13 The Bandits - Part 1

Looking from her vantage point, a small hole surrounded in shrubbery, Octavia looked out into what was a sizable camp. The camp consisted of basic tents, campfires and logs as seating areas set around them. Large barrels dotted around held weapons, more than the number of people in the camp. There were the same number of tents as there were people, all spread out making good use of the flat space. On the topic of people, of the ones that she could see, one of them was sitting by the campfires, one was cooking up meal, but the rest were on the side of the camp watching a couple dozen other people all tied up.

Octavia's first thought was that maybe the people tied up were bad guys, caught by the people in the camp. But, given the numbers and a closer look at the group disproved this theory. The ones in the camp were mostly men, and while not proof in of itself, the people tied up included men, women, children and a few elderlies. With this variation in the tied-up group, it was highly unlikely these were the bad guys. Probably better to say it was a certainty that these were the victims.

Amongst the group, Octavia was finally able to see some of the different races in this world. At the far end an elven couple could be seen holding each other. Next to them a male dwarf was sitting silently, while two families comprised of humans hugged each other. Also, within the group a several people with animal like traits, or various ages and genders. A couple have cat ears and tails, one has floppy ears much like a dog. Another has stripy fur ears reminiscent of a tiger, although slightly different given that they are white with blue stripes. One boy appeared to have feathers all across his arms, all a light brown colour. These were a few of the varieties that she could see.

The people in the camp holding the prisoners were a mix of humans, elves and dwarfs. Given the grouping this is less likely something against specific races and more just plain banditry, capturing people, probably to sell them as slaves.

Octavia's musings are cut off by a lone girl tied up by a tree that she missed before. The prisoner was segregated from the rest of the group. After hearing her speak, the reason why became clear.

"Hey, hey!" One of the bandits turns to look at her. "Yeah, I'm talking to you, coward. Untie me right now."

The bandit runs his hand down his face, as if this wasn't the first time he had to deal with this girl. "Would you just shut up already. No one is going to untie you. So just sit there and be quiet. Please." He pleaded.

"I get it. You're afraid I would beat you in a fair fight. Makes sense considering you had to wait till we were asleep to capture us. Even then you needed to use four people for each person. Bunch of weak cowards."

Another bandit joins the conversation. "Arrgh! Can we just kill her already? We have plenty to sell and this one is just so annoying."

"No Jayce. This girl, while incredibly annoying, is the best looker out of the bunch. Plus, look at what she's wearing and remember the stuff she had. She is definitely from a wealthy family, sure to bring us plenty of pica if we sell her off."

"Pica?" Octavia mumbled to herself. "Might be the money of this world."

Getting a better look at the girl, the bandits were right. She was a very attractive girl. On top of that the two very cute ears similar to that of a fox, albeit a dark and purple one, adorned the top of her head. Her dark hair with strands of purple flowed down her back. She also had a large bushy tail, ending at a point, the same colour as her fox ears. The clothes she wore looked very expensive, vibrant colours on what looked to be smooth fine clothing, most likely this worlds silk. Given where they were there was a mismatch with the outfit as the silk top and bottoms were covered over with leather garments, likely for protection. This was all finished off with large dark leather boots. It was a look Octavia could only describe as combat casual. Whether it was a real thing, she didn't know, but it made sense in this situation.

Now she also understood why she was segregated from the others. While her value may have been one reason, the likelihood was that she was one to try and rally the others into fighting back. She was not one to go down without fight back.

"Can't I just beat her a little. No one has to know. You could take a few swings with me."

"No Jayce, we can't damage the goods. You know how some rich people are. If she loses her looks or her innocence, if she still has it," They stupidly giggle at that," She would lose all value to them? They might not even bother paying for her release."

The bandit named Jayce clicks his younger in annoyance.

"Look if you want some to play with, visit the bosses tent. He has a couple in there he's been having fun with."

"Already tried asking, he sent me away. Said they were his and only his."

"Then I guess the only thing you can do is shut up and stand guard."

"Hey! You really need to unti-" the fox girl went off again, annoying the bandits some more. While it would be amusing to see what sort of rise she gets out of them again, Octavia's thoughts were plagued the bandit's mention of playing with a couple in the bosses tent.

Being the person she was, she could not just stand by while these people were likely being beaten or worse. Knowing she had to do something, she slowly circled the camp.

Looking around she used her thermal vision to see who else was in the camp. The tent in the middle had three heat signatures, and going by what was said before, this was likely the boss and two prisoners. A couple of other tents had heat signatures, showing three people prone on the ground, likely sleeping, maybe so they can take the watch at night. That's what she first thought but the tent with two signatures, the bodies were moving a little too much for them to be sleeping.

Skipping past that, with the four bandits she saw before, this gave a total of eight including the boss. Five guys and three girls as far as she could tell. The girls were comprised of an elf and two humans, while the guys were two elves and one human, a dwarf and whatever the boss was as she was unable to discern his species yet. With the overlapping heat signatures, it was hard to see.

The couple having fun in the tent were the male and female elves, where stereotypically they had bows, which were left in the barrel outside their tent. The sleeping human women had a long sword she could just about see inside her tent. Onto the rest visible around the camp, the male dwarf wielded a mace and the two human men both had swords, one straight and one curved. Lastly amongst them, the last female was currently cooking up some grub, with two daggers on her belt.

Upon moving around the area, she found no traps whatsoever. Either these guys were incompetent, felt they were strong enough to handle anything, or had not had the time to set them up. Whatever the reason, Octavia was grateful.

Nearing the edge of the brush by the camp, it is at this point she noticed that the fox girl was looking at her. How she spotted her she did not know, magic or some keen sense specific to her species. Seeing this, Octavia quickly brought her finger to her lips making a shushing motion, hoping the fox girl would understand. The girl looked away from her and went back to berating the guards.

A quick sigh from Octavia thankful for the understanding of the fox girl, continued checking out the camp. She searched for all the weapons, watched where the bandits went and learnt their usual movements.

"How should I do this." She thought as she tried to formulate a plan of action.

After some time, she came up with something, and took her first slither into implementing it. As she did so, she was interrupted.

"Hold fiends! Your reign of villainy ends here. For I, Sir Roderick Gustavo, shall defeat you here and now. For your crime of kidnapping, you shall face swift justice by the edge of my blade. However, if you relinquish your arms and these fine folk and you may be spared of death."

The voice was accompanied by a very well-off gentlemen, covered head to toe in finery. Astride his majestic golden steed, he truly looked like a young girl's depiction of Prince Charming. His hair flowed and burst with flair as he moved, and his handsome face had many of the female prisoners gazing at him in adoration.

Sighs emanated from many of the prisoners, as well as one from the bandit's cooks. The knight smiled at a few of them, causing them to almost pass out.

"…"

But all Octavia could feel was nauseated. Everything he did was over the top, and it was cringe worthy. How this guy became a knight she didn't know, assuming sir actually meant that here.

Looking at the prisoners, hearts could be seen in most of the female's eyes and a few of the men's, but the main expression they had was hope. Hope that a saviour had finally come to help them.

This was exactly the opposite to what the fox girl was showing. Pure disgust and annoyance against the kindly knight. She could hardly even look at him it seemed. Why this was the case, Octavia did not know. Possibly something to learn of after this mess was dealt with.

"Hey, who are you and how did you find us." The dwarven bandit called out to the knight. He turned to one of his colleagues, the man who was berating Jayce before, "I thought all the knights were off fighting that monster horde or something. Why is this guy here?"

"I don't know. It should only be the soldiers and guards in the town. Maybe he's not really a knight."

Sir Roderick made his way into the camp, the bandits backing away in case he was actually a knight.

"Release these people you ne're-do-wells, or face my blade."

The fox girl slumped over, exasperated as if the life had drained out of her.

Jumping down from his horse in one swift motion, he moved towards the bandits and Jayce stepped forward.

"Alright then. Let's do this." Both readied themselves, Jayce his curved blade and Sir Roderick took out his long sword. Like the rest of him, the sword was a thing of beauty, gleaming in the light. It was covered in a vast number of gems and jewels, showing off the expense that went into its creation.

As they squared off each other, nothing but silence could be heard.

…

Then they charged.

…

It was over in the blink of an eye. No one could believe it. All except Octavia and likely the fox girl.

As the combatants neared each other, Sir Roderick raised his blade and swung down onto his opponent's head.

Breaths were held by the crowd at this, sure this would be the end of the bandit known as Jayce.

But it wasn't so. Jayce all but easily sidestepped Sir Roderick's attack. The momentum of the swing almost toppling him, but he was saved by his blade being embedded in the ground.

"Oh, quite the sly fox we have here, but evading my attack shall not mean vict-"

*Thwack*

*Thud*

While getting started on his pointless dialogue, Jayce using is free hand, hit Sir Roderick on the back of his head, knocking him out instantly.

Hearts of many maidens were broken as far as Octavia could see. All of the prisoners with hearts in eyes shed a tear for their fallen hero and wallowed in sadness at the world's loss. Even the female bandit currently cooking looked away heartbroken, but she quickly covered up her feeling for the fallen knight.

Thankfully the knight was still alive, but to the maidens it felt like he had passed onto the next life.

For Octavia, she obviously also felt the same heartbreak at the outcome of this brave soul. Which is why she mumbled to herself, "Finally. What an idiot."

"…"

The heartbroken Octavia completely disregarded the knight and got back to work on figuring how to save these people. Looking back at the area, a couple of the bandits were dragging the knight away to tie him to another tree, talking to each out about the massive score and all the wealth they would get from ransoming this weirdo.

But now, with the disturbance dealt with, Octavia got ready to make her move.