Welcome to Gaia! ::

Charles took the cards. "Simple enough, just place a card when it's the ample time to do so..." He held the cards carefully. He thought for a moment.

"I am afraid I do not follow," he started, "is it me who will be asking questions, or paying money?" He started to shuffle his deck.

"That would seem simple enough, but I have not a dime. People don't hire the deceased, but that's perfectly fine, as I don't need sustenance, or anything else."

(Joshua, was that a remark about the cards I didn't draw? Pretty sure you can't see through cards, here.)

"I suppose that will settle it." Charles drew his hand and saw he was holding 2 4 4 4 J J A. Mm, and Ace... Might want to save that for a pinch, I will... He laid down a 4, grew a grin, and jested. "Beat that, sir."

→ → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → → →

Abel followed slightly behind Alihi. He didn't expect her to not be happy that he was there, with her. But it wouldn't be fair for her to go off, and... possibly not come back. He had already failed to keep Amara safe, Abel couldn't take the chance that something bad would happen to Alihi, especially when he had the capability of preventing it.

Maybe she was mad at him. After all, he was right there, and he couldn't do anything. She had full right to hate him. He wanted to walk up beside her, and just grab her, and hug her. He wanted to do something that would show her that he's sorry, and he would make up for it. ..But everything he thought of would have just made him look like more of a loser. For now... he figured he would just follow, and do his best, and try not to bother Alihi. The thought of just staying at Pentheus, when they got there, crossed his mind. But he would stay strong. He would protect her, even if she did hate him.

Glancing back for a second, Deborah noticed that most of the group had chose to continue following them. There must have been around fifteen or so, now. ...That was larger than she wanted, but it would be okay. She also noticed that the river they had crossed must have now been way far behind them. She couldn't even see it anymore.

Turning back around, she understood why the river was no longer in site. Up ahead was the entrance to a large city. The smell of saltwater soon began to fill the air. The sounds of seagulls [shutup kurai] grew from simple faint echoes that traveled over the wind to nearby annoyances.

When the group reached the entrance, it was dark, and was only getting darker. Soon the only light aiding to sight would be the street lights. "We here." Deborah said, as she turned to the group. "Welcome teh Pentheus. Teh biggest port in Learania. We be spendin' deh night here." She pulled a small bag of gold coins from her pack. "I been provided wit deh means. Le's go."

She walked off to the biggest inn in the port city. She started talking to the innkeeper, and the man shook his head. Deborah set the bag of gold coins on the table. He was now nodding instead. A few moments later, she turned back to the group. "Dose wit mounts can keep dem in deh stable round back for deh night. Everyone bettah get a good amount o sleep. We leavin' early in deh mornin'. Tomorrow deh real mission begins."

...Injured with pain and sadness, the you that cannot be healed
Shoulder the burden of the past that cannot be erased; don't throw away your will to live...







[[Blossom is too sad lately she needs to be happier D:
HEAR THAT, AIDAN
BUST INTO THE INN ROOM AND CHEER HER UP.]]

It wasn't that she was speechless. No one, not even a snooty noble, left Marina speechless. She had paused a moment, considering her words carefully. Despite the stories told around about Roy and his "legacy", this was not Elibe. However, about his father...that struck a nerve.

"Hm...h-hey, wait!" He'd already began to press past her, and she decided she'd corner him later. It was not worth the scene it was turning into. "My clothes are just fine, thanks," she said with a cough.

***

That done, she strode alongside the caravan in silence, not bothering to address anyone even if they decided to address her first. Not that it really mattered, her business was her own and she wouldn't divulge it to anyone anyway. When they got to their destination, Marina observed the individual members, looking specifically for Roy. He must have slipped out when she wasn't looking, though, so she instead focused her attention on the short girl, Blossom, who seemed to be distant as well. As hypocritical as it was, Marina didn't like that the girl was keeping to herself. (Her own personal justification was that Blossom seemed to be down on herself, while Marina herself was confident. So there.) She trailed Blossom on up to her room, rapped loudly on the door, and entered without much more warning. She smiled at Blossom, though it was hard to tell through the mask she wore over her mouth.

"Don't mind if I room here tonight, do you? I don't snore, promise." She threw her pack against the opposite wall and turned around. "I'm going to take a bath. Don't wait up."

It had grown darker now as the young lord made his way back to the inn. By now, everyone must have gone inside and were resting. They had a big day tomorrow, since they were going to cover more ground and try to get as close as they could to the border of Sentria. Trying to cross the desert at night was insane. Going during the day would be hot, sure. But at night? Freezing cold. And the sandstorms...those would be hell. If Soren had come along, the wind magic that man could produce could probably blow the storms away.

His friend wasn't all that helpful. No news concerning about his father's whereabouts. He was back at square one...again! Either the barkeeper was useless, or maybe his father wasn't in this country at all. To make the trip worthwhile, he had a drink and left the barkeep a small tip. He sighed as he looked up at the night sky. The stars were hidden, thanks to the street lights. He glanced over at Darko and reached into his bag to pull out some of the cake he had brought along. He tossed the chocolate into the hungry imp's mouth (after he had to make the little guy stop chewing on his hair). Darko's reaction was spectacular. The moment the chocolate was eaten, the imp was off his shoulder and orbiting around his head, like he was the earth and the creature was the moon. Except the moon was chirping loudly and doing barrel rolls. Roy broke a grin and laughed softly.

"You sure are one interesting creature, Darko." he said.

They soon made it to the inn. Everyone had already gone inside, so he was the last of the group still outside. Roy flashed the key at the innkeeper to let him know that he was, in fact, rooming here and not a bum trying to sleep somewhere warm. The young lord wandered over to his room before he noticed Ephraim sitting on a bench next to the door. He gave the prince a small greeting before knocking on the door. He then opened it and peeked in before he strolled into the room. The bag was tossed onto the bed and the cloak was removed. The young lord then noticed a lance in the room. So his roommate was the prince of Renais. That was fine. At least it was someone he knew. A bath sounded nice right about now, considering the amount of travel they had done today. So he grabbed a towel before he headed out.