Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[Nanami Touko]

Hearing about Isis was interesting. Eva had watched her mother raise Sasha her entire life, so she'd seen a wyvern grow, but never to that size. Maybe there was more to her than was being let on, but this wasn't the time nor the place. She could ask him once they were safe, which would hopefully be soon. "So... Where do we go, now?" she asked, still gently petting Jam's hair. The ordeal was all over, but could they really go back to the town now? The guards were all dead or scattered, the captain was dead, they hadn't even succeeded in defeating all the bandits... Eva sighed.

[Toogee]

"Let's just go to the wagon," Jam sighed. Normally, she would have been interested in hearing Isis' origin story. At the moment though, it just seemed like another appeasement to Kozel's desires. She was back with the others yet they were still putty in his hands. Never had she felt so...defeated. She buried her head into Eva, not bothering to watch her enemies leave.

"The sooner we get to Kigen, the better..."

Edited February 27, 2016 by Toogee

[Mercakete]

Norbert wasn't sure what more he could do for Darcey and her pegasus. He couldn't even think of anything to say that'd be both honest and encouraging. Really, he didn't know much about Fizza. In fact, their experiences here revealed more about her to him than any other time since he'd known her. She stayed on task, prioritizing the Ursaean captives, and lending him help, even when no one else from their group did. That was something... Something kind of depressing, too, actually. This mystery of a woman... Was she really the most reliable person from their group that had accepted this mission? It seemed so...

Bitterness towards those he'd relied on from their group began to rise, but for now, he pushed those feelings aside. They weren't here. The Ursaeans and Fizza were, and they'd proven that he could trust them, at least for now. He was still inclined to keep his distance from Doran, but even he was on task and reasonable right now. He could think about the past later, if he really wanted to brood over it. Right now, he was surrounded by people not entirely dissimilar to what Raquel's group had been like...and there was some comfort in that. Norbert took Cameron's hand and mounted up behind her. It was a bit strange being the passenger on a pegasus.

"I'll try not to strain anything," he replied to Cameron, "but I won't hold back if we get in trouble."

His poleaxe was, by nature of its design, already ready for use. And, by nature of riding equines, his back would already be under some strain. Still, he would do his best to avoid wide swings and instead use the weapon like a lance. For extra stability, he also planned on keeping both hands on the shaft and simply keeping a hold of the pegasus with his legs. This was going to be interesting no matter what happened.

Actually... "You know, Cameron..." he mentioned as the thought struck him, "we can make plans, but it's impossible to tell what's about to happen. After my time in Ursaea's jail, I wanted to thank you...and for Doran to lose his job, but that's beside the point. The point is that what I heard you were one of the pegasus knights who were killed...or, we thought you were killed, anyway...I was really mad. I was mad at the bandits, but I was also mad that you fought to help me, even though I was a complete stranger, and I didn't even know your name. And I thought I'd never be able to thank you for what you did for me. I'm glad I was able to...but I don't want to make the same mistake and waste this time, since we don't know what's going to happen. We need to focus on this task, I know. But I'd like to stay in touch, too, if we survive this. It'd be nice to be friends, I think."

Well, he said it. Still, he was kind of embarrassed now, and his voice gained a frustrated edge to it as he glared off to the side and gained a bit of color in his face...or, as much as his bloodloss would allow. "Urgh, that sounds stupid, doesn't it? Like some sentimental blathering right before a fight or whatever... Well, it's what I really think, so... Whatever. Now you know."

[Phoenix]

Directions

The 'skotians were leaving in two different directions, and although Amon wanted to go back and try to find their missing allies, he doubted he could convince anyone holding a set of reins to go along with it. Maybe once they made it back and weren't so overloaded with passengers and adrenaline. "The wagon wouldn't have made it too much farther up the road, so we can probably get back to them soon enough ..."

"I just hope the others made it out," Haythem frowned. He noticed that Isis seemed to be relaxing a little more, and her quiet hisses seemed to have finally stopped. "So I guess south until we see the main road, and then east until we see the wagon?"

"Yeah," Amon nodded, "and hope we're not too far ahead of them."

Friends

"He's so awkward, not the Crusher I'd imagined at all," Darcey muttered under her breath as she mounted up behind a fellow rider.

Cameron smiled at her embarrassed passenger. "Sure it does, but said than left unsaid. Consider us friends."

"Nothing too serious," the healer said to one of the guardsmen, "if it's not an open wound or a fracture, let's save it until we're out of here. For now, I think we're ready to go."

Bribes

<"Why wouldn't mercenaries want to get into the middle of a war?"> the first rider cocked an eyebrow at the second, <"that's where the real pay is.">

<"I don't really care, as long as we get something out of this."> He turned toward Lumi and scowled. "Give us whatever you have and you can go. We want that mage's tome, too." He nearly got a strange look from the first rider when he said, <"If we can't sell it, one of ours can use it as a backup."> He turned back toward Lumi. "Also, you are not to go anywhere near Ursaea," he warned.

Shadrak was trying to catch bits of the conversation without giving himself away, but he nearly flinched when the 'skotian demanded his tome. What sort of spiteful prick ...? ... but there was nothing to be done about it, he realized. Still, maybe if he could get the drop on them during the exchange. As long as there weren't any mages, he could probably take the wyvern riders easily enough. They weren't as hapless and easy to pin down as armored knights were but maybe ...

[Mercakete]

"Oh. Good," Norbert almost sighed, surprised he was this relieved. He'd even smiled. He wasn't ignorant to everything else going on, though. Coming back to something more composed, he noted, "Sounds like we'll be leaving, soon. You ready? And mind telling me your surname? I don't have one, just like Darcey, unless she got married or something." That was kind of a weird thought, actually.

[Toogee]

Jam looked up upon hearing that they still had a few missing faces. She looked around; there were a few she missed, most notably Norbert. Not only did the Neviskotians get their info, they would still kill some of their members. The dancer was taking this defeat particularly hard, smacking the back of her head into Eva in retaliation for her own selfishness. She had forgotten that Eva was a human being with feelings.

"Ah, sorry," Jam said silently, though in a sad tone that just wasn't like her.

Edited February 27, 2016 by Toogee

[scorri]

"Uhm... I'm... Ok..." She silently promised to buy Shad a new tome as soon as she could. She inspected the man in front of her, and spotted his purse hanging down on the other side. She reached over and grabbed it, pulling the tome out of it. She sighed and tossed it to the rider who had demanded it. "There." She reached into the pouch by her side and pulled out a small bag that softly clinked as she moved it. Tossing that to the rider as well, she nodded. "That's all I have. I... Thank you for not killing us?"

[Phoenix]

Heading Out

"Flynn," Cameron replied with a shrug, "underwhelming, I know."

"Let's get going," one of the pegasus knights called over, already turning her pegasus around to carry her and her passenger to the entrance. "I hope that woman knows what she's doing playing decoy."

"You said it," Doran sighed as he turned to follow the first of the exiting riders.

Holding Back

It took all of Shadrak's resolve to not leap up and use what little energy he had in his aura to blast the wyvern knight. He couldn't disguise the fact that he was conscious at this point, not from Lumi, at least; the trembling that came with barely restrained fury was too much of a tell. The 'skotians didn't seem to notice, though. They probably didn't care in either case.

"Good. This is good. You can go," the wyvern knight said, looking more interested in the minor spoils than the mercenaries.

"Stay away from Ursaea," the other wyvern knight warned.

[scorri]

Lumi could feel Shad moving, and gently laid a hand on his back, hoping that he would get the message to stay still. "Yes, we will. Goodbye." She kicked Star into gear and raced into the forest, intent to get as far away from them as she could. As soon as she was out of hearing distance, she quietly told Shad, "There were four of them, two riders and likely two mages. There was no way the two of us were winning not with you just waking up. The whole thing was a mess, we're lucky to get out of there alive. The others in our group are dealing with the commander and I hope that Bert, Fizza, and the pegasus riders and other soldiers are out of there already. Because there was nothing we could do against an entire unit of 'skotian wyvern riders, a commander with a magical lance, and a dragon reluctantly working with them. I'm sorry about your tome, but I will buy you a new one as soon as I can."

[Mercakete]

"Not really," Norbert replied in response to Cameron's opinion on her surname. He actually thought it was a pretty good one, but then again, he was fairly terrible at naming things, himself. Knowing Cameron's full name and where she came from helped a lot. If he ever wanted to send her a letter or something, he knew who to address it to, now. Of course, as his attention was brought more fully back to their present situation, he was reminded that even something as simple or commonplace as sending a letter may not be possible. It all depended on who survived the upcoming ordeal.

"Thank you," was his final response before adjusting his grip on his polaxe in anticipation of their break for freedom. His face was already setting into its usual grimness in situations like these as his focus sharpened. They had one shot at this, and it could go all kinds of sideways. He just had to be ready for whatever came next.

[Phoenix]

Anticipation

"It's no problem," Cameron assured Norbert as she guided her pegasus after the others. It was no surprise, but Fizza was waiting for them all at the entrance with Darcey's pegasus.

"One last time just to make sure we're all clear on the plan," Doran began, addressing everyone, "Fizza will go out and do her thing. We'll give her enough time to get their attention and then make a run for it. Riders head straight for Ursaea and don't stop for anything. Everyone else fight off anyone who tries to stop them."

"What are you guys going to do once we get away?" Cameron frowned, hoping Doran and the others weren't planning to simply sacrifice themselves.

"Heh, that's easy," he smirked, "we hide in the woods ... once we're far enough out to not have to deal with the mines, again. We'll head back to Ursaea on foot. No need to worry about us. We're going to be almost a day late, but that's better than the alternative."

"That's good to hear," Fizza smiled, "I'd hate to go through all this trouble and find out only the prisoners survived."

Anger

"Urgh, what are the neviskotians doing here, anyway?" Shadrak bit out as he righted himself in the saddle. And HOW IN THE HELL did he know I had a tome?! I keep it hidden! GODS!!! "No, let me guess, Sonya led them right to us and then switched sides ..."

[Nanami Touko]

"I... I think Bert might've still been there, when we left," Eva spoke up, "but considering I don't see her here, Fizza might be with him? Or she might've left on her own... Angelica left, too, so she should be fine. I hope the rest of those riders made it out." Eva felt a small bump against her chest, glancing down at Jam. "Are you doing okay, Jam? I know this can't be easy, for you." She couldn't do much more to comfort the girl, not up here in the sky, so she could at least ask her and listen, if there was anything she wanted to say. Either way, she was ready to fly out for the wagon, whenever they were to leave.

[Mercakete]

Norbert frowned at Doran's plan, but he wasn't in much of a position to volunteer to help the guardsmen out. If he was in better condition, he would've -- these guys had no idea what they were doing when it came to woodsmanship. And, more importantly, they'd be in bandit territory, and you could count on the bandits' capability on their own turf...

Still, he couldn't think of any way to make the plan better with their limited resources. It wasn't surefire -- not by a long shot -- but it was the best they could do. He did agree that the riders needed to hurry to Ursaea. They could get help much faster than the guardsmen could, and at least try to contain the situation. Not to mention that they at the very least needed to get some arms and armor back.

"Try not to leave any sign of where you've been, and since they already know you're here, stick to the denser woodlands. It's your best shot at disappearing," Norbert advised Doran. He figured he could at least do that much.

[scorri]

"Actually she was really upset when they showed up. But, you know, it's not like a dragon is easy to hide and she wasn't exactly being subtle about her presence. They probably just were looking for her and saw what was going on. They killed the captain of the soldiers. Then Eva grabbed Carlos and ran away with Hoshi but the 'skotian commander followed and... I'm just hoping they escaped."

[Toogee]

Eva felt a small bump against her chest, glancing down at Jam. "Are you doing okay, Jam? I know this can't be easy, for you." She couldn't do much more to comfort the girl, not up here in the sky, so she could at least ask her and listen, if there was anything she wanted to say. Either way, she was ready to fly out for the wagon, whenever they were to leave.

Jam shook her head. She was not OK. None of this was OK. All she wanted to do was recover at camp, but with the others still in danger, she couldn't simply abandon them. No one left her after all. Yet doing so meant death.

"That bastard still has us under his control. We can't go after the others without another fight. It's like I'm still on Sonya."

[Nanami Touko]

Of course that was eating at her. Eva bit her lip trying to think of what to say, until a few things dawned on her. Maybe they'd help the dancer. "Well... Lumi had her own ride, so I'm sure she made it out fine. Fizza wouldn't let something like this kill her... And we both know Bert's too stubborn to die. I think he'd argue with death if it looked at him funny. It hurts that we can't help them, but... I'm confident they'll all make it out, alive." Being entirely honest, she actually was. Between the people remaining there, she felt like they had pretty good chances of getting away from any tailgating Neviskotians.

Edited February 29, 2016 by Melissa

[Phoenix]

Ready and Standing By

"Heh, part of me hopes they find us so we can finish the rest of them off," Doran bit out irritably, "but there are still too many of the bastards."

"You're not all that's left, are you guys?" Cameron asked, sounding worried.

"No, the rest of the group's fighting with the bandits. We're going to try to round them up on the way out. If the bandits decide to make a big deal about it, keep going, anyway. Don't worry about us. If we can't at least save what few pegasus knights we have left, then all of this was pointless."

"I take it you're all ready to go?" Fizza glanced back at the arriving riders and guardsmen. She got several nods. "Okay, this should be interesting ..."

Careful

"I doubt it," Shadrak grumbled, "if they just picked up everyone and ran then they're far more weighed down than their pursuers. Let's just find a way back to the wagon and let them know what happened. We'll figure out what to do from there. Also, be careful. The mines probably aren't too far from here. I know it's dangerous but we should probably fly over. The animals didn't want anything to do with that area, after all."

[Mercakete]

"Don't spend too much time on that; you need to get out of this alive, too," Norbert reminded Doran, though he did understand his sentiments regarding wiping out the bandits. He was ready to go, but felt that that, at least should be said. In passing, he added, "If it's possible after all this, I still want a fair fight with you someday, by the way. Right now, we have jobs to do."

[Phoenix]

Pegasus Taxiing

"Heh, a fair fight he says," Doran glanced past Cameron to her injured passenger, "that's not my style, but I'll tell you what; if you're ever lucky enough to catch me when I'm all by myself, you can have your 'fair fight.' Otherwise, you'd better bring some friends. The Ursaean guard doesn't fight alone."

"Really, guys," Darcey groaned.

"Wait here while I get their attention," Fizza instructed everyone as she mounted up, "don't make a move at all until I take off. Once I'm airborne, wait about one minute and then make a break for it. Even if they spot you I'll keep them from following."

"How?" Darcey asked, with no more enthusiasm in this plan than she'd had previously.

"It won't involve your precious steed getting hurt, I promise," Fizza literally hand waved the question. She then got the pegasus moving out from the stables before making one last gesture back at the group, warning them to stay put.

[Mercakete]

"What, you think I plan to kill you?" Norbert asked, remembering part of why Doran annoyed him so much, "Or can you really not fight without someone to hide behind? You're even more pathetic than I thought, you spineless craven. How were you even accepted as a soldier?"

Norbert's guess was that it was through some sort of cheating or underhanded tactics, given his experience. Maybe it involved blackmail or other threats to disadvantaged colleagues. That seemed to be more of Doran's "style." Why did I even try to help him just now? ... Right; because he's taking a lot of people with him and I thought he at least cared about his own.

Well, regardless, he was glad the plan was underway. It was why he was keeping his voice relatively low. Right now, they just had to wait. Soon, though, they could break free.

[Phoenix]

The Not So Calm Before the Storm

It was a good thing he hadn't yet brought himself to apologize to Norbert, Doran thought as he turned toward the injured man and aimed his pistol at him. He would have sorely regretted it after that jab. Cameron flinched and tried to keep herself between the loaded pistol and her passenger. "Wait a second," she pleaded.

"Stop it, both of you," Darcey called over.

"Relax, I'm just making a point," Doran scowled at Darcey, "... and that point," he looked back toward Norbert with a contemptuous glare, "is that fair fights, duels and the like, all of that crap is for insecure, competitive morons like you. There's no reason to fight you and you haven't given me one. I'm only interested in my job and keeping my allies alive, and that's why I was 'accepted' as a soldier. I've got their backs and they've got mine, so there's no reason to fight alone. Ever." Although he was expecting some sort of heated response, he holstered his pistol, anyway. He figured it was the only thing that would truly calm Cameron down, again. "If you want revenge, you'll have to be clever about it, and either way I'm going to shoot you dead when you try it."

[Mercakete]

It seemed that Darcey and Cameron were more concerned about the loaded gun than he was. It wasn't the first time he'd stared one down and he bet it wouldn't be the last. He was more concerned, actually, when Cameron tried to block the line of fire. When Doran said he was making a point, Norbert didn't realize for certain that that point didn't involve a gunshot until towards the end of his explanation.

Oddly enough, though he was still annoyed at Doran -- or maybe it was the misunderstandings in general -- Norbert was actually calmer for the guard's words. The bloodloss probably helped him to think more before acting or speaking, too. It was weird how Doran's words effected him. His first instinct was to deny the man's accusations, but having paused a bit, and thinking them through, he realized that, really, he was just trying to defend himself -- both in if he'd just started yelling at Doran again and even belatedly from when he'd been incarcerated in Ursaea.

What also occurred to him was that he still had that strong impulse to defend himself from when he was a kid. If that hadn't been enough of a twist of the knife, there was something that even instilled a bit of jealousy: Doran had a team around him that he could depend on and that depended on him. Norbert had learned to fight on his own and typically felt that he was the only one he could rely on -- if he was going to survive, he was going to have to make sure of it himself. No one was going to help.

That was really what had helped to calm him down, too, oddly enough. Doran was being sincere. The bit in his cell with the maces still seemed malicious, but when he was being interrogated, he could now see that Doran was maybe just trying to protect his people. And that made him a much better person than he'd thought he was, which made him not mind him so much.

Now, there was the issue he, himself was fighting, and only just realizing that he had. If he responded scathingly, was he just bristling out of fear? Wouldn't that not truly be protecting himself, but rather letting something unseen manipulate him? As was a constant with him, Norbert was determined to grow stronger. If there was a positive to this, besides finally, maybe, understanding Doran a bit more, it was that he now saw this new enemy and so could turn his efforts onto fighting it. It wouldn't be easy...and he'd probably forget it was even there most of the time...but he saw it for what it was, now. Or, at least, what it sometimes was.

"Thank you," Norbert managed in reply to Doran. "I'm not out for revenge." Here, he was tempted to defend himself again, but excuses wouldn't help anything. It was an internal struggle, but he was determined to subdue this fear. Was what he was about to say stupid? Against an enemy, probably. But was Doran the enemy? ...Maybe not. It was hard to see things with a clear mind with all of these realizations messing with him. "I guess I was trying to prove something -- that in a fair fight, I wouldn't lose, and that beating someone who's helpless like that is... Well, those were my motives for challenging you. Maybe it was revenge in some way. It'll take longer for me to understand it since I just realized it. But trying to defend myself after something's already happened is kind of dumb and pointless. At least this time, I think. I don't know; it's hard to sort through right now."

The vague memory of Steinn's words echoed somewhere in his consciousness, now. Had he meant this sort of thing, too? The rider finished up with, "I'm glad you're not as bad as I thought you were. I'm not going to bother you with trying to fight you anymore...unless you attack me or something, but I don't think you will right now, so... Guess that's it." Urgh, thinking this hard without much blood isn't a good idea. My head hurts...

[Toogee]

Of course that was eating at her. Eva bit her lip trying to think of what to say, until a few things dawned on her. Maybe they'd help the dancer. "Well... Lumi had her own ride, so I'm sure she made it out fine. Fizza wouldn't let something like this kill her... And we both know Bert's too stubborn to die. I think he'd argue with death if it looked at him funny. It hurts that we can't help them, but... I'm confident they'll all make it out, alive." Being entirely honest, she actually was. Between the people remaining there, she felt like they had pretty good chances of getting away from any tailgating Neviskotians.

Jam had to admit: the group as a whole had been (relatively) lucky thus far. Maybe they would make it out somehow. Jam remained silent however, still mad at herself for her performance as "damsel in distress".

[Phoenix]

The Final Countdown

Norbert's reply was anything but what Doran had been expecting, and the surprise was clear on his face. He sighed after a moment, having recovered from the initial shock. "And here I thought I'd actually get through all of my ammunition by the time we got back." His tone was annoyingly facetious. "If that's it, then great. I guess I'll thank you for sticking around to help out and leave it at that."

"Shouldn't you apologize, too?" Cameron manged a weak scowl.

"Don't push it," he muttered bitterly. "We're not even out of this mess, yet. Who knows if-" Doran cut himself off at the sound of a burst of air from outside. Looking in that direction, he only saw a dust trail where Fizza and the borrowed pegasus should have been. "About a minute left," he quickly amended, starting a mental countdown.

Hidden Help

It was time for something completely unusual, Fizza thought, that was until she felt something latch onto her immediately after she had taken off. It felt like someone wrapping their arms around her waist, but she didn't see anything. She almost reacted violently, but the fact that she couldn't see the invisible grip told her everything she needed to know, and she smiled nervously, instead as she climbed higher and higher toward the now alert and on guard wyvern knights. "So I take it you're here to help."

"If you fail ..." came a quiet and subdued but very familiar voice, "they won't escape."

"Oh I know, believe me," Fizza chuckled. She leaned forward and took a deep breath, preparing herself for some unusual teamwork. "Follow my lead, for now. I don't want this to get violent right away."

"Understood."

[Mercakete]

It was impossible to tell for sure -- the thought that Doran maybe was rotten after all did cross Norbert's mind, as often as his opinion on the guard seemed to flip-flop -- but the male pegasus rider thought he actually saw a glimpse of the fear he'd just been wrestling inside of Doran. The Ursaean had been caught off-guard -- that much was clear, and the look on his face was, actually, pretty funny -- and now he was floundering to keep up face.

It was weird how much calmer this prospective was. Norbert had admitted to his own failings without any sort of quip, threat, or excuse. Did Doran struggle with that, too? Is that what this spectacle was? It certainly was familiar. There was something comforting about making threats -- it put up a tough front that helped him feel safer, even if he didn't notice it, and/or it was entirely sincere. It was a defense. And though sometimes it was smart to put that wall up, Norbert was only just finding that, perhaps, he overused it. Caution was one thing -- you didn't want to let your foes in on what's bothering you. Fear was another, though, and needed to be beat down and gotten rid of like the crippling agent it was.

For the most part, in battle, Norbert was fearless. He could take and dish out quite a bit of punishment without losing his hyper-focused determination. He was far less experienced in social situations, however, and only now was realizing that he was therefore constantly on guard. He'd been learning to trust and relax his defenses when he was with Raquel's group, but he was still incredibly new to it, and so was nigh-constantly on edge, especially if he felt embarrassed. At least, he thought maybe that's what had been happening. That seemed to be what was unfolding before him now...

Maybe he wasn't the only one like this, either. Maybe people who relied on their strength for so much, like him and Doran, fell on it more readily than people who had trained in and practiced social graces more regularly. He didn't doubt he was probably an unusual case, though -- he'd been virtually isolated for a long time, and hadn't had any sort of normal social life growing up. Of course, that just meant he had to be more conscious of it and work more actively to overcome this weakness.

He did appreciate Doran's effort, even if it was just a little. He also appreciated Cameron's prod, but there was more to his views on that than just gratitude. Norbert shook his head and quietly told her, "Don't worry about it; I don't need his apology. He's said enough and I'm satisfied with it, if it means what I think it means. Besides, Doran's right. There's no time for that."

Focus on the biggest threat, right? Sure is weird seeing this advice manifest in practice like this... Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. I wonder... Does this mean I'm getting stronger? ...Maybe it's the bloodloss? Urgh, I wish things weren't so confusing.