The plan of attack might not be apparent just yet, but a few things were. For starters it was best Cecil didn't go on,board the ship, not like he'd go on regardless unless forced. With all that water about it was probably very daunting for him, no reason to put him into a stressful situation. Secondly Zander was no fighter, having him come along was out of the question, as was Amuné. Thirdly and most important was they had no clue how many bandits there were. At best they had three people to fight however many bandits there were, with Cecil only being able to fight on land. So that left him and Nymira to fight then, two on probably a dozen if not more. They did have magic on their side, yet for differing reasons both himself and the princess had no desire to use it to fight. So where did that leave them? With one heck of a mountainous task before them, and no real answer as how best to approach it.

"No, I think Wyth should stay here with you Amuné, he can help keep you safe," Ethan answered, "And yeah, burning the ship isn't going to work. I mean Lazlo probably wants his stuff back too right? And we can't carry all that, which means we need to find a way to make the bandits leave..." But how? They had the number advantage big time, and as experienced as Nymira might be she wasn't going to fend off a whole dozen or two of armed men. He could fight, but what were his chances against that many people at once? Without magic probably not great, and he really had no desire to use magic here. Furrowing his brow in thought he stared at the ship as Zander spoke, wondering if knocking some of them out would make it easier. Ideally if they could knock them all out and avoid a fight that would be amazing, but then that was asking for a miracle. So what then? 

"It's going to be way harder to get the ship, but we need that to get the goods back, and the mead. So we have to beat all of those guys and kick them off," Ethan mumbled as he stood up, being mindful to use the tree above them to keep himself mostly hidden. "I hate to say it but we can't really avoid a fight here I don't think. If we fight them one or two at a time though we'll be okay, and we just have to knock them out," he added as he looked to Nymira, "So hit them on the head, or punch them in the gut, do something to put them under, but [i]no killing[/i], please?" Even Bandits didn't need to be killed like common farm animals, no matter what they had done. Should they be punished? Maybe, but that was what jail was for, not the blade. What worried him was how disdainful Nymira seemed to be towards criminals, and what she might do to these men if she was pushed. 

Nymira gave Ethan a cross look before rising to her feet as well, pulling her hood up to partially obscure her face. "You say that like I'm a cold blooded killer. Relax, these men are thieves and they shall be dealt with like thieves." Maybe they would lose a finger or two, or have their tongues cut out, as was customary. Though that didn't seem to be a regular punishment here, she couldn't recall any of the low-lives from the other towns missing anything of the sorts. How bothersome that she'd have to simply knock them out, it was harder than it sounded when using daggers. Doable, but annoying. "Hmph... Take the lead Ethan, Cecil and I will be right behind you."

"Right... Uh... Stay low and keep quiet, we need to get as close as we can before we attack," Ethan whispered, putting a finger to his lips for emphasis. It sure would be nice if this were later in the day too, but of course it was right in the afternoon. Their one saving grace was the ship was beached at such an angle the shore was obscured from the landing site, meaning so long as they kept out of the line of sight they wouldn't be spotted. Waving his friends along Ethan snuck out from the bushes, slid down the slight embankment and began to creep along the shore. The wet sand beneath their feet gave little sound as they went, all they needed to do was be mindful of the sticks along the way. 

Slowly but surely they made their advance on the ship, stopping in mid-stride every so often as the top of a bandit's head moved over the horizon, threatening to spot them out. Now that they were closer to the boat they found no way really to scale the sides, no ladders even windows to speak of. All that there was on the sides was a large wheel, one on both the left and right side of the ships. Ethan hadn't a clue what those might be for, though considering there were no sails on this ship it must be how it moved. Weird, he'd never really seen a boat like this before. With no alternatives the trio moved around the ship to where the plank was set, hiding in its shadow as bandits moved along it overhead. They had to somehow get on board and fend off the bandits there, but how was that going to work? 

"Hey Cecil... I got an idea," Ethan whispered, grinning as he pointed to the spot where the board met the ground, "As soon as those guys get back down, give Nymira and me a toss. We'll surprise them!"

Sat in silence and waiting for their moment, as soon as the bandits set down their crate Ethan sharply whispered "Now!" Using his immense strength Cecil threw both Ethan and Nymira through the air, right towards their targets at the bottom of the ramp. Not expecting it in the slightest Ethan hit the first bandit, knocking him over and promptly punching him in the jaw and knocking him out. Nymira was a bit more graceful, kicking the man in mid-air, causing him to flip and land out cold as well. With that done Ethan waved their friend up to join them, though no sooner had he done so did the alarm sound.

"Intruders! We've got intruders!" a bandit shouted from the deck, cupping his hands around his mouth as he turned back, "We got intruders boss, two of em!"

Nymira gritted her teeth and grabbed one of her daggers, darting up the gangplank at a swift speed. Launching herself then off of her back foot she jumped up and twisted her body around, kicking the man in the head and knocking him over the side into the water below. What a mistake that turned out to be, as soon she realized there were easily a dozen men up on deck, perhaps even more beneath, all armed. With Ethan running up behind her she ran right at the nearest man, deflecting his sword with her dagger and kicking him unceremoniously right between the legs, using the hilt of her dagger then to smack him in the back of the head and knock him out as well. She sincerely hoped he had more of a plan at this point, they were very outnumbered here.

"Nice one Nymira, that's how to do it!" Ethan cheered as he reached the deck, grinning despite the several sets of eyes glaring down on him and his friend. Smiling at the men gathered he took his sword out from its sheath and held it, blade pointed at the group. "This isn't your ship, stop what you're doing right now and return everything to its owner."

Kind of should have been expected that wouldn't go well, but Ethan didn't expect everyone to start laughing at him like that.

"Yeah right, like hells we're doing that!" one of the bandits roared, "You and what army kid?"

"Ey, I got a better idea! Let's kill these two, I'm getting bored doing all this lugging!" another shouted.

"Kill the boy, the girl's cute! We can keep her for later!"

Nymira's eyes flashed with a venomous gaze at the latter comment, pulling her other dagger free and charging immediately for the man responsible. Weaving to the side as he swung his sword at her she quickly moved her body back in, slicing at his calf with her dagger and bringing him to his knees immediately. Turning her body once more she tried to drive her dagger down into his neck, but instead was stopped when Ethan's sword intercepted her blow. Snarling angrily she wanted to snap at him yet instead let out an almost pitiful yelp as he pulled her away, another sword narrowly missing where her head had been. 

"No killing! We went over this!" Ethan complained as he stepped away, letting out a sigh before shaking his head. Now they definitely weren't going to do this peacefully! No time to lament that fact though, they were being set upon by every man on the deck. Eyes darting around to try and spot the nearest opponent he stepped forward and caught a sword with his own, having to push it back and jump away as another missed his side by inches. Slapping away another with his weapon he found three men now converging on him, with another set going after Nymira. "Uh... Cecil? You sure you don't want to come up?" Ethan laughed nervously, deflecting another blow and then slapping a man's wrist with the dull side of his sword to knock away his weapon, "There's a lot of people up here that want to kill us, we could use a hand!"