A merry band of misfits

Chaper one, the bar fight

"Hold on Smithy! What did you do exactly?" Anne yelled as she dodged a drunk man's feeble attempt to punch her, pushing him over a table.

"I called the barkeep an uncultured son of a goat! How was I supposed to know that he was a Faun?" He lamented from where he sat on the bar, out of harms way and watching the current fiasco.

"When I get over there I am going to strangle you!" She yelled as she tried to fight her way to him, somewhere in the back of the tavern, Rhonda was lifting up a table with six frightened men clinging to it. She laughed heartily and it boomed across the room "This is fun! I haven't been in a good tavern brawl in ages!" She effortlessly threw the table at the far wall, where June Bug scrambled to get out of the way of the debris.

"Do we have to fight!" The tree bark skinned maiden pouted, her wild bushy hair already shedding its leaves in stress.

"Smith didn't give us much of a choice Princess!" Anne roared as she kicked a chair at a red headed barmaid who was using a mug as a blunt weapon.

A lean man in a long black cloak rolled his eyes as he spun around in the fight, avoiding weapons and Rhonda's destructive power to rescue their scholar, who was currently crouching under the one table that wasn't already splinters. He offered him his hand and in minutes he was by the bar with Smithy. He nervously adjusted his glasses "You do this every time."

"Stick a sock in it Norvik." The half-demon quipped.

The taverns door was broken down not long after, the guards of Sparrows Haven had just arrived. Anne grimaced then nodded towards the giant laughing orc who was still having fun in her bubble of chaos. "Get us out of here Rhonda!"

The 8 foot tall woman stopped immediately, looked at the guards, then went around the room and scooped up each and every one of her traveling companions, besides Archer who had hidden in his cloak and already left, before barreling over the guards and running out of the city as fast as her long green legs could carry her. She deposited them at a campsite in the nearby forest where they all fell in a heap on the ground.

"So much for our trip into town.." June Bug groaned as soon as she was free from the involuntary dog pile. "Well," Anne said before smacking Smith upside the head "If good old Smithy here had just kept his damn mouth shut then we could have enjoyed it."

"Hey!!!" He whined, rubbing the back of his head.

"I agree with Anne, It's definitely Smithy's fault." Norvik chimed in.

"Stick. A. Sock. In. It. Norvik!" The half demon snapped before picking up a stone and throwing it at him, it was caught in midair by Archer, who glared at him before going to start the fire.

"Eh what's a little bar-fight between friends!" Rhonda announced before sitting down heavily on the log they'd been using as a bench "I had fun!"

"I didn't." June Bug said, sitting next to her.

"It's okay small one." Rhonda smacked June on the back good naturedly and she nearly fell face first into the grass.

"Okay okay, Smithy's stupidity aside," They all turned and glared at the half demon who put his hands up defensively before looking back at Anne "Did you guys see any jobs posted?"

"Oh! Oh I did!" June Bug said excitedly, the flowers in her bush like hair all beginning to bloom as she rummaged around in her bag. "Where is it.. I know I shoved it in here- aha!" She pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and tossed it to Anne "Apparently people in the next town over are looking for a group to clear out a local spiders nest!"

At the mention of spiders most people in the group grimaced, they all remembered what happened in the mountain caverns. Norvik shifted uncomfortably "We're not doing that right? Rhonda nearly died last time we dealt with spiders!"

At the mention of her near death experience, Rhonda shrugged. "Eh, I was alright! Nothing can take me down!"

"You were unconscious for a week!" The scholar argued.

"Look it doesn't matter what happened last time." Anne said, sighing, "The unfortunate reality is that we're broke and we could really use the silver, so we're just going to have to suck it up and use our last few coins to buy some anti-venom."

June Bug smiled "See guys! We'll be fine!"

"Easy for you to say.." Norvik grumbled as he fought with the cloth of his tent, "It's not like you can get bitten anyway."

That night, as most of the group slept, Myrin sat by the fire on first watch. He had pulled back his hood and was currently staring into the crackling fire. He occasionally glanced at the four tents positioned in a semi circle around him but other then the occasional snore from Rhonda everything was silent. He was taking first watch to avoid going into his shared tent with Norvik, not because he didn't like the scholar but because he liked him a little too much. Before he had left his faction he had actually been told his name and although he had given up on being an assassin, he was actually his last job.

That was the deal the Night Elves gave to him, to officially recognize him as separate from the faction he had to kill the scholar. Why? Because he knew too much about elven culture, things that only elves should know. Apparently he'd learned them from a book that had gotten mixed up in a port city, it was bound for the elven library at Silverleaf but had instead ended up in some nobles library in Garrowsfield. The elves sent to retrieve it had been met with the sight of him reading it nearly everyday, and news traveled quickly when elvish knowledge was on the line.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, he'd thought about killing Norvik plenty of times. It would be easy, the man wasn't exactly a fighter and he had let his guard down around the elf more then once, but despite how easy it would be he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Why? Because the damned scholar clearly had no ill intentions, for anyone. He was focused on his goal and the safety of the group, he wasn't going to go around telling everyone things they shouldn't know about elven culture, he was more focus on trying to stay alive along enough to catalogue their journey!

A branch snapped behind him and he whirled around, picking up his bow staff and getting into a fighting stance, only to find the very man he'd just been thinking about standing there. His glasses were lopsided and his hair was out of its usual bun, his robe was also gone replaced with a white sleep shirt and short brown pants. He had his hands up in the air and looked frightened "Easy! It's just me." He whisper shouted.

Myrin lowered his staff and turned to sit back down on the log, the scholar joined him not long after. "I couldn't sleep, I'm worried about tomorrow."

He tilted his head at him, it was something he'd heard before yet he always wanted to comfort him anyway. Norvik continued "I know the rest of the group doesn't really think it's a big deal but it is! It is a big deal! Spiders are fast, they are dangerous, and have some of the most potent venom on the continent! They could easily kill a dragon with just one bite!"

Myrin sensed a ramble coming on so he put his hand on his shoulder, rubbing his thumb gently into his skin. That shut him up quickly and he could have sworn that he actually saw the little gears always turning in the humans head actually come to a stop. They were both quiet for a moment before the other man cleared his throat and gave him a small smile. "Thanks Myrin."

Myrin. Norvik was the only one who knew his actual name, the rest of the group just called him "Archer" which he was fine with but it was nice to hear his name occasionally. Especially from this man, who's warm brown eyes seemed to capture all of the light from the dancing flames. His breathing slowed and he leaned in, his hand moving from the scholars shoulder to the back of his neck. They were a hairs width apart when he realized what was happening and quickly backed away, pulling his hood over his head and retreating into the trees, he could sleep in the forest for just one night.