Fire Emblem: Curse of the Goddess [IC / Conditional Acceptance / PG-16]

[Skaia 578]

Alois continued to prod at the girl until she finally seemed to wake back up. The boy jumped back fairly quickly as she seemed to begin panicking, talking about compensation and the like and only further making herself out to be all the more bizarre in his otherwise currently bizarre hometown. All the same, the boy merely watched as the strange girl explained what her business was here - that being a fruit stand vendor who went around selling something to do with lemons, and helping them? The boy didn't really quite understand it, that did stick out to him about what she said. Before he could fully process what his thoughts were, though, he let out a small chortle at the sight of the woman being interrupted by the beaver. Glancing down at it, Alois was still not sure what was up with the strange animal, and just watched as she tried to the calm the overgrown fruity lizard..."Peaches."

Once she was finished talking, Alois simply gestured to himself as Gunther had pointed him out as the only local from here. After both he and Adel had asked their questions to her, the boy thought about it for a moment saying, "wait...so you set up a stall here. In the morning. Without any hassle or without talking to anybody? And no one stopped you? Like at all?" Looking to the others, he said, "alright, yeah, everything's fucked here." Turning to the beaver who had slapped the Isaurian away, he asked, "well guy, where the hell were you this morning?" 

Tsetseg wasn't sure why the woman thought that she was so safe when they themselves weren't. After all, Ciela had managed to bite her and when she did the woman still seemed to be injured by it. And Tsetseg was sure that foxes bit a lot harder. All the same the girl suddenly felt uneasy looking at the woman, as there seemed to be something very off coming from her as she continued speaking to Ciela, only for the lot of them to then be called in by Licorice. Slowly making her way in, Tsetseg was surprised at the sight. 

She had known that Licorice seemed to be feeling a bit antsy while they were walking around, but here she looked closer to a rabid animal then her usual self. As such, even though she was now a much poofier fox due to her being so disheveled, even Tsetseg knew not to approach the woman. Keeping her distance, the girl nodded as Penelope gave her answer, simply echoing, "yeah, yeah. We can't just leave you behind."

Tsetseg then shot Ciela a swift glare as she mentioned this being her fault again. The young huntress wasn't exactly sure what it was that the blue haired woman could've possibly been experimenting with, and given the state that Licorice was in now, she wasn't entirely sure that she wanted her to keep doing anything with those "aphro" something or others. Looking back to Licorice with more concern on her face, she said, "yeah, can we help at all?"

[Asriel Dreemurr 38]

Edrick tried not to pay too much attention to the Wyvern that seemed about ready to shove its snout in his face while he worked, with the assistance of Shiro and Adelheid, to get the remnants of the shattered stall off of it. Thankfully, it seemed that Gunther had decided to intervene and try to calm the thing down. Just as well, Edrick wasn't fond of having his face eaten off. Which...left the situation largely handled actually. It seemed that the large pink, winged lizard was going to be largely calm...until the woman who seemed to be her rider was slapped. Then the Wyvern had the predictable reaction, to which Edrick thought "yeah fuck that" and stood exactly where he was. There wasn't any sense whatsoever in potentially getting this creature angrier than it already was, and where was that smell of- oh. How long had he been bleeding from his hand? Apparently long enough that it had already clotted and stopped on its own. Well...he needed to get some replacement gloves on the order of soon. Maybe he could just take a pair from one of these stalls. It looked like the place had been abandoned anyways, and from the way the discussion around them was going it seemed that there wasn't anyone around at all. With Gunther explaining their situation, and Alois confirming that the village was in disarray, it was time to start making plans.

"Well," he began, striding over to retrieve his Lance from where he had planted it between the cobblestones, "looks like we've got a bit of a problem here. Though if nothing else we can probably just shack up in one of the houses here for the night before moving on. As far as figuring out what's going on here..." he hesitated for a moment, looking around the group, and then gestured with his bloodied hand back towards the structure they had passed near the center of town, "we should probably try and get into that chapel-looking building. Maybe find a key in the garrison next to it or something. Unless," he looked over at "Peaches" and her rider, "you two think you could help us just break the doors down." He imagined he was starting to sound like Penelope, but then somebody had to come up with plans if she wasn't there to.

[Sethera 290]

The beaver was unfazed by the angry wyvern, hissing straight at the lizard's face while tensing, as if preparing to attack. When the creature turned away though, the beaver also did, its body shaking slightly. It didn't seem to calm down much after that, though Gunther's words helped somewhat. Then, as Alois asked it where it was that morning, the animal let out a stream of angry chitters, sitting on its haunches so it could gesticulate wildly with its front paws. However, what exactly it was trying to convey, was unknown.

As the group talked, the other animals on the edge of the square began to cautiously approach, though they gave the group a wide berth. Many began to nose at the stalls. A fox crept up to the meat kabob stall with pricked ears, but instead of eating the meat as expected, grabbed the spits and carefully deposited them in a wooden box. Another, a small green frog, hopped up to a cabbage stall and began to lovingly stroke the leafy vegetables. Meanwhile, a large brown hare approached the group cautiously, looking equal-parts afraid and determined.

--

Meanwhile, Catriona found herself completely dumbfounded, a state she had been in more often than not lately, to her frustration. The chimney? Shaking her head, the woman approached Link, sharp eyes noting right away the way his left arm hung at an awkward angle, turning backward instead of forward. "You need to get that looked at," she said quietly, casting her gaze around till she zeroed in on a few small, thin bones on the ground. Picking them up with only a slight wrinkling of the nose, the woman reached forward to grab at his arm, accidentally jerking it in the process.

"Apologies," she muttered, face flushed slightly. It had been a while since she had made such a mistake. Years, in fact. However, it had also been at least a year since she had last had to apply any first-aid to a comrade. While she had been relegated to the medicinal tents for much of her career in the Garou, her defeat of a Pontic general had moved her to the front lines. And now, with a healer on hand, there was little use for her skills.

"Hold still," the woman said, aligning the bones on either side of the arm and tying them in place with a couple cloth bandages she procured from the supply bag. Wrapping the lot of it in a sling, she stepped back to inspect her work with a critical eye. "It will do," she said, ignoring the way her hands itched to tighten the knots and adjust the position. She could not take the time to make this perfect like she did most things, not with a stranger in the room. Already, it was remiss of her to focus on Link rather than the naked boy sleeping on the floor, but instinct had taken over.

"We should leave, and tell the others of our findings." While they could continue the report, the possibility that the boy was faking was something she could not ignore. The talk would have to wait. Opening the door, the princess blinked in surprise at the sight of Shiro, arms folded and staring straight at her. "Shiro," she greeted. "Is there something the matter?" she tilted her head toward the square, where she could make out the figures of the group, as well as several animals entering the area.

--

"I apologize. We've been through plenty of rather unusual events lately. I can only imagine some of us are....rattled."

Dariella smiled, but did not reply. There was no time to, anyway, as they had reached the end of the cave very shortly. She stood to the side, lantern lifted slightly so that the group could see.

Licorice blew a long breath out of her nose once everybody had finished speaking. "Outside would have been better for you," she said. "I will be fine, and I'm sure the chieftain would not miss me that much," her tone was wry. She turned her head to Ciela. "I doubt you could heal this. There is dark magic in the brew. Normally it would not be this potent but my..." she paused, "...special nature, worsens the effects." She shook her head. "It is not your fault. You did not throw the potion at me, nor feed it to me. I was the one who was careless." She looked at Tsetseg then. "There is nothing to do but wait out the effects."

"Which you all being present are not helping," Dariella spoke in a singsong tone.

"Dariella...please..."

The blond huffed. "Oh, very well. I admit I'm not in the best of moods, anyway." She patted her arm, which had stopped bleeding, absentmindedly.

"I am sorry for that," Licorice bowed her head.

"No, no, worry not," the woman waved a hand airily. "I should've been more careful. Looks aren't everything, after all." Her eyes lingered on Ciela, more specifically, her hair, "Well, I can tell when I'm not wanted. I'll wait outside with the horsie." And with that, she left, leaving the lantern behind.

"Sorry..." Licorice broke the silence that followed. "I did not mean to make you all worry about me." She shifted slightly, appearing a little uncomfortable. "While I do not condone you all following me like that...that was...very kind." Her ears flattened slightly as she lowered her head.

Edited July 19, 2019 by Sethera

[Saikazo 241]

Shiro," she greeted. "Is there something the matter?" 

And there was the person he was waiting for. He bowed to her, the motion smooth and natural before he stood back up. "There is nothing pressing, I only thought to update you on what we have learned so you know everything we do about the new human," he explained. "It seems she is a civilian merchant hailing from another land, and she is travelling around, selling a thing she calls lemonade. She doesn't appear to have any sort of self-defense training, although her wyvern Peaches seems defensive of her. As of the moment, she has not given us her name, so I cannot supply it to you," he stood back up, seeing Link inside the hut. He noted that Link's arm was in a cast, and the man was covered in soot, while Cat was untouched.

That looked very strange, and honestly, he knew some people were very odd, gaining pleasure from... strange things. Still, he was sure that wasn't what was going on here, he'd bet his life on it. Still, it wouldn't hurt to comment on it, say something 'humorous'.

"I apologize if I am interrupting something. I will leave you and Link to it. But if I may advise, I do not believe the group would be able to support a pregnant woman for nine months, so please be careful," he added with no hint of humor in his voice. He then left to return to the rest of the group, his mission now accomplished.

 

Edited July 18, 2019 by Saikazo May Cry

[Cheshire Toon 141]

“We need to tell the Commander,” was Link’s first response.

Darius barked a dry, metallic laugh, like two blades scraping against each other. “You still don’t get it, do you Harkinian?” He shook his head. “No. We’re not going to do that. We’re going to sit right here and give them time to get in position, and then once the fighting starts, we’ll race back to camp. With our flanking maneuver and the prowess of our regiment, we’ll win easily. Then we’ll tell the Commander that we found out about the ambush too late and didn’t arrive in time to prevent it.” 

“But I can make it in time! Epona’s still fresh, plus they’re trying to move slow. They ain’t--they won’t be able to keep up with a fresh rider,” Link argued. He looked around the group for support, but the rest of the Night Wolves were suddenly interested in their boots or the ground. “I’ll go right no--” 

He turned his back to Darius, to head for Epona, but before he could move a foot he felt the cold steel of a sword at his throat. “I get it kid. You’re young. You’re green. So let me try again; we’re not warning the commander about this. Do you know why?” Darius whispered into his ear.

Link swallowed heavily and awkwardly shook his head.

“Because she would make the wrong decision. It’s not her fault, Marianne’s the best commander this unit has had in the last century, but her job is to balance her duty with the safety of the 31st. Walking into an ambush? The risk outweighs the benefit to her. It should, too, but that’s why we exist. To make the hard calls that nobody wants to.” Darius pulled his sword away and sheathed it. Link gasped for breath. “This fight is an opportunity for us. They’re ambushing the Garou; if they beat us, they’ll justify it to the king as an escalated conflict at the border, and there will be nothing he can do. Those Pontic bastards will cheer, their young brats will feel rowdy, because their army could beat the Garou. We’re a symbol of power and everyone knows it.” He shook his head. “We can’t let that happen.”

Link rubbed his throat. “So why don’t we tell the Commander? She’ll prepare and they’ll cancel their plans at best, at worst they’ll walk into a fight they aren’t ready for. We can beat them.”

One of the Night Wolves finally chimed in. “Because we’re going to turn their plan around on them.” It was Charlotte, a blonde woman in her mid-thirties. She had been nothing but welcoming before this. 

Darius grinned. “Exactly. We’re going to let this ambush happen. The Garou are double-stationed with the Scuten’s End right now, but they won’t realize that because we watched them do their headcount just two nights ago, while Scuten’s End arrived this morning. We’ll win regardless.” He looked over the hill, staring at the Pontic band several hundred yards away. “If we warn the commander, she’ll mobilize for a battle, and that will scare them off. If we let them carry out the ambush… At worst some people die, but that’s a small price to pay for the return. Pontus is beaten in an unprovoked ambush, the Garou look like heroes, and it fans the flame of our reputation that much more. It gets those coming-of-age kids back home in the mood for a fight. We need that, Harkinian. There’s another war coming. It might not be this year, it might not be next, but it’s coming, and we’ll need every sword hand we can get.”

---

Link hadn’t understood at the time, not really, but he had followed orders. He had lost his best friend, and been blamed for it by another. The Night Wolves had been looked at like a failure by the Garou for failing to spot the ambush fast enough. 

 

But they had accomplished their goal. The battle was talked about all over Galtea, and new recruits ran off to sign their life away in droves. 

As Catriona bandaged his arm, he finally understood. There were some things that leaders didn’t need to know. There were things better dealt with by someone who wasn’t a ruler. The princesses weren’t at all versed in spywork, they didn’t know the first thing about how to collect information without leaving any traces behind, or how to extract secrets that a stubborn fool wouldn’t share. They weren’t trained to do it like he was. This was his job, not the princesses. He was supposed to stare into the dark alleys and crime ridden slums so they never had to compromise their moral high ground. 

When Catriona finished, Link thanked her and followed her out of the cabin, his mind firmly settled on the right way to proceed. Shiro and the princess exchanged some brief words, then Shiro turned to leave, but he mumbled something as he did. Something highly inappropriate. 

Link watched Catriona for her reaction, hoping she wouldn’t blame him for the admittedly strange position his foolishness put them in. He would set Shiro straight as soon as possible, but he needed to stay focused for now, until they were out of the enemy’s territory. 

---

Rohns didn’t follow them into the cave. The blonde two-leg… something about her made him hesitate. The wolf cub never disobeyed his instincts. Not even for his nose. Instead, he took cover in a bush to watch in a safer area, though he was quickly distracted by a vole. 

 

It scurried past him and Rohns couldn’t help but chase it. He had to practice his hunting, had to get good, so he and Green Wolf never went hungry. Especially now that Green Wolf was so big. He must have found a huge meal to get so big so quickly.

Rohns would make sure he stayed that way.

---

 

 

Edited July 18, 2019 by Cheshire Toon

[Tiamat's Circus 117]

Citron’s head spun as everything around her unfolded. Through the hazey aches her entire body alerted her to constantly, her skull’s rang out the loudest, even as she tried to calm down the Wyvern mere inches away from her, who’s growls did little to aid her brain. She managed however, to collect herself as she glanced upwards, towards the heavily armored man who seemed to be trying to calm down the Beaver. Though, she mainly gave him his attention, because he had began speaking to her himself. "We're actually not from here...well, Alois there is, but the rest of us are just travelers. Similar to you. As for what is going on we have no idea. We only just arrived. I was actually hoping you might have some idea yourself. I'm guessing that's not the case, however, given your circumstances."

“Oh.” She murmured in response, lowering her head just a bit. That reply was sort of a kick in the pants, in it’s own way. After all, on the one hand, that meant she still had to find whoever it was who’s stall she totally wrecked, and apologize to their face. Her stomach twisted itself into knots at the thought, especially when she tried to figure out how to explain just what had happened. But those were thoughts for another time. Her eyes practically lit up, as she realized that, being that they weren’t locals, they were thus travelers. And travelers, tend to spend money on supplies. Supplies such as juices, that have important traits and qualities for survival, like citruses.

Her ruminations on how best to sell to the group were interrupted, as the armored individual walked forwards just a bit, before stopping himself. Peaches let out a quiet growl in protest, even as he spoke. "You have quite the companion there. He must care for you very much." The man smiled as he spoke, giving off an almost warm expression; almost warm enough to calm Peaches again. But just almost.

“Yeah,” Citron smiled back, slowly moving her right arm to rub at the back of her head, as she moved to rest her head on her left arm. “She’s been with me since I was around a year, maybe two years old. Ma’ ‘nd Pa’ said we were practically inseparable. They even let me name her.” She beamed, moving her right arm to rub at the wyvern’s talons. “Mm… She’s kept me safe during our travels, scaring off wild animals when I had to camp. Though, she seems pretty on edge here because of it.” The girl laughed, glancing at the woodland creatures of the town. “She’s not used to critters approaching her.”

Her pleasant conversation died down just a bit,  as the woman who had made herself known to be a medic spoke up.  "I see. Please do not move much for the time being, I will be checking on your injuries. Being buried in rubble for so long can cause a lot of unpleasant internal injuries." The woman explained, taking ointment out as she approached. "Head aside, do you feel any pain anywhere specific?"

“Alright,” Citron nodded in response to the first bit of information. This wasn’t the first time a medic had to tend to her injuries; and it likely wasn’t the last. What with the tricks she’d failed to teach Peaches, and the fact that her wyvern was still practically a child, and a novice when it came to flying. “I’ll keep Peaches docile, so feel free to check me out.” She nodded, smiling as she took a tighter grip on the wyvern’s leftmost talon. She knew Peaches disliked that, but they both understood it was a necessary precaution; communication was key, after all; and Peaches knew that this must have meant ‘do not attack this person you stupid overgrown lizard’. “And um... I feel pretty sore all over,” Citron laughed a little, before wincing. “But, it’s mostly my head and my chest. I’d wager that I slammed into the back of Peaches’ scales pretty hard before falling off, to be honest. I bet it looked kinda funny.” She tried to laugh, smiling the entire time…

 It probably wasn’t her smartest idea to roll onto her stomach earlier, the more she thought about it.

"How did you two even get buried by your stall?" The medic asked, presumably while checking her wounds, or at least attempting to.

“Uh… Ahahaha… So, funny story,” Citron gave a goofy smile, trying not to move too much as she spoke. “But, um… So we were out, looking for local fruits to spice-up our lemonade with, which in of itself was only sort of a success,” she groaned just a bit at that last statement. They’d must have lost their entire haul in the crash; there was no way it survived with how loosely she had packed it. “But, um… So when we set up, we set up opposite of another fruit stall, since it seemed like the right place. So, when we got close enough to smell fruits, Peaches here,” she squeezed the talon for emphasis. “Decided it was time to land, which it was. The problem is, she landed on the wrong stall, a-la, the other stall I mentioned earlier, which wasn’t used to supporting a wyvern’s weight, or the force she lands at, and so it sorta…” She gestured towards the stall’s broken state.

"Wait… so you set up a stall here. In the morning. Without any hassle or without talking to anybody? And no one stopped you? Like at all?” A voice rang out, from the one who had been introduced as Alois by the heavily armored man.  

“Huh? Oh, yeah, it was real easy, I’ve gotten pretty good at setting up stalls in a short amount of t-” Citron was cut off as the man turned away; saying that everything was fucked, and began conversing with the Beaver about… Something. She couldn’t quite tell what he had said through her apparent pouting at being cut-off, but the Beaver was being very talkative. Sighing, she simply left the medic-person to their devices as she lowered her head back onto her arm. It was one thing to ask a question, especially when someone falls from the sky, but it was always disappointing when they didn’t wait for an answer.

Citron was dragged from her pouting, however, when one of the men who helped Peaches from her own binds asked a question. "Unless, you two think you could help us just break the doors down." He pointed at them, after having likely said something else she hadn’t quite been able to focus on, what with having a migraine and everything else that was going on.

“Um… It’s probably something we can help with?” She laughed a little, patting Peaches’ talon. “I mean, that stall crumbled like it was nothing earlier, right? So I’m sure a pair of doors would be no trouble,” she grinned. “Though, I can’t guarantee that the rest of the building will be undamaged.” She gave a slight thumbs up.
 

Edited July 19, 2019 by Feral Pistol

[LordCowCow 840]

So the girl had named the wyvern when she was younger. That...made sense, given the name. It reminded him of how younger Penelope had tried to name the king's pets rather....unusual names. Snowflake was certainly not a fitting name for such a fierce beast.

Either way the bond the two shared made Gunther feel better. "Well, I tend to trust animal instincts. Peaches cares for you which, I think, means that you must be a trustworthy person."

"we should probably try and get into that chapel-looking building. Maybe find a key in the garrison next to it or something. Unless," he looked over at "Peaches" and her rider, "you two think you could help us just break the doors down."

Gunther's smile thinned out into a more even line as Edrick said that. "Of course you'd suggest going in there." He muttered. Yet another religious structure. They had spent more than enough time in those as it was so he wasn't exactly looking forward to spending more time in one. It was the other parts that put him on alert though. "I don't see why we'd want to get into the garrison to begin with. And...I'm not so sure we should be breaking anything in the town. Imagine what the people here would think if they found strangers breaking...everything."

He hurriedly looked towards the wyvern and her rider and raised his hands. "Though I'm sure they'll understand if it's an accident." he said, face flushed.

The Knight noticed some more animals getting closer. Their actions were...odd, to say the least. They didn't seem to want to eat the food that was laying out. Instead they almost seemed to be...taking care of the stalls. He remembered the things the others had said and started to wonder...perhaps there was more than met the eye to these creatures?

He focused in on the large hare that was cautiously making its way towards them. Taking a deep breath the young man moved in its direction. Stopping whenever the animal seemed to be ready to avoid him. "Excuse me...this might be an unusual question. But do you know what happened to the people here?" He asked, awkwardly. It probably looked rather ridiculous, talking to an animal like this, and he was sure the others would think him mad. But...what if the hare could understand him?

---

Penelope's mind started to wander at Licorice's throwaway statement about the chief. What did she mean by that? From what she had seen the chief trusted Licorice greatly. Thought her an important part of his society. Did something happen before they left?

She'd have to ask once they were out of this situation.

As it stood it sounded like whatever was in this potion of Ciela's was stronger than Penelope realized. She had assumed it would be a purely natural concoction but it contained magic as well? If that was the case then it would be even more difficult to fix. Which to her meant there was only one real answer. "I think all there is to it right now is to wait for it to wear off."

"I did not mean to make you all worry about me. While I do not condone you all following me like that...that was...very kind."

Penelope smiled at Licorice. It was amusing how oddly adorable the fox girl could be. She looked around for the most comfortable place to sit and seated herself, while keeping an eye on Licorice. "Oh, don't be silly." She said. "I'm always worried anyway. I've got to make sure everyone under my watch is fine after all." The last part had a hint of pride in it as she sat up straighter. "Not to mention you've already tried to eat me once. What's one more time between friends?" The joke was a reference to when the two first met and Licorice carried the princess off in her mouth.

[Skaia 578]

Alois raised an eyebrow as the beaver did simply made noises at him, the boy realizing that he did not, in fact, have fluency in beaver speak. More to the point Alois was only more surprised as the animals in the area began to go about what looked like business as usual. The scene itself would've been business as usual, were it people manning the stalls and not various animals. And as such, the boy was only left more dumbfounded at the strangeness that was his town. Turning back to the others, the new girl having both explained more about her business as well as the group deciding to go and see what was inside the locked building. 

Looking to Edrick, he said, "well, I doubt that we'll find a key in that "garrison." It's just a barracks where people do a lot of training and stuff. If you were looking for a key, then I guess the mayor's place would be a good place to look." He shrugged saying, "I can't really imagine they'll mind, because worst that'll happen is the mayor will just badger us or something." After saying that he looked to Gunther and Citron, the former of which had been trying to assure the latter of which everything would be fine. Bluntly, he just said, "they won't be fine with it." 

Tsetseg nodded along with Penelope as she assured Licorice it was no issue saying, "yeah, yeah. We're all friends and stuff so we all gotta make sure we're all fine. No one left behind and all." While the girl didn't seem to be bothered by her white haired friend's comment about being eaten, as she herself was nearly eaten by a fox as well, the girl instead pivoted and looked at Ciela. Having heard what Licorice said, the archer glared at the blue haired girl and pointed at her saying, "no more experiments and stuff with dark magic! It's bad and dark and stuff, see." She gestured to Licorice before sticking her hand out towards Ciela. Tsetseg remembered that whenever she had done something wrong at home, her parents would generally punish her by taking away something from her and giving it back when enough time had passed. Usually it was her bow. And, as Ciela had done something wrong, it was only natural that she hand something over to the archer, though what she wasn't sure. All the same, she held her hand out expectantly, waiting for Ciela to hand something over. 

[Sethera 290]

Shiro bowed to Catriona, the motion smooth and natural, though she remembered that the Proteans of the frog village had been oddly formal as well. He then proceeded to update her on current events.

"Lemonade?" the lord wondered. "I know not what that is. Is that a weapon of sorts?" Perhaps Penelope would know, but she had a liking for the esoteric and unknown. "Peaches...that seems an odd name for a wyvern." She would have sooner thought the beast to be named Ikran or Tigrex. Something more fitting of its ferocious nature. Peaches, on the other hand...

"I apologize if I am interrupting something. I will leave you and Link to it. But if I may advise, I do not believe the group would be able to support a pregnant woman for nine months, so please be careful."

Catriona blinked. And blinked again after he left. "I do not understand," she said. "What does a pregnant woman have to do with the matter at hand?" she glanced at Link before sighing. From what she knew, there were no pregnant women among the group, but she would have to keep a sharp eye out for any signs...not that she knew what such signs would be, aside from the obvious enlargement of the abdomen. She would especially have to watch Penelope. It would not do for a royal to have a child out of wedlock. "Link, if you have seen anybody with signs of pregnancy, please tell me. We cannot afford to have our quest be slowed down by such conditions." Though in truth, if Penelope were to get pregnant, then at least Catriona would have a valid excuse to leave her behind. Royal honor or her life...if I had to choose one I would choose to save her life. Thus...if she decides to get pregnant, I will not stop her.

Leaving through the door, Catriona approached the rest of the group, ignoring the animals gathering around the perimeter, though one of their number, Sienna, seemed to be engrossed in watching them go about their activities. Passing by a large brown hare, the lord stepped back curiously as she noticed it seemed to be making its way toward where the others were.

Gunther split off from the rest to...was he talking to the hare? "Excuse me...this might be an unusual question. But do you know what happened to the people here?"

The hare wriggled its nose furiously, eyes wide, before sitting back on its haunches like the beaver had so it could...make some motions with its paws? Though it was unknown what exactly it was trying to convey at first, it eventually ended its pantomime by pointing in the general direction of the broken stall, Peaches, and the merchant, tugging its ears down as it let out a mournful keen. Soon after it hopped away from Gunther to nudge at one of the fallen lemons, looking to be playing an impromptu game of folk football as it rolled it toward a nearby crate. It didn't take long for the beaver to join it and begin to gather fruit as well.

Catriona finished her walk toward the others, looking over the tanned girl curiously. She did not seem hostile, at the very least, and the state they had found her in did much to lessen any anxieties she would normally have. Overhearing the last bits of conversation, she decided to jump in. "If that is the case, then perhaps we should make our way to the mayor's house? But first, I found somebody when I went inside one of the houses earlier." She looked around at the group, eyes settling on the merchant, curious as to what the girl's reaction would be. "A human man, fast asleep and as bare as the day he was born." The woman then looked back at the hut. "I left him in there, still asleep, but I do not like the idea of leaving him alone for too long. As it is, he might have some information for us."

Finally, she turned to face the stranger fully. "Speaking of information, do you have any idea what could have happened to this place, Miss...?"

--

"I think all there is to it right now is to wait for it to wear off."

"That is correct," Licorice nodded, but she was a little floored by the tactician's next words.

"Oh, don't be silly." The girl seated herself. "I'm always worried anyway. I've got to make sure everyone under my watch is fine after all." The last part had a hint of pride in it as she sat up straighter. "Not to mention you've already tried to eat me once. What's one more time between friends?"

Tsetseg nodded along with Penelope, "yeah, yeah. We're all friends and stuff so we all gotta make sure we're all fine. No one left behind and all."

"Heh," the fox huffed a laugh. "I suppose your words make some sense...after a fashion," her tone grew slightly teasing at that. "I do not believe you would appreciate being 'eaten' again, however. And..." she hesitated. "I did not realize you humans also adhered to that principle. Nobody left behind, hmm?" Her expression grew a little sad. "Would that everybody could follow that."

She was distracted from her musings by what followed. "Yes, dark magic is definitely one of the more dangerous magics. It can be all too easy to get carried away." The fox watched Ciela and Tsetseg's proceedings with some amusement. "What exactly are you doing?"

--

Dariella hummed as she waited outside, expression mild. "You know," she addressed Remy. "Your master is quite the little spitfire. Not at all how I pictured a member of the esteemed House Mirrahel to behave." She giggled. "Though I suppose it would be a fallen House now, with only one person bearing its name. Or not. She never did fully introduce herself, after all." The woman sighed, gazing up at the sky. "At least the other two were polite. I suppose I can trust my darling's safety with them." She paused. "For now."

Glancing over to where the Rohns had wandered off, the blonde smiled before saying. "Don't get too far now, dear. It can be rather dangerous in these woods, after all." Not long afterward, she heard a hawk screech as it began to dive for the very same vole that the wolf cub was chasing.

Edited July 24, 2019 by Sethera

[LordCowCow 840]

"I do not believe you would appreciate being 'eaten' again, however."

"Well. If not for the fact that death is generally a prerequisite for being eaten I have to wonder what kind of experience it would be. And if I had to be eaten I'd rather be eaten by someone I know." The smile on her face made it clear the girl was joking. Though a moment later she seemed to be contemplative. "Have you ever heard of the story of Jonathan and the giant wyvern? He was swallowed by a monstrous wyvern who was terrorizing his down and, while inside, discovered that while the beast's insides were durable his fire magic was able to bring it down. It's where the tactic Jonathan's Gambit came from. Using a spy to slip past the opponent's guard and attack from the inside."

Tsetseg's actions were a mystery to Penelope. It sounded like she was scolding Ciela but what was the girl trying to get her to do? It reminded Penelope of the "shake hands" trick that one did to a pet. Was Tsetseg attempting to...train Ciela?

She laughed lightly. "You know, Licorice, in spite of your obvious discomfort, this is almost pleasant. Just sitting here together. Nothing cataclysmic happening. No undead or bandits to deal with. Hopefully after this quest we can have more peaceful time to relax and enjoy each other's company."

 

---

Well. The hare responded. It wasn't what Gunther had expected.

The fact he had expected the animal to actually speak spoke volumes of how used to the unusual Gunther was becoming. It was kind of a problem.

But either way the response was odd. "Is...was..." the Knight looked at the stall. Almost unable to believe he was saying this he spoke, "was that your stall?"

He was becoming more and more convinced that some of these animals were actually the people of the village. He knew Adel had mentioned it as a joke but...at this point, it almost felt like it had to be.

Gunther was somewhat relieved when Catriona returned to inform them of the relative normal issue of a naked man in a hut. As she mentioned her concerns about him the Knight stepped forward. "Catriona, I'm willing to keep an eye on this person for you while you explore. Even if you don't find anything it would be good to keep an eye on anyone who might know what happened."

Upon getting the okay to do so Gunther went along to the hut. Where, just as she said, there was a boy laying in the hay. He frowned. The first thought that came to mind was how uncomfortable it must be for them. Laying in straw, no clothes, he could easily catch a cold like that.

Why anyone would lay in straw when there was a bed nearby was beyond him. But it did make the Knight wonder if this could have anything to do with where the townspeople had gone. So Gunther started to check around the room. There could be something here that might help them figure things out. A note, perhaps, or some sort of signs of magic.

Oddly this was the most normal part of the day so far.

 

---

 

Apperance: Art by Jun_Seojh1029

"This is all your fault, Acantha." The girl muttered, wiping the mud off of her boot. She had been returning from her scouting mission when the branch hit her out of nowhere and made her fall off of her horse, Abel. Thankfully she had managed to land on her feet, after much flailing, but she had sunk several inches into the mud beforehand. It had taken her ten whole minutes to work her feet out of the muck.

Usually she would be with another scout, Acantha, during this, but the two had had an argument before leaving and parted ways. Cora didn't know how but somehow had the stubborn girl not have done that and had been here this wouldn't have happened.

It totally wasn't because she was so focused on the tracks in front of her that she didn't notice the tree. Not in the slightest.

While she climbed back onto her horse she heard a noise. Coming from the village. A roaring. Eyes widening the girl spurred Abel on. "C'mon pal, something ain't right." As the horse made his way back to the village she couldn't help but think, "Acantha you better be okay."

-----

She slowed down as she approached the village. The first thing she noticed was the lack of a guard. The second was how many animals were around. Grip tightening on Abel's reigns she looked around in confusion. Then she heard more noises coming from the direction of the marketplace. With a determined nod she rode her horse that way and....

"Holy cow is that a wyvern?" The words slipped from her lips before she could stop them. She stared at the beast in shock for a moment before finally realizing there were people around it. "You! What are you doing here? What did you do with the villagers?"

With a gasp she noticed that they were armed and fumbled for the sword at her side. She didn't know what was going on but a bunch of strangers, in this town, with all the rest of the people gone, couldn't mean anything good. She was no hero but damned if she was going to let that stop her from fending off a group of brigands who decided to raze her home.

Spoiler

Alois would know this girl. But she doesn't notice him at the moment. Too focused on the wyvern/idea of a threat.

 

[Saikazo 241]

"I do not understand," she said. "What does a pregnant woman have to do with the matter at hand?"

My god, did she not know how humans reproduced?

... Then again, he wasn't a hundred percent sure either, but he assumed it was similar to Proteans. Well, he supposed he'd never have to find out. As he returned to the group, he decided to take a seat, one far from the wyvern, and away from the rest of the group. He had a lot of thinking he had to do here, about the animals, the newcomer, and a lot more. Cat also filled them in on a little more info.

"I found somebody when I went inside one of the houses earlier. A human man, fast asleep and as bare as the day he was born." The woman then looked back at the hut. "I left him in there, still asleep, but I do not like the idea of leaving him alone for too long. As it is, he might have some information for us," Well, that would be useful, if he did wake up. 

"Catriona, I'm willing to keep an eye on this person for you while you explore. Even if you don't find anything it would be good to keep an eye on anyone who might know what happened." It seemed Gunther was on the case, and so he left to head into the place Cat herself was in not five minutes ago. It wasn't good to leave the man alone. Frogs always sent scouts in groups of two or more, so that they could keep each other safe. While these people weren't frogs, he assumed the same principle would apply here. However, before he could go to leave, a new face appeared in the crowd. 

"Holy cow is that a wyvern?" The words slipped from her lips before she could stop them. She stared at the beast in shock for a moment before finally realizing there were people around it. "You! What are you doing here? What did you do with the villagers?"

"Someone you know, Alois?" Shiro asked dryly before hopping to his feet and heading to follow Gunther, quietly slipping into the house. Inside, he saw Gunther snooping around the house. "You know, I imagined Link to be more of the 'ransack a house' type," Shiro attempted to joke, his dry tone making him sound serious. That was how humans started conversations, right? He looked at the naked man before taking off his shirt and throwing it over the man. It was better than nothing, and he could get his shirt back after they find something better for him. "So, I see you have been making friends with the animals," Shiro commented. "What do you make of... all of this?" he had hoped maybe Gunther had picked up something they hadn't. Only way to make sure was to ask.

[Asriel Dreemurr 38]

Gunther probably hadn't expected Edrick to hear him muttering about him, but he had. His ears were better than most of the group gave him credit for. So he affixed the heavily armored man with a gaze that was supposed to be piercing, but probably just came across as tired. Truth be told, he was in far from the best state he'd ever been in. He hadn't slept well in a while, and while he wasn't on edge about the beavers anymore that whole situation by the river had taken a lot out of him. More than he was going to admit. All he really wanted right now was to figure out whatever was wrong with this village, fix it, and from there hopefully be able to rest up for a while. Plus, if they could actually find some people here then maybe they'd have news about Elba. Just having someone familiar around would make this all easier to deal with...or maybe she'd just make him more homesick.

All the same, it seemed like they had a plan now. Find the mayor's house, find the key to the chapel, try and get into it without actually tearing the front off of it. Yeah the more he thought about it the more sense that made than his ideas. They didn't want to be just completely thrown out of the town when they were trying to fix the situation.

"You! What are you doing here? What did you do with the villagers?" Well that certainly got his attention, and he turned his head to see a woman on a horse. He felt his heart leap for a moment, thinking that he'd finally found his horse thief, and then calmed down again before he had actually charged at her with his lance. The horse was obviously male, which meant that couldn't be his Elba. Of course he was still given reason to be thankful he had his weapon with him when she made to draw her sword, since if this turned violent he'd want to defend himself. Probably also wasn't great that he had his Devotional Icon out on display, but there wasn't too much point in worrying about that right now. He briefly looked over towards Alois, hoping he knew something the rest of them didn't, and then looked back at the woman.

"We didn't do anything with the villagers!" He shouted back, more to make sure he was heard than out of any anger. Though the stress he was feeling probably came across a little clearer than he would have liked. "We've only been in town for half an hour, maybe an hour at most. Everything was like this when we got here...well, except the wyvern. That was stuck in a broken stall when we got here."

[Tiamat's Circus 117]

Shouting. Everything continued with… Constant shouting. Moving a hand to her head, Citron did her best not to get in the way of the medic, but truth be told, she was more concerned with the throbbing ache in her skull. With every shout, it was intensified; with every glaring light, it multiplied. It wasn’t until everyone began talking among themselves, ignoring her, that she realized… They weren’t shouting. It just felt like they were. With a quiet murmur, and supposing herself to finally be done answering questions, Citron let out a quiet sigh as she gripped at her skull, her grin fading quickly as she had nothing else to distract herself from the pain with.

"Speaking of information, do you have any idea what could have happened to this place, Miss...?" A voice rang out, grabbing Citron’s attention, and prompting her to shoot the smile back up; after all, she had to keep her face up when interacting with potential customers. 

“Citron-- You can call me Citron Paridisi, of Paridisi Farms.” She beamed, patting Peaches talon, in a fashion that kept the Wyvern from instinctively growling at the newly approaching figure. “And I have no idea!” She added, with the same enthusiasm. “By the time I got here, and had my stall set up, all the villagers were gone, and the creepy little animals had taken up residence.” She explained, with a small drooping of her head, the sudden movement causing her to wince ever-so-slightly. “For all I know, the animals ALWAYS lived here, and that Alois guy, who Mr. Armor Man said used to live here, is their caretaker!” She joked, giving a thumbs up. Comedy sells, right? That’s what she always thought, at least.

Comedy, didn’t, however, account for another voice. “Holy cow, is that a wyvern?” The voice cried out, followed by the sound of a sword being unsheathed, and more accusations. “You! What are you doing here? And what have you done with the villagers?”

Citron opened her mouth to speak, before the adventurer who had helped Peaches spoke up, quickly coming to his own defense, and by extension, hers. "We didn't do anything with the villagers!" He explained, this time, actually shouting, and making Citron’s aching skull practically implode; even if he sounded just as stressed as she did. "We've only been in town for half an hour, maybe an hour at most. Everything was like this when we got here...well, except the wyvern. That was stuck in a broken stall when we got here."

“Yeah, pretty much the same story as them!” Citron shouted back, nodding. “I got here this morning, and set up my stall, and then went out looking for local fruits or vegetables since none of the villagers seemed to be home! Oh, and the whole wyvern in a broken stall thing? Completely an accident!” She tried her best to explain, her voice coming over in a mix of panic and fear, because, y’know, she did process the sound of a sword being unsheathed. Or, like, a very large knife, at least. “A-And I already agreed to pay for the broken stall! And I’m good for it, too! I swear!” She added, with a tinge of guilt. 

Meanwhile, Peaches gave her own response, one abstained of any guilt. Letting a growl escape from her throat, the wyvern slowly lifted her head from Citron's back, turning to stare at the new woman. While most of the humans had weapons, none of them had drawn them; until this one. The low rumble threatened to evolve into a roar at any moment, green eyes trained on the woman; watching for any sudden movements. She may have been tricked by a fake-stall today, but she wasn’t going to let herself be tricked by any humans.

[Cheshire Toon 141]

Sometimes Catriona’s lack of social skills amazed him. Link almost laughed, but managed to turn it into a wheezing cough into his hand. “Sorry,” he said after he caught his breath. “Still getting over a cold. As of today no one has shown any symptoms of pregnancy, but I will keep my eyes peeled Your Majesty.” The moment thankfully passed without further incident. Link had managed to master his emotions again when they reached the group, having returned to his normal spot a few paces behind the princess. 

The Galtean soldier took note of their situation while Catriona conversed. Both the bronze-skinned girl and her wyvern were conscious and on their feet now, and they were apparently offering their assistance with a hare-brained scheme to break down the door of the chapel. Gunther was tense and seemed against the whole thing, to his credit, and Alois was still as rigid and uncomfortable as he had been when Link left the group moments before. He suspected both had rather personal reasons for their feelings. Edrick wasn’t all that rigid, but he did look to be exhausted and at the end of his rope, while Adel remained as unbothered as always an--

A noise. He had written it off at first, because they were surrounded by animals, but he knew that sound. 
Rustling armor. 

Link grabbed the hilt of his sword and pivoted to stare at whatever was behind them. A woman seated on a horse, no more than twenty judging by her face, wear the worn out armor of a townguard. A sword was the source of the noise he had heard, bouncing up and down on her hip with every stride of her mount.

She noticed the wyvern before any of them. Her expression shifted, shocked, and she mumbled something about the reptile. It only took her another second to notice them. "You! What are you doing here? What did you do with the villagers?"

As always, the group handled this accusation perfectly. Edrick shouted an explanation that was, while true, not helpful in defusing the tone of the situation. The new girl stumbled through some recount of what had caused her to crash land. And then, the cherry on top, the wyvern decided to start growling at the woman. 

Link wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose but pain wracked his body when he instinctively moved his left arm. “...Alois,” he said through grit teeth, quiet enough to not be heard by the apparent townguard. “The man in the hut. Go see if you recognize him.”

Without waiting to see if the boy listened, he slipped to the front of the group. With his makeshift cast and a slight limp he made for a pitiful sight, and he leaned into the image heavily. “My companions aren’t lying. We’ve done no one any harm,” he said, and to anyone listening closely enough, they would notice that the usual Galtean accent he spoke with had all but vanished from his voice. “I’m a Histian town guard, and I’m escorting this group to the border on orders of the counsel. A member of the Pelinna Patrol is with us too,” he nodded to Adel. “We encountered a group of bandits a few days ago and in the process of fending them off, many of our supplies were lost, so we planned to rest and restock here. When we arrived an hour ago, there was no one in the village but these animals, and as she said, the young woman and her wyvern. It is safe to say you belong to the townguard?”
 

Edited July 26, 2019 by Cheshire Toon

[Skaia 578]

As the group had come to a decision to go raid the mayor's house, one the boy could only wholeheartedly support, Cat and Link - Alois had to double take at the sight of the usually green garbed man who seemed to be sporting a much blacker outfit now. Raising an eyebrow at the man, as they approached, Cat had informed them of someone who was apparently sleeping and naked in a house nearby. This new information, with Link's strange appearance only made Alois more curious about what had actually happened with him, but before he could go check out the house himself a new voice had caught his attention. While any voice would have been cause for alarm, given that there was no one else in this village but them, this one in particular had caught his attention. Completely ignoring that Link had even given him the suggestion, the boy turned to face the girl just saying, with surprise, "Cora?!" 

Looking at the girl now more closely, she certainly had the same lack of dexterity with her blade he had remembered her to, and the same horse he had known her to have. "Well, uh, been awhile. What are the odds of meeting you here, right?" His tone had a mix of both friendliness and awkwardness, only to then go to his usual demeanor as he turned to the rest of them. "Don't worry guys, she's harmless." He was still loud enough to be heard by her. Turning back to the woman he said, "right, so, they're basically telling you the truth. I, uh, imagine this place wasn't a barn when you left it last?" 

Though Tsetseg seemed intent on waiting for Ciela to give up her possessions, the girl put down her hand as she was asked a question. "Oh," she looked to Licorice, "well, see, see. She did something bad by giving you bad magic stuff right? So, she needs to be taught a lesson right? Oh." Realizing that she was no longer looking at her, Tsetseg turned around and outstretched her hand back at Ciela, glaring at the woman. "So, hand it over. You'll be able to have it back when you learned your lesson." The girl's tone seemed to get a bit deeper, as she was attempting to mimic her father, and she still wasn't entirely sure what she was asking Ciela to hand over. All the same, her hand remained. 

[Sethera 290]

Catriona frowned in thought as they approached the market square. It seemed that she wasn't the only one with health issues in the group. She would have to keep an eye on Link for any further signs of sickness, just as she would have to keep an eye on Penelope for any signs of pregnancy. While she wasn't sure that it was that girl, specifically, that Shiro had been referring to, it never hurt to be vigilant.

She noted out of the corner of her eye, the rabbit nodding to something Gunther had said. Something about a stall. Still, it seemed to lose interest in the knight pretty quickly, beginning to gather up fruits.

Upon returning to the group, Gunther suggested that he would keep an eye on the naked man, which worked for her. The man was trustworthy and sturdy. Even if he was attacked, he would be able to take the hits with little to no issue. Nodding in acceptance, after asking her question of the stranger, she blinked at...the odd enthusiasm of the girl. Pausing, she took the time to sift through what this person had told her.

"Paradisi...so you are a farmer then? Like Edrick?" At least she thought he had mentioned something along those lines. Her gaze sharpened as she took in the more relevant news. "So you have no idea what could have caused this...in that case, none of us do," she sighed. "And I trust Alois to be telling the truth in this instance," she replied flatly, unsure how this woman could have jumped to such a wild conclusion. Though this whole situation is rather absurd...

Catriona was shaken from her thoughts by an unfamiliar voice. "Holy cow is that a wyvern?" A pause, then, "You! What are you doing here? What did you do with the villagers?" Turning on her heel, the white-haired woman stepped forward to face what looked to be a young girl with dark hair dressed in a mix of chainmail and leather. The sword at her side and the ease with which she wore her armor proved her to be a warrior of some sort, but the way she fumbled for it did not speak of any particular skill. Still, the lord had been taught not to underestimate her opponents, so she would not hold back if it came to a fight.

Before she could do anything, however, Edrick, Citron, Link, and Alois spoke out. Deciding to remain silent, as all that needed to be said had already been spoken, the woman stared at the girl steadily, watchful of any tricks, though she relaxed slightly when Alois said she was harmless, she did not let her guard down entirely.

Around them, the animals had perked up, and began to move toward the newcomer Alois had called "Cora" in a surging wave of fur and feathers. Even the beaver had looked up excitedly, though its expression quickly changed to one of disdain. Sniffing the air, it resumed picking up fruit, very obviously ignoring the girl.

Meanwhile, in the hut, Gunther would find no signs of magic or anything unusual at all there. Just an ordinary hut of wattle and daub. The floor couldn't even be called a floor, more like the ground, as it was nothing but packed dirt. Aside from the bed, the only other furniture was a small table with half a wheel of cheese and a loaf of bread with a couple slices already separated and laid out on a stone plate. A washbasin still filled with water lay nearby, and a small closet stood against the wall. Opening it, however, revealed nothing but various leather garments that looked as if they could fit a full-grown man. Of more interest was a small shortbow leaning against the end. Unstrung at the moment, it looked crudely-made but nonetheless well taken care of.

The naked man shifted in his sleep, sniffing slightly, though he didn't seem to have woken up just yet.

--

Licorice stared at Penelope, a hint of incredulousness in her eyes. "You are an interesting human," she said. "Most would run at the mere mention of that when faced with what they would deem a monster, but you do not." Her ears perked up in interest at her next words. "I have not heard that story, no," she admitted. "But then again, I know little of human warfare." Her eyes became slightly lidded as she thought. "Still, that makes sense. If one attacks from the inside, then one has the advantage of surprise," she shifted slightly.

Penelope laughed lightly. "You know, Licorice, in spite of your obvious discomfort, this is almost pleasant. Just sitting here together. Nothing cataclysmic happening. No undead or bandits to deal with. Hopefully after this quest we can have more peaceful time to relax and enjoy each other's company."

The fox shifted in place again, ears flattening. "...Yes, that would be nice," she replied, not meeting the tactician's eye. "However, one never knows just what the future may hold," she warned.

Watching Tsetseg's interactions with Ciela, the Protean chuffed a laugh before speaking. "I never know what to expect from any of you," her tone was warm. Looking up, she said, "As you said, Penelope, this is...pleasant. It would be nice if times like these could last forever." However, the expression on the fox's face, rather than content, looked almost...lonely.

--

Outside, the hawk had grabbed the vole that Rohns had been stalking, letting out a victorious screech as it began to lift off into the air again, though still within reach of the wolf cub. Dariella sighed. "And so the prey which the predator had been stalking so patiently, had been snatched away just like that," she chuckled, brushing a lock of hair back. "My my, how greedy. Not even my darling can satisfy you." She shook her head. "I suppose you must be used to getting your way though." She hummed, pushing herself off of the tree she had been leaning against. "He would be disappointed to see how far things have fallen."

The blonde began to walk into the surrounding foliage, turning back only once. "I'll let you be this time." She giggled. "After all...I have my own 'quest' I need to see through." And with that, the woman walked into the forest, melting into the trees as if she had never been there to begin with.

[LordCowCow 840]

The boy with the lance and the girl with the wyvern both immediately claimed innocence. And in such a way that it was hard to think they could possibly be trying to deceive. Cora might not be the best judge of character but she couldn't imagine either of these trying to trick her.

It was the third one that really got her attention. He had a broken arm yet carried himself in such a way that Cora felt herself sitting up straighter in the saddle. Regardless of who the rest of these there was only one thing this young man could be. A soldier. Every movement he made screamed "soldier" in her mind. Even the way he spoke sounded like one used to giving reports. She was so focused on him she didn't so much as notice the Protean slipping, or rather hopping, away. He claimed to be a town guard and she could believe that. Though she also felt there was more to it than that. Why would a city guard be all the way out here? It felt wrong.

"It is safe to say you belong to the townguard?”

Was it safe to say? Well, there was really no point in lying. After all she wanted honesty so giving some in return was the best bet. "Yes, I am. One of many. None of whom seem to be here right now."

As she said that she finally realized that there were hordes of animals starting to flock around her. Abel gave a whinny and moved back a few steps. He was calm, oddly calm given there were some predators around, but he had to try and avoid stepping on the animals.

She gazed curiously at one of them. Did they look....familiar? Something about the face...or maybe the eyes?

"Cora?!"

That voice.....

Cora looked away from the animal to stare in surprise at Alois. "Wha? Er, why are you here? I thought you didn't want anything to do with this place?" There was a hint of bitterness in her voice that surprised her. She went to rub the back of her head and stopped herself just before making contact due to remembering there was a sword in her hand. "Uh, I mean, welcome back." She looked at the sword and gave an awkward laugh. "Sorry about that. You know how it is."

If Alois was with...well, honestly, it didn't necessarily mean anything. She knew he didn't like this place much and she didn't know him quite well enough to rule out the idea he'd bring bandits here but...At least for now she thought she could try and be a bit more friendly at least.

She took a deep breath. "Well, I don't really know what's going on, but I suppose it doesn't seem like any of you coulda done something with the whole village. I don't know where these animals came from. They certainly weren't here when I left and there were a lot more people before. I don't think they'd all just up and leave though." She frowned. "I don't suppose you all were planning on sticking around were you? It's small but I could let you hold up in my house till you go."

 

---

 

Nothing. There seemed to be nothing at all out of place in this hut. All of it was rather simple and, in a word, mundane. It was almost nostalgic in a way. Having lived in the castle for much of his life he had almost forgotten what it was like living in a place like this. Not the most pleasant memories to dive into for sure but there was some hints of wistfulness in them as well.

"You know, I imagined Link to be more of the 'ransack a house' type,"

"O-oh, no, not at all. Of course not. I don't intend to do anything to this place or that man." Gunther said, surprised by the sudden entrance of the Protean. The last thing he wanted was for his companion to think him a scoundrel and a thief.

"So, I see you have been making friends with the animals," Shiro commented. "What do you make of... all of this?"

"Mm, not sure friend is the word, but since they're here I thought it best to not ignore their presence." He gave some thought to the latter half before speaking. "If I were being honest I haven't the slightest clue. There doesn't seem to be any obvious signs of struggle here. And none of the animals seem aggressive. From prior experiences I can only imagine it's some strange form of magic. Unusual situations seem to follow us around ever since...well, since we went to your village." He added the last part somewhat sheepishly.

He noticed the man shift in his sleep. "Should we wake him?" Gunther asked. "It might be better than him waking up to find us here but...I can't imagine anyone would take finding strangers in one's house like this."

 

---

 

Penelope felt a bit of a trill of pride at being called interesting by Licorice. It was a rather novel idea. A transforming fox calling a plain human interesting.

"However, one never knows just what the future may hold,"

The princess tilted her head to the side and smiled. "That may be true, theoretically, it's still possible to make the future what you want it to be. That's the entire point of living isn't it? The future may be a mystery but it is a mystery in which the answer may be influenced by those investigating it. All I must do is come up with the right strategy and we'll all live happily ever after."

Licorice's, and because of this Penelope's, attention was drawn towards their other companions.

As was becoming common Penelope couldn't help but smile at Tsetseg's explanation. Though it also brought forth some concern. She didn't think Ciela would just hand it over to Tsetseg but she had seen the girl do some rather unorthodox things in the past. And she couldn't imagine the hunter having such a thing would be good in the slightest.

While the effects of the potions resulted in something fairly natural for a human something felt deeply wrong about the idea of Tsetseg in that situation.

"Ah. Tsetseg perhaps that's not for the best. After all while Ciela had an accident she has been handling this magic for a longer period. Trying to control it without such experience may lead to even more mishaps like this."

[Cheshire Toon 141]

Link inwardly relaxed after a moment of watching the guardswoman. She was obviously an amateur—the Galtean soldier would wager that she hadn’t raised her sword against anything but her sparring partners, or maybe the occasional bump in the night. Alois went on to call out to her and vouch that she was of no threat to them, which further cemented her harmlessness, though he knew from experience that he had to remain ever vigilant. 

Ever Vigilant? Hadn’t Catriona suggested that as a group name? Link thought back to Sector 3. It hadn’t been more than a handful of weeks ago, but somehow, it felt like a lifetime. 

Pain pulsed up his broken arm and he swallowed another groan. Spirits, he had forgotten how much pain came with breaking a bone. It initially hurt less than being stabbed, but it was slower to heal and it never felt the same again. Carefully with his (somewhat uncoordinated) right hand he fetched a vulnerary from out of his bag to chew on, which reminded him that his supply was running low. 

New shield, new armor, more herbs, a second sword… His to-do list grew ever longer. The bolded text at the top of his mental checklist needed to remain his focus for now though, lest he stretch himself too thin and get nothing done. 

Said bold text at the moment went by the name of Cora. She was asking about their future plans, as well as offering them a place to rest if they planned on staying. “That’s a kind offer. I don’t speak for all of us, but a place to rest my arm would be nice.” The need to rest his arm was about as real as the soft Histian accent that colored his speech at the moment. He was actually rather good at accents; he was terrible at learning foreign languages, but he had excelled at mimicking the way people from different places spoke, or ‘regional dialects’ as Darius had called them. “We are missing a few of our number right now anyways. They went East to investigate not long after we got here, so it might be wise to wait for them before we decide future plans.”

---

No! The bird was going to steal his food! Rohns snarled and reared back on his haunches, jumping up as high as he could go to try and snatch the vole back. The distance proved to be too great and he fell back down to the ground with a whimper, still hungry, feeling cheated. 

He was distracted by a shiver running down his spine. He growled and turned around to face whatever it was behind him, but when he looked, no one was there. The scary blonde two-leg was gone and the rest of his pack was still inside of the cave. Should he follow them? He didn’t like being alone, but instinct told him that he didn’t belong in caves. It almost looked like a great stone den, but dens were warm and they smelled of the pack, of fresh blood and meat, and of his momma. This smelled of old dirt and water and a bunch of other things he couldn’t place.

His stomach growled. Rohns laid down and pawed at his face, alone. He wanted Green Wolf. Green Wolf always had food. 

---

[Tiamat's Circus 117]

Nervously, Citron half-listened to the replies the others gave while keeping her eyes trained on the armed woman. Between the implications that her blade brought, and the ever-present ache in her skull that only decided to make itself worse as the moments passed, she wasn’t really able to pay attention to much else; especially not with the low rumble of a Wyvern’s growl in her ear. With every second that passed, she felt like her heart would jump out of her chest, eyes trained on, trying to watch for any sudden movements. She even found herself absentmindedly moving a hand over to grab onto the thick talon of the Wyvern over her, trying her best not to move too terribly much, as to not get in the way of the medic. 

She did however, notice that someone introducing themselves as a guardsman took up a stance between the group and the woman, explaining the situation. Doing her best to focus, and actively process the information he gave, It didn’t take long for her to make what she thought to be an accurate judgement of the man; he was a city guardsman who, based on build and demeanor, seemed both experienced and overall rather trustworthy. She also reckoned that things must not have gone too well when they encountered those bandits he mentioned, seeing as his arm was wrapped heavily in a sling. Luckily, as he finished his story, it also backed hers up to an extent too, which was always a plus. With someone that trustworthy on her side, she didn’t really see how she could have been implicated for something worse than she had really done, even with her tendency to stick her foot into her mouth.

Though, the excitement didn’t end there, really. She winced as one of them, the one who had cut her off earlier, yelled something; a name, maybe. This seemed to strike a chord, or at least get the attention of the armed woman, much to Citron’s thankfulness. The woman seemed to, rather obviously, ease up, or relax upon recognizing whoever that was that called her name. It was an understandable reaction, really, Citron tried to smile. Thinking about it, as the situation’s tense-nature fell, Citron could only bring herself to laugh just a small bit, realizing that her face must have been really funny to watch. She had gone so quickly from anxious, to nervous, to pained, to then even relieved; it wasn’t hard for her to imagine how that must have looked, really.

But it was only as the situation seemed to die down, or relax a bit, that she finally managed to force herself to think about some of the words that had been spoken earlier. Her skull ached as she tried to focus too hard on what was being said now, so it was overall easier and more worthwhile to try and think about what they had said earlier, right? Well, she wasn’t sure that was right in all actuality, but with the pain in her skull getting worse, and the ability to fake being fine getting harder and harder, it seemed like  a good idea. 

Especially when she was able to recall something that had been said just before all the… Excitement, took place. The woman who had come later, just before everything had happened, who had asked her questions… Had mentioned something about another person, who had lived on a farm. Edrick, she think the name had been said?? Either that or Eddie, and Edrick sounded fancier, so she'd assume it was that one. A smile lighting up her face, Citron almost forced her way into a sitting position, even if the woman who had been tending to her wounds attempted to stop her. “Alright!” She yelled, matching her enthusiasm from before, doing her best to hide the glaring pain in her brain. “I JUST now really thought about what she said,” she murmured, smiling as she glanced around the group. “And WHICH one of you is Edrick?! I-I gotta know--” She paused herself, excitement visibly manifesting as she seemed to almost bounce around in place, even while sitting. “What kinda stuff did you grow? Cranberries? Apples? Or- Or were you one of the kinds of farms that grew stuff like melons-- Or pomegranates!?”

All the while, Peaches’ kept her gaze firmly locked on the human who had dared draw a blade, even if they were no longer acting hostile. She’d witnessed human treachery enough recently to know that it was all a ploy; after all, who had set up the fake-stall? The animals? Fat chance. No, it had to have been this woman, and she wasn’t going to let herself be tricked by her demeanor growing less aggressive; no, she had to stay ever-on-guard for when she took her metal claw and attempted to attack. Raising from her laying position a bit, Peaches maneuvered herself behind — and over — Citron, as she stood on her haunches, and attempted to make herself look bigger by extending her wings, while simultaneously raising both her neck and her head.

[Saikazo 241]

"Mm, not sure friend is the word, but since they're here I thought it best to not ignore their presence." He paused, considering his words before continuing. "If I were being honest I haven't the slightest clue. There doesn't seem to be any obvious signs of struggle here. And none of the animals seem aggressive. From prior experiences I can only imagine it's some strange form of magic. Unusual situations seem to follow us around ever since...well, since we went to your village." He seemed embarrassed about that last line, although Shiro wasn't sure why.

"So we came to the same conclusion. Interesting," Shiro muttered as he looked around the house. Gunther had already ransacked a good portion of it.

"Should we wake him?" Gunther asked, referring to the man passed out on the ground. "It might be better than him waking up to find us here but...I can't imagine anyone would take finding strangers in one's house like this."

Shiro looked down at the man, stroking his chin, He supposed they should wake the poor man up. But how would they do it? He knew humans would do things like throw water on their faces, or slap them awake. Both of those seemed really rude to the frog. It seemed he had only one choice left. He took a deep breath, his form suddenly expanding as he began to take up just a little more room, his giant frog form now standing over the man. He bent down, leaning by the man's ear and taking another deep breath. He then let out a loud croak, one as bellowing as he could make it, right into the man's ear. That should do the trick.

[The Last Occultist 16]

Ciela Celestinia

Ciela nodded as she heard the explanation from Licorice. It was not something that she expected, per se - this was the first time she heard about Dark Magic being used in this way, but it was surely intriguing. She definitely should research this potion properly sooner or later. However, her thoughts were interrupted by Tsetseg demanding her to give up her possessions of her potions.

"Hey hey hey, I bought them using my money. I won't just give them up to you like that."

Ciela looked weirdly at Tsetseg's gesture. In the meantime, Penelope was having a conversation with Licorice. Ciela sighed. She forced her way inside trying to play hero, but in the end she couldn't do anything. That was very disappointing. Well, waiting it out together inside of this cavern could be nice, and at least Licorice looked civil enough to hold a conversation with other people. And before long, even Penelope chimed in to help stop Tsetseg from heckling her and her precious potions.

"She's right. Licorice here got this bad without even drinking the potion itself. Just contact with her skin and she ended up like this." Ciela sighed. "Moreover, Dark Magic isn't a bad thing in the first place. It sure is dangerous, yes, but never forget that heroes of the past utilized it as a tool for good too.

Is that how the legend goes?"

With that handled, Ciela went closer towards Licorice.

"It's kind of frustrating not being able to do anything for you, but... I guess it's best if I just learn from here instead." Ciela rubbed the back of her head, looking a little apologetic now that her rush of frustration had passed. "I... uh... apologize for biting your friend earlier. I got too carried away."

---

Adelheid Sigrdifa

"Please calm yourself down, I'm not finished with you yet."

Adel decided to just focus on the wyvern rider and entrusted the sudden arrival to her companions. When the rider suddenly jolted up, she tried her best to keep her down, but it was sudden, and her effort was for naught. Adel grumbled. As the girl was bouncing around in excitement even while sitting, Adel decided to take a moment to pause before attempting to strong arm her again to resting position.

"Don't get too excited, please. You'd mess up the herbs and your bandages."

[Skaia 578]

Pouting a bit as Penelope had made her point on the young archer handling the potions, Tsetseg figured there was some truth to it. She, after all, did not have any experience with magic whatsoever and if her white haired friend had thought that was necessary to make sure that nothing bad happened, then she was probably right. All the same, she didn't think it right to just not let Ciela not have her things taken from her, and despite the blue haired girl's insistence that she still deserved them saying, "well then hand them over to Penelope. She's really smart with magic, so she won't let anything bad happen with them!" Nodding to herself at this, she then looked to Penelope, holding her hand out towards Ciela again as if asking her to hand it over, only this time looking like she wanted Penelope to come mimic her instead. 

As Ciela made her comment again, the girl huffed as she pulled back her hand saying, "well this dark magic isn't a good hero kind." The girl turned away from Ciela as she made this comment, but  then looked back as the girl was apologizing to Licorice. Smiling at the fox protean she said, "well, well, with all of us here and stuff, lots of fun times will happen in the future right?" 

While Alois wasn't sure what to make of the girl's initial reaction to his greeting, not able to tell  if she was angry, annoyed or something else, his face became momentarily stunned as she tried to scratch the back of her neck with the blade of her sword. A bit dumbfounded at what could only be seen as a remarkable display of swordsmanship, the boy simply said, "yeah...hi." The girl then seemed to be just as confused as  the rest of the group as to what was happening in this town, which he figured he would be more surprised if she wasn't. All the same, he responded to the girl by saying, "well, we were just about to go raid the mayor's place, and I'm sure with him out at the moment he wouldn't mind us snooping around. Or well, he can't mind at least." Chuckling at the thought of the Mayor's expression were he to know that they would be rummaging through his stuff, the boy then said, "but well, want to come with?"

[Sethera 290]

There seemed to be some history between this "Cora" and Alois. From the little that the fighter had mentioned of this village, Catriona could guess at some of it, and the girl's words filled in the rest. Still, it seemed like his presence had done much to calm the situation down from a potential fight to possibly giving them a place to stay.

She took a deep breath. "Well, I don't really know what's going on, but I suppose it doesn't seem like any of you coulda done something with the whole village. I don't know where these animals came from. They certainly weren't here when I left and there were a lot more people before. I don't think they'd all just up and leave though." She frowned. "I don't suppose you all were planning on sticking around were you? It's small but I could let you hold up in my house till you go."

Link seemed to agree with the thought, though his voice sounded strange for some reason. Different...not like his usual. Shrugging the thought off--perhaps it was a side effect of his sickness--Catriona turned to Alois, who seemed rather...eager to visit the mayor's house. Or rather, to raid it. While she wasn't sure exactly why the boy would be so eager, the lord could only conclude that there was no love lost between the two, and left it at that.

"While I understand that the mayor's house might have something of interest there, I see it more prudent to wait for the others to catch up," Catriona said. "If we go too far ahead of them, they might not be able to find us. However," she paused, "We could have Gunther and Shiro remain, as they are already investigating the hut. In which case, we only need notify them." Keeping in mind the fact that they did have two injured with them, much as both Link and Citron tried to hide it, the lord looked at Cora. "If I may ask, perhaps we could stop at your house first? Or..." she glanced at Alois. After all, Cora was not the only native of Phar. Turning back to the girl, she asked, "Is it terribly far from the mayor's?"

Meanwhile, both the beaver and the hare had finished gathering up all the fruit. The latter had started to pull on its ears again, seemingly bewailing the state of the stall. Patting the other on the shoulder awkwardly, the beaver then waddled back toward the group, letting out an annoyed hiss as it listened to them talk. After some time, both it and the hare straightened, turning back to stare at the hut where Gunther and Shiro were.

--

At the loud croak, the sleeping man in the hut jumped upright with a dumbfounded expression, wide awake. Turning around, he first noticed Gunther, but his attention was rather more focused on the giant frog in front of his face. Glaring, he started to growl and then, standing up on all fours, began to shout, the cry fading to nothingness before he began again, a series of shouts with no intelligible words.

--

"That may be true, theoretically, it's still possible to make the future what you want it to be. That's the entire point of living isn't it? The future may be a mystery but it is a mystery in which the answer may be influenced by those investigating it. All I must do is come up with the right strategy and we'll all live happily ever after."

Licorice's ears flattened, seeming disappointed. "Not everything has a fairytale ending," she warned. "Believing that there is always going to be a right choice, a right strategy, is...naive." However, rather than reprimanding, she sounded a little sad.

"It's kind of frustrating not being able to do anything for you, but... I guess it's best if I just learn from here instead." Ciela rubbed the back of her head, looking a little apologetic now. "I... uh... apologize for biting your friend earlier. I got too carried away."

The Protean shook her head. "That was unwise of you, however..." she sighed. "I can understand why." She hesitated. "Dariella is...not the easiest of people to deal with, but you would do well to not anger her either."

"Well, well, with all of us here and stuff, lots of fun times will happen in the future right?"

"Perhaps," the fox's tail wagged slightly. "Or perhaps we shall experience some not so great times." She grimaced. Like now.

However, as time went by, the heat gradually receded from Licorice's bones. With it, came a clearer mind. Standing up, the fox Protean transformed back into her humanoid form. "I feel better now," she declared. "Well enough to rejoin the others at the village."

Leaving the cave, the fox glanced around, seeing nobody in sight but Remy, though her ears pricked slightly as she seemed to hear a noise nearby. "She's gone, then..." she murmured to herself, before turning back to the others. "I should be able to find my way back to the path, and from there to the village, though...it might not be necessary." She blushed slightly, the way back clear as day behind her. One only had to follow the bent branches and flattened bushes.

Not too far away, a large hawk was circling, its beady eyes fixated on a spot lying just out of view of the others.

Edited August 7, 2019 by Sethera

[LordCowCow 840]

Cora's brief observations of the group has caused her to conclude....they are rather lax about all of this. Despite a couple injuries and the odd situation they seemed to not be all too bothered by what was happening. One of them even started talking about farming.

She glanced over at Alois. Was this what adventurers were like? She really wasn't suited to that kind of life in that case.

Still she tried to compose herself more. It wouldn't do any good to panic in front of these strangers. "Ah, there's more of you?" Was her initial response to the soldier. Once again she tried to examine the group. If there were more the option of a band of bandits wasn't off the table. This could be but a vanguard. But, again, why was Alois here? He didn't seem particularly attached to these people. Though she did notice there seemed to be some connection between the seeming commander of the group and Alois.

She coughed and cleared her throat to excuse the pause where she didn't speak. "Well, the mayor's house isn't actually very far. It's near the town hall, I suppose he wanted to have a short walk, over that way. My place is only a couple buildings down from that."

With a frown she nodded. "If you plan on going there I'd like to go with. I, too, want to know what's going on here but I don't like the idea of strangers messing around the mayor's home." She hesitated. "Sorry, I don't mean to insult."

---

Oh no Shiro's going to eat him.

That was the first thought that came to mind as, after Gunther asked his question, the Protean wordlessly transformed into his animal form.

Thankfully it seemed the intention was to give an alarm of sorts and wake the boy up. Which turned out to be...

Gunther sighed. "Well, I don't know why I expected anything normal." He muttered. This young man acted more like a dog than a human. Even compared to the fox Proteans in their animal form. It was actually quite disturbing to witness. Unnatural.

"Penelope once told me about something called hypnotism. That could cause someone to think something that isn't true." Gunther said, slowly approaching. Could that be the cause? He couldn't imagine another reason, beyond some Goddess cursed madness, that would cause someone to behave like this.

Still, he didn't think talking to them as a person would help much. And so, trying to imagine them as a dog, spoke slowly and calmly. "We are not here to hurt you. We only want to help. I apologize for disturbing your sleep."

He wanted to ask him more but, in this state, he couldn't imagine getting much information.

The beaver was much more helpful than this man.

---

Penelope smiled at Licorice. "I know that's what most people believe." She began. "But it doesn't have to be that way. That's why I've learned so much. I'm in a position where I can actually cause changes. I will not let this world turn to darkness. It's only naive if I fail, right?"

"well then hand them over to Penelope. She's really smart with magic, so she won't let anything bad happen with them!"

Overhearing that statement Penelope gave a giggle. "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Tsetseg." She said. Though really, what would she do with...hm. What could she do with it? Cupping her chin in her hand Penelope's gaze turned faraway and the possibilities swarmed in her mind. Thinking about it there could be quite a few applications to this that she hadn't considered. It could help in expanding her tactics...

"Well, I won't say no to handling it. I'm sure I can come up with something to do with it. But it's not mine to hold."

After a bit more time it seemed their patience was rewarded. And Licorice seemed safe to travel again.

She noticed the girl's blush at seeing the damage she had caused and gently patted the girl's back. "Well, at least you've learned something about yourself today. Plus look; you created a way to find your way back to the rest easily. And no one got hurt. I'd say your actions were rather commendable given the circumstance."

Glancing around she considered calling for the wolf pup. Then, remembering how it acted before, realized that he likely would do what he wanted. Just in case she gave a brief whistle to get its attention before saying to the rest, "I suppose there's no reason to remain here. Hopefully by now the rest have met with the locals and have gotten the information we need."

[Tiamat's Circus 117]

Citron did her best to focus as everything seemed to grow slower, and slower around her. Keeping her smile up, she stared at Edrick patiently awaiting a response to her plethora of questions. Even the ache in the skull, in that moment, couldn’t slow down the proverbial wagging of her tail, as she tried her best to wait for an answer, much like a dog waiting to be walked by their owner. It had been so long since she had gotten to talk to someone who really knew what she was about, and she was ALL ABOUT farming and plants and stuff… What? It’s not like she had much else to do beside farm and read.

 

Unfortunately for her, her world was about to come crashing down rather suddenly, as the hands of the medical woman shoved her back down to a laying position. She winced as the blood rushed to her head, only accentuating the ache in her skull. Her smile faded from her face as it turned into a very obvious grimace for the first time, the ache drowning out her ability to really even… Pay attention, to what the medical woman was saying; though, she assumed it was something like chastisement for moving and whatnot. That seemed pretty right for her luck, especially given her track record with medical-nonsense. “Sorry,” she tried to apologize through a pained voice, giving the most genuine smile she could muster up at the woman tending to her, trying to give a small laugh. “I just got a little excited, s’all.”

---

A low growl escaping her throat, Peaches refused to really… Relax, or move from her position. Keeping her wings raised, Peaches kept her eyes firmly trained on the guard-woman and her long, sharp, hand-claw. Those had never been used for something safe, and she could only think of what that woman was going to do with them. Hunt the small, rude, creepy, overbearing, and plentiful critters? Hunt her? Hunt her rider? The thoughts raced through the wyvern’s tiny, or at most medium sized brain, the growl raising in pitch ever so slightly as she hopped from haunch-to-haunch. She was getting kind of tired of standing like that, but she did what she had to for her useless rider. After all, she HAD gotten hurt from a measly fake-stall… That, Peaches, would claim she had NO idea how got there, or how it tricked her. Truly, the Fake-Stalls were her one weakness.

 

Though, she was quickly reminded that her war against the fakest of the stalls would have to be… Put on hold, as she was reminded of the state of her rider. What sounded like the most pathetic of mewls escaped her throat as she tried to force a smile, which even Peaches could tell was false. Glancing downwards, she slowly lowered herself from the defensive, or guard-like state, carefully doing her best to lay down beside – rather than on top of – her rider, and the woman trying to… Groom? Yeah, groom her. Letting out a small, unidentifiable noise, much like a quiet skree, she laid her head down beside Citron’s, nuzzling the woman’s head.