Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Parrhesia]

"Aha!" says Rook triumphantly as he sights his quarry at last. "Zoe, my stout young dove! I bring a great bounty for the stew to come!"

He produces two slightly damp fish from his cloak, and holds them up triumphantly. "Grew up a fisherman, didn't I? You should come join me someday. Oh, uh, want any help with that cooking?"

[Eail]

Luka had been listening to the new girl Mushira, she seemed nice at the very least. When she asked about magical ability though he awkwardly raised his hand. "W-well, I can use staves if that counts. And Synthia can use Wind magic, so she can probably help you better than I can...."

[Phoenix]

Kitchen

Zoe actually was surprised that Rook managed to catch not one but two rather large fish. No one else on the ship had any luck fishing while they were out at sea. Fish was the last thing she expected to have access to.

Shadrak still arrived before her reply though, and was also a little surprised to see the scaly things on Rook's person. "Are you making fish fillet or something?"

"Fish stew, actually," Zoe corrected. "And to answer your question, Rook, yes I could definitely use your help. I'll go ahead and start scaling these. Can you keep stirring the food around so they don't stick while I do it?"

"Fish ... hmm. Is there any way we can get some toast?"

"Maybe, but not for awhile. I'm handling the stews. Maybe ask Nadya?"

When did Nadya learn to cook? Hmm, when did anyone in this group learn to do anything really? I guess it's not really a difficult question. "Hey, Nadya. Raquel wanted some toast. Do you think you can make that or are you busy too?"

[Parrhesia]

"Right!"

Rook zealously stirs the stew as though his romantic future depended entirely on it.

[roymbrog]

Bert was fine, that was good to know. “I’m… as well as can be expected, I suppose,” Valter replied, scratching his neck awkwardly. Still did not want to have this conversation. He looked a bit more solemn as he got to the point. “Listen, I need to talk to you about what happened last night. Why did you do what you did?” The answer to that question was of immense importance.

-----

Mercy, this girl could ramble. She reminded Synthia of someone, actually. The connection didn’t do much to cheer her up, but perhaps influenced her to be a bit more friendly. “Well if you’re going into Ursium to make maps, you should probably look for places a lot of people travel though. Would be easier to find customers if they needed your work.” Mushirah had asked about magical inclination, and Luka contributed by outing her as a user of wind magic, which was technically true. “I’m much better with staves, really,” she replied. Enough poking at her food, she actually took a bite.

Raquel had come in in the meantime, and Synthia peered over Luka’s head to see her. She seemed ok, mostly. The mage didn’t miss the opportunity to scowl at Shadrak, though.

[Snowy_One]

Robin looked down as she shook her hand free of the slobber, NOT onto Zach of course. With her clean hand, still holding the plate with food, she jostled his head up just a bit more. "<I thought you would be sad and lonely, so I cooked you some food to comfort you and wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help ease the pain of Lia's passing. I know you devoted a lot of time to her, and now she's dead, it must be painful.>" she said before bending down to kiss him on the forehead. "<I'm here for you though, Zach.>"

[Mercakete]

"What I did? You mean about Suzumay?" Norbert asked in return. Valter nodded. The pegasus rider took a moment to think back to the scene. Then, he replied, "I flew over because I found reasons to respect her earlier. I didn't want anyone to hurt her. I didn't want to have to fight her either -- not if it meant someone died. If she managed to defeat someone on our side, I wouldn't be happy either. I just wanted to find some way to avoid that situation."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Gar finished off the last edible bite of his apple before depositing it in a pouch so he could pluck the pips later. He still hadn't decided on just what he should do. It was too early in the trip to begin his malicious plans with the prisoner-girl. He wasn't really in the mood to chat with any others. He had already done his morning stretch, and it wasn't late enough to do his afternoon ones. He still had water reserve, so he couldn't go sneaking any from the ship's stocks--and that was better done at night anyhow. There really wasn't much for him to do. So, he'd have to make things to do. He took one last swig of water before turning his head back towards the deck. Zachary-boy was still in a nice big pile-up, and while that certainly had the potential to explode into something beautiful, Gar reckoned once it did he could hear it from anywhere.

With a shrug he head inside the ship, no real destination on mind. Maybe the galley? He didn't need to eat, but others did, so maybe something was going on there. Granted Gar didn't know where the galley was, but it was the perfect time to wander about aimlessly and get familiar with the ship at the same time!

[roymbrog]

Why were people talking near Katrina? Didn’t they see that she was trying to sleep? Annoyed, she abandoned using Volga’s paw as a blindfold and turned around to bury her face in Zach’s shirt. Volga’s paw was then repurposed as a sound muffler over her ear. “….Shuddup, people….”

-----

Valter listened quietly and took a few moments to think before responding. “I can accept your reasons for protecting Suzume, but what about Alexandria? Your decisions didn’t exactly help your teammates. She shot me, you know,” he said pointing to his shoulder. Damn thing was still sore too. “I don’t think you went about helping your friend the right way.”

[Mercakete]

"The archer?" he began to reply, but then stopped a moment, grimacing. "It's not like I wanted you to get shot. At first it was just Suzumay I was worried about, but there was a kid there, too, and something she said made me want the archer to get away, too. She got what she had coming, but I'm still not entirely happy with how things went. She was the kid's sister and Suzumay's friend. It made me think...if we were in that circumstance, I wouldn't want my friend killed."

He sighed, resting his chin in his hand. "I don't know how to feel about how things played out. I know I would've rather taken the arrow than hear you get shot. I know I would rather they have just run away when they had the chance... Things never turn out ideally, though. At least things turned out better than they could have. Suzumay and the kid were spared and the archer lady was stopped from hurting anyone else on our side. It's a lot better than I hoped for."

[ReformBlade]

Aneda's dreamworld was being invaded! "Wha... no no, don't be here for Zach, be here for meee! Mine... all mine..." She nestled up against Zach's back and started making out with his back, tongue and everything, although it was incredibly lazy and sluggish since she was still asleep and not completely aware of what she was doing. Or so onlookers might think.

"Ah, I see... I was hoping that maybe I could get a little practice in while I was here. I suppose I could go do some exercises by myself but that only, well it only reinforces what I know, it doesn't teach me anything. I can't learn if I don't explore and go beyond that little comfort zone." Hand on her chin now, she was wracking her brain. "Hmmmm...." Nah, I don't think pestering her any more about last night is gonna be helpful. Just talking about it seemed to be a rather sore subject. Mental note: Don't bring up bad things as conversation starters! "Well... Where are you guys going, if I may ask? Anywhere important?"

[roymbrog]

Bert always did always get overemotional in any conflict situation, Valter mused. He didn’t say anything about it though. It was true, things never did turn out ideally no matter how hard one tried. “Personally, if I thought my friend was doing wrong I would stop them myself. But I’m not Suzume, and I’m not you,” he said, then paused. This was the part he hated. “If I see you doing something that will put yourself or others at risk like that again, I will stop you.” He hoped Bert understood the implications of that.

-----

Well if Mushirah wanted to practice magic, there were more practitioners in the group than just the two of them. “I’m not opposed to practice," Synthia replied. "There are others in our group who use magic too, though. As for where we’re going… Europa. We’re going to Weyland Enterprises, again.” That was always a fun trip. Something interesting every time.

[-Cynthia-]

"Toast? Toast I can do, especially for the boss," Nadya responded to Shadrak, locating a few slices of bread and placing them onto a broiling pan. Someone seemed to be making fish stew, which Nadya found a bit questionable, but she supposed food was food.

[Mercakete]

Norbert was quiet for a moment. Then, he responded to Valter's statement. "Maybe I need that. I don't know... It wasn't a situation I've been in before," he replied.

He grimaced again before adding as he looked back over to Valter, "I'm sorry you got shot. Guess that was sort of my fault..." His brow furrowed some as he went on, the question coming to mind. "You could've stayed back, though. Why'd you go over there?"

[Eail]

Luka

He nodded in agreement to Synthia's statement about going to Weyland Enterprises. "If you two are going to try to spar I can heal anyone that gets hurt! But uh, if you're looking to find someone that knows stuff about magic I'd try looking for that guy that was using thunder last night.... but he seems scary...."

Zachary

Letting out a shiver from Aneda kissing his back still didn't wake Zach up all the way, he was tired. Just so.... tired from it all. Everything he'd worked for in the past year and a half was gone, there was literally nothing left. The only thing he had to show for all that time? New ways to kill, killing was the thing he was good at now

'....I truly have no purpose do I? Nothing I've done has made a difference. Kill kill kill, that's all I can do, every time I try to defend, every time I want to protect someone.... they die. No.... not anymore, not again.'

Dislodging himself from the mess of limbs Zachary Fairweather stood. "Don't talk about her, I don't want to hear it. If you know what's good don't follow me either. I have to be alone, I have to think. The things I've learned must be put into practice." The sage said as he passed Robin. For what must be done actions such as that were necessary, she would follow otherwise..... and silence was needed

_____________

Zachary was in the cargo hold of The Prometheus, it was the only place where there wasn't any other people around.

'Remember what Fyodor said, Chaos....... Control.... I have to understand my power. Understand my limits and what my future may hold one day..... no, to hell with what my limits may be! I'll be the best! I swear it!'

Concentrating on harnessing the power of Nature through his tome, while using his hatred towards himself as a boost the sage tapped deep into his potential focusing on bringing everything he had forth in order to make the Shield technique work. Soon sparks began to course around his body, but it wasn't enough.....

[Snowy_One]

Robin watched, her mouth hung open and aghast at the veiled threat. She didn't say anything as Zach walked off down into the cargo hold, namely because she didn't know WHAT to say. Zach, a man she had considered her best friend growing up, a man who had once been her LOVER before leaving, had just THREATENED her! She wasn't sure WHAT to feel in the first place! Pain that he didn't trust her? Outrage at having just been threatened? Insulted that he had basically just thrown her attempt to comfort him back in her face?

She didn't know what to say. But a moment later, with a shrill cry, she found the voice. The breakfast she had prepared for Zach went flying off the side of the ship only to be struck by an arrow in mid-air before Robin, her fists thrust down to her side and an attitude foul enough to cause even a dunken sailor pause, stormed down to the bow of the ship, seeking to be alone.

[Parrhesia]

A shout! Excitement!

"Sorry, luv," says Rook, casually pecking Zoe on the cheek, "gotta check out what happened up there. With any luck, we might just get a little excitement 'round this place!" His grin is not entirely savoury.

He finds Robin distraught and surprised, and chooses a really bad time to not remember her name. "Listen, sunshine," he says, soothingly Cockney, "put the bow down, we'll get you a drink, and we can 'ave a nice long talk about things, yeah?"

[Snike]

[spoiler=Night]"It isn't your fault Raquel got injured. If anything," Blake began, with a disheartened tone, "It's my fault. I should've been the one who escorted her up to the Prometheus, so at least I'd be able to take that blow, if not block it. I mean, I'm a mercenary. I was hired to protect her and fight in her stead. What use am I if I can't even stop a single swordsman from running my boss through?"

The swordsman stopped here, to compose himself. He had let himself go too far with expressing his real feelings on the matter, and he knew it. Best take a breath, calm down, and change the subject.

"I agree that Raquel needs to either stay back in the Dauntless, or be heavily guarded, but I don't necessarily feel like that goes far enough," Blake finally said, in a normal tone. "I think she needs to know how to use a combat staff. I know that she generally hates violence, but, well, I don't think she should be left relatively helpless in the event that her guards fall or she gets separated from us or something. Even if it's for self-defense, I feel it would make things a little easier."

Next issue to address was Suzume. That... was a doozy. "I don't want to reveal her presence to everyone just yet. At least, until I can talk to Raquel and Veronika about what to do. From there on, well, we'll see. I am against killing her, though," the man concluded. There, he had put down his position. Now, to see how Reign reacted.

Reign was surprised Blake felt so guilty about the matter. It would have been nice if that had helped at the time, but Raquel was being taken down far too often. Two out of three fights he knew about so far. Reign was planning on protecting Raquel even if he had to stand watch at the Dauntless while she hid inside or guarded her on the field, but some guilt fueled assistance was certainly welcome. "Let's talk to her about it at breakfast tomorrow. Neither one of us can really do anything until we know what she's going to do. As much as I want to, I can't force her to stay put in the Dauntless, so if she can't be convinced ... guard duty."

Suzume sounded like an issue that should be brought up with the party leaders too, like Blake had said. "Normally I would have a good idea of how Raquel would feel about a captive, but this was a bad fight for us and we lost too many good people. I'm not sure how much longer the Raquel I know is even going to exist. I've never known her to have it out for someone like this ... Sardis, I mean. I know she has to chase him or she'll never see Jethro again, but I'm starting to wonder what she's going to do when she has to decide whether or not to kill him ..." It shouldn't matter to most people. I'll kill him myself if it comes down to it. Raquel doesn't have to make that call. It's just, if given the opportunity, I'm not sure what she'd choose. I used to know too.

"Somehow I doubt she'll be receptive to talking about it for a few days, but we can try," Blake said, frowning. That was going to be an interesting thing to talk about, even though he was probably going to be summarily fired, anyways. Now, onto Sardis. "I can't speak for her, but, I plan on stopping him, even if it means killing him. If he survives being defeated, well, that is nice, but I won't be shedding a tear if he dies in the fighting."

"I doubt anyone's going to feel about it, really," Reign noted. "Hmm ... I think no matter which route I have to take personally here, I'll be getting caught up in all this violence before long, so I really do need to see about getting a replacement tome. My only other option is to have my insignia infused enough to sub for a tome, but that won't last very long. Fire magic also isn't as suited to defense as other anima forms are and I only know enough water magic to ruin someone else's day. Also not versed in any defensive techniques, yet."

"Fair point, but I guess we'll see," Blake said, as he then thought about the tome issue. They had some defensive tomes, right?

"I believe Raquel has defensive anima tomes, if that helps any," he said, voicing that thought. "I haven't delved into magical tomes much myself, but doesn't the tome itself contain a few techniques for its' own brand of magic?" He was going out on a limb here, but, at least he was trying to be helpful.

Reign nodded. "Yeah, they do. I'll consider one I guess. It's a long way back to Ursium and we've got nothing but time to train at this point."

"You two are going to be training for the whole trip?" Zoe chimed in again curiously.

"That's what I'm going to be doing. Aside from occasional free labor, what else is there to do around here?"

"Hmm." Apparently she was getting ideas.

Reign assumed it had something to do with food and drink good for training regimen and left it at that. Thinking of which, there was still the green drink. He shrugged and then downed the entire thing. "There's a hint of the vegetables, but it's okay. The flavor wasn't ruined or anything," he gave a quick review.

"Glad to hear it!"

"Alright, well, I guess I'll be going to see if Veronika is still up," Blake said, getting up. "See you at breakfast tomorrow, probably." And with that said, the swordsman made for the door.

-----

Blake was about as successful at finding Veronika as he was successful at performing his main job. He gave up on trying to find the Neviskotian after about half an hour of searching, and made his way to the aft of the ship. There, he took Lia's axe and just stared at it for a while. This weapon was in fine condition, hardly a scratch on it. Yet, even still, this weapon had failed its’ owner as much as he had failed her. Damn it all. The swordsman lifted the axe, pulled his arm back, and began to throw it off of the Prometheus.

But he couldn’t let go. Not to this axe, not to his failure, and certainly not to his past. The man sunk to his knees, as tears began to fall from his eyes. Why was he always too late, or always too weak? Why did they have to die? Why couldn’t he have died in their stead? Why?

***

At some point in time, Blake dragged himself off to the sleeping quarters and fell asleep. It wasn’t a fitful rest, but it would have to so. Once he woke up, the man quickly donned his blue shirt and black coat, before making his way to the galley. Raquel seemed to be fine, if not distraught. Her vest wasn’t mended, though, but now wasn’t the best time to mention that. The swordsman chose a seat across the table from the merchant, but said nothing, as Reign was busy talking about protecting her. His input probably wouldn’t help at this point in time, but when that discussion was over, maybe he could bring up the combat staff idea.

***

Grant woke up, freshened up, entered the galley, and quickly exited the galley. There were way too many people in that small space. He’d just go eat later. Instead, the duelist went down to the holds and into the brig, to check on the bodies. They appeared to be fine, though, there appeared to be some small amount of melting. Just to be sure that they wouldn’t begin to melt more completely, he spent a short while refreezing each of the cadavers.

Once Grant had finished his spellweaving, the man took a second to check his work, and then quickly made his escape. He would’ve left the hold without incident, had it not been for a fantastic lights show, provided by one Zachary Fairweather. The brash young thunder mage was trying some sort of spell, and, unless it was a spell to make one a human lantern, failing miserably. It was a fire hazard waiting to happen, what with all these wooden crates about.

“No offense, but could you please practice your magic somewhere else?” Grant asked, after watching for a while. No need for the irony of burning a ship down in the middle of the sea without being on the losing end of a battle.

Edited December 18, 2012 by Snike

[Snowy_One]

Robin looked up at Rook, her temper foul enough that it almost seemed to be causing the ship paint to peel away, as she put her bow away. "A drink? My best friend just threatened me and treated me like manure after I tried to be nice and there for him and you are trying to get me to have a drink with you?"

[Parrhesia]

Rook switches from Disarming Smile to Winningest Grin.

"That's me all the way, sunshine."

[Snowy_One]

Robin glared at Rook for a second. "My former best friend just threatened me, told me to go away, and threw my attempt to cheer him up back in my face, and you are hitting on me? <Is your brain the size of a rodent or something?> What is wrong with you?"

[scorri]

Marella watched as Rook failed yet again with his attempts to seduce the archer woman and chuckled. Walking over, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Give it a rest. She's clearly not in the mood."

[Parrhesia]

"I have no idea that second-last thing you said, but it was sexy. Sadly, I got other fires in other ovens, almost literally as of five minutes ago." Rook yawns. "If you're still interested when you have some more experience, though, give me a shout. No, I just genuinely wanted to talk, on account of I was curious to find out what was goin' on."

"Marella! How's it goin', love?"

Edited December 18, 2012 by Furetchen

[scorri]

Marella grinned. "Well, it's been amusing to see you get shot down, that's for sure. Besides that, ships are boring. Nothing to do, nothing to see. I'll be glad to be on land again."

[Snowy_One]

"What is going on is quite simple. My former best friend recently lost someone close to him. I decided to try and comfort him, and he just threatened me, told me to go away, and... UGGGG! If he thinks that only he can understand his pain or something and wants to be left alone, then fine. I will let him be alone."