Nieka had been home for two weeks, with no word from her woodland acquaintances so having decided that the army wouldn't help her she began to plan her solitary journey. She would wait one more week so she could get the most out of Sky Dragons' help before he went back to work for her father, then she'd pick up her order from the blacksmith, pack a bag and head back into the woods; following the same root she and Cinna had before they got kidnaped.
Maybe Shadow would let her ride her, they had grown close over the last few weeks she thought. She visited her every day, after all, to tend to her wounds and give her a carrot or apple. It had been two weeks and although Shadow's hoof wasn't completely healed, she could now walk without a limp, though maybe not far or when carrying extra weight, maybe she shouldn't ride her. She might want to come along anyway for the chance of going home to her master. At that thought she wondered why the black stallion was still there, Takal seemed very attached to that horse, so why wouldn't he come back for it?
She decided she'd set up a camp a mile or so in the woods and stock it with food and supplies, that way when she left in the middle of the night all she would need to do was grab a few things and go and she'd have a place to go to and sleep for a few hours before waking up at dawn to start her journey. Just after supper that night she snuck out of her room with a bag and a lantern to find the perfect spot.
She crept through the fields to the tree line, but she was not quite enough, Shadow sprang in front of her and whinnied loud stomping her hooves.
"Oh calm down Shadow. No one can hear you from here anyway and I'm not leaving tonight, I'm just bringing some supplies to a safe place in case I need them later." She said calmingly to the horse and tried to walk around her. Shadow just cut her off and whinnied again stomping her feet.
"Shh, calm down or you'll wake the whole forest." She hissed. "There could be wolves."
"Too late, where do you think you're going? The woods are no place for young ladies such as yourself, especially at night." A man in a familiar green and brown uniform stepped into view.
"Who are you?" she asked not recognizing the man.
"I'm a woodland warrior; hear to protect the inhabitance of this town."
"Well, I could tell that by your uniform, I meant what is your name." she asked wondering if they just arrived or had been here all along...
"Badger." He said surprised by her attitude.
"Well Badger, I'm glad you're here to protect them because soon I won't be, I have other matters to attend to and tonight that means searching through the forest. When I have found what I'm looking for I will return to town." She said with all the authority she could muster. This kind of bluster usually worked for her on her father's ships.
"I'm sorry but I can't let anyone into the woods."
"Then I'm sorry I have to do this." and she spun in a low kick knocking the soldier to the ground.
"Freeze!" another man shouted and stepped out of the shadows with an arrow trained on her heart. "Back away slowly."
"He's fine." She said lifting her hands in surrender and backing away. "I wasn't going to kill him or anything I was just going to knock him out. You don't understand, I need to get past, I know the dangers, I know what's out there and I can take care of myself, just please let me go." She tried the begging approach.
"Sorry, but we can't do that we have orders to stay here and keep any civilian from wandering into the woods until Lt. Col. El'Takal arrives with new orders."
"El'Takal, as in Takal, tall dark hair, rather mean?" She asked. was that really his full name no wonder he shortened it.
"Yes, you must be the one we were told to look out for." He said with an amused smile.
"When is he coming back? Is Torn here?" she asked with a mixture of excitement and irritation.
"No... Cpt. Tornjak left twelve days ago, his presence was required else ware. And I cannot say when Lt. col. El'Takal will arrive nor can I say what orders he will bring, I'm afraid all I can do is insist you head home."
"And if I don't you'll shoot me?" she asked not believing the threat of his arrow. The man let loose his arrow and it struck the ground by her feet.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you but I will shoot you in the leg if I have to. Lt. Col. El'Takal gave clear orders it was ok to use any force necessary to keep you at bay… just short of killing you."
Nieka glared at him a renewed hate for Takal burning hot. Of course, he had.
"But Capt. Hawk, she's a girl you can't do that," Badger said brushing himself off.
"This girl just laid you out on your ass, besides I have my orders. I'm to shoot her and tie her to a post in the village square before letting her leave. His exact words, you wouldn't want to be the one to fail to adhere to a direct order by our operational commander would you?" the archer said.
"No sir," Badger said looking at his feet.
"Fine." She said and turned back to her town and walked away. She'd just have to come up with another plan. And to think she'd actually thought Takal was starting to trust her. She spent hours stitching the man up. He'd promised he'd ask if she could work with them. That was the last straw, he'd really pissed her off now. If she was still alive after saving the prisoners, she was going to give that trustless liar a piece of her mind.
Almost a week later she was finishing her lunchtime 'dance' routine to a sizable crowd it was as if they knew it would be her last performance. She did more spins and flips in this one than would be likely in a real fight but they were also the hardest and so she needed the most practice on them; besides the kids loved them.
When she landed in a crouch, she flung her arms out from her sides slaying two imaginary beasts then stayed motionless until the trickle in her rain sticks went silent. There was applause and shouts of excitement from children as she got up and lifted her head.
"Now that was incredible." A familiar and friendly voice said and she found Torn smiling at her.
"Thanks. Your back! I can't believe you're back. Do you have any news for me?" she asked leading him away from the small gathering of people.
"Yes actually, though I'm not sure Takal would want me to tell you just yet."
"Please, I need to know if you've gotten any information on my sister or the Demons lair."
"Actually, we don't have anything on them, we still have scouts looking but no one has so much as seen one since that day let alone found their new lair. It's odd how quiet they've been; they must be laying low for now." He paused and turned to face her and she tried to hide her disappointment. "But the council has granted you permission to come back with us and join the arm if you're still interested."
"Yes! I am. Of course, I am. When can we leave?"
"We leave first light tomorrow"
"Oh thank you so much I'll go get my things in order and pack." In truth, she was already backed except for one thing she still needed to pick up from the blacksmiths.
"Great. We have a camp just up there" he pointed to a spot in the tree line near where they had left her almost three weeks ago. "You can drop your stuff off whenever you're ready"
"Oh, thank you so much I'll meet you there in an hour." Nieka gave Torn a quick hug and thanked him again before running off to the blacksmiths to check on her order. Although her sword and Sai weren't done yet, her throwing knives and the spear-headed staff were. She had already picked up the metal pieces of her armor but had yet to fasten them to the leather. She went home first and up to her room where she wrote a note explaining everything to her parents. She planned to bring her pack to the army camp just to make it feel more real then, she would pester Stalli to see if she was done with her work yet.