Return of the Emblem Chapter Eight: Affairs of the World

[Ether]

Faatina turned back towards the main deck as the Dauntless landed, glad that everything seemed to have gone well enough on that end. Raquel seemed rather steamed, and Faatina wasn't quite sure why, but it would probably be best for another to deal with, who had more experience with the merchant.

"Hmm... we can't use horses on the boat... I suppose I should probably find someone to help me with a refresher for lancing on foot..." Faatina mumbled, seeing the lancer woman come out from under the Dauntless.

'She said her name was... Gabbie... but to make sure not to call her Gabbie... would that be short for Gabriella?' Faatina wondered, before moving towards her.

"Hey, uhh... I still don't really know what to call you, I guess... is it short for Gabriella? I still don't know what to call you if you tell me not to use your name... anyway... since it seems we won't be able to use our mounts if we end up fighting those guys, would you mind giving me a quick refresher on foot-lancing? It's been a little while since I've fought on foot."

[Phoenix]

Leverager

Once Raquel was up on the deck of the Leverager, she felt a little bit better. Not to say she was anywhere close to a good mood, but at least now the ordeal was behind her. As much as she wanted to see to the mission briefing, she was still too upset to do it 'right', she felt. "I hate being taken by the hour like that. It's as if everything is set up so we just can't beat that one hour mark no matter what we do. I hope all of that money gets eaten up in maintenance." she seethed, only loud enough for Veronika and anyone else right next to her to hear.

Around the same time, Gabbie climbed out from under the Dauntless and began undoing her harness. She managed to take it off, but didn't get to take the other one back from Robin before the Sancturan Faatina approached her. "Nevermoind what it's short for. Think of somethin' else." she answered the first question sounding just slightly agitated, but that outright vanished once she moved onto the next question. "I don't travel on ships ... certainly not often enough to get used to the swaying motion, but once I get used to it, sure." Though oddly enough, I feel like already am ... hmm.

Filat made it up the ramp shortly after Raquel and with the ropes taken off the Dauntless, he found himself passing several of the dock workers who were on their way back down. They all exchanged awkward yet meaningful looks back and forth as they passed, leaving Filat walking backwards for a moment as they left the ship. A wordless conversation of sorts. Once he turned around, he saw the captain heading his way. "We set sail in half an hour ... or the second this wind dies down ... whichever comes first." he instructed. "In the meantime I want that gigantic thing secured. We can't have it rolling across the deck and slamming into anything."

Filat nodded. "I'll see to it personally, Captain. Is there ... any particular reason we're waiting for the wind to cease?"

"We aren't waiting for it to cease. We're waiting for the lot of you to finish securing the cargo. It shouldn't take the lot of you working together more than half an hour. If the wind stops, you can handle that on our way out of the port and I don't have to worry about people getting blown over board or that brick on wheels moving on its own."

"Ah."

[Acacia Sgt]

Mission complete. The Dauntless made it to deck safely. Once it was safely on it, Gil landed next to it and John dismounted.

<There, though, did we...?> He wondered. Heading over to see the port, and judging from what he could see... <No, looks like we didn't.> And now they made their way on board. Seems the briefing would have to wait until she calmed down or so.

[Ether]

"Do you want a nickname of something? Geez, I'm no good at those... well, I guess I'll try and think of something." Faatina replied, looking her lance over.

"I know the basics of fighting on foot, but my specialty is horseback. So if you find yourself feeling good enough about it, it would be nice to touch up on it."

[Snowy_One]

Robin took a deep breath. Something needed to be done about Gytha even if Raquel was in a poor mood. But what to do? What could she really do in the first place? Coming to fistcuffs with Gytha wouldn't solve anything for sure and would probably get both of them thrown off regardless of who won. Gytha wasn't going to apologize either... but at the same time... Robin was feeling too good and too full of recent courage to just let it pass. Something needed to be done. She steeled herself then slowly started to approach...

Gytha.

"Gytha. I am sorry about just now." she said, staving off the accusative part that wanted to associate Gytha with crude pirate debauchery. "We need to talk, but you did not deserve how I treated you just now. You were only trying to help. At the same time it is clear to me that the bad blood between us is not simply going to fade away with time either. We need to do something about it."

[Snike]

After a few minutes or so of the crane crew fiddling around with the Dauntless, the vehicle took off in a cloud of dust. A few minutes more, and the wagon was on the Leverager's deck, safe and sound thanks to the combined efforts of Gabbie, Robin, John, and the crane workers. All was well... Or was it? Back on the ground, Raquel had entered another argument with the operators of the mechanical colossus, which ended with the merchant slamming a bag into the head workers' chest and storming up the ramp. Now that she was on board the Leverager, Raquel was still infuriated, which meant she would probably have to delay the briefing. When the group was heading into combat at some point in the near future. That could be disastrous, and so, Blake decided to see if he could try and brighten his boss's mood, or at least let her vent. For safety purposes, of course.

"Raquel," Blake began, as he approached her and part of the group."A word in private, if you will? I have another idea, you see."

[Mercakete]

Gytha sighed as her thoughts were interrupted. "Robin, I honestla don't care about what happened back then. I've no hard feelin's about it. I've gone past it. If ye r'fuse t' listen t' what I was tryin' t' tell ye back then, then it's best if ye just stay away from me. If we never get along, I won't lose sleep over it. Yer th' onla one who cares about amends b'tween th' two o' us. I've tried me best but it's at th' point where if ye can't just move on, then we've no business talkin' about it anymore," she replied to the archer seriously, but not harshly, "I don't want an apology. I want ye t' stop bringin' up somethin' as petty as this that happened o'er a month ago. Now leave me alone."

[Phoenix]

Main Deck

"Sure thing. I'll come foind you once I'm ready. Sleep with one eye open~" Gabbie jokingly warned.

Raquel was surprised anyone was approaching her for any reason right now, but apparently Blake had more ideas. With the briefing pending, it seemed like a good idea to hear him out. She did her best to compose herself on the spot, but only got the infuriated look off of her face. She still found her fists shaking a bit every now and then. "Okay, fine." she replied in a quiet voice, ready to follow him to wherever.

Meanwhile Filat recruited a few other sailors to begin tying the Dauntless down. Filat wasn't confident it would stay put if the ship was jostled too violently, like if it was hit by a giant wave, but this wasn't a region know for the kind of chaotic storms that would lead to that, so at the very least it would hold until they reached Tremere, he figured. Once everyone was on the ship, they could pull up the loading ramp and get ready to leave.

[Snike]

Raquel tried to mask her rage with a tranquil face, but Blake didn't really buy it. The merchant was occasionally trembling with fury, even as she agreed to follow him to a nice empty spot a good distance away from the loading ramp, where there would be fewer prying ears. Once the swordsman arrived, he turned around and checked to confirm that his boss had followed him. The he spoke.

"Alright, so we could talk about reining in party members so that incidents like the cabin and Sanctuary don't happen again, which would probably stress you out," Blake began, rather awkwardly. "Or you can just vent about the crane operators and anything else you need to let out, which is really what I wanted to let you do by coming out here. Your call."

Sink or swim time.

[-Cynthia-]

Listening In

That Blake fellow seems to trying to be alone with Raquel a lot...what's he up to exactly. Veronika thought to herself, trying not to look overly suspicious as she remained with hearing distance of Raquel. The discussion seemed to be about normal business...at least for the moment.

Combat Preparations

"We can't fight mounted on the ship? Ah damnit," Nadya complained, overhearing Gabbie and Faatina talk. Because that went so well the last time...why do we always have to fight in enclosed spaces?

[Snowy_One]

"It is not that I cannot move on Gytha. It is that you will not let me move on. You have a casual, care-free attitude about life. So what if you shot someone in the leg? You did not mean ill by it. I know that. I am not deaf of ear. You are intolerably self-centered in this issue. You dolled out a punishment as you saw fit and you hurt someone. Someone who was only doing what she thought was right as well. You hurt their body... and you shattered their ability to trust in you. Now you just want to move on like it never happened because it is too inconvenient to you to care about something beyond yourself. If I did not care about you, even if only for the sake of our team as a whole, do you think I would be trying to make nice to you? If I really hated you, do you think I would try so hard to get you to apologize, or simply shoot you in the back the moment you went down in a fight? You talk about how, in your world, people punish like you did when they want to get people to stop. The world is bigger than you though. In my world my father taught me from a young age to always work in a team whenever possible, even when alone. I hunt alone, but I trust every person in my village to care for each other. When I get sick my mother cares for me, when I get wounded my father helps tend to my wounds. The local merchant knows what we need and we know what he does, and the thought of punishment without explanation doesn't happen. In my world, what you did was tantamount to stabbing me in the back while I slept for petty change."

She took a step closer to Gytha, blocking her escape. She crossed her arms firmly as she looked Gytha in the eye. She knew she couldn't outmuscle the woman. She knew she would lose in a fistfight. She also knew that she cared enough about Gytha to risk being slugged out by her if it meant closure. "You haven't tried one bit to make this right, yet you claim you have. I have come up, apologized to you several times for how I have acted, and you get involved in fistfights and tell me, to my face, that you shot me because you care for me. I want this to be made right. I do not want strife between us, but that will NOT happen until I can trust you again."

She extended her hand. "Are you willing to try and show yourself trustworthy, or am I going to have to bring Raquel into this? I don't want to, she's stressed out and doesn't need our petty fighting at her doorstep, but I will if that is what it takes to get you to face me head-on in this matter."

[Phoenix]

Main Deck

"I shouldn't be acting like this," Raquel began. "I just ... I just hate that even the little people can screw us over and get away with it. Just once can something go as planned? Augh!" finally she let loose a suppressed shout and hunched forward staring down at the deck. "I can't even beat a bunch of greedy dock workers and their employers, so how the heck am I supposed to beat a guy who blows up tanks because he's got nothing better to do? How am I supposed to rescue my father if I can't even deal with run of the mill extortionists?"

Meanwhile over by the Dauntless ... "Okay so should we load her back up now, or after we set out?" Filat asked no one in particular.

Gabbie glanced over and winced. "Uhhh let's wait a bit. Getting onto this ship was hell. Getting off again is going to be just as bad. Unless your captain's willing to take us all the way to our destination, we'd best be ready to head out. On the other hand it'd be koinda bad if the crates sat out in the rain ..."

"The weather has been good lately, but rain isn't uncommon further north. It is spring, too." Filat realized. "Let me know if you change your minds." Gabbie simply nodded in acknowledgement, and then put her hand on her chin to ponder the issue.

[Mercakete]

Gytha was giving Robin a cold look by the end of it. "Interestin' how ye accuse me o' bein' so selfish n' raise yerself up when yer th' onla one who has a problem with what happened all that time ago n' then say ye'll bring Raquel inta this, fulla admittin' she's stressed right now instead of at least waitin' until some other time t' bring her inta it. Ye don't need me apology t' move on. Yer just so stubborn, so sure yer justified that ye won't settle fer anythin' less than everythin' yer askin' fer. I'm gettin'...impatient with ye. Keep bringin' this up n' ye might regret it. I'll advise ye one more time," Gytha replied, keeping her voice fairly calm throughout her talk until the last three words, which were dripping with threat, "Leave...me...alone."

With that, the mariner walked away. Robin couldn't very well block every direction herself on an open deck, after all.

[Snowy_One]

Robin watched as Gytha walked towards the gangplank off the ship, facepalming as she did. "Gytha. What have I asked for the entire time I have been here? One thing and one thing only. One thing that only you can provide. An apology for shooting me. You say I refuse anything less than everything I asked for, yet I have only asked for one thing. Yet you demand I forget that you betrayed me so you can feel all good and happy about yourself or to avoid you so that you do not have to think about it. You say you are getting impatient, I still have the patience to still talk to you and give you the chance to say you are sorry before resorting to childish measures as simply ignoring my problems and pretending all is well. And you also cannot walk away from this problem. We are on the same ship, traveling together. Either you cower like a worm from me, or talk to me now and get it over with."

[Mercakete]

"I am not cowerin'," Gytha clarified as she turned to face the archer, "Yer just annoyin'." Directly after starting that, Gytha let her fist fly, uppercutting Robin. Apparently, the archer's reflexes were good enough for her to hit. "Oh, so ye prepared fer that, huh? Maybe yer are learnin somethin' but not t' not aggravate me." She was still quite agitated, willing to keep attacking until something hit.

Edited April 10, 2012 by Mercakete

[Snowy_One]

Gytha had sorely misjudged Robin. As a hunter she was used to taking on things far stronger and more powerful than herself, and Gytha's strike was far from unexpected. As her first strike came, Robin quickly faded back and pivoted on her foot, causing the uppercut to miss, before she used her momentum to bring herself around behind Gytha. Quickly she slid her arms under Gytha's shoulders before bringing them up and locking them behind Gytha's head and applying a large amount of pressure to the base of her neck.

"My father taught me how to wrestle and my bother used this hold on me all the time." she explained before releasing the pressure on the back of Gytha's neck and sliding her arms out before ducking the likely retaliatory swing and moving away. "Are you going to talk peacefully now? Or am I going to have to bring you down like a bear?"

*grumble*

Robin's grapple: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3458887/ 4, 1, 1. Hit and crit for little damage

Edited April 10, 2012 by Snowy_One

[Ether]

Things between Robin and Gytha quickly escalated nearby, and soon they were at blows with one another.

"Oh, son of a-" Faatina muttered under her breath, and grabbed her spear. If there was one thing they did not need, it was for those two to be at odds in an enclosed space.

Coming within distance to strike with her lance, but well outside of the range of a punch or a kick, Faatina spoke in a low, threatening voice.

"I don't know what the hell is going on with you two, but let go, and step away from eachother. Now." Faatina said simply, ready to defend against any sudden lash outs.

[Snike]

It was swimming for him. Raquel decided to take the second option, it seemed. And vent she did, first about the avaricious crane workers, then about her general weakness in comparison to the druid who attacked the estate. The frustration- and maybe despair? Her last words were incredibly gloomy- Blake detected in the merchant's tone was incredible. He decided right then and there to play the role of reassuring his employer.

"Raquel, I'm sorry that we couldn't help you avoid those money sharks," Blake began, a little less shakily, "and I'm sorry that you have to deal with this situation. It must be hard to deal with having a dear parent held captive. However, I believe that we can and will get your father back. Everyone is growing stronger and stronger as we continue to travel, and I honestly believe that it will not be long before we can take him on, at the rate we're going. As for the dock workers, well, there was nothing that could have been done, seeing as they were 'the law'. Power corrupts sometimes, and there is little anyone can do about it. Don't let it get to you, as they were just slimeballs. You aren't useless, or powerless, or weak, Raquel. You will succeed. We all know that."

[Snowy_One]

As Faatina came rushing over and lowered her lance, Robin was already taking a step back. She fully expected another attack from Gytha beforehand, but with Tina over, it now looked unlikely. Robin bent down to take a knee as Tina told them to stop. "I will stop fighting. I did not want this to come to blows in the first place."

[Acacia Sgt]

Before much, Blake had taken Raquel separate to talk about something. Or just let her vent off her frustrations, or perhaps both, who knows. There wasn't much to do so John decided to just look around.

There they were the sailors working on the Dauntless, Gil who had finally decided to nap again, the two from before minding whatever business they agreed to, Gytha and Robin fighting...

Wait, what?

<What just happened?> He thought, a bit surprised by this turn of events. He wondered if he should interfere, but it seems he was beaten to it.

<Let's see how this plays out...> If he had to, he'd do it then.

[Mercakete]

Well, there was something going on. Norbert looked over to the commotion and grimaced. She wasn't going on about something again was she? he mentally sighed. I'm one to talk. Kind of surprised I haven't gotten into a fight myself yet. Well, I guess as long as they're within sight it's not my problem.

Still, having nothing better to do, Norbert just sort of watched the scene play out.

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

When Gytha got up, she moved away from Tina's lance. "Next time there'll be a sword involved if ye don't stop irritatin' me! Leave me alone like I keep tellin' ye t' do 'r yer stupidity's goin' t' get ye hurt again!" Gytha snapped at Robin before storming off as far away from Robin as she could get while still being on the deck of the ship.

[Ether]

Faatina sighed as Gytha stormed off, before returning her lance to a resting position and turning to Robin.

"I have no idea what is going on between you two, but for all of our sakes, save it until we get back on land if you can't drop it entirely. I don't want to have to take a teammate down, but I will if I have to. Okay?" Faatina muttered to Robin, keeping an eye on Gytha in case the angry woman decided to change her mind.

[Snowy_One]

"I just want her to apologize for shooting me in the leg. Apparently that is too much to ask. I can not promise I will avoid her though. We are on a small ship and I do not see why this should wait. She should apologize so that this matter can be properly resolved."

[Ether]

"Robin, I don't know what the backstory is behind this, but you saw what just happened. Leave it be until we get on land. The last thing we need is to be thrown off of this ship because we couldn't stop infighting. I'll try to talk to Gytha after she calms down, so don't egg her on, okay. If you keep bringing this up and causing fights, you're the one I'm gonna knock out next time. Just leave her be until this is ocean business is all over with." Faatina said sternly, trying to get Robin to lay off Gytha, if not forever, atleast until they were solidly back on land.

[Snowy_One]

"If you promise me to talk to her before we reach land, I promise I will not try to aggrivate Gytha. Deal?"

Edited April 10, 2012 by Snowy_One