Return of the Emblem Chapter Nine: Consolidating Forces

[Acacia Sgt]

<Well, I suppose I should drop this for now.> John thought. <No doubt this is quite similar to the cultists and the Rexians, the organization is hiring external groups to hunt Raquel down. He sure likes to stick to his lie of being alone, but if his desires of revenge are genuine, it can imply that unlike the cultists he and his comrades aren't as wrapped to the organization's fingers at first glance.>

A break? Sophia could almost sigh in relief. They weren't even close to assaulting the cultist's manor, but it was clear that the situation was tense full as it is. This is certainly for the best. There was certainly a lot to take in and think.

Edited May 23, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[Mercakete]

So, Gar was going to be under someone's watch and it was up to the individual group member who would be doing that to volunteer. Gytha considered volunteering herself for a moment before dismissing it. This guy, Gar, seemed like an interesting fellow. She got a good impression of him already, too. Though her mind had just been on her own secret, too, so she was taking that into consideration. The mariner liked Gar but wasn't certain of how safe her secret would be if she was the one to keep an eye on him. Finally, she decided to simply regard him normally rather than being the one to keep an eye on him. She'd leave that task to someone else. Someone more suspicious of him would probably be better suited to the task anyway.

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

Aneda's outburst seemed to get a lot of attention including a buster arrow. Immediately afterward, Faatina asked if the female pegasus rider was alright and the two warrior's guild members began discussing the result of the impact. Faatina asked them if it was better to have a low number or a high one. Well, that one had been asked. A different question was in Norbert's mind. "What's defense and barrier?" he asked. I assume barrier is defense against magic while defense is how well you hold up against physical attacks, but I'd rather know exactly what the difference is. I guess if that arrow uses both physical and magical damage, it makes sense they could test for both with one shot, but I thought they were going to test endurance.

[Phoenix]

Restaurant

Neela accepted the money and bowed. "Thank you for you patronage, sir."

Warrior's Field

"You want as high a number as you can get." Tali replied simply. "Tier one defense or resistance is pretty common, though, so it's not necessarily bad as long as you can make up for it in other areas. Overall, stamina's more important than defense or resistance, but high marks in all three make you an ideal defensive fighter."

Mandy decided to answer Bert's question before continuing. "Your defensive rank let's us know how well you defend against attacks. Kind of self explanatory, really. The other one's magical resistance. Same thing, but against magic. You hardly ever run into people with good marks there unless they're magic users themselves ... even then you don't see particularly high ranks often."

Edited May 23, 2012 by Phoenix

[Eail]

"A break might do us all some good." Zach admitted with a sigh "Would it be all right if I asked you a few questions once we get out of this room Miss Raquel? There are some things I'd like to know." He asked the Pinkette while eyeing the jewel.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Looked like things were heading full force for break town. "I certainly excited things it seems," Gar grunted. "So, who's gonna play my watchdog? Or should I just kick-back and raid the rum storage until you all get back?" Gar crossed his arms.

[Snike]

Almost immediately after Blake threw his break proposal out, others jumped on it. Valter, Veronika, and Gar were the first to react, with each of them supporting the break, albeit for maybe slightly different reasons. Raquel, luckily, decided to support the break as well. If it wasn't clear from her expression earlier that she was the one who needed the breather the most, it was now due to the poor girl's hurried speech. Hopefully this intermission could help. Not that he cared, or anything. It was just more productive to have the leader focused, that was all.

After a moment to consider whether he should guard Gar, or not, Blake left the room and moved back to the Leverager, for the time being. This was partially due to the fact that he figured that John would likely guard Gar, and partially due to the fact that yes, he did need to clear his head. The swordsman needed some more time to completely think through the whole situation.

___

"I see..." Grant said, his smile faltering for a moment. He quickly remedied that, and offered a hand to the unarmored Rexian. "Grant Brayden, duelist. Tell me, what quarrel would you have with Mr. Krausche that would have you exchange a pegasus, the most expensive mount in the world, for any information on him? It's quite a risk you're taking, regardless." A risk that might pay off. The man certainly picked the right moment to pester Claudia, anyways.

[Phoenix]

Wardroom

"S-sure ... I guess." No she hadn't recovered one bit from the initial shock. Still too many worries plaguing her about the Captain and the two newcomers.

"I volunteer to keep an eye on one of them. You." Shadrak pointed his finger at Zachery. "It should be obvious, but you won't be questioning her about anything 'in private'." After stating those terms, he crossed his arms.

Claudia's Booth

It was one of those situations where Reign was pretty certain that he was in one of the following scenarios. Waist deep in trouble, and only still alive by the curiosity of the enemy, OR damn lucky to have come across some potential allies. The former demanded alluding to factors that would keep him alive long enough to get back into an unsecure location where escaping was actually feasible. The latter meant he only needed to try and get support without misrepresenting the group's cause. Well even if they planned to kill him at some point, there was no need to be rude. He shook Grant's hand saying "Oh I take risks all the time. Comes with the territory."

Oh my, he's not quite what I thought he was. Yes, he is ... definitely ... a soldier .... Claudia thought to herself while eyeing the nomad. She was carefully watching Reign's every move. She seemed to be able to pick up on things about him just based on his body language. He might have been inadvertently dropping other hints to her, but she was quickly figuring him out bit by bit.

"It's honestly not my quarrel, but I'll help however I can."

"Sounds like you're doing this for someone you care about ..." Claudia speculated aloud.

"I'd hate to see her hurt over something like this, yes."

All the allusion! Somebody had to talk straight sooner or later! Stay tuned and find out if that ever happens ...

[ReformBlade]

Being shot with that arrow was certainly odd. Of course Aneda yelped in an initial reaction, actually falling off of Hannah which kind of spooked the poor Pegasus, "Hannah, Hanna calm down! It's OK girl, I'm fiiine, it's all good!" She had to rub where it was shot but she couldn't exactly stop herself from grimacing slightly. "God DAMN! I know you warned but UGGGH!" Of course, being the capable young woman she was, she took it all in stride, getting up and quickly grabbing hold of Hannah's reins, a smile on her face.

"Seriously?" Dude do it, I wanna see if she like... does it, you know? Davod hesitantly opened his mouth and leaned forward a little, the awkwardness of the situation not lost on him whatsoever. Of course, a story is a story, who knows what twists exist in them?

[Eail]

'Well no shit ya jerkass but really, if I was trying to kill her I wouldn't have gone through all the trouble of this..... Probably shouldn't say that part though, poor girl looks like she's about to have a mental breakdown at the moment. As for him, he's a mage for sure but his aura isn't as powerful as the guy that left before or mine. Based off his attitude though he is definitely a user of Elder Magic, those guys are always pricks.'

"Figured that much, can we at least go above deck to get some air Sir? Miss Raquel really looks like she could use some. No preference for whoever comes along though." Replied Zach to the dark clothed mage

[Snike]

"What a territory it must be, " Grant said, still smiling. So the Rexian was either a mercenary or a soldier. The fact that he was fighting for someone else suggested mercenary, but when said individual was revealed to be a woman who he 'cared for', as Coz put it so aptly, the warlock decided that the stranger was most likely a soldier.

But his occupation wasn't important in the grand scheme of things. What WAS important was that Cervantes was an enemy of this man's band of travelers. That could help them.

"A noble sentiment," Grant said warmly, before continuing on. "I suppose now the question is, 'How did your companion draw the ire of Mr Krausche? Or rather, why is he her enemy? Is Cervantes planning an attack on your close friend?" The questions were entirely serious, despite the duelist's delivery.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"I don't think the captain would be very amused by you raiding the rum storage," she said dryly. "I'll watch Gar for the time being, make sure there aren't any unfortunate incidents," she said, standing closer to the newcomer. "I'm Veronika by the way," she said to him, figuring she should at least be moderately polite if they were going to work together in the future.

Connor

Gabbie seemed interested in feeding Davod- Connor found it a little odd since Davod seemed to have fully functional hands- but he decided to focus on his own meal for the time being and ignore them.

Nadya

"So, it's some kinda magic arrow that doesn't really hurt...not as bad as gettin' shot with an actual arrow I guess," Nadya said, relieved that she would not have be shot to pass this test. Can't think of many other practical uses though...usually you want to kill things when you shoot an arrow at 'em. Unless you're Robin I guess.

Clara

"Well...you don't always have to like the people you work with," Clara admitted somewhat sadly. "Just try to put the bad incidents behind you and move on I say. But I was wondering...what about your real daughter? I don't think she's part of the Organization, we actually have orders to capture her should we come across her," she said to Jethro.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Well, I suppose that takes care of him.> John thought. And now it seems Zach wanted to talk with Raquel, which prompted Shadrak on the defensive immediately. <Oh yeah, he did mentioned they weren't told Raquel had the emblem. He is probably going to ask her about that. Hmm...>

Maybe once the break is over I should just stay on the deck. Sophia thought. After all this I don't think it'd do me good wanting to hear the rest of it... And so, she began to head back to the deck.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

The Druid or Shaman whichever, guy picked his choice of heading off to watch Zachary and Raquel. He looked at the darkness guy and said, "My, my, you come stalking after me but decide to go with him. I'm almost jealous," Gar smirked with his eyes close. But instead of Mister Question finally taking it upon himself to play watchdog, it turned out to be the redhead swordmiss. "Can't say I predicted that," Gar jovially remarked. "Certainly an improvement over our armored friend though." Gar grinned. "Moving unto the rum though, well with all raiding money, changes hands, but in this case it'd be going into the ones being raided. So it's more like shopping, just with a more entertaining name." Gar shrugged. "Well, anyway, pleased to meet your acquaintance Veronika, is there anyplace in particular you'd like to watch me from?"

Edited May 24, 2012 by Script

[-Cynthia-]

"Stealing isn't the same as shopping- ah nevermind," Veronika said, not particularly wanting to debate the matter. "You can go where you want really, you're not a prisoner here. Just try not to go too far before Raquel makes a decision," she said to Gar.

[Phoenix]

Wardroom

"If you really care about her getting some air, then you shouldn't bother her about anything right now." Shadrak shot back. "I don't want to be rude, but there's just no avoiding it; it's really none of your business, honestly. There are more important things to worry about right now."

"I ... don't ... really mind, I guess." Raquel tried to chime in, but it was obvious she was struggling with the subject.

"Oh really?"

"... uhh."

Bogdan just quietly observed for the moment. Young people said the darnest things if one just stood around listening from the background instead of cutting in out of curiosity whenever something interesting came up. He was piecing together plenty on his own with the way they were going on.

Restaurant

A mouth was opened, and it was quickly stuffed. The last meal of the day Davod might actually be able to taste in all likelihood. Gabbie was happy to help, and to be a part of some future story. "Savoooor iiiit~" she warned with a smile.

Claudia's Booth

"Funny you mention that. The source says he's the one that got saddled with planning the attack. I'm guessing they're just going to be waiting around to ambush whoever shows up." Reign explained with a shrug.

His lady friend is a target? Tch, what makes her so special, hmm? Perhaps Mister Krausche's men were hired for this and it's nothing personal. Typical around here, but it still makes me wonder who she is and what's so special about her. Claudia thought to herself, not taking her eyes off of Reign for a second.

"As for why? I'm not big on the details, honestly, but I will say that there's a third party involved."

Hiding some of what he does know while speaking the truth. Whatever. We'll find out everything soon enough.

Warrior's Field

"Well if it makes you feel any better, we're pretty sure what your resistance is ... I mean if Tali wrote it down already." Mandy replied.

Tali nodded affirmatively. "I did. One more and I can definitely get your general defense. You might want to get your lance, though."

"That looks like a defensive lance. If so, you might want to account for that." Mandy advised.

"Like I need to be told that ..." She then looked over at Nadya as she made her own assessment of the arrows. "Oh they 'hurt', alright, but as long as you don't get hit in the face, you'll be alright." she clarified.

Mining Town

"Not everyone is interested in 'capturing' my daughter, not after all the men we've lost trying. Seems Sardis' only redeeming quality is that he's keeping the others from trying to kill her themselves. It's going to be a much tougher argument to sell now that he has that imitation to use." Jethro replied.

"That's where you draw the line, though, isn't it?"

Jethro nodded. "Right. If Zerachiel tries anything ..." He didn't finish that statement but it was obvious where that was going.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Guess that put's the crow's nest out of the options then huh?" Gar half-stated. Things seemed to be getting a bit more stuffy for Raquel, so it looked time to duck out. "Well, no sense in staying here and just adding to my dear employer's problems," Gar said as plain as he could. "I'll just be on the main deck." He looked at Veronika. "Well, actually make that a we." He finished and did just that, moving with contrived quickness outside and taking a good hard lean out over the ship railing once on the deck, waiting for his watchdog to track him down.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Script

[Eail]

'Fuck it, i've had a shitty half a year. I deserve some way to vent aside from drowning it in booze, guess this jerkass just gave me a way out'

"Ya know kid for not knowing a damn thing about this situation you sure are jumping to some quick conclusions on whether or not it's my business. And for the trying to not be rude thing? You're pretty awful at it, then again as a user of Elder Magic I should expect you to be a prick, I've only met one person that uses that magic hasn't been. But I suppose I could add Raquel to that list based off her Aura" Vented Zach at the shorter mage

"Miss Raquel do you really mind or not if we can just sit down and talk for a while? I want to know just what you're group has been through, and another specific thing." Said Zach as he turned back towards the Pinky

[Phoenix]

Wardroom

Shadrak rolled his eyes at the attempted insults. "Stereotyping? Oh ... well, if that's the only way you can figure out what's what in life, then so be it. Too bad you're not smart enough to figure out why she could use some air."

As for Raquel ... well she was being bombarded by the last thirty days of sheer hell they had survived. When the prospect of going over any of that came up, the memories came flooding back in. The last thing she recalled before she said anything was Lilith herself, fusing the emblem piece into the jewel she carried. She never thought she would be able to remove it on her own, but she had ... otherwise the emblem would still be in plain sight at all times. That was Lilith's intention, but Raquel loathed the idea, even more so since she was never given a choice in the matter. She had no idea what she was going to say about all of that, and it certainly wasn't her favorite topic, either. There didn't look to be any escape, and with Captain Bogdan right there, anyway ... "What's the use ..." she muttered.

Shadrak buried his face in his palm the second he realized that she was reaching into her small bag for the emblem. She pulled out the fire emblem piece, and it still held the shape of a broken medallion. Bogdan raised an eyebrow. It looked like it might be unprocessed gold, but the fire emblem that was mentioned? He doubted it, but didn't plan on saying anything just yet. "This is it." she admitted. "This is what they're trying to capture me and kill my friends over. A piece of the fire emblem. We try to keep this information hidden because we don't know who we can trust and ... it's just dangerous in general."

"Strictly a need to know basis." Shadrak summarized. "Or at least it is until people start pressuring her."

[Mercakete]

Gytha had remained in the wardroom, mostly thinking about her own secret. Raquel, meanwhile, relented on hers and showed all present the emblem and summarized what it was. She looked like she was out of strength. "Oy, Raquel," Gytha sighed, "If it's a secret worth keepin', keep it as long as ye can. If ye give up that easy on somethin' this important, ye'll onla make things harder fer yerself n' ye'll wind up failin'." With that stated, the mariner left the wardroom to wander about on her own. There were so many secrets about that day. It was hard for her mind not to wander to her own and to those connected to it.

[Eail]

"Is it stereotyping if it's true?" Zachary responded. "Anyways I suppose I should leave you alone Raquel before the puppy starts tipping again. The rest of my questions can wait until the cult business is over, if you need me I'll be back in a little while, I'm heading to the Warriors Guild to talk to some people I know. Am I going to have to have an escort for that?"

Edited May 24, 2012 by Eail

[Acacia Sgt]

Looks like there was a change of plans. <She really could use a moment to rest.> John thought. <But looks like she decided to bring out the emblem here anyway. Too bad Gar decided to leave, heh.> Well, time to remain here just a little while longer then.

-----

Sophia returned to the deck, deep in thought. Looks like no matter where we are, we are in danger all the same. She was thinking. And not even making it back to Ursium will change that. Yes, the organization had attacked them in Ursium before, and now she knew the Wrathites were also after them. All this because of the piece of the emblem. At this point she wasn't really paying attention to where was walking at. She spotted something on the corner of her eye and walked over to lean back to and sat down. I suppose it is something too late to back down from. Even if we did, those people will keep following their plans, with even less of the few opposition they have. But such the situation is, and I got myself involved now. She sighed, closing her eyes.

-----

Ever since John went inside the ship Gil had remained on the deck. He was quite a bit bored. There wasn't much to do. Even flying around had little purpose just for the sake of flying. Maybe if he grabbed another human and left them hanged from the air? Though it wasn't apparent back then, he seems to have enjoyed it. It was like having prey at your mercy, unable to get away from you, all decided by your judgement... well, his master's, but he wasn't around. Then again, the human who had screamed much wasn't around either.

Oh what was a wyvern to do around here? Maybe he should just nap the time away. Yes, that should do. Just lie down on the deck and go to sleep...

And then he felt something up to his side and heard a sigh.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[saifors]

Restaurant

Now that he had eaten there wasn't any reason to stay so Dion stood up from his chair and started to walk to the exit while reading his book, he probably wouldn't even notice if he bumped into someone.

[roymbrog]

After leaving the ship, Valter had to decide where to start searching, because truthfully, he had no idea where Synthia had gone. It would make more sense to look for anyone who had left that morning to ask if they’d seen her or his horse. That was another thing; he didn’t have Phyllis. This was going to be a pain. After a half hour of fruitless searching- well not quite fruitless, he’d picked up a mango- he happened upon a building with a familiar wyvern perched on its roof. If Ringo was hanging around up there his owner was probably in the restaurant. As he walked through the doorway, however, there was someone who had decided to be negligent of their surroundings.

He managed not to crash into the guy by quickly stepping to the side and letting the reading mage walk past him. Crisis averted, he approached the table where Gabbie was apparently feeding Davod. He almost asked what was going on before deciding that no, he really didn’t want to know anyway. “Excuse me, and this may be an odd question, but have you seen Synthia anywhere?” Another thought struck him, something they should probably know. “Uh, you three should probably head back to the ship after eating. We’re in a predicament and you’ll need to get up to speed…”

[ReformBlade]

Aneda's eyes widened and she rushed for her weapon, ready for another shot. She wasn't brimming with confidence or really all that scared or anything, she just wanted the shock to be over with. "I'm ready when you are..." She said, taking a defensive stance with the spear. It shouldn't be as bad this time, now that I've got my trusty weapon at the ready... Hmm... I've had this thing for a while... perhaps I should name it? Something cool, something powerful...

Expected yet unexpected at the same time, Davod reeled back a bit, laughing and trying to talk in a muffled voice, "Heh, you would do that, wouldn't you?" Haaaaaahahaaha, wow, you sure know how to pick em, Davy boy! She's scary, not like the other one ahahaha! Coughing a little, Davod eventually chewed it up enough to swallow it, taking a nice swig of water afterwards. "Thanks for the mercy meal." He said with a grin, wondering when the food would arrive... And then... Valter, was it? He showed up and said stuff. "Uh... That's ominous sounding. What's the problem now?"

Edited May 25, 2012 by RainbowKitty

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

She followed Gar out to the main deck, attempting to match his speed and eventually seeing him lean on the ship's railing. I hope he's not planning to make an escape here- that would get messy rather quickly, she mused to herself, watching Gar closely.