Band of Misfits

CHAPTER 1: THE NOBLE'S SON

Amidst the tall oak trees and silent winds lay a girl, hidden within a dark layer of tall grass. No more than 30 feet away from her was a large deer, calmly drinking from a small pond. The girl stared intently at the deer and drew her bow. Her arms steadied and her breath stilled. She was ready.

"Hey! Where are you? Are you done yet?" screamed another from afar.

The girl jumped, and her shot flew past the deer; startled, it ran off into the distance. The girl smacked her lips and arose, revealing her bright, yet sharp blue eyes and red hair that was as messy as the grass around her. She could see a girl running towards her, and all she could do was pinch between her eyes.

"There you are Lyla. Did you manage to get the deer?" asked the girl. Her peculiar brown eyes reflected the sun's bright light and her long black pigtails were as smooth as silk. Lyla stared blankly at the girl. She leaned forward, put her hands on her hips and asked, "well?"

"No, Alexia, I didn't," replied Lyla as she crossed her arms.

"Well maybe if we just fixed up your hair a bit and keep your hair from covering your eye,"- her hand motioned towards Lyla- "it could help you improve-." Lyla quickly swiped Alexia's hand out of the way and stared her down.

"Please don't touch me. I can see just fine." Alexia pulled her hand back and turned around.

"Alright fine, you don't have to be so rude about it. Anyway, we should get going, the rest of the group is waiting for us." The two walked out of the forest and into the open grassy fields. Waiting for them were their three companions; two large Elves, Zero and Rydel, each clad in armor and wielding mighty greatswords, as well as a very pale and comically short Tiefling, Solgeran; although most knew him as Sol. The group joined together and ventured in the direction of a great city in the distance.

After some time the group noticed a few figures not too far off. Lyla leaned forward and squinted her eyes at the scene.

"Looks like their carriage is messed up," said Lyla. "Not only that but it looks like there's about 3 bodies on the ground, and they don't seem to be moving."

"The insignia on the carriage belongs to the Caliban family," replied Alexia. "Thieving bastards. They cheated their way into royalty. All they ever do now is suck up to the other Royal families, it's probably why they were headed to Shalai."

"Well regardless, there could be bystanders in need and we have to help!" exclaimed Rydel.

"Maybe we should think about this before we jump-," neglecting to hear out Alexia, both Rydel and Zero charged toward the carriage, followed by Lyla who said, "Helping out a noble could lead to some pretty good rewards. I'm in."

Alexia turned to Sol who turned back to her as well. He shrugged, and went along with the others. Alexia stared at her companions and hung her head. Letting out a sigh, she put on her hood, and followed them to the carriage.

The carriage seemed to grow bigger and bigger as the group grew closer to it. As tall as they were, both Rydel and Zero who normally towered over their companions needed to look up at it. Four, maybe five horses were needed to pull such a thing.

As they were arriving, they noticed what seemed to be a young teen, wearing thin, silky robes, yelling obscenities at three others. Two of them were large men wearing heavy armor and weaponry, while the other was considerably smaller and wearing noticeably worn out clothing.

"Look at this brat, he needs some discipline," whispered Zero to Rydel.

"Quiet you," replied Rydel as he elbowed Zero.

The two men were noticeably tired and had a dreadful look in their eyes, as if to say that this wasn't the first time they had been yelled at for a long period of time.