-1
Once the dwarven band finished off the brigands, they road the rest of the way to town with the caravan. In one wagon were the three Red Brigade members that survived the ill-fated assault, bound and gagged. Along with them were the heads of the others members and their leader. Drin groaned as he regained consciousness. He blinked, looking around.
"What happened" He moaned.
A furry blond head took this opportunity to make itself known by poking through the tarp of the wagon.
"Yous be 'live, hmm?" He (it?) said with a giggle. "Mesa Klerk. Mesa heal ye. Rum hit ye good wit da pan!"
Drin could only gape at the sight before him.
"Errr...I...uh...am fine." He finally managed to get the words out.
The blond dwarf nodded, the two pie plates belted to his head rattling. He looked as if he was about to speak when he vanished suddenly, as if pulled away from the wagon. Drin look to his surviving companions, who just shrugged and looked away. He sighed and leaned back, closing his eyes and wishing he had never gotten out of bed this morning.
Armin yanked Kendrac from the wagon. The blond dwarf tumbled to the ground and rolled, somehow managing to find his footing again, cinching up his oversized robes and wandering away. Armin sighed and looked to his companion, Strom.
"Sometimes I do be wonderin' why I keep lettin' them come along." He grumbled
"Oh, come on," Strom replied, "They ain't that bad. Ye just lost yer sense o humor is all"
Armin's only reply was a glare as he walked forward to the caravan master.
"It's gettin' late. We camp there." He said, motioning to an area slightly to the north.
The caravan master started to complain, but was silenced by a look from the surly dwarf who marched ahead to check the area. The tall dwarf wielding the maul slipped up beside Strom.
"What's 'is probl'm?" He said, switching his maul to his left shoulder. "He been in a foul mood fer weeks."
Strom shrugged. "I dun know fer sure. Mebbe somethin ta do wit the human fella he wa talkin to at the last town. He's not fer sayin though."
Strom ran a hand through his beard and shook his head, his braided hair flicking around. The party made camp. The wagons were circled around the site and the horses fed, rubbed down and hobbled. Only then did the dwarves allow themselves the luxury of relaxing, disarming, and eating. Armin, Strom, and Toren all took turns walking the perimeter as the light of day surrendered to the coming darkness. One of the caravan drivers approached Armin as he walked and handed him an aleskin.
"For you master dwarf, your plan worked perfectly." he said with a smile.
Armin shook his head and declined the ale. "Not so. Wanted more prisoners."
The man nodded, then spoke up once more. "Take a rest Master Dwarf. We shall watch for a time."
Armin nodded and returned to camp, sitting by the fire and accepting a leg of rabbit from Strom. Toren joined them a few moments later and the three sat in silence. For a few blissful moments, there was quiet, then it happened.
"MINE!"
"NO! It's a MINE!"
"Gives back. Rom's fish!"
"NO! ME! ME FISHESSSSSS!"
Toren and Strom looked up at the ruckus. Rom and Kendrac were in the midst of a mighty tug of war with a fish. Toren watched for a moment, then looked to the others, a quizzical look on his face.
"Ummm..." He started, but was interrupted by the two lunatic dwarves rolling right into him and bowling him over, still arguing about the fish. Toren yelped and fell backwards, kicking the rabbit leg from Armin's hand. Strom fortunately was unharmed. The two rolled across the fire and passed the three dwarves. Rom, now devoid of his bucket helm released Kendrac as he furiously fought to keep his wiry black beard from blocking his vision of the blond dwarf. Finally, he stuffed it into his belt and stalked off after Kendrac who was giggling as he caressed the head of the fish in his hand.
"Nice Fish"
The fish, however was having none of it and wriggled out of his hands and into the darkness. Toren watched, dumbfounded.
"Where did he get a live fish?" he asked.
Strom and Armin both shrugged as they watched the antics continue. Rom had caught up to Kendrac and was sitting on him.
"Klerk wants da fish, Klerk gets ALL da fish." Rom said, albeit a bit muffled, as his beard had pulled free and was covering most of his face. He pulled a pouch free from his belt and grabbed Kendracs' leg, which he proceeded to stick into the pouch. As the other dwarves and now most of the caravan members watched, Rom stuffed the blond dwarf completely into the pouch.
"Pouch of holding." Strom murmured as he watched.
Rom put the pouch on the ground and grinned, stuffing the beard back into his belt again.
"Now da Klerk gets ALL da fishes."
Before any could ask what he meant, The pouch twitched, the bounced then twitched again. Rom knelt down, a curious look on his face, and peered at the pouch. Without warning, a stream of water spurt from the pouch and soaked Rom.
"HEY! Had bath this month!"
Then, a soggy blond head popped out of the bag, complete with fish in his mouth.
"Mmmgghmmmph" Kendrac tried to speak, but was failing due to the fish.
Rom quickly grabbed the strings of the pouch and tied it, preventing Kendrac from either returning into the pouch or climbing the rest of the way out. Kendrac looked very put out as Rom picked up the pouch and meandered back to the wagons and climbed into one of them. Strom and Toren looked back at Armin, who simply shook his head.
"It's a long story."