#cs logs

Jaspur was nowhere to be seen. Oscare remembered that Jaspur said he was going to talk with Ralaux Rombaferre, the shape-shifter man they met on the road to Talis who was carried off to a hospital shortly after their arrival.

Doji flitted back and forth nervously between the chained Isaak and Oscare. The very idea of her friends being enemies was concerning to her, and she wasn't quite sure what to do. "We should let Isaak go," Doji said to Oscare.

Isaak desperately pulled against his chains, his eyes bloodshot and panicked. If he did hear Doji, he didn't react to her. Instead, he began slamming against a tree, trying desperately to break the chain.

A nearby tiartzard rushed over at the sight of Isaak slamming himself against a tree. "Hey! Whoa! WHOA!" She tried to restrain Isaak to keep him from hurting himself anymore.

Isaak screamed in revulsion and did his best to try to escape his captor's grasp, but couldn't break free!

Doji paced back and forth near the tiartzard in concern. "Please don't hurt him!"

"Holy shit, what's going on here?!" the tiartzard grunted, fixing her grip tighter. "I'm not gonna hurt him, god, I'm trying to keep him from hurtin' hisself!"

"Oscare says that he hurt people, but I know it can't be true! Isaak is good and brave!" Doji continued to insist.

Isaak kicked against the tiartzard and screamed again, trying his hardest to pull away. Isaak's kick struck the tiartzard in the leg -- apparently there was an old wound of some sort there, for she fell to the ground and released Isaak. "God-fucking-dammit! Someone grab him!"

Doji loomed over Isaak, reaching out a wing towards him. "Isaak, it's okay!" She attempted to soothe him. "We're gonna get you out of there soon, okay? We just have to clear this up!"

Isaak ignored Doji and began to slam his chains into the tree again. Finally, he managed to produce a word with each swing. "Get. It. OFF!"

"Hey! Calm down!" the tiartzard yelled. She staggered to her feet with great effort. "You're going to hurt yourself! Calm down and we'll figure something out!"

Isaak smashed his chains into the tree again and his hair burst from black to red when he finally heard the tiartzard. He turned to her, tears now streaming down his face. "Just get them off," he mumbled, and began slamming into the tree again, but his energy was fading.

"Look, I can't do that unless you promise not to... go apeshit," the tiartzard said, gesturing to the tree that now bears a few marks from Isaak's rampage. "This city's got enough to deal with right now. Can't have someone runnin' around and causin' trouble, yeah?"

Isaak hit the tree one more time and fell over in a heap. His eyes were wide open, but he didn't seem like he would run any time soon.

The tiartzard let out a long sigh. She hefted one of his hands up and checked the make of the shackles. "Great, just hold still..." The tiartzard fished out a lockpick from her pockets and started to pick the lock, eventually managing to open it with a soft click. The handcuffs fell off.

"Right... So, what's going on here?"

Isaak sprang up and tried to scramble up the nearest tree, but the tiartzard moved too fast for Isaak and grabbed him by the leg, holding him in place. "Very funny."

Isaak screeched and blindly kicked back at the tiartzard.

Doji turned to Oscare as though it physically pained her to watch Isaak struggle with the tiartzard. "Oscare! Can't you clear this up? Isaak couldn't have done any of those things you said he did!"

"The sad truth is that he did do all those things I said he did. And I wasn't alone to witness it. Unfortunately, the only other living witness is.... not here." Oscare coughed. "Regardless, he's in shackles because otherwise he'd probably go berserk and kill anything that stands in his way."

"NO!" Isaak shouted back, and he slipped backward off the tree.

"What?" The tiartzard stared at Isaak. "I'm gonna put you back in chains if you don't stop this shit!" Roughly, she yanked him forward. "Hold still, and we can make this easy and nice for everyone. Keep this up, and I'll throw you in prison. Okay?"

Isaak scuttled backward until his back was leaning against the tree. He closed his eyes and put his hands on his head, breathing hard.

"You can do whatever you want with him, just don't kill him," said Oscare.

"God, I'm not gonna kill him! Do you think I got to be mayor by being a mass murderer?"

Oscare threw his arms up and shrugged. "Hey, I'm just saying I don't care."

"You're the mayor? Oh, good!" Doji seemed somewhat comforted by the fact there's an authority figure nearby. "Do you know where Jaspur went? Maybe he can help clear all this up!"

Isaak put his arms on his shoulders and kept breathing, saying nothing.

"Uh... I don't know anyone named Jaspur," said the mayor, bewildered.

"Doji, just because she's the mayor doesn't mean she knows everyone that comes in and out."

The mayor pulled Isaak to his feet. "Okay, what are you people doing here? You picked a bad time to show up in Talis, and like I said, I don't want to deal with any trouble I can avoid."

"Well... our original intention was to prevent trouble, but. That plan clearly didn't work," Oscare focused his look at the city. "We wanted to warn authorities here of an incoming army. But it seems like we were, as you said, badly timed."

Doji straightened up with a new sense of purpose! "Oh, that's right! I forgot when Isaak and Oscare started fighting!" She nodded at Oscare's words.

"Alamo. Alamo coming," Isaak managed to just barely sputter out.

"Oncoming Alamo army..? So you saw the people who did this?" the mayor asked.

Isaak frantically nodded over and over again. "C-Captives. They have captives. Veriol captives. Th-they're roaming a-around and attacking p-people."

The mayor's brow furrowed. "And you saw this?"

"Did we?" Doji sounded confused. "That other shape-shifter, he said..."

"S-some stragglers. W-we were attacked. R-remember? The ch-chronomancers that burned each other?"

"The bandits!" Doji exclaimed.

Oscare put a hand on his chin. "They acted more like bandits to me."

"Th-they told us about the army! H-how do you not remember!? Th-the army of blue soldiers! Alamo troops! There was a destroyed Veriol vehicle buried in the snow nearby!"

Oscare shrugged. "I vouch for that. We did see two of them."

"...Alright, I'll notify the police," said the mayor. "If you need anything else from me, ask around for where Mayor Perlais' office is."

Isaak nodded and closed his eyes again, curling up tight against the side of the tree.

Oscare nodded. "Right, we'll tell you anything we know immediately."

"Thank you!" Doji said to the mayor, before turning back to Isaak, looking concerned. "Are you hurt?" She asked, hovering near his side. As the tiartzard walked off, Doji thought that the name "Perlais" sounded familiar... She remembered that Zajcitos mentioned the name. Doji turned back to the mayor. "Wait!" she called to her. The mayor turned back. "Do you know Zajcitos, from Jerrau?"

"Zaj...citos--" The name was stammered a little. "Yeah, I know her. Did she send you here?"

"Sort of! We were going to investigate because a giant dreadhorn attacked Jerrau, and then we met the bandits and saw the wreck and the other shape-shifter on the way!"

"Other shape-shifter?" Mayor Perlais asked.

"Ralaux Rombaferre." Oscare added. Isaak sat quietly.

"Rombaferre?" Mayor Perlais repeated. "Never thought I'd hear that name for a while. But if he's in charge of the Alamo forces you mentioned, then they couldn't have been the ones to attack."

"Why's that?" Doji asked.

Isaak muttered, "He was scouting on his own. Nowhere near the forces. Maybe they sent him away, towards the bandits we found so they could waylay him while the rest of the forces attacked.”

"He's from around here. Whole family is," added Mayor Perlais with a slight growl to her voice. "He wouldn't have done this. If you find out anything, let me know. Good day."

"If you want, you can visit the hospital. He's probably there being tended to," suggested Oscare.

Mayor Perlais nodded in acknowledgment, but said nothing more as she left. Isaak once again scrambled up a tree.

"Oh, bye!" Doji turned to the others as Perlais departed. "Well, that settles that! No one would ever march against their own home!"

Isaak sat still in the tree and shuddered, still trying to regain his composure.

"What now?"

Isaak said nothing. Doji looked up at Isaak briefly before glancing around. "We should try to help anyone who was hurt by the fire!" Doji decided. She ambled off towards the town, looking around for anyone who might be in need of help.

Oscare nodded at Doji. "Good idea, the people in town might need a helping hand or two." Oscare faced upwards at Isaak. "You can stay up there forever if you want, just please avoid getting into trouble." Oscare marched over to town.

Isaak made no move to get down, instead attempting to determine if he could travel the way to where the fire was without leaving the treetops... but there weren't enough trees around for that. Isaak sighed, and he slid down the tree. He walked silently behind Doji and Oscare, checking over his shoulder and looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Oscare and Doji saw a pair of larephs sitting on the curb, ashes in their clothes and fur. Isaak also saw the larephs, but he also noticed a rago with bright blue eyes nearby. The rago met his gaze and turned away, slowly starting to walk down an alleyway. Isaak pointed out the rago to the others.

Doji approached the larephs. "Are you guys okay? Do you need help at all?"

One of the larephs shook his head. "Naw... We fine." His accent was thick and his grammar was poor, indicating that he wasn't used to speaking Standard Kylian.

"Jus' tryin' to catch our breath is all," added the other lareph.

"Oh, okay! If you're sure!" Doji turned away from them, then looked in the direction Isaak mentioned the rago."Oh! Maybe they need help?" She started after the rago. Oscare just followed Doji.

Isaak ran his hands through his hair until it turned back to black.

The two approached the rago, who turned around and growled. "Whaddya want? Busy here." She wore a brown cloak that covered most of her body, and it was lined with fur. Isaak recognized the patterns as being from a dreadhorn rather similar to the one that attacked Jerrau. Isaak whispered this information to Doji.

"We just wanted to make sure you were okay, after the fire," Doji explained. Doji glanced at Isaak as he whispered to her and inspected the rago's cloak curiously. "Nice cloak! Did you defeat a giant dreadhorn, too?"

The rago looked at her cloak as Doji mentioned it. "Bought it here."

"Where?" Oscare spoke up in interest.

The rago gestured vaguely. "Market district. East of here."

"Why don't we go check that out? Probably gonna need lots of help there," suggested Oscare.

"They're fine there," said the rago gruffly. "Didn't get hit."

"How fortunate. Do you think there's any area in particular that needs help?"

Doji peered. "Is that where you were? You don't look like you have any burns or anything, which is good!"

"No, they have it under control here." The rago shrugged. "They got warned in advance. Able to mobilize relief units and stuff."

"Oh, that's good!" Doji turned to the others. "Maybe we should look for Jaspur now, or the other shape-shifter to see if his leg is okay?"

The rago tilted her head. "Jaspur..? He speak Alamin?" Isaak nodded, remembering that Jaspur could read the the sword they found with Alamin lettering. "Weird. Don't get many Alamin-speakers 'round here."

"You know him?" asked Isaak, finally speaking up.

"No... Just recognized the name as Alamin."

"Oh! Speaking of names! What's your name?" Doji asked suddenly. "I'm Doji! We came here to warn Talis about a suspicious series of wrecks, and even an army marching here!"

"Call me Ironhide." The rago shrugged with indifference. "Right... if you got nothing to say, I'm out." Ironhide started to walk off again, apparently annoyed at being stopped to begin with.

"Goodbye!" Doji called as Ironhide left. She turned to the others. "Let's try to find Jaspur or Ralaux now!" She paused. "Do you think the mayor knows where the hospital is? That's where Ralaux would end up, with his leg, don't you think?"

Ironhide stopped. In a few large strides, she was back in front of Doji, practically staring up at the much-taller doeron. "What did you say?"

"Oh! Ralaux, the shape-shifter," Doji explained. "We met him on the way here. His leg got hurt, though, so we think he went to the hospital with our friend Jaspur."

"Ralaux... Rombaferre?"

Doji nodded. "Yeah! Do you know him?"

Ironhide said nothing at first and merely narrowed her eyes a little. "...He's injured? How?"

"Oh, he was running with a sword, as a wolf, and Isaak shot at him, I think on accident." Doji frowned slightly, remembering the sharp pain when Isaak had shot her in the back.

"...Who's Isaak?" asked Ironhide.

"Oh! This is Isaak," Doji said, nodding at him, "and this is Oscare." She gestured to the cainos. Isaak prepared to run, feeling the rago's piercing gaze on him.

"...Why?"

Oscare glared at Isaak, ready to bolt after him if need be.

"Why is he called Oscare? I'm not sure how cainos naming works," Doji admitted.

"No. Why did you shoot him?" Ironhide asked Isaak, apparently not bothered by Doji's pointless question.

"There... Alamo sword. He took it. It was evidence. I wanted us to have proof that Alamo troops were marching. Nobody would have believed us if we didn't have proof."

Ironhide was silent for a moment. She looked to the others, and then back to Isaak. "...I hate people like you," she said. "People who let their weapons think for them. I hate them. That's why this city got attacked. People got hurt. Innocent people. Because a weapon was thinking instead of a person."

Isaak sighed, and he said, "Yes."

Doji's eyes went wide. "Do you know many people like that?"

"Many. Too many." Ironhide's blue eyes narrowed again. "What do you say to a man whose house got burned to the ground? To an orphan whose only caretaker is in the hospital? To a freshly widowed woman whose husband is now a burnt corpse ten feet under..? What do you say when you know that all that happened for no reason? Nobody thinks about that anymore. All they want is quick solutions. Shoot first. Kill them before they kill us. So I hate them."

Floored, Oscare's jaw dropped. Isaak shuddered. He didn't want to stay any longer.

Doji's shoulders drooped and she looked down briefly before looking back up at Ironhide. "And you say the same thing happened here? You don't think the people who attacked here were thinking? Did you know the people who attacked here, too?"

Ironhide noticed Isaak's shudder. "Scare you? That means I'm right." She appraised the gun in its holster with a condescending glare. "That gun is the only brain you have. A steel barrel that rusts in time... but not before it's left a bloody stain on the world." Her gaze swept over the group before her. "Jaltur Ironhide. Former... Alamo officer. I was with Colonel Rombaferre when our ships all sank."

"Former?" Doji repeated.

Oscare bowed his head. "Jaltur Ironhide.? Could you tell us everything you know about what happened the time your ship sank?"

"Got hit. Bad storm," Ironhide said grimly. "Sank with a bunch of Veriols, too. But Colonel Rombaferre knew their commander. Struck a deal. Came here to find out what caused that storm. Tracked the culprit down. Colonel Rombaferre left to find his sword. And then we found the person who did it. Used a weapon to sink us. The Veriol colonel took it. Wasn't the same after. Panicked. City got torched. They ran... and so I left. Colonel Rombaferre is my only leader... but I'm not following him under the banner of the Alamo Empire. Not when my comrades would take orders from a Veriol man saying to burn everything."

"Wait, are you saying the Veriol colonel got the weapon that caused the storm and then changed enough that he torched the city with the rest of the Alamo crew?" Doji asked, shocked.

"R-really?" Isaak asked.

"A weapon was doing the thinking," intoned Ironhide.

Isaak nodded. "Wh-what weapon could do this?"

"Wait, that doesn't make sense. Why would he do that? Simply to kill the Alamo?" Oscare asked, trying to piece together this seemingly nonsensical situation.

"No... This is a Veriol city. But weapons don't discriminate between friend and foe. You point. You shoot. It won't stop just because the other guy's wearing the same colors as you."

"And people wonder why I don't trust Chrono." Jaspur emerged from a nearby alleyway then, shaking his head as he made himself known to the group and closing a small notebook with a quiet snap. "The colonel's been seen to. Any new developments here?"

Isaak took a shaky step backward.

Oscare explained, "We met the mayor. Otherwise... nothing. Besides Ironhide here."

"...Who's this..?" Ironhide asked, looking at Jaspur.

"This is our friend Jaspur!" Doji explained. "Jaspur, this is Ironhide. She's a former Alamo officer! She was with Ralaux when their ships sank!"

"Aha... stroke of luck there." Jaspur paused. "Your officer's currently recuperating. By the time I left, he was still cracking jokes, so I imagine he'll be fine with a bit of bed rest." He glanced to Isaak, gaze lingering for a second, before nodding back to Ironhide. "A pleasure, I'm sure."

"...Jaspur," Ironhide repeated. She nodded at his information. "Thank you." Ironhide looked over the group. "What are you doing here..? Do you mean to stop them? The ones who torched this city..?"

"We originally wanted the entire thing to be prevented in the first place, but that didn't go according to the plan. Right now we just want to do what we can to help," said Oscare.

Ironhide snorted with contempt. "There's nothing here for you. Unless that Veriol colonel returns for round two..."

"We were going to Suivre, to investigate the dreadhorn that attacked Jerrau, when all this stuff happened," Doji explained.

Jaspur cleared his throat. "This may be a related incident. I've acquired descriptions and names of most of the figures involved in the incident, so with luck, we'll be able to track some of the survivors down and root out the cause of this whole issue."

"They went east," said Ironhide. "All of them fled. Realized what they did. Didn't want retribution. I stayed... because I knew Colonel Rombaferre needed to know what happened."

"East? What's east of here?" asked Oscare.

"The Deadlands... They probably wanted to go where none would follow."

"I see." Jaspur paused, reflexively checking for any rank indication. However, Jaspur couldn't see any signs of Ironhide's rank. Her brown cloak covered the rest of her clothes, assuming she hadn't discarded her Alamo uniform entirely.

Doji seemed to be struggling with all the new information they've learned. "And the Veriol Colonel, the one with the weapon... they went to the Deadlands too?"

"...Weapon." Jaspur stopped, tilting his head. "That's... rather unspecific. What, precisely, is it?"

Ironhide nodded to Doji, then looked to Jaspur. "A crossbow. According to the man we took it from... it is called Nascimedo, Fear's Birth."

"So this crossbow is what's causing the storms?" confirmed Oscare.

"The man was a chronomancer... of sorts." Ironhide seemed uncertain of the specifics. "He used the weapon to channel a spell. Amplified it. Caused the storm like that."

Jaspur closed his eyes, reflecting on the name... wondering if he'd come across it before... and then it came to him. Jaspur remembered that dreadful name in a book he read on the pinnacles of Chrono-created weapons: The nine legendary godslaying weapons. Nascimedo, Fear's Birth, was the last one to be forged. He recalled that the book said Nascimedo, as its name indicates, had the power to induce terrifying hallucinations in its victims.

According to his knowledge of history, Nascimedo was said to have initiated the events that led to the Godbomb. Some claimed that Nascimedo was used to attack a god, or that its power was so great and dreadful that the gods themselves took notice, and that in turn caused the small war that ended with the Godbomb in 4100.

"That's--" Jaspur's eyes widened. "A..."

"Wh-what?" Isaak asked, uncertain if he wanted an answer.

Jaspur muttered, disbelieving. "...But... godslayers are..." He looked again at the officer's face, as if waiting for some kind of retraction or condition, but when none seemed forthcoming, he swallowed hard. "...Dire circumstances indeed."

Oscare's eyes widened at the mention of Godslayers. "Boy, does THAT take me back."

Isaak crossed his arms, saying nothing.

Doji looked around at the assembled group in confusion. "So, are we going after the Veriol Colonel? What's their name, anyways?"

Ironhide was mostly quiet at Jaspur's comment, but she barely suppressed a snort of contempt. To Doji, she said, "Ferries Parang."

"...Is he from around here?" asked Isaak.

Ironhide nodded. "Yeah. Colonel Rombaferre knew him as a kid."

"...Alright." Jaspur narrowed his eyes, staring east. "In that event... our task is perfectly clear." Still looking away, he spoke aloud to the officer. "You said the others were following him? Out of..?"

"Loyalty. Fear," suggested Ironhide.

"Hm. So, if their leader were to no longer be an issue, they would lay down their arms..." Jaspur's eyes gleamed briefly. He glanced to Isaak. "You. How good of a shot are you?"

"Do not shoot Colonel Parang," growled Ironhide.

"Not him." Jaspur stroked his chin, a grim smile on his face. "Can you shoot a weapon from a man's hand?"

"I would not trust a man who thinks with his gun to shoot the weapon and not the wielder," said Ironhide, her tail thrashing angrily behind her. "If you harm Colonel Parang, I will come after you. There isn't a man alive that Colonel Rombaferre cares for more... and for my commander, I will ensure that he remains unharmed."

"But like you said, Parang isn't thinking right! It's that weapon. Isaak would never hurt an innocent person on purpose!" Doji said.

Isaak said nothing, but was staring at his hands.

"I'm tired of explaining it to her," Oscare said wearily, throwing his arms up in defeat at Doji insisting Isaak's innocence.

"You said it yourself. He shot Colonel Rombaferre. Men like him do not change. You put them in any situation... and they react the same." Ironhide pointed with her clawed hand, mimicking a gun. "The adrenaline kicks in. They don't even think about it. That's how used to it they are. They cry it wasn't their fault. But who pulled the trigger..?"

Isaak looked up at Ironside. "It was my fault. I couldn't control myself. I shouldn't have put myself in that situation. I did shoot someone, Doji," Isaak said, and turned to her. "I had just gotten out of a prison... They were trying to sell me, like a piece of meat. And I did it... I was so angry and upset. I was beyond irrational. I wanted someone to suffer like I had suffered. It wasn't fair." Isaak wiped tears out of his eye. He pulled out his rifle, and held it out to Ironside. "I shot Rombaferre. It never occurred to me that it could have been a shapeshifter. I haven't been home in so long. The thought never crossed my mind. It was just another animal, another target, another thing. But I would have done it even if I knew. So, take this. I don't want it anymore," Isaak said, bitterly. "You think with your mind. You take the shot. Someone else do it. Give me time to recover my mind back." Isaak turned to Jaspur. "I know I promised I'd be here, and that I'd help. But I don't want to help. Not now, I can't now... I don't... I'd do my best, but something would go wrong, something always goes wrong."

Seeing Isaak sag, Jaspur rounded on Ironhide, turning to fully face her and meeting her gaze with a firm stare. "I do not claim to know this man better than you do, but from the testimony of his colleagues, I would presume that he would not abide the actions of his current madness. My aim is to devise a course of action in which as little harm comes to either side as possible. I have already promised Rombaferre that if any harm comes to Parang, through the actions of me or my colleagues, the responsibility is on my head. And rest assured I have the same faith in my team as this colonel doubtless has in his." Glancing back to Isaak, Jaspur hesitated, looking down at him. He seemed frozen for a moment, grasping for words as something flickers across his mind, then set his hand on Isaak's shoulder. He cleared his throat, somewhat uncomfortably, then simply said, "Good men may make mistakes."

"I can't remember the last time I was a good man," Isaak said, and he started walking away. Ironhide wordlessly snatched the offered rifle out of Isaak's hands before he left.

"I will agree to your plan," Ironhide said to Jaspur, roughly stowing away the gun, "but I will not have him be the keystone of it. You ask too much requiring me to trust in a man that shot Colonel Rombaferre."

Doji struggled with Isaak's monologue, her head swimming. She watched him go for a moment, frowning. "But, Isaak, you are a good man!" she insisted, trailing after him.

Noting Doji following Isaak, Jaspur briefly exhaled in relief. To Ironhide, he nodded. "...That is acceptable, then. I will find another capacity for him to assist that will satisfy both you and he. Regarding... him, I only ask that you are willing to be proven wrong, should circumstances allow it." His shoulders slumped slightly. "I don't suppose you have any estimate of the relative danger in a night of rest and preparation before we move to neutralize the situation?"

Ironhide's ears flicked, and she shook her head slightly at the notion of Isaak proving her wrong, but she said nothing about it.

"...We would have to be fast to catch up with them," said Ironhide. "But... they would have to rest as well. And they are moving a larger company across difficult terrain. It... is not unacceptable."

"So, they're traveling..." Jaspur made a soft tsk. "Their endgame, then? Where would they be heading?"

"East... to the Deadlands. If they are just running, they have no endgame other than escape."

"Dangerous." Jaspur shook his head grimly, lost in thought. "...but we can manage. The further out, the less risk of collateral damage, too. It seems to me as though we could all do with a moment to breathe before charging out, after all - and I might be able to track down some supplies in town that might help everyone come out of this unscathed. An ounce of prevention, and all that."

Ironhide stared at Jaspur. "You're making a great assumption there... That they'd even make it through the Deadlands. They aren't named that just for fun."

"I want to visit Perlais sometime before we leave, I feel like she could possibly lend us a hand. But I'm going to take a rest before that," said Oscare, jumping in.

Jaspur gave her a flat stare. "Well, you know the area -- and the relative strength of the group -- better than I. Your appraisal, then?"

Ironhide shrugged. "It'll give me time to talk to Colonel Rombaferre before we go. Go ahead and rest."

"Alright. I imagine you'd prefer to make that visit on your own?" Jaspur sniffed, massaging a temple. Ironhide nodded. "...Alright then." Jaspur gestured with his walking stick in the direction he came from. "He's being treated in a nearby hospital. They should be able to assist you at the front desk... If you'd prefer the rest of the day to yourself, we'll meet at the city's border tomorrow morning. Any requests in terms of supplies and preparation?"

"Be ready... to move fast," was all Ironhide said. With a curt nod, she left for the hospital.

Jaspur stared after her, then shook his head, sighing. "I can understand the reason for her emotional state, but... something about her... is concerning me."

Oscare looked at Jaspur. "What?"

Jaspur straightened, adjusting his collar. "It's been my experience that a soldier who is too set in their own way of thinking... might be no better than an unpredictable one." Glancing to Oscare, he nodded. "...My apologies. It's been a long day."

Oscare nodded to Jaspur, thinking on his words. "I'm... going to go rest." He wandered off to the nearest inn.

Jaspur turned towards the alley again, glancing back towards the commercial district. "Once more into the breach..." After a moment's pause, he glanced back towards the other two, standing quietly in the side street, watching.

Isaak had kept walking, Doji following after him. Not even glancing back, when Doji insisted he was a good person, he said, "No, Doji. Maybe I was once. Not anymore. I need some time before I could even come close again."

Doji continued after Isaak stubbornly. "You can't just stop being a good person," she argued. "It doesn't work like that."

"Doji. Enough. I don't want to hear it. I need time, okay? I didn't even come here to do any of this, but I jumped in immediately, guns blazing. Good people don't do that. I don't even know why I came along. I wasn't trying to help, I don't really need the money. I just... did. Just let me go, alright? Maybe I'll see you again someday."

"I came to look for my soul gem," Doji said, looking down at Isaak. "I didn't come to help people either. But I did. And so did you! You helped people in Mioura. Because that's what good people do."

Isaak shook his head. "Doji... I can't even remember the last thing I did that wasn't for me. Everything I've done was because I wanted something or didn't want it. I just... I don't want to keep telling myself I'm being roped into things. I want to know why I'm doing them, or who I'm doing them for. I want a reason, because it sure as hell isn't that I want to help."

Doji struggled with what to say. "There's nothing wrong with doing things for yourself sometimes," she said finally. Quietly. "Maybe... maybe you could help me. Help us. By doing something for you? Something you can be proud of later? Is that a... a good enough reason?"

"...What?"

"You'll know why you're helping us take back the weapon from Parang. You'll know who you're doing it for. You're doing it to help us. And you're doing it for you. To prove to yourself that you're a good person," Doji explained.

A chill wind blew by; the four had been walking along the road for some time now, and Talis was still nowhere in sight. Then again, Zajcitos had warned them that it would take them all day to reach Talis if they didn't get delayed...

"Sooooooo." Oscare coughed in the silence. "How's everyone faring?"

Doji ambled along, humming happily to herself. She glanced at Oscare, smiling. "Great!" she answered with a nod. "We'll be there in no time!"

Oscare shrugged. "Remember what Zajcitos said -- it'd take a day to reach Talis without delays. And considering our weird luck, who knows what the heck will happen? I wouldn't be surprised if Queen Dokani showed up right now."

Doji stiffened at the mention of the Queen, glancing around wildly. "You think she'll come back?!"

"Let's pray that she doesn't. Note: do not camp by suspicious statues."

Isaak shuddered at the memory.

The sun seemed to be closer to the horizon now, approaching evening. The land around them appeared to be much flatter and with fewer places to hide, if they needed to camp out here.

Jaspur sighed, grumbling. "If anyone has second winds remaining, now would be a good time for them to manifest. I'd prefer we made it to some warm beds before we end up needing them."

As they continued along, they noticed a set of tracks that grew more obvious the farther along the road they went.

"Uh oh, we got tracks here." Oscare pointed out, just in case the other hadn't seen. "Someone beat us here."

"Tracks?" Doji peered down to where Oscare had pointed. "Do you think it's the Queen?"

Jaspur wrinkled his nose. "Is that unusual? This is the main inter-city road, if our guide's advice is to be believed."

Isaak nodded. "A bit. It's fuckin' cold. Plus, we haven't run into anybody yet."

"Jaspur has a point. I wouldn't say that Zajcitos lied to us. But it's something to think about."

Doji trudged forwards past the tracks. "Well, we have to warn the town," she said.

Jaspur took a closer look at the tracks, judging them to be from someone wearing shoes rather than some sort of beast.

"Indeed. Simple travelers." Jaspur sniffed.

"Could've been. Or it could've been the soldiers we're meant to warn the town about." Isaak sighed, but drew his rifle nonetheless. "I really cannot stand people who I can't see until the last minute."

Doji suddenly heard squeaking in the grass. Glancing around for the source of the noise, she spotted a small mouse crossing the path in front of her. She gave chase and tried to grab it, but the mouse ran off, avoiding her clumsy grasp. After watching it go for a second, she grinned and ambled along.

Jaspur watched the mouse go, pausing a moment. A mouse that small, he deduced, wouldn't be native to Olaka. It looked more like the kind of small mice on Sigzlor that eventually became an invasive species on Raljikka due to trade between the two planets.

Jaspur shook his head. "...Perhaps I'm imagining things."

Isaak, suddenly wary, looked around for a sign of anyone approaching.. He did see a large hawk soar through the sky, though. The bird let out a loud screech as it flew overhead. He recognized the species as a Leux's Hawk, easily recognizable by the bright red splotch on their chests and their crimson talons. The others saw the hawk as well, but didn't recognize the species.

Leux's Hawks were common around Hasse, though they weren't unheard of elsewhere in Olaka if it wasn't too cold. As an Olakan species, their feathers were sometimes used by locals in ornaments or decorations. Sometimes even armies would use the feathers as an emblem of sorts as a show of pride to their country.

"You alright, Jaspur?" Oscare asked, noticing Jaspur's wariness.

"Oh, mm... it's nothing." Jaspur shook his head again. "Overthinking. That mouse wasn't a variety commonly found here."

"Hm." Oscare nodded and continued to walk down the path, not thinking much of Jaspur's comment.

Isaak glanced up at the hawk again but continued to walk, occasionally looking up at the bird as he went. It reminded him a bit of when he lived around Hasse; those hawks would often try to steal food from anyone careless enough to leave their meals unattended.

Isaak wrinkled his nose. He mumbled, "Maybe..."

"Maybe what?" Oscare asked Isaak.

Isaak rolled his eyes. "See that hawk? It's a scavenger. If you're not careful when you're eating it'll eat the meal right out of your hands. Just the sort of creature who'd follow a big caravan of soldiers."

"You think that means they're ahead of us?" Doji asked, glancing up at the hawk.

"Maybe," said Oscare with a frown. "We'd better hurry."

Doji hurried along at Oscare's urging.

Closing his eyes, Jaspur tried to think of who the authority in such a city might be – the person they'd be warning of the potential attack. Although he couldn't think of any authority by name, he did know that such cities in Olakan provinces are run by mayors who in turn are part of and answer to a province-wide council.

As the group continued on, they noticed that the hawk above them seemed to be circling over them.

"You said they're scavengers?" Oscare questioned. "Do you think that bird wants food from us?"

"The only thing I have on me is whiskey." Jaspur eyed the bird warily. "Somehow I doubt that's to its tastes."

"I have a few good meals?" Doji piped up.

"If you've got food, be more careful with it than you're being right now. And whiskey is probably the only food the bird won't try to get at. I'm serious. Watch your stomachs, people." Isaak said. It had been too long since he was on Olaka. He couldn't even remember if that was closer to a joke or the truth.

Doji looked at her stomach in confusion.

Isaak looked at Doji. "You, uh... You do digest food in your stomach, right? It's not just some thing you have for breathing fire or anything? Like, that's where your food goes until you poop it out?"

"Yes?" Doji said, though she wasn't sure. "Let's keep going."

She trudged on, occasionally glancing at her stomach.

Isaak sighed. "Just mind the hawk, Doji, don't literally watch your own stomach. It was a joke that the hawk will disembowel you to get to the food inside it."

“Ooh, okay.”

The hawk abruptly swooped down and flew in front of Isaak, dropping a charred object in front of him.

Isaak hopped back, startled. He looked down at the charred object, trying to determine what it was before he picked it up.

The object seemed to be a charred piece of cloth wrapped around a pebble. The non-charred parts of the cloth were a vivid shade of green.

Isaak turned it over in his hand. "Green cloth. Veriol alliance. Charred pretty badly. Could be from the last wreck we found, or... there's another one somewhere." Isaak searched for signs of anything buried in the snow nearby. Seeing something sparkling, he ran over to it and uncovered it. It was a longsword with a blue Alamo Empire emblem on its hilt.

"Another wreck?" Doji inquired, glancing around as though searching for more charred wood and metal.

"Not a wreck, though there still may be one nearby. A sword," Isaak said, showing the sword to the others.

"Nice longsword." Oscare peered at the sword with a slow nod, admiring its quality.

Jaspur coughed meaningfully. "We should keep moving?"

They nodded at this and continued on, though the sword remained a subject of interest.

"Suspicions confirmed, I guess. I'd give it to you without a question, Oscare, if it didn't have this emblem on the hilt. It wouldn't really go over well to warn a town full of Veriols that an army's coming to rip them apart and then have something that identifies you, and consequently, us, as Alamo troops," Isaak reasoned.

Jaspur self-consciously pulled his coat further over his armor.

Oscare asked, "Can I see for a quick second? I want to check something on it."

Isaak sighed. "Fine, but get rid of it. Only keep it if you can get the emblem completely and totally off. No fucking around, alright?" He handed Oscare the sword.

Oscare took hold of the sword and started to look it over.

"Well, I suppose if we did bring it, then it'd serve as proof. Though in theory, we have that already. Jaspur, what do you think? Bring it or leave it?" asked Isaak.

"Should we just leave it here?" Oscare asked as he returned it to Isaak. “It's causing us some trouble already.”

Isaak shrugged and started to look over the sword once more, holding it up to the dwindling sunlight. He saw something written in Alamin on the hilt, but he couldn't read it.

Jaspur shook his head wearily. "It serves to prove the point of our deployment, doesn't it? We'll take it if we can conceal it appropriately, until a point at which we might need it."

"Fair point. You speak Alamin?" asked Isaak.

"Of course. Why?"

Isaak showed Jaspur the sword's hilt. "I'm not sure it's of much importance, but that's Alamin, right? What's it say?"

Curiously enough, the name wasn't a very Alamin name, despite being in Alamin. It said, "Ralaux Rombaferre". It seemed like a name more befitting an Olakan native.

Jaspur read it aloud, a little bemused. "Some manner of label of ownership, I would imagine. Keep an ear out for that name."

Isaak nodded.

"Gotcha."

The hawk divebombed Isaak again, knocking into his hands and causing him to drop the sword. The hawk's form shimmered, turning into a wolf. Before the group could react, the wolf grabbed the sword in its jaws and dashed off!

Doji watched as the wolf ran past with the sword before looking back to the group. "Whoa! Where'd that come from? Why did you give it the sword?"

"We didn't give it to him! He just went ahead and took it!" Oscare shouted back.

Isaak pulled his gun back out and shot twice at the wolf as fast as he could.

The bullet hit the wolf in the leg! The beast fell to the ground, the sword clattering to the ground. The creature's form morphed again, and a shape-shifter man was seen clutching his leg on the ground. Blood was pooling around his navy trousers where the bullet hit him.

"Goddammit, you fuck! It's my sword!" he spat at Isaak, struggling to crawl over to his sword despite his wounded leg.

Jaspur's eyes widened briefly, before he gritted his teeth, rushing over towards the man. Wordlessly, Oscare also ran over to aid the wounded man.

"Then don't try to steal it, you stupid fuck!" Isaak shouted back. "If you had asked, maybe I wouldn't have shot you! And what are you doing with a damned Alamo sword?!"

"Steal?! I came back to get it, shithead!" the shape-shifter hollered back. "Ow... Fuck! Fucking kids with goddamned guns!"

Gritting his teeth, his blond hair matted with sweat from the effort, he finally reached the sword and sheathed it. He glares at Jaspur, Oscare, and Doji, who also ran over to help.

"The hell is this maniac's problem?! Shooting the shit out of something that changed shape in front of him! Obviously it was a shape-shifter, shit-for-brains!"

"Hold still, I'll fix that up right now." Oscare attempted to get close to the man's leg to tend to the wound.

"So?! Being a shape-shifter doesn't make you any more trustworthy than anything else! Now, where'd you get the sword?!" Isaak demanded.

“Shooting a Kylian without provocation is a crime!" the shape-shifter shouted back. He hissed in pain as Oscare bandaged up his leg, but his grimace turned to one more of gratitude when the salve-coated bandages started to take effect. "Ugh... Thank the gods you guys are more sane..."

Isaak snorted. "You fucking provoked me! You snatched a sword out of my hand, asshole! How was I supposed to know the sword was yours? And quit fucking dodging the question! Where'd you get the sword?!" Isaak said, grabbing the man by the collar and yanking him away from Oscare.

"Get this fucker away from me!" the man shouted. "What the hell happened to arms laws on Olaka?! You used to have to get a fucking permit to have shit like that!"

"What's your name?! Where'd you get the sword?!" Isaak demanded again.

"Makhil, calm down. Yelling isn't obviously helping," Oscare said.

Doji looked between the two shape-shifters. "Makhil's a nice guy," she assured the bleeding shape-shifter. "We were just on our way to warn Talis about some sort of army that's marching on them!"

"The sword is mine!" spat back the shape-shifter. He pointed at the hilt as best he could from his current position. "It's got my name on it! Ralaux Rombaferre!"

Isaak sighed, and he let the man go. "Well, at least you're not lying. Sorry I shot you. But that still doesn't answer why you've got an Alamo longsword."

"Oh, I wonder," sneered Ralaux through gritted teeth. "Maybe... just maybe... it's because... I'm with the Alamo Empire? Holy shit. What a concept."

"Wonderful," Isaak said, reloading his rifle and pointing it point-blank at Ralaux. "I'm no longer sorry I shot you."

Doji looked at Isaak, alarmed.

"Enough." Jaspur walked forward, staring him down. "In that case, I would say you're in a position to provide us with some information, hm?"

“You're on his side?" Ralaux stared at Jaspur with disbelief. "C'mon! You're a sulevam!"

"I'd prefer if we put the whole concept of 'sides' aside, for now," Jaspur said smoothly. "Ralaux, was it?" He scanned him over, looking for some manner of rank identification, or somehow assessing his responsibility level.

Jaspur saw that on his coat was a mjolinnar: a special medal awarded to soldiers for outstanding heroism or actions. Aside from that, he also spied an emblem indicating that Ralaux was a colonel.

"Grew up in Olaka, before you ask why I'm a shape-shifter with a Rodol name," said Ralaux, narrowing his grey eyes. "But the Veriol Alliance just didn't do it for me."

"So you went to join the Alamo Empire? Interesting," Oscare mused.

"Grew up in Olaka? So you must know about dreadhorns, and that kind of thing! We fought a dreadhorn yesterday. A really big one," Doji said.

Jaspur raised an eyebrow. "An officer..."

"An officer, huh? How about something a little more interesting, sir?" Isaak demanded. "Like, where are your imperial buddies?"

"I'm sorry, I don't speak 'whiny bitch'. Mind translating for your buddy here?" Ralaux asked the rest of the group.

"I think he's asking where your king and queen friends are," Doji said, then she stiffened. "You know the Queen?" she whispered dangerously.

"The what?" Ralaux asked, frowning at the mention of a king and queen.

Isaak let out a long sigh. "No, Doji. That is not what I am asking."

Oscare quietly explained to Doji what Isaak was really trying to ask. Comprehension flickered over her face, and she nodded in understanding.

"We know there's a group of Alamos on this planet, getting dreadhorns to attack forts and capturing Veriol soldiers. Where are they?" Isaak demanded again.

Jaspur raised a hand briefly, giving Isaak a brief glance, as if to request patience. After a moment, he looked down at the wounded officer. "That's quite a recommendation you're wearing, Colonel."

His eyes flickered to the medal.

"I love it when asshats jump to conclusions based on probably nothing. Please, keep acting like the little shitstain you are and waste everyone's time." Ralaux rolled his eyes and leans his head back, but he seems to become more interested at Jaspur recognizing his rank. He sat up, careful not to agitate his leg. "Fuck yeah, it is! Got it from a land mission in Kes Joshawk during my training. Everything went to hell after our acting commander kicked the bucket, but I took charge and salvaged the whole operation like a fucking badass."

Isaak rolled his eyes, but managed to keep his trap shut. Jaspur glanced over him, attempting to estimate his age. Though he seemed a bit young to be an officer, he wasn't implausibly young for his rank.

"Wow! Good job!" Doji said earnestly. "I've been to Kes Joshawk," she commented. "There was a giant dragon robot. It was really fun!"

"And that elevated you a couple stations higher as well, I'd guess... Hm. You must have had some superiors. Field experience is not always respected as a proof of worth." Jaspur nodded approvingly. "But... why send you out here, then?"

"Nobody knows Olaka better than me," said Ralaux.

"Then I have a question for you. How close are we to Talis?" Oscare asked.

"Two, three hours," Ralaux estimated without skipping a beat.

"Two or three more hours? We're not too terribly far then. That's a relief." Oscare nodded.

"How close is the army to Talis, then?" Doji asked no one in particular, peering down the path.

"What army?" asked Ralaux.

"The army who sent you out here, dumbass, because you supposedly know the land better than anyone," jeered Isaak.

"Well, most of them are about several hundred feet under the ocean because we got hit by a storm," said Ralaux with another sneer. "Any other questions?"

"Fuck, you're stupid and out of the loop."

"Ghosts are going to attack Talis?" Doji asked in confusion.

"Maybe if you two stopped interrupting and insulting him." Oscare coughed. When he had silence from the others, he continued. "You guys were hit by a storm when?"

Ralaux shrugged. "A week ago, now."

"You and who else survived, if you happen to know?"

"Classified info."

Oscare sighed. He hoped that Jaspur would work his magic to get this guy to be more forthcoming with information.

Isaak grit his teeth and grabbed his rifle tighter. Leave it to Oscare to get a captive who was open and dripping with info to shut up entirely.

Doji peered down the path before looking back to Ralaux. "Hop on," she instructed the shape-shifter. "We can talk and move at the same time. If ghosts are attacking Talis, we have to help! And if you grew up in Olaka, wouldn't you want to help us save Talis, too?"

Jaspur cleared his throat. "...We'd rather minimize bad-feeling and casualties on all sides, to be quite clear. I'm sure you've spent enough time in the ranks to know that a lack of communication is the single source of most conflict, both internally and externally." He glanced across the white fields, then back to Ralaux. "Now, allow me to think aloud: If they needed someone with specialized interests... and expertise... then this is a special-interest mission. Someone has a goal here. One you agree with?"

"That's a loaded question," grunted Ralaux as he tried to maneuver himself onto Doji's back, mindful of her wings and his wounded leg.

Doji headed towards Talis as well as she could manage with the shape-shifter on her back. The others followed along, keeping up with her pace.

"It would be if it were your superiors asking." Jaspur smiled a little wearily, despite himself.

"Things have a way of getting back to them," said Ralaux. "Doesn't really matter what the goal was. Our ships sank. Most everyone died. I came back here to get my sword and got shot by an asswipe. I'd say that's a resounding failure no matter what the original goal was."

"How'd your sword run off without you?" Isaak asked innocuously. Well, as innocuous as he could be.

"Bandits."

Isaak snorted.

"Bandits! What did they look like?" Doji questioned, craning her neck to look at Ralaux, who shrugged in turn.

"I dunno. They got u-- me in the night."

Jaspur moved on, nodding quietly. "We dispatched some on the way. A couple of humans."

"Maybe it was them, then," said Ralaux with another shrug.

Jaspur nodded, sighing slightly. "...If you used to live around here, does that mean you'll be recognized once we reach civilization? Are there any precautions we should take?"

"Uh... I'm a shape-shifter," Ralaux said flatly, almost offended that Jaspur would seemingly insinuate he'd be so stupid.

"Ah." Jaspur nodded quietly, breathing out. "Forgive my ignorance. I'm not entirely familiar with the specifics and limitations of that particular... ability. I myself cannot."

Ralaux stared at Jaspur with a mix of curiosity and confusion, but he let it go.

"In that case -- may I ask what you intend to do once you're fit and able once more?" Jaspur continued.

"I can eliminate that possibility," Isaak offered.

“Ooh, look! The bitch speaks up again, trying to act tough." Ralaux craned his neck to look at Isaak. "You're not fooling anyone. I even saw your skin warp a few times when you were talking before. What're you trying to hide, huh? Is your real face so fucking ugly you need to shape-shift?"

"It isn't an act, retard. You were full on sprinting, totally fine, and I took you the fuck down. If you tried to run you'd be dead before you got thirty feet."

“Shooting someone in the back is real tough, yeah. You sure got me there." Ralaux rolled his shoulders, then turned back to face forward. "Hey -- what? What's..?"

There was rising smoke on the horizon -- and a lot of it.

"Again?" Jaspur wrinkled his nose. "I thought she said that was unusual."

"That'll be your asshole empire buddies, I imagine," Isaak said to Ralaux.

"Shove your gun down your fucking mouth and pull the trigger and do us all a favor, will you?!" Ralaux snapped at Isaak. "We're not--"

He yelped in surprise and hung on tighter as Doji bolted ahead.

Jaspur wobbled slightly at the sudden burst of speed, but attempted to catch up, using the cane to semi-skip as best he can. "...Dammit, dammit, dammit."

Without thinking, Isaak shot once at Ralaux. Isaak's bullet struck Doji in the back, narrowly missing Ralaux. Doji yelped in surprise as the bullet sunk into her thick hide, but she tried to hurry onwards and ignore the pain.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" Oscare shouted at Isaak.

Isaak, totally overwhelmed, suddenly reverted to his original form, and his original face.

"Hey -- what?!" Oscare's jaw dropped. "You're Isaak! I should've known!"

Completely lost, Jaspur glanced between them, wheezing as he tried to continue running. "What?"

Isaak could think of nothing to do but suddenly and abruptly shift into the owl that was all too familiar to Oscare, and he began to fly away.

"I know him!" Oscare shouted as Isaak changed shape. "He killed someone we were trying to help!"

Cursing to himself, he wished he had a bow or something that could potentially hit the owl attempting to fly off, but Isaak, probably out of nervousness of being discovered, couldn't take off into the sky fast enough! Oscare launched himself at the owl and grabbed him, not caring about being delicate with the bird's wings.

Upon hearing the name Isaak, Doji turned around to see the familiar face. She yelled out a happy and very confused greeting before seeing Oscare grab the shapeshifted Isaak. "Makhil-- er, Isaak? What's going on?"

Isaak slashed his talons and peckrf at Oscare, but Oscare hung on tight, gritting his teeth.

"He's not the Isaak you remember, Doji." Oscare narrowed his eyes. "He's practically insane."

"Whoa! Stop the presses! The little fucker who shoots random strangers is insane?!" Ralaux jeered from atop Doji's back.

Doji looked from the owl to Oscare, frowning. "I don't think he can move very well when you're holding him like that! You might be hurting him," she said in concern. "And of course he's the Isaak I remember! He helped us beat the Queen! You must be the one with memory problems, Oscare.”

Oscare shook his head.

"No -- he's acted differently, Doji. He shot someone over and over again, and he almost killed me and another man for getting in his way." Oscare closed his eyes and set his jaw, remembering the West Block Prison.

"Hey, this is nice and all, but can we just put a leash on him and keep going?" urged Ralaux. He seemed to feel bad for Doji, for he started bandaging her up around the bullet wound.

Doji frowned. "That doesn't sound like Isaak. You must be thinking of someone else." She glanced over her shoulder at Ralaux, smiling at him. "Thank you, that feels better! And I agree, we should keep moving. That smoke up ahead can't be good!"

Oscare got to his feet, still holding the struggling owl. Doji pushed on ahead, leaving Oscare with Isaak.

"Jaspur? Do you have any rope or anything?" he called out.

"N-No--" A little shaken, Jaspur shook his head. "I don't..." He looked back and forth between them, reaching a decision as quickly as he could, and moved towards Oscare to aid in holding Isaak. He stared at him, attempting to speak as calmly as he can. "Who are you?"

Isaak, still an owl, couldn't say much of anything other than a belligerent squawk.

Oscare belatedly remembered Doji had a number of random objects in her possession as she ran off. She could've had rope. With a sigh, he looked at Jaspur.

"Before I met you, I... traveled with him. His name is Isaak. Me, Doji, him, and some others got into some trouble on Mioura. A little after that, I met him again in Nicta. There were some... gang wars going on. Isaak shot one of the gangsters we were trying to help, and then he shot me and a man named Ezwell." Oscare furrowed his brow, hoping he got Ezwell's name right. "We woke up in the hospital, and I didn't think I'd see him again, but..."

Jaspur nodded, a little shakily, then exhaled. He looked to Isaak, hesitating. "I'd... I want to hear his side of the issue, but... if this is true, you know him best between us: would he simply attempt to flee if we gave him the chance?"

Oscare nodded. "He tried to run back in Nicta, too."

Jaspur shook his head. "...Then I suppose we have no choice... Can you hold him like that until we get to the city?"

"Probably." Oscare looked at Isaak for a moment, glaring. "If you run, that only makes it harder for you. We'll deal with you later."

Isaak's eyes burned with a fury that no animal could genuinely contain.

As Doji and Ralaux got closer, they could make out more details of what seemed to be a city that was recently torched. Even from afar, they could see people running around and trying to extinguish the remains of the flames.

"What the hell..?" Ralaux stared at Talis, his eyes wide.

"We have to help!" Doji yelped, dashing closer to the flames. She quickly reached into her Chrono Ring and pulled out a Wave Bomb II, chucking it at the largest concentration of flames she could find.

"Whoa!" Ralaux fell off Doji's back as she threw the bomb. "Fuck!"

The bomb detonated and put out some of the flames with a huge splash of water.

When Jaspur and Oscare arrived, they saw some of the locals putting out fires and Ralaux struggling to his feet, angrily cursing. They did notice that his face was much more different than it was before when they saw him last, but the rest of his body was still very much the same. He was likely struggling to change shape with the constant pain of the gunshot wound.

"Thank you!" shouted one of the Talis citizens, a lareph with scruffy fur, to Doji. "This was the last of them, I think... You came at just the right time!"

Jaspur panted, leaning on his axe. "Well... done there... m'gel..."

Doji glanced at Ralaux. "Oh, sorry! Are you okay?" she asks him, slightly confused by his face looking different. She turned to the citizen, her eyes wide with concern. "What happened?"

The lareph faltered before admitting, "I don't know. I think Mayor Perlais is gathering up people who were witnesses..."

"Where?" asked Doji.

The lareph gestured vaguely. "Probably at the police station. It's down a few blocks from here."

Doji nodded, glancing around at the others. "Let's go find out what happened!" she said, hurrying in the direction the lareph gestured without checking to see if anyone was following.

"Fuuuuuuuuck," Ralaux grumbled as he staggered to his feet. The lareph noticed and grabbed hold of him before he could fall over.

"I'll take your friend to the hospital," said the lareph. He gave Oscare a confused look at the owl held in his hands, then decided he was better off not knowing and started to walk down the road, Ralaux grumbling and complaining loudly the whole way.

"Tch..." Jaspur gritted his teeth, lowering his head and shutting his eyes tight for a moment as he tried to think. Still wheezing for breath, he looked badly thrown off by the whole situation, especially the revelation of Isaak. "Alright. First... order of business..." He nodded at Oscare, breathing out sharply. "You have the situation... er, in hand, so I'll make sure Ralaux doesn't slip away from us. If you see Doji, tell her we'll meet up in about two hours at the nearest standing inn or hostel to the station. Alright?"

Oscare nodded in understanding. "I'll go find a shop to get a cage or something until we can deal with him."

Isaak let out an indignant squawk at the prospect.

Ddremmu gave a resigned sigh. "I was hoping it would be easier to arrive at the chain, as it looms right overhead us," she grumpily said, scanning the area for anything out of place.

Cameo kept quiet; he walked in pace alongside Varthenral, partially because he was confident she was the only one who didn't want to kill him at this point. The others loosely stuck together, though Astruc kept careful to stay near Aricrauer especially.

Varthenral glanced at Cameo and then Astruc. However, she caught sight of Gilda's eidolon and hurried over.

"That-- that beast... is, is it a spirit beast?" she asked, tripping over her own words. "Ah -- no, no the Standard word is Kylian. I-I mean, eidolon! Is that... Is that an eidolon? Are you a summoner?"

Gilda glanced over to Varthenral and nodded slowly. "Yeah, have you never seen an eidolon before? Or a summoner for that matter?" She glanced to her companion for a moment before glancing around at the group.

"Not, not up close, no," said Varthenral. She reached out, as if to touch it, then seems to think better of it and retracted her hand. "Yours is... is very nice. I can-- I can sense the strong magic from him. Or... or her?"

"I like to think of it as a boy, but it is an eidolon, I guess," Gilda commented absentmindedly.

Astruc still seemed to be distracted, though his eyes wandered around the group before landing on Cameo. He slowly walked up to him, though as he talked his words came out more as a whisper. "So, what is this... god's blood thing you were talking about?"

Aricrauer quietly followed Astruc, seemingly also curious about the subject. However, she seemed on edge from just being this close to Cameo.

Cameo's ears twitched; he wasn't expecting anyone to pay him any mind beyond a glare of suspicion after what happened earlier, much less Astruc. Or Aricauer.

"I don't know much about it myself, but according to my captain--" Cameo glanced over to Aricrauer with hesitation at the mention of Hretlakk, "-- people who can use the godslaying weapons are descended from the gods. Kuun, Renddar, the usual crew you hear the devoted praising." Cameo shifted his glance to Ddremmu, then back to Astruc and Aricrauer. "I don't know if it's a load of crap or not. I've seen some pretty miraculous things lately, so... I guess I wouldn't think it was too far fetched anymore. I dunno what god would bless me, I've just been slumming around the galaxy for most of my life. Was a real cliché story if you ask me, but I guess I can't complain. It's not every day you hear of people who can use a sword strong enough to strike a god, after all."

Astruc frowned. He was too dumb to be related to a god, or so he thought.

"An' here I thought my dad talkin' about Neerakei was just a load of kardoc shit," Aricrauer commented. She looked over to Rokordi. "You said people who aren't related t'the gods can't hold the weapons? That they burn them?"

"Yeah, that's right." Cameo considered the pros and cons of ratting Rokordi out. On one hand, he didn't come to his defense when Aricrauer was ready to turn him into a pile of ashes. On the other, as a spy he had a certain creed to uphold when it came to keeping information to himself until the time was right. He didn't much care for that creed today, though. He shrugged, watching everyone else for a moment.

On closer examination of some indentations in the sidewalk that she noticed, Ddremmu saw that, though parts of them were caved in, the indentations almost seemed like a drain for excess storm water. She noticed that the road sloped down towards these indentations on the sides, probably to keep the roads from flooding.

"How disappointing," Ddremmu said. "I thought these might be clues for the island."

Gilda heard the sound of moving water. Varthenral looked over to where Ddremmu was and also looked at the indentations.

"I don't... I don't think this is something con-- connected to the waterfall," Varthenral said. "But -- but something like that... if we could, could find canals... or, or anything else that... could have been physically connected to -- to the waterfall..."

Ddremmu perked up a little. "Then, shall we all search?" she called out to the group.

"That guy's covering his face because he's not normal, and I don't mean not normal like you or me. He's made of stone." Cameo ignored the others; Aricrauer was giving him an opportunity to speak without pointing her giant burning sword at him, he was going to take it. "They call 'em Colossi. They came before us Kylians, when they were still alive anyway. They have to die before they can become one of the colossus, which... is why he can't use godslayers." Cameo folds his arms, "I saw it first hand, though I'unno how he could possibly be around..." He looks back to Ddremmu, "We killed the crazy bitch that brought them into existence in the first place."

Astruc made a very confused face at Cameo, though he looked in Rokordi's direction as he mumbled to himself. Most likely something about knowing he was a freak this whole time

"Stone?" Aricrauer stared at Rokordi. "...Weird."

She didn't seem to give it anymore thought. Varthenral didn't seem to have overheard Cameo's discussion of Rokordi's nature, for she was still staring at the indentations.

Astruc coughed. "Well, this was an interestin' discussion, but perhaps we should join Sir Stoney and the rest." He glanced at Aricrauer, attempting a smile... which seemed rather pitiful in his current state of mind.

"Anyway, I met him on Nicta, before I found Eirozziore. Hretlakk brought him along with us too because she thought he was peculiar, but I was feeling generous enough to not mention that when I was under interrogation. He didn't seem to know about the bomb until I mentioned it." Cameo sighed and shook his head. "Not a huge deal. He's oblivious most of the time, though I'd avoid letting him do anything requiring any stealth. He almost got us killed by drumming on the floor of a pretty intense gang operation. He's anything but discreet, as you can imagine." He nodded to Astruc once he was done and rejoined Gilda, Varthenral, Ddremmu, and Rokordi.

Gilda paused for a moment as she tried to listen for the location of running water.

"It's... under...ground? I think?" Gilda shrugged as if trying to say it wasn't certain.

"I wonder..." Varthenral paused, crossing her arms.

Aricrauer grunted in acknowledgment of Cameo and Astruc, then wandered back over to where the others are. "What'd you find?"

"Can anyone climb down? Feel where the air might be moving for open tunnels?" Rokordi asked.

"I don't suppose you know a good place we could climb from?" Cameo asked rhetorically. "I don't recall seeing an entrance to any underground tunnels around."

"Could -- could the cloaked one... do you think he could break through? It may, may go deeper..." Varthenral's suggestion trailed off.

Rokordi's fist slammed into a crack near the indentations; though it doesn't break, he thinks he may have caused it to weaken. Gilda suggested that they try to look somewhere else for clues, since this wasn't going anywhere.

Varthenral looked at Rokordi, and then she nodded at Gilda. "I-- I will search down this way, then."

She gestured vaguely to a branching road that circled behind some ruins.

Cameo was uncomfortable with her going alone. "Maybe someone should go with you... in case you get into any trouble. You never know what's lurking around here."

“I-I can..." Varthenral trailed off. "I'll... I'll be fine. I have -- I have been in more dangerous places than, than this."

"I could go with Varthenral," said Aricrauer blandly, as if Varthenral wasn't even there. Turning to the rest of the group, she added, "There's a few things I need t'ask her... in private."

Astruc was about to protest, but his mind seemed to disagree as he stayed quiet, frowning all the same.

"I'll see if I can find anything from the air," Ddremmu said gruffly before trying to climb up some rubble to the top of a ruined building.

Part of the rubble crumbled beneath Ddremmu's feet, and she fell to the ground in a heap.

Cameo was uneasy about Aricrauer going with Varthenral alone; he saw her in a different light than he did when she was just a tale whispered to him by Aricrauer's sisters, but the warnings still rung through his head. He wasn't sure what to do anymore. He let it go, though, for the sake of the group dynamic not suffering from another potential showdown between him and Aricrauer.

"As long as she's not going alone," he finally offered up.

With a nod, Varthenral looked to Aricrauer, who walked past the others and down the road that Varthenral indicated earlier. Glancing back again, Varthenral followed Aricrauer out of sight.

"Oops," Rokordi mumbled, offering a hand down to Ddremmu.

"I'll try again," Ddremmu snapped, ignoring the hand to try climbing once more.

Ddremmu scrambled up to the top, albeit with some difficulty. Spreading her wings in triumph, she took off into the air.

Overheard, as she circled around, Ddremmu could see Varthenral and Aricrauer walking down the alleyway. She didn't see anything else there, and they seem more concerned with looking for clues than one another. Turning her sights to elsewhere in the city, she thought she can see the remains of a fountain a little north of where the rest of the group was.

Cameo leaned against some rubble. "I wonder what Aricrauer wanted to talk to Varthenral about..."

"Probably to discuss about the apparent weapon," Astruc chimed in, his voice barely audible.

“Well, it's not a godslayer, evidently," Cameo replied, talking mostly to himself. "Its value is questionable. I'd anticipated a fight with Varthenral whenever we found it, but if it's not something outrageously powerful, I'm fine with her taking it."

Astruc stayed silent.

"Aricrauer's sisters told me not to trust her, Varthanral..." Cameo shook his head, unsure but wanting to speak aloud anyway to clear his mind. "She doesn't seem very dangerous to me though. She barely even seems like she's present most of the time. She's so wispy and aloof..."

An arrow zipped out from somewhere Ddremmu couldn't see, and she fell to the ground at an alarming speed!

Though the arrow got Ddremmu in the leg and disrupted her momentum, she managed to spread her wings just in time to avoid taking any damage from hitting the ground. Pain seared through her leg as she landed.

The others saw her fall from the sky and heard her cry of pain; Cameo drew his crossbow, wary of attackers, as they all looked around for where the arrow could have come from or a path to where Ddremmu fell. Astruc pointed out a path past some fallen rubble.

The rubble was easily climbed over. As they hurried over through the winding alleyway, they found Ddremmu fallen near a ruined fountain of sorts. She had since managed to take out the arrow and bandage up her leg.

“You okay?" Cameo asked, not looking at Ddremmu in case her assailant was prowling around.

"Well enough," Ddremmu said grimly. "I didn't catch any sign of who it might be. I'm getting bad flashbacks to previous ambushes," she added dryly.

Though Cameo and Astruc couldn't see anything, Gilda thought she could hear something in a nearby ruined building.

Gilda ordered her eidolon to move ahead of her and search for any life inside the nearby ruined buildings. Using a spell, she bonded her senses with that of the creature so that she could be alerted to what it found.

Rokordi watched Gilda's eidolon press its nose to the ground and growl. It started to walk into a nearby ruined building, dropping down low and squirming in through a small gap in the wrecked wall. Through her eidolon's eyes, Gilda could see it was very dark... and she saw movement inside the building followed by hearing the sound of an arrow soaring through the air.

Everyone else also heard the cry of the wounded eidolon.

"What the hell is this thing?!" They could hear a voice inside the building. "It's got spikes! Shit! Get away!"

Rokordi smashed the door in, and as the door crashed down, the room was illuminated. Rokordi could see a tumorian archer with bright green eyes squaring off with Gilda's eidolon. The tumorian looked over, and her eyes turned red.

"H-Hey! Help me! Please!"

"Ooops!" Gilda ran after them and called her eidolon back to her side. She sized up the situation before diving headfirst in and attempts to glance around for any traps or dangerous areas of the ruined building.

"What if there are other people hidden?!" Ddremmu huffed out in disbelief of their lack of caution.

Without a word, Rokordi launched himself over to tackle the archer, but she sidestepped the attack. Rokordi crashed into the wall instead.

"What the hell?! I said help me! Not hurt me!" the archer snapped, her eyes turning green again. "Who... What? That thing is with you?!"

Keeping the arrow knocked, she stared down the group. Even from a distance, Cameo could see that she was trembling with fear. Behind her, he saw a pile of sacks... and some of them appeared to be full of money, coins spilling out of them.

"Peace!" Cameo offered; he lowered his crossbow, but didn't put it away. "Who are you? Was it you who shot at our companion?"

"I shot the damn monster here, if that's what you mean!" the tumorian spat back. "He doesn't seem to want peace!" she added, indicating Rokordi.

“Peace, he says." Astruc snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Monster!" Ddremmu shouted in irritation before realizing she meant the eidolon.

Gilda put her hands up. "Hey! He's not a monster. He's an eidolon. There's a difference." She huffed at the stranger. "At least he's not going around shooting arrows before asking questions."

Rokordi bristled angrily.

"He's impulsive," Cameo responded. "But I was referring to her." He pointed to Ddremmu, "She was just shot out of the sky."

"Never seen an iddun here! Or any of you! That thing came out of nowhere and started growling at me! What else was I supposed to do?!"

"Then who else is around here?!" Ddremmu snapped.

"I don't blame you for shooting at it, it startled you!" Cameo held his hands up in surrender. "Put the damn bow down so we can talk. You're severely outnumbered here, I don't think you want to pick a fight with us."

"Yeah I'm sure you wouldn't be saying the same thing if they shot you instead." Gilda muttered in response to Cameo. "I'm not going to threaten you or anything, but I'm Gilda, and that's my eidolon you shot... who may or may not be grouchy about that."

"You're the one who let it go into a suspicious place without checking it out first. That was your own foolish mistake," Cameo hissed.

The tumorian seemed hesitant to put away her only source of self-defense...

"You're not gonna get anything out of me," she growled, though her eyes flickered a deeper shade of green as she spoke.

"I'm not a very patient man, ma'am, but I am clearly at a disadvantage here so I won't force you to put your bow down. I will, however, ask you again for your name."

"If you didn't shoot me, who did?" Ddremmu said crossly as she inspected the tumorian's crossbow.

The tumorian glared at Cameo.

"Šipka," she answered. She also gave Rokordi a sidelong glare and edged away from him. To Ddremmu, she said, "Well, how the hell should I know? I'm not the only looter around..."

Šipka's jaw clamped shut, and her eyes flared blue-green.

Gilda's gaze drifted back to the stranger. "There are other looters around?"

Cameo nodded, as if to say thanks for offering her name. "I'm Cameo."

"What are you looting?" Ddremmu said in confusion. "Surely there can't be that much remaining from the past in easy areas such as this."

"Some," said Šipka vaguely. "If you have to know, I don't even know where the hell most of it came from in the first place. I mostly go after other looters' hoards..." With an arrogant smirk, she continued, but she didn't lighten her grip on the crossbow even as her eyes turned a more mellow shade of violet. "They do all the hard work. I reap the benefits. And most of them are so damn dumb that they leave obvious tracks everywhere. They may as well have put up signs telling me where to go."

Doja pushed in behind Astruc, barking. Šipka immediately turned to the source of the noise, her eyes flashing green again.

"What the hell? How many monsters do you guys keep?!"

"She's about as much of a monster as a pillow, but feel free to stay in fear of the mighty presence that is Doja." Astruc grumbled, staring at the wolf.

Rokordi chuffed, amused.

Ddremmu gave her a sharp look. "Please consider that such a term is unlikely to endear yourself to us," she said. "Then are there looters around who might have attacked me."

"One here." Gilda shrugged. "So do you do this as a hobby or... Do you know anything about this area? Have you seen any working technology?"

"I'm going to look for Varthenral and Aricrauer. If there are other looters here, they might be in danger." Cameo slowly backed toward the door, uninterested in hanging out with Rokordi or Gilda any longer.

Astruc seemed to snap out of his mood at the mention of Aricrauer potentially being in danger. He, too, headed out to start to try and find Aricrauer.

Šipka faltered as Cameo and Astruc started to leave. "Hey! Wait! Don't leave me with..." She visibly cringed at Gilda's eidolon. "Uh, information! How about I give you some of that in exchange for calling off your crazy friends?" There was an almost pleading tone to her voice.

Rokordi snarled, urging Šipka to do precisely that.

"Call them off? They aren't dogs." Cameo looked to either of them with disgust, "As much as I sometimes wish they were..."

"Rude," Gilda muttered.

"But we have friends out here who are exploring the area without knowledge that you and your looting buddies are crawling around searching for treasure, so I'd like to get back to them as soon as possible,” Cameo continued, ignoring Gilda. “Make it quick or come with us, either way you should probably lower that weapon if you want me to convince them you aren't worth killing."

"The area under the island!" Šipka blurted out. "That's where most of the looters are! They're dumb, but armed to the teeth! They have sentries everywhere, so maybe one of them shot your friend?"

Rokordi walked away, deciding Cameo has this handled, punching the door frame on the way out.

"The island..?" Cameo gave her a quizzical look. "...Why are they under the island? Are they looking for a way to get up there?"

"Does that mean they're close to finding a way to the island?" Ddremmu said with surprise.

Šipka nodded. "I mean, everyone's been trying! Except me, I guess. But I think the looters kidnap scholars and whoever else might be able to figure out a way there."

"If they haven't figured out a way to get there yet, why are they just clogging up the space underneath? They really are stupid." Cameo shook his head. "Do you know anything about the island? Any rumors or tales about how to get up there?"

"Uh..." Šipka looked from Rokordi to Gilda's eidolon and then back to Cameo. "Have you tried climbing the chain?"

She weakly laughed, but her eyes remained green, and she seemed on edge.

Gilda put her hands up as if to say she was done. "They basically laughed off that idea earlier."

"If there are really that many armed looters waiting under the island, I'm assuming one of them shot at Ddremmu because she was getting too close. We need to find Varthanral and Aricrauer before they try that with them, too. Godslayer be damned, Aricrauer won't back away from a fight if they shoot first," said Cameo.

Ddremmu sighed. "Let's go then," she said a bit stiffly.

"Godslayer?" Šipka asked. "Wait, hold on. You're not seriously saying you know someone with one of those weapons?"

"What's it to you?" Cameo asked defensively, annoyed that she's stalling them now.

"Uh... who wouldn't be interested in one of those?" Šipka rolled her eyes, which were starting to turn more yellow. "You'll want your friend or whatever to stay clear of the looters, then. They want the godslayer that's said to be on the island."

Cameo's ears perked up. "There's a godslayer there? Do you know which one?"

"Don't remember the name. It sounded like Alamin, though."

"Do you know what kind of weapon it is?" Cameo asked more insistently.

Gilda leaned back with a sigh. "Hey, sorry we got off on a bad start and all, but why not come along with us? We're not all that crazy or anything and talking isn't exactly getting us anywhere that anyone wants to be... Unless everyone decided they want to stand here still..." She glanced around at the group to rest her gaze on Cameo who had been speaking of leaving only moments ago. "Just because I have an eidolon it doesn't make me 'crazy' or anything." She made air-quotes around the word with a look of distaste. "I'm actually very sane and sensible when someone isn't trying too hard to rub me the wrong way."

"I think it's gotta be a sword, since they were talking about who's the most experienced with swords..." Šipka frowned at Gilda's suggestion. "I'll pass. I need to start moving this stuff to a safer place before some looter or other stumbles on it."

She tilted her head in the direction of the sacks of valuables behind her.

"But the swords are both taken..." Cameo mumbled to himself, "Ganrikkat? Aricrauer implied it was already taken..." He's distracted from finding Aricrauer and Varthenral; now he was just curious about the alleged godslayer.

Šipka brightened. “Ganrikkat! That's the name! Damn, you're pretty familiar with them."

"Gods be damned, she is looking for the dagger..." Cameo darted out of the shack in a rush. He looked up the path, hoping he could spot Astruc.

The others all ran off after Cameo, not wanting to be left behind.

Cameo found himself at the junction with the canal again. Astruc was nowhere in sight.

...Because Astruc, in the alleyway that Varthenral and Aricrauer went down, was too busy staring in utter disbelief as Doja whirled around in circles instead of picking up the scent of Aricrauer and Varthenral like Astruc commanded. Majora soared into the air -- somewhat low, as if he was aware of how Ddremmu got shot down earlier and that it could happen to him, too.

Gilda pointed out the hawk; however, they still weren't sure which way Astruc would've taken. After all, that hawk could've started from anywhere.

"Do you remember which way they went?" Cameo asked, referring to Aricrauer and Varthenral.

Ddremmu used Detect Magic to find the Chrono signature of Feivelkt, getting a reading from right next to her and a similar one to the east.

"I feel something to the east?" she said uncertainly.

"Could be Feivelkt... or Ganrikkat." Cameo looked down to Ddremmu and then off to the east. "Either way, probably worth investigating?"

"Yes," she said grimly. "Since neither of us know where they went."

Cameo and Ddremmu started to head east, Gilda and Rokordi lagging behind cautiously, where they saw Astruc's wolf after making a few turns down the alleyway. Doja didn't seem to have noticed them, for she continued walking down the alleyway.

"Astruc's mutt. Seems like we're heading in the right direction." Cameo whistled for her as he walked towards her.

Doja barked and ran back to where Cameo is, yipping at him.

Cameo knelt down to meet her, giving her a soft pat on the head. "Good girl. Where's Astruc? Do you know where he's at?"

Doja whuffed and ran around Cameo several times, then bolted down the alley, barking loudly for Astruc's attention further ahead. Astruc, as he continued along, heard Doja's barking... but he also saw that there's a manmade-looking barricade at the end of the alley. It definitely wasn't an accident of the rubble; someone definitely built it there.

Rokordi saw a small scrap of paper on the ground. As he ran after the group, he read it to himself: "DEUTERMAN 32 4349 ECLIPSE".

Rokordi asked Cameo if he knew the significance of the message; when he responded that he didn't, Ddremmu tried to use Comprehend Languages, but the message wasn't written in a foreign language. It was just flat-out incomprehensible.

As they caught up to Astruc, they saw him staring at a barricade... and taking out some firewood and a vial of oil from his Chrono Ring. Coating the firewood in the oil, he struck his flint on the oil-slick wood.

Astruc was knocked back by the force of the explosion and was set aflame; the only thought on his mind as he flew back was “Worth it”.

Cameo rushed into a nearby building in hopes of finding water or anything to help put out the flames. When he turned on the sink, it only spewed out black water. It wasn't ideal by any means, but Astruc was on fire. Anything was better than him just burning alive. He filled his waterskin with the water and hurried back outside, where he saw Gilda had already extinguished the flames by suffocating them with a bedroll.

"O-Oh..." Cameo stared at his waterskin, which was now full of disgusting water. He made a mental note to not forget that there was gross water in there and to give it to Gilda later as a 'gift.' Doja sniffed Cameo's hands, apparently interested by the stench of the rancid water. Keeping the waterskin away from the wolf, Cameo put the waterskin into his Chrono Ring and held out a healing potion for Astruc. Grateful, Astruc chugged down the potion.

"Ouch." Gilda looked as Astruc over. "That's gotta hurt like heck." Her face scrunched up into a look of sympathy.

Astruc's burns started to heal over, though he was still missing fur where he got burned.

"That was... reckless. I wonder if any of the looters heard it?"  Cameo's ears perked up as he concentrated. He hoped, if anyone was sneaking around nearby, that he'd be able to hear them before they got the jump on the group.

Cameo could hear footsteps coming from the right corner past where the barricade once was.

Cameo sheathed Eiorozziore and pointed his crossbow toward the remains of the barricade. "Footsteps," he whispered to alert the others.

Gilda steadied herself into a crouch by Astruc. She pulled out a wimpy looking dagger and motions her eidolon to come closer to stand guard by Astruc.

The footsteps abruptly stopped.

Instead of jumping out into unfamiliar territory, Cameo hid against the wall and stayed still, hoping to draw out whoever had been walking toward them and take them by surprise. Eventually, the footsteps recommenced...

Varthenral came into view of the alleyway, nearly jumping out of her skin in surprise. She let out a yelp and staggered back, her eyes wide behind her mask.

"O-Oh... It's... it's just... just... you..." She let out an uneasy breath. "I-I heard, heard an explosion..."

Cameo's heart skipped a beat as Varthenral rounds the corner, startled. "That was Astruc blowing up the barricade back there. Are you okay? Where's Aricrauer?"

"She is -- she is hiding in one, one of the buildings... I went to, to check the explosion we heard..."

"For the love of treasure." Gilda considered standing up for a moment but instead looked at Astruc with concern. "Are you okay to move?"

"Everyone is safe, sort of. Astruc has been burned from the explosion, but everyone else is relatively unharmed. We came to find you when we ran into a looter who said that there are more of them under the island, armed to the teeth." Cameo smiled, glad that they're safe. "Glad to see that you're okay."

"We should go to Aricrauer, the explosion might bring the looters."

"Oh, that -- that is good." Varthenral nodded. "We saw -- saw some of the looters. We listened in on... on some of their conversations... They seem to have, have found the teleporter."

"Did you happen to overhear where they think it is?" Cameo's eyes widen. He tried to forget that the weapon Varthanral was after really did seem to be a godslayer, but he couldn't put it out of his mind.

He reflected for a moment on her own weapon; what if she was the one with Ganrikkat, and she just hadn't awakened it yet?

Astruc nodded, attempting to stand up as he winced. He summoned his spear from his Chrono Ring to use as a walking stick, using it to straighten himself up as he grunted in pain.

“No, but I would -- would guess it is at the center of their, their encamp... encampment." Varthenral falterd and paused. "Their guards seemed to be most densely concentrated there."

"Sounds like trouble. I don't think Astruc is in any position to sneak around, and Rokordi... well, he's not very talented at sneaking. We might have to confront them." Cameo sighed in frustration. This wouldn't be easy if that was what they had to do.

"That... could be trouble," Varthenral mused.

Rokordi held the piece of paper he found out to her. "Do you recognize this?"

"Oh, that -- that... that is, is mine," said Varthenral. She hesitantly took the paper from Rokordi. "It must... must have... fallen out..."

"What is it?" Rokordi asked.

Cameo was unsure of this conversation; Rokordi seemed too forward for Varthenral to be comfortable with him...

"A -- a date," explained Varthenral. "Could... Could you please... please... um... move... move back..?"

Rokordi obliged, taking two steps back. "A date for what? An eclipse of some sort?"

"Not, not quite..." Varthenral started to fidget with the scarf around her neck. "Ah -- Aricrauer is -- she is several buildings down from, from here... It has a red roof..."

Cameo peeked around the corner to see if he could spot the house that Aricrauer was in. Down one of the paths in what seemed to be a four-way junction, he thought he could see a building with a red roof, just as Varthenral said.

"Then what is it?" Rokordi asked again. "It did say 'eclipse' on it."

"We should go to her; we can talk on the way, or when we get there." Cameo looked to the others to make sure they' were okay with this plan. "Though Astruc... he probably needs someone to stay with him. He isn't walking very fast."

"That... that is my business," said Varthenral, narrowing her eyes at Rokordi. She nodded to Cameo's plan and started to lead them down to where Aricrauer was.

Rokordi grunted, annoyed. "When this comes up again, and I can't imagine it won't, I hope you'll indulge me in this Deuterman Eclipse thing."

"Please leave me alone," Varthenral said to Rokordi, this time much more firmly. She pointed to Astruc. "You -- you are large. You... couldn't you help him?"

Without waiting for a response, she kept going. Astruc frowned at Varthenral's suggestion, attempting to walk faster despite his burnt feet. He staggered past the others without anything more than a glance in their direction.

Rokordi said, "Something tells me he'd refuse my aid."

"If I stay with him, will you two behave long enough for us to catch up?" Cameo looked between the two, uncomfortable with their dynamic thus far.

Rokordi grunted. "I've cooperated with far less savory types."

"Shall I just heal this heathen?" Ddremmu sighed out.

Astruc looked away from the stone man, attempting to glare at Ddremmu. "I'm quite fine, thanks."

Cameo looked to Varthenral, waiting for a response from her.

"I do -- I do not like... stone creatures," admitted Varthenral with a dark look in Rokordi's direction.

"Well, what's he done to deserve an automatic dislike card?" Gilda glanced back at Varthenral.

Rokordi popped off his mask. "I exist, Gilda. For some, that's enough. Believe it or not, I'm not actually out to get you, Varthenral. A lifetime of being ostracized might make a person inclined towards hatred and fear, but millenia of it will just make a person give up on such things."

"No, I've had -- I've had enough of your kind," Varthenral snapped. "I will... tolerate... you... but I do not want you near me, or... or Aricrauer."

With that said, she kept walking.

“We're wasting time, is somebody going to stay with him or is it going to be me?" Cameo stared impatiently at rest of the group. "Aricrauer could be getting dragged away by looters as we speak."

"I imagine we'd hear Aricrauer cutting through legions before she'd be taken in silence. I wouldn't worry too much." Rokordi said, slipping his mask back on and ignoring Varthenral.

"You should know first-hand what a quiet hand can do to a powerful man," Cameo mentioned, referencing the guard he effortlessly killed in the Madrante Prison. "We can't be sure of what's happened until we see it for ourselves."

Gilda lets out a puff of air at the drama going on. "People just can't forgive and forget. I'll stay with him unless he can manage."

"I can manage," Astruc grunted out, falling farther and farther behind despite his best efforts.

"Figure it out yourselves, I'm growing impatient." Cameo turns away from the group and follows after Varthenral and Ddremmu.

"You can hardly stand," Rokordi countered. "Cameo, go find Aricrauer. We'll wait here. A smaller party is always stealthier. Especially when the party doesn't include a stone gorilla."

"Eesh." Gilda rolled her eyes at Cameo. "He didn't have a problem sticking around when they were talking about some powerful weapon.”

Astruc grumbled under his breath, not very pleased with the situation as he managed to lean himself against a wall to rest his burned feet.

"Where did... Where did you meet... the stone one?" Varthenral asked Cameo as they walk along.

"I met him on Nicta. He..." Cameo sighed; he didn't explicitly hate Rokordi, necessarily, but he found him incredibly annoying. "He's very misunderstood. After millions of years alone I guess he's become a bit jaded. I'm sorry that he makes you uncomfortable."

Varthenral fell quiet, but then she spoke up again.

"I do... I do not think... think you can... can trust stone... creatures... like him." She sighed and shook her head. "I understand that... that makes me... more suspicious... I think... I think? But, but... I have seen things -- things like him. And... they... They don't..."

"It's okay," Cameo interrupted. "I've seen stone creatures like him too." He winked at her and smiled. "I'm a Time-Weaver. When I said I saw them up close, I meant it." He thought back to when he showed Aricrauer Thorn's mask. "The mask I gave to Aricrauer? It belonged to someone pretty important to me. He turned into one of the colossi and I had to kill him after I tried very hard to protect him."

Cameo paused and wondered how Varthenral had seen colossi before; he doesn't think to question it though. She was probably still recovering from her tiff with Rokordi.

"Time... What?" Varthenral stared blankly at Cameo. "And... and colossi... Is that their name..? I have, have never... heard it. He certainly didn't -- didn't seem too colossal..."

They reached the building with the red roof, and Varthenral knocked on the side of the door frame three times.

"That's what they call them, yeah..." Cameo stared down at the ground, reflecting on Mioura again. "How... have you seen them before?" He finally worked up the courage to ask her; he expected to be shot down, however. She wasn't very keen on sharing information, apparently.

"I have... I have seen things... that -- that should not happen," Varthenral answered. Cameo could hear the creaking of floorboards inside the building.

"So much for our belief they were gone," Ddremmu murmured. "At least two still exist - our party member, and whoever Varthenral has seen."

"There... are more, more than two." Varthenral's eyes narrowed at Ddremmu's words, and she pulled her scarf down, revealing a huge gash on her neck that seemed to only have started to recently heal. "Your... companion... he seems, seems more... ah, um... sentient... than others... but..."

"...I see," Ddremmu said after a pause.

Cameo wondered what was taking Aricrauer so long to open the door; this building wasn't particularly large. "Do you think... she knows it's us?"

“Yeah, I just didn't wanna interrupt your fascinatin' conversation," came the familiar voice of Aricrauer. The door, just barely hanging on its hinge, swung open.

"We already... have discussed the, ah, stone creatures..." Varthenral adjusted her scarf again so that her scar was covered.

"Good to see you haven't been kidnapped," commented Ddremmu dryly.

"Me? Kidnapped?" Aricrauer grinned. "You wound me, Ms. Religious Iddun. I could incinerate a buncha ill-intentioned freaks just by lookin' at 'em." She looked past them, and she tilted her head. "Hey, where're the others? Cloak guy, wolverine girl, an' Astruc? They off doin' something else?"

"That explosion you guys heard was Astruc blowing up the barricade. He managed to set himself on fire and moves a little slow right now from the burns. We came to make sure you were okay and they stayed behind to make sure he, uh... didn't get jumped by looters." Cameo looked between Varthenral, Ddremmu, and Aricrauer. "So... now that we know you're safe, I suppose we should go back to meet with them and formulate a plan from there? We can't just barge into the looters' camp, but we don't really have any other options, either..."

"Shit, is he okay?" Aricrauer pressed. "Where did the rest of them stop?"

"Says he is, but like I said, he's moving a little slow." Cameo looked down the alley and pointed. "Just right down there. We ran into Varthenral as we came down down the main alley and left them at the junction down the way."

"He was well enough to rebuke healing spells," Ddremmu snarked.

Aricrauer wordlessly moved past Cameo, Ddremmu, and Varthenral, starting down the alleyway.

Varthenral watched Aricrauer go, and she asked, "Astruc -- he was the, the listronn? Have he and Aricrauer -- known each other for, for long?"

Cameo shrugged. "I just met them when I landed here."

Further down the alleyway, they could hear Aricrauer shout, much to Ddremmu's amusement.

"Astruc? What the hell made you blow up a goddamn barricade? Didn't y'think to climb over it?"

"Ah." Varthenral fidgeted with her scarf again. "They -- They seem... close."

"They have been since I met them," Ddremmu confirmed Varthenral's comment.

The three of them approached the others, where Astruc was futilely trying to defend his choice of actions to a comically incensed Aricrauer.

"Some looter says there's a godslayer up there," Cameo mentioned passively. "...Ganrikkat."

There was a pause as Varthenral mused on what Cameo and Ddremmu said.

"Ganrikkat... the Timeripper." Varthenral looked up at the sky, where the floating island was. "It has -- has quite a -- quite a morbid story. I heard in ages past -- it was a source of... of war. People... they killed one another for it. So they could... could see the future, or go back... go back to the past..."

Ddremmu reacted in alarm, remembering Mioura. "Our luck with time has been... mixed, to say the least."

"Is that what you're looking for, Varthanral?" Cameo asked, almost afraid of the answer. He glanced over towards Aricrauer, remembering that she almost said something about Ganrikkat earlier in the day, when she was seconds away from flaying him alive.

"Well -- well, in a way." Varthenral sighed. "It is hard... to explain."

"I understand. You don't have to explain if you don't want to." Cameo remembered his mission, briefly. He wasn't quite as concerned with getting Aricrauer to the Alamo Empire anymore; he didn't exactly trust them. He trusted Hretlakk. He trusted himself. And for some reason, he trusted Varthenral. Cameo iwasn't so sure that he wanted another godslayer getting into the hands of someone he couldn't keep his eye on at all times, though. The idea of them getting out at all made him uncomfortable.

He paused for a moment, then opened his mouth to speak again. "You said the weapon up there was a twin to yours, but... Aricrauer said that godslayers don't have twins?"

Varthenral stepped away from Cameo and Ddremmu, facing them still but putting some distance between them. Aricrauer stared at her, bristling.

"Is it so... inconceivable that... that a weapon capable, capable of... traveling through time... could be... well, could have...

"...more than one iteration?"

"Like a copy?" Cameo didn't suppose that was strange. "A time paradox, even?" Cameo was right; Varthenral seemed to have Ganrikkat. "Ah, and I was thinking that it might be split in two. One for the future and one for the past."

"No, copy, no... Not a copy... It is Ganrikkat. Up there, on that -- on that island." Varthenral held up her dagger, the one which glowed with a pale aura. "This is Ganrikkat, too. They are the... the same weapon. But this one is... is from a different time."

"I wonder what would happen if they crossed in battle," Rokordi considered.

Cameo was slightly confused; were both needed to activate one another? Why did Varthenral want it?

“Do you... do you need proof? I can... I can... activate it..." Varthenral seemed to mistake their silence for disbelief.

"I believe you," Cameo offered, terrified.

Rokordi suddenly stood up at the mention of activation. "So, do you have the future one, or the past one?"

Varthenral balked at the question. "Mine is... mine... The one on the island is... the modern-day Ganrikkat."

"So, then are there three? Or two? Or are there millions littered throughout the galaxy?" Rokordi insisted.

"Two... right now..."

"Why do you want them both, if you don't mind me asking?" Cameo leaned against the wall and slid down to a kneel. He was surprised Aricrauer hadn't intervened to make Varthenral stop talking like before, but he wasn't going to complain about getting some explanations.

"Are there going to be more? Or were there more and now there are only two left?" asked Rokordi.

"I... It is complicated... and..." Rokordi's question made her stagger back. She clenched the hilt of the dagger even tighter. "I don't know! However many I need to--"

"That's enough," growled Aricrauer, stepping closer. Clenching her fists, she looked to Cameo. "Remember who you're talking to."

Ddremmu gave a baffled look. "What? What are you all not sharing with us?"

Rokordi nodded. "I, too, would like to know."

"I was just asking, she can have it," Cameo offered innocently. "I've got one and even that one is a pain in the neck!"

“If it's a pain, get rid of it," suggested Rokordi.

Ddremmu's eyes narrowed. "Is it... a matter of the Empire?" she asked sharply.

“Why are you all turning on me again?! I just asked why she wanted it, is it such a crime to be curious? Godsdamned, if she's already got it, I'm not going to be cutting out of her hand anyway." Cameo folded his arms and sighed.

"Who gives a flying fuck about the Alamo Empire?" Aricrauer rested her shoulder against the broken wall. "But remember how I tried to keep you and your buddies in Cabaria from gettin' involved in the mutant epidemics? This is like that. You don't want to be involved. So don't get involved."

"I'm just saying, I had my opportunity to take it from her on the tower, when I first saw her. I don't want it, but knowing who has them and why they have them is kind of important,” Cameo insisted. “If she doesn't want to tell me that's fine, I trust her. Are we going to help her find the other one or not?"

Ddremmu gave a dark look to Aricrauer. "And do you not remember what happened when you needlessly stayed silent."

"Oh, you wanna know?" Aricrauer asked challengingly, her grin widening. "You really, really wanna know?"

Rokordi sat down, frustrated. As much as he'd like to not get involved, he doubted he could leave now in good conscience, after finding out another godslayer was in the wild. "Varthenral, you seem sensible enough to not abuse a godslayer. Are you sensible enough?"

Varthenral seemed taken aback by Rokordi's question. "I-- I do not... intend to... misuse... it..."

Rokordi nodded. "Good. Let's get the other copy of Ganrikkat into your hands, then. You might not trust me, but I trust you more than any of the looters running around looking for a quick buck or a power boost."

"Well, if we don't help her she'll get jumped by the looters, so we don't have much of a choice," Cameo answered himself, ignoring Aricrauer. "With three godslayers we'll hopefully be able to clear them out if it comes down to it."

Ddremmu gave the cold look of someone who'd had gone through multiple traumatizing things in a short period of time. "Then tell me."

"Ddremmu, now is really not the time..." Cameo glanced to Varthenral nervously. She'd become something of an anchor for him here. Astruc, as well, but he was fairly useless in his current state.

Aricrauer nodded to Varthenral. "Tell 'em whatever you want."

"I-I..."

"You don't have to tell us anything, Varthenral. I'm sorry if I pressured you, I didn't mean to." Cameo stood and looked her in the eyes as he spoke. "You don't owe us any explanations."

Rokordi sat back down, hopefully far enough away from Varthenral so she wouldn't be uncomfortable. Maybe at some point today he'd get his damned leisure time.

Astruc suddenly woke up with a snort. "Ah, what? I'm awake." He winced as he tried to move, the burns still fresh albeit healed.

Cameo, having just been on the opposite end of this interrogation, knew what it was like. And Varthenral didn't seem like the type who handled pressure well; she'd tell them when she felt the time was right, whether that was right now or later on.

"Watch closely, Astruc," said Aricrauer. "Things're about to get interestin'."

Varthenral shook her head at Cameo's assurance. "No... No, I... I think... maybe... you... can help... if you have Eiorozziore... and you... said... you had, you had... traveled through time..."

Varthenral looked down at the dagger in her hands. She murmured a few words in Alamin.

"Altur svar klukkral. Vilð i sarnaral."

Which was to say:

"Turn back the clock. Answer to the child of the future."

The dagger started to glow and pulse with a mix of violet and red Chrono. Still looking at the group from behind her mask, Varthenral angled the dagger so that its blade was facing towards herself.

"If you... if you wish... to see... why I call myself... 'Defiant Second Chance'... in traditional Alamin... Stand close... close to, to me. Even... um... the, uh, the stone one..."

They all shuffled closer, apprehensive at best.

"Do not... do not... be scared..." Varthenral seemed to be talking to herself more than the others. The dagger trembled in her hand as her free hand unbuttoned her baggy coat, revealing a similarly baggy shirt with thin holes in it. Tensing her grip and grabbing the hilt with her other hand, Varthenral plunged the dagger into her heart with a small gasp.

The world around the group shifted and changed. The aura from Ganrikkat seemed to feed off of Varthenral's blood, and it grew in intensity. The Chrono became a deep scarlet, and the group found themselves in utter blackness with no light anywhere, save for the dull glow of the bloodied Ganrikkat.

The world started to take form once again. Around them, it seemed to shape itself at first with weak auras that changed into solid shapes, building up what seemed to be a moss-covered city.

The ruins of the old city they were just in, to be exact, but this place appeared to have been overtaken by nature. The floating island no longer was suspended in the air; roots entangled the once-mighty buildings and fractured the road.

"Be... be careful," rasped Varthenral, keeping the dagger buried inside her chest. "Look... Look around at your leisure... If... if there is... there is any danger... when I take it out... we will... we will go back... But... if you... if you die here... You are... You are gone for, for good..."

"That... is an extreme method of activation," Ddremmu said after a moment of dumbfounded silence.

Cameo rests his left hand on Eiorozziore and looks around; they're clearly in the future. "Island's gone," Cameo observed out loud. "Wonder if we did that?"

"Do you think we can find the teleporter with more ease here?" Ddremmu asked.

"Well, chunks of the road are fractured and split, and the island is... gone. So it might not be here at all anymore," said Cameo.

Aricrauer uneasily glanced around, withdrawing Feivelkt from her Chrono Ring. Although she didn't seem familiar with the place, she also didn't seem too surprised at where they were.

"I doubt it," said Aricrauer. "Probably destroyed when the island fell, if it was under it."

Rokordi sat down, not even bothering to examine his surroundings. "Future. Hrmph..."

Ddremmu glanced around, studying the area. "What is a visit to the future supposed to show us?" she said slowly.

"What was a visit to the past supposed to show us?" Cameo asked facetiously.

Ddremmu turned away from him.

Gilda shook her limbs out for good measure to make sure none of her body parts went missing in the transfer. "Who cares. If we're here we might as well look for... some sort of clues."

"They... they will... be here... soon," Varthenral said, her whole body shaking. She fell to her knees, still not letting go of Ganrikkat. Suddenly, she lifted her head. "Look -- look... down... down the road..."

Farther down the road, there stood a figure in a cloak and mask staring in their direction.

"Well, that's a familiar sight," Cameo mumbled. He gripped Eiorozziore, but didn't remove it from his hip.

Bristling and using a Detect Magic spell, Ddremmu could sense a magical aura coming from the figure. The figure approached, and a male voice muffled by the mask called out.

"Brother! Have these Garlets captured you?!" The figure dropped into a fighting stance, magic pulsing at his fingertips.

"Brother?" Rokordi repeated.

"Who's he talking to?" Cameo growled.

Varthenral said, "The... the stone one... I would... I would... guess..."

Ddremmu gave a look to Rokordi. "Does this mean... they come back?!"

Rokordi stood up, and he stepped forward. "You may be mistaking me for another, friend."

"Brother, move away from them!" the figure shouted more commandingly this time. "Are there more?! Have they taken shelter here in these ruins?!"

"They have not taken me captive, and I sincerely doubt you would knowingly be any brother of mine. I am free to leave or stay of my own volition," Rokordi answered.

The figure faltered, seeming bewildered. However, he glanced around, and he shouted back, "Just wait! I'll get help!"

Without waiting for an answer, he ran off.

"In this... this time..." Varthenral gritted her teeth. "...They... they hunt... Kylians..."

"Hah!" Ddremmu said bitterly, remembering Mioura.

Rokordi stared after where the figure ran off to. "They call them Garlets, I imagine."

"You know... maybe we should leave," Gilda suggested quietly.

"I suppose this is what a visit to the future was supposed to show us," Rokordi said to Ddremmu.

Ddremmu turned abruptly to Varthanel. "Wait, how did you know Kylians' are hunted? Varthenral...do you come from the futures?"

"...That would explain why she referred to our Ganrikkat as a 'present Ganrikkat' and not past or future, I suppose," Cameo mused. "So, she hasn't taken it yet?"

Varthenral grimaced. "I... am... I am... a... I like to, er... I..."

"She told me," interrupted Aricrauer, "that she calls herself the 'Defiant Second Chance'... because she is a second chance for this to be stopped."

She gestured to the area around them. Varthenral nodded to Aricrauer, grateful for the explanation.

"In... in this future... I found... Ganrikkat... and... I went back a... a year before, before this all, it all starts... and I, I... I thought... there would be... another, another Ganrikkat..."

Ddremmu tilted her head. "What would two Ganrikkats do that one couldn't? Otherwise, wouldn't you be changing large events?"

"No... So... someone else... could not... have it..."

"If someone else gets it in the present, does this future occur? Is that what you're saying?" Rokordi asked?

"Many... many things... lead... to this... but... if... there is... There is someone... who gets Ganrikkat... and... they use it to... to ensure... this... future..."

"Who would ensure this future?" Cameo mumbled. "Who would want this?"

Rokordi growled. "Someone broken. No one in their right mind would long for a life like this."

"More like someone who would want the colossi triumphant once again," said Ddremmu.

Varthenral visibly faltered, sighing heavily. "I... I do not... know... but he is... somewhere in your present-day... He is there... Waiting... He seeks to kill... to kill... the gods... and the... the Kylians... and create... this world..."

"So this is why you feel compelled to maintain control of Ganrikkat..." Cameo couldn't lie; he probably would submit to the temptation of killing a foreign man for the dagger. Varthenral just seemed... very helpless, though. He couldn't even imagine having a minor argument with her now that he knew her more closely, much less killing her.

“I... I do not... know... who the godkiller... is... personally... but..." Varthenral heaved in a shaky breath. Aricrauer's eyes narrowed, and she stepped closer to Varthenral, as if expecting her to pull the dagger out and return them to the present-day. However, Varthenral's voice spoke up again, barely more than a whisper.

"His name is Rotus." She inhaled again, trying to steady herself. "According... to... the documents... I stole in this, this era... I... he... he worked... with a god... of some, some sort... to do this... or he... he worked... for, for that god."

"A god... killing gods? And Kylians? What god would seek to destroy the others?" Cameo was confused, but also panicked. He didn't like being stuck here while that... whatever it was went to get its friends to 'save' Rokordi.

"Killing gods... for a god," Ddremmu repeated grimly. The implications were unsettling... especially after what she had seen between Alvarus and the god she knew as Renddar.

Rokordi slumped back to the ground again. "Hmph. Gods."

"I know it's hard to swallow," said Aricrauer. "But... I believe Varthenral. Grudgingly, but... hell, if all of this starts happenin' less than a year from where we are now...”

"It's not hard to swallow. Though, I'm not the best judge of that, having been unable to eat or swallow for millenia. It sounds like just the sort of thing for a god to do."

"Nothing's hard to swallow," Cameo reassured. "Not after what I've seen."

Ddremmu shivered. "It feels as if, more and more, only the worst comes our way."

"I did warn you," said Aricrauer to Ddremmu, almost smugly.

Ddremmu gave a poisonous stare to Aricrauer. "And how would being ignorant been any better, fool? At least now, she has those to help her."

Aricrauer stayed silent at Ddremmu's declaration but spat to the side.

"You... you changed your past..." Varthenral stared up at Cameo and Ddremmu with pleading eyes, Ganrikkat still plunged deep in her heart. "Please... please... help... help me... change mine..."

Rokordi sniffed. "Changed the past, huh?"

"But... how... ?" Cameo shook his head, "We didn't do anything but mess up. Countless reckless changes were made, it... it wasn't pretty. People died. A lot of people."

Ddremmu glanced down in agreement with Cameo's assessment of the events on Mioura.

"No!" Varthenral shouted, only to descend into a violent coughing fit, Ganrikkat quaking in her hands. "No...  It... It is not... what happened... that, that matters... You changed it -- changed your past... and... and that means... this future... it, it can change... The... the things that are history... to, to me... They would... just... be a nightmare... that the universe wakes up from..."

Ddremmu stared at Varthenral. "I... I didn't deny my help. Maybe we can do better this time...but either way, we can hardly let a future where there are beings in fear come to pass."

"The universe is always going to have nightmares, Varthenral. But not all of us have a second chance to wake up. I might not be a time-weaver, and I might not have changed the past, but I will help you, Varthenral," said Rokordi.

"I can't say no now; what good is this sword if I'm not using it, after all?" Cameo smirked, but his smile just hid his reluctant acceptance of his fate. He'd always get dragged into these misadventures whether he liked it or not, evidently.

Varthenral nodded, tears springing to her eyes from behind her mask. "Thank... Thank you."

She jolted when she heard the loud shouts of the cloaked figure from before, this time joined by seven others. Without even giving a warning, she removed the dagger from her heart with a gasp. The world changed and shifted again, and they were back in the present-day Tumoria.

Ddremmu stared off into the distance. "So... our time is even more pressed." She turned to the others. "The looters are close to finding a way to the island, but we aren't."

"What are the odds that the leader of the looters is the one who turns everyone into colossi?" asked Rokordi.

"I'm guessing zero," said Aricrauer with a roll of her eyes. "You think some looters would be the masterminds behind a mass genocide and consorting with gods or whatever?"

"They might be taking cover among them though," Ddremmu replied. "As you said, who would expect it?"

"Because it's totally a coincidence that there are people desperately searching for the godslayer right around the time that the world is totally altered by it. Definitely sounds like it's free of divine intervention," Rokordi interjected snidely.

"By that logic," said Aricrauer, "anyone with a godslayer or looking for one is a suspect."

"We'd expect it," Cameo retorted, in response to Ddremmu. "And if there's anything we are, it's highly suspicious of totally innocent people on a pretty regular basis. Probably a little too obtuse of a conclusion."

"Don't forget the times we were led around by our noses because we trusted too easily," Ddremmu pointed out.

"I can't think of a single instance where that happened with someone who was a genuine threat to society," Cameo spat back, "Unless I'm remembering wrong and we were following Dokani around that castle the whole time?"

Ddremmu gave a bitter look to Cameo. "I know we're responsible for his deaths, but the young version of him was hardly free of blood."

"It's him that kept me alive in that fight. I don't recall you taking pa--" Cameo throws his hands up in the air. "Never mind. It's not important."

Varthenral wiped the blood off Ganrikkat, edging away from the argument – as did the others.

"You -- you say it as I didn't fight! And you know what? Speak for yourself! Perhaps you can say it never happened that you were fooled by someone who was a danger to others, but I can't! I can't say that!" Ddremmu's voice began to rise.

"Well, we aren't the same person, so get over yourself and consider that being suspicious of anything with a pulse isn't the obvious solution to all of your problems, Ddremmu!" Cameo ran his hands through his hair and grunted in frustration, but sighed and shook his head. "I said it's not important, and it's not. Getting to the island is important. How are we going to infiltrate the looters without a fight?"

"Hah! I've misjudged others so badly, I... I watched a city..." Ddremmu turned away in tears. "I can't let myself..."

"You can't hold Rhyser City against me forever. I didn't even know what was going on." Cameo folded his arms, "I'm not calling Flametail up telling her all the juicy gossip I've collected down here on Tumoria! Clearly I'm not in it for the long haul anymore! If these two have shown me anything it's that we're all alone in this stupid galaxy!" He leaned against the wall and shook his head again, "We've got godsblood, how privileged we are! The military uses us as tools and these looters would sooner gut us alive than let us walk away with these precious weapons that they probably can't even fucking use." He spat away from the group and glared back at Ddremmu, "You can be mad at me as long as you want, dumpling, but the Empire isn't getting shit out of me anymore. Tumoria was a massive failure that got derailed by potentially finding another Godslayer, but when I got there it was already gone. That's my mission synopsis, if I even make it back."

Varthenral shirked further away at the loud noises, sheathing Ganrikkat. As soon as she did, she covered her ears with her hands.

"Hey! Ms. Religious Iddun and Mr. Godbreaker!" Aricrauer snapped. "I know I'm one to talk, but let's cut the drama shit out, okay?"

Her crest flared for a moment, but she took a deep breath, probably to keep herself from losing her own temper and escalating the conflict further... or maybe because she felt bad that Ddremmu was actually crying about Rhyser City and that Cameo was being kind of unfairly targeted -- again. She grimaced, but exhaled in a long sigh.

Still struggling to keep her voice even, Aricrauer continued. "How about this? Those looters are a big enough group they can't all possibly be on a first-name basis with each other or whatever. We disguise ourselves as looters, get close to the teleporter, and we figure out how to use it. Get to it at night or whenever they sleep, use it, get to the island, obtain Ganrikkat #2, and we go home happy. Varthenral knows a shitload of teleport spells, but they can only bring you back to somewhere you were when the spell was used. So we won't even have to go through the teleporter on our way back."

However, her words fell on deaf ears.

Flaring her wings, Ddremmu retaliated back to Cameo's retort. "How can you expect me to just forget Rhyser too? You may be just saving yourself and using them, but when I see you...and know you're with the Empire... I see them die! I see the Empire's shadow! How can I forget that?! Tell me!”

"I didn't ask you to forget it, I asked you to hear what I'm telling you and realize that I had no part in it, and Rokordi didn't either! We didn't even know about it until literally days ago! Rokordi didn't know until this morning!" Cameo shouted.

Cameo's nostrils flared, but he closed his eyes and silently countd to ten. Aricrauer was right; they had more pressing matters at hand, and Varthenral must have been all but distressed at this point with all of the yelling.

"Rokordi..? What... What do you mean?" she asked softly, frozen, save for her eyes darting back and forth between Cameo and Rokordi.

"What about me, Aricrauer? I'd like to help, but even if they don't know each other by name, I'm rather hard to miss," said Rokordi, trying to edge into the conversation while it was still low-key.

“HEY!" Aricrauer screeched at Ddremmu. "Get a hold of yourself! This isn't going fucking anywhere! Rhyser City was my fucking fault! Okay?! Does that make you feel better? I fucked up! I knew it was going to be hell in there! But I fucked up and couldn't stop it, even though I knew in advance that some shit was going down there!" Panting for breath, she turned to Rokordi, as if her outburst hadn't happened at all. "I dunno. Mask. Cloak. Spell to disguise yourself, maybe?"

Ddremmu stood still, bombarded by Aricrauer's words.

Cameo realized belatedly that Ddremmu didn't overhear the entire conversation he'd had with Astruc and Aricrauer earlier in the day; he let it go in light of the distraction Aricrauer had provided in avoiding the conversation altogether.

"Those days are in the past, Cautious One," Rokordi said, not explaining further. Turning back to Aricrauer, he said, "Mask and cloak don't do too much to disguise the physique, and my significantly longer arms than legs."

Ddremmu turned away from Rokordi and Cameo, realizing just what they were getting at and not wanting to address it. "Aricrauer... you didn't know it was going to be bombs. And if you knew what I knew... you'd know you're not the only one to blame. I had the chance to stop it, but I failed. I... I have their blood on my hands.”

Rokordi turned to Ddremmu, leaning down to look her in the face. "We've all made mistakes, Cautious One. We move past them and learn from them, or we stop. And you do not have the luxury to stop."

"Oh, for the love of..." Aricrauer rubbed her temples. "Why did you get involved in the first place, Ms. Iddun? Who's the reason you got dragged into that mess? If you wanna do a little chain of command kind of bullshit deal, I'm the reason you got involved. So anything on your hands is actually on mine."

Ddremmu laughed a little hysterically at both Rokordi and Arircrauer. To her, it felt more as if they were just telling her that her emotions were getting in the way. Bitterly, she folded up. "Never mind, let's just plan how we'll disguise ourselves."

"She's crazy." Aricrauer threw her hands into the air. "I tried. You were all witnesses. Nobody can't say I didn't try."

"Reconnaissance is important. If they're predominantly one race, we'll stick out. We need to figure out what they look like before we move in," Rokordi said.

Early in the morning, just as the sun was rising, a loud horn sounded throughout the main tower of Jerrau, rousing the people inside. The well-heated main hall was where the group had been sleeping along with some lower-ranked soldiers and other guests of Jerrau.

"Mn." Jaspur jolted up, blinking rapidly, having been slumped over a strategist's table. Gazing down at the map of the area, his eyes flickered over the T-shaped tokens and figures shoved aside by his slumber, and the slight crease where his face was resting. If he had devised anything last night, the details were no longer clear. "...Goddammit."

Grunting, Oscare slowly pushed himself up. "Isfhs breakfestfh ready..?" Oscare slurred his words, obviously still trying to mentally wake up.

Doji was startled awake by the horn and jumped up, glancing around the hall's interior. She let out a large yawn, revealing rows of sharp teeth. "Good morning!"

Jaspur nodded, rubbing his eyes wearily. "Mm. That remains to be seen."

"It better be if they're waking us up this early," grumbled Oscare.

A few of the lower-ranked soldiers groggily started filing out of the main hall, darkly muttering about how it's too early to be up.

Doji watched the soldiers leave for a moment before following them. "C'mon, guys!" she called over her shoulder. "Let's go find Zajcitos!"

Though a bit irritated or perhaps amused at Doji's energy, the rest of them followed after her. They found themselves in the corridor that connected most of the rooms on this floor. Just as some of the soldiers lumbered past the door of a room with a Veriol emblem on it, Zajcitos stepped out, closing the door behind her. She spotted the group and waved at them.

"'Hoy, sleep well?"

"Yeah!" Doji nodded eagerly, grinning. "It was fun! Like a sleepover!"

"Just dandy. What's with the crowd? Is something going on?" asked Oscare.

"Crowd?" Zajcitos looksedat the soldiers. "You call that a crowd? They're just rank-an'-file recruits. Prolly from Hasse, most of them."

"Are they coming with us?"

"No."

Oscare was a little disappointed they wouldn't get back-up, but Doji reminded him that they had taken out the Queen on their own. Isaak flinched a little at the mention of Mioura, but said nothing as Doji prattled on.

"Anyways," interruped Zajcitos. She took out a piece of paper with a map on it. "I spent yesterday figurin' out the best route to take. You see here..."

She pointed, mostly showing the map to Jaspur, as he was probably the most interested in their course of action.

"...We'll head north to Talis, stop there for some supplies an' information, continue onto Suivre. After we figure out what the hell's goin' on, I'll send Jaspur an' Makhil to Hasse. From there, Jaspur can get on a caravan t'Sonstre."

"...Fine, I suppose." Jaspur sighed. "I suppose Eralkk had better accompany us, then. Hopefully it won't be especially dangerous."

Oscare glanced at Jaspur, a small grin playing out on his muzzle. "Since when were you so afraid of danger? I thought that Kes Joshawk would teach you a thing or two about danger."

Jaspur wearily shook his head. "Hardly that. Eralkk is not a combat model. In the event of a volatile situation, it's important he keep out of the fray."

"I'm surprised none o' you asked why we aren't goin' through the middle o' Olaka and cuttin' through like that t'save time," said Zajcitos with a smirk. "I may as well tell ya if you're gonna be stayin' in Olaka at all, so you don't run into trouble later. It's the Deadlands. Nobody goes there. Bad luck, bad air, and it's a complete wasteland. Used to just be volcanoes, but now it's completely saturated with Chrono."

"When do we head out?" asked Doji.

Zajcitos rolled up the map and put it in the bag slung over her shoulder. "We leave as soon as you're ready. That robot is waitin' near the entrance o' the tower. Are you ready t'leave now, or do ya need more time?"

They all confirmed that they were ready to go, and Isaak asked how long their journey would take.

"We could make it t'Talis by nightfall if we don't get delayed." Zajcitos let out a sigh. Glancing around, she also lowered her voice. "I know I didn't arrange for a caravan or somethin' t'make the trip faster... I don't think it's a good idea t'let too many people know exactly where we're goin', yeah? An' there could be trouble if there really are Alamos out there. But if you guys think y'can handle any potential trouble an' think we need the extra speed..."

Again, they were all in agreement that Zajcitos' plan was best. Subtlety would be better if they were dealing with potential spies. The group filed out towards the entrance of the tower in Jerrau, where they found Eralkk with a pair of soldiers. One of them saluted Jaspur as Eralkk lumbered over towards him.

"We tuned him up, sir! Fresh oil and replaced a few rusting joints."

"Fuck you guys!" barked Zajcitos with a laugh. "Y'never show that much respect t'ME."

Despite her joking tone, the two soldiers seemed intimidated by her response, and they cringed.

"Oh! Hm." Bemused, Jaspur looeds him over. He was still a little antsy about the idea of other people messing too much with the construct, but it wouldn't do to be ungrateful. "Very good of you! Much obliged. Eralkk, feeling better?"

"THEY DID NOT TAMPER WITH MY PROCESSORS OR MEMORY BANKS, MR. QUELLSTONE, AND THEY SEEMED TO BE USING VERY OUTDATED TOOLS." Eralkk's gears made a whirring noise as it thinks. "NONETHELESS, I BELIEVE THE OIL THEY SUPPLIED ME WITH WILL BE SUPERIOR TO WHAT I HAD BEFORE, AS IT IS MORE SUITED FOR THE COLD CLIMATE."

"Ah, well then. Very good of you indeed." Jaspur scanned the soldiers' uniforms for any sort of name badge, finding their names to be Fals and Gerrier. Taking out his notebook, Jaspur carefully wrote their names in incongruously dainty handwriting.

Isaak smiled. "If they did tamper with your memory banks, you wouldn't remember that, would you? So can you be sure?"

"I AM SURE BECAUSE THERE IS A RECORD OF PERSONS WHO ACCESS MY SOFTWARE WHICH CANNOT BE MANIPULATED WITHOUT SUPPLYING THE PROPER PASSWORD, OR I WILL EXPLODE," Eralkk told Isaak.

"Huh. Never knew there are oils specifically for machines in the cold," commented Oscare.

"What, you never owned a car?" asked one of the soldiers incredulously. "Need t'swap out its oil in winter. Reacts different in the cold."

Jaspur nodded happily, though he hesitated at Eralkk's words. "Appending that last conditional is a surefire way to get someone's attention..." He inclined his head to the two. "In any case, your assistance is much appreciated. I would have been in rather a rough spot if the poor fellow had frozen up on me."

Oscare shook his head at the soldiers, who were listening more to him than Jaspur. "Never had a car. I walk everywhere. Healthier that way"

Fals snorted with contempt at Oscare. "Well, you're missin' out. Cars are the shit."

"...Assumin' it wasn't shit to begin with," Gerrier mumbled.

"Let's get goin'," said Zajcitos with a nod. She shuffled past the two soldiers and continued outside towards the gate. Bidding the soldiers farewell, the others followed after her.

The gate creaked open as they approached, and they found themselves outside Jerreu. Though there was a paved road before them, it didn't appear to be very taken care of. There were tire marks, cracks, and ice all over it. East of them, they could see a huge lake stretching onward, snowbanks surrounding it. Opposite of the lake seemed to be an entrance to a mine of some sort, though Zajcitos didn't seem to pay it any mind as she walked along the road.

Oscare pointed out the entrance as they walked. "Is that a mine? What resources can you even find on Olaka?"

"Gems. Nowadays that mine is mostly used fer coal t'heat Jerrau."

Jaspur glanced up, mildly interested. "That's a rather broad category."

"Wish I could tell y'more, but I'm not really interested in that sorta thing, yeah?" Zajcitos made a 'hmm' noise and scratched the front of her throat. "I think... someone mentioned that there's some amethysts down there..? Diamonds, too?"

Doji glanced at the mine, interested. "I'll have to come back here when we're done," she said,"to look for my soul gem."

"Well, I need t'go back to Jerrau once we drop off Makhil an' Jaspur, so you can hitch a ride back with me, yeah?" Zajcitos looked farther ahead. "Hey, y'see that..?"

Up ahead there was smoke trailing into the sky.

"Mhm." Jaspur nodded, brow furrowing. "Abnormal?"

"Great! Huh?" Doji stared at the smoke for a moment before rushing ahead to check it out.

"Abnormal is an--" Zajcitos sighed and furrowed her brow. She glanced around and noticed a large fallen log that has several boulders around it. "I'm takin' cover here while Doji does that... scout work."

She moved in to hide behind the obstruction, her hand on her throwing axe. Jaspur commanded Eralkk to stay behind while he, Isaak, and Oscare followed Doji, mostly out of concern that the clumsy doeron would land herself in trouble if left alone.

As Doji approached, she found the scorched remains of something wooden. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but she also saw a wheel untouched by the flames laying on the side of the road. Doji examined the wooden remains for a moment before moving to the wheel, trying to figure out what the wheel might have come from.

"What'd you find?" Oscare asked, peering at the burnt wood with a frown.

"No idea!" Doji admitted with a shrug. "Looks like this stuff was on fire, though. But this wheel avoided it somehow."

Curious, Jaspur also took a closer look, deducing that the fire was natural as opposed to being from a spell.

"Hrm." Jaspur straightened up. "Well, we can at least rule out errant Chrono. This looks like ordinary fire."

Doji shrugged. "Maybe someone was just cold."

Isaak blinked. "Why would they torch their whole wagon if they were just cold?"

Jaspur, as he searched through the wreckage, found a small section of a charred crate bearing a Veriol Alliance emblem on it. Before seeing the crate himself, Isaak suggested that perhaps it was the rogue Alamo forces that they'd heard rumors of.

"Well, if anyone, they'd be the likely culprit." Jaspur indicated the crate in question.

Just then, Oscare heard a rustling noise. Immediately on alert, the group turned to the source of the sound. Seeing nothing, Isaak cautiously crept forward and found the remains of a Veriol Alliance flag. He brought it back for the others to see. Jaspur's eyes narrowed, and he returned to Eralkk, ordering the robot to scan for anything in the area that they had missed.

Eralkk started to scan... and then its eyes turned red.

"ALERT! ALERT! HOSTILES!"

Just as the construct spoke, a magic blast struck all four of them! Isaak was able to move aside quickly to avoid the brunt of the Magic Missile, but the rest were caught in the attack. Atop the boulder Isaak was standing near, a human wearing a cloak could be seen, his hands pulsing with magic.

Jaspur grunted. "Of course." He drew his axe, shielding Eralkk with a scowl. "Get to safety. We'll deal with this."

Doji glanced around in alarm as Eralkk cries out its alert, then yelps in surprise as she is hit by the Chrono attack! While her allies were still grouped, she threw down a Shield Blast. The Chrono encased them in a soft glow, protecting them from future attacks.

Zajcitos rushed forward, only for a second blast of magic to catch her on the side. A second human had revealed himself from his hiding place, also having been invisible. Glancing at the one at the boulder, Zajcitos lunged at the second human, striking him in the leg with her axe to keep him from running. Desperate to keep his vantage point, the human still clung to his position atop the rock.

Isaak pulled out his rifle and shot twice at the second human that Zajcitos had trapped, knocking him off the boulder. Jaspur barked out Countering Tactics as he moved forward, bringing his axe to bear against the one still standing on the boulder.

Jaspur missed as the human jumped back and away from the attack. With a few swift movements, the human called forth a fiendish hawk! The beast swooped down on Oscare and slashed twice at his face with its talons!

The human near Zajcitos clutched at his arm where Isaak's bullet hit, then launched a Fireball over where Doji, Oscare, Isaak, and Jaspur were! The ball of flame detonated with a low roar, catching all four of them in the blast. It seemed it also hit the other human, though not as harshly.

"You shithead! Aim better!" he shouted at his companion.

While the human was being shouted at, Zajcitos lunged but missed him with her first strike. Snarling, she rounded on him again and struck him with a flurry of hacking slashes.

Isaak gritted his teeth, stepping back further, and fired twice at the human who launched the fireball, judging him to be the more powerful target. The human fell in a heap, and Jaspur charged at the remaining one. Jaspur's axe cleaved into the human across the chest, sending him flying from the force of the blow.

"Hold up! This one's still alive!" Zajcitos shouted. She pinned the human down with her foot, stepping on his back, and she yanked his head up by the hair. Holding her axe to his throat, she spat on him. "What the hell's goin' on here? Who are you two?"

The human yelped in fear, but he tried to regain his composure. "Just bandits! Robbed that caravan blind, set it on fire so we could get more people over here..."

"Bullshit," spat Isaak.

"Ha! Got proof?" the human taunted, though he gulped when Zajcitos drew her axe closer. "Uh, I..."

"Why would you be robbin' such a dead road? Isn't things better down south in Talis? That port's pretty damn lively, y'know..?" The lie was a transparent one to the group, as they had seen Zajcitos' map earlier. Not only was Talis not a port city, but it was north of them. The lie wouldn't be so obvious to someone unfamiliar with the region, though... like a rank-and-file Alamo Empire soldier.

"It's fine." Jaspur rose, face blank, covered in his own blood and the human's. "If he's simply a bandit, then clearly he bears no significance for us. We'll finish the job and be on our way." Carrying his axe, gaze matching the prisoner's, he advanced slowly, leisurely, with the stained weapon, almost strolling towards him - footsteps audible in the snow.

Doji glanced at Jaspur in alarm; Isaak was more intrigued and surprised, not having expected such an old man to be so calculating, and the human beneath Zajcitos' feet started to panic.

"A-Ah! No! No, wait! I'm a bandit, yeah, yeah! But! I can tell you some useful info! Yeah?! Can -- can we compromise?!"

Jaspur paused. "Oh? Splendid." He nodded cheerfully. "Quite a fortunate remembrance for both of us, no?" He glanced to Zajcitos. "Well then."

Zajcitos let the human's head drop on the ground. He hit his nose on the hard earth, but he didn't even seem to notice as blood trickled out of it, too relieved at being spared a grisly fate.

"There were -- these guys in blue! And some of them were in green! They were marching north! And they had a bunch of monsters with them! Huge ones! Dreadhorns, Olakan tigers... bigger than usual! HUGE!"

Zajcitos tilted her head, pressing harder on the human's back. "North? As in... followin' this road?"

The human desperately nodded, droplets of blood flying everywhere as he does.

"Let me tend to that." Oscare walked over and tried to patch up the human best he could.

Jaspur hesitated, the man's plight giving him pause - but Oscare's quick notice gave him a very brief expression of relief. "Good fellow, that."

"Dreadhorns and tigers? Oh my!" Doji glanced around at the others. "Maybe the one we fought came from this group?"

"Seems like just about all our suspicions were confirmed," said Isaak.

"Blue... and green." Jaspur closed his eyes. "It sounds like we may have double agents to consider."

"Or captives."

"Green could just mean they are of higher rank," suggested Oscare thoughtfully.

Isaak shook his head. "Doubtful. Blue is the color of the Alamo empire, and Green is the color of the Veriol alliance. Considering their relationship, I can't imagine either dressing their men in the other's colors."

Jaspur nodded absently to confirm Isaak's words. "No. Never in green. They'd be demoted on the spot." He stared at the captive for a brief moment and exhaled, his hot breath dissipating into the air. "Unfortunate implications, whichever way it may end up."

"If their relationship is that bad, it's hard to imagine they're collaborating... but... knowing our luck, anything could be happening," said Oscare.

"Whoever they are, I don't like the sound of 'em marchin' where we're headed," growled Zajcitos.

Jaspur nodded wearily. "Hopefully we can find a bit of relief before we run into anything else."

Oscare pats the human on the shoulder. "Now you keep yourself out of trouble, alright? Next time, we can't promise your life."

"Okay. Here's what I'm gonna do since I'm feeling generous today from your help, yeah?" Zajcitos stepped off the human's back. "I'll carry your buddy t'Jerrau an' get you both some medical aid."

She looked to the rest of the group, also in bad condition, and she grimaced.

"We don't have a hell of a lotta time... but someone's gotta get up ahead of that blue-an'-green group an' find out what the hell's goin' on and stop 'em if needed. Still... if you don't think y'can make it from the damage these two did..."

Jaspur sighed, straightening up. "If you have any contacts within the city, tell me and I'll find them. Ideally, we'll give ourselves a moment to recover and spruce up, then we move on to our infiltration."

Zajcitos reached into her pocket and pulled out a small insignia with a hook on it, handing it to Jaspur.

"Look for a girl named Emmitaire Perlais in Talis. Short, blue-grey skin, tiartzard like me. Show her that, an' she'll help you."

"Hrm." Jaspur nodded absently, examining the icon, then tucked it away. "Obliged."

Isaak, however, was determined to fly on ahead of the others and warn the city in advance. Zajcitos didn't seem to think it was a good idea, as the high altitude meant that Isaak would be flying in frigid temperatures on top of being wounded. Plus, he could be attacked on sight – someone could mistake him for a mere beast to be hunted, or they could intentionally try to hurt an animal they suspected was a shape-shifter. As a final threat, Zajcitos insisted that Isaak stay with the group, or he wouldn't get paid.

Jaspur coughed to get Zajcitos' attention. Having counted it out of his pocket, he passed twenty gold pieces to Zajcitos.

"What's this for?" She stared at the coins in her hand.

"Mm? Oh, it should cover a warm set of clothes and a hot meal each for these poor fellows." Jaspur nodded absentmindedly, glancing back down the road to their original destination. "We've little time to lose, at any rate. Shall we move?"

Zajcitos snorted at Jaspur. "Never woulda pegged y'for a softie."

There wasn't any malice in her words. Nonetheless, she lumbered over to the fallen human and hefted him onto her back.

Isaak followed her over, still angry. "What do you mean, I'm not getting paid? Are you really saying that if I don't do what you say, staying here and delay alerting Talis when they could be informed sooner, preparing more; if I don't do the job faster and more efficiently, you're really going to punish me? Gods. You belong in middle management."

"Real cute, asshole. I don't trust y'to not run off t'wherever you were headed before. On top of that, even if I could trust you, y'could end up fallin' outta the sky from the injuries you got in this fight an' end up in enemy hands. It's safer t'stick together. That's it, plain an' simple." Zajcitos stalked past him and smacked him with her tail for his impudence -- not too hard, but enough force to get her point across. "You don't survive in Olaka handin' out cookies for every smartass who questions every-fuckin'-thing. You survive by bein' smart and suspicious."

Isaak crossed his arms. "Fair enough."

After telling Jaspur that he expected him to keep an eye on Isaak and to monitor his behavior, Zajcitos grunted at the other human, who scrambled to his feet and followed after her, giving the group a fearful glance back as they left.

Jaspur strode forward along with the rest. After a moment, he glanced to Isaak. "I'd like to make something clear."

"What?" asked Isaak.

"I have no particular desire to be some kind of hunched, beady-eyed chaperone." Jaspur wrinkled his nose. "I won't begrudge you your solitude. Heavens know we all need some from time to time. If some kind of report is really necessary, you needn't worry about my response." A brief sigh escaped him. "However - I do ask that, when possible, you keep yourself out of more dangerous circumstances, as we're relying on your abilities and presence. Reasonable?"

"Look, dude, I fuckin' agreed to come. I like money, and I need money. You don't have to watch me because I'm not going anywhere. I might not be the least unscrupulous person on this planet, but most of the time, I follow through. I won't fuckin' run off just because things aren't moving as fast as I'd like. I've made that mistake before."

"Alright. Good to know." Jaspur nods, replacing his axe on his back and leaning on the walking stick. "Won't trouble you further about it."

"If I remember right..." Aricrauer frowned. "I think we've gotta go through the old city t' get to where the chain meets the mainland."

"The old city?" Cameo questioned. "Did they rebuild the main city or... ?"

"A portion of it got wrecked during the Godbomb," said Aricrauer. "What we're in right now is only a fraction of how huge this place used to be."

"Is there anything we should look out for there?" Gilda inquired upon hearing mention of the old city.

"Looters, monsters... Y'know, standard adventure stuff." Aricrauer flashed Gilda a wry grin. "An'... well, there's ruins everywhere. Estvoled got hit hard by the Godbomb. Not as bad as Mioura, but... still hard."

Ddremmu, Rokordi, and Cameo groaned at the mention, all of them remembering some sort of past trauma.

"Well, aren't you a cheery bunch?" Astruc snorted at Aricrauer's comment, but stayed quiet, instead warily glancing around.

As they left the main city area, they noticed the road gradually growing rougher and less tended to. There were fewer people passing by here, and even fewer inhabited buildings until they had come to what appeared to be a huge, fallen skyscraper that blocked their path. It was too large to feasibly go around, plus there appeared to be similar ruins on either side of it, too.

"I suppose there are no shortcuts," Ddremmu asked wistfully, remembering the past 'adventures' of bad luck.

"What about those windows?" Rokordi pointed, thinking he could possibly charge at them.

Aricrauer nodded. "As good as a plan as any, unless anyone's got a better idea."

Ddremmu grimaced at the thought of glass shards... and things taking shelter in the building, just laying in wait for some unlucky adventurers. "I...suppose it ought to serve as a pathway."

Rokordi charged on all fours and jumped through the nearest window, but he landed against the window with a thud and fell to the ground. The glass appeared to be fortified and shatter-proof. Rokordi grunted angrily, childishly punching the glass as a last ditch effort to break it, but it still held firm.

"Shit, you alright?" Aricrauer asked, sounding more concerned with the plan's failure than Rokordi's well-being. "...Well, any other ideas?"

Ddremmu's ears pricked, and she heard a noise behind them – sounding like something stepping on the broken road. She alerted the others, and they all started to spread out a little in an attempt to find the source of the noise. Noticing a nearby charred bush move, Cameo and Aricrauer both trained their long-range weapons on it. With a grunt, Rokordi crushed the bush to find their invisible pursuer, but nothing happened.

The group heard a voice from behind them. "Wait! Do not shoot! I mean no harm!"

All of them spun towards the sound. While the group was facing where they heard the voice, there was the sound of breaking glass behind them. When they turned, they saw that one of the windows further down the skyscraper had been burst open, tendrils of pale Chrono dissipating from the impact.

Aricrauer's eyes widened. "What the hell?"

There was the sound of movement from inside the building, growing rapidly more distant.

Rokordi sprinted through the broken window and after the foosteps, his animal instincts having taken over. Cameo followed after, loading his crossbow as he gave chase.

"You can't be serious!" Ddremmu shouted after them.

Though she tried to listen for signs of the stranger, Ddremmu could only hear Rokordi stumbling around in the building, the ruined furniture and debris blocking his path as he tried to get to the broken window on the other side.

With a heave, Astruc started shoving aside some of the debris. Aricrauer also joined in moving aside the debris. "Goddamn, whoever that was must be thinner 'n' a twig to weave through this shit!"

On the ground, Gilda noticed some fresh footprints in the dust. The footprints led to the other side of the building through another broken window. However, the path was blocked by some debris that was too close together for anyone other than Ddremmu to easily squeeze through. If they tried, Cameo or Gilda could have possibly tried to make it through, but it was out of the question for Aricrauer, Astruc, and Rokordi.

Rokordi easily shoved aside the last piece of debris blocking the way. The group could see on the other side of the skyscraper they were in were ruins upon ruins, vines and all manner of fungi growing on what remains of this civilization. In a way, the sight reminded Aricrauer, Astruc, and Ddremmu of Rhyser City, albeit much older. They noticed that the footprints ended outside.

Gilda cracked her knuckles as she looked around with a confused look. "What, did they just fly away or something?"

Ddremmu flexed her own wings at the idea. "I wonder if they'll be able to get enough lift here."

"Flyin' would be a bad idea," said Aricrauer. "Look up."

Though the air around them seemed perfectly normal, not too far above was a dense cloud of yellow-orange Chrono.

"Can't say I'm too experienced with havin' wings, but I wouldn't wanna be flapping around up there."

"So whoever it is, they're hiding? Then..." Ddremmu paused, before using Detect Magic to find a Chrono signature of living things that weren't her group.

The spell became more effective with the density of Chrono around them. Ddremmu sensed magic from direction of the first broken window -- not too surprising, considering what they had seen of it earlier. However, she was also getting a reading from on top of the fallen skyscraper.

"From the top of this building?" Ddremmu told the others in confusion, before elaborating. "Magic at the window is understandable but -- what's going on up there?"

Aricrauer growled. "Nothin' good -- and we can't see up there, either... unless we somehow climb up."

"Perhaps we should just leave," Ddremmu suggested.

Cameo grumbled darkly; he felt uneasy, but they were just wasting time. "I'm sure I'll regret this immediately, but we should probably be heading toward the island. We're wasting time playing hide-and-seek."

"I don't like bein' followed by someone who can apparently vanish whenever they feel like it," muttered Aricrauer, keeping her gun trained on the top of the building in case anything should appear.

"Well, something useful could be up there right? You never know it could help us get to the island. It never hurts to check," said Gilda.

Ddremmu shuddered. "I am not eager to clamber up the side of the building, prey to anything on wings..."

Aricrauer's worry won out. Cameo and Astruc both offered to scale the building to see what was up there that had triggered a reaction from Ddremmu's spell. Astruc used a Spider Climb spell on Cameo to help the spindly-looking reot scale the building easier. With that done, Astruc grabbed hold of a protrusion and started climbing up himself. Though Cameo felt uneasy, he also followed after Astruc.

Eventually, Astruc's metallic hand gripped the top, and he heaved himself up, Cameo joining him shortly after.

Up atop the skyscraper was a human crouching low to the ground -- or at least, Cameo thought she was a human. After all, she lacked wings, claws, a tail, and her dark hair and skin made it more likely she's a human and not a shape-shifter. Her coat and pants were baggy and ill-fitting at best.

But what caught his eye was the mask on her face. It almost resembled a human skull, though it had no lower jaw. On its teeth were designs that he doesn't recognize at first.

Cameo studied the mask; he'd seen it somewhere before. He thought back to Kyrol, where Lexa drew a similar looking mask for him.

"Varthenral," he said with certainty. He had no idea he'd be finding her quite so soon. "Astruc... Don't let her get to Aricrauer."

The human's eyes widened in surprise. "You know traditional Alamin? That is surprising..."

She sounded pensive, almost. Astruc's ears flicked at Cameo's command, but he kept staring at the human.

"I'm Alamo born," Cameo responded idly, "It's my first language."

Cameo let his right hand fall to his hip; it hovered for a moment over the dagger strapped to his side, but he didn't grab it.

"What are you doing here?" Cameo finally asked.

"It is mine as well, but I had to study it," said Varthenral, talking over Cameo. "The characters are from before the Third Galactic War -- before, before the Veriol Alliance instituted the Morish writing system on Raljikka. Are you a scholar?"

She didn't seem to have registered Cameo's other question. She stood up slowly, her hands hanging loosely at her sides.

"Who is this?" Astruc whispered, not at all liking the feeling of being out of the loop.

"You could say that," Cameo replied casually; his words were dripping with annoyance. He hadn't planned on running into her here, of all places, with Aricrauer so close.

"She's something of a seer," he finally replied to Astruc, "...and she's pretty fond of getting into peoples' heads."

Astruc snorted, but he didn't respond otherwise.

"Seer? No, no -- I am not a seer. I am just Varthenral." Her brown eyes narrowed. "Who -- who are you? You talk as though, as though you know me... But we definitely have not met before. I would remember a reot who knows traditional Alamin. I have never met anyone else who recognizes these characters."

"You could say that I have friends in high places," Cameo answered. "I've seen your mask before; that's all I needed to identify you. It's pretty unique..."

"Of course it is," said Varthenral with a bit of confusion in her voice. "I made it... But how have you seen it if we have never met?"

"Is it really that strange to assume that someone you have met drew a crude representation of it to show me? I'm quite interested in unique masks." Cameo shook his head in annoyance. "I'm a collector," he continued sarcastically, in reference to Thorn's mask.

"Why would they show you?" Varthenral sighed. "I am really, really sorry, but... but I do not understand what you're trying to say."

Cameo was a little taken aback by Varthenral's resistance. "I'm trying to say that someone I know that you've met showed me your mask because of my interest in masks."

"Oh." Varthenral seemed to think on this for a second. "If that is all, I am -- I am sorry, but I cannot sell it to you. I should probably get going. I do not want to waste anymore of your time."

"Fortunately for you, I'm not interested in buying it." Cameo sighed; she seemed rather oblivious. Far more than he'd anticipated. "I'll ask you again, why are you here? Are you following Aricrauer?"

"I did not expect her to be here," said Varthenral. "I thought she was in Kyrol. I am here on -- on my own business."

"What business would that be? Are you at liberty to disclose?" Cameo's hand finally rested on the dagger at his side, but he decided against gripping it.

"How do you know Aric?" growled Astruc, tightening his grip on the spear in his hands.

"...Who are you asking?" Cameo asked Astruc, having difficulty keeping up with what seemed to be two separate conversations.

"Both of you," answered Astruc, starting to back away from Cameo.

"Well, I -- I should probably not tell you. It would have bad consequences..." Varthenral clasped her hands together and twiddled her thumbs. "Please, would you move? I did not want a confrontation. That is why I used an -- an invisibility spell. But I thought breaking that window for you would show I did not want to hurt you..."

"My answer is the same as the one I gave her, I have friends in high places. If you want more than that, I'm afraid you won't get much. I've got a job to do, and that involves knowing information some people might not even know about themselves. She happens to be one of those people."

Cameo ignored Varthenral for now; she seemed relatively harmless. Clueless, even. "But trust me when I say that I have Aricrauer's best interest in mind. Keep this woman away from her." He finally looked back to Varthenral, but still addressing Astruc, said, "I don't think she's being disingenuous when she says that she means us no harm, but she does have an agenda. I just don't know what it is yet."

Cameo's eyes narrowed; letting her go here was probably a mistake, but he couldn't gauge her power without confronting her. That, in itself, could have disastrous consequences.

Astruc growled, but he continued to leer at Cameo, feeling a sense of great unease at their new companion. Even if Ddremmu seemed to know him, could he really trust this man that seemed to know too much about Aricrauer?

"I have Aricrauer's best interests in mind as well," chimed in Varthenral, still seeming awfully confused at what Cameo was saying. "Did I do something to -- to offend you? I didn't... I didn't mean to..."

The more she talked, the more baffled she seemed. She pointed upwards.

"The floating island above us -- I am searching for a way up. There is no evidence here that the locals from before the Godbomb ever used flying machines or spells to reach there. And surely they did not climb the chain. That would be inefficient, impractical, and, and dangerous. I believe there may be a teleportation device of some kind within the ruins of the old city." Varthenral tilted her head. "I am assuming you came here for the floating island as well, right? ...Right?"

Cameo sighed; this woman was proving to be impossible.

"Yes, we are here to find the floating island as well." He couldn't trust her any further than he could throw her, and he was growing less than enthusiastic about the direction this conversation was going in.

"Oh, that is interesting." Varthenral's eyes seemed to gleam from behind her mask. "Well, I should -- I should go, then. I hope you find what -- what you are looking for."

"But what are you looking for? Surely you aren't going to the island just for the sake of research?" Cameo was unconvinced. "There's treasure there, right? Isn't that what you're really after?"

"Oh, there is definitely, definitely treasure," affirmed Varthenral. "I hope we are not searching for the same treasure. That would be a problem. We can't all have it..."

She trailed off, as if realizing that her words were redundant and self-evident.

"Sounds like a race, then," Cameo insisted. "...And trust me, Miss, I don't like to lose when it comes to treasure."

"Do you know what -- what you are looking for?" Varthenral pressed. "If we do not want the same thing, we could work together."

Cameo shook his head, "Sadly, I am unsure of the treasure we're looking for. I wasn't even aware there was a treasure there until very recently, much less what it is... but what is the treasure that you seek?"

Varthenral unsheathed a battered-looking dagger that glowed with a pale aura. There seemed to be writings in traditional Alamin along the otherwise unremarkable blade. "This sword has a twin -- it is up there."

Cameo's eyes widened; was she referring to Ganrikkat? Hretlakk didn't seem to know where it was, but... could it be here? Could he secure yet another godslayer without even meaning to?

"T-that's a... beautiful dagger," Cameo commented, hesitantly. "The aura, that is. It's beautiful."

"It is not very strong," said Varthenral with some degree of disappointment. "I am not very good with it -- at using it in battle," she admitted. "So I have not tried to enchant it very much. It would be a waste of time. But it is good for -- for scaring people. They are less likely to bother someone who is armed."

Down from below, Aricrauer shouted, "Hey! Are you guys alright?!"

Cameo panicked; he couldn't possibly bring Varthenral with them. Aricrauer would recognize her.

"We're... fine," Cameo called down, unsure if that was necessarily the truth. He turned back to Varthanral. "I don't think Aricrauer would want you to travel with us and I can't say I have any interest in splitting our group up..." He looked to Astruc with hesitation, "And I'm afraid that my trepidation has probably alerted my companion to your potential as a threat. For now, I can't agree to travel with you." He gave the dagger another look-over. He had to know if a godslayer was really what they were dealing with, and if so, then this woman was not to be trusted with it. "Though since we may be looking for different treasures... is there anything you can tell me about your theory regarding the portal to the island?"

"Aricrauer and I are on good terms," said Varthenral with confusion. "Did... Did she tell you otherwise..?"

Cameo felt a little bad about turning her away; even though he was suspicious of her, Varthenral seemed to desire something other than the treasure. It's almost like she sought understanding and companionship. She seemed... lonely.

"You have to understand my position. You are a stranger, and one whose name is one I have not heard spoken well about. In addition, I don't know if we're truthfully searching for the same treasure."

Cameo heard Aricrauer's claws scraping against the side of the skyscraper and Ddremmu calling out for Aricrauer to come back down... and Aricrauer swearing loudly at how annoying climbing up the side of the fallen building was.

"Astruc," Cameo began, "Aricrauer is coming. Make your decision; do you trust her?" He pointed at Varthenral, "Are we leaving this skyscraper with her?"

Astruc growled. He looked back and forth between Varthenral and Cameo.

"I don't trust her anymore than I trust you," he said. "Maybe even a bit more if Aric actually knows her..."

His grip on the spear loosened a bit. There was the sound of claws scratching the side of the skyscraper as Aricrauer slowly started to sink lower and lower, unable to get a firm grip. Astruc heard the thud as Aricrauer hit the ground, and he looked at Cameo.

"Do what you want. I'm going back," he said before starting to climb back down to check on Aricrauer.

Cameo sighed as Astruc went. It seemed nobody was going to help him out here. He looked back to Varthenral.

"You never told me what lead you to conceive the theory about the portal." Varthenral seemed easily distracted, even aloof.

"It is a theory based on an old song about this area," said Varthenral. "Compounded by -- other research, of course. But the song was my starting point. Would you like to hear it?"

Ddremmu managed to scramble up the building, seeing Cameo talking to what appeared to be a human in a strange mask.

Cameo briefly considered that perhaps she is an ally if she was willing to share this much information. Still, she was looking for a dagger. One that was possibly a godslayer.

"Please. If we end up parting here, it might help us find what we're looking for as well," said Cameo.

"I cannot sing, so I will have to recite the lyrics to you. It was originally in -- an Olakan language, I believe, but it has a Standard Kylian translation." Varthenral cleared her throat, apparently not noticing Ddremmu.

"I once met a man from the old city;

he beamed and told me, 'Ain't you pretty?

Come along with me; we'll walk the land,

city to city and hand-in-hand.'

"I took his hand, and soon he led me

to a place beneath the chains, a ruined city.

He whistled a song, and I sang along,

shrugging off that something felt wrong.

"The chain was unclimbable, this I knew,

but still I asked, 'What can we do?'

My guide said not to stress our fate:

if we dallied here, we would be late.

"We hurried along the broken road,

hastened by the danger that did bode.

The city was dark, the jingling of chains

echoing far beyond and 'cross the plains.

"Still, I felt an odd sense of dread;

I asked for where we were headed.

He glanced my way and laughed at it all:

'You silly girl – it's beneath the waterfall!'"

"The... waterfall?" Cameo was confused. He didn't notice any signs of a waterfall nearby. He quickly scanned the area from his vantage point to see if he can spot one in the distance.

"Well, you see, this song was written--" Varthenral stopped, noticing Ddremmu. She backed away in fright. "I -- who -- who -- who are you?"

Not seeing anything resembling a waterfall, Cameo glanced back to Ddremmu, then returned his eyes to Varthenral. "She's... my friend. She won't hurt you, please, continue."

"It... was written several centuries ago, likely shortly -- shortly after the Godbomb." Varthenral's intonation seemed a bit more odd and unnatural. "The floating island used to have -- used to have a waterfall that tumbled down and onto the ground below."

Cameo sighed again; she was offering this information willingly and without asking for anything in return. She was either stupid, or probably not their enemy.

"You can explain more to me while we look for it. I've decided to trust you... for now." Bringing her along could even help with gaining Aricrauer's trust if they really weren't at odds, he thought. Still, Cameo felt bad about betraying Lexa and Brook's warnings. Then again, Lexa did try to set him on fire...

"So a waterfall is the path to a chain?" Ddremmu said in bafflement. "How could we create another one."

"Well, no -- I do not think you could create another, another waterfall. But its previous location is where the teleporter must be. The floating island may have provided some water for this location, so if we look -- look for evidence of that..."

Cameo and Ddremmu nodded in understanding. Indicating for Varthenral to follow, Cameo started climbing back down with Ddremmu. Varthenral nodded back and also climbed back down with the aid of some sort of spell.

As soon as Varthenral turned around to face the rest of the group, Aricrauer stared at her for a moment, baffled. "I... Why're you here..?" Without waiting for a response, she shook her head. "Whatever. Let's get goin'. I bet you've got this all figured out."

There was silence, and Aricrauer let out a low groan of annoyance, feeling as though nobody else was going to ask.

"So." Aricrauer motioned to the two. "Y'gonna tell us what you were chattin' about?"

"The island. Varthanral thinks there is a portal to get there," said Cameo tersely.

"Uh huh." Aricrauer looked over at the others. "An' you're all okay with this?"

"It's better than trying to climb the chain." Cameo was a little put-off by Aricrauer's apparent indifference. He shrugged it off and chalks it up to being a facet of her character, albeit one he didn't particularly understand.

"Not the portal." Aricrauer jabbed a clawed finger at him. "At you allegedly havin' a conversation fer that long about a damn island. What were you really talkin' about?"

"I just told you." Cameo stared Aricrauer in the eyes, unfazed.

Astruc stayed silent, crossing his arms and glaring at both Varthenral and Cameo.

"We also discussed other -- other things," said Varthenral, oblivious to Astruc's hostility. "He recognized the characters on my mask -- and he also seems to know me and you from somewhere... At least, that was the impression I got, so... I could -- I could be wrong."

Aricrauer stared at Cameo. Astruc, however, only smirked, feeling a bit smug with Varthenral revealing Cameo's knowledge of Aricrauer.

"Regardless of what I tell you about myself, you aren't going to like the answer. So carry on, let your imagination run wild with the possibilities. I haven't lobbed a dagger into the back of your heads yet, that alone should vouch for my intentions." Cameo glanced between Aricrauer and Astruc, unsatisfied with their bizarre friendship inhibiting his work.

"I'd rather an answer I don't like than nothing at all," countered Aricrauer.

"Any honest answer will only result in the tip of Feivelkt at my throat. My reputation with you two was ruined the minute the bomb dropped." Cameo crossed his arms, unwilling to let a lie screw up even more opportunities.

Aricrauer's gaze grew wider. "What the hell did you just say?"

"Bomb," Ddremmu muttered. Louder, she asked, "Bomb? How do you know about the bomb?"

Rokordi's brow furrowed. "What bomb?"

Cameo looked at Rokordi and, ignoring the others, answered his question first. "Hretlakk brought a newspaper to me a few days after we left Nicta. Some idiot of the Empire decided to drop a bomb on Rhyser City for whatever godsdamned reason and left it in shambles. There are only fifty reported survivors."

"You motherfucker! Who the fuck are you?!" Aricrauer roared. She reached into her Chrono Ring and pulled out a sword with a crimson blade. "Answer me now, or I'll burn you alive! Who the hell are you, and how do you know about Feivelkt?! That was a fucking Veriol secret!"

Varthenral covered her ears at the shouting, and Aricrauer seemed to have an epiphany.

"Hretlakk... Hretlakk Flametail." Aricrauer's orange eyes widened further in shock and then narrowed in undisguised loathing. "You're a part of the fucking Alamo Empire."

"It was hardly by choice," Cameo retorted. "I'm the last person anyone would want working for the military. I was practically kidnapped by them when they found out I had a sword like yours." Cameo didn't resist her threat; he probably deserved it. Lexa tried to warn him, after all.

"Sword -- sword like..." Aricrauer tightened her grip on Feivelkt. "Eiorozziore. That's the only other sword."

"What--? Wait, the empire? You're with them?" Ddremmu backed away from Cameo, her ears flat against her head.

Noting Ddremmu's reaction, Aricrauer leaped on the chance. "Oh, this is news to you, too? Yeah, the same Alamo Empire that bombed Rhyser... this fucker is workin' for them. An' Neerakei only knows why an Alamo snake would be lookin' for me..."

Cameo held up his hands. "If I was out to get you, I would have already taken the opportunity. I'm not your enemy, Aricrauer, and you're free to hate me however much you want. I'm not going to try to convince you that I'm a good person because I'm not."

Ddremmu gave a shaky stare aimed at Cameo. "Why would you work for them?!"

Cameo looked to Ddremmu and sighed. "Rokordi was there, he can vouch for my story. On Nicta a mob war broke out over Eiorozziore, which was stolen from the Empire by one of those mobs. The sword went missing and I found it in the sewer. Before I knew it, Flametail was giving me an ultimatum: Give her the sword or come with her. I don't trust anyone, sugar," he said, "... anyone but myself. And if the military wanted this sword, they had to have a pretty damn good reason for it. I wasn't about to just give it back to them, not when whispers of a war were brewing."

Cameo looked back to Aricrauer and again offered up his hands in surrender, even though she didn't let Feivelkt drop.

Rokordi stayed silent despite Cameo's insistence that he could vouch for him, and Cameo wished that he didn't have the godslayer pointed at him so he could beat some sense into the belligerent colossus.

Ddremmu's small body shook uncontrollably. "But you're with them in some way, even if you try to explain it away!" she protested. "You're with them! What they did... what I did... I hate them... I HATE THEM! They drove me to lengths I didn't even know I had!"

Ddremmu backed away further, shaking her head.

"I didn't know about the bomb, if it's any consolation, and when I found out I was greatly disappointed and saddened by the empire's lack of rationale. I don't have to agree with their decisions just because I wear their uniform. I don't believe in those kinds of politics," said Cameo. Realizing that Aricrauer was still fixing Feivelkt at him, he continued. "I ain't a solider, I'm a spy. And I'm the last person who would challenge Aricrauer Velkt to a fight. Say whatever you want to me, but I'm not interested in my mission at this point. I've got promises to keep, and making sure you're safe is at the top of my list of priorities."

"Promises to keep?! To who -- Flametail?!" Aricrauer demanded. "I'm not going anywhere near the goddamned Alamo Empire. You wanna know what'll happen to you? They'll wait an' send you off on some suicide mission, then come collect Eiorozziore off your corpse.

"You're gonna end up just like me, you motherfucking moron. People up that high don't answer to anyone. Not even godslayers. They let you keep those weapons so you think you're in control... but the moment you let your guard down, you're dead. You keep tellin' yourself you're different, but that's just playin' right into their hands."

Aricrauer muttered a few words in Scheli-dren. The sword roared to life in a swirl of fire.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll march right back to Hretlakk an' tell her your mission was a failure. If you're smart, you'll get rid of Eiorozziore and go back to a normal life. But I can tell you're a fucking idiot, so you'll probably end up dead in a ditch with that sword stuck in your back." Aricrauer looked to Varthenral and Astruc -- and then Gilda, who had been mostly cowering away from the seemingly imminent fight. "If you wanna live, stay back... because if this fucker really has Eiorozziore, it's not gonna be pretty."

"I have every intention of telling Hretlakk that my mission was a failure, because I have no desire to recruit you into an empire that forced my hand in order to maintain control of a weapon that could slice Renddar in two." Cameo didn't remove Eiorozziore from his Chrono Ring; starting a fight with Aricrauer would only result in one of them being dead, and even if he won that fight he'd just have Astruc and Ddremmu turning on him following that.

"I'm no idiot, Aricrauer," he continued, "and that's exactly why I have no intention of fighting you. Varthenral believes there's a twin to her dagger on that island. I think it's Ganrikkat. I'll stay here, I'll disappear, I'll do whatever you want, but if you don't want another one of those weapons getting into the hands of someone else who could potentially abuse them then I think you'd be better off helping her find out how to get there and keep it out of the wrong hands than with your sword pointed at my face."

"Twin to..?" Aricrauer looked at Varthenral, then looked back to Cameo. "What the fuck are you on? Godslayers don't have twins. What, just 'cause Ganrikkat is a dagger, every goddamned dagger is probably Ganrikkat? Newsflash for you, fleatail. Ganrikkat is already--"

She clamped her jaw shut and adjusted her grip on Feivelkt. Narrowing her eyes and flaring her crest, she spoke more dangerously.

"You talk all noble... but you're the one who signed up with the Alamo Empire just to keep your precious sword. I don't think you were frettin' your little head about what if they used it the wrong way or some shit. I bet you just--"

Seemingly almost out of character, Astruc walked over to Aricrauer and attempted to place his hand on her shoulder. "Wait."

Aricrauer's words had made him pause; how differently would things have turned out if the events in Rackina hadn't happened like they had? Aricrauer had been thrown away and used, and she obviously still bore scars from that. His smug smile at Cameo getting his comeuppance had given way to a frown.

Aricrauer stared at Astruc. "What?"

"Just wait. Please?" Astruc glanced at the Reot, a frown still on his face. "Tell me, for someone who seems to think they're very smart, how many friends do you think you just made?"

Cameo's ears flicked, a little disbelieving of Astruc coming to his rescue but not wanting to argue with the apparent turn of fortune. "Zero. I knew what I was doing when I said what I said. She was going to point that sword at me regardless, either right now when I was honest or later on when she found out I was a liar. I'm more than willing to answer to whatever crimes you'd persecute me of. I know when I'm stuck in a corner, and despite some shady dealings in the past I do believe that honesty is the best policy, even if it gets you killed."

Astruc looked back to Aricrauer, his frown turning from one of discomfort to one of obvious sadness. "This is going to sound crazy, but I think we should trust him."

"I am not fucking trusting a reot who came here to find me, just happens to know about Varthenral on top of that, owns a godslayer, and has been lying through his teeth this whole time. May as well march right into the nearest Alamo base right now and tell them to shoot me an' get it over with. At least then I wouldn't have to deal with this bullshit."

Astruc wearily smiled, his expression nonetheless still sad. "I found a girl who was supposedly a bigwig with a strong sword working for a government I knew nothing about. Someone who was probably way more dangerous than this Reot over here, and could have turned me to ashes the moment I turned around. Someone who was thrown away in the end, and had nobody else." Astruc reached for Aricrauer's hands. "But I decided to trust her anyways. Maybe that's all it will take to save someone else from those monsters?"

Aricrauer flinched as Astruc talked, her eyes looking anywhere but him as he took her hands into his own.

Feivelkt dropped out of her hands and onto the broken road, depowering as soon as it left her grasp.

"I..." Aricrauer looked past Astruc and to Cameo. "What do you want from me? You said you weren't gonna tell Flametail you found me. So what, then?"

"Who cares? I'm here with you now. I already told you that I had my doubts about the empire the second I found out the bombs fell. I'm out to keep you safe. We're one-in-the-same, whether you want to believe it or not. We've got godsblood. Our species must be protected, because there are people who can't use that sword who would gladly get inside your head and tell you what to do with it. You already know that."

Cameo lowered his hands and backed away from Aricrauer, still talking.

"I'm a spy, not a solider, I've already made that clear. If Flametail is smart, she wouldn't have trusted me with this 'mission' with the honest expectation that it would be a success in the first place. You don't think I've been considering that this exact mission was a ploy to kill me? There's no way Hretlakk would look at me and assume that I could undoubtedly best you in a fight, and she'd know I would get one as soon as you found out even a fraction of what I just told you. I'm fully aware of the fact that I might be dead tomorrow because of the very people who promised me a better life. But I already told you that I trust myself and myself only, and there's nobody I'm willing to turn a sword powerful enough to cleave a god in two over to other than myself. I did what I had to do to keep this weapon out of her hands."

He reached into his Chrono Ring and pulled out the seed that Finn gave him. With a low underhand toss, Cameo threw it to Aricrauer. She scrambled away from Astruc to catch the seed.

"I made a promise to them to keep you safe and to keep them safe. That's why I'm here. Not because I want to turn you into a dog of the empire or put Eiorozziore in your chest," Cameo concluded.

"How did you know about Varthenral? The Alamo snakes definitely haven't been keepin' tabs on her."

"That seed has all the answers, Aricrauer. It's a Stradaum seed. Finn gave it to me when I promised him that I would do whatever I could to protect him, and your family. And part of protecting them is protecting you."

Aricrauer's expression dropped. She stared at the seed, but she shook her head. "You're lying."

"When I came here I did mean to do whatever it took to bring you back with me. But seeing Varthenral on the roof, talking to her... nothing is what I was told it would be. I gave up on that up there, I realized this mission was a critical failure and always would be when Astruc left the roof. Your brain can process a lot of possibilities when they all hit you at once, and the possibility that I was being set up was the first one I thought of as soon as the spotlight was on me. You think I want to go back to the empire now, knowing that they sent me on an obvious suicide mission? Over a sword? Damn the sword."

Cameo pulled Eiorozziore from his Chrono Ring and threw it on the ground next to Feivelkt. The shortsword landed on top of the red-bladed one with a clatter of metal.

"A man of my profession trusts only his instincts, and my instincts told me that she was not a threat. And if she's not a threat, you aren't either. I can't trust information unless I gather it myself. If I know who she is, there are only a few people who could have told me about her. If the empire isn't tracking her, and I couldn't have found out from them, then I have to be telling you the truth."

Aricrauer's fists clenched, but she seemed to remember Astruc's words, and she instead only snarled back at Cameo. "I should gut you for goin' anywhere near my sisters -- for possibly revealin' where they are. Did you ever check yourself for bugs? You could've led the Alamo Empire right onto my goddamn doorstep."

"If they dropped me on that planet then they probably already have an idea of where your family is, Aricrauer, but I ran into Finn at a bar and he brought your sisters to a library. I have no idea where they live." He recalled Nicta and looked at Rokordi. "I'm a technology expert and I don't wear a uniform. I will admit that I didn't check myself for bugs, but my sleeping quarters are private and I have no reason to believe that I was bugged."

Rokordi took this opportunity to swat Eiorozziore away from where Cameo had dropped it on the ground, not entirely sure why Cameo had looked at him. Cameo made a mental note to kill Rokordi the first chance he got.

Astruc glanced at the sword, still trying to reel in the new information. "Wait, did you say something about godsblood? And a seed? Aric's sisters?"

"That fucking asshole kid can't keep his goddamned mouth shut. Always causing a shitload of problems for everyone no matter what he does." Aricrauer bent down and picked up Feivelkt, putting it back into her Chrono Ring. "Fine. We're wasting time."

She looked around for where Ddremmu stalked off to. Rokordi swatted Eiorozziore back to Cameo, being sure to not touch it long enough to get burned.

Cameo walked to Eiorozziore and picked it up. Thankful for being spared, he strode over to Astruc and attempts to explain the mechanics of the godslayers as payment for saving his life.

"If Rokordi holds this sword, it will burn him. Only people who are descended from gods, as the legends go, can wield them. If you can touch any of these weapons, you're one of only a few. That's what having godsblood means."

"What? I call bullshit. I held the sword just fine." Astruc snorted, not buying it.

"Congratulations, you have godsblood," said Cameo flatly.

Aricrauer glanced back. "Hold... up... you can't..." She seemed to recall Astruc using Feivelkt in Cabaria. "...Oh, shit."

Astruc stared at Aricrauer. "What?"

"Well... old family legend said we were descended from Neerakei... Rei'auer -- uh, my father... he always... he always talked about how... Feivelkt would speak to him, talkin' about our divine parentage..."

"But your sword didn't say shit to me when I used it!" Astruc said, feeling sick all over again.

"Maybe you're not meant to have it, then," Rokordi said.

"How many people here have godsblood?" Ddremmu muttered darkly.

"Eiorozziore speaks to me, too. A companion I was with on Nicta also heard the voice." Cameo decided against mentioning Oscare's name; Ddremmu would probably skewer him for letting that stupid mutt go anywhere near an all-powerful sword.

"Maybe Feivelkt didn't feel like talking. We were in kind of a tense situation," Aricrauer suggested.

"I have a theory," piped up Varthenral for the first time in a while. "Perhaps the sword Feivelkt -- it may have, well, it may have not acknowledged you as its owner because, because Aricrauer is still alive. The weapons may only acknowledge a new owner if the current one... is deceased."

"Hretlakk Flametail was in posession of this sword long before I was and she's still very much alive," said Cameo.

"Can they... attract those of proper bloodlines?" Ddremmu asked uneasily, staring at both Eiorozziore and Feivelkt with horror. "Because to have so many who can touch them is worrying."

"Since they speak, the weapons presumably have their own wills and wants. They probably choose new masters at their own will," said Rokordi.

"I have heard the weapons have the tendency to find their -- find their way to new masters when they are lost," said Varthenral to Ddremmu, affirming Rokordi's guess in a roundabout way.

"That doesn't exactly explain Eiorozziore talking to Oscare of all people, but I'm willing to trust that hypothesis for now." Cameo shrugged, apparently content to let the issue drop.

"Oscare?" Astruc repeated, seeming to blanch at the thought of him holding a deadly sword.

Rokordi rumbled, "That boy might not be the most intelligent, but he has a noble heart, and he's strong. I can understand why a weapon would want him at the hilt."

"An easy person to lead, you mean," Ddremmu added.

Astruc sat down, trying to sort out his thoughts. After all, he had been adopted. He didn't know who his biological parents were. But godsblood?

"If being noble of heart is a reason for this thing coming out of its coma, I'm starting to wonder how I ended up with it. But I don't much care at this point." Cameo looked to Varthenral, feeling awful for choosing not to trust her, even if it was Aricrauer's sister who made him feel that way. "Either way, if Ganrikkat isn't on that island then I want to know what is."

"I told you," insisted Varthenral. "It--"

"We've wasted enough time arguin' semantics." Aricrauer shoved the seed back into Cameo's hands. "Let's get goin' so we can find that teleporter up to the island."

Cameo returned the seed to his Chrono Ring and approached Varthenral. She intrigued him; she was reserved, quiet, perhaps cautious. Not wanting to agitate Aricrauer any further, he didn't bother trying to strike up a conversation about the treasure, but he did give her a slight nod.

"You can tell me on the way, okay? I want to know about it. It seems important to you," he said quietly.

Rokordi growled, facing Cameo, but addressing Varthenral and Aricrauer as well. "Just know, if there is some sort of weapon up there, that I will do everything in what little power I have left to ensure it stays there." Without another word, Rokordi turned and began walking towards where the teleporter was supposedly located.

Varthenral tilted her head. "I told you already. It is a twin to my dagger... if I am, am correct, that is. There is nothing more to be said."

"Tch." Aricrauer looked back at Cameo talking to Varthenral. "Let's just go."

Astruc attempted to reach for Aricrauer's hand again, nonchalantly at that, as they walked.

"I'm fine," said Aricrauer, misinterpreting Astruc's gesture and not looking at him. "But... thanks."

Rokordi tapped Ddremmu before she got too far away. "You seem the most levelheaded, here. Most trustable. Certainly more than Cameo, and probably more the others. You deserve to know the truth, and I feel on edge. As you now know, I do not have godsblood. There is a reason for that." Rokordi slipped off the mask, only for a moment, revealing his stony face.

Ddremmu's eyes went huge, her mind screeching to a halt. How could this be possible?

"I - you're - I didn't expect this," Ddremmu stuttered in stunned understatement of just what Rokordi was, but disbelieving all the same.

"Few do. I'm quite old. Too old. I was alive when the fabled Time-Weavers came to Mioura, and changed the world as I knew it. Well. I was almost alive. And I have almost been since then."

Ddremmu jerked at the phrase Yet another thing that was not a shining moment for her, even if the protogods had remembered them as heroes. "I... see."

She was exhausted emotionally, with little idea how to feel with the turmoil thrown at her, and it showed in her voice.

Rokordi sniffed. "The Time-Weavers are regarded as the greatest heroes and heroines of my time. They fought as best they could. But now that I've met Cameo, and that boy Oscare... My heroes, who fought to save everyone and everything I knew... They weren't quite what I expected. You seem of a different sort. Cautious and just. They could learn a lot from you, Careful One. We all could." Rokordi offered his shoulder as a perch for the small dragon, for the walk ahead.

Ddremmu blinked in surprise. She glanced from him to where the others were still walking off, not waiting for them.

"Well, we never knew what we were doing," Ddremmu said with a little regained composure. She cautiously took hold of his shoulder, remembering the older Thorn.

A ship pulled into the harbor of Jerrau, a former military fortress that had been repurposed into a checkpoint of sorts for travelers hoping to go deeper into the arctic wilderness. The Jerrarian Plains were not quite icy and snowy like the rest of the area, especially not around this time of year, but they were still very chilly.

Jerrau was a huge, spiky tower that had a few buildings around its base and then a colossal wall surrounding its perimeter. The former purpose of this place was undeniable, and it hadn't been altered much due to how useful the walls were in keeping out unwanted beasts.

As the ship unloaded its passengers, Jaspur, Isaak, Doji, and Oscare all departed from the dock among a small motley crew of tiartzards and tumorians. Doji, of course, was the most easily noticeable among the crowd.

"Can ya believe we made it through that storm?" asked one tiartzard to another.

"No kiddin'! I was sure we were gonna sink... Weather's been actin' up more than it should... Never seen storms like this 'round this time o' year..."

Overhearing the conversation, Oscare asked more about the storms, the tiartzard sailor once again confirming that a storm of that intensity wasn't normal. However, she didn't have any ideas as to what could've caused it. A storm that monumental would be out of the league of a regular magic-user. Nodding in agreement, Oscare asked if they had any suggestions about where to visit in Olaka.

"What're you here for?" asked the tiartzard. "If yer a scholar-type, Sonstre's where you'll wanna go, yeah? If you're more into huntin' monsters, Hasse 'r Gelnois."

Oscare asked where Hasse was, to which the tiartzard said it was north of where they currently were. Just then, Doji bumped into Oscare and the tiartzard on account of not watching where she was going. Eagerly, she greeted her friend. The loud voice of the doeron carried across the crowd, and a disguised Isaak glanced back, immediately recognizing Doji from Mioura.

Further back along the dock, Jaspur tumped his axe handle on the ground lightly, glancing behind him for the ancient automaton. Hopefully a visit to historical archives would be a fine way to catch Eralkk up on the past millennium - simpler, at least, than him sitting around listening to the ship crews telling rambling stories. "Come on. I'd say it's time to broaden your horizons a bit."

"CONFIRMED," proclaimed Eralkk in a metallic voice, dutifully trailing behind Jaspur. Before long, he tapped his metallic hand on Jaspur's shoulder politely. "AH, A MOMENT, MR. QUELLSTONE -- I AM DETECTING FAMILIAR ALLIES. IT SEEMS TO BE THE DOERON AND CAINOS THAT YOU HAD WITH YOU IN THE VAULT..."

"Oh?" Jaspur glanced around. "...Heavens. Fates conspire, it seems." He sighed, shaking his head, anticipating the exasperation to come. "...While I'm sure it would save us a lot of trouble simply to avoid them..."

Jaspur ambled over towards them, quietly making his way through those disembarking. "Well. This is certainly a surprise."

Doji smiled at Jaspur. "Hi! It's great to have so many friends around!"

"Indeed." Jaspur glanced out to the city, absently adjusting the fur collar. "I've heard they've quite a store of academic works here, and a bit of history revision would no doubt catch our living relic here up to speed much better than anecdotes would." He looked back again at Eralkk, making sure nobody's giving him any grief. Noting that Eralkk wasn't being bothered, he asked Oscare and Doji what they were in Olaka for.

Oscare said he wanted to see the monsters near Hasse, though he was also interested in anything he could learn to augment his blacksmithing career. Doji was searching for her soul gem, unsurprisingly. As they conversed, Isaak drew a bit closer, trying to listen in. Eralkk started to beep.

"MR. QUELLSTONE, THAT SHAPE-SHIFTER IS EAVESDROPPING," he piped up, pointing at Isaak.

Jaspur glances up sharply, narrowing his eyes at the indicated figure. "You. State your business."

Oscare gritted his teeth. "Just ignore him, probably some lost child or something."

Isaak ran up and aggressively poked the cainos on the nose. "Ain't no child, mutt," he said, shifting his legs longer so that he stood a head higher than Oscare. He turned to the sulevam, suddenly shrinking back down to his four and a half foot stature. "You have a big robot. Why wouldn't I be staring? It's pretty fuckin' cool."

"Except that staring is hardly why you were called out." Jaspur tutted reprovingly, but nodded to Eralkk with a bit of pride. "He cuts a fine figure, eh?"

"It's a dragon robot. Of course I'd be interested. Where'd you get it? Are they cheap? I gotta know!" Isaak demanded, doing his best to keep the point of conversation off himself.

"UNLESS YOU ARE CAPABLE OF TRAVELING THROUGH TIME, I CONJECTURE THAT YOU WOULD BE UNABLE TO OBTAIN ONE OF MY MAKE, AS MY MODEL HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED," commented Eralkk.

"He was in a vault in Kes Joshawk!" Doji explained. "You should have seen the Emperorbot, though! That one had wings and sentience!"

Jaspur's smile thinned at the suggestion of purchasing a construct, but he nodded cordially, corroborating the others' words. "Indeed. I'm afraid he's unique among us in many respects. My apologies... though I'm sure if you wished to acquire the services of another such assistant, there'd be something in the area. Good day."

"I don't got the kind of money to get to Kes Joshawk. Too bad," Isaak said. "Where are you headed?"

Oscare, not interested in the conversation, drifted away from the rest of the group. He looked to the horizon, deciding he would head out for Hasse now. He bumped into the tiartzard from before. She seemed ready to run past him, but then recognized him.

"'Scuse m-- wait! You... You wanted to hunt stuff in Hasse, yeah? Yeah!" She grabbed his arm and started dragging him along. "C'mon! We need a hunter! An' fast! Call your friends to follow!"

Isaak, not waiting for an answer from the sulevam jumped ahead to the tiartizard, his hand finding his rifle, just in case. "I'm a hunter. Trained around Hasse for years. What's wrong?"

Oscare smiled and laughed. "Alright alright, don't have to rush too much!" He tried to whistle at Jaspur and co.. "Come on guys! We're heading off to Hasse! Let's get a move on!"

"I -- er--" Jaspur blinked, glancing helplessly from Oscare to the archives in the distance. "But--"

"Not Hasse! We're goin' to the wall," growled the tiartzard, still pulling.

"MR. QUELLSTONE, THE LOCALS APPEAR TO BE VERY PUSHY," remarked Eralkk. "I WILL ADD THIS TO MY DATABASE."

"It's important to account for individual variance, Eralkk. Books, covers, and all that." Jaspur muttered half-heartedly. "Mm... well, we can go where we're needed, I suppose, but you're to make sure to stay out of trouble..."

Doji ambled after Oscare, flicking her tail in a motion that suggests Jaspur should follow. "C'mon! It'll be fun," she said, grinning. "Maybe we'll have another adventure!"

Keeping up as best he can, Jaspur shuffled after them. Eralkk followed closely behind.

Isaak snapped his fingers above his head, waving them at the tiartizard. "Hello? I can actually help you?"

The tiartzard growled a warning at Isaak. "I heard you the first time! Don't have time to compliment your pale ass. This is an emergency!"

She continued to pull Oscare along until they reached the gates that led to the exit of Jerreu. The wooden gate occasionally creaked and groaned as something from the other side slammed into it. Here, she let go of Oscare.

"Need someone t' hold the beast's attention while we load up the anti-beast equipment! Good luck!" The tiartzard ran off before anyone could object, shouting, "We got a group here! Get ready to open the gate!"

As they readied themselves, Jaspur ordered Eralkk to stay well out of the way of combat. Isaak looked around for higher ground he could potentially stand on, spying a building that had a tree nearby it. Potentially, he could scramble up the tree and onto the building...

"Sergeant Tidefin'll back you guys up once we get the anti-beast machines up!" hollered a tumorian as he ran by. "Just hold off the monster until then!"

The gate thudded loudly once more, the wood and metal starting to break off from the unrelenting force.

"This beast must be strong if it can take out a gate by itself," said Oscare.

"Right." Jaspur sighed, bracing himself. "So much for a quiet visit to the library..."

"I'll escort you to a scholarly city after this."

"Escort? What, you two dating?" Isaak asked, before running to climb up the tree and onto the building's roof.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend!" Doji said to Oscare.

"You're both idiots." Oscare sighed deeply.

The gate rumbled and creaked open. A colossal, fur-covered quadruped with huge horns stormed into the fortress. Its face wasn't entirely dissimilar to that of an ox, but the beast was far larger than any ox should be. Its clawed feet tore into the ground, and it reared up with an ear-splitting screech!

"THAT IS AN OLAKAN DREADHORN -- IT IS OMNIVOROUS AND GOUGES PREY WITH ITS HORNS AND CLAWS."

The Olakan dreadhorn charged at Doji, slashing at her with its claws in a flurry. Doji used a Bungle Bomb to disorient the Olakan dreadhorn as Jaspur and Oscare rushed in to attack it. From afar, Isaak shot a volley of bullets at the dreadhorn's head.

The rain of bullets caused the dreadhorn to snarl and claw at the ground. Blood seeped from its wounds. It attempted to charge at the building Isaak was on, but it missed entirely and struck the side of the gate instead. Doji, Jaspur, and Oscare took advantage of the beast's mistake and hurried to attack it again. A little shaken by the near-miss, Isaak once again took aim.

One of Isaak's bullets shot the dreadhorn right in the face! With an enraged roar, it crashed into the building, knocking it over and striking Isaak. Once he was on the ground, the beast ripped into him. His allies focused on one of the dreadhorn's legs, and Doji eventually hit it hard enough to make it fall over. Oscare plunged his sword deep into the dreadhorn's stomach, and it ceased struggling almost immediately.

There was the sound of footsteps, and a familiar tiartzard showed up with a crew behind her, all armed to the teeth with specialized rifles. They seemed surprised to see the dreadhorn on the ground dead already, but their leader appeared shocked at the people around its corpse.

"Wh-- shit, are you kiddin' me?"

Though there was a Veriol emblem on her dorsal fin and she had a different set of armor, Oscare, Doji, and Isaak recognized the tiartzard as Zajcitos, the mercenary from Mioura.

"What a small galaxy it is," she remarked, toting one of her battleaxes on her shoulder. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised you guys got rid of that thing so fast, yeah?"

Isaak emerged from the wreckage of the building, doing his best to heal himself as he walked towards Zajcitos. "Sorry about the building, there. Not as sturdy as it looked."

"...No way. Zajcitos?!" Oscare's eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. "What're you doing here?"

"Zajcitos!" Doji greeted her friend joyously, grinning. "Hi!" She nodded at Oscare's question, adding, "Did Oscare forget to give you the second half of your payment?"

"She pardoned me for it... I hope," said Oscare.

She nodded at Isaak, apparently not angry and unaware of who he is. To Oscare, she chuckled.

"What'm I doing here? I'm from Olaka," she said with some amusement. "I should be asking..." She forced a grin and shook her head at Doji, then turned to the crew assembled behind her. "I escorted them on Mioura. You all can take a load off and rest -- if there's more trouble, they can handle it.

A few of the people behind her murmured but left anyway. Eventually, it was just Zajcitos and the dreadhorn's slayers assembled near the gate. When Zajcitos turned back to face them, she dropped back into her more informal tone.

"Don't go mentionin' that I was a merc on Mioura, yeah? I've got a rep around here to uphold." She crossed her arms. "Seein' as you got this dreadhorn all sorted out, yeah, I'll pardon your payment..." There was a grin as she spoke and regarded the fallen dreadhorn. "This'll be good eatin'. Nice of it to drop dead on our doorstep."

Isaak grinned lopsidedly, wiping his own blood off his face. "Yeah. Save me a cut from the sirloin."

Oscare stepped aside so Zajcitos could get to the dreadhorn's corpse if she needed to, belatedly introducing Jaspur to her as well.

"Pleasure," said Zajcitos to Jaspur. "An'... you?" she asked Isaak, her red eyes darting between him and the body of the dreadhorn.

Isaak sniffed, still cleaning himself off. "I'm a local boy. Well, almost. Moved here when I was young. ish. Around Hasse. Haven't been back in... too long."

"Do you have a name?" asked Oscare.

"Course I got a name. It's Makhil. After my uncle, if you're so curious," Isaak bluffed.

"Hasse's a good city. Met another shape-shifter from there once," Zajcitos remarked offhandedly, scratching the side of her neck. Zajcitos seemed to lose interest in Isaak and started to investigate the corpse of the dreadhorn.

Doji hummed happily, watching Zajcitos investigate the corpse. "It must have been pretty hungry, to break down the gate like that," she commented.

Oscare, however, thought there was something suspicious about “Makhil,” and he made it known. Isaak rolled his eyes and continued to argue with the cainos, causing Jaspur to politely step back from the fray, excusing himself and moving over to confer quietly with Eralkk.

"MR. QUELLSTONE, ARE YOU INJURED?" Eralkk started to scan Jaspur.

"Not at all. The newcomer over there took the worst of it, but he seems to have recovered rather gracefully..."

"Hey, that tag on its ear..." Zajcitos leaned down to look at the dreadhorn's jaws.

The beast had a strange white tag in its ear written in a language that, when Oscare glanced over, he couldn't recognize. However, Zajcitos seemed to have an idea...

She narrowed her eyes and prids open the dreadhorn's jaws with her axe's handle, ignoring the squabbling between Oscare and Isaak. Inside the beast's mouth was a torn piece of blue fabric. Reaching down, Zajcitos picked it up, looking it over without any apparent concern for how it was soaked in dreadhorn saliva.

"Thinkin' this wasn't just a random beast attack outta hunger," she murmured darkly.

Oscare called Jaspur over, asking if he was any good with languages.

Isaak also trotted over to the beast. "S'probably Morish. That's what's spoken around here. Unfortunately, I don't know it too well."

"That's not Morish," said Zajcitos grimly, waiting for Jaspur to translate the tag.

The tag was an identifier of sorts, reading as "390-DR" in Alamin. He narrowed his eyes.

"It's Alamin, and it's nothing terribly coherent," Jaspur murmured. "Just an alphanumeric string."

"Alamin?" Zajcitos repeated. "Wonder if some Alamos sent this thing here..."

"You been havin' problems with the Alamos here?" Isaak asked.

"Well," said Zajcitos, "I heard rumors that some o' their ships were spotted off the coast an' some others might be in the mainland... Kinda suspicious, yeah? But there wasn't really any proof that anyone really saw anythin'. You always get those kinda warmongerers who wanna turn everythin' into a fight, yeah?"

Isaak tilted his head. "Where in the mainland?"

"Near Suivre. You'd think they'd want somewhere a bit warmer, but assumin' it's really Alamos..." Zajcitos jabbed a finger at Jaspur. "Sulevams like 'im are real good at toughin' out winters. Even if Kes Joshawk winters ain't got nothin' on Olakan ones."

Jaspur blinked, muttering, "Well, I mean, the coat helps..."

Zajcitos chuckled. "I'm kinda interested in checkin' it out myself... Maybe I could take you guys on a little trip t'find out if there's Alamos hangin' around. We could either hit Suivre, or we could take a ship and investigate the waters."

Though Isaak and Jaspur were both hesitant to agree, the prospect of money and being brought to Hasse after their business was done enticed Isaak enough, and Jaspur decided to go along due to the encouragement from Oscare and Doji. Further discussion had them determine to go for Suivre rather than go to the oceans, as the storms they had just experienced on the ride to Jerrau was making them all too wary about returning to the turbulent waters.

Zajcitos nodded. "Right. Y'can go head inside the main tower an' get some rest. Tell 'em you're headed out with Sarge Tidefin tomorrow an' you shouldn't get any trouble." She tapped her axe against the side of the corpse. "Tonight, we're eatin' this thing up."

Isaak grinned excitedly. "Can't wait."

"Lovely." Jaspur managed dryly. "I'd appreciate any information you have on our quarry sent to my room."

"I'll make sure the chef gives y'a copy of the nutritional info," said Zajcitos with a laugh.

"No, the - I mean, for tomorrow. I've plans to make." Jaspur waved vaguely in the air. "The more we know about them, the easier it'll be to outwit them."

"I was kiddin'. Go get some sleep," Zajcitos said.

One marvel from when Estvoled was more bountiful and prosperous in resources was Vzástrov Se, also known as the floating island of Tumoria. Vzástrov Se was chained to the mainland through a Chrono-reinforced steel chain whose links were larger than many buildings, but the thick aura of Chrono around it meant that nobody has been up there since before the Godbomb.

In the shadow of Vzástrov Se laid the city of Zatek. It was a lively, bustling place -- not quite the heart of the Veriol Alliance, but quite close. It was here in this place that Astruc and Aricrauer arrive via spaceship, having mistakenly been let off in Zatak instead of the similarly-named Kyrol city of Zeitach. Though Aricrauer knew her way around Zatak, there was still the distinct possibility of being found out. The Veriol Alliance was still searching for her. Consequently, they kept as low a profile as possible.

A human summoner also departed from a spaceship around the same time; her name was Gilda, and she was in Tumoria out of a desire to seek some sort of adventure. From the same ship departed Rokordi. Though the Alamo Empire had granted him a nice mask and all manner of gloves and bandages to cover his stone form, he was still wary of being found out as something not quite Kylian.

An iddun spiritmancer named Ddremmu left from the same ship. The events of Dralvarus and Cabaria fresh in her mind, she seeked to get away from the source of those bad memories.

Amid a large group of other recent arrivals to Zatak, all five of these people meandered towards the exit to the spaceport, when a trio of guards stepped into their path.

"Halt! This is a checkpoint!" shouted one of them, a tiartzard. "Please remain here to be... checked," he finished a bit lamely, only to puff himself up more to seem threatening.

Gilda came to a halt to give the tiartzard a stare. "Checked for what, exactly?"

"Alamo terrorists and criminals," said the tiartzard with a meaningful glare at Gilda.

Ddremmu stopped, waiting to be processed. She wasn't in much mood to snap at the wait, still reeling from meeting Renddar in disguise, and having been set against “Renul” until the realization that it was her god. She felt adrift, wondering if Renddar hadn't acknowledged her since then because of her actions in Dralvarus.

Rokordi grumbled nervously. Whatever being "checked" meant, he had a feeling he'd fail, but on the offchance he wouldn't be, he hadn't planned to make a fuss.

Astruc frowned, staring at the guard and giving a sideways glance at Aricrauer to judge her reaction. He didn't mind being searched since he had nothing unusual on him, but his companion was wanted by the Veriol Alliance.

The group soon noticed that members of typical "Veriol" races -- tumorians, ottleks, tiartzards, larephs, and the occasional oduron -- were being let through with a very quick patdown. Others, however, had to remain in line.

The line approached Aricrauer and Astruc. Though Aricrauer was doing her best to look nonchalant, Astruc could tell from being next to her that she's shaking slightly and kept tapping her large, scythe-like toe claws out of nervousness.

One of the guards waved a metal-detecting wand around Rokordi in an almost haphazard manner, then ushered him through. It seemed Rokordi has been mistaken for anything but an Alamo sympathizer.

The same process was repeated for Ddremmu, and she was allowed through.

Rokordi rumbled through happily and as silently as he could manage, doing his best to stand on his hind legs. When Astruc arrived at the front of the line, the tumorian guard sighed in a long-suffering manner. "You listronns and your cybernetics..."

She waved the wand around Astruc's body after switching its settings. Apparently this sort of thing had happened before. She switched them back, and the line came to Aricrauer and Gilda. Just as Aricrauer was about to be investigated, there was a shout at the back of the line from another guard.

"She's here! Don't let her through!"

An invisible force knocked all three guards to the ground as well as several of the departing passengers. Rokordi and Ddremmu felt something unseen jostle past them, though they weren't bowled over like many of the others. Aricrauer, not one to question her good fortune, tiptoed to the other side of the line before the guards could recover.

"Hmm, sounds like someone did something nice for us," Astruc whispered to Aricrauer, not smiling as he attempted to try and spot the one they were yelling about.

Aricrauer smirked and shrugged, heaving out a sigh of relief. She noticed Rokordi looking at her and elbowed Astruc.

"Check out that freak. Legs look too short," she whispered.

The guards scrambled to their feet. Two of them bolted after the invisible force -- there was a series of muddy footprints leading away from the scene, which Gilda noticed seem to be getting fainter the farther they got -- while the third one shouted that the rest of the passengers could go without being checked.

The passengers seemed bewildered, but they started to trickle away. A fourth guard, a lightfoot, heaved and panted for breath at the checkpoint.

"Damn it all..." He wiped his brow.

Gilda, meanwhile, tried to follow where the guards had been running off to. The lightfoot guard saw Gilda trying to sneak off and pointed directly at her. "Hey! You! Follow the rest of the passengers out of the spaceport!"

Gilda let out an annoyed noise of protest but slunk after the rest of the group regardless.

Though Ddremmu could hear shouts of alarm further down, they didn't offer much information about what was happening. Ddremmu spied Aricrauer and Astruc starting to also walk away. She recognized Astruc's metal arm and his hawk... though he also seemed to have a wolf with him.

"Well, that was a lot more of a scare than I needed in 'bout..." Aricrauer looked at her wrist. "...Yeah, I'd say we ain't even been here for five minutes and I'm already sproutin' grey feathers."

Ddremmu walked up to the two. "What are the odds."

Near the end of their time together in Cabaria, their shared determination to save the survivors softened her distrust of them, though she still remembered the sting of them killing Azwell. It wasn't as though she had known him, but a murder was a murder.

"I didn't think I'd have to be confronted by physical reminders of that place yet again," Ddremmu said dryly, also remembering running into the ghost of Sigvarkk in Dralvarus.

Astruc was about to tell Aricrauer she would look okay with grey feathers, but was stopped by a certain iddun. Wincing and immediately frowning, Astruc stopped walking and turned around. "Ah, hello again. It's the little one with a lot of faith."

Ddremmu briefly looks away at that, sharply reminded of Alvuras and Renul. "Hah, is it faith if I'm shown to be right..? Never mind, I've no wish to discuss such matters at the moment...What are the two of you doing here?"

"Wh--?" Aricrauer whirled around. "Oh! Uh... Liddum... right? Or were you... Ddremmu!" She clapped her hands together, clearly excited about remembering Ddremmu's name. "Right! Right. Fancy meetin' you here. We actually boarded the wrong ship. But we can't get outta here until tomorrow, so..."

Astruc's wolf, Doja, pushed her wet nose up against Ddremmu's leg, whuffing happily. She seemed to like how Ddremmu smelled.

Rokordi heard them talking and turned around. When Rokordi turned, he also saw Gilda moving away from where she was going to follow the trail. He also noticed that the lightfoot guard was giving Aricrauer a peculiar glare and kept muttering into his headset.

"Yeah, look, that bigtoe is real suspicious... I think it might be that Velkt girl... 'Course I can tell the difference. Bright orange eyes, red crest, dark scales, scars in the right place... It's gotta be her, but I'll need back-up..."

Dess: Ddremmu warily eyes the wolf leaving nose prints on her before petting it cautiously. It sort of reminds her of Scruffy, if more friendly to others.

"What a poor turn of luck for you two," she said before lowering her voice. "Didn't you have a chance to try to disguise yourself a bit before leaving the ship?"

"Not really." Astruc glanced around, feeling on edge for staying in one place for too long.

Rokordi uncrossed his arms, fists clenched. If there was any part of being stone that Rokordi was thankful for, it was that he didn't have muscles to get tired from being so tense all the time.

Aricrauer also noticed Astruc's wariness, and she also seemed to note the guard giving them... a look. Glancing around, she spotted Gilda and Rokordi.

She put on an artificial smile and muttered to Astruc, "Play along -- get the other guy. They won't be as suspicious if they don't recognize the people I'm with."

Approaching Gilda, Aricrauer started to talk in a very thick and hard to understand accent.

"Hello! Is thees your furst time in Zakacht?" Without waiting for a response, she grabbed Gilda by the hands. "Ach! Gut, gut. Let me show you arund. I know thees city so gud. So. Gud! Everyt'ing about thees city, I know! I can tell you everyt'ing you need to know!"

Astruc was a bit dumbfounded by Aricrauer's plan, but immediately attempted to get in-character... and that was by letting his accent out.

"Ya ain' been in da best part of dis city until ya get to da restaurants. Ain' nothin' like a gud eat, ya hearin' me?" Astruc attempted to usher Rokordi toward Aricrauer.

Ddremmu watched in vague disbelief, wondering how that was subtle. "You'd be better off rolling in mud to cover your plumage."

Convincing Gilda to come along by piquing her interest in the floating island, Aricrauer led her over to where she had left Ddremmu. Astruc was much less successful with Rokordi, but the stone man eventually came of his own accord, mostly out of interest in why the guards kept looking at Aricrauer.

Meanwhile, Cameo checked through the line at the loading docks and briskly darted into a crowd of people; he was here for Aricrauer. The sooner he found her, the better. And the best way to find her would be to profile the people at the docks, of course.

He scanned the crowd of people all around him, hoping for a lucky break in finding her so soon. He'd already received a briefing of his mission from Hretlakk before boarding a commercial ship to Tumoria; included in the briefing was a photo, albeit blurry, and a description of Feivelkt. The sword, after all, would probably be more distinct than its master... maybe...

He clutched his cloak at the neck, keeping it from billowing and exposing Eiorozziore strapped to his right hip. Cameo quickly surveyed the area, looking for signs of Aricrauer. Instead, he saw a bunch of familiar faces. First of all was the distinct silhouette of Rokordi. Even masked and cloaked, Cameo easily recognized the gorilla-like man. Next to him was a human and a listronn he didn't recognize, but he saw a darkrunner with a bright red crest.

One just like that of Brook and Lexa.

Unlike the two young Velkt sisters, this darkrunner had orange eyes, rather than red. Cameo could hear her talk in an accent that indicated Standard Kylian wasn't her first language.

"Ja! A new friend, ja?" Aricrauer said to Rokordi with a practiced smile. "You are interested in floating island? Ja! Gud. We will take you there."

Cameo also noticed an iddun standing nearby, seeming rather exasperated at the situation. After a pause, he thought she was one of the two iddun he met in Mioura. Judging by scale color and the lack of a dagger strapped to her tail, he was pretty sure it was Ddremmu.

Cameo quickly approached the group, seizing his chance. It would appear that luck was indeed on his side today.

He stopped suddenly when he reached Rokordi's side, feeling bizarrely comfortable around him. Probably because if he was found to be an Alamin spy he wouldn't be totally alone, and if you were going to have someone standing back-to-back with you during a clash, you'd definitely want it to be the huge stone gorilla.

"Long time no see, sugar," he interrupted, to Ddremmu. "How's that PTSD from Mioura treating you?"

Ddremmu did a double take at that name. "What?!" she blurted out. "How do you know that place..?" She squinted at him. "Cam... Camee?"

"You're messing up your vowels, sugar. There's supposed to be an 'O' at the end, there." Cameo glanced around to the rest of the group and spotted a few unfamiliar faces, among them being (thankfully) Aricrauer. "Name's Aejir. You can call me Cameo, though."

Astruc grumbled out a hello, still somewhat on edge from the new arrival. He kept checking Aricrauer for a reaction to the reot, but she kept her act up and didn't let the false smile drop from her face.

Rokordi sniffed at Cameo. "Greetings, Wielder of Words."

"Aejir?" Ddremmu says in surprise. "I don't remember you mentioning more than one name...And besides, it's been a while. With all that happened in that Renddar-forsaken place, I cannot be blamed for difficulties in remembering correctly." She shook her head. "Renddar, it feels like a lifetime ago... I can't believe we've met again."

"Don't sweat it, cupcake. I never told you my given name on Mioura."

Cameo studied the rest of the group again; Aricrauer seemed particularly comfortable standing next to the listronn. If he got in with him, he'd probably have her trust as well. At least a little bit of it, anyway. Enough that she wouldn't want to skewer him.

His concentration was broken by Gilda asking who they all were.

"Who, me? I just introduced myself!" He sighed, defeated. "I'm a merchant by trade. I'm old pals with Ddremmu, here. We had some pretty wacky adventures once upon a time."

"Ja! A reunion! How happee. We shuld go somewhere else, ja? A spaceport is no place for old friends to talk." Aricrauer feigned pondering for a moment. "Ah, I know a place just down de road. Very quiet. Very nice. Ja? Sound gud? Und I am Tessacht Trauer. Local explorer, you culd say, ja? Ja."

"After you!" Cameo insisted, gesturing for the group to walk ahead.

Aricrauer led the group out of the spaceport. It seemed her plan to not be harassed on the way out worked, for among a group that contains a large listronn with two beasts, a masked and cloaked man lumbering along awkwardly, an iddun, a human with a strange beast, and a cloaked reot, a darkrunner this close to Kyrol seemed almost normal.

After they departed from the spaceport, Aricrauer whispered to Astruc, "We'll bring 'em to the inn, then we'll book it after they get distracted. Maybe we can even get 'em drunk so they won't notice we're gone."

The group continued down the road, the long shadow of Vzástrov Se looming over them and blocking out the sun. Ddremmu kept warily glancing around.

"Nice to see you haven't lost your faith," Cameo commented to Ddremmu, noticing that she seemed uncomfortable. "Devotion to a deity in such troubling times is a beautiful thing. Can't say I've run into many people still prayin', lately."

Ddremmu gave him a surprised look. "What brings that up? Well... it is the only thing that remained true in my life..." She flicked her ears back for a moment. "I can only hope to prove...worthy."

"You ain't the only one who's been doing some serious space traveling lately, sugar. I've seen some stuff, and none of it was pretty." Cameo briefly considered speaking out against the bombing of Rhyser; if Aricrauer knew he disagreed with the Empire's decision to drop the bombs she could be more likely to hear him out. He decided against it, however, as it was likely a sensitive subject. "But nothing beats being thrown in jail with Doji, right?"

Cameo chuckled lightheartedly, trying to ease the tension, but Astruc visibly twitched as he remembered Doji's antics in Kes Joshawk. Doja, on the other hand, barked happily, perhaps thinking someone had said her own name. Aricrauer's eyes widened at the mention of Doji, though.

Doji? Just how notorious was that simple-minded doeron? She shook it off, determined to keep up her act.

"Ah! But I bet you have nevar seen somet'ing like de floating island," said Aricrauer as she pointed up to the sky. "Oh, but first t'ings first. Here is de inn."

The building they approach was built like a large, roomy log cabin. Its name was written in both Morish and Standard Kylian, which was "The Explorer's Inn".

"Do not be deceived by appearances! It is gud and modern. Ja, you vill like." Aricrauer opened the door for her companions. Inside the inn was a small restaurant and bar in the lobby area.

"Your crest is lovely." Cameo strode over to Aricrauer, though still kept enough distance to keep Astruc off of him in case he grew suspicious. "Is it a family thing?"

"Dyed, ac-too-ally," answered Aricrauer. "Natural color is, ah... vell, embarrassing to say, but I am natural brown-feder. Very embarrassing! Red is so much more... eye-catching. Don't ya agree, Astoruk?"

She looked to Astruc meaningfully, ignoring how Gilda was now glaring at her. Astruc tilted his head, grunting an affirmative response while staring at Cameo.

Brushing off the hostility, Cameo led them inside to an empty booth in the corner. As they all shuffled inside, they started to discuss the kind of “tours” that Aricrauer apparently gave. When Astruc and Aricrauer tried to play off that they weren't real tour guides, a waiter approached them – a tumorian with violet eyes.

"Drinks to start?"

"Ach, just vater wuld be gud," said Aricrauer.

"Can I just get some water? And maybe a pamphlet that'll actually take me somewhere interesting." Gilda muttered the last part under her breath.

"Same for me, please," Cameo offered, referring to the water. He was on a serious mission, drinking would ruin everything. He might get too drunk and spill too much information unknowingly.

Astruc grunted out a reply, still staring at Rokordi, who struck him as more and more suspicious by the minute "Beer."

Ddremmu tiredly rests her chin on the table edge. "Anything that can perk me up, or remind me of home," she muttered.

Rokordi, having no use for drinks, stood there awkwardly, waiting for the waiter to leave. He did after scribbling down their orders, nodding and shuffling away.

Rokordi stared impatiently at Aricrauer. After far too long, he finally spoke. "Well?"

"Vell, vhat?" Aricrauer asked Rokordi.

"Are you going to drop your lousy act? Why were the guards after you, and how did you evade them?"

Aricrauer's grin broadened. "I do not know vhat you are talking about."

Cameo's expression turned much more grim; he glanced at Aricrauer from the corner of his eye, but then looked away to Ddremmu. His eyes narrowed and he brought his hands to his mouth, focusing on Rokordi's and Aricrauer's discussion.

"I heard the guards shouting to not let you through. Then I saw you whispering to your pet, here," Rokordi gestured to Astruc, "and then he approached me and tried to get me to come with you. I'd like to know why you tried to adopt me into your disguise. Not like it'll be very helpful. Those feathers are pretty remarkable."

Ddremmu muffled a laugh at the 'pet' comment, and Aricrauer laughed, but at Rokordi's accusation.

"He's a lightfoot," Aricrauer said, dropping the accent. "He was probably after me because he's a racist asshole. Maybe you don't get that where you're from."

She fell silent as the waiter returns. He set down a mug of beer in front of Astruc, three glasses of water for Aricrauer, Gilda, and Cameo, and an apparent kind of fruit juice in a wider-rimmed glass for Ddremmu.

Astruc immediately sat up, glaring at Rokordi. "Pet? Nice one, you fucking freak. Tell me, are you so ugly that you hide behind all that stuff and that mask?"

Rokordi finally sat, pushing over whoever was sitting across from Aricrauer, rougher than he intended. He grunted. "Persecution, huh. You don't know the meaning of the word."

Cameo, Ddremmu, and Gilda quietly sipped their drinks, listening to the confrontation unfold in front of them.

"Yeah?" Aricrauer said challengingly, starting to stand up. "Talk to me about havin' to explain t' a pair of five-year-olds an' a three-year-old that Mom ain't comin' home because some asshole lightfoot put a bullet through her skull."

Cameo cleared his throat loudly and attempted to change the subject. "So what brings you to Tumoria, Ddremmu?"

Rokordi snorted. "That's not persecution. I'd suggest a dictionary, first. Then, try having everyone you've ever known die, and come back to me. At least you've got your brothers and sisters and your little pet there."

Astruc grabbed the beer with his metal hand, the mug cracking underneath the pressure.

"Avoidance," Ddremmu said, still watching the others.

"Brilliant," Cameo mumbled, defeated.

"I've only got brothers, not sisters," responded Aricrauer tersely. "If y'think that someone gettin' shot 'cause they're a darkruner isn't persecution, I dunno what to fucking tell you. Maybe yer the one who should look in a dictionary. Your shitty life doesn't have anythin' to do with me."

"And your, ahem, shitty life doesn't have anything to do with me. Yet you have demonstrably drawn me into it, and I demand to know why."

"We should probably continue this discussion later, we're going to get thrown out," Cameo interrupted, though he had the suspicious feeling that neither of them were listening. Ddremmu also tried to defuse the argument, but the tensions just seemed to grow.

"Because you fucking said I don't know the meanin' of persecution, asshat," snapped Aricrauer.

"You drew me into it when you adopted the oddest character at the spaceport to be part of your disguise. Purely because you were trying to avoid being mocked by some lightfoot? If you knew persecution, you'd have given up on avoiding it at every turn by now. You've got the fight left in you, girl, and I admire that. But there's another reason why you slipped past the guards. Who are you or what have you got on you that'd make you risk more trouble with the law than a particularly invasive pat down?"

"Is that why you followed me? Invasive creeps are on every planet, I guess." Aricrauer took a gulp of the water and stood up to leave. "You kids enjoy your stay."

"Well whatever it is, it's something particularly extraordinary if you're abandoning your disguise so quickly now that I've caught on," Rokordi said.

Astruc left the cracked mug on the table, ready to follow Aricrauer and half-tempted to swing his greatsword at Rokordi.

Panic began to set in as Cameo saw his opportunity evading him. Instinctively, Cameo grabs a dagger from the inner lining of his cloak and stabbed the table, the blade quivering from the force. "Enough! Rokordi, behave yourself!"

He doesn't even realize that he's blown his facade of being a stranger to the man; his brows furrow and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he motioned for everyone to sit back down. Ddremmu gave a sharp look at Cameo's sudden motion. He had never been so forceful when she had known him, more the type to avoid such entanglements.

"Wielder of Words, don't be so naive that you'd think I'd believe her. I've spent far too long alive and being lied to to believe this nonsense. And you've got your own purpose here, clearly. I suspect they're related, as it would be highly coincidental for you to have met me, this darkrunner girl, and your old... friend, here, in Zatek of all places." Rokordi turned back to Aricrauer and Astruc. "I am sorry, Fiery One. I occasionally forget myself. Just because the pain is not the deepest it can be does not mean it is not deep. Please, have a seat."

"How charming," Astruc growled, still ready to slug the mask off his head.

"Hey, I just want to get to the floating island..." Gilda practically whimpered into her drink, baffled as to how she ended up in the middle of this.

"Don't you dare tell me what pain is and isn't deep," growled Aricrauer, but she sat down nonetheless. "Now that the girl brings it up, checking out the floating island doesn't sound too bad..."

"Believe me, I have no ulterior purpose in this place other than a desire to have a break for once," Ddremmu said sharply.

Cameo jerked the knife from the table and placed it back in its proper home inside his cloak; he leaned back in his seat, arms folded, and glared at the party gathered at the table in contempt.

Rokordi looked toward Astruc. "Well, Pet of Many Pets, are you going to rejoin us? Or do you prefer to stand? Forgive me, I don't know the local customs."

[11/9/2013 12:56:16 AM] Braixen: Gilda continued to ignore her water for the moment. "Yes, thank you! If you took me no one would have to worry about a cleanup on isle..." She trailed off noticing how angry everyone seemed still.

There was silence, but despite the tension, Aricrauer chuckled at Gilda's joke. "Still, tough luck. Last I heard, no one knows how t'get up there... unless you're crazy enough to climb the chain connectin' it to the mainland."

"I'd climb in there in an instant." Gilda took a small experimental sip of her water.

"What is up there? Does anyone know? And how does it float?" Rokordi asked.

"The Veriol Alliance thinks whatever's up there, it's some sort of relic from before the Godbomb. Some kinda... technology or somethin' that'll turn the stalemate in their favor." Aricrauer shrugged. "And it floats because of some lost technology an' Chrono magic. Nobody knows how to replicate it."

Rokordi grinned behind his back. "Fascinating! Shall we climb the chain, then?"

"Wait," Cameo started, a little agitated. "What happens if a third party acquires this relic? Do you think it would deter the threat of another galactic war, or would it just stir the pot even more?"

Gilda said, "I think it would stir the pot either way."

Aricrauer stared at Cameo, hard, her orange eyes almost piercing through him.

"Another galactic war? Are you one of those doomsayers? Yanno, those 'The world will end in ten days!' bullshitters?" She waved her hand dismissively, as if she didsn't care about the answer. "I dunno. Prolly would stir the pot... but someone'll figure a way up there eventually. People are resourceful like that... when there's power t'be had."

Rokordi smiled behind his mask. "Fiery One, I must agree on all accounts." He'd been around too long and heard foo many end-of-days predictions to believe any of them.

Cameo's nostrils flared at Aricrauer's insinuation that he was crazy for buying into the prophecy that he'd only heard because of her. He couldn't let her get the better of him though; he couldn't lose his shot. She was a threat to either side.

"Don't pretend like Rhyser hasn't caught the attention of the Alliance. They'll use that against the Empire in a political stand-off, which would only provoke Flametail. She's not exactly one to settle scores with words, you know."

Ddremmu bristled violently at the mention of Rhyser before she could help herself. "Enough, it matters for naught if no one has a method to go up to the island."

"...What I mean to say is that it wouldn't surprise me if they went to war again. What happened on Cabaria is still echoing throughout the galaxy, and supporters of the Empire are turning on it and shouting at the Veriol Alliance to do something. They aren't shouting into a void. Someone is listening," Cameo insisted.

"I think a trip should be made up there. All the way up there. Imagine all the treasure, and history, and possible new discoveries of technology for anyone who cares about that!" Gilda sipped her water again and wrinkled her nose. There was something about tap water on Tumoria that she didn't like.

"The Veriol Alliance doesn't give a noctra's ass about Rhyser City. It was bombed by the Alamos, and it was technically considered Alamo territory. Moral leverage won't do much with the Gerualdi Union breathin' down everyone's necks." Aricrauer sipped her drink as she leans back, her arm resting on the top of the booth seat. "Y'sure you know what you're talking about, Mr. Cloaked Reot?"

"A little too well," Cameo snarled in response.

Aricrauer rolled her eyes. "Scary."

"Cameo," Rokordi grunted. "You behave yourself as well."

"Well we're not going to find a method just standing around sipping drinks are we?" Gilda pointed out while swinging her glass about. Water splashed on the floor, although she didn't notice as she continued to chatter on. "Wouldn't it be worth at least looking?"

Aricrauer and Astruc parted ways with the rest of the group shortly after the Starcatcher touched down in Vursett, the capital of the Alamo Empire. Thanks to Sjora's less than savory connections, they were able to board a spaceship that was headed for Estvoled without much trouble... though they didn't realize until later that the ship was bound for Tumoria and not Kyrol as they originally planned.

Oscare and Doji decided to roam around the city a bit more, Doji in search of her Soul Gem and Oscare in pursuit of ladies and unusual weapons. They went their separate ways not too long after, though they accidentally ended up boarding the same spaceship bound for Olaka. It wasn't until the ship touched down that they realized they both had arrived in the same place.

The Alamo Empire's current leader, Captain Hretlakk Flametail and her council, were shocked when a pirate and a disgraced noble – Sjora Starcatcher and Jaspur Quellstone – appeared with a robot that claimed to hold High Emperor Derrin Stormwing IX's memories and personality. Though Hretlakk was grateful for the return of the emperor's vessel, the council dismissed Sjora and Jaspur to their own business, as this was a matter for the higher-ups of the Alamo Empire to discuss. It wasn't long before their decision came through: Stormwing would be a superior leader than Hretlakk, who was more a soldier than anything else. In light of Stormwing's authority, he pardoned Sjora's crimes and gave her a job within the Alamo Empire... though there were rumors that she still filched from the treasury when nobody was looking and that she was still in contact with her old crew.

Because of Jaspur's actions and how Stormwing himself had said he owed a massive debt to the old sulevam, the Quellstone family's esteem and prestige reached heights that had not been seen since the early days of the old Alamo Empire. Though much of Jaspur's family balked at how he had been in contact with such a notorious pirate, they couldn't deny that his actions overall had reflected very positively on the Quellstones. Weary from the “adventure” that his involvement with Sjora and the Starcatcher crew had put him through, Jaspur went with Eralkk, the construct he'd found in the Wulfsvart Vault, to Olaka with the intention of spending a good long while in its libraries both for himself and for updating Eralkk's outdated information about the galaxy... in peace and quiet.