Rowan smiled a little when Nich moved in front of her. He didn't need to do that, but it made her feel a lot better. She blinked as she thought for a second. She raised a finger as she got an idea and pulled out a cloudy blue potion with a smile. She began to write out, This is a slumber potion. If I put this on your weapons, all you would have to do is cut them lightly and they'd get knocked out.
The lieutenant nodded at Rowan's explanation, though he raised an eyebrow at her method of communication. But he made no comment about it, "That would work. The last spotting of these scoundrels was in the forest west of this outpost. I would start there."
"Yeah, that could work. I've got some throwing stats that we could put the potion on, and then we don't even have to get all that close." Nich looked around, seemingly searching for something, but he didn't really know what. "And we can bring them in safely. Which way should we go?" He asked the man, turning back to tune into the conversation.
"I just said to the forest west of this outpost," the lieutenant repeated himself. Rowan looked up at Nich and grabbed his hand before writing out to him, I think I know where to go. Come on, let's go catch some bandits!
"Sounds good! Seeya!" Nich grinned and waved to the lieutenant, looking over to Rowan before he ran off in the right direction with her. "Alright, hopefully this won't be too hard. We just need to have good aim and not get hit ourselves."
Right, shouldn't be too hard, Rowan wrote out to him as she lead the way to the forest. She was looking around for any signs of the bandits once they arrived. She began to write out, If you find anything just shout, alright? It might be a good idea if we split up to search.
"Alright. How should I know if you need help, though?" Nich asked, tilting his head to the side a bit. "I wouldn't want to to get caught by yourself. Maybe you can shoot up a flare of sorts? Like a colorful burst of magic that'll go above the trees so I can see where you are."
I can do that, and if you don't see it after 30 seconds I'll do my best to shout too, Rowan wrote back to him. She didn't see what was the issue, her throat may be actively trying to rip itself from her body, but that didn't mean she couldn't ever use it. In emergencies, she could and would most definitely use it. But she gave him a slight nod and began wandering into the forest to look for the bandits.
"Alright… just be careful, will you?" Nich split off from Rowan and started to walk around, his ears swiveling to try and catch any faint sounds that might be bandits. He kept as quiet as possible so he could hear better, but he couldn't see anyone or anything just yet. He was aware of his heart pounding with anticipation and anxiety, but elected to ignore it for now.
Rowan gave him a thumbs up and continued deeper in. She tapped her fingers against her thigh as she glanced around looking for any sign of the bandits. She muttered a very soft spell to enhance her hearing as she listened for any kind of movement that wasn't Nich. She finally got something and began to move towards it, not wanting to alert Nich if it wasn't the bandits and just some travelers. Unlucky for her, she found the bandits and now she was in a tight spot. She backed away ever so slightly before releasing a magic flare into the sky that burst into an array of colors.
Nich caught the whistle of the flare shooting up into the sky and looked over his shoulder to see it burst. He immediately turned and bolted towards Rowan's location, pulling out his throwing stars as he ran. He'd need to get the potion on them from Rowan before he could use them for their plan, though. It only took him a couple minutes to make it to where Rowan was.
Rowan was currently trying to fend off a few bandits that also heard and saw the flare in the air. She was muttering spells to try and fend off her attackers when she spotted Nich. With very little hesitation she threw over to him one of her slumber potions knowing that if it broke it would affect the others nearby, and if it didn't Nich could use it. Worst-case scenario, Nich accidentally gets knocked out.
Nich yelped when the potion was suddenly thrown towards him, but managed to catch it nonetheless. He got the potion on the edges of his throwing stars and then started to throw them at the bandits. Thankfully, he seemed to have pretty good aim, and soon the bandits were starting to fall. He did eventually run out of stars, though, and attackers drew closer to him. He fended them off relatively well, but he was clearly struggling with so many people on him, and he could feel sharp edges hacking at him.
Rowan was casting slumber spells left and right watching as the bandits fell asleep all around her. Her throat felt like it was getting filled with acid with how much talking she was having to do, but while she finally entered some semblance of clear with few bandits around, Nich was swarmed. She began casting a larger spell circle and shouted out, "Pello!" as she released the spell crating a silent force to push at lest some of the bandits away from Nich. She then began to cough violently blood spluttering up immediately.
Nich did his best to defend himself until Rowan's spell dispersed the swarm of bandits. He was bleeding from several wounds, some of which looked deep, but he allowed adrenaline to push him forward. He took the throwing stars from where they were embedded in other bandits so he could throw them at the ones that were still standing. Eventually, all of the bandits appeared to be down and Nich's adrenaline was running out. He fell to his knees, breathing heavily as he tried to assess his own wounds.
Rowan waited until a lull in the fit of coughing to down one of her violet potions. She wiped her mouth and went to Nich's side to help him out best she could knowing that the bandits would be asleep for some time. She began searching through her bag until she found a pinkish-red potion that had a dull glow. Rowan then pushed it on Nich as she wrote, Here. This will help with your wounds.
Nich's eyelids fluttered and he glanced up when Rowan approached, still panting from exhaustion and pain now that the adrenaline had run dry. He had several gashes that were immediately obvious on his arms, legs, and abdomen. All of them were bleeding, but not quite enough to bleed out. Either way, he wasn't doing great. He accepted the potion from Rowan with trembling hands and raised it to his lips, swallowing all of it before he was able to speak. "Mmnh… w-what's it going to do exactly…?"
It should speed up your natural healing process and give you a bit of extra strength, Rowan wrote back to him a tired smile on her face. She always hated seeing people in pain, but there wasn't much else she could do. She offered a hand out to him as she began to calculate the strength of a spell she would need in order to carry all the bandits back to town, We should tie up the bandits before they wake up. Even though they should be asleep for another half hour.
Nich nodded a bit and took another couple of minutes to recover before he was able to force himself to his feet. He was shaking quite a bit still, but he didn't want to make Rowan deal with the bandits on her own. "We might want to call for help so you don't have to use more magic… I'm sure they'd be willing to help."
No, I can handle it, Rowan insisted despite the fact she knew her reserves were low. She was already going through her bag trying to find a bit of rope to start tying up the bandits with. She glanced back at Nich, Do you have any rope to tie them up with? Or like some type of handcuffs?
"Rope? Ah…" Nich rummaged around in his bag and pulled out some rope to toss over to Rowan. "I've got some, but it… might not be enough for all of them…" His eyelids fluttered again and he swayed a bit, feeling dizzy. "If you have some multiplication type magic you can make more…"
I can make more rope. Are you doing okay? Rowan wrote out to Nich after catching the rope. She could tell he was still struggling even after the potion she gave him. She put a hand gently on him to keep him steady, If you need to sit back down, do so. I can handle tying up these bandits by myself.
"Fine, fine… m'alright…" Nich leaned against the tree adjacent to him, exhaling shakily. "Stupid bandits swarmed me…" He looked down at his legs, where he'd bled through his pants from a few gashes. "These are gonna be… a nightmare to clean…" He slid down the tree a couple inches, trying to keep his eyes open. "Sorry… I want to help. I don't want I make you… make you deal with them all alone…"
It's fine. You managed to take most of them down, Rowan wrote back to him as she watched him. She pulled out another one of her healing potions and placed it down next to him gently. It wasn't exactly safe to consume so many potions in quick succession, but she knew what the limit was and Nich was still under it. She then turned away and began to tie up the bandits with what rope she had.
Nich sighed and swallowed the potion when it was offered to him with a muffled thanks. After a minute or two, he seemed to be a little more stable and was able to get to his feet. He was still a bit unsteady and pale, and by no means at 100%, but he felt well enough to help Rowan with the bandits. "We may still need help bringing them all back. There's a lot of them, and we probably can't carry them all."
I might be able to, Rowan responded as she glanced at the group of bandits she had carefully moved to a pile like position. Hypothetically, she could lift all of them up at once with one of her spell circles and move them with that, but it would take magical energy she just did not have at the moment, And I don't exactly know how to call for help from hear.
