Return of The Emblem Chapter Two: The Trail

[Snike]

He got a response out of the girl, but it was creating a bit of a ruckus. Not exactly what he wanted.

"Then move along, then. We were having a private discussion," he replied, keeping his gaze on the knight. Definitely Kigenese. It was odd, though. Women weren't allowed in the Kigen military, but here we had it, a woman knight. And that symbol. The emblem on her shoulder plate was a symbol of one of the shrine guardian clans. But what was a shrine guardian doing in Ursium? Kigen was neutral, and had blocked off trade routes. Were they dealing with an exile?

[Mercakete]

"Hard to believe what fish we found was that old," muttered Gytha on her return journey to the inn. Maw padded beside the mariner as usual, though she carried the leg of a bird in her mouth instead of a fish. Gytha hadn't been sure what the bird was, exactly, but it was cooked and ready to eat when she bought it and gave it to the silver tabby. She also purchased an extra tunic: something more for her dufflebag once she reached the cart. On her way, though, she passed one of the wyvern riders. "Ahoy," she greeted. He was apparnetly on his way to the market.

Maw was glad for the stop this time. It enabled her to set the tastey leg down and begin eating. Gytha, having been so surprised by the lack of good fish, had forgotten to purchase any food for Damian. Maw didn't care, though. The human deserved to miss a meal.

[Kanami]

"Oh okay" she responded turning around and taking a few steps away from the group before spinning around glaring at Axel. "Wait, a second, why do I need to listen to you?" she shouted again, not really noticing or caring about her volume this time. She'd agreed initially because she wanted an excuse to get away from the man, but being bossed around by a foreign fool didn't sit well with her at all.

"If you're having a private discussion, go do it behind closed doors, where I stand or sit on this street is none of your business" she stated slowly lowering her volume as she noticed a few heads turning to see what all the ruckus was about. As her burst of anger started to subside, it nearly exploded again as she noticed the man staring at her chest region. Sure she had armor covering that, wouldn't be much point guarding your arms and legs if your heart was wide open, but having a strange man examining her wasn't something any woman would enjoy.

Raising her spare arm (the other still on her sword), over her chest, she glared at the man. "My face is up here thanks" she muttered in a low tone, glaring daggers at the man.

[Acacia Sgt]

Still on his way, John suddenly stopped when he saw a familiar face. 'Hey, isn't that...' He thought. 'That seawoman? What was her name...?'

''Oh, hi.'' He said. ''I'm planning to restock on supplies. Basically food.''

[Mercakete]

"Oh, alright, then," Gytha replied, feeling like she was holding him up, "Fer yer beastie? Well, move along, then. Can't have that thing too hungry." With that and a nod, she moved onwards toward the inn. Maw glared as Gytha continued on. Why couldn't she stop for longer than that? Well, there was only one thing to do and she did it: picking up the bird leg and following after Gytha.

[Acacia Sgt]

John left out a laugh, though with a little nervous note. ''Haha, yeah. A hungry wyvern isn't exactly a good thing to be near at. Well, I must be off, seeya back at Raquel's wagon.'' With that, he hurried on the opposite direction of Gytha's.

[Phoenix]

Raquel and Veronika seemed to be dealing with the issue of Damian, and so Amon felt like he was free to do something else. But what? He thought about maybe getting some breakfast, but that thought got shut out the second Axel began conversing with the Kigenese warrior. He wouldn't have immediately noticed had she not raised her voice. Was this the time to be arguing with the locals? Wait she wasn't a local herself. No way.

Meanwhile a man from a building across the street stuck his head curiously out the window at the sound of the woman's yell. "Huh ... I wonder what's goin on out h-MOTHER MERCY IT'S A WYVERN!!!"

"Calm down, dear." a woman from behind him said.

"Oh ... right. Sorry, dear, I just ... you know ..." he said scratching the back of his head.

"That's why we moved to Ursaea."

"Yeah .. to get away from those damn Neviskotia sky monsters that killed my brother ... and yet they still show up once in a blue moon." He said burying his head in his arms on the window sill before raising back up and closing the window.

"Hmm. I'll go make breakfast. Bacon. If that doesn't get your mind off of that, by the gods nothing will." she said before heading out of the room.

"Y-yeah." he said tripping up a bit. "I need to ... relax. What would my work buddies think if they saw me like this? It's been five years. Huh ... five years already. ... brother."

Back on the street, Amon tilted his head up at the window. That was about as odd as Axel's conversation with the Kigenese woman, but it ended much sooner. Raquel looked over at the two talking and raised an eyebrow. She was beginning to become concerned about the group's social skills. Anyone they talked to either became annoyed with them, or an enemy combatant. Given how well armored the woman was, she was hoping for the former if it had to be one of them.

I should get down to the markets soon. There's the Damian issue though. She thought to herself. "Veronika? If I head down to the markets, could you and the others keep an eye on Damian until I get back? I don't want to fall behind schedule waiting around. It's fine to hire him if Gytha's not going to be too upset over it I guess."

[Mercakete]

When Gytha returned to the cart, only one thing was immediately clear: Damian was no longer on the roof of the cart. To make sure, she went atop the wagon herslef before seeing him down on the other side, talking with Veronika. Raquel was nearby and Damian's wrists were untied. He must've slipped 'em, the sea rat! Leaping from the cart's top, she aimed a kick at the pirate, though instead landed near him. She still had his sword with her so he was relitively harmless unless he had a concealed weapon on him. Still, she moved swiftly, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back, pressing against the elbow to force him to his knees.

"Don't ye be tryn' t' pull anythn' over on me friends, ye pirate! C'mon, ye scallywag, I'm turn'n ye in right away!" she boomed, forcing his other arm behind his back before hoising him to his feet and starting to lead him down the street.

[13th]

Damian sighed as the mariner hit him. Again. "Finally showed, did ye?" He walked along with her, considering what had happened to him here. Finally find a paying job, and now she brings me in. Damn. Time to finally get what a pirate gets.

[ReformBlade]

Well that was a nice talk, haven't had a good one in forever. He thought as he made his way to the inn to regroup. Gytha seemed to have beat him there but Nanahm was in no hurry. So long as he was ready to go when Veronika and Raquel were going, he figured there'd be no problems. Of course, that was a terrible mistake to make.

No, come on... why does the shouting HAVE to be in the direction I was going towards... AAGH! Why couldn't this have been simple? I swear to Raguni, this group is why people can't have nice things. Is... is that her voice...? With his thoughts becoming more and more frazzled, he walked in on the scene and gave a rather fed up sigh and a frown. At least I'm not cursed... that could always make things worse. And today would be a horrible day for a curse.

[Kanami]

Eriya was about to smack the perverted soldier across the face, when a woman, slightly taller then herself started shouting some nearby. Sheesh, damn foreigners couldn't even control the volume of their own voice, was it really necessary for her to be shouting at the man? He was only one arms length away from her crying out loud

Eriya decided the ordeal wasn't her business and was about to turn away when the woman twisted the mans arm, forcing the supposed pirate to the ground. Was that really necessary? The man wasn't even armed

She willed herself to stay uninvolved but as Gytha started dragging the man away she caved in, brushing past Axel and in front of Gytha's path. Drawing her sword and pointing it towards Gytha as it was clear to Eriya simple words wouldn't stop the woman. "At least let the man stand you savage brute" she hissed, her expression suddenly becoming much more tense. "It doesn't matter who or what he is, for as long as he lives, you've got no right to treat him like a sack of potatoes."

She kicked herself mentally, as far as she knew she was surrounded by these Slaver. Why had she gotten herself involved in this silly mess?

[-Cynthia-]

"Sure, I can handle it," Veronika said to Raquel. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that she might not be able to handle it as the situation grew rather heated.

"Let's just calm down. Gytha, get off of Damian for the moment. Miss, there's no reason to be drawing your weapon," she said to Eriya, putting her hands in the air as a sign of peace.

[Mercakete]

"Are ye blind?" Gytha asked, irritation dying down some and indicating with a jerk of her head that Damian was indeed already standing and actually complying with his fate. "This has nothn' t'do with ye, lassie. This man's a pirate and I'm turning'im in t' the athorities."

When Veronika also tried to intervene, her temper rose a bit again, though it was only a slight rise. "Ye think I'll just let 'im go and watch 'im loot Raquel's wagon or some other merchant? How many times have ye been hit in th' head? Ye just don't let pirates run around freely! This'n's quick, too. I won't give'im the opportunity to snatch his sword back up," she replied to the noble.

[13th]

Damian was being quiet, but then he thought of something that might appease Gytha while in turn saving his skin again. "Ye know, mariner, that if ye turn me into the guards, then I might escape. But if I worked with ye and ye're friends, then ye can keep an eye on me, keep me out o' trouble." I hope this works, otherwise, she'll never calm down.

[Kanami]

Eriya looked at Veronika, but didn't really pay her much heed. She was either the brains of the group and was trying to trick her in to putting her weapon away, or she was simply trying to neutralize the situation. Either way, Eriya didn't like the woman, nor trust her. Half an hour ago, the man had been restrained and was squirming ontop of a wagon, and only moments earlier he'd been laughing merrily with the woman (Veronika). Which resulted in her(Eriya) looking like an idiot.

It didn't really matter all that much anyway as Gytha was quick to indicate quite clearly that she had no intentions of letting the man go.

Considering her options, she decided that making an attack would focus the womans attention on herself, giving the man a chance to escape. But that plan quickly fell through as Damian made an offer to the mercenary.

What is wrong with this guy? He's about to be sent off to rot in a cell, and he's offering to travel with these people?[/s]

She lowered her sword, but refused to sheath it just yet. "What's a pirate doing this far inland anyway? And what proof do you have that he actually is a pirate?

[Mercakete]

The pirate made a good point that was more than a little distressing. Though a question was soon aimed at her from the woman with the somewhat-familliar accent. (Where have I heard that accent...?) First she answered the forigner, "I'm a mariner and have fought this man on the sea enough times that we know each other by name. I'm not the only one either -- pleanty o' merchants that base in Fairgale Port know'im, too. He says pirate'n season's not do'n so well this year, so he came inland."

Then she directed her attention to Damian. "I wouldn't put it past ye. .... Fine. I'll keep my own eye on ye, but if ye try anythn' then I swear by Leviathan I'll gut ye meself...at sea, on land or even in th'sky if that's where we are. Savvy?" She waited for his reply. She wasn't willing to release the man's wrists just yet.

[Kanami]

Eriya sighed, sheathing her weapon as the woman seemingly calmed down and agreed to the mans outrageous proposal, being kept under surveillance in the wild certainly wasn't any more secure then prison. But if it made the woman calm down, Eruya figured she may as well use this chance to state a few things.

"Firstly, even if you tried to turn him in, all he'd need to do is deny your allegations and it'll become a classic case of "He said, she said". furthermore you witnesses aren't probably readily accessible." she said putting up her forefinger to indicate the number one.

"Secondly, Fairgale is enemy territory, a man who was causing trouble for the enemy wouldn't receive that harsh a punishment. Pirating is a crime, but you're reporting him to the wrong authorities" she said raising a second.

"Thirdly and finally, he doesn't seem to be resisting your brutish actions at the moment, so how about letting him go? If he wanted to flee, he'd probably have fled while you were gone and chatting to the young lady over there" she stated indicating Veronika.

[13th]

"Savvy." Damian looked at the knightwoman. "And now that ye've helped me make more pints, mind tellin' me ye're name? Ye sound like a Kigen soldier, by ye're accent."

[Phoenix]

As soon as Veronika had agreed to Raquel's request, the entire thing became meaningless. Gytha returned and a short spree of aggression ensued while Raquel was struggling to decide what to do with the reins in her hand. Eventually she let them go and accompanied Veronika and Amon over to the scene. When Damian made his offer the situation was quickly resolved, but Raquel still had something she needed to say so she took advantage of the brief pause in dialog and spoke up.

"Okay you can keep an eye on him, but in the future ... and this goes for everyone, the roof is for traveling when we're overcrowded or need to make good time. It's not a jail cell so keeping people tied up up there in a populated area is not a good idea. We could get investigated and probably arrested for that, so keep that in mind, please." she explained before noticing the Kigenese woman with a drawn blade. The blade was quickly sheathed however.

"Umm, who are you?" she asked, right along with Damian.

Edited March 13, 2011 by Phoenix

[Kanami]

Shit >_<

Eriya's eyes swam a little as she tried to think of a way out of this. "Uhh my parents were from Kigen" she stated confidently, she wasn't lying after all.

"Definitely not a Kigenese soldier though, they don't allow women to enlist in the army there, just a common mercenary, trying to make a living after being kicked out of her country." she said meekly trying to form a weak smile. She hated lying about her position, but the last thing she needed was to reveal to a band of thugs that she was after a sacred object which had been stolen from Kigen. No telling what how they'd react

She sighed with relief, happy with her response looking over it to make sure she hadn't given herself away. She'd managed that hurdle pretty well. She'd relaxed a bit and put her guard down for a brief second when a pink haired woman asked her who she was, "Haneyama Eriya, charged with the defense of the Hiryuuden Shrine, 7th year in service" she stated saluting the woman who'd appeared out of nowhere.

......Shit >_<

Edited March 13, 2011 by Kanami

[roymbrog]

Synthia was still in the rear of the cart and had begun rereading her tome. She had heard the chaos going on outside, but hadn't really cared enough to look. If it was important someone would've gotten her, she reasoned, otherwise she could just wait to ask about it later.

[Phoenix]

She's a soldier? Awww, so much for hiring her. If she's on a quest of her own, I doubt our paths coincide. Besides, sooner or later these guys are going to realize that when I said I couldn't pay them much that I meant it. I figure that'll happen in a few days. Payday. Ugh. I wonder how many we'll lose ... She quickly snapped out of her thoughts and did a small bow to Eriya out of habit. She had only been to Kigen a couple of times but that response was thoroughly drilled into her. "I'm Raquel. It's nice to meet you, Ha- ... Eriya." First name said is last name, last name said is first name, don't forget that! "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding here." she added barely glancing at Gytha and Damian.

[Kanami]

Eriya instinctively bowed her head, only to quickly raise it again and shake her head. She was a solider on duty and the woman was a foreign civilian. She didn't need to bow to her. Women were expected to bow to all males, and males were only required to bow to their superiors (and sometimes colleagues). But a soldier was far above a foreigner on the greeting chain.

But she had more important things to patch up right now.

"Uh, my father was a soldier! That's right, I'm err looking for my father and made a small mistake, not used to speaking in common you know?" she said a bit too quickly.

"You seems to know a bit about Kigen culture, you know how it is, where we sometimes identify ourselves by stating out male counterpart." she said sweating a bit, figuring that this line of conversation would cause her trouble she quickly tried to change the subject.

"My father went umm missing awhile ago, and I've been looking all over for him. You haven't seen a man from Kigen lately recently have you?" she asked hoping that she'd be able to draw out some sort of info from the woman.

Edited March 13, 2011 by Kanami

[Phoenix]

Raquel tried her best to keep up with Eriya in the conversation. The Kigenese woman gained the merchant's undivided attention once she mentioned her father having gone missing. She assumed it was entirely unrelated to her own problems but still felt a bit of empathy for the woman. She wasn't sure if she was projecting her own feelings onto the woman though.

When asked whether or not she had seen a Kigenese man herself, the only person that came to mind was the man who fought her father, Hayato. "Umm. The only Kigenese man we've seen recently was a swordsman who attacked us." she explained rubbing the top of her arm with a grimace.

[Kanami]

Without warning, Eriya suddenly leapt forward at Raquel, before anyone could even react, she had latched herself onto Raquels shoulders and was shaking her like a rag doll. "Where!?!? When?? Was he alone!?" she blurted out, clearly unable to control her excitement.

It'd been awhile since she'd found any leads, and while she knew a Kigenese warrior with a sword wasn't by any means uncommon. There weren't too many Kigenese warriors outside Kigen to say outright that the chances of her finding her target was zero.