Mercakete

Agh, I'll have to just try harder next time. Thanks for pointing those out. Though with the short torso thing, it was just my eyeing it. Maybe I'm used to shorter torsos or something. Oh well; glad to learn so I can improve. At least it apparently looks cool! Thanks, Phoenix.

Ok, So, as you can see by the date, I drew this a couple months ago and just kinda never scanned it. Well, scanned it today. FE9!Rhys after he'd just fired off a light magic attack at your face. I do like this one, but I think he wound up looking a little too much like Sothe. [spoiler=Rhys' Shine] (And yes, I gave Rhys a shine tome just because I wanted to say "Rhys and shine" whenever he attacked.)

He didn't have time to respond to her question before her arms were around him and she told him that she was glad she met him too. Tas' face only got redder as his thoughts were suddenly confused. First he was surprised, then kind of shy, then content, all in rapid succession. And then he found himself returning the hug. "I'm glad. I was just thinking about how we have the ability to help one another and how grateful I am to have met you. I used to be afraid of mercenaries because of stories I sometimes heard around the ranch. But you're all such great people and you have the ability to stand up and act on what you believe in. I'm so glad you're all safe, too. I guess it just hit me how much I appreciate you all and being glad that I have the ability to show my appreciation," he answered the question she asked before she hugged him.

"Aye, a'course everyone would have t'be ready t' go. Guess we'll just wait till Raquel gives th' order," Gytha agreed, lacing her fingers and placing her hands behind her head as she let her eyes wander around their little section of the road.

That was when Esphyr glanced over and noticed the young archer standing by, seeming to not be doing much of anything and perhaps listening to them. So, she waved him over. (He might as well contribute too if he has nothing else to do.)

"Well, we could keep goin'. I'm curious about what we'll find out at Weyland's," Gytha responded, somewhat eager to get on the road again.

For a moment, her responce confused him. She wasn't frusterated with his behavior? That was...different. "I guess. ... That might be hard for me to get used to. I'll...try, though," his tone was much calmer than previously. Actually, he seemed somewhat like he was trying to figure something out. "... I'm going to go for a flight. I'll follow you again when you start moving so don't worry about it; I'll just be in the sky above everyone." With that, Norbert climbed into Rizen's saddle and took off to circle the group, its wagon and mounts. While he was in the air, Norbert was alone with Rizen and she didn't pester him when she could tell he was trying to gain distance from others. Right now, he neeed to think. Just walk away and ignore them, huh? I've never been good at that. She was perfectly reasonable, though. I'll just have to do my best. ... This will take some time... Lots of trying and failing, but improvement each time. ... I'm up for the challenge, I guess. Still... That was weird. Not a lot of people listen to my side of things. They just assume I'm to blame for whatever argument sprung up. They might be right, too. Maybe I am usually the cause of it. I get angry much more quickly than most people. I've never really cared, though. Now that I'm with them, though...I guess I have to start caring about how people percieve me. Grr... I hate that. Whatever. I'll just take it. Not like I'm too weak to handle that. Even if I start yelling at someone when no one else would, as long as I keep working on it... He stopped as a realization hit him. "HOW THE HECK IS THAT OLD MAN HAUNTING ME?! HE KEPT TRYING TO GET ME TO ACT MORE CIVILIZED FOR YEARS AND THIS MERCHANT GETS ME TO CONSIDER FALLING IN WITH SOCIETY IN A FEW SECONDS?! AUGH!! WHAT THE HECK?!! NO WAY!! I'LL RESPOND HOWEVER THE HECK I WANT TO!!! ...Grr... And how I want to just so happens to be working on my temper, that's all," the pegasus rider yelled and grumbled to himself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A little while after Norbert had taken to the skies, Gytha heard some sort of yelling from up there...angry yelling. Not that any of it was understandable from that distance. "By Leviathan, th' man can't even keep from yellin' at himself! Or maybe a bird looked at 'im wrong, HAHARR!" Gytha joked with no one in particular.

"That won't be a problem. I can just heal people who need it along the way. Lead on, gentlemen!" Raechel suggested in a sing-song voice, staff in hand. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Irina and Tas were being quiet enough that Tas picked up the description of Lev's feets. He was speechless for a moment. Then, he came to a simple conclusion. (I know...the most powerful people...and wyverns...ever... How did this even happen to me? No one could fight where I came from... I guess I underestamated Lev just because he's a good guy. He doesn't usually show off... But these are my friends, so I don't have to worry.) Then, a smile formed. (And I'm not useless, either. Even though they're so much stronger than me, I'm still useful. I can encourage them and cheer them up. I can fly and I'm quick. I know how to take care of wyverns, too. I'm really glad I've made these friends. We can really help each other and appreciate each other. Lev is so great. And so is Irina. I haven't gotten to know Isotov very well yet, but he's a good guy from what I've seen. And Tristan, too, even though he's not here right now. I can't wait to introduce my father to them.) "It'll be great when you meet each other," he mentioned to Irina, "I'm so happy that I've met all of you."

"It didn't start with hunting, for one," he began, tone still somewhat harsh, but he wasn't yelling anymore, "Because I ride a pegasus, she thought I was a woman. No matter how many times I told her otherwise. In the end she decided to just 'pretend that I'm a man.' Then I asked about hunting and she began talking in circles, insulting my intelligence the whole time. It built up, alright?! Sorry for disturbing the peace!" By the end, however, he did yell a little, then he crossed his arms and waited for Raquel's usual scolding of his anger problems.

"And there could always be demons we don't know about. Well, I guess we just keep our bases on us in case we have to fight. Hopefully it won't come to blows, though, and we'll actually gain some assistance, as you said," Esphyr agreed.

"No thank you, my horse suits me just fine. Besides, he was a gift," she replied, still quite cheerful. Then she showed her horse to one of the stable hands and asked the mercenaries, "So, the battle is over and I'm sure there's still work to be done. Might as well help out since I'm here. Mind showing me around?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Luckily, Tas didn't have to talk when Irina put her hands on his shoulders and told him that that was what friends were for. Though he still felt a little warm as she did this. The reason why he didn't have to mention anything was that she began talking about the fake Morgan again, who was circling Lev and being just...creepy... "Poor Lev," he accidentally mentioned aloud, "She's even scarier than the real one."

"ARGH! That dizzying--! Grr... ... What?!" mostly nonsense came from Norbert before he looked over, having noticed he was being stared at. He wasn't in the best of moods. "Heharr... Ye sure are mad," Gytha giggled lightly to herself about the male pegasus rider. Bert didn't hear her, though, he was mainly focussed on Raquel.

"Hmm... Can you think of any other situations that could happen so we'll be prepared? I can't think of any more right now," Esphyr asked, interested to hear what Morgan had to say about it. Brainstorming was proving to be a productive and more importantly not-boring passtime.

"Yeah. I hope we don't see any of them here. They'd just ruin all of this, I'm pretty sure. What if they tried to convince everyone that the weapons -- at least most of them -- should be bound to the original heroes? If they have a way of severing us or decide it's worth the risk to have a demon do it, things won't go well. Damian should be safe since his father is a hero and so that would be good enough for everyone else and General Conrad is, well, a general. But what about those of us who aren't trusted by the country leaders?" questioned Esphyr before continuing, "I know this is far-fetched, but it's better to think of everything and have a plan when there is no real danger than to be in unknown danger without a plan."

"Thank you very much!" heartily thanked Raechel, "Now, could you please direct me to the stables?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Irina's praise caught Tas a little off-guard, triggering bashfulness as his face reddened a little and he averted his eyes. "W-well, you're my friend, so of course I'd want to cheer you up. I'm glad you're feeling better. I knew this would be hard on you but I didn't know that would happened and I glad I could help, even a little. That's why I came with you, after all and...I'm rambling, sorry. I um... Yeah, when we get back or you or um I'm bad at talking right now apparently..." Quickly regaining his composure, Tas looked back over to his friend and the next words out of his moth surprised even him, "Thank you for worrying about me durring the battle." Realizing what he said, he clumsily tried to explain, "Not that I want you to worry! I just-- You know, thinking about someone so far away could be a distraction and that would be bad since that could result in your getting hurt and I don't want that but you're good at fighting so you were probably able to focus anyway, so... It was nice to know you cared about how I was doing, even though you had to focus on what you were doing." It finally came out right. Able to smile a little helplessly at his own fumbles, he added, "And yeah, it is a bit weird to see someone who isn't Morgan looking like Morgan but not acting like her. I didn't get to know her as well as you or the others, though, so it must be stranger for you. There sure will be interesting stories to tell when we meet up with the others again. On the way back, could we go through Halton? I still need to find my father and he said he'd be somewhere in Halton. Depending on what happens, I'll have to look for him and meet up with you and the others again later, if I can. He won't believe my stories." A light, sheepish laugh accompanied his last sentence. Edit: fixed 1 typo because the rest were hilarious so I kept them there.

"Yes, you did. You kept implying incompetence on my part," Bert pointed out, his temper rising again as his smile left his face and a glare filled his eyes again. Only after that did he respond to Raquel, keeping his red gaze glued to Robin, "You should know better than to ask me to relax, Pinky!"

"There! Finally, you're making sense! The way you said it just now makes sense. If you said that before and didn't keep insulting me, then I wouldn't have become so angry," Bert thrust his index finger at Robin as he pointed out her explanation. Though he was still yelling, a smile was on his face now, glad he could finally understand what she was trying to say.

"I was hoping for instruction! Not some mindless babbling that doesn't make any sense!" at this point, he was yelling, but not as loudly as if he was more irritated than he was presently -- though that didn't mean his words weren't dripping with venom, "If I'm attacked by a wild animal, I can defend myself with an axe! I've done it before, I can do it again! But hunting isn't just simple combat. I know that and I know not to kill more than I have use for -- those are questions of simple logic! Most of what you're saying doesn't make any sense, though! Try talking when you figure out how to explain a complete thought, you backwater, brainless, inarticulate, delusional, unskilled dragon-lover!" He wouldn't take much more insult.

"We both know that, but various governments have a habbit of thinking other methods of dealith with situations are the best ones. At best, we get reinforcements and clear, easy passage to...wherever it is we choose to go. At worst, we're detained to be kept 'safe' like ancient relics or secret wepons that are too precious to risk being destoryed. At least that's a possability that I think might exist," the crimson sword weilder voiced, "And if that's the case...a well-guarded place like this is a prison, not a hall of safety."

"... Are you suggesting that someone with an axe will automatically kill off an entire herd of deer?" This woman was incrediable in the not positive sort of way. He was almost too dumbfounded at her closed-mindedness to be angry.

"Well, if they do start working together and start another war, what do you think will happen to us? Will the countries clear the way for us to finally take the battle to the lord of azure flame? Will they try to keep us safe and hidden from the demons until the harshest battles of the war is over? I know you can only guess too, but what do you think?" Esphyr asked. This was the makings of a conversation.

"You said an axe wouldn't be good for hunting because I'd 'need a quick weapon.' And I said if I was attacked, I'd be fast enough to defend myself!" this was getting quite frusterating, "Besides, I know to only take what I can eat! Why would I waste the energy hoarding stuff I don't have the supplies to preserve? Make up your mind on what point you're trying to make!"

"Who says I can't strike quickly?" Norbert asked, somewhat irritated by the implication, "If an animal attacks me, I can usually kill it before my arm winds up in its' teeth, too. They know plenty well I'm not pray. That's why they run away most of the time. Though it'd make sense that it'd be easier to hit something that's running away with a ranged weapon. And I'm not a sheep dog. Don't imply that my usefulness ends at herding!" By this point, his tone was upset, but he wasn't quite yelling yet. He was glaring, though.

"I could carry back what's salvagable, too. Does an axe make a good hunting weapon?" Norbert asked, figuring he couldn't bring his maces since the payday hadn't struck yet. His iron axe was still at his belt and his poleaxe was on Rizen's tack. I wonder which one would be more effective from a pegasus' back...

So, Robin thinks that the yellin' man is a woman, Ranyin still has candy from th' festival, Jerry, Raquel and Veronika're talkin' 'bout th' organization, a wolf has amnesia and things with wings make dark magic people make weird sounds. That was Gytha's assessment from where she was listening, which was sort of in the middle of everything though she didn't quite catch everything. A little here, a little there and she didn't understand Kigenese.