Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Snike]

And, finally, after several awkward days, someone finally decided to ask Blake why he wasn't present at the battle. Here goes.

"First of all, I'm not the tactician. Especially not after last fight, which is why I'm probably going to get fired," Blake said, avoiding eye contact. "I got sent to guard duty, given that everyone else was sent to the manse, just in case a surprise attack was launched on the Leverager while everyone else was at the manse."

There, it was out. Now time to see how fast he'd get driven out of the group.

***

"Alright then," Grant said, still smiling. "Well, I spoke to a friend of mine around here who has connections, and it appears that there's no reasonable way to send the horses back without it costing a fortune. So, you can have one of them, in short."

[Mercakete]

And then, the story began to really come out. That was a far better result than Norbert had hoped for, and so he turned so he could watch the argument while leaning against Rizen's side. "So, were you two working together to catch this guy at first?" he asked as his eyes shifted from one to the other.

[roymbrog]

Oh, so it was good news. Synthia’s demeanor brightened considerably. “Really? So… how much?”

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

"Well they had chairs back in Sanctuary, which wasn't really that long ago. How long has it been, a week?" Connor asked no one in particular, having lost some track of time with the many days on the ship.

Veronika and Nadya

"Well that is quite the story," Veronika said to Gar, not exactly sure what to make of the whole thing. I suspect he's still being somewhat evasive...but I'll let the matter drop for now.

"Yeah, we had the whole crew here to guard the wagon. Not sayin' ya shouldn't follow the boss's orders, but ya could at least try to talk her outta some of the sillier suggestions like that one," Nadya remarked to Blake.

Layla

"Sardis is probably scared of your potential if you had it all the time," Layla remarked to Cassandra. "You've had some combat training as well, right? It would be a waste of your abilities to have you as defenseless as sad little Raquel after all," she said with a small laugh.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Mmm yeah," Gar mumbled. "I still have no idea where either you or Guy-John got me being part of a group from. Did I get confused with Zachary again?"

[Rothene]

Deciding that seeing Rizen one more time would greatly hamper his desire to return home, Ranyin decided to depart from the group quietly. Taking out a map from his bag, Ranyin nodded at the quick path he had plotted to lead him home.

***

Mireille smirked at Gabbie's remark about chairs. Ah, riders, you already have the luxury of sitting down in battle while us foot soldiers fight on foot, shouldering the burden of our heavy armours. Silently, the knight had followed Raquel and her entourage from the leverager, intent on fulfilling her duty of protecting her charge. Thus far no fights have broken out that would require her immediate assistance, which was something the Ursian woman desired

"I wonder what sort of comfortable chairs do you have back at home Robin? Are they large and well filled with down?" Mireille asked, thinking about the few well puffed up chairs her father reserved for guests back in the mansion.

[Snike]

"Yeah, well as I said, I'm probably going to get let go at some point for that mess," Blake said, impassively. There really was nothing more to be said.

---

"Well, I figured that I'd just let you have one of them for free, seeing as neither I nor the governor have an immediate need for either of the horses," Grant said, omitting the fact that he would be sending a sum of gold to reimburse his uncle for the displaced equines. "Unless you want to pay for one...?"

[Phoenix]

Office

"Urgh, who cares about ... ugh, never moind." Gabbie couldn't care less about the chairs in Robin's house, and she was trying to relax. "Just go pester Raquel or somethin'."

Meanwhile Raquel continued to mull over the list. "I wonder if I should meet all of the captains again like the last time."

"If that's what you want to do, perhaps I could arrange a meeting. It would take all day to meet with them all individually. So how about I send for all five of them and you can meet here?"

"Hmm ... that could work. How long will it take?"

"A couple of hours if all goes according to plan. Fortunately Chousokabe has no shortage of things for travelers to do."

"Loike the brothels, we know." Gabbie chimed in, though at this point she looked to be talking in her sleep.

"Oh ... I hahah, no I didn't mean the brothels." Anna corrected while trying not to laugh more. "Maybe go see a street performance or go shopping in the markets? Some of the merchants here are selling some very interesting goods."

Docks

Shadrak was surprised by the story, and he concluded that Gar was a comedian of some sort. He crossed his arms for the upteenth time and said "A likely story, but you really think being with this group is going to help you hunt him and the rest of them down?"

"It's good practice from the look of things ..." Reign noted, still not looking toward the discussion.

Lance shrugged at the crew guarding comment. "Honestly, we don't do much guarding. We just hope that people have the common sense not to try and steal stuff right off the main deck. Then again, we've had a few tries ..." That reminder made him sigh heavily. He decided to try and cheer Blake up next, if only to distract himself from the last time someone sneaked into the ship and got their head blown off by one of the crewmen. "Hey, mistakes happen, and you just said you're not the tactician. You all survived. That's nothing to get fired for. Every battle we've been in, the Leverager's lost one or two good men. It's depressing. You people are doing pretty well for yourselves, so keep it up."

Street

The man shook his head at Nobert. "No, I had chased that bastard all over Tracea, and every time he gave me the slip. That was until he tried to cross over the mountains to get to Chousokabe and get passage off this giant island. She only showed up a few days ago. We kept bumping into each other in the mountains. It was friendly in the beginning ... a bit of a race. In fact with both of us trying to catch him, he found it even harder to maneuver and I eventually cornered him." He was still a bit dazed from the kick, and so took a moment to lightly shake his head. "He wasn't coming along quietly, though, and I ended up chasing him west, almost all the way to the base of the mountains, and then it happened ... this bitch catches up to us just as I take him down. I tied him up just to be safe and we start arguing about the mess in the woods. She wasted so much time arguing about all of that, he slipped the bonds and rode off with my horse. We chased him on foot and managed to keep up. We were off the trail and there were trees everywhere. He couldn't outpace us without crashing into something. He also had no idea where he was going because he came to a dead end with a huge gap between him and safety. He actually took my horse and tried to jump that gap, but ... but Marge couldn't make the jump. He only survived because he has thumbs and dumb luck. I couldn't make the climb down to recapture him, but the bitch here could, and she did. By the time I caught up, she was here in Chousokabe collecting the money and I was left with nothing but a dead horse."

"Kindly quit beating it," Suzume retorted. "Look, pegasus guy ... I was arguing with him because that 'mess in the woods' almost got me killed. It really was friendly in the beginning ... as friendly as it could be with two people after the same bounty, but as I got close to catching the man, this one decided that it was worth risking my life to get the bounty. Of course I'm not sharing the money with someone who thinks throwing grenades around and almost blowing us up is a good idea."

"The passage had to be blocked!" the man defended loudly as he pointed his finger toward the ground.

"That sounds like quite the adventure ..." Mandy spoke up again.

Tavern

"I can protect myself," Cassandra confirmed and nodded. Right, stop feeling so down. It's not consistent ... "Burke ... trained me, though not with my weapons, only on maneuvers and tactics. I'm still learning to use a knife and whip properly, but I was born able to cast."

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

"Hey, this might be one of our only chances to stock up on Kigenese weapons. Maybe you should try fitting some weapons trading into your schedule here," Connor suggested to Raquel.

Veronika and Nadya

"I suppose I just assumed a 'problem-solver' wouldn't be working alone," Veronika answered Gar simply.

"Eh, I wouldn't worry about gettin' fired. Raquel's not a very tough boss- odds are that ya'd die before she even considered dischargin' ya unless ya actually betrayed her somehow," Nadya said to Blake reassuringly.

Layla

"Yes I can't imagine Burke training much of anyone in weaponry- I think he might just be an animated suit of armor or something. So what did you learn about the Disciples while you were with them anyway? Despite being our 'allies' they seem to enjoy keeping a lot of secrets- which makes me suspect they're up to things they don't want us knowing about," Layla said, her eyes narrowing.

[Mercakete]

Norbert nodded occasionally as he listened carefully to the story. "So, you both came close to catching this guy and each is responsible for the other's loss of him in the eyes of the one who lost him," Norbert stated, though it was more of asking for confirmation on the conclusion. Not waiting for said confirmation, he went on, "You" he indicated the man "threw grenades at her" he indicated Suzume "about the time she was about to catch him, then later, after you" he indicated the man again "caught the guy, she came to confront you on throwing grenades at her and while that was happening, the guy got loose and made off with your horse. Then you" he indicated Suzume again "and he" he indicated the man "went after the horse and target and you" he indicated Suzume "caught him and turned him in for a bounty. Then you" he indicated the man "found out and attacked her" he indicated Suzume "to take the bounty because you" he indicated the man "felt entitled to it because your horse died and the guy was captured when she" he indicated Suzume "distracted you long enough for the guy to get away."

Then, addressing them both, he asked, "Do I have that right?"

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

Sumire was having a hard time reacting to anything other than the decision her husband had made. She still hadn't quite found her voice, so Daichi took that opportunity to answer for the both of them. <"I know, Katsu; that is the sort of man you are. I would not have allowed her to go with you if I thought you wouldn't ensure her safety first.">

After a short pause, he added, <"Perhaps this is better on the whole. With Hana around, perhaps you will be more cautious yourself, and if something happens, you can help one another. It is always better to travel with at least one other person, I believe.">

[roymbrog]

Well, no reason not to be honest. “I’d rather pay you back now than be indebted,” Synthia said. “Buuut… if you’re sure about it I’m not going to turn down free.” The mage supposed she’d just owe Grant a favor or something. Yeah.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"It's the closest thing to a lead I have," Gar shrugged and answered Shade Drake's question first. He turned to answer Veronika's next. "Work alone? Well, I have worked with others, technically I am working with you people, but there's no... confederation of problem-solvers wandering the world righting wrongs and such."

[Snike]

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that," Blake said, appearing to reject the reassurances brought by Nadya and the sailor. "Regardless, I guess the issue now is how to prevent something like that happening again, or at least try to do so." What help he'd be there, given that he missed the disastrous turnabout.

***

"I am sure," Grant said evenly, "Given that really you're just relieving me of the task of finding a buyer amidst this sea of promoters." Which would truthfully be a hassle, given prior encounters. Yes, this was probably the best way of dealing with the equines.

[Eail]

Zachary Boy

Zach had stayed quiet during the chair conversation, that really wasn't something he really had much interest in. But at the red headed lady's comment that they would finally have some free time to go do some stuff he finally had his chance! "Hey Raquel? If we have some free time now could I go visit that dragon? I wanna see if I can ask him some questions about magic!" He asked the pink haired boss. Rather excited at his chance.

[Rothene]

Magic? Mireille turned towards Zach and asked, "Mind if I accompany you sir mage? You seem to be on your way to acquire more knowledge on spellcasting I believe?"

[Eail]

'Oh, so another member of the group is interested in learning as well? Excellent news!'

Thought based off her looks she wasn't exactly a mage per say it was still sense-able that she had some inclination towards magic. And if her tone was anything to go by some kind of nobility as well, would it be all right to act normally around her? "I don't mind at all, it's nice to have someone to work with when it comes to magic! As long as it's okay with Raquel we can go now."

[Phoenix]

Office

"Two hours is a really tight schedule," Raquel frowned. She knew that if she committed to shopping for items now, she would either be noticeably late for the meeting with the captains, or have to leave right in the middle of a bargain and try to come back later. Not that she didn't want to, but it seemed like a bit of a hassle waiting to happen. Before she could make a decision on whether or not to go with Connor's suggestion, Zachary spoke up asking if he could go see that dragon he mentioned earlier. "Well ... as long as you don't go by yourself. You were there when I said not to do that, so don't do that again."

Next Mireille chimed in, asking if she could accompany him. And that pretty much solved Raquel's problem, though her personal entourage was shrinking by the second. She was wondering if only Gabbie, Gytha, and Robin would be left to help her with the shopping. "That works. Just be careful, you two." I guess Mireille isn't into the whole anti-dragon thing, either. Though I guess it makes sense, or she might have spoken up about the Leverager's mission. Though if her reaction would have been like Zel's, I'm glad she didn't ...

Docks

"Damn," Reign muttered non-seriously at Gar's problem solver confederation comment.

Aside from this shaky alliance he has with us, if he's working alone then we ... don't really have anything to fear from him ... aside from him going completely insane and trying to kill everyone in their sleep. "So what happens after you hunt down whoever it is you're looking for?" Shadrak asked, somehow crossing his arms again ... ... ... you never see him uncross his arms, do you?

Street

Bert seemed to have a completely unbias version of the story. Suzume slowly nodded and said "Yyyes ... but I'm not sharing this with him, end of story." She just wanted to be perfectly clear on that. No matter what Bert made of the situation, she was not giving the man a single coin after the incident in the woods and hounding her all through town.

The man shook his head and then added. "I spent six months tracking that bastard. Why should I walk away with nothing but magic burns, a fracture that I'm pretty sure that guard gave me, and a dead horse? Do you know I ran out of money two weeks ago? I haven't eaten in two days and counting. In fact, the only thing keeping me standing right now is the hope that I might not be completely screwed yet."

"Get a part time job or something. I stopped caring about you after the grenades." Suzume turned away to defend her prize and give him the cold shoulder all in one swift motion.

Tavern

Ohhh crap. Cassandra heard it over and over that this type of question would come up, but she didn't think it would happen again so quickly. Lying to Sardis was easy; she was just a tool to him, she hated his guts, and might even deceive him on principle alone if not for specific instruction being given. Layla was ... different, though. She could sense the first bit of genuine kindness from another person since she met Naomi. That was just depressing given all of the people she had met thus far, but a little endearing as well. What could she say that would be the truth, but not so little that she would seem like she was hiding things?

"Well Burke has a lot of men, but they hide their faces. I spent most of my time in my bedroom, in a lounge area, or in a training room. I never went outside and there were no windows or doors leading outside, so I had no idea where we were. We could have been underground for all I know. I'm not really sure what else they're up to." Truth as a whole ... but a lie of omission. That was unusual, as she would normally just lie altogether.

Household

Katsu nodded in agreement. <"Oh, that reminds me ..."> he paused, realizing that what he was about to ask Daichi might cause Sumire to faint or something, and so struggled with it for a moment. <"There was something I needed to ask you in private before I left."> That was a decent cover. Sumire was under enough stress after his other request ...

Edited November 6, 2012 by Phoenix

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"I probably bugger off?" Gar answered with a shrug. "Though what I do will be dependent on the circumstances in which my target's execution comes to fruition. But bugger off will probably be the case."

[Mercakete]

"As for who's entitled to the reward money..." Norbert tried to keep the conversation on track, "You're both bounty hunters. You know what that job's like. I've never been one, but as I understand it, it's a free-for-all where almost anything goes as long as you catch your target. It's something that weeds out the real bounty hunters from the dreamers chasing after romanticism. You won't keep at if you're not able to weather the irregular pay and tough conditions. What if the roles were reversed?"

Then, he turned his attention to the man specifically, "What if you were the one to have grenades blow up in your face, confront the one who threw them, then caught your target when the opportunity came up and turned him in for the reward? What if you were the one who was being demanded to give up that reward because the other bounty hunter couldn't keep him caught and lost a horse, especially since she was being confronted because grenades had blown up in your face? How would you be acting right now?"

He wasn't finished, however. He turned his attention to Suzume next. "And what about you? What if you spent the last bit of your money chasing after this guy, lost your horse and what would probably be your last payment all at once? And on top of that, the local law enforcement wouldn't even listen to your side of the story, only going with what they heard first? How would you react?"

Then, he addressed them both again. "In the end, the rule is that whoever delivers the target to the client gets the money. There's no other fair way to determine that in this kind of occupation. Being a bounty hunter is one big gamble, after all. Pretty sure we can agree on that. So, the rightful owner of the money is Suzumay. What she does with it is up to her. It'd be kind of heartless to keep it all for yourself, though, if it's a big bounty, especially after the other guy lost his horse and hasn't eaten in a couple days." I know how that feels. If she doesn't help him out, I'll do it myself. I can at least give him some money to help him get started on another bounty and get a meal. I may not have a lot on me, but it's not like I don't have some ridiculous amount of gold in Raquel's wagon.

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

Daichi was somewhat curious about what the request was, though he not only couldn't blame him for wanting to ask it away from Sumire, but was relieved. He seemed to pick up that talking about ventures or fighting around her generally led to an uncomfortable atmosphere, not to mention that Sumire herself held no interest in military topics. <"Sumire, perhaps you should go get some air. You seem a little unwell,"> he suggested to his wife.

Stunned as she was, Sumire was still able to comprehend that Daichi was asking her to leave them alone for a bit, and so, simply headed outside. Daichi also genuinely hope the fresh air would help her some. Once the door leading to the back yard slid shut with Sumire on the other side of it, the Hikibain asked Katsu, <"What was it you wanted to ask?">

Edited January 1, 2013 by Mercakete

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

"Well...you could always have someone else meet with captains or have them wait for a little while or something. Keeping the Dauntless well stocked is pretty important," Connor said to Raquel. For my research...but everyone else benefits too so this advice is still helpful. he rationalized.

Veronika and Nadya

"Well, I have no problems with that. We're not going to stop anyone who wants to leave I think," Veronika said in response to Gar.

"I'd rather we didn't pick fights indoors personally. When I'm not on Luca, I'm a sittin' duck. Probably throws off the other mounted people too," Nadya suggested to Blake.

Layla

"Hmm, I thought as much. The Disciples want to keep their secrets at any cost- they probably wouldn't show you their plans and send you over here. Come to think of it, I'm a bit curious as to why they had you created in the first place. Not that I'm not happy about it of course, but I doubt the Disciples have our best interests in mind," she said, biting her lip. "Did Sardis have your person checked thoroughly by chance?" she asked, eyeing Cassandra closely.

[Phoenix]

Office

"Mmm, Veronika could probably do it. If she doesn't mind, that is ..." Raquel mused. "Okay I'll ask her. Anna, go ahead and set up the meeting and I'll head back to the ship to tell her and get some things to sell in the markets. Gabbie, Gytha, Robin, I'm going to need your help carrying things."

"Dun call me Gabbie ..." Gabbie sleepily replied.

"Alright, I'll get right on that, Raquel~" Anna replied, cheerful as ever.

Docks

"Hmm," Shadrak thought about Gar's answer for a moment while Veronika commented. "I guess you're alright then ..."

Street

"I probably would have shot her, to be honest." the man answered a bit reluctantly. "Look, I get it. It was a bad call, but she still made it out without a scratch."

"If the guards wouldn't listen to me, I'd just give up." Suzume answered. "Heartless? How is it heartless? One of those grenades landed right next to me-I would have been blown to steaming bits if I didn't pull a running jump into some cover. Is it that hard to ask a girl to feed you if you're really that hungry?"

"Tch, then you'd just feel like that's all I wanted and everyone else would think I was just a thug trying to take advantage of you." the man answered again.

"They already do ... well, except for pegasus guy here. You're trying to take all of the money even though I turned in the bounty."

"Urgh! At least give me half! If not for you, nothing would have stopped me from turning him in, and you know that!"

"No way-you almost killed me."

Tavern

"No. He takes away my weapons when I don't need them, but that's all." Cassandra answered. Maybe Sardis knows about my memories and is still planning on using me, anyway. I can't ask him directly, because if he doesn't know, I ruin Burke's plan instantly. Ugh.

House

<"It's about Hana. Several things actually. I want to be fully prepared for anything that might happen, but if I go in assuming too much, it could complicate things. I can protect her against several people at once, but any more than that, and things become complicated. I was wondering if she knows any forms of self defense, and if so, what kind. I'll avoid conflict if I can, but if it's forced on us, I'd ... rather be prepared.">

[Mercakete]

"Aye, aye, Raquel!" Gytha cheerily replied with a quick salute. Then, to Robin, she said, "Guess we can look around a little s'long as we stick with Raquel. We might get t' explore once she's done shoppin', too."

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

Norbert shrugged, deciding to address the question about how it would be heartless to not give the other guy some of the money. "He hasn't eaten in a long time and if the reward was as big as you made it sound, you sure have enough to help him out a little. Knowing he's starving when you could do something about it and yet choosing not to and not feeling bad about it at all... That's heartless. I don't blame you for not wanting to help out someone who threw a grenade at you, though. I probably wouldn't have been as nice as you were myself. I think that his throwing a grenade at you contributed to your not caring about whether he starves or not, but your not caring about whether he starves or not is still there. In the end, you got the money, so do what you want with it."

Then, the pegasus rider pushed himself off of Rizen's side with his shoulders before turning and taking out the handful of gold coins he'd taken with him when they left the Leverager. Then, as he walked over to the man, went on nonchalantly explaining, "I was in a similar situation a couple weeks ago or so. As chance would have it, I came into some good-paying jobs, so I have some extra money." A lot of extra money, actually. More than I ever thought I'd have to my name. "It's not much, but if you spend it right, this should get you something to eat and maybe get you some supplies so you can find another bounty to hunt. I don't think I need to tell a bounty hunter to ration, though," he advised as he offered the gold to the man with an open hand.

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

Daichi grimaced a little. <I suppose I should have expected this sooner or later. He would have found out anyway.> Either way, he was very glad Sumire wasn't around to hear it.

<"She's...been practicing in Kosato's morning routines for a while now, so yes, some. Of course, she, her sister and I are the only ones who know about it. Well, except for you, now. Still, it would be better if no one else knew about that..."> he reluctantly replied. Seeing as Katsu fought alongside a woman, Daichi figured he wouldn't care about the information, so he wasn't worried about how he would respond.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Mercakete

[roymbrog]

At some point Valter had dozed off… Eh, Bert would wake him when it was finally time to go.

-----

“Well in that case… can I have the grey mare?” Synthia asked. Squeeee, horses. It seemed everything worked out in the end. There really was no reason to hold grudge against Zachary now, was there?

[Eail]

Dragon Seeker Zachary

Pretty much the second Raquel gave her okay for them to go visit the dragon Zach's face lit up like a kid in a candy shop. "Thanks Raquel, I promise I'll try not to take too long!" He said before grabbing his new friend Miri and shooting out the door. "Oh by the way, name is Zachary Fairweather. But you can call me Zach!"

Pinky No. 2

It seemed as though his new companions had decided to split up for the moment. Luka didn't exactly feel right just letting them do all the work though if he was going to be coming along for a while. "I can help you as well Ms. Raquel. Rika and I can probably carry most of what you'll need."

[Rothene]

"I am Mireille Authine, you may address me as Mireille," Mireille introduced herself as she gently brushed away Zach's grabbing hand.

"And I would prefer it if you did not touch the armour. I have seen your brand of magic and...nevermind." muttered Mireille as she tried to keep up with the much less encumbered mage, knowing full well that it would exhaust her to speak anymore. A knight's armour was very much a curse when it came to traveling. Raquel should be fine...I hope.