Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Mercakete]

She did....Raqueeeeelllllll.... He internally groaned, though externally kept his hard-eyed expression. "Yeah, not that that's any of your concern," he replied, "Name's Norbert. Guess you might as well know it if you're going to be with us."

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

The birds were chirping in the distance as Hana snuck out of her house in the early morning and hurried over to the detached room by their house in the early morning. She was dressed in her comfortable, more plain attire, as she usually preferred. It was pretty wet outside, what with the dew and a slight fog being about, but that wouldn't last long. She carefully slid open the door to the detached room and peeked inside. This was where her father kept his training supplies and where Hana kept something that was very important to her. The room was nice and neat. Everything was set up with reverence and balance. It could have easily been a spare guestroom, though it was somewhat narrow between the back wall and the door. The supplies stayed here, but the training was outside.

Aside from the sets of weapons -- some meant for training, others meant for use in combat if they were needed or wanted -- training mats and other supplies, the tidy room (the sparse decoration aside) was empty. So, Hana slipped into the room and went directly to the item she was there for: her quarterstaff. Once she had that in-hand, she hurried out the door and on her way, passing her father as she did so.

<"Morning, dad! Bye, dad!"> was the only hasty greeting and farewell Daichi received as she hurried past him.

<"Be careful!"> he called after his daughter as she got further away.

<"I will!"> was the last thing he heard before she was out of earshot.

The swordsman smiled, sighed and shook his head as he continued his much slower walk to his weapons room finding, as expected, the door left slightly open. With a short, small chuckle, he slid the door closed. <"She's not going to have any energy when she gets there..."> he muttered to himself, still smiling to himself, amused at his daughter's antics.

[Acacia Sgt]

She certainly looks like she doesn't want to let the egg go, Sophia thought. But he's right. What if Sol ends up, if not actually sick, but feeling like so? Perhaps a different approach can do something... So she walked over too.

''Wait, allow me handle this,'' she said to John, then she turned to face Chelsea. ''Um, Chelsea, can we talk?''

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

"Someone's injured pretty badly, I guess," Oscar assessed. After that, Fred was brought in and began a little exchange with Bert. He just listened at first while occasionally taking a drink from his cup. "A sunburn? You wimp ..." Oscar said as he stood up from his chair. He began rummaging through a cabin nearby until he found a small cylinder. He turned around, walked over to Fred and sat it next to him. "Rub yourself down in that stuff, and when you start peeling, go to the front of the ship and don't leave any flakes lyin' around the place. The crew's gonna know damn well who did it after all of that screaming, and I don't want to have to treat you for a real injury if ya know what I mean."

Main Deck

"No tuuuuuunes." Gabbie moaned from inside her pillow in response to Gytha's request.

"Did you hear something?" asked a sailor.

"No tuuuuuunes, dammiiiiiit!"

"Nope. Alright then, let's play!" one of the instrument holders cheered. It turned out to be Lance, one of the cannoneers. He started off with a slow melody on the violin that only served as an opening and to reassure everyone that he knew how to play the thing. Next, a full count later, he transitioned into a faster more danceable melody, and a sailors began clapping and stomping their feet to provide a beat.

"Has he been practicing?" the sailor asked, seeming completely bewildered by the display.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

Norbert couldn't help but smile at the way Oscar was handling Fred's condition. He was doing his job so no one could fault him there. He still let Fred know just what he thought, too, which wasn't exactly kind. And that was just plain humorous to the pegasus rider. He managed to keep his small chuckle fairly quiet, but hiding it completely wasn't really an option, nor did Norbert really care if Fred heard him or not.

Then he heard something that sounded out of place, faint as it was. Is that music?

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

When the music started and everyone started clapping and stomping, Gytha gave a joyous shout and danced around, being more of a sort of skipping or bounding around to the beat, twirling mid-step at times as she clapped the rhythm herself. For now, her troubles were forgotten.

Edited September 21, 2012 by Mercakete

[-Cynthia-]

Main Deck

"I know a few," Nadya admitted to the sailor. "Didn't know y'all actually had instruments on this thing." I haven't danced for a while...but I guess it wouldn't hurt to let loose for once.

Plains

<"Oh my girl is more charmin' than those maidens now? She must take after her mother why I remember when I was her age-"> Vadoma began before being cut off.

<"No one wants to hear about that woman,"> Marko said, rolling his eyes. <"You had better not have any unwholesome thoughts about my daughter boy, I don't take kindly to the idea of her runnin' around with some...wyvern ridin' fancypants,>" he said, looking at Haythem dubiously.

<"Oh for Mercy's sake Marko, try and be a little polite for once- and remember that your daughter ain't no little girl anymore,"> Vadoma scolded, dropping her smile.

[ReformBlade]

"I've heard the name but I don't know him, sorry..." He did feel fairly bad about not knowing of him since she seemed to be rather stoked about him, what with him being her father and all. "But yeah, I do remember his name being mentioned, but I was relatively in my own world, carving my own little figurines and objects. But I can tell you really like your father, which shouldn't come as a surprise I guess. Heh, maybe I can make a figurine of him for ya?"

"... Really?" It came as a surprise that she wasn't really annoyed or pittying him or even outright trying to avoid him due to his odd condition. "I mean... I suppose it's not that bad, all things considered, but still, the thought of something this, well, outlandish just really pushes me away from people in the last year I've known. Um... thanks, I guess. As you can imagine, I don't have too many friends, so this is a very nice surprise." Just don't try and get in her pants too quickly, Davod. You wanna at least offer her dinner first. "Be quiet..." he muttered, wanting nothing to do with that sort of remark at the moment.

[Acacia Sgt]

Great, they've begun. Gil grunted, so much for being a quiet night. These humans sure got overexcited over anything it seems. Well, then let them have their little fun, but Gil here wouldn't be allowed to have his sleep interrupted with all the noise.

So without much else, he stood back up and took off again. He flew to the other end of the ship where hopefully the noise was much less intense. So landing, he looked around, grunted, and lied back down again, ready to resume his sleep.

Edited September 21, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[Phoenix]

Main Deck

Ringo took a different escape route from Gil and crawled off to get below decks. The more floors he could put between him and the noise, hopefully the quieter it would get. Gabbie eventually hopped down from the Dauntless with her things and followed after him.

Aft Deck

Griffin intended to have the aft area mostly to himself, but no dice. Just as he was settling in, Lilith and Shadrak showed up. Thankfully they kept to the edge of the stairs for some reason, and he pretended to ignore them while waiting for Shadrak to do something silly and therefore amusing again.

"So, will you teach me how to use the omniforge? It could help us a great deal." Blunt little guy, wasn't he? Griffin was already amused.

Lilith however could only sigh as she shook her head at him. "It's not something I can just 'teach' you."

"Why not? Is it something only avians can do?"

"No, it's something only a vasilus or a very special individual can do." she tried to word it carefully, but had a feeling she wasn't doing enough to let him down gently.

"What kind of 'special individual'?" he asked, crossing his arms. Once he knew what the criteria were, he was that much closer to beginning to master this ultimate technique.

"The kind who are bred for it."

"Wha ..."

Plains

<"I'm not!"> Haythem replied, straightening up quickly.

<"Talk about dashed hopes. Why did he want to see if you people knew her so badly, again? It's a little strange in hindsight."> Fizza commented, looking half done with her dinner already.

<"I just wanted to learn more about her ..."> Haythem quietly answered.

<"Oh .... Hey, Mama!"> Fizza addressed Vadoma. <"So tell us a little more about your daughter. Even I'm a little curious now.">

[-Cynthia-]

Plains

<"I think ya know enough already,"> Marko said, going back to his stew.

<"Well that's why they were askin' me,"> Vadoma retorted. <"What do ya wanna know? Nadya's our only daughter, think she musta been born with bad vision or somethin' because she couldn't shoot a bow to save her life. Luckily she was born with the gift of magic, not somethin' everyone picks up and she was a pretty good rider. She was always a helpful girl, talkin' about how to make our lives better, gettin' what gold she could so we could trade for supplies. One day she said she had to go though...and we haven't seen her for about a year now. At least we know she's safe thanks to y'all...though I wish she woulda come with,"> Vadoma said, grabbing a cloth to wipe her eyes.

[Phoenix]

Plains

<"That's just like her! Kind and helpful!~"> Haythem exclaimed.

<"They were in town for two days! How would you know?!"> Malik cut in.

<"So she didn't say when she would be back or anything?"> asked Amon.

<"Heh, that's exactly what I did when I joined the Tide. I didn't want my parents to worry about me."> Fizza commented.

[Snowy_One]

"This is no sunburn!" exclaimed Fred, wincing in pain as he tried to rise up, only for pain to shoot through his flesh. "If I were a turkey I'd say I feel like I'd have been downright roasted through and through instead of simply getting a golden layer. It's like having a cloth full of ragged glass dust dragged across my back just LYING here! It's sun POISONING, not a mere burn!"

---

"<A figurine of my father?>" asked Robin, looking down as she thought about it for a moment. "<Yes... I would. Something to remind me of my home, of him, and mother.>"

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

"Fred, if you don't stop yellin' in here, I'm gonna pour half a bottle of laudanum down your throat. What kind of knight are you, anyway? Screaming like a little girl ... sheeesh." Moving right along from the rhetorical question, he added "Sun poisoning just means I'm going to have to add 'rehydration' to the list of things to do; you're already out of the sun. If you feel nauseated and need to vomit ..." he reached over and grabbed a bucket off the top of a small stack of them-meant for who knows what-and sat it by Fred's bedside. "... then there ya go. Afraid I'm all out of sympathy for the night, though. You could have been working instead of lazing about in the sun all damn day. Then you wouldn't be in this mess. Now stop crying and put that cream on."

Aft Deck

"How are people 'bred' to use the omniforge, exactly?" Shadrak asked.

"It's not specific to the omniforge. My kind for example are normally given our abilities by the gods. We don't train to learn them like mortals do. Just as the gods give us talents and abilities, the same can be done to mortals by shaping their minds." Lilith explained, somewhat reluctantly, as she expected Shadrak to do or ask for whatever it would take to learn the technique.

"So vasili can shape the minds of people to allow them to use certain abilities?" Shadrak asked, causing Lilith to lean away ever so slightly.

"Some ... can. Others cannot."

Shadrak turned his head and squinted at her dubiously. "So, which are you?"

Lilith quickly shook her head. "Shadrak, I'm not going to instill the omniforge within you. You don't need it." And with that, she crossed her arms at him.

"Lilith, our enemies are too powerful for us right now and no amount of training is going to help us win of and by itself!" he pleaded.

"You people have a piece of the fire emblem. The omniforge is nothing compared to that."

"But Raquel doesn't know how to use it. She even blows me off when I try to get her to practice using it! We need this technique!"

"... does she now?" This was useful information she had been wondering at since the meeting.

Katsu Affairs

Breakfast could wait for just awhile longer, thought Kyou as he continued to sharpen his remaining sword. The other had been finished already, polished, cleaned and returned to its sheath. He couldn't help but let his thoughts wander as his hands worked. White Devil ... where are you right now? Who are you tormenting at this very moment? When will I have another chance to defeat you ...

He paused to check his second sword. Despite the calm and peaceful look on his face, he was quite frustrated. The blade required a bit more work to be as good as new, and so he got back to work. For now, all I can do is bide my time until that day comes. Next time, I will be ready, and I will defeat you. Now the sword was finished, and Kyou began to clean it off. <"No doubt, she is honing her skills as well. I'll need to be at my best. No, far beyond that.">

Finnian Affairs

There was a knock on Brynhildr's door, but she didn't answer it. Instead she continued to sleep peacefully on her bed, wings spread out and the tip of her tail dangling over the edge. <"Hello, Mistress?"> came a voice from outside the door. <"Mistress? You've been summoned, Mistrees."> Brynhildr didn't respond, though it was unclear if she was sleeping heavily, or trying to tune the man out. <"Hello? She won't answer."> Apparently there was someone else outside the man had turned to speak to.

<"Bryn, mother wants to see the both of us."> came Svanhildr's voice this time.

<"Mrrr-"> she conceded with a groan and picked herself up. A bit of stretching and a yawn later, she looked out the window to see where the sun was and to her surprise it looked to be only around eight o'clock in the morning. <"Grrr, what the hell is she thinking waking me up this early?! Uuuurgh. This probably isn't even important.">

A few minutes later, the door opened and Brynhildr emerged in little more than a robe. Her hair and feathers were ruffled, and she also had her lance on hand. <"This had better be good ..."> she warned.

<"I was hoping you would at least dress for an outing. I believe mother is taking us pampering early this month."> Svan explained with a slightly disappointed look in her eyes.

<"Ohhh ... well ... fine, ten more minutes and I'll be ready."> And with that, Bryn quickly disappeared back into her chambers and shut the door.

<"I suppose you can meet us at the carriage."> Svan left a final word before dismissing the messenger and leaving as well.---

Svanhildr arrived on the landing platform to find Helga standing near a very large flying creature with an adorned carriage and driver on its back. When Helga spotted Svan, she was annoyed to not see Bryn with her. <"What is keeping your sister?">

<"She requested another ten minutes.">

<"She had best not show up dressed for battle.">

<"She might. You remember our last outing together. That young noble boy appeared and he and Bryn nearly got into a duel.">

<"And I was forced to intervene and nip that foolishness.">

<"'Nip' is not a word I would choose to describe how you handled that situation. You used a malevolent blast against him.">

<"Only a small one.">

<"You nearly killed him.">

<"Okay, I'm here."> Brynhildr had arrived, and to the surprise of the others, she wasn't wearing her armor. While she did still have her lance on hand, she was dressed in a floor dress similar to Svanhildr's normal attire. This one differed in that it had short sleeves and had a long slit going up it to expose her left leg a little past the knee. She could do battle in it if need be, but it was less obvious than her battle armor. Her hair was still disorderly, as were her feathers, but this was so routine that Helga didn't bother to complain about it. She and Svan could fix the rest on the way, which was exactly what Bryn was counting on.

<"Alright, then. Let us be off.">

Edited September 22, 2012 by Phoenix

[-Cynthia-]

Main Deck

Nadya took her shoes off and placed them far off to the side. "Looks like our little mercenary group ain't much of the partyin' type," she said, watching Gabbie leave and several others just talking amongst themselves.

Aft Deck

Veronika had followed Lilith and Shadrak to the aft deck- more by chance than anything and had remained quiet until she decided to interject.

"Excuse me, but what's an 'omniforge' anyway? Some kind of magical way to make weapons?" she guessed aloud.

Plains

<"Ohh the tide...that's why you were killin' people in the water,"> Kizzy remarked proudly, finally figuring out the mystery.

<"No we have no idea when she's comin' back- or why she left. I told her I'd help her if she got herself in some kinda bind, but her mind was set on goin'. Stubborn as a mule that girl,>" Marko said, shaking his head.

<"Wonder where she gets it,"> Vadoma said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. <"Anyway, ya said she was healin' your group up...ya musta been in some fights. She hasn't been hurt has she?"> she asked, looking at Amon.

[Phoenix]

Main Deck

"They've probably had a long day," a sailor figured. "Oh well! More room for the rest of us!"

Aft Deck

"During the last cycle it was called 'super alchemy', I suppose because it could be used to transform anything into almost anything else. You saw the omniforge at work twice already, once in Purgatory when I assembled those weapons, and again when I disassembled that rexian guard captain. Something like that cannot be taught, it has to be placed into a mind capable of wielding it."

"I wouldn't abuse a power like that, I swear it," Shadrak pleaded, figuring that was probably what Lilith's real concern was, someone gaining that kind of power and getting out of control. "We need more power if we're going to defeat Sardis. That's what you want, right? For us to defeat him, give you his emblem piece, and then focus on preparing for Wrath's coming, right?" Shadrak began pleading again.

"That's what you get for showing off, Lilith! Hahhh!" Griffin called over mockingly.

"Didn't he just destroy a ship a little while ago?" Lilith asked rhetorically with confused look on her face. "Shadrak, perhaps Griffin would be willing to instill you with blade casting." she said, making sure Griffin could hear it.

Griffin immediately stopped leaning on the guardrails and said "You know good and well I can't do that."

It feels like 'mommy' and 'daddy' are fighting over who gets stuck with the 'kid' for the weekened. I'm not going to stand for this crap. "Never mind. I can see this is a complete waste of time. I guess our enemies are just going to kill us since Raquel would rather work on clothes or read books than actually train. It's only a matter of time before we lose our emblem piece to some villain, now." Shadrak began to rant, turning away from Lilith and the others and raising his arms as if giving a speech to an audience. "But hey, I did everything I could. Wasn't good enough since I didn't have any other way to protect anyone."

Plains

<"Heheh, well not in Sanctuary or I probably would have gotten in trouble. Oh right, more trouble."> Fizza quickly corrected herself. She figured having goaded Aisha into revealing her method of dealing with her should she betray Amon and Co counted as 'trouble'.

<"Hurt?"> Haythem echoed before looking to Amon for the answer too.

<"Hmm ..."> Amon paused from eating and began to think back. <"Well there was that one time when we were attacked by that dragon ...-she made a quick and full recovery though!"> he added in the good after the bad as quickly as he could to allay any fears. It didn't stop Haythem from grabbing and shaking him a few times, though.

<"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!">

<"She's fine now!"> Amon tried to get out as he was being shaken by his shoulders.

<"Yeah but what is Raquel doing provoking dragons?!">

<"It's complicated-stop shaking me!"> And finally he stopped. Both men leaned away from each other and back to their normal positions, and then both sighed at the same time. <"Look, of all the people in Raquel's group, Nadya's one of the few I worry about."> Haythem didn't interpret that the way Amon hoped he would and glared at him.

[Mercakete]

Norbert's grin couldn't leave his face with how things were going between Fred and Oscar. The doctor definitely didn't let any self-important whiners push him around. "Better do what he says," Norbert advised. He was enjoying the show, sure -- Oscar's threatening Fred and not backing down was satisfying to behold -- but it had more or less ended already and it would be just better for everyone if Fred just did as Oscar told him to. Heheh. Not bad, doc.

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

Gytha rejoined the crowd, stopping her dancing for a moment, though she still walked to the beat of the music as she saw Nadya taking off her shoes. "Hoy, Nadya! Ye goin' t' dance?" she asked excitedly. I'm not th' onla one from Raquel's group who's havin' fun 'ere? This is great! Wonder if anaone else will join in. Hope so! Har!

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

Sumire was just finishing up making breakfast when Daichi slid open their house door and walked inside, closing it behind him. <"Oh, have you finished your morning exercises?"> she asked as she looked up from her cooking. It'd been a good while since Hana had left and Daichi hadn't come back into the house since then, it now being a more reasonable time in the morning than what it had been.

<"No, not quite. Breakfast smells almost ready, though. I'll try to finish quickly,"> he replied as he walked past the kitchen and eating area towards the guest rooms.

<"Could you wake Hana and get her to help me?"> Sumire quickly requested.

<"She went into town, didn't she?">

<"What? When?">

<"About an hour ago -- the dew hadn't settled.">

Sumire sighed in frustration, muttering to herself as she worked on setting up the plates. Meanwhile, Daichi knocked on the frame of the door to the guest room Katsu was staying in. <"Katsu-san, breakfast is almost ready. I have a question for you, too."> he informed.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Mercakete

[GoD]

When John repeated what he said, Chelsea's eyes narrowed, her usual grin replaced with a dissatisfied frown and her eyes filled to the brim with anger.

"What? What illness? I have no illness, so why do you say that I do? You keep talking about traits and all but I see nothing wrong with me, because I am a healthy, young woman."- Chelsea started and emphasized the last few words.

"So if we are talking about who should hold the egg, the answer is obviously me since I have taken care of children before. Got that? I've got experience dealing with kids, and even if I did have some kind of illness, it wouldn't have any effect on a vasili."- when the troubadour finished saying this, her eyes switched from anger to playful and her frown loosened, almost wanting to curve into a smirk.

"Besides, if the Bird-guy is talking about traits he must be talking about personality, and I have the most to offer. Mhm, I'm the most suitable to have this, you two are too quiet and keep to yourselves"- she finished with a small smile and her hands gripped the egg that was placed close to her chest.

[Acacia Sgt]

John and Sophia glanced at each other for a moment, before facing back to face Chelsea.

''I am aware of the times you've spent even whole days unconscious,'' John said. ''You do have something, even if you don't want to admit it right now.''

''Wait, for whole days?'' Sophia was surprised at this.

''Furthermore, Griffin said even physical traits are copied, so it's not just personality, and with such vagueness we can't rule out yet of any body behavior, regardless of it's cause,'' John continued.

''Chelsea, is this because you don't want to let go of it, isn't it?'' Sophia asked. ''Even if you believe it's just the personality, don't you realize that your denial is precisely something it doesn't need? Besides, does your personality is really something it needs? This isn't about taking care of a child. Lilith is counting on getting Sol to help her once it emerges from the egg. Considering the circumstances even I would know it wouldn't do good for me to hold it, for example.''

[-Cynthia-]

Main Deck

"Ya got it1 Probably not the same style as you seafarin' folk, but variety's the spice of life,' Nadya said to Gytha, shrugging and preparing herself to break it down.

Aft Deck

So Shadrak wants to do to people what Lilith did to that Rexian captain? That's a bit creepy, but could be useful... Veronika thought to herself before interrupting Shadrak's rant. "Is it possible that Raquel doesn't know how to train with the emblem? I know that if you handed me a chunk of a magical artifact I wouldn't have a clue where to start."

Plains

<"Y'all fought a dragon!? What did that group do, get conscripted into the Ursian army?>" Marko asked, raising his voice.

<"Well this young man said she made a fool recovery, don't make such a fuss,"> Vadoma spoke up. <"But what's this about Nadya bein' one of the only ones ya worry about? What else has this group been up to?>" she asked, biting her lip.

[Mercakete]

"Harr! That's great!" she exclaimed, overjoyed that she wasn't the only member of Raquel's group to actually be participating in this event. Wonder what sort o' dancein' she knows. It'll be fun to see!

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

When Gar heard that the egg would take on traits from whomever was near it he was extra glad he didn't snatch it. Communing with Lilith's gang would no-doubt become a thing in the future, and having to deal with a vague copy of himself would just be a disaster for a working relationship. But after that, Lilith ended her part of things, Shade Drake, Griffin and Veronika all leaving as well. Armor-Guy starting talking with cleric-girl-who-held-the-egg, and things became kind of quiet otherwise. Gar didn't have much to add either. So he just focused on the closest thing to relevancy he had. "Returning to the Sardis issue: his name is dumb." Gar paused to let that very important information sink in. "Yeah I got nothing."

[Phoenix]

Deliberation

"Heheh. No argument here." Reign chimed in. "I don't know much about this guy, but I do have a bit of advice."

"Advice?" Raquel asked, her curiosity piquing.

"Yeah. Get your group some snipers. You're gonna need'em to take this guy out."

"... oh. You know, somehow I thought you had a calculated plan of some kind."

"I'll get back to you when you know where you'll be facing him. Hopefully not in a mansion. That didn't go so well the last time."

Conception

For only a few seconds, a red aura appeared around the egg as Chelsea held it. Once it vanished, everything seemed normal again.

Celebration

Bogdan eventually emerged on the main deck again and strolled on by the party animals on his way toward the Dauntless. Looking around, he didn't see Gabbie or Ringo. "Hmm." He glanced back toward the aft deck wondering if he should head inside and seek another rider or simply have Talitha fly over to the Dark Utka and explain the situation. He figured they would be curious about the sunken rebel ship and the partying. "TALITHA!!!" he called up toward the crow's nest.

"I'm not dancing!" she shouted back down reflexively. She thought a sailor was calling up to her, not the captain himself.

Bogdan raised an eyebrow. "What?!"

"Oh wait, Captain Bogdan?! Sorry, I thought ... never mind. I'm coming down, now!" And so she did, landing a short ways in front of him. "Did you need me for something?"

"I want you to head over to the Utka and explain what just happened."

"Sure, I can do that."

"Can you bring Filat and some of the others back here, too? We miss him!" a sailor called over while doing some foot dance.

"That guy who's all muscle? No way." Talitha refused. "I'm not a ferry; I can't carry someone that much heavier than me. In fact, I can't carry anything heavier than me."

"Alright, alright, don't get your shorts in a twist." the sailor replied teasingly.

Consideration

"But that's just the thing, though ... she's avoiding it altogether. Magic users can't achieve anything without training and determination. You start by trying to control the emblem's energy." Shadrak replied to Veronika sounding a little frustrated.

"The emblem isn't so precisely controlled," Lilith began to clarify. "While it's true, it can be 'manipulated', this requires immense willpower. Raquel needs to learn to distinguish between what she wants and what she needs, so that she can get this working on a conscious level. If not, then her subconscious will always be the primary influence over her piece of the emblem."

"And it will keep injecting her with more and more of its power until she turns into a raisin ... or something." Griffin added from the background, somewhat jokingly. Shadrak was merely surprised he knew about that to begin with.

Explanation

<"We were hired to get rid of some ... criminals. We just didn't realize at the time just how resourceful they were. They managed to hide a dragon in Ursium, and in Urcentius of all places."> Amon explained, as carefully as he could. And to Vadoma he answered <"They usually take odd jobs from Seth Weyland, the head of Weyland Enterprises. They aren't 'bad' jobs, it's just bad things kept happening-but don't worry! Nadya always made it out okay, and the reason I don't worry about her is because she doesn't take unnecessary risks. I'm sure she wouldn't take any chances with her family worrying about her.">

<"All of the chances, all of the time."> Fizza commented, alluding to her situation with her family.

Preparation

I wasn't taking nearly as long as I thought, it seems. <"A question?"> Katsu echoed. He began to stand up and sheathed his other sword now that it was finished. He placed it next to the other one and came to the door to answer it. <"I'm just finishing up here."> he greeted, gesturing at the two blades lying parallel beside the small mat and 'work station'.

Appreciation

The flight in the sky carriage was going smoothly so far; Bryn was having her hair and feathers straightened by Helga and Svan as they traveled. When a bit of turbulence disrupted one of Helga's smooth finger combing motions, she quickly stopped what she was doing and stuck half of her body out of the window. <"We are trying to prepare my daughter in here. Make the beast fly smoother. Change course if need be, but I will not tolerate anymore shaking or bouncing!">

<"Yes, Mistress!"> the pilot shouted back indifferently. Pulling herself back inside, she was only able to catch the last half of what Svan had been saying.

<"I feel somewhat guilty doing this with Siv gone.">

<"What was that?">

<"She's right. It just feels wrong. We were there when she was taken. We should be in Ursium bringing her back right now. Siv should be here with us, asking her stupid questions and annoying you while Svan and I laugh to ourselves. Fawning over Valdimarr while I roll my eyes. I'm really starting to miss the little things."> Bryn explained.

<"Truth be told, we are doing this earlier in the month because I need you two to get accustomed to this sort of thing. You two are far too attached to each other, and it is not healthy."> Helga explained as she began to straighten Bryn's hair again.

<"You do not still plan on ending her life, do you, mother?"> asked a worried Svan. She was so focused on the question that she stopped working on Bryn's wing for a moment.

<"It depends on Valdimarr. I have no other purpose for Siv.">

<"Here's an idea, mother. Let her come up with her own purpose."> Bryn retorted.

<"I might if she were your age. However it has barely been a decade and a half since she was born and she was birthed somewhat shortsightedly.">

<"That's no excuse.">

<"I am not making excuses, child. That fool of a husband of mine let you two grow up believing you were entitled to everything, food, shelter, each other, life itself-the list goes on. Corvus has limited resources and these resources must be properly managed. Human slaves, clans with too many offspring, the lesser demons prowling the streets of the slums cities. All of these are an unnecessary strain on the system. Each clan must do its part to minimize the damage, and while you see it as cruel and unusual, if Siv's life serves no purpose in the end, then she has no reason to exist. Granted, if Valdimarr takes another for his wife, Siv may yet live if she does not return to Corvus, but otherwise I intend to end her myself.">

<"But they're probably tormenting her out there!"> Bryn exclaimed.

<"Perhaps not,"> Svan cut in. <"Lord Steinn is the one who had her taken, and he would not put her through such things merely to get back at us. His actions have very little to do with us in general, actually. This is between him and Lord Valdimarr and we are simply caught in the middle.">

<"I just know he's going to come up with another plan soon, and I want in on it. This waiting around is torment in and of itself.">

<"I despise these royal rivalries ..."> Helga muttered.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Robin's the closest thing to a sniper you have right now, but she's not quite there yet." Gar said. "Better hope a random group of ne'er-do-wells attacks so she can work out those kinks on not shooting to kill and such." Gar offered with a shrug. "Or hope a couple snipers randomly drop into your lap I guess."

Edited September 24, 2012 by Script

[Mercakete]

"Tell 'em about th' celebration anaway!" Gytha called to Talitha, "Maybe they'll head o'er t' join in other own!" She was hopeful about the prospect. It wouldn't be too hard for the ships to run along side each other and set some boards up to join the ships for a bigger party.

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

<"You have good timing,"> Daichi commented as he glanced over at the indicated swords. <"Anyway, I was wondering how you were feeling today. You seem to be recovering well, but you would know better than I,"> he posed the question with a friendly smile. As he thought about it, a couple more questions came to mind, but they could easily wait for this one's answer.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Mercakete

[-Cynthia-]

Main Deck

"Oh the Utka's gonna party too? More the merrier I guess," Nadya said. These sailors better not get too handsy...eh Gytha will just shoot 'em if they do. she thought to herself with some reassurance.

Aft Deck

"The emblem works by the holder just wishing for stuff to happen? That sounds a little farfetched- and pretty dangerous if Sardis is holding a piece for himself," Veronika thought aloud, cocking an eyebrow at Lilith.

Plains

<"My daughter's fightin' crime? That's great, if maybe a bit ironic,"> Vadoma said chuckling. "I'm sure Nadya keeps herself outta trouble mostly, she ain't no assassin,>" she said, looking over at Fizza.

<"What's this 'Weyland Enterprises'? Never heard of it,"> Marko asked, finishing up the last of his bowl of rabbit stew.

[Acacia Sgt]

And without warning, the egg glowed for a few seconds.

Huh, what happened to it? Sophia thought.

<A glow huh, I'd better ask on this first chance I get,> John thought.