Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[Afterglimmer]

Hoshi assured Luther that she was fine before departing, but it seemed that Alastor’s execution still weighed heavily on her mind. He made a mental note that it would be best to avoid talking to her about that incident for awhile. Shortly after she left, the mercenary overheard Amon asking for some help with some torches. A woman who wasn’t present at the cathedral approached him and offered some rune lanterns as an alternative. “I can help set them up as well. The quicker we do this, the faster they can find us.”

[Nanami Touko]

Eva flinched, but she didn't move. "<I don't know... Please just don't get mad at me? I've never had to deal with any of this, and outside of shouting at people, I don't know how to fight back against these sorts of things... And I don't want to shout at you, because it's not your fault I'm so upset, it's just... Everything.>" Eva sighed back her tears. The last thing she wanted was to cry. She wasn't that weak, this was just something she had to figure out and overcome. "<I could...use a hug, though...>"

[Ether]

"I'm not mad at you, Eva. I've just got a lot to think about and I don't appreciate being told how I should act, not right now." Angelica shot back in annoyance, before letting out a sigh.

"Fine... I guess that's not too hard..." The adept concluded, before pulling Eva into a tight hug, running her hand through the rider's hair slowly.

"There, there..."

[Phoenix]

Hidden Light

"Right," Amon nodded. He looked around to see where the best spots to set up the lamps would be. The ground they were on at the moment actually could provide something of an advantage, he realized. Setting the lamps in such a way that the boulders were between them and the southern gate would keep the guards from noticing right away, if at all. "Let's put one over here," he pointed to a spot near the edge of one of the boulders. "And another across from it ... overrrr here ...."

Returners

"Be careful up there," Haythem waved, though he wasn't sure if the rider would notice. "Alright then, time to get back to Isis and try to land her back by the wagon without freaking everyone out, heheh ... it's not easy to be me, I tell you," he chuckled to himself.

[Toogee]

In regards to Tia, Jam had to somewhat agree with Alphonse but for different reasons. Tia was built to do magic, not clash against weapons (or dodge them like Jam). It would be a long process before she would be built up to wield something. It certainly wasn’t impossible though; Lumi was certainly willing to help.

When Lumi and Alphy descended into argument, Jam grew frustrated with the both of them. It showed when she spoke up once more.

“I will not stop fighting,” Jam said of Alphy’s remarks. “But I’m not going to mindlessly kill everyone in my way. If I can avoid it, I won’t kill anyone. If I’m forced to, that’s their problem and not mine. But I’m not going to kill the unarmed or the defeated. Whatever blood I get on my hands, it won’t be theirs.”

“If Tia is willing to put in the work to fight with us, then she should. If Lumi wants to train her, that’s great. And if Alphy is still willing to watch my back, only I get to tell him to stop and no one else. I know everyone is trying to help, but I really would like to get some sleep.”

[Nanami Touko]

Jam finally spoke and it made Tia smile a little. She held most of her opinions, and that felt pretty good. "I'll, uhm... Let you get your sleep, Jam. Thanks." Tia hopped up and stumbled out of the wagon, getting the bearings on her legs after sitting for a bit. It seemed that Amon and the others were up to something, so she walked on over and poked her head into their conversation. "Uhm, uhm... Amon? Can I help? I don't have much to do, right now... What are you setting up?"

Edited September 5, 2014 by I have opinions

[-Cynthia-]

"She's got the right of it," Nadya said, nodding. "Ports tend to be busy which mean a lot of guards- but it's also easier to get lost in the crowd. I suppose if they don't know ya we'll be ok...though we'd probably have to be nearby and we're a pretty recognizable crew," she thought aloud.

[scorri]

Lumi shrugged. "Of course. Hope you don't mind me staying in here though. My shoulder's still sore and I wouldn't mind getting some rest myself."

[roymbrog]

“Yes, I am ok with it,” Kimiko replied. Another man of the group had offered to help as well, so she turned to him next. “The lamps are in my cart, if you would like to help me carry them,” she said, and started walking to over behind the wagon. The alchemist pulled a tarp off the cart behind it and began to dig around in one of the crates, eventually pulling out a few small lantern like objects.

---

Valter was sound asleep by this point, and sleeping standing up at that. The only reason he hadn’t fallen over was Phyllis and her (usual) good sense not to move around when her rider did this.

[Phoenix]

Stuff

"That's why we really ought to just stick to villages," Shadrak muttered.

"Don't worry, Nadya, I've got plenty'a wigs ya can try out if ya wanna come with," Greta assured her, "but we gotta have most of the others wait somewhere around the outskirts or we'll probably get found out."

"Wait, did you just steal of bunch of wigs from Weyland's estate?" Shadrak asked, leaning away slightly.

"They'll get'em back ... someday. Can't help but wonder what all they were for now that ya mention it."

"You want to help too?" Tia certainly seemed to be looking for any way to be useful since her ordeal. "Maybe," Amon decided, realizing that he didn't know how many of these special lamps Kimiko actually had just yet. His next move was to ask her, but even if she had plenty, he was reluctant to use them all. This was merely a way of guiding people back to the group and they would be put away immediately afterward if possible. "How many of these do you have, exactly?"

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, oh!" Tia said, perking up slightly, "I can do that! Easy. I've read about rune lamps before, I know how to turn them on and all that. I can go place a few to get it done quicker!" Finally, something easy that even she could do. And something menial, to take her mind off of everything. Besides, the lamps were super cool! She'd never gotten her hands on one, but even reading about them had been interesting. Runes are so cool~

[Afterglimmer]

Luther noted the spots where Amon wanted the lamps set up before following the alchemist to the back of the wagon. As he left, he looked over his shoulder to see one of the kids offered her assistance as well. The sight reminded him of the old days when he first joined up with the old mercenary group; helping out the others with mundane, yet essential tasks. She seemed excited about being able to work with the lanterns, if nothing else.

It didn’t take long before the Kigenese woman returned with some lanterns. The mercenary turned back and initially took two from her. “Need me to carry the rest?”

[roymbrog]

Kimiko hadn’t been sure how many they would need, but had grabbed five lanterns in total. The mercenary took two, and that was all she really needed to carry the rest. “I think I have it. Thank you,” she told him, before starting to walk back towards Amon. There was a young girl who also appeared to want to help, and the alchemist offered one lamp to her. To Amon she said, “If we need more, I have several more still. But I think these will suffice.”

Edited September 6, 2014 by roymbrog

[Nanami Touko]

[spoiler=Girl Talk]"<You seemed mad... But if you aren't, that's fine... I won't tell you you were, or anything like that.>" As soon as Angelica hugged her, Eva clung to the girl. It was fine until Angelica started running her hand through her hair, adding a 'there, there'. "<I-I'm... not going to cry...>" Eva held back tears because the last thing she wanted was to cry. Not her; not over all this.

"Not mad, just... frustrated, about a lot of things." Angelica replied, as she continued to pet Eva's head, the rider having clung to her rather rapidly.

"You don't need to put up a front, Eva... if you need to cry, then cry."

"<I'm sorry... I'm really sorry...>" Angelica shouldn't have said anything about crying, because it was all that was needed to push Eva over the edge, and have a few tears start streaming out. "<I should've waited... You didn't seem frustrated so I wanted to talk about it, but you just weren't saying anything, and I got so pushy...>" She began to grasp at Angelica's shirt as she hid her face in the girl's shoulder.

"It's fine... it wasn't a difficult mistake to make, after all. Just let it all out, for now." Angelica replied, rubbing Eva's back soothingly whilst still stroking the woman's hair.

"<I still made it. I shouldn't have...>" Eva blubbered out, through her tears. She tried to stifle her crying, but couldn't manage to do so. "<I don't want to cry... I'm supposed to be strong. I'm supposed to be able to handle all of this. Just look at me! I'm not supposed to cry... I'm supposed to take hits and hit things, and...>" Unfortunately, it was still too much, and she ended up crying into Angelica's shoulder again.

"It takes more strength to let yourself cry in front of someone, then to be too afraid to let them see you do so. Atleast, that's what I believe." Angelica noted, in her attempts to comfort Eva.

"<If you say so...>" was what Eva felt was a proper response to that, letting herself continue to cry. Even if she didn't want to cry, she knew she'd feel better after. "<I still need to be stronger than this... Getting so upset over one moment... I'm pathetic...>"

"You can have as much physical strength and fortitude as is possible... it still makes no difference against assaults on the mind, on your emotions... that takes a different kind of strength, Eva... a kind you'll never get through swinging a blade, riding a wyvern, lifting weights... it's not something that can be gained, that way." Angelica retorted with a long sigh.

Angelica was right, as much as it sucked. Eva had never had much in the way of emotional training. Then again, no one exactly expected to get stuck in this sort of situation when they left to do blacksmith things. "<Then...>" she began, sniffling back her tears for a moment, "<how do you do it?>"

"It's... different for everyone. Trust me, you're better off thinking about how you look at things and finding it that way, then trying to do the same as someone else." Angelica replied... well, that and she wouldn't wish her particular... 'training' method on anyone.

She avoided answering, so Eva didn't press it. That had gone badly moments ago, so now was not the time to try again. "<Alright... You don't have to tell me. I'm sure I'll be fine later, I just... I chose to come to Kigen for you. I don't want that to end up ruined within the first day... I'm so sorry.>" At least she'd finally stopped crying.

How many times do I have to say it's fine before you stop apologizing... you're gonna make me feel bad at this rate." Angelica replied with a light smirk.

"If you really want to apologize to me, then..." Angelica began, as she lifted Eva's chin slightly, and placed a light kiss on the rider's lips.

'<I-I'm... I didn't mean to do that...>" she said, avoiding yet another apology. Then Angelica did something that Eva wasn't sure she was ready for. She made to shrink away, but Sasha made a rather unmoving wall. Eva braced herself, but was met with something unexpected. It wasn't aggressive, it wasn't forceful, it was just... Pleasant. She let Angelica kiss her, and kissed her back, sighing after they stopped. "<You should do it like that more often... It's far less... Scary.>"

"So you prefer light kisses, despite your favourite pastime being to be hit as hard as one can muster... strange. I suppose I don't mind starting this way to ease you into it, though..." Angelica replied with a smirk, before continuing to gently kiss Eva, softly rubbing the rider's collarbone and shoulders, sliding her hands beneath Eva's leather armour to do so.

"<You don't really get it, do you? You're one of two people that has ever expressed interest in me. I don't... I don't know how to deal with affection. Whenever someone flirts with me, I just flirt like them back, because I don't know how to flirt properly... Hitting things comes easy; hitting on people, not as much... That kiss is the best one you've given me so far...>" She leaned back into her wyvern as Angelica kissed her again, and flinched as her shoulders were rubbed. The kiss was fine, the shoulders were fine. It wouldn't be fine if she went any further.

"Mmm... if that's the case, maybe I'll need to take it upon myself to teach you..." Angelica replied, as she continued her light kisses and massage... based on Eva's initial reaction, going any further than that would be ill advised for now.

"<Mmm... I, I uhm... Not right now, of course. Even this is making me feel a bit...awkward...>"This hadn't made her happy, per say. She felt better, but it was a weird feeling, and not one she was sure she wanted to feel at the moment. But she wasn't about to stop Angelica, because it was better than feeling awful. That was for sure.

"Awkward? How so?" Angelica asked, pulling away from Eva slightly, still lightly massaging the rider's shoulders.

"<I-I don't... know. I just feel weird... Like... I guess I'm just not used to all of this... All of someone liking me. We've only just met, but you've been all over me.>" She laughed, albeit awkwardly, and the smile faded swiftly. "<I just, don't really get it, but... That's alright, isn't it? Because I will, eventually, right?>"

"That's the plan, atleast... I've never met someone incapable of being loved, even if they were a bit... averse to it, to start." Angelica replied, looking Eva over for a moment, before laying down on the grass with a sigh.

"Let's try a... different approach. It seems to give you a bit of a system shock when I touch you, so... we'll try it the other way around. If anything interests you, go ahead..." The adept noted, closing her eyes and allowing herself to relax.

"That's good to hear..." Eva said, speaking in Common again. Then she quickly became confused. "What...? I don't, really know what you want me to...?" She stared at Angelica laying on the grass for a moment. "Uhmmm..." She poked her leg. Felt her skirt for a moment. The material was nice. "I guess I've always been interested in why skirts...? And... You're kinda short... Huh."

"They're comfortable." Angelica replied, choosing to ignore the other comment for the time being. Of course, the more direct matter was that Eva didn't quite seem to have received the memo.

"Just... if anything looks like it might feel nice to the touch or if you're curious or anything like that, go for it. It's not difficult."

"Err..." Eva didn't feel she quite understood, but thinking back in most of her interactions with Angelica, she was starting to piece it together. It made her blush. "I-I'm not doing that... Not right here and now. I'd feel more awkward than I think my body can contain..."

"Fine... we can do this later, I guess..." Angelica replied with a bit of a pout.

"So, what do you want to do then, Eva"

"Really? I'm just glad you didn't walk away... Everything else has been a plus. I almost thought you didn't care..." she said, wondering if that would be a problematic thing to say. "But you proved that worry wrong. Thank you so much... I'm just content to sit here now, or talk, or... Or kiss, until we have to leave..." Eva was a little red, but she meant it. It had felt nice, in that weird way.

"Oh? Now you're speaking my language, Eva." Angelica replied mischievously, as she closed in to kiss Eva again, this time snaking her arms around the rider, one at the back of her head, playing with her hair, and the other resting lazily at her waist.

Eva didn't resist this time, though her whole body did flinch at the more aggressive approach. It wasn't the worst, but it was entirely unexpected. She did have one thing she wanted to ask, though. One last thing. "Mmmm-- A-Angelica, wait... I did, uhm... I did want to ask one more thing, but you have to promise you won't get upset at me for asking it, or do anything... And you don't have to answer it if you don't want to, as well."

"I can't promise I won't get angry if it's something completely stupid, but... I'll try. What did you want to ask?" Angelica asked, somewhat dissapointed that she had been interrupted... but then, it wasn't via shoving, which was a good start.

"I just... I wanted t-to ask about..." she paused, gulped, and took a breathe, "I wanted to ask if there was anything I could do regarding A...Athrun. I know I can't... I can't fix it. But to help you get yourself back together, or feel even slightly better about it... Is there anything I can do?"

Angelica gave Eva a rather long look before letting out a sigh, lifting the hand that had been resting on her waist, and flicked her on the forehead, before moving her hand back.

"Nothing that you're ready to do, yet. For now, just keep kissing me, it's as close as you'll get..."

"O-owwie..." Eva said, almost sarcastically, as she flinched and shrunk at the flick. It had been far better than what she'd been expecting. But what did Angelica mean by nothing she was ready to do? Am I not fit enough, or something? Maybe it's too late at night... This girl is really odd, sometimes... "I can handle that... I think."

"Good." Angelica replied, not bothering to address the confusion evident in Eva's expression, before closing back in to begin kissing the wyvern rider again, starting more lightly, as she had been earlier.

Angelica came back in for her kisses, and Eva didn't do anything but kiss her back. She was more than content to, at the moment, sit there and take all this. It was definitely making her feel better, in its own weird way, and she needed all the feeling better she could get. I still wish I knew what she meant by not ready... Maybe she'll tell me later...

After a bit of time, Angelica's carefulness began to slip, her kisses coming faster, harder, more intense in general, as she continued running her hand through Eva's hair softly.

After a few moments had passed, Eva stopped Angelica's assault. "Hey, we should, uhm... Try to help out around here, if we can. I'd feel like dead weight if I just spent the rest of this time doing this... I feel a bit better now, if that's worth anything. Can't just kiss away my worries, but... Not as stressed. What about you?"

"Yeah... I think I've gotten most of it off of my chest... thanks, for that." Angelica replied, before standing up and wiping down her clothing.

"Suppose we should head back, no?"

"Yeah... We can talk later, once we're in a village, or something. Heheh." Eva finally smiled, and let Angelica off to whatever she had to take care of. Everything was still weighing on her mind, but...she felt she had the strength to hold it back, for now.

Having finished her talk with Angelica, at least for now, Eva hopped back onto a sleeping Sasha and leaned forward on him, stroking his neck. "<Come on big guy, wake up. I know you've still got some energy in you.>" Sasha stirred awake, but wasn't the happiest about it. He growled, but at the very least, stood up. "<Hey, none of that. You're going to have to be awake for a while, y'know?>" He whined, but started walking, as Eva steered him over to Amon and pals. "Hey, Amon. Is there anything that needs done? I feel kinda useless just sitting here with Sasha. Did Malik come back yet?"

----------

"Perfect! Thank you... Uhm... Could I get your name?" Tia paused herself before going to run off with the lamp. It would be rather rude to not get the name of the person supplying her with such wonderful little objects. "I'm Tia. I... Well, I'm just me, now." She almost said 'mage extraordinaire', but quickly bit her tongue before she could.

[Eail]

If nothing else Alphonse was happy that Jam was willing to stand up for herself and her beliefs on the matters at hand, she had the strength to push through. He'd let her get some rest, she deserved it.... but before that he gave the girl a hug, the somewhat un-Alphonse like behavior surprising even him a bit "I'm proud of you, know that Jamilla."

[Toogee]

Jam nodded to Lumi's request to rest in the wagon. There was plenty of room for everyone (as long as they were't arguing). As the dancer was preparing to set up her sleeping area, she was taken by surprise by Alphonse's hug. She was expecting an argument about her chosen fighting style (trying not to kill). His support lifted her spirits a bit, at least enough to have a good night's rest.

"Thanks," she replied, a small smirk on her face. Jam didn't have much more to say as she really was tired. She bid him goodbye as she continued to arrange her blanket and pillow in a somewhat comfortable position in the corner on the floor. Suddenly, she missed the beds of Weyland's mansion.

[scorri]

As Al left the wagon, Lumi sighed quietly. "I'm... I'm sorry if I spoke out of turn. I've just seen too many men try and treat women like objects that they want to own as opposed to like human beings to trust someone's intentions when they try to force someone to do something they don't want or talk about how they need to protect women and such things. I should have trusted you know what you're doing. I hope you sleep well." She laid down herself, closing her eyes and hoping that in the days to come, she'd be able to make friends and not just get into more arguments like this one.

[Phoenix]

Night Light

"That should be enough, honestly; we don't want to get anyone else's attention but theirs," Amon replied. "Try to keep the light away from the wagon so its covering doesn't glow. As soon as they get back here, we're heading out." Having more people willing to place lamps than they needed made Amon want to leave the rest to them and play the role of a sentry, keeping an eye out for anyone else that might notice the lights and come to investigate. It made him want to do that, but he wasn't quite there yet, and as far as the task itself was concerned, they were near finished anyway. "You can help if you want," he said to Eva, shrugging.

Edited September 6, 2014 by Phoenix

[roymbrog]

Kimiko smiled down at the former mage (down relatively speaking, she wasn’t that much taller). “I am Kimiko. You can call me Miss June, if you like?” That was something Elliot had come up with, but Tia didn’t appear to be much older than her young charge.

The alchemist nodded to Amon, and offered one of her two remaining lamps to Eva. Well the girl had just offered to help, even if it wasn’t specifically with this. “We’re putting out lights,” she explained. “And this is how you activate them.” With her last lamp, Kimiko pressed down on a cylindrical switch nestled in the top of the device. The lantern began dispersing a white glow, and she walked to go place it behind a boulder at the edge of the group as Amon had requested.

[Mercakete]

Though he didn't catch exactly what was said, Norbert did register that Haythem had said something. For a couple moments, as he walked back towards Rizen, he tried figuring out what it was, but he eventually dismissed it as unimportant. Now, however, he was back in the sky and had almost returned to where the others were waiting. What was weird, though, was... Lights? What're those doing there?

Confused and cautious, Norbert and Rizen gently glided back down. As they got closer, Norbert's concerns were steadily put to rest, though, and when he touched down and rode the rest of the way over to Amon, he perplexedly asked, "What's with all the lights?"

[Nanami Touko]

"Alright," she responded to the man, as she was then handed one of the lamps. She listened to the woman's instructions and pressed the button on top, the thing immediately turning on. "Huh. That's pretty cool... Runes, I assume," she said to no one in particular, as she held the lamp. "I'll just hold onto it for now. Keep it away from the wagon and on top of Sasha. I'd say he's a pretty good place to have one." Norbert came back in the time they'd taken to set them up, but she wasn't about to start explaining to him what was happening, lest she misspeak one word and set him off. She turned Sasha to move away from the wagon a bit, so as to not light up the wagon's canvas.

----------

"Oh, I know how it works. No need to worry there, Miss June!" Tia said, promptly adopting the title for use. She pressed the button and smiled as it lit up. "Runes are wonderful little devices~" While she admired the light, Norbert had come back, and asked what was up with their lights. "We're setting them up so everyone can find us! Like... Well, you're already back, but, Haythem, and Malik!" Tia smiled at Bert and walked herself off to another corner of their little encampment, placing it on a stump.

Edited September 6, 2014 by I have opinions

[Mercakete]

Norbert looked over as Tia answered his question. He was rather alarmed at her phrasing at first, but she quickly cleared that up. "Haythem shouldn't be far behind me," Norbert decided to note to the others in general, "We didn't find Malik, though."

[-Cynthia-]

"Maybe Weyland's people use disguises too for...whatever secret things his employees get up to," Nadya commented. "It'd be nice to have a Kigenese guy once we get to Kigen to appear more 'legitimate' in our business, especially if we're dealin' in rare items."

"So do you think that this 'Malik' has decided to leave with the box?" Liam asked Norbert bluntly. The assertions that this human wasn't a thief of some sort seemed to be less likely by the minute.

[Afterglimmer]

Another volunteer had sprung up while Luther helped carry the lanterns back towards where Amon was. Norbert had also returned earlier than expected with news that one of the other missing members would arrive soon; leaving Malik unaccounted for. The others had already started placing the lanterns, so the mercenary moved across from where Kimiko had set the first one towards another boulder. Setting down one of the lanterns, he pressed the switch on the one he was still holding; illuminating the area around him. “Interesting,” Luther mumbled to himself in amazement as he looked over the device before placing in on top of the boulder.

[Mercakete]

"I was wondering the same thing, but according to someone who knows him better than I do, even if he wanted to make off with it, he wouldn't just because he knows we can outpace him," Norbert answered Liam, "Doesn't mean he won't still try something, though."