Return of the Emblem Chapter Nine: Consolidating Forces

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

The way Robin worded her reply filled Gar with a burdening urge to stab some ponies. That wouldn't be a very brotherly thing to do however. Not too long after, Mandy and Talitha were back. While this certainly would cut one of Gar's trips aside, he really didn't want to deal with the Dark Avian half yet again. "Hey!" Gar called out to the boarding duo. His thoughts this time took fuel from the "passion" on display so recently. All the arguments and distaste that Robin and Gytha and Aneda--apparantly--swept aside beneath the bedsheets. "Can I have my eye-patch back?"

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

"Well ... we could always wait until we get to Yoshino. That's about halfway between here and Central. If it takes them a week to catch up to us, then Yoshino might be a good place to get off. How long will it take us to get there?" Raquel asked.

"Four days if we're lucky, five or six if we're not, and a little over a week if the wind god is particularly unhappy with us. Won't make it at all if those rebel scum intercept us, though. They won't come lightly armed, I know that much." the good doctor answered.

"Plotting an intercept course when you don't know exactly where your target's going can be very tricky. Get on their route too late and you miss them entirely or target the wrong ship. Get on early and you have a few false alarms that can really throw your men off balance. As long as they don't know exactly which route you're taking, it's ... not a terrible gamble." Reign commented apprehensively.

Main Deck

"Aaaand he remembered ..." Mandy said to no one in particular as she took out the patch and handed it over without looking at the man directly.

"Hey, is Faatina doing alright?" Talitha decided to ask once there was an opening. She really hoped the woman hadn't stumbled upon anymore brewing situations and decided to intervene.

[Acacia Sgt]

''I suppose so,'' John said. ''Though depending on how savvy they are, they can figure it out. After all, the objective is to get away from them and the areas they have presence in, and it's with a head-start, so they might think that too. Unless I'm wrong in giving them too much credit, they could anticipate it and be able to exploit it.''

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Yep, I'm a miser," Gar said as he took his eye-patch back. After a quick inspection to determine it was alright, he returned it to the security of the pouch. The name Faatina was new, but Gar cleverly/minimally-effortlessly deduced that Tina was a nickname for Faatina. "She was in the infirmary last I saw," Gar answered the halfbreed while his thoughts turned to naked nurses.

[Ether]

Nodding her head, Lisandra decided to follow Sophia out of the Dauntless.

*******

With a yawn, Faatina began to stir fully, stretching as sat up in her bed. Looking over, she saw Davod watching over her, recalling doctor's orders to make sure she didn't do anything else, thankfully before striking out at the man for some sort of perversion.

"You still here?" Faatina asked, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to wake up.

[Acacia Sgt]

Now that this whole side-trip of the Dauntless was over, it was time to really confirm it with Raquel. Sophia had no idea if she was awake already, but might as well try, right?

The deck seems to have already gathered quite a few of the group. But to her surprise, Mandy and Tali were here as well. Either way they were en route the path towards the inside of the ship.

''Good morning,'' she said as she approached the group.

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

"I guess I should get up, then," she began gloomily, already recalling the last of her memory from the previous day. Oddly she didn't recall actually being taken down, but she knew that she had due to a lingering pain in her chest. She wasn't sure if it was a gunshot, an arrow or maybe even a lance or some other thin sharp weapon, though. It seemed like it was probably an arrow, though. There was no burn residue on her clothing, just a small hole with a little dry blood lining it. "I need to fix this ..."

"Need a tome?" Reign inquired, finding it ironic that he was the one asking that question.

"... yeah."

"A few of our boys know how to mend clothing. I'm sure they wouldn't mind doing you folks a favor or ... several." the man chimed in.

"It's okay, I fix my own clothes, and it's good practice. Besides, patches are kind of ugly, so I prefer reweaving."

Main Deck

"Oh, hello." Mandy greeted. It seemed like the girl they rescued was still with them. It was only morning, so they probably hadn't decided what to do with her yet. Later in the day and she might have wondered why she was still around. The girl was still wearing some disturbingly damaged clothing, though ... "Say, are you guys going to see to her-erm ... 'attire', at some point? The best way to start off an adoption is with breakfast and a shopping trip, I say~"

"Wwwwhich way to the infirmary?" Talitha asked, already scanning the main deck.

Streets of Tremere

Volya's discussion with the thugs hadn't ended violently for some reason, and he was able to get back to where he was going without further interruption. Actually there was one interruption that rings a bell. About halfway to his destination from the alley, a pair of guardsmen ran up from behind, seeming more interested in getting the winged man's attention than attacking or arresting him. "You, sir! Please wait! Sir!"

Volya stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around to face them. "Can I help you, officers?"

Both men circled around to his front and one of them took the time to catch his breath while the other spoke. "We were told to keep our eyes open for an avian in a hood. Apparently Miss Claudia wants to speak with him. Are you him?"

"Is this about last night's battle?"

"I don't know; we were only told to keep an eye out for you and send word if we saw anyone matching your description."

"But you're headed for the docks," the other guard chimed in. "If you're leaving, then we need to ask you to please wait until you've spoken with the young mistress."

Volya didn't respond right away, instead taking a moment to look straight up into the sky. It was relatively early in the day, still. Two small birds flew overhead, and one of their shadows crossed his face before he returned his attention to the guards. "Should I go someplace in particular or just wait here?"

"We'll find out soon enough, I figure." The guard shrugged before turning to his associate. "Go tell them we found someone matching his description." The other guard nodded and then ran off back the way they came.

"There aren't any coincidences ... so hopefully this little delay is worth something." Voyla muttered to himself.

[Acacia Sgt]

''I suppose the others should be told as well,'' John said. ''Their input of the situation might help reach a final decision.''

-----

''Well, I tried to see if Raquel had some spare clothes in her wagon,'' Sophia said. ''But I was told that most likely not. I was going to see with her personally, but now that you mention it, a shopping trip may be for the best.''

[Eail]

"I was actually just talking about taking her out for some clothes, I've got more than enough money on me to buy her some stuff to wear." Zach said "Gar lent me his cloak so she can cover herself up with that until we get to the store."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Dress her up all nice and pretty for the trip to her castle," Gar amused himself for no reason.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"Not sure where everyone else at the moment- maybe we should try the galley? You could probably use some food in you as well," Veronika said to Raquel.

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

"Honestly, I'd rather fix this first," Raquel replied, having opened her vest and stuck her finger through the hole in it. "... maybe coming to the front lines wasn't such a good idea after all. Just a couple of inches to the left and I'd be ..."

"It's better not to think about stuff like that." Reign interjected.

Main Deck

"... never mind. I'll just find it, myself." Talitha spoke up again. She didn't feel like prying anyone away from their little discussion, so she wandered off to search on her own. Mandy thought about accompanying her, but decided against for the moment. First she wanted to see what was going to come of the conversation about the girl.

[Acacia Sgt]

Seems that was the end result, going into town to shop for clothes. If only I had enough money, Sophia thought. I could buy something for myself, if only to have spares for this trip, oh well. Though I still need to do something regarding the hole of this ones. Tali then announced going to find the infirmary by herself. Hmm, maybe I should still see if Raquel has awakened. So she decided to follow after her.

-----

''I suppose they can wait,'' John said. ''As on the other hand, wanting to pitch in their opinions, it might make it take longer to reach a decision.'' <And then we might end up not leaving the ship even if we decide to leave or something. Money aside, the time to go get a crane and bring the Dauntless to the dock is also also to take into consideration if we do decided to leave.>

[roymbrog]

Synthia did a whole lot of eating, Valter did a whole lot of nothing. Torin did a whole lot of hiding.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"Your assistance helped us win the battle- but there isn't much point to us winning if you die in the process," Veronika said grimly. "Maybe it would be for the best if you stayed in the Dauntless during combat." Her mind drifted towards her own clothing, which had a rather large tear in it for the previous battle. I'd ask Raquel to fix it but she seems a little overburdened, my other set of clothes might do for now.

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

"You two have got me wondering why she started fighting on the front in the first place," Reign chimed in. "Is this your first time taking a bad hit?"

"I got shot long before I ever got involved like this. It's just now it seems a lot more dangerous, I guess. I don't really know how long I was dealing with those archers, but apparently one of them got me. I think I hate archers ..." Raquel replied, still messing with the hole in her vest. "The only other way I can think of to avoid going down like that is to get some armor, but I don't know where to start. Should I get a chestplate or will that slow me down? And won't they just start aiming for my head, then? Maybe a shield, but then I can't handle my staves as easily ..."

"How about you just get a better guardian? Seems less complicated to me." he offered. If she dies, this little group of theirs will probably fall apart, so even though she's not the princess of some country, she's still important. At least that's what I think the group's situation is. Mercenary employer fighting alongside the mercenaries ... and vigilantes ... that's interesting. Reign thought to himself.

Galley

The next rounds of bacon were set out, and the next wave of sailors entered the area to fill their stomachs. The overcrowding was only slightly mitigated by the few sailors leaving. They didn't seem to care for any side dishes the cooks might have been making, but when feeding so many, that may not have even been in their plans. The bacon breakfast seemed swift and effective, and these men had places to be and work to do soon. Shadrak finally got a moment of peace when his 'friends' stopped harassing him and began to focus on eating. Shadrak wiped his tome clean on his cloak and then stuffed everything he had into underneath it like some sort of pocket dimension, grabbed a few strips of bacon from the pile and then made for the exit with great haste. "Crazy people ... barbarians ... jerks ..." he muttered title after title along the way.

Over the Sea Let's Go, Drakes

"So rare ... and so powerful. It's a shame that what I'm doing will only be perceived by others as a ... 'desperate young warlord racing to claim a prize he's not worthy of' or some other tripe, but considering how things have played out thus far, direct intervention is really the only logical course of action one can take, here. I suppose it's a small price to pay in the long run ... for a shadow." The man saying that was sitting comfortably in a small chair overlooking the water. He had bright blond hair, mostly unkempt, with the longest locks tied and rested over his chest. The ship he was on was massive, noticeably larger than a ship of the line. It was a little over two hundred feet in length, but seemed less heavily armed than a ship that size would indicate, and the masts were farther apart from each other making room for a very large opening in the main deck. The ship was a carrier, designed to store either several squadrons of flying soldiers, or up to two dragons.

"Milord," a seaman approached and gave a quick salute.

"Do you have something for me?"

"The island has appeared on the horizon. The men are preparing to break formation and secure the region."

"'Secure the region'?"

"That is to say, we are planning to blockade the escape routes they might try to use. We wanted to go straight to the port and capture the ship, but ..."

"But what? Lost your nerve?" the man asked, looking vaguely displeased.

"There are just too many ships docked at Tremere. We would have to act quickly to keep them from escaping, and the locals will not just lie down and take that quietly. The port patrols will try to stop us before we even reach the docks. If we start a battle with the patrols there, we could draw unwanted attention to the operations in this region. Some of the captains would prefer to avoid losses and the potential risk of them learning about the smuggling operation and simply cut off all of their escape routes." the sailor explained.

"You people should know that I hate giving the enemy room to maneuver. That aside, there are too many measures they could take with those eggs to thwart us easily. I won't have that. The locals will be warned to stay out of our business, and if they don't listen, they'll wish they had in the end. Tell the captains to assemble on the Outer Sanctum for one last meeting. There's a certain way I want to handle this, and I need to make certain that they don't deviate from it."

"Yes, Milord." And with that, the seaman left.

The man sighed. "This is going to be an interesting day ...."

Edited July 29, 2012 by Phoenix

[Acacia Sgt]

''I second that suggestion,'' John said. ''The circumstances of last night were their own, previously we've come out better than that. Besides, projectiles will always be a nuisance since they aren't as easy to see coming or to intercept them, but that can easily be solved by drawing their attention elsewhere or dealing with them quick enough. That would certainly also cut some slack to the guardian.''

[Mercakete]

When she'd finished eating, not taking any more than to satisfy her hunger and hold her over, Gytha brought her plate over to the washing area and put it in its proper place before heading back over to check on how Synthia was doing. "Hoy, ye reada t' go?" she asked.

Edited July 29, 2012 by Mercakete

[roymbrog]

“Yeah,” Synthia replied, standing up. She grabbed her tome from the table. “Just a quick stop at the infirmary to see if Valter's awake and we can go. Where is it, exactly?”

-----

Well, no one was visible between his hiding spot and the stairs... Torin decided to make a dash for it. The sailors hadn't noticed him yet, so hopefully they wouldn't this time either. He jumped up and ran towards the entrance.

[Mercakete]

"I'll show ye," Gytha replied before she began leading the way out of the galley and towards the infirmary. As she walked, Gytha was happy to notice that she was beginning to understand just where everything was in this particular ship. Depending on how long they stayed here, that could only be handy.

It took a reasonably short walk to reach sick bay and once they arrived, Gytha knocked on the door and waited.

[roymbrog]

Synthia was following Gytha when Torin spotted her. He tumbled down the steps, almost crashing into a couple of crates against the far wall and bounded towards her. “Hey! Hey, mage lady! You'll never guess what-”

Synthia grabbed his arm and kept walking. Torin shut his mouth for only a moment. “Hey, where are we going? Who's the sailor chick? Oh wait, I was gonna tell you something important, yeah. We don't need the money anymore because they let Antonio go~”

They reached the infirmary door, Gytha knocked, and Synthia looked questioningly at Torin. “Why? What happened?”

-----

Someone came knocking, and most people were still discussing things. Valter decided to get it himself. (Why was someone knocking anyway? Most people barged right in...) Anyway, he tried to get up but immediately felt dizzy and sat back down again. It wasn't worth falling over people. He hated feeling like an invalid... “Someone should probably get the door. I would, but...” He shrugged, which didn't really say much actually.

[Snike]

The sellsword practised for a while longer, until finally, exhausted, he retired for the night. In the morning, Blake once again returned to the aft, and resumed his practice with vehemence. Worst-case scenario, he'd get kicked out and would have to resort to local jobs to pay his way off of the island, which would mean sharpened skills would come into handy. Best-case, he'd still need to fight, so practice would make perfect.

[Acacia Sgt]

''I'll go get it,'' John said as he walked over and opened it. ''Hello everybody,'' he then stepped back to let them in.

[Mercakete]

Well, it sounded like Synthia was talking to someone. So, Gytha looked over and saw she was holding the arm of a boy. But then right after she noticed that, the door opened and John greeted them, stepping aside to let them in. Sick bay was quite crowded so at first Gytha was just going to wait for Synthia to be done with visiting Valter but then noticed that Raquel was awake. "Ah, ye look like yer doin' better," she commented happily as she entered the room, placing her hands on her hips with a smile. Valter was doing better, too, it seemed. Only Norbert was still unconscious.

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

It was impossible not to notice but like he was about to put this off after the chewing-out he got from his boss. The hired arm and a couple others like him had been sent off to move something from the docks the previous night and they'd found the wagon and horses. Apparently that was the wrong cargo which meant they had an unhappy captain which meant an unhappy boss. So, it was time to return the wagon and horses before they were charged with theft. The worker even went so far as to make sure it was put in the exact same place and position as he'd found it in. Well, he and the others had embarrassed the company. They were sure to get pay cuts... Well, as soon as that was done, he hurried away to try to save as much face as possible on behalf of the company.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Mercakete

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"Not sure who would be capable enough to act as a guard- we have powerful enemies I fear," Veronika said dubiously as Gytha made her way towards the group. I wonder if Gytha's judgment would be valuable in deciding whether to leave the Leverager or not, considering her previous experience with ships. Though her actions in Sanctuary do make me doubt her judgment skills. she thought to herself, leaving up to Raquel to bring the matter up.