Return of the Emblem Chapter Five: The Retrieval

[Acacia Sgt]

'What is she doing?' John was confused at the avian's actions. 'What, Fallen? Does that means...?' ''Hey, what's going...? Gah...'' He began, but then suddenly the avian took him by surprise.

''Hey hey! C-calm down...!'' He tried to say between the shaking. 'Wait, is this why the mercenaries were unheard of? They were being chased!' Surprise went over him at this news. 'And monsters too?! Oh boy, this doesn't look good. She's right, I must get the others and quickly! But first...'

''W-would you please stop it!?'' He said.

[Mercakete]

Norbert nearly laughed at Ranyin's sudden mood-shift and the reaction of delight he was beginning to expect the mage to display at the mention of flying. "Sure. Do you need me to help pull you into the saddle?" he asked, preemptively offering a hand. Ranyin obviously wasn't the talest in the group, after all.

[Rothene]

"Sure," said Ranyin reaching out to grab Bert's hand. He was eager to fly some more. Subconciously, he let his other hand reach onto his bag to make sure it was secure.

Getting onto Riz was no as difficult a problem to Ranyin as it used to be at first with Bert's help and the short practice he had on mounting and dismounting the pegasus back before the church incident. Settling on Riz's back Ranyin said cheerfully, "I'm ready for the flight."

[Mercakete]

"Alright, then," was all Bert said as he shifted his weight, telling Rizen without even a word what to do. In that same moment, they took off. The pegasus' wings pumped the air and her legs gallopped through the wind (even though they really weren't doing anything cause no ground). Then, they began circling above the group again, the rush of ascention quickly calming and leaving only the natural breeses in the airspace around and the placid scenery below and beyond. "So, I'm guessing you've never seen Kigen from this prospective," Bert mentioned as his eyes scanned view of the landscape.

[Zsword]

Wait... wha...?

Krystal blinked and stopped shaking the poor man. "Ok, people, that way, need help!" She stutterred out, she was to panicked to really think straight, even these little statements were hard to form in her jumbled up mindset.

BONK~ Energy Drink... wait, what do you mean this the wrong game?

Shadrak rubbed his head. "<Fine.>" he mutterred out... looking at her. He wonderred why she was so flush... it must of been because of the mistake... or... nah, that'd be silly, she couldn't like him that much. They'd only just met... if you could call it 'meeting'. He shook his head and looked at Zel... who... well...

You spin me right round....

Zel started to trot Sliep in small circles, waiting for people to gather up impatiently. He was scanning the fields with every pass. People really needed to hurry up, he wanted to go save some people, look heroic, finally prove he was more than hot air and bluster... but these people...

[Acacia Sgt]

There was no time to loose, John nodded before heading back to Gil. ''What are you going to do?'' He asked after he mounted. ''You better get away from here, at least until help arrives.''

''Come on Gil, me must get back quick!'' He said. The wyvern let out a growl before taking off and back in the direction they came from.

[Rothene]

Words could not describe his awe in seeing his homeland unfold before him as an endless sea of green. He might have climbed mountains before with his family on special occasions and seen views not too disimilar to the one before him now, but actually being able to look directly below him instead of an angle was a perspective no mountain could provide. He could imagine himself looking at some magically drawn map that was drawn to look like an accurate depiction of the land before. No wonder the best map makers had access to flight one way or another, mused Ranyin.

In response to Bert's question, Ranyin said, "No I have not. I was foolish to think that looking down from a high place was anywhere close enough to looking down astride a flying mount. This really is something special, seeing my homeland from this perspective."

[Mercakete]

"I'm glad you like it. What's Kigen like, anyway? I don't think we'll be here very long, but it doesn't look bad from up here. This is my first time outside Ursium, too, so this is pretty new to me," Norbert replied with his question. It was nice being alone with Riz in Ursium's wilderness, but he was beginning to get used to more company since being around the group. Sure he mostly ketp to himself, but Valter and Ranyin weren't bad company.

[Zsword]

Krystal fell to her hands and knees, panting heavily as the adrenaline rush faded that fueled her flight. Besides... she wasn't a runner, and with her wing bent the way it was she wasn't going anywhere fast... so she just sat their, waiting and listening for possible death and destruction that might lurk up on her.

[Acacia Sgt]

John looked back. It seems the avian decided to stay there. 'Will she be alright?' He wondered, then turned back to face front. 'I guess as long we don't get near the mercenaries we're practically safe. Still, from the sound of it we must hurry to their aid.' With that, he kept flying back northeast.

[Dark Sage]

The ride on the ship had been particularly uncomfortable for Domovoi, for he had never been on a boat before. When he got off, he was glad to finally be on steady ground again. Miskavolv appeared to be mostly unaffected, though he was a little unsteady on his feet.

He saw John fly southwest to scout of the mercenary band and deciding it would be a good idea to follow after him, Domovoi waited a little until he felt good enough to ride Miskavolv. It fortunately didn't take too long and the pair flew after John.

When he was flying, Domovoi gasped as he saw a sea of green below, endless as far as he could tell. Having spent most of his life in the city, he hadn't been prepared for the sheer beauty of that sea of trees. He was particularly in awe of the color of green he saw, having never seen such a deep green before in his life.

Looking back up, he concentrated once more on his duty. Miskavolv noticed when he did so that his master seemed more relaxed then usual.

[ReformBlade]

"Come on, Hannah! If we lose em yet again, you're not getting a treat tonight, I swear to the gods!"

A neigh and a flap of its wings later, the pegasus soared through the skies, heading into Kigen territory, not entirely sure what its owner was after. It didn't really care too much anyway. Suffice it to say, its owner was just about its only companion and it couldn't have asked for better... well ok, maybe it could've, but for all it's worth, the pegasus is content for the moment. "Hey, wuzzat?" Off in the distance, Aneda could see a few fliers. "It's... what are they, oh lord please not dragons YESSSS, they're wyverns, and a pegasus rider. Like me! We already have so much in common!" slapping her knee, she tried to lean in to talk to her mount, "See? Now you get a treat! And then we'll all get along so well, and then we can go on a friendly killing spree, for justice and honor and courage and valor and the pursuit of totally legit things and stuff." There was a nagging thought in the back of her mind that she had the wrong folks. Well, if they're vagabonds out for my blood, they'll be sorely disappointed!

[Phoenix]

Towards The Spot On The Map

With the shore acting like a forward headquarters, Raquel's group was free to explore further inland, though southwest was the only logical direction they could head in. Raquel rode on Sliep as a passenger for the second time now. The group moved out before any of the three scouts had returned.

Air Traffic

Gabbie spotted John a good distance off and figured she had finally caught up to him, but it was soon obvious that he was flying toward her. "The hell? Ey, John! Did ya find'em already?!" she called out to him.

[Mercakete]

"Hm?" As they were flying above the group, Norbert saw something out of the corner of his eye. As he turned his head to get a better look, he was surprised to see a pegasus flying toward them. If it had been riderless, that would have made it quite unusual, but someone was riding it and that made it...still unusual, but not as much as it would have been had it been alone. They were at the Kigen-Ursian border, after all, and the rider was aproching from the Ursian side of the river. Most likely, whoever this was was a mercenary looking for a new area to look for jobs in. The thing that really caught his attention, though, was the bright, numerous colors atop the head of the rider. ... What? "Uh... Ranyin, there's someone flying toward us. I think you're the only Kigenese person I've met, so I can't tell, especially from this distance, but... Do you think that rider is Kigenese? Ursians tend to have...one haircolor..." He was quite perplexed. Maybe she has a bird on her head or something... But who in their right mind would go around with a bird on their head?

[Rothene]

Inresponse to Bert's questions, Ranyin decided to look at the figure he was pointing at. His eyes could make about a figure on a pegasus...but more distinctively, was the figure's hair. It shown out of the beautiful blue sky and serene green land like a pus on an elegant womans face. Ranyin could not help but stare in shock as his mind wondered what person in their right mind would not die of shame flying around for all to see with hair like that. The clash of colours was feeling the little Kigen mage with rage as it struck at his artistic core.

Angrily, Ranyin said, "That can be no Kigen! We Kigenese people would not dare even indulging our thoughts with showing ourselves in such ridiculous looks. How one presents oneself to others is extremely important to true Kigenese. That person is obviously too frivolous."

[Zsword]

Zelatus

Sliep plodded along at a steady pace, one that others could keep up with. Zel turned his head to Raquel behind him. "I hope your comfortable m'lady, We haven't had to carry others before often." he said, they were close enough that she could see a red glint coming from under his visor.

Shadrak

Shadrak walked behind Zel, constantly looking around and watching for anything that might get in the way... As he looked around he drifted over to... someone, he wasn't really paying attention to who at the moment. "Are you also getting a really bad feeling about this?" He asked the person, not looking at them yet as he did.

Krystalain

Krystal shook herself and stood up, dusting off her pants as she took off at a hearty jog in the direction she heard the Wyvern knight fly off in... she wasn't about to get left behind with an army of fallen in the other direction...

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

"Two riders are usually tougher to carry for a horse than one, depends on the size of the horse though. That's why everyone in my clan rides their own horse, no sharing unless yours dies," she interjected into Zel and Raquel's conversation.

Veronika

"I don't have a really bad feeling yet, I'm waiting for the scouts to tell us how bad it is. They shouldn't be back so soon, so there's no cause for worry...yet," she said from behind Shadrak hesitantly.

[Phoenix]

Raquel

"Well we're in the wilderness so I'm definitely out of my element but ... at least I don't have to walk through the muck." replied Raquel, looking down at the ground for a second and grimacing.

Amon

Tell me about it ... Amon thought to himself while hanging his head.

Luca

Luca was a little surprised. Sliep was caring two humans, one covered in that heavy shiny stuff too. Outrunning the slowest in the group wouldn't be any trouble now. Poor Sliep. He hoped the horse wasn't trying to show off at a time like this, for his own sake.

[Zsword]

Zelatus

Zel chuckled at Raquels response. "I'm glad you're 'enjoying' it M'lady." He said, before turning to Nadya. "I'm sure Sliep is up to it. He's an Ursium Warhorse, they're bred to be strong enough to carry heavy loads long distances, and even be able to maintain Combat Ability with it if needed." He told Nadya, giving Sliep a pat on the neck as he did. The horse burred with a pleasant shake of his head. He welcomed the load, Zel only had him wearing light armor, and Zel himself wasn't to heavy either. An extra person was just the workout he needed. He stole a glance to the smaller Plains Horse. He got the feeling he thought he was crazy to bear the weight, his build was so light.

Shadrak

Shadrak hopped over a small mud puddle, breaking his step long enough for Veronika to even out the distance between them. "True... how long do you hope it takes them to return?" He asked, stepping around a shrub, only to stumble into one just below the grass layer. there was a small whoosh, and the grass toppled over, and he kicked the shrub, sending the cleanly cut off. He muttered something... most likely a simple curse over the thing.

Edited July 23, 2011 by Zsword

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

"Well as long as you know what you're doing, fine by me," Nadya replied to Zel, shrugging. Not so good to have so much weight if you need to get away from something quickly, but something tells me that guy isn't used to running away.

Veronika

Veronika gave her boots a rather disappointed look as they were covered with muck by this point. "I would expect them back within the next half hour at least, there wasn't that much distance to cover. If they don't show up by then...well I don't know if we should continue on or not then," she said apprehensively to Shadrak.

[Acacia Sgt]

Looks like he wasn't the only one to have gone in that direction. He flew closer towards Gabbie before replying. ''Well, I didn't find them exactly, but I encountered someone else on the way claiming to have saw monsters and Fallen back there.'' He explained. ''We must head back to tell the others, we don't have time to loose!''

[Phoenix]

Gabbie

He found someone that said there were monsters? "Hold up-hold up. You go back and warn the others. We need some eyes over there to figure out what's goin' on in the meantoime." Gabbie said. "I'll be careful so don't worry about me, just you go lead them back this way." Once that was said, she continued flying in the direction she had already been heading, southwest toward the chaos.

Edited July 23, 2011 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

Such a strong reaction to his question was not anticiapated, somewhat stunning the pegasus rider. "Well... I guess that rider could be from Ursium. That person is riding a pegasus, after all, and I don't know if pegasi live in Kigen or not... I know wyverns come from the east -- Neviskotia -- for the mostpart. I don't know if they have pegasi or not, though... Like I said, I've never been outside of Ursium before. I guess where she comes from doesn't matter since I'm guessing she's a mercenary. Well, I think it's a she anyway. It's hard to tell from here, but if you see a pegasus rider, it's pretty safe to bet it's a woman," Bert rambled somewhat, still trying to think on what this rider was doing so close to the border by herself...and what in Sardius happened to her loudly-colored hair.

[Acacia Sgt]

''Understood.'' John said, before ordering Gil to resume heading back northeast. 'Well, now the only thing to worry about is not get slowed down further...' He thought.

[Zsword]

Zelatus

Zel nodded. "I wouldn't dare abuse my steed, he's served me well, and I like to keep him happy, it's our synergy on the battle field that makes us so lethal." He told Nadya, guiding Sliep around a particularly large patch of shrubs... he wonderred why she was so worried about it, did she not believe in him as a Cavalier.

Shadrak

"I'd say we should stop, if that were to be the case." Shadrak told Veronika. "I've learned that the most important thing in the world is knowledge, and going into a situation with out any, is liable to get you killed. Most of us are un-familiar with the region, without our eyes sending us info, we can blunder blindly into a trap." He explained... and this much he felt was true. He shook a clump of mud off his boots, before jogging to catch up.

Krystal

Krystal continued to jog across the country sde, now scanning the sky for any signs of the man that she just met up with... causeing her to stumble over a shrub and nearly fall. With a less than graceful recovery she managed to keep going though.