The Otter

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

"Oh, what a bother," Esben muttered as the party dove into the fray with the beasts. Not just for the same reason he always wanted to complain when running into them—his focus as a duelist was already plenty obvious to the rest—but for the overall interruption of it. Between running through various options in his head that they'd have once they reached Brightlam and trying to mentally map out just where they'd managed to find themselves, he needed all the concentration he could muster.

Which, in the face of another Eidolon, ravenous beasts, and Cid's reappearance, was not nearly enough. At least the latter would help make some of his planning easier. "Eos, Selene, you can come out." The pair of fairies peeked out from the edges of his cloak, that he still wore despite the humidity and heat just to keep the rest of his clothes from getting torn to shreds in the forest, before flying out around him.

He was almost certain he could hear Eos breathe out a long, slow "Wow..."

As they took in the sight, he fell back towards the rear of the group where he could more easily overlook the course of the battle. "Keep an eye out in case they hit anybody," he ordered Eos, snapping her out of her momentary reverie staring up at Ramuh. "We don't need any casualties, nor do I want to deal with any of them being plagued by the Blight themselves. Selene, speed them up if you would."

"On it!" The purple-glowing fairy sped away in a heartbeat, casting her light over the gathered Kirins just as she had when they fought with Isolde and her knights. Not that Esben imagined any of them really needed the help with Blight beasts...but it should make the tiresome part go by faster.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

---

Small disappointment aside—he'd hoped there'd be some trick possible for the Feinyar to actually communicate a bit—Fionn's cheerfulness at the fight to face them was almost entirely undimmed. As Gertrude and Arken set about enchanting the rest of the knights' weapons, he turned back to Fiadh. "Try to keep yourself out of the thick of things, yeah?" he suggested. "I'd rather you not get hurt." Whether or not she would listen, he wouldn't even try to guess; he figured she was equally likely to keep away and avoid risking seeing him get hurt as she was to stick close and be ready to step in on his behalf if anything bad might happen, as with the tree-snake before.

With the majority of his preparation done, he followed along with the rest of the group at a relaxed pace, borrowed blade held loosely in his hand. The feeling that they were being watched grew and grew, unsurprisingly; it seemed the Hunt was curious about the supposed 'prey' that was moving to meet it, rather than already turning tail and fleeing. As the knights took their places in the clearing, however, it was obvious that the anticipation couldn't go on forever.

As Fanilly severed her first attacker's head and hell broke loose in the rest of the clearing, Fionn stepped forward. A lazy backhand swing of the raven-dark sword sent some of the smaller assailants scurrying away from him as the wind whistled over its edge, denying their thought that this apparently least-armoured of the still reachable Iron Roses would make an easy target. He could hear as Renar, Gerard, and Fleuri each found their own targets amid Rozenalt's lieutenants. The rest of the knights, with Arken's help, would be more than enough to deal with the rest of the Hunt—which left him with the one unique figure left over.

The Midnight Hunt had always been a dark mirror of a hunt par force, complete even with methods that would never be accepted by proper society—the Trapper's presence being proof enough of that. The feather-adorned personage before him, then, with their spectral gyrfalcon, had no doubt expected that they would set out to harry the party and soften them up before the others could arrive. If, in this case, he was to carry a raven's blade...

Fionn grinned, placing both hands on his blade and dropping it into a low guard. Open, relaxed, seemingly utterly heedless of the rest of the fighting about to consume the clearing. He would make himself as much a pest for the Falconer as ravens and crows had themselves pests for the sport of falconry for as long as anybody could remember. "Think she's fast enough?" he asked conversationally, nodding up at the ghostly falcon. "Looks starved, like."

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

"For now," he replied, resolute in the face of the stare trying to bore two new holes in his head. "I imagine that even if we can find a priest who is unhappy enough with the current state of affairs to get us access to some consecrated ground, we'll still have to find a way to hold it. I expect that even if Zacharias and Alambert both turn to our side, Isolde will still try to disrupt things, or may decide to try and run off faster than the rest of us could catch up, which makes you our insurance."

He shrugged.

"Flexibility will be important, like always. That's why I prefer to paint broad strokes and let the details fill themselves in as we go along—anything more would be a waste of thought and energy."

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

Esben suppressed a small smile at the mention of bergamot tea. He'd been expecting slightly more than just the same pass phrase used before, but Izayoi's intervention cleared up the matter enough for the group to proceed. As Galahad began to outline the basics of the plan that had been reached, he turned back to Izayoi, giving a small point over at Chisato. "Is she any good?" he asked quietly. When Izayoi nodded in response, he returned his attention to Galahad, looking down at the map thoughtfully.

"The three of us can manage our own entry easily enough," he agreed with Miina. "But satisfying arrangements to get the others in the city afterwards may still prove difficult. Passing Goug off as part of a trade caravan may be the easiest. There's always some smugglers that intersperse themselves with such groups, and there are tricks to hide gear and people both if need be. Add in some cash to grease palms along the way and that may even go smoothly."

With his gear kept secured, Galahad could likely leap his way into the city without much trouble or too much noise. Izayoi and Rudolf, with a change of clothes and properly applied grime, could pass as workers with a caravan easily enough—Éliane was likely the only one that would need certain special treatment to get inside, whether that be hiding her entirely or an alternate method, if she wanted to be entirely unreasonable about things...something he still doubted, despite their argument.

"We'll be able to adjust this once we come closer and know exactly what we're dealing with. Once we're inside, everybody's going to be on information duty. I want eyes on each of the Grovemasters; I'll trail Zacharias. Miina, you're on Alambert. Chisato, I want you to follow Isolde. Rudolf can give you a good sketch of what she looks like. No assassinations until I give the go ahead, both of you." That sufficed for the jobs of the three who were the stealthiest of the group. He looked up, pointing at another trio in turn.

"Galahad, Izayoi, and Rudolf, I need the three of you to find us a base, and after that, see what you can do to find out what talk is happening within the church. Posing as beggars is an easy enough way to get at that, I can give you each some tips later on if you need. If you can find a discontented priest that might be convinced to get us access to some consecrated ground, all the better. Now, Éliane—"

He turned to face the most outwardly discontent member of the group. "In case things fall apart and we do have to fall back on removing them all, I need you to try to find somebody in town. Darri Anquetil, tall, Faye, dark haired, he was in your class if you remember him at all. The last I knew he was assigned to run a storefront here. I'd originally planned to hunt him down myself and have him funnel my report back home, but I need whatever information he has on who all the major players in local politics are, who can be pulled in to replace a Grovemaster or three if needed, anything useful to this. If you find him—"

Esben paused, his brow furrowing for a moment.

"Or if he finds you, ask him...ask him if he knows anywhere to find good rabbit in the city. He'll know it's me asking for help if you say that. Can you do that for us?"

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

"Be nice," Esben murmured in Éliane's direction. "At least Iðar likes me."

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

Esben resisted the urge to give a very pointed look at Éliane after Madis interrupted them to let them know they'd been followed. Following along behind the older man came, perhaps, the shortest Viera he'd ever seen. He was nearly surprised that her limbs weren't bowed and misshapen, given the combination of her overall size and the fact that she clearly wasn't physically a child. Something her voice made clear moments after as she began to speak.

"Hmm."

He held up one hand, cautioning Ciradyl from reaching out to grab the offered scroll. Certainly, it was sealed...but seals could be faked. Names such as those she was dropping were easy enough to come by. That was a tactic that worked fine when dealing with nobility at their own little private gatherings, ingratiating yourself as you dig your way in to their leisure and rob them blind of every secret they would prefer to keep—not so much when trying to buy your way into something actually business focused. It invited immediate suspicion more than it invited trust.

Perhaps she was entirely guileless. Perhaps she wanted to appear as such, hoping that the Kirins would outsmart themselves knowing that such a simplistic tactic would be insane to use against them.

Perhaps the tactic was in tandem with another painfully-obvious phrase that Osprey's limited resistance had already used to buy into their trust.

"Storage, you say?" His tone was conversational, free of the tension that he could feel growing just behind his eyes in the face of whatever was happening here. "Did Hien or one of the others send you with something more for us?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

---

Perhaps one of the things that most ingratiated Fionn to the various fey he had met in his days was the way he had maintained his sense of wonder at the world around him, despite long since having grown out of the childhood where it was expected. Even when the fey themselves were something he was comfortable and familiar with, wherever his natural curiosity and delight at his experiences came out, it—at the very least—seemed to entertain them. The wide-eyed gaze that he faced the hulking crow-man with as a blade materialized out of the air was simply an obvious, outward expression of such.

He reverently took the offered hilt, stepping back and twirling the raven-black blade in a short moulinet just to feel the weight of it. How the balance felt, compared to what he was used to, how he may have to adjust on the fly; already, he was accounting for the comparitive lack of a guard, the sword barely having a bolster to help keep his hand from sliding up to the edge on a thrust. The pommel was little more than a faint, knob-like swell at the end of the grip, not the large, weighty ring that ensured he'd never not feel the alignment of his edge, that had long since shown its worth in breaking bones and shattering teeth of those who thought they could get inside his guard...

With a grin, he unclasped his sword and sheathe from his belt, holding it back out towards Súileabhán. "I understand your misgivings, but I'll make sure this isn't wasted. In return, I'd like it if you'd watch over my blade until I can return this to you." He glanced over at the Moonlit Queen just off to the side. "Not indefinitely, mind. I am rather attached to that sword, like how Súileabhán doesn't like lending this to me. Call it collateral, if you like, but I am entrusting it to your safe keeping."

Only as a temporary loaner or not, getting to use such a fine blade was still a princely gift. It was only fitting to return some trust to them.

Without another moment to spare, his hair resumed its natural hue, the cohort standing once more in the altogether more normal forest that they were used to. He didn't have long to consider much of a plan, though, before a diminutive head with flaming yellow eyes claimed his full field of vision. And his face grew hot. Almost uncomfortably so, even, like his pale skin was about to start burning...

"Cad é mar atá tú?" he asked, resisting the urge to pull away to avoid any excess heat. He didn't want to appear impolite, after all, certainly not to Feinyar hovering just before his nose. "Cad is ainm duit? Is mise Fionn."

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Ranbu no Izayoi and Esben Mathiassen

---

"Izayoi. Care to talk for a minute or two?"

For the love of the gods, could she not get a single moment to herself?! Torn from her ruminations about her newfound blood relations, Izayoi could only fix Esben with a withering glare that she knew he wouldn’t be affected by. It was freeing, in a way. With Esben, she could express as much as she cared to without holding back, and he was composed enough to handle it in a way that certain other members of the party weren’t.

”No. I do not.” She replied bluntly, turning away from him in a deliberate show of her irritation. ”But I suppose you will blather on regardless. So out with it. This had best be worth the time, Esben.”

”Well, if you’re just going to give me permission to ignore your answer...” Let no one accuse him of being unwilling to play along, even when they might prefer he didn’t. ”Drana Asnaeu has barely kept above the level of an unmitigated disaster since the moment we stepped off Bikke’s ship, no? Not all of that is due to things under our control, but two of the sources are, and I’m afraid they won’t listen to me alone.”

It certainly wouldn’t take a genius to figure out just what two he was referring to, or why—so he brushed right on past without a second thought, unless Izayoi would decide now was the time to play dumb out of frustration. ”I’ve already tried to impress upon one of them the importance of adjusting our methodology to our circumstances, and didn’t get particularly far. I would like to enlist your aid speaking to the both of them about it.”

There was a moment when Izayoi felt like being particularly difficult about this. After all, she had her own issues to deal with right now, and Esben should rightfully be back inside that damned tent. But she would humor him nonetheless.

”And supposing I agree with them? Drana Asnaeu has given me little reason to do otherwise thus far.”

Well, she was a terrible liar, even to herself. It seemed she wanted to be just a little difficult after all. Esben couldn’t have it his own way all the time, after all.

Esben’s flat stare was all the reply she received.

He received a roll of Izayoi’s eyes in response.

”I am not their keeper, SEED.” She groused, staring out at the treeline. ”That, and you presume the dragoon would listen overmuch to his brother’s killer to begin with.” A beat passed, and she decided to show some amount of grace in this matter.

”But you are not entirely incorrect. Éliane, at the very least, must be reined in should we have to negotiate again. To say nothing of the fact that I believe her threats to be idle, if I understand Skael’s chain of command correctly?”

”You do,” Esben replied without a wasted moment. ”You may not be their keeper, but I imagine they both respect you—something I am not entirely certain applies to many of the rest of us. Galahad, perhaps, could use the reminder of everything at risk from someone that lost as much as, if not more than he did, I think...Éliane could use the understanding both of you have, even if she continues to persist in her belief that she was sent as something more than a token of good-will, and not an expendable demonstration piece.”

”I killed his brother, boy.” Izayoi snapped, her nerves thin thanks to the revelations that Miina’s father had so ungraciously imposed upon her. “That, or a man under my command did. I would not have been so gracious in his place. Éliane, however, is a matter I will assist you with.“

Esben stared silently for a moment, before turning to look up at the stars himself with a sigh. ”Gracious or not, that’s part of the connection, part of what I’m counting on, Izayoi,” he muttered. ”A generation of two countries, decimated. For nothing, leaving both weak to invaders from across the ocean. It’s easier to ignore when it’s still a statistic, a number from years back.” He glanced back at the tent, shaking his head.

”He’s not a general. He should know skills beyond the belligerent, beyond counting the statistics—and yet he was nearly as inclined to feed into them as Éliane, in front of the Grovemasters. I know I can’t get everybody to let me do the talking for that all the time, nor would that be the best choice in a host of circumstances, that’s why I want to check in, make sure whether or not he could use the reminder before he gets himself hurt with his own frustrations, not to speak of everybody else around.

”Consider it part of my personal interest, or part of my country’s, whichever makes you happier,” he scoffed. ”I’d rather avoid any unnecessary hostilities, no matter the scale. But that’s all why I don’t think he’ll listen to me alone. Éliane and I don’t have any of that experience, and I’m the only one that works for an organization that actively tries to prevent others from having it. You’re the only one that shares it with him, and like it or not, you’re the fount of wisdom we have to rely on.”

”A fine way to call me old!” Izayoi groused, folding her arms and shaking her head. ”I will aid you in this matter, but, for the record? I do not care how we deal with the Grovemasters. At this point, I fully support putting every last one of the three to the sword. I have my doubts this will be an issue going forward, regardless. Éliane will obey Skaelan authority. The same goes for Galahad and that fop on the Edrenian throne. Have you considered that the issue is with the Grovemasters and them alone?”

”We were going to have pushback regardless,” he replied noncommittally. ”To assume otherwise would be blind optimism. But we didn’t have to out ourselves entirely at the harbor. We didn’t have to give in to the urge to threaten them and their land when there’s enough of a threat knocking at the doors already.” There was little need to speak regarding the conclusions he’d been coming to about how to deal with the Grovemasters, because he’d made a point to consider only those that wouldn’t require active input from the others to see them through.

It certainly made matters easier on that front that the only way he could imagine the others making themselves terribly useful would be if he wanted to storm Brightlam’s gates, anyways.

He glanced upwards again, a small frown turning down the corners of his lips as he took in the starlight. ”Thank you, Izayoi. And—awkward and unwelcome as it may be—I am glad for you.” Without turning back to the tent, he walked alone down the path, one arm raised in farewell. ”I’ll leave you with your thoughts, for now. Just be ready when I can get the two of them to hold still long enough to chat.”

A noncommittal, annoyed grunt was all Esben received as Izayoi fully turned away from him, descending into her own thoughts once more. She scowled.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

week's been pretty brutal

@HereComesTheSnow

understatement

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

"Mmm."

Distinctly noncommittal. A talk with Galahad wasn't a bad idea, nor continuing a prior discussion with Éliane, but it wasn't yet a good time for either. "Let's put a pin in that for now. He's not the only one to talk with about such things."

---

Given the much-needed windfall that was finding Miina's tribe so soon, Esben was finally allowed a moment to actually relax. Without feeling such a need to watch their backs, without focusing so much on what he would need to do to deal with the Grovemaster problem for the moment, he could focus in on the other things that needed it. First and foremost being the group he was travelling with. The information on Izayoi's background was an idle curiosity for him, given that in current circumstances there was little utility that could be found in having that knowledge.

However, her own choice to get up and leave the chat was quite useful to him.

He silently slipped out behind the samurai, his cat-like tread rivaling the ears that any of the Mystrel around possessed. It only took a moment for his longer stride to catch up, slowing down as he came up next to her. "Izayoi. Care to talk for a minute or two?"