Bad Kittens

Dom stood in the centre of the carriages, surrounded by a group of civilians and some rescued Guards. The rest of the rescued Guards were now preparing the Carriages to get moving again, whilst the Tiger Guards of Riverside had their Tigers help move the log that were blocking the road. Tomoe was patrolling the perimeter with the other Forbidden Guards, whilst Dom was flanked by Subutai, Shang Yang and a silent Leonidas who held his spear shaft tightly as they were surrounded by strangers.

"Thanks again for the help back there." Xun Yu said kindly in front of his people.

"We are more than happy to have helped, what are your next steps?" Dom asked back.

"Firstly, let me make some introductions. This is my nephew Xun You." Xun Yu introduced, directing to a smartly dressed man in his early thirties, who bowed slightly from beside beside Xun Yu. He had a sword at his waist and wore Taoist robes similar to what Shang Yang wore.

"Nice to meet you Xun You!" Dom said in response, trying to remember where he had heard this name before.

"And you." Xun You said back kindly, a glint in his eye.

"And this is my brother Xun Yan." Xun Yu introduced, this time pointing towards a heavily armoured guard who seemed to be their leader, he was of a similar age to Xun You. He also had a sword at his waist and was bloody as he had been fighting on the front lines to defend his family from the bandits.

"Nice to meet you Xun Yan." Dom replied to the armoured warrior.

"Any you." Xun Yan said, "Those Warriors of yours are impressive, which Lord do you serve, they must be mighty?"

"I do not serve a Lord." Dom replied with a gentle smile, "I am a Lord, just from afar."

"Interesting, do many of your Warriors ride Tigers?" Xun Yan asked, showing a keen interest in to the Warriors that Dom had with him.

"Some." Shang Yang interrupted. "But as strangers from afar, it is best we do not give you a full breakdown of our military."

"Ha!" Xun Yan laughed, "Smart move, I only expressed interest as I would be interested in purchasing one as a mount of possible."

"Bad Kitten!" They all heard Tomoe shout from the front where the Tigers were moving the logs.

"Leonidas, go find out what is happening." Subutai ordered as the Spartan gratefully left the conversation and jogged away towards the front.

"Maybe you don't want to buy one after all." Dom joked back, "Let me introduce you to my side, this is my Chief Commander Subutai, who manages my Kingdom's Military. The lady you heard then was Commander Tomoe who is one of our lead Commanders. Beside me here is my Senior Advisor Shang Yang."

"Nice to meet you all." Xun Yu replied, taking over the conversation from his brother Xun Yan before he went on and discussed purchasing a giant Tiger for a mount any longer. "As you asked earlier, we are travelling from our home in Yingchuan towards our cousin Xun Chen who lives in the north. My Nephew here had come home and informed us of the growing chaos the Yellow Turban Rebels had been causing and we decided to take the family to somewhere with more stability."

"The Yellow Turban Rebellion?" Dom asked.

"They were led by a bunch of religions fanatics." Xun You responded, "They were put down and defeated by a gathering of all of the Heroes of the realm, but now bandits that had taken up their flag in the chaos as still rebelling across the land. We can only protect our families if we are in the service of a powerful warlord."

Dom was tempted to respond saying that he was a powerful warlord, that was currently ranked number one on the Lord class World Rankings on World Conquest Online, however he suspected that this was not the best time to brag, nor was his Kingdom the size of any city in this scenario, let alone a warlord.

"Then how can we assist you?" Dom asked seriously, trying to work out how long the quest would be, and how he could recruit those in front of him.

"We were travelling to the next town, which is just passed a lake to the north of us. We are only around twenty miles away and should be able to make it by tomorrow evening." Xun Yu replied, "We aimed to make it to the Lake tonight to make camp, and then travel to the town and make it there before tomorrow nightfall, however as you can see we were interrupted."

"It's unfortunate as well." Xun Yan stated, "We lost a few good men who have served the family loyally. We left to avoid the chaos, and found it on route."

They continued to discuss their original plans, whilst the pathway forward was cleared. Leonidas soon reappeared with Tomoe in tow. She was on horseback, and in her heavy armour, with her Naginata in her hand, she looked a mighty figure compared to all of those around them.

"What happened Tomoe?" Dom asked.

"Chen Ping's Tiger wouldn't put down a leg it had took earlier." Tomoe replied grumpily. "We tried to persuade it to drop it, but I'm not putting my hands in it's mouth to remove it!"

"What did Chen Ping say?" Dom said to her with a laugh.

"Whilst it has that in it's mouth, it's not causing any more trouble." Tomoe shrugged.

"He does have a point." Dom laughed back.

"Sorry to interrupt." Xun Yan said, "Do you mind if I go and have a look at them a bit closer now that they have cleared the road?"

Tomoe looked to Dom and Subutai for a response, as she didn't want to say yes and then get herself in trouble. She still needed to clear the air with Dom about what had happened the night before, but had felt awkward bringing it up.

"That should be fine." Subutai replied from the side, "I'll come with you, and we can discuss the defences of your group a bit more."

Xun Yan looked relieved and headed towards the front with Tomoe and Subutai, leaving Leonidas behind with the those who were talking.

"Will you help guard us the rest of the way?" Xun Yu asked Dom seriously. "We can pay, and once we make it to the next town we can hire some men to help us the rest of the way. I know it is a lot to ask a Lord, so sorry if I over step my boundaries."

"No it is fine." Dom replied, "Just treat me as you would treat your friends. I'm sure we can help escort you that far. What are your thoughts Advisor Shang Yang."

"I think it is the right thing for any benevolent lord to do." Shang Yang replied, "As Xun Yu has said, the world seems to be in chaos where ever we travel, helping those in need along the way is what we do best."

"We do not expect any payment." Dom continued, "Let's just use this as an opportunity to make new acquaintances."

"Thank you so much." Xun Yu replied, "I feel much safer knowing we have you with us."

"As do I." Xun You added, "Let's depart soon or it will be to late to make camp. The darkness is already upon us and it is only a little further up the road."

"I will head to the front and get us moving." Dom decided, "Advisor Shang Yang and Leonidas will stay with you both as we continue."

"But Lord!" Leonidas argued, "My job is to guard you."

"Shang Yang is more important." Dom replied, "Plus I'll have Commander Tomoe with me, I'll be fine."

Shang Yang winked at Dom as he said this, knowing that Dom was placing him with the two Xun's of Yingchuan to learn more about them to see if they could be recruited in the quest.

Dom reached the front, and was greeted by Tomoe, Subutai and Xun Yan. The fallen tree had been moved and Dom's Forbidden Guards were all lined up awaiting orders, as were around ten of the Xun Family Guards.

"Happy to get moving?" Dom asked Subutai.

"Yes, I'll take the rear with the Archers. Tomoe will take point with Chen Lu and Chen Ping. The others will cover the flanks amongst the Xun Family Guards." Subutai replied, "Xun Yan has also said he'll take point with Tomoe."

"I'm excited to be able to fight alongside your men." Xun Yan replied, "It's my family so I should lead, but the quality of your Guards is much higher than that of my own."

Dom thought that they definitely were better quality than Xun Yan's guards, these were the Forbidden Guards of a much later Dynasty that guarded the Emperor, not some family guards from a local noble family. He didn't say this though, as he could see that Xun Yan was genuine with his response and he was most likely a might warrior in his own right.

"I'll take point with Tomoe." Dom said, "I'll head back to the centre of the column later, I want to get us to the Lake first though."

Xun Yan was impressed that Dom, the Lord from afar, was taking the lead with a small group of Warriors, rather than hiding at the back or staying at home. Subutai nodded in acknowledgement to Dom's statement and headed to the back of the column with his two Archers. The small procession began to move, with the Carriages all full of Xun family members, whilst the Guards protected the sides.

Shang Yang was on horseback beside Xun Yu and Xun You in the middle, whilst Dom was at the front with Xun Yan. He hoped that they could make some good conversation before they reached the Lake and made camp, hoping to get some brownie points and understand the best way to recruit these people. Dom just hoped that they weren't attacked by a large number of troops, as the key to completing this quest was having the Xun family survive, and so far they had only fought against a small band of ill trained bandits.

"Why does it still have a leg in it's mouth?" Dom asked Chen Ping who was to his front right on the back of his Sabre Tooth Tiger.

"It's for the best." Chen Ping replied, "It seems to have got quite attached to it."

"Mine is slightly better trained." Chen Lu, the captain of the Forbidden Guards added from the front left.

"I tried to remove it myself before." Xun Yan laughed, "Commander Tomoe allowed me. They are gentle to stroke, and even purred when I played behind it's ears, however when I approached the leg it growled like a dog."

"We are slowly growing a Tiger Guard unit." Dom replied. "One of our hidden trump cards of Riverside."

"How many trump cards do you have?" Xun Yan asked seriously, "The Tigers are great, but your Red Hare Horses are just as impressive, each of them is worth a fortune, yet all of your men here have one."

"Not enough trump cards unfortunately." Dom replied, "We are a small fish in a lake at the moment, but we aim to become the master of that lake eventually, bringing peace for all of the other small fish that are just trying to survive."

"It's a nice dream to have." Xun Yan agreed. "My brother Xun Yu has a similar dream, to join a mighty Lord so he can protect the people and maintain the current hegemony. Where as Xun You is well read in the Military texts and will be a great strategist. We all fight for the same ideals, so it is nice to know that we have been rescued by a like minded individual."

"Well, you are always welcome to come and join us on our adventures." Dom replied seriously, as he scanned his surroundings as they headed towards the lake.