Welcome to Gaia! ::

As they approached the watch towers, Gion could hear shouting from inside, and he knew that any moment there would be elves coming out to demand what they were doing in this part of the Four Lands.

And they had every reason to, he reasoned within himself. After all, their job was to make sure nothing went amiss up here, because if the dwarfs managed anything, they would be the ones to blame for it.

He stood up straighter (though even at his full height and beyond, he didn't look as if he could command any sort of respect at all) and set his jaw.

The watch towers were the sort that were made more like barracks with towers on the tops of them. Each was big enough at the base to hold probably about two rooms side-by-side, and three or four storeys high, plus the watch areas themselves. The alarm had been raised a while ago already, and now two soldiers exited each tower and blocked the path of the travelers.

"Who are you and what is your business here?" the highest ranking soldier demanded of them harshly in an elvish tongue dissimilar to that of the Southland, his captain's crest stitched neatly in the shoulder of his crimson cloak. He was of the Westland elves, and had golden hair and bright blue eyes. His uniform was supposed to be white, but after who knew how much time in the Northland they had dulled to a murky gray. His cloak was also faded, though that only brought out more color than less, and his griffin-embossed breastplate was dull in the misty air.

The others were similarly dressed, but instead of the captain's mark on their cloak shoulders, they heralded the rank of mere footsoldiers.

The tongue was one that Nadya did not recognize, and she watched the soldiers nervously, putting both hands now on Mia's shoulders.

She only hoped they knew sign language, because Gion was the only one here who could understand them, and the only one who then could reply to them.

But what if they didn't ... ?

Lin reached up in turn and took hold so she could be picked up, she didn't mind being carried seeing how long it took her to get anywhere without being carried. She looked up at him with big wide eyes (not that it was hard seeing as her eyes were big anyhow).

"He said he was going to go on top of a mountain," she hoped he would know what she was talking about, she 'd hate to be specfic, otherwise he might not take her up!

"Top of the ..." Elrohir blinked at her before putting her up on his shoulders. "Next time, catch him before he starts up," he told her sourly, trying not to make his grumpiness obvious. "It's a long way up ... no wonder you didn't make it up there."

He mumbled to himself, then sighed. Well, he had promised ...

He changed direction and headed back for the entrance of the castle, heading for the path to the training area at the top of the mountain. In his exhausted state, he wondered if he would be able to make it up there; but he had promised, he reminded himself yet again, so he had to.

The captain's eyes shifted to Nadya sharply when she spoke, and in the common tongue he demanded, his voice still harsh, "What are you talking about? Is there something going on that we should know about?"

His blue eyes were cold and forbidding, and his tanned face was taut with anger - though not necessarily anger at those with whom he was speaking. But his appearance was threatening after all, for he moved one hand to the hilt of his sheathed sword.

The three men behind him did the same, their eyes equally as cold, their manner equally as confrontational.

Lin smiled, but didn't say anything about the fact that her friend made sure to get to the mountain before she woke up. Instead as she sat on his shoulder, she hugged his head, which was closest and smiled. She looked, in fact like the cat who got into the cream without getting caught, which was in fact the way she was at the moment.


Yue picked up on the conversation, after all he still tried to keep up with Yuki on it for that matter. He wasn't sure if that was wise to mention that in front of hte gurads, he was worried the gurads might blow it out of proportion and cause problesm for them. However he couldn't say anything, while he could understand, he probably spoke with an accent, making it harder, and he didn't want a foriegn accent to foul things up if he was suppose the with the party.