PBEM-G6

Chapter Four

Seeing that most of the bandits were fleeing due to their bombardment of the town, Isianu puts her scythe away, believing that she won't need it anymore. Finding the robed warrior on his last legs, she rushed forward to help keep himself standing. "I'll try to explain this all later," Isianu commented, "Right now we have to get you to a healer or at least a safe haven." Before she went anywhere, her gaze fell upon the rogue's body, still wearing that ridiculous disguise. If she wanted to make sure that the people knew this wasn't her doing, she would need to gather some evidence. Using one arm to support the knight who had fought so valiantly, Isianu bent down and grabbed the bandit by the neck. Once both were securely in her grasp, she slowly walked with the man, and dragged the corpse. Guiding the man over into an alley that seemed to be away from the fires, she let him rest against a nearby wall, putting the body on the opposite side. "Are you going to be alright? I'm not a priest, and I don't know how to take care of wounds. Is there someone around here I can take you to? Someone who can help you and provide some form of safety?"

Acting as if he hadn't even heard her, the man shrugged off Isianu's attempts to help him and made his way back into the open. He surveyed the damage and the chaos as another volley of arrows rained down. He fell to his knees.

As she stood, bewildered, another man entered the middle circle. It was Burke again. He ran up to Isianu, looking at the injured man briefly. "There's trouble, Isianu. There are soldiers everywhere. We need to get out of here."

Isianu was surprised and relieved to see Burke. She really didn't know what to say first. He looked at the robed man curiously, leaning forward and snapping his fingers in front of the man's face. "Uh... what's going on?"

A child and another man entered from the seaside. Burke pulled up a bow and eyed them, then relaxed.

"Burke!" Isianu cried out, relived to see a friendly face, "I'm glad you're here, I was ready to believe that I would never find you again. I believe that these rabble weren't too hard for you once you were free. They're spineless raiders, pure and simple, they give a few good kicks when you're down but won't do anything face to face." Watching the town burning down all around her she wondered was this what Trent went through before she found him? It was a horrible sight, but what he has seen must have been far worse; the ones doing that were regular soldiers not this rabble. All of the pity she could muster took the form of a long drawn out sigh.

Turning back to look at Burke eyeing the robed warrior Isianu said, "I don't know what's wrong with him. He took down this one bandit," gesturing at the body by her feet, "And fought off more. After they all left he just stood there, refusing my help, despite his wounds. I don't know, he might just be in shock, but if he stays here, I don't think he'll live." Once her companion flinched in defense, Isianu turned to find two more people trying to figure out what's going on. "Hey!" she yelled at them, "What are you doing over there? It's dangerous here!" She then took a brief glance at the injured knight then back at the two, "Do you know where we could find a priest or a healer? This man is dying from wounds he took while defending this town!"

The boy yelled and ran at Isianu, placing himself between the wolf and the fallen man. "Get away from my dad, you monster!"

Burke was bending over the late bandit. He picked up the bandit's dagger, continuing, "Thanks to you, I managed to get away. But soldiers were popping up everywhere. At least, they wore Aldersgate colors. They're going to take the town..." He sniffed the knife and grimaced. Seeing the child move up, he shook his head.

The other man stepped forward, getting a better look at the assembled group.

Arias didn't really know what to make of this. The wolf creature didn't seem to be attacking anyone right now, but it was obvious that there had been fighting here. That other man and the boy were definitely afraid of it. But here was another man who was chatting casually with it. And he said soldiers were coming. Soldiers meant trouble, just like when the ferry tried to dock before. It seemed he would have to choose between soldiers and this group.

"My name's Arias," said the stranger, still hanging back. "I came in on... the ferry. I'm not on anyone's side in this, but I don't think I want anything to do with soldiers here. Let's get out of here."

"Me?!?" Isianu said, shocked by the child's audacity, "I did nothing to him! It was him and his low-life compatriots!" she argued, pointing at the dead bandit. "I was trying to HELP him, but he pushed me away! That wound he has looks pretty bad, if I were you I'd try and talk some sense into your father and get him to a healer as soon as possible. That and unless you can carry him all by yourself, I'd be open to accept help from anybody to save him."

Once finished explaining things to the young child, Isianu turned to look at Burke and take in what he had to say. "Well they're chasing off the bandits, which I can't surprise me, but the main thing I'm wondering is what will happen once they take the town? Will they just let life go back to normal or will they occupy the town? More specifically what would they do when they found us?"

The boy quickly grabbed up his father's thin sword. It was clear that he knew something of how to use the weapon as he aimed it in Isianu's direction.

Before the child could do anything more than aim the weapon Burke stepped in between the two. He looked at her meaningfully and nodded, raising the dagger. "I think the damage here is done." He paused, considering Isianu's questions. "The Baron is good at grabbing and holding onto things. He'll take the town and everything in it. If he finds us, we could be captured again or killed. I don't know which is worse." He moved in the way of the sword- swinging boy again, drawing a confused look, and gestured to the path he had traveled to get into the town. "There are soldiers coming that way... that's how I... re-equipped. I don't know if they have the town surrounded or not, but that's a typical tactic. Any way we go, we'll probably have to fight our way out."

Isianu's paws automatically went up in a defensive position and she started to slowly back away as the boy waved his father's sword at her. "[What do these humans teach their pups?]" she muttered under her breath, "[It's definitely not logical thinking.]"

As Burke came to her rescue, she relaxed a little bit and listened to his explanation of the probable situation. "Well if we have to fight through, then we have to fight through, but I'd prefer some way to make sure we deal with as few soldiers as possible. Couldn't we weave through houses, taking cover inside for a while, then moving on to the next one?" Taking a brief glance at her surroundings, she added, "Preferably those not on fire. And once we're out in the open, we'll need some horses or other mode of fast transportation to keep ahead of the Baron's army." Turning around to look at the new human that didn't seem to be afraid of her, but did want to get away from the soldiers. "You are welcome to join us," Isianu cried out to Arias, "Especially if you know how to get out of this town alive."

"Hey, lay off, kid!" said Burke, trapping the boy's arm and slipping the sword from his hand. He looked at the sword curiously. "I don't think your dad would have wanted you to get hurt waving this thing around." He turned his attention back to Isianu. "Say, that is a good idea." He glanced around the houses surrounding the city center. "I think it's the roofs that are burning. The houses are mostly clay-brick... We might be able to hide for a while."

Arias considered for a moment. "I'm not sure what's going on here," said Arias a little shakily. "But I do expertise in hiding and sneaking. I think you are right, we should probably stick to discretion if we are going to escape alive." For the second time that day he cursed himself for the situation he had gotten himself into. When was this going to end?

"Well I think that's been pretty much decided then," Isianu stated looking over at the line of houses lining the shore. "We slowly make our way across the town by hiding in a house at a time moving on to the next once it's clear. I would suggest staying fairly close to the houses on the shore. If we're caught we'll only have to deal with reinforcements coming from one side. Also the fact that this army would more than likely try to control the docks as fast as they can. They'll rush past us and we would have a fairly easy journey from then on."

Taking several steps toward the road leading to the sea shore, Isianu stopped and reguarded the boy with the sword. Giving him a look up and down she commented, "If I were you I'd get your father to a healer as soon as you can. You might also want to learn how to PROPERLY treat a lady." With that little speach over with, the sorceress head out on the most likely road to freedom.

Burke held the fuming child back with one hand, holding the sword with the other. "Uh..." he said, helplessly, watching Isianu and Arias make their way down the path and disappear. The sound of men talking came up another path. "Uh, go get it!" he yelled to the kid, throwing the sword down the quiet, remaining path. The boy broke away from Burke and watched him run after his companions.

Isianu, Arias, and Burke made their way towards the beach. No sooner had they started down the path then they heard a cry of alarm. Uniformed soldiers dashed forward, searching. "Spread out," said one, "He can't gone far." Behind them, several more figures could be seen. The path leading out to the docks was completely blocked.

For a few moments, Isianu debated about taking the child and his father with them, even if they didn't want to. She didn't want to see them hurt, the knight is a fine warrior and an honorable sort, and the child is too young for the horrors of war. How ever logic stepped in to center stage. Those two would have a better chance of surviving alone than with two outlaws and a 'monster'. While running out of the square, she silently prayed that those two would be alright.

Once the soldiers made themselves known, the Lupine sorceress muttered, "Fast mongrels, aren't they?" Quickly she went to the right side of the street and chose a door that seemed functional, but hopefully not locked. "This seems a good to start heading out of town," Isianu said opening the door for the others to go in. Once everybody was in, she closed the door and got down on the floor, hopefully out of view of anybody looking in through the windows. "We continue jumping from house to house once the guards go past us. We'll try and keep doing that up until we reach the outskirts of town. From then on..." She looked around nervously before continuing, "We will have to come up with a new plan."

Finding an open door on her second try, Isianu motioned for Burke and Arias to enter. She closed the door behind them and Burke went for the cross bar. No sooner did he secure the door than soldiers quickly materialized from out of the darkness. One pounded on the door. "Open this door!" He demanded.

The Baron's Ride

Isianu growled at the door as the soldier made his demands. "Great," she sighed at the others, "They have us potentially trapped in here. I think the only way out is to find a back door or window, climb out that and run. We can't stay in here and try to defend ourselves; they already started razing the town. I doubt that they wouldn't set this one troublesome house aflame." She then stopped and looked towards the other end of the house. "Of course if we do that we would have these buffoons and any other troops they could round up on the way after us."

For several still moments that seemed like forever Isianu tried to create another plan, but couldn't think of anything remotely feasible. Growling again in frustration and digging her claws into the floor, she looked up at the others. "I don't know how to get out of this one. Running would only get us captured, staying would get us burned alive, and attacking the guards to steal their uniforms wouldn't do much good because I'm a seven and a half foot tall werewolf!" Looking down at the ground Isianu muttered some curses in her native language at the Baron and every crony of his she met. Turning to look at Arias she asked in a voice dripping with despair, "So newcomer, have any ideas?"

Arias shrugged. He looked around for an escape route. "There aren't any windows back here, no way out back at all." He felt like he'd been dealt a losing hand. This was the time to pull a card from his sleeve. If only he had one, but he was out of his element and short on ideas.

Burke held up his bow. "Ok, I think we have to fight our way out. Maybe if we surprise them, we'll have a chance..."

A solemn Isianu looked at the humans before her and noded, "If that is what we must do. I tried to avoid combat since I can't give you any magical support, but we will have to forgo it this time." Looking at the door again, something came to her. "Why don't you go take up possitions where the soldiers can't see you, like up against the wall there? I'll let them in, trap them in this house, then we can get rid of them without fear of reinforcements?"

If everybody agreed to it, Isianu got up and went to the door, ready to pull out the crossbeam, but hesitated for a moment. "Oh-alright," she said trying to sound frightened, "We don't want any trouble. We can't be any match for you terrifying soldiers." Once her ruse was played out, Isianu removed the beam and slid up against the wall to allow the troops through.

"Come out where we can see you," bellowed the belligerant man. "No tricks! We spotted you trying to hide!" Burke leaned up against the window frame and loosed an arrow, taking one of the flanking soldiers high in the neck. He quickly dropped back as his target hissed.

Isianu grimaced as she heard Burke's arrow hit its mark and heard a bit of the ensuing panic outside. "You must be really stupid to think we'll come out now!" she bellowed in the general direction of the door. "As soon as we do, you'll run us down. Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but we won't go down that easy!" She took a brief glance out a window to see quite a contingency of soldiers in front of the house. There also seemed to be some mounted knights coming to aid them. Oh, I wish I could just throw one fireball or something. I just feel so helpless here. "Listen, we don't want any trouble!" going back to her position by the door, "We were just caught up in your senseless razing of this town. All we want to do is leave this godforsaken place, is that too much to ask?" After yelling out their desires she leaned against the wall and looked to Burke in a questioning manner. The weariness on her face going out and asking him for guidance.

Burke fired another arrow, cutting the screaming soldier's tirade short. "I'll take out their mounted soldiers, then we'll take the animals. With any luck, they'll be too confused to chase us for a while." He readied another arrow, leaning forward slowly to sight his target.

Burke fired another arrow. He grinned at Isianu. "Got him, no problem. One down, one to go. Get ready to run."

Burke drew a bead on the second figure in the dark. It was... flying and screaming, "Kupo Kupo Kupoppopoppopoppo!!" He hesitated and a torch flew through the window, narrowly missing him. Another torch flew through the window near Isianu, catching a shelf against the wall in fire. Smoke quickly began to spread throughout the room.

As the little mounted warrior started to jump up and down and scream the words, "Wait, if that's Kupita then the other would likely be..." Isianu gasped. "What are they doing out there with those soldiers?" But before anybody could reply, several torches entered the house almost immediately sending most of wood surrounding it in flames. The smoke gradually made it's way up to Isianu's sensitive nostrils, sending a fierce burning sensation directly into her brain. Coughing several times, she put her sleve up to her nose and got down on the ground, not sure if they would fire something else into the house. "Well," she coughed, "We knew this would happen sooner or later. I suggest we try and use this smoke they've given us. Burke, could you try to get some more soldiers? I say we wait until the smoke builds up a bit to give some decient cover around the door, then we try and break out and get Kupita and Kyle. They'll probably have some crossbowmen or something ready for us when we come out, so we'll probably have to run fast and break through them." She looks around at the humans around her, and looks solemly at the floor. "I know it's not a very good plan, but it's the only cource of action avilable to us." Slowly she drew her scythe and moved so that she could get a running start at the door, waiting for the smoke to get a little thicker.

Isianu burst out of the door, seeing more clearly in the open air of the night as opposed to the roiling darkness of the smoke filled home. She swung her scythe in a menacing arc, daring any of the soldiers to take her challenge. Arias and Burke followed, somewhat less imposing. The soldiers collectively gasped at the appearance of the werewolf, some stepping back and others breaking and running. Unopposed for the moment, they ran towards the horse and chocobo.

Kyle coughed and gasped as Kupita stood nearby. He looked down his chest at the arrow sticking out of it.

The panicked soldiers began returning, followed by a gigantic, broad- shouldered man on a charger. He was goading the soldiers forward. "Kill them!" he shouted, swinging his axe.

"It's the Baron," shouted Burke. He looked at Isianu. "I... guess I have to settle this. All of you should run for it." He drew a sword and stepped toward the mounted man and his still reluctant soldiers. Missing Post between 8-30 and 9-4

Isianu slowly gets up and stares in awe at the attack Burke took for her. That was a rather powerful spell and she doubted that she could have survived such an attack. Right then a part of the sorceress wanted to flee, to honor Burke's wishes, and live to see another day. She had no magic, little training with her scythe, and was out-numbered. In direct opposition, a feral voice screamed that she must try to save Burke for saving her first. It was also tired of running and wanted to do something to end this stupid war and the fear of being caught. Eventually she made up her mind and held her scythe close to her chest and quickly prayed for the Blessed Pack to give her strength (or magic if they were feeling generous) to defeat her enemies. Once this has been said, she rushed forward, her scythe at the ready to cut down the soldiers attacking them.

Burke and the Baron clashed, sword against axe. Arias took the opportunity to back away as the soldiers ran to cut off all routes of escape. Kupita growled and shook her sword menacingly at the two approaching from her side. The other two came from Kyle's side, leveling their swords at the stricken knight. Overcome with rage, Isianu drew her scythe and prepared to lash out on her way to her real target: this ugly human known as the Baron. There was complete silence as battle was about to commence. In the distance, thunder sounded.

Isianu stopped her charge short, a strange feeling passing over her. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion around her. She sensed magic. It was as if her keen sense of magic had been completely repressed and now was suddenly active once more. She felt her own weakness and exposure with her magical resources drained... but she also felt the forces of magic flowing and even surging all around. The winds began to blow through the town, surprising the combatants with their force. Everyone except Burke and the Baron stopped to look up as roiling black clouds obscured the stars. It became pitch black as the fires died out. Lightning struck very close by, throwing debris into the street where they stood. Thunder crashed with such force that the ground shook. Isianu felt like sharp needles were piercing her, as the forces around her grew. Lightning was rapidly flashing around the town, the ground constantly rumbling now. The winds were strong enough that it took effort just to remain standing.

Burke and the Baron were standing apart as the winds whipped over them. In the open, they were receiving a stronger buffeting from the weather. They both struggled to remain standing and press their attack, but Burke slipped and was rolled away by the fierce wind, immediately followed by his larger opponent. Without shelter, Kupita, Isianu, an Arias would soon share the same fate, if the worse elements didn't get them first.

"What's going on?!" Kupita yelled. "Let's get out of here!" She motioned to the others, as she fought her way over to H.P. to make her escape.

"This does not bode well," Isianu muttered as the winds started to pick up. This wasn't natural weather, the power inside of it and the way it just seemed to flow were proof of that. There was also something else she got with her re-found talent at recognizing magic. It seemed that the storm had a mind of it's own and was surging forth to achieve some dark purpose. The ferocity and the power needed to create such a beast simply astounded the sorceress. For several seconds she just stood there in awe of the wonderfully, horrible artistry playing out before her. It wasn't until Burke was swept up by the elements that she fully realized the danger she was in. Isianu was usually the dispatcher, not the receiver of spells. She held on to the nearest building and turned to her companions. "Hurry!" she yelled over the howling wind, "Into the house or else we'll all blow away!" With that being said, she staunchly made her way to one of the nearby houses. Along the way trying to think what spell this was, and who might have cast it, even though she had a pretty good idea who...

Isianu and Kupita ran for cover, the reluctant Arias trailing. H.P. seemed to hesitate, but the destruction raining down convinced him to push on through the small door. The ground began to shake in earnest. Looking out, Isianu could see the street rippling and cracks forming as sections of the earth were torn and shifted. To her, it seemed that the most terrible elemental magics had all been unleashed at once, on a grander scale than she could have imagined. The raw magical force surrounding her seemed to hold steady as the group sat in the dark. They looked at each other, wondering what to do. The lightning flashes were coming farther apart, although it would still have been foolish to brave the elements outside.

It occurred to Kupita that Kyle had not actually made it to the house. In the excitement she had thought he was coming, but in his place was this strangely dressed man.

^^Yipes!^^ She said as she jumped. "Who are you?"

In the darkness, Kupita took Arias for a stranger. Of course, he actually was a stranger. Still, he had introduced himself and these creatures had started a big fight. He was probably not far from being chased out of town again, thanks to them. Soldiers were always trouble to someone who made their living on games of chance, but he might have been able to blend in with the crowds if he hadn't stumbled across this pair. Then again, if there were no risks, there would be no major scores. You had to play the game to make it big. In their shelter from the storm, he had an opportunity to find out about his new situation...

Turning to look at the panicking moogle the werewolf sorcess tried to calm her down. "It's alright, he's with us. He ran with us when the soldiers came, even though we've had precious little time to talk about who he is and..." Stopping for a second Isianu looks around the house for someone, but can not find him. "Wait a second where's Kyle? Didn't you grab him!?!?!" She fumed a bit at the moogle and went to the door and opened it. The wind almost blew her back but gripping the door frame, she stood fast looking out into the ensuing storm. "KYLE!!!!" she cried into the vast darkness, "WHERE ARE YOU?"

Isianu yelled Kyle's name, hoping to hear an answer, but in return she heard only the howl of the wind. Without warning, icy rain began to fall, pelting the side of the house. She closed the door. She was sure he'd be all right... he'd just have to find shelter on his own. Water ran into the room from damaged sections of the roof, but they were safe from the wind.

Arias took advantage of the respite to formally introduce himself. H.P. murmurred and shuddered as the thunder continued to rumble.

"My name is Arias," he said bowing low to the ground in his always over-extravagant manor. "Forgive me for not introducing myself in this... ...situation," he said looking nervously around. "I am a Gambler from away north, who has seemingly through a stroke of bad luck wound up in the middle of an battle scene." He looked outside, into the raging storm. "I followed you friends here, mainly because I'm an outlaw in the empire but also because I don't know anyone else who will help me." He looked at the others. "I don't believe anyone else has made any formal introductions yet."

"I DO apologize for my rudeness..." Kupita said, rather sarcastically, "It is just that with all that has happened to me lately, well... For a very long moment I thought that you could be an evil wizard, bent on destroying the world. I thought that maybe you had whisked Kyle away and taken his place. Say...How do I know that you aren't an evil wizard. You could be you know, you really could." Kupita looked him over once more. She looked amusingly cute with her fat little arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

"However, as you are not attacking at the moment, I will take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Kupita, and I am the astonishingly brave Dark Knight Moogle! I traverse the world looking for danger and adventure. With my faithful mount, H.P. by my side..." She nods towards the Chocobo, "we have conquered many a foe, and won many a battle. We have taken on such horrendous beasts as the King of the Weeds, whom we now have as an ally, and have fought the mechanical monstrosities of the Empire, and lived to tell the tale." Kupita took a big sigh as she continued in her self-congratulatory ramblings.

"We fought hordes of Evil soldiers, and vanquished them all. We have out smarted all sorts of plots and ploys. If you wish, I could tell you about them..."

Once the door slammed shut, Isianu leaned against the nearby wall, her face towards the sky, growling out some old Lupine curses. Once Kupita began to accuse Arias the werewolf turned and gazed at the gambler with an icy cold stare that probably would have chilled his soul. After a few minutes of the moogle's babbling, Isianu got off the wall and started to walk towards Arias. "No, he's definitely not an evil wizard, I should know. I am one..." With that being said, she sat down rather suddenly next to the only human in the building, hoping she could dry off there in peace. Slowly she turned her head and said, "I'm sorry if I'm not as energetic as my friend over there. We just lost 3 of our number in so much as a day and it is weighing down my spirits..." Slowly she closed her eyes and tilted her head back in a rather peaceful resting position. Without opening her eyes she added, "For the sake of courtesy I am Isianu Veenous, Sorceress in the dark arts and Mistress to mystical beasts."

"Well in the current circumstances it is a pleasure to meet both of you." Arias noticed the tensoin arising in the room at the mention of Kyles name. "May I inquire as to whom or what Kyle is?" he asked politely making himself comfortable on the floor of the house. Again he wondered to himself where this current streak of luck would take him.

"Kyle is..." or was...hopefully still is "...one of my fellow Dark Knights. We have been traveling together for quite some time. HE seems to have horrible luck, I'm afraid. You see, he was nearly killed my a Mech, then he was nearly killed by a soldier, and then nearly run over by a horse." ...or was that me? "Then these Yahoos..." She said raising her voice, "SHOT HIM IN THE CHEST WITH AN ARROW!!!!!!" She shot a very angry glance at Isianu, and fingered her sword's holster.

"ME!?!?!" Isianu exlaimed, opening her eyes and acting a little more lively, "I did nothing! I can hardly do ANYTHING until I get some rest! The fact of the matter is that Burke shot Kyle while we were in the house. He was trying to take down as many soldiers as he could before we had to rush out." Shooting the moogle a cold stare she growled, "It was dark, we were scared, and you two looked suspcioulsly like officers in THEIR army! We were just trying to prevent them from organizing something more tactical than "Throw things into the windows"! It wasn't until we saw your puny, fluffy hide that it was you!" The werewolf leaned forward a bit, some of her teeth exposed, "And now they're out there. If I were you I'd drop this conversation, now..."

"Come over here and Make me!" She drew her sword. "We were in disguise! Do you think that we could just walzt in here and rescue your sorry tail without being able to pass ourselves off as ones of them? No... You don't think at all. Heck, if we hadn't come along when we did...you'd probably be a pelt on some wall right now. And where in the devil is Trent? Did you shoot him too?"

At this latest insult Isianu stood up towering over the little moogle, her teeth bared and ears pointed backwards in rage. "Don't you DARE say such things about Trent!!!!! He was executed by those soldiers on the very first night that we were captured." Gradually, her paw made it's way back and found her scythe, it wouldn't be much use against a professional swordsman, but it would increase her chances of survival. "That and I seem to remember something about a black chocobo rampaging through camp? I can only assume that it was your idiotic plan to get us out. Oh, I forgot, you didn't HAVE a plan because you just went about causing havoc while they were murdering Trent!!!!! Even back there we had a plan, and it was better than that poor excuse of tactical poise you have done. Just give me a good reason I shouldn't kick you out of that door you useless, scatter-brained, puffy-minded, pitiful excuse for a stuffed animal!!!!!"

"Wait, wait!" Arias said at the two chracters who were just about to kill each other. "Slow down. Arguing isn't going to get us outta here alive." Arias stepping between the two, possibly a fatal error he thought afterwards. "I'll give you a reason not to harm him," he said turning to Isianu. "Because we need to act together in order to survive!"

"He's right." Kupita said as she put her sword away and slumped down to the ground. "And I'm sorry about Trent...I didn't know. All the soldiers we interogated, that knew you even existed, acted like you both were still alive. We must act together and we must avenge Trent's death". Kyle's too. Then she turned to Arias. "And by the way, I'm not a 'Him', I'm a 'Her'." She paused a moment. "So, Um, does anyone have a plan?"

Isianu sighed and looked down at the floor for several moments before uttering, "I'm sorry Kupita. It's just with everything that's happened I'm a little on edge at the moment. That and I'm not one to let an insult just lay there without defending myself. And thank you Arias for bringing us to our senses." She continues to stare down for several more minutes then puts her scythe away. Walking over to the wall she leaned against it. "Personally I don't know what to do now. The soldiers around this town would probably be blown away, and the ones left would be in such disarray, it would be easy to escape. But I don't know if we want to just yet. I want to know where that bastard that killed Trent, General Niehl went. He could be anywhere, forming another attack on another town for all we know. We need to find him and repay him for all the trouble he's caused us..."

H.P. was preening when he suddenly stiffened. He warked and looked around the room. "Wark! Warkwarkwarkwarkwarkwarkwark!" he exclaimed as he dashed for the door. He gave it a solid kick, then clawed at it, desperate to be let out.

Arias watched the antics of H.P. for a moment. "Does he always do that?" he asked. "Or is it me?"

"No, I don't think so..." Isianu said going over to the panicking chocobo and asked, "What's the matter, is someone out there? Do you want to go out?" For several seconds she just looked at the chocobo and the door, one after the other. Then she took out a paw and pushed H.P. back a bit, "Kupita, could you please hold him, I'm going to take a look outside." Once the moogle has taken the reigns, Isianu slowly opened the door and gazed out into the storm, trying to find what had H.P. in such a huff.

H.P. resisted Isianu as she pushed past him to see the door, but he leaned in to Kupita when she came near. Though the rain and ice had stopped, lightning still flashed in the clouds. The prickly feeling of overcharged magic no longer afflicted Isianu. She gazed out into the night, trying to determine what spooked the chocobo. It seemed a little too calm. Suddenly H.P. butted her aside and ran out into the street. He whirled around, looking in all directions, then scampered up the street some distance. He warked back at them and shuffled his feet.

Isianu looked out of the doorway and into the streets still filled with water. "Well the storm is over and I don't think... Hey!" she exclaimed as a bunch of feathers pushed her out of the way. At first she was angry at the chocobo's wild behavior, but then something struck her. "Hey, Kupita, I think H.P. has found something and wants us to follow. If she did, let's find it quickly before the soldiers start to organize and we are still able to escape." Moving out of the doorway, Isianu started to follow H.P. to what ever he may lead them to.

Kupita was a little disgusted. "Okay, people! Listen up. First Arias thinks I'm a guy, now Isianu think's H.P.'s a girl! Which HE isn't Do we need to wear big signs on our heads that say which gender we are?" She sighed a bit. Kupita was fairly certain that H.P. just needed to 'use the little bird's room' so to speak, and was just scared to go alone after what happened, but, well, whatever. "Okay, come on." Kupita looked around and ran after H.P.

After giving his speech about unity, Arias thought it was probably best to stay with the others. Even if it meant chasing down a black chocobo during a horrific storm at midnight. H.P. ran to the town center and spun again. He warked and ran down another path. He was breaking into a good pace, forcing the others to work to keep up. The town was eerily quiet and deserted. H.P. ran with the gambler, moogle, and werewolf in tow until he had run right out of the town. The group paused, confused, as the chocobo disappeared in the dark. His distant wark beckoned.

Something seemed to drive the chocobo on with an overtly determined sense of panic and it was hard to keep up. It wasn't until Isianu looked behind her and saw the town behind her that she realized how far they ran. "Well I'll say this for your bird," she said between breaths to Kupita, "He knows when to get out of a potentially dangerous situation." Once they lost the black chocobo into the night, she slowed her pace down to a light trot. Looking this way and that, Isianu tried to pick up the scent of H.P. or get a better fix on his direction. The very least they could do for the moogle was to secure her mount.

The accidental group pressed on, Isianu sure that she still heard the bird warking in the distance. The terrain turned hilly, making the going especially hard in the dark. They were well outside the city now. Arias was flagging and Kupita wasn't faring much better. The warking, however, was getting much closer. "Sounds really close," gasped Arias. They crested a tall hill, each sure that the chocobo was just over the next rise. With an effort, they made their way up only to hear the last wark break off abruptly. The three shared an uneasy glance in the dark. They reached the hill top, finding it deserted. Wind rustled in some nearby trees and bushes.

"H.P.! Where are you?!?!" Kupita yelled at the top of her lungs, not caring how suspicious the situation was. H.P.... Why did you run away? I need you...I...love you... She wiped a small tear from her eye, then she turned around, looked at the others, shrugged, then turned back and started yelling for H.P. again. "H.P.! COOOMMMME BAAAAAACKKK!" A sniff and small wark later, H.P. was nuzzling Kupita. A short figure followed the bird in the dark. His small clear voice spoke, "Oh dear, I'm sorry. I thought he was a wild one. He must have realized-- oh dear..." The ground was shaking again. A distant roar came from the town. A second rumble crescendoed. Then a third. Almost as quickly as they had begun, the rumblings stopped. A light rain started, a few drops coming down on the assembled group.

"H.P.!" She grabbed her Chocobo around the head and gave him a hug. little tears of joy dripped down onto his feathers. She quickly wiped them away. Then lovingly scolded H.P. "You naughty Chocobo. Why did you run off like that?" She hugged him again, then whispered, ^^I thought that I had lost you.^^

H.P. warked softly in response to Kupita's tender display.

They turned to regard the stranger. In the dark, he appeared to be a small, bearded man with a large, pointed hat. "So, you are all strangers here?" he asked politely. He tipped his hat, which smoldered and produced an acrid burning smell.

Kupita: "Uh, Yes, we are. Who are you?" She paused for a moment, but not a long enough moment for him to answer. "Are earthquakes and surprize storms normal here? We've nearly been done in by the weather alone. DO you know what made my Chocobo go nuts and run off like he did? And do you know you're hat is smoking?" Kupita's bourage of questions was enough to make anyone's head spin, but she didn't notice. To her, she was communicating.

The man's eyebrows rose. "Are you a moogle? Why, how interesting. I don't often see moogles this far west. Are you armed for a reason? Don't you think your armor will rust? What was your name again? Are you just visiting? Do you miss your homeland? What do you think of our lands? Have you been well-treated?" He stopped for a breath. "Ooh, now I've really over-exerted myself." He peered up at the falling rain, befuddled, then pulled his hat off and tried to wring it out. The rain was warm and salty.