Return of the Emblem Chapter Six: Enemies Abound

[Phoenix]

Raquel

"If your mother likes to tell you how wrong you are, then she's pretty similar to mine ..." Raquel replied to Veronika while keeping her head down. "My parents are divorced so I don't speak with her much. My father and I just live on the road now, and she's been raising my little sister by herself. If she had found out what I was up to sooner, she might have tried to come and stop me, but I guess ... now she's going to Weyland instead? Why?" she asked a question at the end directing it at Rodrigo.

"Well I found out Weyland had given you people some work, so it didn't take her long to rip that out of me ...."

"Why did you tell her in the first place ...?" Raquel said with some hostility in her voice.

"We were just having a chat about ... nothing ... particularly relevant aaand ... weeell ... your name came up and she ... asked how I knew you and I tried to change the subject to no avail ... she just kept interrogating me after that, heheh." It kind of shocked me to find out that Raquel's Cat's daughter. They're both so young ... and Raquel's really reminding me of her right now with that venom in her voice.

"One more question before I beat my head against the wall ... why are you even here? Why didn't you stop her ... or at least follow her?"

"We came here to find Weyland. That cute Anna girl told us that he wasn't here but that you and your mercenaries would be back soon. Not sure how she knew that, but Cat told-I mean Caterena told me to stay here and stop you from running off while she went to find Weyland and convince him to stop giving you dangerous missions ... or kill him trying. She knows Weyland's practically my boss so doesn't trust me to handle that part ..."

"Okay thanks. Bye, Rodrigo." Raquel said in a blank voice. "Shadrak. Bed. Now. If I'm going to face that woman on the verbal battlefield, I want to get as much sleep as I can first." she instructed the shaman.

Luca

...

...

...

...

...

... what the hell happened to the sky?! Luca wasn't sure what was going on but wherever he looked there was nothing but ground and walls. It took him awhile but with Nadya not freaking out, he eventually figured they were safe in this place. The area he was brought to seemed enough like a stable, so that was enough of a comfort. Being groomed was even better though, and the troubling thoughts left him quickly. Talk of Nadya getting paid soon had his thoughts on food, the stuff gold was good for getting~

[Mercakete]

"Alright. Could you show me which one that is? It'd be faster than me looking for it myself," Norbert requested of the boy. Rizen stayed right nearby, as usual.

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

Gytha started following Anna and Maw jumped from the wagon to start trotting silently -- but quickly -- after them. When the lady explained which way they should go, Gytha wound up following their guide and Siv instead of Raquel. She wanted a bath too, after all. Maw just followed Gytha on general principle.

[Snowy_One]

Back in the cart, Robin was suddenly surprised when a bunch of workers, people not part of the group whom she did not recognize, suddenly came out and started to do their thing, taking care of the cart. Being sure to speak in common, she quickly jumped out of it. "Do your thing, take care of the cart like good servants... Ummmm... Where am I?" she asked, unsure what was going on.

[Zsword]

Shadrak did as he was instructed, and with Saken's help, took Raquel to the guest quarters, after picking out her room he stopped in front of the openned door. "Now, are you actually gonna need help inside, or can I just drop you off here?" He asked with a joking smile.

Zel and Krystal had been following along as well, Zel because, well, he didn't have anything better to do right now, and Krystal, cause she didn't want to be underground anymore. When they reached the guest wing, they didn't know what to do, if they were assigned rooms, or if it was free pick or what.

[Acacia Sgt]

<On second though, I'm glad I don't have to deal with these kind of things.> John thought.

Heading to the guests rooms with the others, he took a look around. <I guess we just pick a room at random?> He wondered.

[Snowy_One]

Having effectively been pushed out of the cart by the workers, Robin now had no place to stay. Turning around, she saw the others heading inside and realized that it was well within her best interest to follow them. Hurrying as fast as she could, she arrived inside just in time to spot Shadrak and that other guy dragging Raquel into a room.

"Are we supposed to be staying here for the night?" she asked herself just before seeing John head into a room. "Guess so." Quietly, she started heading down along the guest hallway, eager to find a room that seemed to suit her well.

[Snike]

"Talents? None that are relevant," Blake said, as John the wyvern rider introduced himself, before heading off with the rest of the group. "Sure, later." It didn't seem to be the time to talk anyways, as they were heading inside. Turning to Ranyin, the swordsman said, "Let's talk while we follow them. You enjoy painting?"

Edited September 21, 2011 by Snikitty

[Phoenix]

Sleep

Raquel didn't remember hitting the bed or even entering the room, but it had happened. Shadrak and Saken had brought her to and left her in the room where she promptly crashed in the sheets. She didn't know how long she had been asleep until she looked at the clock. Only about two hours. She noticed Chip was next to her due to the smell he was giving off. The little monkey had gotten quite smelly staying in that bag for so long, but he didn't care. Guarding the emblem was too important now. "I need to ... wash you ... sometime ...." she muttered sleepily.

Renewal

Once they reached the bathes--a long walk frankly--Anna led Siv into a private bath and directed Gytha to another one that she could use. She left Siv there for a moment, and went to get some workers to get the bathes going. When she got back she was surprised to see Siv already in the water even though it was still cold. "You don't want the water hot, Siv?"

"It's getting hot." Siv replied. Upon closer inspection, Anna noticed that the room was getting warmer and steam was coming out of the water. She couldn't see where it was coming from, but it was a safe assumption that Siv was heating the water herself by keeping a fire magic spell near the water's surface.

"Well you seem capable of looking after yourself, heehee. I'll be right outside if you need anything, alright?"

Siv nodded and then went back to heating the water. Once she was alone, she began to speed up her heating process by making the fireball bigger and bigger. Eventually the water was comfortable and she began trying to clean off the grime and dried blood that had been missed during her last bath. She shed a lot of feathers in the bath, and spent nearly a half an hour plucking out the ruined feathers before finally exiting the bath. She dried herself off and then her first instinct was to grab her old clothes and don them but ... they were in pretty bad shape. "Uh ... uh ..."

A moment of silence passed. "Help!" she called out. The door opened immediately and Anna peeked inside.

Let's see, she's naked and asking for help. Ahah, dirty clothes. "No worries, I will get you something new to put on. Just wait right there while I go get it~" she said before shutting the door again. Siv just stood there for awhile ....

Anna got some clothes within a couple of minutes but had to spend an extra few getting them ready for Siv. After all without a place for her tail and wings to come out, she would never get the thing on proper. So she cut some very precise patches out of the dress and then made some repairs with some quick sewing to create a back flap for her wings to fit through that could be buttoned back up once they were through. It was common avian fashion and she had seen it everywhere. When she returned to the bathroom, she found Siv patiently gathering up all of the feathers she had shed both in the bath water and the larger ones she had painstakingly and painfully plucked herself. Once she had them all, she set them in a small pile on top of a towel and folded it over them.

"The towel's for you, silly, not your feathers, hahah. Someone will get those later, but since you're dry, I guess you should try this on now." she explained before handing over the small peach colored dress. Siv looked at it and then quickly put it on. She couldn't close the back by herself, and she even needed Anna's help to thread her tail through the bottom, but they soon finished and she was mostly presentable. Her wings had the right shape again, but a noticeable and almost silly amount of flight feathers were missing now. Siv kept her wings tightly folded in to disguise the comical wings as best she could but was still self conscious enough to warrant Anna saying "Don't worry about your wings. You're still adorable without a full set of feathers, and I'm sure they'll grow back quickly. You just need to start eating regularly again and help stimulate their growth~"

[Rothene]

"Yes I enjoy painting. It was a talent I could not truly indulge in back when I was learning spellcraft," said Ranyin following Blake, "Although it might be the cause behind my...'volatile' reaction to some of our group members..." at which point he glanced around to see if Aneda was anywhere nearby.

[Zsword]

Shadrak, after dropping Raquel off, proceeded to his own room too get some private time to meditate, and start to sketch out the letter he was next going to right to his Master.

Zel, on the other hand, didn't stay in his room for long, after he got to his room he immidiatly stripped off his armor, and pulled out one of his formal outfits from his travelling pouch, put on a nice fluffy robe, and immidiatly set out to get himself cleaned up... after getting some directions to the bathes, of course. Once there, he took plenty of time to clean himself up, it took a fair bit of time, but once all was said and done, he got out, dried himself off, and put on his outfit, a white, silk tabard with blue trim. It also had a fine blue cloak (even Zel thought it was over the top, but his Father insisted on taking it with the outfit) that was clasp on with a brouch made to look like his families crest eagle, with a small sapphire inlaid into where the eye was. The rest of the outfit consisted of simple brown pants, and soft leather boots. After taking a second to properly manage his hair, he swaggered out of the bath and back to his room.

Krystal also took the oppurtunity to clean herself, but spent a fairly lengthy amount of time just cleaning herself... there was very little way of telling when she would be out and ready to go.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

I never knew Raquel's parents were divorced, or that she had a sister...well I suppose one doesn't usually know things unless they ask. Veronika thought, going to one of the rooms and leaving Raquel for the time being. Did these missions really make us stronger? Or were they just a waste of time? Hopefully Weyland knows something. If he doesn't, well...I have no idea where to go next. I hate this waiting, no answers, ughh I want to do something damn it. Veronika thought to herself, beginning to pace around her room.

Connor

Connor went back to his room, which he found somewhat relaxing. Well that was a fun trip, but it's nice to be home. Nice not having to sleep outside, or a boat, or stuck near that smelly monkey. I should probably transmute some more things but...maybe just a little nap first. he thought to himself, falling asleep rather quickly.

Nadya

Nadya decided to remain in the stables rather than go into the estate. Rich people's houses...weren't really meant for folk like me and Luca. Too many shiny things to tempt me into stealin' anyway. Sides, I don't trust hostlers anyway. she thought to herself.

Edited September 21, 2011 by -Cynthia-

[Acacia Sgt]

In the end, John ended up picking a room at random and heading in.

<Okay, I guess this will do.> He thought. <Hm, well, what to do while we wait for the professor to come back. Maybe take a look around? Though I wonder just how much we would be allowed to see.>

[Mercakete]

Connor didn't stick around very long after showing Norbert the crate that held the steel axes. Sure enough, there lay Splinter and Crunch. They looked so alike and yet the pegasus rider from the north could tell which was which instantly. Yes, the smith had done his work; they were indeed refortified. As Norbert took hold of Splinter's grip, though, he noticed something about the feel. It was...different. He couldn't really explain it, but something happened to the mace that was more than just the smith's handiwork. Bert pulled the weapon he was so familliar with out of its previous resting place and flicked his wrist, causing the custom mace to wirl swiftly into position parallel to Noerbert's forearm. He knew just when to stop the turn to set it to the position. This was one of the basic ones that he used in many of his maneuvers and could -- and often did -- fall into it without even thinking. With Splinter gripped in his right fist, Norbert picked up Crunch with his left hand and flicked it into the mirrored position of Splinter. When he exited the wagon, though, he wasn't in the same place. The wagon had been parked in a sort of stable and Rizen was still right outside the wagon's curtain waiting for him. Not bothering with asking anyone in the area what they thought of his plans, Norbert simnply grinned, walked into one of the emptier sections of the stable. Rizen remained in the same place just outside the wagon. She knew what was about to occur. This was long-coming.

The man with the midnight-purple hair and the burgundy eyes started with a simple step back, then he crouched and whipped Crunch into the air with a rapid, partial spin from the grip, adding the the attack's momentum as it sweaped the air. From a virticle strike, Crunch was swung diagnally, sweeping into a horizontal pull back on the weapon as, simultainiously, Splinter smashed horizontally into the imaginary enemy's lower ribcage with a semi-twirl, again, to increase the momentum of the weapon in a pinch. As Splinter was drawn back Norbert turned on the ball of his foot -- pretending to avoid a virtical counterstrike -- and fluidly using the turn's momentum to smash Splinter into his invisable enemy's other side, this time aiming slightly higher to crush the opponent's right side with the force of his mace's head. He quickly ducked from there, falling into a crouch as he sidestepped again. This time, though, he brought both Splinter and crunch up together, slamming into his imagined target's jaw in a form of uppercut before spinning them on their handles again and loudly clanging them together where he imagined his foe's head to be. The skull would have been destroyed completely seeing as Splinter and Crunch came together at the invisable enemy's temples.

As both of Bert's feet found themselves wholely on the ground again, the pegasus rider allowed his beloved, familliar weapons to hang loosely in his hands. A smile was beginning to form on his face. We're back.

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

Gytha's bath started out with simple soaking and scrubbing till clean. Then it turned into a sea monster attack on an imaginary ship in the bath.

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

Maw remained outside the bathing area, waiting for Gytha. She didn't know where the safest place here would be yet since she didn't know where Gytha was going to be sleeping. Still, she refused to go into that place humans went to to get wet. It was very unseemly.

[Snowy_One]

Having found herself a room, Robin quickly settled in. For her, that simply meant taking her quiver off and putting it beside the bed as well as unslinging her bow and leaving it there. She sat down on the bed before looking down at the quiver. "<That's right, only arrowheads. No knife.>" she said to herself. She had lent her good knife to Shadrak. She wanted it back. Standing up, she slowly started to go down the guest rooms, looking for Shadrak's room, knocking on each door as she looked for Shadrak. "Shade Drake? Is this your room? May I come in?"

[Zsword]

Shadrak looked up from his book, did someone just call his name after knocking on a door. He stood up and opened it... no one... peaking out he noticed Robin a door down. "<Oh hello Robin, can I help you?>" He asked the hunter in Skotian.

[Snowy_One]

Robin looked at the door she had just knocked on before backing away slowly. She didn't know whose door it had been, hopefully not Gytha's, thought knowing her luck... She quickly hurried over to Shadrak. "<Hello Shadrak.>" she said simply before helpfully switching to common. "I see you have been practicing my language a bit. I will make this simple though so you can get back to Siv. You still have my knife Shade drake. Since... Ummmm..." Her hand went down to her right thigh, feeling the area where her prior knife had shattered and cut into her flesh. "You know..."

[Zsword]

Shadrak smiled, and flipped out the knife, holding out the handle to Robin. "You want it back, I take it." He said. "Why are you so nervous? It's techinically yours."

[Snowy_One]

"In the past few days I have been cut, shot, stabbed, and we have a demon in tow while traveling through enemy land. It is a miracle that I am not a quivering ball of paranoia at this point." she said as she took our knife back. "I do not even understand why you are so interested in that demon hussy. She is a demon. I would not be surprised if she tried to eat you the moment you turned your back on her."

[Zsword]

Shadrak chuckled and shook his head. "If I told you you wouldn't understand, no one would, I don't even... it's... wierd, to say the least... but, are you seriously nervous because I seem to favor demons?" He inquired further, more confused than anything.

[Snowy_One]

"Well... Yes... I mean..." she looked down, gripping the hilt of her knife tightly. "They are demons after all. You are a man of magic. You have more magic in your fingers than I do in my entire body, yet you do not seem to realize that she probably wants you, or at least most of mankind, dead or enslaved or something like that."

[Snike]

"I see," Blake said, nodding. He must be a mage, then. But, what's this about volatile reactions?"I take it some people dress... over the top?" Information like this was never bad to know. The swordsman might find some use in it in the event that he was working for a different side.

[Phoenix]

The University For Higher Learning ... and Argumentation

Professor Weyland was giving another lecture to one of his classes. With still just a few minutes left before noon, he wanted to cram some extra materials into their heads. "Now, Kelvin. Were you paying attention to anything I just said?" he asked testing a student, a regular practice that seemed to keep the overwhelming majority of students sharp.

"Yes, sir. You were pointing out the many differences between Avians, Dark Avians, and the Fallen." Kelvin answered quickly.

"And would you mind pointing out the most common differences known thus far for everyone?" Anything to not have to repeat myself, hmhm.

"Of course. Dark avian is just a term for avians not a part of the nation Aquila. They are otherwise completely identical as far as anyone can tell. Avians are typically mostly human in appearance with the addition of feathered wings and the required body configuration to support them ..." he paused hoping Weyland wouldn't cut in and ask him to go into too much detail. Unfortunately ...

"Body configuration to support them? Such as?" he asked Kelvin.

Crap. Where are my bird people bio notes? I just freaking had them. Urgh, I hate that he always sneaks in these quick little birdman lessons right before the end of classes. Kelvin thought to himself. Oddly enough there happened to be a dark avian in the classroom. He was standing off to the right side of the class room near the doors, leaned up comfortably against the wall with his arms and legs crossed. Only intrigue marked his face. "Ahem! The configuration that supports avian wings is comprised mainly of alternate back musculature, bone density, overall body mass, and ... uh ..." What was the last one? Oh to hell with this. I did my best, dammit. "That's all I've got written down, sir."

"Hmm, fair enough."

Suddenly the classroom doors to the right side of the room flew open and a white haired woman clad in red and black marched in to confront Weyland. She only got a fixed gaze from the dark avian; there was no real reaction to her coming in other than that. Weyland however looked over and grimaced. Angry women were not his specialty.

"Weyland! Explain yourself!"

"Whoa, were you late for a date, Professor?" asked a random student.

"Do the 'angry fire breathing dragons of the west' actually seem like my type, Marcus?" Weyland asked back.

"Hey, old man. Eyes over here." she said, getting a shocked response from the whole class. When Weyland turned to face her, she slapped him, dwarfing the first response of the class entirely. "What in the hell is wrong with you? Do you think that just because the government treats you like it's conniving little brother that you can just do anything you want and get away with it?"

"Whatareyoutalkingabout, woman?"

"I'm talking about my daughter, you sick bastard!"

"... this isn't really the place for this kind of discussion." he said glancing over at the class.

"I bet; whaddya do to her daughter, Professor?~"

"Marcus, be quiet, please. Miss Valcyn, or whatever name you're going by now-" "Blanco, you idiot." she interrupted to answer. "Right then, Miss Blanco, if you'll give me just a few minutes to wrap up this lecture, I'll gladly discuss this with you after class."

"Knowing you, there's probably some trap door around here you'll disappear into the moment I turn my back. Sorry, Weyland, but if you wanted to deal with this where your students couldn't hear about it, you should have put a lock on the door." she said coldly to him.

"Clearly ..." he muttered.

The dark avian began laughing rather loudly which not only killed the tension momentarily but got quite a few eyes on him. "My, Professor, I have never seen such a powerful male at the mercy of a female before. It's quite entertaining, though I have to ask, why haven't you just ended this little dispute instead of trying to reason with her? Is that beyond your power or something like that?"

"That's not how things work around here, I'm afraid ..."

"Who's the raven?" Caterena asked, finally stopping to look him over. He looked right back ... but with a friendly grin.

He then came off the wall and walked over. The smoothness in each step he took didn't slip Caterena's notice. Once he was close enough, he reached out with his right hand. It took a few moments for her suspicions to go away, but the dark avian waited for her until she gave him her hand. After placing a gentle kiss on it, he let go and said "... Steinn Devlinos. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Blanco."

"Well, I would certainly hope so, Sir Devlinos. What exactly are you doing here though? Are you an assistant or something?"

"Simply observing a lesson. I've been traveling quite a bit lately and while I'm in Europa, Weyland is being kind enough to let me observe the difference in teaching methods ... between the east and the west." he explained.

"You're from the west?"

"Indeed I am."

That explains the sexist humor from earlier ... "Alright then. Back to my point."

"Oh here we go ..." Weyland muttered in anticipation.

"As I was saying, Weyland, about my daughter ... the one you've been using to run your little errands for you. I want you to stop. Furthermore, I want you to help me talk some sense into that girl before she gets herself killed." she listed her demands quickly and with her arms crossed.

"She's a legal adult, and her father is missing. I told her that her chances for rescuing him were rather low and she didn't budge, so I decided to help her. At least this way I can make certain she is better prepared for the challenges she is going to face." he explained.

"This isn't a fantasy novel, you crock! You're sending an eighteen year old girl after criminals armed with nothing but a couple of horses and a wagon?"

"She isn't that bad off. didn't Rodrigo tell you that she has a decently sized group of hires with her? Once she returns I've also got a new model pistol for Chip to wield as well."

"Are you ... completely insane? You're going to rely on a bunch of random sellswords and a cantankerous capuchin with a pistol to keep my daughter out of harms way?! Have you lost your mind?! HAVE YOU?!!!"

Holding up a finger that swayed toward Caterena he said "Now see, when you say it like that, it s-" "IT'S THE TRUTH, YOU INCOMPETENT MORON!!!" she yelled. "What do you expect such a dilapidated group to be able to accomplish anyway?!"

"Let's not get into that here ..."

"Of course. We're going back to your estate, and we're ending this while there's still a chance to do so."

"I've still got a class to finish and I have to meet with a few of the other teachers to make sure the launch preparations can go on without me-" "Do you have any godly idea how little I care about your Ascension festival right now?"

"Look, woman! She's not going to be going anywhere just yet either way. While she was gone it fell to me to research the people she's after and they won't just run off before they find out what I know about them." he explained also crossing his arms.

"What did you learn about them?"

"Not here, Miss Blanco, not here ..."

Steinn just stood back and watched, still mildly entertained until the bell rung, and the students began standing up and leaving. "Dammit, woman, that was a perfect opportunity to-" "Uh, yeah, me again, not giving a rat's ass here! Let's go, Professor." she said grabbing his arm. "Professor ... Professor, what a joke of a title. Sending young girls off to fight evil instead being a responsible adult."

"Caterena, I think you could use some context here-" "No context is going to make me think you made the right decision in sending my daughter out to who knows where doing who knows what. And Weyland ..."

"... what?"

"Weyland, if you made her do anything illegal, I will KILL YOU."

"Noted ... Steinn, we're heading back, so you might as well come with ..." Weyland conceded. Steinn nodded with a grin and followed along, waving goodbye to some of the students.

[Rothene]

"Yes, some of the people in the group have...exotic tastes when it comes to appearance. I'm sure you'll notice it as soon as you meet said person. Perhaps you already have," said Ranyin noticing that others were heading into rooms at random. We must be staying here for a while...should be nice to spend the night in a mansion for a change, thought the Kigenese mage.

[Phoenix]

On The Way Out

Caterena led the way, and dragged Weyland (almost literally) right along with. They came close to the library but Caterena wasn't letting go. "Urgh! Hold on, woman! Just one moment. One of my assistants is in there and I'd like her to come along as well."

"Send someone for her later, oh wise and competent Professor." she shot back.

He sighed. "... Steinn, would you ..."

"Certainly." he said, nodding and then turning to enter the library.

"Mireille Authine, blonde knight." he added before being pulled out of earshot.

Inside the library, it didn't take Steinn long to locate the woman he was looking for. He came up to her hoping not to startle her from her reading and said. "Miss Authine?"

[Mercakete]

Once Gytha'd finished playing in the water, she dried off, donned her clothes and headed out with Maw at her heels once more. Picking a room was fairly easy once she was directed to the guest hall. And so, Maw knew where would be safe while Gytha decided to see if she could find anyone else in the group who had gotten a decent amount of sleep. Particularly, Gytha hoped to find Amon, maybe that new swordsman guy -- Blake -- Jim, Synthia... And she'd been meaning to talk with the lance-wielding woman. Ranyin was pretty strange -- skittish, even -- but he managed to make friends with the loud pegasus-rider, it seemed. She'd leave him alone unless he said he wanted to come. Raquel looked tired so she was probably resting, so she wouldn't look for her.

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

Norbert continued with his training, going through various scenarioes and maneuvers in practice with his maces. It was more than just practice with his weapons, though, and more than just keeping in-shape. It was fun and a great way to relieve stress. Sure he went through various strength-building workouts and stretches daily, but this practice was added fun for Norbert. Getting stronger and challenging himself had always been important to him, after all. Rizen watched as Norbert's mind produced and destroyed enemy after enemy. This was good for him and they'd been flying around a lot. She could tell he needed this and was enjoying it. So, for now, she simply drank from a nearby trough.