Taken In Trade {Mieko & Carantathraiel}

[Mieko]

Being entirely unaccustomed to either the method of travel nor the length of which she now had to endure. Zhao Feiyan shifts herself in the back of the horse drawn cart. Not only was she surrounded by other refugees but by crates and baskets filled with spice which by now had become near about unbearable to the senses.

The journey from her native China however was born of necessity. For as long as she could remember there had been some degree of unrest in her village, but in recent months it had all come to a head. In some effort to secure her safety her father had negotiated with some traders heading to the west in hopes she might fight some safe haven to call home.

Of course Feiyan had not been of the mind to want to flee. The terraced rice fields and lush green mountains she had been raised in were home and she had no desire to live her life out elsewhere and from the beginning she had been fairly certain those who were travelling in the cart with her were of the same mind.

Over the course of the journey she had come to know them quite well and she'd not been entirely surprised to find among them some from noble lineage as well as those poorer than she. While her family had not been rich by any means, they had led a comfortable enough life until the Emperor had decided that farmers could no longer own their own lands and the majority of the harvests were taken leaving barely enough for her family to survive on.

With her thoughts drifting off to her family she lets out a groan as she finds herself nearly tossed off her seat as they horse drawn cart hits what seems to be a particularly rough patch of road.

[Carantathraiel]

Ruli sat on the cold ground, his knees up and his arms resting over them, his head back against a tree. It was a rather cool evening. Pleasant, as the spring had brought on a few unrelenting days of uncomfortable heat. It was nice to be able to relax. Still he sat, collected in though, in nothing but his light pants.

"Aye, yo." came a voice. Ruli felt something smack the side of his head. With a roll of his eyes he picked up the bag and glared at the one who had thrown it. It was Estre, the thick headed blond who fancied himself the king among their little band of brothers. "Don ye think ye get to sit and be pretty, princess." Estre snipped. "Ye set up with us, or we'll feed ye t'the wolves."

With a sigh, Ruli heaved himself onto his feet, not bothering to answer.
They'd been on the road for some weeks now, hoping to border the outskirts of the war ravaged cities, picking on the skeletons and carcasses of the less fortunate.
Rulitus had lived in the city that had been burned down a month ago. He had lived underground with a small army of children, all taught and raised to steal, when the attack came. The city couldn't even resist. It fell in three days. Ruli had barely escaped, only to be found by these ... creatures. They spared his life on his promise that he would make a great addition. Because of his history, he would easily be able to pick out where to hit and what to take from it, and where they could earn the best prices for their stolen goods.

Ruli bent down and began to work on a fire pit, keeping to himself. They were here, now, because he'd heard through whispers that there would be an eastern caravan coming through, carrying a great assortment of rare spices and porcelain. It would fetch a pretty price.

[Mieko]

Staring at the roads left now behind them, her back still to the front of the cart, Feiyan kept one hand on the edge of it determined to keep her balance as it seemed the road ahead of them seemed to be getting worse rather than better.

Beside Feiyan was another woman named Hua Mei, and she was near about the same age Feiyan had gathered throughout their conversations along the way. Perhaps a year or two younger and what any young man of her village would have considered the most likely the most beautiful creature alive. A beautiful creature who at the moment looked rather odd as her face twisted in a scowl. "I'm not so very sure how much more of this travel I can take."

While she may have been beautiful, she was also apparently very delicate. Judging from her clothes she had come from a family with great wealth and likely she'd not so much as ever had to lift a finger in her life.

Biting slightly on the inside of her cheek to keep back the slight smile of amusement , Feiyan lifts her head to the sky as she speaks noting how very quickly night was drawing on them, "I should think we'd be stopping soon. It won't be safe to travel much longer."

They would be reaching the mountain paths soon, and they would be difficult enough to navigate through in the light much less the darkness.

[Carantathraiel]

With camp set up for the night the little band of bandits sat themselves around the tiny fire Rulitus had made, around it which he had then built a petty tent of hides, to hide its light and not give them away. He sat a bit farther back from the rest. He'd grown up in the desert, unlike the others, and could withstand the lower temperatures at night.

All of them were thick and muscular, their muscles the biggest things about them, as they had the brains of animals. Rulitus was different. He was in no was a genius, but he definitely had more brains than they did. And he was no skinny runt. He just wasn't as built as they were. Where he had come from, strength wasn't everything. Agility and stealth were what had kept him alive through most of his life.

Being the smallest, not to mention the newest member of this group made him the butt of plenty of jokes and assaults. But he didn't mind. They wouldn't harm him, not when they so obviously needed him. And the first chance he got he would escape them, find some skeleton of a city or town to live in until the war left the area.

He sat back now, braiding his blond hair for the night, listening to the abominations he was forced to deal with. They were laughing now about their conquests with women; how many, how many virgins, what their taste was, that sort of thing. Ruli didn't join in and even tried not to listen. Their voices irritated him and he just wanted the sun to vanish so they could run off and look for this eastern train.

"Oyo, Princess." Hax called over. Ruli looked from the corners of his eyes. Hax was perhaps the most animalistic of the bunch. You said run, he ran. You said kill, he killed. "Whens yer ball happenen, then?"

With a shrug, Ruli stood, pulling on his shirt. "I'll check."

He walked away from the fire and up the hill a ways. They were on the edge of the little mountain range, in what Estre had declared the perfect vantage point. And he was right, though Ruli wouldn't admit it to his face. Just below them was the trade road, often used by travelers and caravans. But about half a mile on the other side of their little hill was a less traveled road, where, should his caravan come through and they raid it, would lead them through the mountains, free of harassment.
Atop the hill, Ruli stared out, his crystal blue eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of movement.

Sure enough, there it was. He sighed and stretched. He would watch until they stopped to set up camp and then.... time to begin.

[Mieko]

It was with a sudden jolt that the cart they were in came to a halt. Enough so that Feiyan found herself jolted forward and had she not had such a firm hold on the side of it she may well have found herself flat on her face. Her brow creasing in a frown she glances over her shoulder toward the driver of the cart, "Couldn't you possibly have managed to stop a bit more gracefully.

Amused the man turns to her with a wry grin, clearly not concerned in the least. "Tell that to the horses."

His response only served to annoy the young woman further as she gets to her feet and follows the other young women off the cart, finding that climbing down was no simpler now than the first several times they'd had to even as they were assisted by one of the traders. A trader who was in no good mood himself as seemed evident by the tone of his voice as he took them one by one by the hand as they hopped down from the cart.

"You're lucky enough to be here, you ought not be complaining. Women of lesser means wouldn't have been able to have their father's secure them such a mode of escape."

"And such a luxurious mode," Mei mumbles under her breath as she uses her hands to brush off the dust from her skirts.

With a sneer the trader wanders off to another cart grabbing some bed rolls and taking one each tosses them in the direction of the women. "You'd best be getting yourself settled in for the night. We'll be off again at first light." And having said so he turns his back to them and stalks off to where the other men were starting to unpack one of the carts and set up camp.

Barely managing to catch the rolled up piece of cloth in her hands Mei stares at the man's back, crinkling her nose up in annoyance. "What about supper?"

"What about it?" He smirks over his shoulder not stopping as he continues on toward the other traders.

Mei's eyes widen, and she clutches the bedroll tightly. "You mean there's no supper?"

"Leave it Mei," Feiyan gives the other young woman a nudge with her elbow. " I do believe we'd not be pressing our luck. I'm sure they've rationed out the food as best they can for the day and it does rather seem we are in the middle of nowhere." And very calmly she goes to look for a spot near the camp to lay out her bedroll.

"But...they can't mean no supper..." Mei continues on, quickly scurrying after Feiyan."

"No Mei, I do believe they very well mean it." And while it didn't set well with her, really there was very little she could do about it. Though she hoped no supper meant that at the very least they'd be having breakfast.

[Carantathraiel]

High up on the hilltop Rulitus stood still as a tree, watching the campers move about like ants. His arms were folded across his chest and he chewed absently on his lips, his fingers over his mouth. His light blue eyes observed as the traders began to unpack their beds and rest the horses. But what caught his attention further was the women. There were quite a few of the in very fancy dresses, the likes of which he'd never seen before. Some Eastern fashion, he assumed.
The fact that the women weren't mentioned to him by his contact meant that they weren't on the roster. Which could only mean one thing;

They were valuable.

High above, he had a moment of hesitation. War or no war, these were women. But quick as that, his conscious was gone. Women or no women, this was war. Its all how you look at things.
"That it, then?" Estre asked, coming up behind Ruli, his stolen sword clinking against his studded leather pants. Rulu gave a silent nod as Estre took in the camp. "Women." He observed with a sick grin on his face.
"So you noticed, then." Rulitus retorted.
Ignoring him, Estre rubbed his broad chest. "They ought te make this very worth it. Why din you say there was women to be had?" He added with a smack at Ruli's arm.
"Didn't know."
The blond grunt sighed. "Well, lets get 'em goin. By the time we get there, half 'ems might be sleepin."

An hour later they were spaced out around the little camp, waiting for the signal to attack and take it.