To Reveal Deception...

[Carthrat]

Hikaru sees.. Toshi, somehow fighting against three Matsu bushi at once. The alarm has been raised, and she can hear shouts from across the camp.. Toshi dosn't appear to see her. He's presently fighting between two tents, however, the enemy soldiers are between him and getting out.

[Halbarad]

Working quickly, Hikaru casts Elemental Burst on one of the wooden tent frames behind the Matsu bushi, hoping that it can provide enough of a distraction to allow Toshi to escape.

[Carthrat]

The explosion of woodchips does indeed distract the Matsu bushi; one of them goes down, a splinter in his eye, but the other two manage to brush off the pain.

By the time they do, however, Toshi manages to make it to Hikaru's side instead of escaping... "You have to go West. Right now," he whispers. "I can hold them off, but you must go!"

[Halbarad]

Hikaru hesitates for a moment, but the look on Toshi's face forestalls any argument. "All right then... I'll see you later, Toshi-sensei."

Again keeping low to avoid attracting attention, the pink-haired elf scurries off towards the western side of the campsite.

[Carthrat]

Hikaru manages to get to the edge of the camp unnoticed, when.. "It's one of the elves! Stop her!"

A couple of arrows whiz past her, and reflexively glancing over her shoulder, she sees a pair of Matsu bushi, bows in hand..

[Halbarad]

Hikaru turns to face the two bowmen, the words of the Shield spell passing her lips as she steels herself to fight.

[Carthrat]

The invisible shield of empheral force springs up, just in time to block a pair of arrows from slamming into Hikaru!

She can hear various shouts and the tromping of boots as more bushi come to their buddies aid..

[Halbarad]

Noting the sound of more troops heading in her direction, Hikaru directs the magical shield to cover her hind side as she continues on her way out of the camp.  She readies a spell of Pyrotechnics, looking for a fire that she can use to create a distraction for the pursuing warriors as she flees through the camp to the west.

[Carthrat]

Another pair of arrows bounce of Hikaru's shield, as she spots an open tent with a campfire in it (along with a surprised bushi wearing only his smallclothes. He's all muscular..)

[Halbarad]

Hikaru quickly casts the Pyrotechnics spell on the campfire inside the tent as she dashes past the opening.

[Carthrat]

Blinding flashes and yells of surprise emnate from behind Hikaru, along with the sound of burning canvas.

She seems to have a clear run to the end of the camp..

[Halbarad]

The pink-haired elf puts everything she has into reaching the western edge of the camp and the remains of the forest beyond, hoping that she can lose any of her remaining pursuers in the charred stumps of the trees.

[Carthrat]

Hikaru manages to put a fair distance between herself and the camp, rushing across the scorched earth and the blackened stumps of the once proud trees of Cephiro.

It will be a long time before the land recovers.

But she can't rest just yet. Her sensitive elven ears pick out a hideous noise to her tired form; the sound of hooves impacting on the earth..

[Halbarad]

The pink-haired elf girl glances around quickly at the sound of the approaching hoofbeats. Selecting the largest of the remaining tree trunks in the area, she ducks down behind it, making an effort not to show herself to anyone approaching from the horseman's general direction.

[Carthrat]

Hikaru notes that there is not one, but two horsemen charging in towards her position.

As she hides behind the tree trunk, the horsemen approach and start poking around the area where they last saw her distant form.

"I've got her!" one of them barks, levelling a wicked-looking naginata at her prone form..