Before any of the others could strip, Endisha was already entering the trees near her side of the clearing. She walked briskly away, smiling slightly as she listened to the music she could still barely hear as she arrived at a small cove at the edge of the lake. No one should be able to find her without going the long way around the edge of the lake to find the cove. She scrubbed herself to clean any dirt or blood off before getting out and dressing once more in the clothes made to be worn underneath a light leather armor. The clothing was light and she was slightly damp so it seemed to cling slightly to
As she finished dressing, the girl grabbed her outer shirt and looked it over carefully. She quickly realized the arm that had been bit was probably going to take some work to repair. With a small sigh she started washing her outer clothes. After doing that she hung them up on a nearby branch and sat down near the water to try re-wrapping her arm. It was while she was doing this that she heard a man's voice greet her.
She jumped slightly dropping the end of the wrapping that she had been holding in her mouth to try making sure the wrapping was tight. Turning slightly she saw the bounty hunter grinning at her from where the trees stopped. She glanced around at the other trees and gave one area to her right of Casus a small glare before smiling at him and saying, “Well, I'm not anyone notable in history. And unlike you, I grew up in these woods and they are my home. Not many come here without being invited by one of the people who live here. Now that you've seen I'm alright, I'm sure you're mind is set at ease and you can head back to the others, unless you came here for reasons that are less honorable than the one you stated...” She trailed off slightly teasingly before picking up the bandage and trying to re tighten it up.
Casus smiled and replied calmly, "And does my history suggest I'd do such a thing, Miss Endisha? Especially when you can stun a swarm of ferocious draline bears!" He placed the cigar back in his mouth as he moved towards Endisha and gently took hold of her wounded arm while he swatted her other hand away and helped wrap her wound, noticing a few herbs along the cut. As he finished, he pulled away and let out a cloud of smoke.
"Actually, ma'am, I'd like to ask about this final member. Can you tell me why he or she hasn't already met up with us?"
She gave him a smile and said with a chuckle, “Well... Your history.... You would have maybe a little less than a dozen years ago... But now, no you don't go out of your way to try getting glimpses of unclothed women. And I didn't stun a swarm of Draline bears. It was two. And they were paralyzed, not stunned, that means they were still aware of us and what went on around them. I couldn't have held them for long either, just the one for about an hour or a little more. That's why I had Mr. Masozi kill the one he injured even though they are becoming more rare.” Endisha frowned slightly as he swatted her hand away before shaking her head with a small smile. “Oh yes, I do believe you called them mythical creatures. They aren't. They're just rare.”
She examined her arm's wrapping with a critical eye. “You did good. Thank-you for your help. As for why the one we're to meet hasn't come to us. He's a bit of a hermit. He has almost no guests and lives with two others. Even the Watchers don't visit him ever even though he was once one of us.”
"Of course I did good, ma'am. I do it all the time in the field," Casus chuckled and added a wink. "So this man we're picking up is a hermit? Don't like guests or his buddies don't? If he wants to go on a journey, he'd need to leave his house anyways. And are we picking up his two- wait, he was one of you guys?"
When asked to clarify that unknown man was once a Watcher, Endisha's smile faded ever so slightly before coming back, just as strongly, “Yes he was once a Watcher. He.. decided to leave that path long ago. As for liking guests. Well, back when he first went to live with these two, he very much enjoyed people's company. That may have changed over the years though. The two he is with won't be coming. Don't worry about that.” She got up and busied herself with repacking the leftovers from her bandage before heading to her over clothes and feeling if they were mostly dry or not. She wrinkled her nose slightly when she noticed they were not dry yet and pulled the pants down to start waving them gently in the air to increase airflow and drying speed.
"I wasn't aware watchers could just leave. Wouldn't that risk revealin' the organization?" Casus asked as he walked with her to her clothing, checking them idly. "y'know, there's a fire that the tusker made. You can dry up your clothes over there. Much quicker than wavin' them around like your tryin' to start a signal fire."
“Mr. Casus, we're an organization set up to protect all creatures on the planet in our own way. How could we insure that people were trying to do that if we kept people within our group that don't want to be part of us. We have ways of neutralizing threats to our organization if we believe there is one, but we don't often call on those methods.” She spoke with a kindly smile playing at her lips. “As for the fire...” she glanced down at her clothes. “These clothes were really made to be worn underneath armor so they aren't what I prefer to be seen in. The clothes are almost dry enough anyway. If I air them a few more minutes they'll be good enough to wear.”
"If I may be so bold, ma'am, you don't got anything to hide. You look good and your clothes don't show anything a girl such as yourself may find distasteful," the bounty hunter chuckled."But if you so desire." With that, he lifted the nearest article of clothing and began flapping it in the wind as Endisha was doing herself.
The color rose slightly to Endisha's face as James complemented both her and her clothes. She shook her head silently with a small smile that was both embarrassed and a little proud. Her eyes held a hint of a look like she should have expected something like that from the man standing next to her.
Casus only grinned, as he noticed her blush out of the corner of his eyes. Yeah, she is cute. I can deal with being in a group of two cute women, I suppose. Casus puffed on his cigar before he felt the current article of clothing for dryness. Upon satisfaction, he folded it up and placed it on a nearby stump. "So tell me, Endisha. Why are you going to deprive us of your wonderful presence?"
“I have other work to do. And I don't become directly involved in the lives of anyone outside of the Watchers without them either threatening the Watchers somehow or it's time to gather a group to fight something that will cause great trouble for the world. You could say it's like a vow I've taken to belong to the Watchers. I will be involved in finding more information to help you all find the trouble and defeat it. Also my partner and I am in charge of making sure our deals are carried out for everyone involved in the group.” Her smile and face grew thoughtful as she talked of her other duties. When James folded the clothes he held, Endisha examined the pants she held before giving a small shrug and pulling them on over her other clothes. She then stepped over to her shirt on the stump before shrugging into that also.
"So...your job is to make sure you and the ogranization don't get killed off should any of us survive. And if we don't survive, you'll have handy backups? Your organization certainly cares about its mercenaries," Casus said with a small grin. He honestly didn't know what the others were after and he assumed they were all getting paid like him. But were they getting paid the same? "So about that payment. Two questions: How much is everyone gettin' paid and can I have cigars with my payment? I run out quickly...and it's hard to find any good ones."
“My job is to deal with the Gathered. I pick the ones that are to be invited. I make the deals along with my partner. My partner and I organize others to do what needs to be done to carry out our agreements. We do this not out of fear of you, but because it's right for us to pay debts and not to use our power to harm others even by getting them to help for a promised amount and then not deliver that amount. We also try to provide information so that those of the Gathered do not die. We wish you to succeed. You are the only group we shall gather for this. If you do not succeed, then we gathered either the wrong people or gathered you at the wrong time. In both cases it's the fault of my partner and I. We shall then have to do our best to stop whatever is rising, but it is unlikely that we can in that case. The most we'd expect to be able to do is harm whatever is rising enough to slow it allowing the rest of the world a chance at destroying it before it kills or destroys too much.” Her face was serious for once as she talked about what she and her unseen partner did.
Endisha's smile came back when she began to talk about payments. “Well one thing is for sure. Every one's agreement is their own business with that of the Watchers. If you haven't noticed, you're the only one receiving anything from me presently. As for the cigars...” She started to dig around a little in the pack she had the bandages in. After a few seconds she pulled out 10 cigars. “These were given to me in case you demanded a larger payment. We are willing to give you a total of 15 cigars each time your drink is dropped off. They are good ones according to those that I know who smoke. Some of them will only smoke these. Plus they don't smell quite as strongly for as long as the others do.”
Casus' eyebrows raised in surprise as she pulled cigars from her person, seemingly out of nowhere. He took the cigars in hand, sniffed them for quality, before stuffing them away in his own pocket. "They'll do," he said with a smile. "Now all this talk about making sure we succeed, why don't you and your partner help us by participating in whatever we get into? Research can be done on the field, y'know."
She gave him a kindly smile and said, “As I said earlier, I have something like a vow to not harm, help or otherwise change someone's life who is not directly a threat to the Watchers. If I came along with you to help. I would be put into situations that would tempt me, perhaps too much to interfere. I don't want to leave the Watchers. I love those among them, and I believe in what we are. The same goes for my partner.”
"Ahh, got your sights on a Watcher boy, do ya?" Casus chuckled as he looked around for any more wet articles of clothing she may have missed. "So, you're implying that if you change someone's life, say one of ours, you have to leave the Watchers? Seems a bit odd, in my opinion." He walked over to Endisha, satisfied there was nothing else in her cove and held out a hand for her to take hold. "Shall we return to camp, ma'am?"
When James asked if she had her eye on a Watcher boy, Endisha looked highly startled and then ever so slightly disgusted before responding firmly and certainly, “No. I don't. I'm not to look into that yet. They don't want me or my partner distracted in that way. It will be encouraged for me to find someone after you all are successful. So wouldn't you say it's in my favor for you to succeed?”
She paused and thought over the reasons she'd have to leave the Watchers. “Yes, if I changed your life with anything other than our deals to get you all together, or helping your quest along with information, I would have to leave the Watchers. This helps to keep us safe from loosing something important that we have right now. It also keeps the others safe from loosing that same thing.” She glanced around carefully as he asked if they are to return to camp and nodded taking his hand silently to allow him to help her along some of the less easily navigated parts of the path he had to have come down.
Casus laughed as she gave a startled, then sickened look. "So you can't stay with us or else you lose this important...whatever it is, and you have to leave the Watchers?" Casus parroted, trying to wrap his mind on this odd group of people that recruited them all together. "Strict organization you got there. Certainly don't envy you for it. Especially not being able to find a somebody special until after this mission. Who knows how long that'd take. You're lucky, I suppose, that you are so young and have a few years to lose" As he helped her over a particularly large boulder, he remarked, "So your partner isn't appealin' to you at all? And why is that? And where is your partner anyways?"
She smiled slightly as he parroted what she said and nodded quietly. “It's strict, but I love it. It used to be more lightly regulated before...” She paused her quiet talking before continuing a little harsher, “Well, around 200 years ago.” Her smile got secretive and knowing when he mentioned her having a few years to lose and still be able to find someone special. As he brought up her partner again her smile grew bigger and she said with a teasing laugh, “Now who said my partner was a guy? It could very well be a girl. Maybe we're paired with those of our same gender.” She paused her smile grew a bit softer before continuing, “But your assumption is right, my partner is a guy. And he's exactly like a brother to me. Could you imagine having some woman who was like a sister to you traveling with you everywhere and always protecting your back? And then having someone ask you why you weren't interested in marrying her? Hmmm now that I think of it you probably don't understand that kind of scenario.” She finished with another teasing smile.
"Well, I traveld with my sister to the markets and all- but none of the adventurin'. Every woman I traveled with since then were fair game, if you get my drift. But that don't mean that I am interested in marriage! That'd tie me down and then criminals and all the sorts would have a bit more targets to strike at to get to me."
"So you mentioned 200 years ago. What happened then?"
Endisha smiled a little as Casus talked about traveling with his family. As she knew he only really traveled much with his family when he was still a child. “Your travels with your sister had to be mostly when you were too young to have much interest in those of the opposite sex other than to try tormenting her. So that doesn't really count. And, yes I get your drift as to what fair game means.” She chuckled quietly as he mentioned getting tied down and when he mentioned targets to strike at him with she frowned slightly before saying so quietly it was almost a whisper, “And what about your son? Is he not a target already to get at you? You know there is one yet living that still knows the boy is yours and people who truly wish to harm you in that way may be able to track you back to that wizard.” The woman was not threatening in any way, either through voice or body language. In fact both seemed almost as if she'd want to protect something. After a second of pause she offered just as quietly, “We could keep track of the boy and protect him as long as you are on this quest for us as part of our deal if you desire. I don't like not knowing what we are sending you against and the fact they seem to know of us. It puts more danger than normal on the family of those we send against them. This thing is more subtle than any in the past.”
Her body posture tightened up slightly when he asked about what happened 200 years back before she relaxed and said with a small chuckle, “Have you never heard of the dragon that rampaged and tried to rule all mortals in the area? We gathered a group to fight him and stop him. Things happened then in our group that were completely unexpected and we had to change to decrease that happening again.”
Casus froze as she brought up his son. That was supposed to be a secret- his mother didn't even know it was his son. He frowned as he turned to her. The wizard...I knew I should've dealt with him too... "The boy..." he paused again. He couldn't lie to her- she already knew. "He is not my family." But then she offered her group to protect the boy. "Look, Miss Endisha, I don't plan on goin' back to them. But I'd be delighted to see them live happily through life, without me interfering. The poor girl didn't deserve what I brought to her and her son don't either."
"And the dragon? Who didn't hear of it," Casus shrugged as he continued to walk her through the forest. He cast his mind out to make sure nothing unusual was keeping track of them when he felt another "emptiness" in the area. An assassin? Casus suddenly paused and glanced towards where the lack of minds was felt. "So, this mind shield of yours...does your partner have one too?"
Endisha smiled gently as he talked of the noble woman and his son. “I'll take that as a yes to protect them through this journey of yours. I can't promise for longer than that. And if you don't plan to go back to them why did you just bury her memory of you rather than take it away completely?”
When Casus paused to look towards a spot behind them and a little to their left Endisha paused also. She quickly realized he found out how to pinpoint their shields, she had been warned that he might. “Yes, I hold one over my partner as well. And I assume that you have figured out how to feel out our shields already. Other than my partner, there are two more in this area. Do not worry about them. They are here to warn me if anything should happen that may threaten me, and in turn may threaten you since it's only animals that wander this far into the forest. They will take care of any that come to our camp to protect both me and through me, all of you. It's a way we can bend the rules without fully breaking them. They won't wake us unless there is grave danger, which I doubt. They know tomorrow may be... difficult for us and especially me for dealing with the ones tomorrow and wish me to get my full rest. Trust them to protect us. They are quite capable.” She spoke quickly putting her free hand on his near arm to keep him from pursuing where her partner stayed.
"Ma'am, that's something for me to know, and me to know only. Can't have it being spoken to strangers, like apparently my child has," Casus grumbled. "Now what's so difficult about grabbing a hermit?
“Alright, no more talking about that.” She gave him a kindly smile before frowning slightly at the question. “He's a former Watcher. That's part of what makes this difficult. He also may be unwilling to go with you. There's the question if he'll try to fight you also. If he fights, he'll be tough. His training was similar to mine, but not quite as intense if I am told correctly, but he is much older than me and has years of experience with his training. He also appreciates mixing magic and fighting skills, not unlike you, but instead of giving him warning, his magic is generally considered a bit darker and harm people directly. Fortunately, he shouldn't have eaten in a little while so his magic and physical strength may be slightly less.”
"Wait a minute, you make him sound like a prisoner. Fightin' and not feedin'...So he's got dark magic and he likes to fight? I don't know if I like the sound of this...what about his companions? Are they going to want to fight us too?"
Endisha gave a quiet sigh as Casus continued to question about the next day. “He's.... similar to a prisoner. He was once part of us, then decided to do something against our rules which, although it saved many people, also killed many. He supposedly felt bad for what he had done and gave himself to the Watchers for their decision on his punishment. He doesn't need food too often, so we bring it to him as rarely as we can. His next delivery would normally be in about three to four days. His magic involves disease and death magic. He always preferred that from what I hear, even when he was part of us. His companions know us and are there to give him some company and to make sure he stays there. That's why I'm here. They know me and will let us see him and take him because I am of the Watchers. They shouldn't want to fight us.”
"Alright, so when we get there, this...prisoner, so to speak, is either goin' to come with us willingly, or attack us with his death and disease spells while you an' his friends watch the fight? Sounds excitin'," Casus mused. "So he don't like company, I take it? Or he just content with rarely gettin' fed and havin' two companions in the middle of nowhere. Are these two companions...beautiful immortal women? I s'pose that wouldn't be too bad."
“No I suspect that if he attacks he'll attack me first, but my partner won't be able to see so won't be able to come to my aid. As for his guards. Their job is to make sure he stays or leaves as the desires of the Watchers. They will probably fight to help keep him there if he rejects the offers and deals of the Watchers. I truthfully don't know if he likes company or not. No one from the Watchers has seen him since... Well since his last friend among the Watchers passed away. We deliver food, but that's the job of the younger members and they don't stay to see him.” She laughed once more as he asked if the two companions were women, “Well... one is a woman and immortal. I think she's supposed to be beautiful for her race, but I haven't ever heard someone call her beautiful. The other is a male of his race. And they are both the same race.”
"And what is that race, ma'am?"
She chuckled again, “Earth elementals.” She paused and looked forward before saying a little quieter, “Is there anything else you want to know of before we get back? We're almost to the camp.”
Casus smiled at her and said, "I never seen an earth elemental up close. I suppose if they look like some of those classy statues the nobles have of pretty women, then...no no, a caress from them is likely to rub off skin." As they stopped, he grinned at her and added, "What, is this all secret we're not supposed to tell the others about?"
“No it's just that I prefer to enjoy my time listening to the lady's music than to talking about business. As I said earlier, I don't get much time to. Not to mention sullying beautiful music with something that is distasteful for me is not something I wish to do.” She returned with a smile ignoring the comment implying Casus's entertainment of the idea of getting involved with an earth elemental.
"Aw, are you implyin' you didn't enjoy our little chat?" Casus chuckled. Truth be told, he did enjoy the brief time he spent listening to Rhianna's music. "So you Watchers don't have your own musicians then?"
“I am not approving of what we are doing tomorrow, but I shall do my best for the good of the Watchers and the world.” She looked serious for a moment and almost like she was making a promise before smiling and continuing, “We have those who know music. A few that can claim to be bards, but I'm not often among them. I personally know a little music but not on any instrument that can be easily carried and I'm not that good at it.”
Casus chuckled and nodded. "Well, if you ain't approvin', then let's go listen to some of that music. We both need it after the bear fights...and watchin' that grotesque corpse wander about naked."
She smiled slightly after Casus agreed to go listen to the music. She cocked her head when he mentioned the corpse wandering about naked. “Grotesque corpse?” She pondered outloud quietly before chuckling, “Well, I guess you could say Mr. Kinto looked similar to a corpse, but in all truth, looking similar to a corpse is just a matter of degree for any living creature.” She smiled again, giving James a thoughtful look before darting in and giving him a gentle peck on his cheek. Just as suddenly she tightened her grasp on his hand and pulled him excitedly towards the camp.
“Mr. Casus has informed me that I shouldn't spend my time enjoying my bath anymore.” She smiled at those within the camp as she entered. Glancing at the fire and the Tusker, she paused for a moment before loosing James's hand and heading over to them and kneeling down beside the fire. “One trick with Draline meat is to keep it moist or it will feel like you're trying to eat slightly softened wood after you cook it.” She dug a small hole next to the fire as she spoke slightly slowly to the Tusker. As she dug she had to pull her hands away to cool them a little so that they wouldn't burn from being too close to the fire. Once she was done with that she poured her one water pouch into the hole causing some sizzling. She quickly strode to the water and refilled her pouch before heading back and glancing thoughtfully around the group.
“Commander, you have done very good with the food, but if you desire me to take over just say so.” Turning away from the Tusker, she examined the rest of the party thoughtfully. Her eyes lingered a little on Troy, Masozi, and even touched on Kinto for a little while before coming to rest on Casus. Her eyes traveled back to Troy and Masozi both of whom were lounging in their own preferred environment. Giving a small shrug she turned once more back to Casus. “Do you mind dancing with me?” She asked with a slight bit of excitement as she gently grabbed his hands and tried to pull him into one of the common quick dances that the teenagers of the day generally preferred.
Casus was dragged along behind the woman back to camp right after he recieved a delightful peck on the cheek. At camp, she dug up a hole to allow the meat to steam a bit. While he would have never thought of the odd method of cooking, he had also never cooked nor eaten bear. But as she turned back to face him, his eyes widened in surprise as she gently tugged at his hands. "So be it, ma'am," he replied, flicking away his cigar and joining her for the dance.
He was no expert at the dance but he had experience with most of the popular dances, learned from his days working for nobility and from commonfolk who enjoyed a celebration at taverns or festivals. In any case, if an activity pitted him in close proximity to a beautiful lady, he would thoroughly enjoy it.
