Oni looks to his group, ”should we be on our way? We can take shifts driving so we all get some rest. I can take the first shift if anyone wants to join me.”

"Yes, we should get going. Reinforcements can provide more aid than the six of us can. And maybe when we get to town, we will find something that Misha can get drunk off of and she can fall on the ground too."

"I suppose we should, I'll take first shift with you Oni." 

“I require little sleep, can handle multiple shift if needed..” Misha offers, getting a bit more comfortable as the team gets on their way.

Grum comes back to the group, confused. "I swear, those gnolls didn't even leave any tracks!" He gets up on the cart and offers to take second shift. 

"I will take the third shift."

As soon as everyone is on or in the cart Oni will head off with Kelric keeping watch with him. When they get a decent distance from the other carts he will drop his disguise and stay silent unless spoken to.

"So how long have you practiced magic, Oni?"  Kelric will walk besides him doing his best to keep watch in the dark

Whoever needs a break, Misha will relieve. Otherwise, she will either walk with the cart, hang with the girls, or/and stay close to anyone who engages her in conversation. 

”I’ve always had some magic within me I think. I never truly understood it until I was a teenager. I was able to create simple illusions at first but I was guided to focus on the darker energies that lied within me. I was never book smart when it came to magic but I feel like I have a more raw power. I don’t know if you noticed, but when I fight with my blade, my crystal amplifies my skill. At the same time it saps me of my physical strength when I’m not fighting. There’s a delicate balance to my abilities and I have yet to find it.” He gives you a slight smile. ”Is there a particular reason you asked?”

Insight: 23

During the journey, the red-headed paladin took off her upper body armor and set down her shield and hammer - made it more comfortable to walk. The sun felt good on her face, on her shoulders and arms. She stretched mightily, muscles flexing and bones cracking - she closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed he sun on her tan skin. Finally, she looked up at the sky and was once again amazed at how different this place was. Back home the war with Hell had made Acheron a battle scarred plain of fire and mountains - littered with the bodies of the fallen who had honorably given up their lives as pawns in a battle that has waged for longer than she could ever remember.

When she was a little girl, Headmaster Zaedrianna or Legion Commander Taetanicus would often pull her aside from the rest of the students and would fill her mind with promises of a destiny different than her peers. She was pushed harder, yelled at more angrily, and forced to study more than the others. Never once did she question her superiors. Never once did she disobey. Never once did they let up on her, even when she was filled with tears and frustrations.

She was not created to live a life of luxury, a life of softness, a life of pleasure - she was bred for war, built to withstand terrible punishment, conditioned to conquer and destroy. But, she was different. Bane, in his infinite wisdom, had a plan for her.

She caught sight of Natasha as they walked, and she was whipped back into the present, and she caught herself staring at her, and smiling. There was nothing wrong with asking a few questions was there? Bane would be ok if I just ask? Right?

"Tasha?" she said, "Tell me about your sister. Tell me about where you come from. Please? Would like to know."

((dang needing to sleep then work! *shakes fist*))

Earlier:

Natasha had listened to Misha's inspirational story, the paladin ending it off with something the ranger would keep in the back of her mind for a very long time. "You're right," Natasha says softly, placing her hand gently on top of the others, intertwining their fingers as she continued to speak. "I have to keep trying, I have to keep getting better then maybe one day I'll be able to lift any shield and hammer." She gives Misha a genuine smile and a squeeze. "Thank you, really." The blonde held her hand up until Jill had joined them just a few moments later, looking up to the blood hunter with a slight frown and just as she was about to say something Misha had beat her to it, but had agreed wholeheartedly to every word that was said.

--

Natasha had offered to take any shift that was left open, not really minding who she spent it with as long as they could keep her awake, and after they decided on the shifts, she fell silent up until Misha had questioned her. The ranger brought herself closer to the red-head as they continued forward to keep her voice to a minimum, not wanting to annoy the others with her chatter.

"Um... Well... I've honestly forgotten the name but the village I grew up in was kinda small, and mainly consisted of animal farmers. We had cows, lambs, chickens... We had wheat and some vegetables, but mostly animals. Of course, with so many animals around, my sister and I adored all of them! Pigs especially! My dad was a pig farmer, and my mom was a really good baker. My sister and I would help her all the time in the kitchen! Well... Me, mostly, my sister would help my dad outside." She taps on her chin, thinking about what to say in regards to her sister.

"Hmm... Nadia is my older sister and is kinda... The complete opposite of me. She has such a commanding presence, is a way better speaker than I am, isn't afraid of anything... She's also very protective and loving to me. As I was growing up I told myself I would be like her one day, but... I think she took all the bravery from the womb before I even had the chance." Natasha laughs lightly. "Speaking of which... I need to write to her... I miss her terribly."

"... What about you? I know you don't have any brothers or sisters... Or parents for the matter, but, um, is there anyone you miss?"

Misha's hairs stood on the back of her neck and arms as Tasha held her hand. Just a few moments longer, Bane, just a few, she thought to herself, enjoying the moment. Her blood pressure rose.

"No, not really." Misha admitted. "Since created in Genesis Chambers, have no parents, no family - except fellow comrades in arms, you can say? I am programmed not to know these things, is considered distraction. There was no time to hev long lasting friends since time of creation and time of training. War makes leetle things like love and friendship put aside. All I know, mostly, is fighting a war of survival. On previous world during first meesion had no friends, was totally occupied with completing task - wanted graduation very badly. Now, here on second meesion, is different type, I stay longer, maybe time to make friends and someday kees beautiful girl, ya?" She laughs loudly.

If Jill ends up doing her watch alone, she'll try to avoid conversing with Flibbertigibbet by thinking about a book she read when she was younger called Le Chevalier de la Rose et Les Demoiselles de la Cloche. If she ends up having company during her watch, she'll converse with them.

"I was just curious, I haven't known many with magic."

”It can be a curse. Magic is unstable and unpredictable. I’ve seen many corrupted in the pursuit of arcane power. A life of thievery and survival would’ve been enough for me.”

I'll talk to Jill, why not.

Insight: 11

"Ah, again, with that look." Misha said to Jill, observing her very hard. "What is phrase? Hear it once. Can I purchase thoughts for money? No, wait..that not right. Thoughts, please? Have money! Ach.." She sighed, clearly struggling with play on word phrases, or otherwise.

"A coin for your thoughts? i didn't realize that there was a look on my face. I was simply trying to think of something to take my mind off of Flibbertigibbet. They never tell you that a weapon that has a demon attached to it never stops talking. Maybe that's what they do to torture people in the afterlife. But I was just recalling a story that I read in a book when I was a child."

"Special paladin power," Misha admits, "Knows when Jill thinking about books." She gives your axe a sour look. "Tell me about book."

"The book was called Le Chevalier de la Rose et Les Demoiselles de la Cloche. It is a story about the journeys a beautiful knight and her companions went on. It's pretty good. There are moments of action, comedy, and even romance when the knight falls in love with one of the maidens that are going on the journey with her. The end was a bit of a shocker though, the knight and her friends were all killed by winged beasts, but c'est la vie. I guess the author was writing one of those books that suddenly turns tragic at the end. All of the other girls in my village loved that story and would pretend to be them. Everyone wanted to be the knight.

Although it's funny now, because I never expected to be going on a journey and in a way you are a lot like the knight from the story. You run around in shining armor, are a devout servant of your god, and are in love with a beautiful woman. Not that I do not see myself as a hero, mind you. I just think that you would fit her shoes more than I would. Do you think that in the future they will write stories of what we do? "