Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Ether]

"Haha... wow, I wasn't expecting anything like this... seems parties are the same, even outside of Sanctuary, though." Faatina commented, as her eyes scanned the make-shift dance floor, taking in mostly alcohol consumption and, whether as a result or not she couldn't be entirely sure, rather abysmal dancing. Aside from the trademarks of sailors and partying, however, Faatina also spotted Talitha, who appeared rather dazed.

"Hey, Talitha!" Faatina called out, signaling the woman closer.

"What happened to cause all this, anyway?"

**********

"Stay away... easy. Not like him anyway." Lisandra replied to Veronika, before stepping towards Griffin and bowing to the Vasilus.

"I... thank you."

[Mercakete]

Gytha was laughing and whirling, jigging and clapping and just plain having a good time among the crew of the Leverager and sharing the space cleared for dancing with Nadya and assorted sailors. Some of the crew seemed to have broken into their grog rations for the event, if not stronger drinks. Well, as long as they didn't mind the aftereffects and didn't bother anyone, they could have it. As she danced, the mariner noticed a bit more of an accumulation of the group members standing a little ways away from the party. Synthia had already explained what she thought, but maybe some of the others were just waiting for an invitation.

With that marvelous idea in mind, Gytha happily traveled from the party's crowd to the bystanders, addressing Aneda, Katrina, Faatina and Davod in one go. "Hoy, ye know ye can join in th' dancin' 'r clappin' if ye want! It's not onla fer th' Leverager's crew, haharr!" She was all smiles as she cheerfully relayed the information.

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

Norbert was skeptical as to how long Fred's quiet would last, but at least he seemed to wise up somewhat. Though for whatever reason, he still wasn't using that cream the doctor gave him. Eh, Oscar can handle that. It's that delicate mountain's loss if he doesn't take the cure. It's not my business.

So, he just folded his hands behind his head, crossed one leg over the other and rested, preparing to spend another night in sick bay.

Edited October 1, 2012 by Mercakete

[roymbrog]

Highfive? Ok! “Whoo!” Katrina had to jump to reach Aneda’s outstretched hand, but she managed. “Getting paid for surviving is a pretty good deal.” What would you do with the money when you’re dead, anyway? Nope, much better to have it while alive.

Synthia, meanwhile, was a bit put off by Aneda’s question. “Me? I’m not in a sour mood.”

“Could’ve fooled me…” Katrina mumbled. Gytha came around again, this time inviting everyone to go join in with the dancing. That wasn’t nearly enough to convince the wyvern rider. Besides, this wasn’t really her party; she was just a tagalong to the moment. She didn't want her reluctance to stop her new found friend, however. "If you want to go celebrate with them, I don't mind. I'll just hang out with the party pooper over here."

"Hey, leave me alone, I'm in a good mood..."

[Phoenix]

Nav Room

She still had the emblem issue to deal with, but without Lilith there, it seemed pointless to bring up again. It was probably time to go to sleep too, she felt. Standing up from the table, she announced it herself. "Well I'm tired and we still have a few days to go over this stuff if we need to. It's still a ways back to Weyland's too, so ... meeting adjourned ...?"

"Fine by me. Get some sleep Raquel. I've got little else to do on this ship, so I think I'll be attending your training sessions. Put on a good show trying to command that artifact of yours~" Reign teased.

"I'd rather do it in private so people don't see how stupid it looks ..." she noted with a sigh and her head held low.

"Well good luck finding someplace private around here." Reign replied as he too stood up. "Welp, goodnight." he said to everyone before heading for the door and leaving.

Main Deck

Once Faatina got Talitha's attention, she went on to ask her how they went from silently running away from the rebels in the middle of the night to celebrating like kids on the main deck. Talitha knew how it happened, but was still trying to wrap her head around it. They weren't even close to in the clear yet. "These two god-like avians showed up and the male one, Griffin apparently, completely wrecked that rebel ship that's been tailing us the past few days. Everyone's just so happy it's gone that they're celebrating, now. And no." she began shaking her head preemptively. "I'm not getting involved in this. I've never been at one dance where I had room to move my tail without it getting stepped on. I'm going back up to the crow's nest in a minute or two."

Fields

<"Are you certain you don't want to initiate the duel, Daichi-san?"> Katsu inquired as he assumed his fighting stance. This will be difficult. While he isn't as powerful as the White Devil, his speed will make up the difference. I'll have to mind my right side and put a solid defense in order to block most of the attacks. Hitting him is unlikely; his speed will allow him to get around most of my attacks. I'll have to keep up the pressure without wasting all of my energy at the beginning to even have a chance of winning.

Kazemi Daichi (Trueblade level 2)

Overall Stats: HP: 27 MT: 9 Hit: 10 Evade: 19 AS: 12 DEF: 5 RES: 3

Weapon 1: Lethal Bokken (E)

LP: Champion Ring

Special Item: Lucky Charm

Book: Skill Book (Crit Modifier+)

Kyou Katsu

Class: Level 5 Marshall

Raw Stats

HP: 10 STR: 13 MAG: 0 SKL: 11 SPD: 7 LCK: 1 DEF: 16 RES: 6

Simplified Stats

HP: 30 MT: 13 Hit: 11 Evade: 8 AS: 7 Defense: 16 Resistance: 6

Weapon 1: Guardian Bokken

Overall Stats

HP: 30 MT: 13 Hit: 11 Evade: 8 AS: 7 Defense: 16(+13 if GB) Resistance: 6

Note: Most of Katsu's equipment has been removed either via plot necessity or for slightly better match up. If you think he should be carrying a bit more than this, Merc, let me know. If not, one of us can start the duel a little after this post or so.

Missing gear:

Shining Shield

Special Gloves

Aurora

Dual Book

Liberator and Retribution

Salon Place Thing

Once her daughters were ready, Helga led the way to the building. They seemed to be rather high up in the air though, having only landed on a platform around fifteen stories up. Like everything else, the place was made completely out of finely carved stone, and the interior was well ventilated with plenty of openings letting in the sunlight and air. There seemed to be other customers nearby as well, one of which Helga seemed to know, a woman and her young child. <"Oh, Aderyn. I didn't expect to see you here.">

<"Lady Helga!"> the woman seemed surprised despite the place being owned and controlled by the Finnian clan. <"Today is my daughter's birthday and I felt this would be a nice way to celebrate it."> she explained, smiling as she mentioned her daughter.

<"I see. That's very kind of you.">

<"I didn't know you came here as well."> Aderyn came back with curiously.

<"Well I do own this establishment, and further out of the way, we're less likely to run into one of Brynhildr's incredibly stupid suitors. The last time, it practically ruined our entire outing."> Helga complained.

<"I'm sorry to hear that, Milady, but I'm glad you found a solution."> Aderyn replied with a smooth bow of her head.

Meanwhile, Svanhildr approached the receptionist since her mother was busy and her sister wouldn't do anything right now without a prompt first. <"Hello. I would like to schedule an appointment for f- ... for three. If you have any openings available right now, that would be preferable.">

<"We go right now and we cut in front of Aderyn over there."> Bryn noted quietly.

<"We will see. Perhaps the five of us can squeeze in together or something."> Svan replied quickly.

Edited October 2, 2012 by Phoenix

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"And those words just made my day or night whichever it is because this felt like it's lasted a lifetime," Gar sarcastically said. "I'm gonna go get so drunk I forget my name." Before Gar could leave though he stopped and glanced back at Raquel. "Oh yeah, try not to let Lilith push you around too much and all that yadda. And hey, if you're only worried about the 'seeing' part just have anyone with you wear blindfolds." He advised.

[Acacia Sgt]

''I'd agree on the practicing alone bit, it can help for concentration if you don't feel distracted by our presence,'' John said. ''So just in case you do want to do it alone, then I'll just say this now: don't forget to try it the way I explained a while back, to try to control the flow of energy going into you. And failing that, to command the energy you have already within you instead of the one flowing from the stone. That's probably why you failed before, your subconscious probably just overrode it or made the stone unable to do anything else in the meantime so long it kept it's current command active.'' And with that, he too was leaving.

[-Cynthia-]

Plains of our Lives

<"Nothin' wrong with killin', though I can't really see it as recreation,"> Marko commented.

<"So where y'all stayin' the night? Could camp with us if ya wanted, safety in numbers and all,"> Vadoma offered.

<"Fine by me as long as the men here don't get too friendly,"> Marko said, prompting Vadoma to shake her head.

Salon not Saloon

<"Oh, I think a spot for three just opened up, if Lady Helga and her lovely daughters would follow me please,>" the receptionist said, after hearing the exchange between the two sisters. <"There should be a spot nearby for Ms. Aderyn, but you'll have to wait for Ida to finish cleaning up there first,"> she said, nodding apologetically.

[Mercakete]

<"If that is what you prefer, I suppose. I was hoping your strategy against the White Devil would revolve more around being the aggressor, but if you expect to be ambushed, I can help you practice being prepared for that, as well,"> Daichi replied coolly before quickly closing the distance between Katsu and himself, drawing his bokken as he ran.

Lucky Charm activates! Auto-hit!

((9+6)x2)-29 = 1 damage!

The Hikibain managed to get past the mercenary's defenses, though to little effect before he was forced to retreat some as his opponent countered his attack.

(11+3)-19 = miss!

Katsu's bokken failed to make contact as the elder of the two kept a careful eye on the other's movements. <He's a bit slower than me...but his reflexes are just good enough that I can't attack as often. I need to put more effort into my attacks or this will take too long and he might get a lucky hit in...>

Edited January 1, 2013 by Mercakete

[Snike]

The argument between John and Gar continued, much to Blake's chagrin. John's apparent paranoia was derailing the discussion, or what little of it there was left to go over. Luckily, that was eventually sidelined, if only because of Raquel's intent to adjourn the meeting. The others quickly said their goodbyes andwere in the process of leaving the navigation room, some to sleep, others to drink. Blake wouldn't find any recourse in either of those activities at that point of time, so he decided to return to his tactics book. After all, this room was probably going to be one of the quietest rooms on the ship, so why not study there?

"Night," Blake said, to the departing mercenaries, before he reopened his strategy tome and began to find his place on the page.

[Phoenix]

Nav Room of Tiredness

"Blindfolds? Hahah. I guess that's worth considering. It's just hard to concentrate when I know I'm being watched ... outside of battle at least." John also reminded her that there was more to this emblem business then simply making bold requests of the legendary half medallion she kept on her person. With a never ending flow of energy going into her, she might very well be trying to counter one command with a weaker one. That could explain some things. She had to override the previous command somehow ... of course with that, she was coming up short again. "I'll keep that in mind, definitely." This was going to be tough.

She stood up to leave herself and then noticed that Blake wasn't getting up. Rather than immediately ask why, she did a bit of thinking. Hmm, I guess he's going to stay in here and read for awhile. There are other places to do that though. Hmm ... though I guess this place is ideal. I usually read sitting on the floor or in the driver's seat of the Dauntless. I can't sit on the stairs, that just hurts after awhile. There's a table and chairs here, and it's nice and quiet ... now that the meeting's over. So I guess it makes sense. "Goodnight, Blake." and with that, she made for the exit as well.

Plains of Banter

<"Oh it's not really about the killing for me. I just like to spread my wings every now and then and go somewhere different. I need the freedom to do and go where I want, you know? If you tie me to the bed, I'll go nuts in no time."> Fizza explained. <"True, I do like getting into a scuffle here and there, but who doesn't want to cause trouble every now and then?">

The offer of staying with them for the night soon came up along with Marko's take on it. Malik was quick to point something out, though. <"I'm pretty sure Haythem over there is already pretty friendly with you, or at least your daughter.">

<"I've got no idea what he's talking about."> Haythem said blankly. He finally seemed to have gotten a hold of himself. <"I think we'll accept your offer, but I'll need to keep Isis company so I'll be ... way over there ... alone. Heheh.">

Not sure if he's scared or lonely. Malik thought to himself.

Fields of Swooshing Noises

Daichi's first strike was every bit as swift as Katsu expected, and he couldn't completely defend against it, but fortunately for him, he was able to escape with only a graze by stepping back a bit. His counter suffered in return though by missing his opponent by a frustrating amount. Katsu! Watch your right side! That was too close! If the White Devil found an opening like that, you'd be dead right now! Now think ... what will it take to slow him down? Only way to find out is to keep going and keep my guard up long enough to find out ... With that, Katsu stepped forward, initiating the next round himself this time. He wasn't fast enough to land the blow he wanted, though, not yet, and especially not with Daichi's attack coming in first. Katsu blocked the attack, he wasn't able to hit Daichi either. That was exactly how he expected this round to turn out, but that didn't make it any less frustrating. Keep going ...

Daichi attacks first with Vantage! Rolls 1,6,2

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3718984/

HIT!

0 damage

Katsu counters! Rolls 6,3,5

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3718998/

MISS!

Daichi hp 27/27

Katsu hp 29/30

Salon of Pampering

Svan looked to Bryn, who immediately shrugged. <"Works for me."> she replied.

<"Mother,"> Svan spoke up. <"They're ready for us.">

<"Oh? Well then, Aderyn, I suppose we can talk again another time."> She then knelt down to Aderyn's surprise. She quickly realized that it was only to get her daughter's attention. <"Enjoy your birthday present, Ceri. Your mother is doing everything she can for you today.">

<"She's so creepy with single children ... ugh."> Bryn quietly commented, looking somewhat grossed out.

After that, Helga approached the receptionist as well. <"So you are ready for us, then?">

Edited October 3, 2012 by Phoenix

[Acacia Sgt]

Sure enough, the main deck was filled with the celebrating sailors, and even some of the group were there too, either to join in or just watch. Expectantly, Gil wasn't there.

<Heh, knew it,> John thought. <He probably left either to the inside or another part of the deck. Well, time for one last matter to resolve,> and with that, he walked back up the stairs to the Aft Deck.

And there they were, the vasili, and others of the group too. Well, didn't made a difference.

[Snike]

"Goodnight," Blake said, as Raquel left the navigation room, without much fanfare. Now he was alone in the room, which was fortunate since it let him continue studying his book unmolested. At least, for now, anyways. After about a minute, to finally locate where he left off, the swordsman resumed reading the manual, all the while taking notes.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Party, party, party out on deck. And Gar didn't care because he was too busy trying to eye if there was any rum up for grabs above-deck. Which... he shouldn't get even if he saw any. He had never let any secrets slip about the Guild before but Armor-Guy's questions were too aggregating, something might fall apart and make things worse. So he just kicked back against a wall and began eating an apple... watching people dance the night away.

[Eail]

Zach sputtered at Nanahm suggestion for both him and Robin. If she hadn't have pulled out of his hug first he certainly would have drawn away himself after what had just been said to them. "<T-there's kinda reasons for that y-you know! I already messed up our friendship once because of that and I don't want that to happen again!" He stammered, trying to hide the small blush growing on his face. Zach was too old to be embarrassed like this dammit!

[Mercakete]

He closed in again, this time striking to try to force Katsu to act defensively enough to limit his mobility. It worked, as he was easily able to move away from the younger's bokken's path, this time gaining a little more distance than the last. <"No room to breathe?"> Daichi half-taunted, half genuinely asked in an attempt to help him along, <"What do you do if a strategy isn't working?">

Daichi backed off further as he spoke. Then he took a deep breath, thinking back on Katsu's movements in the previous exchanges and trying to find his weak points based on that. He figured he didn't have much of a reprieve before Katsu would go on the offensive, but during that time, he ran as many scenarios of the next exchange in his mind as he could, strategizing on the most effective movements and strikes for the next bout.

Daichi uses his champion ring! +10 str!

[ReformBlade]

"Ahahahahaaaa!" the big man laughed (for the first real time in his life *gasp*), "You kids are a riot! You know, if you spend so much time worrying about how things like that will ruin your lives..." He took a dramatic pause before lowering his tone. "It will. Now granted, the suggestion I just made was in jest, and I sincerely apologize if it's made you both uncomfortable, but at the same time, you're both very young and you've got a world ahead of you. I say make mistakes while you're young, because when you're older like me, you don't have time to worry about things you screwed up in the past, there's no point! There is only here, and now. And while I can tell that the idea of you two getting it on isn't going to make you more comfortable, I suggest you find something that does. Life doesn't get more comfortable until you can start planning ahead for it, so like I said. Make mistakes, see what works and see what doesn't. If I were as young as either of you, I'd be raising all kinds of hell right now. Trust me..." As he turned to go get himself royally hammered, he looked back over his shoulder "Don't let one action define what you two are." and left it at that.

First responding to Faatina, "Well yeah, partying seems to be a universal language of sorts." and then the Talitha came on over, immediately denying any potential invitations to dance with good reason. "Well that's a shame... still, you gotta do what's comfortable for yourself. Come to think of it... I've never really seen or heard of any sort of Avian variants for dancing, I mean, I imagine it could be vastly different but I dunno if it is...?"

"Oh pshaw, I'm not gonna go dancing! Me and Hannah here would be too friggin great and you'd all look like mad drunks in comparison!" It seems Aneda's ego was showing again. "So yeah, i'll stick here and just... relax~." Upon hearing Synthia's completely unconvincing statement of having a good time, Aneda's head was all tilted at her (like so) "Then how come you sound so boooooored? Come on, at least bust a smile! For meeee?"

[Snowy_One]

"<He wants us to raise hell? We can do that easily without resorting to sleeping with each other.>" said Robin as she groaned and leaned over the side of the ship a bit. "<I don't know what to say, do, or think about this though. I wish he hadn't brought it up.>"

[Eail]

"<I think I've raised enough hell for a lifetime Robin. After that crap we pulled at the mansion I might be content with just becoming a scholar and teacher.... But that's not the life for me. I really owe Raquel after the help that she gave me in rescuing Lia and I'm intent on staying on to help until this is all done."> Leaning on the railing next to Robin, Zach continued "<"You're right though, kinda wish he hadn't brought that stuff up. Some memories might be better left to die if they destroy friendships.>"

Smacking his hands on the railing Zach exclaimed "<Welp, I'm gonna get black out drunk before the good stuff is gone. Feel free to come along if you want Robin, we could both probably use a drink tonight>"

Walking over to where some of the others were, grabbing his own mug of liquor. "So! Anybody up for a bit of a drinking contest between them and mage boy? I've always wanted to see how an avian can handle booze Tali."

[Snowy_One]

"<.... Damnit. I'm going to hate myself for this tomorrow.>" said Robin as she hung her head in defeat as Zach walked off. In her entire life she had not been a heavy drinker. It messed with her hunting senses after all and she might shoot another human being. Filet Skotian was not a food she ever wanted to be accused of hunting. She was well aware of the beers ability to make one forget their troubles... and that sounded really good right now.

So quietly she followed Zach, unsure of what he planned to do, or if she should follow in kind with the challenge.

[Mercakete]

Well, it seemed like most of the others preferred to just hang back. That was fine. At least now they knew they were more than welcome if they decided to join in on the party. Though some she hadn't quite expected to join in did: Zachary, for one, seemed to happily join in and headed right for where some of the sailors were indulging on was was probably more than their share of grog rations if not straight-up rum. Hope th' Captain doesn't mind that. Zach apparently was challenging any and all nearby to a drinking match. Harr, not sure he knows what he's askin' fer. Gytha mentally chuckled.

The other she hadn't expected to join in who apparently was was Robin. She seemed to be more following Zachary around -- they were old friends, after all. So that made some sense. Might talk with 'er later. If Zachara gets too drunk he won't be one fer conversation, haharr. Gytha thought, playing with the idea of conversing with the huntress. Fer now, though... The mariner rejoined the dancing, clapping and stepping to the beat of the music once more.

[Phoenix]

Main Deck

"Avian dancing? The only avian specific dancing I know of would be out of place here." Talitha noted. Fortunately for her, the dance she was talking about required a winged partner which meant she couldn't give a demonstration even if she wanted to and was therefore home free. It was just about time to leave, so she bent down a bit, preparing to take off and head back up to the crow's nest. That was when Zachary appeared with Robin in tow, and challenging pretty much anyone to a drinking contest. She paused long enough at the mention of her name to think about what he was asking her and then came back with "Nope." Leaving it at that, she beat her wings down hard enough to catapult herself into the air. Once she was above all of the ship lamps, she was much harder to spot as she made her way back up to the crow's nest.

Raquel arrived on the main deck and immediately realized that the Dauntless was a lost cause. There was no way she would be getting any sleep in there, so she stopped in her tracks, turned around, and started walking again, hoping to reach the lower decks and find a clean cot somewhere. She didn't need her pillow or blanket. The three days she'd spent on the water already had somewhat conditioned her to being constantly uncomfortable, and all she cared about now was having a place to lay down that wasn't the floor. Once she found a cot that was passable, she lied down on her right side facing away from the wall and used her arm as a pillow. "I wonder what my father's doing right now ..."

Fields

<"I'll let you know when that happens."> Katsu replied with a faint smirk as he took a much firmer stance. It sacrificed mobility, but Daichi seemed to be gathering more power for his next attack which meant it was better to have a more solid defense at this point. Sure enough all of that power had been used against him that round and he was certain that he would have been floored if he hadn't grounded himself in time. Daichi wasn't able to escape Katsu's counter, however, which came in the form of a swift horizontal swipe. Not a very big payoff, but he wasn't going to let Daichi claim a flawless victory no matter what happened.

Daichi uses Vantage! Rolls 3,4,5

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3720706/

CRITICAL HIT!

-17 hp!

Katsu attacks! Rolls 3,1,3

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3720709/

AUTOHIT!

-9 hp!

Katsu hp 12/30

Daichi hp 18/27

[Acacia Sgt]

So without further delay, John walked over to where Griffin was.

''Say, the egg a moment ago glowed,'' he said. ''Was wondering if it meant something.''

[Phoenix]

Aft Deck

Lilith was still brainstorming on the signalling issue when John arrived and began to talk about the egg. She didn't know enough about it to comment, so instead looked to Griffin. "I guess you people were being too loud." he said with a shrug.

Yeah, Lilith didn't find that specific enough either. "What do you mean?"

"Well sometimes that little red aura will show up when I yell at the egg or kick it around too hard, so I figure it's just being disturbed. It was doing that when we found it too so the battle with those fallen must have caused it that time." Griffin explained.

"Ah." Lilith was satisfied for the moment, but then ... "You ... kicked the egg around?"

"Not that one, one of the older ones."

[Acacia Sgt]

''Well, I wouldn't say that it was loud, just too much talking, and I suppose she was hugging it tightly, if it means anything,'' John shrugged. ''But anyway, so then it 'wakes' up so to speak huh. That means it becomes aware of what it's happening around?''

[Phoenix]

Aft Deck

"Something like that," Griffin replied. "That thing isn't being 'born' or 'reborn'; it's being reconstituted. Like someone healing from a life threatening injury. I seem to recall Lilith getting shot in the head not too long ago ...? Something like that? That'd be a good example." he added, glancing at Lilith.

"Or any of your bouts with Bellatrix." Lilith countered. "I'm not sure what should be done with him for the time being. Griffin's qualities aren't something I want to duplicate ... and neither are mine."

"Sooner or later, you're going to have to make a choice there ..."