Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Mercakete]

"Hmm... D' ye think we shoulda bright that horse with us?" Gytha wondered aloud to Veronika.

The gathering of comrades continued as Valter, Norbert and Nadya joined the assembled. Norbert, for one, felt better now that he was with the majority of the group again. Especially when he saw a particular someone. A smile grew on his face when he saw her and hurried over. Though he hadn't been expecting to see her, he was quite glad she was there. "Rizen!"

The pegasus looked in the direction the sound of her name came from instantly. She knew that voice! And yes, there he was. Her rider wasn't only alive, but appeared to be mostly unharmed, though he looked like he probably fell over earlier. Like her, he still had his armor on, too. She was just happy to see him, letting loose a happy whinny as he briefly hugged her around her neck and patted her head. She felt that her world had stabilized with him around and could feel her courage returning.

However, with that courage also came shame as she still hadn't recovered the missing things... Though, wait. He wasn't carrying the things he usually carried either. It was odd since he loved the things he normally carried and was just as careful about guarding them as she was about guarding the things she carried. Whatever had bested her had also bested him, perhaps. He didn't seem upset at all, either, so her fears vanished and she could just enjoy being with her rider again.

As Rizen nosed his face, a conversation between Raquel and...someone else... Who was that guy? Anyway, a conversation between the two caught Norbert's attention. Well, especially since it seemed to be more addressed to the group as a whole as a couple people were chiming in. Apparently, there was some sort of test going on and, as always, it was directed at Raquel. Raquel, being their leader, had effectively chosen the sort of training they'd all undergo. So that's what the dragon head meant when he talked about force...

Furthermore, their weapons didn't exist in this world. However, Raquel could make them exist in this world so long as they held the memory of their weapon in their mind. The dragon head mentioned that he -- and someone else or something, probably whatever opponents they'd be facing -- were waiting. Then the ground started shaking again, though it was so slight this time it could hardly be considered a tremor. Rizen shifted her hooves around with a small blast of air from her nostrils. It was obvious to Norbert that the shaking was making her nervous, though that was alleviated for the most part by his keeping a hold on her reigns and stroking her nose.

That was when someone started barking out orders. Norbert shot a glare to the source, who turned out to be one of the newer girls. "It's not your place to be telling us what to do, moron!" he barked back to Marella, "Besides, we were just told that! Why don't you stop pretending to be some high-ranking military officer who thinks she has some right to boss us around and just leave the leading to the one actually in charge?"

Gytha was a bit confused as to why Marella had felt the need to repeat what they'd just been told -- she wasn't promoted to a position of authority so far as she knew -- but she decided not to say anything about it. Norbert did, but he was pretty argumentative in general, so the mariner just ignored that conversation and focused on her missing equipment.

[ReformBlade]

Words, words everywhere. Dragon head guy above, ooze, two raquels, a fox... what the fuck is this dream at this point? Is this some... perverted fantasy thing? What the shit is up with Raquel, no nevermind, I'm not gonna try and rustle a basket case like this. Apparently there was talk of summoning their own weapons as well from that shipwrecked girl from a while back. There was more talk on it but that's the only one that really registered anything for Aneda despite not really being called upon. Focus on my weapon huh? Why not Hannah? And my armor too! Thinking about those things, Aneda shut out everything. She's good at that sort of thing, the whole zoning out schtick. Of course, deep down she was wondering what the point of putting up her fronts was even doing to help her. Maybe I've been running away for too long...

Confused at the same scenery as the pegasus girl was seeing, Mushirah was decidedly more panicky than Aneda, heart pumping and perhaps even a bead of sweat going down her brow. "What kind of dream is this?" she said, unintentionally sounding quite whiny. Everyone around her appeared on edge, or at least all the people she saw seemed on edge. Looming dragon above, creeping ooze on the ground, hearing words of focusing on her weapon, or tome in this case, seemed an impossibility. Still, she'd rather die in this exercise trying than simply cowering in a corner because of impossible scenarios being a reality in a sense of the word. Of course, it didn't stop her heart rate's furious pace, but she concentrated on that tome as hard as she could. Nothing else, not the danger around her, not her home she missed so dearly, not her parents, not even her immediate surroundings.

[Snike]

They just had to imagine their gear? Alright, then, this wouldn't be too difficult. Blake closed his eyes and began to imagine, in his mind, his slightly-battered defending sword, and the new, carved quarterstaff he had recently acquired. The Ursian felt the tremors coming from the sides of the arena, and Bert's yelling, but those only increased his focus on the two weapons as a result, after he made a mental note to tell the pegasus rider off.

***

Oh, remember your weapons, and they'll be reproduced for you? Grant was liking the sound of that, even as he was trying to find a way out of this scenario, The duelist quickly dumped his collection of rocks onto the ground, closed his eyes, and focused on the image of his Glacier tome and his pouch of crossbow bolts. Tomes and bolts, baby.

Edited March 27, 2013 by Snike

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"Just shut up and think about your weapons Bert," Veronika said snappily before taking her own advice. I thought about my sword before...why did it not work then? she wondered briefly before focusing on the simple iron blade that had been like an extension of her since was old enough to hold it without cutting herself.

Nadya

Apparently thinking of their weapons was supposed to summon them? Nadya tried to focus on her staff and tome, but the only image that was coming to mind was Luca. If I had Luca I could ride outta this miss- I doubt I can blast or heal all this ooze shit away. she grumbled to herself mentally.

[Mercakete]

"As though you have any authority over me either!" Norbert snapped at Veronika in reply, "Of course I'm going to do that! I don't need anyone telling me to do things I'm already planning on doing, especially if they're not in charge!"

Gytha sighed at the exchange. Norbert's yelling was distracting her. She tried to concentrate on her bullets, pistol and sword again, though the horse they'd left behind was bothering her a bit, especially since Veronika didn't answer her about it.

[scorri]

Mar wasn't sure how the calm tone she had used to try and make sure everyone who had been talking had heard what needed to happen had been interpreted as bossing everyone around, but she blocked out the yelling going on and continued to focus on her sword.

Edited March 27, 2013 by scorri

[Mercakete]

Though he was still angry about the bossiness, it seemed like those he was upset at were too busy focusing on their weapons to respond. Just as well, perhaps. So, Norbert set his mind to his own weapons, particularly Splinter and Crunch. He also thought of his poleaxe. He'd been getting a bit better with it thanks to his training with Blake aboard the ship and who knew what sort of opponents they'd have? Thinking back to the training helped calm him down some, too. In spite of having lost most of the matches, they had been good experiences for the pegasus rider.

[Parrhesia]

Rook was going to kill whatever aberration had caused this bloody thing, and if that meant he had to kneel on the ground about to throw up while envisioning twenty arrows, a quiver and a longbow, then so be it.

[Phoenix]

Hand Stands

The females left which didn't give Luca much to do. He couldn't make the jump down into the arena without breaking all four of his legs and he didn't see another way down. On the other hand, he didn't know why they were all gathering down there with everything that was going on, fire, black water, earthquakes, a giant head descending on them. What were they thinking, really? When Luca had decided to go back inside to search for Nadya, the shaking that he had been mostly overlooking revealed its cause to him. He was utterly spooked to see massive hands begin to burst out from the walls and the stands, dozens ... and dozens, and dozens all coming out intermittently and violently, blasting holes through throughout the upper structure in the process. Luca wasn't even sure where to run to and began galloping around the first floor of the stands. It was all he could do to avoid the hands without risking a fatal jump into the arena.

Discovery's Forge

"Imagine our weapons ... alright," Shadrak conceded. Before he could close his eyes to begin trying to recall his tome and staff, he noticed the hands springing up out of the stands and his eyes widened in a mix of surprise and terror. "Oh for the love of ..."

Okay ... my lance ... my lance, Gabbie repeated to herself over and over again. She was having trouble just picturing her killer lance, however, as Gemini was her true weapon of choice. "Urrrrrrgh ..."

Reign was having a relatively easy time recalling his tome, but became worried when after half a minute of doing so, it still didn't appear. He had to wonder if the emblem was working, or if Raquel had even started yet. His curiosity made it even harder to ignore all the other things happening around him, such as Bert's yelling, the tremors in the background, and so on.

The unhatched phoenix didn't want to give up so quickly, but despite Zachary's encouragement was having trouble gathering any new strength, which surprised even her. If she just had more power ... Looking over toward Raquel and her conversation with Hypnos, she began to wonder if maybe she too could summon a weapon, though what she had in mind was completely different from an ordinary weapon.

Raquel meanwhile cupped the emblem piece in her hands and closed her eyes as if praying. Oh who are we kidding, she was praying, praying to the emblem to work in fact. One by one she began blotting out the faces of any people that might distract her from what she was trying to do. Eventually the area grew silent around her. Too silent. Instinctively she opened her eyes to complete darkness. "W-what?!" Oh crap, where am I? Hypnos kept an eye on Raquel while she stood there, silent. "Uhhh ... Hypnos? Kit? Blake? Anyone?! Hellooo?!" No answers, and as she began walking around, she began to realize she might be in a trance. "Okay ... I ... guess the best thing to do now is try and forge everyone's weapons and hope I don't get knocked over."

Still nothing was happening. Reign opened his eyes and looked around for Raquel. He spotted her standing there with the emblem shining in her hands. "Hmm ..." Well that was enough for him. She was trying. That meant it was up to him to keep focused. He closed his eyes again and held out his hand trying to grasp his tome. Fury ...

Gabbie meanwhile was still trying to swap out Gemini for her killer lance in her mind and was having little success. "D-dammiiiit ... urgh."

Shadrak opened his eyes once his patience ran out. "Raquel! Hey! It's not working!"

"She can't hear you ... and it's working just fine. Keep at it," Hypnos intercepted the shaman.

"... fine." He conceded once again and closed his eyes.

Okay ... just one thought. With just one thought, I should be able to do this ...

Reign opened his eyes when he felt something in his hands. What he saw was astounding, a golden light in the shape of his tome was becoming more and more tangible in his hands by the second. Eventually he found himself holding something resembling a tome, but covered in small glowing, pulsing fissures. It looked a lot like an emblem piece itself. Fortunately, even though Reign was a little distracted by this golden tome, he was able to keep imagining his regular one, and over time, the golden book changed texture and the fissures vanished, leaving him with his original force tome. "... well alright, that did work."

Shadrak was listening carefully and from the sound of things, Reign had gotten his tome. Shadrak began focusing even harder after that. Come on, Raquel ... I need my tome ... Finally! He opened his eyes to see ... a golden light in the shape of a tome. He was both in awe and disappointed. Had she failed or something? As he began imagining the finer details of his tome, the light began to fade and the texture of the glowing tome began to become more and more like what he was used to. "OH I see ... I thought it'd be more instant than that but I guess it is her first time."

"DAMMIT!!!" Gabbie cursed at her inability to tune out her old weapon for the new one. She never expected something so simple would become such a huge obstacle. "... I can't do it ..." she said quietly before her shoulders fell. She slid down Ringo's side and sat down, frustrated and unsure of how to proceed. I can't fight reliably with just my blade heels ... and putting Ringo in harm's way is right out ... "Dammit ..."

The Dragon's Hands

"Hmhmhmhmhm-" as weapons began materializing, the dragon's face disappeared from the sky. It reemerged at its normal size(approximately the size of a large house, on the other side of the massive cracks in the ground. It appeared that the dragon head was claiming that side of the arena for itself. The hands spawning all over the arena began making various gestures, cheers, clapping, fist shaking and rooting. Once the dragon head had been settled for a time, the ooze began to move toward it and two enormous hands formed, a left hand at the dragon's left side, and a right hand for the right. "Spiffy indeed~"

With the fissures in the ground now only being just that, fissures, it looked safe to travel over them, but what awaited on the other side was a massive phantom and two grasping hands capable of tossing or pinning down large animals.

[Ether]

The first thing Faatina felt was the familiar sensation about her chest that heralded her armour. Something about it felt... off, but she wasn't sure what. Focusing so as to not lose the image of her equipment, the process was soon over, and Faatina opened her eyes so she could see what the complication was.

'Oh... of course.'

The coat had been a complication as to her armour placement, and though it managed to find itself fitting, the most noticeable difference by her perspective was the extra layer of thick cloth beneath her chestplate... not enough to be a bother but certainly a different feel from normal. Of course appearance wise it was completely different to her normal, but that wasn't of much concern to her as she readied her familiar lance and shield.

********

Now that was more like it. Immediately hefting the sizeable weight of her maul over the shoulder, Arietta let out a satisfied guffaw.

"Hells yeah... this bloody bullshit world 'ad better be ready to get it's shit beaten in!" Arietta exclaimed, pumping herself up in anticipation of one of her well loved pastimes... crushing flesh and bone beneath the mighty swings of her highly inhumane weapon.

********

Notes notes notes notes notes~

[Parrhesia]

The familiar feel of yew in his hands... yes, that felt good. Soon, it would be over.

Time to kill.

[Mercakete]

Suddenly, Norbert could feel a weight forming at his belt. The surprise caused the pegasus rider to look down. In their usual spots, his maces were appearing, though they were glowing and golden for the time being. This only lasted a short moment, however, before Splinter and Crunch were exactly as Norbert recognized them. Their composition was extremely simple, after all, so it wasn't a surprise that it didn't take long for them to form. Norbert may not have been too trusting of the strange magic that summoned them, but he felt relief that they were there nonetheless.

There was something else, though. His poleaxe hadn't formed yet. Norbert's brow furrowed as he tried to figure out why. Maybe I wasn't paying it enough attention. I know Splinter and Crunch better than it, too. So, he turned his thoughts to the poleaxe, uncrossing his arms as he did so. Slowly, he began to feel something forming in his hands. The glowing form of the poleaxe was beginning to take shape. It was taking a lot longer than his maces did, though. So, the pegasus rider tried to think about as many details as he could remember.

Gytha, meanwhile, was first forming her pistol. It was a bit difficult if only because it took recalling the mechanics of the weapon in detail. That took some time, but once that was finished, the rest went by quickly. Soon, Gytha was smiling at her pistol in its completed form. Then, she holstered it. Next, she thought of something much simpler, but quite important: her shot. The shot took mere moments to form. Most of it she placed in her pouch, but she made sure to load her pistol and make sure it was ready for use. After that, she thought of her sword. This one took longer to form than her shot, but not as long as her pistol. Once that was complete, she sheathed it and smiled. She was much more relaxed now that she had her weaponry.

It was odd seeing the poleaxe mostly complete but still with golden, glowing bits to it. Norbert frowned at his incomplete weapon as he tried to remember the missing details. Right, this part was a different color... Brass? Copper? Something like that... And this... Hmm the actual pole had a couple rings here, by the grip... Yeah, it's still pretty new.

"Oh, I think it's done," he commented, more to himself than to inform anyone. Sure enough, the poleaxe that rested in his hands was an exact replica of the one resting on Rizen's side outside of the dream world. Testing it some, Norbert swung it wide, then brought it down before thrusting it forward in a similar motion to a lance. Then, he brought it up and rested it on his shoulder, testing its weight. Then, he smiled. "Yep. This is my poleaxe."

Thinking about it in such detail, Norbert couldn't help but appreciate the weapon. He remembered when he got it, too. It was a gift from Valter. I couldn't afford it, so he got it for me. Hmm... I really owe him. Not only did he buy me lunch before but he got me an expensive, military-grade weapon and he risked his life to save mine... Merz, I'm never going to be able to pay that off... Well, I have to try. Hopefully the opportunity to save his life doesn't come up, though. I don't want him in that kind of situation.

Rizen, meanwhile, was stunned. Things were appearing! So, they were here all along. Well, it seemed like Norbert was getting at least some of the things back. If he wanted to, he could probably get the rest, too. She didn't need to worry about it anymore.

Edited March 27, 2013 by Mercakete

[Script]

Gar's Internal Monologue

Imagine your weapon huh? Gar smirks at the humor of that. Oh well. He dropped down into a meditative pose as he reminisced.

"Your weapon is your life," she said. "Money, people, clothes, yourself, all of those will betray you in time. But a weapon, your weapon is the one constant, the one partner you can always count on." Gar's Master pulled out her knives, in the right the gold one shone brilliantly, and the silver one was a dull shadow in comparison. "When I completed my training these two were gifted to me. Since then, my accomplices, targets, station, employers, masters and even my name have all long since passed. Yet they remain. They will remain after your training, the training of your fellows, after this Guild falls apart and after my death, your death and everyone's death."

"I somehow doubt that," past Gar snarked at her.

A flash of gold distracted him, and a slash of silver cut him. Past Gar fell back on his ass as inelegantly as was possible. "What the hell!?" he screeched and began grabbing as the cut, tracing it with his finger as he would trace the scar years into the future.

"I will beat, cut, stab, poison, smack and shoot into you all the knowledge I posses. I will crave your flesh as if it was a painters canvas until you are so accustomed to combat you could dodge in your sleep." She readied her knives again. "I am not your friend, teacher or master, I am a woman trying to kill you. Boss will not save you, the other Masters will not save you. There is only one thing that can." She charged with a golden flash...

Years later...

Not-quite-as-past Gar was relaxing in a treeline not too far from a road. He'd just successfully accomplished a mission and was lazing out until a cart crew he'd learned about beforehand passed by. He'd catch a ride, be back in the city an deal with the inevitable betrayal by the employer. All in all a good day.

Until the cart came by and was raided by brigades. Great. He'd lost his knife in the fervor of his job--all that bullshit about a weapon never betraying you always popped into his head when that happened--so he really didn't want to get involved with the killfest. The bandits weren't well-armored, but still, it was more trouble than it was worth. The cart-people barely put up a fight, so they kinda deserved it. Some kids tried making a run for it, made it close to Gar's treeline in fact, but one of the bandits caught up to'em. Kids legs were only so fast after all.

Just one little boy and three girls. No surprise where they'd be heading. Well, not like Gar cared. Those things happened. The boy drew out a knife on the encroaching brigand, drawing a laugh from the towering adult and a smirk from Gar. The boy shouted for the girls to run, but that only caught the attention of all the rest. Not like it mattered really.

The boy charged recklessly, shouting at the top of his lungs with the knife held forward. The bandit laughed as a swing with his ax completely sent the boy sprawling unto the ground and earned a roaring set of applause from his mates. Lowlifes. Though not like Gar was much better. The boy crawled forward, knife still stuck in his hand, desperate to do whatever he could. This earned an angry glare from the bandit, who stomped on his hands and threw the knife to the base of the tree Gar was in. That was just asking for Gar to come swooping down like some vigilante death god wasn't it? So he didn't.

The boy still struggled uselessly, and by then all the humor from the bandit had been extinguished. He chopped into the boy's back, deep enough for him to die, but not immediately. Now that was just in bad taste! And the boy continued to try to stop them through tears and blood.

Enough was enough, it'd grown too obnoxious to watch. Gar fell out of the tree, dropping next to the knife and grabbing it with swiftness. He charged forward, dodged the surprisingly responsive counter of the bandit and ended his life. It took no time for the rest of them to attack, and it took even less time for Gar to finish them off.

Seven.

He knelt down next to the boy after finishing the last bandit off. He was still alive, struggling to breath. Gar told him. "Ain't no way to treat but a quick death."

The boy looked at him with a clearly delusional smile and nodded. "Save them," were his last words. Gar made it quick.

Eight.

It irked him how that boy looked at him like he was a hero. He was perfectly damn fine with letting them all get slaughtered dammit. Whatever, he had a problem to solve. "Come on," Gar motioned at the huddling girls. "We got a long way to go."

He cleaned his new knife.

He cleaned his knife.

Gar opened his eyes as he felt the familiar shape of the knife and cleaning cloth in his hands. "Spiffy."

Edited March 27, 2013 by Script

[scorri]

Marella felt a solid weight start to form in her hand. Blinking, she looked down at what appeared to be a golden version of her sword. She concentrated harder and the gold slowly started to fade, but stopped suddenly. Frowning, she took a breath and started to think about the times she had used her sword recently. That battle with Zach... For all that I couldn't hit him, it was still nice to have the extra defense. And oh, Kat's face when she realized that I was protected from her axe. My form wasn't perfect but my sword saved me in that battle. It's protected me so many times. It's *my* sword. With a sudden intake of breath, she looked down and saw her sword there. With a grin, she turned towards the dragon head and the black ooze, ready to face this dream at last.

[roymbrog]

Synthia, Valter, and Katrina got their weapons without any shenanigans, so yeah.

[Snike]

There was weight in both of Blake's hands, but he ignored it for a few minutes. When the man finally opened his eyes, the gold was just fading away from his sword, now held in his right hand. His left hand, however, was holding a long rod of gold. That wasn't right. He closed his eyes and focused on his staff for a few minutes, and once he once again opened his eyes, the staff was there. Excellent.

Now, onto other business. Raquel appeared to be standing still, with the Emblem shining in her hands. That meant that she was probably still forging weapons. Elsewhere, Reign and a few others had already regained their weaponry. Alright then.

"Once you've got your weapons, form up into combat teams!," Blake shouted, approaching the area around where Raquel was. "We don't know how long the 'enemy' is going to wait for us!" The swordsman didn't take his own advice, immediately, if only because he had decided in advance to sort everyone else's combat teams before his own.

***

As soon as Grant's left hand and pouch began to feel a bit heavier, the duelist opened his eyes to see a golden tome and golden sticks, the former in his hand, the latter in the pouch. That was wrong, he thought, closing his eyes. His bolts were crossbow bolts, slightly larger than the average arrow, but light enough to throw easily. His tome's cover had a light blue color, with a grey snowflake on the center of it. Not some golden book that wasn't much use aside from as a paperweight. He opened his eyes, as if ready to deal with the fact that he was going to be useless, to find that his bolts and his tome were no longer golden. Instead they were like his standard gear. Wonderful.

The Frost Prince drew a couple of his bolts into his right hand, and then approached Synthia, who had acquired her tome already.

"Teammates again?" he asked.

[scorri]

Marella glanced around and noticed that Rook was standing with his bow, waiting. "Rook, over here. You and me working together, right?" She glanced to her other side and saw Zach still focusing on his weapon. "And lets grab Zach once he's ready. You good with that?"

[Parrhesia]

"Whatever," the archer grunted. "Just... kill... whatever." He spat.

[Mercakete]

How many people here think they're in charge? Norbert irritably thought as Blake started barking out orders. He respected the guy, but that didn't mean he couldn't get upset at him.

"How about we wait for the actual leader to wake up and do something?" he snappishly suggested to Blake.

[Eail]

Zach

As he was focusing on trying to summon his tome, Zach could see the golden frame of the book, not the normal yellow of his Thunder spell.

'Training with Mom, the cult, my training, my battles. I know these tomes, I know this tome.'

Thinking to all the times he'd ever used this spell over his lifetime Zach was noticing the book actually taking its true form. With all of the memories swarming together it was soon complete. Flipping the book and it's pages open the sage gave a smirk "Time to see what a real mage can do. Let's get this started!"

Luka

The pinky was concentrating on his staves, their soothing touch and power coming from Lady Mercy. Familiar feelings coming to form in his hands as both of his possessions formed. Even if Rika wasn't here, he could still do his job and certainly planned on it. He did shoot a frown towards Norbert though, he seemed to be acting like a child being scolded by their mother. So unbecoming

[Snowy_One]

The feel of the well-made yew bow, the touch of the carefully carved designs on it's length, and the weight of the quiver filled with arrows upon her back finally came to Robin as her bow and arrows materialized in her hands. She could almost swear that she could smell the forest along with a faint shimmer of mist as she picked up the bow and held it ready, inspecting it.

"<This is my bow. Strong, steady, wellmade. Good to know it will be at my side.>" she said with a smile.

---

The heavy weight of her defensive tome plopping into Tia's arms was followed by a small squeak as the girl stumbled backwards, before looking down in shock. "Great! You managed to get my tome back. Let me make sure you got all the details right though, just in case your memory-reading isn't perfect." she said, opening up the tome, flipping through it, and finding it satisfactory, then closing the book.

"Great! Everything seems to be perfect! Good recall! So, what do we get to fight? Demons? Ogres? Anything like that? Oh! I know! You're gonna make it from that black ooze and it will be shadowy versions of ourselves, right?"

Edited March 28, 2013 by Snowy_One

[Snike]

"If you don't like it, feel free to wait, but I'm going to get everyone I feasibly can ready for the fight, which IS going to happen, due to these," Blake snapped back, waving his weapons around to make the point. "So unless you do feel like waiting around, go find a team."

[scorri]

Marella grinned at Zach as he opened his tome. "Hey Lightning Head, come join me and Rook. We'll take down anyone who cares to challenge us."

[roymbrog]

“Well it’s not really my stuff, but it’ll do…” Synthia muttered as she held her new weapons. Truthfully they were nearly identical to the originals, but nothing could replace her original tome. The mage tucked the staff through her sash but was forced to keep the tome on hand, as her bag hadn’t followed her into the dream either.

She was ready, and most of the others were doing the same, she noted. Grant approached asking to be teammates. “Sure, of course.” Someone basically asking to defend her? Hell yes, she’d be an idiot to turn that down.

---

Kat held up her axe and twirled it experimentally in the air. “Haha! Balance is perfect and everything~ Alright, who’s ready to knock some heads? Or… hands, I guess. Whatever!” She ran over to and hopped back on Volga’s back, striking a pose on the scaly wyvern’s shoulder. “Aneda, to me! You don’t have Hannah, so I am graciously allowing you to ride with me instead~”

---

Valter didn’t have any particular sentimental attachments to his weapons, so all that mattered were if the copies were functionally identical. They were, so he was pleased. It only took a moment to place quiver to back, sword to belt, and to string his bow. By then most of the others were also prepared and orders were given to form into teams. Naturally, the horseman walked over to Bert, who at the moment seemed to have some problem with those orders. Or perhaps it was with Blake? He couldn’t really tell.

“Hey, calm down. Perhaps you could take it as strongly worded advice? I don’t think it’s feasible if we don't get things done just because Raquel isn’t there to tell us to do it," he said. "They’re not in charge, but neither am I and you seem to listen to me.”

[Mercakete]

"It's up to Raquel what happens next, Blake, not you," Norbert corrected, still angry, "I like you, but that doesn't mean I'm going to pretend like you've got a right to order people around when you don't. That is, unless there was some transfer of power I was never told about. What if Raquel changes her mind for some reason? You can never expect that woman to act logically... She's still the boss, though, and I'm going to respect that."

Valter came by with friendly advice to try and cool the situation down. Norbert was still upset, but his advice did help. After all, if he looked at it as advice rather than orders, it would mean Blake wasn't telling anyone what to do per se. After thinking it over a bit, he grudgingly mumbled, "I guess."

Edited March 28, 2013 by Mercakete