"Jay we've already lost a member of the group. I don't want to loose another. If you can keep up fantastic if not the maze is still up. We just have to hope," Ashia resumes running.


"Maybe you've heard of the Keepers, maybe not but by Nanani you will learn to fear that name. Brandon get you and Mutumba out of here I'll handle them," Justin's sword reflects the sunlight and he uses that to try to reflect the light into his opponent's eyes.

Jay nods solemnly and follows Ashia, doing his best to keep up and not slow the group down.

Matamba bounds forward, tugging Brandon along with her. Brandon gets his feet under him soon enough and begins to dash away with Matamba. He looks back, afraid of loosing Justin and it being his fault for that.

Justin watches the three pelt wearers, "Well? Are you going to let us walk away or do I have to spill blood today? Either option is fine with me."


Ashia quickly increases the pace making sure everyone can keep up though as she tries to hide the group from unseen eyes.

Jay does not do well with the increased pace, but he does his best to keep up and keeps any grumbling to himself.
Hazel keeps the pace and follows Ashia's lead without any complaint.

The pelt wearers slowly backed up as a couple split from the group to dash after Brandon and Matamba. The leader of the group curses slightly under their breath before they command their followers to split between going after Bradon and staying to hold Justin back from helping Matamba escape. The leader gets out two worn daggers and makes an attempt to engage Justin and delay Justin's arrival to Brandon's aid.

Brandon's heart leaps into his throat when he notices the pelt wearers following him and Matamba. He keeps trying to call Matamba back into passive state. Instead, Brandon gets a boost of agility and he uses his advantage to try and get lost in an upcoming crowd to try and hide from the pelt wearers. After a few seconds, the panther disappears and Brandon's boost fades. He keeps moving but he slows his pace to try and blend in with the crowd and ease the sudden stitch in his side.
Someone grabs his arm and he backs away, and when he looks up at the older woman his fears of running into someone hostile do not fade away immediately. "What are you running from? Did you steal from someone?"
He simply shakes his head in response.

(I'm sorry for being absent for so long.)

(It's alright thank you for responding.)

Ashia quickly leads them around several corners of the bamboo maze. She tries to keep a pace that Jay can keep as well.


Justin gets out his sword and gives the pelt wearer one last chance to surrender, "Surrender now or I will stop you using any means." Justin quickly releases Orin, "Orin find Brandon and keep an eye on him."
Orin cries out and flies off to find Brandon.


(Sorry about this being short. Are the Greencloaks already in Zhong?)

(I had thought that Justin had already drawn his sword.. I'm going to assume the Greencloaks are already in Zhong. It's fine that your response was a bit short; so is mine. ^^)

When Ashia chooses the pace, Jay keeps up with the group. Hazel is glad that Ashia knows the way to go through the maze because she sure didn't.

The pelt wearers do not back down. The leader of the group makes the first move, using both of their daggers, one with a fake strike to get rid of the guard Justin's sword proves to be and the other lunges forward in an attempt to hit Justin. Two of the other men in the group make their moves as well. They hoped to overwhelm Justin.

The woman spots Brandon's tattoo of his spirit animal and begins to inquire about it. He keeps quiet as he always does and stays by her side only until she gets to the edge of the crowd where he splits from her side and heads to the edges of the city to try and find where the group went or stay until Justin got to him.

Justin holds onto his sword and attempts to parry the dagger the pelt wearer has. Over a decade of training with a sword had taught him how to fight using one. That included how to avoid losing his sword in a fight. Justin attempts to parry the lunge with a strike of his own. Justin moves aside to let one of the men behind him receive the strike instead of himself. Glaring Justin slashes at the pelt wearers with an impressive and complex move.

Ashia glances at Hazel, "It's complicated." She tries to explain while covering how she knows the maze.

Orin flies above them trying to keep out of sight. Eventually he'd go find Justin and lead Justin back to Brandon. In the meantime, he'd just stay with them.
(Sorry tired you may be right.)

The peltwearers do not seem to be very experienced in working together, though we must give them credit for trying. The one with the daggers gets off balance and almost tumbles into their teammate. This one easily sidesteps, rolls his eyes at the other's attempt, and doesn't block the other's dagger from hitting their teammate even though she could have done so if she had wished. She attempts to lure Justin away from her teammates so that they wouldn't accidentally further injure the two while they dueled. She makes no hostile move though her short swords are at the ready. She seems to be calculating whether or not she should take her chances and attack him.

Hazel nods and accepts the offered explanation, but Jay wants to ask her later if he gets the chance.

Brandon recognizes Orin and offers the bird a small wave.

(no worries)

Orin divebombs the Greencloak before flying alongside Brandon for a second. After that second of reassurance, he gains altitude again. The meaning was rather clear in Orin's mind. He meant to protect Brandon.


Justin stands his ground, "It's obvious all of you are in experienced. I guess I should be nice and warn you I've been fighting with this sword for over ten years now. Last chance to walk away." Justin calmly watches his opponents before stepping back slightly with his right foot and getting ready to attack.


Ashia keeps up the pace until the others need a break. She didn't want to admit she was tiring herself, but she felt like she needed to push on. At this point it was taking all of her willpower to just keep moving forward instead of going to find and help Justin.

The woman shrugs and backs up. Her companions were not that eager to give up but they had to admit that they were no match for Justin's expertise. The peltwearers who had been chasing after Brandon came back to report that they had lost sight of him. With this news, the whole lot of them were upset and gave up trying to defeat the two Marked that were much more experienced than them.

Brandon (who doesn't consider himself a Greencloak) expects Orin to not kill him and doesn't flinch when he divebombs beside him. He smiles at the spirit animal and unfolds the new shirt he had snatched off of an unsuspecting waresperson's table before putting the shirt on once the shop was out of sight. He fiddles with the collar of the new shirt for a few minutes, looking a bit uncomfortable. The material that made the garment was a strange, not to mention new, material to him. He lets it be and wonders if he should go back and help Justin get out of the mess he had gotten him into.

Jay felt like he was going to die and there was no other choice but to fall over dead. As soon as he trips over his feet, falls, and bruises his side with the impact, he makes no move to get back up. He rolls onto his back and catches his breath as he debates whether or not he had enough energy to call for a break since the two females were running ahead of him and he had fallen behind - quite literally. After a few moments, he called to them, "Help! I've fallen and can't get up."

Hazel pauses when she hears Jay fall behind her and she stops to go back and help him. At his statement, which she interpreted as a pickup line, she rolls her eyes and leans over him with no intent to help him to his feet. "Come on, Jay, don't exaggerate. You cant be that badly injured if you can make a joke of yourself like normal."