Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[Mercakete]

Norbert felt a pang of pity for Valter as the man began talking and his attention returned to the horseman. He was really broken up about this, and understandably so. Nadya seemed more or less unconcerned, though to her credit, she seemed at least a bit thoughtful about the ordeal. The pity had, thankfully, subtracted from his anger some. It was enough that his voice had lowered back down to simply irritated levels instead of outraged. "I don't mind being a fugitive. I'm actually more comfortable living outside of towns. It's the principle of what happened that's bothering me."

Norbert glared at the ground. "The entitled... They've always made me mad. So, I stand up to them and show them that not everyone's just going to take what they decide to say or do." He looked up with a frown at Valter. "So, even if it wasn't you that happened to, I'd still be mad." He glared off to the side, beginning to get frustrated with himself. "I'm not good with words, so I'll just say it like this: you didn't do anything wrong, Valter. And I'm sorry for the price you have to pay for the stupidity of the entitled. And, well... If you want me to be quiet, I'll go ahead and do that, cause I'm terrible at trying to make people feel better." This time, he actually smiled, mildly amused at his own shortcoming. "So, I figure you know better than me what'll help you out."

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, maybe I asked that wrong," Tia said, though she was still interested in the information. "I meant what do you do for, like, fighting? Do you just use light magic, or can you swing a weapon around?" She wondered if she was being too direct, but oh well. Already said it.

[-Cynthia-]

Valter was still gonna be upset and Norbert was gonna be angry about principles it looked like. Nadya had said her piece and so she wandered away, leading the horses to more grass.

--

"Ah, personally I specialize in light magic, though there are members of Cloud Legion who use weaponry as well. I have also been trained in hand-to-hand combat as is typical for members of Cloud Legion," Liam specified to Tia.

[roymbrog]

The horseman sighed and covered his face with one hand. “I’ve already come to terms with it, I just don’t know how to deal with it,” he replied to Nadya’s statement before she left.

“Bert, I don’t think the problem is that they’re entitled so much as I killed Wrathites yesterday with the Prince as witness. Joanna was a victim of Desmond’s arrogance, but whatever they decide to do with me is justified,” Valter tried to explain. “Honestly, it would help if I didn’t have to think about this right now.”

---

Yes! End of the page! Elliot’s book was laid down with a thump as he turned to Tia and asked fervently, “Who was the other vasilus? Did you meet a vasilus?!” Liam’s side of the conversation was interesting and all but he had been waiting to ask this question for a while now.

[Mercakete]

"The Wrathites thinking they can get away with things like that and the justice system not holding them accountable like they're supposed to is what I call 'entitled.' Doing things they think they can get away with..." Norbert grumbled, but he let the matter alone. He was beginning to get annoyed again and Valter made it clear he wanted a change in subject. The pegasus rider tried to think of a new subject to help his friend out, referring back to past conversations, and finally came up with, "How's Phyllis? She's pretty timid, you know, so I was worried she might take that wyvern attack badly."

[Nanami Touko]

"Ah, okay. Light magic--" which was all Tia got out, as Elliot pressed her on the vasilus, causing her to freeze for a moment. "I-I, I don't, want to talk about it," she hurriedly said, looking away from the both of them. There was no way she was going back there right now. "S-So, uhm, light magic, h-how hard is that to use?" Come on... Stay away from it...

[-Cynthia-]

"For avians, use of light magic comes naturally. It's not as easy for humans, but some of your kind have managed to learn it with enough practice," Liam answered Tia. She seems upset about something, but if she would prefer not to talk about it then I will respect her wishes.

[roymbrog]

Valter crossed his arms. He was glad for the topic change, but as far as he was concerned it was trading one awful topic for a moderately less worse one. “She’s more nervous around the wyverns than before, but I can’t tell if it’s just Eva’s or if she’s frightened of Isis as well,” he said. “I’m just thankful she wasn’t hurt. I’m not sure what I would’ve done if I’d lost her as well.”

---

Ooooh, welp. That was definitely not the right question to ask, Elliot quickly realized. The avian panicked momentarily, unsure of how to backtrack. “Sorry, Tia! U-Um… I won’t bring it up again,” he stammered out. The girl had changed the subject back to magic, and Elliot was eager to prove he wasn’t going to bring up vasili again. “I can use dark magic instead! It’s apparently kinda rare.”

[Nanami Touko]

Deep breathe, focus on something else... F-focus, light magic, that's cool, right? Just talk about that, or just magic, or... "It's, uhm... It's okay, Elliot. You were just curious, and all," she stammered out, taking a few more breathes, before trying to join back into the conversation. "Yeah, you said you were learning from Miss June... What can you do, Elliot?" Maybe an example of something would be nice to take her mind away from things.

[roymbrog]

“Y-Yeah, I am!” Elliot replied. Tia was still bothered, but he was going to do his best to distract her from it. “I can’t do anything flashy, but here, look at my fingers,” he said, holding his right hand close to her, palm up. After a moment faint violet lines appeared on the tips of his fingers as he flared the few tendrils stationed there. “Did you see that? Miss June showed me how to make these. I can feel what things are made of.”

[Nanami Touko]

"Get away!" Maybe that was a bad idea. Tia sprawled back in fear, trying to scuttle away from the tendrils in Elliot's hand, breathing heavily, wide eyed in fear. Th-Those were the s-same things, th-the same things that, th-th-that did that to me...! She hid herself against the opposite wall of the wagon as best as she could, huddling up and throwing her head on her knees, trying her best to calm down. "I-It's okay, s-stop... Stop, freaking, out..." she whispered to herself, trying to maintain that it was just Elliot, and not some Vasilus bent on finishing her off.

[roymbrog]

That was not the reaction Elliot had expected at all, and he leapt back into the wall of the wagon when Tia’s outburst startled him. “W-W-What did I do?!” He was nearly as panicked as Tia, and terrified he’d hurt her in some way. Tendril magic shouldn’t have been dangerous, but what if he’d messed something up?

The shouts from inside the wagon drew Kimiko back to the rear opening with a very concerned countenance. “What happened?” She demanded, glancing from Tia to Elliot quivering on the opposite wall.

“I-I don’t know, I was just showing her my tendril magic, and then she freaked out!” Elliot answered, still firmly pressed against the wagon wall.

[Phoenix]

Into the Sunset

Once they were certain the animals were rested enough for the next leg of the trip, the Glen got the wagon moving again. Supplies would still be an issue, but with three fewer mounts and four fewer people to worry about in the short term, they could easily stretch things over a couple of more days and make it to Ursaea, no one having gone without. The biggest concern was still water. A little over seven hours into the trip and the sun was beginning to blissfully float down toward the horizon, and still there was little in sight worth noting.

Because Isis was gone now, Amon, Malik, and Fizza had to sit in the wagon with most of the others, making things considerably more cramped. Amon and Fizza sat on top of a crate to make as much room as they could while Malik tuned out the space problem altogether and just focused on the long term. Amon was really missing the Dauntless, and even the wooden roofed hauler Raquel had used before receiving the Dauntless.

Joanna had woken up less than an hour after they'd set out again, and with nothing else she could do while confined to such a small space, she switched off between reading whatever she could find and meditating. It was a day with almost no notable occurrences, something she was both happy and sad about. On the one hand, they could have been accosted by a patrol, but any that showed up past them without much interest. On the other hand, with no notable activity whatsoever, she had a difficult time keeping her mind off the series of events that landed them here in the first place.

Glen had come close to slipping back into a state of utter insanity as the hours and the wagon dragged on, but staved it off by reminding himself of one very important thing: the wrathites would catch up to them eventually. It was only a matter of time at the rate they were going. If they could reach Ursaea first, they might be able to give them the slip, but if they caught up to the group out in the middle of nowhere it would turn into a battle. Hopefully they were wasting time stopping every group they caught up with heading this way. That would at least slow them down a little.

With thoughts of the wrathites catching them, it was no wonder Glen flinched when he saw a pegasus rider flying around them, despite the huge distance between them and the group. They couldn't have come from ahead of them, Glen noted to himself, or he would have seen them coming, or at least Alphonse would have. They must have come from behind. "Urgh, who is that? It's not our loud pegasus rider," he said, leaning forward just far enough to confirm that Norbert was still where he'd last seen him in the miniature convoy.

[roymbrog]

Flying High

“Several people on mounts, armed… “ Roger mumbled to himself as he looked through an old pair of binoculars. “But what’s in the wagon? Can’t get a good angle inside the blasted thing…” A second pass around the back wasn’t providing a better view of the interior either. “Ugh, I should just report this as is. They’re heading the right direction…”

After encountering the travelers while scouting, Roger had spent the last few minutes alternating between circling around and following behind on his pegasus. The group was showing no signs of stopping despite the waning sunlight and sticking around much longer was definitely going to draw attention, if they hadn’t noticed him already. Best to go relay the information now, then. After a third pass brought him back in the right direction, the grey pegasus began speeding ahead of the group down the road.

Riding Low

If there was one thing Kamal hated – well, there was probably a long list of things, but at the top of the list right now was horses. Specifically, horseback riding. Even more specifically, a full day of horseback riding on a mount that was also pulling a cart. His ass and lower back were sore, and he was pretty sure he’d be walking bow-legged for a while after they’d stopped for the night. This was definitely shaping up to be his least favorite job this month, and not only because of the terrible travel conditions. His employers had spent the better part of the last two hours discussing Ursian battle tactics against the Neviskotian army, and Kamal just could not care less about the topic. So when something in the distance caught his eye, he couldn’t be happier to interrupt them. “Hey, Charles, you told me to keep an eye out for pegasi? What d’ya make of that over there?”

The shorter of the two men riding ahead of him, the one with the staff and crossbow strapped across his back, put his comments on the recent dragon invasion on hold to glance where the Rexian was pointing. Sure enough, there was an airborne greyish blob to the northeast. He took a spyglass from a pouch at his side, expanded it, and focused in for a better look. “Definitely a pegasus. There appears to be a man riding it, unusual. It matches the description,” Charles replied, pocketing the spyglass. Looking to the third member of their little band, he asked, “Do you think he’s headed for the target?”

The last rider, Gregory, briefly considered the situation before answering. “Only one way to find out!” With no warning whatsoever, he snapped his horse’s reins and took off in a gallop. “Onward, Betsy!” he shouted as they sped off.

“Oh, for the love of- Sorry about this, you’ll catch up, I’m sure!” Charles called back the last part as he urged his horse forwards to catch up.

“…Are you kidding me?” Kamal muttered in disbelief. Between his lack of experience riding, the cart his horse was pulling, and the dog sleeping in the back, he’d likely only make half their speed. Being late to the party was better than not showing up at all, but this really was the worst job this month, wasn’t it?

[Nanami Touko]

Tia remained quiet as the wagons began to move. She didn't want to talk to anyone, as much as she felt sorry for scaring Elliot so badly. It wasn't his fault! She'd even asked him what he could do, against her better judgment. Of course dark magic would involve that, but she figured at his age, he'd just conjure a flux, or something. Then again, alchemy... She sighed and tried to calm down, not saying anything or making any noise until they'd moved a bit.

"I... I met, Nyx," she finally said, raising her head a little bit. It had been a while since anyone had said anything, but maybe breaking the silence would be best with something she really had to get off of her chest. At least a bit. "And I-I did something, so stupid... She took away my m-magic. Messed, with my memories..." she stuttered out the last part, not bothering to say anything else. She couldn't. It was hard enough to even say what she had, without breaking into sobbing.

[Ether]

Angelica had been lazing around and reading, for the most part... in the end, she had been too indecisive, and hadn't gotten any training in... what a bother. She hadn't noticed the figure circling the convoy, mostly due to being inside it, until Glen pointed it out. Well, better to be safe than sorry, right? Taking a look, the adept flinched slightly at the sight of the grey pegasus.

"Can't be... can it? Out here?" She mumbled to herself, as she pulled out her rifle, and lined up her sights with the rider. The magnification was all it took to confirm, which left Angelica's finger resting on the trigger, somewhat hesitant.

"What in the hell? He's definitely scoping us out, but why... it seemed like a random hit, and even if he had something against her...?" Angelica mused, mostly to herself, keeping her sights on the rider as he flew down the road ahead of them.

[roymbrog]

Elliot had spent the last few hours reading silently, mostly because of the earlier incident. He didn’t want to open his mouth again when it had caused so much trouble already.

Kimiko had long since finished her list of supplies, and between explaining some of Elliot’s more complicated reading, working on her own designs, and occasionally glancing concernedly at Tia, the rest of the afternoon flew by. When the young girl spoke up after hours of silence she drew Kimiko’s attention from the trigger mechanisms the latter was sketching. The alchemist stared for a moment, shocked by the opening statement, before her features softened into a sympathetic frown. “Oh, you poor child…” No wonder she had reacted poorly to tendril magic.

The young avian placed his book down, looking over at Tia with wide eyes. Well, that explained the vasilus question… “Oh, um, wow. Are you… Or, um… You don’t want to talk about it,” he said, last part mostly to remind himself. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t meant to make you remember bad things.”

While Elliot was apologizing, Kimiko had noticed something else odd happening at the front of the wagon. Namely one of the women with them had pulled out a sniper rifle, and was now aiming it out the front opening. That was more than a little disconcerting. “Excuse me,” she called ahead. “What are you doing with that rifle?”

[Ether]

"Glen saw a strange pegasus knight circling us, and he's not one of ours... I thought I recognized his pegasus so I wanted to take a better look... with the way he's going, it's a bit too far to take him out now... and I didn't get to see his face, so I can't be sure..." Angelica replied, as she began to put her rifle away.

"Hey, Alphonse... remember when we were ambushed, right after meeting Greta? Do you remember if the pegasus knight that was with those guys got away? I got knocked out so I didn't see the end... but that looks like the same pegasus, and the profile is similar... if he did, I think that was the same guy." The adept asked, with a sigh.

[Nanami Touko]

Tia took some more breaths, appreciating the comments, though she wasn't sure she entirely deserved them. "I'll be fine... I just need time," she managed, forming a tiny smile as she looked over at Elliot. "It was my fault, anyway, so... Don't feel too sorry for me. Your magic was really cool, Elliot. You're almost my age, and you can form tendrils. It's impressive." She tried her best to work past the fear. "Just, uhm... Just warn me, if you're going to use them, and I'm around. Please? If it's some other dark magic, go ahead, but... I think I need to not see any of that, for a bit..."

[-Cynthia-]

Liam frowned at Tia's story. I suppose Nyx is not as benevolent as Lady Isolde, or Lord Luminous, or Lady Lilith... Tia apparently did not want to discuss the matter, so he did not pursue it for the moment. She needs to find her role without magic... he thought to himself, before his attention was drawn to the woman aiming the rifle. The whole situation was rather confusing, although he sincerely hoped she was not randomly shooting at the pegasus or their rider.

--

I wonder how Haythem's doin'... Nadya wondered to herself, beginning to feel that she was very foolish for allowing her gold to get so far away from her. She stopped as the group's attention was focused on some random pegasus rider. Some people from Greta's group seemed to recognize them or something? We ain't got the time to be dealin' with people's past baggage...

Edited September 29, 2014 by -Cynthia-

[Phoenix]

The Road Ahead

Joanna was surprised by what she was hearing, though she supposed she shouldn't have been. Shooting down a scout who hadn't even attacked them yet or reported back was a classic military tactic that saved lives. That didn't mean she had to like it, though. She also wasn't even sure if he was a scout at all. Nothing was happening yet, so she decided to wait, and that was when she saw Greta loading her pistol and checking it over, muttering bitterly at the news. Joanna frowned at her. There has to be a better way to prepare than this, she thought to herself.

"So, what should we do?" Glen called back into the wagon. They couldn't turn around; that was asinine, but picking up the pace to try and catch up to the pegasus rider might burn through the animals' energy even faster. They probably wouldn't make up the difference in the distance they could cover, either.

"Just keep doing what you're doing for now," Amon decided, raising up, slightly. "It looks like there's a slight incline coming up, but we should still be able to see any people well before they reach us."

"What about traps?" Greta said, her voice low and somewhat hostile.

Amon didn't really have an answer for her, having little experience with mines and the like. Malik did, but he wasn't speaking up. Neither was Fizza, he noted with a slight frown.

[Mercakete]

Norbert had been riding Rizen upright since their journey's continuation. Now, there was talk of some pegasus rider up ahead and no one knowing how to deal with the situation, if what Norbert could hear of the conversation was anything to go off of.

"Hey," he asked Glen a bit deadpan, "want me to ride over and see what that rider's doing alone?" Normally, he would've just gone ahead and done it, but he really didn't want to pull any unnecessary attention to their group. Not while they were probably being hunted down, anyway. The question sounded innocent and legitimate enough in his own mind, but he figured he'd run it by the others to see what they thought anyway.

[Toogee]

Jam was resting in her seat next to Alphonse when she woke to the sudden commotion in the wagon. Several people took note of a peg rider flying a little too close for comfort. Several people were getting ready for another fight; even Greta was loading up on ammo. The dancer took a moment to nudge Alphonse to get his attention.

"Hey, you wanna team up, just in case?"

It was good to hope for the trip to go on uninterrupted, but with the way things had been going, that was wishful thinking. Jam unsheathed her sword, looking at the shine of her new blade. Would it be tested so soon?

[Eail]

As usual during his "off duty" time as Alphonse would put it, the swordsman was taking a nap to replenish his energy since he'd planned on taking a watch shift tonight. It didn't take much to wake him up, the sheer sound of Angelica settling with her rifle was enough to rouse the man, a gun being set to fire was something that was hard to mistake after all, especially when it was near your head. Jam poking him in the side certainly wasn't the reason he woke up, no sir.

Within a few seconds, he was back at full, listening to what Angelica, Amon, and others had to say. "You're kidding me right..." he muttered, groaning in frustration. Amon might technically be leader, but he'd bark out an order of his own. "Prepare for a possible ambush, everyone keep your guard up, Angelica keep that rifle on him as long as you can" For Greta though... "No speeding up unless we absolutely have to, traps are a distinct possibility, explosive or otherwise. Unless we've engaged in combat, rushing ahead might be the worse thing we can do."

As for his partner in crime herself "Hey, you watch my back I watch yours, that's the way the two of us go yeah?" He was speaking much quieter now, rather than barking orders. "How about after the fight we sit down and see just how much you want me to customize that thing for you, I'm no master when it comes to fixing up a blade, but I know a few tricks."

Edited September 30, 2014 by Eail

[Ether]

"Like I said, it's just a hunch. He might not be hostile, necessarily... that said, it's not a bad idea to keep on guard... though I'm gonna take that as a yes, to him getting away back then?" Angelica replied, as her eye followed the moving pegasus.

"That said... from an angle and distance like this, and with how he's moving, I doubt I'd hit him even if I took the shot."