Fire [finished]

[Willow]

[OOC: I'll have a read, sounds good and she wouldn't fight - even she's got more sense than that haha. And a caravan raid sounds good...if she's allowed.]

Willow thought briefly over Kaye proposition. Bound or tortured....it didn’t take her very long to decide.

“Alright, I’ll go with what you say. Knock me out as well if it makes you feel better, but I expect to wake up afterwards. So don’t let him-“ Here she jerked her head briefly to Jarad, smiling for an instant to show she meant no ill will. “-do the knocking out.”
Just then she narrowed her eyes sharply as she snapped her head around to look at the newcomer in the tent, then, once her eyes had adjusted, muttered under her breath to herself or Kaye; “Or him, either.”

As the large man opened his mouth to talk, Willow caught the slight glint of metal, a stray sunbeam glancing off it as Jarad’s sword swung towards her neck.
More reflexively than intentionally, she snapped a dagger out and blocked the larger blade, just making it before the metal touched her neck. Even as she did so, she realised that he hadn’t aimed to kill...that time.

To try and divert his attention from attacking again, this time with a more painful intent on the cards, she muttered a tad defensively.
“Hey, if someone was swinging a bloody big sword at your neck, you wouldn’t stop to think before you blocked, would you?”
She nodded as Kaye jumped in to stop her head from rolling across the floor, but still kept the dagger up while Jarad’s sword was within a foot of her, just in case.
“And I’ve agreed to it - no need to get blood on the tent,” She growled sarcastically, annoyed now but not letting it get control over her. However, she judged that, considering the circumstances, she was allowed to be a touch sarky.

The instant she knew she was in no immediate danger of death, her dagger disappeared again, and she became more cooperative again.
“Binding my whole arms or my wrists? And make sure those things aren’t liable to break – I don’t wanna be blamed if the cords snap cos of overuse. Again,” She added, scowling slightly at the memory; an old training exercise she’d done when she was a kid. Each team took one member of the opposing team captive, and they had to either escape or be rescued. Willow had planned to wait for her captors guards to relax, but the old, rat-bitten ropes had had other ideas. Getting out of that hadn’t been too fun, although she was never in any real danger. Kids, however, hate losing.

She blinked back to the present with another question.
“You gagging me or just knocking me out?” She asked, still holding her wrists out loosely in case they were going to be tied. She stopped talking just as Kaye mentioned dropping her off in the city.
“Er...although I have absolutely no say in this, but d’you have to leave me in a city? I’ve got more than one person in each who’d quite enjoy the chance to run me through. Or tell the Empire’s pawns where I am,” She shrugged, but her expression wasn’t too happy. “I’ve hacked off enough people for me to not be very popular with the higher-ups.” She half-explained, not detailing exactly which ‘higher-ups’ she was referring to.

[flippedside]

Reluctantly, Jarad agreed to not chop the girl's head off. He was itching to see some blood flow, though. With an easy snap, he caught the leather band and sheathed his sword in one fluid motion. "No worries on this breaking," he replied shortly to Willow. He snapped it with both hands, listening to the crack in the leather. "Tied up tougher things than you for longer periods."

Swiftly, he tied her wrists up, leaving it just loose enough to not quite cut off circulation. But he was a sailor and good with knots: there'd be no way the girl could escape. He moved back slightly, jerking her wrists to double-check the tightness. She was holding herself with a surprising amount of calmness, so he knew the move wouldn't hurt her. Only fighting him would cause her pain--and she wasn't doing that. Lucky her.

"Stand up," Jarad demanded shortly. He checked her boots and waist for weapons or anything else that she might use to cut herself free, dropping them lightly to the floor. Ryss had already left to pull up camp. Not that there was much to move: when somewhere like this they all traveled light.

Kaye grabbed a bag and swiftly dumped Willow's weapons in it. "We'll keep these for you; you can have them back later." She paused, tilting her head slightly to consider Willow. "Have lots of enemies, do you?" She grinned. "So do most of us. We'll see." Jarad caught the glittering look of consideration in Kaye's eyes, though he didn't know what it meant. Likely he didn't want to.

He glanced quickly about the tent. "We need a pack mule to carry all this."

Kaye rolled her eyes. "Just watch her until Evan arrives and don't hurt her."

"All right, all right." His eyes narrowed in annoyance. Why did everyone assume he was a killer? True, he tended to look at things a little differently, but that didn't mean that his overwhelming desire was to hack and slash the world to bits. He turned to Willow. "Good at making enemies are you?" He gave her a feral grin. "Me too. But mine are almost all dead." His eyes turned dark and inward for a moment.

Except for a few. But they would die as slowly as he had. It was one vow he intended to keep. He pulled himself back to the present, hating how the past sometimes took his mind away completely from his surroundings. In just a few moments, Kaye had rolled up her carpet and pulled her bunk down.

He stepped aside, without completely turning his back on Willow, and jerked open the tent flap. "Out," he said shortly. He didn't explain, but knew that Kaye needed to pull the tent down. That required them leaving. He narrowed his eyes at her. "And no, I'm not going to knock you out--what's the point? I'll just end up having to carry you myself."

Evan jogged up, loose and lean. He always had a rugged worn look to him, almost as if he was part of the rocks and trees--born and weathered there on the mountainside.

"We're on guard duty," Jarad told him sarcastically, jerking his head at the girl. He would rather see her dead or simply left here bound, but Kaye had other ideas. He rarely argued with her, but he was tempted to, just now. She was going too far out of her way for a tough-girl spy.

Evan strung his bow and waited patiently. It was one skill that Jarad had never been good at. Or had he? He couldn't remember now; too much of his memory had been lost. What did it matter, anyway? He was here now, watching over the spy as the camp was emptied...

He could see Kane moving quickly to pull down the tents of those who weren't here. Others helped and already the camp was half-gone. Usually Evan erased their tracks...He wondered idly who would instead, today.

[Willow]

Just as Kaye was about to close the bag with all of Willow’s weapons in it, she paused them for a second.
“Missed one,” She said quickly, drawing a rather thin knife – almost as thin as a surgical tool - from a secret pocket on the side of her thigh, holding it precariously between her first and second fingers. The cat suit she wore wasn’t as skin-tight as it seemed – it was merely the dull leather outside that made it seem that way. There were thin gaps between it and the softer buckskin inner layer that provided a useful pocket for extra weapons. After lightly flipping it to Kaye hilt-first, Willow stood quietly, listening uninterestedly to the immediate plans for the tent and pretty much ignoring the people in it.
She flicked a glance over at Jarad when he spoke to her, however.
“What remain of mine would be if they hadn’t had an entire regiment behind them at the time,” She replied sourly, disgruntled.
She watched him cross the tent with bored, expressionless eyes, and before the order was completely out of his mouth, Willow was walking calmly towards the exit, stepping aside so that she wasn’t in the way of people ferrying things about and ignoring Jarad’s rather antisocial comments as Evan jogged up.
’At least he didn’t say babysitting duty; it would be a tad tricky to break his nose with my arms tied, although it would be manageable, I suppose.’ She thought rebelliously, sighing and sinking to the ground cross-legged, glancing around boredly for the moment, then closing her eyes and merely listening to what was going on around her, enjoying the advantage of her sharp hearing; a result of being blind for five years.
As a result, she heard before anyone else when someone finally approached, and opened her eyes to see who it was.

[OOC: tell me if you want me to change that last line, ‘kay? And sorry for the short post – my muse is out to lunch, it seems.]

[flippedside]

Kaye ignored Jarad and Willow as they left her tent, quickly rolling up the carpet and pulling down her cot. Once they were outside the tent, she slid her papers into the chest, pausing a moment to look inside. It contained information and items important to Nightfall. She didn't think that half of the band was even aware of what was inside her chest, but no one asked and she had no intention of telling. She shut the lid, locking it quickly and tying it onto a carrying case.

Outside, the tent came down quickly. She glanced about as she rolled the last of her things together. Most of the camp was already dismantled, the lean Triana tearing down the tents of the three missing members. Someone else was scrapping marks from the ground, obliterating as many signs as they could of their passing.

Kaye hailed Ryss and nodded to the chest. "Got a prize for you." She grinned wickedly.

"Why is it always my duty to carry the heavy stuff?" Ryss made a pathetic face as he spoke.

"Ah, it's not all that heavy. Besides, we have to keep you in shape, somehow." Kaye knew that Ryss could carry twice the weight of her chest, easily.

"Who's carrying my stuff, then?"

Kaye shrugged. "Kane's setting that up."

She spun around at Jarad's sudden sharp curse. Lithe and coolly beautiful, Sylaerel had appeared unnoticed in the camp. "I hate when you do that," Jarad snapped. "One of these days I'm going to accidentally chop off your head."

Sylaerel gave him a coolly amused smile, but paused when she saw Willow. "Do I know you?" she asked curiously.

Kaye narrowed her eyes slightly. Sylaerel seemed to never forget a face, but Kaye suspected that many of the people she knew she had never been officially introduced to. With what she knew of Willow, that could make for an awkward situation. She drew the hawk-woman's attention to herself. "How're things?"

Sylaerel stepped forward, shrugging. "Fine. They should be there tomorrow, I think. Afternoon, evening."

Kaye nodded. "We're a half-day away?"

Sylaerel nodded and shrugged. "I flew, so I can't tell."

Kaye glanced at the assortment of charms, amulets, and necklaces decorating the woman. Seemingly able to appear or disappear from thin air, Kaye suspected Sylaerel's real talents lay in her myriad charms. Then again, given a dark night, Kaye could appear and disappear out of thin air, too. But her element was night, and she revealed in the darkness, while Sylaerel revealed in flight.

"We're leaving now, anyway; watch from the sky, will you?"

Sylaerel tilted her head in acknowledgment and then shifted into a hawk, springing into the air with a screech.

"Show off," Jarad complained.

Evan, standing next to him, made a face. He didn't like hawks.

Kaye continued giving out orders, directing her band into line. "Evan, stand at the back. You can watch Willow from there as well as right next to her." He nodded, leaning relaxed against his bow. He already had his pack settled against his back.

Kaye looked around. The camp had nearly disappeared from sight. A handful of shape-shifters and their packs were all that remained. She glanced back at Willow, wondering at Sylaerel's comment that she recognized the girl. She'd have to ask the hawk about that later...Never mind. There wasn't time to mull over such things just now.

She tugged on her own pack, setting out across the hills at a brisk but easily maintained speed. When another had directions for leading, she dropped back to Willow and Jarad.

The sun was bright and warm, and she enjoyed it's feel against her skin. Pine needles and snow crunched under her boots and her body moved easily and comfortably. Kaye breathed deeply, feeling the soft brush of a breeze against her cheeks. It buffed cold, but cheerful against her face, bringing the scent of snow and pine. "Lovely day, isn't it?" she asked no one in particular. She brightened. "And it'll get lovelier when we find that caravan." Treasure was a prize no decent mercenary could pass up.

OOC: Sorry if it's slightly disjointed: it's late and I'm tired. Do we want to start a new thread, since this one is getting so long, or just keep going?

[Willow]

[OOC: I'd say just keep going. I've been in threads about 5-6 pages long, so yeah. However, if you're actually going into the town, then yeah, when it gets up to that point, make a new one to continue it in........wow, that actually sounds as if I know what I'm talking about...joking ]

Willow couldn’t help grinning to herself when she heard Jarad swear; having been aware of Sylaerel since she’d first made a sound; a mere shift of the grass by something too dense and specific to be the wind. Still, she shook her head lightly to swing her hair to veil her face from him. Something told her he wouldn’t like even thinking someone was laughing at him.

She glanced up when her features were under control again and as Sylaerel addressed her, but only had time to lift her shoulders in a shrug before Kaye, now out of the disassembled tent and apparently taking advantage of being the leader by getting someone else to carry her heavy stuff, spoke to the woman.

However, Sylaerel’s question had made Willow rethink her response, albeit silently. Did she know the woman? She didn’t immediately recognise her...then again, you can’t keep track of every single person you see, so maybe Sylaerel was just one of the people whose face Willow had forgotten.

She looked up when she heard her name mentioned, then replayed the beginning of the sentence in her head to catch up with what was going on.
At the first signs of moving, she shifted up to her feet without using her hands, stretched onto her toes for a second, then dropped down and followed Evan as soon as he started moving, her head up but her eyes cast downwards, making sure to avoid anything she could trip over; she couldn’t use her arms to save herself, and didn’t fancy falling flat on her face, if she had to fall at all.

She broke her concentration to glance and nod to Kaye when she joined them, then went back to watching the frosty grass and needle-and-leaf debris crush under her boots.
“You keep mentioning a caravan...but I’m guessing that topic’s on a need-to-know basis?” She asked, a tad sceptically, risking another look at Kaye, her eyebrows raised as if pushed up by the corners of her grinning mouth.

[another short post but yeah...you're running this thread; there's only so much I can write plus I'm hungry, which is rather distracting...]

[flippedside]

(OOC: I understand the hunger thing...And yeah, guess I am running the thread. ;D. Sorry it's such a short post--I have no muse and I'm currently in school.)

Kaye shrugged in response to Willow's question. "You're bound up, so it doesn't much matter if you know; you'll know by the end of the day, anyway." Kaye grinned and stretched lightly, feeling tense muscles loosen and ready themselves for a fight. "I've been in talks with the rebels lately since the empire's not willing to pay much these days. Any of us can outfight a soldier any day, but they're so stuck in believing that they're all safe..." Kaye shrugged, a wicked look in her eyes. "Well, needless to say, we've agreed to raid a caravan delivering exotic goods to the emperor." She paused, then added, "It's funny, since I have trouble figuring what counts as exotic coming from the crescent plains, but hey." Kaye shrugged, careless.

"It's not good pay, so I debated, but I figure we'll get something out of the caravan, and that'll be worth the raid." Kaye gave a feral grin and then laughed. "Besides, the emperor needs someone to spit in his face every once in a while."

Jarad smirked. He liked seeing the emperor and his brought low.

Evan distracted Kaye for a moment, jerking about and scanning the woods behind them before moving on again. He was always on high alert--but then again, that's what you got when you had a jack rabbit shifter in your band. Kaye found it to be a useful trait.

She brought her attention back to the conversation. She remembered Willow saying that she wasn't a friend of the government--though she'd claimed to not be an outright rebel--and wondered again why she was there. "Passing through" was a neat, vague, and generally useless answer. Hadn't she said she was looking for someone? That didn't much matter to Kaye, though she felt a brief curiosity over who the mysterious person was. But she was much more interested in knowing who Willow was.

[Willow]

“So...you’re raiding a caravan that’s holding goods for the Emperor, which most likely means it’s guarded, which will without doubt result in either a fight or the Empire’s soldiers running away squealing like pigs.” Willow summarised matter-of-factly, a crooked grin indicating she liked the idea. She rolled her eyes however as another thought came to her.
“Just make sure I’m clear of the fighting if I’m still gonna be trussed up like a prize turkey; I could probably still fight a bit but it’d be very awkward to try.” She laughed, a low noise thrumming at the back of her throat as she shifted her arms the little bit she could to indicate what she meant, as if it hadn’t already been clear.
“How many rebels are you working with? And against how many wagon soldiers?” She asked, ether forgetting or neglecting to ask if it was alright to know; seeing as Kaye seemed pretty open about the raid. As she spoke, Willow was becoming steadily more animated at the prospect of a battle, whether she’d be in it or not. She was pretty much ignoring that her questions might be seen as suspicious; she didn’t feel like she was in any immediate danger, so took the liberty of attempting to sate her curiosity. She kept her voice slightly lowered, however, just in case they came to their stopping point or needed quiet suddenly.
She stopped when Evan jerked around though; glancing around sharply; unaccustomed to how jumpy he could be. After that, she held her tongue and waited for whatever answer, if any, she was going to get, but kept half her attention on her surroundings, just in case.

[OOC: by the way, how’s Willow bound? Around her wrists or her torso or whatever? Just so I know what she can move and what she can’t etc.]

[flippedside]

Kaye blinked at Willow's sudden interest in the raid. Her questions were intelligent and knowledgeable. She carefully closed off her expression as she mulled over this. While she didn't mind telling Willow, she wasn't sure if the girl's sudden interest was because she was a fighter, and that was what interested her...or if she was indeed a spy, wanting to know more. Then again, what did it matter?

She double-checked Willow's bindings. A snug band of rope wrapped her waist, leather thongs tight about her wrists locking her arms in front of her. It was an awkward pose, but the girl couldn't use her arms at all, since she could move them neither sideways nor in front of her. She also would have trouble with kicks because the position of her arms and shoulders interfered with her natural sense of balance. In spite of that, it wasn't a cruel pose as it allowed Willow considerable freedom of movement. Her shoulders and wrists wouldn't ache at the end of the day because of having her hands bound behind her, either. Both Kaye and Jarad had an intense dislike for binding the hands of others behind them, though they would do it if necessary. This was an easier, more comfortable and natural position.

Kaye considered Willow's questions, but wasn't truly too concerned with sharing the answers. With Willow bound, she couldn't go running off to warn anyone of their coming. Still, she kept her face neutral as she answered. "No rebels. We're doing all the fighting. So...that's eleven of us against..."

"Nineteen." Jarad supplied the answer. "There was twenty, but one got sick."

Kaye shrugged and nodded. Jarad had been the one paying attention to those details while she was arguing with the rebels about price and timing and other stupid details.

"Honestly," she added, "some of the rebels wanted to come, but I knew they'd just get themselves killed, and that would reflect badly on us. Might keep us from getting paid, you know. I had a heck of a time convincing them to stay home." She grimaced, still disgusted and irritated by the memory. Idiots, was the most she could think.

"For us, the odds aren't bad. Less than two to one. I don't expect more than a few cuts. Evan can heal, so he'll do that." She didn't add that Evan would stay on the side and use his bow, while watching Willow. He rarely fought in hand-to-hand combat, though he was good enough. She preferred to make use of his talents in other ways.

"By the way, don't worry. I keep my word, and I agreed that you wouldn't be harmed." Kaye glanced about, keeping track of their surroundings. They were rapidly approaching their new camp...If camp it could be called. There would be no tents and only cold food to eat. Already clean, sharp weapons would be edged to points finer than the eye could see and armor would be polished and then blackened. Some would choose to take animal form over human form, fighting with a confusing mix of teeth, claws, and swords.

Kaye couldn't resist the adrenaline and giddy excitement that was building in her at the idea of a good fight. She grinned to herself. Tonight would be the time to finalize traps and plans, while tomorrow would test their strength and abilities.

[Willow]

Willow smiled ruefully when Kaye told her about the fuss the rebels had caused, then adopted a more thoughtful look.
“Yeah, I’ve seen odds worse than that, when the so-called ‘underdog’ came out on top. But it depends on how good the fighters on both sides are. From what I’ve seen, Nightfall’s very efficient, and although I’ve no idea about how well you fight, if it’s anything as good as your coordination as a whole, you’re a strong group.” She mused, talking to herself as much as Kaye as she thought aloud. “But it also depends on the skill level of the caravan guards; if they’re just grunts, then they shouldn’t be too difficult to dispatch. But if they’re well trained, experienced members of the army or whatever, then...” She shrugged, then blinked, looking at Kaye and clearly addressing her now. “I’m not saying you’ll struggle, but it’ll be a more difficult fight.” She said; knowing Kaye would probably have thought of all this, and knew the level of the guards. Willow just found that thinking aloud made it easier to outline a plan, plus it was almost habit now; accustomed to working in groups and having to thrash out a strategy amongst others. She liked the reminder of home it gave her, too.

At the chance of a few cuts being mentioned, Willow’s interest sparked again.
“I’m by no means a professional, but when it comes to injuries, I know enough of the basics to help out in emergencies,” By now she had her musing look back. “Y’know, stemming blood from a wound, binding broken bones, relocating dislocations, mild pain relief. Nothing major, but enough to last until a proper healer’s around, usually.” She said, nodding at Evan. “I can’t heal with magic, so I get by on plants and whatever I’ve got in my bag.”

Willow wasn’t just talking for the sake of discussion; she was trying to give Kaye what she thought she wanted: information about her. It was what Willow would probably want in Kaye’s place, but since Kaye didn’t seem to be interested in the torture route, Willow was trying t be helpful now to avoid it later. Kaye may not like unnecessary pain being caused, but Jarad was another matter. While Willow was pretty sure he wouldn’t disobey an order, he might try and find a way around it. Willow just didn’t know enough about anyone in Nightfall to be perfectly sure.

As they grew closer to the camp, Willow sensed the change of atmosphere the group underwent. It was almost as if the adrenaline was in the air around them as well as inside them, buzzing slightly at the thought of the battle, where it’d be far more intense.
Willow couldn’t help the grin as she revelled in the before-battle tension. She sighed, as if inhaling the atmosphere, the wild grin widening by a few molars.
“I’ve missed this,” She said, still smiling. “The buzz before a battle. I haven’t been in one for...probably over a year now. Small fights, yeah. But not a proper battle.” She said with relish, and a clear note of longing. But, after a look round, she turned to Kaye and asked; “Right, where will I be out of the way?” She spoke politely and calmly, but seemed resigned to sitting and watching rather than fighting. It was all she could expect, after all.

[flippedside]

Kaye could see Sylaerel land lightly near the head of their group. A moment later and Fynn appeared, gesturing animatedly. "Excuse me," she told Willow and the others and slipped ahead to see what the fuss was about. Considering it was Fynn, likely nothing. He was overly enthusiastic and animated about everything.

Jarad leaned back against a tree, watching silently.

After sharing greetings, Kaye listened intently to what Fynn had to say, and then gestured the others on. She headed back to Willow and Jarad. "Well, in answer to your question, Willow, you'll be sleeping with us, and then watching from the hill with Evan." She gestured with a jerk of her chin to a low ridge rising on their left. The caravan would be passing along the road below. It was a good ambush site.

She turned and followed the others into the small hollow that Sylaerel had chosen as a camp for her and her two scouts. It cut the wind, though there were a few icy puddles pooling about it. Kaye dumped her pack to the ground, and turned to Willow. "Follow me." She included Jarad in the thought. He gestured Evan to back track their trail a bit, and then turned with her to where Fynn and Sylaerel were standing, speaking quietly.

Kaye turned and raised her eyebrows at Willow. "And here's the answers to your other questions."

Sylaerel glanced coolly at the girl. "You're letting her in on this?"

Kaye shrugged and then looked amused. "I am. Don't think it's without reason."

"You want her to see who we are," Jarad replied. It was a statement of fact, more than a guess.

Kaye nodded, then continued, "So, no changes?"

Fynn nodded. "None, since last sight. Braen scouted, but they think themselves too tough to be touched."

"Hmm." Kaye crossed her arms. "Then it's Evan, Kane, and Shret on the walls with arrows. The air shifters will drop on them, and the rest of us will pick our ambush sites. Anything else?"

Fynn shrugged. "Triana wants to set fire to them, but she always does." He grinned.

Kaye snorted. "We could lose goods that way. That's one thing--remind everyone to avoid getting blood on the goods. Hard to pick stains out of silk." She grinned wickedly.

"Jared, you lead from the back. Keep Ryss with you to keep them from running. I'd rather have a clean hit with everyone dead. Cameron, Triana, and I will take the front." She paused, then remembered, "Oh, and Evan needs to stay with Willow to keep her out of the fighting--unless something really serious goes wrong."

Jarad nodded. "Shret will be better staying back, too. And anyway, she can heal, too."

Kaye nodded agreement, mulling over their plan. It was a small group to be fighting: twenty guards plus the caravan master, the guide, and a few servants to keep everything together. Well, she amended silently, nineteen guards. The last had been dropped off in some town on the way. Slightly more than two to one...She didn't expect anything major to happen. It was routine work that would mostly rely on confusion and surprise to bring the caravan down swiftly.

"One question," Fynn added. "Will we be in trouble for this?"

Kaye shook her head, her attention only half-focused on him. "No, not if everyone is dead. The rebels will take credit and we'll melt back into the hills. I don't like to have the government at my throat."

"Got it." He nodded, glancing about. "Well, to dinner and bed then." Kaye noticed that he couldn't resist a slight bounce on his toes. She quirked her mouth slightly in an amused smile. Fynn had more energy than anyone she knew. She left the others to work out sleeping arrangements, while she set sentries for the night.


OOC: Feel free to make something interesting happen at night if you want. I know Willow is just sort of along for the ride just now...

[Willow]

[OOC: haha, kay. I’ll see what I can come up with...something that won’t get anyone killed would be preferable, I take it? kidding.]

Willow had listen to the set-up and planning quietly, going along with whatever was said; and not just to avoid being difficult – the plans were good, as she’d come to expect. However, when fire was mentioned, a strange look came across her face; thoughtful and slightly worried.

Just before everyone split up to go to their separate jobs and posts, she spoke; quietly but clearly enough for everyone to hear her.
“When you say fire, these people are bound to have some way of making it. Do you think they’d rather burn the supplies than have you take them, if they’ve the time to light them?” She paused, letting people think on this for a moment. “If they are likely to do that, then you’re gonna have to take them out as fast as possible, and try to disable whatever means they have of making fire. I’m not saying no one has thought of this before,” She added hurriedly, “-but it’s just no one mentioned it.” She concluded, glancing around the group uncertainly, wondering how many, if not all, wouldn’t appreciate a girl still in her teens, and a veritable captive, at that, chipping in to their plans.

’Well, tough. Like it or not, I know what I’m talking about.’ She thought, standing straighter – as straight as the ties would allow – and speaking again.

“I’ve seen it happen before, in a situation very similar to this. An Empire wagon train making its way towards a city came under attack by either the rebels or a freelance group. The wagon guards tried fighting the rebels off, but they just weren’t experienced enough, plus in this case they were outnumbered, albeit by a small margin. When they realised they were losing, the commanding officer ordered for the wagons to be burnt, along with everything in it. The attacking party didn’t expect it, and lost a portion of fighters in the confusion. They still beat the soldiers in the end, but they hadn’t gained anything, and had lost a few of their number instead. I’m not saying that this will happen here,” She insisted, her laughing green eyes severe. “But it could. The attackers I saw before didn’t think that the guards would do such a drastic thing, but at least you’ve got a warning.” She said, looking around at them all once, then dropping her eyes and slouching again, waiting for the response her statement would bring.

[OOC: another shortish post, but I wanna see the response to this before continuing. It’d be a bit disjointed if I wrote that then Willow just going to bed or whatever XD]

[flippedside]

"Hm." Kaye looked thoughtfully at Willow. By now, she was pretty well convinced that the girl wasn't a spy...It wasn't just her words, but her attitudes and actions lined up with who she presented herself to be. So Kaye took her words at face value and considered them.

"She's got a point. What do we have to stop that?" Silence greeted her words.

"Water?" Fynn suggested blankly.

Kaye rolled her eyes. "Unless you can make the sky suddenly rain at exactly the right instant..."

Jarad stood thoughtfully. "Well the caravan master has definitely been doing the unexpected, so fire is a possibility--on his part, that is. He added the guards, after all--thought they're mostly for show."

Fynn nodded, a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Aye, most wouldn't know the sharp end of a sword from the dull end." He grinned gleefully, and Kaye thought that despite his friendly demeanor, he was a merc to the core.

Sylaerel had been fiddling with her charms. Now she chimed in. "How's this? I can make a few fire wards to keep them from setting the wagons on fire. It won't stop a fire, but it will make it difficult to start one. Very difficult, but not impossible. I'll put them on charms and set the charms in a circle around where we're setting the ambush." She pulled off a bracelet and held a small glass bead between two fingers, wiggling it back and forth to make her point.

Sylaerel's specialty was making small charms or "gifts:" objects that held spells, usually only for limited periods of time. Kaye was suddenly very grateful for the woman's talent. All shape-shifters had some limited magic beyond the ability to shift, though few ever used it. But some, like Sylaerel not only used it, but were quite talented at making the most of their limited magic.

"That would be perfect," Kaye replied, nodding. She was pleased: it was a good question, with a good solution. She felt satisfied that they had covered all the basics, while leaving enough room for the inevitable improvisation that would happen during the actual battle. But to that end, her band were experts: smart and swift with weapons and not easily startled by new situations.

"Any other suggestions?" Sylaerel asked Willow. Her eyes were cool, but her question was genuine.

[Willow]

Willow had to suppress a grin at Fynn’s initial one-word statement of the obvious. ’Unless someone can magic up a lake from somewhere to dump on top of the caravan, then I doubt water will work...’ She thought, just as Kaye made a similar remark aloud.

However, short of somehow managing to take out every guard in a single second of each other, Willow couldn’t think of a way to prevent it without too many hazards. There were no large bodies of water in the immediate vicinity they could use, and even if there were, what could they do? Fill up buckets of water and throw it on the caravan? No, there was nothing realistic that Willow could come up with.

However, she hadn’t taken magic into account, being too used to getting along without it, for the most part.
So when Sylaerel outlined her idea, Willow agreed quickly, after briefly thinking it through.
“And once the wards are in place and the raid’s started, the guards won’t have much time to concentrate on getting past or breaking the wards – they’ll be too busy defending themselves.” She added to Kaye’s acceptance, smiling slightly, rather surprised at finding herself relieved that this little roadblock could be overcome. Maybe she was just happy to know her strategical abilities hadn’t deserted her over the past year of practical seclusion from other people and, more importantly, large battles.

When she was questioned, her eyes narrowed, then closed. Not in hostility, but thought, seriously considering the plan as she knew it and trying to find weak spots in it.
Thinking from the targeted commander’s viewpoint would probably be most useful, but nothing that would be useful to Nightfall struck her, nor did it when she tried to think from Kaye’s point of view.
After a few long seconds, she shook her head slowly, gradually opening her eyes again as she spoke thoughtfully.
“No, I can’t think of anything else, short of somehow managing to drug or poison every single guard in the middle of the night and making off with the caravans before they come round.” She added, grinning wryly to show she was joking. Something like that wouldn’t work on such a large group.
She glanced around, waiting for the meeting to either continue or conclude and for her to be led off somewhere to wait for tomorrow.

[flippedside]

"Hm." Kaye smirked slightly. "No, I can't see poison working in this case, though it would be convenient."

She glanced around at the others, and they nodded, to show that the plan was good and they were in agreement. "Better set out before lunch tomorrow, just in case," she added thoughtfully. There were easy nods in reply, as the others moved off. Jarad stood waiting for his orders. "Check the sentries for the night. I'll have Willow sleep near me." He shrugged, nodded, and moved away.

Kaye gestured the wolf-woman to follow her as she moved towards the center of the camp. " 'Fraid you may be sharing my food tonight," she commented, grinning as she thought of WIllow's earlier comments about being poisoned. "I can dig out your own food in your bag for you, but you'll have to trust me that I don't intend to kill you."

At the moment, the thought of eating and then bedding down for the night sounded lovely to Kaye. It was dark, but not too late yet: mainly it the was the early dark of winter. Still, she wanted time to lay back with her own thoughts and mull over the day's events.

She settled down and tugged out food, wishing longingly for a fire. Cold bread and cheese with a little fruit seemed to be the order of the day. Her cat side demanded meat, but without something to cook it, her human side rebelled.

She unbound the waist restraint, leaving Willow's arms free to eat, and passed the woman her pack (though she kept her weapons out of reach). Sounds of quiet movement and low voices swirled comfortably about her. It was lulling, dulling her senses into quiet oblivion. If she'd been as aware as she usually was, her sharp night senses might have noticed the strange shadows that passed overhead.

OOC: All right, I leave it to you to determine what excitement happens at night. I've directed the thread long enough: now it's your turn.

[Willow]

“Well, you’ve held your word so far, but that only encompasses no harm being done to me. There are plenty of poisons that just send you to sleep for good. You could just be patiently biding your time to kill me,” She theorised, but her tone was light, her eyes joking. “Maybe I’ll just not eat...” She said, as if she were actually considering it.

As they sat down and her arms were free, Willow gratefully stretched her arms out in front of her; the leather still keeping her wrists together.
As she lowered them again, a mouse ran suicidally close to her knee, drawing her attention to it.
Her hands landed on top of it in an instant, cupping it securely in her hands, unharmed but a bit miffed. She felt sharp little teeth nip her palm, but only smiled at the slight discomfort.
“Or I could eat raw,” She mused, opening her hands slightly so that a little, whiskered brown nose poked out, followed by a head and a paw, beady eyes blinking.

Willow held the tiny creature for a long moment, watching it try to worm its way out of the cage of her hands, a thoughtful look on her face.
Eventually, however, she released it, after confirming that it was just a mouse and not a shifter. Her sense of smell wasn’t as strong as it was when she was a wolf, but it was stronger than most humans, and strong enough to tell the difference.

As she was watching the mouse dive gratefully back into the grass, a passing shadow passed across the blades, drawing her gaze to the dark sky, caught between the sun setting and the stars appearing.
A small group of birds were passing overhead, but it wasn’t that that was unusual. It was the type of birds; a crow, a hawk, and a kestrel. Three birds that almost definitely didn’t keep company.

“Kaye...do you have crow, kestrel, and hawk shifters in Nightfall?” She asked quietly, looking back down to the mercenary opposite her with serious eyes, already guessing the answer.

“If not, then I think you’ve got a job for your bird shifters and your archers.” She continued, flicking her eyes upward without moving her head.
“Maybe get someone to climb the trees and try to grab them out of the sky; they won’t expect that, and they’re flying quite low. Plus the upper branches of the trees still look sturdy enough to support someone light.” She added, still talking softly as the trio above them wheeled around over their heads again, barely visible through the breaks in the trees.