Eleni looked to around, concentrating on each one. She did notice faint traces of the elven blood in several of the guards.
"Okay, I may not defeat them all, but I will try." With that statement, Eleni threw herself forward onto the guards. Punches and kicks flew everywhere. Suddenly, a giant fist planted itself into the side of her face. She fell, but still determined, she got back up and tried again. Yet again she was thrown to the ground. One of the guards used his beefy hands to pin hers behind her. She could feel the left side of her face had been bruised and she winced. But she had gotten what she wanted. She found some of the guards' weak spots, which would make it easier to defeat them.
"Okay, what do you want? I don't feel like bashing up the rest of me for some worthless money..."

Diego sighed. "All my employer wants is the money your friend owes. Permanently, not magically lifted and taken back. And he wants his money bag back, which your friend so 'cleverly' took before you all ran away."

Eleni glared at Arin for a moment, not sure what to do.
"If your men will let me go, we may be able to negotiate? If not, I could try talking Arin into giving the money back. All of the money..."

"All my employer cares about is the return of the money," Diego replied.

Taking in the situation, Arin began to think about her options. With a heavy sigh, she took out a pouch of money and threw it at the soldier. "Here, take it! I don't need it!" Then Arin went to go sulk on a nearby rock, occasionally turning to glare at everyone.

Diego blinked and bent over to pick up the pouch. He counted it. "It's all here. Let's go, men!" As the other guards began to melt away into the trees, he turned to Eleni. "You're a good fighter. Impressive, at your age. What's your name?"

"The name is Eleni Swiftwater." I have to admit, your guards have some impressive moves as well." She looked at Arin. "I should also say, Arin is very clever when it comes to pilfering goods. It's a very valuable asset..."

Diego frowned. "Just make sure she chooses her targets more wisely in the future." He stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Eleni Swiftwater."

Eleni took his hand. "Nice to meet you as well, Diego Tharinfalt."

Diego shook her hand firmly. "Might I ask where the three of you are off to? It's not exactly common to find three young ladies travelling on their own these days, whether they're good fighters or not."

"We're looking for a friend of Karen's. She was kidnapped, and Karen believes she can find her. I'm just here to protect. Arin, we just happened to stumble across her..."

Diego raised his eyebrows. Kidnapped? "Well, I wish you luck. Perhaps when we finish this contract my men and I can aid you, if you haven't solved the problem by then. Have you had any sort of ransom notice?"

"Not that I know of. I'm not sure how she was taken or where she might have gone, but Karen asked for my help, and I agreed to it. It would be wonderful to have some more help. I'm sure Karen would appreciate it as well." Eleni said.

Diego nodded. "Where can we find you? The caravan should reach its destination in a couple days."

"Oh well, that's too bad. Look! The sun is setting and we really need to be on our way! It turns out we don't need your help after all. You're just a stupid guard. We all know that guards are greedy little bastards." Arin glared at Diego and then at where the money pouch is. "Come on!" Arin grabbed her companions and dragged them in a random direction - away from the soldiers.

Diego's face darkened at the insult. His hand went automatically to the sword at his side. It was a good thing his men weren't here, he might not have been able to restrain them.

It was obvious that things weren't going too well between the soldier and the thief.

"Arin, why would you say something like that? He was only trying to help. And besides, I'm part of the law, like him and the other soldiers. Would you say something like that to me?" Eleni said, after pulling away from Arin.

"No, but then again you aren't constantly chasing me around, throwing me in jail! Ok, it hasn't really bothered me, but guards are my natural enemy!" Arin protested and then pointed toward Diego, "And he's a meanie! He just wants all that money for himself!" She stuck her tongue out at Diego. "Besides, I've never had good experiences with soldiers or guards- even before I was a theif. " She paused. "Let's not talk about this. If you really want his help, then take it. I don't really care at this point." Arin walked toward a nearby tree and slumped against it with a sigh.

"Arin, I am sorry, but when you think of how much help this would be, it would be smart to take his offer. And the money isn't for him, it's for his boss. Remember? You took the money from that merchant..." Eleni said as she walked towards the tree. "Karen, what do you think? Should we take his help or no? After all, this was your mission..."

Diego's eyes shifted from one girl to another, and gradually relaxed a bit. He should have realized that a thief would have...different...preconceptions and bias toward guards than other people. What's gotten into me lately? First I offer help, then I react strongly to an insult I would have ignored any other time...But something pulls me towards this group. He removed his hand from his sword hilt, but kept a wary eye on the thief.

Karen shook her head in thought. "I really don't know. I mean, he seems nice enough, and it would be nice to have some extra muscle around.... I suppose I don't really mind." She smiled and waved her hands off to her side. "So I suppose that was a long way of saying "Sure! We need muscles!" No offense, Eleni."

"That's all he can offer after all..." Arin added her little comment and continued to sulk.