Before Blacky could respond, Chief Ampharos chimed in, "Yes, I think. Blacky said he found a way to the Isle..." The Umbreon nodded at this. "Corviknight Taxi. They have flights to the Isle of Armor," he turned to the taxi station's general direction as he spoke.
@SAF Aine's ribbons jingled with excitement as she cleared out her tips and put her mandolin away. So it WAS true! The Isle of Armor is real!
"Looks like we've got good news." Xuehua stepped over, with looking for rumors in the crowd not particularly fruitful. "Well, if you've figured out a way to our next destination, let's go for it."
@ChocoChicken @WavePearl @122 Generation Both Blacky and Chief Ampharos nodded to Xuehua's suggestion. "Yeah, but..." the former anxiously looked around upon noticing someone missing. "...where's Atelier?" (Spoiler: Atelier is having a lunch but neither Blacky nor Chief Ampharos know about it.)
As it happened, Atelier was having lunch at a local winery which looked as hearty as the meals it served. Atelier was having a cream stew which was the thing to have in a naturally cold environment like this. As well, he was seated by the winery's oven just to stay warm. He was reading his novel as he ate. It looked like he could be there all day unless someone knocked some sense into him.
"...I'll go get him." Xuehua sighed after a minute. He couldn't have gone far, right? Probably just getting food. She immediately booked it towards one of the local wineries. Hopefully the sight of his teammate would remind him what was going on.
(I was reading the OOC thread and was reminded that Atelier can lose track of time if he gets too invested in something) For Atelier, it was clear that he was very far into his novel as he wanted to know what was on the next chapter. Plus, with a nearly-finished cream stew beside him, he couldn't ask for more. Now that he was done with the latest chapter, he started on the remainder of his cream stew. As he looked outside, he could see a familiar face walking around outside. Wait... He recognised that face. That was Xuehua! Wasn't she his teammate or something...? Suddenly, Atelier caught wind of what was going on. He had a job to do! Immediately, Atelier finished his cream stew, stood up, and thanked the bartender for the meal before heading outside with his satchel full to the brim with books. It was a wonder that his bag hadn't burst at this point. "Xuehua!" he waved at the Glaceon as he ran towards her. (I suddenly have an urge to pull an Alexa-style dump of textbooks from Atelier's satchel)
"Hey, we're waiting for ya. I think Blacky found something!" That was about all that Xuehua said before waving for him to follow and leading him back to the rest of the party.
"Oh. Sorry!" Atelier replied. By then, he ran after Xuehua to find his companions whilst running with his satchel. He wondered if, given the weight of his satchel, he might be able to weaponise the thing. It was really heavy, after all. Balance: 24,500C Inventory: ?x Books and Novels, 1x Journal, 1x Strategy Book, 1x Middle Rune of the Moon, 1x Watera Tome (SotS), 1x Firaga Tome, 1x Lunar Tome (CdL), 1x Ethereal Grimoire, 1x Steel Short Sword, 10x Geo Pebbles, 10x Gravelerocks, 1x Thundara Gauntlets, 1x Potion of Fire, 2x Aloe Vera, 1x Grass Materia, 1x Kettle and Cup Set Equipped: Eevee Scarf
@WavePearl @ChocoChicken @122 Generation A few moments after Xuehua ran off, she came back with Atelier in tow. Everyone was here at last. Blacky quickly took Chief Ampharos' hand so he wouldn't wander off again and led everyone to the Corviknight Taxi station.
@SAF @122 Generation @ChocoChicken The taxi station was bustling with passengers, and coaches coming and going. "So, which one goes to the Isle of Armor?" Aine wondered.
"A moment, please..." Blacky hummed with a raised paw, though it might as well be drowned into the busy noises (how tf do you phrase it again?). Instead of answering Aine himself, he immediately located the station master. It took awhile before actually reaching there due to the queue. "Good day, sir. Five seats to the Isle of Armor, please," Blacky said to the station master.
@SAF A thousand crowns later, the group was shown to the terminal going to the Isle of Armor. "The coach should be arriving shortly." the attendant smiled.
"Thank you," both Blacky and Chief Ampharos said to the attendant simultaneously. Cue more crickets sound the slight awkwardness when realization ensued out of it. The two turned to each other, smiled awkwardly before it evolved into giggles. So now they're waiting...
"...So what's the plan once we're there?" Xuehua asked. "Aine, you mentioned wanting to recruit some others to help us storm the last two lairs?" It did make sense, she reasoned. Especially knowing some of what they would be up against - having numbers on their side could even the odds a little.
@ChocoChicken Aine nodded. "Given we are facing a lot of Dark types next, it would be wise to recruit some fighters from the many schools of martial arts on the island. In addition, we could also get training ourselves."
@122 Generation @WavePearl @ChocoChicken "Yes, yes. We'll need more people if we want to raid a dragon's den," Chief Ampharos chirped in agreement. He had a point, yes, but Blacky was not impressed anyway. "...is it why you dragged my master in?" the latter deadpanned, to which the former affirmed, "Why, of course. The more the merrier, after all." Blacky then shook his head at Chief Ampharos' seemingly nonchalant reply. Since the taxi took awhile to arrive, Blacky decided to show everyone everything he recently got. "By the way, guys, I got all these bunch back there," he said while rummaging his bag, then presented two tomes (Blizzaga and Brynhildr) and three scrolls (Ice Beam, Aurora Veil, and Echoed Voice) to everyone.
"Open the scroll and see for yourself," the Umbreon winked. If what he'd got from his Spirit Shackle scroll is anything to go by, the manual for Echoed Voice should be written in the scroll. (For reference on what Echoed Voice does -- feel free to reinterpret it accordingly. )
Atelier's eyes lit up at the sight of the tomes. "Um... If you don't mind..." he said, before reaching out for the two tomes. He flipped them open to see what sort of spells these had in store. This could be useful in the next lairs to come, although he would prefer it if his bag wasn't crammed with books. At this rate, he might as well fling his satchel to knock out a Dragon King by the head. Balance: 24,300C Inventory: ?x Books and Novels, 1x Journal, 1x Strategy Book, 1x Middle Rune of the Moon, 1x Watera Tome (SotS), 1x Firaga Tome, 1x Lunar Tome (CdL), 1x Ethereal Grimoire, 1x Steel Short Sword, 10x Geo Pebbles, 10x Gravelerocks, 1x Thundara Gauntlets, 1x Potion of Fire, 2x Aloe Vera, 1x Grass Materia, 1x Kettle and Cup Set Equipped: Eevee Scarf