The Riders of the Storm

"Let go..."

The monk replied to Kian's whispered question, keen senses having detected it as he walked closer. The monk had not intervened at the discovery of the thief, the sudden glow and manifestations around the chest momentarily awakening feelings of greed and intrigue. The monk had whispered a prayer to the kami and fortunes to ward of these insidious thoughts. Somewhere inside his mind Sahlall hissed and cursed. Eido placed a strange clawed hand upon Kian's shoulder, his soft spoken and melodious voice even in tone.

"Let go of this greed, that lock-box has brought you nothing but trouble and will continue to do so until the price of it's possession will be too steep to pay... I have walked your path once, coveting things of gold and ivory, tryng to still hunger with fine wine and "other" appetites of the flesh. it is a hunger that will never fade, you will never have enough regardless of what you throw in its gaping maw... Learn from this experience and simply

Let Go...

Or, be as the scorpion....and surrender to what you believe you are and drown in the waters of your own desires.... It is not my place to judge, either way... "The stairway of life leads both to the heavens and to the abyss...."


The monk walked further until he stood by the merchant's side.

"Heed my words, Merchant. That lock-box you took is as much yours as it is the thief's, Something dwells within it that you may not wish to uncover... You would do best to leave it in the cart near us where we may face whatever evil it contains. Better yet, you should part from it entirely... I doubt you will see wisdom in my words, I know you will find my words imprudent, foolish even... You have no obligation to listen to me but, one can not see if a tree grows without planting a seed...

He bowed his head, saving the merchant from the sight of his serpentine eyes, another bead passing through his fingers. He would slow down once more to walk next to the cart with the others in sient contemplation. Were his attempts to influence the situation to direct, would he not be like water? Was he not like fire, spreading through the grass. he had lived apart from this world for so long and it was calling up part from him he had forgotten. He inhaled and exhaled, finding his still mind, finding the present... A leaf in the wind...
 
Mako had been a little distracted by the conversation between the dwarf and the monk when she too got startled, like everyone else, at the sudden yelp of pain from the back of the caravan, but her emerald eyes momentarily shifted to the merchant instead, it was not like he could have missed that... Nope... he didn't miss it. The thief woman winced, she knew there was little that she could do for Kian now... but she could at least create a distraction or find another way to make sure the man wouldn't lose his life. Yamako rushed to the back and caught the end of the golden spectacle whirlwinding around the small lockbox. Emerald eyes widened, marveled at the sight. It was no magical trap like she had ever seen, so what was it? Just as Kian reached, it faded, like a dream, leaving everyone speechless.

When Haldemar approached, malice in his voice, greed in his eyes, Mako laid a hand on her blade handle. She drew it slowly out of her scabbard as the man pressed the tip of it on Kian's chest and took a position behind the merchant. She'd know men with that glint in their eyes and Yamako would not be a part to murder. It seemed to be a position shared by at least Kavya, which was a comforting thing. Luckily, Kian was more than a whimpering street rat and seemed to have some cards in his sleeve. It concerned her, though, that that madman merchant had been taking them on such a long and dangerous trip without actual knowledge on how to get where they needed to. What the hell was Huzal thinking getting her into this caravan?!

As the man got back on his horse, throwing a last few words to the elven rider, Mako looked the woman's way, then sheathing her sword fell back in with her companions, looking at Kian with a slight frown. Was that him upset about the man getting his lockbox? It couldn't be... he could easily get that back when time was convenient... Before she could say anything, the monk Eido voiced his thoughts and spewed more metaphors. Yamako found herself increasingly curious about the man with each tidbit about his life that surfaced in conversation and even more so at his strange clawed hand. Who is that man?

Her pleasant voice followed the man's wisdom after Eido moved to the front to speak with Haldemar. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"
 
Let go of this greed, that lock-box has brought you nothing but trouble and will continue to do so until the price of it's possession will be too steep to pay... I have walked your path once, coveting things of gold and ivory, trying to still hunger with fine wine and "other" appetites of the flesh. it is a hunger that will never fade, you will never have enough regardless of what you throw in its gaping maw... Learn from this experience and simply

Let Go...

Or, be as the scorpion....and surrender to what you believe you are and drown in the waters of your own desires.... It is not my place to judge, either way... "The stairway of life leads both to the heavens and to the abyss....


Kian glances towards Eido. Taking in the monk's form, Kian bows his head for a moment then looks back up. His sapphire eyes glint for a second, seemingly reflecting off the afternoon sun. "I never knew my parents," he begins. "My earliest memories were of watching gangs kill each other over petty, pointless arguments." There was no bitterness in Kian's smile. It was the genuine expression of one who had accepted his past and his origins. "I didn't have a mother. I had lots of mothers. And lots of fathers too for that matter. I learned, very early on as I watched them fight and die that life wasn't about greed and it wasn't about desires. They taught me, and they taught me well that this, all of this," he gestures around himself. "Its about survival. Its about doing what you have to do to get by. Its not glorious. Its not pretty, but it is what it is."

His eyes glint once more as he looks to the golden lockbox secreted in Haldemar's pocket. When he speaks again, it is in a lower voice to ensure that there weren't any unwelcome ears overhearing the conversation. "Its not about greed. Its about taking back what I'm owed, and I will take it back."

Eido heads upwards to go and speak to the merchant. As he leaves, the other girl comes up to speak with him. Smiling at her inquiry, Kian bows his head once more, "No. More my pride than anything else." Laughing softly, his eyes trail up to where Haldemar sat in conversation with Eido, blissfully unaware of the conversation taking place towards the back of the makeshift caravan. "Like I said, he can take the lockbox now, but as far as I'm concerned, he's only looking after it temporarily until I say otherwise." Sighing softly, he glances towards Mako, and his smile fades a little, "My more pressing concern is working out what I'm going to do when we get to the mountains. I may have been, shall we say, stretching the truth slightly. In all fairness, I never said I'd been through the mountain passes before, only that I'd guide you. I may have left the bit about me not knowing the way out."

He chuckles again, "I don't intend to get myself thrown off the side of a mountain though. I'll figure something out between now and the Katakoro's. What self-respecting merchant would set out on a trade anyway and not know the way. Idiot."

What Kian did not mention to her was that at the point when he picked the box up, he had felt something inside of it. For a single second, he had felt whatever was inside the box reach out and touch his mind. And in that second, Kian had seen.....he wasn't sure. The stars? A vast space? Infinity? Something ancient..... Shuddering slightly, Kian put the thought to one side. There was time enough to worry about later -- right now was what mattered more than anything else.

"I didn't have chance to thank you properly earlier Yamako. And rest assured...." the thief slid off the back of the wagon and he bowed to the girl with emerald eyes, "When we get the box back, we are going to be rich beyond our wildest dreams...."

***
Haldemar was at the front of the wagon. Holding the reins, he was about to spur the horses into movement when he heard the soft approach of the monk, Eido. Sighing, he cast his eyes up to the heavens for a second. There had been enough drama for one day. Glancing across to Eido, the merchant begins, "Same arrangements as before, even though we have one more now. One inside the wagon, the rest of you outside. Preferably NOT the thief." His eyes flicker over to Aza, "As for you, if your road takes you in our direction, keep away from the goods, until such point that we go our separate ways. Understand?"

Haldemar had been in this business for many many years. What had begun as a desire to see the Realms and visit places that he had never seen before had changed over the years. Haldemar had aged, and with age had come bitterness and resentment that he had not yet earned enough of a fortune to live out a comfortable life. Simply put, he was too old for this now, and he had hopes that this venture, of all of them, would prove to be profitable enough for him to give up the trade for good. He just wanted to get to Kara-Tur, get back and see all this out one last time.

Had he known how this was all going to unfold ultimately, then he would never have taken this expedition on.

Heed my words, Merchant. That lock-box you took is as much yours as it is the thief's, Something dwells within it that you may not wish to uncover... You would do best to leave it in the cart near us where we may face whatever evil it contains. Better yet, you should part from it entirely... I doubt you will see wisdom in my words, I know you will find my words imprudent, foolish even... You have no obligation to listen to me but, one can not see if a tree grows without planting a seed...

"What is it they say? That possession is nine-tenths of the law. I couldn't care less what is inside of it, or who ultimately gets the box, as long as I reckon to profit from it."

Haldemar draws the lockbox out. As he does so, those so attuned to such things might have felt something in the air. A slight dip in the temperature. A silence as the birdsong heard around them dissipated. A small, whispering chattering noise. It was so subtle as to perhaps cause those hearing it to doubt their sanity, but it was definitely there. Until he put the box back away in his pocket. Looking troubled for a second, Haldemar nevertheless shakes the feeling off and continues.

"I will sell it to the highest bidder. If all else fails then this will make me my profit if nothing else."

Considering the matter settled, Haldemar turns back to the horses. Spurring the reins, he kicks the wagon onwards.

***
Time passes. Afternoon slowly turns to evening. Overhead, the sun begins to fall in the sky.

Around them, the grasslands slowly begin to thin. The greenery becomes more and more sparse, to be replaced by barren, windy steppes. The temperature begins to drop -- there is a chill in the air. The wind whips dust up from the trail, often causing Kian and the others to raise their hands to protect their eyes from the dust particles thrown up from the wind. In the distance the looming spectre of the Katakoro Mountains gets ever closer and closer.

Finally, with the sky now a resplendent orange, Haldemar stops the horses. Jumping down, he approaches the others.

"It will be too dark soon to go further. We are better camping here. One of you build a fire whilst I check on my goods."


Glaring at Kian, Haldemar goes over to the back of the wagon and starts conducting an inventory.


As he did so, he was completely unaware of the pair of eyes watching him and the group concealed off the trail, in the distance.
 
Reptilian eyes took in the splendid magnificence of the sun sinking below the horizon, the barren windy stepped a cold landscape devoid of much in the way of life and joy...And yet Eido found it breathtaking. It was an area almost free from distraction and disturbance of mortal life... A still landscape where the wind danced with gravel and dust. The crisp cold air was numbing, making the monk a little sluggish as his body temperature started dropping. He turned away from the landscape, movements a little laboured. He'd start the fire not because of the merchant demand but to meet his own needs. Part of Eido found it almost comical that the merchant believed he had any hold over him with the promise of coin.

He set down his staff and brought his travelling sack to the fore, gathering some dried tinder, hay and flint. He readied these materials and left them on his things while he gathered wood; finally kneeling on the dirt and started working on the fire. Clawed hands started gathering stones and dug a litle hole where the fire pit would soon be burning, protected from the sweeping winds. The monk worked the simple task with an almost ritualistic humility, knelt on the earth, starting a simple fire. The monk began telling a fable, letting his soft spoke words and melodic voice be received by an audience or simply swept away by the uncaring winds.

Long ago, there lived a young man, called Lisheng, who had just married a beauty. The bride was very wilful. One day, she had an idea that a coat of fox fur would look pretty on her. So she asked her husband to get her one. But the coat was rare and too expensive. The helpless husband was forced to walk around on the hillside. Just at the moment, a fox was walking by. He lost no time to catch it by the tail. "Well, dear fox, let's make an agreement. Could you offer me a sheet of your skin? That isn't a big deal, is it?"

The fox was shocked at the request, but she replied calmly, "Well, my dear, that's easy. But let my tail go so that I can pull off the skin for you." So the delighted man let her free and waited for the skin. But the moment the fox got free, she ran away as quickly as she could into the forest....
 
Kavya listened to Kian's story with a heavy heart. Though the boy did not seem troubled, it always hurt her heart to hear the stories of those who had grown on the streets. She nodded her understanding at the comment about greed as opposed to the necessity of survival. That, as far as she was concerned, was what Eido had not understood. The certainty Kian seemed to hold about his 'rightful' ownership of the lockbox had her shaking her head, though. "No one is owed anything in this world," she cautioned the boy. "The surer you become of something, the easier you will find it slips through your fingers."

She was slightly unsettled that Haldemar did not know their path through the mountains, and even more so (though not surprised) to learn that Kian had been bluffing as well. Their journey surely faced peril when they came to the treacherous passes. She herself had traveled that way only once before, as she had left her home to join the Order, and even with an experienced caravan, the journey had been long and arduous. Kavya shuddered to think what it would be for their group when they reached that point. Not for the first time, she wondered what her purpose on this journey was. Was it really the gods' will? Or was she simply running from a guilt she did not know how to face? She turned her face away from the question. It didn't matter. All that mattered was getting through the job.

---

As Kavya helped gather firewood, she strayed slightly from the trail, to where there were more broken branches on the ground. Her movements slowed and then stopped as she felt the unsettling weight of eyes upon her back. When she glanced behind her, the caravan was still in sight through the trees, but only just. Carefully, she put down the wood she was carrying and pulled her handaxe from her belt. "Who's there?" she demanded of the darkening wilderness, sharp eyes scanning the surroundings for movement. "Name yourself."
 
Mako listened to Kian vaguely tell his tale silently. She knew all too well how it was to live on the streets, having spent most of her life there. Unlike Kian, she didn't feel like she was owed anything, so Yamako nodded in agreement with Kavya's statement. The thief woman took what she needed and sometimes what she wanted, and she kept living on, taking some comfort in making life less difficult on other orphans like her and on having a little fun making mischief here and there... until she pissed off the wrong folks. With a sigh, she hoped Huzal would continue helping the foster children she helped, even though they didn't truly know she was a part of their world.

As he leaves, the other girl comes up to speak with him. Smiling at her inquiry, Kian bows his head once more, "No. More my pride than anything else." Laughing softly, his eyes trail up to where Haldemar sat in conversation with Eido, blissfully unaware of the conversation taking place towards the back of the makeshift caravan. "Like I said, he can take the lockbox now, but as far as I'm concerned, he's only looking after it temporarily until I say otherwise." Sighing softly, he glances towards Mako, and his smile fades a little, "My more pressing concern is working out what I'm going to do when we get to the mountains. I may have been, shall we say, stretching the truth slightly. In all fairness, I never said I'd been through the mountain passes before, only that I'd guide you. I may have left the bit about me not knowing the way out."

He chuckles again, "I don't intend to get myself thrown off the side of a mountain though. I'll figure something out between now and the Katakoro's. What self-respecting merchant would set out on a trade anyway and not know the way. Idiot."

Yamako winced, but the White Fox in her got pretty angry. It was one thing to be guided by this idiot of a merchant, she hoped he had the plan of hiring a guide or something when reaching the mountains instead of wading into its trails blindly, but Kian... well, not the idiot of a merchant wasn't gonna think twice before entering the trails and she wasn't in the mood for dying from exposure after surviving so long in the ruthless streets of Shou Lung.

"Ugh, I wish you hadn't done that... now that buffoon is going to head into the mountains blindly and I'm going to be stuck with his idiotic self. I wouldn't have let him harm you, you know? Neither would the priestess there." She waved Kavya's way.

"I didn't have chance to thank you properly earlier Yamako. And rest assured...." the thief slid off the back of the wagon and he bowed to the girl with emerald eyes, "When we get the box back, we are going to be rich beyond our wildest dreams...."

Well, Mako wasn't about to say no to treasure, even if she always thought that a lot of wealth was more trouble than it was worth it. A nice home and a comfortable living, that was her sweet spot. Besides, she thinks she'd grow bored pretty quickly if she didn't have to steal anything any longer... what would she do with herself? Maybe Huzal was right, maybe it was time to explore the world. sounded like fun anyway.

"Well, you're welcome, Kian." She bowed back. "What is that box and where are you intending to sell it anyway?"

**********

Yamako had reached into her duffel bag and taken out her bulkier item: a soft leather robe lined with soft rabbit fur. It helped her weather the cold winds that whipped about as they left the comforts of the trees and sunny lands into the grey steppes, pulling the fluffy hood to cover her head and a woolen scarf to keep the dust from her mouth and nose, though at camp she lowered the hood and the scarf from her delicate features once again. She was certainly glad from these gifts from her friend, for Yamako hadn't really considered the cold, being too focused on having to leave Shou Lung and on the fact she was being hunter. White Fox was being hunted, not Yamako.

They were all tired by then, the monk was even growing rather sluggish, so the stop came at a blessed time... Building a fire in the wild was something she had never had to do and since Eido seemed to be content in doing so, Mako didn't bother with it, instead working on putting up a tent... a harder job than it looked since the thief had rarely had to do it. Kavya went off to help get firewood and Yamako looked at Kian and their elven tag-along while the greedy grouchy merchant did inventory.

"So... if someone helps me put up this tent, I'll cook a meal. And I cook well, so that-..."


Eido launched into yet another tale and Mako tried to digest the words. Was it about the greed of the silly wife? Or was it about the fox? The mentioning of fox made her shift uneasy, keenly aware of the large white fox tattoo on her back hidden in layers of clothes and armor. Was it about trusting the word of an untrustworthy creature? If so... was that about Kian? Monks and their riddle talk...
 
Azayla was fixated by the lockbox since it’s appearance, a small itch in the back of her skull starting up the moment the bright light had blinded her vision. She wondered if it was just her eyes recovering after the intrusive light, but even after the coloured dots had faded from her sight the nagging feeling in her gut persisted. Something about the ornament bothered her, making her skin crawl and feel too loose yet too tight at the same time. The elf’s interest was piqued and it was this factor alone that influenced her into following the caravan.
While the boy claimed to the merchant that he had knowledge of how to traverse the steep and treacherous mountain passes, her ears couldn’t help but pick up on the falseness behind the statement when the young boy spoke with the other woman. The elf shook her head, settling back into her saddle and trying to calm her suddenly unsettled nature and the bee in her bonnet about the golden item taken by Haldemar.

I smell trouble coming up and I wonder about whether or not I should part ways with the group while there is still god weather and a wide road to travel on….

She slowed even, ready to turn around and head in the opposite direction, when the image of the lockbox popped into her thoughts once more. It was almost calling to her, the secrets it might contain changing her mind all too quickly. The elf sighed softly, uncertain why she could not let the matter go.

Perhaps this is my intuition trying to guide me down the right path. I’ll listen to this gut-feeling and stick with them through the treacherous journey that lies ahead….at least until I can find an opportunity to examine that object more closely.

She spurred her dark stallion onward, the golden elf keeping pace with the wooden wagon easily until they stopped just as the scenery and weather was beginning to transform.
The leathery saddle creaked as the elf dismounted, retrieving a small blanket which she fastened around her horse before tying the animal loosely to a nearby tree. Although it was not obvious, she was watching all the strange members of the group quite carefully as they committed to an activity involved in making camp. Aza pulled out a fur-lined cloak, the grey hairs matching the white-blue of her eyes as she buckled the clothing over her shoulder and around her frame to ward off the growing chill. After watching for a moment longer, she opted to assist the human female with her tent because of the vaguely-unsuccessful attempt to hide her perplexing expression at attempting the task.

“Need a hand?” She asked, not being condescending but rather helpful as she tightened one of the slightly slack roped that had been placed into the frosty ground. She looked to Yamako with a soft expression, the corners of her mouth lifting in a friendly smile.

@Maeriel
 
Kian flashes that mischievous grin towards Kayva. "Perhaps," he begins. Looking over to where Haldemar was still doing an inventory of the caravan, he eyes up the lockbox, with the corner still sticking up out of the man's pocket and visible to the covetous sapphire eyes of the thief. "Maybe our friend merchant will find that out firsthand. I don't necessarily believe in being owed. I just believe...."

Kian takes a step towards Haldemar, perhaps looking to liberate the lockbox there and then. His words hang in the air. ".....what goes around comes around. Perhaps I was brought here to live in poverty for the first part of my life so I could live in luxurious wealth in the next."

Haldemar completed his inventory, evidently satisfied that everything that was supposed to be there was still there. Climbing out of the back of the wagon he glares at Kian, who had stopped in his tracks and now was maintaining a pose of innocence. As he made his way to the front of the wagon, Kian pouts for a second at the thought of the lost lockbox, before resolving inwardly to take it at the next opportune moment.

In the meantime, Eido started to build a firepit. As he did so, he begun to tell another fable, that of Lisheng and the fox. Kian thinks about it for a moment as he turns and begins walking back towards Mako. Stopping halfway, he turns back to face the monk, scratching his chin thoughtfully.
"It's a proverb right? Do not trust the word of a stranger?"

He began to help Mako put up the tent along with Aza. As he did so, there was a small sparkle in his eyes. He seemed unusually energetic, if a bit hesitant and uncertain. It soon became apparent that Kian had never put up a tent before, in fact he didn't even know how to begin assembling one. "Well, in all fairness, this will be one of the first times I've ever slept under shelter," he said in a slightly wounded tone of voice. Haldemar simply harrumphed at that and looked away from the thief with an expression of disgust.

As they continue to work (slowly) on putting the tent up, Kian speaks to Mako,
"Hey, don't worry about the mountains ok? I won't get us lost," he winks at her. "There's always a plan b you know. As for the box....I don't know what's inside, but given the number of soldiers they had guarding it, it's got to be valuable."

His eyes flicker over to the golden lockbox still secreted inside Haldemar's pocket covetously. Then he moves them back to Mako. "Where do you come from anyway?"

His gaze takes in Aza,
"And you stranger? I bet you have loads of interesting stories to tell."

***
"Who's there?" she demanded of the darkening wilderness, sharp eyes scanning the surroundings for movement. "Name yourself."

The woman steps forward out of the shadows. There was an almost otherworldly beauty about her, with long flowing white hair that trails behind her in the slight breeze that drifts in the night air. A tan complexion and her features reveal her eastern heritage. She wears a long flowing robe of lavender.

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She bows her head and speaks. Her voice is both lilted and exotic.

"My greetings fair traveller. I mean you no harm. Would you allow me to join you next to the warm fire you offer? There is a chill in the air this night"

She bows her head respectfully and folds her arm awaiting Kavya's response.
 
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Kavya relaxed some, lowering her weapon though not fully putting it away. She studied the woman for a moment, taking in her strange, exotic features before bowing slightly in return. "I see not the harm," she answered. "What is your name, friend? And where do you travel? You cannot be from this part of the land, by your voice. I am Kavya of the Dulkazar, cleric of Galadir... and I am far from my home as well."

While it was prudent to be wary on the road, Kavya was was sure that if needed, her group would be able to defend themselves against a lone traveler. And it was not in her nature to deny someone in need a simple comfort, especially when doing so cost her nothing. Based on what she knew of her traveling companions, she expected they would feel the same.
 
Mako smiled at Azayla as she offered to help, tying a loose rope the thief hadn't done properly. She chuckled a bit and nodded at the beautiful woman with the exotic facial tattoos. "Thank you, I appreciate it. I have done this only a few times and I mostly had help. What is it that you are looking for? If you don't ask me too many questions about it, I might be able to tell you where such an item might end up when unsavory types try to sell it away..." Truth be told, she was often one of the 'unsavory' types, but it was a genuine offer, White Fox knew plenty fences and black markets in the area.

Yamako tried to help Kian with the hooks and ropes, but mostly followed Aza's example. The statement that he hadn't had shelter to sleep under was one she knew all too well, in the city it was harder than one would think to find a roof to be under and comfort was all but a dream to warm you at night. She offered him a slight smile and then said. "Well, you're in luck then, this tent is big enough and I have an extra blanket."

Oblivious to the exchange going on a little ways away between Kavya and the white-haired stranger, Yamako offered their 'guide' a wink back, glad at least he was showing signs he'd not ditch them all to freeze to death lost in the mountain passes. To his question, only the faintest sign of a smile on her exotic features flashed, emerald eyes looking down, suddenly very 'focused' on what she was doing with her hands.

"Well... I spent the first few years of my life in an orphanage in Tai Tung, but I'm not sure that's where I'm from. I'm from all over the place, I guess, well... all over Shou Lung, at least. This is the first time I leave." She was glad for the shift of focus to Azayla and curious to know more about the mysterious elf, she hadn't met many in her life and spoken very little to those she met, elves had keen senses and White Fox's disguise as a male seemed to always pique their interest somehow. Such wouldn't be an issue right now...

@MJK2431 @Valen @Scalerender
 
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