For the King (private RP)

[mainehorse]

Casey was sitting on the edge of her bed, working on sewing the rip in her cloak when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in" she calls out. The door opened to reveal the captain of the guard, or father as she knew him. "Father" she says, pausing to cut the thread with a dagger that sat beside her now that she was done sewing. She knew on some level thar he genuinely did love her, but affection was hard to spot between the two of them. He hadn't exactly been prepared to raise a child when he had taken the then toddler in. On the bright side, starting at such a young age, she had become a formidable soldier in adulthood. "I just came by to tell you to take care out there. I didn't want to chance missing you" he says. Casey nods slightly. "I will father" she says.

[wingfeather]

Alasdair traveled through the castle quickly and soon made it to his apartments. He changed quickly into clothes more befitting his title, ''only have to be Alasdair for a few more hours yet,'' he murmured to himself as he buttoned up a clean white shirt before throwing on a more stiff blue and gold overcoat. He could not wait till he could get into his fake identity as Dair and walk amongst his comrades without discomforting them. Carefully he rolled up his forest green cloak and set it aside for the next day. After packing in a few more sets of clothing in a leather backpack he went to check his sword. It was the only really valuable item he was bringing on this assignment. He carefully fingered the red beryl set at the pommel and ran his hand over the tightly bound black leather handle to the gold hand guard studded with finely cut emeralds. He pulled it from its silver and gold sheath and took out a battered black leather one and slid it in. No sense in drawing too much attention to it.

[mainehorse]

"I should probably be going now. Lots to get ready before the morrow." Casey mutters, making her way over to the wall where her longsword was mounted. It was a simple weapon with a pommel wrapped in leather and a mostly silver blade with a hint of light blue down the center. But it was effective in battle and that was what mattered at the end of the day. She picks up the blade from the wall and slips it into the scabbard at her back before slipping her cloak on over it to conceal the weapon. She'd throw some clothing into her backpack along with a few other essentials and then she'd slip her armor on. She could feel her father's watchful gaze on her as she set about getting everything ready to go. She needed to get her horse ready to go as well she mused as she slipped her leather bracers on before setting her backpack on the bed. She'd return for it just before leaving. As she steps outside of her quarters, she holds the door open for her father as well. He follows her out and she shuts the door behind him before making her way down the hallway.

[Chloriosus]

Vokras had finally decided that his crossbow was coming with him, carefully disassembled in his backpack and tucked away under a set of clean clothes. He also tucked away a bottle, a habit that he had developed over the past years. "A bottle is a versatile thing. Good for making friends and better for keeping away enemies.", he was apt to say when asked about it. Lastly, he took out a small dark-wood box with a rusted lock on it, and carefully placed several arrowheads inside. It was one thing to carve himself more arrow shafts when he ran out, but arrowheads were not something that grew on trees, and neither was string. After he had placed a large part of his inventory inside the little box he placed that into his backpack as well, and then closed it. On top of it he lay the hood and cloak. He was ready for the morrow. The only thing left to do was to inform his mother of where he was going.

[wingfeather]

Alasdair set the things he was bringing in a corner away from general sight, he didn't want any servants coming in and asking questions. A knock came suddenly upon the door then entered Morien, he bowed briefly to Alasdair, ''all set for tomorrow im assuming.'' Alasdair nodded. Morien was the leader of the band, he was a blade master in the castle, in fact the very best in the land. His steel grey hair bespoke of the long years he spent learning the blade, but his keen blue eyes and quick step belied his actual age. Morien was a stern and strict man, and never showed favor to any, he had to be, with the group he led. ''Good,'' Morien said, ''I shall see you tomorrow,'' with that he left. Alasdair closed the door and and went back to the window, his back was tall and straight, and his hands were folded perfectly behind him. This was going to be quite the trip.

[Chloriosus]

"I can assure my presence.", Ession told the messenger calmly before closing the door in his face. He set the note down on the table and then walked over to the corner where he had his well worn backpack already set with a fresh set of clothes, a general map of the surrounding countries, concealed knife, matchsticks, fishing line, in short, almost anything that a vagabond could be expected to carry around with him on his travelings. Although Ession did not exactly classify himself as a vagabond, he did tend to take short trips to wherever the wind blew on short notice occasions, and thus he always had his pack ready to go. The only thing he was rather stuck on at the moment was a cloak to conceal his sword, for he didn't really have one of those. However, he did know how to sew, and after purchasing a length of dark green fabric, he got himself the needle from a small case in which he kept sewing supplies and began on his cloak. All in all he was very precise and in fact quite talented in stitchwork, despite it being an activity he did not often indulge him. It took him a few hours, but finally it was finished and carefully lay folded up on the table beside the note. His dark-silver bladed sword already lay ready in it's dark-leather wrapped sheath, waiting for it's master to take up and use. Just because, Ession slid it out of it's sheath. It was already sharp, he had sharpened it a few days ago, but he still glid his hand carefully over the cold and gleaming edge before re sheathing it and laying it onto one of the chairs. "well, we'll see what tomorrow holds.", he told himself, for he was feeling a bit conversational at the moment, and who is a better listener than yourself?

[mainehorse]

Casey steps into the stables once more carrying a bucket of feed, making her way over to the dapple grey gelding's stall. She wanted to look him over once more today to make sure that he was sound for the long journey to come on the morrow. It ought to be interesting she mused as she heard the gelding snort in response to seeing her. His training was off to a good start, but he was still very much a wild horse at heart. Whether or not he was ready to be ridden, she would find out tomorrow before sun-up. If not, she would have to walk with him on a lead and work with him in the evenings when they made camp for the night. Progress was progress no matter how slow it might be, though having to train him on the road would complicate matters. But she had never been one to back down from a challenge, so why should this be any different? "Here you go fellow, eat well. We're leaving real early in the morning" she says, emptying the bucket of feed into his feeding trough.

[wingfeather]

The Next Morning.............

Alasdair woke suddenly, it was still dark outside. He had just enough time to get ready and make it to the North Gate before it was time to leave. He slipped on the clothes he had prepared the night before while silently berating himself for not getting up earlier, taking out his sheathe he strapped it to his back as well as slipped a knife into one of his boots. Then, unstringing his longbow, he grasped the sturdy bow part as a walking staff. On the way out of one of the castle's side doors he was able to grab some food and quickly eat it. Traveling on an empty stomach would be a horrible idea and would cause him to weaken faster, and he needed all the strength he could gather for this trek. Quickly he went past the stables and and after coming to the gate stationed himself near the back of those assembled, some had horses with them but others didn't, he himself was not a good horseman and found that he preferred keeping his feet planted firmly on the dirt beneath them, there were also a few pack horses for supplies. He kept the hood pulled low over his face lest any castle staff should recognize him but he would pull it off again once they got into the forest.

[mainehorse]

Upon waking up at around three in the morning, Casey had forced herself out of bed and went about making herself a pot of coffee over the small hearth in her room. She was all for rising early in the morning, but this felt a bit excessive. Normally she was up around five in the morning. But since she had not only herself but her horse to get ready to leave just before dawn, and her horse wasn't exactly the most cooperative, she wanted to be sure that she had the time. After draining her mug of coffee and rinsing the mug out, she runs her brush through her unruly brown hair before tying it into her usual style and throwing her hair brush into her backpack. Other than that, it was already fully packed. She throws on a pair of trousers and a long sleeved green tunic in place of her night clothes before slipping her leather armor on over it. Her longsword was slipped into a scabbard at her back and her cloak slipped on over that to conceal the weapon. With that done, she slips her backpack over her shoulders and turns off the oil lamp, bathing her room in darkness once more before she steps outside of her room and makes her way over to the stables. Again, she could see the hooded figure from the day before when she had been training her gelding. Just what did he have to hide? She mused as she made her way over to her gelding's stall. Though she supposed there was no use in dwelling on it. If they were journeying together then she would likely find out eventually anyway.

[Chloriosus]

The sound of his brothers' snoring was the only sound that echoed threw the dark room as Vokras tied on his bracers put on the cloak, readying himself to disembark from his family's house. His mom had been in a fairly bad mood all day yesterday, and so he had been considerate enough not to inform her that he was going anywhere, possibly to never return. He tied his backpack shut after making sure he had taken extra bowstring, then he slipped a knife carefully into his boot and attempted at opening the creaky window as soundlessly as possible. It gave two loud creaks, but his brothers slept like rocks, and after a few seconds of breathless silence, he was out, the window was shut, and Vokras was walking to the appointed place with wide strides, his hood completely enshrouding his face, though some of his unruly hair managed to peek out. His feeling of time weren't the most coveted, but he knew he would make it to the north gate well before dawn would break and the concealing spell of the darkness broken.

[Chloriosus]

Ession had already left his small house before the sun had completely gone down the previous day, and had spent the night in the woods well sheltered under a small rock formation, his sword still sheathed by his side. He enjoyed the night air and the brush of the forest wind against his skin. The biggest reason for this decision had been that he lived near the castle in a rather populous area, and did not wish to possibly be watched by some child that couldn't sleep at night because of nightmares or such foolishness. And thus he had slept under the skies, and for that he also woke up rather early in the morning, courtesy of an owl that mistook his nose for a mouse. He didn't go back to sleep after that, but headed towards the appointed place and waited for the rest to show up.

[wingfeather]

Morien stepped in front of the congregating warriors. Dair could just see him, and dark outline of a tall man and strong man standing in front of an even darker background. Morien stood beside his second in command and silently counted the number of soldiers. There were going to be twenty-one men on this trip, counting himself. There were still a few missing but he knew they would turn up within the next few moments. Dair looked around, he noticed a few of his friends from past excursions and several knew faces, he wasn’t the one who took on the new recruits and, though he was glad that there were more able bodies stepping forward to the cause, he knew what the new faces meant, that some comrades from before didn’t come back.

[mainehorse]

Casey clips a lead to the gelding's halter before leading the horse out of his stall. She'd have to see how he would accept being ridden. If he didn't then the both of them would be walking for the time being. But that was far from the end of the world. She had never minded long days spent on her feet. Her boots were worn in to the point of being comfortable to wear for long periods of time in any case. As she shuts the stall door behind the gelding, she lets her gaze wander over the growing congregation of warriors. As she had suspected, she couldn't spot any other women among the group. Though perhaps there would be others. But if not, well that didn't bother her. She had grown up spending much of her time amongst her father's men, so it wasn't a new situation for her by any means. It wasn't exactly common for women to take up arms after all. Most of the snide comments she heard though were from other women about how it was un-lady-like to pick up arms. It was a ridiculous statement in her eyes.

[Chloriosus]

Vokras stood arms crossed, his gaze swerving over the others present. Their wise and able leader Morien, for whom Vokras carried a deep respect for, appeared to be counting them, though it was apparent that not all were present yet. Vokras recognized some of the men from past times, though most of their names had slipped his mind. He didn't really remember peoples names all too well, he generally went by faces, and it was hard to distinguish between them at this time of night. He noticed with a pang of melancholiness that one of the men he had gotten along with well last time was missing, and he had never been one to come late... Another one, with whom he had not gotten along all too well with was also seemingly not present, though it was clear that both would never rejoin the band on any excursions again.

[wingfeather]

Morien waited only a few more moments for the rest that were too come then mounting his jet black charger silently turned and began riding off, knowing that those behind knew what to do. Alasdair followed, he was still behind most of the men and because it was pretty dusty, but he didn't mind this. The stars were just beginning to disappear from sight as the sun began rising, it shown brightly in his right eye. The forest was nearly right up against the castle and just as they entered its eaves Dair threw off his hood and shook his bright hair, just in time for a cool early morning breeze to hit him straight in the face. He was glad to be back on the road, it had been long, too long in his opinion. He adjusted the strap to his back sheath and hoisted his pack higher before quickening his pace. He had been able to glance at a few maps the day before and knew the journey would take the better part of two days, three if all didn't go well.