Miel wanted to both gag and cry at the sight of the crows pecking at the hung bodies.
"The Briarwoods know we've come" Percy stated
"W-we should cut them down" Keyleth shuddered
"No" Percy started walking away, "the Sun Tree is obviously being watched"
"He's right. We get them down and we're basically announcing to them our location" Miel agreed sadly as she followed Percy, along with everyone else.
As they moved, Percy noticed two kids outside playing, until someone called them into an ally. The kids ran over and the person noticed the group with wide eyes. "Are you crazy? Out of the streets. Hide!" The called waving them over.
Everyone looked at them before hearing loud footsteps again. "Gotta move" Grog said and they all ran for the alleyway. As they hide, they saw a giant slowly walk past them.
"Grog, you're part giant. Can you vouch for us?" Scanlan asked
"Oh, what, cause we all fucking know each other?"
"Well, I mean, yeah, kinda"
The person who helped them suddenly grabbed Percy's coat, "why do wear this? A-are you part of the resistance?"
"Sorry, I don't follow"
"The De Rolo crest" Miel pointed to the buttons he showed them earlier
"Maybe the resistance is using it" Vex pointed out
"We're not with them, but we do share an enemy" Vax added
"Whitestone is worse off than I expected" Percy said
"The Briarwoods are dicks" Grog stated
"Perhaps we can be of use to each other. Tell me, is Keeper Yennen still alive?" Percy asked
"Why do you wanna know?"
"If you want change here, Yennen is the only one who can help bring it"
By nightfall, they had found the person they were looking for. And they decided to be fucking creeps about it and approach her in the dark when she was walking home.
"Greetings strangers" she greeted, "we don't have many new faces these days" she turned so that she and her light source were facing the mysterious group
"Keeper Yennen, tell me, what do the Briarwoods make of your sermons?" Percy asked
"They don't attend my services. But their Pale Guard tolerate me, for now"
"You truly believe the Dawnfather we send a sign?"
Keeper Yennen looked alert suddenly, "shhh, that name is forbidden" she said as she got closer, making the light aluminate Percy's face. Yennen gasped, "it's you. Oh, but you're the not same. Little Percival, what have you become?" She asked as she brought her hand up to cup his cheek
"I am what they made me" Percy said removing her hand from his face
"What matters is that you're back"
"I'm not back. I'm only here for one thing"
"Then you want what the people want. A trusted De Rolo can lead them to freedom. They'll listen to the rightful heir."
"What I need to do requires discretion. Groups can be messy"
"But you're leading this group" Yennen pointed out
Grog only scoffed, "no offense, Percy, but you're a teeny bit too wittle to lead"
"Wait, we have a height requirement?" Scanlan spoke up
"Uh, obviously"
"W-I thought we were all sort of co-leaders" Keyleth spoke up, only to cause the whole group to argue amongst themselves
Yennen chuckled and turned around, "follow me"
Yennen walked them down an alleyway, trying to avoid the giants that walked around here and there. At one time, they had to cross out in the open to another alleyway, when a giant walked by so suddenly that they froze right before crossing...in the open. They all froze in terror thinking they were done for. But instead, the giant didn't look at them and kept walking, as if they weren't important. Everyone starred in confusion, until Vax turned to look at Miel who had her hands up, magic miniating from her palms. That's when they noticed there was what appeared to be a vail over them. Stealthing them from what was outside the bubbled around them.
"Since when can you do that?" Scanlan asked
Miel lowered her arms, the vail disappearing as she did so, and shrugged with a sheepish smile. "I'm full of surprises?" she said in almost a question-kind of way.
"Well, good thing you practiced before we got here" Vex said, "let's keep moving before it comes back" They all nodded and continued following Yennen.
As they did, they made it to what looked like a rundown tavern. Yennen stopped them from going forward. A giant walked by again, but before Miel could suggest the cloaking vail trick again, Yennen stopped her and whistled over to a figure in front of the tavern. After a couple seconds they whistled back. "We're clear" Yennen said and they all ran to the side of the building.
"Hey, I'm a huge fan of taverns" Scanlan said as he tiptoed after the group, "but this place kind of looks like shit"
"Looks can be deceiving" Yennen smiled as she placed her hand on the wall of barrels...and lifted them up. Revealing that it was an entrance. They walked down the flight of stairs and made it to what look to be the cellar of the tavern above. There are rows of shelf and a couple of barrels to the side. On one wall, there was a giant root, along with some smaller ones at its sides.
"No uh, It's shitty of the inside too" Scanlan said looking around
"An old resistance hide out" Yennen mentioned, knowing that they were wondering why she knew of this place, "we can speak freely here"
"Yes!" Grog cried and grabbed a tankard from the floor when he saw the barrels. He placed the cup under the tab and turned it to open it...only for nothing to come out. "Wait" he grunted as he opened and closed it. Then, he grabbed the tankard and broke off the tab, only for nothing to come out. "No. Oh gods, no!" he cried as he broke off the tab of all the barrels, "What is this hell?!"
"Thanks to the Briarwoods, all our resources are dwindling" Yennen said, "including Ale"
"I will fucking murder EVERYONE!" Grog yelled in anger as he grabbed a barrel and smashed it against the wall.
"You preach pacifism while associating with rebels" Percy commented
"Trust me, I want the Briarwoods gone as much as you do" Yennen said, "but I've seen uprisings fail, and if you charge up to the castle, you'll be slaughtered" she warned, "no. The only way to win is if the resistance is strong enough."
"And the resistance isn't strong enough because...?" Vex asked, waiting for the old woman to answer who trailed off question.
"Their leader has been captured"
"Ah, there it is" Vax said
"He's set to be hanged tomorrow" she said and looked to the human gunslinger, "Percy, it's Archibald Desnay"
"Archie? But how?" Percy gasped at the familiar name, "we...we grew up together. His father worked in the kitchen. We'd raise hell all over the castle" Percy commented as his thoughts went down memory lane with his old friend. "One time, Archie and I built the most disgusting stink bomb in history and ruined a state dinner. Even formed and alliance against my bro-" at the mention of his sibling, Percy stopped his rambling, realizing what he was doing, "you're telling me that hellion is a resistance leader?"
"You're not the only one who has changed, Percival" Yennen said, "You can't take the Briarwoods alone. Free Archie and the resistance will follow" she basically begged as she held his hand
"You're playing on my emotions...and I can't say I blame you" he smiled
"We'd be starting an uprising" Vex mentioned
"Freeing everyone while we're at it" Miel added to what Vex said
"And this town could use some hope" Vax commented
"It's certainly not the worst idea we've had" Percy said
Grog then came up with Keyleth, "Yeah! For the ale!"
"Scanlan the Revolutionary has a nice ring to it" the bard said, "Ooh! I can get a beret!"
"We'd need a lot of luck" Percy said
"What you need is faith" Yennen corrected
"At the moment, our holly person is...elsewhere" Percy mentioned
Yennen got word out of how they were gonna bust out Archie, and soon enough people started showing up in the hide out, ready to hear the plan Vox Machina had in store.
"Yennen sources tell us that Archie is, um" Vex started and then noticed that the cork they were using wasn't there. Miel cleared her throat, gaining her attention and pointed to Grog, who had it and was about to put it in his mouth. "Grog, give me that" she swiped it from his hand and placed it on the map in front of her on the table, "is being held here"
"Okay, so here's my idea on how to bust Archie out" Keyleth spoke first, "I'll speak to the local animals. They'll fetch the jailer's keys and free our friends"
"Eh, not so fast, fair maiden" Scanlan spoke up, "This is a job for Scanlan the Revolutionary. My pitch: I infiltrate the prison with all these potions I found. I don't know what they do yet, but let's assume they make me a, du-du-du-du-dum, one-man army"
Grog scoffed, "You think too much. All we gotta do is...kill everyone and leave"
"Uh, what about Archie?" Miel asked
"Oh right. Yeah, we kill him too."
The three looked at Percy and the resistance will looked of 'pick-my-plan' in their eyes. Percy looked unamused and so did the rest of the resistance.
"Those were bad ideas and you should all feel bad" Vax said glaring at the three
"I don't know. Scanlan's solo mission sounds interesting" Percy smirked, "His failure would be spectacular"
"Okay, no elaborate plans" Vex decided, having had enough of these so called plans. "Get in, get out. Strike like a well-thrown dagger"
"I can get behind that" Vex said
"But if we're going to get Archie out of that prison, we need to know exactly where they're holding him." Vex mentioned before anyone else could get ahead of themselves.
"I may have something that can assist" Percy mentioned with a smile and glanced at Miel, happy that he gets to show off what he had hidden in the Bag of Holding.
They all walked out of the hideout the next day, and followed Percy up a building, saying he needed high ground for what he was going to use to locate Archie. "Miel, may I please have the Bag of Holding?" he asked. The warlock cocked an eyebrow in question but gave him the bag. He got something out of the bag and climbed out the side and to the top of the building.
While they waited for him to do what he did, they looked over the map of the building. Seeing the two entrances, in the front and the back, to get in. A couple minutes later, Percy came back down, "East wing. Second floor" he said as he landed in.
"Uh...what is that thing?" Grog asked, looking at the long version of Percy's gun in his hand
"This? Oh, nothing but bad news" Percy said, almost proud of his creation. He grabbed the Bag of Holding from Miel and placed it back inside.
"Okay, this is how it's going down" Vex spoke up, "It'll be easier to avoid capture if we split into two teams. Front door team and back door team."
"You know Scandog's all about the back door but quick quesh: when has splitting the party ever worked?"
"He's got a point. I think we get hurt more often separated then together." Miel added
"It'll work because, shut the fuck up"
"Mm-hmm, okay, fair counterpoint" Scanlan said as he crossed his arms
"Meh, if Vex says we got this, then we got this" Miel said as she waved a finger around, "right, Scanlan the Revolutionary?" magic swirled around her finger and a magenta baret appeared and she floated it to the bard.
Scanlan gasped in happiness, "hell yeah we got this!"
Vex sighed and continued her explanation "And Archie's rebels will keep a lookout while we get him out of there"
"Hope the back door team doesn't get there first" Grog said
Once they all understood the plan, they split into their teams. Front door team was Vex, Keyleth, and Grog. While back door team was Vax, Percy, Scanlan and Miel.
The back door team slid down to the door. Vax walked over to it while the other three stayed behind him keeping watch. They heard his tools jingle as he worked but soon they noticed that a couple seconds went by with nothing but the jingling. No, Vax boasting about how easy it was or how little time it took. The three turned around and heard Vax muttering to himself as worked.
"Almost" he muttered as Percy was looking annoyed, "Damn. I've almost got...shit" Miel walked up to stand next to him and see his tools. It looked like the tools wouldn't go in, "ah, wait, I've got it now" and then they broke, "fuck, shit, fuck. Are you kidding me?"
"Fucking doors" Scanlan groaned angerly
"maybe you need new ones?" Miel asked as she picked up the tools Vax threw on the floor out of anger, "these look pretty old" she stated as she fixed the broken ones
"They're the same ones I've had since we were kids. They've worked then and they'll work now" Vax said taking his tools back, "wait, how did you-"
"Come on, Vax. Maybe you need to use more than one" Scanlan said as he walked past them and took Vaxs' tools and jammed them in the lock, "come on, use your dagger."
"Mine's too big. Led me yours, love?" Miel smiled and pulled out one of her small daggers for him to use.
Both Scanlan and Vax were working together to try and pick the lock, but try as they might, it wouldn't seem to open. They might have put too much force behind their work because Miel's dagger slipped down and cut Scanlan, making him drop the tools.
"Ah! Oh, my fingers" he winced as he held his hand
"It's not a door. It a thing of evil" Vax grunted, a bit in anger since they couldn't open it
"I think you're exaggerating a bit, Vax" Miel laughed as she grabbed Scanlan's hand and healed it, "I don't sense anything magical about that door. Its just wood"
"I'm going to find a window" Percy said and walked off
"If you think it's so easy why don't you try it" Scanlan grumbled
Miel blinked and then smiled, "okay, I will" she chirped and walked over to the door and placed her hands on the wood and the lock
"Does she seem happier to you?" Scanlan asked Vax
Vax shrugged. Truth be told, he did see that she was a bit happier these past two days than she has in a while. Maybe it was her magic? She seemed to be getting the hang of it a lot better than before. So it could be that she's gaining confidence...like she should.
"Damn it!" Miel cursed, "no, yeah, it's cursed" she deadpanned walking back to the two, earning chuckles from them.
Vax sighed and started walking back to the door, "let's give it another go" he grumbled but only felt someone tug at his cape, but he kept trying to move forward, knowing that it was Scanlan by the feel of where he was being pulled.
"Hang on" Scanlan grunted as he pulled the elf back
"Get off" Vax grunted back as the gnome pulled him away and tried to run for the door, only Vax to run back to him and block his path
"Hold on. You'll get us caught, Scanlan" Vax said
"I'm gonna kick it down"
"No. No."
Both the half elf and the gnome started slapping each other's hands away. Miel only rolled her eyes and walked up to the two. She then grabbed both their pointed ears and pulled them away from the door, getting grunts and 'ow's from the two.
"Both of you will get us caught if you keep arguing in front of the cursed door" she said releasing their ears. She then looked at Scanlan, "Do you really think that your idea will work?" she asked. Scanlan smirked and nodded his head, "fine, give it a try" she said as she and Vax moved back and Scanlan took out his lute.
"Do you think it'll work?" Vax whispered to her
"Nah, but let him realize it himself" she chuckled
"Scanlan's Foot!" Scanlan sang and strung the lute. A giant purple foot was shot out of the instrument and hit the door...doing nothing.
Vax and Miel smirked, knowing they were right about the gnome's idea not working. But their smiled were quickly wiped off when they heard a shout from above them. They all looked up and their eyes widened when they saw Percy falling over them. Not being able to move, the human landed on top of the three.
"I fell out of the window" he simply said. The three sat up groaning, while Percy stood up, "So, what do we do now?"
Before any one of them could suggest anything else, they heard the door open and a guard, whistling, swung open the door with a bucket in hand. Without looking, he swung the bucket, emptying out what was inside. Before it touched them, Miel had accidentally teleported next to Percy, away from the splash. But sadly, Scanlan and Vax did get splashed by what could be the order of urine.
The guard looked confused at the four in front of him. Everyone was frozen in shock. But before the guard could react and warn everyone, Vax grabbed one of his daggers and threw it at him, perfectly hitting his neck. The guard was flung back inside and the four ran in before the cursed door could close on them. Vax and Scanlan groaning as they ran in and the elf retrieving his dagger.
"Thanks for getting us out of the way too, Miel" Scanlan groaned, wanting to gag from the smell
"Sorry, I think it was a reflex. I didn't even know I could do that one" she said nervously.
"Quiet" Percy said, "let's just find Vex and the others"
It didn't really take long to find the others. Turns out, they were just around the corner. That door really slowed them down if Vex's group was this close to them when they just entered the building.
"Oh thank the gods" Vax said, then noticed all the people with them, "wait, what's this crowd?"
"Picked it up along the way" Vex smirked as they walked past, only for her to get a whiff of the urine smell, "why are you covered in piss?"
"Picked it up along the way" he replied with the same answer she gave him
They walked for a while, looking for the rebel leader. They were getting no where, until Percy recognized him sitting in a cell. "Vax, get him out of there" he demanded
Vax looked a bit uneasy as he took his tools out again, "Ah, right" he said and let out a breath, "Okay, here we go" in five seconds the door unlocked and opened wide, "did you see that? I'm telling you that back door was cursed"
"Shit, is this the afterlife?" Archie asked as he saw Percy walk over to him
"we're not dead yet, friend" Percy said as he helped his old friend stand
"Alright, we're getting out of here together" Vex announced, ready to leave the building
Suddenly, they heard a sort of grunted laughter coming from the very back of the group. "I'll give you this girly" someone said coming into their view and dropping a hammer, "you'll at least die together" behind them they heard muffled grunting and they all saw guards holding down Scanlan. "Throw down your arms, return to your cells, and maybe I'll let you live" they all gasped and looked at each other to see if anyone had another plan, but no one said anything. "Kill the gnome!" the small man order
"No, no, no, I'm too handsome to die!" Scanlan whimpered when the guard removed his hand from his mouth. Then someone next to guards cleared their throat and another Scanlan appeared with a smug look, "what's guy got to do to get some action around here?"
"Scanlan?" Keyleth questioned just as confused as everyone else
The guard pushed away the one he had and swung his sword at the smirky one. Only for that one to disappear. The one who was pushed away got up quickly and made a run for it.
"Don't just stand there! Get him!" Stonefell yelled and the guards started running after the gnome
One rebel woman then lunged at the guards and cut him down, "For Whitestone!" she shouted
Everyone took that as their cue to start fighting and ran straight for the guards as well. A bunched of the guards were slashed. Vex shot her arrows. Stonefell broke one of the guards' legs and used him as a shield from her arrows. Guards started getting the upper hand and cutting down some of the rebels.
Miel looked around at all the death around her. Vax blocked one guard that was going for Percy, who was still carrying Archie, telling him to go on ahead. Many were dying and many were trying to get to Percy. Miel growled as she felt the bracelet heat up and the magic build up in her hands.
"Everyone get down!" she yelled and brought her hands up while still glaring at Stonefell. As quickly as she yelled, lightning sparked out of her hands, hitting everything around her. Luckily most of the rebellion heard her and listened right before the random shots could hit any of them. Unfortunately, none hit Stonefell as he ran off. A burning sensation suddenly registered to Miel as she yelped in pain and brought her hands close to her chest. With the lightning finally out of the way, everyone got up to see who was left in the fight to finished off.
"NO!" Miel heard Keyleth yell. She looked up and saw the Ashari transform into large tiger and ran at Stonefell. One the floor, in front of him, was the woman rebel who helped them when they first arrived at Whitestone. Her head was bashed in, clearly Stonefell had killed her.
"Miel!" Vax yelled as he stabbed a guard that was coming up behind her. He noticed how she held her hands, getting a quick glance at the red burns on her palms. Vax helped her up and they made their way down the hall, following the Percy went. As the rounded a corner they saw the human walking back to them. "Fun's over. Where's our exit?"
"Not this way. There are guards everywhere" Percy said
"Percy, let me go" Archie said weakly
"What are you doing?"
"Just like the old days" Archie smirked and ran out, "create a diversion while you get away" He grabbed a sword as he ran straight for the guards blocking their exit, "you fucking dobbers!" he held his own very well for someone who was being tortured for days.
"Hey Grog, check this out!" Scanlan called and strum his lute, "Lightning!" small, pink lightning shot out and hit one guard but not doing anything.
Grog took him out before he could get close to Scanlan, "Ha, not as impressive as Miel, Scanlan. Let me try" Grog laughed. He must have found where they kept the ale, cause he had a whole barrel under his arm as he fought back the guards.
Percy shot one that was running at Grog. Vex had her arrow ready and Vax had one dagger in hand while the other kept Miel close. Until they treat those burn marks she wasn't using any magic anytime soon. As they ran to catch up to Archie, no one noticed Percy had stopped when he saw Stonefell on the other side of the bars.
When they caught up to Archie, he had hit a couple guards through the front door. "As promised. Your exit" he said as Vex came up to him.
"How chivalrous" she said
The rest of the group and what was left of the rebellion caught to them, and that's when they realized that someone was missing.
"Wait, where's Percy?" Scanlan brought up and everyone looked around for the white haired human.
"Um..." Miel shakingly pointed behind Grog. Everyone only saw a glimpse of Percy's blue coat as he ran around the corner back inside
"Percy, wait!" Archie called and ran after him
"We'll get him" Vax said and looked at Keyleth, "heal her hands, quickly" he said as he lightly pushed Miel towards the Ashari. Keyleth looked at Miel's hands and nodded as she started taking her ingredients out. Vax and Scanlan ran after Archie.
"The rest of you, hold this hallway" Vex ordered, "hurry brother!"
Keyleth got to work quickly as she placed what looked like moss on Miel's hands. The green moss-like substance started glowing lightly as Keyleth pressed down on her palms. As they heard many footsteps coming Miel hurried Keyleth, "Heal one hand. Heal one hand!" She said quickly and Keyleth placed her hand on one palm and it healed quickly.
With the hand that was healed, and the other one still being held by Keyleth, she brought it up and a pink barrier appeared between them and guards.
"Nice quick thinking, Miel" Vex complimented
"Don't get comfortable" Miel grunted, "it won't hold long"
Vex nodded as she readied her bow. That's when they noticed that Grog was still on the other side of the barrier, bashing heads in and slashing bodies all around. "Well, he's having a field day"
"I can't hold it anymore!"
"Oy! Sorry we're late. We had a thing" Scanlan called as his group ran up behind them.
Vex nodded and pointed her arrow down the hall. "Miel let go and be ready to place up again" she said. The warlock nodded and released the barrier, letting out a sigh of relief but readied herself again. "Grog, toss the booze!" Vex ordered
"Aw, but I just got it"
"Just do it!"
Grog whimpered for second before throwing the barrel down the hallway. Vex lit up her arrow with fire and shot straight at the flying barrel. "Now, Miel!" The warlock raised her hand, and the pink barrier was up again, shielding them from the explosion the ale had caused. "Let's go!" Vex yelled as Miel's barrier broke. As she breathed heavily, Vax came up to her and helped her up. The building was catching fire fast, so they hightailed it out of there.
Percy couldn't help but walk out as the others ran off. The news of what Archie told him still repeating in his mind, sparking hope back into him.
"I have a sister"