|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 10:00 am
He nodded. "Sounds like a plan. What type of things did you want to ask about in the town?" He reached down scratching Xiwang's neck then yawned.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 10:47 am
"Well..." She began. They were already deep in the forest by now.
"I've read many documents about legendary monsters and treasures in the area we are heading to. I want to see if the rumors are true..." She looked ahead. There was a small clearing and a stream.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 11:14 am
"Oooh what sort of monsters?" He loved all the myths and legends. His favorite book had plenty of it, which he had brought along and was tucked safely into the pocket of his pack.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 11:20 am
"All sorts of strange and horrible things." She said as they entered the clearing. "Do you want to stop here to rest? This was the ideal spot I had in mind. I could sure use some cold water." She said, looking down at her empty canteen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 11:29 am
He nodded and slid off Xiwang landing a bit unsteady on the ground. He was more tired than he thought. He took the reigns and looped them over a low-hanging limb, and did the same with Jihui's reigns. Then he removed the gear from Jihui's back and dropped it on the ground.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 11:47 am
Nika followed suit and de-tacked her horses to let them graze a bit.
She ran down to the stream and filled her canteen, drinking heavily.
"Ah..." She sighed. She stood up and as she did, she noticed a tree across the stream with strange markings on it. She hopped on some rocks across the stream to examine the markings.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 11:49 am
He didnt notice her going across the stream as he was unrolling his sleeping bag. once unrilled he looked around and quickly changedout of his serving uniform into clean clothes. Then he went over to the stream "What is it?" He knelt down and drank from the stream and washed his face.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 12:06 pm
She read over the markings.
"It looks like...it's from a tribe. A tribe notorious for being thieves and ransackers...we'd best be on our watch as this marking indicates this clearing is a part of their territory. Most travelers think it's nonsense and move deeper into their territory only to be robbed. For those who understand...such as other tribes, they back off..." She pocketed the canteen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 12:31 pm
He scrunched his face. He'd just gotten a good deal of gold and now it was most likely going to be taken away from him. "Great... maybe we should just go the rest of the way tonight."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 12:52 pm
"Don't worry, I'll protect you....and your gold." She chuckled heavily. "It's odd, really, because I didn't think their territory reached this far. They must have gained power over other tribes and have expanded their space. How interesting...considering they used to be one of the weakest of the bandit tribes..." She walked back to their camp, grabbing some carrots from her pouch and feeding her horse. "I'm mighty tired as well. But don't worry, Peppermint is a smart horse, she'll make racket if anyone approaches our camp." She patted Peppermint's neck. Nika unrolled her sleeping bag too. It was stuffed with goose and fowl down. She took off her chest and shoulder armor, placing it beside her.
"But we must not light a fire here..the smoke would be a dead give away signal."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 12:56 pm
He made a slight groan at the thought of not being able to just sleep when he was this exhausted and went over falling onto his bedroll. He reached into his pack and pulled out his small book. It was dark but he liked the feeling of it in his hands as he flipped through the pages a bit then tucked it under his pillow as he got comfortable. Next to him, his two daggers laid along with a whip ready for use.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 1:05 pm
She drifted off to sleep soon after. The night had fallen upon them and darkness was all-enveloping. Crickets chirped and frogs made noise in the nearby stream. It was peaceful. The sound of the bubbling stream was the last thing Nika heard before she drifted off.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 1:15 pm
Eric kept waking up. He was afraid the tribe Nika spoke of would attack and kept imagining them watching him from the darkness. He nodded off for only an hour so at a time and each time he woke up he could imagine having a light and seeing all their eyes reflecting back at him like mosters. By early morning he'd given up on sleep and sat at the edge of the stream thinking. He sat there with his feet in the cold water looking up at the stars. He felt relieved to be free of everything at the castle and just wanted to get further away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 1:26 pm
It was early morning already. Nika was awake and heard footsteps echoing across the forest. She shot up out of her bed immediately, grabbing her sword. The noise was coming from the north, across from the spring.
"Do you hear that?" She asked Eric, unsheathing her sword.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 1:28 pm
He jumped from the water and shot over to his things grabbing the whip in one hand and the daggers in another. "Yeah" he said in a panicked whisper. "what do you plan to do?" While he spoke he kicked his bedroll into a pile and somewhat gatherd his things together.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
