The two companions kept treading through the Greatwood forest after their meeting with Whisper. Down the road the two of them heard a buzzing sound and some screaming, they rushed to down the path to see traders being harassed by wasps. They both quickly rushed into action and quickly dispatched them earning some praise from the traders, when they asked Sabre for his name; Rose customarily had to answer for him. They kept singing praises, heard even when they were headed in opposite directions. As they were walking Rose looked distracted thinking about the day she escaped from the bandits who ruined her life.
It was dark and raining; bandits had just found a group of traders and without hesitation, slaughtered them. Their blood was washed away by the undying rain as it continued for hours and hours. "Hey little nothing, come here it's time for my feeling!" A drunken voice called a child version of Rose. Said girl stalked over to him with an emotionless expression on her face. Every once in a while, the bandits had an urge to touch a female's body; no matter the age. Poor little Rose had to endure it for a year now but she was going to change that, tonight. They made her cook for them, that meant she had to skin animals and cut them into nice bits. When they weren't looking she managed to put a knife in her torn dress and hid it in its fabric. When the two of them got into their secluded tent the bandit started drinking and beckoned the girl over.
Rose mutely walked over to him and stopped just before his reach, the bandit edged closer then reached for her chest area. However before he could touch her, Rose moved faster than his drunken reflexes and slashed her knife across his neck while using her other hand to cover his mouth. Months of witnessing killings made her not as fragile as other people would be at the sight of his body slowing dying. He had a crazed look in his eyes that radiated anger at the girl who was about to be the one that killed him. He tried to put his hand around her neck to strangle her but she managed to maneuver behind him with her hand still on his mouth. With his intoxication and the rapid loss of blood he wasn't able to anything besides just roll side to side.
A few moments later, Rose realized that the bandit was dead after she felt his body go slack in her hands. She let go of him and watched as his body crumple to the ground, she would've stayed to contemplate what she had done but she had to go. With the stealth of an assassin, Rose started to sneak out the tent and then towards the exit of the camp. The other bandits were in their own tents and because it was time to sleep giving little Rose the chance to escape, the girl was almost at the entrance of their camp when a pair of hands grabbed her from behind. She struggled in his grip as he was actually focused unlike the bandit she just killed; he was probably stronger even if he wasn't drunk. "So little missy you think you could leave us in the dead of night, not on my watch!" With that the bandit picked her up over his shoulder and walked back to camp despite her struggles. He had to hit her to quiet her down a couple of times surprisingly the bandits in camp didn't wake up. Rose even tried stabbing him with the knife she took with her after killing her would be rapist, all it resulted in was him growling and slapping her hard across the face.
Now she was quiet, with a red mark clearly apparent on her face. When the two returned to her small poor excuse of a tent, a footstep made both of them jump, turning their eye sight towards the entrance they saw a lone guard patrolling the forest area. The bandit roughly dropped the girl and started sneaking towards the guard to silence him, apparently forgetting about the young girl. Rose thought about calling to the guard but then she'd wake up all the other bandits, maybe she could give him a silent signal. She shuffled around until she found a stick on the ground then she ran after the bandit. When the bandit heard rapid small footsteps he saw Rose running towards him, and with a silent sound of exertion she threw the stick at the guard.
The wooden projectile hit the guard on the top of his head and made him turn his head towards the two. The bandit snarled and raised his iron katana over his head while the guard drew his steel longsword then parried his blow. The two of them got into a mess of swords, fists, and blood while young Rose was watching behind a bush. It went on until an iron mace came up from behind the guard and knocked him to the ground, Rose visibly shook when she saw more bandits arrive. They quickly overpowered the lone guard then forced him to his knees with his arms held behind his back. The bandit leader of the camp strutted up to the man with his scarves covering his body and two swords on his back that held his bandit clan symbol.
"A little lost don't you think?" The bandit laughed then he backhanded the guard across the face. The bandits seemed to laugh at this, all except the one bandit who was looking for Rose. He searched for her around the camp but could not find her, however what he didn't realize was that she was above him in a tree. The bandit returned to the leader and reported that the girl was gone; the leader seemed to be irritated then turned towards the guard. "Well it seems our maid got away, but no matter, in my bandit faction, once you're in you're in for life. So when we lose someone it means they died no if, ands, or buts. So since we lost our maid, we need a loss of life, meaning yours." He emphasis 'yours' by showing an iron greataxe.
Rose seemed to have tensed at the sight, she jumped so much she made the branch she was perched on shake. The bandits didn't seem to hear the disturbance but the guard did notice, he looked up and made eye contact with Rose. In his eyes there seemed to be peace not anger, it seemed he was ok that the girl would live because he smiled at her then looked back at the leader with a defiant glare. Without further ado, he lifted the greataxe over his head and with a heave he swung it down full force on the guard's head.
Rose looked to her right to see that her companion had stopped them both in front of a stone gate that led to Orchird farm. He looked at her questionably and she answered with "I was just thinking of old memories anyway let's go" and with that the two of them went through the stone gate.
