Return of the Emblem Chapter Fifteen: Alliance

[Snike]

Conviction (Day 5)

Spoiler

Pete had his hands full helping Malik out, especially while getting used to his new armor and equipment. On the fifth day, however, he found himself with some time, and so he decided to go check on Lumi. After a bit of searching, he found his travel companion on the poop deck with Star.

"Hi there Lumi," Pete said, as he approached and took off his helmet. "Long time no see."

Lumi has been relaxed in a position not far from where she had been talking with Thales a few days ago. Star had needed more exercise, so she'd brought him up and let him loose, choosing to stay grounded for now as he wheeled above the ship, loving the freedom and the fresh sea air. Glancing up as she heard someone approaching, get face broke into a smile. "Pete! How are you? Whoa, that's some fancy new equipment. Where did you find that out here in the middle of the ocean? It looks really heavy... How do you move in it? What have you been up to by the way? I looked for you at one point but it was like you were a ghost!" Given the state the pegasus rider had been the last time Pete had seen her, the bubbly mood she was in was a drastic difference, much closer to her normal attitude that Pete would have been used to when they were traveling just the two of them.

Someone was a liiittle energetic, clearly. Pete was glad that her shock at the battle of Ursium had only been a temporary thing. Or, at least, it looked like it was only temporary.

"Woah there," Pete said put his hands up in mock protest. "I can't keep at a mile a minute . First off, I'm doing good. Got the armor from Greta, and, while it's heavier than without it, I've had worse. Anyways, I've been off doing some thinking, and some... "helping" around the boat. How have you been doing?"

"Oh, right, Greta, that would make sense." She giggled at his comments about how fast she was talking but didn't really make any attempt at slowing down as she continued to pester him, "What sort of thinking and helping? What were you helping with?" She blushed slightly at the next question and faltered slightly before continuing, "I've been... been good! I mean, after the battle was hard... But I've been getting to know Thales and he seems really nice and I met another girl, uhm, Haruhi. I think that's the right pronunciation. She's going to teach me Kigenese! Once she learns Common from Thales... Though he's been doing some translating for me and teaching me a few words."

She considered the last few days and then continued, "Oh, and I've been working on my magic. I have a spell... It was originally meant to be a grounded shield, but I think I might be able to adapt it slightly so it's more like armor. I won't be able to move too much when I'm using it since it needs to be connected to the ground to be really effective but it should still be useful! Hopefully I can get the last few kinks figured out soon."

"Thinking about what to do once we land in Kigen, for one," Pete said, frowning for a moment. "As for what I was helping with, it's discipline around this ship. It's a long story." 

The Ursian would've continued on directly to talk about it, had he not noticed his companion blushing. Instead, he decided to skip the story and Thales, for now.

"The spell sounds neat, though if depending on how much it slows you down, maybe we should get you a crossbow or gun," he said, before smirking all of a sudden. "Anyways, this Thales kid sounds like one smart fellow. Where'd you find him, anyway? A tome shop?"

"Hmm? What to do in Kigen?" Lumi tilted her head in confusion, not really understanding what Pete was talking about. "Well, we have our leaders to figure out what to do exactly, right? They'll find out how best to handle the situation and we'll move from there." To be honest, Lumi wasn't overly interested in the specifics. She knew that they were going to have to fight the Fallen at some point but how they got there and all of that wasn't interesting.

The talk of a gun was even less interesting to her. Waving it away, she dismissed the idea completely. "Guns, ugh. No thank you. I'll stick with my sword and magic. Guns are too fiddly." The smile on his face was worrying as he began talking about Thales, but overall the question was pretty tame. "Hmm? Well, yeah, I guess he's smart. He speaks some Kigenese and then he speaks Common well. But no, he's not a mage. He's an archer actually. We met him when we were trying to get meat for Sasha."

She frowned for a second trying to remember the exact details of the meeting but couldn't exactly remember why he was there. "I guess he was looking for food too? But he seemed like he could use a job and I knew that we'd need as many people as we can get for all of this, so I invited him to join up and then everything sort of exploded all at once and he ended up joining up."

"You have a lot of faith in them," Pete said, frowning. "Alright, though I still think you should consider a crossbow, unless you really think you can fight back at a distance with that spell in place. Might be 'fiddly', but having to fiddle's better than being a sitting duck." He wasn't about to push the issue much beyond that.

On Thales, however, the armored man had more to say. "So, he's an archer who just happens to know Kigenese, and who stumbled along at just the right time to get brought into the group without too many questions. That's convenient."

Lumi didn't feel the crossbow discussion was worth continuing, so instead she focused on defending Thales. "What? No, come on Pete, you've got to be able to trust people sometimes." She reached out and shoved his arm playfully, trying to make him smile. "He doesn't know a lot of Kigenese and it's not like he knew what he was getting into. We were talking and he seemed nice so I invited him but then when all those soldiers started attacking, he just got dragged along with us mostly. I mean, once he had everything explained, he still stuck with us but."

She hesitated, wondering if she should bring up the conversation the two of them had had on the first day after the battle, but she realized that Pete might take that the wrong way. After all, if he was suspicious of Thales, hearing that the two of them had been flirting... "Besides, that's how we joined up, right? People that no one knew, just travelers, and now we're part of the group. It can't hurt to bring him with us, right?"

"We've known him for about five days. Even if he is 'nice', that's too soon to trust someone," Pete said, still maintaining his frown. "Especially someone who sounds like he could be on border patrol. I can see how he's like us, in a way, but the differences is that the group wasn't on the run at the time from the army."

"Not to mention that... Actually, never mind," Pete said, deciding not to go over his problems with this group again. It wouldn't help at this point. "I'm still going to keep an eye on him in any case."

Lumi crossed her arms and glared at the armored man. "Come on Pete. He helped us out even at the risk to his own life. Sure I haven't known him long, but I didn't know you very long before I trusted you. And that worked out just fine." She'd literally met the man and started traveling with him that day. He was just being grumpy.

"He doesn't look like he's from border patrol or anything like that. A bit too... scruffy maybe? Besides, don't you need to keep your hair cut short and stuff to be a part of the army?" She shook her head at the man's pessimism. "Things will be fine, I promise. He and I had a really nice talk the first day and he'll be good, ok?" She smiled at him and nudged his arm. "So come on. Enough about him. Tell me more about what you were up to the last few days. You were helping keep discipline?"

"His life was in danger anyways," Pete said, as he sighed, "And that's not always true, but let's drop it for now."

Next subject up was the 'discipline' he had mentioned earlier.

"Right, so, it all started when I went to go talk to Amon. I found him being beaten up by a group of the sailors, so I intervened. Everyone walked away from that fight," Pete said, quickly, "After that was resolved, I did end up talking to Amon, and he suggested that I help Malik with being the first mate. It's ended up working out so far, since I needed to get used to wearing armor again and he needed some muscle."

"Oh, Malik became the first mate? That's interesting. Is he going to be staying on the ship then?" WIth one of the nomads gone for good and another one seeming to have not made it to the ship, if Malik left Amon, he would have lost all of his countrymen. Lumi couldn't help but wonder how that was making him feel. "I've seen Amon around once or twice. He seemed kind of down... Was it because of that? Or because of people not liking him."

It was good to hear that Pete hadn't killed anyone but still. It was worrying that he was going around just beating up on people apparently. "So how often are you fighting these sailors? Why are they on this ship if they can't behave? I mean... Things didn't go well that first day, but things are going fine now, right? Why are they still so upset?"

"I.. don't think so?," Pete said, now wondering himself whether or not that would be the case. "In any case, Amon hasn't been depressed because of that. It's more of because of his loyalties. That, and the battle didn't help things in the least." Not for the Sancturan, nor anyone else, really. Before he could dwell on that, however, the Ursian man had another barrage of questions to answer.

"I'm not picking on them, more of helping lay down the law. It's been about a half a dozen a day so far, since I've started helping out," he continued, frowning a little. "As for why they're on this ship, well, they were hired by the captain for reasons only Truth knows. They'll go off over just about anything, but usually it's some combination of sailors not liking the captain, the nomads, the number of women on board, or the other sailors that don't mind or support any of those three groups. Almost like herding cats, but at least it's not like the battalion all over again."

"So really they just... are looking for a reason to fight, huh?" Lumi didn't really understand sailors. Or men in general, but sailors specifically here. They were stuck in a boat in the middle of an ocean and decided that there were too many women and so they were going to fight over it? That just made no sense...

"That's right, I always forget that you were in the army. Is that a problem? With us, you know, not exactly fighting for the Ursians back there? I mean, I know that some of those pegasi that were flying around were probably trained by my parents." She glanced up at Star as she did and had to acknowledge that some of them might have been trained by her as well. "And that didn't exactly make me happy but that's not at all the same as you... Is there any chance people you knew were on those other ships?"

"Some of them, yeah. Others are just superstitious," Pete said, before Lumi asked whether he was bothered by their not supporting the Ursian army at Urquium.  That.. wasn't exactly a question that he was expecting, but in retrospect it made sense that she might think he was bothered by it.

"Well, we did end up firing on Neviskotian ships, so we weren't exactly fighting the army, either. But yeah, there was a chance that some people I knew died on those Ursian ships," he continued, frowning. "It's to be expected though, since they knew the risks. They weren't really the ones I felt sorry for, though."

"I don't understand people..." Lumi quietly muttered. Superstitious about women being on ships? That made no sense. Plus, the ship had been sailing just fine. There weren't any issues with things except for the people fighting. So they were the ones causing all the trouble that they were so worried about! She knew she wasn't about to figure it out though, so she focused back on the conversation at hand.

"Yeah, I suppose that's true. We didn't fight the army, we just told them to stop fighting. Well, that's good. Not the people dying part. Just that... it wasn't us. I guess." He seemed upset though, and his next statement confused her. "You don't feel sorry for them? Why not? And if not them... Who do you feel sorry for then?"

"I mean, I felt bad in a sense because they were being attacked, I guess, but that's to be expected," Pete said, as he shrugged. "I felt more sorry for the wyvern riders, and later the Skotians on the Basilisk. Those poor bastards never knew what hit them. And, well, no one should go like that."

"Ah... yeah. I... yeah." Lumi shrank into herself slightly as she remembered the vicious attack that had completely shocked her and left her useless. "I had been trying to not think about that too much to be honest... But yes." She agreed with him in the end. That was a terrible thing to have been done and the humans and the wyverns had deserved so much better. Some people would probably justify it as being war but... "If that's what is considered ok for war, I... I don't think I like being a part of all of this. How anyone can justify..." She shuddered and shook her head.

"Does it ever get any easier?" She winced as the question she'd been wanting to ask but dreading to know the answer to slipped out. On the one hand if it did, that was something good, something she wouldn't have to worry about as much in the future. But on the other hand, she wasn't sure if she wanted to become the sort of person who wasn't bothered by all of that.

Evidently Lumi hadn't completely gotten over the battle. Pete could understand, but, well, he couldn't help but think about it. That was almost all that he had thought about, for the first day or so.

"Two ways: they don't see their opponents as people, or because they think it'll keep themselves and their allies alive," the ex-soldier said, before pausing at Lumi's second question. Eventually, he answered, "It depends. Some people can just put it away, others... well, there's a reason the army's always recruiting, and not just retirement. It's also a world away from the noble life, which doesn't help. After a while, you can ignore it, but I don't think you can ever forget something like that."

Pete paused for a moment after saying that, then continued on for one last question. "Are you sure you want to keep traveling with this group once we land in Kigen? I think that battle was just scratching the surface of what's yet to come."

That wasn't the answer she was looking for. Not that she really knew what answer she was looking for. Ignoring it clearly wasn't working for her. And leaving wasn't an option. It wasn't an option, so why was Pete acting like it was? "I... what do you mean? What else..." She trailed off, knowing what his answer would be. That she could get back on a ship. Go back to Ursium. Go home even. It's not like her parents wouldn't welcome her back. She could rebuild her old life easily. But was that what she wanted?

"I... I can't ignore this. Not with everything we know." She thought back to the conversation she'd had with Thales. She'd told him that they'd face whatever would come together. That he didn't have to worry as much because she'd be there too. "There are just so many people here that are willing to fight. To put themselves on the line for this..." Eva, Angelica, Shadrak, Amon, even the Avians who were so against fighting, all these faces and more flashed through her head. "They're my friends. You're my friend. I can't just... turn around and ignore what everyone is planning to do. They're all risking their lives to try and protect the world. What sort of person would I be if I ran away instead?"

"Frankly, you'd be smart if you left now," Pete said, frowning. "If things keep going the way they have been, someone in this group is going to get themselves killed. And then we'll see how 'together' everyone's going to be then. No one would blame you then, nor will they blame you now, if you walk away. What happened at Urquium was traumatic for everyone."

He paused and turned to look out from the boat, at the light blue ocean.

"I'm not asking you to ignore what's going on, really. It's just, there are other ways of supporting the job other than fighting the Fallen head-on," the Ursian man continued, still staring out at the sea. "You could be a courier, for example. That would guarantee your safety as well as Star's. And if you went back to Ursium, you could get hired on by Seth Weyland, and help out with the gate there. No need to 'go back' to your old life. In any case, this gate isn't your responsibility, Lumi, nor is it your burden to bear, and it's because I'm your friend that I'm saying that."

"Just... think about it, will you?" Pete asked, looking back at the ice mage. "Just because someone else risks their life, doesn't mean you have to. That's why groups like the army exist."

Lumi stared at her friend, lost for words. "I..." Nope, that didn't work. Try again. "I... But..." Two words that time, an improvement but not good enough. She felt her eyes starting to get hot, stinging. No, not now. But she had to know. "I know I don't need to but... do you... do you not want me here? It's not your responsibility either and... and..." The first few tears slipped out and she angrily wiped them away and pushed forward.

"You're staying. Eva is staying, Angelica is staying, Thales barely knows us and he's staying. I pro--promised him that I would stay." She hiccuped, trying to fight back tears and failing. "We've been traveling together and... and what makes this gate so much worse than the other gate? It's... it's going to be a fight either way so... So why are you trying to get rid of me?"

Lumi at this point was in tears, which, while Pete did feel bad for causing her to cry, wasn't enough to sway his opinion.

"I don't want you here, if it means you're going to die," he said, as he turned back towards his traveling companion. "You're young. You have so much more time to figure out things, and to risk it all on this isn't something I can sit by and watch. Yes, I'm staying, and so are some of the other ones. My staying might be a mistake, and if I knew the other three better, I'd tell them that they're making a mistake. The difference being that in my case, I probably can't go back to Ursium and disappear, since I'm an ex-captain. All the others, and especially you, can. I don't doubt that some will as the situation worsens, no matter what they're saying now. The point is, don't make a mistake just because others are making it."

"As for the gate, sure, there'll be battles at either one," Pete admitted, with a shrug. "The Kigen gate is going to be the strongest and best-guarded gate, since it's literally on their doorstep, somewhere. The battle itself is going to be worse on that fact alone, and there's also the fact that we don't even have the support of the Empire yet, nor is it a sure thing that we will have it the way things are going. The Ursium gate, on the other hand, will have Weyland's personal mercenaries as well as the army itself going after the thing, itching to get back at the crows for Europa. And don't even get me started on the state this group is in right now. I'm not even sure if the Avians will stay with us by the time we land."

"Let's say everything goes well, and we do manage to get the Kigenese on our side and can destroy the gate. In that scenario, there's no guarantee that you'll make it, Lumi," Pete said, looking away. "And even if you do, there's next to no way you'll be the same afterwards. You're not the kind of person who is meant to fight battles like this, and that's why I'm pushing so hard on this. I want you to live without having to change who you are in order to survive."

"I..." She stared at him through tear filled eyes, trying to come up with a protest, trying to find some way to prove him wrong. She had to stay. She promised... She promised Thales. And she was just starting to get to know people and... And if she left, she'd just be leaving everyone else to die. There, go with that. "I... But I can't leave you... You and everyone else..." No, he'd already said that he couldn't go back.

"I can't just..." She angrily dashed the tears from her eyes, trying to collect herself and failing. He was right. She very well could die. Or Star could die. And if she didn't, she'd be changed. Or she'd have to watch her friends die. Could she really... "I... I can't... can't deal with this." The tears started up again, and she fled, heart heavy with grief that she couldn't come up with a rational reason as to why she shouldn't just abandon her friends like Pete was telling her to do, and shame rising that she couldn't face his words. I'm just a coward... Back in Urquium and now here... A coward.

And there Lumi went, running off in tears after saying that she couldn't deal with the discussion. Pete sighed. He had definitely been too rough on her argument, but it had to be said, given the circumstances.  From what he had heard early on in there conversation, the pegasus rider was having trouble sleeping because of the massacre at Urquium, and that had brought back memories.

Memories of growing up in Sanctis, where people were killed in broad daylight in the middle of the street for so much as crossing a nobleman's path. Memories of when he was a recruit in the army, and how his company  would sometimes  come across a village ransacked and razed by bandits, with no one, young or old, left alive. He remembered the sleepless nights that followed, his dreams haunted by the corpses of those victims, and how that slowly went away, night by night, until one day, he stopped seeing those ghastly images. In fact, Peter had stopped dreaming altogether,

How long ago had that been? When did he stop thinking about the future, outside of figuring out how to make it to the end of the next month or year? Where had his aspirations gone?

It didn't really matter right now. Pete brushed those questions aside as he decided to go find Malik once again. He couldn't do anything for Lumi in the state that she was now, so, occupying himself with other duties was the next best thing he could do, for the time being. Later, if his traveling partner wanted to sit down and talk, he'd do so gladly, but for now, the man figured that she'd need some time alone.

 

Edited August 1, 2017 by Snike

[-Cynthia-]

"I am willing to fight, but I do not see how involving ourselves in the wars of humans furthers the goals of this group. We should avoid this conflict as best we can and rescue any civilians who may be in danger," Liam stated adamantly. Pete's advice likely did have some tactical advantages, but the moral implications were troubling. 

[Mercakete]

Since receiving his orders, Kazemi Daichi had been hard at work to bring about the changes the emperor had requested. For a long time, Daichi had patrolled the northern borderlands as the sole Hikiba presence in the region. While he still fulfilled that role, he also had new responsibilities, all aimed at consolidating Kigen's forces in the north. General Fukui Hayate, whom Daichi had kept in contact with via the written word, had brought his own forces over from Kayoyama. The two had been coordinating in this way, ensuring that they were working toward the same goal effectively and efficiently, keeping redundancies from occurring.

The Hikibain, himself, had been traveling from town to town, focusing primarily on port towns, and leaving people positioned in these locations to send him reports on the mission's progress: recruiting soldiers as needed according to his standards, assisting Fukui's efforts whenever necessary, and keeping an eye out for suspicious cargo, ships, etc. The northern lands had been suspiciously quiet lately, and really, there hadn't been any easily-identifiable Fallen activity since the sighting of the White Devil, when Daichi met Katsu. That meant that the demons had either fled to the south once more -- which he wouldn't put it past them to be able to do -- or they slipped their grasp entirely and continued northward into Ursium. Given Katsu's mentioning of some sort of assignment his mercenary company had taken from the famous Ursian inventor, Seth Weyland, and how it sounded connected to the White Devil's presence in northern Kigen, Daichi feared this may be the case more than he usually would have.

Besides wanting to keep the Fallen from gaining any sort of ground, and fear for the Ursians suddenly having to fight a threat they weren't used to, the idea of the Fallen successfully digging themselves into Ursian soil was nightmarish for both countries. The Ursians and the Kigenese would be cut off from one another, so that they couldn't share their resources and knowledge with one another, and both would be caught in terrible pincer situations, what with the seemingly-endless war the Ursians were in with the Neviskotians, and demons being on either side of Kigen. This concern was one of the primary reasons why Daichi had chosen Arugai Minato as his primary base of operations. After all, not only was it a northern port town, but it also housed the Ursian and Neviskotian embassies...along with a Weyland Enterprises building.

Investigation into the Weyland employees in Arugai, however, hadn't turned up anything. It seemed like no one really knew what Daichi was talking about, and though he managed to send an inquiry to Professor Weyland himself, the return letter only held much of the same. At least the professor included an apology for the state of affairs. Of course, that didn't keep Daichi from assigning some of his people to keep an eye on Weyland Enterprises, but that was as far as he could pursue that particular avenue for the time being.

As fruitless as the investigation into Weyland Enterprises was, it was even worse dealing with the foreign ambassadors. Though the Ursian ambassador hadn't given him any trouble directly, and he was somewhat acquainted with Ursian customs -- not that he didn't fumble through those as gracefully as he could -- thus far, the inquiry was a dead end. No news had come from the Neviskotian ambassador, either, and he was a little harder to work with than his Ursian counterpart had been. In a way, that wasn't entirely a bad thing, as it could have meant that the demons didn't travel north...but it could also have meant that the northerners didn't know what signs to look for and were unaware of the threat growing right within their homelands.

And then, there was his other assignment: contacting Katsu. The ex-mercenary was somewhere in Kigen, searching for Daichi's youngest daughter, Kikuko, who had gone missing some time ago. Daichi hadn't gotten the order to talk to him about recruitment into the military until he'd already gone off in search of her, and to find the White Devil in order to avenge his mercenary company. Daichi had asked various people scattered around the country to send word if any of them saw someone matching Katsu's description, so that he could send an as-of-yet unwritten letter to him, but thus far, he hadn't heard anything.

Even so, in any of the fruitless endeavors, there was no use in fretting. Something would turn up eventually. For now, all Daichi could do was to keep doing what he had been doing, and wait for further development.

Speaking of things in development, something was certainly happening out on the water, and even in Arugai's own docks, today. He, along with a few of his men -- including a horseman, who primarily acted as an emergency messenger -- went to investigate, themselves, when they heard the cannonfire. However, like many of the others who'd gathered at the docks, it was curiosity that drew them there. The navy and the soldiers dedicated to protecting Arugai could deal with the situation, themselves. Daichi would still intervene if he felt the need to, but he was fairly relaxed about the spectacle on the whole, as far as the city's immediate safety was concerned. However, he did wonder what caused the Ursians and the Neviskotians to bring their war so far south. If the Ursian and Neviskotian military vessels mooring at the city's docks were any indication, after all, both countries' navies were involved. <Something must have happened in the north. Ospina and Ungur are going to have their hands full...>

Some other, unalligned ships had come in as well, and one was still in the process of docking. Customs could handle them, but they did pique the Hikibain's interest. They were a bit...unusual. Not to mention they'd come in amid the skirmishing naval vessels. <I wonder what happened with them...>

News about the Neviskotian and Ursian ships, and their people's intentions, would doubtless reach him eventually. So, Daichi casually made his way towards the two vessels that were just pulling in to see if he could learn anything there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For most of the voyage, Norbert spent his time assisting the crew of the Emi Maru with their ship work, in addition to practicing with his maces and poleaxe, conditioning himself, and taking care of Rizen, which included daily flights. It was true that the wind over the water was quite different than it was over land, but that was part of the fun of it. It was handy, after all, to understand wind currents in as many circumstances as possible, and it was a good opportunity for practice in his aerial techniques. By the end of it, he thought he and Rizen had improved from the last time they tried this, aboard the other ships Raquel's group had found themselves on.

Of course, then there was Bert's training with Canaan. The demon was a tough opponent, and Norbert didn't land a single victory over him. However, the experience was still invaluable; Bert really learned a lot. He'd have to share Canaan's tips with the others sometime. Canaan had also given Norbert his message to his siblings: a carved piece of wood, with something written in Corvian. Right now, it was resting in Rizen's saddlebags. Out of scent, out of mind, hopefully. She'd been a little wary of it when he'd first showed it to her. The pegasus seemed calm enough now, though, standing on the deck and ready to head out. Presently, Bert was leaning his back against her side while he waited for the all clear to move out. He was in his usual attire, repaired armor included. Hoshi had repaired it on the second day of their journey, when he'd thought to ask her for help with it.

The city sure was something. It looked fairly familiar, regarding the architecture, anyway. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but it was sort of a relief not to have to suddenly deal with something completely foreign. So this is Kigen. The last time he'd been in the country, it'd only been in the wilderness on an assignment from Weyland. That had been his first and only time in Kigen, actually.

Norbert's mind drifted to Canaan. He'd already said his goodbyes to the demon, since he had to make sure he wasn't found by the Kigenese customs officers. It was here, wasn't it? Norbert thought, as he remembered Nong's account when he'd asked him about when and how he'd come across Canaan. It had been right after leaving this very port, some weeks ago. He'd found him stowed away, and they got to talking. Neither side attacked one another, including the crew, and Canaan eventually became one of them, learning to speak and helping out the crew as they went. While the Emi Maru crew had originally planned to drop Canaan off somewhere safe when they found a good place, that plan was eventually abandoned. Nong had made it clear that he wasn't proud of breaking the law, but he firmly believed that Canaan deserved the chance at making a good life for himself. Norbert had to agree. He wished he'd had more time to learn from, teach, and get to know the demon, actually. He liked him. Unfortunately, though, the time for goodbyes had come and gone. It was time to focus on the mission again.

Edited August 1, 2017 by Mercakete

[Phoenix]

Main Deck

"They've been watching us since we left Urquium," Amon noted, just after Liam's strong suggestion, "If we could just avoid them, that would be great, but I don't see how."

"We stand out too much," Joanna murmured, frowning toward the men on the docks. They were currently speaking with Lexi and Malik. It wasn't just her or Liam. Just about everyone had something unique about their appearance when compared to the locals. The fact that they were all gathered together in one area only made matters worse. Splitting up might do more harm than good, so Joanna wasn't even going to bring that up. They would simply have to make due, somehow.

[Snike]

"Well, Liam, like it or not, you're involved, just like me. We're stuck in the same boat, literally," Pete said, with a slight smirk. "I agree with keeping civvies out of this, though. That means, despite what I said earlier, we should look to try and work with one of the two sides. We'd have to fight the other soldiers, sure, but we might be able to take it outside of the city before having to do so. Beyond that..., well, depending on how things go, they could help us out in some way. In any case,the other way of dealing with the factions, hiding, isn't really going to work, because, like Joanna just said, we're too noticeable. We could maybe try and split up but I don't think we have enough standard clothing around not to stand out."

[-Cynthia-]

"We may not be able to hide, but retreat is always an option. If conflict is inevitable, at least we would not be forced to act as aggressors. Would our group even be able to reach a consensus on which side to support? You all come from a variety of nations I believe," Liam pointed out. There must be some other solution 

[scorri]

A shadow briefly passed over the rider, a flash of sadness that she quickly hid behind a small smile. "Actually I should pass on shopping. There are some things I need to handle back here but... You all have fun, ok?" I thought I could have one last fun time but... This is better. A clean break.

She nodded at the group and then made her way back to where Star was waiting. She quickly busied herself digging through his saddlebags, doing get best to make herself seem occupied.

 

 

Night of the 5th Day: A Broken Rider

 

 

Lumi had fled from Pete and ended up curled up in her room completely lost. His words continued to run through her head, intertwined with her own accusing thoughts, calling her a coward and quitter. She'd lost all track of time, falling in and out of a restless slumber, before finally slowly coming out of it and realizing that she had missed dinner.

Slowly climbing up off the floor, she tried to brush her jacket and pants back into shape, but they were determined to stay a wrinkled mess. Giving up, she ran a hand through her hair and slowly made her way out of the room. She knew she looked a mess, eyes still puffy, hair sticking out, but she couldn't make herself care. After all, if she was never going to see these people again, what did it matter what she looked like. 

She managed to make it to the kitchen, grab an apple and a few chunks of bread and cheese without running into anyone. She'd managed to make it most of the way back to her room when she turned a corner and ran into (almost literally) Eva. "Ah... Eva. Hi. Sorry. I... Should have been more careful. Sorry." Staring at her feet, she started to move around her, hoping that she wouldn't want to start up a conversation.

 

"Whoa... Hey. Lumi? Lumi, hold up... What's going on?" Eva was going to grab herself a small snack, nearly knocking the other rider over. She didn't quite want to dig too deep into her life, she wasn't that close. But... Something seemed off. Lumi had been pretty cheery from what she'd seen, had someone upset her?

"You wanna... Talk about anything? I know I'm pretty stupid, but I'm good at listening..." If that would help, at all. She hoped it would... There was enough upset on the boat as it was.

 

"I..." Lumi couldn't make herself meet Eva's eyes. It was as if looking at her would cause everything to fall apart. Show her what a coward Lumi was. Which... it probably would. But at the same time, it didn't seem like Eva was going to easily leave her alone.

"I... You're not stupid... You're brave and... and..." She knew she was about to start falling apart again, so she slowly looked up at Eva, tears starting to form. No sense in hiding from it at this point. "And I'm j-j-just a coward. Pe-pete told me that I should le-leave. After everything at Urquim. And..." She choked the words off, tears starting to fall, and angrily wiped them away, trying to get herself under control.

"And he's right. I don't belong here. I'm just a coward who runs away from stuff like what happened and just... Make everyone else worry. It'll be... be better if I just go home. You guys won't... won't have to worry about me in battle that way." She sniffed, the tears having stopped for now. "I don't want to ge-get one of you killed because I'm a coward..."

 

"Wha...?" Eva had been about to contest the stupid content, when Lumi... Pretty much shattered, in front of her. "What? How are you a coward? What do you mean?" Hoping that it wouldn't make things worse, Eva gently set her hands on the poor girl's shoulders, trying to get a better look at her face.

"Hey, hey... No one thinks you're a coward. I think Pete's crazy if he wants you to leave. Why did he say that? Was it because of what happened...? Lumi..." Eva tried to figure out how best to say any of this. "I... I was scared too, you know? It's okay to be scared by things like that. I thought Sasha was dead, I thought Amon, Haythem, Isis, Malik... I thought they were all dead too. I was terrified... And even if you didn't have anyone you cared about nearing death, facing that magic, it's..."

Eva slowly let her go, smiling a bit. "It's fine to be scared, you know? I'm not worried about you at all in battle. You can fight just as well as the rest of us."

 

Lumi shrunk a little under the wyvern rider's touch and looked away from her inquiring gaze. "Ha, no, I am... It's not the same. You still fought. Did stuff... I just. Shut down. Useless. Even Thales was useful and he didn't even know us... Not his fight but still..." She laughed, a sad, wet sounding laugh, and shook her head. "He wants me to... not be changed. This isn't my fight. Doesn't want me to die or be stuck with those memories." She winced, as scenes from their last battle snuck up in her mind.

"He... I asked him if it ever gets better, you see? And he... he was honest. And he knew I haven't been sleeping well, that I've had nightmares, and he... He told me people either quit or get used to it. To the slaughter, the loss of life, the... the everything." She tried to smile up at Eva, but it wasn't a very convincing attempt. "And he cares about me. He doesn't want me to become someone that doesn't care. Doesn't want me to change like that. So he wants me to leave. And I can't... I can't find an argument. I tried. But nothing... none of my reasons changed that his points sounded good and that... that escaping from all of this sounded good. Changed that I wanted to run away..."

 

"But, Lumi, you're... I see." She stopped trying to interrupt, letting the girl say whatever was on her mind. When the broken smile looked up at her, Eva couldn't stop herself. She gave her a swift hug, a tight squeeze to maybe let her find some comfort, for herself. Gently letting her go and taking her hands off the rider's shoulders, she smiled back, more convincingly.

"I'd say that it does get better. Pete's wrong about that... What never changes is that, you never forget. If you decide to leave-- and you're free to. I won't try to guilt you to stay. If this is all too much for you, then listen to your head, and your heart. But if you decide to leave, you'll still remember everything that's happened. I will, too. I can smile, laugh, poke at people and get messed with, but... The image of seeing that ship, it's never going to leave me. And for me... I don't want to run away from things that I could try and fix. I'm not that smart, and I make a lot of mistakes. I got Jam in a lot of trouble with those Neviskotians... But for every mistake I make, I can do something to help. I'm sure of it."

Another soft pat on Lumi's shoulder, Eva chuckled. "But that's just me. We're all different. I'm a glutton for punishment and love to put myself in someone else's place. Help them if I can, you know? So again. If this is all too much for you, I care too. Do what's best for yourself, Lumi... My only regret is not getting to know you better. You seem like a lot of fun." Eva held her finger up and poked Lumi in the nose, having one thing left to say. "But remind yourself of this. It's not running away. The things we're dealing with are above and beyond the call of any normal person. Keeping yourself out of them isn't running. Promise me you'll remember that."

 

Lumi flinched away as Eva poked her nose. All of her words were nice, but they essentially boiled down to what Pete had been saying. Things were going to get worse, and those sorts of things changed people. Even if Eva still had her ability to laugh and joke, she was still haunted by everything. "I... don't know." Was leaving what she wanted to do? Not all of her. But some of her did. And things were going to get worse. "I promised Thales we could..."

She shook her head. It didn't matter. She was still stuck on the ship for now, and Eva didn't need to hear more of her whining. "I'll think about what you've said I guess... S-sorry for bothering you." She knew the other girl would probably say it wasn't a bother, but it still needed to be said. It still felt like running away, no matter what was said. But arguing about that wasn't going to change anything. Better to just escape and let Eva get back to her life.

 

"Promised Thales? Getting along with him, then? He seems alright... I had him pegged wrong when we met him. He's a pretty good guy... Definitely worth getting to know. If you do stick around, hold onto that one. He's a keeper, for sure." She stilled seemed quite upset. Not that Eva had been expecting one talk to change anything, but... It seemed almost like a foregone conclusion. Poor girl.

"Hey, uh... It's not a bother. Talk to me whenever you want to, alright? And, hey, maybe we can go flying together sometime, something fun to get away from all of this. If Star is good around wyverns, of course... I know Bert's horse scares at the slightest anything, heh. Just, er... Take care of yourself, Lumi."

 

Nothing she was saying was helping. It just made things hurt even more. Maybe if she had gotten to know Eva better sooner, things would have played out differently but... "Goodnight Eva." She finally made her way around the wyvern rider, making her way back to her room. Shutting the door behind her, she collapsed back down onto the floor, staring up at the ceiling, still completely and totally lost.

Edited August 7, 2017 by scorri

[Toogee]

Jam had overheard the conversation between Pete, Amon, and the avians. They were concerned about the rival armies coming after the group. It seemed like a battle was unavoidable: their only option was to choose an ally and foe. The dancer had a novel approach.

"What if we get the Ursians and the Skotians to find us at the same time?" Jam suggested outloud. "If we can get them to fight each other, maybe we can skip town while they're distracted."

[Phoenix]

The Advantage

Between Liam's point that deciding which faction to support would be difficult, and Jamilla's suggestion to pit both sides against each other and slip away in the resulting chaos, Amon was at a loss. Joanna certainly wasn't, though. "Let's not put the locals in harm's way just to protect ourselves. There has to be a better way of dealing with them." It was a shame the Kigen armed forces might not be sympathetic to them unless they learned exactly what was going on. If that happened, though, the group would have three factions trying to recruit them, assuming Pete was right about the intentions of the original two. "As much as I want to suggest seeking sanctuary here, if the Kigenese learn about what happened in Ursium, our problems might only get worse."

The first part Joanna noted got Amon thinking, again. "Wait, would the Ursians and Neviskotians actually fight each other, here? If that's the case, you'd think they'd start even before finding us. It's probably more likely they're going out of their way not to fight each other in town. Kigen has plenty of guards and ships around, and they even split the ones that docked here from the rest of the fleets. They'll get attacked by the Kigenese if they try anything and won't have any reinforcements."

A smile slowly formed on Joanna's face. "That means they'll be on their best behavior, doesn't it? ... so we have the advantage."

"Yeah, maybe," Amon nodded hopefully.

Customs

For some reason, they started by asking Malik the questions in particular. The sancturan eventually caught the underlying assumption and informed them that Lexi was the captain of the Darklighter Idolus, and he her first mate. That only seemed to slow them down slightly, as they soon began asking the questions more openly, leaving room for either Malik or Lexi to answer them. Given Lexi's plan to pass her less useful finds off to Greta, an inspection was definitely going to be required, so a few men started up the boarding ramps to get on that. Lexi decided to go with them, and left things on the docks to Malik.

"And you are certain that is everyone in your company?" Malik had given the man a mostly complete list of the group's members, though leaving out descriptions and using aliases where they existed, mostly to speed things along and not look suspicious. Unfortunately, Malik also had to inform him that he was only a temporary first mate, and was actually a part of the disembarking 'mercenary company.' That was unfortunate, because it was a bitter reminder that he wouldn't be seeing Lexi again for some time, if ever. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't justify staying, not after what happened to Sanctuary and the survivors.

"Yeah, I'm pretty certain," Malik assured the man, fully aware of his lie, but figuring it was justified. Counting Ayano among the group was pointless when no one would find her, save she wanted to be found. Fizza was a tougher case, but given how much time the woman was spending with Ayano, she was becoming almost as difficult to track down. Best to just omit anyone the customs agents couldn't speak with on short notice. That also meant excluding Ra from the list ... so hopefully the bastard wouldn't appear out of nowhere and make a big scene ...

"Very well, then," the man nodded, "You are free to disembark. Once the inspection is complete, assuming nothing is amiss, you can conduct your business here."

"Thanks."

Familiarity

Nena had quietly come back up onto the main deck of the Emi Maru, hoping to check Nong's progress with the dockworkers. As a merchant vessel, the Emi Maru was fated to endure an inspection each time it entered a port with higher than average security, which meant hiding Canaan was the crew's top priority. Nong was a surprisingly good actor, and it helped that he seemed to be on a first name basis with the men working the docks. That made sense, given his long career as a merchant. Nena only kept an eye on the discussion from afar for a couple of minutes, long enough to be sure Nong had their full attention. Once Nong got the inspectors and workers laughing, she was certain. Time to head back and see how things were going in the cargo hold ...

In Hiding

"Are we putting you in Ms. Charron's wagon or not?" one of the Emi Maru's crewmen asked Canaan.

The demon frowned, put off by the whole situation. He must have looked silly, moping while sitting cross legged in an open chest, a chest that was just barely large enough for him. "I don't know ..."

"Hey," Nena called down, rushing down the main staircase into the hold, "I don't know how much time we have, but you should probably hurry, now."

"Please relax," one of the sailors soothed, "we have done this several times, before. We just need to know if Canaan is going to be moved to Ms. Charron's wagon or if we should give you one of the carts."

A cart with one big chest on it might stand out too much. Furthermore, Nena doubted she could move the thing, herself. At least not very far, and not without drawing unwanted attention. "You're going in Greta's wagon," Nena said, straight to Canaan's face, "I don't know how much room is left, but she's getting a second wagon, anyway. You won't be cramped for too long." As far as Nena was concerned, if Greta was going to get a new custom wagon, Arugai was the place to get it bought and built. Putting it off past Arugai didn't have any upside to it other than maybe saving them some travel time.

Greta Problems

Greta watched, her patience taking a hit with each passing minute, as some local she could barely communicate with rummaged through her wares. She had to watch him closely to make sure he didn't pocket anything that didn't already belong to him, all the while wondering what she would do in response, if that actually happened. She couldn't just shoot the guy, now could she? Not here in a public setting. Amon and Pete were both busy from the look of things, so bringing over either of them to act as deterrents was out. In the end, Greta had been mulling over a nonissue. The man finished his inspection, his outfit no bumpier than it had been when he first entered the wagon.

And then something unexpected happened ...

"You are approved. Inform your husband before you come ashore," the man said in heavily accented common.

"My husb-" Greta stopped herself short, remembering where she was. As much as she'd rather not pretend to be married just to make things easier in Kigen, it was probably her best option. Her options for husbands weren't exactly ideal, though, now that she was considering it. "I'll ... do that. Thanks, heheh." Now get away from my merchandise, ya prick.

Edited August 9, 2017 by Phoenix

[Snike]

"I think Neviskotia's the safer bet. They probably have more to offer, and if the Ursians have even as much as a single wrathite on their recruitment team, things are going to explode, 'best behaviour' or no," Pete said, before he paused to think about that condition. "Well, aside from wrathites, I guess they'd only start something immediately if they saw us leaving with the other side, or something looking like that... Are you thinking about trying to talk to both sides?" 

[-Cynthia-]

Liam

"Your politics are not familiar to me, but Kigen would seem to be our natural ally. We share the Fallen as a common enemy- if we explain the situation surely some arrangement can be made. We are going to require their support at some point regardless, correct?" Liam asked.

Nadya

Nadya led Luca over to where Greta was after the inspector was out of earshot. "I did warn ya that doin' business in Kigen wasn't gonna be easy. I'd offer to translate as best I can, but I'm not gonna be of much help on the husband front. Shadrak's probably our best bet there since he speaks Kigenese- not sure how agreeable he'll be though," she speculated.

[Mercakete]

Some people had come onto the ship after they docked, and Nong was talking to them. At first, it looked like they were conducting business, but then they began laughing about something. Glancing over at the Darklighter Idolus, it didn't look like anyone was leaving, yet, either. Then again, maybe Nong had just finished up with the dock workers and was just shooting the breeze at this point. Speculative but unsure, Norbert walked over to them. Rizen followed.

"Hey." It was both something of an as-polite-as-he-could-think-of interruption, as well as a greeting. Though, his expression was all business. "Are passengers allowed to head off yet?"

[Nanami Touko]

Eva had walked over as Malik and Lexi went about dealing with the inspection. She didn't get herself too close, they had to wait and see if they were even allowed off, after all. Overhearing that they were after a... Rather awkward and lengthy talk, she sighed and smiled, waving Sasha over. The wyvern, evidently excited, plodded on over, brushing his head up against her. "<Calm down, calm down. Almost done.>"

Lexi had walked off, which just left Sandy. "Malik, I can let him off now, right? He's going crazy on the deck, he really needs to get on land."

---

"<Just... Never mind, Thales.>" Haruhi wasn't going to get more into this dumb discussion over why she didn't like shopping. She just didn't. She didn't have to! There was no rule that said she had to like shopping... Alright, she didn't just not like it, but her reasons were private. She stuck her tongue out at him as he went back to Common, and as... "<Huh? Why's Lumi leaving?>" It wasn't like she knew enough to tell the girl to stop and come back, so she was left confused and looking between her and Thales.

"<...Did you say something to her?>" Probably. "<Well, let's see if we're allowed off, I guess.>"

Edited August 9, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Phoenix]

Plans

"No one really wins if a fight breaks out in town," Joanna began, "so we should take a firm stance from the start. They have to know that they'll never get what they want, and might even be attacked by the Kigenese, if they try to force us to do anything. As for which group to side with ... I'm not sure we should do anything more than explain the situation with the fallen to both of them, for now. Until our own group is better organized, any other group could take advantage of us. And Liam is right, we do need to convince the Kigenese about the siege gate. I thought we would have to wait until we were in the capital to make our case, but now is as good a time as any if anyone important is here."

Joanna had gotten a bit further than Amon as far as thinking through the situation. Granted, the sancturan was wary from Ra's frequent appearances and worries about the survivors from Sanctuary. "So you're thinking about setting up a meeting with both groups? The Kigenese, too?"

"Maybe," Joanna said noncommittally, "There may be a better way to talk with them than all gathering together in one place."

Wyvern Walking

"Hmm?" Malik glanced at the wyvern in question. They weren't in Ursium anymore, so the usual concerns regarding wyverns were moot. "Sure, just stay out of trouble. Don't wander off too far, either. We can't afford to lose track of anyone, right now."

Goodbyes

Nong nodded at Norbert. "Are you heading off for good, or just having a look around?" he asked. If this was goodbye, he'd prefer it not to be too impersonal of one.

[Mercakete]

Norbert nodded, replying, "My group has business in Kigen, and it's probably going to take a while. I don't think we'll be heading back to Ursium anytime soon, so...guess this is it, then."

He'd meant to say goodbye to Nong anyway. The Emi Maru's captain was a good guy, and he'd been very hospitable. Still, he hadn't expected those feelings to come up. Now, he was feeling that tinge of sadness that came up when it came to saying goodbye to a friend. It seemed to be a regular thing when leaving a particular crew. Oscar came to mind, too. I wonder how he's doing... I wonder how many people I'll wind up wondering that about, too, as time goes on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<"Ah, here's a good spot,"> the Hikibain commented, evidently satisfied with the place he'd chosen to stand. He and his small accompaniment were just past the docks, watching the two ships that had just come in with the Ursian and Neviskotian military vessels. They were far enough away to be at a casual observing distance, but close enough to intervene if anything happened. Or, even to just be the welcoming committee, if that had been their function.

<"Um... Sir?"> asked on of his subordinates.

<"Yes?"> Daichi was relaxed and casual, despite the uncertainty of the man beside him.

<"Why...are we here?"> Hastily, the soldier clarified, <"Shouldn't we be looking into the northern military ships?">

Daichi shrugged the tiniest bit as he answered, <"We'll hear about them eventually."> His eyes locked onto the two ships before them. <"But I'm curious about these two ships. They came in with the northerners' military ships...and I'd like to learn a little bit from them."> Suddenly, Daichi relaxed again, donning a smile. <"Besides, it's fun to watch the ships come in, don't you think?">

Really, his subordinate wasn't sure how to respond. He supposed so, but really, that was more something you would take a young child to watch... <"Yes, sir.">

<"Relax, please,"> Daichi added, to the mild surprise of the soldier beside him. <"We aren't here to arrest anyone. And besides that, Arugai Minato's forces are more than capable of handling any misconduct that may occur, without our intervention.">

<"Of course, sir,"> he responded. Then, he did his best to look relaxed...despite the unusual happenings with the northern ships.

[Nanami Touko]

"Yeah, don't worry Malik. I'm just gonna step past the docks, and let him get his feet on some real ground. Shouldn't be able to miss the only green wyvern in port, if you need to find me, but I won't be far. Thanks!" Eva stepped back over to Sasha and mounted up on him, not having to give much of a signal before he took the clew and started off the boat and onto the docks. The feeling of wood didn't leave him for a few more moments, ground finally underneath his paws. With a happy whine, he settled into a sit calmly on the ground. Eva couldn't help a chuckle.

"<That's really all you wanted? You big idiot... Heheh.>"

[Mercakete]

<"Oh, look; a wyvern,"> Daichi commented as a woman came off of one of the ships, riding her large, green, winged mount. <"You don't often see those in Kigen.">

The soldier who'd spoken up earlier only nodded in agreement, initially. It was a little unnerving for him seeing one up close. ... Very close. Its rider had taken it almost right up to them, really. He was still taking in the creature when he heard Daichi speak up cheerily as he waved to the woman.

"Hello, Miss! Welcome to Kigen!" Daichi's Common had a definite accent to it, but at least it wasn't unintelligibly thick. Smiling up at the wyvern rider, he asked, "Did you come from Neviskotia?"

The soldier wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, really. His superior had just so suddenly struck up a conversation with this foreigner... So, he just stood back in silence and watched, along with the others with them.

[Snike]

"Well, we need to get more information about who to talk to from Kigen, but I don't see the harm in trying here. Just need to be careful in what we say about how we know about the gate. And," Pete said, before pointing at Amon. "The same goes for the emblem. They don't need to know everything about it." 

[Nanami Touko]

"Huh?" Locals? Maybe. The man's Common was pretty good, accent aside. Not that her own didn't carry a native tinge. "Uh, yeah. I'm with the people coming off of that boat, the Darksider. Anything I can do for you?" With Sasha as content as he was, and not seeming at all bothered by the conversation going on, Eva hopped off of him, brushing gently at the saddle, before leaning against it. This was her first chance to make a good impression to the people here... And not make a mess. That'd be the last thing she'd want to bring back to Malik and Amon.

[Mercakete]

"Yes, I saw you get off," Daichi replied to the Neviskotian woman, amused my her comment about which ship she'd come from. Speaking of it, evidently, it had just come from Neviskotia, given the woman's answer to his question. She had posed her own question right back at him, too: one denoting a helpful attitude. Happy at this fortune, he went on to answer it. "I was wondering what happened with the Ursians and the Neviskotians. Your ship, and that other one, came in with them, so I wanted to hear your..." <prospective> Oh darn, there was another of those words in Common he wasn't entirely familiar with. Well, time to substitute in a word that probably would convey what he was trying to say. "...view...on what happened. It is unusual for the northerners to bring their fighting this far south."

While he was relaxed and casual throughout his explanation, here, he regained some of his cheer. "Also, wyban are rare in Kigen. I was excited to see one so close."

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, them... Uh... That's a little bit complicated." She gently scratched at her face. Was she allowed to say anything about that...? "There was a battle," she started, "back in Urquium's port. I guess you could say we... Got a bit mixed up? In it... I don't really know why they came all the way here to Kigen, though." That was a lie, but she poker faced her way through it, glad that he'd mentioned her wyvern as well.

"If you want to pet him, you can. He's been through a pretty rough week, stuck on a boat, but now that he's back on land, he's all back to happy. <Aren't you, you silly little guy.>" Eva eagerly rubbed her glove her his scales, Sasha letting out a content whine, as he settled down further on the ground. "My boss should get off the boat soon, if you need to question him, too... Are you, part of the authorities around here? If I can ask that."

[Xinnidy]

"Hmm?" Thales had shrugged and accepted the victory as Haruhi dropped the shopping line of thought, but as soon as she spoke of Lumi he turned his head back to the pegasus rider, looking as confused as Haruhi. "<Uh, did not?>" Wait, Lumi was leaving? "<Not know... will ask.>" In a short sprint, he caught up to Lumi in quick notice, dropping everything else.

"Lumi? Are you going to leave?" Thales asked, reluctant. "You're coming with us, right?" Why did she want to leave early?

[Mercakete]

So, the ship hadn't come from Neviskotia, but from Urquium in Ursium, and all three -- he supposed these two ships were unaligned -- factions had been sailing south for a week, until finally arriving here in Arugai. There had been a battle -- presumably between the Ursians and the Neviskotians -- in the Ursian port. Or rather, in the waters just outside of it, he presumed, if the navy from both countries were involved. That much he could gather easily. The woman's wording and inflections were a little bit hard to follow at times, though. It sounded like the people in these two ships got...confused? Or shuffled around? And something about being in the midst of the battle...though that wasn't stated clearly. She had a Neviskotian accent, so maybe Common wasn't her first language either, and she'd just decided on saying the sentence a different way, which was why it sounded incomplete. She finished that off by saying that she didn't know why the Ursians and the Neviskotians traveled all the way they had.

He would've asked more, but the woman quickly changed the topic to her wyvern. The change in topic had been so abrupt, in fact, the Daichi wasn't sure who she was saying he could pet, initially. He figured it out right quick, though. She also said something to her wyvern in Neviskotian. Briefly, Daichi idly wondered if the wyvern only responded to commands in that particular language. Then, the woman changed the subject again. Though, really, it was more of a curious inquiry than a true subject change, unlike the previous one.

Thinking back on it, she'd been apprehensive when he first asked about what had happened with the Ursian, Neviskotian, and unaligned ships. And that all of them had come straight to Arugai over the course of a week together from the same location, and further, from a battle, without knowing why the naval vessels were on the exact same course was...dubious. And that, even discounting how quickly she'd started talking about her wyvern, and her early use of the word "complicated" to describe the situation. It could have been that the woman was sincerely out of the know, and thus uncomfortable with that lack of knowledge, but there was likely at least a connection here. After all, unless the merchants were really that stubborn in their trade routes, why wouldn't the ships break away from the warring naval ships? That is, of course, unless the northern navies were after these particular ships, or something or someone aboard them. Fleeing to a neutral country made tactical sense -- Ursium and Neviskotia had no jurisdiction here, and had to go through legal procedures if they wanted to pursue their mark -- or marks -- into the country.

As far as a report on events as they occurred in Urquium, Daichi was sure he would hear both the Ursians' and the Neviskotians' versions of the story later, so there was no point in pursuing that particular topic for now. This was especially true since the woman mentioned her "boss." Her employer would doubtless have more information, even if he was unwilling to share it. If that was the case, then he could ask other employees of this man, if he really wanted to know more. It would probably be better to just be patient, however, and wait for the news to flow from the Ursians and the Neviskotians. Given that whatever this was prompted both navies to such a pursuit, something would undoubtedly come up in time.

For now, there was a conversation to deal with. Daichi had only actually paused for a second or two to process everything he was being told. Immediately afterwards, he gave Eva an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. Could you please speak slower? I am not very practiced at speaking in Common."

From there, Daichi went on, giving a small, casual nod. "But I think I understand what you said. Yes, I am an officer in the Kigenese military, but it is not my assignment to investigate these events." His smile became cheerier again. "I am simply curious." Again, he shifted to a more relaxed smile. "Because of that, if your employer is willing to speak with me, I would be happy to learn more about the situation from him." Here, Daichi gave Eva a very small bow and that delighted smile again, though his tone remained relaxed. "Thank you for the offer."

As far as petting Eva's wyvern went, Daichi felt that, sadly, the opportunity had passed him by in all the speculation. He was curious about the big, winged mount, but felt it would be awkward to return to that after the most recent line of discussion.

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh! Sorry, sorry. I... I suppose that not every person is as used to speaking Common as I am. My apologies." Eva did her best to space out her words some, hoping the man didn't take it offensively. She was in the same situation as he was, speaking something that wasn't her first language. It was only right to be as courteous as she could. And... He was military, but not here for them. Just curious about what was going on. She nodded, smiling back. He seemed like a pretty pleasant sort of guy, for a military type. Then again, maybe it was just that her interactions with the military recently had been less than pleasant.

"If you can see over to the boat I came off of, that man, with the red hair," she started, hoping her pace was good enough. A finger pointed behind her, Malik still in sight. "He's sort of like the second in command. He can take you to our boss. And there are a few people on board that speak Kigenese, if having a translator around would make conversation more simple for you." There... That was good, right? Probably? She'd never been in this sort of situation, but pointing out Malik was a good first step. Er, wait, he'd bowed, so was it right to bow back? Uhhhh... She didn't know. So she left it there, smiling a bit wider. Hopefully that wasn't rude...

[Phoenix]

Bachelorette

"I ain't pretendin' Shadrak's my husband," Greta scowled. He apparently didn't meet some prerequisite of hers. "...though I gotta admit, husband or no husband, we gotta be able to talk to these folks, so if he wants to help translate from time to time, that's fine by me."

Emblem Accessory

"Yeah," Amon nodded, "the situation is bad enough without them thinking we have two things they could use."

Joanna smiled nervously, glancing downward as her discussion with Amon and Ra came to mind. Even now, she still wore the emblem on her neck and didn't keep it hidden away in the old box. On the bright side, it easily passed for jewelry, and most depictions of the Fire Emblem were relatively large, flat medallions, not oddly fitting chokers. The locals certainly didn't need to know everything about it, either, but what would they tell anyone, the locals or their pursuers, if it came up? As far as the Ursians and Neviskotians were concerned, the magic that brought the Basilisk over to their side was simply unknown, possibly divine, but not necessarily the work of the emblem. Maybe they didn't even know the group had a piece of the emblem. Joanna supposed that was only going to be an information advantage until some wrathite found out about her and put the pieces together.

"As much as I hate to say this, if you do have a meeting with the Ursians, I'll have to be somewhere else. Like Pete said, it will only take one informed wrathite to ruin our talks with them."

Amon sighed, realizing he was likely going to have to be a spokesman at this rate. "Agreed," he said, wishing he could swap places with Ra for a while. Let that overconfident tyrant talk down the Ursians and Neviskotians while he gathered his own thoughts alone in whatever realm Ra normally occupied.

Goodbyes

"I see," Nong said, his smile diminishing only slightly. It wasn't a sad occasion, only an inevitable outcome of ferrying such agreeable people around on such short notice. The trio he'd been speaking with before subtly eased off to the side before Nong had to do or say anything to excuse himself. "Well then," the captain of the Emi Maru extended his hand for Norbert, "It has been a pleasure having you and your companions aboard. A little rough on some days, but a pleasure."

Best Laid Junk

It was dark, but Canaan was used to it. It wasn't as if he couldn't see, though. In a space as cramped as this chest, nothing his vivid blue eyes illuminated was of particular interest. The only thing that truly bothered Canaan was that Nena insisted on disguising him even more thoroughly than usual. While the demon himself was effectively at the 'bottom' of the chest, resting on top of him was a thin dark cloth and enough junk to pin and suffocate a normal person. Not just any junk would do for cover, though. Nena insisted on items that were mostly metal, to imply enough weight to make such a heavy chest seem normal. Disguising Canaan's weight this way wasn't easy, but it was a fine sight better than wheeling him around out in the open. Between his incredibly long legs, extra arms, enormous tail, and inhuman muscles, he likely weighed in well over four hundred pounds.

A few metal clinks. Canaan could hear them coming from above, muffled by the cloth that was both covering, and keeping everything 'on top' of him. "Mm, that'll have to do," he heard Nena say. "Are you doing alright in there, Cay?"

"I am ... alive."

"Sheesh, I should hope so," Nena said, trying not to laugh, "It's a disguise, not a coffin." If they got caught, Canaan mused, that distinction would be moot.