Jonathan grunted as he pulled the last strap on the saddle, tightening it as much as possible to keep the supplies from coming free during the trip. As he turned, Old Ben was waiting, a quiver of arrows strapped to his back and a long bow in his hand. The old timer had a slew of daggers and knives strapped here and there about his person, and combined with his grizzled appearance he looked ready to take on anything. It was a good thing too, as they just might have to.
"You ready to head out?" Jonathan asked. Behind Old Ben, the fire-gutted remains of the tavern that the Devas had attacked was a stark reminder of how serious their task was.
"Ready as I'll ever be," the old man responded with a grin. "It'll be like old times in a way; been a long while since I've set out on a scouting mission."
Jonathan nodded grimly, looking over the ruins and then sighing, "Not exactly the way I wanted to start out my career in this area, but we don't get to choose our fate I guess. The Gods play the worst sorts of jokes on us at times. If you're all set we should probably get started. They had wounded with them but they know the area and can travel fast so that won't slow them too much."
The old man nodded and Jonathan turned towards his horse. Just as he was about to mount up, he spied something out of the corner of his eye. He whirled around, holding a hand to his mouth to signal silence to Old Ben. As he stared hard at a section of wooden wall that had once been connected to the tavern, his keen eyesight spotted a pair of horns sticking up over the edge of the woodwork as if a beast had hidden itself there but done a poor job of it. He pointed, and in a second Old Ben had his bow drawn and arrow at hand.
"Whoever you are, come out where we can see you!" Jonathan yelled. "And no tricks or you'll be full of arrows before you get to explain yourself!"
A noise that sounded halfway between a startled gasp and some sort of animal squeaking came from behind the fence and the pair of horns slowly rose up and gave way to a head of black hair and then a pair of red eyes as they peered over the edge of the woodwork. The eyes widened as their owner took in the sight of Old Ben's bow aimed in their direction and two hands quickly shot up over the Castanic's head.
"Oh Gods, don't shoot me! I-I just wanted to h-help!" came the nervous reply. The voice was instantly familiar to Jonathan, and he relaxed as he heard it.
"Oh, it's you. The barmaid. What was it again...Bellesta?" he said. Beside him Old Ben grunted and lowered his weapon as he realized that they were not about to be attacked.
The Castanic woman smiled and nodded, rising up from her hiding place and walking around the edge of the broken wood to approach them. As she cleared the rubble, Jonathan's eyes widened when he got a good look at her. Gone were the tight pants and top she'd been wearing when she was tending to the bar. In their place was virtually nothing, the Castanic woman having stripped herself down to her smallclothes and a few bits of mismatched chain and plate pieces that she'd haphazardly strapped to her legs and arms. When he was able to tear his gaze away from this sight, he noted that she'd acquired a rusty old lance and battered looking shield that she'd strapped to her back.
"W-what...by the Gods, why are you hiding in the rubble dressed like that?" Jonathan finally managed to sputter.
Beside him, Old Ben grinned and slapped a hand on his shoulder, "You ain't never seen a Castanic prepared for war before? They don't go much in the way of clothes. Slows 'em down so they say. She's fixin' to go on a hunt of her own."
"W-war..?" Jonathan said, still somewhat shocked by the barmaid's sudden appearance. "Y-you're planning to go hunt the Devas down?"
By this point Bellesta had joined the two men, and she nodded happily, smiling at them both in turn, "You bet! Your speech totally inspired me! And besides, we can't let them go around doing what they did. That'd be wrong, and they are wrong even if they're too Gods-blinded to see it!"
Jonathan managed to clamp his jaw closed long enough to evaluate what she'd said, looking at her critically, "You do understand that this is a potentially deadly situation, right? We're going to scout out the base of operations for a group of murderous cultists. We'll likely be in battle, which as far as I saw in the tavern the other night you have absolutely no experience with whatsoever."
Bellesta nodded again, the smile still on her face, "Oh yes, I know it's super serious! Don't worry, I will do my best to learn from you! Besides, it can't be that hard right? Like everyone who passed through the tavern was a soldier. If it was so hard no one would want to do it!"
Jonathan exchanged a glance with Old Ben, the quick look conveying a range of unspoken thoughts. He turned to look at Bellesta, picking his next words carefully so as not to upset her, "Listen, Bellesta. We appreciate your enthusiasm here, but when I gave that speech I sort of meant that you should go and seek out training with the Federation's armies. Not...just rush off into the woods without any preparation. I don't want your inexperience to get you killed."
Bellesta immediately began to look crestfallen, a pout forming on her pink lips. She planted her hands on her bare hips, a fire dancing in her eyes, "What are you trying to say? I'm not good enough to go? I totally know more about those cultists than you do, that's for sure! You have to let me go!"
Jonathan shook his head, his expression set, "I'm sorry Bellesta, but it's too dangerous. You should go to Lumbertown instead and report what happened here and seek out some training. You'll do the most good for the Federation that way."
If he'd expected the former barmaid to take this suggestion lightly, Jonathan would find himself very surprised as the Castanic woman began to huff and stomp around in front of the two men, waving her hands in the air, "That is totally not fair! They tried to kill me too you know! A-and besides, like I said I know about these people! Trust me! You have to let me come!"
Jonathan opened his mouth to reply, searching for the right words to soothe her when Old Ben stepped forward, his voice gruff, "Hush girl. He said no, and that's that. Your bellyaching is just going to delay us more. Hurry off now to town, and let us get to our work eh?"
Bellesta instantly stopped her little temper tantrum, as if she realized it was futile to continue that tact. Instead, she stepped closer to Jonathan, running a hand up his arm as she peered into his eyes, her voice husky now, "Pleeeeeease won't you let me come with you? I promise I'll be super good and do anything you tell me to do so I won't get hurt. I always do what I'm told..."
Jonathan found it suddenly quite difficult to concentrate with the mostly naked woman leaning towards him, her red eyes peering into his. After swallowing hard and taking a moment to steady himself, he shook his head and somehow managed to keep his voice firm, "No, I'm afraid not. Although I'd love to have your company along on the trip, I would feel personally responsible if you got hurt. Please, go back to Lumbertown and wait for us there. I promise that once we've located the camp and I come back, we can look into getting you some proper training so you don't have to stay behind next time, okay?"
Bellesta sighed, looking disappointed but thankfully not throwing another tantrum. She slowly peeled herself away from Jonathan's side, and to his great relief nodded, "A-alright then, if that is the way you really feel. But you'd better come back. I want to do something to help! Those cultists...they're bad. Really bad. I know all about it. They aren't going to stop, and something has to be done!"
Jonathan nodded, feeling relieved as he turned and mounted his horse. Behind him Old Ben turned and got his own horse, mounting up beside him. Jonathan looked down at the Castanic woman, seeing a bit of defiance in her eyes still. He spoke softly, and he hoped reassuringly, "Don't worry, we won't be gone long. We're just going to scout out their camp and then we'll be back. They left a trail we can easily follow. Go back to town, and we'll see you there soon."
With that he snapped the reins and headed towards the edge of the looming forest, Old Ben following along behind him, leaving the Castanic woman standing amongst the debris of her former life. Behind Jonathan, Old Ben grinned and muttered to him, keeping his voice low, "Not bad there, Captain. Not too many men would have said no to that."
Jonathan just stared straight ahead, grimly keeping his mind focused on the task at hand, his response clipped and short, "I did what I had to do. She'd have been a liability and we've work to do."
****************************
In the ruins behind them, Bellesta watched them head off into the forest, kicking idly at some of the charred debris on the ground around her, "It's not fair. I deserve a chance to at least try. And besides, they're not doing anything hard, following that trail...."
Bellesta's voice trailed off as she thought about what she was saying, her red eyes peering into the edges of the forest around her and her mind churning. Something about what Jonathan had said suddenly didn't sit right with her, but she couldn't put her finger on it at first.
After a moment of idle thought, her eyes widened and she murmured to herself, "There is no way they would have left a trail, even with wounded. They're way too picky about who they let near their encampments. Why would there be a trail when they could just leave the wounded behind and not risk their holdout? They wouldn't even let any of us who weren't with them near their secret places."
Bellesta concentrated hard, trying to puzzle it out and having great difficulty with the question. She was not very knowledgeable about strategy and tactics, and the actions of her enemies puzzled her to no end. After a few moments of essentially staring absentmindedly into the forest, her eyes widened again and she snapped her fingers.
"That's it! It's one of those...what do you call thems...where you hide and wait for people so you can hurt them! A bush!" Bellesta exclaimed. She frowned and shook her head, "No, that's not it, but whatever, they're going to get hurt if I don't help them!"
With that she burst into action, turning and running around behind the ruins of the tavern before leading out a horse that she purchased from one of the tavern patrons who had lost his cart in the fire and no longer needed the creature. Although it was old and not a warhorse, it would do for fast travel and right now that is what Bellesta needed the most. With a shout she jumped up into the saddle, snapping the reins and causing the old beast to burst into a rather slow trot.
"Don't worry guys, I'm coming to help!" Bellesta said to no one in particular, a smile plastered to her face as she set out on her first real adventure.
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