Lord of Azure Flame: Chapter 17: I got nothing.

[Phoenix]

Shanice

Shanice: Hey, watch it! Look, Megae and Petros'll get here at some point ... til then I need to think ... unless you want to play miss rescue or something and just whisk us away.

The now slightly agitated demon crossed his arms and waited for Ruby to decide.

Irina and Levski

Levski walked over and examined the unconscious female and was amazed. Aside from the scraping on her scales from Ulfhrahn's powerful smash, she was unscathed. She didn't get into fights very often and her claws were so sharp that they could rend armor knights as easily as any other class of target. This wyvern was as dangerous as Krinkov, but for slightly different reasons. Lev looked up at Morgan and smiled.

Lev: These one ... is a precious catch. I'd feel bad selling her but we'll just have to see won't we.

Once Irina came running out she stopped realizing that her feet were touching grass. It stopped her cold for a moment. Dirt was fine but grass felt a little weird when she was so lightly dressed. She looked down and moved her feet around a little before running over to Kiev who was nervously guarding the rudoberry crate.

Irina: So you caught her?

Lev: Yep! Thanks to the wyverns and Morgan we now have a perfect breeding wyvern!

Irina: Holy wyvern! That's amazing!

Lev: I know!

They both ran up to each other and shared a rather unexpected hug! The two mercenaries hadn't been responsible for something like that before and were both incredibly excited. Her voice was muffled by Lev's shoulder, but he could understand what she was saying.

Irina: Uncle's going to be so proud of us!

Lev: Hell yeah, he will.

Irina: Do we get to name it?

Lev: We'll see. She's got a strange pendent on her paw with the name "Pressha" engraved on it. I don't think that's the wyvern's name but, even so, that's something to fall back on if we can't think of anything.

Irina: I like Vika better.

Lev: We'll see.

Irina: It's better and you know it.

Lev: Ahahah! We'll see.

[Script]

Count Altair

Luc inspected the damage to his garden caused by the battling wyverns. It wasn't as bad as some of the raging parties Gran had brought over, but it wasn't presentable either. Oh well, more work for the gardeners to do. "Well, now that all is said and done, perhaps we should start getting ready to leave?" Luc said and left without waiting for a reply. Things had taken a bit too long to get ready for his tastes. So Luc informed one of the temporary servants to begin telling the other guests to prepare, and to inform other servants to do the same thing to speed it all up.

Streets of Directus

Three men ran through the shadows of the alleys. The one in front chased by the other two.

[Inactive Account]

Kelas looked towards the door. "Sounds like it's time to go," she observed. "You need anything?"

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

Wandering the halls again, Arrin passed Luc. He shook himself out of the stupor induced by sickness and study to hear "...getting ready to leave?"

Realizing that it probably was past time to go, he went to collect his things and waited for the others by the main door.

[Balcerzak]

Minutes passed, while Damian poured out. Eventually he must have emptied out, and collecting himself once again, he apologized and thanked her again. Simply smiling in return, she wasn't quite sure what to say. After some hesitation, she went with something light, "It's fine. We should probably get going... and you might want to wash your face."

Sharing one final hug with the man before exiting the room, she then turned to head for her room. Tessa was planning to change out of the green shirt she'd put on this morning... but realizing that remembering her way through the corridors might be a difficult chore to manage, and with the dining hall so close already... she decided that clothing simply just wasn't that important, and she went in to grab a bite to eat.

[Ansem]

Helios

"Eh." He said getting up. "I'll let you know if i run into him around here. Its totally not like him to leave like this."

Ruby

"I warp you away now and i will be killing all chance of getting back with the other two nuts. Looks like we will have to hang around here for a while." She sighed. "Is there any way you can attract them here? A sign of some sort?"

[Snowy_One]

As the various members of the party went about their business getting ready to leave, Esphyr had returned to her room. It wasn't like there was much that she could do, and every moment she spent up and about only worsened the effect of the potion on her. That stuff was lethal. Why was it not illegal in most nations she wondered as she stared blankly up at the ceiling, trying her best to keep her mind off of various stupid things, such as clothes, balls, men, and money.

[Phoenix]

Shanice

Shanice: I guess I'll have to give them something to follow ...

Shanice quickly assumed a fighting stance and his body began giving off a strong azure glow! His eyes lit up and his fangs ground against his smaller teeth as he growled! He quickly let out a loud scream and the ground at his feet froze solid as a shock wave flew out! The wave wrapped around Ruby and passed her by without incident, but everything else in the area was covered in a small layer of ice! His only goal was to send out a strong signal that if they were close enough, they would sense. Shanice let out a small pant as he relaxed his body.

Shanice: (Half my core is gone. I haven't lost a whole lot of power, but I have to compensate for the loss or the crimson weapons will do way more damage to me than normal ... urgh ...) ... let's hope that gets their attention. ... oh ... and watch your step.

[Snike]

Derek

After finishing his breakfast, the cavalier was basically ready to go. Carrying his helm, he headed for Ann, and began to prep her for the journey ahead.

Dani

"Alright," Dani said, before running upstairs. Grabbing her tomes, the mage sighed. Guess I'll have to tag along, a little longer, she thought, before running down the stairs and heading outdoors, waiting for the others to come along.

[Phoenix]

Preparations to leave

After their long hug, Lev motioned Irina to go get their things, clothes, armor, bags. She nodded and ran back into the mansion to get ready. Meanwhile, Lev grabbed some spare reins and other things Phoenix hasn't learned the names of yet from the bag and came over to the unconscious wyvern to begin putting them on. Once he was finished, he sat down and waited while Krinkov closely inspected her. He sniffed her all over. She wasn't giving off the fumes that made him want to fly off with her, but she was still a pleasant scent. Much better than the human females his master was so fond of.

When Irina came back into the dining area, she ran passed Iso and Kelas and called out to them as she headed through!

Irina: We caught the wyvern! It's ours now! Go Ivanko's mercenaries! Hahah!

Iso didn't have time to respond and from the sound of her footsteps, he knew she was already gone by the time his mouth opened. He could only sigh and then stand up.

Iso: Okay, Kelas, I'm going to ride with you again if you don't mind. Not just for convenience either. Irina can be reckless when she's excited.

Viveka had already gone back upstairs but she still had the note in her hand. The idea of a ball was nice and she very much wanted to go. She felt a bit unsure about the other women though. Since they were leaving she didn't have time to discuss it with them. It didn't really matter since they would be all cramped together on the road so if all else failed, she could bring it up then. With that, she tucked the note someplace safe and began changing into her riding outfit, but neglected to put on her armor so she could ride light. She hoped that she wouldn't be mistaken for a sword master. That sometimes happened when she didn't add the armor. After she was done, she grabbed her clothes and hurried back downstairs.

[Ansem]

After asking several maids/butlers about Eric's whereabouts, he locked himself up in his room and began to ponder with his thoughts. The reason he cared wasnt much of a mystery it self. He was bored as hell, it would give him something to do for a while. The answer was pretty obvious itself too. Helios banged his head against the wall a coupled of times after finding out. "The hell did i forget?" He frowned. "Eric is Charlotte's little lapdog, he does everything she says. He must have gone after her right after she went missing. Not much of a dog if you asked me." He muttered. His attention shifted to his belongings that were scattered all over his bed. He quickly packed them up and put his bag on. Soon, he exited the room and headed outside to the stable. His horse, Kira was pumped. Helios brought the horse outside and to his dismay, only Dani and Derek were waiting to leave. "Derek." He said approaching the social knight. "I asked a couple of people about Eric's whereabouts. They had no idea whatsoever. You wouldnt happen to know either, would you?" He shrugged.

[Snike]

Derek

"...No, why do you ask?," Derek said, putting on his helmet. Leading Ann out, the cavalier mounted the mare, and looked back to the wind mage. "Haven't seen him since last night..."

[Ansem]

"What are the chances of him going after the princess by himself?" He asked following Derek's motion and mounting onto Kira.

[Inactive Account]

"All right. If you can balance, I may walk alongside for a bit, save Amari's back a little," Kelas replied, gathering up her things and heading outside with Isotov. "That work all right?"

Seeing the others begin to go outside, Arrin went and got Francis, mounting up and waiting for the rest of the group.

[Dark Sage]

"I dunno. I don't want to cause nobles to panic and I doubt they'd think I'm telling the truth," said Alferis, backing away a little.

"Damn. I hate being broke. This is when a visor or a protective mask would be handy. I could look stylish too while I was it," he said, his fist hitting the wall as he turned away from Aiya.

"Speaking of protection, do you want to spar today Aiya?" he asked hopefully. "I said I would with Esphyr, but I don't know if she's up to it, and I need some practice against trained soldiers."

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Iso: Of course. I've got balance down well enough. As long as Amari doesn't mind, I think we'll be alright. Is everyone else ready yet?

[Inactive Account]

"Should be fine. They're... looks like we're about halfway ready to go?" Kelas sighed. "Well, we should be going in a few minutes anyway..."

OOC: TIMESKIP GOGOGO

[Snike]

Derek

"... Oh, dear. He's had half a day's headstart," Derek said, doing the math in his head. "We'd better be going, then."

OOC: Derek is prepped.

[Psych]

Rita, Malcom, Cess:

As Gemini managed to get away by slipping out of Krinkov's mouth, she flew back to Malcom. "He owes me a mouth's pay. >_>"

Rita and Cess said their goodbyes to Malcom, and gathered their things. Mounting on Morrey, they went ahead on the road, while Malcom flew off towards Halton.

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

Pary:

Pary went over to Chase. "I need a ride. Would you mind? It looks like we're setting out soon, and Viveka is still sick, even after I gave her something. I'd prefer to try not to catch it."

[Phoenix]

OOC: Viveka is not still sick, doesn't anyone read my posts? :/

That chick that is totally fine now even though a certain priest refuses to let her get better even though he's too dumb to take advantage of the supporting opportunity that said sickness would provide

Waiting for her master was taking awhile. Illiam was taken out the previous night and she was left alone with no one to keep her company. The other horses gave her funny looks and she felt out of place. Eventually she decided to escape and find Viveka. With that, she took off inside the stables and yanked at her hitch until the reins snapped loose. She knew Viveka would be upset, but she was scared and the reins were always replaced after a few exchanges with those golden scales so it would likely work out.

With that, she flew out from the stables and landed just outside. Before she was able to fly to the roof of the mansion to look around, she saw Derek. Viveka liked to be near him for some reason so perhaps that was her ticket. He had nice hair as well. If it was anything like Chase's hair, it was good for nibbling on. She quickly trotted over to him making loud hoof claps against the ground and stopped just short of Derek's face. Her breathing was blowing against Derek's lower chest and heating up his armor. If he turned around or went lower, she would nibble on his hair to pass the time.

Meanwhile Viveka herself came walking out of the mansion and stopped on the spot. Seeing Susann approach Derek has her staring with her head tilted.

Viveka: (Did he fall in some grape juice or something?)

[Snike]

Derek

All of a sudden, there were hoof claps coming from behind, and something was breathing on Derek's armor, warming it up. Turning around, the cavalier saw Susann, Viveka's pegasus, looking at him, for some reason. Before he could react, she took the ends of his hair, and began to nibble them, restricting him from moving. Looking around, the new chew toy saw the pegasus' rider, staring.

"... Does she do this often?" he asked Viveka, attempting to ignore the nibbling.

[Dark Sage]

"You doing ok Reika?" said Alferis, watching as Reika was walking around somewhat jittery. He was wondering when he might get a good oppurtunity to spar with either Aiya or Esphyr, but Reika came first.

She was hurrying along and when she was next to him whispered into his ear,

"You're here to guard me! Not coddle me!"

Coddle? Am I? I don't want to but maybe I am. Maybe she'll be a little better, but for now, she needs to be watched to make sure she doesn't kill herself. "Codd...le?" Alf trailed off as Reika moved on ahead near Esphyr.

[Script]

Count Altair

Luc was out front, helping handle Thunder get ready for their journey. Most of the stallion's armor had been removed so his black coat was reflecting in the light. He paid little attention to the host of oddities his companions were getting themselves into at the moment.

"Alright, everything's set on my end!" he yelled out to everyone. It shouldn't be long now.

"Ah!" Councilman Richtor jogged up to Luc. "Count Altair! I haven't seen any of your new companions come in for their gifts yet and I was getting worried! Tell me, what is the matter?"

"Gifts? What gifts?"

"Why, the dress for your date and armor for others for the ball of course!" Councilman Richtor exclaimed.

"What? This is the first I've heard of this!"

Puzzlement flashed across the Councilman's face. "Odd, I gave express instructions to inform you. Even odder that your companions never came to you as well!"

"Yes," Luc said. He knew that the Councilman's instructions were to not inform him, to force his own agenda through. "I'll confront the others, see what we can do about this."

"Yes, please!" the Councilman said in earnest.

Luc walked over to Derek and Dani. "Did you two receive any offers of free gifts?"

EDIT: Mostly everything.

Edited August 22, 2010 by Script

[Phoenix]

Viveka

Seeing that Derek was now being nibbled, Viveka laughed and walked over before fanning Susann off.

Viveka: I guess she thinks you're long term company. She does tend to do that to people I ... "frequent". Chase gets the worst of it since his head is smaller than most. Are we ready to go? I want to talk about these letters we received on the road.

[Snike]

Dani

"Oh...? There was a letter for two of the men to get suits of armor, and one lady to get a dress, Captain," Dani said, turning her attention from the gelding she was unstabling, to Luc. "But, you didn't know? They were stuck on every one of the doors, I thought..."

Derek

"Oh, right," Derek said, remembering when they first met, a few weeks ago. "It seems my hair is tasty. Well, I guess we can leave now."

Edit: Added Derek.

Edited August 22, 2010 by Snike

[Script]

Count Altair

"No, I was not informed. By the servants or those who placed them," Luc said. "Councilman Richtor was trying to get one of you to be my date to the ball with this stunt. And I've no idea why." Luc shook his head a bit. "Well, I've no idea the deeper reasons. I know it would look suspicious for me to arrive without a date, or others. Bah, I'll need to discuss this with all of you. It seems we might not leave until this is settled."