Fantasy Flight of the Phoenix Main

[BittyBobcat]

Peter accepted the money with slight wince. It wasn't that he was guilty. There wasn't a place for guilt when it came to survival, but... well, he didn't want to think to hard about it. Besides, this was for the best. She'd be safer this way. They'd all be safer this way.

He swallowed his hesitation. "Thanks." His gaze refused to meet hers. And -because he couldn't squash the flicker of annoyance at her comment- he added, "I'm not pitiful, though."

Harlow made no such protest. He rolled his eyes at her ogling -it didn't take a genius to see the angle she was playing. The wink only cemented in his mind that she'd be practically giving herself up to the noble. As they approached the guild hall -an overly intricate building overtaken by valuable metal artworks that failed to resemble any real object, marble floors that required a ridiculous amount of cleanings, and the sparkly overcomplication that rich folk could never seem to get enough of- he couldn't help but wonder why? Wealth? All the gold in the world wouldn't help her if she was stuck rotting away as a feather farm.

Skies, he was starting to sound like Buzz.

As if the thought summoned them, a masculine leaning voice grumbled from behind him in a tone that suggested that they had just caught a kid with his hands in a cookie jar. "Don't tell me your scamming a noble's daughter, Pip."

Peter jolted and scrambled to face them. "Buzz!" He yelped. "Long time, no see!" A grin, too broad to be the product of anything but nervousness, slipped onto his face.

They loomed over him. In their hand, they held a wickedly sharp spear that wasn't nearly as threatening as the jet-black stinger that hid behind it on their wrist. They had never used it on him, but Peter kept a watch on it nonetheless. He took in their stance with a careful thoroughness. Ash smeared armor, they'd been at the fire. Not favoring a hand or leg, seemingly unharmed. Scowl and eyebrow raise, a permanent fixture in Buzz's 'mad and disappointed' face.

He was so busy analyzing that he was startled when they spoke. "I had to drag you out of the guild hall just last week. I still-" Buzz's eyes flickered to Peter's back, then to his two companions. "What happened to your wings?"

"Short time, no see?" Pete blurted, grasping for a quick lie. "And I promise, no scams this time! Y'see, I've got a message to deliver in there and one of the guilds miiiiight just have a hit out on me cause a' last week, but if I don't deliver it then that's also gonna be... very not good for my ah- continued life." He allowed an anxious laugh to escape him, playing off of his previous nerves. "But they're just looking for a kid with swift wings, and I thought being the only one with my wings covered would get noticed, so I made some friends and... yeah." His hands spread in a vague gesture at the two phoenixes, letting Buzz fill in the blanks for themself.

They and pinched the bridge of their nose between their thumb and forefinger. "Fuck- well, I can't-"

"I don't need help," Peter interrupted, already regretting his lie. The last thing he needed was to stick near the guild hall. "I'll be fine."

Buzz sighed, casting a wary glance over the boy. "I'll be at the entrance if you need me."

Peter resisted the urge to curse. If he left for the ship now, Buzz would be suspicious. And... well, the less people who got tangled up in this, the better. He'd just have to sneak away once they got in.

~~~

Gray answered the woman's question with a muted nod. Talking while another hunter was on their tail, he thought, probably wasn't the best idea.

His head still spun, but he stepped away from the beam he'd been steadying himself with anyway. Not even bothering to glance in the direction of the footsteps, he placed a hand on her uninjured shoulder to keep his balance and half-lead, half-stumbled toward the exit. They emerged onto the docks level, where Gray was forced to squint against the glaringly bright sun (whether it stung because of his previous few minutes spent in darkness or because of the concussion, Gray had no idea, and at this point didn't much care) . With support from leaning on the woman (which, as much as he would've preferred to avoid -physical contact with strangers wasn't something Gray was a fan of- he put up with for the sake of walking more than three feet without falling over), he managed to snake through the crowds until he could see The Damsel.

Despite the danger he was still in, Gray couldn't help a sigh of relief at the sight of the ship. It was an old model that had a few odd patches of wood scattered across it's hull where shoddy replacements had been made and various riggings of ropes hanging off the sails that an experienced sailor would cringe at the sight of, but it had served as his home for many years -and a good one, at that. Just looking at it was enough to put his mind at ease.

The illusion of safety dissolved the instant the lockdown bell went off.

"Dammit," Gray hissed under his breath.

Panic driving his movements and a fog still hovering over his thoughts, he stumbled away from the bee-eater's side and onto The Damsel's deck. He scarcely took in his surroundings, only noticing that there were guards on the ship when it clicked that the blobs of white he was seeing was armor. They swayed- no, he was swaying. If they were saying anything, he couldn't hear it through the ringing in his ears.

Gray realized too late what was happening, giving him only enough warning to say, "Fuck."

And then everything went black.

 

[Emixlin]

Emaliah was thrilled to be getting reunited with her father shortly. Finally, she could be free of this strange situation with these strange people, and soon she would be allowed to let her beautiful wings out again. She was very pleased, as well, when Harlow and Peter both offered to escort her to the guild hall - they're finally treating me like the noble I am, she thought happily.

As they approached the guild hall with its intricate, ornate engravings, a bee appeared behind them unexpectedly. She watched as Peter lied to them, sputtering something about delivering a message, before the bee made their way back to their post at the entrance of the building. She didn't think about it for very long - Peter was probably just trying to keep their phoenix statuses hidden one way or another.

They walked up to the front door, where Emaliah smiled politely at the four guards stationed there. "Hello," she greeted them. "My name is Emaliah Belle Rousseau, daughter of Duke William Bryce Rousseau II of the kingdom of Gildaneth. There's been an emergency and I need to speak with my father immediately." The guards eyed her suspiciously, noting her elaborately laced blue dress, jeweled earrings and necklace, and her diamond bracelet. She also wore an easy, elegant smile despite her slightly disheveled hair and makeup. One of the guards nodded and entered the building to alert the members of the merchants' guild meeting.

They stood outside the entrance for several minutes before the guard returned and gestured for them to follow. However, just as Peter and Harlow stepped over the threshold, he shook his head. "No, only the noble," the guard said.

Emaliah frowned. "They're my friends," she insisted. "Please, we'll only be a moment."

The guard glared at them, but assented regardless. They trailed him into the guild hall down several very long, magnificently decorated hallways and stopped outside a set of wide, oak double doors. "I'll go and retrieve your father," the guard told Emaliah. She nodded, and he knocked and went in.

A few more minutes passed before the door opened again and the guard stepped out, closely followed by the duke. Emaliah's eyes lit up, and she rushed toward her father for a hug. "Daddy!" she cried, relieved.

"Sweetheart, nice to see you," the duke replied, although he didn't sound very happy to have been called out in the middle of his meeting. He glanced at his daughter's two companions, frowning at their obvious lower class standing. Where in Aerynthia could she have met these shady individuals? - but there was no time for that. "They said there was an emergency; what happened?" he asked, hoping for something with a quick solution. The guild members were just about to come to an official decision.

Emaliah grabbed her father's arm and steered him away from the guard's earshot. "There was a fire at the Diamond Plaza," she explained quietly. "My wings were caught in the flames, and it turns out I'm actually a phoenix." She gestured at the other two. "They're phoenixes too, and they saved my life, Daddy. There were some others, as well. I want to find a shelter for all of them in Gildaneth, to thank them for helping me."

The duke looked incredulously at the three people standing before him. Phoenixes? Genuine, bona-fide phoenixes right in front of me right now - with more nearby? He took a small step back in shock. The entire purpose of the merchants' guild meeting was to discuss the best strategy for phoenix hunting. He'd been interested in joining the hunts in order to start his own feather farm back in Gildaneth, where the mountain's supply of topaz was beginning to diminish, along with their economic prosperity. This could be the best opportunity he'd ever have.

 

[AncientBird]

Juniper and the phoenix began making their way through the undercity passage. While Jun's wing ached everytime she moved, the older stranger next to her could hardly move on his own and thus she had to help supporting his body to keep moving. The sound of footstep had gone, a sign that the two had managed to lose them. Still Juniper struggled to keep going forward the man was bigger than her and it was no joke having his weight pressing on her shoulder while her injury ached in each step.

Finally, they emerged into the sunlight, appearing right next to the dock. There were people walking around in mass as usual to this crowded place. Juniper nervously looked around as she and the phoenix walked through the crowd. The girl was afraid that their abnormal behavior might get noticed by someone... Still nobody really paid attention to them. They might thought that she was helping a drunken man back home or something.

Soon, they reached the decks. many air ships could be seen parking in long row, with people going about. It was quite typical scene actually until a thundering bell was rung... They had sounded a lockdown! "Well, that can't be good, right?" Juniper said to her stranger companion, but the dragonfly phoenix had already left her side and limped toward a ship. "Wow, that's your ship?" Juniper asked as she followed the man close behind. Suddenly, Juniper heard a familiar call. Her body tensed up.

"Miss Penna?"

Juniper turned around and made an awkward smile. "Oh hey! Charlie!" She said. Before her was one of the inn staff, a thin, scrawny man with a hunched back bearing a scarab beetle wings. His hands were full with sacks and packages. "What are you doing here? I thought you were staying at the inn, taking care of Sergeant Dorienne?" Charlie asked. "Oh well, Papa Duncan is getting better, so Papa kind of... Sent me out to take a break! What about you, Charlie?" Juniper said, trying not to look suspicious. "Err... Mr. Penna sent me to purchased some goods at the port... You were there too..." Charlie said, seemingly confused. "Oh right! Right! My bad... Anyway, you are going back, yes?" Juniper asked. "Yes, they had announce a lockdown so I am heading home, do you want me to accompany you somewhere, Miss Penna?" Asked the staff.

Juniper thought. Charlie was a loyal and trustworthy staff, yet not very bright... She would have no trouble dismissing him... However, if she would be going away in search for her stepbrother clue... She feel like she need to at least tell parents about it, and Charlie would pose a good opportunity. "Err, no but I have something for you to do... Do you happen to have a paper and pencil with you?" Juniper asked. Charlie laid down his purchases and dug out a small piece of paper and a pencil. The girl then received the items from the staff. "Thanks, wait a bit, alright... I just have to write something."

Written down her plan and explanation of what she about to do, as well as a apology and blessing for both of her fathers, Juniper folded the paper up and handed it back to Charlie. "Give this to Papa and Papa Duncan." Said the girl. "Err, yes miss... Wait, why don't you just go home and tell them yourself?" Charlie asked. "I... I have another errand to do now, alright. Also I need them to prepare stuff before I go home." Juniper replied. "What is this all about?" Charlie asked but was returned with Juniper's grumpy face. "It's private, Charlie... Gosh, take a guess." Said Juniper, intimidatingly.

The staff quickly put the note inside his pocket while sweating in shame. "Alright, alright... I am sorry, Miss penna...I will do as you ask!" The staff said and began picking his belonging up. "And don't peak on it or read it! If I catch you reading it later, I swear you will get no more muffin in your coffee break!" Juniper teasingly threatened the scarab. "Of course! Miss Penna! I won't read it! I swear!" The scarab replied hurriedly and then flew away.

One task done, Juniper turned back to the ship and found that a couple of guards were already there checking around. Probably to find out about whoever causing the flame in the plaza... However, if the dragonfly phoenix was sending the others to his ship also... There might already be other phoenixes hiding up there. While she wasn't sure how the guards would react to them, it'd be better not to be exposed.

The dragonfly phoenix was already up the ship, but he seemed like he was about to go down at any second... If he flopped in front of these guards, they would certainly checked him out and discovered his secret!

"Hello, boys!" Juniper said to the guard as she scaled up the prank, catching the dragonfly phoenix before he fell. She recognized the two, one with starling wings and one with locust's.

"Juniper?! What are you doing here?" The starling looked up and asked, seemed amazed to see her there. Juniper carried the man toward them. "Oh, I just came from the arcade, you know? Playing beer-pong, with this fella." Juniper said, faking the widest grin she ever done in her life. "You? Play beer-pong this early? With this... Man?" The locust asked. "He challenged me, alright... But as you can see... He couldn't handle the heat. So, he asked me to help bringing him to his ship..." Juniper said and looked around. Just as she thought, some of the other phoenixes were already there. "Oh, and this must be his friends or family he was talking about. Hello, everyone! Your weird-looking uncle here is pretty much wasted, could you bring him inside?"

As Juniper passed the unconscious man away, she turned to faced the guards. "So... What cha doing?" She asked. "Oh, we were tasked to check up some suspicious people around the port, you know? About the fire in the plaza." They replied. "Oh yeah! The fire! It was horrible, I heard it when I was walking here! How could someone did such terrible thing to our town?" Juniper said, drawing all of their attention to her... She need to get rid of them or she won't get to peacefully speak with the phoenix once he wakes up. "Yeah, there were report of many people falling in the flame too." Replied the guards.

"Talking about unfortune... Why haven't you guys come to visit Papa Duncan? He was longing for his soldier fellows to come by, you know?" Juniper said as she slowly shepherding them away from the rest of the people in the ship. "We planned to, but it has been busy during the past few days... Poor Sergeant Dorienne, he is a good man... Not deserving all of that at all." The locust replied. "Sorry, about you losing your stepbrother anyway, Jun." The Starling added. "Yeah, it was harsh... But, I think I will be fine. Just try to find the vile who did this to us alright?" Juniper asked. "We sure will! You have our word!" The guards spoke in unison.

As she was certain that she had already distracted them from work at hand and was about to send them off the ship, the locust noticed her wounded wing. "Wait a minute, Jun... Is that blood on your wing?" Asked the locust. Juniper flinched. Somehow, talking to other people seemed to make her forget about the wound... Although she already ripped off the bolt, the blood stain was still there. "Oh this? Pff... A tool box fell on me while I was escorting the man back and probably cut my wing or something... it will be fine!" Juniper said, starting to sweat a bit. She wasn't sure if her excuse was reasonable enough, specially again these guards which must be used to type of wound or injury more than she does.

"Maybe these fine fellas, could help me patch it up before I go home... Right, everyone?!" She called toward the other phoenixes on the ship.

Featuring: BittyBobcat ScatheAriiasqDrayceon LindsMagee Tapfic

 

[spiralingheretic]

Harlow appraised the guild hall with her hands on her hips and let out a low whistle. Whoever had commissioned its construction had to have loads of dough.

As they approached the hall, Harlow noticed a guard with bee wings come up to Peter. She let out a silent laugh as he struggled to come up with a story of why he was here with his wings covered up. The guard did not look pleased, but they let Peter go anyway. Kid looked pretty annoyed afterwards, and it was easy to figure out why. Harlow snorted. She wasn’t worried about him getting in her way. On the contrary, Peter’s presence would only serve to divide the attention of the nobles and give her more leeway to formulate a plan.

The guards at the door let all three of them in at Emaliah’s insistence. (Huh, now wasn’t that interesting?) Harlow couldn’t help the smirk that overcame her face, and as one of the guards led them forward, she stuck out her tongue at the remaining three.

As they walked further into the building, Harlow paid close attention to the route they took, and particularly possible exits. It would be good to know the layout if she needed to make a hasty retreat. While she wasn’t planning on running, running was on average, about how fifty percent of her plans ended. By the time they reached the room with Emaliah’s father, she had a pretty good idea of the layout.

The duke didn’t seem very impressed by his daughter’s new acquaintances, but that was alright; Harlow couldn’t say she found herself very impressed by the duke. She already wasn’t a fan based on what Emaliah had told them about him. That he kept his kid locked up her whole life didn’t sit right with Harlow, no matter how happy the girl professed to be. Not to mention he appeared a lot more concerned with Emaliah’s company than her wellbeing. It was clear to see she’d been through something, but he only seemed only irritated that she had interrupted his meeting.

That was, until Emaliah pulled him aside and said something to him in a low voice. From his expression, it wasn’t difficult to piece together what she had told him. She watched his eyes widen first in disbelief, then in shock, and then his expression transformed into something that set off Harlow’s alarm bells, only because it was an expression she knew she often wore herself.

Shit, well that’s not ideal.

Something good could still come of this, though. Harlow would just have to be careful (she winced internally at the word), and keep close to Em. Surely the duke wouldn’t let harm come to his own daughter. Wasn’t that a thing? Familial loyalty? Well, not for her, but like, for other people, right? Hmm.

 

[ScatheAriiasqDrayceon]

Jet all-but squawked as the guards came forward and began abruptly questioning them on their names. He actually squawked in both surprise and concern as Lan started sassing them back, and to stop the possibility of these armored and clearly aggressive guards punching someone (probably Lan), Jet stepped forward and half-spread his wings to hide the two, offering a pleasant smile to the two now directly in front of him.

"Please excuse them. We've flown a ways—" because they had flown a way. Not a long way, but they have flown—"and I'm sure they're exhausted." Mentally, at least. "It causes frayed nerves." He bowed a little at the waist, wings tilting down in a respectful mantle before popping back up. "My name is Ah Rian." Because it was. Jet's middle name was Arian, pronounced Ah-rian. "And these are my two wards." Because they were. Jet was the oldest and probably most experienced among the current group, so therefore, he found it his duty to protect the other two.

"They're Ba Vel and Cest Evan respectively," he chirped with another close-lipped smile. It paid to know a dead language, sometimes. In this case, because he could get away with not lying while also concealing their identities... if by concealing their identities, he meant using the dead name for Owl and Crow then adding a break in the middle. "We're not from around here, so I apologize for the foreign names." And they were not, to Jet's knowledge, from around the docks.

The guard was seemingly about to speak before a voice caught their attention—and by proxy, Je—Holy skies, they're bleeding.

Jet abruptly flapped toward them, crest puffing up with the feathers on his wings. "What happened to him?" he asked, accidentally getting right in the person carrying (Jun) the man's (Gray) personal space. "Did he get shot?" He was completely disregarding the guards, gesturing for the Bee eater to come with him. "I'll get you two patched—"

He glanced at the guards talking (neither seemed to realize that he was muttering to himself about their injuries) before snapping his fingers, feathers sleeking. The one still conscious obviously wanted to leave. "They are bleeding. Can I do my job?"

The hesitance in the guard's face told him everything he needed to know, and in a swift motion, he produced a sleek card with his name, ID number, and verifications on it, all-but shoving it in the two's faces while ushering the bee-eater past with his wings.

 

[Tapfic]

Lan continued to glare at the pair, but didn't open his mouth to insult them again- so that was nice.

A few things happened very quickly after that, first Mr. Fuck-You came stumbling onto the deck of the ship, only to collapse immediately. Some girl he had never seen before caught him, distracted the guards, and talked a lot- all very quickly. Dr.Kadoshi rushed over to help them because, well, Dr. meant Doctor; and they both looked pretty beat up.
Huh? They were beat up?

Wait that's bad isn't it? Yeah, that's very bad.
If Lan was reading things right, it meant hunters had found them- and if they didn't leave soon they would find the ship. At that point the options where A. Fight them off and probably end up telling the whole kingdom that a large group of phoenixes were traveling together on the same airship, painting a giant target on each of their heads, or B. just get captured out right.

Lan swallowed. This lock down had to end fast, or they needed to figure out how to avoid having the ship destroyed as soon as it pulled from the docks.

Wait, Lan was getting ahead of himself.
Before any of that, they needed to know where the fuck the rest of the group was.
Well, theoretically they could leave without them if worst came to worst- accept they absolutely couldn't because that would involve abandoning a kid to a wolf pack. Not to mention the other two. Well. Actually one of them looked like she might be able to handle herself, but still- leaving would be messed up.

He glared at the guards again.

" Okay, now that you have whatever names don't you have other places to be? We're busy right now," Lan said gesturing to Dr.Kadoshi, Fuck-You, and the quick-talker.
" Shoo " he waved his hand dismissively at them both. The Locust looked hesitant for a moment, but it seemed Dr.Kadoshi's card was all the interrogation he needed. The guy let out a deep sigh, and the starling pat him on the back.

" Damn kids, " Locust muttered, Lan decided he was defiantly talking about... well there where no kids within view at the moment. Maybe he was thinking about his grand kids suddenly. No way he was referring to anyone here.

" We'll come back to check up on you later Juniper, stay safe; " the starling called, and they each left to continue down the line of suspects.

Lan didn't like that they where coming back later, but he guessed it was better than nothing.

 

[BittyBobcat]

Peter's feathers bristled beneath his jacket. The whole situation reeked of trouble. His eyes flickered nervously across the halls they passed through. Four guards at the entrance (well, three- push come to shove, Buzz would let him go if they thought his life depended on it), extravagant stained-glass windows large enough to jump through on the first two walls (they'd have to break them first, something Pete rather liked the idea of), heavy doors that probably couldn't be opened quickly if-

An abrupt stop made him realize they had arrived.

Minutes passed after the guard slipped inside. They felt like hours. Peter rocked on his heels -still watching, always observing (obliviousness was a risk he never took). His racing heart tugged his thoughts forward. They slid by faster and faster as he fell into the familiar rhythms that always came with searching for an escape. Threats. The guards behind him, whoever was in that room- He glanced at his companions. Em? Surely she'd side with her father. Untrustworthy. Harlow? Wildcard. Probably would prioritize her safety (or wealth). Unreliable, but not an immediate danger. Where was-

The duke stepped into the hall.

He was mad. Disgusted, even. Peter could read it in the half-a-second too long the man spent staring at him and Harlow. The slight squint of his eyes, as if they weren't even worth a proper glare. He could see it in the way Em tugged him off to the side like she had some exciting little secret to share that wasn't to fall on common ears, and he didn't need to hear the words she spoke to know exactly what she was doing.

On a normal day, Peter would've shrugged this off. Whatever happened, he would be fine. He always was.

Today was not a normal day.

Today, Peter had nearly burned alive, what little control he had over his life had been yanked out from under him at the realization that he was a phoenix, he'd been stuck with two idiots that cared more about dresses and money than their own lives, Buzz had somehow managed to -however incidentally- maneuver him into even more danger than he'd been in in the first place, was sneered at by a good-for-nothing noble, and now this dumb-ass stranger was going to get everyone caught.

He was furious (he was terrified).

And, on any other day, his fist -clenched at his side, digging shallow dents into his palm with his nails, it's knuckles white with tensity- would not have a small string of smoke rising from it -something he would later learn indicated that it was about to burst into flame.

 

[Emixlin]

"Absolutely," was the first word that came out of the duke's mouth after his initial shock. "I'd love to help out your new friends." He smiled at his daughter's companions, suddenly desperate to portray himself as a friendly and generous man. His act right now was the one thing that mattered, the one thing that could set the kingdom of Gildaneth on a path to another century of prosperity. The king would most certainly promote him at this rate.

"Thank you so much for saving my daughter's life," he said to the two, bowing and unfolding his wings with gratitude. "If I may ask, how many of you are there in total?"

Emaliah pursed her lips in thought. "I believe there were 3 or 4?"

The duke was screaming with anticipation in his head. 3 or 4! He'd been sure he would struggle to find any more than 4 phoenixes to start with, considering his enormous lack of experience; yet here he was, just moments away from obtaining at least six phoenixes at once. And imagine his luck, to have his own daughter be a phoenix herself. He had to fight the smile off his face.

He considered following along with Emaliah and trying to persuade the other phoenixes to come to Gildaneth with them, but there was always a chance they weren't as cooperative as the three standing with him now. They might not trust nobles, or they might simply prefer to escape on their own. He knew that using force was probably the safest option (for him and his business, of course, less so for the phoenixes).

"I see," he said calmly. "I'll go inform the people in the meeting, and then we can be on our way to collect the rest of your friends. I'll arrange for everyone to be transported to Gildaneth as soon as possible," he explained. The other merchants were being paid to aid the duke in his operation to build a phoenix farm in his kingdom, since they had previous experience. They'd already hired six hunters so far, but only two birds had been caught in the last few months. Things were finally moving along, and the duke couldn't be happier. He opened the wide double doors and stepped through to tell the nobles about his plan.

 

[LindsMagee]

Before the guards approached, Tempest observed as Lan kept folding and unfolding his arms, finally deciding to keep his arms crossed shortly before the guards appeared. Though she was sure the guards themselves wouldn’t notice, Tempest could see how anxious Lan was just by taking in his body language at a brief glance. Jet on the other hand seemed mostly relaxed, only a brief tense up as the guards approached but nothing too noticeable. Maintaining an unassuming posture and an expression of cool indifference, Tempest was schooled in the art of body language and presenting herself how she wanted others to perceive her. In this case it was the guards, and her making herself seem open and unthreatening.

The starling and locust guards approached them, the locust asking for their names in a tone of dismissal and indifference, as if he would rather be anywhere but wasting his breath on them. Good. This is good. Tempest thought. This meant that the guards would barely bat an eye at the trio and move on to the next ship and people without a second glance. Lan did not seem to share the same thoughts however, as his face quickly fell from a frown into an angry grimace. So while the guards weren’t paying close attention to the lot before, they sure as hell were now that Lan decided to open his mouth and challenge the guard with attitude.

The guard seemed clearly annoyed at the lack of respect and demanded their names for a second time. Tempest kept her face expressionless as Jet scrambled to explain Lan to the guards, coming up with random names for everyone in the group and explaining that they weren’t from around here. Honestly, the only reason Lan wasn’t backhanded by a guard was probably due to the fact that the guard most likely believed him to be a child due to his stature.

The guard almost began to speak again, quizzical expression on his face, when a girl’s voice spoke up. Everyone turned to see what the interruption was, and the sight was not pretty. There was a girl shouldering the phoenix who made this grand plan earlier, as he was stumbling and falling over himself. As the girl explained her situation to the guards—a great lie to cover the situation—the guards seemed to relax seeing as they knew her. Tempest remained tightlipped as the guards conversed with the group a bit more before leaving the area.

Surveying the situation, Tempest quickly realized the man would probably need her help healing his injuries. The extent of them was unclear but based on the state of him alone, she figured Jet might not be able to help him as much as the man needed without a bit of her magic helping. Her healing would not be at its full strength after today’s events, but Tempest would still offer her help and try her best in helping the man’s injuries. “Jet, I can try to help him if needed” she offered, with a flicker of blue flame dancing across her fingertips.

 

[spiralingheretic]

Okay so things weren’t exactly going to plan.

Instinctively, she wanted to curse out the noble girl, but really, Harlow blamed herself. She should have known that Emaliah would blurt everything out. In a way though, what had disrupted her plan was Peter’s presence. If he had gone back to the crew and they had gone on their merry way Harlow could have slipped in and out and not worried about a bunch of other people getting involved. Now things were a lot more complicated.

Not only was Em’s father like, super slimy, but now he was about to tell a bunch of other slimy guys about their collective phoenix status. With Peter there, no one could warn the others to flee, and Harlow could only foresee things getting messier. Her brain was going a mile a minute trying to figure out ways to get out of this sticky situation (which, to be fair, she had partially created for herself).

Harlow’s immediate instinct was to run, but then there were the guards. She’d have to be more subtle. For a second she considered the old “do you have a bathroom here?” routine, but then she’d be leaving behind Peter and Emaliah, and for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to do that. She blamed their age and naivety respectively. Usually when she screwed people over, they were people who would have done the same to her in an instant. Harlow wasn’t so sure about these two.

They did have one thing on their side, which was that the duke thought that she and Pete were completely clueless, that they merely wanted his protection. If they could wait it out a little longer, there was a possibility she could use that to sabotage him from the inside. Overall, Harlow was still fairly confident that she had the upper-hand. They’d just have to wait it out a little while longer, take advantage of the duke’s trust (his trust that they were imbeciles, that is), and then when his back was turned, take whatever they could find and leave perhaps even a little better off than they had arrived. All they had to do was… wait--

She wrinkled her nose as she sniffed the air. Was that smoke?

 

[AncientBird]

"See you later!" Juniper waved goodbye to the guards. "Man, those boys would have made some nice companies if they weren't so blunt and gullible." Juniper talked to herself out loud. The blond hair girl then realized that she was being an eye target from the phoenixes on the ship. "Oh, right... Hello... I err... As you can see, I am not a phoenix, but I do have something to talk with Mr. Gloomy here..." Said the girl as she nodded to the unconscious dragonfly. "I was following him through the undercity but then a group of phoenix hunter attacked him... So he got moth dust thrown in his face and I got a crossbow bolt right in my wing... Ouch!" Juniper explained to the people. As the tension from being hunted and exposed had ceased, pain seemed to be returning to her wounded wing... However, Juniper still kept her spirit up.

"Also, yes... I did see and know that most of you are phoenix. But don't worry! I am not ratting anyone of you away. I am friend with phoenix! In fact, I got one in my family... He was taken away..." Jun spoke, began to sound depressed as she started referring to Merlin, but then she reminded herself to be cheerful in front of these stranger, so she forced her voice back up.

"Oh and by the way, I am Juniper Penna... Or just Jun!" Said and grinned the girl, although trace of sadness still lingered in her tone.

Featuring: BittyBobcat ScatheAriiasqDrayceon Tapfic LindsMagee

 

[ScatheAriiasqDrayceon]

Jet shooed the newly-dubbed "Juniper" toward the docks, glancing over their wounds and tilting his head at Tempest. "I don't think it'll require cauterization. It's not quite that bad." He gave Gray a brief onceover before turning back to glance at Jun's wingshoulder. "Eesh, that's gonna hurt to remove."

He made a face at her, something between heavy concern and curiosity. "Would you mind letting me get it out? I'm sure there's a first-aid kit on the ship that I can use to bandage it, after... though I will have to pluck out some of the coverts... sorry."

Jet briefly scanned the docks before humming his content and whistling quietly, the sound low and long.

Flame poked their head out from under the docks not moments later, crawling back up and clicking in the back of their throat. They didn't come up, though, just hanging by their wings on the edge as if nothing in the world was wrong.

"The ground crew still hasn't made it back," Jet muttered, frowning. "We shouldn't leave without them... but..." he gestured to the guards dotting the area.

 

[BittyBobcat]

Why had he suggested this? He should've known this would go wrong. How could it not have? He was a duke for skies' sake! Never trust a noble! Now they were stuck and no one could warn the rest and-

Everyone is going to get caught and it's all my fault-

A burning pain enveloped his hand.

Peter yelped brought it toward his face to find scarlet-orange flames swirling across it, reaching hungrily for his jacket sleeve. They pulsed and flickered to the same nervous beat that his heart hammered at his chest to. He didn't have time to wonder where they came from or how it happened, all he knew was that they were going to spread and it hurt and it's my fault. Panicked, he stumbled backwards as he frantically beat at his sleeve to put it out. One of the guards, seemingly just as shocked as he was, took a single step forward with her gloved hand outstretched.

The motion was too familiar. He couldn't get caught- not now.

On instinct, he threw his arms out to push the guard away, but another tongue of fire leapt forward onto her tunic. Peter watched, his eyes wide with shock and his back pressed against the wall behind him -the wooden wall behind him.

He broke away too late and turned to find flames already charring the planks his fingers had touched.

"I- I didn't mean-" His breath caught in his throat as he clutched his hand -now singed a shiny red, but no longer burning- close to his chest. "We-" He fixed Harlow and Em with a shaky stare. Everything was happening too fast- they needed to get out of here. His thoughts, fractured as they were, filled with the halls they had passed through mere moments ago (it felt like eons). Stained glass, large, breakable. "Windows!"

 

[Emixlin]

Emaliah gaped in shock as the guard shrieked, slamming to the floor to smother the flames. The other three advanced on them, leaping forward to grab Peter, but he scrambled out of the way just in time and raced toward the end of the hall. Harlow followed close behind, but Emaliah was too busy freaking out to go anywhere. Her eyes darted from the guard on the floor, moaning about her burnt tunic, to the guards turning their steely gaze on her, to the door where her father had just come out to see what all the commotion was about. His eyes widened as he took in the chaos and the running phoenixes.

The duke startled as he realized his two precious phoenixes were getting away. "No-- STOP! Catch them!" he barked at the guards, who immediately took off after Peter and Harlow. Emaliah yelped as they shoved past her to capture her friends. "Where are they going?" the duke demanded. "What happened?"

"H-He didn't mean it," Emaliah stammered. "He didn't know he could produce fire; it just happened. He wasn't trying to hurt you." This was directed at the guard still crouched on the floor, inspecting the burn marks on her clothing. She glared at Em in response.

The duke furrowed his brows, trying to make sense of her words. "Produce-- That boy produced fire?" At that moment, there was a powerful crash from the end of the hallway, where Peter and Harlow had managed to break their way through the thick, stained windows. They climbed through and ran for it as the guards weaved around the shattered pieces of glass in hot pursuit (or perhaps not so hot, considering that one of the guards got stuck in the window due to his large, inflexible wings and they had to change route by going out the front door, by which time neither of their targets could be seen).

Emaliah was on the verge of tears at this point, overwhelmed with panic and fear and confusion. She looked to her father for comfort, but he looked furious. He tapped his feet impatiently, waiting for the guards to return, when the door opened and another noble poked his head out. "What's going on?" he asked.

"The damn phoenixes got away," the duke snapped. "Your guards are useless, by the way."

The noble frowned at the slight but only said, "I see. What do we do now?"

The duke sighed heavily. "Well. They're most likely headed for the docks, right, Em?" He turned to his daughter for confirmation.

She shrugged. "I suppose so."

"Right. So we'll just bring the, er, the... bodyguards with us to the dock, and then we can collect all of the phoenixes there together."

"Fine," said the noble. "I'll call the hun-- I mean, the bodyguards, then. All of them?"

"All of them. There's at least 5 phoenixes, so we'll need all the help we can get on the off-chance they've all got fire-wielding abilities like that kid."

The noble nodded and headed back inside to announce the change of plans to the others. The duke turned to his daughter. "We're getting some bodyguards, and then we can all go down to the docks to pick up your friends, okay, Em?" he told her. "I promise I'll bring them safe and sound to Gildaneth."

 

[Tapfic]

Lan listened half intently to Jun's explanation, silently glancing to the first aid kit still set on the deck of the ship when it was mentioned. He moved in its direction; presumably fetching it.

" So are you gonna tell us why you where following him in the first place, or did you psychically project that part of the explanation into everyone's heads while I wasn't paying attention? " He wasn't very inclined to believe a word Miss. Attention Span said at the moment, considering her only witness was out cold; but it wasn't like they could just tell her to get lost when she already knew their situation. The question was more of a smart ass way to say he didn't trust her than an actual request for information.

He brought the metal box of medical supplies to Dr.Kadoshi and absently glanced at Fuck-You's unconscious face. He sort of wanted to slap him ( lightly of course ) to see if he'd wake up, but he abstained. Now was not the time, place, nor situation for that sort of thing.

"The ground crew still hasn't made it back," Dr. Kadoshi seemed to be having the same worries as Lan had earlier, "We shouldn't leave without them... but..."

With the Plaza fire all but out, more guards began to mill about- questioning , and searching. Lan's perpetual frown deepened to an irritated scowl. He crossed his arms with a huff.

" But- but- but- " he mocked " How about we slow the hell down and burn that bridge when we get to it? Right now the guy that knows how to fly the ship is still knocked the fuck out, the dock is on lockdown, and until the guards find the arsonist mega prick - no one can go anywhere without getting blasted to itty bitty bits. Not to mention just how fucked-up it is to ditch those other motherfuckers and a kid when supposedly there are already hunters in the city- "

Lan had started pacing, gesturing with his hands to emphasize every other word in his rant. It seemed like he was just talking to himself very loudly at this point. When he had finally stopped ranting and walking in circles, he clapped his hands together, closed his eyes, and sighed deeply.

" Ok, breathe "he mumbled, certainly to himself this time. He wanted to just get up and go look for them, but if they were already on their way over and he missed them it would end up taking more time than it would save on foot. Lan flapped his wings once and winced- yeah, flying was not an option for him at the moment.
He squinted his eyes and glanced around the ship. Tempest's wings were burned, Dr. Kadoshi still needed to tend to Fuck-You, not only did he not trust Attention Span- she didn't even know what the others looked like, and sending out the other kid to go find a kid- just seemed impractical honestly.

" Fuck breathing -that didn't help at all- " He continued to mutter to himself as he sat down on the deck, and opted to put his head in his hands as he thought. The thinking didn't last long it seemed, because he was soon up again-
" That's it- I'm gonna go look for them- " or he was going to go find the hunters and beat the fuck out of them; whichever came first; did it make sense? No- but who needs logic when you're an emotional idiot.

 

[spiralingheretic]

Well fuck me I guess.

So much for plans. Good riddance-- Harlow had a terrible working relationship with them anyway. Plans, she could only count on some of the time. Her own feet on the other hand, running? Running away never failed her.

After running quite a distance they’d ducked into a narrow alleyway. Once they were clear of the guards (at least, for now, she amended), Harlow checked herself over and grimaced. Her clothes were torn in some places, but that was far from unusual and honestly the least of her worries at the moment. For now she was high on adrenaline and wasn’t feeling a whole lot of pain, but her forearms, which she had used to block her face, were covered with small cuts. Luckily it seemed like there weren’t any large shards sticking out of her, but she’d have to do a more thorough examination later or risk infection. She’s witnessed amputation first-hand, and it… wasn’t pretty.

As her breath slowed to something resembling normal, her eyes flickered over to Peter. What he’d done in the guild hall-- she’d never seen anything like it. Sure, she’d heard the stories, but much of them she’d discounted as myth. Of course phoenixes were real, and their wings were invaluable. But the special powers?

The kid had created fire, held it in his hand, used it to attack the guard (albeit accidentally). How? Could she do that now? Harlow flexed her hand experimentally. Nothing. She glanced back at Peter.

“Damn kid, that was the craziest shit I’ve ever seen,” she said. Harlow frowned. “How are you holding up? That was my bad. I should’ve made sure you got back to the ship before I got involved in that mess.” Would have made things a lot simpler. “Speaking of which I really should get you there now. It’s probably the safest place for you, and I feel like I owe you one. Dragonfly guy said it was the one with a thin tail bit, right?”

 

[BittyBobcat]

Peter forgot about the fire. Forgot about the burning pain in his hands. Forgot about everything else. This was familiar. Comforting, almost. He latched onto their escape like a it was the last lifeboat on a sinking ship. Cover the face, break the window, and run. He did this at least once a week.

And yet, as they ducked into the alley, he could still feel his wings trembling beneath his jacket.

Craziest shit I've ever seen. That was one way to put it. He wondered, with a prickle of guilt, whether that guard was okay (What would Buzz think when they found out?).

"I'm- uh..." Peter brought his hands closer to his face. One, the most recently burned, glistened an angry red. A few shards of glass peppered it's surface, but whatever pain he felt was dulled by the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He clutched his fist experimentally and winced. He wouldn't be pickpocketing with that one again anytime soon. The other, having had far less contact with fire, still ached, but was more or less functional. And, fortunately, his thick jacket had protected his arms from the worst of the glass, something -he noticed with a short glance in her direction- that Harlow didn't have the luxury of. "I'll be fine," Peter breathed shakily.

"It's fine." Whether the statement was meant to absolve her of guilt for getting him involved or to convince himself of it, he wasn't sure.

The tail bit... The ship! They still needed to get to the ship. "Y-Yeah," Pete hummed, already scanning the docks for one that matched the description. His gaze caught on a rather outdated model with a large group of people milling across the deck. "Ya' think that's it?"

~~~

Distantly, as if he was underwater, Gray heard voices. Arguing. Never a good sign.

His eyes flickered open slowly, heavy with drowsiness. The world came into view just as sluggishly. The sun shone brightly in the sky with the mast of the ship looming as a silhouette against it. Blurry sail-riggings came into focus while they swung gently in the wind. People milled about the deck, most of them vaguely familiar, with ash-covered wings and-

His vision locked on the jet-black feathers of a man standing only a few feet away. Gray flinched, his heart pounding, only for his gaze to drop to the blue fringes of his wings. He blinked. Once. Twice. They didn't disappear.

He released a relieved sigh. It wasn't who he'd thought it was.

Gray got to his feet with a wobbly tilt, leaning heavily on the mast as a throbbing pain shot through his skull. Concussions -no matter how many you got, they never seemed to get any easier to deal with. He pressed a hand to his forehead, where a bruise was already forming. At least he could think properly now.

"That's it- I'm gonna go look for them-"

He scowled. "Don't-" Gray would've finished the sentence with 'be an idiot', but he was interrupted by the messenger kid's voice.

"Look for who?"

 

[Emixlin]

About 5 minutes later, 6 enormous, muscled people walked into the guild hall, carrying equally-enormous weapons. Emaliah was immediately intimidated by them. Her bodyguards back home were the sort that wore handsome, starched uniforms and brought her tea and chrysanthemums; they had boyish smiles and flippant hair, young nobles trying to show off in front of the duke's daughter. These guys were nothing like that - she could imagine them crushing a butterfly under their fists.

"There's at least 5 phoenixes gathering at the docks," the duke explained as they assembled in the meeting room. The other nobles had already paid the hunters their share and gone on their way, since their only job was to help the duke get his own phoenix farm started. Now it was just up to these hunters to capture the bounty. "One of the boys seems to have fire-wielding abilities, so you'll need to watch out for that."

One of the hunters, a grey-headed albatross, grunted. "Our weapons and clothes are fire resistant, your Grace," he said. "We're professionals; we don't need warnings."

The duke frowned. These meatheads think they can talk back to me? How insolent. But he didn't have time for this. "Fine," he spat. "Our goal is to capture" - He glanced at Emaliah and corrected himself - "I mean, pick up all of the phoenixes and get out of there as quickly as possible. I have an airship moored toward the right of the docks; it reads 'Dahlia's Blessing' on the side. You can just drop the phoenixes off at the ship and go."

The hunters nodded and looked around at each other, assessing their temporary teammates. Most of them preferred working alone, so the next few hours were not going to be fun. They all hoped this would turn out to be a quick and easy mission, with so many unexperienced phoenixes in one place.

Emaliah was scared - no, terrified - of these menacing, broad-shouldered people, swinging around their massive swords and crossbows. Sure, they were here to help her retrieve her new companions, but that didn't make them any less scary. She desperately wished to go home, take a warm bubble bath, and spend the rest of her birthday hosting a comfortable, lavish party. That was her plan for the night, she decided. They just needed to rescue her friends so she could have guests at her party. She stuck close to her father's side as they all exited the guild hall and headed to the docks.

"Do you know which ship your friends are on?" the duke asked when they arrived.

Emaliah scanned the area, filled with wandering guards, merchants, and tourists alike, until she spotted the extremely tall tern from before. She also recognized several of the other people on the ship. "That one," she called out, pointing. The hunters immediately advanced toward it, and everyone in their path leaped out of the way with zero hesitation (no one wanted to be trampled by these giants).

 

[LindsMagee]

Jet's response to Tempest's offer told her he assumed the flames were just that...flames. "They don't cauterize wounds, they heal them" Tempest offered but made the blue wisps die away from the tips of her fingers. Jet seemed to have the situation under control after assessing Juniper and Gray and if he ended up needing her assistance, he'd surely ask.

Tempest moved a step away from the group and observed silently as Jet spoke to Juniper about her wounds. There was still no sign of the other group of phoenixes, making Tempest's thoughts wonder about the countless reasons they could be late...or captured...or dead. If the other group was captured by hunters would they lead them to the rest of the phoenixes in the hopes of getting better treatment? Maybe a deal of some sort? After all, they were all strangers seemingly forced to follow Gray's plan due to a lack of hope and other options. Stopping herself from thinking about the worst possibilities, Tempest thought of other plausible reasons for this delay.

It seemed as though both Lan and Jet echoed her thoughts, both phoenixes commenting on the situation. The latter appeared more anxious to leave, letting his sentence hang in a question of whether they should flee for their own safety, or wait for the others. Lan on the other hand was set off by Jet's notion of possibly abandoning the others, mocking Jet and going on a small rant. Both members of the group were right in their thinking, Tempest couldn't blame Jet for thinking of at least getting half of the group to safety while it was possible, but on the other hand her conscience wouldn't let her just up and leave without attempting to help or wait for the others a little while longer.

Lan began to move his wings but faltered, wincing in pain, then he observed the rest of their lot. She assumed he was sizing up their various injuries and physical states, and she was right. He sat down on the deck in what looked like defeat before abruptly letting everyone know he was going to try to find the other group. Tempest sighed at this, knowing if he went alone things wouldn't end well. "I don't think-" she began to voice, before Gray, seeming to have regained consciousness, shakily stood and gave his opinion on the matter, a resounding "Don't".

"The other phoenixes." Tempest responded curtly to new guy's question before turning to face Lan. "I don't think it's a good idea to try to find the others, at this point they could be anywhere. But if you're going to be too stubborn to listen I'll go with you. It's a terrible idea to go alone and everyone else here either can't or shouldn't leave right now." Though she thought looking for the others would help absolutely no one, seeing as they could be long gone, dead, or anywhere in the city, Tempest did not want Lan to wonder off by himself trying to find them. For some odd reason, Tempest felt a sort of a bond to these people, probably because they were phoenixes, but she resented the feeling. In other circumstances from the past she could leave strangers and even acquaintances without batting an eye, so this feeling was new and unwelcome to say the least.

Wait...New guy? Tempest realized as she'd been talking that two new phoenixes appeared on the ship and she had actually responded to one's question but it went over her head. Well, that certainly helped the situation. At this point she was unsure if this was the whole group or if a few more phoenixes were missing.

 

[AncientBird]

Juniper sat down. She just noticed the person who came to look at her wound. He was a large and very tall man, towering above everyone on that ship. His wings, why hadn't got a chance to fully stretch yet, Juniper could tell that they would be one of the largest wingspan she has seen in her life. He wasn't a phoenix though and that made her wondered why he winded up with all these phoenixes. "Oh, are you a doctor?" Juniper asked, still looking at him in awe. As the man said about the operation he had to do to her wing, Juniper smiled. "Do as you see fit, Mr. I can handle anything!" The girl said, trying to sound cheerful although inside she was a bit scared. The girl turned her back and wing to the man and looked away.

There was another man with owl wings. At first glance, Juniper thought he was a child for he had a small stature, shorter even than herself. However, once he spoke up, Juniper reckoned he was likely not be any younger than her. He seemed suspicious at her presence on the ship that was supposed to be for a certain group of people... Which was kind of understandable.

"Oh, I should be clearer about why I came after your supposed leader, right? Well, it's a long story, but I will try to... Yaoch! ... Explain!" Said Juniper, her word ended in a yelp as the operation on her wound began.

"Well I have a brother- Ouch! We are so close to each other- Yike! Used to live a normal life for years... Until one day the boiler exploded, spilling fire on his wings... And turned out he has been- Arghhh! ...A phoenix... All this time!" Jun paused to get a grip of herself from the pain. "We hid him for a while, thinking everything would be fine... Until several days ago, a group of strangers broke in took him... Aaaargh!!! Papa!!!" Juniper screamed and turned around to see that her wing was already done and bound in bandage. "Oh!... It's done... Thank you very much..." The girl said and turned to continue her story. "Everyone back home think he's as good as dead... But I refuse to believe so... He must still be alive, somewhere." Said the girl, her tone became more serious. "So, when I saw all of you gathering in the burnt plaza, led by Mr. Gloomy dragonfly there... I thought he must have at least know something about phoenix and all these trading and capturing perform on them, otherwise how would he be so prepared to evacuate you all so quickly like that? So, I followed him in hope I could maybe ask him something..." Juniper went silent for a bit. "I just want to know where my brother could possibly be..." Added the girl as she looked down on the floor. It's painful to be reminded of how Merlin was taken again, but at least she delivered her intention... Next, she could only pray that she would find some answer here and all the troubles she went through earlier wouldn't be for nothing.

Featuring: ScatheAriiasqDrayceon Tapfic BittyBobcat

 

[ScatheAriiasqDrayceon]

Jet spluttered as Lan started talking, making an odd sound in the back of his throat that had Flame speaking up from their spot hanging off the docks. "What he meant to say was that those of us that can fly—or carry people—can use the shadow of the island to get to a hiding spot. Someone else can come back and wait for the ground-crew and when Mr. firefly over here wakes up, he can fly the ship over to the hiding space and problem solved. Less lives to lose, more people have the possibility of making it out, and we don't have to wait like sitting ducks. He's an idiot, not heartless."

Flame looked up as the swift kid and the gull joined them. "Okay, still missing one."

Jet started working on the bee-eater, slipping a thin obsidian knife from the inside of his coat. He eyed the wound a moment before quickly and efficiently plucking a small circle of feathers out. The bolt was—thankfully—not serrated, but it was in decently deep, so he used the knife to make a bit of an incision so he didn't tear anything. A quick yank and pressing a clean bit of disinfected gauze to the wound and he was pretty much done, parting a few feathers to wrap the thing.

The girl turned back to thank him and Jet gave her a soft smile and a quiet "you're welcome", cleaning off his hands and his knife and returning everything to where it needed to be.

 

[Tapfic]

Lan squinted at Flame's explanation. Well at least that was better than what he had originally assumed.
" How did you catch any of that-" he started, but halted at the arrival of two of their missing group.

" Oh thank holy fuck- " wait - wait- Flame was right, blondie was no where to be seen. Lan's relief was immediately replaced with a strained frown. Oh god- what if she slipped and fell right off the island- or got lost- or captured- or somehow had an allergic reaction to being a phoenix and just straight up died- well okay that last one was far fetched, even for Lan's active imagination.
He glared passed the new arrivals, standing on his toes to look for the last girl.

" What the hell where you guys doing? And where's Blondie? " The question was sincere though it sounded like the start of a lecture.
" Did you decide to stop for tea and cake on the way or-" his words quieted to a mumble as he tried to make out some sort of commotion in the distance. It didn't really matter what the answer to his question was, because he had now stopped paying attention.

Hulking men moved in a group ( their gear gave the impression that they were most certainly here to fight), the crowd parted like a stream around boulders as they moved through- heading towards the ship. Two more people followed, an old man and- Blondie!
Lan sighed in relief knowing she was still alive, but the moment was less than a second of peace before his brain caught up with him.

So the big bastards where obviously hunters at this point- so that meant Blondie must have been captured- Well that was pretty fucking quick.
Lan didn't have much time to decide what to do before they got here- but that was okay because he had already decided.

" Okay -" where had he put his bag? He turned to search for it- the act didn't take very long, considering it was still lying on the deck where he had left it. Lan yanked it up by the top handle, and unzipped it whilst muttering to himself. His hand reached in, and out of the bag he pulled a wooden object normally used for children's ball games.
Yeah. A bat. It was a bat.
" Okay, yeah, fine- just fucking peachy, " at least he was thinking clearly enough to grab the one weapon-ish object he had decided to pack before charging in this time (unless you counted really fucking spicy peppers as weapons, because he had brought some of those ). He bounced the bat in the palm of his hand once, and glared across the docks.
Now would be a good time to size up his odds, what- half a dozen hunters against one Lan? Well he was pretty used to fighting people bigger than him at this point, considering that the height category included most people; and Lan would literally rather die than refrain from calling someone out on their ass-hat behavior if he didn't like them. That last bit tended to start quite a few brawls, unsurprisingly.

Well, either way- the boy already acknowledged that he was most certainly not going to win, the guys where behemoths - and there were more than one of them- both factors that weighed highly in their favor.

" God forbid I just fucking die in a fire and not have to deal with this shit, huh? Nooo that would be way to easy wouldn't it? Gotta make sure I get enough stress induced migraines in first huh motherfucker? " he was talking to himself, as he did when he was nervous.

So yeah, Lan had decided to go hit the hunter motherfuckers with a bat until Blondie had a chance to run. Preferably before they got too close to the ship and made it harder for the rest to get away. That was the entire plan.

 

[spiralingheretic]

The raven-winged girl seemed to respond automatically to Peter’s question, realized her mistake, and did a double take at the two of them. Harlow figured they must look quite a sight, her with her bleeding arms and Pete with his burnt hands, missing an entire group member. Though she did not think they stood out that much from the rest. Many of the others looked in similar, if not worse, condition. Wow, had any of them had a smooth trip to the docks?”

She took a hot second to observe her fellow group members, as she hadn’t really had the time nor the interest back at the plaza. The most noticeable was clearly the tern, not a phoenix, but at least a full two feet taller than Harlow. Next to him, a bee-eater with a bandaged wing. Wait, had she been with them in the plaza? Harlow couldn’t remember seeing her, but then again, she’d had a lot on her mind at the time. Then the fussy one, who had been going on about coming after them just as Harlow and Peter came aboard. For the life of her, she couldn’t tell his age. Going by looks alone, she would have guessed he was around Peter’s age, maybe younger, but she had never seen a kid speak and posture like that. So either a kid or a grumpy old man with really great skin. Cool. There was the dragonfly from earlier. He didn’t seem to be doing so well, but by the looks of him that might just be his natural state.”

Standing a bit off to the side was the raven girl who had addressed them to begin with, who looked a bit startled by their arrival. She was a bit younger too, probably around Em’s age. With this thought Harlow was interrupted by a pang of guilt that she tried to dismiss. Emaliah would be fine. She was with her father now. Though the duke definitely had some dubious vibes and had likely sent the guards to chase after them, he wouldn’t hurt his precious daughter, right? They’d done the right thing in leaving her behind, she decided firmly. (Though she was still a little bitter with Peter for disrupting her potential heist.)

Hanging off the side of the dock was the kid with the draconic wings. (Gods, were they all kids?) Out of the entire group they seemed the least bothered by the situation.

As the Small One began interrogating them, Harlow placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder and stepped forward as if to say “let me take care of this.” She had a great story of misfortune already half written in her head, ready to be performed for the group. Yet Harlow would never get the chance to weave their tale of woe, as the tiny phoenix was interrupted by the approach of a horde of hulking assholes.

For only a moment, Harlow thought they were the guards from the guild-hall, but these guys were obviously much more dangerous. They had the sort of gleam in their eyes that made it clear they weren’t just doing their job, but rather actively enjoyed pummeling people. Hunters, and trailing behind them, Emaliah and her father.

The Small One pulled a bat out of his bag, and she had to admit she was impressed, though she couldn’t see him doing much damage. It did make her sorely miss her dagger and wish she’d managed to nab a new weapon in the chaos of the explosion. As it was, she was itching to brawl, but on the other hand, she could use the distraction of a fight to get away. There was always Em, but Harlow doubted she could be convinced to speak out against the duke. If the hulking assholes hadn’t made her realize that her father meant harm, Harlow doubted that anything else could sway her.

Harlow took stock of her position. The eight of them outnumbered the six hunters, if you didn’t include the duke and his daughter, who didn’t look like they’d fought a day in their lives. Yet the hunters were in far better shape than they were, both in general and at that particular moment. None of them were injured and they were all armed to the teeth and ready to fight. There was Peter’s fire, though that didn't seem entirely under control. Experimentally, Harlow flexed her own hand again. Nothing. Not a spark. Oh well. Guess she was going to have to fight the old fashioned way: dirty as all hell.

She cracked her knuckles. “Hey boys, you’re out of luck,” she called out. “The party boat left just a few minutes ago. Though maybe it’s for the best,” Harlow gave the group a dubious once-over. “Can’t say your costumes are that impressive, anyway.”

 

[ScatheAriiasqDrayceon]

Flame hissed airily when they spotted the burly—most definitely armed—people, bristling. Their armor and demeanor reminded them of the phoenix hunters; especially the glint in their eyes. They slunk up onto the deck, pressing the better part of their torso down and letting their shoulders take most of the weight. Much like a cat, their shoulder blades rose the skin on their back.

Jet moved in front of them without saying a word, wings fanning out to give them access to his back. The footsteps of the hunters drew closer and Flame tensed in response, mentally calculating their jump distance. They dimly recognized the Short Owl and Odd Gull saying things, but shoved them toward the back of their mind, focusing on flagging people.

Jet was an ally. He always was; they didn't think they could change that for anything. But the others... no. They were neutrals. Don't aggress, but they didn't know them well enough to even think that they'd cover their back.

But the owners of the footsteps... the people in smoothed, plated armor designed to shed fire like water... those were targets. Kill of incapacitate.

Thump.

The footsteps were getting closer.

Thump.

Flame tensed, wings drawing closer to their body.

Thump.

Too close.

With some kind of snarl that sounded like a demon from the depths of the abyss, Arias scaled up Jet's back in a moment, using him as a platform to jump. They landed on top of one of the guards' heads, twisting and flapping their wings like some kind of rabid animal, very nearly tearing the helmet of the first one had it not been for the chin-strap.

They moved to another as soon as they started defending, kicking that one as they landed and tearing at the chain-mail under the armor, whoever was wearing it choking as they pulled hard. When they moved to the next, they sent that one toppling to the ground.

And on fire.

Flame fought like a wild animal, going on a distinct offense while Jet took the defensive, wings flaring to disguise the injured. "Someone get them to the ship! It's easily defensible!"

 

[BittyBobcat]

Gray did a silent headcount. All of the fliers seemed to have made it out no worse for the wear, the bee-eater girl was still here, and two members of the grounded group had just arrived. Which left -Runt said just as he realized it- Blondie. Instantly, his mind began to tick through the options. Go searching for her? If any of the phoenixes did it, then there'd be more chance of getting caught than finding her. Leave her? They couldn't even do that with her on-board right now. If he could get the non-phoenixes to search for her then that might work, but that would be assuming they wouldn't turn on them. Or that they would risk anything for them at all. Maybe-

Gray's eyes slid toward the docks. Thick fire-proof armor, hulking statures, and weapons to match -there were hunters on the horizon.

Fuck. Fuck. Okay, no, breathe. They were on lockdown, the area was swarming with guards, and the hunters lacked any of the local royal insignia. Surely, if they weren't with the king, they wouldn't engage openly -the risk of having their prizes taken was too high. He took a few -thankfully stable- steps away from the mast, already running through a mental list of bluffs to scare them off, when Scales proceeded to transform into a snarling, human projectile.

Well, shit.

Already, a pair of royal guards had spotted the flaming man and were shoving through the crowd to investigate. Gray slipped off the side of the ship, hands held beside his head to show he was unarmed (which... he wasn't, really, but what they didn't know wouldn't kill them). "Thank the skies, you're here!" He put on a loud voice and walked with the gait of a confident jackass (he had seen it enough times to mimic it to near perfection). "These men demanded access to my ship, and when I denied it they attacked my subordinates. As-"

The guards took one look at his disheveled appearance and pushed him aside without a second glance.

He was loath to name-drop, but desperate times called for desperate measures. "As a senior engineer for the Graymin Enterprise, I expect my crew should be protected on my own ship."

There was that tell-tale pause Gray was hoping for. Suddenly stiffened posture, the quick side glance of 'so we're dealing with a rich dickhead then'- the guards certainly weren't fond of him right now (to be perfectly fair, Gray wouldn't have liked him either), but hopefully they would take that out on the hunters. For the first time in his entire life, he was thankful for docking paperwork (chances are, they only went along with it because of his previous encounter with the docksmaster, who only believed he was an envoy of the Graymins because the blood-signature matched their records).

With the guards more or less convinced to arrest the hunters rather than the phoenixes, Gray turned on his heel and speed-walked back toward their assorted gang (he wanted to run but keeping up the rich asshole appearance meant looking unconcerned). He shoved the swift-winged messenger boy who had taken a few steps forward as if to jump into the action back with one arm, and with the other grabbed Scales none-too-gently by the scruff of their shirt and yanked them toward the tall tern guy they appeared to be travelling with before this whole debacle.

"No need for violence," Gray cast a pointed look toward the gull girl and Runt, who looked about ready to knock someone's lights out. "Unless they take their business up with the docksmaster, these men won't be boarding our ship." His gaze flickered to a man standing toward the back of the hunter's. Finely clothed, skin unblemished by scars, he was willing to bet the guy had never seen a fight in his life. The only reason someone like that would hang around a gaggle of presumably lower-class meatheads would be because they needed them for something -which meant he was likely in command of the hunters. "And I have a feeling that this little mix-up is something we would all prefer to keep private." Gray donned a smile too tight to be born of anything but politeness and locked eyes with their leader. "Isn't that right?"