Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Eail]

After a few moments our least favorite sage was back up on his feet, brushing the dirt off his jacket, just like Blake though a blush was already on his face due to Kit. "I'm working on this you know? But it's not exactly easy when there are situations like this!"

"Anyways, Raquel how long do you want to wait before we head out? It pretty much looks like everyone is up and ready to go so I suppose we're waiting on the word at this point. We got time for breakfast or should we hit the road? Heck if we have the supplies with us I can handle that...." Rocking back and forth on his heels as he discussed cooking.

[scorri]

"I'm pretty sure I saw people salting the meat last night, so it should be fine. Why don't we head over to the Dauntless and see about getting some food?" She grinned and started heading in that direction. Arriving in time to hear Zach's question, Marella added quickly, "I know that Aneda and I were hoping to get some food before we set out. Is the bear meat still around?"

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Gar yawned. All that dreaming was an exciting rarity for him so even right after waking up he was mentally tired. "We moving anytime soon!?" he shouted loud enough for damn near everyone to here. "Cause if we aren't I'm gonna take a nap!"

[Phoenix]

Dauntless

"Innuendo in the morning? That's not okay," Reign replied with a scowl. "I'm going to go see about that healer before another distraction sh-" That was when Zachary hit the ground. Reign sighed at that and began heading toward the camp. "Do yourself a favor, Zachary. Don't ever visit a brothel for any reason. It'll probably kill you," were his parting words to Zach and the others.

When asked about heading out, Raquel's first response was to shake her head defiantly. "No way; we can't leave until I know if Sandrock is alright. If people are hungry, they should probably eat in the meantime, but I can't hook her up to the Dauntless and have her help haul the thing without knowing she's going to be okay first." Then came Gar's shout, which caused her to flinch. Once she realized it was just Gar, she calmed down.

Camp

"Uh yeah ... I uh, I feel fine so I guess my body is at least well rested. The dragon head was right about that at least. I don't feel exhausted or like I've been fighting for any length of time," he answered. He wanted to take a closer look at Mushirah's drawing but Colin commented on the current topic before he got the chance.

"To be fair, you spent about half the fight out cold, so it's no surprise you feel rested. You were resting in your own dreams," he cut in with a chuckle. "You're more rested than anyone here, I'll bet."

"Gods, shut up. Go bother someone else. Sorry about that, Mushirah. So, can I see what you've got so far? I'm curious." Shadrak then glanced in the direction of the shout. "For crying out loud, people are barely coming to," he muttered in response.

Horses

Luca was confused by the fact that they had survived that fall, but wasn't going to complain. They were back in someplace familiar and the falling thing and black stuff seemed to be done and gone respectively. He was feeling peckish though and could definitely go for a snack. Of course before any of that, he wanted to be sure that Nadya was okay. He had come out of the ordeal no worse for wear, but he was a horse, a tough and resilient breed.

"Morning, Nadya," Reign greeted once he found his way over. "Do you have a minute ...?"

Riley was still beside Sandrock and keeping an eye on her. Aside from looking lazy and sluggish while on her feet, she appeared to be physically fine at a glance. She had just woken up, though. Riley would keep close until he was sure she could look after herself, and even then he would be wary of any potential dangers.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"I'm in no rush to head out- we need to be as prepared as possible before having this meeting. If sleeping is how you prepare for a possible battle coming up, then sleep away," Veronika replied as she walked near Gar. Ordinarily I would suggest that he do training or something rather than sleep, but from the way he fights it's safe to assume he knows what he's doing. she thought to herself, surveying the camp.

Nadya

"Some of the steaks haven't been eaten yet," Nadya chimed in to answer armor lady...was her name Mireille or was that the other one? "Ya might want to get the fire goin' again though, unless ya got a real hankerin' for cold bear."

Reign then showed up. "Mornin' Reign. Sure I got a minute, what do ya need?" she asked him.

Edited April 2, 2013 by -Cynthia-

[Snowy_One]

Tia grumbled as she took her now-empty water cask out and looked about. She would need to refill it properly before the next battle, but there were other things to do! Even if it was still early, there was science to be done! Or at least, there would be later. Right now she kind of figured everyone was a bit too groggy to deal with, even the mages themselves. Even she *yaaaawn* wasn't entirely awake yet. Instead, she opted to go and sit down by the fireplace.

As she was sitting down, she could hear the Robin/Gytha conversation, but something about it told her that it *probably* was a bit more personal than she should be sticking her nose in to, at least for now. Not like Robin was her big sis or anything. But as their conversation continued on, Rook walked by. Tia looked up, the memory of what had happened in the port the last time she had tried talking fresh in her mind, but... even though that had failed, when your golem explodes you just try to build a bigger and better one, right? Best to try again, and again, and again, until you do something awesome! So... instead of avoiding him like a nagging part of her mind was telling her to do...

"Hey, Rook. How did you sleep? Do well in that dream battle?"

[Parrhesia]

Rook glanced down at the kid, lit a cigar and chewed down hard on it. "Slept about as well as you'd expect. Did alright in the scrap, though. Well enough to do some harm to that damned magical abomination. What of yourself?"

[Snowy_One]

"It was AWESOME! Getting to test my skill and knowledge with magic in such a way was so challenging! I only had my barrier tome, but I managed to manipulate the control of water in such a way as to ease the muscle tension and mind of the other people as well as for advanced offensive utilities WHILE still managing to utilize it defensibly. That was SUCH a challenge and I enjoyed it! Being able to push myself to the limit like that... I'm actually kind of sad that it was a dream so I don't know if I can pull that off in reality or not."

[Snike]

"I sincerely doubt that," Axel retorted. "Point being, it did distract the man, and it's annoying, so stop." It'd be nice if she'd stop trying to read minds before he'd have to send her back to her Fox, but one could only hope for so much.

"Anyways, status report is done, so I'll get out of the way." And with that, the man took off to do a perimeter check around the campsite.

***

"That's what most people would probably do, if they saw someone in your state unintentionally," Blake said, as his face reddened even more as he continued to look away. "It's kind of awkward."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Sleeping's what we all just did to prepare for battle," Gar gave a half-assed reply back to Veronika. Gar scratched his chin wondering if he should follow through, or go annoy someone else. There had to be something going on if he wasn't getting chewed out for being loud and obnoxious. He looked around.

[Parrhesia]

"I regret ever entering that hellhole. The stench of magic was everywhere... worse'n horseshit, and horseshit won't kill you." Rook sighed, staring out into the distance. "If something had gone wrong, if Marella had died somehow... I don't know what I would've done. Take my advice, child. Toy around with magic, sure. Bend it to your will as best you can, but never trust it. Never."

[Ether]

Releasing her grip on the dark sphere, which dissipated moments afterwards, Kit righted herself, landing on her feet in front of Axel, giving the man an inquisitive gaze as he walked away.

'Who is he?' She pondered... there was no way mere coincidence would lead that man to deduce her allegiance and race... she would have to look into that man further.

"Well, I suppose I've had my fun for now~ So is next stop that fated meeting, or do you have other intermittent plans, Discovery~?" Kit inquire, leaning against the front of the dauntless.

[Snowy_One]

"But... I am a magician. I am skilled with magic and if I didn't trust it, I'd never get anything done. I'd just be at home, learning fish counts and how to haggle for bread. It was my skill and talent at magic that caused my parents to let me study it in the first place. Besides, so much is done with magic these days, and more will likely be done in the future. Imagine a world where you don't have to wait for weeks to get messages, or can travel immense distances at super-speed. Magic can give us that."

[Parrhesia]

"The future I dream of is built by human hands," said Rook, quietly. "You were one of the lucky ones. Most people live in fear of magicians. Many of the archmagi you probably admire most built their lives on the backs of peasants. Magic... just concentrates power in the hands of the few. The 'gifted'." The archer spat. "Imagine a world in which all men are truly created equal. Imagine a world where everyone, no matter how low their birth, has a say in the workings of the land. No uppity mages treating themselves as a class of their own."

The merchant sighed. "The nobility would have to go as well, of course. Can't say I'd miss 'em. Then again... they may be scum, but at least they don't claim to have powers the rest of us don't."

[Phoenix]

Dauntless

"Please come down from there," Raquel followed up, both looking and sounding like she was tired of the shenanigans. Once Kit was actually down and easy to look at again, she answered the woman's question with, "It's none of your business, but that's where we're going once everyone's ready. Where are you going ...?"

Somewhere In the Area

Nadya apparently had a minute, so now it was time to go over the short list of what he needed. "Right, some ice water, and your healing skills ought to do. Faatina broke her leg again and she needs it healed properly. Axel already set it while we were still sleeping, I think, but the bones need to be mended. The ice water's for me ..."

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"Do you think what we did in the dream was really to prepare us for battle? I don't know the motives of the...dragon head, but I didn't get any better at fighting from that," she remarked to Gar, biting her lip.

Nadya

"She broke her leg while asleep? Good Mercy, she musta been trashed. All right, show me where she is, sooner the better. If she doesn't get healed quickly, she might not be able to ride again," Nadya said to Reign, taking her staff from Luca's saddle and putting it in her hand.

Edited April 2, 2013 by -Cynthia-

[Ether]

"Well I'm going with you, of course. I did tell you my speciality was determining motive, didn't I? Besides, if things go sour, I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't keep that intriguing little hide of yours protected~" Kit replied, her tone partly teasing, but readily identified as serious overall.

"And you may as well not bother telling me not to, because you'll never lose me in time, Raquel. You would make everything a lot easier on yourself if you just cooperated with me."

[Snowy_One]

"I'm... not human?" asked Tia, clearly shocked at the words Rook had just spoken.

[Parrhesia]

"You, who knows? But your powers are... a gift of the gods. I don't think that kind of power should be used by humans. And I don't like the implication that there can be no future without magic. I think humanity can build our own future, without the taint of magic."

[Snike]

Well, apparently that was over. Blake turned to see that Kit had returned to a normal posture and her dress actually covered her- well, not much, but better than before-, and the discussion shifted to what was next, and, after Raquel confirmed that they were headed to the fortress next, the fox woman stated that she'd be accompanying them and 'protecting' the merchant's hide.

"... No offense, but you've been with us for less than a day. I would rather not have you guard Raquel," Blake said, the flush draining from his face. "For all we know, you could be one of the Organization's operatives, in which case, keeping you further away from my employer would be best."

[Snowy_One]

"But... Look as all we've done with magic. We can heal the sick, cure wounds that would never heal with medicine, and we learn more and more every day. What we need is for people to stop wasting their talents in meaningless wars and fighting and, instead, focus their magic on great things! Magic is part of who we, as human beings, are. Unless something huge happens like the Goddess's die, it will be so forever as well. My tutor said that, without magic, the world as we know it simply would not be. Imagine a world without magic. We would be plague-ridden, sick, beings barely knowing how to forge iron."

[Parrhesia]

"Maybe," said Rook, shrugging. "Maybe not. But at least we'd be free to carve our own future."

He walked off, not waiting for an answer, shivering in his heavy cloak.

[Phoenix]

Dauntless

"But look at you. You've got the weirdest prosthetics ever, and not everyone would just assume someone else grafted them onto you, so if they see you as a threat, then we're sunk from the get go," Raquel argued. "We're going to a fortress that they control, not just any old meeting place. I'm trying to rescue my father, not start a fight we'll be at a huge disadvantage for, so even I have to put aside my hatred for Sardis long enough to do that or I'll be putting him in danger ... and then everything I've worked for will have been for nothing."

Gabbie finally got up and went into the Dauntless to check on Connor while Ringo stayed put. If he was up, great, he could eat breakfast with everyone else. If he wasn't, well she'd probably wake him once she settled in.

By the Horses

"She fell out of a tree," Reign clarified since no one else seemed to be injured by the dream sequence, not directly at least. She didn't address the ice water, so Reign assumed he'd have to deal with that himself. Later though. For now he was going to oversee this since he had nothing better to do.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"A mental battle's the most important battle, test your resolve and all that," Gar kind of absent-minded replied. "That's a Kigenesse saying, I think. But either way steeling yourself for the realities of battle is better than floating on a palace-kid's fervent dreams of honor and crap. And besides I don't think there's much on this planet that's gonna come off tougher than a giant floating dragon head spitting out copies of us. Well, except maybe one that spits out an endless army of copies of me." He shrugged.

[Click This]

Getting back into the game

Mao awoke to the sound of chirping birds and ambient chatter. Her hat had fallen from the top of her head onto her face, and her vision was completely blocked until she swiped the hat aside. As she stretched her arms, she realized here was something strange about what happened during the night, but she couldn't quite catch what it was. All she remembered was waking up in some strange place with her weapons and lots of noise. She dimly remembered trying to get up, and hitting something, like the underside of a heavy oak table. Then something really heavy fell. And that was it, nothing else. A strange dream, but nothing really significant enough to dwell upon.

The merchant propped herself up, grabbing her hat from where she'd thrown it, and stood up to get her bearings. She was in the campsite, as she'd thought, with the group she'd hitched up with yesterday. Still half-asleep, Mao wasn't sure what time of day it was, not bothering to take out the silver pocket watch she kept on her pocket. As she stood up, Mao became aware that she had a mild headache. Rubbing her eyes, she groggily made her way to the Dauntless, where everybody else seemed to be congregating.

Ah, she was really out of it. S-some tea or coffee would be nice...