---

Percy looks over at the elder in his arms before looking around after hearing the cry for help. ".. Come on." Percy says, taking the elderly woman and walking slightly faster. He would look around, finding a group of citizens running in the same direction he was. "Hey!" He called out. He would gain the attention of a few citizens, where a couple would come and take the elderly woman from him. As she is taken away, Percy would stretch the arm he was using to support her. "I'm going to go check out what that noise was..." Percy says, looking up at the other citizens. "Take care of her." He says, turning and heading towards the source of the cry for help.

Those pirates have probably made it on shore already.. Percy thinks to himself. He would stop, seeing Pirates rush past him through an alleyway. Percy would hide from them and give them a moment to pass before continuing on. As he rushed back to where he was before, he could hear the sound of someone running to him amid the sound of cannon fire. Percy would skid to a stop once seeing Pyce running towards him. He would frown, holding his hands up in order to stop Pyce.

---

"Hey, you guys! Get off the streets for a sec!" Davor shouted, as he released an arrow aimed for one of the pirates. "I'd appreciate it if you guys stayed behind the horse!" He advanced, his own retinue rushing ahead to meet the squad of pirates. "These guys look like Anarcans to you?" he called out to the large, armored lancer in front of him. "No, sir! These ain't no Anarcans at all!" "Perfect! Attack freely!" Davor yelled, as he continued to fire, and his retinue rushed into the fray. Davor turns and grins at the two figures, one white-haired, one black-haired. "Heyya, friends! D'you got any idea what's goin' on here? It'd be much appreciated!"

As another pirate is downed, it seems that more seem to come. The retinue forms a defensive position, shields in front. Another wave of five or so pirates could be seen rushing towards them from the horizon. Davor continued to fire arrows, while the rest of the troupe stayed grounded, yelling their war cries, advancing ever so slowly.

---

Cylo continued forward, eventually finding more Estalan guardsmen. This was it, it seemed. She began softly, projecting her voice louder and louder as she continued to run. Eventually, when she was close enough to them, she continued her voice to a sound crescendo, sending waves of refreshing energy throughout the group. Her voice was used to invigorate the guards in this scenario, and even through the confusion of a celebrity apparently aiding them in battle, they pressed on, holding their own against the pirate waves.

Her voice needed a refresh. She stopped for a bit, and ducked into an alleyway, still very much close to the guard, maybe around fifteen feet or so. She caught her breath, and took in the sights of the area. Fire, dust, ash and falling concrete. The sounds of metal against metal, and the crashing of cannonballs onto the shore, Cylo felt slightly overwhelmed. She inhaled deeply, and entered back into the fray. After all, heroes don't find themselves waiting around for trouble to catch on!

---

Zachary dashed through the dust from the recent destruction. Not wanting to run directly into anything, as soon as he exited the dust cloud he skid to a stop along the square's carved stone. Not too far from his position was a group of guardsmen repelling the pirate attack as the savages charged from the docks. Zachary quickly made his way around the outskirts of the square towards their location and soon he could see more details from within the group. The soldiers formed a defensive perimeter around what would seem to be two young mages casting fire spells into the pirate hordes. "Qué afortunados somos!" Zachary spoke in revelation. "Such young, brave mages to come to these peoples aid!" Although Zachary wasn't the most well educated he could deduce that those two were probably royalty... well, at least one of them maybe? Either way getting as close to them as possible was his best option: an enclosed circle of guards, powerful magic, and loads of troops in need of inspiration from a handsomely dashing bard.

With the guards closing a tight enclosure around the two Zachary had little options to get close. On his quick approach Zachary noticed that one of the guards had left an opening as he charged an oncoming pirate. Not one to pass up the opportunity the bard made a mad dash for the opening and slid into the fray as a sword flew over his head. With such an entrance Zachary couldn't help but naturally come up to his feet from his slide and do a front flip; one could mistake it for a performers stage entrance. As the bard's feet landed proper nearby the young mages he played a little tune to notify them of his presence.

"Hola, amigos," the bard spoke in a rather calm, low voice. The tune still played as he introduced himself. "I do believe we haven't met before, but we shall save introductions for later. My music shall wash away your doubts and fears, for we are at battle! ¡Empuja el ataque!" A smirk crept up Zachary's lips as he was gushing with adrenaline and excitement all the same. Somewhere else nearby he could hear... wait, was that singing? It seems Zachary was not the only brave soul with a musical talent to jump into the fray. No matter, should they choose to come to him then their combined efforts could inspire troops throughout the entire city! Without another moment's hesitation Zachary let his fingers loose onto his guitar, letting the tune emanate everywhere to the ears of his newfound allies.

---

Nearly barreling through the crowd, Fael nipped at the ankles of and bit anyone who he perceived as being the ones on the offensive rather than the defensive. Unfortunately, he couldn't really tell the difference between them all and had to make educated guesses. The exception being, of course, pirates. The merchant ship that had owned him was prone to pirate attacks then and again so he had become well accustomed with them. It was any wonder, actually, why he hadn't been killed or sold off during one of those raids. He glanced up as he darted among the feet of those fighting to catch a glimpse of (what he perceived as) powerful magic. That wasn't anything he had come across before, and in his distraction, he had not noticed that as he reached an intersection, he almost collided head-on with another laguz.

Making a loud sound of surprise, he skidded out of the way in just a short time to avoid slamming into him. In his surprise, he shifted out of animal form and stumbled forward on the ground. "Crap! I'm sorry!" Fael scrambled to his feet and ran over to make sure he hadn't hurt him. He stopped and swiveled his ears, however, as he heard a low whine. Thankfully, it wasn't the sound of crying, but the loose wheel of a merchants cart that had been displaced during the fighting. He turned back.

"Are you... maybe trying to find a way out?" He spoke friendly enough, but it was clear by his posture and occasional looking over his shoulder that he was afraid of getting attacked with his back turned.

---

Soon enough, the pirates were being forced back towards the docks. The guards continued on with their push, driving the brigands into their spears, the water, or back onto their ships to retreat. Those that had gone onto the ships were already starting to sail away before they were even completely pushed back, abandoning some of them inside of the town. Those that surrendered were quickly arrested and dragged off, while others refused to go down without a fight. At last the town was finally in a state of peace. The townsfolk eventually returned to the town and began to reestablish their hold. Injured were laid down in small areas to be taken care of, albeit with great difficulty, due to the lack of trained medical experts.

Unfortunately, there was the issue with Anarcans inside of the town, as well as a Cesadans. The guards would make their way towards them, demanding them to holster their weapons and come with them to the town lord's hall. It was evident that they suspected suspicion of them. But why wouldn't they? Both Anarcas and Cesadas were enemies of Estala in the previous war. Regardless, the guards were stern in taking them to the hall for questioning. They looked as if they were ready to fight them if they resisted. Whether or not it was of hostile intent or anxiety was uncertain.

---

@Redneckatron@Astrolia

The combined effort of the bard, prince, and mage made the brigands break far more quickly than expected. In fact, the morale of the troops was so high, that they soon took to the offensive against their foe. The captain and the rest of Eli's retinue soon followed after, taking the opportunity to drive them out of the Prince's vicinity. Eli was rather confused though by the girl's words. W-Witch? As soon as the three were left alone, Eli let out a deep breath, and bent over to rest his hands on his knees. "That was far more terrifying than I thought it would be." It was clear to the other two that this was the boy's first time getting into serious combat.

He stood up and gave them both a intricate bow. "Thank you - both of you. I am in your debt. I'm Eli Estali, Heir to Estala. What are your names?" The boy smiled between the two. From what they could tell, he was most certainly telling the truth. He looked and even acted the part of a prince. He placed his Fire Tome into his satchel, placing it neatly next to his Wind Tome. Afterwards, he placed his hands behind his back, looking up between the two.

---

"Whoa, whoa! We're peaceful. We're here to help," Davor says, putting his hands up in surrender. As soon as the guards come up hostile, the rest of the Cesadan troupe do the same. "We're a peace treaty of sorts. Border protection, is all." The weapons were sheathed, the horses dismounted, but kept at their sides, as instructed. "If this really was a legal trip, we just do what they say, and we should be fine." The group continued their way into the hall, each of them rubbing their faces off of the sweat and ash of the day's journey. 'If they wanted to kill us, they'd do it already. This war was bigger than I thought, though. Much bigger. I have to catch up on some reading!'

They peruse the folks on the street. Davor found it quite remarkable just how easily the folk managed to bounce back from their past circumstances. It was quite impressive, really, the tenacity of this humble port town. 'Cesada can use this sort of tact,' Davor thought to himself. He watched as he was staring at people staring at him, much like how funny-looking zoo animals look at the passerby. As the roads grew more sparse and the ground changed to flooring. The troop found themselves led to the courtyard, where the guards told them to wait. And wait they did, for the iron fist of the local government. How lovely!

---

...The sound of the vibrant lute struck upon the girl's ears. A tune of inspiration, one she knew well, lyricless at best. However, she was not one to let down an audience, not ever! Her form shimmered with change, and from legs up to the head, her form fluttered and shifted into that of a pure white heron, which took to the skies, and began to mimic the tune, the tone slightly lighter and more vibrant in motion. The bird began to dance in the skies, offering support to the troops who needed it.

Once the commotion was over, Cylo took the time to rest. She laughed to herself that there was, in fact, a place for music in all this conundrum; another person was using it, too! She was giddy at the heart, and felt as if she had done a good deed today. She walked around the area, looking for any sign of any leftover folk which may need help, anything possibly troubling and/or interesting to the cause.

Pyce would hit the ground when Davor commanded him,and would watch the arrow pass over head and stab into the pirate. As the rest of Davor’s battalion took charge and removed the threats away he looked up to the tall commanding man ”Not a single clue, all I know is pirates, and they are here to steal and kill.” He would then stand up and brush off his clothing fixing his staff on his back and watch the solders progress their way through the oncoming pirates.

Pyce would be still be next to Percy and Davor and assumed he was being identified as one of the two nationalities of the men next to him and followed along with the commands. On their way there Pyce would look at the two and begin to speak “Thanks for saving me back there the both of you, can I get your names? And it looks like we are going to be asked some questions for just being here even though we helped.” As they were being brought to the hall he would see the small groups of injured people and would walk past them If I wasn't worried I would be stabbed for stepping out of line I would save these people, if I'm treated fairly and not like the pirates I'll help those in need.

Percy looks between the white robed one and the troupe. “Pirates, right..” Percy’s sheathe goes up and down, tapping his shoulder repeatedly. ”Then maybe I should teach them a lesson for ruining my day.” Percy said, unsheathing his sword and walking forwards before the guards approached them, telling them to put down their weapons."O-Oh.. okay, okay. We're not pirates or anything.. so.."

”Just my luck..” Percy would say before sheathing his sword. He’d put the sheathe back on his belt, eyeing the guards as he did so. He’d follow them towards the hall, walking close with the troupe. Percy would look amongst the injured that were caught in the crossfire, shaking his head. Percy frowns, thinking to himself;"All these people.. for what reason did they have to get caught between the crossfire? That's not fair at all."He looks back to the troupe, specifically Davor himself. “Looks like our business was cut short by these pirates. What's your name?” Percy asks.

---

The bard continued to play his music as the troops drove away the pirates. Noticing his efforts were not in vain Zachary picked up his tempo and played his song faster than before. His hands were a flurry across his instrument even more than before. Even with the increased commitment the bard was able to speak in response to Eli. "¡Dios mío!," Zachary exclaimed with great surprise, his face showing genuine shock. "I thought a royal family on vacation at port to be here, not the prince of the land!" With his hands still playing the tune he did a humble bow towards Eli with a wide grin on his face.

What an exciting day this was for the young bard! Not only were his musical skills of great use, he also played for the prince of Estala! Without even thinking about it Zachary began to do a little dance in place as he heard of Eli being in his debt. Of course the bard wouldn't cash in the favor as he had no use of financial gain except for meals and cloth. Zachary's joy was quite obvious and... well, almost concerning. It looked like the bard was about to explode from excitement that he turned to the witch and spoke in perfect Ibion, "¿No es este el mejor evento de la historia?" Zachary whipped his gaze back to Eli with his smile somehow wider than before. "¿Qué vamos a hacer ahora?¿Luchar contra más piratas?" Zachary eagerly awaited a response as he played his music oblivious that neither of the people he spoke to probably didn't understand him.