Azuri

[Siranae]

Hm? The girl angel appeared to be quite shy, as she jumped behind her friend (at least Kai believed it was her friend) at the sight of her. Kai leaned to one side, to get a better view of the frightened angel. You're afraid of me. Or you were just startled. She concluded. Well, I am Mano'Kai, though most call me Kai. She hoped giving a name to herself would make her appear less ominous. Now, addressing the angel's companion, Kai said, I'm looking for a source of water. A lake maybe, or a river will do. Could you point me in the right direction?

[BionicleMandi121]

Iah sidled between Elli and the newcomer, half unfurling his wings to block her from sight. Not that he thought there was much point in doing so, but if it made the younger angel feel better, he might as well. "Unfortunately, I don't know this area very well," he told Mano'kai. "We were just about to leave. My..." He glanced in Elli's direction (it being rather hard to actually see her while she stood behind him) and hoped she'd forgive his use of the word. "...acquaintance here has a friend who's currently occupied in the forest. He seems to be a knowledgeable person, so perhaps he'd know if you asked him." Making sure his wings were still shielding Elli, he turned to face the trees, then looked back. "Would you like to come?"
(Trying to get everyone in the same spot, here.)

Wodahny had to resist the urge to yelp in surprise when she felt someone (or something) touch her leg. She managed--just barely--to stay silent. Glancing down sharply, she was quite startled to find a diminutive figure around her knees. It appeared to be female, and it was playing with her shin guard straps."Um...hi," it said. Shortly afterward it noticed the angel--at least she thought it was looking at the angel--and hid behind her.Wodahny raised an eyebrow.
'"A dwarf?" she wondered. She couldn't think of anything else that would be so short. Glancing from left to right, she noticed the group in front of her had suddenly gotten excited about something. "Bah, I don't know whether to join them or not. If they haven't seen me, I'd rather stay put, but..." She looked at the dwarf again. "They might have seen this thing moving.
(Someone notice her, or have Gil call her over, or something, please. She can't join their new quest if she doesn't know what's going on.)

"Oh, I don't know where it is I'm going either," Kauka happily informed Gareth. "So I can't tell you what I don't know. And really, I'll be fine on my own." She then dropped that thread of conversation altogether and focused on what Evrona and Gilantias were saying. Evrona's last sentence made her perk up again. "Does that mean you won't get rid of me?" she asked gleefully, clapping her hands together. "I won't have to go away? And I'm Kauka," she added, upon realizing everyone else had already introduced themselves to Gil.

[Flora]

"Uh, are you mute?" Inha wondered aloud. "Well, anyway, my name's Inha. I'm a dwarf. Uh. I'm lost."

Wow, Inha. Very smooth. she thought. She noticed what her hands had starting doing in her idle state and quickly stopped. She peeked around Wodahny's leg at the larger group not too far away. "Do you know them? Are you hiding too?" she asked, almost eagerly.

[Eclectric]

Gareth suddenly noticed Wodahny and Inha out of the corner of his eye, and in one quick motion he reached to his sword (which was fastened to the saddle of his horse) and drew it from its sheath, pointing it directly at Wodahny's face and looking her in the eyes.

[BionicleMandi121]

Wodahny rolled her eyes. "No I'm not mute, I only know one of them, yes I am hiding, and- Drat." She'd seen Gareth's abrupt movement. Within seconds, her hand was also on her sword hilt. "Stay behind me, if you're trying not to be seen," she instructed Inha. "I don't know where you came from, but if you're asking me for help, might as well stick around."

Kauka squeaked in surprise when Gareth suddenly drew his sword. "What? What is it?" She looked wildly around before thinking to look in the direction of his sword. Once she had done so, she eventually made out a patch of brown that wasn't quite the same as the wood of the trees, topped by a pale blond head. A gleam of silver armor shone through the gap between the figure's cloak as it reached for a sword. "Oh, a new person!" She waved. "Hi there!"

The mercenary couldn't help but freeze in incredulity. Here she was, in the midst of drawing her weapon, and that...blue-haired girl was greeting her like they'd just happened to meet each other while on a pleasant stroll through a park. She shook off the surprise and slid her sword out, holding it in a manner which showed that she knew how to use her weapon, but wasn't threatening to do so. She also stepped clear of the tree, keeping Inha covered by the right half of her cloak. "Put your sword away and I'll sheath mine," she yelled to Gareth. "I mean no harm. I simply followed him-" she indicated Gil with a jerk of her head. She chose to ignore Kauka simply for lack of anything to say in response.

[Eclectric]

"Stop walking," Gareth said seriously, "Be silent... be still. If you meant no harm you should have shown yourself, instead you hid yourself and now you've been caught. Sheath your sword, slowly, and then drop your belt to the ground, slowly. Once you have done so I will ask Gilantias if you're telling me the truth." Gareth looked like a spring ready to uncoil in an instant, at the slightest tremor or twitch. He looked directly into her eyes, ready to react to a change in the intention in her eyes.

[Flora]

Everything in her mind was telling her not to show herself, not to talk.. but she went against that anyway.
She slowly inched around Wodahny's leg and peeked her small head out.
"Um, sir?" she asked cautiously, "Maybe she didn't show herself because YOU guys might be hostile. Yaknow, since you drew your weapon first and all tha--"
She stared at the sword in awe for a moment, then giggled.
"I could make that better," she muttered.

[Saber Knight]

"Now now, no need for hostilities," Gil said, though his hand subconsciously had fallen to the hilt of the sword at his side. "We're all friends here." Evrona snorted, but kept her mouth shut.

"It's true, I've spoken to the kind woman over there," offered Gil in attempt to get everyone to calm down. "She means no ill will."

--

Arielli, still choosing to remain mute, continued to hide behind Iah.

[BionicleMandi121]

Wodahny didn't sheath her sword. "I'm not putting this away or dropping my belt, thank you very much," she told Gareth. "And might I ask you to stop staring at my face? You won't see anything there; I've been trained." So saying, she walked toward the rest of the group, keeping the sword pointing at the ground. "Weren't you hiding from someone?" she asked Inha. "Whoever it was, they can clearly see you now."

The mermaid was already running over to them. Before Wodahny could react, she'd seized her sword arm and was shaking it vigorously, not seeming to notice the bladed weapon bobbing up and down at her side. "I'm Kauka," she told the bewildered mercenary. "Nice to meet you! What's your name?"

"What is wrong with this girl?!" exclaimed Wodahny, yanking her arm free. "You could have badly injured yourself, you know! This is a sword. Ever heard of one?" she asked scathingly. "They're dangerous."

Kauka beamed at her. "I know!" Wodahny could only shake her head.

(Siranae, a post would be nice...* hint hint* :3)

[Siranae]

(Sorry! Where'd all these new posts come from all of a sudden?! )

After following the two angels into the forest, Kai had observed the following actions in silence. Even as two had drawn their swords, she remained unpreterbed. After all, they weren't aimed at her. She felt it wise to keep her opinions to herself around such potentially hot-headed people. Hm, woods are crowded with people...that horseman likes to say "slowly" a lot...hm? A child?
The voice of reason in the argument had come from a small female figure. Kai was confused to find such a young girl in the midst of all this commotion. But when she took a closer look at her, she realized this was no human, or mermaid out of water. She was a dwarf. Though Kai had never seen one before, she could tell by her stocky appearance. She wished to confront her, but decided to wait until the tension lessened. For now, she stayed with the angels.
But then, despite her previous reasoning, she made a suggestion. Sheathe both your swords. No need to make a fuss about it. She stated.

[Eclectric]

Gareth re-sheathed his sword. "I'd still like to know why you hung around in the shadows. You could have simply walked by, and you could have introduced yourself without hiding. If you were worried about us being aggressive you would have traveled by quietly, rather than making yourselves look suspicious."

[BionicleMandi121]

Trying to keep Kauka from impaling herself on accident, Wodahny shot Gareth a nasty glance. "If you heard mysterious voices in the forest, and decided to go investigate where they were coming from, would you calmly walk straight into the midst of the first group of people you spotted? Particularly if you had no idea if they would attack you on the spot or not?" She snorted, gently shoved the mermaid back a few feet, and sheathed her sword. "In case you haven't noticed, my good sir-" She made the phrase sound as insolent as she could make it. "-Nobody these days walks up to strangers and introduces themselves, out of the blue. Aside from her, anyway, and she's obviously got problems." She pointed her thumb at Kauka.

"I was just trying to be friendly," Kauka pointed out, pouting a little.

"Be friendly after the weapons get stowed, girl." Wodahny returned her attention to Gareth. "I did not bypass you people because, as I said, I was following Gilantias there, and he'd halted close by as well." She looked down at Inha. "You staying in there or are you gonna come all the way out now?"

At that moment, Kauka spotted Iah and Mano'kai. Smiling again, she ran over to them. "More new people!" she announced. "Have you guys come to help Evrona too?" Iah stared at her for several seconds, but didn't speak. (Elli's blocked from Kauka's view.)

"Who's Evrona?" demanded Wodahny. "And how on Azuri did you even reach that conclusion?"

[Siranae]

After her advice had gone unheard, Mano'kai lost interest and avoided the two arguing people. When the strangely happy girl confronted her and the male angel, she could tell she was a mermaid. She had a general sense of her that didn't seem human. I don't know who Evrona is. She answered.

[Flora]

Inha giggled. "That girl was staring at me," she said in something barely above a whisper, arm slightly raised and pointed at Mano'kai.
Then she looked up at the mercenary, a smile dancing on her lips. She had been careful to move along to make sure she wouldn't be left behind. "Do I want to get out? Hm..." she pondered.
"No, I don't think so," she concluded with a smile, "It's nice and warm in here." To emphasize her point, she grabbed the cloak and pulled it around herself like a blanket. "See? Nice and warm."

[Saber Knight]

At the sight of the newcomers, Evrona rolled her eyes. "Great. More people," she said with a grunt. "As if I didn't already have enough morons to deal with..."

Arielli risked a peek from behind Iah and noticed Gilantias. "Gil!" she squeaked, and dashed over to catch her friend in an embrace. After being surprised for a brief moment, Gil patted Elli comfortingly on the shoulder.

I wasn't gone that long," he said with a slight chuckle.

"Ugh... you winged folk are multiplying," muttered Evrona. "And, as much as I hate to interrupt your squabbling, I really don't have time for this. If you've got pent up energy, great. You'll need it later."

"W-what's she talking about, Gil?" Arielli whispered to her companion.

"The good lady over there, Evrona," Gil said, gesturing to the person whom he was referring to and speaking liud enough so that everyone present knew who Evrona was, "has offered us a quest of sorts. I find I am highly interested, and will indeed venture with her for the time being." He turned over to Arielli. "Elli, I'll take you home first."

"N-no."

Gil was surprised. "No?" he repeated questioningly

"I... I want to come with you."