Fire Emblem: Almathea

[Tyrannosaurus Rekt]

Khord flaccidly handed Juliet her supplies when she called for them. Otherwise, he was staring at the world around him. So many were hurt. So many were broken. There were soft cries in the air for retribution. Yet, what could these men fight against? Khord figured that their chances of rebellion were small. That being said, give them time and power. This is why he loathed civilization so much. These things could happen. He wasn't the sort to wedge himself between their struggles.

There was a whistle. His ears caught onto faster than his mind did. He looked around rapidly. The whistle summoned so many memories. He stood amongst the sands. He stood in the nomad clans of the Sahra. He held a woman that had the wings of a hawk. It was Korra. She was around here, somewhere. His eyes flicked across the silhouette he'd recognized before but hadn't placed. Was that truly her? Naga be damned, she didn't have the wings. Maybe she hid them. No, Korra wasn't the sort to hide her birthright.

Khord glanced down at Juliet. He hated to leave the healer, but a higher calling literally called him. He watched a man loll by with a cart. He stuck his foot in the way of it, jamming the wheel. It hurt but only momentarily. He dumped the supplies in the empty cart.
"Healer needs help," he said, angling his head towards Juliet. The cart pusher seemed elated at his new job and wheeled his handheld vehicle towards her.

Khord stretched, his muscles rippling like thick snakes across his dark skin. He proceeded towards the whistle. He arrived back at the place he began. Naga's sake, that was Korra. She didn't look the same. Khord remembered her as the sort that would weasel her way out of anything. She had always been the brains, and he'd always been the brawn. Khord wasn't without intelligence. Yet, he had his moments where others formulated better plans than he did. Korra was one of those people.

"Korra," Khord called up to her. "Why're you here?" He paused. "I thought you found grander life in Sahra?"
He pushed his unruly golden locks from his face. "Worse question is: what happened with wings? They were thing that defined you. They make Korra special and Khord sad. He always wish he could fly."

 

[Korra Quinn]

Korra's expression quickly churned and contorted into one of grimace when the lord mentioned helping by carting around bandages or supporting the healers. Surely Korra could support in this role, she was at least able to listen to basic orders and follow them, but the thought brought some rather cruel flashes from her past to the present. Those type of roles were unsettling for her, particularly when it was at the request of a lord she'd intended to kill.

In the end, she flashed a wry smile, not quite sure how to refuse politely. Instead she shook her head slowly at the request raising a hand of refusal as she sat herself down on the ledge of the building that was currently her perch. Looking from above, she had a rather clear view of everything going on and those that needed help... She felt far too detached though, these were human troubles and worries, human politics-- Getting tangled in those made her worry she'd just end up going back to a cage once more.

"No... While I suppose I could handle those tasks, I'd likely only be in the way. It's probably best not to have me placed into such a role. If it were something I were more familiar with I'd help for a price, but I'm somewhat out of my element here."

She commented, raising a hand to her down covered ears as if trying to signify that she felt a little uncomfortable surrounded by so many humans. Though she didn't mind humans in general, being in the presence of lords made her somewhat skiddish and weary, like an animal hearing a twig snap she was rather alert and on edge.

Of course, Khord was more familiar to her, a nomad like she was back when she was freed from captivity she was more comfortable with a familiar face no matter how unappealing it might be to her. When he responded with her name, she gave a somewhat idle wave, that mellow nature of her's clear in how lazy her greeting was with people she knew. "Ah--" Was all she gave as confirmation with a tender nod of her head. "I'm not one to carve out a territory and confine myself to a single place." She replied in answer to finding something more grand in Sahra.

Korra didn't have parents in the traditional sense after all, had never been taught how to live her life or build a home. Instead she came up with her own method of survival by living like an animal... Though that said, she had originally come driven by hatred and anger at nobles; Her only goal to kill them all or cause as much harm as she could before she died. Getting here though, seeing the lords in person, seeing the people happy and festive for the summit though, those intense feelings began to mellow out; Her once fierce determination and drive draining out now that she could see the finish line she'd envisioned. Now, not having a goal or a purpose, replying to Khord was rather difficult simply because she didn't know what she was doing like she used to.

Hearing the question about her wings though, Korra's mellow smile turned into a frown as she recalled that tough decision she made. "They made fitting in-- Hiding and the like difficult. This way people won't bother me, I don't have to look over my shoulder as often." She explained with a shrug, though her words were flippant and indifferent as if one way or another it didn't bother her, her frown was clearly displeased by the memory. Her wings had a rather lustrous beauty after all, even if she could have blended with humans with them, she couldn't evade possible hunters who might be searching for her as 'lost property'.

She didn't dwell though, trying not to reflect, she cast her gaze down on Khord from the roof's edge cocking her head to one side in question. "What about you though? Were you not planning on staying in Sahra as well? Or was the verdant and abundant landscape of this place more appealing?" She questioned, after all, Khord didn't seem to operate with a rhyme or reason as she did, Korra calculated, planned, and coordinated, but Khord seemed to follow 'guts' or 'instinct' instead which left her thinking it was stranger to see him here then the reverse.

 

[Falcon]

The children milled around Galric for a while eventually deciding that yes, they would help. Some took a coin from the man in exchange considering the uncertainty of a Pegasus ride.
Before he could give his own answer however, Eleos was finally spotted by his sister who looked up from tending the wounded at just the right moment to catch sight of her brother. Deciding her sibling came first, and feeling sure that he could not be in the middle of such a chaotic scene without getting into trouble, Chess hauled Eleos off out of the way with a firm scolding.


The siblings would later be seen during the tournament, the brother enthusiastically cheering on his sister as she worked her was through the rounds.

Galric, meanwhile, had turned the assortment of children into a sort of message service with himself as the hub. He stayed near the lords so he could relay the news from various points on the dock while they conversed, as the kids took replies and brought missives there and back again. The youth in the witches cap Galric thought was particularly bright, and had circumstances been different he might have attempted to take the lad under his wing.

The lords remained deep in conversation going over the details, what they knew, and how best to proceed. But they could not stand and talk forever. The speech of the ship captain began to draw a crowd and a child approached Galric to inform him of the words. He interrupted their council for a moment to relay the news.

"The sailors are beginning to put together their own rescue mission, My Lords"

The Bishop frowned and drew the other two over towards the ship. "That won't do," he grumbled, "for them to be seen attempting her rescue before we act. Well all know we cannot begin the summit without her, or her replacement."
The Bishop then drew himself to his full height and shouted over the din.
"You will need able bodied crew and funds." he roared, his old voice demanding respect and attention. "And Shan will furnish such! Long have we been friends with Mai Kai,"

Galric's eye narrowed. Clever that, being the first lord to speak publicly. Doing so forced the other nations to at least pretend to be in agreement. It was a bold political ploy and nothing less.

"I am only an envoy of my nation," the bishop continued, drowning out the noise of the crowd. "But I can furnish the funds to repair your ship and enough bullion to allow each man a share of 1000 each upon the white lady's safe return. And Shan will of course pardon any man of his crimes who helps."

Very fortunate the boy who had told Galric the information had overheard that little gem. And once again the bishop had shown his cleverness. He'd only have to repair the ship and pay the survivors when the party returned. If they returned.

"I also send my right hand man, Galric with you, as well as any able body from my own crew that wishes to go. It is not much in the grand scheme," the bishop announced fairly, "but then I am only an envoy. I am sure those who are actually royalty here can do more."

And with an announcement like that they had better, Galric thought bitterly. His own plans had just been ruined. He had been supposed to keep an eye on the bishop and the old badger's schemes, but he could hardly refuse a public order. House Arturis would not be pleased.

"A man of your skills would be valuable." The bishop smiled and clapped him on the shoulder.

Galric found his own fake smile and strolled forward to stand at the front of the listening crowd where he looked for the sailor in charge.

 

[DustBunny]

Xander had begrudgingly agreed, more like almost forced into, running errands back and forth for this man he was trying to talk to. He had walked back and forth between people relaying messages about something he wasn't sure about. He had finally finished being a messenger boy, and he was determined to talk to that man.

Unlucky for him, Garlic had walked away and there was a huge crowd of people for Xander to work through.

Xander had to back away from the crowd and climb onto some boxes to see if he could spot him. After a moment of looking over the area, he spotted the man he needed to talk to walking somewhere. Xander hoped off of the box and hurried over to him.

"Excuse me." His soft voice was overpowered by the loud crowd, so he went unheard.

"Excuse me." He said a little louder to the man's back as he continued walking. Again, he was unheard and began to get a little frustrated.

"Excuse me." He said more firmly as he tapped the shoulder of the tall man with his staff.

He then crossed his arms and looked up at the man, awaiting his reaction.

Galric's own search of the crowd was interrupted as his shoulder was tapped not-so- lightly by what at first felt like a thick stick. When he turned with a raised eyebrow he found himself facing the boy from earlier. The one whose intelligence he had mentally praised.

"Yes?" he queried quietly, "Is there another massage? Or perhaps there is something else I can do for you?"

Satisfied that he got the other's attention, Xander cleared his throat.

"No, no message. I hear that you guys need help. And I'm willing to help. I may not look like much, but I'm a prodigy mage, and I want you to let me help."

His words were quiet, but they could be heard and so could the confidence in his voice.

Galric studied the youth for a bit, but after recalling his own childhood the man could hardly find it in himself to say no. Not right away at least.

"What's your name?" he asked finally, "and how old are you?" Galric never had been very good at guessing the age of anyone under 18.

Xander gave the other a calculating look, a bit surprised at the lack of immediate denial.

"I'm 13."

The words left his mouth quickly and plainly. He was prepared for the whole, "You're too young" or "This is too dangerous for a kid like you" speech, but he wasn't going to give up. He didn't know why, but part of him felt that working with this man, or someone here, would help him in the long run.

"And your name?" Galric pressed again. "And after you've answered that I'd like to know why you want to help and what you think you can do to assist us?"

"My name is Xander." He said simply. "Why do I want to help? Honestly, I'm not to sure why, I just feel like it's what I need to do. And since I'm prepared to accurately assume that you're going to be fighting pirates and I can say this: Pirates are quite beefy, but magic will put them to shame, and I can offer better Thunder magic than you could guess."

Galric suppressed the twitch of his lips that threatened a smile. He had to admit he liked this kid.
"And what about your family and friends, he pressed just a little more. "Parents, mentor? If you come I can't guarantee you'll get to see them again."

Xander just sighed. He could tell this man was questioning him to be sure about him, but it was getting redundant. At least to the child.

"My only 'family' was my precious mentor, who I left back in Sahra to further my studies. So, it won't bother me much to not see him again."

Galric could only shrug at that. He'd had to cover any and all objections that might be raised, had to know all the answers. He could see the boy getting impatient, but things were rarely is simple as children seemed to believe.

"All right, Kid. If you can lend a hand, do as you're told as far as chores and safety and things go, and stay out of trouble, I see no reason not to let you come along."

Xander just nodded, a small smile working onto his face.

"I'll put my trust into you to tell me what needs to be done."

With that, he moved to stand next to Garlic, it seemed that he planned on following the other wherever he was going.

 

[Tyrannosaurus Rekt]

Khord watched the shadow of Korra in the light, and he sighed at her words. She had always been this flippant and non-agreeable. He'd dealt with it, of course. He was not an impatient man or a man easy to anger. Well, easy to anger about subject matters such as this. "That is true," Khord said. "You were much unruly about places we stayed and people we met." He didn't think she would have left given her nature. The rest of the countries were so civilized, so social. Yet, she took all confinement as insult upon herself. Korra had made it known more often than naught that nothing could cage her, both literally and figuratively. She was a free spirit.

So, it made him frown when he heard that she'd removed her wings for propriety sakes. Khord couldn't visualize such a sacrifice. It would be like removing his arms or his eyes. He used both so fully, so equally, that he couldn't imagine a life without them. He only sighed at her words and nodded. "A life worth living is one you walk towards… not backwards." He probably mangled the old saying, but the point got across—he hoped. He hated civilization for making her lose one of the many things that made hers special. Yet, he hated himself more for not making sure that she remained purely whole. Korra was not one to stay, though. Then again, Khord was not one to stay, either. They were both two separate entities that had Naga's luck to bump into each other in the haphazard way that they did.

Korra questioned why he was no longer in Sahra. "You can only milk cow for so long until it dries up." Khord felt that was the easiest explanation. "I kept running against old enemies and making new ones every time I stopped." He sighed. "Apparently, appearance makes challenge. People challenge me because I am… strongt. Strong." He held his hands out, nearly hitting a passer-by. They gave him a stern look before making their way down the choked artery of a street. "This world, much bigger. Many more people view me as… ah… bear… More defender than attacker. Also," he said, bringing his hands in. "I snore like bear. Korra why you not tell me this? It has been most embarrassing."

He rubbed his head. "I am most confused as to why everyone is scrambling about like mice." Juliet had only spoken briefly about the plight in the docks, and he'd only been paying a fraction of the attention. It was apparent due to the injured and the sheer amount of medicinal supplies that something had happened. Khord wasn't without his mental faculties, though. He surmised it must have had to with the summit. So, things had gone poorly. Civilization was like that, though. The moment that someone thought peace was an attainable thing, it'd become crazy and raucous like a fish against the net.

Still, he didn't know the specifics of the current crisis or where he could fit in. Honestly, he wouldn't even bother with the entire matter, but he was looking for more coin. This would be the perfect place to earn it. Khord stroked his chin. "You want to make money off of civilized?" he asked. There was a bit of a twinkle in his dark eyes. "You were speaking before to important looking person, yes? Maybe we can be of help?" He smiled. "It'd be good to be team again, yes?"

 

[Korra Quinn]

Hearing herself being called unruly, Korra couldn't help flashing a vibrant grin. She could certainly be called that, crowds and others made things a bit difficult for Korra who saw things so crisply and sharply. It was not a calming experience to settle down for Korra, while others felt safe, she only felt more restrained in that respect. With a firm nod, she could only agree with Khord's assessment, there was no denying it really. "Being able to fly changes your perspective, even just once. Seeing just how far the sky stretches for yourself makes it hard to settle on the ground." She explained, the last portion of her words carrying with it a somewhat self-depreciating laugh since she it would take a great deal of effort to make her fly again.

Of course, having her efforts recognizes as walking forward was a good start. Though it made her criticize her efforts to assassinate the nobles once more, her expression growing a bit blank at the thought of murdering them. Surely that brief moment of release and relief of getting out her grievances would surely be fulfilling in the moment, but it wouldn't exactly be moving forward. If anything she was liable to be cut down right there and ended instead of moving anywhere. Though she'd already rethought her efforts, she couldn't help sighing feeling a bit more lost the more she realized how naive her ideal revenge had been. "I suppose... Though whether or not I continued moving forward afterwards is uncertain." She confessed but her gaze made it seem like she was unwilling to get specific among the crowd.

The cow milking analogy was largely lost on Korra though, as if the metaphor didn't quite connect into dots for her. The more she explained, it became clear that clarity was donning on her, but she seemed a little naive in regards to those kinds of relations as if struggling to relate two distantly related concepts. "That is a fault of appearance-- It is why I had to give up my wings as well. Appearance can make Challenge or Desire." She explained with a hand gesture. Hearing Khord recognize how big the world was though, she couldn't help chuckling, if anyone knew just how big the world was, Korra who had the power to look down on it once upon a time would understand. "The Blue Sovereign stretches far and wide, the world is big in deed. Big things are strong things though, People think strong things should defend weak things... Silly." She explained. Naturally, the Blue Sovereign was her word for the sky above, as if it were a deity watching over others, Korra had a certain reverence for it even if she couldn't fly.

Cocking her head to one side though, she seemed confused about his struggle. "Why embarrassing? Are bears not strong? Aren't they good examples to live by? Noble creatures are better then scavengers or other creatures." She asked wondering what the problem was. It wasn't like he was being compared to a vulture or flies, unsavory creatures like that would surely be more embarrassing she thought. It was difficult for her to relate to the strangeness of human societies where big and loud might be offensive or problematic. Considering she herself was rather lithe and petite, she couldn't relate to the tragedies of being TOO large.

His confusion about people running around though was well deserved she felt. After all, this was a world where the fittest survived, might made right, if people were hurt, didn't that just mean they were weaker? Weren't they just being weeded out naturally? "It seems a Human ship was attacked, it seems to be something involved with the summit. This is all I've seen though." She explained with an indifferent shrug, though Korra's eyes were certainly capable of discerning a great many things; her sight was a powerful attribute she relied on, naturally she had confidence in her guess. Being asked about making money from the civilized though, Korra was certainly willing, though what she was asked to do was something a little beyond her. Much like Khord, she had a certain aversion to mundane chores and would likely be just as awkward trying to support them. "If there's money to earn, surely... Though I'm not certain we fit in in this mess." She confessed.

 

[Falcon]

As the crowd gathered to hear the words of the pirate captain as he called for able bodied sailors and those who could fight or otherwise served on a ship, as various people stepped forward to volunteer or were volunteered by others, as the Lords assembled stated their contributions to the effort (money, men, or themselves) the healers were still hard at work.

Eventually they got to the point where they could do all they could while camped out in the streets. The wounded would have to be moved. Some required further care, some could be given instructions and trusted to recover on their own. The second group were directed to several inns whose proprietors had pledged rooms to the effort. These sailors found their names on a list of who was where with careful, detailed, instructions on what they required written out next to their name. The first group also found their names on a list of those who had been very carefully loaded in to several padded wagons and driven to the local regiment's medical barracks. There each sailor would be given a bed and the court healers could look after them.

A third list carried the names of the dead.

Captain Simeon very carefully tucked a copy of each list into his pocket as he watched the girl who had handed it to him, a young healer named Kyra, walk towards one of the volunteered ins where she intended to make sure everything was set up according to necessity.

Nearby the hooded figure of Sera the Manakete also disappeared into the shadows, having found nothing there to further pique her interest. Eventually she would run into the young bandit girl, Kizuna, and the two would share an interesting adventure of their own before going their separate ways.

Galric meanwhile found a couple of crates where he and his new friend could sit to watch the proceedings. He explained what he could to the boy, made random marks about how different the people who joined the rescue effort seemed to be. Various observations on what their weapons, build, and how the volunteered might mean for their fighting style. And during gaps in the important activity tried to fill Xander in on what he knew of world politics and how the different countries historically tended to work together.

He was particularly interested in watching the lords. Who was there, who hadn't arrived yet, and which lord offered what incentive. The lord of Coill having the forsight to ofer pay in advance to offset the bishop of Shan's shrewd offer. The spy had a good laugh when he spotted several of that lord's knight trotting about to help with their Wyverns in tow. It was odd to see such fearsome looking beasts looking like beloved pets.

"What do you think so far, kid?" he asked Xander. "Anyone in particular you want to meet in person?"

 

[DustBunny]

Xander bobbed and weaved through the mass of people after Galric. His eyes wandered around looking at all of the people as he kept close to the only person he even slightly knew. He made sure to keep out of the way of the people who were rushing around helping out the wounded. While not sure exactly what happened, he could assume that something was attacked by someone, and it was obviously a major attack with all of the destruction and injury.

This was nothing like anything he had seen before. This was kind of a slap in the face for the child. He had never witnessed any death this close. Nothing like this had happened when he lived in Sahra. Despite what happened, he found it hard to completely grasp the gravity of the situation. He couldn't completely sympathize with what happened. Of course it was sad that so many people got hurt and even killed, but he himself had no emotional connection to any of them, so he couldn't cry for all of them.

He followed next to Galric and hoped up on of the higher boxes next to the older man. He looked at the other as he heard Galric talk. With a slight shake of his head at the questions, he looked back out over the mass of people. It was painfully obvious that the young boy wasn't much of a talker. His eyes wandered over to the Wyverns. He always thought that they were amazing creatures, the way they dominated the skies with their incredible strength and vitality. He seemed so intent on looking out at the Wyverns, that he seemed to look like a curious child for the first time.

"Wyverns are so cool..." He mumbled to himself, his childlike wonder and fascination showing in his words and on his face as he stared admiringly.

Quickly coming back to his senses, he shook his head for a moment and pulled out his Thunder tome and began looking through the pages. It was no where near the first time, and would most likely not be the last time. The hustle and bustle of the crowd around him seemed to not disturb him in his studies at all. It seemed that nothing or no one would break his concentration, though he was still completely aware of what was going on around him.