Fire Emblem: Soul of Heaven [IC/PG-16]

[King K. Azo]

Everything was wrapping up nicely, all except for one thing. The only reason why Raynor joined this group... he still hadn't found his friend. He was ready to grab the nearest bandit and slam them against the wall for questioning, when two of them came out of a basement of some sort, wanting a red head and a man missing an eye to go into the basement. 

 

Hey! He was missing an eye! They must have meant him. Leon seemed to agree.

 

"Cassia, Raynor," he looked to the two, "I think they mean you. Go see what Ada wants." Raynor didn't have to be told twice. He went down there quickly, not hearing any other conversations that was going on around him. He had to see if this was the moment he had been waiting for. He barreled down the stairs in perhaps an unsafe manner, but it didn't matter to him. All that mattered was the sight that greeted him at the bottom. That Jourian(?) mage was petting the maw of a Salamander, one that was obviously enjoying the attention it was receiving. 

 

"Gojira!" Raynor called out as he ran over as fast as his legs could carry him, skidding to a stop next to the lizard. "I'm glad you're okay buddy! Those bandits didn't hurt you, did they?" Raynor asked as he did his best to inspect the large lizard for wounds or the like. The Salamander at first seemed to be happy to see the one eyed man, but it then quickly turned its head, letting out a noise that resembled a snort before trying to lean more into Ada's petting.

Raynor's eye narrowed as he sucked in a breath. Seems like Gojira wasn't happy with him. "Hey, now, c'mon, don't be like that," He said as he kept inspecting. "Yes, it was my fault you were taken, I shouldn't have left you outside of the town. But you were scaring people!" He tried to reason with the lizard. Gojira just moved his head to Ada, obviously trying to make a point. "Well, of course she isn't afraid, she's Jourian, and she can see what a softie you really are," Raynor countered to the silent argument, starting to rub the Salamander's back. The Salamander just let out a small grumble, but didn't move away. It seemed he was just a little grouchy from being in the cage the whole time. "Now, c'mon, let's get out of here and get you fed, okay?" Raynor said, not mounting Gojira, put instead patting his neck. The Salamander seemed to perk up at the mention of food, its tail swishing back and forth. 

[Yui]

---

"The uh, the. the dark magic girl uh, wanted a um, red haired thief and man who was...missing an eye? To go down to the basement."

 

"Cassia, Raynor, I think they mean you. Go see what Ada wants."

 

Maybe she found treasure?

"Gojira! I'm glad you're okay buddy! Those bandits didn't hurt you, did they?"

 

Or maybe she found an oversized lizard. It's a little creepy to be honest, but it doesn't look like it wants to eat anyone. I'm not petting it anytime soon though. There were definitely worse animals to be way too big. Like roaches. Cassia didn't even want to stop to think about what oversized roaches would look like. She directed her attention at the lizard - apparently its name was Gojira - to get her mind away from that train of thought before it even started. And then, once she was over that, she brought her attention to the really important thing in the room.

 

Chests! With treasure in them, probably.

 

"Need those chests popped open?"

---

[Sethera]

"Um, Yue, are you uh, doing alright there? Sorry for putting you on the front lines like that. Oh, is um, is he doing fine too?"

 

The archer jumped so hard she knocked the carrot from Chang'e's mouth. She then eep'd, hands waving wildly as she fumbled to catch the carrot before it hit the ground. Chang'e was very picky about his meals.

 

Sighing in relief as she caught the carrot, Yue looked up with wide eyes, her breathing accelerated. "Oh, um...I didn't," she glanced down, letting her bangs fall into her face. "I didn't...see you there," she muttered, before her eyes flickered left to right. Wait...he said something, did he say something? What did he say? Oh, right... She breathed a sigh in relief at having remembered. "Um...no, it's fine, I..." she halted, unable to say what she was really feeling. Aren't you disappointed in me? I froze up. But then again, he didn't know, did he. Would she be able to tell him that, then?

 

"I..." and then she mumbled the rest, too quietly for even herself to hear. "I thought I should tell you, that I was a failure on the field today, and I have a hard time fighting monsters, and...yeah, I just wanted to let you know that." Of course, actually saying that loud enough for him to hear would take far more courage than she had. If she were only someone like Rona, then maybe she could actually have the guts to say things like that to his face.

 

And then Chang'e bit her.

 

She squeaked in shock, before shaking her finger at him. "Bad bunny, no biting, you hear?" she then remembered that Leon had asked something else. "And, um...you can probably see, he's doing just fine," she sent her pet an indulgent look that he returned with a glare and a sniff. "Do you...want to hold him?"

[Ralsei]

Layne took a deep breath as he walked away from the rest of the ground, a little mumble escaping him as he rubbed at his head softly. His head was practically swimming after everything that had happened today, and the group getting themselves so beaten was far beyond what he had expected when he had joined the Iron Falcons.
 
But all the same, this was the task he had devoted himself to, and he wasn't about to turn his back on it. So despite every bone in his body aching to just sit and rest, he pushed himself and began to walk towards the exit of the stronghold, a little sigh escaping him. His hand gripped the bag on his shoulder a little tighter as he stepped outside, into the fresh air once again, taking a deep breath...
 
"Get going before Cormag gets more upset."

 

Rona was here. Of course Rona was here. He quickly pulled himself up to try and look like he wasn't deep in though, giving her a little grin, just in case she was looking in his direction. He took a look over at the bandits that were starting to leave, giving a little confused look in their direction, "...We're just letting them go? Was that Leon's idea?"

 

He let out a small sigh as he rubbed along the bridge of his nose, his breathing picking up as he started to calm himself down now. His thoughts immediately turned towards that new development... Alright, we're letting the bandits go. For some reason. I'll have to talk to Leon about that later.

 

He didn't let himself linger on that long, instead... He turned to Rona and coughed softly, trying to find the right words, but he didn't let himself just stand there long. "Yo, Rona. Uh... Your wounds aren't too bad, are they? Since I was working on the three of you at the same time, I felt like I might not have paid as much attention to patching them up as I should have."

 

He frowned a little bit, his hand rubbing at his neck a little bit as he did, "I don't think I'd forgive myself if you suffered lasting damage thanks to my shoddy work. I would like to take another look if there's anything that's bugging you. We've got to make sure you're in fighting condition for the next mission, right?"

[Alaina]

Leon was a bit concerned for the girl as she seemed to drop the carrot she was holding and seemed to not know what to say in response. As she started to stumble around with her words, Leon had wondered if he had said something wrong to her, as she seemed to be actively avoiding looking at him. This was only further accentuated as she hastily muttered something under her breath, which the boy could barely make out were even words to begin with. Before he could ask her to repeat it, though, she was bitten by the bunny she was holding, causing the boy to grow even more concerned for her well being. Without actually confirming her own well being, the girl merely said that her bunny was doing fine, and with a confused expression he said, "o-oh, well, that's good to hear." As Yue proceeded to offer her a chance to hold him, Leon was caught somewhat off guard. He didn't exactly have an express interest in holding the creature, and he wasn't really sure how friendly the bunny was, as it seemed to have just bitten the girl. However, he wasn't sure if he had done something to offend Yue, and didn't want to risk doing anything further to do so, so he instead said, "um, sure." Bending down the boy extended out his hands, reaching for the bunny. 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Rona had only just started to settle down after the bandits went on their way when...

"...We're just letting them go? Was that Leon's idea?"

She froze up a moment. Wasn't that what happened? Shouldn't Layne know if it were the case though? Did she just let them go without a fight even though it wasn't what Leon said? She felt herself panic a moment before a nudge from Cormag reminded her that she hadn't responded.

 

"I wouldn't let a danger leave otherwise. You should know that Layne!" Rona said with vigor. She could only hope that it was what Leon wished. Otherwise...

"I don't think I'd forgive myself if you suffered lasting damage thanks to my shoddy work. I would like to take another look if there's anything that's bugging you. We've got to make sure you're in fighting condition for the next mission, right?"

 

"Ah, no. That is I'm fine!" She said, smiling widely at the healer. "I've taken worse hits without a healer nearby before. You shouldn't worry so much. I'm built for this!" Though she didn't go into just how much. "I'm more worried about you. A healer shouldn't be so close to combat. But as long as you let me handle the foe in front you can be as close as possible and it won't make a difference after all!"

[Blake]

"Gojira!"

 

Ada looked up from petting the friendly reptile to find Raynor rushing over, noticing the Salamander wag its large tail happily... before suddenly stopping itself. Raising a knowing brow and giving a giggle as Raynor arrived, she stepped aside and let him at the lizard, seemingly named Gojira.

 

"I'm glad you're okay buddy! Those bandits didn't hurt you, did they? Hey, now, c'mon, don't be like that. Yes, it was my fault you were taken, I shouldn't have left you outside of the town. But you were scaring people!"

 

Despite her attempt to give the duo space, Gojira shoved his head back into her hands. She waited a moment, hoping it would send the Salamander back to its partner... But she began to rub its head once more, smiling at the happy animal.

 

"Well, of course she isn't afraid, she's Jouran, and she can see what a softie you really are! Now, c'mon, let's get out of here and get you fed, okay?"

 

As Raynor joined her in patting his pet lizard, Gojira began to wag his tail even more than before, prompting a hearty laugh from the shaman. Wiping the tears of laughter away from her eyes, she looked at Raynor with a softer expression than she had previously given him, one hand scratching the lizard's neck.

 

"So... this was your companion? He's definitely a softie, like you said... But most Salamanders are, once you get to know them!" She beamed as she thought of her family's pet Salamander, and the adorable babies, "Here, I have a little food to get him up and out of here."

 

Reaching into a pack on her hip, she produced a small amount of cured beef, feeding it to the happy lizard. As he tore into the meat, she turned back to Raynor, her expression not quite as soft as before.

 

"But I'm not Jouran. I'm from Vjorsovol, and my father is Aeoran. Go ahead and get your buddy out of here once he's done eating that, I'm going back to the others."

 

Turning to walk away, Ada hoped that the man and his lizard hadn't heard her stomach growl. She was sure Layne had extra on him, anyway. As she began to take the stairs back to the ground level, she noticed the red-headed thief opening the chests to the side, supposing that she managed to sneak in while she was focused on Gojira.

 

"Anything of note in there, Cassia?"

[Ralsei]

"I wouldn't let a danger leave otherwise. You should know that Layne!" 
 
Layne rubbed at his cheek a tiny bit, a little yawn escaping him as he nodded his head softly. He watched as the bandits left, a little mumble escaping him as he did, "You're right, I'm just a little on edge after the fight... I guess I kinda zoned out after patching you all up." He sheepishly rubbed at the back of his neck again, a little sigh escaping the Cleric as he turned to look up at the sky. 
 
"Ah, no. That is I'm fine! I've taken worse hits without a healer nearby before. You shouldn't worry so much. I'm built for this!"
 
He chuckled a tiny bit as he nodded, "I guess I kind of forgot that you all ran around without any healer for a while. I should've figured you all had a decent pain tolerance... Where I came from, we didn't have clerics. It was kind of seen as an abomination. So I guess once I got this ability to mend wounds, I sort of one track minded myself into thinking I had to be there immediately."
 
He watched the clouds a little bit, his eyes closing as he listened to Rona speak once more. His thoughts drifted back to 'home', a little sigh escaping him as he shrugged it off and focused back on Rona...
 
"...-uldn't be so close to combat. But as long as you let me handle the foe in front you can be as close as possible and it won't make a difference after all!"

 

He smiled again, "Of course, this is a group effort. You take them out, and I'll make sure you never fall. As best as I can, at the very least. I think we'd be a lot worse off in these battles if I let you fall. I don't think any of us hit quite as hard as you do." He chuckled as he held a hand out in front of him, looking at it as he flexed his fingers just a bit, "...I sure know that someone like me can't... Let me know if your wounds reopen prematurely. I'll patch them right up again."

[Sethera]

"O-oh, well, that's good to hear," Leon replied, before looking down at Chang'e with a hint of trepidation, "um, sure." Bending down the boy extended out his hands, reaching for the bunny.

 

Contrary to his, or even Yue's expectations, the rabbit behaved, staring up at the mercenary with wide, cute eyes...before hopping out of his hands, and burrowing into the archer's robes for another carrot.

 

"I-I'm sorry about him," the girl stammered, head lowered. "He's...a little shy."

 

The rabbit stopped his searching for a second to cast a disbelieving glance at the girl before resuming.

 

"He's just hungry," she amended at his look. "But thank you for checking up on me," she mumbled, poking her fingers together nervously. "I...um...how are you?" she glanced over him in concern, looking up for the first time since letting Leon hold her rabbit. "You got really hurt back there," words flowed from her mouth faster than before, her halting speech tossed aside in her anxiety. "You should lie down if you're still feeling icky."

[Yui]

---

"Anything of note in there, Cassia?"

 

"Well, there was a chest upstairs I happened across on the way down that had this javelin here," she started, moving her shoulders around to shake the large weapon hoisted over her back in case its presence wasn't enough evidence of what it was. "I've never liked these oversized sticks though, so odds are we can just hand it off to someone else." In a blatant lie, the thief continued as she subtly moved her bag - now heavy with looted gold - out of Ada's view, "Nothing important in the chest over there that I opened, and I'm just getting this one here open. The lock was oddly stubborn."

 

Cassia opened up the final chest she'd been able to find in the bandit base, to find nothing more than a dagger. It had definitely seen better days. Half the blade was broken, and the signs of wear were painfully obvious on the weapon in general. Cassia picked up the old dagger to examine it a bit closer, with the only thing of interest being odd runes on the hilt. She had no idea what exactly they said, but just looking at them gave her sort of a gut feeling as to what they meant.

 

"Neat. Best go fill the boss in on the loot." Casting a glance toward the man with his overgrown newt, the thief asked "Feel like coming with us, lizardman? I figure we should probably talk payment for a mercenary job well done on getting your friend over there out safe and sound."

With or without the company of Ada and/or Raynor, Cassia resolved to head back upstairs, loot in tow. Once reunited with her fellow Falcons, the thief held up the javelin and weird dagger to show Leon just what she'd found. "Hey, boss, I found these lying around. The rest of you can do what you want with this javelin, but I'd like to keep the dagger for myself. Could be useful if we find someone to fix up the blade a bit." The thief made no mention of the gold she'd found in the basement.

---

[King K. Azo]

"So... this was your companion? He's definitely a softie, like you said... But most Salamanders are, once you get to know them!" She beamed as she reached into a pack on her hip, producing a small amount of cured beef, feeding it to the happy lizard. "Here, I have a little food to get him up and out of here." As he tore into the meat, she turned back to Raynor, her expression not quite as soft as before. 

"But I'm not Jouran. I'm from Vjorsovol, and my father is Aeoran. Go ahead and get your buddy out of here once he's done eating that, I'm going back to the others."
 
Raynor put his hands behind his head as he watched Gojira eat, thinking to himself. "Sorry, sorry. I thought you said something about being a Jourian eariler and assumed. Sorry 'bout that," He watched the lizard eat, chuckling a bit as he did. "You better thank her later, you know," He said, lightly hitting the Salamander's side, who snorted a bit as if to ask "Who do you think I am, you?"

 

"Feel like coming with us, lizardman? I figure we should probably talk payment for a mercenary job well done on getting your friend over there out safe and sound." The dangerous girl asked. Raynor clicked his tongue.

"Payment, right. That's a thing we'll do," He said as he looked around the room. He then noticed the saddle he used to ride Gojira. Grinning, he picked it up. "Well then, let's get back to the others, before they leave us behind," He motioned for Gojira to follow him as he slung the saddle over his shoulder.

 

---

 

When they returned upstairs, Raynor called out to the group in a boisterous voice. "Mission accoplished, I found my friend!" He said as he patted Gojira's back. Gojira looked between the group and tilted his head before looking at Raynor. "Hey, don't give me that look, they saved ya, didn't they?"

[Alaina]

Leon stared at the rabbit, unsure of what to do next as the rabbit just stared back at him. After a few moments of this kind of awkward exchange, the rabbit eventually hopped out of the boy's hands, right back to Yue. As the girl mentioned that her rabbit was more than likely just shy, Leon couldn't help but give Yue a look, though didn't say anything more on the matter. As she continued speaking, making reference to the fact that Leon had gotten a bit in over his head, the boy merely scratched his head glancing away from her. "Yeah, it was a bit rough." Looking back to her he said, "but I'm fine now and everyone else seems fine. So, what happened to me doesn't really bother me now." Though he said this, he was definitely not feeling in tip top shape and thought of lying down was certainly tempting. However, before he could sit down, Cassia, Ada and Raynor had come back. 
 
With Cassia making note of the things she found in the fortress, the boy looked at the dagger. It seemed to be broken and unusable, and he nor anyone else was one to use daggers, so he simply said, "yeah, you can keep it. As for the Javelins..." He looked towards Raynor. "You helped us out on a job and, even though we aren't really getting paid for it I'd feel bad if I didn't give you something for your help. So, you can have those."
 
Thinking on it more he looked to everyone else saying, "everyone, once you're done here, let's get moving. The problem has been dealt with and we've got a home to get back to." Looking towards Raynor he said, "I'm glad you got your friend back," he looked curiously at the Salamander, having not actually seen one in person before. "But regardless, these aren't the only bandits in Southern Aeora and Northern Aeora isn't exactly...welcoming for you. So, if you want, you can travel with us for the time being. Unless you have somewhere else to be." Once that was taken care of, the Iron Falcons moved out from the fort, going back to their home base. 
 

---

 

Date: 21st of Aeis 

Time: 1:06 PM

Location: Iron Falcon HQ

 

The walk was long, taking a few days to get from the Servan Woods to Tellan, to tell the people of the town that they were free from the Desert Riders, all the way back to the mercenary band's base of operations. All the same, the group had managed to get back home safely and soundly. There were hardly any clouds in the sky, the sun being able to shine brightly, as the group was able to see their home standing as it always had. The building itself was an old outpost, used by guards from times of old to either help or house travelers, or defend against any monsters or bandits in that area. However, due to the area having nothing much to offer to the larger cities of the nation, the outpost was eventually abandoned and put into disrepair. Nowadays, the building still shows its signs of age and use, not being in the best of conditions, though not nearly to the extent that it used to be. The building had been fixed up by the current occupants, the Iron Falcons, and was now clearly lived in. 

 

[spoiler=OOC/The Falcon HQ]

So you guys have made it back to the Iron Falcon HQ. You guys don't have to have just gotten back form the last job, and instead can already be doing whatever it is you might be doing while in base. The base itself is one floor high, though is fairly large. It has a main central area that then goes further back into the rest of the building. The rest of the building has as follows 

-2 rooms filled with beds, being the bedrooms for the different genders of people. 

-1 Kitchen type area 

-A storage that contains most of the supplies of the Iron Falcons 

-A main office that is generally where any and all paper work or notices can be found 

-A room off of this main office that generally goes unnoticed 

-A makeshift shack outside. Recently made by the falcons themselves. Not large, only used to shelter the mounts. 

 

Feel free to add any sort of personalizations to either the indoors or outdoors of the base. 

 

 

[Sethera]

"Yeah, it was a bit rough." Leon replied, "but I'm fine now and everyone else seems fine. So, what happened to me doesn't really bother me now."

 

"That's good," Yue sighed, relieved that he had managed to recover so well. Maybe there was something to healing magic. Honestly, she didn't really like it. Most Yonians didn't, and she had avoided a couple healing sessions because of it. However, without it, their leader might not have lived, and that wouldn't have been very good at all.

 

As the others emerged from underground, the archer finished feeding Chang'e, who looked a lot happier once it was done. Such a spoiled little bunny. Leon invited the scary eyepatch man to join them, which made Yue a little uneasy, but she said nothing against the idea. He had done more during the last battle than she had, so she really didn't have a leg to stand on here.

 

It was a bit of a walk back to base, leaving the woods to go through Tellan, and then on to their base. It felt odd to be beneath the sky again. Actually, it was a bit scary. She'd much rather the quiet whisper of tree boughs over her head than the lonely whistle of the wind high above. Everything was so open, and while she wasn't a stranger to open skies, she always felt a little vulnerable. There was nowhere to hide. Under cover of darkness it was a bit better, but here, in the daylight, it was just...frightening.

 

Thankfully, they reached their base without incident, and despite the bright sun beating down on her, Yue smiled at the sight of the former outpost. Soon after, she ran for her room with its cute little window and the cute little birdhouse right outside, where the poor little birdies that were cold and hungry could sleep and eat for a while. Also the scrapbook she had on different animals she'd seen--oh! She would have to add the skeletons and the doggies to the list too. Hopping on her bed, she cuddled under the covers for a bit before looking at her ripped hanfu and sighing. It looked like she would have to sew it up, or the tears would get even worse.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Everything seemed to have worked out in the end. They had stopped the bandits, gained some treasure, and even a new companion. Though that last part worried Rona more than anything else. They had arrived back at the base without much trouble and everyone was settling down after a series of hard fights.

 

And Rona was standing in a supply closet. It was an often glanced over area of the base, attached to the office, which, when the place used to be an outpost, served as the commander's bed. Now it only served to store anything that doesn't fit into the main storage room. It suited Rona perfectly.

 

She was examining her axe with a frown. It was starting to get worn out and she felt that it wouldn't last much longer. She considered getting a new one just in case but...no, she shouldn't waste their supplies like that. This axe was still serviceable after all. She only had to try and kill enemies with a single blow from here on.

 

That being settled Rona took to reorganizing the room. It was rather messy, most things here tended to just be tossed in, so she thought it might be nice to actually clean it up a bit. She did feel an odd connection to this spot after all. It, like her, was only barely useful.

 

Cormag, in the meantime, was showing the new mount around the place. Telling him where was his spots and not to touch his things. And in general acting like the boss of the stable. Which, given how he was here first, and how large he was, seemed to be an accurate description.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"And it concludes the mission's report. Next would be to account for the guild's earning and spending..."

 

Aleithe let out a groan as he leaned on his chair. In the main office room, currently there was only him, working ever since he arrived on the base on the paperworks surrounding their recent mission. He hadn't talked much with the others the past few days, and Chitose's departure only made him worse. It was understandable that she elected to leave, and Chitose was lucky that she even managed to survive without any permanent injuries, but even so...

 

The ceiling of the disrepaired building was an uninteresting sight, but Aleithe focused her attention on it regardless. For once he was not feeling like he was in a condition to do his job. The past few days he didn't even address anyone and remind them about anything. He kept everything to himself.

 

"Perhaps I should have written her a letter..."

 

What would he even say with it though? That he was glad for her service, and that she was welcome to return anytime if she felt like it? Or a reminder of her position and responsibility as a noble? Or perhaps just a simple letter asking how she's doing? No, that would be to simple. They were nobles, Aleithe had to maintain their formality with each other.

He thought of visiting his room to rest, but he didn't feel tired yet. His mind was still a mess, he wouldn't be able to sleep in the first place. He could try practicing again but...no, not when there's so many people here. Ada was away anyway, so Aleithe wouldn't be able to talk to her about magic again.

 

At this rate, there was only one thing that Aleithe felt could help him sort his mind out. He walked out of the office room and looked for Leon.

 

"Leader. Leon. If you are not too tired, I have a request. May I fight you in one and one combat as practice? I started to feel like my skill is slipping, and lately I have been underperforming in general.

 

I hope that this request is not too impudent to ask of you, Leader."

 

---

[Blake]

The Day Before…

”What do you mean, we need to go on a shopping trip? We just got back! I’m supposed to, like… Update my journal or something.” The idea of setting out on another trip so soon, when he could be resting seemed to rub Layne the wrong way as he gave the shaman an incredulous look.

”I need to find material to remake my robes. It’s not like I can just skip over to the next town and buy one in the middle of “Jouran devil” land." Ada crossed her arms, giving the cleric a sad look. “If you don’t go with me, who will? Besides, you love crowds!”

A small sigh escaped him as he rubbed at his neck a bit, taking a little glance around the area he had claimed for himself, he closed the pages of his journal as he sat up, ”You couldn’t ask one of the others to go with you? What about…” He trailed off, a little mumble escaping him as he grinned, ”I bet Cassia could help you! She could get you a real steal of a deal too.”

Layne’s wordplay was met with an icy stare. After a beat passed, Ada coughed to break the silence.

"I would like to not get in any trouble if I can. It took me months to get the townspeople to not avoid me, much less talk to me. I don’t trust anyone but you, Yue, or Leon to not make a scene. Leon’s busy, Yue disappears when I enter a room, and that leaves you. If you’re really not up to it, though… I’ll pay for dinner… and maybe lend you that novel you’ve been asking for?"

The proposition was met with a little hum, his hand rubbing at his chin for a moment as he considered it. ”Dinner and the book, all for escorting you to the town, huh? I guess it couldn’t hurt… And no funny business, huh? You really just want to try to replace the material, no… Grand adventures or hidden goals?”

"What, you don’t want me to set you up with the cute shopkeeper boy? But you two would be cute together!” Ada teased, grinning like an opossum, "But no, just robe stuff and the bookstore… Unless you wanted to go somewhere else?”

He let out a little grumble from the teasing coming from Ada, his eyes rolling a little bit as he hummed, ”I guess I could stop by the bookstore, I’m always on the lookout for things to keep my interest…” He shrugged, giving her a little defeated sigh as he did, ”Fine, fine, I’ll tag along. No trying to set me up though.”

It didn’t take long for the two to get prepared for the journey, and the trip itself was relatively uneventful. The two arrived in Neston near dusk, the sun beginning to set as they found an inn to stay in for the night, ready to rise early in the morning in order to get Ada’s ‘chores’ out of the way...

---

The Next Day…

The duo awoke early as they intended, groggy from rising before the sun had fully rose. After a quick breakfast and waiting for the sun to emerge, they set out to complete their tasks. They started with the bookstore, an easy enough one since they would be running all over the rest of the town after this most likely. Ada went on her own to pick out her own books, while Layne browsed in another section, waiting for her to find him. On another day, they probably could’ve spent hours finding for the perfect books, but…

They didn’t have the time. After about an hour of early morning book browsing, Layne went off to find Ada and drag her out of the store after paying for their goods.

What followed was a few hours of torturous shopping, all without pay off. Each shop seemed less equipped to handle their needs than the last, and it was with a heavy hand that Layne forced Ada to accept that they weren’t going to find what they were looking for here. Without any alternatives, Layne had her pick out some fabric that was similar enough, not exact, but still close enough to her tastes… And lots of it. Similarly, he picked up some thread and needles, along with some other supplies that would make future repairs to clothing simpler…

And the two began the journey back to the base.

---

"'You really do look Aeoran!', they said! 'You don't need those creepy garments!', they insisted!"

Ada stormed into the base with bags in her hands, grumbling loudly. Unlike any other day, she was wearing clothes that could be deemed 'more normal' in the area. She appeared to be a swordswoman, rather than a shaman, complete with her purple hair up in a ponytail. One might even think that she resembled a character from the Sacred World... however, the sunburn she was sporting would stop that thought in its tracks.

"Damn merchants, they've seen my face before, what's with those reactions?!"

Shortly after the girl barged in, Layne followed behind her, a little laugh escaping him as he held his hand up in front of his mouth. He tried to keep it from being too noticeable, but it was practically impossible to hide the fact that he was amused from Ada’s frustration as he shrugged his shoulders a bit. His focus shifted upwards as he hummed, ”Hey, hey, it’s okay. We’ll find a way to replace your robe. Maybe I can take a look and see if I can stitch it back together?”

He chuckled softly her as she barged through the doorway, holding his own bags over his shoulder as he hummed to himself, taking a little glance around the entryway of the base as he walked in with her, ”I mean, I don’t have the most experience with it, but I can’t make them much worse, can I?”

“It’s in absolute tatters, Layne. I only have the one big shred I was showing the merchants…” Ada sighed, producing said piece of fabric and waving it at the cleric, "And I couldn’t find a material that quite matched it… We can work on it, but they didn’t seem too enthused about the idea of me making a new robe."

He rubbed at his cheek for a moment, ”I mean… We could make you a nice hand towel with the scrap?” He grinned a little bit more as he watched her wave the piece of fabric around, a little mumble escaping him as he did, “This is what happens when you get too attached to a fancy outfit! It gets destroyed! Why do you think I keep my outfit simple? Sleeveless shirt, pants, jacket if it’s cold. That’s all you need!”

"You wouldn’t get it..." Ada puffed her cheeks out, placing the scrap back into the bag and pulling a book out in its place, "At least they had the second book in the Ribald Tales of the Faith War series available. Maybe I’ll lend it to you if you can remake that ‘fancy outfit’, hm?”

As she playfully stuck her tongue out at Layne, she heard some noise coming from the office. Peeking her head in, she found Rona moving about, tidying up the small room. Raising a brow and setting her bags down at the entrance to the office, Ada cleared her throat, alerting Rona to the lobster in the room.

"So, uh… whatcha up to in here?”

[Alaina]

"Hmm. That should do." Leon patted the wooden wall of the company's building, having finished patched it up. Ever since they had gone to the Desert Rider's base, there had been something that had been bothering the young mercenary leader. The building that they had been in was one that seemed to mirror the situation their own base had. As such, the boy was reminded of the giant gaping hole in the wall and, as a result ended up worrying about any of kind of damage that needed patching up in their own home. While he had spent the early part of the day looking for any kind of place that needed patching up, the building seemed to be in good enough shape - at least the walls did - and so there was very little work he actually had to put in patching up what little damage he did find. 

 

As he was getting ready to move back inside, the boy was stopped by Aleithe, coming to ask him to spar. Leon was a bit confused by the comment, not really understanding why Aleithe thought they were under-preforming. . "Well, I just finished what I was doing, and don't really have much else for the day. So sure." Grabbing the spare planks of wood he had, the boy said, "wait near the front, I'll get the practice weapons." With that, the boy merely made his way through the building, hearing the usual bantering voices of Layne and Ada throughout the building, merely saying, "oh, I guess they're back." Making his way to the main storage room, the boy put his supplies away, grabbing the wooden swords before making his way back outside. 

 

"Aleithe." He called out to the fellow mercenary, tossing him the wooden sword when his attention was grabbed. Twirling the blade he had in his hand, he walked a small distance away from them, before turning to face them. Getting into a fighting stance, the boy said, "whenever you're ready." 

[Yui]

---

Hmmmmm... it doesn't feel quite right. Cassia must have tried sticking the mystery dagger from the bandit fort in at least twenty different places and positions near her bed by now. No matter where she left it or how she left it, nothing really clicked with her. At a glance, this thing was probably worthless in the end, but Cassia's gut was telling her otherwise. If her instinct was right, this was really something nifty she'd found. Far too valuable to just leave lying in plain sight, for certain. She'd tried hanging it fron the wall, the side of her bed, the ceiling she even tried tying it under the bed where it would be harder to find. Nothing felt right.

 

Guess I should keep it on me anyway. I'll just have to be extra careful with it. And so, Cassia tucked the mystery dagger away into her shirt, before glancing around the room. This was where the girls of the Iron Falcons slept, but right now, it seemed to be just her and Yue in here. Ada had gone shopping just yesterday, and as much as Cassia wanted to follow her and Layne for the trip, she had to admit she'd probably look suspicious, stalking a pair of innocent shoppers like that. So she opted to stay here instead.

 

Might as well chat it up with Yue; Cassia couldn't help but imagine the other Falcons were all keeping themselves busy in one way or another. "So, how about that new guy?" she asked. "Looks like a real fighter, he does. I could live without the lizard, though."

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"And if I turn this that way..and shove these back...we should be able to put this here and...When did we get this?" Rona was holding a stuffed animal, specifically a lobster, wearing Yon'Lou garb, and giving it a confused look.

 

"So, uh… whatcha up to in here?”

 

Rona turned around with a start as a voice suddenly spoke up. It took her a few moments to recognize that it was Ada. The Wyvern Rider looked at the girl, then glanced at the stuffed lobster, and back at Ada. "Uncanny..." she muttered before hastily stowing the thing away on the shelf.

 

She cleared her throat. "Ah, just doing some inventory. This place hasn't gotten much cleaning since we came here. Thought it could do with some fixing up now that we have some downtime!" She hesitated. The Jouran had never been good at small talk. And usually avoided situations that would cause her to be cornered. She'd leave and mention having to feed Cormag but she wasn't done here. She didn't want to come off as flighty. But then what would she say? If she took too long Ada might grow suspicious..."So." She began, coming up with a response on the fly. "That looks painful, you should probably put some ointment on it."

[King K. Azo]

Raynor was a bit surprised that their leader would give him the javelins they found, something along the lines of not being able to pay him. Which felt wrong, they helped him far more than he did them. He had met a few people along his travels, but none were like this. It was touching, almost.

 

"I'm glad you got your friend back," Leon looked curiously at the Salamander, bringing Raynor back into reality. "But regardless, these aren't the only bandits in Southern Aeora and Northern Aeora isn't exactly...welcoming for you. So, if you want, you can travel with us for the time being. Unless you have somewhere else to be." Raynor tilted his head at first, processing what was happening. Were they... asking him to join their group? Raynor smiled a bit before nodding.

"I think I'd like travelin' with the lot of you. So yeah, count me in. Raynor of the Turbulent Wind, now at your service,"

 

---

 

Raynor had to admit, the place these Iron Falcons stayed was pretty nice. It was homely, not overly extravagant. It would be pretty easy to memorize where he was supposed to go, and where everything was. After giving himself a quick rundown of the place's layout, he went to the stable, which looked much more recently built than the rest of the place. He could see that Cormag was showing Gojira places that the wyvern had claimed as his, and the stuff he had claimed as his. Gojira didn't look too amused, but he didn't fight back or try to assert dominance. 

Raynor made some mental notes before whistling at the two. "Hey you two, brought some meat. Thought you could celebrate the new roommate the two of you got," He said before pulling two hunks of meat out of his pouch and tossing them at the two mounts. Gojira caught his in his mouth and went over to a corner Cormag didn't claim, chewing away at the food. "Behave now, Gojira," Raynor commented before heading back towards the building.

On his way there, he saw Leon and someone he didn't recongize to be... sparring? Yeah, that's probably what they were doing. He sat on the ground, to watch, chuckling a bit. "Oy, boss!" Raynor called out to Leon. "I'd just like to talk after you finish up there. Oh! Maybe I can take on the winner!" Yeah, that could be fun!

[spoiler=OOC Note]Raynor wants to ask Leon permission to build add-ons to the stable, as the current size might cause fights. Writing this down so I remember

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"whenever you're ready."

 

"Always ready. Let's do our best."

 

Accepting the wooden sword, Aleithe went into a stance. He held his sword up high before him with both of his hands. Leon was a more experienced fighter than he was, and out of their duels so far, most were won by Leon. It was not that Aleithe wanted to win over him. He simply wanted to get himself better, and the only way to do that was to keep challenging himself with someone better than him. His body was facing up front. The sword was in front of him as he continued to eye for Leon's movements. From the other sword users in the group, of which there was only Chitose as the other, Leon was the closest in style with Aleithe. Their duels thus would follow the same rhythm all the time.

 

And it would start with Aleithe himself making an attack.

 

A fast step forward, and a blow aimed towards the neck area. If there was one thing Aleithe prized for himself more than Leon, it was his speed. Leon was usually able to read him easily despite of that however. Aleithe then withdrew his sword, and went for a forward thrust this time. He took great caution not to opening himself for a counter, pushing his body to keep a certain range away from Leon's predicted reach. It was not a fool proof solution, but it was the battle plan that he was used to.

 

"Lately I have not been able to think or perform properly. I have no idea about the issue, but it seems that my mind is being wracked by an unwelcome thought."

 

---

[Sethera]

It had been a day or so since they arrived, and Yue had managed to settle in, make sure Mr. Tweets and Miss Scarlet, two of her regular winged visitors, were fine, feed Chang'e, and mend the rips she had gotten in her hanfu. Sewing wasn't really a skill she advertised, but it was something she was actually decent in.

 

She was about to head to the kitchen and see if she could find grab some more treats for Chang'e, when Cassia, who had been poking around her bed--Yue hadn't been paying attention before, but was there something wrong with her bed--approached her.

 

"So, how about that new guy?" the redhead asked. "Looks like a real fighter, he does. I could live without the lizard, though."

 

"H-he's good," the archer responded, hanging her head guiltily. He had fought a lot better than her, that's for sure. "Kinda scary," she muttered, before brightening at the comment on the lizard. "Eh? You could? But the salamander is sooo cute," her voice, which had been rather meek and quiet before, while still soft, had grown obviously happier. "I could just go and pet him every single day, yes I could," she smiled. "Did you see how gentle, yet independent he was? Such a sweetie. I can't wait to go visit him." She barely paused for breath before continuing. "I wonder what he eats. Meat? You know, I've never met a salamander face to face like this. That's just so incredibly wonderful I, I just don't even know what to say! If he could talk, I wonder what he would say." She sighed dreamily. "Isn't he just precious?"

 

She came to a little later, remembering what Cassia had said too. "Oops," she blushed, looking down. "Um...yeah. I think it's a g-good thing he joined...the more the...merrier," she mumbled. She wondered if the thief could tell she was lying about that. Probably. Weren't they trained to see through those kind of things? But really, she was just uncomfortable around people in general, and the more people there were, the more likely she was going to do something stupid and embarrass herself, especially if they were scary people, and even normal people were frightening, honestly, and animals were so much better. Why couldn't people be like animals? Or why couldn't she get along with them like she did animals?

 

Yue found poking her fingers together really, really riveting right at that moment.

[Alaina]

As the two had gotten into their respective fighting stances, Leon looked over to see the newest member of the Falcons sit down near them. It was strange having someone new call him "boss," as he wasn't all too comfortable with even the more veteran members referring to him in such status, yet he did his best to not let it show. When the Jouran asked to fight the winner, Leon merely said, "um, yeah, sure." While Leon didn't really want to spar twice in a row, he figured that it would probably be best for him or Aleithe to spar with the new man, seeing as he was the first lance user the group had. 

 

Turning his attention back to the opponent in front of him, readying himself for Aleithe's first move. With his opponent's blade coming towards his neck, Leon merely raised his own weapon slightly, moving it to the side to have the blade merely clash against it. As Aleithe moved to stab at him next, the boy merely stepped backward, slashing at the wooden blade to parry it away. As he did, he went a swift counter, cutting upward though the blade only meeting air as Aleithe had moved backward. "Well, I can't say I have much in way of complaints." Leon responded to Aleithe's comments on their own performance. 

 

"I can't say I've been paying too much attention to what you've been doing the past few missions, but I'm pretty sure you've been performing well. Maybe it was because you were without Reina for the last one?" Thinking on it, he then asked, "well, are these thoughts about combat or something else?" After asking the question, Leon then went in for his own attack. Stepping forward, the boy slashed once at Aleithe's side. Thinking they would parry the attack, Leon attacked the same side again, only this time going higher up the kinshi knights' blade to knock it off balance before flicking his wrist to bring his own blade down at them with a swift cut. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"In combat, as one of the seniors for our new members, as well as a member of Iron Falcons in general. Lately I had shown myself to be inadequate in my performance of those roles. I don't think it was related to Reina at least"

 

Rather than parrying, Aleithe sidestepped away from the attack, narrowly missing the sweeping swing but avoiding Leon's attempt to disarm him. When it came to maneuvering the blades as well as feinting, Leon was way above him, but so far what he had shown was the usual movements that he showed in their previous sparring sessions. Aleithe soon went to the offensive again. It was a lunge this time, followed by a quick flick as he expected the lunge itself to be parried or dodged. Aleithe's legwork would allow him to shift his body to the side in an anticipation of a riposte.

 

"Or perhaps, I might still just be thinking about Chitose leaving the group. Would she be fine?"

 

---

[Alaina]

As Leon's strike was evaded by Aleithe, the boy merely pivoted on his food to keep facing the man. As he went for a lunge Leon parried the blade away once more, only for this to be responded to with a flick. After parrying the lunge, Leon had taken a step back, and holding his blade up to deflect the quick hit, his hand being forced a bit down from the sloppiness of the parry and the force of the attack. Stepping back, the boy looked towards the man, seeing that his stance was one of anticipation. So, instead of going straight for a counter attack, Leon stood his ground, merely gauging his opponent.

 

"It's not your fault she left, if that's what you're worried about. Our job is dangerous, and even with Layne's help, we can't expect to come out unscathed every time. You know this, I know, but Chitose probably didn't until then. That's just how it is." His expression seemed more stern then normal, but relaxed a bit before saying, "I can't really say for sure, but Tellan's safe now so, as long she's there, she'll be fine. Now, eyes forward." With that, the boy began his advance towards Aleithe. With a quick step, he went down for what appeared to be a simple slash. However, his swing did not finish before his step did, and so as Leon's foot touched the ground, he turned his cut into a lunge, springing towards Aleithe.