Pass off as the new smuggler

She took the note in her hand, and the dagger from the large man's eye, and headed back up to the door. She had to make sure she could keep Sledge from going down the passageway to the room, and this was the best spot to do it from.

Her timing was near perfect. She had been standing there all of a few minutes when a massive Half-Orc strode into the tunnel, followed by a human man, an Elven woman, and a Harpy. The Half-Orc stopped, one hand reaching for the greataxe on his back, as he looked at her. She looked back at him, unflinching despite the butterflies in her stomach, and waited. He finally spoke, a deep, booming, gravelly voice emanating from the depths of his barrel chest. "Just who the hell are you, and what the fuck do you think you're doing by my door?"

Still looking at him levelly, she replied, "Boss sent me to join you." As she spoke, she handed the note to him, which he read intently. She warily watched him, hand on the hilt of her sword, until he finally spoke again.

"You're new meat. Which means you follow me. Do what I tell you, when I tell you, and how I tell you, and you might live." Without another word, he **** his way past her and out the door.

Wordlessly, she followed, falling in with the rest of his band as they exited the wall, and slipped across the field into the treeline. It wasn't long before they'd found a nearby road, and Venus noted when they turned towards Brax.

As they walked, Venus had cautiously examined her erstwhile companions. The Half-Orc, whom she presumed was Sledge, seemed like a no-nonsense hardass. He was bare-chested, and he carried his greataxe with ease. The human was a pretty good-looking guy, wearing a chainmail shirt and armed with a longsword. The Elven woman had a staff in one hand, and carried herself with the air of a mage. The Harpy seemed rather upbeat, but kept her mouth shut as well.

They walked in silence for nearly an hour. Her feet were rather sore, as stones and the odd branches dug into her soles, and her pilfered armor chafed, but her mind was elsewhere. She was building her story, since she knew at some point, someone was going to question her peculiar attire.

As she suspected, she was soon approached by the human male, who had been stealing glances at her, particularly her mostly exposed ass, for the entire trip. He took a quick glance at Sledge, then stepped in closer to her. When he spoke, he kept his voice low. "Sledge don't like being told to take fresh runners out on runs. Says they'll get us screwed over. Either that or they die in some attack. Don't worry, he'll warm up to you soon enough. I'm Gilvan, by the way."

She smiled at him, partly thankful for him finally breaking the uneasy silence, and partly apprehensive at what he would ask. "I'm Kat. And thanks." He looked at her, smiled back, and said, "Don't sweat it. It'll be fine. I gotta ask, though: What's with the outfit?"

"Don't ever gamble everything away on a single bet. It's how I ended up here. Lost it all, including the clothes off my back. Had to scrape and scrabble to get enough to pluck this out of a bargain bin. It doesn't fit well, but it beats nothing. As for why I'm barefoot, well, I just don't like shoes." He laughed a bit at that. "At least you didn't bet that pretty ass of yours on it!" She grinned, and blushed a bit, then yelped as he smacked it. When she turned to face him, he had a lopsided grin on his face. "Sorry, couldn't resist with it hanging out there like that." He at least managed to sound sheepish, though she doubted he was, and she actually smiled despite herself. When he asked why she wasn't wearing anything beneath the armor, she replied, :It didn't really seem important. All the naughty bits are covered." She could have sworn his grin grew at that.

After that, they fell into conversation, and she learned a bit about the rest of the party. The Elven woman was named Sal'via. She was a pretty good healer, though she could throw some nasty things about in a fight, too. She was rather standoffish, believing herself better than the rest of the party. The Harpy's name was Kira. She actually joined the conversation for a bit, where Venus learned she had originally been enslaved by Sledge, before he learned just how useful her magics were. Wehn Venus inquired about what she knew, she and Galvin simply shared a glance.

Slightly off-put, Venus was shocked when they arrived at their camp for the night. They quickly set it up, then had a meal, before calling it a night.