Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[Eail]

"Oh don't worry Princess, I'll challenge him to a duel before I teach the kid some respect, after this is all over of course and we're safe for the day. Not like I'm a savage or anything." Al simply replied to Joanna.

Around this point, Alphonse really wished that he didn't have his weakness, internally groaning at how Jam and Tia were speaking.

"Look, we'll help if there's anyone left, but we still can't go rushing in like a big group of heroes, that's just how we might end up getting killed as well.

[-Cynthia-]

"Yeah, maybe we should just go around. We're on a bit of a tight schedule here with the people likely chasin' after us and all that," Nadya chimed in.

Princess? Does he think Joanna's royalty? Liam wondered about the unfamiliar human. "What's a 'duel'? I am unfamiliar with this concept," he asked.

[Eail]

"A Duel is sort of like a less friendly spar, in some cases it's to the death, not what I want at all. Kid just has a bit of an attitude problem I've noticed tonight and today, doesn't seem like the type to work it out with words either." Alphonse explained with a shrug

Edited October 5, 2014 by Eail

[-Cynthia-]

"I fail to see how violence would convince someone to change their attitude- it merely demonstrates physical superiority. It is illogical to think that being stronger somehow makes one more correct," Liam said. Humans have very strange customs it seems...

[roymbrog]

That place with the thing

“Ah, boss, she shot Henry,” one of the horsemen noted as two others struggled to drag a middle aged woman from the back of the wagon to the front. Her weapon had already been confiscated, and he handed it over to ‘boss’, a dark haired man with a broadsword.

Lagar took the offered dragon and scowled as he stared at the fallen man writhing on the ground. “I can see that,” was his sour reply. Aside from the complete disaster that was the ambush at Urden, his latest plans had been working out fairly well. This job was shaping up to be the kink in his string of good luck. And there was one person at fault for that at the moment: the fire mage who’d rigged and detonated their roadblock in the first place.

The aforementioned fire mage was standing anxiously off to the side. He knew he had mistimed the explosion, and probably overpowered the blast. It was supposed to be enough to stop the horses, not blast them and the wagon to bits. The man who’d been driving the thing had fallen forwards between the horses. If the blast hadn’t killed him, he had probably been crushed by either the dead or flailing animals. The mage didn’t care much to check. It was with hesitation that he obeyed the ‘come here’ motion Lagar was making with his hand, and for good reason. The former mercenary wasn’t known to treat failures well.

“Since you’re the one who made this mess,” Lagar began as the mage approached, “You get to clean it up.” At the man’s quizzical expression, he shoved the weapon into his arms. “We don’t need more witnesses. Throw the bodies in the hole and burn them,” he ordered. After that, they’d need to move some of this merchandise to the horses. With the wagon in this state there was no way they’d be able to get it moving within a few minutes.

---

Flying high

This situation was intensely frustrating. He needed to get on the ground, but this guy was persistent. Still diving, Roger hefted his lance and gestured threateningly with it. “Fuck off and stop following me! It’s not my fault if you end up dead!”

A second gunshot was heard below, and the pegasus rider picked up his pace.

---

Team Amon

Valter did indeed have a problem with Al hitting Bert, but it wasn’t like he was given much chance to respond to that point. “Concrete information always trumps paranoia, however,” he muttered. It wasn’t so much he was against being cautious as it was they were working blind.

A back and forth about whether they should help or not followed, though there were several things he took issue with. He had heard Joanna speak up within the wagon, and everything Alphonse had said in reply. “Don’t call her that,” he said, giving the swordsman a sidelong glare. “And I don’t want you fighting Bert if your intention is to beat respect out of him. It doesn’t work that way.”

Eyes back forward he continued, though more to people in general, “I’d say it’s up to Amon whether we go around or not. It might be best to wait for Bert to return first, however.”

---

Prepare to pew pew

Gregory slowed his horse as he neared the top of the incline, and Charles followed suit. Once he was in a position to see everything downhill well, he stopped and dismounted. Well, this was a right mess, wasn’t it? Road blasted to bits with the wagon immovable, and by the gunshot he’d just heard he guessed they were already disposing of its occupants. “Hey Charles, you’re the one with the description. You see anything?”

The second rider had similarly dismounted, and was currently fiddling with his spyglass. “You do realize they give those things to both of us?” he asked as he began scanning the men below in the dwindling light.

“Bah, I never remember those things. Just tell me which ones I should be shooting, aye?” Gregory replied as he began stringing his longbow. “Hmm… Maybe I should take out that guy on the pegasus first… Er. Charles, am I seeing things, or are there two of them now?”

“Hmm? I noticed that a while ago.”

Longbow strung, Gregory nocked and arrow and began pulling its impressive draw weight. “...Well, it’ll only be one again shortly.”

---

Fuck this job

As his employers crossed over the hill and out of view, Kamal sighed. Now he really had no idea what was going on. On the other hand, he was about to up a wagon on the road and if he was calculating it right, given their differeing trajectories, he guessed they’d reach the top of the hill the same time he did.

[Eail]

"Calm down Valter, I'm not hitting on your girlfriend." Alphonse waved off the redhead's anger. "The kid gets to work off some frustration and I get to teach him some humility, good for him all around. Let's try to focus on the present though, shall we? The gunshots I'm hearing probably aren't good news."

[Mercakete]

Sure enough, there was some sort of ambush happening below. People were talking, it seemed, and someone had been apprehended. Then, one of them shot the person who had been possibly captured. Norbert glared down at the sight. It wasn't often he caught a bunch of bandits in the middle of a raid back in his brigand-busting days. He typically waited for a more opportune moment. It was a little strange now, seeing this without the others right by him. It was almost like he was Bert the Crusher again: just him and Rizen, looking for their next payday. He had half a mind to interfere and see if anyone else was left alive in the wagon. It wasn't as though there was much time...and yet, he had a new prospective, now. He'd traveled with allies, and those allies -- some old and familiar, and some new -- were waiting on his report. He didn't feel quite as...hostile as he used to. It certainly was a surreal feeling.

However, there was the other rider to deal with. He wasn't sure how to take his reply. Was he trying to be some hero? Was he actually with these bandits? If it was the latter, then why was he warding him away instead of taking the opportunity to snag another victim? Maybe he was a good guy on a bad path. Maybe he really did intend on taking down these guys by himself. Whatever the reason, he knew he had a much better shot at taking on these looters with the others than he did by himself. But was the situation too urgent to ignore, here?

Graaaagh! Blast these complicated situations! "Don't try anything stupid!" Norbert called after the other pegasus rider, keeping on course for a little while longer, "If you want to take these people on, we'll lend you a hand! I'm going to tell them about what's going on now."

Maybe he'd said too much, maybe he didn't say enough. He wasn't sure, but there wasn't enough time to parse all that out. It was only in that moment that Norbert broke away from his course and began hurrying back towards the others. He did note the two horsemen had stopped on the hill...and that one had a bow. Huh? What's that about? Is he with those guys? Maybe they've got this situation covered after all. He didn't decrease his speed, though.

[Phoenix]

Road Warriors

"As long as Bert doesn't just decide to charge in alone, he should get back to us before we actually reach them so just keep an eye on things and let us know if anything, including Bert, is headed this way," Amon said, motioning for Glen to keep going, though instinctively the man slowed the horses down a little, in preparation for the incline that was coming up.

"Mmph--only those who know of respect and humility should be trying to teach them," Joanna said, looking like she'd just failed to save a live. What was really bothering her was that her instincts regularly caused her to speak out when she really didn't feel like doing so. She knew it was something of a flaw in her people, or at least a trigger for a lot of incidents and even wars in the past, but she just couldn't help it, sometimes and really hoped the entire subject would change soon.

Amon glanced back at her for a moment. It wasn't something he'd ever heard before in his entire life, so the quip caught him by surprise. It wasn't really the time to think about the true depth of what she was trying to say, but maybe later.

"Knock it off, guys," Greta cut in sharply. "By the way, Amon, if Bert's report mentions the guy who attacked us, you need to let us deal with him." It was at that moment when Amon realized that Greta wasn't just trying to protect herself by keeping a loaded weapon at the ready. She wanted to execute her old enemies. "I hate bandits and ex mercenary scum who try to prey on travelers and if we can put an end to just a few of'em, Sardius'll be a better place for it."

"I can't stop you, but ..." Amon tried to find a way to talk her down but came up short. He sighed in frustration. Before he could say anything else, Joanna chimed in again, and why he wasn't expecting her to was beyond him. "No, don't! There's nothing wrong with restraining them and delivering them to the authorities in Ursaea ..."

[Toogee]

It seemed the decision to help or run had divided the group. Most everyone wanted to find an alternate path out, but Greta wanted to help. Well, she wanted to exact revenge for their previous encounter, but close enough. Jam would follow Greta regardless, but the dancer was happy that she supported going after the bandits. It was Joanna that objected to killing them, preferring to send them to the authorities.

"Wouldn't Ursaea be more interested in us than bandits?" Jam asked Joanna, before turning to Greta. "And if these are the same bandits we fought before...the same ones Rhoul was a part of. They killed him when he turned to our side. I'd like to deliver some payback."

((I hope I'm thinking of the right bandits :P))

[Nanami Touko]

Tia felt like a huge tag along in this situation, turning her head from one person to another as they continued to talk. She didn't know what to say to any of it, and she couldn't offer to help fight along with them. Time to be moral support, I guess... She took hold of Jam's hand and tried to stop her legs from shaking. "I-I'm just going to stick with you, alright? I don't think I have it in me to try helping you all fight yet..."

[-Cynthia-]

So they have some kind of violent history here? "Revenge solves nothing- it only creates more violence. Using lethal force out of anger will only cause more problems for us," Liam explained, although part of him felt it was somewhat pointless. How Joanna has tolerated humans for so long is beyond my understanding.

Nadya didn't particularly care if the bandits died or not- her attention was focused on watching ahead of them. Seems like this is gonna end in violence...

[Phoenix]

Road Stuff

"Isn't there already a plan for getting supplies from Ursaea?" There were two, actually, though whether the latter would be put into action was yet to be determined. Joanna frowned. "We could keep my identity a secret and send someone who looks the part to hand them over to the authorities while the rest of us wait. It's the same as the supply run approach."

"Tell ya what, Jo," Greta began, looking only slightly annoyed, "if I don't recognize anyone, or they're hogtied by the time I do, I'll put this away," she indicated her pistol. "But otherwise ... I shoot on sight. The world doesn't need bandits around."

Joanna might have been somewhat relieved by Greta's explanation, but she knew in all likelihood, the woman would probably hop out of the wagon as soon as they were close enough, otherwise the chances of her seeing and recognizing anyone or anything were quite low.

[Eail]

Curse his ever present weakness, finishing up a small groan Alphonse spoke "The kid is off the table right now, we'll see how he acts later, if it bothers you so much. But if these are the same bastards as before? I'm with Greta, they dont get another chance to kill us. Think of it as peacekeeping, instead of revenge, if that'll help you sleep at night."

[roymbrog]

That place with the thing

Roger cursed. He had been trying to get the pegasus rider to leave so he wouldn’t be able to give a description of those on the ground should he escape, not so he could bring more trouble to them. He wasn’t accustomed to fighting while airborne, or he would’ve turned around to stop Bert right now. As things stood he was more likely to fall off himself than do any real damage to the other man. At least he had assumed Roger wasn’t with the bandits.

As the pegasus began closing in on the wreckage, a few on the ground finally took notice. “Roger’s really speedin’ in here, boss,” the horseman noted.

“I can see that,” Lagar replied. “It’s probably more bad news. Have the others gather up any valuables they find. We’re leaving as soon as possible,” he ordered as he began walking over to where it appeared the pegasus was going to land.

Once Roger had reached shouting distance, a few meters out and off the ground, he called out, “LAGAR! THERE’S A-“ But that was all he managed to say, before a large broadhead embedded in his back. In shock, he careened off the side of his pegasus the few remaining feet to the ground. The animal landed shortly after, panicked and flighty. She remembered the last time that had happened to someone riding it, and didn’t much like what came after.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare, first at Roger, then in the direction the arrow had come from. Lagar and the horseman both spotted Gregory first (kinda hard to miss in all honesty), and the latter shouted, “There! There’s a sniper up the hill!”

Forgoing his usual response, Lagar demanded, “Which one of you was supposed to be keeping watch?!”

“That would’ve been Henry, sir,” the mage spoke up, glancing down into the pit of partially burned corpses.

Of all the Wrath dammed turn of events… “Forget the merchandise, get the horses! We’re leaving, now!”

Pew pew completed

“That’s definitely him,” Charles noted, looking through the spyglass. “They’re scattering, Gregory. We should probably move in now.”

“Wait, wait! I can get one more!” The warrior was already drawing back another arrow, and released it with a draw out, “Peeeeeewww.” One of the men running for the horses crumpled, and he smirked smugly.

“You’re risking three-hundred gold.”

“…Ready when you are!” Gregory stated, immediately dropping his bow.

I'm enjoying my stupid-ass titles

“I never said she was my girlfriend,” Valter muttered. Amon seemed to agree with the ‘waiting for Bert’ plan so that’s apparently what they were going to do, now. They were coming up on the hill regardless, so they’d soon be able to see for themselves what was on the other side. Joanna then told off Alphonse, which surprised him. As far as he knew it was rare to hear her speak to someone like that.

A discussion followed about what to do with the bandits, should they be the same ones; kill them or capture them? Though under ordinary circumstances he wouldn’t be opposed to delivering them to Ursaea, there was a problem no one had brought up yet. “We don’t have room to carry prisoners,” Valter said. “I’m sorry, Joanna, but they might have the best solution.”

[Mercakete]

"Whoa!" Violence suddenly burst out behind him, and a ruckus quickly followed. Norbert's reflex was to twist around in the saddle -- glad he didn't wait any longer to have his side healed -- and see just what was transpiring. It seemed like the other pegasus had landed, and its rider was on the ground...face-down. Someone else got shot, too, by one of the horsemen on the hill. He still didn't know if the pegasus rider had been an innocent or a criminal, but in all likelihood, he was not with the two horsemen. He wished he knew just what his stance had been, but it certainly was looking like he'd made the right decision in turning back. After all, the rider hadn't been attacked by the bandits initially. Why didn't he attack me, then?

As the horsemen advanced on the bandits who seemed to be fleeing, Norbert hurried back to his own group, dove downward, and, hovering, hurriedly gave his report, "A wagon was ambushed. There's a big hole in the ground at the bottom of the hill. Bandits were looting it, and I don't think there are any more survivors. Those horsemen who passed us are attacking them, so the bandits are trying to get away now. Looks like the pegasus rider we saw might've been with the bandits. That or he was trying to be a hero and got an arrow in the back from those horsemen. If he's still alive when we get there, maybe he'll actually be willing to tell us this time."

[Ether]

"Seems the two groups are opposed, then." Angelica noted... better than the alternative, she supposed. Though at the moment, taking an effective shot was impossible until they cleared the hill, so she lowered her rifle.

[Phoenix]

Road Warriors Move Out

"How is a lie going to help anything?" Joanna asked rhetorically. Then came Norbert's report ...

Amon hadn't been expecting those sorts of details, but the severity of the situation came as no surprise to him whatsoever. It was exactly the kind of thing he'd come to expect from months of experience, on his own, with his allies from Rex-Avaz, and in Raquel's company. Now it was time to decide how to respond. The situation had already turned violent, and they wouldn't have to get involved for things to get resolved one way or another ... there also didn't seem to be any innocents left to save. It wasn't easy to come to the decision he did. "... let's go around if we can."

Surprisingly, Malik nodded at him. Joanna and Greta just stared in mild disbelief. "We don't have room for prisoners, ourselves ..." Malik tried to explain, "so if we go chasing them, there is only one way this can end," he concluded, looking at Joanna. At least now she understood why, but she still wanted to go and try to put an end to it. She didn't say anything for the moment, though.

"So we're going around? What if those other guys need help?" Glen asked.

[-Cynthia-]

"If we cannot take these bandits as prisoners, then let us at least put an end to them. Ignoring them just allows them to hurt more people in the future," Liam argued.

"Yeah, but those people might not be us. We got enough to worry about without tryin' to solve every crime in Sardius. Bandits are a fact of life," Nadya stated.

[roymbrog]

Norbert returned, bringing news. It was of course bad news, but Valter wasn’t expecting any different. With this new information Amon decided they should skirt around the disaster area. That was sound reasoning, considering they had little time to spare and it sounded like it was being taken care of. Just because the group was going around, however, didn’t mean he couldn’t check it out himself. “Then I’ll ride over there. I want to see the situation for myself, anyway,” Valter said in response to Glen’s question. “I can catch up with the rest of you afterwards.”

---

Kimiko didn’t like the situation at all, but felt it wasn’t her place to input on things. It was frightening to think that if not for the other horrible things of the past two days, she and Elliot would have been traveling this road alone with bandits lurking about. If only for that thought she wished to prevent them from accosting other travelers. She would not be the one fighting though, so the decision was not up to her.

Meanwhile Elliot was still huddled against her side, and was currently flipping a golden amulet back and forth in his hands. He was trying to tune the discussion out, for the most part. Bandits killing people was not something he wanted to think or hear about.

[Snike]

"We're on the run here," Pete said, tersely. "We can't just stop and help everyone we come by, especially considering we don't know who the horseman are with. They could be members of another group of bandits. so if there's no 'innocents' left alive then there's no reason for us to interfere."

[Eail]

Hearing some of the words around him, even from Amon surprisingly, made Alphonse clench his hand in frustration, fingers digging into his glove.

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to act on what is in front of us when we are able. The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it." The swordsman eventually said, staring in the direction of the action currently taking place.

"Valter, can I hitch a ride with you?" He asked, unable to stand by anymore.

[Phoenix]

Offroad Warriors

Glen had done as instructed, and began steering the horses off of the main road, though things got bumpy, quick. All the while, things were just as turbulent inside the wagon. So are half of us going over there to get involved while the rest keep our distance? I guess that makes sense but if something happens to them ...

"There is no right or wrong in this situation; you're only out for revenge ... and that's fine, but at least be honest about it," Malik glared at the swordsman. "And Joanna you need to stay here. Anyone who sees you can tell the wrathites about it." She had just been about to stand up, too, but Malik had a point, and Nadya was a good enough healer ... not that the nomad was even okay with this idea. Still, she was the safer choice with the wrathites still probably looking for them.

"Well I sure am, 'specially since there's no one left to help," Greta said, standing up and hopping out of the wagon, pistol in hand.

"Anyone who doesn't have a good reason to go over there, stay with us," Amon said, keeping his eyes on where the horses were taking them. He glanced down at Malik, who stopped staring down Joanna just long enough to make eye contact. How often are we going to be splintering over things like this? Is there anything we can do about it?

[Mercakete]

Norbert didn't agree with Alphonse. There were plenty of times when he hadn't known what the "right" thing to do was, even with his strong convictions. Case in point: whether to stick around and help that rider or not. Regardless...

"I'll go with you, Valter," Norbert informed the horseman. True, it seemed that he already had volunteers to help out, but he, himself, had a fair hand of experience in fighting bandits. Besides that, Valter was his friend and he saw no reason to stay back instead of supporting him. Plus, he had his own mount, and they would need at least two if they were bringing Greta and Alphonse along. "If we need help, I can always fly back and ask for it, too."

[-Cynthia-]

"Y'all are gonna want a healer on hand. If Joanna's not goin' then I better go I guess," Nadya said with a sigh. I can probably get away quickly enough, but if things get ugly I ain't sure about everyone else...

"I should stay back then too I suppose," Liam said, realizing that this seemed a little odd after what he said previously Dark avians seem uncommon enough in Ursium that I might draw suspicion- and I need to protect Joanna at all times. I can't rely on these random humans to do that.

[roymbrog]

Well it appeared his solo mission was gaining a full on entourage. First Alphonse was asking for a ride, then Bert, Greta, and Nadya decided to come. To the former he replied, “Well said. And yes, Phyllis can carry one more.” Galloping over the hill was right out with that much weight, but he really didn’t need to in the first place. It would likely be a short ride so it would be fine.

---

That wagon was turning, and Kamal realized with its new trajectory it was going to cross his path. Hopefully they wouldn’t be close enough that he’d have to slow and let them pass first.

OoC: laptop dyiiiiing