Lexine sat forward in her chair, looking over the grand assortment of food they'd been gifted one last time. Just as she'd been walking in, she still wasn't hungry. The others around the table continued the chain of introduction, and between bouts of vying with her lack of an appetite she took in what she could about the others. Elizabeth and Noah were still some sort of enigmatic to her, although she was getting tired of repeating to herself that this kind of work took all sorts. Haruka Taiyo, on the other hand, explained her being with such an encouraging radiance that it almost entirely slipped Lexine's mind that she was regarding a dog-eared martial artist who was here to play the information market. Every fiber of her being told her to doubt and disbelieve a cover given so freely, but she couldn't. Haruka was just like Al in that regard, she realized. The two of them were so fully earnest that she could only accept such cheery people had ended up on the same path as the rest of them. As long as she didn't have to listen to too much of it, she could even continue to appreciate their light. A slight smile crossed Lexine's face as she stood up and away from the table. It was time for her to get moving. Her knees stung as she went to her feet, but they'd acclimate quickly. If nothing else, the kid was starting to ask too many questions, and she could get going while they were still being directed to Haruka.
"That's good," she said after Haruka's offer to Noah. "We're all a team now, so the same goes for me." She looked over her shoulder, back at the now emptied throne room. Alec hadn't left them a guide or a guard, which surely meant they were only being watched in secret. As she turned back around, her eyes went over the others present. Settling on Al and Haruka to let them know she was referring to them as well. "If any trouble starts up, come find me." Her smile continuing, Lexine made to walk off before anything else happened. She'd had a couple minutes to sit and recollect herself, there were a few things that needed to be taken care of before she left. Anything to carry their baggage was out of the question at that point, but now that fighting was assuredly ahead of them she'd need a set of gloves. All of hers were still sitting in some hotel somewhere, unused and pretty much useless in the Grisian climate anyway. As soon as she was free of the castle, she turned towards the marketplace and set off with head hung low and hands buried in her coat. With any luck, the others could finish their business at the keep without and she could resupply without incident. That was a futile hope, she knew. Half of them were troublemakers and she herself could have been the worst, as not merely a thug, but a thug with bad luck.

Noah listened to Haruka's explanations with wide-eyed intrigue. The boy was practically a sponge for information. He had always enjoyed learning, regardless of the subject, that was why he was going on this journey in the first place, after all. For such an inquisitive soul, an interesting individual like Haruka was a godsend. "Martial arts, huh? You should show me it at some point. If it's not a secret, or anything." Noah took a bite from a green apple on the table. It was quite sour, much more so than he'd expected, and his lips instinctively curled at the abuse of his taste buds. "I've never met someone like you either, but who knows, it's a big world out there, maybe you have family somewhere!" The boy's optimism seemed to emanate from every fiber of his being. He smiled when Haruka volunteered her help if he was in trouble. "Thank you! I can't do much to repay your kindness I'm afraid, but... hmm... I can cook! So maybe I can repay you in food." The boy's eyes left Haruka for a moment as Lexine spoke up. "Yes, we're a team." He beamed. "Will do. Hopefully there won't be any here though." The boy laughed, waving to Lexine as she left the room before turning back to Haruka. "So I was thinking of looking around the castle a bit, and possibly going by the library. Would you like to come along?" He turned in his seat. "That goes for everyone, of course, if any of you want to look around." He motioned around the table.

Elizabeth had set about her business, walking around the marketplace in search of anything that might be useful in their journey. Outside of the occasional odd look from one of the locals, the process had been rather uneventful thus far. Still, markets caused a faint nervousness in the pit of her stomach. Perhaps it was a residual feeling from her earliest days as a street urchin. After all, in those days the market had represented both risk and reward. As it stood, though, she wasn't here to steal anything, so the feelings inside of her were little but an inconvenience. Her scanning of the marketplace was interrupted as she saw another figure leaving the castle. Upon closer inspection, she came to the conclusion it was Lexine. She had said very little about herself, and was one of the people Cross had referred to as a 'professional'. The blonde woman turned, meeting her new compatriot at the market's entrance. "Looking to do a little shopping out here as well?" She leaned against her cane, looking the woman over. "You're Lexine, right?"

Al's normal human ears twitched as he caught wind of a future meal.
"You mean you'll just pay people in food to punch stuff?" he asked, walking over to Noah. "Or better yet, to show you how to punch stuff?"

"...I'm pretty sure large cities usually have martial arts schools. You could learn fencing. Or spearing." he explained. "Actually there's probably manuals on that in the library. Or better yet..."
He nodded at the boy, then Haruka. "There might be books on treasure in the library. Treasure we can use to buy food. Or more swords. Or even... that." he stared into the distance.

"Let's go to the library."

Haruka smiled and waved at Lexine as she left. She seemed nice, so maybe Haruka would ask her about stuff if she was perplexed, which she often was. Lexine seemed like a senior to Haruka, like almost everyone except for Noah, so she was certain that she could rely on the girl. For now, however, Haruka was enjoying being older than someone on an adventuring team.

"Yes, yes," Haruka replied, "I can show you my fighting. It is not so much secret, but it takes much devotion! I have been doing The Fist Through Which the Sun Breaks for my nineteen years of life with the best teacher in the entire world, and only recently have I learned most of the techniques. I have not even been mastering half of them! You do not need to be giving me food, but you can. Please. I would like many meats."

Haruka nodded sagely. It was tough training, and Haruka was even a natural trained by the best! She still had much to do, but if this boy wanted to learn from her, it was her duty as his senior. And also she liked meat foods. She smiled when Noah mentioned that they may find more like her on their journey, and Haruka's tail began fluttering back and forth quickly.

"I also am hoping to find more Haruka peoples! OK, me and Al will to the library with you to find the treasure books for to find treasures with which to buy informations and swords and foods and thats."

Haruka jumped up from her seat energetically, and headed towards the door before turning back and heading towards the door again. She had no idea where the library was because she kind of spaced out a little as she was walking to dinner. She turned back again, and would continue doing so until someone who looked like they knew where they were going went ahead of her. It would be embarrassing, after all, to ask someone directions when she was supposed to be a reliable senior.

Lexine locked eyes with the woman who had been examining her as she walked. She hadn't even made it into the market before getting roped into something she wanted nothing to do with. The short, blonde woman standing by the entrance way was the keeper of the frail looking kid in their group. Elizabeth, she had called herself, and as the distance between them lessened she asked Lexine about her own name. Lexine came to stop, planting her feet on the snow covered cobblestones and taking a moment to look around. After her eyes swept her surroundings, they settled on Elizabeth and her discolored eye slid shut. As the hazy, dancing silhouette faded from her competent vision, the other woman's features slowly became more clear to her. She tried to commit them to memory a little more in the few seconds it took her to reply.
"Yeah, figured it's our last chance to pick up gear," she said. The way the other woman had worded it, she was also shopping. Not that there were many other reasons to be in a marketplace, though. "I guess this is good fortune. Do you mind if I come with you, Elizabeth? Not quite sure how much I trust Cross, yet." There was that, and on the off chance that Elizabeth Tosli was someone she wanted to keep her eyes on, she was doing so. The kid had been doing most of the duo's talking so far. If there was anyone in the group whose company Lexine was going to find entirely agreeable, it was that boy's quiet caretaker. As she reopened her eye, she glanced ahead into the marketplace. Even in such a remote place, what awaited was the sort of busy, people filled place she feared and loathed. Anyone, or perhaps anything, could lay in wait in such a place, and for that she felt better about seeking company.

Noah chuckled to himself. "I actually quite like cooking. Hopefully I'll be able to make something good for all of us." Al and Haruka both seemed friendly to the boy. He was thankful to have such agreeable people on their journey. The white-haired youth smiled as the others agreed to join him in his little excursion to the library. Hopping up from his seat, he motioned for them to follow. The group left the Great Hall and entered a long hallway constructed of the same dark grey stone that the rest of the castle consisted of. The passage was lit only dimly with small windows running along one side. Noah led the group down the hall for a few moments, before rather abruptly turning at a door to his left. A small sign affixed beside the doorway confirmed the boy's suspicion that they'd reached their destination, and with a hefty push he opened the room's thick oaken door.

Inside the room, rows and rows of bookcases stood filled to their limit. A series of tables littered one side of the room, each surrounded by a few rather comfortable looking chairs. Noah beamed. "Looks like we found it." His eyes rolled over the hundreds of books in the thick wooden shelves. "But where do we start... Hmm." The boy began walking along the first row of bookshelves, scanning for anything related to the Great Northern Wastes. As he looked, he spoke up, his eyes glancing towards his companions for a moment. "So have either of you ever done something like this?" Their task was an abstract one to be sure, but then Al and Haruka didn't strike him as 'average' by any stretch of the imagination.

Elizabeth nodded at Lexine's request. "Certainly. Maybe we'll find something useful." She smirked ever so slightly at Lexine's distrust of their host. "I'd be worried if you did trust him to be honest. He's a dangerous person, but he seems to be on our side, if only for the moment." She couldn't help but think how applicable that statement was to the entirety of their expedition. The Esterlian began looking over the various wares available in the marketplace. She glanced to Lexine for a moment as she walked. "So, someone hired you to come out here, right?" The woman spoke softly. "I'm a bit surprised someone cared enough to invest in this whole thing." The woman refrained from directly asking about the specifics of Lexine's employer. She was curious, but doubted her compatriot had any urge to divulge such information to a total stranger.

Elizabeth saw little amongst the marketplaces wares that struck her fancy. It would've been useful if Cross had told them exactly what his 'supplies' entailed. She purchased a box of matches and a few cooking supplies, as well as a fair amount of salted meat. She didn't intend to starve if Cross didn't send enough food. The market, though fairly simple, had a decent variety of stock. Elizabeth glanced to Lexine. "You looking for anything in particular?" It would be a long journey, that much was certain, and they couldn't afford for anyone to be unprepared. As the duo reached the end of one of the market's aisles, a voice called out from a nearby alleyway. "More foreigners?" Elizabeth stopped, her eye darting towards the source of the voice. A figure stood in the shadow of the alleyway, a yellowish cloak and hood concealing most of its features. After a moment, the figure spoke again. "I assume the pair of you are heading north as well?" The voice was flat and dull, but seemed to identify the figure before them as female. Elizabeth looked to Lexine, as if questioning how to respond to the newcomer.

"Thanks," Lexine said, and fell in alongside Elizabeth. For her part, she kept quiet and tailed along as the other woman searched through the market. She didn't really need any more provisions than what she was carrying, and no amount that she could carry would equal the amount they would, by logic, require to safely reach their destination. Problems for another time, she decided, as the same problem had not yet managed to halt her progress across the continent.
"Yeah, that's right," she said, answering Elizabeth's question in a similarly soft tone. She was surprisingly unperturbed by the question, as a matter of fact she found herself appreciating her conversation partner's choice of words. Whatever that said about Elizabeth, she decided not to think too deeply about out of consideration. "Well, their investment was just me, so it can't be too important." She was trying her best to be lighthearted and make humor, but the same sentiment had been her serious conclusion about her task. She never quite found what she was looking for, even as Elizabeth stocked up. It felt good to know that even if Cross fell through on his word entirely, a few of them would still be carrying supplies. Naturally, she'd still have to strike out on her own to find someone selling gloves that met her taste. They weren't for warmth, but to numb the sensations that came from her pained hands. Thin gloves like she preferred were of little worth to the natives of Vulture's Roost. She had been just about to answer Elizabeth's second question when someone else cut in to their conversation.
Her head turned in time with Elizabeth, looking in the direction of the shadowed stranger. The yellowed tone of their attire stood out even in the dim light of the alleyway. What a familiar sight, she reflected for a moment. Even blanketed in snow, the sight of a filthy inner city alleyway never changed. She turned her body to face the newcomer, answering the female voice with silence as she looked the hooded figure up and down, one eye closed. Only after a few tense seconds passed between the trio did she realize that Elizabeth was deferring to her.
"Not much else for us to be. You the welcoming committee?" She spoke curtly, replacing her hands in her coat's pockets and taking a step forward. It didn't afford her a better look at the interloper the way she had hoped, but she stood her ground. Internally, she ran down the list of possibilities, and actually found herself hoping they had made contact with the city's criminals, they would probably prove more useful than Cross had been.

Sage watched as most everyone headed their separate ways and then headed out to the market place. She saw Elizabeth and Lexine, if she remembered names correctly, heading down the aisle together. ~interesting~ she thought to her self as she headed in the other direction. She didn't have much to spend and was hoping she could find some decently priced bread and meat.

After she was satisfied with the bread, cheese and meat, some salted, some dried, she had bought, she found matches, and a scarf but that took pretty much all of her money. She kept strolling though, just to look around. And found herself in front of a blacksmith's shop. She stared longingly at the beautiful weapons he had on display and found herself itching to make some herself. The ring of the hammer against the anvil was music to her ears. She found a place to sit close by and decided to write in the journal she always carried.

Just as planned, Haruka ended up following Noah as he went out the door. The library was surprisingly easy to find and, when they had made their turn into it, Haruka blurted out, "Turning here," and then grinned. Now for certain Noah and Al would think that she knew all along where it is, like a real senior.

Haruka's eyes widened and her tail wagged back and forth furiously as she looked around at the multitude of books. Haruka did not particularly like books, but it was still the most she had ever seen in one place, and was thus quite impressive. She was certain that the wealth of knowledge contained within this library would help many people. Haruka as well, if she found something good.

Haruka stared with a look of appraisal at a random book case to seem impressive as Noah addressed the two.

"No, I have not coming to the far north in search of lost temples before," answered Haruka, her ears drooping slightly, "I am much new to this thing. I have being busy with the adventures looking for revenge murder until now."

Al turned into the library, and immediately began running his fingers along the tomes, before picking one at random and burying his nose inside.
What am I doing here? I can't read. he thought to himself. ...But they don't know that.

"You mean exploring? Yeah, I do that by trade. Whatever I find, I sell. It ain't easy, but it's a fun way to live." he answered Noah, bringing a tome over to the others.
"Don't worry, Haruka. Exploring might seem hard, but you get used to it. You just gotta use your guts. They'll tell you where to find the things you want." he said. He hummed for a moment, experimentally reaching out his hand. She was a dog. Dogs like pets.
As such, Al pat the martial artist on her head.

Noah began energetically pouring over the books. There were a few that seemed vaguely related to their destination. He noticed a few on the history of Gris, as well as a few full of folktales. He grinned as Al brought over another book. The Basics of Gardening. The boy looked at the book quizzically for a few moments. He was curious how such a book was going to help them in the frozen north, but Al seemed well versed in rugged adventuring, so surely it had some merit. Looking up from the books, her turned his gaze towards Haruka. Revenge. That was right, she had mentioned that earlier. Still, the phrase 'revenge murder' coming out of the otherwise pleasant girl's mouth seemed a bit unsettling to the youth. "Oh right, you told us about that earlier. Um... your master, right? What... uh... happened exactly? Who is this person you're after?" The boy frowned, he hadn't meant to stumble into such a painful memory. "If you want to talk about it, that is." He glanced to Al with a grin as he patted their compatriot on the head. "I bet you've seen some amazing things adventuring around. I've traveled a lot, but I don't know if you'd really call it 'adventuring'. I've never really... fought or anything." He scratched his head. "Not that we never ran into trouble! But usually Miss Elizabeth deals with those sorts of things. She's pretty amazing."

As the group in the library carried on, the sound of heavy footsteps resounded through the hallway leading to the room. A steady clank...clank...clank echoed down the hallway. After a moment, the door creaked open. "You're right Ohn, maybe I shouldn't have gotten so worked up, but the things he s-" Emilia froze in the doorway for a moment, looking over the scene before her. With a slight smirk, she spoke up. "Oh, so you all actually took Father up on his offer to use the library. How interesting." The little lady walked into the room, followed by the hulking mass of her bodyguard. The giant closed the door behind them with surprising care, turning to look at the adventurers as well. "Find anything useful? If not... I might be able to help. Ohn and I come in here to read nearly every day." She threw a thumb over her shoulder, motioning to the armored behemoth behind her. "Plus, I don't get to meet very many foreigners. A few have come through lately, but they're not usually much for talking." The girl grinned, pulling out a chair near Noah, Haruka, and Al.

The hooded woman raised her head slightly at Lexine's response. Her eyes remained covered beneath the shadow of her garment, but her position revealed the lower half of a very pale face and a few tufts of messy brown hair. A strange looking scar seemed to run down from her right cheek. "Welcoming committee?" She seemed to think for a moment. "Somewhat, though 'observer' might be more apt." Her voice remained flat and noninflected. All the warmth of human speech seemed to be entirely absent from the woman's words. "Things are proceeding without incident, yes? Cross has agreed to supply you?" A cold wind blew through the alleyway. In reaction to the breeze, the woman's hand snapped like a bowstring to her head, holding her hood in place. "This expedition will be difficult. It is important that you are prepared." The woman continued in her odd, seemingly scripted method of speaking. "Though... you are different from the others. Perhaps that is a good sign."

Elizabeth watched the stranger like a hawk. She was always cautious, but something about the odd woman made her uncomfortable. It might have been her voice, the way her words seemed disconnected from their speaker, or perhaps the strange way the woman carried herself. Regardless, the way she described their expedition, and the fact that she knew Cross was supplying them only served to intensify the anxiety. Elizabeth's fingers tapped softly against the head of her cane. "Oh, are you a supplier for Cross or something?" Elizabeth desperately hoped that was the case. If she worked for Cross, her odd mannerisms were understandable. The stranger tilted her head slightly at the question. "No, I am not a supplier. Cross should be using his own stock." Elizabeth's grip on her cane tightened slightly. It seemed the woman wasn't affiliated with their odd benefactor in the slightest.

The hammering in the blacksmith's shop ceased, and a robust, bald man with a thick grey beard walked out the door. Everything about his appearance suggested a lifetime of hard work. He held a hammer in his calloused hand, and glanced around the front of his shop, evidently looking for something. After a moment, his light grey eyes came to rest on Sage. With a deep, but fairly warm, voice, he called out. "Young lady, I saw you looking at some of my wares. Are you looking to buy something, or were you just admiring the craftsmanship?" He let out a hearty chuckle as he approached the young woman. "The name's Webb." He wiped his hand on his shirt before extending it towards the girl. "I heard we had some travelers in town. There aren't too many folks that come through here. Even less that care about good smithing."

If she had obeyed her instincts, Lexine would have been walking away as soon as the bizarre woman said 'somewhat.' Her involvement and curiosity were over at that point, and she didn't see any benefits in standing around waiting to get jumped while their freak friend in the yellow cloak gave them the runaround. Her feet turned, grinding her heels into the snow as she unconsciously pulled away from the conversation. She couldn't leave, though. Her eyes fell to the woman next to her, Elizabeth, as she traded words with their visitor. Dragging away a woman who walked with a cane seemed like a poor decision, and unconscionable even to her. I could probably carry her, she thought, but lacked any intention to do so. For now, she would have to back Elizabeth's decision to engage the woman. Her focus drifted back up to the one person present who desperately needed a name. They weren't getting much, although it was free information because the third party seemed to already know everything. Whoever she was or whoever she worked for seemed to be keeping tabs on the adventurers that passed through Vulture's Roost, which supported her hypothesis that the woman was involved with organized crime in the city, but Lexine knew that was reaching. She sighed, and withdrew one hand from her coat pocket, extending it in greeting to the strange woman. She didn't expect a polite reply, but Lexine had been denied her only familiar option (running away) and found her only real choices to be blundering attempts to make contact. "My name is Lexine. You could have easily continued playing the observer without us ever having noticed. Why step out? Just because we're different?"

Sage startled as she heard a man address her. She looked up quickly from her journal to hear what he was saying. She quickly shoved it back in her bag and stood to shake the man's hand. "Sage. Nice to meet you. I was admiring your craftsmanship. They're lovely. My father is a blacksmith so I can appreciate talent when I see it." She was actually glad to have a friendly face to talk to. She leaned in a little closer and lowered her voice "And just between you and me, I do a little smithing myself." Sage wondered for a moment if she had made a mistake. Where she came from most of the men would not take kindly to a woman stepping into their field. But seeing as she could very well be heading into her last leg of life, she wanted someone to know something about her. As she waited for his reaction, she glanced around quickly just to check her surroundings. Hopefully her initial judgement of Webb wasn't wrong and she'll have somewhere to pass the time until she grows tired.

Not to be outdone by Al and Noah, Haruka also picked out a few random books to bring to the table. A confused expression crawled over the girl's face as Al mentioned her guts, and she touched her belly tentatively.

"I did not know they could do such things as tell me where to finding the treasures and informations," she said, her eyes widening.

Then the man started patting her head for some reason, and her tail wagged furiously.

"This petting happens much to me. I am not knowing why, but it is fun!"

Turning back to Noah, she began answering the boy's questions as a good senior should.

"Ah, yes, master was killed by a westerner," she answered, nodding, "with a blade of blackest obsidian."

Haruka reached into a pouch and retrieved a small black chip.

"It is like puzzle, yes? But prize is revenge murder," she said, smiling as that other girl from dinner entered the room. A relation of Lord Chris, maybe. She enthusiastically raised her hand after Emilia finished speaking.

"I am Haruka from dinner," she chirped, "we seek for books with valuable treasures and obsidian blades if you have them maybe!"

She waved the chip at Emilia.