[Travelling like this is sort of nice. Sure, it's not as nice as living in the castle in comfort without having to worry about managing supplies and all that, but it's nostalgic and Alaric finds he can't really hate it. He spent a lot of time traveling on his own, and there's something nice about having Blanche by his side now.
So even though the path they're traversing through the woods isn't easy, and Blanche herself needs to be reminded to rest, it's not bad at all. Not quite as great as their usual routines in the castle, but certainly not as bad as it could be.
Something's different today, though. There should be plenty of sounds in the forest, and yet it's unnaturally still.]
It isn't. Something's wrong.
[It's a clear day, so it seems unlikely there's going to be a massive storm or something that would be causing this sort of reaction from the wildlife, so it's something else. Alaric has his sword drawn already.]
Stay close and keep your eyes open.
[Something's about to happen, he's just not sure what.]
[Blanche keeps her eyes peeled as they transverse; for what it's worth, they get a few more steps in. A few more steps before something happens, and--
Arrows whizz by the both of them, only barely managing to dodge them before some rather shady looking characters come out. They're almost certainly bandits, but they look organized; they're all dressed in black, though they aren't armored in the slightest. There's a few axemen, a couple of archers, and even a mage among them.
"Well, well. Looks like it ain't your lucky day, huh?" One of the bandits speaks up. "Tell you what! Give us all your valuables, and we'll consider sparing your life!"]
Really, only consideration? The nerve... [Blanche's hands are cloaked in dark magic now, ready for a fight.] Alaric, shall we eradicate them?
[She's ready to put these dastards in their place.]
[The arrow whizzes just by them and Alaric holds out an arm to stop Blanche, readying his sword as he locates the group. Bandits, unsurprisingly. It figures that there would be more of them out here; this is a good area for this sort of group. Points for their matching attire, that's not something you see every day.]
I'd like nothing more.
[With a flash of a smirk, Alaric leaps into battle. He's fast and ruthless, and while he may not be able to get at any archers right away, he trusts that Blanche will have his back. The closest axeman doesn't stand a chance; Alaric is on him in a blink of an eye, sword darting up and out, delivering a swift and fatal blow deep across the neck. It doesn't stun the others, though; they're immediately on the move. The mage and archers are going to move to put some distance between themselves and Alaric, and the other axeman rushes him. He's not going to be as lucky with the second one now that this guy knows what to look out for, but Alaric can certainly hold his own against this guy for the time being.]
[The battle is off like a shot, and Blanche is more than ready to begin. Alaric leaps into the fray easily and takes out one of the axemen, and clashes with another almost instantly; one of them attempts to sneak by to have his shot at Blanche, but she dodges his attack and blasts him away with Miasma. Two down, more of the dastards to go.
Blanche is definitely on the move, once that's taken care of; Blanche is more than willing to have his back, and she sees those archers and the mage backing up. If they get to much of a distance while they clash, they could easily pick him off.
Blanche won't let that happen; she can't quite get to them all now, but she can dash towards their more distanced foes. And at the very least, she'll cast Banshee on one of the archers; it should weigh them down enough to disorient them, but she has to wait for her damn spell to charge again, which is going to leave her open to an attack.
Especially since the Archer didn't die from that. Drat. The mage is definitely seizing the opportunity to attack, hitting Blanche with a wince from the queen--the other, unscathed Archer attempts to fire on Alaric while he's distracted.]
[Unsurprisingly, Blanche's spell hits and kills one of the bandits quickly, and she's on the move to chase down and eliminate the others. It's a bit difficult to tell exactly what's going on where she is, but Alaric trusts she can handle herself against them. Besides, this guy's a bit tougher than Alaric was expecting. He picked the wrong axeman to go after first...
It's not like he's having difficulty, exactly. The guy's strikes are far too slow to hit Alaric. The problem is that the guy is built like a brick wall and barely seems to register the cuts Alaric's managed to leave in his wake. The guy's slow when swinging that axe, but surprisingly adept at dodging. He'd be impressed if this were a sparring match or something, but it isn't, so this is just mildly irritating.
Blanche's shout draws his attention, which just so happens to work out in his favor. The archer firing on him has a good and clear shot - but unfortunately it's also a bit too close to the axeman as well. Alaric seizes the front of the guy's shirt and yanks him forward and around, effectively using the bandit as a shield from the arrow. It's not enough to kill the man, but it does stun him temporarily, which gives Alaric all the time he needs to finish him off with a well-placed sword thrust.
It certainly took more effort and time than he was expecting, but there's no time to rest just yet. Where have Blanche and the other bandits gone, and how's she doing?]
[Don't worry; Blanche is in sight, at the very least. The main problem is that it seems between the injured archer and the mage, she's having a bit of a rough time trying to shrug them both off to get a kill on either one of them.
And they're fast, compared to Blanche's rather slow speed. The mage is slowly chipping away at her and being rather distracting, and Blanche's magic is only barely keeping up with the healing.
"Aw, what's the matter, lady? Can't keep up? Maybe you should just roll over and die! You'll make a nice, pretty corpse!"]
Keep your insufferable mouth shut--!
[Blanche does finally manage to get a hit off on the mage. The problem is, that the injured Archer has a shot lined up, and it's being aimed right for Blanche.
[It doesn't take him long to pinpoint Blanche and the state of the battle over there. He inhales sharply and takes off running, but there's no way he's going to make it in time. It doesn't matter how fast he is, he's simply too far away to make it to the archer before the man fires on Blanche.
(All he can think about is the lightning strike, that horrid moment he thought for sure that she would—)
Alaric frees a hidden dagger from his coat as he moves, and flings it with scarcely any time to aim - it's a long shot and one that isn't likely to kill at all, but he doesn't need to. All he needs to do is distract the man for even a moment to throw off his aim and maybe then he'll miss. It's the only chance they've got.]
[Alaric may not make it there physically, but it seems like the dagger was just enough. Or at the very least, enough for the archer to scream and promptly miss his shot, startling enough to cause the Archer to fall right over. And perhaps luckily for Alaric, the man's gotten his leg caught up in some of the brush. Killing him should prove easy.
Meanwhile, the mage makes the fatal mistake of trying to take aim for Alaric instead--it's enough to let Blanche promptly blast him to bits in anger, fury taking hold of Blanche until there's nothing left of the bastard mage.
...Of course, the other Archer is nowhere to be found at the moment, but that's probably fine. At least, their position isn't obvious at the moment.]
[It's enough. It means she isn't hit, and it means Blanche is fine. That's all he can think as he rushes the archer, and stabs him. The man doesn't need to be stabbed repeatedly in order to ensure he dies, but that doesn't stop Alaric - the archer's scream is thankfully cut short immediately, but he doesn't stop until he needs to catch his breath.
It's silent. Blanche is fine, Alaric is fine, and for a brief moment, it seems all is right with the world.]
You're unharmed?
[He frees his sword from the man's corpse and drags it across the man's clothes to clean it. Alaric's expression hasn't yet shifted back to his usual calm one; the adrenaline is still pumping, after all. They made it through this just fine, but it feels like he's forgetting something...]
[All Blanche registers for the moment is a moment of peace and calm as she looks upon the corpse of the mage. There's likely a few blood stains on her; she'll have to clean up in a bit, but gods there's still something in her shaking. It's perhaps an adrenaline rush of her own, but...
It may very well be the fact that she was nearly overwhelmed. It's a foolish mistake, really, and it feels strangely hollow for a moment.]
...Yes, I am fine.
[Blanche goes over to get a look at Alaric, though, her face about as stony and calm as usual.]
What of yourself? Did they injure you?
[...It strangely feels like she's forgotten something too, but for now, at least, there's no movement or indication of such a thing. But Blanche is going to look Alaric over, if he doesn't mind.]
[She isn't the only one wearing some bloodstains, but that's never been something that bothers Alaric too much. Well, at least not in the moment. He'll likely fuss about getting blood on his uniform later, but for now...]
They didn't.
[If they'd landed a hit on him, he wouldn't be standing here.
He's quiet for a moment before exhaling slowly, as if releasing the pent-up tension from the fight.]
I'm not surprised there are bandits around here, but we'll have to be careful moving forward.
[That's good, at least. He wasn't killed; he wasn't overrun like she nearly was, and even if they'll both likely need to freshen up in a river, they didn't die. That's...good. They're alive, and that's what matters.]
We will. I knew that bandits were opportunistic, but this is...
["Heh. Not bad, you two."
Blanche startles all at once and turns toward the source of the noise--the uninjured archer, high up on the tree, looking down at them with a surprisingly assured look on the other woman's face. Miasma charges in Blanche's hands once again, ready to strike, and--
"Oh, relax already! I'm not gonna kill you. Well, not yet, anyway. Not when our lady will be real excited to see you two."]
[Ambushing people certainly is a common thing for bandits, but there are only two of them. Sure, they likely look like wealthy targets, but sending this many men after them... Something's strange about it.
There's still the nagging sensation in the back of his mind that he's forgotten something, but it doesn't occur to him until the voice speaks up. Alaric's attention turns upward and he reaches for the dagger - only to remember he didn't retrieve that. It's somewhere in the brush, and finding it now isn't going to be possible. He readies his sword instead.]
Your lady? The mage who's been causing trouble around here, I'd imagine?
[This would explain why there are more of them. This would explain why they were tougher than ordinary bandits, and why they wear clothes that match. They aren't some ordinary bandits; they're mercenaries.]
[Oh, the archer perks up at that, but that look never leaves her face. No; she looks interested.
"Well, no point in beating around the bush, huh? Guess her reputation proceeds her. As it should." The archer takes out an arrow, idly just flipping it back and forth in her hand. "Say, where did you hear that, anyway? Gotta keep a habit of cleaning up all the pests. You get it, yeah?"
Blanche is barely holding herself back from just smiting the woman outright. Maybe she has useful information, but all she wants to do is splatter this woman across the trees--]
[That's fair, Blanche... He probably should have been more careful with how he chose to address her, but honestly, he wasn't actually expecting her to be this sharp. His mistake.]
You expect me to give up my sources after telling me that? I'll pass.
[They aren't in an entirely disadvantageous position, after all. The archer can only aim at one of them, after all. If it was necessary, he'd sell out the cleric - hell, he'd sell out the entire town - but that isn't something Blanche would want and as long as there are other options, he won't resort to it.]
[The archer shrugs, never once losing that expression on her face. "Well, it was worth a shot. Might've been a little more willing to let you both go on your way, unlike the boneheads."
And perhaps bafflingly, she puts her arrows back and looks at them with an all too knowing gaze.
"But alright, I see how it is. Guess we'll just have to clean it up ourselves." She flashes them both a two fingered salute. "But we'll be seeing each other again real soon. Next time, though? You'll be facing all of us. Good luuuck~"
And with that, the archer jumps off, from tree to tree in escape--Blanche attempts to fire her charged spell after the damn woman, but she's far too quick. Quicker than even the people they faced today.]
Damn it all!
[Blanche winds up punching the ground in her anger.]
[There isn't any time to think too much about her words, she's moving suddenly and though Alaric starts forward, there's no way he can catch her. Blanche's spells don't connect either, and with that, she's gone.
Just like that, whatever advantage they had is gone. That archer is going to go back to the mage and inform the rest of the mercenaries that they're coming, and they'll be up against even more trained fighters. They can handle a group of bandits, but mercenaries? This is going to be tough.]
...Well, that could have gone better.
[thanks, alaric.]
We made it out alive, at least. They're going to be expecting us, so getting close to that mage is going to be difficult.
[It sure as hell is. Blanche is very visibly trying to keep herself in some level of control at all of this, but losing control is still something that gets Blanche's chest feeling tight and her heart racing.]
We've flown out of the frying pan only to find ourselves in the fire.
[She's trying very hard to force herself to calm down. Panic is only going to make them sloppy, and it's deeply unbecoming of a queen to react like this.
And yet, she can't will it down enough to stop shaking.]
...We will need to be exceedingly careful when we face this band's full might. We must eradicate them all.
[If they even can, she thinks, and she tries to shut the thought out of her mind. This is your fault, is another thought, and that's...well, it's not wrong. She should have just killed her, rather than thinking she might have information, or gods forbid that the archer would strike Alaric down before she could act, how stupid can she be--]
Agreed. We need to be careful with how we approach this. Walking up to their front door sounds like a terrible idea.
Our first order of business should be to figure out where they're holed up. Depending on where it is and what defenses look like, we may be able to sneak in. If that isn't an option, we may be able to lure some of them out at a time to thin their numbers.
[But neither might be an option, and there's no telling what they'll do then. Turning around and leaving simply isn't an option, and they don't have any other leads. There isn't anything else they can do but throw themselves at this.]
The odds aren't in our favor, but I'm feeling lucky.
[And with that he flashes Blanche a confident, cocky grin. If there's one thing Alaric can do well, it's confidence.]
[Alaric speaks and flashes that confident, cocky grin at her so easily--he knows better than anyone just how frightening this prospect is. Blanche is used to having so many more pieces on the board, more to utilize, more to effectively win with. Can two people really hope to take mercenaries of that woman's apparent caliber?
The odds aren't in their favor, it's true. They're going to need to rely on elements that may not be in play for them. They're going to have to plan accordingly, see if they can truly thin their numbers without alerting anyone else. All in all, it seems like an impossible task, and one that may very well lead to their death.
...But...]
...I cannot help but find that I agree with you; we have certainly survived this long, after all. With our own skills, of course, but with plenty of luck as well.
[Blanche isn't quite at ease, but she does look up at Alaric. It's the usual stony expression, but she's at least willed down all of her shaking. Objectively speaking, there's little they can hope to do when that archer is likely telling them everything she was able to gather, but...
Well. Subjectively speaking, there's still ways to surprise them.]
We will need to see if we can perhaps find a good vantage point; if we can find something high enough, perhaps we'll be able to get a glimpse of just what their hideout looks like. And from there...well, we will have to proceed no matter what, but the information will prove valuable. I am certain of that much.
[There's a lot this relies on, and Blanche knows it. But she trusts herself, and she trusts Alaric; giving into panic now isn't an option.]
...And we will eradicate all of them, this time. Not a single one of them will survive this. I swear to ensure that much.
Agreed. We'll make sure they can't pose a threat to anyone else.
[It's good that Blanche is relaxing a bit now; she's still as stony-faced as ever, but that's to be expected by now. She isn't shaking anymore, and that's the most important thing. This isn't going to be easy and it isn't going to be fun, but that doesn't mean it's impossible.
Alaric goes to retrieve his knife, but once he's got that put away and sheathed his sword, he fishes the map out of his pocket and unfolds it.]
That archer escaped off in this direction. [He draws a line across the map with his finger.] It could be a diversion to mislead us, but I doubt she needs to do that. She's likely confident in their numbers, so we can assume their base is somewhere over here.
[The area of the map his finger swipes through is heavily forested, but it's near the base of the mountains.]
We could go around this way, [out and around back, up the mountains] to see if we can get a better view of wherever it is they've holed up. There aren't any towns nearby, so they've likely just taken an older building or even built something of their own out here. We can't rule out the possibility that they're using a cave or something, though; so it's possible that getting up too high won't help at all.
[Blanche will gladly bring herself over to get a look at the map while Alaric points everything out. She certainly doesn't disagree with his assessment; the archer very well looked like she could have taken them out at any point, and deemed it fit not to. If she's gone in this direction and wants them to meet her lady, that's almost certainly where their base of operations is.]
That is an excellent point. [Hmm...] Though if that mage does use a cave for the base of their operations, I doubt that she'll be able to face us at her full power in there. That seems like a rather easy way to get herself and the rest of her allies killed.
[She's at least learned that much about the world. It'd certainly be nice and easy to simply aim above them perhaps and have the thing collapse in on them. Perhaps they aren't that smart, though, but one can never be too sure.]
I think that taking the path you have outlined will prove to be our best bet for ascertaining their numbers, and the base of their operations. If we can get even the slightest idea of what they are doing, we can use it to our advantage.
[Though...]
And as long as we are careful with our supplies, we should still be able to make it to Miramas no worse for wear, yes?
[...we could also just steal from the fucking mercenaries when they're all dead, but blanche has a little bit too much decorum to suggest that]
[Alaric inclines his head as he considers the state of their supplies. It's not like they've been careless with them, after all, but traveling up through the mountains for a bit may result in moving slower...]
We should be fine. [Probably.] But it wouldn't hurt to take whatever they've got once we're done killing them all.
[oh my god. why does she like you, you're terrible.]
Objectively speaking, you are correct. It's not like they'll be around to use them anymore.
[not you too!!]
But yes, let us be off. [...Excuse her while she swats a mosquito away, which lets her get a good look at herself and Alaric--] Preferably to the nearest river. We both look awful right about now.
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So even though the path they're traversing through the woods isn't easy, and Blanche herself needs to be reminded to rest, it's not bad at all. Not quite as great as their usual routines in the castle, but certainly not as bad as it could be.
Something's different today, though. There should be plenty of sounds in the forest, and yet it's unnaturally still.]
It isn't. Something's wrong.
[It's a clear day, so it seems unlikely there's going to be a massive storm or something that would be causing this sort of reaction from the wildlife, so it's something else. Alaric has his sword drawn already.]
Stay close and keep your eyes open.
[Something's about to happen, he's just not sure what.]
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[Blanche keeps her eyes peeled as they transverse; for what it's worth, they get a few more steps in. A few more steps before something happens, and--
Arrows whizz by the both of them, only barely managing to dodge them before some rather shady looking characters come out. They're almost certainly bandits, but they look organized; they're all dressed in black, though they aren't armored in the slightest. There's a few axemen, a couple of archers, and even a mage among them.
"Well, well. Looks like it ain't your lucky day, huh?" One of the bandits speaks up. "Tell you what! Give us all your valuables, and we'll consider sparing your life!"]
Really, only consideration? The nerve... [Blanche's hands are cloaked in dark magic now, ready for a fight.] Alaric, shall we eradicate them?
[She's ready to put these dastards in their place.]
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I'd like nothing more.
[With a flash of a smirk, Alaric leaps into battle. He's fast and ruthless, and while he may not be able to get at any archers right away, he trusts that Blanche will have his back. The closest axeman doesn't stand a chance; Alaric is on him in a blink of an eye, sword darting up and out, delivering a swift and fatal blow deep across the neck. It doesn't stun the others, though; they're immediately on the move. The mage and archers are going to move to put some distance between themselves and Alaric, and the other axeman rushes him. He's not going to be as lucky with the second one now that this guy knows what to look out for, but Alaric can certainly hold his own against this guy for the time being.]
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Blanche is definitely on the move, once that's taken care of; Blanche is more than willing to have his back, and she sees those archers and the mage backing up. If they get to much of a distance while they clash, they could easily pick him off.
Blanche won't let that happen; she can't quite get to them all now, but she can dash towards their more distanced foes. And at the very least, she'll cast Banshee on one of the archers; it should weigh them down enough to disorient them, but she has to wait for her damn spell to charge again, which is going to leave her open to an attack.
Especially since the Archer didn't die from that. Drat. The mage is definitely seizing the opportunity to attack, hitting Blanche with a wince from the queen--the other, unscathed Archer attempts to fire on Alaric while he's distracted.]
Alaric, look out!
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It's not like he's having difficulty, exactly. The guy's strikes are far too slow to hit Alaric. The problem is that the guy is built like a brick wall and barely seems to register the cuts Alaric's managed to leave in his wake. The guy's slow when swinging that axe, but surprisingly adept at dodging. He'd be impressed if this were a sparring match or something, but it isn't, so this is just mildly irritating.
Blanche's shout draws his attention, which just so happens to work out in his favor. The archer firing on him has a good and clear shot - but unfortunately it's also a bit too close to the axeman as well. Alaric seizes the front of the guy's shirt and yanks him forward and around, effectively using the bandit as a shield from the arrow. It's not enough to kill the man, but it does stun him temporarily, which gives Alaric all the time he needs to finish him off with a well-placed sword thrust.
It certainly took more effort and time than he was expecting, but there's no time to rest just yet. Where have Blanche and the other bandits gone, and how's she doing?]
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And they're fast, compared to Blanche's rather slow speed. The mage is slowly chipping away at her and being rather distracting, and Blanche's magic is only barely keeping up with the healing.
"Aw, what's the matter, lady? Can't keep up? Maybe you should just roll over and die! You'll make a nice, pretty corpse!"]
Keep your insufferable mouth shut--!
[Blanche does finally manage to get a hit off on the mage. The problem is, that the injured Archer has a shot lined up, and it's being aimed right for Blanche.
What will you do, Alaric?]
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(All he can think about is the lightning strike, that horrid moment he thought for sure that she would—)
Alaric frees a hidden dagger from his coat as he moves, and flings it with scarcely any time to aim - it's a long shot and one that isn't likely to kill at all, but he doesn't need to. All he needs to do is distract the man for even a moment to throw off his aim and maybe then he'll miss. It's the only chance they've got.]
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Meanwhile, the mage makes the fatal mistake of trying to take aim for Alaric instead--it's enough to let Blanche promptly blast him to bits in anger, fury taking hold of Blanche until there's nothing left of the bastard mage.
...Of course, the other Archer is nowhere to be found at the moment, but that's probably fine. At least, their position isn't obvious at the moment.]
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It's silent. Blanche is fine, Alaric is fine, and for a brief moment, it seems all is right with the world.]
You're unharmed?
[He frees his sword from the man's corpse and drags it across the man's clothes to clean it. Alaric's expression hasn't yet shifted back to his usual calm one; the adrenaline is still pumping, after all. They made it through this just fine, but it feels like he's forgetting something...]
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It may very well be the fact that she was nearly overwhelmed. It's a foolish mistake, really, and it feels strangely hollow for a moment.]
...Yes, I am fine.
[Blanche goes over to get a look at Alaric, though, her face about as stony and calm as usual.]
What of yourself? Did they injure you?
[...It strangely feels like she's forgotten something too, but for now, at least, there's no movement or indication of such a thing. But Blanche is going to look Alaric over, if he doesn't mind.]
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They didn't.
[If they'd landed a hit on him, he wouldn't be standing here.
He's quiet for a moment before exhaling slowly, as if releasing the pent-up tension from the fight.]
I'm not surprised there are bandits around here, but we'll have to be careful moving forward.
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We will. I knew that bandits were opportunistic, but this is...
["Heh. Not bad, you two."
Blanche startles all at once and turns toward the source of the noise--the uninjured archer, high up on the tree, looking down at them with a surprisingly assured look on the other woman's face. Miasma charges in Blanche's hands once again, ready to strike, and--
"Oh, relax already! I'm not gonna kill you. Well, not yet, anyway. Not when our lady will be real excited to see you two."]
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There's still the nagging sensation in the back of his mind that he's forgotten something, but it doesn't occur to him until the voice speaks up. Alaric's attention turns upward and he reaches for the dagger - only to remember he didn't retrieve that. It's somewhere in the brush, and finding it now isn't going to be possible. He readies his sword instead.]
Your lady? The mage who's been causing trouble around here, I'd imagine?
[This would explain why there are more of them. This would explain why they were tougher than ordinary bandits, and why they wear clothes that match. They aren't some ordinary bandits; they're mercenaries.]
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"Well, no point in beating around the bush, huh? Guess her reputation proceeds her. As it should." The archer takes out an arrow, idly just flipping it back and forth in her hand. "Say, where did you hear that, anyway? Gotta keep a habit of cleaning up all the pests. You get it, yeah?"
Blanche is barely holding herself back from just smiting the woman outright. Maybe she has useful information, but all she wants to do is splatter this woman across the trees--]
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You expect me to give up my sources after telling me that? I'll pass.
[They aren't in an entirely disadvantageous position, after all. The archer can only aim at one of them, after all. If it was necessary, he'd sell out the cleric - hell, he'd sell out the entire town - but that isn't something Blanche would want and as long as there are other options, he won't resort to it.]
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And perhaps bafflingly, she puts her arrows back and looks at them with an all too knowing gaze.
"But alright, I see how it is. Guess we'll just have to clean it up ourselves." She flashes them both a two fingered salute. "But we'll be seeing each other again real soon. Next time, though? You'll be facing all of us. Good luuuck~"
And with that, the archer jumps off, from tree to tree in escape--Blanche attempts to fire her charged spell after the damn woman, but she's far too quick. Quicker than even the people they faced today.]
Damn it all!
[Blanche winds up punching the ground in her anger.]
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Just like that, whatever advantage they had is gone. That archer is going to go back to the mage and inform the rest of the mercenaries that they're coming, and they'll be up against even more trained fighters. They can handle a group of bandits, but mercenaries? This is going to be tough.]
...Well, that could have gone better.
[thanks, alaric.]
We made it out alive, at least. They're going to be expecting us, so getting close to that mage is going to be difficult.
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We've flown out of the frying pan only to find ourselves in the fire.
[She's trying very hard to force herself to calm down. Panic is only going to make them sloppy, and it's deeply unbecoming of a queen to react like this.
And yet, she can't will it down enough to stop shaking.]
...We will need to be exceedingly careful when we face this band's full might. We must eradicate them all.
[If they even can, she thinks, and she tries to shut the thought out of her mind. This is your fault, is another thought, and that's...well, it's not wrong. She should have just killed her, rather than thinking she might have information, or gods forbid that the archer would strike Alaric down before she could act, how stupid can she be--]
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Our first order of business should be to figure out where they're holed up. Depending on where it is and what defenses look like, we may be able to sneak in. If that isn't an option, we may be able to lure some of them out at a time to thin their numbers.
[But neither might be an option, and there's no telling what they'll do then. Turning around and leaving simply isn't an option, and they don't have any other leads. There isn't anything else they can do but throw themselves at this.]
The odds aren't in our favor, but I'm feeling lucky.
[And with that he flashes Blanche a confident, cocky grin. If there's one thing Alaric can do well, it's confidence.]
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The odds aren't in their favor, it's true. They're going to need to rely on elements that may not be in play for them. They're going to have to plan accordingly, see if they can truly thin their numbers without alerting anyone else. All in all, it seems like an impossible task, and one that may very well lead to their death.
...But...]
...I cannot help but find that I agree with you; we have certainly survived this long, after all. With our own skills, of course, but with plenty of luck as well.
[Blanche isn't quite at ease, but she does look up at Alaric. It's the usual stony expression, but she's at least willed down all of her shaking. Objectively speaking, there's little they can hope to do when that archer is likely telling them everything she was able to gather, but...
Well. Subjectively speaking, there's still ways to surprise them.]
We will need to see if we can perhaps find a good vantage point; if we can find something high enough, perhaps we'll be able to get a glimpse of just what their hideout looks like. And from there...well, we will have to proceed no matter what, but the information will prove valuable. I am certain of that much.
[There's a lot this relies on, and Blanche knows it. But she trusts herself, and she trusts Alaric; giving into panic now isn't an option.]
...And we will eradicate all of them, this time. Not a single one of them will survive this. I swear to ensure that much.
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[It's good that Blanche is relaxing a bit now; she's still as stony-faced as ever, but that's to be expected by now. She isn't shaking anymore, and that's the most important thing. This isn't going to be easy and it isn't going to be fun, but that doesn't mean it's impossible.
Alaric goes to retrieve his knife, but once he's got that put away and sheathed his sword, he fishes the map out of his pocket and unfolds it.]
That archer escaped off in this direction. [He draws a line across the map with his finger.] It could be a diversion to mislead us, but I doubt she needs to do that. She's likely confident in their numbers, so we can assume their base is somewhere over here.
[The area of the map his finger swipes through is heavily forested, but it's near the base of the mountains.]
We could go around this way, [out and around back, up the mountains] to see if we can get a better view of wherever it is they've holed up. There aren't any towns nearby, so they've likely just taken an older building or even built something of their own out here. We can't rule out the possibility that they're using a cave or something, though; so it's possible that getting up too high won't help at all.
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That is an excellent point. [Hmm...] Though if that mage does use a cave for the base of their operations, I doubt that she'll be able to face us at her full power in there. That seems like a rather easy way to get herself and the rest of her allies killed.
[She's at least learned that much about the world. It'd certainly be nice and easy to simply aim above them perhaps and have the thing collapse in on them. Perhaps they aren't that smart, though, but one can never be too sure.]
I think that taking the path you have outlined will prove to be our best bet for ascertaining their numbers, and the base of their operations. If we can get even the slightest idea of what they are doing, we can use it to our advantage.
[Though...]
And as long as we are careful with our supplies, we should still be able to make it to Miramas no worse for wear, yes?
[...we could also just steal from the fucking mercenaries when they're all dead, but blanche has a little bit too much decorum to suggest that]
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We should be fine. [Probably.] But it wouldn't hurt to take whatever they've got once we're done killing them all.
[LOOTING!!]
Sounds like a plan, then. Let's get moving.
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Objectively speaking, you are correct. It's not like they'll be around to use them anymore.
[not you too!!]
But yes, let us be off. [...Excuse her while she swats a mosquito away, which lets her get a good look at herself and Alaric--] Preferably to the nearest river. We both look awful right about now.
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[That gets him to actually pause and look at their outfits, which then earns a grimace.]
Ugh, you're right. Guess we got a bit carried away there. C'mon, there should be one over here.
[Gross!!! Blood is totally fine during the battle but it's on his uniform and it's white and that's awful and unacceptable!!]
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