Life of a Bandit

The caravan was approaching the bridge, passing through the plains in the full light of day. So much cargo was loaded onto the wagon two horses dragged from their home city, cargo he suspected was more than just supplies. Certainly more than a noble needed.

He made sure to hide under the cover of the forest, watching the caravan carefully as they stopped at the bridge, taking a few minutes to rest and feed their weary horses and get a quick drink from the river’s clear waters. He motioned for someone, and watched as a head flew up from the trees and quickly scanned through the cargo, staying out of sight of the retainers. In a few more minutes, the head of a black-haired, eye patched girl was at his side, the body carefully feeling its way around until it, too, was beside him.

“I didn’t smell any meat or spices on there,” the dullahan whispered in his ear as she firmly attached her head to her body. “It’s probably not a food caravan. Maybe textiles? Maybe they’ll have silk.” She sighed, holding up her tattered cloak and poking at her leather vest. “I do need to upgrade my wardrobe before I wear it out…”

He snorted as he replied, “And who’s gonna make it for ya, huh? You think someone wouldn’t get suspicious if you suddenly gave ‘em more silk than we’re worth?” The dullahan slumped just a little, looking away from him as she pouted. A twinge of guilt moved his heart, yet he said firmly, “I don’t want anything that might get us into deeper shit than we’re already in. Especially not selling or wearing anything you can’t even get in this area.”

“A girl can dream, can’t she?” she asked, still pouting a little bit as she ran her hands through her long, thick ponytail. “At any rate, I overheard those guys saying something about making a timely delivery to Lord Zheng, so whatever it is they’re taking, it must be pretty valuable.” She saw the glint in his eyes, the spark, and smiled as she asked, “Oh, you know him?”

She probably didn’t expect the dumbfounded look he gave her just now. “And you don’t, Ning?”

“Oh, was I supposed to? I mean, the only thing I know about Lords, Ladies, and any other fancy nobles is that they all don’t have meat on their bones and cover it up with puffy dresses and clothes.”

Honestly, he should have expected that. A groan escaped his lips as he replied, “Lord Zheng’s a big shot around these parts, and absolutely nobody likes him. Taxes the everloving shit out of everyone and uses most of it for all these fancy feasts he gives to neighboring nobles. Doesn’t even care that a few of the towns under his charge had their crops flooded out due to the rain and that food prices got driven up cause of it. No skin off his nose unless the tax money stops flowing.”

“Uh huh, I get it.” A sly smirk formed on Ning’s face as she saw the deliverymen regrouping around the caravan, drawing out a bow and arrow from under her cloak. “So what you’re saying, boss, is that you won’t feel bad when we rob ‘em, right?”

Boss smirked right back at her as he cracked his knuckles and drew his axe. “Damn straight! Now, how ‘bout we get started, eh?”

Before the caravan could move on, Ning shot an arrow at the horses’ feet, both rearing up in a panic. Boss charged in, whistling for someone else as he fended off one of the guards, smashing the blunt end of his axe into his head and knocking him out cold. They all cried out about bandits as he fought them off and Ning shot at their arms and legs to disable them. One of them got dangerously close to slashing at Boss, but he found his blade stuck between a chimera’s jaws. With one bite, the blade was crushed, the chimera swiping a massive paw and smashing the guard into the ground.

By the end of it, there were more panicked men cowering before the trio than men trying to fight back. Ning tied them up and blindfolded them along with the rest of the guard as Boss took the reins of the caravan. It wasn’t long before the bandits left with their ill-gotten gains, leaving those poor men behind alone near the bridge.

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“Woaaah ho hooo, that’s one helluva haul we brought in!”

The chimera looked a lot less like a chimera and more like a man who didn’t know the meaning of the word “shave”, his mane of dirty blonde hair trembling along with him as excitement overtook him. He clasped one paw and talon together as Boss and Ning cracked open the cargo in the little cave they called a base, revealing loads of gold and gemstones, as well as several clothes that Boss absolutely knew wouldn’t and shouldn’t be in the hands of peasants, nevermind bandits.

Ning pulled out a bottle of perfume from one of the boxes they stole and said, “Some of these things, I’ve never really seen. Like, what IS this?” It didn’t take too long before she smelled like she ran through a lavender field, her eyes twinkling as she sniffed at herself. “Whatever it is, it smells nice, and it’s mine now!” She turned towards the chimera and shouted, “Hey, Yin, you gotta smell this! Come on, sniff me!”

“No need, I can smell it from over here!” Yin replied as he sniffed the air, a sleepy smile forming on his face. “Oh, that smells heavenly! Bit strong for my poor, innocent nose, but ooh, it’d be the perfect thing for you, boss!” As Boss turned towards him, the chimera pinched his nose and waved him off. “It’d fend off those musty smells about you. Goodness, sometimes I wonder if you even bathe yourself, with how sweaty you smell!”

Boss rolled his eyes, emptying as much gold from the cargo as he possibly can and doing his best to divide it evenly amongst the three of them. “Yeah, yeah, working on it,” he replied. “Forget that for a moment, though: this is a helluva lot of gold for us to be carrying, and more shit that we don’t really need. Lord Zheng’s gonna shit his pants when he finds out we got his shit.”

Yin and Ning turned towards each other, their cheery demeanor vanishing in a puff of smoke as they turned towards Boss. “So, in other words,” Yin said, putting a paw to his forehead, “It’s no longer safe for us here, is that it?”

“Yeah.” Boss sighed as he stuffed his pockets with a part of his share of gold, then handed the others their share as he said, “We’re gonna need to hide some of this deeper in the cave and lay low for a bit. We can’t risk getting killed, not when we have other mouths to feed and people relying on us. Hell, we might need a new hideout altogether.”

“I could protect the goods here if you want,” Yin pointed out. “I mean, who would dare fight someone as fierce as myself? Besides, they won’t know it’s in here if I just, you know, eat them!”

Ning stuffed as much gold as she could in her shirt and her pockets before she said, “But then they’d just kill you because you’re… well, a monster. And weren’t you trying to get along with humans by not eating them, while trying to feed your big family and treat ‘em to nice things? Isn’t that why you’re even with us?”

“Trying is the key word, my dear. Besides, it wouldn’t be my own gold and stuff I’d be protecting. I mean, you two can only carry so much with you! If one of us stays behind and makes sure the rest of the gold is safe, you two can go out there and live your lives without gaining so much suspicion!”

Boss stared at Yin hard for a moment before he sighed, “If you and your family could do that for us, we’d appreciate it. We can’t risk carrying so much on us, especially since they’re gonna be on high alert. We have enough to last us a few months before we need to raid another caravan.”

Yin smiled gently at Boss as he said, “Anything for you, my dear boss! We’ll make sure those goods are safe and sound! Althouuugh, if you would be so kind as to bring that awfully tasty beef stew you make every once in a while, we’d greatly appreciate it!”

Ning frowned a little, putting her arms on her hips as she said, “Hmpf, and you’re not gonna ask me to bring some freshly hunted venison? After I helped you meet the boss?”

“Venison’s nice, dear, and I much appreciate it. But I love a home cooked meal even more!”

Ning pouted a little, Yin chuckling and patting her back as an apology. Boss looked at the two of them, unable to restrain the smile forming on his face. They were good people, people who wanted a better life. People who wanted to forsake their traditions and try something new. It was a shame that both of them had to turn to banditry to feed the many mouths in their families, unable to find jobs because of their monstrous heritage.

As they all went their separate ways, Boss prayed that maybe one day, they would find a better life than this.

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“Jiang, dinner’s ready!”

The bandit, startled, hurried to empty his pockets of gold and store it in his lockbox before rushing to the dinner table. The fragrant smell of fish stew wafted through the air, his stomach growling as loudly as an angry chimera as the scent hit his nose. The table was set, a big hearty bowl of stew waiting for him just as a woman ladled it in for him. Her eyes and hair were brown like his, but where he was as rugged as a woodcutter, she was as soft as a tree nymph.

Even her voice sounded more like a nymph, so soft and sweet as she said, “My, you sound halfway starved! I hope you haven’t forgotten to eat again. There should be enough for both of us tonight, especially considering your appetite!”

“Y-yeah, kinda forgot in the heat of work,” Jiang admitted, scratching at his head of shaggy brown hair.

“You really need to work on that. It won’t do to have you working on an empty stomach, not for carpentry and the like.”

Jiang tried his hardest not to look her in the eye as he replied, “Y-yes, Auntie. Stuff’s hard on your body and all.” As he ate his food, he watched his aunt eat in silence, her hand trembling slightly as she brought the spoon to her mouth. It was the same tremble he saw all the time when he was at home: her legs would wobble a bit when she stood up to cook, when she cleaned the house, when she walked throughout town to speak to the neighbors… It was harder to notice when her hands did, especially when she sat down to knit and sew and all sorts of hands-on things. Dinnertime was the only time he could see it clearly, as she ate slowly and carefully, or at least tried her best.

After a long period of silence, his aunt stopped eating, folding her arms and smiling gently at Jiang as she asked, “So, how is work going?”

“It went well,” Jiang answered, trying his hardest to mask his anxiety. “We’ve got a lot of work done, and we got a decent amount of gold. It’s enough to help us eat a little better. I like stew as much as the next guy, but we gotta eat something different every once in a while, right?”

“Of course, of course! That’s good to hear! Maybe we could make some jiaozi for you to take to work… Or maybe some stir fried noodles?”

Jiang was on his second bowl of stew when his aunt stood up to yawn. “My, am I tired! Some more sleep should do me good.” She smiled at him again as she said, “Try not to stay up too late, Jiang. Sleep well, alright?”

He saw it. He saw the slow, pained walk she always did when she went to bed. How exhausted she looked, in spite of her smile. In public, she would always mask it, always try to hide it by gossiping along with the other women her age, by staying out as long as her legs would let her.

But it was here at home that Jiang could clearly see her illness sapping what little energy she had, how it caused her no end of pain. It was something he overheard the local shaman say must have been a curse for a horrible deed she did in her last life, something that might never go away, even if she repents.

Once he finished his third bowl of stew, Jiang returned to his room and opened up his lockbox, staring at the gold he accumulated for so very, very long. So much, maybe too much, for an aunt and her nephew living in a simple house living a relatively simple life. But even this wasn’t enough for the treatment his aunt deserved. It wasn’t even enough for the first treatment, nevermind the subsequent ones and all the taxes he had to pay and all the food he had to get.

Banditry hurt people. It hurt the innocent as much as the wicked. That much, Jiang knew from the beginning. If his aunt ever heard what he was doing, he was certain she would abandon him as quickly as his actual family, with a much better reason. This isn’t the kind of person she raised him to be. Hell, he didn’t want to be a bandit.

But… Good, honest work couldn’t provide enough for both food and her treatments. It wasn’t nearly enough, as he found out the hard way.

Soon enough, just looking at the gold just made him sick to his stomach, so he locked it away and quickly went to bed, staring at the ceiling and praying, praying to whoever actually listened, that maybe… just maybe, they could have a better life than this, too.