Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[-Cynthia-]

"Unfortunately, I think we need some kinda permit to get any decent weapons or armor...unless ya know the right places to look," Nadya said to Greta suggestively, attempting to gauge her reaction.

[Ether]

And then the camp TS'd to an hour later(and yes Phoenix said this was okay none of the complaining from y'all understood)

There really wasn't much of anything going on here, Angelica repeatedly noted to herself as she continued along her exercise routine. At the very least, she hadn't been interrupted or approached, which seemed decently rare, and after about an hour, the adept wiped some sweat from her brow and decided to call it for the time being. Perhaps some weapons or magic practice later on if time permitted. There wasn't any sign of the group that had went into town, but she hadn't expected them back so soon regardless. Stepping back over towards the camp and wagon for some water, Angelica happened to come across Amon, who seemed to be brooding rather deep in thought... didn't seem to be getting anywhere with his internal musings if his expression was anything to go by, however.

"Got something on your mind, Amon?" The adept asked, moving towards the front of the wagon where Amon was sitting. Squatting next to him to bring herself down to face level, she looked over the Rexian man while drinking some water.

[Phoenix]

Merchant Problems

The black market?, Greta wondered at Nadya. As it turned out, awhile back, her father had seen to getting Greta a special permit for selling firearms in the capital region, but in her dread at losing both him and her little brother, she'd left it along with the rest of her belongings in the wreckage of the other wagon. It was ... relatively close by, now, but even if it had somehow survived the battle and hadn't been looted, she wasn't sure she could go back to that place. She was considering making the group go to Sergio rather than a port in the southwest over that one issue. She still hadn't decided, either ... "I had one, actually, though not by choice. Buuut I lost it."

Haythem had been keeping to himself as a whole, simply taking in the sights. That was until he heard mention of permits. There wasn't much need for permits where the trade convoys in Rex Avaz were concerned, but even they had them, and it always baffled him. How did a badge or a scroll make someone more trustworthy a salesman than someone else, at least in the age of brilliant forgeries? "Do you remember what it looked like? I'm sure it would be easy to get a new one ..." he paused, trying to recall Nadya's gesture ... "if you know what I mean," he ended, mimicking the nomad as best he could.

"You two ..." Greta resisted a laugh.

Protagonist Problems

Everything went a pale shade of purple of a split second, and then Amon was back. He felt like he'd fallen asleep with his eyes open. It was just too much for him right now, and he wasn't quite sure how to explain it to Angelica. That had been the problem with asking for knowledge from Nyx until just a little while ago. Things were different, now, however. Now he knew why he was having such a difficult time articulating emblem related matters. He heaved a soft but heavy sigh and then glanced at her. As he did, his right hand rose to about the height of his chin. "I can almost see it, now ..." he muttered; it was unlikely anyone but Angelica heard him. "Listen ..." he said, a bit louder this time, though still well below the volume of a normal conversation. A moment later, while looking off toward the back end of the wagon, he flicked his hand forward, motioning in much the same way a commander ordering an attack would.

Half a second later, there were two sounds. The first was a barely audible clank, like a large piece of metal falling onto a rock. The second sound, was a quite audible squeak from a freshly startled Joanna. That time, she knew the contents of the box moved of their own accord, and slammed awkwardly into the side of the box as if trying to break out. She grabbed the box and held it up above her lap, eyes full of concern. "What happened?" she thought aloud.

Amon looked back at Angelica. "This is the same thing that happened to Raquel," he briefly explained. Perhaps that didn't mean much to Angelica, especially since the avians likely wouldn't let Amon put the emblem to use in battle, but for him the implications were gut wrenching. He knew keeping an emblem piece in the group would pose certain risks, but if things were eventually going to escalate to the levels that Raquel's group had seen, then this mission to stop the fallen was likely going to be longer, bloodier, and he had few doubts left that he would lose friends along the way. Before, he could force the optimism through. Now, though, he felt like it was inevitable, as if having an emblem wielder in the group all but guaranteed an unreasonable struggle plagued by disaster after needless disaster. This wasn't just about stopping the fallen, either. The emblem piece they took from Valdimarr had to be turned over to Aisha. What would she think of him when that happened? Would she be glad to have someone like him serving under her, or would she be disgusted by what Nyx had done to him? It was just one more thing eating away at him, now.

[Nanami Touko]

Sword nice and fixed up, Eva did her best to relax against the wagon, until the sound of something hitting wood and Joanna gasping knocked her out of it. She looked back at the bird woman, then forward at Angelica talking to Amon, deciding to see what was up. She leaned over from her spot towards the two. "So, uh, Amon, what's up with the clanging box? The Emblem piece is in there, right? How... How's it moving?" She gave a small wave to Angelica as well, more glad than bothered that her friend's exercises were over.

[Ether]

"So when Nyx gave you knowledge, even if using it was related to magic and you didn't really get it... it's starting to piece itself together in your head, and with a piece so close, you're beginning to have influence over it..." Angelica noted, moving to sit next to Amon rather than squatting next to him for the entirety of the conversation. She kept her voice low, as it seemed he didn't want this getting out quite yet, likely due to the precarious balance of the thing with both the Avians and Malik in the group.

"Can't say I'm overly familiar with Raquel's origin story... you've seen everything I have, after all... but if my hunch is right, you're starting to break under the pressure of things clicking into place, figuring out what you could do with such a powerful thing..." Angelica continued in a whisper, stopping to wave at Eva as she made her way over.

[Phoenix]

Speculation

Angelica was being discreet, but Eva wasn't. Amon supposed that was primarily his fault, but like many things, he was having a hard time putting the situation into words. When Joanna tilted the box, the emblem fragment inside slid to one side, and Amon's eyes tracked the motion. "I'm more worried about what's going to happen to us." Joanna might have been a wielder too, so Amon had to admit that it was a worry he should have had from the start. It just felt more real, more imminent to him, now. Perhaps it was even worse than that. Perhaps two emblem wielders would bring about twice the misfortune. They all knew what kind of trouble already surrounded Joanna and how it seemed to escalate irrevocably as time past.

"Did I do that?" Joanna wondered aloud. She wasn't even thinking about the emblem until all of this started, so she doubted it. There seemed to be only two possibilities, either the emblem moved of its own accord ... extremely unlikely ... or someone else caused it, influencing the fragment from the outside. The latter was far and away more likely, and confirmed the suspicion that the box protecting the emblem was merely a formality, or a way to dissuade the curious. Then again ... perhaps not. After all, why jostle the emblem and leave it at that? Maybe they were trying to remove the emblem from the box just now and stopped when they realized they had not only failed, but startled her in the process? It was times like this when she knew she could benefit from listening to the thoughts of those around her. She couldn't bring herself to do so, however, not without each and every person's express consent ... and of course, that would defeat the purpose more often than not.

There was something being discussed outside, but she could only hear part of it. Still, perhaps she wouldn't have to sit here wondering much longer. Cradling the box in one arm, she began to carefully make her way out of the wagon to see what was going on outside.

[Nanami Touko]

"What's going to happen to us? What?" Eva didn't quite get what Amon meant by that. Nor did she get what Angelica was going on about, aside from, apparently, Amon could move the emblem. "So, that was you, then?" she asked directly, but quieted her voice a bit. With the two of them speaking a bit quieter, she figured she should do the same. There was movement in the wagon, and turning back, she saw Joanna coming closer. Well, whatever was happening, it was going to get resolved sooner than later, it seemed.

[Ether]

If there was one thing Eva was irrevocably terrible at, it was trying to be subtle. Well, it wasn't unexpected, by any stretch of the imagination, and she seemed to have gotten the hint somewhat, lowering her voice as she asked the more implicating question. Soon after, Joanna appeared, which meant that if she was going to be doing any mind reading, she would know already, and if not, then she was going to leave things to Amon. It was his problem to overcome, really, at least as far as knowledge was concerned. Whether he wanted to reveal it or not should be his choice.

[Toogee]

“Oh,” Elliot said in response to Elrey’s reason for getting lost. Poor doggie…

The avian soon had a thoughtful look on his face, though. From all he’d heard the last few days, it sounded like excitement followed this group everywhere they went. Was that because they were exciting, because they were drawn to excitement, or because it was drawn to them? “If we’re gonna have a lot of stories, maybe we should write a book or something…”

Meanwhile Elrey rolled over, stretching his head closer to Jam.

"Hmm, maybe a journal?" Jam suggested before her attention turned to the nearby Joanna. The first sound didn't elicit much of her attention. It was Joanna's squeak that caused the dancer to look over. The avian was clearly confused as to what happened. Jam couldn't blame her: that squeak could have been mistaken for a mouse. She watched as Joanna walked passed them and out of the wagon to join whatever conversation outside.

"What was that about?" Jam wondered aloud.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya smirked. Wasn't his pa captain or somethin'? I'm surprised he has it in him... "I'm not quite sure what all the laws are in Kigen myself- they might respect an Ursian permit or ya might have to get one of theirs. Kigenese are picky like that," she said, shrugging.

Liam rushed over towards Joanna's side, ignoring what the humans were doing for the time being. "Is something the matter?" he asked with some concern.

[GoD]

Ingret clicked his tongue audibly, surprised at the words coming from Shadrak's lips. The fallen attacked Europa, and this group was attempting to... what? Stop a demonic invasion from consuming Kigen? Unless they had a secret weapon, an ace in the hole, then the plan was doomed to fail. More importantly, this sounded like a suicide mission; what the hell was Shadrak doing with this group then? He didn't seem like the suicidal type, so what the hell convinced him to go along with this foolish mission?

"I.... That is... quite a tale. Know that I will accompany you and this group.. but I must ask. Why in the world would you accompany that group to Kigen? Why would you risk your life for something so impossible? No offense of course."

[Phoenix]

Northern Gate

"They don't respect our kind," Haythem noted, "that's for certain." Memories of the brief trip through Kigen on their way to Ursium came to mind. There had been plenty of humble people among the populace, but unfortunately for Haythem and his friends, they weren't the ones in charge.

"So one way or another I'm probably back to the plannin' table," Greta muttered, mostly to herself. In that case, there probably wasn't much point in trying to salvage the old permit. She didn't really care for selling weapons, especially not heavier stock, but since this might only apply to Kigen, she supposed she could put it off awhile longer. Then, all of a sudden, the annoying realization that she might not be able to acquire a permit once she was in Kigen hit her. It was just as likely that they wouldn't acknowledge the one her father had already gotten for her.

"Not sure they'll let a woman get a permit for sellin' weapons, armor, and guns," Greta said, glancing off to her right at a nearby kiosk. The person minding the little makeshift shop was a man, seemingly in his early thirties. Greta had gotten over Kigen's extremely long standing traditions as a whole; she'd had days mentally prepare herself for the strain, but she was still incredibly annoyed by the prospect of having to use one of the men in their group as the face of her business while they were in Kigen. The idea of pretending to be some legitimate businessman's wife or assistant, pretending to be anything other than herself was enough to make her want to drive her fist through one of the supports of the little kiosk. Maybe it would all work out and she would be able to do things her way, without a mouthpiece or a disguise, but for the time being, she didn't see how the locals would take her seriously without a strong gimmick.

Bench

Shadrak scowled at Ingret, but it only lasted a moment. For him to call the task impossible implied that he knew nothing of their overall strategy. He nearly chuckled at the realization. They certainly weren't planning on taking on the bulk of the army. Even an emblem piece wouldn't be enough to get them through that. Better to just explain it to him and then see what he thought, Shadrak decided. "The fallen are planning on using devices called siege gates to flood the countries with their armies; they're not just marching them overland. I'm guessing if they did, the Kigenese would have a counterplay ready. Kigen might still be in for a rough time either way, but the other teams can save Ursium and Neviskotia by just destroying the gates before they're used. Then it's up to whichever team can find and kill their leader to do so." He wasn't sure when or how to mention Steinn, and so omitted anything involving the rogue prince for the time being.

Camp

Joanna stopped her approach when Liam asked after her. Just before the words came, Joanna felt as if she was overreacting. After all, the emblem was still secure within the box, and she could feel the tension rising despite that fact. Once again she had to remind herself that it was best to remain calm whenever possible. She'd felt composed enough already but started over before finally answering Liam. Of course, in the moment or two it'd taken her to do so, he might have already figured it out. Holding the box up to a little below chest height, she said, "It moved." It sounded even sillier to her than she thought it would. "I-it's never done that before," she added hurriedly, nearly abandoning the calm she'd tried so hard to put on.

Amon glanced over at the two avians, resisting a sigh. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to pick himself up for this. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to have this discussion right now, even with Malik distracted by sentry duty. Glancing back at Eva, he said, "Yeah, it was," in a listless tone.

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh... Wow." She said, with a rather surprising lack of enthusiasm, though she really was impressed. If anything she was still being quiet because Angelica had stopped talking and Amon hadn't raised his tone. The avians had started to come over, so she did have to ask one thing, just to make sure. She slightly jerked her head towards them, and asked, again quietly, "they can read minds, in a way, right?" She wanted to make sure, so she could shove something in there to cover up this little debacle. If Amon wasn't getting up to talk to them about it, she wasn't going to give them an in to figure it out. Perhaps thinking about Sasha in Neviskotian would be a good enough cover...

[-Cynthia-]

"Yeah we don't really have anyone to use to seem more 'legitimate', we're all foreigners except for that little Kigenese dark mage and she's a woman and probably not in good standin' anyway. Would be handy to have Ranyin along right now- not sure where he got off to," Nadya said, her mind drifting off to past companions.

"Did it move...like it wanted to get out?" Liam asked Joanna, noting her distress. Protecting the emblem piece will be significantly more difficult if it has a will of its own- or if someone else is attempting to manipulate it.

[Mercakete]

Attempting to force himself to relax had actually yielded strange results. Norbert hadn't been able to really relax, but he had managed to concentrate hard enough that he became unaware of just about everyone and everything around him. When he opened his eyes again, it was due to Rizen's curious and concerned proddings of his elbow. Evidently, she'd been doing this off and on for a while now, as she started and took a couple steps back with a sudden and shrill whinny when the rider finally opened his eyes and looked over. In her defense, the movement had been rather sudden.

Bert cocked a brow at her in confusion. "What?" She still seemed rather confused herself, but shook her head a moment later. She was acting a bit more warily and kept looking back at him, but other than that, she seemed to go back to loitering normally. His own confusion wasn't fully alleviated either, but Norbert's attention went to surveying their little campsite.

The Avians were talking, the wagon wasn't going anywhere, Amon and a couple others were talking...and it looked like those who went into town weren't back yet. Again, his attention went to Rizen as he pushed himself off of the tree's trunk and muttered, "What'd you wake me up for?"

Honestly, Norbert hadn't been asleep, but he assumed he had. Nothing else explained the lapse in time very well. Nothing he could think of at least. Of course, Rizen just looked at him. She seemed to have calmed down, anyway. Norbert loosed a quiet sigh as he looked back to the campsite.

[Phoenix]

Foreigners

Haythem frowned. "I'm sure they'll at least deal with foreign merchants who look the part, right?" he half asked the two of them. "They have to import somehow," he added, trying to reassure himself.

"I'm sure they do," Greta said, though it only made Haythem feel better, not her. "But either way I still can't do things my way. Oh forget this ... let's just go find that wagon. There's still time to figure out how to deal with the locals."

Disturbance in the Box

"I-I ... I'm not sure," Joanna admitted. Thinking back on the incident, it seemed more like a deliberate attempt to disturb the box. The very first occurrence was different, though, like a simple test, one that probably wasn't meant to disturb her at all. She played the two events back to back in her mind, over and over again, trying to figure out what it meant, though Liam would also benefit from it, as she wouldn't have to explain it in words.

Amon nodded at Eva, though he was clearly elsewhere for the moment. He was trying to decide how best to move forward. The avians were concerned with protecting the emblem, but Amon was more worried for the group as a whole, now. He supposed he could confront them about it right now, though he doubted it would be enough to completely clear the air. It was also only a matter of time before someone like Shadrak complicated the situation by being a little too insistent on certain things.

[-Cynthia-]

Foreigners

"If he could at least speak Kigenese, that would help. Shadrak might be able to I think, but he ain't exactly a people person," Nadya noted, looking around for wagons or similar objects.

Disturbance in the Box

Liam hadn't been using his mind reading abilities since he came to Ursium...humans were difficult to understand but avians or dark avians like Joanna were easier. He scanned around the area, trying to see whoever was messing with the emblem. A Wrathite? This Fallen emperor? Whatever it was he was looking for, he didn't see it.

[GoD]

Ingret clicked his tongue audibly as he was given all of this new information. Siege gates to flood countries with the armies of the fallen... Ingret remembered something about them being similar to dark avians, well except they were quite the violent bunch. Ingret really regretted having taken this job, but he had never left a job undone simply because it was too dangerous. Either way this boy was serious, and apparently the group was going to Kigen, still a shame that he wasn't able to go to Neviskotia.

"It's a shame I'm not going to Skotia, I would have helped translating anything you didn't understand from the locals. Still though, I hope you have a plan that isn't bumrushing the siege gate and hoping the best will come."

[Mercakete]

It was difficult to tell exactly what, but it seemed that the Avians, at least, had some sort of problem what with how concerned they looked as they looked around the campsite. If nothing else, it was something to do. And who knew? Maybe they'd picked up on something dangerous heading their way. So, he walked over and asked, "Something wrong?"

[Phoenix]

Shopping

"Yeah, Shadrak ain't my first choice'a translators," Greta agreed. "'sides, it's hard to tell when he's gonna be available. I had no idea he was gonna run off like he did once we set up camp."

Not seeing anything remotely resembling a vehicle shop, Greta decided they should venture beyond the northern gate and head into the city proper. There were some guards they would have to get past, but the gate hadn't been converted into a true checkpoint, yet. They would only have to interact with the guards if they were stopped or otherwise prompted, which was fair enough. They were handling the influx of refugees and travelers rather well considering what had happened in Europa.

"Okay, stay together, everyone. We're a weird bunch, but a bunch just the same," Greta announced, though she immediately began to wonder if it wouldn't be better to split up and regroup inside the city just to be safe. It only took her a moment to dismiss the idea; it was already decided, and backpedaling now would only slow them down.

The Best Laid Plans

"The group heading out east has plenty of 'skotians in it already, I think," Shadrak noted, "but it probably would have been a little easier overall, yeah. I doubt the Kigenese are going to take us seriously at first." Shadrak took a moment to go over the strategy in his head, again, and though he only managed to confirm that whether or not they succeeded in the first part of their plan was entirely dependent on luck at this point, he could at least assure Ingret that it was a better plan than some of the alternatives. "Look at it this way, if we hit the gate before they use it, the major threat's over for the moment. If we don't, we can still find a way to slip in and destroy it, and then help the kigenese in more of a support role as they surround and destroy however many legions got through. It's incredibly dangerous, but if we wait too long the fallen are going to be permanent residents of just about every country in Sardius."

Golden Sense

"The emblem," Joanna began, "it moved ... twice. It shouldn't be doing that on its own. I was going to ask if anyone knew what's going on, but ..." Joanna trailed off suddenly when she saw Amon raise his hand. Before she could fully turn to face him, he began to pick himself up lazily from the wheel. "Umm ..." Unable to fully articulate another thought, she simply waited, hoping the rexian knew what was going on.

"It was me," Amon said, already anticipating some sort of misunderstanding. Joanna's shoulders rose up around her neck slightly and her wings began to come down around her sides, forming two large crescents as she reflexively secured the box. "Keep it," Amon quickly said, raising a hand to try and calm her. "Malik already told you; we're after Valdimarr's emblem piece, not yours. I only wanted to see if this eerie feeling I've been having was true ..." Amon paused for a moment, looking away from her as images of Raquel raced through his mind. It was their turn, now ... unfortunately. "... and it is. It's definitely true," he added, sighing helplessly.

Joanna didn't quite understand his meaning. She fully understood that he was someone who could wield the emblem, but she didn't understand why that truth bothered him so. After all, his purpose here was to claim an emblem piece for his Queen, and who better to secure an emblem piece than someone capable of manipulating it from a distance? Perhaps there was more to it than that, extreme conditions she hadn't been told about, circumstances that changed drastically with the revelation ... but right now, she just didn't see it. She relaxed, allowing her wings to fall back into a more comfortable position, and began cradling the box in a more passive manner. There was nothing to worry about.

[Mercakete]

Well, that was an unexpected revelation. "You can use the emblem pieces, too?" Norbert asked in surprise. He looked to the box, then back to Amon. If Amon had moved it, then it definitely had to have been using some sort of power. He grimaced, then. "Don't tell me weird stuff is going to start happening around you, too, now." Blasted weird magic.

[roymbrog]

“A journal…” Elliot repeated. Perhaps he should keep one. He could bring back stories to mom.

Then there were some noises from the emblem box and Joana squeaked and left the wagon. Elliot watched her leave with a confused expression. “Um… Should we go see?” he asked Jam.

---

Kimiko had gotten distracted by a few stalls and fallen behind, but on the other hand she’d managed to find most of her explosive supplies in the market outside the gate. She eventually caught up to the rest of the group with a crate cradled in her arms. Just in time too, as it looked like they were just about to go through the gate.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya shifted herself closer to Haythem as they approached the makeshift checkpoint. I guess bein' merchants is the most plausible explanation for our odd little group and it's actually true to boot, she thought to herself, deciding a more elaborate cover story was unnecessary.

"Well if your curiosity is sated, then I would ask that you leave the emblem piece alone from now on," Liam said, glaring at Amon. I wonder if he plans on staying true to his word with this sudden revelation.

Edited December 23, 2014 by -Cynthia-

[Nanami Touko]

Well, he went and did it. Amon up and explained exactly what had happened, though he probably did it so their bird wouldn't worry. Not that it made the other bird any less skittish. "<Not sure that was the best idea, but whatever...>" Even Eva would've kept that little nugget to herself a bit longer than Amon did. Nevertheless, it was his choice. "<Think that was the right one to make, Angelica?>" she asked, to the adept who had been eerily quiet, for once.

Tia did her best to simply keep up with the group. There wasn't much going on, that she could input on. At least the town was still a nice change from the cart. Maybe Lumi'd be able to help her find some clothes to work out in. A dress did not exercise equipment make.

[Phoenix]

North Gate

Still approaching the gate, Greta tried to recall everything she knew about Ursaea's shops, and where she might go to find not only a wagon or animals to haul one, but specifically the type of wagon she wanted to do business from. She wound up deciding that a couple of trips to some smaller shops to gather information would be necessary to find what she needed.

Haythem doubted he could pass for anything but a mercenary guarding the rest of the group, so he put on his best stoic expression and began glancing around, his impression of a vigilant hire. "Stay close, milady," he said to Nadya, almost in time with her own movement. It was a strange coincidence that nearly caused him to fall out of character. "Ahem, y-yes, like that," he stammered.

Greta glanced back for just a moment. 'milady', hah, "Ya'll're silly," she said under her breath.

Camp

Norbert had said it, more or less; that was what Amon was worried about now that he knew without a doubt he could control the emblem. Still, he had nothing specific to say on the matter ... "I don't know, Bert, but that's been worrying me for some time, now." It was somewhat irritating for Liam to tell him to leave the emblem alone in the future, if only because he'd really wanted nothing to do with that particular piece since the agreement between Joanna and Malik occurred. Shadrak wasn't back yet, and by some miracle Malik himself hadn't noticed the commotion, so it seemed like things would be able to calm down at least for a little while. "I told her to keep it. I only wanted to know if my suspicion was correct."

"You don't seem very ..." Joanna began, but she wasn't able to find the right word. Being an emblem wielder wasn't necessarily something to be 'happy' about ... that wasn't the word she wanted. Being an emblem wielder wasn't necessarily something to be 'unhappy' about, either, however. "You seem upset about this ... development," she eventually said.

"I should have been worried about this sooner," Amon quickly explained, hoping to bury the topic in short order, "but there's nothing we can do but stick to the mission and hope for the best."