::Neko kept the edge of her hood between her face and Miroslaw until she felt the heat fade from her cheeks.
The food and spices were a comforting sight. Nothing too prized for bandits, but worth protecting nevertheless. She knew some spices were worth more than their weight in gold, but that your normal bandit probably would not know that.
The extra people did not raise any alarms either, as they were unarmed and were probably just there to drive the wagons and tend to any needs the Merchant had.
She considered splitting up from Miroslaw to sit in a different wagon to spread out their defenses, but quickly dismissed the thought. She was not expecting anything to happen so close to town. She could move off later, or make a quick leap should there be an attack.
Besides, she wasn't quite ready to give up the bit of companionship she had found in Miroslaw. It was going to be a long trip there and back, and he would be with her the entire way. Best to try and make friends, if she could.
So she turned to look at him with a shy smile. Maybe it was time for her to put a little trust in the man...
Neko unbuckled one of the matching bracers from her forearm and offered it to Miroslaw. Making gestures for him to put it on.::
Miroslaw was closely observing each of the additional members. He was unaware that there would be anyone else. At least they appeared unarmed. It could have caused trouble if they were. Just as he finished intensely observing the various people, he noticed Neko holding a bracer out to him. Miroslaw hesitantly took the bracer from her. At first he thought she may have been just as awkward as he and giving him the bracer simply to look at. Then, he saw her gestures for him to put it on. He did so. It was a snug fit. He wondered why she would give up a single bracer.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
::Neko's smile widened as he put the Bracer on. The voice of a young girl with a VERY muddy accent ((IE lots of influences)) is heard in Miroslaw's head...
-Um...
Hi?
Figured if we were going to be traveling together, we would need a better way to talk.
Got to trust you at some point, right?-
She smiles and bumps her shoulder into yours playfully.
At first, Miroslaw was quite startled by the voice. He jolted his head around, looking for the source. He failed to make the connection to the equipping of the bracer and the voice. He soon realized it was Neko inside his head speaking. He stared at her for a second in fascination. He chuckled at how silly he must have looked to her.
He responded, "Aye... Trust is good..." He trailed off a bit. Following that he said, "I will most definitely give it back." and smiled at her. His gaze went to the ground and his face grew solemn as he thought about how untrustworthy he really was. He was regretting not asking more questions of what will happen to her.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
Miroslaw's grave expression quickly left him as he chuckled lightly at the joke. He then said, still not realizing he could also communicate through the bracer, "I like an eventless job when I can get one. Basically free money then." Miroslaw has seen too much battle to hope for it. He chuckled and responded, "I will hope for a dull trip." He then pondered how odd it must look to be talking to seemingly no one.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
::-You know, you can just THINK what you want to say to me, and I'll hear it. That way these people will stop looking at you like a flarb in a dress...-
Gigglesnortgiggle followed by her clasping her hands over her mouth.
She nods then after regaining her composure.
-"Eventless"
Yes, that would be nice. Free money is good. No one needing saving is even better.-::
Miroslaw's face shows his embarrassment, turning slightly pink. It was so obvious. He thought to Neko, "Oh...That makes sense." He puts up his hood to cover his embarrassment and to hide from the gazes. Now that he could talk to her, he had many questions, "So.. if you could speak, this is how you would sound? How did you become unable to speak in the first place? How did you manage to slay a troll on your own?" each question came after a response. He would halt if she seemed thrown off by them. He had never met a mute before and was fairly curious about the troll slayer.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
((Responses subject to change should the set races update ever be implemented. For the time being, this is accurate.)
::She settles in and answers each of his questions in turn. Some she was used to. The others seemed natural, considering what she knew he had heard about her from Stanley.
Shrug.
-I guess. I've never talked for real before. This is the closest I've ever come to having a "voice"-
Snicker.
-I didn't BECOME like this, silly. I was BORN this way. It's just how my race is. I'm a Hatchling. None of us can talk that I know of. But some say the oldest of might be able to. Never seen an old Hatchling though. There's not very many of us to begin with. And most don't have lives as nice as mine. I'm really lucky to have Father.
Even if he does worry when I go out like this.-
Her face goes serious as she gets ready to answer the last question. The memories of the encounter being brought fresh to her mind. And with them all that befell after. She tries to push them away and grabs onto a lighter moment in the hopes of chasing the past away.
She waves her hands in the air in an exagerated manner.
-I wield ULTIMATE!! COSMIC!! POWER!!-
snickergigglesnort
-I wish!
Honestly, I got lucky. I saw an opening, and I took it. Made the thing open it's mouth and dropped a bomb in it.
BOOM!-
This story was complete with hand motions, as she was very obviously used to communicating through signs despite the Bracer.
Miroslaw watched her and listened to what she had to say. It was strange to talk in the mind. He felt the need to maintain normal conversational formalities, such as eye contact. Gazing out from under his hood, he found her voice to be nice to listen to in his mind. He knew of no other hatchlings and was completely ignorant of the racial muteness. He thought it was a very strange quality for a race to have. He also found himself wondering if they all have feline qualities. At the mention of father he saw his opportunity to find out, “You have a father? And does he have... feline qualities as well?”
He chuckled more than usual, partially due to the silliness, partially due to her crazy hand motions. He had never seen someone use so many hand gestures, as she did. It was understandable why that was, but it was still strange. After the revealing of the true way he simply thought to her, “Sounds very gruesome.” as he made a grimace at the thought of raining troll guts.
He shrugs, “My story? Not much to tell. For the past few years, I was traveling around. I have only recently taken Wistvale as my semi-permanent dwelling. I do odd jobs that utilize my particular skillset to make a living, same as everyone. I most frequently end up as a guard for something or another.” He makes a motion with his hand referencing the current situation as an example. He purposefully left out elements of his story. He did not feel like citing the reasons for his traveling. It was always painful to talk about his wife, especially now, knowing he has recognized failure in pursuit of retribution.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
The trip went by with little trouble other than a few bumps here and there. The other companions merely talked among themselves whilst the mercenaries did the same. It began to look like a free paycheck for both Neko and Miroslaw.
The warrior probably noticed out of the corner of his eye that the tree line was approaching and that somewhere beyond the rising green spires, Grayson lay in wait. The Sellsword leader never bothered to mention how he was going to get Miroslaw to come to him with Neko, only that the warrior needed to be genuinely surprised to sell the act.
And so it was that when the road cut through the forest, not long after entering, that a group of assailants suddenly jumped out from the undergrowth with weapons brandished.
Three men with spears rushed to the front and stopped the horses in their tracks, forcing the wagons behind to stop as well. Neko and Miroslaw could make out two archers with short bows trained in their general direction with four more men wielding swords.
"Drop the goods and we'll let you continue onward!" called one of the swordsmen, a man who brandished a scimitar and wore a bandanna over one eye.
::More laughter rang in his head as Neko rocked in her seat so much she would have fallen backwards into the sacks of spices had it not been for the backboard of the seat. Slowly words creep through the laughter as she wipes tears from her eyes...
-Father?!
Feline?!
Sorry...
Not laughing at you...
It's just...
Oh gods!!!
The image!!!
Father took me in when I hatched. Most Hatchlings are treated like slaves. He accepted me as family. He even gave me his last name. Ravenhu...-
Her voice cuts off midword as she sees the bandits emerge from the trees. All the laughter dies in his head as the smile fades from her face. If she thought she could get away with it, she would reach for her fox mask to put on.
-So much for "eventless".
Shall we?-
Without waiting for a reply, she bounded forward. Intent on moving from cart to cart to place herself between the archers and the Merchant with the added benefit of hopefully bringing her within range of the archers herself.
-I got the archer on the left!-
She draws both her Kopii along the way, and should she get within range she will throw one at the archer she "called" and another at one of the spearmen. Both were aimed to cripple with the intent of taking them out of the fight as opposed to outright killing them. She wanted to avoid that, unless she had no other choice...::
Miroslaw was not laughing and he did not understand what was so funny. He waited for an explanation, but she just kept laughing. It was contagious as Miroslaw began to chuckle as well. He had become so caught up in conversing with the hatchling that he had nearly forgot his actual job. His conscience rejoined him upon the realization that they were nearing his destination. Hearing the girl's laughter and knowing how he had not enjoyed himself this much in a long time, made him very frustrated with himself. How low had he stooped to be ready to trick this girl for some gold coins?
He leaned his head back and looked up to the sky, pondering what he should do and wordlessly praying. As he did, he heard Neko speaking and then the foreign sounds of the the brush being disturbed. He brought his gaze down, meeting the brigands. At Neko's comment, a smile came to Miroslaw's face, “Your wish came true.” He failed to perceive this as Grayson's design. Instead, he saw nothing more than common rabble trying to make a living.
It was quite a surprise for Miroslaw, as he did not anticipate bandits on the journey to the grove. He was genuinely expecting a dull trip. Regardless, Miroslaw jumped into action, as Neko did, sending “And I the right” to her. He quickly stood on the cart and drew his bow in one fluid motion. He dispatched two arrows in quick succession, both directed to the bowman's dominant arm, easily recognized by how he gripped his bow. He sought to cripple the archer's ability to utilize his bow rather than kill him. Being a fairly stationary target, he hoped that the archer's aim would either be directed elsewhere or simply poor.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
Neko darted past the wagons with great agility as she readied her weapons. With little effort she managed to disable both the archer and a single spear-man who fell to the ground clutching their wounds. The sudden attack surprised the assailants and allowed Miroslaw the window he needed to bring out his weapon and disable the other bowman. His arrows found his arm and the arrow flew haphazardly to the ground when he released the string.
Another man in hiding had found his way around the caravan and wrapped a rope with weight around Brian's neck and dragged him down to the ground quickly with a heavy thud. Not wasting a second he raised the merchant up and pressed a knife against his neck.
"Now, drop your weapons!" said the bandit with the scimitar, "I will not say it again."
He ordered his man to bring Brian around to him and he did, always being sure to have the merchant between him and the mercenaries.
"We will be taking him too."
The archer that Miroslaw had shot got back up to draw a dagger after wrenching the arrows out of his arma, after which he howled in pain. He along with the swordsmen got between the mercenaries and their apparent leader, along with Brian, as they made their way into the trees.
Miroslaw did as the bandit leader commanded, dropping his bow to the ground. Miroslaw did not wish to risk the life of Brian by disobeying the order. He transmitted to Neko, "These guys are serious." He figured their best bet would be to delay any action and see what they intend to do. The archers were fallen, which allowed him to willingly drop his bow without as much concern of being shot.
After the brigands began dragging him into the trees, Miroslaw came to the recognition that this was Grayson's work. He probably just shot a associate of the Sellswords, who quite stoically took the blows. He debated fighting them for the benefit of Neko. If his premise was correct, they would not kill the merchant. The only thought halting this action was that Miroslaw was not confident in what the bandits were directed to do, nor how much they actually knew.
In the end, Miroslaw decided to remain alert, but not attempt anything. He was not willing to jeopardize the merchant's life based on an assumption of the brigands knowledge of his situation. He waited for the bandits to duck from sight before quickly gathering his bow and cautiously following them.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.