Meeting Up Again

By the time Falabella arrived at the gates, she was walking as fast as she could without being rude to her companion. She had thought about flying there, but thought it would just cause a commotion. *Where is he??*

Looking around almost franticly, she doesn't see him. Tokara was big enough that if he had been there, she would have known. *Is he sitting somewhere?? No... Damn it...* He wasn't there yet. Her excitment falls, "Guess we have to wait a little bit then, figures a blacksmith job would take longer than the leatherworking"

She debated going in search of the blacksmith's, but she would probably get lost on the way and if she missed him there then he may not wait at the gate for her... best to stay put.

Avril had kept up with Falabella and was surprised by how excited she was about meeting back up with Tokara. She then noted her depression when Tokara wasn't there. "I'm sure they won't be too much longer." says Avril trying to soothe Falabella's nerves a bit. She seemed not to really trust that he would come back. Avril walks over and sits on a bench nearby to wait for them.

Avril then thought of something. "I have a bit of a confession to make. I'm not really that good of a fighter, and not really good at healing. I'm a little afraid that I'm going to be a little more of a liability than an asset."

She stands on the bench next to Avril, keeping a look out for Tokara and Sidney. Hearing what Avril says, she thinks carefully before answering, she doesn't want to say the wrong thing.

"I wouldn't worry so much about your experience. Experience is only something you can get with a clean slate, you have to start somewhere. My abilities haven't been tested with anything but training and Tokara, so i doubt mmyself too... My whole goal and desire is to be of use to him, and I'm not sure how much I can do, but I will try, and I wont stop trying. If I fail him, he may leave me again, but I will follow and keep moving forward... if I don't then he may as well have left me to die 20 years ago."

"Our little group has different types of people and abilities, I'm so small people think i'm a joke... which I use to my advantage. Sidney seems to be pretty injured still, and you doubt your skills. Just do what you can and we all will cover eachother's backs when we aren't in our best shape"

Hopefully she was able to help Avril's mood a little, *It was kind of her to see I was sad Tokara wasn't here and try to boost my mood. She's a good girl, just needs to have a victory in battle and she'll feel better about herself*

What Falabella had said boosted her spirits a little until she remembered the last two times, the only two times she had fought. "I just can't get it out of my head that the first time I fought I was completely defeated and was saved at the last minute by a couple of guards. Because of that I had to go to the Hospital. The next, and last time I fought I was disarmed almost instantly and got saved from harm by Sidney. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Sidney bluffed his way out of having to fight them and even got them to drop their weapons!"

Avril then thought for a little. It wasn't necessarily her skill she was worried about. It was her composure in battle.

"If you were alone, it's no wonder you were defeated" Pointing at Avril's bow and quiver of arrows "You are a long distance fighter and healer... No bandit will stay at a distance for you to shoot them. You need someone to draw their attention and keep them away from you. Big ol' Tokara is our shield... as bad as that sounds, he likes it..."

Falabella thinks about Avril and her abilities... and can understand her unease, but is also jealous over one aspect. "You can heal, even if only a little bit right now... You are more usefull than I am. For the moment, you may not be able to make it alone, but in a group, you are indispensible. Even winning a fight, if someone is hurt too much to move, they are prime bait for more attackers. Because we have you, we will survive better. As you gain experience, you will learn to do it alone and will gain your confidence, but for now, travel with us, or Sidney, and build yourself slowly. Just as it took you a long time to find yourself spiritually and leave your home, it will take a long time to find yourself in your abilities and how to use them properly. I don't want to seem like I know everything... I want you to know your value... and I am jealous of your healing ability and where it can lead you"

As Falabella spoke kindly she made a mental side note. 'It didn't take much time for me to decide to leave. A forced marriage can make that decision for you quickly.' She then responded to Falabella about saying how envious of how she was for her healing abilities. "I'm glad that you're confident in me. I just haven't had a chance to train or spar or anything. Fighting is not for everyone and I haven't had time to see if it is for me or not. Though I would imagine you're right. It'll work out in the end at least."

Seeing Avril's spirit had been slightly restored, or at least hopeful for what she may be able to do oneday, her own spirits lifted a bit. "Maybe when we all get together we can spar with eachother. You can learn fighting a close range fighter light Tokara or Sidney and a long ranged fighter like me"

As she talks, she continues to look around every minute or so, looking for her brother. For all she knew he went chasing some skirt... or got jumped again... She keeps telling herself *he'll come back, give him a little bit more before I debate going in search again... Ok, should I go?... No I can wait, I can wait...*

"If we use dulled weapons it'd be safer... I am not so sure I can do you justice if I don't aim for you properly... Even if I thrown shortened straight branches or twigs, if you get hit, you'd know without actually being stabbed... That might work..." Falabella gets a little lost in thought, both in plans to build Avril's confidence and searching for Tokara.

Avril thought about it for a moment. "I suppose training like that would be good for all involved." She then rubbed her chin a little. It really was close range training she needed the most, though come to think of it she never had faced anyone that was a ranged fighter. It appeared as though Falabella was worrying about Tokara again. She would try to cheer her up again, but even she was starting to wonder what was taking the boys so long to show up. "I would imagine that they will show up any time now." Falabella could probably tell that Avril was a little concerned now too. After all, worry is an emotion that tends to spread.

Tokara was walking in the streets people staring at him as he walked by with a 9 foot sword. His shirt under the chest armor was stained a bit with blood. He looked down as he walked towards the east gate. “Great now my shirt is stained. Blood is always hard to remove.” He wasn’t looking around for the girl because it would be easier to see him. Even if he did find them they wouldn’t see the cuts under the armor. He stopped in the middle of the street and wondered where everyone was.

“Where was the place we were going to meet them again?” he asked himself this as he remembered the shot glaidus told them of. “Maybe she might see me and follow me in.” then it struck him he had no clue where the shop was. He was about 400 feet from where the girls were sitting, talk about not being observe.

Even though Sidney had left a little bit after Tokara had, it had been easy to follow him. Tokara towered over most of the people on the streets and then throw in the giant sword on his back it made it even easier. It was funny how people were just stopping and staring at Tokara and it made it a little more difficult for Sid to make his way through the streets after him. What it did do though, was take some of the attention away from Sid who was walking in just his shirt, stockings and underwear still. Some people still noticed though and he heard an occasional laugh and 'what is wrong with that guy?'

By the time that Tokara had stopped Sidney has closed the gap a little, but was still struggling to get through the crowd without dropping any of what he was carrying. Tokara might be easy to spot, but Sidney is probably not so easy to see as he is further away from them than Tokara is, and he is working his way through the crowd.

"TOKARA!" Falabella jumps and runs to him, with a little help from her wings making her faster, she makes it over the distance quicker than was normally possible. Half way to him she notices the blood on his shirt and her speed increases even more. "What happened? Does it hurt? Are you ok? I should have gone with you!" Practically stripping him in the street, she tries to remove his armor and shirt to find the wounds that are still bleeding slightly. She grabs a bandage and wedges herself under his armor since she couldn't remove it from her height. She finds two slashes *Thank god they weren't that bad, nice clean cuts... that was a sharp blade* She puts one bandage on each slash and another bandage to wrap around his abdominal area holding them in place.

Noticing Sidney, due to his still pantlessness, she forgets her worry over Tokara and is filled with a much different emotion. "... Sidney... What. Happened???" Falabella is not pleased. Her appearance was going almost deamonic, the look in her eyes promised retribution, her wings twitching slightly with barely suppressed emotions. She had left him with Sidney to watch him, there had better be a good reason for this.

Avril stayed seated on the bench as she watched what could pass for a comedy act unfold in front of her. Originally she had been going to give Sidney his chaps but for now she decided to stay clear of Falabella. It was funny how much Falabella's mood could change one second to the next. She did have to admit to herself though, she was curious as to how Tokara got hurt. If Sidney had been watching after him he had not done a good job because there did not appear to be any fresh wounds on Sidney at all.

Tokara with great big sign of annoyance just feel the magnet zip to him. Falabella was already barking at him because of the blood and because of her small stature she was able to reach the cuts under the armor. This made him just ignore everything she was saying, To him she was just going bla bla bla bla blaaaa. So when she turned her attention to Sidney, tokara removed her from his path physically and planted her in front of Sidney. “Deal with her I going to outfitters. You fill the nitty gritty info. Avril is over there I see.”

Tokara said this as he noticed the direction falabella came from. He would wave to her signaling hello. He did not really want to listen to his sister gripe about small flesh wounds. His presence parted the crowd because of his big sword, it wasn’t often they saw a war sword user. “you can all tag along we would get out of here sooner.” Saying that made it sound like him and Sidney was done first. But in truth tokara was the slowest of every one.

Even when Falabella expressed her anger with Sidney his facial expression remained static, expressionless. His mind was moving quickly though he seemed to be in a state of stupor for a few second. 'Falabella. Quick to change emotions. Wears emotions on her sleeve. Tokara. Runs into fights unwittingly. Seems to avoid any difficult conversations. Passes responsibility on to those around him. Avril. Sits back and watches. Seems to be a follower more than anything else, especially after having seen her fight.' Sid finished his brief analysis on everyone inside his head.

None of them really seemed like they would make good leaders. Sidney was not exactly someone that would make a great leader either, or at least so he thought, but he imagined he would be better than anyone else as the leader or tactician of the group. He keeps that thought inside for now, as he still has an enraged Falabella to deal with.

"He's the one that wanted to spar in the Blacksmith's and the blacksmith took him up on it. How was I to know that; A. The Blacksmith was a former general in the countries forces and that B. Tokara would be crazy enough to accept the challenge. As it was I was in the process of cooling the metal for our equipment and then making his sword. If I had left the gear I would have missed the proper point to smith it and it likely would have been unfinished. I would have had to re-work the metal which would have made it brittle."

"Anyways, here are your needles, had to make them from railroad spikes that I made with a mold." he says as he hands the needles over to Falabella. "I would appreciate it if you didn't stab me with these after I give them to you." says Sidney matter-of-factly. He then listens to what Tokara had said. "Wait a second Tokara, I have to get my pants on and then I'll be right with you." as Sidney finishes saying this he starts to walk over to Avril.

(Tactician as there is no symbol for it)

Having been so angry at Sidney, she was barely aware when Tokara said he was leaving again, but she heard it and it didn't help Sidney's situation. It had made her more upset that he would leave... poor Sidney getting the wrath of this tiny bundle of fire.

Sidney's explanation made sense though... She sighs... *that is way too like him... ugh* Deflated now that she realized it was all Tokara's doing, "... Sorry... He's an idiot... All sorts of bad thoughts were going through my head waiting. Was he jumped again, or worse... was he in some harlet house again..."

Finally seeing her needles, she squeaks with surprise and joy. "All Right! Nicely done! I'd give you a hug... but you're not wearing pants..." She smiles up at Sidney, "Thank you so much!"

She weaves the 10 needles into the leather straps on the lower back and front of her corset. "Do you still have the wooden shafts from the arrows?... Wait... TOKARA! How Dare You Leave Me Again!" She runs after him, toward the store he seemed to be headed to. *Leave me... I dare you*

Avril continued watching the show. It surprised her that Sidney didn't show much emotion in the situation when confronted by Falabella who seemed to be all emotion. She watched as Tokara walked off and then Falabella followed her. She then saw the pantless Sidney walk up to her. "Here you go." she says as she hands him his chaps. "I hope you like them." she then gets up and starts following after Falabella and Tokara. She couldn't help but notice how crazy the whole group was. She was happy to be in a group, but wondered if the group could survive a real battle.

Sid accepted Falabella's apology and then watched as she ran off after Tokara. He then took the Highwater chaps that Avril had made for him. "Thanks, you did a great job on all of the leather gear." He turns his back for a second and puts one of his legs into the chaps, he turns around to put the other in and sees he is getting left behind. "Hey! Wait for me!" he yells as he starts trying to catch up while putting on his pants while holding the arrow shafts and daggers. It truly must be a comical sight for all of the city residents passing by.

(Topic exit, just noting everyone has exited.)