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Sephas was really enjoying this time out of the house. Well, it wasn't his house, really, but he still lived there for free. The boy had managed to stumble across another scholar, by the name of Akihi, almost immediately after coming into Learania. And for someone who never even saw a laguz despite living in a place with so many of them, it was a great opportunity. Sephas got to live there for free and do whatever he wanted (study stuff) and he would just teach the racially ignorant Akihi about Laguz and how they worked, to the best of his from-the-books knowledge.

And then when the two had time off from their studies, they'd buy more books to study. It was a not-so-vicious cycle, for Sephas. He had everything he needed to survive: food, books and social interaction,both with Akihi and the occasional visitors, if they ever found him outside his room. So, it was an especially lucky twist of fate when Sephas had decided to go with Akihi to visit a friend of his or something. Sephas didn't know the person, or even recognize the name, what a surprise, but he went along anyway, hoping to stumble across some kind of magical artifact in the marketplace.

The mage never would have expected to be in town on the one day that people from that local guild were recruiting for a job, to say the least. Sephas had heard a few things from people once in a while about their achievements, and things were all over the local streetears and recent volumes chronicling their heroism. People worked fast to publicize the guild in Learania, at least from what he saw. So, the chance to see such renowned people in action, or even better, join their ranks, was a chance he didn't exactly want to pass up. And luckily for him, Akihi wasn't against going, either. If he was, then Sephas would either have not gone, or gone and been all alone and awkward. It wouldn't be fun, then.

So, in no time at all, Sephas, with Akihi in tow, were with the Learanian group on their trip to Adliana. The young mage was quite overly enthusiastic, though he tried to hide it. Constantly, he had an astonished look on his eyes and a slightly awestruck smile, like a deer in headlights. But, he could walk and talk. His talking was just much less intelligent since his mind was bouncing around so much. He'd never crossed the borders of a country before, and even then, the nomads of Adliana were so different from the people he was barely used to in Learania! Not to mention, the land was nothing but plains. It would be great to actually give his magic a practical test. After all, if he couldn't use earth magic in a place with flat earth, where could he use it?

...obviously, it wouldn't be good behavior to go firing off foreign spells left and right in a city that might hate them. So, Sephas only chose to wander around somewhat aimlessly, staying sure to keep nearby the Learania associates of his. Maybe, just maybe, he would find someone or something interesting.

(This post gives both Sephas and Akihi an entrance, so yeah. Go nuts, Nilsy~)

It was remarkable, to Skrimir. Still sore about the soup thing, yes. But the world circled around the lion prince as he and Tibarn walked together. He barely heard the Hawk's words as he explained about this new world; they were faraway and indistinct. All of this was just absurd. How was it possible to pass through a cave and end up somewhere not on a map at all? This was still an awful backwards place, though that it got Tibarn's vote of confidence helped it along. The sparse travel on the road passed him by in a great stream, avoiding the Hawk King, and avoiding him. Maybe one every hour, at the most. Men, and one lone woman. Beorc. No other Laguz yet.

Or not. The smell, iit was almost familiar. Not almost. Very-- a scent. He knew one of the scents; not personally, but he'd known it for a while before. That he remembered it so clearly was a marvel, but he knew it.

There. Ahead of him, earlier on the road. The same hair, the same ears, the same face. One of the ones he'd been searching for. Another one anyway; and he'd found her.

Skrimir devoured the dirt beneath him, outstripping the Hawk at his side; He almost forgot about the Hawk King. But there at a bend in the path was Lyre.

"You there!" he called out, brow furrowing. "Lyre, sister of Lethe!"

He ground his teeth. People stared, but he didn't care.

"You had better explain yourself!"

Lyre found herself following the group led by Sue, on an adventure to Adliana... although she lagged behind the main group itself by a fair distance, pondering the scenery as she went. She could shift and outpace them by a fair amount, so her let her mind wander for a bit. Until a certain voice barked out her name, and she stopped in her tracks, turning a bit pale.

"P-prince Skrimir!" She squeaked, falling on one knee in a hasty show of obeisance. It was a muscle remembrance, for the lion prince's temper was legendary.

"I... uh..." she could make out the form of the Hawk King coming up behind him. She mulled over his words for a few seconds.

"...Explain what, exactly... my lord...?"

I shall now demonstrate the law of Sacae...
all our tribesman banding together against our invaders!



Sue didn't like the atmosphere that she was getting in this town. It was easy to see that the citizens were already separating themselves out of fear, and that the tensions that were very much like the ones between her own homeland and Bern were so thick, they could be cut with a knife and served for dinner. It was amazing, but terrible all at once that the lie spread this fast, and it would take a lot of effort to correct the mistakes that were made in Learania's name. Of course, the meant that the Learanian group couldn't fall here either. They were the only ones with the message to spread the truth.

With members like FD, the Laguz King Tibarn (and apparently a Laguz Prince, Skrimir if Sue listened to Lyre correctly), this congregation wouldn't be falling all that easily. It's not like the citizens were taking up arms, at least not yet (and hopefully, not ever.) The hostility in their glares was very pronounced, however. If looks could kill, these citizens' fierce stares would have wiped the group clean. "I'm starting to fear for Chieftain Songhua's safety in the midst of such brewing tensions..."

And that was just another reason why Sue had to meet with him as soon as possible. As her eyes searched the area, the nomad trooper was trying to be alert of anyone who was giving more than just a glare, along with trying to find the chief her group sought out. So far, she saw neither, and through the whole time, she hadn't spoken a word to anyone. Rath had always given his reason of being quiet of "there's nothing much to say", and this was the same case. Deep within her mind lied a wish she'd never say though: that she wouldn't have to engage in battle with Leera's citizenry and thus back up the lies Learania was trying to thwart.

A pair of well-sized feet in sandals came slapping down the street.

Elsewhere, a rather hotheaded citizen in a blue bandanna had just about had as much as he could take with seeing this Learanian group. His racial decent was unmistakeably Adlian. He watched them slowly move, and made his way passed the group, stealthily. Once he was a good few paces in front, he cracked his knuckles and began to walk toward the long, green-haired girl in front. The look on his face was filled with hate.

However, before the man could make it to the girl, a hand suddenly clasped his shoulder. "Now, now... Perhaps it was time you went and did something else. Go get a drink in the tavern, perhaps." Chieftain Songhua lowered his head to the man's ear. "After all, you wouldn't want trouble from one of the biggest tribes in Adliana, hmm?" Wide-eyed, the man gave a stammering affirmation, before quickly backing away, eventually vanishing into the crowd. Truth be told, everyone was being wary of Songhua. On one hand, he was a Chieftain of Adliana and thus could easily fight against the Learanian citizens. On the other hand, his reputation preceded him, meaning that the Adlians of the town knew not to try anything with him around. It could have very well been the reason that the town had remained peaceful, especially in the last couple of days.

Once the man had gone away, Songhua turned and saw the faces of Kalilah and Sue, Rath's daughter. "Hwa ha! By the spirits, Kalilah, I did not expect to see a whole group from Learania!" Knowing that his boast should have gotten the attention of the group, he walked forward to stand before them. On both sides of him stood a member of his tribe, both strong looking. He then clenched his right fist, and softly patted his chest where the heart is. "Ah, but it fills me with warmth to see you once again, daughter of The Wolf. For you all to come here yourselves shows great passion!"

Songhua peered around the girl, after catching glimpse of a wing. "HOO WA HWA! I cannot believe it! Even the Mighty Hawk comes!" Songhua moved passed Sue and Kalilah, and went right up to Tibarn, where he immediately took him into a strong several second embrace. "Having a crew representative can greatly help the situation, my friend." After saying that, Songhua raised an arm and lightly hit himself in the head. "Ah, but I get ahead of myself!" He turned back to the two nomadic girls. "Please, assure me that this message is a mistake."

Hostile glares, people looking about ready to rip each others tonsils out, a Laguz and a Nomad hypnotized by a butterfly. Oh yea situation was about to blow sky-high, he was ready for it though, hell with his luck he'd been expecting it. The look of a certain man was beginning to worry Joshua, making eye contact with the man as the group passed the swordmaster smiled and rested a hand on the hilt of his silver sword.

But then a loud "Hwah-hoo" sound diffused the entire situation, as a large fat man approached the group, upon his arrival the tenseness in the air actually seemed to melt away. Perhaps it was the good natured look in his eyes, or the way he seemed about to laugh, or maybe it was his incredible girth. Either way this man was a born leader and someone you didn't want to piss off, even the man who had been trying to stare Joshua down was gone.


This must be Songhua, the Chieften who was mentioned briefly in the note he'd been given. Wonder if he likes to gamble?


((Lame post is lame.... just lettin ya'll know I'm still here))

As Sunil approached the other three Laguz, the Beorc from earlier had bumped into him again, and once again, said Beorc fell. Jeez, this Beorc must be really clumsy. Or just have really, really big feet.

The bump had caused his hood to fall down, exposing his blue ears. Gack! They were seen! It seemed the redhead swordsman and the blue clothed nomad chick he had seen wanting to chase butterflies earlier had noticed him as a Kitty Man. Hmm...such an odd, yet interesting term he assumed they would be calling him if they ever spoke to him. Made it sound like he was some superhero, like Rhysman. 'Look, up on the rooftops! Is it a thief? Is it Rathy Claus? No, it's Kitty Man! Cue theme song and dramatic pose!'

The Beorc that had bumped him earlier was apologizing again, and Sunil sighed before he reached down and helped the man up, pulling him up by the collar with one hand until he was standing again.

"You really need to be more careful. I don't know what's going on, but we're obviously in a city hostile towards our group. You'd just be an easy target lying on the ground like that." the kitty said.

He had sensed several killing intents earlier, and then a rather fierce one moments before a large man had shown up and spoke with an unusual cheery voice and a kickass laugh. Said man then walked right up to King Tibarn and gave him a great big hug.

Ah...right. He did recall seeing this Chieftan at the Host Party earlier this year. Chief...Songhua, wasn't it? While he never had the honor of serving the honoured guest at the party, or have any conversation with him (he was too busy trying to flirt with Lyre and failing), he could tell this man was important for whatever reason they had come along.

It seemed like the girl in red clothes that looked...nomady was talking to the Chieftan now.

Aruna followed the group to Leera out of curiosity. Finding new herbs would just have to wait or perhaps the scaly hostess could find some along the way. It seemed like most of the group happened to be those animal races. What were they called? Laguz or something like that. Aruna didn't bother with using the proper term unless it was necessary.

She noticed her co-workers Lyre and Ninian among the people traveling, but decided not to converse with them along the journey. The catgirl seemed busy with a rather large man with shaggy hair and Aruna wasn't on good terms with the dragoness. Having her lover temporarily stolen still left bitter feelings.

Just then she spotted FD. "Finally a face I like," Aruna mumbled. The nagini slithered up beside the fire dragon. "FD, hello," she greeted with a pleasant smile. "It's been a while."