[table][row][right][color=0072bc][h3][b]Einar[/b][/h3][/color]Lothian Empire  ||  Garleton: Plaza  ||  Evening[/right][/row][cell]Einar was grinning like an madman as he began whistling to himself, counting through the bounty he had convened during his time at the tavern, replaying every little even that transpired to lead up to that point as he began rolling a gold piece between his fingers that was oh so generously delivered to him by that little lady, Bel was it? Flipping the coin into the air, he ambled away from the castle, still keeping his mind on the preparations they had coming up.

Looking over at the sizeable amount of money though, he caught the coin in his satchel, passing by a couple of recruits who were heading back to the castle, possibly the barracks if he could guess. The mercenary's eyes shifted about, turning his head to eye the duo briefly before shaking it and clicking his tongue. Nah, there were better targets available.

As he departed to the town, he began sifting through the numerous piles of charms, knickknacks, that one book he never returned, and so on, but one thing he did take note of was the fact that he lacked any rations. Einar could only whistle a bit as he closed up the bag, increasing the speed he had in his step as he entered the plaza.

[color=0072bc][i]"I should probably buy some- ooooh,"[/i][/color] he caught what looked to be a pastry shop out of the corner out of his eye and was quickly drawn to it like a moth to flame, only to realize that it had closed down for the day. The mercenary couldn't help but sigh; whether it was out of relief or annoyance, who knew, but from the looks of it, some of the places looked to be closed up for the eve.

As he meandered about for a few minutes, taking in the twilight as a few soldiers, mercenaries, and what not conversed, he surveyed each and every place before stopping in front of one of the buildings. As much as he would of liked to flirt with one of the cute waif's, he had more pressing matters at hand. Smiling with a stale chuckle that followed, he lightly grunted as he gently pressed his hand against the old, dilapidated wooden door, entering the building, only to be greeted with what looked to be two siblings cleaning up the shop, a boy and a girl, with no one else in the musty looking building.

One of the two turned to see who entered, squealing as they bolted into the back yelling [b]"Papa, papa, you have a customer,"[/b] with the other who stood there awkwardly, averting their gaze from the mercenary who flashed the girl some pearly whites in return. [color=0072bc]"Were you all closing up,"[/color] he leaned over on his knees, tilting his head as he observed the nervous child who shifted nervously, not answering his question as they bumbled back into dusting, only to accidentally brush some dust into Einars face.

His eyes watered up a smidgen while the man held up a fist to his mouth, hacking and sneezing, stumbling back an inch as the small girl stood there petrified at the small scene.

[b]"Owh my, what seems to be the commotion,"[/b] a gruffer, much more croaky voice contrasted the squeaky shrill of the boy from earlier as Einar looked up with one eye squinting open and another clasped shut. The man looked to be in his late thirties and had a goatee with some stray stubble coating his jaw as he hobbled on to the counter before resting there with a yawn, bagged eyes drooping.

[color=0072bc]"Nothing, nothing, just, caaaaffffff,"[/color] he coughed before sneezing a little, his fruity voice becoming raspy for a split second before he sneezed a couple of times in a row, doing his best to keep his warm smile up, [color=0072bc]"jus' got some dust into my eyes... and my nose."[/color]

Once that fit was done, he let in a deep breath, before sneezing and exhaling again, clearing his throat as he approached the merchant. [color=0072bc]"I'm lookin' to buy some rations for the way out,"[/color] the man nodded before slowly pushing himself off the counter before hobbling to the back of the room. The boy, who was a lot more excitable just seemed to pounce on Einar as he darted around the counter and tugged at his arm.

[b]Mister, mister, are you one of Prince Alnards soldiers"[/b] the girl shriveled back at her brothers antics before walking over and trying to get him off of the mercenary, but to no avail. The boy had an iron grip and there was no way to tear them off, lest they were to tear off some of Einar's sleeve in the process.

However, he was kind enough to shake his head and waggle his finger with a bright smile, [color=0072bc]"Nah, I'm a mercenary kid, I'm not a part of Alnards regular soldiers."[/color] The boy stopped jumping up Einar's sleeve, backing down before staring at him like some sort of wild animal. [b]"So you're one of those greedy guys who doesn't serve under the Prince."[/b]

[color=0072bc]"I mean, that's one way to put it, but it's more like I fight on his behalf and he pays me for it, like some of the others who have joined up,"[/color] he grinned, not even displaying any sort of irritation or vexation against the crude claims, keeping that warm personality up as he leaned on the counter.

[b]"Hey! Whydoncha stop being greedy and actually join the army?"[/b]

[color=0072bc]"It's not really greed kiddo,"[/color] he uttered, though it was completely true that he loved gold and the sound it made when dripping into his coffers, [color=0072bc]"why does your father run this shop?"[/color] That man [i]was[/i] these kids dad, right?

The boy paused and thought for a moment, staying silent until the girl shakily spoke up, [b]"Uh, uhm, is it to s-support us?"[/b] Einar beamed at her. [color=0072bc]"Cor-rrrrect~,"[/color] he replied in a sing-song voice, [color=0072bc]"I'm a merc cuz' it's a way to support myself, plus I get to see plenty'a places in the process."[/color]

He kneeled down, whispering and dramatically throwing his arm out, hand completely open, [color=0072bc]From the glazing white peaks of Dinas Afaraon, to the blazing golden sands of Zion, I've seen wa-ha-haaaay more than the noble would ever see and I'm still pree' young m'self!"[/color] The boy squealed, his sister jolting back, but looking at the man with wide eyes, begging to be told more.

[b]"Wohd' ya two stop pesterin' the man!"[/b] The two squeaked before dashing behind the counter as the man hobbled over, grumbling and groaning, apologizing to Einar for them annoying the man, only for the mercenary to keep that same amicable smile he had up, waving one hand while groping through his bag. [color=0072bc]"Nah, it's fine, it's fine, I actually don't mind it!"[/color]

The man sighed, thanking Einar for his patronage before scooting a bag that had held jerky, dried fruits, nuts, and other necessities that looked to keep a person fed for at least a week, and stated that the price was four gold pieces. Deftly retrieving the four, Einar bounced them onto the counter as the man began picking each one up. In return, Einar retrieved the bag, tying it up before tossing it into his satchel.

[b]PPPPHHHWOOOOSH![/b]

Before he could bid the man a farewell, the sounds of an ear piercing explosion blasted his ears as the ground violently shook and rumbled, as if the earth was throwing a temper tantrum, the flames coating the shop in a bright red and orange hue, the scaffolding collapsing on the shopkeeper. Einar was able to easily keep his footing, though the rest of the inhabitants weren't as they came to their senses before wailing and scrambling to their feet, trying to drag the burning log off of their dad.

The mercenary swiftly adapted, recognizing that, yes, this building was on fire and yes, that was a ton of damage in such a minuscule amount of time as he deftly sidestepped a falling piece of wood, the smell of the air quickly becoming enveloped with smoke and ashes. Einar could only grimace as he calmly walked over, looking deadly serious at the man; if anything, he probably broke some bones, but for the most part he was still breathing.

[color=0072bc][i]"You're a damn ox, aren't ya."[/i][/color] Sighing, he watching as the flames slowly danced and pirouette along the wood, threatening to light the boy and girl on fire if they didn't get off. Shaking his head, he yelled at the two to get out of the way as he rushed over and gripped the debris, grunting and gritting his teeth as he forced the lump of burning wood off, telling the two to go for their dad. They were still in a daze when Einar lifted the heavy piece of wood that was once their home, only to be snapped out of that stupor with Einar barking at them to hurry it up.

It took them a minute to drag their dad out, grunting, struggling, and crying as they felt stinging tears fall down their face while Einar felt the stinging flames tickling his face. Once they got him out, Einar promptly dropped it with a resounding thud before jogging over to the man to help him up, listening to him cough and wheeze for a moment until he was able to catch his breath the best he could. Wobbling on his feet, the two children took Einars place to support their dad, the mercenary, rushing towards the door and slamming it open only to be greeted with a town in disarray.

A cacophony of sounds ringed throughout his ears, as sounds of yelling, screaming, and guffawing could be heard, making it difficult to determine what everyone was saying. However, the scene did inform him of what was going on rather quickly as he saw guards rushing about, men and women screaming as they ran in multiple directions like headless chicken, and wild looking men covered in furs and cloth that were brandishing weapons.

While that told him more than enough he was able to make out some important words - castle, evacuation, bandits, fire. That told him more than enough information as he drew his blade and emerged from the flaming structure, only to hold his arm out to the trio trying to exit the house as he backed up himself. [color=0072bc]"Hold it,"[/color] he hissed, as his eyes darted over to the few of bandits that were occupying the streets and the small amount of guards that had formed up to combat them, with one of them having striking red hair.

Wait, that was Prince Alnard! Was he spearheading this whole operation to evacuate? That really didn't matter to him at the moment as him and the family of three were in a tight spot, as well as a woman and her... dragon? If anything, he recognized the woman from earlier when he was sifting through folk coming through and she just gave him the creeps from first glance.

[color=0072bc]"Whatever you do, wait until you see those four go down, then run for the castle, you got that?"[/color] The three bobbed their heads up and down, not bothering to object to the now scarily serious young man as he returned with a nod. Gripping his sword tightly, he swiftly surveyed the enemies, picking out their positioning in correlation to him and the others.

[color=0072bc][i]"Alright, if the dragon girl and I attack, we should be able to take out the archers and finish off the others with a pincer maneuver,"[/i][/color] he noted, slowly trotting out into the streets, before taking in a deep breath and exhaling. With his path determined, he held his sword out and dashed at the archer, raising his sword to the side and quickly closed in on the archer.

He couldn't tell if the man heard him or not, but the sounds of the plaza in chaos and their focus being primarily on the prince and the other soldiers was more than enough for him to close the distance. And in an instant, Einar's sword flew threw the air, looking to find his blade in the side of the archer in the hopes of slicing their side out
[/cell][cell][img]https://i.postimg.cc/FHvr0y5G/untitled3.png[/img]
[center]_________________________
Status: [color=lawngreen]Hot, but not bothered[/color]
[/center][u]Class	  [/u]
Page

[u]Inventory    [/u]
Iron Sword
Vulnerary

[u]Experience [/u]
0/0

[u]Stats	   [/u]
END:	D
STR:	D
MAG:	C
DEX:	C
SPD:	D
DEF:	E
RES:	E
LCK:	E

[u]Action	   [/u]
Flanking a Bandit Archer

[u]Supporting  [/u]
Alnard ([@Sho Minazuki])
Branna ([@Enalais])
Thom ([@Typical])[/cell][/table]