Arc 3 - The hunt beggins

A man in his mid-twenties with black hair and brown eyes, not ugly but not handsome either.

There is nothing outstanding about his appearance.

`He is one of the bandits from that night.`

It had been over a week and a half since Ikarus was ambushed in his camp. His wounds have healed but the memories of that night are still fresh.

Luffy clenches his fists and whinnies his teeth.

"Are you okay old man?" Rickon noticed the old man's behavior and looked between Luffy and the group with a raised eyebrow.

"Aye." Luffy regains his composure and continues his conversation. He divides his attention between the group of bandits and Rickon.

The group approaches the bar, the waitress running up to one of the men. The youngest of the group, a teenager of about seventeen. The waitress, Sansa, hugs the boy tightly.

Luffy looks between the boy and Addam, the same nose and the same eyes.

`Father and son?`

Addam joins the hug.

The other bandits sit down at a table, another waitress rushing over to serve them. They are rude and grope her. One of her even throws her on his lap and touches her boobs shamelessly.

'Bastards' Luffy grits his teeth and glares at the group. Rickon follows his gaze and grimaces at the scene.

"Asrses." The merchant murmurs.

Other clients also look with disgust at the scene, but nobody intervenes.

The group is armed and looks like thugs, none of those present want to risk spilling blood just to defend the dignity of a wench.

It is the seventeen-year-old who saves the waitress. He escorts her to the bar. The bandits growl at him in annoyance but do nothing.

Luffy spends the rest of the night keeping an eye on the bandits.

***

The next morning Luffy walks downstairs and sits at the bar. The only ones present in the tavern are Addam and his boy.

"Morning Addam, lad." He greets them as he sits next to the boy.

"Morning old man."

"Morning Luffy. The usual?" The old man growls in agreement and Addam goes to the kitchen to prepare Luffy's breakfast.

"What is your name, boy?"

"Torrhen"

The teenager is tall, 194 cm, has blond hair and blue eyes. He is quite stocky, with well-developed muscles for his age.

The two talk for a while while Addam prepares breakfast.

Luffy finds out that Torrhen is Addam's youngest son. He left home at the age of fourteen to join the Northern Army. He was willing to fight and kill to avenge the deaths of his Lord Paramount and the heir of the North.

He fought in the Rebellion and upon returning home he had a terrible argument with his parents, Addam and Sansa, neither of whom agreed with his actions. So the angry teenager left again and now travels the North in search of adventure.

"He argued with his parents and then joined a group of bandits." Luffy sees through the teenager's half-truths.

After having breakfast, Luffy said goodbye to the friends he made during the last few days.

The young guard gives him a waterskin full of wine.

"Thanks Ned, I'll remember you when I get drunk on this wine." The others laugh at his joke.

Rickon pats the old man on the back.

"If you go through Oldtown, don't hesitate to visit my house. Even if I'm not here, my wife will receive you with open arms. My Jocelyn makes the best pies in the seven Kingdoms!"

His farewell takes a little longer than expected, several travelers give him small farewell gifts and good advice. As the bandits come down the stairs, Luffy says his last goodbyes.

"Godspeed old man, if you visit this lands again don't hesitate to visit. I'll buy you a few drinks."

"Aye."

***

In the forest near the inn Ikarus is sitting on a branch watching the inn with hawk eyes.

`From what I heard last night those bastards are leaving today. I will follow them to their camp.`

***

It is after noon when the bandits leave the inn. The five ride away on horseback.

Ikarus follows them jumping from tree to tree, keeping a distance of about forty meters.

They ride all day and at night they camp in the forest.

Ikarus had prepared beforehand, he knew that he would not be able to hunt during the chase. He bought food for several days at the inn.

The shinobi eats on top of a tree while he listens to the bandit's conversation.

`Nothing interesting, just a bunch of idiots measuring the size of their penises.`

Ikarus was hoping to get some useful information, but all the bandits talk about are their exploits.

Young Torrhen keeps quiet.

`He keeps away from the others, almost as if he doesn't want to be there`

The green-eyed boy wonders if the teenager joined the Bloodbrothers without knowing what he was getting himself into and seeing the atrocities they commit daily he wanted to leave.

`There are organizations from which you cannot escape`

***

The next day the bandits continue to ride northeast.

Near dusk Ikarus sees smoke in the distance.

`Smoke from bonfires. many bonfires`

It's a camp- a big camp.

The camp is surrounded by a wall made of wooden poles driven into the ground one next to the other, the top points are sharp.

`To stop people from climbing them.`

Next to the wall there is a ditch two meters deep and one and a half meters wide. The pit is full of stakes driven into the ground.

`If ​​you fall you are impaled.`

The outer defenses are quite good.

The riders approach the gates of the camp, stop and talk to the guards for a few moments, then enter the camp.

The interior of the camp consists of many tents, several fire pits, and in the center are two wooden cages.

"There are people in those cages." From a distance Ikarus can't quite make out how many people

are there.

`The bastards have prisoners. This complicates things.`

***

Ikarus waits until the sun goes down.

He approaches the camp from a less crowded side. Most of the bandits are gathered in the center of the camp, drinking and partying. The bandits on guard are scattered throughout the camp, most of them positioned near the camp entrance and around the largest tent of all.

`The Leader`s tent`

The shinobi jumps the pit and sticks to the wall using his chakra. He scales the wall stealthily and enters the camp.