*Seems like the Keepers could be valuable allies in the war. We should try to keep them in our side after all they reached out to us and told us about a lost talisman. The Keepers didnt have to do that. Mae think about how difficult it is for some people to work with their spirit animal I know it took me months to get Strider to trust me enough to give me help much less go into passive state,* Maya responds. She wonders if Mae knew anything else and wasnt telling her.

Kaden digs in his pack and grabs out a rice cookie which he hands to Rue, *Youre welcome. Now lets keep up the good luck. What do you know about the Keepers? I know Mae said something but I want to know if youve heard anything.* He knows the rice cookie is almost stale but its still a cookie and Rye wanted a cookie. He also wanted Rue*s thoughts to help with his nerves.

Ashia nods once. She was worried that if Justin didnt make it there in time that they would have to face the guardian alone. She tries to be strong and calm for the others but she was nervous.

"Yeah," Mae mutters, accepting the fact that the Keepers were good allies and just barely remembering that Maya had had trouble with her connection at first. Mae would do her best to give her friends the information she knew and would expect them to do the same for her. She didn't think her friends would doubt her and so she wasn't concerned at all and would not suspect them to hide information from her.

Rue happily accepts the cookie with a small chuckle and places it in his own pack for safe keeping. He is amazed that Kaden had the snack on him. "Thank you." He thinks about what he knows of the Keepers, which isn't much and mostly rumors. The name sounded familiar to him so he must have heard it somewhere before. "They have a secret base somewhere I don't know of because its a secret and I think, since our theif knows a lot of information and she's a Keeper, they must keep an eye on many places and have some sort of network we haven't come across up until this point in time. We could always ask Justin for more information since he's a Keeper himself." He stumbles but quickly regains his footing, "Does that sound like a solid enough conspiracy theory?"

Ryan and Jay talk, but Jay is keeping with the story that Ashia had put in place when confronted by Mahesh and he wasn't going to give it up. Ryan was almost convinced that Jay really was a new recruit for the Conqerors who was looking forward to serving Gerathon and possibly becoming an infiltrator like Ashia, whom he refers to as whatever name Ashia introduces herself with to Ryan. Jay had a feeling that, since Ashia had referred to Brandon as Braton and Justin as Jacob earlier, she wouldnt like her real name being used either.

Ashia wonders if Jay ever was quiet she was getting a headache from him. She was aware it was part of his charm but it was growing old in a hurry. This was the first time she had traveled and done a mission with anyone aside from Justin and a few Keepers. She couldnt help but wonder how the village was doing.

Justin glances behind him, *You can ask me questions you know. I wont answer all of them but I will at least answer some. Also Im Justin.* He kept up a fast pace and began increasing the pace to. *Oh also my group got stuck with a Conqueror named Ryan fair warn. From what I understand hes a sniper.*
Maya nods once grateful for the warning. She was relieved that Mae let up on the issue about Brandon. She debates on asking Justin questions but chose to keep silent.

Kaden smiles glad that Rue is happy about the small things in life. He would keep up the group*s moral and that could be life or death. *Thanks for the ideas Rue. Maybe you can ask Justin some questions since Maya wont and I have to watch our back.*

Rue was actually quite satisfied being quiet and wasn't completely comfortable talking with Justin. He usually left that to someone else who was more willing to question or chat with strangers. Rue glances towards Mae expectantly and she simply returns the look.
For a few more moments he says nothing more than a hello and his own name to Justin. Rue doesn't enjoy the idea of there being a Conqueror sniper waiting for them up ahead, but he reasons that they would be fine since he has his crossbow and bolts and Kaden had his throwing knives.
Rue eventually nods his head and says to Justin mischievously, "Is my theory correct? That you have a secret hide away and members in many areas to gain information including, but not limited to, the location of talismans? Or did you gain that information by yourself, without the help of the rest of the Keepers? .. and it would be nice to know the Keepers goals and whatever other information you are willing to give about the organization."

Jay could be quiet if he wished to, but it has been a while since he has had someone other than Hazel or Ashia to talk to. Ryan keeps silent and cuts Jay off once he doesn't have any more information to gain from him.
Ryan begins to load his bow and look around more often.

*Yes there are many Keepers but the goal of the Keepers is to prevent the bonding sickness by getting the Nectar to people who normally wouldnt get it. As for how we got the information I have no idea how Ashia got the information,* Justin tells them what he is comfortable telling them, *The Keepers were founded by a Greencloak who was dissatisfied with how the nectar was distributed. What about the Greencloaks? Are they satisfied with how the Nectar is distributed?* He leaves the question in te air trying to make them think of how many cases of bonding sickness they*ve seen. He knows how many cases he had seen and that was far too many.
Maya frowns thinking about a few cases she had seen, *So thats why you*re a Keeper. For the record there isnt enough Nectar to go around. And your friend stealing it doesnt help.*
*What about Steriol, the people in villages who wouldnt normally get the Nectar, nomads, among others,* Justin asks his voice tense, *I was one of those people but I got the Nectar because of the Keepers. My friend sacrificed herself for me to save me from the bonding sickness and she got a spirit animal the next day. How would you feel seeing your best friend go through that day in and day out?*
Kaden frowns hearing what Justin had said. He understood what Justin was talking about.


Ashia senses the Justin*s group approaching and watches Ryan, *Why dont you surrender Ryan? Make things easier for both of us.* Ashia summons Scarlet who stands beside Ashia.

"You mean to ask about the rest of the Greencloaks and whether or not they're satisfied? You mentioned one Greencloak that hasn't been content with the dealing of it already." Mae says and agrees with Maya's views.
Rue keeps quiet and keeps his emotions and thoughts to himself even when and if asked. He has heard of the bonding sickness and knows of people who know people who have it, but he'd never personally known anyone with the bonding sickness that he can remember. His parents did not fail to remind him that he was lucky and that they had sacrificed much to make sure he didnt suffer from the bonding sickness. He is nervously silent when asked how he'd feel seeing his best friend have the bonding sickness.

Ryan looks up to Ashia and he stands, Teivel appearing beside him. Teivel's hackles are raised and his teeth are bared towards Scarlet. "Surrender?" He shakes his head slightly in disagreement before he calms his fox, puts down his weapons, and nods reluctantly. "I'm outnumbered anyways. If you plan on killing me," Ryan flinches and begins to panic at the thought but he does his best to appear calm even as his chest tightens with fear, "I wouldn't blame you." Teivel reacts to Ryan's panic and fear by placing himself between Ryan and Ashia and growling.
Jay accepts the fact that Ryan had probably known that what he had been saying was not true and doesn't mind. He looks up sharply when Ryan said he was expecting them to kill the Conqueror and he looks to Ashia to predict whether or not she would meet the Conqueror's expectations.

*I dont plan to kill you. I will however give you two choices but you have to give me your weapons: The first one is that you can run away but if I catch you I will kill you. The second option is that I tie you up and leave you here. If you try to follow us I will end you. I leave the choice to you, * Ashia responds, *Please give me your weapons though.* Ashia is trying to avoid killing unnecessary and harming someone unarmed was against her code. Scarlet looks at Teivel calmly. She tries to calm him down by showing there is no threat.


*You havent seen what I have. Please at least talk to Olvan about producing more Nectar and distributing more. Thats the whole reason the Keepers are working with the Greencloaks,* Justin responds. Justin picks up the pace and hears what Ashia says. He is willing to honor her word but he isnt so sure that the Greencloaks behind him would.

Mae nods her head, agreeing that she would talk to Olvan about the Nectar. She listens to Ashia's promise but does not believe that it applies to herself. Mae asks Ryan for his crossbow and he hands it over without thinking twice. The arrow was already in place since he hadn't unloaded it yet. She aims steadily, moving to a position where she knows she will get a good shot from, and by the time Rue was regretting his decision to hand the weapon over, the bolt was already released and heading to end the Conqueror's life.

Ryan nods hurriedly and hands his weapons over. "I'll choose the second. Here are my weapons. I hopefully won't see you later." Teivel realizes that Scarlet does not seem to be threatening Ryan and settles down. He looks up to Ryan for further instruction. The fox follows Ryan's example and stays still. Tievel notices something a second before Ryan does and that second costs Ryan as the bolt thuds into its target.

Ashia brings her bow up and aims at Mae, *He was unarmed how could you? I was going to get more information from him.* As tempted as she is to kill Mae she knew that she needed the relationship between the Greencloaks and Keepers peaceful. Calmly lowering the bow she looks at Mae, *I invited you, I found the talisman*s location, I call the shots understand? If not you can walk away now.* Ashia draws back her bow aiming at Teivel before releasing the arrow. She hoped to put the fox out of its misery. The normally outgoing fox, Scarlet backs away from the Greencloaks not trusting them especially Mae.
Justin frowns grabbing onto the crossbow Mae had. Fury shows itself in his eyes as he makes sure Mae cant use the crossbow. He wasnt surprised she did that but Justin wanted to believe Mae wouldnt harm someone unarmed. In the future Justin would not allow this to happen again.

Maya glances at Mae, *Rue take your crossbow back and next time keep a hold of it.* Maya tries to keep her voice steady. She understands why Ashia reacted in the way she did. Seeing that Maya knew Ashia was not a person to mess with. Mad would be very relieved when this mission was over.

Kaden flares at Mae before looking at Ashia. He sensed that killing Teivel had been difficult for Ashia. And Scarlet*s reaction to them showed that Ashia wasnt going to trust them. If not for Justin Kaden was sure that Ashia would have killed Mae.

"He was a Conqueror. He has done worse. The whole lot of them are rotten." Mae says to explain why she shot. She stubbornly refused to see what she did as terrible as the others knew it was and being aimed at did not seem to affect her. She reluctantly agreed to Ashia calling the shots. "You wouldn't be able to trust any of his answers to your questions anyways, but sure. I understand."
Rue stares listlessly in front of him, burying his emotions away and wanting to cut himself off from the others. It was his fault that Ryan had died and his friend had been the person to fire the bolt. He shakes himself from his daze when Maya says his name, "Understood." He quietly asks for his crossbow back and promises to keep a hold of it. When, if he gets his weapon back, he would secure it back in place at his side and apologize for not having thought through handing it to Mae. The current event brought other events and an acute feeling of helplessness back.

Teivel whines when Ryan gets shot and begins to paw at him as though to get him to respond. His calls become more frantic before he admits that Ryan is dead. He turns on Mae with the intent of having the Greencloak pay for her deed. Ashia's arrow pierces the fox and the kill is clean.

Jay gets to his feet and backs away from the Greencloaks. He was also unarmed and, since Mae had shot Ryan, he saw no reason why Mae wouldn't shoot him, too. Jay was usually outgoing but it didn't look like he would be interacting with Mae or Rue.
Hazel places herself in front of Brandon but doesn't draw any weapons. This series of events simply proved that Greencloaks could not be trusted for her.