“Phew! That’s the last of them!” A young, lean man with dark-brown hair drew a hand across his forehead as he pinned up the last of his posters, wiping off some sweat with a contented sigh. He took a step back to admire it: a picture of a large, ink-drawn oak tree above big, embossed lettering. 'Greywood Company; join today!', it said, along with a somewhat crudely drawn map of their camp's location on the outskirts of the city. The man sighed again, a tired sigh, this time. It’d been another long day of running around, posting up flyers in every nook, every corner. And, beautiful though Ostia Martin was, it was a lot of damn work. “Finally finished for the day, Aventus?” The young man named Aventus turned to see a woman walking up to him in the shadows of the alleyway, adjusting her thin, frameless glasses with delicate fingers. “Oh, hey Allie. You can just call me Ven, you know. And, hey, you make it sound like I was slacking off or something!” He said with a goofy sort of laugh. ‘Allie’ just scoffed, looking to the empty crate beside him. “It’s Allietta, sir. And no, but you did take about a full crate’s worth of flyers. I’m surprised you even finished this early, and it’s already sunset.” Aventus scratched the fuzzy ears hidden underneath his goggles as he looked up to the sky, realizing she was right. “Huh, whaddya know. The others done yet?” The shorter woman sighed, brushing her long, black hair over her shoulder. “I don’t know. I split off from them to check up on you, but it took longer to find you than I thought. I’m sure they’re back at camp, and if not, they’ll return once they’re done with whatever it is they’re doing.” She stated matter-of-factly, gazing in his direction with her usual, unreadable expression. Ven simply nodded, before shrugging his shoulders and breaking into a happy grin. “Well, might as well head back, then! C’mon, we can get some cinnamon rolls on the way!” The young man hollered and skipped out of the alley and off down the main street, Allietta rubbing her temples in exasperation as she followed behind. [i]”Does he even have enough money…?”[/i] -------------------------- [b]One Week Earlier…[/b] [i]Allietta stood in the middle of a large tent with the leader of the Greywood Company, a tall, silver haired man that looked to be pushing into his thirties, as he related his latest plan of action to her. He wasn’t too impressive at first glance; that lazy grin and his slumping posture didn’t exactly scream ‘Commander’, after all. Still, she’d seen over the eight or so odd years as his friend (and, most recently, as his advisor) that he could be surprisingly capable when he felt the need to be. Now felt like one of those times, the man radiating a faint, commanding aura even as he kicked back in his chair, feet resting lazily upon his desk. After he had finished speaking, Allietta took a breath, taking in everything he had just told her. ”I know I’m always critical of your plans, sir, but believe me when I say this is the [u]worst[/u] idea you’ve had, yet.” She said, bluntly, even more so than she usually was. Though she did have a lot of respect for the man, that didn’t mean she wouldn't speak her mind, and, frankly, when it came to him, she found she had to speak her mind quite often. “Oh, come on! Why would you say that?” The other man demanded with a playful tone, his grin never subsiding. It was obvious the two were very used to exchanging words in such a manner. “Well, besides the obvious faults of putting such young people in a position of command, there’s the fact that we simply do not have enough man-power to justify splitting our already dwindling forces.” Allietta countered, rubbing her aching temples. “We can always recruit more. And as for your concern about their ages, they’re all about the same age as you, no?” The man's smile grew wider with his answer, while Allietta’s frown only grew deeper. “You don’t see me calling the shots, here.” She retorted. “Sometimes I wonder…” The last comment was barely muttered under his breath, but from the glare Allietta was giving him, the man could tell she heard him all to clearly. He held his hands up in front of him defensively, trying to look as innocent as possible. “Look, when you find yourself in a bad spot, sometimes you need to take risks to come out on top. A gamble if you will. Sending out these young ones will be a good way to test their mettle in leadership, seeing as they’ll have some seniors there to watch their backs, and we need to expand if we want to have any hope of breaking through this slump.” Allietta raised an eyebrow in question. “I’ll admit our situation is looking rather bleak, but with time and patience, we’ll surely get over it. Your idea... [u]could[/u] help speed things along, but it could also backfire just as quickly. Do you really think a gamble like this is worth taking?” Though the man’s eyes seemed to match his lazy smile, in that instant, Allietta could sense just the tiniest hint of trepidation in them; a rare sight, indeed, for the woman who was one of his closest companions. “...If I’m right in what I’d heard from the grapevine, then yes, at the moment, it is.” He stated, simply, closing his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. Allietta was silent for a time, before speaking up again, her tone now much less confrontational. “You said I’d be going with one of the groups.” She said, more than asked. “Yes. Go with Aventus, to Ostia Martin, and take Maria and Ziria along with you…”[/i] ------------------------------------------------- [b]Back in the Present…[/b] “Mmpf… Sho wat happened again?” The bustling streets of Ostia Martin shone a mellow shade of orange in the light of the setting sun, as Aventus and Allietta made their way towards the outskirts of town. Aventus held a bag full of sweet smelling cinnamon rolls that he munched on as they walked, occasionally stopping to admire the marble-cut buildings all around them. “Well, the city guard has charged you with 2 counts of obstructing traffic, 5 counts of vandalism, 42 counts of unlawful posting in restricted areas, 3 counts of evading arrest, and 1 count of unruly behaviour.” Allietta listed off in her factual tone. Avvy scratched an ear, looking up thoughtfully as he crunched the numbers in his head. “Am I gonna have to pay for all that?” He asked. The young woman just sighed, shaking her head and putting the parchment she held in her hands away. “No. I’ve already talked with the city guard about it, and they’re letting us off with a warning.” She said. At this, her compatriot smiled, humming with content while they continued their walk towards camp. It was a decent ways away from the inner workings of the city, but the scenery was pleasant, and the cool, autumn breeze sent a refreshing chill up Ven’s spine. Had it really been just a week since summer ended? [i]”A week since I became Commander...”[/i] He thought to himself in a daze. Commander of the Greywood Company. Well, a branch of the Greywood Company, but still. Even now, he couldn’t picture himself as a great leader of men and women, and he didn’t know why exactly he was even in this position, in the first place. True, he was the most experienced (combat wise) out of the small group sent to the Jaris Confederation, but he was far from the most responsible; even he knew that. ”Well, I’m sure it’ll be fine!” He hummed out loud, as if proving his own irresponsibility. Allietta shot him a curious, sideways glance, but otherwise said nothing, and together they reached the outer gates of the city without incident. Of course it'd be fine; he'd already spent the last three days with his (small) crew posting up flyers all around town. They were bound to get some new recruits, eventually... “Man, wish we actually had a place to stay. I’m tired of camping outside.” Aventus complained aloud, as the duo crossed the bridge out of the city and into a wide expanse of plains. “Maybe once we actually start making money, sir.” Allietta replied. Their campsite was actually situated within a small community of sorts of travelers and merchants who were too poor (or cheap) to get a place to stay in the city, and so formed a grouping of tents and wagons on the city outskirts for the duration of their visit. It was actually quite interesting, though they found many of their ‘neighbors’ changed on the daily. Cresting a hill, Aventus looked down to see their meagre camp, the brown grass surrounding it swaying lazily in the wind. They only had three tents to their name, and seeing as the group contained four people… Well, Aventus found himself sleeping under the stars with nothing but his sleeping bag, most nights. [i]”At least I can still use the big one during the day…”[/i] He consoled himself, silently. The pair jogged down the hill into camp, Avvy cupping his hands over his mouth to shout out in greetings. “Hey! We’re back!!!”