Night Fall [Open]

[Dao]

The night was young to many: from the merchants carrying around their luggages and to the mercenaries who were drinking on the job. Two quite different types of people sitting around the fire, enjoying the night away after a long journey, whose destination was so close that it was a short half a day’s march away. That from where they were staying, the lights of the nearest human establishment could be seen with the beautiful and dazzling lights. It was certainly a sight to see and more than a fair share of the peddlers and fighters could be seen gazing at them with eyes of longing. Friendly cheering, and the usual story telling was abound. Merriment in all of its forms could be easily heard around the sizeable camp that they had made. A few tents could be seen pitched here and there but for the most part, majority of the people present had inadvertently decided to use their carts as pseudo-beds.

Dao should know. He had been stalking the group for the past three days after all. He also felt his slightly off kilter leather boots against his calloused feet move in accordance with the small twitches his body made. His breathing was slow and controlled, lungs filled with enough oxygen to allow him that kind of burst energy that he always held in favour when compared to a slow start. Muscles tensed and his eyebrows furrowed as his nose began to inhale the scent of the scrumptious meat being cooked. His hand momentarily tightened beyond average at the thought of swiping a couple of bites when all of this was done and over.

Tied into a loose topknot of sorts, the teenager’s hair had been kept away from his face in order to not be distracted by it. With his mismatched and dried leather armour crossed around his torso and limbs, the young man was certainly ready to go into battle. Especially with the odds stacked in their favour, the merry band of sellswords and cutthroats were looking forward to the banquet tonight. He saw one of the other people he had known all of his life ready the sign. Ugly as a mule and worthless in regards to anything else aside his job, the teenager had to reluctantly admit that the old fart did know his way around with the bow and arrow.

An oil coated arrowhead was the start and as the archer’s attendant created a spark with the use of two rocks, the rest of the attendants also began to do the same. That, in the middle of the night of supposed merriment where men and women alike were becoming unable to even stand up, the raid had begun. As the flaming arrowheads dug themselves in the flammable material of the tents, and only the tents, chaos had began to ensue as some of the more aware hired body guards tried their best to get the screaming into a low down whilst doing what they could to defend the group from the numerous squads of bandits that had began to literally jump out of the wood work.

Along with them was Dao, his sword ready in his main hand, who had began to follow the lead of the supposed squad leader that he was assigned to. Narrowed and angry eyes reflected the flames of chaos around them clearly as he began to dash around the field, his bronze sword finding itself half buried in a man’s leg before having it coming towards the other side. He could see the fear in the eyes of the middle-aged merchant, to which he simply responded with a heavy stomp that had crushed the man’s nose down and had potentially been the cause of death.

Dao did not stop there as there were more targets to take down and surely enough, his goal was simple: get enough kills to buy himself another chance. Diving beneath the drunken swing of another intoxicated Fighter, the agile teenager had his foot lash out in a disgusting snap kick that broke his adversary’s leg and effectively called him down to a kneel. With the butt of his bronze sword, Dao sent the man sprawling on the grass—presumably dead.

Two down, everyone else to go.

[Tsan'lo]

The world could look peaceful while it was burning down, truly. Tsan'lo had seated herself onto a tree a few hours before the attack had begun, simply sitting there to pass the time before noticing that bandits were attacking the nearby group of traders. She considered doing something about it, but she did not wish to endanger herself for people she did not even know. It was their problem, and as long as the bandits would not disturb her from her little tree, she was content.

And then a little girl, seemingly carrying her little pig doll ran to the tree, covering against it as a bandit with his axe raised arrived. Her eyebrows instantly furrowed as she dropped down, slashing her sword downwards as it sunk into the man's shoulder, going even deeper as she landed, before twisting it and pulling the sword out and then kicking the axe bandit, now screaming in pain down. She looked to the little girl who was still covering.

Not another one would be taken today. She turned her gaze forwards, keeping her sword ready in case anyone else dared to try and harm her or the girl.

Dao

[Dao]

Dao blinked away the blood that had been splattered all over his face. He had just taken down another man who had been twice his size. It should have been a difficult fight, something that should have tested his might, but with the opponent's movements dulled away by the heavy influences of alcohol running in his system…well, it didn't take much effort to methodically take the adversary down. It had started with the back of his enemy's legs, causing him to fall down after a rather nasty counter. What soon followed, with eyes sharpened into the clearest focus they could be, the teenager proceeded to behead the huge man in such a way where the blood had began to spray all over him.

Ducking and weaving about the caravans, blood still all over his face, the black haired bandit threw himself towards one of the bundled goods that one of the carts had with them. Wiping his face, or at least the part near his eyes, to clear the blood away, the teenager had the chance to see one of the less than likeable people he had known to be part of the team follow after some random kid that had been running away. Furrowing his eyebrows at that development, Dao had just been about to ignore it in order to get back into killing and collecting as many heads as he could when the an ear piercing shrill came from where the Axe Bandit had been.

The blade wielding bandit cursed and, with a quick scan of his eyes, looked around the field to check if there were others who he could use as a temporary meat shield for whatever had done that. His eyes landing on one of the weaker spearmen, the swordsman had just been about to half drag that green horn with him when the guy had his throat pierced with an arrow from the centre of the fighting. Clicking his tongue in distaste, reminding himself that if he wanted something done then he had to do it himself, Dao then slashed at the air to get the blood off of his swords before he dashed onwards towards his downed 'ally.'

Movements reminiscent of a feather fluttering in a gale, the Feroxi myrmidon charged across the distance and had been fortunate enough to not have met any resistance. When he had arrived a few meters away from the downed axe man, Dao skidded and hopped to a stop as he raised his sword in a defensive stance. Eyes searched the relative darkness, and in there the young man felt his instincts roar. Cruelly, underneath the heavy looking neck/mouth scarf that Dao wore, he felt a slight quirk of his lips.

[Tsan'lo]

She kept the little child behind herself, furrowing her brows as the kid tried to run. She was obviously scared, but it would be much better if she was just silent and still. So she decided to do just that, keep her silent and still. With that, she smacked the hilt of her sword against the girl's forehead, managing to knock her out. She would have to... Hrgh, apologize for that later on. Or well, no. She's saving the brat, SHE should be thankful.

She then turned her attention forwards as she kept herself in a defensive stance, waiting... And waiting. She could hear someone in the distance, or maybe even close by moving. But she herself did not wish to move or let out any noise. The only noises she made was her silent breathing, and her foot tapping against the ground as she corrected her stance. Darkness... The blanket of protection.

Dao

[Dao]

There was definitely something to be said about the sturdiness of the men and women who wielded axes as their main weapon. They had to be strong, and they had to be sturdy. The weight of a weapon like that was wholly different, and the requirements to effectively use one was just as different. Where swords required a more slender frame most of the time, axes probably required quite an amount of bulk and horrendous training to get the body to be able to use it properly. So, as Dao readied his sword to go on the offensive with a whirling technique at the edge of his finger tips, the axeman that should have been dead screamed in pain a second time.

The old man, probably somewhere around his thirties, had effectively lost the use of his main arm but it didn't stop him from writhing and cursing in pain. Dao, eyes trailing towards the presumably dying man, made sure to keep his focus readied in case that whatever had attacked his comrade would jump him as well. A scream tore at the throat yet this one was filled with anger and less of pain. The downed male reached for his axe, the weakening grip on the handle strengthening for the slightest bit as all of the dead man's energy was put into it. The throwable axe then flew, cutting through the air and shortening the distance between him and the now dead male.

In that moment, where Dao's eyes had finally gotten used to the darkening environment, the swordsman followed the ranged attack's trajectory. In a burst of speed, a low leaping motion where his feet could still easily change his intended pathway, Dao slanted his sword. A temporary stomp against the ground, his eyes meeting that of another person. The Myrmidon threw himself to the right then, his sword arced in such a way that it would follow him whilst attempting to leave a gash on where his adversary's chest would have most likely been.

And while this was happening, the bandits from the main group had already taken down majority of the soldiers and held hostage the merchants who had owned the majority of the carts. Slowly, they were beginning to round up the stragglers and would eventually reach the forested areas. Their brutish and blasphemous taunts a clear indicator of where and how far they were.

---

Notes: The axe bandit that should have died somehow lives and ends up throwing his axe at Tsan'lo. Said axe bandit dies moments later. Dao charges in, sword drawn for an offensive strike: dragging his sword across the air in a rightwards motion (aiming for Tsan's chest) as he himself hops towards the right. While the Tsan vs Dao is happening, the rest of the bandits had taken care of the merchants and are now spreading outwards to hunt all remaining hostiles.

[Tsan'lo]

She heard a scream, a guttural one filled with anger. That could only mean... She could heard it swinging in the air as she struck the air, managing to strike away the throwing axe. Only to then have her chest be slashed as she recoiled back against the tree, cursing in silence. Her eyes had gotten used to the dark now as she watched the one who had dared to cut her. A... Seemingly youngish male with dark hair. This should be entertaining and easy to kill, hopefully.

She felt her chest quickly as some blood was flowing down her tunic. No matter, it was not slowing her down yet. She charged forwards at great speeds, staring at the younger person for a while before suddenly attempting to slide against the ground, her sword striking upwards as she attempted to then strike the sword trough the person's bicep. That would hurt if it hit.

Dao

[Dao]

Landing with a savage like grace, the teenager quickly balanced on his foot and twisted around. Body turned to face the opponent who had just began to charge at him. His opponent was fast, but with the distance that had been stretched between them, Dao had momentary advantage to bring his sword around to the side again. A metallic clang echoed as his sword met the opponent's in an outwards swing, causing the unknown adversary's weapon to derail from its original target.

Dao was confident that he could land another strike then but his instincts had told him otherwise. Instead of pursuing his advantage, the young swordsman hopped backwards again with that same kind of brutal grace as before. A predatory look shined behind his eyes and as he landed in a safer position, the swordsman could idly a hatchet wavering in the air before landing to where he had been moments prior. He turned his eyes towards the trail of the attack and in the slight distance he could see another merchant---youthful it seemed--trying to be a hero of sorts.

Clicking his tongue against his teeth, a bundle of frustration building slightly in his gut, Dao had to take another step back with his back against the dying flames of the camp that his disposable family of bandits had hunkered down on. The pangs of hunger were also beginning to creep into him as well. If he had to fight a skilled fighter like the swordsman that had access to a meat shield and distraction like that pathetic merchant, Dao shook his head again and took a step back.

He'd wait, for now at least. The other bandits were closing in on their position anyway--and with the time it had taken him to battle here he had ultimately lost whatever chance he had to win the prize of the most difficult enemy's head. There was no longer any reason to continue fighting with as much fervour besides his need to survive.

---

Notes: Dao struck Tsan's sword away from him, and would have lunged in for an attack but didn't because of the peddler's interference. Hopped back away and began moving nearer to the boundary between the forest and the campsite to wait for the rest of the bandits to arrive. Currently in a defensive stance once more.

[Tsan'lo]

This swordsman was good. Good enough to parry her strike, at the very least. She watched as he slowly backed away, seemingly not finding her a worthy opponent. She could feel her anger flare up from thinking that, but it was soon quenched as her brains reminded of her vow, and of the girl she had knocked out earlier to protect her.

She took a few graceful hopping steps back... Then another few, until her back hit against the tree. She looked around, noticing that the little child was still out of it. She did not want to carry her, so she simply kept against the tree with her defensive stance as she gently nudged the child with her leg. She wasn't waking up. Dammit, had she hit her too hard on the head? Had she killed the child by accident? After a few more nudges the child thankfully groaned, indicating that she was waking up.

Dao

[Dao]

Dao tightened his grip on the handle of his weapon. His eyes may have been focused on the scene before him with his opponent taking a few retreating paces away much like he did yet his ears were focused on the sound of crude exclamations and half-assed taunts being flung around from behind. Feet still apart, ready to take the required action to either defend from or attack his opponent, Dao chanced a glance towards the side where the peddler who turned out to be the annoying thorn to his side had been hiding. Not yet, his gut told him. Don't advance. And so the young man did not.

At least not until the two other bandits who he had lived with arrived to where he was. The voices were familiar and easily enough Dao recognised who they were…before a vein in his temple decided to make things hurt with a headache. Of all the back up to receive, it had to be these bumbling idiots. The dead axe guy would have probably been more help at this point. Shaking his head before changing his stance to a single hand wielding one, Dao flagged down the other two Bandits. Thankfully, idiots they may have been, they could at least follow simple instructions. Arriving to the scene, the two hammer wielding idiots stood behind the youngest of the trio and laughed.

"Is that your problem Dao? A wee lass?"

"Still a kid I see! Well, let your 'Big Brothers' hanlde it!"

Mocking and full of contempt were there voices, Dao surely wouldn't have cared if they were to be cut down to pieces in front of his eyes. Keeping quiet for the most part, though he couldn't quite contain the malignant growl that escaped his throat, Dao simply changed his stance to better fit a group activity even if he detests something like it. Letting the other two take the lead then, the teenager mused that he'd just play back up for the time being.

---

Notes: Enemy reinforcements arrived; doing their mandatory trash talking and taunting. The Idiotic Hammer Twins don't see Tsan'lo as a threat and is taking their sweet time approaching her. Dao is just at the back waiting for shit to happen.

[Tsan'lo]

Just a wee lass? Oh, she would show them wee lass. They BETTER remember that ONE wee lass, and pray that all the other wee lasses they had sent over to the other side would be kind to them once they themselves reach the other side. But she was not going to charge in wildly and leave the child defenseless. She could not, for all she had done this far would be moot if she did so.

So she stood her ground, staying completely still as the larger brutes came for her. "Lookit that, the little girlie's scared. Har!" Oh, how her anger raged inside her. She almost charged at them then and there, but stupidity was something she wished not to be paired with. Once the two hammer bandits finally made their way to near Tsan'lo, she got to work.

First, she did a simple sweeping strike for their feet. Too simple, in fact. They just jumped back, laughing slightly. "Har, so the lass has guts?" Oh, she did. Enough guts to do a distraction strike. She lunged herself forwards, managing to slice her sword at the face of one of the bandits, cutting his eyes. "M-MY EYES! YOU WRETCH!"

She backed away once more, returning to a defensive stance.

Dao

[Dao]

The remaining and uninjured hammer brother felt rage engulf him. To see his brother be handled in such a manner was enough to send him into a wild frenzy. He only saw anger, and anger had fuelled him like never before. And so in the distance that the female swordsman had created between them, the hammer brother charged forward with intent to cripple, to maim, and to break. The injured brother then, as he clasped his free and off hand over his face to try and stem the bleeding, continued to scream in sheer unadulterated agony. Yet his grip on his hammer only became tighter and as he wiped the blood away from his unusable eye, he too only saw red in the altered vision his remaining eye gave him.

And thus the bastard roared as well, charging forward into a practiced formation with his brother. Yet instead of aiming for the girl as well, the second of the two hammer brothers had instead opted to charge straight for the little girl that the lass had been protecting. The girl had, presumably, backed herself into the tree from before, it was logically the only space she had left. Going further to the side would make her too far from the person she was protecting. Going nearer would have hampered her abilities. Even if, by some way or method, she found a way to jump over the hulking hammer brothers, the latter were big enough to close that exit.

In that end, assuming that everything fell into place, the female myrmidon only had two choices left to her: to risk a dangerous counter or to block the attack. This was, of course, not taking into account Dao who had been the third member of the attack. Thankfully however, the attention of the male Myrmidon was not on the woman but was instead to the peddler from before who had tried to attack him from the side. With his bronze sword snug and warm inside the man's belly, the Feroxi male raised his boot then and dislodged his blade from the innards of the now-corpse.

---

Notes: Brother B is charging for Tsan'lo. Brother A is charging for the child. Dao just killed the merchant guy.

[Tsan'lo]

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The inner clock in her head was ticking as she watched between the two bandits. To potentially sacrifice her life or to survive yet lose the life of the child. The choice was in so many ways both hard and obvious. But, sadly, life was not as slowed down as it was in her head. And she had ran out of time as she was broken out of her little thinking trance with a sickening crush as Brother A managed to crush the child under his hammer. Her eyes were glued to the sight for a precious moment before they opened wide open in anger.

She had failed. But she would not let anyone LIVE to tell the tale of her failures. That was her thought as she lunged towards brother B, thrusting her sword trough his chest just as he attempted to slam his hammer down on her skull. She twisted it, turned it, and then pulled it out of the man's chest before then stabbing it trough his throat now, twisting her sword brutally once more before kicking him down.

Now it was the real culprits turn. Brother A, or the blood eyed one. She charged for him as well, attempting to slice his chest. Sadly, the hammer brother managed to move his hammer in for a parry, resulting in the two locking themselves for a moment before Tsan'lo rushed her knee against the man's crotch, causing him to hunch over before she then sunk her blade deep trough his remaining eye... And twisting it. Agonizing cries could be heard for a split second before she brutally pulled the blade out of his skull.

Dao

[Dao]

A breathe. Barely even a moment in time and just like that, the life of a child was snuffed away. And in a battle full of bandits and cutthroats, such a life received no amount of importance beyond that of a tool to take advantage of. Gone with the wind, the child then was forgotten. And as the brother who had charged ahead for the kill found no quarter in his strike, that instead his attack had been rendered ineffective with the sword that had plunged itself through his chest. Torn away and struck right through the throat, the brother fell then as a boot had forced him down.

To Dao, he watched with an impassive anger. The adrenaline had not been fuelled by any sort of respect for the other man, or any kind of lingering affection. It was simply of the fact that he had not been able to fight back at all, that even if he had been the healthier of the two hammer brothers, he had been the first to have died with nary a resistance. Yet with the same mind set as the others, the Myrmidon decided to use anything and everything to his advantage. And with that, he gripped the handle of his sword once more and charged for his opponent.

While the female Myrmidon had busied herself with the remaining brother, her focus delved into the hammer wielding murderer, Dao had raised his sword to strike. A downward diagonal slash was the most basic attack that Dao was capable of. Yet because it was the most basic, it was also the most practiced. A veritable class of its own, the diagonal downward slash had been aimed to bisect his opponent. Yet even if he were to miss, or countered for that matter, years of practice had given Dao a myriad of flowing movements to respond in kind.

And as the woman dislodged her sword, Dao unleashed his strike.

---

Notes: Dao used the death of the brothers as a timely distraction to let out a 'lethal' strike against Tsan'lo's presumably exposed back.

[Tsan'lo]

She could feel pain in her back. Pain that would have downed anyone that was in a clear and very logical stage. To her, it was a simple thing that drove her to the ground as she begun to bleed. But she was not dead or down yet, no, oh gods no. She was not going to away until this child's death was avenged, and there was still one clear component here that had made her stay here for so long to protect the child anyways. With that resolve, her hands slowly reached to the corpse of Brother A, before her hand held onto something very solid and real.

She then quickly turned around, barely managing to lift the rather large hammer she had taken off from the ground as she then attempted to brutally smash it against the left cheek of the male, to at the very least hopefully knocking him away and out for the count.

Dao

[Dao]

Dao was far from complacent. Years of fighting had taught him that if one was not sure of the death of his enemy, then said enemy was most likely still alive. His downward slash, deadly as it was, was not an automatic killing technique. It didn't break through everything and though it could undoubtedly be put to better use if the Myrmidon had access to higher quality swords, his Bronze Sword could only do so much. So even when he saw his opponent fall flat forward, clothing and flesh ripped to stain the apparel with red liquids, the young man didn't just allow her to get in one last pity strike in.

This wasn't a fairy tale where the hero gets to have some kind of magnanimous turn over at the very last minute. This wasn't a story book where the good guys always won. This? This was just a chain of events that linked up together to create a particular scene. Brutal as it may be, it was simply reality. Effortlessly dodging the hammer strike that had been telegraphed long before the girl had even lifted the weapon half way off the ground, Dao had already then secured himself a stance for the kill.

And as the person became that much more vulnerable, Dao…felt his instincts tell him something else. Moving towards where the weapons had been dropped in the melee, the bandit easily kicked away the available weapons near his downed opponent in a quick and precise manner that would not have left any openings. With that done, the bandit proceeded to give the girl some space to breathe…with his sword still drawn and pointed to her in such a way that a quick step forward would turn into a delectable thrust through her chest.

Moments of silence passed between the two.

"You…fight well." And was broken first by the bandit who took a step back. "I want to...fight again." He continued, sounding as if he was unsure of himself. Besides that, the woman had not been a target. And bringing in her head to the Bandit Leader would not have garnered him any extra points. If anything, for having killed a woman, it would have just made it that much more difficult for him. Passed experiences told him as much. "Go."

---

Notes: Effortlessly dodged the hammer strike before kicking away all the other available weapons away from Tsan'lo, assuming that her bronze sword too is out of her reach. Dao was still in Kill-Mode though, but decided to add in a short monologue.