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.......

"Heal Him." Milina hisssed, Her hackles raised. Rage evident in her eyes. Vander glances at the rapier pointed at his neck by his once party member, Milina. He had just stabbed a carriage driver in the neck. Vander nods, knowing without a doubt she would follow through with the implied threat to His life. He casts his Cure Wounds and stabalizes the Driver.

"I never trusted you. Leave. Now." She says, coldly.

Again, Vander nods. Turning and begins walking. He is fully aware of the dagger he borrowed from Milina, still in his hand. Still stained red with blood. Something was wrong. He was concerned that being this close to home wore down the Walls his Mother, Selina, had helped him create. But also, what he did... was in direct opposition of Beory. But she didn't stop him. He almost killed an innocent. That's something his Father would've taught him, not a Nature Goddess..

Vander stopped and looked back at the group he used to travel with, not knowing when he will see them again. They were talking amongst themselves, obviously not paying attention to Him. He sighed and took out the Transportation Scroll to the Lothric Estate. His only one. He activated it and stepped though, The portal making a little pfft sound as it closed.

Since it was the middle of the night, it wasn't that hard to make His way out of the Estate and into the night air of the town. But Vander got a weird feeling.

"Okay Vander, you've been here a lot. But this place Feels different. I think I should be careful here. It's not as safe as it appears." He muttered to himself.

Just as the words left his mouth, he spotted the Posters. "WANTED" they said. There was one for each of them. Emeric, Aran, Milina and, of course, Vander. In Vander's case, there were two pictures. One with his mask on and one with his mask off. Amusingly, there wasn't one for Torrin. The Dragonborne being a fairly new addition to the group. "Good. That'll give them an advantage" He thought.

"Well, Fuck. Guess I wasn't as careful as I thought." He said, ripping one of his posters off a nearby wall. Studying the picture, he chuckled. "Not bad. Did a pretty good job. Zarell definitely knows where I am now. or at least were I've been. Need to get to Guinevere." He looks around to get his bearing of the town and heads off to the Transportation Shop, via the back streets.

Opening the door to the Transportation Shop ellicits a litttle bell sound to ring out. Vander slips in and heads towards the woman that has appeared from somewhere behind a false wall. "Do you know what time it is?" She asks, yawning. "Where do you want to go?"

"Long Bridge." Vander says, Showing her the Long Bridge travel coin.

"Sorry. No can do, Bud. Longe Bridge is a 'No Go' due to them not bowing to the Three Brothers Consortium. Are you new in town? It's been like that for days. Who are you?" She gives Vander a weird look. Something's on the tip of her brain, but she can't seem to remember. She proceeds. "Well, Anyway, now that the Three Brothers have taken over the country, everything will be run differently. Those that oppose the Brothers will be dealt with harshly and you should be careful on which side of this conflict you find yourself on."

The Shopkeep pulls out a map and Shows Vander all the places He can travel to under the Brother's Control. He notes that Netherthrond, Hammerfell and Long Bridge are not part of the map and smiles a little bit, knowing their Allies are actually keeping the fight up.

"If you are just going to waste my time, please leave the Shop." She says, in an obviously irritated tone.

"What if I had some important Brother's information? Would you be able to get me there?" Vander says, trying to be persuasive.

"No. I Can't. It is not just against the Brothers, Long Bridge is directly blocking travelers from Kordan. I literally cannot." She says, annoyed.

"How close are you willing to get me? What I seek is farther East, But Long Bridge is the furthest I've managed to get." Vander asks.

At this point, the pair have shifted so the Shopkeep is able to see out the front window of the shop. Vander notices her glance outside, her eyes grow wide and dart back to Vander. "GUARDS!" She starts yelling.

"Gods dammit! Look, I know y'all can be bought. Why else would you be taking orders from the Three Brothers." Vander sstates, dropping a coin bag at the Shop Keep's feet. "Just open a portal East and we can forget this ever happend. Please?" Thinking quickly, He adds, "I just need to see my Mother before it's too late." Hoping a made up sob story would work. It does.

The Shopkeep glances down at the coin bag, sighs and opens a portal, begrudenly. "If I ever see you again, no amount of money will save you."

Vander steps through the portal, again the soft pfft could be heard as it closes after him. He was about two miles west of Long Bridge. Normally, a late night walk in the forest would calm him, but tonight he was on edge and every little twig snap made his head snap in the direction it came from. Despite his ears being docked, his hearing was still good for an Elf.

The closer he got to Long Bridge, Vander was exhausted and all he wanted to do was let the lull of Meditation take him. But he also knew that the way things ended with his party needed to be explained and he couldn't do that in person. The Guards all knew Vander was in with Guinevere and Arthur, so they just nodded at him as he passed. He Entered the Great Hall that had been turned into a base of operations, much to the surprise of Guinevere.

"Vander? What are you doing here, Sweetheart? Where are the others? Did something happen?" She bombarded him with questtions.

All Vander could do was sigh and respond with "It's a long story. I don't really want to go into detail right now. Something happened between me and the group. I left. For now. I'm going on my own for a bit. I'll be in my room. I've got a few things to do before I leave."

Guinevere nodded, "I won't ask. I've heard many stories in my line of work. You take care of yourself. Will we see you again?" She asked.

Vander chuckles and rubs the spot where the point of the rapier rested against his neck, "Maybe. If Milina doesn't kill me first." He shakes his head as if to clear some fog. "Oh. Wanted to let you know that Kordan isn't safe, it took a bribe to get here. It also seems that most of the Country is under the control of the Three Brothers."

Guineviere gives Vander a look at the Milina comment but then shrugs it off. "No party is perfect. Also a hazard of the job. Not everyone I've worked with has meshed well. Different personalities and goals." She jots down the information Vander gave her. "Thanks for the information. I'll get that to Arthur as soon as we are done." She gives a sly smile. "Would you like one of my girls for company? A good night's rest always follows a good nightcap."

"No, Thank you. I just want to finish this and head out. I don't to risk being here when they get back. Goodnight, Guinevere. And Goodbye... For now." Vander shakes her hand and heads up to his room, where he spends yet another restless night, this time pouring his soul into letters to the people he betrayed. But also, delaying the inevitable. Sooner or later he'll slip into his Meditation, and when he does, Beory will be waiting... You can't just renounce a Goddess and expect them to NOT show up when you're the most vulnerable.

To Be Continued...