RP: 5th Fleet [Chapter Seven] We're Not In Yamatai Anymore...

Deciding to wake from her nap Freyja heard the guards comments about kuro and muttered to herself 'no way I'm living up to that' and lay back down content to let time slip by before interogating drunken guards later in the pub

The veteran guard's expression darkened the moment Yuzuki asked, his voice deepening as he replied.

"Wyrd's Wald," he flatly replied. "That place is Fey, that it is. We're only able to log as we please due to our cold steel and numbers, but even then, always at the very edge. Only the brave or foolish ever dare venture there, and we were too weak to stop her flight." As though he were ashamed, the guard pulled down his visor as he looked away from them, the others obediently following suite as his pose stiffened to rigid attention. Despite this, they could all still see a wry smile spread across his lips as Dimitri asked him one last thing. "You still have hope for her?" The guardsman gave a short, mirthless laugh. "Maybe there's hope left, if all of you are as lively as she is. North, you'll find the heart of The Feuerreich and the heart of human civilization. Though, that is assuming you leave the forest; there, you'll find all sorts of beings not natural, but with the elves being the most wicked and fairest of them all."

"Sounds about right," Sif offhandedly commented. She then jumped up onto Dimitri's lap, comically grabbing the comparatively huge implement. "Mush." As Coco giggled at the foreign word, the soldiers looked on, their composure breaking.

"That's not a doll?!" At the crack of the whip, the tired, weary, sole surviving horse they had left brought their carriage past the open mouthed guards and into the logging town itself. Only to fall asleep right where it stood the moment they found a place for their wagon. The horse. He was done. Over with. Kaput. There would be no more from him anytime soon given that longest night.

"Everyone. Let's get ready for a trip into the woods, and to find out just what our friend was up to," Sif steeled herself. "And very good observation Aya. Rin. You two are making for a very good couple. I hope you all are starting to realize just how important those little ones are - if you look, they're everywhere. Out of sight if their job lets them be," the Mini-Neko pointed out. Adelaide however, only heard the first part, and was aghast.

"B-but! Your friend, he has some sort of ailment!" she almost cried out, hand red with his blood. Having reached into her bosom and producing a handkerchief, the princess desperately fought to staunch the bleeding. By pressing said handkerchief into Masato's face of course. The Mini-Neko simply held up both her hands into the air - whatever the gods of this world decided for Masato would have to do. He simply no longer mattered in face of what she had on her mind, and relentlessly lead the way, the corner of her mouth ominously twitching into a smile. The moment the door was knocked open, the tiniest figure at the forefront casting the largest shadow, the entirety of the squad could not unsee the utter chaos that lay ahead of them.

The tavern? What they saw was the remains of a party to end all parties.

Half eaten food lay strewn across the tables and floor, mixed into the hay that covered the stones alongside stale ale and mead. The barrels that once held them were all clearly empty, and - what had to be a dwarf - had one as his sole garment as he sat slumped over on the floor, eyes closed and still as death. Articles of clothing could be seen hanging from above, having been tossed high and catching on the wooden beams of the tavern. And then there were the bodies. Scattered all around, some on tables, on the floor, and one somehow hung from his underwear up high, the place looked like some twisted battlefield. Fortunately for them all, they were not indecent. Kobolds were working in the background, walking under tables to clean up the mess, carrying people away on stretchers, and even trying to get the man down from the ceiling by hopping onto each other's shoulders and poking him with a broomstick. As the moans of the patrons who remained could be heard all around like the voices of the damned, a single tavern maid quickly approached them.

Though bags were under her eyes, the fiery redhead - literally, with flames upon her head like long, flowing hair - she approached them with what dignity she could muster. While tightening the crisscrossing cords at the front of her dress with flushed cheeks.

"My apologies, but I am ashamed to admit that we are unlikely to be open this Donner's Tag today." Behind her, a bard in nothing but a shirt worn as trousers could be heard moaning.

"My...magnum opus. My Hauptwerk. Is complete." With his fading words, the papers in his hand spilled to the ground as a fellow bard wailed to the gods, arms raised up to the heavens in lament. The tavern maid's cheek and fiery eyebrow twitched ever so slightly in annoyance.

"Our rooms are...messy. Some beyond that. And our larders are certainly nothing but scraps. I'm very sorry," she bowed, either unaware or no longer concerned with the immodesty of her action out of sheer exhaustion. A small sigh could be heard at this sight.

"Just like old times," Sif remarked, nodding to herself. "Well, get to it. That tavern maid isn't going to wait for you all day."

Despite this utter bedlam, the squad needed to gather their intel. It was vital they found out more about what happened to Kuroneko. But on top of that, they needed to gather more food and supplies. At the very least, they needed to find a new horse! Otherwise, there would be no pursuit. Especially now that they knew their friend had managed to procure some of her own.

Dimitri looked around the tavern once they had made it, rather surprised at it's condition, it looked like something out of a cartoon, but he knew it was all real, more than he'd have liked to admit. He offered a smile to the tired barmaid when she approached though, despite how exciting it was then, now she looked like an innocent bystander who got swept up into all this mess. "Yeah, we think the one who did this might be one of ours, we're sorry about the mess...can you explain what the person looked like? We also need to know where to get a good horse."

A moment was taken to sober herself at the description of the forest. Yuzuki had in the past night witnessed events that were otherwise impossible with Dimitri's healing, and the fiery assault on the village. To this end the mention of a 'fey' forest brought a small amount of respect to Yuzuki's mind along with a wariness that they might find themselves on the wrong end of some of this worlds more unpleasant examples of magic. Smothering a sigh in her through Yuzuki reminded herself that there were reasons she had occupational hazards, and tried not to feel too bitter about the circumstances.

Making their way toward the tavern Yuzuki cheerfully quipped in response to the Lady's worry, "The only illness he carries is a deep perversion and a fondness for the theatre. That man has without a doubt cultivated the dubious trick that some actors use to implicate a great appreciation for a beautiful woman by bleeding from the nose. As such he suffers more from impure thoughts than anything that threatens his person."

The tavern scene spared Masato any further embarrassment as Yuzuki cast her eyes about with a whistle. With Dimitri taking advantage of the barmaid Yuzuki slipped into the room across the mess picking her way carefully before softly chiding just loud enough for the bards to hear, "The man didn't even preform his greatest work. I don't see how he can rest already."

Aya was pleased at Sif's approval. Maybe, just maybe, she could earn Sif's respect some day - or better yet, be seen as her equal! The resulting reverie lasted roughly until the squad entered the tavern and found themselves confronted with a scene of utter bedlam. Grateful that Dimitri had decided to field questions to the barmaid, she followed Yuzuki's lead as she slowly moved through the tavern. Upon spotting the kobolds attempting to dislodge the patron caught on the ceiling, she wandered over and asked, "Do you want some help with that?"

The moment Dimitri finished speaking to the tavern maid, she leaned in close, eyes narrowed as her eyebrows blazed with fire.

"I figured that much." Just as quickly though, she leaned back, crossing her arms over the neat knot now on her bosom. "Though, it strikes me that none of your company are...as thirsty as she was," the young woman strode around the group as a whole. Looking over them one at a time, she addressed them all at once. "I'm guessing you lot are all looking for her? With how drastically different you are from her, as well as the state my eyes had seen her in, I wonder. Are you really her friends?" the fiery demi-human began to grill them. Hands on her hips, she looked as gloriously beautiful as she appeared angry. With the aura emanating from her, it wasn't hard to imagine the tavern maid doubling for security.

'The tavern maid is wary of you all with your weapons and armor. An amusing start. Though, on the side, I am disappointed you all haven't pressed our companions for more details about this world,' Sif told them. was rather amused by the sudden turn of events. What was supposed to be straight forward info-gathering was slowly turning into a confrontation. But, she'd leave that to the lot of them to handle. It was something new for them to chew on besides just fighting, and if they couldn't even mingle and gather a few clues, what good were they? Turning her attention over though, she listened to the conversation on the side. Adelaide had been too busy nursing Masato with her tender hands, but now? Now that she had a moment or two to take in the scene herself? Her breathing had slowly grown heavy and labored, and as Yuzuki explained Masato's 'Illness', the young royal's glasses slowly began to fog up.

"What more do you ask of him, oh Goddess?!?" the remaining bard pleaded with Yuzuki. "He had been taken, over and over again, his vitality drained faster than a keg at the eve of a new year!" Now hearing this on top of it all, cheeks positively glowing red, the princess could only manage to stammer.

"T-this. All this. It's too much. It's, it's...utter d-debauchery. Indecency. It's, it's complete hedonism. I - I, uh, is this heresy even?" Her last words faint, Adelaide panted as she nervously looked about, finally glancing at Masato before falling. The smallest scream of terror escaped their smallest member as she was then crushed under the bespectacled brunette's mountains.

"Gotcha!" Coco cheered, the little handmaid having caught Adelaide's head, and nothing else. They could all see Sif's legs sticking out from under the princess, her little feet somewhere close to Adelaide's chin.

'The lot of you...' they heard Sif's voice in their heads. 'Ugh.' Not too far away however, the Kobolds were frozen where they were, simply staring at Aya.

"You. Pretty blue cat-woman? You helps us? Why?" the one held up at her eye level asked. "Y-you wants something, yes? Just ask - no games. Please, no games!" the mottled brown lizard-creature pleaded with her, dropping the broom and covering itself with its arms. "Psst! Back aways! Back aways!" it hissed at the other Kobold holding it up on its shoulders. Despite her intent, it was clear that they were fearful of her, and wary of the offer of help that she made. There had to be some way to earn their trust. The same went for the tavern maid!

Even here in this town, this safe haven, they were in a pickle!

Dimitri scratched his head at the barmaid's questions, he knew the answers to them, at least back where he came from, it would be more difficult to explain now. The woman's hair was also a bit distracting, at first he had thought her hair was bright and he was a little sleep deprived, but now he was certain her hair was actually fire, and her wondered if it was hot, he also wondered if that's why she doesn't wear pants and instead a long dress, but none of that he'll say out loud. "I know we don't exactly seem like the most trustworthy bunch. But she didn't much look like the type to make enemies did she? If we had a run in with her it'd probably be much like yours, and we'd be more than a couple hours behind her, probably wouldn't have gotten out of bed for a day." Maybe some good humor would show them they were innocent. "Sorry about walking in here fully armed too, we just came from riding all night, forgot to take everything off in the hurry."

Rin surveyed the devastation of what once was a tavern. Clearly they had missed the party, although 'party' was putting it lightly. While she surveyed the damage with some disgust, Rin wondered about the place the guard had mentioned, Wyrd's Wald.

Why would Kuroneko choose to go there? Why would she have left from this little town when she most likely knew the rest of them were looking for her?

Rin approached next to Aya to talk to the kobolds there, but it seemed the little creatures did not like that. Rin pulled back her hood and gestured with open hands to show she held no weapons in them.

"Please, we mean you no harm. We simply wish to find our friend," she said to the kolbolds.

"At the very least I would expect the poor man to preform his opus before a crowd prior perishing! There is no greater tragedy to be found in the world than to have another preform your finest work! A true bard would stand for no less than to be--"

About to go on a long rant about the pride and legacy of a true bard Yuzuki's ears perked up and she trembled, a soft, barely audible ecstatic sound escaping her lips as she heard Sif's cry of despair before the heavy impact of what could only be the Lady Weiss' body on the tavern's floor boards. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Yuzuki brushed at the front of her tunic in an effort to hide a second tremor before saying with a teasing softness, "I'll have to let you off for now..." She squinted in mock scrutiny at both of the exhausted bards and added, "But don't think I'll let this rest!" Turning on her heel in a valiant attempt at normalcy, Yuzuki left the suffering men to their recovery. Instead of tormenting the hung over and exhausted Yuzuki quickly set about lending a helping arm to Coco and, by extension Sif as she carefully lifted the Lady Weiss off of the floor and possibly their beleaguered CO.

Looking to Coco, the Nekovalkyrja smiled softly before suggesting in a hushed tone, "Perhaps we should take our companion back to the wagon to recover, it seems the excitement has been a bit much for her." Motioning to lift one of Adelaide's arms over her shoulders Yuzuki hoped that Coco would do the same. Concurrently with her efforts to lift and transport the incapacitated woman Yuzuki cast her eyes about for any sign Sif's tiny form, wanting to make sure that the mini-Neko didn't end up forgotten on the ground, liable to be swept up or worse...

With a bit of practical thought Yuzuki sent a digital message to her group, "I'll take care of the Lady, the rest of you keep trying to find out what you can."

Hopefully they'd manage to find something out while she set about reviving the noblewoman.

Aya realised belatedly that she must have cut a very strange, suspicious figure. The fact that she essentially just barged in to the (closed) tavern certainly wouldn't have allayed the staff 's fears. At least Rin was trying to salvage the situation. Mentally, she said to her, "I think that we might wanna put down our weapons and try to look less like we're about to engage in a fight."

"S-sorry about that..." Aya backed off from the kobolds, and - flashing an apologetic smile at both the kobolds and the other members of staff - she removed her (sheathed) sword and placed it on the nearest table.

It looked like the tavern maid didn't buy Dimitri's story. But she then shrugged.

"Well, it's none of my business, and I can't stop you all anyways," the woman relented. "She was this high, about as tall as myself,' she gestured, her hand floating at about five feet, give or take a few inches. "And she had long, orange hair with streaks of black - not as orange or bright like an Ifrit's of course," she pointed to herself. "Thinking about it, I would say that it was just like one of those exotic giant cats from the east. A tiger methinks?" she pondered. "Her skin made her stand out too - it was like a drow's. One of their more fair ones, though, that's not saying much. Their skin is always some shade of dark," the barmaid commented. "Of course, she had ears like many of the women with you - just like a cat's, and they'd move at every provocation." She was smiling for a moment, as though remembering something fond. However, the Ifrit's musing mood turned more serious as she placed her hands on her hips, leaning ever so slightly towards Dimitri. "The thing that stood out most though, was her clothing. Tatters. Looked like some monster had tore at her. There was blood, even though all her skin felt as soft as a newborn babe's. I hope you really are her friends. Something's amiss, I tell you," the tavern maid crossed her arms again.

Meanwhile, the progress that Rin and Aya were making was slow, but steady. Seeing Rin remove her hood, and Aya, the Kobolds all looked at each other.

"They. They no whump-whump us?" the one on top of the stack cocked its head.

"Wait, what kind of whump-whump? Fist sandwich? Or...." the one below swallowed apprehensively. "Bed whump-whump?"

"Bleh, humes no like us like that, and we no like them like that!" the one up high hissed down at its companion.

"But, that one! That one! Was whump-whump everyone. Maybe us last but no time?" The two looked at each other, then the two Neko standing before them, and then back at each other. With the simple, cheap clothing they wore, it was clear that they were utterly inhuman, with legs that bent differently, scales that covered every single inch of their body and wide, elongated heads that held jaws lined with small, pointed teeth. In fact, the Star Army soldiers still couldn't tell if they were males or females. Thinking about it, Neko and Kobold alike wondered just what standards Kuroneko had, and on some intuitive level, all decided it was something that their minds were never meant to know. "So. Uh. What want?" The one below talked at the Nekos' belts.

As for Yuzuki?

"Ah, such a cruel mistress you are! If it were not our pleasure to pleasure you, bards such as myself would not stand for such high demands!" the Bard 'lamented' - it was clear he was having plenty of fun, especially given the sheer amount of ham and cheese that he stuffed into his performance. However, it couldn't last forever.

"Oh, that's a great idea," Coco replied to the Neko - they did need to get their princess to someplace where she could awaken proper. However, as the bard took to caring for his friend, and Yuzuki did the same for her own Adelaide, the plain clothed 'mahou shoujo' did the most surprising thing. "Daijōbudayo, it's just two big pieces of cake!" Coco remarked, swiftly but gently moving the young lady so that she could carry her all on her own upon her back. It was a very odd sight, especially considering the two large mountains that she now wore as a hat. And the pair of legs sticking out of them. "I've cared for the Little Miss ever since she was the cutest pea, though she doesn't remember since I only came back recently," she giggled, innocently flashing her gloriously white teeth at Yuzuki in a smile.

'Please...tell me. Tell me you realize how important. That bit is,' Sif's voice echoed in her head, weary and exhausted.

Hefting Adelaide, Coco adorably began her journey towards the doors and out, eyes bright and lips pressed closed in a smiling expression of focus and determination.

Dimitri gave a nod to the bar maid and smiled. "Yes, that sounds like our friend Kuroneko. It seems like she was attacked by and animal while watching camp alone. She has healing magic, but it makes her...well how you saw." He let out a sigh as he looked around the room once more, then he extended his hand towards the maid's for a handshake. "I'm Dimitri by the way, did all her expenses in this get paid for?"

Rendered largely irrelevant by Coco's decision to carry the Lady Weiss on her lonesome, Yuzuki found herself in the unenviable position of hovering near the travelling handmaiden and her charge. Deciding that for the moment Sif's condescending inquiry was best left unaddressed, Yuzuki found herself asking, "Has it been difficult being away from her all this time? Do you sometimes wish that things had stayed as they were?" She didn't really know why she was asking after such sentimental subjects, however some part of her suggested that it was the proper course to follow.

Worst come to worst she could always be more blunt with her selfishness, but for now she'd try to relate to the anomaly that was Coco, and perhaps endear herself enough to be able to better learn just who, or perhaps what they had picked up in that village.

"Uh..." Aya stood there dumbly, slack jawed. I knew she was... adventurous, but not this much. To her credit, she managed to recover in record time. "We're looking for the one who was... um... 'whump-whumping' everyone. Did you see where she went, or at least where you last saw her?" As the blue skinned Neko forced her sheepish smile into a friendly one, she tried to ignore the small part of her mind that had started screaming once the full implications set in. Erasing that knowledge can wait until after we've managed to get a hold of her... "We want to make sure she doesn't cause any more trouble!"

Hopefully that last part would give the kobolds an incentive to help, considering the sheer chaos that Kuroneko had apparently already wreaked.

Though the Ifrit Tavern Maid looked at Dimitri and listened to what he had to say, the moment he reached his hand out to shake, the fiery woman returned the gesture. But didn't let go. Not right away.

"Dimitri huh? Worn, but not too much. Thicker skin, but no calluses. You're not a royal softie, that's for certain, and you've seen some work. Some." Her bright eyes carefully examined his hand, her warm fingers tracing, feeling his fingers and palm. Looking up at him, she snorted back a laugh. "Well, she must have the blessing of a very randy god or goddess then." Letting go, she added, "Yeah, everthing was paid for, out of her own pocket even." The tavern maid shook her head. "By the gods though, I have never. Ever. Seen anyone earn gold and silver that fast before. Not until last night. Ugh." She shook her head, holding a hand up and rubbing one of her temples. "Horrible hangover. Look," the woman began, their gazes locking. "Other than the fact she came here like a storm, messed everything up, emptied our coin purses and left for the forest with some horses she bought - several - I don't think there's anything else that's odd," she told Dimitri. "Sorry. Now, is there anything else you'd like? We still have food. Probably."

Though it seemed things were turning up dry for Dimitri, she was in fact on to something. She said it herself. The maid just didn't know it. Aya and Rin weren't having much luck either though, despite having found what could have been a gold mine.

"N-no, we no see nothing," the Kobold on top of the shoulders of the other nervously replied.

"We no hear nothing, or talk to anybody! Definitely no talk anybody, y-yes!" the ruddy brown one down below added. Two these two Neko soldiers, it was very, very clear. Obvious even. They were being lied straight to their faces. Though, it wasn't out of malice, that was for certain. As the man hung from the rafters by his underwear moaned above, the two Neko thought over this best they could. They just couldn't earn the trust of these two Kobolds at all, and it seemed they hadn't thought of anything that would do the trick! It wasn't like the two Kobolds needed help with anything. After all, they were just servant-slaves who did washing and cleaning. They didn't need help with that, and there wasn't anything that needed the heavy lifting of a Neko.

No, not at all. Not at all. At least Yuzuki was having some luck.

"Huh?" Coco blinked, momentarily stopping to turn and look back at the Neko. Now that she saw them together, Coco alongside the fainted Adelaide, Yuzuki could have sworn that the two could have been family even. Then again, it was all too possible the little girl had matching brown hair and green eyes. It was hard to tell really. It was however, cute, perhaps humorous, to imagine the 'little' sister helping her 'hung over' 'big' sister this way. Not that Yuzuki necessarily thought this all of course. "Oh, definitely! But then I just reminded myself that I don't like changing diapers - it's so gross!" the little girl began. "I did get to come back when she was ten and play with her though, but I had to leave again - there's always so much to do!" As they approached the carriage and the snoring horse, the little girl nimbly leaped up the open carriage's steps and sat the princess down, complete with Sif's exposed little legs sticking up into the air from her place within Adelaide's bosom.

"Teme...." the Mini-Neko's voice wearily, angrily echoed in all their minds. Coco continued on without missing a beat.

"That time, I had to go squish-squish this no-name warlock that found this Glove of Awesome. Everyone just calls it the 'Right Hand of Darkness' though. Laaaame!~" Looking back at Yuzuki, she eagerly leaned forward with a smile, eyes bright in anticipation. "You wanna see it? Adelaide's been Keeping it ever since!"

It seemed some people were more talkative than others.

Dimitri blushed lightly as the woman examined his hand, that wasn't something that happened very frequently and he wasn't used to it. He gave a soft nod at her comments though and thought it over a moment. "You said...she messed everything up? Do you mean she was causing more of a ruckus than just her...urges? Did she say anything, like why she was here or why she was going to the forest?" He was really confused now things weren't adding up well with what Kuroneko should've known.

This time Aya fell silent. She found herself fervently wishing that a crash course in investigation had been included in her training. Well, if I can't think of anything... Aya decided to open a telepathic channel to those members of the squad who could receive it, including Sif. "Okay, I'll admit it: I'm drawing blanks here. I don't wanna keep guessing because I bet the staff don't have the patience for a game of 20 Questions. Anyone got ideas?"

Yuzuki held a polite silence as Coco spoke of her exploits and the explanation of her unfortunately brief time with the Lady Weiss, though there was some happiness in what little she had been able to experience. All the same the relationship between the child and the buxom lady, er... Bastard child? Yuzuki wasn't sure of the Lady Wiess' true stature in the court after what she had recently said and displayed... All the same her immediate attention was drawn to the question, the one that she was fairly certain led to betrayals in epic tales.

Instead of looking to the box, Yuzuki looked to Coco and studied the small woman for a time before saying with a shrug, "While I won't deny that I'm curious as to what is in the box, I really don't feel that I've earned the right to do so. You're it's protector, and it is an important task that you have been given, as such it seems poor form to just go peeking at such things. So I suppose that if you truly feel it is right to show me the contents of the box, I won't reject your gift. However, I by no means feel entitled to seeing it."

As she fell into silence Yuzuki rolled her shoulders once again, glancing at Sif's exposed legs, deciding that she'd free the tiny CO after Coco had made her decision.

"Ugh, didn't I just tell you?" she replied, annoyance and a bit - or a lot - of hangover induced crankiness creeping into her voice. "She didn't do anything bad other than drain the manly essence out of a bunch of the people living here. Along with the coins from their purses." She huffed, her ire rising, her flames fanned brighter and hotter. "Besides the mess, the horrible pounding in my head and our four best horses being bought up in exchange for gold we can't even use yet, I really don't see anything out of place at all!" the Ifrit's voice cracked, reaching its crescendo and breaking with a concussive blast of hellfire. Staring at him, the Tavern Maid realized what she just did and took a deep breath, her fire cooling to something more tolerable. "Really, I just wish she only insisted on taking one horse - we really needed the others. I mean, why would she even need them all?" she questioned, hands on her hips as she stared back at the young man, expecting an answer to her question.

It was, in fact, a very good question. Meanwhile, Coco could only blink-blink in surprise herself.

"E-etto, it's really not all that special or great or dangerous to us to be honest..." her voice ominously trailed off. The illusion broke with a giggle however. "We're just not big enough! Well, except for Adelaide," the little magical girl pointed to the Princess' most 'great inheritance'. "It'd be interested in trying to have her wear it, but she's asleep, so it won't. Even artifacts have standards, and it's no Chikan!" The little girl, now all the more ominous for what she was telling Yuzuki, sweetly smiled, completely unaware of the atmosphere. "And even if it tried, that's no big deal either since it comes off really easy. The thing's still too big to fit right!" she started to snicker. "For an evil artifact of doom, it's total failure!" Coco now giggled with glee. When the little girl finished however, she turned her eyes back on Yuzuki with a more thoughtful gaze. "You know, people usually just think I'm being silly. Even hobgoblins and orcs just tell me to shoo. You're one of the few people that took me seriously." She pulled her wand out and scratched her head with it for a moment. "I think the last person to take me seriously was...that guy from Víteliú? Yeah. He was so nice to me, so I taught him a bunch!"

Should she put the pieces together, the revelation was ground breaking.

Elsewhere however, a member of their group drifted about in a warm, all encompassing abyss. This abyss caressed every inch of her, gently touching, stroking every single inch of her body. And suffocated her. Unable to breathe, Sif remained in darkness, but, she listened. Thought as her mind drifted in and out of dreams and nightmares, her mind hearing their struggles.

'Horses. Why so many horses?' she wondered 'aloud' to them all. 'And. What did those little lizards want? Didn't they want something? To do something?' the little woman pondered, her voice soft and gentle. Thinking about it, this might have been pretty bad for Sif. Given how long she had been in there, who knew how much oxygen she had left?!

Aya picked up Sif's telepathic communications easily enough. Interpreting them, however, was a different matter entirely. Horses...? Aya was far from an expert in matters medieval, but even for her it didn't take long to figure out what it might indicate. Her hunch only hardened once her sensitive ears picked up the tavern maid's comment about taking multiple horses. "Hey, maybe we should go find the stables, if this town has any... I've got a feeling it might point us in the right direction."

It was almost a shot in the dark, but Aya was willing to take it - the longer they spent stumbling around here, the harder it'd be to find Kuroneko!