Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[Mercakete]

Norbert shook his head as he listened to some of the conversations going on. "Weren't you guys listening?" he asked, a little annoyed, "I'd like to fly closer to the bandits' hideout before landing and travelling aground. Horses and humans can't do that. These are mountains we're talking about. Depending on how high up the base is, some of the terrain's not going to be crossable without wings. Besides, if we don't hurry, we'll be sneaking up on bandits at night in their own territory. In case you don't know, that's stupid, so if we don't have to travel by foot, we're traveling by air. Once it gets dangerous, though -- that is, once we start getting close, we're landing."

This time, he wanted to be perfectly clear. So, crossing his arms, Norbert clarified what plan he'd scrapped together just a little while ago and apparently failed to explain very well. "Now, I don't know how far away this camp of theirs is, so I'm going to assume it's far away, which is a lot safer than assuming it's close by. I just hope it's less than a day's flight, or we run the risk of having a lot more problems and soon. So while we have the mounts, let's bring them instead of having to come back here and get them, but no walking. At least not until we hear it's just an hour away or something stupid like that, and not without some sort of plan to get away in case the bandits decide to start attacking us. If we have to get away and you didn't plan well enough to have a ride so you can outrun them, it's your own fault if you get left behind!"

Somewhat less snappishly, he added, "Stupidity gets you killed. If you don't want my advice, fine. It's not like I'm in charge or anything so you don't have to listen to me...but don't just ignore me either." In all honesty, he just didn't want any of them to get into a situation they couldn't get out of.

[Phoenix]

Camp

"In case you didn't notice," Shadrak began irritably, "some of us have already gone all the way to Ursaea, gone through town on errands, and walked all the way back. Ursaea's right at the foot of the mountains and they're not that vast; I can see most of the area we'll be covering from here. It's not going to take us long to get up there. I'm honestly surprised the town guards haven't found the hideout already just with a bit of guesswork. If walking there's such a bad idea then I'll ride with someone but I fight better on foot. Once we reach the woods, I'm on foot, just so we're clear."

Haythem sighed. It was a pretty long walk back to Ursaea and beyond, even if Shadrak didn't mind the extra legwork. "Anyone else who still needs a lift to the foot of the mountain, that's fine, but I really don't want to risk Isis getting hurt by going any further than that, not without knowing when and where their scouts went missing." Of course, if they knew that, they would know exactly where to look to find the this purported hideout.

"It's not a big area to search but if we don't get lucky, it could still take quite a lot of time," Fizza noted. "Easier than finding Sanctuary at least," she took a quick friendly jab at the Sancturans. "Greta, those guards do know you've got places to be, right? This isn't a terribly large mountain range but we could be stuck out here for days if this doesn't work out." She was going to suggest baiting the bandits into revealing themselves with one of their fliers to save time but that was just mean.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

"What's your point?" Norbert asked Shadrak, "Because mine is that we can't afford to waste much time. Like I said, you don't even have to follow my advice. But personally, I'd rather have wings handy than not, especially if we're going to risk rough terrain. Mountains have boulders, crags, uneven levels of rock, and a bunch of other stuff that flat lands don't, so even if someplace looks small, it could take a long time to cross if you can't fly. And if these bandits have wings themselves, then trust me: you'll want them too."

Bert didn't waste any more time on explanations. Instead, as he walked over to Rizen, he called out a general, "I was asked for a plan and I gave one. Take it or leave it! I'll adjust to whatever you all do anyway."

[Toogee]

While Norbert was trying to get the others to take flight (seriously guys, look at the title. Going with a theme here!), Jam boarded onto Eva's wyvern and awaited departure.She placed her hands on Eva's shoulders, adjusting to get a comfortable flying position.

"You drive, I shoot, right?" Jam said with a smirk. "Seriously, I got your back."

[Ether]

Well, that had taken some time, but luckily, it took a while for Greta to arrive with her news, once Angelica had access to her new supplies. She had even managed to finish what she had set out to do before the woman came back, talking of working more closely with the guard... that certainly could have been a close one. Regardless, stepping out of the little space she had claimed for herself and her things within the wagon for the time being, Angelica looked herself over in the mirror to make sure she hadn't missed anything. Looking back at her was a woman who, at first glance, shared nothing but height with what one would expect of her. Her blonde locks dyed jet black and curled, further altered as they were tied up in a low ponytail, loose rings framing her face and falling to her shoulders. A rather thorough make-up job accompanying the hair dye left the tone of her skin a tad darker, her facial features a bit sharper and more pronounced, and her lips a rather charming red. Finishing off her face, were a pair of rather unassuming earrings, simple jewelled studs.

Of course, all things considered, as much as her face had changed, perhaps the most... jarring difference was in her attire. Chest bound rather tightly, so as to appear a good deal smaller, along with not only a fully sleeved shirt, but full-length pants, even! Both were a fairly subtle leather brown, the pants themselves rather form-fitting, straight-cut cloth. The top was a somewhat different, a rather billowy blouse-type affair, cuffed at the wrists, accompanied by a white cravat, and a rather striking red scarf wrapped loosely about her neck. Fingering at the thing lightly, Angelica hoped she wouldn't need make use of it, but better safe than sorry.

Well, everything seemed to be in order. Donning a pair of glasses that served a dual purpose, aside from obfuscating her appearance further, they did give her a bit of magnification to her vision, though nothing significant. With a quick cast, the adept's eyes began to appear a light blue, to any who looked upon them, as well.

'It's kind of annoying to keep this up, but oh well. Filtration is useful enough to be worth it.' The adept reminded herself, as she adjusted the spell to retain her proper vision. It was extra effort, but essential nonetheless. Stepping outside and walking over to Greta and those who had gather about, she gave the merchant a light smile.

"So I heard bits and pieces, but mind going over it once more for me, quickly? Just so I make sure I've got it all down." The adept asked, hopefully being recognized only by voice... if even that. The less so, the better.

[Nanami Touko]

Eva laughed, nodding at Jam. "Yeah, get the gun out, we'll make this quick." It was an amusing thought-- well, wouldn't that be really effective, if the shooter was a great shot, or could use wind magic? Eva had heard of mounted archers, just, on horses. Maybe the bobbing of the wyvern, constantly up and down, made it hard, or impossible, for a gunner to fire from such a place.

In any case, Eva still had room for one more, and Angelica still wasn't anywhere to be seen. She sighed quietly, and started moving Sasha a bit. "Hey, still room for one more..." She trailed off as someone she hadn't... Who is that? What? When did we...? She ended up staring. "Heyyyyyyyyy," she suddenly belted out. "Who are you?"

[Phoenix]

And In Summary ...

"Point taken," Shadrak began, "but we're going to have a patrol following us apparently, and I doubt they're going to be following us by air considering they keep losing theirs. Maybe horseback if they don't mind the ridiculous terrain, but I'm sure at least some of them will be walking. As soon as we find the hideout, we're finished. All we have to do is have someone point it out to them and leave, so I think it's fine if a few of us are lagging behind a little as long as we aren't falling behind the patrol itself. That's my point."

"Angelica?" Greta just barely recognized her, and that was partly due to the fact that she'd gone makeup shopping for her earlier. The voice was the dead giveaway, however. "I swear I didn't even see a wanted sign of you in town," she explained, on the verge of bursting into laughter. Eventually she would be composed enough to try explaining the situation for her.

"Who?" Glen mirrored Eva's reaction somewhat.

"Ooo~ do me next. I want to garner Sancturan attention and make them all fall for me, too. Also the blushing is so cute to watch," Fizza exclaimed. Perhaps ironically, neither Amon nor Haythem had actually been blushing, and only started to after she brought it up. Malik wasn't going to dignify any of this and simply kept his gaze away from the whole group and waiting for his blood to cool. It would take awhile, since he was both embarrassed and agitated.

"You're a very beautiful and very h-helpful woman, Fizza, and you wouldn't believe how flattered I am right now, but my heart belongs to another," Haythem said, barely managing most of it. Hopefully this would all miraculously blow over in the next few seconds without anyone asking questions.

"Thanks," Fizza smiled.

"Ahem, well the garrison's lookin' for some help to find some bandits that are apparently hidin' out up in the mountains since they can't seem to do it. Convinced'em to give us one of their wagons and a couple horses if we find it for'em," Greta finally explained. "I'm gonna be waitin' by the south gate to collect our reward so we can get outta here without runnin' all over the place. The rest of ya should head south a ways and wait for us."

[Ether]

"Aww, what gave it away? Anything aside from the voice?" Angelica asked, pouting somewhat, as she held back a giggle from Eva's reaction to her sudden appearance. It seemed that the rider wasn't the only one, either.

"Well, better safe than sorry. There's always a chance they have them, and didn't put them up yet... speaking of, if you're waiting by the garrison, think you could snoop around for me, a little? All you'd really need to do is, say, mention that you heard rumours of some weird stuff in Europa on the road, maybe ask if they had heard anything." Angelica asked, as the giggle she had been holding back finally came out, when Fizza began teasing her fellow Sancturans. While Haythem and Amon's jimmies were appropriately rustled, it seemed that Malik's jimmies, may have in fact, already been the victim of rustling. She might need to look further into that, later on.

"Well, if we can find some time later on, I wouldn't mind giving you a little do-over, Fizza." The adept replied, as she walked a few steps towards Eva and Jamilla, and, leaning on Sasha, gave the wyvern an affectionate pat on the snout. Well, atleast he recognized her enough to not attack... or just didn't care.

[Nanami Touko]

Sasha was far less stupid than his rider, in this aspect. While Eva continued to stare dumbfounded at whoever this was, the wyvern affectionately whined and nudged his head gently against her, then expectantly looking back at his Master. Eva looked at him just as confused as before. Does he know who this is? What? What's happening? "Who are you?" she asked again, looking between Sasha and the woman, rather confused as to why he'd so much as reacted to a stranger's pats, let alone so affectionately. Eva had to even look back at Jam, her confusion was so large. 'Do you know?' she mouthed, turning right back towards the woman. "Uh... I guess you can ride with us?"

Edited April 20, 2015 by I have opinions

[Toogee]

Unlike Eva, Jam recognized Angelica's voice, especially the pouting. It reminded the dancer of when Angelica first joined up with Greta.

The dancer wasn't quite focused on reminiscing however. She couldn't help but giggle at Eva's confusion.

"Listen to her voice, you'll get there." Jam smiled.

[Ether]

"It really is the voice then, huh? Well, I suppose it's not that much of a bother." Angelica replied with a smirk, as she continued to pat Sasha.

[Nanami Touko]

To her... Well, Eva listened. Then the gears turned for a moment. And another moment... Oh. She turned rather red, shrunk, and grumbled. "Hi, Angelica..." she meekly squeaked out, collapsing against Sasha. "Geez..." She groaned, instead of sighed, and sat herself back up. "Climb on, I guess..." She was very, very embarrased.

Sasha couldn't have been happier with all this attention, nuzzling his head gently against the petting hand.

Edited April 20, 2015 by I have opinions

[Ether]

"So? How do I look?" Angelica replied with an even wider grin, as she continued to attend to Sasha, applying pats to the wyvern.

'Oh this is just too good~'

[Mercakete]

"The patrol can lag behind if it wants to," Norbert replied, still rather annoyed with the situation on the whole as he rode Rizen back to where the others were gathered. He'd mounted up while listening to Shadrak's reply. "Even if we ride on ahead of them it won't matter. We just have to find the place, point out where it is, give some terrain descriptions and we can go back. The quicker we get this done, the better. And if you ask me, the less time we spend around these guards, the better, too! And if we're not fighting, then Glen's right: why are we bringing so many fighters? People can do what they want, I guess, but it'd be a lot smarter not to bring this many people with us on this scouting mission. At least that's what I think. Bigger groups are slower and easier to spot. And Jo still needs protection, whether Captain Featherduster over there trusts us or not, not to mention everyone we'll be leaving behind."

[Nanami Touko]

"...Y-You look fine. I like you better in pants." Your hair is fantastic, your eyes are beautiful, and those pants are doing their job. Of course, she couldn't actually say that. Not in a million years, with anyone else listening. Especially Jam, if she was so young. She wasn't that crude... But she did stare, just a bit. "Are you getting on, or are you just going to spoil this lump of scales?"

Edited April 20, 2015 by I have opinions

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya cocked her head at Haythem's statement. Wonder if he's talkin' about me...could be somebody else I guess, though I dunno who it'd be... She put the matter aside for now, focusing on the mission.

"Well I can stay behind, if Shadrak's goin' he can use a staff- not that ya should need it," she remarked.

Captain Featherduster? thought Liam to himself incredulously, not dignifying that with a response. Interrupting their strategy meeting would be poor form regardless.

[Ether]

"I think that your lump of scales would dislike it if I stopped, at this point." Angelica replied with a giggle. It seems she had managed to find Eva's weakness, at least to some extent, if the blushing, stammering, and staring were to be believed. Still, she did oblige the rider, hopping up onto the saddle, and sitting herself in front of Eva, as Jamilla was already situated behind her. At least for now, Angelica had settled into side-saddle, sitting herself on Eva's lap, and draping an arm around the Neviskotian's waist, and another about her neck, pulling herself close. Moving her lips to Eva's ear, and teasing it a tad with her breath before replying softly.

"Alright, I'm on~"

[Nanami Touko]

That sure was a shiver. Are you serious, we need to go scouting, Jam is right behind me, can you just not right now, but wow you look good... Eva took a deep breath, and sighed. She slowly peeled Angelica's arms off of her and hoisted her up, before setting her down to sit properly on the saddle. "J-Just... Take this a bit, more seriously," for now. She shook her head somewhat, and stuck her tongue out at Sasha who had started staring at the two, with a bit of a cocked head. "We're ready to go whenever, Norbert, Shadrak," she called out, getting a focus on things. "And you," she said to Angelica, "I need to fly this thing, so don't get any bright ideas."

[Ether]

"Oh, you're no fun. Surely Sasha could manage on his own, for a moment... something tells me it wouldn't take very long to inaugurate you into the mile high club." Angelica replied, sticking her tongue out at Eva with a smirk and a wink, as the rider repositioned her passenger and got ready to take off. She might have won that particular battle, but the war was far from over, as Angelica sidled closer to Eva, pressing her back and hips against the other woman snugly.

"Alright, but you know I'm not a fan of flying this way... make sure you hold on to me tight, okay?" The adept asked with a pout. It might have been a charged request, and rather forceful, but it wasn't a lie, and Eva was well aware of that fact.

[Mercakete]

Personally, Norbert thought it'd be more practical for those without mounts to stay behind -- particularly the slow ones -- but he wasn't willing to waste time arguing about it any further, especially since people were just about ready to go. Apparently, Angelica would be going with them, too.

He sighed, trying to stuff his annoyance for now. It didn't work very well. "Alright, whoever's going to stick with Greta can stick with Greta, whoever's going to stay with Glen and the wagon can stay with them. Those two probably need more protection than we will anyway. As for me, I'm not wasting time. Unless someone wants to fly with me, I'm going to ride over to town now and find out what I can from the patrol that's planning on attacking the bandits so that we can all get moving before the sun sets."

[Toogee]

As Angelica was being playful self, Jam peeked over Eva's shoulder.

"What's a mile high club?"

Because things weren't awkward enough.

[Nanami Touko]

"Yeah, yeah, I'll hold tight." Eva sighed, and made sure that her arms were nicely around Angelica while she held into the reins. Jam's question was a good one, though. Eva didn't really get the comment, either. "Er, yeah, wait, what is that?" She figured that she should join in now, and get it out of the way. Well, knowing Angelica, it was probably something perverted, but it couldn't be that bad...

[Ether]

"If you two don't know, it's probably better if it stayed that way." Angelica replied with a smirk, as she snuggled a bit closer to Eva.

[GoD]

"If I can help it, I'd much rather you travel by air rather than foot. I'd be fine on foot because I'm well versed to running mission in the mountains, and I know how to take care of myself, but I'd rather you stay with someone in the air. Preferably someone who would run away if it gets too dangerous..."- Ing trailed off as he mumbled quietly to himself and watched the situation unfold.

Angelica chose that moment to make herself known, apparently she had used to give herself a complete makeover, it was quite effective, but even the knight's trained ears and eyes knew that it was still the same girl he had just known. Her stance gave off the impression that those clothes were uncomfortable for her, and her voice was easily recognizable, she had some work to do. Of course it took a while before her companions realized who it was, especially the 'kick-ass' girl.

"I mentioned that I was going if my employer was going, I'll stand by that statement."- he spoke to no one in particular before turning his gaze to Shadrak and giving him a curt bow. "I will gather my equipment and be right back, in the meantime perhaps you could find someone to ride with?"- he suggested to the dark mage giving him a concerned look.

[Phoenix]

Something About Signals

"Ya want me to check our-your notoriety? Sure, I guess," Greta shrugged. She didn't have anything better to do while she was stuck waiting.

"Fizza's going and I probably have to give her a ride anyway, so I might as well take you and your bodyguard, Shadrak," Haythem offered. "Just remember, I'm not going too far up the mountain. Isis is a lot larger than normal fliers, and a lot easier to hit."

"Not to mention we might get attacked by our own people," Shadrak irritably noted. It wasn't terribly likely of course, but Isis was definitely big enough to be mistaken for a small dragon in the distance, at least at a glance. There was also no chance she would be able to keep up with the rest of the group on the ground without forcing down numerous trees.

"But who knows, if you decide to fight the bandits or something and manage to take care of any ballistae that happen to be there, send up a signal. Maybe we'll fly in and be heroic and whatnot. I haven't had the chance to do anything like that since we left home."

"Oh, that's an idea," Greta chimed in, again, "let's see if we can't set somethin' up with the guards, and have them send a signal once ya find the hideout, then I can collect the reward and be on the road in no time."

Come to think of it, Greta should probably ride with him too. Isis could only handle so many people, but they would be dropping one of them off right at the southern gate. She was used to carrying four people day in and day out, so the extra wouldn't pose a problem for her in theory, at least not someone as comparatively light as Greta. Ingret and his size might affect things, but he would wait and gauge Isis' reaction if it came to that.