"Good," Aya said as they continued to walk towards the city gates. "Not that I don't enjoy moments of silence. I do. There's a lot you can say without words, you know--the raising of an eyebrow, the upturning of the mouth, the way someone grins, or nods, or even looks at you. Take me and Bob, for instance. He doesn't say any words at all, yet I always sort of know what he's saying. Of course, he's only a pony," she added. "But that's beside the point. The point is, silence can be very enlightening."

She suddenly bit her lip, then cringed. "Sorry," she apologised. "I have a slight tendency to ramble when I'm nervous." She gave him a weak smile. "It's my first time out on the road alone." She frowned at him, deciding to take the risk and ask the question that she had been thinking about since she first saw him. "You're not some sort of a bandit, are you?"

An actual smile appeared this time. And stayed. "A bandit?" he asked, "Perhaps I appear as one - and have the travel tendencies of one - but no. I'm not a bandit."

"Well, we'd best be leaving then," Hoshiko remarked to Toa as she exited the cantina and stepped outside to join the rest of the caravan. Ah, the air was much better. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply, then exhaled, a smile slowly spreading across her face. She opened her eyes as the horse whickered next to her ear. It was a magnificent stallion (http://harvey.harker.org/u/harker/jessiel/assignments/friesian.jpg), with a coat as black as Hoshiko's hair was white.

"Oh Ciaran," she said, untying him as his hoof pawed the ground eagerly. "Always wanting to be on the move. Kind of like me, eh?" She vaulted up into the light saddle and stroked his neck. "Relax, why don't you?" He wanted to run. She couldn't blame him, but galloping down the street was usually not a good idea. And they had a long way to walk yet.

Looking up ahead towards the caravan, she noticed someone slip into one of the wagons. He didn't look like he wanted anyone to see him. Well, it was none of her business, as long as he didn't bother her. And he could just be another drunken member of the party who needed some sleep.

Takara hurried forward, her quick eyes singling out the leader of the caravan moving in that direction.

"You see, Katsuro?" she said, frowning. "Your little bit of... 'fun' has almost made us late!"

Katsuro, panting in his attempts to keep up with his mother's speed, exclaimed, "How was I... to know the... stones on a... public road... belonged to somebody?"

"You wouldn't," Takara conceded. "However, once you discovered the fact, you might have left them alone rather than attempting to barter for them... especially when you've got nothing to barter with. And furthermore, you ought not to attempt running off with them."

Katsuro grinned, but said nothing further in his own defense.

"Ho, there!" Takara shouted, trying to catch Irithoi's attention. "Caravan!"

Slowing to a walk, but still overtaking the caravan leader, she smiled apologetically. "My name is Takara. This is my son..." She turned to see Katsuro lagging behind and shouted to him, "Hey, Katsuro! Here! Now." Turning back to Irithoi, she said, "That is my son, Katsuro. We mean to join your caravan."

Brushing a loose strand of hair from her face, she continued, "We intended to be here sooner, but someone," here she shot a meaningful glare at her son, "tried to run off with..."

"... unmarked rocks in a public street!" Katsuro interrupted. "If they belong to a person, they ought not leave them in plain sight in public!"

"At any rate, we're here now," Takara said, taking a deep breath and smiling. "We're not too late, I assume... seeng as you haven't quite departed yet..."

Shifting the quiver of arrows strapped to his right thigh, Carwyn continued to follow the tail end of the caravan. The departure from the cantina was sudden, to the point where he didn't even have time to ask the barkeep for a plate of cookies for the road. Ah well, he thought as he trudged forward. The caravan was a pretty lengthy affair, with quite a few wagons of all shapes and sizes plodding forward.

He fingered the string on his shortbow idly as they made progress forward. They were still within the city limits, meaning he still had some time before he would have to start being alert and watching out for trouble. He sighed and decided to play one of his favorite games to pass the time, which consisted of him imagining random people in the crowd in their underwear. It was a game that almost always amused him, except for that one time in that troll-infested mountain pass. That was something he'd rather not remember...

Hoshiko, still at the back of the caravan, noticed the cookie-eating ranger from the cantina striding along. He shifted his quiver and sighed, then started playing with his shortbow and looking around at various people. Hoshiko rode up next to him.

"Bored already?" she asked with a wry smile.

"Bored already?" a female voice asked, snapping Carwyn out of his game. He turned to look at the white haired mage riding beside him and smiling wryly at him.

"Oh, not really," he replied cheerfully. "It's going to be a bit before we get outside of the city gates, so I'm just playing a game in my head to pass the time."

"Ah," Hiroko said. "Sometimes I do that too." She slipped off of her horse and started walking next to him. "Out of curiosity, what game was it you were playing?"

"Errrrr..." Carwyn was a bit taken aback by her question, unsure of whether to tell the truth or to lie. He wasn't very good at the latter, but the former could potentially get him in trouble.

"Well, if you must know," he sighed, deciding to pick the seemingly lesser of two evils, "it's a game that one of my old friends taught me to pass the time. When traveling along, I imagine what people look like in their skivvies." He ran a hand through his hair, looking rather sheepish. "It's pretty amusing most of the time, especially if there are a lot of old people around," he added quickly.

Carwyn kicked himself mentally. Smooth move, rookie. He smiled nervously at the mage, who had slipped off her horse and was now walking next to him.

Hoshiko clapped her free hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle the laugh that threatened to burst forth. Too late. Once the first chortle escaped her lips, there was no holding back. And the look the ranger gave her only made it worse.

"Sorry," she gasped, choking back another wave of laughter, and then clearing her throat and trying to keep a straight face. "I admit, I've done the same thing myself at times."

Carwyn breathed a sigh of relief as the woman laughed heartily. Whew, he thought to himself. "Heh, I didn't think I'd ever meet someone who played the same game," he said. Then he remembered his manners.

He extended his hand. "I'm Carwyn Stormchild."

Bora Cho was sleeping at the city gates , his bottle of home brewed strong sake was empty . But his drunken dreams where abruptly over : loud noises of clapping feet of men and animals , wheels of wagons squicking and the chatter of voices .

Bora Cho opened an eye , the caravan was asembling at the gate .

" Great , just when your trying to sleep ... " : he thought , muttering to himself he got up , grabbed his short bamboo stick and his pouch . He then started walking , towards the crowd .

Man , he was thirsty ... time to open another bottle .
Mmmhh , that felt good , the alcohol started to warm his body ... and happyness was spreading his wings .

Fuelled by his drink he started to run to catch up with the tail of the caravan .

He ended his sprint next to two persons talking , one had white hair and was laughing , the other was playing with a small bow and looked a bit puzzeled .

Feeling glad he didn't missed the caravan , Bora Cho continued his morning drink ... hoping his companions wouldn't mind his smell , it had been 3 months since he had the change to take a bath .

Toa got bored quickly and, since it would be rude just to walk in on another's conversation, he decided to create his own little display of tiny fire soldiers that ran around in circles doing nothing, when hitting something they would explode into sparks, but not enough to start a fire or do anything. It was fun to see some of the people jump at being startled by a tiny exploding fire soldier. Then one exploded off of the boot of Hoshiko who was talking to the archer.

Even, having decimated his hat, starteed looking around for people to talk to. He noticed one rather smelly guy with a drink... but it wasn't grog. He noticed Toa marching along fire soldiers and smiled, going over. But first he took a look out for barbarians. Sad dance, there were none to be seen.

Xan was waiting outside the city gates for the caravan and it's leader, Irithoi. He was a guard-for-hire, and well...he had been hired, around a week before the whole major caravan group. His purpose, protect the merchants, and protect Irithoi personally...simple, until the cocky son of a...until Irithoi decided to order him around with authority he didn't have.

He had spent the last few days escorting merchants into the city, he always had to walk two or three miles out, so that any last attempts by bandits to raid the merchants would be thwarted. He had to do this at least four times a day, he didn't complain openly, but it wasn't exactly pleasent to be doing his job. Luckily the last of the merchants had come in today and he had time to rest before he saw the caravan traipsing out of the city.

Saddly his rest was all too short. The caravan was assembling outside already, and he had only had around an hour of rest...'this is going to be a long, arduous journey,' he thought to himslef. He watched as people, merchants and others, came pouring out of the city. He looked over and saw the drunk who had been sleeping near the gates get up and wonder towards the caravan. He observed the company, a lady with a pony talking to a man with a sword...okay? He shifted his attention over to a figure that he saw slip into a wagon...'stow away...I'll deal with him later,' he thought.

He yet again averted his gaze somewhere else. He saw Irithoi being conversed to by a woman and her child, something new for him. He drew his attention to a fire mage, and a man with a...wierd looking hat. He sighed and kept letting his eyes search, the drunk had taken interest to an archer and....a lady....a very familiar lady. He knew her...from, somewhere?

He thought back in his life...no, he didn't remeber ever falling in love with someone like her....or getting beaten over the head by someone like her....actually when he thought about it, his luck with women almost always ended like that. Then he thought back in his career...'oh, her,' he thought as he snarled under his helmet as he remembered who she was.

He waited until they had passed, and were moving away from him before moving towards the caravan himself. He started walking towards the lady, slowly drawing one of his two throwing axes. He was approaching from behind, if he knew her, he knew that Irithoi, his employer, might be in trouble, so he was only doing his job. He was only a meter behind them now, and for a man in full battle armor, he was surprisingly quiet.

He was almost directly behind her now, but he held back. He reached out and lightly tapped the womans shoulder with his free hand. "Hello Hoshiko," he said ever so quietly to her.

Even noticed one of the fire soldiers sparkle against a tall archer, who was atlking to Hoshiko. Looked like a ranger. Good. As a rule, it was good to have a ranger along. Then he noticed... a guard, joining the caravan? They needed more protection? Were they carrying stolen imperial artifacts (He had done taht once.) What they needed protection from was boredom. And maybe hunger, too.

Irithoi looked from the mother to the child and back again. It had been a very long time since he had had a child on board...

"Very well...Takara, was it?" he said, "Yer free to travel with th' caravan. Jus' be sure th' boy can keep up - I dunno tha' many here'll pay attention ter a child gettin' left behind. If he can't keep up, there's a wagon tha' he can rest on."

The caravan leader glanced away for a moment as a figure caught his eye. He had been wondering when and where Xan would show up.

"'Scuse me." he murmured to Takara and leaped up onto the wagon traveling next to him.

"Be sure te get th' wagons in formation." he told his right-hand-man, Gravis. "It's gonna be a long trip an' th' last thing we need are a bunch of wagons bummbling around."

"Already taken care of, Chief." Gravis answered, and Irithoi nodded, dropping to the ground again.

"I can keep up!" Katsuro announced indignantly. Takara smiled and guided him away to join the caravan.

"I know it, Katsuro," she said, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "However, there are none here who understand how long you have traveled with me... or how many great distances we have crossed at what speed."

"It's unfair of him to judge!" Katsuro complained.

"Many would not know better," Takara answered patiently. "Let it go, son. We're on the move." She smiled slightly. "Dazzle them with your stamina, perhaps... but don't overdo it."

"I won't be riding on any wagon!" Katsuro pridefully stated. "They'll see!"

And with that, he ran off ahead of his mother, going near the front of the caravan to 'prove his stamina'.

Even was getting hungry, so he left for one of tehe wagons to find some grub. But as soon as he stepped inside, a hand with a knife shot out and barred his throat. Great. Probably one of his debtors. "Well, who is it this time? Old Barglebodden?" "No," his captor said, "I'm... your worst nightmare. hehehe." There was only one person he knew who talked as cheesy as that. "Ah, Janhasin. Long time no see. Sooo, who do I have the pleasure of owing a ridiculous amount of money?" "Red Rock the great barbarian captian. And you owe him three hundred royal kishi." Even owed Red Rock "Great" barbarian captian no such amount. "Alright," he said, "You'd better let me go get the money." "OH NO YOU DON'T." Janhasin hissed. "Last time you tried that, I ended up facedown in a well! You'll lead me to the money." "Very well." Even walked out of the wagon with a bounty collecter behind him. "Still and idiot." Even murmured to himself, and casually crossed his arms accross his chest so they were inches away from his axes.

Hoshiko looked the drunken newcomer over, and ignored him.

"I'm Hoshiko Shadowstorm," she said to the ranger, shaking his hand. Noticing something from the corner of her eye, she looked down just as a small fire soldier exploded on her boot. A little away, several more of them were running around. Toa must be having fun.

She considered creating an army of little wind wraiths to see what he thought of that, but her plans were cut short when she felt a hand tap her shoulder and a familiar voice quietly bid her hello. Xan... She turned her head. Yep, definitely him. There was no mistaking that armor.

"Well," she said, "I see you're as quiet as usual." She kept walking, much as before, but her hand slid down to the hilt of her sword, and her muscles tensed. If he made a move with that axe, he would regret it.

An actual smile appeared this time. And stayed. "A bandit?" he asked, "Perhaps I appear as one - and have the travel tendencies of one - but no. I'm not a bandit."
Aya let out an audible sigh. "Well, that's good to know. For a moment, I was a bit worried that you might be some sort of a scout or something. It’s been known to happen before—someone joins up in the caravan, pretends to be a traveller, gets to know the routines and weaknesses of any security details, and then he sends off a messenger to tell his buddies. And then, out of nowhere…wham! They attack!”

She looked behind over her shoulder at the rest of the caravan company. “Mages, soldiers, swordsmen….” She shook her head with disbelief. “I feel like I’m travelling in support of a small army here.” She grinned. “But hopefully any bandits will think the same thing, and keep well away from us during the journey.”

She was silent for a moment, content to just walk alongside Bob and the stranger. Then it suddenly dawned on her that she hadn’t properly introduced herself. “I’m Aya, by the way,” she said to the swordsman. “Purveyor of household goods, novelties, and other useful items. And this is Bob,” she motioned to her pony. “My lowly equine employee.”

Bob let out a loud blasting snort and vigorously shook his head and shaggy mane, nearly jerking the lead out of Aya’s hand.

“Okay, okay!” Aya apologised. “Humble assistant in charge of my mobile shop.” She wagged a finger. “Don’t get delusions of grandeur, Bob. You can’t read or write like I can, so your career options are severely limited.”

She looked at the stranger again. “So, now that we’ve established that you’re not a bandit, what are you? A mercenary? A soldier? Or are you on the way to Ryuu-Tokai to visit your sick granny or something,” she joked.

"Charge!" came the barely audible comic voice of a fire soldier leading a hord behind him and they started to swarm Xan. They had apparantly seen Hoshiko tense since they were both small enough and close enough. It looked hularious to see Xan covered in fire soldiers banging against his armor with their useless fire swords, exploding into sparks each time they hit only to be replaced by another. Toa was having a good laugh as they spawned at his feet and charged Xan. They couldn't do anything to Xan since they barely emmited heat.

Xan ignored the little fire soldiers, they were harmless, and didn't even bother him in his armor.

Xan let the blade of his axe rest on Hoshiko's shoulder as he walked inches behind her. With his free hand he pulled the other out, then let the blade tickle her neck.

"Do you really think that sword will save you? I'm only doing a job, which in many cases you've made sure that I leave those jobs payless, often my employer dead, luckily I've done similar to you, so you know where I stand," he said to her, his words only audible to her.

"I'd enjoy it, assassin! If you'd kindly tell me what you're doing here, come to gloat and boast around me, come to mock? Come to make sure I go hungry again? I wonder what profit it is to kill Irithoi?" He questioned threateningly.

"If you've come to kill someone else in the caravan, well, my job dictates I protect them, and if one dies, I could have a pay-dock, or not get payed at all. So you answer me this, should I tie you up later? Or kill you now?" He asked her, the anger he had for her coming through his voice, memories of living hungry and on the streets coming to mind.

"Now, the money for your eomployer is right over there..." Even said, right before grabbing both of his dire axes and turning around to face Janhasin, spinning them for good effect. the bounty man stepped back, hesitating. Not surprising, as he had met the wrong end of these things before. But then he charged Even. With a knife. How wortheless. Even waited until he was in close enough, then brought the flat of one of his blades down on Janhasins head. The man smilede a silly smile and dropped uncouncious. "Guard? Go throw this trash somewhere." Even called. Then noticed more metal being unsheathed near him. He went to check it out.

Kyo's amused smile widened as he watched the display between woman and horse. Perhaps he would have laughed, if he were in more practice of doing such a thing.

"Kyo Rurouni at your service, Ms. Aya." he said, giving a slight bow. "Professional wanderer and collector of rare artifacts."

He tagged on the last bit to make it appear as if his life had an actual purpose to it. Declaring that you were out for vengance or to solve the secrets of a fabled sword wasn't exactly something you would tell someone.

The sound of a scuffle came from behind them. It was faint, but many long nights of laying awake at night, listening for the return of the murders to finish off his family had trained his ears to even the slightest noise. It would appear that a man was trying to get even with the windmage at the back of the caravan. Kyo's good mood vanished.

"If you'll pardon me, a moment." he said to Aya, before proceeding back towards the two.

"Excuse me, sir." he called to the armored man, his face and voice hard. "I would very much like it if you were to release the woman."

He stood tall and erect, but his muscles were at ease, his arms folded casually over his chest. His eyes, however, were as hard as steel and cold as ice.

Bora Cho noticed little firey soldiers racing around the caravan ... what in heavon's name .... this bottle most be old .

NO ... they were real ...

Bora Cho kept looking at the funny flame figures , he liked this kind of nonsens to cheer up the gang of travellers .
He traced them back and looked at that other young men , some sort of mage ... most be from the West , vulcanos like my Master told me once about , most curious .

He waved at the Elementalist , making a big smile , he then turned , a big warrior with an axe was coming .

That man looked hard , so Bora Cho took his bamboo stick , just in case he goes beserk .

Some sort of swordsmen passed him , looking over his shoulder he noticed that the great ironclad axe berserker was somehow threathening that other lady .

Darn the bottle was empty , he threw it away , carelessly behind his back .
Letting out a big belch , he quickened his pace in search for a wagon chock full of Wine kegs .

Wonderful, Carwyn thought to himself. One minute, he'd been having an amicable conversation with this nice mage lady. The next, the situation had escalated into something decidedly less friendly. He kicked himself inwardly for not noticing the armed man who had come up behind them.

The quiet man from the cantina had appeared ahead of them, calling out to Hoshiko's assailant. "Excuse me, sir. I would very much like it if you were to release the woman."

Carwyn decided to throw his lot in as well. Drawing an arrow from his quiver quickly, he nocked and drew it in his shortbow with practiced ease while simultaneously raising it to the eye level of armored man, the arrowhead not three inches from the man's right eye. The entire action had taken all of one second.

"I would very much like the same thing, good sir," Carwyn said, keeping his voice cheerful, hoping desperately that the situation would not end in violence. He hated when that happened.

Akira was wandering a little by the town when he went to the town gates where Irithoi told them to go. There, he noticed Aya, that young merchant he had seen before. She was with a pony.

"Well, hi there Aya!" He shouted.

Xan looked around, he had never really been tense, he was almost a little too relaxed for someone who had his axes on someone elses shoulders. But he guessed that a man with axes drawn threateing a lady did look like a problem.

Xan slowed down, letting Hoshiko get ahead but not too far, keeping one of his axes everresting on her shoulder. He used his other axe to push the archers bow down, where he made it aim for his groin.

"That's where you shoot someone to stop them from harrassing a lady," he commented dryly. He swiveled his head to the boy with the sword, his cold stares were waisted on a man who'd seen the same look before, often times it took one good punch to that person's glass jaw to make the look go away.

"As for stopping what I'm doing, I'm afraid I can't, you want to stop me from doing my job? Then go talk to Irithoi," he said emotionless. He turned his attention back to the ranger, "same goes for you, if you kill me for doing my job, then your as low as any bandit," at this he stepped forward abit, where he replaced his second axe on Hoshiko's other shoulder.

"Such rude people," he said to her. "Now, as a more proffesional approach; Why are you here? And what is your purpose in this caravan? Ma'am," he asked audibly, so the two supposed good-doers would understand if they didn't already.

Kyo tsked the man, shaking his head.

"Such rude people, indeed." he murmured. He spoke up now, calling to Xan. "From what I can tell, it seems that you've been hired to protect the caravan, no? I believe that creating disturbances such as pulling your weapon on someone directly violates your job. This woman had done nothing to draw suspicion to herself, and you should not let your feelings over a personal matter cloud your judgement on a professional one. Now, sir, do lower your weapons."

Jonas had started to walk on his own, not really interested in the others, however he felt over the corse of the journey his will change opinion from 'not interesting' to something else, maybe they'll grow on him, maybe they'll make him hate them, only time could tell and to be honest he couldn't honest give a hoot at that moment at time. All he wanted to walk and drink the contents of his beer bootle. However he couldn't help notice a new comer who seemed to know the girl he talked with earlier. It was really this point when his mind started to drift, however he still seemed to know where he was and where to go, his mind was in a completely different place.

Even had been watching the whole thing, too timid too approach the scene in case that man killed the girl as soon as soon as he did. Why oh why was Toa just marching around his fire soldiers still. Come on, Pyromancer, use some real magic. he silently urged.

OOS: Sorry for "scribble-post." Had two seconds until I had to be five miles away. But I fixed it.

Ah, he was angry. Still. Some people never learned to let the past lie.

"I have no idea what the price on Irithoi's head is, if there even is one," Hoshiko hissed back under her breath, pitching her voice just right, so the wind would carry it to Xan and no one else. "And I can assure you, if there is, I'd help him rather than harm him. I'm an assassin, not a double-crossing -----." She smiled slightly. "And we both know it isn't the sword that saves you, it's the method with which you choose to wield it."

It was then that the others decided to jump in. Hishoko waited to see what would come of it, and found herself in exactly the same situation.

"Now, as a more professional approach; Why are you here? And what is your purpose in this caravan? Ma'am," Xan continued, raising his voice to a more audible level.

"I'm here because the caravan's here, obviously," Hishoko replied, a sharper edge creeping into her voice. "And my purpose in this caravan is to travel to Ryuu-Tokai. Again, obviously. Even though you seem to think otherwise, you have my word I am not 'after' anyone in this caravan. I don't attack people without good reason." Her voice dropped again, though not so low that no one could hear it.

"And if you think having your axes at my neck gives you any kind of advantage, prepare to be disillusioned."

Toa noticed everything wasn't so jolly as he realized what was happening. Or at least what he thought was happening. The fire soldiers, having somewhat of a free will, saw that armored man as a threat to Hoshiko and decided to make a joke by charging him with their tiny war cries and ease the situation, as they were still doing at the moment. Then the man walking by Hoshiko and another man he had seen in the cantina started to converse with the armored man with their weapons drawn. Toa walked closer and saw that the armored man had both axes placed on Hoshiko's shoulders. Now if she were some criminal that needed to be put to justice, he would have been fine with it. But she had done nothing wrong so far as he was concerned and that wouldn't do. He also heard the man with the bow speak and Hoshiko speak. Whether the armored man would listen, Toa did not know. But just incase he tried something, he quietly summoned two 6 ft. deadly fire soldiers and had them walk close behind the armored man, but not enough for him to feel the heat.

Then Toa walked up to the man's left and said "I know that you're probably doing it for the safty of the caravan, but I would have thought that Irithoi would have asked her the same questions." Toa was friendly in his tone, as he did not want trouble when the journey was just beginning.

Yes, about time thought Even, relieved. His muscles started to relax again.

OOS:*snore*

"And my purpose in this caravan is to travel to Ryuu-Tokai. Again, obviously. Even though you seem to think otherwise, you have my word I am not 'after' anyone in this caravan. I don't attack people without good reason." Said Hoshiko.

"Unless given a hefty sum of money," he said to her quietly, knowing that if her purpose really was peace, then announcing her other job was all too senseless.

"And if you think having your axes at my neck gives you any kind of advantage, prepare to be disillusioned." Said Hoshiko to him threatenly, it seemed.

"Well, that may be true with all your aeromancer powers...but you never could take me on in a square fight," he jeered at her quietly, but not enough so that anyone wouldn't hear him.

"I know that you're probably doing it for the safty of the caravan, but I would have thought that Irithoi would have asked her the same questions." Said a young man who had been making and controling the fire soldiers.

"Finally someone who has some sense," Xan said to no one in particular. "Well, Irithoi's cautious, but not too bright when it comes to knowing all things great and small," he responded with an odd metaphor. "She could have lied her teeth out for all he knew," he stated an obvious, and simple fact.

Xan reverted his attention to Hoshiko, "well, what will it be Hoshiko? Will you assure me in some way, beyond your word, that your purpose here is absolute peace? Or will you have those who are not your friends fight your battles for you?" He said in a serious tone, he was all too fed up with all these distractions.

"Excuse me, Miss..." Kyo murmured, looking at the aeromacer, "I believe now would be a good time for a bit of a...breeze." before disappearing into the crowd again.

"Well, that may be true with all your aeromancer powers...but you never could take me on in a square fight," Xan said mockingly.

No chance, Hoshiko thought. Xan might be stronger, with better armor, but she was quicker, and Xan had a habit of severely underestimating the shadow arts. While he was at it, he might have defined "square fight," too. Hoshiko figured that you should use what you have to your advantage in any situation, unless training some specific facet of your skills.

"She could have lied her teeth out for all he knew," he mentioned to Toa. True enough. But I never have and I never will.

"Well, what will it be Hoshiko?" he continued, turning his attention back to her. "Will you assure me in some way, beyond your word, that your purpose here is absolute peace? Or will you have those who are not your friends fight your battles for you?"

"You forgot the third choice," Hoshiko remarked. "I don't give you any assurance whatsoever, and I fight my own battles, as I have always done." She shook her head. Starting a fight on the first day of the trip would not be a good thing.

"And what kind of assurance would you ask for?" she questioned. "Beyond my word, I'm afraid I don't have very much to convince you." And why he wouldn't accept her word she didn't know. He thought he knew her, but he had somehow missed one of the most integral parts of her character.

Carwyn had taken a step back, putting some distance between himself and the man resting his axes on Hoshiko's shoulders. He had also raised his bow up again level with the man's head.

Words were exchanged all around, and the situation didn't really get any better. Carwyn was getting a bit antsy.

"Hey guys, my arm is getting kinda tired. Do you think we could continue the discussion over a plate of cookies? Maybe some s'mores, if the nice pyromancer would start up a fire?" Carwyn kept his voice hopeful. "Whaddaya say?"

Akira was wandering a little by the town when he went to the town gates where Irithoi told them to go. There, he noticed Aya, that young merchant he had seen before. She was with a pony.

"Well, hi there Aya!" He shouted.

"H-i," Aya said absently to Akira as her eyes followed Kyo towards the back of the caravan to deal with an apparent disagreement between an armoured guard and the white-haired mage and Carwyn. Interested in seeing what was happening she stopped to watch. "Akira, any idea what's going on over th....Aaah!"

Bob hadn't stopped. And because Aya was holding Bob's lead in her hand, she soon found her feet were no longer touching the ground, having been suddenly replaced by her posterior.

But after feeling the extra weight on his lead, the pony did stop, but not after having dragged Aya for a few feet. Aya soon picked herself, feeling a flush of embarrassment flood her cheeks. Bob whickered softly.

"Apology accepted," she said to him as she brushed the dirt from her skirt.

She glance at Aikira, giving him a quick grin in apology for her clumsiness, and then turned her attention back to the scuffle. Carwyn had his bow out now, aiming it at the guard. Kyo also looked like he was ready to pounce.

"Uh oh," she murmured. "This could get ugly."

Then she thought she could hear Carwyn say, "Hey guys, my arm is getting kinda tired. Do you think we could continue the discussion over a plate of cookies? Maybe some s'mores, if the nice pyromancer would start up a fire? Whaddaya say?"

Aya grinned, deciding then and there that she really liked Carwyn. She quickly dug around in one of Bob's sacks, pulled out a small brown-paper bag, then placed two fingers in her mouth and blew out a shrill whistle to get Carwyn's attention. "I've got marshmallows if you need them," she called out to him, holding up the bag for him to see. "Free of charge!" she added.

Carwyn heard a loud whistle and cocked his head in the direction of the noise. His eyebrows arched as he saw Aya holding up a bag. "I've got marshmallows if you need them," she yelled. "Free of charge!"

His lips curled up into a small crooked grin. Thank goodness for small blessings. "Thanks Aya!" he shouted back at her. Turning his attention back to the confrontation, he implored them yet again. "See? We've got marshmallows already. All we need are some graham crackers and chocolate, and we're cooking. Well, provided we have a fire." He tossed a wink to the pyromancer.

"So c'mon, what say you? We could even get Irithoi here too. I'm sure he'd much rather be eating a s'more than cleaning up pools of blood. I know I would!"

Akira listened to Aya and followed her to there. He imediatly tried to withdraw his sword, but then reconsidered, taking out one of his throwing daggers from his sleeve.

"So would i," Akira said, "And i would rather not shed blood today," He threatened, smiling.

"I make Carwyn's words my own. Would you all rather be eating a delicious snack or continue this "fight"?"

Toa smiled and said cheerfully "Yeah, we could make s'mores, maybe I could show you guys some more fire tricks, and maybe I can make us the type of s'mores that the people from the west volcanos make if you've never tried them and I can find the ingrediants. The're the best in my opinion." The tiny fire soldiers now left to gather things for burning such as sticks and twings, or by working together, branches. The larger fire soldiers had now backed off a little bit to give some breathing room.

" Where are the Wine merchants here ? " : thought Bora Cho , he had past several wagons of the caravan , but none of the drivers where Wine or Beer merchants . Feeling that he was becoming sober , made his happy mood dissapear and the tension of escalation on the back of the caravan did not help .

Then he heard a sharp wistle , Bora Cho looked up , he heard a womens voice yelling about cookies .

" Cookies ? Cookies ? I need a new strong sweet drink . " : mutterd Bora Cho to himself .

He walked more to the front of the long row of travellers , nothing , this caravana was as dry as the Morgenth Desert from the tale of Ustan The Great .

He then took his short stick , planted it hard in the ground , did a high kick spin in the air and leaped a great distance back . Practising more of his fighting techniques he moved back to where all the commotion was around the white haired mage .

He kept doing his wonky moves around the stressed group , this small distraction might good enough to let of some steam , laughing was always a good remedie .

"Aaaaaahh! Aha!" Even smiled and went to go gather as much wood as possible. Besides, even is this didn't work, he wanted to try West Volcano s'mores, so he could say he knew something about them.

"You forgot the third choice," Hoshiko remarked. "I don't give you any assurance whatsoever, and I fight my own battles, as I have always done."

"I knew the third choose, and I knew you'd remark on it...but I won't fight you unless you attack me, or someone in the caravan....or, unless you swear to fight me one-on-one, in a fair...or should I say, square fight. No magic," he quiped.

"And what kind of assurance would you ask for?" she questioned. "Beyond my word, I'm afraid I don't have very much to convince you."

"Hm, there's plenty of things; you could be bound to me by tethers, you could be sworn to my service until we get to Ryuu-Tokai, you could let me confiscate your weapons and some other item that would assure that you wont use your aeromancy, and there's other options, you choose," he said harshly. "Or, I could just follow you around the caravan, where ever you go, I will go, hm? Who ever you talk to, I'll be there listening and watching, where ever you sleep I shall be nearby, would you rather me do that?" He asked.

Xan heard the ranger whine about something, then the lady with the pony whistled, then started waving a bag around. Then he saw others commenting and making remarks on, s'mores.

"No, no talks by a fire to set old debts aside, this isn't about the past, this is about here and now. My contract stated, and I quote: If I percieve anyone as a threat, I am allowed to approach them and question their motives. If I percieve a danger in anyone, I am allowed to have my weapon or weapons drawn, for the safety of the caravan, and myself. If they attack, or even threaten, I'm allowed to defend the caravan, and myself. If they denie me proper answers to my questions, I'm allowed to detain them. Am I clear people? I'm doing my job, if any of you interfere further, I will be forced to detain you, as another part of my job dictates, is that understood people?" He asked all the people around him.

He yet again turned his attention to Hoshiko, "If you haven't come to kill anyone in the caravan, then who are you going to kill in Ryuu-Tokai? Or have you come to finally end my miserable existance?" He asked quietly, his voice was rather sad at saying such a thing.

"I knew the third choose, and I knew you'd remark on it...but I won't fight you unless you attack me, or someone in the caravan....or, unless you swear to fight me one-on-one, in a fair...or should I say, square fight. No magic," Xan quipped.

"Frankly, that sounds delightfully unfair," Hoshiko replied. "I'm not wearing a giant full-body suit of armor, after all."

"Hm, there's plenty of things; you could be bound to me by tethers, you could be sworn to my service until we get to Ryuu-Tokai, you could let me confiscate your weapons and some other item that would assure that you wont use your aeromancy, and there's other options, you choose," he said harshly.

"Ah, there's nothing I could give you that would prevent me from using my aeromancy," Hoshiko said.

"Or, I could just follow you around the caravan, wherever you go, I will go, hm? Who ever you talk to, I'll be there listening and watching, wherever you sleep I shall be nearby, would you rather me do that?" He asked.

"Fine with me," she said. "Not like you wouldn't do it anyway."

After looking around and clearly stating his job to all the people nearby, Xan turned back to Hoshiko.

"If you haven't come to kill anyone in the caravan, then who are you going to kill in Ryuu-Tokai? Or have you come to finally end my miserable existance?" He asked quietly, with a sad voice.

"Hmmm?" Hoshiko dropped her voice to the same level as his. "I don't think I'm going to kill anyone in Ryuu-Tokai, unless they try to mug me, that is. Or they stand behind me perpetually holding axes on my shoulders. That might do it too." She shook her head again. "And why would I be after you? I have no reason to kill you, unless you actually want your 'miserable existence' ended, in which case I would be only too happy to oblige."

“Man, what a grump!” Aya commented, after listening to Xan the Armoured Security Man announce to the entire caravan his job specifications and the penalties for interference of said job.

She wasn’t too keen on any kind of ‘mancers’, Aero or otherwise, but she was definitely not liking how Xan was treating the white-haired mage. After all, she hadn’t done anything to anyone, and it certainly wasn’t in anyone’s best interest to anger the Aeromancer. Especially when there was a sea voyage ahead.

Aya had no weapons to speak of, but she wasn’t standing for the security master’s bullying. “Hey, you! Leave her alone! She hasn’t done anything!” And with that said, she reached into her paper bag, pulled out a jumbo-sized marshmallow, and threw it at him as hard as she could. It didn’t do any damage—just impaled itself on his armoured helmet.

“And there’s more where that came from!” Aya threatened, as she weighed the bag in her hand. “So you just better… better…” She paused, not knowing exactly what to say next. She wasn’t in the habit of threatening anyone. “You’d just better watch it, pal,” she ended up with, “and go ‘securitize’ the trail ahead of us instead of messing around with ‘mancers and rangers and… and the rest of us travellers!”

Ah, there was enough wood in that pile now. And that guard clearly wasn't gonna kill the Aeromancer yet. "That goes for me too," he added, "You mess with the lady, you mess with my four axes. And you have an uncouncious theif to throw out o' the wagons way, someone who actually DID try to harm someone in the caravan."

Takara was watching silently, but when Aya hurled the marshmallow, she couldn't help but chuckle. "Indeed," she told the merchent, "you can scarce find a better weapon than a sticky puffball to combat a man in full body armor... nice shot, though."

Though she joked, Takara was silently glad Katsuro had run off to the front of the caravan. This situation was just the sort of thing he might attempt to barge into... and Takara knew it was way over his head.