[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/mnxxOJe.png?1[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/m7f08O1.png?1[/img]
[b]Mecca, Green Sahara[/b]
[sub][@Tenma Tendo][@Double][/sub]

[b]BGM:[/b] [url=https://youtu.be/iKKzLKg7kyI]The Maiden[/url]
[/center]

A genuine yet discomforted smile appeared on Audry's face, undercut by a look of sadness. 

[color=00a651][b]"You're bleeding"[/b][/color], she spoke, eyes moving towards the fresh gash left over the girl's eye. Audry made no gestures of aggression nor hostility, merely a concerned look. [color=00a651][b]"It's a long story but, I was sent to protect you. If you'll let me, I can heal you."[/b][/color]

Audry advanced towards Capella, walking slowly, and reaching her hand out, slowly as not to invoke a defensive reaction from the other, but offering her the chance to comply. The familiar glowing green eyes no longer narrowed in opposition as before but open and inviting. [color=00a651][b]"There is a lot that needs to be said, and to be explained.[/b][/color] She looked away as she spoke, eyes turning away from Capella towards the ground. [color=00a651][b]"I can't change what has happened before...but, I can only ask that you forgive the harshness of our encounters."[/b][/color]. The smile returned to her face, [color=00a651][b]"I'm Audry, I was sent to protect you."[/b][/color]. Her hand remained outstretched, inviting the other woman to take hold of it, the palm and fingers emanating and glowing with faint energy, calming simply to look at. 

[color=00a651][b]"Where I am from, they call you Jadyata al-Nujumiyyah."[/b][/color], she spoke,[b] [color=00a651]"The Nazarenes, I mean. When I lived with them, they told me about how you saved the founder of their order, and how you saved the world from the False Messiah. But, something happened, and...they needed to send someone back to help you."[/color][/b]. Audry returned to her awkward phrasing, eyes once more turning away. [color=00a651][b]"So...they sent me."[/b][/color]. Audry cursed herself under her breath. In the short time that she had arrived she had already more than likely compromised a good deal of the mission. The Nazarenes had proven themselves mistaken in their assessment of her abilities. The Gummi Ship was lost, Yevon had been lost in whatever spacial flux that transpired with the collapse of the ship's medium. [color=00a651][b]"But I suppose I don't know your real name!"[/b][/color], she responded, as if jerking herself out of the depressive slump back into a chipper mood, a bright smile returning to her face in that brief moment. 

[center][b]Below the Bluff[/b]
[b]BGM:[/b] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR-r5geU_vs]Malachi[/url]
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As the procession approached the gates of Mecca, a small collection of the city's leaders had gathered, the tribesmen speaking among themselves until the advance of the Axumite excursion had finally appeared beyond the horizon. The forces of the Ethiopians were not particularly large, but the Meccans struggled to remain steadfast in the presence of such imposing soldiers. At the head of the party was the leader, Malachi, seated upon his mount, a dwarf elephant, one of the last of its kind, captured and broken specifically for his use. Flanking him were a collection of powerful soldiers, [url=https://imgc.artprintimages.com/img/print/ethiopian-horseman-during-british-queen-elizabeth-ii-s-visit_u-l-p68olp0.jpg?h=550&w=550]dressed in resplendent armor and luxurious furs[/url], carrying long polearms to show their status. Behind the nobles was a small dispatching of infantrymen, [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7a/65/dd/7a65ddd2b1dee50bc8680a377de63c8a.jpg]dressed in simple armor and bearing banners of the Kingdom of Axum with them[/url]. The human soldiers bore a striking trait, glowing green eyes that seemed to shine out of the darkness of their helmets, as if phosphorescent.  But perhaps what frightened the men of Mecca most of all were the legions of heartless that followed in formation with the standard soldiers, still small in number but nearly twice that of the standard swordsmen and the horsemen.
As the Axumites came closer to the gates, the three most senior tribal leaders stepped forward to meet them. Abu Talib, Abu al-Hakim, and Abu Lahab all undertook the ceremonial motions, Abu al-Hakim taking hold of a quiver of arrows, and throwing them at the feet of Malachi, who awaited the assessment from the decided diviner. 

"Hubal smiles upon our negotiations" he announced. 

[center][b]BGM: [/b][url=https://youtu.be/x1fMw64cu-Y]Cleyra's Trunk[/url][/center]

While up on the bluff, Audry's attention was briefly turned away from Capella as she heard the commotion and sounds coming from below.

[color=00a651][b]"Huh? What the?"[/b][/color]

She rushed over to the edge of the cliff to get a better look

Back at the city gates, Malachi stood upon a platform to address the people of the city.

"People of Mecca! While my army has come today to take control of your city, do not fear our coming, for the wise men of your tribes have settled upon an agreement that will ensure your autonomy even under the rule of our blessed Messiah. All we ask is the rights to take of your food and water as we need, and to root out any subversive elements that may dwell within your walls."

The Meccans remained caught in their fears, yet Malachi continued his speech. 

"To prove that your right to worship your gods will continue under the protection of the Messiah, and that we will not force you to our ways, we shall provide an offering to your lords Hubal, Shams, Bal, Allat, Al-'Uzza and Manat, with the blood of one of our own to demonstrate the sacrifices we are willing to make for you as our subjects."

[center][b]BGM: [/b][url=https://youtu.be/RAxOrUpgX2I]Extraction[/url][/center]

With the wave of a hand, the soldiers at Malachi's sides advanced, pulling forward a collection of tinder and wood, which the leader ignited with a burst of flames. Meanwhile, the soldiers went back to retrieve the sacrifice. Between the two recent prisoners, the soldiers decided upon Ezra to be the sacrifice. The men took hold of him, dragging him through the sands over to the burning pyre. Though Shun was struck with the paralyzing spell, he would begin to feel the effect rapidly fading away. The armor he was cloaked in upon his arrival had weakened the magic, and now the effects began to decay away. All the while, the soldiers tossed the still stiff body of his brother at the feet of their leader, who took hold of Ezra, raising him before the three Tribal Leaders, and proclaimed,

"With this man, burned to ashes for the honor of the Gods and Lords of Mecca, may our new alliance and integration into one nation be fruitful and prosperous!"

[center][b]BGM:[/b][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCK2YF4iPxk]A Shot of Crisis[/url][/center]

[color=00a651][b]"Yallahi! They're going to burn him alive!"[/b][/color], Audry screamed in horror as she saw the pyre lit and the leader of the forces announce his desires. Without thinking, Audry leaped off of the cliff face, landing hard into the sand and rolling a short distance before taking off running full speed towards the conference. There was no time for thinking, just to save this man, whoever he may be, and get out before anyone noticed her. Not that she really knew how she was going to do it, but she'd figure it out when the time came.

[center][b]Renovation's Might, Renovation[/b]
[sub][@Gentlemanvaultboy][@MagusDream][/sub][/center]
[center][b]BGM:[/b] [url=https://youtu.be/D2ZY1eEUlM0]Fleeting Life[/url][/center]

The image of a sling firing stone after stone faster than he could comprehend send a cold jolt down Hirutila's spine. It was moments like this that made him wary of this entire trip. The Emperor and the rest of these people were fools. He fought with swords and crossbows, this was an element that he was not certain he could even make the jump to effectively fight in. Georgia assured him that she had a method deal with such things, but the thought still left a feeling of deep unease in his stomach. The journey they were to go one seemed to get ever more difficult and imposing as time went on. This wasn't like piracy, pirates and the Marines he fought would at least have abided by the laws of his own world's reality, yet here everything was turned on its head. Hirutila sighed at the thought. Georgia even seemed to express discontent, the look of anguish on her face only served to make his anxieties increase. Georgia knew these things, yet she did not seem to be any more eased by her knowledge. It was terrifying to say the least.

Hirutila followed after the girl and her pet towards the two other new arrivals. Hirutila was unsure of how to parse the trio of brothers that had made their late arrival to the party. A strange mixture of innocence and stern orthodoxy was the theme that he perceived of these two who the little dinosaur had lead them to. Hirutila had to at least attest to the novelty of the creature. Never before had he seen anything quite like it, and what exactly it was and where it came from intrigued him. He had some ideas, the creature resembled a cross between a lizard and large bird. The Greeks living in Egypt often told tales of a local creature called an ichneumon, that killed and hunted dragons for food. They were like large roosters but lacked feathers for scales. Was this creature really an ichneumon? The girl did say that her ancestors came from Africa, though he did not place her as an Egyptian. 

Hirutila perished the thoughts over the animal for a second and focused on its behaviors. The animal was certainly useful, like a dog of some sort, though he imagined far more dangerous. The third brother, Agni was his name if he remembered correctly, also made the dog analogy, but he emphasized the differences above all. Hirutila was taken aback by the sudden change he underwent at the strike of his younger sibling. Hirutila frowned, annoyed with the mysteries and surprises that kept popping up. He could only hope that things would even out eventually, though somewhere in his mind he seriously doubted that to ever happen.