Fire Emblem: Wretched Whispers, Act 2: Warpath

[Grace]

Diana just gave a slight nod to the man, briskly taking one of the keys. Fiddling with the key in one hand, she went upstairs to find the room that it belonged to. Upon finding it and entering, she placed her stuff gently on the floor. Well, it's not like I can't walk around it. Diana decided to mull about a bit, taking a seat at the table near one corner of the room after finding her pack of cards. It was basically routine from there, as she dealt out the cards in the usual orderly fashion. Hmm... this one goes here, then that one goes there... She thought, while moving some cards around.

I wonder... how are Vale and Declan getting along? I hope Declan didn't just run away on him. Diana kept filtering through the cards as she wandered through her thoughts. After staring at the cards for a little, Diana found herself fixed on a diamond card. ...That reminds me. That "gem shop"... I feel like I should pay that a visit. Maybe in a little... these cards aren't going to move themselves.

[Shin]

It had been a good few hours since Orpheus had arrived, but he still couldn't quite believe he'd reached the capital already - his estimates had put him at least three days away from Bonvale. The minute details didn't really matter really anyway. Ambling through the door of the tavern, Orpheus was rather surprised by Borvan's words, was somebody expecting him? The prospect of a room seemed too good to pass up, and potentially that of work.

"Thanks, gramps. I'm a mercenary alright." Orpheus replied, collecting the key from the desk, still unsure to why exactly it was his. He began making his way to the stairs, deciding to see the room for himself.

[Xinnidy]

"Tomorrow? I'd be pleased to, Mina. You're also a talented performer." Magali was glad to have another chance so soon, and something more standard could definitely be done with.

"I hope all goes well for you, I'll give the city a look. It was a pleasure to perform here today." Magali dismissed herself from the room with a smile, following the others to get her payment. "Kim, is that right? I was one of the dancers, it was nice to perform here for the first time." She said out of courtesy, though it was still true.

[Nanami Touko]

Melanie nodded, but still had some reservations (especially about being patted, she squeaked and blushed as that happened). "Ben, still, I should not 'ave said anysing... 'Oo am I to question what 'appens in a relationship, when ze only one I 'ave ever seen ees my parents? Eheh..." She sighed, but wasn't about to press anything further. In fact, she wanted to ask Mina a few things. Seeing as Magali had left talking to her (and had planned a show! How wonderful~), she moved a foot over to talk to the tiny priestess. "Ehm, Mina, I did want to ask... About control over magique. I 'ad so much trouble controlling zat spell on stage, zat I am already exhausted... Yet, even zough now you are exhausted, during ze presentation, you seemed to not falter a moment. Eet was très impressive." She smiled, hoping Mina had some advice to offer.

[charlie_]

Upgrading

"So it's the accuracy you're worried about?" he said, picking up the weapon. "No problem, I can work with this." He examined it quickly, trying to work out a decent price. "It'll be 420. If you leave 200 with me today, along with the bow money, you can give me the rest tomorrow."

The Old Man

"Gramps, huh?" Borvan mused. Sadly not. He sighed again, then shook his head. But do I really look that old?

Might and Magic

The young trader's elbow slipped off the counter when Artemis came in, having clearly been bored out of his mind. "The gem? Well..." He scratched his head. "Oh, yeah, uncle said that they have magical power imbued inside of them or something like that... It helps you get stronger or something as time goes on. The one you have there is called um..." he pulled out a list from under the counter and traced his finger over it until he found it. "Ah, there we go. It's a Might Gem, and it makes you get like... physically buffer and stuff like that. Do you want it?" he asked, bluntly. Clearly the man was a master salesman.

Edited November 28, 2014 by SB.

[Tryhard]

Ivan figured that be walking around for a while before to arena for day. Ivan walking for while before coming across gem store. Ivan still had shiny red swirly from before, Ivan felt his pocket and made sure it still there.

Ivan was not selling but maybe person could be telling what it for, going into shop he be seeing the other that wasn't master but still flying. Oh, and not demon lady either. Ivan not familiar.

Was not really wanting showing shiny around others, so keeping it pocket for now. Ivan no fool, be knowing his weaknesses, so he address gem shop man.

"You know any gem that be helpful for being more precisionful? To strike more truthful?"

Edited November 28, 2014 by Tryhard

[Bluedoom]

Wolfgang happily accepted the bag of 500 gold before heading towards the arena. It was time to test his skills in the world of boxing... even though he knew he could fail miserably, he decided to have a go at the minor circuit, where chances for success would be the highest.

As he entered the arena once more he saw the axeman traveling with the Hollows sign up for the boxing ring himself. I guess I should spectate for now. It'd be good to see what this guy's really made of. And then maybe I'll have a go at it...

Edited November 28, 2014 by Bluedoom

[eclipse]

"Understood!" Peter said, as he cheerily left both the money and the hand axe. He walked out, humming merrily to himself. Hmmm. . .there was a barracks somewhere in town. . .might as well pay them a visit. Once he reached his destination, he paused and looked around. Who was he supposed to talk to? "This IS the military barracks, right?" he asked the first person who looked to be of rank.

[charlie_]

Gems Be Wanted

"Uh... what?" The vendor had no idea what the hell Ivan was saying at first, scratching his head while he tried to decipher his strange dialect. "Uh, if it's your accuracy or something you went to improve then like... it's one of the yellow ones, apparently." he said, consulting his list. "Don't ask me where to find it though, I have no idea how uncle organises this stuff so uh, yeah you're gonna have to find it."

[Tryhard]

Hmmph. Ivan be perfect understandibble. Which yellow, again? Oh, that the one. No, that be... colour of cabbage. Then Ivan be seeing it out of glimmer, pointing.

"There is, yah?"

Ivan start loosining the money he carry.

"Er... how you be use the yellow, by way?"

[charlie_]

"Uh, use the yellow? Oh, right. You uh.. crush it, I think." he paused for a moment. "But wouldn't that kind of hurt though? Like, all the shards and stuff going into your hand?" he grimaced. "You might want to get a healer of something near you when you do it dude - just to be safe and everything."

[Tryhard]

"You not worry, Ivan is great enough to be taking."

Ivan looking over the counter at how much the gems be. They are seeming to be same price. Ivan took while to count out how much it was.

Ivan hands over 500 gold to the man.

Taking it in hands, Ivan walking in to the side of the shop and spending none delay in mushing the yellow into Ivan's hand. Noting wince but to keep a straight face. Did do it wrong?

Ivan "uses" the Ability Gem.

Try not to catch attention of shop man. But felt strength return to Ivan's body after while. Maybe Ivan should waiting see what other did before.

Edited November 30, 2014 by Tryhard

[scorri]

Smiling up at the bird, Taima sighed quietly. "I wish the war was over. Even if it meant we didn't have much work. I just..." She shook her head, not knowing how to explain her thoughts. "I don't know. Everything just seems to be falling apart. I'm not ready for that." Her smile had disappeared and she turned away from the birds, staring blindly forward. "I just... I'm not ready for everything to matter so much. For everything to be fighting, falling, crashing down around us. We've got war, monsters, what next? ... What next." She rubbed at her eyes and shook her head. "I... I wish everything was simple. Straightforward. But it's not. And it won't ever be. So I need to accept that and face what's coming. There's nothing else I can do."

[MRDRHAWK]

Declan sighed in relief; he wasn't sure that Vale wanted to hear what he was going through mentally from being back here. Still, the fact that Vale stuck around with him for this long without bailing on him was an unusual thing in itself, at least to Declan. He was used to small conversations, and never any long ones like he was having now.

"Vale... you really don't have to do this. The whole 'being nice to me' thing is... well, it feels good and all. It's just... I dunno... Maybe I'm just going crazy from being here again..." Declan sighed again and shivered slightly, unconsciously placing a hand on Vale's shoulder for support. Something told him that he'd need it soon.

[Oersted]

Lugos had zoned out over... nothing in all honestly, and when he snapped out of it he noticed most of the group had already left, finally doing so himself. He would've walked right out without collecting his pay had he not spotted Magali talking to the woman from before, Kim if he recalled correctly. "This is where you pick up your pay if you were in the last performance, right?" he asked based on the assumption that was what Magali was there for.

[Percivalé]

Vale was slightly confused now. He didn't flinch away when Declan put the hand on his shoulder, but he started to feel just the tiniest bit nervous again in the same vein as what he felt in the inn. He figured, he thought, that finally opening up to someone would be good for him--and his flashback at the inn proved a sign from somewhere that he would have that opportunity soon.

But Declan himself looked as if he were going to explode. Vale took a deep breath and tried to keep collected for the both of them. He positioned his feet in an L-shape in case the other man did want to lean on him at some point. "I don't, well, uh, to be honest," he stopped for a second. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just saying it how I see it. You look completely miserable." He tried to keep his voice gentle in case he sounded condescending, but again, he didn't want to lie. He just wasn't the type, after all.

[Grace]

Giving the combined pack of cards a quick riffle shuffle after finishing the deal, Diana set the cards aside on the table. Well, that deal could have gone better... oh well. Diana mused. Well, there's still time in the day... I should go out and do something. I don't want to carry around all of my stuff though... Diana took the weakened Heal staff, her vulnerary, her gold pouch and the door key to this room, and set out, locking the door behind her.

Now where was that "gem shop"... Diana mulled, walking through the town. Hang on... I might need more gold for this. Pondering for a moment, Diana came to a conlusion. Well I can probably sell some of this vulnerary. I do have my healing staves for a reason... Diana wandered back to the vendor. "I forgot something while I was here before..." Diana spoke, while pulling out the vulnerary. "How much gold would you give me for this?" She placed two portions of the vulnerary on the storefront.

[charlie_]

Making Money

"I can pay you 66 gold for them." said the shopkeeper, after a brief glance at the vulnerary presented to her. "Will that be enough for you?"

The Punchings

Norman's arena trip was... not particularly challenging, for the most part. His first opponent attempted to duck under his punch and ended up getting whacked in the face, and never got up again. The second lasted slightly longer, but crumpled after a couple of consecutive hits. The third seemed to have a chance, after one of Norman's punches was incredibly off the mark, but he didn't expect the axeman to recover so quickly and found himself on the floor a few moments later. His fight with Apollo, the fourth fighter, was pretty much a repeat of what happened with Tommy - the guy just couldn't take a punch.

This left him feeling fairly confident about himself, as Rocky took to the ring. Norman quickly found that while the man didn't hit very hard, he was actually quite fast - unlike those who came before him. They seemed evenly matched for a time, with both of them landing blows fairly consistently, until Norman swung and missed, and Rocky pressed his advantage, dodging out of the way another clumsy fist and knocking Norman to the floor. He slowly made his way back to his feet, and steadied himself, waiting for Rocky to come at him again. His opponent was doing well, but he looked like he was getting tired, and Norman could still soak up some more hits. His opponent seemed to getting desperate, but Norman was fairly worn out himself, and wasn't sure how much more he could take. Eventually, Rocky put everything he had left into one wild lunge at Norman, with the intent of finishing the fight now. Unfortunately for him, he misjudged it, and Norman was able to evade it, and Rocky was caught off balance for just long enough for Norman to deliver the hit he needed in order to knock the fighter to the floor, where he remained as the clock ticked down.

The crowd cheered as Norman stood strong, exhausted but triumphant. If this is just the minor circuit, then I don't want to see the others... After the (admittedly welcome) healing was finished, he made his way back to the counter and collected his prize - enough cash to cover for the gem he'd bought. "Thanks." he said, pocketing his prize money. With that done, he made his way back into the crowd, whose applause had mostly finished, and spotted Wolfgang among them, and walked over. "Hey. I didn't think that anyone from the group was watching. Are you gonna give it a try too?" He wasn't sure how a magic user would stack up, but if he wanted to try, he wasn't going to try and persuade him not to.

[Bluedoom]

Wolfgang watched as Norman cruised through the first four boxers in the ring, impressed with the axeman's power and endurance. But the last one in the ring proved to be a tough one for Norman as he was struggling to keep up with the opponent, but his agility saved him in the last second as he evaded a wild punch to then give his opponent the final blow. Wolfgang joined the crowd in the round of applause for Norman.

Then he replied to Norman as Norman walked up to him after exiting the ring, "You were quite splendid! And yes, I wish to give it a go at the boxing ring. I haven't done this before but... punching with fists imbued with magic seems like an interesting, unique experience. Now then, I shall be on my way."

Saying so, he quickly went to the counter for signups to signup for the minor circuit.

Edited December 3, 2014 by Bluedoom

[riariadne]

Of War and Battle

"Well, nobody really enjoys war," Sheikah agreed, sighing. "It's just something we have to be a part of right now. At the very least, we're on the side of justice. Angala is the invading nation here, and we're fighting against them, and... I find some small solace in knowing that. Maybe that is selfish of me, or being childish in thinking there is anything noble in war, but that's why I didn't want to work for Angala even if it's the stronger army. We just gotta stride through it."

Plans

"Thank you, and farewell." Mina bowed as Magali left.

"Hey, no getting pouty on me! I said it's okay, so that means it's okay, okay? Don't be silly and keep apologizing for things that don't need apologizing for." Sierra smiled at the small squeak, pulling Melanie in for a brief hug before letting go. "Everything's okay! Weeell, I'm gonna go to the barracks, since the General wants everybody to be ready when it's time for battle. I'll leave the house open, Mina. See you guys!" Sierra left with a skip in her step and headed off to her destination.

Mina allowed herself a small smile before looking up at Melanie. "Control... well, the easy answer is I have been practicing magic for far longer than you have. The other easy answer is it was far more tiring on stage than it appeared- I am just skilled in concealing when bloodcasting is so draining. It comes with practice, and patience. There is more to it than that, of course, and I am sure you would like to hear more details. Hmmm... perhaps somewhere else, however."

Collecting

"Yup, pay for the both of you!" Kim handed the wyvern rider and dancer 500 gold each. "It was nice to have you here. Enjoy your time in the city!"

The Competition

"Good work out there," the man accepting entries to the arena spoke to Norman, before looking at Wolfgang. "Not gonna waste everyone's time tis time, huh? Fifty gold. Good luck out there." Looks like the type who'll need it.

[Nanami Touko]

"Ben, apologies are-- eh!?" Melanie squeaked again as she was assaulted with MORE AFFECTION, not really knowing why people seemed to want to hug her, nor really knowing how to react. She sort of just let it happen-- it was rather brief. "Au revoir, Sierra." Mel waved at her, trying her best not to protest anymore. Mostly because the woman did seem fine. If she was putting on a face, it was the most believable face ever. It was probably real.

And Mel wasn't quite surprised by Mina's answer. She was a better mage, no doubt, due to many extra years of practice. "Oh, you are juste good at ze concealing... I did not expect zat one. Ben, you say zere ees more to eet? Donc, of course, I would like to 'ear eet!" Mel smiled again, trying to bring that ridiculously cheery mood back. "Where shall we go? Oh, ehm," she turned around real quick and pointed at Celestia. "Celestia, I will be right back, donc, ehm... S'il vous plait, wait for me? Eef you would razzer not, I can meet you at ze eenn." She didn't want to leave Celestia high and dry, but Mina was going to show her how to magic better! She couldn't say no to that...

Edited December 3, 2014 by I have opinions

[Ether]

"Oh, sure... I can wait here... just don't take too long now, okay? Eventually I'm gonna assume you ditched me, hehe." Celestia replied, before walking over to where people seemed to be collecting their pay for the event, approaching the woman who had just handed some gold to two of the others,

"Is this where we collect pay for the magic show?"

[Grace]

Diana nodded. "Yes, that is fine..." I really hope I have enough gold now... I should probably count to make sure.

[scorri]

"I... hope you're right." Taima sighed and then shook her head. "I suppose we should try to focus on something else for now, huh? No sense wasting all our time being worried and depressed about something that's not going to change right now. Better to use the time and relax probably." She still wasn't sure that things were as simple as Sheikah wanted them to be, but there was no sense stressing about it now. "Where to next?"

[MRDRHAWK]

Declan couldn't help but feel a little hurt despite the clear good intentions that Vale had; after all, he was having a bit of a mental collapse at the moment with everything on his mind. Arietta, that incident at the inn, how soft Vale's hair must have felt if he were to run his hand through it right now... Declan shook his head nervously. He really needed to get his thoughts straight if that stuff was coming to his mind.

"Miserable, eh... that's one way to put it, I guess. Honestly, coming back here in particular... it's not a great feeling. The history I've got with this place isn't very fun, and I doubt I'm gonna meet anyone who still likes me here. But hey... I got you, so that's plenty." Declan replied, smiling up at Vale even though his mind was screaming to stop saying what he was. No need to muddy things up now...