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"Does your army communicate with smoke signals?" Revenge would ask, peering out the front.

Twyla stared around, unclear at what she was supposed to be looking at. "Huh? What is that?"

((Perception: 12))

"It's a fight." She gets her quiver and says,"Get this cart moving."

Abby would give Revenge a strange look. "Not that I am aware of, but... one of those who escaped was turned into some sort of fire elemental. Why do you ask?"

Prompted by Kuori, Arthur moves the wagon forward. "Everyone hold on; I'm going to see how fast I can get this cart going."

Arthur gets the horse and cart galloping down the road, making quite a rough ride for everyone. As the party draws closer to the smoke, the sounds of battle get louder and louder. Something is indeed taking place in the forest and no sight of the Arian division can be seen on the road.

It wasn't long until Arthur brought the wagon to a halt on the side of the road. The shouting of men, the clanging of metal, and muffled explosions could now be heard by everyone--but nothing could be seen. The fight must be taking place deeper in the forest. "Well, we should have run into my old division by now, so that must be them fighting something in the forest. The secret path starts here. We can move forward by cart but... I-I'm not sure If I want to take Petra in there without knowing what's going on. I just found her. I don't want to risk losing her again."

Petra would step up and put her hand on Arthur's shoulder. She was trembling. "Arthur... I'm terrified of Aria myself, but I don't want to abandon my friends. It's... it's my fault we are in this mess. I have to see it through to its end."

"Arthur, if you're not willing to fight to protect the ones you love, then what do you fight for?" Before the silence could grow she would add, "It would be better to go in on foot anyways. We can try to get the advantage. They can't be too far off given the noise. I'm going to probably vanish once we go in, if you don't see me in the fight, something went wrong."

-Once in the woods-
Perception: 22
Stealth: 28

"There was... something... up there," Revenge would have indicated towards the treetops in the distance, though suddenly stopped pointing as he tried to maintain his balance as the wagon suddenly propelled forward. "I suppose we'll find out exactly what I saw soon enough."

As the wagon stopped with the group nearing the conflict, the party would begin to split. "Arthur... if you want to remain here and try to protect Petra, and the wagon, you can. Bringing the wagon closer would risk damaging it, especially if there's something fiery happening out there. Plus, if there ends up being some sort of forest fire, we may need it for a hasty escape. However, if something were to happen to you while you were alone, we'd have no knowledge of your plight." Revenge turned to where Kuori and Twyla had run out of sight. "It might be a safe gambit though. I think any Arians would go help their countrymen in danger before trying to harm you, but I might be projecting a nonexistant morality. I don't know."

Revenge would disembark, unless stopped.

"Abby, my love... just in case I'm wrong, you may want to stay here with Petra and Arthur. But if you - any of you, for that matter - want to come, be prepared for the fact that I will be actively trying to end the conflict with as little loss of life as possible, on all sides."

If not verbally stopped, or if the wagon isn't brought directly there, Revenge would head on foot towards the conflict, aiming for the most direct, non-difficult-terrain-laden path, though not before calling out, "Coming, Valac?" If the barbarian would join him, he would also tell him not to wait up for him (heavy armor is a thing).

As the party bounds or stalks stealthily into the forest, they find a hidden path just wide enough to accommodate a wagon. From the road they'd been on, it would have been impossible to see. The path snakes deeper into the forest in the direction of the sounds of battle. Kuroi remains unseen between the trees and underbrush. The tiny Twyla remains unnoticed by most others, except Kuori who detects her occasionally disturbing a bush behind her. Valac and Revenge run blindly down the path towards the sound of battle.

Kuori and Twyla are the first to arrive at the skirmish. Four Arian mages are taking pot shots at two unidentified figures hiding behind a rock for cover. By the sound, it is obvious a much larger battle is taking place further down the path but it is obscured from view by the trees. One of the figures crouching behind the rock is a young male tiefling in chain mail. The person beside him is obscured by a cape and a large brimmed hat pulled over her face, but by her small lithe frame one could guess she was probably female. Kuori, with her keen vision, catches sight of the glittering of compound eyes from beneath the hood. What's more, she detects the mysterious figure is holding her side underneath her cape, as if wounded.

Suddenly the mysterious person stands up and dashes out from behind the rock. With lighting speed, four insect-like arms emerge from underneath her cape, each one armed with a hand crossbow. She fires all four shots in unison and one of the mages slumps over onto the log his group had been standing behind. Unfortunately, she is not so fast as to completely avoid their counterattack as she catches a bolt of energy to the face. Her hat is knocked from her head, revealing her insect-like countenance. She falls back behind the rock with a grunt of pain. Looking a bit singed, she speaks weakly to her tiefling companion. "I'm sorry, Ruin. I don't think I will be able to do that again. We have to find a way to get back to Fu--" The insect girl stops mid sentence and looks in the direction of Twyla and Kuori. "There's someone in the forest behind us!"

The Arian Mages check on their fallen companion. "Dammit, she got him right through the heart... Who the hell are they?" The mages' attention is suddenly drawn to Valac and Revenge as they come barreling down the road. One of the mages says, "They are witnesses and thus must be eliminated."

"Twyla, she's hurt." Kuori runs towards the two behind the rock, "Hey there, name's Kuori. Gonna sneak around." She doesn't pay them much mind and seems to be more interested in moving past them.

[Moving to R26 with my action, If I still get movement with that then L27]