A Bernese Stratagem

[Karina]

Once Ralph was once again safely mounted, and the rest of the group was going, Karina bid Sascha to fly low, trying to avoid any more unwanted encounters. She mulled over the idea of having a wyvern rider on their side, and how it would effect their image to the Ilians.

Perhaps they will think we are trying to attack them if we have Alwin with us... But still, one rider of Bern could not truly make them think we are full-heartedly on their side. We do have myself, of course. perhaps my being a pegasus knight will make up for our having a wyvern rider with us... She thought for a while, letting Sascha keep up with the rest of the cavalry by her own judgments.

By the time dusk had set in, the fort was far behind, hidden through mountains. The group stopped in a sheltered grove of trees for the night, picketing the horses (and in two cases, pegasus and wyvern), by some grass. The company made busy with setting up camp, erecting tents and lighting small cooking fires. When Karina had finished helping, she could not help but notice the beauty of their surroundings.

The trees here were old, perhaps even so old as to have witnessed the legendary war between man and dragon. She sighed and unpacked her gear in her tent, taking off her hot armor. She decided it would be best of she did not wear it until in Ilian company. She instead pulled a brown cloak out of her bag. She draped the cloth around her body, pulling the hood over her head for good measure. She did not like hiding her body under all these clothes, it was her best attribute while surrounded by men. But still, she needed to draw as little attention as possible.

Karina walked over to Rayl, who was busy keeping Elibe steady. "Well, what do you think?" she asked him, spreading her cloaked arms wide.

[Alwin]

Alwin was busy tending to Karen. She was tired, and hungry, but then again, so was Alwin. After making sure she was fed and comfortable, Karen let out a calm coo-like growl, as Alwin pat her gently. She needed sleep, as she had been traveling for a long long time with Alwin on her back.

Alwin was getting rather tired too, but not enough for him to drift asleep. He sat down beside Karen, using her as a bit of a cushion, but she didnt mind.

While he was so busy making Karen as comfortable as possible, he completely forgot about his own hunger, as his stomach began to growl. He reached into a saddlebag that was resting on the floor near Karen, and pulled out a hardtack and some dried salted strips of some kind of meat. It wasnt very elegant, but it was what Alwin was used to, and it didnt bother him one bit.

[Ralph Meglane]

Caecus had since returned to Ralph, and was currently being fed bread crumbs by said young man. "There you are..." he said, petting the falcon perched on his arm. It had been a long day, but it was a nice, long day. Flying might even be one of his new favorite hobbies.

Only Karina and Rayl were speaking, so there was nothing to do. He drew one of his swords and practiced swinging it against a tree. He needed something to do to pass the time.

[Alwin]

Karen soon nodded off to sleep, as Alwin quietly finished off his meal. He wasnt full, but he had at least something in his stomach, and he wasnt necesarilly hungry either. He carefully stood back up, making sure not to disturb Karen, as he restlessly began to walk around camp.

He spotted Ralph not too far away, practicing his swordsmanship, and silently watched. His attention was drawn to the bandana he wore over his eyes. Alwin tried not to focus on it, but he was only human; it was compelling to focus on it.

However, he figured he was pestered about the meaning behind it all the time, and Alwin had a fairly good guess why it was there. He decided that he wouldn't bring it up when he talked with him.

"Hey, I noticed you riding with ...Karina, was it? When we first, err... met." It felt awkward speaking about the confrontation, so Alwin just skipped past that part. "But anyways, I don't think Rayl mentioned your name. I'm Alwin."

[Ralph Meglane]

Ralph twirled his sword around and put it back in its sheath. "I'm Ralph." He stuck out his hand as a greeting. "I'm not a knight of Lycia, which is probably why Rayl didn't mention me. I'm just..." he paused for a second. He was many things, but perhaps he should just say, "a baker. Pleased to meet you."

The wyvern rider... he thought, how lucky it is that there are still some around, considering the state that Bern is in.

[Alwin]

"A...baker, huh?" Alwin asked, quizzically. He shook his head and decided to go with it. "Ive never met a baker that could handle a blade quite as well as you seem to be able to, but perhaps I dont get around much." Alwin said with a chuckle.

Alwin extended his hand and grabbed hold, giving a slight shake. "Well met, Ralph. I suppose you prepare meals in this squad while a kitchen is available, then?"

[Ralph Meglane]

"Oh, I just practice some swordplay on the side." He said, being very modest about his skills. He had been able to stay in shape though, regardless of his sight.

"Am I going to cook? I wasn't planning on it. I do have travel cooking supplies, but I was under the impression I was just coming along to help out my country. I could cook something later, I suppose, but I mostly deal in sweets..."

[Alwin]

The phrase 'help my country' nearly slipped past Alwin's mind unnoticed. "Ah perhaps I assumed to mu-" Alwin stopped in thought, caught off guard slightly. He didn't expect what he had heard. He took a second to think about how to respond, before he said "Hmm, Help your country? What country would that be?"

Alwin was pretty sure what he would reply, but Alwin has just mentioned that he had a bad habit of assuming too much... Still, even before hearing the answer, Alwin felt relieved at the thought that he was possibly in the presence of another Bernese citizen.

[Ralph Meglane]

"I am originally from Bern, but my memories of it aren't fond. I haven't been back there since I was nine-years-old. However, it is still my place of birth, so I don't want ill to befall it. I asked if I could join Rayl when I heard what was happening there. "

Ralph looked as if he didn't want to go into the 'memories' he had of Bern. His father leaving him, and his mother being killed by bandits. Then the nobles who left him to die on the streets. Quite the tragic tale.

[Alwin]

"I see.... It's good to know that I'm not the only one here from Bern. I felt a little like a fish out of water here at first." Alwin didnt feel that bringing up either of their pasts in Bern was a good idea at the moment, given that Ralph seemed relunctant to recall his own past, so he left it at that.

"It was nice speaking with you. I feel a lot less nervous about traveling with...this group now." He avoided specifically mentioning Karina. It seemed his prejudice was not completely gone. That would take time.... "Perhaps we can speak again later, but for now..... I really should get some sleep." He said with a giant yawn.

[Rayl Torien]

Rayl had finished pitching up his tent, and had stayed near the edge of the camp. He heard some of the discussion between Alwin and Ralph, feeling mild guilt about the lack of mentioning the blind swordsman, but when the discussion of cooking and travel came up...well, Rayl, no longer in his armor, reached into the inside of his tunic, pulling out an old book which he had strapped over his heart always: It had been such a long while since he had even looked in it, and with back turned to everyone else, began to flip over the pages, until someone snuck up behind him," What? about What?" confused obviously, as Karina didn't give him anything to really give an opinion on," I assume you mean u- the mission?"

He only now noticed the cloak, but stood there staring blankly, being pretty sure he got the the right question.

[Karina]

Karina laughed. She wondered what social cues Rayl didn't know that she, once having lived away from any human society, did. "My cloak," she revealed, "I thought it would be prudent to hide my Ilian- made armor for the time being. I wouldn't want to attract any more wyvern riders our way, would I?" she said. It was just after talking that she noticed the book in Rayl's hands. She sat down next to him, perhaps a bit too close. She hoped that he would not be offended by her actions, but, then again, she didn't know of any significant others in Rayl's life that would cause him to be so.

Eying the book, she almost lifted her hand to touch it, but, instead asked, "what's that book? It looks old. Old things are usually interesting."

[Rayl Torien]

"I doubt many Wyvern Riders would be so anxious as to attack a Pegasi Rider in broad daylight, especially considering our entourag-" he shifted a bit where he sat, but otherwise stayed where he was, as the spearing carrying both the banner of Pherae and the Banner of the Golden Lance waved gently in the cool breeze...it was nights like this he liked to go for walks, especially when a lot was on his mind," As for this, well...It's a cookbook, handwritten recipes for both travel and home...It was written by my great grandfather, who often traveled thus often found himself cooking on the road. My mother then added onto it, and then I added some recipes myself, actually...of course, I haven't had time to cook or the sort: Politics, Training soldiers, preventing war...that sort of thing."

He liked his talks with Karina, ever since she requested him to drop the formalities...he was uneasy at first, but was getting comfortable with it.

[Karina]

Karina smiled, her eyes lingering on the cookbook. She had always longed to learn how to cook, but, strangely, that was one thing she had never been taught. "I like the cloak, anyway. I feel mysterious and interesting in it..." she said, her voice trailing off a bit "But a cookbook sounds like a great thing to have. Especially one passed down from your family. What I would do for something like that. Are you good at cooking? You should teach me when this is over!" she added, smiling her favorite half-smile.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, releasing a sigh of relaxation. "I do love forests..." she said rather off topic-ly.

[Rayl Torien]

Rayl just smiled and shook his head as she began talking," Well Karina, I don't know much about you, and you are an interesting person so...yeah." she then began to talk about his cookbook, eying the thing which currently lay on his lap...he found himself picking up again, and began to slowly turn the pages," I guess I could Karina, but...who knows when it will be over...if it will be over..."

He paused at how oddly dark that statement was, then closed the book and opened up the jacket he wore to put the book back where he always had it,"Forests are great place to take a walk in, especially at a time like this..." Small talk...he missed small talk.