Hug the Children with your Nuclear Arms

Akaelin was more than grateful to be out of Palomas or whatever the hell it was called. Too much Spanish for his liking. He had never been very good at learning languages. His home had been english speaking, but a lot of people had also spoken French and German. Once he had learned French, he never had been able to grasp the German, save for the work danke, which meant thank you. He couldn't see how Jan could speak so many languages and not get them mixed up.

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Kieran took note of a lot of things. One thing, was Akaelins change of demeanor. His eyes darted around constantly in an almost suspicious manner. Perhaps he was just jumpy from knowing that once more he hadn't killed Yoko. Or was there something more. The wolf started to glance back in his direction, and Kieran quickly lowered his head before Akaelin had a chance to realize that Kieran had been watching him. A lot of people he had met over the years had actually been offended when he had 'dared to look at them with those ugly eyes of his' or something over dramatic like that.

Kitai had once again traded mounts with Quill so she could have a smoother ride and was riding parallel with Arakil. The rest of the guard that had joined them in Salinas spread themselves out throughout the group, but 'Wolfslayer' refused to leave Kitai's side. Quill rode toward the back of the group so she could be on the lookout for anyone coming up from behind or tracking them.

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"Maybe when we have some time during a stop we could train again," Siva said, bouncing happily to Kieran's side. She only came up to a couple inches under Kieran's shoulder and so was easily one of the shortest members in the currently traveling group. "You have a lot of natural talent, but it will take a lot of practice before it's of any use in a real fight."

Since the time when Faorn had been reprimanded by Nathifa, and chewed out--as she put it-- by Akaelin, she had stayed quiet the rest of the time, probably to their relief. Faorn hadn't realized for a time that she was pissing off the alpha and the beta, but ever since then, she had kept her mouth shut, and portrayed a sort of person, that of a mute. She was doing a good job of it, but obviously, anyone could see that she was unhappy. That's what she got for babbling her leader's faces.

'Go bother your hawk Sarian and leave us alone.'

Faorn silently rode on her horse, an Appoloosa with a rich color of brown, and a spotted white flank, that she bought along the way. The Appoloosa was deliberately troubling Faorn, not quite used to her. It would do the opposite that Faorn told it to, and would be as stubborn as a spoiled child who wanted something.

'If you don't have anything intelligent to say, then get out of my space'

Faorn sighed. It would be best for her to stop replaying events, but she couldn't help it. I miss Sai...

(('Hug the Children with your Nuclear Arms' xDD))

((I'll be back my usual time tonight to reply.))

Kieran bit down on his lower lip in an almost nervous manner, playing with the edge of his shirt sleeve. Sivas playful happiness did nothing to calm the tense feeling he got whenever someone drew near. Old habits died hard, and the hybrid was no exception. He didn’t seem very eager for this ‘training’ thing that Siva spoke of, and in truth he really wasn’t. However, he simply kept his eyes trained towards the ground like they usually were. His expression betrayed no hint of his thoughts, and he simply jerked his head in a swift nod to acknowledge the younger girl.

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“Don’t let Akaelin get to you,” Syn said as he grabbed one of Faorns horse’s reigns. “He’s always grumpy to everyone, I’m sure you’re no exception.” He figured that the werewolf was probably missing Sai again, and he wished that she would just let it go. Syn had never been one to cling to things he couldn’t help, though Faorn seemed to do nothing but that.

"Aw, come on Kieran," Siva said when he averted his eyes to the ground rather than look at her. "How are you going to intimidate anybody if you don't look them in the eyes? Think of it this way, you don't even need to fight if your opponent runs away. Unless they're a target...then you do have to fight. But you don't for this. Am I confusing you? I might be confusing myself a bit - it's like asking what came first, the chicken or the egg."

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Quill glanced back once they were a ways out from the inn just inside the border that they had set out from. It seemed to her that every once and awhile she would hear the muted sound of light hoofbeats on soft grass, but when she tasted the air she could smell nothing other than the ordinary wildlife that would exist in a forest like this.

((helping Ares introduce a character))

Intimidate? What was intimidate? Did it hurt? And why would someone run away from him? It wasn’t like he could hurt them or anything. His lack of the meaning of the word was starting to bother him as he tried to figure it out himself. He was almost afraid to ask, since he had always been strictly taught to keep his mouth shut no matter what was on his mind. It was also why - even when he did talk - he didn’t say much, just enough to get his point across.

“What’s an…in-ti-mi…date?” he asked in his usual quite, submissive manner, pronouncing each syllable as if his mouth had trouble forming the word.

"Intimidating someone is scaring someone," Siva explained. "Like if you were in an enemy army you were in a brief moment able to see through a split in the crowd to gaze upon one of your enemies. Say that enemy is Aravos Jetta, covered in other people's blood and giving you an icy stare that seems to stop your very breath. You would much rather turn around and run than fight her."

Kieran couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. The picture Siva described was very...detailed, almost as if she knew from experience. But still, he understood what the girl was saying and he shuddered, though not from the painted image of Jetta. Images of his uncle, people whos names he had never learned, his father, his brother. Kamas, whips, chains, and the faint scent of oranges. He bit down on his tongue, not quite hard enough to taste blood, but still hard enough that it would've hurt had pain been able to register itself in his mind.

Now fully understanding the word, intimidate, he knew he'd never be able to do it. He wasn't frightening in any sort of way, in either appearance of skill. He more than likely wouldn't even be able to bluff his way through. He kept his eyes and face tilted towards the ground. A sickening feeling grew in his stomach, making him want to retch.

"You'd be dead either way though," Siva continued commenting on her story. "You don't have to try to scare anyone when we're fighting, but don't let anyone scare you. When you lose hope you lose the battle. If someone has you in a seemingly hopeless situation, instead of giving up try to take them down with you. The people we're fighting against aren't going to accept surrender as an option. I don't think Jetta's expecting you to charge straight into the middle of the fight either. You can stick closer to the edges."

There were more words and phrases that Kieran didn't comprehend. Hope. Seemingly. Situation. Battle. Giving up. Take then down. Surrender. Hope. Option. Charge.

Hope.

He didn't ask about those words though, just incase he got the same feeling he got from the meaning of intimidate. He took her last sentence as an order, something he was much more used to hearing. He didn't know what she meant by 'sticking close to the edges'. Why were edges sticky?

"Okay," he said, voice barely above a whisper.

"But if you want to fight in the middle of the battle, no one's stopping you," Siva said, sensing that Kieran really didn't know anything at all about battles. "You'd probably die though. Around the edges of the battle there are less people to deal with, so the chances are greater that you would be fighting only one other person. Plus the best fighters go to the middle to deal as much damage as possible."


((lol, kinda stuck. Guess what? All I need to do is screentone and two pages of Arcaeus are done!))

Kierans brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to make sense of what Siva was saying. So far, all he understood was 'You'd probably die though'. Once more, he didn't ask any questions, hoping that Siva would just drop the subject all together.

((Yeah me too. Wanna iscribble?))

((sure, I'll stop toning and get on iscribble))

"I know. That's his personality, I guess." Faorn sighed. "I seem to be getting on everybody's nerves these days. It's just... Aren't leaders supposed to be tactful to their followers so their followers will respect their leaders? But... I don't care."

"I guess I'll have to be rude right back at him." Faorn muttered barely inaudible.

"That's not going to work very well," Birch commented, having overheard the conversation. "Akaelin's not going to tolerate you being rude right back. He can probably count the number of people that he actually likes on one hand and I doubt he'll give you any amount of respect until you show him that you've earned it."

((I actually tried counting the number of people Akaelin likes. So far I got 2. XD Though I might be forgetting someone.))

"There are a lot of different forms of leadership, Faorn," Syn said. "Demonwolf ruled through fear. Sai ruled through understanding." And Akaelin was sort of in the middle. He wasn't as big a dictator as Demonwolf had been, but he wasn't compassionate like Sai.

"I know you miss Sai, but you might want to let it go, at least in public," the wyvern advised. "People might start to get suspicious." If Faorn decided to be rude to Akaelin, the wolf would more than likely rip her tongue out so he wouldn't have to deal with it.

"Yeah, yeah. Fine. Just let it go, and everything might be alright. Might." Faorn said, and took a deep breath. She was uncomfortable with the feeling that Syn was like her counselor. Quite sad indeed. Syn seemed to be the only one that was willing.

"Bad girl!" Faorn scolded the horse, and jerked the reins and kicked the horse's flank as the horse stopped to look at the ground, observing the bugs and such. There truly wasn't much to look at, but if it got Faorn mad, the horse thought it was worth it. The horse whinnied, and then snorted, pawing at the ground.

Faorn groaned. "Come one, stupid horse, we need to get a move on!"

The horse sniffed, and held its head high defiantly.

((xD Akaelin only likes his family. Maybe Syn.... otherwise, I don't think he likes many people. ))

((No, not even Syn. XD Akaelin likes Nathifa and Kitai. Anyone else he either hates or tolerates.))

"See saw," Syn suggested, moving his hands...well...like a see saw. "It tells the horse to drop its head. Loosen up on the reigns a bit, give her her head."

((*looks up at pathetic excuse for a post because has no time for real one*))

"You should treat your horse better," Birch said at Faorn's rough treatment of her mount. "Unless you have the money to go buy another one when you run yours into the ground. Then that means we'd have to stop at another town that wouldn't have a guarantee of having another good horse. But you're a were, so you should be able to walk like most everyone else anyway. Kitai needs to ride on something since she's pregnant."

((so Akaelin doesn't like Rukia or Mshai? They must feel so unloved))

((XD Krigon and I went to the fair today. At the demolition derby, this lady had a seizure on my mom. Literally. She fell on top of my mother and had a seizure.

And Akaelin loves them. He thinks they're crack babies, but he still loves him. I meant like, people in the group at the moment.))

"That's not really rough treatment," Syn commented. They were really only going at a walk, and it wasn't like Faorn was wearing spurs and beating the animal with a crop. Faorns horse seemed to have a habit of fighting against the bit. "What kind of bit are you using?" he asked. "It might be the wrong one. Is is a snaffle? Curb?"

"How do you know junk about horses?" Seff asked curiously, bouncing up beside Syn. "I used to steal and sell them," Syn admitted. "You pick up on things pretty quick doing so."

There were a couple other people on horseback. Arlyn would occasionally hop on, complaining about aching joints. Syn doubted that the wolf was telling the truth. His joints seemed fine. However, he was probably the only member of the group who could actually use the excuse and somewhat get away with it.

((have to go for tonight...but might be on in the wee hours of the morning XD))

Birch shrugged. "I don't really know about horses," he admitted. "All I know is you usually put a saddle and bridle on, hop on, and ride it. I never really use them except for on long trips where I had to travel fast. But I'm not in the guard anymore, so there hasn't really been any need for it. Some people say that it's structured too much like the Society, but you can choose to leave. And there isn't any brainwashing going on. It's actually completely different."

((I probably won't be on. XD I'll be at my little cousins birthday party all day. I'll probably be back at my usual time.))

Syn opened his mouth to respond when a large shadow cast itself over the sun, blocking it from view. Syn squinted and turned his gaze upward at the sillouette of a large dragon, the source of the problem.

Enthea touched down behind the group, four people on her back. There were a few more wing beat sounds, as well as some horse hooves as two gryphons and a unicorn approached from behind. Akaelin remembered when Enthea had said that all of the members of the ministry were fantasy based, but he hadn't thought that she was serious. There was a bit of a haunted look in the dragons dark brown gaze, as if something troubled her deeply. The four people on her back slid down, one stretching her hands up over her head. "I suppose some introductions are in order," Enthea said absentmindedly as she shifted to human form. The two gryphons and unicorn did so as well.

She guestured to one of the gryphons, a man with black and dark brown hair. "Keyl."

The other gryphon was a woman with brown hair that also held blonde and red highlights. "Akiza."

The woman who had stretched her hands over her head, with white hair and jade green eyes. "Inali."

A black haired man who had slid from her back. Icy blue eyes stared past Enthea to Akaelin and he nodded his head. "Draven."

Another man with blonde hair and eyes so dark they were almost black. "Tynan."

The second to last was a happy looking woman with short sandy colored hair and violet eyes. "Journey."

The last was the unicorn - a man with dark coppery hair and olive green eyes. Enthea hesitated a bit and swallowed. "And Jade...Jericho. Jericho, sorry."

((It's just basically Enthea guesturing to everyone and introducing them. XD))

Nathifa nodded to each member of Enthea's group as she introduced them. "It is nice to know that we have more help," she said. "All we can do is hope we can gather enough strength to hinder or halt the end of the world that Hel is trying to make."

Siva crouched down a bit, then sprang upward in a leap that carried her well over the height that she would need to reach to be able to see the newcomers more clearly. One of the people in the group looked vaguely familiar; it was likely that she had seen one of them before due to a couple previous encounters during some of her missions.

"I wasn't treating the horse any differently than you would." Faorn stuck her tongue out at Birch. "You need to kick the flank to go forward, right? That's what Sarian taught me. Plus, I just thought a horse might be okay along the way. When Davyn gets tired, he can ride it. He might need the horse more, because he's a big girly sissy who can't to anything. " The horse's ears twitched, and it whinnied, as if laughing.

Faorn felt hands shoving her roughly. Definitely not an accident. She yelped and lost balance, grasping wildly for the reins. She landed on the ground with a thump. It was Davyn in his human form, glaring at her. He took her spot on the saddle.

"See what I mean?" Faorn grumbled, and changed to her wolf form.