Life Stone

[Suzumibachii]

Suzumi stayed quiet listening to each conversation before nodding to Korius. Readjusting her gloves and gently brushing her finger tips over the gemstones before turning to start walking. Her gaze occasionally wandering to the side of the path as they walked, the fact that they wouldn't be sleeping was not really a bother for her. "Just like old times" She thought to herself remembering all the nights she spent studying instead of resting, of course this would me a little more physical than just reading a book. "Cockatrice..." she mumbled to herself softly as her gaze seemed to distance itself her mind scanning for any information she had on it, almost sure she had read about them in a book before.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Korius merely scoffed a bit upon Leo's complaints about fighting Cockatrice, "You listen to far too many old wives' tales. While it's true that a Cockatrice can petrify its enemies when threatened, it's only the female that can do it. Female Cockatrice lay over 1,000 eggs a year, but only less than 1% are born female. The rest are just angry, flesh-eating males. Agrecia's harvest only yields 2 females turned in a year since no one ever goes near them, in fear of dying, or not having the money to pay for a healing. If you see a large plume on its head, just run away, and I'll take care of it." The rest of the day was fairly quiet. They stopped only to catch something to eat or have a quick rest. As they hiked throughout the night, they merely encountered small creatures that they ended up eating or nothing at all. The distant roars of a dragon rose in the night from a different direction. It was obviously from an extreme distance, but the roar was unlike any that were commonly heard when someone tried to raid a cove or ruin. All of a sudden, a couple hours past high moon, that roar became deafeningly loud. There was a large burst of air that shook the group, and from above came an overcasting shadow. The sky was blackened with the silhouette of an unusually large dragon with a lot of holes in its wings, flying by at a high speed. The dragon disappeared as quickly as it had come. When the moonlight finally lit the lightly forested field, Korius was frozen in place, his heart racing uncontrollably. It took only a few more seconds to control himself, but he managed to cool down. "Let's get moving." The wolf's body language spoke with composure, but the tip of his sword was vibrating violently in the moon light. Inside, Korius knew exactly what flew by them, it was one of the Grand Dragons. Particularly, this one was a Bahamut, a Grand Dragon of Darkness.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Kiana listened as Leo asked Korius about the creatures they were supposed to fight. She felt a little insulted when Leo said that not all of them would be able to tough it out. "You have no idea what I can tough out, buddy." She thought to herself as she returned her attention to Korius as he scoffed and responded to Leo. After that, the rest of the day was uneventful except for catching food and short rests, and she enjoyed the quiet of it. When she heard a roar in the distance, her ears twitched underneath her hood, but she paid it no mind other than that. Later after high moon, there was a deafeningly loud roar and then a burst of air that made her wobble a bit and knocked her hood off her head. When she saw the shadow, she looked up and froze as she watched a dragon fly overhead. In that moment, she was more interested in the dragon than she was afraid of it. She knew that she probably should be afraid of it, but that was as close as she had been to a dragon before. After the dragon had passed, she lowered her gaze from the sky and pulled her hood back up as Korius said they should get moving, starting to walk again.

[tangletail]

Leo stopped when Korius responded, and then sighed, mumbling to himself, “Yes but those statistics aren't always accurate when there are more than one female in a given area, and why kill the females if they get you the profit.” He shook his head, and picked up his original pace once more after spotting a passing adventurer. The stop for rest and something had been a little more than un-eventful for Leo. He had managed to talk one of the adventurer's out of a bit of heavy salt and some seasonings, which was used to preserve his share into rations rather than eating on the one chance they were allowed.

Once it was dry, the meat was then stored into a small pouch filled with a variety of herbs to hide the smell from creatures. This was just an odd habbit he had developed when he was being taught the way of the thief. Starve once, was what he was told, and then survive later.

The rest of the day was almost the same, kept for the roar that plagued the air for a heart beat. Leo's head slowly shifted to the direction it had came from. He had stopped only for a moment to scan the horizon, looking for any landmark of interest before continuing his treck, looking back just once. His thoughts continued to mull over the possibilities of the roar, each time he thought of a dragon he struck it out. Till life decided to confirm his first assumption. The next roar he heard, which sounded much closer than before caused Leo's head to quickly snap in the direction it came from. His eyes spotted the large silhouette in time as it past by. His eyes continued to track it in astonishment after his body dipped down to keep himself from toppling over against the staggering adventurer's. When it finally past over, a bit of worry now ebbed it's way into Leo's mind. “This is not a good sign...” he thought to himself.

[Suzumibachii]

Staying rather quiet as they walked Suzumi couldn't help but smirk at the wolf and his instructions to run and let him take care of it. Not that she doubted his combat prowess, she just though that he just wanted all the fun. The rest of the day passed by rather uneventfully save for the distant roar that sounded deeper and a lot bigger than it should have at the distance  it was at. "It has to be big." she whispered. The sun set and the pathways were illuminated by the light glow of the moon. The relative silence of the night was suddenly shattered by a nearly deafening roar and a blast of air that nearly knocked Suzumi down, her clothing fluttering with the movement of the air as she looked up. Her eyes went wide as she could barely make out the silhouette because of its size, but it was clear that this dragon wasn't a common one, it was too large and the way its wings seemed to have tears and holes in them probably meant it was rather old as well.

[Vosur Aekira]

With the sunrise approaching, the fox-kin girl woke up and tended to her duties rather quickly in the smithy, setting it up quickly and efficiently for her father before she would go get her bow and quiver of arrows to get herself to a training area she set up for herself on the outskirts of town: some standing targets at different distances and a hanging one from a tree. She pulled her bow from off of her back and pulled out one of her arrows, closing her eyes before opening them to look the targets, then she started to fire in rapid succession to the standing targets, hitting all three of the closer targets dead-on, but the last one was off-center. She growled a bit before she went on to the hanging target and started to take aim and fire at that one, intentionally hitting the sides of it to make it spin and wobble while she would run to one side and take aim at it to keep moving while firing, her arrows hitting the target but a couple not sticking due to the offset hits. "Why can't I get this right!?" she growled in frustration, going to the targets to retrieve her arrows. She saw some movement coming from the forest, stopping to take notice that they were Kin. "Adventurers... I wonder what brings them out this way." she spoke to herself.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Korius' nerves didn't calm until sunrise, as they got into the town gate. There was always something calming about farms that would make him forget the Grand Dragon that they missed an encounter with last night. He took a deep intake of the country air, and the smell of fresh soil and crops. The black wolf stopped for a minute to search around until he found spotted the tavern. The town had grown in the last year, and there were more buildings than before. Korius led the group over to the tavern and there were already other adventurers and payday seekers woken up and stretching or lining up at the little registration table out front. "I personally would like to eat first, but we can register first, just the same." He let the group decide to register or eat first. All he wanted to eat was just a quick bite for a burst of energy for the event.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

A little before sunrise Kiana saw the town gate up ahead of them. The dragon they had seen was still on her mind, but not in a bothersome way. When Korius stopped, she stopped behind him and continued on after he started moving again, all the while taking in her surroundings. After they reached the tavern and saw all the adventurers lines up to register, she scanned the crowd, picking out who she thought would survive and who might get severely injured or killed. Upon hearing Korius speak, she turned her attention back to her own group, particularly their leader. "I don't care either way. Something quick might be good." Kiana responded then looked at the other two to see what they thought.

[tangletail]

Leo looked rather ill, mostly due from his own choice of not eating over a day long trek to another town. His mind had lingered on the Dragon's sight, but not for longer than an hour as unease begins to take over the feline's body. He always knew of his own medical risk for not eating, but he also figured that now would be a better time to keep something with him for an emergency. Now when he got to town, food was already the dominant thought. He didn't mind that the meal would have to be quick, he can deal with that. He simply needed the energy provided by a small snack to not fall over from vertigo and get himself killed in the actual hunt.

 
When they entered the tavern, Leo had accidentally bumped into someone, his hands were raised up in an effort to add some form of barrier between the two to lessen the damage. Instead, the results only appeared to be worse, nearly knocking them both over and sending his drink out of his hand. The feline reacted quickly regaining his balance by shuffling his feet underneath him. His tail flicked to the side to make for one more small adjust while he lifted both hands into the air and quickly grasped the pitcher in the air, and made a small adjustment in the containers tilt to keep the contents inside.

“Watch where you are going bloke,” the enraged man growled, taking back his pitcher.

 
Leo, who seemed a bit surprised by the reaction, recoiled quickly by taking a step back. His hands raised in the air as if he didn't want to pick a fight, and quickly stepped away from him with his eyes wide. “Ah, sorry mate! Not feeling to fickle if ye hear me out!”

 
“What ever! Move,” the bumbling drunkard growled, pushing the male out of the way so he could stumble by.

 
Leo, now leaning, on a table watched the man leave the tavern. Once the door closed, he shook his head lightly and tossed a sack of coins to a nearby waitress. “Can I get a sliver of venison and bread,” the male asked politely, but paused for a moment in thought. He then added, “keep the rest.” Once the waiter went away, he took a look back to the door. “Sorry mate, but I am low enough on my dough as is,” he thought to himself, looking back to the waitress who is rejoicing over hearty tip. Satisfied, Leo sauntered up almost uneasily to the registration and signed himself up. Once he was done, he slipped into a table and buried his face into his hands to help ease some of his dizziness.

 
“Can't keep those coins either in case he realizes later. Oh well. Hopefully I won't make an ass out of myself in the hunt like I did just now. Doubt anyone actually saw what really happened.” A few minutes later, he heard a plate click on the table in front of him. He looked up to spot the dish he ordered lying on the wooden surface just ahead of him. Leo slowly started eating while trying to figure out how he is supposed to kill a monster of a chicken with just two daggers.

[Suzumibachii]

Suzumi kept  glancing at the sky after seeing the dragon part of her on edge the other part burning with curiosity. Reaching into the canvas bag slung over her hips and pulling out some vial filled with water. Gulping down some of it she felt a little more energetic than before, but of course just that would not be enough to keep her going for another whole day of trekking. Walking into the tavern she glanced at Korius. "I think a meal before we register is a wiser course of action. Its not like there isnt going to be space by the time we finish eating."

[Vosur Aekira]

Karina curiously followed the adventurers to the tavern and entered in as she looked at the group, going to talk to the tavern owner since she knew him to find out more. She kept her voice down despite the chatter going on in the place, making sure she would bring as little attention to herself as possible, but she ended up getting a grab on her rear from one of the drunken patrons nearby her. Out of instinct, she brought the lower-end of the bladed bow between the legs of the one who grabbed her and she turned to growl at him, her blue eyes having turned red. "If you value any future you have that has children, you will not do that again." she spoke, the patron backing off and the tavern owner having a bit of a laugh before he pats the Fox-Kin girl on the shoulder, attempting to calm her down.

"Tell, you what, Karina, I need to get more metal-ware from your father, think you can have him bring me about 20 goblets, 30 plates, and 40 of forks and knives?" The tavern owner spoke.

"Sure. I'll let Father know on the order." she spoke before she left to go pass the order along.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Korius watched as the others just headed right into the tavern and just followed suit. He went over to the barkeep and asked for a shank of ham, "I'm just looking for a small bite before the Hunt." The berserker leaned his sword against the counter and sat at the bar until one of the waiters came back with a large plate and a full shank portion of ham that was approximately 15 pounds. The ones around him looked at him with faces that said, "Bullshit that's a small bite!" The black wolf picked it up with his one arm and gobbled it up in less than 10 bites. He belched lightly and wiped his mouth before dropping several coins and picking up his sword. Korius exited first and made a left to the little table to register the party. Afterwards, he stood outside to wait for them to come out.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Kiana watched as Leo went off on his own into the tavern and shook her head. After a moment, she followed suit, missing Leo's encounter with the brute. She went to the bar and ordered some meat, though nothing nearly as big as what she observed Korius getting for himself. Paying no mind to how quickly he ate his food, she ate her food just slightly faster then her normal pace since she wanted to get a move on. Once she finished, she thanked the barkeep and left coins on the counter to pay for her meal. She headed out the door after that and went over to Korius to wait for the others.

[tangletail]

Leo had been watching the area around him boredly as he ate. It wasn't long before he noticed yet another drunken man making an attempt to cope a feel off of a woman. Rather than doing anything, he simply decided to watch after spotting the bow slung over her shoulder. When he noticed her sudden out burst of rage, the feline allowed a humored smile to creep upon his maw. continued to eat the rest of his meal. “Black smith's daughter,” he thought to himself his eyes then flickered back to the weapon her back. It appeared as a strange mixture of a dagger and a bow. He also swore he saw a special design that allowed it to be disassembled into two halves.

 
“That...” Leo began in thought, sliding out of his seat and stretching, “just seems like a very impractical weapon. If the sides were bladed, and had cogs to allow it to contort, then I can see it working.” However, he dared not say anything after the display. If he offended her, he would probably have his own notion proven wrong in a heart beat. Without anything said from the feline, he left, glancing over his shoulder to look back to the woman with the odd bow.

[Suzumibachii]

Suzumi made her way into the tavern after most of the others and found a table in a corner before sitting down, the slightly darker atmosphere as well as the wall to her back made her seem calmer. She ordered a rather odd looking salad with some meat, quietly eating it on her own she mentally kept track of each of the people in the party, her eyes glancing around every few minutes to check what each was up to. However upon seeing the incident with the archer and a rather drunk pub-dweller she couldn't help but smile at what had happened but decided no comment was needed as she nodded in the direction before dropping a few coins on the table for payment and making her way to the registration sheet.