Wandering Mouse

[Yarin Baskblade]

Yarin Baskblade paced the forest floor. The sunlight shined through the leaves, projecting their image on the ground to make it green. He always enjoyed the walks, taking in the fresh smell of the forest air, full of pine, oak, maple, and other great scents.
But today, something was different. He had been called to the forest because of trouble that had been occuring over the past few days. Traders that had been travelling through the forest with valuable items would suddenly go to sleep, only to wake up to a headache and their goods being gone. Yarin had been chosen to go to the forest and try to solve the mystery, hopefully this time without any bloodshed...

[Wolve]

A small band of mercenaries made their way through the forest path. A wolf at the front -the obvious leader- was walking next to a weasel. He was cladded in Armor, with a silky black cape, and a katana at his side. The wolve's name was Torman Hiro. He was a well known mercenary, althought... today fate had brought him to the Darkstar Forest. A place he had not been before.
"Jauffre..." He said to the weasel. He paced himself up to the wolf. "Yes? What is it?"
"Have any word of a job lately?" He asked, waving the air in front of him.
"Hmm... I've heard that some merchant beasts have been having trouble lately. I think I overheard a bounty for the felon behind this has been doing it for quite a while."
Jauffre explained, gesturing with his paws.
Torman nodded, "Who is it?"
"Hmm... no beast knows... just some dirty bandit knockin' down defenseless merchants and stealing their goods."
"So... sounds like something We'll enjoy..." Torman said. Jauffre nodded, and the small group advanced out of the forest. Torman spotted the mouse wandering towards the forest, "Get down." He said, ducking behind a bush.
The group quickly followed, hiding behind trees, as well as larger rocks, and bushels.
"He may be the perpetrator..."

The group readied themselves to jump the mouse. If he was the one responsible, then this job would easily be done.

[Yarin Baskblade]

Yarin whistled a tune as he walked along, completely oblivious to the mercenaries hiding close by. Birds chirping, a butterfly flying by...What could possibly go wrong on a day like this? Suddenly he heard a twig snap. He turned, lightning fast, in the direction of the sound. He saw a figure duck its head behind a bush.
Quick as a diving hawk, he draw his sword and pointed it in the direciton of the bush.
"Who goes there?" he demanded. No answer. He waited a while longer, starting to sweat and growing uneasy. Don't fret! You've done this plenty of times before, he tried to tell himself. But before he had been with others. Now he was all alone, by himself in this huge forest. Sure, he could fend off a few vermin. But what if it wasn't just a few, but a whole band? What if they were more skilled than he?
He tried to continue looking brave and worriless. "Who goes there?" he repeated, this time louder and with more voice. He was really starting to grow uneasy. He drew his shield off his back, preparing to fight. And suddenly, the figure jumped.

[Wolve]

It had been Jauffre, he leapt from the bush he was hiding behind, drawing his spear off his back, "Stop right there, you slimy bandit!" He shouted. The others all began to gather, surrounding the mouse, there was maybe a half score of them.
Torman weave his way to the front, "It's not your place to be asking who I am... mouse. But I'll answer your question anyway..." He began, leveling himself with the mouse.
"I'm called Torman... a mercenary from the north. Heed me well, if you're the bandit, then you'd best be quite and give up. I don't want to be responsible for leaving a carcass in this large forest..." He began, resting a paw on his sword's hilt.

[Yarin Baskblade]

"Me...a bandit? Phaha!" laughed Yarin, his uneasiness wearing away. "You've got to be kidding me. What would I have any business stealing?" He continued.
"My name is Yarin Baskblade of Fort Blissban. I was sent to this forest to find the theif who had been stealing from passerby of these parts. It seems that you are on the same quest. But if you're not the theif..."
Yarin was disappointed that it wasn't the robber he had been looking for, but at the same time glad he wouldn't have to deal with him right now. His eyes shifted from beast to beast. If he didn't know any better, he'd say they were all theives. Of course, this is what the typical mercenary band looked like.
"Well, Torman, I think we may be able to help eachother. I've never worked with a mercenary before, but you seem to know what you're doing. So, what do you say?" Hopefully now they would believe that the young mouse wasn't behind all these problems.

[Wolve]

Jauffre shifted his head, "Hmmph..."
Torman thought for a moment, "Well... Yarin... it would seem that you're right about that. And being that we are going about this the same way, it may be wise to stick together. Besides... if any beast is killed on this raid, then it would surely be counted against our record..." Torman said, looking about the group for any beast to disagree. "No beast? Well then... good. For now, we'll be working together. If it makes it any quicker. Besides, "Torman started, "There's power in numbers..."
He walked down the path a few more steps, "Well... we're not going to find the theif by lingering about. We had better get moving. Do you know what we're looking for?"
He asked.

[Yarin Baskblade]

Yarin shrugged his shoulders. "I really don't know...I think the beasts back at the Fort mentioned something about a rat. I'm thinking maybe two: one to hit the traveller in the head, and the other to steal the goods. Of course, that's jsut a theory."
Yarin stopped to think for a second, but then continued. "But whatever it may be, we're not going to do any good by sticking aorund here. Let's go search for him. Have you picked up a scent yet? I mean, you are a wolf after all..."

[Wolve]

Torman shook his head, "Not that easy..." He answered. "This forest is vast with many scents. It's imposible to pick up the theifs' odor." He said, cursing the bandit's for their choice of hiding.
"As for them being rats... maybe. But something else could have been behind this." Torman said. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Let's move." He said, waving his paw forward.
The group of mercenaries began their march, walking past a rock. Jauffre caught up with Torman saying, "Torman, we cannot go through the forest making this much noise.... We should keep low." He suggested. Torman nodded. It was an obvious desition, and they should try to sneak up on the bandits before they knew they were there...

[Yarin Baskblade]

As Jauffre motioned for every to get down, Yarin heard something. He quickly turned his head to see what had made the noise, but was disappointed.
*sigh*...It was just one the mercenaries snapping a twig.
The party went on quite a way before they stopped to rest in a clearing. There was a stream that ran through it with unusually clear and tasteful water.
"Get a drink, catch your breath, rest, and do whatever else you need to do quick," ordered Jauffre in a commanding tone. "We aren't staying here long. We've got to keep moving."
Yarin bent next to the stream, put his hands in a cup-shape, stuck them in, and drank from them. He gulped the fresh water down and let out a satisfied "Ahh..."
He turned to Torman, who oddly enough was not drinking water. He wondered how he couldn't possibly be thirsty after all that walking!
"So, Torman, isn't it? How long have you been in the mercenary business?" he asked casually.

[Wolve]

Torman stood with his arms crossed. He turned his eyes to Yarin, his head tilting in a fashion. "Hmm... about twenty-seven years..." Torman answered, "It's a habit." He said to knock out any other questions on it.
Soon after the others had finished their drinks, he put his paw on Jauffre's shoulder, "I feel as though we're close..." He said. Jauffre nodded, wiping his lips of the water. "Alright, let's go. We need to keep a move on... no more breaks until the second hour!" He announced.
Torman nodded, and swiftly turned -his cape swaying.
He walked back onto the path and looked about. "Hmph... that stench... so familiar..." He said to himself. "What is that...?" He asked, lifting his snout up to the air to get a better sniff.

[Yarin Baskblade]

Yarin finished drinking his water and stood up. A soft breeze passed through the forest, shaking the trees and making a rustling sound through the leaves. It passed through the meadow and blew the grass in a gentle way, almost like waves in the ocean.

"Alright, let's go. We need to keep a move on... no more breaks until the second hour!"

Yarin turned his head to see the other beasts walking towards Jauffre and away form the stream. He decided to do the same.
As soon as he entered the forest, another breeze passed by and blew his hair into his face. He quickly used his right paw to brush it away so he could see clearly. As soon as he was done, something caught his eye: Torman's nose was high in the air, and his eyes were closed. He had caught a scent and was deep in thought.
Yarin rushed towards him over the forest floor. "Torman!" he shouted. "Torman, what is it?"

[Wolve]

Torman turned his head, putting his paw up in a "Stop."
He put his nose back up and gritted his teeth. "Urrhhh...." He growled, "I know who that is..." He said to himself. "How could he have possibly survived..."
Jauffre raised a brow, "It's not..."
Torman cut him off with a nod, "Kailash found us..." He said, cursing his luck.
He weaved through trees, following the scent, "Kailash was one of my fellow mercenaries..." He explained, "But he betrayed us and we had thrown him aside.... I didn't expect him to actually survive through Mossflower and where ever else he had faced danger."
He popped through a bush, "He must be the one robbing these Merchants... guess he wasn't doing so well with jobs himself..." He laughed at the thought.

[Yarin Baskblade]

"Who?" Yarin asked. He thought maybe for a second he had misunderstood what Torman was talking about, but when he continued talking he knew he had heard perfectly.
"You mean you actually know this guy?" Yarin was surprised that the person they had been looking for all along was actually the person that they had abandoned.
He laughed too. Life was oh so ironic.
"Well, let's go on then! We've got to catch him before he gets too far ahead!"

[Wolve]

"That's the thing..." Torman began.
"He's not running from us..."
Jauffre nodded, Kailash was most likely out here surviving, robbing merchants for not just a living, but to attract mercenaries on the job. He aparently suceeded.
The wolverein wasn't one to sneeze at either.
Torman's grip tightened around his sword's hilt, if he didn't know any better, he'd say it was a simple trap.

[Yarin Baskblade]

"Well, what'll we do? If we're not running from him, we're running away. Either way, we shouldn't just sit here. That's not going to--" Yarin cut off. He stood motionless, eyes widened, staring at something behind Jauffre. By the looks of it, something menacing.
"What is it, mouse?" Jauffre questioned, starting to get nervous. "What is it?" Everybeasts eyes were now fixed on the mysterious thing behind him.
"L-look behind y-you!" Yarin said quietly, voice shaking. Jauffre slowly turned. And then he saw it too. Something rather large, with eyes like the Devil.
"Well, well," he laughed. "We meet again."