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

Asriel Dreemurr · February 20, 2019

To say that this vision of the past was upsetting to Edrick was an understatement. True, seeing things as the way they were when this place had been in use put him at ease in the aftermath of the fighting. It reminded him of home, of the sermons that his father and the priest at the village's shrine had given almost every day. But seeing those that had come to fight with them slain, the abbot being flogged and set to be crucified, and the abbey being destroyed shook him to his core. It reminded him of the stories his sister had told him, when their parents thought they were asleep, of the destruction of Pharaon. Of the home that they should have grown up in destroyed for the very same reasons that this place had. Of the holy places in that city left desecrated and in ruins. Of his Uncle, who he had always been told he looked so much like.

In the aftermath of their battle with the awakened, which left him questioning everything that he had thought he knew about the Goddess and the world at large, this left him feeling... many things. Angry. Afraid. Confused. Most of all, though, he was tired. The soreness of a night spent fighting and losing blood was setting in in full now that the last vestiges of adrenaline were wearing out. Once more he felt like he could barely stand.

"Edrick." He turned his head to see Penelope looking at him. She sounded like she was much further away than just a few steps. "Are you alright? I know that couldn't have been pleasant to see." Understatement of the year that was. He could barely form an answer to her, but all the same he managed to reach out and shakily take her hand in his.

"I'm...alive, at least." He managed to say after a few moments spent just looking at her. "But I'm tired. Think I'll go...try and get some sleep." And he intended to do just that, letting go of Penelope's hand and turning to plod on back to the small tent he had been asleep in moments before the battle had begun.

Sethera · February 20, 2019

Catriona did not have to say anything more. As soon as she heard the rustling, a small, pear-shaped head with pointed ears peeked out from behind the stone, a bone in its mouth. It dropped the bone, panting, as soon as it saw them, or more specifically Link, and ran toward him. Though as it got closer, it started to whine, head and tail lowering, till it was almost crawling on the ground when it reached the mercenary's boot.

"It appears you found Rohns," the lord commented, mystified as to why the beast was acting that way. Still, she wasn't her place to know the ins and outs of animal behavior, and so the woman decided to continue the patrol. "Let's move on," she ordered.

The two completed an entire circuit of the shrine grounds. Oddly enough, as they turned the corner to the northern exit again, it felt as if something changed. Catriona stopped dead in her tracks, glancing around wildly before looking at Link. "Do you feel that?" she asked. "It's as if..." she struggled to form the words. "As if this place has lost something." What that something was, she couldn't quite describe. A presence? Magic? Whatever it was, it was reassuring. The world had righted itself. "Let's return," she said finally.

Stepping into the shrine itself, the first thing the woman noticed was the atmosphere. It was...gloomy. Not a single person looked happy or even pleasantly neutral. No, they were all pensive, brows furrowed in thought, or outright upset. Next, she noticed the lack of their supernatural compatriots. The Awakened, as well as the abbot. "What happened here?" she asked.

There was a pause before Penelope stepped forward, explaining what had happened in serious tones. Catriona listened, but parts of it felt unbelievable. Scenery of the past? An actual good church? Anti-goddess soldiers acting in such a wicked way? Was it not supposed to be the other way around? Still, she held her tongue. The abbot, after all, had been kind, and the Awakened that had fought on their side seemed like goodly people. Still, they were, in the end, goddess supporters. They did not deserve such cruel deaths, but they had chosen their side.

It was then that L'Arachel chose to speak up, voicing that she could not tarry for much longer, and now had to leave to find her retainers. It seemed even staying awake all night had done nothing to curb the princess's energy levels, and with one last exchange of farewells, and a wish to perhaps visit Augusta at some time, the valkyrie left as quickly as she had come.

For the rest of them, the night had been long and for the most part sleepless, so it was decided to wait until midday before their departure. Prioritizing weariness over wariness, Catriona chose single watches, with her on the first, Link on the second, and Gunther on the last. Gunther's shift was the shortest, as he had not gotten any sleep at all. She looked at Edrick, but, after seeing his troubled expression, decided to let him sleep.

Thankfully, the day was peaceful, with no further disturbances. Catriona woke up a little before noon, stretching and rousing the others. With most of them having some sort of travel experience now, it didn't take long at all before they were ready to leave. However, they had to make a decision. West, north, or east. They had been told the Great Dragon was possibly to the north, but how far north that was, wasn't specified. Eventually, Licorice made the decision for them. "There should be a village a little over a day's distance from here to the west," she said. "Perhaps they might know something." With nothing else to go on, Catriona agreed, and the group set out on the road.

Chapter 6: Village of Silence

Date: 8th of Ramesoth, Year 556
Time: 9:00 PM (Compline)
Location: Phar Road, Histia

BGM

Though the lord kept a careful eye out, the road that led west from the ruined abbey was free of any danger. However, the road itself was...nothing to write home about. It was little more than a muddied trench. Were it not for the undergrowth surrounding it, it would have been better to walk next to it rather than on it. And after it began to rain, it became a miniature stream, every step taking twice as much effort as before, as their shoes wanted to sink into the mud and stay there.

Catriona forged on ahead doggedly, but even she was starting to tire under the added strain of marching through the rain. To make matters worse, night had fallen, and the rain didn't look to be stopping anytime soon. Still, there was no shelter in sight, so the group kept walking, hoping to find some form of protection against the rain up ahead. As the night wore on, however, the group was forced to halt in their tracks.

Ahead, a river blocked their way. A wooden bridge spanned it, or was supposed to span it. The wood was rotted through in multiple places, and the middle had sunken into the water. The rain had caused the river itself to boil and churn, with small whitecaps frosting the current on its northward rush. With the state the river was in right now, it was impassable.

"What now?" Catriona wondered.

OOC

Spoiler

All right, we finally moved on from the shrine, but it's hard going so far. And now a rain-swollen river and a broken bridge bars the way. React and figure out what you want to do here.

Edited March 22, 2022 by Sethera

Saikazo · February 20, 2019

Shiro hadn't said much after the visions. Granted, he was never one much for talking, but those visions... they reminded him that humans had a light to them, an inherent kindness... one that was overshadowed and snuffed out by their cruelness. They'd turn on each other, slaughter each other for something as silly as beliefs. Still, despite knowing this in his head, his heart wasn't taking it so well. He couldn't imagine what life would be like if his clan of frogs were like that.

He didn't sleep that well for the rest of the time.

After another sleepless night, the group moved on. It was a quiet walk through the day, but something happened that Shiro appreciated. It began to rain... it wasn't a light rain either. The road began to turn to mud as the water swept across the ground. The others didn't seem to enjoy the rain, but Shiro loved it. It kept him cool, and his skin wet. It was lovely.

Night fell as they came across a river. The bridge was out, and the river itself seemed to be overflowing due to all the rain. Shiro stood at the bank of the river, crouched over and staring at the rushing river.

"What now?" The princess wondered. Without saying a word, Shiro turned into his frog form, leaping up and diving into the water, creating a huge splash as he did. He stayed under the water for a bit before he surfaced a little further down the river, making his way back to land and hopping back to the group.

"Even at my full size, I could not touch the bottom," He stated, making sure the others noticed he was bigger as a frog than a human. "The water's current is also strong. I wouldn't advise you all to try swimming across. Maybe I could carry everyone across?" He then looked over the group. The horse would be an issue...

Edited February 20, 2019 by Saiku

LordCowCow · February 20, 2019

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Gunther freed his boot from the mud for the third time. He didn't have much chance to check if any mud had gotten inside as the rain would have filled it up anyway were he to take time to see so he had to only hope that it remained clean.

He glanced over at Penelope. She was holding up his frying pan over her head. He had given it to her after she requested to borrow it. A "Drying pan" she had called it. Gunther wasn't sure it was the most practical choice but it seemed to make the girl happy.

Which was more than he could say for himself. Heavy armor. Mud. Rain. It wasn't a good time for the Knight.

"How do you manage to stay out of the mud?" He asked her after a while.

She smiled at him. "Well haven't you ever heard about how mages have an easier time traveling in the desert? It's similar to that. That's just how magic is."

It didn't really make much sense to him but magic rarely did. If there was one thing that Gunther had learned it's that magic was not something he would ever understand. He couldn't even be sure it was as simple as she made it out to be.

Something that he did understand, however, was what a pain their situation was. They had pressed on in search of shelter only to find a broken bridge and a difficult to traverse river. The Knight instinctively stepped forward as he saw Shiro dive into the water but it seemed the Protean was just fine. Emerging to inform them that the river was deep.

Gunther glanced across the expanse of the river. He couldn't really see anything on the other side that would make such a journey worth it. It was frustrating to come this far without finding shelter but he couldn't imagine it would be a good idea to take that risk.

"You could bring some of us over yes." Penelope said, stepping closer to the river bank. "But making this journey in the dark, in the rain, seems ill advised. Plus, for all we know there's a sea serpent in the water."

Gunther leaned forward and was able to catch the smirk on the girl's face. "What do you think we should do?" He asked her.

"We should build a makeshift shelter on this side. At least until morning. By then hopefully the rain will have stopped and it will be easier to cross. I have a good grasp on how to craft such things as long as the proper materials are gathered."

Gunther turned to Catriona. He could see it in her eyes. "You want to cross, don't you?" He said. He knew her well enough to realize that. "I'm not sure it would really save us much time. It's almost late enough to set up camp as is."

Meanwhile Penelope was, step by step, listing how to construct several different kinds of shelters. Including, from what Gunther caught, a shelter made out of seaweed, stones, and mud.

Skaia · February 24, 2019

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With a pained expression on his face, Alois was having a tough time keeping pace. His feet were sore. His legs felt like they were on fire. And he himself was cold from the rainfall that was pouring down on them. Eventually, though, the group was met with a river that needed crossing. Of course, the river would prove much more difficult to do so, as it itself was roaring in the rain and the only way across seemed to be a broken old bridge. As the group mused about what to do next, Alois's attention was drawn to the bridge, as he suddenly realized why it had appeared so familiar to him.

As Shiro hopped across the water, Tsetseg looked in awe and seemed very excited as the frog made their way in and out of the river. She was a bit disappointed by Penelope's wish to instead set up shelter and stay the night where they were. "But what if we all leapt across the water like frogs?"

"Well sadly, only one of us is a giant frog." Alois chimed in. Tsetseg pouted at him, as the boy continued saying, "besides. The river will calm down when the rain stops and we- ," the boy shook his head, seeming irritable as he said, "and I don't want to do anymore walking for tonight." Making his way over to the younger princess, still annoyed he said, "alright, how do I set this shelter thing up."

Tsetesg, meanwhile, was looking at the edge of the water, trying to figure out how best to leap from one end of the river to the other.

The Last Occultist · February 24, 2019

Ciela Celestinia

For what was pretty much a concerning rarity throughout the journey so far, Ciela spent most of her time after the group departed from the abbey. The return of her leg's functions, by way of the Goddess' miracle, was too overwhelming, as much as it was something that she should be overjoyed about. And what the abbot said to the group was also even more concerning. There were a thousand questions on her mind right now, questions that was currently lacking in answer. It was frustrating, but somehow it felt liberating at the same time. It allowed her to get the drive again to continue her translation of Lady Nashandra's notes. Even if the chance was slim, she hoped to one day be able to find the answers she seeked in these words.

Perhaps it was more than just her own legs that had been changed by the abbot.

However, this only lasted for a few hours, and soon, a downpour started, turning the road they were in to mud. Ciela grumbled and stored her books. Her white dress that was given by Santa now looked horrible. It's a shame. Caked in blood, mud, and covered in tears, she wondered if she should've just stayed on her undergarments instead to maintain what was left of the dress... no, that would be a horrible idea. She really did need to buy more clothes, though. For now, she perhaps could borrow a set from Catriona or something since she was probably the closest to her, body frame-wise. Actually, would the princess even own more than one or two sets of clothing anyway?

Day turned to night without much else happening. The rain didn't even let for hours. Remy was getting more and more uncomfortable, and Ciela herself was drenched from top to bottom. And as if the luck of the group could still manage to turn for the worse, they soon came face to face with a broken bridge. The river was flooding, but Cat still seemed like she was intent on passing the river, somehow. Ciela didn't say anything other than giving the elder princess the most disapproving look she could manage. Thankfully, a lot of the group seemed to also be in agreement that this was really stupid. Well, for making shelter, Ciela'd rather have Penelope and others that were more experienced to deal with it. Instead, she decided to revisit an earlier thought and went towards Cat.

"Nevermind continuing for now. And err...Princess, this might sound a little weird..." Ciela didn't feel like being too casual with her own employer... and well, someone that could legitimately send her to be executed, but this was kind of a matter of life and death. "Do you have any spare set of clothing? Lemme borrow it until we reach the next town, alright? My dress is barely wearable right now."

Adelheid Sigrdvia

Traveling with this group had proven to be a reallly interesting thing that she got herself dragged into. Adel was smiling to herself after the stay in the abbey. It truly had been an interesting revelation, and the group seemed like it was planning to go for a higher and higher ideal than even her old mentor used to have. Though, the rain disturbed her thoughts, and furthermore, at night they were faced by a broken bridge. An absolutely trivial obstacle for Adel, but of course others wouldn't really be able to pass, not at this weather and river condition. The younger princess had elected to figure out on how to make a shelter. Adel decided that it wouldn't hurt to help her a little. She approached Penelope with Tyltalis in tow next to her.

"Young Princess, may I perhaps scout the immediate area for you? Perhaps there are a cave nearby, or perhaps I could gather the materials for the shelter types you had just described?"

Cheshire Toon · February 26, 2019

Link watched the group stumble through the muddy road with mild amusement from his spot in the back. The rain wasn’t much of a bother to him; it still slowed him down, but he had enough practice navigating the mud to know how to conserve his energy.

Rohns was also helping to keep him in high spirits. The wolf pup was so light he barely sank in the sludge, and he was frolicking from the front of the group to the back with glee. Sometimes he would plant himself in the mud and vigorously roll back and forth, tongue lolling out of his mouth, just to climb back to his feet and sling sludge everywhere when he shook himself off. Countless times he ran off the side of the road to go pee on a tree or shrub.

By the time they reached the river, Link was beginning to wonder how much pee on small wolf could hold. He pushed all that to the back of his mind once Catriona addressed the group. “What now?” she wondered.

Link went right up to the edge of the river to inspect it more thoroughly. The bridge was no use. It was so dilapidated and rotten that what was left couldn’t even be used as hopping stones, which had been his first idea. A quick test by Shiro and his frog-form revealed the current was too strong and the river too deep for them to wade through it.

Rohns ran up to the edge of the river to drink from the water. Link shooed him away from the edge before he could fall in, digging a small hole with his hands a few yards away and letting the rain fill that with water for the cub to drink.

“Maybe I could carry everyone across?" Shiro suggested.

Link stared at him for a moment; in his frog form, his voice was slightly distorted and on top of that it was weird to be talking to a gigantic frog. It was going to take some getting used to. “That would mean leaving Remy behind. There has to be a way for us all to cross…” Link muttered, more to himself than anyone else. Princess Penelope and Gunther were in favor of making camp, as were Alois and Ciela. It seemed it wasn’t eye-to-eye, and the soldier couldn’t help but think he had found the perfect opportunity to implement what he and Princess Catriona had discussed before.

Link cleared his throat to get his commander’s attention. “Ahem. Your Highness? Can I make a suggestion? It has to do with what we discussed last night.” They needed to get organized; right now they were milling about, trying to be productive but wasting valuable time shifting from foot-to-foot and waiting on a decision. Assuming the princess gave him the go ahead, he would continue, “Make camp for the night. Designate two or three people to gather supplies and build a shelter, while another group works on doing upkeep; cooking, drying out clothes, the usual. Allow Shiro and I to scout the river and find a better place to cross while all of you are working on that -- between the two of us, we can cover the land and water and have a way to cross set up before we break camp at sunrise.” His voice was low the entire time, meaning only those right beside him would be able to hear him; he wasn’t trying to undermine Catriona’s authority or experience to anyone.

Edited February 26, 2019 by Cheshire Toon

Asriel Dreemurr · February 27, 2019

Edrick had been in something like a daze since they had woken up and gotten back on the road, taking a rough dirt trail West off in search of some place they could more properly rest and recover or replenish their supplies. He hadn't been paying much attention. The world barely seemed real right now, and every step felt heavier than it ought to as they trudged along. Even the rain was strange when it started, feeling almost effervescent on his skin and filling his ears with a low hum that served to further deepen his dreamlike state as they walked along. If the thick slurry of mud that the road turned into over the course of the day troubled him any more, he barely registered it. Walking along, finding himself covered up above the knees through a mix of spatter and holes that were just a bit too deep. He barely even noticed as the rainfall soaked his hair, and the steady stream of a year's worth of grime began slowly washing off of him.

No, his mind was well-and-truly on anything but their present surroundings. Instead stuck on thoughts of home. Daydreams of playing with his sister before she had gone off to join the church, of working with his father in the field, of his mother teaching him how to work with animals. Everything had a strangely sinister feel to it now, and whether he was remembering it properly or his mind was inventing it he saw dozens upon dozens of crows and ravens as he trudged on in a dream. One of the last things he imagined was the village where they had lived for so very long in flames. Ash and cinders fell like snow around him, the sky was black with smoke and every field, tree, and building was engulfed in flickering orange fire that covered everything in a weird, sickly light. Worse still were the screams as he looked around, the villagers being cut apart by red-eyed, half-rotten facsimiles of the generations of ancestors that had until recently rested in the cemetery. His vision turned and he saw the charred-black edifice of the chapel, one of a few stone buildings in the place, and an all-too familiar figure atop it. An enormous beast, a mockery of what it had been in life, and a rider with a bow upon its back. He tried to cry out, but found that he could not as a roar filled his ears...

"...and have a way to cross set up before we break camp at sunrise.” Link's voice cut through the din, and in moments Edrick was stood there again with the group. His weight resting on the spear he had been gripping so tightly that the skin on his hand had split from the force. There was no more village burning around them, just a dark forest in the pouring rain and a river swollen almost past its blanks from it. This was not good, for a lot of reasons. Not the least of which were considerations for the future, which began bleeding in and forcing out the vision of the apocalypse.

"I," he started, finding his voice rough and hoarse in his throat. Had he not drank anything all day? A bit of fishing around and he found his waterskin, which he took a drink from and wet his mouth and throat. "I have a tent," he finally managed to say. "Might not be the best thing, but we could cut it up and use it as a tarp. Cover up a spot where we could get a fire going." He took that moment to begin looking up at the trees around them, trying to find some dead, dry branches up on their trunks. They wouldn't be finding any good wood to burn on the ground after all of this. Idly he brushed a bit of hair that had stuck to his face out of his eyes, and exposed a few golden-blonde strands from among the grime.

Sethera · February 27, 2019

The other side was right there. Not too far, a distance that would take her a few minutes to cross were it dry land, and yet they could not cross. It was strange, how much of a difference it made being water rather than land. If only she could traverse it nearly as easily, as easily as Shiro was currently doing.

"Even at my full size, I could not touch the bottom," He stated. "The water's current is also strong. I wouldn't advise you all to try swimming across. Maybe I could carry everyone across?"

"A good idea," the woman replied, eager to be back on the road again. If they could find some form of shelter on the other side...

Her sister had some reservations. "You could bring some of us over yes," she said, stepping closer to the river bank. "But making this journey in the dark, in the rain, seems ill advised. Plus, for all we know there's a sea serpent in the water."

Catriona stared blankly at the other girl. "I do not think that so likely," she muttered. How could a fabled beast so enormous fit in something like a river? No, more likely, if one actually existed, it would live in the sea.

Gunther, well used to her antics, leaned forward. "What do you think we should do?" He asked her.

"We should build a makeshift shelter on this side. At least until morning. By then hopefully the rain will have stopped and it will be easier to cross. I have a good grasp on how to craft such things as long as the proper materials are gathered."

The woman shook her head, nonplussed. This girl...she had never seen her so much as pitch a tent before. Then again, neither had she until she became a soldier. Bearing that in mind, the lord had her doubts as to how helpful her sister would be in this scenario.

Gunther turned to Catriona. "You want to cross, don't you? I'm not sure it would really save us much time. It's almost late enough to set up camp as is."

The lord's face tightened slightly, before she sighed. "Perhaps there is some merit in your words," she replied, glancing at the others, who seemed all too ready to set up camp for the night. Her sister was currently listing how to construct several different kinds of structures, more than a few of which seemed either impractical or impossible to build with the materials at hand. Where would we get seaweed?

"Nevermind continuing for now. And err...Princess, this might sound a little weird..." Ciela, who, thinking about it, had been rather quiet since they left the shrine, approached. "Do you have any spare set of clothing? Lemme borrow it until we reach the next town, alright? My dress is barely wearable right now."

Catriona glanced at the other woman's clothes, a little puzzled as they still seemed to be performing their function, if a little dirty, but nodded her assent. "I do." It was not much, only one outfit, but it was there were her old one to become torn beyond repair. Still, it seemed that Ciela had greater need of it than she. "You may wear it if you wish." Taking it from her pack, she gave it to the troubadour. "The next town..." she thought for a bit. "Perhaps we should all buy more there."

The sound of a person clearing their throat from beside her broke her from her musings. "Ahem. Your Highness? Can I make a suggestion? It has to do with what we discussed last night." It was Link, speaking in a rather low voice, though that was not so unusual for him. Giving him a nod, she listened as he continued to speak. "Make camp for the night. Designate two or three people to gather supplies and build a shelter, while another group works on doing upkeep; cooking, drying out clothes, the usual. Allow Shiro and I to scout the river and find a better place to cross while all of you are working on that -- between the two of us, we can cover the land and water and have a way to cross set up before we break camp at sunrise."

"I," Edrick started, pausing to take a drink. "I have a tent," he finally managed to say. "Might not be the best thing, but we could cut it up and use it as a tarp. Cover up a spot where we could get a fire going." He began to look up at the trees, idly brushing a bit of hair that had stuck to his face out of his eyes, exposing a few golden-blonde strands from among the grime.

"That could work, though I would rather not ruin your tent in the process," Catriona replied, attempting to distract herself from the fact that Edrick's hair looked to be changing color at this time. That was...unexpected. It seemed Shiro was not the only one to have made use of mud to camouflage his hair.

The woman turned to Link. "While I would prefer it if we pressed on, it seems my opinion is of the minority." She shook her head, before turning to the group. "It appears we will be staying the night on this side of the river. We need to set up shelter, which includes gathering the supplies for it, and prepare the camp," she listed off the assignments. The woman glanced at her sister, who was instructing Alois. "It appears we have a couple recruits for the first task, but we still need help on the other duty. Lastly, we need people to scout the area, specifically the river. Link has already volunteered for this, but we need one more. Shiro, do you wish to do this?" she looked at the Protean. It didn't have to be him. Sienna, Tsetseg, or Adelaide could also be useful, though she wasn't sure how well the latter's pegasus would fly in this rain.

--

Those who volunteered to help set up shelter would find that there was no shortage of foliage, though there was a small clearing not too far from the bridge. While not thick enough to be considered a forest, the area they were in contained a great number of trees, a mixture of deciduous and coniferous. There was also a great deal of underbrush and grasses, though most of them were dripping wet. It would take a while to find anything that was at least somewhat dry.

While most of the animals were in hiding in the rain, there were a few frogs by the river, and every so often one would see the glint of silver scales in the river itself. Several trees had brown-and-white mushrooms growing at their base. Anybody with knowledge on fungi would be able to recognize them as edible, and that many were in fact the porcini, or penny bun mushrooms. There were even a couple chestnut trees as well as a single apple tree bearing red-and-green apples.

If one followed the river downstream, they would see that it appeared to get even faster and deeper. There didn't look to be an easy way to cross. The further north they got, the swampier the ground became, until it became almost impossible to keep going.

Upstream, however, the ground was relatively dry, though the river seemed just as fast. However, after ten minutes of following the banks south, they would come upon what looked like a natural ford, where the river grew shallow enough for Shiro to stand, though just barely. Several rocks dotted the surface. Nearby, a tree practically smothered with penny bun mushrooms swayed unsteadily in the wind.

Edited February 27, 2019 by Sethera

LordCowCow · February 27, 2019

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Penelope looked around at the group who had gathered around her and smiled. She clapped her hands together. Which resulted in splashing water in her own face and her giving a start. "Yes. Well. Let us get this started. First we need to go a bit upstream. We don't want to set up the camp somewhere too close to the river. We need a good, elevated, area. We're gonna need a lot of brush and wood. Whatever it driest will work best. Sienna!" Penelope called to the girl. "We might need some fire to keep things dry as well."

She gathered up the group she chose for this exploration, which included Alois, Edrick, and Adel, and ushered them to where the biggest gathering of brush and wood they could find was. "Someone pick out a good spot while the others start gathering materials. Might have to root around a bit to get good stuff. Try and keep it under cover as we move it so it doesn't get wet before we get to the camp location." She continued to give direction, sometimes going too in-depth into the detail, as to how to set up a large enough shelter. It wouldn't be the most impressive thing but as long as it kept them dry that was enough by her.

Of course she spent most of the time simply directing. It wouldn't do for her to get hurt in such a silly fashion after all. She knew how to set it up of course but it would be better to let the others gain the knowledge for themselves.

Something was bothering Penelope, though. Edrick. Something was different.

His hair.

It's color.

"I don't want to alarm anyone." Penelope began ominously. "But this rain may be enacting physical changes in us."

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Gunther declared his intention on searching for food. He knew they had provisions but he preferred to cook when he could. Especially if it allowed them to keep a good stock of food in case of emergency. Before he set out his eyes landed on Ciela. The girl had seemed somewhat out of sorts after regaining use of her legs. Likely still used to not being able to do much. He approached her and gave a gentle nod. "Ciela, care to come with me to gather food? It might be good to get moving around. No need to just stand around in the rain." If she needed he'd let her take his arm to help her through. Though he first wanted to see how she was handling being back on her feet.

First he went to the apples and, using his height, plus occasionally his lance, began to bat down the fruit. "Those mushrooms...no, not those, the other type. Those right there. If you can start getting those I can use them. I'm sure you've never had Mushapple soup before. It sounds strange but I find it's surprisingly sweet."

As he continued he'd continue to glance over to check on her. Finally he gave in and asked, "How are you feeling anyway? Is there any...side effects that you can tell?"

Spoiler

If anyone has any issues with being pushed into things here let me know I can edit. From what I can tell this was what y'all were going for anyway but can easily edit if I'm wrong.

Wind Rider · February 28, 2019

Was that a dream last night, or something else entirely? Sienna couldn't put her finger on the vision that she had gotten at the Abbey. In the end, she just chalked it up to one more weird event from last night.

She let out a quiet yawn as she walked behind the group a little, she wanted nothing more than to sleep in, but there wasn't any time for that now. Eventually, the group came upon a river that was overflowing from the rain that was currently falling. There was a bridge, but it wasn't much of an option as it was rotten and in need of major repairs.

In the end, it was settled that Link and Shiro would look for a safer route across the river. Sienna tighten her cloak, the rain was starting to irritate her. She was never fond of water, not just because she used fire, but just because she... She just didn't like water.

"Yes. Well. Let us get this started. First we need to go a bit upstream. We don't want to set up the camp somewhere too close to the river. We need a good, elevated, area. We're gonna need a lot of brush and wood. Whatever it driest will work best. Sienna!" Penelope called to the girl.

Sienna shot up and came back to her senses. "A fire!? R-right right... Of course..." she said. She made a fire for the camp but stayed as quiet as she was beforehand. Stupid, stupid, stupid... Pay attention! She told herself in her head, she couldn't dose off like this. She needed to be ready at all times. As the others set up the camp, Sienna sat by the fire and just looked into it quietly.

The Last Occultist · February 28, 2019

Ciela Celestinia

Ciela quickly placed Cat's outfit somewhere where it wouldn't be soaked by the rain. The last thing she wanted was for a new outfit to be ruined just moments after she got it. It was a surprisingly nice one, at least. As expected of the princess. She finished packing just as Penelope started to order people around to start the preparation for making a camp. Well, mostly Adel, Edrick, and Alois, at least from what Ciela was able to gather. Speaking of, however...only then did she notice that Edrick's hair changed color. It was now clearly blond, just quite dirty. No, there was always something odd about the tone of his old hair, but Ciela's not some sort of pervert that would closely examine someone's hair. Then that meant... all of it was grime and dirt?

Ciela almost puked at the thought. While they're travelers and especially lately they had to skimp on hygiene issues (especially as Ciela had to drag herself through the ground just to move anywhere indoor) that was going too far. Ciela made a mental note to start monitoring people's hygiene once they're in a town again, whenever that was. She felt that for something like this, she could definitely string Penelope along. It's a little hard getting along with someone like her, but if there's someone that could boss the entire group to actually take a proper bath for once, it'd be her.

But that was for later. For now, well, Ciela decided to help a little with the group. Somehow. It hopefully could help her diverting her thought from the thought of dirty things as well as her frustrations on being unable to continue her translation work. She got off from Remy with some difficulty, and almost fell in the process. The many days of not having functional legs still was fresh on her muscle memory. Getting herself used to walk again proved to be more challenging than expected. She managed to anchor herself standing with the help of her staff, at least.

"Ciela, care to come with me to gather food? It might be good to get moving around. No need to just stand around in the rain."

"...Yeah, let's."

She was about to say in irritation that Gunther was just asking her to do what she was going to do anyway, but held herself back. Going with Gunther would help if she ended up falling or whatnot, and well, she's not in the mood to be irritated at things right now. He's spared for today.

As the two went to the gathering spots, Ciela stubbornly attempted to walk on her own with her stick as her only aid, but her legs were still infirm and wobbly, and she ended up falling a few times. She accepted Gunther helping her, but not once she decided to hold to him just to walk.

"Those mushrooms...no, not those, the other type. Those right there. If you can start getting those I can use them. I'm sure you've never had Mushapple soup before. It sounds strange but I find it's surprisingly sweet."

"Doesn't sound half bad. I'm a picky eater though, so I'll make sure that I'll pick only the best mushrooms there is."

Ciela honestly never heard anything about Mushapple soup or whatever it was. Mushroom and apple to her were something you couldn't just mix around, especially in a sweet dish. But after Gunther's delicious pizza thing back in the Fox Village, she was more receptive of his culinary decisions. Thinking about it made her more motivated in gathering the food material for tonight.

Although, even as Ciela lightened, Gunther was still looking at her with concern.

"How are you feeling anyway? Is there any...side effects that you can tell?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by side effects. I'm not growing claws or fangs yet, so don't worry about it." Ciela let out a hmph. "My head is getting clearer at least, and I've been thinking about things more due to it. But at least, I feel like I've never felt better physically. Just look! I feel like maybe I even grow an inch or so, but maybe it's just me not used to stand at this height yet. Even if I still had barely any meat on me, I feel as solid as an oak tree."

Ciela gave the mushrooms to Gunther before getting up properly. The bushes left a few scratches here and there on her, but she seemed nonplussed about it.

"It's still really crazy, and even I barely understand anything about it. Even if I'm a horrible priestess, I'm knowledgeable, you know?" Cilela huffed her chest with pride, but it made her posture weaken and she almost fell over due to it. She recomposed herself quickly after and pretended it didn't happen. "Say though. Gunther, I wonder. Why do you think many people chose to worship the Goddess?"

Adelhei d Sigrdvia

"I volunteer to survey too. If it's just this rain, Tyltalis can handle it just fine. If nothing else, I can also look for prospective camp locations this way."

A disapproving neigh came from Adel's side as she said that, but she ignored it and went to Tsetseg's side.

"Do you want to go with me, Tsetseg? We might also end up gathering materials too, and I can't carry them all on my own. It should be fun right, riding a pegasus in the middle of a rain?"

Skaia · March 2, 2019

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While Alois was relieved he didn't have to cross this dreaded river for yet another night, this was only a momentary relief as the orders from the younger princess came. He had already had enough of moving for the day, so having to go forage and build a camp while someone else directed him around was not the most pleasant of notions. Nevertheless, he followed the orders of the princess and merely moved around foraging for supplies to help build their shelter after shortly finding the clearing to set things up in. As he did so, he mockingly mouthed along with the directions of Penelope, though was just as often berated due to not having the specific distance between two each piece correct. Wondering how the girl could even tell, he was stopped as she made her comment about the rain. Looking at her quizically, he said, "what are you talking ab-" it was then that he followed where she was looking to.

There was someone new here. Or, rather, someone incredibly familiar looking. He was so familiar looking in fact that Alois was positive he knew this person. But they were blond. And the other person was not. Confused, Alois had next to no idea of what to make of this. Obviously, color shifting rain was not an ordinary thing, but the past week had been anything but. However, the only thing that Alois could possibly think to say was, "Eddy. Put your hair back on."

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Tsetseg was quite looking forward to figuring out how to hop or swim across the water. Yet, all the same, the group had elected to spend the night on this side of the river, and so she went along with it. As they were splitting up to go do other things, Tsetseg wondered if she would be best suited to also go forage things when her most familiar of group members came over to her. Electing to go scouting and offering for her to come along, Tsetseg smiled and said, "oh, sure sure Adel. Let's be scouting buddies!" Waking alongside the woman, as she mentioned flying in the rain, the girl nodded. "Oh I bet it is! Especially when you see the rain just go fwoosh," she spread her arms wide, "and spray everywhere off the wings." Thinking for a moment, the girl said, "but I bet flying normally is tons of fun too. Is it? What's it like Adel?"

Asriel Dreemurr · March 2, 2019

With everyone splitting up to get a campsite together, Edrick took the opportunity to find a distraction from the waking nightmares he had been dealing with for most of the day. They needed a spot to actually get everything set up, and he was fairly sure he knew how to find that. So as the group split up, he began walking about seemingly without any purpose in mind. His eyes were up, mostly focused on not running into trees in the near darkness they were working in, and he stepped deliberately about the area. He was looking for a spot where the ground was more solid, something that simply required stepping on it. Nothing else would matter if they didn't have firm ground to set themselves up on. This was not exactly a quick process, which meant that the rain continued to wash steadily more and more of the filth and grime out of his hair. A few streaks of dark black traced across his face and his neck, down onto his gambeson.

Sure enough, eventually he found what he was looking for. A small rise a ways off from the road where the ground was covered in grasses and other shorter bits of undergrowth. A bit of stamping around, and he determined that the ground was firm. Or at least firm enough that they weren't in danger of sinking into it just by standing in place or laying across it. This of course had him thinking of what a gigantic pain in the ass it would be to try and till this bit of ground. Firm as it was it had to be full of roots, and probably plenty of rocks as well. It might well take half a day's work just to get it good for planting. Maybe longer.

He shook the irrelevant thoughts out of his head, creating a shower of foul black grime that fall in thick drops out of his ever brighter-growing hair. Of course Edrick did not notice himself, and turned to alert the group of the ground he had found.

"I don't want to alarm anyone." Penelope began ominously. "But this rain may be enacting physical changes in us." As Edrick heard that he gave the princess a look like she'd grown a second head, and he was about to speak up to protest the absurdity of it, when he heard Ciela gagging a ways off. He was just about to question them, when Alois answered him before he could even put his question into words.

"Eddy. Put your hair back on." A moment's confusion, and then he ran a gloved hand through his hair. Sure enough when he brought it back down there was a thick, grimy fluid on it. Now that he bothered to think about it...he actually had not washed his hair since he had left home.

"Huh. I didn't even think it got that dirty." He said aloud, and quickly shrugged it off. "But yeah, I found us a spot to set up over here. Ground's nice and firm." He kicked a bit of the grassy rise to demonstrate his point, not sparing another moment's consideration to his hair.

Saikazo · March 5, 2019

"You could bring some of us over yes." Penelope stated after Shiro’s offer. "But making this journey in the dark, in the rain, seems ill advised. Plus, for all we know there's a sea serpent in the water."

“I don’t believe particularly big ones live in rivers...” Shiro commented, which the older princess seemed to agree with. The green one then spoke up.

“Ahem. Your Highness? Can I make a suggestion? It has to do with what we discussed last night. Make camp for the night. Designate two or three people to gather supplies and build a shelter, while another group works on doing upkeep; cooking, drying out clothes, the usual. Allow Shiro and I to scout the river and find a better place to cross while all of you are working on that -- between the two of us, we can cover the land and water and have a way to cross set up before we break camp at sunrise.”

It was a decent plan, but Shiro felt he could do this alone. Still, it wasn’t his place to speak up, not yet. After all, the princesses hadn’t even okayed the plan yet. She began to assign roles, before addressing Shiro.

"Lastly, we need people to scout the area, specifically the river. Link has already volunteered for this, but we need one more. Shiro, do you wish to do this?" Well, scouting was his specialty. He bowed his large frog head.

“I will get on that right away,” He lifted his head and turned to Link. “Are you going up or downstream?”

Link shouldered his backpack then pointed forward with his head. “Upstream,” he said. “Are you going to stay in the river? If so, I can search the bank for a safe way across while you keep track of how strong the current is.”

“That was the plan,” Shiro commented as he turned, hopping back into the water, keeping his head above the surface. “Lead the way.”

“Right.” Link nodded, but he hadn’t made it two steps when a grey blur hurtled past him and into a puddle in front of him. It was Rohns--slathered with suck a thick layer of mud that even the rain was struggling to wash his fur clean. “...” Link pursed his lips and stared at the wolf cub, before eventually glancing at Shiro. “I hope you don’t mind if he tags along?”

“I’d prefer it, actually,” Shiro stated, watching the dog. “I’m sure he’ll be a great help as well,” with that, he began to slowly swim upstream, fighting against the current, but being able to keep pace with a human walking.

They covered ground quickly considering the environment. Link ghosted across the muddy banks with an unsettling ease, shallow footprints washed away by the rain within moments, but even he struggled to keep up with Shiro. The Frog Protean easily cut through the current pulling against him with his strong legs, his head just barely visible above the water, dark blue skin acting as a camouflage in the dark. They would have been an undetectable team, if it hadn’t been for their third member. Rohns stopped several times to pee on trees and bushes, chased after any wildlife he spotted, and nipped at Link’s heels everytime he thought the soldier was distracted.

Link was certain they were on the right track though. “The trees are getting thicker,” he gestured above his head for Shiro to see. “They’re keeping the ground dry. My boots don’t sink at all here.”

Shiro was now convinced that the one he was traveling with, Link, was an famed ‘assassin’ for the royal family. He had heard whispers of similar things during his years of... servitude… humans that could move so silently that even a cat couldn’t detect them and able to kill in a single strike. He thought humans like that were only myth, but perhaps he was wrong. “The water’s current is as swift as ever, but it seems it is gradually getting shallower… if we keep going, we might find a good crossing spot,” He reported.

The frog was unsure of what to do now. The trip had been comfortably quiet, but he also had words he wanted to say to Link, things about Glenn, he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. Maybe, he could ask about something else. “Are you an assassin for the royal family? With the way you move, it’s no wonder you were able to strike Glenn as you did… needless, true, but still very impressive,”

Link stopped walking. He didn’t look towards Shiro when he responded, “An assassin? Heh, I’m not even a Knight. Just a soldier with a soft stride is all.” He shook his head, trying to physically rattle whatever thoughts had given him pause loose, but before long his eyes wandered over to Rohns.

The wolf cub was sniffing the base of a tree so smothered in penny bun mushrooms it had begun to bow. Rohns sniffled a few more times then started to bark at it.

Link pointed it out to Shiro. “I think our guide might be onto something. Check how deep it is over by that tree. If it’s shallow enough to wade, we can secure a rope to the trunk on this side.”

Sethera · March 6, 2019

Catriona began to make herself useful around the camp, aiding anybody who looked like they needed a helping hand. For the most part, everybody seemed to be doing fine. Edrick had managed to find a good spot to camp, where the ground was not quite so soft. Penelope was busily giving instructions on how to set up the shelter, though the white-haired woman wished she would talk less of the various kinds of shelter, and more about...well, one in specific. Something practical, and within their abilities. Every so often, she paused, glancing around to make sure they would not get ambushed in the night. Most of the others had already left, and the ones who remained were devoting most of their attention to their tasks.

Licorice, who throughout most of the night had been silently trudging through the rain, took the opportunity to join Sienna by the fire. "This rain has been long and miserable," she commented as she settled down. "I care not for it. It is a relief that we have your fire at hand, else we might not have started one so easily." Even now, the flames looked to be on the verge of guttering out, hissing constantly as the raindrops splattered against the charred wood. "To think that you can use magic. Like Inari of old," the black fox said. "What a wondrous power."

--

The grassy rise that Edrick had discovered seemed almost perfect for what they needed. The ground was relatively firm and the fact it was on a rise kept the water from pooling on the surface. However, putting up the shelter ended up being a bit more work. Most of the woods and grasses were soaking wet, and the rain made it difficult to grip anything, much less see anything. Still, in the end, they managed to erect the shelter.

Gunther and Ciela would find an abundance of mushrooms, but only the one apple tree. Still, it bore quite a few of the reddish-green fruits on its boughs, only some of which had already been nibbled on by the various critters and insects of the area. Sienna had managed to keep the fire going, even with the rain, so they did not have to go through the difficult task of starting the fire before they even worked on the food.

If Adelheid and Tsetseg flew, they would notice that the rain seemed to be making Tyltalis uncomfortable, but he was still able to keep going as the wind was not that strong. The ground below looked to be getting boggier and boggier the further north they flew, and the mountains loomed ever closer. Eventually, they would see that the river split itself into two up ahead. The two would also notice what looked like a flickering light down below out of the corner of their eyes. However, if they turned their heads to look, they would see nothing. Aside from that, there looked to be nothing that they could use to cross the river.

Upstream, Link and Shiro would find more success with their task. The frog would find that the water near the tree was shallow enough for him to wade through, but only barely. However, the mercenary would find that the tree seemed a rather unsteady support, groaning and creaking as it swayed in the wind. It looked as if one good gust would send it toppling over. And indeed, if he tried exerting any force against the tree, whether by rope or otherwise, it would start to bow ominously.

OOC

Spoiler

Did a brief timeskip to the end of your tasks, but I figure you all can continue describing your interactions/tasks in your posts as well as how you finish them. If you need any more information, message me on Discord or in the FE chat and I'll try and answer as soon as I can.

LordCowCow · March 6, 2019

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Gunther couldn't help but crack a smile at Ciela's little "hmph". It was sorta sweet in a way. He was glad she seemed alright. More than that honestly. She had felt a bit off kilter lately and it seemed that was changing.

"It's still really crazy, and even I barely understand anything about it. Even if I'm a horrible priestess, I'm knowledgeable, you know? Say though. Gunther, I wonder. Why do you think many people chose to worship the Goddess?"

Gunther winced. He hadn't expected the conversation to go this direction. Why people chose to worship her? "I...I'll be blunt. I think worshiping her is wrong. I know that some people do it for power. They want to have an advantage over others so they turn to an outside force to empower them. Those type of people...they don't care about anyone else. They don't care who they hurt." He was trembling. He had to calm down. "I suppose, barring that, the only reason I can truly see someone worshiping her is misunderstanding. Everyone..." He hesitated. This wasn't his strong suit at all. "Everyone wants someone to look to when they're in need. Maybe some need something bigger than normal. I don't know, it's not a good explanation. I don't really understand why myself."

He looked towards her and smiled. "Personally I think you being a horrible priestess is part of what makes you great."

Realizing what he said he purposefully turned back to the tree to finish gathering what apples he could to hide his face. Once done he gestured for Ciela to follow her to the fire where the foxes were. Pausing to be sure they weren't interrupting he moved and knelt next to them. "Thank you for the fire, Sienna. This will be most helpful." He looked at Licorice and gave her a polite nod before going to his work. He had to be careful to be sure the mushrooms and apples didn't mix too much and to ensure both the main ingredients were the proper consistency.

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"Huh. I didn't even think it got that dirty."

Dirty...dirty...DIRTY!?

The realization of what Edrick meant hit Penelope like a blow from a Hammer. In fact it was so shocking that she stumbled back a few steps. She took a deep breath, forgetting the rain and having to cough up some water that got inside, took a few moments, and then stomped up to him. "Edrick. The moment you get a chance you are going to do something. Wash. Your. Hair. If you refuse this order..." She pointed over at Alois. "I'll have Alois force your head into the river. I will not have such uncleanliness in my group."

-----

After a while the group managed to create their shelter. It wasn't the strongest thing. And some parts seemed to stick out in weird ways that weren't entirely practical. And only one of the entrances actually worked as an entrance, how they managed to make an entrance sideways was beyond her, but it was done. And they had done it.

Penelope beamed with pride at the others. "Great job team. I'm glad you were able to follow my instructions. I think we should be proud of ourselves here." She nodded. "So...who wants to go inside and test it out?"

Skaia · March 7, 2019

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Alois's shock and confusion at looking towards the Pontic boy was only magnified as he made his statement about his hair. Unlike the princess next to him, Alois only stood their in stunned silence, truly beginning to learn how strange the mundane truly was. Once the princess had recovered from her own coughing fit and made her declaration towards the boy Alois could only look seriously to him. "And trust me, I don't want to be anywhere near you until you do, so keep it clean for the both of us."

Alois was pretty sure that misery didn't come in many greater forms than what he was feeling now. His eyes were stinging from the rain continuing to flood over them, his legs were sore from the great amount of trudging in mud he had to do, and now his arms were sore from shelter building. All the same, they were done now and as the princess beamed with pride towards them Alois could only let out a sigh of relief from her congratulations towards them. As she asked who wanted to test it, Alois said, "don't mind if I do."

Walking into the shelter and collapsing onto the ground for a moment to rest, it was still far from comfortable. "Well, I'm still wet. The ground's still wet. I'm pretty sure everything's also dripping wet too. But hey, I'm not getting poured on so, silver linings."

Cheshire Toon · March 12, 2019

Shiro’s eyes narrowed, but he walked over anyways, seeing that he could stand with no issues. “It is shallow enough for me to stand in. However, I must ask, are you sure it’s a good idea to use that tree? It doesn’t look particularly stable.”

Rohns kept barking at the tree. Link approached it to get a closer look and frowned. “You’re right.” It might hold their weight while crossing, but they were better safe than sorry. Still… why was the wolf cub making such a fuss over the tree? Shaking his head, Link produced a dried strip of jerky from his pocket and waved it under Rohns’ nose. The cub snuffled at the meat for a few seconds, then snatched it and moved off to a nearby bush to hide his food.

“It shouldn’t be hard to fashion something to anchor the rope to, though,” Link said, sweeping over the area. It was extremely dark and he was struggling to see further than a few feet in front of him. “The ground’s solid enough we should be able to hammer a sturdy branch or two into the ground.”

“Since we know such an area exists, would it not be better to head back to the others? We can try to hammer that branch in when there is light, and you can see what you’re doing,” Shiro commented as he climbed out of the water. “Unless you humans have better night vision than I was lead to believe.”

Link shook his head. “Her Majesty is expecting us to fashion a way across tonight, so we can leave as soon as we break camp. Besides,” he picked up a particularly hefty branch a few feet from the bank and held it out towards Shiro. It was wet but the wood hadn’t yet started to rot, and it was long and stout enough to properly secure. “I have some practice. Bury this while I get the rope?”

Shiro nodded as he turned back into his human form, grasping the stick in his human hands. “Sure. How close to the river do you think it should be?” They didn’t want it to be so close that a rise in water level could sweep it away, but not so far the rope wouldn’t reach across, after all.

“Five or so feet.” Link was busy pulling a bundle of rope out of his backpack, but he paused long enough to gesture at the riverbank. “The ground rises the further you get from the bank. You want to get it high enough the tide won’t sweep it up, and far enough the ground is firm.”

Shiro let out a grunt of acknowledgement as he got down on all fours, his limbs sprawling out as he felt the ground meticulously, his hands being caked with mud until he found a place that was perfect according to Link’s criteria. Carefully, he began to scrape up the ground, creating a hole deep enough to place the stick in. After refilling the hole, he turned to look at Link. “It is done.”

It took another fifteen minutes for the two of them to finish setting the rest up, but Link was happy with the result. The rope was secured to the anchor with a two-half-hitch knot that he was positive wouldn’t break.

“...” He tugged on the rope, hard, several times. The branch it was attached to didn’t so much as wiggle. “It’ll work. You picked a good spot to bury it.” He began to spool the rope around his arm. “We’re gonna have to cross and do the same on the other side. Could you… Erm…” Link faltered. He had been doing so well up until that point, but he had no idea how to ask a Protean to give him a piggyback ride across the river. How was he supposed to work that into a conversation?

Shiro sighed as he turned back into a frog, sitting on the ground. “Twice in less than a week. This is new to me,” He waited before commenting. “You need a ride, right? Well, hop on. To be honest though, I’m not sure how easy I’ll be to hold on to. The rain and the river made my skin wet, which makes me slippery.”

“Right. Well…” Link cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact with Shiro. “Lead the way.” Shiro remained quiet as he felt Link on his back. Carefully, he jumped into the water, making sure his head and back stayed over the water so he didn’t accidentally drown his passenger.

Carefully, he swam to the other side, making sure he never dipped under the water, certain that if he did, Link would lose his grip and be swept away. In just a little over a minute, he climbed to the shore on the other side, hopping away from the river’s edge so Link could disembark safely.

Link dismounted as soon as he was able. What an awkward situation. “Same thing as before,” he said as he set to work.

It didn’t take them as long the second time. Shiro secured another wooden anchor without having to be told, then Link tied the rope around and pulled it taut. Nothing short of intentional sabotage would cause the structure to break.

“So do you think we should cross the river or just spend the night on this side?” On one hand, it was probably a good idea to get back across right away. On the other, did they really want to go through that awkward swim again?

Link took his hat off, folded it up, and tucked it into his backpack. “We should return to camp now and report. I’m gonna cross back using the rope this time.” He continued to strip off any extra bits, such as his flask and ocarina, to hopefully keep them dry inside his pack.

“Do you want me to stay by you, just in case something happens?” He asked. “If not, I may scout this side before cross back closer to the camp."

The soldier shook his head. “Don’t split up. The general rule is to never have a scouting party with less than two. Just in case you do find someone. If you can’t engage, or if they find you first, two people stand a better of getting information back to the company by splitting up. Harder to chase in two directions.”

Shiro wasn’t really convinced, and decided to speak up about that. “I understand that for humans, that is a safe precaution, but my tribe specializes in solo reconnaissance, and I am nimble enough to escape anything that would try to chase me down. As for you, you have your pup, who will warn you of danger should it come. I just believe gaining a bit of a lay of the land will help the others plan for tomorrow. Nothing is more devastating than a lack of information, after all,”

Link shouldered his backpack. “Information is good. Useless if you die though.” He chewed on his lip hesitantly, then threw caution to wind and bowled forward. “What was the biggest threat back in the forest?”

“Foxes, humans, and wolves,” Shiro listed off, not sure where Link was going with this. “All equally dangerous for different reasons.”

“None of those compare to the stuff you’re going to see starting now,” Link dismissed immediately. “It’s… the world is different out here. There’s people that would do anything to kill the princesses.” He looked down and fidgeted with his belt buckle awkwardly. He usually grabbed his sword for comfort in situations like these, but he had tied that across the top of his backpack already. “Magic, assassins, poisons, and anything else money can buy them.” His face was carefully guarded when he glanced up. “Just take my word for it, alright? Please.”

“Trust me, I think I have an pretty good idea what’s out there and the lengths people will go to harm someone else,” Shiro replied, deciding for now it was best to be vague. “But fine, I will concede for this one night. Let’s head back.”

Relief washed over Link. It wasn’t the answer he wanted, but it would work for the moment. Shiro had tensed up at the mention of his (admittedly assumed) inexperience with the cruelty of humans, and usually that sort of reaction meant the subject was personal to them in some way.

“Alright,” Link said. He was silent after that. He had talked himself out with their brief conversation. All he wanted to do now was get back to camp and report their success.

Edited March 12, 2019 by Cheshire Toon

The Last Occultist · March 12, 2019

Ciela Celestinia

Something bigger to look up to, huh?

"Thanks for the answer, it's just a random question, so perhaps we shouldn't think too much abou it or something."

As the two of them returned to the group, Ciela was thinking more on what Gunther had said. Perhaps it explained her frustration. It was also perhaps why she was able to utilize the power of the Goddess in the first place. The idea of leaning on something bigger for support, when one felt powerless, was something that Ciela couldn't easily accept, but it made perfect sense. It was, ultimately, what she did back then on the temple. Entrusting her future on the Goddess.

And, despite her frustrations, it was comforting. The idea of not having to rely on herself, having someone that looked up for her like a mother, just once.

Yet she always felt that someone that exclusively thought of things that way to be weak at heart. Would it mean that the worshipper of the goddess were weak at heart too? Glancing at Edrick's direction, Ciela shook her head. No, that boy was definitely not weak at heart, even when his faith was challenged like this.

She decided to shelve the question for the time being. Instead, she watched with interest how Gunther made his Mushapple Soup.

"Y'know, one of these days you need to teach me how to cook, Gun-gun."

Adelheid Sigrdvia

"Contrary to popular belief, it's also tiring for the rider too. While the pegasus exert their effort to remain on the air, the rider must be keen on detecting threats and anything of interest on the ground. Also navigating through bad weathers..." Adel looked at Tsetseg. She decided to not bore her. "But it's still all really fun! In the rain, the pegasi tire faster, so if the sky is clear we can fly for much longer! Feeling the wind on your hair, seeing people on the ground being so small...

In a way, it makes me feel really free."

As she said that, she continued to keep an eye on the ground to see what was there. To her disappointment, there was nowhere that the group could use as an alternative way to pass the river, and the field was getting even worse on where she and Tsetseg were heading. After a while, Adel opted to turn back instead of continuing.

"If I know how interested you are in flying, I would've gotten one of my girls to take you around while they're on duty sometimes. I'm sure they'll be good enough not to accidentally drop you midway..."

Adel laughed a little before she became silent again.

"But before that, did you see whether there's anything of concern on the ground?"

Edited March 12, 2019 by Bloom into Banana

Asriel Dreemurr · March 12, 2019

Edrick just looked back and forth between Penelope and Alois with an apparently confused look on his face. Clearly this wasn't anywhere near as big of an issue for him as it was for them, and he spent a good few moments looking at Alois while internally considering how well he thought he could wrestle the man and win out in the event that he had to keep from being shoved in the river. Ultimately he decided it was not worth it, shrugged his shoulders, and mentally made a note to wash his hair when he could. Not that he thought it was strictly relevant to do so right now, considering they had a shelter to finish.

---

With their somewhat baffling shelter put together, with considerably less help from Penelope than she probably felt she had rendered, Edrick stood there in the rain for a moment. Much of his face and neck were stained with streaming grime, and he had since removed his Gambeson to hang over a branch to avoid being weighed down by the soaking wet piece of nonsense. As Alois made his way in to test things out inside, an idea came to him. He looked around, and began snatching a few dead branches that hadn't quite fallen off the trees just yet. A few tugs, the sound of cracking wood, and some grunting later and he had himself a good-sized armful of fairly small bits of wood which he proceeded to get inside.

"Things'll dry off if we get a little fire going inside," he offered as an explanation, "or at least it'll warm up a bit." With that he pulled his leather gloves a bit tighter and strolled over to snatch a few coals out of the fire Sienna had gotten going, and over which Gunther and Ciela were cooking, to quickly take inside. Hopefully avoiding both extinguishing the coals and burning himself too severely, he set them onto a small stack of the mostly-dry twigs and began the slow process of trying to get a fire going.

Sethera · March 13, 2019

With the tasks complete, the group had managed to not only build a shelter, but also gather food and scout the land. They had even made a couple campfires, with dinner consisting of Gunther's unique "mushapple soup." Catriona still wasn't sure how to feel about that name, though the dish itself was surprisingly delicious. Mushrooms and apples...she had never thought such things could actually mix well together, but it worked...somehow.

Shortly before she ate, however, the lord approached both scouting groups. "Did you find anything of note to report? A way for us to cross the river?" If all went well, they would be able to cross in the morning and be well on their way to reaching the village that Licorice had mentioned.

Once the group had finished their meal, they settled in for a wet night underneath the shelter. While they took volunteers for watches, nothing particularly interesting happened during the night, except that the rain finally died away in the wee hours of the morning. By the time everybody woke up, the sky was clear, though the after-rain petrichor caused the air to smell particularly earthy. A double rainbow shone over the group as they sat down to break their fast before cleaning up the campsite. As they did so, the white-haired woman looked to the native Histians. "Do you know anything about the village across the river?"

Licorice shook her head. "No, nothing at all. I only know there is said to be a village to the west of the abandoned church, and that is all." She swung her head to look at Adelheid and Tsetseg. "Perhaps the Patrol would have come across it? No..." she seemed to rethink that notion. "That is probably too far out of their range."

After the group finished eating and cleaning up, they approached the broken bridge. While the river was not as bad as before, it was still far too swift and swollen from the rain to risk it, especially with Remy among them. Remembering what she had been told last night, Catriona turned to Link and Shiro. "Lead the way," she ordered.

It didn't take longer than ten minutes before the group came upon the place the pair had discovered last night. The rope they had tied across the river stood strong, though the tree swaying crazily in the breeze did not. A few rocks peppered the shallows, but it seemed the river was still deep enough to be a problem without aid. A pair of beavers waddled about the area aimlessly, though one started to inspect the branch the rope was attached to on their side of the river.

OOC

Spoiler

A new day! But feel free to include any actions or interactions your character would have done in the night as well as the morning in your post. If you need any more information, let me know on Discord.

Again, the only one with any detailed information on the village would be Alois. The most the others would know is that they have heard of it. Adelheid might know that it is a rather isolated village, but that is all.

Edited March 13, 2019 by Sethera

Wind Rider · March 13, 2019

"This rain has been long and miserable," Sienna's head shot up as Licorice suddenly talked to her. She was honestly spooked by how silent Licorice could be. "I care not for it. It is a relief that we have your fire at hand, else we might not have started one so easily."

Sienna nodded quietly as she livened up the fire a bit, the rain was not helping anything right now. "To think that you can use magic. Like Inari of old," the black fox said. "What a wondrous power."

"Yeah... Wonderous..." Sienna said quietly. "I honestly wish everyone at the village wouldn't say it like that... I'm not some reincarnation... I'm just a normal fox... Like you." she said looking at Licorice.

The evening passed by relatively easily, minus the rain of course. Sienna even got to try what Gunther called "mushapple soup", and it was surprisingly good for something that sounded so weird. After dinner, Sienna did nothing but curl up in a tent and went right to sleep.

Waking up in the morning, Sienna's eyes widened at the sight of a double rainbow above the campsite, a beautiful sign that the weather was finally over. After eating a quick breakfast and packing things up, the group finally headed out, lead by Link and Shiro who discovered a safe way across the river. Which seemed to be a rope that extended from one side of the river to the next.

Sienna sighed at the thought of wading through the water but got over it as everyone got ready to move through it. She couldn't help but notice the beavers that were around the river bed, one of them especially, that was eyeing the branch the rope was attached to. "Uh... Bad beaver, shoo!"

Cheshire Toon · March 13, 2019

Report to Princess Catriona. Secure the perimeter. Set his sopping wet clothes by the fire and change into his spare tunic. Link flitted around camp long after everyone else had gone to bed, endlessly toiling away at his long list of duties.

The only noise to be heard was the forest life and the slowly dying patter of rain against the (questionable) shelter the others had constructed. Link basked in the silence. As a boy, his way of relaxing had been to sit and sing with Rohns, but those memories seemed like a lifetime ago. Now he needed time to breathe, time alone to digest everything that had happened the day before. That introverted demeanor was the reason he found himself enjoying a late dinner of mushroom-and-apple soup by himself, with no one around but Rohns. Said wolf cub was splitting his time between pestering Link for his food and searching the forest for his own.

Rohns suddenly barked.

The unexpected, high-pitched noise caught Link off guard. He jumped, spilling a large spoonful of soup at his feet. Rohns wasted no time in descending on the food.

“...” Link pointed his spoon at the wolf cub and hummed disapprovingly. Rohns hunkered down and flattened himself against the ground, then looked up at Link and whined. The soldier shook his head and frowned. “...” Rohns kept starting with his huge blue orbs. He whimpered.

“...One,” Link submitted. He reached into his bag and pulled out a strip of jerky. Rohns perked up immediately. Link tossed the jerky on the ground a few feet away and Rohns sprinted after it. “Gonna have to learn to hunt eventually,” he mumbled, returning to his soup now that he would remain unbothered by a certain wolf puppy.

Link took point at the Princess Catriona’s orders. It was a short trip, made shorter by the brisk pace he set them to follow. He stopped when they arrived nodded toward their handiwork. “We’ll grab the rope and use it to pull ourselves across,” he explained. “Weakest swimmers should go first. Shiro will--”

"Uh... Bad beaver, shoo!" Sienna interrupted.

Link glanced back to find a very large rat with a rudder for a tail inspecting their set-up. He hadn’t known rats to even grow that large in Galtea. And there was a second not far behind that one. He had been a soldier for nearly a decade; he had traveled to most countries to do things he wasn’t allowed to discuss; the equivalent a small village had met their fate on the wrong side of his sword… and nothing had prepared him for how to deal with a pair monster rats.

Rohns saved him the trouble. The wolf cub exploded out of a bush to snarl at the thing, rocking back on his hind legs and baring his teeth at the monster menacingly.

Edited March 13, 2019 by Cheshire Toon

LordCowCow · March 14, 2019

aonB0Ia.png?3

"Well, I'm still wet. The ground's still wet. I'm pretty sure everything's also dripping wet too. But hey, I'm not getting poured on so, silver linings."

"That's the way to think! We did it boys. Now let's go tell the others."

They made their way back to where the fire, and the food gathering group, was and, soon, everyone had gathered around it. Gunther had decided to make something rather unusual. Penelope, while she looked at it with some hesitation, found that it was actually quite good.

During the meal she decided to "entertain" everyone by listing all the poisonous mushrooms and their effects on the human body. Including one that, supposedly, caused you to sprout more of the mushrooms from your body.

Before long it was time to rest and Penelope showed off the shelter that they had built with not a small amount of pride. Despite that she hadn't really done much herself to build it.
The one thing Penelope made sure of before going to bed was to sleep as far away from Edrick as she could without it being too obvious what she was doing.

lcmI449.png?1

"Thanks for the answer, it's just a random question, so perhaps we shouldn't think too much about it or something."

Gunther gave an awkward grunt of acknowledgement. He had probably gone a bit too far there. Which was rather embarrassing. What was more embarrassing was what followed.

"Y'know, one of these days you need to teach me how to cook, Gun-gun."

"Gun...huh?" Gunther responded, face flushed. Was that some sort of nickname? But why? And why did it sound so flowery? Not that he minded flowery but it did make him feel a bit more flustered about it. Trying to steer the conversation from his awkwardness he responded to the suggestion. "Yeah, I never taught anyone, I do not know how well I'll do. Most of it is just instinct, I guess. Figuring out what works...but I don't mind trying if you really want."

He finished up at a good time, it seemed, as the rest were finishing up their tasks and gathering about. He served them each himself and watched them all expectantly, clearly hoping to find out what they felt about it. He knew it was an odd choice but he had hopes that it would work out.

The night passed by somewhat pleasantly despite the rain. Though he did have to assure everyone that the mushrooms Ciela gathered were in no way poisonous.

He had some concerns about the shelter that they were to use. After all he knew Penelope had never built anything more complicated than a pillow fort. However it seemed Alois and, he guessed, Edrick had done a good job at it and the shelter seemed to work just fine.

-------

The next day Penelope woke up grumbling and shuffling her feet, having not rested very well during the night. Her hair, usually well kept, was sticking up in places and she didn't have the energy to fix it up.

As they made it to the rope that Link had secured the girl examined it with some skepticism. It didn't seem the safest way to cross but, she supposed, it was better than nothing.

She perked up a bit as she heard Gunther speak up. "Huh, a double rainbow, wonder what it means."

Immediately standing up straight, she gave her response.

Gunther blinked, trying to figure out what she had just said, and what this "atmosphere" thing was. "Uh, yeah, okay."

He shook his head and turned back to the rope. "I may not be the worst swimmer but with all this armor...perhaps I should go first, to be sure it can hold up."

OOC

Spoiler

Okay since I'm not sure what would happen were Gunther to cross I'll leave it here, we can figure out what happens in the chat and whoever posts next can include it. Unless someone wants to stop Gunther, that also can be discussed in chat.
In fact we probably should figure out who crosses when and what happens as they do.

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

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