JakezuGD

Tasha sighed, slinging her rifle on her back as Versaris went for the incapacitating blow, the Princess now unconscious and handed over to Gean to be kept safe. "The Escaflowne, right. If we keep her hands bound and have the Evokers watch her, I'm sure we won't have issues keeping her secured for... whatever it is we're going to do with her." That part of their plan was still undecided with how quickly they'd been put in this position, but at any rate, finding Celine Altair was going to be high on their priorities now. There was no way they could keep holding onto the relic and a Lufirian princess for almost any amount of time. She nodded to the notice of having to remain alert, but before anything more could be said... Alvira lunged for the sword, making the tiger blink in confusion, watching as she and Sari wrestled for it. "I-- Huh? A-Alvira, what are you doing?" It was far too sudden for her to react in a way that might have been more appropriate, but she shook her head and dashed over to try and restrain her girlfriend from her sudden antics, looking to hook her arms under the dragon's and hoist her off the ground. "Calm down, Vira! What's gotten into you? At least say why you want it! Aren't you injured too!?" From the other side of things arrived Elisa along with her wife and the fox, the latter rushing over to Renais's side and checking on her status... and very quickly pivoting to stop Miria from falling over. She was very enthusiastic about protecting the Tigers now, wasn't she? "Don't worry about that, I can take care of her." The strawberry blonde Evoker conjured up her heal staff and stepped up to the pink healer, patting her on the shoulder and giving her the quick fix she needed. "Can't have our healer be injured herself, can we? Go on, do your job as well as we expect from you~ You'll need the experience going forward." She looked over beyond this immediate situation, though, and had to wonder what the heck was going on with Tasha, Alvira and Versaris. The tiger and Sari had most likely been discussing what to do now that they had subdued Lucille and were in possession of the Escaflowne, as it seemed, but... what was Alvira doing there, and why was she trying to reach for the sword, now being grappled by the commander? "Uh... do you know what's up with Alvira?"

"It's her, that signature flared up for just a moment. I'll help the others here too." Since Tio was ticked off enough to engage the reinforcements, Elisa figured she could deter some of them from approaching the Tigers. That blast of magic had definitely been Lucille, who clearly had been severely weakened, now likely provoked by some of the group to attack with all of the strength she could manage. Moving up to do what she was thinking of would also put her closer to defusing the situation down there if necessary. Elisa moves to 18-15 and drops a warning shot Meteor in front of Archers 5 and 6. That blast of wind was so strong, Natalya could feel it even from not being that close to Miria, who'd taken the attack head-on and was miraculously still on her feet, if barely. Her ears twitched as she looked back toward the other side, the Evokers clearly joining in to stop them from being harassed any further, and with no assistance left, even if the Princess could muster the power to strike that powerfully again, she couldn't take all of the Tigers on alone. "Let's wrap this up, the faster we're done, the better." Tasha moves to 15-7. Bodies. A lot of them. This had to be the right direction, and the flashes of magic in the horizon only further proved it. The Evokers must be here, too. That was the same thing I saw in Liste. Whoever had gone through here toward the battle the lightly armored man was also headed towards had done so with incredible strength, making it look like the mercenaries strewn about had had no chance whatsoever. If it's him, I'm already too late. I don't think I can beat him, but he can't beat the Evokers either. Something will have to give there... but my presence isn't needed. Not now. He quietly approached the treeline from where he could better see what was going on. There was no straight path down there from this overlook, and if his sight wasn't failing him, that was the supposed thief on her pegasus, only barely hanging on. Then, a rapid clatter of hooves from behind, still some ways away. Reinforcements? A quick turn and approach back to the road, and thankfully, what he saw were indeed reinforcements... For him. Celine Altair. Couldn't have asked for a better excuse. He stepped out of hiding to call out to the approaching duo. "Lady Celine! Can I be of assistance?"

With what encouragement she could give to Gean given, Tasha took a look over the battlefield in general. Those reinforcements mentioned earlier appeared over the northern mountains, a slightly larger force of wyverns than she'd expected based on the earlier pincer attack they'd dealt with. On that side was also Alvira, struggling to keep herself walking straight heading toward the healers... Damn it. She couldn't drop what she was doing and head off to help her, though, not when the actual target was right in front. She'd trust the healers with that and keep moving forward. Natalya moves to 16-10.

Thankfully, although it didn't look like things went completely smoothly, the other mercenaries had been dealt with. But now came the bigger problem of who they, and the Tigers, were actually after the whole time. This couldn't have been easy for Gean, considering everything she'd told before... the least Tasha could do was try and support her through the fight, seeing the mermaid dash into position just ahead of her. "You've got plenty of support, so eyes forward and mind focused on what you have to do, yeah?" Natalya moves to 15-13.

Tasha wasn't counting on hitting a gap in the knight's armor, but her shot was more accurate than she'd hoped for, freeing up the rear from threat for the time being. No time to think about it for too long, she'd have to get back out front to support the main thrust. As dumb as one of their enemies had been to tell them there were more reinforcements coming, they couldn't stop and wait for them to clear them out, not with what was going on up ahead. Natalya moves to 14-16. "Right. They won't have the luxury of being able to look behind them all the time, and we can limit our involvement if we hang far back enough. Let's do what we can." Elisa followed along with her wife, keeping half of her attention on the Princess's supposed signature. She hadn't been moving around too much all this time, meaning she was likely pinned down to some extent... Hopefully the Tigers could reach her before her support collapsed and before she could get away.

Tasha stays where she is and fires at Sword Knight 3!

"Tch, three magic users and a pure weapon. Couldn't have asked for a worse group to try and deal with." At least Syndra saw her opportunity to take a good fight, and the Commander wasn't about to stop her. "I'm no good against magic, so I'll let you handle 'em! Gotta keep the group moving!" She may have been hiding things from the group, sure, but she was still putting herself at risk in combat as before to help the Tigers out. That was the Syndra that Natalya had been payrolling, after all... even if she did need a closer eye on her now. Tasha moves to 10-17 and pulls her rifle back out.

"Bold position you're taking, Versaris. Not so sure we can talk things out here, so let's make sure we keep the back clear, yeah?" Something that packed a bit more punch would do better against the armored foes trundling toward them, and what it lost in accuracy and range, her twin revolver made up for in power. Tasha stays put and equips her .45 Double Revolver.

While the rest of the group kept pushing forward, Natalya's keen senses allowed her to both see and hear that they were about to be flanked. "Heads up, everyone, we've got incoming from behind! Spare a couple to keep the rear defended while the others keep pushing!" With that in mind, she took a center position toward the back, to either pivot if needed or head up the rear defense. Tasha moves to 6-18 and waits. "Try not to make a mess of them, is the best we could ask for, probably... Whatever keeps this front free from reinforcements encroaching on the Tigers." Elisa, as usual, was taking things a bit less seriously than her wife... mercenaries of this caliber would be easy to dispatch without going all out, and that would be for the best in limiting their involvement. Her magic tended to be far more destructive than Tio's, after all.

Laniva might have taken a heavy chunk through her armor, but she was still standing, and Renais made quick work of getting her back up to speed. Aside from that, their advance was going well, though with a patch of woodland in the way it was a little more difficult for Tasha to see or hear exactly what was going on back there, though Alvira's ice magic seemed to have grown in strength... maybe that had something to do with what had happened earlier. It was, however, far too easy to hear what the cat and lizard were talking about as she passed them by. "Hey, eyes on the prize, Siorel, and I don't mean anyone's ass," she quipped in jest, taking point next to Miria and keeping an eye out for any additional mercs coming from that side of the mountain. Natalya moves to 4-17 and waits. Much as Elisa wanted to say something about Mikoto's reasoning, it was sound enough, but she also understood at least partially where Versaris's concern was coming from. It wasn't that this fight itself was going to be the issue, it was what would be happening to the Tigers after it, should they end up grievously injuring if not outright killing Lucille, even without the Evokers' involvement. Versaris himself was proof enough that Lufiria had strong people looking out for its interests everywhere, whether others were aware of it or not. "Let's just hope for all of our sake that none of that comes to pass, alright? Even if we're not directly involved, the Princess's death would have catastrophic consequences that the Tigers wouldn't be able to escape. Whether directly to them, or because mercenary groups constitute Glacies's military forces in wartime..."

Arms loaded and several stripper clips readied for her rifle, Tasha was prepared to get things done no matter which way they would pan out. But from the look of the mercenaries on the other side -- no way those were Altair Knights, they'd fought before, after all -- there didn't seem to be an easy or civilized way out of this. And no matter what their objective there was, if they were attacking the Tigers, the Tigers would act in self-defense. "Combat formation! Keep an eye out for wyverns from the sides, and mind what your enemy's wielding!" She quickly took a central position, gun in hand and ready to direct the fighting if necessary. Tasha moves to 4-22 and equips her .303 Bolt Rifle. Elisa had been monitoring the overflying wyverns in case there were signs of something they should pay attention to, but the notion of smoke, confirmed by the Commander herself, quickly turned everyone around to investigate. While everyone disembarked and got ready to go in, she kept her focus on surveilling the mana flow in the area, looking for any notably powerful signatures... and sure enough, there was one besides the two right next to her. Tio's question came as no surprise, but she had some issue with what to make of what she felt. "I do think we've found our thief, too, but I wonder what's going on. If that is Princess Lucille, it doesn't feel like she's at her full strength, if anything we know of the Lufirian royal family is accurate. She might be heavily injured, which means we can't afford to stress her too much... if the Tigers can even make it to her before the other mercenaries do. Though I doubt she'd just stand down, even if you stepped in, Versaris. No matter how much we could assist her, we can't just let her escape with the Escaflowne either, yet if I'm being honest, we - the Evokers, I mean - shouldn't get involved at all. This is the Knights' problem to deal with, and they have the Tigers' support now. They're mercenaries, so they'll always have an amount of plausible deniability from political involvement that would be impossible for us to claim." She sighed, looking over to the man next to her. "I'm sure you think that's callous of me to say, especially considering there's a real chance the Princess could die, but the only thing worse than a war against Lufiria is a war against Lufiria where Glacies isn't on the Alliance's side anymore because of something we did. As the country's representatives, we need to stay as neutral as possible, if we're to both avoid being against the Alliance and continue to have a chance at diplomacy with Lufiria." Them staying back to repel any reinforcements that could cut off a route of escape or back attack their group made sense enough, but still... Even weakened, a mage of that power would be difficult to subdue. But she had to suppress that want to assist for all of their own good.

Though things had gone well after the early morning, business came back to the forefront of things as the group departed for their destination. The strange quiet of Cerezia, the odd encounter Elisa had told of, Celine still not being present, and now that they were on the way, the oddly numerous wyvern flights... Considering Nyx's earlier report, it felt likely that things were converging on the same lead they had, if from a different source. Though Natalya agreed it wouldn't be a good idea to split up, having a scout confirm anything out of the ordinary was, especially if Üllr had senses comparable to or even better than her own. The call of smoke, then, was her cue to confirm things for herself. The boy was already running, and surprisingly even Renais seemed to be able to see it, but it was there alright, plumes of smoke in the distance. Same direction the wyverns were headed all this time. "I can see it too. Whatever's going on over there, we can't just leave a potential conflict this close to Islexia unchecked, and I'm sure the Knights with us can agree to that. ...Especially if it's got something to do with our thief. Alright, everyone, time to get a move on! Follow Üllr and Iris, we'll figure out what's up and return to our plan after!" The tiger called out her commands and turned the convoy around, obviously an easy target if they were to just leave it behind while they check things out. "Hey, Vira? Take the reins for a moment. I'm gonna get my guns loaded." The chilly dragon had clung to her as much as she'd been able, but this wasn't something Tasha could do one-handed. Her ears twitched, trying to listen for anything unusual over the noise of their movement... and with it came a small scowl, going over the possibilities in her mind. At the least, this was a large fire, and at worst, they found who they were looking for. Except they weren't the first to do so.

So it wasn't just those two, there was something else strange going on as well. Cerezia's emptiness and Celine's lateness could have been for the same reason, for all they knew, but they wouldn't be able to find out before they actually met the lady knight herself. Elisa's attention quickly shifted to the new arrival, a large wolf by the look of things, though it seemed to be making itself look as little of a threat as it could, and Renais soon said why that was. "The fox has familiars too, huh?" she mumbled, thinking it was perhaps silly of her to be surprised by that. If Mikoto was as old as she said she was, surely she'd had the time to master several difficult and unusual types of magic, teleportation and summoning clearly being included in that. As much as Renais's resolve was admirable, she didn't quite sound convincing, and like Cin pointed out, she seemed to be misunderstanding their concern. Again something that reminded the strawberry blonde of herself, years ago... "He's right, you know. You being able to do your job is good and all, but what does it matter if you're hurting inside, whether because of it or not?" While the dragon went for a pat on the shoulder, Elisa wanted to do more, arms wrapping around the healer's waist in a soft hug. "Don't worry. Your friends are here for you, we're here for you. And if anything was to happen to you, I'll come running before you know it. You let your hood down, so let people see the person under it too!" One tiny squeeze to let her warmth linger and she let Renais go, free to either climb onto the wolf or start making her way back on her own power.

Tasha let out a small giggle at Alvira's sappiness, gently rubbing her shoulder, pulling her striped tail into the hug by clinging to the dragon's. Some amount of haste would very likely be appreciated, given that any time she spent here eating would cut into the time she'd have together with her girlfriend, so she chose to stay otherwise silent and keep chewing. Not that that would keep her sharp ears from following the louder conversations in the room, though much of it she'd have no reason to comment on. And whatever Ren told Tio that required that amount of secrecy would likely be told to her soon enough. Elisa's small smile quickly turned neutral, taking note of the almost immediate step back. If she didn't know what she did, that would likely appear as just a matter of courtesy to respect personal space, but no... she had every reason to suspect this 'Sariel' had at least an idea of what she could do. Pressing the matter now would come off overly aggressive and be akin to shouting in his face what her intention was, and thus she chose to keep silent while the two men answered Renais's questions. Between Eslcas and New Serdio? That's all in the region controlled by Kazran, going by what Marigold said yesterday... Who are these people to claim they have the whereabouts of Renais's sister, working on the behalf of some pro-Clouded group in Islexia? In the middle of a notorious slaver's territory? Nothing about this feels right. She could poke holes into their information later, and as Jesse showed up to further push things in the Tigers' favor, the duo made a quick exit from the scene. "I certainly hope your information is correct, then. It'd be a shame if you were acting the Galatasaraian prince." Instead of leaving things at that, she chose to make her suspicion clear to the two as they left, narrowing her eyes after they'd disappeared from sight. Though, now with the immediate concern out of the way, Renais turned for comfort from Cin, and the knight addressed her again, prompting a deep breath and a sigh from the strawberry blonde to try and unwind herself a little. "Yes, my name is Elisa, as he mentioned, and they are part of the the mercenary group we mentioned yesterday, and who Koba is with now. I'm sure you could tell, but I have some issues with what those two said... and the feeling I got from 'Sariel' in particular." Obviously, them feeding info that would've been extremely relevant to both Alvira and Renais if it were accurate was concerning in and of itself, but then there was the matter of location. If only one of these things happened, it could've been passed off as a fortunate coincidence... but the combination of everything was getting a bit thick to swallow at face value. She turned to face the other three, and as much as she didn't want to interrupt Renais's attempts at calming down, at least the initial explanation would best be given immediately. "He was suppressing his magical signature the same way Tio and I do. The ability to intentionally do that requires fairly high-level control of your mana. I don't know who they really are, but I don't think we should regard anything they said as entirely sincere, not when they just happen to have information that two specific members of the Tigers would find impossible to ignore." Both Alvira and Renais have magical abilities out of the ordinary, too. What the hell is going on here?

"Hey, let me finish my food first, at least," Tasha replied with a small laugh, happy that Alvira was looking forward to their time together so much. They might not have had that much time left until things got hairy for everyone involved with Islexia right around the corner, but for the short amount they did have, she'd try to make the dragon feel as comfortable as she could, sneaking her free hand around her girlfriend's shoulders. "We'll do what we can, yeah? You can stay right there if you want, while I've still got things to eat." She gave Alvira a little rustle, nodding over to the Evokers and Syndra as they offered their own confirmations that things were alright this way. And just on cue, the Knight who had gotten Koba to the inn - as well as the girl who had been with Lani - showed up to ask more things of Tio, though the tiger herself would stand by for any questions directed at her. As long as she was still present, anyway. Elisa nodded to her wife's approval. "Thanks. I shouldn't be too long, I've attuned to Renais's mana before so I can follow her easily even if she's gone a good distance." She turned to leave right as one of the Knights from last evening showed up, asking for Tio's attention, which was well enough seeing as she herself was headed out. "Do tell me what you discussed later too, so I'm not out of the loop," the strawberry blonde quipped and walked out at a brisk pace, gaining to a sprint as she pinpointed where the healer's signature was coming from, with Cinaed next to her as expected. But, as her quick feet brought her closer, she could tell they had someone... no, two others, also next to them. The other signature was very faint, but in a distinctly different way than that of someone who just didn't have more magical aptitude to them. And if that was the case, it was possible they could also sense her approaching in turn, choosing to slow down to a walk to round the corner and see the mystery people. Two men, both fairly unassuming, the one she felt to be the stronger of them even looking to be around her own height. She knew better than most that looks were deceiving to one's power, though. That, and both Cin and Renais seemed a bit strained... something was definitely up here. "I ran after you to see if you were alright, but it looks like you've found a party for yourself in that time. Is there something I can do for you, sirs?" While Elisa acted cordially, she immediately placed herself between the two pairs. There were a couple things she might be able to do... and even if she couldn't, she could get more information because of it.

Things quickly got to be on the loud side for Tasha's liking with everyone present in the same room, but she'd deal with it just fine; the most important people to pay attention to were close to her. The suspicion levied at whether Syndra was speaking the truth wasn't surprising given earlier revelations, though Marigold was also correct in that the Tigers were a more familial sort of mercenary group. As anyone who knew the tiger herself even a little could have told. "I'll let Syndra choose for herself whether she wants to come with or not. It's her problem, because if the Belroses are onto her being with us and would attack us anyway, her being there and likely with orders to be captured alive would put a damper to their plans, assuming their idea would be to separate her from us and steamroll the rest of the group, yeah?" The Evokers had contracted them on the basis that they couldn't be always vigilant by each other, after all, so this was just applying the same logic from a different angle. Who knows if Syndra's family had someone infiltrating the Gaffneys who could kidnap her at an opportune time? "Other than that, the plan seems good to me. We'll need whatever we can get and preparing for contingencies is something we should do, so, waiting a couple hours to get things sorted properly is fine." While Natalya just continued her breakfast without as much as an ear twitch at Iris's gaffe, Elisa, who was being quiet as usual when official talks were underway, shot her a small bemused glare... as much as she did find it funny. But if Tio was getting that sort of guff without her indicating it being fine, what was a loyal wife to do other than stand in her defense? Nyx's attempt at getting away from dealing with her problems didn't quite work out what with Gean almost immediately snatching her from Tasha's side, but their swift departure from the inn altogether raised a bit of concern. It was foggy outside this morning, meaning they would be more susceptible to issues that might arise in a city like this... At least they left in a pair-- and then Renais left as well, soon followed by Cin. She wouldn't stop them, but keeping track of who was where was important. Elisa had half a mind to follow the pink girl after such an exit, though first she wanted to confirm something with Tio and Tasha, and ask the former if she could make a brief detour while everything was drafted. Looking over everything the commander was eating was getting her appetite up, but she knew better than to act on that impulse. "Tio? If it's alright with you, I can handle the practical matters while you get everything written up. And... I'd like to check up on Renais too. I think I might know what she's feeling like. Can you get me a plate for when I come back?" She stood up from her seat already, anticipating her wife to accept.

"Heh, yeah. Me too. Think a pair of leather boots would fit you? Those can be made plenty warm," Tasha replied, already thinking about what they might be looking for on their seemingly soon-to-come date. The fox's confidence could be left to its own value, there was food to be gathered and eaten, and a cute dragon to share the moment with, letting her go for now and getting to compiling a plate for herself. On the other end of things, Elisa followed behind Tio to where they'd be meeting the others again, chipper as ever thanks to the 'quiet' night she'd spent with her wife, on top of how well she usually dealt with mornings. Though Tio was the more readily spoken of the two and often shouldered much of their formal burden, that only meant that it fell to Elisa to make sure that she was both ready and willing to tackle anything they might have to deal with, a task she would gladly perform for as long as she was alive - as far as she was concerned, there wasn't a soul alive who could compare to her wife's radiant majesty, a knowledge and understanding tempered through the turmoils she had vented about to the goose last night. But, they'd eventually have to get back to business to get things over with, and that would be this morning, first getting all of the paperwork done that she'd urged Tio to leave for later, and now having a proper discussion with the others after last evening's bust. Not being in the right mind for work would make you less efficient, after all! Danica's remarks would've sounded odd to most people, but Elisa knew she and Tio went way back in their student years, before she herself had even met her wife. She was interested in hearing what the innkeeper might have to say about Tio that she might not have known yet, but as Tio said herself, that would have to wait for later. "Don't you worry, I'll keep her safe and sound and well hugged at all times~" She would've demonstrated right away, if not for having to follow her wife making for the meeting room. The quick hug from Gean was a little unexpected, but very much appreciated, Tasha not having the time to respond with much other than a pat on the back before the mermaid was off again. The Evokers had arrived while she'd been getting food and gotten straight to talking about their objectives, as they likely should've, the tiger keeping an ear out for what they were speaking about as she finished plating her stuff, sitting down at the table. "I'm listening, though I can only speak for what I know of our resources on the combat side of things. But I assume you mostly just want me to be on the same page, yeah?" Without waiting to confirm more than that, she got to work on her breakfast.

Nashwa gave the seamstress, as it seemed, a quick shake of the head as her only reply to the offer. Sure, she was missing things to wear, but those things weren't within a tailor's purview, and spending extra time here wasn't in her plans. Far as she knew, spending even one minute too much somewhere could leave the trail cold until the next town over... which, on their route, was Tapotlan. And as far as the succubus was concerned, that was the one place where she didn't want an altercation to occur. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Lucille to be finished with her business, so they could get to speaking. "It's not me, I'm perfectly fine. I found my shield. And that's a problem." She beckoned for the short girl to follow, trying to get them out of the way of all the people on the main street. With slightly less people to interrupt a semblance of privacy, she continued from what she'd already said. "So, like I said, I saw my shield at the Trade Guild. And from asking around, I've got a good idea of what the thieves who stole all my shit look like. Three guys in black, clothes all covering their skin, so assumed vampires. That means I'll have to find them, and with enough people to take them down if we have to, before nightfall if I don't want to miss the chance to get everything back, while we're still here." Though Nashwa kept mostly calm through her explanation, her body was tense, either her foot tapping the ground or hands fiddling with her arms. "Tell everyone you're with about this too. I know it's a lot to ask, and it might blow our cover in the city, but if any one of us sees someone who fits the description, I need to know about it. Their group could be bigger than just the three, too."

After informing the people who hadn't been present with the mess last night, and getting the word out about their new recruit, Natalya was back in her and Alvira's room, having told the dragon she'd be following her back down soon enough. Yesterday, she'd only had the time to compile basic notes regarding the situation, what with wanting to also make sure her girlfriend was as comfortable as she could be with the strange changes she'd had to endure, taking time from her morning to finish getting things on paper. But there was also the matter they'd spoken of with Cyro. She couldn't make it a complete priority, with their mission still being the most important, especially as hard as it would be to get through Islexia in the first place. As far as the man was to be believed, Alvira's siblings had to be evacuated from Lufiria with him as the trusted person, but a necessity of going by land by the same token that had stopped trade between Glacies and Lufiria had gotten them stranded in Islexia, where more problems were brewing all at the same time. The important part of all this was putting down where he'd said to meet him... If they could get that on their route, at least on the way back out, they could manage rescuing the kids and complete their task in the same breath. Of course, the alternative had been to let Alvira go with him solo, but there was no way Tasha was going to let that happen, not now, not with him, and certainly not into Islexia. She sighed as she set her pen down and closed the notebook, leaning back in her chair for a moment. This was always going to be a difficult mission, but now we've got so many more problems to think about while doing it. And we keep getting new people in on the fun too. That's mostly a good thing, it helps our chances to make it through... but I could really use a personnel secretary pretty soon. Couldn't just have taken Almira and let our home go untended while we're gone either. Idle wondering about how things were going back home aside -- honestly, Almira was probably enjoying the peace and quiet, only having to do basic housekeeping -- the tiger's stomach voiced its complaints, prompting her to get up and join the others for food, ears briefly pivoting toward Sari and Gean's discussion while she made her way down. Most of the Tigers looked to be present, with the addition of a very wet-looking Marigold and a now almost garishly pink fox, conveniently speaking with Alvira, who she came up behind to give some quick soft pats to. "Feeling cozy enough for a change of look? Makes you stand out a lot, though it does look good on you," Natalya commented, turning her attention over to the food and the dragon under her palm. "What do you wanna eat? We didn't get to go out together yesterday like we hoped, so... if we've got the time today before we leave, we could try to fit in that date?"

Tasha was just about ready to snap back at Marigold's insistence. She of course knew how oppressive Islexia was against the Clouded, at least on a general level, and that the Belrose family as its de facto leadership was largely responsible for the recent tides of that. But Syndra had been with the Tigers for long enough that the commander felt she knew the woman much better than anyone could just based off her family's reputation and hearsay, even if she had kept that family affiliation a secret. Fortunately, in at least some sense, the pale girl left them after mouthing off the expected threats, leaving them with little to do besides consult the blue-haired lady and proceed with the whole Cyro sidetrack. "Don't worry, Vira, I wouldn't let you miss that for anything," she reassured, giving the dragon a nod before turning her attention back to Syndra, and Nyx, who had butted herself in close with the former. Though it was hard to miss Syndra's intent to take over and reform the family, be as it may that she didn't explicitly call it such, she was of course correct that they possessed neither the manpower or a particular reason to pick a fight with the Belroses, since this was a mission just to get the Evokers to Lufiria. The specific information would only become more relevant as they got more into Islexia, but for now, what she told and the endorsement of the Gaffney plan were enough for Natalya to be assured to a satisfactory degree that Syndra was going to act in their best interest, as long as she actually talked, anyway. "That's good enough for me, for now. I trust you'll keep talking as we head into Islexia about anything we should know. Also... why are both of you so damn eager to get your shit kicked in? Nobody's getting their ass beaten tonight if I have anything to say about it," she commented, really not getting what was up with the two human ladies' insistence on physical punishment. "Besides, you don't get to decide for me what I do and don't care about. I messed up by assuming with the conversation you had with that rabbit lady, right? That was the whole reason I wanted to talk with you afterward, but, you know, things happened." Tasha wasn't angry at this point, just confused, shrugging and barely even trying to make sense of what had been going on with Laniva, Mikoto and the girl the latter was dragging off. They could surely handle themselves. "Just tell me what's up with all of that later, Lani. I've got a lot of things to deal with, and speaking of which." She walked past the chaos couple of the hour, looking back to Miria and Alvira, "We should get going, shouldn't we? Inform Marigold at the same time that we got this little confusion sorted out. I think Syndra should probably sit things out, though. Don't want to provoke her if we can avoid it, and is it even safe for you to show your face this close to Islexia out at night?" A quick glance back at Syndra, and finally back around to Danica to address everyone she ought to. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean for things to get heated, but tried my best to keep fists from flying." With Koba acquiescing in the face of overwhelming optimism and an option being presented to him, that matter felt more or less settled, and they could leave him in Ren's care while dealing with the thing from before they hadn't gotten the chance to yet, thanks to the strange happenings of the day previously. Since they were both in the service of Amaryllis, Jesse quickly proved to have important information... that Celine wasn't there yet. All the more reason to take the offer of a moment to relax, Elisa supposed, though it didn't take much of a moment for Tio to bring attention to yet another thing that seemed off. She was being more alert for magical signatures than the strawberry blonde despite the latter's higher proficiency in that specific field, so when she did mention it... "Huh? What do you-- oh. I see it now." Since Jesse appeared to be aware of what they were referring to, she demonstrated right away, leaving no doubts as to what they'd sensed. This girl had armor similar to Miria's, though of an obviously different color and slightly different signature. Something that lent credence to the theory that they were to some degree personally fitted, at least in the sense of who could use them and who couldn't, especially if they were circuit-resonant as Elisa had suggested. However, sigh as she might, that tickled Tio's research bone and quickly got her to rattle off what they knew before the younger Evoker had a chance to add her own thoughts, smiling for the topic having lifted her spirits in at least some way. But as much as it got her thinking, today was still today, and Elisa got up behind her wife to gently hold her shoulders. "We should have some time tomorrow before we leave, provided nothing suddenly comes up, so we could maybe talk more then? For now I think we'll take that offer of taking it easy... like we were supposed to anyway, before this little incident." The strawberry blonde gave her own sigh, but stole a quick peck at Tio's cheek. "I know you like research even if you're tired, but I think I'm gonna have to work that frustration out of you tonight~"

Much as she knew Miria was right, Natalya couldn't overlook any of this... and Syndra's awkward way of addressing it only made her more frustrated. "Don't you think I know that people can't help who they're born to? That's the whole reason I don't do much of a background check on people who want to join, only cross-referencing Glacian criminal and mercenary records, no prodding at people's pasts. All I expect is that people bring things up at the first moment they think would be relevant for the job. Is that really that much to ask?" The tiger let out a heavy sigh, giving the blue-haired lady a small shove to separate them. "And no, I'm not gonna deck you. What the hell do you think that'll help with? Me being angry with you? That's not the problem. Use your words, dumbass, and not to waste time by apologizing. Tell me how you're going to help us through Islexia since you know the damn place so well." That might have been an unexpected pivot to the discussion, especially since it felt like Syndra was asking for some kind of repentance for her actions or whatever, but Tasha was far more practically concerned now that she had confessed to her oversight. If they weren't harmed or dead already because of it, her knowledge would come in useful to prevent it going forward. But since she'd addressed Marigold as well... "As for you," the tiger began, turning halfway between the two, "even though she asked for it herself, you can consider our discussion over if you indulge that stupid request. You won't find an agreement with me if you attack one of my people." The other people who had intervened she could talk with later, if they wanted to. For the moment, the commander had come back to a somewhat exasperated seriousness, feeling like it wasn't worth spending the energy to be angry over someone who thought flagellation would free her from a pragmatic solution. Though she wanted not to ease up with how annoyingly cocky yet defeatist the bird was being, Elisa let some of her strength slip listening to Tio thoroughly rebut his assumption. She never liked talking about those times, not even with her, and that she was so casually saying all of this now... The older Evoker must have been at her wit's end at this point. She wanted to get angry for her wife, but with more onlookers showing up and the mood just being dour all around, it was up to her to make something out of this dumb situation, and something the goose and Saiga said gave her the direction, letting the bird down from her pin as the diminutive girl(?) came up to speak with him, offering an alternative once they were done. "Nobody in Glacies would take you? Sounds like bullshit to me. I know one company that would've taken you if you'd have bothered to apply for them," she said, turning to look at Tio, giving her a wink. It was a bit of an audacious suggestion, sure, but it felt like a solid option, considering what else had already been suggested by the Amaryllis people.

"I've spoken with her a bit more, and I don't think she's acting out of malice or anything... speaking of which, I think she was supposed to apologize to you too back then. Put another one on her deciding not to talk purely to her detriment." It seemed that Syndra had failed to follow up on the discussion they'd had at Eibar, which just made the woman's actions feel less and less rehearsed, like she really didn't know what she was doing. But almost as soon as Elisa had managed to get her wife to acquiesce to a night of relaxing, they were interrupted again, this time by having someone knock Tio onto the ground. She'd barely heard the words as her hand was already on the mystery person's back, practically ripping him away from Tio and pushing him onto the nearest wall. "Talk. Now. You chose a great time to fuck with my wife, so make it snappy or you'll be gluing those wings back on in a minute."

"Gotcha. I do need to know most everything if I'm going to be effective at planning things out," Natalya replied to the older Evoker, turning her attention to the map now that Mikoto had produced it from... somewhere. They wouldn't have too long of a way between themselves and the Sands if everything went according to plan, even if going that close by Asqua to get through the shortest route was more than a bit daunting. Being able to get a Warlord who likes Clouded to gain more power in Islexia would only be a good thing, either way, and if it was being led by his family personally, there wouldn't be any uncertainties regarding allegiances. Plus they had the fox's offering of being ready to be there in place of the Evokers... smugly as she may have declared it. Otherwise, their information could still have used filling in. The battle plan was clear enough - fight a person known for a land army with a naval surgical strike - but the potential consequences of it not so much. That was when Nyx, and Syndra, decided to chime in. So, they were assuredly going to upset the Underground by doing this, easy guess as it may have been, and the Underground might be providing some unaccounted for strength to the Warlord's forces. She didn't bother taking Nyx to task over her past now; sure, she was putting them in some danger going through Hecatia without telling them, but from knowing her for a while, she'd turned a new leaf by joining the Tigers in the first place, and had left for good reasons at that. If she actually had any animosity toward Clouded, would she ever have gotten close with Aegean? That at least was a purely personal matter that Tasha could disavow the group from if it turned into a problem... Less so with the other woman's revelation. "Excuse me?" Tio had already said her part, stormed off even, and Elisa wasted no time in following her wife out, without saying a word herself. Natalya sensed a potential conflict of interest with Syndra being who she said she was and the matter of Marigold's employ, letting go of Alvira and placing herself directly between the two to stop anything from occurring immediately... and to give herself the time to speak her mind to the blue-haired lady, looming over her and gripping her shoulders tight. "You were going to mention this 'later'? When the fuck was 'later' going to be? We're a stone's throw from the damn Islexian border, and you thought to tell us 'later' that a mission we've known since day one is taking us through Islexia has us harboring a local VIP!? You knew that no matter what, we were already going to be drawing attention like a wildfire in a forest, and you didn't say anything about this? Do you have any idea how much danger you're putting us in just by being here!?" The safety of the Tigers was paramount... and it sure felt like Syndra was trying to get them killed by not talking. There weren't many things that got the tiger to bare her fangs, but such flagrant negligence was up there. Outside, the strawberry blonde Evoker dashed along to catch up with Tio, easy as it was for her. Nothing about this day had gone to plan, nothing about everything they were finding out this late into their mission was good news, and all of it just kept making both of them more and more frustrated with little chance to wind down. "Seriously, how did Iseria manage to find a group where everyone has some way of complicating everything for us? Surely she couldn't have known, if even their commander didn't." Elisa sighed, shaking her head. "Well, what now? We're stuck with them at this point. Do we just deal with it, leave things to Natalya, and try to relax for the evening?"

"Whoa!" Natalya knew instantly from Alvira's siblings being mentioned how important this matter would actually be, but she was still taken aback by how the dragon pretty much lunged at Miria, demanding to know more. Sure enough, Syndra came in to bail out the smaller girl, and with the name being confirmed, it was already decided what they'd be doing going forward. But Tasha had a job to do in making sure that her girlfriend wasn't going to put herself in undue danger, stepping back up to take her free shoulder again. "I know this is more important than anything else for you, but you need to calm down. What if this Cyro guy is lying because he knows it'd make you come running? You're not going without me, and I'd like you two to follow along for security, like you apparently told the man already," the tiger reasoned, nodding to the two humans. "If he won't talk just because we're accompanying you, we're bringing him here and keeping everyone alert in case anything happens." Everything would have to be carefully considered, but the more Marigold said, the more this seemed like a foregone conclusion. The Tigers had already messed with the Underground with their dismantling of the Crows in Eibar, meaning a slave driver affiliated with them would likely already be looking to block their passage through Islexia if at all possible. The distraction of Alvira's outburst -- hopefully Natalya could take care of that side of things -- aside, Elisa couldn't help feeling a bit frustrated that not only did they not know enough about where they were going, they also couldn't personally help in this part of the problem, and would have to ask Versaris to step down from being with the Tigers for the duration of such a mission as well. His true allegiances might have been whatever, but as far as official matters were concerned, he was also under Iseria, though if there was anyone besides Marigold or this Gaffney who could enlighten them further, it would be him. "Versaris knows more about the Underground than we do, so maybe he'd have a better idea about Warlord Kazran too. He's probably with Alriana, though, we might have to wait on asking him for a while... He'd also probably have to stand down for the duration and stay with us." A quick look around to see who all of the Tigers were present had her spot one staying far from the rest, though only giving the sullen lady a short stare to let her know she'd been noticed. If Nyx had something to offer to the conversation, Elisa hoped she'd be forthright, given it would only help her own situation as well.

Of course she'd have to make the offer herself. Problem was, there was nothing particularly valuable on Nashwa's person, save for the shotgun on her back, and that was something she could never afford to trade away as long as it was one of a kind. It'd be much easier to buy a new shield and have the same modifications done to it as the one she was now looking at. Though, if there was some way she could get that scroll from the thieves, she could maybe re-do the trade the other way around... And now she had identifying traits from someone who had just seen them earlier. "Thank you. I'll come back if I find something you could find worth trading it for," she answered, taking a quick small bow to appreciate the gesture, considering the man had nothing to gain from telling her, sharply turning away and out. Things were getting complicated. Without her armor, it wasn't likely that the succubus could take on three vampires alone, even if she was stronger than them. She needed some kind of insurance that even if she wasn't able to negotiate some other way of getting hers back, she could make it out of things, maybe scathed, but at least intact and not captured. The easiest of such would be Nessraya, for almost every possible reason, but Nashwa had no idea where she was now or whether she'd even accept coming along to begin with. The others... well, there were a few she'd gotten to know a little, but the same problem was present. She'd have to keep an eye out for both the black-clad trio and-- hey, there's Lucille. It didn't take much of a stroll down the main street to find one such person, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Remember, Angelise. Don't slip up with that here. Seeing as the shorter redhead was engaged in some form of business, she only came up an arm's reach away, trying to keep her expression neutral instead of slipping into a frustrated scowl. "Angelise? Don't mind me, finish what you're doing. There's something I want to talk about after." Big Bob certainly handled the weapon with the grace of a skilled craftsman, that much was obvious to Ilvira. She had not expected the repairs to be easy or cheap, but to be offered a partial work without expense to herself was a show of generosity she would have to accept. "Blacksmiths Gardenia in Tapotlan. My thanks for the information by itself, and I would be remiss to decline such a handsome offer to go with it! Downplay not your skill in the craft, I am quite interested in seeing how one would repair the blade, partial or otherwise. My stay in the city is capable of accommodating the time, so, should it not be a bother, I would like to remain here and observe until your work is complete to the possible degree." The elf gave a bow, letting the weapon stay where it was for Bob to take to repairs. Genuine curiosity aside, her request was a convenient way to excuse sticking around, partially also to make sure nothing adverse would happen to either the blade or the blacksmith. The others would hopefully let her be for that time and leave to continue their own business soon enough.