The brigands inched closer from their tents, looking warily at those in front of them. They must've seen the soldiers as intruders into their own little section of Murkran. Luckily for Haesteinn Jahan stepped in quickly, and actually did a rather nice job of persuading the brigands. They looked at each other, seeming to be thinking about what Jahan said. [i]“Aye, lad's got a point innit?”[/i] one with a morningstar said. The other added quickly, [i]“'an ave always wanted to be a soldiering boy meself, I tell ya. C'mon, we 'ave not had good food in a monf'. Atleast we be fed with them soldiering lads.”[/i]

The man with the kettlehat seemed less impressed. He stepped forwards, only a step or three away from Haestein and the rest. He raised his cleaver in the air slightly. [i]“We be free men, ser Black Shield. Ah'll have no such thing as a soldierin life' fer me an' my boys.”[/i] It was about to escalate when one of the men with the morningstar came up behind the man and grabbed his shoulder roughly. [i]“Oi', you don't speak for us mate! Keep to yer'self!”[/i] It was met with an agreeing grunt from behind, as the big brute seemed to agree that the man with the kettlehat was nowhere near the position to speak for all of them. It was only met with rage and anger. [i]“What did yew' say!? I built this place fer' us ya dumb runt! 'ere, take this!”[/i] 

He swung widely with his cleaver and hit the man in the neck. His neck was cut open from right to left, and blood spewed forth from the wound. [i]“Johnny!”[/i] the other man with the morningstar yelled. It seemed as if they were about to erupt in a big fight. Haesteinn looked side to side, first facing Genseric and then Jahan. He was.. very confused as to what to do. He wasn't used to trying to press brigands into service, much less them ripping eachothers throat out. [i]“Nice work Jahan.”[/i] he whispered to Jahan, impressed with the mans ability to set these guys up to fight each other. 

The man with the morningstar attempted to step forwards, but was stopped by the large brute who had originally spotted the Black Shields. [i]“No mor' blood! No mor' blood!”[/i] he said with a loud voice. The guy almost sounded like a weak brained child. The brute was met with a morningstar being raised into the air, which was promptly smacked down on the brute's skull. A loud crack was heard by all involved in the situation, and the brute promptly fell backwards. His head hit the ground and was firmly placed into the mud. Now that he was laying still, you could see the blood that came from his head in large amounts. The morningstar was a brutal weapon, if used effectively. 

However the little scuffle had given the man with the cleaver time to act. With a few steps he was already at the other man, and attempted to punch him with his free hand. [i]“Ya' killed 'im! That's me brother, you killed 'im right, and now you'll pay for it ya bastard!”[/i] he yelled. The punch connected and the other man fell backwards, stumbling slightly. It seemed like he was going to be able to stand straight however, but then his feet hit the dead brute and he stumbled over backwards, falling onto the ground. Within seconds the man with the cleaver was upon him and started chopping at his former-friends' neck. He seemed overcome with a fit of rage. 

Haesteinn decided that they should act now, while he was occupied with the brutal assault on his friend. Haesteinn stepped forwards and put an arm on the man's shoulder, trying to grab him and drag him off the man, who was attempting to defend himself by holding up his arms. He only ended up causing himself more pain as the cleaver chopped at his arm for a while. 

When Haesteinn grabbed him the man violently swung his body around and sent the cleaver in Haesteinn's direction. The unpredictable attack caught Haesteinn by surprise and the cleaver caught his arm, cutting deep but not nearly deep enough to cause any severe damage. However the biting pain did cause Haesteinn to pull his arm back and take a few steps back, holding onto his arm. [i]“Fuck!”[/i] he yelled in surprise before looking at Jahan and Genseric. [i]“Don't stand there, subdue him!”[/i] The plan would be to take the man alive if they could, but if he started resisting they'd have no other option than to put him down.

As soon as Genseric and Jahan had succeeded with the subduing of the rather wild man, Haesteinn would've finished looking at the wound and realized it wasn't too bad. It still stung like a bitch. But that was a problem for later. [i]“Right, great work lads.. I hope Eira is okay. Where is she anyway, she should've been here. Fuck.. well that's a problem for later. For now, search those bodies, except those two,”[/i] He pointed at the two men with arrows in their head and chest, who were clearly killed by Eira. [i]“They're her kills so she has the right to take their stuff. Sorry lads' - rules of war. After yer' done with the bodies you can search the tents too. As sergeant, I'll take a small share of whatever you find.”[/i] 

It wasn't as much a rule of war as it was common courtesy, and in a giant battlefield it was unlikely that you could remember who you'd killed. But the arrows sticking out were clearly indicators of her work - and so she deserved their spoils of war. It would be all too common for there to be arguments over who killed who and who deserved what loot, so Haesteinn knew to cut those arguments short and immediately set people straight. It seemed unfair that Haesteinn also demanded a small share, but Haesteinn didn't care. He didn't want to go through the trouble of searching through the bodies and tents right now, what with his wounded arm and the knocked out brigand. Someone had to watch over him and Eira wasn't here to do it. Another time he'd do it himself, he simply figured.

[i]“After we're done here we're heading back. Take the guy with the morningstar with us as well, if we can. I think he's still breathing. Ellinor might be able to patch him up.”[/i] 

As soon as the bodies and tents were looted, and Eira had shown up again, they'd pick up the body of the man with the morningstar - he was alive, barely breathing, but alive - and in case Genseric and Jahan had managed to subdue the brigand, his unconscious body, and then they'd head back to the treeline where Ellinor would be waiting. 

However, upon arrival, Haesteinn would not be able to see Ellinor on the spot where they left her. He would place his hands near his mouth, flinching slightly from the fresh wound, and then yell. [i][b]“ELLINOR!”[/b][/i]