"[color=#2EFEF7]... and may His Holiness guide you through my words to peace forevermore.[/color]"

Having finished, Heike hung his head, emotionally drained. It was his final goodbye to his former squad, their last rites. While they may have followed a different faith from him in life, it was as much for his own peace as theirs. A small repayment for not being able to save their lives, for being weak and imprisoned instead of fighting to his final breath.

He suspected though, that breath wasn't too far off.

The shame of his predicament burned through him. It was true that he certainly wasn't the most masculine man around, and that he had grown his hair long the last few years, and that voice wasn't ever the deepest in the world, and that his name was unisex, and that...

He shook his head violently before the thoughts could continue. The point was; the situation was utterly ridiculous! These bandits actually thought he was a woman, and it was the only reason he was still alive. He knew the reason why of course, and the thought of it quickly turned his anger into boiling rage, and he steeled himself to continue with his escape attempted. Furiously, he worked to loosed the ropes that bound him to a pole in the center of the bandits' camp. He only had one assigned guard, and he was too busy taking a piss at the moment to pay Heike any mind.

If he could just get loose... At least he could claw one of their eyes out before the inevitable happened. An escape would be impossible at this point, especially with all ten of them chasing him. He refused to be the only one who died without a struggle though!
Just as the rope began to loosen, his guard returned, giving him a lusty once-over. Heike cursed his luck, in more ways than one, and stalled his plan.

"[color=FACC2E]Heh, can't wait for a little [i]time off[/i] later, make all this guard duty worth it.[/color]"

Heike didn't even have time to spit on the man before another voice approached from behind him.

"[color=FF0000]You wouldn't need to waste time on guard duty to begin with if you'd just killed her.[/color]"

"[color=FACC2E]Oi! And what good would that have been? At least this way we can have some fun tonight, some nice reward for all that fightin'.[/color]"

The scowl that must have answered the man could be felt by their prisoner, even if he couldn't see it.

"[color=FF0000]I'm telling you, this bitch is more trouble than she's worth! You think a hole's worth all that hassle? She kicked and clawed and bit the entire way into camp![/color]"

"[color=FACC2E]Gwahaha! You're just sore because she poked you with that spear of her instead of it being the other way around. Me an' the other boys want the same chance you blew! 'Sides, you can cut the bitches throat after we're done with 'er if it means that much to you.[/color]"

The man behind her grunted, before leaving. Tension left Heike like water through a sieve, the man could have easily seen the struggle to escape and tighten the bonds, ruining all his work thus far. He noted his guard leering at him again, but strove to ignore it. Reacting badly would just result in a beating, and he needed his strength if he was going to get out of his bonds. As for reacting positively...
He shuddered visibly at the thought. His guard, taking offense at the clear message, spit on the ground and turned away.

"[color=FACC2E]Fucking bitch will be shivering later all right...[/color]"

More slowly than before, Heike tried to take advantage of the progress he had made earlier. He was so close! Maybe he could even sneak away, or knock out the guard without being noticed. He at least stood a chance then. Even disgraced, a shot at living through this ordeal was worth taking.

[i][color=#2EFEF7]Just a little... There![/color][/i]

It wasn't much, but he was sure that he could slip the rope over the top of the pole now, it wasn't much taller than he was. He steeled himself for what he was about to do, search for a rock to bash the guard's head in when another bandit ran into the camp, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"[color=FE642E][b]SQUAD OF THE KING'S BRATS APPROACHING! ANOTHER ONE! UP AND AT EM' BOOOOOOOYS![/b][/color]"

Heike sprang into action, ignoring the bandit that just ran past him, he focused on the guard who had just turned towards him. Taking advantage of the second of shock seeing his prisoner escaping gave him, Heike delivered a kick to the man's chest, toppling him over.
Then Heike ran for his life, quite literally.

His hands were bound, he had no weapons, no medical supplies, he would be slaughtered if they caught him, and surely enough he was only a few seconds ahead when more shouting erupted behind him.

"[color=FACC2E]Oi! The bitch is escaping, after 'er![/color]"

"[color=FF0000]Leave her you bloody idiot! She's unarmed! She'll be trapped in those mountains, we'll take care of her after the blokes with [i]bloody weapons[/i]![/color]"

It was true, Heike was heading upwards towards the mountains the bandits had camped at the base of. At least that would give him some cover to hide in, maybe if they managed to finish off another of the King's squads Heike would be able to find his way around and escape before he was caught.

Then come back later, armed and ready to take revenge for his fallen friends.

However, he hadn't given up on this newest squad yet. It was hard to make out from the distance, but it appeared to be squad Quinque. He had heard they did extremely well on the first trial, and the thought filled him with hope.

The faces of his dead squadmates then filled his mind and forced him to grimace. They had all done very well on their first trial too, even making it through with no deaths. That had changed of course. At least the fight seemed fair for both sides this time, rather than the complete ambush Heike's squad had been lured into. Filled with determination to avenge his brothers once more, he climbed higher up the slope, hoping his voice would reach farther. If these people rescued him, maybe they would have an extra weapon. Maybe he could help them fight too.

"[b][color=#2EFEF7]HEEEEEY! TEN BANDITS IN TOTAL! I'M A SURVIVOR, HELP![/color][/b]"

He frowned as the echo of his own voice reached him, he really did sound like a damn woman. It also felt a little too much like begging. Perhaps it was exactly that.

Maybe they would rescue him in time, maybe not, but beggars can't be choosers.