Fantasy Caravan - Kingdoms Of Thoris ~Chapter 1~

[Blitzer]

Kaladin waved his hands slowly at the comments about his wires. "They only go around the bottom of the wagon. Nothing particularly harmful to anything that can come out of the skies."
At that he sat down dwindling his thumbs as the time past his mind focused on his wires. The moment the snake his his wires, he knew. However, since he didn't have any direct sight of his wires, he could control them to counter attack. Now was time for action, Kaladin burst out of the door drawing his wires back into himself. He couldn't fight while mantaining his best wires as a defensive barrier. By now the two others had burst out of the wagon. He took a deep breath and formed his main threads into a sword in his hand. He called up more wires to surround his body and form a protective shield around himself.

Now that he was ready he attacked with his thread sword cutting a snake in two with little resistance. He used his left hand to manipulates threads quickly dicing a part a snake.

 

[Dreamtique]

After the request for the Vermilion Bird was completed with the trade of a melody, Fall allowed for the fiery bird to return to its home realm. Fall packed and sorted out a few useful herbs, setting up a miniature brewing section on the slightly shaky floor which was basically just an array of glass bottles, each containing a burning feather. Fall spent his time infusing the herbs with the residual energy left on the Vermilion Bird's feather before it faded away, it was his secret recipe to catalyze the action of the herbs exponentially, an intriguing discovery of his own, after all, he was a proud self-taught and innovative 'doctor', he was, yet he couldn't be sure if he still is.

Absorbed in his task amid the oddly peaceful, cramped storage area, his concentration was left unperturbed, that was until a commotion was heard from a distance as the Caravan came to a sudden halt. Aware that it could mean that a threat had shown up, Fall rushed towards the main section of the Caravan, ready to provide aid if necessary.

Snakes, exceptionally long snakes, he knew he somehow heard of those, but the details were scattered all over his memory. Kel Cobra, he was almost certain that their habitat would be some more secluded place, but of all places, why would they suddenly gather around right in the middle of their path?
'Danger noodles', a hideous local-given name indeed, but he was sure it was known as 'danger' for a reason, if it's not because of its intimidating length, it would certainly be the fact that it is highly venomous, which Fall knew clearly, is the one thing that even the Vermilion Bird's power would not be able to do anything to nullify, Fall forehead was drenched with cold sweat just by the thought of that. He doesn't enjoy challenges as a doctor, especially when his comrade's life is on the line.

"Please be careful, avoid close combat if possible, remember that Kel Cobra is known for its venom...and length of course."
"Their bite would be very tricky to deal with, especially when we are in the middle of a long journey such as this one."
Fall called out to the two burly man busily chopping the snakes, he couldn't help but to scan around while worrying that they may get an unexpected bite.

If we chop off or pin down its head, we would be safe right?

He whipped out his flute, ready to call upon help, but somehow he was a little hesitant, so he decided to further observe the field before he makes any move that might end up being a bold one before he knew it.

 

[Tex.Y]

Nei's arrow struck home, more than enough to dispatch a single Cobra. It was the very same that'd had a slab of its hood sliced off by the row of arcane strings that initially barred their entry. As Strago leapt into battle, the Venbu's stream of panic was blocked off, and the two beasts settled down. They watched cautiously as a flurry of attacks were launched at the oncoming horde of snakes. It became apparent very soon, however, that the Kel Cobra were not travelling in a large pack. Strago's initial swing cleaved a Cobra's head and hood clean off its body, sending the remaining length into a series of disturbing spasms as the decapitated head twitched harmlessly at his feet. Caliban's effort shon straight afterwards, leaving his knife embedded in a lower part of one Cobra's body. It didn't stop, but the shock sent it squirming backwards, away from Strago, who'd attracted a great deal of attention himself. Two more Cobra dropped immediately, while the remainder did what little they could to flank both Bron and Strago, whilst keeping their excessively long bodies as far away as they could manage. Despite their agility, and length, they weren't exceptionally powerful beasts, ranking as critter tier monsters on Arcadia's scale of the wilds.

Not too far from where the Caravan was doing battle, a pair of women were hidden within the protective canopy of the trees, the southern patch to be specific, opposite to where they were headed. Watching carefully, one pulled a small blue stone from their tightly-fitting uniform, and whispered into it as quietly as she could manage.

"They're headed towards your nest, Opopo. Be ready," She whispered.

 

[Jensoman]

Flin Meeru

Flin took note of the fact that the snakes attempted to flank Strago and Bron. It wasn't too surprising to him. Strago seemed like quite the loudmouth, and his fighting style was bound to get a lot of attention. Along with the giant Lok'Sha who stood beside him. Of course, it was also because they were the only ones on the front lines, and because they were fighting at close range. Flin poked his head out of the entrance and took aim with his guitar, swiping over two individual chords with his fingers. Two focused bolts of sound magic erupted from his guitar, aimed to strike the snakes that attempted to flank Bron, at the opposite side of where Strago was standing. The bolts had the striking power of a hammer, and were faster and somewhat stronger than the shockwave he'd launched before.

As he attacked, Flin could hear a vague sound behind them. 'Is that someone...whispering? A surprise attack? Or...' He thought, but decided to not overthink it. He was in the middle of a battle, and he didn't want to get distracted. Despite that, he still felt that it was important to mention. He began to speak, his voice emerging within people's ears again without him making any sound. "Someone is hidden in the bushes behind our caravan somewhere, whispering. I ain't sure what their deal is, since I can't quite understand them. But be prepared in case they try something, at least." He spoke calmly.

 

[SilverFlight]

Bron did not hear the strange whispers, his focus was on the serpents still weaving their way towards the caravan. As one tried to slip around him Bron side-stepped and lashed out with his sword, aiming to slice the creature in two. He made sure to keep his attacks quick, using his magic to augment his speed, with any luck he would be a match for the speed of the snakes and evade their strikes. Two more tried to flank and Bron scraped a foot against the ground, dredging up dust from the road to fling it into his enemies' eyes.

Bron was confident he could take down many of the beasts, but they were playing roulette, every minute they fought was a round and it would only be a matter of time before their luck ran out and one of the snakes landed a bite.
"We need a solution." Bron said loudly, dodging a pair of fangs and returning the attack with a slash from his sword.
"I am very open to ideas."

 

[Berries]

Satisfied that she had managed to take one down, Nei eyed the events unfolding outside the caravan. It seemed like the members of this crew were actually passable warriors, her eyes settling as Bron as the massive Lok'Sha spun around dodging the snakes with ease. Smirking a little bit at the sight, Nei's eyes seemed to give a shrug at his words. "The solution is to kill them all." She remarked flatly, her words obviously not spoken in jest. Fall's words made her reconsider the situation a bit at the mention of venom. She hadn't encountered this species often and had assumed that their bites were clean. Starting to think it through a little, Nei shook it off. Once again, the best solution was just to kill them all. That way they wouldn't be a threat.

However, how to kill them all was a good question. It seemed like they had all jumped in and just done their own thing; there was no semblance of order. Indeed, it had done them a lot of good seeing that many of the snakes were now dead. Nei was painfully aware that this kind of behavior wouldn't last them long. They were going to need at least some kind of structure if they wanted to go up against any foe even slightly more powerful than this. Her thought process was interrupted as Flin said something about whispers from a bush nearby. Eyes narrowing, Nei immediately spoke to Henry. Check the bushes around the area as best you can. She ordered the falcon.

"Henry is on the lookout for any potential attackers from the brush." She told Flin, but loudly enough that anybody else who had heard the not-bard's remarks to be calmed. Loading another arrow on her bow, Nei whipped out from her cover and shot at one of the remaining Kel Cobra. Before she retreated back into cover, she contemplated the battlefield as it was. Strago and Bron formed a powerful frontline, while she and Flin seemed to good backline potential. It seemed Fall was hesitating to summon one of his creatures, which would likely be useful for offensive purposes. That left Kaladin and Caliban to account for.

"Caliban, fall back behind Strago. Bron, the safety of our venbu should be our priority, move in to defend them. Kaladin, cover Bron." She called out without thinking, trying to figure out in her mind how their group should arrange. One of them could withstand a bite and not effect things too much, but if their venbu fell they would be immobilized for an unknown amount of time. Turning to the not-bard, "I guess we continue what we've been doing." She said lamely, knocking another arrow.

 

[Blitzer]

Kaladin spared a harsh glance for Nei. Did they not see him cutting down snakes. He sighed deeply and wrapped his wires around several more snakes and skewered them advancing quickly making sure Strago and Bron were covered from behind. He slashed his sword quickly at a darting snake sent out light feeler mana threads out to see where they were coming from. If he had an open field and enough magic he could possible skewer them all but it was more 50/50 and not for a group fight. Eh, perhaps he was suited to single fighting.

Berries

 

[Fenris]

Caliban was pleased to see his dagger strike one of the snakes and drive it away from their driver. With a pleased hum he readied another and decided to focus on busying the scaled fiends which lurked in the blind spots or just outside of the fighters reach. The whisperers drifting from the canopy above remained unnoticed.

The rogues first impulse was to ignore Nei's command, jumping down into the whirling melee of blades and fangs seemed incredibly detrimental to his well being. However, spotting the fae drifting out of the wagon changed his mind. He wasn't a fighter like Bron, Strago or Kaladin but with Nyxe's help he'd hold his own. “If you insist...” he responded, leaping from the roof. His jump ended in a sphere the fae had created just moments ago, slowing Cali's descent to a smooth landing. Barely having touched the ground another blade spun through the air to keep the beasts from circling Bron, herding them into the mighty warrior blows. Flin's disembodied warning drew a muted snicker, the fight at hand keeping him occupied. “Curious time to be eavesdropping.”

Meanwhile Nyxe decided to entertain herself by calling forth more spheres; this one greatly increasing the velocity of anything passing through, and placing it in front of the silver haired stick thrower (Nei). It was a favor Caliban often requested and usually rewarded with sweets or interesting trinkets, surely the woman would know of this custom.

 

[Dreamtique]

Witnessing how his comrades handled and kept the situation under control with ease, it reminded Fall of just how paranoid he can be, yet he couldn't help it, it's better safe than sorry, it's one of the rule of thumbs for a doctor. It soon dawned on him that it was indeed redundant for him to expect everyone to play it safe, after all, they had all agreed to put their life on the line the moment they stepped on this caravan, but then again, that is the exact reason he was here with the Four Symbols in the first place, he wants to at least keep everyone in one piece by the time they were done with their mission.

A glimpse of determination filled his eyes before he blew on his flute, a metallic, armored, white tiger substantiated in front of him.
"Please battle alongside the brave warriors in the front line, try to attract as many attention from the snakes as possible and make sure that the Warriors are safe from the assault of the Kel Cobra."

The tiger's eyes brightened up as soon as the strands of 'danger noodle' meet its eyes, it readily lowered its front legs and leaped out of the Caravan as soon as Fall gave his order, it accelerated straight to the pool of entangling snakes as it slashed its ways through with its sharp metallic claws.
Its pure white armored body was glaring under the sunlight, some embedded dark-coloured alien gems on its solid metallic body dazzled like shooting stars as the White Tiger dashed around the battle field.
Under its sharp claws, the snakes got chopped up in pieces like butter mercilessly, the White Tiger tried to take full control of the front line as it dragged in the snakes around it as ordered by Fall.

Knowing that the White Tiger is technically invincible to the mere bites of Kel Cobra, he was confident that the White Tiger could go on a rampage and exterminate all of the little critters with no draw back.

Fall noticed what the fellow music lover, Flin had mentioned, he was a little perplexed by his claim though.
Is someone trying to ambush them?
Now that he thinks about it, the unexplained appearance of these snakes could be implying something far more sinister, with limited inspection, he naturally couldn't piece anything together, but his sixth sense was tingling, he could only wish that his comrades were ready for anything, anything and everything that are going to get in their way eventually.

 

[Jensoman]

Flin Meeru

Flin nodded in response to Nei, pleased that she take his comment about the whispers as a joke and had her falcon investigate. She seemed to be reliable. "Thanks for taking this seriously....heh, your bird sure is useful." He complimented, as the sound bolts that he'd fired earlier headed for two snakes that had attempted to flank Bron and were blinded by the dirt that the Lok'Sha had launched at them. They struck them dead-on on their heads, shattering their skulls. "The Lok'Sha is less reckless in combat than I had expected him to be." He added, in a monotone voice. Bron could hear him clearly. It was a compliment, despite that Flin was simply commenting on his fighting style rather than to be kind. He still felt that he was better than the Lok'Sha, despite that he'd gained some respect for him now. Of course, this was due to his general dislike of Lok'Shas.

As Nei mentioned that they could just keep doing what they were doing in a slightly displeased tone, Flin shrugged. "Bah...it's working, right? The two close ranged bulky fighters are fighting at the front lines, the others are providing support, and we're providing covering fire from the back lines while remaining on a safe distance. Doesn't seem like a bad set-up. So, whatever." He stated in a reassuring tone. He turned to Caliban afterwards and sighed with a hint of annoyance behind it. "Only an idiot lets his guard down. Ya gotta be prepared for anything!" He replied in a rather blunt manner. His words were still emerging from people's ears rather than his own mouth. It seemed like most of the snakes had been defeated by now, but he fired another two bolts to cover Bron from the side just in case more snakes moved at him. "Do not worry, Lok'Sha. I have you covered." He stated proudly with a smirk on his face.

 

[Berries]

As she turned her head to see Kaladin glaring at her, Nei's first impulse was to glare right back. After she turned away, however, her eyebrows furrowed a bit. She had observed this group's chaotic nature during their briefing, of course, but their hate for any type of authority seemed to run deep. She had simply been observing the battlefield, but she supposed she had come off too strong. The woman wavered for a moment before her eyes cleared up. She cared little about what this rag-tag group thought of her; she wanted to survive, and having some semblance of structure was necessary. Since nobody else seemed to be even remotely willing to offer that, she would have to do it herself.

Caliban had also rather reluctantly listened to her, and Nei was offended but instead of venting it out through spoken means she simply loaded more arrows in order to shoot the Kel Cobra with. However, right as she lifted her bow to aim, some small sphere seemed to appear in front of her face. Scowling at it and the spirit that seemed to have conjured it, Nei fired off her arrow anyway only to be greatly surprised when it suddenly started moving at mach ten speed. Blinking, the woman quickly deduced the fact that the sphere was to blame. Glaring darkly at the spirit, the archer continued to fire arrows. They all went off erratically in different directions, their accuracy greatly thrown off by the strange velocity changes.

Nei quickly adapted to the challenge. By the fourth arrow she fired she had managed to pin down the velocity changes in order to use it to her benefit and resumed her shooting a the Kel Cobra. Her attention focused, she suddenly started as a massive tiger jumped out of the caravan. "What in the ever-living heck-" She muttered aloud, staring at the tiger as it pranced around and killed the snakes. "Who's beastie is that?" She called out crossly, assuming that it was on their side. "Give us a warning next time!" She scolded, having been two moments away from shooting it.

Turning her attention to Flin, Nei nodded to him on the topic of Henry. "Of course, if we want to be prepared we have to explore all options." She said easily. "Besides, during fights like this Henry isn't all that useful so it's good to put him to use." Nei continued to speak, though she began to mentally check in with the bird as well. Anything new? She inquired of her feathered companion.

There is definitely someone in the brush. The bird responded promptly. Not more than four, I don't think. I can't see them clearly. He continued before cutting his speech link with Nei and signalling that was all he knew at the moment.

Alarmed, Nei called out to the group softly. "We do have company, though not enough to openly challenge us I think." She informed them, hoping that Henry wasn't wrong.

Meanwhile, the not-bard Flin seemed to be skeptical of her orders as well. Glancing at him briefly between shots to listen to what he had to say, she shrugged. "It's working, but in the future we will need to learn to fight in a unit. This is a good place to start." She responded to him, disregarding his remarks about Bron. It seemed like they had nearly eliminated all the Kel Cobra, and had yet to sustain any injuries from her knowledge.

 

[Tex.Y]

Rowe Bumbled out of the Caravan with one hand glued to her forehead. A small trickle of blood raced across her left temple while the mage oriented herself. "What... Kel Cobra?" She managed to piece together, fairly certain that she'd just suffered a concussion as a result of the sudden jolt. "N-Nei, status of the group?" She called out on instinct, assuming that the woman had the best vantage available. "What's this I'm hearing about... Urh.. Company in the W-Woods?" Rowe tripped over the front section of the Caravan and fell forwards, landing chest-down in the dirt road. Another small fall, and she was barely conscious. "Delay that. I Ne-I need medical attention."

The stealthy pair that hid in the trees looked up at Nei's bird cautiously. "A bird?" One whispered, "Scouting? Is it trained?"

"It's probably looking for food," The other hissed, "Leave it be. We need to keep our relay open."

Centaurus was now stuck in the middle of the road, waiting for an opportunity to advance further. Rowe was injured, and their path had been laden with traps, apparently. Or perhaps it was just coincidence? Either way, nothing would come to light unless the group proceeded, one way or another.

SilverFlight Berries Fenris Blitzer Dreamtique Jensoman

 

[Dreamtique]

"G-god! How did this happen?"
Fall rushed over and tried to carry their leader back onto the Caravan, the sight of their now blood-soaked leader shook Fall's composure for split second, he took out a cloth from his bag and cleaned the crimson blood staining Rowe's face, he then proceeded to lay the completely disoriented mage on the floor,.

Fall quickly realized what had to be done, with no other choice, he withdrew the White Tiger to allow Vermilion Bird to be summoned.The Vermilion Bird landed beside Rowe and spread its bright flaming wings, it's huge wings shielded Rowe's now fragile body, it instinctively knew what to do and started to release a bring vermilion aura from its wide-spread wings, the enchanted ember and spark from its wings danced around Rowe's body before it slowly seeped into her body, her bleeding wounds or any concussions would be slowly healed and reverted under Vermilion Bird's aura.

Fall needed to make sure their Captain would be at their top shape at emergency like this, but it seemed like fate had their way of coming up with atrocious jokes.
Their Captain, Rowe had always put on a serious face, and is certainly a very responsible and capable one, to see her trying her best to make sure things are in control even after her injury was very inspiring and moving to Fall, he noted to himself to pay respect to this woman, and more importantly, try his best to heal her.

"Captain, what happened?"
Fall stepped forward and questioned, he wanted to make sure Rowe was still conscious while he tried to find out what happened.

 

[Jensoman]

Flin Meeru

Flin smirked as they managed to defeat the snakes. It seemed like the crew was very capable of combat, despite the chaotic way everything went down. Nei had a point, order was something they lacked. Still, it turned out well, so he shrugged it off. Of course, it may be a problem in the future. Flin stared at the captain as she collapsed, sighing deeply. They finally managed to get rid of the snakes, and now they were stuck healing the captain while the people in the bush could do whatever they wanted? 'At least they ain't gonna attack us...according to Nei and her bird, at least.' Flin thought, walking past Nei.

"I know I'm in no position to give you orders, Nei, but...it may be useful if you could let your bird listen in on whatever those people in the bush are talking about. Just a piece of advice. This might be about far more than we realise." He spoke, still using the sound spell to avoid being heard. He walked over to Rowe, and sat beside her. He looked at the giant flame bird as it attempted to heal her. He was quite intrigued. It was an impressive magic feat, especially from a human. He respected humans to a certain degree, despite being an Eldi himself. "That flame bird of yours has an amazing healing ability..." He complimented to Fall.

 

[SilverFlight]

Bron gave Nei's reply a snort, half amusement and half worry. "You sound like a Lok'Sha," he said and it didn't exactly come across like a compliment. Nevertheless when she gave out instructions he barked out a quick "Aye!" and adjusted his stance to accommodate the new strategy and Kaladin's support. He grinned at Kaladin, the newest member of their vanguard force.
"Let's finish this."
Just then Caliban made his appearance before the wagon and even Bron had to admit it was stylish. The man had an excellent harmony with his spirit.
The snakes began to close in and for a moment Bron was afraid they would not be enough. With his flanks guarded by Kaladin and Caliban he forged his way forward, killing serpents as he went, but for every one he cut down it felt like two more replaced them. It was hard to see they were making headway. Suddenly a burst of white emerged from the corner of his eye and Bron had to pause for a moment as he watched a fantastic tiger spirit cut into the ranks of snakes as if they were made of wet paper. Bron gave a whoop of triumph as he looked back at the caravan and recognized the sound of Fall's flute.
"It's our good doctor!" Bron cried as Nei asked, and at her scolding he only laughed and punched the air, waving his thanks at Fall. The battle had been turning slowly and now it seemed fully in their favour.
The Lok"Sha glanced back with a raised eyebrow as he heard Flinn's jibe, "Do I get a prize for that?" He shot back with a wry smile. He watched the two bolts fly past him and strike another serpent down dead. He returned Flinn's smirk with one of his own, "Likewise Songster."
Not long after that Bron finally felt safe enough to turn fully back to the caravan, and was just in time to see Rowe fall. He bore no love for the human, but worry appeared on his bull-like features as she tumbled to the ground and he went over to where Fall now had her.
He offered to help lift her and would put her back onto the caravan as soon as Fall's great bird had done its work.
"I suggest we get the caravan moving again. Quickly."
He turned to Nei and after her report he puzzled for a moment. "What are they doing?" He asked her, referring to the people hiding she had pointed out.
"I agree with Master Not-a-bard, we need more information."
There wasn't much time to think however as with the white tiger gone there was still a threat before them. Once the captain was safe on the caravan Bron bid Fall climb aboard too.
"We're leaving." He said definitively and turned to head back out, his sword catching the sunlight and turning it on the few remaining snakes.
"Our obstacle will not be there for long."
With his allies by his side Bron set upon their enemies again, a seemingly tireless force that helped finish carving a way for the caravan to advance.

Berries Blitzer Fenris Dreamtique Jensoman Tex.Y

((Sorry for not replying last round, I'm still having trouble with notifications, even if I'm watching a thread I only get notes about 50% of the time.))

 

[Berries]

Nei had begun to relax, for despite the obvious hostility that the crew had to anybody who even attempted to give them orders it seemed like the threat had mostly passed. However, that feeling only lasted a precious few moments before she heard her name being called. Watching in what was a mixture of mild shock and stronger disappointment, Nei realized that Rowe had been bitten at some point during the conflict. Cursing under her breath, Nei briefly retreated from her self-appointed post at the front of the caravan to kneel beside Fall as he brought Rowe inside for treatment.

"Group is intact," she informed their leader, speaking in loud slow words so that the struggling woman would be able to comprehend. Figuring that the best way to help her heal would be to alleviate any concerns from her mind, Nei lied a little bit. "We are clear of all danger, there is no reason to worry." She added, not elaborating on the people in the woods. Considering her job done, Nei nodded to Fall before returning to the front of the caravan in time to catch Flin's comment. Pursing her lips hesitantly, Nei shook her head a little bit.

"I will ask him to get into hearing range, but I don't wish to risk his safety." Nei responded to Flin, though she directed her comment to Bron as well seeing that the Lok'Sha had agreed with the not-bard.

Henry, can you get in hearing range? She asked, eyes spacing out momentarily as she spoke to her friend.

Maybe. One of them seems suspicious of me.

Okay. It'd be good if you can hear, but don't risk your safety.

Exchange over, Nei turned back to Flin and Bron. "He will try, but they have caught sight of him already." She informed her teammates. Meanwhile, Henry had taken a perch in a tree nearby the two hiding women and pretended to preen his feathers while attempting to listen in on what they said. He didn't pick up much of their exchange, but he did catch the part about keeping a relay open.

They speak of keeping a relay open, it seems probable there are more of them.

Snapping up in alarm at Henry's words, Nei glanced sharply out into the bushes before calling out to the rest of the group softly. "Henry says it sounds like they have backup, we need to be careful while venturing forth." She cautioned, hands gripping her bow tightly. They had been hardly out of Arcadia for long but they already seemed to be facing a potentially dangerous opposition.

Nodding in acknowledgement to Bron as the Lok'Sha jumped back out into the fray, Nei turned to Strago. "As Bron says, let's move it." She ordered, and accordingly the venbu began to move forth once again despite their remaining fear of the Kel'Cobra.

 

[Fenris]

Another Cobra reared to avoid the sting of his dagger only to be caught in the sweep of Bron's blade, as the snakes numbers dwindled the rogues confidence grew. He was even about to reply to Flin's comment when a tiger of all things leaped from the Caravan. A low whistle escaped him as he watched the summon tear into a knot of bright colored cobras. It looked as if the fight was coming to a close and the streaking of accelerated arrows gave him a good idea just where his own spirit had gone.

Caliban kicked a decapitated snake out of his path and scowled at the trail of stick dark blood it had left on his boots. Even in death the cobras seemed determined to be a nuisance and worse yet their captain was stumbling about barely conscious. At least Fall was quick to administer healing arts before her condition could deteriorate further. Taking advantage of the ebb in the battle Cali peeled away, following Bron to the caravan in a light trot to keep up with the Lok'sha larger strides.

“Roughing up the cap'n and taking command?” Caliban asked, his tone turning the accusation into a poor joke. “Guess I'd better keep an eye on you.” The rogue scrambled into the caravan behind the injured Rowe only pausing long enough to to gesture for Nyxe to follow him inside. The fae had been sticking near Nei; at first finding the archers attempts to aim overly amusing and later wondering if perhaps this one was rather talented for having picked up on her trick so quickly. Her summoner had taken quite a bit longer and expended his repertoire of choice curses in the process.

“If there really is someone waiting for us up ahead, it might be easier to flush them out? With a bit of luck we could get the drop on them.” His gaze shot to Nyxe whom was generally responsible for his 'luck', but the fae only crossed her arms and huffed, seeming reluctant to help without some form of material encouragement for her efforts.

“I'm not one to scare innocent wayfarers but running headlong into another surprise doesn't sound promising either.” The rogue stalled digging through his myriad pockets and giving the fae an annoyed look when she tuned toward Nei and voiced her demand, pointing at the rangers quiver. 'Feather'. At least the troublesome summon hadn't asked for some of the vermilion birds plumage.

Not far off Bron's vow resonated in a much deeper tone, declaring his intent with finality. They would be moving on and toward the mysterious folk hidden up ahead.

 

[Tex.Y]

Rowe didn't resist as Fall's summon began to fill her body with healing energies. Although still slightly disoriented by the injury, she was quick to spring back into action as soon as she could. Rowe wiped what little remnants of blood remained on her face, and nodded to Fall, before standing back up. "I just bumped my head. Thank you, Fall," she said graciously, turning towards Nei, Bron, and Flin. Their observations and actions were almost perfectly in line with how she might have commanded them. It seemed that despite their temperament, the members of Caravan Centaurus possessed adept judgement, and excelled as much as they were expected to. She looked to Bron as he issued the obvious order to move out, too preoccupied with the urgency of current events to scold Bron for taking order over her head. Besides, if she wasn't capable, Kaladin was the second-highest ranking officer of the group. Unless he took issue with Bron's orders, there wasn't any reason to waste time scolding anyone. "As Bron says," Rowe started, surprised to see Caliban already making his way into the Caravan, "We're moving, now."

Without Delay, the group was able to reassemble. With Strago able to calm and reorient the Venbu in only a manner of minutes, they were off at a cautious Pace, with Rowe positioned on the Roof, standing side by side with Nei and Caliban.

"A trap, probably," Rowe muttered, mulling over the information that Nei had gathered at the behest of Flin, "If that's the case, they're likely using somebody much like you, Nei; Controlling snakes from far off lands to dissuade our progress. But they made a crucial mistake, underestimating us." They Caravan was now only about one mile away from the oncoming Snake nest that blocked the road. It became slightly visible in the distance, looking more like a reddish overgrowth than a bundle of snakes. "Nei, what's... That?"

In the thickness of the trees, the two spies from earlier had long disregarded Henry, doing their best to keep up with Caravan Centaurus by hopping from tree to tree. They kept concealed, but there wasn't much they could do about the noise that their jumps had been making, albeit being easily mistaken for the whistling sound of the wind. "Tell her," One whispered to the other, pausing on a tree branch several yards ahead of the Caravan's current position, "When are we to strike?"

SilverFlight Berries Fenris Blitzer Dreamtique Jensoman

 

[SilverFlight]

Bron chuckled at Caliban's jab, "I am a shit leader and I know it," he admitted with feeling. "But if you must watch me, I would prefer your spirit's company over yours." His counter taunt was said with an amused smile.
Rowe had recovered quickly and upon hearing her voice and looking back he was glad. He was also glad she didn't rip into him then and there for taking charge for the moment and made a mental note to thank her for it later.
In the meantime he stayed at the vanguard in front of the venbu, though keeping an ear back for his captain's orders. He heard her speak of the source of their snake problem.
"If they are being controlled, then perhaps they will disperse if we break the magics holding them," Bron suggested, making an impressive threat display at a knot of the beasts, which scattered warily and slithered back a few paces, but by no means in retreat.
Something caught his attention just ahead in the trees by the side of the road.
"Those are either the loudest monkeys I have ever heard...or perhaps it is our little snake charmers?"
Bron picked up a stone from the road and hefted it experimentally, then, he watched the trees for the rustling to stop and where it did he took aim and launched the stone.

Fenris Tex.Y

 

[Jensoman]

Flin Meeru

Flin smirked as Fall's bird managed to heal Rowe, and kept his eyes on the road. He didn't pay much mind to the noises from the trees that the two spies made, disregarding it as wind momentarily. It seemed obvious after a while however, that it wasn't actually the wind, but them hopping from tree to tree. 'Not too surprising that they'd follow after us...' He thought, overlooking the road from within the caravan. That's when he saw the snake nest further ahead, vaguely hearing the same hissing noises that he'd heard before. "Heads up, there's more Kel Cobra up ahead." Flin informed everyone with his sound spell link, and readied his guitar.

"Right...I think some of us should keep an eye on the people following after us, and some to focus on the snakes." Flin replied to Bron, as he made a move against the women. He took aim with his guitar, and swiped over the chords. "Crystal Storm.." He muttered, as four razor sharp shards made out of sound magic materialised and surrounded him. They remained levitating in place for a moment within the caravan, and then flew under a nearby bench with the sharp ends facing the floor. He didn't exactly want his companions to stumble into his shards, after all. He prepared himself when they would reach the nest of snakes. Earlier they were caught off guard, but this time the crew had time to prepare. Despite that, he kept his wits about him in case the people following them would make a move before they would reach the nest. As such, hiding the shards from plain sight was ideal.

 

[Dreamtique]

Fall nodded back at Rowe as the strong-willed captain quickly sprung back to action after a brief session of healing.
Fall was suddenly enlightened when Rowe deduced that the reason that the snakes kept appearing and targeting them could be the reason that they were controlled by an ESP or any kind of magic.

That instantly made a lot of things much clearer, now that Fall thinks about it, of course the snakes were manipulated in some way. But if the aggressiveness of those snakes were caused solely by the act of an presumably ESP, then distracting said culprit would be the quickest and most direct solution to their problem. It was clear to Fall now that the true obstacle to their path was remained hidden all along, but now their solution would be as clear as day.

"I see. If that's the case, then, why delay? If they are going to get in our way, the only way to settle this is to stop them before they stop us."

"Let's aim straight for the 'hiding snake' instead of beating around the bush. Those Kel Cobras are innocent creatures after all."

"Captain Rowe, what do you think about a 'reversed ambush'? " Fall turned to Rowe as he tossed his glance to his fellow comrades from time to time, trying to check their opinion on the suggestion at the same time.

Tex.Y

 

[Berries]

Scowling a little bit at Caliban's little summon seemed to point at her, Nei was still a bit displeased with the fact that the little fae being had messed with her aim earlier. However, her attention was quickly diverted to more pressing matters as Rowe seemed to get her head back in the game after receiving some aid from Fall. Glad that it seemed like the situation was on its way to resolving itself, Nei took the opportunity to assess how many arrows she had fired. Seeing that she had a limited supply, she noted that she was going to have to make herself some replacements at the next opportunity.

Usually, she would scavenge her arrows from the corpses they left behind but in this case they were already moving out and she had no desire to hold the rest of the group up over something so insignificant. Listening in as Rowe muttered to herself, Nei nodded at the captain's assessment. Blinking as Rowe pointed out into the distance, Nei turned her attention quickly to the reddish-looking mound in their path. "I'm not sure, 'mam." She responded quickly, taking a few steps towards the front of the caravan.

Henry, can you see what that red thing is? She queried, though she felt bad asking the bird for so much seeing that he was still tracking their pursuers.

More snakes. The bird responded shortly, sounding distracted. They speak of a strike. He added, sounding rather worried and like he viewed the Kel Cobra as the least of their problems.

"It is more Kel Cobra, 'mam." Nei ended up responding to Rowe, though Flin had already warned the group of the same thing. "Also, Henry says that our pursuers speak of a strike. An ambush is most likely impending." She informed quickly, her bow still out and by her side as she prepared for another battle. Looking up as Flin spoke again, Nei nodded in agreement with his words. "Henry and I can keep an eye on our pursuers, but we definitely need more people looking out for both the Kel Cobra and any more potential attackers." She voiced her opinion, watching with interest as he used his guitar to conjure a few shards.

Raising her eyebrows as Fall began to speak, Nei looked displeased. "How are we to aim at the hidden snake if we don't know where it is?" She asked crossly. "If their methods are anything like mine, our true attackers could be miles away. I highly doubt that the two behind us are the masterminds of this operation." She said, shaking her head again as the doctor spoke of a reversed ambush. "Again, unless we know where and how the ambush is happening we have no way to reverse it." She repeated her critique.

 

[Tex.Y]

"Nei is correct," Rowe whispered, moving closer to the edge of the Caravan, "Strago, slow our approach to a stop. We don't want to crash into those snakes, either way." On commanded, the Venbu slowed down. As the nest of snakes got closer, their sheer numbers became more obvious. Hundreds upon hundreds, and squirming together as if there were some kind of mating display going on right before them in the center of the road. "Countering their ambush with one of our own would be optimal, Fall. But we need to figure out where the mastermind-"

"ARHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGG!!!"

Rowe was cut off, but not unhappy with the result. A scream of pure pain rang out from the right side of the path, near where the cobra were gathered. Was somebody bitten? "There," Rowe ordered, pointing to her right, "The cobra aren't coming towards us. Nei, Flin, Bron, move into the forest. Flush out our little friends. I shall cover with Caliban and Kaladin, moving along the road." As her orders ceased, the Caravan came to a full stop. "Keep an eye out for our friends in the trees, as well. We don't know how many people might be watching us."

 

[Jensoman]

Flin Meeru

Flin listened to the Captain's words, pleased that she made the caravan stop. He grit his teeth in irritation as someone cried out in pain. 'My ears...what the hell!' He thought, as his sound spell was still in effect. He seemed particularly displeased for a moment, but was happy to hear the Captain's orders. "A Pincer formation, huh? Moving in from two sides? I like it..." He muttered, as his voice remained unhearable to those who were not his allies. Since they would split up in two groups, it would be important to have a good line of communication. He turned briefly towards Bron and Nei, and smirked. Nei had proven to be quite reliable with her quick wit and her bird, and Bron seemed surprisingly intelligent for a Lok'Sha. He didn't attack the snakes mindlessly before, and put a lot of thought in his actions. He'd grown to respect these two to a certain degree, so he felt relieved that he was teamed up with them.

"Anyway, we're off, captain." He stated lazily, wandering off into the forest. He began to scan his surroundings as he moved, keeping his main focus on the snakes while trying to avoid making any noise. He didn't want any of them to lash out at him or his companions, and then there was also the fact that they didn't know who was screaming. If it were a foe, they would need to be wary of them as well. He readied his guitar, making sure not to be seen by the snakes by using the many bushes and trees to his advantage to remain concealed from their their vision as he headed to the same direction.

The shards he'd casted earlier within the caravan, in the meantime, remained hidden in their current position.

 

[Fenris]

Nei's refusal upset the fae whom turned to her summoner only to receive a shrug. There was little Caliban could do to change the rangers mind about giving away one of her few remaining arrows and he wasn't particularly in the mood to argue in the first place. Denied her request Nyxe glowered for a moment and then disappeared from view; whether by illusionary trick or back to her home plane even Cali could only guess.

The fae however, wasn't the only source of trouble as Rowe's orders rang out. Whoever wanted to deter them certainly spared no effort in the attempt. “Is it too late to turn back and take another route?” the rogue muttered to no one in particular, wishing to have been assigned the task of sneaking instead of playing decoy. Alas, he had little say in the matter.

A pained scream echoed through the forest sending a few distant birds a flight. Caliban paused his knife twirling just long enough to stare at a nearby patch of dense foliage and spit in the direction. It remained motionless just as one would expect of branches and leaves...”You sure about this captain? When people spot a trap they usually avoid it not walk straight in...” he resumed his path down the road and absent minded twirling of blades. Hopefully the others were quick to flush out their prey.