The Delay of Destiny (In Character)

[AnonymousSpeed]

Albus's panic was put to rest a bit by Dal's handling of the situation, which was quite reasonable. In this situation, running seemed like the absolute most logical thing to do. "Well...priest," he began, not yet knowing Aloysius's name. "I believe, that we should manage fine...provided we do as he did," the scholar concluded, taking fearful breaths at each pause, pointing in the direction Dal had bolted off in.

"Run?" Pierman inquired, looking off in the pointed direction. "Sounds like a cowards move to me!"

"It sounds like a way to avoid dying in my opinion!"

"An' how many fights have you seen, lad?"

"H-how much do you know of these soldiers!?" the scholar stuttered, focusing on Pierman's argument instead of Cerai until her brother screamed, and the two quickly defeated a soldier wielding an axe. Taking a moment to clear his throat, Albus inserted himself into the discussion of the two riders. "Y-yes, in fact, I believe we should begin running, immediately, meaning now. W-while I'm certain you can handle one, I believe it would be unwise to try and fight off the entirety of their forces!" he said in a panic. Even if that didn't convince them to make a break for it, it certainly wasn't going to stop him. "P-Pierman, come along!" he explained, gesturing to the berserker before beginning to dash westward.

"Gr...well, can't well let him run off on his own," Pierman grumbled, dashing into another tent. After a moment he came running out of it, gripping an axe made of silver.

***

Meanwhile, within the read cave, it was apparent soldiers were not the only thing to have awakened. Rather deep within the cave, a tall, bulky man with a short beard, wearing leather armor and a quiver on his back, approached another man, sitting criss-cross an open book rested on in his lap, and several more around him. This man was far skinnier in build, and wore red robes rather than armor, but there was no doubt he carried a heavier presence than the reaver who approached him.

"They're running," the bulkier man spoke calmly. "Most of them are at least. Some are fighting the phantoms."

"I'm very aware of that," the robed man shot back, not moving from his stance. "The phantoms are mine, after all. But it's not an issue, what warriors do they have that could possibly deal with all of them?"

"I would say none," the reaver answered in a short, professional tone. "But it's important to make sure you know of everything that's happening."

"Hm...right," the spell caster muttered. "How long would you say before we clear the initial perimeter?"

"We should have it done within half an hour."

"Excellent," the arcsage answered, letting out a single chuckle before placing the book on his lap to the side and standing up. "I'll be getting the rest of out forces mobilized," he said in a cold voice before moving passed the other man.

"And what about the runners?"

"Let them run," he remarked dismissively, but then stopped and turned to the warrior. "In fact, I'd prefer they run. Let them go on, spread the word. Tell the world we're returning," he began, his voice showing a hint of anger. "I want every man, woman and child in Tellius to know what's coming. Once everyone knows, the panic will make the entire continent easy pickings."

Following this statement, the mage turned around and sternly walked from the warrior, who stood and watched him head back, going to gather and unleash a monsoon upon the land. The warrior took a deep breath and then walked to the light coming in at the mouth of the cave. As he'd said, it was important to know what was happening on the battlefield.

[SirNicee]

"Hold on, sires! I'm coming!" Aloysius decided to follow Dal and Albus and make a run for it. He was hardly suited for combat, so an attempt at fighting back like those couple of wyvern riders would surely result in his death. One thing he was good at, thankfully, was running. Some said his Speed was higher than his Magic, but he wasn't quite sure what that meant. He didn't have time to think now; he had to run, whilst keeping his less-than stellar brown hair in check. He was never going to have amazing hair, so he kept it neat at all times, even in dangerous ones.

Anyways, their destination was apparently to the Serenes Forest. Serenes, from what he heard, was a young civilization built from the ruins of a dead one. Said dead civilization was the beginning of the Radiant Hero's tale, from what he heard. Still, all he could think of now was that tablet.

"Goodness," he thought, "I thought it was 1040... what did I do wrong...?" He thought he understood the numbers. Then, he realized; he was terrible with numbers. Those were hundreds, not thousands! And that wasn't a zero. That was a six! 146! What a blind fool he was! That tablet was worthless! His entire reason for meeting that group was for naught! He still held on to the tablet at that moment, but not for long. "Smile, you son of a..." He never finished that sentence. He just threw the tablet to the ground and continued running.

As of now, he couldn't think straight. All he could do was run.

[Dragoncat]

"Wow." Leo shook his head dumbfoundedly. "I can't believe we're all running like scared rabbits."

The twins, upon noticing they were the only ones standing their ground, had decided it would be unwise to continue doing so. They were following from the air now. Blaze and Frostbite seemed calmer now that the phantoms were safely below them. There didn't appear to be any archers or mages among the fiends, but the wyverns and their riders were keeping their guard up just in case.

"That guy did say this wasn't something to be taken lightly. The warriors sealed in Red Cave were supposed to be crazy dangerous."

"But we killed one!"

Cerai shrugged. "Yeah...but I have a feeling it was one of the weaker ones."

"But are we really going to ask the herons for help? Is that the plan? I know they're magical, but..." Leo sighed. "I guess nobody has any other ideas."

[momogeek2141]

Dal saw the forest approach them. As he was running, he saw the priest running ahead of him, at speeds he had never seen before. Huh. That priest must have a speed stat higher than his magic stat. Then, he slowed down all of a sudden and seemed to pull out a tablet of some kind. Dal broke his concentration and continued towards the forest.

...

He rested for the first time in a long time. He saw the group behind him: the priest, the scholar, the berserker, and the two wyvern riders in the distance. He strangely didn't see anyone else, and came to the conclusion that they fled elsewhere. He looked at the group and said, "Since Fate has brought us together, I think we should be the group to fight this new threat. We might as well start by introducing ourselves, before making a plan. I'm Dal. I am a Dark Mag- former Dark Magic student. I failed the entrance exam."

[insert the introductions here.]

"Nice to meet you all. Aloysius, right?" he gestured to the priest. "What do you know of the prophecy made 1040 years ago?"

[Fateborn]

Valerina arrives at where she assume is the strategist tent. She lets out a pacing panting in a systematic manner and enters... only to find it empty. "Gone... Where have they gone to?" A giggle echos inside her heart. "Of course they're gone! Do you really think they would rather fight the most feared sealed army on the land? Don't make me laugh, Valerina." Valerina chomps onto her lower lips in grim. A brief moment of fleeting light reflects in her eyes, an axe lunge for her, and she parry it in time with her lance as her javelins shake around in her quiver. "Not bad," the voice praises and mocks her simultaneously. Before the enemy could recover, Valerina makes a quick work of him with her spear technique felling the soldier. She latch the quiver onto her utility belt and arms herself with her lance properly instead of one-handing it. She quietly and calmly moves further away from the cave of disaster while aiming the iron head toward the battlefield. She scans her surrounding as she retreats taking down any stray enemy that come across her with little trouble. "What should we do now...?" Valerina asks the companion within her, "This isn't my problem, why should I give you advice?" It growls at her, before adding, "But I don't think I'd profit if they continued this rampage, so I suggest you to flee behind you now rather than idle retreat. You will live to fight them another day, this is a war now." Valerina sighs timidly and turns on her heel and let her legs carry her west. She take a very brief moment of pause and turn to observe the distant destruction feeling as if there were something there with an answer she'd been seeking. She then push off to escape, she spots vague figures in the distance, she identifies them as the remnants of the camp and picks up the pace to catch up.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Fateborn

[AnonymousSpeed]

Continuing their running, Albus fell quite a bit behind everyone else: Dal's head start, Pierman's physicality and Alysius's abnormal speed carried them far beyond him. He was always a reader, not a runner, which was made apparent by his gasping for air in spite of his slower pace.

"Ar, what are ya doin' lad? You'll get yer hide torn to shreds if ya drag like that!" the berserker called from about twenty feet ahead, rushing back and suddenly picking up Albus before charging forward towards the forest, the latter to out of breath to make much of a noise in response to this.

***

"HARHAR, a bit o' a big goal, lad," the berserker exclaimed, stopping as Dal made his remark about fate. "But I like it!" he exclaimed, haphazardly tossing Albus onto the ground, the scholar taking several deep breaths before making any attempt at getting up. "Pierman!" the man boomed, stepping over Albus to get to Dal and extending a hand. "Raised a fighter, I was!" he blasted, holding up the Silver Axe he'd taken before fleeing. "Ah, don't worry 'bout silly thin's like that! Ya can't learn everythin' in a book!"

As the axeman spoke, Albus finally got to his feet, his breathing almost back to normal. "A-Albus..." he grumbled, his eyes wide and clutching his chest. Rested or not, it was quite apparent he was still in shock. "I-I am a scholar," he mustered, sitting down on the ground and remaining quiet for the moment.

"One hundred and thirty six, actually," he spoke up to correct Dal. "H-however, at this point I'd say that four years hardly matters," the scholar continued, clutching the sides of his head, breathing heavily. "This...this is..."

"Quiet and let the priest speak," Pierman interrupted, patting the scholar on the back, perhaps to hard. He then gestured to Aloysius for him to answer the question.

[SirNicee]

Aloysius managed to catch up to Dal and took a deep breath. Pierman and Albus soon followed. Finally, now I can think. He sat down on a nearby rock and clutched onto his legs. "Goodness," he spoke, "I'm built for short bursts, not marathons." Somewhat like a Cat, in that regard. But anyway, Dal asked him a question. Something about that slab he threw away quite a bit back. He began to answer, but Albus went and corrected him. There was no answer, only a correction.

"Darn it, sir, I've trouble reading. I'm a tad sensitive about that." Pierman went and shushed the lot. Apparently, this one time, he wanted to listen to this one priest's words. Aloysius decided to oblige.

"Thank you, man-who-I-think-is-named-Pierman. And, first of all, my name is Aloysius. Now, I've not much to say. You're all aware of Lord Atticus of Begnion? He handed me a slab with a drawing of the caves along with some ancient text, telling me that only a man like me who's traveled Tellius his whole life could understand it. It appeared to me to be written by Laguz, but with poor writing tools. I managed to translate the text out to "It's here," along with a date I'm no longer sure of. I thought it was 1040, it may be either 136 or 146. From what I felt, it seemed to predict the date of this tragedy; 136 years after the prediction, or 146 since the Hero of the Blue Flame's journeys. At this point, it's obvious what it meant. If you want to see this slab, I have sadly misplaced it. What it tells us, I've no idea. If any of you can somehow come up with anything based on my words, then go ahead. I need my rest." And with that, he decided to lay down and go to sleep. It was less than happy news, but it was news.

[Dragoncat]

Cerai chuckled softly. "Failed the entrance exam? I hope you at least know enough about it to handle a tome. I'm Cerai." The fiery colored female wyvern crooned and folded her wings smugly. Cerai patted her scaly snout. "This is Blaze. My brother is-"

"I can introduce myself, thanks. The name's Leo. My wyvern is Frostbite."

[momogeek2141]

"Unfortunately for us, knowing when the prophecy was made is nearly useless. What we want to know is what it says, so that a weakness may be revealed. Compared to the bandits of the Red Cave, our entire effort will hardly scratch them. We need to grow stronger and more experienced as well. That's why I say we should go ask the Herons. Not only we need allies, but they are the keepers of knowledge. We better go soon, because the bandits won't take long to burn this forest down again. I don't know if they will cooperate, but what do you say?"

[Fateborn]

Valerina arrives close enough to hear what the man in shaman robing has to say, she quickly yells out, "I must object to that. There is no guarantee that they knows anything about the legends as much as we do. I suggest uniting the empires around to combat this. The longer we delay that, the more lives will be lost, Daein, Crimea, Begnion, Gallia, Goldoa, Phoenicis, and Kilvas must come together for a summit. The separation of the Beorcs and Laguz needs to end now, or all will be lost to their might, if the legend is accurate." She stops short before the group taking a brief breath and exhaust. She stretch her limbs to get the muscle aches out as she continues, "By now, they should be getting some reports of this threat so they can't ignore it." Sweat drops drag across her face and fall from her chin. A faint giggle can be heard from her self.

[momogeek2141]

"Who are you?" Dal asks. "Do you know the legend? Because we don't know seem to know much." Dal considered her advice. "Although that's a sound idea. Since we are in Serenes anyways, we may as well contact the Herons. After all, an alliance with them may grant is one with Kilvas, after Princess Leanne and King Naesala married whenever ago. The hard part of that plan is getting Beorc and Laguz to work together." Dal knew they needed a leader like Ike in order for the plan to work.

[SirNicee]

Aloysius woke up a brief moment later. The talkative dark mage, combined with the poor conditions of the ground, made it difficult to sleep. "Would you please-" he began, but was cut off by the mage. He began discussing herons, plus having a conversation with a girl. Now, this girl wasn't anyone he recognized. She was definitely a soldier, but had no mount to speak of.

"Who would you be, ma'am?"

[Dragoncat]

Cerai blinked at the soldier woman who had suddenly appeared. "You forgot Hatari. Home of the dog tribe...they're similar to Gallians, only being canines instead of felines. But, they're not as friendly as actual dogs. It seems like that's reversed, with the beast tribe being more approachable. Granted, I only met a few of them, but..."

"That fox guy was crazy. Kept trying to hit Frostbite with rocks..." Leo shrugged, and the white male wyvern snorted. "Anyway. The herons...I don't think they'd last long against the Red Cave bandits. They MIGHT know something though..."

"Trying to get all the nations together for a summit won't be easy. Goldoa and Hatari will probably just blow us off. They usually don't care unless something directly affects them." Cerai shook her head slowly.

[AnonymousSpeed]

"Thank you, man-who-I-think-is-named-Pierman."

"Me name indeed be Pierman," the berserker answered with a nod, in what counted as a matter-of-fact tone for him.

"And, first of all, my name is Aloysius. Now, I've not much to say. You're all aware of Lord Atticus of Begnion? He handed me a slab with a drawing of the caves along with some ancient text, telling me that only a man like me who's traveled Tellius his whole life could understand it. It appeared to me to be written by Laguz, but with poor writing tools. I managed to translate the text out to "It's here," along with a date I'm no longer sure of. I thought it was 1040, it may be either 136 or 146. From what I felt, it seemed to predict the date of this tragedy; 136 years after the prediction, or 146 since the Hero of the Blue Flame's journeys. At this point, it's obvious what it meant. If you want to see this slab, I have sadly misplaced it. What it tells us, I've no idea. If any of you can somehow come up with anything based on my words, then go ahead. I need my rest."

"Unfortunately for us, knowing when the prophecy was made is nearly useless. What we want to know is what it says, so that a weakness may be revealed. Compared to the bandits of the Red Cave, our entire effort will hardly scratch them. We need to grow stronger and more experienced as well. That's why I say we should go ask the Herons. Not only we need allies, but they are the keepers of knowledge. We better go soon, because the bandits won't take long to burn this forest down again. I don't know if they will cooperate, but what do you say?"

"Yes, well, a pleasure to meet you Aloysius," Albus spoke up in a formal tone. "The name is familiar, yes, thought I can't say I know much of him. Interesting that he possessed such a tablet..." the scholar mumbled, thinking briefly before dismissing it. Tablets weren't exactly uncommon archaeological finds. "I would assume 136, given that the prophecy isn't known to have existed beforehand. However, the Hero of the Blue Flame's quest would be a more widely known event, so it might have been used for ease of understanding. The herons might have some useful knowledge, though they're hardly warriors," he continued. "But you're right, that forest is hardly an adequate defense. If an opportunity presents itself, we should offer some warning to them."

"I must object to that. There is no guarantee that they knows anything about the legends as much as we do. I suggest uniting the empires around to combat this. The longer we delay that, the more lives will be lost, Daein, Crimea, Begnion, Gallia, Goldoa, Phoenicis, and Kilvas must come together for a summit. The separation of the Beorcs and Laguz needs to end now, or all will be lost to their might, if the legend is accurate. By now, they should be getting some reports of this threat so they can't ignore it."

"Who are you? Do you know the legend? Because we don't know seem to know much. Although that's a sound idea. Since we are in Serenes anyways, we may as well contact the Herons. After all, an alliance with them may grant is one with Kilvas, after Princess Leanne and King Naesala married whenever ago. The hard part of that plan is getting Beorc and Laguz to work together."

"Agh!" Albus flinched at the sudden shout of the woman, but collected himself a bit later, trying to salvage a bit of his pride. Clearing his throat, he replied, even though he was curious as to soldier's answers to Dal and Aloysius's questions. "True, they're a force which will take a significant amount of manpower to subdue. Begnion will likely mobilize troops quite soon, given that this is within Begnion territory. However, the news might not reach other nations fast enough to prepare an adequate defense, and given the sudden nature of this attack, Begnion might not be able to muster one either..." he mumbled, more so pondering than unnerved by the thought.

"Trying to get all the nations together for a summit won't be easy. Goldoa and Hatari will probably just blow us off. They usually don't care unless something directly affects them." Cerai shook her head slowly.

"Well, historically, the Monsoon was never very active within Hatari lands," the scholar mentioned, breaking from his concentrating pose. "Goldoa, however, was well within their reach, and I would not say the geography has changed enough over the years to change that."

Albus returned to thinking for a short bit, his hand to his chin and his face pointed at the ground. Not his gaze, however, as he tended to close his eyes while thinking. "Alright," he began, straightening himself so he stood tall with his chest puffed out, before immediately reverting to a more timid posture. "Ahem, if I may, I do possess some knowledge as to the history of these bandits," he informed. "It's been my field of study for quite some time, actually, though I never thought it would quite so applicable...n-now," the scholar began, stammering at first but collecting himself rather quickly. "Assuming the prophecy is correct, every reason I've had to believe anything to contrary now being rendered null, then we alone stand very little chance individually. It seems best that we try and garner interest among other nations to appose them, which should not prove too difficult given current circumstance."

[Fateborn]

Having finished stretching her sore limbs from continuous battling with the phantasmal foes she glance toward the two men in robes asking her identity. With an obvious plausible hesitation as she places her right hand and cups it against her chin, and mumbles to herself, "Is it alright to give out my identity...?" "I suppose you're right." She spoke after a slight pause between the two sentence dropping her hand down. Another noticeable giggle from her self.

"My name is Valerina. I am just a wandering soldier," she answers the question, slapping against her left gauntlet directly on the rune inscription.

[momogeek2141]

While the discussion was going on, Dal started to become tired. He rarely talked, and this was out of the norm. He decided to simply roll with whatever the others do. He trusted their judgement. Dal started observing a spider on the ground. It was walking into the forest, and was eaten by a bird. He looked into its eyes, and it seemed to be trying to tell him something. It flew into the forest, and Dal followed it naturally, quietly so that nobody would notice.

[Fateborn]

Hearing what she assumes to be the tactician's thoughts, "To that regards, which kingdom would be best to unite first? There is possibility of disruption early if we attempts to unite every nation together so... Perhaps we could head over to the Herons and have a light discussion on this new threat then send an envoy to each nations we deems necessary to unite first?" She ends her commenting and because she was the further one out of the group she notices the robed man, that she objected to, sneaking away but Valerina pays it no mind, thinking men do have that time of moment where they need to release it all. She lends against a nearby tree and pulls out one of the javelin in her quiver then began polishing it, all of the carnage earlier left it quite dirty inside with mud and blood and would cause extending problem if left alone.

[SirNicee]

"Valerina, is it? It's quite a beautiful name for a so-called 'wandering soldier'." Aloysius looked like he was flirting, but he was genuine. A beautiful name was a beautiful name to him. Now he'd have to wait to see if she'd respond.

"Say, where is that mage?" he said. He noticed that the man who asked about the tablet had wandered off into the forest. He looks the type to wander, he thought. Still, he was curious why he was going ahead of them. He looked up to the scholar, asking,

"Should we follow him?"

[AnonymousSpeed]

Pierman was not a political man in the slightest, so he'd been ignoring the actual conversation. Instead, he was paying attention the people. Their draws, the way they stood, taking note of small details. This was one of many things he'd say you'd need to be a sailor to understand, though really anyone who dedicated enough time to it could learn the skill. During this, he observed Dal walk off into the forest. Even his quietness was no match for the old sailors vision.

Is she...talking to someone? Valerina...hm, I'll have to look into that name. It's country of origin alludes me... the scholar thought to himself, quickly breaking out of that state to reenter the conversation. "Well, in my opinion, I recommend that we go straight west," Albus began, turning his head to face the blue-armored soldier. "If we can manage to secure a ship, and are hasty about it, we might be able to get Kilvas and Phoenicis involved, and continue from there to Galdoa. If we're lucky, we might even make it to Crimea fast enough to provide some sort of warning to them." After offering his suggestion, he quieted down to hear what anyone else had to say. Aloysius's words didn't involve much planning, but it did cause Albus to notice Dal's absence and glance about him in a futile search for the dark mage.

"Har, he went that way, ya flirtin' scallyway," the berserker joked, walking past Aloysius and nudging him a bit harder than he understood he was doing. "Dun' worry lads 'n lasses, I'll go check in on him." Chuckling, the man walked off with his axe swung over his shoulder, following in Dal's footsteps. He wasn't worried about being separated from the others, he doubted any of them, even the one who was actually a soldier could outrun him. He also didn't intend to make his presence readily know, and would instead just see what Dal did naturally. He wasn't the stealthiest man alive, but he could do alright.

[Fateborn]

Receiving the thoughts from the fidgety robed man with pleasant, she silently nods and push herself away from the tree bark without aid of her limbs and continue cleaning of her spears and quiver while getting ready to move. She slowly turns her head toward the direction of the devastated camp. With an uncatchable tone, she quietly whispers to herself, "They're moving... Valerina, you'd better get going soon. This bunch of drop dead ragtags aren't worth your effort." She shoves the javelins into the quiver and rubs on the inscription as if she was trying to erase it but proved a fruitless attempt. She grinds her teeth in slight anger and turns to head out toward Serenes Forest.

[gabethegreen]

The forest was serene and beautiful today. Birds singing ,trees swaying in the breeze and the sunlight piercing through the treetops and illuminating the ground below. Gabe however wasn't paying attention to any of this. The only thing Gabe was focused on was a deer that had wandered into firing distance. It was a small stag with pretty small antlers minding its own business while Gabe prepared and arrow from a distance. He needed this shot to hit its mark as he both needed food and maybe he could sell the fur for money so he could keep traveling. Gabe had seen the cave from a distance but was warned by some of the people there to stay away as apparently something had happened up there and it wasn't safe. Gabe decided then to just travel around and see what other things the continent had to offer to him. After securing his kill Gabe tied it up and with all of his strength dragged the animal to his tent by the side of the mountain opposite the entrance and began skinning it. Gabe put the fur in his tent and started cooking some of the deer over the campfire. "This is the life ain't it." Though Gabe to himself. "Just me and my bow with nothing but myself to get through the day out here along with all the beautiful sights nature has to offer." "One day i swear i will se them all."

Edited January 9, 2015 by gabethegreen

[momogeek2141]

Dal followed the bird deeper into the forest. The light started to dim. However, his Mage training in Daein improved his eyesight. Eventually the bird flew straight up, into a light from the top of the forest. Dal looked in front of him. He saw a beautiful temple in front of him, under the light.

"Drop your weapon." He heard a voice from behind him.

Dal figured that they were herons, and couldn't harm him, so he complied. The tome landed with a thud.

"What are you doing in our forest!" Asked the Heron.

Dal replied calmly," A new threat comes upon Tellius. I and a group of fighters are merely survivors. We had no intention of coming into your forest, because our first priority was getting away from them safely." Dal knew that last part was more or less a lie, but he needed their trust. " This threat comes from the Red Cave of Begnion. The bandits were released. Our group came to the conclusion that the only way to combat these bandits is to-" He was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps behind him. "Pierman, drop your weapon and come here. Help me inform these Herons."

"As I was saying, to defeat the threat we need to unite all of Tellius. We hope you will join us in this cause."

" Ha! Why should we believe you, human?"

[Dragoncat]

"Surely you're aware of the legend of Red Cave?"

The heron shrugged his shoulders and flew up to get a better look at the wyvern rider who had addressed him. The flying reptile was white, like his own feathers, and its master was a strong looking young man. "We are aware of it, yes...but a legend is a legend."

"Guess what? It turned out to be true." A second wyvern rider appeared, this one a female on an orange steed. "I know you probably don't trust us, but...we're not lying. You guys can use light magic, right? Light magic is supposed to be good against undead foes, phantoms..."

"Lovely. You want us to go out there and overexert ourselves on what's probably just random bandits."

"No!" Cerai shook her head. "Well, if you want to try it...but they're supposed to be crazy strong."

"We're not helpless. We've spent generations honing our offensive magic, unlike our ancestors who just healed and revitalized. You underestimate us, human! Why do you think this forest has never been destroyed again?" The heron transformed. The feathery crest on his head stuck straight up in a show of aggression.

"And I thought Goldoa would be difficult..." Leo muttered.

[gabethegreen]

The meat had finished cooking. Gabe always enjoyed the taste of deer, it was his favorite food to hunt. After he made absolutely sure the meat was done gabe chowed down. Gabe only eat about 1 leg before he heard noises coming from nearby.

" whos there?!" Yelled gabe as he readied his bow.

After a minute Gabe was struck from the rear by an unknown source knocking him out cold. Gabe woke up a while later unsure of where he was. He tried to stand but his hands and feet were bound by rope. To tired to struggle and to scared to yell he just laid there hoping to make it out of this alive.

"Oh i see you are awake know. Hehe" said a man

He was strong looking man quite a bit taller then Gabe wearing a brown wool vest and a pair of ragged shorts. He had messy brown hair and a scar across his left eye and a smile with no good intention behind it.

"Hello. My name is barfellos and i'm your new boss you could say." Spoke the ruffian

"Why? What do you need me for?" Asked Gabe

"Hehe. You will learn soon enough until then here is your meal."

He tossed Gabe a nearly bare deer leg bone clearly from the dear he had hunted before and left.

[AnonymousSpeed]

A small, suppressed chuckle escaped Pierman. His stealth hadn't lasted long at all, though personally he didn't mind. He wasn't trying to be stealthy, he was trying to keep an eye on everyone. "Well magic boy, I don't see how ya expect me to help with that," he said with a smile, slamming the head of his axe into the ground without any concern for its fragility.

Taking a moment to look about and certainly not displaying the urgency of his wyvern riding or magical companions, letting them raise their points. "Well, I'd say it's never been destroyed again because nothin' the size of o' that army took a crack at it," he finally spoke up, still seemingly quite relaxed about all this. Anther chuckle escaped him; He'd seem many laguz in his time, but never a heron, and talking to one in its animal form was quite humorous to him, probably because they were much larger than non-magical, non-changing herons, which he had seen. "Now, I didn't stay around in count, but I know a few thin's from experience, I do. An' I can say, on a sailors word, that what we have here is a very large army of, with quite a bit of built up aggression."