Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 5: That which is unplanned

[Inactive Account]

Arrin nodded slowly. This man hadn't exactly been a fountain of great ideas thus far, but this plan made sense of sorts; if they must split up, it would help to get as many wounded as possible belowground.

There was one catch he saw, though: "What about the horses? Will they go?" he asked. As soon as he said it, he took it back, though: the packhorse had allowed itself to be led into the entrance of the cave, and Amari had walked partway in as well. Both animals were shuddering; they clearly hated this, but were willing to endure it.

Arrin stood by, waiting for the inevitable argument to break out over who was going with whom.

[Ansem]

"You, Wyvern girl" Helios said to Irina. "How do you plan on taking your wyvern inside the cavern"? He turned to the boy at the question. "Obviously we can ride them". "Those who ride would need to dismount". "Your sister is an exception".

Edited May 24, 2010 by Kai-Sama

[Kanami]

"Stop yapping you stupid noble" Kamilla snapped as Helios began questioning people, "Everyone going through the cave get going now, everyone taking the land route, we better leave now" she didn't like how they'd taken so long to decide on anything and wouldn't be surprised if they were already surrounded. "Questions and logic can wait till later, right now it's run or be killed"

[Phoenix]

Irina giggled at Helios.

Irina: The name's Irina. Kiev and Ulfy will be just fine heading into the cave. In the wild, wyverns tend to nest in caves more than anywhere else. For them, this would probably be like heading through an abandoned neighborhood. They're not mountain wyverns, but they can fit. I'll probably have to walk though :D

[Snowy_One]

"Right. Daiman, You watch over Aiya. Mount her up on her horse and get behind her. Use your lance. I'll stay behind and watch your back."

---

Katie gave a simple nod and moved over to the cave group. She didn't have any major plans for now. Just follow the group, and hope they eventually head back to TISME.

[Snike]

"More likely captured, but I get the point," Eric said. "let's go." Taking his sword out of it's sheath, he led the way into the forest, wary for any attacks.

[Kanami]

"Wouldn't bet on that, actually I don't think I'm allowed to bet at all" Kamilla said cocking her head to one side. "If their objective was to capture us before, it's changed now that we've slain the troop of pegasi. We're not exactly holding anything they want except the dumb mage."

Seeing Eric turn towards Helios Kamilla shook her head, "The other type of dumb, anyway they only need one of us to spill the beans to find out her location, no need for them to take us all hostage"

(Had Eric look at Helios because he's the only mage in our group)

Edited May 24, 2010 by Nadesico

[Inactive Account]

Arrin closed his eyes briefly. He'd have to remind himself not to say anything remotely resembling a question around the wind mage, particularly with regards to horses; he'd barely spent any time at all around the animals, and even he knew that they didn't just follow unquestionably. "I wish my teacher were here," he muttered. It was true; he lacked the singular ability she'd had for shooting down bad ideas.

-----------------------------

fire stones and fire and shouting

Kelas blinked. Her face was buried in Amari's neck. Her head was still ringing, though she wasn't seeing nightmares anymore. She tried to sit up, but immediately stopped: while it was apparent that whatever injuries had knocked her out had been healed somewhat, everything still hurt.

"Hope someone shot the flying hussy what got me," she said into Amari's neck. Arrin ran over to see how she was, but she picked up her left hand (that bit of her didn't hurt, anyway) and waved off his barrage of questions. "No, 'm not okay. Dunworryboutit. Don't want to hear where we are. Just lead on, right? Amari, follow 'im..."

A small part of her realized that she should be the one caring for Arrin, not the other way around. The rest said hang it all, he's in one piece and this hurts.

[Snike]

"Well, the way I see it, the two soldiers are safe. The army will want to know what 'schemes' their commander came up with. As for the rest of us, you and the other girl could be used as bait, and, judging from what I've heard, the mage wouldn't be missed, so it's only him and I, who would be killed. But let's talk about this afterwards. For now, on to the forest?"

[Kanami]

"Right bait" she laughed at the idea of Esphyr being bait considering how it was impossible to disarm her. "Lead on" she said as the group of land-go'ers started to follow Eric, "Your theory sort of makes sense, and I wouldn't have argued if I hadn't gone skydiving earlier today"

"So it'd be best if you, the two soldiers, and us girls stayed alived" she stated intentionally missing Helios.

Edited May 24, 2010 by Nadesico

[Balcerzak]

Tessa was unsure splitting up was such a wise plan. Though the group had clearly managed on their own before her arrival (Lady only knows how), at this point it seems like they were relying heavily on her, and it was rather a burden to try to meet these expectations. She could only go with one of the groups, and while the one the wind mage had assigned to her wasn't disagreeable, she couldn't help but feel apprehensive.

If the fact of the matter made taking the wyverns into the caves impossible, then perhaps the caves were just a bad idea all around? Most of the rest of the group seemed to be in cautious agreement with the plan, so she only raised a light objection.

"Those of you going through the forest... Are you sure that you'll be able to mind your own wounds? If the answer is yes, I won't say anything further about the matter."

[Snike]

"I don't know about the others, but I can cover myself twice over," Eric said.

[Kanami]

Kamilla smiled at Tessa's concern "Probably not the best idea to split up but we'll manage somehow, if it comes down to it, we'll use the angry mage (Helios) as bait and make a run for it."

Seeing that her response wasn't received well by some she sighed. The other Wyvern might be able to worm it's way in, but there's no way Ulfhrahn is getting in there, and I really don't think anyone can persuade the idiot(Helios) otherwise. I'm more worried about you lot, Don't trust that nutcase criminal, and I'd think Morgan was it? Will have a hard enough time preventing that crazy arsonist from burning you all to a crisp."

[Ether]

"If we won't be going into the caves,then we are exposed,we should get moving." Damian told the group he had been placed in,and brought Aiya up onto Ulfhrahn.

"I dislike having to part with Tessa with Aiya injured,but it looks like it can't be helped.Tessa,is there anything else I can do to speed up her recovery?"

Hearing talk of further battle,Damian scowled.

"If any more of those Elyisimian bastards turn up and try to hurt us..." Damian lightly rubbed Aiya's shoulders as he said this;

"I will kill all of them.I'll rip their bedamned throats out with my own hands if I have to."

[Snowy_One]

"I can be pretty handy with a potion." piqued up Esphyr, approaching Aiya. "If need be, I can try to keep her healed and whatnot so long as you can keep both her and I safe."

Maybe we should just surrender and plead self-defense scribbled Katie. I mean, with a TISME mage on our side, they will need to listen. And we can get some medical care for Aiya that doesn't involve a overworked girl on a horse trying to keep an entire group up.

[-Cynthia-]

"It would be a difficult plea. They will likely take Percy's word over ours, not to mention self defense is a poor excuse for setting an inn on fire. I would rather not imprison ourselves if necessary."

[Ether]

"I have to agree with Morgan.They would be unlikely to take our word over Percy." Damian stated unhappily.

"Yeah,that'd be good,Esphyr.Like I said,any fucking Elyisimian soldiers who piss me off today are dead." Damian scowled again,clenched his fist and punched a nearby tree,splinters flying every which way.

"So,where do we all meet up?"

[riariadne]

@Kai: Don't pretend Helios doesn't know people's names. It gets annoying fast. Also, Chase is about the same size as Helios... and neither know each other's age, so calling him a "little boy" makes hims sound pretty idiotic.

"I don't care about the groups as long as I'm not with Helios, so if you guys are up to it, let's go. So, we're going strait to the capital, right? No side-trips or anything that we need to know of? Didn't think so, let's go. Actually, wait a second first..."

Chase ran into the cave and reappeared a few moments later with an unlit torch. "That was pretty easy. So... let's move out!"

[Inactive Account]

Arrin strode forward, but turned back: Amari was standing stock still. "Er, Kelas?" he asked: his sister wasn't moving.

Apparently she was conscious, though, because a muffled command was issued, and Amari grudgingly followed Arrin.

As the group headed into the tunnel, Arrin suggested, "If we're not followed into the tunnels, perhaps we should stop once we're safely in and give people who are injured a chance to rest." He was worried; while her injuries had been patched up and she was out of danger, Kelas' condition was still pretty bad. Some of the others were still in a bad way, as well...

[riariadne]

"Yeah, I suppose. Wouldn't be very comfortable, though... whatever. Let's go in." With that, after taking several attempts to light the torch and eventually succeeding, Chase descended down the sloped ground into the Cobalt Caves.

[Ansem]

OOC: That is now he refers to you. If you want to do something about it post in feedback <_<

"The castle town should be the best option" Helios said to Damian . "And let me get one thing straight, girl (Kamilla)". "I am not here to fuck around and be "liked". "I was fated to be a tool against the demon king and plan to stay one". "I do not plan on dieing until then".

Edited May 24, 2010 by Kai-Sama

[riariadne]

OOC: If "the castle town would be the best option" was talking to Chase he couldn't hear you because you're not in the same group as him.

[Ansem]

Mark was a little confused. "So where would we be going"?

[Balcerzak]

Tessa had nodded when Esphyr had spoke up and answered Damian's question about Aiya's wellbeing, and after he'd punched a tree she had added in further, "Potions should be more than able to take care of anything I may have missed. The speed for full recovery is always hard to judge, and there is only so much magic can help. A fair degree of natural resiliency and inner fortitude can make a world of difference. Aiya is strong, I have every reason to believe in a speedy recovery."

Seeming relieved, Damian went on to ask, "So,where do we all meet up?" which was actually a very salient point, that had thus far been too neglected. Tessa turned to Katie and Kamilla, as Chase was already well into the mouth or the caves, and gave a questioning look at the only other natives to the region they had.

Chiming in, she said, "We really do need to plan a rendezvous. Is there a monument or some building of note inside the capital that we could use? I would think simply waiting by the gates would be too suspicious. The other option is regrouping outside the city, but I don't know if there are any distinctive landmarks or features there either? I'd be tempted to just say head to the church with the biggest steeple myself, but perhaps one of you know of a better option?"

Edited May 24, 2010 by Balcerzak

[Inactive Account]

"Well, there's the academy," Arrin added. "Though a church is probably a better idea; they get all sorts of people visiting churches, so we'd stand out less."

He paused. "We'd better decide quickly, though; the soldiers will be here soon."