Return of The Emblem Chapter Two: The Trail

[-Cynthia-]

"I will, thanks to our allies," Veronika responded to Nanahm. "How are you holding up? I saw you take another bad fall this last fight," she said, putting her hand on her chin. This man's injuries would be my fault partially, since I am the one who hired him. If he died...it would be on my hands.

[ReformBlade]

"I'm holding up well, given the circumstances. Thankfully we have many healers on hand, especially that troubadour... Chelsea. We got her just in time, I think." He continued, "Yeah, I did fall pretty fantastically bad. I severely misjudged that mage, and well, I payed for it. Never again, though. I'm definitely gonna be playing it much more cautiously from now on. We can't keep affording mistakes like this."

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika nodded. "I fell in battle as well and this is not the first time that has happened. Caution is probably a sound plan, though there is the saying that a best defense is a good offense..." She paused and sighed "Try not to die Nanahm. I know I hired you on this mission to help locate Pavel, but it should not cost you your life," she said gravely.

[Phoenix]

Once Synthia had said her piece, Amon looked over to the wagon where Raquel was and commented. "Well I can't think of anything. All I know is what I'm good at. I could go with though unless there's something else I should be doing." he said before looking over his arm. He could see that his skin was healed through the tear in his coat. "Yeah my arm's fine by the way. Though, like Gytha I'm going to need another patch up so I need some thread anyway."

Meanwhile the patrol rode up and formed a semi circle around Rodrigo. Each man wore some shade of red with white armor. "You there ..." he said pointing his sword at Rodrigo. "What in the blazes has happened here?" he asked the man barely giving the man time to answer before hopping down from his horse. He seemed to be having a bad day.

"Bandits, or worse. They hit one of my entourage's carriages. Luckily we had enough armed units to give them a taste of their own medicine. No survivors though. Sorry." Rodrigo explained sounding a bit disappointed in the situation.

"You wiped out all the bandits? And who are you, huh? Ex military or something?"

"Huh? Y-you don't recognize me?" Rodrigo asked, surprised.

"Should I recognize you?" the soldier asked.

"Ugh. I'm The Phoenix. You know, Ursian Hero, symbol of hope. Bane of Bandits, etc." He explained with his arms held out. The man was making a fine show of introducing himself. A few of the patrol units already recognized him but didn't seem to be chiming in.

"O-oh. You're that guy. Well fine then. After we get a few things sorted and get this report filled out, you guys can be on your way." he said before looking over at the burned out remains of the carriage. "... any casualties?"

"Not on our side, no."

"... any other details on the carriage?"

"Just filled with some extra clothes." Rodrigo answered.

Raquel couldn't help but look over as Rodrigo spoke with the patrol. She was wondering if it was too much to hope that they wouldn't have to stick around to help with the clean up.

[ReformBlade]

"Huh... I'll do my best to meet your expectations then." He finished with a nod. How odd... but nice, for a change. Someone wanting me to actually survive instead of being more expendable muscle. Nanahm's opinion of the woman grew a little bit better.

[roymbrog]

Mend staff healing clothes? How did she get that idea? “I… don’t think mend staves mend clothes. If you need help repairing your tunic I can sew up the holes, but I don’t actually have any thread right now. Sorry Amon, that means I can’t help you either,” she said, shrugging.

She would’ve finished there, but what the mariner had said earlier highlighted another problem. “Gytha, I don’t think you understand what I’m talking about when I call you reckless. Rushing in may be a great strategy for you, and it did end up working this time, but this team is more than just you. For one, it’s hard for me to reach you and Amon when you run off like that, especially when you’re in the middle of a group of enemies like you were today. If that troubadour hadn’t been here to help you’d both be dead right now.“ And I wouldn't have been able to prevent that…

Edited March 28, 2011 by roymbrog

[Mercakete]

"I know, but me job is t' make sure ye, Amon and Raquel're safe. If gettn' t' me's a problem, I'll just run back t' ye and keep me guard up while yer healn' me. If I think yer in trouble, though, I'll be guardn' ye closely, Synthia; ye don't have t' worry 'bout that," the mariner replied before shifting her focuss back to Amon, "And Amon, when I'm not near ye, I'm dependn' on yer speed. Just try not t' get killed while I'm off protectn' Synthia."

When the healer offered to help her with mending her clothes, Gytha's sober attitude disappeared, replaced by her jaunty self. "Really?! HAHAHARR! That's great! Ye see, I can't use anythn' smaller than a sword when it comes t' things like that," she exclaimed cheerfully, showing Synthia the stitch she'd attempted -- which really should have been left alone in comparison to Gytha's needlework. She'd used the wrong color thread twice -- one being black the other being white -- the stitches all varied in length, the stitches themselves were sparce, both knotts could be easily seen and the fabric was pulled together quite haphazardly. It was truly a horror to behold and a seemstress' worst nightmare. In all honestly, it seemed more like Gytha was trying to attack the hole with needle and thread, which really wasn't all that far-fetched, knowing the woman.

[roymbrog]

And when she was dead, how was she supposed to make sure they were safe? Gytha’s logic made no sense to Synthia and trying to make sense of it was giving her a headache again. “I suppose there’s not much use in arguing with you, seeing as I’m not getting anywhere.” She shook her head in disappointment until Gytha’s stitching caught her eye, or rather, was pointed out rather loudly by the mariner.

She didn’t know what it was at first. Eventually her mind got over the fact that yes, this was stitching, and her face was priceless. “…Yeah, I’m glad you asked me about that. Uh... we may just have to buy you a new shirt once we reach town. I’m not sure if I can even fix that.”

[Dark Sage]

Seeing the man he had attempted to recruit ignored him, Domovoi shrugged. Either the man was deaf, or he was a jackass. Neither option appealed to him so he decided to take care of some business.

He listed everything that needed to be done. Buy the lance, discipline Miskavolv, check up on his allies, help interrogate the prisoner. He considered going to the wagon to deal with Miskavolv but decided against it. It could only end badly in his current mood and he really did not want to deal with him quite yet.

Instead, Domovoi spotted Veronika and the axefighter talking. He decided to check up on them, as he knew Veronika better than he knew the others and it would be good to get acquainted with the fighter.

"Hello there. Pardon for interrupting, but are you two ok? It was a fierce battle we just had and you don't seem particularly hardy Veronika," he said as he approached the two.

---------

Meanwhile Miskavolv wailed harder and banged his tail hard on the ground. Why was nobody noticing him? He did want food after all. Seeing Amon nearby, he dipped his head right by him and began sniffing at him.

OOC: Yeah sorry for taking awhile to post again. Wasn't sure if Psych would notice the post I made in Chat and would follow up on my convo with him.

[Psych]

Niles looked around, noticing everyone seemed to be fine. He was still a bit tired from when that woman had woken him up earlier, and then the battle happened, so he decided to take another rest.

He climbed into the wagon and laid down. Hopefully he could get a ride the rest of the way. The group had put him in danger after all. If it weren't for them, the road wouldn't have been blocked and none of this would have happened. They owed him. He could have died after all.

[Phoenix]

Since Synthia and Gytha were still conversting, Amon was thinking of heading over to Raquel early to ask about acquiring some thread. Of course at this point he knew he would be asking for enough for the three for at least two repairs, and not just his own. As he headed over to the wagon he was intercepted by Domovoi's wyvern. His first thought was to call Domovoi over but he was further away than he initially thought.

"Umm. I hate to tell you this, but I'm not exactly carrying any food on me if that's what you're looking for. Maybe you should ask your master?" He said to the wyvern. Well this sure put the slow down on his plan. He wanted to be quick about it but now he had a wyvern he couldn't really help on his hands.

Meanwhile Raquel removed the arrows from the cart and checked to see if any of them were reusable. She could sell the ones that were for a little bit of change. After that she went to place them in the back of the cart and found an unexpected person there. The healer from the battle.

"What are you doing back here?" she asked him, hiding the slight annoyance for everyone's sakes.

[Mercakete]

"I got meself a new tunic in the last city. But this'un isn't so bad off, is it? It just as a couple holes from those stabs n' slashes I got," Gytha asked. She had no idea she'd be needing the two tunics in her dufflebag so soon.

OoC: I know, I know, short post is short. XD

[ReformBlade]

"I'm alright, as well as I can be given the circumstances anyway. I think the lady here still needs some rest if I'm not mistaken..." He said, not trying to sound disrespectful. After all, he saw her limping, and limping is never a good sign. "I don't think we've met, sir. Nanahm's the name." He finished with holding his hand out for a handshake.

[Psych]

"Rachele, why can't I sleep?" Niles pulled himself up, rubbing his face again. No naps today. As usual, the world was conspiring to keep him exhausted and sore. "Hmm? Who are you? I had been trying to walk to Europa, but those men were after you and blocked the road. If it wasn't for you, I'd be almost half way there by now. Plus I'm lucky I didn't die. I think I can catch a ride to settle debts. I did help heal your group too." Niles laid back down, face first. He reached into his bag and pulled out a letter. "This is for you." Though that last sentence came out a bit muffled.

[Dark Sage]

"I'm Domovoi. A pleasure to meet you," Domovoi said, shaking Nahnam's hand. "Yeah, Lady Veronika isn't quite used to combat I think. She's holding up quite well though. But it's nice to speak to a warrior of your caliber. I've seen how you fight and you're quite strong, but you need to be less reckless. Your bravery's still quite impressive.

Rest eh? I wonder how far we are from the nearest town. Might be good for us to get some rest."

--------------

No food?! The human had no food?! Maybe the other humans had food? Heading towards Raquel, he sniffed at her face, licking his chops.

[-Cynthia-]

"I am right here you know, and I am plenty hardy for your information," Veronika responded to Domovoi, somewhat annoyed at the implications the soldier was making. "I've been healed and I am fine, I do not need to rest after every skirmish we have. After Vasquez deals with those guards we can get moving; I just hope we don't have to waste our time burying any of this scum," she said, crossing her arms and leaning against the wagon.

[Dark Sage]

"Trust me, I don't think we're going to waste time doing burying them. At least I hope not. I'm going to have to object if we do. Anyway I'm glad we rescued those people. If word spreads to towns, our rep might grow and they might alert people to the dangers of that group. But if you say there are guards and we have a guy like Rodrigo telling them what happened, I don't think we're likely to be hassled by any authorities. That'd be great."

[roymbrog]

Synthia scratched her head, a little unsure of what to say. “It’s… not so much the damage as removing that stitching. I’m… not all that great at this sort of thing and I didn’t know it was that bad. I can try, but I have no guarantees.” Honestly, it probably wasn’t as hard as she was making it out to be, but she knew little to nothing about sewing. She’d always asked Sillia or her mother to mend her clothes.

Edited March 29, 2011 by roymbrog

[Mercakete]

"Ahh, I see. Aye, I'm no good with a needle. Well, I have two spares in case something happened to this'un. Thank ye all the same," Gytha replied, "Do yet still want t' have a go at it or should I just toss it?" This explains why I was never allowed near the sails when they got damaged. They have right seemstreses fer that.

[ReformBlade]

"Yeah it would be great, wouldn't it?" He said a bit sarcastically. "Oddly enough, I don't think this will go too smoothly, or at least not as smooth as you think it will. Something weird happens in every place we travel to, I don't see why this place would be an exception suddenly. I don't know, maybe I'm just being pessimistic, but I'm just saying how I see it is all."

[roymbrog]

“Don’t toss it yet, I’m sure someone around here could fix that. Didn’t Amon mention patching his clothes? You could probably ask him,” Synthia replied.

[Phoenix]

When the wyvern abandoned Amon, it went on its way, and Amon thought to get back to his original task of asking Raquel about the thread he would need. He quickly found that he and the wyvern were heading in the same direction. The wyvern still reached Raquel before he did however.

Meanwhile Raquel herself addressed Niles. "What are you some kind of arrogant, louse?" she said grudgingly accepting the letter. She figured she could read it once they were on their way, but for now she was busy dealing with ... things. That was when she was accosted by Domovoi's wyvern. Seeing Amon close by, she asked him "W-what's he want?"

"Probably food. He came to me first though. Um ... since I've got your attention, do you mind if I ask you for some thread?" he replied.

"You need to make repairs to your clothes because you're getting hit too much, right?"

"Yeah."

"Oh don't worry about that. I can take care of any mending you guys need done. Just give me whatever's damaged and I'll get to it when I've got a minute." she explained.

"You're a seamstress?" Amon asked, pleasantly surprised.

"I guess you could say that." she said before pointing to the spot where the arrow had pierced into her during the previous battle. Amon didn't see any kind of damage whatsoever. He didn't see any patching though either which was interesting.

"That's ... impressive. So just leave our clothes with you then?"

"Uh, yeah. It's the least I can do really."

"Alright then, thanks. I'll go let Gytha know." he said turning to head back over to the Mariner.

With that Raquel returned her attention to Niles. "Now look, you. I don't mind giving you a lift, to thank you, but I don't trust anyone who's not working in this group to be back here so up. Now. If you want a ride so badly, you'll be just fine on the roof." At this point she was having no success at all in hiding her agitation.

Amon

Once the agent made it back to Gytha he spoke up with a smile on his face. "Good news. Raquel's willing to fix any damage to our clothes. From the looks of things she's pretty good."

[Mercakete]

Gytha brightened considerably at Amon's news. "HAHAHAHAHARR! That's great news, Amon! Thank ye, Synthia and Amon!" with that short burst of jubilation, Gytha dashed over to Raquel, tackling the wyvern asside to reach the merchant more quickly. "Amon says yer a seamstress! Can ye patch up this'ere tunic, even with what I'v already tried to sew?" she asked enthusiastically, quickly pointing out the stitch-mess she'd shown to Synthia before.

[Phoenix]

"W-whoa ..." Well that needs some work but I can handle it in theory. "Sure. Shouldn't be a problem. Just let me have it once you've changed out of it and I'll get to work once we settle down." she replied.

[Mercakete]

"Aye," Gytha agreed, heading into the wagon. Wait, why was someone in there? Picking the man up bodily and tossing him out was easy. Once that was accomplished, Gytha pulled the curtain closed, removed her belt, then her tunic. After that she retrieved one of her spare tunics, refastened her belt and tied off her dufflebag again. Then she opened the wagon's curtain and handed the bloodied and torn tunic to Raquel. "Here ye go! Thanks again, Raquel. I really appreciate it!" Her attention was garnered by the man whose face was still in the dirt behind the wagon: the man who she didn't know was named Niles. "He one o' us?" she asked Raquel curiously, indicating Niles.