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My Silkroad Online Short Story for Nassai

Chapter 1 - The Shady Man

Nassai turned into the slight breeze that came from across the water, but a loose buckle on Bianca, her water buffalo, is what caught her attension. She tightened it while thinking about how long it seemed to be taking for the ferry to leave port. She had come earlier that morning so she could be on her way towards Jangan before the mid-day sun, but now that dream seemed to crumble. Just once, she wished that he trade runs would go exactly as planned, but hopefully there wouldn't be anymore delays.

Another few minutes went by and she had come to her patiences end, so she made her way to the Ferry greeter who seemed to be doing some dealings with a shady-looking man dressed in all black attire, including a black pan hat with a mask. Cautiously, she crept up beside the boatsman.

" 'scuz meh, Sir. When are we leaving? I had hoped to be gone before noon-days sun, looks to me that we ain't gunna make that time." Her glance drifted to the shady-man," We aren't having a problem... are we?"

The boatsman coughed and spoke up looking slightly flustered, "no, no... we aren't haveing any problems. Just some," he couldn't make eye contact with her," last minute dealings. We'll be adrift in a moment ma'am." With that he took a quick glance back at the man then turned to walk away, jingling from the gold that lined his pockets at the moment.

Her focus then went to the newcomer who was now boarding his bull laided with large red boxes, but oddly enough the bull wasnt huffing and puffing like ol' Bianca would be by now. She walked up to him once the bull was loaded. "So," she put her precautions away, giving him the benefit of the doubt since this had been the first trader she had seen in awhile, " where ya headed? Nice strong steer ya got yerself there Sir, not even a-huffin' yet." He did answer her, just in a manner she didn't much appreciate as she shoved her out of his way and to the ground. She fell with a clank as her and her armor hit the deck.

Standing up, she glared in his direction but he was already down the main deck of the ferry and all that she could see of him was his sillohet and the bow upon his back. "... how rude," she said to herself as she went to stand beside Bianca again and her hand slipped overher sword, but she held back the urge to unsheeth it. May as well not expose it is she doesn't have too, especially in questionable company.

Fifteen minutes had gone by and they had finally began there jot across the river. There were only two reason that she put up with this, and one of them wasn't even a very good one. One reason, was that even though the boat ride only took about a half-hour, the river itseld could not be fjorded or swam over, so she had to deal with lateness and delays. The other reason, the not very good one, was that she had the idea to travel early in the morning as to avoid pesky robbers, bandits and theifs who wouldn't be up in the early dawn hours due to intense hangovers. She also wanted to take the extra percausion because their numbers have become numorious over the course of this past year, making merchanting so much harder, especially without Hunter help.

Yes, the grandeur of triangular conflict of the Silk Road. merchants, like herself, carried goods between towns as Hunters captured or killed the masked menises that plagued there journies. 'Until the day Silk Road is covered in gold.' It was nice to think those stories were true and you could tell your children the tales of the couragious heros who made there way through the wilds. She knew though, that those stories weren't all filled with glory and valor... in real life, most ended up dead in a gully or stripped bare and robbed of both goods and dignity, and she was in the thick of it all.

Nassai would swear upon herlife that even Tex, the arena champion of Hotan, whose legend was epic, couldn't even survive some of the trials that she and other merchants had encountered. Once she was robbed and left without a thing in the world, except a knife that the thief who robbed her left in the as he galloped away laughing. He left her on a high plateau where old trade horses became demonic and feral. not onltthis, but they were drunken with stagnat desert waters... but some still carried there old cargo that they had before they became crazy. One night, she was lucky enough to find a few in a cave. So, slicing there necks scilently taking there cargo. That was where she got what she wore now, hard wooden armor inlaid with purple and silver steel.

Her hand drifted over her swords hilt again, but ahhh... did that sword have a story. Valefor was her name, defence and slaying was her game. She loved this sword, and on namy occation, it had saved her life. Not only that, but it had a shine to it that only few other weapons, in her knowledge, had. Sure... she had stolen Valefor, but, is it really considered stealing if it's from a thief to begin with?

She came upon there encampment in the middle of the night and their guardsmen seemed to have a bit too much Huns Liquor as was washed out atop a rock. There were way to many of them to tango with, but she did see a shiney amongst them, and it was the captain of the bunch. So she tried her luck and also tried to keep Bianca from baying long enough to grab the shiney and bolt. She did manage to succeed, but in the oddest of fashions. As she knabbed the shiney, the captain was russled awake by some of the cloth around her neck ruffling across his face. The captain, on the other hand, didn't see her due to a camel launching her about ten feet into the darkness with a well place kick to her breast plate. Catching her breath she tossled and ran with her shiney in hand catching Bianca's harness and fleeting into the night.

After that run went smoothly, she purchased a shield that attacked to her upper arm and then learned the art of bishon so that she could weild her sweet Valefor with percision and accuracy. All this training did pay off, for now she has gained major respectability amongst the people of Silk Road as someone who will get their goods to where they need to go, on time and intact.

She had been stareing into the greeny-blue depths of the river reminicing on her older trading days, but something caught her attension out of the corner of her eye behind Bianca... and it was black.

"HEY!," SHe shouted standing up quickly, unsheething Valefor and rousing Bianca from her slumber causing her to lose her balance and sit on whomever was behind her.

"ooOOffff... ow...aw shit...," his head stayed down, her knew he had been caught. She laughed and patted Bianca on the head.

"HA! Good ol' gal. What we got here? Tis' a thiefling." So then she hovered her blade over the top of his black pan hat, and with a quick flick of the wrist she pulled it off. Who then laid before her defeated and sat on by Bianca made her burst out laughing.

"Antaress! What is all's hell are you doing trying to thief, let alone trying to thief me! Ha, you can barely aim your arrows to hit a mangyang three feet infront of you let alone rob a trader... ha! Bianca, " she pulled her reigns, " up, off the poor soul will ya gal?"

He laid there on the deck a few more moments gasping for breath which Bianca had previously knocked from him. Antaress then rolled onto his back slipping off the black thief suit then standing up to face Nassai.

"I wasn't going to kill you!" She looked at him raising one eyebrow.

"Eh? How else we're ya gunna get my shi-.. taki."

"Haha, still trying not to curse, are we? And for your information, I was going to knock you out with a potion. I just slipped it into your canteen. It worked befo-." In that moment she brushed Valefor over one of the red boxes on the back of his bull and nothing but a plume of dust erupted. "Worked before, eh?"

"Well, er... no it hasn't... You were the first trader I've seen for a long time now! I was just gunna knock you out, take Bianca and bring her back to you later and give you half the profits." He shuffled his feet some.

"... Ah, I see, and what was plan B if your toxin didn't work."

He brightened up at this next question, "Why, my devilish charm and sexy looks." He winked and laughed. "You have to admit Nassai, that thief suite made me look seeeexyyy." A cheesy grin was added to his face.

"Ugh, might work on your mama Antaress but not me. First things first though, "her expression became a bit darker and she held Valefor before him. "If you EVER threaten my trade runs again, this blade may bathe happily in your blood. So you will NEVER even think of attempting this again for as long as you live Antaress... Dong ma?" She stared at him now and raised Valefore, shining with delight in the mid-days sun, to the weak point on his green calvery armor.

"...of course not," his eyes widdened as he backed up and gulped. "I understand." She nodded and rose Valefor just a bit higher and pushed lightly on his breast plate causing him to fall back behind Bianca again.

"Bianca, sit." Bianca proceeded to sit on him again. "Now," she kneeled down beside him, " remember earlier, when you... shoved me over? That wasn't very nice. So, this is for being rude earlier. You get to stay like this till we get into port. How 'bout that?"

Her long day had just gotten better by ten-fold. Then, she stood up grabbing her canteen and drained it overboard. Walking off, she looked back and grinned at Antaress and Bianca. "Your a good ol' gal Bianca. Maybe I shouldn't have fed you all that alfalfa earlier though, you may make Antaress rather unpleasent while under there." Then, she was off to refresh her water in the galley.

Description
My Silkroad Online Short Story for Nassai

Chapter 1 - The Shady Man

Nassai turned into the slight breeze that came from across the water, but a loose buckle on Bianca, her water buffalo, is what caught her attension. She tightened it while thinking about how long it seemed to be taking for the ferry to leave port. She had come earlier that morning so she could be on her way towards Jangan before the mid-day sun, but now that dream seemed to crumble. Just once, she wished that he trade runs would go exactly as planned, but hopefully there wouldn't be anymore delays.

Another few minutes went by and she had come to her patiences end, so she made her way to the Ferry greeter who seemed to be doing some dealings with a shady-looking man dressed in all black attire, including a black pan hat with a mask. Cautiously, she crept up beside the boatsman.

" 'scuz meh, Sir. When are we leaving? I had hoped to be gone before noon-days sun, looks to me that we ain't gunna make that time." Her glance drifted to the shady-man," We aren't having a problem... are we?"

The boatsman coughed and spoke up looking slightly flustered, "no, no... we aren't haveing any problems. Just some," he couldn't make eye contact with her," last minute dealings. We'll be adrift in a moment ma'am." With that he took a quick glance back at the man then turned to walk away, jingling from the gold that lined his pockets at the moment.

Her focus then went to the newcomer who was now boarding his bull laided with large red boxes, but oddly enough the bull wasnt huffing and puffing like ol' Bianca would be by now. She walked up to him once the bull was loaded. "So," she put her precautions away, giving him the benefit of the doubt since this had been the first trader she had seen in awhile, " where ya headed? Nice strong steer ya got yerself there Sir, not even a-huffin' yet." He did answer her, just in a manner she didn't much appreciate as she shoved her out of his way and to the ground. She fell with a clank as her and her armor hit the deck.

Standing up, she glared in his direction but he was already down the main deck of the ferry and all that she could see of him was his sillohet and the bow upon his back. "... how rude," she said to herself as she went to stand beside Bianca again and her hand slipped overher sword, but she held back the urge to unsheeth it. May as well not expose it is she doesn't have too, especially in questionable company.

Fifteen minutes had gone by and they had finally began there jot across the river. There were only two reason that she put up with this, and one of them wasn't even a very good one. One reason, was that even though the boat ride only took about a half-hour, the river itseld could not be fjorded or swam over, so she had to deal with lateness and delays. The other reason, the not very good one, was that she had the idea to travel early in the morning as to avoid pesky robbers, bandits and theifs who wouldn't be up in the early dawn hours due to intense hangovers. She also wanted to take the extra percausion because their numbers have become numorious over the course of this past year, making merchanting so much harder, especially without Hunter help.

Yes, the grandeur of triangular conflict of the Silk Road. merchants, like herself, carried goods between towns as Hunters captured or killed the masked menises that plagued there journies. 'Until the day Silk Road is covered in gold.' It was nice to think those stories were true and you could tell your children the tales of the couragious heros who made there way through the wilds. She knew though, that those stories weren't all filled with glory and valor... in real life, most ended up dead in a gully or stripped bare and robbed of both goods and dignity, and she was in the thick of it all.

Nassai would swear upon herlife that even Tex, the arena champion of Hotan, whose legend was epic, couldn't even survive some of the trials that she and other merchants had encountered. Once she was robbed and left without a thing in the world, except a knife that the thief who robbed her left in the as he galloped away laughing. He left her on a high plateau where old trade horses became demonic and feral. not onltthis, but they were drunken with stagnat desert waters... but some still carried there old cargo that they had before they became crazy. One night, she was lucky enough to find a few in a cave. So, slicing there necks scilently taking there cargo. That was where she got what she wore now, hard wooden armor inlaid with purple and silver steel.

Her hand drifted over her swords hilt again, but ahhh... did that sword have a story. Valefor was her name, defence and slaying was her game. She loved this sword, and on namy occation, it had saved her life. Not only that, but it had a shine to it that only few other weapons, in her knowledge, had. Sure... she had stolen Valefor, but, is it really considered stealing if it's from a thief to begin with?

She came upon there encampment in the middle of the night and their guardsmen seemed to have a bit too much Huns Liquor as was washed out atop a rock. There were way to many of them to tango with, but she did see a shiney amongst them, and it was the captain of the bunch. So she tried her luck and also tried to keep Bianca from baying long enough to grab the shiney and bolt. She did manage to succeed, but in the oddest of fashions. As she knabbed the shiney, the captain was russled awake by some of the cloth around her neck ruffling across his face. The captain, on the other hand, didn't see her due to a camel launching her about ten feet into the darkness with a well place kick to her breast plate. Catching her breath she tossled and ran with her shiney in hand catching Bianca's harness and fleeting into the night.

After that run went smoothly, she purchased a shield that attacked to her upper arm and then learned the art of bishon so that she could weild her sweet Valefor with percision and accuracy. All this training did pay off, for now she has gained major respectability amongst the people of Silk Road as someone who will get their goods to where they need to go, on time and intact.

She had been stareing into the greeny-blue depths of the river reminicing on her older trading days, but something caught her attension out of the corner of her eye behind Bianca... and it was black.

"HEY!," SHe shouted standing up quickly, unsheething Valefor and rousing Bianca from her slumber causing her to lose her balance and sit on whomever was behind her.

"ooOOffff... ow...aw shit...," his head stayed down, her knew he had been caught. She laughed and patted Bianca on the head.

"HA! Good ol' gal. What we got here? Tis' a thiefling." So then she hovered her blade over the top of his black pan hat, and with a quick flick of the wrist she pulled it off. Who then laid before her defeated and sat on by Bianca made her burst out laughing.

"Antaress! What is all's hell are you doing trying to thief, let alone trying to thief me! Ha, you can barely aim your arrows to hit a mangyang three feet infront of you let alone rob a trader... ha! Bianca, " she pulled her reigns, " up, off the poor soul will ya gal?"

He laid there on the deck a few more moments gasping for breath which Bianca had previously knocked from him. Antaress then rolled onto his back slipping off the black thief suit then standing up to face Nassai.

"I wasn't going to kill you!" She looked at him raising one eyebrow.

"Eh? How else we're ya gunna get my shi-.. taki."

"Haha, still trying not to curse, are we? And for your information, I was going to knock you out with a potion. I just slipped it into your canteen. It worked befo-." In that moment she brushed Valefor over one of the red boxes on the back of his bull and nothing but a plume of dust erupted. "Worked before, eh?"

"Well, er... no it hasn't... You were the first trader I've seen for a long time now! I was just gunna knock you out, take Bianca and bring her back to you later and give you half the profits." He shuffled his feet some.

"... Ah, I see, and what was plan B if your toxin didn't work."

He brightened up at this next question, "Why, my devilish charm and sexy looks." He winked and laughed. "You have to admit Nassai, that thief suite made me look seeeexyyy." A cheesy grin was added to his face.

"Ugh, might work on your mama Antaress but not me. First things first though, "her expression became a bit darker and she held Valefor before him. "If you EVER threaten my trade runs again, this blade may bathe happily in your blood. So you will NEVER even think of attempting this again for as long as you live Antaress... Dong ma?" She stared at him now and raised Valefore, shining with delight in the mid-days sun, to the weak point on his green calvery armor.

"...of course not," his eyes widdened as he backed up and gulped. "I understand." She nodded and rose Valefor just a bit higher and pushed lightly on his breast plate causing him to fall back behind Bianca again.

"Bianca, sit." Bianca proceeded to sit on him again. "Now," she kneeled down beside him, " remember earlier, when you... shoved me over? That wasn't very nice. So, this is for being rude earlier. You get to stay like this till we get into port. How 'bout that?"

Her long day had just gotten better by ten-fold. Then, she stood up grabbing her canteen and drained it overboard. Walking off, she looked back and grinned at Antaress and Bianca. "Your a good ol' gal Bianca. Maybe I shouldn't have fed you all that alfalfa earlier though, you may make Antaress rather unpleasent while under there." Then, she was off to refresh her water in the galley.