>>5883155If you sent Scratch to deal with this midnight visitor, there was a fairly good chance she’d wind up killing the man. Not wanting to get off on the wrong foot with the rebels you came to court, you figure it might be better if you handle things yourself. You stand up, feigning exhaustion by yawning and stretching exaggeratedly. Stepping away from your companions and your campfire, you begin walking in the direction of your tent. On the way there, you make sure to never so much as take a glance at the brush until you reach the halfway point. Stopping dead in your tracks, you turn deftly and full-speed sprint towards the intruder.
Your eyes acclimate to the darkness as you draw closer, and you can now make out the figure hiding, who has jumped back startled. They fall onto their behind, and before they can get up, you’ve wrapped your arms around their waist and tackled them out of the brush back into the ground. The intruder goes down like a rag doll, breath taken out of their body, while Scratch and the others surround you both.
“S-stop! I yield!” The man cries out. Much like the rebels you saw at Ostia, he’s young. Hardly old enough to be called a man.
“Up we go.” Scratch pulls you back to your feet, all while keeping a foot planted on the spy’s chest. “Peeping on a couple of ladies in the dead of darkness, were you? You’d better reveal who you are quickly. If you’re nothing but a pervert, I’ll have to leave you with your skull cracked open.”
“I-I’m not a pervert!” The man says, trying his best to regain his breath. “And you should be the ones revealing your identities! This is our territory, and you don’t look like you’re with the Rusalkan Guard, so who are you?!” By now, all the shouting and commotion has awakened much of the camp, who are being roused from their light sleep to see what’s going on.
>“An astute observation. We are not, in fact, the Rusalkan Guard. We’re the Blackwings. Mercenaries. And truth be told, I already know who you are. We seek an audience with your leader, Gerald. I imagine he may already be expecting us.”“Y-you’re Blair?” He says from underneath Scratch’s foot. “Y-yeah…Eustass has said he’d run into you…I guess you came back after all. Well…at least you’re not the Guard. Fine…I’ll take you to Gerald, just…tell her to get off me!”
“Worm.” Scratch taunts the spy, before letting off him.
“You’re a brazen one.” The spy says, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. “We’ve been watching your group for hours. Thought you were the enemy at first. That you would just walk in here and wait us out…I’ve got to say, all the stories I heard were true. You and your company are as hard as they come. Our base of operation is just up ahead. There’s a trail that leads up above into the mountain. We use a cave there as our hideout. Gerald is already aware of your presence. I’ll take you to him now.”
