ARC START : The Bonds of Blood

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@booksmusicanime@ShadowVentus@Misumichan@Keyblade87@CuddleKitten@slayerofkings

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Guild hall:
Terra cocked her head to the side and brought her sleeve covered hand to her chin thoughtfully, "Well, this is a guild house for the Fairy Tail guild. I would suppose that its purpose varies from person to person, but what would be in common is that this is our home. As far as the leader goes I can't quite say I've met him in person, I've only been here a couple of days myself." She then saw the little creature hanging out with the girl and her eyes got wide, but not with fear, but wonder. She put her hands on her knees while she crouched slightly and leaned in a little for a closer look. "Oh wow! What is that? I haven't seen a creature like that before!"

Ander, content that nothing was going to happen with this newcomer, looked outside at the setting sun, determining it was time for him to head out. Aishi looked like he was getting comfortable, as if he was gonna be sticking around for a bit. Plus there were Misuki Nate, Morgan, Inigo's group, and even Cilia was here as well, so if things went bad they could handle it. While he hated to leave his sister here, there was something he had to attend to. "Terra, I'm headed out, I'll be back later tonight."

"Alright, but don't make it too late," Terra called over her shoulder.

"I'll try not to," he said as he waved his hand over his head while walking out the door. He then silently made his way to the outskirts of town.

Dremmick and Ris:
While Dremmick knew of where the place he wanted to take Ris, He still didn't know much about the city of Magnolia itself. So since they were waiting for the shop to open, what started out as Dremmick wanting to show Ris something, ended up being Ris showing Dremmick around the town. "Wow, I never really knew just how much went on in this town," he said. Normally, Dremmick didn't walk around outside, not because he minded, but because he seemed to get a lot of weary looks from other people. Today was no exception, but his attention was fixed on Ris instead. He looked up at the sky noticing the sun getting lower. "Looks like its almost dark. Anywhere else you wanted to go before we head to the shop," he asked, with her hand still in his.

Isek:
If Isek were to read the paper he ripped down from the board it read the following. "Greetings! We are the Red Crow Merchant Company. We are on our way to Magnolia and we are looking for talented mages to help guard our camps at night. As a company dealing in magical goods, we find ourselves often running across thieves of various sorts and require aid to boost our numbers when we set our camps around the edge of town. Meet with us just outside of town at our caravan to discuss the details." Going by the dates given on the paper, they should already be here today and be setting up for the night. On paper was an official wax seal that displayed a crow's footprint in the middle of a circle. The wax was red with the letters RC for Red Crow by the left side of the foot and MC for Merchant Company on the right.

Isek reads the quest. It seems standard, and since they're willing to hire wizards it must have some danger. Still, it might be fun to invite a few people. And show off doing so. That cute girl had been with the guy he'd marked, so...
Isek takes a blank piece of paper, scribbles on it for a bit, then attaches it to the end of chain he's conjured. Concentrating on the trace of his magic he'd left on Dremmick, Isek launches the chain out the open door. It turns and moves, lengthening as need until it stop in front of Dremmick. On the end is a copy of the quest with a smiley face and the words "Room for more, want to team up?"

@Jollan@slayerofkings
Ris would hold softly to Dremmick's hand, her light eyes sparkling with happiness. "Not that I can think of." She'd managed to say before Isek showed up. The sparkles in her eyes died out a bit at the sight of him, he did not make a good first impression on her.

Sigh I watched the members of the guild and smiled. His mom would be proud of everything this guild had accomplished since she had retired. Turning back to the bar and smiled at Drake who already had another drink ready for him.
"Sheesh Drake it's like you think I'm Can a or something." He said light heartedly as he took a swig from the fresh drink having finished the first.

@booksmusicanime @slayerofkings

Dremmick looked at the note hanging from one of this Isek guy's chains. He took the paper down to look at it and read the quest. "Well," he sighed, "I guess he's gonna want some kind of answer," he said, seeing how the chain was still there. He took out a pen that he kept with a small notebook in a leather pouch on his belt. He then wrote on it, "Not now, maybe later. See if some other guild members are available too," and attached it back onto the chain. He then took Ris by the hand again as he led her to the destination, "Alright then, it should be just around the corner."

When they came around the corner there was this small shop. Instead of it having a door to go into the shop, it had a long window that when opened, showed a large counter top and the large shudder became an awning for the shop. Inside it was a man, who looked to be quite old, whittling away at a small piece of wood. When he noticed the two walk up he smiled broadly and set down what he was working on. He reached for a cane and stood himself up. "Welcome! Welcome! This here is Moonlight Marvels, home of enchanted tokens, and some non enchanted toys for the kiddos, what can I do ya for?" The shop had two large worktables along with shelves and shelves of wooden toys, trinkets, and sculptures. In the middle of the back wall was a small fireplace that was currently lit and giving the room a warm glow, the scents of all the different woods mingled together and seemed to pour out into the street.

Dremmick nodded to the old man, "Thank you sir. I just wanted to come by and show her your shop and check to see if my order was ready."
"The old man reached to his shirt pocket and flipped out some glasses and places them on, getting a fresh look at who he was talking to. "Ahhhh, yes, yes, I remember you. Not to worry, I have your order ready." He then turned to Ris. "Oh, and aren't you a sight for these old eyes. I tell you what, if you want anyone of the trinkets I have here, I'll let you have one just for making the trip." he said with a hearty old laugh. He then turned away and hobbled off on his cane, coming back with a parcel and handed it Dremmick.

"Thank you!" Dremmick replied, gingerly taking the package and then handing it to Ris. "Here, I had this made for you. Thought you might like it." It was a mask, much like Dremmick's but in opposite lighter colors. "What do you think?" he asked.

"I think its a waist to put a mask on such a pretty face," the old man cut in with a jolly laugh. "Anyway, before ya go I have to tell you this. I open my shop at night to receive blessings from the moon to make enchantments. Something about the moon brings up a calming type of magic within me that allows me to enchant items. However, I am afraid I am becoming to old to know what enchantments are applying to the item. None of them are bad, they are always good or useful, but I'm afraid I don't have the power to see it anymore. You will know when the time is right. With that, I bid you two youngin' a nice, happy night. Please come again!"

While Dremmick was a little worried about what the man just said, though he had researched the man and talked to other people who bought stuff from him before, so he was confident it wasn't bad, and hoped that it actually added a little fun to the gift. The worst he had heard about was a small token that would jingle every time it detected a lie, and for that particular traveling salesman, it was a curse and he had to give it up.

---

When Isek reached where he should be for the quest, there was a broad shouldered man there to greet him. "Hello mage! Welcome to the Red Crow Merchant Company! I assume you are here because of my job posting, no?" The man had dark shoulder length hair pulled back in a short ponytail and a scruffy short beard. His skin was tanned and he looked like that of a giant. Like most the people there, he wore simple traveling clothes as they were just getting settled in for the night. "This is the main portion of our caravan here," he said waving his hand out to the area around them. "We actually travel in four groups with this one being second in line. We set up four camps around here so that if we are attacked, its never the whole caravan that falls into danger. The lead group is just to the west of us and the other two groups are over to the north and east, none of them too far from us here." He then turned back around. "As you may have read, we have had some particular troubles lately. Some bandits have been attacking our caravan, but what is strange to me is that nothing is ever stolen. Its all burnt up and all the people are dead when we arrive. We had to start leaving the elderly and children in other towns until it was safe for them to travel again." A quick look around the campsite would prove that there only seemed to be men and a few women here and there in the camp, all of which were still busy finalizing camp for the night.

"I'd like you to help watch the main camp with us tonight, a few other mages have already arrived to help the other groups and if anybody else is to join from your guild, I'd like it if they could support us here." He then smiled and extended his hand, "I'm sorry, I do believe I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Jerrin Valhan. Pleasure to meat you."

Isek shakes the offered hand. "Nice meeting you. I left the notice up, so if anyone else is interested they'll come. Any idea on who would have reason to be attacking? Any information you have would be helpful in planning a defense."
@Jollan

@Jollan
Ris would lightly run her small, thin fingers over the mask with a soft smile across her face. She was touched that Dremmick would get something so beautiful for her. "I love it Dremmick, thank you so much." She'd turn her smile up to him, a sweet and loving smile that lit up her face.

Jerrin nodded at Isek's questions and folded his large arms while thinking. "Thanks, hopefully the other might see it and come. The reason we came to Magnolia this early in our annual route was so we could get help from Fairy Tail. We have heard a lot of great things about y'all y'know." A look of concern came across his face as he recollected the recent attacks. "Come to my tent. I wish to speak with you privately. I don't wish to spread any more despair to my people."

Jerrin led Isek to a larger tent, closer to the center of camp. It had a decent bit of headroom to spare for the tall heavily built man and was only outfitted with a thick treated canvas floor, a dresser, a cot and a small table with two chairs, in the center of which had an oil lamp. Hit lit the lamp and took a seat, gesturing Isek to do the same. "Go on, take a load off, make yourself comfortable. As I said before, I'm not entirely sure who is doing this. Normally, run of the mill bandits pose no threat, even if they do have magic because they aren't well trained. We even have a good number of mages in our caravan, but they haven't been able to successfully fight them off, much less defeat them." He was silent for a moment again before continuing.

"We are certain there are multiple mages because there are more than one magic type. We have seen fire, water, thunder, and multiple blade wounds. Then, just as fast as they arrive, they are gone again. We are outmatched here. If it was just us being raided, I'd give them all I had to keep them off us. But they just burn our wares and kill our people. The lucky few that got a glimpse and lived to tell just say that they see these men in hoods and black clothes disappearing into a mist after the slaughter." He then stood up and went to the top of his dresser where a jug and two tankards sat. He fills the two tankards and hands Isek one. "That is why I sent out a flyer in hopes to hire your guild. Fairy Tail is known across the land for housing some of the strongest mages seen. I thought 'if anyone was up to the task it would be them'. Hopefully, soon, we can put this all behind us, and if your friends don't show, well, you are in for a tidy sum all to yourself." He then lifted his tankard up to Isek to drink on it. "So what say you to that? Will you help us?"

---

Dremmick smiled so broadly that you could see it in his eye. "Ah, there's that smile I love to see. I'd do anything to see that face every day." It was odd, really. Dremmick had never been this close to anybody in his life. Sure there was Ander and Terra, but he saw them more like family. Ris was something different. Of coarse she knew him a little while he still looked fairly normal, however, through all of his changes, grotesque as they are. She still stays by his side, as if she still sees him for who he is instead of what he has become. If he were to choose, he could live in this day forever.
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"Well now," Dremmick said as he was walking hand in hand with Ris again back toward the guild, "I know this oddly turned into you taking me around town, seeing as how I didn't know that much about the town to begin with, which I am sorry for considering I should have known more about this place by now, but I can definitely say I enjoyed myself. You?" he chuckled. "I wonder if anybody decided to join that guy on that mission. As much as I don't like him, the mission did seem like it should at least be looking into. I'll have to see if Ander knows anything about it.

Isek returns the toast. "I hope to see those bandits chained in front of a judge as soon as possible. I'd appreciate it if you could show me how you normally set your defenses. I think an ambush is the best bet and I don't want to change too much in case they figure out it's a trap."

@Jollan
There's a light skip to her step as she walks beside Dremmick. "I enjoyed this time together too!" Her smile hasn't dropped since it began. "I would expect some of our guildmates did go with him. Fairy Tail isn't the sort of guild that would make their guildmate do a mission like that alone...."

Terra
Terra led Shiro to the guildmaster to talk about joining. When she came back out she looked around at the others in the room. Unfortunately, she didn't see Ander anywhere. She sighed, irritated a little bit and looked for something to do to keep her mind off of it until Ander came back. She looked up at the quest board and saw that the quest Isek ripped off earlier was posted on the board again, albeit a little more wrinkled now. Her head was tilted slightly as she read it since it was a little skewed. She then took it down from the board and looked back to everyone who would listen. "Does anybody want to go check this out? I think Isek went out on this one alone, but it sounds like it might need more people."

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Dremmick

"Well, I would make him go alone," Dremmick said then looking over to Ris, "Kidding, I'm kidding....mostly." They were walking up to the guild now and Dremmick almost had his hand on the door to open it for Ris when he stopped for a moment and sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?" he asked. He backed up a bit and looked around. "Smells like smoke, which I guess is normal at night, but it seems more than usual." Then he saw it, in the far distance there seemed to be a soft glow, out in the forests around the town. It was far off, but at night, the light was easy to see. Dremmick pointed to it and asked Ris, "Isn't that close to where that guy's mission was? That doesn't look like a campfire."

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at camp with Isek

"Defenses," Jerrin repeated, "The only defenses we can muster up while on the road like this is to circle the caravan and put up a watch. Sometimes we are able to afford local mages to help protect the caravan like today, but our only other tactic is to split the caravan into sections so that all of our good aren't attacked at once. We are merchants after all, not soldiers. He then took another drink from his tankard and set it down. "Come, I will show you around the camp so that you may get familiar with it, It's fairly simple really." He started to lift the tent flap when he saw someone approaching. "Geoffry? What the devil." He looked back at Isek and explained, "He's the water mage I hired to watch the east camp.

As he led Isek out however, there was already someone running up to them with fear in his eyes and covered in ash. "Geoffry, what happened!?" Jerrin exclaimed.

"The east camp! It....its gone! It was attacked, and before I could do anything it was gone! It was terrible, they are all gone! In an instant! GONE!" the man was shaking and couldn't seem to get over t what happened.

Jerrin grabbed the man by the shoulders and got eye level with him."Geoffry, I'm gonna need you to calm down and explain what happened."

Geoffry took a few deep breaths to try to calm himself but it didn't help much. "I never saw it clearly. Whoever it was was covered up head to toe.. i-i-it...burned everything and cut down anyone else still able to fight or flee. When I tried to fight back or put out the fires, I-I couldn't use my magic at all! I still can't! IT'S GONE! When it attacked me, it grabbed me by the neck and as if it were flying, a-and it slammed me into the ground dragging me through the dirt, and then threw me aside into the woods. I think it forgot about me, so I ran here to warn everyone." He then fell to the ground and started sobbing. "I COULDN'T PROTECT THEM! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

Jerrin's face was much more serious now. He himself took a deep breath as he clenched his fists. "Whoever these bastards are, they will pay.... Geoffry... Go on home. There is no need to endanger you further." He gave the man some money for his troubles, plus some for what happened to him. "That should pay for an inn in Magnolia and transportation back to your city. I apologize for what has happened to you. You may leave."

"T-Thank you! I will warn the other guilds of what is attacking you, surely they will send you proper aid." He then bowed quickly and scuttled off towards town.

Jerrin then solemnly turned to Isek. "I will understand if you do not wish to stay, but I hope you will still help us." He shook his head. "I will fire a flare into the air to call for all personnel to pull back to this spot. Since whatever this thing is is after people and not our goods, I will have to abandon our original plan and bolster our forces here." He then went back to his tent and returned with a flare gun. It was something simple that worked off of a small fire lacrima. He shot it into the air, sending a small yet vivid ball of light up, and it the popped in the air leaving a small light burning over where it exploded. "Since the north group is the next closest wing of out caravan, I'll need yo to escort them here, and then the east group if they have anyone left."

---

east camp

A man was dragging himself towards a tree, covered in burns and ash. When he finally got there, he turned and rested his back against the base of it. His vision was blurry and he felt weak, but just before he had closed his eyes, he saw a figure in tattered black clothes appear in his sight. He shot straight up, ready to defend himself, but he was too weak and fell to a knee. when he opened his eyes after the surging pain he saw a boot, and startled, he fell back against the tree. "You! You monster! You've killed everyone!"

"What is your purpose here?" the figure said.

"We're merchants! That's all!"

"YOUR'RE LYING!" the mysterious person said as it grabbed the man by the throat and picked him up. "I know what you are... now tell me... Who is leading you? ANSWER ME!"

"G--g---go to hell," the man said as he spat in his assailants face. He would use magic to attack the strange person, but he didn't have the energy left in his body.

The dark clad figure changed hands, this time grabbing the man by his face, covering his mouth and letting go of his throat. "Wrong answer." The figure then shot fire from the hand he was holding the man in, engulfing his head in flames. There was nothing but the horrid smell of burning flesh and muffled screams.

In the final seconds of the man's life, he noticed two things. The person's sleeve was ripped, and it revealed a guild mark. the Fairy Tail guild mark. When the dark figure finally let go of the dead man, the person ripped what was left of their sleeve off, revealing a gauntlet under the sleeves. It then used a strip of the sleeve to wrap around it's arm and cover the mark. The figure then removed the gautlet and stored it in a satchel, leaving just the fingerless glove on the arm that ran up to the elbow. 'Two more camps before the main camp,' it thought, however, a flare just shot up into the sky. "Dammit, I have to move faster."

Isek nods. "Right." He extends his chains and uses them to quickly close the distance between himself and his destination.
As he moves he reflects on what's happened. When dealing with a Fire Mage containing them was key. Pay attention only to them and they'd keep using the other fires for an advantage. Try to deal with the other fires and they'd set more of them and have a shot at your back. The best way to deal with them was to starve them of fuel and put them down as quickly as possible. Isek begins working out strategies based on the terrain. The methods this maniac was using indicated they were obsessed with something. That would hopefully lead to something he could exploit to cause tunnel vision and gain and advantage. Or just pummel them until they were weak enough to be bound, either one worked.

@Jollan
"...That is very much not a campfire." Ris' eyes would focus on the glow in the forest. "I think...we should go make sure the whole forest isn't going to go up in flames." She'd look up to Dremmick, finally tearing her eyes from the flames.

Aichi perked up hearing about the quest and left the bar toward Terra.
"Sign me up it's high time I did more than sitting around and drinking," he said grinning widely at the thought.

@Jollan

She looked over to her demon then hugged it tightly to her,"T..This is my demon...Have you not seen one before mortal?" she asked as her demon started nuzzling her. She should probably put her stitch back in, but...this mortal was rather interesting. Seems like the mortal did not know of her. Curious. As the woman took her around the building, she considered joining this..guild. It seems that she was in too deep of thought, for she was now standing alone. The woman must've gone somewhere else thinking that Shiro was following her. She sighed then put her stitch back into place. Her demon went lower so it would be easier for her to get on. Shiro climbed onto the back of her demon then quickly exited the building and looked around to see smoke coming from the forest. She cocked her head to the side and commanded her demon to go towards the smoke. It seems that there has been some conflict while I was thinking. Curious. She thought. She looked around for the woman so that she could tell the lady that she wanted to join the guild.

@CuddleKitten@Keyblade87@booksmusicanime@slayerofkings

Terra looked back and saw that Shiro was following them. "When we get back I'm sure that we can get everything in order for you to join, but I want to see whats going on, something doesn't feel right and I don't know where my brother is," she told her. Not too far along on their way out of town, the three of them ran into Dremmick and Ris just at the town entrance.

"Dremmick! Ris! There you are! Have you seen Ander anywhere!?" Terra asked. She had a worried expression and it seemed to be getting worse as time went on. She knew he had been acting strange lately, but if only she knew what was going on. The only thing she could feel now of him was that he was fighting somewhere due to thier bond between the crystal.

Dremmick shook his head. "We heaven't, but I can give a wild guess and say he's headed over here as well. Come on, we need to hurry," he addressed to the group, eyebrow raising slightly at the new face (Shiro). Hey, the more the merrier.

---

When Isek arrived to the north camp, everyone was in a full evacuation panic to get either to the main camp or to town. Most of the merchants appreciated the help, while others were too much in a frenzy to notice or care. Unfortunately, the north camp didn't seem to be the next target. Somehow, there was a loud uproar coming from the east camp instead. There was a mage that was stationed there who used explosive fist magic, and it sounded like he was exchanging blows with somebody.

That is until the explosions stopped momentarily. Then there was one more boom, and the next thing Isek knew, a young man came flying in, hitting the ground and rolling a bit. He groaned as he sat up rubbing his head. "What the hell? How am I in north camp?" He tried to stand, but quickly fell to his knees with a grunt. He looked up and saw Isek there and called out to him. "Hey, get over to east camp, its under attack. and be careful. I don't know what kind of mage that is, but it disabled my explosive punches and used it against me." He used a nearby crate to steady himself as he stood up. "I'll try to help these guys get out of here, I'm no use fighting at the moment," he finished while holding his side where there was a bit of a burn where it seemed like he was hit.

---

Dremmick, Ris, Terra, Aishi, and Shiro all arrived to the east camp first, the one that was originally attacked. There was nothing left there but fire, burning caravan remains and various bodies.

"No way....What happened here?" Dremmick whispered, more t himself than anything. "Who would just come ans slaughter all these people, and then leave with nothing to gain. They didn't even steal anything, it's all just on fire."

Terra, a little nerve wracked but not really her first time seeing a site like this, had an awful feeling. She hopped off of her staff onto the ground and ashes and made her way to one of the fires off to the side. She knelt down and reached her hand out, hesitating at first, and then waved her hand over the flames. What she had noticed however, made her hands shake and her voice tremble... It wasn't burning her. "N...no....what is going on?..."

---

Over in west camp, the scene was nearly playing out the same. The same cloaked mysterious figure made its rounds destroying everything. However, with the last person this time, it was different. When the figure went to finish off the last caravan member with an explosive punch, the fist actually sunk into the tall, lanky man's chest as if it were fluid and the figure pulled his hand back fast.

"What!? What the hell are you?" The figure demanded.

"Please, I believe you know. I'm the one you've been looking for," he started with a chuckle. "But I'm afraid you won't actually find me here, as any depiction of me is but a farce. But hey, while your here, I see that someone is actually looking for you as well. He should be here any moment."

"I'll find out where you are hiding if I have to kill every last one of you to do it," the figure said, hate easily read in its voice.

"I'd like to see you try," the man replied before he pulled out a crimson dagger and struck at the figures face. It caught the hood instead ripping it apart and revealing silvery hair and eyes with a face only covered from the nose down by a muffler.

(this is where Isek would come in if he does run to the west camp)

The man then saw someone coming up from the side in the direction of north camp and screamed out to him for help. "HELP! IT'S HIM! DON'T LET HIM-" but it was too late.

The silver haired killer reached out with one arm and blasted the man with fire and followed up with an explosive punch, which made contact this time and destroyed the man, leaving nothing left but char marks and ash on the ground. The killer then looked up, and saw a familiar face from earlier today. The arrogant punk from the bar, Isek.

And Isek, if he had recognized him, had met up.....with Ander.

Isek realized he couldn't stop running in time, so he sends out his chains behind him in order to launch himself backwards out of reach. He knew who Ander was even before joining Fairy Tail. Bound Fenrir had been a Dark Guild, and they'd faced or heard of most mage hunters in the area. The main thing would be keeping Ander from touching him or anything made from his magic.
Isek grinned. Good thing he'd never made the mistake of relying entirely on direct attacks. "Chain Magic: Collision Field!" Isek redirects his chains to ring the area, hurling huge chunks of debris at Ander from all sides. Even if Ander dodged or tanked the nonmagical material, it would set up his follow-up attack since any deflected or dodged debris would be bounced back by the chains. The speed would increase with each redirect and as the debris got broken further it would get harder and harder to dodge. If Ander didn't dodge or deflect he'd get pummeled and if he did he'd create a shrapnel cloud with him in the center.

@Jollan@CuddleKitten@Keyblade87

At seeing the state of the camp Ris, on pure instinct turned her face towards Dremmick. She was trying to keep herself from gagging at the carnage of the camp. She may've been a fighter born and raised but death still struck a hard chord in her, one that made her sick out of sadness and guilt that she couldn't stop it.

Aichi stood in the camp looking over the wreckage. He couldn't help but be worried about the town and the others that may be camping nearby.
"Could there be anyone else camping around the city? we should at least warn them whats going on if there are others." he said as he knelt in the ashes around them and staring at a small fire before him.

@Jollan

Her demon wrapped around her small frame as they hovered next to the lady. Shiro should probably ask for the kind woman's name, so she wouldn't have to keep calling her "lady". She looked around at the destruction of what they labeled as "North Camp". She was curious about the humans' organization of the place. She busied herself by tying bows with the ends of her stitches, trying not to burst out giggling. She loved destruction and war. Who could blame her? She was a powerful being that was sealed away for centuries.

She sighed then grabbed the lady's arm and tugged a bit, then pointed to the Guild Base ( *shrugs* I play lots of Elsword and that was the only thing that popped in my head) signalling that she was going to head back to the Guild Base.