Return of the Emblem Chapter Six: Enemies Abound

[MinunRobotnik4]

After a bit of walking and waiting Saken found that it was his turn to write upon a rock. At that point he paused and thought carefully about what he would pray for. One choice was to pray for freedom and to return to the life he used to have. The other choice was to pray not to be noticed by anyone he knew in Europa.

Desicions, desicions...

He wrote in small letters but surely enough he wrote a small prayer where it would not be noticed on the rock and then left to check the other festivities.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"I would think saving your father would be more important than saving the business. Money can be replaced, people...cannot. Maybe he won't be pleased about what you had to do to get there, but you'll both be thankful for it in the end. Pavel...probably wouldn't want me off fighting organizations either, but the alternative isn't an option," she responded to Raquel.

Nadya

Nadya laughed a little at Ranyin's response. "Well Nature will either give ya wings, or a pegasus or wyvern to ride. Maybe an avian to carry you around, though I'm not sure if they do that much."

[ReformBlade]

"Hm?" Riding on Hannah, Aneda had spaced out. "Ascension festiwhaaa? Oh, right, that... festival... thing. Sure, why not, should be fun." Truth be told, she had no idea what to expect in the festival. "Had anything in mind, handsome?" Yawning and stretching, she sort of threw the comment out randomly, not even looking at Zel when she said it. Turning lazily, she saw... a guy. "Food, or... I don't even know. Kinda new to this place as it is."

[Rothene]

Heh, I wouldn't mind getting a pegasus or wyvern to ride on in the future. For now, the most relevant option for me to obtain the ability to fly would be to find a way to improve on my wind magic techniques," explained Ranyin, "To be able to utilise it to let me soar into the skies."

"Oh, so have you gotten around to charging anyone for your sewing skills thus far?" asked Ranyin

[Acacia Sgt]

'Looks like they didn't notice me.' John thought, still watching. 'Too focused on themselves it seems. Well, so much for that. I guess it's back to just waiting for Raquel to come back.' With that he leaned on a wall and just sat there.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

"Oh damn, I had forgotten all about that!" Nadya responded to Ranyin, slapping her knee. "Everyone's clothes could probably use some fixin' too, after our hasty retreat and all. We'll have to ask people if they need any work done once we get back to the wagon."

[Phoenix]

Raquel

"Military father ... he'd scold me for doing something improperly even if it was the very thing that saved his life. That's not going to stop me, I just kind of hate that about him." Raquel explained as they headed back to the wagon. "I guess I can't blame either of them for not wanting us to get involved like this, but like you said, there's really no other option. We can't just sit around and hope everything works out."

As the wagon came into view, Raquel's thoughts hastened. There was still a little time before sunset but she didn't know how long it would be before she could reach and get her prayer down. It was too important to miss.

Amon

Amon glanced at Nadya and Ranyin while they spoke and then looked to the empty spot on the rock he was standing under. Seemed like as good a time as any to write something down, while no one was bothering him ...

I wish ... for ...

It was slow coming but he finally finished writing it out. The girl was watching closely from her mothers arms and was frustrated that she couldn't read what Amon had jotted down. "Heeey! I can't read your wish! You wrote it in gibberish!"

"Uhh ... well you see, Common's not my first language, either spoken or written. It just seemed natural to put it in Rexian is all ... heheh." Amon explained nervously.

"But Mother Nature reads Common! You should put it in Common so she can read it! Don't you want your wish to come true?" she insisted.

"Naddy ..."

"Uhhh ..." I kind of doubt the Goddess Nature's going to be granting that kind of wish anyway. I just want my mission to work out so I can make it back home in one piece. The way things are right now ... I'll be lucky if I make it back to Sanctuary alive. I guess I could always give up and return empty handed ... but so many people wanted this assignment and I got picked for it. I'll be treated like garbage if I go back empty handed. No ... probably worse ...

Atsuko and Siv

Atsuko only glanced at John before facing Shadrak again. <"I would have run you through if I thought you were putting the mission at stake. That wasn't the whole issue."> she explained keeping her sword out. <"I was more concerned with your sanity but it's not really worth worrying about anymore. After watching you for awhile, I was so certain that you were just trying to manipulate her into giving you useful information. After all, nothing else seemed to be working, not even torture, but now I'm beginning to suspect that you actually care about her. The former was reasonable ... the latter is so typical that it explains exactly why there's a law against capturing demons in the first place!">

[Mercakete]

The wrestling match between Greenknuckle and Bullhorn continued with a lot of pushing and tackling. It seemed to simply be a stalemate for the longest time to the point where the match was becoming repetative to Gytha. Everyone else watching was enthralled, though. The very fact that these two men were so equally matched only increased the tension in the air as each bystander cheered for his pick to win. Gytha only found it increasingly boring. So, she quietly left the wrestlers in search of something more interesting. Like a crayfish or something...

As she was wandering, the mariner found herself near one of the giant rocks, which got her thinking. If I wrote somethin' down, what would it be? A few answers played in her mind; her own ship, maybe. Perhaps a wish for this group's journey to take them to the sea. Or maybe that Maw's eye would grow back. No, most of what she thought of were more whims than true wishes. Only one kept coming back to mind, simple as it was. Every time the wish returned, she'd grimace and push it away again. Finally, the mariner simply walked away from the boulders in a bit of a huff, looking for something to eat at the food stalls.

[Acacia Sgt]

Paying no attention elsewhere, John was on his thoughts. 'Perhaps there is still enough time to head to a rock.' He thought. 'But, assuming I get there, what would I wish for? Heh, I guess having first a wish would be more important than writing it on the rock.' He let out a small laugh.

'Well, not much came to mind.' He concluded after a while. 'I think I could have a clear idea of what, but I guess it may not be definite . Well, maybe I can rethink it on the way.'

[Zsword]

Zelatus

Zel chuckled at Aneda's response. "Of course we can get some food, it is a festival after all, there are stalls with games, food, souvenirs I'm sure." he said to Aneda as he brought Sliep next to her and her pegasi proper.

Shadrak

Shadrak rolled his eyes. "<I'll admit, I never have been very close to The Border of Kigen,I've always been in the northern end of the country. I haven't had any dealings with the Fallen before, but as far as I know, it seems like the reasons you were told to capture her, could of been easily resolved by simply asking you a few questions. You seem very well versed in the Fallen, far more than the entire Ursium nation is that is for certain.>"

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"My father's the same way...and perhaps so am I. A bit," she admitted to Raquel. "Sometimes in life, people get caught up in the details and fail to see the greater scheme of things. If I try to focus on things other than the task in front of me, I often get disoriented. The future holds so many possibilities...it makes it difficult to act sometimes, not knowing how one action may lead to an unforeseen outcome," she mused.

Nadya

"Well, if she only knows one language she sure isn't very well learned for a goddess," Nadya commented, turning away from Ranyin. She went over and took the chalk out of Amon's hand and began writing on the rock, taking a fairly long time to make some large symbols on the rock that somewhat resembled Amon's.

[Phoenix]

Raquel

"Life's scary like that. But ... hopefully what we're doing will get us to a good outcome; one where we find the people we've lost and bring them back with us."

Once they reached the wagon, Raquel put the three new bedrolls in the back. "Okay, guys, these are for anyone who needs them, but don't be greedy. I would have gotten a few more just in case but not only were these three all the store had left, but they were all I could carry ..." she said hanging her head a bit. "Okay, next up, I've got to find this biggest rock here and go write down my prayers while there's still time ..."

Those Near Rock #13

"I can't read yours either!" Naddy protested at Nadya's handwriting.

"Don't worry, Naddy. Mother Nature might not find it convenient, but she can read other languages too."

"But daddy said-" "D-don't worry about it, Naddy. Nature's got a full team of translators ready to go ... heheh." Naddy, your father's a nationalist, but you're a little too young to understand that just yet. Oi, it's embarrassing to have your child expose you like that ...

"Uh ... so ... what'd you wish for?" asked a nervous Amon, who had been turned away for a time and thus not seen it yet. He could have tried to read it himself but he wrote his the way he had for a sense of privacy. He didn't know if she had done the same, so he opted to ask first..

Atsuko and Siv

<"You should consider yourself fortunate then. Almost all 'dealings' with the demons end in you demise or slavery. Isn't that right, Siv?"> she emphasized the question by poking Siv's shoulder a couple of times with the tip of her sword a bit. Siv leaned away and glared helplessly. <"Honestly ... that's about as far as my knowledge of these demons go. People in the south are always living in fear of the next big attack and petitioning the military for more frequent patrols. Some of the older villages in the south had to be rebuilt over thirty times in their history by the survivors. Mine's no exception. The people from further north the far east don't know what it's like, and even though that's a good sign that the empire has been able to keep the demons from spreading further out ... it's still disturbing to see people like you treating her like a human being when in another few years or so, she'll be out killing people like the rest of them.">

Since she had little else to do, she began trying to loosen the cloth around her mouth again. If she could get it off again, she had a wish to convey to Shadrak. With sunset approaching she made great haste to get the thing off while Atsuko occasionally glanced at her.

<"Cut that out, would you ...">

When Raquel put the bedrolls in the wagon and explained the situation, Siv began struggling even more.

<"Would you cut it out?!">

"Does she want something?" Raquel asked giving a curious look.

Siv nodded from her stomach, which was about all she could do in that position. <"If you want ... I can take that off so she can say whatever she wants to say really quick ..." Atsuko struggled to say.

"... sure."

With that, Atsuko loosened the gag and propped Siv up. <"Now what do you want, you little monster?">

"I want wish too! Wish for me!"

<"Curses ..."> Atsuko mumbled.

"What do you want me to wish for you? You can say it in Kigenese if you want. I don't know that language but Atsuko or Shadrak can translate, I'm sure." Raquel said with a slight smile. The fact that Siv was a fallen was beginning to be lost on Raquel with her cute innocent behavior.

<"Four wishes! I want you to write down that I wish for Lord Valdimarr to come and rescue me, and to make me his wife, and to take over the whole world, and for Shadrak to be my pet! No, five wishes! I want to look bigger like Bryn and Svan too! Wish for that!"> Siv loudly and almost happily listed off.

"... uh what'd she say?" Raquel asked looking back and forth between Atsuko and Shadrak.

<"... good ... for nothing ... demoooon ..."> Atsuko muttered while tightly clinching her fist and painfully resisting the urge to flog Siv with her sword hilt.

"Translation ...?"

[Acacia Sgt]

The arrival of Raquel at the wagon finally snapped John out of his thoughts. 'Oh, so she has yet to go to a rock. Good, that means I do have time.' He thought. 'Hm, they are allowing her to wish for something? Well, I suppose that's fine.'

In the end, he was trying to suppress laughing out loud. His Kigenese wasn't perfect, but from his travels to the country, he has picked up somewhat over time. So while not understanding completely, he could get a general idea. 'Heh, that was quite the number of wishes. She wasted no time.' He glanced at Atsuko. 'She sure doesn't look humored by it. I guess she can't see it in that light with her hatred.'

'Now I'm sure they probably won't write all that on a rock. At least in Common.' He finally let out some laughing, unable to contain it much longer.

[-Cynthia-]

"Haven't ya ever heard that wishes don't come true if you tell people what ya wished for?" Nadya asked Amon. "Not that I'm really expectin' Nature to fulfill my wish anyway, but it never hurts to try I guess," she said, moving so that she was standing in front of what she had written.

[Phoenix]

Wishes and Games

"I'll take that as a 'mind your own business' then." Amon replied in a humble voice with his head kept a little low.

"Awww ... I wanted to know too ..." Naddy whined.

"Let her have some privacy if she wants it, Naddy." the mother kindly insisted.

".. okay."

Meanwhile, Luca was standing very close by with several people, mostly teenagers trying to figure him out. One of the teens stuck his hand a little too close to Luca's face and got a warning nip. The teen pulled away before Luca could get his fingers and for some reason the kid tried again with the exact same result.

"Hahah. You're pretty fast, but I'm gonna pet you." he said, reaching out again to stroke the horse's snout. Another nip, and another hasty withdrawal. The others started getting distracted by this and just watched, some of them giving the kid advice and warnings. This was kind of fun for Luca, unfortunately for the kid playing this little game with him, Luca planned on winning soon ...

[Snowy_One]

Robin walked away from the market place, her hands empty of new wares. Every one of the stalls that had held something of interest to her that she had tried had ended up trying to sell her useless baubles that they assumed she, as a low-class citizen, would need. Even a store dedicated to selling little more than candy to children had tried to steer her away from the treat she wanted to a 'less expensive' candy that she didn't want but 'wouldn't be missed if she stole it' leaving Robin with a sour taste in her mouth... mainly from the sourball she had stolen out of sheer frustration with dealing with the merchants. Regardless, she was now feeling that she time was done and it was time for her to head back to the cart. As she started to head for the outer rim though she spotted a wrestling ring... with one mariner walking past her and away from them. Though Robin said nothing to her, she noted that this likely meant that she was close to the main location of the party... and more importantly... that she had found someone who, at last, could write for her. Silently she turned around to follow Gythia back to the stones, eager to ask her to write her wish in common for her.

OOC: Just a few instructions before storm comes and power goes for an undetermined length of time.

Robin wants someone to write a wish on the rock for her to return home, or at least to be treated like a normal person by merchants. She's mostly interested in some small baubles in the market, things that would be either slightly magical or that she couldn't find in the mountains easily if you have her return there. Otherwise, she's just eager to be in the festival and engage in activities.

[-Cynthia-]

"Aww don't take it personally, I'm just a little superstitious is all," Nadya said to Amon, stepping away from the rock. "If we're all done here we might as well go back to the others," she said to Amon and Ranyin, walking away to where she had left Luca.

She watched the scene between the teen and Luca with some curiosity. She then decided she should step in, didn't want to be liable if this kid lost a finger or something. "Y'all have nothin' better to do during a festival than fool around with random horses?" she asked the group of teenagers, walking towards them.

[Phoenix]

People

"Hmm, almost sunset ..." Amon noted to himself. "So I guess these will be lifting off soon, then."

"Uhuh!" Naddy cheered.

Luca used Nadya's distraction to finally nip the kid's finger and win the duel. "Ow! Ah dangit! You killed my focus. Wait a second. This isn't your horse is it?" he asked while Luca nickered victoriously.

Naddy's Daddy: On Assignment

Jason had been fighting as a frontline soldier for years now, either against large bandit groups, or against the Neviskotians. His squad was a little odd but he trusted them all with his life. They were also rather diverse. Not quite the typical squad. Jason carried a sword and a combat knife as a back up. Robert was an archer that almost never spoke. Sampson was a lancer who talked too much. Donnel was a sword fighter like Jason, but carried a pistol and a lot of jokes. Regis was their farmer boy turned axe wielder. The squad leader and Lieutenant was Brady. He was also the one with the squads only rifle, lucky bastard. And last but not least was Dean, the youngest, and also the squads sole magic user and healer.

The squad was ordered in to help bolster the force at Urcenter. The Neviskotians had apparently been in full retreat, but their fleet was amassing at the border making a chase back into Neviskotian territory all but impossible. To make matters worse, many Neviskotian groups were doubling back to hit targets near Urcenter at random. Rumors were also running about that Neviskotian special forces were using the chaos and confusion of a full retreat to mask their operations inside Ursium. The higher ups were certain that the high ranking officers of the battalions guarding Urcenter would be assassination targets, and so they were surrounded by garrisons. Jason's squad was among them.

While held up on guard duty in a bombed out hall, the squad passed the night by talking about who knows what. Brady kept his eye on things outside with his spyglass. "Would you idiots please talk a little quieter? Someone could sneak right up on us and we'd never hear'em coming." Brady protested.

"Ey, Lieutenant. Question forya." said Regis.

With a deep sigh, Brady looked away from his spyglass and at the axe wielder saying "What?"

"You hear anythin' about that Colonel that got shot last week? Whats'er name?"

"Colonel Kilmer?" Brady guessed.

"Yeah, Kilmer ... heheh, sounds like 'Kill-more'. Ironic. Anywayz, I heard that they were gonna hold a service for'er a ways from Urcenter but the Skotians hit the patrols in that area hard and they had to call off the whole thing. Ain't that fucked up, Sir? I mean, really. Hittin' a funeral ..."

"Techinically they hit the guards patrolling the areas near the funeral. Whether or not they were trying to break it up doesn't matter now. Not that attacking a funeral is the worst idea. It's just a little amoral ..." Brady speculated.

"Still ..."

"Still nothin'. She'll just have to rot in the box for a few days until they decide to try again. What they ought to do is just send her off and let her family do a private service since the Skotians keep attacking anything within twenty miles of the border. This isn't the place for funerals right now, mounting casualties or not ..."

"Man ... rottin' in a box. Ya see-ya see that right thar is why I hate dyin'. I don't wanna get all stinkeh and smelleh and rot in some fancy box. I heard she was pretteh too. If ya ask me, cremation's the way to go. The Kigenese have it right."

"You realize that for the three or so minutes it takes to roast your body, you'll be smelling worse than a dead horse, right?" Brady asked, genuinely curious.

"Pfft, three minutes versus three months? Tell ya what, Lieutenant. If I die, you just go'on an' chuck some flammable stuff over my corpse, light that shit up an' leave. That's all the 'service' I need. Y'ur standard funeral ain't necessary." Regis concluded with his arms crossed and a resolute nod.

"That's not cremation, idiot." Brady shot back before looking back into his spyglass.

Jason feeling a bit like making a joke out of it asked "What if you're not dead, and we end up burning you alive?"

"Uh ..." he paused and sighed. "Welp, I wouldn't wanna live lookin' like a burnt up dragon victim ... so I guess it'd be for the best if I just lie thar an' die like a man."

"Hahah, you're brave, but no one can stand fire. You'd be screaming and flailing until we came and dug you out."

"Dug me out? ... how much flammable stuff would y'all throw on me, anywayz?" Regis asked, wondering why he wouldn't be able to dig himself out.

"Well we want you to burn good and quick so we probably won't just bury you in wood scraps. Hell, if we had time, I'd probably stick a powder keg by you. Some tar might work too. Of course if we do that, you're screwed since you won't be able to get that crap off in time." Brady added nonchalantly, not even bothering to look back this time.

"... with friends like y'all, who needs dragons ..."

"We're not friends." Brady quickly noted, still looking through the spyglass.

"Dragons ... now that's how you get cremated and laid to rest all at once ..." Jason noted nervously. He then lowered his head and sighed. "I can't believe I'm missing the festival and time with my family for this. Don't those Skotians have anything better to do ... besides lob grenades and garbage at us, I mean?"

Brady shrugged.

Edited September 6, 2011 by Phoenix

[-Cynthia-]

"Yeah I guess ya could say that. Ya apparently didn't piss him off enough for him to actually hurt ya, so no harm done I guess. Botherin' random animals will probably get ya eventually though," Nadya said to the group of teenagers, shrugging.

[Phoenix]

Teens

"Wow, do they all have horses?" one of them said quietly.

While checking his finger for cuts and only finding horse spit, the kid replied saying "Uh, yeah, I'll be careful. Was just trying to pet him though. He seemed friendly enough ... at first."

Oh but little did he know, Luca was plenty friendly. After all, he still had his finger. Luca was pretty generous ... and with the smell of various foods, he was getting pretty hungry. Grass would have been fine, but people were stepping all over it, and he couldn't find room to get at any of the good stuff. Maybe now was the time to pester Nadya into getting something for him ...

[Mercakete]

The mariner purchased some delicious-smelling seasoned meat skewered on a long stick with a couple different sauces drizzled over it and turned around to wander some more when she noticed the girl who revolted against the inner workings of the human body from before. "Ahoy," she greeted Robin, "Looks like ye survived travellin' o'er water. Hungry?" She didn't mind spending some of her funds for someone who was hungry and meant her no harm.

[Zsword]

Shadrak gave Siv that 'what the fuck?' look, before turning to Raquel and translating word for word what Siv had asked for. He then turned back to the fallen with a raised eyebrow. "<What do you mean by pet?>"

[Phoenix]

Word For Word

"Bahahahahhhh!" Raquel burst into laughter for a brief moment. "Yeah that's kind of a tall order." she joked. I wonder why she's so interested in Shadrak. Probably because he's the only one that's really nice to her. I mean most of us don't say a word to her and just leave her in Atsuko's capable ... yet, surprisingly harsh hands. A pet though, that's hilarious.

Siv shied away a little at first since Shadrak seemed less than pleased at the idea of being someone's pet, but to Siv it seemed like a good idea, and she didn't hesitate long before explaining why. <"Well ... humans that aren't laborers are house pets in Corvus. I've always wanted one, but wild humans are so dangerous and mean and adopting a laborer is looked down on. And they're really strong so that's also kind of dangerous. You're not like the other wild humans though ... also, if you become my pet, then Lord Valdimarr won't rip your spine out when he comes to rescue me. I think it's a good wish. You'd be fed and clothed and you would be able to learn a lot about Corvus too."> she explained.

<"See, Shadrak? I told you, she's a demon ... enslaving humans and treating them like domesticated animals. She's talking about you like you're a shiba."> Atsuko cut in. Then turning to Raquel, she added in common "This is nothing to laugh about, Raquel. She's talking about 'pretty looking' slavery. That's disgusting and demonic."

"Sorry ... it just sounded funny the way she said it. Besides, humans enslave dragons in the far east. We aren't dramatically different if you ask me ..." Raquel replied being careful with her wording.

"Hmph." shot back crossing her arms. 'No one said people from the northeast were sane. They're just ... never mind." she withdrew having lost her train of thought.

[Acacia Sgt]

Finally calming down somewhat, John decided to enter the conversation. ''True, the whole thing is messed up.'' He said. ''Humans fighting each other, humans with dragons, fallen with humans. You'd think things couldn't get worse. But from the looks of it, they can, unfortunately.''

[Rothene]

After Amon and Nadya left, Ranyin still felt the festival calling to him. Heeding its siren song, Ranyin happily walked around the stalls and stands, giving Gytha and Robin a wide berth. The various objects and oddities on display fascinated the petite Kigenese mage.

Deciding that he did not have enough gold to purchase too many things, he instead started painting the place to serve as a memento as he helped himself to some sweets and a steaming hot apple pie. He felt lucky to be offered a stool by some 'kind' men looking after the various stalls and a makeshift table to start doing his paintings. He was blissfully unaware that those men mistaken him for a fair kigenese girl due to his soft spoken voice and feminine face and were all too happy to glance at him every once in a while as he painted.

As he completed the painting, it was beginning to get too dark for him to perform the task properly. Thanking the generous men for their help, Ranyin packed up and left to immerse himself once more in the stalls.

Edited August 29, 2011 by Rothene