The Search For Mana

[Vosur Aekira]

He tried to keep his eyes away from the general direction of the priest, also trying to keep them hidden from his view as they walked, his left hand still keeping hold of the card in hand in case if the priest were to do anything to the others while out of his own sword's reach. Trying to keep a few paces behind the group, he would only speed up his walking if something were to catch his attention, slowing down again when he found out what it was as a false-alarm. Between seeing the priest and having seen the Guild Members before, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos felt uneasy, but then again, he has been for the whole time since they left the Arena. Lazaryos periodically stopped and scanned the trees every time he heard something that resembled rustling leaves. He was very uptight and paranoid. A fight with the Thieves Guild was the last thing that he ever wanted, particularly when they were closing in towards the middle of their territory. Even with the new scythe and powers, the idea of fighting over 1,000 people didn't exactly sit well with him.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember walked along in silence. She kept an eye out for any signs of trouble while remaining aware of where Dante was and what he was doing though she barely ever actually looked at him. When Lazaryos would stop at any sound he heard, she would say what she believed was making the noise (like an animal or a small breeze). She took a hold of the "flawed" diamond that was still hanging around her neck and held it in front of her eyes, examining it for a moment before dropping it back against her chest.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

It took some time, but it finally sunk into Chrono's head that his father's demise was no longer so far away. He had every right to just abandon the group and go hunting the mage. Well, every reason except for the important one: He would be too heavily outnumbered and overpowered to even be able to make a decent effort at attacking his father. It was also for that reason alone that he was steadily getting more and more frustrated, and would likely start a fight if someone gave him any attitude.

[Srgntcuddles]

Dante continued to follow along with the others, noticing Ember glancing at him from time to time. He figured she was just checking him out and would have said something, but now was the time to remain quiet. But everyone was looking at him periodically, so maybe it wasn't her just checking him out. That is unless they were gay...But none the less, his attention was more on Vosur, who still held that card, and not in a matter that he would play with it. Acting up right now would likely get himself in more trouble then he needed. "So...uhm...Where we goin'?"

[Vosur Aekira]

He ended up pulling out the entire deck of non-venom-coated cards, shuffling them about in his hand and yet always keeping one in his main hand to throw at a moment's notice if something were to happen. The idle playing with the cards was intended to be a ruse to those who didn't observe the cards closely to see the sharp metal edges, so far only shown to those who fought alongside him that these were weapons and not gambling cards. He also fiddled with the cards to try to rid his mind of trying to deter any eye-contact towards the priest, also trying to keep his eyes hidden away from him. "The tiger would be our fearless leader. He knows the way." he spoke calmly, stopping the shuffling to press his dark-tinted glasses against his face some more to make sure his irises were covered, then resuming the shuffling again as he turned his head towards Ember, who was holding up a diamond pendant. Something about the center of it made him stop for a moment as he saw the "flaw" for just a split-second, blinking afterwards before he started walking again and slightly shaking his head... trying to shrug off memories flooding back to him.

His mind flashed-back to his and Ruby's last day together while the group was still walking: the two of them closing up the smithy to prepare for another journey for information before they were confronted... then all going black before he heard the death-cry of his beloved along with his own anguished yell. The seconds of torture that passed seemed to last for an eternity to him, the feel of a thousand needles and various poisons of nature entering his body. The creatures chosen weren't strong enough to kill him, though he would've welcomed a quick death compared to what he was left with, the pain made his body react so violently that he escaped the sand-ants' pits. But he was not unscathed, the sheer amount of the poison had changed his hair and tail colors, the scars that were left are now covered by the clothing he wears.

To those around him during this time, he was lost in a daydream while walking, almost bumping into a tree once in a while.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

The next couple days of hiking were done in silence. They were now half-way through the Guild's territory, and tension ran higher and higher. It didn't help, either, that Chrono was getting more and more fumed. As they now were only mere meters from the border of the Guild's inner sanctum, Lazaryos was closer to losing his cool than even Chrono was. It was night, and they set up camp without fire again so as not to attract attention. Lazaryos sat there in his usual meditation position, but he was far into the disturbed sense of mind.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

"We're walking through the Guild's territory and trying to do so without getting into any fights. I would think that that point would be pretty obvious." Ember said, trying not to sound rude, and then she had felt Vosur looking at her but since he didn't look at her too long she didn't say anything about it. She walked along in silence for those next two days, randomly picking up the diamond pendant at times and looking at it before dropping it against her chest again. Now that they were resting for the night, she laid down on the forest floor, not wanting to waste time on having to roll up her sleeping mat in the morning. She stared blankly up at the tree tops.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chono couldn't help but stare in the direction Lazaryos led the group around. He could almost feel his father exerting his will on the two others that stood with him, but he was unsure of how his father would look since it was more than a decade since either came into contact. All he could do was get a rock and quietly sharpen the blade, doing the only thing he could to prevent himself from vainly chasing down his father.

[Srgntcuddles]

When Dante was walking with the others in silence he had been collecting various injuries to himself that were quite visible. Along with bumping into the others periodically from being lost in thought and not even noticing. But it wasn't his fault entirely, he couldn't feel anything so it was hard to tell that he bumped into something or hurt himself. Most of the time he only found out when others mentioned it, or sometimes it would take days for him to notice.

[Vosur Aekira]

Since he was bumping into the priest fairly often, he would mutter a quiet "sorry" each time and making sure his dark-tinted glasses were still secure to his face. Because of having seen that glint of light through Ember's pendant, he would have short flashbacks of the few days leading to his beloved's demise. Each night, he pulled out some of the smoked owl he had made before they got into the territory and nibbled on it a little at a time as he looked up through the trees. Vosur wanted to find someone to help him with this pain he would relive, but the only one that seemed worth talking to was Lazaryos... but the mention of his resolute desire to destroy the Mana didn't exactly help on the situation. He didn't exactly know or relate to the others that well: Ember reminded him of Ruby so she was near-unapproachable without making the name mistake each time, Chrono had his own agenda he was lost in, he did not know Dante that well nor could he look him in the eyes, even with his tinted-glasses on. And so, each night he would look to the stars...

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

The next morning, Lazaryos awoke in the early twilight, he was about to close his eyes again when he heard some sand shifting just within earshot. Lazaryos gripped tighter on the scythe, even though it would never slip off him anyways. He nudged Vosur since he was the closest and whispered, "Wake the others, we have visitors. We're going to have to make a run for it if we are going to make it out of here alive."

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember had slept soundly until an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach had woken her up. She didn't open her eyes but she didn't have to to know what was going on since she heard what Lazaryos whispered. She was thankful that she had woken up on her own because she wouldn't have wanted to react the same way she had when Chrono had woken her up a few days back. That would have got them too much attention too soon. She raised her left hand off of her stomach and lifted her pinky, making a very tiny flame appear on the tip of it and disappear quickly as a sign that she was already awake. She lowered her hand and rested it back on her stomach, waiting in silence for the moment to come where they would have to run for it after the others were woken up.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono was still sitting down, his right hand on the rock and the left hand holding the blade. He was however, dead asleep and pushing the blade further and further into the sand with his own weight. He had fallen asleep shortly before Vosur, only having enough time to lean his head on his shoulder and avoid falling asleep right over the sword. Thankfully, he wasn't snoring, making only a simple matter of pushing him to awake him.

[Srgntcuddles]

Dante had passed out late into the night that night. He was leaned against his cross that was embedded into the ground. Though Dante was a heavy sleeper because more often than not he would go days without sleep, not really feeling the fatigue. Though he does usually get sleep, but the last few days were hectic. It would take a lot of yelling to wake him up at this point. Because he wouldn't be able to wake up any other way other then naturally waking up.