(Well, yeah, don't worry! I don't think she's even talented enough to defeat all of them XD, that would be way too OP. Besides, I make it a rule not to kill anyone's characters unless they give me permission, so your bandits are safe.)
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(I appreciate it! XD So, to recap: The bandits raid the village, some villagers are left alive as prisoners maybe, and interrogated to find out their usefulness? Ooh, how about this: The prisoners managed to escape right after that and scatter, but the bandits planned it that way and were waiting to fight them. And if you can make it past several bandit groups then they recruit you? Does that sound like what we just talked about?)
(Yup! I like that! Are we ready to start?)
(I sure am! Gimme one sec and I'll write up something to start us off real quick)
(Alright! Take as much time as you need!)
(Here we go! That took less time than I expected XD)
The villagers hadn't expected an attack in late summer. Normally, when food was plentiful and the nights were warm, they were left alone. But relaxing had been their biggest mistake. Not fifteen minutes after the watchmen were killed, the village was in chaos, swarmed by grinning strangers who looted or destroyed everything in their path. Most of their victims were quickly dead. A few managed to escape, selfishly running into the darkness alone. The rest were rounded up by the attackers and held at knife-and-club-point, quickly herded out of their ransacked homes and into the village square. As the moon sank and the sky began to turn grey with the dawn, they were made to sit and wait, guarded by armed men and women, until the bandits had sorted the loot amongst themselves. Only then would their fate be decided.
(How's that work? Good intro?)
(That's good!)
Taran sat scowling, surrounded by bandits, and others of the village. She had many reasons to believe that the villagers were idiots, but this was ridiculous. They had thought that they were safe. She snorted. Safe! As if having lots of food and supplies made them less of a target. Idiots, didn't they realize this made them more so of a target? Apparently not. She sighed and eyed the people around her with mild distaste. The badits would probably be better company, if she had any desire to join them. She didn't though, luckily. She had spent enough time around them when she was a fighter that she wasn't incredibly eager to do so again.
"What do we do?" She heard someone ask, and she sighed.
She turned to the person who had spoken, glancing around to make sure none of the bandits were listening, and whispered, "We escape. What else?"
"How?" The person, a plump woman with large cheeks, stared at Taran in annoyance and arrogance. "How are we supposed to escape?"
Other villagers were listening now, too.
Taran rolled her eyes. "The people watching us are getting sleepy. Can't you tell? They will be distracted. If some of us keep them distracted, the others can run. Obviously."
"But none of us want to distract them," another woman whined. "We could get caught!"
"Better than being taken by the bandits," Taran whisper-yelled. "Unless you prefer death or torture to being free."
The other vilaggers confered among themselves before nodding. They turned back to her. "Only if you distract them."
She scowled. "Fine. You'll have to run away one at a time, so that it isn't suspiscious."
(Ah thanks! Yours is nice too! ^^)
The bandits guarding them glanced over suspiciously as the villagers whispered, but it was true—they did seem to be worn out from the attack. They yawned, leaning against their weapons and gazing into the distance tiredly, barely paying any attention to their captives at all.
(I was in a hurry, so it sucks XD)
The villagers slowly started to trickle away. None of the bandits raised the alarm, so the villagers gained confidence. They started to go more often, and more people went. Taran cringed.
And then disaster struck. A woman whispered to her friend as they left, too close to a bandit, too loudly. "Isn't it a good thing they're so dumb we can get away?"
(lol no it's fine!)
The bandit snapped to attention, his head whipping around as he searched for the person who'd alerted him. "Hey," he growled, straightening to his full height and hefting his hand-made spear. "Who said that? What's goin' on here?"
Taran stiffened. Sending the woman a glare as they scampered off, she stood. "It's nothing to worry about," she said calmly.
"Nothin' to worry about, huh?.…." The bandit stepped towards her, leering. "Why don't you leave the worryin' to me, lady?" He paused as he noticed the distinctly smaller huddle of prisoners, squinted, and nudged one of the other guards. "Hey…didn't there used to be more of 'em a second ago?"
The other guard, a huge woman with a pinched, angry face, turned around and followed his gaze. "Meh," she grunted, shrugging. "Dunno." Glancing back at Taran, she narrowed her eyes even more than they already were. "Stay in line," she rumbled threateningly. "Boss'll be here soon enough, so sit still."
"And what if I don't want to?" There were fewer than a dozen villagers left being guarded. "I don't like sitting still and waiting. It's boring."
"Oh, we could make this much more interesting for everyone if we wanted to," the first guard retorted. "But that don't mean it would be fun. Not for you or your friends here, no. Just be patient, and maybe the chief will let you live when he does get here, eh?" He grinned spitefully. "I'd prefer he doesn't, though. I don't think I'd really like havin' you around."
"And I don't think I like being trapped," Taran retorted. She moved to walk past him. "So I guess I can leave because of that, right?" She knew she was being dumb, but she was annoyed. It was the villagers' fault that she had gotten caught in the first place! She didn't have to help them.
"Hey, hey!" The guards quickly blocked her path. "Not so fast. You can't just skip on outta here, missy. Either the chief decides your useful and lets you join us, or he doesn't and you die. It ain't your choice, see?" The bandit seemed frustrated, as if he wasn't used to villagers that weren't automatically terrified of him.
(Today's one of the days I work, by the way, but I should be back home by noon ^^)
(Alright, cool!)
"It should be, though," she said, not stopping. "What gives you the right to kidnap us, and then say that I can't go anywhere?"
"Well–that's–um—" The bandit shook his head to clear it. "Look, I feel like you're missing the point here. We're bandits! We eat villagers like you for breakfast! You don't get to argue with us, got it!?" He braced his spear and leveled it at Taran, making one last effort to regain control of the situation.
"You aren't cannibals," she said calmly. "I think I would know." She gripped the edge of the spear and wrenched it from his hands, spinning around and bashing him in the temple with the butt end of the spear, before gripping it tight in her metal left hand, squeezing it until it shattered from the pure force.
The bandit went down with a glug and stayed down, stunned. His companion gave a surprised yelp and lurched backwards, staring at the splintered spear. "What th–" It took her minute to gather her wits, but once she did, she quickly waved to another small group of bandits nearby. "Hey! This one's makin' trouble! Come help!" The bandits jumped and started to hurry over, looking angry that their pillaging had been interrupted.
Taran grinned. Fighting had made her blood burst with excitement. She had almost forgotten what it had felt like. She backed away from the mass of the bandits, looking as if she was going to retreat. Lesson one of fighting a lot of people: act like you were afraid.
(oops I gotta go to bed, sorry I was slow)
The bandits took the bait, grinning confidently as they advanced. "You're gonna regret messing with us, lady," one sneered, hefting a nasty-looking scrap metal bludgeon. "What are you gonna do against all of us, huh?"
(It's fine!)
"I don't know," Taran said, stopping near the burned-out remains of what once was the blacksmith stall. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a heavy-looking hammer, and bent down, picking it up, arms straining, before her metal arm clicked and whirred, bearing the weight. She smirked at the bandit who had spoken, and raised the hammer, flinging it in their direction.
He squawked in panic and dove to the side, bowling over his companions in an attempt to avoid the projectile. The resulting scramble caused one bandit to trip over some rubble and fall into a ruined house, which promptly collapsed on him and one of his fellows. A large plume of ash and still-warm embers rose up, making the others cough and curse.
"Come on, you useless idiots!" one yelled. He seemed to be a more important bandit–or at least, he seemed to think he was more important. "Just charge her all at once! What are you, a bunch of babies?" His shouts urged the remaining group forward–six in all–each looking angry now, albeit less confident.