Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Acacia Sgt]

''Well, for all it's worth the Wrathites can't exactly put finding the emblem as their top priority, unlike the organization,'' John commented. ''And are much more limited. They only found about Raquel's piece weeks after the organization after all. It seems more likely for the organization to be able to gather the pieces faster than them at any rate,'' he shrugged.

Edited September 10, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[roymbrog]

Synthia elected to stay on deck and watch whatever Griffin was doing. Which was pretty awesome. She spent more than a moment standing there with a look of awe on her face. That was some powerful wind magic right there. “I wish I could do that…”

[Snowy_One]

A seagull sat right above Synthia, not really doing all that much, but bored out of its mind. It was full on fish and the galley door was closed, but maybe, just maybe... It quietly fluttered down to come to rest beside Synthia, looking at her hopefully, desiring food from her.

[roymbrog]

Distracted as she was by awesomeness, Synthia didn’t notice the seagull until it perched on the railing next to her. She started before staring at it. When it didn’t immediately fly off she took to shooing it away. “Go. Leave. Fly.” And she waved her hand at it.

[Snowy_One]

The human didn't seem to notice her. That was good. Carefully the gull started to move closer, and closer, until the human started to wave it's tentacles at him! The gull squacked in terror as it spread its wings and puffed up its chest. It was big! It was mighty! It wouldn't be eaten by the puny foot-beast! The human would feed IT! Not the other way around!

[roymbrog]

Okaaay…? What was the gull doing now? It seemed to be trying to threaten her, or something. Synthia glared at it. This wasn’t very amusing, in her opinion. She walked away from the railing. Best case scenario, it’d leave her alone.

Edited September 11, 2012 by roymbrog

[Snowy_One]

As the human turned and started to walk away the gull looked at it in annoyance. He was being ignored by the beast, most likely so it could go stick its tentacles in some female to mate (that was how humans worked, right?). This would not stand. Spreading its wings the gull caught an ocean breeze as it took off into the air, gliding up and up towards the top of the mast to take a seat. It would not let the human ignore him so easily!

[Ether]

"Hmm... I guess you're right... well, you can't show me here, but you should be able to tell me how it works, right? How do you get it to move like that without putting a lot of strain on your arm?" Faatina inquired to Davod, as to the mechanics of whips.

**********

As the tracer ship went down, Kit grasped the shoulder of the Captain before he yelled out the order to rescue. Simply giving him a stern look, the woman shook her head.

"What do you think will happen to us if we go out there? If he targets us, we will go down the same as them... all we can do is to stay hidden, and pick out whoever we can once they've made some distance." Kit reasoned, before continuing.

"At the very least, his cuts were clean. They have plenty of sizeable debris to cling to... with any luck, they should have no problems keeping their heads out of the water." The woman finished, before turning away from the Captain.

"And what if that madman goes in to finish the job? He may have done it all fancy to show off, but what if he decides to end it?!" The Captain replied angrily, reversing Kit's treatment as he grapsed her shoulder.

"Then they die." She replied flatly, not even turning to face him.

"And we flee as fast we can so that he doesn't catch us too. It does no good if we get ourselves killed with them... we will simply report the mission as a failure."

[ReformBlade]

"That is a good question and a nice place to start. For one, it's not about brute strength, as you can easily tell by my less than flattering muscle mass" Trying to think about it more in depth, Davod came up short. "Well uh... truth be told, I don't know how to explain it properly. If I had my memory maybe, but this whipping business seems to come naturally and I don't know why. I can say that it has a lot to do with timing, I guess. Just flailing it about will be a mere annoyance, and really, unless you hit a very vital area like exposed skin or if you can manage to get one in the eye, my whip isn't going to do much to an opponent other than a few cuts and grazes here and there. It's mostly meant to wear someone down as opposed to beating them senseless like with a spear or a sword or an axe.... you get the picture." Rubbing his chin, the man gave a slightly pleading look. "I hope that answered your question? If it didn't, I'm sorry. I can only really demonstrate, not explain all that well, Faatina..."

Laughing at Katrina's silly, yet probably warranted worries, Aneda explained. "Aw don't worry about that. Hannah is a big girl and she can handle herself. Plus she's usually near me and I'm no pushover either!" Grinning and pointing to herself with her thumb, she laughed again. "Not that I'm trying to pick a fight or anything. Anyway, you said you got caught up with us in tremere, what were ya doin if I may?" Meanwhile, Aneda watched Griffin do some cool stuff. It was cool and her thoughts were completely founded when she realized Lilith has the coolest of friends, but of course, Aneda was courteous and kept her attention on Katrina.

[roymbrog]

Katrina’s attention was caught by Griffin’s display of wind prowess and the currently sinking boat. “Woah…” Aneda said some stuff though, and her attention went back to the conversation. “Well, if you say so…” she replied in relation to Aneda’s Pegasus comment. She had no problem answering questions, but she had some she wanted to ask as well. “I had been doing some mercenary work on a ship. Hey, that… avian over there. Do you know who that is?”

[Snowy_One]

As soon as the seagull had gained enough height, it dived down towards Synthia, cawing and screeching as it spread it's wings wide, batting at her head while it brought it's webbed feet up to try and slap at her face.

"FEED ME! FEED ME! FEED ME!"

"SQUACK! SQUACK! SQUACK!"

[Acacia Sgt]

All this time Gil had remained alert, just watching. So the white-winged was back, but just who was that who came with her? Her mate? It didn't helped he was carrying an egg, though the fact he just tossed aside had to meant something. Perhaps it just wasn't theirs, who knows.

And now the area was being crowded off, the wyvern kept following Griffin by sight, until it finally it was out of it in no thanks to the altitude change and the sailors. He was about to just drop it when the sudden sounds of the wind made him turn back. With a grunt, he decided to take off and circle once to see what just had happened.

Well, the ship following them was no more. Well, it was still there, just in pieces. Did the winged-one did that? Certainly seemed to be that way, otherwise the humans would've done that ever since it began to follow them. Well, time to head back down.

But now was probably finally the time to get back to sleep. Which may have been, if not for the sudden seagull noises. What was it tonight with the aerial visitors? But this time was different, that seagull was being nothing short of annoying, and attacking one of the humans to boot.

Well, not his problem... yet...

[Ether]

"No, it's fine. I shouldn't have expected you to be able to explain how it works, I mean... I couldn't tell you all of the mechanics behind my lance either... I just do what my brother taught me. I know the obvious stuff, but if you asked me to go in-depth, I would draw a blank." Faatina replied, as she reclined onto her bed with a sigh.

"Hey, Davod... thanks for putting up with me. I know you probably have a lot more exciting things you could be doing aside from just keeping the company of a cripple."

[ReformBlade]

"Why do you have to be selling yourself so short like that, Faatina? It really makes no sense to me!" A whee bit flustered at her self deprecation, Davod was gonna have none of it. "Now bear with me here as I've only known you for mere days in the grand scheme of things, but with the year I've been cognizant and sane, let's say, you're by far one of the few people that stick out to me, and hardly in a bad way I might add. You seem strong of heart, valiant, caring, and of course as I clumsily mentioned earlier you're also quite the looker, just like..." What, you gonna tell her how she reminds you of your ex? "Oh would you PLEASE just shut the hell up?" he shouted way too loudly to himself before realizing his mistake and holding his head down in his hands. "Sorry about that, I wasn't yelling at you Faatina, it's just this damn voice in my head... won't stop teasing me at the worst of times. I even get the feeling that it knows more than I do but that... Well I don't like to think about that kinda thought trail. Again, I sincerely apologize..." Forgetting his train of thought was bad enough, but trying to cheer someone up while having a conversation with himself was quite taxxing. Nevertheless, Davod persevered. "Dammit, I forget where I was..."

"Who, him?" Aneda pointed over towards the wind murder king sword samurai guy, "Well, I ain't too sure, but I think he's a friend of Lilith's, Griffin I think, and to me that's already an instant friend in my book. It would help if I actually talked to them and knew if they were completely friendly or just friendly in that 'well we have a common goal at this current juncture' kind of way. the latter would suck but the former would be nice."

[Ether]

"What has come over you, Davod? All I meant was that you could do better then listen to me bitch and moan about my leg." Faatina replied, confused by the ordeal more than anything else.

"And a voice in your head? Do you think it might be attached to the amnesia...? Maybe you should ask a medic about it, it certainly seems odd." Faatina recommended, worrying for the man. As kooky as he could be at times, he seemed a genuinely swell fellow, struggling with some fate thrust upon him by some bored deity or another, that he himself appeared to do nothing to deserve.

"Thanks though, Davod. I do appreciate it."

[Phoenix]

Navigation Room

Raquel frowned despite the somewhat decent odds of having another encounter with Sardis and company with or without the emblem. "I still don't want to give it up, though."

"Why not? It's probably going to kill you." The question seemed rhetorical, since she didn't wait for an answer and instead turned to answer someone else. Raquel was just fine with that. She didn't feel like explaining what might actually be an addiction at this point. "As annoying as it is, I don't expect you people to just drop what you're doing and focus on the real problem. After all, Wrath hasn't been seen since the end of the rebellion ... at least not by mortals. And you seem to be stuck on defense as far as this Sardis man is concerned." Lilith replied to Veronika. Chelsea's inquiry had her a little confused and she quickly chalked it up to misinformation. "Wrath wasn't sealed; he simply left along with the other gods."

What came next, Lilith actually found relevant since it actually would jeopardize her mission if the organization had any success in retrieving other pieces. "Are you absolutely certain that these people are trying to gather the emblem pieces? If so, then they might not be a pointless distraction after all."

"What else would they do; gather three or so and call it a day?" Raquel retorted. "I bet you anything that Sardis wants all of them so he can assemble the emblem and then do something really typical for people like him."

"Let's see you bet your emblem piece. Anyway, if that's what his goal is, then he needs to be stopped. I'm hoping you can at least handle that much."

Raquel glared after that. "We CAN ... and by the way, it was never pointless. They took my father away from me over this and have hounded us ever since!

Reign made mental note of Raquel's increasing agitation as the conversation progressed, but stayed quiet. These two really weren't getting along, were they? Shadrak on the other hand had moved closer to Raquel aiming to try and comfort her, but had flashbacks of his previous attempts to speak with her about emblem related issues. It stalled him for about two seconds, and then he went ahead and put his hand on her shoulder anyway. He was hoping that if he didn't say anything, she wouldn't have a reason to snap again, either at him or Lilith. She wasn't sure how to respond, really ... so mission accomplished, Shadrak.

Aft Deck

Talitha couldn't believe the ship following them was taken out from so far away. Griffin's wind attack hit them from beyond the range of the longest cannons and the strongest siege spells and deconstructed the thing without immediately killing anyone. She was tempted to fly back down and talk to him, but the sailors seemed to be backing off which meant he probably wanted to be left alone, now. Sighing, she returned to watching the ship wreckage fade into the night as they put more and more distance between them.

Gabbie did a lazy fist pump in response to Griffin's attack on the rebel ship, and then promptly lied back down. She was amazed, but not that amazed. When vasili were around, something incredible wasn't just likely, but inevitable.

His volunteer job done, and the view now growing dull to him, Griffin left the aft deck and headed inside, intent on finding the navigation room and offering cynical and annoying input as necessary.

Main Deck

After hearing Griffin ruin someone's evening, Ringo snorted angrily and tried to go back to sleep. So close was he to falling asleep, that when the seagull arrived and began making noise, he began clawing at the deck and hissing. So close ... that was it. He spotted the seagull pestering someone and stopped snarling, opting to remain quiet and wait for an opportunity to rend the thing in half.

Gabbie looked down from the Dauntless to see Ringo carefully approaching Synthia from behind and raised an eyebrow. "... I really hope it's just that bird he's after. I am not looking forward to all the mean looks if he decoides he doesn't loike Synthia, anymore."

Plains

"And that someone is Malik and ... hmm Haythem? Sorry but I'm a little hungry." Fizza spoke up while Malik muttered to himself.

Haythem, fearing going hungry because of Malik being stingy, quickly shouted "Pay up, for Lady Aisha's sake!" Fizza stole the rest of the money while Malik was startled and handed it to Vadoma. Malik didn't notice until he reached for more coin and spotted her handing over the rest.

"... I ..." and he was out of words as well as coin.

Fizza smiled having completed the transaction. "Dinner for four, please."

Cottage

"Well, I probably should have a look around ... but I don't plan on wandering too far either way. I've been hearing some strange rumors on my way back here. A white haired killer on the loose. Nothing about artificials, which isn't surprising, but it's probably still related. I really don't think I can just stand by and let what might be another young upstart go on a pointless killing spree. Almost as important, I might get mistaken for this guy if I'm not careful ..." he paused to glance up at his bangs. "... and I'm pretty sure Miss Belo's not going to let me off the hook this time, heheh. Just a feeling ..."

Edited September 14, 2012 by Phoenix

[-Cynthia-]

Navigation Room

She sounds doubtful...and for good reason. We've managed to survive for the most part, but that's about it- haven't made any actual progress. "Raquel, so you still have that contacts list? I don't see why the Organization would have left it on you after you were kidnapped- but they were in a bit of a rush," she said, remembering that was their one piece of information right now.

Plains

"Thank ya for the business," Vadoma said, gladly accepting the gold and pocketing it. <"Kizzy, serve our guests first if ya would be so kind?">

A young nomad girl came over and handed a large bowl of stew and a crust of bread to Fizza, repeating the process for Amon, Haythem, and Malik, looking slightly terrified as she did so.

" 'Lady' Aisha huh? I thought there was somethin' strange about y'all...must be from way down south. Would explain the clothes," Marko said, eyeing the strangers carefully.

"Oh for Mercy's sake Marko let the poor travelers eat in peace- however far they've come," Vadoma said with a sly smile, getting a bowl of stew for herself.

Cottage

"I've heard similar rumors- very disconcerting," Lysandra said, poking her head out the window to see how Reina was doing, as if mentioning the killer would suddenly make him appear in her garden. "People do tend to suspect you a bit unfairly, but if you think you can bring the killer to justice I'm sure everyone would be grateful, Major General or no. Just be careful dear, you may not need as many vulneraries as the rest of us but you are not invincible."

[Acacia Sgt]

Seems the male winged one was heading inside too. Well, that was that. And it seems the other wyvern had decided to take care of the seagull himself. Well, Gil was just content to watch and see how that went.

-----

''Left on her? Didn't that contact list was found in that fortress north of Sergio?'' John asked.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Gar let a slight chuckle out at Lilith's comment on the Emblem potentially killing Raquel. "Plenty of people drink despite knowing it can kill them," he commented on the only thing he really could. "Nevermind a thousand other ways." Anything else couldn't really be called out on. Well, except maybe Shade Drake's little hand-shoulder action. But that would just be inappropriate.

Veronika though, brought up something of interest. Contacts list? If Gar had any useful information on the guy's who contacted the Guild it might be useful. Otherwise there was only one thing to do with it. Assuming Raquel had it.

[Snowy_One]

A loud roar came from one of the larger beasts on the ship, a demon of the skies! One of the nasty beasts of fish-scales, gnashing teeth, and foul breath that enjoyed harassing, killing, and eating honest-to-do gulls like himself. He had to be quiet or else the beasty would eat him! Shutting up and landing on the ground he stopped moving, hoping that, by staying still, he would fall under the notice of the demon-beast.

[Phoenix]

Navigation Room

"I didn't always have it on me. Sometimes I left it in the wagon ... like when I knew I wouldn't be needing it." Raquel answered, her attention deviating from Shadrak's lingering hand for a moment. "The thing is, I can't remember if I was holding it when they took me. It's probably gone if it was, because I didn't find it in my stuff ..." she said gloomily. Why did her being kidnapped have to still be kicking the party in the teeth, even now? Their best bet was to search through the things that were transferred to the Dauntless and hope to find it there. "I do remember a couple of names, but if we don't have the contacts anymore, then that's it."

Lilith remained seated at the end of the table with her right elbow supporting her, and looking rather disinterested again. "Why are you chasing down affiliates rather than Sardis himself?"

"The guy doesn't just show up when it's convenient for us. Besides, whenever he does show up, he brings a whole lot of backup and I hear he's no pushover, himself." Shadrak quickly explained. Only then had he let go of Raquel in favor of making a few hand gestures. "We need to find these people and learn what we can. Maybe find his base of operations. Something. Anything beats just waiting around to get ambushed."

Then Griffin stepped into the room and leaned against the other side of the door, opposite the captain. The two looked at each other for moment, Bogdan unsure what to make of Griffin, and Griffin wondering what the hell Bogdan was staring at him for. Eventually Griffin spoke up. "... want something else destroyed or what ...?"

Bogdan shook his head and looked away without saying a word.

Main Deck

When the seagull stopped moving, Ringo was relieved that the noise had stopped, but that didn't change the fact that he was hungry. If the seagull was just going to stand there, he was going to eat it. He began tilting his head to the side so he could bite the little bird in half.

Plains

Seeing a what looked like a good time to bring up Nadya, Haythem thought to speak up and ask them about her, but he got his dinner served to him first which stalled him just long enough for someone else to chime in. All he got out was a genuine "Oh, thank you very much." before Malik spoke up.

<"Do you people ... have something against southerners ...?"> he asked. He tried to word it as carefully as possible, but it still came out differently than he wanted.

Fizza was already eating which was why she didn't say anything after that. Amon was trying to get started but he was a little too distracted by the question.

Cottage

"Yeah, tell me about it," Gabriel replied before taking the last scone. He delayed with eating it for a moment, stopping to give Lysandra a hug first. "If I'm not sleeping, I'm training. This is too important to screw up, after all." he reassured her.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Well my vague plan was just to grab someone alive if and when we got into a fight with whatever," Gar shrugged.

[Acacia Sgt]

''Then hope whoever fights us actually knows something,'' John commented. ''Most of the time they only have the orders to capture Raquel. Anyone who might know don't get involved in such fights, or in a way to do something about it at any rate.''

[-Cynthia-]

Navigation Room

"Yes we've captured a few people before but no one we could get any answers out of. Either we didn't get the right people or we didn't try hard enough," Veronika said, crossing her arms.

Plains

<"Not any particular problems, no. Met a few folks once that came up from the desert, but none of them were from Sanctuary. Guessin' that's where you folks are from, judgin' by the Aisha thing," Marko remarked before digging into his stew.

<"Sanctuary? Isn't that where the beautiful sorceress Aisha lives, makin' all the men there do all the work for her with her magic powers?"> Kizzy spoke up, eyes wide.

<"Now Kizzy that may not be the most polite question to be askin' guests- that's their religion after all and we should be respectful. Well assumin' y'all are Aisha followers that is, never been down there myself,"> Vadoma admitted.

Cottage

Lysandra gave Gabriel a warm hug and smiled. "I'm glad you can see how important this is. If you have any questions you think I can answer before our journey, now may be a good time. I may not as always have been as forthcoming as I should have about your...birth and the circumstances surrounding it. It is not a topic I particularly enjoy," she said, looking down.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Well we'll get there when we do I suppose," Gar said something pointless. No point in bringing up the EVILNESS of his methods now.