The luggage is sliding off her back before Lotus can finish speaking. She scans the clearing, the skies, ahead and behind, above and beneath.

They don’t have to wait long.

“Bud, get behind me.” She grabs the cloth-wrapped sword from her back with one hand. (The only one she has.) “If anything happens, get down and stay down. I’ll find you when it’s over.”

To the intruder, she barks a mirthless laugh. “Funny. I was hoping to walk the roads in my own damn home in peace.” She plants her bundle into the ground, casually leaning on it. “Be a real shame if we [i]both[/i] get disappointed today.”

(Her posture is a lie. Her balance remains perfectly centered. You know that bundle of cloth hides a blade, and one of her hands is out of sight. If you wish to test her draw, you have only to keep advancing. Her eyes are sharp. Hungry. Consuming you, and all around you, waiting for the trick she knows is coming.

But she does not make the first move. Not yet. You still have a chance to turn around.)