Return of the Emblem Chapter Three: The Show

[Acacia Sgt]

John silently ate merely glancing at the scene in front of him. His mind was over other things. The whole incident at the baths still got him curious. Ranyin had mentioned a woman, and considering there were explosions...

'Either this woman had a strange sense of humor for a joke, or she was after someone.' He thought as he took another bite on the chicken. 'I wonder...'

Taking another look at the pair, he almost let out a laugh seeing Ranyin offering food to Gytha while shaking. 'Heh, he looks as if he were afraid of her.' Resisting the urge to laugh with his mouth full, he finished chewing and swallowed, before resuming on his thoughts about the incident...

[Rothene]

After Gytha declined his pitiful offer, Ranyin sat down in silence and decided to finish his meal as fast as possible then head off to the library.

The meat was fine in texture but tasted odd yet simple to Ranyin. He was used to the more flavourful and sweetish sauce used in Kigen where the meat were sliced neatly. The ones here either looked like it was torn apart by barehands or hacked with an axe. It made Ranyin miss the more well presented meals in Kigen.

The bread was surprisingly good. Unlike the hard as rock bread Ranyin left sitting in the dorm room, these ones were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It tasted nothing like rice, but it was oddly a good enough substitute. So this is what one can consider good bread, marveled Ranyin, feeling glad that Gytha did not accept his offer.

The water was clean, for which Ranyin was thankful, but the apple was old and partially shriveled up. After a few bites, Ranyin decided not to finish it. Somehow Ranyin was not surprised that the food here was decent as it was after all a relatively prestigious institute of learning.

Carrying his plate and wasted scraps and apple, Ranyin told Gytha and John,"I'll be heading to the library in case anyone is searching for me." After which he tossed the waste and remains into a large disposal before placing the plate on a large stack where the plates of other students were placed. Somethings are just the same everywhere, mused Ranyin at how institutional cafeterias have the same system everywhere.

With that, Ranyin headed out of the cafeteria. As he left, a thought crossed his mind which was, now where would the library be?

[Phoenix]

Library (not the one in the university ...)

The man stood there for a moment, a bit surprised by the girl's zeal. Of course it was only for a moment, and then his composure resurfaced, emphasized by a grin. <"Not bad, not bad. If you're willing to do what ever it takes, then you and I should get along just fine. So what do you think? Would you like to join me?">

University

Once Amon finished with the book, he was struck with a bit of regret. He had basically run out of things to do now and would be bored for most of the night. He wasn't tired, but couldn't exactly feel comfortable going anywhere with no one guarding the wagon.

"Hey, you!" a mage called from the ground.

"Huh?" Amon looked over the edge and saw the young man. "What is it?"

"What are you doing up there? You shouldn't use someone's wagon as your own personal hangout." he said crossing his arms and tapping his foot fully expecting Amon to come down.

"It's not like that. The woman who owns this wagon is an ally of mine. I don't really trust the security around here to watch the wagon vigilantly so I'm doing it myself." he explained.

"You think our security is lax?" he asked sounding insulted.

"Does it really matter? If I don't absolutely have to leave, then I don't plan to. We have more to lose here than you do, so I should be the one guarding it." Or rather Chip should, but lo and behold he isn't.

"Eh, you just look more like a thief to me. In fact I think your 'I'm guarding it' story is a bunch of hogwash. You're just waiting for a chance to steal from it." he concluded confidently.

"Again? Look I'm not a thief. If you don't believe me then ... too bad. I'm not leaving. If you don't trust me then just ... stick around and help me keep an eye out or something." he said reluctantly.

The mage ceased his gestures and let his arms come down in surprise. "Really?" Maybe he wants to knock me out when I'm not looking ... or maybe he's genuine. Ah I can't be sure.

Instead of answering, Amon went back to lying down on the roof. The mage stood there for a minute but eventually decided to stick around and help keep watch, but he never turned his back toward the Rexian, not even for a moment.

[Zsword]

Shadrak jogged after Synthia, soaking in the sights and how posh the area was, he looked down the many hallways and doors with a gentle smile, oddly enough there wasn't that many guards... atleast, they hadn't seen one yet. "Wierd... I figured one would be around here somewhere..." he said, spinning in a small circle for a quick scan of the area. "So... uh, any luck on your magic?" he asked, giving her a weak, nervous smile.

[ReformBlade]

"Alright then" he said as she walked by. That makes two of us. Nanahm thought. Wandering a school made him all kinds of uncomfortable, almost making him feel regret for his life but he put those thoughts away. Nothing healthy comes of looking at what could have been, definitely not in this case.

[roymbrog]

Oddly enough, there were no guards to be seen. If she’d have to search for someone to ask directions, she may as well just search for the library instead, she thought, and decided to try the left hallway first. “Yeah, I figured there’d be someone here too…” she said, actually turning to Shadrak now.

He asked her about magic, why was she not surprised? She gave him an odd look, and started walking down the hall. “It’s only been, what, four days since we talked about that last? I haven’t exactly had much time to practice. We were traveling in a wagon all day, idiot.”

[Psych]

Niles' head dropped loudly onto the table below him, connecting with a loud bang. He jerked his head up quickly, and wiped the drool from his mouth. Niles walked over and got a plate of food, before setting it down next to him and drifting back to sleep.

[Zsword]

Shadrak fallowed her through, keeping a natural distance behind her as he walked. Though he stopped when she called him an idiot. "What? I'm just trying to make small talk, it's really quiet in here... there's no need to insult me about it..." he said defencivly, jogging to catch up with her as they slowly trudged through the mansion.

[roymbrog]

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I offend you?” she asked with an exaggerated gasp, before smirking at the shaman. “Honestly, I don’t care. There are plenty of other topics you could’ve picked, and you decided to ask a stupid question.” She stopped in the corridor as the hallway branched off in two directions. A ways down the right she could see a guard in front of a rather large ornate door. “Oh, look, there’s someone. Go ask them where the library is, Shadrak.”

[-Cynthia-]

The excitement seemed to have died down, so Veronika made her leave and decided to resume sword practice. She found it difficult to focus, missing several steps. She sighed and sat down at the table in the room, taking out a pen and parchment and beginning to write.

Father,

I had informed you in my last letter that I had decided to search for Pavel. I am still looking and I have finally come across a lead. A merchant woman named Raquel holds a piece of this supposed legendary Emblem thing, and a shadowy group kidnapped her father in an attempt to get it. Since this was the same object I believe Pavel was looking for, I decided to join with a band of other mercenaries and such in order to help her, thinking that this same group may be behind Pavel's disappearance. One of our group is an undercover wyvern rider from Colonel Petrova's unit.

I hope the war with Ursium goes well and that you can return home safely soon. You should really consider Mother's suggestion of retiring soon. How is Maksim's training going? Has he learned how not to fall off the wyvern yet?

I am sorry that I cannot tell you where I am, but I do not want you sending anyone after me. This is something I must do, even if it is dangerous. I said in my last letter that I regret leaving without telling you goodbye, but I wasn't sure you would let me leave if you knew what I was going to do.

Send my love to Maksim, Tatiana, and Mother.

Love,

Nika

XOXO

[Mercakete]

Gytha only gave a couple nods to indicate that she'd heard the mage as she dug her nails into the orange's skin and began peeling it away. Once she'd finished her meal, she went back and got a small bowl of meat, dipositing her tray along with the others. Passing by John, she mentioned, "I'm goin' back t' me room. I'll be seein' ye around, Jimmy." With that and the bowl, she headed away from the place of learning's galley, walking back to her room with every intention of giving the meat she'd aquired to Maw.

[13th]

Damian had just paid for a room at the nearby inn, as the giant crowd at the university was... terrifying to say the least. He went to the university to go find Raquel.

OOC: Crappy post. But I need to get back in, I was too busy to RP the past week.

[Rothene]

Learning from past, errors, Ranyin decided to head back to his room first. Based on the advice he got from Tim earlier, there should be a map in the room. It was much safer to follow the map than rely on the 'generous' help from the students.

As he turned around the bend to the hallway where the rest of the party's dorm rooms were situated, he caught sight of something that caused him to quickly dart back where he came. Stealthily, he peeked past the corner and observed the movement of his natural predator, the same way rabbits peek at the sky from their burrows for falcons.

From the safe position of the corner Ranyin watched Gytha as she made her way to her room...

[Snowy_One]

The Librarium.

The words hung in the air like a tantalizing scent; an unspoken thrill of victory for the young woman. <"I will be more than glad to accompany you to retrieve this relic and return it to the motherland!"> she said, her voice filled with the pride of her success! She now had a proper goal and a means to fulfill it! Re-slinging her bow, she offered her hand. <"My name is Robin, like the bird.">

[Acacia Sgt]

'Again?' John thought at Gytha calling him something else once more. 'Is she that forgetful?'.

Once he too had finished eating, he also decided to return to his room, there didn't seem to be much more to do now before night. As he crossed through the hallways once more, he soon found Ranyin grabbing one of the corners and watching at the adjacent hallway.

'Huh?' He went over to him. ''Hey, what are you doing?'' He asked.

[Zsword]

Shadrak sighed. "I'd figure it's something we could have in common and actually have a discussion about. When she pointed to the man down the hall way he nodded with another sigh. "Fine, sure." He said as he jogged down the hallway.

When Shadrak reached the guard he slowed to a stop in front of the man and gave him a wave and a smile. "Hello sir, me and my friend here are guests of Professor Weyland, and he said we may go to the Library as we wait for im to get prepard, would you kindly point us in the direction of the Library? He kinda didn't tell us where to go." He said with a half awkward, very nervous smile. The whole situation was kinda rediculous and as he said something made him doubt his own integrity.

[Rothene]

John's voice startled Ranyin. Thankfully the fear he was experiencing was paralysing, hence he did not leap across the corner as he usually would. Instead he he turned around slowly, all hunched and face impossibly paler, and raised a finger to his lips and shushed John. To any observer, Ranyin looked like a man staring in the face of death. The kind who did not laugh into the face of death

He then proceeded to point the other side of the corner and muttered in hushed tones,"She's there. The swordswoman."

[roymbrog]

“Hmph? Guests?” the guard asked as he turned towards the newcomer. It was true that Weyland often had guests, but they were usually nobles or military personnel, maybe scholars. As it was, the closest this man fit was the last group.

He gave the shaman a once over, decided he was harmless, and stepped out of the doorway. “This is the library, sir. You may read to your heart’s content, but don’t dare damage anything, or I’ll know it.” And lose his job probably, the guard thought, and then noticed the girl walking up the corridor behind Shadrak. “You with him?” he asked, and as she nodded her head he opened the door. “Enjoy your stay, miss.”

---

Synthia entered the room first and looked around. Shelves lining the walls and floor, some displays situated around the room, and a few desks and chairs strewn about; it looked like a normal library to her, albeit nicer looking. Two guards were stationed in the room, one of them reading himself. Synthia sat in a chair in the corner.

“Technically,” she said, returning to their conversation. “We don’t have that in common. You can cast magic. I can’t. You use dark and I’m learning anima. It’s like comparing a swordsman to some peasant with an axe. There’s a large skill gap here.” She began perusing through some books on the table next to her, looking for something interesting to read.

------

Finding a suitable exit from the vents, Carla climbed down and ran swiftly through the halls, looking for the room that led to the underground tunnel.

[Phoenix]

Library

<"And I'm Bron. Pleasure to be working with you miss Robin."> he replied shaking her hand. <"Now I suppose before we go any further there are some things you should know, mainly I don't always work alone. If a job demands it I have some contacts I sometimes get together with. Given what we're going after, we'll definitely be needing some of them. Do you have any money or provisions or are we going to have to take care of that too? Ursium's no short trip, even if we go by air."> That would be pretty difficult to arrange ... and I'd have to call in a lot of favors no less. Maybe just going by horseback will be good enough. he thought to himself.

Weyland's Estate

Eventually Raquel finished speaking with Miguel, or rather some soldiers from the same battalion he served in had come to fetch him. He bid farewell for the time being and left to some other side of the massive property with them leaving Raquel and Chip on their own.

"Well ... it's certainly been awhile, hasn't it? Why don't we try to get reacquainted with this pla-huh?" she paused to focus on something that caught her eye. Looking on the roof, she saw a few snipers lazing about, but add to that what else she saw and it made no sense to her. She saw the silhouette of wingtips up there. Definitely not from giant birds or pegasi. They were black. "What was that?"

As strange as the event was, the snipers were in no way reacting to it. The wings disappeared as quickly as they had appeared behind the obstructing roof guard walls. She couldn't do anything beyond that and decided to simply head on inside like she was explaining to Chip. Once inside, nostalgia overcame her. "Wow, it looks the same. Maybe it won't be too hard to find my way around here. First I think I'll try to find the kitchen ... I'm kind of hungry ... and then we can join Synthia and Shadrak in the library." she said to the monkey on her shoulder before heading off down a hallway on the first floor. It wasn't long before she began to wonder if she should have gone left rather than right, as guards were posted at pretty much every door she came across. It had her nervous, but none of them spoke up so she kept walking hoping that she would find the kitchen, or the perfect excuse to turn back ... like a dead end or something.

After awhile she was in another hallway with no guards around at all, though there was an empty chair with a couple of sheathed swords leaning up against it. Not sure what that was about, she walked on until she began hearing rather loud noises from a room nearby. It sounded like pots and pans falling onto the ground, and she knew for certain she heard glass breaking as well. "What's going on?" she said to herself, as she inched closer to the source, an open door to a sunlit room. The closer she got to the door, the clearer the voices inside were beginning to sound. It sounded like two men having an almost lighthearted argument about something or other.

Before she could get any closer, Chip climbed down from her shoulder and began running off down the hallway. Raquel barely stopped herself from alerting the two men to her presence. Chip, where ... ... where is he going? she thought as she peeked her head into the room. She then realized that the two men were actually guards ... probably the ones those swords belonged to. She wasn't sure what they were up to, but they didn't seem to be up to anything nefarious, so she silently moved out of sight and away from the door before she began chasing after Chip.

When she found the capuchin, he was still in a sprint heading toward an intersection. Someone was standing there in that intersection with a box in hand. "Chip! Hey! Slow down for a second!" she called out. As the person came into view, Chip shrieked at her. The woman was wearing a short sleeved shirt with a navy blue hood over her head, a short skirt, and a very unique looking bladed weapon on her waist Raquel couldn't identify. She gave the monkey that was charging straight at her a glance, and then set the box down and stood firm. Raquel caught up just as Chip reached her. He stopped about five feet from her, and Raquel stopped a mere foot behind him. "Chip, what's wrong?" she asked, only to be answered with loud shrieks as Chip pointed at the box the woman had been carrying. Suspicion seeded, Raquel questioned her. "Who are you? Are you some sort of thief?"

"Well ain't that somethin ... there shouldn't be anyone hangin out way back here. I thought it was just me and myself, and those two slackers." she said with an untrustworthy grin.

"What's in that box?" Raquel asked, not changing her tone.

"Just somethin I needed." she said shrugging. "Now that I've got it, it's about time I got outta here."

"Wait, you can't just sneak in here, take something and then leave!" she yelled back waving her arms right along with the shrieking Chip. What is this? I thought the security was tighter here? Why hasn't anyone caught her?

"Sure I can. All that's standin between me and the exit is some well endowed intruder girl, and a monkey." she said chuckling a bit.

"I'm ... not just going to let you get away with this." she began trembling a bit. "We'll stop you if we have to." Just then Chip whipped out his pistol and pointed it right at the hooded woman.

"Heheh, ain't that cute, he's got a gun ... heh-wai-SHIT HE'S GOT A GUN!!!" she blurted out before diving out into the other hall. Just in time to, because Chip had fired a shot at her right as she finished her hurried statement.

"Good ... hopefully that gunshot will draw some attention our way." Raquel said aloud.

"Heheh. Don't count on it, Pinky. This place ain't built like your run of the mill mansion. Sound doesn't travel as far through these halls. It's how Weyland keeps minor incidents like laboratory explosions from puttin the whole place in a panic. Only two people coulda heard that and neither of'em can take me, so throw that hope right out the window. You're gonna be KIA long before anyone comes to help ya, heheh." she explained from around the corner as she took up her bladed weapon.

"What?! Are you serious?!" Wait, how does she know that? Isn't she just a petty thief that managed to sneak by security? Well ... something about that seems off ... I mean maybe there's something else going on here and I'm just missing some context. she thought just before the woman reemerged in a full sprint coming right toward her and Chip. "Whoa, wait a second!" she called out.

"Wanna try that again, little monkey?! Huh?!" she said venomously at Chip as he prepared to shoot at her again. He had a clean head shot lined up this time and would't let her get close. Right before he fired, she took up her bladed device, and it expanded outward!

Raquel gasped! "It's a lance!" she managed to get out before she twirled it at high speed. Chip fired but the shot glanced the spinning blade and barely missed the woman's head. "Chip!" Raquel came down to pick up her monkey just as the woman reached them. Chip rotated the barrel and prepared one last shot. With her lance no longer at a glancing angle, he was certain he would get her this time. As he lifted up the barrel to shoot her, Raquel began trying to backstep as far and fast as she could to put some much needed distance between the three of them. Chip began squeezing the trigger as his shot lined up, but it was too late. The woman drove the lance's blade up past both of them in a tenth of a second, and Chip's gun fell in half from his hands and clanked against the ground. The woman followed up with a speedy roundhouse kick that Raquel barely had time to duck under. Before she could move away however, the woman lunged forward again and sent the two of them to the ground with a kick to Raquel's chest that went mostly through Chip.

Once they were down she drove her lance down on them. The blade stuck into the floor just between Raquel's legs. When she looked up, the woman was smirking at her. "Y-you ..."

"The one and only, now are you gonna run along and get outta my hair or am I gonna have to hurt ya sommore?" she said yanking the lance out of the floor and taking a step back.

Chip was out cold from being foot pressed, and Raquel was on her own now. She stood up holding the injured monkey and tried to do something resembling a defensive posture with her free hand as she stepped back. "I can't just let you get away if you're trying to steal from the Professor ..." she uttered fearfully.

"... hmph."

Suddenly, the mysterious woman closed the distance and sent another roundhouse kick straight to Raquel's head. She didn't expect an attack to come so swiftly after her answer, and so she failed to dodge it and took a loud blow to the head that was accompanied by another as she collided with the wall, and slid down it letting Chip fall into her lap. Both were unconscious. She knelt down over the two and retracted her weapon before placing it back on her waist.

"I've seen some guns like that before. Must be one-a Weyland's experimental ones. I doubt ya just trained that monkey to use it today so ... maybe that means you're one-a the guests, and not just ... some random snoopin girl. Hmm."

The two guards from before soon arrived at the scene. One was utterly shocked, and the other was slowly approaching the woman as if nervous. "H-hey, what the hell happened here?"

"Oh roight. I found what I was lookin for ... no thanks to you two ... anyway, this girl's pet tried somethin funny and I guess my rebuttal was a bit too much for'em to handle. I ain't used to kickin the crap outta mage girls." she said shrugging.

"I ... think that's one of Weyland's guests for tonight's debut, not a mage girl ..." he said pointing a shaking finger at the unconscious girl.

"Really? I mean with these koinda clothes and all ... she's either a mage or a noble, roight?" she said examining her closely. She didn't notice a tome on the girl ... just a fanny pack on her waist. "... wwwwwwwhoops."

"Whaddya mean, 'whoops'?! What the hell did you do to her, DW?!" he protested.

"Let's see here ... okay I remember what happened. She thought I was a thief or sommat, and havin too much fun I didn't clear that up for'er. This monkey'ere took a shot at me, so I came at the both of'em, chopped that gun to bits, and finished'er off with a couple'a kicks." she explained, pulling back her hood to reveal a young blue eyed burgundy haired woman.

"Don't you think that's a bit excessive? This girl's not a combatant!"

"She certainly ain't a combatant now~ ... but jokes asoide, maybe I was a bit too harsh on'er, but that monkey nearly blew my friggin head off! I usually just impale folks and call it a-day so I think this qualifies as holdin back, not bein excessive. Even the monkey's still aloive and I don't owe that to Miss Jugs here."

"Let's just ... get her to the infirmary ..." he said dropping his shoulders.

"Eh, be careful. She looks heavy." she said pointing at Raquel's breasts and snickering a bit, prompting a head scratch from the guard.

"Would you ... stop bringing that up, please?"

University

Unable to find the culprit or their body, Zach and Thomas let the university's clean up crew get to work, and the baths were closed off to the public for the time being. The two men made their way through the main building making sure no further chaos was afoot, before stopping by the main office to give their report. Once that was done, they went over to the cafeteria to relax and get their dinner.

[Zsword]

Shadrak sighed with relief as they were allowed in, and he followed her to the corner. When she took a seat he began perusing the shelves for books about the war against wrath, the Emblem, and anything else that might inform him about his line of research. "I know, I'm kinda grasping at straws, but it's still something. We do both use Staves though, where did you learn?" he asked during his search, occasionally pulling a book off the shelf to flip through a few pages before putting it back and going back to his search.

[Snowy_One]

The Lrabiry

Robin gave a small curtsy, bowing her head in recognition of Bron's leadership over her, as he gave his name. Then, with a small nod, she brought about her quiver. Inside was a healthy amount of arrows, some headed with iron, and others with quartz. Small amounts of string, used to tie the arrowheads to the shaft, spilled out as well as she toppled it upside down as well as a tiny blade made of quartz that was clearly hand-made and intended for little more than basic utility. Two small pieces of flint and stone; clearly having been used to start fires in the past, tumbled out on top of them. Then, after shaking the quiver slightly, a small amount of rope and two replacement bowstrings came out at last.

A second later, a small satchel containing a small amount of change, hardly enough to buy a weapon, was tossed onto the pile. <"That's all I have with me. My basic hunting tools, and my life-savings. It's not much, probably not what you are looking for to say the least. If I can't provide for you resource-wise, I am more than willing to show you my skill with the bow to verify that I can offer something.">

Edited April 8, 2011 by Snowy_One

[roymbrog]

Synthia found a book that interested her, and began reading, looking up for a moment to answer the shaman. “I learned while in the service of the church. I left before I learned much,” she replied. She came here to read, not to talk, and she realized she probably shouldn’t have said anything earlier if that’s what she intended.

[Zsword]

"Oh, that's kinda neat." Shadrak said as he continued to browse. He decided to stop the conversation, she seemed very annoied with it... he seemed to have that effect on people.. and it was one he really wish he wasn't cursed with.

[Acacia Sgt]

''Who? Gytha?'' John asked. 'What's with him? first back in the cafeteria now this?' He finally pieced it together...

And started to laugh. ''Oh man, don't tell me...'' He tried to resist it, but to no avail. ''You're scared of her? Well, now where did that came from?'' He asked between laughs.

[Psych]

Niles stretched his arms and rubbed his eyes. He looked down at the plate before him, and quickly finished it off, wiping his mouth. The school's food never was 4 star, but it did the job. He got up and walked outside, yawning quite widely. He turned the corner and noticed two mercenaries from the group before. "Oh, hello you two. Are you liking the school?"

Edited April 8, 2011 by Psychedelica