Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[-Cynthia-]

"Who are you?" Liam asked the man sharply, examining him closely. Is it common for human strangers to approach each other and ask to be traveling companions? That would be unwise given their violent tendencies..

[Phoenix]

Wary Campers

"Why would I leave witho-" Greta stopped short when she noticed the man approach them, the walls of the wagon no longer obstructing her view of him. After Liam asked one of the most important questions--second only to the 'are you a wrathite?' question that probably wasn't going to get asked right now, Greta stood up and got out from the wagon to be closer and more involved in the discussion.

Joanna on the other hand scooted farther back into the wagon, feeling it better to keep a low profile for the time being.

[ArsTheurgia]

That sounded hostile. Alphonse was beginning to regret doing this, but the avian wasn't attacking yet. Hopefully if he cooperated, it would stay that way.

"My name is Alphonse Claudius I'm sorry oh gods I'm sorry!"

That... did not come out how he intended. Far too fast and far too little information. Alright, calm down. Panic never did anyone any good.

"Sorry. Anyway, I really need to get out of Ursium and I can't go back to Leviskosia so I need to go south somewhere and I'm not comfortable traveling alone. Ideally, I'll go to Kigen or Rex-Avaz and find some tiny village somewhere that won't mind my being there. I'm more than willing to pull my weight around here, if that's a concern."

That was too much. And still too fast. Still have escape routes? Al checked. Looked like it. He noticed he was hyperventilating a bit and tried to stop. Having done so, he straightened out his posture and made an effort to properly calm down.

[-Cynthia-]

He's obviously nervous- is it because he has something to hide or are we intimidating somehow? Liam thought to himself, wishing he were more skilled at reading thoughts. "We have our own business to attend to. I doubt you want to get involved," he said to Alphonse with a dubious look, glancing towards Greta and Pete to observe their reactions.

[Phoenix]

Runners

Clever way of sayin' we're mostly fugitives, too, Liam, Greta thought to herself. "We've actually got an Alphonse in the group, right now. I don't know what I should call ya," she chuckled. The group was relatively small right now, so the thought of having another person along was obviously appealing, but there were a couple of small concerns. For one, this Alphonse fellow was probably on the run, too. By teaming up with Joanna and her liberators, Greta had already taken on their contention with the wrathites as her own. She could only wonder what sorts of potential problems she'd be taking on in addition to the wrathites if they brought this man along.

"Well, we should probably see what Amon and Hoshi think first, but ... if you're willin' to pull some weight around here--and fight if necessary," she quickly and quietly slipped in, "that'd be greatly appreciated."

[scorri]

Hoshi had heard the discussion and walked over just as her name was mentioned. "Hello. Who are you? Sorry if you introduced yourself already, but I must have, uhm, missed that part. And if I'm hearing correctly, you want to... travel with us?"

Lumi had finally woken up and stretched. Noting that they hadn't gotten attacked in the night, she grinned. "Looks like I was right about not having to leave last night..."

[ArsTheurgia]

These two seemed much less hostile. This wasn't much of a comfort; the avian, at least, made his views clear. It was enough for Alphonse to stick around for a while longer, though. He started to relax a bit more, but was careful to keep his hands well away from his weapon.

"If a fight comes up, I should be able to contribute, I think," Alphonse replied, gesturing slightly towards the axe at his side. "I'm reasonably confident in my throwing arm."

To the more recent arrival, he said, "Yes, if that's not an issue." Addressing the first two, he asked, "I'm not being too much of a bother, am I?" Back to the new girl, he responded, "My name is Alphonse Claudius. And your names are...?"

Edited June 24, 2015 by vcvcvc12

[Phoenix]

Camp

"Name's Greta. Greta Charron." She normally didn't give her last name but since Alphonse gave his, she decided to be a bit more courteous than usual.

Nearby, where Isis was resting, Amon was still half asleep. The conversation had reached his ears, and woken him up, but just barely. Since it didn't sound like anything bad was happening, he was just trying to tune it out to get a little more sleep before starting the day. There was always the chance for battle, so he wanted to be as well rested as possible.

"Hey, Amon! Ya might wanna come over here," Greta called over. So much for that plan.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Phoenix

[-Cynthia-]

"Liam," the avian answered simply. I suppose I am not the leader of this group and so it is not my decision to make. If this man is a spy of some sort, Joanna should be able to figure that out soon enough. He decided to remain silent for the time being, allowing for the leader to make the decision- although who this was precisely was not clear to him.

[scorri]

"My name is Hoshi. I'm one of the leaders here. I suppose that, uhm, you could travel with us but... I would like to discuss it with Amon before I say for certain." Even though she was in charge of the group, they weren't in Kigen yet, so she figured talking to Amon was a good idea.

[Snike]

All of a sudden, a tall, nervous-looking man approached the camp and asked to join up with the group if they were heading south. Without even introducing himself. Right. After the avian man asked who he was, the newcomer introduced himself as Alphonse Claudius and apologized as if he had done the group some wrong, then explained that he needed to leave the country and he'd pull his weight. Judging by how he explained it, he was Neviskotian. That meant that it was unlikely that he was a Wrathite. Nevertheless, Pete agreed with Joanna's guard that this man probably shouldn't get involved in their business.

Greta thought otherwise, as she suggested that they let him join after consulting both Amon and Hoshi. Hoshi almost immediately gave her approval as long as Amon was alright with it. Whether he did or not didn't really matter to Pete, since he definitely wasn't planning on associating with the other axeman. Instead, the Ursian man decided he'd just keep an eye on the new Alphonse, since he didn't seem to be the most reliable person so far..

[ArsTheurgia]

"Well, it's nice to meet you all."

From the sounds of things, as long as this Amon guy approved of him, he was in. Everyone else seemed to be at least accepting of the idea. Actually, before he got too far in, Al figured he ought to ask...

"So, you mentioned combat. What would we be fighting here? Would we be expecting much of it? It's not a huge issue, but it would be nice to know what to expect."

[Phoenix]

Camp

Whoever gets in our way, probably ... thieves, wrathites, and probably lots and lots of demons, Greta mused. There was no way she was saying that out loud, at least not so casually. "... just be ready for people with quality weapons and ... maybe some really dangerous animals. We get around, so could be anything, heh."

From the sound of things, Greta was trying to explain how dangerous things were without naming names, or being even remotely specific. Amon wasn't sure how to feel about that, but if this was about recruiting the newcomer, he supposed knowing exactly what they were expecting to get involved in would scare him off. He'd have to be desperate or looking for a challenge not to at least rethink joining them if he knew they had made an enemy of the Order of Wrath and planned to go even further by taking on the fallen. As Amon reached the discussion proper, he began to stretch his neck and arms. "I don't really see a problem with him coming along if he's not working for the wrathites or anything like that." Frankly, he didn't know why anyone was interested in his opinion when he was responsible for all of three people in the group, but it did remind him of his discussion with Nadya. He might not have seen himself as leadership material but this square peg had somehow gotten itself jammed into a round hole ... and he wasn't getting out of it anytime soon from the looks of things.

Edited June 28, 2015 by Phoenix

[ArsTheurgia]

That was a very vague answer, but it was something. Something worrying, mind. Quality weapons usually meant competent fighters, so they probably weren't just expecting random bandits and the like. Military? Mercenaries? At any rate, Al thought, it's better to be prepared than to be ignorant.

This Amon guy seemed to approve of him coming along. Looked like he was in!

"Thank you very much. Is there anything you'd like me to do for the moment? Also, where should I leave my things?"

He gestured towards his axe and his potion.

[Phoenix]

Camp

"Right now we're just waitin'," Greta chimed in, "rest of the group's off helpin' the locals with their bandit problem. We'll be movin' camp further south a few miles ... maybe, but we're not leavin' Ursaea til they get back and I get that new wagon. Ya can go'head and put your stuff in there if ya want," she said, pointing toward the wagon behind her.

[-Cynthia-]

"Yes, we were discussing the matter and thought it would be wise to stay on the move. Greta should be able to inform our companions of our new location," Liam said, looking towards Amon, then Hoshi, then over towards to where Joanna was hiding.

[ArsTheurgia]

"Alright, sounds good."

Al placed his stuff in the wagon and sat down beside it. If he had to wait, he figured, might as well get a bit of rest. Be at his best when he needed to be. He had gone a bit long without it, and wasn't sure how he hadn't noticed before how tired he was.

He was still somewhat paying attention to his new companions' words; never hurt to know what was going on.

[Ether]

"I agree. If we can manage to use it against him, it would give us an edge. If he doesn't know how to use it properly, then he should fold against an opponent with proper ability and knowledge..." Angelica replied with a light smile.

"Of course, Amon has all the knowledge we could need... it's a question of ability. If he doesn't have it, will he be willing to impart his knowledge to someone who does? I suppose neither question matters if Joanna won't part with it, though." The adept continued, finishing her tea.

"It's a real shame, though. You and Hoshi probably have the highest output in our little ensemble, as far as magical power is concerned, but Dark magic is... relatively ineffective against the Fallen. You sure you can't learn how to use fire?" Angelica concluded, a smirk adorning her face intended to portray that it was intended as a joke of sorts... not that it wouldn't be highly appreciated if it didn't have to be.

[Phoenix]

Camp

"So," Greta began, "basically I'll be headin' back to Ursaea and waitin' for the others to get back while the rest of ya move south to save us some time. Probably a good idea to stay somewhere off the main road too just in case the wrathites come stampedin' by." That ought to have summed things up for Amon and Hoshi well enough.

"They'll know not to come back to this spot, right?" Amon inquired, gesturing at the ground.

"They ought'a have the sense to travel back with the guards to make sure they don't take credit for findin' the bandits and cheat us out of the reward, but maybe I'm givin'em too much credit ...?" Amon shrugged to that.

Woods

Another reminder of how complicated the situation really was. Amon had some innate know-how, and Joanna had the actual emblem piece ... and neither was sharing. It was as bad as having a pacifist dragon uselessly hanging around in the group; the only value they had here were the scare tactics one could employ with the emblem, and gods knew scare tactics would never work on the fallen.

"No, there's not enough time for me to become effective enough with fire magic to actually be useful. I'll just have to adjust my dark spells to cause more serious injuries, the kind of injuries affinity can't protect against," Shadrak said, clinching both fists. "Of course what I really need to do right now doesn't have anything to do with dark magic. If I can just get Joanna to trust me, there may be a much easier way out of this mess." I guess I should have a word with Amon about it too ... just to make sure my theory's sound.

[Ether]

"Oh? What did you have in mind?" Angelica asked, wondering what sort of scheme the druid had in mind.

[Phoenix]

Unlimited Power

"I ... err ..." Shadrak realized he'd had a good old scholarly slip of the tongue, there. It wasn't that he had a great deal to hide; everything he hoped to accomplish would come to light when all was said and done. It was only the timing that concerned him. People were often hesitant of new ideas and approaches, and he doubted he would get a pass just because his heart was in the right place. "Well ..." he lowered his voice as he glanced around, at the others from their group and some of the guards wandering about, "Don't spread this around. I don't want Joanna or Liam to know about this, yet, but I know of a way we can even the odds against the fallen."

Amon was the only one around who would know if his idea would even work, but Shadrak was confident. After all, he wouldn't be the first one to attempt this very thing, he would only be adapting it for the group's eventual goal of pushing back the fallen and stopping Valdimarr's plan. "We can use the emblem to create unlimited sources of energy for ourselves. It took me a while to remember, but Hypnos was trying to do the same thing using Raquel. Think about that, unlimited magic. That's exactly the kind of trump card we need and if we can find a way to harness that kind of power, we'll beat them emblem or no ... and who knows what else we might be able to get the emblem piece to do."

[Ether]

"Using the Emblem piece to create an infinite magical energy reserve, even if it's use isn't allowed by the holder for direct combat... in theory, it's not outside of it's capabilities, and it would create the situation of a war of attrition, eventually wearing out the opposition and overtaking them." Angelica replied, nodding her head a bit as she did so.

"It's not a bad plan, in theory. But it hinges on being able to go toe to toe with Valdimarr. It doesn't matter how many reserves of energy we have if he simply takes us all out systematically. If we can manage to pin him down while we eradicate his allies, and focus him down, it might work, though."

[Nanami Touko]

Well, Jam was dazing off, or she was done talking. So Eva wanted to figure out when they were actually going... That meant asking someone, and she sure did not want to ask Bert. There was that captain guy, but she didn't really know him, so that left... But they're talking... And it seems kinda serious. Eva contemplated waiting for a moment, before shrugging. She was too tired to care if she interrupted something. She couldn't hear any of it, anyway, so she didn't know how serious it was. "Heyyyy. Shad, Angelica," she said, starting to wander over. "When are we leaving, anyway?"

[Phoenix]

The End of That Discussion

That was the end of that line of discussion, Shadrak decided, not wanting his idea spread around before he could make it more palatable for the avians. "That's up to the guard captain, I think," he answered Eva. While it had occurred to him that the guards were following their group, which was following Norbert, he still felt it was ultimately the guard captain's decision when the group as a whole would move out, again.

"They're coming. Prepare yourselves." It was that whisper, again. Shadrak winced and looked to Angelica, hoping against hope that she'd heard it, too.

"... and this hill is by that road ... which makes a right a short ways up ahead ... and then forks ... and ... ... there! Yes, I finally know where we are," the patrolman with the map exclaimed.

"Not so damn loud," Doran hissed.

"Sorry about that, I'm just so glad we're finally making progress. The bandits can't be hiding out too far from here. I'm sure of it-" Just as he finished his declaration, a speeding arrow snatched the map from his hands and delivered them to the trunk of a nearby tree.

Doran unsheathed his sword, and quickly got down. "Yeah, I imagine they aren't hiding too far away," he threw his fellow guardsman an angry look.

[Mercakete]

With the commotion around getting louder, Norbert came to his senses, albeit blearily. He didn't notice it, but something had Rizen wary. Her head was up and her ears swiveled about. He was just pushing himself up, remembering where he was and what he was doing there, when something sped through his field of vision. That snapped him fully awake. A quick wipe of the eyes and a look in the direction the thing went showed him a brief enough summary of what'd happened. They didn't have much cover out here, and, of course, they were dealing with arrows. Blasted, stupid-- Of all the times to be reckless, this put us right where I didn't want to be!

Well. He wasn't going to not defend himself. Norbert got his feet under him and mounted up onto Rizen. Considering the landscape, there were only two viable places that arrow could've come from: the direction they, themselves, had come from, or on a higher-up ledge. The rest of the area was pretty easy to see from where they were. Well, he wasn't about to hunker down and let himself and Rizen be shot at, particularly because Rizen was one of the larger targets. So, he flew right up to the higher ledge and into the thicker tree cover, but he didn't plan on going any further than that. Hopefully, there weren't many badnits coming at them yet. And if he bowled any archers taking pot shots over, all the better. Besides, anyone on foot would have to go up the winding road up the incline in order to reach that upper ledge -- fliers could get there real quick, though, and if he could buy time for them to scamper up that road, he was going to.