Return of the Emblem Chapter Eleven: Unleash

[Toogee]

"We need to get that beast off of us, but we can't defeat it head on. If we try to fight an army of snipers it will only result in us being picked off. If we can remove one of the factors it creates leeway on the other. If the dragon and army are, indeed, allied, then removing the dragon should cause distraction for the army. So remove the dragon! We can't kill it, but we can addle it! So... Eli was it? Do you, by any wild chance, happen to be either a skilled light mage or have flash grenades to blind it?" asked Tia, hopefully, just as the dragon landed.

"Or a personal connection to any form of deity involved in diplomacy and peace to pray to?"

"Uh...none of the above," Eli replied. "Besides, all of those things sound like I have to get closer to the dragon, something I'm really trying to avoid."

The rider noted that the groups were still in utter disarray. Some were threatening to strike back, others were trying to make a run for it. Yet, in the middle of all that chaos, the dragon appeared, having a very threatening conversation with one of the woman in Raquel's group (Veronika judging from Raquel's scream). As dire as it was, neither the dragon nor his cohorts were attacking. Eli found it hard to believe, but it appeared that both sides had entered some sort of negotiations.

"I think we should stay right here for now," Eli said to Tia. "It looks like they're talking about something. That Veronika lady, who is she and how can she talk to that dragon without immediately getting her head eaten off?"

[RPG]

Hearing Haythem's suggestion, Garrimor growled in frustration. He hated feeling helpless, but he bolted to the forest to find cover.

[-Cynthia-]

Robin had shoved herself in front of her, which Veronika found rather brave and incredibly stupid at the same time. You can't block those things, we'll both end up dead if the dragon decides to kill us. Luckily, Robin did not shoot and the dragon swept down upon them. How many times can I evade death today? she thought to herself, standing her ground.

Schwartz had apparently not decided to kill her and was talking to her. There was other clamor going on- someone shouted her name- but Veronika focused on the dragon in front of her, not that it would have been easy to look away. The dragon's statement however, drew a mental blank from Veronika, which made her heart feel like it was about to burst.

After a few deep breaths, she drew her sword from its sheath and raised it high into the air. Ordinarily she would be worried about this being interpreted as a sign of aggression, but figured that she posed no real threat to Schwartz in his eyes. <"This sword has the mark of Oleg, the blacksmith of House Rusayev. If you require further evidence of my identity, ask what you will,"> she said, attempting to remain calm.

[Eail]

Marella.... She was.... She....

'No'

Zach stood unblinking as he watched the Knight's life fade away, her fate obvious from how Rook had reacted to cradling her body. Feeling as though something actually broke inside of his head the sage couldn't even react. Unconscious body hitting the ground face first before he could even come to terms with the death of yet another person that he had greatly cared about.

____

Alphonse rolled off of the girls he'd tackled to safety and offered his hands to help them up, seeing the look on Greta's face concerned him greatly. "Greta... don't do what you're thinking about Greta. Your family loved you, dont throw your life away to try to get some kind of revenge on that bastard." He pleaded with the woman, Al didn't want to see any more death today, but he still needed to get these two out of danger.

"Lets see if we can find where these guys have their wagon and get you two to safety..."

[Phoenix]

STOP ... Parley Time

<"Quieeeet,"> Schwartz said in an impatient tone when Robin begged him not to eat her. It nearly came out as a growl and little else. When Veronika showed him her sword, and then explained its origin, he squinted at the thing and said, <"Huh ..."> He had a hunch that she was a genuine neviskotian noble, and that along with her small piece of evidence would have been enough for him if not for one little issue that had been bugging him since he landed. <"What are you doing in this country?">

The answer to that question would have to wait a moment, as a hooded figure stepped out and more or less ordered him to stand down. Shaking his head at the man, he said, <"I will do no such thing ... and shouldn't you be somewhere else? Or dead? No one's heard a word from you in a looong time.">

Not far away, Raquel was relieved to have heard Veronika's voice again, even though she and even Robin appeared to be talking to the dragon in neviskotian. That was just downright inconvenient. She couldn't understand a word of what was going on and the only other things that caught her attention were the hooded man's gestures and Zachary hitting the ground like a falling tree. She immediately assumed he'd been shot or something and tried to rush over. Reign wouldn't have let her run off if she wasn't heading slightly closer to the trees anyway. He followed aiming to confirm whatever injuries Zachary had, and then haul him into cover. That was the plan for now.

Inserting himself unwittingly into Reign's plan, Shadrak arrived at Zachary's downed form first and began inspecting him for injuries before they arrived. "Aside from banging his head just now, he's fine," he informed Raquel and Reign as they approached.

"Alright, then let's get him off the road before something else happens. Shadrak, help me carry him. Raquel stay between us and the trees."

Being the only healer within ten meters made Shadrak reluctant to accept Reign's plan as is but thinking about it, Raquel really shouldn't be getting shot in a situation like this. It said a lot about their ability to keep her protected if they couldn't at least do that. Shadrak decided to go along with the plan, help Reign carry Zachary, and hope Reign got shot if either of them, that way he could help heal him and not be down and out himself. "Alright, let's do this if we're going to do it."

Meanwhile Greta helped herself up instead of taking Alphonse's hand and wiped her eyes with her sleeve as thoroughly as she could. She apparently hadn't heard or acknowledged much of what he had said either, as her attention was now on the exchange going on between the dragon itself and some of the people nearby. Their visages were committed to her memory in an instant, but she seemed more likely to collapse than run over and start a fight. "It's just ... talkin' to'em all ...."

Over by the forty-second hiding spot in the area, Amon and Haythem continued to watch as things unfolded, Haythem watching the main event, and Amon watching the trees behind them. When he finally spotted someone among the trees other than the hulking mass that was Garrimor, it turned out to not even be an enemy. It was that girl who had stopped the last singularity from blowing them off of the map. She settled down and took a seat against a tree about thirty feet or so to the east of them. She either didn't notice either of the sancturans or just didn't care. She didn't look injured, so Amon decided to leave her be and keep an eye out.

[-Cynthia-]

The situation had grown slightly less chaotic, which allowed Veronika to take in more of the situation. Schwartz apparently knew someone else in the group who had been missing or dead...she would have to investigate that later. Right now, answering Schwartz was the priority.

<"I followed a missing Guardian Corps member on a mission to find the Fire Emblem. Chance would have it that I encountered Raquel almost two months ago back in Sergio Port and she was in possession of a piece of the artifact. I have been accompanying her ever since,"> she answered honestly. Part of her wanted to ask what Schwartz was doing here, but decided that the risk of sounding impertinent was not worth it.

Edited June 29, 2013 by -Cynthia-

[Afterglimmer]

The sudden ceasefire allowed Maris to regain his composure. The strangers weren't kidding about a dragon attack and he was worried that he would have gotten caught in the crossfire when it had launched that bombardment of dark magic. Fortunately for him, the luna spell had missed him entirely and now the dragon had stopped its assault.

Looking back at the scene, it looked as though the dragon was talking to a woman claiming she was the daughter of some high ranking Neviskotian general and some voices from others that Maris couldn't quite make out. Whether her claim was true or not, the point was the dragon was no longer focused on attacking and the snipers had stood down. Quickly dissolving the dark sphere he made earlier, Maris attempted to slip away through the trees that led towards the road. He didn't want to be anywhere near that dragon if negotiations failed lest he be caught in another onslaught.

Edited June 29, 2013 by Mr. Raven

[Snike]

"<Look, you already killed one of our sisters just a moment ago, while nearly killing another - a VIP who you are now threatening at that-, so forgive me if I am curt, but stand down Schwartz,"> Axel retorted, lifting his rod. "<I already have one comrade on my kill list, I do not want to add another. Anyways, I am here because part of my objective is present, which you attacked along with our fallen sister and the VIP. As for the silence, it would be best not to discuss it with all these ears around, though I will say your second guess is not far off. But first, you need to let these people go. You've done your job in inspiring the fear of the Gods into them, but if you kill any more my objective is going to be put at risk. >"

***

Veronika was apparently alright given her voice just spoke out a few times, along with a hooded man's who he didn't recognize - what was with all these hooded figures, recently? -, and the dragon wasn't attacking, so things seemed to be going well. Then, Zach- that poor man- fell over, which led to Raquel and Reign rushing over to check on him. Blake quickly followed, and as Shadrak -who had made it there first- began to go to lift the lightning magic user, he took up position just behind them, so as to cover them as much as possible from any surprise attacks from the road.

[Mercakete]

As it turned out, Norbert did have a growing sense of good judgement as he'd simply glowered at the scene with Veronika, the dragon, the hooded man and, at a time, Robin in silence. Good things never last, however, as his impatience got the better of him and he called over spitefully to the Neviskotians, "Why don't you speak in a language we all understand?!"

Up until this point, Gytha had just been watching and waiting.Would Veronika manage to talk down the dragon? Who was that hooded guy? Her attention snapped to Norbert, however, when he had another of his outbursts. Luckily, this time it'd only been in the form of words, but she was still horrified at it. He was probably going to get himself killed for that.

[Toogee]

Jam took Alphy’s hand and stood on her feet as she looked around at the scenario. The fighting had ceased, but the atmosphere was incredibly tense. People had their hands on their weapons, waiting for the moment the negotiations failed. The enemy snipers had yet to reveal themselves; Jam assumed they were in attack positions as well. Meanwhile, those participating in the negotiations were speaking in another language, so the dancer had no idea what they were talking about. Alphy suggested finding an escape route, which Jam was all too happy to take part in. There was just one thing…

“What about the others? …What about Shaun? W-we’re not going to leave them here, right?”

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At the distance Eli and Tia were watching, the rider could barely hear the conversation between the dragon and woman. Even so, it was all in Neviskotian, a language he was not familiar with. He had a feeling that they weren’t out of this yet.

“Do you have any idea what they’re saying?” Eli asked Tia. “I mean, are they truly negotiating? What do we have to negotiate with? We’re hilariously outmatched and if they are truly allied with Neviskotia, he can’t have witnesses to tell the Ursium army of their intrusion. Unless…these aren’t negotiations at all…they’re discussing terms for surrender.”

Eli was very tempted to fly in the opposite direction, head straight to Europa, and of the entire might of Ursium’s army on their butts in a couple days, but that wouldn’t help the group at all. Nor was he sure what other tricks the dragon had up his proverbial sleeve…

[ReformBlade]

Things got pretty intense, though Hannah remained fairly unphased by it all for some weird yet incredibly favorable reason. Being dismounted meant less strain on her back, but there was still an Aneda on her which she figured was normal.

Hopping off of Hannah, Mushirah had found herself with Shadrak and Reign, moving an unconscious Zach. "I'll cover you guys, just keep going." she said reflexively, pulling her brand new tome out and keeping pace with them. While not brimming with it, she was certainly more confident in her ability to protect than she was a few days ago.

[Phoenix]

The Language of Pain

Schwartz found Veronika's explanation interesting, but didn't have a lot of room to process it; there was some equally interesting explanation coming from Axel as well. His first reply was to the latter, to which he said, <"Only threaten someone with violence after all other forms of persuasion have failed, otherwise you give people like me the wrong idea ... and start making me wonder if a bit of indiscriminate wanton murder well behind enemy lines is preferable to whatever tripe you're proposing.">

When Bert made his informal request for them to switch over to common, Schwartz did so for a moment, but only to say, "Your entrails spilling to the ground sounds the same in any language. If the language of pain is the one you'd prefer, please, come closer," while brandishing one of his claws. They were all surprisingly sharp, almost like a feline's. Malik and Fizza had truly had it rough back there.

<"As for your objective, comrade, think fast and find some clever way to exfiltrate it since you can't tell me what it is right now ... not that I don't already have some idea. Still, if little Ms. Rusayev's explanation doesn't do it for me, I'm going to send the two of you off into a tree somewhere and get back to mopping the road with their blood ... ... and speaking of cleaning, I really should do something about that one.">

With Blake and Mushirah covering them, getting Zachary to cover went without a hitch, though Shadrak wasn't sure why the man had fallen in the first place. He didn't have a scratch on him aside from the results of the fall itself, which he quickly took care of. Healing minor scratches was better than doing nothing, he figured. "We're staying put for now," Reign informed Blake, Mushirah, and Shadrak. The three of them were free to do whatever they wanted now, it seemed.

"Hmm," Shadrak mused to himself for a moment. "There might be others hurt that we haven't gotten around to just yet. Mushirah, can you cover me while I have a look around? The dragon looks distracted enough for now but there's still those snipers ..."

[Parrhesia]

Go on. Go on. Make a mistake. Do something rash. Give me an excuse to skewer you. Make it easy for yourself. Because if you get out of this alive, I'll come after you. I'll destroy everyone you care about. I'll destroy everyone who ever knew you. I'll destroy everything you ever owned. And then, when there's nothing else left, when you have nothing in the world left to care about, the last thing you'll see will be the flash of a machete...

I know it won't bring her back. Nothing can bring her back after what ... what you did to her. But I swear on her grave that I will be there to see you die, alone and forgotten.

[Snowy_One]

"I don't know. I don't speak Skotian and it's too far to hear well anyways." said Tia in response to Eli's question. "But, that dragon could easily kill her or capture her if it wanted to, so judging by the fact that it hasn't, it's probably a negotiation. At least, that's what I hope it is. I really don't know."

[Mercakete]

The dragon had a fair point. Several points, in fact. Points that said dragon was threatening to acquaint him with far closer than he would ever prefer. Though he was tempted to snap back at the dragon and even take him up on his offer to get closer -- though Norbert intended to advance armed -- he thought better of it. For now things were relatively peaceful and as frustrating as it was not to understand what was being talked about, there were people still around who were in danger. This only frustrated Norbert further. Blasted disease-ridden, vomit-slurping, putrid, dark-drenched dragon...! I...really don't want what happened in Sanctuary to happen here. If I was the only one at risk that'd be one thing, but... Grr I'll just...wait... And so he did, crossing his arms and glaring daggers at the winged darkness-slinger. I'll just deal with you later.

Gytha relaxed only just a little. That remark could still cost them. Still, she figured Norbert was lucky to be alive, for not at least. It looked like he was going to be quiet now. That alone increased their odds of survival.

[Ether]

RETROSPECTIVE 2: Page length, wut r u doing? page length? STAHP!

Things were certainly overwhelming enough for the time being, but Shadrak still had a lot of things to piece together. With Hypnos gone and Thanatos having already answered all the questions he could, Shadrak was left wondering about various things, the true nature of their foes in particular, the organization run by Sardis and Samael. The mention of dark energy, possibly mind magic, was still on his mind from earlier and that meant the fox woman was a potential mole. He was reluctant to go visit her alone, however but didn't want to bring Raquel for such a sensitive subject. He contemplated a few others but couldn't decide one way or another at first.

"Hmm ..." While he sat there pondering, an illusive presence came ever closer. "I wonder if the invisible girl, Ayano would help with this. No one should really be alone with that woman ..."

"Help how?" came the girl's voice. Apparently she was standing right in front of him, cloaked as usual. Shadrak flinched and staggered backward a short distance. Only now did he notice the footprints. Once she uncloaked herself, he sighed in annoyance.

"Dammit, don't do that!"

"You pretty much told me to," she replied, pointing out what he'd said earlier at the campfire.

"Urgh, fine, whatever. Well, look. Kit's a mind magician of sorts, so I wouldn't put it past her to knock someone out and make them loyal to her in their sleep or something. That's why I need someone to go with me. You're undetectable when you want to be so you're probably my best bet," he explained.

"Not anymore. She's an avian. If you know I'm there and keep thinking about it, she'll figure it out."

"She can probably hear your thoughts too, you know," Shadrak said, holding up a single finger.

"I can keep my thoughts clear, or think like someone or something else. You obviously can't. Just go talk to her by yourself."

Shadrak let down the finger and sighed. "Fine, whatever. Thanks for nothing."

Ayano didn't say anything else, choosing instead to fade out again. Shadrak took a moment to rethink all of this. He still felt he needed to question her on this a bit and so decided to go forward with the plan alone. She was still on top of the Dauntless, so it wasn't as if he would be completely alone, just ... helpless if she decided to warp off with him. He regretted recalling her warping abilities since even Ayano couldn't help him in a situation like that. Still, he mustered up the courage to confront her and did so, carefully making his way to the roof of the Dauntless a little while after dinner.

"Hey ..."

As the druid approached her, apprehensiveness about the listfulness of his gaze forthright in his mind, Kit gave the man a mischievous grin.

"Oh? And what does Raquel's big shaman want with little old me? Perhaps you've come to share a spot of your meal that I was so coldly excluded from, hmm?" The fox-woman teased, her tails flickering about as she did so.

"Uh, sorry, I didn't think of that. That's not really why I'm here," Shadrak replied, scratching the side of his neck for a moment. Once he'd composed himself better, he sat down with his back straight and crossed his arms as he faced the woman. "I need a straight answer from you." Damn, suddenly I'm not sure if this is even a remotely intelligent idea. She could just lie and I'm back to square one. "We found out earlier that Raquel's father might have had some mind magic used on him to make him loyal to the organization we're fighting. Sardis might even be brainwashed, but there's no telling who might be responsible for that." Don't warp don't warp don't warp ... wish Ayano was here .... "B-basically I need to know if you're involved in some way. It doesn't seem all that likely, but with all the crap we go through, I wouldn't be surprised." Not sure where to go with this ... dammit.

"Y'know, Shadrak... even if I was human, and dense as a nail, I could still tell how nervous you are right now." Kit chided, before ruffling the druid's hair absentmindedly.

"To answer your question, no, I'm not involved." Kit responded, as her hand moved to toy about with one of her tails.

"Though I have to say... for a blooming practitioner of dark magic, you are unusually afraid of warping... usually that's the part they're most excited about experiencing..."

Dammit, she was right. The harder I try not to think about it, the more I do! "Would you stay out of my head, please? I mean how are we supposed to have any sort of real conversation if you keep bringing up stuff I'm trying not to focus on? It should be obvious why I don't want to get warped somewhere right now." Sighing, he tried to move on somehow. "Anyway, if you really aren't involved, then I have a different question. If Raquel's father is being brainwashed with dark magic, do you think we could undo it without hurting him? Like, if we captured him and kept him unconscious, could a mind magician fix him?" Not going to ask for her specifically since they would kill me for that ....

"It would depend on how exactly they were doing it... if they simply replaced memories in order to make him believe in a new allegiance, the false memories could to be done away with, but it might not be possible to restore him to his former self depending on the extent of the changes... memories that are shared with someone else could be taken from another source and repurposed to fit a new perspective with time and effort, and reinstated that way, but that will only work for shared memories, and won't fix extended wiping." Kit replied, her tone shifting to a more serious one.

"But there are other ways... if a magician has enough time and experience, they can recreate a person's entire being, rather than simply editting where they see fit... a person's whole life as they recall it could be a mere fabrication, ties to key people warped to the whims of the magician... in such a case, outside of the interference of a God, a full recovery can be considered functionally impossible, and with such expansive changes, trying to patch the truth back in would be far too much an ordeal... you would be better off rewriting them from scratch a second time." Kit continued, pondering the subject a bit more.

"Of course, that is a worst case... depending on how resistant the target themselves is, it can be as simple as a few minute changes to get rid of a single damning detail... something like that could be fixed in minutes if you knew what you were doing."

"Maybe there's some hope, then. Uh ... thank you for the information, Kit," Shadrak replied. Well that was helpful. Chie never tells me much about her methods of controlling animals so this was pretty insightful. I kind of feel bad for even bringing this up now. "You know, if you're hungry, I'm sure they wouldn't mind sharing. Or I could just ... go get you something if you'd rather just stay up here for whatever reason."

"I seem to get the distinct feeling that there are a good deal of you who aren't very fond of me... my little distinct feelings are rarely wrong, you know." Kit mused, when Shadrak asked if she had a reason for not joining the others for food.

Well that's not surprising, the dress, the ... innumerable tails ... wait! Stop thinking about that! "Well you're not the only one. I don't have to try very hard and I still make random enemies in this group. Well ... I can't exactly call them enemies, just ... not really people I get along with. So I get that at least. The thing is, at least I think this may be a part of it, you're kind of 'strange'. Not a lot of women dress like ... that," he explained, keeping his gaze as far up the woman's form as he could. He ended up just staring at her ears since that actually helped. "I'm sure people can't help but wonder why someone would turn themselves into a fox, too. And I guess maybe some of them feel a little threatened by you ...?" I sure as hell do ...

"The pursuit of knowledge does strange things to people... warps your life in ways you could have never conceived, makes enemies of people you've never spoken to, never met, never seen... those who aspire to go above and beyond are scorned by those below, who can not understand their thirst... that which one cannot fathom tends to spook more than anything else." Kit replied, her answer somewhat truthful, somewhat philosophical.

"As for my dress, well... one does what she must to get what she wants... if a method works, no need to shelve it."

"A 'method' ...?" Shadrak suspiciously asked, trying his best to keep his attention on Kit's ears and hat. Up to that point, he'd agreed with most of what she'd said, recalling some of his own trials growing up as a student of an unorthodox dark master. Seeing her manipulate wildlife to serve her every need was impressive, but most people in that region didn't see it the way he did. Maybe that's why Chie never taught him even the basics of mind magic. He might have run into even more problems than usual if he boasted about his knowledge and abilities like he used to. "I get exactly what you mean about seeking greater knowledge and power but ..." he paused to point in the general direction of her torso. "That's ... really not fair to do to people."

"If you worry about what is fair, you'll miss plenty of chances to get yourself ahead... this world only has room for so many elite... if you want to become great, it comes at the expense of someone else that was in your way, who also wanted it. That's how the world works." Kit stated, with a flick of her tails.

"I don't believe that," Shadrak stated plainly. "There don't have to be any 'elite'; people are just selfish. The gods never said kings had to live in enormous palaces, or that nobles have to live extravagantly, they just take advantage of their 'importance' to do it. There's even magic. My teacher was kind enough to train me for free ... mostly anyway, but others have to pay huge amounts of gold to be taught or sign a contract that'll have them fighting in the army after they've been trained. It's not like only special people are capable of learning magic, it's just only some people get the chance. I know there are elites and people who are way ahead in life, but it only works that way because we enforce it."

"So ... yeah, dressing like that and taking advantage of people kind of just reinforces the problem," Shadrak finished, glancing at the outfit for a split second and then focusing on the ears and hat again. Lord, that was a bad idea. "B-besides, I'm sure a more respectable outfit would at least partially address the distrust problem. Maybe ...."

"That's what the world has become though, hasn't it? Those who have power, be it from prowess or from wealth, are those who choose how the world about them is run... if a King wants a castle, no objection is heard... those beneath him know that dissension breeds death." Kit responded, not quite expecting this sort of argument from this one.

"That is how humans have conditioned themselves, and even if it was not a call made by any modern noble, it is not a luxury they would relinquish, if it is to be offered to them on a silver platter... if you truly wish for it to change, then claw your way up, step on people... follow the laws that your ancestors have placed on your people, and once you have reached the top, with your own power, relinquish that luxury and give those of lesser merit, lesser fortune, all that which the most elite can enjoy... no one will do it for you." Kit continued, her expression growing somewhat bitter, as she ran a hand through her silver locks.

"And besides, even if I chose to cover my skin... I don't need this outfit to draw attention, what with my certain... appendages. I simply enjoy the freedom of it, and it makes it a little easier for me to exert my little whims if I so please... come now, will you truly deny a poor girl even such a small thing?"

If one person could just up and change the system, you'd think it would have happened by now. Frankly, I'm sure plenty have tried that but either failed or got to the top and were just too comfortable with things by then. I'd like to think I'm better than that ... wiser than that ... but ... I don't know.

Not being sure if Shadrak could make a difference on his own, either due to impotence or conversion, he relented a bit. This wasn't a problem they were going to solve here and now, clearly. "Never mind. It just bothers me sometimes." Well, at least she doesn't dress that way because she thinks she has to to get ahead, though I'm not sure if that's better or worse. I can't even look directly at her without acting out on its own. "Your apparent need for sexual whims is pretty bothersome too ... just saying. Ahem." At this point, Shadrak had forgotten that he was at least trying to be subtle and was just looking away from Kit entirely, at random things off to his left side. At best, she was in the corner of his vision.

"Hmm? Oh, my little whims aren't sexual, dearest. The reason this little things helps them out is because most men's little whims are the sexual ones... a wandering mind tends to... well, wander. Sometimes it's those little edges." Kit replied, amused by the man's reaction.

"My my, you do seem to be so intently staring at that little Rexian girl... and with such lustful thoughts in that head of yours... perhaps I should warn the poor girl that the big bad Shadrak is on the prowl and out for pleasures of the night~" Kit teased, as the man's gaze aversion lead his eyes to be trained straight on Faatina, who was passing by for some undisclosed reason, and didn't seem to notice the conversation atop the Dauntless.

"What, no! That's not it at all," Shadrak practically yelled on reflex. He had half a mind to cover her mouth, but the other half knew his reach was lacking. At best, she would dodge him anyway; at worst, he would rush in, miss her mouth, and have the most awkward landing of his life. Or he might miss her and fall through the hole in the Dauntless. That was also a possibility that crept into his thoughts. "None of the women here have anything to worry about from me. I'm not like that nomad over there," he explained, first pointing off to Reign in the distance, and then making eye contact with her and holding it for a time. Somehow. "Think about it, if I was that kind of guy, I wouldn't hesitate to ..." No no no no no no no no- "to ... take advantage of your ... company. If you want though, Icould send Reign up here for you. I'm sure he wouldn't mind playing your games one bit. He'd probably just sit there and take it, even," he threw in.

Hmm ... you know that might have been a bit much. I don't trust that guy around women, but that really wasn't what this conversation was supposed to be about. I just don't want to be seen as 'that guy', especially when I'm not and we've already got one of those sneaking around the camp. At least one, even.

"Heehee, relax... I was only joking... there are two types of men, you know? The ones who get all horny and the ones who get all dodgey and start flipping out whenever their libido is brought up... you're the second kind." Kit noted, laying back across the roof of the Dauntless, her chest giving a deliberate heave, and her mouth releasing a just as deliberate sigh... moan... thing.

"But I'll have you know I don't actively seek out sex... I'm not opposed to it if it happens, but even if I appear to be seducing someone, there are probably reasons for it that aren't that they're some irresistible piece of ass. Although I suppose there is a plus side to human men... they can't get Avians like me pregnant, the same goes for the Fallen... humans get to have all the fun without worrying about any after effects like that..." Kit continued, her voice emerging with a silky, sultry tone. After his prior speech, well it was just necessary, wasn't it?

Shadrak was relieved at first to hear that she was only joking, though he felt a bit worse about how he'd handled said joke. He wasn't sure what to make of being called the kind of man who flips out. It seemed spot on, though when she started lying down, he could have sworn she was testing him or something, and so he looked away again. He couldn't cover his ears without uncrossing his arms, however. Priorities.

"You like human men?" he asked, as soon as she mentioned there being a 'plus side' to them. That was a first if it was true. Neither Siv nor Tali seemed to even consider something like that. Siv thought of humans as pets or something to that effect and Tali, as far as Shadrak could tell, wasn't interested in anyone. Shadrak was slightly bothered by Kit's reasons, though. "You know, some people actually want children, not just sex," he noted with some mild irritation in his voice. "Not that all people are remotely fit to be parents ... granted." Suddenly the thought of Siv came up again and Shadrak winced. He imagined her saying, 'I'll be able to have Lord Validmarr's children soon,' happily in kigenese. How's someone supposed to compete with an emperor? It's not that I like her that way or anything ... I just ... the idea of having that kind of competition just, urgh.

"I don't particularly like or dislike them... but it's nice to have the option if I don't want to worry about little scoundrels who won't shut up about why mommy doesn't have wings... if you want kids, then shack up with someone who can give them to you. In some ways, a human going with an Avian or a Fallen could be considered no risk, all reward... well, I suppose some Fallen girls will do a little more than suck on you, if you're not careful." Kit replied with a wink, it seems she had struck a bit of a chord, a pair of previous non-human attractions coming to his mind, even as he tried to explain them away, even to himself.

"W-wha ...?" While Shadrak only looked confused on the outside, he had a relatively good idea of what she meant. Unfortunately, his thoughts wandered to dangerous places again, and he found an imaginary version of himself flailing pathetically and screaming hysterically as Siv gently nibbled on his neck. She'd drawn blood, and a surprising amount of it given how small the bite was, but the worst part was the end of it. When Shadrak's mental image fell to the floor unconscious from massive blood loss, Siv wiped the blood from her little lips and began tying a bib around her neck in preparation to eat his remains on the spot. 'We can't be lovers because you're my dinner, Shadrak,' she said, in common, and with a sincere smile as she began to move in for the feast. Why couldn't he shove such a small and light girl away and not be killed so easily? He had no idea.

Trying to re-imagine the scene, he closed his eyes for a moment. "I really don't want people sucking on me. That sounds weird," he said to Kit as he did so. This time, Siv was leaning in to kiss him on the lips. By this point, he realized that there probably was some attraction at least on his end. He decided to just accept that and keep going. Just as their lips met, Kit's wording came to mind again, and the imaginary Siv bit down on his top lip in a playful manner. It was playful, but she'd drawn blood quite easily and Shadrak's mental self was in a good deal of pain and trying to free his lip without losing a part of it. When he was unable to lean out of the fanged kiss, she quickly got a larger part of it in her teeth by quickly loosing her grip and biting him again. Now he was trapped. Shadrak ended the thought there, because he really didn't want to see Siv eat his face off. "Yeah, I don't think fallen are quite that savage, Kit" he noted aloud, assuming Kit was seeing at least some of that. Why do they have to have fangs ...?

"I did say some Fallen girls... and don't be that way, it feels a lot better than you would think... care for a demonstration with your little Fallen friend?" Kit teased with a playful smirk. It seems Shadrak had a few vices of his own... how fun.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Shadrak replied with a slightly worried expression. Whatever she means by 'demonstration', it can't be good. "Besides, that wouldn't be right ... whatever you're thinking. She's engaged." ... or something to that effect ...? He was a little curious, wondering what she meant by demonstration specifically, but he couldn't help but feel like he'd regret finding out in some way.

"Oh, worried about adultery too, how noble of you, Shadrak... of course I don't mean to put the girl in any sort of real situation... not that it would feel any less real to you, though." Kit replied, stretching out her arms with a sigh.

Was she talking about mind magic? Fake memories or something? "That sounds so wrong, like something some stalker would do," he eventually replied.

"You just imagined yourself in compromising situations with a girl that is not only taken, but is also an entirely different species, not once, but twice, in the span of a couple of minutes... I don't think you've much right to talk about what's creepy... besides, I only offered her up as a medium because I figured you would like it better that way." Kit retorted with a smirk.

"Stop reading my mind," Shadrak reflexively shot back as he leaned away and put his hands to the sides of his head. He had a feeling that if physical objects could block off whatever avians used to do what they did, most people would wear them, but that still didn't stop him from trying. Vainly. "It's not like it went too far or something. In fact, I pretty much get eaten both times!"

"Can't do that, Shaddy-boy~ How else am I supposed to hone my awareness of my surroundings?" Kit replied with a pout, before Shadrak make his comment about getting eaten.

"Well, what can I say... some men have strange preferences... still, even most masochists won't go quite that far..."

"That wasn't a preference at all," Shadrak quickly clarified. "That savagery only crossed my mind in the first place because of your weird comment a second ago.

"Hearing a man with an apparently healthy enough libido say he has no interest in being sucked on is far weirder than any comment I could hope to make, Shadrak." Kit retorted, with a swish of a tail.

"... what? Look, I have no idea what sort of weird sexual fantasies the guys you know are into, but I was raised by my teacher, so I'm not into whatever weird crap they are," Shadrak said with a bit of a glare. "Now do you want me to get you something to eat or don't you? I know you're trying to be a fox or whatever, but I doubt you go 'hunting' in that outfit," he added, keeping his eyes off of said outfit as best he could.

"I thought it was fairly understood that most men enjoyed it... maybe you're just too inexperienced to know what I mean..." Kit mused, before Shadrak made another comment about her attire.

"I'll have you know that what I'm currently wearing is absolutely perfect for certain forms of hunting~ Besides, if I really wanted to find a deer or a moose and kill it, what I'm wearing wouldn't really matter... once I found one they would be unable to escape me, and I could kill it on a whim." Kit continued, sitting back up as she spoke.

"But it is a hassle, and I have to say I'd rather not bother with it..."

"Weird," Shadrak stated adamantly in response.

'Certain forms of hunting'? Shadrak had a feeling she was talking about men again. He didn't doubt that she could easily kill something in several different ways using dark magic once she found them, but she said it herself, it was 'hassle'. "So do you want something to eat, or don't you?" he repeated, trying to steer away from the racy topics. I'm trying to be nice here, but she really wants to keep me out of my comfort zone with this sexual stuff, doesn't she?

"If you would be so kind." Kit replied, it might be for the best to lay off him for a little while.

"Okay, I'll ... be right back, then." With that, Shadrak carefully made his way down from the wagon and went over to see how much food was left for him to bring back. Fortunately the hunting group had killed a deer and not something an avian couldn't stomach. Still, he was worried about serving size. How much did someone like her eat? Instead of heading back over to ask, he made a reasonable guess and got what looked like a good serving for one person.

Shadrak ran into his next challenge when he got back. He couldn't climb the Dauntless with just one hand, so he had to try something different. After muttering for a moment, he went into the Dauntless and handed the food up to Kit once he'd gotten her attention. Whew, and that's my good deed for the day. Yeah right, more like eighth or nine good deed for the day.

As Shadrak returned with food, Kit accepted the offering, waiting for the man to come back up, which he didn't appear to be doing,

"What, too much of me already?"

"I just figured you'd want to eat alone or something. I already ate, so I would just be sitting there watching you." Please don't twist that into something-please don't twis-

"Now now, I am a very social woman, I'll have you know." Kit replied, as she began eating her meal.

"Also, when you decide to beg Lord Truth for me to not twist your words, it only gives me more incentive to do so... my profession lives on reactions."

On the bright side, she hadn't gone and twisted his words on him, but she still seemed to be poking fun at him just the same. "I may have identified your problem," he began a studious looking reply. He climbed up to the roof from the outside from continuing, sat down and crossed his arms, adding, "Most of the group don't like being messed with, and you seem to do that pretty liberally. I'm sure they would like you more if you didn't tease them so much." For some reason his eyes were closed while he was explaining this.

"Wouldn't it be a better life experience for them to learn to deal with the rigours of reality?" Kit retorted, taking a bite of the deer.

"Yeah, but they probably deal with it by chasing it away," Shadrak retorted thoughtfully.

"There are some things in life you can't escape... how thoughtful, Shadrak, I'll need to show them~ I'll be sure to tell that what a wonderful ideas man you are~" Kit replied, tail waving mischievously.

"W-what? What do you mean?" Shadrak asked, becoming nervous again.

"Well isn't it obvious? Just chasing things away isn't the right way to handle your problems... I'll be sure to show them that you have to stand and deal with them outright, oh they'll be so happy to know your wisdom convinced me to pester them so, for their own good~" Kit continued, a jovial expression on her face.

Oh crap, Shadrak thought to himself when she elaborated. "Please tell me you're kidding. I do not need to be blamed for whatever happens; life in this group is hard and dangerous enough without them wanting to physically hurt me."

"Oh, but you sounded ever so smart, why it almost seemed as though you were certain to have bested me, ever so thoroughly... against such a feat how could I not heed the obvious solution?" Kit replied, her voice dramatically drawn out to emphasize her point.

"Why, what kind of thoughtful woman would I be were I to neglect teaching them the err of their ways... lessons in life are oh so precious... but I suppose we'll have to leave it at yours, Shadrak." Kit continued, flourishing her tails as she spoke, before giving the druid a much more serious look.

"Don't play a game that you aren't ready to lose."

If only he had the reach, he might have summoned up the boldness to stuff her mouth with whatever was left of the deer meat. "Grrr, it's that right there, that whole cocky attitude. Even if you're serious, I doubt you can really get through to anyone acting like that." Then again ... His thoughts wandered to Raquel, whom he was convinced would allow anyone short of Sardis himself help out. There was also Gar, who as far as he could tell, was even more obnoxious than his current company, and on purpose no less. "Look, my point is that people are more receptive to genuine kindness." Can't tell if there's anything genuine about her, period, but that would be a little mean to say out lo--think about something else! Something else! Rabbits ... trees ... teeth ...?

"I'm not being cocky, Shadrak. I never start these things if I, myself, am not willing to suck it up if I get outsmarted... even if I lose, I learn something for the next time around, you know." Kit replied.

"Anyway, there's no point in trying to censor your own mind, it's a skill with little use most of the time that takes far too long to learn." Kit concluded.

Shadrak sighed heavily and said, "Greeeat. Whose bright idea was it for avians to be able to read minds anyway? Seems like nothing but abuse waiting to happen. Seriously." Crossing his arms, he tossed her a somewhat cold stare. Red eyes ... cool. Whatever. "Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the food," he said, looking away for the moment.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Ether

[ReformBlade]

"Yeah... I can manage that." Mushirah admitted, still holding her tome to her side. I still have no idea what I'm getting myself into... Oh well. she thought with an unusual satisfaction filling her being. A part of her wanted to use her tome just to see how it'd work out, but the more practical side wanted no annoying conflicts. I'll get a chance, and I'll be great. I know it...

[-Cynthia-]

The hooded man started talking about 'objectives' and someone who had fallen...Veronika looked over and saw no sign of Marella. She wasn't warped away- another casualty on our side, she thought sadly, though this was no time to grieve. Norbert had apparently taken it upon himself to antagonize Schwartz and was unfortunately too far away to silence.

She decided that it was her duty to keep Schwartz from getting too ornery and decided to expound on the emblem situation. <"The Fire Emblem has been split into fragments- we were in possession of a piece and were hounded by a criminal organization for it. Recently, they stole the piece from us and added it to their own. All evidence suggests that if they gather all the pieces and assemble the emblem, a great calamity will occur."> She decided to leave out the bits about dragon heads, vasili, and spirit springs- talking about ancient artifacts made her feel like enough of a lunatic already.

Edited June 30, 2013 by -Cynthia-

[Phoenix]

Nika's Quest

Mushirah sounded ready and willing to back him up, so Shadrak began carefully heading toward the remains of the wagon, trying not to draw too much attention from either the snipers in the trees or the dragon. As he drew closer, though, he found himself wishing to Truth he'd picked a better place to start searching for missing injured. The horses had been reduced to an unrecognizable mess made up primarily of red paste and innards. He hoped he wouldn't find any people in that same condition. From the new vantage point, he began looking around and spotted Marella. His first thought was to head over since no one else did, but then it occurred to him why no one was tending to her at the moment. "Oh no ..." Not again ... is this some kind of curse or something? Please don't actually be dead ....

Meanwhile, Schwartz listened to Veronika's exposition on the emblem situation. At first he was just amused, but ... <"Hahahahahahah ... so you're trying to find a particular guardian and take on a few thugs that are giving you a hard time ... and all before they cause some sort of great calamity. That sounds completely asinine, but I've been on a few missions like that, myself."> Pausing to sigh, he added, <"Do your family a favor and go home, back to neviskotia. We're at war with Ursium, no holds barred, and the fun's happening on their side of the border. Nowhere on this side is safe for you anymore, not even the west. So go home, Rusayev. You don't want to end up like her do you?"> He nudged his head at Marella's body.

[Parrhesia]

Rook's body screamed at him to rip out his machete and attack the dragon. As it was, he stood there, twitching with barely-supressed rage. They will all burn.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika bit her lip considering how best to respond. She didn't want to sound contrary, yet lying felt like a poor option. <"While I respect your counsel, I feel that I must follow this course for the time being. I swore an oath to myself that I would find this person and pursuing this organization seems to be the best option. I heard a rumor that Kirill Volkov was involved with this organization- would you know anything about that?"> she asked Schwartz. It was a shot in the dark, but it was possible he knew something...

[Snike]

Axel chose to ignore Schwartz's jab and continued.<"I apologize, but after watching you nearly kill Veronika, I did not believe other forms of persuasion would work. Anyways, the pink haired woman who was sent into the forest has a certain talent for finding portions of the objective. At the moment's she is being antagonized by an enemy faction in an attempt to eliminate her, by their hand or hers. If you continue your 'cleaning', with this group in particular, you are playing right into their already loaded hands by pushing her towards the latter. Besides, there is better prey about, such as my former partner. Have you any idea where in Neviskotia he could be, recently? "

***

The escape to the forest went off without a hitch, and Reign informed Shadrak and the guards that they were staying put. Shadrak and the relatively new female spellcaster - Mushirah, was her name- went to go look for potential wounded individuals, which was good since the healers were noticeably absent. Blake decided to move a bit deeper into the woods and check the surroundings. Odds are that there were snipers around here, somewhere, and it would be better if he caught an arrow than if Raquel caught one.

[Eail]

Alphonse spared a glance back to see that the dragon was talking to some redheaded woman in Skotian. His memory of the language was a bit rusty, most of the jobs he'd taken recently had been in Ursium after all, so he was only picking up useless side information. The swordsman had other worries at the moment though. Gazing where Shaun's corpse was still laying on the grass, the color still present in his cheeks from how recently the boy had died. "I'll get Shaun but..." With the way that the wagon had been destroyed Alphonse didn't actually believe that the body of Greta's father had survived the destruction.

Letting his thoughts fade off Al went to collect Shaun's body, he deserved a burial, not to be left out for the vultures. "Come on... there's someone nearby... maybe they'll know what to do." Walking towards where he heard nearby voices, quickly coming across a blue haired swordsman that looked to be Alphonse's opposite. "Hey, you with Amon's friends?" He hesitantly asked, there hadn't been any arrows from this direction, but he'd be damned if anything else was going to happen to the girls. "I need to get these two to safety." Nodding back to where they were.

[Snike]

A Kigenese man had shown up out of nowhere and asked if he was with Amon's friends', before requesting help with two women who allegedly needed to get to safety. Well, the three of them certainly looked roughed up, and given that none of them appeared to be Neviskotian, Blake decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"You were with the wagon?" Blake asked, scanning the woods. "Yeah, we are trying to regroup and get out of here, but I'm worried about snipers. Are any of you injured, and have you seen Amon and his friend around? If not, we'll see about bringing you back to our convoy I guess, provided that the snipers don't show up." The Ursian man kept his sword ready as he spoke, just in case this was a trap.

[Eail]

Al gave a shake of his head "I dont know where Amon and Haythem are, I was just trying to save the ones in our group that aren't combat capable. Last I saw they were near the wagon, Haythem looked pretty roughed up and Isis wasn't too much better, they honestly might be dead for all I know at this point."

"We've got a few scrapes and bruises but nothing serious I think, most of it is just mental at this point." Motioning to Shaun's corpse still in his arms "This was her brother..." He softly said in reference to Greta "Her old man didn't make it either. Hell, we may be the only ones alive, I dont know, the damn thing just hit us too fast and too hard."