave you," One of them said. These bandits were part of that white hair guys group. I breathe fire at one of them to give them a warning. "Do you wanna mess with hot stuff?" I'd say to them with a smirk. They'd ignore that then grab me.

They'd walk for hours until they'd bring me to...White hair dude.

Grey was about to fling the three bodies away when he felt something tighten around his neck. The pain was instant and he let out a strangled sound as the rope tightened around his throat. He thrashed in the sand, trying to grab at the rope.

"Can't...breathe," he coughed, eyes wide. "Damn you...insolent one-eyed cyclops."

He released his telekinesis on the bandits.

----

Sampson abruptly fell to the ground, the impact sending shots of pain through his shoulder. He grabbed his knife, looked around, and saw the girl crawling away.

"No you don't," he growled. "You're not getting away from me."

He threw the knife.

I'd have 1 minute to do something-something before white-blond hair dude would do something.I'd turn into a dragon. Yes, I know stupid idea but still. I breathe fire everywhere trying to scare off some peeps. I grab a group of bandits and eat them so violently that the ones that were that were not in my hands vomit everywhere. I'd keep fighting and fighting. Then I'd be shot down by a thousand arrows. The bandits leave and continue fighting.I'd be unconscious.I'd be on the ground did not know what to do. I just waited until someone woke me up.

Silveris could see it now, the dehydration and wild desperation in the cloaked figures eyes as she continued towards him, never breaking her stride even as he lifted his flaming hands theateningly in her direction.

It was then that Silveris saw a dust cloud in the distance and as it neared, he could just make out the silhouette of the bandit leader on his horse, who was returning with a black haired prisoner.

Silveris was about to question his leader when the black haired and purple eyed man suddenly turned into a dragon and devoured several bandits in one bite before the other bandits fired arrows at it and finally brought it down.

The bandit leader emerged unscathed, ordered his men to capture the intruders, gave the unconscious black haired man a hard kick in his stomach, and approached Silveris with fury in his eyes.

Silveris gulped.

"Insolent! Ha!" Cordell gave the rope a solid tug for good measure, tightening it further around Grey's neck. "Pretty sure it was you and your woman started something here." He walked closer, careful not to let any slack into the line. "Yo! Help with this stray dog!" he called to the 3 bandits Grey had just dropped to the ground as he drew close enough to start to heft Grey upwards by the rope. He was unwilling to underestimate this man again.

--

Something sharp and searing bit into the back of Rook's leg and she collapsed into the sand, mere yards away from the edge of the rock outcropping. There she lay still.

Grey felt himself being lifted upwards slightly and let out an involuntary hiss. He'd stopped coughing and was now gasping for air, his vision getting dizzy. Out of the corner of his eye, Grey saw one bandit's knife pierce Rook's leg and watched in horror as she lay still near the rock outcropping.

You can't be dead, he thought, panicked. Come on, Rook. Get up. Get up or I'll be forced to kill this cyclops of a bandit and then kill you too for giving me a hassle. Come on....

----

Sampson glanced at Cordell.

"You can handle that telekinetic mutt," he said. "The arrow girl is mine."

In the distance, Sampson caught a glimpse of a dragon and then his eyes widened when he spotted Silveris and the bandit leader. So the alpha was back. Sampson grumbled something under his breath. No doubt the bandit leader wanted all intruders captured alive. Killing the girl would have to wait. Sampson shifted his knife in his hands and advanced towards the still form of the girl lying in the sand.

I'd wake feeling like I was dying.I'd see white-blond hair dude in front of me. "You bi-" I was about to say but was too weak. Bandits would be surrounding me so I could not escape. I was my normal self. They'd pick me up and try to make me stand.
White-blond hair dude would look at me dead in the eyes. "Your bandits are a bunch of idiots and you are also." I'd say without being afraid.

The bandit leader's name was Marcelle.

When he noticed the dragon man was awake, Marcelle ordered a group of bandits to surround him, smirking a little in amusement when the dragon man called Silveris an idiot, which made Marcelle question what exactly happened at camp while he was gone, so he turned to Silveris.

"I want all of them caught, dead or alive. Keep an eye on this one, I don't want him setting anything else on fire. Bring me that thirsty cloaked girl, and the girl with the bow and arrows. As for the one with telekinesis, I'd like to deal with him personally."

Meanwhile, as soon as they were lowered onto the ground, the two bandits rushed to help Cordell suppress the man with telekinesis, and one bandit raised the same club he'd used to hit Rook and he brought it down on Grey's head while he was struggling with the rope around his neck.

Almost as if she heard Grey's silent plea, Rook stirred and pushed herself to her elbows, then to her knees just as Sampson's shadow fell over her.

She looked up at him with malice. She did not know which of them actually struck the blow that killed her brother, but for the moment let herself believe it was this one and that thought helped push through the pain threatening to consume her. She'd lost the bow when struck with the club, the arrows would do her little good now.

But she did have his knife. Oh, this would hurt like hell... She screamed, both in pain and rage as her hand grasped the knife and pulled it from her calf, then plunged it toward Sampson's stomach.