She had a sword. The huddle of people crowded behind her. Whimpers did not go unnoticed to her uncovered ears. Fear radiated off of them into her back, almost as thick as the snow in the valley. Maybe it was from them. From the look in Yisa's eyes, maybe it was really from herself. The thug charged at her again. Yisa rolled to the side so that he didn't charge directly at the others. Thankfully it worked, though the steel of his blade bit hers with great fierceness. She dug her heel into the ground involuntarily. It was all she could do to keep from buckling under his force. He brought the sword down again, this time he did force her to the ground. He lifted it a third time. Somehow despite her fear, Yisa managed to evade it enough and slam her own sword to his head. It was just the blunt side, but the tip managed to nix his face. Pulling a foot back, she kicked him in his treasured spot as hard as he could. This time, the grip on his sword wavered completely and he sunk to his knees with his hands over his area. She stood up without much thought to his pain filled eyes and swung her sword as if it were a baseball bat at the back of his skull. Only the flat side was used, but it did its job of successfully knocking out the final bandit. There had been three of them total, as far as she knew.
Large clouds of breath came from her mouth as her lungs tried to keep up with her pounding heart. The slit she cut through the layers of her commoner's dress let her legs move more freely, but the cold would be biting at her soon. He sleeves had long since been rolled up to keep from hindering her swords path. Her boots were layered with fabric. She couldn't feel them good since the cold had long since numbed them. Yisa didn't dare move. Her sword was still held in both her hands. Another sword covered in an ordinary cloth was soundly secured on her back. Little did she realize, it was this the men were after. It was this she would guard with her life, until she found its rightful owner. It was this that her quest for excellence never ended.
Movement was seen in the corner of her eye. She waited until her breathing had returned to normal before fixing a smile upon the approaching man. The sight of her carefree smile did not put him at ease. "Why didn't you kill these offenders?"
Yisa's eyes slid open as her care free smile fell to confusion. She let the tip of her sword rest in the snowy ground. "Kill them? Why would I do that?"
The man fumed, his face turning beat red as he let out a tirade about hiring children for protection. It all rolled off of her like water on glass. Except for the important parts like his wife was sick with something only magic could cure. For this reason he chose to traverse the harsh conditions of Sionad Tundra to reach Hyoite, or maybe even a few camps before that. Yisa was coming along to help the cross without harm. Clearly, he was not happy with his decision. She never interrupted her in his tirade, no matter how outrageous his remarks would make some.
"Ah right..." She said as she looked elsewhere and nodded her head. Her blissful eyees turned back to the man. "And who are you again?" She paused when the man let out a growl to the sky. "You okay mister?"
"AM I Okay??! Are You OKAY?!?! This is the Seventieth time you've asked that supid question in the past week!!"
"Oh....so who are --?" He glowered at her. She waved away the question with a hand. "Alright, I can understand your need to protect your identity. As for the bandits, I wasn't hired to kill. I was hired to protect you." Confusion practically wafted off of her. It was plain to see in her opinion. Yisa gestured to the fellow and his two comrades crumpled on the ground some distance away. "These people are no older than your oldest child." An easy smile came back to her face as she continued, "They might've had reasons to steal, but they had no intention to kill. You've no reason to fear, I've got everything under control."
"You don't know that that was their only reason!"
"I know that you are safe. That is knowledge enough." She slid her sword back into it's scabbard at her hip. "We should get moving. There's still have a lot of ground to cover." With that, she walked toward the other people huddled by their wagon letting the older man follow at his leisure. She was shocked to see that he stepped in front of her.
"No more! I'm not traveling with you anymore! My ulcer can't take it. We're close enough to make it on our own." Taking out a pouch of coins, he tossed it at her. Yi' caught it in one hand. "That's your pay. I hope to the gods you get your sanity back."
The man walked off, leaving Yisa with her money. Her bag was dumped off the carriage and they trotted off. Only a chestnut brown horse was left aside from it. "Goodbye! Hope she gets better! Take Care!!" She called after them in a wave. The carriage sped up. Yisa walked over to her pack and put away the coins. "That had to be the strangest farewell i've ever seen. Welp, no use stickin' around here." Settling the pack on her back, she headed off in a direction at a whim. The horse walked beside her. Absently she stroked the beautiful horse's back. Why they would leave such a nice animal behind was beyond her. She had a strange feeling that she's ridden her before. Yi' didn't know exactly where she was going, but her instinct told her this was the way.