"Before I start, hope you don't mind if I partake a lil'?"
Night fall had completely set, and it was difficult to see what Quick was taking out of his coat pocket. It was a small item, Tallia could see, and with it Quick also removed what looked to be a tiny box. He put the end of the pipe in his mouth and opened the box, picking out a substance and placing it in the bowl of the pipe. Then he got out his flint, and one end of his chain snaked it's way out of his coat once more, rattle and all.
The spear head struck fast against the flint and made a spark that traveled into the pipe, causing it to light. Quick took a quick puff before continuing.
"Bad habit of mine, I'm afraid, but it helps me think up plans." he winked at Tallia with the pipe still in his mouth. His voice sounded a little muffled now with the smoking instrument.
"So, you ever stolen anything before, darlin'?"
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
Quick's question made her flinch a little, as though she had experienced a sudden wind chill. She wasn't fond of those days, and truly hated having to recall them, but it seems her past was something that she could never leave behind... Lowering her head a little, her ears gravitated downwards. She wasn't quite able to look at Quick correctly, her eyes darting away from him every few seconds.
"...y...y-yes..."
Barely a whisper, she said it loud enough so that Quick could only faintly hear her reply.
Quick raised an eyebrow at Tallia's response, confused by her skittish response. He didn't think it was a big deal whether she did or not, she going to have to soon enough.
"Right, well, this train is packing a guard, really good one too as far as Fray told me. His little band is tough but they'll suffer some casualties if they take it head on. Heck, they might all die in the attack if it comes to that." Quick finished with another puff of smoke that seemed invisible in the night. His pipe angled itself every often before Quick adjusted it again, Tallia could catch small glimpses of red contrasting the dark around them.
"What we are, is a distraction, we're going to lure a lot of those bodyguards away, but we ain't going to do it waving a hand and daring them to attack. That'll probably only get 2-3 of them after us." he finished with a muffled laugh.
He was quiet for a moment then, his eyes staring at the ground though Tallia could barely see his face now. Quick picked up his hat and scratched his head before looking back at Tallia.
"Tallia," this was the first time he called out her name, and so seriously at that, "This train is heading towards a coastal city called Rosalinda, it's a major sea port and trade hub. That train is carrying gold and all sorts of valuables, we don't know what they're gonna be for exactly but we know they're there. Stealing anything from the train ain't going to get the entire guard on our asses. Not unless we steal a whole carriage."
He finally took the pipe out of his mouth and held it in his hand.
"The reason, the main one, that this caravan is so well protected, is because the owner, that merchant I mentioned a while back, is riding it too, with his family. His wife and child, a baby girl, are supposedly riding in a different wagon from the husband."
Though Tallia could barely see his features, Quick was looking at her with steel in his eyes, "Tallia, if we're going to make that guard leave all those riches, you need to steal the most valuable thing there. You need to take that child from her mother."
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
This... this was unforseen... She had pilfered goods before, but... kidnapping...? Tallia's head shook with uncertainness, her eyes growing wide at Quick's words. She felt like throwing up, passing out, anything to get her away from this situation right now, but the words rang again and again in her head, keeping her focused on Quick. Her mind thrown into confusion, she struggled to speak, as her mouth opened, but not a sound followed. Forcing herself to come through, she slammed one of her hands against the ground.
"ち...ちょっと...! You... y-y-you don't... r...really... really mean that... d-do you...?!"
She was a little bit more than upset with this idea; her body trembled and shook as she stared back at Quick, her voice toiling to keep itself calm.
Quick knew there was going to be resistance from Tallia involving this plan. In truth neither Fray nor he knew just how large the armed guard of the merchant's caravan had grown since Fray's last report. The opportunity to seize a mercenary band can't be put off.
"Well, we can try and just fight it out, I might be able to take on a good deal of them, along with Fray's boys, but there will be a lot of blood spilled on both sides. Might even get some servants in the mix when we don't want it. I'm not asking you to hurt the child, Tallia, I'm going to give you something to put the mother to sleep, and you're gonna run a good distance away with the kid before the lot of them know what happened. When they chase you, Fray will come in and take what he can with, hopefully, not much of a fight. We'll give the kid back when we're done, her safety for ours. Simple."
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
Her hand closed up along the ground, taking in a bit of dirt as she did so. She didn't expect Quick to understand why she would be upset with this kind of plan, but she also didn't expect him to be so willing to go through with it, either... Lowering her gaze away from Quick, she calmed a little as she tried to think through this thoroughly. It's either that or bloodshed, she thought. Neither of which sounded well, but they would inevitably go through with anyway. There wasn't any argument to be had here; assembling another plan on such limited time and resources was nearly impossible, especially with a situation like this one.
"A...alright..."
She slowly ushered out the word, as though she didn't mean to say it. This... this was something she never found herself doing... As long as everyone is safe, then it will all be OK, she reassured herself. As long is everyone is safe...
Quick still wasn't quite convinced that Tallia was committed to this part of the mission, ask any creature of good morals and they'd react the same. However, choosing the accept this answer, he let the briefing drop for now. That was how the plan needed to go, whether it can happen or not depends on the outfit of the caravan and whether Tallia can actually sneak past to complete her part.
"Right, well get some sleep, I'll do first watch for the night."
Quick put out his pipe and returned it to it's place within his coat, then propping his back against a large rock to look over their camp.
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
Tallia sighed, knowing there was nothing she can do about this situation now. She didn't want to waste a minute more; every second was going to be important for tomorrow, so every second of rest was important as well. Resting against the mat, she drifted off to sleep as quickly as she could.
Tallia stirred in the middle of the long night, a cool wind brushing up against her exposed cheek. The sound of the rapids below couldn't overcome the symphony of insects that crawled through the night.
The ground was cold and full of small silhouettes of critters passing by the little camp with little noise as possible. The wind rustled fallen leaves and bits of grass around Tallia, creating a relaxing, yet, somewhat nervous ambiance around her.
When she turned to see if Quick was still where she left him, against his big rock, she could barely make out anything in that general direction due to the grogginess in her eyes. Getting up to see clearly, there was no stir or movement, Quick wasn't there not anywhere around her.
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
Whipping her head around another time, she was thoroughly convinced he was no longer in the vicinity. Slowly working her way into a fully standing position, she shook the sleep out of her eyes as best as she could. Moving over to the edge of the cliff, she scouted out as best as she could to see if he had made his way in that direction...
Nothing could be seen directly below her other than the glistening and spray of the rapids. Though it was difficult to notice at first, the sway of the branches in the distance revealed a flicker of light most likely coming from a fire.
Tallia would have to climb down their path and head into the forest floor to see what it was clearly.
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
Tallia could hear the crescendo of the rapids as she climbed down and the mist of the water tickling her nose when she reached the bottom of the path. It was difficult to see the source of the light from where she stood as the brush and wood looked thicker from this perspective.
Still, looking up at her campsite and the general direction where she saw the fire to begin with, she had a good idea where to go. There was still no sign of Quick.
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
With her eyes finally adjusted, she could see perfectly well in the dark, thanks to the racial features bestowed upon her. Heading closer to the light source, she looked around her surroundings for any signs of tracks. The forest could tell a person many things if one looked close enough, she recalled.
Tallia's eyes adjusted and she could see into the night better than before. As she studied the area around her to get used to the surroundings with her new vision, she could see a foot print made in the mud at the riverbank. It was a set of prints, one almost eroded by the rushing water. If they belong to Quick, it seems he went in the direction of the fire Tallia saw before.