Return of the Emblem Chapter Fourteen: Fight

[Nanami Touko]

Dive? Why was Isis diving? Wouldn't climbing further away from this mess make more sense? Sasha wanted to disobey, but Isis' rider hadn't steered him wrong yet. Sasha followed after the giant wyvern, and none too soon. The blast flew past them, but whatever it was had still struck Isis, blowing her into Sasha. The sensation was a new one; the most he'd been riddled with in the past were weak human weapons, perhaps magic. Getting bodied by the torso of a much larger wyvern threw him off course, spiraling down towards the water below.

----------

"Hey, it wasn't really much of an argument. And what company? You have any details floating through your head?" Eva couldn't feel anything; she'd never been magically inclined. The most magical thing about her was her sword, and even then, that wasn't her own magic. But whenever something had Angelica on alert, it couldn't be good. Angelica was one of the strongest mages that Eva knew, after all.

But something in the atmosphere had changed, even if Eva hadn't felt it, herself. The reason for that quickly unfolded, sending a wave of energy towards their boat, the sensation causing her legs to shake. She quickly grabbed onto Angelica, fearing the small woman would be blown away from the force of it, turning her eyes towards-- "<Wh... What... What just...?>"

The entire Neviskotian force... All of those wyverns, their riders... Gone. In an instant. A fine red mist floated through the air off above the water, as weapons and the twisted remains of riding gear fell into the water.

"<A-Ange, Angelica... Wh-Where are Sasha and Haythem? They wouldn't... Have, h-have been... I'm going to be sick.>" Eva's hand on Angelica's arm tightened, for she feared that if she wasn't holding onto her, her legs would take her over the edge of the boat in a desperate swim towards the massacre. But they couldn't have been near this! There was no way Haythem would ever bring the wyverns near something as dangerous as... What in the Gods names had it even been? Magic on this scale truly existed? Even Evangeline's bravado had been shaken and tossed aside at the sight of it.

----------

This sensation-- this was one he recognized. Falling. Falling fast. They had gone so high, it was no wonder they hadn't reached the ground yet. But Sasha wasn't dead, was Isis--

Sasha let out a worried cry at the sight of his lizard friend, her wing torn off entirely. Where were the others? Her rider was still on her, Amon, where was-- that Malik fellow, he was falling above them. Sasha couldn't make it to Isis. Even if he did, he wouldn't have been able to fly the wyvern, she was far larger than he was. Steadying his spiral, the water approaching fast, he did his best to slow himself down and get Malik just above him, before beating his wings heavily, trying to stop his crashing into what was practically stone.

As the human made contact with Sasha's back, the wyvern simply hoped he was awake enough to grab any part of his harness, crying out in desperation as his descent was not being slowed enough to avoid complete contact with the water. With a final howl at their misfortune, Sasha splashed into the water, Malik hopefully saved from the full brunt of the impact.

----------

"<Alright. Let's head on up.>" Haruhi took her weak legs and stepped up to the stairs, ready to follow after the two. They'd started speaking in common, and that left Haruhi wondering if something was up. <Leave me out, I guess. I am new, and a stowaway.>

The sudden draining of magic shook her more than it normally would have, Haruhi grabbing at the wall to stabilize herself. "<What just...?>"

And the impact after brought more than enough worry. She hadn't seen it, but she'd felt it, and heard it. It only lasted a moment, but that moment was more than enough to inspire worry and fear. "<What was that!?>"

Edited November 28, 2016 by Narumeia

[Dandragon]

The storm had subsided, and what remained was a red mist that clouded the area. The smile that was once on Mavis's face had disappeared. Replacing it were widened eyes and straightened lips, neither smiling nor frowning. Not even her father could command winds of that strength. Whatever was out there was far more powerful than the axe she had set out to recover. In a way, it made her feel powerless. There was no way she could stand up to that kind of power, should she ever find herself against it, but in the back of her mind she couldn't help but imagine herself wielding such magic on her own.

Of course, a sound from behind her snapped her out of her daze. It was the sound of words. But not...regular words. No these words were foreign, yet not unfamiliar to her. She had heard similar words shouted by the dragoons back on the docks. She turned around, seeking the source, and saw Eva clutching the arms of the other girl as she spoke. Mavis blinked twice. "Did...did you just speak 'skotian?"

[scorri]

Lumi had just released the last of her traps when all of a sudden her aura disappeared. "Ugh..." She stumbled up against the railing of the ship, looking around in stunned silence. And then the explosion of magic above. The death. "Wh.... What? What was that? Who..." Who could have done something like that? I... I didn't know there were such powers in the world. Where's Pete? I'm not... I'm not sure I want to go on adventures any more... The fight against the dragon and Pete's reaction to that had been bad enough. But this... This was something well beyond the girl's imagination and as the red mist fell, she sank to the ground, tears starting to well up in her eyes.

Hoshi stumbled as her aura disappeared. <"Ugh, no, what? My magic... What took it? Something must be happening up above. We've got to go. Though, I don't know how we can be helpful without magic..." She slowly made her way to the stairs, still shaky from the sudden loss of her magic.

Edited November 28, 2016 by scorri

[Ether]

It all happened in an instant, Angelica felt a sudden, odd sensation, almost like she was being choked out, as her aura... not only hers, but seemingly all of the magic in the area was oppressively siphoned off to a point in the sky. Before she could even react to the sudden assault, an indescribable magical force filled the air. She turned her head in it's direction, an odd flash in the sky, almost like rust... until the skies themselves were painted thick with a red mist... a mist of blood.

"The hell...?" Angelica managed, before Eva clung to her, in a panic. Sasha, again... the world did like to throw dead wyverns at them whilst the two were separated, didn't it?

<"They were supposed to meet up with us here... they shouldn't have any reason to be grouped up with the Imperial air force..."> Angelica replied, ignoring the sudden callout of Eva's Neviskotian by the new girl... too many other things to focus on right now. Between the worry from Eva, trying to keep herself steady, and desperately trying to draw power out from her tome so she didn't feel entirely defenseless, coming up with a comeback was far and away at the bottom of her priorities. It didn't help that under the sudden stress of witnessing such a spectacle, along with feeling nearby naked without her magic at the ready, even the normally aloof adept found herself shaking slightly.

[Phoenix]

All Lined Up

Lexi stared up at the destruction over the water. Ursium had finally gone and done it. They'd finally pulled out a weapon the imperials would likely never have an answer for. Whatever that attack was, its purpose was clear; inflict the maximum number of casualties on the enemy. She felt the anchors hit the water. That snapped her out of her thoughts. "Alright hurry up and get that loading ramp down. Get everything aboard because we're headin' out with the Ursians!"

Greta stared into the distance, too stunned to move at first. How many people had just been ground up by that giant cyclone? A hundred? No, far more than that. She couldn't see any survivors from where she was, but the chaos from that spell had caused the waters to begin stirring violently, and that was demanding her attention, now. She felt the cold ocean water splash against her leg and took a step back. The pier wasn't completely soaked, but it wasn't getting there. "Okay, wagon," Greta suddenly remembered her task, "I'll take care of it."

She quickly hopped into the front seat, took the reins and snapped them, driving the horses forward along the pier. It was a tight fit, but the loading ramp was just wide enough from the looks of things. If one of the wheels slipped over the edge, though ...

Worth

Edith could feel the lance give itself back over to her. No longer locked in place, she could move the weapon about freely again, but all she could do was stare in disbelief at its power. She could feel her ally's gazes shifting onto her after a while. Nothing about the destruction she'd caused had changed. A long red haze hung sickeningly in the sky and bodies rained down into the water by the hundreds. Some of the imperials had survived, but no more than twenty wyverns and their passengers. This down from the several hundred that had come expecting a hard won battle ....

Edith tried to smile, but she could barely move at all, now. It was a miracle, an unholy miracle. Just as she was about to look back to her allies, they started racing past her in droves, intent on finishing off the survivors. Edith was left trying to wrap her head around what had just happened. While it had certainly been her intent to destroy the opposing force, it had been nothing like she'd imagined. She honestly wanted to return to the Castor, but she had one more duty to fulfill before she could even think of returning to the ship; she had to sink the Basilisk.

"We're not taking any prisoners," one of the squad leaders cried out as she led part of the group toward the now fleeing imperials. Edith watched as dozens upon dozens of pegasus riders rushed past her with unshakable morale driving them forward. Seeing that, she finally managed the faintest of smiles. She wasn't just a killer. She could never forgive herself for simply killing off the enemy. The sheer power of the lance had caused her to forget why she had used it in the first place. She had so desperately wanted to protect her allies, even going against the original plan to do so. It wasn't pretty; it was downright gut wrenching in fact, but if she had saved even a handful of her people today, then it was worth it.

Breathe

Malik's body ached, his chest in particular. As his senses began to return to him, he realized that not only was he underwater, his lungs were also half filled with sea water. He reached out in a panic, grabbing onto the first thing he could find as the very top of his head repeatedly poked the surface of the water. He managed to grab onto Sasha's harness, and held on for dear life as he tried to pull his head above water.

<"... dammit."> The words came out as a strangled gargle, and were followed by a violent fit of coughing and gagging as he held onto the harness. A dead wyvern came crashing down far too close for comfort, splashing Malik and forcing him to shield his face to keep anymore water from finding its way into his body.

His world resolved into screams as nearby survivors were struck by the bodies of their falling comrades or they themselves were dragged down by their own safety chains. Some were lucky enough to disconnect themselves, others weren't. Some of the wyverns were still alive but had lost their riders. They began paddling around in the water while their dead masters weighed them down. On top of all of this, Malik and Sasha were being pelted by soft and metal hail both. Every few seconds, Malik gained a new shallow cut as a metal fragment hit him. <"... dammit,"> he murmured as he struggled to protect his head while still holding onto Sasha.

Where were Amon and Haythem? Every time he tried to look around, he was punished by falling debris. Every time he actually saw someone, it was another corpse or someone who would likely become one before too long. <"... dammit ...">

How was he going to get back to the others, and what would he even tell them if he somehow survived this massacre? <" ... dammit!">

Another wyvern came splashing down, and Malik couldn't shield his face in time. His vision went red as the bloody water blinded him. He'd never felt so ... helpless ... <"... DAMMIIIIIIIIT!!!">

Up Is Down

Amon opened his eyes as the pain began to wrap around him. The faintest light he could imagine seemed to disappear as he did. Amon wasn't dead, he knew that much, but he was certainly about to be. He was subsisting on half a breath he'd unconsciously taken as he hit the water, and that was it. He doubted he could make it back to the surface in his condition. He couldn't even tell where the surface of the water was, anymore. He looked down, and saw what looked like the surface of the water. Unlike what he was expecting, however, it was becoming red and the silhouettes of dead men and wyverns could be seen in almost every direction. He looked up, and saw what also looked like the surface, albeit much closer. It too was clouded by red death. Between the pain and the general disorientation, he didn't know what to believe, or what to do. He wasn't even sure how he was still alive.

The decision of whether to swim downward or upwards was quickly made for him as his ailing lungs began to protest. He couldn't breathe, and he was quickly running out of air. His arms and legs began moving on their own trashing about to move him toward the closer of the two walls of air. He couldn't think anymore, he couldn't be held back by the intense pain anymore, and he couldn't wait anymore. He swam as hard as he could, using the last of his strength to reach what his mind could only see as salvation.

Salvation was an unexpectedly long fall. As soon as Amon had gotten halfway out of the water, he fell, nearly crashing on his head against a hard wooden surface. What on Earth had just happened to him? He looked up from where he'd fallen and saw a dark ceiling of water overhead. <"Where ...?"> His eyes began to dart around. He was in some kind of gigantic oblong bubble. He quickly realized that he was standing on the deck of a ship. It was no ordinary ship, either. The sheer scale involved here was unbelievable.

Amon tried to pull himself to his feet, but his legs weren't having any of it, and refused to move. As more of his surroundings resolved, he saw bodies and the scattered remains of imperial riders and their mounts everywhere, and there wasn't a dry spot to be found anywhere. Not everyone was dead, though. Plenty of soaked deck hands were picking through the bodies that had fallen down from the ocean's surface, trying to find survivors.

Suddenly, someone came up from behind and kicked Amon with a steel clad boot, sending him flat onto his face. <"Who the hell are you?!"> The man shouted down at him in the Neviskotian language. The sancturan hoped the guy knew common or this wasn't going to go anywhere pleasant. Whatever ship he was on, it definitely belonged to the imperials. Amon's attacker stepped on his back before he could regain the height he'd lost from the first attack. <"I said who are you?!">

"I'm not with Ursium," Amon bit out as he tried to reach to his back. Of all the places to be hit, it had to be the area that took the brunt of the impact, and not once but twice. There was no doubt in his mind that the area was nothing but a massive bruise, now. "We were trying to get away when ..." Amon paused, his own words shocking him back into full awareness. Where was Haythem, and Malik? What had happened to Sasha? Isis was either dead or ... safe ... somewhere, one of the two. The rest were unaccounted for.

"We were ..." Amon turned around to face his attacker, and saw a paranoid, almost frightened soldier, looking down pleadingly at him. "We were ... attacked." Before he could say anything else, the soldier grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to his feet. "Where are you taking me?" Amon asked, barely able to get the words out through the pain.

"Taking you to captain," the man replied back in crude common, "You are telling him everything happening up there."

Amon could barely walk, but his legs were starting to cooperate with him. Each step was more painful than the last, but he would manage, somehow. As his gaze fell to the deck, all he could see in his minds eye was light. Every wooden panel, every bolt, every metal plate. Wherever he was, there was immense value in it ....

[Nanami Touko]

Sasha cried out as he breached the water's surface, desperately looking around for a place to swim for. Off in the distance, ships? He'd seen ships before, and it was better than having another wyvern crash onto him. Malik was making noises, did that mean he was alive? Alive enough to scream, the wyvern thought to himself, as he began to paddle away from the mess. It would be a slow process, but they were moving, and that was enough. The metal bits banging off of his head and wings every so often was getting increasingly frustrating, grunting and growling as they did. He paddled faster.

----------

"<Who cares what I'm speaking!? Where is my wyvern!?>" Eva was still shaking, desperately clinging to Angelica as her last hope of-- no, that wasn't working anymore. She let the girl go and dashed to the edge of the boat, staring out at the water. Nothing was clear. Nothing was visible. There were bodies and wyverns crashing into the water every few moments, screams and cries in the distance. She felt herself start to cry, collapsing down onto her knees. "No no no no no... <Please, don't, don't do this... Just b-be, be late... Please! Pleeease! Sashaaaa!>" Between all the death and the possibility of her longest known friend suddenly having been wiped out of her life, Eva wasn't up for being strong. In fact, all she wanted to do right now was hide and sob, but she couldn't do the former.

"<Please, just, f-fly over the horizon, you stupid green lizard... Please, I can't, do this... Not t-twice in one day...!>"

[Xinnidy]

"Captain, huh..." Thales didn't mind staying on the ship then --felt safer for whatever reason--. The ship moving on its own came as a surprise, granted. Thales just had to see what was going on, looking down to see the waters moving the ship on its own. Magic. That's a smart captain... He bit his lip, feeling yet more inadequate among all these people. All he could do was draw a bow and curse at people for their money, really...

Of course, that wasn't the last surprise, as if fate couldn't drive the point home enough.

The sky was red.

A strong haze covered most of the sky after the burst from an incredibly bright light. Bright enough to obfuscate the sun. What followed was... destruction at its purest form was the only way Thales could word it. It killed all those men... Following the ridiculous burst was a haze of blood than felt so alien, even the sunlight that passed through was distorted.

One could react to it many ways. Thales couldn't take his eyes off of the massacre, but felt uncharacteristically unshaken. It was hard to put in words for him what he felt, but along a feeling of having his previous worries completely ridiculed was bitterness. A person with this power must be pretty important, huh? Able to shift a battle between powers and all that. He looked at the corpse-riddled waters as the more (or less?) fortunate fell. And here's a sad reject watching it all unfold. He sympathized with the helplessness the attackers must have felt. Torn and utterly meeting death without so much of a fight. His expression was... serene, for whatever reason.

He quickly came to senses hearing the people around him. The general reaction was definitely of shock. Lumi... She was in the verge of tears, and he didn't know what to say. What could you do to comfort someone you just met? What do you say in the face of a massacre like that?

The wyvern rider seemed particularly affected, which in afterthought made sense. These were still people of her nation being mindlessly murdered, both wyverns and humans and remains tossed to the sea in a decimation. Even if she was shouting on her native language, Thales could tell how it affected her. "We better get going before it gets worse." He mumbled. Could it actually get worse? He didn't want to know.

[Snike]

Pete had clambered off of the wagon and drawn his bow, ready to defend the pier from any enemy behind them. Fortunately, it appeared as though the guardsmen were dealing with the dragoons, so he didn't have to put his shot to the test for the time being. The bowman turned his eye to the sea, to check for any sign of enemy reinforcements, when he saw it.

From the Ursian side of the aerial battle, some sort of twister had been released. It couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds, but when it dissipated, so did the Neviskotian air force. They were replaced with a red mist, which fell to the water below it. The pegasus knights, looking more like vultures than warriors, swooped in to pick the mist clean of survivors.

Pete had never been the most devout, seeing as the Four had very little presence in his life. His youth had been spent working to make ends meet rather than to follow the teachings of any particular God, and even when he had the chance, praying didn't really 'do' anything for him. He thought that the gods were too far away to care about people like him and his family. But as he stood there, staring out at the crimson rain from afar, Pete realized that it wasn't that they were too far away; it was more that they were too close, and humans were too small to be noticed. That was the only way that he could explain why that twister could exist, and how it could obliterate hundreds of people in the blink of an eye.

A crack of the wagon's reins snapped him out of his trance, and Pete turned to follow the vehicle to the golden boat. The pier was quickly becoming slippery due to the rough sea waves, but he didn't feel the cold spray. He just felt numb.

[Ether]

And from bad to worse things went, with Eva letting go of her grip, before darting to the edge of the boat in a panic. Of course she would... Amon and the others had no reason to be clumped up with the Imperials, but to an Ursian pegasus knight, wyverns were wyverns... the possibility was there, that Sasha had ended up in the mix of that blast. Angelica couldn't blame Eva for her reaction, though the sudden loss of her brace, alongside the shaking deck and her own sudden weakness caused Angelica to fall over, luckily not into the water itself, but she had wound up sitting on the deck, fumbling for her tome for a moment until it was in her hands. A warm, familiar feeling washed over her as her aura began to spark back into existence, drawing out power from the magical tome to feed her own sudden lack.

It seemed the boat was turning, that was both good and bad. It would get them away from the pier, thusly more mobile and further from the source of that blast... as morbid as it was, Angelica could only hope Eva would be distracted long enough to not try and leap off of the boat back onto the docks, or worse, into the turbid waves, if Sasha didn't make his appearance before they left the shore.

Edited November 29, 2016 by Ether

[Dandragon]

"Hey, hey! Are you trying to fly off the boat or something? And can ya speak common, I barely understand a lick of what your saying!" Things were getting pretty crazy. This lady was getting real emotional about something out there, and it seemed really suspicious all things considered. Was she a Skotian spy or something? And if so, she would be blowing her cover real bad by freaking out over all that out in the sea. Of course, that would be assuming things, but it was also a very distinct possibility. Of course, this also meant that the others inside the wagon, as well as Greta, were in league with them. If this was a skotian plot, then she'd be really outnumbered. Best to go along for now. "Listen, I don't know what you're crying over, but don't think about going out there. You're gonna get yourself killed if ya do!"

[Xinnidy]

Thales sighed. It seemed like things were going to escalate into shouting and more shouting if he didn't intervene. "Hey." He called out to Mavis, "No need to tone your voice that high. Let's not attract any more imperials if we can't." To be fair, the battle already seemed over and calling for an Ursian victory, but Thales felt he personally could do without the two woman starting a fight or worse. "I'll talk to her." It beat doing nothing while waiting for the wagon to load on the boat.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Thales approached Eva reluctantly, a few steps beside her. "Only speak Common here, you've gotta fill me in... if it's okay." It dawned on him that Eva's eyes were scanning the horizon. "Looking for someone out there?" He lifted his head, "Two pairs of eyes is better than one. What are you on the lookout for?" Maybe an offer for help would help her calm down a little.

Edited November 30, 2016 by Xinnidy

[Nanami Touko]

"<Shut up! I'll speak whatever I want! Just...>" A part of Eva really hoped that Sasha would come out from that storm, just so she'd know where he is, but all this waiting was driving her mad. They had been flying, how could they have been late? At the very least, if she'd been able to see him from somewhere it would've been fine, but a quick glance around provided nothing. She kept trying to hold back her worried tears and slouched over the boat. <Just show up! Please... Please, anywhere, Sasha...!>

Thales had approached, sporting a far calmer tone than the other woman. Eva tried to suck up her emotions to talk enough in common. "M-My wyvern. He's late-- our other friends, they're all late, and... A-And with that massive, storm, all of that, I, just... With the wyvern that crashed earlier... I can't help but be scared that they got roped up into this mess and something awful happened. Uh... H-He's green. Sort of... Pale fleshed wings, big black horn on his head... I just..."

Eva tried to collect herself, pushing herself up, staring at the deck. "I've been with him since I was a child. I was raised around him... If something happened to him, it'd be like losing family... It would be losing family. Sasha's the only family, I-I have, all the way out here. He can't be dead..." She looked back out over the water, trying to stomach the mess. If she could spot anything, that would be enough for her.

[Phoenix]

All Aboard

"How in the blazes did we move like that?" the short mercenary hissed. He'd been facing the wrong way when the imperial legion was torn to shreds and scattered over the strait, but he did catch the tail end of it. He quickly forgot about the Deadly Dandelion's sudden maneuver. "... they're all gone ..." That was all he could manage after nearly a minute of simply gawking at the destruction.

Getting the wagon up the loading ramp while the Deadly Dandelion was still coming back to a rest, using such a narrow pier and ramp, with no complications whatsoever, really was a pipe dream, but they had gotten very close before the right rear wheel slipped off the rocking loading ramp and its axel slammed hard onto the wood. The metal reinforcements were all that kept that section from cracking under the pressure. Greta had her legs spread apart to help keep herself steady, anticipating this potential outcome and not wanting to be thrown over one side or the other from the sudden shift.

The horses reacted about as optimistically as Greta could have hoped. That was to say that they nearly spooked at the sudden crash and did the rest of her job for her, hauling the wagon halfway onto the ship before being stopped by the stuck wheel. "Come on," Greta urged them onward. It took some doing, but even with the ship swaying in the water and keeping the ramp constantly shifting beneath the back half of the wagon, they managed to finish hauling it aboard.

That was Shadrak's cue to hurry aboard, as well, and he started for the loading ramp at a brisk pace. "There's something not right about that captain, but if she can get us out of this, and to Kigen, then I guess it's alright."

"Oi," the short mercenary offered Angelica a hand up, keeping his blunderbuss in his free hand, "you people might wanna head below deck if ya don't have your sea legs. I still don't know how we're gonna blow past all those 'skotian ships down south." Translation: the ship was going to get rocked a lot harder before it was smooth sailing, again. Frankly, he wasn't sure they would actually escape this battle in tact.

Lexi sighed, more out of impatience than relief. Seeing so many ships joining the Ursian fleet out on the water had her excited and eager to get involved, but her commitments came first. She couldn't set out until everyone that needed to be aboard was aboard. At least things were progressing quickly, now. The Emi Maru's deck didn't show any signs that they were preparing to head out, but Lexi was sure that would change very shortly. It was of little consequence, since the ship could maintain a consistent speed no matter its course, and shouldn't be following terribly close behind the Deadly Dandelion anyway. Lexi's crew were already moving in to help untack the horses and get the wagon secured. Another minute or two, probably ... then it was off to battle, and eventually to Kigen.

[spoiler=Rough Customers]

The market hadn't been particularly well defended. The docks were hit first, and far too many of the foot soldiers wound up heading that way. The anticipation of a dragon attack only depleted the number of soldiers in the marketplace further. Only a single patrol was left on the street where Marcus' business operated. Save for that patrol, and two kigenese men completing a large purchase, the streets had been deserted.

"Riders!" One of the guardsmen pulled out a pistol and aimed it as carefully as he could at the swooping rider. He got off a shot, but the shot didn't penetrate, nor did it dismount the rider. The guardsman dove out of the way as the flying lancer thrust at him, narrowly avoiding a gruesome end.

Nena watched, or rather tried to, with some interest. She'd never seen an actual fight between Ursian and Neviskotian forces. The two young men, oddly enough, seemed oblivious to it, and simply focused on counting up the money they had agreed to pay for the staves Nena had so carefully explained to them moments ago. She had to rise onto her toes and lean over to see past her two customers. Just as she'd gotten a decent glimpse at the fighting, one of the guardsmen was cut down by a mounted mage's wind blade. He hit the ground hard and his weapons clattered a short ways from him as the mage flew back up out of view, again.

"Here," the sailor on the left presented Nena the agreed amount of coin.

"Oh," Nena suddenly remembered her priorities, "thank you. It was a pleasure doing business with you."

The young man on the right began wrapping up their ten new staves while, like his partner, seemingly ignoring the violence behind them. Neither were reacting to it physically, but it quickly became obvious that they were aware of the danger. "Miss, you should close down. Go hide."

"Why?" Nena said, feigning naivety.

The young man on the left leaned closer and made eye contact. He had a stern air about him all of a sudden. "For your own safety." He shook his head. "We can't protect you." They were both unarmed, and clearly not mages, so Nena didn't doubt that she'd be left wanting for protection if the situation continued to escalate.

Nena sighed to herself. Maybe she was being silly. Crazy, even. Why keep the store open in this crisis instead of just looking after herself? Better yet, why not use it as an opportunity to give Marcus the slip altogether? Apart from just surviving the chaos, it wouldn't be too difficult.

"Please." Before he could say another word or make another gesture, he and his partner both moved out of the way as a wind blade came slicing through vertically. It missed Nena by a fair margin, but the counter, and some of the men's payment had been sliced in two. The man on the right set down the staves at his feet, and then quickly fell back into a combat stance that Nena had never seen before. His partner on the left mirrored the stance.

"With your bare hands, really?" Nena asked, dumbfounded by their bravery.

"Please run," they both said, not quite in sync with each other.

<"You people should have crawled into your holes when you had the chance,"> the mage snarled at them, two wind spells forming on either side of him as his wyvern brought him closer. Both of Nena's customers took off running straight toward the descending wyvern and the murderous mage riding it, and Nena was almost certain she would see them both die, but they easily sidestepped the two vertical blades that came down on them, and even evaded the wyvern as it snapped at them.

"Don't try to be heroes," Nena called over to them, unable to hide how concerned she was. She was a passable mage, herself, but even she wouldn't try to take on a wyvern rider without some serious protective gear and a strong tome. It was a losing proposition much of the time.

There was something Nena had nearly forgotten. Only one of the guardsmen had been killed thus far. As two more ran back into view, one of whom she'd had an almost entertaining squabble with earlier, they fired off shots from their pistols to hinder the other wyvern rider that was coming down to attack the two kigenese sailors. Both shots connected, but the wyvern itself was unfazed, and slammed headfirst into them before climbing back into the air, and making room for the mage's next attack run.

The mage forged two more spells and prepared to attack, again, but they failed to connect, and instead of moving to the sides, the sailor that first warned Nena to run leaped right over the wyvern's head as it tried to snap at him, and delivered a decisive kick to the mage's breastplate. Nena expected the chain securing the mage to the saddle to hold firm but somehow the skinny looking sailor managed to snap it. That kick, combined with their speed relative to each other must have been enough to break the weakest link in the chain. Regardless of the exact forces involved, the mage landed on his face and to Nena's ever increasing surprise, was swiftly dispatched by the other sailor with a powerful heel stomp to the back of the neck.

The lancer had just completed his turn and this time, was fully committed. Seeing his fellow soldier lying dead in the street, and confused wyvern perching on a nearby rooftop, he seemed fueled more by anger now than by any sort of military mandate. He came charging in, but instead of trying to skewer anyone in particular with his lance, he pulled out a grenade, a runic type that could easily kill anyone left standing, and threw it at the guardsmen as he passed over them. The explosive detonated before either could get clear, and blew them half a dozen meters from each other and to the ground. One survived, the other didn't.

Neither of the sailors had looked confident, but if Nena's eyes weren't playing tricks on her, they looked downright afraid, now. The wyvern rider circled around, flying higher this time, and Nena stepped around the ruined counter to try and get a better look. He was high enough to accurately target whomever he wanted, and no one could reach him.

... almost no one. Nena's eyes narrowed as the rider prepared to throw the grenade that would surely end another person's life. "Not this time," she hissed, reaching out with her right hand and lining up her index and middle fingers. Dark energy gathered there quickly, and in deadly amounts as her aura began to awaken, erupting an unhinged violet.

<"You're next ki-"> Whatever he was about to say, he was cut off and silenced forever when Nena sent a dark shot straight through the grenade in his hand, causing it to explode. It took the rider and the wyvern with it, prompting a satisfied smile from Nena.

"RUN!!!" That was the voice of the kigenese sailor she'd spoken with, Nena realized. She looked over to him with a start, wondering what was wrong. He was waving his arms frantically at her. That was when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw sparks and tiny orbs raining down. She realized what was happening, that there were other runic grenades that were starting to go off while raining down like hellfire all over the area, but she'd realized it too late to reach real safety.

As the first set of new explosions began to pound at her ears, she ran back toward the destroyed counter in hopes of getting herself beneath a roof. "What was I thinkiiiiiing?!"

When it was all over, Marcus' store lay in ruins, as did a couple of other nearby structures. The two sailors and the one remaining guardsman worked together to pull Nena out from the wreckage of the storefront, which she had been half buried under in her desperate attempt to find cover. She was alive, but badly bruised in numerous places, and unconscious to boot.

"I told her it was dangerous," the guardsman shook his head, frustrated at the stubborn girl. "You two don't look like you're from around here."

"We work aboard the Emi Maru," the first sailor said, signalling for his partner to get the merchandise they'd paid for. It felt in poor taste at this point, but their business transaction had been concluded. It wasn't necessarily their problem that the money was piled up beneath rubble and a broken counter setup, though at least it would be reasonably well hidden for a while. Marcus had a small chance to claim it for himself before anyone else did.

"That a ship?" the guardsman got a nod from each of them. "Well I can't ask you to take her with you, but if you can find a healer, get her to them."

"What about you?" the sailor asked, eyeing the Ursian's injuries. As far as looks went, he was only a little better off than Nena.

"I need to head back to the barracks. I'd take her with me but I won't be able to defend myself. You two together might make it. If you're going to safety, just take her with you, alright? That's all I ask." It took longer this time, but he got two more nods out of them. The first carefully placed Nena onto his back, and the other carried the staves. They both took off running as soon as they were ready. The guardsman sighed. "... gods watch over them ..."

Once the two men were out of sight, the guardsman let himself go.

The Basilisk

Amon looked up from the illusory glow of the deck every so often as he was dragged to his destination. Every time he looked up, more and more of the strange ship's overall profile came into focus. He had no idea how he would describe it to another person, but as far as he could tell, he was standing on a large triangle shaped deck, from which three large floats, or rather three large and distinct hulls were connected. He wasn't sure if the center of the ship, the area he'd wound up in, went all the way down into the water, or simply acted as an elevated frame. The main deck was like a fortress, vaguely similar to a kigenese warship's command section, though without the unique aesthetic design an ornamentation.

Lining the command section and its three decks, were dozens of portable cannons, exceptionally large swivel guns that just about any trained sailor could operate and move between stations. It was a modular setup that brought the daunting task of defending the ship from boarding parties down to a level even the unskilled could manage. Spaced more scarcely were ballistae, though each platform was a special type that could loose multiple bolts in quick succession. While this ship's anti-air capabilities weren't worth bragging about due in large part to its sheer size, the ridiculous number of wyvern riders that had gone in ahead of it would have surely made attacking the ship by air a near impossibility.

As they began to ascend the outer staircase, making their way up to the bridge, Amon got a better view of the three large hulls keeping the ship afloat. He couldn't believe what his eyes had previously mistaken for cutting edge mechanical masts. They weren't masts, they were cannons, gloriously oversized cannons. Two of them sat side by side at the center of each hull, atop what Amon could now tell were circular platforms overlapping the main deck's wedge shaped edges. Six unbelievably massive long guns, capable of being positioned in twos, and clearly able to fire across extremely wide arcs; this is what the Neviskotian Empire had sunk so much effort into creating. This ship was a monster. As they reached the bridge, Amon saw a plaque that bore the ship's name, Basilisk.

The bridge wasn't particularly large, roughly the size of a captain's quarters on a galleon, though without the necessary sloped design. The man Amon pegged as the captain was a tall man wearing a large hat and a bulky cape. He couldn't see anything beyond that since the man's back was turned. The only other people on the bridge besides Amon and his handler, were what looked like bodyguards.

<"Captain,"> the soldier addressed his superior about as eagerly as one could expect, <"We've got a live one.">

The captain slowly turned around, revealing a tanned, older man with a dark beard, scars all around his forehead, nose, and cheeks, and red eyes. <"He's not one of ours,"> the captain concluded. <"Mercenary?"> He locked eyes with his subordinate, got a cautious shake of the head in reply, and then locked eyes with Amon. <"Who are you?"> he asked in his own tongue, deliberately so.

Amon scowled. He'd heard that question before. "I'm not with Ursium," he insisted, imbuing some of his frustration into the response.

"Why should I believe that?" the captain asked, half smirking and cocking his head slightly to the left.

Amon almost hadn't noticed it before, having gotten used to the ship's near constant overlay of light, but now that he was once again under suspicion, his mind was frantically searching for a way out of this mess, and everything around him from the walls to the ceiling was once again standing out in his mind. This ship had value, just like Isis had value.

"Well?"

If he ... touched this ship the same way he'd touched Isis ... would it just ... disappear, like she had? Where would it go? Where had she gone? How would any of this help him restore Sanctuary, a city out in the middle of the rexian desert? First the emblem had marked a dying wyvern as valuable ... and now a ship? Granted both were unique, but none of it made sense to Amon at face value, and trying to puzzle it out was causing him to forget about the captain completely, which turned out to be a mistake.

"Answer me!" The soldier grabbed Amon by the hair and jerked his head back, leaving the Sanctuarn wide open for a hard kick to the chest that sent him onto his already aching back. "If you aren't working for the Ursians, then prove it. No ..." the captain glanced away, suddenly taken by the thought of the catastrophe on the surface. His gaze eventually met Amon's, again. "You're harmless. Tell me what happened up there, and we'll let you live."

"Fine ..." Amon agreed, all the while trying to figure out the mystery of the emblem.

[Nanami Touko]

Malik was still cursing the world, but Sasha was tired of swimming. Well, less tired, more so, they weren't being followed by anything in the sky, and the debris flying towards them hadn't been causing him enough trouble to not give this a try. He roared back at Malik, hoping the man's grip was strong enough to maintain during Sasha's waterborne take off. He started to kick his legs faster under the water, thrashing his wings to give him some more speed. It would take a moment to get moving; taking off without ground was rather terrible, but it wasn't impossible, and now that it felt safe enough, it was time to try. He just had to get the right amount of air underneath those wings to take off.

[Snike]

After the wagon, with some difficulty, was successfully loaded onto the ship, Pete followed suit and made his way up the ramp with little incident. Once he was on the Deadly Dandelion, the man spotted Lumi sitting next to the ships' railing, about to burst into tears. He didn't quite know how to comfort her, seeing as he wasn't all together himself after the tornado, but he decided to just approach his traveling companion and offer her a hand to get up, for the time being.

[Xinnidy]

"Ah..." That made sense, she hadn't been with her wyvern, and just saw more of them get decimated at once than probably everybody there thiught possible. "You think they might have gotten caught in that mess?" I don't see how they could be caught with the Ursian army, of all things, but... If she was that concerned, then looking out for them had some merit. Thales couldn't just write her off as impulsive so quickly! "Alright. Well, maybe they took another route, but let's keep our eyes open." Green, pale wings, black horn... Thales scanned the aftermath in front of them. It wasn't an easy picture to stomach, but if there was anyghing he thought himself decent at, it was his sight.

The image of the wyvern was hard to picture in his mind, nothing seemed easy to discern from that distance. "Tch..." One thing started taking his attention from the bloody mess on the sea's surface. One wyvern was trashing about. "Hey, do you think that's..." Thales pointed at the general direction. He could only tell from the wings so far, but directing Eva could have a better result identifying the beast.

[-Cynthia-]

Liam

The red tornado was like nothing he had ever experienced before- just imagining the death and destruction made him feel sick to his stomach. Then Joanna acted as anyone who knew her would expect her to really.

"I'm sorry I know you can't...but I made a promise to protect you. I can't let you go down there," he said to her with sadness in his eyes.

Nadya

Well, this went from bad to worse. I dunno what the hell that was, but now I'm stuck on a boat with no magic...always knew a boat would end up bein' the death of me, Nadya thought to herself, following Hoshi for lack of any idea of what else to do.

[Ether]

Accepting the hand up, Angelica gave a quick shake of her head at the mercenary's suggestion.

"I can handle boats just fine, it was that... damn near apocalyptic display in the skies that shook me... it seems to have absorbed all of the magic in the area, so is hit me especially hard." She explained as she regained her footing, looking over in Eva's direction... as much as she wanted to prevent it, if the rider chose to have one of her moments now, there would be little the adept could do to prevent it in her current state.

[scorri]

Hoshi reached out and placed a hand on her tome, resupplying her aura as best she could from the tome. <"Hah... I uhm... I think you should stay down here Haruhi. Without your magic, you can't fight up there, and if that attack was any indication, it's not going to be peaceful up there. Unless you know how to replenish your magic with your tome? If not, stay here."> She smiled at the younger girl, and slowly started to make her way back up the steps, doing her best to pull more magic out of her tome.

Lumi looked blankly up at Pete for a few seconds, finally reaching out to take his hand. "I... I don't know if I can do this anymore. I just... So many people died. And for what? Just instantly. All those people died. It's... Just so different from everything else we've seen. There's fighting and then there's just... Slaughter. Why?" She stood up, slowly reaching out and grabbing her sword as much for the sake of having something to hold on to as anything else.

[Snike]

Pete didn't have the answer for why all those people died. He hardly had an answer for what the Neviskotians died for, as well. Now wasn't the time to admit that, though, nor was it the time to even be discussing such things.

"Yes, it was, but it's not over yet. You should head below deck, Lumi," he said, glancing out towards the sea. "Take Star with you. We still have to fight through their navy, and that storm might come again."

[Phoenix]

The Deadly Dandelion

"If you say so," the short mercenary conceded, "but fair warnin', if the cap'n's serious about takin' us into the fight, the deck's gonna be a real mess soon." He shook his head. "Don't expect all of us are gonna make it outta this one, least of all that wagon ya brought along. Ain't no protectin' that in a sea brawl."

The Sky

Joanna found her mind split in two as she struggled to hold herself back. Her nature was winning out, and she couldn't keep herself flying anywhere near on course toward the docks any longer. As much as she hated the thought of failing to affect the situation, a part of her hoped Liam would simply drag her to the boat and force her to use up all of her energy. That was the only way she could see herself anywhere but covered in water and blood, desperately trying to undo even the tiniest fraction of the damage dealt to humanity itself out there.

The Basilisk

"Impossible," Captain Kohut winced, taking the most demoralizing part of Amon's tale to heart, "the entire wing? A single pegasus knight caused all of those casualties?" His men were equally stunned, but had nothing to say. What could they say? their force had just been quiet literally decimated, and what was left of their forces was now operating with virtually no air support.

"Can I ask you a question?" Amon tried not to make eye contact.

"What do you want?" Kohut said, bitterness already taking hold of him. Could they still win the battle? What if that incredible destructive power was pointed right at the Basilisk? Could it survive a direct hit? It was a tough call to make with so little information. Whatever this boy wanted, Kohut didn't much care, right now.

"How is this ship underwater like this?" Amon asked. The only reason he had any credibility was because he managed to wind up here after falling into the water. Well, the corpses and blood that had made it this deep certainly didn't hurt, either, now that he thought about it. "I've never seen anything like this."

Kohut chuckled, having been reminded of their biggest advantage in this battle, their water dragons. The Basilisk was indeed the flagship of the Neviskotian Imperial Fleet, but it was the coordination of their forces, and the support structure behind the ship that made it so inconceivably deadly. Kohut smiled. "If you haven't figured it out, then you don't need to know." He turned away from his rexian captive and his smile widened. They would just have to do what they planned on doing in the first place. Coordinate with their dragons, raise the ship to the surface to fire, and then submerge before the enemy could respond. The main fleet would have to rely on whatever riders they had on standby. Kohut could also have the Basilisk surface to send off their own wyvern riders to help. Yes, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that this battle was far from over. All the enemy had done was bloody their nose and bruise their ego ... and in doing so, they had played their most valuable card right from the get-go. Ursium was going to lose this battle. Captain Kohut was going to make damn certain of that.

[spoiler=The Kurosaki Inn]

The inn could definitely use some renovating, yes, but at least it was fireproof. Not fire resistant, fireproof; the building was indeed warded, and quite thoroughly. A fire mage might love or hate the place, depending on their disposition. Freyya herself wasn't very fond of wooden structures due to how easily they could be destroyed, with or without fire, but she could easily tolerate the current venue. She'd already picked out a space for herself. Two, actually.

The basement would function as her new workshop, while one of the bedrooms on the second floor would be Nori's living space. It was admittedly dangerous to have a child, human or kestrelii, wandering around aimlessly in an architect's workshop. With no supplies on hand whatsoever, Freyya could only speculate about the layout of her home away from home. It was one way to pass the time while waiting for Prince Shiba and Ryuudou to arrive.

Freyya was quite surprised how quickly Mei and Sora had brought her here, though the method, underground tunnels, was sound. There was no single tunnel that could deliver them to their destination, and none started or ended right at the edge of the palace or the Kurosaki Inn's block, but Shiba's servants were masters of stealth, and to a minor extent, Freyya was good at sneaking around, herself. Mei and Sora weren't just spies. Freyya could tell that these girls had been trained from a very early age. They probably weren't assassins by trade, but they had the eyes, the posture, and the tools on hand to fulfill that role if need be. She couldn't help but wonder how many girls like this existed, and if she was quickly becoming acquainted with Kigen's female warrior class.

Mei and Sora weren't currently in the basement with Freyya. Instead, they had ventured back upstairs to keep an eye out for the Prince and his dutiful bodyguard. Nori, however, had apparently gotten lonely and made his way back down to the basement. <"Freyya?"> he sheepishly greeted her.

She half turned to face him. <"Is your neck still hurting?"> Nori nodded, though he clearly wasn't here to complain about his tender and oft injured nape. <"It will pass,"> she promised. Again, he nodded at her, and she approached him. <"I want to apologize for bringing you into that situation, Nori,"> Freyya frowned, <"I couldn't guarantee your safety, but I didn't want to leave you alone, or even with Jirou."> There was nothing wrong with Jirou, really. He was literally the only other person left in Kigen that Freyya felt she could trust. What concerned Freyya the most right now was Nori's psyche. He was already traumatized by the loss of his family. He clung to her, a demon, as his own kind, other humans, prepared to kill him. They were all willing to subject a child to death by fire. Freyya was beside herself each time it happened and that was why she couldn't bear to leave Nori alone with them. It was quickly becoming clear to her that she had already adopted the human child. Demon or no, enemy of mankind or no, she had no intention of harming Nori and wouldn't let others use her as an excuse to harm him, either. She would simply have to factor him into her plans going forward.

<"It's okay,"> Nori said, wincing at the apology, <"I just ... don't want to be alone.">

<"Yes, I understand, and you won't be alone,"> Freyya said, kneeling down to embrace him. <"I won't always be able to protect you from these people, not while we're in Kigen, but while we're here, I'll do my best.">

<"I want to go away from here,"> Nori said, hugging her tighter. She felt anger coming from him. <"Everyone here is bad. The black ones killed my family. The emperor killed your friends. Everyone is trying to kill us. I hate them."> Freyya found Nori's perspective chilling, but not far off the mark. Granted, Shiba hadn't attacked them, but Ryuudou had. Even once he was called off, he continued to be a verbal attack hound for the empire, and it hadn't gone unnoticed by Nori.

<"Listen,"> Freyya carefully modulated her voice, <"my home is a far more dangerous place for you than Kigen. Those creatures that attacked your family were the exception, not the rule, and everyone else is simply willing to hurt you in order to get to me.">

<"I don't care,"> Nori buried his head into her chest, muffling his voice, <"You didn't do anything wrong. You only help people, but they still tried to kill you. I hate them. Let's get away from here.">

<"Nori, I can't leave Kigen just yet, and at some point, I will be back,"> Freyya explained, <"I'm going to be traveling a great deal in the coming days. I'm happy to bring you with me when it's safe to do so, but Corvus is not a place I can keep you in good conscience."> Nori lifted up his head to look her in the eyes and knew he wasn't going to convince her to drop everything she was doing. His eyes were pleading, begging her not to leave him behind. Freyya understood, but she wasn't finished, yet. <"Let me show you something.">

Gently ending their embrace, Freyya revealed the two rings she'd used in the short exchange with the Emperor and presented one to Nori. <"These are a side project of mine,"> she began with a faint smile, <"They are spatial gateways. Stable ones. When activated, anything passing through one ring will emerge from the other, no matter how far apart the rings are from each other. I'll have much larger ones set up here in this inn before too long.">

<"Really?"> Nori looked through his own ring curiously, then tried to stick his arm through it. It was acting more like a bulky bracelet than a spatial gateway.

<"They aren't active, yet,"> Freyya smiled pityingly. She took the second ring from him and held them both out in front of her, focusing intently on them. To Nori's surprise, Freyya's eyes began to glow a bright yellow orange, and the white of her eyes began to grow slightly darker as her concentration intensified. Suddenly, the rings began to give off a faint white light of their own, and Freyya's eyes returned to normal, her task complete. She held Nori's ring back up for him and he gasped.

<"Wow!"> He could see her, he could see her as if he was standing a couple of feet to her right. He looked at the other ring she was holding and quickly realized that he was seeing her from its perspective. He reached up and took his ring and tried to put his arm through it, again. it didn't come out where his brain told him it would. When he saw his arm disappear harmlessly into one ring, and then emerge at a never before seen angle out of the other, his whole world changed in a single profound moment.

<"You don't have to worry about being alone, Nori,"> Freyya assured him ... and now, he truly believed her.

[Nanami Touko]

That was enough speed, at least enough to get his wings out of the water. He was tired, he was upset, and he was still shaken from getting battered by Isis, but Sasha was done fooling around. He was going to get himself and Malik out of this mess and get a well deserved rest! With some final harsh flaps, splashing about the water, and some heavy kicks of his legs, he managed to get his wings above the surface, breaching the straight with a triumphant roar. Enough messing about! Those boats were getting landed on, without question!

----------

"I don't know! I just know they should've been here by now, and that whole mess... I don't want to think about Sasha and Haythem and Isis getting caught in there..." She shivered, hands tightly gripping the edge of the boat, looking out at the mess again in one more desperate attempt to-- "Huh?"

Thales had pointed out a wyvern, a dot out on the water. Eva couldn't make out great details from this distance, but... It's green... Maybe...

"<SAAASHAAAAAAAA!>" She belted his name out towards the dot in a vain attempt to direct attention, if somehow this was her wyvern. If he was, why he was out there at all could wait. All that mattered right now was getting his attention.

----------

Alas, the wyvern was too far away to hear her cry among the din of battle-- or rather, the cleanup, and all the screaming accompanied with it. Luckily for Sasha, he didn't need it. That wagon, the one he'd been walking along for the past few days now. That was their wagon! Which meant they were on that boat, or close to it. Wings flapping, gaining speed, he drove for the boat.

----------

Eva wasn't sure if the wyvern had picked up her yelling, but it looked like it was headed their way. A faint smile and some hope set in. "M-Maybe... Thank you, Thales. Even if this isn't... It might be."

----------

Haruhi was still drained, but Hoshi seemed to have her wits about her again. She cursed quietly under her breath, nodding, and stepping back down the stairs. "<N-No, I don't... Guess I"m staying down here.>" Another thing to add to the 'please teach me!' list. Just how much had this tome not taught her about magic? How much did you really need a teacher for? Hoshi's offer was looking more and more promising, even if it meant going back to Kigen... <I can learn while I'm there, can't I? Even if it takes years... It'll be way long before I find another willing mage that knows dark magic... It's uncomfortable that she feels so close to me already, with her own upbringing, but... Even then.>

She sighed, sitting back on her box, giving their lizard friend a look. "<What do you think, Canaan? Should I take her offer? I know you just met me, but... I guess I'm just... Strapped for guidance. And now I'm asking a demon in the cargo hold of a ship-- I don't even know what this ship is called! ... Ugh. What am I even doing?>" The weight of her decision to leave hit her, thinking about it. She'd spent so long ignoring it and just running that she hadn't given it any thought. Maybe she should've kept running...

Edited December 7, 2016 by Nanami Touko

[Dandragon]

"Sea brawl, huh? Never fought on a boat before." She said, mostly to herself. All sorts of new ways to fight were being forced upon her today. And with so many new people. But she was mostly concerned with the large brunette who was still screaming her head off about her wyvern. And out in the distance, there was a green spec flying about. Didn't she say her wyvern was green? Why is it all the way out there? The more she thought about this, the more suspicious it felt. The only reason any wyverns should have been out there was to fight against the Ursian pegasus knights. Just what the heck was going on?

"So...I'm assuming you're not with the guys that just got caught up in that storm? Cause if not, then what's your wyvern doing all the way out there?" It would be best if she heard it straight from her mouth, but at this point she wasn't sure if she could trust the words of Eva. Of course, if it turned out she was getting involved with some sort of Skotian spy, how exactly could she go about this? Mavis looked down to her right arm, and tried to move it. It still hurt, but could she ignore it enough to take them all down? ...Would she have a boat to Kigen if she did? She thought back to the battle on the docks. They were clearly being attacked by the Skotian dragoons, but the wagon driver wasn't exactly minding who they run over, either. Was this a third party? Just what the heck was going on?

Edited December 7, 2016 by Dandragon

[Xinnidy]

Thales wasn't expecting Eva to shout so loud. Then again, he wondered why he didn't, tilting his head away a bit in a flinch. "Well, it seems to be going towards us. So it's gotta be the right one, then?" That'd be... almost optimistically lucky, but if it were, it also rose the question of what were they doing near that carnage.

He wasn't the only one to wonder that, as it quickly became clear once the woman from before approached them. She really seemed suspicious about the whole thing, didn't she? Thales rolled his eyes. Honestly, I don't care who they're aligned with, as long as they're headed out of this place "Beats me, but they must've had their reasons." He didn't want to bother, continuing to observe the wyvern as it came closer. It's... carrying a man, huh?

[Nanami Touko]

Who even was this woman? Showing up out of nowhere, jumping onto their wagon, and now accusing Eva of being suspicious? She wasn't really up for this, attention nearly all focused on the wyvern slowly getting larger as it approached. It didn't take more than a few moments for Eva to start smiling, nearly welling up as she grabbed at Thales' arm. "<I-It's him, it's him!>" She jumped up onto her toes and started waving an arm. He was already headed towards them, so screaming more would likely help little.

"Listen, Mavis, right? I don't really know who you are, but don't come in here and start accusing someone of being with the army just because she speaks some Neviskotian, okay?" And owns a wyvern-- but that's besides the point, I barely look like a native. If Mavis wanted to keep bugging her about this then she would just answer her as best as she could. She wouldn't get upset, at least! Not now that her wyvern was almost back. "<Hurry up you scaly idiot!>"

Edited December 7, 2016 by Nanami Touko