[center][h3]~ The Forest ~[/h3][/center] Before the scouting party could be sent out, the party had encountered the wreck of a cart beside a large tree with an old man and a horse laying nearby. The Captain immediately dismounted to attend to the man, checking if he was alive. He was, but then he warned that he was but bait for an ambush. And ambush there was. Three bolts from crossbows were shot at [u]Fanilly[/u] but they fortunately missed, [u]the Captain[/u] being nimble enough to get out of the way. But that was not the end of it though for a brigand in leather armor emerged from the wreck to continue the assault. Jarde's heart skipped a bit. "[color=yellow]Captain! Watch ou--[/color]" He was cut off when his horse was hit. While the bolts meant for [u]the Captain[/u] missed their mark, the bolt shot at Jarde was true. At least it would have been if it were not for the strange essence he has on his necklace. The bolt, conspicuously, veered off from Jarde to his horse, hitting the equine right in the eye and quite deeply too. The animal neighed and rose in pain, throwing off Jarde, before falling into the forest floor, dead. The battle had begun and Jarde knew he had to get up as soon as possible. He recovered as fast as possible and readied his eastern sickle weapons. The bandit band came charging from the thick forestry and the Iron Rose Knights met them. Jarde was about to engage a bandit axeman when an Iron Rose knight in ebony-colored armor attacked first, his sword striking the bandit through his wood shield and into his head. [quote=Fleuri Jodeau]"For Reon! For the Order!"[/quote] Jarde was taken aback. A little disappointed at the denial but he shrugged it off and looked for another target. He saw the blue-haired [u]Narcissa[/u] fight and kill a couple of bandits before engaging a third one. Jarde moved in to assist only for the red-haired [u]Forina[/u] to get there first and kill the bandit and relieve [u]Narcissa[/u]. He shrugged in annoyance. His blood was pumping yet here he was, mostly ignored. Jarde supposed he could be in worse situations. The battle raged. Well, 'battle' implied two large parties fighting each other evenly. So far, the bandits have lost a considerable number of theirs while the Iron Rose Knights have only lost one horse, Jarde's specifically. The young knight joined the formation of knights around [u]Fanilly[/u], who had just murdered a bandit attacking her, and awaited orders. Seeing the dead brigand, Jarde realized he had not taken a life before. He wondered if he was really able to. Or will he just take them unwittingly in the heat of battle? [quote=Fanilly Danbalion]"Do not let them escape!"[/quote] Jarde's train of thought was broken when [u]the Captain[/u] issued an order. Now was not the time to ponder, it was the time to fight. He saw why [u]Fanilly[/u] made the order, some of the attacking bandits were losing heart and may retreat soon and possibly tell their Bandit King that the Iron Rose Knights were coming. He devised a course of action and with his speed, he could pull it off. Being a speedy fighter, he had no place at the front where armored, shielded warriors held the line. "[color=yellow]You got it, Captain![/color]" Jarde raced around the battle lines and placed himself behind the bandit mob. With their crossbowmen suppressed and an Iron Rose knight causing havoc amongst their ranks, Jarde felt confident that he won't be targeted with bolts anytime soon. The disheartened bandits in the rear of the fighting turned around to face him and realized that despite wearing leather armor like them, Jarde was not one of them. One of the Knights, in fact. The young knight was silent. Admittedly, he was scared and afraid and anxious. It was his first real fight and the one he picked could have him surrounded. So his mind was focused on the fight, eyeing the bandits for any sudden movement. At these moments, there were no jokes or humor for Jarde. A bandit lunged at him with an overhead swing. Jarde saw that the attack was slow. His master's swings were much faster than that. The young knight caught the sword with both his sickles before moving one of them for the counterattack. Time seemed to slow for Jarde as he wondered where his sickle would hit. The bandit's vital parts were painfully open to attack and Jarde was trained to hit them but he could very well just cripple the man to be interrogated. On the other hand, his fellow knights were massacring the brigands with little problem. The debate was brief. Time moved slow but it moved nonetheless and Jarde made his decision. The sickle's blade plunged into the bandit's neck. With a choking noise, the bandit died and fell to the ground. It was no time to ponder as his attention went to the living bandits. One of the further bandits took his chances and began to run away from the battle. Distance was no problem for Jarde. At least, not great distances. The young knight released his right sickle, gripping the chain it was attached to it instead. With that, he swung his now long-ranged sickle and struck the bandit on the shoulder. With the sickle plunged, Jarde pulled the bandit into the ground before tugging the chain to release the sickle. By swinging it, Jarde wrapped the chain around his arm and returned the sickle to him. The bandit was left writhing on the forest floor. Jarde turned back to the bandits, seeing desperation in their eyes. He realized that was not a good thing as that emboldened the bandits to attack him in an effort to break through. Some three brigands jumped on him and while they were slow and untrained, it'd take time for Jarde to deal with them without assistance.