Glayp'neir (Arc 1)

Dr. Atrium rolls out of bed and walks to his things. He looks about then realizes that there is some scrap paper where is charm should be. He takes the note and reads it over, then head to the balcony and puts the charm in his pocket. He smiles a little, so she tried to help him when he was feeling low. He will have to return the favor later on. He walks back to his bag and realizes something...What happened to that cat? It was with him until he past out, Sharpe and Airgetlam must of left the cat in the ally. He shakes is head, he really wanted to keep the cat. Sighing he returns to the room and just walks out. He makes his way to the dinning area and orders food to be brought up to their room. Leaving a good tip so they wouldn't take a long time with the food, he heads back into the room and sits on the floor. What happened to his trainer? He is sure that she moved onto bigger and better things. He sees that Sharpe is about to leave when he speaks up.

"I am having food made and delivered to us. I am having them make a lot of food so we will be eating like kings for this morning. Enjoy"

Moments later as everyone is nearly done waking up and getting themselves ready a knocking sound emits from the door. "Excuse me, your breakfast is ready." a female voice says before knocking a second time. After a confirmation is given back to her she opens the door and rolls in a small cupboard of sorts with different kinds of breakfasts and two loafs of bread and plenty of water. She puts it up against the wall and pulls out the retractable trays from inside of it then makes her way back to the entrance and turns towards the group. "Unfortunately the whole Inn has been rented out by Duke Gohffen, his wife and son, but the Innkeeper has offered to make special preparations incase you should return here again tonight." She then bows and leaves the room, shutting the door behind her.

He ruffles his hair as he finally woke up completely. The woman enters to bring in breakfast and deliver the message that the in is fully rented out. He decides to restrain himself for now so everybody else can take what they need. He takes a glass of water though, his body feels quite dehydrated.

"Well, so what's happening next? I kind of just slept through the whole night..."

As he says that, he puts the book and the picture back into his backpack. He takes out his charm instead and hangs it around his neck. He streches once more and then puts on his sweat-jacket, rolling up his sleeves.

So some rich douche is coming in, renting out the whole place? Plenty of inconsiderate assholes like him out there. Sharpe shakes the thought out and gets his stuff on. He already had his pants on as he walked out of the bathroom. He simply puts on his black shirt and takes a broccoli and mozzarella omelet and some rice-stuffed boudin from the breakfast cart and sits down in a chair on his side of the room. About midway through his meal, he swallows and clears his throat as everyone is present in the room.

"Alright, here's the game plan. You guys'll eat your breakfast, I'll go down, see if we can find someone last-minute. If I don't, we're moving out for the castle. If I do, we're moving out to the castle. Yeah, pretty much the same any way you look at it. Once we get there, you two will come with me, Airgetlam will go around and get inside another way. We'll meet up somewhere inside. You guys, I know you're not the type who usually do combat and such, but I want you prepared in case we face opposition. Something goes wrong, don't be afraid to run. just let us know so it's not like we turn around and you're missing."

He gets up and locks his sword into his sheath.

"My hope is that Air will get to the girl before we do, and sneak her out. We'll sort of be the diversion if there's a major force there, be it in numbers or ability."

He pulls his coat on and heads partway out the door. He turns to them both.

"Doc, if you need to, don't be afraid to pull out the old assassination tricks. Jian... go nuts if you have to, just don't do collateral. I'll take my leave now."

His footsteps echo down the hall until he reaches the lobby and they can no longer be heard.

She comes out of the bathroom with her gear up, and less nonsensical in attitude. She sits and listens as Sharpe explains what's going to happen. Not much of it worries her, but it's obvious he wants to keep persisting in getting another to help out. She sighs and drinks some orange juice and eats a bit of her corned-beef hash. So, she's going to go in alone, is she? A good test of her abilities, she hasn't done a good stealth run in quite a while. It'll be fun to see how far she can make it without being noticed - but she knows she's good enough not to leave anything hint she was ever there.

She really does hope it's not too late to save the girl from whoever is keeping her captive. However, she's still not entirely sure if it's a cult or perhaps someone very powerful who wants her for far more nefarious reasons. She might have something with her, or maybe she knows how to work protraction. In any case, she knows that she's not dead, and that she'll save her no matter what.

She continues eating her breakfast. She winks at Doc and Jian from across the room, then proceeds to read a book about some technologically-induced death game while she waits.

She looks up, remembering how dehydrated Jian looked.

"You should pack a few extra bottles, Jian. You're probably going to need them for later, especially if we end up hiking the way there."

Dr. Atrium looks over at Jian, and sees that she is right. "You still have my extra water skin right? Fill that up, bring one or two bottles and you should be ok."

He Finishes up his meal, he reaches into his pocket and looks at the key and coin. Sighing as he remembers what he saw last night. He puts the key away and keeps the coin in hand, he takes his bag and starts to head out. "I need to go talk to someone before we go. I will meat you all out in the front of this place."

Not waiting for any of them to say anything, he walks out and makes his way to the bar. He finds the bartender that tried to poison him last night. He sees the woman give him an uneasy look as he stands in front of her. He glares at the woman and his normal happy and calm features are gone and replaced rage and hatred. "I have questions and you are going to answer them. You know what I am and what I can do. So tell me, Why did you try to poison me last night? What happened to the basement? Lastly, Where did the members of the Hikari Juken go?"

The bartenders bored features fade and are replaced with cautious but serious look. She leans over to him, resting her arm on the bar. "My deepest apologies, brother." She mumbles at him, making sure no one overheard the conversation. "I'm the watch they left here to guard what remains." She scans the room- nobody is watching or paying attention. With a painful expression she explains what happened. "I was a new recruit that had joined some weeks after you had left. Everyone had talked a bout you but It has been such a long time I barely recognized your description."

"About seven months after I had joined a new batch of street rats were taken in to be given a new life away from the dirt and filth. One of them... a fellow by the name of Marcus, platinum blond short hair, always a smug face on him. Sort of a tick with speaking. He always seemed nervous, ending every sentence with 'you know' or 'you see...' or 'you understand'. Well... he climbed the ranks quickly and became one of the best. In some peoples opinion even better than our old master. See, the master had fallen ill due to his age. His body began to fail him and that is when Marcus and some few members decided it was time for a new way of doing things. Needless to say many weren't satisfied with Marcus' sudden rise to power and were prone to disagree with his plans. He had a new way of thinking and was trying more aggressive and more intense measures." She pushes herself back slightly and looks her soul-brother deep in the eye. "He got sick of this place and wanted people to conform. When they refused he had ratted us out to the city watch and local police." She pulls out a glass from under the bar and begins to fill it with an non-alcoholic drink. "A fight broke out and was only ended when the bastard returned and set the whole place on fire. Only a few died but we are mostly scattered now. A few tried to track him down but he fled into a castle that is supposed to be nearby. Problem is, we never did find that castle. It was there one day and gone the next as if by magic. I would claim it was but such strong protraction does not exist. Its beyond anything the high-magus could ever conjure up." she sighs heavily and hands the doc the beverage. "No poison this time. Promise. Safety measure to make sure people aren't just abusing our old passcode."

As the unheard conversation takes place all about the Inn there are people cleaning and preparing for the Duke's arrival. One of the dukes servants is standing in the corner taking notes and rating the business. As Sharpe looks around for someone suitable it doesn't seem like he'll have much look here. Aside from a few people who look like they couldn't even tell the swords hilt from its tip there was simply nobody around to recruit.

Jian stuffs some of the bread into his mouth, what's left of it at least. They all seemed quite hungry so not much is left of what was brought in. He listens to the doc though and fills the skin and takes a few bottles to put them into his backpack. Having finished up eating his stomach still growls. Not as bad as it was before, but it hasn't improved too much either. Non-colleteral? What the hell does he even mean by that?

Jian's confusion is big. He barely even can kill a single person at the current rate of fear that strikes him everytime he's about to do so. But with his brother, it was different.

He buckles up and is about ready to go. Thinking about that yesterday he still used to sell stuff at his stand and that he now is going to some fancy magic castle instead, man, that's quite something indeed.
He flips a coin and catches it in mid-air.

"I feel like having a coffee..."

He walks out saying that, going to check up with the bartender to get a coffee... And maybe more to eat if his cash allows him to.

For all his work, Sharpe finds not a single person, many of who look like total pushovers. Nothing. None of those bodyguards neither. He sighs and sits down at the bar next to Doc after he and the woman finish talking about... whatever they were talking about, he couldn't hear. He looks and checks over his gear one last time... something he learned a long time ago when he forgot an important piece of ammunition. He watches the servant in the distance measure up the place. Disgusting how someone is willing to reserve a whole inn for himself. Bored and waiting, he starts to sing to himself a bit.

"What do we do with a Drunken Whaler, what do we do with a Drunken Whaler, oh what do we do with a Drunken Whaler, Ear-lie in the mornin'~"

He tries not to make it too loud so as not to disturb the patrons.

She moves on to her weapons - her crossbow and blade as well as different utilities - all hidden under her cloak tastefully. She sighs and makes her way down, but before she leaves, she notices the cat that took a shine to Doc, and picks it up, carrying it downstairs. She sees Doc in the lobby at a bar along with Sharpe and goes to give it to Doc. Ecstatically he takes the cat, pure joy. She smiles, closing her eyes, and pulls her hood over her head.

"Nobody at all? I figured as much, just because it's a classy joint doesn't mean you're find quality men."

Dr. Atrium looks sadden at the bartender. He is going to find this Marcus and kill him where he stands. No one messes with the Hikari Juken, let alone bring them down from the inside. "I see. Thank you sister. I broke the door so that no other may be able to harm what is left of our home."

He drink the drink as Sharpe was over and sits next to him. It would seem he was unsuccessful with looking for another person. Shortly after Airgetlam comes down and he sees that he has the cat from earlier. He smiles happily as he takes the cat, petting it. How does this cat keep coming back to him...in fact, how did Air get it? Did she find it in our room? If so...how did it get there? We were sleeping on the third floor and there was no trees for it to climb up. This is a very interesting cat indeed. He looks up at the bartender getting an idea. "My sister, we are in need of one other to join us. I would like to have a fellow member to have my back. If it is money you are worried about, I have plenty to share between us. would you please join us sister?"

The bartender shakes her head slowly. "I'm sorry. I have sworn to protect whats left of our past until further notice..." she then ponders for a moment. "But... One of our recent contacts has been making camp near the castles location. I'm assuming that is where you will be heading, so you could talk to him and exchange information. If you told him who you are he would gladly help you out." She slips him a small golden compass with some copper features and gold lining. There is a small copper grid on it with unexplained glowing points. "This will guide your way to him once you get close, and any other members that may be close by you, though it works more efficiently at night when the moon is out. During a half or full moon it can also sometimes alert you of the presence of unnatural things and nodes of intense protraction." She pulls out her cloth and continues cleaning the bar a little. "Once again I'm sorry brother. This is the best I can do, for now."

Jian arrives in the dining area, heading towards the bar to sit down. As he sits down he's asking for the coffee he desires, putting the money on the tray. He then waits a bit, seeing the bartender being busy with the doc. It's none of his business so he doesn't pay attention... Asking for information would be quite long anyway because he was out cold for quite some time.

Sitting there he takes his time to think about that woman again. He keeps going through all the possibilites but he just can't make out who it could be. Nothing seems to fit to her at the moment. And jumping to conclusions might be a bad idea also.

He keeps waiting for the bartender to finish her business, so he could ask for that coffee again. In the meantime, he at least he can keep himself busy by carving on one of his charms once again. Cut for cut he keeps cleaing the shape a bit. And then working on the carvings on it. He then slips past the line as he spaced out again and cuts into his finger. He flinches lightly but silently keeps carving, having blood running down his left thumb.

He sighs several times, then finally finishing on that charm. Will he actually go and sell anything? Who knows...

Sharpe decides he'll be ordering a cup of java.

"Bartender, if I might have a cup of coffee, that'd be wonderous."

As she turns around, he adds on to his order.

"Soy, White mocha, no whip. Some sugar as well."

She looks at him with a raised eyebrow, then thinks nothing of it and goes to work on the cup.

"And one for my friend Jian here, he looks like he needs it."

Sharpe looks over to Jian and winks. He takes something out the group hasn't seen before at all, since he has yet to check it since he arrived - A large, black pistol, with a strange triangle fitted onto the top of the gun need the back of the slide, serving as an iron sight. He takes out a screwdriver and pops the slide off, checking the workings. He pops it back on, screwing it back in, and loads an unfilled magazine, then aims it at the ground and pulls the trigger. *Tick* is the only sound emitted by the gun. You can never be too careful, sometimes they have one round loaded. He lays out a magazine's worth of ammunition and loads them in. Last night he was going to load it, but forgot this last magazine. He figures his party might want to know he's packing heat, not just a sword.

He holsters the pistol on his belt, hidden away under his coat. The bartender returns with his coffee, and he pops his collar and sips.

"Also, Air - I thought you were a bird person, when did you get a cat to follow directions?" he laughs.

Airgetlam blinks and giggles.

"I dunno, guess it was that kind of cat. Gotta beware the nice ones though!"

She sits next to Jian and sees his finger is bleeding. She decides she's going to be weird.

She takes his hand and licks the blood clean. She smiles, despite having done one of the weirdest things out there. She doesn't care, she thinks it's funny.

She sees he's giving her a very confused expression.

"Oh, uh, I like to mess around with people. If that bothers you I can stop."

She smiles again, rubbing the back of her head and goes back to reading her book.

"Oh, when do we leave, by the way? Sharpe didn't find anybody, so I'd figure it'd be time to move out."

Dr. Atrium pets the cat as he looks at Sharpe doing...whatever he is doing with his gun. He never liked guns. They are expensive, they always leave a mess and they are only good for one thing, shooting. He looks over at Air and sees her lick blood off of Jian's thumb and shivers. As a doctor he knows about how bad that was, so much germs, he could have a blood disease. He shakes his head and puts the cat down. He wants to see if the cat will fallow him when they leave. If it does, then he will have to find out if it is a boy or girl and name it. He takes the compass his fellow sister gave him and outs it in his pocket. He then looks over at Sharpe. "Lets get going once you two finish your drinks. I want to this castle. There is someone I need to talk to there"

Jian's confusion is big as Airgetlam licks his finger. He kinda just snapped out of it and tilts his head. He remains silent though and shortly after she looks back into her book. He looks as his hand which then wasn't bleeding as much anymore and covers the small cut with some cloth.

He continues carving, still being very confused about the last two days. He kind of has the desire going back to his normal activities, but that seems impossible. Instead he's sitting in a bar, carving and hanging with people he just met.

His stand, which will remain empty for a while or maybe forever will be unattended. Heh, it won't matter anyhow, nobody ever buys anything there.

He keeps carving, humming a tune that's stuck in his head. He finishes the charm with a final cut. It is remarkably clean for some reason, so is the carving on it. With proper tools he could even smoothen the wood itself. Being surprised he hangs that one around his neck too, looking at it with a slight sign of happiness.

Seeing what Airgetlam did does not really provoke much of a reaction from Sharpe. She's kind of weird on her own, and he got used to it over the many years they knew each other. Still, that she'd do it to someone she doesn't really know too well is surprising. He notices that Doc was eying his gun with a look of disdain.

"Good Doctor doesn't like guns?" He asks, swiveling around on the stool and slouching, arms up on the bar.

"Magic can't do everything, Sword can't either, I'll admit. Sometimes you just gotta shoot 'em in the head."

He picks up his mug and finishes what's left of his coffee.

"Ready whenever."

She giggles a little more.

"Well, we're all here, you didn't find anybody, and I think Jian's almost good to go... speaking of which, Jian, do you need to get anything from your old stall? like a cash box or something? I figure I might as well ask now."

"If there is none, I suggest we get moving now." She walks off towards the inn entrance, and gives the duke's servant a distrustful glare. She goes outside and breathes in the morning air, so intoxicating and fresh. She stretches out her arms then flips backward, popping the vertebrae that need it. She cracks her neck a little and her fingers.

It's time they go get some action. She looks back and find she hasn't been followed, however.

Dr. Atrium he gets up and hands his sister a quarter of the money he made to day. "This is all I can spare my sister, I hope it will help you." He bows to her. "Stay safe."

He gets his back and looks over at Sharpe. "No, I cant stand the things. I know they are useful, but they are mostly used for all the bad reasons."

He walks out to Airgetlam, on the way out he waves at the Duke. Outside, standing next to Air he looks around. It's quite a peaceful day, a perfect day for travel.

Jian looks around and it seems like everybody kinda just walks off and out. He hasn't even really finished his coffee yet and wolfs it down in the fastest manner possible. He drops the money on the tray and runs off, waving after the bartender while he's doing so. He then stands next to the doc, ready for the action, hopefully.

"So, we're heading off? I kind of have business to attend here... I mean, there's them guys looking after me, and I kind of want to take them out first, even if I doubt that I am capable of doing that..."

Sharpe still sits there, blinking. Did everyone just leave without him?

"Uh... I'm still here..." he says, but he just trails it off since nobody's going to really pay attention to that thread. He shakes his head and gets up, flipping a coin onto the counter as a tip. He walks up to just beside and behind a little to Jian.

"You really sure you want to tangle with those guys? I know it sounds weird coming from me, but going out and cutting people up isn't always the best approach. Sometimes, it's honestly better to just run and fight another day."

He leans back against a stone walls and sighs.

"You're one of those guys from the East, aren't you? Seems like just the fit: They go and wipe a culture off the map, they want to make sure it stays that way. I can't blame them, that's how annihilation works... but it's not honourable. If that's the case with you, then you absolutely don't want to go picking a fight. You want to wait until they think you're dead or long gone. That is unless... you want them really dead... you could always consider wetwork. But now ain't the time."

He keeps walking and pats Jian's shoulder.

"You ain't done a thing to deserve shit like that, man."

Airgetlam looks to Doc in light of his comments on Sharpe's armament.

"So does that mean you think the same of my crossbow? Or a short blade? Or any gadgetry?"

Puzzled, she shifts her mouth to one side and gets closer to Doc, inspecting what he has. Maybe he's a hypocrite and has a gun himself. MAYBE HE'S AN AUTOMATON!!! But no, he doesn't and isn't, she's just trying to stave off the boredom with lunatics in her head.

She looks back at the group. The wind whispers past her hair and into her ear. "We go" it says. Her head eclipses the sun and he face is framed in a shadow.

"Let's take our leave, it's well past daybreak."

"Kinda, though a crossbow is better then a gun. It is quiet and you can reuse the ammo." He looks back and smiles, the cat is indeed fallowing him. He chuckles, guess he has to come up with a name. He start walking with the group as they make their way out to the city. As are walking, he is notices that there are a lot more guards out then there normally is. He hopes that nothing will happen as they leave. Just to keep it safe, he pulls his hat over his face and keeps his head down. Would be a real shame to find out the one of the guards know of his bounty.

"Well maybe you're right... I guess I'll not get too involved with them... For now."

He sighs and decides to let them figure out how they gonna do this. He's not the best with plans or combat, so having others judge it is indeed a better descision. He looks at everyone, smiling lightly and sees the cat that follows doc.

"Oh.. what a nice little fella!"

He carefully approaches it with his and and brushes over the fur. It seems calm and nice so he continues.

"So, you guys figure out what we're doing and I'll simply follow your orders. Sounds good? Sounds good."

He nods in self-agreement and then waits for the others to make up the plan.