[IC] Dark Storm | Fire Emblem Awakening

[Overwatch]

What to do? Vincent opened his eyes and looked behind him... there was a man on the other side of the tree. He leaned on his sword, and stood, creeping around the tree a little, quietly observing the man... He had been in the crowd nearby when Vincent had found the thief... if he remembered correctly, the man had his hand in his coat as if he were reaching for a weapon. Then it just seemed like someone uneasy with the situation, but now it seemed more suspicious. did he have something against one of the people there? Probably not that woman, or the man in the cloak, as they didn't follow him back to camp. Deductive reasoning led him to believe that it was probably himself that this man was after. Why else would he hang so close to Vincent? The time to act was now. The man certainly looked uneasy, biting at his apple like that.

"Hello. Have you come to join the Blades?" He stepped out from behind the tree, and shoved his sword down,burying it's tip in the dirt and leaving it standing, as he had on the street. This time his blade sunk into the man's coat, pinning him to the ground. He made the motion casually, as if he didn't even mean to do it, and didn't even look down at where he placed the sword. He just leaned on it's handle and looked down at the mage. "Do you have some business here, or someone to see? I'm sure our tactician would gladly induct you into our forces if you wished to join... Or are you already a Blade? I haven't seen you around." He said almost casually.

[Savo]

-Vass/Gran-
Gran almost jumped when Vincent stabbed his weapon into his coat, causing a tear to form in the cloak. He dropped his apple onto the ground, and watched as it rolled a few feet away from him before stopping. Gran turned in annoyance to the man who had stabbed his coat, and saw that it was Vincent who was talking to him. He scowled in annoyance, as Vincent asked him if he was in the Blades or not. He stared at his reflection on the sword for a few seconds before turning his head back to the man.

"I'm surprised you don't know who I am... Then again, there are a few others who are mages like me," Gran grumbled to Vincent. "I'm Gran, you know the mage who has been burning half of the bandits who have been trying to separate or heads from our necks?" He sighed, before getting another apple from his bag, offering it to the man. "Here bud, you want one," Gran asked, smiling to the man.

"Guess its kind of understandable since I'm on the backlines, casting spells and what not... Anyways, could you please remove the blade from my cloak already, uhm..." The man stared at the blade as it stayed firmly placed into the ground. The man looked intently focused on something, before snapping his fingers. "Vincent, yeah, that's your name if I remembered properly..."

He rocked forward a bit, uncaring that his cloak tore a little bit more. He was staring intently at something in the sky, but what was it? There was barely a cloud or bird in sight... "Say, don't you think you were a little bit harsh on us back there? We didn't know your intentions, and suddenly you explode at us, and run off with.... That guy... Where is the bugger anyways?"

[Stranger]

Zayn could see Ylisstol's harbor in the distance. By his estimate, they had a good 15 minutes before they hit land. Finally, he thought to himself. The boat ride was quick, all things considered, but going without real meals (he had eaten a single apple and two pieces of jerky) was still a test of his endurance. He kept calm, however, with the knowledge that his plans were finally about to be set into motion. All he had to do now was make sure the Blades' attention was strictly on Valm, or at least somewhere other than Plegia. Valm was as good a scapegoat as any. He turned around and shouted, "Liam! Get ready!" Liam had been respectful enough during the trip not to annoy Zayn (too much), but now the real test would present itself: how good was he in the middle of a battle? If he died here, Zayn would have to put on some gut-wrenching performance over the loss of his "little brother", and that kind of emotion was hard for him to find these days. It only served to get in his way.

As the boat neared the land, the crew began rushing all about the ship, raising this and lowering that, while Zayn simply stared into his reflection in the water. The sight was intensely unnerving; he couldn't remember when he had looked this carefree. His entire appearance was so different from the fierce, intimidating Commander of the Grimleal 1st Division that it almost didn't look like him. It looks like the old me, came a rogue thought from the back of his mind, sliding straight through his guard and nailing him in the heart. He quickly clamped down on his emotions; that part of his life was gone, as was all trace that it had existed. He had only one purpose in life now, and he would see it through to the end... no matter what. Even so, he eventually had to turn away from his reflection just to keep himself in check.

Finally, the loading ramp was put down, and Zayn stepped off the boat. He took a moment to let his legs readjust to ground that wasn't constantly moving, then started forward. "Come on," he told Liam, who was coming up beside him. "The ambush is about to take place, and we need to be there before the Blades finish them off." Thanks to Vass's information, he knew the Blades' camp was just outside the city. However, there was no guarantee that that was where they were now, so Zayn would have to use... other methods to locate them. A local merchant was selling freshly caught fish in a stall nearby. Zayn approached him.

"Welcome, welcome! Fresh fish for sale! You two look like you could use a good meal, ah?" the fisherman asked, looking at the two young travelers before him.

"We're in the market, yes, but not for fish, I'm afraid," Zayn replied. He took out a small scrap of paper and, using a small piece of charcoal he'd... acquired from the ship, quickly scribbled the symbol of the Grimleal on it. He then handed it to the fish merchant. The merchant's eyes darkened as he looked at the piece of paper, but then he crumpled it up and casually tossed it into the ocean behind him.

"Ah, no worries, young friends!" he said, quickly back to his old self. "Perhaps you're in the market for entertainment, then? I hear a big jousting tournament is happening today! Everybody will be there!"

"Thank you, we might just do that," Zayn said with a polite bow. "Come on, Liam. Let's go watch the tournament." So saying, he turned and walked off.

"Come again if you ever have a craving for fish!" the merchant called, waving goodbye behind them. Zayn smiled; good informants made life so much easier at times. The Sacred Blades were in the coliseum, watching the joust, and as far as the informant knew, all of them were there right now. How convenient that they've all gathered in one place, he thought to himself. Still, this was going to be tricky. He'd have to signal the ambush without the Blades seeing him, then rush into the coliseum and merge with the crowd. Once that had happened, he would only have to wait until the ambush took place, then join the fray on behalf of the Blades. From there, it would be simple to convince them that someone in Valm had it out for them. Once he went to hire the assassin to take out the Queen, that would seal the coffin.

After a few minutes' walking, they finally arrived outside the coliseum. Looking around, Zayn saw no one that was particularly armed or armored, so he assumed none of the Blades were out here. So convinced, he slipped into a nearby alleyway and pulled a red tome out from beneath his cloak. Reading the spell within, he raised his hand to the sky and whispered, "Elfire." A burst of flame shot up from his hand into the sky. It rose about twice as high as the coliseum before finally fizzling out. Zayn quickly stuffed the tome back into his cloak and rushed out of the alleyway from the other side. Then he casually began walking toward the entrance. The people that saw him rush out gave him some odd looks, but none of them thought much of a commoner boy dressed in rags. Getting inside was easy. He made his way to an area with open seats and motioned Liam to sit beside him.

"Now..." he said, taking a deep breath, "all that's left to do is wait."

[CoyoteKisses]

Laciel & Noelle

Laciel turns his head to Noelle to see her cheering along with the crowd with an unstoppable spirit. It looked like she was having a good time due to a sort of energy he felt radiated off of her. He smiled a bit before turning his head back to the joust, cheering until suddenly his stomach began growling. "(Maybe I should eat the rest of that loaf of bread.)" He reached into his bag, and began shuffling his hand around, trying to find the piece of bread.

It took a while for him to realize that his piece must of fallen out or something. He sighed, and his ears perked up as his stomach started growling. He didn't feel the need to abandon Noelle, but he didn't want to take her away from the excitement. He crossed his arms, trying to make the decision, but soon his stomach made it for him. Laciel then turned his head over to Noelle, who was still full of energy, still cheering fervently.

"Uhm Noelle, you want to go get something to eat, or something?"

Noelle was having a grand time watching the joust. She cheered, jumping up and down whenever a person fell off. She then heard Laciel ask her if she wanted to go eat. The girl looked at him, nodding. "Suree!" She dug into her bag, pulling out a piece of wrapped caramel. "Here ya go!" she brightly said, shoving it into Laciel's hand. She hadn't the faintest clue that Laciel was actually hungry for actual food.

Laciel watched as the girl pulled out a small piece of caramel, and put it into his hand. He stared at the lone piece of candy for a bit, before shoving it into his bag. He didn't need sweets for now, he needed food that could actually fill him. He looked at the girl directly in the eyes, and smiled awkwardly at her. "Erm, thanks for the piece of candy, but I was thinking about getting something a little more filling?" As he spoke, his stomach let out an even louder growl from before. He felt that the girl might of heard it and decided to tell her.

"Sorry, but I'm kind of hungry Noelle.... I didn't want to exactly tell you because I didn't want to leave you behind or such... Sorry if it feels like I'm forcing you to come with me."

She opened her mouth, suprise in her eyes as she listened to Laciel. "Oh no, I'm so sorry Laciel," she hurriedly said. "I didn't...wow." Noelle slapped her forehead, rather displeased at her lack of observation. "It's fine," she assured, grabbing the others hand before slipping out of the cheering crowds. "I'm rather hungry myself." Although the jousting tournament had gathered a lot of attention, there were still large crowds filling the streets.

Smells of food wafted, and Noelle herself felt her belly grumble a bit. "Hmm, where to go," she murmured as she looked around. "Is there anything you want to eat, Laciel?"

"Honestly, I don't know.... I just thought about buying some fresh meat from the butcher, and cooking it up... Do you have another plan because I've got nothing," Laciel said, putting both of his hands behind his head. He was seemingly a lot more clueless than before, chuckling a bit at his last statement. His stomach let out another loud rumble as he smelled the different types of food available to them. "What about a restaurant or something? I could pay if you like."

She chuckled looking around before answering Laciel. "Sure," she agreed. "But I'll pay for half," she firmly said. Before long, the two grabbed some food. A loaf of bread, some mutten legs, and apples. Noelle bugged Laciel enough to get him to travel a bit more, so the two were a bit away from the noise and smells. Away from the busy streets, Noelle took a seat in the grass, gazing at the scenery. "Wow, Ylisstol is so pretty," she murmured to herself as she took a bite of her apple.

"Yeah, its a pretty beautiful place," Laciel said, taking a bite of his apple as he stared up at the boundless sky, watching the birds fly in the sunshine. "It has very wonderful people too, most of the people you meet are just down right friendly." He turned his head towards Noelle, taking another bite out of his apple. "Say, where do you come from anyways, Noelle," he asked as he pointed at her with the apple in his hand.

"Ohhh," she said, nodding in agreement. There were certainly many wonderful people in Ylisstol. However, she couldn't shake the fact that there were some people who weren't wonderful at all. She shrugged away the though, glancing at Laciel when he asked his question. "Well, at the time, my family was at Ferox. So my mum gave birth to me there," she began. "We're a travelling circus family, so we never stayed in one place for to long." A rather unusual look crossed Noelle's face. She had moved very often, losing a lot of friends along the way. At least she was now with the Blades. "How about you?" she asked.

"Wow, a traveling Circus family... Kind of like my family's group, except you guys entertained and gave them a good show..." Laciel intently listened to her story, munching away at his apple as he listened. He noticed she had a strange look on her face. Before he could speak up and ask what was wrong, the spotlights seemingly pointed to him. He swallowed the chewed up piece of the apple, staring somewhere else for a bit before responding. "Well, I was born to a Mercenary group somewhere in Ylisse. Had a father, mother, and older brother of course who taught me most of the skills I needed to know to fight. My father was a blonde haired mage, while my mother was a blue haired swordswoman. I know a bit of magic, but my brother is a lot more skilled than I in the arts. He would usually make a puppet show using a fire pit as his stage... Heh I miss those times." Laciel sniffed the air for a bit, before turning his head to Noelle.

"Anyways, the group cared for each other as if they were related by blood. They taught me that a Mercenary group was a family who would help each other in a pinch, that they would share wonderful memories together..." He chuckled for a bit, and took a bite out of the apple. His chuckling eventually died down and Laciel was smiling, but he looked more gloomy than happy at the moment. He was strangely quiet for a bit, and it seemed like he left something out of his story. "Noelle..... You are a very lucky girl, knowing your family is still alive.... I don't know if I should go on... This next part is kind of personal to me... Plus, I don't know if you'll just interupt me once I say it, and start stabbing me to death."

She sat there for a moment, her apple in her hand as she just stared at Laciel. She could just feel sadness from him, something that made her want to cry. It was as if he was talking about a distant past, almost as if his family was dead...and she sort of knew that they were dead. Her brows knitted at what Laciel had said last. "Why would I stab you? You're my friend," she simply said. "I-I mean, if you don't want to tell me, it's alright," she said as she glanced at Laciel.

Laciels spirits were lifted for a bit, as he began smiling for a bit, before coming to a certain realization. He couldn't hide the truth inside him forever, otherwise he was going to explode. "Thank Noelle, but now that I think about it, the truth has to be revealed sometime. If I hide it out of sorrow, I could cause even more sorrow to others.... I shouldn't be so selfish." Laciel sat up, and blankly stared forward into nothingness. "You see, I was once a part of a group who worshipped Grima. They took my family away from me... The Grimleal." He uttered the last part in murderous anger. The way he spoke was completely unlike the cheerful Laciel that she had met earlier.

"The Grimleal slaughtered my family and took, most of the children forcibly under their wing. They tried to force us to their side through some mind altering magic. I was one of the few who resisted their tricks, however my brother wasn't." He stares at the ground, clenching his fists together. "I was forced to serve under them for four years, as I faked being under their command. What they did to those who could resist was not at all pretty. Anyways, I found my golden opportunity to escape, and I've been living the life of a mercenary ever since." He pushed himself up, and dusted himself off. He clenched the apple he had just finished eat, and chucked it as far as he could. He watched it soar through the air, and land somewhere far away from the duo.

"Missy, I truly hope this group is strong enough to face them... War looms on the horizon... The Grimleal are growing stronger with each passing day, and they are possibly getting closer to reviving Grima... I'm scared for everyone's safety, afraid that children will watch as their parents are slaughtered in cold blood just as I. I will do whatever I can to protect the people, even if it means sacrificing my life, so be it... I don't want anyone else to suffer as I have."

She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. Laciel and the Grimleal. After Laciel was done talking, she just stared at her apple for the longest time ever before taking a bite of it. A part of her said to trust him, after all, this was Laciel. However, the other part of her said to run away. But she had said before, Laciel was her friend. She mentally cursed herself before glancing at Laciel.

"In all honesty, I would like to run away from you," she hesitantly said, her vice wavering. "But, I trust you that you're no longer part of the Grimleal. And we will find a way to stop the Grimleal. But first things first, we have to tell the others."

He smiled a little, knowing that there was someone there to possibly back him up when he told his tale. "Yeah... I'm sorry if you were overloaded by my story and such, but I'm afraid of losing more people, more friends." He sighed as he looked at the lands of Ylisse and all its splendor. "I'm scared of losing you, and the others in the Sacred Blades now that I've brought my responsibilities onto your groups shoulders. I sometimes wonder if it was better if i went at it alone... But how can one man stand up to the might of the Plegian military."

He walked over to the still sitting girl, and offered a hand to help her up. "I understand that you might be scared who I was, and them, but I assure you that I was never truly on their side." He gave her a small friendly smile.

She took his hand, standing up before nodding in agreement. Her lips finally turned up into a smile when she saw Laciel smile and assure her. "Alright," she said, leading the two of them into the Blades camp.

[Savo]

@Gm@
After a long day of enjoying themselves, all the blades return to the camp, and is soon filled with chatter amongst the group. Some of them brought food, and made a bit of a feast for some of the people at camp. Most of the (main) other blades were off doing something for the worth while, and were preparing for the next day.

The Grimleal were also preparing for the next day, doing whatever they were doing to ready themselves.

There's a blade (Vass/Gran) giving a letter to some hawk (Ragmi), but no one takes note of it or notices, and the hawk flies off with letter in hand.

((Note - The letter is a warning to Zayn about Laciel, and such about how he could expose their plans))

((Sorry for the short gm post but can we please do some stuff besides waiting?))

((By the way, its night if no one knows))

[Burthstone]

Mira and Miren
Miren glared at Mira, crossing his arms and moving in front of her, stopping. “No,” his voice was firm and commanding, and he shifted when his sister tried to get past him. He sighed and grabbed her arm, pulling her back in front of him. “No Mira, we’re not going into that camp,” he scolded as he lead her by the arm. “They could be brigands, or worse, and I don’t want to have to fight off twenty men.”

“Ten, you know I’d take the other half,” Mira said casually, resisting being pulled along, away from the camp, by her brother. She managed to pull from his grip, only for her other hand to be grabbed, his face set.

“Five, I wouldn’t let you take ten. Besides, we’re avoiding that whole chance,” Miren pulled Mira harshly, taking her off balance, and pulling her along at a pace slightly too fast for her to get a good foothold and resist, but having to stop after a short bit to keep her from falling on her face and she pulled her arm from his grasp. “Mira!”

“I’m not staying up all night again Miren to avoid people showing up in the night! I’m sick of it, we’re going back to that camp and we’re asking if we can sleep for the night. If they’re damned brigands we’re going to fight some damned brigands then!” Mira pushed her brother away, and began stomping towards the camp, almost drawing her sword when he brother steps in her way again.

“I said no Mira! I’m not going to risk you getting hurt!” Miren noted his sister’s movement to her sword, and mimicked it. “We’re not going to that camp.” Mira drew Mirivel, holding the tempered silver sword out in front of her, towards her brother. She had no intent of hurting him, but just wanted to show she was serious. She swallowed ass Miren drew his sword in response, Grye, and held it at the ready.

Mira let out a breath, she knew Miren had always been better, but that wasn’t going to stop her. She moved forward, quickly striking with the blunt of her blade at his legs, but she soon found him out of the way and striking her back with the blunt of his blade. She did her best to turn and stop it but only got a stinging strike to the cheek. She gasped, but didn’t waste time to contemplate the pain and struck out at Miren again, making sure this time to be ready to turn at a moments notice.

Mira’s efforts managed to allow to block the next strike, only to have her feet swept out from under her by Miren’s leg, bringing her to a face-first greeting to the ground. She let out a loud yelp, and managed to stop herself just before hitting it, but she could feel her brother’s boot resting lightly between her shoulderblades.

“You’ve been neglecting your practice. You should’ve seen that coming,” Miren grabs her shoulder and hoists her up, helping her to stand up. He made sure to keep a hand on her shoulder as he picked her blade up, and shoved it into her hand. “Now put it up before we attract attention.” He glanced back at the camp, not realizing it was the Sacred Blades’ camp, and was likely perfectly safe to rest in.

Mira wouldn’t stand for it though, and shoved her brother away with all her strength, sending him toppling to the ground, having surprised him, and took off for the camp, sheathing her sword as she stopped herself quickly a few feet from it. She took a breath before fixing her hair a little and walking as casually as she could into the camp, trying to ignore the fact she had just come running up to the camp after fighting with her brother not fifty yards away. Hopefully the darkness had concealed all that. She could feel Miren’s glare burning holes in the back of her head as he jogged up beside her.

“I should grab you by the collar and just drag you,” he growled under his breath, his own sword sheathed as well now, but a hand still resting on it. He looked around, glaring, almost daring people to try and harm him or his sister, and see what comes of it.

Mira spotted someone that looked to be of some authority. “Hey!” She yelled at the individual, waving an arm at them to get their attention. She was going to stay here if it was even remotely safe.

[SwordfishKnight]

The day had been a rather boring one for Piers. Well, except for that murder he had committed, but he pushed that out of his mind , not wanting to remember, even with the blood still on his clothes and face and all dried up. Sitting curled up on the outside of his tent, Piers was deep in thought, wondering what to do now. Did Wyeth even know he killed someone in town? Would he be kicked out of the group, left to fend all on his own while his sister traveled around? He was quickly snapped out of thought by the little squirrel he picked up at the beginning of the day nibbling on his ear, as if it had sensed his sadness and decided to bring him out of it. The bird he had earlier had left him, flew off to find a mate. He knew this happened all the time. He had owned many birds, and they all left at one time or another. In its place though, he had adopted a small orange kitten, who was curled up in his lap, sleeping peacefully and sound, now that it had a home and food. As he was drifting slowly off to sleep, Piers was quickly awoken by a very loud "Hey!". Turning to see who it was, it seemed to a pair of people hoping to join the Sacred Blades, but did they know what they were getting into? Disregarding his own thoughts, Piers slowly got up, still holding the kitten, and slowly limped over to the two, slightly scared of what might happen.

"Um..... H.Hi. Right now our leader is busy, but mostly everyone is. If you want to talk to him about joining, you might have to wait a little bit. Everyone's preparing for something or other. The only reason I'm not, is uh, mostly because no one tells me anything." Piers stammered out his first sentences, scared of the imposing man behind the girl. "B...By the way, my name is Piers." The squirrel had climbed off of Piers shoulders and was now investigating the girl, sniffing her and climbing up her leg onto her shoulder. Quickly sniffing her some more, it hopped off of her shoulder and ran back to Piers and climbed onto his head, acting defensively towards him. "If you want to wait a few minutes, I can get Wyeth over here. Does that sounds okay?" Piers asked, quivering in fear and wanting to slink away.

[Burthstone]

Miren put a hand on his sister’s shoulder, pulling her back a little. “Your mistake, we’re just looking for a place to stay for the night,” his voice is blunt and rough, and he squeezes Mira’s shoulder tightly, causing her to wince slightly, until she pulled away and brushed her shoulder off.

“Yeah, just staying here for the night. We have no idea where the next town is and I’m certain as hell not walking all night again just to be sure no one sneaks up on us at night,” Mira says as she turns and glares at her brother, before turning her attention to the squirrel, watching it scamper up and down her. “So contacting someone who’s allowed to allow us to sleep would be good.”

Miren pulls his sister close, whispering, “They look like brigands to me, that one even has blood on him.” Mira elbows him in the ribs, glaring at him, before turning her head back to the man who had spoken to them, smiling a little.

“We don’t mind waiting at all, and don’t worry about Miren, he’s a dick, but he usually doesn’t attack unless provoked,” she chuckles a little, trying to cheer up the seemingly afraid man. After hesitating a moment, Mira puts out a hand to him. “I’m Mira Kennel, he’s my twin,” she indicates Miren with her head. “Nice to meet you. May I know your name?” She tries to make herself seem relaxed and friendly, to negate the glare Miren was giving the man, his hand still on his sword threateningly.

[Pandah]

Piers and Sapphire

Piers acknowledged the girl outstretching her hand but refused to shake it. "Hey instead of trying to get someone important, you guys can just sleep in my tent. I wasn't planning on using it tonight anyways. I wasn't planning on sleeping. Deciding to wander off, he looked out into the woods, hoping to find some small creatures. Piers wandered into the forest, delighted to find an abundance of wildlife.

Sapphire had woken up rather early to suit to her curious needs. She'd been out all day in the forest doing Naga knows what. She wasn't even finished with her fun when she, finally, happene to notice the diminishing sun and the inky dark that began to suuround her. Sighing, the girl looked down from her branchy seat, contemplating whether or not she should head back to camp or not. "I mean, this is probably the best place to watch the fireworks," she mumbled quite loudly to herself, certainly audible within earshot.

Piers wandered deeper into the forest, a newly found bird flapping around his head and landing on his shoulder like a miniature hawk. Looking for the right tree, Piers started up, quickly moving up the trunk, from branch to branch, limb to limb. he went higher and higher, and felt as free as he ever would. His hand outstretched to reach the next branch, but it seemed as if there was already someone there. In a moment of surprise, Piers let out a yelp and let go, falling down before stretching out a hand to grab a branch on his way down.

"Woah!" Sapphire exclaimed, not expecting anyone to be here. "H-hey, are you ok? Whoever you are...?!" she called out to the murky figure she could barely see since the leaves were blocking out what little moonlight was appearing. She cautiously made her way down the tree until she was face to face to the other. Squinting, the person's face seemed somewhat familiar. "Hey, have I seen you before?!" she asked, a bit surprised, forgetting the fear that had slowly crept into her mind.

Piers swung himself up to the tree branch, trying to scoot away from Sapphire, who seemed to not know who he was. It was natural though, no one really talked to him or knew who he was, except for at most Margaret's brother. "Y...you kinda might, yeah. I kind of travel with you guys. I'm in Sacred Blade as well." Nervous, Piers looked around for an escape.

The girl thought to herself for a brief moment. "Yeah...you're...P...you're Piers, no~?!" she asked with excitement, wondering if she was right or not. She usually got excited about nothing, so, naturally, Saapphire beamed with delight whilst waiting for a response.

"Um, I am. I.. think I might know your name as well. But for safety, let's continue this conversation on the ground please." Piers hopped down to the ground, sliding down the trunk of the tree, prepared to act if anything were to happen.

"Aw...I guess I can watch the fireworks on a hilly field. Hey, do you wanna watch them with me...?" She carefully climbed down the tree, holding on tightly to the bark. With her two feet firmly set on the grassy land, Sapphire turned towards the other. "What do ya say..?"

Piers was taken aback. Some person who, while in the same mercenary group as he, barely knew who he was was just asking him casually to do something. "Sure." was piers only word for his response. The kitten had woken up and was peeking out from his shirt, but before it could see much, Piers shoved it back down into where it came from. "Where do we go to watch them?"

Sapphire was delighted to hear that she had someone to come along with her. It was much better than going alone. "On a hilly field, silly~ C'mon, I'll lead the way," she stated, giggling a bit before slowly, and carefully, making her way through the thick forest and out into a grassy clearing. Pointing to a hill not too far from where she stood, she glanced behind her to have a better look at Piers. "It's just over there."

Piers followed behind her slowly looking for any moment to slip away without hurting her feelings. Looking out over the distance, Piers noted the hill that Sapphire was mentioning,it was a big hill for sure. "Well, I guess I...have no choice but to go now."

"It'll be fun, I promise~" She trotted towards the hill in a nonchalant manner, constantly gazing up at the sky to make sure she didn't miss anything (which was obvious she didn't since the skies were still clear). Plopping down by the tree which grew atop said hill, Sapphire motioned for the other to sit by her. "It's not as good of a view as sitting in a tree, but it's still a good view," she added, answering a question that was never asked.

Following her example, Piers sat down, bringing his knees up to his chest and placing his head on top of them. "If you say so. I prefer when i'm sitting alone, but I guess this is fine too." Looking in the sky Piers turned his head and asked Sapphire a simple question. "So when do these fireworks start?"

Sapphire peered over the trees, towards the illuminated, yet miniscule, city. "Any moment now," she cooed, her excitement slowly building up. Shortly after speaking, three little sparks suddenly zipped through the dark sky, brightening it up after exploding into millions of even more little sparks. The teal haired girl's eyes widened. It'd been awhile since she'd last seen fireworks, it felt comforting to watch them decorate the sky once more.

While Sapphire was enjoying the fireworks, Piers looked around. seeing the camp from far away, he slipped away, leaving nothing but the kitten in his place, it's mewling a replacement for his silence.

Staring at what appeared to be her most favorite firework of the night (so far), Sapphire turned to face what she thought would be Piers but instead found a cat in his place; he wasn't anywhere in sight. "Ah...I should be used to being left alone by now, right, little kitty?" she said with a sigh, returning her attention to the lit up sky. There was this nagging sadness growing inside her and no matter how hard she tried to keep it at bay, it was still there. Not so long after, a groan escaped her lips and she got herself up to her feet, suddenly not interested in fireworks anymore, glumly making her way back to the camp with an unusual solemn expression on her petite face.

[Overwatch]

"I'm fine." He passed up the chance to eat the apple. He didn't feel particularly hungry right now. "Huh, I see..." He commented, in an almost dissapointed tone. He didn't particularly like those that used ranged attacks and let others guard them... something about the idea of hanging back and letting others die as a wall for you didn't seem too brave. Of course, he knew that it was necessary, so he never commented on it. He pulled the heavy sword up almost casually, and hefted it up onto his shoulder again. "You're right." He looked down at him. It's not as if knowing his name would change the air between them. He was sure that he trusted the man far less than any other blade he had seen yet. "What I do with matters that concern only me and other parties is none of your, or anybody else's business. If there is anything I hate more than cowards and idiots, It would be to have someone challenge me, and not back up their words. I guess you could say I hate liars too." He replied casually. Someone who could see the undertones behind what he said could figure out he was being entirely insulting to most, or all parties involved in the event. The man I took away? How is that of any concern to you? Whatever. He's in the medical ward. You might as well go see him if you care so much." He waved his hand, dismissing the man, before turning around, and walking off. To say he wasn't in a good humor was an understatement.

[Nerendier]

Hark
Hark twirled a finger through his unkempt beard. Another day, another coin. Hark took jobs where he could find them and he had recently been hired as a dockhand. This was mostly due to his size and strength, it didn't take long for him to get hired for physical labor jobs, and loading-and-offloading cargo was about as physical as labor got. Today he was putting what appeared to be sacks of potatoes onto a recent arrival. The port was usually bustling with activity, but today it was rather quiet due to the tournament going on just down the street. He could occassionally hear gasps and cheering from the crowd. Hark really didn't pay much attention to it, although his mind occasionally wandered to the idea of competing with a sword and shield, it's likely that he could actually win a tournament doing that. Hark shook his head at the idea, after all, the last thing he really wants is to draw attention to himself, not that he didn't stick out like a sore thumb wherever he went being the beast of a man he was. Hark did his best to appear as anything but an elite knight to everyone around him. He was unkempt, dirty, crass, and reeked of alcohol at almost all times. Even if someone had a portrait of him from his days as a knight, they wouldn't be able to convince themselves Hark was the one they were searching for, after all, how could a Silver Dragon Knight have fallen so far so fast?

The foreman coughed as he looked up at Hark, who was staring off into the distance. Hark snapped back to reality, nodded to the foreman to acknowledge that he was there to work, not daydream, and hefted a couple hundred pounds of sacks of potatoes over his shoulders. Hark could do in one trip what it took normal men three. Hark made his way onto the ship, the treated wood creaking under the weight of the enormous man and his potatoes. Hark made his way to the cargo bay and set the potatoes down. He made his way up and out before long. He sighed as the sun and sea's wind beat down on him. He glanced over to the foreman before asking, "mind if I take my shirt off?"

The foreman let out an exasperated sigh before saying "fine."

Hark pulled his shirt over his head. Although he no longer had the definition he once had, it was clear to all around just how much muscle mass this man has. Hark lifted another few sacks over his shoulder, beads of sweat dripping from his beard. Hark looked back as he heard the chuckles from one of the new greenhorns. The greenhorn was barely into his teens, and thought for sure that he could out-do the drunkard. Hark stopped and watched the young man as he bounded over to the sacks of food. He took a moment to count how many Hark was carrying and tried to throw them over his shoulder like Hark had. Hark smiled and shook his head before turning around and heading for the ship once more. Suddenly Hark heard a howl of pain, Hark spun on his heels to see the young man had hurt himself trying to out-do Hark.

Mere moments later a young man was upon him. The man had an odd appearance about him, he seemed to be dressed fairly flashily. It wasn't long before the young man brought out a heal staff and had healed the greenhorns wounds. Hark wasn't close enough to hear any of the conversation, and instead made his way below deck.

Hayne
Hayne had wandered back into Ylissian territory less than a month ago. By chance he had found his way into a port town, with a tournament no less. Which was great, as tournaments more often than not needed healers of some kind. After wandering through the town he came across a dock where supplies were being loaded on to a ship. Nearby a young man howled out in pain as he held his elbow. Hayne moved in and told him, "Stay still, I only need 93 more." He quickly pulled out a healing staff and repaired the wound. The young man had begun tearing up from the pain before Hayne had healed it.

Hayne smiled, "There! All better. May we some day meet on the field of battle, where I will destroy you in glorious combat!" Hayne proudly exclaimed before moving on.
Next he would offer his healing services to the combatants of the tournament.

Hark
Hark finished the days work before making his way to the tavern. It would likely be busy tonight due to the fireworks. After all, he didn't want to go home, after all, all it was was basically a shed with a hidden chest containing his past. The tavern was quite nice, as the town tended to be a bit wealthier due to trade than most. The tavern even had rooftop seating. Hark got himself a drink before making his way to the roof. He leaned against the back wall, after all, he was a full head taller than most and could easily see the fireworks, even from behind the crowd.

Hayne
Hayne had found himself atop a small building while waiting for the fireworks. During the events of the tournament he had gotten his count down to 87. He was getting closer, but it would probably still be weeks until he could fight again.