MRDRHAWK

Nyx still hated being on boats. Dammit, she may have looked like a pirate, and talked like one, and previously drank like one, but damn if she wouldn’t rather be on solid ground right now. Fortunately, she had a little something else to ground her — or, rather, someone. A certain ice mage Nyx was draped over pretty intently right now, wanting to calm her down before the coming fight. ”Heh. Oi, Synnie, pretty sure this’s ‘ow we started, you n’me. As a whole thing, I mean.” Nyx clarified, pretty sure she hadn’t been brought by boat anywhere before that would matter to Syndra. Then again, that might not be true after all. Fuckin’ Luthier, messing with her head and shit. “‘Member that time we were on th’boat an’ I was posin’ fer ye n’shit? Fun times.” Ignoring the part where Nyx pissed off that one twink. She wondered where Marianne and him were right now, but… ah, surely it wasn’t important. She was just getting sentimental. Tanya’s tail was popping up again, and she annoyedly tried to fluff it back down as she made her way to stand by Miria and Jesse. She worried for the little hero, reminding her so much of Yuria — was that why she always felt drawn to Miria? Huh. Explained quite a bit. ”Hey, you gotta stay in one piece, too, if we’re gonna guard the boat.” Tanya called out to Jesse, as she stood to Miria’s other side. “Don’t worry about our little hero. You know as well as I do that she’s one of the toughest we have on this boat.” Well, maybe not quite the same way, but Tanya didn’t feel like mentioning the time she had a brief gay panic mere seconds after getting her ass beat in an arena fight by Miria.

Tanya had finished catching her breath, and was just off to the side watching the Tigers’ training. While she’d wanted to get in on it from the start, she knew ultimately that it wasn’t meant for her quite as much, and she took that in stride. It had been a long time since she’d seen Jeremiah working in some way, so it was nice, especially since her earlier panic had subsided. Of course, now she had another potential crisis on her hands, but this one was much more manageable. ”Oh, we’re heading off now? Alright, little hero, lead the way.” Tanya teased, sure that Miria would probably eat her clean out of her funds. But she didn’t mind quite so much as she thought she would, logically. Mina still felt a little bad for interrupting, but it was assuaged to a degree by both Lord Gaffney, and by the commander — Tasha, she had to mentally correct herself. Gods, this sort of thing was always intimidating for her, and yet Ryon still suggested she go and ask anyways. ”Right. Um, my name’s Mina. Mina Sabnoc. I’m one of the medics in town.” Mina went through the easy part first, then took a deep breath. Her tail swished about behind her, almost like a cat’s. The irony wasn’t lost on her, either. “And I was wondering if you needed another healer for… whatever it is you have planned for the coming days. Something’s telling me you might need it. Nyx watched Ullr take off, then slumped to the ground. Fuck, that hit took more out of her than she realized. Then again, she hadn’t realized that maybe it wasn’t so great an idea to go hard so soon after taking a nasty bump to the noggin, especially when she was… Oh, right. Nyx was a year older now. Granted, it was pretty easy to forget given everything that was going on lately, but Nyx also figured that turning 35 didn’t matter quite as much. Considering a lot of those years were either fuzzy in her mind, or spent doing some heinous shit, it was probably for the best, but still. Deciding that laying ass-up on the ground was also pretty terrible for her, Nyx sought comfort from the most comfy person in the group, practically draping herself over Syndra. “Don’ mind me, jus’ gotta get some girlfriend cuddles in.” Nyx teased, before realizing she was almost definitely interrupting something between her and Owen. Oops. “Uh, don’ mind me, Lord. Jus’… uh, yeah.”

Scylla really didn’t know what to make of the vibes during the meeting, given everyone was on edge somehow. And not just the normal amount for the current situation, but over what had apparently gone down at the others’ prior meeting with AHI. Scylla didn’t exactly have a lot of input — and certainly none that wouldn’t get her in trouble with the captain — so she just sat and paid attention, hoping that at the very least, she could be prepared for whenever they did head out. Only, now she needed to figure out what to do for a break in Remansburg. Dammit, the curse of introversion strikes again.

Mina huffed, a little perturbed by the rudeness, but she wasn’t about to intrude on what was rapidly becoming a bit too intimate. Gods, Ryon would have an absolute field day with this fox’s antics, though. “Right, right. Enjoy your cuddles. Thank you for the help.” Mina moved to leave, but added, “I’d still like to see that magic of yours firsthand, but… well. Not right now, obviously. You’ve got some important business here.” Turning tail — literally — and going off elsewhere, Mina found herself striding over towards the Lord Gaffney and the apparent commander. Oh, if Lord Gaffney was here, this might make things easier. He’d likely vouch for her ability as a medic, if need be. “Excuse me. I, um, hope I’m not interrupting anything too important, Lord Gaffney, but I’d like to have a word with the commander here.” If Mina’s tail was swishing a little bit, it hopefully wasn’t too obvious to seem unprofessional. Nyx smirked, almost knowingly, as she listened to Ullr. “Hah, helluva way t’put tha’, bud. But I like it.” Nyx kinda felt bad for getting distracted during their fight, but really, it was Syn’s fault for having too much of a nice ass. Speaking of Syn, and Iris too, they were chatting a little ways over… huh. Wonder what that was about — nothing too bad, Nyx hoped. ”Why do I fight, eh… S’kinda a toughie, nowadays.” Really, there were a few reasons, now, and Ullr wasn’t exactly close enough for the backstory. But the kid was good, and she didn’t wanna leave him without an answer, so she settled on the ones that wouldn’t get her in trouble. “Family. All’a th’Tigers. An’ ev’ryone we been pickin’ up ‘long the way. I know m’closest t’Gean n’ Synnie, obviously, but yer all family t’me.” Nyx shifted herself a little bit, before continuing on. “An’ a lil’ bitta revenge, too, against them Underground blokes, tha’s certainly helpin’ me push through right now.”

Miles hummed. “Lohen nobles, eh? I suppose I might need to speak to the Princess at some point, then. Perhaps she’ll know if there’s any familiar names of interest there.” Miles wasn’t entirely privy to the travel plans of his countrymen, so he himself was of little aid at the moment. Though, once he knew who these nobles were, he’d have a better idea of what to expect of them. As Eve turned to leave, Miles couldn’t help himself as he looked over towards Luce. Normally, he wouldn’t care one whit what plans his cohorts had, but perhaps he’d had one too many funnel cakes and lost his usual inhibitions. “That was rather quick of you. I will admit, you do have me… uncharacteristically intrigued by that notion. Might I ask to learn more about these plans of yours, if you can deign to tell?” Miles tipped his novelty hat towards Luce, almost as a gesture that this was all in good spirit. Really, he supposed that it would be better to be kind rather than cross over his current assignment, and was simply making the most of it.

Mina adjusted the strap of the bag she had slung over her shoulder as she made the trek to the castle for the second time. Really, she wasn’t sure why Ryon was so eager to see her go on an adventure — probably just wanted her off so he could read his tawdry romance novels in peace. Though, Mina supposed that she was always more suited to wandering, as opposed to Ryon; after all, she was the one who could fight. “Okay… now, who would I go talk to for this?” Mina huffed as she hefted the bag again, remembering that hanging a left brought her to the training grounds near the castle. Hopefully she’d run into some…one… Oh. That’s a lot of people. Including… “Wait, there’s other dragon Clouded here?” Mina’s head tilted slightly, but she didn’t approach the other dragons — two of them seemed busy with a personal matter, and the third was… way too huge. She instead walked over to the woman who’d spoken to the important-looking man and wandered off to join… the fox woman from earlier, and what looked like a fluffy pet. No, no time to get distracted by the fluff! She needed to get sorted here. “Excuse me!” Mina called out, hoping to get the woman’s attention. She certainly looked strong, and cool. Mina just hoped that maybe that would be masking some sense of approachability. “Sorry if I’m interrupting anything. But, uh. You’re with those mercenaries that Lord Gaffney brought in, right?”

“Uh… somethin’ like that.” Nyx really wasn’t in the mood to talk about the past when Jeremiah was right fucking there, and she was grateful Ullr gave her something to work with. Although, the bit about eating less concerned Nyx, even if he was clearly doing better. ”Well, hell. Least yer not enough of a twig t’nae break yer arms punchin’ stuff.” Nyx had to admit, the form was good. Ullr’s gramps really knew his stuff. “Helps havin’ a girlfriend t’fight fer, too, don’t it? Makes ya feel like ye got a reason t’fight that ain’t just yerself.” Nyx was only sort of teasing, but there was a sincerity in those words. After all, she believed them too, thanks to Syndra. Tanya was almost worried when everyone started to crowd Miria, but then she started to talk about eating again and everything seemed fine. Tanya ruffled Miria’s hair a bit, gently. “Yeah, I betcha need a refill after all that. You definitely earned it.” Tanya then looked over to Roxanne, and to, surprisingly, Cin. She wasn’t sure how she’d missed the big guy earlier, but she was glad to see him up and about again. “Hey, you’ve come real far already. Be proud!” Tanya placed a firm hand on his shoulder and gave him a smirk. “Just because the road’s still long, doesn’t mean you can’t be proud of how far you’ve already gone down it.” Turning back over to Miria, she gave the little hero another warm smile. “Hey, I know I tapped out pretty hard the last time we did this, but maybe after this, we should go get you some spicy food. Whaddya say, lil hero? It’ll be my treat; consider it a little extra reward for doing such a good job.”

Tanya knew that she was in for something when Miria and Jeremiah started sparring, but she didn’t think it would be quite so… even. Yes, she knew Jeremiah was holding back quite a lot, but even still, Miria keeping up with him as well as she did was a surprise. It seemed like a nice, even bout… Then Miria practically exploded Jeremiah, and Tanya’s tail poofed up. As soon as Jeremiah called off the fight, showing he was okay — even if his weapon was definitely not, anymore —Tanya rushed over to Miria’s side. “Damn, little hero! I knew you were cool, but that pose… the explosion… the fact that you actually held your own against someone that strong? You’re just… the coolest!” Tanya almost sounded like Yuria there, for a moment, but really, she was super impressed by the whole thing.

Nyx had a… few orders of business. First, make sure her head wasn’t injured again, she didn’t want to take chances after the Krauser thing. A quick touch on the back of the head confirmed she was okay, and that was enough. Second? Flip off her mean-ass kid, although the smirk on Nyx’s face told Gean that she was proud of her anyways. Dammit, she couldn’t be mad at the kid, especially when she kinda earned it by being a little shit first. And third? Ullr. “Oh, shit, s’been a while. ‘Least since m’teen years. Y’know, tha’ whole rebellious phase ye get when y’start shootin’ shit wit a bow an’ join a gang.” A beat, then, Nyx added, “Actually, maybe tha’ shit’s just me. But y’get th’idea.” Scrambling to her feet, and confirming her ass didn’t have an unnatural crack again, Nyx made sure to stick her hand out for Ullr to shake. Had to pay respect where it was due, after all. “Shit, yer a hard hitter. How d’ye manage to pack so much punch inta ev’ry swing?”

Tanya grumbled as the spar ended, crouched down on one knee. Really, she wasn’t upset that she lost, but she could have at least managed more than a single hit on the bird. Koba was slippery, and Tanya really needed to stop swinging blindly. With a grunt, she pulled herself to her feet, and went to congratulate Koba… only to see him over with Jesse. Real slippery, huh? ”What, gonna just leave me without the congrats? Good job, didn’t think you had it in ya to dodge all those attacks.” Tanya teased as they moved over to Koba and Jesse, trying to take in the scene. Although, once Jesse mentioned a talk alone, Tanya took the hint and slipped away herself, finding a corner to recuperate in. All that magic slamming into her really left her tired. For the first time in a while, Graham was utterly confused. The dragon girl — odd, that’s the third dragon he’s seen today, with the two in the Tigers — started sobbing and bawling, begging to be killed. Maybe that was just in her nature? Graham wasn’t too keen on figuring out the specifics, until he’d heard mention of monster ‘filth’. Then, he understood. “To be so against your own kind… something must have happened that poisoned your mind to your very nature.” Graham seemed somewhat solemn at the idea, grateful once more that he’d never been led down that path. He’d always be grateful to Owen & Cassandra for that. One of the Evokers seemed to have things settled, however, and she had Miredy keeping an eye on Owen, so he moved closer to Cassandra. ”The things I nearly miss by choosing to train by myself this morning…” Graham mused, with a sigh, before his face grew stony once more. “I’m glad to see this little incident solved without bloodshed, though. And I’m relieved to see you unharmed, Lady Cassandra.” Of course, Graham would have done his best to protect her and Owen both, but that went without saying at this point. Everything going on was distracting as hell for Nyx. Sure, her fight was going pretty well — Ullr seemed less keen on dodging, and more on just getting in. It took a lot for Nyx to stay upright after the first two shots, before she made a critical error — getting distracted by her girlfriend’s ass, as she was beaten by Gean. ”Oi, Gean! Careful wit yer mama in-law, aye? She’s already kinda sore there, an’—“ So distracted was Nyx, she didn’t even see the third punch coming, sent flying by the final strike from the hound. Laying on the ground for a moment, Nyx formulated an eloquent response, befitting the great scholars of the lands. ”Ow, fuck.” Truly a poet of few words.

Nyx couldn’t help but keep an eye on the spar between her girlfriend and daughter, even as she twirled an arrow between her fingers. It gave her some good eye candy as she made her way to an open spot, across from Ullr. “Aye, aye, of course, m’nae gonna pull out any tricky shit on ye. M’aim’s more than enough.” Nyx gripped the arrow tight and nocked it in her bow, taking aim. ”Hope ye like havin’ an arrow in yer tail though, bud.” As Tanya watched Miria walk off, she hadn’t expected the challenge from Koba. Still, she kept her lance held steady, and smiled. “Sure, I’m down. I’d love to see how you fight, Koba.” And maybe take a hit, but Tanya wasn’t about to be quite so presumptuous about being able to get in. For all she knew, he was some super-powerful light mage, which would be a real issue. ”Just be careful you don’t catch too much of this kitty’s claws, Koba.” Tanya teased as she took her position. Quickly, she dipped into her stance, lance held tight, and waited — she intended to give Koba the first shot, just to gauge what he was throwing at her. Graham had been training on his own, a rare moment of respite from his usual duties that didn’t involve him sleeping or eating. Granted, given all the extra bodies in the manor, including the Evokers themselves, it seemed as though Owen was in safe hands. It still made him uneasy to leave his liege alone for long, but he was placing his trust in the Tigers. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Graham decided that he would pop in to see the Tigers training with that… Basque fellow. Along the way, though… well, his liege and his sister were making their way to do much the same. “Ah, Lord Owen. Lady Cassandra. I hope your meetings this morning passed without incident?” Given that they were both hale & hearty still, Graham felt that may have been a silly question, but it was still best to double check.

Nyx couldn’t help it, as soon as Syn had mentioned ‘physical activity’. “Oi, not in front o’ m’daughter, aye?” She teased, before letting go of Syn and smirking. “Or, what, didja really like the feelin’ of an arrow in yer ass or somethin’? Cuz if ye’d like, I’ll see if I can give ye a matchin’ mark… later, though.” Turning to her erstwhile daughter, Nyx couldn’t help but grin at her, too. “Don’ go n’break yer other-other mum, aye Gean? Foldin’ ‘er’s my job.” Since Gean had been asking Syndra for a spar, Nyx figured maybe she should find someone for target practice — and, wouldn’t ya know it, there was a slippery dog hoofin’ and woofin’ his way over. Nyx needed to get better at taking a punch, anyways — literally, in this case. “Oi, Ullr! Ev’ryone else is pairin’ off fer sparrin’, fancy a round wit me? Promise I won’t shoot yer hand off like I did that one guy!” Gods, that’d suck — especially because Ullr kinda needed those hands to fight.

Tanya was a little surprised at the gift of bread, but she’d known enough about Miria to know this was a gift from the heart. She always kinda suspected that the way to her own heart was through her stomach… glad to see she was right. “Heh. Thanks, lil’ hero.” Tanya ruffled Miria’s hair as she thanked her for the gift, before turning towards the avian fellow that slipped in. ”Well met, Koba.” Tanya was almost testing the name on her tongue, deciding she liked how it sounded. “And yeah, you got my name right, don’t worry. You’re more than welcome to hang out here, nobody’s gonna kick you out.” Probably, anyways. Tanya was only mildly surprised by the arrival of the sheep, but she wasn’t exactly offended. ”Heh, just be careful, Miss Sheep. Lil’ hero here’s pretty tough.” Tanya sounded like she was teasing Miria, but it was quite the opposite. She’d found herself on both sides of that strength, and could tell just how good Miria was as a fighter. “Not that I doubt you can handle yourself. I just know what it’s like to be on the bad end of her blade.” Nyx watched along with interest, surprised at how well ‘Vira was holding up against Jeremiah. Sure, it was a little chilly whenever she used her magic, but she got used to the cold well enough by now. Dating the Tigers’ other resident ice queen will do that for you, she supposed. “Way t’kick ‘is ass, Viry!” Nyx shouted out, before leaning on Syndra again for warmth. She was being oddly clingy today — maybe it was because a lot of people in this place gave Syn the stink eye, and she wasn’t keen on that. Sure, her family sucked, but Nyx knew Syn wasn’t anywhere near as bad as those assholes.

“What, worried about me?” Tanya couldn’t help but tease Miria, but she was grateful for both the assistance and the concern. A gratefulness that showed on her face as the teasing smile became a more genuine one, as her tail flicked over to poke Miria in the side. ”I’ll be honest… not well. I’ve been in my own head too much lately.” Tanya answered, after a moment. She wasn’t sure quite how much to elaborate on that while here, but she hoped that the general gist was enough for Miria to fill in the blanks. “With everything we’ve gone through lately, it’s just been difficult to get out of my own thoughts about it all.” Tanya made one last small adjustment to the strap and nodded to herself. “Hoping that maybe some good ol’ training will get my mind back in order. Thanks for the help with the armour, by the way.”

Miles had largely been wandering the festival after his time at the fortune teller’s stand, with Hina. Bizarrely, he couldn’t quite shake the girl from his mind, even through his jaunt across many of the food stands and festival games. It was… odd, but refreshing, in a manner, and he wondered if perhaps there was time to speak to her again before they left. In the meantime, Miles’ most prominent memory of this fair came in the form of a frankly ludicrously large novelty hat he’d won from a particularly persistent barker’s ring tossing game. It did fit rather nicely on his head, though, even if it clashed with his normal aesthetic, so he kept it on. Upon reaching the inn, Miles simply took his seat at the table, nodding along with Eve’s message to the group. Although, it was difficult to nod with an oversized novelty hat on. “Do we know the particulars of any of the guests who’ve yet to arrive? Or have we been left on a need-to-know basis on that regard?” He asked, poking at the light meal he’d ordered. He was ashamed to admit, he’d indulged in a bit too much festival fare to eat much this evening. Damned funnel cakes.