Return of the Emblem Chapter Three: The Show

[-Cynthia-]

Connor eventually got his clothes gathered into a luggage case with the help of one of the maids, his school books in a knapsack, and his blowtorch on wheels lugging behind him. He had some difficulty getting down the stairs, but managed to get back outside the meeting room. Uncle Seth seemed to be busy discussing something with the red armor man, so Connor decided to wait outside until they were finished.

[Rothene]

"Why I joined the group you ask? Well you see travelling alone is never...Chelsea are you alright? You look like you're about to faint or something, like you have very little strength left in you." said Ranyin as he noted Chelsea's slightly unsteady movements. He was not sure if it was her ormal complexion or was she a tad paler than what he recalled seeing her the first time.

Subconciously, his body tensed a bit, as if bracing himself in case she were to suddenly fall on him. His small frame could do pretty much nothing but cushion her fall, if it ever happened. It isn't much, but hopefully it's enough, thought Ranyin.

[Guest Wen Yang]

Outskirts of Urquium

An abandoned hut

1102 hours

As Liz entered the hut, she was glad to see that the rest of her team – sans Sergei – had already gathered there and had already waited for her. In order to throw off people who might have watched them, the four of them has left the inn separately, each one having taken measures to prevent them from being tailed without the pursuer being noticed. Liz had taken the longest way around, which led to her late arrival.

Besides Tatyana, Salicia, and Tsukiko, Jorge and Isis were also present in the hut. In contrast to the four who are clad in rough clothing and rags, both of them were dressed neatly, for all intents and purposes looking like some minor nobles on a trip – Isis having her Pegasus with her further helped the illusion – which allowed them greater access to the city proper. On top of the one rickety table in the center of the hut lay a map.

"Good to see you're safe, boss." Said Jorge.

Jorge was probably the oldest member of the team at thirty-four, and definitely contrasts the rest of the team in appearance, not the least because at the moment he is one of the only two males amongst the seven. Despite his large build, he still manages to cultivate a noble appearance, done by keeping his rich beard trimmed neatly and wearing clothing befitting someone of the upper class. That he was well-acquainted with the workings of the upper ranks of society helps, giving him extensive knowledge of the mannerisms and habits which lets him blend in seamlessly with the high society.

His wife Isis – fourteen years his junior and roughly half his bulk – certainly makes for an odd couple, to the point that when they travel together covertly, he generally calls her his niece or daughter. Still, Liz would never frown upon the two, especially when she remembers her first meeting with them several years ago. Being someone who enjoys life as what it is, she'd never frown on those who brought about a forbidden love to fruitition.

"Feelings' mutual." Replied Liz, already digging out her pipe from a pocket and stuffing dried tobacco leaves into it. "Let me see what you two got in your hands." She said as she lit the tobacco.

The map on the table proved to be much, much more detailed than Liz's expectations. In fact, she doubted Tatyana's words that the only way to get a more detailed one would be to raid the town archives, for despite the rough drawing, this map looks as if it was made by an architect, and not just a rough map like what she expected to see. Upon closer inspection she managed to find that there were even markings that when overlaid with the town map, corresponds perfectly with the locations of certain crossings and avenues.

"Zum Teufel! Where in the bloody hell did you get this from?" Was what Liz said after inspecting the map. With this kind of detailed map the job would end up being easier than she expected. What she couldn't fathom was how these two managed to get their hands on such a detailed map of the town's sewers. "You even got the location of our target marked on it?"

"Pretty faces like cupcake's here go a long way in these kinds of things, you know, boss?" Answered Salicia with a smirk on her face, while Isis blushed at that comment and Jorge looked visibly irritated.

"Hrmph. That man is a plague to women, I tell you." He said gruffly. "To answer your question, boss, one of them bookworms by the archives apparently decides that my wife strikes his fancy, and bought her story."

"Na und?"

"Long story short, ma'am, He brought me to the archives and showed a map of the sewers, while making rather… unsubtle advances." Isis said in reply. "It took my husband and Sergei drawing attention to themselves to get him to leave me alone long enough to copy the parts of the map we needed."

"Gute arbeit. And what about Sergei?"

"He said things will hold up in his end."

"Excellent. We make our move tonight then."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Same day, same time

A small inn in the upper-class district of Urquium

"I swear, sir, he truly gets on my nerves!" Exclaimed the girl.

Sergei Aleksandrov just smiled at her tirade, which he'd heard practically every day for the past two weeks. It did not take him long to get acquainted with a few people in the Rudenius household, and playing the good, sympathetic listener provides a steady source of information, even if much of it is trivial and pointless. Still, this maid has been more talkative than most, and more receptive to his advances as well. Of course, which maid would refuse the chance to ditch their job to be the mistress of a noble?

As it goes, he ended up with a woman to spend the nights with – for free to boot –, information on his target, as well as an unwitting accomplice to make use of in executing the hit. Getting the map of the sewers were but one part of the plan – which while simple relied on their target doing what they wanted him to do when they wanted him to do so – and it was his part to contribute the "when" to the plan.

It helped that the maid he had been sleeping with lately disliked the chef for scolding her often. Personal animosities are probably the easiest human emotion to toy with, and he knew that his job had just gotten a good bit easier. After all, she's not one to refuse a chance to get some payback at the annoying chef before giving him the finger and leaving the household to live with him – not that he ever had any intention of carrying out his part of the bargain for he'd be long gone by then – wouldn't she?

"My dear." Yeah right. Pretty enough, but not someone he'd ever bother with on a long-term relationship. She is a useful tool for the time being though. "I will be leaving town come the new moon."

"Oh – but!" The girl exclaimed, surprised. "You – Are you going to leave me!?"

"What nonsense are you speaking of? You will come with me, of course. My standing amongst my peers might not be the highest, but a modest house and a comfortable life for you are certainly within my capabilities." Wonder what she would say had she learned of his true profession? "Meanwhile… I think I know of a method to pluck the one thorn that is irritating your side."

Sergei got up from the bed, and went to rummage an inside pocket of his coat – an expensive, tailored coat made of velvet – and came up with a small vial containing a clear liquid inside. He sat back down on the bed, and held the vial up against the incoming sunlight, shaking its contents a little.

"What is that?" Asked the girl.

"A laxative. My stomach has a habit of disagreeing with improperly prepared food, so I always carry it with me in case it is required." He said with a smirk. "If you increase the dosage however, I have been told that it should result in extended and painful bowel movements… Now if you were to spice up the food with this… the blame would fall unto the chef, nay?"

The mischievous smile on the woman's face told him that his part of the job is as good as done.

[Snike]

"W.E emblem. Got it," Axel said, as he donned the rest of the armor provided by Weyland. The helm could stop pistol shots, huh... Well, the serial killer would prove to be the best way of proving that to the lancer himself. Even after the nine months he had known the professor, he couldn't bring himself to trust him completely. Not yet, anyways.

With the near-empty bag in his hand, the red-armored man left the estate, and made his way to the wagon. Once there, he climbed on top, and silently awaited departure.

[Acacia Sgt]

By the time John got back to the University to check on Gil, to his surprise he found him still sleeping. 'Did he spent this whole time sleeping?' John wondered to himself, slightly surprised. 'Now that's something you don't see everyday. Well, too bad for him he has to wake up, like it or not.' ''Hey!! Time to get up!'' He shouted.

The wyvern reacted almost immediately, grunting as it got up from it's sleeping position. John went through on the bags and took out a piece of meat. ''You better eat now, we'll be leaving shortly.'' He said throwing the meat at him. 'Now to wait for them to arrive here.' He thought. 'No use going back if we're passing through here anyway.'

[-Cynthia-]

Connor wheeled his things into the meeting room once the red-armored man had passed by him. "So what was that all about anyway, Uncle? Are these people partners of yours or something?" he asked the Professor.

[Phoenix]

Weyland

"Partners? Well for now I suppose. Raquel is the daughter of an old friend of mine, and I'd hate to turn someone like that away despite how inconvenient it might turn out. Also, all of this is rather fortuitous for both parties. They can handle some things that are plaguing me, and I'll back them in anyway I can." he explained. "Also you'll be able to advance in your alchemy much faster with some supply and demand ... but don't neglect your studies. This is a job, not a vacation. Oh, and most importantly, no matter what happens, do not deliberately put yourself in danger. Keep yourself alive at all cost, even if that means letting someone else die, do you understand?" he added giving Connor a concerned but serious stare.

[-Cynthia-]

"Right I understand Uncle," Connor said, nodding. Letting someone else die...this all sounds pretty serious. Well I guess I'll just dive for cover or something if there's ever a fight. "Thank you for having confidence in me Uncle, I'll be sure to write whenever I get the chance," he said, going up and giving his uncle a rather awkward hug, given how weighed down the boy was.

Edited May 14, 2011 by -Cynthia-

[Phoenix]

Parting Gift

"Confidence ... yes. Oh and take this as well." he said after the hug, handing Connor a strange and slightly rigid vest. "No need to wear it constantly but if there's a chance of a battle coming up, put it on. Conventional weapons can't pierce it. I took the liberty of finishing it up before the meeting." he explained. "It's based on the one I usually wear, but in your size." he said pulling down his shirt a bit to show Connor the vest underneath. Then putting a hand on Connor's shoulder he concluded. "It won't impede you much, so don't worry about hiding it underneath whatever your wearing. Have a safe journey, alright?" Hmm, perhaps I should help him with those.

[-Cynthia-]

"Cool, thanks Uncle!" Connor said, admiring and feeling the vest, before putting it in his pack. This is really nice...hope I won't be taking too many swords, axes, or arrows though. "I'll try to be safe,,,and I'll bet I'll have a lot more to show you once I get back," With that, Connor trudged out of Weyland Estate to the wagon.

He didn't know quite what to do, so he decided to ask the friendly faced brown-haired woman sitting on top of the wagon. "Uhh, Miss? Do you know where I should put my stuff? I'm Connor by the way, Professor Weyland's nephew," he said, remembering to introduce himself since she may not have recognized him from the meeting room.

[GoD]

"Ah, it's just that.....I realized I haven't eaten in 4 days."- Chelsea said before she collapsed and fell to the ground.

[ReformBlade]

Nanahm

"Well" the fighter began, "I'll just be at the wagon if either of you two needs me." With a nod to both of them he was going over to the wagon until Chelsea spoke and fell to the ground making Nanahm go right back to her, catching her mid-fall. "Really, woman? Gaaah..." He could tell this was going to be an ongoing problem with her. With all the care he could muster, he picked her up easily, carrying her to the wagon and propping her up inside it. He waited there with her out of boredom and an honest to Raguni fear for the girl.

Synthia

Seeing everyone else go off to gather their own things, Synthia quickly got her things as well and made it back to the wagon, taking a seat in the front again. Not really wanting to be bothered (Who does...?) at the moment, she pulled out her book and continued reading it until Raquel was gonna head off.

Edited May 15, 2011 by SlaveBlade

[Phoenix]

And Then They Were Off

"Oh, Connor, you can just put your things in with the merchandise for now I guess." Raquel said, answering the question for Gytha. Amon climbed up onto the roof having everything he needed already on him, and crossed his legs waiting for them to be off. Once Connor and the others were all aboard, she got the horses moving but Amon quickly spoke up.

"H-hey, wait! Aren't we missing ... Gabbie?" he asked raising his arms as if trying to stop the wagon.

"... ahh right, I forgot." Raquel said bringing the wagon to a short stop before leaning back in her seat. "Guess we're still waiting."

Suddenly from the roof of the mansion, a wyvern appeared, and came swooping down near the wagon. On the wyvern's back with no saddle but rather a strange harness, was Gabbie. She had a bag on her back and the iron lance Connor had transmuted for her in hand. Once she landed she hopped off and strolled over to the wagon looking at Raquel. "So, which way ya headed?"

"Are you just going to follow along?" she asked, a bit confused by the question.

"Ehhhnot yet. I've got one other thing to take care of before I commit to this unusual form of punishment." she said prompting an unamused look from Raquel. "I'll catch up with you guys soon enough but I can't do that if I don't know what road you're takin', now can I?"

"Oh ... well we're heading straight for Ursentius so just follow the main road I guess." she said wondering if Gabbie was about to take off like an arrow once she finished the statement. The woman did seem to be in a slight hurry.

"Ah, thanks, Pinky. Appreciate it." she replied prompting a small glare this time before she rushed over and mounted her wyvern. They were in the sky and gone in just a couple of moments leaving Raquel to sigh in the driver's seat.

"... I'll admit it ... I don't like her. She keeps calling me 'Pinky', forget the fact that she's so protesty. Urgh, she better be good in a fight or I don't know how long I'll be able to put up with her." she said to no one in particular before getting the wagon rolling again.

After stopping by the university and letting those who hadn't yet gotten their things do so, they were off and headed down the main western road leading out of the city. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of fuss getting out, with traffic and wagons backed up much the same way as they had been coming in. The lines went both ways and it was a good two hours before they were far enough away from the city gates for their travel pace to pick up to normal. It would be awhile still before the roads were completely clear, even though there weren't but a few occasional wagons and carts here and there.

The Journey

A week and a half's journey from Yasnygrad placed them in northwestern Neviskotia, a largely natural and almost population void area with wildlife flourishing. It had been an interesting trip from Bron's perspective, a boring one from Liza and Liliya's, and a dreadful one for Olga once she realized she hadn't bought enough reserves to last this long. Having only one bottle left had her staring at it with her sheep intently for almost an hour while Bron examined the river they had to cross. He already knew they weren't swimming three kilometers, so he was glad he came prepared and consulted with his other contact in advance.

Sure enough, they didn't have to wait long past nightfall for a boat to appear and stop at the shore near the camp they had set up. Out of the boat came a man much taller and more muscular than Bron was, a fisherman from the looks of him. He walked up to Bron and the two casually shook hands before the man went into a rather loud greeting.

"BRON!!! How're ya doin'?! You little blue haired bastard, I've missed workin' with ya!" He said suddenly patting him on the shoulder.

"Hey there, Nick. I'm glad to be working with you two ... cause let's face it ... not a one of us is making it two miles in a straight swim." he said smiling.

"Yah ... ya'd all drown. Oh, what's this?" he asked stopping to look at the four women behind Bron. "Why're yah always hirin' ladies to work with?"

"Just a coincidence." he said innocently, but sounding sure of what he said.

Nick had already noticed Olga ignoring him and instead fretting over the only remaining bottle of vodka she had. He didn't much care about the sheep staring at it too, that hardly registered at all for some reason. "Hey, lass! Can ya hold your drink?!"

"I could hold mine ... yours ... anyone's you wanted if there was any leeeeeft. This is so wrong ..." she whined, sniffing during the pauses. If Bron didn't know any better, he'd have assumed the woman was about to cry or something.

"Hah! That's good to hear! I can drink the rest of my pathetic crew right under the deck of the ship! I could use a good challenge. We've got plenty of the good stuff on board." he said having to cut off anything else he was going to say as she stood up, grabbed the sheep and ran over to the boat. She was inside it and sitting down and cracking open her last bottle by the time Bron could smile in amusement.

"Come on, guys! Hurry up! Move it-move it-move it!" she called back.

"Wow. Well ya heard the lass, get your things and get in that boat. I couldn't risk bringin' the ship in this close with all of those damn border patrols around, but a small boat like this can get through just find with the right navigatin'. As long as you guys are across and out of sight by morning, you'll be fine." he explained helping Bron grab the supplies so the rest of the women could simply get in the boat if they chose. Liza and Liliya did.

[Rothene]

Chelsea did not collapse in the direction Ranyin had assumed she would. Her sudden fall directly to the ground left him wholly unprepared for it. While his mind was processing the fact Chelsea had not eaten for the past four days, Nanahm swiftly rushed past him to pick up the girl. For the entire time span from when Nanahm carried Chelsea to the wagon and sat down, Ranyin just stood still confounded.

As soon as he recovered from his first ever shock, he went to Nanahm and asked,"Does she normally just collapse unconcious from time to time?"

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

Connor gave Raquel a nod of thanks as he loaded his things into the wagon. He then began to look around at the merchandise. This is a lot of stuff...must be an arms and armor dealer. Uncle was right, there's a lot to work with here. Probably shouldn't do any upgrading without permission from Raquel though he thought to himself, grabbing one of the swords and examining it.

[Mercakete]

Gytha was about to answer the kid with a question when Raquel answered for her. Apparently he would, indeed, be travelling with them. She listened to the conversation between Gabbie and Raquel and decided she liked the new wyvern rider.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eventually, they got out of town. As they were riding, Gytha noticed how quiet it was. That was when she realized something: she may be away from the sea, but she really was on a voyage of sorts, just on land. There hadn't been any work to be done, really, aboard the wagon, so it hadn't seemed so similar. Attacks were more frequent than out at sea, too. Seems like at sea the ocean is both yer friend and yer enemy while the land is asleep and the people on it are more frequent and hostile she observed. All the same, there wasn't much -- if any -- chat going on amongst the wagon's crew. That just wasn't right.

"Hey, Amon. Is it normal for land crews t' be so quiet? Seems t'me that'll hardly bring about comrodory," she mentioned to one of the closer friends she'd made thus far.

[Phoenix]

On The Road

Amon had been looking around at his surroundings and was pretty bored with them. Nothing like the wide open space, dirt road that went on forever and birds flying around to make you long for the hustle and bustle of the city. As if bored herself, Gytha struck up a conversation starting with an honest question, though like always, it had Amon more focused on her wording than the question itself. "Uh, land crews?" He shook that one out of his head quickly and got to the question itself. "Well, I'm not entirely sure on this, but for some reason, a dull environment like this one doesn't do much for conversation ... in fact it kind of makes me want to just go to sleep until we're through it. It's probably not that way with everyone though. I think the group here just doesn't know each other well enough to feel comfortable talking in front of everyone ... maybe ... okay I really don't know, I'm just guessing here. Are things different at sea?" he asked in return.

Meanwhile Chip had been hiding in his usual spot in the back of the wagon. When he realized Connor was riding back there with some of the others, he quickly looked the boy over from the shadows making a mental note of him. If he ever got a new gun, he would need to remember not to shoot him. Of course during the trip, Chip had some other concerns as the boy picked up one of the swords. Ally or no, he hadn't shown any coin and that just wouldn't do. He didn't have a gun to threaten him with though, and trying to pick up anything else was silly, even to the little monkey. With no other options, he reverted to more archaic methods of intimidation and climbed up Connor's back and began pounding on the top of his head while shrieking dominantly. Of course his little fists couldn't do much.

[Mercakete]

"Aye," Gytha replied, looking around somewhat, "At sea, yer on a ship. The thing becomes familliar after a while and if there's no wind and the ships adrift, then some o' the crew're in danger of gettin' cabin fever... Oh, that's when there's no wind and the crew begins t' lose their minds. The sea is vast, too. Pretty much, ye have the sea and the sky meetin' at the horizons. Clouds, wind, waves, the ship and the crew. Sometimes ye see ocean creatures, but they like t' stay below the surface. Here on land there's much more t' look at than out at sea. It's mostly the lack of work I don't like here."

Sighing, she continued, "At sea, yer expected t' help take care o' the ship. Each crewmember has jobs assigned t' 'em. All depends on the condition of the ship and where in the sea we are. Mostly pumpin' and haulin' out at sea, but the crew's sociable and there's always somethin' t' do. A lot o' the crew get bored all the same, but nothin' like this, where all we can do is sit around and wait..."

[GoD]

"Gah......I'm so hungry."- Chelsea said as she finally came to, inside the wagon.

"Wait a moment....we left already?"- she asked Nanahm.

[Snowy_One]

It had been a long week for Robin, waking only to ride for a while before stopping to rest, but she had not been idle. Though she was sure Bron had brought food enough for the rest of the group, whenever they stopped for the night, Robin would go off to find and shoot down her own food. Though she was far from a gourmet chef, she was still capable of cooking with a basic fire, and had often offered her food to the rest of the group. For some reason, squirrel-kabobs were not popular with the others. Though Robin would have gladly taken down a deer if she could have, taking the time to cut up the meat would not have been worth it, especially since any meat that they did store would sour quickly. More importantly, with each and every one of her hunting excursions, she had brought back a small amount of rocks, some white and some a sandy black, which she had stored with her in her quiver.

Now, standing behind the other girls upon the edge of the boat while Bron negotiated, she found her mind wandering off to the various stones. As Liza and Liliya boarded, Robin did so as well. As she walked up the plank, she stopped at the edge of the boat, turning to Nick and bowing respectively. "Zdrastvuyte! Spasibo. Thank you for letting us come aboard Sir Nick. My name is Robin. I am pleased to meet you." she said with a smile.

Then, as she boarded the boat, she separated off from the other women and headed off to the starboard prow. Sitting by the edge, she quickly upended her quiver, dumping arrows, stones, and knife out upon the deck. Then, picking up one of the small white stones along with a much bigger stone, she held the two in her hands, looking over the white stone. Raising the larger stone up, she brought it down in a sudden and hard strike! WHAP! Stone flakes went spinning off as her strike shattered into the stone, knocking off a large piece of it. Robin brushed the flake aside before raising the stone again for a second strike. WHAP!

"Ow!" she suddenly dropped the stone and raised her finger to her lips, sucking on her thumb. Her strike had been off.

[Phoenix]

Amon

"Hmm." he uttered thinking about what she'd explained to him about life at sea. "I guess this is kind of like being in one of those really small boats ... what are they called? Dinghies? There's not really a lot of room to move around or do much of anything. There's no work to be done either." he said, suddenly wondering how living like this hadn't driven Raquel insane by now. "Heheh, I would sometimes hum or just sing to myself if I got really bored, but not with this many people around. Too embarrassing." he said blushing.

OOC: (Snowy)

That's not the main ship they're boarding right now, Snowy. It's a long boat. The ship can't get that close to shore or it'll run aground. I'm just going to retcon that to happening once they were onboard.

Border Crossing

"Nice to meetcha, lass!" he said in response to Robin before grabbing one of the bags off of a horse. Once the woman were in the boat, Bron and Nick put the luggage down and then turned their attention to the horses.

"No need to be cruel. Let's take off their bridles so they don't starve and send them toward that fortress in the south." Bron said.

"Doubt they'll keep at it that long. It's about thirty miles from here, and it's nighttime." Nick replied.

"Well like I said, at least they won't starve." He said, which had Nick nodding in agreement. They untacked the horses and with quick slaps on the rear, sent the three of them heading south along the river. With that finished, they boarded the boat and each took an oar and began paddling out into the river.

It wasn't long before some light out on the water marked the ship's location. Half an hour after leaving the shore, their little boat was being lifted up onto a Fluyt, lightly armed, but with a surprising amount of space on board. Robin headed over to the starboard side rather quickly and seemed to go right to work on something. Nick headed inside followed by Olga and Niko. The twins simply stood around near where the boat was hauled up and looked around at their new surroundings and the various crew members.

"This is a smuggling ship, isn't it?" Liliya asked no one in particular. "It's gotta be." Liza commented looking around and tapping her foot on the odd flooring on the deck. "This isn't even fully attached. It feels almost like a door."

"Ey! Less speculatin', more gettin' out of our way. We're tryin' to get this stuff moved." a random crew member called out. Apparently the twins were in the way.

Bron came over to Robin when he heard her cry out in pain and knelt down by her work. "So what are you up to?" he asked smiling. "You're not shy to hurting yourself, I see."

Meanwhile in the cabin, Nick and Olga were leaning back in separate chairs while Niko was licking at one of the empty bottles. "Hahahaah! Round two is yours, lass, but let's see how you do in round three!" Nick called out.

"You're on, baby!" Olga hollered back.

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

Connor had just finished examining the sword when he felt something leap up onto him. He caught a glimpse of it as it landed on his head and began pounding on it.

"Ahh! There's a monkey on my head!" Connor yelled, trying to shake Chip off.

Veronika

Veronika was in a rather good mood, given that they were moving away from a large Ursian military force."Sounds like you two are almost eager for a fight," Veronika remarked to Gytha and Amon from atop the wagon. "I'm glad for the quiet personally, better than people trying to kill us. When I'm bored, I usually just imagine that I'm somewhere else," she said. Like home, with Pavel...I need to become stronger to reach you Pavel, I know that now.

[Snowy_One]

Stone arrowheads

"Things happen." said Robin, removing her finger from her mouth. Though it was red and a tad swollen, it seemed largely unharmed despite the painful strike. "It is not like I go out seeking to cause myself pain or trying to prolong suffering. It is that, sometimes, bad things happen to people and there is no easy way out. Storms rage about you, hardships strike, people die. But when you get knocked down, do you stay in the dirt and cry until your friends pick you up? No. You have to get up on your own. It is okay to cry, but you still need to get up. A weak person may not cry, but she will stay in the earth until someone comes for her. A strong person may cry, but she picks herself up, carries herself. I am Neviskonian. I am strong. I must be strong. Even when I get hurt, I must still be strong... or else..." she stopped and looked down at the two rocks in her hand.

"I am making arrowheads Bron. It is a process called 'knapping' in which you strike flakes off a rock until you get the proper shape and edge. It is not a easy process though. Rocks can be tricky. You strike them the right way, and the flake gets removed. You strike them the wrong way though, and... well... It shatters. Here." she raised her hand up high before bringing it down in a fine strike, causing a flake to go shooting off into the water as the crisp sound rang out. A small edge had started to form upon the stone, ragged but sharp. Robin raised the stone to the wood of the boat and gave a light push. Though the unfinished edge was far from as sharp or defined as a proper knife, a thin line of cut wood traced out behind her hand. "This stone is quartz. It is strong, unyeilding, difficult to work with. But if I can make a arrowhead out of it, it is harder than steel. However, this stone is flawed. It is weak." she opened her hand, revealing more of the layout of the stone. In particular, a white line that traced down the center of the stone. Moving her hand slightly, the stone parted into two separate, smaller pebbles. Tossing them into the water, Robin wiped her lap free of flakes and dust. "Weak arrowheads are thrown away. I... I do not want to be weak... Or... Or useless."

She sighed before rolling the rest of the stones back into her quiver, then lying down on the deck. "Bron. Do you like m... do men like strong women like me? Do people like strong women like me? You know much more about the world than me. I wanted to ask the girls on our ride up, but I felt... ashamed I guess."

Edited May 16, 2011 by Snowy_One

[Phoenix]

Amon

"Mmm, well I'm never really eager for a fight, but being away from places with buildings is really boring. I thought the trip through Kigen was disappointing at times. Well it was, but this is really bringing me back." Amon said sighing. There were some exciting times too now that I think about it. Kigen was an interesting place, and I wasn't the only one hopping around on rooftops without permission heheh. he thought, suddenly smiling in front of the two.

Chip

He kept on keeping on; pounding and shrieking. The noise was starting to get Raquel's attention though.

Neviskotian Crossing

"Why feel ashamed to ask?" Bron questioned after watching her finish the arrowhead making session. "Well either way, I don't think it needs asking. A better question is 'Do you like you?' Cause frankly if you don't approve of yourself, why should anyone else? If you ask me, as long as you like yourself, and don't treat people too badly, you'll always have at least a few fans." he explained.

[Mercakete]

"Ye know what a dinghy is?!" Gytha explaimed, exstatic that someone besides Damian was beginning to show an understanding for terms she was familliar with. The mention of song only caused her smile to widen. She was so enthused that Veronika's having spoken barely registered with her. "Aye! We sing, too! Actually, it's a really important part of sea life. We've got different songs for different phases of the voyage, and they're used to keep us sailors in time when we work! They're also good fer keepin' up th' spirits, ye know? Ah! Perfect! That's just what we need: a shanty! Though th' words don't matter much in a shanty -- just th' rhythem and beats. Here; I'll show ye! I'll even change up th' words a touch! Join in as soon as ye think ye get the rhythem!"

Gytha was so excited that she began singing immediately. She wasn't a bad singer -- of course she wasn't the best singer either, but she wasn't to the point of one who should never sing -- but she did have a big voice and it still carried her accent. The melody was almost melancholy, as a worker singing about the woes of the sameness of the day-in and day-out work one must endure. And yet it's rhythem was easy to pick out and had a sort of driving force behind it. One might even call it a musical trudge. "We'll ro~ll the old...charriot along, we'll ro~ll the old...charriot along, we'll ro~ll the old...charriot along, and we'll all hang on behind...~"

Once the chorus was complete, Gytha went into the part that was free for improvization so long as it matched the rhythem and beats required by the song, as she'd previously explained. This one held more stacatto notes rather than the held-out ones from the chorus. "Oh a drop of Amon's blood wouldn't do us any harm. A drop of Amon's blood wouldn't do us any harm and we'll all hang on behind.~" She returned to the chorus again. "We'll ro~ll the old...charriot along, we'll ro~ll the old...charriot along, we'll ro~ll the old...charriot along and we'll all hang on behind...~"

Then she switched to more traditional lyrics for the next segment. "Oh a plate of Kigen stew wouldn't do us any harm. A plate of Kigen stew wouldn't do us any harm. A plate of Kigen stew wouldn't do us any harm and we'll all hang on behind...~" Then the chorus again. "We'll ro~ll the old...charriot along, we'll ro~ll the old...charriot along, we'll ro~ll the old...charriot along and we'll all hang on behind...~"

At this point, Gytha allowed for someone else to pick up the song. She'd sing along durring the chorus, but the improvision was best left to whoever was singing.