Flying South For The Rebellion [Open]

[Celica Eresh]

Celica Eresh, Captain of the Burning Blades mercenary company.

Celica Eresh, Seraph Knight of the Ilian Army.

If she had to pick one or the other? Celica figured she'd pick the former option. Unfortunately for her, this shift into united militarism that had occurred a few years ago now wasn't exactly letting up. She'd heard of other companies managing to shift their way out of it, sure. But those same companies were also the ridiculously wealthy ones that could afford to do it. Grease the right palms with enough coins and there you go.

Celica was many things, but a coward like that she wasn't. She could understand a love of coin, but what really drove her was combat. This assignment, this... hunting down the so-called "Rebels" of Bern. As if there wasn't a whole other set of "Rebels" during the Bandit War when Ilia first marched into Bern. She half wondered if there might be some of those same rebellious warriors there now, or even how many had run to them after the occupation had occurred. She heard of one General being discharged after the war, like two years ago now or something.

Well whatever, it is what it is and at least the service still paid you. She rolled her spiked shoulder, the axe haft that leaned on it shifting as her shoulder did. She heard a couple of her subordinates talking behind her, groaning about the return down south. Really, if there was any choice here, the Burning Blades wouldn't be returning at all.

"Listen up, people." She spoke aloud before starting to turn back to face them, her back now facing a stables setup in the yard of their company's small fort. There were about 15 others all told, hardly the full force of the Blades, but she only needed enough. "I don't like it anymore than all of you, but until we're free to decide our own jobs again, this is what we're stuck with. Like I want go back down to that shithole either. I'd rather be up here, feeling the frost." A couple of chuckles passed through the men and women.

"Regardless, we've got a job to do and it's our duty to Ilia and to The Burning Blades itself to see that it's done right! We're gonna go down there, locate the Rebels for the main army, chop a few heads off shoulders, and then we're gonna come home. We move out in two days," the Seraph Knight held up two fingers on her right hand as it emerged from her cloak, an iron gauntlet adorning it. "So you all better be damned well prepared and I don't want to hear any whining. We'll have some others joining us here over the course of today and then we're traveling south together the day after tomorrow."

She lowered her hand, the crimson cloak concealing it once more. "I don't want to hear any whining or bitching. We're professionals and we'll get this job done no matter what. Now, let me hear you all say it. What is our motto?"

"The Burning Blades can never be extinguished!"

"DAMN RIGHT, THEY CAN'T! Now get ready for tomorrow! Dismissed!"

Celica turned to start walking over to the stables proper, people both rushing off and sticking around to chat.

[Shugo]

Shugo sat by on a nearby roof and watched the speech from above. Of the past few weeks he has been thinking long and hard on the subject of Bern. It was his homeland after all, but Shugo had no idea who side he should be on. One side claimed to be fore the people and the other promised stability. From what he remembers from his father's history lesson Bern had lost a war and was now under Illia control, but from what he has seen from his time in Bern Illia was doing a poor job of controlling. Chaos was rampant and bandits pillaged and plundered as they please. Some blamed Ilia for this lack of control and others blamed the people of Bern for not stepping up. It was all too confusing for Shugo. When dealing with difficult matters Shugo always trusted his gut, but he first needed to get a taste before his stomach could judge.

"Luna", shouted Shugo as he jumped off the roof. His Wyvern flew by and the young rider landed on his mount. Upon White wings Shugo flew up too Celica. His mind was filled with questions and his heart a bit of excitement.

"Excuse me miss are you all looking for temporary units", asked Shugo.

[Elisabeth]

So she was discharged was it? Well that meant she wasn't a member of the Ilian army, but that didn't mean she wasn't able to join some mercenaries. At this point it really felt like that's all she knew how to do, fight. Which was weird, she had so many passions when she was younger. She wasn't exactly good at any of them, but she could probably pick one or two of them up again. Or so she thought. She tried painting, dancing, even tried to be one of those painted up dolls just waiting for some lordling to swoop in and marry them. Of course before she even started any of them and just got into the initial part it just.. sort of soured. Like 'ugh' she didn't want to do that. There was a reason these were hobbies she abandoned. Just like there was a reason she became a soldier instead of waiting like a good little girl to have a future handed to her. She didn't really care to admit it, to herself least of all, but it was really... boring. Boring trying to 'find her calling' boring to just travel about aimlessly, and it may not have been perfect but at least she was never bored in the army. She tried to be a courier, she tried to be a wanderer, she tried to do all sorts of things but it never really panned out. Now she was strapped for gold, and in a terrible funk.

So that's what lead her to this point. Her and her pegasi Medusa, she wasn't exactly anything special. Just doing a little bit of freelance work, being hired as a freelance mercenary for some scouting mission with a group called burning something. Probably something 'cool' like 'edges' or 'blades' or 'death' or something like that. There was many things mercenaries were, original was not among them. Of course when she arrived and she heard that little speech, well... she had second thoughts about this whole thing. "This is probably a bad idea." She sighed, a phrase she found herself saying a lot lately. Usually she ended up right, which was the worst part. She always saw it through though, maybe she just liked bad decisions?

She holed herself in the stables, not entirely eager to meet her 'co-workers'. She's worked with mercenaries before, couldn't say she's ever liked them. So instead she decided to stay in the stables with Medusa and just listen to what was going on outside. The woman speaking was rather loud, so it wasn't really difficult. Nearby he heard some talking, probably from the mercenaries, but she didn't pay them too much attention. Instead she was brushing Medusa's mane, humming to herself lightly. She paid no attention to the woman approaching the stables, nor the boy hounding her. In fact it was a bit hard to pay no attention to them, so she hummed a little louder to purposely drown them out.

[Celica Eresh]

Celica reached out a hand for the stables door just as the sound of beating wings caught her attention, turning quickly and adjusting her arm slightly to make a quick swing of her axe just in case, what swooped down before her was a young kid riding a white wyvern. He spoke up with a question about temporary hires and Celica raised an eyebrow slightly in curiosity.

The kid was definitely young and looked Bernese to boot. The veteran warrior hummed in thought for a moment before tilting her head a bit. "Well, I was about to go off on a ride. We can discuss it after I get Nergal out." She turned back to the stables door once more and opened it wide before stepping in.

Nearby Elisabeth & Medusa's stall was a bigger than usual one, a black Pegasus bigger and stouter than the usual fair began to rise from it's position on the ground, resting just before. It looked over just before the doors of the stable opened, revealing Captain Celica. The warrior woman walked past Elisabeth, giving her a brief greeting and wave before stepping towards the stall of the big black stallion.

"Hey there Nergal! Ready to go out for a ride?" The Pegasus whinnied, sounding happier and being alot calmer than Elisabeth would have seen when the stable hands had interacted with the big fellow. Most of them usually seemed scared of him even. However, as the mercenary captain interacted with him, he seemed just as friendly and warm as any other Pegasus, enjoying the presence of Celica as she guided him out of the stall.

The mercenary captain looked over at Elisabeth once more on her way out. "You're the one who was recruited recently by Jarvic, right?" She paused a moment. "Wanna go for a ride? I prefer to get to know everyone of my company personally."

[Shugo]

"Umm right", spoke Shugo as he watched to woman walk over to her Pegasus. It was the first time Shugo had ever seen a black Pegasus and the young boy stared in awe. As he looked he felt a nudge on his back. It was Luna trying to get his attention. She was always the attention hog. "Don't worry Luna you are the only mount for me", spoke Shugo as he grabbed the wyvern's face. Luna's old would had healed up well. There was not even a scar left. Suddenly Shugo remembered something he was suppose to do.

"Ok Luna remember what Valin said", spoke Shugo. "They are friends and are not lunch. So no eating." At first Shugo did not truly believe that Wyverns understood what human's were saying, but after hanging around Valin he was starting to believe. "Alright Luna we are going to need to make a good first impression so give it your all", spoke Shugo. The Wyvern howled and opened it's wings. Shugo was ready to fly.

[Elisabeth]

Well then, that solved this little mystery. The entire time she was in the stables she'd been casting a wary eye on the pegasus with blackened wings, Nergal as it had been revealed to her, a large stallion that appeared moody and ill-tempered at least when it's rider is not around. Of course when she was around he was like a giant puppy, but when the stablehands dealt with him it was like it was about to smash their poor skulls in. It pulled a sigh from her as she tended to her own horse, Medusa, who was almost a direct opposite. While Nergal was clearly a war horse, Medusa was clearly a horse bred for show. A fine mare with glittering white wings and a calm even temperament, to be honest a lot of the other soldiers scoffed at her for it. They thought the horse was more at home at a show then a battlefield, but Lisa didn't care. Maybe they were right, she was discharged from the forces after all, regardless she had a goofy smile on her face as she pressed her forehead against the pegasi's, ruffling it's mane all the while.

The rider, a woman rough and tumble as her steed from the looks of it (and the holder of that voice she heard earlier) had decided to speak to her. What she said? Elisabeth kiiiinda wasn't paying attention, not to mention she was also kinda intentionally ignoring them. She needed the money, but she wasn't that eager getting chummy with these mercenaries. Still it was 'something something come with me' to which she only had one response. She waved her hand lightly in front of her face with a weak smile and closed eyes. "No no, don't worry about me." She said which kind of made no sense considering what the mercenary said, but she didn't know that. "Go on ahead without me." She added, knowing that it wasn't all that firm of a 'no' but she didn't want to make her potential employer dislike her or whatever. At least she thought the woman was the potential employer. Lisa wasn't sure, then again that was her fault for staying locked up in here, the horse smells were getting to her head.

[Celica Eresh]

Celica shook her head at the other woman's denial.

"I insist. I've heard you've been locked up in here since you arrived. Come. Ride with me." Celica's tone was firm and authoritative, definitely the type for ordering around others. "If you stay locked up in here all the time, you'll turn into a horse yourself." She did lighten up upon saying that though.

The mercenary captain then finished walking Nergal out of the stables, expecting the new recruit to follow. She mounted up once she was outside and the big black stallion gave another whinny while extending his wings, ready and raring to go. "You know, I've seen a few white Wyvern before. Where'd you find your's?" She briefly spoke up to Shugo before looking into the sky.

Celica grinned after a moment more and clicked her tongue, Nergal starting to gallop along before taking off into the air of frigid Ilia. There was always something satisfying about flying high above in the sky. An indescribable feeling of euphoria that always kept the warrior woman warm even in the chill. "Ah... I do so love to fly."

[Shugo]

"You mean where I got Luna", spoke Shugo as he rubbed the scales on the back of his mount's head. The wyvern let out a cry of joy as the rider began to tell his story. "Well I found Luna in the southern mountains in Bern. Me and my father caught her and trained me how to ride Wyverns. Luna was not the only White Wyvern there, but she was special", spoke Shugo.

It seemed that it was time to take off. Unlike the pegasus Wyverns did not run first and then take off. Luna flapped her wings and flew up into the air. She then flapped again and gained some more altitude. The Wyvern gave a third and final flap propelling herself and Shugo through the air. Shugo quickly caught up to Celica and began to fly beside her. The boy heard her comment about flying and responded with one of his own. "I agree", spoke Shugo. "Flying is fun and exciting", spoke they wyvern rider as he sent Luna into a barrel roll.

[Rogus]

"Stop that man!" A butcher who was fumbling with his fallen goods cried out. A red clad figure ran through the village at a blinding pace, any who had been chasing him had been quickly lost. Rogus had grabbed one of his favorite trinkets from the man's makeshift stall; a sandwich. If only he had some ale to wash it down with. After that incident in Pherae, however, getting drunk probably wasn't the brightest idea. As he ran he laughed at the memory of his drunken escapade into the Pherae archery range after a less that successful heist of the place's armory. He was lucky the archers there were still being trained or he'd have a few holes in his chest.

Rogus slowed to a walk as he found he had lost his tails walking to a hilltop and sitting in the snow to enjoy his prize. He heard the flapping of wings in the distance... The man had screamed loud enough for the fliers to hear, even now atop the hill Rogus could hear the furious butcher's outlandish description of the thief.

"He was a red demon I tell you! Stole the sandwich my wife made before i could even blink!" The cries from the village amused the cheery thief, and the town began to bustle with the chaotic activity of searching for the sandwich snatcher. The beating of wings grew louder, and Rogus looked up to see a formation of fliers. He took a bite out of his sandwich and threw his hood on to escape the unforgiving freezing winds. There was a wyvern with the group, and a black pegasus... How interesting!

Right there's a rare beast... He observed, taking a bite of the stolen sandwich, Quite the beauty riding her too... Wouldn't mind her throwing me in a cell. He laughed to himself again, he stuck out like a sore thumb on the snow covered hill, but he didn't worry. He'd be done disposing of the "evidence" of his crime before they reached him he reckoned.

[Elisabeth]

So that's how it was, an order is it? Well that's just dandy, looks like she doesn't really get a say in the matter. Annoying, to say the least, she thought that was a benefit of being a mercenary rather then a soldier, looks like you always have to listen to someone somewhere. Well, at least she had experience with that sort of thing so she could at least comply. "Ah, of course then. Let me just get ready." Elisabeth replied calmly, setting her brush down on a nearby stool. She felt the need to sigh, but she stowed it away, didn't want to burn bridges and annoy her superiors or whatever. She she just did as she was told, patting unlocking the stable Medusa was in and leading her out by the reins. She still had her riding armor on, even though she hadn't been planning on riding today, she just didn't want to walk around armorless in a fort of highly armed mercenaries. At least it meant she didn't have to put it on before going out, so hurray for paranoia.

"C'mon Medusa, let's go on a ride." She said to the mare patting her on the snout, the pegasus nickering cheerfully. Even if she didn't really have any friends, she had Medusa and that was good enough for her. She watched from a distance as her superior took off on her blackened warhorse into the sky. She clambered upon her own with a trained ease, but not much vigor. It appeared a young boy on a big white wyvern joining them, he seemed chipper. After he kicked off into the air, Lisa let out that sigh she was holding in. She didn't really want to do this, but whatever there wasn't a point in fighting it. She took off into the air as well, unlike those two she didn't really make any cool maneuvers or excited about the act of simply flying, which is fun and everything, but she's had more then enough time to just 'fly' lately.

Still she followed the two, they seemed to be having fun at least, she staid quiet though. She didn't really have much to say anyways.

[Celica Eresh]

"You get it, kid! Flying is alot of fun." Celica chuckled as she watched the young wyvern rider and Luna do their trick. She briefly looked back at the other she'd gotten to join them. Didn't seem too happy, but ah well. She'd either cheer up or just be sour the whole time. Celica didn't mind much either way. Though she did start to pause as distant sounds below caught her ear.

"Hm? Lot of noise from the village." There was only one village close to the fortress that The Burning Blade called home. At the same time, the mercenary group was sure to make friends with them, passing through often. The Seraph Knight pulled on Nergal's reigns slightly, the pegasus slowing his speed as she looked down. She briefly saw a man standing atop a snow covered hill, though she moved past quickly, descending toward the village. A couple of people were still at the gate, arguing loudly.

The voices started to lower as the black stallion landed and Celica made her way over on Nergal. "Hello folks, what's going on here?" A jumble of voices all came at once before Celica held up both of her hands. "One at a time!"

After a moment of jabbering, she got the story of a thief who'd stolen in the town and caused quite a commotion on the way out. Remembering the lone person she'd noted before, the Mercenary Captain nodded and promised she'd find the fellow. There wasn't many places to go when you were wondering alone in Ilia and even fewer could hide you from a Pegasus Rider looking around unless you ran into the mountains themselves.

Taking off again, Celica started back toward where she saw the thief a moment ago.

[Shugo]

His commander seemed to be in good spirit. It was good. If Shugo did join up with them he would have to work for her. Shugo did not like the scream and yell all the time type of people. In truth he wondered how they did it. Screaming all day just made him loss his voice, but those guys would go on four hours and hours and still have a voice the next day.

Then there was the second woman with them. She did not seemed to enjoy flying as much as he and the commander did. It was strange to Shugo. Flying was all the rage with everybody he meet. Everyone enjoyed flying and yet she seemed as if she could care less. It was all so weird. Maybe it was because she was a girl, but then again their commander was also a girl. Though she did not give off the feel that a normal girl did. Maybe that was it. Maybe because she was a girly girl and not a guy girl like their commander. Sometimes Shugo did not understand women and in truth he was starting to give up trying.

As they flew over the village Shugo noticed a commotion. Their seemed to be something going on. Their commander flew down to take a look and Shugo followed. He noticed a man in red. "Cool scarf", shouted Shugo as he pulled into a landing. He sat there while the civilians bombarded the commander with questions and flew off again when she began to move. It seemed that they were going in the direction of the man with the cool scarf. Shugo was not paying much attention so he in truth had little idea of what was going on.

[Rogus]

Scarf? More of a cloak really! He shouted back, his mouth full of the remains of a sandwich, and watched the following events.

Uh-oh... They don't look happy! Rogus laughed as he saw the villagers clamoring about around the fliers. But when the ebony pegasus and its rider turned and flew directly for him, he took a double take. She certainly didn't look like a foe to mess with, but a black pegasus wasn't something one saw everyday...

Running is futile, and i just got these boots cleaned... He reasoned, There's also a new sight to take in... two really. He grinned at the insinuation and decided to wait for the fliers, which most likely wouldn't take long at all. Fighting would be futile as well, with three riders, one seemingly incredibly skilled, he would stand little chance. That in mind, he kept his dagger tucked nicely between his multiple belts.

What beauty i see! he shouted to them as they neared, leaving the subject open to question, muttering an add in to himself two beauties to be exact...

[Elisabeth]

Ten seconds in and already there was something. "Of course." She let out a sigh, realizing that she was silly to even pretend anything else might have happened. She wasn't really upset, since she wasn't particularly bothered, but it wasn't exactly comforting to know her pessimistic guesses are proving themselves right. Then again it beat the life crushing ennui she had been feeling for what felt like months, so perhaps she should be excited. It was just kind of hard to get excited about anything anymore these days.

She followed her commander, as she was told, and while she talked with the villagers and ascertained where this thief was and whatever, Lisa let her eyes wander. It was snowy (as usual), it was cold (as to be expected), the wind was biting (a natural occurrence), and in general it felt like yet another day in Ilia. She noticed their little wyvern friend was missing, but she didn't really worry herself about that, since really it didn't matter that much, he couldn't have gotten far anyway. Lisa didn't say anything, at the least, since she didn't really feel like it. Right now all she wanted to do was blindly follower the commander, so she doesn't have to think about anything, she deserved to not have to fret for a few moments, hadn't she?

As her boss flew off, she flew off as well, following her as they came into a landing. There was a man there, not too far from the town, but far enough away that people would hesitate to follow. Unlike many place like Lycia, or Sacae, you can't travel too far from civilization in Ilia without being prepared or being reckless. It's dangerous, the blinding white of the snow makes it incredibly easy to get lost especially in places with few landmarks, and the cold can cripple and kill an unprepared man in just a few hours. Of course that might just be stories her folks told her to scare her, maybe it's not so bad in this winter wonderland?

Eh, not really the point in the end, really now they seemed to be engaging some sort of man with a red cape. He stood out like a sore thumb amongst the white, so if he's the thief he's not doing a good job at the 'sneaking' part. Then again there's not a whole lot of sneaking opportunities in a place like this. He shouted something before they landed, about 'beauty' or whatever, probably trying to butter up her boss. Lisa just sat atop Medusa, kind of sullen looking, and said nothing. She had nothing she wanted to say anyways.

[Celica Eresh]

Celica spotted the one from earlier again quickly, not even trying to run. He did match what the villagers were saying at any rate, though. Nergal began to land once more, Celica scoffing to herself. "Beauty"? Oh boy, another of those "dashing rogue" types judging by that line. Frankly, the act got boring after the first time.

"Wouldn't happen to have seen anyone else running around out here, would you?" The mercenary captain asked first, allowing the suspect a moment of free suspicion.

"Seems there's a thief about that I need to catch."