a tale of bandits [paralogue]

[cassius]

“ GIMMIE THE BOOTY I WANT THE BOOTY ”

He should have expected it. When Cassius caught the waterskin in his hand, an offended glower spread across his face like wildfire. Whether Tsan'lo captured a glimpse of his involuntary lapse into chagrin before she closed her eyes didn't matter. Whatever trace of ire he had disappeared as the shrill cry of a desperate bandit shook his bones. 

An aftershock rattled his limbs once again. It wasn't an earthquake, no. It was a dragon. The choked cry of an equestrian catapult's victim was enough of a signal for Cassius. Flinging his waterskin to the side, he rolled off his horse and onto the ground. With a strained grunt he hoisted his lance up and forward as the man closed the gap between then.

Shrnrk. A sickening weight pressed against the end of his weapon. He stared into the man's eyes until they lost their gleam.

Cassius was used to this. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

"What a waste." He said, lowering the body to the ground.

Lifting himself up, Cassius walked over to the motionless heap. He pressed his foot against the man's chest as he pulled his lance out from his body. Pulling out a cloth, he swatted it several times against his leg before wiping off the tip of his lance. His nose wrinkled at the salty scent or perhaps he had wrinkled it in annoyance: he would have to wash that cloth sooner or later. 

He didn't know she did it, but the frantic neighs of a now missing horse had given him some sort of hint earlier. Cassius hollered out to Esmer, "Thanks! Saved us there."

After retrieving his waterskin that their resting companion had so easily rejected, he turned to her, thudding his foot against hers. "Come on, rest time's over." He kicked her several times, albeit gently, the pleasant full sound of his foot ringing against her leg, "Oi, hey. Hey. Wakey-wakey."

TAGGED Tsan'lo & esmer
NOTES Thanks to Esmer's fast-thinking, the enemy cavalier impales himself on the end of Cassius' lance. Now he's kicking Tsun'lo, waiting to bring her back to the merchant, the tied cleric and Esmer.

MADE BY ★MEULK FOR SHIV <3

[Tsan'lo]

He had such an annoying voice, really. Or so she found. Truth be told she was having a rather large headache along with pains in her jaw, so she might have had some justification for her deeds as she rose up, punching the man rather weakly on the shoulder before placing her sword back onto it's sheath before beginning to walk back towards were the girl had been. She had to be a mage or something akin to that to be able to blast the man and the horse all the way over here.

... And she was apparently a dragon.

Her eyebrows were raised as she stared at the sight for a moment, her jaw slightly agape before she corrected herself, tilting her head for a moment before then looking around for where the cart had been flipped by the wind magic. "Is the merchant okay. Would be a shame if we got no payment for a dead person."

esmer, cassius

[esmer]

❝ "Haha, that's a really handy quirk you've got here!" The merchant laughed happily to herself and Esmer. The later of which was currently using her strength to hoist the cart right-ways. Definitely the most simple task she's had since their company set out. The manakete too laughed, although more hesitantly. "Ahah...thanks...." she sweatdroppped, then mumbling. "It's not exactly what's it's for though..." Esmer, Dragon Maintenance Repair. Now there was a plan to fall back on, she thought humorlessly to herself. "We were really lucky too!" The redhead beamed, looking over the cart. "The blast didn't destroy any of the wheels, though this one's cracked a bit; we should still be settled enough for the rest of the journey." She looked up at the serpent as her hand ran over the splintered wood. "Provided we don't have any more unnecessary road blocks." Esmer couldn't argue with that. She nodded in acknowledgement when the woman declared she would be retying her steed and looked to the forest, mindful of the nearing scents. She could already feel the fatigue setting in, following all the exertion. A brief moment of concentration and the transformation followed, much like the previous. In place of the beast stood the disheveled bluenette, robes frayed slightly in some areas and others gaining a reddish hue thanks to her unattended wounds. Nothing so intense as to worry but infection could prove lethal to any carelessly handled injury. "I should probably wrap them." She pursed her lips, the tug of torn skin on her right shoulder wouldn't be something she could tend to herself. Picking the hat off her head she briskly ran fingers through the blue locks in an effort to tame them before retrieving a roll of bandages from the small knapsack. It wouldn't be a bad idea to get what was needed go- "So what do we do with this guy I wonder." Her train of thought was broken and the merchant hauled the tied up banded toward her. "Um..." Esmer's wide eyes blinked. "I," She drawled the syllable on before stopping. Leaving the cleric to sweat nervously about what fate the manakete would deliver onto him. "I forgot about him." She scratched her cheek in embarrassment while their prisoner stared, convinced he was in the presence of an idiot. It would be suicide to voice it. Right? - - - - - - - - - - notes;; esmer hauled the cart over with dragon muscles (~O^O)~ poofed back to human, bleeding a bit all over the place, getting bandages ready for herself, tsan and cass and like the absentminded fruit loop she is forgets they still have their little hostage (who turns out to be a cleric, how convenient >w>)

LAIKA OF GS!
cassius & Tsan'lo

[cassius]

“ GIMMIE THE BOOTY I WANT THE BOOTY ”

"The merchant should be fine. The only guy that's left is a dinky little cleric and she's the one who tied him up. You'll get your pay."

Cassius paused mid-step, leg lifted in the air as he faced Tsan'lo with an incredulous look, "For a second I was convinced you actually cared for her well-being, that you actually had a sentimental bone inside of you." Rubbing his face, "I should have figured."

When they reached the overturned cart and its owner. The merchant had recalled her horse after having released him from his bindings. In contrast, the cleric sat helplessly in his constraints. The problem regarding the cart was short-lived and as he witnessed Esmer solve it with brute force, his arms rested easier. No more heavy lifting today. Her return to her human form brought to light the injuries she had sustained. He frowned. While they are frankly unavoidable in skirmishes as chaotic as these, he still felt responsible: his captain's duty clinging to his lips.

"Wrap yourself up the best you can. Don't worry about this guy," Hoisting him up by the collar, Cassius shook him like a dog, "I'll bring him to the kidcote as soon as we reach our destination." A spark of an idea. "Hey, actually," The Captain leaned in close to the cleric's face, smiling wide, "We can use this guy to patch ourselves up. That sound good?" He asked the bandit, "Sorry, rhetorical question. You really don't have a choice."

With a gruff heave, he threw him to the ground, dust settling where he landed. As the merchant retied her horse Cassius examined ahead. "Everything seems good so far, unless..." He eyed the man down, "You have some other friends."

With a snort, he rode on.

TAGGED Tsan'lo & esmer
NOTES WE can slowly wrap this up I think!

MADE BY ★MEULK FOR SHIV <3

[Tsan'lo]

She snorted rather loudly as the man exclaimed that he had thought she actually had empathy for her walking payment. Sure, it would be sad and blah blah blah, but if she was alive it would just ensure payment and no sadness blah blah blah. Guess the man took it rather hard when she denied him trough and trough. How amusing, how amusing indeed. She shrugged, looking around for a moment before then manging to drag and pick up the bandit cleric into the cart. Thankfully he wasn't that light.

She needed... Okay, she needed healing. But not from a bandit, no. She'd writhe down to the next tavern and then hop off before heading straight for the nearest shrine to Naga. "Ex-excuse me." She closed her eyes as the cleric, a rather soft spoken fellow in all actuality, coughed. "P-please, I am most apologe-getic! I was s-simply cap-captured by these brutes as they for-forced me to deal for them! T-they used me for such dis-dishonorable caused and-and I wish to reclaim it! I-is there any way I c-can help o--"

"Oh, you'd sound so much better dead." Tsan'lo let out a rather bored sigh as she proceeded to gently cut her sword across the neck of the cleric, causing him to collapse down to the cart floor, writhing in pain and gagging. She furrowed her brows, sticking her head out.

"The guy tried to jump on me. Had to kill him. Sorry." A little white lie won't hurt anyone.

esmer cassius

Notes: (All up for this being my last post here.)

[esmer]

❝ Taking the suggestion on board with a tired yet thankful smile the manakete got around to wrapping her more superficial injuries, half focusing on the task and the other listening in on the conversations going on. As exciting as this escapade was, Esmer reveled in the thought of a warm and welcoming bed to blissfully pass out in a this moment. But still, their journey wasn't completely over. "It's been pretty exciting hasn't it?" She beamed at the nicely bandaged arm of hers before moving on. "Let's not do it again anytime soon." The pleading tone she used would have proved amusing even to her had she not been entirely serious. Turning to Tsan'lo her lips shifted to a pout. "And you, you shouldn't have run off like that," she chided. "Just look what ya got yourself into." Even now the stench of blood assaulting Esmer's senses was starting to make her stomach turn a bit. Before she was about to carry on with her lecture about the appropriateness of self-sacrifice she was interrupted by the ginger's voice. "We can use this guy to patch ourselves up. That sound good?" Use the cleric? Fantastic! Why didn't she think of that. Her yet-to-be-tended-to woulds would have sung in joy...if that were possible. "Great!" After all it was the least the cleric could do for them not killing hi-. The glint of a blade and her hopes of rejuvenation were shattered. As if she couldn't believe what had just happened she stood there motionless, staring at the still corpse of what could have been her salvation from the irritating aches. What made made the situation all the more amusing and infuriating was that his killer was the one who needed medical attention most out of the lot of them. Standing behind the myrmidon, eye twitching in anger, Esmer tried restraining herself from jumping the woman. Arms held in a strangling motion. "Y-You..." Her voice was laced in irritation but stopped short when she took a deep, angry breath and composed herself. To be honest it unsettled her how ruthlessly she took the male's life, and with such a blatant lie too! Cleric's weren't known for their battle prowess after all. She eyed the myrmidon with a weary eye. "It was a good plan, until now." Huffing, Esmer strode back to the bundle of medical supplies. "You two should take care of any injuries you have now. You'll be thankful for it later." From the shadow of her hair she eyed the unmoving form with some remorse but didn't dwell on it. What's done is done. "I owe you guys." Their client chirped, "Definitely wouldn't have made it through this alone. I'll make it worth your while when we reach our destination, kay?" The merchant hopped back onto her seat and grasped the reigns, sighing contently at the sense of familiarity. - - - - - - - - - - notes;; might be room for another post if you want to fit it in, but if you guys want to end it here i'm all good \o/

LAIKA OF GS!
cassius & Tsan'lo

[cassius]

“ GIMMIE THE BOOTY I WANT THE BOOTY ”

Running his fingers through his bangs like he did before, he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his palm, the cool air quickly pooling in above the skin. They could finally relax somewhat. The violence had stopped and he was glad for that; this was meant to be an easy escort, not some wartime frenzy. War was always looming over the continent anyways.

"Exciting's one way to put it." He grunted as he stretched his arms, bending an elbow behind his head, "Never again." 

Hearing Esmer scold Tsan'lo gave him second-hand relief. The girl had caused him enough grief, however he kept his lips sealed and tongue frozen. While had thought the same, he felt as if any energy spent trying to discipline the myrmidon would be wasted. At the very least, he knew she wouldn't listen to him. If only she was under his charge and then he could...

She killed him.

As blood dribbled onto the cart, he growled, "Hey! Did you not hear what I said?" The noises of death sounded odd, almost casual in the relative quiet of their travel. He thought it was a waste. A waste of time. A waste of energy. A waste of life and although he was angry, he simply pulled the dying man off the cart before he could make any more of a mess for the merchant. Propping the man up by a tree, he closed the man's eyes.

He'd have to call someone to clean up the bodies here; this route wasn't known for its scenery.

"Thanks for the concern. Appreciate it." As he hopped onto his horse, he checked himself for injuries. But really, he was checking his sanity.

TAGGED Tsan'lo & esmer & Sifr 
NOTES Thanks for the fun paralogue guys. This was great! Tagging Sifr to notify her of this paralogue's completion!

MADE BY ★MEULK FOR SHIV <3