Saga: Journeys Beginning or Freedom?

[Kaworu - Horatio]

Horatio had made his way further into the city and due to his lack of real knowledge of this large place he'd turned himself around and when he heard screaming and panic of a crowd, he made his way in the general direction and noticed the dying down of a church fire with a man on the roof who was bending the fire into a ball and then a man on the ground. Who seemed to be a manipulator of wind like himself and by what the crowd would assume was trying to put the fireball out, but due to his wind affinity he could see where the other winds were going and exactly what they were doing so as the man went to run off.

Horatio curled a wind up in his hand and whispered the words "The voices you hear are not real, and the winds are collapsing the building so RUN" into the ball of wind which he sent up to the man on the roof, knowing that when the wind ball reached the fire manipulator it would reveal the words he spoke and with that done he gave chase to the man. Because he heard what he said and due to that figured that letting the man leave wasn't a good idea, and since he'd always been one to interfere Horatio chased after the man via the rooftops and making sure to keep an eye on him.

As he added more wind to his run he got ahead of the strange man and then dropped down in front of him with his spear out and pointed directly at the man's vital areas, "Cease and desist wily mage, I see your ploy and have warned your opponent so I suggest returning to the man's custody or expect to die where you stand" commanded Horatio with a stern look on his face. And if the man did something stupid like try and avoid him and or attack him he was ready for alternate counter actions which would leave the man regretting his decision.

[Ryan - Loki]

"Hold on, this is going to be a pretty hard ride for you."

Ryan had little more warning before Vahn had unleashed a blast of powerful wind in his direction. With one hand being used to control the fire and the other without feeling within it Ryan found himself in an extremely difficult situation. If he used his only good arm to grab a hold of the church roof to brace him for the small hurricane that was hurtling towards him then he would more than likely lose control of the fire and it would fall down atop of him. Ryan doubted he would be mentally strong enough to control the fire with concentration alone, not at this stage. However, if he did nothing then he was likely to be forced off of the roof, which would leave to a complete loss of concentration, and the fire would surely fall back towards the church.

With little to no time to think Ryan simply threw all of his weight forward as the wind hit him, so much so that gravity would have forced him to fall forward if the wind hadn’t been battering against him. Thankfully Vahn was a better aim than Ryan expected, and the majority of the blast hit the ball of fire rather than Ryan. As the blast finally subsided Ryan found himself on his knees, gravity finally getting the better; the fire was completely extinguished, save a few small bits that remained within the church, that and the groaning wailing of people who remained inside?

"I think you have a real decision to make now. You can save the people inside who are screaming for their lives or you can pursue me." Vahn seemed to struggle as he got back onto his feet, and even looked to be in great discomfort as he staggered in the general direction of the city gate. "Council guards are watching; make sure you do the right thing."

Ryan growled as the church began to creak and sway, and the wailing from people within still loud enough for him to hear it. It didn’t make any sense. He had been positive he hadn’t been able to sense anyone within, absolutely positive. Could he have made such a large mistake? Was it due to the shift in his powers since arriving in the new world? He didn’t know, but he still couldn’t sense any life within the church below. Not wanting to take any chances Ryan jumped into a nearby hole that was in the roof, falling within until he hit the floor below. Everything was black with ash and charcoal, burnt to a crisp. He saw lifeless corpses, burnt and twisted in pain, but none that lived. At that moment he knew that he had been tricked, the voice came too late.

"The voices you hear are not real and the winds are collapsing the building so RUN."

The roof collapsed at that very moment, large pieces of wood and bricks came crashing down towards the samurai. Fear and panic momentarily flashed across Ryan’s face, but then he composed himself and reached out with his mind and hand, grasping onto the dimming life of all and any of the fire that remained within the unstable church; there wasn’t much, but he found some. Forcing the hot embers back into life Ryan brought the fire rushing back towards him. He only had a second, if that, but it would be long enough.
Swirling the fire around him like a bubble of flames he quickly hardened it. It was a unique technique that had taken many years to perfect, but finally it would prove lifesaving. The debris of the church collided with the fire but rolled and bounced off of it, thudding with each impact. Every large object that collided with it caused Ryan to lose slightly more control over the flames until the point where Ryan believed his concentration would give and his life would become forfeit. However, finally the church had completely collapsed around him, and the fire faded out of existence as Ryan fell to his knees.

He was drained, too drained. He should never have attempted such a technique so soon, especially when knowing his abilities drained him far more than they used to, but he had no option, he knew; it had been life or death. Suddenly Ryan’s mind snapped back to the problem at hand; “…Vahn…” forcing himself back onto his feet Ryan staggered forward in the direction that he could see Vahn, who was being held up by a stranger. Perhaps fate is turning in my favour. Ryan thought as he forced himself to move faster, closing the gap between himself, Vahn and the stranger.



“Awaken Mirage…” As she spoke slowly the crystal she held grew into a large type of staff. With one flick of the wrist she swung it so it pointed out behind her; it was a stance of defiance, Loki knew. “My name he says…What if I have no name? And what if I don’t answer? Will you kill me? Will you burn me alive like those useless humans? I’m not just any demon…I’m a demon who doesn’t fear death…” She turned back to him and pointed her weapon at him as it pulsed with light blue light. “So I am denying you warrior and demand you let me cross or I will scatter your body parts across this court yard…”

There was a moment of silence before Loki began to laugh. Slowly the laughter got louder and louder before finally peaking in a somewhat maniacal manor. No one had spoken to him like that in a long time, the last being a pathetic lord of hell that Loki had left bleeding to death shortly afterwards; though he couldn’t remember his name, not that he cared. Loki quickly came to understand that he was not remembered in this time. Too much time had passed and his feats in history had either not been large enough, they had been lost or people still remembered but refused to speak his name; he would believe the latter to save his ego.

“You deny me? ME?” he asked, his mouth twisted into a thin smirk. “You are lucky that my wits are about me wench,” he spat. “If I wasn’t new to this place and needed information from you then I would overpower you, have my way with you and then it would be YOUR body parts scattered across the courtyard!” his voice was booming at this point, though he still spoke as if in whisper; it was unnatural. He wasn’t completely telling the truth. This woman felt familiar to him, his curiosity was driving him now, but he would not have his power undermined; they said old habit died young, but with Loki they never died at all.

“You mistake me for some lowly warrior…” he continued, his voice no longer carrying the deepening boom that it had moments before, but having reverted back with a softness in its place. “I am a nightmare. I am death. I am power. I am all-powerful…I am Loki.” Once the name would ring terror in the hearts of all alive and dead, but would it still? He was unsure – and that was the most daunting feeling he had ever felt.

[Vahn x Dimitri]

Things were finally looking up for him as he had managed to ditch Ryan back at the church, even making him think there were still people alive inside. Maybe he was dumber than he looked and he looked pretty dumb and out of place so far. He stopped for a second with just enough time to see the church start to collapse and the cloud of dust start to form as it crashed into the ground. That was officially one less problem he had to deal with. Vahn turned to head out of the city again with all the great intentions of getting the hell out, when, as fate would have it, he was confronted by another fantastic individual. There was one key exception here though. Ryan was all talk about wanting to fight and this guy already had a spear pointed at him ready to strike.

He cursed under his breath as he made eye contact with the man on the end of the weapon, and rolled his eyes at his comment. "Cease and desist wily mage, I see your ploy and have warned your opponent so I suggest returning to the man's custody or expect to die where you stand" After the eye rolling, a small chuckle escaped his lips at the same time as he was still trying to catch his breath from earlier. There were a couple of things that he knew right now and no matter how he tried to add things up in his head, he couldn't figure out an easy way out of this. He couldn't even use his Meklorean eyes to get a glimpse of possible outcomes because if he tried, he may just pass out completely and that would leave him in a bind. Still, he had to try and figure something out and loopholes were his favorite things in the world.

Taking just a step back to create some separation between his body and the weapon before he decided to mock his aggressor. "First of all, I am not a mage! Everyone's been calling me that today and it's really starting to annoy me. If you want to give me a title based on my abilities, we would call myself an elementalist. Mages have too much time on their hands and all they do is study to create better spells and such and I wouldn't have any part of their lifestyle." Vahn crossed his arms with an upset look on his face as he shot the new guy a glare and continued. "And did you say that man's custody? I'm not in his custody. We're supposed to be on a mission together and I just decided that I'd rather go my own way and live my own life. Nothing against goodie two shoes, but what he wants isn't my style. Besides, I work best alone and very few have ever been able to compliment me."

By this point, Vahn had taken a few steps to the side and had started to maneuver his way to one side so that he could either escape to one side or turn him and run past towards the gate. More likely than not, it would have to be the former and the less back tracking he had to do the better. He didn't even want to look back, but in all honesty, it would be easiest to get lost in the crowd and find a way out later. As he continued to shift, he noticed something, or rather someone, out of his peripheral vision. You gotta be kidding me, he thought. He didn't figure it would kill him, but he did figure it would at least put him out of commission for a while. This wasn't good and now he had to play his escape more carefully and it started by getting away from spear guy.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'll just be on my way." He knew he wouldn't buy the whole loophole routine, but it bought him the time to shift towards the alley between buildings. He ran in and started to head towards the main road to re-join the crowd and use them for cover until the heat died down. He figured the majority of them would still be gathered around the church and that would be a great place to head first as long as he made it there.

[Sophronia]

Sophronia stared at him as he laughed at her. She didn’t care if he laughed he wasn’t important to her. She waited till he was done with his giggling to listen to his scary speech.

“You deny me? ME? You are lucky that my wits are about me wench. If I wasn’t new to this place and needed information from you then I would overpower you, have my way with you and then it would be YOUR body parts scattered across the courtyard!”

She had to smile has she could feel his ego grow. Pfh! A reason she hated warriors. Especially male warriors. She turned her staff down and titled her head. He wasn’t that bad to look at though. He seemed powerful but it looked old and ancient. She could sense his powers sleeping as if it hadn’t been used in years. She then shook her head and pretended that she was listening.

“You mistake me for some lowly warrior… I am a nightmare. I am death. I am power. I am all-powerful…I am Loki.”

Once his name left his lips, a shock went through Sophronia. Her staff flashed a bright blue and dropped to its crystal form. With a scream she was on her knees holding her head in pain. “ I don’t want to remember! I wont! I am faithful to you, Master! Please! Ahhhh! ” tears of blood pooled and dropped down her snow white face. Her eyes were a bright gold but the blue was fighting to take over. “ Loki Loki Loki Loki…” She repeated over and over again as if she were trying to remember. She felt a warm flood through her when she said it but the pain in her head doubled each time. Why was her master doing this? Why was this Loki a threat?

Then flashes of old memories came to her. Stone hallways, fire pits, soft clouds, and a single cherry blossom tree. Then his face. Loki. A lord of Hell. Puzzle pieces in her head came together. Lucifer’s enemy had returned. Her master was forcing her back she could feel his hands pull her back into her frozen mindset. She slowly slumped over as her hair fell like a curtain around her face. Then for a minute Sofia shined through. Her amber eyes sparkled and her face was soft and gentle. She looked up at Loki and smiled. “ I knew you would come back… Welcome home Loki… ” Black spots where dancing in her vision and she feel herself slipping away. She was blacking out from a power over load and egsuntinge. Her mind was buzzing and she was breathing hard as if she had ran for days. Slowing the blue in her eyes crept in over taking the gold and she let the darkness take her.

[Ryan - Loki]

Ryan closed in on Vahn and the stranger slower than he would have liked to, but the strain that his elemental manipulation had taken on his body had also been far more than he would have liked, or had expected. It had been a surprise, that was true, but now he would now expect sluggish movement and fatigue whenever he tried to utilise any of his abilities or techniques; Ryan hardly ever made the same mistake more than once. But none of that mattered right now, all that mattered was Stopping Vahn.

As he moved Ryan considered why he was trying to stop Vahn, and what he would do once he detained him. It was clear that the rouge mage was likely to consistently continue in his attempts to escape, and Ryan was but one person who couldn’t keep an eye on him at all times; if Vahn wanted to escape, besides from binding his arms and legs together, then it was inevitable. However, Ryan principles would not allow Vahn to escape, especially considering it would hamper his negotiations with the Mage’s council upon their return.

As Ryan reached the stranger and Vahn, the latter took off down a nearby alley. Ryan stopped at the stranger to recuperate as he was somewhat out of breath and in pain. Looking up at the stranger while he was leaning somewhat forward, Ryan spoke through rapid breaths.

“Thank you…for your assistance.” Ryan managed, his breath returning to him. “I cannot stop, please, assist me in stopping that man.” without waiting for a response Ryan took off down the small alley between the buildings in pursuit of Vahn. He knew he had been somewhat cryptic with the stranger, but he hoped that the younger and un-fatigued man would lend his assistance once again, otherwise Ryan saw his chances of stopping Vahn slowly dwindling and collapsing like that church had.



Loki stood there, waiting a response, but he didn’t have to wait long. Almost instantly the strange demon fell to her knees and began to cry, what appeared to be blood. Loki simply raised an eyebrow at this and continued to watch the woman; it would be interesting to see how things played out, to see if this sudden turn of events revealed something important, however, all that was running through his head was a smug and proud feeling. My name still holds some power in this time, at least.

“I don’t want to remember! I wont! I am faithful to you, Master! Please! Ahhhh!” she suddenly screamed, holding her head. “Loki Loki Loki Loki…” she continued to repeat his name, over and over, her face twisted and contorted with emotions, as if thoughts and memories were flooding back and overrunning her mind. Finally it all came a sudden halt, her cold blue eyes now a burning amber, her face still, peaceful and blue.

Loki’s eyes widened in complete shock as sudden realisation stuck him like a bolt of lightning. “…Sophia?” he didn’t know why he didn’t see it sooner, it made complete sense to him now.

She smiled, weakly. “I knew you would come back…Welcome home Loki…” and with that her eyes coloured over and she fainted, falling backwards against the floor.

Loki rushed forward and scooped her up off of the floor, holding her within his arms as if she weighed nothing more than a feather. Wasting no time Loki found Dramanius, who had since moved back inside the city, probably in an attempt to secretly keep an eye on the outcome of the dispute between Ryan and Vahn. Dramanius didn’t seemed to be surprised with Loki walking towards him, a strange looking female in his arms, though he did folds his arms and cock an eyebrow at the sight.

“Has it truly come to your drugging women so you can have your wicked way with them? Or let me guess, she fainted when her eyes fell upon you?” his voice was thick with sarcasm, though he spoke through a hint of laughter.

“I have…business with this woman. I’m leaving.” it was a statement, one that was not meant to be challenged.

“Fair enough. Though what do you expect me to do in your absence?”

“Follow the plan…follow Ryan and his group, like Natas is following the other. I will be in touch.” with that Loki’s body, Sophronia in hand, were suddenly engulfed in flames. When the flames finally died away, neither of them remained.

[Kaworu - Horatio]

"First of all, I am not a mage! Everyone's been calling me that today and it's really starting to annoy me. If you want to give me a title based on my abilities, we would call myself an elementalist. Mages have too much time on their hands and all they do is study to create better spells and such and I wouldn't have any part of their lifestyle."

"And did you say that man's custody? I'm not in his custody. We're supposed to be on a mission together and I just decided that I'd rather go my own way and live my own life. Nothing against goodie two shoes, but what he wants isn't my style. Besides, I work best alone and very few have ever been able to compliment me."

The words the man spoke as he tried to shuffle his way back from the way he came kinda annoyed Horatio "You could be a dentist for all I care, but I saw what you attempted to do to that man helping what he thought were people inside that church. Thus I could figure what kind of person you are and frankly I don't like it, but I sense there was reason for you to be running from the man but you best go back" expressed Horatio but the man wasn't listening.

He then bide farewell and ducked down an alley but knowing he'd have to go after him Horatio sent a wind from his wind cloak after the man so he could track him, but just as he was about to go after him the man that he'd attempted to warn came up to him but looking a little winded.

“Thank you…for your assistance.”

“I cannot stop, please, assist me in stopping that man.”

Horatio nodded even though he was intending to do so anyway and was about to quickly duck down the same alley the man had gone done, but the wind he had tale the man beckoned him elsewhere so he ducked past the winded man and headed into the direction of the crowd and just saw the mage enter into it.

And although he'd love to just be able to throw his spear and have it wound the man he knew the crowd would get in the way even if he used his winds, because essentially people were unpredictable at the best of times and damn right annoyance at their worst so he thought up an idea. "You there, the lady wasn't the only one at fault for the loss of the church and it's people, a tanned Meklorean elementist and or mage in dark clothing is making haste amongst you.

I implore you to grab him because he as much as fault as the girl despite pretense of help" yelled Horatio into the crowd hoping they'd react as harshly to the Meklorean, as they had with the lady he saw them trying to detain earlier but either way he was quickly making ground as he himself got into the crowd to search for the man.

[Vahn x Dimitri]

It would seem that this day would simply get harder and harder and the breaks were nowhere in site for Vahn. First Ryan actually wanted to chase him down, consistently mind you, and then this spear wielding halo wearer decided to get in his way too. He should have just fought Ryan at the gate, gotten rid of him and gone on his way, but he wanted to avoid confrontation. That turned out to be a pretty stupid choice. Now, he was left running through alleyways like a common thief and just trying to escape like a criminal, which he only seemed like. Vahn had never really done anything horribly illegal, except for insult the higher ups in the council, but he only said what others would only say behind their backs. Freedom was finally so close and then these two idiots got in his way.

It seemed that he even had to raise his defenses so that he could run without having to look over his shoulder the entire time. Slowing his run for just a second, he focused so that he would be protected in his usual fashion of having his weapons spin around him and so they did, invisible to the eye. Not a moment too soon, either. Almost immediately after he started their rotation, he felt something try to penetrate as if to stick to him. He didn't care what it was nor did he have time to look back, he just went deeper into the alleys until he finally made it back to the main road and all the civilians that would shield him from the two oncoming assailants.

Taking a couple of steps to slow down and raise his makeshift shield above him, he stepped into the crowd. Finally, it looked like he was home free and was going to be able to make it back towards the gate and eventually away from the city. Fate, however, never did seem to like him as much as he would like. There, out from behind him, came a voice that was as unwelcome as a wolf in a flock of sheep. "You there, the lady wasn't the only one at fault for the loss of the church and it's people, a tanned Meklorean elementist and or mage in dark clothing is making haste amongst you. I implore you to grab him because he as much as fault as the girl despite pretense of help" There is no way that this could be good. Then again, he did mention the tan and finally got the elementalist part right, even if it was for a second.

The crowd immediately started to look around, wondering what the guy was talking about and finally, their eyes were fixed on him now. This could get ugly and he was about to get read to start fighting through the crowd when he heard a bellowing voice behind him. "I remember him!" Oh boy, here it comes and in that second, Vahn was about ready to jump up and start to run again when he continued. "He's the one who used the wind to put the fire out!" For a second, Vahn stopped and didn't move as the crowd started to talk amongst themselves and stare at him. It was true that he did put out the fire, but thankfully nobody ever noticed the water slashes that damaged the structural integrity.

A couple of people came up and thanked him for stopping the fire from spreading and Vahn wasn't sure what to do, until it suddenly hit him. "That man must be working with the woman who started the fire. He's trying to pin the blame on me so that he could use me as a distraction to escape! Please, you must stop him." He deserved a reward for that performance. He almost convinced himself that he was being sincere and sure enough, the crowd turned towards the newcomer angrily. "Get him! Don't let that man escape!" His plan was underway and now he could try to slip out and back away while the entire crowd began to throw whatever they could find at him and a few attempted to restrain him. Vahn made his way to the back of the crowd and started to head straight for the gate again, lowering his shield from above him and running for his freedom.

[Ryan - Loki]

(OOC: You’ve done pretty well Vahn, so I’m going to let you get away…this time )

Though Ryan had taken off before the helpful stranger, he sound found himself trailing behind him as they both chased Vahn through the alleyways of the city, back towards the now pile of rubble that was once the church. Ryan wasn’t surprised that the young man had already taken the lead in the pursuit, though it was somewhat disheartening. Was it purely because he was fatigued, or was his age playing a bigger part than he knew? He hoped not, he was not yet ready to bow down and accept defeat to the younger generation.

Before they reached the square Ryan was trailing so far behind that he was barely catching glimpses of the helpful young man as he turned the next corner. One second more and I would be forced to sense what direction he’s moving in. but he quickly pushed aside the negative and unconstructive thought as he heard a commotion beginning to kick up just ahead of him within the square.

"You there, the lady weren’t the only one at fault for the loss of the church and its people, a tanned Meklorean elementist and or mage in dark clothing is making haste amongst you. I implore you to grab him because he as much as fault as the girl despite pretence of help" it had to be the voice of the man who was helping Ryan.

The idea brought a smile to Ryan’s face as he quickly realised what the young man had attempted. Good, he is using his intellect rather than force alone. This one has potential. but it was a short-lived thought as the plan seemed to almost instantaneously backfire. The crowd began to thank Vahn for helping them. Ryan’s smile faded. Indeed, Vahn had helped quench the fire of the church; the crowd didn’t have any reason to suspect him of treachery. In truth Vahn had done nothing wrong, besides go back on his word, and to Ryan that was bad enough.

"That man must be working with the woman who started the fire. He's trying to pin the blame on me so that he could use me as a distraction to escape! Please, you must stop him."

Vahn’s acting had been impeccable, even Loki couldn’t have lied any better. Ryan burst out into the square just as the crowd began to turn on his helpful young man. Ryan slid to a stop, moving past the stranger and stopping directly in front of him. With one swift move of his arm he unsheathed the Reaver and sliced it across the concrete street slabs in front of him; sparks flew, the crowd stopped and silence fell.

“This man has done nothing wrong.” Ryan stated; his gruff voice somewhat unwelcoming. He believed that some of the crowed recognised him considering he had helped put out the fire with his manipulation skills. “Unless assisting me, lawfully, in the re-capturing of the man who incited you into attacking him is a crime. Is it?”

“He helped the demon woman destroy the church!” a voice from within the crowd cried out. The crowd picked up with shouts.

“And did any of you see this?” the crowd quickly fell silent. “That is what I thought, you did not. None of you did.” Ryan was still in a defensive stance, sword drawn across his body, while standing in front of the stranger. “You would blindly listen to a man, just because he did a good deed and because of the way he was dressed?” he was referring to the fact Vahn was a member of the mages academy. “I would shame you all, but you shame yourself!”

By this point the crowd had become completely silence, realising their mistake. With Ryan’s chastising seemingly finished they all began to disperse in any and all directions and before long Ryan and the stranger were alone once more; when it was safe to Ryan re-sheathed the Reaver and turned to the stranger. “I am sorry you were caught up in this, but I am thankful for your assistance.” Ryan gave the slightest of bows with his head; a sign of respect from his people, long forgotten. “I am glad there are some good people left within the world.”

Looking around for what remained of his small group Ryan only noticed Dramanius. Damn it…where is Brandon, Agatha and Loki? he couldn’t believe that he had been so fixated on Vahn and oblivious to the rest of the group. He wondered why Dramanius had remained when Loki had clearly used the opportunity to vanish. The reasoning was beyond Ryan, but he knew it couldn’t be good. Finally he focused on the stranger once more.

“Excuse me, my name is Ryan Jiaoimasu. I am leading a small group to a place called Steffson…though I do not know the way, I am afraid. What direction are you travelling in? If it is not in the same direction, if you could point me in the right direction of Steffson then I would greatly appreciate it.”

[Kaworu - Horatio]

Horatio was annoyed that his plan back fired and was then directed at him so he was ready to use his spear which he reverted back to a staff staff to use against the crowd, not in the sense of actually hitting them but for him to spin around so they wouldn't get close otherwise he would've floated himself to the roof of a nearby building.

Though he didn't get the chance when the man he helped earlier came sliding past and stopped in front of him defending him from the crowd, he gave out a sigh and dropped his defensive stance after the man quelled the the crowd and started apologizing for bringing him into this.

"Nice to meet you Ryan and to see that you survived that man's tricks, anyway my name is Horatio Vertilee and I'm traveling in no general direction and if you want I can lead you to Steffson as it was where I once lived" expressed Horatio as he introduced himself and added a little bitterness to his end comment.

He then turned in the direction that the Meklorean had ran "What do you wish to do about the Meklorean, shall he be left to his own devices or do you wish to go after him?" added Horatio wondering about what was to be done with the man but figured it'd be more Ryan's choice then his.

[Ryan - Loki]

(OOC: Sorry about the delay dude. I forgot it was my turn and was waiting on Vahn >_>)

"Nice to meet you Ryan and to see that you survived that man's tricks, anyway my name is Horatio Vertilee and I'm travelling in no general direction and if you want I can lead you to Steffson as it was where I once lived."

“It seems the wheels of fate are beginning to once again turn in my favour.” Ryan replied, a smile stretching across his face. It caused the scars to seemingly etch deeper into his skin. “Thank you, I would appreciate it a lot if you could guide me and my group.” It wasn’t until then that Ryan turned around to look for his comrades that formed his mismatched group. Dramanius was standing not too far away, his arms folded as he merely watched Ryan and Horatio converse, Loki was gone from where he had been last, as was the strange woman he had been speaking to, Vahn was making his escape and as for Brandon and Agatha, Ryan couldn’t see either of them.

“Alas, I fear my group only consists of myself and him. ” Ryan nodded his head in the general direction of Dramanius, though he couldn’t help the sound of disgust as he even mentioned Dramanius.

"What do you wish to do about the Meklorean, shall he be left to his own devices or do you wish to go after him?"

For a few moments Ryan simply looked in the general direction where Vahn had run off. He began weighing up his options, the pros and the cons. “Leave him.” he finally stated, turning to look back at Horatio. “Though the council members told him to come along, I am not his babysitter. Even if we detained him and took him with us, he would inevitably continue in his attempts to escape, hindering our travelling speed.”

[Kaworu - Horatio]

Horatio nodded "As you wish Ryan, we shall leave the man to his devices thus allowing him to get what he deserves though if it were not for the innocent crowds I was close to spearing him through the chest anyway" commented Horatio with an almost joviality at the end. He then looked at the man that Ryan had indicated was in his group he gave the man one quick glance over and already he didn't like him, "I do not like the looks of you 'friend' there and nor do the winds, but if he is of your party I'll lead you to Steffson without incident" added Horatio.

So walking in the direction closer to the man that Ryan had indicated he wondered if there was anyone else with him still around "Ryan, do you wish to maybe wait for the others of your party before we venture off towards Steffson" politely asked Horatio.

[Vahn x Dimitri]

Finally being a good ways from the gate, Vahn turned to see that he was no longer being pursued by either of the two who wanted to follow him and hunt him down so badly. With a soft sigh of relief, he turned and kept walking, on his way in the opposite direction from Steffson, where Ryan would most likely be going and he wanted nothing to do with that little party. His next stop would most likely be the Fringe. He was out of the city, but the only way he knew he would be safe was to get out of the country at some point and the sooner he could get to the border, the better.

[Ryan - Loki]

(OOC: Sorry it’s not great mate. I kind of lost my flow with this post! But I’m bringing the thread to a close after your next post, and moving things along!)

"As you wish Ryan, we shall leave the man to his devices thus allowing him to get what he deserves though if it were not for the innocent crowds I was close to spearing him through the chest anyway."

Ryan couldn’t help but grin a little at Horatio’s comment. He was an odd man, to say the least. Very blunt, he quite clearly spoke his mind, though he was also feisty and a bit rash; he would certainly make for an interesting companion on this journey.

"I do not like the looks of you 'friend' there and nor do the winds, but if he is of your party I'll lead you to Steffson without incident."

At that point Dramanius walked over, his arms crossed at his chest, Deepening Sin swaying at his side. “Well I don’t particularly like the looks of a certain spear wielding individual either.” he quickly added. Both Ryan and Horatio ignored the comment.

Though Ryan had literally only just met Horatio, he was glad that he would have someone on this trip that he could trust. Unlike Dramanius, Horatio had given Ryan no reason not to trust him. In fact he had attempted to help him in the capturing of Vahn, which had earned Ryan’s trust; he needed someone to watch his back while around Dramanius.

"Ryan, do you wish to maybe wait for the others of your party before we venture off towards Steffson?"

“I believe we are all that remains.” Ryan said somewhat disheartened. He had been enjoying Brandon’s company, despite his relatively young age, and being reunited with Agatha was a welcomed surprise also, but both had seemingly vanished or had got themselves lost within the city bustle. “I think it is safe to move on without them. I am sure, if the past is anything to go by, we will meet them again in the future.”

[Kaworu - Horatio]

"As you wish Ryan, and with that we best take our leave of this city and head for Steffson" responds Horatio as he starts heading for the gates of the city while motioning for the other two to follow. He knew it was best for them to head out of town first before climbing on to a boat because he knew they'd have to at some point, but he knew despite what Ryan let slip about the council that it wasn't entirely easy to get on a ship to Steffson without some kind problem.

At least that was what happened with him but either way there was nothing wrong with walking to the next port town and then heading to Steffson from there, "It's best if we walk to one of the port town on the coast as it'll be easier to get on a boat there and less hassle as to our reasons for heading that way" expressed Horatio as he headed out of the city gates.

Feeling that he'd only been free a short time and now he was already heading back to where he was once a slave but hopefully they wouldn't run into anyone that knew him while he was there, and he hoped he didn't bring any trouble on the man that stopped the crowd from lynch mobbing him.

[Ryan - Loki]

"As you wish Ryan, and with that we best take our leave of this city and head for Steffson." Horatio suggested. Without waiting for much of an answer Horatio turned on his heel and began moving in the direction of the city gate, motioning for both Ryan and Dramanius to follow.

Ryan gave Dramanius one final glance before moving up alongside Horatio. He wrapped his cloak around him, as he often did when he walked. There were still people staring at the small group of three as they moved through the city. Some of them had seen Ryan’s display of element bending and were fascinated by the fact he did not seem to be wearing the traditional mages uniform, others were still wary of Horatio and perhaps still believed the lies that Vahn had said about him; either way they were all under close inspection.

"It's best if we walk to one of the port town on the coast as it'll be easier to get on a boat there and less hassle as to our reasons for heading that way." Horatio advised cautiously.

“Sound advice,” Ryan said quietly, his voice muffled somewhat by his cloak, which had come up just over his mouth. “The less attention that we draw to ourselves while on this mission the better.” They continued to move in silence, Horatio obviously content with Ryan’s statement. “Lead the way Horatio Vertilee.”