@Ozzy Cross @Forsythe @Kumbaris @Searat

Shina watched in awe as Rudolph set fire to branches one by one. It always amazed her the extent of magic powers that certain races had, and how certain individuals were more powerful than others. What was magic? Where had it come from? These were questions she knew she'd never find the answers too, like the very air she breathed, it just existed. When Rudolph had finished his magic, he turned to the group and said that Thaddeus was very likely to be North East of where they were; but more importantly, that he was fighting? Someone called Nemnon. Why did that name stir something inside her, had she met him before, maybe he was someone Guan had mentioned in the past. Either way, this news made her feel uneasy.

What were they to do, if they went backwards and start looking for Thaddeus, who knows what they would run into. The meeting with the elves had already wasted time, as well as put them all at risk. And they hadn't even got halfway through the forest yet! Not only that, they had Thomas with them now, a young boy with almost no experience of the world, let alone fighting.

Shina turned to Rudolph.... 'What do you suggest we do wizard? We can't know what Thaddeus is dealing with right now, and after our run-in with the elves, we might not even get that far.... Her voice trailed off as Lapoo flew into her peripheral vision, flapping up and down and squeaking alot. But there were no enemies nearby. That was when she saw out of the corner of her eye, young Thomas had disappeared. Then from nowhere an elvish voice called from above and there was Thomas, held at knife point!

The group all looked stunned as the elf spoke to them; telling them that Thaddeus was going to fight this Nemnon and they all had to watch. Why them!? Why couldn't they have just got through without issue?! Shina felt her blood boil and her ears went back, mouth in a snarl...

'Don't you DARE HURT HIM!' Shina yelled, but felt unsure of the elf's intentions. The Elf shot her a glance, the dragon as well, and his knife got ever closer to Thomas' throat.

'"You will follow me now, to the battle grounds, once your friend falls to Nemnon your safety has been assured, you will watch."

With that, the group of elves had somehow caught up with them again and once more, they were trapped.

Shina felt a sting of tears in her eyes. She could almost feel Guan's spirit fading from her mind. But Thaddeus was her friend, and Thomas was just a boy.

The group followed the elves.

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Tags: @RedPandaGamer@Ozzy Cross@Kumbaris@Forsythe

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"I was hoping you had a plan of sorts. Been decades since I had to think like under time pressure like this." True enough the laid back and relaxing life of a cloistered scholar of Lorenstad had dulled his adventuring acumen. Then it seemed that Shina was distracted by her furry companion before panic set in her widened eyes. Thinking that the violent vegetation had decided it wanted a second round, Rudolph readied himself to a fight. But a voice called to them from the canopy, lo and behold a wild elf had called their attention. To make matters worse, the savage had captured the young boy and held the poor soul under threat of a sharpened blade. Shina yelled at the elf but instead of complying to her demands, the knife blade got closer to the boy's neck as the savage made his demands.

"Alright, alright! Just keep the knife away from the boy's neck." He cursed under his breath. Even Wild Elves should have some decency to not hold a young boy hostage. With little to no options left, they went unwillingly back to the Woods. All the way to the forsaken battleground where their Mesmer friend and Nemnon readied to clash blades.

@Ozzy Cross@Forsythe@RedPandaGamer@Searat

Yoshina should've seen it coming.

She should've told the group to perhaps go farther from the forest. The wild elven threat was still visible and all, but no, the Princess was too distracted with the small wonder of the Elven mage burning away all of his little sticks that she didn't sense the Wild Elves suddenly arriving and holding Thomas, apparently the Privateer's son, hostage. And then forcing everyone to watch a death match between the Privateer and person called Nemnon. She isn't sure who he is, but the way these Yosei talk about him, it seems like that he is their leader.

This would've been humiliating enough for Yoshina if there wasn't an extra bit of precaution these Yosei took on her. They only looked at her muscles and they decided that this woman is too dangerous to be left unattended, and decided to include some very thick ropes around her hands, body, and even legs. The sheer sight of seeing the Sangakuan Princess being bound like that is enough for her to feel immense shame, but the hobbling into the potential deathmatch was yet another pang into her conscience.

She will not leave the forest bound like some Wild Boar some hunters caught. No way, but unfortunately for now, hobbling and trying to keep pace with the group is all she can do. Of course the Elves took away her Naginata, much to her disapproval.

"Ugh. A Sangakuan Princess should not be bound like this." she commented on her predicament. "Shina, why did they tie me up and not you and your animal friend? The bonds on my chest are so tight I can barely breathe, and I can't move much. Ugh, this sucks."

To be honest, this reminded her of the (far too many) times she had been mistaken for someone else and treated like some prisoner or captive, she mentions the oubliette. But there are times where she was just bound by bandits, mistaken as some madwoman due to her dress and thrown into their equivalent of an asylum, being desired by some local noble and getting bound in a mansion as a result, and many, many other weird events during her travels. She always escaped though, much to her relief, and she will escape from this predicament again (or at least she hopes so). But she has no intention being bound like this and seeing Thaddeus die like that.

She would rather take the killing blow for him rather than watch helplessly like this.

@Kumbaris [@Serat] @Forsythe @Ozzy Cross

Shina watched as her companions were tied up and they were led through the forest. All the while feeling angry, helpless and generally annoyed with their situation. How could they have come so far just to be caught by this group of elves. Lapoo flew around her head, worried squeaks escaped her, but at least they hadn't tried to catch her...or worse. Lapoo sat on her shoulder. 'It's OK little buddy, we won't be here long...I hope'

The dense forest they had walked through had started to thin out, as they walked the could see the start of a clearing. Shina gasped as she saw so many faces surrounding what looked like a makeshift arena! And within it - stood a very tired Thaddeus and the man she knew must be Nemnon. It looked like they had already started their sparring, Thaddeus had wounds on his arms and blood on his face.

'Thaddeus!' Shina cried out. She also realised that his son must have seen his father in the ring.