Fire Emblem: Curse of the Goddess [IC/PG-16/Not Accepting]

[King K. Azo]

Shiro had been on edge for the past few days, although he doubt anyone would blame him. The death of Cyrus had been a trial for the entire village, although he knew Glenn was taking it harder than anyone else, even if he made an effort not to show it. Just another reason the Protean looked up to his senior... even if he had picked up a strange accent during their years apart. The two had decided to go on a patrol of the land, perhaps find the murderer before they struck again. Shiro even took some precautions, smearing mud into his blue hair, the earth dying it a muddy red. Unlike most humans, the mud didn't bother him a bit, and it would help hide his scent from the foxes. Perfect. 

 

The two scoured the earth, and it didn't take long to find a band of humans being attacked by some fox Proteans. Oh no, that was so unfortunate. However, it was none of their business, so it would be best to move on. Except Glenn was far too honorable for that, instead announcing their presence with nay a second thought. Oh well, guess they were doing this now.  After a short fight, with the foxes kidnapping some people and running away, so Glenn decided to take the humans to their village. 

 

Hurrah.

 

They took them to see the Great Frog Sage, who wanted to test the humans. Well, that couldn't be too bad, except that the Sage specifically stated no maiming, so he couldn't go into his frog form. His kicks would really injure them. One covered in armor jabbed his stick at Glenn, as if he was a lion tamer or Glenn was a wolf. It was really weird. Then one person went and do some chain of attacks, hoping to drop the frog. Shiro wasn't sure if it worked, but hey, he knew it was best to act like the guy was down. 

 

"If this test is done, I have a question for Glen and Shiro. You saw the Fox that killed your friend, yes? By chance were they large, perhaps as large as a horse, and covered in immaculately clean white fur? And a question for you, Great Frog Sage. Do you know of any outcasts from the Fox tribe who would match that description?" The boy asked. Shiro opted not to answer, instead looking through the room. There were five humans, and only three frogs. If he assumed Glenn was busy, then it would be best to not dwell on one person for long. 

Silently, he broke out into a run towards the one that was speaking. As he was finishing his sentience, Shiro hopped up slightly, holding his arms out and wrapping the boy's neck in his arms, using the momentum of his run to cause the boy to slam into the ground back first. As soon as the two hit the ground, he rolled away from the talking boy before flipping back to his feet. He couldn't afford to be pinned down, especially with no weapon, so he decided to take another preemptive strike, this time running at the brown skinned woman. 

This couldn't end too badly, could it?

[Yui]

---

"No...that's ridiculous. I'm fine as I am now- O-oh! I'm sorry, Azar. I'm listening. You mentioned that dark magic works on the principles of equivalent exchange, however, what exactly happens when a shaman casts a spell from a dark magic tome? Does the energy it takes comes from themselves, their surrounding, or somewhere else? And...from your explanation, it seems that dark magic takes more forms than what I expected. I never heard anything about dark magic being capable of performing those...trades. What actually are those?"

 

"The energy can come from any of those as I recall. As for the 'trades', it's not something I've ever heard of. Just consider it a what-if scenario. I made it up to try and give you a better idea of how equivalent exchange works."

 

It wasn't much later that the traveling group had been met with a surprise. An ambush? Fox proteans, like the fire girl. Who apparently was the chief's daughter. In the end, however, the group was split roughly in half, and Azar - being with Urvan and a few others - was forced to retreat. Azar had half an hour to prepare before she, the group, and a pair of frog proteans now joining them, took off for the frogs' village. Azar knew what she had to do with that time. The shaman sat down, got her ink and quill from the bag hanging at her side, and started applying it to her arm.

 

She only had time to re-apply the Flux spell to her left arm before it was time to go.

---

Half a day later, and the group had arrived. The frog village, where the group was escorted to what Azar would soon learn was the chief's hut. Azar thought she'd seen some old people at the academy in Palaea, but this guy took the cake.

 

"Hello, hello. It is nice to see new tadpoles--err, humans. I am the Great Frog Sage, and who may you be?"

 

Catriona was the first to introduce herself. Among other introductions that may or may not have been put out, Azar answered "Azar Soravati, shaman and apparently a very unlucky woman."

 

 

"Ahh, and what are you here for?"

 

"We need help. Some of our company were taken by the foxes, and...we need to rescue them. If you would lend us your aid, that would be appreciated."

 

"Those are nice eyes. However, I would see your determination for myself. If you can hold off these three as well as prevent yourself from being knocked out by Glenn or Shiro, then I will acknowledge your strength. No maiming, of course."

 

It's not us you need to worry about, Azar thought to herself as the group found themselves attacked by a crew of frog proteans. Glenn and Shiro were also their enemies though, and Azar didn't like having her back open. Of course, she couldn't do much about anyone behind her right now, while one of the three frogs in front of her was leaping at her. Now wasn't the time to use Flux. Instead, Azar waited for the frog coming at her to leap, before throwing her right arm forward and swinging to punch the frog square in the face. Whatever was going on behind her, she'd have to come back around to that after this one before her was dealt with. Meanwhile, in front of her, Azar's fist landing right in the face of a leaping frog protean seemed to convince him to stay down.

---

[Alaina]

 

Tsetseg felt a conflict of feelings. On the one hand, she was upset and angry with herself that the foxes had managed to sneak into their group. She hadn't been able to notice or do anything about them, and it was as if the roles of hunted and hunter were quite easily reversed. And yet, here was a side to her that was far more captivated as to what had actually happened. She hadn't been with the patrol for long, and thus seeing the large assortment of proteans in one place was new to her. Her eyes wandered from each of them, one at a time, and while they seemed to have some great form of hostility towards them, Tsetseg's eyes were not focused on their angered faces. Instead, they seemed to continue darting between the fox protean's ears and tails. She was starting to  become a bit overwhelmed simply muttering, "so fluffy," to herself. It seemed that the foxes were angry with the group for some kind of theft. Tsetseg seemed to be a bit offended at this as she agreed with everyone else saying, "yeah, we'd never steal anything from people as lovably fluffably great as you?" The girl nodded as the white haired girl, not Sienna, made her point saying, "yeah, yeah. Please! You guys are soo cool it'd be great to learn more." 

 

 

Alois had been annoyed throughout the whole day, and made no effort to hide such irritation on his face. From the ambush of the foxes, to the having to leave behind members of their group to being in a village filled with frog people. The last thing, admittedly, gave him a bit of pause dwelling on the absurdity of it, but all the same his irritation was not so easily subsided. As it were, the group was apparently to be tested by these frogs first before they would lend them any aid. As they were told not to maim any of them, the boy sighed and tossed his axes to the side. Looking at the situation, it had seemed everyone else was preoccupied with a different frog, and with only one unattended it was clear what he had to do.

 

As the frog seemed to get ready to interrupt one of the other fighters, Alois called out a, "hey!" to get its attention. Gesturing to goad it forward, the fighter cracked his knuckles before balling them into fists. Feeling a rising sense of impatience the boy charged at the frog, which prompted the protean to lean back and then jump kick the boy. Getting hit square in the gut, Alois felt the wind get knocked out of him and staggered backward. The frog trying to capitalize on its momentum charged at Alois while he was recovering and went for a kick to his side this time. Seeing it coming, the fighter brought both of his arms to catch the leg of the protean, though still getting knocked a bit by the hit. With the frog's leg in the boy's arm, he looked a bit panicked, as Alois proceeded to pull the protean towards him. Releasing his grip, Alois then went for an uppercut, knocking the frog backward and staggering it, only to then follow up with a punch to the gut. Being winded by the first one, with the same hand Alois followed up with a second punch to the gut, causing the frog to buckle over only for him to finally bring it down with a punch to its face. 

[Sethera]

In the Frog Village

Gunther stammered out an apology to Catriona after the commotion. "I'm sorry. Penelope she's, I'm sorry, it was so fast, sorry I'm sure she's fine sorry we'll get her back, I should have, I'm sorry Catriona...."

 

Catriona shook her head, mute. The fault did not lie with any one person, though Gunther, as the younger princess' personal guard, held greater responsibility. Yet how could he hold out against the number of foxes they had found themselves against? At best, he would have been captured with Penelope, and at worst, he would have been killed, and of no use to anybody then.

 

Much later, after an exchange of blows, the three frogs were felled one by one. The Great Frog Sage raised his eyebrows at seeing his warriors brought low so quickly. Edrick, assuming that the test was done, asked a question of Glenn and Shiro, but neither answered. Glenn merely shook his head, whether as an answer or as a reaction to Edrick's assumption, Catriona wasn't sure. He had looked to be about to attack the lancer, when Gunther jabbed at him with his own lance.

 

"Oh-ho!" the frog man croaked as he drew his sword to parry the hit. "Not bad, not bad at all." Sliding his blade underneath the lance, he came in close and reversed his grip so that the butt was facing forward, thrusting it into the knight's abdomen. He stepped back, giving a bow. "Thou have changed, in a good way."

 

Catriona glanced at Glenn curiously at that. Why did he speak as if he knew Gunther? She peered at the frog with narrowed eyes, and he did look vaguely familiar, but nothing more than that.

 

Shiro had knocked down Edrick and then ran at Azar. However, before the shaman could be attacked, Catriona ran in front and took the charge for her, getting knocked back before she recovered herself and stood firm, stabbing her sword pommel down at the man's feet, managing to hit before the Protean hopped away.

 

Backing away herself, she glanced at the others. Edrick had been knocked down, but he was also known for his stubborn fortitude. Gunther was keeping Glenn distracted, but who knows how long that would last? Alois seemed filled with angry energy, so he could probably be counted on to help her, and Azar had taken down her opponent with one punch. The white-haired woman nodded. They were doing well.

 

That was until Glenn dove in right next to Shiro and Catriona, knocking the blade out of her hands. Catriona didn't have time to do much more than fumble before the frog had moved on to Azar, tossing the woman to the ground. He glanced up at Alois, making it quite obvious whom his next target would be.

 

--

 

In the Fox Village

Chief Rufus stared at the group in shock after each had said their piece. He glanced at his daughter multiple times, before muttering to himself, "Is this true? Aye, she's unharmed and unmagicked..." He bowed his head to the group. "I see. It appears I have done you a great wrong. I am sorry." With a flick of his tail, the three guards backed off, their fur flattening as they calmed. He continued, looking abashed. "I admit I might have...jumped to conclusions there. If you would forgive me, I would be grateful. It seems I owe you a debt for keeping my daughter safe."

 

"As for the treasure..." he sighed. "Loathe as I would normally be to spill the tribe's troubles to complete strangers, it is the least I can do after the way we have treated you." He paced the room agitatedly, scarf flying behind him as he walked. "Three nights ago, our tribe's sacred treasure, a gift left to us by our founder, was stolen." He motioned for them to sit at a nearby low table, with cushions instead of chairs. "I shall explain in more detail over lunch. I am sure you are hungry."

 

He gestured for Sienna to sit next to him, but otherwise left the placement up to the guests. The guards did not eat, but they had relaxed enough to take their eyes off the group, clustering near the doorway and talking quietly amongst themselves. One of them, the black fox, now a black-haired woman, took a couple carrots outside before returning empty-handed. A soft neigh could be heard in the background.

 

The food mainly consisted of simple dishes of fried breads and meats, noodles, and rice. While almost unheard of in Galtea, Histia had some familiarity with rice, though it was not grown natively, but imported from Isauria, and was more common in the southern half of the country. However, a discerning taster would notice that this rice tasted...different, with a lighter flavor. Locrisian rice, to be precise.

 

As they ate, the chieftain explained the situation in more detail. "You probably don't know this, but we fox Proteans were once wild and lawless, scattered across all Mysia. Some of us still are. However, a long time ago, after the golden age of the goddess' defeat, one of us stepped forward and united us under a single tribe. That person was Inari. Since then, we have venerated her as the tribe's founder and great ancestor. The shrine you saw earlier was one of three that honor her and what she did for us.

 

"She even left behind a beaded bracelet imbued with her magic, said to grant incredible power to the one that wears it. We placed it in one of our shrines for safekeeping. However," his eyes narrowed in rage. "Inari's Beads have been stolen. We thought only human beings would be so audacious as to steal our tribe's great treasure, but we may have been wrong," he admitted. "Still, to think the thief would be able to slip right under our noses..."

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Group A - Catriona, Gunther, Alois, Edrick, Azar, Shiro

All three frogs that originally charged at you are down. However, Glenn and Shiro are still up. Both Edrick and Azar have been tossed to the ground now (but are free to get up), and Catriona is fumbling to grab her blade. Alois looks to be Glenn's next target, but Shiro can totally do that instead if he wants to. Feel free to wrap things up or not here.

 

Group B - Penelope, Link, Ciela, Sienna, Tsetseg

Crisis averted! Chief Rufus has apologized and is now explaining what is going on while treating you all to a meal. Feel free to react and stuff. And yes, Ciela dismounted from Remy outside the chieftain's house and was helped inside from there.

 

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"I admit I might have...jumped to conclusions there. If you would forgive me, I would be grateful. It seems I owe you a debt for keeping my daughter safe."

 

The tension building up on Ciela's mind eased up the moment those words were said. Being accused of yet another crime the group didn't do just after her hopes of walking again being dashed away would have made her go on another angry tirade, with the only thing suppressing it being her fear of the Proteans surrounding her. Yet, had the chief refused to listen to the others' words, perhaps even that wouldn't be enough to stop her. On top of Remy, who seemingly similarly relieved that things didn't escalate negatively, Ciela lie down hugging him, having his warmth be her way of calming herself now that everything went by peacefully.

 

The group were then escorted by the foxes to join the chief to eat, and while Ciela at first gestured to be let alone on top of Remy outside, in the end she relented and let herself be carried into the room. Sitting on the floor was pretty hard without being able to use your lower body, so in the end Ciela just lie down on the floor while occasionally getting up to get food. Rice was quite a fancy dish in Galtea, and of course Ciela had tasted different types of rice in varying dishes, and she was pleased to notice that it seemed to be Locrisian rice, rather than the more common Isaurian one. Even so, Ciela wasn't really a fan of how the tribe prepared the dish, but since it had been ages since she had Locrisian rice, she kept herself silent about it while she continued to eat in peace as the chief elaborated further regarding the situation. So the tribe's most valuable treasure had been stolen, and they had no idea about who did it. And so they jumped to blame the group almost immediately. Great. She was too stuffed with rice to really comment on anything though.

 

So far it's going well, but this group had a knack in attracting trouble, so Ciela wouldn't be surprised if suddenly bandits attacked them during the feast or the food they were eating had been spiked with poison.

 

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

 

"Thou have changed, in a good way."

Gunther hesitated in his assault. "...What did you say your name was again?" He wasn't sure the frog had said it in the first place but...the statement the man made and his voice...it seemed oddly familiar.

The frog's attack hadn't hurt as much as it normally would, but that combined with the confusion caused the frog to be able to slip away from the Knight.

 

He turned to watch as the frog attacked several of the group and went for Alois. Gunther shook his head. He had a job to do he couldn't let himself lose focus. Dropping the lance, Gunther rushed forward as fast as his, admittedly slow, body would let him. Once he got close enough he attempted to tackle the frog before he could jump upon Alois.

---

Penelope smiled with satisfaction to see the chief change to a peaceful mood so quickly. It made her wonder what could have happened that caused the two tribes to be so aggressive towards each other if the man was so easily calmed.

"Loathe as I would normally be to spill the tribe's troubles to complete strangers, it is the least I can do after the way we have treated you. Three nights ago, our tribe's sacred treasure, a gift left to us by our founder, was stolen. I shall explain in more detail over lunch. I am sure you are hungry."

She had. So many. Questions. But the man's last words, and remembering her manners, stopped Penelope from asking all thousand of them right then and there.

 

As they ate, Penelope's eyes went to the black haired fox. She took a deep breath and took a seat near her. She gave a, slightly shy, smile. "Thank you for not causing any lasting injuries." She said. It would be best to make sure that the entire group, not just the chief, was fine with them.

 

You probably don't know this, but we fox Proteans were once wild and lawless, scattered across all Mysia. Some of us still are. However, a long time ago, during the golden age of the goddess, one of us stepped forward and united us under a single tribe. That person was Inari. Since then, we have venerated her as the tribe's founder and great ancestor. The shrine you saw earlier was one of three that honor her and what she did for us.

 

"She even left behind a beaded bracelet imbued with her magic, said to grant incredible power to the one that wears it. We placed it in one of our shrines for safekeeping. However," his eyes narrowed in rage. "Inari's Beads have been stolen. We thought only human beings would be so audacious as to steal our tribe's great treasure, but we may have been wrong," he admitted. "Still, to think the thief would be able to slip right under our noses..."

 

Penelope hadn't known this entirely, knowledge of Protean was few and far between, but she wasn't quite surprised. Mention of the "golden age" piqued Penelope's interest however. Golden age, what an interesting term. She wondered if it was just due to the historical terminology of that period of if it was indicative towards the fox's feelings towards the Goddess.

Inari's Beads sounded...quite interesting. Magical items were something that fascinated Penelope. If she could find these beads and learn how to recreate them...well then she might be able to outfit their entire army with magical artifacts. What a strategic boon that would be!

 

"What made you think it was a human in the first place, if you don't mind my asking? Surely you do not get many of our kind around here, yes?"

[Yui]

---

The frog was down. Good. Just behind Azar, the sounds of the fight continued, and she turned to see what was happening. Catriona and one of the frogs were duking it out. The fight seemed to be in Catriona's favor, until the frog knocked the sword out of her hand and charged Azar. The Isaurian was knocked to the ground, and the frog glanced over at Alois. Seemed he wanted to take him down next. Getting tossed down like that had really knocked the wind out of Azar, but she'd be damned if one little toss was going to be it for her. Whatever she did, she'd have to do it from the floor.

 

Such as, for instance, reaching her tattooed arm out for the frog. You're fighting ME now, not him. Azar reached her arm out, aiming to grab at Glenn's leg, before she  let loose from her hand a use of Flux. She could feel the familiar sensation of pain through her arm as the spell cast. With any luck though, it would hurt him far more than it would her.

---

[Alaina]

 

After having knocked out the frog he had been fighting before, Alois felt a bit of relief go through him, but not before seeing that Eddy had been flipped over by a different one of them, only to then be intercepted by Cat. While she was fighting him, Alois's attention was then turned to one that seemed to have been previously engaged with Gunther, and now Azar as well. When its initial attack had been stopped, Alois noticed that it seemed to be sizing the boy up, ready to go up on him. Due to his already irritated nature, the boy took this more as a taunt then anything else, and could only feel his annoyance growing. Balling his hands into a fist, the boy started to rush after the frog man, only for him to already be attacked by the two he had struck earlier. Unsure if he should feel relieved or annoyed that the others were attacking him, Alois still charged at the frog regardless and struck out with a punch to his sternum after both of the other's attacks had finished. 

 

 

Tsetseg was quite happy to see that the fox proteans weren't angry with them anymore. After all, they hadn't done anything wrong, much less steal something, and it was no fun having an entire race of fluffy tails hate you. Before the fox chieftain went into explaining the issue at hand, he instead offered them food. The young Locrisian's eyes went wide with shock at the idea of sitting down and having a meal with a prepared by the proteans, before breaking out in a joyous series of, "woo, food, food!" Once they were escorted away from the area and sat down for food. As she took a bite into the rice, Tsetseg's face lit up as the familiar flavor hit her. It wasn't as if she hadn't had rice these past few months away, though there was always something weird or off about it compared to what she knew back home. However, as the nostalgic taste hit her, she seemed to be a bit in bliss for the moment, munching away at it. 

 

As she was eating, the fox leader then went on to explain what exactly had been stolen. Tsetseg was fascinated with this Inari person and how they apparently were the greatest of all fluffy tails, uniting the rest under one nation of cuddliness. She was even further fascinated by the Inari's Beads, and even more so that there were several shrines scattered about to safe keep them. If there was more than one shrine, then that meant that there was more than one village of fox proteans. And if that were the case....Tsetseg seemed to be going a bit into sensory overload at the thought before shaking it off and following what the white haired girl said. "Yeah, yeah, there's no way humans coulda stolen it. The only ones here are bandits, that the Patrol makes sure they don't do their bandity things. Travelers, that the Patrol escorts through the woods and uh." She seemed to be a bit in thought before saying, "oh yeah, and the Patrol! And we're a group of super nice and cool people so we'd never steal your treasures!" 

[Hakima]

---

Link listened to what the chieftain had to say, but his attention was elsewhere. He took note of the area they were dining in, using his peripherals to be inconspicuous. He counted four proteans in the room, five if Sienna was to be included, with dozens more just outside the entrance. The way they had come from was no longer an avenue to escape from; too guarded, too predictable.

 

The windows, on the other hand… the drop wasn’t a large one, and the windows were numerous. Ciela posed a insurmountable problem to the plan, though. She couldn’t walk. The wolf was shocked that she had been so quiet since they had been captured. She had been nearly carried inside the building, and Remy was still sitting outside the building, meaning she would be nothing but an anchor unless he could get her horse back.

 

He couldn’t, and he doubted the archer-girl or Princess Penelope could carry her very far. Link wanted to fight himself over the conclusion he came to, but he could find no alternative. She would have to be left behind if it came to it, or they would all be caught. It would be hard enough without a cripple. The foxes were likely going to be too fast to outrun, meaning someone was going to have to stall. Link didn’t take as long to figure out the answer to that conundrum.

 

Ciela was a healer, the princess wasn’t an option, and he doubted the archer girl would be able or willing. Link knew it would have to be him. He took a spoonful of rice from the meal they had provided, and ate it while he thought. The flavor was plain, but good. This was a food he could get used to…

 

The proteans transformation took ten-and-a-half heartbeats, going from fox to human. If he assumed that the transformation from human to fox was the same, that was a window. He could down one of them before they completed their transformation, if he could get to their exposed throat fast enough. He regretted that he didn’t carry a dagger anymore; slitting throats was about precision, making sure you severed the carotid artery with one smooth cut. His sword was meant for open combat, broad strokes. It would be messy.

 

That would leave him with four opponents, four horse-sized foxes to deal with. Link didn’t particularly fancy his chances of surviving much further than downing the first fox, but he had to to make it as long as possible. The longer it took them to kill him, the longer the princess and archer would have to get away.

 

If anyone happened to catch the soldier’s eyes, they would find them ghostly pale, lacking any human emotion, and at odds with the seemingly calm facade he put up. He wouldn’t respond to any inquisitive looks if they cast him one, continuing to eat his rice and listen to the conversation the others were having.

 

Link had locked away all traces of hesitation and grief. For the time being, all that he allowed to show was calm, collected professionalism.

 

The fox had been immortalized for its cunning and guile, but the wolf was feared for its ruthless nature, and Link had been a wolf for as long as he had been a man.

---

[Wind Rider]

Sienna breathed a sigh of relief when her father finally realized the situation, things would've gone south as they say if he hadn't believed her and her companions.

 

"I admit I might have...jumped to conclusions there. If you would forgive me, I would be grateful. It seems I owe you a debt for keeping my daughter safe."

 

"As for the treasure..." he sighed. "Loathe as I would normally be to spill the tribe's troubles to complete strangers, it is the least I can do after the way we have treated you." He paced the room agitatedly, scarf flying behind him as he walked. "Three nights ago, our tribe's sacred treasure, a gift left to us by our founder, was stolen." He motioned for them to sit at a nearby low table, with cushions instead of chairs. "I shall explain in more detail over lunch. I am sure you are hungry." Sienna gulped when she realized what treasure her father was talking about, this isn't good.

 

Sitting beside her father at the table, Sienna dug in along with her friends. She felt at home again despite all the tension that was going on in the village. "You probably don't know this, but we fox Proteans were once wild and lawless, scattered across all Mysia. Some of us still are. However, a long time ago, during the golden age of the goddess, one of us stepped forward and united us under a single tribe. That person was Inari. Since then, we have venerated her as the tribe's founder and great ancestor. The shrine you saw earlier was one of three that honor her and what she did for us.

 

"She even left behind a beaded bracelet imbued with her magic, said to grant incredible power to the one that wears it. We placed it in one of our shrines for safekeeping. However," his eyes narrowed in rage. "Inari's Beads have been stolen. We thought only human beings would be so audacious as to steal our tribe's great treasure, but we may have been wrong," he admitted. "Still, to think the thief would be able to slip right under our noses..." Inari's Beads... Sienna was afraid of that, if they fell into the wrong hands then it could spell trouble for the whole tribe.

 

After everyone, mainly Penelope and Tsetseg, had given their two cents on the situation, Sienna took her father's attention. "Father, If I may? The frogs we saw mentioned something about one of their kin getting slaughtered by one of our tribe... And now someone has taken Inari's Beads from us... If I didn't know any better, I think this is a set up... Like someone is trying to get our tribes to attack one another... Sowing seeds of chaos and confusion as they say..."

[King K. Azo]

Shiro normally was a wall of stoic apathy, his life causing him to be silent. However, as the princess slammed her sword pommel into his foot, he let out a howl of pain and hopped away from the woman. Man, why could they use weapons and he was stuck in this human form? That was so unfair. After taking a second to recover, he could see Glenn getting surrounded by two humans, maybe three if he counted the princess. He would not let them get away with such a tactic. 

 

 

Shiro ran around, finding the dark skinned woman. When he was in position, he used the powers of the Proteans to fill his body, causing him to go through a metamorphosis from human to giant blue frog. Using his powerful legs, he shot off like an arrow, flying through the air at Azar. However, just to make sure that he was following the Sage's orders, he let the power of his people leave him, reverting to human form, so that a giant frog wouldn't squash the little girl.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Well, it seemed Edrick had misunderstood the intent of this trial. What he had expected to be a series of one-on-one combats between the members of the party and the various frogs instead showed itself to be a group on group combat. That or the one that had just thrown him to the ground in such a way had no respect for a fight between two foes and only two foes. Well, whatever the case, he had spent enough time on his back contemplating the situation. Though he was a bit slower to rise than he would have liked, the extra weight of his armor made it difficult to build the momentum to reach his feet, he was soon enough standing again and looking around.

 

It became clear that the remaining frogs had caught the others off guard, with Catriona's sword knocked out of her hands and the one that had brought him down getting around behind the group and gunning for their newest arrival. Well that just wouldn't do at all now would it? Trusting the others to take care of Glenn and any other frogs he might have missed, Edrick put those legs of his to work and ran around behind the group while Shiro was busy transforming into his frog form. When the man jumped, apparently meaning to strike- Azar? Yes, that was her name- in the back, Edrick ran in from the side with his arms raised above his head and his fists clasped together. With the protean already in the air he didn't have much opportunity to dodge or evade, so it was only too simple a matter to slam him into the ground by way of a piledriver to the spine.

[Sethera]

The Great Frog Sage's House

The combination of Gunther, Azar, and Alois was enough to topple Glenn before he could do much more than start toward Alois. Tackled, then punched in the leg with a Flux, and then punched in the sternum right before he went down. Shiro came flying to the rescue, but he was driven to the ground himself by Edrick. Glenn struggled gamely, but after finding that he wasn't able to stand on the punched leg, let out a wheezed, "You hath beat me."

 

Before Shiro could get any ideas about making a comeback, Catriona held her sword pommel over his head, saying, "Be still or wake up tomorrow wishing you were hungover instead." For the princess, this was quite the threat, having suffered many a bad wine hangover herself. Mornings like those the woman was tempted to cut her throat with her own blade just to stop the pain.

 

Not long afterward the group heard the sound of clapping. "Good, good, you have all proven yourself worthy fighters," the Great Frog Sage congratulated. "And a lesson learned as well. Foxes are tricky beasts. To fight them, one must become like the fox. Honor does not often marry to victory." He glanced at Azar. "I see that one of you has already learned that. Good. Rules are not always made to be followed." The man then looked at Glenn and Shiro, who had risen by now. "Frogs have never been frontline fighters, not like the hedgehogs, who can afford to charge forward blindly. We have made a name for ourselves for our ability to survive. Blending with the background, leaping away from danger, crafting poisons, were the forest wiped out, we could live among humans without fear of discovery. That is our strength, one which few other Proteans, if any, can boast of. Honor is lesser to that. Any who we call allies must understand that, intrinsically." He paused, face darkening. "Though we are not like the foxes, who take delight in calling a spade a club."

 

The Great Frog Sage glanced at Edrick. "As for your question, either of these two," he pointed the cane at the two frogs who had taken multiple turns to take down, "would be able to answer it. Now, on to the main point. Glenn and Shiro have been scouting fox territory, and we know where the village is from past interactions. However, we also know that they have made it much more defensible since we last saw them. Which means," he rapped his cane on the wooden floor. "We must prepare. We are fortunate that we have already begun. Never let it be said that a frog was taken by surprise." Shortly afterward, his face would twist in pain, the only warning anybody got before he collapsed to the floor.

 

Glenn crawled to where he was. "Sage!" he croaked, but it was easy to tell that he too was experiencing some sort of pain, and he fell facedown beside the sage, trembling but still conscious.

 

Shiro would feel a sudden pulsing ache in his temples, as if he had gotten the mother of all migraines. He was in better shape than his compatriots though, and would be able to keep standing, the only one out of all the frogs, as the three from earlier were still lying where they were, those that had retained consciousness losing it just as suddenly.

 

Catriona and company would feel nothing. The lord looked over the fallen frogs with worry. "We need to do something," she said. What that something was, she did not know.

 

The Fox Chieftain's House

"Thank you for not causing any lasting injuries."

 

The black fox, Licorice, looked at the strange silver-haired girl with a hint of confusion, bushy tail flicking back and forth to show her unease. "You're welcome," she replied, voice rather low for a woman's, though one look made it quite apparent that she was one. After that, she said no more, but glanced at the tactician every now and then.

 

The other two had their attention on Link. They weren't sure why, but this one smelled...dangerous. Like a wolf. In fact, they had thought they had smelled wolf during their earlier confrontation? Had that been this one? Not to mention his eyes... This one bore watching.

 

At the table, the conversation seemed to be progressing smoothly.

 

"What made you think it was a human in the first place, if you don't mind my asking? Surely you do not get many of our kind around here, yes?"

 

"Yeah, yeah, there's no way humans coulda stolen it. The only ones here are bandits, that the Patrol makes sure they don't do their bandity things. Travelers, that the Patrol escorts through the woods and uh, oh yeah, and the Patrol! And we're a group of super nice and cool people so we'd never steal your treasures!"

 

"Either human beings or a fellow Protean," Chief Rufus replied. "And we have heard stories about humans and their ways. The patrol tries, but it cannot be everywhere, and every so often a bandit slips through. They already make their living stealing what does not belong to them, so it is not too much of a stretch to assume they would go after our sacred treasure as well."

 

"Father, If I may? The frogs we saw mentioned something about one of their kin getting slaughtered by one of our tribe... And now someone has taken Inari's Beads from us... If I didn't know any better, I think this is a set up... Like someone is trying to get our tribes to attack one another... Sowing seeds of chaos and confusion as they say..."

 

"A set up...yes, that just might be the case," the man said. "But who exactly would want to set us up?"

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Group A - Group A - Catriona, Gunther, Alois, Edrick, Azar, Shiro

All of the frogs are unconscious except for Glenn and Shiro! React and stuff.

 

Group B - Penelope, Link, Ciela, Sienna, Tsetseg

Still talking.

 

 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

 

Gunther settled back awkwardly as the fight ended almost as quickly as it had began. Did he...actually do well? The sage said so but it didn't feel right to him. His only successful attack was...a tackle. Something anyone could have done.

He supposed that he should just be happy that they succeeded as a group. Even if he wasn't so sure he could have done so on his own.

 

"Honor does not often marry to victory."

"Rules are not always made to be followed."

"Honor is lesser to that. Any who we call allies must understand that, intrinsically."

Gunther frowned. These things this man was saying...he couldn't find it in him to believe it. It sounded too much like the pirates that were a scourge where he came from. He knew where such things led and he didn't particularly want to follow a similar principle.

 

It seemed that they were prepared to attack the fox's village. While Gunther knew that they would have to engage with the other Proteans he couldn't help but be concerned. If they attacked what would happen to Penelope and the others? Would the Frogs take that into account?

 

"Never let it be said that a frog was taken by surprise."

 

And then the frog was taken by surprise. It took Gunther a few moments to even realize what had happened and even when he did he had no idea how or why.

Two of the frogs had managed to stay conscious, mostly. Glenn, why did that name sound so familiar, and Shiro.

 

"We need to do something,"

 

Gunther didn't know what. He didn't have any healing skills and even if he did he wasn't sure what had even happened to the frogs to do anything to help.

But he did know one thing. This had to have been an intentional attack of some sort. He gave Catriona a meaningful look. She had to stay alert no matter what.

Walking forward he spoke to the two still conscious frogs. "You'll have to trust me. If something else happens I'll be the least useful in an ambush. Let me do this one thing to help." He approached the sage and, if they let him, he'd lift the man up. Using his body to shield the man from anything that might come.

"I wonder if the rest of the village suffered a similar affliction."

---

 

Penelope was happy to see the black haired fox's response. The tactician made sure to keep looking over and smiling at the girl. Is this why Tsetseg was so excited about the fluffy creatures? There was a charm to them that was to be sure.

She had to tear her thoughts from ideas such as "I wonder what the physiological differences between her and Sienna" and listen to the chieftain's answers.

 

"Either human beings or a fellow Protean," Chief Rufus replied. "And we have heard stories about humans and their ways. The patrol tries, but it cannot be everywhere, and every so often a bandit slips through. They already make their living stealing what does not belong to them, so it is not too much of a stretch to assume they would go after our sacred treasure as well."

 

Penelope physically made herself not respond with the folklore she had read about foxes and THIER ways. It. Was. So. Relevant. But diplomacy came first, sadly, so she held her tongue.

 

"But who exactly would want to set us up?"

 

"The other Protean group, the...hedgehogs? Or..." Penelope frowned. Hadn't someone tried to set up a fox recently already? But would it be wise to share that? Especially with the treatment towards Sienna and the fox's distrust of humans...

"There's something that could be important." She decided in the end to give a brief explanation of what had happened at the library. Trying to phrase it to not demonize the people of Histia. "It may be unrelated, Sienna could have just been a convenient target, but it does show that there could be those who would desire to sow seeds of distrust in foxes."

[King K. Azo]

Shiro had no look of defiance as Catriona held the sword pommel over his head, instead bowing his head. Being in such a position brought back too many memories, ones he rather wished he could forget. He just kept breathing, calming him. It was in the past... he would never be harmed like that again. Not so long as he drew breath. 
 
"Good, good, you have all proven yourself worthy fighters," the Great Frog Sage congratulated. "And a lesson learned as well. Foxes are tricky beasts. To fight them, one must become like the fox. Honor does not often marry to victory." Something he was sure the humans didn't understand. They were all so obsessed with their honor. It caused Shiro more than a few sleepless night. "Frogs have never been frontline fighters, not like the hedgehogs, who can afford to charge forward blindly. We have made a name for ourselves for our ability to survive. Blending with the background, leaping away from danger, crafting poisons, were the forest wiped out, we could live among humans without fear of discovery. That is our strength, one which few other Proteans, if any, can boast of. Honor is lesser to that. Any who we call allies must understand that, intrinsically." Shiro was still very wary of calling these humans allies, but if the Great Sage said it must be done, it would be so. Didn't mean he wouldn't complain about them in his head, however.
 
And then, as if the gods were punishing him for daring to think badly of their favorite race, he was struck with a headache to end all headaches. The frogs dropped like flies, except for him. He managed to stay standing by some miracle. Even Glenn was on the ground. Shiro did think of going to check on the Sage, but standing was a miracle. He would drop if he even tried to move.
 
"We need to do something," the princess stated. Shiro could only roll his eyes... mentally. The man in armor went over towards the Sage, and Shiro wanted to stop him... but he was in no position to. 

 "You'll have to trust me. If something else happens I'll be the least useful in an ambush. Let me do this one thing to help." He looked like he'd be the most useful in an ambush though. He'd be a great meat shield, or even bait. Seemed super useful. "I wonder if the rest of the village suffered a similar affliction."

"Th-the whole village has been affected by this strange affliction," Shiro managed to get out. "It came out of the bl-blue since late August...Th-they don't last long, but they are getting worse...," That's all he could get out before groaning. It was going away, but still. 

[Alaina]

 

After the barrage of attacks had landed on the frog, Alois seemed to let out a bit of a huff, with their victory having been secured. Once the trial had been finished, the sage frog then seemed to start talking about frog culture or something of that nature, speaking of how survival by any means was the necessity. The boy didn't quite understand what it was he was talking about, not really getting the difference between fighting with honor and fighting without, but it sounded like they were willing to help them take on the foxes. Alois was more than willing to get on to paying back the foxes for earlier, however something had occurred first. Suddenly, all of the frogs started dropping to the ground, looking to be in some kind of terrible pain. Alois was taken aback by this, and as Cat suggested they do something about it, he only had a confused look on his face, asking "and what would that be?" He hadn't ever really dealt with something like this before and was at a loss for how even to go at it. As Gunther went to assist the sage, one of the ones they had just attacked spoke up about what was going on. The boy was only further confused until something dawned on him. "Wait...how long ago did you get into a spat with the foxes?" 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"But who exactly would want to set us up?"

 

"A lot of people, I'd imagine."

 

Enjoying her rice a bit too much, it was only after Penelope answered the chief's question did Ciela actually speak. Her mood had been improved by the food enough for her tone to be more friendly than before. She still weren't really feeling good regarding Penelope after yesterday, but dealing about the issue right now would be too much of a bother for her. Penelope bringing up the fact that Sienna was framed back in the library was interesting. She'd assume that it's just mere coincidence that Sienna were there and being the most likely culprit at the time, but the amount of evidence presented that Ciela heard of perhaps made it possible that it wasn't just mere unfortunate.timing on Sienna's part.

 

"Oh yeah, Sienna's framed for murder back in Ithome by someone - the real culprit hadn't been caught yet. I thought it's just unfortunate timing on her part, but maybe there's more than that to it.

 

Our group seems to attract a lot of unwanted attention so far. They seem to like setting things up in advance to screw us in many ways. And well, aren't the Protean tribes related to the Great Dragon in a way?" Ciela had no idea on this part since she didn't read about Protean much back in the days. Even then though, no reason to not have confidence in her words. Everything lined up so well so far, might as well go all the way ahead.

 

"I'm quite adamant that all of this are connected, because why wouldn't they be? Just yesterday, we came across a huge of human bandits that somehow had anticipated our arrival, and ambushed us. Our travel made us be in conflict with the followers of the Goddess, and there seems to be a conspiracy brewing on behind the scenes that involves even the nobles and leaders of both Histia and Galtea. You're right, us humans can be pretty disgusting at times."

Ciela turned her attention to the new archer girl for a bit before continuing.

 

"I know the patrol tried their best in watching over this passage and forest, but don't you find it weird that somehow a large group of bandits managed to mobilize and stay in the forest for days to prepare an ambush for us? Whoever did that, would probably have enough craftiness to steal the Inari Jewel thingy and set all of this. Unless it's barely guarded so that any no-name thug could steal it, but that definitely isn't the case, right?

 

Having the Protean tribes kill each other or at least be locked up in constant tension to be able to unite seemed awfully convenient for some sort of scheme, isn't it?"

 

That was a mouthful. Her throat was dry from talking that much, so Ciela struggled to get up so she could actually drink properly before returning to her floor. As she was waiting for others to talk, her attention returned to her food.

 

---

[Sethera]

Frogs

Catriona blinked in puzzlement at Gunther sending her a look. What was that look supposed to indicate? That he wanted her to do something? That he had it in hand? She understood the need for silence sometimes but she had never excelled in the reading of body language.

 

"You'll have to trust me. If something else happens I'll be the least useful in an ambush. Let me do this one thing to help." He approached the sage, pausing and looking at the frogs for permission. Glenn nodded weakly which was all the permission he needed to lift the man up, who was surprisingly light. "I wonder if the rest of the village suffered a similar affliction."

 

"Th-the whole village has been affected by this strange affliction," Shiro managed to get out. "It came out of the bl-blue since late August...Th-they don't last long, but they are getting worse..."

 

Alois seemed to realize something. "Wait...how long ago did you get into a spat with the foxes?"

 

"It...happened a few days past," Glenn rasped, face ashen white. He glanced at Edrick. "A large white fox, as thou saith, arrived in the dead of night. Myself saw it...standing over...Sir Cyrus."

 

"Sir Cyrus?!" Catriona asked, eyes widening. "Not the same Sir Cyrus of the King's Guard?" She had heard tales of him, one of the few base-born knights, yet had made a name for himself even as a squire, eventually becoming nominated to become the captain of the guard. By the time she had returned to the capital for her birthday, he had already left, had abandoned his duty with the cryptic words, "I would rather die amongst frogs than live amongst snakes."

 

At the time, nobody had known what he had meant, but now Catriona saw the pieces falling into place. "So he was...a Protean?"

 

"Aye, and I his squire," Glenn seemed to have recovered somewhat, enough to pick himself off the floor and sit down, rubbing his temples. "He left, suspecting trouble in Galtea."

 

Privately, the lord wondered if he had known all of this would happen. The kidnapping, the betrayal, but it wouldn't do her to linger in uncharitable thoughts. The man was dead, whether he had known or not.

 

The green-haired man looked at the group. "I am sorry that thou hadst to see this," he said. "'Tis why we have not yet acted against the loathsome foxes. There is a chance the attacks could come in a fight, leaving us at their mercy, what little they have. But we art staunch allies otherwise, I swear it on my honor."

 

--

 

Foxes

"But who exactly would want to set us up?"

 

"A lot of people, I'd imagine."

 

"The other Protean group, the...hedgehogs? Or..." Penelope frowned. "There's something that could be important." She gave a brief explanation of the events in Ithome. "It may be unrelated, Sienna could have just been a convenient target, but it does show that there could be those who would desire to sow seeds of distrust in foxes."

 

"Oh yeah, Sienna's framed for murder back in Ithome by someone - the real culprit hadn't been caught yet. I thought it's just unfortunate timing on her part, but maybe there's more than that to it. Our group seems to attract a lot of unwanted attention so far. They seem to like setting things up in advance to screw us in many ways. And well, aren't the Protean tribes related to the Great Dragon in a way?"

 

Chief Rufus snarled suddenly as he heard their words. "The hedgehogs...perhaps. But to involve my daughter in this...despicable!" he crashed a fist down onto the table. Those who looked carefully would have seen his pupils narrow into slits, his teeth elongated. He panted, before drawing himself up, modulating his breathing. "Sorry for...that," he muttered. "I find that, of late, I have had a harder grasp on my temper. Not to mention--" he cut himself off. "But that is neither here nor there. As to what you have said, I suppose you mean the rumors that the Great Dragon is a Protean itself. But, I am not so sure that is true. It is similar but not the same, that much we know."

 

Ciela then commented on the oddness of a group of bandits, finishing with, "Unless it's barely guarded so that any no-name thug could steal it, but that definitely isn't the case, right?"

 

"No," the fox shook his head. "It is not. Well, we did not keep as careful a watch over it as we should have, but we did not think that anybody would be able to sneak past us. We foxes have keen senses, better than even the other two tribes. However, the person was canny, and we could detect nothing but the scent of crushed pine at the shrine. Whoever they were, they knew who they were dealing with."

 

"Having the Protean tribes kill each other or at least be locked up in constant tension to be able to unite seemed awfully convenient for some sort of scheme, isn't it?"

 

"But why?" he shook his head. "We keep to ourselves, for the most part. Sure, we have dealt with the patrol and the other tribes, but we are hardly united. Unless..." A thought seemed to occur to him, but he shook his head dismissing it. "No, of course not..." a disturbed look passed across his face before he turned to the group. "Why exactly do you need to walk through these woods again?"

[Hakima]

---

Link finished his rice and pushed his bowl away. It was good, and unlike most food that wasn’t his rations, he didn’t have any trouble stomaching it. He would have to see about getting more, if they got out of this in one piece. He needed to start eating more if he ever wanted to regain his strength.

 

He listened as the group discussed the potential of a set-up. Princess Penelope explained what had happened in Ithome, with some help from Ciela. The chieftain slammed his fist down onto the table with such force that Link’s bowl lifted up into the air for a second, then fell over onto its side. Link ghosted his fingers over the hilt of his sword, tracing circles into the pommel with his thumb to assuage his nerves.

 

The change in the chieftain wasn’t lost on the soldier. His slitted pupils reminded Link of the barn cats that he had seen growing up in the outskirts of Nalbina. He suspected that, just like those cats, the chieftain saw just as well in the dark as he did in broad daylight. Yet another thing that would be working against them, if they were forced to attempt an escape. And I’d be willing to bet teeth like that chew through armor and skin just as well as rice, he thought. It wasn’t looking any better the more he learned about them.

 

Discussion moved to the Great Dragon, and then back to stolen artifact. Link’s listened more closely when the talk started of the stolen artifact. Whoever stole it was undoubtedly skilled. The foxes all had extremely honed senses, and the chieftain said that it had been guarded. Something’s not right here, he decided. He had a gut feeling that the chieftain knew more than he was telling them, and his time with the Garou had taught him to trust his intuition.

 

Link covered his mouth with a fist and cleared his throat. “Could I see where you stored this artifact? If it will help clear our names and resolve this quickly, maybe I can help.” His voice was rough, and he remained very soft spoken, but it had a distinct quality that made it carry across the room.

---

[Wind Rider]

"Oh yeah, Sienna's framed for murder back in Ithome by someone - the real culprit hadn't been caught yet. I thought it's just unfortunate timing on her part, but maybe there's more than that to it.

 

Our group seems to attract a lot of unwanted attention so far. They seem to like setting things up in advance to screw us in many ways. And well, aren't the Protean tribes related to the Great Dragon in a way?" Sienna let out a nervous sigh, she was hoping Ciela wouldn't mention that.

 

"The hedgehogs...perhaps. But to involve my daughter in this...despicable!" She had sensed that her father was stressed but Sienna wasn't expecting him to look so... Beastly... This conflict must of really been getting to him, or something else was up, either one. "Sorry for...that," he muttered. "I find that, of late, I have had a harder grasp on my temper. Not to mention--" he cut himself off. "But that is neither here nor there. As to what you have said, I suppose you mean the rumors that the Great Dragon is a Protean itself. But, I am not so sure that is true. It is similar but not the same, that much we know." From the way he cut himself off, something was definitely wrong.

 

How and why someone was trying to get the Protean tribes to fight was still up for debate. The how seemed clear now with all the misunderstandings the tribes had with eachother, but the why was still up in the air. "Why exactly do you need to walk through these woods again?" Sienna turned to her father when he asked this, she wasn't sure if it was her place to speak for Penelope, but her attention was taken again by Link.

 

“Could I see where you stored this artifact? If it will help clear our names and resolve this quickly, maybe I can help.” That actually wasn't a bad idea.

 

"Yeah... We might even be able to find some clues as to where the beads might be... That is if the thief left any trace of their arrival..." she said turning to her father and back to the others.

[Yui]

---

"Good, good, you have all proven yourself worthy fighters. And a lesson learned as well. Foxes are tricky beasts. To fight them, one must become like the fox. Honor does not often marry to victory. I see that one of you has already learned that. Good. Rules are not always made to be followed. Frogs have never been frontline fighters, not like the hedgehogs, who can afford to charge forward blindly. We have made a name for ourselves for our ability to survive. Blending with the background, leaping away from danger, crafting poisons, were the forest wiped out, we could live among humans without fear of discovery. That is our strength, one which few other Proteans, if any, can boast of. Honor is lesser to that. Any who we call allies must understand that, intrinsically. Though we are not like the foxes, who take delight in calling a spade a club."

 

And then, after a bit more discussion, the frogs started falling. All the Proteans in the room except Shiro were on the floor, and Shiro didn't look to be in the best of conditions either. Catriona mentioned that something had to be done. Well, no sheet. These frogs probably were the group's best bet in getting that healer back from the foxes, and Azar wasn't done learning from her yet. The armored man - he was Gunther, as Azar recalled - picked up the old sage, claiming he wouldn't be any good in an ambush. Well, with that kind of attitude, of course you won't be. It was Gunther's next idle question that really got things moving in the room, as Azar saw it.

 

"I wonder if the rest of the village suffered a similar affliction."

 

"Th-the whole village has been affected by this strange affliction. It came out of the bl-blue since late August...Th-they don't last long, but they are getting worse..."

 

"Wait...how long ago did you get into a spat with the foxes?"

 

"It...happened a few days past. A large white fox, as thou saith, arrived in the dead of night. Myself saw it...standing over...Sir Cyrus."

 

Azar didn't know who this Sir Cyrus was. Catriona did, apparently. Must have been Galtean. If she was being honest, Azar really didn't care about some dead knight, or that he was a big deal back where he came from. They weren't in Galtea after all, and with what little Azar had seemed to learn of its nobility lately, she wasn't exactly eager to visit the place in the future if it came down to it. Glenn went on to explain that the attacks were the only thing keeping them from fighting the foxes; if one struck while they were fighting, they'd be at the mercy of their enemies. Made sense. Pain was one thing, but being rendered immobile like all but one of the frogs had been was a different issue entirely. Even Azar wouldn't be able to fight if she couldn't move.

 

"Then the best time to strike at the foxes is when everyone's recovered," Azar suggested. "Unless they happen back-to-back, which doesn't seem to be the case from what I've seen, it would be best to take advantage of whatever window of opportunity is between the attacks." With her suggestion out, Azar had a question. It was itching at her before, but this only made her more and more curious. She went over to Catriona, and asked her a rather simple question.

 

"Does your group get tied up in this kind of trouble often, or did we just meet at a bad time?"

---

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Edrick was quiet through much of the aftermath of the "test" as it were. He wholeheartedly rejected the dishonest methods of the foxes, this idea that to beat them they had to adopt their methods. Though he did see some value in the idea, at least understanding their methods could prove useful. He further disliked how dismissive the sage was of the question that could be far more important than any of the others realised, but he was soon given something to distract him. The Sage and all the other frogs, save Glen and Shiro, falling to the ground after a momentary pained expression. His first thought was that they were under attack, and he began scanning every nook and cranny of the house while the others discussed what was happening. That it had been happening for over a year now, and steadily getting worse, made him suspicious in other ways. He resolved to very carefully inspect anything he ate while in the Frog village. Not that any of this discounted that a Witch could still be responsible for this. So he gripped his devotional icon in his left hand while he retrieved his battered iron spear with his right. He continued looking around for any sign of foul play, though now muttering prayers asking for Inera to protect them from whatever this was.

 

"It...happened a few days past. A large white fox, as thou saith, arrived in the dead of night. Myself saw it...standing over...Sir Cyrus." Now this was a far more important revelation than the others might have believed. At the very least this was far more than simple coincidence. The same, or else a similar, fox in two places. Both times displaying violent tendencies which were apparently unusual for the Foxes if he was interpreting what the Frogs said correctly. While the others discussed the ramifications of this Cyrus being involved, he focused on the fox. Several ideas came to mind, and he was suddenly wishing that he could ask those the foxes had taken what they knew that could help him finish this.

 

"It is possible that the Foxes are not at fault." He said after finishing his deliberation, turning to look directly at Glenn. "Let me explain. We encountered...well, we saw sign of the same fox when we were in Ithome. They murdered someone in a secret portion of a library, and seemingly made off with some scrolls. If my thinking is correct, they were scrolls of information on the Great Dragon. Including its location, which is what we were searching the library for in the first place." Honesty was the best policy after all. "It is my thinking that this fox we have encountered is acting separately from the tribe of their birth. Maybe they are an outcast. We would have to ask the foxes themselves in order to know for sure. Though why anyone would want to deliberately cause strife between your tribe and theirs I cannot say I know. Do you have any shared enemies?"

[Alaina]

 

Alois thought about what the frogs had said, while recovering from their strange headaches. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of it, nor what coorelation to draw between the two as they weren't exactly the closest in events, but something did give him pause in his thoughts. Something that sounded a bit familiar about the fox culprit, which was then affirmed by Eddy's sudden thoughts as well. As the farm boy informed the group about what happened back in Ithome, When he ended his thoughts on a question, as to why they would cause hostilities between the tribes, Alois bluntly said, "it's probably just to funk with us." Alois had a foreboding feeling about the murder that had happened in Ithome, and everything felt a bit too coincidental to the boy to not look this way to him. Though, he didn't voice his thoughts any further, he then looked to Azar as she asked question and smirked as he jokingly said, "please, getting caught up in some kind of murder case is like our every day here. It's almost like a rite of passage." 

 

 

Tsetseg sat back and listened with growing curiosity as Penelope went on to explain something that happened to the group not too long ago. She wasn't actually sure what to make of what was going on, but couldn't help but think it exceptionally mean to try and frame someone else for something already super bad. Whoever this murder culprit was, Tsetseg knew one thing for certain. They were not a nice person. Nodding this to herself, the blue-headed meanie started speaking about how this was all likely done to cause the tribes to hate each other and fight, though quite like the chief, Tsetseg couldn't figure out why anyone would want people to fight each other. When the chief asked why they were going through the woods, Tsetseg wasn't actually sure of the answer herself, only being able to make some assumptions based off of some of the things she overheard when they were talking with Urvan yesterday. But ultimately, she didn't want to answer for the group, and was instead more caught up in the idea of going to see the shrine. "Oh, oh! Yeah! Let's go see the shrine!" She wasn't actually sure what a protean shrine would be like, but if it was dedicated to fluffiest of all the foxes, so it had to be awesome.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

 

"Th-the whole village has been affected by this strange affliction," Shiro managed to get out. "It came out of the bl-blue since late August...Th-they don't last long, but they are getting worse..."

 

Gunther looked down curiously at the frog in his arms. This was something that happened often? So there wasn't going to be an attack? Still, he didn't feel comfortable setting the man down, if this time was the time they got attacked then he should be ready.

 

"A large white fox, as thou saith, arrived in the dead of night. Myself saw it...standing over...Sir Cyrus."

 

Gunther whipped towards the voice. He had known Sir Cyrus...if what this man said was accurate then the knight had been a Protean the entire time? It was true the frogs didn't exactly stand out as different but...

 

"Aye, and I his squire,"

 

So that's why the name sounded familiar....

What followed was Azar making plans for when to combat the foxes and Edrick...surprisingly not also thinking of how to combat the foxes. Gunther would have expected from previous interactions the Pontic to be ready to bring "divine wrath" upon the foxes. But what he said was true. It was an odd coincidence indeed.

 

And he didn't think it was, as Alois said, just to "funk" with them.

 

It wasn't his place to decide what to do, though. He turned to Catriona. "What do you think? Are we to attempt to fight or talk?"

Then, to Glenn, Gunther smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you right away, though, I suppose that would be expected given the...circumstance."

Yes, last time he had seen the squire he had been...less froggy.

---

 

Penelope gave a start as the chief's reaction. It was a forceful reminder of the animal nature of these people. Those teeth did not seem pleasant. Though the first thing that came to mind, something Penelope couldn't help but mention, was simply... "Why rice? Your teeth seem designed for meat eating."

 

Though soon enough that idle thought was lost in the more important mystery. It wasn't just a matter of who would steal it but a matter of who COULD steal it. "Have there been any of your people who left the village, besides Sienna, who may have returned and done this? I mean no insult but if, as you say, it was well guarded then would it not make sense that the one to take it was someone who knew how it was protected? Perhaps the reason no trace could be found was the scent was not one that would be unusual. It's not as though anyone would have the power to cause them to just vanish out of thin a-" Penelope paused. But, was that true? There was certain Pontic magic that could do such a thing. "Yes we should check the shrine. Perhaps Warp magic is to blame..."

 

She wanted to question him on the reasoning for his pause earlier but it wouldn't do to force such a thing. She would, however, keep note of when he did such a thing again.

 

...If it weren't for the deadly aspect to this, the mystery could be sort of...fun.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Warp or Rescue staff would be quite unlikely, unless both were used in tandem and even then it would be quite a magnanimous effort even to a skilled staff user. Both staves cannot be used at their own user, and they would have a certain range limitations too.

 

It's still a possibility, but I am quite sure that...well, the easiest guess would be it's someone from amongst the foxes that did this. For why, I don't know. But yeah you guys should look at the shrine and find more clue first. I'm not in the mood to crawl there right now and it's not like we'll be framed for murder again now."

 

Following that, Ciela went silent for a few moments. Truth to be told, this was getting quite frustrating. Someone, somewhere, orchestrated all this mess, working with many people just to take down this one group. And nobles were involved in this too. The thought of that disgusted her. What would lead the head of one of the major noble houses of Galtea to try committing this high-level treason? And the implication of one of the Histian council members being on this too...those bastards. She had nothing but contempt against such people, and would feel nothing but absolute delight to see them being hanged or decapitated with her own two eyes - a luxury she didn't have when her father was the one being executed. Corrupt nobles had no business being in their position.

 

Realizing that her thought slowly became more and more spiteful, Ciela shifted her thoughts a bit and decided to talk to the chieftain again.

 

"This rice is nice. Does this village usually present them plain like this, or do you people had different recipes and styles in preparing rice?"

 

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