The Woods

[Finculmir]

This forest is full of dangerous creatures, thugs, and villainous rogues who would often kidnap or kill the unwary for their valuables or for ransom. It is always wise to be cautious while traveling through the area. However, some must venture here: bounty hunters and hunters in particular make their mark among the trees and brush.  

[BardoftheAges]

His eyes were everywhere, spread out through this lovely bit of woodland, on the lookout for enemies or potential targets. Few were adept at moving through the treetops, so most of them stayed in small "home" patches and sent messages to alert other patches. He allowed himself to lounge back against the trunk of the oak he was currently perched in, a strange smile flicking about his features. They would make out well here. The clan of fox-people - he spat - were weak and soft. They would provide what was necessary. If he was careful, they might even be convinced to give him a tithe every few moons or so. Those who called themselves guards wandered about and didn't seem to take their job very seriously. A sneer twisted his lips. They'd had it good for too long. They'd soon find out that there was a world of hurt beyond the borders of their peaceful little paradise.  

[xX_xXiiSerenaiiXx_Xx]

"oh no a hurt fox i have to heal that cut." Serena dont go in the forest." "Lilly i hav to help that fox." Serena runs to the fox and heals it's cut. "Serena lets hurry up and get out of here." "Right lets go." they run out the forest fast.  

[Finculmir]

((A note - if you're going to be gaining the ability to raise your level of magery you're going to be needing to give a much more detailed description. If you applied a poultice or bound a limb, channeled some sort of healing spell into the muscles, knitting together tears or energizing cells.))  

[Red Fox 104]

Reynard's motorcycle clattered along the dirt road, its loud racket echoing throughout the trees.
What the heck am I doing...!? Reynard though as he moved out of the way of a pot hole.
There was a small town nine-teen miles back, when he was gassing up he asked about the village he was going to. The usual reply was 'that road's been closed down for years...' or 'You don't want to go there... an evil pack of demons killed its people long ago and still live there!' It sounded like the type of crap you'd feed to your kids to keep them from going there... but, Reynard had no doubts that is was indeed old, which means that most(if not all the buildings)were condemned.
Fox slowed to a crawl then stopped. He put out the kick-stand then killed the engine. He eased back in the saddle of the BMW, taking a few short breaths then continued to brush off most of the road grime he had picked up.
He unbuckled the chinstrap of his helmet and placed it on the handle bars. He only wore it to hide his ears from the people back at the town. He rubbed his chafed ears, they had been stuck in that helmet for over eight hours. He reopened his fathers map and checked where he was with a compass and his travel notes.
Wherever I'm going, it's not far now; maybe two or three miles from its limits. Then, I'll set up camp somewhere.
He checked the fuel indicator mounted on the instrument cluster; "1/8th" of a tank of petrol left is about what he could surmise in the low light.
I guess this really was a one-way-trip after all...
He shuttered, despite the forests lightly warm temperature. Being cut-off was his fear. As a precaution, he had packed everything that he could into a BMW R75. The best 'steel-horese' he could buy for what he needed(and the options). With a mounted side-car and all the accessories like leather saddle bags, a German MG34 mounted as a turret for the passenger(sidecar seat) and two spare tires. Along with enough food and ammo for at least five bad days. Hell, Fox even packed explosives; apart of the reason his suspension was so dipped down to the road. Slowing down his ride.
Fox leaned down and over to his right and reached down into the side-car, fishing for a pack of smokes he'd thought was in a leather bag tucked under the passenger seat....
Reynard's ears pricked-up at the sound of something to his left. He shot a look over his shoulder to see a man standing there.
Who is he? A hunter?
With all the people who seemed terrified of the village it seemed unlikely they would venture out this far to hunt game.
"Can I help you stranger?" The man said.
Fox didn't like the tone that carried with it, that and the slight grin on his face which implied he knew something Reynard didn't. Fox folded the map and placed it back into the leather bag of the motorcycle.
"Cant say that you can... I heading toward the village just down the road here..." Fox pointed down the road, the man didn't seem interested, instead he took a few steps closer.
"Its a bad part of the day to be in the woods, stranger... there are very bad people lurking about... very dangerous it is indeed."
Reynard didn't know what the mans point was, but he didn't want to stick around.
"I'm sure it is... I'll be careful."
"Oh ho! I'm sure you will too, my friend...!"
The thug signaled with his hand and five or six more of them stepped out from the cover of the forest, most holding blunt weapons like clubs. At least two of them had daggers from what he could tell by the glint of polished steel under the moonlight that shined down from above.
"See what I mean... 'dangerous' men about. I'll be taking your coin-bag now, good friend..."
The the now apparent leader of the group drew out a long knife and held out his hand, while a seventh man holding with what appeared to be a crossbow stepped out from the cover of darkness.
Reynard looked around himself, checking out his options...
How did his happen? He thought to himself. Wait! The motorcycle; something so loud on a road this narrow! The forest is thick, too! With so many trees acting as a sound-trap and the bikes engine acting as cover for their approach a scouting party of men on horsesback could easily keep up with me...!
It was pretty bad now, being surrounded, out numbered and ambushed.
And with killing humans not being an option worth taking.
Come on, think!
Getting caught by humans was troublesome at the best of times. Killing one, much less a whole group of men meant a total "Fox-Hunt" at a time when Reynard needed to lay low. A problem(quite frankly)bigger then then Fox was prepared to handled.
THINK!
"Get off the iron horse!!" Barked the man with the crossbow.
Slowly, Fox eased himself up form the motorcycle and stood on it's riding pegs, hands raised just above his shoulders.
"So, it's money?! A set-up like this it doesn't seem like that's all you want." Reynard said to the first man, their leader. The man nodded, his grin smug and leering.
Reynard felt his options were running thin. He did in fact have a fairly large(small fortune)of silver coins in a medium saddle bag. It was resting in the seat next to him with only a bit of canvas cloth covering it.
"Money, and a tail like that goes for a price as well! Hehhehhe!" One of the men cried out. Most of them laughed, some chuckled. But only the leader of them kept his composure. Only he kept his eye contact with Reynard, unblinking.
No options left, Fox squatted down on the BMW and leaned into the side-car recovering a smaller bag of silver from within the larger one.
"Fare enough, here..." he said tossing the bag of silver to the roadside. "...that's all I've got."
"The tail too..." The man responded.
Fox looked into the eyes of the leader.
"Are you sure you want to do this? Because for you and your men's sake, I hope that you all leave now."
He paused but didn't answer.
"Don't mess with us, you inhuman freak!!" Reynard's eyes narrowed as he said this. One of the men behind him was trying to pick a fight. "...Or I'll tear your ears off and feed them to me dogs!! Now give us that money and everything else!!"
"Okay. Keron, please aid and protect me in my time of great need..." Reynard whispered to himself.
Reynard reached again into the side car, looking for something other then silver. He found it.
The man spoke out while moving to the front of the bike, sensing the obvious hostility of the action. "Hold it there, demon! What trick do you think you can pull on us completely surrounded?!"
Still leaning, Reynard eased himself back into a sitting position on the bike. He shut his eyes.
"This trick? It's very simple..."
BOOOM!! The amount of sound that the flare pistol produced as Reynard fired it into the air surprised him a great deal, the bandits triple!
In a haze of speed that not even a humming bird could catch, Reynard unholstered his Colt .45 clicked off the safety and leveled it to the mans face! A thunderous crack thundered throughout the trees and he squeezed off a round, the slide action ejecting the spent casing into the air! The leaders blood spattered face cocked backward as his body went limp. Like a ragdoll, he crashed to the dirt!
"HOLY--" A man shouted as he reached for an arrow to fit into his bow, the man with the crossbow raised his weapon, Fox shot him through his shoulder, the bolt was released with a twang, and went flying into a tree!
Reynard then ducked as a man with a club took a swing at him! Fox grabbed him and pulled the thug in between himself and the man with the bow, who at the time had pulled back on the string and let it lose! The arrow hit the thug. Fox reached over his human shield and shot both the bowman's knee caps, he screamed then went down!
Reynard then heard running behind him! He spun around, pointing his firearm! A young boy, no older than fifteen dropped his bat then ran to the first man Fox had shot.
"Father!" He cried.
The other men had fled, there cries for help could be heard in the distance. Reynard knew were this was going, this young boy would now stop at nothing to get revenge for his father...
"Listen to me, boy!" The teenager looked up at him. "Your father was a desperate man, he turned to steeling from others to support his family... know this; your father was going to kill me, this I have no doubt. But I know the pain you are in right now, when you become a man, and you still feel sore... I'll be waiting. But be ready for me, because the next time we meet, I'll kill you... understand?"
The boy took on a serious look, then nodded.
Reynard turned and holstered his pistol. Picking up the bag of silver he said;
"I hope it was worth the money..."
Fox placed his cash into the bag if his motorcycle then mounted it.
"Gaahh!! I'll kill you!!" Said the man who had the crossbow.
"shut-up, you fool...!" Fox growled.
Placing the helmet onto his head, he then kick started his motorcycle. Put it into first gear, then continued down the dirt road....  

[BardoftheAges]

"Attacked." The voice was deadly calm and assured, despite the strange news he'd been brought. "By whom?"

The lad kneeling behind his superior from the squad kept his eyes trained on the floor, still as a mouse. He was not afraid, but bad things happened when the Leader was calm and quiet like this. No, he was not afraid. But neither was he stupid.

One of the dagger-wielding men - the under officers of the squad - shivered slightly and hesitated. "A fox-man, Sir. On a motored bicycle. He carried a gun. Said he was headed for the village." he took a breath and hurried on nervously, "But he attacked us first! We hadn't even touched him yet and he killed Roaro and Hal's badly hurt! Shot 'em, neat as neat. Faster'n any of us could get a stab in, Sir, I swear!"

"How many casualties?" He was still calm, not even looking at the man, but instead gazing absently out through the branches toward the foxes' town.

"Just the one, but Jay's hurt, too. And weren't none of us who didn't get scraped up pretty good." He pulled up his sleeves to show raw scratches and gashes, dirty with tree sap, bark and soil.

"One man..." their superior mused, tapping a branch rhythmically with his left hand. "One man took out an entire patrol. And your father killed, eh Jay?"

"Yes, Lord." murmured the boy, keeping his head down.

There was a swift movement, and the man in front was gurgling, clutching at the knife that had blossomed in his throat.

"Well, make sure that you remember your training. Everyone carries their bows. Disable before making the demands. Bind them, knock them unconscious, take what you seek, and then either leave them, or bring them back as a prisoner. If you feel the need, string them up as an example to the rest of that demon-ridden town. Never allow them the chance to get the upper hand. Do you understand me?" He hadn't even looked over from the window, and his tone of voice never changed.

"Y-yes, Lord!" stammered the now leader of the squad - one of the other knife-wielding thugs.

"Good. Now, get out of my sight."

They scrambled to obey.  

[BardoftheAges]

That night, orders went out by swiftest messenger to each hidden band. There had been an incident. They were to lie low for the moment, to redouble their training, and keep close watch on all the paths and on the Town. If there was any suspicious movement of any sort, they were to send word at once. And, of course, they were not to allow anyone entrance or exit to the settlement.

The forest murmured to itself and settled in for the night.  

[Korin88]

Korin's sword was sheathed on his back in hibrid form as he walked into the forest in the middle of the night. He knew about the bandits hiding in the woods, but he couldent sleep and he skipped his daily weapon lessons with his dad today. He wondered around the woods for about 10 minutes and finaly found a good upright log to practice on. He looked around to see if anyone was watching him, but it was too dark and the shadow of the night was too great to see over the first layer of trees.  

[Solara_Novastar]

(thinking)Alright,if I`m going to be training...And I can`t look like I am..WHAT DO I DO!?! I know! I`ll practice on the flowers!
*swipes,pounces,scratches, and bites flowers*That looked like I was hunting and the humans won`t know! Brilliant!  

[Korin88]

"ah, so your here finaly." Korin said walking up to Mauron.
"I think we should start your white mage traning first. You only started, correct? I'm not a mage but I can probobly help."  

[Solara_Novastar]

Ummm, okay...What do I have to do? Because I`m trying to lear a counter attack that`s like this pretend the bush is the bad guy. Okay here goes!*pounces on bush,runs up a tree,jumps on the bush, lands,and gets charm and her stuck in bush.a branch is attatched to the charm.) "Aw man!" *crosses front paws*  

[BardoftheAges]

Not too far away, a pair of eyes watched the kits from the safety of a tall, sturdy oak. The leaves in the shadowy darkness cloaked him well, and he had learned the hard way to keep perfectly still while watching something. Many times he had gone hungry by spooking the prey he had been hunting. A mockingbird friend of his bounced from branch to branch, flicking its tail and putting its head on one side.  

[Korin88]

Korin helped Marun get untangled and gave her some ideas.
"The first thinkg you should know is probobly how to heal without magic. Take herbs for example. If you have to chose herbs or your magic you should probobly use an item. Unless its a gaping wound. Most objects won't cure that very easily. But I don't use magic so my idea probobly isn't fullproof."  

[Solara_Novastar]

Marun began to believe she was being watched. She whispered to Korin " It`s not safe here. There are spies or something." Marun`s ear twitched and she sped off as fast as a bullet to her den.Marun cried behind her, "Are you coming?"  

[Korin88]

(Although I would have followed you, you might want to watch it! Thats godmoding, and againsed the rules)
Korin ran closely behind, knowing if he left her for an instant she would probobly be captured by the thiefs in the woods.