Return of the Emblem Chapter Six: Enemies Abound

[Phoenix]

Hungry Hungry Fallen

Siv shook her head and then began eating up the apple slices as they came. Somehow she didn't drop anything given to her. She replied to him while chewing but her message was obviously distorted. Fortunately for Shadrak, her accompanying nod was enough to confirm that she was indeed thirsty as well. She didn't have a preference though and planned to consume anything that came close enough for her to get her fangs on.

Atsuko looked over again, a bit surprised. Hmm, well she IS starving. I guess she's smart enough to realize that if she bites a piece out of his hand, that's all the food she'll be getting. she mused. Not that her hand wasn't still on her sword hilt ....

[Zsword]

Shadrak smiled. "<oh my, you are a hungry little thing...>" He said, stopping the flow of Apple slices, pulling out a waterflask, uncapping it for the girl, and holding it out so she may drink. "<Slow down, don't want you to choke now...>"

[Phoenix]

Gulp

<"I won't choke!"> she quickly shot back reassuring the shaman as she began gulping down water. She grabbed onto it with her mouth and didn't let go until it was empty. She was finally beginning to feel her strength come back after such a long time.

[Zsword]

Shadrak chuckled, taking back his flask once it was empty. "<Bindings still too tight?>" He asked her, once again holding out the last of the apple for her to eat.

[Phoenix]

Atsuko and Fallen

Atsuko raised an eyebrow overhearing the one sided conversation. Unsheathing her sword just a little bit, she muttered "Her ropes are tight for a reason."

Ignoring the edgy insanely evil Kigenese mercenary, Siv ate the next slice of apple offered to her. She didn't expect her ropes would be getting loosened without a fight breaking out, so she didn't bother saying anything. For now, being fed was enough for her.

[Acacia Sgt]

'Well, doesn't look we're departing just yet.' John thought after awhile. ''Come on Gil, let's head back, not much to do up here anyway.'' He told the wyvern, giving one last look ahead, deeper into Ursium. 'Yes, easy enough.' He repeated.

Not before long they were back on the ship's deck, as it looked better than the wet ground, and John dismounted. 'Hm, we may not have the chance to be in a ship in quite a long time.' He thought. 'Better take this chance to have one last walk around.' With that, he began to wander around the deck.

[Zsword]

Shadrak sighed with a roll of his eyes as he held out the last slice to Siv. "<I just want to make sure they aren't cutting off circulation is all.>" he said to Atsuko, though he was pretty nonchalant about it.

Zel smiled, everything seemed to be in good shape still... even his gauntlet was relatively undamaged from the snag. Giving Sliep a pat on the back glanced around, and noticed John was walking not to far from him. Zel smiled and gave him a wave. "How goes it?"

[Acacia Sgt]

''Hi there.'' John said waving back when he noticed Zel, walking over to him. ''Fine as fine can be. Well, except for this rain.''

[Phoenix]

Wagon

"Poor circulation won't kill a demon. It's safer to keep her bound as tightly as possible without restricting her breathing."

Siv didn't bother saying so, but her breathing was slightly restricted. Not enough to be a real problem, but it couldn't get much more uncomfortable than it already was without endangering the young fallen. That was when something jostled the wagon, a slight nudge from the front. It felt like the wagon was beginning to move ...

Outside, Raquel had returned and Rico and some others were helping to guide the horses to the ramp. Extreme caution, precise hand signals, some yelling for dramatic effect, and the wagon was eventually brought down the ramp and off of the Al-Lyrae. The moment Riley's hoof stepped off of the wooden ramp and onto the wet muddy ground, he looked down and snorted loudly. This wasn't the kind of terrain he liked to haul heavy things in.

"It's rainy in the south, especially in the spring. We'll be back up north soon enough, Riley." Raquel assured the bothered stallion. Since he couldn't understand a word she was saying, he simply kept snorting in protest every few steps he took.

[Acacia Sgt]

''Well, looks like we're finally on our way.'' John said, hearing the noises and having turned to see the wagon had indeed begun to move, he then faced back to Zel. ''Well, see ya around.'' He finished before heading over back to Gil.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

Apparently they had decided to feed the Fallen before she keeled over, information getting or not. Probably for the best. She'd have to keep on eye on the shaman, he seemed to be developing pity or a crush or something on the little devil, though maybe he was just concerned about her dying.

Turning towards the ship, she saw Riley snorting in protest to Raquel. Riding over, she decided to offer some advice. "Not used to the mud huh? Just have him keep walking through it, don't avoid any wet patches or puddles he'll just end up thinking they're more trouble then they are."

Peggy

The young redheaded woman went out to the stables, as she did had done every morning since they has "commandeered" this particular estate. Going to one of the stalls, she let out a large white stallion.

"It's looking a bit cloudy, I think it might rain soon Perseus. We should get our morning ride in before that happens, don't want our flying skills to get rusty before we're called into action again. Though I really don't mind having any missions personally," she said rather airily, continuing to stroke his mane, pretty much oblivious to the world around her.

[Zsword]

Shadrak rolled his eyes... his feeding over he got the gag back out. "<Say aah.>" He requested to Siv with a smile.

Zel nodded, and began to guide Sliep off the boat behind the cart.

Krystal relaxed, she didn't need to go anywhere, she was on the carriage already.

[Rothene]

With people leaving the boat, Ranyin decided to follow suit. Not looking forward to a long walk on foot and too tired to search for Bert, Ranyin decided to hitch a ride on the wagon when it was securely deployed on land.

[Phoenix]

The Perturbed and the Gagged

Siv didn't want to have that thing in her mouth anymore but she knew the evil mercenary wasn't going to do it herself if Shadrak didn't, so she slowly opened her mouth silently and softly bit down on the cloth as it went around.

I don't like how nice he's being to that fallen. I also don't like how passive she's being around him. When we captured her, even the people being nice to her got bitten, but not him. What's going on here ...? she thought to herself, again not taking her hand off the hilt of her sword.

Raquel

Raquel chuckled a bit. "Oh Riley complains about everything. It's strange though. He's actually a wild horse my father caught and tamed. He liked the black coat so had to have him. You'd think a horse from the wild wouldn't be so whiny about the mud. Maybe he's spoiled or something?"

Cecily

It took longer than she would have liked but, Cecily happened upon Clara when she went to check the stables. Her own pegasus Proteus would have to wait awhile before getting any attention. There was an important matter to discuss. "Ah, there you are. You don't plan on leaving right now, do you? Something important just came up."

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

"Some horses get antsy about traveling through anythin' that's not an open plain, he's probably from someplace less muddy. Guess that makes him a bit spoiled but I can't really blame him, I prefer the plains myself," she said, looking Riley over.

Clara

"Oh hello Cecily," she said, a bit surprised at her older sister's approach. "I was just going to go out for a ride but that can wait. What's going on?" she asked. Perseus decided to nibble some grass for the time being while his rider talked, more for something to do than out of hunger.

[Zsword]

Shadrak smiled and tied the gag on, tight enough to serve it's purpose, but little more than that. "<Good Girl.>" He then stood with a slight stretch, having to catch himself from stumbling off the cart. "<It's impolite to eavesdrop on other people's conversations you know.>" He said to Atsuko, though he was smiling all the same... he couldn't blame her for hating him for being nice to the Fallen, after all, her best friends were just killed by them... not to mention numerous possable encounters before then...

[Phoenix]

Atusko and Sivo

"This wagon isn't a large space. Overhearing you and that demon can't be helped. And ... besides ... because of her and this mission, everyone I've worked with up until now is probably dead. Until we bring that demon girl to Weyland, anything and everything involving her is my business." Atsuko replied coldly.

Raquel

"Well, I guess we'll just have him deal with it for now then. I can't make the ground dry or the raining in the spring stop after all."

Cecily

"Well I've just received a mission." she said holding out the report she took. "Take a look at this, the man described here is someone we'll be searching for."

[Zsword]

Shadrak shook his head at Atsuko. "<Okay, I get the proximity thing, but she is no less a demon than you are. You took her from her home, her family and friends. You tied her up, sealed her magic, and starved her. She's scared, and alone, in areas she doesn't understand. As far as who's the demon here, you'd match the description far better than she does, she's just some kid caught in a political war that she doesn't even understand.>" He said to the swords-woman.

[Phoenix]

Demons

A moment of silence passed before Atsuko said anything in response. <" ... I don't know what you and she were talking about, but it's obviously rotted your brain. Don't be lured in by her looks, you dumb male. Demons are not creatures to be shown mercy of any kind. The only difference between her and the vicious animal demons that tried to kill us is that she can speak.">

Siv would have been hissing by then if not for the gag, and instead just sat there giving mean looks and thinking mean thoughts.

<"If you don't believe me, why not move to the borderlands of Kigen? You'll find out what these things are really like. This one's young, but she'll turn out just like the rest of them in time. That's why she should be treated the same as any other demon. Besides, she'll probably be used in weapon experiments once we hand her over to Weyland anyway, so treating her with any kind of dignity is just pointless.">

More glaring and completely muffled remarks came from behind the cloth she was gagged with.

[Snowy_One]

Robin stood apart from the main group, looking in as the people, including Shadrak, engaged in conversation. She wasn't envious though at the engagement. Though she had grown to tolerate the others, she still considered herself different from most of them. Reaching down, she picked up one of the river stones in her hands, feeling the smooth surface carefully, applying pressure with her fingers as she looked on at the group. She wished that there were more Skotians within. It felt like all the others beside her were of the military while she, even though Domo claimed her as a recruit, was still a civilian. Indeed, the only thing that suggested otherwise was the mounting collection of near-death wounds she was gathering from every fight.

Fights she wouldn't have even been in if Bron hadn't brought her to Ursium. "<Bron, if you hadn't brought me here, I wouldn't be in such a poor position.>" she whispered under her breath as she lifted the stone up. Then, taking one of her iron arrowheads, she slowly started to scratch the surface of the stone, etching into it with the blade. She wasn't a artist, she had never even done this sort of thing before, but as the people continued to talk, she slowly scratched a crude image of her home as best she could into the riverstone.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

"Would sure be convenient if you could. But that's somethin' for the gods to do or the vasili, not folks like us. We just gotta keep our horses on the move as best we can, hope he doesn't slow us down too much," she said to Raquel.

Clara

Clara took the report and looked it over. "This man seems awfully dangerous- we're not going to be fighting him, right? It's good to get paid, but it's not worth any of us dying," she said rather hesitantly.

[Phoenix]

Raquel

"We've gone over lousy terrain before, although my father's a lot more persuasive than I am. I think he'll be alright as long as Sandrock doesn't slow down too. He's always trying to keep pace with her so that helps." Raquel explained.

Cecily

"No, apparently she's got plans of her own. We're only supposed to find him and send word. Simple enough and gives us something to do in the meantime."Cecily explained.

[Zsword]

Shadrak shrugged. "<She's proven herself to be sentient enough to warrant respect. She has shown no signs of being evil short of the fact that her kind has a bad name with it, and you can't damn her for being born.>" He said to Atsuko. "<and I doubt Weyland is going to use her for weapon expirements, as it seems that we already know them from a military perspective, I'm pretty sure he's more curious about the culture, as to why this war is even going on.>"

[MinunRobotnik4]

Saken looked towards the wagon and thought that wagon may be one of the only places I can hide when we get to Europa, hopefully no one will look inside it until we get Weyland's. I'll probably have to leave it then.

As the wagon started moving he turned and saw Robin looking at a stone in her hand. He couldn't quite see the stone but he didn't really care so much anyway.

"Hey Robin the others are starting to get ahead of us we should probably keep up."

[Rothene]

Upon entering the wagon, Ranyin immediately realised that it was the last place to be in search of peace and quiet. The air was saturated with hostility...and a hint of?

Ranyin shook his head, his assumption of psychic energy with a affinity to fire magic must have been his imagination. Sighing to himself, he sat on one corner and observed the argument between the shaman and his fellow Kigenese. He couldn't quite help but chuckle lightly at the naivety of Shadrak's last comment, but the vehemence of the other Kigenese in the wagon disturbed him. Maybe I have no right to judge her, thought Ranyin, so far the only deaths I've seen that concern me had all been peaceful ones.

Looking around so see who else is hitching a ride on the wagon, Ranyin saw the Nevskotian archer and...gasp, the Fallen! Ranyin suddenly recalled the harpies he fought earlier and how their talon reached out for him, casuing him to shrink away slightly. But after gazing at her for a short moment, a strange thought crossed his mind and that was, why does that fallen seem more approachable that that distant Neviskotian?

Curious, Ranyin slowly shuffled closer towards Siv with the looks a puppy gave when it sees a new object that does not frighten it...