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[Gamerboy4life]

Seyena groaned, pushing herself to her feet, brushing snow off her shoulders. She almost couldn't feel her fingers.

She looked around, finding her winged companion resting upon the snow, befallen by the spell like she had been.

"Hey, Ilya, c'mon girl, get up." She jostled her pegasus a bit, allowing her to get to her own feet as well.

She looked out through the trees, seeing the sage and sniper who were presumably sent to finish her off. She grabbed her lance, quickly mounting her pegasus in order to prepare for a fight.
The thing is, however, they weren't fighting. Nobody seemed to be.

"What's going on?" She still kept her lance trained on the two enemies, but inched forward for a better view through the trees.

[Blade Master Model 42]

Valor kept watching the opposing mercenaries across the snow from him. "...So. Did you get what you came for yet, or did we interrupt?"

[Zako]

Edwin remained silent, seeing that diplomacy was actually underway for once, but remained cautious all the same. These people definitely did not seem all that friendly or trustworthy to him...

[Xanmyral]

As Salvatore snored, the sleeping man moved a bit in his sleep. This caused the wind to move him a bit more, which caused him to move even more in his sleep at the disturbance. With one last shift, there came muffled thud as an exceptionally sharp lance hit the ground point first, digging into it a fair bit. There was a much louder thud and clank however as Sal soon joined his lance in falling onto the heavy snow on his back, close to Edwin.

After a second or two the man twitched, then slowly the man's eyes opened up to gaze at sky. He was silent for a bit more before declaring loudly to no one in particular "Oi hate magicks."

[Zako]

"Thank you for insulting my entire profession and the main motivation behind my life." Edwin curtly replied to Salvatore, having overheard his comment before walking over and pulling the man to his feet out of the snow. "If it's any consolation, I hate it when mine don't work when they are supposed to."

[Xanmyral]

Salvatore accepted the help Edwin gave him up, trying not to bring the mage down with him though as he weighs a touch more than him with his heavy armor and all. Wiping off any excess snow on his armor and shrugging off the rest, the Berebian sighed.

"Sorry, jus' ain' been seein' lots ah good usage fer magicks lately. Oi'm jus' frustrated, pay no moind ta me." The man apologized, before moving into a flurry of motion of snagging his spear and facing the front, remembering that there's a fight going on.

...Only to see that it isn't. "...Wha did Oi miss while Oi was out?" The man lowered his spear in relieved confusion.

[Zako]

Edwin glanced over his shoulder at the two parties talking before turning back to Salvatore.

"Apparently they know each other and are trying to talk it out. I think that it's doubtless that Valor is going to get in my face about this later on, going on about how diplomacy is the sure way to beat all problems despite him being a mercenary."

He sighs and shakes his head.

"Ehhh... Maybe I'm just getting jaded from this kind of work..."

[Xanmyral]

Salvatore took in a deep breath, then let it out. "...Oi jus' bloody wished it happened sooner..." The man looked at the trail of corpses behind them, some half buried and surrounded by reddened snow. The man relaxed a bit, but didn't seem too happy all the same. "Best not be thinkin' loike tha', loife's as cruel as yer soight, trust me on tha'. Oi don' think we ever met roight an' proper, me name be Salvatore, though most call me Sal. Yers?" The wyvern rider extended a gauntlet laden hand out towards the man.

[Sirus]

Gregor spoke to the younger swordsman first. "Hello Derick, long time no see. Any luck on your quest?"

He then addressed Joz. "If I may get straight to the point? The one who gave us this assignment believes that your group is working for Prixima Kesselring of Menelea. We suspect this because my group once worked for her as well, in similar circumstances, and things didn't exactly work out. In fact, she now wants all of us dead, and if past experience is anything to go by your group will be the next with a bounty on its collective head."

[Haspen]

@Gregor:

"Never dealt with anyone called Prixima, and the only information on her I have is from Derick, after he joined my troop after we saved him from couple of bounty hunters. My turn."

"If you were so inclined to talk, why did you attack and then kill half of my unit? I see a pegasi and a wyvern rider amongst your midst. Why you didn't send a messenger?"

[freeformschooler]

@Joz:

Charlotte ran up to Gregor's side as fast as she could and elbowed him almost inconspicuously.

: "Sorry, I know I said I wouldn't talk, but that's a REALLY important question that all our lives kind of depend on, and I am too afraid Gregor, despite his noble inclination, will say something stupid. The truth is, we WERE the messengers. All of us. However, at the sight of your troops surrounding us on all sides, shouting orders and preparing their weapons, our resident Sage acted out on impulse - in self-defense - and cast a poison spell on one of your archers. We berated him for this and attempted to repair the situation, but your troops viewed all of us as a threat from that point on and, suspecting what we did, we had no choice but to fight as they were now advancing upon us hostilely. Rightly so, too."

Charlotte kind of scratched her head.

: "I have a feeling you ordered your unit to only attack if attacked, and that was essentially our plan up until the mistake. However, once we saw Derick here, we knew the situation could still be repaired. Not fully, of course - multiple soldiers have already been slain, and there is nothing I hate more than the needless loss of life. I know Gregor and I are at least on the same wavelength when I say: we'll try to reach a diplomatic solution until your blades reach our skulls. That's a metaphor, of course. Given there are skulls un-bladed, do you think that's still possible? Is this a sufficient answer?"

[Haspen]

@Charlotte:

"Sounds reasonable, but I think you should be apologizing to the dead rather than the living. Still, I'm not sure I like the fact we were beaten in combat first time in six years. And if you need a clarification."

"What we came here was a silver, ornate box. The few sages in my group, along with my friend that departed with it, felt some old magic coming from it. We did not open it. We were told by our employer that if we did, he wouldn't pay us the full price, or maybe he wouldn't pay us at all. The box is already far away from here, I guess. If you want any more answers, I have two conditions."

[freeformschooler]

@Joz:

: "You're right. At this point, your group has the right of just about everything, so we'll happily hear those conditions."

[Haspen]

@Gregor&others:

"The first condition is: after we finish our 'negotiations', you will let my people go and re-join Matilda and her horsemen. No more killing. Nor any arrest or interrogations. I'm the leader, so you can get most information out of my anyway." Joz took a deep breath.

"The second condition is... I want a duel to the death." Joz smiled.

"It might sound absurd, but, see. I've prided myself on being careful, reasonable and cool-headed mercenary leader. I never lost a battle in the field nor in the narrow corridors of old ruins. I never lost more than three of my friends in one mission, and I never lost a duel, no matter how powerful my opponent was. Maybe except Derick, but those always ended in a draw." His mercenaries looked at each other in panic or at Joz, wide-eyed, but none even spoke against their leader's apparent death-wish.

"Today I lost around fifteen friends. Today, I lost a battle against much smaller unit. Today, I either lose a duel and die in battle, or I win and at least retain a piece of my honour. I won't just turn my back and walk away in shame." There was some grumbling behind their backs - but Joz cast a glance at his fellow mercenaries, all they went silent, albeit, sadness was very evident on their faces.

[freeformschooler]

@Joz:

: "The first condition is simple enough, but the second... I will tell you a story. If I do not change your mind, perhaps we have little choice but to honor that wish. A man's pride is a powerful motivator, after all."

: "Not long after I met Sir Hexham, we underwent truly brutal training as mercenaries for an unjust cause. On a journey to retrieve an artifact we knew almost nothing about, much like yours, we slew dozens upon dozens of soldiers with our minuscule yet talented unit. Some of them had families. Some of them had nothing. All of them had a future, and all of them had pride. When we finally retrieved that artifact, it turned out we were working against ourselves all along - working, you might say, for the wrong cause. We were not defeated by combat but by ignorance. That is why we all now have false bounties on our heads."

Charlotte turned toward Gregor once again.

: "Do you know what we did? We walked away. Yes, it was shameful. Yes, dying for our morals then and there, on the top of the castle, would have saved us from our shame. Instead, we all set out to regain our honor, our lives, and our individual prides. Do you see the Berebian clothes I am wearing? That is the future I chose, and it was only because I chose to have a future that I stand here now, with renewed pride in what I do. The others of our group were dragged into this from similar situations. A ragtag group of misfits is now a loyal task force helping Berebia put an end to the actions of a corrupt noble."

She then turned toward Derick.

: "Derick is young. When we were a group of misfits, at the beginning, he saw the death of his original mercenary group's leader, Sirius. I think Sirius was like a father to him, and that's why he set out to find the man who killed his leader while worked for Berebia. And now, the way he talks to you, sir... the 'boss,' the 'yessir,' the 'please.' Do you understand what I'm saying here?"

: "Please. Swallow your pride as we did ours. If you won't do it for yourself, if you won't do it for us - just understand that if we settle your little duel and win, you're bringing the same fate upon Derick that shattered his soul many months before. You are the new Sirius."