The Finder's Journal - Evading the Raiders

"Ooomph! Hey!" Nato protested as Finder shoved her off of the path and behind a large boulder. "What?" She asked, looking around but seeing only the deserted path they were on moments ago.

“I was afraid of this,” Finder muttered, their voice taking on a tone of irritation and disgust, as they cautiously peered over the rock at a large group of sleazy looking beans.

"What?" Nato asked, poking her head carelessly over the boulder and scanning the road ahead.

"Get down!" Finder hissed, grabbing her backpack and tugging her out of sight.

Nato huffed and rolled her eyes, before cautiously looking over the rock's edge.

“I know them. Raiders.” Finder whispered, as if the strangers could hear them from this distance.

They point out one rather wry looking bean and says contemptuously, “That guy, he means trouble. Many know not to mess with him. He’s pretty notorious for bad trades and selling rare items to the wrong people for the very wrong reasons.” They say, narrowing their gaze.

Nato tried to follow Finder's line of sight, and imagined they were just pointing at the smartest-looking of the bunch. He stood a few feet from the others, not really engaged in the conversion but looking intently between a map and ruins. Finding the group rather boring in comparison to the majestic scene behind them, Nato's gaze wandered back to the ruins and she just marveled at the beauty the crumbling stones still held.

A bird took off from a branch overhead, shaking loose a few dry leaves and drawing Nato's attention back to the Bean at her side. "...That’s why I called you here - you most likely have an idea or two. I’ve seen the extent of your capabilities." Finder said with an approving nod.

Nato blinked blankly. She had totally missed most of that conversation, but took the compliment and figured that anything important would be restated later. Now Finder looked at her excitedly, eyes full of hope, “We’d better go around them...any ideas?”

Nato grinned, "Well, I do have one idea..." She said mischievously, eyes glimmering dangerously.

Ducking back behind the rock, Nato pulled off her backpack and began rummaging through it, muttering softly herself. Finder kept an eye on the Raiders as she worked, glancing over their shoulder at her when she was still muttering to herself a few seconds later. There was a small pile beside her that looked big enough for the pack to be empty. They turned back to make sure the Raiders hadn't noticed them.

"Ah-ha! Got 'em!" Nato exclaimed in hushed tone.

Finder looked back over at her and their eyes went wide at the sight. The pile had nearly doubled in size; as they finally looked up, their jaw dropped a bit at the items Nato was holding up proudly. "Wha-What are you doing with fireworks in your backpack?!"

Nato shrugged, "What? You don't have fireworks in your pack?" She asked, as if they were a very normal thing to bring on a trip.

Finder simply shook their head, too stunned to answer. Nato shrugged indifferently and slung the pack back over her shoulder, then stuffed the firecrackers in her pouch and stood.

Peaking around the rock, she carefully picked her way down the faint trail, back the way they'd come. She paused after a few steps, "You coming?" She asked the brown spotted Bean behind her.

Finder stood and followed without a word, keeping a paranoid eye on the raiders as the two circled around to the other side of the group.

"Oh look, it's even getting dark. These will be most effective!" Nato said, looking around at the sky as she stopped and started shoving the launch sticks in the ground. She moved with a speed and accuracy that suggested she had done it many times before.

Finder watched with a somewhat worried expression, "I knew you were resourceful and skilled, but I don't even want to know why you are so good at that at your age..." They said softly, jumping at a snapping branch and quickly moving to check on the raiders' group. "We'd better hurry. I don't imagine they will stay put like that much longer..."

"Don't worry," She said, stepping back a step, "I'm done." She beamed at him.

Finder glanced over at her and blinked, trying to make sense of the jumble of in front of them. They quickly gave up, "I'll take your word for it." They muttered, then looked at Nato, "So, what's the plan?"

Nato grinned, "We light them. Got a match?" She asked, way too excited for what was about to happen.

"No...." Finder started slowly, almost starting to take a mental inventory of their pack, "Why on earth would I have a match?!" They asked, eyes wide, clearly shocked by the idea.

Again Nato shrugged, "Because it's a basic item for a survival kit and you should always bring a survival kit on trips? Especially ones like this?" She offered. Finder remained silent. "That's ok, I do." She said, pulling a matchbook from her pack. "Come on," She called over her shoulder as she moved off, leading a wire along the ground. Finder followed. Once at the wire's end, Nato stopped and turned back toward the collection of explosives stuck in the ground. "Are you sure about this..?" Finder asked nervously.

Nato looked up at them, "You don't want to be noticed, right?" She asked. Finder nodded. "Then yes, I'm sure. How much do you notice about your surroundings when fireworks are going?" Nato quizzed with an arched eyebrow, but didn't wait for an answer. She turned and lit the match, then brought it to the wire. After a second, the wire sparkled to life.

"Let's go!" Nato whispered excitedly, bounding away from the wire and toward the camp.

Finder didn't move, memorized by the sparks as they ran along the now nearly-invisible wire. A quiet but urgent call broke through their daze and they shook their head to clear it. Eyes going wide, they turned and scrambled after the red Bean.

When the first firework exploded, Finder jumped and dove to the side with a little yelp. They had completely missed the flash of light that warned of the loud bang to follow. Nato, used to the circumstances, couldn't help but laugh. She slowed and veered to the side to check on them, "Did you not see the ground light up? You knew we were setting off fireworks." She gasped, trying not to laugh.

Finder ignored her completely except to glare as they stood up, shook, then continued to run toward to the ruins.

- - -

At the camp, all of the Raiders jumped, some worse than others, when the first firework went off. The leader quickly regained his composure, "What was that?!" He demanded harshly, looking around his crew. None had an answer, everyone was busy with their duties, and no one had seen the colorful explosion in the sky. Another went off, and they all looked in the direction of the sound.

The leader narrowed his gaze at the sky, then turned his glare on his crew, "Don't just stand there... Go check it out!" He snapped.

The others all jumped to obey, half replaying with a hasty, "Yes sir!" before trotting off toward the treeline, fanning out as they drew further from their base. The leader followed at a more cautious pace. Only three Raider remained behind to guard the camp, standing alert and watching the perimeter vigilantly. Though since they were focused on watching for a direct approach, none of them noticed the two shadows slipping by just outside their range of clear vision.

- - -

"Well, seems like your plan worked flawlessly." Finder said proudly from just inside the ruins, "I knew I was right to invite you along."

Nato managed to partially smother a scoff, but couldn't stop the eye-roll, "Uh-huh....riiiight." She said playfully. "Well, we did all that work to get in here, shall we look around?" She asked, turning her gaze to the wonder of the ruins ahead of her, eyes sparkling with excitement.