Sutoratosu

"Rogues.... it's always rogues." Taking a deep breath, mostly to funnel out the desire to recklessly charge up to the nearest poor sap she could and gut him, the fencer surveyed the port and it's structures, taking due note of each foe before them as she mentally plotted a course and potential attack points through the brief stretches of sheltering greenery. "Let's just end this mess and get out of here." her hand removing the knife stashed in her bandolier and transfering it to her sleeve, she dashed across the cobblestone path before vanishing into the woodwork adjacent to it, gone in an ember glint...as she entered the natural pillars. Equip Iron Knife, Move to R5

"I see." She turned back to the musician himself. The spirits chattered in the background, divided on whether she should press the fool further or just let him go and focus on more important things... and for once, she was actually surprised they weren't all acting like scatterbrained children. In truth though, she tired of this theater, tired of it fast. Goddess knows how much time she'd already wasted. "Look, you, Beef Cake, or whatever it was. I don't know what you're true name is, where you came from, or whatever the hell you've done to look so guilty, and quite frankly, I don't fucking care right now. You obviously aren't one of the ones we're about to gut, so leave us be. If whatever authorities are present in this town besides us are out for you for whatever petty crime you've committed, well... as far as I'm concerned, I never even wasted the time looking at you. You were never here, and none of us ever spoke to you. Now go before I change my mind, and pray we don't cross paths again in this town...you've wasted enough of our time as it is." With that said, she proceeded to follow through on her promise and completely ignore the shady bard, as she stepped onto the rim of the fountain and faced the others assembled there. She was silent for a moment, her eyes focused else where, as if speaking to someone they could not see, but soon enough, she begins the announcement she'd been holding all this time. And though she makes no effort to clear her throat or project her voice before hand, it seems to carry loud and clear to each of them regardless, as the winds mysteriously pick up at oh so convenient a strength... "Now that you're all here, I can give the captain's orders... As I'm sure many of you probably heard bits and pieces of, the boat schedules of this port have been in chaos for about the past week or so. And as others have heard, around the same time, the town began suffering instances of theft from several of it's shops. Well, these two events are not at all unrelated- you see, what some of you may not have heard is that despite shops being robbed and broken into, the only things that were actually stolen were Weapons and food, and the ship schedules were an intentional act of sabotage. Someone physically went to the trouble of breaking into the Port's information board and stealing the master copy kept there, and even stayed long enough to alter every single backup copy of the schedule they had as well. What this means, in essence, is that while ships continue to enter the port at their appropriate times and unload, none know where they're supposed to be headed next or when, and are effectively stuck here because of it. Whoever this band of rogues are, they're clearly well organized, and likely well armed and well provisioned at this point as well. Their purposes for making it so ships can enter the island, but no one can leave once they're here, however, is currently beyond us. But whatever it is, one thing is clear: All of us are stuck on this blasted rock until the situation is resolved, and the Master Schedule restored to the port. Captain Madante believes that since they know the exact times when every ship is set to arrive, and can effectively keep anyone they please here, that whoever's behind this will be present when the next ship comes... he desires our presence in the port east of here immediately... I'm sure you all can imagine the implications, so all I'll tell you is, prepare for a potential fight. And if they do show up, don't take these scum lightly. Since everyone's here, We head out... now." The wind slowly began to die down from it's whirling storm of utility as the girl's voice faded back to normal volume. Cadence said nothing more, only turned and nodded to those assembled, again completely ignoring Beef as if he were just a stone wall, before heading off to towards the east, the masts of ships visible not too far in the distance. From her pace, there was little time to lose... the rest of em had best get to stepping soon.

"Uh-huh... Beef Casserole. And I suppose your father was a chef, and your mother an oven, correct?" "Fuck it, I may just take his head off right now for that bad jest... but no, no... have to get to the bottom of this mess, even if he isn't being the most cooperative..." "If you're innocent though, why do you seem so nervous? You've the sweat of a man who's been stopped by a constable and is about five minutes away from spilling his guts about the body hidden in just the next alley over. And why were you focusing on our horseman so intently, just a short while ago? Have you some business with him?" With that said, she turned to the nomad in question "Do you know this man as well?"

"Hmm... I see, well-" "Why must I suffer a plague of fools as well? He's a damn idiot..." "Look, I doubt he's one of the lot we're after..." she paused for a moment, trying to think of the name that belonged to the blue hair and the face. come to think of it though, she'd never gotten it. Didn't matter though. "If he was, why would he just willingly walk up with you to a group of nine heavily armed strangers and risk being seen? Why waste his time talking to either of you when he probably would have his own nefarious work to accomplish, and likely a short window of time to accomplish it in?" She did not bother giving the rogue the dignity of an opportunity to answer, instead turning her attention to the man himself "You there, either state your name and business or begone. These are official matters of the royal guard, and we don't have time to waste with ill-thought out fantasies such as my comrade here has conjured about you..." Of course, the possibility the man was right and that the performer was in league with whatever plot was unfolding was an argument brought up by the spirits. In no real mood to bother talking to them though, she shut the noise down with the promise that if the fucker did happen to show up on the opposition, she'd remove his head from his body herself.

"Yes, unfortunately," Cadence sighed, noticing the wobble. Infact, from the direction this group had come from... "Though in all honesty, I think it more appropriate they lose their heads altogether. Just to be sure. One question though, you seem a bit unsteady... If I were a fool, I'd blame it on your armor, but you've probably gotten more than used to it's weight, if you're experienced enough that they choose you to come out here alone and see if we were still alive. You haven't been... drinking, by any chance, have you?"

As sure as the sun rises, more and more began to show up eventually. Quite a few in fact, actually... from her count, it seemed they even had a few extras, strange... just what had this lot gotten into? Before she could do much to inquire about the new arrivals though, Rayne's excited beeline stole the brunt of her attention away. "Huh- oh... that..." To be terribly, after all that had happened, their conversation during the raid had completely slipped her mind. As she looked at the thread the rider carried in her hand though, she couldn't help but be genuinely impressed. It was indeed an exact match to what her Father had originally commissioned the coat out of, so many years ago during his youth. Hells, thinking about it, the iron plates lining it had only been added a few years ago, but the garment itself was probably older than she was... probably older than any of her sisters too, even Ingrid. "Well... I'm surprised Rayne. This.... my father always said it was almost hellish trying to get enough thread like that for a coat. Apparently, not many spinsters knew how to make their threads shine with the hue of hot embers, or had the skill to do it, even fewer wanted to part with it without a king's ransom... In fact, he even tried to make it himself out of frustration, but however they did it, it was beyond him. Ended up just scorching all the spools instead of infusing them with vibrancy... maybe literal fire wasn't quite what he should've told the anima to conjure, but... it had seemed like the best idea to him at the time-" "Oh, right... there's other stragglers too. Now isn't the time for stories" giving a sigh that was only really audible to Rayne, she turned away from one rider and shifted her focus to the other. She'd already taken due note of the Wyvern earlier... and his rider's height. Or lack thereof. Did she even come up to Cade's shoulder? No matter, she herself had already proven that things as stature and gender didn't matter when your enemies were too busy dying or cowering on the ground as hostages, and if this woman had been dispatched to find them, it at least meant they hadn't been forgotten during this whole fiasco. There was some comfort in that, however... small. "Aye, we're the one's you're looking for." she answered simply. "I take it from the wyvern, you were sent as a search envoy? We were on course to our orders on Kabumu just a few days ago... but things went awry from there. And have kept going awry ever since...look, it's a long story, you can talk to the Captain later, for now I need to gather and brief everyone before these damn thieves or whatever the hell they are return and cause even more headaches...." "Speaking of which, where the hell did the rogue go? Bastard knows I need everyone to be here..."

"There's a bit more to that story, I'm afraid," Cadence answered, "This town's issues extends beyond mere boat traffic, but you'll just have to listen to the briefing along with everyone else once they get here." with that said, she went back to scanning the plaza for anymore newcomers, the arms crossed over her chest making it clear there would be no more discussion on the matter until the proper conditions were finally met. Thus far, they had only four, herself included... not much, but it was getting somewhere, at least.

"Well, at least he actually made something of himself with the second chance he got. It's more than this lot is probably going to get though, whatever their planning, it seems they've been arming themselves to the teeth off stolen weapons... I don't know what exactly the dynamics of their group are, but I doubt many of them will be willing to accept mercy if it's offered. Then again, I really don't feel like offering it this time either... so who knows, maybe it'll work itself out just fine. Ya can't save or spare everyone, afterall. Some are just too damn stupid for this world to begin with."

"We're gonna have to probably kill all the bastards if we ever want to get off this damn island." is all the answer he gets to his own question about the rumors "Not that it's surprising, we've had to slay one band of violent morons after another, ever since that failed pirate raid...how much blood we have to stain this island with before it releases it jaws though, who knows... who cares, I just want off this damn rock. But that's neither here nor there. I'll give the others a bit longer, but if I have to, I will find and drag them back here myself for the Orders. As for you though... what was that mess earlier? What the hell did you lot do to that Pawnbroker while he was working for the bandits?"

"Understood." Another nod, and without a single word, she was off. He had a point, simply waiting at the fountain for them to arrive, only going to search if someone took their sweet ass time, and just giving them the rundown once they'd all gathered and mobilizing afterwards was certainly a more appealing labor distribution than running around the town trying to track them individually. Not that she had much issue with running, actually enjoyed it, just a bit... just not when it was done in a heavy coat lined with iron plates. Not long after she left the docks and came to the square, she spotted only one of their rank at the designated spot. Looking around and seeing no one else nearby, she strode over only to see... it was none other than the rogue. "You wouldn't happen to know where the rest of them are, would you?" she asked, quickly, curtly, efficiently, without preamble and without greeting, though honestly she had never cared for those formalities to begin with. She wastes no time bothering to comment on either the shopkeeper from earlier or what he'd done to earn the man's ire either. "there's trouble brewing, and there's something you all need to hear, but it's easier to do it with everyone together than it is hunting them down one by one."

"Aye, sir..." she said with a dutiful nod, glancing around the port and information station at the same time. "And I suppose you'll want to change the meeting spot to here instead of the fountain, have everyone take positions and wait for ambush?" "Well at least we won't have to go searching for the bastards out in the woods or some cave lair... this is a bit more convenient, if undesirable to risk getting townfolk and assets involved... though I suppose slaughtering the rabble that's been plaguing them for the past week will be a great enough deed to earn any forgiveness we might need... can't be helped..." The spirits meanwhile only looked in amused silence. Of fucking course they had been right. They were seldom wrong, perhaps the girl's perception of certain things she heard from them was wrong, but they themselves seldom were. It was hard to be wrong, when you apart of the very earth, the air, the light, the sun...as much apart of the very components of the world itself as the girl's blood and sinew were parts of her. This was just proof positive of it. and it couldn't fill them with more glee.

"...." "We just can't win, can we? Fine. If fate's determined to work so hard against us, We'll just defy it and take victory right from the jaws of the beast. Right along with it's ugly little head" "I see... I'd feared as much. Local rumors also say they stole Weapons and Food from the various establishments in town as well, but oddly enough... not much beyond that, and of course... the schedules. They obviously want to disrupt something from getting off the island, if they went to such lengths mess with the boat traffic. And, well they only bothered seizing Arms and food... there's only so much such a thing could mean, sir...none of it looking very good."

"Goddess fucking dammit, you lot are right...well, might as well go face the music. Hopefully it's not opera, don't need my ears bleeding too on-top of everything else..." Pausing just a bit to take a breath and shake her head, an impromptu coping mechanism for the exasperation she already felt rising in her, she made her way over to the Commanding Officer. "I take it... the boat we need isn't operating, is it sir? Anything to do with missing Schedules?" "If it is, I swear to the goddess, I'm going to personally wring the neck of whatever cock-suckling wandrought is responsible..."

"Hmmmmmm... I see. Thank you." and with that she took her leave, the spirits chatting like mad in her wake, though she ignored them as she slowly pieced together the tip. "Only food and weapons, eh? That doesn't make sense, for a typical thief driven by greed... food befits the type who do it because they'll die if they don't, but weapons too? Weapons sounds more in the league of some type of organization forming, someone trying to equip able bodies without either spending the coin or leaving an easily followed trail for a bulk order... and food could just as easily be used as rations for fighting men as it could for starving little ones... but then there's also the boat schedule... the one thing I can't make sense of. Are they trying to keep something or someone here? It's just a bulletin, isn't it, if the captain's not a moron, he should be able to remember it and draft a new copy...or have other records somewhere, it's only good business sense..." The chatting intensified as did her thoughts. Only when the certain topic of the Commander's search for a ship did she break out of her investigation mode to actually focus on the Anima. "Wait, no, don't even joke about that. With our luck, that will be exactly the case and we'll be stuck on this shit pile of an island until someone fixes this..." Even as she scolded them however, she knew they were probably... right. That if their luck thus far held true, the schedule stolen would just so happen to be the one for the only ship that happened to be headed anywhere close to where they needed...and honestly, as she set off towards the Eastern sector of the town to find Madante, her hopes they were wrong faded more and more, replaced by a gradual... not acceptance, but strong acknowledgement of the probability of what she might hear once she found him. Well, at least it would take some of the edge of, if she killed her hopes now. That way, it would sting a bit less if her fears were confirmed... just a bit.

"Wait... you said... thieves?" She took the knife and stowed it in the bandoleer of her coat, practically invisible and in the perfect spot to be drawn at a moment's notice. Draw speed and concealment wasn't what she cared about right now though, as her curiosity got the better of her. "Did they actually break into any shops, or just stick to pick-pocketing passerbys and robbing drunk idiots in alleys like normal?"

"Hmph, alright..." Well, at least something was going well for once. Not like it would last though, but might as well enjoy it while it did... But of course, the spirits whispered sweet nothings of how they should try and haggle with the man for half the price- there was no way in hell a single iron arm was worth that much. She didn't much feel like bothering though, that would just artificially extend the amount of time she had to spend in this damn place of illusionary, envenomed knives. Already, in fact, she had retreived the coin from her coat, placing the payment on the counter "Sure, sounds perfect. I'll take it." "Just so I can get out of this damn place. Maybe I should try and learn how to actually use a tome without killing everyone around me, then I wouldn't have the issue of seeing apparently vanishing stock... or having to listen to people bitch and moan about how some blue-haired rogue wronged them once..."

"..." Looking over the man's stock again, she noticed the blade that her attention had been called to when she first walked in was no longer there, oddly enough. She could've sworn she had seen it among the other items, was nearly certain, but yet plain as day, it was nowhere to be seen. But she couldn't have simply been imagining it... the spirits even backed her up when asked, there had most certainly be one more blade available for purchase before the Rogue had showed up... "Damn... fine, whatever. Guess it would be too much to ask to be able to poison their wounds and make our lives a bit easier. Just another reason to dislike these trinkets of barbarism, tomes don't go and mysteriously vanish when you know they were right there just a moment ago...at least not most of the time." "....I'll take the Iron Knife, and that's about it." She finally sighed, wanting nothing more than to just acquire some means of ranged combat and getting out of there...

"Good." The sudden smile that blooms on her face is a bit... unsettling to say the least, but compared to the tangible malice she had been exuding earlier, so thick it would have probably choked a man to death on it's presence alone if she had really wanted to try, it was honestly like seeing a snarling lion demoted into a purring kitten. "Good, I'm glad. Makes me job easier in the end... not that I dislike what I do, at it's core, or anything like that, but..." "Well, it's not exactly the most pleasant thing in the world, examining wound after wound, no matter how bad or extensive they are, trying to devise ways to properly close them. I mean... I can't complain, I literally asked Papa to teach me what he does, but... still, after a while... it... on second thought, nevermind. It's much easier to explain the feeling to another medic than a fighter... Can I... ask you something though Eqcuis? I've noticed it for a while, but, after how you talked to Freyl after all you saw, like it was nothing at all... how'd you become like this? So...unshakable? Unflappable? Has your travelling really taken you that far, that you... just don't get surprised or react to anything anymore?"

Cadence only nods at the man, giving no indication at all about her connection to the blue haired Rogue. She's no idea what exactly the man was talking about, but from his words, he must've been with the bandits from earlier... regardless, whatever his reason for fighting with them, his face was not one she recognized at all, he'd personally done her no wrong, and well... he wasn't exactly taking employment from violent morons anymore. She had no reason to quarrel with him here. Nor did she have any reason to step up for the rogue. She knew not how this man would respond, whether he'd be spiteful to just the rogue or to anyone he knew as well. She didn't feel like risking getting involved the mess, he was a man fully grown, let the spy lie in the beds he'd made.

Night wind blowing through her air, arms around the Rider's chest to keep herself stable, the priestess stayed silent for a while. Flashes of Dash lying injured danced through her mind, and with them, the memories of how near she had come to losing control over the light. And with them, the memories of the ones who had caused that near disaster... and while one of them, admittedly the most immediate culprit, had already been dealt with, the merchant bitch still remained. "Well, I'm glad the mess with Freyl is finally over. He meant... means well, but even before everything happened, he could get a little overprotective and tunnel visioned sometimes. Thank you, for that... I'm glad you got the hint to follow me, I don't know if I could've gone through confronting him on my own. but... there's still what happened today, with the Nohrs. I can't help but think, if Anna hadn't lost her damn temper and smash that man's brains out like some savage, perhaps that whole fiasco could've been avoided. Maybe dash wouldn't have needed my healing at all. It's all in the past though, I guess, not like anyone can change it now..." "I just hope the damn vixen keeps herself in line from now on, hopefully Meredith or Saffron or... someone confronts her about it. We barely survived out there, thanks to her, next time I might well be reading last rites for someone, instead of just closing their wounds and leaving them to sleep it off..."

Her eyes briefly drift to the Mercenary's old sword, but she shakes her head at the pawnkeeper- she'd seen a bit of the courier commander had called earlier, surely he could take care of the custody of any items not needed at the time... odd that a man would sink so low as the let himself be summoned like a dog though, but... whatever, that part did not concern her. "No, though I am interested in your knives. Do you-" "Oh. It's you again. What do you want?" Seeing his expression sour and hearing the door open, she turned herself to see the issue. Only to find the Rogue... after several moments of staring, she finally broke the silence with her own voice. "Um... do you two know each other, by chance?"

The town was better established than she'd thought a little hovel in the middle of the podunk, nowhere would be. She had to admit, she was impressed, it may have still been small, but it could've easily been mistaken for a district of any of the larger merchant cities on appearance alone, if one didn't know better. Walking away from the fountain, swords sheathed at either side and buckler on her back, she scanned the market place again. Though a vulnerary could be useful... well no, that was too little credit- those small vials saved lives, as unassuming as they often were. Karik's injury had proven that much. Though from the spirits indignant chatting, she had to admit, they'd had just as much a role in getting him stabilized as the medicine had- without them, he'd probably have bleed out before she even administered it... Hmmm... no, no, she'd think about it more later perhaps, but they did have a point. Her luck may have been far from the best thus far, but the Spirits would likely do their very best to keep alive, hell or high water. She turned her gaze from the apothecary, eyes passing from one stall and shop to another. Lances, axes, bows... swords... all of them, made a bitter taste well in her throat the longer she looked. But then she saw the magic shop, and the bile receded as she sighed. As much as she wanted to browse, as much as the Anima might do at her request on raw talent and their inherent favoritism alone, that still didn't change the fact she'd no actual training in using a tome proper. She could open one and read it with as much fluency as any scholar, even likely understand most of whatever the incantations transcribed within pertained to... but properly focusing the power of the book itself so the spirits could use it...was another thing... something she wasn't experienced with in the slightest. Hell, if she tried to invoke any spell from one of them, she'd be more likely to destroy the area immediately around her, and anyone unfortunate enough to be in it, than the actual target she aimed for. With the spirits giving their condolences, practically proof that her hypothesis would've proven right if she tried, she turned her eyes to final two places. A pub and a pawnshop. as much as she felt disgusted at the mere idea of having to use physical weapons, a set of throwing knives would be useful for taking out violent morons without leaving the cover of forest, more than either of the blades already on her side, but she doubted she'd find them in the bottom of a tankard, and the Sword shop had none on display... odd, if they had any in stock. Without a word, Cadence finally made her choice, and headed off towards the pawn shop adjacent.

"I don't see any reason why not..." She said, chuckling just a bit at the sight of Morgan's arrival. The old girl certainly had a penchant for tagging along after them, it seemed. By now, the lights and their myriad of sounds had gradually begun to die down, knowing their era of chaotic liberty to be coming to a close. The gem in Maya's hand lost it's brilliant radiance with equal speed, as she began calling them back, "Lead the way." "Well dayum... this might throw a bit of a wrench into my threat earlier; at the rate these two are going, any descendants he has will probably end up being hers too... ah well, at least the schmuck's sincere, I guess. Definitely better than her ending up the slave of that Cloudfucking pig..."

"Well, you don't have to go back to that life. Whatever happens, I promise I'm not going to leave you." she didn't fight the embrace, nor did the bestial light display stop it's eager howls, nor the countless snow white wisps their own display of dancing fervor. Honestly, this was probably about as slack a leash she had ever given the entity, and it was clearly going to relish every bit of unbridled freedom it had... because it sure as hell was going to be a long time before it saw such a bounty of it again. "No matter how you're feeling, just remember that you're not alone."

"Good man. Just so ya know though, you fail and she dies? I don't care how long it takes to find a new source of power, I'll hunt you down along with any descendants you might happen to spawn and make your whole damn bloodline suffer for it from that day on until the end of days..." It's hard to tell whether or not the rogue was merely jesting or had every intention of doing just that, what with the juxtaposition of his grin and the thinly veiled edge in his voice. After letting the declaration hang in the air for a moment though, he finally broke the tension with a chuckle of his own. "Heh, but hey, I'm sure that won't be an issue, you'll probably do fine. Can't screw up much worse than I did all these years, at least..." and with that, he was gone. Gone with the wind. Like always. With the ghost gone and his mechinations over, Maya finally turned back to Eqcuis...the air was wholly different from the virtual warzone it had created not long ago, where there had once been the strangling prescence of malice, now all the Rider would've felt was a subtle warmth. Specs of fleeting light watched from the distance all around, the satisfied baying of hounds echoing softly through the woods. "Of course I will, Ecquis. It's my job to keep you lot alive and well after all, I've got no intention of stopping... especially after you helped me settle all of this. Though..." She sidled closer to the rider, resting her head against his shoulder as the soft illumination danced all around. The Light hunds practically went wild in approval, "just how close do you want me to stay?"