Lord of Azure ***** Chapter 4: The chapter in which no one dares to utter the F word

[Kanami]

"Why don't I what?" Kamilla asked defiantly?

"You two clowns caused this mess" she shook her head "What idiot uses fire magic inside? A wooden building to be more specific, I mean would brushing that mans hand off killed him? Kill first, think later is clearly your policy."

And even if for one reason or another it wasn't his fault and these weapons are cursed or whatever, you stole and then attacked the town guards, do you know where that money comes from? It comes from taxes, the town was already experiencing poverty, prostitution and illegal wagers without you taking a chunk of their taxes away for your own personal greed. Or what, does your weapon control you as well?"

Kamilla huffed in irritation, it was bad enough that the two had the nerve to go get some "me" time amongst the current issues, and here the woman was expecting everything to be solved for her.

Kamilla looked up at the mentioning of a knife wielder, she had heard rumors of a girl who wielded a pair of blood red daggers not too long ago, but she was too irritated to mention anything.

Edited May 7, 2010 by Nadesico

[Phoenix]

Irina was about to tell the girl off, but Iso immediately stood up and walked between them.

Irina: Huh?

Iso: Listen well. The incident at the inn was my fault. I'll take responsibility for that if you will stop running your mouth about it. The guards paid Irina out of their own pockets, not tax money. She saw the Captain get a little bit from each soldier. I wasn't going to let Irina hog all of that gold, but it's obvious we can't go back and spread it among the deserving common folk. You need to calm down, and stop pointing that tiny finger of yours at people. Irina, don't try to defend me from these people. A few thoughtless insults here and there will never bother me after what I went through. Just let it go.

Irina: I'm tired of listening to, oh stupid Iso did this and that! I've had it!

Iso: Really? Then go home and stay with Ivanko. I'll see you again once the demon king is dead.

Irina: I can't leave you here alone. I'm the only one who believes you, the only one who cares.

Iso: If you're going to stay, then stay, but don't ruin your nice girl reputation for my sake. Just stay quiet, keep smiling for no reason, and keep Kiev out of trouble.

Irina: :/

[Inactive Account]

Kelas looked over the hysterical girl, glancing at the others as if to say "you'd really rather keep her around?"

"You're one to talk, you were about to blast us simply for walking down the hall earlier. And how much of that money do you think the guards hadn't already gone and extorted for their own personal use? You're not blind, you know they're corrupt.

"But none of that's the point. Can we cease this 'Isotov this, that, and the other thing'? Had Morgan been quieter about the weapons, had you not alerted the entire tavern to both their presence and your knowledge of it, we'd have left easily and you'd still be in the inn. But once again, we can point fingers til the gods grow old, but that won't solve our problems. I suggest you calm down," she advised the girl.

To the group at large she said: "Backtracking a bit might be wise; finding Rayton would be helpful, and it will give the authorities a few days to grow dubious about the band of marauders roaming within Elyisiman borders."

Edited May 7, 2010 by Darth Lacuna

[-Cynthia-]

"Had you all been actually focused on the weapons, I would not have had to mention it. You all are so busy trying to fix every problem you come across that we end up getting embroiled in conflicts that aren't our problem--like the bandits back in Vaorin. No one in that inn was an actual threat anyway, the problems only resulted due to excessive force. And besides, I wasn't speaking that loudly, they must have had some sort of supersonic hearing."

[Kanami]

"And where do you suppose the gold from the guards pockets came from? The sky? Those corrupt pigs are probably going to start terrorizing the people and start taking bribes again like when that girl gave us hell, things finally started calming down and then your wonderful girlfriend and you decide to wreak havoc again. Even if they didn't you're stupid missus still con'ed the guards and their family out of a few meals for what? Your traveling expenses?

Take responsibility? If your going to take responsibility, walk yourself back to that town and turn yourself in, or are you just spouting rubbish? Instead of telling people to stop defending you, how about you stop defending the hag beside you who is just as guilty?

With Kelas's comments she looked at Kelas like she was some sort of dirt. "The thing is, I didn't blast anyone, the thing is, that man burned the inn. I'm not accusing anyone, I'm stating facts, and if you're going to if me, then "If you're brother hadn't started questioning me about the crimson weapons earlier this morning I never would have had to draw my tome"

[Balcerzak]

"Who's Rayton?" Tessa asked Kelas, confused. Then she added thoughtfully, "...Though, if we're gonna backtrack to look for him, I guess that would let Katie get a first hand view of the mesh tentacle things, she was intrigued by. But on the other hand, if you don't think it's even possible to find this man..."

Turning to Morgan she tried to reassure the shaman, "I don't know about this bandit thing you're mentioning, but you're certainly right that things simply got out of hand. I'm not sure how things could have been better handled though, or what problem we got caught up trying to fix. Maybe if I'd been better at gathering the information this wouldn't have happened?"

[Inactive Account]

"FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY YOU ARE ALL MISSING THE POINT ENTIRELY!" Kelas shouted, at wits' end. "What I said was this: The immediate damage was done by one person. True. That which led up to it was preventable in another of ways, caused by various people. Also true. But WHAT'S DONE IS DONE. We are accomplishing nothing by bickering about whose fault it was!"

[-Cynthia-]

"You did fine." Morgan reassured Tessa. "We learned who Kamilla is working for, and how we can't let her out of our sights, since she is an enemy of sorts. It's unfortunate that she doesn't know where any of the weapons are, but alas."

She gave Kelas a disapproving look "By analyzing the errors of the past, we can avoid them in the future. Perhaps you enjoy the extra complications caused by nearly burning down an inn, but some of us actually value the mission at hand."

Edited May 7, 2010 by -Cynthia-

[Inactive Account]

"That's it! You're not analyzing the errors, you're harping on them! You're too busy calling each other idiots to mention what sort of alternative methods to use! Hell, you're not even getting to all the errors, you're just all shouting at whoever you want to pin all the blame on at this particular moment!" Kelas was well and truly vexed. "It's 'the idiot fire mage this', 'the idiot fire mage that', no mention of any other factors, and it's getting us nowhere! Your mission's going to fail if you spend the entire trip pinning incidents on whoever the most obvious participant was, and never shutting up and returning to what to do about it!"

Arrin stared. This was... rather alarming.

Kelas was far from done. "We stand here arguing, while the Elyisiman army's doubtless getting ready to look for us. Do we do the sensible thing and move on? No, let's gripe about it's all Isotov's fault, ignore the bit where we could have avoided the whole thing to begin with by keeping our traps shut in a tavern full of ruffians sizing up who to steal from, ignore the bit where people started talking to the guards before they had any idea how to explain our identities, let's just shout at the mage what was most visible at the time and go nowhere! They're going to find you lot here, too busy griping to notice when they arrest you!

"Can we get the hell out of here and save the bickering for later like mature adults, or are we going to harp about how it's so-and-so's fault and this other person's an idiot until they lead us to the gallows?!?"

Edited May 7, 2010 by Darth Lacuna

[Phoenix]

Irina was confused when Kamilla called her Isotov's girlfriend, but before she could say anything, Kelas snapped!

Iso: Turn myself in? You ignorant little child -_- ... for all your ranting you would end one problem by starting another? Every time I've been captured, all those involved were burned to ashes, and against my will I might add. Look, I'm done with you, church girl. If you say another word to me before we reach the capital, I'll solve one of our problems immediately

Irina: :o

Iso: This woman is my sister, and if you say anything else against her, you can expect to be put down too, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to put some space between myself and Ivanko's idea of a demon king extermination squad.

Isotov walked away. Irina reached out to him, but she couldn't bring herself to go after him.

Irina: I can't believe he just threatened her life. I'm sorry, Kelas, I don't want to cause any problems. I don't know what to do though. Every five seconds, someone tries to jump down his throat :(

[Kanami]

OoC: I've been calling you both girlfriend/boyfriend for ages now XD I still refer to Kelas as a man too XD

Startled at Kelas shouting, Kamilla quietened down a bit "At least turning you in would clear the rest of our names from the wanted list, what you do alone after that is none of my business" she muttered. She glared at Irina, then faced Kelas, "So what do you propose? Since you're demanding everyone stop doing what they're doing, you obviously have a plan" she paused "And please don't tell me, we just make a run for it, for as long as we're in Elysimma, running around without a plan isn't going to do us any good"

Edited May 7, 2010 by Nadesico

[-Cynthia-]

"Ah yes, let's move on with no concept of where we're going. Acting before thinking got us into this mess in the first place. I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything more from a simpleminded nomad."

"I am all for moving hastily, but we have not yet decided on a destination. Backtrackign means we will have to go through the guards, which is obviously problematic. There's this General Jackson person, but we don't know where he is and that may also involve going through the guards. So I...don't actually know where we should go, but I don't think we should just go anywhere."

[Balcerzak]

Kelas was truly frightening when she was angry, Tessa decided. She further decided she would do her best to make sure not to incur that sort of wrath upon herself in the future. A bit timidly she offered forth an idea.

"I don't particularly know if this is true or not, but wouldn't someone like a General be stationed at the capital? That's a rather high rank, and not likely one to be wasted stationed at an obscure outpost. I mean, I guess, it really could be in any major city, or maybe they have an army military academy somewhere else... but if it were me, I'd guess the capital. Though, maybe we should ask one of the natives what might be most likely, or what to expect?"

[Inactive Account]

Kelas inhaled deeply, about to start shouting again, but a set of teeth dug into her shoulder: Amari had tired of her owner's antics. "Right. Temper," she muttered to herself. She paused a minute, composing herself. "I suggested," Kelas stated with forced calm, "that we head for Halton. There are border crossings that are guarded by civilian toll-collectors, and if we get there quickly enough, they won't have heard of us yet.

"Alternately, we continue to the next small town. It's doubtful that word will have arrived there yet, and we can disguise ourselves and be on our way to this General of Chase's by the time the army reaches it. There do exist towns that aren't full of military, after all.

"There is a third option, though I doubt you'll like it. The Soria tribe of nomads is usually in this area around this time of year. I know them well enough, and they have no love for the military. We could visit them, and either hide for a bit or at least take the time to disguise ourselves and work out where to go from there."

[Kanami]

Kamilla went quiet for a few seconds, trying to work things out in her mind "Halton seems like the safest choice" she said rather quietly. "I agree with the healers reasoning, if we're going to look for the General then he'll most likely be at the capitol, though, that's like walking into a hornets nest, As for the Soria......" she paused and looked up at Kelas, "I strongly object" she stated firmly.

Before Kelas could say anything she quickly added "From what I hear the Soria are savage and merciless monsters, but that is of little importance, if we rely on the Soria, we'll get them mixed into this, probably be accused of harboring criminals, and they'll have to hand us over." Again Kelas tried to interject but Kamilla was quicker "and if they don't it'll start a war between Elysimma and Soria, perhaps even the entire Nomad clans."

Editted out Tessa's name since I don't think I've been told it yet

Edited May 7, 2010 by Nadesico

[-Cynthia-]

"We could probably get into Halton regardless due to Damian's status. The problem with that may be that if Halton is found harboring criminals from Elyisima, that could lead to political unrest."

"I think that we should attempt to head towards the capital, Tessa is probably right. The issue of course, is doing so while not attracting too much attention from the guards."

Edited May 7, 2010 by -Cynthia-

[Snowy_One]

Throughout all this, Katie had remained separate from the ongoing conversation. A thought was running through her mind. A wild, daring, and completely irrational plan... but one that could work. It was desperate to say the least, but if all the chips were down on the table, it was something she was willing to do... for her students.

I have a suggestion. Two, actually. Firstly, I... happen to have a personal relationship with Harold. A very, very personal one. If you were to hold me hostage, he wouldn't risk taking us and may be willing to grant us clemecy, or at least a chance to plead our case. she wrote down. Then, taking the paper out, she slowly approached the main group.

[-Cynthia-]

"An interesting proposition, but it could backfire. If this Harold doesn't care about you as much as you think he does, or he thinks he can get you out a hostage situation unscathed, things would end quite poorly for us."

[Phoenix]

Irina: Uh ... true love conquers all ...?

Not sure what she was trying to say, she immediately shot out another line!

Irina: What if we send a message claiming to have her hostage? If we show up ourselves it's fifty fifty, and my Uncle can't really help out either so ... we might have to actually risk someone going there to inform Harold >_< Ugh! Never mind, this is a terrible idea! What if he's so mad at us for taking Katie that he won't hear us out?

[Kanami]

Kamilla nodded in agreement after peeking in on the note from beside Morgan, "Adding crime ontop of crime isn't going to prove anyone's innocence" she looked at the top line again, "What was the other method?"

Hearing Irina's proposition Kamilla shot Irina a dirty look at her initial agreement, but huffed as Irina came to her senses and called the whole idea off.

Edited May 7, 2010 by Nadesico

[Snowy_One]

The bastard stole my voice because I wouldn't give him enough attention before. I was his own daughter and I refused to even consider him my father. Yes, I hate this and everything about it, but I did all that so my apprentices wouldn't die! Now that they have died, I will do anything I can to avenge their deaths; even if it means talking to my father.

[Phoenix]

Irina: He's your father? Err ... family business -_-

[-Cynthia-]

"If he was willing to harm you so, I'm somewhat doubtful of the quality of your relationship. Still, the capital is our best lead on the Crimson Weapons, so it may have to suffice."

[Kanami]

Kamilla shook her head bewildered, she found it hard to believe that a father would attack his own daughter. She was about to say something comforting to the woman but the look in Katie's eyes stopped her. Shaking her head she sighed "I don't believe it, Harold's a hero! One of the great heroes that saved us from the Demon Lord 25 years ago, he wouldn't" she trailed off "Either way if what you say is true and he took your voice the last time, taking you hostage might not do much good, probably force the soldiers to take you back regardless of whether you lost a limb or two" she added on the end to emphasize her disbelief "If what you say is true."

Edited May 7, 2010 by Nadesico

[Snowy_One]

It's a wild, reckless, and stupid plan at best. I do not deny the risks. However, it is the only path to annulment I see short of turning in that man. My second plan is pretty much as ludicrous and banks on the headmaster being willing to protect me even though I'm only circle four and Harold not being a big enough idiot to attack the majority of the military might. However, if things fall in to place, it could work. At worst we die, which beats us heading off on the run and starting a small settlement and waiting for them to forget about what happened at the least.