Trouble on the Road

"That's it then?" Peter asked, looking down at the crudely drawn map in the dirt with a puzzled expression that gave off the impression he didn't actually understand anything that was going on. 

"Right, that's it" Raymond gave the archer a friendly pat on the back. Sending the much lither Pete stumbling forward and into the hand drawn map.

"Awe, come on now! I was still lookin at that" Fenec crossed his arms, putting on a sneer that didn't look too far off from his resting face.

Annabelle shrugged her shoulders, standing up from the crouched position she had taken with the others around the dirt depiction of todays target. "Could just point it out for everyone once we actually get there. Not like anyone is traveling these roads" she grunted as she hefted the massive great sword and let it rest in its sheath over her shoulder. 

"Right ya'r lass! That's why you're the brains of the group!" Raymond exclaimed as he too stood to join Annabelle. Strapping his heavy hand axe to its place on his belt and tightening up the straps of his dirty, mostly rotten armor.

"If she's the brains, then no wonder we haven't made any coin" Peter retorted

"You trying to start something?" Annabelle took a step forward, a teasing smile on her face that promised violence. 

"Course not" Peter put his hands up defensively and laughed it off. 

"Thought so" Annabelle gave a half cocked smile, which was quickly shot down as Fenec slinked his way over behind the retreating archer. 

"Darling, lets not forget our place" Fenec placed a firm hand on Peters shoulder, helping him stand a bit straighter. 

Annabelle scowled as she saw peter regain some pride from her playful intimidation. Annabelle didn't really have any intent on starting a fight with peter, not for a playful comment at least, but Fenec had a nasty habit of escalating things when Annabelle was involved. 

"Right now, lets no cause any problems before we even make a single mark you hear?" Raymond huffed out from under his thick beard. 

"Me? Annabelle seemed ready to fight"

Annabelle towered nearly a full foot above both peter and Fenec. Both men where on the smaller side, and even though her height was on par with that of Raymond, Raymond was nearly twice her size, which was an impressive feat given that Annabelle stood at a comfortable 6ft 3in and was 210 pounds of hard earned muscle. 

"Oi, i said shut it down." peter said with more force, stepping up to match the distance between the gathered group, which very quickly caused the collective to back off from one another. 

"Save that energy for the evenings job aye?" Raymond smiles, his weathered cheeks offering a rosy hue. Patting both Annabelle and Fenec on the back. 

"Sounds good Ray" Annabelle let it go with a laugh, though Fenec only smeared and slipped away to gather his gear. 

Before they knew it, sunrise turned to sunset, and sunset turned to a wasted day as the group walked the short distance back to their camp. 

"This is bullshit and you know it" Fenec started. Prompting Peter and Annabelle to exchange passing looks of shared annoyance. 

"Please don't start" Peter muttered. 

"No, i will start, because its bullshit" Fenec spit into the fire and dropped his weight onto his haunches as he took to crouching near the fire. 

"The road isn't very popular no, but those heading in and out of the city towards Lord Falkin's territory gotta use this one right?" Peter asked, more to clarify his limited understanding. 

"That's right, just got unlucky is all" Raymond offered as he too grabbed a spot near the fire. 

"I was itching for a fight too" Annabelle pouted, though she was only half joking. 

"Best case scenario we don't have to fight" Raymond corrected "you ask em real nicely and they will hand over their things. Don't gotta even lift a blade" 

"I have to admit, as much as it displeases me to say I agree with Annabelle" Fenec very painfully admitted. 

"You two are both so full of bloodlust you'd think you'd get along better" Peter offered. 

"Fuck no" 

"Fuck no" 

It was several more days of this…this being mostly nothing as the group woke up and went over the plan, before taking up their positions on the rocky hillside to wait for unsuspecting travelers to relieve of their burdens. Those burdens being their money mostly. 

"Alright, lets go over one more time shall we?" Raymond said, even his typically positive demeanor finally faltering much to Fenecs personal pleasure. 

"Fuck the plan" Annabelle groaned. "If no one comes by today we better just be off to a new spot don't you think?" 

"Aye, right you are, that's why you're the brains of this operation." 

"If shes the brains then why are we following you?" Fenec snickered though mostly to himself. 

"Hold your tongue boy, I ain't got the patience for you this morning alright?" 

Without another word the group made the short trip through the dense pine forest to their hand picked spot. 

A rocky hillside rose up along the road, having cracked and slid, and later cleared creating a nice choke point to stage an ambush from. Peter scrambled along the back of the ridge to take up a position at the top of the hill. Despite his slower than average ability to learn, he had quite the keen eye. Fenec lowered his body into a position Annabelle could only assume would cause incredibly pain to anyone not made of some manner of fluid, yet Fenec maneuvered himself into a section of bush and stone impossible for any normal man to fit into. 

Annabelle and Raymond both took up positions on opposite sides of the road on each side of the large hill, so that only one was ever visible depending on if you were leaving the city, or heading towards it. 

"Eye spy….with my little eye" Peter began, for the seventh time, generating a sustained harmonious groan from everyone 

"Would you please quit with your -" 

"No no, listen, I spy some weary travelers looking to have their coin purses lightened" Peters face turned up into a wide mostly broken smile of rotten teeth as he pointed out in the direction of the city. "4 folks, looks like a family with a card and horse even" 

"Lucky daysss" Fenec drolls sarcastically form his hiding palace. 

"Quiet now lads quiet, in position" Raymond called out. 

The group moved into lower positions, their guards raised and ready. 

They had been traveling together for quite some time now, and despite the banter and bickering they had found a rather good workflow. Banditry was after all a rather dangerous profession. You never knew when someone would want to be a hero, or was too attached to their belonging to become willing to fight to the death for em. Though that is why Raymond had allowed Annabelle to join their merry band of misfits. 

Sure Peter was a good archer, he was a crack shot with a bow and had the best damn set of eyes this side of Capstone river, Fenec was a right bastard and hard as hell to get along with, but if he didn't want you to see him, then he may as well have been invisible. Fenec could rob a man blind down to his trousers without them suspecting a thing. Raymond was the leader of their outfit, a seasoned soldier with a silver tongue, and then Annabelle. Raymond had seen few woman capable of wielding a sword, and even fewer men who could wield one as well as Annabelle. Sure having a woman in your party wasn't much for their image, even if she was a big girl, however when the going got tough and Annabelle got going there was nothing that could stand in her way. She was a bad enemy to have, which made her a good friend. 

A tired looking horse made its way over the hill and into the danger zone for the bandits. The rider was a middle aged man with his better years long behind him. Along with a slightly younger, though not by much, woman riding in the cart along with a collection of sad looking supplied. To the left and right of the horse and cart where two young men, likely the sons of the couple, one nearing his 20s and the other only freshly a man. 

"Easy there" Raymon made his way into the center of the road with both hands up signaling for the group to stop. As he did so, Peter let himself become known from above, knocking an arrow and keeping it pointed in their general direction. Annabelle used that as her queue to join Raymond, standing on his left side to cover his weak arm should any of these young men try and become heroes today. 

"We don't want no trouble" the older man on his horse started, but Raymond cut him off with a "tsk tsk tsk" sound. "Nor do we. you lot look to be ready to go on your way and I dare not keep you long. There's a roll to pay for safe passage through this here road you see, and we ain't seen any coin yet" 

"Ain't no toll on this road" the younger of the two boys started, which prompted a harsh look from his mother in the cart. 

"New rules see. Toll is half of what ever you got in that purse o' yours" Raymond pointed his ax at the coin purse jingling at the mans hip. "Along with some food and drink" peter added from his perch up top. 

"Aye, some food and drink too" Raymond seconded. 

"We ain't got nothin" the older boy began. Taking a threatening step forward

This action caused peter to pull the string back on his bow, and aim it directly at the older of the two sons. Annabelle too took a step forward, hands resting on her great sword and a wild grinned that promised violence. 

"Think standing behind a woman makes you tough?" the older of the two boys started, looking at Annabelle up and down. 

"She may be a woman but she'd rip your head clean off your shoulders before you could get that little knife off your belt" Raymond almost laughed. 

Much to Annabelle's personal pleasure, the boy looked intent on both fucking around and finding out in the span of a few seconds. 

Annabelle rushed in to meet the distance. Her grin wide and eyes narrowed, focused in. in one deadly quick, violent motion, Annabelle crunched her boot into the hand of the boy, breaking it against his own blade, as he didn't have time to unsheathe it. The boy buckled, bending over to try and grab at his shattered fingers, Annabelle grabbed her greatsword and drove its pommel into the boys stomach. 

The force alone was enough to send him up into the air, and then onto his back. Before he could even get his breath back Annabelle drove her boot into his chest, placing her other boot over the boys broken hand, crushing it further and sliding the blade away. 

"STOP!" the woman shouted. Barely able to stand from her spot in the cart "Don't hurt him please!" she begged. 

"Looks like he's already hurt" Raymond noted as the boy groaned and struggled under the force of Annabelle's leg. 

"no one else will get hurt so long as you give us what we asked for, and no one tries anything foolish" 

The man fumbled at his bag, grabbing a handful of coins and holding them out for Raymond as he approached to take them. 

"Got their food and drink" Fenec said, appearing seemingly from nowhere with a few bags in hand. 

"Good. be on your way then. And safe travels. There are bandits on these roads you know" Raymond smiled to the family as they looked nervously to one another. 

Annabelle let the young man up. Despite the fact that he surely was her age, she couldn't help but think of him as a little boy with that poor attempt of fighting back. 

"Gotta be faster than that. Maybe loosen your sheath up" Annabelle offered with a teasing grin. 

"A right good haul" Raymond said, pleased with himself. Counting the coin and splitting up the shares among the group as they shared drinks from one of the looted bottles. 

"It may have taken a while, but the payout was well worth it, don't ya think?" Raymond cast a judging glance to Fenec who refused to admit he had been proven wrong. 

"I think we might have found ourselves a bit of a gold mine" Raymond cracked a toothy grin.