Quelling a rebellion.

[Elias]

Fire and brimstone, flame and doom, may my fiery justice burn fear in your hearts heathens! He didn't know these people... or if they even deserved, but that sure sounded cool. He'd have to remember that for later. But for now, he was resigned to the generic flinging of fireballs to the flying foes. Wyvern Riders were strong, but had little resistance to magic, even fire magic. Unlike pegasus riders, who walled his magical prowess like it was a barely tickling them.

His temporary boss, the Shaman... or was it Druid? He could never tell the difference, anyways it was Elzham, a grumpy moaner of a man. He looked like he was in his late twenties, or early thirties, but a very stressed one. So it's quite possible he was even younger, but worried his way to age. Stress could do that, that's why Elias made sure he never had stress ever. Of course if you're stressing about being stressed it doesn't matter.

He held a fireball in his hand, about ready to mindlessly fling it like everyone else... then he stopped. Instead, he had the flame and conjured another and kinda... juggled them. Then he added a third, and now people were staring at him. "What are you doing!" The grumpy man scolded, emphasizing the word 'what' loudly.

"Just watch." Elias said, concentrating on his fire. "Stop being an idiot, this is a battle, not a circus! If you don't concentrate I'll have you removed!" His voice was harsh, full of spite and venom. To him, Elias was the kind of person that gave mages a bad name. Ironically that's what Elzham was to Elias, the kind of person who made people think Mages were super serious fuddy-duddys.

The flames began to smooth together, stretching and elongating, looking more like whips of flame then the fireball they started as. The spell itself was the same, the presentation however was unique. He was good at that, working within the parameters of a spell but still making it just a bit unique. The flames stopped juggling and more or less snaked around his body, then he turned around and flung the whips of fire into the air right at a flying wyvern. In the air they reformed back into their original ball shape, being away from their caster and reverting to normal. The wyvern rider wasn't expecting the oddly casted spell, and wasn't able to defend against it. The first hit and he stumbled in air, the second and third collided simultaneously dropping the rider right out of the sky.

There was a soft clapping from a mage or two. "What the hell was that!?" Elzham sounded angry, and Elias couldn't say he didn't expect it. "I told you, this isn't the circus! If I see you pulling a stunt like that again I will personally terminate you!" His voice was angry, and Elias could detect the slight flanging of an accent that he never heard before.

"Geez, calm down. I took him down, and I was stylish while doing it. It makes it much funner." Elias smiled in the face of anger. "This isn't the time for style, this is war." His voice was a bit quieter, the accent Elias heard earlier had vanished. With a sigh of defeat and a sticking out of the tongue Elias decided to fight like he was told, no matter how boring or restraining it is. I'm not the best soldier in the world I guess.

[Kyro]

It had been a long fight in the midst of what could be a long day. Kyro had fully expected to win the battle, gather up everyone, and rest at the base camp. Now this little upstart seemed to be looking for a fight with him?
Too much, too early and too late. Maybe the wyvern rider's prediction had been false...although he had a new prediction he was much more certain of.
Realizing he had been standing there blinking for several seconds, he replied, "You say you're sick of fighting, but you're picking a fight with me? If that's what you want, it's what you'll get." Hoisting his lance up menacingly gave Kyro every appearance of readiness. In his heart, though, he knew he had experienced what it was truly like to be sick of war. This newbie, whoever she was, obviously didn't.
And yet...who had the right to take her life for that?

No answer would be given, because Kyro promptly dropped his lance. "I fight with the Ilian army, and I understand your feelings. Currently, I'm under no orders to capture any rebels, so if you want to go, get out of my sight. Unless, of course, you want to die here. The fighting you just went through won't last you a lifetime, I can promise you that." Nodding his head, all pretense of relaxation gone, the red-haired rider waited until he was well away from the squire to relax and clutch his side wound. Maybe she could have beaten me after all. Let alone the thought that maybe--just maybe--he would have let her, just to keep his conscious from the wrestling match it would now go through. She had said she would fight for her country, and Kyro claimed the same...then what was he doing?
The question would have to wait, and it would wait until nightfall, when it would eat him from the inside out until he had made his decision. He was fully afraid he already knew what the decision would be.

((Got to go. Elias, go ahead and take that as Kyro landing in camp...))

[Elias]

"Hey! Hey Kyro!" He waved wildly as he saw the descending wyvern rider float down from the sky and back towards the encampment. He had a wide smile on his face and he felt like hopping on the spot so he'd be sure to see him. Really, it would be hard to miss the obnoxiously dressed mage, but he was determined to make it downright impossible. As the man came down he hurried over to him, like a little kid to their father coming home from a long day at work. "Hey, Ky-ro!" He split the name into syllables unnecessarily, just because it sounded cooler that way.

Elias looked at him, clearly excited and pleased with himself. He calmed down a bit, but that's like saying a rampaging elephant slowed down a bit. Elias was just toning down to usual Elias levels. "I totally nailed this one guy with three fireballs in a row! It was sweet." He looked at him, and noticed he wasn't quite as happy as him. This confused Elias, but it made him calm down a bit more. "Did something happen?" He asked, surprisingly evenly, a concerned look on his face. Kyro was, like, his only friend anywhere. He wanted to know what was wrong.

[Hal]

Sarah and Hal were split up again. Hal tried his best to even get close to hitting somebody as the horse moved swiftly. When the order for retreat was given Hal wasn't going to leave without finding Sarah first, he wasn't the one telling the horse where to go so he had no choice. Once they made it back to the camp Hal asked anybody and everybody if they saw her. Nobody could give him an answer he liked, either she's dead or deserted. He couldn't accept either suggestion.

It was time for dinner, he grabbed a ration for him and one for Sarah along with his lance. He went back to the battle field by foot, it was dark now. He was shouting Sarah's name hoping to find the girl, his only friend left.

[Kyro]

The cheerful--and, admittedly, obnoxious--shout rang across the empty battlefield and jerked Kyro back into full awareness. Far from being annoyed, however, the sound pulled quite a bit of the fatigue and tenseness from the day. Leave it to Elias...
"I'm glad to see you're at your usual levels," he commented. The question, however, dug deeper than Kyro was ready to feel. Was something wrong? The battle had ended, something the wyvern rider felt ambivalent about, but the way it had done so left much to be desired.
He decided to give an answer, but his own feelings on the matter needed sorting before anyone else knew. "The stress of the battle is all. I had a fight that didn't turn out well for me." Truthful enough, and it did cover roughly half of what bothered him. The other half, however...it didn't need thinking about while he felt tired and drained.
The facade wouldn't hold, even to Elias. Actually, because of Elias. As much as the red-obsessed mage trusted him, half-truths and even white lies would need to be discarded. "There…there's more, really, but I need time to think first. I'll talk to you about it later," he added. The wyvern rider left his friend with a nod and a “Time to eat”, allowing Aiyer to find his own ways to the stabling area. Too soon, however, he found himself intercepted by an irate shaman.
”Was that your friend back there? The one in the red?” Venom filled his words as he continued without a pause. ”You need to speak to him about obeying his orders and maybe teaching him to take this job seriously. He’s an embarrassment to magic users everywhere, and it needs to be seen to that he learns his place.” The shaman promptly stormed off.
That…sounds like a typical reaction to Elias, I guess, Kyro thought, shaking his head at the dark mage’s ramrod back. What happened to be important now was healing and food.

In little time, the former had been done; soon after that, the rider had received the latter and set himself by the battlefield, grimly surveying the carnage without the distraction of his injuries. When all is said and done, nothing seems to be worth…this, he thought. That girl out there had one thing right, but she changed sides so quickly. Is it really that easy? Obviously not, or Kyro himself would be with the rebels.
Speaking of the squire, another young soldier seemed to be making his way across the field, calling out a name.
Wounds freshly healed and nothing but his own thoughts for current company, Kyro set aside his ration and wandered onto the field. Seeing no reason to do otherwise, the Bernese rider started to call out when he heard the name the soldier was shouting: Sarah. I wonder. “Hey! Searching a battlefield this large takes more than one person. Who are you looking for?”

[Elias]

"I'm always ready for anything, no matter what it is." He smirked, many people started to ignored him after about now, but not Kyro. Some people stuck it out, feeling sorry for the red mage, but they all eventually left out of irritation. There was a reason he didn't have any friends in his hometown, and it wasn't just because it was small. So he crossed his arms and tilted his head as he look at Kyro as the wyvern rider tried to explain his sour mood. Explaining with only half of the truth, by the way. The mage didn't know what happened, but he knew something happened. Something had been wrong ever since they joined the battle, but he didn't know.

"I understand. Go ahead and think about it, I'll be ready when you are." He smiled widely. Aw yeah, that was some serious empathy right there! I could so be councilor. "Oh, before you go, watch out for an angry little man who shouts and stuff. He's a shaman and he's a total..." Elias put his thumb down and made the raspberry noise. "And he'll probably yell at you just because." He thought to his self for a moment as the man with the spear walked away. I wonder what's going to happen? I mean.... weren't we delivering a message for that guy with the awesome pink hair? Or are we going to stay in Bern because of all this fighting stuf- oh crap he's coming right towards me go away go away please leave ple-

"You, Elias." The man's voice was sharp, though not particularly loud. For some reason, it made it all the more imposing though.

"Yes Mr. Ham."

"I spoke with the, wait Mr. Ham? Nevermind. Anyways, I spoke with the commander and he has a.... special mission for you." The man had a seriously disturbing grin that made Elias' skin crawl. Ugh. He shuddered. I bet he's never had a girlfriend or anything with that attitude.

"Alrighty then Mr. Ham, I'm ready for anything!" He smiled to offset the shaman's creepy quotia. It didn't work.

[Elias]

Elias marched through the camp, a man with a mission. And that mission was to get a mission from his boss's boss. He took heavy steps, his arms pumping in rhythm to his movement, all it missed was the fanfare and he'd be a one man parade. He was smiling like an Elias (which is to say like two fools pasted on each other) as some people looked at him curiously. The mages all ignored him, but a few of the soldiers laughed and pointed. None of them knew the super secret mission he was sure to have to go under, and all the cool things that go with it! He would be the best secret agent in the history of forever! The people in the camp would be lucky to say they got to see the great Crimson Mage in person one day! Elzham will feel totally a fool. He could imagine him crying.... yes... that thought pleased Elias.

He stood at the threshold of destiny, also a tent, ready for the rapids and currents of fate to wash him away as an awesome mark of history! He would be like the heroes of scouring, only more fashionable! Kyro would also be an awesome hero, but that was a story he'd have to write his self. "Commander. I, the Crimson Mage Elias, am here for my duties!"

"Ah, yes. Of course." The voice came from inside, and sound so delightfully annoyed. First Elzham and now Elias. Was today 'Crazy mage day' and he missed the notice or something? Still it was true, he had a job for Elias and only Elias could do because of his... unique position. "Come in. We have something to discuss."

"Of course, I am entering now!" Elias announced his presence, to see the captain of their small detachment. He looked incredibly stressed out, dark circles under the eyes and bloodshot eyes. He closed his eyes and rubbed the temples of his head for a moment before looking at Elias. He returned to his original position, hands folded and leaning forward on his elbows. His hands obscured his mouth, but his tired eyes told Elias all he needed to know. "What is it Mr. Captain guy."

The captain shut his eyes, it probably hurt his tired eyes to look at so much red. He opened them again, looking determined. "I have something important to discuss with you. You are aware of who we are right? We are Ilian soldiers who are fighting Bernese rebels." Elias nodded rapidly, that'd have to do. "So where do your loyalties lie? You are neither Bernese nor Ilian, in fact I've been informed that you are in fact Lycian. You fought with us today, but can I count on you to remain on our side? That boy's lips are so loose, about half the camp knew he was Lycian. He'd blab all about himself if you gave him more then a second of time to talk.

"Of course, I fight for the side of Justice! And Kyro fights for you, so I will too." Elias smiled happily, assure of his choice. "They're the badguys, right? The other soldiers said, yeah they were, so I fight for you good guys."

"Really now..." This boy... was he for real? Such a naive outlook on the world, he was obviously sheltered for most of his life. Still, this could be useful for them. "I have a special mission for you Elias..."

[Abel Caritas]

Abel breathed in the fresh Bernese air. "Well, we made it," he said aloud. Though my clothes have yet to dry. Then Abel had realization.

"Anyone happen to recall where she said the fighting was?" he asked. Of all the stupid things, Abel swore. "Look, there's smoke over there."

[Sarah]

Sarah was shocked when the enemy rider had flown off, but she didn't have time to consider what he was doing. Instead, she had to survive, for now. She looked down at her wyvern and wondered. It was time to get going. It was late, and she had to do things quickly. She spurred her wyvern and got ready to fly. Before they could do anything, though, Sarah felt something hard hit the back of her head. She couldn't think about it. She just blacked out and fell to the ground.
When she came to, Sarah's head felt like someone had just stomped on it. Her gloved hands made their way to the back of her head, and she recoiled immediately after touching the sensitive spot.

"During battle, beware of stray thrown weapons."

Oh, Alther. Your lessons hurt.

Sarah's body ached in general. She struggled to stand up, and when she finally got to her feet, she heard a low 'growl'. She turned her head and saw her wyvern. Apparently, whoever had thrown the thing that hit her didn't even notice them. Part of Sarah was relieved, the other part was...well, insulted. She tugged lightly on her wyvern's reigns and jumped on its back.

The wyvern was not very experienced. Sarah could tell from the fact that it refused to go any higher than 'just barely above the ground'. But it was flying, and that was all she needed for now. While the wyvern did its thing, Sarah did hers; she kept her eyes and ears totally open for signs of remaining enemies. It was late, so everyone should be-

Hal! Sarah heard his voice, distant but loud. And distinct. She was torn between two directions. One, the rebel's camp. Two, the Ilian camp. And Hal's voice was coming from near the Ilian camp. Sarah hesitated for a moment. It would be dangerous, but she couldn't just abandon Hal. So she guided her wyvern in his direction.
The second Sarah landed, she ran up to Hal and gave him a hug. "I thought you were dead." she whispered. Sarah took a step back and made sure that she wasn't hallucinating. No, it was the real deal. "Hal, I'm sorry. I'm not going to stay here much longer. I'm going to the rebel camp." she said, her voice so low it was barely audible. "I don't want to force you to come along, but-" Sarah's words were stopped when she saw someone approaching. It was difficult, but she recognized him. It was the boy from earlier.
"I don't suppose you're interested in letting me go again?" Sarah called out to him.

[Hal]

Seeing Sarah made Hal happy. When she put her arms around him he done the same. When she told him she was deflecting he didn't know what to say. She spoke to another, Hal turned to the man he was on Hal's side by the looks of it. "Excuse me sir can we have a moment alone?"

[Kyro]

Well, then. This must be Sarah, then, Kyro thought dryly. Is she just inexperienced, or does she have some kind of death wish? Never-the-less, another decision had to be made now...
This would be easy enough, though; he had already allowed the girl to leave once, so doing it again would make no difference. But the other one seemed to be making a choice as well.
To each his or her own, then. When Kyro was asked two questions at once, he already knew the answers he would give. "Go ahead, the both of you. I've had enough for the day." Turning away from the pair and waving a tired farewell, the wyvern rider almost returned to the camp before noticing a few blurred figures on the horizon. Now what do I have to deal with? They were much too far away to walk toward reasonably. Kyro almost whistled for Aiyer, stopping when he thought of the attention it would draw to the empty field.
"Get down, stay down until I'm gone. Not every soldier would appreciate deserters," he told the couple, waiting until they--and the wyvern, when the Bernese man finally convinced it--were virtually out of sight before calling for his own mount.

In the air, the approaching party became much more distinct: a green-haired boy with the build and armament of a myrmidon; an equally young rider on horseback, holding himself in the awkward stance of a squire; and, barely visible behind the first rider, the youngest of the entire group, slighter than the other two with brown hair. Quite an awkward group, and they're arriving from Sacae...were they recruits from Commander Abend's group? Or maybe that pegasus rider I sent along to Ilia requested their help. No better way to find out than to ask.
"Hello to all of you," greeted Kyro as Aiyer maneuvered himself in front of the trio. Staying far enough to avoid startling the horse, yet close enough to be heard, was easy in the flat area of Bern near Sacae, leaving Kyro free to ask his question without worrying about being audible or startling a skittish horse. Hopefully. "As we have just finished a rather tiring battle, all three of you will need to tell me your name and your purpose here." He held no fear of being attack by the three; neither of the elder two had any potential to attack him, and the youngest didn't seem combat-worthy in the least. I suppose the other two could protect him, but bringing a non-combatant into a place like this rules out recruits. Not completely, partially. Now to wait for their response...

[Abel Caritas]

OoC: I wonder how high Abel can jump...just kiding

IC:
The sudden apearance of wyvern rider startled Abel, but he recovered by the time tthe wyvern rider got close enough to talk. Well, here goes the biggest decision of my life, he thought.

"I am Abel Caritas," he began,"And I am here to help relieve the suffering of the Bernese." Well, there we go. "This is my friend Eric"-he pointed at the young mage-"and this here is our newest member, Orion."

Hope this guy's not from home, Abel thought. I'd hate to get to a rough start. Abel tried to look behind the man to see where he had come from. I don't see a camp. Maybe he was on patrol.

"Uh, could you tell us where to go?" Abel asked, keeping his hand ready for his sword.

OoC: Hows that for adding pointless stuff Kyro? I almost barfed writing the end cause it wasn't needed.

[Elias]

"So that's my mission Captain-Guy person?"

"Yes, and it's very important you don't tell anyone." Of course he would tell everyone anyway, but that wasn't really an issue.

"Of course! I'll be super ninja quiet, like I was when I delivered that other message! People were attacking me and stuff and I still stayed quiet, because Kyro taught me to be hardcore like that. I'll be like a thunderstorm of silence! My silence will deafen all those who hear it! I will..." Elias gave him an exaggerated thumbs up, which would just reek with parody if it came from anyone else in the world, and just continued his rambling to an unfazed captain.

"Ah yes, about Kyro... I'm afraid you'll have to go this one without him."

"like a ninja of Silence!... Wait what?"

"You are going to have to go alone this time Elias, but it's very important you don't tell Kyro." He may be on our side, but his Bernese blood makes his loyalty less then assured.... He hasn't gave us any reason to distrust him, yet, but....

"With...without Kyro? But... he's my partner. We're going to become heroes together, he promised." He sounded genuinely hurt. Elias was attached to Kyro, he's the first friend he's had in the longest time...

"I'm sorry Elias, but the mission depends on it." This kid was just chock full of surprises, the captain hadn't expected his energy to ever waver, but now it has. It would be a good idea to keep the two apart, Elias made a good pawn because of his willingness and unique nationality, while Kyro....

"Oh... ok... I- I understand. I'll get my things and head off tonight. You won't see me again until I'm done. Rain some firey justice on them for me, please. Don't let the badguys win." He slumped, having a most interesting kind of smile on his face.

"Don't worry Elias." The captain grinned. "The goodguys always win."

[Hal]

Hal turned back to Sarah looking into her eyes. "Yo-You can't leave me. I didn't join at first to become something great. Wherever I may roam, where I laid my head was home. I was looking to make this my home, protecting Bern from any threat. It doesn't matter who I report to it was protect the people in this land was my wish. I'm too frail to do this alone Sarah, you're my support like I'm your support in reaching your dreams."

Hal's eyes began to well up with tears. "Please Sarah don't leave me."

[Eric]

Just as Eric had suspected, the trip down the mountain had been the worst; the trip across the plains of Sacae (straight through the center, in fact) had been easy, if a bit dull, and the short walk through Bern as much of both. Now, however, came the battle, apparently on a scale the young pupil had never imagined occurring outside of stories. At least, until Abel and others had told him the true stories of the past months' events. And now one of the (in)famous riders of Bern had come to speak to them.
Speaking to Abel, at least. Cautious and overly observant after hours upon days of pure nothing, the new arrival's single-minded attention showed easily. Is he really ignoring us? Eric fumed to himself indignantly. It was tempting to show a little of what he could do...but doubtless Abel wouldn't appreciate that. Not to mention that the boy himself wasn't sure what he could do. Maybe...
Well, no use sitting on the horse doing nothing. His legs were sore. So, ignoring the polite battle the two soldiers waged, Eric swung his legs over as he had now done countless times and slid to the ground. A flash of red caught his gaze; it quickly disappeared, however, and he returned to observing the others.

Abel, of course, remained completely composed, ready with his sword. Orion still sat a tad awkwardly on his horse, probably adjusting to being alone again. The red-haired rider, on the other hand, seemed to have tensed suddently; one moment he held all of the ease in the world, the next a hand slowly grasped at a lance strapped to the wyvern. Surprised, Eric felt his own hand reach for his spellbook, thoughts flying. What did Abe say? We just wanted to go help Bern, they're the ones with- Of course; with Ilia controlling the country, any official welcome would likely be an Ilian loyalist.
Panic welled as the Lycian mage thought of a fight with this trained warrior. "Hey, Abel?" Eric's voices shuddered it's way out, equally from fear and lack of use. "Not sure he minds the help part, it might be the Bernese part that just killed us." Abel might be ready to fight; on the other hand, bandits were one thing.
"It's three to one, and we don't want a fight, sir," he continued to squelch out carefully, now addressing the newcomer, "let's not..." It was too much. Another word might come out as a spell, and this fight didn't seem like a good one to fight.

((Puke on THAT, Abel. ))