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Post by flaminwolf92 on Jul 7, 2009 11:05:40 GMT -5
Seeing the bundle of weapons there waiting for him, Damien looked around to make sure that the sleepy sentry wasn't anywhere near his position. Grabbing the bundle, Damien raced back to their horses. After tying the bundle of weapons to Hap, since Equis was already carrying a bundle, Damien went back to his position. Seeing that there was no bundle for him to grab, Damien assumed that now was the time to get on with the second part of the plan.
After dodging the sentry, Damien moved stealthily towards the horses. 'Let's see... About ten horses here, so a few trips ought to do it.' he thought as he moved towards the first horse. As Damien moved towards the first horse, it woke up. Giving it the be quiet sign and a reassuring pat on the side, Damien untied the horse. He then started to untie another one. Bringing them both back to Equis and Hap, Damien tied them to a tree and went back for more.
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Post by Firehead on Jul 7, 2009 12:01:29 GMT -5
On his way toward one of the few fires scattered throughout the camp, Red turned and went back to the weapons tent, on a sudden burst of inspiration. In the tent, he collected all the bow strings he could find in a pile, and proceeded to cut them all into thirds. Then he tied them back together, sometimes tying five or six together. Finished, he gathered up the mutilated strings and left to find the supply tent.
Once found, he rummaged through the drinking supply until he found what he was looking for. One sniff at the contents told him he wasn't wrong in guessing that this stuff would likely burn his tongue off if he tried to drink it. With a mischievous grin on his face, he left the supply tent, and started for the fire again.
Keeping one eye out for the sentry, he took the former bowstrings and, laying one end in the fire nestled snugly against the glowing coals, he trailed them across the intervening spaces to the tents, where he made a small hole in the fabric of each, through which he threaded the strings and tied them. The last one went to the supply tent, for the express purpose of making the soldiers' likes miserable. He wasn't able to connect all the tents to destruction, but it was enough for now.
Once again uncorking the flask of foul liquid, he started at the perimeter of the fire, and followed the strings back and forth across the camp soaking the strings with the fiery stuff. Then, once again starting at the fire closest to camp, he walked from one fire to the next, splashing the remainder of the drink directly onto the hot coals, and thereby causing miniature explosions to take place as the fire took to the stuff immediately.
Glancing back, Red saw the flames shooting across space to their next destinations. The noise of the liqueur, as it vanished in tongues of flame was enough to wake most of the encampment up, and shouts began to rise from every quarter. At the last fire, Red threw the container into the coals and took off, running. With all the confusion going on in the camp, Red went virtually unnoticed, as he slipped around to where the horses had been tied. Hopefully, there was one left for him.
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Post by flaminwolf92 on Jul 7, 2009 12:39:06 GMT -5
Damien was bringing back the ninth horse towards the rest of them as he began to smell the smoke. So far the plan had gone through without a hitch. Stopping for a minute, he looked at the last horse and gave a slight wave towards it. Bringing the horse in his hand towards the others. He looked at the encampment and saw that the encampment was on fire and the lone horse was still there. Grinning at a plan well done, Damien grabbed Hap's reins and brought him over to Equis. Tying the reins of each horse to another's saddle Damien observed his handiwork. The encampment's horses were tied to each other's saddle with Hap in the front. Getting on Equis, Damien gave the trot command and rode in the direction they were originally heading. So far everything had gone off well. Hopefully Red would be able to catch up to them. After all they were going at a slow trot.
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Post by Firehead on Jul 7, 2009 13:05:28 GMT -5
There was one horse left--apparently Damien had been busy, Red thought to himself. Glancing back at the encampment, he saw that it was well and truely in a shambles. Removing his cloak and slinging it over the horses' back so that it acted like a saddle blanket, he yanked the picket line free and swung up. Spinning the horse in a tight circle, he gave it a quick kick in the side, and sent the already-frightened animal charging directly through the camp, while he yelled shrilly at the top of his lungs.
People scattered, trying to get out of the way of Red's mad dash. And then, Red was clear of the camp and galloping his temporary mount into the surrounding darkness. Altering the horses direction, he came up alongside Damien and the extra horses. Slapping Hap on the rump, to make the horse bolt, he called, "Let's make some tracks!"
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Post by flaminwolf92 on Jul 7, 2009 17:56:52 GMT -5
Damien grinned as Red caught up to him. That means the plan was a complete success. Hearing Red call out to speed up, Damien gave a quick nod, and with a verbal command, Equis was spurred into a cantor then a gallop. Of course, this made it a lot harder for Damien to hold onto Hap's reins. Gripping them tightly and wrapping them around his right hand, Damien was able to hold on to the horses. After about ten minutes of galloping, Damien noticed that the horses were beginning to get tired. Calling over to Red, Damien said rather loudly, "Do you think we should stop now?"
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Post by Firehead on Jul 8, 2009 9:58:36 GMT -5
After about ten minutes of galloping blindly across the countryside in the dark, Red heard Damien call to him, "Do you think we should stop now?" Red frowned, but the logic was indisputable--- going much longer at this pace, and some horse was likely to injure itself. Better to slow down, then face the consequences. "No, we can slow down, but I don't want us stopping for a while, yet. Let 'em breath, but we keep going." he called back, pulling his own mount down to a walk.
In the distance, Red could still hear shouts coming from the camp, and he grinned. "Well, Damien, I think we carried that off in style. At the moment, I'm glad you remembered to leave me a horse! By the way, now that we got some time, Here's your bow an' quiver back--did you get the strings I left?"
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Post by flaminwolf92 on Jul 9, 2009 18:02:49 GMT -5
Damien nodded and allowed the horses to slow down. The horses were, of course, grateful for the drop in speed. Accepting his bow and quiver from Red, Damien replied, "Thanks, and yeah, they're in one of my saddle bags. I'll take them out once we stop. I think that I'll also take a look at those weapons that are in the bundles and help myself. You can never have too many weapons. Right?"
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Post by Firehead on Jul 10, 2009 10:26:44 GMT -5
"Just don't load yourself down with 'em-- I intend to catch them today or tomorrow, depending on how far we travel." To himself he thought, 'Which will be quite a ways, if I have anything to do with it.' They rode for a time in silence, and then Red pulled his mount to a stop and swung down.
Grumbling under his breath, he tied the animal to the back of the string, shifted the bundles of weapons to a fresher pair of horses, and swung up astride Hap. "Keep the horses going 'til sunrise, and your eyes and ears open for any trouble. I'm going to catch some sleep." So saying, he closed his eyes and slouched down in his saddle. "Wake me at sunrise." he added.
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Post by flaminwolf92 on Jul 12, 2009 15:12:36 GMT -5
Damien nodded his head and said, "All right. Happy resting." Damien then went back to looking at the path ahead of him. Every so often, there would be a rustling in the trees that would catch Damien's attention. However, the rustling was only the wind.
A couple of hours later, the sun was beginning to rise. Damien could no longer hear the voices of the soldiers whose camp had been burned. Stifling a yawn, Damien looked around. The wildlife was beginning to wake up, as proven by the birds beginning to chirp. Looking over to Red, Damien shook him and said, "Time to get up. It's sunrise."
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Post by Firehead on Jul 13, 2009 9:51:16 GMT -5
Red was dead to the world, and quite satisfied with that fact, until Damien shook him and said, "Time to get up. It's sunrise." Red groaned as he straightened up, stretching slowly to ease the cramp the had developed in his back. "Awww come on! I had fifteen minutes to go, yet!" He twisted his head from side to side in an effort to ease another cramp, which had taken up residence in his neck, and gave a wry grin in Damien's direction. "Ah, it isn't that bad. I guess I can let you off. What's for breakfast, while we keep movin' here?" He asked, changing the subject.
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Post by flaminwolf92 on Jul 13, 2009 14:46:53 GMT -5
Hearing Red groan about how he still had fifteen minutes. Hearing Red say, "Ah, it isn't that bad. I guess I can let you off. What's for breakfast, while we keep movin' here?", Damien realized something. They might not have any food. At least Damien knew that he didn't have any. "Anything you can find in your saddle bags. Hopefully we'll cross a fruit tree or a river soon. Then we could have food." he replied as he began to look at the trees surrounding him to see if any of them bore any fruit.
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Post by Firehead on Jul 14, 2009 8:59:23 GMT -5
"Anything you can find in your saddle bags. Hopefully we'll cross a fruit tree or a river soon. Then we could have food." Damien replied as he began to look at the trees surrounding them. Red tilted his head to one side, about to ask a question, but then realized the answer. "Oh yeah, forgot that didn't I? Well..." Red twisted around in his saddle to get at his saddlebags, unfastening one and digging through it. "Hmm...Well what do you know!" he exclaimed suddenly, yanking out a good-sized lump wrapped in a piece of cheesecloth from the depths of his saddlebag and holding it aloft like a prize.
"It's that jerky I got about six months ago! I was wondering where it was!" He began unwrapping the lump. "Let's see. Hay! It's still got some bread and cheese in here! Hey, don't worry, Damien, it's still edible!" He glanced down at the piece of cheese he'd been about to hand Damien and wrinkled his nose at the mold growing on it. he looked closer at the bread and saw the same thing. "Well,.....anyway, the jerky's edible." he corrected himself, as he replaced the cheese with a thick slice of dried meat and offered it to Damien.
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Post by flaminwolf92 on Jul 16, 2009 19:00:31 GMT -5
Damien accepted the jerky and said, "Thanks... I think." Taking a bite out of the jerky, Damien swallowed. "Tastes like six month old jerky. Better than nothing though. And definitely better than moldy bread and cheese." After a few long minutes, Damien looked to Red and asked, "Uh, what are we gonna do with all of these horses? Donate them to the army back home?"
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Post by Firehead on Jul 17, 2009 10:02:49 GMT -5
"Tastes like six month old jerky. Better than nothing though. And definitely better than moldy bread and cheese." Damien said. Red nodded slowly."Yeah....six-month-old jerky does tend to taste like it. But, yes, it is better than the bread and cheese at the moment." He wrestled a bite of jerky loose from his strip, and chewed it--slowly and carefully. After a few long minutes, Damien looked to Red and asked, "Uh, what are we gonna do with all of these horses? Donate them to the army back home?"
A grin broke out on Red's face at that. "Hay!" Red nearly choked on his mouthful of jerky, and had to spit it out before he could continue. "That's not such a bad idea! It's certainly better than mine. I was thinking about turning them loose in another couple of days, but yours is a much better idea!" Red held up the remainder of his piece of jerky, and voiced his thoughts aloud. "If it weren't for the fact that I don't want to risk smoke from a fire, I'd almost say to save this stuff, and use it for something else. Ah, well." He shrugged and bit into it. "Not likely to get anything else out here." he muttered.
Another thought suddenly occurred to him, causing him to smile. Stuffing the jerky back into his saddlebag, he turned to Damien. "Of course, I'm sure that the folks back there still have a few supplies. I reckon if we stopped now they'd be able to catch up with us. We can borrow some from them tonight!"
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Post by flaminwolf92 on Jul 19, 2009 19:16:56 GMT -5
Damien grinned as he realized what Red was implying. They would have to stop though and hide in the woods until the enemy party caught up to them. Then he realized something. "Something tells me that their security would be far better than it was earlier today. I mean they had to have realized that they did something wrong. We would have to be extra careful. They might be expecting another raid," Damien said. Finishing up his piece of jerky, Damien waited for Red's answer.
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