In the moon light

[Arminas]

Arminas sat against one of the trees while the others babbled on, half paying attention to them, but most of him was dedicated to conversing with the forest. Finally, when they all seemed to have quieted for a moment, he spoke up.
"I don't know all of what's been taken, but there have been some odd comings and goings. Whoever has been doing this has done an exceptional job of keeping it quiet, likely there is an odd sort of magic behind it all. I don't like it, what could they possibly have of mine...?"
He shook his head, and stood up, then he looked towards the canopy for a moment before he looked back at all of them, and walked up beside Rose, slinging his bowstave over his shoulders. This whole situation was just wrong...how could the trees not have seen this? The house, he was familiar with, but he had never gone there, and he didn't know that any of the animals did either. Was sort of an unspoken thing that it was to be left alone, the trees there were cold and didn't talk much, he rarely bothered even to try.
"I suppose to be quite honest... there's no reason in me getting involved in al this. Still."
He looked at rose again for a moment. She had a sister that they had taken...? He had never had anything like a sister... though he knew of the closeness of the wolves, if one of their pack was lost it was always a terrible thing... they would be terribly sad for weeks. But wolves were practical creatures, they got over it because they needed to hunt. He could only imagine what it might be like for someone like her... He felt the jellery ((Whats a jellery?)) in his pocket, and looked down at it before he waved a little to Raven as she departed, before he looked back at the others, and then to Rose.
"But I'm not about to let the kind of... bulls**t that these bastards are trying to pull happen. Until I'm proved otherwise, you all seem like decent enough people... I'll help. Anyone who wants, I'll show you the house tomorrow, I think theres been enough for one day. Or you can ask the trees about it, they know more than I do."
It never occured to him, even for a moment, that the others wouldnt be able to talk to the forest.
"For now, though, what are the groups going to be?"

[Pariah]

Raven I love your parlor tricks and mage-craft.  And Arminas, how stupid of me, I should’ve thought of that myself, talking to the trees! What a concept.

First, before we all go running off clueless, we need to figure out what we do have right now.  I’ve got two days trail rations and a flask of water and a really bad temper.  I was supposed to be out of here tonight.  On to somewhere else, and what happens.  This ***hole decides to attack that freaking bar.

Rose, Snake, and Raven both have mage-craft, and Arminas there might just be crazy enough to do it too.  Andi, I’m guessing you’re a thief from your comment.  What kind; pick pocket, lock pick, con artist?  Nai and I seem to be straight up fighters though.

Between us we have how many swords, three right?  As long as we don’t lose any I guess that’ll be fine.  I really don’t like the idea of having archers inside, to many ways to shot ourselves in the back.  If it was just her sister that we needed to get out then I’d say we start a fire somewhere, and then have Rose and Andi sneak in to find the girl.  Who ever goes into town is going to have to grab Rose some knives too.

If anyone wants I’m sure me and one of our less, principled, group members can extract all the information we want out of the barkeeper.  Do you want us to bring him back afterwards, or just deal with him? Arminas, I’m sure you know this forest like the back of your hand, crazy or not, and can find us some food.  I personally like more than just rabbit food, but we’d need to cook that.  And to cook we need a fire.  Probably not a good thing, the town guards are probably searching for the crooks that set that place alight.

I’m with all of you wholly in this thing.  They ruined my week, and I want their hides on my wall for it.  Three goups of two sounds good, but when do we have to get back here?  Whatever time it is, if one group isn’t back promptly after that, everyone else needs to see if they can find them.  When we split up we’re making ourselves more vulnerable, and I don’t know what these jelleries (jellery... can a put it on my toast?) define as ‘hurt.’

[TheSnakeRoselynAlexandra]

(jewelry= jelleries)

She glared at Jud as she shacks her head. “You know your getting on my every last...”  She took a breath. “ Your not the only fighters here as I hope you know. Did I not just say I was an assassin? Do you even have a clue how hard my job is? I don’t think you do.”  She pushed back her feelings and shacks her head. “ Even if you don’t know what they have  of yours they have something so that means its not only my sister at stake but many other things or people. We don’t know and that’s what we need to know. Arminas, you and I will go scout the house. Jud and Nai will go after the bar keeper keep him alive we might need him later. Raven and Andi you two are on weapons. All I need are daggers and as many as you can get. Lets get moving people I want this dun before daylight ends. Then we can rest up tonight. When the sun sets is when everyone needs to be back. If your not back then we will go out looking for you.”

She looked on to the others to see if they disagreed with her. If so then she would work it out.

[Arminas]

He looked at Jud for a moment. What the hell was he being so sarcastic about? Then... the way the bastard acted the trees likely weren't interested in talking to him anyways, that seemed the best explaination for his odd behavior.
"Yeah, because your sarcasm is really going to help our situation, I deeply appreciate your input. And I have a shortsword as well."
Arminas patted the sheath at his side, and looked at the man for a moment, not menacingly, or angry, but very calm. He didn't get angry quite that quickly... but the man was treading an edge with him, at least, and it seemed rose didn't appreciate his comments either, which he understood fully. He was being derisive, and no one among them seemed in the mood...
"Don't worry about food, or getting lost. I'll handle both. And as crazy as Jud may think I am, if you do happen to get lost in the forest, even you-"
he looked at Jud here
"Follow the hawk. He'll lead you back here. You can trust me or not, call me crazy, but that's what will get you back here."
The man turned and walked a few paces away, but he stopped and tossed Andi the bag of moss.
"In case your wound begins to bleed again. Can always find more. Roselyn, or Snake, the house is this way."

[Ria Hawk]

Nai shrugged.  "I need to have words with the barkeep anyway.   I've had rainwater that had a higher alchohol content and tasted better than the stuff he serves."  She was busy examining the charred hole in her shirt.  "That's... that's odd.  When did that happen?  You think I'd have noticed."  She poked it again, then shrugged.  "I guess I just missed it when I lifted the shirt yesterday.  Doesn't matter."  She started heading off, then stopped and turned around to look at Jud.  "I don't know the path back to town."

[Andimia]

Andimia looked around from her spot upon the forest floor. "The is one problem I see... errr... can't see even. Out of the group I am wounded and Raven is not here. So I'm supposed to go into town and steal wepons, as i'm not using my own money for wepons that are not going to be mine, and carry all of them back here? By myself?" Andimia got up slowly, holding on to the tree for stability, the color slowly comming back to her face. "And before you leave I would like my throwing knives back," Andimia held her hand out towards Rose. "....please." She glanced at Jud with her hand still waiting for the daggers. "I am none of thoes." She sighed. "I am a mercenary of sorts, usually hired out by wealthy upper class or government officials. I steal documents for blackmail or to prevent blackmail or even create situations for blackmail. I've kidnapped people, rescued kidnapped people, killed in the night, and hunted down would-be assassins. I do other people's dirty work, and get paid very little for it because I am forever indebted to the man that handles all of my contacts." Andimia rolled her injured shoulder, streatching it a bit.

[Pariah]

"Fine, thanks.  I'll remember that.  If I ever get lost and this baubl won't help me, then I look for a hawk to lead me home.  Do I have to talk a tree to get the hawk to come, I mean, I'm up for it?  Anyway, I'm sorry if I insulted your intelligence Rose, I had just always been taught that assassins were cowards.  Attacking from the shadows, only to run away when a fair fight presented itself."

But never mind.  I can't win this, and I see that."  Jud started heading in the general direction of town.  "It's this way_{, I hope,} Nai."

Exit stage left.

[Arminas]

"No. He'll be watching."
Arminas leaned against a tree quietly, and yawned a bit, waiting for Rose. This guy was digging himself a really deep hole, he could see... not a good way to make friends...
"Andimia, if you need money..."
He took a bag of coins and tossed it to the ground near her.
"Just get a cart or something. I never use money anyways...."

[TheSnakeRoselynAlexandra]

She walked over to Arminas in her mind trying to control her feelings. She needed to be cool and controlled. Her jet-black hair flowing over her shoulders as she  walked over to him with each step pushing her thoughts father behind. She had to think clearly or she could not save her. With that she pointed up into the tree tops. “Raven is right there in the tree tops. With that she takes out the daggers and give them back to her. “Thank you for the use of them in that small amount of time.”  Looking on to Arminas as she let him take the lead. Ready to get going. Needing to get going before she drives herself mad.

[Andimia]

"Wait, before you all go it would help if i knew what you guys needed. I know Roselyn needs some thowing daggers, and Nai could probably use a new shirt as well as I. I'll grab some hinge oil if in fact we are going in stealthy, but if there's anything else we need let me know." Andimia looked at the coinbag on the ground. She hated having to reach down for money, it was rude to toss it in the dirt like that and humiliating to pick it up.

"Just kill everybody watching, then pick it up." Teidor nudged Andimia as she paced past him.
"I should have pounded all of them." Andimia gritted her teeth.
"Its a good thing you didn't, I want you to keep that legit job." He stood in the small office watching her fume.
"I'm a slave Tei, I do whatever they demand for a few lousy coins a day. The last thing I needed was to be humiliated by them in front of all of thoes people. I swear the whole d**n dinner party saw! Its just the way they stared at me with pity.  Can't you find somebody who wants him dead? I'll honestly do it for free, you can have my share." Andimia stopped pacing when Tiedor placed his hand upon her shoulder.
"I'm sorry sweetie, but his protection payment is never late, if it is you'll be the first I'll call upon for the job." He flashed her a smile but her unhappiness held fast. "Well, then I have something that will cheer you up," He walked over to his desk and pulled a rectangular package wrapped in brown paper out of one of the drawers and handed it to her. Andimia smiled, she could tell that it was a book. She ripped the paper off and marveled at the leather bound cover.
"This is the new Eldrayshy novel..." she stated in awe.
"Yep, first one printed." he grinned
"You didn't kill anybody for this did you?" she looked up at him.
"Nope, I actually obtained it leagally, look inside the cover." Andimia opened the book to find the writer had signed it.
"For my biggest fan Andimia, May your love of literature grow more each day. Edward Eldaryshy." She read it aloud grinning.

Andimia shot a quick glare at Arminas and picked up the money. "Raven!" she called out, "We should head out soon!"

((ooc: let me know if the memories are disruptive or confusing.))

[Arminas]

Arminas caught her glare, and frowned a little, confused.
"Um... I'm sorry...? Did I do something wrong...?"
All he had done was toss her the money, he didnt want to throw it right at her because of her injured arm, she might not have been able to catch it and it might have hit her in the face, how mad would she have been THEN?
"Maybe theres a custom where you're from I'm not familiar with, I apologize if I offended you. Rose, shall we?"
He gestured ahead, and walked on, wondering about Andi's odd attitude...

[Callista Miala Moonshade]

Raven practicully glided down from the tree and landed with a small thump on her feet at the bottom. Raven walked over to andi and picked up the money for her. "not to be rude but i don't really use money" she said pulling her cloak more round her and pulling her hood down a bit more. She passed the money to Andi and started to walk towards town "coming?" she asked stopping and looking directly into Andi's eye's. If Andimia noticed Ravens eye's flashed a dark red from the original black. "so i guess we need daggers and lots of them, clothing cause it's best if we all change clothes not just some, i would say we may need some healing potions and maybe some bandages and i know where i can get a few mithrel shirts" Raven smiled polietly "if you take the money into town and get the potions and healing stuff, the cloths and a few of the daggers, i'll get the rest" Raven grinned maliciously.

[TheSnakeRoselynAlexandra]

Snake rolled her hips tot the side as she followed Arminas. Her foot steps sound as they crunched upon the leafs but thankfully that sound was not to loud for they where still d**n from there morning shower of rain. Thankfully it had seamed to stop. Ocean blue eyes took in everything as she looked onto the man ahead. “ So you can talk to the tree’s?”  She was not mocking him only being a matter of fact. In a way she could talk to snakes. But only them who wish to speak some where just plane stubborn. On her eyes looked around as she could feel a kind of change in the air. The trees seamed darker some how as well as the green grass turned into deeper shades of brown. It did not bother her for it was just the normalcy of bad places. The truly scary ones where the ones that looked grand. They where the ones to be afraid of. On they walked as it seamed for ever to herself. Was it for she was scared for her youngest sister?

“Rosy! Rosy!” Ama ran to her clasping her little arms around her neck. “ The solders wont play with me…they say I’m just a girl and can’t do anything.” All she could do was smile as she lifted her up into her arms. “Why don’t you play with your sisters?”   Ama shacks her head softly. “There playing with the guards to. Maria is fighting one so then I can play…she told me to get you as fast as I could.” That was when she dropped Ama to the ground and ran as fast as she could. An what did she see other than slave traders.

Snapping out of her past as she looked onto the house upon the hill. It looked just like any home she had ever seen. As if it was filled with laughter. Grand it was just what she feared. Nothing seamed different about in as her eyes still tried to find a weakness any kind of a weakness.

[Arminas]

He walked along with her, his own azure eyes gazing around as well, resting on her form for a few moments, trying to figure her out. She was certainly beautiful... reminded him of an elm dryad who had been his friend as a child. The first friend he had lost to the men that took wood to build the town. She had tried to stop them, but she didn't have the strength... she was a kind creature, not a warrior. He took up the bow that year. A year later the lumber company moved to another forest. This one no longer allowed their kind... but he was no longer an innocent child. He had to be a defender... Rose did remind him of her slightly, the figure, the way she walked... but this woman had hair like the blackest night, and a danger about her. She was a warrior... he looked away as she spoke, then nodded.
"Well of course. Anyone can talk to the trees, there are just rather few of us that understand their response."
He smiled a little bit at her, then turned back to the path, still thinking. Was the first time he had really invited anyone this far into his forest... the others he merely tolerated, well some of them anyway. When they finally got there, he was glad to see the woman no longer distracted, and he knelt, placing a hand at the base of one of the gnarled trees surrounding the place. He shook his head and whispered so she could hear.
"The trees here are wrong, somehow... they won't even talk to me anymore. On our own for scouting, unless..."
A black wolf trotted up from behind them, having approached without a sound at all, and nudged his hand, yellow eyes gleaming in the light. Six otherwolves stood at a distance behind them, waiting. Arminas scratched the alpha that had come to greet him behind the ears, and smiled a bit.
"Not on our own after all... his timing is always perfect."
The wolf looked at him, then up at her, before walking back over to his pack. They seemed to exchange a few words, silently, then they dispersed to look around. Arminas stood, and looked back to her.
"They'll check for guards or the like around, but we should be silent... what shall the two of us look for here?"

[TheSnakeRoselynAlexandra]

She smiled softly and nodded. It made since that the trees as well as other things could speak. That they just could not understand the words that where spoken. His eyes there was something about his eyes that made her want to fall into them. What was it about him? Then they where about to start to work. A wolf pack walked over to them as if they where old friends or at lest they acted that way to Armina. “Your friends?”  Looking upon the she held the deepest thoughts.
Thoughts that should have never entered her mind at the moment. Like the way this man was always helping her out. Almost as if he was taking care of her. When was she last taken care of? Her father when she first scared her knees. How he made her laugh in till all her tears where chased away. How much he was like her father and made her feel…she stopped her thoughts right there. No this was not the time nor the place. She could not think about even giving this man the time of day when her sister was in trouble. Looking up again as strands of hair fell into her face. Nibbling upon her lower lip out of nervous habit.
She just could not help it but want to know about the mans past why he was at the tavern that night. Why he shot the arrow into the mans chest before he could shot her. It was all she could do before she lessoned to his question. “I want to know how many guards they have what there shifts are. I want to know what kind of training they have taken. I want to know everything about them. Just as they seamed to know allot about us.”  Looking onto the house. “ I think that tavern was just a test.”
((Ooc: btw guys with in your groups of two you can post as many times as you wish. Then we go back to order as soon as we get back into the woods again.))

[Andimia]

Andimia trudged off to town. When she got near the market she pulled her cloak out of her pack and put it on so the bloody hole in her shoulder wouldn't be so obvious. "Okay, first thing I need is a new shirt." She walked into the clothing store, It was a bit nicer for her taste, they even had a full formal section and tailors on staff to fit the clothing. "I am definatly in the wrong store." Andi mumbled as she headed through the massive amound of clothing on wooden racks.
"I know you..." Andimia felt a hand on her shoulder as the woman spoke. Turning around Andi saw an oddly familiar, well-dressed woman. "You're her arn't you.... You're Annie Shadow!" Andimia turned cold, the color drained from her face, and this zealous woman's excitement was doing her no good.
"I"m sorry, you must have me mistaken miss..." Andimia turned to leave.
"You can't fool me I remember you." Andimia stopped and cringed. She turned around and grabbed the woman by the arm and pulled her to the side behind a large floor mirror and some racks of pants.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Andi asked a little peeved.
"I just wanted to thank you again, my name is Ralari Yenlow, you got my daughter Jillian back from thoes kidnappers six months ago." The woman smiled. Andimia remembered now. Man, was her daughter a little brat. She nearly had to muzzle the girl to get her out safe, the little freak wouldn't stop talking. Andi hated her alias, it was the most idiotic name she'd ever heard.
"I'm sorry miss, but I don't know you or what the hell you're talking about." Andimia turned and walked out of the store hoping like hell she wouldn't run into that woman again, or anybody else that would recognize her for that matter.

"Do you know what people call you now?" Teidor quirked a grin.
"Is it a long string of curses?" Andimia sharpened her dagger on the whetstone not looking up at him.
"No, They call you Annie Shadow." he tried to hold back a giggle
"That's the stupidest thing i've ever heard, they might as well just call me shethief or Patrica Stabb." She examined the blade and ran her finger accross it.
"People want to refer to you as something when they tell their friend who to get to take care of their "problems." You're infamous now and that's good for business." He grinned again.
"I don't want to be infamous though. What happens if I get recognized, what if one of the Eavenston's guests recognizes me while i'm working?" Andi set the blade down on the table and stood up.
"You could wear a mask now when you go on jobs." He sighed, "I wish you'd just relax and bask in your glory for a moment." He walked up behind her and began rubbing her shoulders. "Or i could send my men out to slaughter everybody who has seen your face. Would you like that?" Teidor laughed and Andimia turned around and grinned.
"Then you'd have to find a new means of advertisment. Maybe posters detailing my skills so everbody will know where to go if they need somebody killed." She joked as she walked over to the table and began cleaning the blood off another knife.

Andimia got out into the sunlight and quickly ducked into the next shop.

[Arminas]

He smiled, and nodded as the wolves ran off into the forest, vanishing against the backdrop. He looked back at her and nodded.
"Yes, very good friends... ever since he was a pup, and now he has his own pack. I don't like to ask too much more of the wolves, they help me so much anyways, but he's always been around, whenever I've needed anything..."
Arminas could see the questions in her eyes, but he was curious about it... when she finally did speak, he sensed that her question was really not the one she wanted to ask. He shrugged a little bit, and looked back at the house.
"Everything here is silent... like it has been cut off from the forest around it... I cannot talk to any of the creatures here, perhaps if there are snakes inside you might be able to... apart from that I doubt I'll be able to get much intelligence on the place without use going in and kidnapping a guard... do you have any other ideas?"
He shrugged a little, and stood, his cloak that had seemed black in the town now seemed to blend perfectly with the forest, he was almost hard to make out for her, and she was merely a foot or two away. He looked to her and grinned slightly.
"I agree. But only time will tell, I suppose, if I was there at exactly the right time, or exactly the wrong one..."

[TheSnakeRoselynAlexandra]

“How much I understand. The snakes and I always seam to have an understanding of one another. They have there own wills other than the ones I make. It’s kind of a spell of signing. Turning wooden things into snakes and they do as I will. They do turn back into wood sooner or later.”  She again nibbled upon her lower lip as she found herself babbling. What was wrong with her?
“I could turn some of there chairs into snakes if I was closer. Still I don’t want them to know the extent of my powers. They already know one but I don’t want them to know the others as well. The less they know about all of us the better.”
Looking back onto him the same questions came into her mind.
“I never did thank you for killing that guard before he tried to kill me.” 
She reached out her hand and smiled softly. “ Thank you.” as always she wanted to ask him why. But why he helped her was not important right then. What was important was just what this place looked like.
“Lets just hope the others get something out of the bar keeper. He knows something I can feel it.”
Looking upon the place as she smiled softly.
“ Well come to think of it I think there are three ways in.
One: let some of us be taken in as a distraction and then the rest of us can slip in…which I don’t think that would work for they know that two of us are thief’s and that’s something they would expect.”
 She looked upon him as he seamed to disappear into the trees. Just what was that clock made of?
“ Two: we find that guard that slipped into the lake and hold him for questioning. He seamed to know allot. Get the lay out of the place and then go in.”
Walking closer to him as she rested her body onto a tree trunk.
“ An last but not least. We do what they wish us to do. Go up there and lesson to what they want and then do what we want.”   

[Arminas]

Arminas nodded, a little in awe. She could actually turn things INTO snakes? Calling them wasn't anything strange, but that... that was pure magic... He smiled a bit, and took her hand when she offered it, though he shook his head.
"Oh, don't worry about it... I wasn't about to let him shoot you, you know..."
He sighed and looked back up at the house.
"I just thought I would come in, see what was up with the humans in the village.. never thought I would be caught up in this. I don't regret shooting them, though, those people use this forest like it belongs to them... some drunk wanders in and tries to catch a bear cub, the mother kills him, so they come in to kill the bear. What would they have done if a man tried to kidnap a human child, and the mother stopped him? Nothing. They all think they're above things... well, not all. I shouldnt generalize so badly... but there are many of them that care nothing for anyone but themselves. Sorry, I ramble on..."
He shook his head, then looked over at her, nodding in agreement to her words.
"Going in shooting is obviously out of the question... no matter how many of the animals come with us... we'll have to do it one of those ways... and it seems the only sure one is simply to come through the front door... pity they'll expect that, though..."

[TheSnakeRoselynAlexandra]

“An why is that? I don’t know really…”  She could not help herself but ask him why. Why would he help a person that he did not even know? She then heard her answers to some of the questions that she wanted to know. Why he was there that night. Why he was here with her now.
Then again that left so many more open. “They never take things into the others persons perspective. Most just don’t care to even think to do so.”
On she thought about it as she smiled softly.
“I could…I could turn myself into a snake and travel into your pack. They will just guess that I did not come and you took a pet along with you. They should know your relationship with the forest.”
She felt his hand into her own as some thoughts seamed to fade away. His hand was warm and ruff but ruff in a nice way. As if to keep her safe from harm… She snapped herself out of it. She could take care of herself and always had when she was born. Leaving her hand out of his as she again started to push herself away. Keeping her on an island of her own world. When she would ever be able to let anyone in she did not know.
“ There has to be a way we can shock them…I might be able to get in with my snake form alone and then let you guys in. If your able to get a distraction going…”

[Arminas]

He thought about it for quite a while, then shrugged.
"I didnt think you deserved to die... somehow I knew that. And so far I've been borne out, in my opinion."
He smiled to her, nodding to what she said about some of the humans, and thought.
"That might work... but I wonder if they don't know you can do that... still, it's a better chance, and if I can keep you hidden they might not know if you're with me, or somewhere else... might be a good way to at least insert a little bit of uncertainty into their end of things. The other idea, though... its too dangerous, I dont want them to catch you, if they know you can do that they'll surely be looking for that exact approach."
he looked around, and the alpha wolf came back. He talked to it silently for a time, then it vanished again, and he shrugged.
"No guards on the outside, and none in the forest... it's all so strange... You're right, though... has to be some way to do this on our terms... hopefully they dont know as much about what you can do as I hope, there isnt much to know about what I can do..."
He didnt see anything he could do as especially significant, was all just working with nature, really... the nature of what you were around...
"Any other tricks up your sleeve, perchance?"

[Ria Hawk]

Elsewhere...

The path had fortunately been the right one, and had led them back to town.  She paused on the edge of the forest.  "I don't see any gaurds left around...  They probably took off after us and are combing the woods for us now."  She grinned, glancing back at her partner.  "So, how do you want to do this?  Talk it out of him, or just hit him until information and candy comes out?"

[Pariah]

"I like hitting, it sounds fun.  But do we want to bring him back so Rose can ask whatever her little heart desires, or is bringing a rat into camp a bad idea?  But, anyway, I think we might be getting a bit ahead of ourselves.  The first thing we have to do is find him, and he knows that at least one of the group that the guards were after escaped. If I were him I'd be halfway to the nearest city, but Maybe we'll get lucky and he went to ground around here."

"But what does he know?  I mean, sure, every two-bit hoodlum stops in there to eat and get laid, but that doesn't explain how he knows about these guard type folk.  And why did they choose now to attack, I mean, if I were after the lot of us I'd do it while we were seperated, and unaware.  I don't know what they'd want with me though, of the last six years of my life I spent five of them fighting jail rot and pneumonia, and they could have paid one of the guards half a cent to ‘forget’ to feed me."  Jud stops for a second as they get to he edge f the woods, "Hmmm, too much thinking, we should just hurry up and find him."

At that he starts jogging towards the firey embers of what was the tavern.

[Ria Hawk]

Nai followed him, cautiously poking the wreckage she passed.  "Well, I suppose if we're not supposed to bring him back, we can always make sure he doesn't leave."  She looked around.  "And I've known some people to do some pretty stupid things.  So he might still be here."  She thought for a moment.  "And I think they've either been following us, or they have spies who know who we are.  Or it could be a coincidence.  Except I don't believe in coincidences."

[Pariah]

"No, it could just be that one of our friends ratted out on us...  Or it could be that the town is crawling with guards, like an anthill after you kick it, and they figured some of us would b stupid enough to come back here.  So they just waited."

"I'd say we could take them out, but there's a whole town full of them, and more elsewhere.  Now, I think taking him with us also just got a tad more complicated too, we can always knock him out and sling across a horse though."

Jud walks up to the wreckage and kicks at some of the embers, he looks up and stares into what flames remain.  He seems lost in thought, but after a second breaks out of it.  "I don't like this, and the fire...  We need to get out of here, find someone who has a clue where the barkeep went to ground, before our 'friends' in the shadows decide that two of us should be easy to take."

"Here, you look in the rubble, I'll check the nearby alleys.  If he's still here we'll find him."

He starts walking away and then stops suddenly.  "Unless if it's not us they're looking for.  If Snake is right about how much he knows, they could be after him more than us.  There is nothing more dangerous to any good plan than the roll of the die, especially one that knows way more than it should."