Summer 61, 124
Sjal had made her way to the basin and just like that her trip was over. It was never meant to be a long trip, but now that they'd visited Sjal wanted to make a longer trip next season. It had been an eventful journey filled with bandit encounters but it was nice to finally relax and head back 'home'. She didn't really have one of those, unless Paradise counted, which she didn't think did.
Only, travelling wasn't very relaxing when it was just herself. Sjal could start fires with her newfound power, but simply starting the fire was only part of the equation. As she learned this afternoon, how one arranged sticks mattered. Simply laying them flat didn't make for a sustainable fire. She tried stacking them in various ways until the fire kept going for a while.
Setting up a tent was also a big pain. When travelling in a caravan there were always people that could help her out. They even had supplies she could buy or borrow. But outside of that atmosphere she tended to forget things. On this occasion, she'd forgotten spikes for the tent so she had to find some rocks to use instead. They were imperfect and made the tent lopsided. It was better than sleeping outside at least.
Sjal would fall asleep on the hard ground after an hour of trying. She'd also forgotten a pillow so she was laying on a pile of extra clothes. Little did she know, they had been followed this whole time. It seemed that she'd had one too many bad encounters with bandits. Enough for a group of them to band together and try to get revenge. It was pathetic that they had to wait until she slept to attack, as they likely realized there was no chance that they could win if they faced her head on. Or was it smart? Sjal wasn't the most tactically minded. She was used to simply being told what to do.
Sjal didn't think she was hopelessly dumb, but she did make some questionable decisions from time to time. If she had simply killed every bandit she came across instead of giving them a chance… she would not have found herself in this situation.
A fire tipped arrow ripped through her tent. Sjal would have normally not noticed something like this - an arrow didn't make much noise, even when tearing through fabric. But something had keyed her in on the fact that something was very wrong. It was the motion. She'd sensed something incredibly quick and that had jolted her awake. She looked to her side and, sure enough, the edge of her tent had caught fire.
More arrows followed, one after another though they landed in other areas of the camp. She lay there motionless for several seconds as she realized she could sense the motion of the arrows even if she couldn't hear them. "Fuck, you have more important things to worry about," she thought to herself as her hands started tearing open a portal to get outside.
The flame in her tent was spreading and there was no chance she'd have time to put on all of her armor on time. She did have time to grab a sword and pouch of projectiles, however. She sliced an opening in the fabric of space and bolted. Her form would only be briefly visible in the flickering flames before she sped at the bandit that she saw. He shot a flaming arrow right at her but she had expected as much. Her form flickered as she blinked past without even causing her pause.
Sjal flung herself at the bandit like she was some kind of animal. Her fist was like a wrecking ball when it crashed against him, knocking his body aside because she was sprinting at full speed. The other archers had to do a double take when they saw the motion. Their fire tipped arrows turned to face her just as she spotted the flickering lights in the distance.
"What in the hell is going on here?" she wondered. This whole operation seemed way too complicated. What were they after? She was travelling alone and while she did have some valuable items on them, she were hardly the easiest of targets. On top of all that, wouldn't setting everything on fire destroy her valuables?
As before, she hardly had time to analyze the situation too hard. Her straightforward way of thinking only told her that these were threats that needed to be eliminated as quickly as possible. Then, she could go back to the camp and try to salvage what she could and help her horse, if it needed it. She blinked towards the next bandit, expecting the arrow that came at her. She sliced the bandit's head off before he could draw another arrow. Then, she started walking while looking for her next target.
Sjal's hairs stood on end when she felt an arrow whiz by, but that was hardly enough warning to dodge an unexpected arrow. All she could do was flinch as an arrow grazed her side – a lucky shot given how quick she was even as she walked. "Just how many of them are there?" she wondered as she started running again.
The bandits weren't using fire tipped arrows anymore. They likely realized that they didn't have time to light them anymore. That was not necessarily a good thing for Sjal, who had been relying on their arrows to help figure out where they were. She had to run to the trees for cover and only allowed herself to relax a little when she stopped hearing the thunks of arrows landing around her.
She peeked her head out from behind the tree and saw five bandits around the camp who didn't look like they quite knew what to do. They knew Sjal was in the trees somewhere and were aiming at the general direction she was hiding in.
They would be quite confused as they started to get assailed by projectiles. A kunai here, a shuriken there… they were at a distance where Sjal couldn't land a killing blow with her ranged weaponry even while using portals, but most of her throws landed. The archers ran to the other side of the clearing to take cover and rethink their strategy.
No matter what they could possibly come up with, Sjal felt as though she had the advantage. She walked along the tree line, keeping the archers in her sight as she approached. She tried to keep herself hidden at all times, but even if she was behind trees, it was fairly easy to hear her quickly approaching.
Arrows were fired fruitlessly before swords were drawn. They were understandably scared for their lives when Sjal stepped out behind the final tree with her sword brandished.
"So, anyone care to tell me why you set all my shit on fire?" Sjal asked, forcefully slowing her speech to be more understandable. Her eyes widened when she recognized one of the bandits – the exact one from the day before. "You… I see your injury wore off if you're able to hold a sword again. I guess that means that you gathered up some of your friends and sought out a little revenge?"
"…Something like that," said the bandit nervously, "say, how about you let us go?"
Sjal sighed, "that seems like a habit that I need to train myself out of. No, I don't think I'll be letting any of you go. Try to at least make it a little bit interesting for me, would you?"
Sjal grinned and then sped forwards, clashing her blade with the nearest bandit and putting so much finesse behind her attack that his own blade sliced into his skull. The pain made him let go of his sword, allowing Sjal to take it in her hand and shove it into a portal she opened, sending it right into the back of one of his friends. The weapon would go right through his body.
The remaining three didn't like their odds and bolted. Sjal chased them down one by one, killing the first two and keeping the final bandit alive. It was the one she'd met before and probably the one behind this ambush. She drug him back to the camp by his hair and tossed him into the fire. It looked like there was no point in sticking around without any supplies. She'd have to make her way to the next town before she could rest properly.
No, she decided that was a little too much work. She rested for a while then opened a portal to get back to the last town she was in. She carried through her supplies that hadn't been ruined and made it big enough for her horse to fit through as well. She would sleep at an inn before taking a portal back the next day. At times she wondered why she bothered camping at all when she had portals she could work with!