Song of the Wild [IC]

The whistle was loud enough to make both Skuggi and Atalanta whine in annoyance. Adrenaline often had that effect with her. It sharpened her senses to an almost animal level. If she made conscious effort she could probably immitate the abilities of animals to their full extend. A sigh of relief escaped her when she realized it was Vedette that had whistled. Getting up and capping her water bottle again, she stretched and went over to the two girls, Skuggi in tow. "A couple of hours ago. Been looking around the area and trying to find a place to sleep. What about you?" She asked, oblivious to the presence of the trio of boys that was in the park. In her mind, she was not expecting anyone but enemies from this point on.

Skuggi however was able to catch the scent of the Norse demigods and was quick to respond to it with ears and body taught like a spring ready to be released. He didn't growl, but he didn't have to. Atalanta was quick to pick up on the change in behavior and her hand jammed into her pocket where she kept her magic spear. She didn't know if the boys were monsters, enemies or if Skuggi was just alerting them of their presence as plain old mortals, but it was enough to set her on edge.

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It was a miracle that Vidar hadn't strangled or plain just stabbed Arvid in order to make him shut up. He was used to boisterous dwarves and giants, but this demigod was a whole new level of boasting and whinning combined. The day the girl was supposed to arrive was a relief to him. At long last Arvid had switched his gears to that of excited anticipation. "That's a child of Fenris." Vidar said mostly to himself as soon as they spotted the black wolf, the girl kneeling next to it, giving it water. His eyes narrowed for a moment. Were Greek demigods unable to tell apart magical creatures from other pantheons? Why did the girl appear so friendly to it and why did the wolf not attack her? What did Fenris had to gain by sending one of his children to the girl?

Arvid's plan on killing the wolf on the spot had almost flown over his head. "Eh?" He said as he came out of his musing when Even was shuting the other guy's plan down. "No killing it. It seems on friendly terms with the girl. Let's go and introduce ourselves." He suggested as the girl seemed to have recognised the duo of girls that had whistled to her. It was pretty obvious that the girls were not clueless mortals about the situation. "Just keep your guard up. Fenris and his kin can't be trusted." He added and started to move towards the group's direction.

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OOC: I completely had forgot it was my turn to post OTL
 
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"She has friends. Great." Arvid muttered dryly. Admittedly, the appearance of the two girls confused him more than irritated him. Who were they? Were they a part of this whole quest too? If so, why wasn't he informed? And why were so many people joining his quest?! What's more, Vidar told him just what the heck that mutt was and then suggested notfighting it? That was like putting a carrot on a stick and dangling it over a pig's head! Not that he was a pig.

"Dammit man...fine. We can go introduce ourselves or whatever...but first sign of trouble...I'm swinging into action. For all we know they could be the enemy." Part of him hoped those two girls were enemies. Then he could get some action! Waiting these past few days had left him restless and full of energy. "So make sure you guys are ready to run, in case shit goes south. I'll cover your backs."

And then, without a single ounce of tact, the son of Ullr approached the group of girls, stopping right in front of his supposed quarry and cleared his throat. "Hey, you're the flute girl, right? Daughter of..." He paused for a moment, snapping his fingers as he tried to remember her father's name. It was some kitchen appliance, right? "Skillet...?" He guessed, his abrasive demeanor breaking for a moment as he winced, hoping that he got it right.​




For Enmei, the trip to Carnac village was almost as delightful as the village itself was. Getting through security was a minor inconvenience, but he he was happy to help Hisae disguise her gun. But the flight? The flight was perhaps his favorite part. Being in the sky was both exciting and relaxing. He spent most of it with his face pressed against the window glass as he peered at the sun and the clouds beneath it. If he wasn't so sure it would make the ride a much more bumpy trip he might have bugged Hisae about it a bit more. It was better not to risk the turbulence.

The days they spent waiting for the girl's arrival was equally fun for him. He spent them as a tourist, taking in whatever culture and food, mostly food, that he could. He was pretty sure that Mogami-Sensei would be equally annoyed with him for all the pictures he was spamming her with. But when the day finally did arrive he was almost completely business. Gone was his touristy mood, and its place was the same man he was before arriving. Not much of a change, really, but at least his priorities were on straight. With his bag on his back and his snake bracelet coiled firmly around his wrist, he was ready to go.

"It shouldn't be too hard to find her, or the others." Enmei was speaking to both himself and Hisae as they walked. "A group of demigods, and one lone girl with a stand-out haircut." Asking around for her was the best bet.​
 
When the wolf came to attention, Atalanta wasn't the only one to react. Vedette had both her hands wrapped around her bat hilt, the weapon resting against her shoulder again, but this time less casually, as if poised to be swung. Bellanca, too, had reached into her pockets, looking for something she could use to hit a potential intruder with. The exceptionally strange individual and his two companions who popped out of the bushes, however, did not seem threatening. That was, if you ignored the weapons all three boys were casually carrying.

Vedette relaxed her hand slightly, but gave Bellanca a look. "Who the fuck is this?" She asked in rapid French. "And what did he say?"

Bellanca responded in the same language frowning slightly in confusion. "He didn't introduce himself, but he asked if Atalanta was a flute girl and the daughter of... skillet."

"Skillet?" Vedette frowned.

"I think it's because Pan in English means pan, and he exchanged it for skillet. I believe it's some kind of joke." Her sister responded somewhat uncertainly. (She uses "Pan" for the first "Pan," but "poêl" for "pan," and skillet in French is "poêlon," so you can imagine the joke translates a little better in some ways.)

Vedette snorted and finally fully let down her guard. "As expected of an American. He's an idiot." (She uses the word "imbécile" here, so a few people might have caught that.)

Even stepped forward, interrupting the exchange between the two girls, though... he wasn't rightly certain they could understand English, and the only other foreign language he could speak passably was German. "I'm sorry for my companion." He said politely to all three girls, though his hand wasn't far from the bone steel sword at his belt. "He is Arvid. This is my friend Vidar," he gestured at the other man, "and I am Even. We were told to meet with the daughter of Pan, here." It was unlikely they were mortals, but it was still better to keep his introductions cautious, he decided.
 
This had to be a joke. The arrogant boy decided to step up only a few paces away from her and Skuggi, who was now openly growling and appeared ready to rip the guy's throat. Not a smart move if you asked Atalanta. She was certain the boys were no ordinary mortals now that they were closer. They all carried swords. The guy with the side shaved head and scared eye actually had two on his back and she could feel the power resonating from the weapons. They were divine metals for sure.

She frowned and raised an extremely annoyed eyebrow at the way the guy addressed her. She was half tempted to have her spear under his throat, since she didn't exactly trust they were not part of whoever had kidnapped her sister. Vedette and Belanca had a quick conversation in French that Atalanta only managed to understand the word 'idiot' from. She couldn't agree more with Vedette at that point. Her father might have been a faded god, but he was pretty well known not only as part of Greek Mythology, but in pop culture as well. Why would the boy confuse his name with that of a Rock band? Vedette was quick to relax after that, but Atalanta wasn't the least bit amused and it showed even as they three boys were introduced. "You were told by who?" She asked suspiciously, greek accent was very evident in her use of english. She remembered how the two Aphrodite girls had told her they should expect more people, but they hadn't said anything about how many or what they were supposed to look like. Skuggi wasn't exactly friendly in their presence and for all they knew, the trio with the swords could be imposters. "Do you trust them?" She turned at the two girls, addressing them in Ancient Greek as this seemed to be the language that best worked for their communication, and she doubted the boys could understand it and if they did? Well that was a new problem alltogether.

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Vidar had nodded in acknowledgement as his name was mentioned during the introduction. He was standing behind Arvid, his right hand had landed heavily on the guy's shoulder in a warning sign. He was being too abrasive and hasty for this to end well. It was obvious to him by the response of the girls and the wolf that they didn't know they were coming. Or at least they didn't know who to expect, seeing as the bat-swinging girl had snorted and relaxed her grip on her weapon. It was made from a gleaming bronze like metal that Vidar had never come across before and his inner smith was going ballistic with curiosity. Curiosity he contained as he looked at the snarling wolf. "We are not here to fight you, son of Fenris." He spoke in Old Norse in a calm tone.

Then his eyes sifted at the group of girls. "We were sent here to assist with retrieving the lost daughter of Pan on orders from Odin AllFather. It appears we should also expect assistance from some Asian Pantheon. It seems that the gods are very anxious in the sudden interest in Pan's flute." He explained, hoping it would defuse the situation and possibly lift some of the suspicion towards them.


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OOC: Vidar in case you thought it was still the older version I had showed you.
 
Arvid didn't speak French, but anyone, even him, could understand what imbécile meant. It wasn't hard for him to put two and two together. He narrowed his eyes at the girl and opened his mouth to say something, but then Even apologized for him. Apologized! For him! Who the heck did he think he was? And even besides that, they were supposed to be a team, or something resembling one! "Don't apologize for me! A unified front, man!" What, was he scared that these girls were going to beat them up or something?

"What Vidar says is true. The old man sent us to help you out. He's lending Zeus a hand with this mess." He turned his attention back to Atalanta, nodding his head. "Apparently the whole damn world is going nuts over this flute. Everyone's got some sorta agenda, and whoever has your sister and her pipe-thingie? They're gonna be coming for you and yours next, so we're supposed to be bodyguards or something." He crossed his arms and nodded his head in the other two girl's direction. "Who are they? What's their story? Can you trust em'? They don't seem very trustworthy to me." Especially the one who called him an imbecile. She didn't seem trustworthy at all. Hot, yes. But trustworthy? No. You could never trust a pretty face.​
 
Vedette truly couldn't keep up with English this rapidly spoken, so Bellanca provided a translation in fluid French for all three of the boys. Vedette wasn't so sure why Atalanta was speaking in Ancient Greek to them when these boys were clearly demigods, but as soon Bellanca tripped over the words "Odin" and "Asian Pantheon," she realized it. "Wait." She said, in slow, clunky, and heavily accented English. "Odin, the Norse Gods, they exist also? And some, Asian gods?"

She really wasn't certain why Atalanta trusted them more than she trusted these random new kids, but she responded shortly in Ancient Greek, "Mother did say to expect "more," and they have quite strange weapons." She shrugged a perfectly French shrug.

Bellanca, for her part, was frowning a little at the loud one. Her English was also slightly accented, though less pronouncedly French than Vedette's, more generally European, and significantly smoother. "I am afraid it is you who is new to us. We are not the only ones who must prove we are worthy of trust. We are daughters of Aphrodite. We were not aware that there even were other... pantheons, as you say." She found her hand clinging to Vedette's sleeve again and blushed slightly before letting go. "Who are you to have been sent by the Norse gods?" They had said their names, but that didn't explain who they were. "How- how can we know you are which you say you are? How can any of us prove we are who we say we are?" This whole multiple pantheon thing was freaking her out a little bit. More pantheons meant more types of monsters, and they had been running from a lot of the Greek kind their whole life. She was shaking a little bit and had finally put her hand on the hilt of her small knife, but she stood her ground, continuing to frown at the three boys and trying to keep the concern and confusion from showing on her face.

Even quietly told Arvid that, "It is only right to apologize when someone is being so openly rude, and it didn't seem as though you were planning to." Disapproval was scrawled all the way across his normally impassive face. He added, "If they are companions of the daughter of Pan, we should be a united front with them also, not only with each other." Now that was just good tactics, if the first half had been just good manners, which Arvid didn't appear to have at all.
 
Atalanta could feel a headache coming her way. This was all too much and her world being expanded so much made her head spin. Or maybe that was an effect of her link with her sister. She really hoped that wasn't the case here. The loud boy, Arvid, continued to be obnoxious about it. It made Atalanta snort in incredulous amusement. She nodded in acknoledgement to what Vedette had responded. It didn't really solve her dillema, but it was true, they were supposed to expect more. She cursed the gods for not telling her anything. If they were really so keen on seeing her and her sister safe again - for their reed pipes alone of course! who gave a dracenae's ass about the children of a faded god anyways? - they could have at the very least told her whom she could trust in this mess. She was about to retort to Arvid's stupid attitude but Bellanca beat her to it. The girl, though visibly tired and distressed made some very good points and that didn't go unnoticed by Vidar who was mostly silent during the exchange, his hand never leaving Arvid's shoulder until he did so by tugging at it so Arvid would turn around to face him.

"Common courtesy is a thing Arvid, even amongst enemies." He said calmly yet firmly, addressing Arvid's protests before taking a step forward so that he stood out from the trio. "You are right. We don't have anything to prove our mission to you. The decision to trust us will have to be made solely by Atalanta." He eyed her briefly as she muttered a 'duh! It's not like I was told to expect trusty company.'

"But if it makes it any easier. I am a son of Tyr, god of War, Justice and Oaths. Even, here, is a son of Freja godess of Love, Beauty, Sorcery and Death. And lastly, Loud Mouth over here is a son of Ullr, god of Skiing, Archery and Hunting." He finished introducing everyone's divine side of the family. "As to why we were chosen, I have no idea. Even is a mage, I am a fighter and Arvid is pretty much a hunter. So? What do you think?" This time, the question was directed solely to Atalanta who had been feeling like a cornered animal from doubt. Who could she trust, if anyone? She had seen into Skugi's mind and she knew she was safe from him. At least for the time being.

But unlike Bellanca, she had no anchor to keep her from panicking and it was beginning to show by the way she tapped her foot on the ground. Her heart was about to start a wild race. "I..... I think that I trust the girls more than I trust you. I know that whoever has my sister is after me. They told me to come here if I wanted to see her again. You appear out of nowhere while I am in enemy territory and just drop the bomb of multiple gods and mythologies existing at the same time. They..." She pointed at the two daughters of Aphrodite. "...found me while I was travelling. They had a chance to snatch me and they didn't. For now, I trust them more than you three. If.... if you really want to prove yourselves, meet me again here tomorrow at noon." She added in a rather shaky and uncertain tone that was so uncharacteristic of her but was trully a reflection of the scared and cornered animal that her doe-like eyes were projecting. Without her sister, Atalanta was unballanced and that was probably exactly what their mysterious enemy was after.
 
So, Even and Vidar were teaming up against him, eh? Perhaps the most untrustworthy ones were those two. "Yeah? Well, I wasn't gonna, so I guess you were right." Arvid muttered under his breath, annoyed by his companions. Common courtesy? He wasn't being rude! Not really. The most annoying thing was that they were right. This might have gone a whole lot worse if they had taken more offense from what he said.

Atalanta's words only served to further annoy him, at least initially, and the face he made did not hide it in the least bit. Thankfully, even he could realize that what she said only made sense, at least a little. She was taking a risk, either way, she was just picking the best option for herself. You could never be too careful, especially in a situation like the one she was in. Didn't mean he had to like it though. "Damn old geezer could have given us some sort of proof or something." He grumbled, internally rolling his eyes. "Look, that's fair I guess. I get it, but I hope you can stay safe until then. Tomorrow, maybe those other kids will show up. That'll prove we're not lying." He bit his tongue, trying not to add in a bit about wasting their time. "But how do we know you're actually gonna be here tomorrow?"​
 
Even had been watching everyone, as he was prone to do, and it didn't escape his notice that two of the Greek demigods looked... well, not exactly stable. The one he was most concerned about, however, was the daughter of Pan. Arvid was putting pressure on her. It was warranted, for she was the most important person in this quest, certainly, but it seemed like she had no one to rely on. Even these two other girls she was just choosing as people she trusted more because she'd known them just a tiny bit longer. She looked tired, stressed, and frightened.

Her companions were also interesting, to say the least. Aphrodite. Goddess of Love on the Greek side. It was odd to him, honestly, that they would send so many representatives of love gods. He knew very well that love was powerful, but it wasn't exactly high in combat capabilities. He knew why he had been chosen, but why had these two? One looked like a gangster. The other like a cheerful but fairly useless child. She had flinched when Vidar had mentioned Even was a mage. Not much of a surprise, he supposed. All of the Greek mages he had met had been very "I WILL KILL YOU DEMIGOD SCUUUMMMM. YOU WILL STAY HERE WITH ME FOREVER AS A STUFFED BIRD." Things like that.

Even wrapped his tapering fingers around Arvid's wrist and shook his head in a gesture meant to prevent him from doing or saying anything else. "I believe that is the point, Arvid." He finally said quietly, in response to the other boy's question. Letting go of Arvid, he looked up at Atalanta and smiled. "I can only speak for myself, but we'll be here at noon tomorrow. We have been sent to help you. I hope you will allow us to prove that."

Bellanca felt a weird little tingle of relief, gratitude, and sympathy at hearing that Atalanta was willing to trust them, even if it was just because they hadn't kidnapped her yet. For her part, she wasn't sure she trusted these boys, still, so she just moved a little closer to Atalanta, tugging Vedette along to put them a little bit in between the daughter of Pan and these... sons of Norse gods.
 
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Atalanta rolled her eyes as Arvid complained about the gods not thinking ahead about something so trivial as making sure the person you wanted to protect knew they could trust that the offered help was not just a sugarcoated trap. She couldn't agree more with the guy, but she also didn't feel like sitting by and taking the guy's boasting attitude and belittlement without a retort. "Dude, I have survived alot worse things than you think. I can survive one more night without you tough guys." She responded offhandedly as Even pointed out exactly what Atalanta was aiming for when she had asked them to trust her enough to meet her back, instead of just telling them to not bother attempting to win her trust. She needed to see if they would stick around or make a move to snatch her before noon. She needed to spy on them.

However as Even assured her they would respect her wish and as Vidar nodded and took a couple of steps away, Atalanta almost sighed in relief. She really appreciated the time given. Though she hadn't had much experience with mages, stories she had heard from her forest guardians were not exactly painting a friendly picture. However Even appeared reassuring and possibly dependable. She briefly wandered if it was because his mother was the equivalent of Aphrodite in a sense or if the guy was really that good. "Thanks." She said to him.

Vidar noticed that the frightened girl decided to place herself and her sister slightly in front of Atalanta after the daughter of Pan had explained why she had decided to trust the two girls more than the trio of them. He could understand that and he was surprised that she had actually suggested she meets them again instead of fully denying them her trust. He figured that he would've done the same if he was in her stead. He would've needed time to think and calculate the risks. While he emerged from his thoughts, he realised he had been staring at the Aphrodite girls all this time. He quickly looked away, feeling his ears getting hotter. "Well then..... goodnight, I guess. It would be a smart idea to have the son of Fenris on guard tonight. Just in case." He suggested and nodded towards the wolf, who had stopped snarling at the trio of Norse but was still very much ready to pounce. And with that awkward line, he turned back and decided that now was a good time to start walking away.
 
"Yeah...I knew that." Arvid responded to Even, shaking his head. "Heh, I'm not dumb." He didn't know that. He was mostly afraid that she would skip town the first chance she got, then they'd get scolded for losing her and he'd fail this quest. So no, he wasn't as keen on the uptake as Even or Vidar, unfortunately.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Arvid looked directly at Atalanta when he spoke before glancing at the daughters of Aphrodite one last time, his eyes struggling not to glare. Deciding it was a losing battle, he turned around and started walking with his companions, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Man, that could have gone better. Didn't expect her to have company. At all."

"I think the worst part is waiting another day here." The realization of this caused him to groan, his hand raising to meet his face. "I'm going stir crazy in this stupid place. I'm not meant to sit around waiting! I gotta get out there and do something, flex my muscles! Hit something!"​
 
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Even remained silent until he was fairly certain they were out of earshot of the girls, and then he started to speak, his voice somewhat uncharacteristically dripping serious disapproval. "If you need to hit something, let's have a match, Arvid. I obviously don't have any weapons beside a sword, but you know yourself what you're better at, so you can decide whether hand-to-hand or a swordfight. But on one condition: The loser has to speak less than 5 minutes a day." After today's fiasco, he had decided 5 minutes was necessary, as opposed to 30.

Usually more even-tempered, the son of Freja continued on, frustration rising. "That could have gone a lot worse if they hadn't taken it as well as they did. You were rude, un- un- oh dammit uforbederlig (unrepentant in Danish, he's upset so he forgot), and reckless. Even if she hadn't had companions, no especially if she hadn't, she would have been even more wary, and your attitude would have made it worse. You need to learn to stop and think about what you say before you say it. Five minutes a day total, meaning you'll have to pick what you want to say carefully." He wished Arvid would also be more careful about what he did, but there was nothing he could do about that. "If I lose, same for me. Five minutes a day. You can decide how we fight and what the rules are, and Vidar can officiate. I'm sure he'll be fair about it. What do you say?"

He frowned over at the son of Ullr, clearly gearing up for a fight, as he adjusted his sleeves and began to sling his pack off one arm. In a pinch, he could fight without any adjustments, but no harm being prepared in a "friendly" match. He wasn't about to take no for an answer, though with the other boy's attitude, he was almost absolutely certain he wouldn't get one. Especially not after "insulting" him like that, as the boy no doubt saw it, though in his mind it had been nothing but pure truth.


After moving closer to Atalanta, Bellanca had noticed that two of the boys seemed to be staring at them. One thoughtfully, one angrily. It was upsetting and disconcerting, and she had had to fight the urge to avert her eyes awkwardly. Vedette had apparently noticed, too, because she'd started to bristle slightly, popping out the spikes in her bat without fully brandishing it just yet. But before anything else could happen, all three of them walked away. Bellanca breathed a sigh of relief. She had been worried for a second that it would result in a fight, and she really didn't want that. Especially not with a mage. He seemed nice enough, but she'd been terrified and untrusting of magic users since a cannibal sorceress in Serbia had convinced her to dreamily walk herself into a cauldron when Vedette hadn't been around. That had been a close one.

The last statement of one of the boys concerned her. "Son of Fenris?" She asked Atalanta in Ancient Greek. "What does he mean, son of Fenris? He's... talking about the wolf? How does he know what kind of monster it is?" That also made her anxious. They were already encountering Norse monsters, and they'd never done that before.
 
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"A hunter without patience...." Vidar shook his head in disbelief. He wasn't expecting that from the son of the hunting god. Even apparently had enough of Arvid's whinning and his behavior during the meeting with the girls that he challenged Arvid to a duel. To teach him the importance of thinking before speaking at that. He was surprised to say the least and worried that this duel would destroy their already divided team, but perhaps it would be the other way around. Vidar would get to see and assess how his two companions fared in combat and perhaps demonstrating their abilities would built up mutual respect, even if the five minute talk roule would make things troublesome. "I do not mind officiating this, but a loophole should be added in this if you wish to take a vow to enforce the rule. My father takes oaths very seriously and it's best not to break them lightheartedly. If you don't want to vow, then I have no problem with it as is. It should not apply were we to engage in combat however.... It would be troublesome." He replied as Even began preparing himself.

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Atalanta turned to look at the wolf as Bellanca seemed worried about his lineage. "Fenris? The wolf that will be in Ragnarok?" Atalanta questioned the wolf and he sat on his hunches, nodding and giving her a short affirmitive bark. It caused Atalanta to groan. The last thing she wanted was for anything like that to happen. What in Tartarus' name was going on. "Then what were you doing in Italy? Shouldn't you be in Finland or something?" She questioned, slightly panicking again. What if that wolf resulted in something they did without knowing and they started Ragnarok or something? She knew the wolf himself had no ill intentions towards her, but towards the entire world? She couldn't be so sure. There was no malice coming from him yet, but what if?

The wolf lowered his ears and whinned submissively, to which Atalanta replied with a long, tired sigh. "Fine, we'll talk about this later. Now go after them. Don't lose them and make sure to observe them without them noticing you. I want to know if we can trust them." She told him as she bend down to ruffle his thick furr around the cheeks. The wolf was up and belnding with the shadows in the blink of an eye. Atalanta's gaze lingered towards the direction the boys had gone off to, thoughtfully. Then she turned back at Bellanca. "Skuggi's father is from Norse mythology. The wolf of Ragnarok. I remember my sister reading something about it in the library nack home." She said to the girls and there was a brief glint of tears in her eyes. "We can trust him not to hurt us though. I have the ability to tell animals' intentions and I sensed no malice from him." She explained, wanting to put their minds at ease.
 
"Wait...you want to fight me?" Arvid squinted his eyes in surprise. The quiet pretty boy wanted to fight him? And over the conversation with the girls? Okay, sure he hadn't handled it in the best way, but it wasn't like he was intentionally being rude. But none of that mattered right now. Even had challenged him to a duel, Arvid kind of did want to fight him. He didn't appreciate being scolded, and besides, it wasn't like there was a possibility he would actually lose to Even, right? This guy was all flash, no substance! And maybe when he beat Even he would try Vidar next, just for that comment.

"You know what? If you want to spend the rest of the day in pain, that's fine by me!" Arvid replied to Even, his face adorned with what was perhaps the biggest smirk in recorded history. "We can do it hand-to-hand, mano-a-mano. A good ol' fashioned Holmgang." (scandinavian duel). Weapons, as fun as they would be, would be too dangerous. He just wanted to rough him up, not chop him up.

"That's fine with me, Vidar. That way, when I win, Even's word is on the line." He smirked, taking a moment to drop his pack on the ground behind him. "I take oaths very seriously myself. I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Even."​
 
"Just a friendly match." Even said, evenly. He shrugged lightly at the oaths comment. "I didn't think an oath would be necessary, but if you'd like, certainly. An oath it is. Except in times of emergency or during a fight, the loser can only speak for 5 minutes a day. Mmm..." He squinted over at Arvid, "until the other releases them? Forever would be a bit much." Since Arvid had asked for hand-to-hand, he unhooked the scabbard from his belt and set his bone steel sword aside. "No magic allowed, right?"

Even took a breath, shaking out the rest of the irritation that had plagued him, then gave Arvid an amicable smile, holding out his hand for a shake first. Might as well do this like gentlemen. He made no comment on Arvid assuming he would win. He'd never seen Arvid fight before, and people who talked with that much pomp were either much less competent than they claimed to be, or much more and faking arrogance so that people would underestimate them. Even was still alive because he never, ever underestimated anyone. He would know within the next couple minutes whether he could beat Arvid. The first few strokes were always the most... telling.
 
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Vidar nodded as both agreed to the duel and to the oath. "Yes, no magic allowed. This going to be a matched determined by tactics and physical ability. The loser will be subjected to speaking time of five minutes per day for the duration of this mission and shall not be freed from this vow sooner unless the winner says so. The rule of five minutes will not be applicable in times of emergency or during a fight. Do you vow this, Even son of Freja and Arvid son of Ullr?" He said in a serious tone and did not leave the space between the two boys until they both agreed to the vow.

He grabbed both packs and went to sit a bit further away, placing their equipment on the ground and getting ready to watch the fight. Besides being the referee for this match, he was also very curious as to how this will turn out. He had seen Even fight before and he really hoped Arvid could live up to his braggy attitude so far. It would be disappointing if he didn't.
 
"Yeah, I wish this." Arvid nodded his head once in Vidar's direction, then again in Even's. He tossed the last of his gear aside and reached out, taking the son of Frejya's hand in a firm grip. He was tempted to squeeze as hard as he could but decided not to. This wasn't 9th grade, after all. "Until the winner releases the loser and no magic. Got it. Won't need it." It'd be too easy with it.

With that said, he released Even's hand and took a few steps back, raising both of his hands somewhat defensively as he took a relatively simple stance. He had no idea how Even would fight, but he didn't think it would be anything he needed to worry about. As far as Arvid was concerned, Even would be on the defensive for most of the fight, maybe even a little apprehensive. After all, why wouldn't he be? He was facing not just a son of Ullr, but what was perhaps the greatest son of Ullr alive currently (in his not-so-humble opinion)! "I'm ready when you say go."​
 
"I vow it." Even said, his smile never wavering. He cracked his knuckles and took a half-step back, hand relaxed by his side. Punching and kicking was all very well and good, but a good fighter knew that hand-to-hand combat was about using the other person's momentum as well as making your own. Relaxed hands and a balanced stance were easy base states to do everything else from. "Go." He said, holding back.


Atalanta being able to sense animal intentions was... well, Bellanca wanted to think it was reassuring, but it was a Norse monster. Monsters were bad, and no matter how reassuring Atalanta could be about it, there was still a chance it would up and decide they were dinner one day. She sighed and changed the subject. "I guess we should find a place to sleep." She looked at Vedette, "Vedette and I didn't come across any abandoned buildings like usual. What about you, Atalanta? Did you see a good place to crash for the night? It's getting a bit late." Vedette kept a wary eye out for potential monsters, but didn't add any of her input to the conversation. It was all the same to her.
 
Atalanta nodded at Bellanca's question "I found a good spot for camping about ten minutes from here. We should be relatively safe there." She informed her and took the lead. The park they had met was close to the village's edge and was once upon a time part of a slightly bigger forest. That's where Atalanta took the two girls. Once they reached a relatively small clearing, surrounded by large trees, the daughter of Pan took her backpack off her shoulders and pulled out a nylon case and several ropes.

"This spot will do just fine. I'll have the tent set up in under ten minutes I guess. Then it's all about camouflage from there." She said casually as if she had done this a million times before. It was more or less an accurate thing to say about setting up that tent and the familiarity of the the process had served in calming her nerves down significantly. Shouldering the ropes, she was quick to climb up three of the large trees and loop it around the trunk about two meters off the ground.

When all three of the ropes were looped, she stretched out the main body of the tent on the ground, alligning the three corners of the tent with the trees from which the ropes were hanging loosely from. She fixed the tent on the ropes and began to work on tightening the ropes in such a fashion so the tent was getting off the ground and popping open bit by bit. Before the tent could reach its full height, Atalanta passed over it the waterproof cover and attached a lightweight ladder on the bottom. The two Aphrodite girls' help was speeding up things a lot as it was easier to tighten all three corners at the same time.

Then it reached the point where Atalanta would have to climb on the tent and stretch it the rest way up. It only took a couple of minutes more and she soon emerged from the tent and back to the ground. "It's ready. We can go up now. Take your bags with you." She said to the girls with a faint smile on her face. Setting up camp always felt reassuring to her. It meant they could relax for the day. She was the first to start climbing up the rope ladder and she sat at the rim of the tent to remove her shoes, lace them up together and hang them from one of the corner ropes. Then she waited for Vedette and Bellanca to make an entrance, searching for her backup reed pipes in her pack.
 
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Arvid couldn't help but snort in response to Even's stance. Hands at his side? Was he not even going to try? Or maybe he had the gall to think he didn't have to try? Now that, that was unforgivable. "Okay then!" An annoyed Arvid took a rather large step forward as he pulled his arm back, and, without any expectation of being stopped or countered, sent his fist flying towards Even's pretty face. An obvious attack? Yes. But he didn't expect the boy to be able to really do anything about it, maybe other than a dodge. His expectations were real low.​