"Please be joking, Eroket." Talrid whispered, leaning back in his chair upon hearing the young ermine's shameful report of his failed mission. The other Calpathions of Talrid and Eroket's squadrons had completed their missions and been paid handsomely. Eroket was the only failure. Talrid was seated in a chair in the tavern of a large inn of the town the Calpathions under Eroket and Talrid had taken current refuge. Ero had only been back for an hour so far and was giving his report to Talrid. The Calpathion's under Ero and Talrid had traveled to the nearest town they could find, Talrid buying out an inn for their troops. The two Calpathion commanders had rested for two days before they went job hunting, Ero finding a guard of the late warlord Dargad who was looking for an accomplished mercenary to complete a job for his master. Ero-after getting permission from the senior Talrid-had left with the guard to Dargad's keep. The weasel had approved of Eroket, knowing full well the reputation of the Calpathions and had given him the job to kill his rival Antornin. He gave them three days for full pay. Anything more and they would receive half. Ero had purchased the services of a falcon messenger to deliver a message to Kalis. It took two days to receive Kalis's response. In that time, Ero had been preparing for his mission, discovering the workings of Antornin's keep, the stoat's description, the beasts working for him. Kalis's response had been stern, giving Eroket permission to go alone, on the conditions he got out alive and he completed his job. Ero was seething quietly. He was enraged his careful planning was wasted. He was enraged he betrayed Kalis's trust.betrayed the trust of all his comrades.Kalis would be furious, Sarhein disappointed and he dared not /think/ of Jald's smug reaction. Deran would stand by his friend as always, little good it would do. Eroket nodded, despite his inner turmoil he kept the outward face of a good soldier. "I wish I was, sir.I completed the assassination on the target and returned to our client to collect our pay." "I found him with his throat cut in his man hall, Talrid." Talrid may've been considered handsome once. He was slightely taller then average for a ferret and quite lean. His fur was a golden brown and his eyes and shining amethyst eyes. Try as he might, Ero found it difficult to take his eyes from the one thing that despoiled Talrid's features: A long, jagged scar that ran from his chin, across his nose to his forehead in a diagonal line. "Did you see the killer, Commander Nightblade?" Commander Nightblade. Talrid wasn't even deigning to refer to Ero by name, another sign of Eroket's failure. "I did, I recovered one of her daggers." Talrid nodded. "Give it to me, Commander Nightblade." With a quick nod, Ero removed the long dagger from his belt and presented it hilt first to his senior officer. "Boneflower, that /bitch./" Talrid's breath came out in a ragged hiss as he looked at the white lilly at the blade's hilt. The ferret didn't bother taking the dagger, merely waved a black gloved paw. Ero replaced the dagger with a small nod, deciding not to jump to Boneflower's defense; Talrid was probably mad enough as it was. Talrid had seen Boneflower once, and that was over two years back when Boney and Ero had found themselves working for the same employer in an assassination. It was, naturally, one of Ero's solo missions. They had completed the mission and split the gold and Ero had brought his one-time partner to meet his group. The meeting with the rest of the Calpathions and Boneflower had gone far better then Eroket could have hoped (With the exception of a certain antisocial black ferret of course.) Boneflower had been received well and had even turned down an offer form Kalis to join the Calpathions, stating she liked working on her own a lot more. (She had made several passes at Ero at the time, who had, as always, refused her company for the night.) "Nightblade!" Talrid snapped irritably. Eroket shook his head out of his daydream. What was wrong with him?! Damn Boneflower! It wasn't enough she had cost him this job, she continued to haunt his mind as well? "Forgive me, Commander." Talrid nodded and sighed, placing a paw to his forehead and massaging his temples gingerly. "You did a great job, Ero." Eroket blinked, not sure if he heard correctly. "Sir?!" "Don't even bother trying to argue, Nightblade.you snuck into Antornin's compound and killed him without even being seen.It wasn't your fault Antornin hired another mercenary to kill his rival.I'm not mad or disappointed at you.Hard to be mad at Boneflower either.after all, you weren't the only one getting cheated out of a contract. And," He smirked. "I think she went through a bit more then you." This gave Ero a sigh of relief, the seething fire of rage within cooled a bit. Talrid was right, Ero was hired for a kill, not as a bodyguard. He did his duty. It was Dargad's fault for falling for Boneflower's act.though it was nigh impossible for a red blooded male to NOT fall for an act like that. Eroket shook his head. "What do we tell Kalis?" Talrid's slashed lips flicked upward in a smile. "We tell him exactly what happened.I understand. Kalis will as well. The other commanders will understand as well.don't say anything. I take that back. The other commanders will understand with the probable exception of our resident ferret swordsbeast arrogant, elitist bastard." Eroket smiled and his amber eyes twinkled with some amusement. "What do we tell those under our command?" Talrid's shoulders raised upwards in a shrug, the ferret stood and walks to the bed, removing a black cloak from it and placing it around his shoulders. "Our client was unable to pay as his throat was cut.that can interfere with money transfer.they'll be disappointed to be certain but hey, your failures are few and VERY far between." Talrid placed an emphasis on the word 'very.' The tall ferret threw an arm around the younger ermine's shoulders. "What say we get a drink and we think of what we tell the old man?" Eroket couldn't help but laugh, forgetting his anger. "Who pays?" "You." The ermine shrugged and laughed again. "Fair enough, mate." Talrid grinned. "We'll spend a few more days getting some R and R.then we'll head in the opposite direction and meet Kalis.until then, we have fun." Eroket grinned as the two descended the stairs to the bar where most of the mercenary teams were drinking or talking. "Sounds great to me.do I still have to pay?" "Yes." "Damn."