Midori and Moore part 2

Seyn took a turn at driving, they turned south to travel along the coast road, and their course took them only a few hundred yards from the ocean.
Imira and Seyn grew more and more excited by the smell of the sea and the crashing of the waves.
“I’ve never seen the ocean! Can we stop for just a few minutes?” She chattered like a girl half her age.
Neither the Tracker nor the Catling answered and they kept on driving for the rest of the day and into the night, stopping for only a few minutes at a time to feed and water the oxen. A fire caught their attention the next night and they pulled off the road onto the white sand beach.
“Pirates?” Midori asked and flicked out his claws.
“Dunno- we should check it out.”  Hadrian pulled Deathcaster from its sheath.
They both vanished into the darkness only to return a few minutes later.
“They’re Black Cowrie!” Hadian almost shouted.
Seyn and Imira still looked concerned.
“They’re friends. They work for The Matriarch. We’re safe with them.” Midori answered and Seyn urged the oxen, confused by the white sand under their hooves, forward.
“Hello friends.” The Black Cowrie leader said as they all walked toward him.
Seyn looked him over, silently studying the curved sword at his side and the seashells woven into his dreadlocks.
Imira noted the swirling patterns on the man’s face and bare chest in the flickering firelight and she thought it must have been magic.
Hadrian didn’t react, he’d seen tattoos before, and a lot closer than this.
He thought fondly of a dark haired beauty who had danced for him a few years earlier, though he had sensed her sadness and hadn’t taken it any further Mellisende- I hope your husband knows how truly blest he is.
One of the other pirates put Midori’s necklace to his lips and meowed into it.  The Catling was amused rather than offended and ruffled his hair as he would a Mist Paw kitten’s fur.
Imira finally gathered the nerve to ask “Those marks- are they magic?”
The pirate smiled. “No. The marks tell the history of my family.”
She couldn’t help herself, she reached out to touch the man’s chest and the pirate smiled again.
“Stay with us tonight friends.” He swept an arm out to indicate their camp.
Moore laid Deathcaster at his side while he drank and talked with the pirate leader.
“What brings you here?” Moore asked, fighting to speak through his burning throat.  
“The Lady of the Shoals ordered us here, to raid along the coast and draw attention away from a rebel chief named Stiadon. We find the chief of this province lacking.”  
The Pirate grinned at Hadrian’s discomfort and downed another swig.
“The title is “prince” actually.”  The Tracker took another shot, trying to show him up.
The Pirate took another drink, coughed violently and recorked the bottle.
“You win. Doesn’t matter. His warriors are nothing to us, we have burned his ships and taken the spoils of his land with ease. Why are you here?”
“The Matriarch, the one you know as The Lady of The Shoals sent Midori and I to recover arms meant for Stiadon, one of his agents stole and sold them. We killed the traitor but need to recover the weapons- he sold them to a mercenary group called The Southern Wind, travelling to Jerrakon. We’re at least a week behind them.”  He told the truth for the first time, there was no reason to lie to friends.
The Pirate nodded “I will have one of my crews take you in the morning. We captured a cargo ship, there’s room enough for you, your oxen and your wagon. That’s for tomorrow. But for tonight please join us. May I dance with the lady?”
“You speak the Common Tongue well. She doesn’t like to be touched so you’ll need to ask her yourself. ”
The leader just nodded again. He stood and walked over to her, holding out his hand in a silent request.  She placed her hand in his and Hadrian watched them dance around the fire, saw Imira overcome her discomfort and actually enjoy herself.  Another taught Seyn an intricate kata and The Tracker nodded his approval.
He finished another bottle of stolen liquor and slept until the sun woke him. The party loaded everything aboard with pirate help and took to the sea. They sailed along the coast for a few days with the blessing of good weather and sunshine before pulling into a beach in the Southwest of Jerrakon.
Midori woke, Imira flushed as one of the pirates kissed her hand and everyone said their goodbyes.
“Next time you’re in Myre. Look me up- I know a place where the girls…” Moore chatted with the helmsman.
“Hadrian…” Midori growled a warning.
“Only joking Midori. Seyn- give me a hand here?”  Hadrian grinned.
They reloaded everything and headed ashore, they passed through a fishing village nearby and asked about the men they were tracking.
The villagers weren’t much help, they barely spoke the Common Tongue and no one present spoke their language.
“Midori- what do you smell?”  Moore asked.
“Just fish.”  The Catling stopped and inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent. “Making me hungry…”
He lost all restraint, charged a table full of their recent catch, grabbed a fish in both paws and tore into both of them.  The fishermen looked on in confusion and anger but Moore quickly slapped a coin down on the table, easily enough to buy some food for all of them.   The money defused the situation but the villagers caught a glimpse of one of his charms, a scrap of bone with a crow carved into it.  
The air itself seemed to grow cold and everyone felt the sudden tension.
Midori’s ears flicked back and he readied himself for a fight.  Seyn and Imira followed his lead, and placed their hands on their knives. Moore saw her go pale and suddenly knew something wasn’t right.  “The charm. Of course.  He lifted his arm, drew his knife and cut the leather string holding it to his wrist before dropping it into the dirt. Only Midori saw it vanish back into his open hand and back down his sleeve.  
The gesture, meant to show them they weren’t a threat, backfired.   One of them pulled their knife and charged him, screaming in rage and fear and his fellow fisherman followed him, waving their knives and hatchets. He whipped Deathcaster around and whispered the command, forcing the spirit image toward them and knocking the villagers flat. They stayed there and prayed for the gods’mercy.
“GO GO GO!” Hadrian yelled and clambered back into the wagon and everyone followed him, still holding their fish. Midori cracked the reigns and pushed the oxen into a dead run.
“What happened back there?”   He was as baffled as anyone else.
“They thought you were cursing them.” The Catling seemed to understand. “I saw you palm the Taanach charm. They didn’t.”
“That makes sense.”  The Tracker shrugged. “I just hope the money smoothed things over. Imira- that WAS magic.  I received Deathcaster from sorcerer after I saved his life in the sewers of Carde. Biggest rat I’ve ever seen, it must have been as big as an ox.”
“How does it work?” she asked.  
“Deathcaster was blessed by Taanach long ago. It traps the souls of my enemies and I can release them to attack any target I choose.”
“I know its simple illusion magic. I’ve seen it- there was one mage student with terrible skin, oily and disgusting.” She almost gagged at the terrible memory. “You’re a liar but at least you’re an entertaining one.”
“True.” He grudgingly admitted. “But the lie makes for a better story.”
“What other stories you got Hadrian?” Seyn asked and tried to forget what had just happened.
They kept moving and sought out one of the larger towns, reasoning that someone there would be more likely to help them.
“Bootiful ladee- you are the sshingle most sshtunning creature I have ever sheen…” A drunk called out in a heavily accented version of the Common Tongue, and four pairs of eyes quickly studied him.   He had darker skin than the rest of them and wore his black hair in a long ponytail, his clothes were worn but in good repair and they guessed, based on the style he was from either Qi’ba or the Threefold Kingdom. They were most concerned about the knife he carried.
The man wobbled up to them on unsteady legs. “I think I love yoo already…”
Imira took a few steps backward to hide behind Midori.
“Stop right there.”  Seyn drew his knife, Moore drew Deathcaster and Midori flicked out his claws.
“Pleeaz… I only want to shpeak to the Laadee…”
“After you sober up.”  Hadrian demanded.
“That’s fer T’mrrow… Share a drink with me friendz…”
“I think I will.” Hadrian visibly relaxed on seeing he wasn’t a threat and followed him to the nearby inn looking for any information.  The two of them downed pint after pint until the other man passed out and the owner left him drooling onto the bar. Hadrian wasn’t far behind but he lasted long enough to return to the wagon and fall asleep.
The other man walked over to them the next morning, fighting an obvious hangover.
“How are you still standing?”   There was shock and jealousy in his voice.
“I know how to hold my liquor.” Moore shrugged. “Who are you exactly?”
“I am Bilbiri.  The local apple brandy got the better of me once again.  I’m from the Northern coast of the Threefold Kingdom and I was a merchant sailor before my crew, tired of my love for drink left me behind. I took to wandering, repairing clothes, fences, gathering apples and the like.  My lady- allow me to apologize for anything I said or did yesterday.”
“You called me beautiful said I was the most stunning creature you’d ever seen. Not so bad really.”  She calmly replied.
“Friends- have you any need of another member in your party?”
Moore paused for a moment “What do you think Midori?”
The Catling froze and everyone could see him thinking “What’s one more? Welcome aboard.”
He purred his answer before asking “Imira, Seyn?”
“Alright by me.” Seyn answered
“As long as he keeps his hands to himself.”  Imira added.
“Wonderful! Where are we going?” Bilbiri pulled a flask from his clothes and took a drink.
“We’re on a mission from The Matriarch and we have no idea…”
“What mission?” Bilbiri asked and passed the flask over to Moore. He took a drink and was about to pass it to Seyn and Imira when he remembered and simply kept it.
“We’re tracking a buncha mercs, bought a buncha arms from a dead man, need ‘em back.”  Seyn answered.
“We know they were traveling through this country but a country is a big place.” Imira added.
“Sastia would make sense. There’s a new crop of lords looking for armies.” Midori noted.
Moore just looked at him, slightly annoyed that he hadn’t figured it out himself and the Catling shrugged.
“We hear things. The people of Sastia still sell Kinesia Stones. The Matriarch has tried to keep people from buying them since it’s led to nothing but suffering for the miners but no one’s listened.”
“So North then?” Bilbiri asked, eager to get out of town.
Something caught Hadrian’s attention and he wandered deeper into town without answering the question. They found themselves in the middle of a farmer’s market- merchants selling everything from chickens to furniture.
Hadrian picked up a doll made of multicolored cloth scraps with strands of died wool for hair.
“How much?”  He asked the old woman selling them.
“A doll? Is there something you haven’t told me?”  Imira demanded. She’d been with married men before but hated them for seeking her out and hated herself for rewarding their unfaithfulness. They always talked about their children while they cheated on their wives, seeing nothing ironic about it.
“It’s for the Matriarch’s daughter. Now I need to find something for her son.” Moore answered with an annoyed tone.
Midori’s eyes narrowed “You’re only doing this because you angered her.”  
“I’ve always liked children. So what if they’re the Matriarch’s?”  Moore paid far more than the old woman asked for and carried on.
Seyn calmly walked up behind Imira and placed a flower garland around her neck. She jumped and almost hit him but restrained herself.  
“Please don’t touch me…”She reminded him.
“Sorry Miss Imira…” He looked like a kicked puppy.
“It’s alright Seyn. I like flowers.”
Bilbiri stayed quiet and just wondered what he’d gotten himself into. He followed close behind as the party wandered through the streets, chatting with Imira, even daring to take her hand with her permission.
“Just like his mother’s.”  Hadrian commented on a carved wooden Suarian and placed it in a pouch on his belt with the doll. “We can go now.”
They stayed for another couple hours, ate a meal and bought provisions.  Bilbiri hid a few bottles of apple brandy in his clothes and no one but Hadrian saw.
They left town and headed down the path, stopping for the night in a small, narrow valley with a river flowing through it and parked the wagon underneath an outcropping of overhanging rocks.  
Midori didn’t trust the unstable looking cliff or the water. “I don’t like this…”
Hadrian had to agree. “Did you see the sky? It’s going to storm later.”
“That’s later.” Seyn said and pulled off his shirt “I’m takin’ a bath.”  He left his clothes on the bank and ran into the river.  
“I haven’t felt clean in a long time.” Imira commented, stripped off her own clothes and joined him.
Bilbiri just gawked for a moment mumbled “She’s beautiful.” and uncorked one of his new Brandy bottles.  
Hadrian grinned as Midori bristled, visibly uncomfortable with even the idea of swimming.
The Tracker and the Catling busied themselves with cooking instead.
The first flash of lightning woke them all just after midnight and their camp started to flood only minutes later.  Everyone snapped awake and piled into the wagon as the rain came down in sheets, soaking the canvas.
“How we doin’ this !?” Seyn shouted over the rolling thunder.
“We don’t have a choice! We need to cross and get back onto higher ground!”   Moore urged the terrified oxen into the flooded river.  
“Everyone hold on!”  
They were swept away almost instantly and the wagon flipped over.  The tongue broke off, they lost the oxen, and they all desperately reached for the wheels and pulled themselves onto the bottom, now the top of the wagon.   They bumped into a rock and the impact almost knocked them into the water. Moore reached for his belt to make sure everything was in place, and found something missing. He looked into the river and he didn’t hesitate to jump in.
“Hadrian!” Midori roared.
The Tracker struggled to fight the current, made so much worse by the armor he was wearing Bilbiri acted quickly and dove in after him.  
“Not the first time I’ve had to save a man who went overboard! I was a sailor remember!?”
“I had to save their presents!” Hadrian explained, almost screaming over the howling wind.
“Don’t scare me like that!” The Catling ordered.
They drifted like that for the rest of the night before hitting a rock and spinning out.  The rain stopped and they drifted ashore.  All five of them were soaked through, cold and miserable. Midori shook himself dry and his complaints failed to translate while the others pulled off their wet clothes and tried to recover whatever they could.
“We lost everything.” Bilbiri was the first to notice.  He grumbled something else and took a long drink.
“Not everything.” Moore tapped the sheath on his back and jingled the coin pouch on his belt.
They walked for hours, cold and hungry, squelching through muddy farmland until they crossed another small stream with a few tents and a half constructed hut on the other side.
A dozen ragged looking men with rectangular shields and long spears quickly formed into a shield wall and blocked their path.
“We are the Mossrock Farmer’s Militia- we’ll let you through if you make a donation to our cause.” The leader lowered his spear and jabbed it forward at them.  Imira paled, Bilbiri drew his knife and tried to prepare himself for death but Moore quickly took charge of the situation.
“I admire your dedication and your command of the Common Tongue but before we pay you- let me introduce you to my friend Deathcaster.”  
He leveled the blade again and blasted a nearby tree stump into splinters.  The leader’s face fell as soon as the dust cleared and the spears shook slightly.
“Maybe we should make a trade instead. Say three spears and shields for a fair price?” Moore asked and pulled the sword into a fighting stance to bargain from a position of strength.
One brief discussion later and they had what they asked for as well as a little more. Three spears, three shields, a hatchet and safe passage through their miniature kingdom.
They passed a large moss covered rock on their way. “Not real creative.”  Seyn commented when they were out of hearing range.
“You should have bought some food…” Midori grumbled.
“I thought of that- that whole camp stank of mildew and decay… Like a wet cellar, you think they had anything worth eating?”
“Spent a lot of time in wet cellars?” Midori asked in a mocking tone.
“I saved her from a group of street thugs one night and escorted her home but still her father forbid me from seeing her the next or any night after that. I was smitten so broke into the cellar and waited for hours until he went to sleep. She found me, we kissed and then she took my hand to lead me to her bedroom…”
Imira shot him an angry glance and Midori flicked his claws out to shut him up.
“You’re right- not a story for a lady’s ears.”  He acted as though nothing had happened.
They let hunger drive them and walked on through the rest of the day, carrying their shields over their backs and using the spears as walking sticks.   Bilbiri emptied a bottle and simply cast it aside without looking.  
Everyone heard something crunch and everyone but Midori readied themselves for another fight.
“You stupid…!” His last word was a Catling slur that didn’t translate and sat down to pull glass from his paw.
They all took a few moments to stop and rest, Imira helped the Catling as best she could and Moore finished his story.
“Was she as pretty as Miss Imira?” Seyn whispered.
“No one is.” Bilbiri noted. “A pity her life took the course it did. The Lady would make a good wife for some fortunate man but who will marry her now that he’s gone?”  
Imira overheard it all but said nothing, going so far as to refuse to speak to them for the rest of the day.
“Miss Imira did we do somethin’ wrong?” Seyn took her hand to help her across a patch of rough ground but she slapped it away and glared at him.
They stumbled into a village built in and around clumps of trees.
“Who are you and what do you want?”  One of the villagers demanded and lowered his shovel, trying to be threatening.
“I’m Hadrian Moore, this is Midori of the Mist Paw Pride Seyn and Imira and this is Bilbiri from the Threefold Kingdom. We’re tracking a band of mercenaries who burned Imira’s village and killed Seyn’s family. We saved Bilbiri from an angry bear.” He lied smoothly.
Seyn played along- he looked down and pretended to hold back tears.
The Village Elder hobbled up on his staff. “Have you ever tracked any Trolls? There’s one in the area harassing our flocks. Kill it or drive it away and we’ll help you.”
“Sir- may we stay here for the night?” Bilbiri asked and bowed.
“Please- we also need water.”  Hadrian asked
The Elder thought for a moment. “So long as you track the Troll first thing in the morning. Do I have your promise on that?”
“Yes.”   He spoke for the group.
“Then you may stay, and you are welcome to use our well.”  
“Thank you.” Hadrian’s gratitude was genuine.
They sat in the shade of the trees and drank their fill and filled several bottles and water skins before Midori climbed a tree and the rest of them crammed themselves into an empty hut meant for two people at most.  Imira found herself with no good options, whichever bed she chose she would have to share it with one of the men in the party.  She chose Hadrian, he had at least been kind to her and hadn’t touched her since.
“At least I’m wearing clothes this time.” She sighed and complained “Hadrian- why did you agree to kill a Troll without talking to us about it?”
“It was the only way to get water and a place to stay tonight. What’s wrong Imira? You liked it last time...” He gently teased her about their sleeping arrangements.
“Just go to sleep…”  She snarled at him and rolled over.
“I don’t even get a bedtime story?”
Seyn and Bilbiri tried not to laugh.
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Hadrian woke with the sunrise.  He gently removed Imira’s arms from his waist and climbed out of the narrow bed.
“Come back to bed Sondim… The children are still asleep.”  She murmured and he felt a sudden burst of sadness.
“I’m sure he loved you.”  He whispered in her ear and she snapped awake.
“What are you doing!?”   She screamed and woke the other two, who leapt out of bed and drew their knives.
The Tracker didn’t answer and just told her. “It’s time to go.”
They picked up their spears and shields and headed out to nearest pasture with the sun rising behind them.  The Troll had made itself easy to track and they followed the obvious trail of ripped up grass and sheep bones to a nearby hill with a wide cave mouth. They arrived and found Midori already waiting for them.
“We can do this.” Moore ran to the cave, threw a large rock inside and then pulled Deathcaster from his back.  Midori smelled everyone’s fear and he flicked out his claws as they all lowered their spears and pulled their shields up to defend themselves.
They all heard the echo of heavy footsteps and the Troll, angered at being awoken thundered out into the sunlight.  It drew itself up to his full height, easily nine feet, shook its flint axe and roared.
The Tracker looked up and quickly changed his mind.
“We can’t do this! RUN!”
All of them turned and ran as fast as they could back toward the village and the Troll thundered along behind them.
“I had no idea they move that fast!”
“Less talking, more running!”
The Troll took a wild swing and the axe shattered against a tree.  Bilbiri took a large shard that ripped through his clothes and into his shoulder and he left a trail of blood behind him.
The party raced into the village a few minutes later and scattered a flock of chickens.
“Troll! Right behind us! Run!” Moore yelled and the Troll in question thundered into town, smashing into one of the houses on the way. The villagers quickly grabbed whatever they could, shovels, rakes, hatchets or whatever they had on hand.
The Troll threw the broken axe haft aside and looked for something to use a club,didn’t find it and settled on using his fists. Moore landed the first cut with Deathcaster, drawing blood from the Troll’s knuckles and an absolutely feral grin crossed his face.  The Troll looked stunned for a moment before roaring in pain and anger and lumbering forward again.
Midori saw an opportunity and ran around behind the Troll, leapt on its back clawed and slashed at any exposed flesh to draw blood. Bilbiri, eager to avenge himself, dodged a wild swing that ripped up the earth in front of him and stabbed into the Troll’s flank.  It lumbered around to respond to the new threat and plowed through a small single person hut. The others stabbed and cut at whatever target presented itself.  
Midori caught the knife Seyn tossed to him, quickly flipped it around and ripped it across the Troll’s exposed throat. It roared in pain once more and Midori exploited the shallow cuts, driving the knife hilt deep time and again.  The Troll reached up, pulled him off its back and threw him.  The Catling landed in the nearest tree and scrambled down the trunk. The Troll ripped the knife from its throat and just stared at it for a second as if amazed that something so small could do so much damage.
The Troll stumbled backwards and collapsed, landing on one of the other houses and rattled out a final breath.   Imira fought the urge to vomit again and everyone was deeply saddened by this turn of events.
Everyone except Hadrian Moore. “That’s done- now then. About our pay…”
“Pay you!? You destroyed three houses!” The Elder almost screamed at them
“If you can call them that…”
The Elder let the insult pass and just sighed “A deal is a deal- they passed this way four days ago, headed north to Sastia. They didn’t make any effort to hide their trail- a child could follow it.”
They and the villagers dragged the troll out to the nearest pasture to bury it and they quickly left to avoid their anger.   The Tracker and Catling found the faded hoof prints easily and followed the obvious trail for the rest of the day carrying their shields on their backs and using their spears as walking sticks once again.
They stopped for the night at a ruined farm house, with not much more than a couple of walls left.  They used the rotten timbers as kindling to restart the remnants of a campfire, Bilbiri repaired his shirt and Hadrian commented on their ongoing problem.
“We need food. Badly.”  
Midori took charge of the situation “I’m going hunting.”
“I’ll go with you.”  Imira volunteered, eager to get away from the men around her.
“You’ll only slow me down.” Midori answered and headed off into the distance.