Return of the Emblem Chapter Six: Enemies Abound

[Mercakete]

"In other words, 'get as much sleep as you can while you can,'" Norbert grumbled. It had been a long, full day already and their group could use a good, long night's sleep. There was that meeting, too. "Someone wake me up in half an hour," Norbert requested in general before beginning to lead Rizen back outside. He figured she could use some rest too, after all.

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

After climbing as high as she could, Maw crouched down, assessing the distance. Her jump would have to be perfect. Her muscles tensed, then she sprung. Her arms hugged the rim of the fixture as he hind paws dangled for a moment, causing a couple of the hanging pots and pans to fall and clatter to the ground. THen, she pulled herself up. Success.

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

"Easy, Amon. If ye feel dizzy, just stay down. Collapsin' again won't help anyone," Gytha advised, keeping crouched next to her friend.

[Snowy_One]

As Weyland went off, Robin practically collapsed to her knees. Already her body was at its limit, having just recovered from the poison, but then fighting with Bert and asking for the burials had drained her more than she had expected. She still wished she could light a candle to honor the dead, both Weyland's and the wyverns, but there were other things for her to do. Chelsea and Shadrak were still out most likely, and she wanted to ensure that they would be okay. She stood up and headed towards the kitchen, seeking a bucket of water and a cloth, hopefully a candle as well.

After passing through the estate in its ruined splendor, she finally got to the kitchen, spotting a pile of pots on the floor. Had the invaders gotten the munchies? Stepping around it, she started to look for a cloth.

[Phoenix]

Weyland

"One more thing ... despite the current circumstances, we were quite fortunate. They didn't get what they came for." Weyland added, taking the emblem out of his pocket. It wasn't shining anymore and seemed like a simple gold medallion. He only kept it out for a moment, though, and it soon disappeared back into his pocket. "Come see me again before you leave, and don't mention any of this to anyone who wasn't at the meeting." With that, he left.

Amon and Gabbie

"I'll be fine ... but shouldn't we be getting a move on? They're going to get away." Amon replied.

Not like it matters ... unless ... "If they've got the emblem, we're finished. They won't have any reason to bother with us anymore. If they didn't ... well then we moight still have some options." They're opportunistic pricks, right? It must have crossed their minds to use Raquel to bargain for the emblem, or something.

[Mercakete]

Norbert caught Weyland's words as he was leaving. Too bad that dark magic-user didn't hear him say that earlier... Well, at least we still have some hope, I guess. I don't know much about these people, but if we're going to go up against them...I need sleep. Well, powerful artifact out of the hands of dangerous people is always a good thing. I'll have to try to make that meeting, too. Probably important...

Adreneline fading, Norbert found himself wandering somewhat aimlessly, hardly awake on his feet as he led his pegasus. Somehow he did manage to reach the stables, though. As soon as Rizen was stabled, he sat down in the corner of her stall and fell asleep. The day had been long and the night promised to be lengthy as well. He needed this. Rizen was glad she was able to stand guard over Norbert for now. She was getting better about him being away, but it was still comforting to see him well for herself.

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

"We could go talk t' Weyland, I guess," Gytha replied, supressing a yawn. Quite frankly, she just wanted to go lie down somewhere as sleep.

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

From her vantage point, Maw's eye beheld the whole room as she lay atop the hanging fixture. Into this interesting place stepped a female human. For now, Maw would simply watch silently, as she had the upper paw. .... Litterally.

[Snowy_One]

Robin picked up the pots, noticing scraps and tidbits of food on the floor. Too many to have been the result of a wyvern snacking. Something else, something small, had been in the kitchen. She picked up what looked to be a piece of vegetable covered in spice and vodka, sniffing it before putting it down in disgust.

"<Someone got drunk on spiced vodka and carrots?>" she asked no one in particular before she stood up again, opening cabinets in the hope of finding one for linens.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Well, that at least answers it, the emblem wasn't taken after all.> John thought. <Now the only thing to be wary of is of that Selene person.>

Wait, we are giving chase that quick? Sophia thought. I suppose it is unavoidable.

[Mercakete]

The female human was now observing her kills. A small part of Maw wondered if she was impressed. Another part of her felt the need to pounce. So, quietly, carefully, the silver tabby readied herself. Then, she leaped down onto the unsuspecting human, dugin her claws for traction, and in the next, lightning-fast movement, leaped off and sped away, a shadow amid the shadows of the room. And she was gone, like a phantom in the night, having not been seen except, perhaps, for a momentary flicker of silver, if watching eyes were quick enough to see even that.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"I really don't like the idea of the Ursian military breathing down our necks frankly, but it doesn't seem like they're giving us much choice here," Veronika said, inwardly relieved that Weyland still had the emblem. "I'm going to go check on the wounded- see if we'll be ready to leave soon or not," she said to those remaining, heading down into the basement. Good thing I took a rest earlier at least.

Heading down to the basement, Veronika encountered Gabbie, Gytha, and Amon. "Well at least you're awake, that's usually a good sign. How are you feeling?" she asked Amon.

Nadya

"I'm gonna go check on the wagon. We're still gonna be takin' it along ya? No point leavin' it here really," she said to no one in particular as she trotted away towards the conference room, which was apparently was rather ruined at the moment.

Connor

Still holding Chip, Connor just decided to sit on his bed for the time being. At least they didn't get in here...not like they couldn't. Who knows when that man who took Raquel will just blow through the walls or when wyvern riders will swoop down from the sky? People said that the attackers left, but it still feels like they're here... he thought to himself.

[Phoenix]

Healing Area

Amon shook his head a little. "Just when I was starting to become a little confident in myself, in come the wyvern riders ... we did win, at least, right? They didn't just cut me to ribbons and then fly away, I mean ..." Amon asked, examining what was left of his coat. The blades had not only shredded the coat but anything beneath it, including skin prior to healing. Only the heavier seamed were really holding it all together anymore.

"Outoftheway-outoftheway-outoftheway!" a voice from nearby came. Two tank crew members were hauling Craig's unconscious form through the crowd as a third member tried to clear the way in advance. Craig was leaving a rather thick trail of blood behind him.

"This was not a noight for the agoile it seems." Gabbie commented. She came a little closer as the men laid Craig down on his back. They couldn't do anything else for him and had used up their vulneraries on his more life threatening wounds. The man still had over ten stab wounds and only half of them fully closed. "Hey, can you heal him, too?" she asked Ethan. She was doing a very good job of hiding her worry, the only clue being a nervous bit of foot tapping.

[Snowy_One]

Robin felt a series of claws sink into her back followed by the sudden pressure and soft sound of a cat jumping away and landing, a faint sliver of silver being caught by her eye. How had such a animal managed to get the ambush on her? She felt certain that she had examined the kitchen well enough to know there wasn't any there and hadn't heard one approaching. Could this mean...

"<A ghost... cat?>" she whispered under her breath, unsure if she should laugh or be terrified by the notion. If there really was a ghost though, she was in deep trouble. No magical abilities to detect or hurt it, no means to exorcise it, and worst, she was a young, teenage, girl now alone who had established herself as one of the less-liked members of the group. That did NOT bode well!

[Mercakete]

"Aye, we stopped'em. Th' one with th' magic blade fled, but everyone else was killed, I think. I tore th' last one from his wyvern by th' lung meself. Didn't check t' see if I'd killed'im, though," Gytha answered before a sort of half-smile appeared on her face and she added half-seriously, half to lighten the mood, "Ye worry me too much. Stop gettin' stabbed."

Then, there was some commotion getting close enough that Gytha paid it some mind. "By Leviathan he doesn't look like he enjoyed his dance," Gytha would have exclaimed had she more engery. Instead, she exclaimed more quietly.

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

Maw just continued to stalk the shadows in the halls of Weyland's mansion in hopes of finding something interesting to do or chase. She'd left the kitchen behind and was so looking for something else to use her time on. She'd slept most of the day so she wasn't tired and Gytha was always uninteresting when she was asleep, except as an extra source of warmth. She had to be wary about when the mariner would move in her sleep, though. Once she'd rolled onto the cat unexpectantly. Biting ensued.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"Their leader got away, but we defeated all of the wyvern riders so I consider it a relative victory. Not a full victory of course because of what happened to Raquel," she said, hanging her head a little. "Speaking of that, we're probably going to have to start following the attackers tonight. It would be safer to rest, but we can't let them gain too much ground. Do you think you will be all right to travel within the hour?" she asked him.

[Rothene]

Reaching the basement entrance, Mireille looked every bit the knight in battered yet shining white armour with a small figure who's face was feminine enough to pass of as a damsel clutched in her arms. having caught sight of how she looked with Ranyin in her arms, Mireille had to struggle hard not to giggle at the absurbness of what she was portraying visually. The stink of wyvern innards splattered all over Ranyin's robes did little to help her in her surpression of emotions.

Finding an empty space on the ground, the Ursian knight gently placed the sleeping Kigenese mage down. That should do it. Hmm...my first battle and I act as the white knight of tales already, thought Mireille checking Ranyin to look out for any signs of external injury that was unhealed. All she found was, She's a guy?!

Slightly shocked with her discovery, Mireille sat further away and took out her notebook, that miraculously was not shot to bits and began writing a romanticised account of the battle earlier.

[Phoenix]

Healing Area

"If we're going to get Raquel back, then I'm ready when I'm needed." Amon replied as sternly as he could manage. Disguising his fatigue wasn't going to happen though, and he just hoped his declaration would be enough.

Coming from deep inside the basement wing, Atsuko appeared with her head down and her sword sheathed. When she came across the others, she gave a small wave. "Hello." Her voice matched her gloomy mood.

"What's eatin' you?" Gabbie asked with her head cocked. "Sad ya missed out on the action?"

"... somewhat. They asked me if I would help guard the noncombatants and I agreed, but ... I wasn't expecting to be stuck down there with that demon the entire time. I must say Weyland has more tricks up his sleeve than I would have imagined. Did you know there are at least thirty places to conceal things as large as people that are seamless to the untrained eye?"

"I work here, and I would have gone through all of'em if I didn't already know that my lance is bein' kept elsewhere." Gabbie shot back with a glare, one for Weyland, not Atsuko herself.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"Just be sure not to push yourself too hard. This group has already had some...casualties and I don't want anymore," she said to Amon.

Turning to Atsuko she said "You may want to get your share from the Fallen mission sooner rather than later. It's in the wagon in the conference room and I assume we'll be bringing the wagon with us when we leave."

[Acacia Sgt]

<So that leaves for more waiting.> John thought. <Hm, so the conference room was breached after all. Was it that guy who was blasting the tanks then? I wonder... just how much damage he did? Well, let's find out shall we.> With that, he began walking.

<Now which way was it again...?>

-----

I should head to the basement to tend to any wounded in the meantime then. Sophia thought, and went on her way as well.

[Phoenix]

Healing Area

"I'll have to speak with Weyland about that. I can't carry our cut of the gold back to Kigen, I'll just be attacked. It will have to be delivered to our families. That's what I wanted, anyway." Atsuko replied to Veronika with her head down. Amon, frankly, wasn't even sure what he would do with his share. He had enough equipment to get by and wasn't hurting for food or other necessities. He thought about having it sent home but was doubtful Weyland had a delivery service that could make it to Sanctuary. Gabbie just wanted her blasted lance back.

[Snike]

Blake

So, uh, the gold medal thingy was safe. The thing that Raquel may have mentioned made her feel horrible if she was parted from it at any point in time. Which probably meant that she was in a terrible state, or dead right about now. This was reassuring.

Blake tapped his foot as the 'meeting' was adjourned. There still was no real order to this chaos of a band. Hopefully, the noblewoman would have the team under her control soon, so the recovery mission could proceed.

Ethan

"Don't thank me. It's my job to fix you fighting types up," the healer remarked wryly, as the Rexian woke up and began his post-battle inquiries. He seemed to be fine, albeit a bit tired, so his work there was done.

And then it wasn't because Craig was suddenly hauled through the crowd, in critical condition. The man was about to die. Why did things like these always happen while he was around?

Ethan didn't respond to DW, but knelt down beside the agent's blood-stained body. After laying a hand on the poor soul's chest, the man touched his stave and began to chant. Slowly, the bleeding ceased, the skin began to knit itself together, and Craig began to breathe easier. His life was saved, now to finish his healing up...

[Snowy_One]

Being careful to not offend the ghost-cat, Robin spotted the corner of a rag hanging out from the bottom part of a nearby cabinet. Picking it up slowly, she wet the cloth in a nearby bucket of water before backing out of the kitchen, she quickly hurried back to Shadrak and Chelsea. Sitting down beside him, she put the wet cloth on his forehead, hoping it would help him somehow. Her little candle-right would have to wait until afterwards; things were moving very fast it seemed.

Edited November 14, 2011 by Snowy_One

[Phoenix]

After Half An Hour

The dining hall wasn't in the worst condition, but the explosions had rocked the mansion rather thoroughly and anything not heavy enough to remain stable was either knocked over or displaced. The chandelier had also fallen and was found resting on the table. Weyland sighed at the mess and helped some of his workers clean up a bit. With things suitable enough for the meeting, he stood around waiting ... and thinking.

Waking Nightmare

Raquel slowly opened her eyes. She stared up at what should have been the ceiling only to find a never ending darkness. Besides that, were four walls, two of them made of bars like a prison cell. Raquel quickly realized that she was lying against the ceiling of a strange prison cell with no floor. She felt too weak to do anything about it, however, and she simply remained still, trying to figure out what was going on. Next she realized that there was something in her left hand that she had her fingers tightly clinched around. As she looked over and opened her palm to see what it was, the sound of an opening cell door cut through the air. She closed her hand again before confirming what the item she held was and looked to the source of the sound. Several well armed guards came into view. One of them opened the cell door, but didn't walk in. It seemed she wasn't the only one who acknowledged that the cell had no floor for anyone to stand on. Instead he reached out with his hand. He was at least fifteen feet away, so Raquel didn't expect anything of it. Strangely, the hand did reach her. It closed the distance somehow and his hand tightly gripped her wrist and pulled her away from the ceiling and out of the cell. She was still too weak to stand and collapsed, only to be roughly propped up by the other two men and hauled out of the area.

"Where are you ... taking me ...?" she managed to get out in her fatigue.

"Losin' your memory, lass? You committed a capital offense, ya did. Today's your day to be sent to the guillotine."

"The what?!" Raquel managed to yell just a bit. "Th-they don't even use those anymore ..."

"Yeah, I know ... but you're a special case. Either that or somebody wants a trophy ... heheh ... wehehhehehehehehh--trophy--that's a goo'one." the guard trailed off.

I'm going to be executed? What on earth did I do to deserve ... Raquel's train of thought was halted by a light at the end of the hallway. It was too bright to see through, and became more and more intense as the guards dragged her toward it. Eventually the light was all she could see and it eventually faded to reveal the outdoors; massive of people gathered below a long walkway leading to a guillotine. It seemed to be in the middle of a city somewhere. The only familiar face to her was the most out of place and startling one. In the distance, the dragon head stood in place of a building. The guillotine was between her and ... it.

"... you ..."

"Who?" one of the guards asked, in truth not really caring.

"It's him! Don't you see him?! That huge black dragon!"

"Ain't no dragons in Ursium, lass! Don't think you're gonna get us to let our guard down with a silly prank like that!" the other guard shot back.

"That's why there's so little color ... it's just a dream, isn't it? It's all just a dream." Raquel concluded aloud. One of the guards shook his head.

"You wish, lass. Make your peace, cause you're not wakin' up from this."

Whether it was a dream or not, the guard's words scared her into silence for the duration of their walk. They brought her all the way down the walkway where she endured scorn for whatever it was she'd done, and cheers for her impending execution. With the revelation that it was only a dream, her interest in what she'd actually done plummeted; instead, she waited for some sign that the dragon head was paying some attention to her. No one but her seemed to notice the enormous beast which troubled her, but maybe she could talk to him. She couldn't get up the nerve until they finally pressed her down into the lunette. With her head being put in position, she didn't have anymore time to stall. "Hey, you! Can you hear meeee?!"

The dragon head frowned ... that was a good enough sign for her. "Hey! Just tell me what's going on! Why am I in this place?! Why are they trying to kill me?!"

"I'm not sure you want the answer to that question ... then again, you are a curious one." the dragon responded, hardly giving an answer.

"Please ... they're about to cut my head off and I don't even know why!"

"Who the hell are you talkin' to, lass? We're cuttin' ya damn head off because one: ya tolk too much, and two: ya committed a capital offense."

"Urgh! What capital offense?!" Raquel yelled back. A moment of silence and no more positioning from the guards passed and then one of them hauled her up and held up her left hand. She carefully opened it to reveal the fire emblem resting right there. But ... Chip ...

"Oh good, you still have it~" came the voice of the dragon head, now accompanied by an eerie smile.

"But I lost i-" "We're killin' you for hoardin' that thing, lass." the guard interrupted before roughly grabbing her shoulders. "It's right here, aren't you going to ..." Raquel had to cut herself off. She didn't want them to take it from her, but clearly there were some natural things that just weren't occurring here.

"You said you wouldn't let go of it, so I wouldn't hand it over to those people ... not after everything you've been through, already." the dragon head remarked.

"But I ... already lost it ... that man captured me and ... the emblem fell. I'm really not sure what's going on here ... agh!" Raquel found herself being forced down onto the headrest yet again.

"Girl, I dunno who you're talkin' too but cut it out. You're givin' me the creeps." a guard scolded.

"I don't think 'lost it' is the right term. After all, you're holding it right now, aren't you?" asked the dragon.

"But this is a dream! It's not real!"

The dragon's brow raised a bit. "Are you saying that the emblem you're carrying now isn't real?"

"... err-yes!"

"... why not?" the dragon head asked in a sad tone.

"It's ... just not ... right?"

"What exactly are you basing this theory of yours on, Discovery?"

"I ... don't really know, but it makes sense, right? I lost the emblem when I was captured so how can this be the real one?" she asked. The guards were just ignoring her by this point and strapping her in.

"You probably shouldn't try to separate the two. By the way ... you're tied down to a head-chopper-offer-device and talking to a giant head that no one else can see. You woke up in a jail cell with no floor and you're being allowed to carry around the very item you're being executed for possessing in the first place." it pointed out. "That seems stranger than you carrying around the emblem."

"But it's not real!"

"Ah, so the emblem is not real because nothing else is? I suppose that means that you're not real, either. No harm in having your head chopped off, then."

Raquel gulped. "Dream or not, I don't want to get my head cut off, especially not just for holding this thing! Can't you do something?! Tell them to let me out or something! Please!"

The dragon shook his head. "They're not going to listen to me, and on top of that I'm incredibly shy. Uh oh, it looks like they're just about done ..."

Raquel suddenly felt the lunette shut over her neck. She couldn't move anymore and her heart leaped into her throat. "P-please don't let them do this ..."

"I don't even have hands ..." the dragon frowned.

"Now she's beggin' her imaginary friend for help? I swear, there's just no hope for some people. Just once I'd like to pull the lever on someone who didn't wet themselves at the last second or give up their dignity in some other way." the executioner murmured before tightly gripping the release. Raquel couldn't see it, but she heard it, and just barely felt it. She shook her head violently trying to get out.

"Please ..." Raquel pleaded, tears running down her face. It had already left her mind that it was all apparently a dream.

"Just don't let go of the emblem." the dragon head said, and then he vanished, revealing an ordinary building that blended in perfectly with all of the others. That was when she felt the contraption shake. The executioner had pulled the release and the cheering ensued. Raquel closed her eyes as tightly as she could. Just as she felt the blade reach her, she screamed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Raquel shot up from the table she was lying on screaming at the top of her lungs, startling everyone around her. She was quickly smacked by the back of a gauntlet clad hand and collapsed. "Hush, you." came an armor encased voice. The man wore dark clothing, including a very long coat with a high collar and armor plating underneath it all.

"... I told you we should have strapped her down." came Hayato's voice.

"You shouldn't have brought her here in the first place!" the armored man yelled. "What made you think that this was a good idea?! I mean honestly ..."

"Bringing her here let's me kill two birds with one stone. I need you to do something for me." Sardis explained.

"What have you brought me ... other than this noisy girl, I mean." the man asked.

"Brought you?" Hayato echoed.

"Yes, whenever you children show up, you always want something, and you should know full well by now that I don't do anything for free ... so I ask, again; what have you brought me?" he held out his hand as if expecting payment of some kind. Hayato glanced at Sardis wondering how he was going to deal with it.

"Payment? For a favor? What would you ask of me?" Sardis replied with a curious face.

"Heheh, let's find out what this is all about, first, shall we? What exactly am I supposed to do with this girl?"

"There's something unusual about this one."

"... pink hair isn't that unusual, knife ears."

"No, I mean she is an anomaly. When we took her I was convinced that I didn't have a piece of the emblem. Frankly, I don't. I've searched her quite thoroughly already. She doesn't have the piece I'm looking for." Sardis explained.

"A pity ..."

"I've been trained quite well and I know what to look for when pursuing my targets ... but what is happening now makes little sense. My piece of the emblem burns brighter and brighter when another is near, coupled with my training, tracking is simple ... but now I've got nothing ..." he paused to take out his own piece of the emblem. It was shining like the sun ... "... and this thing is still burning ..."

"And you think this half conscious little thing is causing it? What exactly do you want me to do, here?"

"Find out what's causing this."

The armored man shook his head saying "You haven't a clue how much I enjoy experimenting on little girls." in a low and sarcastic tone. Suddenly he paused as if he noticed something. There was nothing to indicate what it was or where, though. ... is that so ...? Very well ... "I'll name the price for this ... later on."

"Later on? Are you going to try to rip us off, you weirdo?" Hayato asked with a glare, already reaching for his sword.

"Rip you off? I'm already losing useful property over your shenanigans and without prior notice, I might add. I doubt I can ask for anything truly extravagant ... and Sardis ... I'll tear your little red Kigenese brat limb from worthless limb if I ever see him again." the man switched to Sardis, pointing a clawed finger toward him.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

Veronika spent the remainder of the half hour checking up on the rest of the group. Shadrak seemed a bit out of it, but she deemed it was nothing very serious. Waking those who had taken their naps and reminding everyone else of the upcoming meeting. She arrived a few minutes early, selecting an empty table to sit at.

Nadya

Nadya decided against taking her share from the wagon, figuring that with both Weyland's security and the military running around looting the wagon might look overly suspicious, so she decided to just head for the meeting after stabling Luca. We won't leave without the wagon, so Weyland's gotta pay us sometime, right? she thought to herself.

Connor

Connor looked over at Chip, who was still sleeping. Maybe he got a concussion or something? Sending a monkey to the infirmary when so many other people are injured seems a little silly though...I'll just get some water from the dining hall maybe. he thought to himself, carrying Chip down, a bit surprised to see people gathering there.

Selene and company

Major General Selene brought only a small cadre of soldiers to the dining hall. Her eyes sweeping over the slightly ruined room told her that she was a few minutes early.

"Could I get an ale while we wait? I mean it is a dining hall after all..." one scruffy-faced young soldier piped up.

"Do you really think this is the proper time to be imbibing spirits Private Jacobs?" Selene asked him, turning around and giving him a withering look.

"Uh no Sir, uh I mean no Ma'am I mean...I'll just drink from my canteen," he said, hanging his head a little.

[Phoenix]

Gathering Folks

In the dining hall, or what was left of it, various party members gathered. Atsuko had come along since she would need to speak with Weyland afterward, anyway. She blended in with the others in Raquel's group well enough. Amon was able to at least walk for the moment, so he came, as well. Gabbie figured she wasn't going to find her lance, even in a situation like this, so when it was time for the meeting, she showed up, as well. Anna showed up by the time Weyland got started.

Second Briefing

Weyland had gathered enough information on what had happened so planned on presenting that first thing. Reading from a piece of paper with the sums listed on it, he said "Roughly a third of the security forces are dead, another third are injured and several are missing, either dead or half buried in the rubble. The main building's overall integrity seems to still be good, though a few places will need extensive repair. Three of the four operational Recusant tanks were destroyed. Of the enemy forces, an estimated third were killed in the battle. Unless Raquel was their specific goal other than myself ... that would be a draw." He finished and sat the paper down on the edge of the table. "We're going to have to decide what to do here, quickly."

[Acacia Sgt]

<Next time, I'm asking for a map.> John thought. He didn't end up in the conference room as he had wanted, but ended up in the dinning hall instead. But considering the meeting, he decided to stay anyway. <I guess that will have to wait.>

-----

During her stay in the basement, Sophia had helped with tending to any who still needed healing. By the time the other members of the group started to leave for the meeting, Sophia followed suit.

[Mercakete]

Norbert wasn't at all well-rested when he was awoken by Veronika. However, he forced himself up all the same, though in a groggy, half-aware state. As he opened Rizen's pen, exited and closed the gate behind himself, he simply gave the pegasus an affectionate pat on the snout. The red-haired swordswoman had already left -- and it was no wonder, what with the pegasus rider's sluggish trudging as he absently rubbed at his stinging, squinting eyes.

When he made it to where the meeting was to be, he found most already gathered and so took a seat near his old teammates, Valter and Ranyin. He was more comfortable with them than with possibly anyone else in the group and that would not soon change. He also, presently, didn't remember that he was in another team.

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

Gytha had simply stayed by Amon and got a bit of a nap herself before following him to the dining hall and rejoined Synthia.

Then, there was a brief summery of the battle's resulting losses and Weyland mentioned they had to decide what to do and how to do it quickly.

[Rothene]

Seeing others leave the basement, Mireille shook Ranyin to wake up. Surprised and bewildered about how the soft patch of grass turned to dusty rubble, Ranyin curled up and then surveyed at his surrounding carefully. Seeing that no apparent threat was nearby, Ranyin spoke up, "Where am I?"

What a weak man, thought Mireille frowning at Ranyin's actions. "We are currently in the basement. I carried you here to be tended to, fearing that you might have been severly injured, lying down on the battlefield like you did. Apparently I was mistaken and you were sleeping," and I also mistaken you for a girl the earlier, but that's unimportant, "but now, people are leaving the area, so I presume a meeting is starting soon or something of great importance. Either way, it would be wise to find out how badly the battle went and what is the outcome of it, other than us surviving."

Ranyin blinked drowsily. All he could gather was, he had to go somewhere else. And to do so, he would just follow this knight to whereever that place was.

***

The duo managed to reach the dinning hall just in time to hear about how a third of the security forces were dead. Mireille closed her eyes and made a silent prayer to Wrath in honour of those who fought valiantly. Ranyin merely sighed and thought of how lucky he was to not be among the one third who were dead.