Rue blinks awake at the sound of the knock and Kaden's voice and he immediately rolls out of bed. With a low "Yeah? What can I do to help?", he opens the door and glances around to gather some clues on what is needed of him.

Jay nods multiple times over, agreeing to do as they say. Hazel rolls her eyes, knowing him long enough that he won't remember anything Ashia had told him. She verbally acknowledges the instructions while Brandon takes care of the animals and prepares for night.

"We need to grab Maya and go. A talisman has just been found and the Keepers are after it," Kaden explains, "you have fifteen minutes to pack while I try to corral Maya. Hurry up and meet us out by the gate when you're ready."


Ashia nods once. (Time skip with this group until later that night?)

Rue nods, "Copy." He then closes the door and retreats back into his room, very tempted to just roll right back into bed until the fifteen minutes were up. He doesn't, of course, since Kayden had asked him to come along. He splashes his face with water in an attempt to wake himself up before he goes through the general motions of packing up and getting ready for the day. By fifteen minutes, he is racing to the front gate and almost there; it takes about a minute more to actually be at the gate, but, hey, he thinks he did rather well about making it on time.

(Yup.)

It is late at night when a stranger approaches the camp.
The stranger looks at the group from the shadows trying to avoid detection. Watching the group, the stranger tries to avoid being detected.


Kaden is at the gate with Maya. They have horses ready to go and Kaden is trying to not to tell Maya off. Maya glares at both of them.
"Anyone else have a bad feeling about the Keepers," Maya asks them.
"Look we're supposed to follow orders we can be suspicious later," Kaden responds, "besides right now we need allies more then enemies."

Brandon is asleep. Hazel is probably taking watch, so she's keeping a good lookout. Her animal is in passive state and she's watching the time and observing the surrounding area. Jay is asleep. Hazel's gaze skips right over the stranger, but she feels like she's being watched so she pulls her weapon a bit closer to her and nonchalantly goes into a position where it would be easier to kick Jay awake if there was trouble.

Rue blinks in surprise at Maya's hostility. "Woah, what happened?" He immediately ignores the question he asked, knowing he'd probably never get an answer and might not actually want one. In fact, he might as well be oblivious to the fact that he asked the question.
"I agree with Kaden. Personal feelings and opinions can't get in the way of following orders." He didn't completely agree with the strong opinion he himself said, he more believed in having a bit of leeway. For example, if an order went directly against what he thought was morally correct, he wouldn't do it; if it harmed those he loved, he wouldn't do it; etc.

The stranger notices that Hazel sees him. Calmly he moves a few strands of blond hair out of his eyes and approaches the camp with his hands away from his weapons. Looking around the group his eyes focus on the footsteps, "So where are Ashia and Justin? And who's the other person with them?"


"The Keepers may have found a talisman in Conqueror hands. We are being sent to intercept it before it can cause more harm," Maya answers, "and I'm not saying that orders aren't important but you also have to consider how many times the leader of the Keepers has nearly assassinated Olvan. That and their behavior during the negotiations. The terms were strange and not to mention suspicious."
Kaden sighs quietly kicking his horse into a trot, "Save it. You can talk to Olvan about your suspicions once we have the talisman."

She sizes him up, taking in his non-hostile attitude as a mostly good sign. Then again, most travelers at night don't want a fight since it's mostly a bad idea, especially when one is outnumbered. "Do you know the Keep?" Hazel asks, introducing it as though the Keep was a place she's about to give him directions to.

Rue listens to all the information they offer him and makes a guesstimate on how hard this job will be. In return for the rundown of what they're expected to do and the opponents their up against, he says nothing. He doesn't really know what to say. To be honest, he's still processing it all and what would happen if different powers got hold of the talisman/kept the talisman. The negotiations were a different thing altogether, one he didn't plan on spending more time thinking about if he didn't have to and willingly setting it aside until they came back to Greenhaven with their objective completed.
He silently mounts the horse that had been prepared for him and follows Kaden.

"How do you know about the Keep," The stranger asks, "And yes I know about it." He sizes Hazel up calmly not wanting trouble just curious. He notes the other two around the area as well. Calmly he asks, "The lot of you aren't Keepers so why are you here?"



Maya and Kaden argue for a few hours during the journey. Eventually they become silent as night begins to fall. Maya whispers to Rue, "We'll be near Trunswick soon. I'd recommend hiding your cloak. This is place is controlled by the Conquerors. And trust me when I say you don't want to end up in the Howling House."

Hazel shrugs, "Well, just before I can trust you completely and answer all your questions, you've got to tell me whether or not you know Lightning as well." She gives him a calm, rather neutral poker face. She wasn't about to give anything away until the precautions were met.

Rue had kept quiet and admired both sides of the debate. He occasionally wished to say something to stand up for Kaden but kept himself quiet and simply let the two bicker. At Maya's suggestion, Rue immediately goes to fulfill it. He doesn't feel a sense of remorse or panic at separating from something others would consider a point of pride or mark of identity. "If I stay quiet, I shouldn't run into any trouble, ay?" He murmurs, letting Sting out of passive state once night fell and immediately feeling more relaxed and in his element. The spider settles on his wrist and waits.

"Lightening? My spirit animal's name is Flash," The stranger corrects her, "And who are you?" The stranger debates on letting Flash out of passive state and getting out of there. The only thing keeping him there was knowing that Ashia normally had some sort of plan.



"That's not guaranteed," Kaden responds, "we'll all be careful though because we know who else is in the area. And judging by what happened last time I highly doubt they will be as friendly as they were last time."
Maya mutters something under her breath about Conquerors. Kaden looks at her in alarm before understanding she was talking about what happened the first time the Keepers and Greencloaks met in the field.