Fire Emblem: Wretched Whispers, Act 1: Three Days

[eclipse]

Peter spotted Taima talking to someone he hadn't met before. The newcomer looked around nervously. "I'm harmless, I promise," he said lightly, walking up to the duo. "You okay, Taima? I remember the monsters were less than kind to you." He took note of the staff that the newcomer owned. "Ah, where are my manners? My name's Peter. I don't believe I've seen you before, miss?"

[MRDRHAWK]

Declan had been quiet for much of the fight; after all, he wasn't quite expecting to be fighting skeletons & zombies here. It made him wonder exactly what he was getting into with this group, and whether or not reputation was truly worth it...

He flexed his muscles in an attempt to feel looser, and noticed that he'd felt a lot stronger than he did when he first arrived. It helped him move quicker too, which was always a plus. Maybe I shouldn't be fighting for reputation, but for strength... either way, I'd be acting for personal gain! Hah. I'm a genius. Declan huffed as he pulled out his small whetstone and began to sharpen his Hatchet as he wondered if someone was going to approach him now.

[riariadne]

"Ardiera!" Sheikah shouted at nobody in particular. "That's the town name. I've been there once or twice. Yeah... whew, that was really bothering me that I couldn't remember. We'll meet up at the inn first, then we can split up from there, I think. You'll all get payed and I'll take money for rooming out of pay and stuff. The people there are pretty nice, and there's plenty of stuff to buy from 'em if you're interested. Even a forge and enchanter if you wanna mix things up a bit. We'll be off whenever," she planned aloud, glancing around a bit and hoping that people had listened.

[Refa]

"Well, if you insist. If you need any help with buying another staff though, I'm here for you. Anyways, it's been very nice meeting you, Melanie. I'd better be going though, gotta introduce myself to all of the members of the troop. See you later!" Artemis said, getting up and walking away from her newfound friend. It'd be nice if she could just talk to the freckled girl all day long, but introductions were important. This time, she'd actually remember to introduce herself first. Walking along through the forest path, she noticed a man in front of her taking out a stone. Curious. Then he began to brush his axe against it. Curioser still! She kept on walking closer and closer before realizing that she should probably say something before he went all "Yow! It's an enemy ambush!" on her. "Hi, I'm Artemis! Why are you brushing that stone against your axe anyways? Won't that wear it down? So I couldn't help but noticing you used swords and axes at the same time. Isn't it hard training in both of them at the same time? Man, I don't think I could be fluent in two disciples of magic at the same time. Although maybe weapons don't work the same way. Carrying them both is a pain, isn't it? Me, I've just got a book and a vulnerary myself. Mind you, it is a rather heavy book, but still not too bad. Also what's your name?" After this long diatribe, Artemis had to pause for a few seconds to intake some glorious air into her lungs. During that time, she only had one thought in her head. Nailed it.

[scorri]

"Hey Peter, yeah, I'm ok. Took a few hits, but I'll survive. Can't say I'm too fond of the experience though." She chuckled lightly before quietly allowing the other two to talk.

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, uh, oui, sure. Zat ees fine." Quite disappointing, en fait. Mel watched the woman walk away, but the want to speak more made her follow along a ways behind her. It felt a bit creepy, but that conversation had been fun! More wouldn't hurt, right? Even if she was a third wheel to some other conversation, she figured it'd be fine; her presence wouldn't bother anyone there. So as quietly as she would (which was fairly quiet due to her being so light) she followed after Artemis.

The woman had happened upon Declan, which elicited a sigh from Mel. 'E still seems very sure of 'imself. Not zat I can blame 'im, maintenant. Still being as quiet as she could, she walked up behind Artemis, and poked her head out, not bothering to say anything yet.

[Bluedoom]

Wolfgang replied,"Well met, commander." and casually strolled about, thinking about his failure in the recent battle. His accuracy was not as good as it usually was, so he was trying to think of the cause for it. As he kept thinking he stopped and looked at the pegasus rider from earlier talking with another swordsman...perhaps he was part of their group as well? "Should probably say a hi. I'm kinda bored anyway." Wolfgang thought as he walked towards the two Hollows.

"Heya, thanks for helping me out with the monsters earlier. I'm a new recruit to the Hollows. The name's Wolfgang Night, its a pleasure to meet you." Wolfgang said to Artemis as he turned towards the other two. "I take it both of you are part of the Hollows as well? Pleased to meet you. The last battle was hectic, wouldn't you say?" Wolfgang said as his eyes drifted off to Declan's face. "Interesting choice of colour for a streak. Red's a nice colour... and the blue long coat...wow. Gorgeous eyes." thought Wolfgang.

[MRDRHAWK]

As Declan heard a voice from behind him, he nearly flung his axe into a tree. While the voice itself didn't exactly... BUG him, per se... it was the timing of it that really threw him off. Still, she seemed friendly enough... "Ah, you're... Artemis, you said? My name is Declan Blackmoor... You know, that's actually quite an attractive name..." Declan paused briefly as he tried to figure out where to go with the conversation now. "Using two different disciplines of weaponry isn't actually that hard to me; though, it may have been because I received a lot of training in fighting as a whole..." he added, carefully leaving out his ruffian past. No need to alienate an impressionable young recruit with horror stories of a thug's days on the streets.

Before he could even get that far, though, he was interrupted by another voice approaching them as he turned to one of the magicians accompanying the soldiers from before. "Hm? Ah, yes. My name's Declan, and... well, that fight certainly did a number on me." he replied to Wolfgang. He wasn't lying, either, considering the things going through his mind.

Looking back towards Artemis, he noticed a third head poking out - one that he did actually recognize. "Oi, madamoiselle, you can come out now." He said in a sarcastic tone, though he hoped it came off as such as opposed to a condescending way.

Edited February 14, 2014 by Mango Sentinel

[Nanami Touko]

"Ah!" Mel gasped, quickly pulling herself out from behind Artemis. "Excusez moi, I was juste, uh...'aving such fun talking, zat I followed you. Désolé." An embarrassed look spread across her face, as she stared at the ground. "I can partir, si je suis un gêne." She started playing with her fingers, slipping back into her mother tongue, and awkwardly looking up at the adults around her. Save for Artemis. She looked a bit older, but not as much as the other two.

[Grace]

Diana tensed up a little on hearing the stranger's voice. She just kept to herself while the other two had a brief exchange. Well Taima seems to get on with him... he can't be that bad, right? "H-hi... it's nice to meet you, Peter. My name is Diana..." She spoke, addressed to Peter. That was all she could muster before a slightly awkward silence followed. Diana kept looking around, at nothing in particular.

[eclipse]

"Nice to meet you, Diana," the woodsman said as cheerily as he could. Diana. . .that name sounded familiar. . .oh, right, the briefing. However, he wasn't sure how he'd bring that up without freaking her out. The best way to get someone to loosen up was to have them talk about themselves. . .or so Peter hoped. He took note of the sword at her side, as well. "That's an interesting combination of weapons. Why did you choose them?"

[Refa]

As Artemis was about to respond to Declan, she heard someone else, presumably talking to her. Turning around, she noticed it was the shaman who was working with that other girl who healed her (Author's Note: I mean Diana). What was her name again? Oh nevermind, it probably wasn't important anyways. Turns out he went by the name of Wolfgang. "Nice to meet you, Wolfgang Night. My name's Artemis. Er...I don't really have a last name. So just Artemis is fine, really," she said hurriedly , noticing that Declan was talking to someone who was behind her. Artemis turned around and noticed the petite dark mage girl, Melanie, whom she had been talking too moments before. Melanie seemed to be rather embarrassed at having been caught following Artemis, although Artemis couldn't really figure out why. Eh, it probably wasn't important anyways. "Don't worry about it, I don't mind. To tell you the truth, I'm kind of flattered. Generally people tend to think I'm sort of well...annoying. Besides, you're talking amongst friends, right? Well, uh...I'm not sure if everyone here qualifies, but I sure do!" Artemis said excitedly; after all, it wasn't very often that she got to meet so many new and interesting people.

Edited February 15, 2014 by Refa

[scorri]

Taima glanced at Diana again and noticed the sword as well. "Huh, I must have missed that before. I guess you decided you wanted to be able to protect yourself instead of depending on others? Seems like a smart choice to me. Too often healers are so vulnerable. Least you'll make someone think twice about targeting you."

[Nanami Touko]

Melanie sighed, smiled and brought herself forward, looking up at the people around her. She knew Declan, briefly, and Artemis now, but she didn't know this new man. "Franchement? Zat ees good zen, I was worried zat following you would seem... Terrifiant. Creepy." Mel was more than glad. "I ah'm not sure about Declan being un ami, but you certainly count. Zough, I do not know zis man," she said with a turning of her head towards Wolfgang. "Excuse, but you were using dark magic aussi, during ze battle, non?" She knew she'd seen similar magic being launched about the battle field, as some of it had flown up into the sky, though she didn't know why anyone would fire magic up there. Did ze œils fly zat 'igh? I ah'm not sure... "De toute façon, it is a pleasure to meet someone else who knows ze dark magics."

[Bluedoom]

Wolfgang started feeling weak in the knees as he listened to what Declan had to say about the war. Gosh..this guy is good. Handsome. His voice is pretty deep too...I wonder how long he's been in the group... or even how long he's been fighting. So many questions! thought Wolfgang as he got interrupted by the young girl behind Artemis. Dammit, girl! Quit interrupting my infatuation! Hmm, at least its about dark magic... got to answer now, don't I?

"You are correct. I'm a wandering dark mage, I had been working in the Irksan unit you just rescued. You seem pretty young and not from around here, so I have to ask, how long have you been dabbing in dark magic? And where do you hail from?" replied Wolfgang.

[MRDRHAWK]

Declan rolled his eyes as he heard Melanie's response to Artemis. Not a friend? Pfeh, fine. "You know... I may not be that fluent in your language, but I do know enough to understand what you just said about me." He began, as he set his Hatchet and whetstone on the ground, rising to his full height. "And to be honest, I'm convinced you're just still upset about what I said earlier, when we first met."

Declan rubbed his temple and sighed heavily. "Truth is, I was afraid you'd lose control of your dark magic because I was afraid I'd end up having to kill you like I did a former colleague of mine. She... was young, like you, and wasn't quite in control of her abilities with the dark arts, and... well..." He trailed off, sitting down with a huff and resuming sharpening his Hatchet in silence.

Edited February 15, 2014 by Mango Sentinel

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, merveilleux. I was wondering 'oo was along wis zat ozer woman. My name, eet is Melanie, and I am not from around here, non. 'Ow could you tell?" she asked with a small giggle. "I came from Velms. My parents..." the word brought upon a small pause from Mel, "they taught me 'ow to use it since I was very small. Zat and ze 'ealing staffs. Donc, uh... I guess my entire life! Zat would cover it. I ah'm not sure if zat ess ze kind of answer you are looking for, monsieur...?"

Melanie stuck her tongue out at Declan. "Zen your colleague was un sot. Mon famille 'as been using zis for generations and I 'ave never 'ad any problems using it as I 'ave told you. Sérieusement..." She even shook her head, as this was beginning to frustrate her. "Peut-être I would consider you a friend eef you could take your past and keep eet zere. I 'ave plenty of sings in my past zat I could bring up, but you do not see me doing so." She made sure her tone wasn't irritated, but the mentioning of her past brought on a few unpleasant feelings, that she wanted rid of. "Ça ne fait rien, someone talk about somezing else..."

Edited February 15, 2014 by I have opinions

[MRDRHAWK]

Declan scoffed; clearly this girl was disinterested in people that weren't herself. Still, something about her reminded him of that girl from his past... and it made him want to get to know her more. "Yeah, well... Clearly I'm just not quite ready to let go of something like that. Kinda hard to kill an innocent girl and ignore it ever happening..." Shaking his head, Declan decided to change topics. "You know, as much as I know your language to a small degree, I'm not familiar with your homeland's culture. You mind talking about that to us, Melanie?" He asked, somewhat surprised with himself that he remembered her name. Huh... that's the first name I've remembered in this group.

[Nanami Touko]

"Vous arrêtez, calice..." was the whispered response that Declan received as he continued to dig in with what he was saying. Eef 'e does not stop, I swear, I will launch exactement what 'e is fearing straight at him. I ah'm tired of zis, so very much so. Luckily, for the both of them, he did. But his question was something else that she didn't want to answer, or rather, couldn't. Not without delving into the past she was attempting to not talk about. "Oui. I do mind. Ask someone somesing autre. I will juste sit 'ere and listen. Zat sounds more agréable." In truth, she knew nothing of her country's culture, and even knew little of her own village's. She was too prideful to admit it.

[MRDRHAWK]

Declan was upset now, but so was Melanie, and he knew it. Something in his mind told him to back off the young girl, but... at this point, he was convinced that she didn't give a shit about her, so it made sense to return the favour. "You sure? I imagine your homeland would have a rich culture with a lot of wonderful points with fine wine and aged cheese and all this other beautifully wondrous stuff. Surely there must be something about your homeland's culture that you enjoy~" Declan made sure to add the trill to his voice in order to emphasize his teasing. At this point, he figured that if he couldn't get some info out of Melanie, he could at least get a good rise out of her.

[Grace]

"Well, uh..." Diana stammered out. "Well... I picked up the staff to help people. I'm not very good at it... but I try. And the sword..." Diana hesitated. I don't know... it might be better to leave the details out. "...Well I tried to give it a go, because I needed something to assist me when I decided to take on mercenary work. I'm still pretty... average at it." Diana let out a small sigh.

[Refa]

Artemis had been sitting quietly, listening to the interchanges between the various folks. Apparently Melanie and Declan had an argument a while back, which would explain why they seemed to be on...less than friendly terms. Artemis never really got grudges, having never been the sort of person to hold one herself. And since things were heating up, it was probably a good time to step in before things got too out of hand. "Now, now, let's be reasonable here. I'm sure Melanie could tell us all about the various intricacies of her country, but if she doesn't want too, she probably has a good reason for that. And I know Declan seems a little...abrasive, but killing a person must leave a strong imprint on your mind. Especially if it was an innocent person. I could never imagine killing someone, myself..." Artemis puttered out, getting a little depressed just thinking about it.

Edited February 15, 2014 by Refa

[eclipse]

Peter didn't remember seeing any human corpses while he was en route to the rendezvous point. "Not very good with the staff? I think that soldier would beg to differ," he said, motioning to the unfamiliar man in their ranks. "Those monsters weren't shamblin' and swining' around like drunkards, that's for sure. I've got my bow and axe, but they won't keep a company alive. Not like you and your staff. The sword's good in case some lunkhead decides to attack the healers first." He cleared his throat. Why was HE doing all the talking? "The company's made of good people, even if that loudmouth over there can be a handful," he continued, motioning towards Declan. "Part of a mercenary's life is talkin' to others. You never know what kind of info they'll spill!"

Edited February 15, 2014 by eclipse

[Nanami Touko]

Having already begun flipping through the pages of her Flux tome to find one suited for Declan, Melanie was almost glad for the mediation of Artemis. It would mean less of a mess to try and clean up. "Merci beaucoup," she said, sighing and attempting to take her mind off of the infuriating man. "Vous avez correct. I do 'ave a good reason and I ah'm sure any book will tell you what you want to know." She put her lethal tome away, and pulled out the one she'd been reading the other day, flipping through to where she'd remembered being. "J'adore les livres. Ils sont beaucoup mieux que les gens," she added at no one in particular, trying to find solace within the pages.

[MRDRHAWK]

Declan shook his head more, continually resisting the urge to simply run Melanie through with his sword, before Artemis intervened with some... admittedly sage advice. Well, for her, presumably. "Hmph. Well, I've had to kill before, and I had no issues. So I think it's more of who it was as opposed to the fact that it occurred, but... whatever." Declan eyed Melanie reading, and though his gut told him to just leave her be so he wouldn't get a migraine, something else kicked in: curiosity. "What are you readi-" Declan cut himself off momentarily, and then resumed in a... different way. "Qu'est que tu es lire, Melanie?" He asked, trying to somewhat connect with Melanie a bit better by trying to use her native tongue. He was pretty sure it wasn't working.