Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Really, no one?" Gar sourly commented as the shop-woman ran off too. Apparently food was more important a carry over clothes for a newborn. Should Gar really care? Well, staying here probably wouldn't accomplish much, he'd gotten everyone all list-tight for now. Plus it probably would be funny if Shade Drake didn't sputter out...

So Gar chose to follow them with a light jog. Though sure enough, Shade Drake tuckered himself out from running. And even before that the shop-women caught up to him while in some heels. That was funny.

Though what was more funny was the idea Gar got after it. After they stopped for Shade Drake's breathing, Gar did what he did best and became a complete ass as he effortlessly skipped past the two of them while whistling a jaunty toon.

[Mercakete]

Norbert wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. It wasn't as though Raquel was arguing so there was nothing for him to pit himself against. And besides that, the least he could do at this point was grant Raquel a simple favor. He was a bit overwhelmed by her statement about rather having him around than an expert mercenary, too. After a moment or two of silence, the pegasus rider stuttered a bit, "Um..."

Half a moment later, he managed words. Actually, his tone was a lot calmer and gentler than it usually was. In fact, he even sounded a bit shy. "I'm...really surprised to hear that... Thank you. ... Um... About your request, though... I'm sorry. You're not asking for much -- heck, you're asking me to do something for myself! I just...er... Well..." He blushed a bit as he glared intently at the floor in embarrassment. "I don't know how."

"I mean, I know a couple things I've heard travelling with you all that are good about me, but it's just...really hard for me to accept them. Besides what I've hard from Mercites, the only things I'm used to hearing about myself are bad and, well, I can see how they're true," he hastily explained, "It's not like I can deny I'm an argumentative, impatient, anger-prone, brutish, stubborn, audacious, violent, rude, loud-mouthed, dim-witted, ill-reputed, weak, good-for-nothing scoundrel of a ruffian. And I'd rather face who I am than try to run away from it."

"So, er...I want to do that favor for you, but...the only things I'm coming up with as far as compliments go are... Well, I've been called charitable by Synthia. Aneda said I have good drive and spirit... I've been told I'm not worthless a couple times, though I already knew that... It's not that I'm not worth anything so much as I'm just not worth a whole lot. It's something I've known since I was a kid..."

He flinched as he raised his eyes back to Raquel. "Sorry; I'm doing it again, I know." His gaze went back to the ground, though he was glaring again. "Blast it... I can't do anything right..." Why is this so hard?

[Toogee]

"Well, I'm not the one who needs a disguise," Eli replied with a smile. He did mentally cringe at the though of being thought of as a brother rather than...something more, but he decided to brush it off. "I know my way around the city, so I can assure you that, no matter how eventful the night may be, we won't be terribly lost."

Famous last words before Eli turned to Lumi's friend.

"Ah, you're Aneda, right? My name's Eli. Mister just makes me sound like an old stranger."

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"Nope...Nope...Woah..."

Jam was currently peeking into every room on the floor to see if they were bedrooms. Most were, but they seemed to have been occupied. One of them had a man in some state of undress. Perhaps this wasn't the best way to find her own room...

"Can I help you?"

Just as Jam closed the door on another room, a maid had appeared. Despite Jam's disregard of privacy, the maid still maintained a calm courteous manner.

"Uh, yeah. I'm part of the group downstairs. I'm kinda lost. Do you know where we're staying?"

"Ah, of course. Right this way, Miss."

Jam followed the maid down a couple of staircases until they reached Room 2G. The maid kindly opened the door for the dancer. As Jam entered, the first thing she noticed was the fine view of the estate. The next thing was the nice linens on her bed. The dancer immediately jumped on the bed, lying down to relax for a moment.

"I wonder how long it will take for Alphy to freak out and go looking for me..."

[Snowy_One]

Robin didn't care about if Erion came with her or not, just if she could get the heck away from Siv. Quietly she left the room and headed into the mansion, not really caring where she ended up. Wasn't like she was going to the ball and, honestly, she really just wanted to be alone right now. Alone was where she did best anyways. No other people to annoy her. No other people to threaten her. Just herself sitting down in a corner. Alone... With no one else to talk to, or friends, or anything of the sort. But also no one else to annoy her, or enemies, or anything of the sort. Alone.

[scorri]

Erion

Watching the chaotic exit from the dining room, Erion shrugged. Settling back into his chair, he turned to see if Robin was still there, but she seemed to have slipped out as well. He then turned to one of the nearby maids and asked, "Hey, do you know of anywhere I could get clothes for the ball? Somehow I doubt they would appreciate me showing up like this, you know?"

Lumi

"It wouldn't be about disguise, it would be for fun!" It seemed as though hair dying was off the table though, so she paused before coming up with a different idea. "How about we go flying? I'm sure our pegasi would love the chance to just go out and stretch, and we could see some of the countryside!"

Hoshi

Having watched Siv run away with what appeared to be an egg, followed by a man in robes, a woman in heels, and another man who appeared to be skipping, Hoshi was mostly just relieved to see someone who appeared relatively normal approaching her. And speaking in Kigen! <"Ah, hello. Uhm, I was just heading into the dining room, there's someone I need to talk to in there, I hope. She may have left. Oh, I'm Hoshi. You are?"> She continued walking into the dining room while talking to the man, hoping to catch sight of the one she was looking for.

[Phoenix]

Searching

"Deception's the name of the game as far as we're concerned. We don't even know who our enemies are a quarter of the time. I envy you people, I really do," he replied with a small grin.

Once they reached the dining hall, one of the maids nearby approached and offered to take the plates Annelise was carrying, to which Steinn nodded. He spoke to the maid directly too, asking, "Do you know where Weyland is, currently?"

"I'm afraid not. He left the dining room a little while ago with Connor and Hoshi and hasn't been back this way since."

"If he comes by within the next ten minutes, could you let him know that I'm looking for him? After ten minutes, I'm certain we'll have found each other and discussed some matters, so after that time, just assume as much."

"Of course."

Honest Effort

Raquel tried to smile, even going so far as to outright force a small one. At least Bert was trying, even though it wasn't a total success. "It's okay. Even I have a hard time being positive. Just ... try and practice it, okay? Remember not to think so negatively, and if you catch yourself doing it, just remember that I asked you not to and start over," she tried to explain. It was a bit of a struggle for her to say, since she wasn't coping too well with the news as a whole.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Ms. Raquel, I hope I'm not interrupting, but I have a change of clothes for you."

"... I forgot all about that ..." she muttered to herself.

Pinpoint Nightmares

As Gar ran by, Gabbie prepared to try to figure out exactly where Siv was at that moment. It only took a moment, a few seconds even, but for her it felt more like a minute or so. After she closed her eyes, she began to try to sense where Siv was. From her perspective, the entire estate was getting smaller and smaller, until she was a giant in her mind's eye, standing a hundred feet tall through the left wing. That must be everyone on the premises ... ahahhhh~ "Gar, make a right," she called out to the man, hoping to keep him from missing the next turn. Alright, let's make sure she's still where I think she is ... As Gabbie closed her eyes again to do one more search before taking off, she saw something completely different from what she was expecting.

"Please don't ..." a young girl pleaded as a tall man stood a short distance from her with a gun in his hand. Gabbie was seeing this from the girl's perspective and was suddenly terrified. No, not again ...

"Gabbie, are you alright?" Shadrak asked as he came closer. He was worried that not only was she not going to be able to catch up to Gar and Siv, but that something might actually be wrong.

I ... can't move .... Why can't I move? Dammit, just run! He's going to kill you! RUN!!! The young girl didn't run; she was too scared and shocked by the situation. She made one last plea to the man holding her at gunpoint, and then he pulled the trigger. The gunshot snapped Gabbie out of her hallucination. "AAAAGH!!!" ... but she was a little worse for wear afterward.

Seeing that, and Gabbie now holding the sides of her head as if trying to tune out a loud noise, Shadrak knew something was definitely wrong here. "Hey Gabbie, what is it?! What's wrong?" He took her by the shoulders to make sure she didn't break off or topple over.

"It's nothing ..." ... I should have known it wasn't going to be that easy. I'm not giving up, though. "I'm gonna go try and ... catch up now."

"Don't even think about it! You may not have seen yourself just now, but I sure did; I thought you were having a nervous breakdown or something. Just stay here. Gar can catch her."

No Phee No Hatch

Siv kept on running, but she didn't know where she wanted to go. Nowhere in the estate was truly ideal to her right now. With panic at the thought of a fallen hatching so far away from home ruling her actions, she kept running, making random turns until she wound up at the hallways furthest back in the estate's main building. This hallway had a series of enormous windows allowing for a perfect view of the outside. Siv found the door and ran outside into the equally enormous patio and, with no new ideas, sat down by a flower patch with the egg in her lap. End of the line.

<"Please don't come out yet ..."> she pleaded with the egg. The egg's red aura was still present, and its cracks were still glowing, more so than usual. Siv flinched when yet another crack, this one close to the middle of the egg, appeared. The red light within the egg was so intense now that it was beginning to create rays through the cracks that could be seen from any angle. It was all beginning to look like a bomb that had just begun to explode but was stuck in time.

<"I can ... keep you safe ..."> she said to the egg. She knew that ordinarily, at this stage, hatching was inevitable. The structure of the egg was too damaged now. Still, she knew there was something special about this fallen egg and hoped that there was some way to delay this for just a little bit longer. She knew she would never get it back to Corvus ... she herself was a hostage that couldn't get back home, but she desperately wanted more time.

Prepare to Play Dress Up

"When you're ready to pick something out, we'll help you," the maid replied to Erion. "You still have about five hours before you're expected to be dressed for the event, but if you'd like to search for an outfit now, I'll gladly help."

Edited September 3, 2013 by Phoenix

[Ether]

Handing the plates to the maid when prompted, Annelise looked around the room they had found themselves in, which, most notably held a large variety of humans... possibly the most random assortment she had ever seen.

"This is quite an array of humans, Lord Devlinos. They do not appear to be the help, as were the ones prior." She noted.

[Mercakete]

Norbert only managed a nod to Raquel's instruction before there was a knock on the door. It was the maid. Apparently she'd returned with that spare set of clothes for Raquel.

"I'll get out of your way now," he informed, "And thanks for the advice. I'll do my best to make sure I fulfill that promise I made you. You know, though, I don't really know what I'm going to do next, so I might as well stick around here at Weyland's for a while. I need to figure out what to do with the gold I earned, too, but don't worry, I'll get that sorted out before you all have to leave. I'll see you around."

With that, he turned to leave, even managing to take hold of the doorknob, but then a thought occurred to him. He quickly added, "Oh and if that ghost is still following you around, at some point I have a question for him." Keeping the maid waiting any longer would have just been rude, so he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Still, he left a little time for Raquel to respond if she wanted to.

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

"So, ye don't have ana destination in mind?" Gytha asked the Rexians. She'd finished her meal by then and figured she should take advantage of the relative peace that'd been restored to the dining hall. A couple more Fallen entered the room but she figured that wasn't any concern of hers unless they involved her directly.

[Toogee]

"Flying, now that's something I could go for," Eli enthusiastically replied. "The air will be nice and cool, so the pegasi will like it. You should see Betty; she loves doing all sorts of stunts. I just have to worry about hanging on."

That was likely the most talkative Eli had been that day. It appeared that he rather enjoyed flying around. It would be a good chance to show Lumi what he learned since their last lesson. Time to impress!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Turns out those maids were pretty handy. After a momentary respite, Jam searched through the closet for an appropriate outfit. With a fresh set of clothes in hand, she waved for the maid once more to direct her to the bathing area. It appeared to be a bit more...communal than she was used. Luckily, the area was deserted, so Jam could bathe in peace. No, you will not be getting a paragraph about her bathing, you sicko.

Soon enough, Jam entered the main hall, dressed in a flowery blouse, and purple, puffy silk pants. Her hair was not in her usual ponytail but draped down to air dry. The dancer was getting rather comfortable in the mansion, which would explain her lack of footwear. She strolled into the dining hall barefoot, just in time to catch Erion talking to the maid about attire for the evening.

"Well, we wouldn't want all the good outfits to be taken," Jam interrupted as she stood by Erion. "Need help choosing something?" At the same time, the dancer took a quick peek around the room to see if Alphonse was still around.

[ReformBlade]

"Mmmmeeeeeh I dunno, I go flying every day. I dunno about you two but I'd prefer something more grounded, and yes, every single pun intended in that." Aneda rolled her eyes at teh expected responses to her joke, but in reality it was the best joke ever made, and it'd be the last joke she'd ever tell or something ominous like that. "Sure, we don't have to go drinking... Lord knows I'd prefer it, but we don't gotta. Maybe we can go check out a few odds and ends shops, see what kind of cool gadgets are lying around... if places are even open. Hell, are they with this big event goin on?"

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Thank ye," Gar waved as shop-women gave him some directions. He hooked a right, which was all he got really. So, following a completely random set of his own guesses he winded up right where he needed to be. Fun that.

"Ohhh heyyyyy, there you are," Gar replied as non-nonchalantly as possible before getting his song back in order. "Here," he offered out his cloak for the girl and the egg to take. Well, really for the girl.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

Veronika didn't know what Siv planned for the egg...she wasn't sure Siv could do anything to a vasilus, but maybe a baby vasilus was more vulnerable? She made her way past Gabbie and Shadrak and pursued Gar, finding Siv to be just holding the egg apparently.

"What are you doing with the egg?" she decided to ask Siv bluntly.

Nadya

"If Lilith asks, I didn't let anything bad happen to the egg," Nadya said to those around her, covering her bases. Looking around , she noticed a new Fallen now accompanying Steinn. Ugh how many of them are livin' here? Too many at any rate.

Connor

Uncle and Hoshi both left Connor, who decided to go see what was happening to the Dauntless, where he listened carefully to the discussion on its properties.

"Not to add too much to the design, but making it lighter might also be helpful. Raquel's had some issues securing cranes in the past and more maneuverability might allow it to avoid giant aureolas and the like. Armor is useful and everything, but driving the equivalent of an armored tank into Neviskotia is bound to raise some eyebrows," Connor suggested.

[Phoenix]

Keep In Touch

He wasn't heading out immediately. That was good, though what he ended with was a little strange. "A question?" Raquel echoed curiously. What would he want to talk with Hypnos about? As tempted as she was to see what that was about sooner rather than later, she doubted Hypnos would show up right then and there and there was also the maid waiting outside with some spare clothes for her. She just hoped it wasn't a dress or something like that. Though, if it was, that would be all the motivation she needed to get her old outfit washed as soon as possible.

Standing up from the bed, she said, "Well, I guess I'll let him know ..." figuring he already knew. She couldn't help but wonder why he didn't just show himself sometimes. He was right there ... in her head ... somewhere.

Recovery

"Shadrak, back off, I'm foine," Gabbie snapped.

"Sorry ... look, what happened just now?" He looked around and sure enough, no one else was around. He didn't have a staff on him either which meant he wasn't going to be much help if she needed medical attention.

"Just a bad memory. I did tell you got my memories back, didn't I? ... heh, gotta take the good with the bad."

I'd ask what the memory was but that'd be pretty tactless seeing what it did to her. "Well ... if you're sure you're alright. I won't pry. I just want to make sure you're alright. You had me really worried."

"That's noice, but let's focus on the matter at hand, Siv. I'll foind her again, just follow me. If you've got the energy to crowd me, you've got the energy to keep up."

"I guess, but let's not rush. She's not leaving the estate grounds, so no matter where she is, we don't have very far to go." Why do I get the feeling she's still going to take off at full speed just for the heck of it ...?

Sturdy Bunch

"Indeed. These are some more of Weyland's guests. A sturdy bunch, though I do see some new faces," Steinn replied.

"Not window shopping for slaves, are you?" the guard jokingly asked Annelise, though the expression looked sour. Steinn chuckled in response.

"If it's Lilith's egg, why isn't she looking after it?" Chie asked Nadya.

Amon was too preoccupied with the issue of the emblem hunt to think of anything else and so answered, "Not really."

"I'm sure someone'll think of something once we're out in the thick of it," Fizza assured Gytha.

"There's also Shadrak's investigation. I'm hoping at least one of us can go with him just in case he finds out something," Amon mused.

"I doubt he will," Malik chimed in.

Desperation

Looking up to Gar rather pathetically, she reached out to take his cloak. She still didn't want the egg to hatch so far away from home, but she was out of options, and as far as she could knew, the infant inside wouldn't survive if it remained trapped within the egg's shell much longer. She still didn't know what to make of the red light erupting from the fractured shell, but they didn't have her worried. Aside from them, this looked and felt, in numerous ways, like a fallen egg.

Veronika arrived not long after Gar and asked her what she was doing, to which she snappishly said, "Protecting them!" Despite the aggressive reply, she immediately went back to looking sad and depressed when she looked at the egg. It still looked like it was about to explode and level the area, but she held onto it anyway. She even began holding it close to herself again once she'd placed it partially into Gar's cloak.

Workshop

"We'd love to make it as light as a feather, but without any armor, there's no way to keep you safe while you're inside it. It's got to at least have a layer of armor that can reliably stop small arms fire, but being able to stop ballista bolts and the like would also be ideal. The old Dauntless is extremely tough. The reason it was so heavy and needed those cumbersome deflectors was because it's armor was thick enough to shrug off attacks from the tanks we built. It could take up to three of them within the same area and keep the occupants safe. We've already got plenty of notes about the Dauntless' flaws, the balance of armor and mobility being among them, but those all went toward the new model. Of course, like I said, you guys really can't use that one, especially not in Neviskotia ... even though it'd be perfect for you guys. There's too much risk of our tech falling into the wrong hands or certain people finding out what we're up to," Anna explained. "It's not that we can't use those same notes for a replacement for you and Raquel to use, it's just we can't very well implement all of the improvements we'd like.

"A retrograde of the dampener system might work," Weyland mused aloud.

"Are you sure you can get away with that ...?" Anna worriedly asked.

Weyland shrugged saying, "I'm certainly going to try."

"Though, now that Connor mentions it, armor isn't our only problem. Most won't care, but I'm sure some people will be drawn in by the design whether or not they can spot the armor. The Dauntless had a layer of wood to hide how well armored it was, but it was still a strange shape."

Weyland sighed. "One thing at a time. There are no pressing matters so let's not rush anything just yet."

[Mercakete]

"In that case, ye should probabla ask 'im when he's headin' out," Gytha replied regarding Shadrak's investigation, "Yer not headin' t' th' ball n' niether's he, so that might be a good time."

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

"Thanks." With that, Norbert opened the door and slipped past the maid. He didn't want Raquel to feel rushed at all so he figured he could just talk to the emblem ghost later. There were plenty of things to do in the meantime, but now that his schedule was largely back in his own hands, he didn't feel much of a need to rush. The one thing he did have to consider, though, was how to store his earnings. I'm going to have to open a bank account, aren't I...? No way Rizen can carry all that plus everything else all at once and still get airborne...

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

"I have no clue really," Nadya answered the unfamiliar woman. "None of us are avians so I dunno why she thought we'd be a good choice for raisin' an avian vasilus. The trouble we get in is no place for a kid- although it'd be some kinda immortal kid at least," she shrugged.

Veronika

Veronika frowned at Siv's reply. Maybe we are doing something wrong with this egg...but Lilith entrusted it to us. I don't think she intended for us to leave it with Siv or anyone else. She decided not to pursue the matter though- this could be resolved when the group was ready to leave.

Connor

"I hope we don't have to stop any ballista bolts- most of the time the Dauntless is far away from any battles and I don't think this Organization is going to ambush us with siege weaponry. Some armor is ideal, but not so much as to attract suspicion."

[Ether]

"Not at all... I am simply unused to seeing humans gather in great numbers... I am aware that it occurs, but have yet to witness it before. You are an intriguing people." Annelise replied to the guardsman, as one particularly distinct thought of disgust reached her.

"It would seem that not all of you would share my sentiments, however."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Yeah... you do that..." Gar lazily said after she took the cloak. He took the time to switch over to the forest cloak during the lull. "Will it need any specific food or nourishment?"

[scorri]

Lumi

"Oh. I guess we can do that too. I suppose that Star will live with a night in the stables. As for drinking... I guess we could do that. I dunno, seeing you drunk could be interesting." She grinned at the other woman. "What do you think Eli?"

Hoshi

Walking into the dining room, Hoshi quickly spied the woman that she had been looking for. Turning apologetically to the Kigen man, she quickly explained, <"I'm sorry, I must go talk to her. I will talk to you later though, if I have time. Ok?"> Walking away, she slowly approached the woman. Glancing at the knives strapped to her legs, Hoshi quickly confirmed that they were indeed similar enough to the ones she had worked on before to be workable here. Pausing, she slowly reached out to tap the woman's shoulder when she paused. Blushing slightly, she muttered quietly to herself, <"Come on, you can do this. Just... say hi.">

Erion

Looking up at Jam, Erion grinned. "Hey there. Glad to see you're back and looking quite spiffy, I must say. Ready for our journey into the town? Al's somewhere around here. Was talking to one of the main dudes or somethin. Might still be doin that. He should maybe be back soon. If not, we can just head out on our own. His loss~"

Edited September 4, 2013 by scorri

[Phoenix]

Rent-a-Wardrobe

With Bert heading out of awhile, the maid was free to enter and lay out the new clothes for Raquel. She'd actually come prepared for this; there were enough garments to put together three outfits, or nine combinations. in all, there was a long sleeve shirt, a short sleeved shirt, a sleeveless blouse, a pair of pants, a pair of shorts, and a relatively long skirt. Once she laid them out on the bed for her, Raquel looked them over, though she kept it to herself that she'd already decided on the long sleeve shirt and the pants.

A For Effort

"Can you blame us? We don't wanna be slaves or pets or ... field rations," the guard replied. "At least you guys have Gabbie on your side. I'd kill for that kind of attention."

Meanwhile, Chie pondered Nadya's answer. It left her wondering if the egg was really important, or not very important at all. There was evidence suggesting either. "I wonder where she found it ..."

"That ball's not for a good while, though, so why wait?" Malik asked Gytha. "The sooner we figure out where we should start searching for an emblem piece or rule out a false lead, the better. Things back home can't be good right now, and we spent enough time waiting around and relaxing in Ursaea."

"Long distance travel happens in phases. Over this distance, a few hours gained or lost isn't going to make a difference. Besides, your mission's not the solution to your rebel problem," Fizza explained. "If it was so important that it could solve that problem once and for all, Aisha would have never allowed Raquel to leave with hers."

"That's not it! Lady Aisha and the others have enough to worry about, and we've been given an important assignment; maybe not a related one, but an important one nonetheless. The least we can do is not drag our heels or treat this like some sort of vacation. A blasted war is brewing back there."

"Well, I could care less ... but not much. I doubt we're going back any time soon," Fizza replied with a shrug.

What ...?

"Their mother should feed them, but I don't ... know who that is. I ... might be able to do it, but ... I don't want to! This is no place for a kestrelii to be born and raised! Why did you bring them here?! F-find Steinn ... h-h-he can ... no. <no! He'll just use this powerful child! He'll brainwash it and use it to fight Lord Valdimarr ..."> Now thoroughly panicked, Siv cradled the egg even tighter, causing the light to shine off of her and the cloak more visibly. <"Please ... sleep now. Don't come out. Don't come out ... don't come out ....">

"Siv!" Shadrak and Gabbie finally caught up, and just in time for a spectacle. The aura and the lights around the egg slowly faded. Siv opened her eyes and raised up just in time to see the last of the redness disappear, leaving only a nearly shattered egg. "Oh no ... is ... is it ... dead?"

"Hardly," Gabbie said, though her eyes were closed when she answered, which made Shadrak wonder if she was alright again.

"They aren't dead ... they're only ... sleeping ..." Siv explained, though she wasn't entirely sure, herself. Still, once she felt a bit more certain, she smiled. Still, they had a thoroughly damaged egg shell on their hands and an attempt at healing a 'shell' likely wouldn't work, she realized.

Prospects

"Don't worry, no matter how much or how little armor the next transport ends up with, we'll still be putting a wooden frame over it. Metal plated wagons are always assumed to be VIP transports, and we don't want that ... not without a good reason, at least," Anna replied.

"We might not have much choice. One issue that we still haven't solved is the protection of the driver and the mounts. The transport can't evade anything if either are killed, and without the same amount of armor the Dauntless had, an aureola of the same magnitude as the previous could destroy it completely," Weyland explained. "I have a design in mind, that could use the retrograde dampener, protect the driver and mounts, and also not rely so heavily on armor, but it will give away the Dauntless' function as an armored personnel carrier. Hmm ...."

[Ether]

At the sound of a woman's voice speaking Kigenese behind her, Angelica adjusted her eyes to see what was happening, only to see a young Kigenese woman standing behind her, gaze shifting from her thighs to her back, hand hovering just over Angelica's own shoulder. The woman's expression was apprehensive, a blush adorning her face... this could be interesting. Turning to face the woman with a slightly sultry expression, her position allowing an unhindered view down her top, which proved somewhat difficult to do without appearing awkward, as this woman was actually shorter than Angelica herself. Her voice somewhat breathy, the young blonde initiated the conversation, wondering what this seemingly interested person wanted of her... unless it really was that simple.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

***

"Troops on the front lines consume the meat of those who have passed... it is a waste otherwise. However, in a situation such as this, we've no reason to seek out human flesh for sustenance... you aren't as appetizing as that." Annelise replied, her expression remaining neutral as she spoke.

"Who is this Gabbie that you appear to be lusting towards?"

[scorri]

<"Oh ancestors, give me strength.> Uhm, hi. I uhm, those knives. I can make them better? Uhm, unless you don't want me to. That is, I can use alchemy and make them sharper, sturdier, and more balanced. But uhm, if you don't want alchemized knives, or my help, or whatever, I can just be going, I was just hoping to get a project to kind of clear my mind because I have this other project that's not working so well and those knives are almost identical to a pair that I worked on a while ago and so I thought that maybe you would want me to look at them since you probably use them pretty often from how easily accessible they are I mean," Hoshi trailed off, blushing again as she realized that the woman might take that the wrong way, as if she were commenting on the length of the skirt, not the knives. "Uhm, anyways, my name's Hoshi. If you want to think about it or whatever, just tell one of the maids that you want me and they'll bring you to my workroom. Anyways, I'll just... go and let you think about that."

[Ether]

Well that was an interesting rambling session. She made a quick quip about how easily accessible her knives were, whilst looking at Angelica's skirt and blushing further, and then extended an invitation to her workroom... an odd one, she seemed to be. Still, this might be an interesting opportunity.

"Sure, I'll go with you~ My name's Angelica."

[scorri]

"Ah. Ok. Good. Uh, you can come with me and watch I suppose. It won't take very long. It won't be especially interesting, but I suppose if you've never seen it before it might be. I'll need to do a few sketches before I start the actual process," Hoshi started explaining as she started to head down the hallway towards her office. "That will let me get a good mental grip on exactly what I'm going to be doing. Now, I was thinking that I could correct the balance on these slightly, to make them easier to throw, add some length to them, make the edge a bit sharper and more willing to stay sharp, and perhaps make them lighter or heavier depending on what you wanted. Also I can change the design somewhat, so if you wanted a specific look to them, I could probably do that assuming it wasn't too complex." Pausing to take a breath, she realized she'd been rambling on again and muttered a slight curse under her breath in Kigen. "Uhm, sorry. I suppose I should ask you what your thoughts are?"

[Ether]

"Well, I have throwing them pretty well down, but a sharper edge would cause them to do more damage I suppose." Angelica replied... perhaps she really was just an easily flustered alchemic smith? That took some fun out of this, but Angelica supposed she could always make use of the easily flustered part if the need to spice things up came to pass.

"I find that decorative stuff tends to offset the weight balance though, so I'll probably pass on that front."

[scorri]

"Hmm, ok, so keeping the weight the same, sharpening the edge some, do you mind if I hold one for a bit? I want to look at it a bit more indepth, and I'd prefer to do that with it in my hands as opposed to strapped to yo--- uhm, as opposed to not holding it. It will just be easier. And I know changing the balance and the length would affect your throw, but I do think it would make for a better overall blade, if that makes sense. It would be a bit sturdier and just fly a bit better. It shouldn't take too long to get readjusted and we have places you could practice here." She absentmindedly held out a hand for one of the knives.