Zetaark

"Deserts are most certainly not a playground though Klaren. If you're not careful, you could easily get stuck in one for quite a while. Even merchants who travel through the desert often can get stuck every now again," he told Klaren, remembering the peculiar incident that introduced him to Anna. With that, he then decided to respond to the other issue that came up. "I didn't really know if now was the best time to mention it, but since Rosa has brought it up, I suppose you could tell us whether there is some other motive for you to not go to Caelum besides what you've stated. I understand how you may feel about the chances in Yukihana, but from personal experience, the clans are very scattered around. Past that, there's also the Kuro tribe which...well I'll just say they have their own little rumors about them. If you have a good reason why we should go to Yukihana instead though, I'm willing to listen," Ecquis responded. His suspicions about Meredith's past were not something he wanted to pry into quite yet, and especially not at this point in time. However, his curiosity was starting to wonder about exactly what relation she had to this war in general.

"Really? Did you do something to anger a few nobles from Caelum at any point in the past? If not, I can't see a reason why you would cause problems," Ecquis responded. From his time in Caelum, he didn't often hear much about the happenings of Dragao. Perhaps it was due to where he was or what he was doing, but unless she angered someone, he didn't see too many problems. Well, at least not with information he knew for certain.

Yukihana or Caelum, that was their choice. Having been to both places, Ecquis was able to recall some of his knowledge of the areas in question. Yukihana, while not as cold now as the winters, would still be a rather cold area. There was also the matter of the mountain range that separates Dragao and Yukihana, which may not be an easy trip. Caelum at this time of year would certainly be warm, but the deserts would be even worse. Even past that, people who are used to traveling that desert can sometimes get stuck in it. Despite that, Ecquis did know a few people in Caelum, so that may come in handy at this point in time. It also didn't help that the trip to Yukihana would likely take him close to his own home... "Well, I don't mind too much where we end up going, but I might have a preference towards going to Caelum," he finally spoke.

Well if Keagan didn't get horribly bodied by level ups, I might have considered him. Keagen did his job in Chapter 1 though, but the level ups doomed him.

Looks like Keagan and Dash are tied in votes as of now. Should be interesting to see if anyone else votes on it (Also s/o to Keagan's level finally being updated. Lv2 no more)

Boop (In seriousness though, shenanigans seem to be ensuing.)

Nope. Definitely not.

Ecquis listened to the explanation and was honestly quite confused. Ecquis had personal experience at how hard it was using a bow for the first time, but even then he had never done anything quite like this. Thinking on it, Ecquis had no idea how something like this could happen. "So you're saying he somehow managed to shoot himself in the shoulder. That's...I don't even know what to say about that," Ecquis replied, his hand covering his face in disbelief.

Ecquis decided to follow Maya towards the duo near the tree, harp in hand. He hadn't had much else to do, so he figured he might as well. The sight he saw was...very interesting. Luka was lying on the ground with an arrow in the shoulder, Hoshiko not too far past. As Maya started healing the poor dancer, he had to echo her questions on what exactly happened. "Hoshiko, you weren't taking potshots at Luka were you? I don't think he can really defend himself you know," he told the archer girl.

"Oh, this song? I'm not entirely sure what the name of it was," Ecquis replied, still playing the song. "What I do know is that this particular song was made as a way of comforting people who felt that they were alone with nowhere to go. I found the song fitting when I first learned about it, so I took it upon myself to learn it. I suppose that I felt that playing it again now wouldn't be so bad. No matter how you're feeling at the time, just remember that you're not alone."

"Well, I'm happy to be of service. An old man who I can call a friend always told me that being able to speak one's mind was one of the greatest gifts one could receive. I'm sure Meredith will also be more than happy to talk to you if you need to as well," Ecquis said. He had too been glad to have found someone else that he could talk to. Alvis and Anna weren't liable to be around this place, so being able to talk to someone honestly felt pretty good. Feeling a bit relaxed, Ecquis decided to set his harp down by the river before beginning to play one of the songs that he remembered.

Ecquis listened to Mayanna's response intently. He had never personally met too many people from the clergy personally, so he had no clue what their lives would be like. However, her comment towards the end about people seeing what someone was rather than who they were did strike a chord. "Hmm, I suppose I know what its like to have people view you a certain way from the start. Unfortunately for me, the view I ended up with wasn't a pleasant one. Not so much in Yukihana or Caelum, but when I ended up back in Dragao..." Ecquis stopped for a moment to gather his thoughts. After he left Caelum to go through Dragao, his first entrance into a town was met with resistance and weapons. "I'm sure you must know, but wyverns aren't well received in Dragao. In other places, the people don't mind nor care so long as you aren't bothering people but here, going into a town is practically begging for people to despise you. I don't know how much time I spent trying to find a place that would at least let me stay a night. At least by then I was rather used to the idea of sleeping out in the wilderness, out of sight from other people. I'm not sure how it is for someone like you particularly, but not being able to be who you are must be rather difficult. I know you said that priests weren't supposed to have problems, but I certainly won't mind if you ever decide to talk to me about any that you have," he told Mayanna. Well, I almost remind myself of old Alvis, Ecquis thought, remembering the old spy that he had run into near the very start of his exile. He had been the first person who was ever willing to listen to his problems, and the first person Ecquis could call his friend. He figured the least he could do is be there for someone else.

Ecquis burst out laughing at Mayanna's description of his older brother. Hearing someone else describe him like that made Ecquis very amused for whatever reason. "Oh, no need to apologize. That description would work well for the man. Some of the older folks in the town nicknamed him Damon the Demon because of how he would treat certain people." Ecquis told her, hopefully easing her initial panic. "The people around his age tried to make sure that they were on his good side as a result. Not like Damon cared about any of them much. If he so much as heard rumors of one of them badmouthing him then...it wouldn't be unusual to find the poor soul beaten up and stuck in a barrel. As for me, he never cared for me much. Since I was the only kid in the town, quite literally, he mostly just ignored me all together," Ecquis finished, remembering some of what his home was like for the first time in a few years. It felt good really, talking to someone again. "To be honest, I don't mind talking about myself to others. It's not something I get to do very often. The road gets rather lonely when you're the only one walking down it," he said, thinking back on his travels. Yes, they were quite lonely, especially at the start. The actual mountain range near where Ecquis once lived wasn't exactly a tourist attraction or anything. It wouldn't have been strange to not run into people for months at a time.

"I see. Your brother sounds like he was a great person. Nothing at all like mine..." Ecquis said, the last part a bit harsher than the one before. "My older brother, Damon, was always looking out for himself. Unless something helped him or got him a bit more power, he wouldn't so much as send a glance your way. Everyone in the town figured that he was simply going to go out to do great things one day. Although, the fact that I haven't heard anything about him all this time probably means he's still working back at home." Ecquis mused. He actually didn't know what had gone on in his former home since he had left. He hadn't heard anything about the place during his travels, so he had assumed that it was the same place it was. "At any rate, I suppose its good that Dash cares about the other children, but he'll still need to be careful. Still, I suppose that with all of us around, we can make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble," he stated. Regardless of how well he knew Dash, as a part of the group, Ecquis would make sure that the boy doesn't get into anything too dangerous.

"I've been playing for about 6 years now actually. This particular harp was a gift by one of the 2 people I can call friends outside of this army. That was during my time in Caelum actually. As for the wyverns..." Ecquis points over to his group, of which 3 of them are asleep and Mira is looking over to where Ecquis had gone. "Most of them get lulled to sleep, but Mira always loved to listen. It's how she got her taste in the fine arts I suppose." Ecquis finished. Though that answered her question, he did have a question regarding a certain name flub that he had noticed. "Incidentally, when you were mentioning Dash earlier, you mentioned someone named "Frey"? Is that someone you know?" Ecquis decided to ask.

Ecquis had been busy playing his harp for quite some time. Most of his wyverns were asleep, though Mira was still attentive. She was always the one who paid attention to whenever Ecquis did anything musical. Well except singing. That didn't go very well for anyone involved. Deciding to take a break, Ecquis looked around the area. One one side of the river he saw Meredith and Saffron asleep by the bank. Naturally, he wouldn't do anything to interrupt something like that. Closer to him however, he did see Mayanna walking by the river. He decided to go and have a talk with her, seeing as how their last conversation took quite the peculiar turn. So, with harp in hand, he started to go towards her. As he got closer, he noticed that Mayanna seemed somewhat sad about something, or at the very least was bothered by it. "Hello again Mayanna. Is something wrong?" he decided to ask her.

Poor Keagan didn't stand a chance.

This should be fun to watch. There's even music in the background too. Everything is set.

After overhearing all of the chatter, Ecquis decided that he should end up doing something besides just lying down. A quick glance however showed that most of the people around him were engaged in some other activity. No matter, there is one thing I could do, Ecquis thought before making a whistling noise. After a pause, a jet black wyvern approached the ground, having a peculiar case strapped on to it. After landing, Ecquis went up to the wyvern to retrieve the case. "Here's hoping the thing didn't get damaged," Ecquis said to himself as he brought down the case from the wyvern's back. Opening it revealed a somewhat large, ornate harp. After a quick look, Ecquis found that there was no damage to it. Good, it would be a shame if this were to break. It was a gift after all, Ecquis thought before plucking each of the strings, making sure the sound was right. Once done, he then began to play a short tune to pass the time.

Ecquis had been lying around the riverbed a little ways away from Meredith and Saffron after the speech finished. It was good to see that everyone had high spirits. Morgan and Cynthia were around him as well, in addition to Mira who he had called back down. For now, he decided to enjoy this little respite, especially given that the day before happened to be his birthday. Not that there was too much meaning to that. Usually he happened to just make a note of it to his wyverns before he went back to doing whatever it was he was doing. Still, it was something to think about as he looked into the river.

It works out in the end because I actually have no clue what I would have done with it. At least now I can hint at things or something.

24th of Last Bloom eh? Day after Ecquis' birthday. Neat. Not like I have any idea what to do with it though.

"Alright then, make sure you're at least holding on to Morgan. You can grab onto me if you feel like you're about to fall, though Morgan is more likely going to shift to accommodate. Cynthia will be flying with us, so she'll be there for support also. With that said..." Ecquis states before tapping Morgan lightly. With that, Morgan's wings start to flap and she, along with her two riders, and Cynthia head up into the air. "Time for a little flight," Ecquis remarks as they leave the ground.

"Well, I suppose it is a little strange at first. Being in the air is a completely different experience. But don't worry, between myself and Morgan, you should be just fine." Ecquis reassured Mayanna. Having been riding on wyverns for so long, the idea of flying was second-nature to him. For someone who has never left the ground...it must be quite the idea. "At any rate, I was quite serious about the flight. If you don't want to I understand, but I ask that you at least consider it. Morgan would also like it quite a bit. Wouldn't you?" he asks his mount. In response, Morgan makes an excited chirp and lowers herself down enough so that Mayanna could climb on if she so chose.

Between the pained look Mayanna had on her face and Klaren's behavior indicating that he wasn't willing to leave, Ecquis decided that he should do something about this mess. Fortunately, Klaren's arrival made Cynthia very flighty. She never did like strangers, and Klaren certainly counted as one. With that in mind, Ecquis went towards Morgan and Mayanna in an attempt to fly out of this situation...literally. "As much as you must enjoy this Klaren, I was actually about to take a flight on Morgan. Mayanna was to be accompanying me as well." Ecquis stated, beginning to remount Morgan. "I'm afraid you won't be able to join us; Morgan can only carry one other person with me." Ecquis told the monk. In truth, this was a complete lie. Morgan could easily carry 5 or so people, but Ecquis wasn't planning on letting him know that. "Also no, you can't ride Cynthia, she'll only let me touch her. If you tried... being bit at would be the least of your worries. Anyhow, Maya, shall we go?" Ecquis asks the lady, holding his hand out to her.