The Sleeping Alchemist

Part III

Warning: A really long chapter, and more gayness

Varian and the others had finally reached their destination. They cautiously peered through the trees and saw that there was indeed a caravan with a man and a boy and girl who were clearly his children, currently being held hostage by bandits. Cassandra had warned them to be careful, since it could be a trap. Clearly, it was legit.

Varian carefully took out a smoke bomb to cause a diversion and a couple of small beads, pink in color, out of his pockets. "Wait until we're in position, then go." Cass ordered him. He nodded and squatted where he stood, waiting for the signal from Rapunzel. "Careful, Squirt." Eugene told Altair. The boy smirked at him. "You got it, Boss." he replied. Lance softly laughed at the nicknames the males had for each other, running off after Eugene.

A minute passed. Then came the signal. Varian threw the smoke bomb, Altair immediately going starry-eyed. He loved it when Varian did Alchemy. He also loved Varian, but hey, we'll get to that later.

The gang ran out, putting their plan into action. Eugene and Lance untied the children, while Rapunzel untied their father. Cassandra started battling the bandits, taking out one after the other. Altair soon joined the fray, helping Cassandra beat the living crap out of them, the two shouting how many they took down. "5!" Altair exclaimed, knocking out one. "7!" Cassandra counted, kicking another.

This carried on while Eugene, Lance and Rapunzel took the man and his children to safety. After seeing that Altair and Cass had taken down most of them, Varian ran in, throwing out the beads, careful to miss his friends. The beads exploded, leaving behind a sticky, pink paste like substance that trapped the remaining bandits. Ruddiger and Pascal were put in charge of tying them up. Once they were sure they were secure, they started to check themselves for any injuries.

Unbeknownst to them, however, another 5 or so people were in the trees, being left undetected by any of them. They all wore long blue cloaks and masks covering the tops of their faces, painted like the moon. They all simultaneously knocked an arrow and aimed at the boy with light blue eyes, freckles dotted across his nose, and the distinguishable blue streak in his bangs. Varian, look out!

They all let their arrows go, and before anyone could tell Varian to watch out, or even process what was happening, someone came from the shadows, pulling Varian out of the line of fire. The arrows all hit the same spot on the grass where Varian once stood. Faster than lightning, they pulled a bow as if from nowhere and aimed at the trees. They let loose their arrow, the thunk from the canopy a clear sign that the arrow hit it's mark. The stunned group heard a thud and cursing from the ground. A marksman pulled himself up, drawing a sword from a substance that looked suspiciously like the rocks.

The bow that was in their hand disappeared, and was replaced with their own broadsword. The two charged each other, their swords clanging against each other as they faced their opponent. Looking for a weak spot, the person who saved Varian found one and smirked. They raised a knee and him with all their might right in the, you know what, just imagine the most painful spot on a dude. Yeah. Ouchie.

As the marksman double over in pain, the warrior used this opportunity to push him to the ground, hitting his head with the hilt of their sword. Now that everyone got a good look at them, they saw that they were a girl, and be to perfectly honest, none of them were surprised, after all, they were friends with Cassandra. Her long light brown hair was tied into a tight braid, her bangs swooped off to the left of her face, just high enough to stay out of her blue eyes that reminded some of them of the sea. She wore brown boots, gray trousers, brown fingerless gloves and a dark blue corset with a light blue undershirt and long sleeves. Perfect for travel, and quite honestly, it looked like a very comfortable outfit.