While he was somewhat thankful that Listec didn't seem to offended by his statement about his Athel Loren kin, Fortune's politely declined joining him on listening in on their guide and there... guest. After all, plate armor wasn't exactly the best thing for sneaking around in, even more so when it came to trying to sneak up on an elf in the middle of a jungle they were familiar with.

However, his attention was not kept on the elf for long; The black knight had grabbed Alison and forcefully dragged her away from the camp for unknown reasons and by instinct, Fortune pushed his tired body up from the seat he had taken in order to follow and find out why, sword and shield at hand as he did so; He didn't know Jehan that well, but one did not trust a black knight under any circumstances lightly. There tended to be a reason they didn't want anyone to know who they were and what house they belonged to... and if even half the stories that he had been told about such people were true, he did not wish to leave Alison alone with one.

Besides even if things weren't as bad as he feared, there was rumored to be enough things in this jungle to warrant being armed. Not even bothering with stealth (largely because there really wasn't a point for him to try), Fortune caught sight of the knight and the maiden... and approached them cautiously as he asked "Is everything alright here?" more towards Alison then Jehan.

Baltazar stared in disbelief as the dwarf shimmied up the skinny tree. Never mind that the dwarf was capable of such things, but the tree even held his weight! Awkwardly thanking Brokk for the fruit, he began the even more awkward process of trying to get it open, as he watched his companions' reactions to their new predicament. Baltazar had always considered himself a keen observer of the mortal condition, and he had a very strong impression he was not alone in distrusting the wizard. Slowly digging the flesh out of his coconut, he followed along, alert for danger.

Not long into their bumbling march, distrust had turned into open contempt. Darren carried on like a street magician, seemingly making up new tricks as he went, with no regard for safety, or even practicality. If Baltazar hadn't known better, he would have thought the wizard went out of his way to use magic at every turn. Before Baltazar's own second sight, the wind of Aqshy swirled and billowed - like a signal fire for anyone to see. The man's general incompetence didn't help things, and Baltazar caught himself staring daggers at Darren as they walked, barely aware of the mosquito swarm he was vainly swatting out of his face.

Trudging through the Lustrain underbrush, the oppressive heat and humidity did nothing to improve Baltazar's mood. He was used to long marches, but this was something else. By the time they stopped, sweat was stinging his eyes, and he could barely feel his feet. He watched wordlessly in stunned disbelief as the wizard first proved to be exactly as useless of a guide as he seemed, greeted an unknown elf with no suspicion, and immediately followed the elf's instructions. Just when he thought his opinion of the man couldn't possibly sink any lower, Darren up and left the camp. Baltazar only stared after him, slowly shaking his head.

When Darren and Listec spoke up, he responded with a mirthless smile. "Thank Ranald, I almost thought I was the crazy one. I'll come with you - whatever that elf has planned, it can't be good for us."

Loading his crossbow, he kept it in one hand, with his sword in the other. Stalking an elf silently through an unfamiliar jungle would have been a difficult task for any man, but Baltazar had an ace in the hole. As he followed Listec into the woods, teeth grit in solemn concentration, his footsteps grew quieter. Step by step, his presence dimmed - outline blurring, movements less obvious, breathing stilled. Even the stench of sweat seemed to retreat closer to his body, until even the mosquitoes had a hard time finding him. His spell complete, he regarded the forest ahead with grim eyes. All he had to do now was hold on to the magic indefinitely, while keeping an eye out for ambushers, keeping track of Listec, and possibly fighting for his life. What could possibly go wrong?

Brokk kept quiet as Thir-whatsthename appeared but instinctively primed his Thrund. He wasn't going to be stabbed by any flimsy elgi blade, oh no! He sat down as the made camp, and grinned as the party's elf followed the new one. "The jackal knows it's kin is nasty!" he said with a chuckle. He was however, a little discontent to see the party fracture even more with the grubby manling following the elf, while one of the Knights pushed along Allison who was followed by the loverboy. He groaned a little, but at least there was the realization that he was just a little more clever than the others of the group. He had kept his coconut, so he could put Allison's cooking in it to use as a bowl. He just hoped that the soup itself wasn't magical in nature or the Dwarfish resistance to it could make the stuff unfelt by him after being eaten. Still, he ate for even a placebo effect of having something go down his stomach would be good. He didn't wander off to follow the elf or confront the odd Bretonnian being a nuisance to the young girl. After all, someone had to keep watch of the camp. He was a bit satisfied that the Slayer hadn't left just yet, although he might go to either scene moments from now. Having a bit of the Karaz Ankor with the Ranger made him feel oh so much better and at home. In a way, the self-induced berserker insanity of a Drengi was proof that there still was some overall sanity around - even if in an odd way.

As he finished his soup he once more got to maintaining his rifle. The longbeard's gun was one of his greatest prides and he would be damned if he would let the jungle get to it. He got even the smallest of dust specks out with the help of a small magnifying glass in his cleaning kit. Sadly the thing still smelled just a little like scorched eyeball but oh well. Eventually, he was satisfied and once more reassembled it and sealed it with wax to not let much water or dirt in. He quickly checked the guild made optics and once certain that they were still functioning put his weapon down on his lap, battle ready. Now he would get to do the slightly less practical, but nonetheless important. He groomed his beard cutting off hairs that were too long with a throwing az whilst braiding the ones that got loose.

When finally done all his little routines he thanked Valaya for his endurance, Grimnir for strength and Grungni for his wisdom. Finally, he lay back to get some shut-eye, even if he only slept for a total of a few minutes because the slightest of sounds woke him up.

Needless to say, Sketti's pistols were primed and ready as soon as that newcomer Elf made himself known among the party. As far as he was concerned, the only good Elf was one that was back on their Ancestor forsaken island. Or dead works well, too. Though they might come in handy, sometimes. Still, he didn't trust one that simply popped out of the woods, and if it weren't for his party seeming all buddy buddy with the Elgi by Grungni would he have pulled that trigger!

Well, now that the Umgis, Elgis, and whoever the hell else went wandering into the great Jungle beyond, he decided it was time to open one of these coconuts. Setting himself down next to Brokk, he whacked at one of the Coconuts with his metal appendage. With a crack, it broke open like a Grobi skull. He chuckled at the thought of it being just that. Well, Grobi brains seemed particularly milky, but hey, he would not complain. He slurped it down, and gave a belch that was far too large for such a small quantity of coconut juice.

Once it was time to take a sleep, he decided to stay up. He wasn't about to be caught sleeping by exploring Elgi. Pistols in their holsters and launcher in his arms, he leaned against a tree and watched the camp with a vigil, only taking a small amount of time to get some shut eye for the next day.

Alison let herself be dragged along as much out of surprise as fear. The knight was, intense, if nothing else. Scary. She should know her more, given their relationship, but the result of not having contact for years tended to be a lack of information. And it was the absolute worst luck to run into her now. "I...I wanted adventure, like you..." When she hears a voice, her eyes flicker to where Fortune has appeared, and she almost sags with relief, but Jehan keeps her tense. She uses Fortunes arrival as an oppertunity to try to extract herself from Jehan and move closer to him. "I'm fine, thankyou. We were just...talking." She looks like she'd rather be anywhere but here.

********

Thirodaen appears to patiently endure Darren's rambling for a while, but it's clear from the look on his face that he is becoming impatient. Eventually, it looks like he can't take any more "Yes, yes, very interesting." He says, politely interrupting what Darren considered to be a gripping narrative. "Would you, however, prefer to tell me where you are going?"
"Ahh, yes, well, technically, I'm, uhh, not allowed to tell you. Sorry."
"How am I to tell you where to go, I do not know where to lead you?" He seems exasperated.
"Well, alright then. Only thing is, I'm not sure how to pronounce it. It's Hex-, Hexacotle? Hexoatle? Hexee-, Hextotle? Hexa-"
"Alright!" Thirodaen sighs, "I know where you mean. I shall have to lead you personally."
"Well, I very much appreciate that, Mr Thirodaen."
"Not much else to do in this, god forsaken jungle." He murmured
"You told me you liked it here."
"Oh, what? Yes, I do, love it, but here, tell me more about this adventure of yours."
"Yes, well, as I was saying..."

Deleted

As much as he wished to hear more of an extended conversation between the otherwise isolated pair, and he did, the Shadow Warrior could not stand idly by while this idiot human divulged everything - from their eventual goals to all their encounters thus far – to an Elf that had suddenly appeared out of the jungle; an oddly calm and dare he say sane figure, at least for one who had apparently been tramping about this humid hell-hole for the gods knew how long.

Although he did not need to look back over his shoulder to know that Balthazar was no longer able to be seen, his flesh in goosebumps and his hairs standing on end simply from the proximity to the use of magic, he did take a quick glance behind and saw exactly what he had expected – nothing.

Clearly the Marienburger was more than he appeared to be, but for now the Asur had other 'fish to fry'...

“Darren,” he said simply, stepping from the undergrowth with his bow held low but his arrow still nocked to it, “please step away from our guest, if you would be so kind.”

He did not wait for the wizard to comply, standing from his half-crouch to his full height and turning his almost dead gaze on the only other person currently visible to the naked eye.

“Thirodaen, was it?” Came the careful question, a veil in front of so many threats, pleasant to hear but certainly tipped with venom, “it is a pleasure to meet another Asur so far from our beloved home...” his soft steps took him about the other Elf in a circular motion, one that did not cease even as he went on speaking, “speaking of which, you have an unusual accent, where is it you would be from...cousin?”

Seeing that Alison was rather... uncomfortable with whatever had been going on with Jehan and seemed more then happy to come over and join him, Fortune was more then happy to meet her halfway. While he wasn't quite in-between Jehan and Alison, anyone with experience with fighting could tell that it wouldn't take much for him to change that if need be.

However, this defensive stance changed somewhat as Jehan introduced Alison as... his daughter? Blinking in surprise, he looked between Jehan and Alison for a few moments before sighing and putting the sword away. "I... take it that this isn't exactly the happiest of reunions then?"

Thirodaen does not seem particularly surprised by the sudden appearance of another elf. Either he knew you were there, or his is very good at masking emotions. You suspect that it could be either. "Quite jumpy, aren't you? Just can't sit still." He circles with the shadow warrior, matching him step for careful step. "I hail from Tiranoc, originally. Perhaps why my accent is not so, refined, as other elves. Living in the jungle with few people to talk to also takes its tole. I apologise for not greeting you sooner, but most of you're brethren seem to have trouble speaking very often. The silent type. You are quite the conversationalist by comparison. What might you call yourself?" He tone matched that of his 'cousin'. He was clearly not intimidated.

*******

Alison looks horrified, "Muuuuum!" She whines, "Why did you tell him? Do you know how hard it is to meet a guy when you're mum is a black armoured mercenary? Three-quarters of them go running for the hills, and the rest want to be 'just freinds'. You ruin my life!" *melodramatic teen hair flick* "I hate you!" *melodramatic teen growl* She marches away to sit pointedly by the fire, next to the dwarves, where she engages in a prolonged mumbling campaign against Jehan.

Fortune blinked again. At any other time, he might have actually found Alison's outburst to be funny, but between the long day that they had been forced to endure and the prior revelation he just didn't have it in him left to laugh. However, once Alison was out of ear shot one of the things that she said caused him to blink a little in confusion as he looked at Jehan. "Wait, Mum?"

Baltazar stayed a good bit behind Listec for the duration of their walk. The thick jungle, the magic spell and his own stealth made him virtually undetectable, and a good bit less miserable for the bugs leaving him alone. To his great fortune, the trek turned out to be a rather short one, but to his great dread, it turned out that the wizard was even more naive than Baltazar had thought possible. Upon hearing what Darren was saying, Baltazar almost lost control of his magic in his urge to silence the man, but Listec conveyed his sentiment on his own.

While the unknown elf was busy talking to Listec, Baltazar stole around the glensnuck around the clearing. Maintaining his spell felt he was holding his breath with his soul, but he held on until he had made it around to the opposite side. Resting his crossbow on his sword arm, he took aim at the elf and released his magic. Of course, he had no clue what the elves were actually saying.

"So, Listec, what's the verdict? Do we shoot him or not?" Baltazar asked in reikspiel, though in all honesty, he wasn't sure which of the two he would rather shoot.