Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Snowy_One]

"Wait, you're her uncle? Does that mean she's Robin's kid?" asked Tia, clearly confused by the terminology as well as the relationship between Zach and Robin. "If that's so, why didn't Robin name her? Why isn't she here with her kid anyways? Or did you just make up the term to sound more fatherly to Aquilla?"

---

"No. I am not alright." said Robin, stopping as Jericho caught up to her, a sad, grim look on her face. "I mean, with my family in danger I... I do not know what to do. This is the first time my father or mother has been in danger and I do not know what to do. I want to warn them, but I would be lying if I said I knew that it was the right thing. But it is something I also can not ignore and I am willing to leave if no one is willing to come with me to help warn them."

Edited February 10, 2014 by Snowy_One

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Oh, let's let the nitty-gritty be said someplace else," Gar told him outright. "But of the most helpful three, one's related to wyverns, the second has quite a few hunters at their disposable, and the third is one of the best trackers I've ever met. She actually managed to track me down once, which despite my lovable personality and love for excessive collateral damage is a surprisingly hard feat!" Gar smirked. "The other three I have in mind don't have the resources or talents to be as effective, but the more warm bodies the better, aye?"

[ReformBlade]

"Well, for starters, if you don't know the right answer, there's no shame in trying to look for it first. Alternatively, like you said, there may not be a right answer to begin with, so..." Jericho started out trying to blindly console her but realized he probably wasn't going to get very far with that. "Like, if you've gotta go, you gotta go. Personally though, since a bunch of us are heading what seems to be the same direction, at least go with us for the time being before you've got to forge your own path... Safety in numbers. Just make sure that this is something you want to do and it's not just... an impulsive decision, ok?"

[-Cynthia-]

"<It was a long night, but considerin' I didn't get bitten, stabbed, or otherwise mauled I really don't have much room to complain,>" Nadya said, remembering how people like Mushirah ended up. <"How's Amon holdin' up? He was kinda banged up last I recall,>" she asked. And not all by the demons either...

Edited February 10, 2014 by -Cynthia-

[Snowy_One]

"What if it is both? Impulsive and right?" asked Robin, a bit of irritation in her voice. "If some of you are heading to my homeland though, I… will wait. This is just something so… BIG!" she threw up her hands in frustration. "So big and I do not know what to do about it in the slightest! I mean, what am I to do in a situation like this? Smile and follow orders while thinking happy thoughts? Drown my fears in a torrent of flooziness? Act like some angst-ridden teen wearing all black? I do not know! Show me a bear and I can leap into the fray without a problem. Tell me Raquel wants someone dead and I can place and arrow to suit her wishes. Have Zach tell me to hide and I can hide. Think for myself? I… I do not know how to do that."

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

"I'll inquire about the 'nitty gritty' of it later, then," Steinn replied, turning his attention back to the map.

Now Aneda seemed interested. Things were looking up, but they still needed more mages if they were going to blow past those knights. Still, no harm in repeating himself as needed. "Right, an emblem piece," Shadrak began. "Amon's weird accessory picked up on one in the cathedral when we got close to the archives, so we need to get in there and find it, as well as any other useful information. Trouble is, there's some knights blocking our way, tough ones."

"Back then? Were you taking care of her before?" the woman asked Zachary as he held the baby.

Main Entrance

"Amon?" Haythem echoed, that whole discussion back in the dining hall coming to mind like a torrent and washing away all of his other thoughts. "Never seen the guy this determined. He just made a deal with Steinn a minute ago. We help him take out one of the siege gates and we get his brother's emblem piece. I'm not sure if that's a bad deal just yet, but an emblem piece is the only reason any of us came out here so I guess that's why he's doing it. If those siege gates open up, it sounds like a whole lot of people are going to die ..."

"As long as those people aren't us, though I would like the chance to just outright bull rush something for a change," FIzza chimed in.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"So be it then," with that concluded, he headed over to intrude on Shade Drake's conversation regarding another emblem piece. "Want to get Raquel in this conversation before you start deciding things that will no-doubt directly involve her?" he smirked at him.

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

"Uh, let's see, drag her back here after the spat from earlier--yeah, I know about that--and have her be too distracted to care anyway, or wait for who knows how long until she's feeling better and then have her just stand there and listen while we plan this anyway? It seems easier to just decide what to do sooner rather than later and let her know about it once she gets back ... like what usually happens. If she really cared, you'd think she'd say something," Shadrak replied, feeling needlessly challenged on the matter.

[scorri]

Hoshi
Looking over the map, Hoshi frowned slightly. "They probably want to get close to the capitols, no? This area," she pointed to a relatively empty elevated space near Kayoyama, "could work, no? Or do you think they would prefer an even more isolated space? There aren't a lot of isolated spaces that are mountainous like in Neviskotia." She sighed. "I don't know though. This isn't my strong area."

Lumi
"Hmm... an emblem piece, huh? Well, if you're attacking knights, you'd want magic, no?" She grinned. "Well then. Look no further." Pouring out some of the water from her flask, she quickly formed it into an ice projectile. "Plus I can take a hit or two, you know?"

Erion
Spying a group of people talking about something other than maps, Erion strolled over and turned a chair around and plopped down in it. Elbows on the back of the chair, he grinned. "So. What are we talking about?"

[Eail]

Letting out a small sigh Zach shook his head "No, I'm not her real uncle, as far as I'm aware something like that genetically isn't even possibly considering the physical differences between humans and any Avian types. They can... mate, but no child can be produced. So no, I'm not related to her, Robin isn't related to her"

"As for why I can say back then, yes, I suppose I did sort of look after her before. Both as the egg, and...." Trailing off for a moment "Just believe me on this one. With the help from one of our allies, Raquel, myself, and several others were transported to the interior of her emblem piece in a dream like state, as far as I can tell. Phee came with us, and took on a modified form of Raquel, it's the same reason I call her Phee. We bonded a bit in there, I suggested the name, and she liked it. Therefor, I'm going to keep calling her that."

[roymbrog]

Katrina

“<Well I’m Neviskotian born and raised, so.. Yup!>” Kat replied to Eva’s language comment. She followed Eva to the door, where the other girl stopped to talk to someone unfamiliar. Katrina waved in greeting, but let her new friend do the talking. She was a bit surprised others were being invited to come with them, but truthfully didn’t mind. The wyvern rider pretty much lived by the saying, ‘the more the merrier’.

Eva’s friend declined the invitation, claiming he didn’t want to overburden the wyvern (Volga could hold all of them!), but Kat merely smiled apologetically before making her way to the stables. Volga was where Kat expected her to be, lounging out in the sun next to the stable building. The wyvern had never been kept inside before, so even when there was space available her rider had the habit of leaving her outside. If Volga really wanted to go somewhere no amount of stable doors were going to stop her anyway. Thankfully her mount was rather placid to begin with.

“Volga, get up, would you?” Kat grumbled, pushing on the wyvern’s side. After a few moments of protesting grunts from the creature, she pushed herself off the ground into a position they could actually mount from. That done, Kat returned around the wyvern’s side to smile sheepishly at Eva. “<Sorry about that, she’s just a lazy lizard. Ehhehee… I’ll just go ahead and hop on, then.>” Turning around, she climbed up behind Volga’s neck while the wyvern glanced at Eva sleepily.

---

Synthia

Synthia made eye contact for a second, long enough to see the mariner’s expression, before looking away again. “That’s a fair point,” she conceded. Raquel had been in combat training at one point, but there was also that she had left. This certainly wasn’t something the girl wanted to be involved in, but people are often required to deal with situations they’d rather not.

Looking back at Gytha, the mage was somewhat confused about her conclusion. “I was never trained in combat, but I was exposed to it before,” she said, though she was pretty sure beating the snot out of jerks as a kid did not count (it wasn’t what she was referring to anyway). “I was trained as a healer. To be honest, I hadn’t been in any kind of battle before I joined up with Raquel.”

---

Valter

Valter wasn’t about to pry if she didn’t want to tell him on her own, but he doubted Joanna was actually fine. He still wasn’t. “I’m not sure,” he replied to her question. “Weyland holds some fault for what happened last night. I’m hesitant to help him with anything else, if he sends that group off somewhere. I need to find out what the situation is before I can decide, though. I don’t need to leave immediately, but either way, I probably won’t be back for a while…,” he admitted.

---

Alchemists

In the time it took for Elliot to finally stir, Kimiko had both finished and crossed out several sketches, several for being impractical, and a few for being unfeasible material wise. “Perhaps a rune based weapon…” she mumbled, starting another drawing. When the avian shifted, she moved her book out of the way so he could sit up.

Elliot yawned once and stretched before glancing bleary eyed around the room. The building looked much prettier when one wasn’t terrified by monsters. “We’re still in the Grand Cathedral?” he asked, rubbing his eyes. After receiving a quiet nod from his teacher, who had gone back to her sketching, the high ceilings caught his eye. “D’you think they’d let me fly up there?”

Kimiko’s expression didn’t change, but her eyes were definitely smiling. “I wouldn’t try it, dear. We wouldn’t want to strain their hospitality further. However…” she looked at him a bit more seriously, and he guessed it was probably bad news. “There hasn’t yet been any official statement that it’s safe to go outside. We may be here a while longer still…”

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"My, my, you're quite perturbed by this aren't you?" Gar held his hand out as if he was clutching a wine glass. "But all this planning becomes moot if Raquel says 'nope', aye? You've even just pointed out her little 'spat', and inferred the considerable stress on her mental state." Gar cracked a wicked arrogant smile. "So after her outburst at being told what to do by him, how do you think it's a good idea to do the same thing?"

[Nanami Touko]

"<Awwww, she's so tired. That's adorable. I almost feel bad about getting her to move.>" Eva did actually feel bad, but the want to get her own wyvern back was outweighing that. After Kat climbed on, Eva pulled herself on and tried her best to grab onto the saddle handles. "<Do I just cling to these or should I hold onto you? I can't say I've ever ridden back seat on a wyvern...>" The saddle set up was fairly confusing for her, but she tried to make do anyway, as holding onto someone like that would surely feel awkward for the both of them. At least when they'd only just met.

[-Cynthia-]

"<Ah, so that's what ya were all talkin' about in there. Don't sound like a good deal to me- Steinn's tryin' to get y'all to do his dirty work because all the other Fallen have decided to follow his brother, Lord Whatshisname. He's just tryin' to use us so he can be king or emperor or whatever,>" Nadya said, frowning.

[Mercakete]

Gytha couldn't help but snicker a bit as Haythem dragged Malik off and gave Fizza a wave as she departed. After that, her attention was wholly on Synthia. "Healers're important combatants," she noted with a cheery smile, "That's realla impressive, though -- how yer handlin' real fights like these. Ye can realla keep yer head clear." Gytha herself had grown up around violence, but she didn't really feel much like talking about herself. All the same, it was pretty easy for her to treat it with less weight than most people she observed.

[scorri]

Rune Knight Discussion

Lumi frowned. "Well, what does it matter if Raquel is there or isn't there? We can just go fight them on our own, no? And then give her the emblem piece regardless? I mean, I don't think anyone else should be the one to get the piece since she's the one who's had one before. Honestly there's no need to stress her out anymore, no? Should we even ask her? She has enough on her mind without adding in another stress."

Erion shook his head. "I think that the very least we should tell her. Even if she doesn't come with us, she's the boss of at least some of us. She should know what we're up to. Just have to word it correctly."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Raquel being there, or not, is not the point," Gar explained. "It's about keeping her in the know so she doesn't feel manipulated like what the Fallen just tried to pull on her. She needs to know, that she still has some control in her life. Making plans behind her back isn't going to do her any favors right now." This was uncharacteristically understanding and nice of him. He'd need to kick a puppy later to even this out.

[Snowy_One]

"I still think it's a stupid name." said Tia with a slight 'hrmph' as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Sides, linking minds with a baby or whatever? She's a baby. You could have probably nicknamed her something I'm not allowed to repeat in polite company, certainly not a baby's, and she would have liked it. Not that I care. I mean, it's your baby after all."

[Oersted]

After Raquel had politely told him to wait Orville had begun to meander about the dining hall, only finding a seat when the apparent owner and a winged man had addressed Raquel and her associates. Normally Orville would have let himself drift off to sleep, but considering he was about to become an associate he figured he'd best listen to whatever the two had to say though after everything was said he sorta wished he had. Not only was this something far bigger than he'd thought it was, he wasn't entirely sure he was ready to believe everything that had just been explained. The concept of massive gates that could transports thousands of living, breathing troops was more than a little hard to swallow. Though everyone else seems believes it without a doubt for the most part...

So caught up in his thoughts he had missed the ensuing debate between Raquel and several others and most of any other conversation. As he stood up to walk back to the table Raquel had been at he noticed a large group of people surrounding something and discussing something about mountain ranges and a smaller group at a table talking about an emblem of sorts. Orville hadn't the faintest idea what either group was discussing but he figured it must be something interesting, though the emblem thing seemed like it'd be more interesting so he made his way over to that group. "Ah, pardon my intrusion but what's this about an emblem and guardians? Could I be of assistance in any way?"

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

"It's not the same," Shadrak fired back. "Steinn's expecting us to do something bordering on group suicide, right? This is just a raid on the archives. The door's guarded by two knights. TWO." Forget that what we're doing should be grounds for execution in this country, but I don't see how else we can get in there ... and that woman assured us it would be fine legally, so ...

Lumi chimed in about the situation next and then Gar. Finally Gar said something Shadrak could somewhat agree with, though the result might not have been exactly what Gar had in mind. Only time would tell. As Shadrak rose up from the table, using his hands to help push himself up, he looked Gar in the eye and said, "Do I need to go and get her? Is that what it's going to take to get this matter settled?"

When Orville made his inquiry, Shadrak wasn't sure whether to answer first and risk being beaten to the punch, or just let someone else handle it and go grab Raquel. He quickly settled for the former. "We're trying to get an emblem piece that's being kept in the archives of the Order of Truth. Raquel needs it."

Meanwhile over by the map, Steinn and Hoshi looked over Kigen while Weyland watched. "Kayoyama is extremely well defended, but Kigenese should be well distracted by the 'scheduled' increase in fighting in the borderlands. Still, they won't chance it being found too early, so they'll build it out in the wilds somewhere," Steinn explained, his finger hovering just an inch above the map, looking for a place to land.

"... I'm sorry, but I don't believe you," the woman smiled, trying not to laugh at the mage now holding the infant. She believed that he believed that his memory of events was real and not just a dream, but she didn't. Still, it was nice to know that even though she wasn't a human nor an avian, the child was cared for. To Tia she noted, "We're not sure who the child belongs to, actually." She glanced at Zachary wondering if he knew anything about that or if this child was just one big mystery to everyone involved.

Main Entrance

"What's wrong with getting others to do your dirty work if your schedule doesn't allow for it or you're weak?" Fizza curiously chimed in, stopping on the spot. "Aisha's using us to get her emblem bits. Weyland's using Raquel like a mercenary. Raquel's using all of you to take on her enemies for her. Sure, sometimes people volunteer but they're either after something other than money or just satisfying their pride, so it's hardly any different."

"I think in this case it's more about the fact that what Steinn's having us do is incredibly dangerous," Haythem noted. "Not to mention he probably doesn't care if we make it out of this alive as long as we contribute to 'his victory' in some way."

"I doubt it; with how many poor peons are going to get caught up in this, I'm sure the risks will balance out in the end. We'll survive this, I'll make sure of that~"

Joanna's Room

"I see," Joanna frowned. It was about what she was expecting in his response, but now that it was said and confirmed, she felt a little bad even asking. Working for Weyland must have been rough, first artificial humans and now being at or at least near the center of this catastrophe. It was probably best now to try and get to the reason she asked him in the first place. "I have a friend, Glen; I was going to go and check on him after breakfast, but they'll stop me if I try to leave here without an escort. It was sometimes like that even before last night's attack."

That kind of protectiveness wouldn't normally bother her, but a lot of people were under the impression that she'd let herself get mugged if asked nicely or something to that effect. She was partially responsible for being so incredibly forgiving and kind in violent situations, but still, having to ask Valter to be a city pass for her and just for that purpose felt a little ridiculous. Still, she considered him a friend and that was far preferable to just any old bodyguard.

[-Cynthia-]

Dining Hall

The conversation drifted to Kigen and Veronika's interest drifted towards the discussion Shadrak and Gar were having regarding the knights in the cathedral and the emblem piece there.

"There may only be two of them, but they were exceptionally well trained- I haven't seen anyone move that fast under all that armor. Considering you nearly got decapitated, I think some more caution is in order," she chastised Shadrak.

Outside

"<The difference is, I don't expect Weyland or Raquel to try and cheat me out of my deal after all this is over. Do ya really think Steinn is just gonna hand over a powerful artifact because he "promised" it to ya? Just because he talks nice and hasn't tried to eat us yet don't make him trustworthy,>" Nadya said, shaking her head.

[ReformBlade]

Jericho let her say her piece on the matter, and once he was sure she had finished for the moment he spoke up again, "To me it sounds like you need or want an outlet for your frustrations, even if it's not what you're saying. Taking a moment to gather your thoughts is sometimes a better course of action than leaping headlong onto what you believe." It was advice that sounded much smarter in his head than what it actually sounded like saying it out loud. "You've probably already eaten, maybe taking a walk? If you need someone to vent to, I'm actually a good listener despite my vulgarity in previous... altercations." He left that as vague as he could to avoid discomfort but he figured that wouldn't do much good in the end.

All the emblem talk and apparently needing to tell Raquel every detail when, as far as Aneda was concerned, people were going to go give her a gift, quite frankly started to bore her. she wasn't proud of it, so she started listening in better, deciding to chime in after Veronika, "Like what?" she said in an uncharacteristically sincere tone.

[roymbrog]

Katrina

“<Trust me, she takes the chance to sleep whenever she gets it. She’s not being deprived, hehehe,” Kat mentioned as her friend clambered on behind. She took a moment to think about Eva’s question. The girl probably knew all about flying, but she was apparently unused to riding backseat. “<Whichever is more comfortable for you. You’re not really in any danger of falling off, Volga flies smooth and slow.” Kat didn’t really mind if Eva decided to hold onto her instead, she wasn’t that stingy about personal space to begin with.

---

Synthia

“Well… Thanks, I guess,” Synthia replied, unsure of how to react to that but intending to take it as a compliment. “I guess I should remember that not everyone can handle the stress as well. I suppose need to talk to Raquel later,” she said, resting her arms on the table and her chin on her palms. ‘To apologize’ was unspoken, but very much implied.

There was quite a bit of arguing going on in the room, and though the mage had been tuning most of it out she did catch the last of what Shadrak said. Turning her head to the other table, she asked Gytha, “What’s that all about, do you think? Sounds like they’re going to storm the Grand Cathedral or something.”

---

Valter

Valter appeared surprised at the request, though half of that was due to finding out she normally couldn’t leave the cathedral on her own when the city wasn’t being attacked by rabid hellbeasts. He certainly had time to help Joanna out though, and thought it might, if only minutely, help make up for the awful night beforehand. There was a nagging thought in the back of his mind that perhaps her friend was not alright, but it was neglected. “I have time for that,” he said, smiling, albeit a bit sheepishly. He covered it up with a much more genuine, “I’d be happy to escort you.”

[Snowy_One]

"A... Vent for my frustrations?" asked Robin as she thought about the idea. She knew she most certainly was frustrated, but a vent? She hadn't thought of that for sure. What was she frustrated about anyways? Beyond having her family in the line of fire for a group of demons at the least. She knew some of them, but was her feelings of uselessness something that could be... walked off? Was her resignation to the background something that could be resolved simply by talking to Jericho?

"I am not sure. Assuming you are right, I have a lot of frustration to vent at the least. Maybe a better vent would be a wall for me to pummel?"

[Eail]

Zach gave a small chuckle "Didn't figure you'd believe me, ask Veronika, Raquel, or just about anyone in our original group. They'll say the same stuff that I have about the dream scenario. I could tell you where she came from as well, but that wouldn't be believable either evidently. Even I don't know who the parents are, but the person that gave us her egg is... important, to say the least."