Dragon Rider IC

[Iatos]

~~Mouragius Devilliant Udsarigraid: Armageddon....~~
Seventy six thousand years ago on the hill of endless chaos there would once stand a single being. This being was called Yuber and he would walk side by side with the powers of darkness and death, Beings of the night and illusions would respond to his all and collect by his sides when he called them. There was those called *Mirrage Knights* knights that spawned from total darkness and illusion that would serve him, a single Mirrage knight could fight like Nine Mortal men at once and nine times as strong and nine times as quickly. With that said they could multiply themselves by six in three ways and by thus they also went by another name. The *Triple nine* but only by some that dared to say so. Several hundred Mirrage Knights stood under his power and with their powers a army of several thousands could be summoned in an instant anywhere. As they would easily turn to nine more for a total of ten, a total of ten Mirage Knights could become 100 and a hundred of them became one thousand, not a very easy number to deal with at all...

Thought several thousand other creatures of darkness was also on their side there was a little hope that would glow a few years later. This would eventually be called the Final Battle, because it was Humanity together with all other Mortal races last stand against the darkness. Its told that the battle raged for a thousand years and in the end not even the combined power of Living races, Elves,Men,Mar...whatever name you can tell would not be enough to stand up to this darkness. But in the darkest hour on the deepest night of chaos, where the starts glowed bright red upon a yellow sky that burned in the heavens. There would be a single ray of light that would pierce the darkness, Seven immortals would join the side of the living and eventually turn the battle around with their joined might and magic, until the tide of battle had been brought back to the doorstep of evil and Yuber himself would have to Join the fight, now a fierce battle with clash of might and magic would spawn and last for decades without either side giving in.

And eventually, what became known as Armageddon occurred....The Total Anhalliation of all life, all light, and all darkness....The World would become devoid of life and float lifeless around in the universe for sixty thousand years, then...Suddenly...Seven thousand years ago life would spawn anew, forests would grow land would fill with grass and lifeforms would eventually form and start living in the world again. This event would eventually be called, the Alpha Turn....With the other even that destroyed it would be called, the Omega turn. And life would eventually flourish enough to lead us back to our current age, But this time...a new threat would stand on the side with darkness, with instead of Immortal men on his side, he would have Dragon riders and a large Clan...Said to be the son of Yuber by those telling the stories about him...and this man would be called...Mouragius of the nine fold mourning, Devilliant of the Nine Fold Evil and Chaos, Udsaigraid for the Nine fold death and destruction he would leave in his wake...But it would eventually shortened down to...Mordus.

Now Seeking his lost kingdom and his lost Minions that would be rightfully his after his fathers death and those he would Inherit, endlessly searching for the Tombs of the top Nine Mirage Knights said to still be alive but sealed away, His journey would bring him east and west, north and south. Until he finally understood, that the Key to unlocking these secrets laid in the Royal blood line of Neos, Leaving destruction of a town in his wake as he searched for the final clue...The Prince, knowing that with him outside the castle walls it would be the easiest target to strike, and eventually his attack would lead to the Banishing of the prince that only would serve Mordus cause more. Thought if the legends are true or not no one really knows, but the facts remain that Mordus exists and that he seek the head of the Prince....and he got powerful...well he got Dragon riders at least on his side...much to be said about if they are powerful or not, but they sure can serve a useful purpose...that lead us back to today.

Standing near the Cave of Fang, the foretold dragon of Destruction. He would Summon his riders to his side once more to check up on their progress, secretly plotting like always, but without giving a hint to do so. He would stand on the top of a hill just like his Father Yuber did once very long ago...And with Fang at his side, not very many would be able to stand against him...And there he waited, and waited...For his Riders to finally arrive, much later than expected as they should have been at home because of a Curfew...He was not....I repeat...He was NOT AMUSED.....

[LuckyEsper]

"Good night, Val." She had said before moving forward. Aerith wanted to sleep, and badly. She and Val had been out the whole night and they hadn't even noticed until the sun had risen. "I'll be joining you in a minute, Phydon." She mumbled wearily as she dragged her feet towards Phydon's sleeping area. A large stable with soft mats scattered about. The girl felt too tired to return to her home which was below the mountain caves. She'd probably fall asleep on the walk down and fall over the edge anyways. Besides her parents knew she was with Phydon.

"Mind if I spend the night with you?" She spoke out before offering a small smile.

The grey dragon let out a snort before rolling onto its side to give Aerith some space. She immdetiatly curled up beside the dragon, using his stomach as a pillow. A minutes passed and the girl was already out and wandering through dreamland. Phydon gave her an affectionate nudge with his snout, but she didn't budge which proved just how sleepy she was since most of the time Aerith was a very light sleeper. The dragon let out a grunt that sounded like a chuckle then closed his eyes.

He needed his rest as well.

--------------------- Valkryie Fal'cie -----------------------------

Valkyrie patted her companion on the head and stepped back to smile at him. Usually she was quite in a maddening state of hyperactivity whenever she returned from one of her conquests, but this time the usual zest was dampened by the long nap she took earlier. In reply to the girl’s goodbye, Nao growled deeply and swished his tail back and forth like an obedient puppy, then moved back and flew up into the air. Knowing him, the white dragon was sure to find somewhere dark and moist to sleep in; Where he chose to drift off was a mystery even to his rider, but if one thing’s for sure it’s that he’d be back before sunrise for a healthy breakfast.

Oh wait, it was already sunrise.

She even joked about it once—Nao was like a snail the way he adored damp nooks and crannies, but a flash of lightning when it came to food.

Val stretched and then headed back home.

The Shibasaki house was, as usual, lit up brightly compared to the soft light that the inside of the cave was currently bathed in. It was also the only house that was designed the way it was—slanted roof, exposed beams, ceremonial lanterns, kitsune statuettes and well, a wide wooden porch. People always commented on how “airy” the place looked compared to the solid stone shanties that everyone had (and along with those remarks came the snide observation that a good earthquake could destroy their home) but nobody had the guts to say it in front of her mother. Her mother, who was so sweet and graceful and so perfect that it made Val's head hurt whenever she thought of how the two of them should be alike, was actually the real foundation of the family.

Heh.


She grinned to herself before opening the doors—Only to see her father waiting for her in the living room.

Very much like his daughter, Ryuzi Shibasaki was dark-haired and fair-skinned, but disregarding appearances Valkyrie was still a carbon copy of her father. They were both adventurous and intrepid, often dashing off on some harebrained adventure unless the Voice of Reason catches up to them, so the two shared an invisible bond that somehow made them extremely attached to each other. As such it was no mystery that it was he, not Val’s mother, who was waiting for her this early in the morning.

She gave him a cheeky smile and her father's eyes instantly sparked up with mirth. "Father, you're up early today," She remarked smoothly and moved in to kiss him on the cheek. Ryuzi stepped back after their affectionate exchange and raised an eyebrow at his only child. She giggled and nodded, "Of course I brought souvenirs!"

A few minutes after Val entered her home there was a knock on the door of the Shibasaki household. Mordus had wanted to meet up with his young riders, and it couldn't wait much longer, so he decided to send his hechmen to do it.

"Val Shibasaki?" A gruff voice called out. "The head rider sent me to get you. He's been waiting since sunset." There was a pause followed by a second knock.

"Let me guess....?" Ryuzi rolled his eyes and sighed, all the while emanating concern for his only child. She was a rebel, that he knew for sure, but he never knew what the toll of enduring sermons was on her. She was too proud to show anyone what she felt, whether it was bad or good.

"It's a meeting, Sir." The henchrider said quickly. "All Riders are being called and I am sorry to disturbed you so early, but the head rider requested it."

Valkyrie waved at her father and then rushed to answer the door. [I][I]"Okay, I'm leaving! Bye father! Get some sleep, okay?" She hollered over her shoulder, grinning when her dad winced at how her voice resonated within the airy house.

[BeanieBaggie]

Liad's eyes narrowed as the girls came up to meet him, and with little patience he chose to get on with bringing them back. "..I don't know if he asked for anything, his hencriders came to me." He answered as he flew, trusting his dragon's direction enough to look back at them. "You two are lucky I didn't singe you. Pol' didn't even get to dry off completely." He glared at them, feeling like his arms could just fall off at the thought of more drying and scrubbing. For the rest of the ride he was silent, focused on keeping awake until he could go back to his room and collapse on the bed. His dragon yawned and he leaned down, patting her head and whispering encouragements until they arrived home, as the sun started rising. As they arrived he yawned, getting off of his tired dragon and stumbling off to his room, leaving the door open for his dragon. He collapsed on the bed, not even caring to take off his shoes as he let his exhaustion take him to a land of dark warmth.

Not even two hours later, he awoke to his dragon's cool tail landing on his stomach with a thud. "Polthe'ne!" he hissed, sitting up and leaning over, pushing his dragon's tail off.
"The headmaster has called a meeting. It is mandatory for all riders."
"....now..?" he groaned, rubbing his eyes free of the sleep that had started to form in the corners.
"Yes now."
"I'll be there in a second." Liad groaned, getting up and rubbing his eyes, his dragon nudging him out of the bed. He hardly opened his eyes as he ran a hand through his hair, not even bothering to retie it as he started shuffling to where the meeting was, his dragon following behind to make sure he wouldn't trip in his sleep-deprived state."Pol', either you're going to stop following me or you're going to carry me there." he grumbled, trudging down the halls, hardly able to see anything from under his messy hair.

[caster55666]

The Giant And the Kitten
[Caster/Shoryu Collab]
Zahef was a little taken back by the sight of the human 'city', and he couldn't help but be confused by it "How odd... Humans are much smaller than my kind... yet they build things so large... well, most things." He endeavored not to talk too suspiciously as they got closer to the city and it's gates, though upon noticing how many humans were milling about he found himself feeling kindof out of place and even hunched a little under his cloak to seem smaller and less out of place.

He became quite distracted upon passing the gates, a little shiver running through him at all the foreign scents everywhere, and seemingly ambient shouting while people scattered this way and that. He wasn't generally the type to be uneasy, but to someone who hadn't been to this land before, it was akin to being a mouse surrounded by ants, he knew he could take many of them in a fight, but they would react hostily most likely if they saw 'what' he was in the open and enough of them would be too much for him, and it inticed him to avoid contact as much as possible and hope nobody screamed 'monster' suddenly.

___________
The streets were filled with the sounds of merchants advertising their wares and the smells of fresh fruits and baked goods. The streets were as crowded as they always were, nary any room to move in the main streets while the side streets were left nearly empty, save for the occasional smart person wanting to avoid the crowd. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and a light breeze only helped to draw people towards the stalls peddling food. It was truly a perfect day... Well, perfect for any of the people who could actually buy something from these stalls and shops. For the forgotten and scorned, it was a day filled with sorrow and hunger. For people like Yumi, it was a day filled with the struggle of surviving. It wasn't something unfamiliar to the girl. She had been living on the streets for months now, she knew her way around these stalls and the nearly-deserted streets behind them, as well as the faces of the many angry vendors that liked to call the guards when they saw her.

She also knew how to stay out of sight of said vendors, as well as the general populace that liked to browse their wares. The Humanoid was putting those skills in to action, flowing and darting between boxes and corners behind the stalls, watching as people went by to make sure she wasn't seen. Some one occasionally caught a glimpse of a tail flicking out of sight, or an ear twitching above a box, but they simply thought nothing of it and kept on with their shopping and browsing. Yumi was currently looking for the least-popular stall she could, wanting to find an easy target. She hadn't eaten in three days, and she doubted she had the energy to run too far if she was caught. So, she continued down the line of busy stalls, heading towards the main gates of Zul were farmers were bringing in more produce and livestock. Yumi was hungry and eager for anything to eat, but she managed to keep herself in check, keeping out of sight and staying away from stalls with any people nearby.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of stalking through shadows and hiding from sight, Yumi found a stall that wasn't drumming up too much business. In fact, the owner seemed to be trying his hardest to talk a passerby in to buying some of his less-than-fresh looking fruit. Yumi's mouth watered at the sight of the fruit, her stomach growling as she slowly crept towards it. The owner had is back turned, and the woman he was talking too was distracted by her son trying to drag her towards a stall selling sweets and pastries (Yumi made a mental note to head back there as soon as she could,) and didn't seem to be focusing on the stall itself at all. Yumi smiled, creeping ever closer to the stall. She stalked around to the side opposite the owner was looking and, after double checking he was preoccupied, started grabbing things at random off the top of the stall. Before she knew it, the black cat girl had an armful of well-ripened fruits!

But, just as Yumi reached up to grab one last juicy pear, she made eye contact with the boy that had been previously trying to drag his mother away. Yumi's heart skipped a beat. She could only watch in horror as he took in a deep breath and pointed directly at her, and at the top of his lungs began to scream.

"Thief! She's stealing fruit! Thief! Thief!"

Yumi was gone before the shop owner had time to turn around, though she could still clearly hear him shouting for the guards that lined the streets of the busy shopping area. Soon, she could hear their metal boots hitting the ground as they chased after her. The pit of fear growing in her stomach only got bigger as she heard them shouting for her to stop, knowing full well they'd kill her if they found out who she was. All she could do is run, breaking through in to the main crowd of people on the street. Many people shouted in indignation as she pushed between legs and around people, trying to lose the pursuing guards. While she was quick and found it easy to dart between legs, the crowd was starting to part and make way for the guards pursuing her. What's worse, the crowd of people on the main street was starting the thin out as she approached the gates to the city, leaving farmers and wagons to dart around. Her breathing was beginning to quicken and get harder as she ran, her malnourished body starting to give way early from the full-on sprint she was trying to maintain. Yumi sidestepped around a cart only to step out in front of two horses pulling another, causing them tor ear back. Yumi stumbled at the sudden noise and motion, but quickly caught her balance and ducked beneath the rearing horses, stumbling her way past them... Only to run in to slam right in to some one. She cried out in surprise, her armful of goods falling to the ground as she fell back. The scared girl panicked, Looking up at the person she had just slammed in to. She was taken by surprise as she gazed upon what looked like a giant to her, the man wrapped in a cloak. The sound of approaching guards made Yumi snap back to her senses, and she quickly got to work snatching up as many fruits as she could.

Yumi screamed as some one grabbed her by the hair and lifted her in to the air roughly, her food once more falling to the ground. She grabbed and clawed at the armored hand, trying to break free. The guard that held her was currently panting, his bearded face red from running through the busy streets. He looked like he was ready to pass out, but he managed to keep it together enough to speak.

"Got you... Little bitch... We've been after This one for months now. She's been a real pain in the arse for the vendors and the city guard." The man explained to the giant, grinning as he Shook Yumi a bit, eliciting another scream. "Can't wait to see her hang. Thank you, sir. You've done the city a service."

______________
Zahef was still mildly shell-shocked by the sensory input of the city, So many smells and sounds to sort through in his mind, fruit, meat, sweat, dirt, flesh... something that smelled salty, even some smell of blood seemed to be on the air, though faintly at least, he also heard someone a fair distance away shouting about a thief, though it wasn't his business. It was also rather odd to see people trading 'bits of gold', such a weak and useless metal, for food and other useful things. He'd nearly walked right into a Farmer's moving cart as he tried to sort it all out, giving a quick and faint apology as the man cursed at him for slowing him down then tried to continue on, only to have his horses suddenly startled by something else.

Zahef first looked to the horses and the sight of humans wrapped in shaped metal coming his way from the other side, instinct trying to tinge at his nerves until a mere second later he felt something thud against him, though it barely affected him physically due to his size and the difference in size to the little girl, though it still got his attention enough to look down and see her scrambling to pick up fruit. 'Hmmm, Feline... she smells quite young... Under-fed...Under Incredible Stress, and... hmm?' Of course that was only his thoughts as he took in her scent and appearance, but then he very clearly noticed the guard pull her up by her hair and caught the piercing shriek of a little girl in pain, a feline no less, boy they could make a lot of noise, but this seemed unneccesary, and 'hanged'? He wasn't familiar with human customs and the like, and where he's from his kind are too 'tough' to be killed with just a rope, but he'd heard of this 'hanging' from other cultures where he was from, and this starved girl seemed like she could well get snapped by the man's rough handling alone.

As he spoke, his voice carried a mild bit of curiosity with it, a bit of distasteful spite at the handling, though he tried to avoid sounding particularly threatening "Hanged? For only some fruit? she doesn't seem like she could've injured or killed someone and deserve death...Nor that rude violent there for that matter..." Inside he was 'burning up', Self preservation telling him to avoid sparking up a conflict with a group of armed humans, even if he could probably pound half of them into the ground, but some inner morals demanding some form of action over the grossly over the top form of punishment. "It seems... Excessive... to kill someone because they are trying to survive... She is clearly starved and suffering... This land is so different from my own... I've never heard of someone punishing others for suffering... I don't suppose this may be able to help would it?"

Randomly from beneath his cloak, a thickly gloved, yet clearly scaley and clawed, hand came out holding a large chunk of raw gold, and large for his hand meant huge for their's... For his kind, fancy gems and fragile minerals such as gold had little value, but he'd encountered other races in his land that dealt in shiney things or accepted minerals for trade that his kind may have no use for... and of course, being that he could get so deep under-ground with Bahema, it was not too difficult for him to acquire such a thing, he actually kept a small handful of these things handy incase of encounters with races that may hold value in them.


Even though Zahef had not shown his face, The man looked doubly shocked, by the hand, and by the ammount of gold he was holding, possibly conflicted between law and 'taking a bribe', though Zahef meant it as a way to pay for the stolen fruit, and the merchant from the stall, having only just caught up, seemed to start badgering the man in whispers to accept it, though the guard seemed suspicious of this. "Why in the hells would a complete stranger to pay such riches for a little witch like this? a troublesome little animal who's constantly broke the laws of this land and caused no end of trouble. I say sir, Show your face, this is suspicious behaviour and I'll be damned if I take a chance in you being some sort of criminal yourself and getting away."


Zahef gave a small chuckle to the man's reaction, though inside he was incredibly tensed up, and spoke a little first "Hmhm, you think I stole this? No sir, I retrieved from the depths of the earth myself, with a friend's help of course... But If you insist." With his other hand he reached up to roll back his hood, something he'd hoped he wouldn't have to do until he was more acquainted with humans, but most of the people present had scattered to avoid getting in the guards way, and in his mind he was quickly calculating methods of attack on the guards while avoiding any harm coming to the others near him. The guards clearly tensed up, several getting their hands on their swords and, and several bits coming from them such as 'bloody hell' and 'shit, He's some sort of dragon thing?', which got another little chuckle from him.

He had to gamble with this situation though, his face betrayed a sort of uncaring coldness as he glared at the man in the front, his eyes seemed to be a balance of red and green, and watched him with an unnatural intensity that more or less said 'Take this offer, or you're going to wish you hadn't been born'. He was confident he could handle most of the guards present, but not more than may come with them, and he had no desire to start a conflict and get those with him in trouble as well, so he had to take a shot at scaring the little man into backing off.

The Lead guard paused to look at the others who were near by with him "Well that explains a little something...Monsters of a feather afterall... I should've noticed one of those 'elfin' and another animal with you... I doubt anyone who holds party with the like of those would be of good character... this little wench is probably part of your little bandit group or something isn't she?" The man put up a convincing front, but they couldn't fool his nose, he smelled fear from them, and that was all he wanted, to weaken their resolve and give them an incentive to take the offer and avoid a bloody battle.

The Guard soon leaned down to whisper quite maliciously at the girl "You best thank the big beast girly, He's kept you from a lynching, but if I catch you at this shit again, Not even a big chunk of gold can save your hide, and next time It'll be a lot more 'painful'." The guard then threw her down amongst the fruit and snatched the big chunk of gold from the reptile's hand and began to storm off with the other guards, most certainly making plans to keep a very close eye on the big reptile. Zahef of course quickly flipped his hood back up and crouched down to collect a piece of the fruit which seemed slightly over-rippened and held it out to her "Hmhm, you should've watched where you were going, a little lower and you could've slipped under me while 'they' were the ones crashing to the ground."
______________

Yumi felt like the guard was trying to rip her scalp off, the way he swung her around. SHe was still fighting and clawing at his hand as he conversed with the stranger, tears of pain starting to leak from her eyes. Her struggles were soon stopped at something golden and shiney was produced from teh stranger's robes, and even Yumi was surprised by the sight of such a large chunk of gold. She barely noticed the scaly hand that held it, her ADD mind focusing on the bright chunk of valuable metal instead. Yumi was reminded of the hand seemingly trying to rip her head off as it grew a bit tighter, the owner of the stall she ahd stolen from finally ariving on the scene. For a man that sold fruit, he was very out of shape and a bit round in the gut. Though that didn't stop him from whispering winded suggestions to take the large chunk of gold to the Guard currently trying to rip out Yumi's hair.

Yumi screamed again as the guard took a few steps back, causing her to try and pull free again. She looked back to teh stranger, her eyes widening a bit in surprise at his appearence. He really did almost look like a dragon... Well, from what Yumi had heard in the stories her Grandfather used to tell her. She'd never actually seen one herself. But the guards seemed to be taken aback, too, and a lot lost confidence. Yumi could hear the unsureness in the voice of the man that currently held her, her heart starting to flutter with hope rather than fear, until another rough tug caused her to cry out. Her ears twitched as the Guard threatened to make things more painful if she was caught again, and a few more tears of pain fell from her eyes as she was roughly thrown to the ground.

Yumi sobbed quietly to herself for a moment before whiping away the tears, looking up to see that same claw held out to her, now holding a pear. The cat girl cautiously reached out to take it, before sudenly snatching it from his hand and pre-emptively bracing herself for some sort of attack. She relaxed a bit as she didn't feel the sting of a backhand, looking up at the giant Lizard.... Dragon... Thing spoke. He was actually pointing out what she could have done to escape, rather than demanding payment for getting her out fo trouble. Yumi could only stare blankly at his hooded face, still dazzed from both the Guard nearly ripping her scalp off and the strange act of kindness this person had shown her. She looked around a bit, now noticing the odd Entourage he was with. A pixie, an Elfin, and another Humanoid? Yumi looked back to the strange dragon-man, finally speaking.

"Wh... Who are you people?"


Zahef gave a playful little smile to the kitty girl, at least as much as he could muster with how tense he was, his eyes also shifting back to an almost totally green color, replying quite calmly as the girl asked "Well, for now, we're just some travelers. My name is Zahef... We're no danger to you miss, though I suggest we all get moving quickly, We're actually looking for someone in the city, and I suspect those men may try to come back once they've regained their nerve."

[vFear]

Atmospheric Music


Trotting up the path towards the City of Zul was a dual-horse-drawn carriage spewing music, singing, laughter and cheering for as far as the ear could hear. The driver seemed to have no problem with his rowdy customers, but rather was singing along with them, tapping his foot to the tune. The carriage, a wooden healthy-sized walled one at that, was filled with passengers taking up all space along the four walls of the carriage - using them to put their backs against to rest - and a happy couple in the middle, dancing and swinging on each-others arms to the tune regardless of the fact they were moving. Two passengers, side by side, on the wall closest to the driver - a duo of travelling troubadours - played away on their lute and flute, strumming and blowing, providing the music for the two dancing in the center of the cart. The rest of the passengers clapped to the beat of the music; between them all they formed the atmosphere of a friendly and fun tavern, drop most of the alcohol anyway. Along the left hand side of the cart sat a young man, clapping and cheering like the rest of the cart, with a bandage around his head and ears and a quill on his back. With his brunette hair and ocean blue eyes, a smile plastered across his face from ear to ear as he kept on clapping and cheering. This young man bears the name Zephyr, a cheerful young man set out on a quest to find his true parents.

A cheerful man to Zephyr's left, sprouting a long, grown and cared for beard braided in four spots, turned to Zephyr toting a brown glass bottle grasped in his fist of a right hand and laughed before speaking,
"Hey kid, I'll make 'ya a deal!" he started, a smile plastered across his face, revealing his half-white teeth. "If you can drink the rest of this.." he continued as he raised the bottle, ..and hit it with that bow and arrow of yours when I throw it off the back, you get my last drink!" Smiling towards the man, Zephyr reached out and grasped the bottle by the neck with his right hand before pulling it in towards him. Overhearing the conversation, the music and singing turned to a Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!, the music playing in bursts with each chug. Throwing the neck to his lips and rearing his head back, Zephyr begun to swallow the contents of the bottle with loud chugs, the sweet taste of the honey-made mead flooded down his throat with each chug. Raising the bottle to be practically vertical as he went, he swallowed the last mouthful and swung his arm back to his side and further in swing to behind him, holding it out to the bearded man.
"Give me a good one!" Zephyr called out as he reached into his slide-on coat, pulling out a small and compressed bow, seemingly useless. A brief laugh rung out through the carriage as the bearded man reared back his arm, preparing the throw. As Zephyr reached to his back to grasp an arrow from the quill in his thumb, index finger and middle finger, he flicked his left thumb upwards, the bow quickly snapping out with a loud 'chunk!' to a full sized long bow with two pointed metal pieces aiming outwards. The laughter cut short, impressed and curious, as Zephyr slipped the slit of the arrow onto the draw and pulled it back to his torso. The bearded man, laughing, twisted his torso and arm forward, throwing out his arm and opening his fingers to send the bottle flying.
"Hit thi-" the bearded man started, before a loud and sharp 'twang' boomed out through the carriage before the glass bottle smashed all over the path behind them with a loud shatter. The carriage, in response, boomed into cheering and laughter, the music coming back into full swing in celebration. Turning to the bearded man with a smug smile, Zephyr reached out with his right hand as if to ask for the bottle. The bearded man let out a loud, deep-bellied laugh as he put the bottle into Zephyr's hand. "Bloody nice, kid! You earned this!"

The cart came to a halt in the center of the market of Zul, Zephyr scurrying up to his feet, planting his left hand on the wall of the carriage and leaping off the carriage. Turning to the driver, Zephyr reared back his right hand and tossed the bottle of honey mead at him - which he raised up his left hand in response to and caught it by the neck. "I told you I'd get you something to pay you with by the end of the trip!" The bearded man aforementioned found his jaw on the floor of the carriage as the rest of it boomed out into laughter, Zephyr simply smiling all smug-like as he turned and started to walk away from the carriage. Various voices called out as Zephyr paced away from the carriage, See-ya kid! Catcha'! Aha, smug little toad! Smiling, Zephyr raised his left hand as he walked away and waved. As a whip fo the reigns boomed out through the market, the carriage begun to trot away as the driver called out,
"Next stop, City of Falone!"

As he ensured his bow was hidden once more and peered over the stalls with half a mind as he paced, his thoughts rung through his head - 'Now, let's get to work.. First step to find my father, I should probably figure out his name.. A list of the lower nobles, perhaps? Maybe the tenders at the taverns have heard a few whispers?'

[Fox of Spades]

----- Colin Skigh : The Mercenary -----

Colin rolled his eyes at Ast as he ran ahead with Maleae. The elfin wasn't very excited about entering a human city so he hung back with Zahef then pulled up the hood of his cloak to hide his pointy ears. With that out of the way he looked just like a human. "I fit in now don't I?" He grinned broadly as he focused his eyes on Ast and the pixie. "She finally woke up eh? She's a cutie I'll give you that but too small for my tastes." He waved his hand dismissively as the duo walked forward and left him with Wendy and the Sehalian.

The mercenary's eyes darted from stand to stand before a low grumble came from his stomach. "Are any of you good at cooking?" He mumbled as he looked from the Ibex humanoid to Zahef. "Cause my tummy sure could use some grub." He gave it a playful rub before walking onward. "Hey Wendy you're a lady." He purred happily. "I bet you're a good cook?" He asked with a hopeful expression and raised eyebrows. "If you are I'll love you forever and ever and ever." The elfin added playfully before smiling broadly at both of his companions.

He walked with bouncy steps through the city and even wandered away from his companions though he was still in their field of vision. Colin liked the cities though he never got to stay for too long at any since humans hated half-bloods. Meh, their hatred makes things much more interesting and challenging for me. He thought with a slight smirk. However, a piercing scream snapped him back to reality and he saw a tiny cat girl being pulled up by the hair near Zahef.

"Wow...that escalated quickly." He said with a hint of amusement. Colin shook his head slightly then made his way towards Wendy, Zahef and the little girl.

"Hey, what's going on here?" He mumbled, despite the serious situation he still had an easy going smile on his face. Then again Colin didn't really care about right or wrong. He did whatever he felt like and went with whoever seemed interesting enough. The cat hybrid didn't look very interesting, she looked afraid and the elfin was used to seeing people tremble in fear. It was just an everyday occurrence so he stood with his shoulder's hunched, and didn't bother to look tense or caring.

Oh so they were going to hang for being a lil' thief. Things were getting exciting again. "Actually Zahef." He gave the humans a sickeningly sweet smile. As sweet as poisoned honey. "Humans kill for less than that and so do I." There was no guilt or shame in his voice. He killed for money whether or not the target deserved it, sometimes he spared horrid people because they were interesting and killed innocents because they were not. However, he took a step in front of the cat girl and laughed. "But it does seem silly hanging a starving kid, ain't worth the hassle if you ask me." He shrugged and waited to see the men's reactions.

Zahef pulled out a handful of gold and offered it to the guards. "That's something I would kill for." He whispered happily. "It'd be foolish if you didn't take it in exchange for a bit of food, I suggest you take the offer." He spoke with a huge smile and his blue eyes gleamed with sadism. Colin could almost feel their blood on his sword and he let out a happy sounding laugh. Humans were easy to cut down, though well trained ones did offer a challenge. Especially mages who dabbled in defensive magic and illusion. They were such a pain to fight.

The guard accepted Zahef's offer and stormed off. Leaving Yumi with them.

"Who are we?" Colin smiled and gave Zahef a clap on the back. "We're a bunch of outcasts like you. Except the wimpy mage. He had a good life but-" Colin pointed to the mage and pixie who were distractedly looking around and out of earshot before he made a sour face. "Ran away, can you believe that?" He scowled. "The kid just threw away his noble status to go forge his own path or whatnot. Stupid dreamer." He finished his complaining then smiled. "Name's Colin and killing is my game." He wanted to see her reaction and he expected it to be a terrified one.