In the moon light

[Ria Hawk]

Nai poked around some of the wreckage.  "Dead men tell no tales."  She stood up, looking around.  "And the fire was us," she pointed out.  She paused, considering.  "If he's gone to ground to hide from them as opposed to us, we may not even have to track him down.  It's not unheard of for an informant to seek out the people he informed on when the people he was informing to decide he knows too much."

(OOC:  I have nowhere to go on this.) 

[Pariah]

OOC: I know we have nowhere to go, I have to talk with Rose.  Grrrr, that means she has to be cool and be on the same time as me.

[TheSnakeRoselynAlexandra]

In the town---
 The wanted posters where still set up in the middle of the town. Still it seamed like a bright day other than there being more guards than normal in the town everyone was talking about the fire. “ Thank god hanger tavern died out it was hurting our good men.” Passing woman said happily. The wanted posters where not the only thing in the middle of the town, but there where farmers selling there goods and other merchants  talking about what happened. It seamed to be all that they would talk about. “I heard that that chattering Timmy got what was coming to him.”  Called a farmer to the merchant near by.  The merchant was new there and so all he did was rise his eye brow. “ chattering Timmy the barkeep of Hangers Tavern?”  Then the merchant smiled brightly understanding now. “ I see he was the owner what happened to him?”  On the two talked as the red haired farmer told him how he was in that inn. The Inn that not one every talks about.

   

Back in the woods-----
   
“Lesson…do you hear that?”  She carefully lessoned to the sounds of the woods. Something had changed. 
 â€œDon’t you think its odd that they have no guards around the house? Or there sent is not even around there. The wolfs would have picked up on that.” Still she hated the way she was feeling just what was wrong? She had not a clue. Looking around the woods she lifted up her head to the sky. Closing her eyes to things she could see and only lessoning to the deep breaths of the forest. Then she heard a snap of a twig as she started humming softly to herself. Taking on the gaze of the green garden snake she could see the red guards walking into the woods. On she hummed as the snake slithered around. Taking note in her mind how many guard there where. As soon as she stopped humming the spell seamed to stop. Opening her eyes as they flashed a green before turning back to there deep blue her voce soft and smooth as always “there guards in the woods coming to us...about six feet away.” With a light smile on her lips as she walked past him a bit “I’ll distract them you surround them…we only need one.”

((Ooc: sorry it took so long!))

[Arminas]

Arminas nodded
"Thats what I have been trying to figure -"
he broke off, and touched a hand to the soil, even as she told him about the people coming, he had heard it. The entire forest was a single living thing, all the trees linked by a massive mycelia of fungus, like a nerve center almost... most people didnt understand how that worked, he had always known...
"The wolves are coming back. We'll ambush them... just take their attention for a  moment..."
he looked over, knowing that the wolves would be encircling their new pray, and he strung his bow, then nodded.
"Rose... be careful"
With that, he practically vanished into the forest to wait for her signal - or just an opportunity...

[Andimia]

Andimia trudged out of the shops with two bags over her shoulder. The leather bag contained numerous arrows, daggers, throwing knives and sheathes for the daggers and knives. The burlap bag contained two new shirts (new-ish) two pairs of soft boots, a grapple and some rope along with an aide kit just in case. And in Andi's sidepouch rested a newly purchased, used book and all the mixing for her wonderfull smokeflashes along with three glass vials. The guards everywhere in town made her quite nervous and she did look very suspicious. Andi stopped and shoved the leather bag into her backpack. Though it was bulky it made her look more like a hiker with some rations then a sneak heading out to the forest to equip her friends to steal back a girl. Andi looked over the wanted posters as she walked past, now able to pair the faces with her new travelling companions. Andimia walked out of town and into the forest to meet back up with the others.

[Pariah]

"Mmmmm.  The 'No One Talk's About' Inn.  I woulda picked a better place to go to ground, but I think we found are man.  But let's hurry, if we just found out anyone else looking for him will have known since before daybreak."

OOC: I don't think I'll be bale to post for a couple of days, hang with me. Okay?

[TheSnakeRoselynAlexandra]

She smiled brightly  and winked at him . “You to Mr. blue eye’s”  then she started walking to the guards. Humming brightly as her hips rolled from side to side. She founds them but then again that was not to hard. They where talking very loudly but it seamed to her they where doing that for a reason.  She called out to them waving. “Looking for me?”
 There faces all brightened with smile as if saying yeah we got her… on she walked to them her hair flowed around her shoulders as she took in each face. “ Now which one of you wants to live for I can only keep one of you as a pet.”

(( Ooc: sorry about the shortness. An no worrys Pariah wel will just let Ria post and late on say you followed her. Ok?))

[Arminas]

He smiled a little bit. While she was going around to distract them, he was walking around behind, and one of the guards turned around, seeing a dark shape move through the forest. The wolves were back... and something else. Suddenly, yet another dark shape leapt out and knocked one of the men down. The wolves followed its shape not long after, pinning the men to the ground, and the one man that was left standing didn't move - an arrow had just stuck in the tree, not an inch from his throat. Arminas materialized in the forest near them, another arrow strung to his bow, and a small smile on his face as a shape that hadnt been there before stalked up to him. It was powerfully built, but incredibly graceful, like a wolf, but with the powerful limbs and paws of a panther or another large cat. It had glittering green eyes, which looked at the lone standing man, looking amused. Arminas chuckled slightly, and the wolves looked up, the ones at least that didn't have their jaws around the neck of a guard.
"Rose, may I introduce you to Kierra, a good friend of mine since we were both only cubs... well infant in the human term."
The creature nudged his side with it's head, gently, then stalked over to Rose, exmining her for a few moments before it nudged her hand, friendly like, and turned its gaze back to the standing guard, who was still frozen with fear. Arminas looked over to Rose, by way of explaination.
"She doesn't have a pack, so we've always stuck together..."
It didn't occur to him that she might not find a lone fey-hound odd, he kind of expected people to know, like he expected them to know about the trees... why didnt they know that, anyway? Seemed odd...

OOC: Credit to Mourn for that creature, I like it so much I had to use it, I hope he doesnt mind

[Ria Hawk]

(OOC: You brought it on yourselves.   )

In town...
Nai thought about it for a moment.  "You're right.  We'd better find this place."  She waited until the red head farmer was by himself, then approached him with a sunny smile.  "Excuse me, my friend and I were wondering if you could tell us where to find the 'inn that no one talks about.'  Surely a nice local like you would know where it is."  The farmer sputtered something incoherent at her.  Her smile faltered for a moment, glanced back at Jud, then resumed her happy expression.  "I would surely hate to have to cut you to bits right here in the street.  You seem like a nice man, and I'm sure it would traumatize all these other people," she said in a low voice, smiling like a demented six year old.  He sputtered again, then gave them directions to the secret inn, located in the basement of another building.  Nai nodded pleasantly at him, and he scampered.  "Shall we go find our friend?"

[TheSnakeRoselynAlexandra]

She smiled fondly at the wolf like beast as she lightly petted its head. “What’s her name?”   She unlike many others understood what it was like to be with out a family. She herself stayed away from her sisters at all times so then others could not track them down. An still they did anyway. It did not matter. She knew that she could not change the past but the preset she could looking at the only one that was living as she shrugs softly. “Well I guess this man is of no use to us…unless…”  She walked around him. Her ocean blue eyes seamed to be wild. Her took out her dagger as she sat down upon the ground
 her dagger running along the mans neck as he smiled softly.

 â€œDo you know who I am?”  The man nodded weekly. “Then how are you keeping a hold of my sister?”  The man shacks his head as if he did not understand her. “You know just as well as I do what powers my sister holds.” She stopped speaking for a moment as she thought about it with a soft smile to herself. “Knowing her she has already made lots of trouble for you.”  She looked from one to the other. “ Only one of you will live…the one who tells me about my sister  and what you have stolen from each of us...and don’t play dim...I will only offer this one time then you all die.”

With that she turned her back onto the group knowing that it would be sooner than later that one of them speaks. An how right she was when as soon as she had turned her back one of them spoke up. “They hold the power to destroy all the forest in the world with one spell. They hold another of your friends past. Then there is your sister…they also are tracking down the rest of your family as we speak….” Her anger must have flashed in her eyes as she flipped the dagger in her hand over and over again. The man stopped only to wet his lips then he started again. “ Your sister is not the only women we have…we have another’s sister.” Then his hand was reaching for something and before she could stop any of them the guards all crushed a small bottle in the teeth and died. She shrugged her shoulders softly. “ Well that tells us one thing…the guards are more scared of there owners than of us…" 

[Callista Miala Moonshade]

Meanwhile in Town Raven stalked silently through the back alleys of the town keeping out of everyone's view. In but a few moments she had arrived at a back door. Opening it quietly she walked inside and found herself in a large room. in one of the corners stood a tall man bent over a bench working on something "Ah Horris" Came Ravens sharp but sweet voice. Horris shuddered as Ravens voice floated over to his ears "Raven w.w.what a pleasure to see you again. How can i help you" Horris was backed up against the wall with a sword up against his throat in a blink of an eye "Horris i hear that you have had a visit from some guards. I hope you didn't tell them anything" Horris shook his head violently "Of course i didn't tell them nuthin'" He stammered quickly Raven Smiled nastily and pushed against the blade "Well a need a few things my dear Horris" He nodded "I need some daggers some swords arrows and well a bit of everything" Raven looked over her shoulder at the walls covered in loads and loads of weapons "Oh and one more thing i'm going to need some of those mithrel shirts which you make so wonderfully" Horriss' mouth dropped and looked at the floor "You know what happened last time i gave you some of them" Raven looked deep into Horris eye's "I want some horris are you going to be the person to tell me no" Horris shook his head, Raven stepped back and let Horris pile things into the bag he had grabbed up. By the end of it Raven had three quivers of arrows five swords and many daggers and few other things. The last thing horris put in the bag was the mithrel shirts seven of them. "Thank you horris for this you won't die today" Raven smiled and vanished.

[Pariah]

"I think we will."  Jud said as they started walking towards the tavern.  "So, you wanna bet?  Two silver pieces say that he's left town, or that they already got to him. That's what I'd have done in their place.  Do that and get the guards to wait in the tavern.  Nice little trap, get the adventurers to walk right into my grimey little hands."

Turning the last corner Jud walks up to the door and knocks, "Anyone home?  Open up, royal guard.  Tim Brewer is wanted for sedition."  When no one answered Jud smiled and asked, "So you gonna take me up on that bet or not?"

[Ria Hawk]

"I don't bet.  Anyway, no monies."  Nai looked at the door.  "You know, I don't think they're gonna let us in."  She looked at the door.  "So we have a couple of options.  Try the door, see if it's unlocked."  She did, and it didn't budge.  "Okay, so, next plan.  Pick the lock.  Which I can't do, so if we go that way, you'll have to do it.  Or, alternatively, kick down the door, which we could probably do, with and interesting crunch noise."  She grinned in her goofy way.  "Personally, I vote the second."

[Pariah]

"And here I was hoping you'd be good on lock picking.  Well..."  Jud goes and kicks at the door a couple of times until it finally gives way, with a happy cruch noise too. 

Walking in he says, "Well Nai, I guess I was wrong.  No blood, no mangy guards waiting for us.  But the soup's still on, and it looks like a log was tossed in there not to long ago.  I guess they're waiting for us in the basement.  Where do you think they put the door to their basement?"

Jud starts pacing around the room, stopping a couple of times and cocking his head while tapping his foot.  Finally, to the side of the fire pit he stops, taps his foot a couple of times and grins.  Mouthing the word 'Now' to Nai he draws his sword and flips it point down, driving it into the ground between his feet.  The blade goes halfway into the ground and a scream erupts from under the floor.  Jud pushes the trapdoor open, using his blade as leverage, and then draws one of his knives.

"Drop your weapon, now" Jud says to the moaning darkness.  The only reply being a the clang of metal hitting ground.  "Now me and my buddy here are gonna come down there, you make one wrong move to her or me and I'll have your hide on my wall, savvy?"  With that he drops into the hole and has the man, little more than a boy truthfully, up against the wall.  "Nai, can you grab my sword on your way down?"

[Arminas]

Kierra growled and stalked back over to Arminas, who lay his hand gently on her head and shook his own a little bit, sighing.

"Well at least we have some more information than we had before... of course before we had nothing so that says nothing at all."

He walked over and touched the alpha wolf ont he back lightly, and shook his head. The wolf licked at his hand, and the pack dragged the bodies off. They wouldn't eat them, Arminas had explained about the poison, but they would dispose of the bodies. He walked over by Rose, and looked towards her, then off towards the house. His earlier apathy had vanished. He thought it unlikely that they could actually do that, but...

"Destruction of all forests would mean destruction of all life in a very short order... I can't believe that they would actually do such a thing... but if they would do half the things they have already done..."

Arminas turned and leaned against one of the trees, feeling its ancient mind in his, but this tree was scarred... near death. Was this what they planned to do with all life...?

"I've already pledged my help..."

[Ria Hawk]

Nai pulled the sword out of the floor and dropped casually through the trap door.  "We're just lookin' for the barkeep at that miserable excuse of a tavern that there was a bit of a ruckus at last night.  And anyone else who might have any idea about what the hell all those guardsmen wanted.  Now, I don't want to hurt anyone that I don't necessarily have to, but I WILL shred anyone who pisses me off."  A board creaked behind her, and she whirled just in time to parry a clumsy strike from a man who had been hiding in a dark recess behind where the two of them had landed.  She pounced at him, knocking his sword from his hand, and pinning him to the ground.  "Hell's bells, man!  Are you just that stupid, or do you want to die?  If it's the latter, you could at least have the decency to make someone else kill you!"

[TheSnakeRoselynAlexandra]

She nodded her head softly as she looked at him. He was at different end from herself but there was just something about him. What was it about him that made her want to lean into his arms to see if they where just as strong as they looked. Cutting her thoughts short as she looked up at the sky. “ We are wasting the day…is there other homes close by here or any other living solos?”  Then she looked up at the sky. It was close to time for them all to come together again. She wonders softly how the others are doing. She hoped better than they themselves where. “Ama…” she whispers softly to herself. Her hand touching her sisters charm which now hung around her neck. It clasped into her own charm as her finger tips then tucked it away. She had to think of what was had hand. How many of times had she already told herself this that day alone?  Looking back into the woods she smiled softly. “ We should start heading back don’t you think?”  Her own foot steps already starting out as she patted Kierra as she passed. “You lucky to  have such a friend.” She smiled softly and looked back to him. Her ocean blue eyes wild with an inner fire which burned bright “ I guess we should get to know one another a bit better. Ask me almost anything and I shall answer.”

[Pariah]

"Nai, knock the poor idiot out, or tie him up and gag him.  We need to get to our mutual aquantaince, and get outta here.  The longer we're here to worse I feel about this whole mission."  Jud picks up his sword and looks at the brat that had been guarding the cellar door.

"Now, we could do this one of two ways.  I could start pulling finger nails out of idiot over there until you take me to Timmy, or you could take me to Timmy and no one gets hurt.  Either way Timmy is going out of that door with us."  Jud starts smiling at the kid, "Which one will it be?"

"Th. This wayy S. Sir." The boy said as he started walking down the hall.  Halfway down he stops next to a wooden door and says, "Here"

Keeping the boy close at hand Jud kicks the door in.  "Timmy, we need to talk.  You see, I'm here looking for my money back, I didn't get that third night's stay in the tavern like I was promised. You owe me three bit, plus another 50 for ratting out on 5 or so of my friends.  Now, you can pay up, or come with me to talk to one of those friends of mine."

Grabbing Timmy and tying his hands behind his back with a leather string Jud yells, "Ay, Nai.  I got him, lets get the hell outta here!"

OOC: Take us where you will Ria

[Arminas]

Kierra rubbed her head against Rose's hand gently, and Arminas smiled. Obviously his friend approved... He nodded a little bit, and stroked his hand along the aminal's back. She looked up at him, then licked his hand lightly, and ran off into the forest.

"Keirra will keep an eye on the place for us. And no, there are no other houses in this forest. Apart from this house, the forest remains unbroken."

He looked back towards it though, shaking his head slightly. Even the fungal mycelia stopped growing around this house, and refused to grow any further. Was a pity, he would be able to find more out... but then with what the bastards had done to the trees, the more dlicate fungus would not survive, he imagined. Largest thing in the forest though it was, likely in the world... it was fragile. Arminas nodded again and walked after her, thinking.

"Well..."

He walked close to her, he was curious... her power, her manner, all very odd to him...

"Tell me about yourself, then. Where are you from and the like... what are you? You arent human I know, and that is rather all there is around here... and certainly no one that is anything like you..."

[Andimia]

Andimia leaned her back against a tree, her pack and the other bags laid next to her on the forest floor. She had dressed her wound and changed into one of the newer tunics she had purchased. She lined the three vials up upon a flat rock and put two drops of a liquid, followed by a little bit of leaf she had cut to act as a seal above the solution. She then carefully poured the powder mixes in remembering all the times she had messed up when she was first learning to make these, blinding herself for a week once and a day or two the other times. She secured the stoppers in each of the fragile bottles and wrapped them in a piece of her old tunic and placed them into her sidepack. They were safe for now unless one of the vials broke. She picked up all of the supplies and climbed up the tree, hanging the bags in the branches and found herself a nice perch. Sitting along a branch with one leg dangling and her back against the trunk Andimia pulled out her book and began reading it.

[Ria Hawk]

Nai slammed the moron's head into the floor, knocking him cold.  She smiled happily at the boy.  "We were never here, you understand."  He nodded frantically.  Nai helped Jud get their prey back up to the ground floor, then helped shove him along towards the forest.  Fortunately, they weren't all that far away.  She chatted amicably as they headed back to the meeting spot.  "You know, it's not very nice, or good business sense to turn your customers over to the town guard.  Also, your taste in liquor is abominable, but that's more of an issue to be settled between the two of us later.  Now, we want to know what's going on and what those freaks from last night wanted.  I can't say as I actually, you know, looked at the wanted posters for the others, but in my case, arson and assault does not warrant that kind of reception.  Some body wants something, very badly, and I would very much like to know who and what, not necessarily in that order.  And so, I think," Nai said thoughtfully as they arrived back at the clearing, "Would the others."

[TheSnakeRoselynAlexandra]

She smiled softly as she looked at him. “My mom was a demon angle. My Da was an elven mage. My da seen my mom working hard and some of the village men where giving her trouble. She has a wee bit of a temper and so she started throwing fire balls at there feet. My da could not stop laughing at the lot of them. An so he went to help her by washing on down the valley with one of his spells of singing.”  She smiled brightly as she looked at him. “ An so here I am. The part of my that can speak to snake and use them is something my mom could do. Being able to turn into one as well as make them was something my da could do. Me and each of my sisters have powers that only us can use. I can not call upon water as my sister Ama dose just as she can not make snakes out of wood.”  She shacks her head at the thought of it. Her actsent dropped as she told the teal but as soon as she was dun telling it she seamed to have her smooth voice again. “My little sisters do not remember much about our mother and father so I had to take up the job of being both plus friend and sister.”  She looked on a head of them and it seamed that the rest of there group had already started to reform. “ Any luck for you guys?”

[Andimia]

Andimia listened as the rest of the group made its way through the forest. She waved to Nai and Jud when they reached the clearing with their "Friend." Andi picked a leaf from the branc above her and slipped it in as her page marker, closing the book with a little thud before gathering the things and climbing back down the tree. She could hear Snake arriving too but she saw Arminas before she ever heard his steps. Andimia rummaged through one pack and handed the new tunic to Nai. There's some daggers in the leather bag, and a couple of other things in here," Andi opened the burlap bag. "So what the plan now." She looked at the new arrival and then looked at Nai and Judd grinning.

[Pariah]

"Well, we start removing pieces of barkeep here until he spills his guts.  Then we plan on how we're gonna get all the stuff outta that house on the hill.  Then we might even get to burn the place to the ground.  But for now I just need to getta drink."  Jud walks over to the tree that he had left his bag by, "Hey, Andi.  You seen my bag?  I left it right here."

Her distracted reply was only "No. Why?"

"No reason, just looking for my canteen," Was Jud's reply.

Dammit.  the book, I lost the book.  How could I lose that, halfway home and I lose my ticket back in.

OOC Hope you don't mind me stealing your character for a sec there Andi.

[Arminas]

Arminas listened to her story, laughing when she told of the fireball throwing, sounded like a riot... seemed she had a hard life, though... his hadn't exactly been easy, but it was mostly free of heartbreak like losing a parent... it sounded to him like her parents were dead, but as they were approaching the clearing, he decided not to ask.

"I've lived here my whole life. Was abandoned by parents who didn't want me, perhaps. I don't really care anymore, doesn't matter."

He shrugged slightly, and came into the clearing behind her, taking the string off his bow again and leaning it against a tree before leaning against the tree himself. It greeted him in the slow way that trees had, and he smiled, greeting it as well, before he looked over to the people coming back into the clearing, and smiled a little.

"Welcome back. I see you were able to get some stuff... how about information? Because so far all Rose and I have is that these people apparently have magic on an unimaginable and frankly psychotic scale, and that their guards all carry pills of poison to take if we catch them at anything. Which is just fun, really..."

Obviously heavy sarcasm in that last. Normally he wasn't like that, but the situation grated on him. All this, in the middle of his forest...