Shrike followed the princess' lead as they made their way through the forest. He could hear boisterous voices a while before they saw anybody. Shrike ducked down and followed closely behind the princess as they silently inched closer to the group.

Finally, the group fell into sight. A tall, dark haired and dark skinned man lead the prosession. It was Kaland, a mamber of Tora-Nowa Bandits from Talen. He was well known mostly as an enforcer, and hired himself out between bandit skirmishes as a freelance bodyguard. While he was known to be tough, he also had a reputaion of fairness. He was said to have once cleaned out an entire Tora-Nowa bandit house after the head of the house unfairly overcharged a woman for protection. The woman had payed almost everything she had, and they didn't even come to her aid when the Gur' Tyrus bandits ransacked her buisness.

Behind him a pair of guys followed, pulling a wagon. The wagon was full to the brim with gold nuggets, which rolled in the cart with the pulling motion. The two pulling the cart both had short spiky hair and deep green eyes. Only their hair, one a flaming red and the other an almost blue-black, kept them from passing for one another. While Shrike was not familliar with them, they were the ones talking loudly, so they were obviously Rei and Kei. Behind them, a fourth figure walked with his arms crossed. She was short, and wore a face wrap. Her eyes were a velvet red, and what little skin showed was blacker then Kaland's. She had a Scimitar strapped to her belt, and her eye swept the jungle as the group walked.

"Come on, LiNeerlay, what are you so worried about. No one uses this path besides us. Lighten up, and celebrate!" The Red haired brother threw his hands up, then quickly grabbed the cart before his brother dropped it. "We have made off like kings, and you are now quite the rich drow."

The covered Drow glared at him. "Stay your tongue, Rei, before I carve it out of your mouth. If we slack off now, it would be almost like inviting the animals of the forest to attack, assuming that is all that stalks us here."

The princess turned to Shrike, and whispered "well, what do you think we should do?"

The princess had barely finished her question when Shrike got up an walked out towards the people.

"Hey Kaland! Gone back to stealing?" Shrike called out as he grinned. Kaland had been one of his teacher-figures, having taught Shrike most of what he knew about being a bodyguard. He would usually let Shrike take on the weaker enemies during the rare times they ended up working together. Although Kaland would go easy on Shrike when he tutored him, he was very strict when it came to real work. Shrike never understood why Kaland always promoted even-handedness even though most of his enemies would clearly cheat.

"Haven't seen you in two years. How have you been?" he asked cheerfully, ignoring the dangerous vibes coming from Kaland's companions.

[Sorry :sweat:, Shrike knows a lot of bandits from Talendar :) If you want me to change his reaction, I can]

((no, no, this works even better then I could have hoped :D))

Kaland looked back at Shrike, surprised. The Drow in the back had dropped her hand to her Scimitar, and was now slowly taking it off. The two brothers looked stunned that anyone was out here.

Kaland shook his head. He was a man of few words, which added to his intimidation. When he did speak, it was slow, and purposeful. He towered above Shrike at a Massive 7 foot even, but the two of them standing there brought the image of a father and son, or maybe a big and little brother. "Hey, Shrike. Long time. No, bodyguard work." He motioned to the two brother. "These two are Rei and Kei. They won the deed to a mine. Found a gold vein. Now they're taking it to a nearby city to get some cash. They want to hire more people to work the mine."
Rei, the red haired brother, stepped forward. "Um, Kalad, what're ya doing telling this little guy our buisness for?"

Kaland looked back at him. "This is Shrike, we go way back. He's a good kid." He glanced back at Shrike. "I missed two birthdays now, haven't I. You know I work to much. We'll have to catch up in town. That aside," he looked around the forest, "what're you doing so far from the sands? Thought you never traveled farther then the Aranian Desert?"

"Haha, well, it's a long story." Shrike replied as he glanced back at the cart. "You say you're heading to a nearby city? Do you mind if we hitched a ride? One of my friends is injured and he's kinda heavy." He didn't want to reveal Princess Judith's location just yet, he wanted to see if Kaland's companions would give them any problems if they found out about her.

He looked back. "It's your wagon, Kei. What do you say, help me help a friend out?"

Kei looked at his brother, who shrugged and smiled, and then back at the Drow, who glared. "Alright, sure." Kei finally said. "We'll help you guys. But you're gonna owe me one Kaland."

Kaland smiled, a rare sight, then nodded to Shrike. "Where can we find ya friend, then, Shrike?"

"Wait right here just a sec." said Shrike as he ran back to where the princess had been hiding.
"Hey princess, don't tell them anything about you being a royal, ok?" he whispered, as if she already didn't know that. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her up and out towards the group.

"This is my friend, Judy. I'm currently her bodyguard while she visits her cousin here in Souel." he said beaming with pride at Kaland. "We found a knight not too long ago who has a really bad wound. Judy patched him up but if we don't find medical help for him soon, he'd bleed to death. He's back that way." he said pointing in the lake's direction behind him with his thumb.

Rei looked as his brother enthusiastically. "Well come on then!" He almost knocked his brother over turning the cart to head in that direction. They headed off quickly in the direction he pointed. The drow looked at Shrike for a long moment, then the Princess for a moment longer, then went after them. Kaland stayed behind, looking at Shrike. "Bodyguard? You and I do have a lot to catch up on. But later, lets go make sure there enthusiasm doesn't get the best of them."

He turned and started after them. Judith turned to Shrike. "Good call. How much do you trust this Kaland guy?"

((Would Kaland have meet Ruby if he hasn't seen you for two years?))

[Yup. Shrike found Ruby the year after his parents died. They've been together ever since.]

"Kaland's pretty ok. He spends most of his time doing bodyguard work even though he's a Tora-Nowa bandit. " he replied as he looked ahead at the three people in front of them. "We go waaay back. I met him four years ago when he caught me stealing from the Tora-Nowa." he said with a smile.
It took them a while, but as soon as they arrived at the lake, Ruby swooped down from its hiding place in a nearby tree at the twins pulling the cart.

Rei screamed, like a little girl, and leapt out of the way of the Dragon. The Drow drew her sword, and Kei took an overexxagerated matrial arts pose. Kaland, however, reached into his pocket and produced a small piece of Fruit.

Dragonfruit, named for it's Green outerskin and Dark Red interior, and it's very spicy taste, was only found in Souel, though many traders in many lands carried it. It was extremely hard to come by in Talen, due to the fact it responds poorly to dry conditons. However, it is said that where wild Dragonfruit grow, dragons make their home. It has always been assumed, and some stories, if believed, confirm this, that dragons enjoy the taste.

Kaland held the piece out to Ruby. "Hey there, Ruby. It has been some time as well. Remember me, my little friend?"

Judith went over to Sir Rovano to make sure the bandages were still set.

Ruby landed on the familiar man's shoulder as Shrike laughed at the twins' reactions.
The dragon sniffed at the fruit Kaland held for it, wondering if it was edible. It decided to eat it and found that the taste was not too bad. It was definitely not a bug but it sorta crunched like one. After swallowing the treat, Ruby let out a huge burp. A small cloud of noxious red fumes came out of its mouth.

Rei got up slowly as Kaland laughed at the Dragon. "Glad you liked it, my floatly little friend." He walked past to join the Princess, and help Sir Rovano gingerly to his feet.

Rei and Kei walked over and immediatly began to inspect the dragon, fasinated by it. The Drow put her sword away, unintrested now that she knew it wasn't a threat, and watched as they prepared to get him onto the cart. She went to the lake and looked into it, studying the water.

Judith and Kaland help Sir Rovano over to the cart, clearing some of the gold out of the way so that he could lay down. While Kaland helped him up, Judy went over to Shrike Rei and Kei so that she could get them to leave Ruby alone if it felt they were too annoying.

[I gotta go to sleep now, sorry Darkest :) Goodnight]

Shrike calmed down after the twins started inspecting the dragon. He watched as the swordswoman walked over to the lake and stared at the water. Wondering what she was doing, he was about to go ask her but stopped after he noticed the princess approach him and the brothers.

((kk, goodnight.))

She smiled at him as she came over. "Having fun?" She asked, looking at the twins, who turned and started bombarding her and Shrike with questions about the dragon.

Kaland interuppted before they could get any coherent questions out. "We're all set to go. We should hurry, before this poor knight bleeds to death." He smiled, showing he seriously doubted that would happen, but still wanted to go none-the-less.

"Yes, the sooner the better." The Drow pitched in, speaking for the first time since Shrike had shown himself. Without another word she turned and started leading the group back toawrds the path. The Twins grabbed the cart and started to pull, and Kaland brought up the rear. The Princess turned to follow Shrike.

Shrike smiled in response to the princess' question.

"So, where are you guys from?" Shrike asked the twins and the drow as they went on their way to the nearest town. The boy examined the woman's scimitar and the twins' hair colors. The twins reminded him of the youngest Gur' Tyrus children, although the Gur' Tyrus twins had the same hair color.
Ruby decided to stay on Kaland's shoulder for the rest of the journey, the bandit's height gave it a good vantage point.

Rei and Kei both smiled at being addressed. "Well, my Brother here is from Roake. I, on the other hand," Rei said, putting his hand to his chest dramatically, "am from the Provincial Capital. I was visiting my brother here when the Capital was attacked nine years ago. We decided to go into buisness together. Better them me headed back to the Capital."

He smiled at his brother, who smiled back and spoke. "We figured we had been apart for so long, and were brought together at a point when I might of lost him, so I couldn't just let him go again." A long moment of silence past as both brothers looked back at the Drow. She glared forward, refusing to make eye contact with them. "Well," Rei added after a moment, "this is LiNeerlay, a Drow bodyguard we picked up in the town we're headed to know." Kaland nodded. "She and I had come their after a bandit raid against the Tora-Nowa went sour."

[How old are Rei and Kei by the way?]

Shrike listened intently to their stories. He wasn't sure where Roake was in Souel but he knew where the Provincial Capital was and what happened to it. It was part of Nezerus territory now. He looked at the drow when the twins did.
"So she's a Tora-Nowa too Kaland? What happened to the Tora-Nowa?" the boy asked after hearing Kaland speak.

((Mid to late Twenties. Kei is two years older. And I don't know if it would help, or if he would know or not, but Roake is the capital city of Souel. I think I mentioned it in an earlier post))

Kaland shook his head. "Not so much. She's a sword for hire. Theift, Bodyguard work, whatever you need. Tarrisand ((the head of the Tora-Nowa in Talen, and Kaland's boss)) hired her to protect a shipment of good from the Tora-Nowa base in Talen to the Talendar-Arana bordercamps, along with myself. Halfway to the first one, she and I were ambushed by Nezerus men, killed the other guards and ran off with the goods." He smiled to himself. "Though not before we took their numbers down by a third." He shrugged. "We went to find some work, so I can pay off the boss when we get back."

It was well know, to bandits, that the Tora-Nowa had a very unique system of responsibilty. If you lost something, they didn't kill you, like most did. Tarrisand and his father before him decided you would be given the chance to pay the group back, and you would be forgiven. Now, you could pay in cash, work, slaves, stolen goods, or blood. The choise was always up to the indebted. However, if you ran, it was considered paying in blood, and you would be hunted down.

"I have taken responcibility for losing the goods, so I needed a job." He pointed over his shoulder. "She felt obligated to at least assist me in doing so."

[I was thinking I read it before somewhere, but I couldn't find which post you said Roake in when I checked. Maybe it's because I was sleepy at the time :XP I'll make it so that Shrike doesn't know the exact location of the capitals but knows which country they belong to and such :)]

"Haha, yeah..." said the boy, "The Nezeruans are crawling all over Talendar now..." He looked towards the road ahead. "We got chased by Nezerus creeps on the way up here. We were lucky we managed to ditch them. Too bad I had to leave some of the loot I snagged from Fwroc." In a way it was the truth, the two did have to run from the Nezerus assassins that were at the inn. Shrike touched the bandage on his left cheek before continuing, the wound didn't feel sore anymore. "So how much are you getting paid for this job?"

Rei and Kei both chimed up "18%!"

Kaland nodded. "I didn't want to take everything they had if this turned out to be a bust, but I wasn't going to go too low. So, I get 18%, and LiNeerlay get 2%. I figure 16% to Tarrisand, and 2% myself." He glanced at the gold in the cart. "I think I'm going to make off with quite a bit more then Tarrisand was expecting, so maybe I can consider it a bonus."

Judy nodded. "I'll say. That is quite a bit of gold you have there. I must be worth a fortune."

Rei nodded. "And we've got plenty more back at the mine. All we got to do is get some workers in town and be on our way back. I don't suppose you two would like to stay on?"

LiNeerlay shook her head. "No. I'm getting my share and leaving. We need to get back and pay Tarrisand back, so I can move on to other jobs." Kaland nodded in agreement.

"Err....I think...that might be a problem..." said Shrike as he looked at the princess and then at the wounded knight in the wagon. "You see...supposedly Talen's going to be invaded by Nezerus..." He wasn't sure how to continue explaining what he knew. He knew Kaland still had friends in Tora-Nowa and family in Talen. Although most of them could defend themselves easily, some needed Kaland to protect them. "We-well...we're not really sure about what Nezerus is going to do," Shrike tried to make it sound less serious than it was, "But there have been a lot of Nezerus people heading there lately." The last line he said more to himself than to Kaland as he remembered the attack on him and Malachi.

"I see. Well, even if that is true, I must return to Talendar. In fact, especially if that is true. I must warn Tarrisand of the impending attack."

The Drow spoke up. "Do you even have proof that there will be such an attack? I imagine your source is more reputable then some stall vendor's rambelings."

"Of course they do." Sir Rovano said, speaking up for the first time in a while. "I was the one who found it out, and they nearly killed me for it. I think I know what Nererus soldiers look like." He pointed to the wound in his side.

"Then it would seem I need to return as soon as possible."

"Right!" Rei chimed up. "Brother?"

They both stopped for a second, then doubled their pace, almost running down the path. "Oh by the six hells." LiNeerlay put a hand on her sword to keep it from swinging, then ran after them. Kaland continued at his normal pace, smiling again. "I do admire their enthusiasm, if nothing else."

Shrike was surprised at the sudden increase in speed of the two brothers.
"Looks like we'll be running the rest of the way." he said with a grin.
He hurried after the wagon and the four, not bothering to see if his former teacher and the princess had also started running. He could depend on Kaland if anything were to attack Judy.

Ruby yawned and began curling itself around Kaland's neck. It felt like sleeping the rest of the way since nothing of interest seemed like happening.

Kaland smiled at Shrike as he ran. "He is a good kid, Shrike. You are quite safe with him, Princess."

Judith looked at him, surpirsed. "How did you-" Kaland looked at her. "My life has not always been one of a bandit. However, the days I spent in Arana are long over. My life is to the Tora-Nowa, though I still believe in the good of my home land." He held out his arm. "Now if you do not oppose, my lady, I will help you catch up with the rest of them."

She looked at his hand, then at him, then nodded. He lifted her into his arms, then ran to catch up with the rest.

Soon, they arrived in the nearby town. The town of Ketron was a sizable trading post on the Anara/Souel border. It had a little of everything, but the major gold deposit is where the brothers finally stopped. "Here ya go, my friend." A town guardsman came over, and lifted Sir Rovano from the cart. "I've got you, Sir."

Kaland arrived last, setting down the Princess as he stopped next to Shrike. "There you go, ma'am. It was my pleasure." He turned and followed the Brothers into the Deposit.

"See you Kaland." Shrike said as he waved goodbye to his former teacher. Ruby had awakened from it's nap after the group arrived at Ketron. It flew off the tall bandit's shoulders and onto its master's head, still a little sleepy.
"So where to now Prin- I mean Judy." he asked, careful to look around if anyone may have been listening.