Zeke smirked. "Envy is pretty great. Considering the nature of his people, sometimes it surprises me that he's so gentle." He admitted, having always considered Envy to be a truly terrible Kartaian, and a better human being than most human beings. "I watched him fight. Ed, I mean. While I could. He's quite skilled, too. And Kire. By all accounts, I now have to assume everyone in Amria is a skilled fighter." Considering the three he met; a pirate, a soldier, and an empress, were all lethally skilled. 

His smile vanished when she asked about his neck pain, and Zeke dropped his hand at once to stop rubbing at it. It had always been customary with his men in Ziad that you never mention another's injuries. It was emasculating, and equal to pointing out they were too weak. Perhaps Amrians saw it differently. "Uh." Zeke stammered, trying to shove aside the irritation at the question, glad she hadn't actually asked for details about it. Instead, she simply offered to have Ed's sister take a look. "Yeah. Sure." He answered finally. Could hardly hurt to have someone besides Sid take a look at him; as much as he loved his foster sister, they had limited resources, and Sid had never handled the sort of injury he'd endured. 

"Does that mean she'd have to take me to Amria?" Zeke asked as they neared the wall of knotted trees through which they had first forced their way. "Whats it like, there? You speak our language, you have similar customs and hierarchies, so it can't be that vastly different." The only difference he could really note, beside the language they spoke when wanting a private word, was the metal that was used to forge their armour and weapons. He couldn't help but be envious of the blade Kire had given Ruli, as the thing looked sturdier than their own steel, and a lot more vibrant.

~

Ysaryn walked beside him, her eyes endlessly moving to take in every movement, corner every sound. The banners that hung on the gates she assumed to belong to Ed's family, the green and gold colours quite proud in the midday sunlight. There weren't nearly as many people as she would have expected for a space this size. No one bothered them, despite the fair number of heads that turned their way. Every person Ysaryn saw, she tried not to leer at them. It wouldn't help if the first elf they were to ever lay eyes on them bared her teeth and snarled. 
It didn't stop her from jumping slightly when the horn blasted through the silence, and Ysaryn's hands twitched for the hilts of her missing blades. Exhaling noisily, she calmed herself and nodded as Ed explained they were being approached. 

Drawing herself tall, shoulders squared and chin high, Ysaryn studied the soldiers who drew close, raising her hands when Ed. A very foreign concept to the elf, who supposed this was a sign that they weren't going for their weapons in some extension of trust. Why else would they open themselves up so dangerously?
Her brow furrowing, she watched the man question them, then observed the look that overcame him. The scroll he unraveled to read, his expression as he glanced over them again. Slowly, she lowered her hands again.
"[i]Suppose I am your good luck charm, warrior.[/i]" Ysaryn said without turning her head. "[i]Best keep me around.[/i]"

Still, she tensed when the soldier in charge dismounted and approached, her chest rising as she inhaled and knelt. [i]Humans are so odd,[/i] Ysaryn thought to herself as Ed gave him permission to stand upright again. Then she hissed, and turned her face toward Ed. "[i]No reason to keep your cousin waiting, but I can't ride those things on my own. I have only ever ridden behind Kirai, and it was not comfortable.[/i]" She admitted with a slight wrinkle of her nose. "[i]How undignified is it to for me to ride behind you?[/i]"

~

Mixed reactions to his comment told him two things; one, that they could, in fact, understand the common tongue from his world, and two, that not all of them were out for blood. His pale eyes fell on the one with short hair, who seemed to be in charge, as she commented to the others in his tongue. Gemini spy. More information that told him who stood before him. Er, well, above him. 
But the comment about putting a bow on him and handing him over to Kire wiped the amusement off his face. 

As the leader addressed him directly, Ruli met her gaze, still holding his hands up. He assessed her expressions as she asked what she wanted to know, between his abilities and his weapon, and he didn't answer straight away. Without lowering his arms, he adjusted his position, shifting further back to sit more upright against the pit wall. 
They were on Kire's side, loyal to the empress and her regency. They were here to protect some border he'd wound up close to, catching Gemini spies as they slipped through. A unit of women, which made him curious and both a little nervous.

His eyes shifted around the pit, looking for any sign of runes that were carved into the walls that would prevent his magic from helping him to escape. He knew the Gemini, at least, were able to use magic, but as far as he knew, only through the heavy use of blood. That would possibly explain why there were no sharp spikes to break his fall. 
"I'm not a huge fan of being kept in a hole in the ground." Ruli said, deciding to avoid her questions for the moment. "Allow me out, and I'll answer." He could almost see the skepticism wash across their leaders face. Across several faces. Ruli raised his hands slightly higher. "You saw my magic. You know I can escape if I want to. I'm offering a truce. Just let me out."