Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[-Cynthia-]

"We're probably gonna want to try for small towns for supplies rather than bigger cities, although small towns have less selection. We should be better once we get to Kigen, Kigenese troops won't pursue Ursian fugitives and Ursian military units can't cross into Kigen easily," Nadya advised.

[Nanami Touko]

Eva pat her head. "I'm enjoying it greatly. Thanks for that." She then sighed, and leaned back on Sasha, slightly. "<Sorry, about...me. And being jealous, over things that really didn't require me to be. Not...the best thing, in a person.>" She looked away, rather ashamed of herself, having thought it over.

----------

Al had one point: they really would have that on their hands if they fought, at some point. Tia would never kill someone but what if it happened on accident, or if she had to, to defend herself? Then it'd just be the situation with Alastor all over again. She shrunk back and covered her face in her knees again, going back to thinking. She was tired of thinking as well, but it was better than crying.

Edited September 4, 2014 by I have opinions

[Ether]

"Well, if you didn't know, it might sound off... I suppose it did... I'm only letting you do this because you seemed upset about it..." Angelica replied, looking away with a bit of a humph.

[Nanami Touko]

"<Heh... You can be really cute when you want to, y'know?>" Eva sighed and absently started petting Angelica's hair. "Let's just put this behind us, then. I'm still really sorry, but if it's alright, then I'll let it lie instead of constantly saying it. Don't need to keep getting down after all the sadness that transpired today." She sighed again and began quietly whistling a song from her childhood, looking around at the rest of the group. Everyone seemed worn or upset, and when her gaze finally rested on Joanna, she wondered how worth it this had been. Eva had no stake in it, not personally, but for them all to be considered enemies of the state over this? Sure is a headache...

[Ether]

"Well of course." Angelica replied with a smirk, responding to Eva's hair petting with a light slap on the backside and a quick kiss.

[Nanami Touko]

Eva's whistling was interrupted by the girl sitting with her. She blushed furiously, pulled away, and looked around to see if anyone was watching. She then stared wide eyed at Angelica. "Th-th-th... This is hardly the time!" she said in her loudest whisper. She had definitely stopped petting.

[Ether]

"What, so you're allowed to get affectionate, but I'm not?" Angelica replied with a giggle, though Eva's sudden movement did cause her to stumble off of Sasha, landing on her back with a thud.

Edited September 4, 2014 by Ether

[Nanami Touko]

"I-I don't think petting your head is on the same level as-- h-hey! Whoa!" Eva tried to catch Angelica as she fell off, but didn't manage to. It was a good thing Sasha had been sitting or that fall could've been a lot more painful. She hopped off her mount and quickly sat her up, checking to see if she was alright. "Hey, Angelica, you're fine, right? That was just a little tumble..."

Edited September 4, 2014 by I have opinions

[Ether]

"Hnn... that stings..." Angelica replied, giving her head a shake as Eva hopped off and came to check on her, now conveniently blocked off from the others by the scale flesh wall that was Sasha.

"I think I look it pretty bad on my legs... kiss it better, would you?" The adept continued, riding her skirt up as she spoke, exposing... pretty much the entirety of her legs to Eva. Despite the supposed teasing nature of it all, on the adept's inner thigh, a light bruise was beginning to form.

"Please?"

[Nanami Touko]

Eva stared at Angelica with a fairly blank face. She can't be serious... Of course she's serious. Eva sighed. She leaned in, kissed her thigh, and sat right back up as quickly as she could, turning her red face away. "<Do not push your luck,>" she said with a bit of a glare. "<I know you didn't fall on purpose, but still. I'd rather not go back to being mad at you. Don't give me a reason to.>"

[Ether]

Well damn, she was actually going to do it. Angelica hadn't expected the rider to oblige her, but what a better time to tease her a little? Just as Eva's lips made contact with her light kiss, the adept let out a faint cry.

"Hyaan!" Angelica whimpered, entirely on purpose, giving Eva a manufactured look of bewilderment as she shot back up, her face glowing red.

"Ahh... if anything happens, Eva... w-will you... take responsibility? ... Just kidding." Angelica replied, the flustered look on her face immediately dissipating.

"Honestly, you'd get mad at just about anything, Eva. It's over, for now..."

Edited September 4, 2014 by Ether

[Nanami Touko]

Eva made a few hand motions to try and shut her up, but by the time Angelica said she was just kidding, Eva was pretty much done. She didn't even blush, she just sighed and turned herself around. "<I'm so done with you right now... This is not the time for...this. I know we did what we did back in Nyx's basement, but right after being declared enemies of the state? It feels a bit more serious than fighting against empty shells for information...>" She threw her hands up and then slouched. "<And I realize I didn't help just a moment ago, but... I can't ever read you, so I can never tell if you're being serious or not. I thought you'd really hurt yourself, y'know?>"

[Ether]

"Because it's so serious is exactly why now is the right time for this sort of thing... if we focus to hard on the severity of it we'll just put ourselves into a major slump." Angelica replied with a sigh.

"Besides, shouldn't you be relieved? If I'm acting this way, then without a shadow of a doubt, that means I wasn't seriously hurt, right? Would you rather I be writhing on the ground in pain?"

[Phoenix]

Waiting

"I've been all up and down the countryside and we're not gonna find anythin' worth sellin' in Kigen other than the essentials," Greta explained. "I mean we can try anyway, but we should at least find a port city somewhere to get as many rare finds as we can. Sellin' those is where the big profits gonna come from."

Shadrak thought back to his childhood and somewhat more recent years, trying to recall some of the things that were more expensive to buy in the villages just south of the border, but the thoughts of his encounters with his childhood enemies kept surfacing, ripping his focus away from anything that might have given some insight into the situation.

"The light from the city's not going to be enough, soon," Amon mused. "Can someone help me set up a few torches? We're not out of this mess yet, but they might have a hard time finding us at this rate."

Talking

Haythem had left Isis as well and wandered toward Norbert in order to speed things up a little. "I wanted to 'say' we should head back. There's no use searching for Malik in the dark like this. We may have even past him already when you sped up." He wasn't sure what to make of the pegasus rider's slightly awkward gait, but he could barely make out the man to begin with, neither was he equipped to help him in any way. It only reminded him that this spontaneous searching was a bad idea.

[Mercakete]

Norbert frowned into the darkness, straining his eyes for another look-around. Then, with a frustrated sigh, he replied, "Maybe, but do you really think he won't just make off with the emblem piece?"

It was an honest question rather than an accusation. This was one of the Rexians, so he probably knew Malik better than Norbert did. He shook his head. "Whatever. I just want to get going again as soon as we can. Waiting for someone who isn't going to show up isn't something I'm interested in. If we see him on the way back, how about we at least give him a ride? It'll speed things up if nothing else."

[Nanami Touko]

"<Let me try to explain...>" Eva sighed and frowned, staring at the ground. "<I don't want you to be stone faced or so serious it brings you down, but... I don't know if it's really right to be joking around, or laughing it up at the same time. Isn't there a middle ground you could sit at, just for a bit? We can laugh later, once we're in our own room, y'know...>"

Eva grumbled further once Angelica said the next thing, but eventually she just sighed. "<I never want you hurt. I'm perfectly glad that you're fine, so please, don't say that. I'm sorry... This whole situation's just really messing with me...>"

[Ether]

"I've got enough to deal with right now, sorry if I'm not overly worried about how I'm appearing to others right now. Take it or leave it, would you?" Angelica replied with annoyance, as she stood up and began walking back towards the main group.

"Honestly, of all the places for him to be at the time..."

[roymbrog]

Kimiko blushed slightly, a bit ashamed of what she was about to admit. “I am afraid I cannot help much with that kind of planning. I have been to neither Kigen nor Ursium before, so I do not know which goods are common…”

There was talk of warped messages, and she easily understood the one about the fallen (it also confirmed her suspicions regarding the previous night’s monster origins), but who was Joanna? Apparently these people had been involved in some sort of altercation with the Wrathites… It would probably be a non-issue once they arrived in Kigen, but that news was disconcerting. Regardless… she had just made a deal, and didn’t have any plans to back out of it.

Because of distancing herself from the current conversation (due to lack of knowledge), Kimiko heard Amon’s request. She had a better idea and was eager to show her usefulness. “Excuse me,” she told the gathered Greta, Nadya, and Hoshi, and walked over to the sanctuarian. “Did you ask for help with torches?” she asked. “I have light rune lamps with me, if you would like to use those instead.”

[Nanami Touko]

"<N-No, hey! Wait!>" Eva stood up and grabbed her wrist rather quickly, thinking around in her head for the right words to say. "<I will take it... I just meant the whole situation with how to act was messing with me, alright? I didn't mean anything else... Please don't leave me alone, right now?>" Eva felt her emotions rushing back and she just wanted to hop back into the air. It was a lot easier back up there.

[Ether]

Angelica sighed, and turned her head back towards Eva, a scowl on her face.

"I suppose if I wanted to leave I'd have to fight you for it, at this rate... not worth the damn effort." The adept replied in annoyance, as she quickly jerked her wrist to remove the rider's grip from it.

"So, don't leave you alone, huh? Did you have something in mind?"

[Nanami Touko]

That reaction hit like a truck. "<No... Never mind. I didn't have anything. I just didn't want to be alone...>" She slumped back onto the ground next to Sasha and huddled up. "<Go do whatever you have to...>" Between the fight, fighting with Angelica, Athrun, and more confusing emotions than she'd ever had to face, Eva was about ready to cry. <I should never have come to Ursium... I should've just stayed home and made weapons. This is so hard...!>

[Ether]

"Geez..." Angelica replied with a sigh, as she sat herself down next to Eva, and began patting the taller woman gently on the head, running a hand through her hair.

"I don't have to do anything... I'm just... kind of confused, right now. You probably are too, that's why you're about to cry... geez, and after I was the one who put the idea of coming this way in your head... what do you think would help you feel better, Eva?"

[-Cynthia-]

"Well hopefully we visit some ports. Not sure what Amon or whoever's travel plans are at the moment myself," Nadya commented, beginning to feel a bit less sure about their investments. Eh, we'll have to hit major cities anyway to get support...right?

[Phoenix]

Lightshow

It was rare for allies to carry around conveniences like those, but Amon certainly wasn't complaining. "As long as you're okay with it. I want Haythem and Bert ... and especially Malik, to be able to get back to us without any trouble," he explained. "Let's not set them up too high, though. We don't want to be noticed by anyone over in the city." The guardsmen closest the southern gate and outer wall would notice the lights, but as happened so often, their response time would be slow, slow enough for the lamps to be put out as soon as the others returned, and slow enough for them to disappear into the night before any authorities arrived to investigate.

"Her first time in Kigen, huh?" Greta mused aloud. "Guess this is gonna be a learnin' experience for her, too. Anyway, I still think we should try and hit either the closest city we can find, just using me and whoever else the wrathites don't know about yet, or a port city. Leanin' toward a port city, actually ... much better odds'a findin' somethin' really good~"

"Like what?" Shadrak asked, his eyes narrowing at the merchant.

"Oh, the usual: lost artifacts, forgotten heirlooms, treasure maps, depleted magic seals, Aquilan relics, dragons' teeth, obsidian, runes, manuals, and so on," Greta went over the short end of her list, leaving Shadrak feeling slightly disturbed. "See, items like these don't have any 'set value' based on whatever's happenin' in the economy 'cause most are one of a kind or at least too rare to get standard rates. We just have to get our hands on'em at low enough cost to guarantee ourselves a profit, and that's what port cities are all about~"

"I thought port cities were all about making it easier for essential supplies to come over the water and making sure no one on either side goes withou-" "Nope, it's about makin' US rich. As traders, that's our main concern," Greta silenced the shaman and put a lid on his mundane, profitless thinking. "Fine, whatever ...."

Theory

"Hate to admit this, but Malik's smarter than me and Amon. He might not be as friendly as we are, but he's not stupid, and even he knows that come sun up, he'll be extremely easy to track down, especially on these planes," Haythem explained. "I'm not saying he isn't up to anything at all, but running is probably the least likely. I think he's just trying to get the box open so the thing is easier to carry around."

[Mercakete]

In some ways, that was comforting to hear. In other ways, it was disconcerting. Either way, Norbert was glad to hear it. "I guess he'll be back, then. And when he gets back, we should be ready for an ultimatum. He could've hidden the box somewhere or something. I'm not sure what he'd try to do with that, though."

He pondered it half a moment longer before sighing. "Yeah, you're right -- he probably just tried opening the box and is on his way back now. I'll get back to Rizen and head back, too. See you there." And so Norbert began making his way back to his pegasus, who was still refusing to get any closer to the large wyvern.

He was more distracted now, though, so he hunched over more this time and had a more apparent limp. So, the nut's smart, huh? He couldn't help but think back to Ursaea, pondering his conversation with the Sancturan back then. He's downright devoted to that vasilus, but other than that, he's not such a bad guy. That conviction could be inconvenient, though. I'll deal with him later if it comes down to it. If not, all the better.