Return of The Emblem Chapter Two: The Trail

[Phoenix]

Once they were moving again, Amon settled down and tried to relax a little. Even though they were heading into what he considered a danger zone, he didn't want to work himself up over it. They couldn't very well warp to their destinations so they would be facing these kinds of situations a lot for the time being. He sighed at the very thought before Gytha spoke to him, much to his surprise.

"Right, I'm not from this country." he said plainly. "I'm Rexian." he added lowering his head slightly.

Meanwhile back at the evil hideout ...

The remaining spies returned with two additional healers in tow. One a lowly mercenary with a conniving grin on his face. The other, a young woman who appeared to be a simple church cleric.

"Holy crap, I can't believe you actually got a churchie to help out with this." the new boss said.

"I um ... I'm only doing what I feel is right. If these dangerous criminals are eluding the guards and they will not listen to your pleas, then this is the only way to stop them. I only pray everything goes well for us." she said shyly.

I smell a lie here. Nicely played, boys. She thinks she's on the side of justice or some such nonsense. That'll do. the leader thought to himself.

"Can we get to the briefing now?" the calm one said.

"Right. Okay, boys, listen up. We've an evil little merchant to arrest, and a handful of what seem to be experienced mercenaries that she's hired to protect her. We just got word that they're heading west, so we'll need to hurry to the ambush location as soon as this meeting is concluded. Once there we will take up positions and await their arrival. Also, according to some unconfirmed info that's been going around, this merchant is carrying something valuable. Retrieving it pretty much guarantees a handsome reward for the lot of us. Don't forget that. Once those mercenaries are down, storm the wagon and find it."

"An item? Are we stealing?!" the cleric asked in shock.

"No, lady. They're the thieves, and we're taking back what's rightfully our employer's, understand?"

"Ah ... o-okay. I understand. I'm sorry, that was a bit presumptuous of me. I didn't mean to offend."

"Right, whatever. Okay, are there any questions before we move out?" he asked looking the group over.

[Zsword]

"No... sir..." Shadrak said, the 'sir' being tacked on as an after thought, putting away his Flux tome as he stepped aside and made sure that his cohorts had room to move out. Hmm... rather odd that they'd get this much back up... and something about the way he had to specify how our merchant is evil tells me that she's all but... though if they managed to convince a member of the clergy, there must be something sincere there, or I'm over-estimating the church.

[Mercakete]

"Rexian? I've not met many of those," Gytha comented before her grin expanded and she thrust her hand at the man in the first gesture of a handshake. Remembering the traditional way to greet people in some regions of Rex-Avas that a Rexian trader had taught her, she quickly pulled back her hands, pressed her palms together in front of her chest with her fingers pointing up and performed a small bow. She felt a little awkward and so tilted her head back up as though asking "is this right?"

Rising back up and returning to a more comfortable position -- in this case, her hands resting on her hips -- she introduced herself, "My name's Gytha! I'm a mariner from Fairgale Port. That cat over there" she nodded in the direction of the silver tabby "is Maw. She's with me."

[Phoenix]

"Alright then, let's move out. We need to make good time here so follow me to the stables nearby." he said heading out the door. Chasing after, the cleric hollered "W-wait a moment! I don't possess a horse of my own, I don't-"

"Relax, if you don't have a ride of your own, you'll ride with us." Uller said to the woman. "That goes for you too." he said to Shadrak.

Once they arrived, they grabbed their horses and prepared to head out. "Passengers, pick a rider and get on. We gotta move." the leader said making his horse rear.

Meanwhile ...

"I ... see." Amon said reaching out to shake Gytha's hand. Once that was over though he felt more comfortable speaking with her. He only gave Maw a quick glance to confirm what Gytha had just said and perhaps give himself a mental image like with everything else. Then he had to ask since he didn't know, "What's a mariner?"

[Mercakete]

So he does know how to greet people normally! Gytha thought, happily shaking his hand and actually releasing it. She had the tendency to continue shaking a hand until the other's arm was practically wreched and shaken off, but in this case, had more sense. "A mariner is a seafarer -- a sailor! We're like mercenaries, but we sail on ships in the ocean. I meself sign aboard merchant ships to guard the cargo during their voyage to protect it against pirates," she happily explained. Wondering if he knew what a pirate was, she continued, "A pirate is like a seafaring bandit." Gytha was happy to share the information. It seemed only natural that a landlubber wouldn't know various sea terms so she wasn't teasing or scornful in any way.

The mariner sat down cross-legged and rested her chin on her fist, ready to listen as she asked her next question, "Do ye have any ports in Rex-Avas?"

[Zsword]

Shadrak nodded, an almost bored expression on his face as he got on the same horse as the calm vigilante. "So the people we're going up against are <i>evil</i> huh? You didn't strike me as a group of vigilantes."

It's probably because they're not....

[Phoenix]

She seems enthusiastic about her work. I wonder if it's due to the ocean, or due to the potential for all out violence. he thought while glancing at her sword briefly. "I've heard the term 'pirate' a few times, but only after leaving my homeland. Seafaring bandits, like you said."

"I know of only two ports in Rex-Avaz, but ..." he paused looking down. "But they have no direct link with us in Sanctuary. Aisha doesn't harm them, but she doesn't protect them either. I can't imagine what life is like for them out there with the scorching sand to their faces and their backs to the ocean."

Elsewhere ...

The horses quickly galloped off down the streets heading for the western gates at alarming speeds. The men were in quite a hurry. "I'll be honest and simply say that it's easier to get young folk like that girl to cooperate if you present things in black and white. I personally would have just thrown some more gold her way, but there's no guarantee that'd work. Given that, the route they took was probably for the best. Either way, these people are no friends of yours. They can't tell you anything useful about the emblem, so what use are they to you, right?" he said trying to paint a more black and white picture for Shadrak as well as they rode along.

[Mercakete]

"Sand? I've been to some sandy shores, but ye make it sound like the sand goes a lot farther than I've seen. And isn't Sanctuary yer capital er somethn'? An' who's Aisha?" asked Gytha curiously, rather perplexed by what he was describing. Two ports for a whole country? No wonder everyone talks about it as such an exotic place. Things from there are valuable, too, but they're probably common to this guy... Come to think on it... "Whats yer name, anyway?" Will I be able to pronounce it? The last Rexan I met acted all offended whenever I tried to say his name...

[Phoenix]

"Well ... it is. Rex-Avaz is an ever expanding desert just beyond the Kigen mountains. The only places where plants and animal life can thrive are oases and Sanctuary." he replied. He was a bit shocked at her question about Aisha. It was a simply one, but still surprising to him. "Aisha is the Goddess of Rex-Avaz. Our leader. I ... don't think there's any other way to describe her really ... and I'm Amon; no one in particular." he ended with a forced grin.

[Dark Sage]

Upon hearing Raquel call out that they were leaving, Domovoi got on Miskavolv and ordered him to walk. For now, he wanted to talk to the others and flying would make it difficult.

It's best to know who your allies were in a fight and getting their trust could save your life, he reasoned.

For now, it would be good to talk to the redhaired noblewoman. She was looking for somebody apparently and he never did finish his conversation about that. If he could gain a helper for his search for his father's murderer, that would be excellent.

"You doing ok erm...uh...forgive me, I don't think I've learned your name."

[Mercakete]

"What's a desert?" asked Gytha as she tried to picture what Rex-Avas looked like in her mind. She imagined a cloud made of sand above some mountains. "How do ships sail into ports beyond the mountains?" She disregarded Aisha as soon as she heard that she was a goddess, figuring Amon hadn't meant it literally. Gods live where ye can't see them. That's why no one asides priests and such ever do. "How did ye get down safely from the sky? Can Rexains fly?"

[Phoenix]

Amon's eyes opened wide in even further shock. All he ever knew in his life was the desert. All these other environments were new to him. It seemed to be the exact opposite for Gytha. "You ... seriously don't know what a desert is? Well ... hmm, how to explain. Well ..." he began making terrain shapes with his hands as he explained saying "There's nothing but sand as far as the eye can see; very much like the ocean I suppose. There are hills all over the place and the ground isn't stable in most places. It's so hot during the day that an unfit person would die before sundown. At night it's so cold that the same pretty much applies. Ships can't really sail to Rex-Avaz unless they come through the Hanging Straits or the open ocean." then he stopped to clarify something else. "I didn't really come from the sky. Rex-Avaz is about the same elevation as everything else ... I think. There are just huge mountains separating it from the rest of the world." He then laughed a bit when he thought about her question again. "Well, I suppose a few Rexians can fly. My friend Haythem likes to mess around in sandstorms with his wyvern." he said with a more genuine smile this time.

[Mercakete]

"Ohh I think I get it now," comented Gytha with an accurate picture in her head now, "A sea of sand. I thought that was just a tall tale strung up by some drunkard bilge-rat saw a distant sandbar. It's amazing that places like that really exist." Thinking about a wyvern rider flying around in a sandstorm made her remember a few days back to when they were all in Sergio and she was clinging to that overgrown bat-lizard's tail for fear of falling. "Ha... I don't see how people can ride anything in the sky," she mentioned uncomfortably, "I don't mind heights meself, but willingly flying... I'll keep to ships. ...And carts. The ground plain and simple, too."

Shaking the thought from her mind, Gytha took on her relaxed personality again. "So, Haythem, was it? Kinda funny name, like yers, though not so hard to say. His is like 'hey, them' and yers is like 'ah, mawn.' Heheh..." Their names are kinda funny.

[Phoenix]

"I don't think wyverns are so bad, though I have very good balance and am pretty comfortable with heights. There's something special to me about being able to get around solely on foot in an urban jungle though, and yeah, Haythem, but try stressing the 'th' sound a bit."

What are they talking about up there? Raquel thought to herself not being able to hear everything that was being said.

[Mercakete]

"I don't mind wyverns. It's just the flying," Gytha replyed before frowning and trying to say Heythem's name right, failing again. "How in the name of Leviathan are ye suppsoedta accent a 'th?'" she asked, trying again to say the name right. "Haythhhhhhhem. Heythe-- HEYthhhhhhhhhh...!!"

[Phoenix]

"Umm ... try pronouncing it like you would when you say the word 'theory'." he explained hoping that would work. "I mean ... pronunciation isn't that big a deal I guess. You can say it however you like. It's not like Haythem will ever come up in conversation again, heheh."

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika was roused out of her own thoughts as the dark skinned wyvern rider appeared from before and began speaking to her.

"I am well thank you. My name is Veronika, Veronika Rusayev, pardon me for not introducing myself properly earlier. I do not believe I caught your name either," she said to him, extending a hand.

[Mercakete]

Gytha nodded, finally saying it right, "Haythem." Uncertain, she looked back to Amon, letting her questioning expression ask if she'd gotten it right.

[Dark Sage]

"It's Domovoi. Domovoi Echeskov. Come to think of it, I think I've seen you once or twice when I was young," he said in a somewhat friendly tone, grasping the hand extended towards him and shaking it.

[-Cynthia-]

"Pleased to make your acquaintance Domovoi. The two of us meeting previously would not be all that unusual," Veronika said, releasing Domovoi's hand. "My father is a Colonel in the military, so I have met quite a few soldiers over the years. I'm afraid I do not remember you specifically, whose unit are you in?" she asked him, cocking her head to the side.

[Dark Sage]

"I am a sergeant under the command of Aleksandr Petrova," he began in a quieter tone, in case anybody nearby took him as an enemy. "He is the leader of the 6th brigade, or the Wyvern Brigade as we're better known. My father, Jarod Echeskov, was a Captain under him. I think our fathers might have met before? Well, I think so anyway."

[-Cynthia-]

"The name sounds somewhat familiar yes. My father did comment that his choice of wife was...unusual to say the least," Veronika said hesitantly, lowering her voice. "I know Colonel Petrova as well. My father says he is quite an excellent leader, though he did make entirely inppropriate advances on my sister Tatiana once," Veronika said, narrowing her eyes. "I would hope you would not take after him in that regard at least."

Edited February 19, 2011 by -Cynthia-

[Dark Sage]

"I don't. I follow the ideals of my father, and he was not particularly interested in women after my mother's death. You do not have to worry about me making advances on you or anyone really. Petrova is a relatively good man though despite his erm...large interest in women. But about your father. What is his name and unit?"

[-Cynthia-]

"Well, that is good. If you would start making untoward advances on the women in this group, I might have to do something about it," Veronika said, giving Domovoi a slight smile. "My father is Mikhail Rusayev, leader of the 9th Infantry Division. Perhaps not for too much longer as he is getting to be rather old, but so far he has not succumbed to my mother's wish for him to retire."

[Phoenix]

"Hey, there you go." he said smiling. She's energetic but nice. At first I thought she was a bit ... crazy? I think maybe she's just uninhibited. There are a lot of different kinds of people out here in this ... world.

As the city gates came into view, Raquel smiled. They were on their way. She also noticed Rodrigo's wagon pulling off ahead of them and passing through the gates. She felt he wouldn't think to look out the window and see them but waved at the carriage anyway.