Northern Winds [NC-17] (IC)

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

The jackal had caught up to everyone easily and had leaped aboard the train before it lurched into motion, still gripping Deirdre's sword. After the exerting events which had occurred prior to them boarding the train, Keaton felt genuinely relieved that some form of reprieve had been granted, as was evidenced through the relinquishment of the tension in her posture and her disintegrating countenance. Some distant, relentlessly logical fraction of her mind attempted to remind her that the train probably wouldn't be sufficient defense against a bombardment by a monster, only for Keaton to effortlessly snort in retaliation. She just wanted to enjoy the moment of silence.

She still had Deirdre's sword. It probably wasn't wise to give it to Stygian. Instead, slinging the scabbard over her shoulder by its strap, Keaton trudged behind the rest of her companions and decided to make herself comfortable in the cabin. She felt she deserved some sort of break.

---

...Deirdre:

Deirdre's head hurt, and for a split second she thought it was the cancer. Almost as though the tumor dwelling in her brain had inflated ten times its size and had devoured her mind whole.

Unconsciousness wasn't a very good place for rational thought.

From where she was draped like a sack of potatoes over Stygian's shoulder, our classically-clad Gryphon cross-dressing heroine stirred slightly, too imperceptible to be noticed, and since she had went limp amidst her struggle the next second there was nothing to indicate her awakening. Even then, undetected, her tapered ears tilted and angled themselves as she tried to force herself out of the darkness; tried to reclaim her body and seize control over her movements again. Deirdre tensed slightly as she felt herself move involuntarily, making her come blindly to the realization that she was being handled by someone else.

But who? The last moment she remembered was her being in the car, and that massive shockwave coming right at her, and her head impacting the wall, and everything going so, so dark. She thought she was dead. She thought the tumor had burst in her head like a balloon and--fuck, there went her rational thought process again. She was panicking. Deirdre had to move. Who knew what was happening, and--

Membrane-coated eyes wearily opened just in time to steadily absorb the figure holding her. Alabaster and velveteen in coat, of indistinguishable species--hell, everything was a blur, even moreso than usual--although reminiscent of the bat-monster which she vaguely recalled assaulting her during her encounter with Keaton in the alleyway. He seemed to be holding her in a rather awkward position, and--

Oh.

Fuck.

His hand was on her buttock.

Whether she was prepared or not, or if she had full function over her body, Deirdre felt herself react. Life seemed to surge back into her formerly limp limbs as her fingers clenched and her knuckles popped outward against her skin, the plumage on her back bristling agitatedly. That horrid headache which she only just realized was there intensified in pressure as she felt her terror escalate, and then, quite possibly to the shock and/or discomfort of all parties involved, released a very feminine and very indignant scream.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

Stygian's rough handling of Deirdre was cut short, when she opened her eyes and looked at him, blurry eyes slowly and groggily spreading. Sure looks damn pretty for a guy, the bat thought for a short moment, and he was about to comment on 'his' awakening when he noticed Dierdre's features tense. The next second, the gryphon let out a high-pitched shriek, ear-splitting to the bat. Stygian closed his eyes and snapped his jaws open, throwing his hands up to cover his ears, his claws slicing through and pulling on the gryphon's clothes with that hasty movement. Deirdre felt a stinging as her skin was cut, and the bat almost threw her away.
   When Deirdre's scream came to an end, it was taken over by the feral, monstrous snarling that Stygian emitted, until he stopped that short as well. He clenched his teeth hard, oversized fangs bared, and glared at her, still growling somewhere down in his throat, before he erupted into snarling speech. 'Hell damn it, what the fuck is your problem?!' he fumed.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel trailed along the narrow hallway of the train until they reached the cabins. She thought she should offer to look at the griffon in her healing capacity. He had been unconscious quite a while. As she approached the doorways she wondered which cabin Ignatz had chosen to deposit the unconscious creature. Then a high scream echoed through the car, harmonizing with a low growl that could only be Ignatz. She poked her head into the appropriate cabin. "I take it that the patient is now conscious. How are you feeling?"

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha watched from the rail of the train as the others behind made haste to catch the stairs before they left.  Kerya, Mel, Gareeku, Richard...counting the others, all nine of the group members made it onto the giant snaking machine with little problems.  When the whistle sounded, the panthress could breathe a sigh of relief.  Everyone could.  They were going to leave a town decimated by gods-knew-what behind them.

Stygian's assessment of the group was quite correct...on edge and uneasy, the evening air carrying with it a foreboding.  But they were all together, and they were safe for the time being.  Provided that they ran into nothing else on the train ride, Aisha looked forward to a good rest.

The huntress spared a quick nod to the bat as he left to tend to their newest and probably unwilling party member, the gryphon.  She walked to a cabin and peered inside, before turning to the others.  "I dunno about you, amigos, but the first thing I'm gonna do is grab my seat.  Then food."

An inner part of Aisha rolled its eyes at her as she strolled to the cabin and placed her stuff next to a window.  She was as confused as the rest of the group, and intimidated by what had happened.  But, that wasn't going to stop her from trying to be at least a little comfortable.

[Gareeku]

Standing with the others, Gareeku took his ticket from Mel. Listening to Aisha talk of getting a seat and then food, the wolf nodded his head in agreement.
"Good idea. I think we could do with a little relaxation for the moment." he commented. Watching Aisha disappear into one cabin, Gareeku stayed where he was for a minute or so, before deciding to follow her. Entering the cabin, Gareeku then put his things to the side, where he would return to retrieve them after eating before going to a cabin of his own. "Hope you don't mind me joining you."

[Aisha deCabre]

As Aisha looked about the cabin that she chose, impressed with the size and the space that it offered, she glanced out of the window and into the dark landscape...she shuddered as the clouds didn't seem to be dissipating.  Let this trip be peaceful... she thought, almost in prayer.

That was when the panther heard footsteps from behind, followed by Gareeku's voice.  She turned to face the wolf, noticing that he had placed his own things in the cabin.  A light smile crossed her face.  "I don't mind at all."  As she stood up and walked back to the door, she put a hand on his shoulder and looked up at him.  "Truth be told, among the current group and circumstances...I can think of no better company than you."

With a sincere grin, and a tinge of red hidden in the black fur on her face, she let her hand slide from his arm and looked outside and around.  "What say we see what things they have to eat on this big chunk of metal, then?"

[Gareeku]

Looking at Aisha as she replied to his comment, Gareeku felt her hand softly on his shoulder and smiled. It wasn't a smirk, but a warm smile; something that hadn't been on his face in a long time.
"That's good to hear..." the wolf replied softly, gazing into her eyes as he spoke.

Listening to Aisha speak of finding somewhere to eat on the train, the wolf smirked.
"My thought's exactly." Gareeku replied, the soft smile returning in place of the smirk as he stood back from the doorway to allow the pantheress through.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog followed the rest of them inside the first car, his ticket in hand. Stygian carried the gryphon to the next car, and the rest of them started filing into the train, starting to make themselves comfortable. Cog could feel the train accelerating through his legs, and being careful to keep his balance he turned for just a moment, staring back at the city.
If what the bat said was true, the entire city would soon be gone. A disaster area. The wolf made a small sigh, his eyes drifting towards the hideous, scarlike spiral in the sky, and shook his head at the ground before turning back to the inside of the cabin.
His first sight was that Cubi, and one of Cog's eyebrows raised.

On Keaton's shoulder, he noticed that strange sword again, with the curved blade and the Pappenheimer hilt. He took a step forward, and then paused - the succubus looked rather tired. He paused, a pained look on his face, and with almost a reluctant movement walked towards the Jackal Cubi. Swordsman's curiosity won out over considerateness, but even so, when he spoke, his voice was soft.
"Excuse me? Ms...Keaton?" he said politely. "I truly don't mean to bother you, but...might I see that sword you have there?"

[Stygian]

'Conscious and loud,' Stygian commented, frowning hard at Deirdre's confused and shocked face. 'Excuse me!' he said indignantly, before putting his hand under the gryphon again, and his other on her back, and before she could protest, lifted her up and promptly dropped her next to him in the sofa.
   The bat paused for a second, straightening his pants with large hands, claws still a bit too long out. 'By the way, thank you for letting us borrow your car so we could all evade certain death,' he said, his intonation painfully easy to catch.

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

Amidst her stride towards the opposite cabin, Keaton was only vaguely aware of Cogidubnus's comment. Ears pivoted upright as she turned her head around so she could directly look at him, her eyebrow raised. What did he want? Something about a sword? The weight leaning against her back suddenly reminded her of the weapon dangling from her grip. Not having any respect for Deirdre's blade, she had preferred to hold it in a more casual manner, though she would certainly catch hell from the Gryphon when she finally woke up. Ah well. She'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

Besides, if the wolf was interested, she had no qualms about passing responsibility for safeguarding Deirdre's sword to him. Grasping the scabbard, Keaton walked over and dropped it into Cog's hands, then stretched her arms upright, folding them behind her head. "Knock yourself out," she stated leisurely. "I'll be in the cabin. Keep the sword as long as you'd like. I'm getting rid of this crappy dress."

And with that, she walked off toward the cabin, humming lightly to herself.

---

...Deirdre:

Halfway through her high-pitched scream, Deirdre felt the strong hands which were holding her upright suddenly give away as they swept up and grasped at their owner's ears, shielding them from the sound which resonated through the cabin. She flailed briefly, unaware of the lacerations which were created in her outfit, as though it would have some effect on her descent, only for her to land in an unceremonious heap on the floor. Instantly, she scrambled away from Stygian's feet and skittered to a safe distance, heaving and gasping. Fuck. FUCK! Where was her sword? Why couldn't she find her sword? Did she lose it when her car was decimated? Fucking hell, she needed her sword, and she didn't think she could cast magic because her head hurt so fucking much and she couldn't risk it going haywire in the middle of a goddamn train cabin or wherever the hell she was, and--

Oh fuck, someone else was entering. Deirdre's head snapped in Mel's direction, her ears falling backwards. God dammit, she--she--

"What the HELL IS GOING ON?!" Deirdre demanded, sounding absolutely hysterical. Before she could truly start panicking, however, Stygian picked her up and deposited her right next to him, on the sofa. Being so close to someone who was ferally growling at her unnerved Deirdre, but then he mentioned something--in rather odd intonation--about her letting "them" letting her borrow her car. That shut her up.

Them? Who was them? Oh wait, they meant--they meant Keaton and her strange new accomplices. Deirdre clenched her beek shut as all that had happened came flowing back once more. The city. It was going to be destroyed. Those monsters would spread everywhere, and utterly eviscerate the city. People would die, and--sighing with frustration, resignation, and some other unpleasant carrion emotions, Deirdre slumped her head in her hands and moaned. "Shit. I--you--" Finally, she lifted her head from her hands and stared with sunken, cataract-clad eyes at Stygian and Mel. "What's going on?" she repeated, although in a much more reasonable volume.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog took a step back, his face uncertain for a moment, and then nodded to the Cubi and took the sword. The dangling kitty-charm that hung from the hilt distracted his eyes for a moment, and almost made the wolf stop then and there and start looking over the sword, but he simply took the blade in hand, bowing his head at the succubus in front of him and holding the sword lightly at his side. The hilt touched the ground, slightly.
"Thank you - my apologies for bothering you." he said to the tired succubus, his voice contrite, and waited just a moment before turning and walking into the relatively open area in the first car.

He situated himself out of the way, or at least as much out of the way as he could in a cramped train-car, and set the sword on his lap, simply looking at it. He seemed to bore holes into the scabbard and hilt before gently taking the handle of the blade in-hand, and deftly and smoothly removing it from the scabbard, pulling the sheath off rather than drawing the blade forward. The curved blade sparkled in the dark, stormcloud light for a moment, dully reflecting the cloudy sky, and the wolf brought the blade up close and smelled. Was it oiled, or perhaps she used magic to keep it well-finished...

He continued to examine the blade, curious about the strange configuration of the western-hilted, curved sword. He examined the blade and the edge itself, peering closely at the edge and trying to determine the quality of the forging. Curved blades could be exceptionally hard to make. He even delicately swung it a few times, testing the balance, and shook the hilt in his hand to test the blade's fit.
It was some time before he slid the sword back into the sheath, nodding softly to himself.

[SpottedKitty]

Kerya followed Sebastian as he led the group through the train to their cabin. She wasn't quite tired yet, but the last hour or so had been quite eventful, and it was beginning to wear on her. Once in the cabin she almost sat down, before she remembered she still needed to dry off. "Shave it," she muttered, "if we don't have time to relax now, we never will." She propped her staff against the wall and put the bag down on the floor beside it.

"I am about to get myself dried out, at long last," she said as she stood in the far end of the cabin, out of everyone's way. "If any of you are still feeling chilled, stand about an arm's length from me."

The little stoat raised one arm above her head and made a graceful swirling gesture, accompanied by a quiet word or two. The air surrounding her began to stir, a breeze quickly building into a brisk wind, then powerful gusts twisting back on themselves, warming up until Kerya stood in the middle of a comfortably hot miniature cyclone. She basked in the heat, turning this way and that, keeping the spell running until the last handsbreadth of her dress and her underpelt was thoroughly dry, and the last of the chill thawed out of her bones.

The entire process had been quite noisy, though, so she never heard the loud, feminine scream of outrage that echoed from the other cabin, where Sebastian had carried the unconscious bird-thing.

[Boog]

The shriek startled Richard out of his rest. Pushing his other concerns to the side for a moment he got up and made his way over to the cabin Stygian had deposited the gryphon into. If the fiasco with those cops was any indication then he really didn't trust the bat alone in there with the poor guy. The musician heard muffled babbling through the door as he approached, and leaned next to the room to listen in. Just in case anybody did anything... Untoward.

[Stygian]

Knowing that a long and complicated explanation would be useless, Stygian opted for stating the facts in the simplest, most brutal way. 'We're on a train inbound for Jann's Cliff. We're going there to escape, as Haszal is basically under attack. Your car got wrecked in a crash, and you were knocked out, so we carried you with us,' he said, and gave the gryphon a hard, though no longer angry look. 'I am sorry if that will prove to be a mistake, but I thought it only proper, and we have a healer with us.' With that last statement, he nodded toward Mel.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha smiled back to the wolf as he allowed her first through the entryway, nodding her thanks.  It was certainly softening to her heart, to see Gareeku's smile once again...a rare and comforting familiarity, just as it had been when they were dancing together before.  For a few moments, it felt like her heart refused to cease its rapid pounding...

Before she started, however, she heard a slight commotion going on back toward the first car.  Peering around curiously, the panthress and wolf could catch sight of a few of the others as they claimed their cabins...and some curious about where Stygian had taken the Gryphon.  Her ears pinned to her skull.  She thought that she heard an unfamiliar scream just moments ago too...her hearing was good, but not too precise, and Aisha nearly wrote it off as someone outside.

But at least the train was moving away from the trouble...and things were getting to be rather quiet now, believing that whatever had caused it was under control.  There was a pause, before she shook her head and glanced back up at Gareeku, one hand caressing a slightly aching forehead.  "For once I wouldn't like to deal with trouble today," she remarked with a slight roll of her eyes, and led the way back towards the food car.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel bowed politely to the gryphon. "You were unconscious quite a while. I imagine you are feeling sore at the very least. Will you trust me to heal you?" The dragon disguised as a leopard looked at the newest addition to the group closely for the first time.  Male to all outward appearances that scream had sounded very female. Not that gender mattered to the healing. Mel could see a bent beak and a big lump on the side of hir head as the most obvious and outward injuries.

[Stygian]

Stygian took a short pause, rubbing his temple and leaning back against the seat, his ears still tense and twitching from the screaming abuse. Having another adventurer along was good for safety reasons, and seeing as how 'he' was entirely unknown to everyone save Keaton there would probably be no following 'him'. That might be convenient, if they wanted business done that they could not do themselves. The question was, would 'he' bring some other sort of trouble with him?
   'I am sorry for the inconvenience, really,' the bat said, and looked over at Deirdre. 'I can pay you for the ticket back, or anywhere else really. But for now you're on this train with us.' He took his eyes from the gryphon for a moment, before he remembered something and looked back. 'Oh, yes. And Keaton. Is that... an issue?'

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

Keaton entered the cabin shortly after she left Cogidubnus behind with Deirdre's sword, the surface of her dress seeming to ripple and melt off of her like a syrupy, black ichor, each dollop and droplet retreating into the darkness that reached towards her form. Seizing the excess magic which composed the flowing hem of her dress, Keaton swept the remainder of the rippling gown around like a cocoon, encompassing her body with the shadowy fabric. The instant it touched her skin it melted away, flowing and reshaping itself into the form of a comfortable, black sleeveless top and equally leisurely pants secured with a sable belt, baggy and loose. The rest of the shadows oozed off onto her arms, forming a pair of voluminous armwarmers, also fastened to her upper arms with smaller belts.

The transformation had occurred within the span of a second, quite to Keaton's appreciation. Dusting her new attire off, Keaton strolled over to recline in one of the nearest seats, hopefully to release some of the tension which still gripped her bones.

---

...Deirdre:

'We're on a train inbound for Jann's Cliff. We're going there to escape, as Haszal is basically under attack. Your car got wrecked in a crash, and you were knocked out, so we carried you with us. I am sorry if that will prove to be a mistake, but I thought it only proper, and we have a healer with us.'

In response to this realization, Deirdre's expression only seemed to weaken under the weight of Stygian's words, her head falling back in her hands, face-first. That fucking headache was really making matters worse for her escalating stress and tension. Try as she might, Deirdre knew she couldn't drive it away on her own, and it was unwise to continue to do so. Something so intangible, yet palpably pounding away at her skull, couldn't simply be pried off and flung away. She needed a healer's ministrations. Magical inclinations or not, Deirdre knew no healing spells, and could only accept the offer from Mel.

Sighing, she canted her head in Mel's direction, exposing the tumescent bump over her eye. Precisely where she had struck the side of the car. "Alright," she admitted, "Heal away."

As Mel approached her upon receiving her confirmation, Deirdre redirected her gaze towards Stygian. At the mention of Keaton's name she flinched quite graphically, then narrowed her eyes. "I don't know what your business is with her, but it'd be a very bad decision to travel with Keaton," she stated. "I don't know if you know about her, but back... back when I was Adventuring, I fought with her. She's a vicious, coldblooded killer."

A pause. Then Deirdre tentatively continued, "Doesn't... doesn't that mean anything to you all?"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

For a few seconds Stygian merely stared at Deirdre, not a muscle in his face moving. When he spoke, his voice was unemotionally boorish. 'I'm sorry, do you think you're telling me something that I don't know?' he asked. He didn't wait for any sort of response. 'My dear, I am a cold-blooded killer, and I can safely say that I hold Keaton for better than myself. Because honestly I think she has her good sides as well, whereas I... don't.' He didn't add anything to that. No grin, no intonation, no gesture or hint that might have led one to believe that he were anything but serious.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

At the gryphon's acquiescence Mel approached. Very delicately her slightly chill fingers searched out the edges of the hematoma amidst the feathers before starting the healing. Once the obvious injury was dealt with her magic roamed further, dealing with concussion and the dented beak. From there she went outward to search out all the little bumps and bruises the car wreck had generated. When she, a fact confirmed during the healing, asked her question the disguised dragon just shrugged. "If one limits their acquaintance to saints they will have a very reduced social circle."

[Sunblink]

...Deirdre:

Even amidst the gentle suffusion of Mel's healing magic, Deirdre's expression mirrored nothing but absolute disgust. The bump swelling on the side of her head was steadily decreasing as Mel's chilled fingers massaged it, soon disappearing into her scalp, then the bony dent in her beak started to adjust itself, assisted by the magical acceleration. Unconsciously, she tested her repaired beak by drawing air through her nostrils, no longer finding that nasal passage clogged with mucilaginous blood, and then she analyzed Stygian's expression for any sign of sarcasm. She found none. With trepidation, she realized that the bat was serious--truly serious.

This was insane. She had been rescued by, and was expecting to travel with, murderers? In spite of the intimidating presence the bat emanated, Deirdre narrowed her eyes virulently at Stygian, then emitted an unladylike and acidic snort. "So I suppose you've killed fifteen Beings and had supposedly stolen their souls as well, not to mention were involved in several other disappearances? I doubt that's something being really, truly nice, if you squint your eyes hard enough, deep, deep down inside can excuse!" Another derisive growl, and she glared at Mel. "I'm not asking for saints. The average saint will tell you that, despite the fact I've contributed twelve years to Adventuring, am going to Hell. I couldn't care less if someone has their minor deep dark secret or skeletons in their closet, such as that time they cheated on a math test when they were seven or secretly wants to get enough implants to cover their stomach with tits. I don't live in some fantasy world where everybody's perfect. But it's when somebody ends up killing another person and laughs about it afterwards that you cross the goddamn line in my book."

With that tirade finished, Deirdre took a deep breath, her ears fell backwards, and she dropped her head back in her hands, almost as though her migraine had returned tenfold. It hadn't, but since she supposed that her outburst would not exactly be applauded by the chiropteran and his cohort, she savored what reprieve she had and braced herself. Breaking the silence, she spoke up almost cordially, although with a voice too flat to carry any sarcasm. "So, are you meaning to tell me that everyone in this group of yours is a murderer, one way or another?"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Boog]

Most people couldn't tell when Richard was smiling, but he did anyway. He even chuckled a little, although if anyone asked later he'd say it was a cough. Good news. Well I'll be damned. The other two adventurers in the group seemed capable of forgiving an atom bomb, the dragon didn't get fazed by nil, Cog was Cog and the new girl was just strange. He was sick of being the group's sole voice of reason. Good news doesn't happen to me too much, gonna have to mark my calender for this.

[Stygian]

Stygian leaned back in his seat, and almost put his hand up to rub at his temple yet again. She was going to be troublesome, this one. Some adventurers had the good habit of not being so judgmental, and of having a bit of self-distance, not to mention the foresight and control to keep themselves under wraps in the presence of powerful creatures. Not this one, it seemed. Still, her assumption as to the extent of his 'sins' amused him a bit.
   'I don't exactly keep a kill count. Mostly because it would be too much of a bother to find out,' the bat said, voice still neutral. 'I'll say that I've mostly left beings alone, save a few towns and revenge cases, and some property damage. I have killed quite a lot of creatures though, and laughed about it. I think you must be able to relate to that.' He made a very subtle smirk and passed the gryphon a glance. 'I'm not sure whether if you are to call me a murderer or an adventurer for that. And really, you can divide between the moral and the practical aspects of it all. I am an arms dealer though, if you frown on such things. And a bounty hunter.'

[Sunblink]

...Deirdre:

In spite of the hypocrisy behind the situation and her former profession, Deirdre looked rather affronted when Stygian had hinted at the idea of her laughing at some of her former "assignments." Deep down, she actually was offended. The ethics behind being an Adventurer were flimsy enough, especially when some jobs required for her to actually eliminate her foe, and the last thing she wanted was to be grouped in with the barbarians she had dealt with.

"You know, I'm actually not like those braindead neanderthals who hack and slashed their way through the Adventuring academy just because they wanted to make something bleed," Deirdre said with a steely amount of flatness to her voice, "The world may be filled with morons, but I'm not one of them." There was a strange amount of finality to her tone, as though she was utterly confident with where she stood. "I've dealt with enough idiots as it is."

Deirdre extended a taloned finger. "Second, I don't care if you're an arms dealer. I'm not that much of a tightass. I'm surprised you would have that much business though..." True, technology wasn't exactly ample on Furrae, as far as Deirdre knew. Some variations of Creatures she had encountered tended to shun technology in general. That couldn't be accounted for the entire population of Creatures, but she supposed Beings composed the majority of this bat's customers. "As for the bounty hunter... hell, that's not much different from being an Adventurer, I guess, but I--I didn't start adventuring for money or for attention or anything ridiculous or absurd like that. Especially not for bloodlust. The Adventuring business has become watered down with asses like that. I didn't kill anyone for the hell of it."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

Perhaps to Deirdre's surprise, Stygian stopped smirking and just nodded. 'Good. Then you probably understand why I started making guns. Not just because it's something I do well, or just for economic interests, but rather because in this world, beings need guns. Among other things.' He looked at her seriously. 'And I've never killed anyone for the hell of it either. Though, as for bloodlust...'
   Realizing that he wouldn't really get anything across, and thinking he'd made at least a small point, the bat sat back again, and folded his hands across his chest, letting Mel tend to the gryphon. 'I think we should take a break, before we all have a talk,' he said to no one in particular. 'There are some things we definitely need to go through. Oh, and by the by,' he continued, and turned to Deirdre again. 'No attacking anyone in our group. Well, not without knowing you can get away with it, anyway, which you won't.' He grinned. 'We already have one demon huntress with us, and she knows to stay in line.'

[Cogidubnus]

 Dierdre's sword sitting across his lap, Cog was lost in thought, his gaze somewhere outside in the passing scenery. They hadn't gotten too far-off yet, and the outside of the traincar was mostly what you'd see on the early outskirts of a city. A few buildings, a lot of scraggly trees and sparse growth, and hovering ominously behind them the reddish scar in Haszal's sky.
The wolf blinked. People were speaking in the next room - he supposed that the Gryphon had awoken at last. He spared a glance at the sword resting on his legs, the well-crafted and highly enchanted piece of metal, and holding it gingerly in his left hand he stood and walked to the next room.

He walked in the car shortly after Stygian said something about a demon huntress, and his mind drifting towards the yellow Cubi in the room he stood off to the side a bit, maneuvering around the others to an out-of-the-way spot.
He wasn't quite sure where to set the gryphon's sword, and simply contented himself to wait for an opportune moment to ask.

[Sunblink]

...Deirdre:

Indeed, the Gryphon was quite surprised at Stygian's next remark, not to mention his change in demeanor, although she found herself struggling between deciding to be repulsed or stunned at his comment about bloodlust. Normally she would try to be more flexible in terms of examining situations from others' perspectives, but Deirdre wasn't in a philosophical or thoughtful mood. However, she understood what he meant about Beings needing guns--it made sense to her. Creatures viewed Beings as cattle, apparatuses for their convenience. That was why the Adventuring business was established.

This brief understanding didn't change the problem at hand, though. She was still in the company of unscrupulous characters, and now she was being expected to just sit idly while Keaton frolicked--freely--about their group, killing and doing as she pleased--the idea disgusted her.

But there wasn't much she could do. She had nowhere else to go, and her car was destroyed. What was there to do? She probably could just leave when they reached Jann's Cliff, but... for now she had to acquiesce to their guidelines. Deirdre schooled her features into a somewhat dry, yet otherwise neutral mask. "Fine. I still think you associating with her is a big mistake," she said, but said nothing else regarding that subject, "But I'll do what you want for now. Assuming you have taken my sword, I guess you'll be keeping it until I cooperate?"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

Surprised, Stygian raised his eyebrows and looked back over at Deirdre yet again. 'What? No. I just didn't stop to take that one. It should be with... I don't know. Someone. We had it with us, I am sure.' He didn't want to say that last it had been Keaton who had handled it. 'I could ask, if you don't want to do that on your own.'

- -

'Well, they were here,' Ace said, walking back from the booth and back to the middle of the floor of the station hall, to the waiting otter and jackal. 'They are on a train running for Jann's Cliff. Full-length tickets. And if I'm right, they'll go as far as they can.' She passed Laertes a serious look. 'I think we ought to follow their example, the way things look.'

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog coughed, taking a step forward. He'd picked a good time to enter the room, apparently. He maneuvered himself so that Dierdre could see him easily, and giving her a slight wave held the sword in his left hand up high, clearly visible to the recovering gryphon. He put it down quickly, setting it in a chair positioned behind him.

"Whenever you need it." he said, giving the avian a slight bow. "A very fine and interesting blade. You must have been a very good or very rich adventurer for such." Cog smiled.
He paused. Looking outside the windows suddenly, he leaned against the wall of the train, feeling the tracks hum underneath them. He looked at the bat, his eyes obscured by his shades.
"What now, Stygian?"

*  *  *

The Jackal slowed from a jog to a walk, and finally stopped next to Ace, only just a bit out of breath. The train station was some distance away, and after that fight with the creature, he wasn't feeling in top form anyway. He stood there with his arms hanging at his sides for a moment, glancing at Ace, and then staring up at the board proclaiming the trains and various times of departure.
The next train to Jann's Cliff was in a few hours. The Jackal scowled, and scanned the board again - if he could just remember...

Auraze, fishing and trade town of no great importance, save the favorable drift of oceanic currents that brought cold-water crab there in droves almost every year, was only fifty miles from Jann's Cliff. And the train heading there left in only ten mintues. Laertes reached into a pouch at his side, producing two large bills of Haszal currency.
"Three for Auraze." he said, handing the bills to Carey, the otter standing behind the both of them. A connecting train and a cab would be the next steps. It would be a little while yet, but...

Laertes smiled, showing just a bit of teeth, and proceeded to wait for his train.

[Gareeku]

Like Aisha, Gareeku had heard the scream, and had seen the others seemingly wondering where the bat had taken the gryphon. Narrowing his eyes as he looked off into the direction where the scream had come from for a moment, the wolf then turned back to Aisha when she spoke of keeping out of trouble.
"Agreed." Gareeku replied, before following her back towards the food car.