Ursali

Rrrrrgghh! Alriana mentally growled, in place of not being able to do it physically, as she continued to push her legs and tail to their theoretical limits to gain on and eventually overtake Cassandra. The princess had tried to put in a final push as she neared the rock, but Alriana's speed couldn't be beat, or at least couldn't be beat by Cassandra and Aegean. She was the first to the rock enough so that she had climbed out of the water by the time her opponents reached the finish line. She had remained submerged the entire race, panting hard for air instead of for exertion caused by the race. "Hahh, Haaahhh..." As Cassandra and Aegean trailed into finish she looked down at them from her rocky perch. "Still win, even though princess cheated." "Huh..." Ember hadn't been expecting a further demonstration of the multi-tailed fox's ability to sense magic. Revealing Syta as Lufirian, or herself as aligned with fire, wasn't impressive as far as she was concerned; she could've know about Syta from unrelated things to sensing magic and her own alignment to fire was blatantly obvious. Nailing Amera as aligned with thunder was however further proof of the woman's ability, neither of her companions had shown anything that could've hinted towards their magic. "Kinda of a nifty ability you got there, where'd you pick that up?" She wasn't really expecting an answer to the question, more just asked a filler while Seila mulled over the woman's pitch. And what a pitch it was, a year of your life for, roughly, a nine-thousand gold discount. Or more, if you could scrounge up more gold to buy more things. If their group were to pool all their gold, it wouldn't be impossible for them to buy two of the woman's items. But that would require at least one of them do the trade, maybe two of them if the fox woman caught onto their sharing gold. Seila seemed out, at least for now, leaving Ember left to answer the fox. However, before she could a dragon clouded of all things approached her and asked how she might go about meeting Owen. "Yeah, just have to head on in through the courtyard," she said, turning to point towards the castle's main gate, "state yer purpose to the guards if they question ya, and just ask one of the staff for Owen's whereabouts." While Amera or Seila might still have referred to him as Lord Owen, Ember felt she had enough... Familiarity with the man that she had earned the omission of his title. "Nah I got her Jesse, she just wants to meet with Owen." "He's not a hard man to find if you want to find 'em. Pretty open minded too, so I'm sure he'll hear your request." With that, and with Miria's attention also on the woman, Ember turned her attention back to Kise. "I'm with Seila and Jesse on this one, more or less. At least right now. If you're still here when we get back I might take your offer for that pair of mythril gauntlets, but I don't wanna promise ya anything incase I don't follow through." The sheep clouded however had taken Kise's discount, even for no particular item at the moment. Ember couldn't really agree or understand why, but it wasn't her business to pry into the woman's, who had introduced herself as Roxanne, reasons; however it did give everyone present a chance to see the actual process of how she took a year of someone's life. To Ember, who had little knowledge of magic, it didn't look like much of anything had happened until the fox spontaneously sprouted another tail. Was that supposed to happen. would it happen every time? Questions even someone as bold as her didn't feel like asking.

Alriana looked over the deck of the ship towards the rocks Cassandra was pointing to, the 'finish line' for their proposed race. As she turned her head back to look at the shark clouded she didn't see the woman at her side, instead on the port side of the ship jumping into the water! "Raaaaaargh cheater!" She yelled as she bolted across the ship's deck and launched herself over the edge, curling her body into a dicing angle midair. She pierced the water with a splash and began to propel herself after the princess like a bullet, swiftly overtaking Aegean and rapidly gaining on Cassandra despite the princess' headstart. Ember had picked up her pace as Seila called after her, intent to make the mage work for whatever she had stirring up in that head of hers. Once she did finally catch up to her, whining her name, she slower her pace to normal so Seila could have her 'revenge'. "Oh, even are we? We'll see about that..." Despite her words the Hellhound stayed her claws; they were nearly at the pop-up shop that had been set up in the courtyard so she didn't want to cause a ruckus as they walked past. Rest be assured that there was a friendly noogie coming Seila's way in the future. The first thing that Ember noticed about the shop was the owner, a clouded...? A monster? Either way, Ember had never seen an individual with as many tails as this Kise, as Syta had introduced her. She was quick to lock onto Seila and offer her a tome at both quite the price and quite the discount, though the details of the discount were yet to mentioned. Someone unfamiliar to the hound, a sheep(?) clouded, had already asked the question she felt the need to ask for Seila's sake so she followed up a less important question. "Can you actually smell magic like that?" She was unfamiliar with any that wasn't her own, and certainly had no deep understanding of the subject. She didn't need to, her magic worked when she wanted to, and sometimes when she didn't, and that was all she had ever needed to know.

As they briefly passed by Kieran and the host of people gathered around his cell, granted from an entire hallway away, Alriana wondered if he was one of the people that Chris and Versaris would've said the world was better off without. She hated him for what he'd done to the Tigers, and a fair few others probably did as well; however she was wary of the feeling after how her 'talk' with Jeremiah had gone, but only because of her follow-up conversation with Alvira. Would killing him 'further the pain'? He was still alive, so she surmised as such. That was as far as her thought process got before they made it outside, following along behind Aegean and Cassandra. There was some slight awkwardness as Aegean confused Cassandra's intent, but none that bothered the lizard. "Will probably just swim. Will have plenty of time to see ship when we are sailing to go kill Kazran. Won't have as much time to swim. Can swim fast, but not as fast as ship." She turned to Cassandra, staring up at the woman. She had to be almost as tall as Versaris. "How fast can you swim? You shark clouded, must be fast like me. And Aegean correct, I can see well. Can see in dark just fine. Also good at surprise attacks if that needed while on ship." "W-Wuh--! Listen here you..." Ember hadn't expected Seila to fire back with a tease of her own, no matter how quietly. The urge to really embarrass the mage was strong, but all her ideas weren't fit for public. "I've been doing just fine since we got here, thank you very much." She let out a small huff, beginning to move as everyone began to leave. "I'm not your human, but I don't think you'll complain Amera~" As she strolled past Amera she gave the cat a scritch behind her ears, petting her head before Seila got to her. She turned back to stick her tongue out at Seila before continuing on with a chuckle. "Once we're done with lunch we can show you all around the city, I'm sure we'll have a blast."

Daeran boosted behind Kazue, quietly impressed that she could consistently push her machine's speed ahead of the standard. Daeran to 19,21.

"Thank you, Sir, you're trust means more than you know." He returned the Falcon's grin with a smirk. "You don't have to worry about that, I'm plenty aware of how adept she would be at shooting me out of the sky." This really was the best he could've hoped for with how sudden his reveal was, Kagi taking a neutral opinion on his reveal as well, but the circumstances had demanded it be as such. Rivane was in agreement that their final destination would be Bravia, but there was still the matter of their prisoner to settle. "It's a story I wouldn't mind telling, within reason, once we've settled for dinner if you'd like to hear it Kagi." He watched as the prin- Empress addressed the prisoner, her words finally enough to lift her out of Evelyn's web of deceit. At Rivane's call he moved over proper, standing adjacent to the Empress. If it was his task he would do it dutifully, and perhaps if she were to follow him around he would be able to impress the gravity of their financial station into her. If they truly were going to go with Raz's plan to earn additional gold then giving her more motivation would only be better for their overhead. "Perhaps she could join her, if she is so insistent to protect her honor. Draw gazes onto herself and off of the Empress." He didn't relish the idea of forcing either of them to use their bodies for money, but there were only so many scams you could run in one town at a time. Especially right as you roll in. As long as someone was around to make sure that hands were kept to themselves it would probably be fine...

Things appeared to be under control here, between Leon and the Lieutenant Commander, the rest of the AI controlled machines appeared to be handled. "Moving to assist against the unknowns." Daeran to 22,23. Almost as if she was aware she was being watched, Alriana stood up and re-enabled her machine's SyNC system. It was time to leave, she was beyond bored. Without knowing at least the target's preferred load out it would be impossible to pick him out amongst the sea of HEXes. She grumbled, her tail swaying behind her and creating an odd shimmering pattern to anyone observing the space she was in. Had she been a bit more proactive she probably could've mauled whoever was playing sniper if she had acted in tandem with the southern squad, but it was too late now; by the time she got over there the entirety of the Dawn's pilots would be done with the southern squad. "Hmph... Beast, returning to base."

"Yes. That is probably the most accurate way to refer to my position in Bravia, as well as my designated objective." The raven visibly relaxed as Rivane didn't immediately run him through, and further relaxed as he appeared to be of similar opinion to Willow. "I'll be honest, sir, when I joined you back when you left the knights it was mostly out of necessity; even back then Evelyn wasn't one to be trifled with. But know that was not the only reason I joined you and assuredly not the reason that I've stuck around for." He left it off there; he could save the rest of that story, and everything else that would follow from it, for after everyone had time to cool down. Case in point being the varied reactions between Silvano and Raz. Kagi had yet to speak up regarding the information, but they were busy with the prisoner. "Don't worry about it, Silvano. And once I'm wrapped up here I'll take a look at you to make sure you did everything right." He gave the man a thumbs up with his free hand, hopefully conveying that there were no hard feelings between them. Raz would not be so easy to win over, however. He expected as much, the dragon appeared to be wary by nature and she was one of the Falcons that he'd expected to take the news the worst. "By all means, look as much as you like, I have nothing to hide." He didn't know if she actually intended to devote time to watching him or not, but that didn't make his statement any less truthful. "From what I understand of it, Rivane, Bravia absolutely needs this information to have any hope of winning this war in a timely manner. Without it, even if they were to lead a successful charge on the capital, this war could still last for years." With the princess demanding that he give out only the absolute bare minimum that would have to do. "I hope that's enough for you, sir. I know what she can do and why it's so important for a timely victory, but only she knows the means by which it can be made to happen."

The hostility directed towards him, and the princess, was to be expected, though he was grateful that Willow at least could see things for how they were. He remained firm as Raz stomped towards him, ready to take the punch that she looked to be winding up. She appeared to think better of it right at the end, but she'd still laid quite the accusation at his feet, one he would not allow to remain; he addressed the dragon first as she had been the first to speak. "Raz, look at me. Am I any better off than any of the other Falcons? I eat what you eat, sleep wherever we set up camp, the whole nine yards. I'm not even from Bravia by birth, but that's not relevant right now. My proof is in these letters, correspondence between myself, Bravia, other agents, and of course the princess herself. There shouldn't be anything that you aren't supposed to see in them if you'd like to look, Raz." Not without the cipher anyway... "The same goes for you Silvano; you've seen the state of my attire, I'm hardly holding out on anyone here." He turned to Jilyn as he held out the letters for Raz or Silvano to snatch, if they so wanted to. "You seem to not understand your-- Our position, princess. We could make our own attempt to cross over to Bravia, braving the knights, the bandits, and whatever else lies in wait for us. Without any gold to feed us mind you, they would be taking your valuables were we to part ways." He sighed, hoping she understood; without the Falcons they were both as good as dead. "Or you can ally with the Falcons. You can't expect them to trust you if you can't even trust our leader, no matter how much of a risk the spread of this knowledge is. Willow put it best; Rivane will die before he has a chance to divulge this information, that's the sort of man he is. And someone needs to know it should something happen to the both of us. If Rivane doesn't care to know that's fine, but he carries the weight of the Falcons lives on his shoulders; he deserves to know whatever will help him make a decision."

And there was his cue, the raven stepping out past Silvano and into the center of camp with Rivane and the princess. He reached into his an inner pocket of his coat, withdrawing carefully preserved, and concealed, letters. He held them in his hands, but didn't offer them to Rivane just yet. "I believe I have the proof you require, sir. If you need someone who believes her, then look no further than me. Not because I've been swayed by her words, mind, but because I know that she undoubtedly speaks the truth." He paused for a moment, seeking an icebreaker into what was about to be, at least on his end, an awkward conversation. With none in sight, and the silence lingering just a little too long, he continued. "Ahem. I am one of many of Bravia's agents in this country. Our current goal, now that the Mad King is dead, is the extraction of the princess to Bravia due to what she possesses; if you want to know exactly what it is..." He paused, staring into the Falcon's eyes, "I'm willing to tell you, Rivane, but only you. No offense to the rest of the Falcons, but you're the least likely of us to be captured and you'd be the last of us to break." He repositioned, so that he was looking at Raz, Rivane, and the princess; their scout's concerns were no less valuable just because she wasn't their captain. "As for Bravia's intentions for Halspria, I can speak on those as well, though as an agent I can only repeat to you what I've been told. It is up to everyone here if they believe the kingdom's word." He coughed, clearing his throat. "Bravia seeks the end of this war above all else, much like the princess here. Should they win, and Jilyn still be alive, they would likely turn the country over to her leadership; they have no desire to govern this land or its people. They seek only an end to the pointless conflict started by the Mad King." He let out a hard sigh, slumping some as he did so before he righted his posture. It was a lot, both to get off his chest and to put out there. When he was acting as a knight he never would've imagined revealing him status to Rivane, but that was already so long ago. "If you have any questions, or require proof of my own story, I do have proof beyond my word." It wasn't meant to sound like a jab at the princess, it was meant to reassure Rivane, but that was how the words had exited his month.

Only after he was sure that the knights hadn't pursued them did Cryus remember that he was currently hoisting Raz, despite her loud protests, and set her down so that she could move under her own power. He gave her a half-hearted apology before continuing to run with the rest of falcons. As they had continued to flee from the knights Cyrus ha had found the time to go around from member to member and tend, lightly, to everyone's wounds with his staff; not enough to drain it's power but enough to ensure that none of their wounds would be getting infected before he could get a proper look at them. With that done on their way back to camp he was free to tend to himself once they had returned, ducking into his tent to tend to his own injuries. At least they had managed to secure the Princess, despite how rough the actual kidnapping had gone for Silvano; with her jewelry alone they should be able to restock on much needed supplies, medicine chief among them. He could only do so much, even if Willow was a godsend in procuring medicinal herbs. More importantly however was that they had actually captured, or perhaps freed was the better word, the princess. His tent was near the center of camp so he was able to mostly overhear Jilyn and Rivane's conversation as he stripped from his armor to treat his wounds and wrap himself up. He made sure to be sparring with it, everyone else still needed to be tended to. Even their prisoner if they were going to keep her around. Two things happened at once, one a card he hadn't been expecting to be played, or ever revealed, so soon; the princess was working with Bravia. The shocking thing wasn't the news itself, but rather that she had revealed it so readily. There had been more at play than her value when he pushed so hard for the Falcons to 'kidnap' her. I had better get out there... He was in the process of fixing his deteriorating overcoat as Silvano queried a question at him through his tent's open entrance. "You know me, Silvano, I'm always busy." He gave the man a wry smile, finally dressed and standing again. It still wasn't quiet spring yet and he wasn't looking to catch his death by being underdressed for long. "But yes I'd be glad to give you a second opinion once this business with the princess has been handled; I feel as though I will be needed out there shortly." If he'd learned anything about Rivane over the years he knew the man, the princess' word, perhaps because it was her word, would not be sufficient for him to rally the Falcons around her cause; he would need proof. Proof that Cyrus was the only one in possession of.

"What's a shame?" Unfortunately, the lizard did not pick up on Cass' implication, tilting her head in the shark Clouded's direction. She remained confused as her question caused Cass to burst out laughing, that was the first time that had happened. Was there something inherently funny in the question asked, or was it a unique reaction from a unique individual? She pondered that question was Cass dealt with the cat clouded, apparently someone else that would be joining them for the siege, before they were suddenly urged to follow after the Clouded princess. The woman reminded her of Iris in a way, just far more brusque. "You know what I mean Seila~" There was a knowing smirk plastered all over Ember's face, blatant about her teasing of the smaller mage. She might have been the one to do all the talking once they'd come to Esclas, but that didn't make anything that she'd said any less true. She couldn't help but grin as Amera all but threw herself at the other cat clouded, brimming full of her near trademark energy. "No, I don't think we had any plans," she answered her companions as he tail began to slightly sway behind her, Amera's excitement was always contagious. "Going out to see the city sounds like it would be some good fun before everything gets serious. We can all have a ladies knight out." Looking around at the departing forms, this mercenary outfit appeared to be majority female and clouded. I guess it makes sense for a Galcian merc outfit that they're all clouded, but where are the damn men at...

Cyrus was on his last legs and Willow wasn't much better. But they had weathered the storm and would live to see another day, at the very least. As Evelyn approached and began barking at Rivane, he felt a spike of anxiety; the Blademaiden was sharp, to expect he escaped notice just because she was focusing on the falcon was foolhardy. It was something he would have to deal with later, and potentially speak with Rivane about, but only once they were safe. "You don't have to tell me twice! C'mon Raz, we're leaving!" In one swift motion he turned, scooped up their draconic scout, and ran like their lives depended on it! Cyrus to 1,7, Escape.

"Right!" There wasn't time to question it, if Willow saw a line that let them get out of this alive he'd respect her judgement; now was the time for action, not words. "Raz, get behind me!" Was all the warning their dragon got as he reached out and pulled her behind him, gun still at the ready for the incoming charge. Cyrus to 4, 8. Rescue Raz, still has Magi Shot 'equipped'.

"Shit." Cryus could only curse as Silvano's blade fell short as, even as he dodged the first blast of magic, another was already being cast. He was sent reeling into the charging knight's lance. He wracked his brain for a solution, one man down with a wall of armor about to crash down on them. He didn't want to leave Silvano for dead but it didn't seem like he had a choice; he was only one man, Willow and Raz didn't have armor to protect them like he did, and there hadn't been time to treat Willow's injuries. Just as he was ready to promise Silvano they'd be back for him Rivane returned, now unburdened, and acutely aware of the situation. "Right, sir!" There was hope yet, though there was still the matter of ensuring that their path to Silvano remained clear. Let's see how well their armor protects them from magic infused bullets... Cyrus to 7,7 take Willow, drop her on 6,7. Swap to Magi Shot.

"Dammit!" Cyrus swore as the knight dashed past him to make an attempt on the princess' life, unable to impede him any further than the shot of ice through his thigh. The princess was able to stave off the mad knight's attack, but was no longer in any condition to fight. Wisely, she made the decision to fall back as Raz ensured the blackguard wouldn't pursue her. He felt himself breathe a sigh of relief now that everything was, mostly, back on plan. Rivane was right that now wasn't the time to question the princess' situation, the important thing now was that they had the princess, willingly even, and it was time to pull back. All they had to do was break through these knights and ensure everyone was able to escape. "Silvano, with me! We break to the north to cover the other's escape and then fall back!" Cyrus to 8, 10, gat the mage.

Raz's worries appeared to be well-founded; the rear-guard of the princess' escort was shockingly lax, the seasoned knights in the lead and almost conveniently too far ahead to intervene. So it's true, then... The knight's carelessness was their gain, the Falcons surging forth and removing all but three of the guards in one decisive strike. Kagiso moved for the carriage and emerged with the princess still in her freshly severed chains but with sword in hand. There was no doubt, then... "Everyone, protect the princess at all costs! She's no good to anyone dead!" He shouted as he broke from the woods, eyes locked on the blonde swordsman. He looked to be the one with most authority of those in the rearguard; if anyone knew, it was him. He needed to draw his attention away from the wagon... Cyrus to 8,6, shoot Antonio.

Cyrus emerged from his position in deeper in the forest, revolver in hand. "Right here, sir." Despite the risk they were all about to take, the crow felt some relief that the princess and her entourage were actually here; he'd pushed hard for the Falcons to put everything on the line for this opportunity when the news of the Princess' tour reached them. There were many reasons to justify the risk, ranging from the actual target herself to the likelihood of her having valuable jewelry that they could pawn off to name only a couple. "Though," a light smirk took to his face as the entirety of the Falcons emerged from their positions, "doesn't seem like they need me to kick them into gear." Everyone seemed eager, which was good; there wouldn't be time to hesitate. "You know the drill, everyone. Hit 'em hard, hit 'em fast. As soon as we lose the element of surprise we'll have the best of the Mad Emperor's knights crashing down on us. It's as Raz said. And If you get injured, come see me. Priority number one is to keep ourselves alive, right Rivane?"

Daeran to 23, 27 Explosive Shot Lancer A-6.

"Am Creation, lots of things." She answered without thinking, the truth slipping out due to how comfortable she'd become with the term. She chose to ignore the sudden surge of... adrenaline? as she realized her mistake, choosing instead to focus on the smile Cass had shown her. This was the first time she'd seen anyone with teeth similar to her own, Cass had her interest. "What can bite through? I can bite through steel, maybe more." She ended her sentence with a flash of her teeth, allowing Cass to see that the creation's teeth were just as sharp, if not more so, than hers. "You swim too? Or can princess not swim?" It sounded ridiculous, especially given that Cass was an aquatic clouded like Aegean, but from all the books she'd read princesses were barely allowed out of the castle, let alone half of what it looked like Cass did in her spare time. Unexpectedly, a fourth approached their group; however, it was quickly apparent that they, likely, wouldn't be joining them for their trip to the docks. She studied the newcomer, both their appearance and demeanor, but remained silent. Their business was with Cass, if they had something to say to her then she would speak. Until then, however, she would continue to watch as she waited to be lead to the pier.

Alriana maintained her stoicism as the meeting continued, though Jeremiah's, or 'Leon's', sudden interjection into the meeting quickly captured her attention. She had no understanding of anything but the most general of politics, and what she'd learned and been told on their journey into Islexia; to see Jeremiah, with everything he represented, sticking his nose where it wouldn't have been wanted if Owen's council knew his true identity was something she hadn't expected to see. If she hadn't had several days to cool off she would have called him a hypocrite, even if she was wrong. The logic behind the conclusion was almost enough to cause a knee-jerk reaction, despite the fact that she knew the conclusion was incorrect, leading her to suspect the Voice was bleeding into her feelings again. She was watching him more than she was watching the meeting at this point, including when he returned to the group and cast a glance her way. She refused to avert her gaze, briefly matching his before he returned to resting in the shadows. The meeting had now concluded, everyone free to go their separate ways, and she saw Versaris quickly approach Jeremiah and begin talking quietly enough that it likely wasn't meant to be overheard. She let out a quiet growl, tail flicking like an agitated cat; she'd been avoiding conversing with Versaris after they'd returned from the compound. Her feelings towards how he had acted, and what could have been the consequences of his actions were never explored or expounded on, the 'fight' between them put on pause due to the not-elf's status as Jeremiah's pupil. Jeremiah made to leave, Versaris intent to follow, and suddenly she was left without anything to do in a city she didn't know. Until Gean approached and extended an invitation to go swimming in, what the creation assumed, to be the waters near Esclas; she'd only been half paying attention to the background noise of everyone splitting off to go do their own things. "Mhmm..." She gave the mermaid a nod, staring up at her. "Can go swimming, like water yes." Anything was better than being alone with the Voice's feelings bleeding into her and coloring her perception of everything. "Know how to get to water where swim?" "Tall dragon in the back, might even have more muscle than I do." She kept her tone firm and quiet, not looking to be overhead while the meeting was still going in full-force; they'd have plenty of time to talk between themselves, and meet the Tigers, once the meeting had concluded. --- Amusingly enough, as soon as the meeting was over and they were actually free to mingle with their fellow mercs, Amera's boundless excitement was so strong to meet the Tigers that it manifested in decision paralysis. It was enough to get a chuckle out of the Hellhound, giving Amera a gentle noogie. "You're gonna act all excited and then not even have someone to go say 'hi' to? Looks like most of them are disbursing already." The cat wouldn't have to worry about it for long, though, as two of the Tigers were quick to approach, with another pair a bit behind them. "Name's Ember." Her words were brief, but her tone and body language were plenty friendly, extending a claw out for either of the Tigers to shake. "And yeah, pretty much what Amera said. We ended up here one way or another, so we'll be working with ya at least until we get to throw Kazran to the sharks. Or maybe it's better to say The 'shark'?" She smirked but couldn't help but glance at the source of the joke; if there was anyone here that would actually tear the man limb from limb it would be Cass. "Pleasure'll be ours I'm sure." Or at least mine, hopefully. Every merc group's gotta have at least one free guy right? And if he's rolling with them then there shouldn't be an issue... "And hey," she turned to Miria, a slight smirk on her face. "There's no reason to be so formal or shy around us. That's Seila's job."

Daeran to 23,23 Explosive Shot Tank 4-A.

Finally, some room to breathe... Daeran let out a heavy sigh, finally catching some normal breaths as his bullets rained down on the artificial intelligence powered Lancer. Now that Kazue had returned to her senses, and Markus and Scylla had evaded the majority of the tank fire they were well positioned to deal with this group of tanks and Lancers before they could get pincered. Louise proposed her own plan to go solo, but as the squad's sniper, it at least made sense and it had been openly communicated. He maneuvered into the cover of the base at the top of the plateau, dropping a grenade off the edge and onto the unsuspecting Lancer at the base of the plateau. One less enemy to worry about. Daeran to 22, 21, Grenade Lancer A-3.

Daeran to 21, 19, 90mm Lancer 4.

The most impressive thing about Esclas to Alriana wasn't the rare clouded walking around, or the fact that it's wall still stood despite having an entire country's hatred at their doorstep; it was the break from the unbearable heat of Islexia. Without a doubt, the heat was what she hated most about this country; she could kill members of the underground, or any Islexian that decided to cross the Tigers, but the weather was something beyond her reach. In a way, it was the one way she knew that the feelings were entirely hers. The Voice had never told her to commit violent acts against the weather. As she walked through the town, tailing slightly behind Versaris and Jeremiah, she was impressed the latter allowed her to be out of his sight, and even walk behind him, given how their last conversation had ended. Perhaps he simply just didn't want to see her. Through her talk with Alvira, Alriana's feelings towards the man had cooled some, no longer the overwhelming hatred she'd felt when they returned to the compound; however, she wouldn't consider their relationship anything close to amicable. Especially with no further contact between the two of them since that night. The only good thing to come of that conversation was that it had made her realize that just because the Voice was silent, didn't mean it was any less present. As they were led into the cast proper and brought before Owen she stayed back and hopefully mostly out of sight. While she barely had the patience for words, she had absolutely none for politics. She would not suffer having to speak unless there was something actually important for her to say. Expectedly, or perhaps it was unexpected, she hadn't put much of any thought into how the meeting with Owen would go, the man himself appeared to be everything his sister had said he was. It was his council that were proving to be disappointments. Both siblings reprimanded them, but it remained to be seen if that would change the tune these birds sang. --------------------------------------- Ember silently watched as the mercenaries slowly filed into the War Room, a quiet chuckle escaping her as Amera's near boundless energy manifested itself in anxiousness enough for her to try to hide behind her. She wore her confidence proudly, both with her expression and her attire, toned muscles openly on display. She wasn't the only one, spotting a massive man, dragon? Dragon. Dressed similar to her, only covering the essentials to remain decent. If the tension in the room hadn't skyrocketed the moment the Belrose, and subsequently the Glacian Evokers as well, spoke up she'd have whistled at him, but alas, now wasn't the time for pleasure. "Mhmm..." She nodded in agreement with Seila. Their job right now was to be flies on the wall and to look tough like hired muscle ought to. The Lion, the Lizard, and the Not-Elf

"Hahhh...!" Stress continued to exit Daeran's body in the form of exasperated sighs as Kazue appeared to be completely disregarding all forms of communication and throwing herself and her HEX at the automatous units. There'd be no saving her from this one. He'd done what he could in terms of extending an olive branch; there was no way the Captain would be able to overlook this. As for what he could do now... If she's not going to listen to being hailed over the comms then I'll just have eliminate the threats to keep her safe. What still troubled him was what had gotten into her; over the time he spent coaching her she seemed to grasp his lessons that he'd tried to drill into her. She'd seemed to understand that the unit would have her back, she didn't need to make up for how terrible of a shot she was... Daeran to 19, 20.