mcd900

There was an odd unease working through Laniva as she dismounted the wagon and looked towards the enemy, forming up for battle. Something in the direction in front of them; the mountain, or maybe beyond; there was something pulling, tugging, almost as if drawing her closer, calling to her. It was unusual, not only because usually she was calm, focused, heading into battle - but because this was simply a sensation she'd never felt before. It was difficult to say if it was a negative sensation, but regardless, it was somewhat uncomfortable. She drew the greatsword from its sheath, testing the slack on the chain attached to the pommel. This, at least; this felt comfortable. Laniva to (5, 21).

Laniva sat there, rather red in the face, as Tio, Syta, and Versaris had their exchange; she had a strong feeling both of not-quite-being-in-the-loop, and more distinctly, plain embarrassment. The whiplash of being rather aggressively pet one moment, followed by Syta stonewalling the Evoker on her questioning the next, left her with something of an indescribable feeling. She couldn't really comment on the secret being kept, though; there was probably a very good reason for not saying more until Celine arrived, and either way the two of them were keeping a secret from the rest of the Tigers (save one coy many-tailed fox) anyways, so it's not like she had much place to interject. "Mm... things are pretty messy right now, huh. I guess that means we're going to be doing some searching soon... I hope Celine arrives soon. The Evokers have kind of been on edge, recently..."

Seilan listened to Lucille, nodding slightly at her explanation as to what had went on with her shopping; had been about to comment about it, in fact, before Lucille mentioned Miz's sudden decision to make herself scarce. He looked down towards his hand, only then realizing the glyph had disappeared, not having noticed earlier. He was sure he'd been supporting it with his own magic, so it hadn't turned to nothing on its own - whatever had happened, his innate magic resistance had dulled it enough for him to not even feel it. ...Huh? Did Miz dispel it...? Couldn't have been anyone else... "Er, right... We probably shouldn't let them be, else they'll probably just get lost." They're not even interested in anything else the town has to offer besides the trade hall, where are they even going...? It was hard not to notice the improvement in Lucille's mood - not that he was paying any shortage of attention - though he couldn't help but wonder slightly what had so quickly driven Miz and Xetketh away; they were heading the same way, and had agreed to stay together in town... He gave Nashwa a quick, apologetic wave, then moved to catch up to Lucille, who'd already started making her way towards the other magical duo. Huh. Did she stutter just now, saying my name...? Seemed pretty comfortable, though...

There was little Laniva could do in the face of the continued petting assault from Syta... except meow slightly, perhaps. "Sytaaa, ah, seriously, jeez..." The egg on her plate was long since forgotten, despite Syta's urging... though the cause of her continued ignorance of the now-distinctly-room-temperature-at-best egg was obvious. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was probably some kind of important conversation happening in the background, given Tio's voice was distinctly audible, as well as an unfamiliar one; probably the cleric who had come in with Syta. It was rather difficult to make out the details of everything, though, seeing as her ears were otherwise occupied at the moment... mrow

"Mraaahh... Sytaaa, you just don't get it..." Laniva grumbled through the surprise petting, distinctly aware of Siorel watching and whistling. It was a little frustrating how comfortable the petting was, enough so that she was having to genuinely consider if it was going to be worth it to intervene in her own situation. Her tail flopped around a bit as she mumbled some more. "Mrrhh... I told you to ask fiiiirst..." Laniva ducked out rather noncommittally from under the petting, freeing herself up for at least a moment, though still well within reach of that hand. She huffed, ever so slightly. "Ah... Siorel, hey...! Don't look so smug, come on..." There was no denying how this looked, though...

As he walked over towards Lucille, who was now joined by Nashwa, the runes in his hand occupied perhaps about half of his attention, and that proportion was rapidly dropping as he got closer. He was fairly confident that the two would be following him, and not wandering off; they'd agreed to, after all, and he was hoping to not have to chaperone... well, Miz's chaperone as well. He approached, lowering the hand with the projection of the runes to his side, though he kept channeling enough of his magic to it to allow them to persist; he was interested, but his focus was elsewhere for the moment. More specifically, how Lucille was rather distinctly differently clothed, which he hadn't noticed from across the street. What she'd been wearing before was now replaced with some kind of combination between a skirt and shorts; and what's more, her tights were gone. Noticeably so, in fact; and her stance was helping to circumvent any chance of his obliviousness. He gave Nashwa a brief nod of acknowledgement, then turned to Lucille. "Hi, Angelise. We didn't buy anything, but, ah... Miz'Githon's curiosity is satisfied, I think. For now." He opened his mouth again briefly to say more, then closed it as he found himself oddly absent of further words. Quiet as he may have externally been in that moment, though, his internal narrative was anything but. Wow. Were her legs always so... nice? I mean-- it'd make sense, she rides a pegasus and all. Very frequently. So - it's not like there's no reason for it, and it certainly didn't just happen, so... just didn't notice before. Okay. So, a compliment, yes, and... don't sound crude about this, especially not with company around, think, think... --eye contact, now, don't stare, eyes drawn is one thing, an overlong gaze is another. There's no way she planned this, right? No, she just wanted to go shopping... wait, wasn't she supposed to have been buying tights? All these thoughts passed through his mind in perhaps the span of a blink, maybe less; and while it was certainly impossible for anyone to know what was going through his mind, it was perhaps perceptible that there was a shift in his tone, suggestive of the idea that he had in fact noticed. "I see you bought something while we were in the blacksmith's; it looks fantastic on you, Angelise. Though I, ah... have to say, I didn't quite expect this when you mentioned you were looking for tights."

Laniva grumbled quietly as Siorel laughed hard enough to fall out of her seat, clearly enjoying the result of her teasing and Syta's arrival. Her blush deepened slightly at Syta's earnest admission of being one of her 'admirers', evidently still not having caught on to the conversation... that, or she was really honest. She sighed. "Siorelllll... mrrrh. This is your misunderstanding, you explain." The lizard was possibly having a little too much fun with this, though really it was Syta, if anyone, who'd egged this on, not that she really knew... "Mmm... t-thanks, Syta... i-it was just an arena, though, it wasn't anything special, really. And... mrrh..." It was a little difficult to know how to react to being called... meowy, and squeaky, and... all that stuff about her ears, so she settled for trailing off into an incoherent mumble instead. Hardly elegant, but for lack of a better idea...

His brow furrowed slightly as her retort followed him out of the blacksmith's, though he kept his gaze on the street instead of deigning to respond. It came to him as a bit of a surprise, then, not having seen Miz reach for his hand, only realizing when he felt it. In his hand, now, were the runes of a spell he didn't recognize; though before taking too long a look, he turned to Miz as she spoke. "Oh... ah, thanks...? This is... lightning magic of some sort, I can tell that much, even if it's not immediately familiar. Hm..." He channeled just enough of his own magic to the glyphs, starting to read them, though in truth he was more focused on his thoughts at the moment. If I'm feeling impatient, huh... I guess it must be fairly obvious that something's up, but... ah well. Lucille's right over there, and then we'll be off to the trade hall. Probably should try to focus on the present, instead... The energy from the spell was familiar, enough that he was fairly certain he'd seen it cast before, even if not the runes themselves. He thought for a moment longer, then looked back to Miz. "This is... Thoron? As it was in your time, I'd suppose... I wonder how it's changed since then, though admittedly I've not seen the inscription for a modern version of the spell either, before."

Laniva perked up a bit as Syta sat down, taking a bite of the egg before responding as Syta giggled. "Morning's been okay, I think. Mikoto came by to chat about nothing in particular, then everyone's been going off to do their own things before we head out again. Nothin' really too much going on... did you manage to find Celine yet? We haven't seen her here, if you were looking..." Siorel's giggling tease and burst of laughter stopped her from poking too much with her question, though, and she blushed slightly. "Siorel... heyyy." She sighed, with little flick of her ears. "No, it's... not that, Syta. Siorel doesn't believe I didn't have... admirers, or whatever, when I was training to be a knight. Or now, either. Hahh..." She wasn't irritated by the teasing - far from it, actually, and she appreciated Siorel's cheeriness and friendliness despite only having recently met - but she was certainly a little embarrassed by the teasing, and just maybe feeling slightly more so for Syta being around for it... even if she wasn't really picking up on it. Her tail swished slightly, in her seat. She blushed a little more, as Siorel kept laughing...

Laniva bristled ever so slightly under Siorel's questioning. "No... I don't have any. Troubles, I mean. Or... well, partners, too I guess. But, um... I'm glad it's not really anything bad. I can see why he's concerned, there's a lot of different things going on right now that none of us really saw coming. I'm sure he'll be back and hugging you soon enough." She blushed at hearing the last part, her tail swaying a little under the chair. "L-Lady killer type...? I-I, um... I don't think so, not really..." Laniva certainly hadn't thought of herself that way; it hadn't exactly crossed her mind, and if she'd had any secret admirers during her time training they'd kept quiet as far as she knew. It wasn't uncomfortable to hear, but as far as compliments went, it was rather unexpected... The egg was starting to get more fork holes than most eggs ever did in their lifetime, as she continued to aimlessly poke at it while thinking. Just as she was searching for a more coherent response, though, a couple figures entered the room; an unfamiliar cleric, who seemed to be focused on speaking with Tio, and Syta. "Oh- hey, Syta!" She waved back, then beckoned her over to the table. Siorel probably wouldn't mind, they'd already met yesterday and all...

"Mmh?" Laniva perked up a little as Siorel sat next to her, giving her a brief blank blink before catching on to what she'd said. "Oh, uh... partner troubles? N-No, it's not like that, I don't really have..." She trailed off with a bit of an ear twitch, setting the fork with egg back down. She sighed, slightly. "Oh, I'm just a bit all over the place... I'm not really sure what to think right now, that's all, it's nothing too serious." It was a little too early to be divulging... anything, really, especially not while still well within earshot of the fox. "I'm sorry to hear about your partner troubles, though..." She blushed a bit at her mention of her self-admitted perving. "Um... I-I'm not gonna ask for details, but... well, I'm sure things'll be okay. He seems like the type who'll listen... I think." Siorel was... rather open, at least for Laniva. Knightly - well, squirely - life and its adjacency to court life had left her used to talk like that being at a minimum mildly scandalous...

Seilan raised an eyebrow, just a bit. "Skilled enough? I'm not certain that even were I skilled enough, I would be able to perceive the difference... after all, I've no idea what it was like before. I couldn't make such a comparison if I wanted to." His smirk turned to a bit of a grimace as Miz and Xety's idle eyes promptly stared at him in return; he hadn't expected Miz to notice, but he'd have to get accustomed to Xety's awareness of her surroundings. He decided to answer Xety's musings first, preferring instead to continue to engage in a more salient conversation than field Miz's... demands. "That's right - Hwein is home to monsters and humans both, though it's much of an outlier in that regard. The other countries are hardly - if at all - mixed, with Vaia and Khach largely consisting of monsters. On the other hand, there's Coteon, a country mostly of humans. The, ah... major political voices within that country would prefer it be entirely so. They happen to be occupying Hwein right now, and like as to not they'll be enforcing their views on the populace here. I saw some of that in the capital before I left..." The grimace turned to a frown, briefly, before he continued. "To answer your question properly though, yes. The number of monsters outweighs that of humans, undoubtedly." He stood from his lean on the wall, turning slightly towards Miz; perhaps disengaging from the subject a little too quickly, though the faux pas had been his own, if at all. His expression shifted; less the frown it had been speaking of Hwein, more one of irritation. "Yes, yes. I had every intent of doing so anyways - you asked much the same at the outskirts of town - so let's first find..." - he stopped, briefly, finally managing to remember for once, far too in the habit of using her real name - "Angelise, and then we can properly be on our way. Keep your expectations for the trade hall... within reason. I don't intend to do much more than send a letter." With that, he stepped outside, catching distant sight of Lucille, accompanied by a newly arrived Nashwa; it seemed she was buying something, though across the street it was difficult to tell what it was, exactly. He stood by the shop's door, a bit of an air of impatience about him. Lucille seemed to have gotten along alright briefly without him, though he was still eager to rejoin her; to say nothing of how he rather miffed he was at the magical duo for separating them in the first place.

"I know. Believe me, I'm well aware of where people are, and aren't, happy to see Clouded... and last I checked, anyone who's not willing doesn't have to go along on the contract. Whatever happens... we'll weather it. And if you decide you want to - or need to - help, then that'll... happen, too." Laniva watched as she flipped through the tome's pages, not understanding quite what was written within the tome, but well aware of what she was (probably) capable of doing with it. "Hmm... we'll be counting on your best, then. Hopefully we won't need it, though..." She sighed. Really, the fox's emotions seemed to be all over the place; it was exhausting to keep up with... wherever she seemed to be going, now. Still, she seemed to be rather friendlier than she was during yesterday's conversation, so she'd take what she could get. Laniva poked at an egg.

Laniva narrowed her eyes, getting all kinds of mixed messages from Mikoto. First she was happy to be smug and preen her fur, and now here she was showing off her magic and her power, only to swerve all the way to the briefest moment of concern. "I'm sure you've managed to pick up quite the amount of magical power in your time, what with your... merchantry. If the Tigers run into anything we can't handle, well... I suppose we don't have any other option than you, so if you feel like stepping in it would probably be appreciated. If that were ever to come to pass, I mean." She stared back, honestly more puzzled than in any way upset at the fox at this point. "...We're mercenaries. We know what we're signing up for... mostly, at least. As long as we keep each other informed..."

Laniva grumbled noncommittally as the fox sat next to her, bright, cloyingly pink, and smug. Her outfit was different, though she wasn't sure whether to attribute it just to simply being her morning attire, or if it was what she was planning to wear for the foreseeable future. "Mm. Morning, Mikoto... yes, I haven't told anyone anything, I'm sure you'll be happy to hear. I don't plan to right now, anyways... it wouldn't exactly make a difference. Syta's off looking for Celine, anyways." She sighed, perhaps ever so slightly more pointedly, taking a bite of her toast. "And if you're coming with us, I'm sure you'll be happy to make sure I continue to... not do that. We'll... 'get along.'" It wasn't the most straightforward of answers, but in truth she wasn't quite sure how genuinely Mikoto had meant it, and she wasn't willing to extend too much friendliness to the fox if she was unsure it was going to be reciprocated. She took another bite of the toast, focusing her gaze on it instead of the ever-so-bright fox next to her.

Another morning had come, and with it Laniva was awake earlier than most in the Tigers for her morning routine. It was a bit different, doing her run in town, and there wasn't enough space to practice with her sword - not without waking anyone up, or damaging the walls - but she went about her run nonetheless. It was good to have time to think to herself anyways; yesterday had carried with it quite a lot since she'd followed Mikoto and Syta out of the room. Fox Finding After she and Syta had left the alley, they'd stayed together for a bit longer before Syta went her own way, saying she needed to get back to looking for Celine, as they hadn't managed to find her. She'd eventually made her way back to her inn room to ponder what she'd heard that day, only to get more of a proper explanation after her morning routine the next. It was certainly rather troublesome, and between the new difficulties (or rather, existing difficulties they'd become newly aware of) and her private knowledge of the fox's magic (who was apparently to join them, now) she found herself poking at her breakfast with markedly less vigor than on a typical day. She needed to come up with something to tell the Chief, on top of everything else; she'd asked to be explained to later as Laniva had left the room yesterday, and Mikoto had gotten rather pushy about not giving anyone the details of what had been going on. Laniva sighed into some toast.

Laniva watched the conversation (calling it that might have been optimistic) continue, tail swaying a bit anxiously as her question hung in the air unanswered. From what she could tell, Alvira was heading somewhere to find her siblings, Syndra had kept quiet far too long about her own family and asked the Chief to hit her (and gotten rejected), and the Evokers had walked out over the news. "O-Oh. Not quite okay, then..." She remained in the doorway, somewhat uncharacteristically meekly, waiting for an answer... at least, until the fox declared her uninvolvement in the situation and waltzed right up to Syta without so much as acknowledging her. She'd been about to hold her tongue - she didn't know the fox much anyways - until she began to question Syta about something she didn't quite follow, her words sweet as salt. "Hey! Mikoto, you don't even know her, lay off... what are you even talking about, anyway?"

Laniva nodded, understanding Syta's situation a bit better now. "Oh, so that's how it is... that makes more sense. I guess we can look for her, maybe take you to see--" The shouting from inside the adjacent room had grown louder, and she winced a little, and as the Evokers made their way out her tail flopped against her chair, somewhat anxiously. "Um... I have no idea what that was about... do you think you could wait here a moment while I check on that? Or, well... I don't know, you can come along if you like, I don't really know..." She sighed. "Those women that just left are our clients..." She stood slowly, making her way over to the doorway after waiting a moment, seeing as nobody else seemed to be wanting to storm out too. Poking her head in the doorway, she saw... Nyx, Syndra, Miria, Alvira, the Chief... somebody she didn't recognize. She gave Alvira a bit of a questioning look, though she wasn't sure if she caught it; the situation in the roomed seemed gloomy at best. "Um... hey, Chief... is everything alright? I just saw our, ahem, clients go by, and..." She trailed off before finishing the though.

"Mm, yeah... it's no big deal, really. And, sure, I can introduce you. I think they're having some kind of meeting right now, so maybe after... I don't really wanna barge in on anything while they're having some serious discussion." She shrugged a little, happy at least from how relieved Syta seemed. As she asked her question, she was looking up at Laniva in a way that seemed almost hopeful, and Laniva pursed her lips slightly, knowing she wouldn't really be able to give much of an answer. "Celine...? I think I've heard the name before, maybe. Some Hecatian knight, I think...? Um, why do you ask? Are you looking for her? 'Cause she's not my boss, if that's what you're wondering..."

"Lufirian magic, huh..." Laniva hummed pensively for a moment, head tilted, then shrugged. "No, Lufirians are fine with me. I mean, we have a whole bunch in our group, even." She hesitated to say more and speak from her own experience in depth, settling instead for a gentle reminder. "Besides, I'm Clouded anyway. It's not like I really have a lot to gain from not liking anybody." She thought briefly about Alvira, and her rather less-than-conventional magic. "I guess that makes sense, about your magic. Every time I meet someone new from Lufiria, I feel like I learn something new about what's possible for magic, so... yeah." She leaned back in her chair with a bit of a sigh, stretching her legs. "I was... a little worried, but I guess it's okay if you know what you're doing." She yawned, slightly. "Exciting first day is right... ugh, what an arena, jeez. They should open a magic school instead..."

Seilan was mildly intrigued by the work Big Bob's other customer was requesting, though he found it not quite his place to pry; and even if he had been so inclined, he was rather occupied with his impromptu charge, who was making something of a fool of herself. He'd seen a similar sight a number of times before, in the family workshop; perhaps been the one grasping the blade, once - when he was distinctly small - but he shook the nostalgia away before too long a moment. Xetketh had stepped in to resolve the situation before he'd returned to the present, so he instead raised his hand to cover his still-forming smirk under the guise of pensiveness, clearing his throat slightly. "Just so you know, most with the gift of magical capability are at the level that you've seen so far, the peculiarities of Lucille's and my magic aside. There are, of course, adepts, those long-studied, well-practiced - and generally more aged - but innate skill as opposed to capability is something I imagine has become much rarer since your time." He was rather glad for Big Bob being occupied in conversation at the moment; anyone overhearing their own discussion would understandably become rather confused quite quickly, and having to explain to even the most understanding of passerby was an effort he was rather uninterested in undertaking.

Laniva had arrived back at the inn the Tigers were staying at early into the hour-long discussion, setting Syta at a table downstairs from the commanders' room. She'd carried Syta the whole way back from the arena even after she'd woken up, assuming she was still recovering; she certainly hadn't heard anything in the way of protest from Syta, so that had lent some credence to her theory. Putting Syta's (numerous) belongings to the side of their table, Laniva slumped into a seat, rather exhausted from the gauntlet of mages, then leaned forwards to speak. "So... what was all that back in the arena? People's hair doesn't usually just... change colors like that. And you started fighting differently, too. I may not be any good with magic, but that doesn't mean I don't know what's usually possible. That... definitely wasn't. And you didn't wake up when the healers got to you, too." She crossed her arms, tilting her head a bit inquisitively. That kind of magic... well, even if it makes her stronger, the effects are a bit strange. And to use that in the arena, of all places... either she takes the arena very seriously, or she must be pretty sure that it's not that dangerous to herself...

Laniva grumbled a bit more at Syta's petting and mumbling; her enthusiasm was a bit innocently cute, but given the situation and her fellow Tigers being around, she couldn't help but huff a little. "The arena was... eh, it was alright, I guess. A lot of mages, so not much to enjoy there for me. Still, I'm sure you could get through a decent number of fights - probably worth the gold, if you don't mind getting knocked around by some rough light magic at the end. Good luck if you do decide to try." She shrugged - or tried to, at least; the weight of Syta and all her equipment was rather prohibitive. She looked back a bit, towards Syta. "Oh... you woke up faster than I thought you would. Syta, that's Cin," - she pointed a bit, with her chin - "and that's Siorel. We're all here together - there's a few more of us, too." She couldn't quite see Syta's face like this, but from the sound of her voice she seemed rather embarrassed by Siorel's words. "Mm... well, let's get you back to the inn to sit down for a bit, then. Are you feeling up to walk, or should I keep carrying you?" She hefted Syta a bit; it was no problem to carry her, but there was no harm in shifting her a bit more comfortably now that she was awake...

Seilan entered the store, not far behind Miz; there was an assortment of weaponry around, and he knew enough to know that it was a decent selection. Better than any of the stalls outside, without question; it was honestly rather impressive that some of the equipment was available despite the country's ostensible state of occupation. There was... also an elf here, a familiar one; Ilvira, if he recalled correctly, though in truth the two hadn't spoken before. He cleared his throat, rather awkwardly, as Big Bob made his comments. It was plain enough that Miz was rather miffed at his words, and it seemed a suitable enough approach to not further provoke her. Misbehavior would be troublesome, after all, even with her assumedly diminished capacity for... well, all manner of things. "I... yes. We're, ah... acquainted, and I'm... accompanying her. I'm not much for this type of weaponry, myself, so I'll just be around. That's alright, I hope?" Interestingly enough, Miz had refrained from further (outward) fear of the orc; he supposed he could consider himself lucky in that regard. He crossed his arms, moving out of the doorway and leaning on the wall near the door. Undoubtedly Xetketh wouldn't be far behind Miz, and he didn't intend to be in the way.

Laniva hadn't made it much further than the front gate of the arena when she ran into a couple of the Tigers; Cin and Siorel, one of whom was rather wrapped around the other. "Oh, hey. That's me, yeah... um, this is Syta. We met earlier today... we went through the arena, but she did something magic, and then passed out, so I was going to see if anyone who knew about magic knew what was going on..." Somewhere in the middle of her talking, Syta seemed to have woken up, and was... petting her, again. "Ah, h-hey, wha... Syta, come on, jeez..." She grumbled a little, sighing; but mostly she was just glad Syta seemed to be fine. At least, she definitely seemed to be, given this was how she was waking up...