2nd adventure: Proxy War

"Yeah..." - he agrees - "I wish i could do something, but they'd probably be better off if we left."

Osprey begins to light one of the pipes he pried from the cold dead hands of the enemy. It is my pipe now. Finders keepers, losers die. "First, the stuff unrelated to you or your people - maybe. I want to know if you are aware of a disembodied voice, or invisible being, that has been speaking to us. He, or rather it, calls itself Snicker, and it doesn't know what it is. Have you felt or heard anything like that?"

Fedler sighs, out of exhaustion. "We'll leave them alone. I just hope they're not angry at us."

________________________

"Only when it took control of your body," replies Conan.

The pained sigh that comes out of Mihai indicates how well he understands that feeling.

"I know." - he confesses - "That's something you just can't shake no matter what. But Fedler..." - he starts, hesitating to put it into words - "At some point... all you can really do is trust them."

"I know," she answers. "I know."

A few seconds go by, until she lets go of his hand.

"Let's go back. We should be with the others."

"Yeah."

"Don't worry about it, I know you're excited, Breeze. And besides, that's a great idea. Would you mind organizing that?" He looks down at the sleeping Zelk. "I don't want to leave her alone."

Breeze follows Steve's gaze. She is clearly trying to come up with a reason for him to help her.

"Oh!" quietly exclaims the fairy, proud of herself. "We'll let Fredrick and the others watch over her. Come on! Just imagine how happy Zelk will be when she learns that you cooked for her. That's gotta be ten points of affection right there."

____________

"Do I seem confused?" asks Conan. He stares at Konrad without flinching.

"I don't know. You could be acting very...stoic." Konrad winks. It's super effective. And insufferable.

Conan blinks once. "Any other questions?"

OOC:

"Yes." He waits. When it seems like Conan's about to say something, he gives his questions.

"How many of you are there? Are you organized? And what do you want? I know what you're thinking. Let me answer that first: if it affects the islands, it affects those who would make port on their shores."

Swelling with pride and prospect, he adds, "After all, I have my own ship now. She just doesn't know it yet."

"I sorta promised I'd be here. But then again they are her friends. And making her tasty soup is a good idea. Okay. Let's do this. Would you get one of them please? Operation Tasty Soup is go."

The man in rags turns his head away, and considers what answer he should give. It takes a full minute before he speaks again.

"There are many of us. We are organized, and we only want to help our people."

_____________

"Got it!" happily replies Breeze. She deploys her translucent wings, and leaves through the window.

"Soup, uh?" mutters Zelk, her eyes still closed. "The two of you can't whisper for shit."

"Oh! Hi Zelky!" The fairy got her head back into the room. "You're awake! I'll bring everyone!"

Breeze is already gone before Zelk can even protest.

"She's an adorable little pest," says the lieutenant as she opens her eyes. "I see why you've took a liking to her."

Konrad's finally been taking puffs from his pipe while he waits. "Uh-huh. Sounds scary. I'll pass it along. So, I expect tomorrow we'll be making a drop-off first. Unless you're gonna wait here with the monks, if your kind somehow know where you are? After last night, I don't think anything can surprise me."

Steve's cheeks burn in embarrassment for waking her up but he says, "She's one of the best friends I've ever had. I'm glad you like her. How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"

"Just drop me off at Zest's Gate, and I'll manage from there." He pauses. "What are your names?"

_______________

"Better, now that I don't see any black dots " replies Zelk, a little more clear-headed than before. "A soup sounds nice. Can you cook?"

"Just the basics, thanks to Velstar. I've never really taken it seriously though. How about you?"

Zelk hesitates. "...We better stick with your cooking."

There's a knock at the door.

"She's small, but fast," says the lieutenant. "Enter."

The door slides open, and the three squad members enter the room, followed by Breeze

"Hello ma'am. I see you have your own nurse looking after you," points out Fredrick, a smirk scotched to his face.

"Shut up Fredrick," replies Zelk. "Or I'll ask Naomi here to share some of your own stories.

"I'm going to shut up now. Glad to see you're well. Too bad about your clothes. Oh, I really should shut up."

"More often too," agrees Naomi.

The fairy gestures at Steve to come out of the room with her.

Steve laughs. "I can see why you don't blast him. He's a funny guy. I'll be back." He then lifts Zelk's hand to his lips and kisses it. Short and sweet. After letting go, he slowly rolls over and gets stiffly to his feet. After a quick few stretches and cracks, he'll head to the door and the waiting Breeze.

"Where's the kitchen in this place anyway?" he asks, including Frederick, Naomi, and Breeze in the question.

Konrad tips his...heh, his nothing. He bows slightly, raising his pipe. "Konrad Granger. The mage who very clearly has a thing for the Free Feathers military squad's leader Zelk is Steve Oldturn. Arrow-lady is Fedler Melan, and the male half of the power couple she's in is Mihai Sobotka. And the fairy is Breeze the Fairy. We are the 113th Adjunct of the Coins mercenaries. How we landed this contract with the Free Feathers military seems like a funny story, looking back on it now. I'll let Steve tell you about it. We have room and board at Highspring. If you want to write us a letter, send it here..." He gets out his ink and a sheet of paper and tears off a piece, and gives Conan his mail address.

He stands up and brushes sand off of his leather pants. Super glad I don't have to hide my face with mascara anymore. "They don't open our mail. That's bad policy. And I'm glad we could come to some arrangement; after all, we were sent to find an artifact, not a person. I hope you'll stay in touch."

Time to have a private chat with you-know-who.

"Oh, I'll show you!" answers Breeze, who disappears into the hallway.

Before Steve can leave the room, Adam grabs him by his arm, and as he gestures at Zelk, he tells him, "Thank you."

___________

Conan gives a short reply to Konrad. "We will."

The red mage comes back to the monastery just in time to see Breeze zoom through the dinner area.

"Oh!" exclaims the fairy, and she stops immediately. "Hey Wildfire. Wanna help us make some soup? Zelk just woke up, and me and Snowstorm are going to cook something for her and everyone else."

OOC:

"Heh, no need for that. I would have done it for any of you. Just not as...enthusiastically. Anyway, I'll return with food. It might even be good!"

On that note, he follows the fairy out into the hallway and to the dinner area. He catches the tail end of Breeze's question. "-just woke up, and me and Snowstorm are going to cook something for her and everyone else."

"Hey Konrad. Is Breeze trying to recruit you for Operation Tasty Soup? We could use some help on prep."

"Oh good, she's awake. Soup? Absolutely, we can put our brains together for the recipe." *pause*

And while we do that, I'll be thinking quietly to myself. About things.

"Excellent! Let's see what they have. Lead on, Breeze."