Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[Mercakete]

Well, it sounded like most everything was in order, though now Haythem and Greta were talking about fighting the bandits themselves. He sighed irritably. "Okay, so are we fighting or not? Because if we're fighting, that's completely different from just scouting. Or are we not deciding on that until we actually find the bandits?"

He paused for a moment as he thought about his own, last question. "Actually, that might be the best plan. If it's something they can handle on their own, then we can just leave it to them. If the bandits attack these guards and the guards can't handle it, we might want to stick around and help." His annoyance returned as he crossed his arms and pointed out, "But if the guards just charge in when it's clear that they'd lose in a fight, then whatever happens to them is their own fault! If it's obvious, then they should make a note of where the camp is and come back when they have reinforcements."

[Phoenix]

Camp

"That's why I'm coming along, really," Shadrak chimed in, "just in case this gets violent. We don't want to hold back against bandits in their own territory."

"That sounds good to me," Greta nodded. Better to be prepared for either scenario. With that, she went to get a couple of things, mainly some water and some extra gunpowder, the latter for no particular reason, and hurried over to Norbert. "Mind givin' me a ride over to the southern gate?" One less passenger for Haythem to worry about, then, possibly.

Shadrak meanwhile made his way over to Isis, where Fizza was already waiting. The massive wyvern wasn't sure what was going on but got the distinct feeling she would be carrying people places, again. She loosed an almost silent yawn before rising off of the ground. Shadrak then realized that she could probably get a small person into her throat. Her neck wasn't particularly thick, however, so she would probably have a lot of trouble trying to swallow something big and bony whole. At least she was friendly.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

Norbert couldn't really object to that, except that it left Glen and those with him relatively unprotected. He figured Greta would be the one at the least risk out of the three groups that were forming since she'd be staying in the city and didn't have anyone coming after her in particular.

The next thing that struck him was when Greta asked him for a ride. It was no problem, but at first he was a little surprised she asked him in particular. He hadn't been the nicest driver the last time she rode with him, after all. ... Then again, by the end of it, he'd let up, so maybe that had been enough for him to gain her trust.

The pegasus rider shrugged, then offered her a hand up. He'd head out once she was settled.

[Phoenix]

All Aboard

"I appreciate it," she said, accepting the lift and climbing aboard.

Around the same time, Fizza made her way up onto Isis. Shadrak would have made some attempt to follow her up since they would be sharing this mount for the time being, but now that Isis was staring right at him, he began to have second thoughts.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Phoenix

[Nanami Touko]

All this snuggling, geez. Eva snapped the reins and got Sasha moving, if just to warm the lizard up. "Why'd you say it if we weren't going to get it, then?" It was a little confusing, but whatever. People seemed to actually be moving instead of talking, so Eva was ready to get Sasha flying whenever they needed to.

----------

Tia sat her ass down. There wasn't anything she was going to be able to do on some sort of scouting mission, and there wasn't any information she had to give in regards to it. Maybe... I guess now is better than never... Let's see what these book pushing arms can do. She found herself a spot on the ground near the wagon, and started doing some rather pitiful pushups.

[Mercakete]

Norbert didn't bother waiting for everyone to mount up. He could tell Rizen was nervous, being this close to the wyverns, let alone when one was so massive. He was glad she was keeping it together so far, but he wasn't opposed to putting some distance between them and the wyverns, either. Besides, finding the city's entrance would be easy -- they could just catch up once everyone was situated. So, he got Rizen running at an easy pace towards Ursaea. He'd save the energy Rizen had in her wings for later.

[Ether]

"Well I wasn't certain if you would get it or not. Since you didn't, we'll leave it at that." Angelica replied, tensing up a little as Sasha started to move, pressing a bit further into Eva, though rather obviously less in jest this time around.

[Nanami Touko]

"...Ugh, I know I'm going to regret this, but now I'm curious. Can you tell me? Say it in Neviskotian if it's too serious, or something." If it was something up Angelica's alley, then maybe Jam didn't need to hear it... Maybe Eva didn't need to hear it either, but hey, curiosity was a dangerous animal. Angelica tensed up a bit (that wasn't a snuggle), and Eva put her head on top of the adept's. "You'll be fine. Flying isn't hard anymore, after what Nyx showed me, so this'll be an easy ride. Try to relax."

[Ether]

"Maybe later... and it's not about you... you know how I feel about the whole flying thing." Angelica replied, trying to relax a tad, and not being overly successful at it.

[Nanami Touko]

"I know, I know, but it'll be alright. I'm sure we won't be flying for very long." Eva still remembered what Angelica told her about flying, and if it came down to it, having her sit side saddle to feel more comfortable might have to happen, but for now she'd like to keep up the appearance of being serious.

[Ether]

"I suppose." Angelica replied with a grumble, as she began fiddling with various things on her person.

[-Cynthia-]

"Y'all better come back alive now," Nadya called after the people mounting up. I got a bad feeling about this...

Liam watched Tia's pathetic pushups with some curiosity, though choosing to say nothing for now. She hardly seems like a combatant- why is she with our group? he wondered.

[GoD]

I Wanna be the Bodyguard

It seemed as though someone, that person having a wyvern that seemed pretty friendly and tame, had volunteered to escort Shadrak and Ingret. This was quite a boon for the pair, but mostly for Ing, as that meant that all the knight had left to do was to get everything prepared for his first mission with both his employer and the rest of the group. Bowing to Haythem and Isis, then with a quick "I'll be with you momentarily Sir", which he wasn't sure if the dark mage actually heard as he seemed far too busy minding his own business, Ingret left the group to acquire his armor from the wagon.

At the wagon he located his inordinarily large backpack filled with armor pieces and the knight's weapons. It took Ing quite a bit of time, as he fumbled around with the process of since he was in a hurry so that everyone could leave quickly, he did not wish to inconvenience anyone on the first day of the job. Eventually, the lilac-haired man managed to suit up and was ready to take some pretty nasty blows for his employer, and possibly anyone else who required his assistance.

By the time Ingret had returned to rest of the party, it seemed as though the majority of the scouting group, if not all, were riding a mount. Norbert and Greta had also just taken off to the rendevouz point, which made the knight think that he needed to hurry. Carrying his bulwark and barrier lance, along with the black armor that he had on, Ing slowly jogged his way over to Shadrak, Isis and co. When he arrived, a woman had already climbed atop the wyvern and Shadrak was staring at the mount. Sighing, the knight slowed down his pace until he was next to Shadrak, using heavy footfalls to alert Shadrak of his presence.

"Sir, we should get ready to depart. If you need help with the mounting process, please don't hesitate to ask."

[Toogee]

"...Ugh, I know I'm going to regret this, but now I'm curious. Can you tell me? Say it in Neviskotian if it's too serious, or something."

"Hey, no fair!" That was all Jam could add to the conversation between Eva and Gelly. As they began moving forward, the dancer was content in watching the banter from the sidelines.

[Nanami Touko]

"<Just try not to worry, Angelica~>" Eva felt bad for smiling, but it was slightly nice to see her in such a vulnerable state. The difference was day and night from what Angelica tended to be. "Hey, you told me you were sixteen. This is Angelica. I don't want her putting unnecessary ideas in your head." And that was all she had to say to Jam. It wasn't exactly fair to assume that everything out of the adept's mouth was going to be lewd, but Eva didn't want to risk it.

Edited April 24, 2015 by I have opinions

[Phoenix]

Mount Up

"See y'all later," Greta called back as Rizen carried Norbert and her away to Ursaea.

"Well," Shadrak hesitated, "it's not that I need help, really ... I'm just not sure why she's giving me that look."

"Oh don't mind her," Haythem assured him, "she's just wondering what you want. Go ahead and climb up."

Deciding to trust Haythem's experience with the creature over his own worries, Shadrak slowly made his way around to Isis' side. She watched him right up until he began reaching to grab onto her harness. She was standing up slightly, so he had to reach high over his head to get to it. "Can you get her to come lower? I can't climb up like this," he called over, realizing he didn't have the upper body strength to haul himself high enough to get a foothold.

<"Down,"> Haythem gently instructed, causing Isis to lay back down. "There."

"Thanks," Shadrak said as he climbed up onto the saddle. It was the strangest looking saddle he'd ever seen in his life, a mass of hard leather that vaguely resembled a mountain range. There seemed to be various ridges for securing things or people that couldn't be properly tied down. Now that he was up here, he could see how four people could ride this wyvern at the same time without anyone falling off. One couldn't sit with their legs pointing off to either side, however, not unless they were especially flexible. Isis' back was too wide for that. Fizza was lying down, but as far as Shadrak could tell, the best way to sit on this massive thing was to keep one's legs forward and lean up against one of the ridges.

Back on the ground, Haythem waited for Ingret to make his way up. After that, he would follow, move up to the front, take Isis' reins and get her moving. As much as he would have liked to have her fly to Ursaea, they were still probably shaken from the dragon attack. On foot it was ...

Southern Approach

Things weren't quite so busy at the southern gate as they were at the Northern gate, despite how many people who were apparently 'passing through' Ursaea on their way to other places. Plenty were staying for the evening, gathering supplies, or changing their plans altogether, but the southern gate was still lacking in people coming or going, and the garrison presence was particularly high. There also seemed to be a fairly large group of guardsmen not manning any particular post, simply standing around clustered together near the gate. This was the patrol that the garrison commander slapped together for the bandit hunt.

They were rather easy to spot, even for Greta, who wasn't all there at the moment. She was thinking about other things by the time Norbert and she had arrived, about a half hour after they left the camp. She was preoccupied with things like the wagon she would be getting and which type she would be getting. She was also thinking about the inquiries she'd be making about Europa, as well as the fact that they were going to be passing by the site where her father and little brother died. It really wasn't that far from here ...

[Mercakete]

Norbert slowed Rizen down as they approached, stopping in front of the guardsmen they were to assist. Greta could get down whenever she wanted, and he hoped to convey that when he turned Rizen's flank towards the city. As for the rider himself, however, it was straight to business. He asked the patrol as a whole, "You're the ones we're supposed to help with finding the bandits in the mountains, right?" If it's them, at least they're not wasting time.

[Phoenix]

Gate Wait

"Aye," one of the patrolmen near the front nodded.

"Thanks for the lift, Bert," Greta said, as she slid down from Rizen. "By the way," she continued, turning toward the patrol, "will I get my pick'a the wagons or are y'all just gonna saddle me with whatever you can comfortably part with?" She had a no nonsense look on her face and it was obvious to the guards that if their answer was to just give her whatever they could easily let go, she might withdraw her services altogether.

He knew he shouldn't be speaking for the commander like this, but he didn't want to take the risk of the hired help pulling out, now. "N-no, Miss, you can have the one you like, with a few exceptions, of course," he barely managed to get the last part in before the fear shut him up.

"That's not your decision to make, John," came a voice from somewhere in the cluster, a voice Norbert was all too familiar with.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

Indeed, how could he forget after what the owner of that voice had done? Norbert's posture stiffened and his expression went from mildly annoyed to focused and angry. His blazing glare meticulously slid over the soldiers, looking for the one who'd spoken. The visors of some of the soldiers' helmets were down, though, only allowing him to see the lower halves of their faces. Rizen was beginning to get rather uneasy. Something was wrong, but she couldn't quite tell what.

Part of Norbert wanted to figure out which of these people was Doran. Another part, however, was desperately trying to gain and hold his attention: his better judgement, which was urging him to just keep his mouth closed. Even if he didn't say anything or lash out, however, the rider knew that part of what was setting him on edge was not knowing exactly where the man was. Maybe it would be easier once he could keep an eye on him. Either way, he was too tense now to remember that he was supposed to be gathering what information he could so that when the others got there, they could just head right out to find the camp. In fact, he was only vaguely aware that he was here on some sort of business at the moment.

[Phoenix]

Recognition

"Okay then who's decision is it?" Greta scowled. If these people couldn't get this straightened out before the mission started, she was definitely going to start pressuring them by threatening to withdraw from the endeavor.

A pair of helmed guardsmen worked their way out of the cluster. One of them had already spoken up about the issue and quickly did so, again. "That's the commander's decision," the man said. It was definitely Doran. "That's the person you need to talk to."

"Okay but listen good," Greta's scowl intensified, "my people aren't liftin' a finger until I know for certain y'all aren't gonna give us some old wreck as compensation."

"Fine, we'll wait here for you, but waste too much time, and we'll be searching at night, and you won't be able to keep to your supposedly important schedule," Doran countered. That was when he noticed that the pegasus rider Greta had arrived with wasn't the usual 'woman'. More surprising was that he recognized this man. "Well what do you know ..."

"If you're going to have a word with the commander, you'd best hurry," the other guard advised Greta.

[Mercakete]

He'd known all along that this was a possibility. In fact, it was among the primary reasons why Norbert had been so opposed to working with the garrison. Unfortunately for the mission, the pegasus rider was having a difficult time focusing on much of anything, and certainly not on gathering information. His eyes were locked on Doran while his anger built, steadily edging his good sense back into obscurity.

There was that one thing that the soldier had said, though... Right, they had a time table to keep, didn't they? What do I care if he has to fight the bandits at night? A memory forced its way through his hatred: the group had discussed that they might need to help fight the bandits, too. That was before I knew he'd be going. Norbert continued to stew for a moment. If it came down to it, the others would help out anyway. And besides that, there were the other guards to consider. As much as he hated this guy, if they were in a fight and needed their help, could he really turn away? It was only now that Norbert noticed that he had a tendency to look past prior quarrels in the heat of battle.

Of course, the heat of battle and the heat of the moment were two entirely different things. After Doran recognized him, Norbert turned Rizen to face the guards again and asked, "Still can't do your job right, piglet? I'm surprised you're still employed."

[Phoenix]

Ursaea: Southern Gate

"The orphan trash again," Doran crossed his arms, "No idea why you're back. Tell me something, though, do I look like a damn scout to you? Of course not, the scouts that went missing--including that old friend of yours--yeah, they looked more like you. I'll do my job and do it well, but you'd better watch yourself up there."

Boys will be boys, Greta decided, turning toward the open gate and wondering how long it would take her to reach the garrison, again. She noticed the others had caught up almost immediately, and luckily Isis was only turning heads. Anything more than that and they might have a crisis on their hands.

[GoD]

Ingret resisted the urge to roll his eyes, his employer was afraid of wyverns? And a wyvern that was especially tame at that.

Regardless, he did not wish to keep the others waiting, and as soon as he confirmed that Shadrak was seated, the lilac-haired knight took made his way over to Isis, and mounted her as well, placing himself behind the dark mage, bringing up the rear.

Edited April 26, 2015 by GoD

[Nanami Touko]

Sasha flew in after Isis, the landing as smooth as the last time they'd flown, as Eva elected to wait and watch as an argument seemed to have started brewing. Greta didn't sound too happy about the situation with the guards, but whatever, that was her business. But Bert, he seemed to be picking a fight with one of the guards. She opened her mouth to chime in, but shut herself up fairly quickly. Last time you did that, he shoved it back down your throat, so just keep quiet and wait. She shook her head and slowly got herself off of Sasha, trying not to disturb her passengers. Leaning against the beast would have to do for now.

[Mercakete]

The pegasus knight who had survived the dragon attack and had testified in his favor had been one of the scouts sent out? He wouldn't put it past Doran to act so nonchalant about a fallen comrade, so it was tough to tell from just that if she'd been one of those missing or one who had survived. As for what Doran meant when he said that the scouts looked more like him, Norbert just assumed he meant they rode pegasi, though he was sure it was somehow meant to be a slur. As for Doran's last bit, Norbert assumed it was another threat.

For now, though, a few conflicting thoughts were delaying his response. For one, he really, really hated Doran...but there was something else that was distracting him enough that he didn't react out of that hatred initially this time. These conflicting reactions -- one of anger and the other of concern -- resulted in a perplexed look to Norbert's face. As it turned out, the stronger impulse softened his voice some (though he was still visibly on guard) and he asked, "Did she return?"