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Crusade in the Woodlands
Topic Started: Sep 3 2012, 09:42 PM (1,392 Views)
Legend Blueshard
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Legend Blueshard crouched in the cover of a patch of blueberry bushes and held his breath as the group of men marched past. Each held a spear with a decorative golden cross at the end of the handle. The same symbol was patched onto their snow white robes on all four sides. Though none of them looked his way, Legend didn't risk making any sudden movements. He had seen what these men did to their enemies. If the same happened to him, there would be no escape.

"This isn't right," he muttered under his breath. Legend turned to Aru who crouched beside him and gestured toward the campsite. Only a few of the white-robed crusaders remained in the camp, but their collection of ten shackled slaves showed no signs of attempting escape. Their wrists and ankles were bound together, preventing any one woman from moving on her own. Bone-like horns protruded from the girls' skulls; they were all sheridans, horned beings native to these woodlands. It wasn't that the crusaders didn't bother with the men. Rather, the male sheridans had been sent in a different direction by horse-drawn carriage. Until the group of marching crusaders returned with another carriage, these women and their captors would wait at the camp.

"We can't let them get away with this, can we?" Legend's tone hardly left any opportunity for argument. The black eyes and ripped clothing decorating the sheridan slaves revealed everything he needed to know about the crusaders' intentions. If the same happened to Aru, Legend would rush to her rescue in a heartbeat. Why should it be any different for this group of horned women? He checked the marching group's position as they continued into the distance. If they acted too soon, the shouts of the men left behind would alert the rest. They couldn't be certain how much time they had before the group returned, but Legend figured it would be enough.
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Aru
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"No one should be in chains." Aru agreed, keeping a hushed tone. Aru tried to get a better look at the horned women, kneeling in the grass while using one free hand to part the bushed in front of her and another to support the rest of her weight.

"Unless they are criminals." Aru mentioned, pulling away from the bushes after just a few moments. She had surveyed the situation and though the horned women did look like bound slaves, Aru had to be certain. Even in Oshura her title as a guard was important to Aru. She couldn't and wouldn't go around freeing guilty prisoners.
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Legend Blueshard
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"Good point," admitted Legend. "It might not be as foul as it looks... How do we tell?" He continued to watch the fading group of robed men stomping away until they disappeared around a wall of redwood trees. The atmosphere of the forest lightened significantly with the removal of half a dozen cross-adorned spears.

"I guess we could just walk up and ask them what happened... But it would be nice to have the element of surprise if it turns out they're slavers after all. We're outnumbered."
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Aru
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"In the end, as long as we leave with our heads, it will all be fine." Aru said, patting Legend on the shoulder. "So, I will watch your back and you will watch mine." she smiled, nodding as she gave Legend another encouraging pat on his shoulder.

"I'll lead." Aru told him, standing tall and strutting valiantly into the campsite without even saying "Go!" or counting down.

She approached the sheridan women with a calm yet serious expression. When Aru spoke, she did so loudly, to make sure everyone's attention was drawn to her. It was simply the way she had been taught to do so, as a Lari guard.

"What is happening here?" Aru demanded, looking at every person in her sight, waiting for anyone to answer.
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Legend Blueshard
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Legend could hardly sneak around to surprise the guards now that their attention was focused on Aru. Instead, he remained poised for action in the blueberry bushes. If any of the men made a threatening move, he would join Aru's side at once.

"By decree of His Majesty the King, these women are to be taken into custody. Your concern is appreciated, but we have this under control." The robed individual who answered Aru wore a confident, relaxed smile as he explained this to their sudden visitor. The group of ten women all protested in unison, some on the verge of tears. Legend frowned at the scene from afar. He still wasn't sure which side to believe, but there had to be more to the story.
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Aru
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"For what crime are they being captured?" Aru asked, stepping far over her boundaries. Deep down she was trying to stop her knees from shaking and from backing out, now that she had seen how many people were around. Legend also wasn't beside her to explain things so if anything unusual in conversation came up she would be lost, her knowledge of Oshura still very minimal.

"These women do not seem like they agree with your statements, male. Why is that?" Aru continued, asking more questions that certainly would only agitate the robed men before her.
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Legend Blueshard
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The man's proud smile collapsed into a scowl. Legend gripped his pickaxe tightly in his hands.

"They have committed treason against the empire," he replied. The women voiced their sentiments in a disorderly collection of words hardly intelligible to anyone present. The guard in charge would tolerate no more of their outbursts. "Be silent!" he commanded. "His Majesty has issued his ruling. Do you wish to contest it?"
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Aru
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Aru frowned, unsure of what to say next. The women certainly did seem panicked, while the men before her were making agitated faces at Aru and didn't seem like they wanted to be cooperative. She decided to go with her gut instinct, turning her attention to the bound women.

"They don't look like criminals to me. They look like innocent women." Aru proclaimed, grabbing the rod of her spear with her left hand.
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Legend Blueshard
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Legend didn't wait for the men to react before springing from his cover. The moment Aru grabbed her spear, peaceful negotiations ended. The disturbance in the bushes stalled the men for a moment as they turned to the speaker in the middle, waiting for his orders.

"Then you commit treason against the crown, as well," he judged. "Capture this woman!" The men on each side of him pointed their cross-adorned spears at Aru and charged toward her. The bound sheridans shrieked at the sudden violence. Legend terrified them just as much as he joined the fray with his pick held high.

"I've got your left!" Legend announced. He rushed up the amazon's left side, bringing his pickaxe down not a moment too soon. The crusader on her left had already thrust his spear in Aru's direction, but the descending pick caught the long handle. Legend jerked it away from his partner's body and tugged backward with all his might. The spearman didn't expect the intervention, nor did he predict that the second threat would so easily disarm him. The man's spear rolled across the ground after gliding from its owner's hand.
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Aru
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Aru took on the man coming straight for her, charging straight at him as she charged at her. The tips of their spears clashed and the wooden rod of Aru's met exact same piece of the guard's. He scowled at Aru, but the amazon flashed him a smile. At the cost of splintering her spear's rod, Aru slid the wooden staff down against her opponent's. A diagonal tear in the white robe appeared, with just a few specks of blood.

Immediately Aru jumped back and away, the guard in her way followed suit. She narrowed her eyes and tried to determine the best place to strike. Her time was wasted though, since the guard wasn't going to stand around and let Aru attack. He broke out of his frozen stance and came at Aru again.

This time their spears did not meet. It was a battle of maneuvering and without any bulky clothing, and plenty of practice, Aru was already ahead. Using her speed, Aru was able to move out of the strike zone that her opponent had created. The guard's knowledge on how to use a spear was not poor, but it wasn't refined either, while Aru had never used anything else for battle. Aru took every chance she could get to try and get a hit in, though the robbed figure seemed to be catching up to her pace.

More and more the silver lined tips of their spears colliding, the sound of metal hitting metal ringing in the air. The sheridan women were still in a panic, some screaming for help from their binds while others were sobbing and unable to do much more than that. Aru made another attempt to attack with her spear, using the flat edge with the pristinium crystal that was embedded in it, in order to knock out her attacker.

The spear made a soft ringing noise when it met with the head of the guard, and some of the sheridan women fell silent in shock. From their point of view Aru had stabbed the man directly in the head, and now the guard had fallen over in defeat. Though, from where Aru stood the man was knocked out and a decent sized gash was left above the guard's left eye.

One other guard was left to stand guard over the sheridan women from their surprise rescuers. Aru turned to make sure he was not in trouble before she even decided what to do next.
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