Maya picks up on the pain in Rue's voice and calls Strider off, "Let Rue go then." The red wolf stands near Maya and growls as Hazel slips out of the wagon through the gap but listens. "Don't think that even though you aren't Conquerors the talismans will be safe in your hands, we've seen your tricks before Wisekeeper." Ashia doesn't react aside from moving back slightly when Maya and Strider exit the wagon. "Make sure all of the Keepers get out in one piece, alive and unharmed, and we'll leave peacefully," Ashia responds, "Brandon let Rue go, Hazel is safe now. Hazel why don't you go to Brandon and prove that you're okay?"


Kaden doesn't turn away from Justin and Luka knowing that one wrong move and it would not end well. He listens quietly as several Keepers tense and look between each other. It doesn't take much to guess what the Keepers are sensing and judging by how quickly Luka disappears it's obvious they do not have time. "Forget it, we leave now! That's an order!" Kaden frowns hating to use his seniority like that, but this was not a situation anyone could afford especially not with enemy reinforcements coming. Justin walks over to Jay and nudges him back whispering, "Stay close. We have to split the group to help avoid detection. Luka's already gone, Ashia will get Hazel and Brandon."

While Maya is distracted Ashia sneaks over to Brandon and hopefully Hazel, "We need to leave now or we'll end up in the Howling House or worse. Stay beside me and don't make any noise." Maya and Strider tense up smelling the approaching enemy on the wind. Cursing they glance around to see that all of the Keepers are out of sight. Maya goes over to Rue and checks on him, "We need to go now. Strider and I will lead, stay with Kaden." Silently Maya enters the undergrowth with Strider not leaving any traces of where they have been.

(Kaden using his seniority brings up a point. What are your characters' ages? I mean, it doesn't really matter, but it would be fun to know.)

Hazel picks herself up and brushes herself off. The talisman is trapped in her grip and she doesn't look like shes ready to let it go. She quickly trots over to her brother and checks on him as much as he makes sure shes ok. Hazel then scoffs and cuffs Brandons ear, making quick gestures to prove that, though she appreciated his support, he shouldn't be threatening people. That was her job as the older sibling.

Brandon squeezes Rues arm as Maya tells Strider to back off. Only once the wolf exits the wagon does he breathe a sigh of relief. He keeps his head down and shifts his weight between his feet as Ashia demands him to let his prisoner go. He releases Rue with a short nod and shuffles to the side. His spirit animal trots over and rubs up against him, her fur still on end from Brandons rioting emotions but otherwise non-threatening and surely not hostile. Brandon keeps his eyes trained on the ground or on Matamba as he combs his fingers through her fur. He only looks back up when Hazel crouches before him and only while she checks him over for injury and proves that she, too, isn't injured. Well, scraped from squeezing through the gap, but otherwise unharmed. He doesn't seem abashed by her chastising, but both he and his sister are eager and content to stay beside Ashia and not make any noise. Neither want to get caught by the Conquerors.

As soon as Brandon lets go of him, Rue steps to the side away from him. His gaze keeps shifting back over to the small boy every few seconds. He unties his bracer in relative silence, grimacing and hyperventilating as the leather of his bracer and the cloth of his sleeve pull on the edges of the broken skin Brandons weapon had left. Throwing a nervous glance up to Kaden at the urgent order, he quickly adjusts his sleeve by folding/rolling it up. He hopes this will provide enough padding over the new injuries in his forearm. He starts tying his bracer back in place as Maya appears and almost just as quickly makes her move to leave. He gives a short nod at the instructions. "Ok," he murmurs as he quietly falls in step beside Kaden.

Jay jumps as Justin nudges him, even though he knew it was Justin approaching him and not a Conqueror. Jay nods his head in understanding and quickly pats himself down to make sure he has everything he started with as he follows Justin. He doesn't have an actual checklist of what he normally had on him. He has necessary things like water and food, so he supposes he has everything he needs and doesn't worry.

(Kaden is 20, Maya is 18, Ashia and Justin are both 16, Luka is roughly 14).(Also sorry if this is worse then normal my brain feels like it's fried.)


Ashia leads the way, away from the sight of the battle. She makes sure that Brandon and Hazel are alright as they quickly make their way towards Greenhaven. This encounter was far from ideal and would be discussed later but for now escaping was the priority. Keeping Scarlet in passive state makes Ashia far more cautious as she covers their tracks and doubles back several times. She keeps the pace as fast as possible while also being manageable. After several hours of traveling in silence under the harsh light Ashia shows them a small grove of trees with a stump in the middle. She steps on a mushroom beside the stump revealing a set of steps leading underground. Wordlessly she walks down the steps motioning for Hazel and Brandon to follow her. The damp and dark tunnel twists and turns and there aren't any lights in it so Ashia has to lead by feel.


Justin motions for Jay to follow him and goes towards Trunswick. He hopes Jay trusts him enough to follow because right now being separated from Ashia's group was the safest move and he doubted the enemy was expecting them to go towards where the enemy was camped. Calmly Justin glances over his shoulder to see if Jay is still following him through the brush. Right now the priority isn't getting back to the Keep it's getting to a safe spot to hide and right now the safest place is in plain sight.


Kaden gently grabs Rue and drags him slightly as he starts running on the path Maya had scouted out ahead. Once they are a decent distance away Kaden grabs Rue by the shoulder and gently pulls off his glove and rolls up his sleeve. "Rue, next time something like that happens don't hesitate to get our attention. I'm going to treat your arm like it or not. And we are telling Olvan about this situation." Kaden takes out a bag of medical supplies and treats Rue's arm. Maya comes back to the, but keeps her distance from Kaden and looks at Rue apologetically.