Damn wagons, so high above the ground," Rosen muttered as he grabbed the side of the caravan. He wasn't familiar with stretching his feet so far above the ground, hopping in inches to see if he could collect enough momentum to pull himself aboard. He'd lift his left foot off the ground just far enough for the weight from his right leg, already high and awkwardly cemented to the flooring of the caravan to shift back, letting him collapse again onto the ground.

"uuuuuggghh." He tried again, this time balancing his weight on the hilt of his sword has he lifted his remaining leg off the ground, from a spectator's view it looked like a rather large plate dancing on a pole, the shuddering of his sword clamping against the ground as he swayed back and forth, finally reaching a comfortable medium as he found himself aboard.

The blade that had dug itself into the earth was unhinged from its service and placed back into its holster, careening above is crooked back as he hunched down to look at the floor boarding of the caravan, awaiting for the others to join and eventually begin to move towards its destination.

"Damn kids...always last to move, first to die."

Simon listened to the others, and finally, to Valen's answering to the questions on the briefing. He watched in awe, as the wagon arrived, as though on cue. Waiting his turn, Simon scrambled on board, taking a moment or two longer than necessary. He wasn't that familiar with wagons. Once on board, he found an open spot, and sat down, mainly keeping to himself.

Bubbling with excitement, Eberron let out a particularly over dramatic goron moan. He watched as the wagon approach and following after the other adventurers, climbed in. Looking around he grinned at everybody else coming in and took his bag off, leaving it to the side of him. Taking out the deku shield which he dwarfed, he placed it on his left arm and stretched out slightly. Lying himself down, Eberron decided that staying too tense would only leave him stressed and incapable of fighting. Mentally prepared for the possibilities to come, he clenched and unclenched his large goron hands as he waited to see what happened.

The don't leave the dead behind, Darilan thinks. As he looks at Rosen and Eberron, something occurs to him: It would take a lot of muscle to move a dead Goron out of the way, especially if the enemies wanted to do it quickly. A Darknut or Iron Knuckle would certainly be able to kill an unsuspecting Goron, but they make a hell of a racket, and it would be difficult for something that big to hide in a tunnel like this. Wouldn't the Goron here it coming an yell for help?

Darilan starts to reconsider his decision. This could be an enemy that he had not seen the likes of. It made him feel uncomfortable that he wouldn't be able to see the enemies before they enemy saw him. In the few battles he had fought so far to take back South Hyrule, he had been able to see the enemy from a distance and think of a plan of attack. The difference between his battles in the recent past and the battle he anticipates could be the difference between life and death. He told the man he would do it though, so he would stick to his promises. With that, he climbed on board.

It was comical, at least for Aria, to watch Rosen and Simon struggle with the wagon. She was not familiar with them either, but she deftly jumped in with no problem, being extremely familiar with horse-back riding. Quite a few times in the past she had to mount Genarog while she ran to him, and once or twice she mounted the gelding as he ran towards her. Getting into a stationary wagon was no problem for the Gerudo.

In the wagon, Aria sat herself in a spot away from both Gorons. She had nothing against Eberron and Rosen, but she did not trust the combination of a wagon moving on pebbles and a Goron's weight.

Kuro watched in silence as the other adventurers volunteered and the wagon rolled up. Kuro waited in silence as the others boarded the wagon, some with ease, and others with a bit of trouble. Kuro walked over the the wagon, and placing a hand on it, vaulted on to it. He didn't have much trouble, since he used to jump over quite a few things, fences being the most common, so boarding a wagon wasn't too much of a change.

Kuro walked over to the back, trying to get as far as he could as he pondered whether or not the mission would be a success. Kuro looked over the group that was assembled, which included several experienced adventurers, and four experienced knights. It was probably safe to say that they would be successful, and would hopefully be able to get some new weapons available.

Leth advanced down the tunnel, keeping an eye out for monsters. This was one of several trips he had made down the tunnel; he was constantly moving from the swamp to Ruto town and back again to recuperate after a battle. This time, he spotted a wagon alongside many well-known adventurers and a group of Hylian knights. He would have asked what was going on, but the wagon appeared to be ready to leave. So instead of talking, he merely hopped on, hoping to catch up on the details as they were heading.... wherever it was they were going.

He turned to the closest person and asked, "Excuse me for asking, but... what are we doing?"

"I thought so." The mercenary mumbled under his breath as the wagon approached. So they were offering themselves up as bait for who-knew-what. For all they knew, there was some gigantic worm swallowing the caravan up and spitting out the leftovers. They could all be dead in seconds.

Hauling himself into the back of the wooden vessel, Saber sighed. Such was life. Wow. When did I get so pessimistic? Sakiko must be around here somewhere. Casting his eyes about, he did indeed see the mage standing about, likely attempting to board herself. Like sheep to a slaughter. Stop it. Heading off to a mass funeral. Don't make me become an alcoholic! Oh well. At least they'd keep each other company in the same grave. I'm too young to be schizophrenic...

"Excuse me for asking, but... what are we doing?"

"You're happier not knowing. Just stay with us and see what happens."

Going on a suicide mission was like holding a giant people magnet over your head in Hyrule. It's not suicide!

Eberron grinned, happy to answer the question asked by the ranger.

"Why we're going to surprise some murderers!"

Suddenly lowering his voice, as if he could be heard already, Eberron glanced around to check if their foes were nearby. Continuing, he lowered his voice to a whisper.

"They've done awful things. Caravans with food and supplies have been stopped, and goron's have been killed..."

Eberron's grin faded and he took on a much more serious tone as he continued.

"It seems that caravans are attacked on their way here. No bodies are left, and no warning is heard to be given. Suggesting that the killer is swift, possibly hiding in the shadows and waiting for prey. The knights suspect a secret passages used to hide in and ambush such people. Rosen..."

Eberron pointed ahead to the front of the wagon.

"Is playing the part of the Goron traveller. We're his supplies. Only this time, the supplies have fists and weapons with which to fight. If you get my meaning."

Suddenly shifting back to his normal cheerful self, Eberron smiled once more.

"So we have to make sure we stay as quiet as food and wood would be! Which is very quiet."

"Very quiet indeed," Alpha added to the Goron's statement, chuckling to himself as he swung himself into the back of the wagon alongside all the other adventurers. This one seemed a bit more humorous than the others, and a bit more optimistic as well. 'Neither optimism nor pessimism are negative traits,' his master had once told him. 'But they are worthless to the bearer unless they are accompanied by realism.' True words, they. They might die, or they might find a group of lucky weaklings. Either way, as long as one accepted that the unexpected was more likely than the expected, they would be prepared and ready for any eventuality.

Looking back, he saw several of the adventurers still had yet to get on board. More out of a sense of impatience than kindness he reached out his hand, motioning for the others to take it and help themselves climb in the cart. Like the Goron had said, they had an appointment with some murderers, and he had no desire to be late for that meeting.

Abel climbed up the caravan and found a seat next to Kuro and wondered if they even stood a chance. He asked Kuro "Do you think we even stand a chance. Abel sat their and pondered how they could move a Goron was this possibly a new speices mabye even an ancient race long forgotten.

After waiting awkwardly for a significant amount of time Victor decided it would be a good idea to join the others in the caravan that had appeared. Or rather, it would be an idea. It's goodness was debatable.

For a silent moment the Bard rethought his choice. Should he really be doing this now, here? It was an important part of the Southern Crusade, that was sure. But was it worth... well he might not. It can't be too bad, the tunnel isn't too long. The Goddesses would smile on him, right?

Right?

He got up into the caravan but was still unsure. He huddled to the side above the axle, still unsure. He tucked his head against his knees, was unsure. He muttered prayers to himself, unsure.

It was just a matter of waiting, now...

Maverick flashed a return smile to Valens as the General called his bluff, but then, this mage was never one to be bested in a lie so easily. It saddened him that he had to fortify such a fib unto such a respectful man. The Calatian had met very few men who had heard of that encyclopedic tome, let alone men who had read it. In fact, of all the men who had ready any, it was not common for the chapter concerning Myron Rockafeller to be reached. General Valens was truly a remarkable person in his own right.

"I see you understand where my namesake comes from, Sir. Our family has long been discriminated against for our now ancient relationship to that Myron Rockafeller. Things were finally looking up, until my logically challenged parents decided that 'Myron' was a fine name. Ah, well. Such is life."

He boarded the wagon, his face still stern as stone. Taking a seat next to Victor, the Apostle said nothing. He leaned back and closed his eyes in thought, drumming his fingers on his lap. He took many deep breaths, but was sure that everything would turn out alright. He knew that apart from himself, Victor and Alpha had at least some experience with battling monsters beneath the surface world.

Well, Alpha had the experience, anyway. Victor was experienced in other skills, such as creating so much fright-induced noise that he was an excellent piece of bait.

No more thoughts, no more worrying, no more blabbering to yourself silently. Sakiko glanced almost nonchalantly as the wagon made its way towards them. She lingered at the back of the crowd as the adventurers each got in - some more smoothly than others, she noticed. The Mage patiently awaited her turn, making sure she had her staff in her hand. I don't want to lose it...magic power can always run out.

Sakiko noticed Alpha's hand, and to save time (instead of trying to clamber over the wagon alone) she took it and pulled herself up. After a mutter of thanks, the pale Mage situated herself in the corner...or what seemed to be the corner.

A Zora wandered slowly into the light around the caravan, his eyes closed, his head hung low, and his posture slouched. He looked up when the light bled through his eye lids, and pulled his hands out of his pockets. A slew of warriors were crowding into a caravan. He looked around, behind him, and then back foward. He seemed confused as to where all of them came from. Making pace again, he walked forward, and tapped the shoulder of a knight, who ignored him. He did this a few more times, until finally someone turned around, and looked him square in the eye. "A bunch of caravans have been ambushed in these caves lately. We're setting up a trap to catch the bandits. Nobody has to do this, but I'm impressed with a valor that's being shown here today!" Taint's eyes lit up, and then the rain cloud of before completely fell over him.

"No. No, I'm sorry, I can't help you guys." Without waiting for an answer, he meandered through the warriors, and made he way down the tunnel. He had completely disgusted himself in the previous battles, and felt no need to embarass himself anymore than he already had. I'm always slowing everyone down... He thought bitterly. Doesn't matter how hard I work to become better... some people were just meant to be losers, I guess. He shuffled further and further, when he stopped abruptly, and looked back towards the light that was now about 75 yards back. Maybe... Maybe this is a sign. He turned to face the light completely, and bit his upper lip. Maybe this is Nayru giving me one more chance to redeem myself in her eyes. He swatter at a bug on his neck, and continued to ponder until finally, he was motivated to turn back.

He started the walk, but after a few seconds of walking, he picked up his pace with a bit of a slow run. When he emerged back into the light, he looked around at everyone, and hoisted himself into the caravan. Stepping through the masses of people, he found an empty spot, and nestled into it, careful not to push anyone out of their comfort zone. He brought his knees up to his chest, and held them close with his arms. What did I just get myself into? This seemed to be a reocurring thought as of recent, and he sort of liked the rush it gave him. Whenever he was nervous, scared, hurt, or in danger... He felt alive. He hated getting himself into sticky situations, but he loved the thrill of it at the same token. He never could quite make up his mind between safety and danger. He never had the time either- because it seemed that with every passing day, danger would arrive at his doorstep, invited ot not.