Captured! Revelations of the Mysterious Tomb..

[Ebiris]

Fuu doesn't do something stupid like yell out 'The humans are coming! Get ready to ambush them!'

Instead she scatters 2 handfuls of caltrops as she quietly makes her way to pretty much the middle of where the remaining elves were to have hidden and makes use of whatever decent cover she can find there, before watching the way she just came for the first visual sign of the Matsu.

[Halbarad]

Hikaru signals to her own group to prepare for their ambush as she watches Fuu run through the prepared area.

[Corwin]

Umi retreats, heading back to the ambush area as well.

[Carthrat]

Umi, Fuu, and a group of other elves fly through the forest to the ambush point, retreating behind burnt trees, scrub, and perhaps finding themselves in a carefully constructed ditch.

Almost immediatly following, a barrage of arrows leaps forth from the bunkered-down elves, cutting down.. only a few humans. Apparently, the rest stopped giving chase shortly after Umi had appraised their numbers..

There is a tense silence in the air, every elf holding an arrow to a bow, until, some moments later, Ukyo smacks the palm of his fist into his hand.

"Damn! They must have anticipated your plan," he whispers to Hikaru.

[Halbarad]

"That or they're under strict orders to guard whatever it is they're guarding."

Hikaru thinks for a moment, then searches out Umi and Fuu quietly. "They appear to be holding their positions - do you want to try to pick them off where they stand and hold the ambush in case they break, or should we try a different tack entirely?"

[Ebiris]

Fuu considers this for a moment. "Right now they'll be at a high state of alert following our raid, but on the other hand if we wait it just gives them more time to make preperations...

"While I don't want to give up already, carrying out another direct attack might be unwise. Perhaps another approach is in order, if we can just think of a new plan..."

[Corwin]

"Maybe they won't be expecting that, though, after thinking we'll try a different plan?" Umi suggests. "If they anticipated our ambush, then they wouldn't think we would try another similar attack immediately afterwards. And if they are guarding something they can't leave too far behind, they must have been alert from the beginning, and we still got close enough to snipe at them that time."

She shrugs. "Why not try again? This time, we'll only fire one bout of arrows, and retreat with parting shots at their torchbearers."

As she speaks, Umi checks on their losses.

[Carthrat]

It turns out to be a total of seven lost soldiers, and three wounded.

"10 casualties," says Ukyo, shaking his head. "That's a sizable chunk of our force, whereas the Matsu appear to be limitless.

Umi-san, the Matsu did not fall for the ambush this time. At least, not most of them. To attempt to same strategy is foolhardy."

[Ebiris]

"I agree," Fuu nods in acknowledgement to Ukyo, "They will whittle our force down far faster than we would theirs. And do not forget that some Fey'Ri have the ability to turn invisible at will - it would not be hard for them to ambush us.

"I think with our current numbers a direct attack will never succeed. If we wish to pursue that approach we will need to detach a sizable force from the army defending Cephiro. Our only other option would be trying to sneak past the guards at the bridge and infiltrate the camp, but even were that possible, I doubt whoever goes in would be able to release Sakura-sama and get her out of the camp without drawing the entire Matsu and Fey'Ri force upon themselves..."

[Corwin]

"We really don't have the forces to try much else," Umi says. "Attempting to cross the river and staging a two-pronged assault on the bridge would not only be dangerous but also a logistical nightmare, and if we don't try to snipe at them to chip away at their forces either...." She shrugs. "Not much else we can do here, it seems. Should we return to the capital, then?"

[Ebiris]

"Well..." Fuu speaks up hesitantly, "There is one other option I can see..." She looks at both Hikaru and Umi for a second before continuing. "We negotiate. It's already clear that the Fey'Ri desperately want us three specifically - moreso than they would want Sakura-sama. And our mission is to rescue the Champion by whatever means necessary..." she trails off, not looking terribly enthused.

[Corwin]

Umi shakes her head. "I don't really have confidence that they'd give Sakura-san back, even if we made this proposal. Besides, we just might be misinterpreting how much they need us." Sighing, she adds, "And in the case you're right, shouldn't we prevent our enemies from having something they'd want more badly than our Champion?"

[Halbarad]

Hikaru nods in agreement with Umi. "There's no telling what they might do if they get what they want here. They could simply turn right back around and raze the capital - there's nothing to ensure that they'll keep their word if we DO walk right into their hands, and it's certain at the very least that we'd be in no position to do anything about it in that case."

[Ebiris]

"I suppose you're right," Fuu wrings her hands helplessly, "I just don't know what else we can do, though... we have no way to successfully attack as we are, but we can't just leave Sakura-sama in their clutches..."

[Carthrat]

Ukyo shakes his head, almost shocked. "Retreat to the capital? That's almost predictable! They doubtless have scouts or spies of some kind, otherwise they couldn't have prepared such a defence so quickly.

No, think. Were you that Matsu general, what would you do? And aren't the elven soldiers better trained and motivated that the typical Matsu.. conscript? We may have suffered a setback, but surely.."