MRDRHAWK

Well, that was almost anticlimactic. Saiga had gotten his feed, and slipped out of the outpost - trying to dodge anybody that might have gotten some funny ideas about recruiting him for their mercenary troupe or something of the sort. Really, had it not been for Sarasin ordering him to accompany the Evokers, he wouldn’t even be with the Tigers, though he knew they were at least a good group to be with. Idly, Saiga wondered if they needed a second healer. Maybe he could deal with it if they didn’t force him into combat. “Hm… Ishii, what do you think?” He asked the wyvern in question, who simply let out a low growl in response. Ever the conversationalist, this one. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s too early for that sorta thinking.” Stretching his arms, he began to ponder his next move - there were a lot of places to go in a city like this, and now that he’d accomplished his main objective, the place was his oyster. Tanya Maldolche was dead. Again. Though, this time, it hadn’t been from a dangerous girl’s love of spice. No, this time, it had been the arena - evidently, someone up there really didn’t like her much, putting her up against a light mage with an apparent hatred of cat Clouded, judging by just how much force apparently went into that cast of hers. Sure, the first few fights had gone okay, but that light mage… It was like as soon as Tanya had seen the light form, she’d frozen up. Images of a fire seared into her brain, and she let out a scream before going down, and out cold. She’d hoped that maybe when she woke, that the others would be there, but it seemed that Cin and Siorel had gone off to continue whatever they’d been doing before, as had Lani and her new friend. Great. Well, at least she wasn’t thinking about the problems they were going to run into with the potential to- oh, motherfucker. Nyx, for her part, still really didn’t wanna be here. Part of her still just wanted to cut and run, but at the very least, she felt like she should talk with Gean beforehand. Any annoyance that she’d had with her not-daughter had mostly subsided, so maybe it would be smart to check up on her and make sure that nothing had happened while they’d been here. Maybe later, though. Right now, Nyx had a date with a nap. Slipping into the inn where she swore she’d seen the familiar figure of Tasha stride through, Nyx got stopped in her tracks by the talk of some Islexian warlord and safe passage, or… whatever. Normally, Nyx wouldn’t care, but given what she knew about a certain someone in the group… Well, maybe the nap could wait. Instead, she’d find somewhere to park herself inconspicuously so she could hear more about all this stuff. Hopefully nobody took notice of her, whether it be to bitch to the inn staff about her being there, or one of the Tigers deciding to drag her into the conversation as more than just an interested party.

Saiga, seemingly having been forgotten about, decided that it was best to not poke his nose in too far, lest he be seen as eavesdropping. He did give a quick wave to Jesse and Ren as he did, though, before heading off to the warehouse that Portia had mentioned with his little slip in hand. Hopefully this wouldn’t be too much trouble for them to fill. Ishii was probably getting antsy by now. ”Heyaaaaa…” Saiga drawled out as he poked his head into the warehouse. “Portia sent me over here to get some feed for my wyvern. That all good, or is it all being rationed too heavily for a messenger to get any?” He figured it wasn’t, given that Portia had sent him here to begin with, but for now, it was best to just ask and be sure. Tanya, to her credit, didn’t try and jump in front while everyone else was distracted. Besides, she could relate to the feeling pretty damn well right now. Still, she cleared her throat, hoping maybe it could help to not feel so heavy, like she could actually get a word in edgewise. “Hey now Lani, I’m here too.” Tanya quipped, flashing the other cat a smile. “Musta just not seen me behind the big guy here.” She joked, clapping Cin’s shoulder with little to no force - at least, she hoped that was the case, anyways. Sometimes, she didn’t know her own strength. “And your new friend here… you said her name is Syta? Nice to meet ya, Syta.” Tanya flashed her a smile, too, even if it was a bit forced. Fake it until you make it, she supposed.

Nyx, to her credit, didn’t give any snarky response back, simply taking the gold and stomping off past Cin and Siorel without giving them a second glance. Holding the bag of gold in her hand, Nyx thought carefully about everything going on today, and how it seemed like nothing good was coming of her being here. She’d expected as such, aure, but actually going through it still stung. Hm. She could just leave. Thinking about it, it wouldn’t be the worst idea Nyx had ever had - come to think of it, coming here in the first place was probably in that spot. She definitely had enough gold now, and if she took the back roads, she could probably see if her old hideout had some stuff left. Sure, it’d suck to have to start anew, but considering the high stakes of everything… well, what’s a girl got left for options? Especially when they don’t just concern her. There were all the other Tigers to think about, and therein lay the real problem. Nyx was a liability right now, both in combat and in politicking here - the others were pretty squeaky clean, far as she knew, aside from Syn’s whole deal; even then, that was in Islexia, not here. Here, there were way too many folks who would probably want her dead, and they weren’t the sorts of folk who would leave her loved ones alone. It would be simpler to just cut loose now, especially since most of them didn’t like her that well, and the ones who did were people she currently wasn’t talking to. Well, and Moonie, but she liked everybody. She was a good kid like that. Nyx paused in that line of thinking though, recalling that there were reasons, however silly they made have sounded, why she stuck around. Gean was like a daughter to her, and Moonie probably wouldn’t be far off if she had any say on the matter. And Syn… hell if Nyx knew how she felt about the same anymore, but she didn’t wanna just ditch her like so many others surely had. Not yet, anyways. ”Ah… this sucks.” Nyx practically crumpled into a wagon, not far from the arena, seemingly uncaring that it wasn’t one of the Tigers’. Frankly, right now, she just needed a goddamn break, lucky or otherwise. “Listen, if any o’ ye up there’re listenin’, could really use a sign tha’ m’still doin’ th’right thing, stickin’ wit th’Tigers.” She said, to nobody in particular, hoping that maybe someone would give her a hand. Wouldn’t be the first time she did it, and it worked before, so… why not now?

Ah. Well. Nyx kinda suspected something like this would happen again, especially after running into Favio on the ass end of nowhere. Still, probably best not to attract too much unwanted attention, even if she’d left that life behind her. Actually, from the sounds of it, especially because of that, too. ”Used ta, aye. Shit went south a while back, though, so m’nae runnin’ in that crowd now. M’gone straight, workin’ wit’ some mercs. The cat who was in ‘fore me is another one o’ us.” No need to lie, considering she had nothing to hide. Although the mention of her old title brought a twinge of ill feeling to Nyx, though that could have just been withdrawal or something. “Ah, tha’ ol’ shit? Don’ worry ‘bout it none now; ‘sides, even back then, clearly I wasn’t as big a shot as I thought I was.” Ah, right, that must have been the source of Nyx’s discomfort. Thinking about everything from back then that she could scrounge out of the sea of alcohol and bad decisions… and something else. Seriously, just why the hell couldn’t Nyx remember that time very well?

Well. That could have gone better. To Nyx’s credit, she did at least beat a couple people. At least, she was pretty sure it was two - the one went down after a single shot. Maybe she’d accidentally shot at some fan or whatever who just wandered into the arena looking for a good time - that’d suck. And it still wouldn’t have been the most illegal thing she did in this city, probably. That third guy, with the dark magic… damn, that hurt. Evidently, her constitution wasn’t as strong as it used to be if she could go down that easily - might need to figure out a way to fix that. But first, money. ”Oi, m’conscious again. Come t’collect my loot.” Nyx grumbled after she made her way to the reception area. She thought she’d seen a shock of blonde sneaking in behind her, but maybe she was wrong… Although, for once, Nyx wasn’t wrong. Tanya had come to blow off some steam herself, thinking maybe some arena battles might help take the sting off of her recent mental woes. Although now she’d have to wait until Nyx got paid to get her time in; at the very least, she figured she could do okay, as long as there weren’t too many fire or light mages popping up in the gauntlet. But what would the odds of that be? Saiga had to admit, it did upset him just a little that the smaller of the two had apparently been scared by him. Surely he wasn’t that scary looking! Sure, he was big, and muscular, and had a big scaly tail, but… Well, okay, maybe he looked the part, but still! At the very least, he’d been reassured that this wasn’t exactly an uncommon occurrence, so. There was that, he supposed. ”Aw, well, if you’re sure… sorry for spookin’ ya, though, lil’… uh.” Wait, damn, Saiga just realized something. “Y’know, I don’t think I got your buddy’s name. I kinda heard yours… Jesse, right?” Saiga inquired, turning his attention to the lady in question. He was glad that he was usually attentive during introductions, even if they probably weren’t meant for him. But, hey. They were both here for the same thing, so why not try and make nice with them? It wasn’t like they’d have any reason to hate him, beyond apparently being a big scary man-beast. That still wasn’t his fault, though.

Saiga couldn’t help but flash a big grin at Portia at the apparent resolution to his problem. It seemed to be lingering on his face as he turned towards the new arrivals, who apparently came with a letter from… who was Celine, again? Apparently a commander of some sort; Saiga didn’t actually know, since he was definitely not from around here, and knew very little about Hecatia’s workings. Well, not that he really had to before now, but… ”Thanks a bunch! And yeah, sorry, but I’ve been sworn to secrecy unless the boss says otherwise. I was kinda surprised too, actually, knowing how he is.” Saiga responded, hoping he could at least give something beyond that it was important. He then turned towards the two new arrivals and beamed at them. ”Yo! Nice to meet ya, folks! Name’s Saiga. If you ever need a messenger, just call for me! I’m the carrier that brings smiles for miles!” Wow, he hadn’t had to break out that one in a while! Between the happy resolution to his and Ishii’s feed fiasco, and some possible new friends, though, it was a good day for Saiga. Well, with everything cleared out, seemed like that was Nyx’s cue. Weaving her way out of the crowd of spectators, she slipped back to the front desk and placed a hand on the table. “A’ight, now tha’ Lani ‘n ‘er new lady pal r’done, m’thinkin’ s’my turn. Ye still got lads ready t’throw me way, aye?” Nyx knew they’d be willing to get people upright for more fights today, that one wasn’t a concern. Idly, though, Nyx wondered just how far she’d be able to go with these fights. Well, hopefully far enough for a bit of extra coin in her pocket. Might make this trip back into hostile territory a bit more manageable, in that case.

Saiga’s immediate thought process upon hearing Portia’s name was to find it cute. And it really was, even if it made him hungry for some sweets. Maybe he’d have to go sniff out a confectionary once he was done here. Although that’d definitely have to wait - fortunately, the big man’s brain caught up with him, and realized he’d been asked a question he really couldn’t answer all the way. Hm. How to go about this…? “Well, he’s got me on… a bit of an escort mission, so to speak, so… technically, I’m on loan to some friends of his travelling through the area. They’ve also got a mercenary company with them, so I’m mostly just there so Sarasin can make sure someone’s keeping tabs on ‘em, and also keeping ‘em upright with my healing staves.” That seemed plausible enough, and entirely true, to boot. Although hopefully Portia wouldn’t ask too much about said friends, or he might have to reveal more critical information than he’d like. “Oh, thanks! Yeah, sorry, I swear, normally he’s good about this stuff, but Ishii is so temperamental sometimes…” Saiga grumbled a bit at the end, but his usual cheer picked back up as he added, “But he’s my trusted partner, so I’m more than okay to let him indulge a little, given what we’re doing right now seems pretty important to Sarasin.” It helped that he was getting paid a fair bit for it, too. Nyx hadn’t watched a good arena scrap in a while, and regrettably she’d missed Lani presumably run through the whole thing. But she definitely caught the fights that Lani’s new friend had, and… well, Nyx really didn’t know what to think of it all. Mostly because she seemed to just, kinda… change, right before everyone’s eyes. And not quite in the same way as Moonie did, either; no, this was something else entirely. Almost like someone kicked the door in and took over, but that sort of thing made no sense to Nyx in the slightest, so she didn’t really focus much on that. What she did focus on, though, was the fact that apparently, Lani took off to go be by her new friend’s side, as Nyx shrugged. “Meh, woulda been nice t’ave a friendly face in me corner when I go in, but let the cat do wha’ she wants.” Especially since Nyx hadn’t really known Lani to be particularly close to anyone before; not enough to go rushing to their side right away, at any rate. It was fine, Nyx figured. May as well let Lani deal with her new pal. She had some skulls to crack.

Rude. Saiga wasn’t all that keen on sitting there while someone insulted his ability to raise his wyvern, but he also wasn’t keen on picking a fight either. For one, he wasn’t much of a fighter anyways, and he also didn’t want the Evokers or Sarasin to catch flak for him losing his cool. Besides, he was just here for feed, not a fight. ”I’m a messenger, on assignment from the Lord Sarasin of Liste.” Technically still true, since Sarasin did put Saiga on his current mission, even if it meant a practical change in employer. “We’d intended to restock after our last outing, but the lord sent us on another assignment quickly after, and things aren’t exactly lush out in Liste.” Hm. Part of Saiga wondered if maybe he should mention the Evokers, but he thought better of it after a moment. Might not want to risk running them into trouble just because someone at an outpost was giving him grief. “Plus, you’ve never met my Ishii. He’s a pretty moody sort on a good day, and normally we have no issues with feed. But he’s gotten grumpy that we didn’t get much rest before having to travel again, and… well, stress ate, as it is. And he’s a big one, too, since he’s gotta haul me around.”

Saiga had to admit - for someone who was a trusted messenger, he sure was bad with directions sometimes. To his credit, the city was big and bustling - a far cry from the smaller towns he’d been dealing with in terms of work lately. Not to mention he‘d never really spent time in Hecatia, beyond the bit that he’d been in Sarasin’s employ. Huh. Speaking of employers, Saiga could have sworn he’d passed a big group that he included the Evokers and the fox lady from earlier, but that wasn’t any of his business now. If Renais was safe with the Evokers, that was important enough for him. Off to the knight outpost, then - and the shopkeeper wasn’t kidding about it being incredibly busy at the moment. So many people around! ”Uh… sorry to barge in when everything’s a bit, well, like this.” Saiga practically had to poke his head out from behind a corner, lest someone see his hefty frame and mistake him from some sort of seasoned fighter. “But I was hoping to get some feed for my wyvern. I thought I’d grabbed enough for our trip, but the boy’s gotten a bit piggy, so I’m running a bit too low.” Nyx couldn’t help but feel like maybe this was a bad time to pop into the arena, especially given that she wasn’t the only one trying her luck here. Thankfully, it wasn’t anyone who’d try and pester her into talking about something she didn’t want to - just Lani and some other girl. Huh. Go, Lani. ”Aye, aye, m’not in any sorta rush. Let Lani n’ th’other lass ‘ere soften ‘em all up fer me.” Nyx said with a wink at the end, as she made her way to the spectator stands to watch the girl who’d been with Lani fight, evidently getting there a little too late for the cat’s scraps. Nyx took a look around, wondering if perhaps any of the bloodthirsty toughs who spent all their time at the arena were people she may have recognized, but that damn fog in her head kept getting in the way. Ah, well. That just meant Nyx could focus on the fighting.

Nyx had to give it some thought. After departing Neto’s bar, she would definitely want to go gather some more info on Escaflowne and the ensuing search, if only to corroborate what they learned from Sarasin a while back. But also, that would mean going into a knight outpost, and given her reputation, that was… well, dumb as fuck, probably. To that end, Nyx decided instead to try her luck gathering scraps first at the arena, and if nothing else, maybe she could make a bit of money there. She swore she saw a shock of blue mixed with a certain moon, but Nyx decided to ignore that for now - let her come to Nyx when she was ready. Nyx had other things to chase down right now, while she still could. “Oi,” Nyx called out as soon as she reached the front desk. “M’lookin’ t’try an’ make a lil’ extra coin. Whaddya say, ye cool wit me takin’ a few rounds into the arena?”

Saiga didn’t even have time to react to Gean taking off, simply standing there dumbfounded as the seafolk took off. For a moment, he contemplated chasing after her, to give assistance in finding Renais, but he ultimately decided against it. If nothing else, he could search on his own. ”Uh… right. Good talk.” Briefly turning back to the shopkeeper, he said a quick thank you and left the general store - after all, he had some more feed to get for Ishii. And lord only knew how grouchy he got when he was hungry. Tanya was having a very rough time of it. The news of getting entangled with a Lufirian affair, combined with the implications of that for her, left her in a bit of a trance. As everyone else left for their various destinations, Tanya stayed with the wagons, almost unable to move out of her spot. ”Papa… Yuyu…” What would her family think of her now, seeing her in such a state? Or, for that matter, seemingly going against her homeland and everyone she loved in it, for no apparent reason? It made Tanya’s heart ache to think about, as she curled up inside herself in the wagon. Maybe travelling with this group was a mistake, given everything she seemed to be getting tangled up in.

Saiga nodded as he dropped the 20 gold onto the counter, right next to the frankly comically large sack that the fox lady had plopped down as he was trying to get his business taken care of. Granted, he still had a stop to make, so he wasn’t quite done, but… Oh. Well. Evidently, something had happened, because one moment, there was Renais and the fox lady, and the next… there wasn’t. Definitely not the sort of thing that one would expect from a fine establishment such as this one. “Um.” He began, eruditely. “Gean? Should… I be concerned about the fact that Renais just kind of… went poof?” He finished, complete with a small flourish of his hands. Evidently, the mints and feed would have to wait.

Saiga couldn’t help but glance back at the whole matter unfolding between Renais and the fox lady. He had half a mind to turn around and give her a hand, but there was the matter of business first - even if most of his business wasn’t able to be done here. “Oh, he’s not particularly picky with treats. Just figured I’d get him something a little extra, since we’re doing a lot more travelling than I’d intended lately.” It wasn’t wrong, per se, but he didn’t need to start talking about potentially sensitive matters. “As for the rest… the Knight outpost, you said? Where might that be? Sorry for the silly question, by the by; I’m just not from around here by any means, so I’m not sure where anything in this city is.” Maybe he’d be able to swing over and give Renais a hand after all… at least, if she needed it. Nyx rolled her eyes; of course, the Knights around here were still inept. Man, if she ever ran into whoever was calling the shots with the regular Knights in town, she’d like to give them a piece of her mind. Sure, she wasn’t exactly fond of the Knights to begin with, but it didn’t mean she was exactly keen on letting them be incompetent jackasses who would rather count gold than fix things. ”Aight, thank ye, Neto. Sorry, prob’ly shouldn’t’ve tried t’get ye t’ talk bout tha’ lad. M’gonna be honest, m’just tryin’ t’remember what th’fuck is wrong wit me head.” Nyx really didn’t need all this fog in her brain when she was already out of sorts where it concerned anyone else in the Tigers. “Now, m’gonna see if I can remember where th’Displaced Front is at. Good seein’ ye again, Neto.”

Saiga could feel a sweatdrop or several forming on his brow at the burgeoning situation in front of him. He questioned what his merchant father would tell him at a time like this, and made his choice - namely, completely ignoring the whole matter in front of him. Renais and Gean had it settled anyways, from the sounds of it, although maybe his big body could be useful for intimidation if need be. ”Yeah, I’m just here to get some food for my wyvern. He’s a hungry guy, and already went through his supplies for the trip.” Granted, they had been working hard lately, so maybe that was to be expected. Speaking of… “Oh, and while you’re at it, can you maybe throw in some kinda treat for him? I really wanna let him know how much I value him.” Saiga knew Ishii wouldn’t mind that, grumpy wyvern that he was sometimes. He did make sure to keep himself positioned in just the right way to make sure that he could move to help Gean and Renais at a moment’s notice, though, if the need arose. He may have just gotten involved with the Tigers, but heck if he wasn’t going to stand by them and help if he could.

Nyx scoffed, and sat down instead. Fine, so Neto wouldn’t help her find this Luthier guy. Whatever. She could still at least ask him about things here, if there was anything she could learn. “Aye, fine. Sorry bout that, lad. Wha’s th’ word ‘bout th’rest o’ th’town? May as well learn some shit fer a change now that I got yer ear.” Ishii let out a low growl, and Saiga snapped out of the afternoon nap he’d been taking at the sound. That usually meant that it was lunchtime, and that was a minor problem, considering Ishii ate the rest of his intended supplies already. Good thing he still had some of Sarasin’s coin on hand, because he definitely needed it for food for his friend here. This brought him to the general store, where an apparent gathering had picked up, including Gean and Renais. “Oh, uh…” Saiga began, feeling like he’d just walked in on something important that he had no business in. “Is this a bad time? I was just trying to get some supplies for my wyvern, but…” Well, maybe he could still, but… it would be a trick.

Nyx groaned, as Neto proved precisely zero help. Well, that wasn’t entirely true; at the very least, he’d informed her that he was bad news, and to try and steer clear from him. Granted, Nyx wasn’t about to just give up because one person had told her nothing, but it was still a pain nonetheless. ”Well, shit. Y’know some’un who might know how t’find th’lad? Even if nobody’s done it before, jus’ means I gotta be the first.” Nyx smiled, a baring of teeth she hadn’t needed to do in a while. She failed to notice that one of the other patrons had up and left in the middle of her conversation with Neto, but she was a bit more focused on something else at the moment than chasing ghosts.

Neto… the name did ring a bell, but nothing concrete. Which was kind of why Nyx was here to begin with - trying to figure out what the hell happened to her head, and why. Evidently, she’d also come to the right place, given how he hadn’t just turned her away as soon as he saw her face, so that was a good sign. ”M’lookin fer answers, mostly. Head’s been a bit fuzzy, think somethin’ mighta happened th’night I took off. Thinkin’ a guy named Luthier might ‘ave ‘em. Ye know where I might find the lad?” Hopefully, now, Neto could help Nyx just that bit more. Although given how Favio talked about Luthier and his ilk, this… might not be the best idea. Oh, well. She’d been spending the last few weeks flirting with married women in way too high places for her. Making shitty life choices was just what Nyx did, apparently.

Well, fair enough. Maybe Nyx knew the guy, too, so just in case, she did lift the hood up slightly - enough so he could see, but that other prying eyes couldn’t tell who she was. Hopefully that would suffice for now. ”Nah, m’no knight. Jus’ someone tryin’ not t’start any more shit than I gotta.” And truthfully, Nyx didn’t even know if the knights would still be after her after all these years. Come to think of it, did people around here even remember who she was? This bartender may have to be the test of that notion.

Nyx was still in a haze, but after some time in the city, it cleared up enough to give her a purpose. Favio may not have known it at the time, but he did give her something after all - a lead. After all, things were muddy in her head, and if this… Luthier or whoever could answer some questions for her, all the better. Granted, it might have been a terrible idea - probably was, honestly. Which was why she went alone to try and find him. Grabbing a dark cloth from the wagons to craft a makeshift hood, and ducking through various back alleys, Nyx eventually made her way to the local tavern - or one of them, anyways. Getting down to the nitty gritty was the best way to find things in this town, and bartenders were always a great source of information. Slinking up to the bar, she kept her makeshift hood close to her as she whispered to the barkeep. “Oi, mate. M’lookin fer some’un. Y’think ye can help a lass out?”

Nyx was very clearly not having a good time. First off, she was still thinking - perhaps too hard - about what Favio had said to her back at Sarasin’s mansion. Try as she might, all those names he’d mentioned seemed incredibly fuzzy, and yet familiar at the same time. She wished she’d decided to kick the bottle sooner, so that maybe she wouldn’t have fucked up her memory this bad, but… was that the case, really? Then there was the little matter of being in Cerezia again, and Nyx almost certainly had a bad rap here. Not unfounded, of course, given her past, but it made things a hell of a lot harder in the present without a way to mask who she was - or rather, who she used to be. Either way, this was shaping up to be an awful trip. Saiga hadn’t quite expected this job to turn out the way it did. Not only was he now accompanying the Evokers - the freakin’ Evokers! - across Hecatia, but he’d even managed to not completely screw up his first impression with his new travelling companions! Probably. He’d certainly hoped so, at least; it wasn’t in his best interests to piss off the mercenaries, and it definitely wasn’t in his best interests to piss off the Evokers, either. Ishii let out a low, rumbling growl, and Saiga knew what that meant - so, pets it was. “Easy there, boy. I know you want to just soar, but we can’t leave the group behind. Lord Sarasin gave us a job, and we’re gonna see it through.” He’d said quietly to the wyvern, likely drawing a few stares. He didn’t mind, though; especially not since he was probably already getting them anyways from being a big man on an even bigger wyvern. Huh. Did they have lots of wyvern riders in Hecatia? Saiga had never really spent much time here before being hired by Sarasin, so there was definitely a lot he could learn about this country.

Saiga snapped to attention as soon as Sarasin gave him the order, and gave him a decent enough salute. Maybe trying to give him one wasn’t the right thing for the current climate of the room, but it was a matter of respect. “Aye aye, boss! But, uh, you’re sure this is a good idea? I heard about the scuffle with the knights, but if this puts them against the military…” Well, he could always ask for hazard pay - he could get two new saddle bags in that case! Still, Saiga was hesitant solely because danger meant lots of fights to be picked, and that meant blood. And while he wasn’t… scared of it, sometimes the sight did make him queasy. Which was a hell of a thing for someone gifted in healing magic, but Saiga figured it was just a little prank played on him by those above. “Well, even if it is dangerous, at least I can help patch them up with my healing staves. Hopefully they don’t think I’m some big heavy hitter or anything just because I look like the kinda guy who likes swinging around a big heavy sword for kicks.” Nyx really didn’t know what to think, anymore. Gean decided to come clean - fully, to her at least - and give her life’s story. She noticed the lack of mention of her folks, but she did mention her aunt and uncle. Some fancy healer lady and a spy, big whoop. Nyx really didn’t get it, but she kept her mouth shut for once, knowing now was really not the time for that. Maybe later, she could ask Gean about her family, if it was so important. No, the real kicker was when Sari brought Marianne up, and Nyx began to realize the sheer potential fucked-up-ness of what she’d done on the boat. “Well, fuck. Good thing I didn’t piss th’skinny lad off an’ steal ‘is girl on the boat, then.” She quipped, albeit tinged entirely with panic. “Look, Gean. No matter wha’ ‘appens, we’re ‘ere fer ye, aye? So don’ ye worry yer lil’ head, kiddo. Mom’s stickin’ wit ye, no matter what.” Tanya knew this would be a lot to take in, but she hadn’t expected all this. First, a member of the Levion family turned out to be right under her nose, which was bad enough potentially. But when Versaris mentioned Jeremiah, and what getting Intelligence involved may have meant for her, her blood ran cold and she took a few steps away from the group forming around Aegean. ”Oh. Oh no. Nononononono. God, please don’t bring Intelligence into this…” Tanya began to mutter to herself, hoping nobody could hear. She wasn’t about to mention that that meant her Papa might be coming for them too, assuming he was still working for them after all this time. And if that was the case, especially knowing how this group could operate… Well. Things suddenly got very complicated.

“Yep, that’s my name!” Saiga beamed at first, but the grin gave way to a grimace as he wracked his brain, trying to think of if he ran into anyone particular on the way. “I… don’t think so? If I did, I probably wouldn’t have known who he was. Sorry about that.” It was entirely possible that he had, but it just wasn’t coming to him. “If he was going by land, though, I definitely wouldn’t have seen him, since I came through the skies.” Wait, that sounded awkward. ”Uh, what I mean by that is, I’m a wyvern rider too - a lot of us messengers are.” Saiga hastily explained, so people didn’t get the wrong idea. He hoped that he was at least making some sense, after all - it wasn’t a good look for a messenger to leave his clients confused. “So unless you know for sure that this Ferid fella was a flier too, it’s probably pretty unlikely that I saw him. Is he some kinda big-shot with the knights? I’ve never really heard of the Sylph Knights before, since I’m from Kansei, so…”

Nyx didn’t have much reaction to the news of the rider, but she did have one to Gean’s. Rushing the small distance over to her pseudo-daughter’s side, she wrapped her arm around Gean’s shoulder in an attempt to keep her steady, ready to help raise or lower her if need be. No time for Nyx to be grouchy over something now; she had priorities, dammit. ”Oi, Gean. Yer okay.” Nyx told her in a low voice, trying to keep her as calm as she could. “S’all good. We can straighten this shit out wit’out crackin’ too many skulls, if ye wanna. We’re good fer it.” It was probably a pipe dream to hope for that, but maybe it’d help keep Gean’s legs under her. That’d be nice, for Nyx to actually help her feel better. Saiga let out a puff of breath, taking in a couple people’s reactions to the news. He hated having to deliver bad tidings like this, especially to a big group; alas, he really needed a new saddle bag for Ishii, and Sarasin’s coin helped provide that. At the very least, maybe he could leave them happy, but it was hard to think of how. ”Yeah, sorry about that. I admit, I don’t really know all the details, but that’s all I’ve got. If it is the princess… well, at least she’s still flying?” Saiga tried, hoping maybe the glimmer of hope would quell the tide of unease that was washing over the group. “Heck, depending on who’s going after her, maybe they can talk her out of whatever she’s up to, and you guys won’t have to worry!” At that, he put his fists upon his hips and let out a laugh that seemed hearty, but to his own ears was much more hollow than usual. Yeah, he was probably getting yelled at for this.

Well, he just flew in from over in the east, and boy, were his arms tired. Burying the joke deep in his mind, in strode Saiga, the trusted courier - the man who brings smiles for miles! At least, that’s how he sold himself, although the current situation meant he needed to keep his usual joviality at bay - there’s a time and place for that sort of thing, and this was definitely neither. What the Tigers would see as he strode in, head held high, was a towering, muscular Clouded with a long, thick tail, coated in dark green scales, wearing simple riding pants and still forgoing a shirt - he had to keep some comfort in tact, after all. He wanted to greet all these ladies with a smile, as he’d always been taught, but… well, again, time and place. ”Well, uh, I caught a little bit of what you just said, and… yeah, I hope your worst case scenario wasn’t that it really is a Pegasus Knight.” Saiga began, voice lacking the mirth he usually held. “They’re a really skilled mage, both in thunder and wind magic. And they were trying to go southeast, but thankfully that route got intercepted before they could cross into Islexia. But that just sent ‘em east, and the trail’s gone cold.” A pause, to let the information sink in, and then Saiga continued. “Even the knights haven’t been able to catch ‘em. They might have an accomplice - or a few - in Hecatia.” He knew that wasn’t what Sarasin or his guests would want to hear, but he wasn’t one to lie, even if it meant no smiles for miles.

Tanya’s eyes widened at the info she’d just heard. A Pegasus rider… she really didn’t want to think about the implications of all this, and what that may mean for the rest of the family. Damn, if only she had a way to get a hold of them quicker… she’d be able to figure something out. Maybe Max would be able to get her some information if he managed to get his meathead face pried out of his books for once. “Do we know if they had any special affiliation? Like, is it just someone who got their hands on a mount they shouldn’t have, or… is this a military rider?” Tanya really hoped it wasn’t the latter; and, if it was, she hoped that at the very least it wasn’t somebody she knew. If nothing else, the suspect being a rider meant it wasn’t any of the family, but even still…