The Road to Salaband

[Browncoat]

[OOC: Yeah, let's jump ahead]

[Alberich]

The trio had finished the day amicably, walking only an hour further after Angrist's meditation 'til they found a decent campsite. The chain Angrist had picked was long enough that Udo and Aden could have privacy for their "private needs" without any need to detach them. As Angrist was silent on the subject (naturally) Udo set the watches. He allocated one to Aden, secure in the knowledge that the wanted man (1) couldn't cut his throat in his sleep, since he had no knife, (2) couldn't swipe his staff and threaten them with it, because he was no mage, (3) couldn't reach Angrist (or even reach even Udo easily) without unwrapping the chain from that shrub Udo'd wrapped it around, and making enough noise to wake the pair of them; and (4) even if he did somehow manage to sneak up on Angrist and attack him in his sleep, would gain nothing but a world of hurt, and not a small world either.

Udo, knowing what was important, slept with the food satchel as his pillow, and kept it close by him during his watch.

If Jade wanted to make an approach - it was up to her to say on which watch and how.

[Jack Rothwell]

The blacksmith hunkered down in a sparse patch of woodland a short distance from her quarry to watch them make their camp. If the group all bunked down for the night, fine. She'd sneak in, swipe the pack and leave. If they set watches, she'd wait until the chubby one was up before making a move. He was closer to the pack after all, and pointing a gun at this head if he should spot her should provide ample discouragement from using the staff he carried.

It never occurred to the ex-Black guard contractee that the escort would put their prisoner on a watch. If Aden happened to take his turn before Udo it would present a much more interesting option...

[Alberich]

And that's exactly what had happened. Angrist took first watch, and Jade stayed well away. Angrist woke up Udo and went to sleep. Udo woke up Aden, put him on second watch, and then went back to sleep with instructions to wake him up for third watch. He figured more men on watch meant shorter watches, more travel time, and a faster journey. There'd be more time for his kenpo training when he wasn't chained to this good-for-nothing. He figured that Aden was a lone wolf, and so had no compatriots to help him out, and was equally interested with the rest of them in not being eaten by wild animals and not having his throat cut by cutthroats.

There was a large flaw in his reasoning.

Aden's long ankle-chain was wrapped around a shrub and led into the tent where Udo was. He watched for animals and other dangers with a look of wry amusement.

[Jack Rothwell]

'Softly, softly, catch mister rabbit..'

It was a childish bit of sing-song, a skipping rope rhyme, that ran through the blacksmith's mind as she made her cautious approach to the campsite. She'd watched Udo prepare for watch with a knot of tension in her stomach, only to have that knot unbound by the sight of the portly highwayman handing the responsibility to the man they were guarding. She'd grinned a trifle wolfishly despite the danger of the situation; there was no way she'd pass up an opportunity like this one. So she'd slunk out, giving the campsite a wide berth as she'd emerged from her hiding place, aiming for the blind side of the man who sat on watch.

'taters and onions in the pot...'

It had taken her a good half hour to make the short journey, and that was by design. As she crept the last fifty yards Jade felt confident the two enemies of the black guard would be far enough under to make the lift without waking them. The feeling was strengthened by the cloud cover and her own good sense in travel gear. The various knick-knacks the blacksmith carried in her pockets were already bundled up or strapped down in some fashion to prevent them being jostled around, and she'd had enough material spare to turn the sword sling into a belt to hold the long weapon against her back; trying to sneak with the thing flapping off her hip would have been an exercise in stupidity.

'Quickly, quickly, reach out and grab it...'

She thumbed back the hammer of her sidearm as she dropped into crawl near the edge of the camp. She was close enough to make out the individual links on the chain which bound the man on watch. She crossed her fingers that he wouldn't turn and see her; being blackmailed into picking locks was not on tonight's planned agenda.

'It's dinner time, and the water is hot.'

[Alberich]

Moving with deceptive speed, the son of a bitch not only turned and saw her, but had a booted foot on her wrist before she knew she'd been seen. Obviously he'd spotted her without letting on and had waited for her to get in range before striking.

He stood over her in the moonlight. The amused look on his face was hard to make out. In a flash he'd stooped, secured her pistol, uncocked it, and thrust it into his belt -- she might've squeezed the trigger, but that would simply have aroused the camp. In another moment his boot was off her wrist and he'd taken it gently but firmly in one of his hands. Before she could say a thing he'd wrested her into a sitting position, facing him as he sat on a rock, with the moon illuminating her face. His grip was light now so she could pull her wrist free if she was of a mind to.

Aden didn't make a show of it, but Jade could tell she'd gotten an approving up-and-down from him.

"Soooo," he whispered softly, "now, why'dja be sneaking into Udo's tent this time of night? And what should I do with you?" His tone was self-assured, not smart-alecky, slimy, or sadistic. Suggestive, some would say, but not strongly so.

In fact, part of him really did want to laugh out loud at what this decent-looking girl would want with Tubby in there. The cocked pistol suggested revenge of some kind, but what the hell could he have done to her to warrant that? Maybe got her skanky sister pregnant and skipped town before the wedding.

[OOC: I can change all this if it doesn't fit.]

[Jack Rothwell]

Jade mouthed a silent 'fuck' at the disastrous turn of events and whispered her own reply, putting her free hand against her ankle as she did and rubbing it as if to knead a pain there.

"He stole something from me." She said, stealing a glance at the entrance to the tent before returning attention to the prisoner's face. "The pack. There's something valuable inside..."

His glance towards his travel partners was all the incentive Jade needed to make a move of her own. Her hand snatched inside the boot it was pressing on and pulled out a knife as the other broke free of the watchman's loose grip and clamped on his thigh for purchase. She snapped forward in her sitting position and pressed the knuckles of her armed hand against her captor's throat, the edge of the knife stopping within shaving distance of an artery.

Of course, this didn't solve the problem of her own gun now pressed against her ribs. But it opened the floor to a more even-handed discussion.

OOC That ok Al?/OOC

[Alberich]

[OOC: Yes, in fact, excellent!]

Aden's eyebrows went up only a moment, then his face relaxed back into its mask of amusement. Which wasn't entirely a mask. They needed this gal to train those fools back in Egmil. He'd've nodded in acknowledgement, but this was not a good moment for nodding. He reflected on what she'd said and went on.

"Didn't know old Tubby had it in him. You're right to be worried. Anything in that pack, he's liable to eat it without knowing what it is. I think that's what happened to the key to these irons. Say, does old Choppy know about this?" - he tilted his head slightly back Angrist's way. "Don't know how he feels about stealing.

"Better keep it real quiet, by the way. Choppy there's the ultimate 'strong, silent type.'"

His instincts told him to let Jade be the first one to raise the issue that they were right now in a position to kill each other and wake the camp, something it was obvious neither one wanted to do.

[Jack Rothwell]

Jade shrugged without shifting her knife hand, whether or not 'choppy' knew what may or may not have been going on with her merchandise was really a non-issue at this point. She had to snatch the pack and get out before the situation got any more complicated. As it was, the current problem needed an immediate resolution. She'd guessed what the prisoner wanted before his not-so-veiled threat about 'keeping quiet'; it was hardly a great mystery after all.

With great delicacy she lifted her hand from the watchman's leg and reached into a pocket of her duster. It came out holding a tightly wrapped bundle of leather with the tell-tale gleam of metal poking from it's open ends.

"You can free yourself with this." She said, placing the toolkit on the ground between them. "No need to kill each other, right? Everyone can get what they want and go their separate ways, no harm done."

[Alberich]

Aden saw he'd been right to let her make the first overture. His own idle thought had been to get Udo fired and replaced with someone more sympathetic. Or at least more pleasant to be around. This was better than he'd dared hope for!

If he'd been a lot younger he'd be showing his eagerness. As it was he played it cool and calm, the way he always did, drawling his whisper: "Well, now, I'm just a farm boy. Don't know how to use these kinds of tools myself." He left implicit how well things might go if she did. She seemed pretty quick on the uptake.

The way he spoke, it was as if he was enjoying the situation. Which he was. He was liking Jade, the fierceness, the closeness, the scent of her. Not to mention the new hope of freedom.