Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"I need to restock my own things," Gar said. "So, looks like it's a market party. Or something."

[roymbrog]

Synthia waved as Bert approached. “Yeah, I just got back. You didn’t happen to see anyone else up there, did you?” And then Gabbie walked down, proving that they weren’t the only ones around. And it seemed Synthia’s worst case scenario had happened. She sighed. “Finally back? …Did the others leave already?”

Valter, meanwhile, was watching the approaching wyvern riders. The one who walked over apparently knew Gabbie. Huh. “No, we don’t work on this ship. Did you need something?”

“Um…” The mage was just hoping they weren’t with the rebels. That could end badly.

[-Cynthia-]

"Restocking is important..." Veronika said hesitantly, part of her thinking she should tell Raquel to wait at the Leverager. "How about everyone here accompany you on your shopping trip while I meet with the captains?" she suggested, seeing as several people wanted to go with her anyway.

Make sure no furry things grab the emblem from Raquel, sounds easy enough. Nadya thought to herself.

[Mercakete]

Well, two things were delayed by the happenings after Synthia answered Norbert's question. The first thing was the continued conversation with the mage. The second was lunch...yet again. He could tell that Rizen was getting a bit nervous, too, with all the wyverns around. Worse, they seemed to want to know about the Leverager specifically. That meant these were probably enemies. It could very well be they weren't, though. Well, the only way to find out was...

"You guys part of the Neviskotian military or something?" he asked brusquely as he turned to face them more directly while crossing his arms. It was fairly clear he didn't trust them. Whether they were allies or enemies to the Leverager only put to the question which people he cared about they were against: his sisters in the Ursian military or the people who'd taken care of Raquel's group on the Leverager.

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

<"Okay,"> Haruo agreed. It sounded like a good plan to him. He backed off again and waited for Katsu to emerge again, picking up his own supplies while he did so. Even after Katsu exited the cave, he knew he had to put his gear back on. That would take some extra time. He thought about offering to just go get the lamp himself while Katsu stayed where they were, but if they were going to be asking about Kikuko, that didn't make a whole lot of sense. Carrying dry gear on a wet back couldn't be comfortable, though.

[Phoenix]

Intersection

"That sounds good," Raquel agreed. This easily fixed her problem with not having enough hands around, though it was a pretty big group to have to manage on her own. She didn't feel she could lead very well in an emergency. "Oh, but wait, at least one person needs to go with you don't they? It's not far to the office building, but ... still, none of us should be wandering around here alone."

Docks

These people didn't work on the ship, so this really wasn't any of their business. Or was it? Lev wasn't sure having seen Gabbie stroll down the loading ramp with some food in hand. Most were ignoring her, so she obviously didn't steal it ... or rather steal steal. Not worth thinking about anymore, and questions were coming. "Yes, we're Imperial Navy, and that's all you need to know," Lev answered.

"Imperial navy ..." Gabbie began to think back. "Oh man, they're here about the eggs!"

"Eggs? Wait, h-how do you know about ... never mind," Lev shook his head, not wanting to talk about it out in the open. "Is Captain Bogdan around? I need to speak with him about getting the cargo into friendlier waters."

Waterfall

It took a few minutes, but Katsu got right back into his gear. Aside from the occasional wedge picking around his chest and back in places where the cloth wasn't folding comfortably, he didn't seem to much mind the wet clothing. <"You know the way to Kosato, right?"> Katsu asked Haruo, ready to follow along.

[-Cynthia-]

"All right..." Veronika said tentatively, scanning the group. "How about you come along with me Reign? It would be helpful to have someone along who knows about ships anyway."

[Phoenix]

Intersection

"Alright," Reign answered. Despite being dead weight in the combat department for the moment, he did know enough about ships to be somewhat helpful, but those captains would probably fire back if he said anything negative about their ship's spec and he wasn't exactly looking forward to that. It still beat having to get into a fight, though.

"The building's in the market. Just head straight down the same road we came down," Raquel explained, pointing straight down the street behind her. "and look for a sign that says 'Weyland Enterprises'. It's in common, luckily and it's on the left side of the street from where you're facing."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Spiffy," Gar said once things had been settled. "So we heading back to the ship first or," Gar caught himself. Of course they were, Raquel just said that. "Yeah, nevermind that stupidity. what was I thinking...?" Gar shook his head at his sudden lose of short-term memory. Probably because he was bored of boat-town? Yeah, that was probably it. All the wine bottles were annoying to carry around too. "Since I just came from the boat I'm heading to the market, to deal with my own merchanting and make sure whatever that furry thing is isn't there anymore and case the place in case any other threats may have shown up." Gar informed the pink-leader. "I'll link back up with you there Raquel."

[-Cynthia-]

"All right- be careful," Veronika warned before making her way down the street where Raquel came from, looking on the left side of the street for the Weyland Enterprises sign.

[Phoenix]

Intersection

"Alright-whoa, wait a minute!" Raquel tried to stop Gar before he had a chance to walk off. "It was your suggestion, remember ...?" she asked, alluding to the pair travel thing.

You know, if not for this 'keeping an eye on him' thing, I'd say let the guy run off on his own since it's going to take at least twelve guys to stop him. Shadrak thought to himself, crossing his arms.

Shop Til You Drop Street

Bring up the tome ... or don't bring up the tome ... eh, we've got a meeting we don't want to be late for. I've got two whole weeks to get one, though it would be nice to see if the Kigenese have anything special. Well, as long as it's not written in kigenese. "Oh hey," Reign pointed off into the distance at the sign Raquel mentioned. "That looks to be it."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Raquel came up with the exact lines he knew someone would use against him. "Oh, yeah, I totally know. But see, if I go and pair off with anyone and we get jumped, then whomever's with me is gonna be the focus of the hypothetical enemy because of their otherwise inability to harm me. And if said partner is rendered unable to fight, then the hypothetical enemy will attempt to use the therefor rendered incapacitated as leverage in hostile dealings against me. Therefor, it is better for me to either move alone or in groups of three or above. Taking into account the current possible people to travel with available, it is therefor a better consideration to let me go off alone in this instance." Gar explained with needless repetition and language.

Edited November 23, 2012 by Script

[Mercakete]

Gytha thought about volunteering to go with Gar, but her better judgement told her she should probably stick with Raquel. It was a good thing she did last time, after all. Although there were more people that were going to be travelling with her now. "Up t' ye, Raquel, but I could go with 'im if ye don't think ye'll need me help," she offered, "Robin could come too, if she wants."

She cast a quick glance to the archer. It would give them the opportunity to look around like they'd planned to, though Raquel would be down two guards.

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

So, then, Gabbie saw it fit to just blab off about eggs. Though it caused Norbert to wince, at least she hadn't mentioned they were dragon eggs. The one who appeared to be the wyvern rider leader claimed to be part of the Neviskotian navy. He bought that. They certainly looked it.

"Look on the ship I guess," he grudgingly advised before turning to the other members of Raquel's group. "Come on; let's go get some lunch." Apparently Synthia and Gabbie were suddenly invited. Norbert just wanted to get away from the Neviskotians as soon as possible, before he did something stupid.

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

<"Yes,"> Haruo replied with a bit of a frown, <"but not beyond there. Once we leave this area, I won't be of much help as far as being a guide goes."> He began leading the way to Kosato regardless. They could talk on the way.

Edited November 23, 2012 by Mercakete

[-Cynthia-]

Intersection

Man that guy sure is confident in himself...well if he gets himself killed ain't any skin off my back. Nadya thought to herself after hearing Gar's response, yawning.

Arrival

"Yes it does," Veronika affirmed, walking through the door to find Connor in the main lobby.

"Oh, you're here for meeting with the captains, right? First door on your right," he said, not looking up from the papers he was thumbing through and pointing in the appropriate direction.

"Thanks," she replied curtly, going over and opening the door to the meeting room.

[Phoenix]

Intersection

Gar's example made Raquel imagine herself as the liable tag along since it sounded like an 'easily defeated' scenario. She sighed dejectedly. "John's never going to let me hear the end of this. Meet us back at the ship when you're done, I guess."

"You're just letting him go? Even after that talk the other night?" Shadrak chimed in with some concern in his voice.

"If one of you wants to go with him, that's fine, but I really need to get my work done here as soon as possible and we can't just stand around in the street debating it all day."

Meeting Room

Not surprising, but no one was inside, but there were enough chairs for ten people, five on one side, and five on the other. "I guess the captains will be here in a little while," Reign said with a shrug.

Docks

"Alright, boys, don't want to spook them. I'll head up alone. Keep an eye on Fulcrum for me," Lev instructed before heading up the loading ramp and passing Gabbie on the way. He looked at her greaves one more time(the greaves ... suuure) before passing by and coming onto the main deck. Gabbie made it to the bottom of the ramp with Ringo still tagging along.

"Lunch? ... alroight, sure."

Meanwhile on the main deck, Lev was quickly accosted by one of the crew. "Hey, who the hell are you?"

"Commander Lev Mikoyan, Imperial Navy. Who the hell are you?" Lev retorted with a smirk.

"... Mark ... powder monkey." the humbled but good humored sailor replied.

"A pleasure. Is captain Bogdan here? We need to talk about the cargo this ship is hauling and how best to deliver it." When the sailor pointed toward the aft deck, Lev looked over, himself, and spotted Bogdan overlooking the conversation. Lev gave a small wave to the captain before nodding farewell to the sailor and making for the aft deck.

Aft Deck

Once Lev made it up to the aft deck, he joined Bogdan near the wheel. Bogdan kept his arms crossed which dissuaded Lev from trying to greet him with a handshake. Instead he put his hands behind his back and stood next to the captain overlooking the crew as they worked. "Good to see you again, captain. Aside from all of this, how are things going for you?"

"Aside from this, not much has changed," Bogdan replied. "My son has his own ship, now, though. If you include this, things are looking up."

"Oh does he? What's it called? I'll have to make sure we get it logged."

"The Dark Utka. Don't write that down yet; I'm sure he'll change the name eventually," Bogdan advised.

"Hah, of course. Something respectable like 'the Leverager Two' or 'the Ascender'," Lev teased.

"The eggs are also on that ship and they are sitting out on the coast. I needed to take every precaution, especially if you people didn't get my message in time."

"Better to err on the side of caution I suppose. I brought my whole squadron, so we can transfer any eggs. Live ones will obviously be another matter, though."

"If we must, we'll take the live ones all the way to friendly waters and meet up with one of your ships."

"We might as well just escort you up to Lukin or even Sergei. They'll all be going to one of those two ports, so ..."

"Hmm."

[-Cynthia-]

"Wonder if we'll be meeting with them individually or all at once. Second way would be faster but I don't know if that's the custom for this sort of thing," Veronika said, sitting down in one of the chairs.

[roymbrog]

So the wyvern squad was from the Neviskotian navy and they were here about the dragon eggs. That was none of Valter’s business so he just waited to leave, which Bert seemed pretty eager to do.

Bert’s lunch invitation apparently applied to Synthia and Gabbie, the latter of whom had already accepted. The mage was not about to be left here alone with a bunch of sailors and Skotians. “I guess I’m coming too,” she said, attempting to mount her horse. It took her a good three tries before she finally succeeded.

Valter snickered, earning a peeved glare from Synthia. “You should probably get a saddle.” Based on her scowl he would guess that, yep, she already looked. Alright then. “Lead on, Bert.”

[Mercakete]

It sounded like Raquel would rather she go with her and so released Gar to look around himself. Gytha didn't have much objection to that since it was Raquel's decision and she herself had been unable to choose a route herself, so she stayed quiet on the matter.

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

Well, it hadn't been entirely expected, but Norbert didn't much care. He didn't mind the two others he'd somewhat accidentally invited and he was more in a rush to get away from the Neviskotians, so he didn't give it much thought. Instead he just mounted up onto Rizen. The pegasus was likewise eager to get away from present company. In spite of all this, when Valter told him to "lead on," he hesitated for a moment out of surprise. It was certainly an odd thing to hear directed towards him, but he managed to keep the hesitation to a minimum, wordlessly riding his pegasus away from the ship and back into town.

As he rode, though, his mind was still a bit stuck on the phrase. It felt too weird to let go right away. It's just been Riz and me for a long time and when it wasn't, I was the one being told what to do... I don't think I'm leader material... I know I'm just heading into town, but anyone can choose someplace to eat. Not like I know this place. It wasn't supposed to be significant or anything, I'm sure, but... Merz this is weird...

Once they were in town -- which didn't take hardly any time at all -- he told the other three, "Just let everyone else know if there's anywhere you want to go, I guess. I'm buying."

Edited November 25, 2012 by Mercakete

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Spiffy," Gar said, more-or-less ignoring any possible implications that came from other words. "And since no one has so-kindly volunteered I'll just be heading off now so we can all get moving. Here's hoping nothing bad happens. And such." Gar smirked as we walked away, giving on off-hand wave as he did so.

[Eail]

"A shield huh? Can't say I've ever thought about something like that.... but maybe it isn't such a bad idea...."

After mulling over the dragon's response in his head for a short time Zach gave an answer "If that's what you're willing to teach me, that's what I'm willing to learn sir. After all, it'll still let me protect, just in another way."

[roymbrog]

Bert was offering free food, and Synthia wasn’t about to pass up on that. “Oh, how very generous,” she said, clasping her hands together. “I was going to mooch off Valter anyway, so this works out nicely~”

The horseman took a moment to stare. Did she really just say that? Then to Bert he said, “Thanks for the offer, but there’s no need to pay for me.” Synthia either, for that matter, but he didn’t say that part.

[Mercakete]

"Well, if not this time, then some other time. I still owe you for that meal you bought me back in Ursentius," Norbert replied to Valter. As casually as he said it, he was intent on replaying the horseman for it. That said, he still grimaced a little at what Synthia had said. Not about her mooching either. That's...what, the second person who's called me that today? That doesn't make any sense... Why did this come up again?

[Snowy_One]

"Gytha. Are we still going to go out together? If so, then we are a pair, no?"

[Mercakete]

"Aye, that's right," Gytha cheerily agreed to Robin, "We can look around while we go with Raquel fer now n' go off t' look ourselves later. She'll need help carryin' things n' we have t' be ready in case someone tries t' bother her again, too, fer now, though."

[Snowy_One]

"Of course. If Raquel needs us, I will be there for sure. She has my loyalty. But... What will you be looking for? Most of this place is merchants trying to pawn off poor wares for high prices."

[Phoenix]

Raquel Group

"If their wares were all poor quality, I wouldn't be bothering with any of this," Raquel noted after hearing Robin's comment. Of course she was already heading back toward the Leverager as she said this, so there was little else for the others to do but follow along at first. As she neared Nadya, though, Riley tried to nuzzle her which caused her to stop. "Oh, Riley." She sighed, feeling a little absentminded before petting the young stallion on the nose. "You enjoyed your time off the ship, I hope."

Gabbie

"Ohhh how noice of you~" Gabbie chimed in about Bert treating the small group. She didn't really have a taste for kigenese food, but at least there was no money coming out of her pocket for the moment.

Reign

"Frankly, it's pretty unusual to meet a bunch of different captains at once unless you're hiring more than one. Like if you're putting together a privateer fleet for a dangerous mission or something," Reign explained. "But given the circumstances, I think meeting them all at once is a good idea, that or five minute interviews with each. Better than what we were trying earlier at least."

Soon Anna peeked into the room and said, "Just one minute. One of the captains is here and he found out why he's here a little sooner than I'd hoped. I just need to talk to him for a minute, and then he'll be right in, heheheheh ..."

Is that really a bad thing? Reign wondered.

Fyo and Friends

"Hm, alright then," Fyodor replied, beginning to pick himself up. A few grunts from exertion and he was up on all fours and stretching his neck. The guards put some distance between themselves and Fyodor to give him some room. "So ... what sorts of people does your friend need protection from?"