Azara kept her attention on the path before them, making sure she didn’t miss any of the turns they needed to make. It was true that she wasn’t particularly interested in his life outside her general curiosity about people outside of her typical acquaintances. She didn’t have many interactions with people who weren’t either working for the king or a part of his court. He only slightly fell outside of the group, given his employment was far more flexible. Even with her curiosity, she was against asking him any questions until he showed signs of being comfortable with sharing anything. She may be a fairly distasteful individual, but she wasn’t going to throw questions at someone else when she’d despise someone doing the same to her. Being too curious had hardly done anyone any good, if anything it only caused problems. Even if she hadn’t been all too interested, she’d have preferred him sharing trying to get answers from her by sharing information himself, rather than needling her for a reaction. At least now he had some reaction from her, so with any hope he would leave her be.

“Sometime down this road we will come across a river that we will be crossing. I had planned to stop there and rest until there was enough light to better see where we are going as the route gets more complicated from there on.” She didn't like travelling at night either, she was constantly expecting to be attacked. Staying on edge only made everything else more difficult. That and she’d rather not be stuck on a horse forever. She could ride well enough, but she hardly ever rode for long distances like the journey before them. They’d need to rest at points anyways, as riding constantly without breaks would do them more harm than good. For now they were covering distance at a decent enough pace, though at his suggestion to trot she didn’t protest and nudged her mare faster.

She hadn’t actually expected him to divulge anything about himself, although the information wasn’t anything she couldn’t have guessed at. Hearing him say something other than a jab at her or a question about the journey gave her a better hint at who he was - rather than him simply being the assassin she had to accompany. His question was easy enough to answer, the information being nothing that needed to stay secret. “When I was young I started showing that I had the ability to do magic. People were quick to notice, and I was sent off to be a mage’s apprentice. Spent a while learning, then went off to work for a king. Been a little under a century since then, though I haven’t really been keeping track.” The words came easily, the same words she told just about every person that asked her the same question. It was the truth, at least part of it, but he didn’t need to know more. She didn’t like to think about her past, much less telling it to someone else. She hadn’t revealed any more than that to the Prince either, but then again he’d never asked. She hated to dwell on the past, though she always ended up doing so. Particularly if the past was unpleasant.

“I could’ve ended up as an assassin if I didn’t get sent off to that mage. There's really only two routes when your magic is earth based, killing or healing. Being a healer is a little too boring.” She wasn’t quite sure why she continued to speak, but she didn’t stop herself. If anything maybe it would encourage Erik to open up more. She wasn’t bothering to block her curiosity for the time being, deciding it was only fair if she bothered him with questions as well. Even then, she wasn’t quite sure what to ask. Getting too personal would only backfire, she didn’t want to ward off another round of questions about her personal relationships. Her interests currently lay in figuring out how much trust she could risk placing in him, given they couldn’t really complete this job without having some trust in the other. Currently she was more likely to never trust him given his irritating interest in her personal matters, but she still wanted to attempt to not dislike him as much as she currently did.

“If you’d had the choice, what job would you have preferred?” It was an innocent enough question, and it would give her a better idea of who he was, rather than him simply being an irritating assassin. It shouldn’t be able to backfire on her as much as other questions she could ask, leaving her to prepare an answer if he did in fact ask the question of her as well. Deciding an answer seemed to be far more difficult than she’d predicted, unsure what she woud’ve ended up doing if she hadn’t become a mage. Maybe she could say she’d be a gardener or farmer, except he’d probably find some way to use that against her. Why would she want to live the lowly life of a gardener or a farmer when her life was currently filled with wealth and power? The simplest answer was that she was tired. Tired of playing word games and always sacrificing what she wanted because it hindered someone with more power than her. She had hoped she wouldn’t have to deal with all that when she went on this expedition, instead finding that she wasn’t even able to drop her guard for more than a fraction of a second. Always worrying about how others would respond to her words, how her words would influence how someone saw her. It was tiring, every word out her mouth needing to be well thought over. “I think I would’ve preferred a job with fewer rules, though I suppose that's a bit of a stretch. Maybe simply working for a lord of a small town, at least then it’d be a little less thankless.” She failed to hide her bitter tone, deciding she didn’t care if he noticed her displeasure. That was one thing that separated the two of them. He seemed more at terms with his situation, while she still held decade old resentment that hardly did her any good.

Erik had to learn how to become used to governing himself, so it felt unusual letting Azara make most of the decisions without any contest from him. Most of the time when he was out doing his job, his employer wanted a specific thing. It couldn’t just be any death. However, not very deep inside of him, he was the meek boy that his father challenged, so it was easy for him to fall back into following the more dominant personality. The tension that had been tightening in his stomach relaxed now that he could agree with her decision. As he wasn’t the best rider, he wanted all the advantages on his side before he tried fording the river.

When she began to talk about herself, he listened closely while trying not to look like he was listening. He didn’t look at her, and he had slightly more trouble with his horse than he had before. What more was she hiding? Apparently, she had over a hundred years of life experiences to hide and not mention. It could be dreary or intriguing. When she continued to speak beyond his question, he began to brace himself for a question. It wasn’t a good sign that she found killing interesting and healing boring. He was an assassin, and he of all people considered it a bad sign. Was she trying to connect on a personal level with him here?

Trying to give himself more time to think, he did the awkward chuckle, “You know, I’ve never been asked that or given it any real thought.” He bit off admitting that when he was younger, he had focused on concentrating on retaining his father’s approval and surviving, or that his father had been a powerful man, so he had to do what he wanted his son to do. He almost admitted that he just wanted a loving family, but that was way too personal. He kept on trying to search his mind for anything, even if it was a complete lie that he had only thought of once, just now. When he was thinking, he looked at no one. Finished, he darted a glance her way, but found it rather pointless. His horse started drifting in the direction he was looking, and it was dark so he couldn’t see her well. With an awkward smile that hinted he was mentioning the first thing that passed through his brain, he said, “Maybe a poet or musician. I like music, but I’m not sure how hard it is. I also have always liked kitchens, so maybe a baker.” He liked to watch people in a warm safe place eating together, fellowshipping. The sound of music was alluring, and it was entrancing the way different sounds could evoke different emotions. Those jobs both seemed like they would be full of luxury and ease.

He assumed that Azara wanted to be a mage. She had a better life than she probably could have had previously, and she would have had more choice in the matter than he had. “Did you want to become a mage? Was it your choice?” He double checked to make sure his deductions weren’t wrong. He wished he had kept that to himself, when she answered the question that she had asked him. It gave more information than he had asked about. He smirked at her, “Being an assassin doesn’t get a lot of thanks either.” He noted her bitterness, but thought it was wiser to keep his observation to himself. He was tempted to note that she could very well be hanging out with an assassin if she was serving someone lower down in the hierarchy regardless, but something about her bitterness told him that hanging out with him wasn’t the main point of her bitterness. “I think you might get bored, if you weren’t in the job you are in now,” he suggested. If killing was more interesting than healing, her abilities probably wouldn’t be used as much.

He didn’t believe he would ever have a chance to escape the life he was in. It was the one skill he had been taught, and the only way he would leave it was if he was forced to because he became a criminal. Very few people knew that he was protected by his royal family. Although his sister cared about him enough to try to keep him alive, she still called upon him for favors from time to time. Impulsively, he blurted, “What do you think you could see me doing besides being an assassin? Did my alternative ideas surprise you?”

Remembering that he liked to know the plans ahead of time as soon as possible, he changed the topic. “When we get to the creek, I suppose we won’t be able to have a fire, and we’ll just roll up on the ground?” He wanted the instructions beforehand, so they could do it promptly. “Also are we keeping watches?” Was she willing to trust him that much? He could hear water gurgling, and he was relieved that they were getting close. His posterior was rather sore, and his legs were a little tired.

It would take them a while to become toned for this type of exercise. Perhaps all of this riding would improve that skill. He was also huffing a little, after moving at the faster speed. He began to pull his pony's reins, so they could begin to slow down. "I hope I get over being sore soon," he grumbled as he dismounted, and took a look around. His pony had moved some, while he dismounted, and he was thankful to be on still ground once more. He began to march around looking for a nice dry area, that wouldn't be in full view of anyone who came by, to lay down for the rest of the darkness. He was reminded again of how he hated traveling and constantly being dirty and smelly.

Azara found his job ideas intriguing. She seemed to have expected something different, though she wasn’t exactly sure what. It was a bit difficult for her to imagine him in a bakery baking bread or playing music in a tavern or in a city square. Then again, she hardly knew enough about him to have any answers of her own. She snorted in response to his question, a reaction that even surprised her. “If you had to choose between dealing with self-centered fools or having a chance at interacting with a more interesting lot, which do you think you’d choose? Sure, being a mage was appealing at first. Who doesn’t want a life where you actually hold some power over the world? The appeal just wears off real fast.” For whatever reason she was starting to find the conversation pleasant, even if it seemed all she was doing was complaining. To be fair, it was what she was most used to hearing in conversation. Spoiled children of nobles complaining about not getting what they wanted or something not living up to their expectations. She’d probably been one, though she could hardly remember enough about her childhood to know for certain.

She only gave a shrug to his suggestion, though she doubted he could see the gesture. “Can’t be any more boring than what I do now. Nothing really happens besides the usual drama. This is probably the most exciting thing that's happened for many years.” People were hardly diverse in the courts. Everyone was practically the same, though they always acted as if they were different. All they wanted was power, some would even claim they wanted power for the sake of the people. That wealth and power never really went anywhere though. She had to admit she was the same, at least partially, as she’d been so eager to be a mage so that she’d have power. It had seemed like a perfect life to young her, now it was just a curse and a blessing combined. She stuck with it because some part of her hoped it would change, hope that she wanted to bury away despite never actually doing so.

His blurted questions startled her, leaving her uncertain how to answer. Had she been surprised? It was fair to say she hadn’t expected his answers. At the same time, she hadn’t really expected anything at all. She wasn’t quite sure how to respond, furrowing her brows in thought. It was a situation where she wasn’t sure whether to be honest or to not be completely truthful, deciding it was probably best to try and stay as honest as she could be. “I… suppose I was surprised. I hadn’t quite thought of you being the type to be interested in those jobs. Doesn’t mean I couldn’t see you in them, its just not quite what I expected, if that makes sense.” She was hesitant with her words, trying to say the right thing and not sure if she was. “As for whether I had any ideas as to what your answer would have been, I don’t believe I really did.” She still wasn’t quite sure if she said what she’d been intending to say, giving a quick glance in his direction, though she wasn’t able to really read his expression. Questions of that sort were ones she was fairly clueless when answering. He seemed like he wanted a specific response, but she wasn’t sure what he wanted, nor did she know if she’d responded the way he’d hoped. Normally she’d either ignore a question of that nature or give it a bland response, but that wouldn’t result in anything good.

“You would be correct. As for doing watches, it's probably smartest if we sleep in shifts.” Azara nodded, pleased to hear the sounds of the river. She didn’t like the idea of sleeping whilst someone else watched over her, particularly someone she didn’t know too well, but she was even less fond of having her throat slit in her sleep. That didn’t mean she trusted the assassin enough to not do the same, but she had hope that it wasn’t in his interests. She wasn’t fond of the idea of sleeping in the mud and dirt, but they really didn’t have any other options. Sleeping in a town meant they’d be spotted, and too many people would be curious about a halfling traveling with a woman who didn’t quite fit in amongst most of the common people. Attention was certainly the last thing they wanted. She focused her worries elsewhere as they reached the water, dismounting less gracefully than she’d hoped, only just now noticing the soreness in her muscles. She watched as he marched off in search of some area to rest, deciding a moment later that it would be a quicker process if they both looked.

She hitched her mare up to a young tree a short distance from a dry spot once they had chosen one, not trusting the mare not to run off. After doing so she stretched, pulling her arms up over her head and briefly forgetting that she was in the company of someone else. She hardly reacted upon remembering that she wasn’t alone, turning her attention back to Erik. “I would like to take the first watch, if that is okay with you.” It was a bit easier to see now, with the trees spaced a little further apart than before, and the faint light of the moon managing to get in. “I promise I won’t do anything to you whilst you sleep, if that is a worry of yours. I’m not the type to turn people into frogs or whatnot.” She gave the smallest smile, making an attempt at some sort of joke. Humor wasn’t really her strong suit, least not in a manner that wasn’t offensive in some way. She wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t like the idea, though she didn’t quite trust him enough to not just disappear the first chance he got. He’d seemed as appalled to the idea of working with another as she’d been, though she hardly knew if his opinion had changed. If he ran off she couldn’t blame him, though it would lead to an irritating course of events in response to that action.

“Power. I’m not sure why anyone really cares.” He stopped himself from going farther, but life would be much easier if people simply enjoyed the little things like good warm food and friendly faces. He found it hard to believe that being in her position was boring. Surely, there was always new news to react to. Surely, she could travel around if she wanted to see something different. There must be hundreds of ways she could spend her day, so that she wouldn’t become bored. She had so many opportunities to learn. At the very least there were all of those foods she could try.

He nodded noncommittally at her response to him. That wasn’t a surprising response, and it wasn’t unexpected that she thought that since she didn’t know him well. He had been curious how much she thought of him only as a murderer. Did she believe that he could actually take on such a normal job?

Unsure if he should be relieved that she agreed about shifts, he kept silent for the moment. He supposed that at least Azara would slit his throat quickly, if it came to that. Anyone else, and they might want to play or torture him to figure out where he stowed his valuables. He was curious how much trust she would really put in him. For all she knew he had been commissioned to end her life, and had taken this job to make it easier. While he did serve one ruler, he also did a lot of things to keep others appeased and himself employed. Either way, he decided that at this moment, the risk of her wanting to get rid of him wasn't enough for him not to go to sleep. “Very kind of you.” He dipped his head in a nonverbal thanks.

He smiled instinctively, because some part of him realized that she was trying to make a joke. While he didn’t find it amusing in the slightest, (other than how bad she was at it and the fact that she had made an effort at all) naturally, he wouldn’t want to offend her. He smirked at her joke, as his brain came up with a response. “I suppose I should be grateful. While being a frog would be more terrifying than a quick death, for you, it would leave this place spotless, so I can see the benefits of turning me into a frog.” She might be able to joke about turning him into a frog, but he couldn’t joke about his skill set.

“Maybe during my shift, you’ll wake up to a nice hot breakfast, or perhaps the smoke might attract some bandits, or perhaps I'll be smart enough to not be lured by the temptations of hot fresh food,” he shrugged. Perhaps she would get poisoned eating something he prepared. Perhaps the bandits would all be dead and blood would fill the clearing. Those were jokes similar to hers, that he assumed she wouldn’t find funny, so he left them unsaid.

He was about to lay down, since he was too lazy to unpack. However, he was reminded of when his father had had a tutor (he had been an assassin, teaching him the trade) beat him for not taking care of the animal before himself. He took off the saddle, and he pulled out a halter, so that the horse would be more comfortable. He wasn't a good rider, but if push came to shove, he would manage bareback if they had to leave in a hurry.

He put the saddle where he wanted his head, and he pulled out his cloak. He left the blanket in the saddle bag not wanting to pull out more than was necessary. He put the saddle bags he wanted beside him just in case he had to jump up and run. Hopefully, they would provide a barrier to some of the creatures that were in the forest who would scurry over him. Gently, he led the horse a little ways a way where he could picket the pony. Heading back to his bed, he flopped down. While he was laying there, he opened his mouth and almost began complaining about how filthy he was already. However, he remembered to shut his mouth, because she wouldn’t care at all.

"Is there anything to eat?" he asked instead. He wasn't hungry enough to begin complaining, but it seemed to be the logical action to take at this time. He had some in his bag, but he was content for now to let her tell them when to do things. Now that he was comfortable, he realized that he should have taken a break to relieve himself first. After he returned from doing his business, he stumbled back to his sleeping area and rolled onto his back. He shrugged, as she volunteered, seeing no reason to argue with her. “Try not to knock yourself out.” He flopped around for a bit before stilling. He hoped the frog option wasn’t something she was actually considering this early in the game.

He had decided a while ago that he wouldn't leave until he knew who the target was. He might want that person to be dead, and be happy to do the job. On the other hand, he might not care if the person was dead, and kill them so that he would have resources to support himself for a while longer. Another reason he would leave was if his life was in danger. While he was thinking before he went to sleep, he whispered loudly, "Um...." and then thought better of it and closed his mouth, "never mind." He didn't want her to know that he had been wondering who was paying for all of the supplies to get to the place they were going to. If the person who was hiring was, then that was a good few weeks to a month of being fed for free, although he didn't care for the accomodations on the way.

Finally, he began drifting off to sleep. He jerked upright and pulled a knife out of the sheath by his side, when a horse gave off a loud noise. (He had many more concealed in various places.) He had come to listen to animals to alert him of unwanted human presences. Relieved to find that he was uninjured and relatively in the same position as he had been when he went to bed, he looked around for Azara. How was he supposed to address her? Was she still okay? Was it about his turn?

“Perhaps, perhaps not.” She wasn’t particularly interested in his words besides deciding whether there was some idle threat she wasn’t picking up on. Her attempt at a joke had utterly failed, the outcome she’d expected. As for his words about breakfast, she wasn’t quite sure if there was some point he was trying to get across. Part of her felt it to be some sort of threat, unless it was his own joke of sorts and she was understanding how poor of a joke hers had been. She was one to both be good at and quite awful at conversations, so it really could be either.

Azara decided to sit at the base of a tree a short distance from where he chose to rest, watching as he moved about untacking his pony and creating an area for himself. It was probably wise for her to do the same, except she didn’t feel quite as pressured to do so at that very moment. Sleep wasn’t much of a concern of hers at the moment. She hardly slept much under normal circumstances, expecting no different from this situation. Even if she wanted to sleep she suspected she’d have some difficulty at least today, given she was far from used to sleeping on the bare ground. It would take some getting used to, just like everything else.

“There are some dried goods in my saddlebags, nothing fancy.” She spoke rather offhandedly, giving little thought to the question. “If you want anything fresh you're going to have to wait till we pass by a town or hunt something yourself.” Food wasn’t on her mind, though at most she was trying to prepare herself to get used to living a different way than usual. It was a strange idea, never expecting to have to readjust. Either it was going to go well or it wouldn’t, and she wasn’t quite sure which was a more likely option at this point in time. She’d probably make a fool of herself. She never really left the castle, usually staying within the walls or on occasion straying outside. Trips like this were a rare occasion, she could only recall a few spare occasions when similar trips had occurred.

For someone bored of doing the same thing on repeat, she wasn’t excited to be doing something new. Of the few occasions when she did travel, they hardly meant anything good. Most were so she could be a prize - a fancy gem who made impossible things happen and gave the old man an excuse to brag. She had loved the attention when she was younger, now it was simply another lie. She still took full advantage of such occasions, though she no longer cared to impress people. Why people found her so fascinating was alien to her. There were stronger mages than her out there, and there were bound to be more after she was dead. She hardly even used her magic for much more than making plants grow faster. Most of her skill was in brewing, a talent any normal person could learn if they wanted to.

She waited until she was sure he had fallen asleep, then a bit longer, listening for the change in his breathing. She needed to get out of the dress unless she only wanted to deal with more challenges, though changing in the middle of a forest was even more unappealing. Her movements were quiet as she slipped away from the clearing to her mare, then searched for a spot where the undergrowth was denser. Being in men’s clothing felt quite odd to her, not used to the fabric of her clothing staying so close to her form. It almost felt wrong, except she did quite like how much more movement she had without the extra fabric a dress had. Not that she expected to be doing anything that involved needing to have that range of movement. But if it ever came to her needing to run, she’d be quite capable of doing so.

Little time was wasted as she returned to the clearing, or moreso to her mare, starting to remove her tack and setting them aside to make a makeshift bed out of. About halfway through the process she was greeted by a cold blade to her neck as some grabbed her from behind, her movements immediately freezing upon contact. Her mare whinnied a panicked noise, shying away from the stranger who had grabbed Azara. In contrast, the mage appeared calm, buying time until she thought of a way to get herself free. Magic seemed the most plausible choice given she couldn’t reach her dagger with her hands pinned back, though she’d hardly ever used her magic to attack. “If you’re looking for valuables, you will be sorely disappointed.” She tried to move her head, only resulting in the blade pressing more firmly against her neck and drawing a thin line of blood.

“I think you are wrong, girl, else you wouldn’t be dressed like a man.” Azara certainly didn’t recognize the man’s voice, though she hadn’t expected to. He was some bandit on the road, deciding to take advantage of a pair of travelers whilst they slept. It didn’t matter if she somehow knew him, his fate was going to be the same.

She wasn’t going to let him, his talking only distracting him from anything else, particularly what she was doing. She didn’t need to move to use her magic, focusing on growing vines up around his feet and directing them to wrap around his form. He hardly seemed to notice, going off into some sort of monologue about what he’d do. He surely did notice the vines when he tried to move and failed, firmly rooted to the ground, then as the vines wrapped around his neck and began to cut off his airflow. He dropped the knife as soon as he realised what was happening, clawing at the vines until he stilled. Azara paid little attention to the now deceased bandit, bending down to grab his dagger. If anything at least she now had a second weapon in case another attack occurred.

She could hear movement in the direction of the clearing, almost like a struggle, figuring the bandit’s friends had decided to go for her companion. Maybe it would be wise to head over immediately, but she was certain the assassin could handle himself against a few untrained thieves. For now she was rather impressed by what she managed, the bandits limp form lifted off the ground by the vines. She could feel the toll forcing the rapid growth had taken, deciding she was glad she didn’t choose to move a tree instead. It wasn’t something she could perform frequently, but she was glad for the reassurance that being able to protect herself didn’t rely completely on her ability to fight. She supposed that was the point of magic, so that some people had alternatives. By now she was sure it was a good idea to check on Erik, in case he wasn’t doing as well as she thought.

Erik nodded his head not realizing that hunting food was an option, but agreed that it made sense. He wasn't planning on hunting in the darkness or foraging in the undergrowth where anything poisonous could lurk, so he dug around for a light night snack. He took a very small portion. It was only enough to keep his stomach from growling just in case he had to do any hiding and sneaking around later. Traveling was a pattern that was familiar to him, but normally he traveled by himself. When he journeyed by himself, he preferred not to have a horse, because hardly anyone would notice him unless they were looking for him. He often found it cheaper to sleep on the ground or in an unsavory bed that he probably shared with little pests.

Although the ground was damper than he preferred, he found it fairly easy to go to sleep. When he woke up, he jerked into an alert position, as he realized something was out of the ordinary. His body automatically was getting ready to aim a knife at someone and was tense and alert. He realized he believed he heard voices in the distance. If it were bandits they weren't very smart to alert him to their presence. His brow furrowed, as he was a little worried about a group of unknown hostiles. He was trained to hide in the darkness and cause confusion, fear and kill one person and escape, not deal with multiple people who he had to match for skill.

He became aware of three shapes coming at him. He was immediately on his feet, one of his knives going their way, knowing it shouldn't be anyone he didn't want to hurt. Instead of running away, he charged towards them, hoping to catch them by surprise. He knew better than to turn his back on them. They were startled by one of their three falling on the ground dead, bleeding out, and a very short guy was charging them. While they were hesitating and fumbling with their weapons, Erik jabbed one of them. The man could live for a little while if he kept the knife in, but Erik didn't want to take any chances that he would be able to wander around without their knowledge, so he heartlessly pulled it out. Turning his attention to the third, he decided that he would only stun him. He wanted answers. After a quick scuffle which Erik won, he was laying on the ground with a large bruise on his forehead. He would be out long enough for Erik and Azara to deal with anyone else. Luckily, the enemy hadn't been expecting him to be trained so it made them much easier to defeat.

He began to go looking for Azara. Now that he had time to think, he began to believe there was a good chance he would have to start this job over again with someone else, and that something had happened to her, because he hadn’t really had a warning. Where was she? He wasn’t sure if he wanted to go back to the castle. Anyone would be very annoyed and suspicious if a murderer showed up by himself without his supervisor. He had another knife raised prepared to kill anymore bandits. Seeing an unfamiliar form in the gloom, he almost launched the dagger in that direction before he realized that it was Azara probably coming to check on him.

He felt a little quivery at the mistake he had almost made, and was still uptight from being attacked while he had been sleeping. "What are you doing?" he spit out, releasing some of his tension. Reining himself in, so he could have a reasonable explanation, he realized why he was so bothered. "I thought you were another bandit. I could have killed you, it's so dark out. What are you doing in pants? Were you paying attention?" How had she been taken off guard? Was she less skilled than he had first thought? In his rush, he didn’t make the connection for her that with her pants she had a different silhouette which had thrown him off.

He quieted slightly when he saw the dead man, and realized he needed to calm down. In a normal tone, he sounded rather conversational instead of like he had been giving a worried lecture, "I see you can make some nice restraints. I have a guy that I wondered if you wanted one of us to question, or I can kill him. I thought it might be good to know if they are just merely bandits, and if there are more coming after us.” She might be able to think of even more useful information. “I think I was so small in the darkness they might have assumed I was a child," he shrugged, because he always had a theory but no proof. They hadn’t attacked him very quickly, so he believed they might have underestimated him. “If we question him, I think you should. It will be scarier. Magic tends to have that effect on people.” He would prefer to get that over with quickly. Besides, he had to admit, not many people found him intimidating. “Although I just killed two bandits, people still don’t take me seriously.” He wasn’t sure which the man would find more persuasive: small male assassin, or a female mage.

He took a moment to look her over, realizing he hadn’t shown any concern. He doubted she expected him to, but he would have to take that into account if they had to make a run for it, because there were more around. He hadn't noticed any limping, so she didn't seem injured. "Are you okay?" he finally asked, as he couldn't see anything significant in the gloom. When he headed back to the other bandit, he went around double checking that the others were dead. He didn't want any more surprises. "I don't think I knocked him out too badly. Dipping him in water ought to wake him." He looked around and was reminded of the horses. “I’ll saddle the horses if you watch him, or we can do it vice versa.” They needed to be ready to get a move on.

He began to gather up his belongings and it took him a little while to get everything back on his horse. Since his horse was a pony, and skittish from all of the unexpected commotion during his sleeping hours, he tried to play games making the process take longer than it should have. When he was finished he returned to the last living bandit so that Azara could decide if she wanted Erik to pack her stuff, or if she wanted Erik to watch over the bandit.

Azara began her way back to the clearing, cautious in case another bandit popped out of the shadows. A bandit never travelled alone, and even though some had apparently attacked Erik, she doubted that was all of them. The struggle ended far too quickly for it to have been a large group that came for them, and she wouldn’t have had to only fight off one. This turn of events hardly did her any good, leaving her particularly annoyed. Chances were they’d have to leave soon, leaving her without a chance at sleep. She could get by, probably by using one of the herbs or potions she’d brought, though she hardly ever used any of them to stay awake. With this any hope she’d had of nothing going wrong in this trip was long gone, though it was pointless to hope for such a thing anyways. Bandits were bound to happen at some point. They were nuisances that targeted travellers, and as they were travellers themselves, they would have been attacked eventually. She was quick to spot the figure of her companion once reaching the clearing, about to let him know it was her, but was met with his less than friendly words before she could.

During his rant she was silent, eyes narrowing as she grew increasingly irritated. “Killing a man, that’s what I was doing. Though I suppose you see that as easy.” She hissed, trying to refrain from letting her growing anger loose. “You were the one who thought the dress was ill-suited for travelling, I was only trying to fix my own mistake. Not my fault some bandits jumped us moments later, nor that you mistook me for one.” She was nearly seething, cutting herself off before she continued saying whatever words came to mind. Part of her had been tempted to lash out a remark about how he’d probably be glad if he accidentally killed her, free from the watch of the oh-so-useless mage. Later on she’d probably regret her words, though she wasn’t thinking of that possibility at the moment.

She waited till he started to calm down to do the same, letting him speak and waiting a moment after to put some thought into her words. Despite how quick she was to anger, she wasn’t usually one to hold grudges and typically let bygones be bygones. “Since we have him alive, we might as well make the most of it and get what answers we can out of him. Who knows, he could have something valuable to say.” She spoke rather dryly, trying to keep emotion from her voice as she’d already shown more than enough. For a moment she paused, putting additional thought into the matter of who would do the interrogating. “As for who questions him, you killed more of his friends than I did, so you’d probably be the better option. I know I’d be more scared of the one I saw kill two of my friends than the other one. Besides, I doubt he’ll be tempted to provide answers if I threaten him with plants.” She didn’t add that the bandit probably wouldn’t find her scary without a demonstration, and she wasn’t up to putting in the effort to scare him when it was already unlikely he knew anything useful.

After a moment she went to turn away, pausing at the words of concern. She lightly touched the cut, finding little more than dried blood and slightly damaged skin. “I’m fine, nothing more than a scratch.” She continued her path away, giving him distance as he went about checking whether the bodies were actually dead. While she found no point in doing so, certain that the bandits couldn’t possibly be alive. They’d hardly put up much of a fight when they were alive, it was unlikely that one would have managed to stay alive. She hardly put any thought into his question, already moving towards the one living bandit. “I’ll watch him first.” She crouched down, peering at the bandit. He certainly wasn’t an intimidating fellow, probably why he was a part of a group and not working alone. The bruise on his head looked quite awful, he’d probably be quite out of it when he came to.

With some concentration she got vines to grow up from the ground and wrap around the bandits arms and legs, binding them together so he wouldn’t be able to move should he awaken before they were ready. She took her dagger and cut the vines connections to the ground so they could move him if needed. With a sigh she fell back on the ground, sitting with her legs stretched out before her as she waited for Erik to be done with his horse. While he took a long time, she hardly minded waiting. It gave her time to think, deciding how to avoid events like this happening in the future. The safest bet was to stay at inns, but there would be nights when they were too far from any town to take refuge in one for the night. Sleeping on the ground may be safer if they were deeper in a forest rather than alongside a river, figuring the only reason the bandits got them was because they chose to rest near a crossing point. The rest of the bandits were probably camped somewhere else alongside the shore, or deeper in the trees.

She arose as he returned from tacking his pony, stretching to loosen her muscles. “Your turn to watch him then.” She shrugged, walking off to where she left her mare. The horse was fairly calm despite being beside Azara when the first of the bandits appeared. Though she did spook when Azara got there, probably expecting her to be another bandit. The mare was quick to calm however when she made it clear she wasn’t a bandit, and she went about tacking the mare. It was a quick process, given the mare had only been partially untacked, and she led the mare closer to where they were with the bandit in case they ended up needing to run. She held little interest in what would come from interrogating the bandit. At best she guessed he’d tell them that there were more of them and they stumbled across them by accident, that there was nothing more to this encounter besides chance. This attack being intentional was a very slim possibility, though she wasn’t against making sure it wasn’t anything more than a chance encounter.

Azara kept guard a few paces from the ongoing interrogation, her back against a tree, irritation still firmly cemented in her expression. She was annoyed that she was even irritated, and thus her frustration refused to go away. She was turning out to be quite useless, wasn’t she? Even her attempts at being useful seemed to only cause more problems. The realization didn’t quite help her already crumbling ego, though it had been falling apart long before this task. Perhaps she should just leave the targets information with the assassin and go hide out in some town until the target was dead, then return telling lies of a successful mission completed with her aid. No one would know, and if the assassin said anything, they wouldn’t believe him. Even thinking about doing so hardly did her any good, her focus returning to the conversation between Erik and the bandit.

She found herself unnerved by the bandits nonchalance, knowing it either meant something was about to go very wrong, or he was just as dumb as a rock. Given his estimate of the number of bandits in his group she settled for the prior, deciding to put more effort on keeping watch. She wasn’t quite sure what to think of the bandits words, trying to decide whether what he was saying was true or not. Perhaps he was just trying to scare them, perhaps he just didn’t care. She believed that they didn’t recognize them, not many people would recognize her unless they were a noble or was hired by one, and she doubted Erik was that well known. Though she wasn’t quite sure how she’d looked rich. Was it the horse? She’d attempted to look more civilian, though maybe her clothes were too clean. There were numerous ways they could have thought she was rich, and she wasn’t quite sure if anything she’d did had really looked that way.

When Erik killed the bandit she simply watched, showing little reaction to the action. “Enough. He was either bluffing or being cocky, and I doubt it really matters which it was. Better to just be prepared for the worst case scenario just in case.” She moved away from the tree, her head tilting to the side as she gave the corpse a quick look over to see if anything on him seemed of interest. She wasn’t surprised that there was nothing, figuring anything of value or significance would be at the bandit camp with the rest of the hoard. It was almost tempting to see what loot the bandits had simply out of curiosity, though doing so went against what they needed to do.

At the mention of poison she became more intrigued by the conversation, forgetting about any of her previous frustrations. Handing poison to someone she didn’t quite get along with seemed counterproductive, but getting rid of a chunk of the bandits so they wouldn’t chase after them was a good idea. “You could do that, though it could be more risky than rewarding.” She pondered over it a moment longer, trying to come to a decision quickly. “Might as well, least we wouldn’t have to worry about them coming after us. Always best to have one less thing to worry about.”

With that said she stepped away, moving to her mare’s side and reaching into one of the saddlebags, pulling out a vial with a clear liquid. She returned to Erik and offered the vial, watching him closely as she did. “It will take long enough to start affecting them that most of them should get it in their system before anyone starts dying.” Perhaps she shouldn’t be handing him poison that could kill her if he chose to use it on her, though she chose to trust that he wasn’t going to kill her. If he wanted to kill her he would, and she figured he could do it any time. Whether or not she gave the poison to him would not change whether he ended up killing her, so there was no use in worrying about it.

She didn’t consider whether the task could bring harm to the assassin, deciding to assume he was capable enough to be fine. It was his idea after all, if he was worried about his own life then she figured he wouldn't have suggested it. She stepped away after the vial was taken from her hand, refusing to put any more thought into the situation. “Shall we be going then? Unless you want to wait here until the rest of the bandits find us.” She fixed her gaze on the light bouncing across the waves in the river, trying to gauge how deep the water was. Doing so was a meaningless task, for it was too dark to tell how deep it was.

Soon after she moved back to her mare, grabbing the reins and leading the mare closer to the river. She’d fallen silent, listening for noises in the trees. It was a bit too late for her to even bother keeping watch for danger as she’d already proven that she was a failure at that. She definitely wasn’t trying to make up for her failure, feeling like trying to fix any of her mistakes was a mistake in itself. Not long after Erik grabbed his pony did she pull herself into the saddle, not wanting to waste anymore time. She’d nudged the mare in the direction of the river, preparing to cross, although wary. There was a reason she’d wanted to cross during the day, worried the water level was higher to normal and thus would make crossing difficult.

Erik looked between himself and Azara and could easily see why the bandit believed she was a noble. Her clothes were well made and pristine, while his were full of tatters and holes that had been patched. He was covered in dirt, and she only had scuffs of dirt on her from fighting bandits. Although his horse was from the royal stables, it was obvious that the pony wasn't highly valued. The pony wasn't near as nicely groomed as Azara's horse.

Erik was rather impressed by the bandit's nonchalance. It was hard to be brave and continue talking. It was hard enough even if you kept your mouth shut, but he thought it was a little bit easier that way. He watched her waiting for her answer. At first he thought she was going to say no, but then she handed him a vial. He tried to hold back his small smile. "They'll be chasing us either way. At least this way we can knock some of them out." He nodded his head, agreeing that they should be escaping. "You ago ahead with the horses. I'll catch up." He was going to have to get soaked, and he wasn't the strongest swimmer. He handed her the reins. His pony would be too loud, and quite the giveaway.

"See you soon," he began to duck into the shadows. He followed the way the bandit had seemed to indicate where his band was. Eventually, he smelled smoke alerting him to their presence. He was careful to become even quieter, as he drew near. He began to look around for food to put the poison in. He wasn't sure if he could put it into hot food, as it might cook out the potency. Finding some already cooked bread, he sprinkled a little liquid before looking for other places. He wasn’t sure what the most effective place to put it would be. He realised he should look for water. Finding some jars of water he sprinkled in the poison. As he stood up, he turned and noticed a raggedy young bandit staring at him. “What are you doing?”

Erik slid out a dagger and moved quickly stabbing the young man. The man made a sound, and he pulled him out of sight. He knew he had to make this look like he was here for something else than poisoning them. He picked the few coins that were in the young boy’s pockets. He stole a few more belongings on his way out towards the river. Behind him, he heard loud yelling and realised that someone must have noticed their coins were gone or found the body. He began to quicken his step, depending on the river to mask his noise.

He plunged into the river shouting for help. He hoped that Azara was in earshot, because otherwise he was doing something reallys stupid. However, he could feel that the river would get deep enough where he would have to swim, and he needed her help. He didn’t yell her name, as the bandits didn’t need to know her identity. He wasn’t the type to think that he was dying and then tattle on everyone else and get them killed. Unfortunately, he didn’t think that more than half of them would be poisoned, which could go two ways. Either they would be angry and out for revenge, or they would fear them and leave him alone. It was hard to tell how brainless these types of people would be. They often seemed to be constantly angry, which left them without any sense. If he survived this part of their early adventure, he wasn’t looking forward to evading pursuers until they got to their destination.

He turned noticing that a few of them had bows. If he stopped yelling, they might not notice where he was. They weren't able to see him well anyway. He took another step and his head plunged under the water, and he was swept away. Before his head went under, he squealed and the archers hurried to aim toward the noise. He struggled to get his head back above the surface trying to spit and cough out the water that he had inhaled. He was just in time to get his arm stabbed with an arrow, which caused him to intake more water. The arrow was totally by random chance, as none of the archers were particularly talented at hitting moving targets under any type of pressure.

He could only think about not drowning and the stabbing throbbing pain in his arm. He continued to kick his legs, but he was about to give up. This must be the clumsiest job he had ever tried to complete. Dimly, part of him was embarrassed at the results. He had learned that he wasn’t going to do anymore impromptu killing, as apparently his idea wasn’t very good. He certainly wasn’t doing anything where he had to swim. When he stopped struggling for a direction besides up, the current slammed him against a rock near the other side. He feebly climbed further up the wet slippery rock, so he wasn’t swept away. He waited hoping that Azara would eventually come to help him. He had no idea if he was close enough to where she would be able to help him or figure out where he was. Would she be able to get out here, or was the water too deep?

(Thanks for getting one out. Sorry that this isn’t the best. Wasn’t sure what to do)