Rhetta draws another plan in the sand, struggling against the darkness of the cell with nothing but some of the natural light to help her see the scrawls and drawings. Rhetta mentally follows what she is writing, even if she struggled to visibly see it. Plans that did not have at least a ninety percent chance of succeeding were not worth considering.
Considering her incredibly high standard for success it accredited to the fact that Rhetta always saw an overwhelming victory. Swift and devastating in nature and perfect in every way. Plans did not always start with high success rates, she just made it so with every resource at her disposal. This is why Rhetta is considered a genius regarding battles.
During her time as an imperial strategist there were never major wars waged, however there were countless fights, civil skirmishes and uprisings. Rhetta gained indispensable experience from all these little conflicts, gaining new knowledge with every victory. The only downside is she also gained experience of a different nature while working in the imperial palace.
Filled with politics and schemes, every lie disguised under money, flattery and flowery words. The result of such cunning left Rhetta forgetful of simple tactics like brute force. Every ticking second is one closer to execution. Rhetta kept formulating plans on how to escape and settled on the easiest, most efficient method; brute force.
Clever schemes would be of no use here. The two could not even make a ploy for sympathy due to the animosity that surrounded them whether by the anger of their betrayal or the jealousy of their talents.
'Given our current state, there's not much we can do. We have nothing at our disposal except our own strength and hopefully good luck.' Rhetta thinks, a tired sigh leaving her lips when she looks over at Khio.
Khio rolls around in boredom and frustration sometimes stopping to hit, pull or bite at her shackles. Every attempt failed and every attempt made her more aggressive. "These damn chains! I swear when I get out of this!!" Khio growls in frustration.
"We'll have to break out on our own." Rhetta's calm voice stops Khio's tantrum.
Khio sits up, trying to see the scribbles in the dirt. Rhetta tosses the twig aside and rests against the bars. "It's easy, the moment someone opens the gate you need to take them down- quickly. I'll snag the keys in the confusion, we'll get away, and drop the shackles when we're out of reach."
'More than anything we need time and information...' Rhetta fiddles with her hands in an attempt to calm herself.
Excited, Khio is fully onboard ready to engage her role in the plan. Being a passive person never suited her, Khio's style is facing things head on and directly. "Perfect! Suits me just fine." she grins confidently, her smug expression tells of the confidence she has in her abilities. It acts as reassurance to Rhetta, who, despite the plan, still considers the other unfortunate outcomes that may occur from unaccounted variables.
"Fighting is so troublesome." Rhetta murmured to herself.
Florian jolts awake by cold dew falling onto the back of her neck, the chill and fright forcing Florian to stifle a shriek. She turns her head wildly trying to figure out where she is, and what she is doing. She wipes the trail of drool from the corner of her mouth and fear strikes her. "I fell asleep?!" The shock of it all had her saying it aloud.
Panic sets in, Florian desperately tries to reorient herself and away from the half asleep daze she found herself caught in. There are no knights outside of the cell, she glances over towards the campfire. All four knights sit, laughing and chatting away in the comfort of their fire and downing a hearty breakfast. Cautiously...stealthily, Florian creeps towards the cells while keeping her eyes on the knights making sure none of them look over and spot her. Constantly glancing between the cell and the group of men.
The morning came with a slight chill that made Rhetta thankful for the changing of seasons. Any colder and they would have run the risk of freezing to death before any execution takes place. Rhetta and Khio lie in wait, pretending to be asleep while waiting for the cell to be unlocked.
They note the very light footsteps that sluggishly approach the cells. It's odd, these steps don't belong to the heavy, uneven steps the knights had. They listen more intently, the quiet click tells of the lock met with a key. The creaking of the metal hinges acts as their cue.
"Khio!"
Khio opens her eyes at Rhetta's signal, darting for the gate and forces it open violently, pushing it with all her might as the gate collides with the unfamiliar figure. In the confusion Rhetta grabs Florian's arm only to snatch the keys from her hand. Rhetta pulls the stranger and flings her into the cell before slamming it shut and locking it.
The dust settles before Florian can fully process what just happened. The wince of pain due to her swollen cheek accompanied with a rather grievous nosebleed. She slumps against the gate,reaching her hands to the bar and pulling herself up. "It hurts..."
Rhetta and Khio run towards the forest, the cover of trees aiding their escape. Diverting her attention away from running, Rhetta deftly unlocks her shackles and tosses the key to Khio. The shackles hit the ground behind them while continuing forward without a clear direction or destination in mind. There's no sound of disturbance aside from their panting, given that the two take a moment to recuperate and try to find an idea of where would be safest. The reassurance of escaping has them on the light hearted side. "You have too much practice getting out of shackles Khio" Rhetta quipped
Khio grins in response "I've done it enough to become an expert."
"Rhetta- back there, I don't think that was a knight we took down." Khio continues, voicing a bit of concern for whoever was thrown into the cell in their stead.
"They had the keys, that's all that matters."
Florian stares at the bars in front of her, gripping them tightly. 'It should be easy enough...' she strains her arms, beginning to hear the groan of the metal distorting. She hears the boisterous voices approaching and she stops her actions choosing to hold the bars pitifully. The knights finally notice the cell devoid of the traitors and a blood covered temple disciple in the criminals place. The knights all glance towards each other with absolute bewilderment, the obvious looks of 'How did this happen' being thrown between them.
Unnerved they all begin to look around for keys and find the spare set to open the gate. Clyde offers his hand to Florian. "Sister are you alright?" he inquires
Florian nods, she is caught between four knights. Clyde extended a kind hand of concern but Ralph looked at her with suspicion. Four knights were challenging, and the lone girl doubted her chances of being able to fight all of them simultaneously. Though the potential fight at hand is not Florian's biggest concern, rather that worry pertained to whether or not she could catch up to Rhetta and Khio.
"We need to find the prisoners! Split up and search the surrounding forest!"
The knights all look around the area, all heading into different directions ready to beckon to their companions should they see anything. She peers around the back of the cells and faintly thinks they may have run from the direction she came in. "U-um...They ran off into the forest, I overheard something about the next village..." Florian speaks to the knights, giving them a direction and trail to follow. Ralph glares at her with a strange feeling to him.
"You all heard! Search the forest over that way they're headed to Anok village."
In response to his orders, three of the knights hurry towards Anok village. Florian bows and steps away, finally clicking that only three knights left. "I'll just be on my way then..." Florian states turning to head on her way when Ralph's brash voice startles her.
"Now, now. What's the rush? I'll stay here with you and treat your wounds, just in case those traitors come back to finish the job." Ralph seizes Florian's wrist. His words may have made it seem that it was an innocent and kind intention, however the stinging pain in her wrist from his crushing grip says otherwise. "Everything will be fine as long as you tell the truth." Ralph spits, grabbing her face and digging his fingers into the swollen flesh. Florian glares at him in defiance realizing that even if he buckled last night, his suspicion never dwindled and he never believed the innocent act to begin with.
"Can you temple folk suddenly see through walls? Makes no sense that you saw 'em running that way if you were in the cell." Ralph releases her face and pushes Florian to the ground, drawing his sword and holding it against her throat. The warm blood trickles from the slight wound now inflicted.
"Do you always draw your sword before ascertaining the truth?" Florian questions, curious to see his reaction and withdrawing when she sees his laughter.
"The truth!? You temple folk are all liars anyway. You've no right to preach about the truth. Now tell the actual 'truth', where did those rats run to?"
Florian points to where she came from, the knight turns his head and she takes the opportunity- grabbing one of the bigger pieces of firewood within her reach. Distracted with looking in the specified direction he lowers his sword. He hears the rustle of movement turning to see Florian standing with a log in hand.
"I'm holding back so please forgive me." Florian mutters, swinging it at the knight, a loud crack and clang of metal echoes throughout the clearing. The knight falls and collides with the ground. She looks down at him, noticing a small trinket sticking out of his pocket. Florian reaches down and it pulls it out. "It's not right to steal, but it doesn't look like it belongs to you either." She shoves the necklace into her satchel and takes off to find Rhetta and Khio, who at this point had a tremendous head start.