Return of the Emblem Chapter Five: The Retrieval

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

Synergy, huh? Doesn't sound so different from my clansmen really...guess everyone needs a friend they can count on sometimes. she thought, looking down at Luca.

Veronika

"I don't think there will be any need stop permanently anyway. Over there, in the distance flying towards us. That's John I think, let's see what he has to say," she said to Shadrak.

[Acacia Sgt]

As John kept heading back, he soon spotted another flier in the distance. 'A wyvern... that's Domovoi then.' He thought. 'However, I don't think I have the time to talk now.'

''Hey!' He called once he had approached enough. ''No time to talk right now, I must hurry to the others!'' He shouted while still in movement, and flew past him as quick as he had come.

It didn't took long when he managed to spot the group now, apparently how heading on their own towards the mercenaries. 'Good, this saves time.' John thought before getting closer and landing just some distance in front of them.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika ran forward through the muck to where John had landed.

"So where are the mercenaries? And what's the situation?" she asked him, not bothering with small talk at the moment. If the situation was time sensitive she figured they might as well get to the point as quickly as possible.

[Acacia Sgt]

''It's bad. It seems the mercenaries were being followed by the Fallen all this time.'' John replied. ''I don't really know the exact situation they're in, or their numbers, but if we are to help them we must make haste over there.''

[Rothene]

Still fuming slightly, Ranyin asked Bert, "You're not planning to go meet this other pegasus rider now are you? Seems awfully suspicious for a pegasus rider to just happen to be flying here in my opinion. I don't recall seeing much of them in Kigen."

Carefully, Ranyin slide hin hand into his bag and withdrew Stormcalmer and started tying the bookmark as a strap onto his left hand. In case anything happens, he would hate to lose his precious tome down in the forest below. Hopefully this silk bookmark is as strong as my uncle claimed it to be, thought Ranyin.

[Mercakete]

"Nah. I'm curious, but we're supposed to stay near the group, right? If she flys at us, I'll talk to her. If not, I'm not risking a lecture from Raquel about wandering too far from the herd," Bert informed the little Kigen mage. Though one of the scouts had already rteturned, he kept a wary eye on the other pegasus rider and remained in the sky.

[Rothene]

"Wise," muttered Ranyin, then speaking normally, he asked, "So should we return back to the group to see what John has to say about his findings?"

As much as he wanted to stay close to the sky on Riz's back, Ranyin was curious to know what John had found...as well as the sudden paranoia that some of his peers from the academy might be in the area, a highly unlikely but not impossible occurence, and spot him up in the sky.

[Mercakete]

"If Raquel wants us back down, she'll send someone up after us. We can see their movements well enough from up here and not all the wyvern riders are back yet. We'll go down when we're called, if Riz's wings start getting too tired or when there isn't a real reason for us to be in the air anymore. ... Unless there's some reason I can give Raquel that she'd understand. There some reason you have to go back down?" Bert asked, considering that Ranyin might be getting tired or something.

[Zsword]

Zel

Zel brought Sliep to a stop when John arrived, upon hearing the news he turned to Raquel. "M'lady, I do believe it's time to speed things up." He told her, switching hands he was holding the reigns in as he carefully pulled out his spear.

Shadrak

Shadrak cursed under his breath. "We'd better hurry..." he muttered, catching up with the others and even going a little farther ahead, dodging puddles with ease.

Krystal

Krystal crest over another hill, and saw a large band of... okay, from this distance they were just dots, but still, most likely people. her heart jumped and she quickenned her pace.

[Phoenix]

Gabbie's Observations

On her way southward, she spotted someone off in the distance. "Is that a friggin bird chick?" she mumbled. "Roight, John mentioned running into someone. Kay, then, movin' on ..."

It wasn't long before she spotted a very large scene unfolding in the distance. She quickly descended though she was damn certain she had already been spotted. Once she landed, she hopped down from Ringo and he quickly got down, able to tell that Gabbie was being sneaky. When she started skulking about, that meant he was supposed to make himself less noticeable too. As she moved forward, she tried to get a good look but couldn't make out anything at that distance. She needed spyglass, so she retrieved one from her saddlebags and tried again. As she looked at the unfolding confrontation she commented on things.

"Let's see ... evil dogs ... evil dogs ... more evil dogs ... flyin' shit ... ooo, what's this?" She steadied the spyglass a bit. "... well I only see one fallen and that has got to be the most badass lookin' lance I've ever seen in my entire loife. Say what you will about those hellbirds, but they sure know how to make a good spear- ... wait, never moind, there's another fallen."

Final Warning

The mercenaries moved together as a tightly defended group for as long as they could, but soon, the fallen stopped them in their tracks when Svanhildr descended right in their path. She stood there with her arms at her sides and held her ground as several large cats came to her side. <"Enough of this, Kigen warriors."> she said in their language.

<"GET OUT OF THE WAY, DEVIL, OR WE'LL KILL THE LITTLE ONE!!!"> a random mercenary called out in a panic.

<"I am beginning to doubt that."> she replied as she raised her hand out. Immediately the mercenaries tensed up. Their fears were confirmed when Svanhildr unleashed a powerful blast, with energy that didn't appear until she attacked. The blast struck one of the mercenaries and blew him away from the others. He was dead, and blackened before he hit the ground, and a couple of hellhounds immediately pounced on the remains. <"As I anticipated. You are sane enough to realize that killing your captive endangers all of you. The few can be sacrificed to save that which remains. That gives us some maneuverability. Now then, how many of your friends are you willing to lose before surrendering to us?">

<"Listen to us, White Devil and ... other White Devil. If you force our hand, we will fight you. There's no reason to believe you would let us live if we surrendered, so that's the only way this is going to play out if you don't let us through."> explained Kai.

<"Yes, we are well aware that you do not trust us. Even so, we cannot allow you to progress any farther. This is your final warning, Kigen warriors. Release Siv, or all of you will die.">

All of us? Atsuko thought quizzically. Wait, I know what she's planning. She attacked us even though I've got this Siv girl. She doesn't think I'll kill her while everyone's still here so ... she'll kill again and again until I'm the only one left, and then I'll have no cover and they'll just snipe me before I can do anything ... We have to get out of this somehow! Another mercenary was attacked suddenly, killed in the same manner as the last one. <"NOOO!!!">

<"Your shield has failed, Atsuko it will only protect you ... and only until we have a clear shot at you."> said Svanhildr.

<"Heheh ... you Kigen warriors are not even worthy of the title, hiding behind such a pathetic tactic, and using a weak little female to do it. If you wanted to live so badly ..."> she paused and lunged forward with no warning. <"... you should have defeated us in battle!"> She caught a mercenary off guard and impaled him. She was moving so quickly that she didn't stop until her greaves finally caught some traction on the ground. She slid to a stop right near Svanhildr and released the dying mercenary from her lance onto the ground. It all happened so quickly ... and then she finished the mercenary by planting her lance through his head and into the ground. Not saying anything else for the moment, she simply smiled at what was left of the mercs.

That was ... n-no ... Kai though, almost dropping his guard.

Gabbie's Conclusion

Noticing that the two fallen were unleashing attacks that were obliterating random mercenaries, Gabbie had only this to say. "Oh they are so screwed."

[Acacia Sgt]

''Well, I'm going ahead. Gabbie and Domovoi are still back there, better tell them to regroup or to not get that close without us or something. I told Gabbie while heading back, but I don't think Domovoi is aware yet.'' John continued. ''Let's go Gil!'' The wyvern growled before it took flight once more, heading back southwest.

[Snowy_One]

The mud of the land caked Robin's shoes with a thick coat of its mire as she followed behind Zel, Raquel, and the others. Not only was Zel atop his horse faster than the archer girl, but a new problem had arisen. Her feet were muddy. VERY muddy. So muddy that, with every patch of grass she approached, she had to stop to wipe off some of the mud lest she slip and fall. "<Why the hell is all the mud sticking to me?>" she asked as she cleaned her foot off a third time before rushing as fast as she could to catch up with the group again, catching up just as soon as Zel pulled his spear out with Raquel still mounted on the steed.

"<Ahhh hell. Fighting time.>" She was being unusually whiny right now, but trying to follow a horse with mud-caked feet is no easy task, combined with the disease of ship travel, was not making Robin a happy camper.

[ReformBlade]

They seem to be relatively stationary, that's good... Watching the pegasus riders for any hostile movements, she closed in on em, trying not to appear threatening. "Hello there!" Shouting so they could hopefully hear her. "You two happen to know where this group of people I'm following is? There's talk of some group that was over by the Weyland estate, so I thought, 'hey, that sounds like my kind of group' because, well, that's really not something you see every day. Anyway, I'm babbling. I've heard they were heading south and the only south I know of Ursium is Kigen." Coming to a relative halt, she coughed, "So uh... yeah, I guess I'm takin a pretty big stab at the dark here, but I saw a few fliers over here, coulda sworn there were some wyverns with ya though? If not, well, I need my eyes checked!"

[Rothene]

Eeeeekkk! The freak with the rainbow hair is aproaching us, thought Ranyin as he watched Aneda fly closer to him and Bert. By the time he recovered his wits, it was too late to tell Bert to fly away. With nothing else to do, Ranyin decided to answer the pegasus rider in hopes to send her away.

"A group who left Weyland's estate? No miss, we are a part of the merchant Raquel's protective group. We go where ever she goes as her personal body guard, or because of the debt some of us might owe her. This group you seek might probably be somewhere else." lied Ranyin with a perfectly fabricated look of honest confusion.

[Mercakete]

Norbert hated to discredit his friend, but this pegasus knight looked like she might be helpful. Though Ranyin's prelude could be used to test her intentions. "If you'd like, we could show you to Raquel. You're a mercenary, right? She might still be hiring," Bert mentioned to the woman. She seemed to be a carefree sort. Her hair was a fairly good representation of her spunky personality from what the male pegasus rider could tell. Rizen stretched out her neck a little to smell the other pegasus out of curiosity. What sort of herd had this one come from?

[ReformBlade]

"Mercenary? Damn right I am! Pretty good, if I do say so! Of course, anyone with half a brain for a budget and a weapon can be pretty good, but, like, I'm still better than that!" Thinking over what she just said, she nodded, "Yup! Also, damn. I thought I was onto their trail, but hey, I took a huge gamble wandering into foreign territory without any real backup plan anyway, so uh, yeah, if you could show her to me, I'd be glad to offer my services. The name's Aneda. Aneda Welnon, though you can call me whatever you want. I'm personally not petty enough to care what you call me, just so long as you get my attention, you know?"

[Phoenix]

Raquel

Time to speed up? Raquel immediately held on tight so she wouldn't fall off. Driving horses at high speed was something she wasn't too bad at, but riding on one was another story. She also looked up into the sky to see where Bert and Ranyin were. She would have told him to just stay on the ground, since there was no way she could contact him with all the other fliers gone, but she hadn't gotten the chance before he took off. Now though, it seemed like there was another pegasus rider up there.

[Mercakete]

Norbert nodded in understanding. She doesn't seem malicious and she sounds like she's honestly a mercenary looking for work. No harm in bringing her to the boss. ... Sheesh, now I'm calling that pink-haired merchant "boss?" Well, I guess that's what she is until I get my maces back. ... Darnit. "I'm Norbert and this is Ranyin," he introduced, indicating the Kigenese mage, "I'll show you to Raquel, then. Follow me." With that, he directed Rizen to land somewhat ahead of the ground so he could catch Raquel without landing on anyone. Rizen touched down and Bert quickly sighted his debt-mongerer on one of the newer members' horse. "She's the one with the pink hair," Bert mentioned to Aneda once she was within earshot, then to Raquel, he explained, "Found a mercenary in the sky looking for work. Figured you might want to take a look. Her name's Aneda and she's apparently from Ursium."

Edited July 27, 2011 by Mercakete

[Zsword]

Shadrak... and Zel... and... just try to follow along.

"Hold on their Wild Rider." He said, calling out to the White Knight. "It looks like we got a spy or something!" he said, pointing out to a winged silhouette on the crest of the next hill. Krystal was jumping up and down, trying to get the groups attention, waving her arms wildly and such. Zel looked up and nodded. "I can't see well from here, Raquel, what would you advise?" Zel asked Raquel, lowering his spear to his side as he waited. Shadrak looked over to the Wyvern Rider close by, only to watch him take off. "Well, I guess we can't ask him..." Shadrak muttered out.

[ReformBlade]

"Norbert, Ranyin. Got it!" And as Norbert took off, Aneda urged Hannah to follow him at a safe distance, finding herself now near ground level and following most notably a pink haired girl on a horse. This is Raquel, right? "Hope this isn't a bad time, ma'am, kinda strapped for cash after chasing some foolish notion, but we can discuss any sort of prices at a later time, at your agreement, of course!" They all seem to be in a hurry. Ooooh dear. What am I getting myself into this time?

[Phoenix]

Quelly

"Huuuh?" was all Raquel could manage at first. Two issues to deal with at once and only one Raquel. Best to handle one issue, then the other. "I can't really tell who that is from here, but those blue things look like wings so ... Hey, everyone! Hold up! Uh ..." she paused to think. How would my father put it? Oh right! "Defensive positions, everyone!" Umm ... okay that's one thing. Now the pegasus ri-gah ... her "... hair ..."

[Acacia Sgt]

'She mentioned going to check things out.' John thought as he flew southwest. 'But can she really do it without being detected? I guess she may have a way to, since she didn't hesitate to go ahead I guess, despite doing so alone. Or I guess she's just that brave.'

Just then he noticed someone on the ground and stopped. 'Hm? Just who... wait, that's the avian from before. Still in the area I see.'

[Dark Sage]

Domovoi had been flying for awhile when he saw John fly back saying he had to tell the others something. It seemed like he already found the mercenaries perhaps? Getting Miskavolv to turn around, he began flying back to the others and a short time later, he saw John pass him again in the opposite, only John didn't seem to notice him.

"Well...guess he told the others, what's needed already. Guess I'll go follow him," Domovoi mused, getting Miskavolv to go turn around again, though the wyvern was quite reluctant to do so, snorting a little before obeying his orders.

[Zsword]

Again, jumble of characters at once

Krystal ran up to the party waving happily. "Hey! Are you with the-" She was cut short though, as Shadrak immediately rushed up to her, a flat hand point straight toward her neck. She whimpered a little, knowing full well what he was doing, she could feel the dark magic dancing around her.

"I'M NOT A FALLEN!" She called to him, looking absolutely terrified. He raised an eyebrow and glanced around her, then nodded and put his hand down, shaking his head.

"Sorry miss, can't be too careful, I thought you were spying on us." he said.

"Would a spy or scout or whatever just wonder up to you, WAVING!" She accused him, rubbing her neck as if he had choked her.

"It would be a great way to maybe insert yourself in, or at least throw the group for a loop."

"Tch, whatever... um... who's in charge here?" she asked, looking around the group.

"What's it to yo-" Shadrak was about to retort, but Zel was already guiding Sliep over to Krystal, snapping to draw Raquel's attention away from Aneda's hair. "Fine, okay, I wouldn't... ugh, whatever." He walked to the back of the group shaking his head. Krystal smiled."Um.. hi, yeah, Monsters, attacking people, that way." Krystal said, pointing to where she had come from. "Help?"

[Phoenix]

Take Me To Your Leader

If the pegasus rider wasn't going to make an issue out of pricing just yet then she supposed there wasn't much else to discuss for the moment, save for the details that may or may not scare her off. When Sliep got moving again it got her attention, but she hadn't looked away from the pegasus rider yet. That hair ... and then a finger snap drew her attention to some more solid colors. The other colorful person quickly confirmed once and for all that the mercenaries were indeed still alive ... and under attack as they spoke. "Oh crap! We can't sit around here, then! Come on, guys! If you can ride with someone, do it! There's no point going on foot!"

The Battlefield

The party quickly got moving though it took far longer than Raquel had hoped, they eventually reached their destination. The forest's edge came into view as they neared the top of a small hill. There, Gabbie was still running reconnaissance. When she saw the party coming, she trotted over casual as could be. "Okay the mercs still have the fallen. They're surrounded on all sides by a bunch of weird ass creatures. I've only seen two fallen other than the captured one, but those two are seriously fuckin' their shit up. Kinda hard to watch actually. There's only eight mercs left."

"How strong are they?" asked Raquel.

"Don't count on our usual approach workin'. We aren't dealin' with human enemies 'ere." Gabbie replied putting away her spyglass.

OOC: This is the last post by me before the beginning of the statbattle. Please take note of that, and consider this a battle preparations period. Combat team shenanigans should begin immediately.