Return of the Emblem Chapter Six: Enemies Abound

[Snowy_One]

Robin had been through in her gathering of items. Splayed out across the bed were her scattered arrows, hunting knife cobble, and the newly acquired bear. Once she was sure she had everything, she quickly put the stuff into the quiver and picked up her bow. Then, as she became ready to leave, a knock came at her door. Raquel.

"Yes." replied Robin, her voice flat and betraying her hostility towards the most recent event. She hurried over to the door and opened it. "Raquel. I suppose this is my ultimatum. You're telling me to shape up and accept that Gytha was right or ship out?" She then sighed and rubbed her brow. Even if that was what Raquel was here to do, she didn't deserve that sort of treatment. "I am sorry." she said, trying to calm down. "Are you even aware of the most recent fight between that pirate dog and me?"

[roymbrog]

Valter was just finishing up in the stables when he ran into a girl he recognized. What was her name? Valter had absolutely no idea. However, he did remember she was with the group and chuckled when he realized she didn’t know his name either. “Archer guy?” he asked and laughed. “I guess we haven’t been properly introduced. You can call me Valter. To answer your question, I stayed behind a short while after we left Kigen. Phyllis, my horse, was ill. I didn’t make it here till today, actually.”

[Zsword]

Krystal nodded. "In fact, I work for her... she's right over there, talking to.... Robin, I think her name was." She gestured over to Raquel and Robin. "Haven't we... met before? Don't you also work for Raquel?" KRystal asked, getting a few very vague flashes of Synthia back on the boat...

Shadrak nodded, idly stroking Naoki. "<Yeah, if you come to power, well, I wouldn't mind having the oppurtunity to learn firsthand what Fallen culture is really like, without, ya know, risk of being enslaved for the rest of my life... just a thought, well, meeting should be starting soon, I've dawdled long enough, I'll see you later.... Lord? Steinn.>" he concluded with a slight bow, before race walking over to the cafe... he didn't actually know where the meeting was going on at.

Zel smiled at Gabby with a very, certain look in his eyes, grabbing her by the shoulder firmly "I'm not afraid to bite back." He retorted, matching her tone and closing the gap even further.

[-Cynthia-]

"I'm Nadya, pleased to meet ya. I also answer to "my spleen is falling out oh Mercy please help!" by the way," she said to Valter, laughing a little. "I coulda fixed your horse up y'know, probably even for free if ya asked nicely. Still, was nice of ya to take care of her yourself I guess," she said with a shrug.

[Snike]

And so the discussion which appeared to be about Bert's female friend's education continued. Various experts on the subject such as the Neviskotian lady and the rather darkly dressed scholar weighed in on the matter, until the good pegasus rider seemed to have had enough of the various facts and opinions about the escort industry. He promptly rose from his seat and strolled out of the hallway in fine form. Meanwhile, the conversation continued unabated by the instigator's departure. Wyvern-rider lady began to act out various gestures for some unknown reason, and when the Avian/Fallen answered her, she lowered her head onto her elbows, for some reason or another. Regardless, the winged man soon became the center of the conversation, to the point where it looked like he was dictating to the magic user, as the latter wrote feverishly.

Enter John and a woman of the cloth Blake couldn't recognize. Almost immediately, the pair froze in place, eyes fixed on the captivating sight of a dark avian/Fallen. Was there some kind of shine to him that caught people's eyes, or something? The newcomer squinted in the winged guest's direction, but didn't find anything truly abnormal. Maybe he was just blind.

Gytha and the Rexian knife wielder soon entered the hall and were unfazed by their guests, as they immediately sat down and waited for one of those unbelievably fast waitresses to appear. John was soon snapped back to reality, it seemed, and he brought the maiden over to a separate table. Simultaneously, the speedtresses engaged the two couples for a few moments, before the male wyvern rider and his companion returned their gaze towards the chat group. It was not to last long, though, what with the blacked-winged gentleman's abrupt exit from the dining hall, amicably pursued by a lance-wielding lady. Mr. Scribe soon followed the duo, but the swordsman's attention was diverted elsewhere. John's lady friend appeared to be beginning to have a fit. Did the food disagree with her, or something?

Suddenly, there was a great deal of noise originating from outside the dining hall. Lovely. It did not seem to affect the rest of the hall much, however, with only the priestess frozen in fear. Even she did not stay like that for long, as she went and followed John once more to another table. The waitresses soon returned with the meals on hand, and the dining hall returned to its' previous state, for a couple more minutes.

Act II, scene i. Enter the gunshot wound victim, seemingly scared out of her wits. The mariner did not even look up from her bowl, which was oddly tinted brown. The hunter girl said something to Gytha, who in turn replied genially, which set the tone for her responses. Miss Arrow-thrower's voice began to rise with every response, and she appeared to have tensed up, which lend credence to the idea that their chat might end up in fist-cuffs. Finally, the angry one stood up while bumping the table, and stormed off without further ado, fire in her eyes. That was someone to look out for, Blake noted.

Before the hall had any real chance to recover from the hunter's hissy-fit, the king of the estate himself, Weyland, arrived in the dining hall. Seth Weyland didn't seem to impressive in person, but were his gadgets ever ones to be feared. With a smooth clearing of his throat, the host had drawn all eyes, to announce that the meeting would begin shortly. Meeting? What meeting? This was the first time the swordsman had ever heard of a meeting here. It concerned the band, though, so hopefully he'd be filled in on the details.

[roymbrog]

What a coincidence, Raquel had just entered the hallway. Though, Synthia only needed to inform her of her return; she could wait till Raquel was finished speaking to the archer. The mage turned her attention back to Krystal. She didn’t recognize her straight off, but assumed she was the dark avian that had been hanging around since Kigen. She hadn’t paid much attention before she was separated from the group.

“Yeah, I see,” she replied, speaking of the merchant. “I work for her too. I’m a healer in the group. You joined us in Kigen, right? I don’t think we’ve spoken before, but I saw you around.”

-----

“Thanks, Nadya.” Valter should’ve familiarized himself with the party members earlier, he realized. It would have saved time... “I wish I had known that earlier; I had to have Synthia help me out...” He shrugged. It was no big deal, but he knew who he was asking next time. “Hey, do you know if they’ve served dinner already?”

[Acacia Sgt]

Both had finish eating by the time Weyland arrived.

<Ah, so it's almost time for the meeting.> John thought. <All that waiting around has finally paid off.>

The meeting... Sophia thought. Now I don't exactly look forward to it. But I guess if I want answers I have to go.

[Phoenix]

Lord Steinn

<"Well you seem to know at least that much."> Steinn replied with a slight grin. When Shadrak decided to leave, Steinn merely gave a cordial nod at first. <"I hope your meeting with Weyland is insightful. As for me, I must see to these captives.">

The 'stupified looks' of the guards soon passed and they began assigning lifters to move the heavy captives somewhere else. Steinn oversaw it for a moment, but once he saw a teary eyed Siv leave the area, he decided to follow.

Gabbie

Hm? Oh whoops, I forgot, there's more than one way to interpret that ... "Well then-" "Careful there..." Steinn interrupted addressing Zel directly as he passed. "... 'wolves' aren't well known for promiscuity. She's clearly up to something." he added with a smile, leaving Gabbie with a mix of expressions on her face.

Once Steinn was further down the hall, Gabbie finally spoke again. "Err ... well would ya look at that, a Fallen who knows about actual wolves~" Now this is just awkward ... I need a drink.

Raquel

"What?" was her first reply to the shooting situation coming up, again. I honestly thought that was over and done with. "I ... really don't like to try to resolve every single issue that pops up. Some people ... just don't get along with each other, I guess. As long as you two are willing to work together and point whatever aggression you've got toward the enemy, then that's good enough for me." She wasn't sure if that was the right answer, and she didn't have enough context to think of anything better, but now it was said, and she was hoping the problem would go away.

[Snowy_One]

"I can not work together with a woman who shoots her teammates and then neither seeks to apologize or is punished for her deed Raquel." Robin unslung her quiver and put it on the bed, picking up her teddy bear and hugging it. "I do not wish to bring this upon you. You are one of the few here whom have tolerated me. I suppose I should inform you of what has happened though. Domo came to me earlier today and... convinced me that I had fault in the incident and should apologize to that bull of a woman. When I went to apologize, however, Gytha not only did not apologize herself, but then said I should be greatful for her shooting me. Do you know what that is like to hear? That such a action is justified? What is next? She demands I file her nails down and I refuse so she shoots me in the arm? Shade Drake, Domo, Krystal, and you seem to be the only ones who seek to punish me for what I did. All I want is for her to admit that she went overboard and will not do such a thing again."

Robin then hugged her bear again, then stood up.

"By the gods I must sound so whiny." she said, a tear forming in her eye.

[Zsword]

Zel couldn't help but laugh at the response. "Oh, I see, after the innuendo I, uh, misjudged, um... yeah..." Way to get caught in the moment like that, well, you've gotten this far... He cleared his throat, and stood a little straighter, though kept his voice low. "That's one 'challenge' I'd be willing to accept..." He said, his suave fading as emberassement and nervousness started to get the better of him... Well, you said it, let's just hope you picked the right one, oh boy won't father be proud of you....

Shadrak was still making his way to the cafe. Because Teleporting is so 3 pages ago.

Krystal nodded, and offerred Synthia her hand to shake. "I do believe so, my name is Krystal, what's your's?"

[Zsword]

double post ftl.

Edited October 27, 2011 by Zsword

[Phoenix]

Raquel

If you don't want to bring it up, then don't. Ignorance would really be bliss right now. Listening to the rest of what Robin said, Raquel sighed. "Gytha's a mariner, right? She's from a very different ... err culture ... or world. For her, a slap on the wrist might actually amount to a nonlethal gunshot wound. If there wasn't any healing magic ... umm, anyway, I'm not saying that's fair or right, but I don't think you're going to get her to apologize for it when the two of you come from completely different worlds." she explained.

Gabbie

Gabbie quickly snapped to upon Zel's reply. Not enough to readopt the teasing behavior, but enough to shake that awkward feeling and speak normally. "Oh, is that so? I'll keep that in moind~"

"Hey, 'Raised by wolves'! Are you gonna help us with these bird statues, or what?"

"Nope~ Not on duty." Gabbie replied with a bit of a sadistic grin. The guard mumbled and then went back to work with the others. Looking back to Zel she said "Ehhhhh let's get back to the doinin' hall ... I'm thirsty."

[Zsword]

Zel nodded at Gabby, waving his arm out as he bowed his head, his cape swishing a little as he did. "Lead the way, M'lady."

Shadrak walked into the dining hall and noticed Weyland was there, he gave a friendly wave. "I take it it's time for the meeting?" He called out to the Professor as he closed the gap between them.

[Snowy_One]

Robin looked up. A different culture and world? The words struck her hard. Robin wasn't even sure how to respond to that. Not out of bafflement over the statement, but over how close to home it had struck. She had been one for standing up for ones personal rights and way of life. The very reason she had left home was to strike out against the people who would so gladly oppress who she was, her reason for refusing every bit of technology thrown her way, had she truly become that which she had wanted to destroy? No, not yet, but...

"<And the huntsmen and the horses and all the kings men went fleeing back into town in terror, a small black fox nipping at their heels.>" she said, picking the words from a tale she had once heard long ago. "I... Am sorry. I cannot forgive Gytha for what she has done, nor will I ever be thankful for it, but I am sorry for the trouble I have caused. I am, was, still am, I do not know... I still want her to apologize, but I understand what you are saying. I almost... I did let Gytha's actions compromise who I was. I do not think I will ever talk to her again, not until she apologizes, but I... will let her live in the manner that she does so long as she does not try to force others to live by it again."

[Mercakete]

Gytha would've responded, but Weyland came into the room with his announcement. "Th' meetin's startin' soon, then? A'right, but I want t' finish me dinner first," Gytha responded to no one in particular before somewhat hastily shovelling the remainder of the soup (which had mostly absorbed into the bread bow's walls, making them soft enough for her to scoop out of the bowl) into her mouth. Once the bread bowl's soft bits were gone, she crunched on her celery spoon until it was gone, then simply tore appart her bread bowl and finished eating that. "Ahh, that was good!" the mariner contentedly comented before turning her attention to Amon again and asking, "How're ye doin' on yers?"

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

People moved about and spoke with one another. Norbert couldn't focus properly, though. It was odd. He felt almost...isolated. No one seemed to bother him and he kept to himself. Even that observation was subconcious. His mind was dulled at the moment, after all, for the sake of energy going elsewhere to normalize his wellbeing. As he recovered, his mind began to clear and energy began to restore...but only so much as he was able to think upon what he wanted his next action to be. I want to sleep... Then, something about a meeting. What timing... Do I have to go? ... Probably.

"Hey," Norbert muttered as clearly as he could without even raising his head to the guy he was speaking to: one of the guards, "Something about a meeting..."

[Phoenix]

Raquel

"Mmm maybe just give it some time. It was a pretty recent incident. Oh, right, I almost forgot. Weyland needs all of us in the conference room for a meeting." Raquel replied.

Amon

Amon liked the taste of the bread and soup combined that he found himself dipping what was left of the lid into the soup rather than eating them separately. By the time Gytha finished hers and checked on him, the lid was gone, and he was now taking off the taller parts of the bowl and dipping those into the soup. The less soup was left, the more the bowl disappeared. "I'm getting there. I don't want to eat the spoon until I'm sure I won't need it anymore, though, heheh." he replied.

Weyland

"Why yes, everything is ready, and I'd like to begin as soon as possible. Anyone who's not wrapping up any business ought to head for the conference room. If you don't know where that is, just ask around." Weyland replied, first to Shadrak, and then to everyone within earshot.

Gabbie and Guards

One of the guards who was lucky enough to not have to be part of the initial lifting crew, looked over to Bert, having been addressed by the half dead looking man. "You one of those kids Weyland's working with? There has been talk of Weyland setting up for a meeting tonight. Guess that's the meeting you're talking about. I don't know anything else, though."

Gabbie was about to head for the dining hall with Zel, but overheard the guard's answer to Bert and turned back around for a moment. "Oi! Head for the conference room and just wait around, that or ya can come back to the dinin' area with us while we wait!" she called back to him.

[Mercakete]

"Always smart t' wait on that, heharr," Gytha lightly laughed before waiting for Amon to finish. They'd talk on their way to the conference room. It was nice getting some one-on-one with the knife-wielder. It'd been a while since she'd felt like she could relax like this -- trusting the person she called her friend as she did, Maw asside. Should I tell'im? Doubt he'd tell anyone if I told'im not ta. Wouldn't want anyone else hearin', though. Not like he has t' know. Though might be nice t' finalla tell someone. Sure has been a while since I thought about all this... He really likes that bowl. "Heharr.." Might as well, aye? Least I'll stop wonderin' if I should or not if I do.

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

Ate kind of recently... I should go to the confrence room, then. So, putting Splinter and Crunch back at his belt, Norbert pulled himself up onto his feet. At first, his strides were heavy, but as he walked his recovery quickened a little and though he still looked tired and defeated, he was walking more normally. After getting a maid to show him to the conference room and arriving at said room, he sat down to wait...and quickly slipped into a light doze.

[Snowy_One]

Robin nodded her head in acknowledgment. "Okay. I hope he does not want us to hunt down more demons. How do I get to the conference room? I am lost in this manor."

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

Nadya shrugged at Valter's question. "I haven't uh actually been inside the estate myself, not really my kinda place. But hey if you're goin' in I might as well follow." If I travel with someone else maybe I'll seem less outta place here...though I coulda just done that earlier come to think of it. she thought t herself before heading inside.

Veronika

"It's the same room we met in before, correct?" Veronika asked of Weyland, jumping to attention. The one we met in before was quite large, but it's not unheard of for an estate to have more than one conference room. Then again, the architecture of this estate seems to suggest several large rooms as opposed to many smaller rooms.

[GoD]

Chelsea is in the kitchen eating by her lonesome. She returned much later after Shadrak said her farewells, and she said her farewells to Robin, whom she told that she did get her name right, and that she would try to keep Shadrak safe.... of it wasn't for the fact that he always seemed to love danger and thrills. So later she walked in on Robin yelling at Gytha for her previous actions, but the mariner woman was totally acting like a boss, calm and collected as she pointed out her take of the situation in a logical and Gytha-like manner. Robin stalked off, just as Chelsea got her delicious meat, and started eating slowly.

[roymbrog]

Synthia shook Krystal’s hand and replied with her own name. However, it was clear that the avian did not have her total attention, as the mage glanced down the hall several times. She had heard Gytha’s name mentioned, but failed to hear most of what they were saying. The gist of what she understood was that something had happened and the girl Raquel was speaking to was unhappy about it.

“Hey, what do you think they’re talking about? I think Raquel just said something about a meeting,” she said to Krystal. Although it hadn’t been her intention, she knew avians could read minds and briefly wondered if they ever used that ability to eavesdrop.

-----

Nadya hadn’t been inside? Well that was less than helpful. He had planned on asking her for directions as well. Valter followed her to the manor and opened the door for her before entering as well. He was mildly surprised at the grand scale of the place, but had expected something similar based solely on the owner’s reputation.

The horseman looked at the several passageways and scratched his head. “I suppose we can just walk around till we find someone to ask directions. We might stumble on the dining hall on our own.” He picked a hallway and started down it.

[Phoenix]

Raquel

"The meetings about the people that were after us before. Weyland's going to show us what he's learned about them, I think. The maid and I are just checking for anyone else who might be in the guest rooms before heading down there ourselves. Do you want to help us out, maybe?" Raquel asked Robin.

Weyland

Weyland nodded. "Indeed, the same room as before."

Amon

Some more progress was made, and eventually the soup was gone. Amon took the softer bits of bread that had soaked up the soup and wrapped a few bits around the celery before biting into it. He didn't realize just how fond he was of mixing things until just then. Eventually he was finished and there was nothing left; no evidence remained that there was any soup, bowl, or spoon other than a satisfied looking Amon. "That was really good. Thanks for introducing me to it, Gytha." He looked up at Weyland, Veronika, and Shadrak, and that made the meeting come to mind. "I guess we should get going, then."

Fate of the Finnians

Siv realized sooner than Steinn would have liked that he was following her, so she took off running. She was a poor runner and it had never been more apparent. <"Stay away!"> she shouted back in Corvian.

<"You know better than to speak Corvian outside of the nation, now calm down, before you hurt yourself."> Steinn ordered in Kigenese. He didn't run after her, so she was putting quite the gap between them, but Steinn had a very good grasp of the mansion in the time he had been staying there. Siv was heading for a dead end, and he knew it. He could keep his current pace.

Siv indeed found that dead end, and turned to face Steinn who caught up much faster than she had expected him to. He had already passed the last turn she could take to escape, and there weren't any windows either. <"I know what you're thinking; 'Why would there be a dead end, here?' ... well I honestly don't know, but I'm not complaining. Siv I want you to calm down.">

Siv shook her head rapidly and clung to a suit of armor on the wall, a rather large one. Steinn sighed. <"What danger am I to you? Would I have not already put you down now that I have Norn?">

<"S-stay awaaaay!">

A guard soon came around the corner, drawn by all the yelling and noise Siv was making. "Hey, what's going on over here?!"

"Relax, please. She just witnessed a terrifying event. I only need to calm her."

"Terrifying event? I heard there was a break in a few minutes ago, but that was settled ... was that you?"

"Me, who did the breaking or the settling?"

"Err ... you're Devlinos, I take it. Sorry to bother you." the guard said, having figured it out on his own. As he turned to leave, Siv let go of the suit and reached out for the guard. He was closer to Steinn than to her, and Steinn was standing close enough to be considered 'in between' the both of them. Nonetheless, that guard seemed to be her only hope for a brief moment. He was gone as soon as he'd come, however, and the two were alone again. She quickly fled to a corner and curled up, prompting a sigh from her pursuer. Steinn came over and knelt down right in front of her. The instant she heard him come down, she flinched and her whole body tensed.

<"... Siv, I'm not going to harm you, not now, and hopefully not ever. It should not have to come to that.">

<"I don't trust you!">

<"... well clearly. Siv, I would like to share something with you. Something I've learned from the humans ... something quite useful."> Siv stopped shivering for a moment, and peeked out from behind her wing to see Steinn kneeling there, looking back at her with a pitying smile. She didn't come out any further though. Her curiosity sated, she disappeared behind the wing again. <"There was once a clan that served under me. They were called 'Finnian'."> he began. the word Finnian made Siv flinch. Now she was certain he was recalling how her clan betrayed him.

<"The Finnians were an interesting lot, but they weren't much more important to me than any of my other followers. There was one that did end up being quite important to me, however. Do you remember who she is?">

<"S-S-Sv-a-a-annn."> came Siv's broken up voice. She wasn't expecting this recalling to lead anywhere good, and her paranoid began to overcome her again.

Steinn nodded. <"That's right. She and I share so many ideals, and yet she went along with the rest of you when Valdimarr ... did what he does best. Svanhildr, and the rest of you, fled together like a flock of pigeons. I suppose it truly does only take one. I understand, you are afraid. You have every right to be. The truth is, Siv, I'm not a very good prince. I'm ... too amiable ... too ... impressionable. I my honor as a fallen only goes ... so far. You and the rest of the Finnians should all be killed off for what you've done. That's what always happens to clans like yours. Even in my humble opinion, it's no less than any of you deserve."> he explained.

Siv got to shivering once again, expecting an attack at any moment. <"But remember what I told you? Something useful that I learned from my time here in the north? The fate of your clan when I am made emperor ... that would be a good time to put it into practice. Tell me ... what do you think your sister would do, if like you, she would be expecting her death at my hands and instead I offer her a place at my side as empress?">

Siv stopped shaking and peeked out again. That same face was there ... no, it was a little different than before. Now Steinn seemed to be somewhat longing for an answer. <"... she would ... she would ... she would be very grateful. W-we all would ... I mean ... if you wouldn't ...">

<"Sparring one of you and not all of you serves no purpose. What loyalty do I gain if I kill her entire family and spare only her? You Finnians cling to each other like any strong clan would. I'm certain Valdimarr has learned that the hard way by now. No I'm not going to kill any of you. Svan needs to be reminded that she was not serving a typical fallen prince. Where others including Valdimarr would show her nothing but torment and eventual execution ... I'll show her love. She'll know exactly what I'm doing and why, as she always does, and we will finally be able to put this troublesome chapter in our lives behind us. This ... would mean that you would never be empress, I'm afraid.">

Siv remained silent, but Steinn could tell she was crying somewhere in there. He gently moved her wing with his fingers. Like he suspected, Siv's face was wet with tears and her eyes shut tightly. He placed a hand on top of her head. <"I'm not going to let my brother win.">

<"Mother ... mother told me this was why I was here, why I was born. I'm supposed to be Lord Valdimarr's wife. That's the only reason I'm here!"> Siv yelled back.

<"He's free to take a wife before I kill him, but should I win, Svan is who I want by my side. It's better that way, as I would be 'settling' to choose another, as the humans put it. Siv, your life has purpose beyond Valdimarr. Try not to limit yourself to that man.">

<"I won't! Lord Valdimarr will win!">

<"If my plan fails, he will. If my plan succeeds, then his chances of survival are slim to none.">

<"He'll win! He'll defeat everyone and become the emperor! He will!">

Steinn shrugged. <"... whatever you will, Siv. Just know that I don't plan on going down 'easy'.">

[Rothene]

Noting the true darkening sky, Mireille decided that her rest could wait, she would have the entire night for it after all. Heading back to her room, she slipped out of her armour. It is a meeting, there should be no fights, thought the Ursian noble as she donned some comfortable loose fitting attire, blissfully unaware that sometimes, fights do break out in meetings. It might be her last night having a proper comfortable dwelling, according to her woman's intuition, she might as well dress comfortably and look presentable for the meeting.

Looking at her mirror to make sure she looked neat and composed in the cream coloured dress her mother gave her, she unwove the bun on her hair to let it fall loosely upon her shoulder and started straightening it with a comb. As she did so, she recalled the number of magic users she had identified among the Weyland's guests, and mused ruefully, if I was a mage, I could let my hair down all day.

[Zsword]

Shadrak nodded at Weyland, and made his way out the door and towards the meeting room. "I would like to propose our little side trip though, for Raquel's sake." He said to the man before departing.

Zel waited patiently for Gabby to start off towards the cafe, he wasn't in a rush.

"Oh yeah, there's a meeting that Weyland is holding to plan future events, I think it's starting soon is what's being said." Krystal responded with a pleasant chirp.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Ah, the same place as before.> John thought. <Well, might as well get going.> He then made his way out of the room following Shadrak.

They had a previous meeting? Sophia wondered, before following out of the room as well.