A Mission Based In Happenstance

((Sorry this took so long Knight of G))

Navina breathed in the sweet afternoon air deep into her lungs. She was happy to be out on a mission without being trialed behind by that dreadful lawyer. She had known him and was pleasant with him before he had nervously brought that subpoena to his desk, but her friendly smiles and pleasant conversation only masked her disgust. The man defended criminals, guilty criminals, ones who Navina had personally seen slaughter and kill.

But such things were unimportant right now. She was on an assignment. Her suspension was finally... suspended, and she had bigger concerns than the past. As she walked through the tall grassy field, a smile began to spread across her face. She had truly missed this feeling. Nothing compared to the churning in the gut one experienced while on their way to raider camp, especially when it was small enough and the guards' forces spread thin enough that Navina was assigned to take care of it alone. A true introvert at heart, Navina had appreciated the days alone she had spent on the road away from any sort of civilization.

However, it appeared as if her solitary journey was coming to an end, or at least a momentary pause, as Navina spied a figure in the distance. Navina squinted her eyes at the cloaked figure and began to walk towards it.

"Hail, fellow," she shouted and waved an unarmed hand. It would have been rude not to greet what Navina was making out to be a man as she continued to approach.

((No problem, Saria. RL can be brutal at times))

They went this way, he thought to himself, following the deep hoof-prints of the mounts of the raiders. Obviously Bullbos, meaning their riders were either Bulblins or Moblins, neither of which he cared for. He felt his scar pulse in remembered agony. The susurrus of the wind passing through the grass reminded him of the ceremony he'd attended after he'd attained his wound. He'd been awarded for his brave deeds, and honorably discharged. The whispers mocked him then, he was sure of it.

He hated that reminder. He'd wanted to tell his friends in the guard to stop looking at him like he was broken. He'd never said it, but he had wanted to. Yet, he was. He still wrote with his right hand, but weapons were for his left, now. He'd trained with his left hand in the guard for a year before rejoining as a Scout, free to wander the land and do what good for the people he could manage.

He would rather have had the use of his arm back.

Callad shook himself out of his thoughts, the hood of his cloak falling off his head. His blonde beard and hair caught the afternoon sunlight. He took a step in the direction the raiders had fled, but then he heard a voice hailing him. Female. Who...?

Callad turned around, noticing a woman, dark-skinned and with red hair billowing from under her helm, approaching. A Gerudo. He took a moment to noted the style of armor. Hyrulian armor? Is she a part of the Guard, then? "Hail, stranger knight," he called in return, left hand on his sword's hilt beneath his cloak. "If I might inquire, who are you, and what is your purpose in this region?"

(( Sometimes. But not today. ))

"A moment!" she yelled. Navina approached, not willing to stress her voice screaming across a field to who she presumed to be a friendly stranger. She made it clear that her hands were away from her weapons and her shield was stored on her back. She meant no harm and she did not worry about being ill prepared to quickly draw her sword if the man proved hostile.

"My name is Navina, Sir," she said when she got close enough. A small smile crossed her face as she examined him. He wasn't particularly bad looking, but Navina was still not impressed. She felt sufficiently confident as she spoke. "I am currently on assignment."

She cupped her chin in her hand and her eyes continued to scan the Hylian from behind her visor. Her brow cocked and she noticed that he had yet to reveal both of his hands to her. Her lip unknowingly twitched and she lowered her hand from her chin.

"I tend not to give out many details without a proper introduction of who I'm speaking to," she said. She stuck out her hand to shake the man's. "What's your name, Sir?" Navina squinted her eyes, although the man could not see them. ".. First and last, if you please. For curiosity's sake."

"Huh. Well, funny to think I'd meet a knight of the King in a place like this," Callad replied, releasing the grip on his sword. With the opposite (Proper, he added in his thoughts) hand, he shook Navina's, at last introducing himself. "Sir Callad Bolge, Knight Errant and Scout of the Hyrulian Legions." His hands rested by his side as the wind blew his cloak away from his legs. His shield was also on his back, but his sword hung from his right hip rather than his left. A bow sheath hung on his left hip, the quiver resting next to it.

"If I might inquire, is your assignment the extermination of a group of raiders? I've been trailing a group of them for three days now from the last village they've hit."

The Gerudo's smile turned mildly sassy as the man introduced himself. Such grandeur in his long list of descriptors of himself. Navina wondered if people believe that the more titles they had, the more they were supposed to impress her. She returned the same hand she used to shake his with to her chin as she continued to examine him. As he talked, she continued to smile. She might have looked inquisitive and slightly arrogant, but her cooperativeness never faded. Navina nodded after he asked his question.

"You are correct," she said. Her brow quirked. It seemed a bit strange for someone who described themselves as a wanderer to seek out such a well equipped camp. He either considered himself highly capable or he was mildly foolish. Perhaps a bit of both. The Gerudo's lip began to curl as she thought of the destruction those disgusting raiders brought with them wherever they went.

"Please think of me as less of a knight of the King and someone simply doing their civic duty," she said. Her voice was cordial, but her smile did not return. "It's simple. People who act like animals deserve to be treated as such. It just so happens that these are rabid and pose a danger to the rest of us." One side of her lip upturned. The ones they were hunting tended to also look more like bulldogs than the average sentient being. Navina thought the metaphor fitting.

"Mm. Indeed," Callad replied gesturing towards where the tracks led. "On assignment or civic duty, whichever way you want to put it, it means the same. In any case, they went this way. Likely they hid in some niche or other. Forest, cave. Otherwise the smoke from their fire'd be visible. Let's go."

OOC: Sorry for taking so long. Kinda uninspired.

Navina nodded. She was happy to have run into someone who had a visual confirmation of the raiders. An eyebrow of hers quirked when she thought of this man in combat. He certainly has an interesting stance.

"Before we get going, Sir, I must ask," Navina began. "You seem... Quite eager to help." her eyes narrowed behind her facemask. "Is there any particular reason why?"

"Did I not mention it?" Callad asked as they began walking. His face was to the trail, looking for where the Bullbos led them. "I was at their last raiding point. Purely coincidence, that. They attacked while I was lodging with some of the villagers. I was there. I saw the havoc they wreaked. I tried to drive the mob' bastards off, but I couldn't do it alone. I've been tracking the raiding party, as I said, for three days."

"Oh, if... you had mentioned it, I do not remember," Navina said. She pursed her lips and looked down at the ground sheepishly. "I apologize. It's... been a long couple of days for me." To be fair, Navina had not slept well since that awful nightmare. She had experienced it about a week ago, right bef0re she was assigned to this mission.

She continued to walk down the trial, following a bit behind Callad. The Gerudo examined the ground with her eyes as she walked, looking around for tracks. She was not the best at tracking, nor was she the most experienced with it. But she had been doing her best. Maybe it was for the best that she happened upon this traveler. He seemed capable enough, which might prove useful soon enough as the pair began to enter into a thicker brushed area on the trial.

As the trees became thicker, Navina suddenly stopped. She had heard something rustling nearby and it sounded too large to be entirely innocent.

In following the trail, he'd led them both into a forest. Signs of their passage increased, until he became certain that they had known he followed. Once he came to that conclusion, he also knew this was a trap. They would have to double back and--

What was that? he thought, turning to look at Navina quizzically before he heard the rustle again. His left hand found his bomb bag while his right pulled free his shield as he looked at the place he'd heard the rustle.

Out from the bushes emerged a very large but very injured moblin. Navina's eyes widened and she looked towards Callad. She readied her sword and prepared to fight, but lowered it slightly when the moblin waved its hand. It spoke a tongue that Navina couldn't understand. She grimaced. For once she wished Spaghet were here. Most moblins knew how to speak the Hyrulean language, but apparently not this one.

"S-Should we help him?" Navina asked. The moblin didn't look hostile, and frankly it looked like it would die without intervention.

Once the pig emerged, Callad's face was a mask of rage, and he stayed his hand from blasting it to hell only because the blast radius would have killed his temporary partner, as well. As it stood, Callad really didn't feel like doing anything for it. Its arm was a bloodied mess, rather like his own after sustaining the crippling wound it had. It seemed to be broken, as well. Examining the filthy boar revealed smaller wounds, nothing bleeding quite so profusely as its arm. It didn't appear to be a civillian, either, from the bloodied and worn armor it wore.

"Either it's bait for a trap they've set further along the trail, they've already surrounded us, or the raiding party is having some... internal conflicts," Callad said, looking at the helmeted gerudo. "I'd just as soon leave it, but I'll help you help the thing if you want."

Navina couldn't help but notice how this man referred to the moblin as an it. He had at least been gendered as a a he in Navina's mind, but she had gotten enough lectures from that stupid lawyer to know how androgynous moblins tended to be.

"Do you have anything to dress his wounds?" Navina asked her companion. She looked down at the bleeding man before her and grimaced. She tried her best to look non threatening, bending down and smiling as she spoke to the injured moblin. "Just a moment."

OOC: If I might ask, why are you so determined to have Callad's hatred of moblins exposed to Navina merely because she knows them as people and he only knows them as monsters? We are supposed to be hunting raiders, aren't we?

IC:
"You don't have a field medical supply?" the knight asked, forgetting his anger at moblins in general in his perplexity. He blinked at the gerudo woman. He blinked again. He sighed, saying, "You're either exceptionally brave or exceptionally stupid. I've never known anyone who didn't have something to heal themselves or their comrades with in the field." Callad reached into his pack, pulling out cloth bandages, a strip of leather, and, surprisingly, a needle and thread.

Scowling once again, he looked to Navina. "Lay it out, then find a branch that could be used as a splint. I'll suture the wound on the arm."

ooc: dont worry I know they're raiders lmao. if its any consolation Navina sees most moblins as uncivilized monsters but she just has an affinity forest creatures.

ic: "I'd prefer you call me the former," Navina said. "And now you know of one." She hardly carried healing supplies on her, it was true. Where would she fit healing supplies? Relying upon herself instead of a poultice seemed like a better long run strategy anyways. As she looked back at her traveling companion, she failed to realize the moblin she had crouched down by had begun to emit a deep, guttural growl. When she did notice the noise, her head flipped around just in time to see the injured man in front of her lunge for her.

Before she had a chance to react, she found herself knocked off her feet and then suddenly dragged onto them again. She was pulled violently away from Callad and struggled for air as a bloody arm constricted around her neck. The arm was surprisingly forceful against it despite suffering severe damage. The creature's other arm wrapped around Navina's body enough to restrain her completely. She struggled to escape, but being caught so off guard left her compromised.

"Drop your weapons," the moblin growled at the man in front of him, his lack of common tongue now an obvious trick.

Navina shook her head, but found it harder and harder to move as the pressure on her neck increased and her vision began to fade.

Callad's eyes widened when he saw the pig restrain and begin to choke Navina. He tucked his medical supplies back into his pack. "So, you do talk, pig. To think I was actually willing to help you. Tsk tsk." His eyebrow muscles hurt from scowling so much, but he was furious enough that he didn't care at this point. "Well, I think I'll show you my weapons, anyway." He drew his sword, the blade glinting stars of light from the sparse beams that infiltrated the leaves and boughs. He'd never put his shield away, so the painted-on yellow Triforce symbol was in plain view.

He charged in, shield up, as the moblin's eyes widened. The charging knight thought his eyes picked up its arm muscles tensing, but then he was in the air, flying over the heads of Navina and the injured moblin. He brought his blade down on the pig's head as it decided to look up, its beady pig eyes widened in shock.

There was a shock up the weapon as Callad continued the flip over it. A wet Splut. The creature fell to its knees as Callad landed on his feet, the force of his fall enough to yank the blade out. He turned back around and hacked at the injured arm that had restricted the Gerudo's breathing. "You alright, Navina?"

Navina's eyes widened behind her visor as the man charged them. For a moment, she was certain that she was going to be impaled along with the moblin, but luckily the man jumped. A moment later and she felt the pleasant return of air into her lungs. As she sputtered and grasped at her neck, she looked back at the man who addressed her.

"I'm fine," she said while rubbing at her neck. "Thank you." It was a sincere thanks. She looked at the, now dead, moblin's body. Was the arm a trick as well or had he really needed help? Had the moblin been told to do this by his raiding party or was it his own decision to act in such a way? Her lip twitched. She looked down at her hands and noticed they were shaking.

The Gerudo bent down and began to go through the moblin's belongings. She cared little if Callad would judge her for it. She always did this, looked for letters, mementos, diaries... anything personal, she wanted it. When she found nothing, she rose to her feet and sighed.

"... He didn't keep a journal."

"If I were going on a suicide mission, or were I to die anyway, I would leave my journal and other personal belongings with my comrades," Callad responded, trying to step into the mind of one of those pig-serving beasts. He looked at the Gerudo after she stood, noticing the blood smeared on her neck and her armor. "Hm... Have to find a water source so we can bathe. Don't want that blood to congeal on you. Always a hassle to deal with," he muttered, flicking the sword clear of any blood that remained and wiping the rest on his cloak before he sheathed it.

He turned to follow the trail of the raiders, figuring she'd follow him again. "You're welcome, Navina. I'm only glad I could save you from the servants of Ganon. He deserves no more lives sacrificed to see him stopped. Least of all those taken by mere trickery."

"I don't mind, truly," she said, shaking her head. "I'd rather deal with dried blood than waste any time washing it off." If she was being honest, she just had no intentions of stripping down to properly wash her armor or taking off her helmet in front of Callad. Mostly the latter.

She would follow, of course. Navina rolled her shoulders back as she walked, loosening herself up and trying to shake off the previous encounter. Maybe it was her fatigue, but the Gerudo was finding recovery more difficult than usual. As she continued to walk along, she noticed the trail begin to wind through more and more brush. The moblins they were searching for obviously didn't care enough to cover their trail.

"... It's a good thing these men aren't very bright," Navina commented. "Otherwise they probably would have covered their tracks better." Or maybe they just didn't see the need to. Navina pursed her lips.

"Why should they have to be? Who would be willing to track them?" Callad replied, smirking as he led them. He heard a waterfall nearby, a gentle roar in the distance. The roar grew louder as they walked, and at last they broke into a picturesque clearing. A waterfall sprayed mist all through it, the river rushing on out of it. The trail led through the clearing, but Callad made sure to keep the place in mine when their butchery was done.