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

[GambolMuse]

The Following Day

Only so much progress could be made in a single day's time. For his own part Ethan was making the same mistakes as before, using the wind more like a blunt force than a cutting one as Kensen suggested. Nymira still couldn't super-heat her blades without melting them, a fault she placed more on her materials than her ability. Amuné had yet to report to Gage since the previous day's scene - Gage was predisposed with work anyways, giving the girl the day off. Adrianna and Cecil were perhaps the only two who had any modicum of success over the last day: the former because she simply wasn't training, the latter having succeeded in testing his shield.

Despite having made no real discernible progress for most of the group Taliya had called off their lessons for the day. Ethan assumed they were to be given another task from the woman, Nymira guessed there were more beasts she wished for them to exterminate. It was an abrupt end to an even more sudden regiment forced upon them and no one could guess for what reason they were being brought in today. Being fetched from their quarters and dragged down to the office they had to wait a short time as others were in and out of Taliya's room frequently; papers were being brought and taken out, people were meeting with the leader, it seemed like a frenetic morning. They were finally allowed inside after Taliya could be heard shouting a string of insults at someone, a man fleeing from the room as a book was hurled after him, narrowly missing his head. Not exactly a good precedent for their own meeting.

"They're here ma'am," their guide called in, holding the door for everyone to get inside. As if he was going to join them with Taliya in a mood.

Groaning in frustration the woman behind the desk glanced up briefly, waving everyone inside as she returned her focus to the papers before her. The paperwork for the people Lionel and Adrianna had brought in were on the top, and easily two of them had falsified their documents. That didn't so much matter since plenty of people did, but a tiny inconvenience was a huge headache on a day like today. There were forms from the mayor about their funding, bills from the smithy for all their work, not to mention bills for expenses she didn't even know they'd had! She'd have to wait on all of this exciting work now that the runts had arrived, she'd another job to dole out.

"You kids are doing a favor for me today, consider it your training for the afternoon. I'm sending all of you outside of Mutebo," Taliya began, glancing at Adrianna to make it clear she was included, "And you're going to go looking for two people. First there's a pair of merchants that we sent out yesterday, they should have been back by now but no one's seen them. They've got some shit we need and we can't afford to have them end up as lunch for some animals, so go out and get them. Or their stuff, honestly I don't give a fuck which it is at this point." Not true, she didn't want those people dead persay, but if they'd gotten themselves eaten then there wasn't much they could do at this point. It'd be their own fault for not taking the more traveled, better protected roads. No use in crying for the dead as they say... Or you'd be crying all day.

"You're also going to look for Gage, figure out where he's gone and tell him to get his ass back here. I sent him out early this morning to meet them and haven't seen him since, and it's not like him to be late. I'd send just one of you but you're still shit at combat, so I'm sending the whole group of you. Find the traders and find Gage, get them back here before I lose what little fucking sanity I've got left today. Any questions?"

"Uh... Why send us? Why not send Kensen?" Ethan didn't quite understand, wouldn't it make more sense to send someone more capable? And one person could move a lot faster than a whole group - especially considering Amuné had been brought along.

"Because he is out too, and I'm not calling his scaly hide back here to do this. You brats still owe us and you're not doing anything, that's why. Between the five of you I imagine you'll be able to handle whatever the hell it is that's got that old bastard stuck. Deal with whatever is holding them up and get everyone home, nice and simple."

"Why include Amuné? She's not a warrior." It was Nymira's turn to press Taliya and she looked at the aforementioned Ydran curiously. Every time they'd been in combat the girl had been, frankly speaking, more of a risk than a help. If this was some sort of rescue operation then why send along someone like that?

"If I didn't send her then she'd get the bright idea to chase after you anyways. Then we'd be looking for her too, and I don't feel like mounting 3 fucking search and rescue jobs today. So she's going with you, she can just... Sit back and watch, I don't know. You figure it out." Brushing aside a stack of papers she grabbed her flask and took a drink only to find it bone dry. Shaking it she huffed and shouted for the man outside to come in, tossing it to him with the instructions to get it filled. "If you kids have no other questions then get going! We've both got shit to do and none of it's going to get done standing around with our thumbs up our asses. Go find those idiots and bring them back."

No one wanted to stay here any longer, not with the mood Taliya was in. Filing out of her room they stood just in the hall, not wholly certain of where to go from here. She hadn't given them directions nor an idea of where to look, only to go find them. Far as Ethan could recall there was a single main road leaving Mutebo and it didn't branch off for some ways, which at least narrowed down their search a little. But with how big the area was - not to mention how unfamiliar with it they all were - it could take the better part of the entire day to find even a trace of Gage or the traders. With an exasperated smile Ethan sighed, scratching at his head as he looked between the group for some semblance of an idea.

"So... Where do we start? Adrian, you've been here for a while right. Any ideas?"

"We could try asking, it's not as if no one saw Gage or the traders," Nymira posited, folding her arms as she glanced back at the shut door, "One of the guards perhaps can point us in the right direction. Or if Adrian has some idea..." She didn't care really, whatever was needed to get this job of theirs over with quickly. Ironic though that they were being sent out to save one of the men supposedly training them. If that was her she'd be terribly ashamed of herself, probably going so far as to step down from her job as a mentor. Somehow she didn't see Gage having a problem with it though. "This is all assuming they're even still alive too. He's not a Magi if I remember right, so if he was attacked by a pack of beasts..."

"He'll be alive, that guy seems way too tough to go down to some animals," Ethan interjected, though a nervous smile pulled at his lips. There were things other than simple animals out there though.

[Pascal]

Adrianna departed from Malvin’s office but only got a few steps before a small child ran into her. No, it wasn’t just any kid, it was that girl, the seer. Her eyes were puffy and red, and though it was possible she had just seen something upsetting, Adrianna got the impression that it was something more…tangible bothering her. “Are you alright?” She asked, though the child made like she was just going to run for it anyway.

Glancing back over to the door, Adrianna wondered where she had come from, only to remember that the door itself was a closet. Being from the city, Adrianna could imagine a multitude of reasons a child might be crying in the closet. Perhaps she had just been taking a break from people, and the stimuli that brought on visions. Perhaps someone was harsh towards her, or perhaps someone had hurt her.

The thought of someone laying a hand on the girl, sent a shiver down her spine, and she casually opened the door to the closet, her paranoia making her think for a moment that she might actually find someone there. But there was no one, and Amune had answered that she was going to help the healers. Adrianna raised a brow, curious about the young girl with visions who also proclaimed herself a healer. Did she have both magics? Or was learning about healing more of a hobby?

Amune went on to say that she should be practicing with Gage. “I’m sorry he scares you. But he is not trying to hurt you. He is trying to help keep you from getting hurt by people who don’t care that you are young.” Adrianna didn’t know enough about her “training” and why Gage was chosen to try to interfere. She was going to be traveling with the group, though, so she was curious just what the young girl was learning from the seasoned fighter. The girl darted off to work with the healers, and Adrianna spent some time with some of the other mages she had come to know in Mutebo.

Over the next day, she had considered asking Taliya about the training decisions for the kid, and to perhaps talk about working with Amune herself instead, but she didn’t get the chance. Taliya was very busy, and Adrianna wasn’t sure she really wanted to volunteer herself for another task. Adrianna was reading one of the books donated to the small Mutebo library when she got the message to drop everything and go see Taliya. She waited outside of the office as some of her other future traveling companions assembled, though none of them seemed to have any idea what was going on either.

She dreaded the thought that Lionel would appear, or that perhaps he was already in Taliya’s office. As figures left the room, she tried to lean in to see if Lionel was working with Taliya in the room. She hadn’t seen him, but she couldn’t be sure. Fortunately, that question was answered when they were guided in. Adrianna moved all the way in and leaned against a wall opposite Taliya’s desk, leaving plenty of room for the others. Though she had been ordered to do things by Taliya, she wasn’t sure what kind of ‘missions’ the others had been on for her, unless training counted as a mission (which she did not).

Taliya then explained that she was sending them on a mission, which she called training. Adrianna didn’t care for the likening of the two. Training suggested that failure was okay, and the goal was self-improvement. This sounded like a search and rescue, one in which failure led to dire consequences. The mission was multi-part. They needed to find the merchants who had left the day before (the ones Adrianna passed early in the day), and they needed to find Gage. Adrianna had already ruled out salvaging the stuff, knowing it would be too difficult to get back to Mutebo if the crew manning the wagon had run into trouble.

The others questioned why, but Adrianna stayed silent. Taliya didn’t have to justify herself, really. They were staying in her territory, and her mantra was something like: “Do whatever the fuck I say, or get out of the way.” They should have been asking questions about the merchants’ path, or when Gage was sent to find them, so they could get an idea of where they needed to go to try to intercept the group without potentially stumbling across the same trap, assuming there was one.

“I’ve got a question.” Adrianna interjected as Taliya tried to wave them out. The others began to leave, but Adrianna stuck around for a few moments. Without this information, they would just be wandering around the main road out of Mutebo and flipping coins to pick directions to take. “Where was the merchant pair going, and did they have a set path they were planning to take?” Adrianna asked.

"To sell shit, where do you think? Where doesn't matter, because where they should be is here. They'll be on the road somewhere. Or in some animal's stomach. Just find out where they went." Taliya replied with her usual grace and poise.

“Wow. How helpful.” Adrianna said, her voice oozing with sarcasm. With the others not in the room, she didn’t try terribly hard to keep her tone neutral, and the femininity was more prevalent. “Well, if we don’t come across them by the time the path splits, we’ll just flip a coin.” Adrianna added, annoyed that they were being told to do something without all of the information. Hell, they might as well leave Ethan in charge of navigation.

She caught the others before they had gotten too far, and Ethan asked her where to start. “Yea, I—” Nymira interrupted and gave her opinion, suggestion they ask a guard which direction they went. When she turned things over again to Adrianna, the woman began again. “Yea, I saw the merchants yesterday when I was escorting some people into Mutebo, but there is really only one path out. The merchants had to take the road, because of the goods they were transporting. Gage might have gone through the woods instead, and I guess a guard might have chatted with them before they left and gotten some idea, but my guess he stuck close to the road so he wouldn’t miss the merchants.

Nymira made a comment about Gage not being alive, though Ethan seemed to think that Gage would be fine. “Either way, we need answers. Is there anything anyone needs to get before we depart?” Adrianna moved to the front of the group and began to walk out of the building. She always had her bag on her, in case she needed to go, but she wasn’t sure the others were so prepared. Ideally, they should only be gone a few hours. However, ideals generally weren’t safe to rely upon.

Ethan and Nymira were ready, or so they claimed, and so Adrianna turned her attention to the others. If they needed something, the group would make a detour. Otherwise, they would briskly leave the compound, with Adrianna in the lead. She paused at the gate and turned to Nymira, offering the woman the chance to ask the guards about Gage, if she wanted. The woman was flippant at best, and so, with a shrug, Adrianna continued on out of Mutebo along the main road.

[shylarah]

Amuné was painfully relieved when her search for Mr. Gage the next morning found no trace of the man. She'd made a sincere effort, but if she couldn't find him there was no way to work with him and nobody could blame her for it. She looked up at the bad-mouthed woman after they'd been let into her office, noting the open flask on the desk amongst all the papers. Her mommy would say Taliya drank too much.

They were being sent out after merchants -- but if they'd left only yesterday, how had enough time passed to reach their destination and make it all the way back? It must not have been very far, or maybe they had something like the loud vehicle Norman had been on that one time. Taliya's callous mention that the men might be dead made her wince.

She actually flinched when they were told to track down Gage, stepping closer to Ethan and looking suddenly guilty. Was this to make sure she showed up for a lesson today? There wasn't any excuse, if she helped track him down. But the mention that they weren't doing anything made her straighten up. "Not true!" she protested. "I am doing something -- I was helping prepare herbs for medicine most of yesterday afternoon!" It wasn't super interesting work, but it was one that didn't require a lot of oversight, and it needed doing. Especially when it came to using mortar and pestle on the ones that needed to be thoroughly mashed -- young hands were much better about the repetitive motion than many older ones. She'd helped with some other things too, but that was the biggest one.

Taliya raised an eyebrow before scoffing, giving Amuné a patronizing round of applause. "Good, so now you can heal whatever wounds your friends make before the enemy kills you! Learn to use the damn bow, kid. It's not hard, stop being a stubborn twerp and take your lessons."

"I still can't hold it right," she mumbled in response, dropping her head and leaning against Ethan again. Tears prickled her eyes, but she stubbornly clenched her jaw. She wasn't going to cry! The woman was wrong, that was all -- her mommy said healers were important and taking care of people was important and Taliya was just mean and probably drunk. It hurt worse when Nymira seemed to agree that she was useless. She wasn't -- she'd learn how to be useful, she just hadn't made much progress yet. And of course Taliya didn't bother hiding that she thought Amuné was a waste of space. It was a relief to be kicked out of the office, and she stayed silent while the group discussed how to go about their tasks. She didn't find the nerve to speak up until the conversation was almost finished.

"If I had something of his, I might be able to locate Gage," she ventured uncertainly. "I mean, I've never tried to find anyone on purpose, but...I've got the right sort of magic for it, yeah? Only...." Her gaze strayed to Taliya's closed door. Maybe it was better not to ask. She didn't even know if she could, and she had only the barest control of her magic to start with. So probably all she even could do was sit back and watch, like Taliya said.

---

She was still downcast when they headed out, now walking close to Wyth and holding the coat that had once been Ethan's close about her shoulders. She let the adults go talk to the guards, and instead addressed Cecil. "Hey...did that shield Norman made you turn out okay?" She'd not had as much time as she'd liked to talk to the Machina over the past couple days, and he'd seemed almost like he was avoiding them. Or maybe it took longer to make a shield than it did to change a battery, and with her helping the healers it just felt like he was. But even before that, he'd been all worried about being near her and the others. Amuné just didn't know.