– As birds chirp over a new morning, Jubei slowly wakes up to the sight of Dara with a sack
Dara—
“I spent some time collecting the gear and weaponry the goblins wielded.”
“6 sets of leather armor, bows, and shortswords. They had shields, but, I’m already pushing my limit in terms of carrying.”
Jubei— ” You sure?” “I can carry two at least”
Dara— ” That would be a help”
Jubei—
Dara— “Is something the matter?”
Jubei— “These are pretty light!!!”
Dara— 
Jubei— “What’re you collecting all of them for anyway?”
Dara— ” It can be sold once we arrive at Vale, and gather at least money for room and board for a time.”
Jubei— ” Ahh, nice!”
— The sound of far off shouting can be heard
Dara— ” I wonder what that was..”
“Jubei, let’s-” “Jubei?”
— Jubei has already run off in the direction of the noise, a sack over her back containing the shields———————————————————— Jubei grows near, and sees someone hunched over, leaning against a tree
Hobgoblin— “Nngh….help…”
Jubei—
-Dara tugs on Jubei’s shoulder from the place in a bush 100 feet away
Dara— “That’s a hobgoblin. It’s best to leave them be.”
Jubei— “Why would we do that?”
Dara— “It’s probably a trap.”
Jubei— “Hm…” “How about you stay back and I’ll go check on em?”
Dara—
” It feels like she’s going to do it regardless, so..”
“Very well.”
— As Dara hides from a distance, her bow ready for anything unusual, Jubei approaches the hobgoblin, exiting the bush
Jubei— ” Are you alright?”
Hobgoblin— ” H-help…”
— Jubei approaches the hob ever closer. She touches his back
Jubei— “What do you need? Are you harmed?”
Hobgoblin— ” Call a medic..” “But not for me“
Jubei— 
Dara—
— two other hobgoblins appear from a bush opposite of where Jubei and the hob stand.
Hobgoblin— ” Oldest trick in the book.”
Jubei-” What do you mean trick? So you weren’t really hurt?”
Hobgoblin-” Nah, we were out here looking for some blonde woman.” “But you showing up was a nice surprise little lady.” “Now drop that sword of yours and come with us.”
Dara— “Three hobgoblins…”
Jubei- “Such an underhanded trick..you’ll pay!”
Hobgoblin— “That’s rich”
– Jubei notices the sound of bows being drawn by the two accomplices
Jubei— “…
Hobgoblin— ” Now enough fussin. Drop your weapons or they’ll take your arms off-“
– An arrow pierces one of the archers (6damage)
Hobgoblin— ” There’s another one!?”
— Jubei, seeming to ignore the hobgoblin’s words, draws her sword, unleashing a quickdraw slash. The hobgoblin quickly deflects it
Hobgoblin— “You’ll need more than that to-“
– His thought will never be allowed to finish, as Jubei uses a familiar follow up, cutting the hob down in one stroke
Hobgoblin- ” Form up!!! Take down the tiefling!!!”
Jubei —
— An arrow strikes Jubei in the thigh, as the hobs prepare another salvo. Cover fire from Dara is given, causing the hobs to duck long enough to take their eyes off Jubei, who closes the distance and attempts to swing at one
Dara— ” My vision..”
— The hobgoblins disengage, falling back down a forest path
Dara— ” At least they’re backing off..”
Jubei— “Grr…that sure was sneaky of them!!” “Why would they try and trick someone into helping them like that!?”
Dara—
“…And yet again, this is twice now, that I’ve seen her struck by some form of damage, and yet there’s no wound.”
“We should hurry up and go.” “Actually, do you think you could handle carrying that hobgoblin’s chain mail?’
Jubei— ” Oh, sure!”
——————————————————
★ Jubei is now level 2★
★Dara is now level 2★
———————————————————–
Jubei-
“Whoa look at that stream!!”
Dara— ” After we cross this ravine, we should arrive in Vale soon.”
Jubei— ” Do you hear that?”
Dara— ” hear what?”
— Jubei directs Dara’s ear
Hobgoblin— “Freeze blondie!!! Or your boyfriend dies!!!”
Jubei— “It sounds like they’re trying to mug someone else!!”
Dara— ” I think you mean abduct.”
Jubei- ” That too, let’s go help them!”
Dara— “WAIT!! ” ” We need to be strategic about this.” “I haven’t brought it up yet, but, being a dark elf, I have trouble seeing sometimes in the day.” “..If you rush in, and it’s not a good situation for us, I might not be able to help you as well as I could”
Jubei— ” Oh..I understand what you mean.”
Dara- “I’d like for you to go ahead and arm yourself with one of the shields as well.” “Your style seems speed based, but, I don’t want you taking damage you could avoid, at least for now.”
” What are you-“
Jubei— “I can tell you’re worried about me. I’ll ready up a shield and be more low-key this time, okay?”
Dara— “O-okay..”
“I’ve heard of these gestures before…”
“So that was a “hug””
———————————————————–
–
“What’s the big idea???”
-8 hobgoblins have the blonde woman’s companion surrounded
Hobgoblin-” Don’t try anything funny string bean!!”
–
“…
Hobgoblin— ” You listenin to me?!”
Circe— ” I already dropped my sword.”
Hobgoblin- This one’s got no fight captain!”
Captain Craw- “Good.”
-The lead hob enters the scene, his fine boots sinking into the soil with each step
Captain Craw- ” Our business is with her anyway. Right men?”
Hobgoblin- ” That’s right! She killed my entire squad captain!”
Donna-
” Have we met before?”
Hobgoblin— ” Don’t try and play dumb!!! We jum- I mean, stumbled into you, and you sent me mates to the great beyond!!! It was monstrous!!!”
Donna— ” I don’t get it.”
Captain Craw— ” What?”
Donna— ” I haven’t ran into your wives or anything today.”
Hobgoblin— ” They were men“
Donna— ” Ohhhh I get it.You’re the wife!!”
— Several hobs hold one of their own back as he begins to shout colorful indignation at Donna As this plays out, in a bush 50 feet away from the scene, Jubei and Dara observe
Dara— ” There’s nine hobgoblins in total, and one of them…looks like a captain.”
Jubei— ” That blonde girl has a killer body! I wonder what her training regimen is..”
Dara— ” We should aim to redce their numbers as quickly as possible. Otherwise, we’ll be easily overwhelmed.”
Jubei— ” Hm, yea. I noticed how the ones we fought earlier worked pretty wel as a team.”
Circe— ” You’re the leader, correct?” “I’d like to parlay.”
Hobgoblin— ” Shut yer trap!!! You don’t get to talk to the captain!!”
Captain Craw— ” I will humor your request. Speak.”
Hobgoblin— ” What, but, captain Craw!!”
Captain Craw-” We have no reason to refuse him.” “Now please, go on.”
Circe— ” I propose a duel, between you and myself.” “If I win, you let us go.”
Captain Craw— ” And if I were to win?”
Circe— ” My life is yours.”
Captain Craw— “… “Your intentions are noble.” “And yet..fruitless.” “Your offer is declined.”
Hobgoblin— ” BWAHAHA!!!! Did ya think the captain would accept your weak parlay, BOY?”
Circe— “…
Dara—
” It seems like the negotiations are breaking down.”
“I might actually be able to get a shot on him if-“
— A shield goes flying into the ground a bit near Craw.”
Captain Craw— ” Who dares!?”
Jubei— ” What kind of leader are you supposed to be!?”
narrator— Jubei, in plain view, angrily marches in the direction of Craw
Dara—
” What is she DOING!?!?”
Jubei— ” If you’re supposed to be some big boss, then you should be willing to take on anyone’s challenge!!! It’s the honorable thing to do!!!” “To hear his terms and deny him, it means you’re nothing more than a thug!”
Hobgoblin— ” HOLD YOUR TONGUE, WENCH!!!”
Captain Craw-
“The passion in her voice, this conviction..”
” It reminds me of..!!”
Hobgoblin- “WUAAAGH!!”
— From the gathering of hobs around Circe, all of them are flung every which way by the emergence of spiked tendrils, their origin coming from the man.
Circe— “Arms of Hadar”
“I offered the duel, since I didn’t want any unnecessary bloodshed.”
Dara—
“He’s a mage!!”
— From the eruption, six of the eight hobs around Circe fail to rise up, with the two survivors grievously wounded
Captain Craw— ” My Men!!”
— Dara’s arrow flies, striking Craw’s shoulder blade (Craw hp 31/39)
Captain Craw—
“Another!?”
“You will PAY for your treachery!!”
Circe— ” Ironic.”
— The surviving hobs collapse as Circe conjures another volley of dark tendrils to assail them
Donna-” Aw, I was waiting for that one to tell me about who his mate is..”
Captain Craw-
” Without any allies, I have no chance here!”
“I give my word…I will not forget this slight!!!”
— Craw retreats, exiting the battlefield As Circe walks over to retrieve his sword. Dara emerges from the bush
Dara— ” So you two were the people the hobgoblins were looking for.”
Jubei- “That was a pretty cool move you did back there!” What’s your name by the way?”
Circe— “..Circe”
Jubei— “Circe?”
Donna— ” Heya! I’m Donna!!”
Jubei— ” Hey, I’m Jubei!!!” “Wanna travel to Vale with us?”
Donna— ” Vale? Sounds cool!! Totally let’s go!” “What’s your favorite food?”
Jubei— “Hmmm, I’d say my usual fave are dishes I used to eat back home.”
Donna— ” Back home?” Where’s that?”
— This entire time, Jubei and Donna have been walking away on the trail leading to Vale, leaving Dara and Circe far behind them.
Dara—
” I guess they organized for us to travel together as a party ….without our input.”
Circe— ” That was a good shot.”
Dara—
Circe—
” When you struck the captain.”
“I was hoping to use the moment you fired at him to make a more direct attack, but your friend provided a distraction to help us both.”
Dara— ” The way he said that…Did he already know we were around before Jubei stepped out?”
Circe- ” Let’s head after them, before they get lost.”
Dara— “Oh, yes.”
Celestial Saga 
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