Merchant a go go(mademoiselle Juliette)

[Dimnersti]

Aperitus
The Summer of Era II of the Celestine Mandate
Era XIV Post Fractum
Paradigm: Reopening of Olympia
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"You know rensto I dont really see why we had to do that favor fer yer pal in prime. And I dont feal all that comfortable letting ol 'ley go back by himself, that milo character seems an ok sort, but that dont stop the empire from crumbling round us ya know, dont like bein all exposed like this." said a large, though relativly older fellow who wore a well worn, though clearly taken care of suit of leather armor. he had a small sheild strapped to his back and a bastard sword set on a simple sheath built into the side of the sadle.

"Come on verious, Its a favor for an old freind in prime, he's always been good to us, and it aint like we'r not going to make any crowns off the deal. Give me a chance to buy some nice souveneirs for the kids, besides you always had a thing for the accent didn't you." Replied a slighter man who looked to have at least a few era's on the other, he wore a floppy wide brimmed hat, a long cape and had an overall fopish apearance as he led the wagon.

The both of them spoke and moved with a familiar ease of seasoned veterans of the road, their eyes scanning for the obvious signs of an unprepared band of bandits, they'd become a bit of a nuisance of late, though most were just bands of fools who figured they could take advantage of the empires current state, of little concern to any with enough sense to keep their eyes on the suroundings.

[Juliette de Chesne]

The suns were slowly setting over the horizon as the brightening prepared to meld into darkening, the sky resembling a canvas painted in pastel hues. The twinkling of stars was already becoming evident, and coupled with the dully glowing moon were as baubles hanging around the lady heaven's pristine neck.

All around the forest was stirring to life as creatures made ready to prowl, their eyes gleaming with predatory lusts. The croaking of frogs, the gentle crooning of nightingales, and the rustling of leaves combined to form the eventide symphony, a testament to the wild beauty that could be found outside of civilization.

The men's voices could be heard easily enough, and it was for this reason that every muscle in Juliette's body was tensed. She was hidden within thick foliage alongside the road, emerald eyes glittering darkly as they reflected the waning light of the suns. With a patience unparalleled she waited as the merchants slowly passed her by, one atop a wagon and the other on horseback. It was a slightly larger target than she was used to ambushing, but Juliette had never been one to balk at a challenge.

Using the combined noise of the men's voices, the creaking of the wagon wheels, and the dull thud of horse hoofs for cover, Juliette slowly snuck out of the greenery after she was confident the distance between them was enough that they'd see nothing out of their peripheral vision. In fluid movements that were reminiscent to a feline slinking, the bandit crept up behind the wagon, taking care to remain within the blind-spots of their eyesight.

In one smooth gesture she lifted the flap of the wagon and peered inside its dark innards, and prepared to climb up within. It would supposedly be an easy enough undertaking with minimal exertion, though in this line of work she ever played the game of chance. She had already worked out the plan in her head, and fully intended to surprise the man driving the wagon from behind. She would level her rapier at him, and demand he surrender all profits to her.

Juliette only prayed that all went according to plan.

[Dimnersti]

The soft clop clop of the horses hooves and the creek of the wood as the small wagon bounced along the trail covered the noise of her aproach. Most merchants had a guard stationed at the back of the wagon to prevent this sort of thing. These two however, likely for the purposes of their breif conversation were both positioned at the front of the wagon.

Carefully slinking behind the wagon juliette slid the tarp up hoping to slide beneath and sneak up to rensto, what she had neglected to anticipate though was that the wagon was filled with merchandise, it being shoved in so tightly and the tarp keeping out any light, it was dificult to tell exactly what was within.

Her path blocked the petite bandit was left skulking behind the wagon while she quickly thaught of another plan, a plan that had to come quickly as verious, perhaps atracted by the hint of motion slowed his horse so he could drift back to his position behind the wagon.

[Juliette de Chesne]

Juliette suppressed the urge to let slip a poisonous curse, disgustedly releasing the tarp as she realized there'd be no way to get inside. She hadn't even bothered to think of an alternative plan, and she immediately felt foolish for not doing so. She was no novice to this trade any more, and certainly should have realized that any good plan needed an equally good back-up.

It was then that she realized that the two merchants' conversation had ended, and in a panic she shifted around to the side of the wagon where Verious had not been. Quickly moving closer to the front position of the wagon, the back of the driver's head came into view. She only had a few seconds before Verious caught sight of her and raised the alarm.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, and that was exactly what Juliette was about to do. Scooping up a large rock that rivaled the size of her hand, she crept a bit closer, quickly took aim at the back of the wagon driver's head, and then hurled the heavy rock. She didn't want to kill him, just knock him unconscious.

[Dimnersti]

Acurately throwing a fist sized stone was for many a dificult thing when allowed time to properly aim. doing so in a crouched walking position, well it was dificult to say the least. It didn't stop the young jaedaxian women though. The throw was swift and acurate, or at least as acurate as could be expected given the situation.

Striking him a glancing blow just above his right ear rensto bent forward, his eyes dimming and his thaughts disapearing in the breif torrent of pain that surged through his conciousness. A loud uninteligble curse escaping his lips he dropped his head into his hands trying to reclaim his focus. While not unconcious as intended, it wasn't likely he'd be to afective for a while at least. And as he let loose the reigns the horses came to a stop the clattering of the wagon shifting to a slow creaking as the wheels settled into motionlessness.

"I told you it was a bad idea to travel with just me guardin ren." verious snarled angrily as he moved towards the other side of the wagon. Juliette coming into view he slowed his horse keeping a hint of distance. "Wha? It seems our jaedaxian rat is a jaedaxian kitten.." he stated in a suprised tone, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword, but his shoulders losing some of the tension that had jumped into them at the sound of the stone hitting rensto's head. "So, is this the mischeif of a kitten, or does our kitten think she's a cougar?" he asked, a slight hint of humor in his voice. Verious was experianced enough he knew the dangers of underestimating his oponent, but he also had a love of women, and it was rensto who usualy balanced this out.