[IC] Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

[shylarah]

Amuné gasped as the boy lifted her and Ethan up and ran off with them. He was /strong/, stronger than the blacksmith back home! He certainly didn't look it, though. Wyth gave a quiet yowl and bounded after the boy. His girl was going away from trouble, and he approved, though he wasn't sure about the newcomer with the funny smell. Amuné wasn't sure about him, but he seemed to want to help, and Ethan thought it was okay, so she didn't protest. In fact, when the boy picked her up again she realized it was rather fun, travelling quickly like that. It felt a little like she imagined flying would.

When they finally were far enough that Ethan thought they'd be safe, he indicated a bag to her, saying it had food. She didn't wait for him to take it off, but slipped her hand inside and pulled out the first thing that felt like food she touched. An apple. The girl took a large bite, closing her eyes to better enjoy the taste. She wanted to gobble it down as fast as she could, but she remembered hearing something about eating too fast after a long time with nothing being bad, so she resisted. Wyth dropped the half-eaten fish he still had in his mouth and looked at his girl, wondering if she wanted some of it. "No, Wyth. You eat," she told him, scratching his head. If Ethan had food, she didn't need to eat something in that condition anymore, though earlier that day she would have fallen upon it without a second thought.

Cecil talked funny. He seemed to think he was Machina, but that didn't seem possible. No Machina looked like a person, did it? Maybe he was sick. There were illnesses that could make you hallucinate, or sometimes old people got things mixed up, but he wasn't old. But he didn't seem bad, just strange.

When the Ydran woman arrived, Amuné put Wyth between them. Her tone wasn't too friendly, nor did she seem pleased that Ethan was Magi. The child looked at the cobra fox beside the woman. It was older, and something tugged at her when she looked at its eyes, so Amuné quickly looked away. She didn't want to See anything with strangers around if she could help it. They wouldn't understand. The girl shrank away when the woman looked in her direction, moving behind Ethan. Why had she followed them? What did she want?

[GambolMuse]

Ethan might normally have made this run himself were his entire body not as limp as a wet noodle right now. It had been quite a while since he had cast a spell that big, or any spell for that matter; traveling peacefully really didn't require any magic, so he'd not been practicing. He supposed he should count himself lucky he hadn't overdone it, as there were worse things than being brought to the brink of exhaustion. By the time they were well out of the settlement and placed down all he could do was laugh over the whole ordeal, not entirely certain how it had escalated so quickly. He'd gone from a run-of-the-mill morning in a tavern to battling some men in suits, and nearly blowing away an entire street in the process. It was a touch ridiculous in hindsight, and maybe he ought to have used his magic to help them flee faster, rather than create a miniature wind tunnel.

"Ha... Oh, right! Sorry, brain's kinda... Not working right now," Ethan admitted with a sheepish grin, "Thanks for the help... Cecil. Guess you really are a Machina, eh? That's really something else, never... Met one of you before." A bit unusual given the few he'd seen were all in shambles or were very clearly robotic; Cecil looked like a boy, maybe an augmented one but a boy nonetheless. The world was funny like that though, you saw something a little different every day it seemed. "You're safe now, that's what matters. Shame we had to leave like that, but can't be helped!" Smiling up at their newest friend amused, the white-haired boy noticed ruffling in some bushes behind them, peering past the Machina to see a cobra fox coming out of the brush, and a Ydran woman not far behind it. Oh boy, was she someone else looking to hurt Cecil? He really didn't have another spell in him, he certainly hoped not.

She didn't sound hostile when she spoke, but rather more curious and maybe even amused. So his magic had been something of a spectacle to her, that was nice to know. Smiling sheepishly at the comments he shrugged his shoulders, giving Amuné a curious glance behind him. "Did you...? Well sorry, I can't say I recognize you. Today's been a weird one, forgive me for being a bit scatterbrained." Ethan was a bit surprised he hadn't died either, especially given how out of practice he was. That one may not have done him in but he sure as sin wasn't casting anything else for the rest of the day; with how slowly his magic tended to return he'd not chance even the simplest of spells, lest he push himself too far. At any rate they seemed to be safe out here, albeit it might not hurt to move in just a bit further, and off the road for that matter.

"If it's okay with you all, we'll save the chatting for later..." Ethan began, pushing himself back onto his feet a bit unsteadily, "Those people will probably look for us, and we're not that far really. We should head further into the woods, maybe head... Uh..." Which way had they come anyways? It had been the opposite side of the settlement, but which way had he come in again? From the west? So that meant they left to the east, or maybe the north. Letting out a silent groan he reached back into his bag again, grabbing his map and uncurling it, studying the sheet carefully. "We should head... Away, how's that? At least until we know we're safe," Ethan said as he curled the map back up, smiling at everyone, "Since we're all here we might as well set up camp together, then we can part ways in the morning, if that's what you all want. No sense in splitting up now though, it'll get dark soon."

He wasn't wrong, as fairly quickly the sun had begun to set in the sky. It might not have been quite such a drastic change were they not in the middle of the woods, given that minimal sunlight made it in here already. Having found a decent spot off of the road, firewood was gathered and debris was cleared to make a suitable sleeping arrangement. They would be roughing it out here tonight, as not a single person had anything like a bedroll to make the evening any better; to try and accommodate Amuné however, Ethan had taken off his coat and offered it to her as a blanket, hoping to just make things a little easier on the child of the group. Once things had been put in place it didn't take the white-haired Magi very long to fall asleep, still quite worn out from today's casting. He didn't know when the others had gotten to sleep, yet once the sun had begun pouring down from the canopy he was the first awake, feeling properly recharged after sleeping off his exhaustion. To his confusion however he noticed they were one short as he looked around, failing to spot Asta or her cobra fox anywhere. Had they left last night, or earlier this morning? Shame they had gone so soon, it would have been interesting to talk and get to know them more. Shrugging it off he stood and stretched out for a moment, giving his side a scratch as he wondered if going to look for food might not be a bad idea.

[shylarah]

Forest camp

When she saw that the other two were gathering firewood, Amuné split off with Wyth. By the time the fire was going, the moorcat had caught a rabbit, and the girl had cleaned it and stuck it on a stick. She found two sturdy forked branches and set up a clumsy spit to cook the meat. She was still really hungry, but at least no longer painfully so. Ethan held out his coat and said she could sleep under it, and the child gave him a shy smile before turning back to the fire. When the rabbit was done she ate some of it, but Amuné found she felt full far faster than she expected, and left most of it for the next day. She settled down and draped the jacket over her, pillowing her head on the moorcat that snuggled up next to her, and was asleep soon after.

Wyth lifted his head when Ethan rose, but stayed put. His girl was still sleeping, and she needed the rest badly, for her sleep had been uneasy since they left home. This was one of the few nights that had passed without her sobbing or crying out. Amuné stirred after a few minutes, and the moorcat looked at her. Grey eyes fluttered open and looked back as the child's dirty contenance brightened slightly with a smile. "Morning Wyth," she whispered, burying her face in his side. She didn't know if she was ready to face the other four yet this morning.

When Ethan started walking around, however, the girl moved so she could watch him. He'd been nice, and he was Ydran and Magi, like her, and he didn't feel dangerous. But then neither had home, and look at what happened there. Amuné suppressed a shudder and pulled his coat closer around her shoulders. She fingered the rough material for a moment. Her father had said that Seers could sometimes tell things about people, though he didn't know how it worked, other than needing a connection to the person. Would something of his, like the coat, be considered a connection? Could she try deliberately to trigger a vision? The child considered. She kept wavering between wanting to trust Ethan and being afraid of what would happen if she slipped up. And he might just change his mind about helping some strange kid without getting anything in return. Her grip on the jacket tightened, and her jaw set. It wouldn't hurt to try, would it? She knew magic was draining, but she needed to know. Her father had taught her the basics, though he'd not been able to teach her anything specific to her gift.

Amuné reached within herself for the power she knew was there, and tried to bring a tiny drop of it to the surface. Her eyes focused on nothing, glazing over. And for a brief moment, there was...something. Nothing she could make out, and it was gone before she even realized that she felt it. A wave of exhaustion passed over her and the girl slouched. She'd not learned anything about Ethan, but at least she'd learned something about herself. She gave herself a shake and focused on the man properly. "Morning," she ventured tentatively. For now, she would wait and see what happened.

[Mogtaki]

Cecil thought he had done fairly well at introducing himself, but then again he never had to do it before so he couldn’t compare this experience from the last. Maybe he came on as a little too forward, maybe he hadn’t done something he was supposed to do. Smiling lightly, he looked down at himself as he brushed his chest. “I guess so. I’ve never been called one before, but it is a bad thing to be”. Feeling confused over what he was supposed to be in this world he was briefly distracted by Ethan, trying to think as to where that left him in the mix. “I’m safe, I think. I don’t know what I did to cause such anger and violence, though”. He was left confused by all of this, all he had tried to do was make a situation better by leaving, but the man wouldn’t let him leave.

While unable to understand why this woman had sought them out he didn’t mind too much when she appeared to be friendly. He hoped he was going to be forgiven for what happened in that town and ultimately he hoped they would forget he was there so that maybe he could pass through to his destination. He didn’t know where he was going but he knew there was a set path he must take. These people probably had a destination, but he couldn’t know for sure unless he asked them. It was probably rude to ask and maybe he should just be on his way after all of this; then again, it was probably rude to desert them after helping him too.

If there was one thing Cecil was right now it was confused. He wanted to continue and be on his way, but he still should do something for these guys for not wanting him deactivated. He didn’t want to be deactivated, his counter told him he had been active for months now and to throw that all away made him scared. Everything about what happened made him nervous over his future, but maybe he’ll get over that and find people were alright elsewhere. For now he should probably fix his face up a bit better since his technology was awfully slow at self-repairs, plus he had little extra power spare he could use for just a little repair. Turning around for a moment he held his finger up to his face, a small hole opening up at the end before an electric current sparked out. Slowly moving the current across his damaged face the slashed skin was slowly being repaired, doing it just while Ethan was talking.

Looking back when he realised Ethan was proposing they’d carry on he quickly stopped his work, staring at him for a moment before nodding. “Oh, yes. Away and safe. I have been going that way for a while now”, he spoke, turning around. “I don’t know what camp together is, though”. There was a lot he still didn’t understand about the world and was definitely a little freaked out now that he was with someone, but he was willing to stick around and wait for morning.

When trying to find a place to rest it didn’t take them long and soon enough the woman had soon disappeared again and the pair with that animal thing were all ready to settle down. Silently observing everything they were doing he certainly felt confused, wondering what it was all about mainly. He had seen objects placed around like that at the odd time but not with people around so how they acted around this ritual confused him. Watching as they soon settled down he sat down with them, staring at the sky. It had been a pleasant day so he had plenty of energy in his reserves, but even then he didn’t know what to do when forced to pause like this. Staring at them for a short time he soon became concerned, wondering what those noises they were making were and why they looked very unconscious.

After a little bit of investigating throughout the night he was just about to get his own tools out the pair was soon starting to wake up, his eyes going to the pair of them in brief confusion. It had been some hours that they were out: did they all do that when it got dark? How inconvenient, but nevermind. Slowly standing up he squeaked, but not vocally. Looking down he moved one of his legs, hearing it squeak with each movement. Come to think of it he had become oddly moisturised by something as the sun started rising again, like the environment around him had become coated in water. Frowning, he slowly sat down again, pulled out a dirty cloth from his jacket and started cleaning his leg and knee joint, removing the plate briefly to give it a good clean.

[GambolMuse]

There was still a bit of food left over in his pack, which while meant for reserves Ethan figured they could eat it, restock at the next town perhaps. It would be difficult to split what was left four ways but they'd make it work; some food in their belly was better than nothing, especially if they would be traveling again. Smiling at Amuné once she had finally woken up he gave her a small wave, watching Wyth stretch out as well with a small chuckle. "Morning you two! Hope you slept okay, sorry the ground was kind of rough," Ethan said, again raising his arms above his head to pop a kink in his back. Hearing an unusual sound off to the side he glanced over curiously to Cecil, eyebrows raising in surprise at watching him remove part of his leg casually and begin oiling it. So he really was a Machina, or at least part machine... Huh.

"I guess that's one less mouth to feed though, which is handy..." he mumbled, smiling as he leaned over and grabbed up his bag. There wasn't terribly much inside of there, just a few strips of dried beef and a small pouch of grains, but it was better than going hungry. Taking out the beef he moved over to where Amuné and Wyth were stood, kneeling down and handing them each two strips, saving one for himself. "After we eat we'll get moving again, so go ahead and chow down you two!" Popping his own slice into his mouth, Ethan then went over to Cecil and watched him curiously for a moment, earnestly intrigued that the other boy was actually Machina. It wasn't really his place to ask, but he had so many questions for Cecil right about now; Ethan had very limited knowledge of machines anyways, not exactly having an abundance anywhere this far out west. Though technology had been booming it hadn't quite gotten out here yet, and only small instruments and the like were even seen around.

"That's so cool... It must be hard though, keeping that clean..." Did dirt get stuck in it a lot? Could Cecil rust? What about the weather, did any of that bother him at all? Again there were at least a dozen questions, yet he'd keep them to himself as he didn't want to come across as nosy and rude. Back on the topic of their getting moving again he figured it was a decent idea to plot their course, have some idea of where they were heading before they started off again. Waving over Amuné and Wyth he removed his map from his pouch, laying it out on the ground before himself and using some small rocks to hold it in place.

"So this is the village we were just in, I think. Or maybe it was the one I was in a few days ago..." Ethan began, pointing to a small highlight on the near-Western edge of the map, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm heading east towards the cities. And east is... Well..." Looking up from the sheet of paper he smiled sheepishly, looking every which way before letting out a small chuckle, turning his focus back to the map. "Right... And if we were here yesterday..." he added, pointing to the town before moving it to an adjacent one, "Or were we here...? I guess it could be the one north of there too..."

[shylarah]

Campsite

The child got to her feet and stretched, before picking up Ethan's coat and shaking it out. "Thank you," she told him softly, placing it by his bag. She gaped at Cecil as he just pulled off his leg and started cleaning it. How...was he really Machina? "But Machina don't look like us!" she blurted, before clapping her hand over her mouth in shame. Flushing red, she was saved further embarrassment by Ethan, who offered her a strip of meat. Amuné shook her head. "We should eat the fresh food first," she informed him, pointing towards the ashes and embers of the fire. She made her way over to the fire and dug herself up another piece of the rabbit from where she'd placed it the night before. The meat had been kept warm by the fire's coals, and Amuné held one hand out to Wyth so he could lick the juice from her fingers with his sandpaper tongue. On more sensitive skin it would hurt, but her palms were calloused from helping her mother grind herbs and from the harvests, when everyone in the village lended a hand.

The Ydran man beckoned her over as he spread out his map, and she joined him. She looked at the markings, and where he indicated, a frown creasing his forehead. Surely he knew how to read it? Why would Ethan have a map if he couldn't? She considered the map, sounding out the names of the towns on it under her breath. A few of the cities she recognized, and her father had shown them to her on a map like this. Judging by the placement and the distance.... The girl stretched out a still-damp finger and pointed, not actually touching it to the map so as not to get the paper dirty. "Here," she mumbled to herself, "and then south...I'm not fast, but how far?" Her finger moved south, pausing, then moving to a town that was not any of the ones Ethan had pointed at. "Here," she said, though she didn't sound entirely certain. "East is that way." She pointed off toward the origin of the light that filtered down through the trees. Privately she was surprised the man had managed to get as far as he had, considering how poor his map skills were.

[Mogtaki]

Cecil had never stayed outside in one place before throughout the night, this was the first time he had remained immobile for a long period of time in what felt like plain sight. The moisture of the morning was definitely getting into his gears and the need to clean them was number one priority right now. Looking to Ethan when he spoke he only felt confused by his exclamation, only curious as to what he was talking about; of course it was morning time, but he was confused about the rest of his greeting. The ground was hard but it wasn’t as if he found it bothersome, nor had he ‘slept’. Going back to his cleaning he smiled slightly when he could feel the relief in his joints already but gasped when the girl suddenly shouted, his eyes quickly looking to her before he turned away quickly with his shoulders raised.

He didn’t like being constantly reminded he was a Machina, especially after yesterday. It seemed like such a negative thing to be and by how she reacted it definitely raised some questions to whether it was a good thing. Frowning as he placed his kneecap back on he moved onto his other leg, letting them talk amongst themselves and talk about eating and all that while he made himself busy. This was the longest he had ever been with people and observing them proved to give him some valuable information to what they were like when the sun rose. First they got off the ground and proceeded to cook flesh to make food. That all sounded pretty simple enough and provided some valuable information, but he did wonder if it was specific creatures they used or just got any creature and started to cook them. Did they only use certain parts of the creature to make food? So many questions and probably all too rude to answer, especially if they were already a little freaked out by him.

Sighing lightly as his gears were fair cleaned he gasped lightly when Ethan decided to talk to him, looking to him quickly before away again, raising his shoulders. “Uhh, a little. I ran out of oil a while ago, so it’s been hard…” he spoke, sounding more embarrassed by it, “I don’t know where to get some, but I can manage…” He didn’t know why he felt so embarrassed about his own body, but it was probably because of what happened yesterday. Slowly placing his knee back on he adjusted his leg, looking as good as new again. It wasn’t something he should be ashamed of and yet he still felt that way. Keeping quiet while they tried to figure out where they were going he slowly looked over, seeing the pair mull over a map, discussing their possible route. He didn’t really know where they were going but he was curious to see how they were using it, only seeing one being used before and he didn’t even get to see what was on it. Slowly getting up he moved quietly behind them, looking over their shoulders and down to the map on the ground.

What a curious contraption a map was, it must’ve depicted this whole region. Staring at it he recognised where he just was, remembering the shape of the road as he travelled there. Getting oddly excited over his ability to read the map he made sure to remember it, smiling happily. “Is this the entire world? That’s amazing!” he spoke as he moved around to the side of the map, “I’m going that way! I’m going to…I don’t know. I feel I need to go that way, though. Can this take me there?”

[GambolMuse]

It didn't seem like a big deal that Cecil was Machina, at least not to Ethan. There were all sorts of people in this world, Cecil just happened to be one of those; what or whoever the other boy might be didn't make him bad, and he wasn't about to raise a fuss simply because it was something unusual or different. Anyways Ethan was a bit more focused on other matters currently, in particular getting some food in their stomachs and figuring out their route. Having completely forgotten that Amuné and Wyth had caught a rabbit earlier he offered out some strips of dried meat, smiling bashfully when she pointed out they had a fresh meal. Seeing as those two were particularly hungry, and Cecil didn't eat, he opted to let them enjoy the fresh meat and popped a strip into his mouth instead. Again he was distracted from the map, this time when he noticed Cecil oiling his leg. It must be a troublesome thing to do, oiling yourself like that; it wasn't as though you could realistically always have oil handy, as Cecil was quick to bring up. "Well next town we can see if they've got any, my treat," Ethan offered, smiling as he laid out the map, "Since I won't be buying you food it's the least I can do." That was of course provided he had any money left by then, he may end up having to work some more odd jobs.

Now then, maybe he could focus on trying to figure out where they were. Upon opening the map Ethan knew rather quickly this was going to be futile, he wasn't even sure of their current location. Aside from Kinsgrove and the surrounding county he couldn't name much of anything on the map, even though it was already marked itself; not knowing the name of the settlement they'd just been in either made things even more difficult. Amuné of all people was the one to point out what had him baffled, making the Muran boy flush slightly in embarrassment. That's right, east was the same as right wasn't it? He should have remembered that, he'd been taught that years ago and he supposed it just never stuck. His destination, ideally, would be one of the larger towns or cities, somewhere he might be able to gather information on the man he was looking for. He wasn't sure where the others would be heading, but he was more than happy to travel with them if they wanted to.

"Yeah it can, though I guess it helps if you know how to read it," Ethan admitted with a laugh, smiling as he rolled the map up again and tucked it away. Spotting his coat beside his back he looked at Amuné for a moment, offering it back over hopefully. "Here, I've got my shirt, I don't need this too right now. Why don't you wear it until we can get you some fresh clothes?" It ought to be easier to find some clothing for a young girl than it would be oil. From what he had seen on the map the next town wasn't all that far off, and maybe they could reach it within the day if they made good time. Straightening out his clothing he went over and snuffed out the remains of the fire after making sure Amuné and Wyth both got the rest of the rabbit, burying the cinders before wiping his hands down on the damp grass.

"So I was thinking it might be best to avoid the major roads for now, especially if those guys in suits come looking for you again Cecil. But if we go too far away then we might lose track of where we are, so here's what I'm planning," Ethan began, looking at the others as he pointed to himself, "I'll keep near the road just so we know where we're going, and you three can keep to the trees so no one sees you. If someone spots me I can get away, so it works out for the best that way." Magic, at least in his case, was ideal for escaping. So long as he could manage to get off the spell he could dart away with the wind, and with luck throw off whoever he ran into, thus keeping the others safe. If it was just more suits then they shouldn't be all that difficult to handle, as it hadn't seemed like they were capable of casting magic. "Any complaints? If not then we can get moving now, provided you're all ready."

[shylarah]

Campsite

"Daddy taught me," the girl said, looking away. Cecil seemed upset. But did Machina have emotions? Amuné wasn't sure, but if he looked upset she might as well act as if he did. He really seemed more like a boy than a machine, despite everything. "Umm...Cecil, I'm sorry I said that. And...if you can use grease, I can maybe get you some, next time Wyth catches me something." Ethan said she should wear his coat, and so she put it on, glad to have some protection from the elements. It smelled like him still, even after a night of serving as a blanket, and Amuné was already starting to associate that scent with safety. If he'd wanted to do something, he would have during the night, wouldn't he? But then she reminded herself that she couldn't trust appearences. Still...her botched attempt at magic hadn't brought up anything bad, and surely it would have if there'd been anything serious. Big things were easier to trigger than normal stuff -- they were usually what hit her when she wasn't expecting it.

The child turned her attention back to Ethan. He wanted them to split up? "No!" she exclaimed, fear suddenly washing over her. Sending her away to keep her safe? No, no no, not again! "I don't...no, stick together. ...Please?" The last word was plaintive, and she fixed the man with a wide-eyed stare. Even if he'd be near, she didn't want to have him farther away.

[Mogtaki]

Cecil had a little fit of excitement upon seeing the world, getting all happy that it was something he could experience now. He could go and follow along a strange road and not be afraid because he now had the map in his memory. Even if there was that one little achievement in his short life, there was still the decision as to what he should be doing now with it to possibly achieve even more. He could continue on his way using the map and find what he was looking for, or he could go along with them and finally have some company that wouldn’t judge him and want him deactivated, or at least one out of the two wouldn’t judge him. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do, he’d never had to deal with a conclusion like this one before.

Pressing his fingers together he stared at Ethan who offered him some oil in the future, his curiosity setting in. “Really? Where are you going to get some? I’ve only seen people with mechanics while travelling, not in the places I’ve walked through”, he spoke, his eyes going to Amuné who offered him an apology as well as some grease to make up for it. He wasn’t sure what he had done to receive so many gifts other than get them all into trouble with the wrong type of people. “You would? Grease and oil…I don’t know what I did to deserve this”, he sighed lightly, staring down at himself. He had chased them out of their home for all he knew, but it felt strange that they weren’t exactly upset by it. Was this normal? He had no idea.

To head in the direction of the nearest town was what Cecil had in plan before he even found out about these people, but the success of this journey was yet to be determined. The people who confronted him in the other town were probably out looking for him when they knew he was a danger, they weren’t stupid enough to give up just because he had managed to run away. They were out there somewhere and they were going to want to find him no matter the cost. That made him a little sad, knowing there was people out there who hated him because he had something different. He wondered if he truly was malfunctioning or had a virus that made him dangerous to other Machina, but he couldn’t detect anything.

Having a moment of contemplation he let out a gasp when Amané almost shouted, looking to her before realising Ethan had been talking. He was probably saying some important stuff about walking, but then again there wasn’t really that much to say about walking other than how to do it like move your legs and stay on the road. Maybe he was saying something like that, even if it was a little strange to do so; he knew to stay to the road unless there was bad stuff on the road, then he would need to move off the road and go around it to get to his destination. Thinking about it for a moment he soon smiled, tracing back what might be said after everything that happened the day before and his own worries. “I will destroy any hostiles! They will come back. Can’t have that, right? Or is that wrong…? Fighting them is the only logical decision and destroying the threat means I will be free, right?”

[GambolMuse]

"Uh... I don't know yet, but I'll find some! My friend used to say tell me all about the cities, how they have a ton of machines and vehicles that use oil for all sorts of things. I would bet the closer we get to the cities, the more we'll be able to find oil. Head east and we get there, that's all there is to it!" Just another reason to go looking for the big centers then, they'd be able to get information he needed and oil for Cecil. But what about Amuné and Wyth? She still needed some fresh clothes, and no doubt Wyth could use with a trim of his fur, maybe a nice big meal. Sheesh, he was really going to need to dig deep into his pockets to provide all of these things wasn't he? It would be worth it though, they all needed the help and he was happy to oblige them.

So how should they get about their journey? It made sense to take the roads, but now that they had attacked some guys in suits, or to be precise Ethan attacked them, it may not be safe. Still, they couldn't well go off the beaten path and hope they still got there, so what to do? His first idea was to lead on the road and have the others follow in the brush, that way they'd be out of sight if anything came up. Before he could even finish uttering that notion however Amuné was quick to shoot it down, seeming extremely upset over it for some reason. Looking down at the little Ydran girl he smiled sympathetically, squatting down and placing a hand on her head, "Alright, I won't go away, no problem. We'll stick together and take the road, how's that? Whatever comes up we'll deal with it when we get there." He hadn't the heart to force her into anything that'd upset her, not after how rough it seemed she had it.

"So we'll stick together, that's the new plan! I guess that works better anyways, strength in numbers," Ethan remarked, smiling as he stood back up. He wasn't sure how they were going to deal with anyone who might threaten them, though it sounded like Cecil had a proposal. "Er... Destroy? Do you mean kill? If it's all the same I'd rather avoid that if at all possible. At worst we can knock them out, but I really don't want to kill anyone." The notion of taking someone's life made him very uneasy, it was not a guilt or burden that he wanted for himself or anyone here. Even if those suits came back and tried taking Cecil away he'd prefer to hit them with another blast; injuring someone wasn't much better, but it was by far preferable to outright destroying them. "How about this: If they attack us then we defend ourselves, but our priority is to get away, not beat them. If we get caught up in some random brawl then our trip could take even longer."

Anyways enough about potential fights, as that was the last thing Ethan wanted right now. They had Amuné in tow, a little kid, and Cecil who was being hunted, he couldn't think of a worse scenario than a fight for their group. Ideally they would avoid any and all conflict, but if the last town could show anything it was sometimes the unexpected happened, and you couldn't always prepare for it. "Alright, if that's out of the way then we should get moving again! No sense in wasting the daylight standing around here chatting," Ethan said eagerly, returning to his usual self as he broke into a smile, "If we just follow this road east then we'll reach the Priomm River, and just beyond that I think was the next town. Might be able to make it in... Half a day?" That was a complete and utter guess, they may not even arrive until nightfall for all he knew, though he was certain they'd at least get there today. Waving on the others he stepped through the brush and to the edge of the road, checking to be sure it was clear before heading out, waiting for the rest to follow.

[shylarah]

Campsite

Up to this point, Amuné had been a very strong, very brave little girl, as her daddy had asked her to be before telling Wyth to take her and run. She'd come so far on her own, farther than she'd ever been without an adult around. But when Ethan knelt down and patted her head, her lip trembled. Her father would do that too, often adding a hair ruffle for good measure, and the weight of a hand on her head made her think of him. The struggle against the feeling was swiftly lost. The girl burst into tears, just standing there and sobbing like the world was ending, and in a way for her it had.

Wyth was at her side immediately, letting his bulk serve as a reassuring pillow as he bristled and hissed at Ethan. All the moorcat knew was that the man had touched his girl, and now she was making sad sounds. It had to be his fault, and that meant he was bad. Amuné buried her face in his warm fur, trying to muffle her wails a bit so they wouldn't attract unwanted attention, but she couldn't get them under control. Her whole body shook as all the tears she'd held back since the day her life took an unexpected turn poured out of her.

[Mogtaki]

Cecil had a fair good feeling he was going to finally have a chance to find out more about himself if he went that way, maybe discover why people hated his kind once they knew who he was. Finding the oil was great and all, but he would still need to find out more along the way. Did they need oil too? Did they worry about getting sore in the same way too? He had so many questions but it felt he was going to be rude if he just straight up asked. “To the cities…lots of machines? Vehicles…huh…” he spoke before he started to giggle, rubbing his hands together, “Maybe…maybe I’ll find more like me! I want to know what I am…you know what that means? Do you know what that means to me?”

Cecil was certainly very excited now and eager to get going along the road, even if the very start of his journey was getting oil. This guy was heading to the cities and he was allowed to follow despite the boy knowing what he was. It felt like a big weight had been taken off his chest, even if his chest consisted of nothing more than gears and wires. There was an odd feeling building up inside him after that realisation, one that meant he was possibly feeling new emotions. Was this anxiety? Maybe, he certainly did feel shaky with an odd emptiness inside him as if filled with air. He somehow knew the words to these emotions he managed to pick up once they first happened, but he didn’t know how to explain that even to himself.

Turning around briefly once it seemed they were going to be on their journey he turned around again when he realised Ethan was questioning his proposals. Staring at him for a moment he soon smiled, feeling a little nervous. “Really? But…how does ‘knocking them out’ work better than destroying? If they’re out then they’ll come back in and come after us, right?” he asked before shrugging, “Probably doesn’t matter! Right? To get away…that sounds logical. To run really fast again, right?” Even if he didn’t understand he wasn’t going to do anything that might meet the disapproval of others.

Now that everything seemed to make much more sense, things could finally start moving. He could find out what he is and see why the city was so appealing to him and why he felt compelled to go in that direction. “Half a day? Beyond a river…I hope there’s a way to cross…” he muttered, thinking it through before gasping, suddenly being alerted to the strange noise that was coming to the girl. Turning towards her, he tilted his head before letting out a groan, pressing his fingers against his head as if trying to plug his ears. “Why is that a noise? It’s awful! I don’t like it…” He just wanted to continue but this girl was making a noise as if alerting others to their presence. He really wanted to get going on his journey, but that was just holding him back. Frowning, he moved towards Ethan and the animal, holding up a finger which changed shape, looking like the end of a blowtorch which soon sparked to life into a small flame powered by some sort of fuel. “I can fix leaks if that’s the cause for concern”.

[GambolMuse]

"Yeah, there's bound to be a ton of machines out there! We'll get to see all kinds, at least that's what I was told," Ethan said eagerly, his own enthusiasm for exploration bouncing off of Cecil's. There had been plenty of stories of the big cities that dotted Adelon's landscape, of the numerous buildings that stretched into the sky, and all sorts of Machina that ran the everyday routine of the sprawling metropolis. It was certainly going to be a new experience, one that Ethan was going to savor every moment they were there. His excitement for new experiences was curbed slightly by Cecil's proposal to kill anyone who attacked them, an idea that did not sit well with him whatsoever. Knocking them out should suffice plenty, yet even that the Machina found issue with. Opening his mouth to explain the reasoning behind it he clammed up when Cecil reached his own conclusion, smiling and giving a nod of his head. "Exactly! If we knock them out and run then we'll be long gone before they come to. No one really has to get hurt, and we're safe without taking a life. It's a win-win situation!"

They should get moving before long, especially if those men in suits might be on their trail. With their arrangements made at last Ethan tried to get them moving again, this time being held back by the sound of crying. Looking back in surprise he saw Amuné had broken down crying, for Saints knew what reason. It was awfully loud too, whatever had happened it really got to her. Trying to approach the young Ydran girl to comfort her he gasped when Wyth bristled up and snarled at him, holding his hands up defensively. Wait, had he done something wrong? Why was the moorcat angry with him? Oh man, this was turning into a bit of a mess really quick, they had to calm her down before they could get moving. Glancing at Cecil as he complained he frowned in concern, realizing the Machina was probably a little out of touch with how people worked, being a machine and all.

"No! No no no no, it's not a leak!" Ethan said hastily, holding his hands up to Cecil as he placed himself before Wyth and Amuné, "J-Just let me handle this, I've got it!" Sheesh, was he going to try searing her eyes shut or something? Chuckling uneasily he turned around and squatted down again, smiling apologetically as he looked at Wyth. "Easy boy, I didn't mean to hurt her... If I hurt her, I still don't know. I'll make it better though, please let me?" Hopefully he could comfort the girl without getting bit, he'd rather avoid that if at all possible. Slowly reaching out towards Amuné he tried to wipe away the tears on her cheek with his thumb. "Easy now... You're okay, you're safe with us and nothing's going to happen to you. Please don't cry Amuné, everything's going to be alright."

[shylarah]

Campground

The girl's hand tightened where it was tangled in Wyth's fur, the best she could do at the moment to tell him Ethan wasn't a threat. The cat looked at her, then at Ethan, and stood down, giving a soft "maow~" and butting his head against her chest in his own bid to comfort her. Amuné struggled to explain why she was so upset between tears.

"W-want my d-daddy!" she cried, the sobs still ripping through her despite her best efforts. "They h-hurt him...and h-he said go r-run...d-don't come back...b-b-be brave...but I'm s-scared and I...w-wanna go h-home!" She looked at Ethan, her vision swimming with tears, and for a moment it was her father standing there, reassuring her. The child grabbed his hand and put it back on her head, clinging to it like a lifeline as her wails redoubled.

[GambolMuse]

How was he supposed to help when he didn't know what was the matter? Ethan felt like he'd done something wrong, maybe step over some invisible line or said something he shouldn't have, who knows. It didn't take long for Amuné to spill the beans, and while now he knew the reason for the crying it didn't exactly make things any easier. Not only was she homesick it seemed, but something nasty must have happened to her father. How in the world was he supposed to make that any better? Letting the little Ydran girl take his hand he gave her a heartbroken glance, trying to think of anything, anything at all he might say to comfort her.

Not wanting to overstep any boundaries, Ethan simply kept his hand on Amuné's head and offered her a gentle smile, moving a bit closer in hopes maybe the proximity would help soothe her. "Hey now... I'm sure wherever your dad is, he's fine. And we can even go try and find him later, okay? I'm not sure where he is, but when we're in the city we can ask around! With how many people are supposed to be inside of these places someone there is bound to know something." If he could find information on his friend there then surely they could find information about Amuné's father. Asking about a missing Magi was risky, and bringing a human-like Machina into a bustling city was as well; Ethan couldn't think of a single reason why asking about some young girl's father would be risky whatsoever.

"I know you miss your dad right now, and I know how much it hurts to be away from someone, believe me. But we'll see him again, I swear my life on that." Knowing the pain of loss and separation he could really sympathize with the girl, and that made him all the more determined to help her out. Much as he wanted to keep trying to console Amuné, they really should get moving here soon. There was no way of knowing where those men from before might be, and given they had spent the night out here it was possible the gap between them was minimal at best. Figuring a way to help her a little he reached out and eased her off of her feet, smiling kindly as he lifted her and placed her on his shoulders. "There! Now you can have a break from walking for a bit, and you get to see things from way up there! It's a win-win!" he said cheerfully, trying to tickle at the little girl's sole to pep her up a little.

Wyth was no doubt snarling at him by now, but Ethan wanted to focus on getting them away from potential danger and closer to the city. There was an awful lot riding on this adventure, even more now that Amuné's father was thrown into the mix. The longer they took to find either man the more danger they could face, so time was of the essence here. "Right! To the next town for some oil, then on to the city!" he announced, grinning as he gave Amuné a playful little bounce before stepping out to the road and starting down it, "Oh, and we've gotta get Amuné a new dress too, can't forget that!" Which likely meant he'd be picking up some work while they were there, be it chopping wood, moving crates or whatever the locals might ask of him. Ethan was no stranger to doing menial labor for change, and if it meant providing for his new companions then he was all too happy to do so. "By the way, Cecil? Where did you come from anyways? I mean were you in a city and then wandered out here?"

[Mogtaki]

Cecil thought he was helping until he got told otherwise, his assumptions not appearing to be true at all. Staring at Ethan for a brief second he soon converted his finger back to normal, slowly backing off before giving a quick nod. “Okay, if you say so”. He really didn’t get it, but oh well. Maybe it was just one of those things he hadn’t experienced yet, but even then maybe he didn’t really want to experience it again. It was a noisy and annoying noise, only managing to hold them up when they could be well on their way elsewhere. He would’ve been long gone from here by now if he didn’t feel compelled to hang around with these people, seeing how they helped him escape and all.

Having the patience to wait around for this all to pass was probably his best idea of a break, but he felt he couldn’t afford to be waiting around for something like this. He really didn’t understand, he thought being independent from others was the best feeling in the world and to be making a strange noise over something like a ‘daddy’ or whatever made no sense to him. He was free to bounce around and do whatever he wanted, it was the bad men who didn’t agree on him doing that. They wanted to take him back and shut him down, removing his freedom to think and do what he wanted even if he was on a bit of a set path right now.

Staring off in his desired direction he almost bounced when he heard Ethan mention the oil, spinning around and almost getting a fright when he saw the girl on his shoulders. That wasn’t exactly expected but whatever, he wasn’t going to be rude about how weird it was. “The city! Maybe…maybe there will be spare parts too…” he contemplated, wondering what he could pick up. Maybe he could get some new gears and some pocket gadgets, that would be handy. Feeling happy to be on their way again he looked to Ethan when questioned on his origins, staring at him before looking away. “I didn’t come from a city…or at least I don’t remember. I remember being activated and seeing a bright shining light, but after that…I don’t know. The next thing I remember seeing was the path ahead and nothing behind, like I had travelled miles from where ever they made me. I think those memories are corrupted, but I feel drawn towards a city so maybe I didn’t come from one. You said Machina come from cities, right? I want to see what other Machina are like…”

[shylarah]

On the Road

Wyth hissed at Ethan, but stopped when his girl choked out, "Wyth, d-down." He paced around the man in agitation. The mixed signals confused him. The man had upset his girl, but she still thought he was okay, and now she was letting him pick her up? He was concerned, and maybe a little jealous. Comforting his girl was his job, why was she letting this stranger do it? He made a few small noises of complaint, but obeyed the command to stop being aggressive about it.

Amuné wrapped her arms around Ethan's forehead and wept into his hair. She had a terrible sinking feeling when he said they'd see her father again, and she resolutely turned her mind away from any hint of her magic, doing her best not to invoke it despite how desperately she wanted to see her daddy alive and well. She wouldn't be able to bear it if he wasn't. As much as she loved her mother, Amuné was her daddy's girl. She loved watching him carve wooden things, or just listen to the sound of his voice.

Her sobbing quieted after a minute or two, and by then she was worn out by the intensity of her outburst. She was content to let Ethan carry her, and rest her head against the back of his. She gave the distressed moorcat a watery smile. "It's okay, Wyth. We'll be okay." She listened curiously to Cecil speak of what little he remembered. It was funny, thinking that Machina might have memories. But he seemed nice enough, and he'd helped her and Ethan when the man was worn out from using his magic. "Sounds like he has amnesia," she said at last, her voice unsteady but thoughtful. "Maybe he hit his head? My mommy says that can make you forget things. Old people forget too, but you're not old, Cecil, you're barely older than me. But amnesia, there's no mundane treatment. You'd need a healer, one with the blessing of Saint Edos, and even then there's no guarantee...." The girl trailed off before looking down. "And most Magi are not using their magic now, so finding one would be hard," she finished, her expression glum. She didn't really understand /why/ Magi weren't liked anymore, only that it had something to do with the Church.

She'd never been to an actual Church building. Her village only had a small public shrine with an altar to the Nine Saints in the meeting hall, though she had been there. Her mother preferred praying there, though she also had a small shrine to Saint Edos in their house. Her father had tiny figures of Saint Oranoak and Saint Kedo, since he was Ydran and had Kedo's blessing, but no actual altar. He never went to the public altar either, saying that a person's relationship with the saints was deeply personal. It was a matter of where your heart was, not where your body was located. That memory made her eyes sting again, so to avoid crying she tried to focus on Cecil. "Um, I've never met a Machina like you either. We only had a few in my village, and they were old and pretty simple. Do you think most of the ones in the cities are more like you are?"

[Mogtaki]

Cecil didn’t know where the memories had gone but it didn’t happen that long ago for him to forget it ever happened, nor had he done much in his short life to blow it off as nothing. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was supposed to do with a corrupt memory so he kept it anyway, preferring not to forget it unless it was completely irrelevant to his existence. He took his existence as new life to heart and was happy to be alive, even if others weren’t sharing that same feeling towards him. He may be a monster to some people, but he was more than happy to be existing and wouldn’t be brought down by silly words.

Getting a little lost in thought he adjusted his hat before looking back to Amuné, staring at her as she made a strange suggestion. He had never heard of something like amnesia before and it definitely worked to confuse him, tilting his head slightly before blinking. “Huh? Not that old?” he asked himself, looking to the sky. He didn’t understand what a healer was or what a blessing from some Saint Edos meant to him, especially when he wasn’t like the others. He didn’t have a body like them so whether it had the same afflictions and needed the same treatments he really had no idea. “I am 8 months and 15 days old. You’re not much older than me? I am…I am unsure to what a blessing of Saint Edos is. I’ve never heard of such a thing before”.

Finding it much to strange, he knew he was going to end up thinking about it until they found a solution. Maybe it was amnesia he had, whatever that was. If she thought it was amnesia then that must mean amnesia was the loss of a memory. If that was the case and people got the same problem then maybe he was like people enough for such a blessing of Saint Edos to work. Getting excited fair briefly at the opportunity he turned around quickly, smiling briefly before giving Amuné a good staring at. It was certainly a curiosity to find someone like him too, maybe he’ll find out what he was created for too. “I wonder. I mean…I don’t know what I’m supposed to do or why I was built, but the city should have the answers I’m looking for. Somebody made me and I certainly do want to find out who did and why”.

[GambolMuse]

Ethan really hoped Wyth wouldn't bite him for this, he was only trying to help Amuné. Goodness know where the girl's father might be at this point in time, but if they could find his friend then they certainly could find her father as well. There was no way of knowing if he was even alive still, yet for at least the little girl's sake he'd try to remain optimistic about the whole matter. It only took a few minutes once on the road for Amuné to settle down, and while she was undoubtedly still sad it was nice that she'd managed to stop crying for the time being. "You think he has amnesia? Huh... Can a Machina get amnesia though? Wouldn't that mean having a brain?" Ethan mused aloud, furrowing his brow as he thought about it. Did Cecil have a brain in there? Or was he just all parts and cogs? Just thinking about it made his head hurt...

"Wait wait wait... You're only 8 months old? Really?" Ethan asked, eyes widening in amazement as he glanced at Cecil. Maybe that wasn't so outlandish, did Machina age? Cecil probably didn't follow an awful lot of rules that came with growing up as a Mura, or Ydran, or any other race for that instance; if he was truly all machine then he was probably immortal, and he never had to worry about sickness or anything of the likes. But then he had emotion... Did machines have emotions? All of this back and forth was making his head spin, and thankfully more conversation alleviated him from all of that thinking. "Well... Saint Edos is one of the Nine Saints, and generally the one that's associated with healing," the boy explained, smiling as he could speak confidently about something for a change, "My town had an altar to him and the elders prayed to him pretty often, so I know a bit about him. I just don't know how much help that's going to be to you is all, that's the thing. Edos heals Murans, or Ydrans, you know... People who are made of flesh. Can he even heal a Machina?" He didn't mean to get Cecil down or anything, but it was a real possibility that he was beyond help, at least in that regard.

Still... Amensia would explain what Cecil was going through, but again Ethan figured that was reserved to living beings. Could there be something else wrong with him then? Maybe a part was broken, that seemed far more reasonable for a machine. They would need to talk to someone with intimate knowledge of how Machina worked to get an answer, which was just another reason to head to the city. "I'm willing to bet my last coppers that whoever put you together will have the answers we need, it's just gonna be a matter of finding them," Ethan said, trying to keep optimistic on the matter, "We've got a lot of people to find now, but I'm sure we can pull it off! Just hope you two don't mind a little walking." Unless they could get a hold of one of those vehicles he'd heard so much about, then their trip would be so much faster. Of course, the chances of accomplishing such a task were slim to none; not only were there really no vehicles this far out west, but who among them would know how to operate one? Cecil, maybe, and if not then they'd be totally helpless with the thing.

By the time the sun was high in the sky and noon had come around the group had walked a fair distance. It wasn't too far to the river now, something they could all see from where they stood upon a hill. Luckily for them too there were no signs of patrols or anyone who might give them trouble; the entire way out they'd only passed trade caravans, civilians traveling between towns and the occasional farmer or some other tradesman bringing their product about. Weird, Ethan would have thought that they'd see some patrols between the last settlement and now, but maybe their focus was just elsewhere today. "Wow... Would you look at that river!" the white-haired boy mumbled, beaming as he glanced across the two-dozen meter wide body of water. With rushing currents and pristine water it was really something to behold, particularly when what you were used to consisted of ponds and streams. No wonder they had to build this big bridge to get over it, he couldn't fathom any other way to make it across.

"Right, let's take a quick break before we cross! I don't know about the rest of you, but my shoulders are killing me!" Ethan smiled up at Amuné before lifting her up and easing her onto her feet on the cool grass below. Having had her on his shoulders for so long he felt light as a feather once getting her down, able to give both of his shoulders a roll with a satisfying pop in each. "Ah... That feels nice..." Now might not be a half bad time to go and get a bite to eat either considering they'd last had a meal earlier this morning. Plopping down onto his rear, Ethan grabbed his bag off his side and shuffled through it, frowning when he could find no other food stored away. Darn, that meant they were going to really have to hunt didn't it? Not that he minded terribly, it was just convenient to have some food on you was all. "Looks like we need to find something to munch on. Hm... Maybe we can go fishing here..."