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BittyBobcat

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Gray & Lan
Located on The Damsel (Gray's ship) - Interacting with: Riku ( Dawnstar Dawnstar )


The docking process went smoothly, almost too smoothly. The dockmaster hadn’t even sent a blooddrake to verify the signature on his permit and Gray would be the first to admit he was suspicious of the apparent ease it took to land in the Kingdom of Amethyst… though that might’ve been the lack of sleep talking.

Whatever the case, he couldn’t find it in himself to trust the Kingdom completely, so—instead of heading out to sell pesticides to supplement their ever-dwindling stash of money, buying supplies because he now knew that their current ones wouldn’t last nearly as long as he had planned, or really anything of actual use—he sat down with his collection of maps in the control room and rechecked their emergency escape route for the third time that morning.

His pen clicked incessantly. It always did when he was in one of these moods. Gray had made a few attempts here and there to quit the habit, but he learned over one too many days spent anxiously charting their next move that it was, like many things, an unwanted and permanent fixture of his life.

“ What are you doing? “ Lan peeked through the doorway after some time waiting for Gray to get his ass up and off the ship.

“Hm?” He didn’t turn his eyes from the maps.

”Hm,” Lan mocked the response, “what the fuck do you mean, hm? What kinda shit answer is that?“

“A confused one.”

“What’s there to be confused about? What the fuck are you doing that’s taking this long? I can feel the planks of the ship rotting under my boots while you’re sitting dandy in here jackin’ off or something.“

“I’m not— I’m just going over the plan again. In case anything happens.”

“Again? How many times have you gone over that bitch already?“

“...Are you actually asking or is that rhetorical?”

“Rhetorical.“ The shorter phoenix took the moment to step further into the room—leaving the door swung open behind him. “Get up already, we have shit to do outside. And you can’t fuckin worm your way out of going, you look like you just got dug out the grave and are about to go back in.”

“Yeah,” Gray sighed. His wings flicked, buzzing for a quick second before settling back down. “Yeah, I know.” Not that it made leaving any more desirable. “Are we taking the others? I don’t want to leave them on the ship alone.”
Lan made a face at the mention. First of slight confusion, then remembrance. And then something else, whether the annoyance in the expression was at the mention of the others—or simply an ever present landmark of his features was unknown.

“…I guess,” He finally conceded after a moment’s inner debate. “You watch the kid though.”

What? Why?”

“ Because, “ Lan’s eyes narrowed (not dangerously—more whiny than anything) as he spoke “Every day I get closer to punting someone and the kid ain’t helping. Also I don’t like babysitting.“

“You would never punt a kid.”

“I could!“

“I’ve seen that kid lift fuel cans, you I don’t think you could punt this one even if you wanted to.”

“Hey. Fuck you. Strength ain’t all that goes into kicking ass. I could one hundred percent punt any kid I wanted to.“

“Your heart would give out before your muscles would.”

Lan tried for a moment to think of some snarky retort, failing this he scrunched his nose and sneered.

“Whatever. You’re still watchin’ him.“

“Only if you apologize without complaining when you chase off any of the customers today.”

“What? I don’t do that,” the defense was weak, considering he very much did do that. “The customers love me, I have a great customer service smile,” to demonstrate this—it seemed he attempted to smile, though it somehow came out looking more like a threat. The corners of his mouth didn’t even move upwards.
“See?“

“...I may not have a perfect grasp of trade sign, but I’m adequate enough with it to know a swear when I see one. Your…” Gray paused, the grimace he was holding back still evident on his face, “customer service smile isn’t as effective as you seem to think it is.”

Lan released the painful…smile(?) thing, and frowned.

“Whatever, I’m practicing. And I’ll bet you chase more customers off with your shitty sign than I do with my manners.” Without a moment's pause to allow for a response, Lan kept talking. “Let’s go—I’m fuckin cramped in here.“

With this final statement, he turned on his heel and started down the hall; clearly expecting to be followed.

“ RIKU,” He yelled, a shockingly loud call from such a little person. “We’re goin’ out! C’mon! “

Gray could say for a fact that Lan was not cramped in there. He refrained from mentioning this.
 
Raikarun "Riku"
Located on The Damsel (Gray's ship) - Interacting with: Gray ( BittyBobcat BittyBobcat ) and Lan ( Tapfic Tapfic )


Riku stood out on the deck of the ship, knuckles-white as his hands tightly gripped the railing as he stared out a the clouds. The teen's wings spread as wide as they'd go, letting as much air as possible rush past from the wind and the ships movement. Riku felt just soo light, practically weightless. The air passively lifting his small body and not even letting him settle himself square-footed to the ground. Barely on his tiptoes and feeling that little contact occasionally try and slip out from under him, like the ship leaving him behind. His red sash and hood billowing behind him gently.

A childlike smile was plastered across the teen's face. This was scary as the abyss loomed below even tho he held on soo tightly. Riku's heart was racing, legs stretched to keep touching the ground,, and wings sensitively twitching at the cool air. He closed his eyes just focused on letting the air rush past. Slow he gently lowered, twisted and raised each of his four wings and his Elytra each in turn. Riku focused trying to understand how the feeling changed; how he would get would feel slightly pulled to one side or other other, the lift changing with a slightest movement he could never do in actual flight.

Sure Riku could fly and flight was nothing new but this was different. As he experimented he felt as weightless as he imagined the the Beuzbowls did, floating gas sacks who relied on the wind alone to carry them. He didn't have to buzz his wings, he didn't have to tire himself out, just hold on and yet he could barely touch the ground right now. This was a different feeling, one he'd never experienced before. It was exciting yet also terrifying. Any time the lift got too strong, that his feet felt they'd fully leave the ground he sharply tugged his wings back down before trying again.

Riku after a while felt his body settle down as the ship slowed and the air calmed. No longer enough to just pick him up. His feet landed softly and solidly back on the solid wooden decking once again. He opened his eyes and watched as "the land", if you could call it that of the Amethyst Kingdom came into view.
"What the... Am I dreaming..?"

Riku was just struck silent in awe. His eyes followed the various beams of light cast by the island crystals. He'd heard stories of a land up here, he'd read about it, his brother had sent a island and castle being carried by a colossal Manta but seeing this felt like a bit of a storybook dream. Like how could anything soo big fly like that, how could it carry anything as massive as a city?! Yet that wasn't the only thing that had the boy speechless. Riku could see wyverns, whales, and all manner of winged people of all types, backgrounds and shapes he'd at best only ever read about and some he'd never imagined - all in one place!
It was amazing and almost too much for the little town teen, only used to his barren mountain lands to really take in, to comprehend even. This was nothing like his home, nothing like the dusty red-mountain peaks his people carved into. He'd never left home before, he'd never been further than the vultures nests and never away from his kingdom. Never even been on an airship like before, only seen them from a distance. Was this really the place all the metal they mine'd was going when traders and airships came? This was the kinda thing they could help build with it..?

Then the booming voice of Lan echoed from downstairs.
Riku practically jumping out of his skin.

"What did I do now..,? I thought I already cleaned up that mess from breakfast..!" Riku internally panicked terrified of having made another mess and not realised it. Look he slipped and tripped these things happen, but then it got Lan all annoyed with everything being a mess. Riku was sure Lan didn't like him, that he wanted him gone - been scowling and just looked pissed off at Riku whenever he was around. The teen had no idea why he'd been trying his best to not cause trouble!

"Huh? What- like you want- me as well-?" Riku exclaimed aloud his half question-confused before freezing at the idea of being yelled at by Lan for being late. The teen gulping. He barely understood how he manged to convince these two strangers to help him.

"..Uh sorry wait I mean uhh, yes I'm coming! I'll be right down!" The teen quickly beginning to run his hands through his styled-hair, quickly doing his best to fix it even tho with the oil he used it was still looking just fine even in the wind. Still he tried to make himself more confident and feel like he looked cool and presentable. As he did this his brown-translucent wings quickly fluttered as the Elytra started to move downwards - quickly folding the wings up under the hard iridescent shell and it all resting comfortably against the padding on the back of his shirt.

Hair styled and satchel over his shoulder the teen quickly joined Gray and Lan as they headed to disembark.
"Sorry, sorry. All ready to go and urm do..? Whatever we're doing sir. Sirs!" Riku was practically stiff as a board, clearly pretty overwhelmed and on edge. He didn't know what to expect, he'd gotten picked up by Lan and Grey but for the last week all they'd done was just fly around. He didn't really know what the plan was here, who they were, or where they'd were originally going.... Riku was just happy at the time they'd gotten him away from those hunters - but now with that huge city here that he'd barely read about before,it was a lot for the teen to process.
 
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Key:
Arial: Common
Underlined Arial: Tradesign
Average: Valiaek

Open air sprawled out under Jet's wings, faint wisps of cloud swirling around his feathers with the current of his slipstream. The tiniest adjustment of the angle of his primaries sent him banking gently around a particularly thick cirrus. Aside from the worry churning in his chest and the squawking of a sailor's wyvern behind him, it was almost peaceful. He almost wished he left Vihaan back at Tafa'Alan—even getting the wyvern out of the range of the storms had been a pain in his wings.

Almost, however, was the key word.

"Are you sure it's gonna be here?"


Even Vihaan's voice unraveled the ball of stress building under his keel just a little. Jet's wings fluffed. "Unless the maps Kydryn gave us were wrong, we should be feeling the wind pick up soon. And we both know Ky and his maps."

"If we fall into the Abyss because of your shitty sense of direction—" His voice dipped to a playful drawl, each word pronounced worse than the first.

"You won't fall," Jet huffed. "Or if you did, I'd catch you." He finally looked back, brow quirking as he was side-eyed by the nervous sailor's wyvern. He huffed at it, rolling a chrr in the back of his throat as if that would calm one of the most notoriously skittish breeds of long-flight wyvern. As expected, it remained white-eyeing him.

Jet's eyes trailed up to look at Vihaan. His hair braided back in a long plait and eyes covered by a pair of goggles he... probably bought, he looked... all-in-all, bored. Understandable and expected, but did no good for Jet's slowly evening tally of whether it was a good idea for Vihaan to come. Even if he regretted it, though, it was far too late for them to turn back, now.

Made even more so when the wind picked up under Jet's wings. As a test, he flapped down gently, a thrill of anticipation filling his veins as he met resistance. A slow grin spread across his face as the air ran through his feathers, brushing phantom fingers between the layers and pushing him up.

Jet shrugged off the pressure, instead drawing his wings in and up and allowing himself to fall. Like a tornado, the music of the wind rushed in his ears, snapping at his eyes where rapid blinking from the blue-tinted nictitating membrane barely kept the pain at bay. Clawed hands formed by the sharp of the air snagged his wings, scratching and tearing at anything they could get to.

Then everything stopped.

The wind cooled and calmed. Jet's feathers settled back onto his wings, and tears stopped building in his eyes.

Jet snapped his wings open, plagiopatagium protesting from where it grew taught along the skin of his back. For just a moment, Jet was allowed to hover before gravity took over again and he tilted forward to resume gliding. He glanced over his shoulder just long enough to make sure Vihaan followed and made it through the turbulent air. Though the wyvern looked perturbed and slightly annoyed, it seemed to be putting up with everything well, all things considered.

Jet glided on the slipstream of the manta carefully, Vihaan following with a muttered "Could have just flown up front."

Jet pretended not to hear that, instead focusing on the looming shape in front of them and where to land. The manta carrying Amethyst City was a big one—probably older than most others, too. As such, the city sprawled in vibrant colors and sharp buildings in front of them, too big to take in at once. But that wasn't what he was trying to look for.

His eyes focused in on the flexible wooden plates lining the tail of the manta. Each plank was segmented slightly and numbered with white hashmarks, clearly labeled to prevent fliers from running into each other. Jet pulled up slightly, drawing his wings under himself to attempt to hover in the still air of the manta's slipstream. Dyed violet wings caught his attention, almost impossible to miss against the grey uniform of the marshaler flagging him down.

Permission to land granted.

Jet held his position as well as he could, letting himself drop slowly. Just gliding in and landing as he usually would would be impossible without hitting someone else; dropping slowly, though more tiresome and far slower, didn't leave his wings over the half-wall of the landing space. And just in case, he allowed himself to simply touch down instead of dropping. His wings splayed and set down onto the wood to balance the rest of him.

Almost immediately after he hit the wood of the landing pad, he was ushered off onto the path to make room for the sailor's wyvern, who obviously had far less consideration than Jet. It dropped down immediately, claws digging into the wood and wings very nearly clipping the marshaler. It stayed just long enough for Vihaan to dismount and remove his (and Jet's) luggage before its recall training kicked in and it shoved off from the landing pad with a squeal-hiss. Jet's ears flicked, simultaneously ridding themselves of the phantom feeling of wind slapping him in the face and blocking the greater sound from the wyvern.

Vihaan scoffed, but didn't linger, taking Jet's arm in his and dragging them both into the city.
 
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Gray & Lan & Lev
Located on the docks - Interacting with: Riku ( Dawnstar Dawnstar )


Gray clicked his pen one last time before placing it back on the dashboard where it usually—in fact, always—lay when out of use. “There’s no need to yell,” he grumbled. “I need to grab a couple things anyway.”

"Sorry, sorry. All ready to go and urm do..? Whatever we're doing sir. Sirs!"

“Supply run,” he answered Riku as he turned to grab his coat off the door hanger (he’d put it there in case he ever needed to leave the ship quickly and couldn’t go searching for a wing-cover) and started tugging it on. “I’ve got things to sell, Lan’s got things to buy,” speaking of which… “I’ll grab Lev while I’m collecting everything.”

Without waiting for Lan’s inevitable protest at being left alone with the kid, he slipped out of the room and down to the hall where he immediately had to stop himself before running face-first into the phoenix in question (Skies, why did he have to be so quiet). The uneasy thought that maybe he was listening in on their conversation crossed Gray’s mind. Not that there was anything particularly important he could’ve gleaned from it, but it made him nervous nonetheless.

Still, either way he had to talk to him. Even if he had no clue what to say.

Gray landed on, “um, hey.”

“Hi” Levin replied, with no tone nor expression to indicate any intent behind the word other than to reply.

For a moment, they stood in silence.

“We’re going out for a bit.”

“Oh, have a nice trip.“ Levin nodded as he spoke. A gesture to further indicate his well wishes.

Gray regretted bringing him onto the ship exponentially more every day. “Actually we wanted to bring you with…?”

The younger paused once again. No expression passed over his features, but he was probably thinking about something. Probably.

“Where?“

“...Outside?”

Another pause.

“You go outside?”

“Y-yes.”

Lev took a moment to look the other up and down, finally a slight tinge of disbelief tugged at the corners of his mouth and eyes. A slight change, but one of the only ones that had been made through the entire conversation.

Gray coughed into his hand, more to have an excuse not to look at Lev’s face than for any actual need to. “I’m not that pale, am I?”

“Would it be polite to answer that honestly?“ Mismatched eyes narrowed in thought.
“No. Where are we going outside?“ An answer, followed by a sudden change in topic.

“Supply run.”

“Grocery shopping? I don’t need anything, you can go without me.“

Another hand-cough. “I— well, that’s not really… We just don’t know you that well and you’ve only been on this ship for a week and… I would prefer if you weren’t left alone on my ship right now?”

“Oh. Okay. Are we going to pick up medicine for that cough too? Is that why you’re so pale? What kingdom are we in right now? Some of them don’t believe in medicine. “

Gray was pretty sure his soul was slowly worming its way out of his body. “Uhhh… suuuuuure. And it’s Amethyst. And I am… reasonably certain they believe in medicine. Not— not that that matters. Because I don’t think I need medicine right now. At all.” He paused. “Or generally ever, really. Y’know, phoenix…ness. And all that.”

“Ok. You should get medicine anyways though. I don’t want to catch whatever,” Lev paused, and with a neutral voice and expression gestured to Gray’s entire body, “that is.”
Promptly after saying this he turned heel to walk to the deck, the small steps and quiet movement more reminiscent of a wandering ghost than a material person.

Gray stood for a long moment after he left silently processing what he was pretty sure was the second conversation he’d had with this person ever. Despite having had him on the ship for a week.

…What did ‘whatever that is’ mean?

He didn’t dwell on it too long, instead letting other worries flit around his head like lame-winged ducks flying in circles as he headed to the laboratory and unceremoniously dumped half the contents of his work-table into a backpack (sure, they were pesticides, but he knew the bottles would survive far worse). With that, Gray headed back up to join the others.

~}{~​

Lan watched the door to the underside of the ship open twice. Once for the guy who’s name he forgot (fuck. Shit. How was he gonna ask now? It’s been a week already—) who closed the door very carefully behind himself.

Then it opened for Gray. Like a middle aged uncle’s corpse emerging from its tomb.

“Why do you take so fuckin’ long doing everything?“ As if to emphasize the time he had spent waiting, he crossed both arms and tapped one foot impatiently.

He sighed, still in the process of shouldering (and struggling with) his now significantly heavier backpack. “I can’t imagine I took that much time.”

“Maybe get a better imagination then,” with the empty bag for groceries (really, it was a glorified potato sack at this point) thrown over his shoulder; he hopped off the edge of the ship and waited to help the others down.
 
Hale- - - BittyBobcat BittyBobcat Tapfic Tapfic Dawnstar Dawnstar - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hale sucked a breath in through clenched teeth, ducking to the side into a darkened alley as a group of merchants rounded a corner ahead of her on the street. They hadn’t seen her, she assured herself, as their amicable chatting and laughing amongst themselves continued and in time they passed her retreat.

Her wings were too big to feasibly hide, and there really was only so much the grime she had allowed to build up could do to disguise the colors stubbornly glaring off of her wingtips. At least, she told herself the neglect to the care of her feathers was strategic. The truth was she could barely bring herself to look at them most days. That flash of color out of the corner of her eyes was an ever present reminder of what she was now. What she’d always been.

Hale growled under her breath, grinding the heel of a hand into her forehead. How could she have been so stupid? She’d actually believed she was normal. But she wasn’t. All along she had just been some special, clever little creature deluding itself and playing at being human. She should’ve known. She could’ve hurt someone.

Hale huffed out a sharp breath, forcibly expelling the spiraling thoughts from their course. She’d been down that path plenty of times already. It didn’t lead anywhere.

She pushed out from the alleyway she’d ducked into, wings ruffling in a slight flare before settling as they balanced the sharp turn. She was headed to the aft of the Manta city, skirting the edge of the markets that crowded up close to the docks there. She’d been on her wings for a while now, never touching down long in any one location but for to snatch supplies when the pit in her stomach grew demanding enough to drive her down to whatever Hunter cache she could convince herself was out of the way enough to pose the least threat to her security.

It helped, knowing where the small supply caches were. No one ever left much in there, stale compressed mealworm bars and musty fruit leathers mostly, but it meant she’d been able to whittle down her interactions with other people to nearly nothing. Being able to check the shorthand messages left behind by other hunters was a benefit as well. As far as she’d seen no one was looking for her yet, which meant her father hadn’t spoken of what had happened. She couldn’t fault him for it. She’d probably be trying to forget she ever existed if she was in his shoes.

But her last bit of sparrowhare jerky had run out, and she was never one to be able to talk her way into getting what she wanted, so she was left with stooping to this- gambling on the hectic nature of the busy docks of Amethyst being enough for her to get away with snagging what she needed from some unsuspecting keeper of a market stall.

A gentle breeze of warm air swept into the street from the open area ahead, and Hale quickened her pace, flaring her wings to catch its volume. Another couple quick steps and the draft carried her easily upward. She didn’t stay up long, though, dropping heavily to the roof of one of the dockyard buildings as soon as she’d cleared its edge - some kind of ship servicing business from the look of it.

Keeping in a low crouch so as not to create an obvious dark silhouette, she made her way to the front side of the building, peering over its roofline to see what she’d be working with below. It looked like most of the activity of the day was coming from the pathway that led up from the landing zones back on the tail of the Manta, but there were at least a couple small vessels docked nearby. One of which looked to just now be disembarking its passengers.

Hale almost turned away from the scene, but something about them caught her eye. Maybe it was the way they didn’t quite look like they belonged together - less like a proper crew and more like a group of random acquaintances - that pressed on the nerve that was her Hunter instincts, or maybe it was that the shortest one looked distinctly familiar…

No, she definitely knew him. He’d been at that mining town botch job. The kid hadn’t been their target but they’d had their suspicions and he’d gotten away. Hale straightened with a slight startle, the realization hitting like a jolt to her careful stillness. These people must be-

She’d taken flight before the thought could even process, her wings seeming to act of their own accord as she dropped back down to ground level.

This was a bad idea. This wasn’t even an idea. She’d moved before she’d had a chance to have an idea. She was suddenly paralyzed now that she was down at the edge of the bustle of people, wings pressed back and down to minimize their large size as much as possible. What was she expecting to happen? That she’d walk up to them, say ‘Hello, I too am a creature of strange mythic power,’ and they’d be best buds? Maybe she could back out of the area before anyone noticed her.
 
A R C A D I U S
LOCATION: LAN'S ROOM
MENTIONS:


One month felt like an eternity without a calendar keeping the days from melting into each other like a viscid soup. Sticky, stringy, and inseparable. Coalescing into a giant, clotted mass where its only distinguishing hallmark lay in whether Arcadius slept under roof or sky. A member of a crew turned aimless wanderer after one particularly vicious storm frayed their ship.

His new profession of nomad began long after the dismantling of his group. He was fortunate enough to have landed in a small island, albeit not gentle in the slightest. Suffering from broken bones, a sprained wing, and a near disintegrated prosthetic. Arcadius had been out of commission for a generous string of time dictated by the length of healing marrow and the grace of the island’s inhabitants.

Once settled into one piece again, his first mission—however fruitless the endeavor—was to find his crew. He’d contemplated waiting. In fact, it’d been his very first intention. Surely their reliable captain was searching for them should he have survived the storm, which, of course he had. In all his time under Harrow’s guidance, Arcadius had never seen the man met with a challenge he couldn’t overcome. But as the months stretched into a near year, he thought he ought to make the job easier for his captain by finding him instead.

It wasn’t easier, of course. What with his poor sense of direction and all. The map was whipped from his hands by a strong gust halfway into his travels, but Arcadius remembered every detail of it down to the fiber and sketched himself a new one. However, having a map didn’t exactly make him a wizard of navigation. Evidenced by his eagerness to immediately drop whatever current path he took in favor of sketching a glamorous sight off course.

He made stops whenever the opportunity presented itself. Whether on small, uninhabited islands or in the hulls of ships he’d stealthily carve holes into, stealing food and valuables like vermin until caught and nearly beat within an inch of his life or narrowly escape with added names on his “best not run into them again” list.

Having food and water was great. Necessary, even. But there was just one thing that Arcadius needed more than sustenance, and it just so happened to be the sole thing keeping him in the air. His wing needed a touch-up. The mana that infused it with his bones was depleting and he’d already used his extra stock earlier that week. Needless to say, he was starting to feel a little desperate.

As luck would have it—the sole reason he’d survived thus far—the Kingdom of Amethyst lay in his sights. The docking bay, no less. Filled to the brim with ships surely teeming with valuables, some with some sort of mana he could siphon into his wing.

All he had to do was—his prosthetic went limp.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck!” Arcadius scrambled to reach for it with his arm, holding it upright to catch the wind. He tilts himself down into the ships, gliding towards the first opening his eyes can reach. He’ll either impact the boat and keel into the abyss below or shatter through something and live. Or maybe someone would be gracious enough to catch him, how lovely would that be.

He’s met with a smattering of glass as his body viciously catapults through the window of one of the ships. His prosthetic wing brutally crunches under the impact and as he rolls into the space with eyes closed, he hits his head against the edge of a hard surface, everything going black.
 
Raikarun "Riku"
Located on The Docks (Kingdom of Amethyst) - Interacting with: Gray ( BittyBobcat BittyBobcat ) Lan, Levin ( Tapfic Tapfic ), and Hale ( noil noil )

Riku listened as Gray briefly explained what they were doing. Huh a supply run..? Riku pause for a moment thinking and looking around the ship for a moment - yeah he guessed something like this would need a bunch of supplies like food and parts he guessed - like the mines themselves often needed parts for its machines and rails. Yet as the teen wanted to ask a question he looked and the middle-aged phoenix had already taken his leave into the depths of the ship, just leaving Riku standing there awkwardly.

"...Should I try asking Lan? …Every time I try it looks like he just wants to throw me overboard though.." The young scarab gulped, his eyes darting across in the silence to the scary-owl winged target of his worry. Opting not to draw the ire of 50% of the reason he was alive Riku just decided to keep quiet and wait patiently in the hallway barely moving with hands gently in his pocket looking at the ground to avoid eye contact. Gently with his right hand he ran the very soft red silk sash through his fingers in an attempt to comfort his nerves.

...

A time later the black & white-haired insectoid came onto deck. Riku standing at attention again though defiantely a little more relaxed - he really didn't know much about him either but it seemed like he was new. Least seemed that way since the others didn't seem that close with 'em. "..Uh afternoon Mr Levin-sir." Riku stuttered a little but tried to be greet them - instinctually raising a litle onto his tiptoes trying to raise an extra few inches in height making him about the same height as Lan for the brief few moments as he did so.

As Gray came back onto deck however his attention returned back to the middle aged phoenix who was now hiding his wings, and hauling some kind of bag. Riku tilting his head a little at his movements. Looking a little perplexed at the bag. "Is Mr-Gray okay..? The bag doesn't look that heavy but he seems like he's struggling..?" The boy's own heighted carry load and that of pretty much his whole home perhaps making it a little harder to remember the difficulty of average (or perhaps below-average) strengthen individuals. Still as Gray headed out Felix quickly followed fluttering down from the ship in a very quick buzz of his wings, more to just catch the hair and slow his fall before returning them under his outer elytra.

Moving through the main docking bay and the security guards standing at the entrance way made Riku just go cold and numb. There were a lot of people and they were all soo different, soo new. Everyone was dressed soo differently. Everyone was talking and moving. It was a lot to take in but it didn't so much scare him than leave him a little overwhelmed as he tried to just keep pace alongside Gray and Lan for the moment. His eyes darting back to the bag and the middle-aged pilot. "Gray-sir.. Is that bag really that heavy? ...Do you want me to hel-"

...Riku grabbed and tugged on the back of Gray's sleeve. Assuming he looked back to the boy he was suddenly very pale and taking a few craven steps backwards almost tripping over his own two feet. His eyes fixed on something just a little ahead of the group. A very familiar face, and almost-familiar looking wings. "Makustae ...Stop.. STOP! That. That girl. The one with dark hair, bun.. Black feathers, just ahead by that food stall... Her wings... Remember they were with the hunters who attacked me!? I know it. Their wings are all glowing now... But they were there.. I know they were. They.. . What--what do we..?" Riku's voice was quiet, hushed especially in the crowd but agitated and loud enough the group could hear it. The boy was clearly panicked a little seeing the vulture-born ahead, like a bat caught out in a searchlight. His eyes darting around wondering if there was another way to go, another route out of the docking terminal. The scarab-boy's Elytra splitting as the wings beneath twitched in a pre flight-or-fight reflex encase he has to try and escape. Riku knew though he wouldn't be able to if all the Hunters were here, he only outflew them before because he knew the lands and knew the tighter cliffs - No way he could outpace them in an open place.
 
Lan
Leaving the docks- Interacting with: No one


Lan didn't stick around. As soon as the folks who couldn't spread their wings had been helped off of the ship, he turned heel and wandered off to get the groceries sorted before Gray could complain about him ditching the one who's name he forgot ( In Lan's defense, taking someone on the trip who's name he had forgotten would be incredibly awkward ).

He left so quickly in fact, and with such a single minded drive to get away before Gray could complain about babysitting- he never noticed the approaching girl, Riku's reaction to her, nor the nearly silent sound of distant shattering glass.

Levin
The docks- Mention: Hale noil noil , Gray BittyBobcat BittyBobcat , Riku Dawnstar Dawnstar

Levin, for what it was worth- was exited to be out in about, as shown in his overjoyed and incredibly expressive almost frown of a blank face. He'd never been on the back of a flying manta- as far as he could remember; and wondered absentmindedly if there were places in the city where the heart could be felt beating underfoot.

"..Uh afternoon Mr Levin-sir."


He paused his line of thought to answer.

" It's afternoon already? " Oh, would you look at that. The sun had risen to its highest point and begun to dip already, casting a warm sheen upon the kingdom that brought citizens an travelers alike out of their homes to enjoy the light. Scurrying about like little ants swarming a fallen sweet. Or maybe it was sweet left on purpose, but was it a gift from the insect's bipedal gods; or an offering to the swarm? Was it given by someone who's sanity had begun to rot, or one who knew more than the rest of the world?
These questions were exactly the type to be bouncing around inside the boy's skull at any given moment.

Levin's eyes began to hurt looking at the sheen of sunlight against the ground- shape broken by the moving crowd, so he opted to close one to lessen the glare. When the whole world went dark, he remembered he only had one eye.

When he finally tuned back in to what he had been doing, the ground had gone from the wood of the ship, to the very similar wood of the dock. He must have stepped off at some point. Lan had disappeared, and Riku was tugging against Gray's sleeve.

"Makustae ...Stop.. STOP! That. That girl. The one with dark hair, bun.. Black feathers, just ahead by that food stall... Her wings... Remember they were with the hunters who attacked me!? I know it. Their wings are all glowing now... But they were there.. I know they were. They.. . What--what do we..?"

Mismatched eyes moved up, and sure enough there the possible ex-hunter stood. Though he really couldn't bring himself to worry too much.
She looked scared enough, pressing her wings into herself like a hurt animal that had had tried it's best to shrink away and disappear before the stalking predator could catch sight of it.
If it was an act, then it was an act. The possibility didn't really change Levin's reaction.

He waved to her politely.

Not much else for him to do, except wait for the ship's captain to make a decision ( though he wasn't all too sure it be a wise one considering his stance on letting Levin fix the poorly patched holes in his ship, leaving the boy to sneak around tool in hand, patching things like a reverse tooth fairy. A reverse tooth fairy for boats.).

Except just as soon as he decided to stay quiet, he spoke.

" Probably get a blanket to hide her wings before someone notices. " He answered Riku, still staring at the ( most likely ) ex-hunter.
" If it's not a trap, hunters will start swarming and it'll be hard to sell stuff. "

Blank expression, monotone voice. A casual timbre to the words he spoke. As usual.
 
Jet and Vihaan
Literally everyone, but noil noil in particular

Key:
Arial: Common
Underlined Arial: Tradesign
Average: Valiaek


Jet found that the most—interesting? Mildly irritating? Stressful?—notable thing about those in the floating cities was that they had no regard whatsoever for personal space, wing-clearance, or processing time.

As the number of people who've stepped on the trailing edge of his alula rose from four to five, Jet hissed. It hardly did anything to the crowd, though he got a weird look from a passing group of hummingbird-wings. Jet's ears flattened, the tips brushing against the feathers of his crest as he angled his primaries to point skyward. One would think that wing-clearance, at least would be considered, and though he'd never, the thought of how many people in a row he could bowl over if he just fanned his wings enough to get them away from the path was something of amusement.

"Come now, Love. You can't begrudge them their travel efficiency." Vihaan's voice purred low under the chatter of all else as he guided Jet forward through the endless clouds of other bodies. How he even saw completely escaped Jet. Vihaan was lucky if his head came up to someone else's shoulders.

Jet huffed, clicking his teeth together with a sound much like the swallows that snapped at him for walking too close to their nesting cliff. "I'd not begrudge them anything if they would cease stomping on my wings." Just thinking about it, he fluffed, his spine up to his scalp prickling with his discomfort. His crest bowed before he remembered—only by the clicking of golden chain against his claws—that he was supposed to be keeping himself, as Vihaan put it, "under a wing".

Whatever that meant.

Other than keeping his glamoured necklace parted and wrapped around his hand, instead. Though, Jet was hardly paying enough attention to make sure the two ends of chain didn't meet to reactivate the spell. He was sure they did every now and then, rushing vibrant gold and orange up his feathers before the links parted and the inky blue-black returned.

He turned his attention windward.

The longer they walked, the more of their destination was revealed; the docks.

Well, it was better than looking for information at a bar. Though, Jet didn't think he'd enjoy the docks much more than bars. Both were loud, both were (usually) filled with very rude people.

Either way a bad deal.

Quite abruptly, there was a small, warm hand twining with his and Jet was jerked forward far closer to the ground than he was really prepared for. Both wings splayed out, rising skyward tucked up against his sides to get above the heads of the people Jet really didn't want to hit. One stretched up into open air, but the other caught on something that had electric pain lancing up his feathers.

Honestly, he couldn't tell if he hit the wall or the person he just realized was crouched under the new shadow his feathers formed. With a light flap of his long—too long. Too confined—wings, he pulled Vihaan back, though he knew well that Vi could have probably thrown him should he have wanted.

"Oh—I—I'm sorry. I—you... can't understand me, oh—"

Sometimes, Jet forgot that his native language was functionally dead. He swallowed the creeping thought that they always had a far better grasp of languages than he did—however quickly they forgot them. The uncertainty that rose at even the thought of them.

He shook his head lightly, focusing back in on the person in front of him. It was too bright outside for his eyes to focus enough to see if he actually hit them or not, but his vision wasn't so bad that he didn't catch the fire-gleam of their wings. Oh. That isn't good. The feathers along his neck flattened. He hit—or almost blast his vision—a noble.

"S... er... sāri—sorry," he finally managed.

Vihaan, finally looking back to see Jet's plight, cursed under his breath.
 
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Luca Graymin
Located on the docks - Interacting with: Riku ( Dawnstar Dawnstar ), Levin ( Tapfic Tapfic ), technically Hale ( noil noil ) by extension


Wings and shoulders jostled from every direction. A wall of feathers here, a butterfly wing scarcely avoiding being crushed by the hemming crowd there. There was no escaping people on the docks. With every step came another shove and the circling fear that every next touch would be the one that shifted his jacket an inch too far and revealed two shimmering pairs of organic material worth triple their weight in gold to the masses of merchants surrounding him and, just like that, his four years of freedom would be up all because of some asshat who decided they had to move him out of the way before he had the chance to do it for them—

A shudder ran down his back, but he pressed his wings tightly down before it could travel through them.

It didn't help that now he had three people to keep track of. Lan was enough to worry about by himself with all his tendencies toward conflict, tack on two strangers—one of whom was a literal child—and he didn't even need to consider the chances of something going wrong because he knew it would. It always did.

Speaking of which, he spotted a head shorter than most of the crowd surrounding them bobbing further and further from the group until he lost sight of him altogether.

"Lan," Gray starting, taking a step toward him to try and catch a glimpse around the too-bright wing he'd disappeared behind. "Wait, we should—" aaaaaand he was gone. Of course. "Skies above, an you not handle staying in place for one second," he muttered under his breath, still glaring at the spot where he last saw him.

So he was alone with this. Great.

"Right, well, it looks like Lan's shopping so you two are coming to the market with me." Gray refrained from mentioning that, if Lan had any sense, then they'd be heading to the same market anyway. "And no, Riku, my bag's fine, I'm quite alright carrying it myself. We should—"

And, as if the trip couldn't get any worse, the inevitable next-bad-thing Gray had been expacting came flapping up to them in the form of the hunter that the kid had apparently seen firsthand back at the kingdom. Another shock ran down his back, this time fluttering his wings without his own input (though the motion was mostly suppressed by the bag on his back anyway).

It took no time at all to fall into the all-too-familiar rhythm of fight-or-flight. His life mostly consisted of the latter, after all.

"Alright, okay, fine, we can figure something out. They're probably not going to come after us in a crowd, it would attract too much attention." His eyes darted to the thinnest wall of people regardless, guessing how quickly they could get through on foot. "As long as we stay calm and—" Wings? What did they mean her wings were...

"You've got to be kidding me."

He wasn't. Lo and behold, the hunter's wings were glowing. The shining feathers were hidden beneath a layer of dirt and grime, but there was no denying that they were glowing. "It— it has to be a glamour. And, if it's a glamour, then it's a trap." There was no time to consider the alternative. "Stay close, both of you. We need to find Lan and then we're leaving." He kept the hunter in the corner of his eye as he scanned the crowd, taking the opportunity when someone ran into her to put a few more people's space between them in the hopes of cutting off her line of sight while she was distracted.
 
Hale- - - Dawnstar Dawnstar Tapfic Tapfic ScatheAriiasqDrayceon ScatheAriiasqDrayceon - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Skies. They'd spotted her. Even from this distance that was unmistakably recognition in the kid's eyes, but they weren't immediately running, and one of them was... waving? What was that even. No, this was too weird. There were too many unknowns and unpredictable variables at play here. She needed to get clear and regather whatever sense she'd apparently spontaneously lost.

Hale had taken one hesitant step back, fully intent on fleeing the Manta entirely, when the sky was blotted out by the span of an enormous wing narrowly missing taking her head off as it suddenly splayed over her. She whirled, hissing, to come face to face with what was practically a wall of inky black feathers. Followed back to their source, she met with her natural scowl the gaze of what turned out to be a quite tall person who seemed to be babbling apologetically in some other language.

Her hunter's knife had jumped into her hand almost of its own accord, its familiar weight nestled there in her palm like a comfort. Aside from the clothes on her back, the serrated black blade was the only thing she hadn't lost in that fire. It was the last bit left of her life before, and it was a reassuring presence even when it was sheathed in its place at the base of her spine, but it was probably not the best response to someone who was definitely, now that he'd switched to common speech and she could understand his words, apologizing.

The blade disappeared with a quick flick of her wrist, though the scowl remained firmly in place as Hale glared up at the source of the near collision.

"It's fine, you didn't hit me. I-" she glanced back over her shoulder to where the kid and his companions had been, exasperated to find the crowd between them had converged to break line of sight.
 
Lan
The city- Interacting with: Various NPCs

Someone heavy stepped on his foot.

"Watch it fuck face!" He spat- but whoever the culprit was; it was impossible to tell with the swarming crowds. Pushing and shoving in every which way as Lan was dragged along. This ass-water city really needed to hoist up it's deflated nut sack and get to building some larger roads before Lan pitched a grade-A hissy fit the likes of which was certain to leave a mark on the history of the kingdom.

Deeper into the crowd, until Lan could barely see the road in front of his feet as he walked. Clutching the satchel fastened to his thigh in an effort to prevent any unfortunate spilling of the gold he was supposed to be buying groceries with after Gray caught up and he helped set up shop- wherever the fuck the market square was supposed to be in this overpopulated rat hole.

And then the pushing stopped.
The crowd had led him to and pushed him into the sought after square. Conveniently comprised of an abundance of quaint shops and humble market stalls- some sloppily thrown together with rusted nails and old hardwood- others meticulously carved to catch even the most artistically unappreciative eye. All selling their own niche wares with soft smiles and confident words; regardless of the apparent quality of the product. The little phoenix's eye caught on a stall selling fist sized trinkets and knickknacks.
He wondered briefly if they sold music boxes, but didn't dare actually check.

Closer inspection of one of the merchant posts selling fresh produce had Lan wincing. Sure, the terrain here obviously wasn't the best for farming- but the prices had Lan genuinely wondering how these people afforded groceries in the long run.

To his disappointment, it seemed the solution to combating the steep price for produce for these folks; was upping the price of everything else.

It was great for any sellers wanting to make a quick buck selling their garbage for twice the cost they had paid for it- not so great for anyone looking to stretch their dollar.

If Lan wasn't well aware that they needed to stock up on supplies sooner rather than later (before Gray jumped at the opportunity to skip meals ), he would have suggested selling the fuel here and waiting until they landed at a grounded kingdom to stock up.

But no. Now was not the time for patience. Now was the time for haggling.

Levin
The docks- Interactions: Hale noil noil noil noil , Gray BittyBobcat BittyBobcat BittyBobcat BittyBobcat , Riku Dawnstar Dawnstar Dawnstar Dawnstar

" Was that a knife? " Levin asked offhandedly. He craned his neck to get a better look at whatever situation was unfolding over there- but the crowd blocked his line of sight.

So he stepped forward- and slipped through ( surprisingly easy considering the soft headache looking at the crowd had started to form ) until he was on the other side.

On the other side, the maybe-hunter stood by a very very tall man. His towering height, gangly figure , and dark wings reminiscent of some fabled omen of death.

" Hi," Levin waved at both of them now, realizing he had wandered over with out much thought to what he was actually trying to do. Without any game plan or goal, the boy... shut down more or less. Staring blankly as he waited for his companions to catch up- or for the knife girl to maybe stab him. Or for the omen of death to do something omen-ish.
Maybe the omen was here because the girl was about to stab someone? That would not be great. Unless she stabbed Levin himself maybe- which would defiantly be less than ideal, but not the worst.
 
Raikarun "Riku"
Located on The Docks (Kingdom of Amethyst) - Interacting with: Gray ( BittyBobcat BittyBobcat ), Levin ( Tapfic Tapfic ), and Hale ( noil noil )

"No way. They tried to knab me. Iit's got to be a trick or something." He was not as level headed as Levin was, and there was no way he was going to approach and try and help hide the wings. Yeah did he think Riku was that dumb.

Still... Riku couldn't help but just stand there paralysed with indecision and fear, unsure even where to flee in such a busy and unfamiliar place especially with someone throwing reckless ideas into the mix. They teens eyes darting to the in-theory adults standing bedsides him. Gray quickly responding to the boy's words and adding onto them. Riku's internal anxiety just shot up the boy looking like he'd seen a ghost going pale as both Gray and Levin stated this could be a full ambush with more hunter around. All the color drained from him, and the boy practically needing to use his half-gloved hand to hold his Elyctra down as his body tried to deploy his four wings in his own fight or flight. He did not want that attention.

Even though he was sure that vulture had seen him, Riku immediately trying to hide his smaller-self behind Gray's as he asked for them to stay close. He had no problems with just leaving, going elsewhere where capture and attack was not literally around the corner and staring him in the face. "Wouldn't something like that be super expensive...? They want us that bad..?" Riku gulped wondering how much trouble he was really in. For the scarab boy, the most conflict he'd seen was against a few wild animals and even then rarely he mostly helped out in the forge and mines, he didn't really like going hunting. So like professional bandits with that much wealth was a...He didn't want to think about it.

"How'd they find us? It's been like two weeks hasn't it, I thought we were safe."

Riku's mind was racing but drawing blanks as he followed Gray in trying to weave into the crowd to break line of sight, one of the few times his size was a definite advantage, there being practically no way to see the boy if he really put his mind to it. Riku knew how to use the people of the crowd, how to flow through it and not get spotted even with his brighter attire - only not fully disappeared because he was following Gray. Despite Riku's panic or perhaps because of it his brain was in full defence mode scanning where Hale was, and looking through the crowd scanning everyone looking for more threats, other hunters maybe waiting in the wings to ambush them.

"Crud they're armed.. I.. I think. Looked like a knife or something." Riku muttered just barely loud enough for Gray to hear. The rising panic in his voice as the boy practically tripped over his own two feet and stumbled to the floor in the crowd, scrapping his bandage-wrapped knee against the ground for a second. Ouch.. Riku trying not to draw a having to pick himself back up, looking around to make sure Hale hadn't noticed and suddenly realising something.

As he rushed back to his feet back up to Gray, now confusion had replaced much of the anxiety as he whispered through the noise of the crowd, his head darting around as if looking for something.
"Wwait where's Mr Levin..? Like wasn't he right behind us..? - - -Wait... Is that him.. Oh no. What's he doing?!"
Only now spotting Levin just having ignored the plan and walked straight out to the Hunter, and now some kind of giant and very scary black bird all by himself waving and being just.. friendly. That was a terrible plan!? They're a hunter, you said yourself this place might be swarming with them and we're apparently their prey for some reason, we don't just approach them!
 
Jet and Vihaan
Literally everyone, but noil noil in particular

Key:
Arial: Common
Underlined Arial: Tradesign
Average: Valiaek


Jet's feathers fluffed, heat rising under them and along his neck at his mistake. He flicked both wings once to stabilize before lowering them back to the ground at his sides, standing not unlike a wyvern with the wicked claws that tipped each wing resting against the ground.

As a glare was turned to him, Jet's ears twitched down, not flat, but about as apologetic as he could look while still looking the interesting little—little? They looked kind of little—noble up and down.

"Grimy" was the first word that came to mind, with dirt and dust-covered feathers, and an inconsistent oil-sheen. Jet resisted the urge to say anything about it, instead following the noble's gaze into the crowd. "Searching?" he queried, musical—though heavily accented almost to the point of unintelligibility—voice barely rising above the crowd-chatter.

Vihaan finally appeared out of the cloud of bodies, hissing something Jet didn't catch and probably wasn't in Valiaek, anyway. An ear turned toward Vihaan to show he was listening.

"Not a noble, Jet," Vihaan all-but snapped, twitching—almost bouncing—in place.

Jet cocked his head, then looked back to the noble. The word "grimy" once again wiggled into his brain. He spoke again. "Or running?"
 
Luca Graymin
Located on the docks - Interacting with: Riku ( Dawnstar Dawnstar )


"Wouldn't something like that be super expensive...? They want us that bad..?"


"We are unfortunately very valuable, so yes. They do," Gray answered without stopping to look down at Riku. He was too busy scanning the rest of the crowd for suspicious faces. Anyone gut-wrenchingly familair, anyone who seemed to be walking a bit too closely, anyone who happened to look away just when their eyes met.

"How'd they find us? It's been like two weeks hasn't it, I thought we were safe."

The question plagued him too. They shouldn't have followed them this quickly. The route they took was purposefully winding so there was less chance of being adequately followed and yet here they were. This time he glanced at Riku, silently assessing whether the truth would scare him more than was technically necessary, before giving an absent, "I don't know."

"Crud they're armed.. I.. I think. Looked like a knife or something."

It came as no surprise to hear they were armed. Fortunately, it didn't change Gray's plans at all. His eyes still flicked across the crowd in a fruitless search for Lan.

"Wwait where's Mr Levin..? Like wasn't he right behind us..? - - -Wait... Is that him.. Oh no. What's he doing?!"

That, however, gave him pause. "I- Levin, what are you..." Gray trailed off before Levin was even fully out of his sight. What was it he had just said? Something about getting a blanket to cover the hunter's wings?

"Shit." He turned to Riku, stopping so suddenly that someone rammed into his shoulder and—after grumbling something in a language he didn't udnerstand—disappeared back into the crowd. "Okay, I— I'll go back after him, but while I get Levin I need you to do something for me." He hated doing this. Riku was scarcely more than a stranger and a child on top of that, but he had little other choice. "I need you to find Lan and tell him to go back to the ship. Get him to set it up for takeoff again if you can." What luck Riku would have with that, Gray expected, would be small. It would take far more than the threat of getting caught to make Lan abandon Gray if things went South, but he would have to hope that the fact that he was responsible for a child's safety might make him think twice before going back out after him.
 
Hale- - - ScatheAriiasqDrayceon ScatheAriiasqDrayceon Tapfic Tapfic - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Why was this encounter still going on? It should've ended with the apology accepted, or better yet, not even started at all. People didn't usually stop to apologize for bumping, or in this case almost bumping, someone in a crowded area. And, oh great, now he was trying to start a conversation.

"What? No, I'm not-" She turned her glare onto the tall man's companion who'd appeared out of the crowd to continue the trend of her not understanding what they were saying. Her voice pitched with stress. "I don't- could you both just leave me alone?"

Internally, she cringed at her own words. That had come out in much more of a whine than she was intending. Dad would've cuffed her upside the head for that. 'Just tell them to do what you want, kid, don't whine in your prissy baby voice.' he'd say, 'Orders are the only thing common folk respond to.' Nope. No. She wasn't thinking about him right now.

"Hi," Levin waved at both of them now.

Hale found herself whirling again, this time to face a much smaller (relative to present company anyway) figure who'd cut his way through the crowd. Why did everyone have to be so friendly all of a sudden, was this the friendship Manta? Also, she was pretty sure this guy had been across the way with the bug just a minute ago. Not good.

"Um, hi." Great, her brain had shut off again.
 
Levin
The docks- Interactions: Hale noil noil , Gray BittyBobcat BittyBobcat , Riku Dawnstar Dawnstar , Jet/Vihaan ScatheAriiasqDrayceon ScatheAriiasqDrayceon


"Um, hi."


He had received a greeting in return. This was a good sign. This was a sign that neither of them were dead yet- oh. Wait, on second thought this was a sign that the knife girl was not dead yet. Levin would still be able to process an " um, hi," had he suddenly died standing up.
Maybe.

With a solemn nod in return, he turned back to Gray- and gave a thumbs up.
What this gesture could have meant was unclear. How many guesses would it take the average person to decide that Levin was attempting to offer comfort? Probably a lot, considering. Everything about the situation.

" You're a glitter bug right? " How this girl was supposed to know glitter bug was his personal code for phoenix? Deduction. Context clues. Levin was not going to explain himself, not when he had yet to remember that turn of phrase is used by no one but himself.

" That's cool," he did not wait for an answer, " Is this your mom? "

Levin paused, turned his head towards the spindly figure blotting out a good chunk of the sky in his view, and squinted.

" Oh, probably dad. Maybe," He corrected himself, completely ignorant to the fact he should have just used the term parent since he was unsure. Though considering he had only made the parent comparison for a joke; not saying anything at all would have been optimal.

" Anyways," The boy kept talking, any words that may or may not have been said by the rest of the group going in one ear- doing a loop-d-loop around the sponge that made his brain, and out the other.
" Look, " Levin carefully lifted the leather of his coat, until a single glittering wing peeked out from under the fabric.

" Don't freak out or anything , that would suck- because we still have to grocery shop. We're out of peanuts. Speaking of peanuts, they are in jeopardy. Not the nuts themselves- obviously , but me having them is in jeopardy- because your wings are out and not covered. If hunters show up we have to go before Lan can shop,"
Levin explained the situation calmly. Occasionally nodding to emphasize the fact he agreed with his own points.

" You need a blanket for your wings. Or a cloak. That guy too- but im not sure a blanket that size actually exists, " and then he turned his attention to the tall, still looming figure of death.
" How do you fit on a bed? "
 
Raikarun "Riku"
Located on The Docks (Kingdom of Amethyst) - Interacting with: Gray ( BittyBobcat BittyBobcat )

Riku felt a lump in the back of his throat, and gulped trying to reply to Gray. The older man getting clearly worried and jumpy around this only had the effect of amplifying the anxiety of the teen. Riku's eyes tracking Gray's, tracking the crowd, tracking each individual person.

"Shit. - Okay, I— I'll go back after him, but while I get Levin I need you to do something for me."
The sudden change of plans did little to ease the teen's anxiety. Seeing Hale go off and do something. He couldn't really make out what was being said but.. Well soo many thingws were running through his adolescent head that the reality likely didn't matter.

"I need you to find Lan and tell him to go back to the ship. Get him to set it up for takeoff again if you can."


"Huh.. Uh. Right. Urm. Yeah I'm on it." Riku honestly had no idea where to start looking for Lan, except the fact he went shopping. Yet task received the teen nodded. The anxiety clear on his face yet then straightening himself, pulling on the strap of his Satchell to keep it clear - and then the teen darted into the busy crowd. Despite his fairy bright attire quickly becoming a blur in the busy moving sea of people.
The beatle-boy's anxiety was locked at it's highest setting, checking every face still, checking every movement, and at times practically tripping over his own two feet in the haste but he was gone and quickly on-route to the market. "Find Lan, Find Lan, Come on you can do this." Gray had a plan, not that Riku knew what it was but the illusion of control from someone was enough to keep Riku from fully freaking out as he just focused on quickly and quietly moving through the crowd and trying to find the area of markets Lan went.
 
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Jet and Vihaan
Literally everyone, but noil noil and Tapfic Tapfic in particular

Key:
Arial: Common
Underlined Arial: Tradesign
Average: Valiaek

The... maybe-maybe-not-noble whined something that Jet only caught around two words of, before the crowd shifted and another body emerged.

Oh, oh, there were two, now.

Vihaan and Jet shared a glance at the new appearance, his voice running too fast for either of them to really translate what was being said. Jet, himself caught a few words here and there, namely "bug", something that sounded similar to his language's word for "mother", "peanuts", and "wings".

One of Jet's ears flicked, the blue tip very briefly shimmering gold as it brushed a shadow—not that he noticed.

As it likely appeared to bystanders, Jet was mostly standing in sunlight. Though his wings were black as the night's sky, any who saw the flickering from the glamour still wrapped partially around one of his hands might be inclined to believe that his wings were simply too dull to appear phoenix-colored in light.

Unfortunately for all involved, this is something that has not yet occurred to Jet.

Nor has the idea that all phoenixes had bounties on their heads.

So, in all of his years of wisdom, Jet cocked his head and, in a soft, whispering, almost melodic voice; "...What?"
 
Hale- - - ScatheAriiasqDrayceon ScatheAriiasqDrayceon Tapfic Tapfic - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hale's frown gradually drifted from default angry to something more obviously pinched and confused as the new player opened his mouth to speak and then just. kept. talking. Her mouth opened and closed a couple times to try and answer any of the questions he was firing off in her direction, though it wasn't clear anything was actually getting through as the deluge continued right over anything she tried to say.

"What? No, he- No! You-"

Seriously, was this guy even breathing? Hale gave up on trying to respond with a sharp exhale through her nose. Her eyes did widen slightly as he revealed the glitter of his wings (oh, glitter bug, okay that made sense), confirming her earlier suspicion. At least some of the attention was drawn off of herself by the looming shape behind her, though if everyone didn't back off and give her a second to breathe she was pretty sure she was going to lose it.

"Gods, can you stop talki-" He was still going. "Shut Up!" That... that was a lot louder than she'd wanted to be. Wings had flared out reflexively, feathers ruffled with irritation, and she hastily flattened back out to a less conspicuous position with a gulp.
 
Luca Graymin
Interacting with Hale ( noil noil ), Jet ( ScatheAriiasqDrayceon ScatheAriiasqDrayceon ), Levin ( Tapfic Tapfic )

Gray had no clue what Levin was doing. In fact, if he had to guess, he would say that Levin had no idea what Levin was doing. The complete and utter lack of forethought would've been astounding had he not gathered by now that, at any given moment, the only thought bouncing around Levin's head was what his next nickname for some innocent person or object would be. He didn't even have the redeeming factor of being tall enough to be easily spotted after wanding off.

"Shut Up!"

That helped give a hint to where he was, though, if only due to the company he kept. Gray weaved through the crowd as best he could, hiding behind the flow of people for as long as he could manage until he reached the small group that had begun collecting around the hunter. Skies knew if the cover was actually helping any.

He reached out toward Levin's arm as discreetly as he could, keeping a firm eye on the back of the hunter's head all the while. If she turned to notice him, there was no chance he'd get away before she raised the alarm or pulled out a knife or whatever trap it was they had in store. If I die, Gray thought, Lan's going to kill me.
 
Lan
The city- Interacting with: Various NPCs

panel one.png Unfortunately for Lan's dreams of mastering the art of whittling the steely resolve of various grocers down to mere stub-ish pebbles of it's former glory; Gray didn't seem to be showing up. No Gray meant no stall. No stall meant Lan could not help set up the stall. Lan not helping set up the stall meant Gray inevitably dropping things and possibly breaking his foot. This had never happened before; but the possibility was still there.

Damn slow bastard. When Lan found him he was gonna- he was gonna... Call him a slow bastard. In a very vicious manner. That would show him for dilly-dallying-with-his-dick-out and wasting Lan's time.

" Unclefucker," the little man muttered as he paced, back and forth- bumping shoulders and accidentally kicking shins in the dense crowd until a weary circle had begun to form around him.

TEN. WHOLE. CIRCLES. Back and forth in the small clearing, and still no Gray. Nor Riku, or... that one who's name Lan couldn't remember.
Never-mind the fact it had been roughly five minuets since he left the guy in the first place, the sole adult in charge of dealing with the little super powered beetle boy and monochrome bitch 2.0 and Lan really hadn't been waiting very long at all. That information was not conductive to the boy's righteous anger and thusly would be wholly ignored.

As the inpatient pacing mounted further- growing from ten circles to seventeen; Lan had had enough.
With pouted cheeks and furrowed brows, he turned on his heel hard. And when the colors of the crowd had stopped spinning he stalked back the way he came; fully intent on dragging Gray this way by his ear if the situation escalated as such. Which he certainly would have done, if he hadn't gotten so turned around while walking in circles.

Now looking over the crowd (or- well, through it. He couldn't actually see over it ) he came to the realization he was not quite sure which way he had come from.

Oh.

Oh no.

Now was an amazing time for Lan to remember he had the directional sense of shivering scarecrow left in the field as a frost settled over the once plentiful crop.



Levin
The docks- Interacting with: Jet ScatheAriiasqDrayceon ScatheAriiasqDrayceon , Hale noil noil , Gray BittyBobcat BittyBobcat


"Shut Up!"

Levin paused, thought for a long- hard moment; and very thoughtfully replied.
" Shut what up? "

The shaman like words of wisdom had barely escaped the man's lips before a rather clammy hand touched his arm. Cold and clammy like a corpse- it reminded him of Gray.
When Levin turned, it was; in fact Gray. Well that was a little awkward for him; considering Levin had grabbed onto the hand- and was now holding it in his own in a way that would surely make the man uncomfortable.
Or a way Levin hoped had made the man uncomfortable. Because it was funny.

" Oh, hi; did you bring a blanket? "

Levin swung their intertwined hands back and forth gingerly, like a child rocking in their favorite swing set.
 
Raikarun "Riku"
Location: The Markets (Kingdom of Amethyst) - Interacting with: Lan ( Tapfic Tapfic )

The flow of time certainly felt different in-kind for the super powered beetle boy as well, as found himself equally lost and disoriented trying to quickly travel through this strange city. This was nothing like home. Nothing like anywhere he'd been before. Home was small by comparison, homes in hollowed earth or built of rock and mortar on the edge of a cliff-face, tunnels and walkways all around a central point, it always felt very enclosed and very central with only a few hundred people yet this place just seemed to sprawl. So even in a short few minutes of exploring, darting through and trying to follow the flow of the crowd the poor teen honestly felt like they'd been searching for way way longer.


"Come on, I need to find Lan-rhe. We need to get out of here. Think, think, beetle brain." All Riku had to do was figure out where this market was. Market's were usually busy right, at least the one back home was like the centre of the village and it was the same at the Red Peaks so if he just kept going where it was busiest he might find it. It was a solid plan. The bug boy doing his best to slip quickly and unnoticed through the crowd and thankfully despite Riku's attire being rather distinctive in a bustling city the small teen was hardly noticeable in the noise of the crowd - and the feathers and scales of all the wings.

It felt like an eternity yet was little more than maybe six or seven minutes before the bustling flow of people turned to stalls, the sound of bartering and money being exchanged and a lot of unusual but delicious smells of nearby street food. Riku feeling proud of himself and validating with a fistpump - challenge one completed. Now where is...?

Found him.

Lan despite being easy to miss in the crowd in terms of stature and wingspan... It seemed like a empathetically-similar bubble of cautious avoidance had formed around him. Riku's stomach similarly dropping as he saw Lan. If this was any other situation Riku would not want to disturb him, he could see from here the frustrated body language - the boy's Elytra twitching at the thought of getting yelled at but this was his job to do, duty was duty - and they were all in danger right now. Riku quickly slipping through the crowd and reaching out a partly-gloved hand to Lan nudging his shoulder trying to get his attention in the overwhelming stimulus that was the busy market crowd.

"Pssst. Hey uh... Lan-rhe, I mean Lan-Sir. We urm. Gray told me. We urm.." Stupid just say what you need to! "We need to go back to the ship. Like now! Ran into one of the vulture hunters who was on my tail." Riku trying to keep his voice down to not stand out in the crowd, it was very clear he was spooked more than his standard jumpiness when around Lan - with a wide eyed expression and a paranoid peering around for threats over than the angry man.
"Mr Gray said if one's here more might be around..."
 
Jet and Vihaan
noil noil , BittyBobcat BittyBobcat , and Tapfic Tapfic in particular

Key:
Arial: Common
Underlined Arial: Tradesign
Average: Valiaek

Jet was, quite honestly, not sure what was happening.

What he did know, though, was the Maybe-maybe-not-noble was upset, having shouted something that Jet found vaguely similar to his own language's words for "close", but he didn't quite know how that could be applied to the current situation.

His ears flicked back briefly before popping back up again.

Vihaan, though, knew quite a bit more common than Jet did, and was quietly interpreting the honestly-still-not-that-much that he knew in a murmured voice. It helped.

Movement caught the corner of Jet's eyes, and he immediately snapped his head around to look, finding a wingless(? no; that was a blanket. Why was he hiding?), grimy-looking ghost of a man. His pupils narrowed just a bit at the light-change as Jet looked him up-and-down a couple times.

Flick.

The one who spoke too quickly for comfort had grabbed onto the grimy one's hand, and was, once again, speaking. Jet quirked a brow. He'd forgotten how hard social situations were when he'd just woken up.

He really needed to find a way to stop doing that.
 
Hale- - - Tapfic Tapfic ScatheAriiasqDrayceon ScatheAriiasqDrayceon BittyBobcat BittyBobcat - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Shut what up?"
Hale was stunned into momentary gaping silence, the innocent question effectively knocking her panicky spiral into aggression off its track. She genuinely didn't know how to respond to that. At least her outburst seemed to mostly have done the trick. That or he'd run to the end of his outpouring around the same time regardless of anything she'd said. She glanced back at the original pair who'd stopped her, but they looked as lost as she was and when she looked back, another of the assumed phoenixes had materialized out of the crowd.

Did- did activation make you lose your sense of self-preservation? She knew the beetle had to have told them who she was, else why would they seek her out at all, so why these people were coming to talk to her rather than flying in the opposite direction she couldn't say. Up close the new marks on her wingtips were pretty damning, she had to admit, but from across the market? She hadn't thought she was that obvious.

Hale made the questionable decision to open her mouth again. "Look there's been some kind of mistake. I shouldn't have- I mean, you guys seem to think you know me, or- or something? I should just-"

She pivoted back away from the two, moving to push past the wall of black feathers that had started this whole mess. There was a small clinking sound as the man shifted his weight and a fiery sheen seemed to ripple across his plumage as well, halting her in her tracks. It was gone again before she could really register what she'd seen, but that was... something?
 

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