A Journey to the Sea

[TheShammySocialist]

Adila would mouth the strange woman's name on her chapped lips, before following behind the black rider, trotting along winding mountain paths in silence as the sky continued to lighten and the warm sun rose in the east. The winds whistled through rock crevices and Mikail seemed to be rather sensitive to the very thin trail they had selected, but his master seemed confident in handling it, so it certainly stiffened the stallion's resolve. Adila was unsure of the path but kept a commentary to herself as they wandered the peaks that oversaw the vast silk road, and the cities and towns that dotted along its path, she had a certain semblance of confidence with Siyah, the woman clearly now meant her no direct harm and seemed to be in need of help.

Despite their rather forceful introductions, Adila was bound by the code of the [i]Kheshigs[/i] to help her new companion, and followed her around a series of small mountain summits before arriving at a view point that offered a stunning vista of the Silk Road, Fort Jochid, and the surrounding countryside. "I do know the ways of nature, it has gotten me this far. I also know the way of the Timurids; the Shah would slaughter the warlords who took from the poor, he might rule with magistrates about the countryside, but they are to be fair in their jurisprudence. Many a conflict has been fought by the Shah against corrupt bureaucrats who manage to wiggle their way into a place within the system to benefit personally from it," said Adila, in her response to Siyah's commentary about her being from the lands of the Timurids.

Adila would dismount with Siyah, and made her way over beside her companion, clasping the pommel of her longsword in her hand, gripping it firmly as she looked down at the fort with her piercing grey eyes. "Gunpowder is a very volatile substance, I assume you have a plan on utilizing it so it does not kill the people who we are trying to rescue? That said, I made an oath before the Shah and his Consort, it would be an affront to either of them to break the oath of the [i]Kheshig[/i], I will be ready at nightfall," said Adila, her eyes drawn to the fairness of her companion now, who seemed a little lighter than normal to be from around these lands.

[Kevin Kingswell]

Leaning on his staff Dou smiled at the gentlemen speaking to him as he replied in a weary but slightly joyful tone. "Oh just following the road and following whatever path fate takes me" he said before noticing the man's fellow guards moving towards him and his old eyes narrowed slightly as he gripped his staff tighter with his hands. "Is there a problem kinsmen?" he asked bracing himself.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

On the precipice of the hills looking down to Fort Jochid, Siyah turned to Adila and spit on the ground. "That is what I think of the Shah's righteousness. No ruler is free from greed or wrong and if he does destroy those who are worse than he, he is still the overseer of this backwards society we live in. If he truly wanted to protect the weak, he would give up his power instead of slaughtering the greedy with his army. It is a game to them, Adlia al-Sajid, and nothing more."

They would wait until the sun set in the western sky behind the tall mountains of the Kush. Dismounting their horses on the hill, the two women crept slowly towards the fortress, avoiding the torch lights and the sights of the guard towers, any place where they might be detected in the dark. Coming to the high walls, Siyah took out a metal hook attached to a rope and swung it over her head as it climbed up the rough stone of the fortress and scraped against the high battlements. The black tugged against the rope and as it tightened, she smiled and pressed her feet against the stone. "Follow me up, but be on your guard, if we're discovered, we'll have to fight our way out and that's not something I would look forward to doing."

Slowly Siyah grappled up the stone wall towards the battlements. Just before she poked her head over the stones, the rider took a deep breath and leaped off of the rope and onto the wooden platforms attached to the wall. I front of her was a guard in red, his eyes wide at the black robed figure appearing to him out of thin air. He had no time to react as her hands grabbed his neck and twisted him, killing him without a sound and laying him against the wall then taking off her black robes to cover his body. Underneath, Siyah wore sleek black clothes, holding thigh over her figure as she gestured Adila to follow her, deeper into the fortress.

---

"If we shouldn't be here," said Jaya trying to push herself off the bench, "Then we should get moving...uhhhh." She groaned and fell back against the seat. "But I can't move right now, I'm too weak. Rest would be a good thing. Niccolo," the Indian said turning to the apothecary, "You said you want to leave, could you possibly get us out of here? We aren't doing anything suspicious, they'd have to let us go."

"I could do that, after all, you'll need medical attention along the road." He said and looked at Bayari, "Additional medical attention, of course."

"Maybe we could eat here then and leave during the night, I could sleep on the road in the cart." Said Jaya thinking through the plan, "Could you tell the Magistrate to bring the food here?"

"Yes," said Niccolo, "I'll tell the guards now."

Later in the night as the food was brought down to the shop, Jaya began to plan out how they would leave, but as that happened, Siyah and Adila crept closer to the powder depot to destroy the fort in one swift attack.

[Captain Enema]

Besud sets up his wagon and opens for business outside the front gate of the fort. In doing so he offers a fine selection of quick and tasty meals for the discerning traveler. Not the usual fare of over-priced crap, these are meals cooked on the spot and made only from the best of more or less fresh ingredients. For today he has a few freshly butchered chickens, a nice haunch of beef, and he's currently busy handmaking noodles for one of his favorites,nuyo-mein, spicy beef noodles.

[TheShammySocialist]

When Siyah denounced the Shah, Adila felt a certain pang run through her body, a certain kind of anger that was found when one dismissed or insulted ones' family, but she caught herself before responding. Despite Siyah's feelings about the Shah and the leaders of her nation, Adila knew there was little she could do from this windswept precipice about it, nor did she want to test this woman's patience. Instead, she gathered her cloak around herself and sat down in silence, her eyes flicking across the scene set before them. The laborers toiling under the warm sun as the day continued to run its course, she spoke very little to Siyah, she felt a sense of being on the edge of a cliff, ready to plunge, but just wasn't quite at that point yet. It was a feeling that one got before they waded into a life and death situation they knew they were going to be embroiled in, and Adila had not found herself in very many similar situations, besides dealing with a few motley bandits in her travels.

As night approached closer, Adila would take scraps of dark cloth and wrap it around the pommel of her sword, darkening the shiny apparatus from glinting in any moon or lantern light. She smeared her face with charcoal she gathered from the remnants of an old fire, her tanned skin now darker, as she sat atop her horse, waiting for Siyah to lead her onto the corrupt magistrate's fort. As the sun sank lower in the western sky, she dismounted from Mikail on the hills above the fort, whispering lightly in her mount's ear, then leaving him to his own devices as she stayed directly behind Siyah. She would follow her to the wall, dodging the gaze of the guards atop the walls, moving swiftly and stealthily.

In response to Siyah's comment about possibly having to fight out, she would shrug simply, "We'll do what we must if it comes to that." She would then follow the mysterious woman up the grappling wire, slipping up onto the parapet as she dispatched the first guard that night. It would certainly not be their last, when Siyah motioned for Adila to follow her towards the powder depot. When they attempted to descend into the bowels of the fortress, a guard was coming the opposite direction on the spiral interior staircase of the walls. Adila would pounce on the man, throwing him against the wall with her weight, her hand covering his mouth as her dirk would drive straight through his neck. She would then drag him into a side room along the spiral staircase, throwing him amongst some supplies, throwing a horse blanket over the corpse before rejoining Siyah quickly as they moved as quietly as possible towards the fortresses' powder magazine...

[Triyun]

As the evening turned to late night, Bayari lay in his bed, his mind fixed on grappling with the problems that he had been grappling with a day earlier. However it was now not just the fate of his ancestors that he contemplated but also now the injustices of the Fort. What was the world becoming? The mandate of heaven was to rule justly, morality was supposed to will it alone. These were the cosmic ways of the world. To the good good would be given, those who were just would have justice follow. But was this true? He lay there thinking. He looked out the window, they were supposed to make a break for it in an hour, when clouds would cover the moon and all would turn to pure darkness.

As he thought, he noticed shadows moving past him, the window, then a slight creak in the door. He looked down to see shadows scurrying along the bottom of the apothecary. [i]Rats?[/i] he thought to himself. But they were not rats. He narrowed his eyes, seeing there were many more legs, and a tail. As it approached his bed, he shouted, "Get up." he yelled out grabbing a book and tossing it at the scorpion. A splatting noise was heard, hopefully the others would get up in time to save themselves from the lethal stings.

But the noise from the Apothecary stirred the guards. They looked towards it to see what the noise was. As they did though, the guards noticed two shadows moving towards the arms tower.

Ringing the bell, the guards called the fortress to full alert. [b]"We're under attack."[/b] the guard cried. But they had little time to react. Adila and Siyah had already made their way mostly to the powder magazine. Swarms of guards poured towards them, running in a disorganized mass. They fired their cross bows and drew their swords ready to assail the two outlaws.

The magistrate rushed from his tower chambers, yelling, "What's going on?" he demanded.

"The black bandit, he's here!" shouted one of the men.

"Well don't just stand around get him!" yelled the Magistrate. "Wait what of our other guests?" he asked. "Make sure they don't escape."

At that moment Bayari was confused by the chaos of what was going on. "We need to go while they are distracted." he whispered to Jaya and the Apothecarist. He looked at his companion concerned, "Can you move?"

As they whispered, a guard busted into the apothecary his sword drawn. Without thinking, Bayari leapt slashing the man in the neck. That he was capable of slaying a man took the young shaman by surprise. [i]"I..."[/i] he began.

[Captain Enema]

Hearing the hooting, holler, and other hootnanny coming from the fort gives Besud the idea he needs to do one thing or the exact opposite of that one thing. The one thing being grabbing his saber and crawling under the wagon and hoping for the best. The other thing is to jump on a nearby horse and riding into battle. Besud is many thing, he's just brave enough to be trusted on in a fight with overwhelming odds in his favor providing he's way back in the rear with about 30,000 men between him and the frontline. Given this tibit, Besud grabs his saber, and crawls under the wagon. Once under there he keeps his eyes open for possible customers who might want a quick middle-of-battle pick me up. No point in sending a paying customer away with an empty stomach.

To this end Besud sets up a small charcoal grill and puts on several skewers of chicken, lamb, and beef and he quietly begins to call out to passing soldiers, "Pssst, hey you in the chain mail and the codpiece, you want a meat skewer?"

[Sarah Tintagyl]

When Bayari screamed and squashed the scorpion, Jaya's eyes opened and threw off her covers to see three of the bugs crawling towards her feet. Adrenaline took hold of her and she jumped from the bed as the scorpions jumped and hissed as the Indian threw her covers over them. "Niccolo, wake up, we need to get out of here now."

"What?" said the Italian as he groaned in his bed and then heard the hissing of the bugs, "Oh Christ Almighty, they're trying to kill you." He jumped up and then the bells of the fort began to ring as the sounds of crossbow bolts began to whistle through the air. "The Black Bandit." Niccolo said and covered his mouth, "We have to get out of here now."

[i][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]At that moment Bayari was confused by the chaos of what was going on. "We need to go while they are distracted." he whispered to Jaya and the Apothecarist. He looked at his companion concerned, "Can you move?"[/font][/color][/i]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]"Yes, I can." Said Jaya weakly as she walked forward and then watched as one of the guards rushed into the shop and she watched Bayari slay the man, the guard falling onto the floor gurgling on his own blood. He was frozen in disbelief at what he had done and she grabbed him by his arm and yanked him from the shop. "Niccolo, get your cart together."[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]"But my shop!"[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]"It's too late, they'll kill us if we stay here any longer." Jaya said as she looked outside at the chaos taking over the fort.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]---[/font][/color]

While Jaya, Bayari, and Niccolo were having their own problems with guards and scorpions, Adila and Siyah were in deep, surrounded by guards in the powder depot. Inside the building, the bandit took out a piece of tinder and flint as she climbed onto the roof and took Adila by the hand. "Whatever happens, if you want to live stay close with me, the spirits can decide now if we are going to live." Reaching the roof and being chased by guards and targeted by their arrows, she stood on the platform and looked out at the magistrate on the opposite end of the fortress. "Your tyranny ends, today."

She smiled and lit the tinder and threw it down into the depot, onto the mounts of gunpowder and jumped off the roof with Adila in her hands as the building burst open in a flash of blazing red and yellow light. The blast carried them through the air and the prisoners still out, began to push back on the guards and soon the entire fortress was collapsing into a state of anarchy.

Siyah landed close to where the magistrate stood on the fortress keep and let go of Adila as she ran to the stone staircase, two sai's used for disemboweling the guards in her way as she prepared to meet the warlord in combat.

[Triyun]

Bayari lead the way as they snuck out of the apothecary towards the cart. Guards were running around the court yard, their blades glistening in the moonlight. The merchants turned slaves had begun to riot in the court yard and attack the guards. In the chaos nobody noticed as the three approached the cart. Bayari helped the apothecarist fix the yoke to the horses.

He was nervous. He never had dealt with a horse before. The few the village had were reserved for the master hunters, something Bayari never came close to becoming. Normally he'd let Jaya handle it, but she was in no condition. He fidgeted around with the yoke's leather straps. As he attached the last strap, suddenly the beast let out a loud 'ney', knocking Bayari onto his back.

The guards shifted their focus towards them, "There they are over there!" one shouted. "Get them." cried another.

Bayari saw them approaching with their blades drawn. "Shoot, lets hurry." he said. He thought to what he had that could slow them. Reaching into his pocket he felt the cold smooth touch of a glass canister. It contained the last of the awful brew he had whipped up to treat Jaya's wound.

Removing it from his pocket he tossed it into the group of guards. Its odor wafted outwards, causing them to gag in the shock of the smell. He ran towards the yoke trying to finish it as they went around the stinky potion. "Lets go!" he shouted.

Atop the tower, the magistrate smirked at the bandit. Her short blades looked like toys to him. He was afterall trained by some of the finest sword masters in the east. He smirked, as he placed his hand on the scabbard of his blade. He drew out a magnificent jian sword. Expertly twirling it around, it echoed as it moved effortlessly in his hand.

"Lets finish this." he said with a smirk. As he spoke though, the explosion echoed through the corridors of the fortress. Around them it began to come down. He looked angrily, his monuments, all were beginning to crumble. This black bandit would pay for it.

He charged forward through his guards, towards her. He let out a swift thrust of his blade through her sais aiming straight for the Black Bandit's neck.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Triyun

[Sarah Tintagyl]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Siyah watched Kai charge at her through the guards and her sais caught his sword between the points, holding him there for a moment as she stared into his eyes. "Impressed? I am not the man you thought I was, pig." She said and spit into his face.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Kai pivoted back, "Evidently not." he said hearing her voice for the first time. "A mere girl." he added with a chuckle. "You'll be easy enough to deal with." He withdrew it as the spit hit his eyes. Angrily he let out a wide slash at her stomach aiming to disembowel the bandit. She [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]slammed the sais back down to block the sword and then swung her body, using his grip as a weight to push her boots into his chest, sending the Magistrate stumbling backwards. The sword still locked in between the daggers. Then [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]the magistrate stumbled backwards, his body weight pulling the sword free. He rolled down towards the bottom of the roof before recovering his footing. Growling he charged forward with a powerful downward slash at the bandit's mask.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]"You let your anger get the better of you...your anger and your greed." She said jumping down onto the roof and parrying the sword, one sai after the other as she walked backwards, dodging his strikes.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Kai sneered, "I'll show you anger." he said as he charge forward at her, swinging his sword around as she parried the blade away, locking the blade into side of the sai swiping it aside, before using the blade's length to stab at her. [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Siyah let the first sai fall out of her hand as she caught the sword with her second and forced it to the ground as it thrust forward and cut open a gash on her leg. She grimaced before kicking him again with her other leg, pushing him down on the roof.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Kai stumbled downwards, further towards the bottom. Recovering right at the edge, he smirked, looking at her wound, "It would appear you bleed like anyone else. Your time is up." he said raising his blade at her now confident of his victory.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Siyah nodded as he raised his sword, exposing himself. "All bleed...as do you..." She said and threw the sai as it spun through the air, landing deep within his head. Siyah watched the magistrate stop as time froze before he fell back down from the roof, to the ground below.[/font][/color]

[TheShammySocialist]

It was clear that things had not gone as intended by Siyah, with the guards becoming aware of their presence much earlier than was hoped, and Adila drew her long-sword as she fought to stave off the attacks of the guards chasing behind them. She dispatched a number of the magistrate's cronies in their attempt to get to the powder room, but when they climbed onto roof, she would look to Siyah when she said her words, and only nodded in response. She saw the black figure light a tinder with a flint, and she would clutch onto Siyah as the explosion ripped the powder depot apart, sending them flying into the air amidst the chaos that now reigned in the flaming fortress of Jochid. She would land hard on one of her shoulders, at first thinking she had dislocated it, Siyah got up almost immediately to engage the magistrate, who they were now closer to.

"Get up," breathed Adila, into the dirt, "For the love of Allah, get up, you fool," she grunted, as the situation set in for her, she had done little in the way of violence on the road here, but after slaying nearly a dozen guards already, she realized how much blood she had spilled. She dispelled those notions from her head, as she saw Siyah rush to engage the magistrate, and she grasped the pommel of her sword in her hand, bringing it up to bear, and not a moment too soon.

A group of the guards were rushing to the magistrate's aid, and Adila scrambled to her feet to intercept them, throwing herself on the stairs that would lead up to the fighting magistrate and Siyah, and slicing through the first guards' neck with surprising ease after disarming him with a couple parries of her sword. She would twirl the blade in her fingers as she fought against two others trying to gain ground up the stairs, but she refused to yield, kicking one off the stairs and onto the ground below, as she parried, thrust, and slashed at the other one. She took a lower stance than was normal for her, typically she liked a high stance, striking from almost above her head with her sword, but with the guards below her, she opted to guard against strikes at her legs, one of which had already been slashed once, and was bleeding rather profusely. When one of the other guards forced her blade back after a particularly hard parry which saw the back of her hand sliced open slightly, she brought the pommel of her sword around and into face, knocking him cold against the stone of the wall next to him as they fought, trying to help the warrior who was locked in combat with Magistrate Kai behind her...

[Sarah Tintagyl]

The smoke of the fort rose through the night sky and could be seen for many miles. It felt as though the three kids, as none of them were over the age of twenty-five, had ran forever over the rocky dunes and when they stopped to take a break, Jaya fell out of the cart with her hands on the ground scratching against the dirt. Her entire body hurt, her head throbbed and it felt like her mind was caving in against itself. She clawed deeper against the ground and began to sob, pounding her fists lightly at first and then with greater strength as she bordered into depression. Niccolo looked over at Bayari a shrug of his shoulders as the two boys watched the Indian squirm in the dirt.

"I can't stand this anymore." She said kneeling against the ground, looking up at the sky. "I honestly can't do this, I just don't care." The air was moderately warm for this time of year and she reached up her shirt, feeling the gaping wound of the Jhangshi. "It has been two !@#$@#$ days, first I get attacked by some monster and almost get turned into a living corpse, now, I was just present as an imperial outpost was attacked by a bandit and not only that...the goddamn magistrate tried to kill us." Removing her hand, Jaya shook her head and started walking down the road. "Anyways, I'm done with this, not like anyone wanted me to be a Guard in the first place." Then she spun around and pointed at the two boys sitting in the cart. "Because I can't do this, go find your own way to the Coast, I'm through with this whole mission." She hollered and reached on her sash and ripped the imperial insignia and threw it against the ground. Jaya stepped on it and then started to walk away.

"But you can't leave us," said Niccolo getting up from his seat, "Neither of us know where we're going."

"Take the road east, it isn't hard, you'll find the way." She said, continuing to trudge into the darkness.

"That isn't the point, aren't you supposed to be the leader here? I mean I don't even know you and I thought you were the leader, you're wearing the damn sash after all." Said the Italian, jumping down onto the ground.

"And then what do you want from me?" she turned and yelled back, starting to walk towards him menacingly. "You want me to take you to Beijing? You want me to take you to the Coast? How? I'm injured, we're being chased, I have not clue where we are, and I'm tired. I'm tired of dealing with problem after problem and knowing that I'm not going to get rewarded in the end." Jaya grabbed Niccolo by the collar and lifted him with one hand, surprising strength for a girl of her size and age.

"It depends what your reward will be and how you see it." Said a voice as the three kids turned to see Siyah, the Black Bandit and Adila jump down off of a nearby boulder onto the ground. She walked over to the Imperial crest and picked it off the ground. "You dropped this."

The three kids stared in awe and a little bit of fear as the Chinese woman approached. Niccolo wheezing through the constriction on his throat, "But you're supposed to be a man!"

"That's what I've heard too, I guess they figure that what I do is impossible for a woman, yet here I am."

"I should gut you then," growled Jaya as she painfully reached for her sword.

"I thought you were leaving the Guard, you seemed dead-set on abandoning your friends, what does it matter if you try to kill me? I killed the magistrate, you aren't as skilled as him, I will kill you." Siyah smiled and rested her hands on her knees, "To be quite honest, girl, I should kill you because you're an Imperial, but you really aren't."

"What do you mean?"

"You're confused, you don't know who you are or what your responsibilities are. You know you're not appreciated and you know that chances are, you never will be appreciated. So you question what your place is in this world. Well I'm going to spare you to help you find that place and that Lord Kai was trying to kill you apparently, that only helps your case. There's a small village to the south of those dunes. We'll go there and rest. Italian!" she said hollering at Niccolo, "Get that cart ready, we're moving."

Thus they carried themselves over the dunes to the small village where the river would flow down into the valleys of China below.

[Triyun]

Bayari looked silently, with his head low as Jaya started walking off. He could not blame her. It had not been an easy start. He had seen more things in the past few days than he had seen at anytime before in his life. He looked down at his hands, they still had some of the red blood from where he had stabbed the guard in the apothecary. The smell of burning was still engrained in his nostrils, along with the smell of the undead. [i]Its a dangerous thing stepping outside your door.[/i] he thought to himself.

What would lay to the East? There had been so much danger just in the areas from his village. The East was supposed to be a paradise but would it be? Would he find training and relief for his people there? He didn't know. The young Shaman had come so far in so little time, but it had not been in the way he expected. He took a deep breath before turning towards his travel companion.

"Come on we started this together. Its safer out here in groups." Bayari said to her sympathetically, "I know how you feel, but if we're out here, we might as well be out here together. Where else would we go individually?" he asked the apprentice warrior. It was then that he noticed a figure approaching them.

Bayari shifted his gaze towards the Black Bandit approaching them. He gulped, recognizing it as the legend. It had been helpful at the fort, but would the bandit be so kind here, especially as they were dressed in Imperial garbs. He did not know. Bayari rubbed his chin apprehensively as he watched the figure come towards them.

Then [i]she[/i] spoke. Like the Apothecarist, Bayari was also surprised. He wondered, was she a rogue Amazon, remembering the impressive almost seemingly towering figures at the fortress at the beginning of their journey. As the she and Jaya exchanged verbal jabs he pondered.

Then the bandit made her offer, about finding a place. It was something that appealed to Bayari, he spoke up, "Thank you for the help." he said appreciatively.

The travel to the river was uneventful. Bayari spent most of it, his eyes fixed on the bandit, curious about her. She carried herself very differently from the Amazons he had encountered before. He wondered if his initial theory about being a rogue amazonian was even correct. She seemed to know a lot about the Empire though. Her companion was one of the Timur clan. He had heard stories about the Khan in the South.

It was said to be a very different place than the North West. There were so many different lands in the Empire. He thought. He was finally starting to come to grips with the vastness. A Timur, a Ehestadt Austrian, a Chinese, a Indian, and himself all in the same party. He smiled thinking about it.

It was then that they reached the river, he snapped back into attention as they approached a large ferry, "Wow are we going on that?" he asked Siyah.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"We are," said Siyah as the party looked down at the bustling village from the dunes above, "But if we're going to travel down the river to the East we can't dress as we are now, me especially." She turned to Jaya with a smirk, "When you have to evade Imperial Agents, you discover, rather quickly, that you are never who you say you are." The bandit smiled and started leading the party down the hill, but Jaya kept her eyes on her as they walked. She was confused and alarmed. The bandit had reformed their group and they were heading eastward again, but Jaya was most definitely not in control and Bayari and Niccolo seemed so taken with the Chinese woman that she could go anywhere and they were sure to follow. The way she conducted herself, the way she held herself, seemed strange and unnerving and thus as they walked into the village, the Indian came too clear eyes on Siyah as they approached a clothing store.

It amazed Jaya the amount of money that Siyah carried on her person and even more so, that everyone in this small village knew who Siyah was and accepted her as a friend. In the West, it seemed, the strength of the empire was replaced by those who garnered loyalty with the locals. Law was enforced by influence or a sword point, not from the halls of the Imperial Palace.

With the money, Siyah dressed the entourage in new outfits transforming all of them instantly to members of the Bourgeois. Long coats, lace, and hats for the men and long dresses with flowers for Jaya, Adila, and herself. The bandit stayed in her traditional black, however, with a long black Chinese dress, decorated with yellow orchids and her hair was tied back in a tight bun, decorated with sticks. "There, now we all look rather presentable for a boat cruise." She smiled and the entourage funneled out of the small market district towards the harbor.

While Niccolo waltzed behind Siyah, his face full of smiles as Bayari and Jaya maintained the cart, the Indian nudged her companion. "I don't trust her, this seems all too strange to me. I think this is part of a plot."

The Italian's ears perked up at this and he looked back with a smile. "You worry too much, Madame Squire, we're safe from harm, what more can you ask for?"

For fear of speaking too loud Jaya silenced herself as Siyah and Adila went ahead to purchase tickets for the river ferry that would take them east. "It just doesn't seem right. It's too easy, everything happened, too nicely."

Finally, though, the entourage was taken aboard the large steamship, which had been steadily sailing the length of the Empire. As the voyage began, Jaya never left their new leader out of her sights.

[TheShammySocialist]

Having helped Siyah defeat the evil magistrate, as well as help her compatriot away from the burning and crumbling Fort Jochid, Adila al-Sajid was in a little bit of shock from the entire event, but she would follow her nonetheless, meeting up with the three young individuals, much like herself, a ways away from the burning fort. As Siyah addressed them however, Adila would remain silent, her eyes scanning the horizon behind them, the smoke of the ruined fort billowed into the heavens, and flames danced and flickered, as if praising the millions of stars that dotted the dark blue abyss above them. She had been leading Mikail most of the way after leaving the fort, but when Siyah declared that they would move south to a village, she would mount the Arabian wearily, the horse letting out a grunt as its rider took her place in the saddle, before she nudged him along, following after the cart, still very much in shock at what had happened.

---

Adila would be rather resistant to Siyah's new attempts at changing her wardrobe, but she would give in eventually, and lose her robes for a much more stylish flowing dress with lace cuffs and hem, she also had slid a flower into her dark hair that was clamped into an efficient yet simple bun. She would stow the rest of her belongings in her saddle bags, but still kept a her dirk on the inside of her thigh in a hip holster, in case it was to be of any use. The awkward glances that Siyah was getting from the rest of the entourage were not lost on her, and she opted to follow the companion that had chosen her to help assail Fort Jochid, down to the ferry office, where she also hoped to be able to find a place on board for her trusty steed.

"I don't think the entire company trusts you," she said, addressing Siyah with an even look as they walked around the outside of the ferry office. "The Indian seems very wary of you, however, the other two seem rather fond..."

"That being said, do you think money can buy a place on board for Mikail?"

[Triyun]

The Shaman had become enraptured with the money spent before they boarded the ferry. He had for the first time in years gotten a new set of clothes, and nice ones too, made from traditional silk. The food he had been treated too impressed him even more. They were finally started to see the life he expected as he moved east. One of comfort, fancy clothes, exotic flavors, and elegant women.

He looked at the cart, it surprised him in his new clothes that only a short time ago he had been prepping this cart to run the fortress. Now they were going on a steam ship. He was astounded, his troubled thoughts earlier were for the first time set aside. It was only when Jaya nudged him with her elbow that he snapped out of it.

[i][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]"It just doesn't seem right. It's too easy, everything happened, too nicely."[/i][/font][/color]

[font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]Bayari smirked, "If I didn't know better I'd say you were jealous of her." he teased. His eyes didn't meet Jaya, instead he was admiring the clothes he now wore a new navy blue silk changshan, the garment alone cost more than his entire previous outfit. He looked up at the woman ahead of them. She was talking with the woman from the South.[/color][/font]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]As they got on the ship, the young shaman was in awe of the machine. "Besides, I'm sure she is nice. We have to trust people and she's done a lot of both of us." he said. "How's your wound by the way?" he said[/font][/color] turning towards her with a bit of concern, as the steam stacks of the ferry bellowed into the sky above them.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

In the harbor as Adlia and Siyah purchased the tickets to go aboard the ship, the bandit turned back to her companion with a smile. "Well Imperials are always apprehensive about allowing illegals to lead them down the roads. That girl is a fool, she's far out of her league in the wilderness. The Imperials are getting desperate out in the wilderness, sending women who should be clerks and cooks on missions across the country. That girl should be in charge of her curry and that is all." Then handing the tickets to the Timurid, Siyah patted her on the shoulder. "There's one for that horse of yours too, I'll find another when we make it to the next town, where ever that might be."

After getting the tickets, the entourage boarded the ship and as the group broke apart to wander the luxurious wooden deck, Bayari and Jaya walked on the starboard railing. Discussing the adventure thus far and their new companion who Jaya wasn't at all taken to and yet the Shaman seemed to be much more welcoming. "No, I'm not jealous of her," the Indian growled under her breath. "There's nothing to be jealous of, she's a criminal. You heard her, she doesn't even have a name, why would you want to live like that?" then wincing slightly, she turned away from him and looked down at the river below. "My wound's alright, I'm sure after tonight I'll feel much better."

About a half hour later the great smokestacks of the steamship bellowed white and gray clouds into the sky as the whistles sounded off. The mighty ship began to sail down the river and a slow pace and the entourage began preparing for what seemed to be the most relaxing part of their journey; with Siyah's gold, no matter what its origin, that seemed to be the case. Their rooms were some of the best on the ship and as the voyage continued and Jaya found herself fattening on fresh oysters, choice cuts of beef, and imported wine from Europe.

If all went according to plan. the ship would take them far into the Empire's eastern interior, then, as Siyah said, any numerous safe passages could be acquired to finish the rest of their trek to the coast. "Once you are out of the western mountains, everything else is easy."

One night however, the interior of the ship made room for a card tournament and given that of all the vices of the empire, gambling was impossible to enforce, the ages within the casino parlor ranged from ten year old's to the ancient. Siyah gave each one of her companions a pouch of money to take with them and as she strolled in, black silk trailing behind her, two men at the edge of the room seemed to push their hats down over their eyes as the tournament began.

[Triyun]

The journey down the river was unlike anything the young Shaman had seen before. The desert landscapes of the West were giving way to the more lush crowded landscapes of the East. He spent hours watching the shore from the top deck. He was fascinated by life along it, how as they went East, it changed from grazers to farmers, to small cities. Minarets and ancestor totems gave way to pagodas, mosques to the chants of Buddhist monks.

His companions each did their own things. Siyah being the life of the boat, and Jaya eying her suspiciously. He wondered why his first traveling companion was so suspicious of the bandit. Thus far she had been very generous. And if she did have her own agenda, wouldn't it be useful to their own.

One night they headed down to the riverboat's casino. To Bayari it was as if they were stepping onto another ship. There were bright lights, loud noises, pings and whistles from the machine, and a band playing. Once again Bayari was overwhelmed. His apprehension earlier in the trip had begun to subside. He attributed his doubts now to home sickness. With this bag of money in his pocket he thought of himself as a high roller.

He looked over at Jaya noticing that she was still eyeing Siyah, "Hey, you've been on her the whole trip, if she's such a evil thief why she's giving us money and all this stuff, shouldn't she be selfish?" he asked her. "Lets go play." he suggested heading over to a table where the dealer was playing out the game of black jack.

Sitting down next to several men, many dressed in dinner jackets, he smiled widely, "This is the game where you say hit me right? You won't actually hit me, correct?" the ignorant Shaman said.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

The men in suits looked over at Bayari and Jaya, who looked down at the table with a great blush running over her face. "Yes," she said to the Shaman turned his attention over from the men, "just follow my lead and I'll show you how to play."

Black Jack wasn't at all the best card game the Indian knew, but being in the guard and having a knack at remembering trivial information in the clerk profession, she could wager the odds of the next cards appearing in the deck. Soon the grimace that she wore though much of journey began to wear off as a pile of green, blue, and red chips began to build around her hands. Hand after hand, Jaya knew when to hit, stay, and most importantly, when to double down, which she always came up successful. Gambling was illegal in the western fortresses, but for those minority peoples who didn't have the privilege of war-time combat, border patrol, and other more daring occupations, cards and vices helped pass the time.

As the night wore on and her stack increased, the squire yawned as she looked at Bayari who was doing moderately well. "Should we get moving, I feel like we've had enough fun with these poor !@#$%^&*. It also didn't help that the more money one spent the more drinks the casino parlor offered to them and amidst the tobacco smoke and thrill of the cards, Jaya had gotten herself rather tipsy. "Not that anyone could keep up." She smirked and pulled Bayari out of his seat with his earnings, looking back with a grin at the men she had essentially robed.

Meanwhile, Siyah, Adila, and Niccolo were having similar luck across the casino and reached the roulette wheel. In a bold move, Siyah placed three valuable chips on '00' and in a stroke of luck it hit. However, before Siyah could reach for her new stack of wealth a dagger slammed its way in through the table as one of the men from the back approached her, grinning.

"I believe that it is us who has claim to these, Miss Xie Xianguha," his teeth yellow and prickly stubble covered his white face. "You owe my friends and I a great deal for the lace that you are running around in."

Siyah looked up at the men, many more now as they began to circle the table. "I'd kindly ask you to step away, sir, I have friends with me."

"That means nothing to us!" He roared and one of the man's associates flipped the roulette table as the casino went quiet.

"Krugg, our debts are settled, don't try to start something here," said the bandit slowly reaching into her dress. But both Siyah and her compatriots would realize they were very quickly becoming surrounded.

[Triyun]

Bayari watched impressed by Jaya's skill at the game. He more or less followed her lead through it, slowly learning the rules as they played. He started off losing quite a bit, but before long as others thought him unskilled, he was able to once again win back some of his money. He was surprised as she began to loosen up, drinking heavily and becoming more... liberal with her language. Bayari got up, his light headed. He was almost a complete teetollar, only having drunk for ceremonies.

"This is a surprising side of you." he commented to the squire, he looked at the chips which she was carrying proudly, "Admit it, you're starting to enjoy yourself." he said smiling.

Suddenly a loud voice boomed through the Casino. Bayari looked over to see that a man was yelling at Siyah, looking angry. By the way they were talking they seemed to know each other. He looked around the room seeing a number of very well built men watching the conversation as well, their bodies tensed up for a fight.

Bayari gulped, he had a bad feeling about this.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"I want my money or you're going to give me something for collateral, something like your tongue." Krugg said he and his associates closed the circle around Siyah and the rest of the group. Realizing the danger posed to them by the thugs, the black bandit looked around the casino parlor for anything that could possibly lead to an escape. It was the chandeliers and oil lamps hanging from the ceiling that could provide their retreat and only with the cost of sacrificing the boat and potentially endanger or kill various of the other passengers. With seconds, Siyah weighed her opinions and postulated that her life was much more valuable than anyone else on board, after all, it was her ego making the decision.

Reaching into her dress and pulling out one of her sais, she flung it at the central chandelier, which swung knocking into the other oil lamps before breaking from its chain and crashing into the poker tables in the middle of the room. Upon its crashing to the ground shards of glass, covered in burning oil, flew about the room wounding guests, foes, and allies alike as Siyah made a break for the far window of the casino parlor.

With the room going up in flames and smoke and Krugg's thugs only temporarily occupied by the glass, Jaya grabbed both Bayari and Niccolo and ran behind Siyah towards the window and after the black bandit crashed through the glass and dove towards the dark water of the river below. They each landed in subsequent splashes before Jaya's head broke through the top of the water with great gasp for air. The others broke through a few seconds later and the Guardswoman watched as the bandit began swimming towards the shore. Where the Timurid disappeared to, she didn't know.

"Wait! You devil!" hollered Jaya as she reached the shore and clenched her fists. "Where in the hell do you think you're going?"

Siyah stopped on the mud bank and turned to the Indian with a glare. "Getting as far away from you people as possible, you're nothing but bad luck."

"We are?!" Jaya roared trudging through the mud, "You nearly got us killed back there! I'm going to wipe all the confidence off your face if you don't tell me what the hell that was all about."

"You just try, little girl, I'd love to see you try."

Jaya jumped towards the bandit and the two began rolling against each other in the mud as Niccolo and Bayari arrived on the shore. They watched for a moment before Niccolo tapped the Shaman on the shoulder. "Do you hear that?" he said and sure enough, through the brush of the trees near the river, the sound of strange chanting began to echo through the forest.

[Triyun]

Bayari followed them through the chaos as it unfolded in the Casino. He did not know what Siyah had done to cause the dispute but it was clearly something pretty bad. The events unfolded like lightning around him. Yelling, then a lamp shattering and flames arising. To Bayari's amazement he did not run under a table and hide but took in the events and reacted sharply to them. He was changing, learning to think in danger.

Running from the burning flames, he lept into the cold water of the river below, swimming furiously to shore reaching it shortly after Jaya and Siyah. The two women were at each other's throats. Part of Bayari felt it had only been a matter of time. But now wasn't the time for the two to have their rivalry out.

As they attacked each other he moved to break up the fight only to be tapped on the shoulder by Niccolo. He paused hearing the sounds as well. "HEY!" he shouted to the two. "You can determine who the queen bee is later. Someone's coming, and with our luck they won't be friendly." he said as he tried to step into the middle of the two.

He felt himself knocked back onto the ground, as the two vastly more physically adept women get going at it. Hitting the mud, he say the lights approaching through the trees.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Rolling through the mud, Siyah and Jaya attempted to suffocate each other and bashing their opponent against rocks. Pushing Bayari out of the way, neither of the women heard the approaching sounds of chanting and horse-hoofs beating against the ground. Finally a light shone through the thicket of woods and brush above the shore and two tall women with long blonde hair stepped through with torches as everyone on the shoreline froze in their spots.

"What is this?" said one of the women, looking down at Jaya and Siyah, "We saw a burning ship, are you responsible?"

The bandit and guard separated as Siyah spit a wad of dirt into the Indian's eye. Then Jaya looked up at the Amazon and pointed at the woman in black. "It was her fault, I'm an Imperial Guardwoman...a Squire, she blew up the ship to escape debtors."

"That's a dammed lie! You know it!"

The blonde woman looked over Jaya and Siyah to the rest of the group assembled behind them. "And they are with you?" she asked.

"We are," chirped Niccolo, "We've been travelling together since Fort Jochid."

The two Amazons looked at each other before calling through the brush in a language that only Niccolo was familiar with in saying, 'Come...we found them...the ones who burned Fort Jochid.' There was a rustling of branches and leaves before ten more Amazons bounded out of the brush and descended upon the group with muskets and bayonets at the ready. The suddenness of their assault left the party shocked and confused as ropes were tied around everyone's hands and led them forcefully away, up through the brush and towards a large camp in the middle of the forest. Along the way, Niccolo smirked at Bayari.

"If we had to get captured though, what better people to do it, eh?" at that he was promptly kicked in the side and continued to walk along.

They led them through the forest into the large camp where the Amazons took them to a wooden platform in the middle where a woman, tall with long blonde hair and a fair face looked down at the party. "Who are these who you bring to me?"

It would be the first time Bayari would look upon the visage of the Empress.

[TheShammySocialist]

Adila felt a sense of apprehension fall over her when the debt collectors crowded in around them and she could tell Siyah was grasping at straws in her mind, and knowing the way her oriental companion was, she would not suffer inaction. Adila was about to grasp at her dirk, hidden in a clasp against her leg, under he dress, when Siyah drew her sai and hurled it into the chandelier to make a distraction. The distraction would prove to be a dangerous one, including one for Adila as well, she was knocked aside as the rest of them hurled towards the rear of the casino, which went up like a stack of matchwood. The general panic that ensued in the packed casino quickly overwhelmed Adila, the rest had been able to escape with most of the rest of the patrons in shock.

Adila was not so lucky, and the athletic, but still relatively diminutive Timurid would be driven sideways into the wall by one of the larger patrons as he bulled his way past her, his fists clasped around money. As smoke and flame filled the casino with screams and shouts, Adila struggled to her feet, a window next to her would provide an escape route if she could get up and smash it, but as she struggled to her feet, her back was driven painfully into the wall. Krugg had her by the front of her dress, and he roared over the crowd, "If I can't take my blood out of her, I'll take it out of one of her friends!"

Adila recoiled at the roar and the foul breath of the man, as she struggled against him, Krugg tried to drive his dagger straight into the Timurid's throat, but Adila blocked the blow with an arm-bar, just barely. She pushed off from the wall, as she grappled with the man, her wits and confidence returning to the warriors' heart as they fell to the floor. As she tried to force his arm back, and he twisted his arm, trying to get it out of her grasp, he was able to bring his knee up into her gut, the blow was glancing, but she still let out a grunt as the two continued to struggle. She held his wrist tight in her grasp as he tried to force the dagger closer to her neck, she sprawled atop the hulking thug; as he tried to renew the push, the Timurid bit into his wrist. Krugg let out a cry of agony, and he released the tension on his arm, momentarily, but it was only a moment the Timurid needed. She spun his wrist, audibly breaking the joint in her strong grasp, and drove the knife backwards, directly into Krugg's windpipe, the man's eyes went wide in surprise, his gaze already getting cloudy.

His grasp on her loosened, and she tore herself away from him, the adrenaline of their fight had allowed her to focus on him, rather than the intense heat that was now engulfing the room, and she found herself struggling to breathe. She also realized that she needed to desperately get off this flame-engulfed hulk pronto, but she refused to do that without her faithful steed Mikail, located in a stable towards the front of the vesel. Adila threw herself through one of the glass windows and out onto the main deck promenade, flames were already licking across the ceiling, and very few people were left on board. She ran through the thick smoke, trying to get away from the flames that had completely engulfed the rear of the boat. Many people were crowding forward, trying to get to some small boats located there, and she could hear not only the screams and shouts of the people, but also the noises of the animals in the stable, being abandoned by those who were fighting for self-preservation.

As she ran towards the front of the boat, she would hardly recall the blast from a storage room located along the main deck promenade, that was clearly filled with something explosive, probably fireworks or some sort of gunpowder. Adila felt sharp pains in her side as shrapnel from the blast penetrated into her left side, and she was thrown head over heels into the water with a yelp. She struggled to swim, the wounds in her left side inhibiting her movement due to the pain, and she could feel splinters within her skin. She was starting to founder quickly, but as she gurgled and went under, she would sink for a few seconds before finding the muddy bottom, and she knew that the crew of the riverboat had started to ease its course towards land in a bid to run aground and possibly save some passengers who refused to jump.

She had taken a deep breath before she went under, and her lungs were complaining harshly as she crawled along the bottom, and when she broke the surface on the muddy bank amidst tall grass, she heaved a breath before finally sucumbing to exhaustion. She fell flat into the muddy bank, still half in the water, breathing in gasps and utterly spent, her dress had slipped up her leg enough to show the dirk in its clasp, the symbol of the Timurid [i]kheshigs[/i] on the pommel. Blood was seeping out of her wounds into the murky water, wooden splinters sticking out of some. In her mind, which had retreated against the pain and was closing in on unconsciousness, she was wondering if she was at her end...

[Triyun]

Bayari had heard legends, that in the land of the far West golden haired maidens came down from the sky to carry warriors to the paradise of the dead. As he fell to the floor, the figures who approached them seemed to be just that. Their armor was a brilliant polished bronze. Their torch lights were reflected, illuminating them as they approached the party. They were tall, with fair faces, perfectly fit, fierce and feminine all at once. He for a moment forgot about the fight between Jaya and Siyah, instead he was totally in awe of these new figures.

The Amazon spoke to Jaya, Bayari was still amazed. There was something different about these ones. They were even more elegantly dressed than the Amazonian officers at the fort where their journey began. They raised him up from the mud. Suddenly though they gripped him firmly. They mentioned Fort Jochid, the home of the corrupt magistrate, that now seemed so long ago even though it was only a few days.

They were soon marched at bayonet point by the Amazonian guards though. Bayari looked sullen. He was finally in the East but the change which he was expecting had not come. Instead they were marching him along him with the bayonet bumping time and time again into his back. He shivered in his formerly luxurious clothed, now muddy and soaked with river water. He was exhausted.

[i]I should never have left.[/i] he thought to himself. He thought back to the village he left, it was poor, hungry, but it was predictable. You knew your place, you knew what the next day would bring. He had dreamed most of his life about what going East would mean. Now as he trudged through the muggy terrain of China, he knew it brought nothing but misery. The wider world was a place for the rich, the strong, not someone like him. It was just too... hard.

Finally they came to the camp. It was brightly lit. Great silk tents stood, in the center, decorated with platforms he had never seen before. The Amazonians were all dressed immaculately, their weapons, armor, clothing, all clearly made by the finest craftsmen (or women). In the center of the camp was a large wooden platform built to tower over the rest of the camp. Upon it stood a lacquered wooden throne, and on it sat a European golden haired woman in a white dress, with a diamond crown on her head.

Bayari recognized her face from the golden coins in his pocket. He knelt on one knee, in awe of the Empress, "Your imperial higness." he said as he hung his head down.