Fire Emblem: The Last Scion

[[ Okay, here we go. I need something to distract myself from the sad stuff going on, so it's time to start.

DON'T POST SIGN-UPs HERE! If you want to sign up, go to the discussion thread. Also, from here on out, no more OOC posts either. The discussion thread can be found here. Hoorah.

Just to let you all know, each one of my posts will take the different point of view of one of my three characters. ]]



"Jun, Meilin, it's alright. I've been prepared to join the Goddess for some time now. Don't cry. Please, don't cry. You'll make me cry..." the bed ridden woman said. Her face lacked any color and her blonde hair was drenched in sweat. Her blue eyes were faded and worn, like a child's lost doll. She was bundled up in several woolen blankets, yet she still shivered. She was obviously very ill.

"But Mother... you can't leave us. Father needs you. You've seen how he's acted since you grew ill. He's going mad, I swear. The country needs you. You're their Queen. Without you, I don't know what'll happen. I..." the blonde girl next to the dying woman began to cry. Tears flowed down her cheeks, following the same path as the tears before them. Jun reached forward and grasped onto her mother's exposed hand. The woman had little strength to return to clasp, instead smiling at her daughter.

"Mom, I love you," said the girl seated next to Jun. Unlike her sister, Meilin looked nothing like the woman. No tears had drenched her cheeks, but it was obvious she was incredibly upset. "Without you, I.. don't know what I'll do.." Meilin stopped talking, choking on her own words. She resisted the urge to cry, instead opting to clench on the side of her chair.

The woman smiled. It was her greatest joy to die with her two daughters at her side. But, it was obvious they were in danger. "Before I die, I have one final request of the three of you." Now a third person was visible in the room. He was a hulking mass of muscle, but his face showed sadness and concern. "Sir Anton, this is addressed to you in particular. I want you to take my two flowers here-" the woman coughed, then continued, "And take them as far away as possible. They can't stay here too much longer. It's too dangerous..." Her eyelids began to feel heavier and it grew almost impossible to keep them open.

"But why my Queen? Won't it be import--"

"Emma, snap out of it. Karg wants us all ready to move out in ten minutes. You've barely packed anything," a voice said, breaking Jun out of her daydream. She shook her head and looked around, looking for the source of the voice. Standing in the doorway to her hut was Meilin, looking as impatient as ever.

"Well Clementina all I'm bringing are a few Vulneraries and my Shiyaiba. I don't want to be bogged down by too much. Especially since we lost most of our horses to those bandits the other day," Jun said, using the alias Meilin gave to the other mercenaries. It would of been unwise to reveal their true identities when they first arrived, so they used different names to conceal themselves.

Meilin shook her head and left the doorway, disappearing into the growing crowd forming outside of her tent. Jun stood and walked to where her sister had just been standing. She sighed. I can't believe we're going back to Koga-Na. I'm sorry Mother...

Jun peered into the crowd. They had recently recruited a vast amount of people and she recognized only a handful of them. "Here we go..."

"Even a this hour, it's SO hot." The almost annoyingly high voice of Aila Lianne Woodridge pierced the painfully silent, but deadly desert air. "My hair is all sandy, my clothes are a mess, and I can't see where I'm driving this horse!" Her escort, Kayle Algan Siona, let out a deep sigh at the frail girl's constant whining. How quickly she forgot that she was riding HIS horse, and he was trying to follow after in armor that made walking in the sand quite difficult. Though he wouldn't say anything, that was too out of nature for him. Despite her current attitude, Aila was an innocent, good natured girl with a noble cause, and it was because of those traits that Kayle had decided to escort her in the first place. It was not until five days after they started traveling together that she had revealed to him her will to save her family. Being someone who lost everything, that didn't change Kayle's resolve, but rather strengthened it.

But alas, they were now traveling through Haaj, the desert country, and lady luck was nowhere near on their side. They were almost out of water and food, and had yet to see anyone or anything in at least three days. They had just narrowly escaped a group of bandits, whom chased them into a state where they couldn't identify their location on a map. "OW!" A voice shouted from the ground below as Azure took a step forward. The shout was sudden and shocking, and so Azure reared up into the air, knocking Aila off and butt first into the sand. Kayle took his horse by the halter, and kicked the location that the sound had come from, another "OW!" reaching the ears of the group. The ground stirred for a moment, spooking Azure further, and a body appeared, apparently being that of a young girl. Her hair was pink in colour, though her attire was of a rather strange gothic butterfly design. "Who's there? Where am I?" The girl asked with a hint of irritation in her voice as she looked plainly at the two companions and the horse after standing. While her eyes were of a yellow colour, that seemed nearly void of life. At the same time, however, she had a large, black tome underneath her right arm that was clearly that of a Shaman. "Fine then, I'll give my name first. I am Lucine Corona." She kept her last name a secret for, if anyone knew of her lineage, should we quickly be killed. "Unfortunately, I'm blind, and I got lost and before I knew it, I found myself caught in a sandstorm, which quickly left me covered. Luckily it didn't cover my face, so I was able to breath." This story was, of course, a farce. There was a mercenary camp she had been keeping an eye on, and had buried herself the night before to listen in on the discussion of two of the members who had come out that way.

"Kayle, and my campanion is Aila." The brown haired young man before Lucine said almost coldly, his lance at the ready. There was a chance she was dangerous. No normal child would carry around a dark magic tome, blind or not. "I am a freelancer, and Aila's escort- GET BACK HERE AILA!"

"Wow, your outfit is so cute~ You must be rich to afford such clothing~ Though, how do you get changed into such a complicated outfit if you can't see?" Aila, being as naive as she was, jumped right in and began hassling the girl, who's pale skin turned a bright red at the girl's question.

"ANYWAYS. I'd like to request your services, freelancer. I'm capable of defending myself with this tome, but I can't travel on my own in such a place as a desert for fear of a replication of last night. Could you possibly escort me until we reach the next town?" The shaman girl asked, as her lifeless eyes scoured the area as if they longed to see the land once more. Kayle, seeing no other choice, agreed, letting the two girls ride Azure. After traveling for ten minutes or so, they came across a camp composed of small wooden huts, clearly in the middle of nowhere. Kayle saw it as an opportunity to acquire more supplies, and lead the group right in to a large group in the middle, shouting:

"EXCUSE ME! CAN ANYONE SPARE ANY FOOD OR WATER? WE'RE A SMALL GROUP TRAVELING THE DESERT, AND I'M AFRAID WE'VE RUN OUT OF SUPPLIES" Aila and Lucine, both atop Azure, sweatdropped.

Zen was quite disgruntled, one could tell by the childish pout on his face as he stomped on the sand, Sykes walking beside him silently and watching the hunchbacked pirate brood with amusement. With his axe strapped securely to his back, every now and then, Zen would straighten and look around, though he was a good half head dwarfed by his friend, even when standing straight. It had been a long journey, and Zen had dragged Sykes out to look for his old home. Sykes gave Zen no hints as to where it was, as he couldn't even remember the details himself, other then it was on the border with another country, where the sea could be, at the very least, walked to within three consecutive days. However, that was certainly not the case with the town they were at, and Sykes gave no notion to Zen, that the logic that he'd been kidnapped by pirates, sea loving plunderer's, meant that his hometown had most likely not been this blossom in the middle of nowhere.

"EXCUSE ME! CAN ANYONE SPARE ANY FOOD OR WATER? WE'RE A SMALL GROUP TRAVELING THE DESERT, AND I'M AFRAID WE'VE RUN OUT OF SUPPLIES"

Sykes looked away from his friend who straightened at the sound of, 'water', and coughed, before Zen shrieked 'WATER?!?!?!' at the top of his lungs. Zen was just about to shout when he heard the cough and immediately spun around, staring at Sykes with a gaze that looked as though he might be trying to see if lasers would come out of his eyes and melt off Sykes' face.

"I hate the desert. HOW DID YOU STAND TO LIVE HERE FOR EIGHT. FREAKIN. CURSED. YEARS?!?!?!" He made just as much of a scene as the other three, though not quite as much when they were combined. Grabbing Sykes' shoulders, the ironically older man shook his friend back and forth, the thief standing quite still with his arms folded and gaze blank, "WHERE'S THE SOUND OF WAVES?!?!?! THE SMELL OF SALT?!?! THE SHIP? WHERE IS THE SHIP?!?!! HOW DO YOU MOVE AROUND?!?!?"

"We walk." Sykes dead panned, and Zen spun around again, leaving the amused assassin slightly out-of-sorts after being lobbed back and forth like a ragdoll. Zen slapped his hands to his head and let out a cry of anguish.

"GAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Da'n, an' I thought I wun no land lubber, kiddo looks laike he's gon wet 'imself." Said a tall and bulky pirate with a heavy black bushy beard laughed, his heavy scars etched over with tattoo's. His attire was simplistic enough, a pair of trousers and a white shirt, along with a black and white striped bandanna that was tied around his shining bald head and covered his right eye.

"He's not accustomed to solid ground." Sykes stated the obvious as Zen continued to freak out about 'Land, as far as the eye can see'. When he finally realized that he was not getting any closer to home by making a scene, he slumped back to the two spectators who had made no notion to stop him, made no notion to indicate they were embarrassed to be traveling with such an immature man who could hardly be labeled as an adult, and made no notion of acknowledgment to the people around them.

"I want to go home." Zen scrunched up his face at Sykes and the captain of their band of pirates, D'ernjay.

"I ain't the wun settin' thin's up in'na land lubber's land," D'ernjay replied with a hearty laugh, "'Side's, land ain't juz fer pillagin' 'in burnin' kiddo. Pe'ple..." He looked around and whispered to Zen, "live on land."

Zen's face, once excited for a secret, fell.

"I'm not THAT stupid!" Zen stamped on the ground indignantly, bringing up a cloud of sand and dust which had both him and D'ernjay coughing a fit, while Sykes sighed, waving the particles of land away from his scarf which hid and protected his face from suffering a battle with sand.

"Aw it ain't so bad kiddo. Juz givvit a day er so, yew'll get used ter it." D'ernjay choked out after the sand had settled again.

"I want to see the wide open sea." Zen hung his head and Sykes looked up.

"EXCUSE ME! CAN ANYONE SPARE ANY FOOD OR WATER? WE'RE A SMALL GROUP TRAVELING THE DESERT, AND I'M AFRAID WE'VE RUN OUT OF SUPPLIES"

"I could certainly spare some." Sykes said so quietly that only Zen and D'ernjay could hear him. They weren't exactly near the announcer's in the first place, and D'ernjay laughed again, Zen blinking and wondering how on earth that was funny. Sykes stared at Zen with a pitiful look before explaining, "I could steal some, bright light."

"Oh!" Zen clapped, "That's RIGHT. Your a... well. YOU KNOW."

He laughed, now that the joke had passed.

"EXCUSE ME! CAN ANYONE SPARE ANY FOOD OR WATER? WE'RE A SMALL GROUP TRAVELING THE DESERT, AND I'M AFRAID WE'VE RUN OUT OF SUPPLIES." Anton, who had just taken a seat on a nearby chair, turned his head to the newly arrived knight.

Is that man crazy?

"Karn, I'll take care of it," Anton said to the man standing next to him. This man was around 5'11", covered in numerous scars, and seemed to be approaching the age of fifty. Despite his age, his body was rippling with muscle and a large Steel Blade was slung from his back. He nodded at Anton, but did not take his eyes off the newcomers.

As Anton walked over to the man and his two female companions, he could not help but to think they were in the same situation the Princesses and him had been in two years ago. Lost and without supplies and desperate for help. But in their case, they had a local escort them to the band. These three had foolishly entered the camp without an escort. If it had been any other group, they may have been slaughtered on the spot. Luckily, the men & women of Karn's Band were moderately trusting and waited to attack upon inspection of the intruder's motives.

Anton's armor clinked and chimed as he walked, and the sand beneath his feet maybe it difficult to walk, despite the two years he had spent in the desert already. A Steel Lance was attached to a leather strap that was slung around his body and was in a position that was easy for Anton to grab his lance from. He smiled at the three, attempting to show he had no intent of attacking.

Then, he responded to the man's request, "Ah.. I see. Yes, the desert has a nasty habit of swallowing a group's supplies whole. Alas, we too are limited on supplies. But, lucky for you, we were about to leave camp and start on our way to a nearby village to pick up some supplies. If you'd like, you may venture with us and buy some supplies. We know the Haajian desert like the back of our hands so you can be sure we won't lead you astray. And, by the way, my name is Stephen, a member of Karn's Band." Anton bowed in a knightly fashion and then stood up. He looked at the pink-haired Shaman on the back of the horse and smiled. Then, by a quick examination of her eyes, he noticed they seemed almost dead.

Must be blind. Anton turned from the trio and looked at his leader. Karn did nothing but stare. Then, he subtlely nodded and motioned for Anton to come back to him.

Then, the harsh mercenary spoke, "I have a few questions myself." Karn moved from where he was standing and made his way towards the group. As he passed Anton, he padded his shoulder and moved forward. "Why, by chance, are you three here in the desert. You, in particular, young Shaman? If my memory serves me correctly, a local boy from the nearby town said he had seen a female Shaman camped out only a few miles from here. And if my old brain serves me correctly, you seem to fit the description he gave," he said to Lucine with a discerning look.

"And you, young lady," he said, motioning to Aila, "you're outfit is not fit for desert traveling. You remind me of Stephen's companion Emma. She arrived two years ago wearing a thin, flashy dress as well. But, like her, I'm guessing you've learned the hard way that the more skin protected and the lighter the material the better." Karn let out a slight laugh and turned his attention to Kayle.

"And why are you traveling with these two young woman? Kidnap them? Forced them to come with you? Or perhaps you're their brother. If so--"

Meilin walked over, and interrupted her leader, "Whatever their purposes for traveling Commander, if they were ill-intent, they probably wouldn't of announced their arrival would they? If they were wise assailants, they would of resorted to a more stealthy approach, wouldn't you agree?" She smiled at the boy on the horse and winked. "Let them travel with us. Perhaps they'll join us past the village. As you always said, any recruit is a good recruit." Karn grunted and turned. Without a word, he returned to his original post.

"Fine. Travel with us. But, if I find anything out that makes me distrust you, you all are on your own."

"Ah, my apologies." Kayle began, somewhat troubled by the interrogation provided by the group's leader. "My name is Kayle Algan Siona, son of Frederick and Tabitha Siona, ex-emissaries of Yunai. While I function as a Lance Knight, I am currently a freelancer escorting these two young ladies. If you need recruits, I would gladly join your little band for the right place later on, but for now I have a rather aimless job I must accomplish." He glanced back at Aila and grinned.

Aila dismounted the horse, and approached the man and woman duo, curtsying appropriately before regaining her usual stance, heal staff in her right hand. "I'm Aila Lianna Woodridge! I know my story may seem a little strange, and I hope you'll bear no ill will towards me, but I used to be an Ascanth soldier. You see, my entire family was enlisted into their military against our will, and I snuck away so I could figure out a way to save them... That's when I met Kayle. Oh, right!" She shoved her staff outwards in excitement towards the one fact she had forgotten. " I'm a Cleric, so if you need any healing done while we're traveling together, don't be afraid to request as much from me." Aila then stepped back, allowing Lucine to step forward.

Lucine was already in a good mood. She had stumbled upon a happy little band to spy on, and she had located the whereabouts of one of the few deserters Ascanth was searching for. "I go by the name of Lucine Corona, I'm a Shaman from Yunai. I had an unfortunate accident. Due to my lack of sight, I accidentally hit a bandit while training in Yunai. He knocked me unconscious, and when I awoke, I was out here. Then I stumbled upon these two almost fifteen minutes ago." She foolishly made her proclamation without making eye contact. The way she looked at it, they couldn't accuse her of anything just yet. Without proof, all they could do is be suspicious of her.

"As you see, we mean you no ill will, and would be delighted to stick with you until the next town. However, unless our situation undergoes a drastic change, I'm afraid we'll have to go our separate ways afterwards." Kayle spoke honestly, and graciously, before bowing out of courtesy.

"Uwah. Hot hot hot."

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Illet clung the the back of her wyvern companion. The breeze of the speed of their travels didn't seem to help cool her off, it just seemed to bring on more of the outragous dry wind. She lowered herself on the back of the arial dragon in an attempt to hide from the blowing heat, only to find that the back of his neck wasn't any cooler. In response to the girl's phrase, the wyvern glided closer to the ground from the height it had been before. Still, this proved to be of no avail, seeing how the heat from the sand and the wind which pushed the grains towards there faces seemed even more of a discomfort.

"Uwah. Sand."

With a snort, Dalmaskoth rose again higher into the air with a mighty flap of his wings. Unable to make up her mind, this process repeated itself; constantly up and down, the silver haired girl could find no refuge from the desert heat. The two had started for a trek to Yunai, but in a sudden change of heart, Illet had decided upon a trip to the place that she had heard of from an old man along Ascanth.

--
"The beach has lots of sand." She had told the fisherman who lived nearby. Kneeling down, Illet shifted the sand between her hands.

"Hah, if you wished to see more sand, you should visit the desert!" The old man chuckled lightheartedly.

"...desert?"

"You and your little friend there -Hark! Did I say little?- You and your friend there would see lots of sand if you went over to Haaj."

"Haaj..." Picking up the sands between her hands, Illet rose. Suddenly, she threw her hands out towards the ocean; the sand flowing with the breeze. "I'm going to Haaj. Dalmaskoth. We're going to more sand." The wyvern who lay attentively on the shore opened his one eye at her and snorted. As the girl walked towards the wyvern and the travel case that was beside the creature, the fisherman scratched his head. Hadn't she just come here two days ago? What an impulsive girl! Slipping on her beast skin leggings and placing the sack on her back, Illet signaled for the wyvern to stand.

"Miss! Do you plan to leave now?" Undistracted by the man, she mounted the wyvern, "Don't you need some water to take along with you?" Already in what oddly only seemed as ten minutes ago he had mentioned Haaj, the wyvern began to flap it's grey wings.

"No Mister Fishman Sir, there's enough water here thanks." Riddled by her totally irrelevant and curious reply, the old man eyed the girl strangely as she flew into the sky.
--

Now, Illet was thirsty. Deserts didn't seem to rain, and the sand never seemed to have an ocean near it at any end. This was a very odd desert from the way she had originally thought of it.
Every now and then, Illet saw a group of bandits or a wandering caravan. The caravans always seemed to attack poor Dalmaskoth with arrows when they were close to landing, so asking them for water didn't seem much help. The bandits at least let the wyvern land. Upon landing, still on the giant wyvern's back, she would ask them for a drink.

"Ehh?!?! The wyvern just talked?!?!"

"He did! He did!!" Such outbursts were followed by much commotion among the renegades. All the while, Illet was too hot and tired to get off of her traveling buddy. After these little huddles between the bandits, they usually brandished their swords, saying how a talking beast would bring so much money. Illet was always curious about this talking wyvern they mentioned, but Dalmaskoth always seemed to leave when such a thing happened. Luckily though, she'd heard an outburst to her left about 'water'.

"Dalmaskoth. The group to the left of here." With a slight pull of the wyvern's left horn, Dalmaskoth growled and slowly turned towards the left of the desert. At a closer view, it seemed to be a group of four girls and two guys, another small group was a little ways away. They hadn't shot arrows at her yet; they were obviously busy talking. This was a good thing. A couple feet away, the grey wyvern flapped it's wings in descent as Illet climbed up towards the dragon's head with her arms resting on his two horns.

"TRAVELERS, WHERE IS THE OCEAN THAT THIS SAND LEADS TO?" Illet cocked her head a bit quizzically at the odd group that didn't seem to be a caravan nor were they bandits. They might be friendly.

OOC// Sorry if it has a few typoes x.x;

OoC// I hope you're near me. xD; I didn't really understand what you were saying, because David didn't seem to notice that my group of people aren't near him, and I'm not sure where the extra two girls came from.

IC// Zen stood up straight at the sound of the word 'Ocean', like a bloodhound who'd just noticed the presence of a duck.

"OCEAN??!?!" Zen yelled at the Wyvern Rider, "WHERE?!?!?!"

D'ernjay shook his head and said, "We ain't headin' fer home, nee'ther we know er dun know where the home is." Deciphering that as, 'We aren't heading for the ocean, even if we know where the ocean is,' Sykes shook his head as Zen looked toward him, as though demanding he contradict this statement. They were here as mercenaries, and the only one looking for 'home', was Zen.

"SPEAKIN' AH WHICH." D'ernjay roared, putting two thick callused fingers in his mouth and whistling an ear deafening and painful screeching sound, it was as though the town was being pillaged. Pirates, some drunk, some half drunk, peered blearily out of the pubs and various shops, as though asking their Captain, 'what now, you hunk of meat?' D'ernjay smirked at the sight of his men, such a merry and large group, and he called over a man half his size, though still quite burly in terms of build. He leaned over and the man spoke into his ear, D'ernjay nodding every now and then as Sykes moved towards the group of traveler's who had denied his offer to help with their supplies, apologizing for his joke.

"It was mere jest, I do not ask of others to bear the burden of running from the law if they wish not." Sykes said in a proper and quiet tone, much different from D'ernjay's loud, booming, and heavily accented one, "I am curious, were you carrying anything of particular value, Shaman, when you were attacked?"

Zen, seeming as though he'd completely forgotten about the ocean and the wyvern rider, whacked Sykes' shoulder roughly sending the much thinner man a few steps forward. Alas, nudging, whacking, and punching was a common sport amongst the pirates, who seemed to rather delight in the fact that Sykes had no qualms with taking a few steps in the direction opposite the attacking force to steady himself. Something most pirates were too prideful to do.

"Don't say that the minute you meet someone! You don't make friends that way. The way you ask, is first, you introduce yourself," Zen turned to the group of travelers as though to show Sykes how to introduce himself, "Hi," He said in a very false 'observe-my-actions' sort of way, "My name is rather long, so you can just call me Zen. I'm a pirate, and I'm really not too accustomed to being so far away from a body of water. See? Add a little tidbit about yourself afterwards, it always helps."

"My apologies." Sykes said, stopping. Zen seemed to expect more, so he kept his eyes on his friend attentively waiting for his introduction. Sykes simply ignored his gaze and stared up at the Wyvern Rider, though whether it was the Wyvern or the Rider, one couldn't really tell. Simply put, he was ignoring Zen, through and through.

"This is Sykes," Zen said cheerfully, "He's a thief, and he's of no harm to your belongings. He only steals things that were already taken from their original owners."

Which technically applied to almost everything.

-OoC-

Mako Tsunami: Ocean!? WHERE ARE YOU MY BELOVED?! WHERE ARE YOU!?

-coudln't resist- ^^: I watch too much Yugioh Abridged for my brain to have any lasting sanity in it... -sigh-

Hopefully I'm doing this right. o o


-IC-

For someone who was used to freezing temperatures, this nasty humid ocean-in-the-air weather was not something Adalynn particularly enjoyed. Her blonde hair, while it was pulled up in a tight ponytail, was still finding ways to stick to her face and her neck and every bit of skin inbetween it could latch onto. As much as she wanted to complain and whine, she resisted. She was by far the youngest member of this caravan, it was only because she could dance that she was even in this little group to begin with, and she didn't want to make herself look any worse by, well, acting her age.

And now there was noise. She'd been spacing off, staring blankly into her mother's ring and thinking about various not so pleasent things that had to do with her as a person and why she was in this stupid godforsaken evil desert when the loud became too loud to ignore and she lifted her head, squinting in the light to see what was going on, "Nyu...?" Tilting her head, she adjusted the bangles on her wrists and stood up, brushing the sand from her white and purple tunic before creeping over silently to the center of the commotion. this didn't look like fun work, not in the least. Maybe, maybe if she asked nicely, they'd let her do some of it.

No, Master Karn had come out of his tent. Drat. Now there was no way she'd be able to help, not if he was yelling at people. He hadn't yelled at her, not when she first came to the group, but then again, she hadn't barged in and started yelling for things. No, she'd wandered in and after realizing she'd done so, begged for forgiveness and asked to join. It took convincing, she was young after all, but eventually he'd relented. The cute Adalynn eyes? Maybe. Maybe not. Anyways, she couldn't really do anything, he was yelling at the stupid over dressed people and, as it sometimes did, her curiousity got the best of her and she silently krept forward, her five foot one frame barely visible amongst the tents, completely unaware that she was now standing directly infront of the tent nobody was allowed to enter, staring at the scene unfolding through her large blue eyes. New people were always a source of hope, Adalynn hadn't managed to connect with anyone thus far in the camp and even though she looked like a life size porcelin doll, no true 'fan' of such things had joined or would probably ever join such a group. She was a burden on the group and therefore, was expected to be seen and not heard unless she was needed to dance. As she watched Master Karn yell at the newcomers however, she couldn't help a stiffled giggle when one of the older girls in Master Karn's inner circle all but silenced the man. It got her every time, how such a strong man could be silenced by such a young girl.

Silly Master Karn, she's got you on a leash, doesn't she? Unable to withhold her thoughts as just thoughts, she giggled once more before she was completely silent again.

OOC// I'm a bit confused myself...@_@ Are we in the middle of a desert or at the edge of a desert town? Btw, sorry if my posts seem short; Illet's by herself so there's not much conversation with that.

IC// Illet squinted at the man below who seemed to introduce...his partner. It seemed that he'd already introduced himself to another group of travelers, though Illet wasn't really paying attention. She did catch the part of himself being a pirate though. Either way, they seemed to know nothing of where the ocean was from here, and Illet was becoming even thirstier just thinking about it. Backing off of the wyvern's head, Illet jumped off the lizard and onto the desert sand. Taking off her beast skinned leggings, she slid on a pair of sandals from her sack, occasionally looking from the pirate man and back to her putting on her sandals. With a little hop in her step, Illet hop-skipped towards the person who addressed her. Meanwhile Dalmaskoth gave a low growl of exhaustion as the wyvern's wings limped and it laid down tiredly in the sand. Just about a foot away from the pirate, Illet gave him a quizzical runover.

"If you're a pirate, where's your ship? I need water. Pirates have water. Unless you're a sand pirate. But you have no ship so I dunno." Her brows furled with a bit of disappointment. These deserts weren't as interesting as the old fisherman had said. Yes, it had sand, but this was a bit overdoing it. Illet eyed the other group of travelers. Maybe they had water, but maybe this sand pirate man did; the other people would be her second alternative.

OoC// I thought we were in a desert town...

IC// "Ohhh no Miss yew dun wan talk bout home when Zenny's-" D'ernjay started, but it was too late.

Zen seemed to suddenly remember his mission here in the Haaj Desert, and spun around to face the Wyvern Rider. Grabbing her shoulders, much like he'd done with Sykes, he shook her back and forth as he lamented, "MY SHIP?!?!? IT'S ON THE OCEAN. THE GREAT HOME, THE MOTHER, THE NATURE, THE GREAT CALAMITY OF PEACE AND LIFE GIVING! WE. WE ARE IN THE GREAT DESERT. THE GREAT DESERT OF DEATH AND NO WATER, LAND FOR MILES, STRETCHING AS FAR AS THE SICKENED EYE CAN SEEEE!!! I will accompany you to the ocean, fair maiden, I long for home as well."

Sykes sighed, and thought for a moment. Was there any water from which they could attack Koga-Na? A body of water that was fit for a ship that was on Holsten ocean waters? Zen seemed more intent on going home, then fighting for the cause. The other pirates would certainly be more comfortable on the ship, rather then in the desert. There was more alcohol on board.

"Why are we here, D'ernjay?" Sykes finally questioned, and D'ernjay shoved his hand into the whispering man's face to shut him up.

"Er, I only bin tew Koga-nah wunce, and back den we walked. Though' it migh' be a bit easier too. But Zenny'd neva' leave ah band ehn'way, so don' think too hard on it Sy'ke." D'ernjay said, pronouncing Sykes name incorrectly, as usual. But Zen was already about to drag the girl in the direction he'd assumed where the ocean was. Before he could though, Sykes reached out a hand and grabbed a handful of his companion's golden blonde hair, saying in a no longer amused, but irritated voice, "Drop it Zennell."

Zen had another fit as he reinstated the fact that no one was supposed to call him by his full first name, and that nobody had that privilege except for the deceased Captain of the pirates he'd been born into. Although he tried his best to flail about to prove his point, to keep his hair connected to his scalp, Zen only blindly tried to slap at the man who held him captive, Sykes standing a good arms width away from Zen.

"Who are you?" Sykes said rudely to the Wyvern Rider, "And if you want supplies, you're competing with the Shaman's group."

"No no no," Zen started again, successfully giving Sykes a good poke in the cheek as he waved his arms about, "You have to introduce yourself before asking for someone's name Sykes! Remember??"

"Uwaaah..." Ultimately, pirateman seemed to know that this there was no water near the desert, nor was there an ocean that connected to this sand in sight. But luckily, pirateman said he would accompany her on her trek to the ocean, so maybe he did know how to get there? The shaking from blonde haired man made her a bit more light-headed than anything. The man though said he would accompany her to the ocean though, so maybe he had some special pirate magic or something.

"I don't long for home mister, I don't like this sand land though." Illet quietly spoke, wondering in which direction the taller man was taking her. Before she could find out though, her newfound desert guide was pulled back by his hair and Illet turned to face the dark looking tall guy who pirateman, whose name she finally heard was Zennel, had earlier said was Sykes.

"Who are you?" He addressed her in a cold tone, "And if you want supplies, you're competing with the Shaman's group." Zennel pirateman now seemed to be saying something about introducing himself, but Illet looked downward, placing her hand on her lips in curious thought. Looking back up at him she seemed to figure out a response.

"My name is Illet Dryden. I'm thirsty." She looked away from the the theif, turning towards the Shaman group. "Well, they are more people, so that means more water. I'm one person. I need little water. You are a thief so...you must be good at taking water. So you could take more later." She pointed toward Zennel. "You must have stole Pirateman from the Ocean. That's why he's so sad. Can you steal the ocean and bring it here?" After she finished, she sighed and swiped the sweat from her brow. Talking took a lot out of you.

Jun giggled. The people who had recently arrived at their camp reminded her of the people back home. Especially the thief. He reminded her of her father's favorite spy Kenn, who was often found speaking with her father. He was calm and collected, and had to deal with his flaky partner Abigal. He always pulled on her hair and used her full name rather than Abby to show he wanted her to just shut up. But when looking at the blind Shaman, a sense of uneasiness settled over her. Her story made sense, but Jun couldn't help but to question her motives. Shamans were usually not the nicest people. The fortune teller back in her father's court was a miserable old shaman who would rant and complain about anything that bothered her.

But this female Wyvern Rider piqued her interest the most. Back in Koga-Na, wyverns were rare, and there were no units using them in their army. But the Koga-Nan Pegasus Guard was world-renowned and Jun dreamt of riding one. But this wyvern was a beautiful creature. Its grey scales were shimmering in the desert sun and though it was a ferocious beast, this one seemed calm and collected. Jun noticed however that its rider was a peculiar young girl. She spoke using simplistic, short sentences and seemed to avoid conversation.

"Well Karn. You're a liar. You said we were going to leave in ten minutes, but from what I can tell, we've been standing here for at least twenty. I can't believe the great Karn backed out on his word. Tsk, tsk..." Jun said, sauntering over to her Commander with a grin on her face. Karn shook his head and let out a soft laugh. He walked to Jun and placed his hand on her shoulder.

Then he said, "Well Emma, how about this. Clementina, Stephen, Adalynn and you can escort our fine visitors to the nearest village and help them get some supplies. In the meantime, I'll take the rest of the band and head to Koga-Na. I'm sure your smart little mouth can handle it," he said with a mischevious grin on his face. Jun sneered and looked to the motley crew of intruders. "Then, if any of them want to stay with you and join our band, they're more than welcomed." Then he leaned over and whispered into her ear, "But watch out Princess. I wouldn't trust any of them."

"Now, hurry up. Our guests here seem most thirsty," and with that Karn turned and motioned to the rest of the mercenaries to follow him. But Jun didn't move. Did he truly know she was a Princess or was it just a pet name he decided to use for her. She didn't know, but now she had another task. Anton and Meilin walked over to Jun with most queer expressions their faces.

"Umm... if you keep your face like that for much longer and it'll get stuck like that Emma. C'mon, let's get ready to leave. I wanna get this over with so we can rejoin the main group," Anton said. Then he turned to the others and said, "We need to just pick up a few things and then we'll set off for Kor, the nearest town. There, you can pick up your supplies and such. Sound like a plan?"

"Ah, yes. A fitting plan indeed. Though, are you sure you wouldn't like some sort of payment? We don't have a lot to offer, but Aila here is blessed with a mother's touch." Aila's eye twitched at the thought of being compared to a mother by Kayle. She shook it off, however, and began examining Lucine in a curious manner. Although, being a blind actor, Lucine pretended to not realize it was occurring. Despite what was taking place behind him, Kayle continued his offer. "So, if there is anything such as clothing that you'd like her to repair, or perhaps wash, I'm sure she would be happy to oblige."

Fully content with her examination of the secretly irritated Lucine, who stood there silently as she listened to her surroundings, Aila picked a new target: Emma. Her healing staff in hand, she approached the girl, despite her being with two others. She was simply fascinated by her appearance. "I'm sorry, Emma was it? I absolutely love your hair! It's such a pretty colour, I'm envious! And your dress! Despite the environment and path you've chosen, you still choose to wear such a beautiful dress! Us girls have to look our best even during battle, I suppose!" Sometimes one would wonder if Aila was too much of a girl for her own good. The fact that she didn't compliment Clementina's attire, however, was essentially Aila's form of an insult.

Lucine listened in on this whole scene with interest. It was obvious that if the need ever occurred, Aila would be the easiest pawn to use. From what Lucine had heard so far, the girl was more concerned with the problems and issues of others than her own; selfless to a fault, excluding when it came to appearances and work ethics. Kayle on the other hand, gave Lucine a vibe that told her not to try anything. He was far too mellow for her to dare attempt any moves on him. Content with what she had learned, Lucine turned around to separate herself a bit from the group, only to walk straight into a wooden pole sticking out of the ground. She stumbled back, landing on her butt, her face a dark red. Sometimes the whole blind thing was more annoying than she would have liked.

Sometimes Adalynn was too nice for her own good. Having not heard any instructions as to what she was supossed to be doing in regards to this new unit, she had been staring at the blind Shaman, feeling rather sorry for the girl and when she ran herself right into a pole, well, Ada couldn't help herself. Squeaking a note something similar to an A6, she darted forward, sliding into the sand beside the girl, "A-are you okay? Are you hurt? Nyuuu! I can fix it, I think. Just where? Bad Pole! Hurting the poor lady! BAD!" After staring it down, she gave it a firm kick and, after giving it one hell of a death glare, she turned back to the girl, worry written all over her voice and face as she skittered around the 'fallen' comrade, "Did you break anything? Bruise anything? Nyuu... That was bad luck, I've done that to..."

She put her hand in the other's, "Need some help up? If you're not hurt?" Oh hopefully this girl wouldn't be too scared of her. She wasn't that bad, just, panicy. When people got hurt. Particularly nice lookign people that she wasn't yet friends with, "There are clerics around, maybe they can heal you? Maybe maybe?" Turning back to the others, she blinked, "KIYA. They're leaving us!" Standing, she attempted to help the other up, "Hurry hurry, or we'll get the sandy water and it tastes really really gross...."

[[ Well, I just beat Sacred Stones again so my head is filled with inspiration! ]]

Meilin smiled. While the young cleric was fawning over her sister, Meilin would take a quick visit back to her tent to make sure she had everything she wanted to take. Slowly she slunk away from the group and slipped into her tent. The tent was of a modest size, which was befitting for the third-in-command of the band. She had a simple thin bed, a worn carpet on the floor, and a few rucksacks of various items. It was in these sacks that Meilin had kept the few items they grabbed from the castle before they left. She walked over to the first bag and opened it. Inside were a few Vulneraries and a single Elixir. Better bring this bag. Meilin threw the bag to the side and opened the next one. A bunch of old foodstuff and Anton's long forgotten stone collect. Don't need it... She spent a good five minutes going through the various bags, sorting them by which ones were needed and which weren't.

"Aha.. here's the one I wanted," Meilin said, reaching far into one of the last bags. She grabbed something and pulled it out. It was a golden picture frame, carved with numerous pictures of various legends in Nariel's history. Inside of the picture frame was a painting of a young Queen Hariet with a young baby in her arms and a female toddler at her side. "Couldn't forget this..."

"Adalynn, relax. You're not going with them. You're coming with us. So no need to worry about sandy water," Meilin heard Jun yell. She heard Anton's low chuckle and the young dancer Adalynn fretting over the young Shaman girl. Meilin shook her head and stood, placing the two rucksacks over her shoulder that she decided to keep. Meilin took the painting and tucked it into her belt where she would know where it was at all times. Then, she gave her tent one last lookover and nodded, as if she was saying good bye. Then she walked to the door and went back outside, seeing the rest of the group was growing anxious. The Shaman girl was on the ground, her face red and sand all over her cloak.

"Okay," Meilin began, attempting to gain the group's attention, "the town is two miles to the west. Currently, we have little water and little food, so be prudent with the supplies. And to warn you all, the bandits have been increasingly more active lately, probably due to the impending war. As you know, we will be joining Karn after we visit the town. Kayle, was it," she asked, looking at the Lance Knight, "will you by chance be willing to carry some of the supplies for us? We only have so many people and I'm guessing we on foot can't carry it all."

"So, let's be on our way," Meilin said as she began to walk west, the desert sun above brighter than ever.

Zen stared after the girl and pointed to himself, "Are we coming too?"

D'ernjay picked up Zen by the back of his vest, and heaved him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, "'COURSE WE ARR. WE GOTTA RON'DE'VUU TOO." Sykes sighed and readjusted his scarf so that it covered more of his face, before turning to the Wyvern Rider with his stony eyes.

"We may find water in the next town. I assume that you are looking for water, rather then the ocean itself?" He said blankly, as D'ernjay marched behind the girl, Zen over his shoulder as the man indignantly shouted for the giant to put him down, "You are free to come with us pirates. We are not here to impede on the mercenary group, as we will take none of their supplies, thus you may ease a wary conscious that you will not be a burden." He dipped his head forward and said, "Follow D'ernjay if you wish to come with us." Turning to face the direction in which D'ernjay was, Sykes ducked down and weaved through the people expertly as he ran with his arms loose behind him, his right hand clutching his dagger. A quaint speckle of shine caught his eye, but he resisted the urge, and continued to catch up to Zen and D'ernjay, who were arguing about whether Zen could walk the distance.

Behind them, the entire crew was slowly swaggering out of the tents and taking them down, most of them half or all drunk, but still getting everything done just as well. This was a skill, a special one, and the Pirates of D'ernjay were particularly good at doing anything while they were as drunk as could be. All except Sykes, who seemed unable to become drunk no matter how much alcohol he consumed- a fact that all the pirates loved to make fun of in dizzy slurs. It was good that at least someone on board was always sober though.

"Cap'n!" Said the squat, meaty pirate from earlier.

"Ehhh?" D'ernjay turned around so fast that Zen almost swung right off of his shoulder, the man in question letting out a yelp as he nearly crashed to the sandy dunes. D'ernjay and the man proceeded to converse in whispers again, or, more specifically, the man whispering while D'ernjay boomed, "OH?", and "UH-HUH", and "I SEE."

Sykes finally reached the front and wrenched Zen out of D'ernjay's grasp as the humongous man was distracted, and turned to the woman who had led the way. He considered apologizing for the pirate's and their way of imposing their presence onto others, but decided that he'd done enough cleaning up today, and turned to Zen with a pitying stare.

Zen ignored it to the best of his abilities, which was mostly just the effort of not saying anything in return as his expression turned all colors of the rainbow while he kept his tongue in his mouth.

Shaking his head, Sykes sighed, wondering just how he'd gotten stuck with such an immature excuse-for-an-adult.

As if fate was conspiring to add misery to pain and embarrassment, Lucine heard another annoyance approaching, and was pelted by sand as it landed in the side beside her. She would have been okay if the dancer girl had just asked if she was okay, but noooo. She proceeded to tell the pole off, and even kick it from what she could hear! As if not enough, the girl proceeded to smother Lucine with words of worry. Lucine's vision-less right eye began to twitch once more in annoyance, and she knocked the girl's hand out of her own, before picking up her tome from the sandy ground, and standing up. "I'm fine. Geez!" were her final words before storming off towards Aila's voice. At least Aila didn't smother her.

In the meantime, Kayle was requested to help carry supplies by the one who went by the name of Clementia. "Most certainly. The girls will probably confiscate my Azure for the trip though, but my arms are free." The lance knight replied as he picked up a load off the ground. "The use of my horse would be more effective, I'll admit, but it would be rude for me to make Lucine walk with her condition." Noticing the group was heading out, Kayle surveyed the area for the people he was escorting. He eventually found Aila playing with what appeared to be stray dog out in the middle of the desert, before being dragged towards the rest of the group by Lucine. "Well, I see you two are getting along~" Kayle had his suspicions about Lucine himself at this point, she could use her other senses far too well to be just some run of the mill girl. Not to mention she had no marks on her to suggest that her story was a true one.

"If this is what you call getting along, I'd hate to see what you consider fighting." Lucine remarked at Kayle in reference to the struggling Aila behind her, who was shouting her mouth off about wanting to help the dog. "Get on the horse already." Aila did as she was told, and helped Lucine up, and the continued on their marry way after the small travel group.

[[ I love love love your new theme Archsage. He's like the best character in Okami. Yeah, I'm ready to get going. ]]

Anton was worried. Usually when traveling through the Haajian desert, you would see various caravans traveling. But since they had left the encampment twenty minutes ago, they had yet to see a single group. Anton looked to Meilin who also had a worried expression on her face. Anton and her had always shared similar mindsets, so he knew she had picked up on the silence as well. Then, he looked for Jun, only to find her flirting with the thief who traveled with the pirates.

"So, are you the dark and mysterious type? Or are you the chivalrous and brave type? Either way, that is so incredibly sexy," Jun purred. Anton rolled his eyes and grasped onto Jun's left wrist. She yelped in pain and gave the Knight a stern stare. "What the hell are you doing Stephen?"

"While you were flirting with a damned thief, you failed to notice that we haven't encountered another human, or even an animal, since we left? You know what that means... an ambu--"

Anton stopped, but he had little time to react. The axe flew right at him and smashed into his cobalt armor. He recoiled and took a few steps backward. The axe fell to the ground and caused a plume of sand to be expelled into the air. Jun immediately grabbed for her umbrella and pulled the thin, silver blade from its handle, which shimmered in the desert sun.

"Stephen, are you okay?" she yelled without taking her eyes off from where the axe had come.

"Yes, I'm fine Emma," Anton said, pulling his Steel Lance out of its holder on his back. He shook his head attempted to dispel the shock. "Luckily I have this three inch armor protecting me."

Meilin rushed to the people they were escorting and said, "Anyone here who can fight and isn't drunk, prepare your weapons. We are about to have a battle on our hands!"

OoC// You didn't specify whether the ambusher's showed themselves, so I assumed they didn't. < <

IC// Zen laughed his head off as Sykes narrowed a criticizing eye at the girl. His standards were too high for his own good, and as far as he was concerned, she was much too straightforward to deserve a reply any less then 'bittter'.

"I'd like to think that I'm the irritable and disagreeable type-" Sykes blanched when an axe lodged itself in the armor of the man who'd pulled the girl away. Narrowing his eyes in the general direction the axe had flown, Sykes loosened his scarf and turned to the direction of which they'd originally been heading, before he spun about to look for the attackers. Spinning his dagger so that the blade was behind him, he glanced at Zen who ripped his axe off his back in a swift and smooth motion, swinging it easily so that it sat across his shoulders, looking much like a pirate now with a smirk and expression that was similar to mischievous violence. Sykes turned his gaze away from the other two and stated to D'ernjay that he was scouting ahead to see whether the ambush would move forward, toward them, or ambush them one by one.

D'ernjay gave no notion that he'd heard the smaller man, who swiftly disappeared from his side, pulling out a claymore worthy of D'ernjay's size, and the sound of rough swords and chains with heavy crushing cannon balls on the ends could be heard as the band of pirates pulled out their weapons, all of them harboring similar expressions to Zen. They were pirates, on land or on water. A fight was good news, and no matter how much on the losing side they were, fighting was a game. Games were meant to be fun! They began to head toward the edges to look for attackers to kill, but D'ernjay held up a hand, and the pirates stopped in their tracks.

"We m'ade our compan'ie them mer'canaries. We gon do what they wan, so fallow them orders yew gi't frum'em." D'ernjay stated, and a good 80% of the pirates turned scowling faces at people they assumed were in charge. They wouldn't refuse a direct order from their REAL Captain though. The ones with chains and cannonballs reeled up and swung their chains side to side, keeping a sharp look out for movement. This was something they were well trained it. Movement meant that someone was still alive. And for these brutal pirates, something moving always meant there was something of value to it, or on it.

Arrows showered Sykes as he darted past the ambush, which seemed to never end as Sykes constantly moved side to side, stopping and changing course entirely to avoid flying arrows, attacking swordsmen and axe warriors. The fastest runner any pirate had ever seen, Sykes had easily covered enough ground to have run right into a different camp, one that was not quite so friendly. Stopped with three huge lunking axemen, Sykes didn't even pause to think. Pulling out a vile of purple liquid from underneath the scarf around his waist, he sloshed it across the air and into their eyes, using the falling head of the one in the middle as a step, and turning around, drawing a path for himself again through the attackers, heading back to report his findings.

"Yeah, let's just charge right in for all to see without any knowledge of enemy numbers or units. Stupid thief." Aila murmured sarcastically in regards to Sykes who had stormed off on his own accord. Aila wasn't as booksmart as someone like Lucine, but she possessed enough common sense to know running into the enemy by yourself was about as intelligent as sticking your thumb over a nail you're about to hammer into the wall. Following her snide little comment, the green-clad cleric jumped from the horse, Azure's, back so that the horse's real owner could mount and head out. Of course Lucine was still on the horse's back, nowhere near expecting to have to navigate a battlefield blind on two feet. She was capable of it, just not in a desert where it was nearly impossible to listen to or smell the landscape. Kayle incidentally picked the girl off the horse, and put her down beside Aila, before mounting and placing his steel lance at his right side.

Kayle brought the horse to a trot in the direction of Stephen, Clementina, and Emma, motioning for his two female companions to follow. The two girls did as such, Lucine not commenting at all when Aila dragged her along by her right arm. "I'd like to know what you'd wish of these two." Kayle said to the group leaders in reference to the two spell users. "Aila is a well seasoned healer, so I'd prefer we keep her safe in case Vulnerary stocks run dry. However, Lucine is blind, and I have no idea of her capabilities-"

"Let me fight." The girl butted in coldly. The thought of not being able to fight sickened her, so of course she wanted to get involved. "I'm blind, not stupid. All I need is someone to be my eyes, since the desert makes using my other senses troublesome. Perhaps if you could spare a slow, yet defensive unit to escort me on the battlefield? Someone on horseback would move far too quickly for me to keep up, even on this terrain." It was a hefty request, though one she'd rather have fulfilled. She hadn't been involved in a good fight since her days with Yunai. Ever since Lucine had joined up with Ascanth, she'd been stuck with stupid spy missions.

Meanwhile, Aila began to distance herself from the others, obviously troubled by her role. "In the back by myself again. Sometimes I wish I picked a more useful class than Cleric. I never get to do anything..."