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"Nah, I don't think you're scary either. Just interesting. You're the only magic-user in the camp, as far as anybody knows. I mean, Blue Tommy thinks he's friggin' invincible, but he's also a total nutcase." The man put his elbows on his knees and rested his chin in his hands. "I think everybody's just kinda surprised that you look so human."
Tanrial sighed loudly and dramatically, “Humans can have magic too! It’s not just limited to my people and other magical creatures. Do I need to like, shift or something so I look less human? Maybe then people won’t talk about me looking so ‘human’.”
The bandit raised an eyebrow. "Jeez, who put a prune in your porridge this morning? I'm just tryin' to make conversation."
"Sorry…" She scratched at her neck, "And I think the reason why is because I was practically kidnapped and forced to stay here with no way to contact my friends so," She shrugged, "I feel like I have a good reason to be angry."
He frowned. "'Friends?' I know about the creepy quiet guy who was with you when we attacked, but I hadn't heard of anybody else. You're not part of a bigger group, are you?"
Tanrial shook her head, “There’s only one more. But I have no clue where he is. We got split up during the storm.”
"Is that so?" The bandit paused. "What did he look like? 'Cause…..we did find a body or two after the storm…"
“Nuh uh. Don’t do this psychological crap so you can go and find him and force him to work here too.”
"Hey, lady, don't treat me like I'm more clever than I actually am. We really did find a couple dead people out there. If there's one thing I hate, it's watching people get bad news without any warning. I'm just giving you a chance to find out the easy way." He folded his arms. "I'm being a lot nicer to you than I'm allowed to be, so don't make me regret it."
“Okay well… he’s average height, brown hair and eyes. Bigger body type but is more bulky then anything. He had big backpack with him, too.”
The bandit looked somewhat relieved. "Didn't see him. The guys we found were both blond. So either his corpse is really well-hidden or he's still out there somewhere." He thought it over, then added, "Look, how about this? I won't tell anybody about him if you do me a favor."
Tanrial raised her brows and crossed her arms but nodded, “Sure, what do you need?”
He glanced around to make sure no one was listening. "So, here's the deal. I've got a brother who's sick, been sick for a long time. Boar-back thinks he's useless. If he doesn't get well soon, the chief's gonna make him leave or worse. The last medic said he was incurable, but….." he took a deep breath. "You've got magic. If you can make him better, I'll owe you, big time."
She mulled the thought over for a moment before she nodded again, “Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal.”
He straightened eagerly. "I'll bring him over tonight, then. And don't worry, I won't breathe a word."
"Breathe a word about what?"
Boar-back seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, looming over the shed with his arms folded. Blue Tommy skulked in his shadow, grinning at them malevolently.
"You two keeping secrets?" Boar-back asked lightly, tapping his fingers on his arm.
Tanrial shook her head, “Of course not,” She smiled though it was obviously forced, “We would never.”
He studied her. "What a terrible liar you are." Turning, he fixed her companion with a gaze of steel. "Tell me, Rezzi."
Rezzi gulped, his eyes darting around. "W-we….I was….going to bring her some of the good food. From your tent. She s-said she'd give me some of the strength potion if I did. I thought–I thought it would be okay–"
Boar-back shook his head scornfully. "Leave."
Once he was gone, the bandit leader spoke to Tanrial again. "For a bad liar, you're quite the wily one, aren't you? Already you've made friends with three of my bandits for your own benefit. I see I'm going to have to be more careful with you."
Tanrial shrugged, “I wouldn’t say they’re friends per say,” She sighed, “Anyway, can I go for a walk then? Since that the entire reason for creepy friend over there came to talk to you and the only reason I was speaking to… Rezzi.”
"You're not making the idea very inviting. But, I'll give you a fair chance." He nodded to Blue Tommy, who looked annoyed. "He'll be with you at all times, and if you try to leave camp he will stab you. Or something like that anyway, he's not a very predictable man. After one hour you have to come back here and stay put. Clear?"
Tanrial rolled her eyes, already turning to leave, “Crystal clear boss. Be back in an hour, don’t leave or I’ll get slabbed yadda yadda, catch ya later!” She saluted before walking away.
Blue Tommy leaped to follow her, staying exactly two feet away at all times. He kept a hand on his rusty knife as if he was itching to use it.
As they went, the bandits wandering around camp stopped and stared at her curiously. Most of them seemed to be preparing for something, gathering up weapons and bits of mismatched armor. Shiv and Muddybones were fighting over a machete by one of the fire pits, and when they saw Tanrial they quickly scurried away.
(gtg, back later possibly)
(Alright, bye)
Tanrial couldn’t help but roll her eyes as people loved out her way. She wasn’t scary, just because she had magic doesn’t make her scary, well, in her opinion. But she was currently focused on trying to find Mike, wherever he may be.
Eventually they made it to the far side of camp and came across what looked like a large wooden cage lashed together with thick ropes and sunk into the ground slightly. There was a ragged tarp over the top to keep out the rain, but otherwise it looked like a very uncomfortable place to live.
Mike was sitting inside with his back against the bars, half-slumped as if he'd fallen there. The bandages around his head and shoulder both badly needed to be changed, and there was a fresh gash on the side of his face. He didn't look up or even move when they approached.
“Mike?” Tanrial frowned, crouching down in front of him, already scanning the bandages and wondering where she could find others.