Ashes to Ashes - A Mount&Blade: Warband RP

[FreemasonGamer]

Resting his back against the tree that protected him from the archers beyond, Komolov caught his breath and bared through the pain of his injured and bandaged arms after he had fired an arrow at Cair, mostly out of sheer frustration regarding the situation. In the chaotic moments that had followed him firing at the man, the Vaegir was relieved that none of his companions cried out in pain from being stuck with arrows. As a matter of fact, the thunderous charge of Bellatrix and Aristide towards the opposite end of the clearing and the retreating shouts of Cair's routed men brought the slightest smirk to Komolov's face. Once Bellatrix had called off the charge, Komolov exhaled deeply before finally stepping out from his cover behind the tree, quickly retrieving his composite bow from the forest floor.

 

"Let's make this quick, then." Komolov said in response to Bellatrix's orders as he stepped into the clearing, grabbing a sack to collect whatever valuables he came across.

 

Not exactly sure what was worth looting from the bandit camp, Komolov sacked whatever he considered to be worth some value; tankards, pottery, bottles, candlesticks, pelts, antlers, cloths, and the like. For more delicate items such as sealed bottles of brewed drinks and jars of foods such as honey and jam, Komolov also acquired a wicker basket from one of the demolished tents. While the value of everything in the camp could be debated, Komolov only sought for whatever items he and the others could easily sell at the nearest settlement or use themselves. Of course, he pocketed whatever denar he found, bloodied or not. While the Vaegir also gathered any arrows of moderate quality and stored them in his quiver, he was not surprised with the overall poor quality of gear the bandits had; one of the few weapons of notable make was a parrying dagger with a polished antler handle and a well kept blade that lacked any rust. Smiling weakly, Komolov added the dagger to his own personal effects; something to fight with in closer proximity than what his halberd was suited for would come in handy at some point.

 

Once he was laden with a sack and basket of trading goods, Komolov looked around the camp before whistling sharply. "Rykoya, Beriya, Emina!" He called out, "It's me, Komolov!" While the Vaegir had at that point disregarded informing his fellows that he was searching for someone—three people, in fact—his intentions of hopefully finding them were obvious.

Edited June 2, 2015 by FreemasonGamer

[Flipout6]

The bandits retreated into the forest faster than Cameron could keep up on foot while simultaneously keeping his guard up. Once the arrows stopped coming, he stopped in his tracks at Bellatrix's command and backed up towards the camp, refusing to turn his back on the direction in which the bandits had fled. Once he was reasonable sure they were gone, he hoisted his shield on his back and sheathed his blade, going to loot the bodies.

 

"Bellatrix, I'd like my horse back once we get moving." He said as he overturned mangled bodies in the search of anything useful. He found little, but took what there was. It took a few minutes to go through the corpses, but once it was done, he asked, "So what proof of the deed are we required to bring?" He asked. "A body? Head? Perhaps the location of the camp?"

[Macman253]

Bjorn tossed the ragged shield aside, it was covered in a forest of arrow shafts. "Fifty arrows..." He commented before turning back towards the group. The Bandits had fled and Bjorn didn't really care but as he walked he limped slightly and cursed himself as he clutched his side tenderly. He used his axe to roll a bandit's corpse over and rifled through the pockets, finding a knife, some denars and a crude etching of a nude woman. Bjorn strapped the knife to his boot with a piece of leather strip, slipped the denars into his pouch and stuffed the etching into his pack. He rolled over a half dozen more bodies, finding mostly denars and jewelry the bandits had looted. He smiled, knowing he would walk away from this far richer then when he entered it.

 

Bjorn knocked a spare head towards Cameron when he asked about identifying the bandits. "A few should be all we need." He replied to the Swadian.

[AurianaValoria1]

"Your horse is returned to you already," Bellatrix smirked at Cameron as she sheathed her blade and moved forward to check some of the bandits' bodies, "His saddle awaits your rear end as usual...all back to normal now." She then watched the head Bjorn had kicked as it rolled towards the knight, and she grimaced, the process of the adrenaline wearing off making her gradually more sensitive to such gruesome sights, "And you might want a container for that as well, if you plan on bringing them as evidence. I doubt Duke Klargus will appreciate us bloodying his castle floor. He's the one that most likely has a bounty out on them."

 

She picked through the loot herself, and initially, like the others, found little worth taking except a handful of denars...

 

...until she came across a hunting bow that, unlike most of those in the camp, was flawless and uncracked. She grinned, "Well, well...look at you!" She ran a hand along the bow to check for imperfections and tested the string, "This'll be useful, for sure. Haven't had one since my last one broke." The sword sister then went and attempted to salvage as many arrows as possible; unfortunately, she only came away with five or six to put in an old leather quiver, which she strapped to her waist. She slung the bow across her back and continued looking around. In the depths of one of the tents she finally found a helmet, crafted in Vaegir style. It was a nut-shaped helm with a nose-guard, scratched and even dented in one spot, but otherwise in fair condition. It was lined with grey rabbit fur, which made a brim for it that was rather stylish, in her opinion. Grinning again, she shook her blonde hair loose and then put on the helmet, emerging from the tent with a "Tada!" With her hands on her hips in an over-exaggerated pose, she inquired of her companions, "Tell me, how do I look?"

Edited June 2, 2015 by AurianaValoria1

[tokyobiohazard]

Emina emerged from one of the tents after hearing a familiar voice calling her name, slightly panicked after the sounds of battle and conflict rang through the air, then had suddenly stopped. "Komolov? Is that you, brother?"

 

Embarrassed by her attire's less than modest length, she snatched her cloak from the tent and fastened it around her shoulders.

 

Hearing one of the assailants inquire about how she looked in her newly-looted gear, Emina crossed her arms and said, "You look like you're wearing my husband's helm. No matter. It was only a matter of time until he discovered my infertility. I should thank you."

[FreemasonGamer]

Komolov carefully dropped his armful of loot before darting towards his sister, following her voice. Soon, he turned the corner of a partially crushed tent and saw Emina; seeing her alive and seemingly well eased an immense burden off his shoulders. Standing before her happily with a frail smile, Komolov says in a caring, brotherly tone, "Emina, you're okay!"

 

Glancing around the camp, he finally looked back to Emina with an arched brow. "What husband, Emina? Also, where is Rykoya, Beriya...?"

 

Almost as immediately as joy and relief rushed through the Vaegir at the discovery of Emina's rescue, dread and concern once again settled over him as his other two sisters were nowhere to be found. Also, Komolov awkwardly glanced to his comrades, having revealed his softhearted nature around them. Hopefully they would not discard him as some frivolous hero.

Edited June 4, 2015 by FreemasonGamer

[Macman253]

Bjorn chuckled as Bellatrix appeared wearing a Vaegir helmet. He clutched his side in pain, he pulled his hand away from the wound to find fresh blood on it. His chainmail was stained with sweat and blood from the fight. He growled quietly and hid the wince as he walked over to his horse to stash his loot. When the woman spoke up he whirled around, axe in hand. But he relaxed when he saw the creature before him. He fell silent and looked down and away, not wanting to catch her eyes, especially when he saw that she was Komolov's sister.

 

He took hold of Brida's reigns and slid his axe into the loop on her saddle.

 

"We should move.." Spoke the big Nord to Bellatrix, "That bandit may come back 'an he may 'ave more men." He added as he looked at her, he then pulled himself into the saddle with a uncontrollably loud growl of pain. His side felt like it had been lit on fire and he clutched at the still bleeding wound. "We best be goin'." He said through gritted teeth as he turned Brida in a half circle to face Bellatrix.

[AurianaValoria1]

Bellatrix suddenly found that she had the distinct urge to remove the helm in case it had lice, but thought the better of it, merely watching silently through Komolov and Emina's happy reunion. When Bjorn finally addressed her, the sword sister nodded with a simple, "Aye." She had focused on what appeared to be two twitching tails on the far side of camp. Slowly approaching the swishing movement, a satisfied "Aha!" came from her lips. There, behind some rubble, were two faded black geldings, perhaps stolen from caravan guards. They were emaciated and had sores on their legs, but they would do as mounts until the comrades could obtain better later. Bellatrix carefully took them by the reins - they followed without protest - and led them into the open, "Komolov, I hate to interrupt your reunion with your sister, but we do need to get out of here. There's a horse here for you." She gestured to him with the reins of one of the geldings, indicating he should take it for himself. "Perhaps you should bring your sister with us," she added after a moment.

[FreemasonGamer]

Komolov nodded quietly in agreement with Bjorn when the Nord suggested that they move out soon; there was no telling if Cair's man would return with even larger numbers while the Vaegir and his comrades were still looting. The absolute last thing Komolov felt up for was facing off with another group of greedy bandits. Before he could return his attention to his sister, the Vaegir then tilted his head as Bellatrix investigated the outskirts of the camp and discovered two neglected but acceptable black steeds. His curious fixation on the probably stolen horses vanished as the sword sister offered one to him, and he quickly exchanged a worried glance with Emina before taking the reins cautiously. Not once had Komolov ever mounted a horse, much less ridden one. However, he was determined to not make a complete fool out of himself by being the only warrior amongst them who wouldn't ride a steed.

 

"Er, thank you Bellatrix. Also, you will surely come with us, Emina?" Komolov replied, glancing to his sister before turning back towards his new steed, quickly adding what loot he had collected to the horse's cargo.

 

The Vaegir's borderline pitiful attempts at mounting the black gelding of his was truly a humorous sight to behold. After he had finally climbed up onto the saddle nervously, he held onto the reins tightly, anxiously. However, the anxiety in his movements was conveyed into his steed, and the beast fidgeted in an unsure manner; that subtle shifting beneath the saddle was enough to unsettle a rider as inexperienced as Komolov. Leaning too far to his right to 'compensate' for his steed's fidgeting, Komolov found himself falling clear off his saddle before landing in the cold mud below. Groaning, Komolov's face was red and covered with muck as he struggled, his right foot entangled in the stirrup of his horse's saddle. Meeting the beast's gaze, Komolov scowled as his horse all but snickered.

[tokyobiohazard]

Emina smiled, revealing little dimples on each of her cheeks, a giggle escaping her. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and righted the saddle on the horse her brother had failed to properly mount. With a glance at the carnage around her, she sighed and said goodbye to the life she'd known for the past months.

"Watch me, brother," she said as she hooked one foot in the stirrups and hauled herself onto the horse's back. With luck, it'd be able to hold the both of them, despite its emaciated form. Her cloak billowed outward in a breeze, but she didn't bother trying to hide her minimal attire now, since she'd be the one steering the horse. There was no way she could keep her cloak drawn through the entire ride.