Return of the Emblem Chapter Nine: Consolidating Forces

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

A duelist hmm? Our battles don't usually seem to involve duels, but if he's willing to help I won't reject it. Veronika thought to herself as the newcomer Grant was introduced. "We can have the meeting and eat at the same time, if there isn't enough stew I'm sure people can find something else to eat," she said curtly.

Nadya

Nadya arrived back at the Leverager and put Luca below decks for the moment. When she got back to the rest of the group, they were discussing some sort of meeting. Guessing that includes me- gotta know what to do before we go crackin' skulls.

Connor

Who are all these people? They don't look like members of the crew, but I don't remember seeing them before either. Connor thought to himself before their introductions began answering his questions. We sure are good at picking up people quickly...must be some talent of Raquel's, he deduced.

[Phoenix]

Leverager

"You already went through the trouble of making it, Robin ... besides, we're not really going to be handling this until after dark, anyway. If we can't make time to eat, I think we're working too hard." Raquel replied.

[Snike]

"Pleasure to meet you," Grant said to Zachary, offering a hand. "I have a few questions to ask of you, but let's start with the most important one in my mind at the moment. Do you know of a Read Hairing? He would've been in the cult, assuming that your cult exists, a few months ago, if what I suspect is accurate."

[Snowy_One]

"Thank you Raquel. The stew is down in the galley right now. I asked one of the chefs to mind it while I came up to see what was going on. It is a nice stew made from venison with carrots, potatoes, onions, and other vegetables on the side and with various spices. My father taught it to me when I was a child. I did not have all the ingredients on the trail, but I did my best here. Some red wine would likely go well with it as well, but I did not want to intoxicate any of our members. I do not drink either."

Robin quickly moved closer to Raquel, almost grabbing the girl by the arm and yanking her away to the kitchen.

"Come on everyone! Stew is on!"

[Eail]

Accepting the handshake Zach nodded "Was in the cult are the keys words here, he was executed a few months ago for "Treachery against the Goddess" as it's called. I'd like to think he had the same goals as me, but you can never be certain about these things."

'Man oh man was that guys death a messy one, my first execution witnessing and by far the bloodiest one'

[Mercakete]

So, Robin had seized Raquel's arm and was pulling her into the ship while Raquel herself seemed to have her other arm full. It couldn't be easy to carry that wad of cloth like that. The sight invoked a mild mix of emotions in the pegasus rider as he followed along towards the ship's dining area, the chief among them being amusement and pity. It was a comical scene but at the same time he felt a bit bad for Raquel being pulled along like that while trying to hold the contents of her full arm. It helped lighten his mood a little. Gytha also followed them.

Rizen tried following Norbert at first, but when she saw him go into the ship, she grimaced as only a pegasus could. It looked like they'd be apart again. She was somewhat miffed at his new behavior of leaving her alone. Clearly he was hit on the head too hard at some point. Hopefully he'd stop being defective soon. With an exasperated snort, Riz trotted back over to the wagon to stand around in agitation: exactly what this situation called for.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

It wasn't that hard to sketch the basics while eating right? Especially when you had a nice bowl to cup all the food in. Well, it was stew, so it could spill unexpectedly, and it was stew so it had lots of meaty chunks and stuff. But still, it should be that hard. Or maybe it was and Gar should go into cartography as a profession sometime in the future. Or maybe Zachary's glutton claim meant he was a sloppy eater. Well, yeah, that seemed like a possibility. Well anyway, cook girl was yet another person wondering why the meeting was still ongoing. Gar could claim it was because he was the cause, but there was enough pointless tension here as was. Veronika just suggested they moved the never-ending meeting to the galley anyway, Raquel didn't exactly agree to moving the meeting, but since she was going to eat the meeting would follow anyway. Cook girl more-or-less dragged her off right after explaining the stew.

That just left a bunch of other people, Zachary and Grant got into a little discussion regarding someone named Read Hairing. It took all of Gar's not inconsiderable willpower to resist bursting out laughing at that. Leverager, Fairweather and now Read Hairing? Why weird names always find him? Well, Fairweather wasn't really on the level of the other two, but eh Zachary was acting like a jerk so screw'em. Well, moving unto less obnoxious things, the Read guy got killed for acting against the cult, which meant they knew that there could be traitors in their ranks. Spiffy. No, actually that was the opposite of spiffy.

Well, everyone else moved off to the galley Gar would just wait and check who came aboard. It was an interesting little tactic.

Edited June 10, 2012 by Script

[Acacia Sgt]

The group was starting to head to the galley. Sophia also walked right away, but John first headed towards Gil, and began searching through the bags.

<I suppose if there really may not be enough stew for everyone, then might well get something else to help out.> He thought. As he looked, he took a slight glance at Gil. ''Tired of waiting huh.'' He said.

Gil just grunted.

''Heh, well yeah, it's probably gonna be that way for the rest of the day.''

Another grunt.

''Tell you what, if you're that bored then try to do something. Anything, well, barring anything troublesome of course, heh.'' He finally had what he wanted and closed the bag. ''Certainly better than lying here all day long. Well, see ya.''

Gil grunted again, but rose anyway. If that was how things were gonna be, then might as well.

As John walked back, he noticed Gar was still on the deck. ''Hey, you're not coming?'' He asked. ''Even if you're not interested in the stew the meeting is gonna continue. Considering you're now part of this so you might as well.'' And with that, he was on his way too.

Edited June 10, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[Phoenix]

Leverager

Though she didn't mind going off to eat right then, Raquel wasn't given much of a choice. She just tried not to lose her footing along the way. Gabbie followed along casually figuring that she could finish her sausage roll there. It was getting cold, but that didn't bother her one bit.

Reign thought it was a bit late for lunch and a bit early for dinner, but if everyone else was going to eat, he might as well join them. It wasn't necessarily to eat, himself; he wasn't with this group. He made a mental note to ask Raquel to sell him a tome later once the current situation was resolved and then followed along with the others.

Inside the kitchen, one of the chefs was minding Robin's stew, while the other was preparing some other meal to sate whoever else was beaten to the stew.

Guild Stables

It was quiet in the stables for awhile. With Talitha talked out of mutilating herself to fit in, Mandy's job was done. Shadrak felt compelled to begin pestering her with questions but held back, despite the situation. After all of that venting, it just didn't feel right. He hit up on another idea, instead, though. "I have a proposal."

"Sex fiend, I knew it." Talitha interjected quietly.

"Stop, that's not it. I want to ask you a lot of things, but you're just recovering from ... from whatever that was. Zachery was here to ask for your help with the cult, right? Come down to the Leverager with me and see what's going on for yourselves. Hopefully learning more about the real sex fiend will be distracting enough to get your mind off of this racism thing."

"And then you'll remind her of it again with your halfbreed questions." Mandy added blankly. It seemed like she was trying to point out a big flaw in his plan.

"I'll save them for later. The more time goes by, the more questions I realize I have for her. It's better to do this when there's actually some free time. I was just suggesting you come down to learn more about the situation before making your decision. If anything, I'll probably have to wait until after the battle is over. If that's the case, then fine, but this is really important to me."

"Weirdo. Fine. Lead the way, I guess." Talitha replied, standing up and brushing off her thighs and tail.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

While Gar was waiting for the sake of waiting and everyone else already on board headed back inside, Armor Guy came up and questioned if Gar was actually going to go before moving himself. Gar chuckled a bit, now how could he refuse an invitation like that? So the not newest new-guy followed everyone else inside to the galley, the smell of that stew really picking up. Was that a good thing or bad thing? Well, either way it didn't affect him. Gar went and leaned against the galley wall watching everyone else settle in.

[Snike]

"I see...," Grant said, as he dropped his smile. So ended one of the best shots of Tremere. What a shame. "Alright, to the galley then, or wherever this group is heading to plan? The other questions aren't as relevant, I suppose." It'd be best to mourn later.

[Snowy_One]

As Robin and Raquel entered into the galley the full smell of the stew came over them in a heady cloud. Robin took in a deep breath, thankful at last that her stew was about to be served. "It smells good, right Raquel?" she asked with a happy tone in her voice as she walked over to the simmering pot that the cook had attended too.

"Thank you kindly for watching this pot." she said with a smile as she bent down over it. Despite the few minor errors, it was still a delicious stew, with a nice, thick sauce, well-cooked veggies, and succulent meat all spiced well; a four-star meal to be sure. Letting go of Raquel she quickly went to go and pick up some bowls before returning and dipping in the ladle to pull out a portion of stew. After pouring it into the bowl she quickly offered it up to Raquel.

"Here you go Raquel. As my boss, you get the first bowl. Be careful as it is still hot." she said happily.

[Phoenix]

Galley ... or kitchen ... ABOARD THE LEVERAGER

Raquel soon remembered that she was carrying the cloak that she had failed to recolor. Where was she going to put that? She couldn't try the stew without setting it down. "Ummm," she tried to respond and point out her 'situation'. Finally she just came out and said it. "Hold this" she told one of the chefs, giving him the cloak so she could hold the stew. She took a spoon full and blew on it a few times. She managed to get some of the meat and potatoes into the first spoon full, it looked like. It seemed like it might be cool enough to eat, now, so she took a bite.

"Strange, I can taste everything. It's not like with some other food where all you can taste are the seasonings. This really good, Robin." Raquel replied with a smile. "I should probably eat at a table, though. I don't have my ... 'sea legs' just yet, as they put it."

Meanwhile in the dining area, Gabbie sat down and put the remaining half of her wrapped sausage roll down in front of her. She then put her elbows on the table proceeded to look bored. Reign sat down nearby, and began stretching his neck.

Edited June 11, 2012 by Phoenix

[Eail]

'That guy must have been his friend or something, man this is just a mess. Thankfully it'll all be over by tonight.'

Making his way to the dining area Zach saw that Raquel was leaving the kitchen with a bowel of stew, obviously being where said stew came from. Going in he noticed that Robin was still there he walked up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey Robin, ready to see the look on the faces of these people once they see me eat your cooking? You know your stew was always my favorite."

[Mercakete]

As Raquel exited the kitchen with her stew, Zach entered the kitchen area where Robin was apparently serving it. He'd wound up passing most of the group that had followed the huntress, so apparently he was eager for the food. Or, as the case seemed to be, he was excited to talk with Robin. So, Gytha passed them up and entered the small kitchen area. It was pretty crowded as it was what with four people in a ship's cooking area, but there was a stack of bowls ready so Gytha simply dished herself a scoop of the stew, grabbed a spoon and headed back out to sit down at one of the tables to eat.

Meanwhile, Norbert had taken more notice of Raquel walking over to one of the tables, trying not to drop anything by the looks of it. He grimaced. She's going to trip over that cloak if this keeps up. So, he walked over. "Hey. You need some help carrying all that?" he asked, "You really should stop trying to carry so much at once. You did this in Sanctuary, too."

Gytha walked by as Norbert spoke with Raquel and simply sat down at a table and stirred around the stew a little with her spoon. It looked okay and smelled safe. Scooping out what bit of the broth she got with it, the mariner sipped it to taste the stew. It tasted fine. Actually, it wasn't bad. The flavors blended pretty well. So, taking a spoonful, the mariner began eating the stew proper. It seemed that this was a dish Robin knew how to cook pretty well. It was a bit hard to believe that that archer could make something like this. And so, Gytha proceeded to work on emptying her bowl, taking in the surprisingly good blend of hearty and refreshing flavors and textures.

[Acacia Sgt]

Sophia, and later John, reached the dining area, and sat down. John began to eat what he had brought with him as they waited.

''You are not planning on eating stew?'' Sophia asked him.

''I do, I just don't want it to be all I eat.'' He answered before taking another bite.

-----

Back on deck Gil began to flap his wings and took off. Even if just flying around the ship or over the ocean wasn't that different from lying there, it was better than doing nothing. At least it's good exercise.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Heh, if you can actually taste the meat that means the ingredients are actually fresh. Salt and spices and seasonings are usually used to cover up the taste of spoiled food during travels," Gar explained after Raquel's comment on taste. "Especially on ships. Since we're at port there's not a chance they won't be fresh though." Gar moved his hands beneath his cloak and grabbed something from one of his filled pouches, he brought out a shiny green apple from underneath his cloak. "Like this here fresh apple. Preserves well enough on its own that I always keep a couple on my person." Gar casually tossed the apple a foot into the air before letting it fall back into his hand and bringing it up for a bit. "Delicious," he said after chewing it down.

Edited June 11, 2012 by Script

[Phoenix]

Leverager

"Ah. Well she did go shopping earlier if I remember right." Raquel replied to Gar.

When Bert offered to help her with her things, she took the offer on reflex and reflex alone. The Sanctuary comment still got the cloak put on him rather than handed to him though; specifically, when it seemed like she was going to hand the cloak to him, she instead draped it over his shoulder and around his back, bringing her hand back around his head to do it all in one swift circular motion. Bert the Cloak Rack was born. "Thank you for the help, Bert." she replied, somewhat genuinely and somewhat teasingly. Now she at least wouldn't have to worry about getting back to the table without tripping on the thing.

Somewhere In Town

Shadrak and the guild girls were heading toward the docks from the Warrior's Guild building, walking all three side by side. "Even now I'm getting those looks." Talitha muttered as her head sank between her shoulders. She couldn't hide her tail, anywhere; it was as long as she was tall, and she didn't even have a cloak on, something she was sorely regretting right now.

"Relax. You're only noticing because you're not distracted by work. It's still fresh in your mind, that's all." Mandy chimed in, patting her friend on her shoulder.

"More importantly, nothing they think should matter. You've got friends who like you for who you are. That's got to be good enough." Shadrak added quickly.

"Are you one of those friends?" Talitha asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Shadrak sighed. "I'd like to be, but it seems like you don't trust me."

"You seem like an alright guy, but like all the others, you're thinking about my chest just as often as my feelings ... at least as often." she said, looking him in the eyes blankly.

Suddenly the horror of his investigative thinking came back to haunt him tenfold. Halfbreeds apparently had the same mind reading abilities of dark avians. Why had he forgotten this and not been on his guard?! WHY?! Thinking back to her first accusations in the stables, it became clear as day. She was wondering if he was a sex fiend, and the comment seemed to come out of nowhere. He assumed she was just jumping to conclusions, but looking back on the situation, he wasn't always looking at her face. Dammit. "I-I'm sorry, Tali ... really." he apologized while scratching his head. "It's ... an investigating spirit. I want to learn everything I can, and part of that involves having wandering eyes. Not to say you aren't attractive. You are, it's just that I ... have to be on the lookout for little details others might not see." Dammit.

"If life's mysteries are down my shirt, then no wonder I get weird looks. Let's just drop this." she replied.

"Okay, sure." OH THAT WAS A COMPLETE AND UTTER FAILURE!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE I GAVE SUCH A LOUSY ... ugh ... just ... UGH!!!

Talitha glanced over at Shadrak as he mentally berated himself and rolled her eyes. "Just drop it, Shadrak. I have wandering eyes, too. Archer, remember?"

"Yeah, but your eyes only wander until you have a shot ... then you rely on peripheral vision to spot anomalies." Mandy clarified.

"Drop it. Both of you." she demanded.

Edited June 11, 2012 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

It looked like she was about to hand over the cloak but suddenly it was around his shoulders. The act genuinely surprised the pegasus rider enough that it showed in his expression, causing his eyebrows to rise and breaking their near-constant tenseness. Along with the surprise was confusion. He didn't even say anything and had essentially frozen until she spoke, thanking him for his help in a sort of light, good-natured manner of teasing before she continued her walk over to the table of her choosing. ... Wait, what just happened?

Well, the natural next course of action was to follow the merchant -- he was wearing that cloak he was supposed to be carrying for her after all -- so after he stood there for a second trying to figure out how to react, he pursued his boss, winding up leaving the cloak on for now seeing as it freed up his arms in case he needed them anyway and he wasn't sure exactly why he was wearing and not carrying the cloak. It was best to just leave well enough alone since he had no idea how to deal with it at the moment.

[Snowy_One]

A soft jump came from Robin as Zach put his hand on her shoulder. She quickly turned around, ladle in hand, and gave him a soft rap on the forehead."<My stew was the only stew you could eat as you burned all your own cooking.>" said Robin with a smile as she gave a happy smile. She then picked up a second, and third bowl and quickly filled them before offering one to Zach. "<Don't screw this up for me, please. I would like it if you took a bowl out to the rest of the people.>" she said before looking to Raquel.

"Thank you Raquel. I have had a lot of practice cooking for myself and Zach. You should sit down though properly. Your hands seem full, so I will not ask you to take another bowl out to help serve the other party members."

[Phoenix]

Leverager

"Well you told me to try it, so I thought I'd do that first. I'm definitely not going to eat standing up, at least." Raquel replied before heading over to her seat. She sat down right next to Reign so she could more easily ask for his help. She set the stew down first, which got Reign's attention, but he pretended not to notice. Then she sat down and noticed Gabbie eating what looked like some kind of meat tucked away in a glazed bun. "What is that?"

"Sausage roll. Picked it up at a restaurant whoile we were out. It's a meal in and of itself, good flavor too. Why?"

"I was just curious. I guess you were serious about only wanting food you could eat on the go ..." Raquel answered with a small frown.

"... what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Theee stew's good, is all."

"Noted. If Robin ever pisses me off specifically, I'll happily accept her cooking as an apology, but it's got nothing to do with me and it leaves more for the rest of you."

"Seems like a convenient excuse to me, but alright." Raquel conceded. Without any warning, Gabbie reached over from across the table, took up Raquel's spoon with some of the stew in it and dumped the contents onto her sausage roll. She put the spoon right back where she got it from and took a bite of the roll, all to Raquel's complete and utter surprise. "What the ..." Maybe I was being a little too pushy ...

"Feel better? It was getting a little cold so some hot broth helps, and I've sampled the wonder stew, as well. All is roight in Sardius."

Edited June 12, 2012 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

Some exchange between Raquel and Robin and then Raquel finished her journey to a table and took a seat. Then, she began talking with Gabbie a little which resulted in the latter trying the former's stew via putting some into her own meal. The pegasus rider hadn't been paying the exchange much attention as he was trying to puzzle out how to phrase his question. Finally, he asked, "Do you want this cloak back?" He was still wearing it and really didn't know why or what to do with it.

[Phoenix]

Leverager

"Well if Zachery can give us the information we need, I guess we won't have to do any scouting. Just set it right here for now." Raquel instructed, gesturing to the spot beside her early dinner. She was hoping he would fold it up, first so it wouldn't take up a third of the table or only a fraction of it while covering the seat beside her. "I'll decide what to do with it once we're talking, again."

"You sure are putting a lot of preparation into this attack of yours." Reign noted. He was leaning forward, supporting his head on his left fist, glancing at Raquel and looking as bored as could be.

"So many knowns, so many unknowns. It's really frustrating. I doubt the enemy needs this much thought time before launching attacks on us." she complained.

Reign snorted at the comment. "That's probably why most of them are dead, no? Take your time, Raquel."

[Mercakete]

So, Raquel and that old friend of hers were talking, at least a little. He had his instruction, so Norbert took off the cloak and sloppily folded it up before placing it in its designated spot. Why sloppily? Well, he didn't really care much about how neatly the task was completed and he figured it wasn't all that important anyway. It wasn't folded too badly, just with haste anyway. Well, now that that was done, the pegasus rider went to pick up his own meal. Having seen Raquel's, he was looking forward to it. It didn't have much juice. Instead, it was mostly large chunks of meat and vegetables, though the meat was the main component: just the sort of thing he liked.

Robin and Zach seemed to be talking, so Norbert didn't interrupt. He just grabbed one of the bowls of soup that had already been left for people to take and headed over to the table Reign, Gabbie and Raquel were seated at, though further off from the others. It was good to be able to have conversation to listen to while he ate just in case he could pick up something interesting. Speaking of interesting, this stew was looking hearty and smelling savory: an irresistible combination. So, Bert took a spoonful with a cube of meat and some vegetables and broth and put it in his mouth. This is... He wasn't sure whether to savor the first bite or hurry up and get the second. The venison was tough and took some gnawing, but he preferred it that way. Once the first spoonful was down, he went right into taking another and split his attention between his food and listening to the nearby conversation.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Raquel handed off the green-cloak-to-be to some guy named Bert. Gar probably should have volunteered to take it himself, but the apple that was half eaten now was just too scrumptious to pass up. There really wasn't much else for him to do until things got back to the planning talk and stage, so he did what one of his specialties was, spy on people! If only there was anything interesting being said. Well, this little group having been to Sanctuary certainly was. But stew talk in neviskosian sure wasn't. Niether was dumping stew on a sausage roll.

And yet, despite the sheer boring nature of this eating time, it was sure as hell a lot better than competing for your meals.