Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[scorri]

Lumi had opted to stay outside this time and lounged against the storefront, holding Star's reins. With a slight sigh, she slumped a littler further, and mumbled, "Maaaan, shouldn't have volunteered for this. Woulda been more fun flying or somethin. Maybe could've found someone to spar with... Better than waiting around for people to buy stuff all day."

Hoshi had returned to the wagon, in time to hear Jam's question about alchemy. Wanting to hear how the avian boy described his knowledge of alchemy, she simply sat down near the two, close enough to hear, and pulled out one of her tomes from her bag and started to read it.

[Ether]

"Only time will tell, I guess. At least it's out in the open." Angelica passively replied to Eva, after the argument exploded and then calmed down. It was a bit late, as a response, but there was just too much information to process about this whole thing, really. Admittedly, she had gone silent during most of it People seemed to have gone off to do other things by this point, leaving the adept to sigh somewhat lightly, and look back over at the wyvern rider.

"All I know, is that tensions in this place could snap at a moment's notice, if people don't reconcile their differences. Be ready for hell if that happens, especially if the timing is bad."

[Mercakete]

Rizen shuffled her hooves about as she puzzled over her current predicament. After the argument, people had more or less dispersed, and Norbert had decided he needed to get away for a little bit. So, he'd climbed up the tree they were all waiting under. He didn't go up to the uppermost branches, so he still couldn't be seen from above or from the side, choosing to stay relatively close to the trunk. The exertion also helped calm him down some. Rizen, however, was left on the ground. She couldn't very well climb up with him, and with all those branches in the way, it'd be difficult to fly up to him. Besides that, it seemed he wanted her to stay under the tree. That was hardly fair -- his being able to go up into the air while she was stuck on the ground. There had to be some way around this somewhere...

[Nanami Touko]

Eva was surprised that Angelica spoke at all, with how quiet she'd been during the arguments. But what she did say made her sigh, scratching her hair slightly. "I can't stand that Norbert," she grumbled out, as Angelica spoke of tension. "Every time I open my mouth he jumps down it to shut me up, like, no matter what I say it's some bother. I can't take it." She kept her voice quiet, not wanting to instigate anything new, but still wanting to get it off her chest. "Is he like that all the time? Tell me it's not just me, because I might snap one of these days if it is." She folded her arms over her chest and started waggling her foot, against her spot leaning on the wagon.

Edited January 10, 2015 by I have opinions

[-Cynthia-]

"I don't really know why this Angelica person can't do their own shoppin', but it ain't none of my business," Nadya commented to the pegasus riding woman as she waited outside.

--

After the matter of trust and the emblem had been settled, at least for the moment, Liam went back to standing guard, catching snippets of the conversation between Elliot and the young woman. His mother thought it was a good idea to send him out here with all this danger? If we're going to be fighting Fallen, there's no way we can guarantee his safety... he thought to himself, frowning.

[scorri]

"Yeah, I mean... We were sending enough of us into the city anyways, doesn't seem like one more woulda made that big a difference. Maybe she's just lazy and saw the chance and took it." Lumi shrugged. "Only reason I volunteered is cause Star is good for carrying but doesn't always like to be too far away from me. So figured sending him but not me wasn't the best idea."

[Ether]

"I didn't really talk to him a whole lot before you showed up, so I know about as well as you do... seems like it, though." Angelica replied with a shrug.

[roymbrog]

Greta's seeming reluctance to talk to the shopkeeper didn't escape Kimiko, and though she wasn't sure what was causing it she did have an inkling. "Would you mind pointing us to the correct portions of your store? I believe we are looking for some make ups and dyes," she said.

---

"I think I'd get in trouble for making gold," Elliot replied with a half smile. He didn't want to be imprisoned at such a young age, or at all really. "I was learning dark magic synthesis, but I can't show you... Last time didn't go so well." He frowned again. Jam might not react the same way Tia had but he was still wary of showing off his tendrils.

---
"On the contrary, you're probably much better at keeping people alive than I am," Valter assured. With recent events, he was pretty sure all he could do was kill. Defending people seemed nobler in some respects.

When Ingret expressed his confusion about the researcher bit, Valter shrugged. "I think Shadrak was trying to pass you off as one," he said. Reading, though... "I wouldn't worry about it. Sometimes it's hard to find the time while traveling. I don't think I've seriously picked up a book in over a month."

Edited January 11, 2015 by roymbrog

[Toogee]

"I think I'd get in trouble for making gold," Elliot replied with a half smile. He didn't want to be imprisoned at such a young age, or at all really. "I was learning dark magic synthesis, but I can't show you... Last time didn't go so well." He frowned again. Jam might not react the same way Tia had but he was still wary of showing off his tendrils.

"Heh, if you wanted to avoid trouble, I think you're in the wrong wagon," Jam told Elliot. They were all fugitives out to stop a global invasion; trouble was behind them and ahead of them.

"So wait, you can make dark magic? How?" Jam was confused. True, she was handy with light magic, but she only knew how to wield it. The "science" was a bit over her head.

[Phoenix]

Store

The shopkeeper had gotten similar requests in the past, and they usually meant someone was getting ready for a big pretentious event. Neither of the women standing near the entrance looked like they gave two coppers about such things, however. It wasn't any of her business, but if she could learn anything about their intentions, she'd certainly give it a try. "Oh right this way," she said, gesturing vaguely behind herself. "Makeup and dyes have never been more popular since they were first introduced," she noted thoughtfully, "Is there a special occasion, or do you use them regularly and just need to restock?"

"We're shoppin' for a friend," Greta quickly but carefully answered. The friend obviously wasn't present right now, so Greta hoped clarifying things this way would make the shopkeeper think even they didn't know exactly what the supplies would be for. It would probably take a bit more, though ... like a straight answer.

The shopkeeper showed the two women to a wall to the left of the entrance and close to her counter with eight shelves worth of various cosmetics. "The dyes are on the opposite wall unfortunately," she said with a light chuckle. "Did you have any colors in mind?"

All of them? Greta thought, wondering which colors would be poor dye choices when the goal was disguise. "Uh ... give us a minute to pick out some stuff and then we'll take a look at the dye, I guess."

Very Close By

Shadrak tried and tried, but he couldn't ignore conversations that had anything to do with him. Looking up irritably from his book, he said, "Can you blame me for wanting people to assume he was just an assistant? Chelsea hired him to help me, but it's not that simple. Sooner or later me and someone else are going to get hurt at the same time and I don't want to have a repeat of what happened at Weyland's home. It might seem selfish, but I need a personal guard from here on out if I'm going to survive long enough to get us a real trump card against the fallen. It's not like I'd be the first person with a personal guard or two," he concluded, thinking of Raquel first, and then after a moment, and to the druid's surprise, Joanna also came to mind. "Right ... Joanna has Liam, too ... hmph."

[-Cynthia-]

"Yeah, I know how that is. Luca gets real ornery if anyone other than me or Pa tries to handle him," Nadya said, patting her horse on the nose.

[roymbrog]

Valter wouldn't have been offended by Shadrak's explanation, except that by trying to decieve the horseman he'd clearly labled him as someone he thought would 'steal' his bodyguard. Had he not been paying attention the last few days? The last month? Mostly hidden by the cloak, he glared ahead, but sounded perturbed. "I don't think anyone would object to your having a personal guard, especially if we neither hired nor have to pay him. With your reasons, I'm the last person you need to lie to about that."

When the mage mentioned Joanna, Valter tensed slightly before forcing himself to relax. "Yes, she does," he agreed, but couldn't help sounding a bit sullen about it.

---

"Haha... yeah..." Elliot agreed. He hadn't exactly planned on traveling with wanted people, but they did all seem nice. When Jam continued though, he tilted his head at her. "Um... No. I use dark magic. To make other things. Miss June taught me how to make tendrils out of dark magic, and I can use them to fix things or make things or tell what things are made of," he explained. Well, he wasn't good at all of that yet, but that was the gist of it.

---

Kimiko began scanning the shelves once they were pointed out, looking mostly for shades of make up different from most group member's natural skin tones. If the goal was disguise, that was probably the thing to do. "Hmm... Perhaps some of these," Kimiko mumbled, pulling out a few containers to look at. "She wasn't very specific with what she wanted, was she?"

[Toogee]

"Haha... yeah..." Elliot agreed. He hadn't exactly planned on traveling with wanted people, but they did all seem nice. When Jam continued though, he tilted his head at her. "Um... No. I use dark magic. To make other things. Miss June taught me how to make tendrils out of dark magic, and I can use them to fix things or make things or tell what things are made of," he explained. Well, he wasn't good at all of that yet, but that was the gist of it.

At this point, Jam was imagining Elliot with octopus arms (magic octopus arms), holding tools and...OK, back on topic.

"So like extra hands? That sounds pretty...handy," She seriously didn't intend that pun. "So what do you make? Any projects?"

[GoD]

"Too much selfishness will leave you alone and unwanted by others. However, too much selflessness will leave you with a knife to your back. A healthy moderation of both is the best course of action."- Ing chimed in non-chalantly with a curious look donning his features.

"Be honest though, do any of your people fall into the classification known as a deranged psychopath? I need to know this so I can better protect myself. If there are two things I dislike, they would be people trying to kill me and nonsensical morons."- Ingret turned and asked both the dark mage and the horseman with an even tone evident in the knight's voice.

[Phoenix]

Shopping

Greta held up the list just in front of her face. "Not sure I can even pronounce some of these," she eventually said after squinting at the items a few times.

"Might I have a look?" the shopkeeper asked with an innocent smile. Greta knew her chance to take care of this without the shopkeeper getting the upper hand in negotiations was rapidly slipping away.

Meeting

"Tch," Shadrak scoffed. "It's hardly lying; if I do need an assistant, I probably would ask Ingret here before anyone else, especially since he'd be close by anyway." As for psychopaths in the group? ... no, maybe in the other group, that was to say, Raquel's people. Well ... "Well there is some assassin woman in the group but she seems pretty lazy and talks too much. I'm sure she'd send you an invoice or something before actually trying to kill you." Shardak couldn't think of anyone else who was particularly dangerous. Norbert was about as cool headed as an active volcano, but exercised a great deal of physical restraint nonetheless ... which more or less evened things out.

While trying to think of other people that might get on Ingret's nerves, he actually spotted some familiar faces a good ways ahead and across the street. "I was hoping I wouldn't run into them on the way back, but I guess they're doing all of their shopping by the northern gate," he muttered.

Luca had no idea why they were standing around, again, but with nothing to nibble on, he was beginning to miss the grassy fields they'd left behind for this place. He could smell plenty of food around, the faint scent of apple pie in particular, but he knew better than to break away from the already splintered herd. Nadya seemed to realize how off putting the situation was, as she gave him a reassuring pat on the nose.

[GoD]

"Well she sounds like a polite woman. Hopefully I won't cross her bad side."- Ingret remarked, as they approached the market place.

"You know these people Shadrak?"- the lilac-haired man asked the dark mage, referring to the people who were currently in the process of purchasing something.

[Phoenix]

Yup!

"Yeah ..." Shadrak groaned a reply. There was no helping it now. Best to head on over and reunite with part of the group. Then again, they could just stop for introductions and then head right on back to the campsite. It beat standing around with his books for a few more hours. "Well, we might as well go over and introduce you, though after that, it might be a good idea to get back to the wagon."

[roymbrog]

"More like extended fingers," Elliot explained. "Um... Not really. I was learning how to replace metals and fill spaces in materials. Even if I showed you, it just looks like bars of iron..."

---

"...Deranged psychopath?" Valter asked, taken off guard. What kind of question was that? "No, of course not," he said before glancing back to Shadrak.

"It can be difficult to trust people who are constantly suspicious of others. That's all I have to say about that," he said. When people across the street caught the druid's attention, Valter turned to look as well. There was Phyllis, along with Nadya and some others. The horseman just shrugged after Shadrak's suggestion. "I don't object."

---

Kimiko turned around, several small containers in hand. "I can take a look as well. Perhaps a few of these would suffice," she said.

[Toogee]

"More like extended fingers," Elliot explained. "Um... Not really. I was learning how to replace metals and fill spaces in materials. Even if I showed you, it just looks like bars of iron..."

"So, you're filling stuff up with magic?" Jam had heard of mages "sharing magic" when one was exhausted from too many spells. She wasn't sure this was what Elliot meant however. Luckily, the dancer noticed that Hoshi was nearby. She knew the druid was skilled with dark magic from their last battle. Perhaps she could clarify some of this.

"Hey Hoshi," Jam called to her. "Come sit with us. Maybe you can help explain some of this magic stuff to me."

[Phoenix]

Outside the Store

Luca snorted and shook his head a little, hoping to get Nadya's attention; some of the herd were back, though not very many, and they seemed to have brought along someone new ... and larger than the others.

"Hey," Shadrak called over, not bothering to hide the fact that he'd just as soon be on his way back to the camp. "I thought you guys would be further along by now."

[Nanami Touko]

"I didn't really talk to him a whole lot before you showed up, so I know about as well as you do... seems like it, though." Angelica replied with a shrug.

Eva sighed. "I feel at least a little bit better about how I feel, then. Even if you don't really know... Maybe I'll ask that Lumi girl when she gets back. She seemed to be able to put up with me, hah. Or Shadrak. I'm sure he'd know. He seems to have a history with the group..." Eva pondered the people she'd actually spoken too at length, and wondered what to ask them, if she got the chance to sit down and talk. "Ahhhh, whatever... Hey, Angelica, talk to me about something. Get my mind off of this. All this sitting around and waiting, it's starting to drive me batty. Especially with the shortest fuse hanging around."

[scorri]

"Oh, uhm, of course. What exactly about magic do you wish explained? I assume you mean alchemy specifically or do you mean something else?" She moved closer to the others, attempting to engage more with them.

[Ether]

"Hmm... okay then..." Angelica replied, giving it some thought for a moment, before lightly taking Eva's hand in her own, and beginning to walk towards the outskirts of their camp, specifically towards a decent sized boulder that represented just about the only source of cover in the area not currently occupied by pre-mentioned shortest fuse.

"Come with me."

[Nanami Touko]

Eva decided to close her eyes and wait for Angelica to start talking, but was instead yanked away from the camp, and towards a boulder. "Ah, geez, again? Every time I end up alone with you, you try to make out with me... I'm only following if you promise we're actually going to use our mouths to talk, this time." She laid down her conditions, though still slowly followed after her. Though, I guess I am curious as to what she could want to talk about... Does she actually have a topic? Most of the time it feels like I'm wrenching words out of her, when I try to talk.

[Ether]

With Eva following along, Angelica soon brought the larger woman around and behind the outcropping of rock, and pushed the rider's back against it... though rather than brusquely capture her lips as she had likely been expecting, the adept opted to instead lightly rest her head against the taller woman's chest, not really forcing her against the stone so much as lightly and rather lazily applying her meagre weight in the other direction, and let out a sigh.

"It's about that, actually. I'm curious... I know you've said you're inexperienced with it, but that can't be the whole of it... no way someone with as much gusto and bravado as you in a fight gets that timid about matters of love... not just from inexperience. What... what has you acting so dainty and frail, Eva?" Angelica asked, looking up at the rider with curious eyes, at the moment simply resting upon her.