Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[roymbrog]

Kimiko looked up from her work at Tia’s small shout and gave the girl a sympathetic smile. The alchemist was oblivious to what the young ex-mage had been through, but she did know nightmares were never pleasant. When Tia waved at Elliot, and the avian completely missed it due to the book his head was in, Kimiko gave his shoulder a nudge.

Elliot looked up to see Tia looking at him, and waved as well. “Hello,” he said. “Um, were you having a bad dream?”

[Phoenix]

Sky

"That is the point," Malik replied to Eva, clearly not intending to switch over in the future ... not when he didn't have a reason of his own, at any rate. It was almost humorous that she'd come up with the same idea he had.

"Okay, Haythem, let's land. If we're even thinking about sending you or anyone on ahead, we need to let everyone know first," Amon said, placing a hand on the worried rider's shoulder. When he got an affirmative nod, he braced himself for a quick descent. "We'll sort this food thing out on the ground," he assured Eva.

Road

I was so sure it would be cancer or something ... my grandparents were both taken by cancer and my great grandparents, too ... but no, I'm not going to die of cancer, or by the sword, or even by a gunshot, I'm going to die of sheer ... mind numbing ... boredom, Glen lamented to himself as the endless stretch of road grew ever longer in front of him. Valter's call barely got through. "H-uh?" He glanced around a few times, but not enough to notice Valter. "Stop, someone said?" It was an odd request; they were in the middle of Nowhere, Ursium, population zero, landmarks and points of interest ... none. Finally, he spotted Valter as the wagon came to a stop. "Stop here? Here?"

"We've stopped ..." Shadrak muttered. His tome had already been closed, Tia's awakening pulling his attention away from it briefly. Now the sudden lack of movement was pulling his attention even further. "We're less than fifty miles outside of Europa ... there shouldn't be anything for us here ... unless we found some merchants to trade with ...."

"Or the animals are tired," Greta noted, feeling that should have been anyone's first guess after a forced march like the one they did.

[Toogee]

The wagon's stop was enough of a disturbance to finally awaken Jam. She slowly lifted her head off the pillow to examine the situation, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The dancer noticed both familiar and new faces among the passengers. Clearly, she missed some things happening over night. How long had she been out?

"We'retherealready?" Jam asked in one almost incomprehensible groan. She wasn't exactly ready for the day.

[Nanami Touko]

Eva grumbled and frowned at Malik, patting Sasha to land and following Haythem down to the ground. It was far less quick than Isis, as Sasha was incredibly tired still, but the landing was alright, as much as it could be. Whatever Amon's solution to this was, she hoped it would happen soon. "So," she said, pulling Sasha up next to Isis (which was a lot more intimidating on the ground), "hit me with your plan."

----------

At least it had been the child that asked. "Yeah... Sorry, if I bothered anyone." Tia meekly looked about, and it didn't seem anyone was really paying that much attention to her, so she breathed a sigh of relief. "What's your name?" she decide to ask the avian boy, wondering if he'd be around long. Other than Conner, there wasn't anyone around here that was really her age, or at least that acted it. Jam was growing up fairly quickly, in her eyes.

[Eail]

When he'd eventually gotten to go back to sleep in his seat up front in the wagon, it didn't last long for dear Alphonse, being among the first awake when they started to move out again. With the whole business at the Cathedral likely being knowledge that would be out and about, there was a chance that people would be looking for them, and while it was true that the Wyverns flying above were likely doing a better job than he was, the redhead had resumed his lookout spot.

Personally he would have liked to keep going, but if the animals were about to drop that really wasn't something he could argue with, so instead Al was now snacking on a piece of jerky as he settled back down into his seat. Taking a look into the back of the wagon as he heard people stirring about. He'd answer Jam's question at the least "Not yet, we're stopping to let the animals get some rest and water... if there's any around. Might be a good chance to get out and stretch your legs if you want."

[Phoenix]

Endless Road

When Isis touched down in front of the wagon, Glen began to suspect they wouldn't have had any other option but to stop. It also reminded him that there had indeed been reports of dragons in Ursium. Dragons, the most potent siege weapons the Neviskotian military had ever confronted them with. If it weren't for this war, and how heavily clustered Ursium's military forces were, the long roads between cities in the capital region might have more villages, or at least outposts. He quickly reminded himself, though, that enemy invaders weren't the only problem. Criminals, failed mercenaries, and deserters also constituted a great number of Ursium's bandit problem, and poorly defended assets were always quickly overcome by their relentless attacks, during war or uneasy peace. The two special battalions of the east and west wouldn't be enough to make the problem go away outright, but they were definitely a start. Maybe, once the war was over, the generals and governors would come together and begin laying the ground work for more outposts settlements in the capital region, ones that would be adequately protected, of course.

Shadrak headed for the back and quickly left the wagon. "Yeah we're nowhere near anything useful. Let's hope a patrol doesn't sneak up on us, I guess," he muttered to himself as he made his way toward the front.

"Well the plan for now is to see how everyone feels about a scouting run," Amon began. "Not just a scouting run," Malik quickly interjected, "I was thinking we should send Haythem ahead of us to Ursaea to try and figure out the situation there and get some extra supplies to bring back to us."

"That's a terrible idea," Shadrak said, "those people survived a dragon attack recently, if you remember, or at least that's how they'll see it. Isis will get shot down on sight if they aren't seen for what they are in time. I mean if you rexians want to take that gamble, by all means, but I personally think it's asinine."

<Your assumption that I didn't consider that already is asinine.> "Send one of the pegasus riders with them; the problem is solved," Malik shot back.

[scorri]

Lumi had landed when the others had and shrugged. "I'd be up for it. Star'll be fine with a bit of water, so it's no problem here."

Hoshi had exited the wagon when people started talking, and listened in. Seeing no reason to interrupt, she simply observed for now.

[Nanami Touko]

"I can fly Sasha," Eva interjected, as Isis was mentioned to be far too big. "I'm fairly sure no one's going to mistake him for a dragon; he's barely half the size of Isis, here. I mean, I understand wanting to send Isis: she's huge. She could probably bring a lot more back than I could bring with Sasha. Honestly, if we want, we could just send all of us fliers off to get supplies. Better to be safe than sorry, or however that saying goes."

[roymbrog]

Valter watched Glen curiously as the man finally worked out the suggestion. “Yes, here. You alright, Glen?” he asked, slightly amused. Not everyone took well to long hours on the road, it seemed. He had Phyllis keep walking a few feet after the wagon stopped and dismounted next to the horses to unhitch them. Even if they didn’t have a lot of water, allowing the animals to graze for a bit would allow them to last longer until they could get some.

Moving to the front of the wagon may not have been the best idea, however, as Isis and Sasha touching down scared Phyllis. The horse didn’t bolt like the previous night, but did jump and move so Valter was between her and the wyverns. That left him trying to deal with three horses, while simultaneously attempting to listen to Amon and the others.

“Simply sending a pegasus with them might not solve the problem. Don’t fly one in front of Isis or they might assume she’s chasing it,” Valter called over. “…Could someone help me with these horses?”

---

“No, you didn’t bother me. I just didn’t know if I should wake you up or not…” Elliot replied. “I’m Elliot. I’m studying to be an alchemist,” he said, smiling at the end of his short introduction.

The wagon was stopping and Kimiko wondered why. Had they come across something? From what the grumpy sounding druid had said, that was unlikely. The explanation came when Alphonse called back to the girl who had been sleeping. Jam, was it? Stretching her legs did sound nice, though. She tapped Elliot’s shoulder to get his attention and told him, “I willl be outside,” before climbing down out of the wagon. It appeared there was a meeting going on around front, so she began to walk those assembled by the wyverns.

[-Cynthia-]

Liam cocked his head to read the dark avian boy's book title. I didn't know most dark avians bothered to learn Quilesh- perhaps he has parents from Aquila like Joanna, Liam thought to himself, though he said nothing for the time being.

Nadya dismounted and went over to help Valter unhitch the other horses. "The wyverns are makin' 'em nervous- I dunno how long it'll take 'em to adjust. Luca's gotten used to 'em I think, but not all horses are as...bold as he is," she wondered aloud.

[Nanami Touko]

Tia finally caught her breath, and scooted over to Elliot, as the woman next to him left the wagon. "Studying to be an alchemist, huh? I used to do that." She asked, furrowing her brow a little, but not at him. Catching the rough expression she was pulling, she softened it, and took a look at his book. "What are you reading? I know that's Quilesh, but I can't read any of it for the life of me." She could at least be curious in what he was reading, if anything.

[roymbrog]

Valter breathed a sigh of relief as Nadya came over to help. Things were going to go so much more smoothly than if he had to deal with three anxious horses on his own. “Isis is well behaved, but the other one… From what I was told last night, it might be a problem. It apparently likes to ‘play’ with horses,” he said, unhooking the last strap holding the horse on his side to the wagon. Once that was done, he took Phyllis’s reins in one hand and the wagon horse’s in the other, and began to lead both animals away from the wyverns and into the grass.

---

“Used to?” Elliot echoed, meeting Tia’s look with a curious one. Whatever had happened, she apparently didn’t want to talk about it, as she exchanged the facial expression he couldn’t place with a softer one he could. He tilted the cover so she could see the pages better, and even if she couldn’t read the words it was clear everything was handwritten with care. “I’m not very good with Quilesh either, yet,” he admitted. “That’s why I have this, though. Mom copied a bunch of poems for me so I could practice reading while I’m away.”

OoC: I couldn’t think of a poem name \o/

[Phoenix]

Plain Plans

"Dying," Glen murmured in response, turning his eyes back to the endless stretch of road.

<Well that's needlessly dramatic,> Malik thought to himself.

"A wyvern that size?" Shadrak began again, "I don't think they'll realize the pegasi are even there right away." His doubts hadn't been laid to rest just yet. "Keep in mind, it's not just that she's large, an actual dragon attacked them not too long ago ... forget that we were sort of involved there. Look ..." Shadrak decided to at least make a suggestion since he doubted they weren't going to send Haythem and Isis despite his argument, "at least send the others in first to warn the guards about the large wyvern and let them know it's not a dragon, or a 'skotian soldier's pet or ... anything else they might want to take a shot at. Can we at least take that precaution here?"

"Fine by me," Malik muttered. He looked to Amon who eventually nodded. "Any other thoughts or volunteers? If not, then you should get going, Haythem."

[Nanami Touko]

Eva heard Valter's comment before he walked the horses away, shooting him a glare. "Do not start! That is not what I said, and I tried to explain what happened last night, but you decided not to listen. Don't go spreading shit if you aren't going to get it right." She sighed and frowned. "I'm definitely going now. Which way am I flying in? Point me off so I can get going, already." The last thing she needed on top of being tired and hungry was arguing with Valter shit talking her wyvern.

----------

"Used to," she repeated, not getting into any more detail. She refrained from frowning again, and simply did her best to listen to what he was saying. "Oh, that's so nice~ I'll bet you're glad you've got a mom like that." She smiled, finally, and then looked over the words. "Yeah... Still can't read any of it. But I've heard it spoken, and it's a beautiful language. I don't think I'd ever be able to learn it in my life time, though. Never had a real aptitude for languages, and this one seems really tough."

[roymbrog]

Eva’s fears were partially unfounded, as Valter had no inclination to argue with her. As far as he was concerned, he wasn’t ‘shit talking’ her wyvern, just giving a fellow horse owner fair warning. As such he ignored the wyvern rider and kept on walking.

---

“Yeah, I am,” Elliot replied. He was still smiling, but it had a hint of sadness to it. He hadn’t seen his mother in over a month now and it was the longest he’d ever been away from home.

“Um, yeah. Quilesh can be hard to learn. Miss June’s been trying to learn it for years now, but mom told me that she’ll probably never be fluent. There’s a lot to know.”

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya rolled her eyes. A wyvern flying around scaring the horses could cause serious problems, but its owner didn't seem inclined to do much about it. Arguing probably wouldn't help the situation though, so she helped unhitch the horses.

--

"The grammar of Quilesh can be difficult to grasp if you're used to Common, but most people should be able to manage some basic phrases. Was your mother born in Aquila?" Liam asked the avian boy, the conversation sufficiently piquing his curiosity.

[Ether]

A host of things had happened since the night before, with the resolution... if you can call it that, of the Emblem issue between Malik and Joanna, along with the incident between Eva and Valter. Regardless of that, they had gotten moving, but apparently had stopped. Angelica wasn't overly concerned over it, since the sounds of fighting weren't in the air, so she opted to remain in the wagon for now, lying on a soft bedroll and reading through one of her tomes... things had been so hectic as of late that she hadn't been able to keep up as well with her studies as she would have liked.

[Nanami Touko]

"Miss June? Oh, right! She gave me one of those torches last night. She seems nice. Is she your teacher? How long have you known her? And is she an alchemist too?" Tia bombarded the boy with a slew of questions, realizing only after she'd done so that she had. "Oh, sorry... Too curious, it seems. You don't have to answer all that, if you don't want to." The bird man that had been with Joanna joined their conversation, but Tia didn't feel she could answer any of that unless she suddenly became Elliot.

[Phoenix]

Plain Plans Progress

"Just follow Haythem, he knows the way," Malik answered Eva, "and besides, you should stick together for the most part, at least until the warning part of this comes up."

"Flying nonstop should get you guys there by tomorrow if the wind is agreeable most of the way," Amon estimated. "You won't be starving but be sure to stop for water if you can find any."

Haythem saddled up while listening to his two colleagues and finally chimed in once he was all but ready to take off. "And what about Fizza?"

"She's still up there?" Amon stood onto his toes to get a better view.

"You'd never think she's a Tide assassin when she's sleeping like this, heheh." And in the blink of an eye, Haythem went from grinning in amusement at the slumbering assassin to flinching as she sprung up and hopped down from Isis, completing the move in about one second. "Err ..."

"I'll stay here," she said, beginning to stretch her arms and neck.

[scorri]

Hoshi hesitated and then spoke up. "Uhm, as... as one of the leaders, I... uhm, I think it would be helpful if I went. Weyland's name may help to ease our, uhm, way."

[Nanami Touko]

"Alright," Eva said to Malik, a hint of annoyance still on her voice. Valter hadn't said anything, and neither had Nadya, but she wanted to nip this crap in the butt before everyone thought she couldn't handle her wyvern. With a sigh, she began moving him away from the cart, until Hoshi spoke up. "Sure. You can ride with me if you want to, Hoshi. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure Isis has plenty of space."

[roymbrog]

The avian man in the wagon suddenly joined their conversation, and to be honest Elliot hadn’t paid him much attention until now. He briefly hesitated in answering when he took note of Liam’s clothing. Maybe he was from Aquila too? “Yeah, but she wasn’t raised there. Her parents left when she was little. They moved to Flugel,” he explained.

Quite immediately Elliot was showered by another string of questions from Tia, and he visibly struggled to keep up with the girl. “Yes, she’s my teacher. I’ve known her since I was little, um, and she’s an alchemist too. I don’t mind the questions, just… can you slow down?”

---

The scouting/supply gathering mission wasn’t a bad idea, just one they had to be cautious with while sending Isis. The others seemed to have that sorted out though. Eva was leaving as well, which Valter was thankful for. He didn’t feel comfortable leaving Phyllis alone while that wyvern was nearby. Maybe when they left he could leave the horses to graze on their own and go sit in the shade of the wagon or something. For now he was standing nearby while they dined on whatever grass was around.

---

Kimiko rounded the side of the wagon, coming up on the group gathered near Isis. She had caught the latter parts of the conversation but was not entirely clear on what was going on. “Oh, we are sending people ahead?” she asked. It appeared three people were heading out, but that was because Kimiko had missed Lumi’s offer to go. “[Good luck, Hoshi!]” she called over in Kigenese.

Edited September 18, 2014 by roymbrog

[-Cynthia-]

"Ah I see," Liam answered the boy. The human girl seemed to be bombarding him with questions so he did not pursue further. I wonder why anyone would leave Aquila to come down here- maybe they were like Joanna and wanted to help humans? I have not seen what else one would find appealing about this place...

[scorri]

<"Ah, thank you Kimiko,"> Hoshi said with a smile. She followed after Eva, feeling more comfortable with her than with the Rexian man. Lumi mounted back up and whistled to Star. The pegasus sprung into the air, ready for more flying.

[Snike]

Well, it seemed as though they had stopped for the time being. Partially due to the animals, and partially to do some scouting. Not really much he could help with for either, so Pete just busied himself with checking over his weapons and belongings once again.