Faith in the Spirits Arc 1: To Align the Stars

[mcd900]

"Mraaahh... Sytaaa, you just don't get it..." Laniva grumbled through the surprise petting, distinctly aware of Siorel watching and whistling. It was a little frustrating how comfortable the petting was, enough so that she was having to genuinely consider if it was going to be worth it to intervene in her own situation. Her tail flopped around a bit as she mumbled some more. "Mrrhh... I told you to ask fiiiirst..."

Laniva ducked out rather noncommittally from under the petting, freeing herself up for at least a moment, though still well within reach of that hand. She huffed, ever so slightly. "Ah... Siorel, hey...! Don't look so smug, come on..."

There was no denying how this looked, though...

[MRDRHAWK]

Saiga was… both surprised, and not, that someone had asked him to run ahead and deliver a message. Although, he did pause somewhat at the idea of him, a Clouded, going headlong into Islexia without any backup to speak of. Might not be the greatest idea, but then again, maybe his sheer size might scare people off enough.

”Alistar, and Ryfia… alright, got it. I’ll have to check in with the Evokers first, since they’re the ones who I’m technically employed by, but if it’ll help us get through Islexia in one piece, I’m sure they won’t mind.” Saiga replied, tucking the letter into his pants pocket - he’d move it into his bag later, when he was getting ready to head out. “After breakfast, though.” He added quickly and quietly, returning to his plate, only half-heartedly paying attention to the conversation that broke out in the meantime between Syndra and Mikoto.

---

Sophia’s ears perked up at the sounds of crashing, almost startling her into being more awake. As she turned towards the sound, she noticed what looked like a bird Clouded of some sort attempting to slink away, and Sophia frowned.

”Heyyyyyyyyy.” Sophia said slowly as she marched towards the bird person in question. “You better not be trying aaaaaaaaanything funny around here. Sneaking around like that… for shaaaaaaaaame.” She had half a mind to grab his arm and drag him back over, but she instead looked over towards Ren. “Reeeeeeeeen, this guy seems suspicious. He’s trying to sneak awaaaaaaaaay.”

---

Nyx, to her credit, didn’t laugh this time, instead just waving her hand lightly. “Ah, m’sure ye’ll be fine. Jus’ talk t’th’ lass, m’sure she’ll understand ye.” Nyx got up out of her chair, and swore she felt a cold chill up her spine. Something was definitely off, she already knew that, but this felt… familiar. Like an old flame, lighting up once again. “Hm… y’know what, ye go on ‘head. Think m’gonna go see what all th’quiet’s about. S’really makin’ m’skin crawl.”

Nyx said no more, instead ducking into an alley, ready to prowl the streets once more. Everything would be fine, right? Yeah, it would. It had to be. She had too many people to leave behind now.

[Ursali]

If it weren't for the fact that Alriana's breakfast currently sat upon her tail, the large appendage would've slammed into the floor as Versaris' gaze met hers, the expression on his face enough to fluster the lizard even further. He'd kept his mouth shut, at least, but she knew that when she confronted him with her questions that he would likely immediately jump to teasing her. She couldn't help but grumble at the thought, trying to focus on her sister instead. "You can do things to pass the time. Did you even eat breakfast? You rush and jump into things so fast I don't even know if you ate."

Ullr joined them shortly, also intrigued by the book. She hadn't paid much attention to him before, but he was barely taller than herself, if at all. Not having to tilt her head up to talk to someone other than her sister felt like a new feeling after all the time she'd spent with Versaris. Nonetheless, her first instinct was to tell him that it wasn't any of his business, but he was also the one who gave Iris her name and was probably the person her sister was closest with. "Iris tell you if she wants," she said with a small grumble.

[Nanami Touko]

Iris had only turned her head towards Ullr for the moment he'd asked his question, watching her sister the entire time otherwise, thus catching the look on her face when Sari caught her glance. Oh. Oh... Ohhhhhhhh!! I think I get some of that novel more, now! Thanks, Aly~ She smiled brightly, turning to Ullr again, nodding. "It was a romance novel!" she said, at her still-outdoor-voice-volume, none the wiser to this being exactly something that Aly had told her shouldn't be said so openly. "It had a lot of confusing terms inside it, that Aly told me not to repeat in good company, and you're my friend, so that makes you good company." She nodded, arms folded. "Aaaaaaaaand I think I understand the book just a liiiiiiittle bit more, now."

Sari had almost choked on his food meanwhile, stifling laughter and chuckles, clearing his throat as quietly as he could.

Ren had been about to fetch Syta from that poor cat clouded for Tio, when chairs started to topple, their gaze falling on the culprit... Thankfully, Sophia was doing something of her job, so poor Koba had been caught in the act. Ren offered him a sympathetic smile. "I'll let you speak with her, Tio. I need to check on this unfortunate man I dropped off yesterday." They bowed slightly to the Evoker, walking over to the goose with a tiny sigh. "Worry not, Sophia. He's not up to anything... Good morning, Koba. I take it you slept well?"

Syta, meanwhile, still none-the-wiser to the authority that was about to come down on her, reached for BOTH of those ears this time, petting the ever loving stuffing out of that pretty kitty, giving her two fluffers some serious scritches and attention! "You're just so cute~ I can't help myself..."

Edited January 30, 2023 by Mel the DM

[scorri]

"Hey, what, no, hush, I'm not," Koba's protests slid out in a jumble as he suddenly found himself confronted by an authority when all he'd been trying to do was leave. Sure, he'd been trying to leave without being seen by a specific person but that in and of itself wasn't a crime. He would know, he was great at crime! Not that his attempts at such in the last twenty four hours showed that... Still, he realized it didn't really matter what he said to the sheep, he'd made enough noise that, even without her nosing in on his business, Ren was going to notice. "I'm not. Up to anything. I was just trying to leave after eating, that's all." He grumbled at the sheep as he tried to right the chairs.

Even before he was finished fixing his mistakes, his guide and guard from the previous day had shown up again. With a small pause to compose himself, he turned to face Ren, casual smile slapped over his frustration. "Ah, Ren, guess you were right after all about seeing me again. Sleep was, good, yeah. Honestly, strange to be sleeping in as nice a bed as one of these, so it took me a bit but. I mean," What am I doing? He shook himself, a stray feather floating down as he did, before continuing, "Ah, you probably don't care about the minor details. Point is, I'm doing well, the Tigers seem very nice. Sorry about the noise, I hope I didn't disturb your meeting with Tio. Your companion here overreacted, that's all. I just tripped on my way out."

[MRDRHAWK]

Sophia placed a finger on her cheek as Ren came over and spoke to the bird man - Koba, was it? - like they were friends. Oh. Ohhhhhhh. Now she gets it! Probably. “Oh, so you’re nooooooot doing anything bad to these nice people? Okaaaaaaaay then.” Sophia let out a small giggle, before reaching up and poking Koba’s shoulder gently. “You’re… a silly goose, aren’t youuuuuuu?” Nonetheless, she smiled warmly at Koba, and tilted her head to the side. “If Reeeeeeeen trusts you to be good, then so will I. Gooooooooot it, mister?”

[Nanami Touko]

"Ah, were you leaving?" Ren seemed slightly disappointed by that, tilting their head slightly. "I'm glad you're doing well, though. I was hoping that the TIger would accept you without issue, and considering I brought you in on the word of one of the Evokers, it shouldn't have been a problem. Still... It's, strange to be sleeping in a nice bed? I hope that stops being strange, soon. Proper sleeping quarters should be available to all..." Ren sighed, their altruistic thinking getting the best of them. "Well, it's a good thing that things are looking up for you. If you're going to leave, though, then don't let me keep you. I was just coming to check in on the Evokers themselves... I'm glad you understand, Sophia." Ren sat down in one of the chairs that had previously fallen over, giving Sophia a soft smile. The sheep was a bit slow on the uptake, but she meant well.

[scorri]

Koba barely stopped himself from snapping at the sheep for calling him a silly goose, as if he'd never heard that one before, and then from flinching as Ren looked at him, disappointment briefly visible in their face. They quickly moved on though, explaining why they were here and expressing what he could only interpret as sadness over the part of his past that he had let slip. He looked at this person that barely knew him, yet still seemed to care that he was doing well and sighed. Just... Be nice. It's the least you can do. It's not like this is some long term thing. Play the game, behave, and they'll forget about you once you're gone and they find a new target. He sat down opposite of Ren, on the other chair he had knocked down and shook his head. "No, I can, stay. If you want me to, or, whatever. Not like I have much to do here until we hear more from the commander of the group. Things are fine here. Different, but not bad I guess." He looked back at the sheep, and gave her a slight nod. "You must be Sophia then. Yes, I'm Koba and I'm a part of this group. Sort of. New member, I guess. So no, nothing bad, I was just. Clumsy. Silly me." He could do this. It was just a conversation, it didn't need to be deep. He would have to do this more moving forward, so he may as well practice on people he would never be seeing again. No harm in that, right?

[Mercenary on the Winds]

"If you wou--" Tio found herself interrupted by the crashing of chairs, and a turn of the head revealed that it was Koba, trying to slink away. She rose an eyebrow, and then sighed. Ren seemed to already be on top of things, as was the newcomer--a sheep clouded it looked like, and not entirely awake either. "That's fine, I can speak with her. It seems like it makes more sense to explain what little we know, but that can wait for now." 

Ren headed off to speak with the avian, and Tio wandered over to Syta, who was furiously petting Lani--who appeared to be rather impressive flustered, but was also seemingly enjoying it. Tio cleared her throat, "Apologies to interrupt your petting session. I believe your name is Syta? There's a question that I have to ask you related to something that you may be investigating. It was... mentioned to me that you may have met a pair with the names Chris and Marianne. Is this... true, and if it is... can you tell me what they looked like? I need to be absolutely sure of something that may be incredibly important." Ren said that she wouldn't reveal the name of the thief, but if she could confirm that it was in fact the same Chris and Marianne who they met on the boat, then it would be all but assured that they were in the middle of an enormous problem. 

[Billy12510]

Syndra was listening intently to what Mikoto was saying. If Mikoto said it was beyond even her capacity to pull off, it wasn't likely Syndra would be able to make it work, especially given how little time she'd have to study it in the near future. She did notice Mikoto had glanced over at Versaris during the first part of her explanation. "A familiar? Hmm... it's not what I had in mind but that's something worth practicing with. I suppose it was an extraordinary ask, but thanks for the insight Mikoto. Oh, and as for what Islexia would think of it.. well I don't really care what a bunch of idiots clinging to a malignant ideology really think in the first place, my family included. Lufiria on the other hand I guess would be a different story, although who knows what skeletons they've buried away. Since you brought it up I assume you'd think they've already done it. Again, thanks for the lesson, and the magic dust, I'll let you return to your studying."

Syndra then turned back towards Saiga, who partway through had acknowledged her request. "They were the ones who suggested you when I brought it up, but by all means you should check with them. I'll leave it in your hands then." Lastly, Syndra looked at Miria. "Say Miria, when you're done, you want to go finish our little trip to the bookstore from yesterday? I know you seemed excited to go, but we had to cut it short because of business."

[JakezuGD]

Tasha let out a small giggle at Alvira's sappiness, gently rubbing her shoulder, pulling her striped tail into the hug by clinging to the dragon's. Some amount of haste would very likely be appreciated, given that any time she spent here eating would cut into the time she'd have together with her girlfriend, so she chose to stay otherwise silent and keep chewing. Not that that would keep her sharp ears from following the louder conversations in the room, though much of it she'd have no reason to comment on. And whatever Ren told Tio that required that amount of secrecy would likely be told to her soon enough.

---

Elisa's small smile quickly turned neutral, taking note of the almost immediate step back. If she didn't know what she did, that would likely appear as just a matter of courtesy to respect personal space, but no... she had every reason to suspect this 'Sariel' had at least an idea of what she could do. Pressing the matter now would come off overly aggressive and be akin to shouting in his face what her intention was, and thus she chose to keep silent while the two men answered Renais's questions. Between Eslcas and New Serdio? That's all in the region controlled by Kazran, going by what Marigold said yesterday... Who are these people to claim they have the whereabouts of Renais's sister, working on the behalf of some pro-Clouded group in Islexia? In the middle of a notorious slaver's territory? Nothing about this feels right. She could poke holes into their information later, and as Jesse showed up to further push things in the Tigers' favor, the duo made a quick exit from the scene. "I certainly hope your information is correct, then. It'd be a shame if you were acting the Galatasaraian prince." Instead of leaving things at that, she chose to make her suspicion clear to the two as they left, narrowing her eyes after they'd disappeared from sight.

Though, now with the immediate concern out of the way, Renais turned for comfort from Cin, and the knight addressed her again, prompting a deep breath and a sigh from the strawberry blonde to try and unwind herself a little. "Yes, my name is Elisa, as he mentioned, and they are part of the the mercenary group we mentioned yesterday, and who Koba is with now. I'm sure you could tell, but I have some issues with what those two said... and the feeling I got from 'Sariel' in particular." Obviously, them feeding info that would've been extremely relevant to both Alvira and Renais if it were accurate was concerning in and of itself, but then there was the matter of location. If only one of these things happened, it could've been passed off as a fortunate coincidence... but the combination of everything was getting a bit thick to swallow at face value.

She turned to face the other three, and as much as she didn't want to interrupt Renais's attempts at calming down, at least the initial explanation would best be given immediately. "He was suppressing his magical signature the same way Tio and I do. The ability to intentionally do that requires fairly high-level control of your mana. I don't know who they really are, but I don't think we should regard anything they said as entirely sincere, not when they just happen to have information that two specific members of the Tigers would find impossible to ignore." Both Alvira and Renais have magical abilities out of the ordinary, too. What the hell is going on here?

[GoldsbroTSG]

While all the talk of voima, and it's potential was almost completely lost on Miria, it didn't stop her from being engrossed in the conversation. To Miria, it was fascinating, magic was so much more than she knew it as. For her, it was fire balls and lightining bolts. But to know there was so much more, from the kinda energy Mikoto got through their lifeforce, to the potential of making familiars. It was hard to ignore her deep gaze.

"H-Huh?" Miria inquired, turning to Syndra's question. "Well, I, uh... I had to... no, we can still go, of course! Just..." She turned to the fox, "Miss Mikoto, will I be able to get with you later about my necklace? And maybe, seeing some of your merchandise again? I'm still curious." While her question was clear in firm, Miria still carried her smile.

[mcd900]

There was little Laniva could do in the face of the continued petting assault from Syta... except meow slightly, perhaps. "Sytaaa, ah, seriously, jeez..." The egg on her plate was long since forgotten, despite Syta's urging... though the cause of her continued ignorance of the now-distinctly-room-temperature-at-best egg was obvious.

She couldn't shake the feeling that there was probably some kind of important conversation happening in the background, given Tio's voice was distinctly audible, as well as an unfamiliar one; probably the cleric who had come in with Syta. It was rather difficult to make out the details of everything, though, seeing as her ears were otherwise occupied at the moment...

mrow

Edited January 31, 2023 by mcd900

[Nanami Touko]

"You'll stay? As long as it's not an inconvenience for you, Koba." Ren did feel themselves smiling a little bit more at the news, sinking back into the chair. "I'm glad you don't seem to have hurt yourself when you knocked these chairs over, but just in case..." Ren tilted their staff towards Koba, focusing for a moment and imparting Koba with a gentle wash of healing magic. If he'd scraped himself anywhere, that would cover it. "Since you're a part of this group, I suppose I can tell you. Celine still isn't here... We're assuming the weather kept her, though I am starting to get a little worried. I hope for the best... I'm sure she'll be okay, I'm just... A little weather, stopping the great Lady Celine of the Amaryllis? It doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel right at all..."

Ren shuffled a bit and then smiled, nodding. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring the mood down. I worry when things aren't on schedule... Much as I try to stay positive. Uhm... How has your travel been into Cerezia, Koba? Sophia? You got here before the worse weather hit, so I'm sure it was nice..."

Syta had gotten lost in her own world... Until Tio spoke up. "You're just so cute, Lani... Hwah!?" Syta had glanced towards the words and been met with the Evokers, immediately recoiling from Lani's ears and sitting up straight, face ultra red. "Hi! Sorry! I was! We met yesterday! I! Er! Yeah! She's... Cute..." Syta's panicked responses slowly fell into shy words, shrinking from her upright sit. "Ch-Chris and, Marianne...? Uhm... he was, a silver haired swordfighter. She, was a blue haired dancer-- Ice blue. Real pretty... Really powerful. I, I hope that helps, miss Evokers. S, Sorry..."

Mikoto smirked. "It's not about what they think of you. It's about who they'll send to kill you for trying it. Not that you won't already have people sent after you for other reasons..." The fox opened her book, before Miria chirped up again, her eyes glancing over at the girl. "... Sure. Later... I suppose I wouldn't mind looking at an odd magical artifact, but... A large portion of my wares are going to go into, how do I put this... Deep storage, soon. I'll be focusing on keeping Akai around, given he's my travel, so... I won't have the reserves to both, apply myself in combat, should you all need the help, and also reach into the well stored things... I do keep a fraction near the surface, so I suppose if you wish to admire things you cannot use... You've already given me something. I'll forgive your window shopping." She returned to her tome quickly, leaning back again.

---

The wolf that had been watching from the alleys rose up from its cowering as the men left, looking back in the direction it had come, and also towards the group in the street... His mistress had ordered him to stay out of sight, but... His instincts told him otherwise. Slowly, he moved from the shadows of the alley, towards the group, tail down and ears planed to appear as non-threatening as possible, despite his size... He froze on his approach, head pointing towards the other woman present. His mistress had told him that they were all friends, so instead of bare fangs or growl, he whimpered and sat down in place a good five feet away from them, tail slowly wagging against the ground. He slowly focused his gaze back on Renais and huffed a little, lowering his head further until he was laying against the ground.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Tio stifled a giggle over Syta's flustered response. Now both Lani, and Syta were quite red, but there would be time to laugh over the embarrassment. Tio's hand rose to her mouth as Syta described, exactly, the two from the boat, even noticing that Marianne was really powerful--something that she'd picked up on, but she never really got a chance to speak with her to completely confirm. "...Shoot. That all but confirms what we'd thought. Stars above..." Tio's foot began tapping the floor. This was the worst scenario now. It was practically confirmed that it was a Lufirian Royal who was the thief, and more than likely, it was this Princess Lucille. Which meant, if she got caught with the Escaflowne, the political landscape would explode and Glacies, by virtue of being Lufiria's only ally, would be dragged in as well. War would be very really on the table. 

Tio's mind raced; the only real way that this didn't break out to war, in her opinion, was that the Escaflowne was recaptured, but she escaped, leaving the direct identity of thief in doubt. That would at least steal some of the mana from the flames. Tio scanned the room for a moment, searching for a tall, elfish man. "Syta, I was also informed that you also know who the Escaflowne thief is... am I correct in assuming that you were told by Chris and Marianne? With all that we've learned about this situation... there aren't a large number of people who would have been able to tell you, if we've correctly guessed our culprit. You need not reveal the name if you can't, but... we're already fairly aware of what's going on." She turned over her shoulder, "Versaris! You're going to want to come over here." Tsk... the unfortunate timing of Aegean having walked out. What can we do here...? We can't exactly put off our own mission, but leaving this situation without doing anything is... Ugh...

Edited February 1, 2023 by Mercenary on the Winds

[MRDRHAWK]

“Kooooooooooooooba.” Sophia repeated back the name, making sure they wouldn’t forget it, albeit with a little extra emphasis on the ‘b’. They reached over to pat the goose on the head, and then turned back over to Ren. “Mmm… it was okaaaaaaaaaay. I waaaaaaaanted to stick with Cece - uh, I-I mean, Lady Celine - but she insiiiiiiiiiisted that I go on ahead. Nn… I’m a little wooooooooooorried.” She’s almost forgotten about her anxieties related to all that, and what had happened to Lady Celine on the way here. Surely the storm wasn’t so bad as to do anything to her… right?

[scorri]

"Ah, it's not really a big deal. You don't need to--" Koba's protests were cut off as Ren quickly covered him with a wave of healing energy, the small aches and pains he was used to living with quickly going away. He sighed, sliding down further in his chair, staring at them for a second before looking away, and muttering a quiet thanks. The explanation of why they were here, along with some worry about Celine made sense, though he didn't really see the sense in the worry. Even he knew how powerful Celine was, and he didn't see a storm like this causing problems. "She probably just didn't want to risk the horses in the rain or somethhhhHEY!"

He flinched as Sophia suddenly started patting his head, pulling away from her so quickly that he almost fell off the chair, grabbing on at the last minute before glaring at the sheep. "Don't. Do that. I'm not a pet. O-or a child. So. Ugh. Just, don't." He sighed turning back to Ren, though shifting his chair somewhat so he could keep an eye on Sophia too. "As for your question, uh. I've been in Cerezia for a while. A long while. So the weather isn't really something that's affected me, uh. Yeah. I guess it probably hasn't affected you that much either? Since you were here yesterday?"

[Nanami Touko]

Syta's gaze at Tio became as serious as the Evoker could know of the woman, her arms folding. "If you're trying to strong arm me or convince me to give you a straight answer, I'm not saying the name I was given until Celine arrives, even if you've managed to put together an answer based on what you know... I won't burn the trust that Chris and Marianne put in me when they told me." Syta sighed as Versaris walked over, still somewhat recovering from his moment of choking.

"Ah, yes, Tio, what is it...? Something to do with our thief? Does this lovely blonde know who they are?" He smiled and waved at Syta, who didn't wave back. "Friendly... Well, I'm not going to do anything about that if she won't talk. Did you need me for something else...?"

Ren sighed as Sophia touched the poor goose, trying their best to smile for their friend. "She's a bit... Friendly. Sophia, you have to ask first, especially with new acquaintances. Some of us just don't like to be touched, you know that." Ren smiled as widely as they could, trying to stay positive in the face of this and Celine.

"Yes... I rode in with our other friend, Jesse. She should be in town on another matter... But the weather was fine, if not a bit too warm, when we arrived."

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Tio simply smiled at Syta, "A strong moral character... certainly more worthy of the title of knight than a lot of people I've had the displeasure of running across recently. If that's how it is, then that's fine. I'll not make you break a vow." It was certainly more than enough information; she had been informed of something by Chris and Marianne. There was a strong chance that they were right. 

Tio turned to Versaris, "I called you over here because your musing from back then has likely turned out to be correct. Which, as I'm sure you're aware, is a huge problem. Our mission is paramount, of course, but given how enormous the implications of this could be... leaving this situation without doing anything isn't something I think that I can justify. I'm wondering if there's anything that you or Aegean know that might give us an idea of how to proceed here... even if it's something as small as devoting a little time to searching the area before we head off. Something about our thief that might point us in a direction. I'd have asked Aegean, but..." Tio waved her hand around the room, "She is currently away. And if the Amaryllis are about, there's a fairly good chance that thief is somewhere nearby. Mmm... and I still have other logistics to take care of... troubling, this is very, very troubling... How fun to deal with this after yesterday... I'll relay this information to Natalya after our final preparations." She glanced over at the commander, and Alvira--they'd been very close for the duration of the mission, and only seemed to get closer still--and smiled, it was better to leave them to their time than to inform her now. They'd have plenty of time towards the border to converse and plan further. 

[Nanami Touko]

Versaris let out a quiet, but lengthy sigh, staring off at nothing to try and remember any detail that Jeremiah might've mentioned to him about Lucille. "She's certainly not in town, that's for sure. If she's trying to hide, especially, she'll be in nearby forests or at the banks of any of the rivers running through here... Quiet and secluded places. She doesn't like big groups of people, especially when she's alone... Am I ringing any bells about the local geography?"

[Bluemask 96]

Lady Elisa had seemed to pinpoint on the suspicious feeling Jesse had of the two gentlemen. "I'll bet bushes to apples that whatever they're up to might be related to the sudden emptiness in town." Jesse gripped her lance as she responded back. "Something is up but I'm not sure what it is. Normally I'd withhold the rest of this info but since it's you lady Elisa it should be fine to tell. Lady Celine hasn't arrived yet. We assumed it was because of the weather but even with the rain from last night she should have arrived by now."

Charlon let out a loud neigh and shook his head as a large wolf approached, not in a hostile manner, but rather one that suggested peace. Jesse had worked with enough animals at home to understand when one was being docile, so she stroked her partner's neck and observed their new partner. "I this one with you guys two?"

---

Gean still felt embarrassed as the two exited the shop. Nyx was right, the two needed to just talk, but the Clouded had already dug herself in a hole with this. Rene had to be mad with her. 

As she began to retrace her steps back towards the inn, Nyx made a split decision. "Wait M-" Gean turned around only to find out to find that she was by herself. "Oh come on, we were told not to go out by ourselves." Gean made her way back to the inn, hopefully trouble wouldn't show up just yet. The day had just started.

Edited February 1, 2023 by Bluemask 96

[TheRoon]

The pinkette just kept against her friend, and sniffed a little more. She was so distressed by the situation she didn't quite hear Elisa's and Jesse's conversation. After a few more moments in Cin's chest she decided to give her dragon friend a break and pull away. She took a breath. "I'm sorry, Cin I-" She heard a whine close by and turned to see a familiar large wolf. It was Akai, Mikoto's...familiar? Friend? Renais couldn't remember. She heard Jesse and looked over. "...it's alright. I know him." She pulled away from Cin and approached Akai, she slowly rubbed her hand against his neck. "Mikoto must have sent you after me...mm..." She wiped her eyes with her free hand. "I have so many eyes on me, don't I?" She shook her head a little as she kept rubbing the wolf. "...we should head back, we don't have much time until the mission..." She turned her head slightly to Elisa and Cin. "Don't...worry about me, I can heal fine. I have to do my job after all." Renais was scared, but what scared her more was losing the Tigers. So she swallowed back that pain and tried to harden her resolve.

[Nanami Touko]

Akai made no movement until Renais began to pet, slowly raising his head to meet the gentle touch and rubbing up against her a little. His tail was wagging plenty now, pleased to be of help in some way. He quickly circled Renais before sitting next to her, whining quietly again and laying down once more, glancing at his back then tilting his head at the girl. It was his best attempt at offering to carry her.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Tio pondered a moment. It sounded like their princess wasn't much of a people person, which allowed Tio to empathize with the girl a little. It also made things that much more difficult because it meant that she was good at keeping herself hidden if she wanted to. "...There are some forests and small rivers on our path towards Islexia, especially now that we'll be traveling through the northeastern checkpoint instead of the nearest one now. So perhaps we can spare some time to investigate. Not much though... I'd like to get into Islexia and deal with our issue as soon as possible." Tio turned and sighed, "Well... I suppose that we'll be placing a little extra work on the Tigers... I really should go and get logistics in order, and this information is only going to complicate things." Tio turned to walk off before she stopped and turned back to Ren, "Oh, right, before I forget... where is your verdant armored friend... Jesse? Surprised that she hadn't come with you since she wanted to talk more about her armor. If she arrives at any point before we're finished with our late preparations and adjustments, I'll be around, somewhere. If you can't find me... tell her to find Miria." Tio pointed at the brown haired girl listening to Mikoto and Syndra's talk. "For now, I can't keep putting this off..." 

Tio neatly bowed to both Ren and Syta, before sauntering off to make necessary plans. Today was likely going to be a long day...

---

8am, May 30th 1218 PAF
Serdio Mountains 

Lydia wasn't sure how exactly Kas had managed to talk down their supposed leader, given how immediately they were roused when the storm died down and it was safe to travel. To say that the man was a mountain would have been an understatement; he dwarfed everyone there, and it looked like he could carry all three of herself, Kas and Yana, and still have the ability to run someone over if he wanted to. Yet, believing that he was dumb muscle was dashed practically the moment the two of them had spoken. A true Royal Knight of Lufiria, and also a member of the Asteria. She didn't know much about the Asteria aside from the fact that they were effectively the crown's personal operations team, and led by Princess Lucille herself. So it was all the more comforting that one of them was around and on the case.

"How much longer?" The enormous, dark skinned man asked. 

Lydia turned over her shoulder as they scaled the mountains, "We're almost there, once we get beyond this rock wall, there's an opening in the mountains that leads to a plateau. The compound is there, and so should the Princess and Vidar." 

"You're absolutely sure that no one knows where this place is?"

"It's used as a holding place for goods that the Emeria haven't traded out. It's well protected, and well hidden; only a handful of merchants outside of people contracted by the Emeria know that there's anything up here beyond the bandits, and others way further up."

The man sighed, "Sorry for all the questions... Just anxious, you noticed it too, right? Cerezia was quiet when we left. I know mercs especially when there's a bounty this crazy for something; they'd be up and going nuts trying to find her. So there are two outcomes here... either the mercs in Hecatia aren't worth the hair on my ass, or they got a lead and have been out searching for it. The fact that they're ahead of us concerns me."

"...Not the way I would have put it but... That does make sense." The road ahead seemed to become more rocky, and less traveled. "Alright... we're--" Lydia pulled her horse to a stop as a scent hit her nose. "...What?" She pointed her nose higher, and noticed that the scent hadn't faded, in fact, it only grew stronger. It was a scent that no one could mistake. Smoke.

The dark-skinned man pulled up alongside her, "...I'm guessing that's not a part of the plan."

Lydia said nothing as she urged her horse forward pulling into the clearing, and finding... bodies. Bodies, and a slowly burning compound. "...No. No, no, no, no... that's not, this can't..." She looked around scanning the area for clues of what happened, and the first body she found made her blood run cold. "...That's... that's a Displaced Front member. Why would they...?" She looked again and noticed that many of the bodies were a mix and match of mercenary groups from all over the area. "Displaced Front... Red Tide... Hammer and Nail... why are all of these... How would all of them have gotten..."

"Damn it. This had to have happened a couple hours ago. Lydia, where would they have gone if they escaped and survived?"

"I, uh." Lydia covered her mouth, and tried to get a hold on her breathing. "Vidar... he probably would have made his way to a checkpoint, and tried to force his way across. Who would have..." Lydia's eyes widened, "No... No, no... it's him. It has to be... that's the only way all of these... Fuck! I... I don't know if they--"

"Shut your mouth. They made it out. They're alive." The dark-skinned man turned to the two behind him, "Kas, Yana, you have ten minutes to search for anything that might point us in a direction. Lydia, you're going to tell me who orchestrated this, since it seems like you have an idea, and once we're done with that we're going to go find them."

Lydia took a deep breath, trying to slow her breathing, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just... we thought that we covered our tracks. Tristan. Tristan Emeria, Vidar's father. He's... not well, hasn't been. Ever since he heard that the Escaflowne was stolen... he's been searching for it manically. Saying that it is a sign. Saying that with it he could topple Artorius. He's only person who could have... Tanvir... I'm so sorry, I should have--"

"Should have doesn't mean anything to me right now. What you're going to do, does. We're going to find them, got it? If that means that I'm going to walk into a decrepit merchant's estate and dismember him, I'll do it twice. You're a scout, right, so track them down. Please. We'll deal with the rest." Tanvir placed a hand on the hilt of his axe, "Hurry up you two, we gotta move!" 

[scorri]

Kas had been on edge the whole time the group had been walking to the compound. Tanvir was right, the world was too quiet for what they all knew was going on behind the scenes, and for them to have not seen a single person on their way up here, well, it hadn't been sitting right with him. The smell of smoke only confirmed what he had somehow already known. As Tanvir quickly took control, asserting that the princess was alive, Kas moved to do what he did best. He careful moved through the destroyed, grisly scene, looking for two things. One, evidence that Tanvir was either right or wrong about the princess, and two, something that would point to their next direction. Heading to Islexia unfortunately made sense. Staying in Hecatia was a death sentence for Lucille at this point, with too much information about her being available at this point, and it was one step closer to home. He cursed quietly to himself as he skirted around another burned and bloody body. Their timing on this could not have been worse. A day earlier and they would have already been on their way with the princess. Later and they would have been in Islexia with her. No use focusing on could haves. Focus on saving her. Find something, anything, that Tanvir can use to save her.

While Kas immediately started investigating, Yana marched up to Tanvir, hands on her hips and scowl on her face. "You be nice. I know you're going through a lot, but look at her! Look around you! She's clearly going through a lot too. We need to take care of each other if we're going to do this. So behave." Grabbing Lydia's hand, she turned back around and headed towards the ruins, calling back over her shoulder, "And don't bother telling me I'm wrong. We both know I'm right. She's going to help me look for things since I'm better at hitting people with my sword than this whole spy business." 

Once they were a decent distance away from Tanvir, Yana released Lydia's hand and sighed. "Sorry. I just figured you needed to get away from having to be on the spot like that. You don't need to help me. Take the time you need to handle all of this, alright?" She gave the other woman a small sad smile. "He's right though. They're alive. You're Intelligence, you trusted this man to do what needed to be done with the princess of your country. So we'll focus on finding them, they're out there somewhere. You just take the time you need, alright?"

 

---

Cin frowned as Elisa confirmed his initial distrust of the two men, somewhat worried about how much he and Renais had potentially given away even when trying not to. He was glad he had kept his temper in check at least mostly though, if this person was able to control their power to a similar degree to the Evokers. Still, he couldn't change the past, and the future was out of reach. For now, he had to focus on Renais, who was trying to be strong. He also needed to deal with a giant wolf but before he could even really react to it, Renais was gently petting it and explaining it belonged to the fox merchant. "She sent him to look after you, huh? That was, kind." Maybe he had been too quick to distrust her... While her magic was still suspicious to him, if she was already trying to look after members of their group, maybe he should give her a chance. It was something for him to think about at some point at least. "Renais, it's ok. We're nit worried about your ability to heal. We're worried because we care about our friend. You don't have to be the strong one all the time. All of the Tigers, and others apparently, are here to help you." He reached out and gave her shoulder a light squeeze. "We never doubted your strength, but we're still here if you ever need us."

---

"It's, mmm. I just don't like being touched, especially if I don't know it's coming. Habits, don't worry about it." Koba's voice was casual, with little emotion sneaking through, but he found himself keeping an eye on the sheep anyways. Really, all his instincts were screaming at him to leave. He didn't think that Ren would do anything to him, but this Sophia seemed to be a knight, one who clearly had opinions on people like Koba. If she found out about his past, would she be as forgiving as the rest of them? While it was true that the Evokers were backing him, they didn't have power against the laws here. He would need to remember that and keep his guard up. So why wasn't he leaving? He could easily enough, but instead he found himself continuing the conversation. "Jesse... That was your companion from yesterday then? With the green armor? Are you two, are, four I guess? Going to be doing anything around town while you wait for Celine or are you just staying here until she arrives?"