Dawn. Once dubbed the "Future of Karula." Now, it was the center of strife between the beorc and laguz. Jacob III was locking down on everything laguz related. Laguz weren't allowed to roam on their own. Laguz weren't allowed to go into certain areas of the city. Laguz weren't allowed to hide the fact that they were laguz. These anti-laguz laws were becoming dictatorial, and the laguz citizens of Dawn were becoming sick of it. Many tried to leave Dawn, while others would argue, even fight back. The tension was slowly spiraling, and any small thing could set it off.

Tragic as the situation was in Dawn, Prince Erik came here for another reason. King Jacob II was his friend. He may have been almost a decade older than Erik, but he was a good person and a kind king. Erik didn't have any idea who could have been behind his assassination. Maybe it was the laguz, and everything Jacob III was doing was justified. Maybe it was fanatics. Erik didn't know, but Erik also didn't care. All he knew was that he would find out and bring justice to his departed friend.

Impatient as ever, Erik headed into the main town square. "Oi! Erik, wait a second!" His bodyguard, a large Knight named Gregory, called out behind him. "Can't you rest for a second? We've been traveling for eighteen days!"

"The sooner I meet with the rest of the emissaries and we get going, the better," Erik replied as he looked around for his destination. The group was supposed to meet at a tavern called the "Dancing Dragon." There, they were said to meet with Reginald, Captain of Royal Guards to King Jacob III, who would take them into the castle to talk with the King and find out more about what was going on.

"We've could take a quick... a drink!" Gregory shouted as he pointed to the Dancing Dragon. "Ah, how I'd fancy a nice big mug of ale, ah... my prince?" He watched as Erik stormed toward the tavern.

"It's where we're supposed to go anyway, that's where everyone's meeting," Erik explained.

"Ah.. well good timing, then! I'm parched!" Gregory and Erik together walked to the large tavern and entered it. Inside, many different people were gathered, eating food, drinking merrily. The two knights got themselves a larger table which could fit up to ten seats. "One of the big ones for me!" Gregory asked of the bartender as he ordered a large mug for himself. Erik spoke to no one, instead impatiently tapping his foot as he awaited others to arrive, or make their presence known. He scanned the room, noticing a very much lack of laguz inside the bar. He then saw a sign above the bartender, reading: "We don't serve beasts or birds!"

Erik scoffed. The racism and bigotry was disconcerting. But he had more pressing issues at the moment. The prince felt a bit guilty not acknowledging all of the problems at Dawn. However, when his mind was set on something, there was little else to be done.

---

On the roof of the Dancing Dragon, a certain redhead was curled up like a cat, snoozing away the day with dreams of gold and jewels. Really there was nothing better on a sunny day than a seista under the warm rays. He remained only half asleep, as some idiots thought he was a Laguz for a reason he couldn't quite see. The bastards threw a rock at him once, and he gave them some burns. Fair's fair.

The other reason he wasn't fully asleep was because the pub below him was a goldmine of information waiting to be tapped. Sure 90% of it was dragon dung, but he had hit a dead end with his search for loot and figured it couldn't hurt. Hmm... a new voice, well technically two but the other guy wasn't interesting. Seemed like a background character if anything.

Yawning, he stretched out. Was he about to go down and introduce himself, possibly signing up for a quest of earth shattering proportions? No, he was just scooting around so he was evenly baked by the sun. Anyway, the prick of an owner banned him. Honestly, it was only a minor fire, nobody even died.

"Right away, good sir," Nortiz replied, forcing himself not to grimace as he dashed into the back and sighed. His wings were killing him! Curse the goddess for having the one tavern close to the castle and hiring be anti-Laguez. Wings were not meant to be worn under tunics. But such was a price for and a better chance at intel on the goings on of the castle.

He filled up a quart stein with the strongest brew available. That ought to help that dumb knight wag his tongue. Figure out what to do with his companion and he'd hit the jackpot. May as well see if an opportunity presented itself. He skillfully hurried back out, no drips falling from the brew. "There you are." He called as he served his gold mine before turning to the other, glancing around you make sure no one else was calling for him. "Anything for you, sir?"

Letting out a breath as he takes a seat at the table claimed by the Prince and his bodyguard procured, Zachary felt relief at finally arriving at their destination. Joining the emissaries when the call was sent out, he had volunteered with great haste. This was a mission of great importance, to that there was no doubt. Tasked with solving an assassination of a nation's leader is no small task. It would be lying though if he said he joined with no selfish reasoning. This was as much an opportunity for him to prove himself to those back home.

He motions towards the tavern maid to get her attention. “An ale, please,” he requests. “And some food.” Once his order was in check, Zachary’s eyes wonders over towards the price and his more boisterous bodyguard. During the trip, he never really had much of a chance to try and speak to his highness. Though at the rate they had traveled to arrive here and the focus the prince had appeared, the young man figured better than to potentially annoy the young royal.

Noticing Prince Eric looking up at something, his head and eyes followed. They ended up on a sign over the bar, indicating that Laguez were not welcome here. Zachary grimaces at that. He knew others could be quite hostile towards the Laguez people, but he had never had issues with them himself. And wasn’t this supposed to be the nation were Beorc and the Laguez were supposed to be working together? Head shaking, Zachary turns away from it, as he waits for his drink.

---

The “Future of Karula” was surely looking bleak right now. The situation was worse than Ava had thought, you could cut the tension in the air with a knife, worse of all the current laws meant that she couldn’t move freely through Dawn, which complicated her mission. Not wanting to try to hide her ears and tail, she used her ability to half-shift to appear as a gray-haired stray dog, which let her roam the streets. Aside from the weird looks from being a three-legged dog, no one seemed to suspect she was a Laguz in disguise.

Hanging around the main square while deciding what would be her next steps, Ava noticed a group of Albian knights entering a tavern. Curious about their reasons for being there, she got closer to the tavern, inspecting the door. Her current form presented a problem, she couldn't just push the door and enter it, dogs weren't allowed at taverns and at this point Laguz probably weren't welcome either, so she had to find another way to listen in. For now, she decided to sit outside the tavern and try her best to hear what was happening inside it, even if she couldn't hear everything they had to come out at some point.

"Oh boy! Much appreciated!" Gregory cried out happily as he was brought a large mug. The man greedily accepted the beverage and gulped down part of its contents moments after its arrival. Gregory was built like a bear, but had the personality of a child. Erik looked over at Gregory and his drink, tempted at the moment to order something himself to calm his nerves, but he was far too pissed off to want that now.

Erik shook his head as he looked up at his server for the first time. His dark hair and thin frame was unremarkable, but his back seemed... larger than normal. Erik glanced at it curiously and cocked and eyebrow. A bad case of hunchback? Or was he hiding something. Regardless, it wasn't the prince's place to delve into other's business, unless they made it his business.

"I'll take another ale, boy!" An inebriated older man with a full white beard yelled from behind Noritz as he clapped on his back. The older man drunkenly patted him a few times and looked at his hand in confusion, as he felt something beyond more than just a back. "What the...?"

Erik took notice of this, as apparently did others around the tavern due to the older man's loud voice. Now many had their eyes on the server. Erik glanced around anxiously, realizing something may very well happen. He looked over at Gregory and the young Archer Zachary that had join them, and grasped onto his blade from his seat.

---

Creeeak...
...
Creeeeeeeeaaaaaak...
...
Creeeeeeeaaaaaaa-



Apparently the roof wasn't strong enough for someone to toss and turn on while napping. Honestly, such shoddy workmanship. Felix fell through the ceiling, landing samely on top of a rotund mob character patron of the bar. Hey, and it was just in time for a good old fashioned bar fight. He hadn't been involved in one since that incident at the strip club. In his defence, that dancer hit like a steam train.

Opening his tome of Thunder, he gave a vulpine grin and said:

"So we going by traditional barfighting rules, or is maiming allowed?"

This playful tone was offset by him immediately sending a bolt of lightning at one of the other patrons before leaping behind a table. The mage started cackling maniacly as he began zapping random folks. Gods he loved bars.

Swiftly, Nortiz took advantage of the newcomer's arrival. He ducked down, knocked over the old guy, then rolled to shelter under the knights' table. Risky, but a lightning wielding mage actively attacking people should be higher priority than a suspected laguez. He hoped Mildred would be alright though. The barmaid was nice, for being a beroc.

Next, he struggled to free his wings. He couldn't transform with them in their current position! They were already sore enough as it was. Transforming like this could potentially break them. Why hadn't he figured out something to hide how they felt when patted? He had only seen himself as behind the counter and not someone people would randomly have a chance or inclination to pat.

He grabbed his beastsone to be ready while he tore at the tunic. It'd take too long to to lift above his head right now. He knew he was panicking though as his attempts became frantic, but it couldn't be helped. Getting caught now meant either official custody or mob rule. And either pathway would be no picnic. Only the dumb knight's companion promised a possibility of things working out if surrendered to. He'd obviously been willing to leave things alone before the old man came in, noticing something before. Nortiz would be dammed though if he willingly surrendered to a beroc without exhausting every other options, not again.

How did everything suddenly get so crazy? They hadn’t even been here for more than five minutes and now the tavern has turned to utter chaos! First it seemed that one of the servers had caught the attention of everyone in the tavern after a loud drunk had patted him across the path. The look that Prince Erik had when he turned towards Sir Gregory and himself indicated that he was preparing to intervene if he needed to.

But before that situation could developed anymore, a crash came through the roof and what looked like a kid fell on top of another patron. Just what the heck is going on?! Even as his brain was processing the insanity, the situation gets even worse when it becomes seemingly evident that the kid is a madman, as he starts firing off lightning at random inside the tavern.

Zachary knew in this situation that the first priority is to secure the safety of his prince. He bolts up from his seat towards Prince Erik, hastily placing his arm on his back with a push to keep his head down. ”Your Highness! It’s not safe here. We need to get you outside now!” It’s imperative he can keep the Prince safe. An incident here could spell trouble not just here, but back in Albia as well.

Madness!

Erik has barely enough time to react before the roof collapsed, and some maniac appeared to be firing on the bar patrons. “We’re not running from this!” He unsheathed his sword, as Gregory rose and armed himself with a Lance.

“Get the innocent to safety! Break this fight apart!” He commanded, and dashed forward to the fray, attacking the odd, shorter fellow who crashed into the tavern. He swung his sword from the top of his head, making sure to try to hit his opponent with the broad side of his sword for a non-lethal strike.

---

Felix just barely managed to dodge out of the way of the oncoming slash. Ye gods this guy was fast. It was by only their divine intervention (or more the devil's luck) that the guy was slowed by the table he used as cover otherwise he'd have been instantly knocked out of the fight.

"Oh gods, you're a Main Character." the mage said, dodging behind much slower patrons. They made good meat shields. "And are you trying to kill me you arse? You know magi have lower physical abilities than you brutes!"

As punisment for breaking the fourth wall, the Fire Fox tripped on an errant mug and went rolling into another patron, headbutting the guy square in the junk. The youth quickly stood up and started trying to rub that off his head.

"Eww... I touched another guys junk... so gross..."

---

There was no need to strain her ears for Ava to notice the ongoing mess in the tavern. Somehow everything went from zero to a hundred in less than five minutes, starting from the roof collapsing. She was pleased with these turn of events though, it seems luck had decided to favor her this time, as now she had an excuse to beat a few people up and get answers of what occurred from there, something miles more interesting than pretending to be a dog. The king surely wouldn't mind her roughing of a few people up if it's for investigation purposes. Her human form would probably be enough for handling a couple of drunkards, but if she had to go against the Albian knights she would need to use her beast form.

Ditching her disguise Ava kicked the door open, not a few moments later getting a chair thrown at her by one of the patrons, which she narrowly managed to avoid. A quick look at the "We don't serve beasts or birds!" sign made her realize that coming out without hiding her ears had made her a walking target. Well, that saved her the effort of having to initiate a fight, she thought, a big grin forming on her face.

Your Highness?

The words caught Nortiz's attention as he finally managed to transform. Hoping the confusion of the mage and the laguez newcomer (hopefully she'd be alright) would be enough of a distraction, he flew up through the roof then found a place to hide where he still had a view of the tavern's brawl. He needed to keep an eye on that royal.

While he could be the king himself with the knight accidentally calling him by his old title, most likely it was some foriegn dignitary (especially now that Nortiz noticed the non-Mirican sigils). If so, he was likely here on business with the Jacob III, which could provide an opening to learn all the facts and investigate the prime person who benefited from the past king's murder. The anti-Laguez laws had come rather quickly in the aftermath, a laguez type kill could be faked, and hopefully an actual laguez assassin would kill in a Beroc way in order to not be obvious unless paid to do otherwise. (And the only other possibility he knew of was those laguez fanatics and hopefully it wadn't them because that would mean that they've started to make their move and they would...)

Nortiz shook his head. Now wasn't the time for such musings. First thing was to keep an eye on this prince and potentially help the other laguez. That's all he could concern himself with for now. Observing and waiting.

"Gah!" Erik shouted as his sword sliced through the wooden table, missing his intended target. He was a peculiar fellow, somehow managing to clumsily slip along something on the ground and land into a nearby patron in a sensitive area. Erik shook his head and looked back, seeing Gregory holding up his lance and trying to motion for the others around not to interfere. It had taken a moment for Erik to truly realize what was now going on.

While the first man who had crashed through the roof seemed to be a problem, many of the other beorc patrons now began to gather menacingly around another white-haired wolf laguz, and around the roof at the recently departed raven laguz who was previously in hiding. The animosity was clear in their eyes. They were out for blood.

Erik backed up closer to the laguz and smaller human who was still inside the tavern and spoke to them in a lower voice, but mostly toward Felix. "You both should leave with me," He instructed them.

"Nothing else to see here, gentlemen!" Gregory exclaimed brightly, trying to appease the men around.

"Those filthy sub-humans are attacking my customers!" One of the bartenders shouted hatefully.

"Nasty beasts!" One patron shouted, which irked others on. Erik took a deep breath and released it through his nose as he tried to calm himself from the bigotry these 'people' were displaying. Gregory was most certainly more level-headed than the prince.

"Let's all just calm down here!" Gregory motioned at the patrons again. Erik spotted one of the angrier patrons dash outside the tavern. That wasn't a good sign.

Once more, Erik looked across at the human and laguz. "Now," He demanded, and gestured toward the outside.

---

"Who are you calling subhuman, you arse!" Felix yelled st the proprietor, "I'm as human as the next man!" This turn of phrase wasn't helpful as he was currently next to the Wolf Laguz. Felix ignored sword guy, seeeing as he was being boring and wanted to stop the fight, instead turning to the wolfgirl.

"So, come here often?" he jokingly asked, surreptitiously swapping his tome for something more... flame-boyant. He started laughing like the evil sod that he was.

"Mwah hahaha... behold the power of the Fire Fox... ELFIRE!"

Between the angry mob and the duo came a plume of flame. It was only at this moment he remembered this tavern was soaked in alcohol. Welp, this'll be the fifth tavern he's burnt down, no worries.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Zachary let’s out a quick breath. Wants to move the Prince to a safer area and he wants to run towards the madness. Reminds him of his brother, now that he thinks of it. But now isn’t the time to reminiscing such things. He has a task ordered by the Prince and he will uphold it.

Not like his bow would do much good in a close quarters situation like this anyway.

Thus, Zachary begins to either direct and lead patrons out of the tavern who either not participating in the chaos or to those who had the unfortunate luck to have been struck, he began to drag them outside and away from the fray. Coming back inside from one such dragging, He moves to check on Prince Erik. The boy who started this whole situation seems to be actively ignoring the Prince, much to his annoyance.

“It would seem that he wishes not to heed your orders Sir…” Watching as said boy let’s off yet another spell into the group of angry patrons. “... And I don’t think he plans to leave peacefully at this rate.”

---

Ava's smile deflated the moment one of the knights stopped the fighting, she hadn't gotten the chance to beat at least one person up, and they were asking for it with their taunts. Still, thinking objectively she had succesfully made contact with the Albian knights and gave them a somewhat good first impression. Being with them would make moving around the city much easier, and there was still the matter of looking for the other Laguz who escaped from the roof.

Things wouldn't be so simple however, as the "Laguz" beside her would prove. Briefly being amused at a brat trying to hit on her, Ava wouldn't have expected the kid to be stupid or crazy enough to cast Elfire inside a tavern, but as soon as she heard his crazy laughter she knew nothing good could come out of it. "Guess that solves the mystery of who started this mess in the first place" she muttered to herself "I'll gladly take your offer Mister, in fact I'd suggest we make a run for it right now" she directed her words to prince Erik. Fire magic and beast Laguz weren't exactly a good combination.

The raven laguez immediately went airborne as the elffire was cast. What was that idiot thinking? Had he purposely styled his hair like that and acted like this to further widen the divide between beroc and laguez (only beroc would be fooled by a simple hairstyle? Or was he just that oblivious?

Gritting his beak, Nortiz prepared to grab either of the knights, the prince, or the best laguez if they didn't get out in time to escape the explosion on their own. The situation could give him an even better ticket for his investigation. Besides, he couldn't leave a fellow laguez behind and the prince and his escorts' actions made it so he owed them a little for trying (while keeping watch in case it was a ploy). Otherwise, he'd simply try to keep a bird's eye view on the group while not being too conspicuous.

One of the tavern patrons drove his hatchet in Gregory's direction, forcing the knight to strike at the citizen's arm and disarming him. The patron yelled and dropped to his knees as Gregory's lance pierced his hand, though not deep enough to cause and permanent damage. Prince Erik meanwhile took this opportunity to dash for the exit, along with the wolf Laguz and Zachary. Gregory meanwhile noticed the raven Laguz diving in, and extended his arm to allow the winged Laguz to grasp him and carry him out through the roof.

"Thanks, my friend!" The knight said cheerfully and they made it through the roof and out into the open city. Gregory noticed Erik and the others outside, surrounded by what appeared to be soldiers of the king. Feeling the need to assist his prince, Gregory let go of the raven Laguz and touched down beside Prince Erik with a large thud.

Erik looked to his right at his fellow knight, and then toward the wolf laguz and Zachary. They were surrounded by approximately ten soldiers, all with lances. "Sirs, we are going to have to ask that you, and the others causing disturbance inside, be taken before his Highness King Jacob III immediately. Please do not resist." The head lance-wielder spoke, an older man with a larger brown mustache under a silver helmet, with several additions to his armor, including larger shoulder plates and a fiercer, twelve foot long lance.

"We didn't do anything wrong," Erik snapped back as he gritted his teeth.

"We were told you conspired with subhumans, and you attacked other humans. This is a direct violation of the King's new subhuman laws," The head lanceman stated. "Were it not for your status as a prince, you would have been sent to the prisons. Or executed. Please follow us willingly, or we will take you in by force."

This day just keeps getting better and better.

Prince Erik had finally given the call to leave, which he was initially quite grateful for. That mess in there was becoming more and more problematic as time went on. But things just aren’t going their way today it seems. Especially when he finds near a dozen laces suddenly pointed at their group from the local guards.

“It would seem that fate has truly conspired against us this day, would you not say Prince Eric?” Zachary speaks to the prince, a look of exasperation from the situation clear on his face. All he did was help people out of chaos and now he (and the others currently with them) were all treated as criminals to some new law they couldn’t have even known about!