The warrior crossed his arms absently against the cold steel of his breast-plate, eyes darting easily between each figure in turn. The reunion would have been heart-felt, would have been if he actually held any sort of emotional attachment. Sure, they'd been through the grinder, but he was always careful when it came to extending any kind of psychological ties. He'd seen a lot of blood-shed in his life, a lot of friends turned enemies for the right amount of gold, it was hard to trust people when it came down to it, hard to give them credit. Still, for all his cynicism and all his stoicism, the sell-sword couldn't repress the soft upward turn at the edges of his lips, the ever so slight smile that seemed to cave beneath the need for some kind of relief; maybe he was going soft?

Still, the reunion would need to be cut sort. Taking note of Akira's insinuating eyes, he nodded in return: Maria wasn't with here, which left the possibility of her departure. It was hard to believe, from a logical standpoint that she could be so foolish as to take the enemy's goad. After all, it wasn't like once they had her in their grasps they wouldn't just turn the tables and use their dirty tricks. Even if they were good to their bargain, how could a single knight hope to match the strength of an entire mercenary band? Sure, Maria was strong, but there were practical limitations to what she could match, there was practically limitations to what they could match as a team. Reaching out, the old soldier touched lightly upon the corsair's shoulder, drawing his attention. "The lady knight isn't with you, I fear she may have taken the bait."

His words were straight to the point, an accurate summation of his internal thoughts. If Maria really had been that foolish, it meant they no longer had time for planning, they'd lost whatever element of preemption they might have once had. There was nothing left than to plunge in and save the fool-hardy woman, even if Izaka felt that it wasn't exactly in his best interest to go running through cross-bow fire to collect a single member of the team. What if she was already lost? They would be wasting time and resources, possibly stumbling towards an unnecessary battle. Speed was the key, it was the only advantage they had left. "Best we be off, now."