Thats totally fine, I'd definitely prefer if you were able to start (apologies) so I dont mind waiting! Thank you :)

(No worries, lol. I get it!)

Sage was walking through the campsite, checking in on the various battalions that were set up around their tents, eating breakfast before a long day of walking. He let out a sort of sigh as he glanced up at the sky, and then to the guards who were watching the woods around them. It wasn't a super large group, there was another one much further north of here....the two groups were moving to opposite sides of a rival camp at the moment, hoping to attack swiftly, gain some resources, and then move on. He ducked into the tent his father was inside, going over battle plans with some of the elder warriors. "Everything settled," he father's sharp tone cut through the air. Sage nodded, once, hand resting on the hilt of the sword he wore. "They will be ready to move by nine," he informed the older man, who simply grunted and went back to his map. Sage hovered there for a moment longer, before it was clear he was no longer needed or wanted, so he slipped outside again, moving to sit against a tree and wripe his face with his shirt, though it didn't do much good. It was hot, and humid, as it had been the last three days they'd been on the move. They were tired, and hot, and sweaty...and quite dirty by then as well. He sighed again, leaning against the trunk of the tree, hoping for a sort of breeze to blow past or something.

Ella had been sat down on a bench away from the rest of her group for quite some time now, pretty much just thinking. And resting. She was aware of the threat that was greatly imposed on her group, and unlike usual, she was worried. Her group had money, they had power and a hell of a lot of smarts, but something this time felt..different. Maybe that was because it would be? Or maybe that was purely just because she was still dealing with the rather painful injury of a knife to the waist from an enemy. She checked the time and gently stood herself up, the pain on her face clear as her body straightened. Lifting her top up gently, Ella peered down at the wound, which was exposed and no longer patched over. Her father had simply said,, it'll breathe better that way. The nurse had disagreed.

It was nearing 9 now, and they were supposed to be moving across the hills pretty much on the dot. The nauseaous feeling rose as she got back to the group, watching as everyone rushed around, packing things away,talking over plans, armoring themselves as much as they could. As soon as she stepped foot inside her father was on her case, pretty much towring over her. He spoke, and spoke..And spoke..and Ella was just about zoning out, until she said something that caught her attention. "We're taking them over." She looked up at her dad with a smile, the feeling of nasuea being taken over by a wave of excitement. She was already imagining herself, watching the group essentially tied up, staring down at them. Even the torture side of things would be somewhat thrilling. She nodded after her father had finished talking over plans, heading back outside to watch people start moving. She had a somewhat..good feeling.

Sage had allowed the men another bit of time...maybe fifteen minutes or so....before he stood and began making sure they were getting ready to leave. Putting out fires, cleaning up trash and food, and packing up all of their things. There were a few men who would guard the resources, and stay in a designated area where they would meet up later, after the fighting. The rest were carrying nothing but their armor and weapons, each with a canteen of water as well. He strode through the camp, sending the supplies off and then sliding into the tent, informing his father they were ready to leave.

The older man nodded and dismissed him again, and sage slid back outside. His father joined him after a moment, mentioned already breaking the tent down. A minute later, they were on the March. It wasn't long after that, that they neared the outskirts of the rival groups camp, and he held up a hand, everyone halting as he assessed the situation. It was quiet....too quiet. He'd been heading up his father's armies for years, despite his young age, and he knew something was up. His keen eyes fluttered across the open space where....no one was alive and seen. So, he waited for a sign of.. something. Of course, he stiffened when he heard something towards the rear end of his men, and he called to attack the same moment rival men and woman kept from the bushes towards them, uttering the same cry. He downed his sword and kept into the fray, knowing they were surrounded, and if they didn't break that circle, they may as well already be captured. His men were good, but there was only so much they could do against numbers like these. Numbers they hadn't expected.

Ella had experience with ambushes, with attacks, but not these types. Not whole groups which were already on their way to attack first. She loved the thrill and the element of surprise, but this one was making her nervous. As the commotion broke out she stayed back near the bushes where her father had put her, scanning the going on. The rival group had been fully surrounded, her group had their weapons fully up to create a sort of wall outside the others. She knew her group was big but she didnt think they were..this big. Her brain was working overtime as the fight went on, scanning to figure out what she would do. She could either join in, which her father had told her not to, risk the injury getting worse but feel pride. Or..she stay where she was. After all, her group had this.

Just as she had made her decision to stay put and watch out for any stray rival members, Ella's head shot up. She had forgotten her diary, left next to the bench she had placed herself at earlier that day. She knew what others would be thinking- Ella, thats stupid, its just a book..right? But she didnt see it that way. The more she wrote about what happened, the more confident she felt. The more stories she had to tell to the children born in her group. The better she felt, that she had something to finally put her feelings down on. With a hard stare, a careful scan, and a feeling of guilt she quickly slipped away from the commotion and back in the directon they had came, hoping no one had seen her. And they would be there when they got back.

It didn't take Ella long to get back to where they had been set up. She listened to the stones crunch into the mud underfoot as she reached the bench, carefully scanning the ground around it for a book. A small, cream coloured hardback book. She muttered to herself, quickly glancing behind her every now and then, her left hand clutching her weapon just in case.

Sage had lept stright into the fray, not thinking anything much but the fact that they had to get out of the circle they were in. This was dangerous for them...and they all knew it. They pressed against the men surroundign them, and he killed enough to break through the line momentarily, though another line just took its place. He hissed out a sort of a curse then, leaping fully into that line too, without any kind of heasitation. He had a couple nicks and bruises, but nothing too major so far. Of course, when he heard the larger book of some sort of mini cannon thing, he was momentarily distracted enough for one of the men to get a decent hit in, and he drew back with a growl when he felt the sword hit his chest, leaving a line of blood there.

He assessed his injuries, then, leaping into the fray again a moment later. It wasn't too much longer, though, that all of his men had been killed or tied up somewhere. Of course, he'd been snagged by then too....knocked over by one of the bigger men from the rival team. His breath had been knocked out of him, and he'd blacked out for a second, as being tackled by a man four times your size tended to do that to you. He'd tried to roll away by then, but he'd been pinned and tied with his hands behind his back quickly enough. He felt the cold metal of a blade slide under his chin, tilting it upwards slightly. He let out a growl, and the blade pressed deeper, drawing a thin line of blood, but he heard another man command "not that one. We need him alive. He'll have information." He growled again, his vision slowly coming back into focus. He had five grown men surrounding him, two of whom had blades against his neck. He felt a slight twinge of satisfaction knowing they'd needed that many to keep him there....besides, when he got the change he'd get loose. He could untie his hands somewhat easily...it was the swords against his neck that were the issue. After a moment, he focused on watching the rival group...how they handled a win, what they were doing to his men, despite his panting and pounding head by then. His hair had come somewhat undone, and he was definitely a mess...sweaty and dirty and bloody now too.....but he could deal with that later.

Ella, after a somewhat long time of searching, had found her diary. It was planted under a pile of mud that must have been churned up when her group was all moving. She dusted it off with a sigh, stepping back a little when she stood up. She still got insanely light headed to this day, and very pale at that too. Sometimes, her stab wound worried her more than it should. Was it infected? After a couple minutes of regaining her composure and doing her best not to throw up, she started back off towards the commotion, wiping the sweat from the pain off her forehead. The closer she got to the hill, the slower she walked. It was a lot quieter, almost eerily quiter. Tjere were occasional shouts rom men she recognised the voices of, and some she didnt. She stuffed her diary in a bag by the bushes that one of the women had placed there, and then turned around, her jaw essentially on the ground. The men from her group were dancing around, tending to injuries or chatting with huge grins on her face. The rival groups however, were either lying down in a pool of blood or tied up unable to move, looking very..deafeated. Defeated? They'd finally taken over. As Ella's appearance was noticed, a guy rushed over to her, blood lined down his face. It was a guy which simply went by the name "Artemis", someone who had recently joined them from a completely different country. The two got on well. As he shook her and spoke about the commotion with excitement, Ella's attention was caught by one particular guy, tied up on the ground. He had injuries almost everywhere, including bleeding to his neck, but compared to the others that was nothing. Was he being spared? Ella pointed at him and asked Artemis about him, her left hand covering her injury as she did so.

Sage had decided to lay still for now, keen eyes watching everything that was happening. All it took was the right move, in the middle of the night, and he could slip away, kill the man in charge, and take over. He'd doen it before, three different times, and he was confident he could manage again. He did had to act like he was defeated, and wait. Was it terribly hard to wait? Absolutely...he wanted nothing mroe than to stand up and wipe the smug smiles off everyone's faces. But he couldn't do that...not if he wanted him and his men to live. So, he waited, and gained information. He already knew who was in charge, and where he was located. And...he knew a couple other spots that would be detrimental to hit. Namely...the food supply and such that was right there with them in the camp. Though, when the man in charge strode over and gestured for the men holding him to get him up, he cocked his head slightly, wondering what he was planning. No doubt he'd try to question him, and if that didn't work, try to torture information out of him. Well, he'd been through that too...and this man was not getting information about his group. He noticed a girl pointing his direction, and his keen hearing picked up the man's response. So they knew who he was...wonderful. He'd been hoping they would just think he was a general, but these guys knew he was the heir to the group. That could be an issue.

After a little time of the group celebrating some more, they decided to move people back to camp. A bigger, better one at that. Ella watched as a couple more of the tied up ones were killed, looking away at a few of them, though slightly intrigued. Her attention was caught elsewhere as her dad called her name rather loudly, just a simple "Ella." She said goodbye to Artemis and made her way over to her father, who seemed joyous about his groups rather easy victory. She listened as the man spoke, explaining who the ones that were spared were- so far only one- and what had happened. He didnt know she wasnt there, but that didnt matter. By the end of the explanation Ella had zoned out, and she jumped as he shook her lightly. Carefully, Ella scraped the hair out her eyes, fiddling with a small wavy part as her father explained what he wanted her to do. "Take him back." Was all she heard. Her gaze was directed towards the one who she had pointed out earlier. The other men had seemingly gotten pre occupied with another victim, who was flailing around as if his life depeneded on it- which it did. She swallowed nervously and nodded, watching the rest of the group walk to the camp, through the rather large forest. She could do this, couldnt she? She could successfuly get the heir to the rival group back to camp. Last time she'd been ordered to take someone back she was stabbed.

After her dad had left to follow the others, Ella scanned the area, looking at the bodies and the blood. They were the only two left here. With a large sigh she made her way over, her hand clutching an unknown weapon. It was unknown, but it was insanely sharp, and she had prodded her own hand with it multiple times. She drew it out, each breath shaky, her gaze cold. She wasnt about to get stabbed again, she knew that much. Slowly, she untied the guys feet and clutched his arm, her grip insanely tight. "Get up." She said, her voice just as shaky as her breathing. It was clear Ella was coming across nervous, but with her blade pointed right at his neck, the knuckles white from clutching it so hard, she felt a little more confident. She spoke again, trying to get the confidence in her voice back through. "Don't take your time, get up.I'm sure you're strong enough to do that with your hands tied behind your back." She added, the venemous hiss now pushing through.

Sage had moved on to listening to other conversations, growling slightly when they killed off who they wanted to kill. Those were his men....though he supposed most of them would have preferred a quick death to a longer, more painful one. He was still rather pissed about it though.

His attention slid back to the man in charge, who was now talkign with a girl. She looked to be around his age...more or less. By the way she didn't seem to be listening to the man while he talked, he figured she was related to him somehow. That caught his attention....was this the other heir? She didn't seem to be much of a fighter. She wasn't in the battle, brief as it may have been. He hadn't even seen her in the camp. Oh well. He'd just have to keep an eye and ear open, and find out for sure.

When she came over to her, he scowled, not appreciating all the swords poeple were holding to his neck. It wasn't like he was fighting at the moment. "You know, a please could go a long way," he drawled in response to the girl's command, a cocky grin appearing on his face. Oh, he'd go with her...but he was going to make her squirm a bit first. "Hasn't your family taught you basic manners," he added when she spoke up again, making no move to get up. "I dunno, I've been very badly wounded," he added, a pake pout appearing on his face. He delayed just enough to make her one of the last ones ready, before working his way to his slowly, really just making this as hard for the girl as possible.

Of course, once he was up, another man came over and tossed the girl a blindfold, saying something about how he couldn't know how to get to their next camp. Sage raised a silent eyebrow, wondering how they expected him to walk through the forest blindfolded and without hands. With a blade to his neck. This would certainly be an interestign journey.