Jellicle's Creed

Frozen Memories

Seqeunce 9

Memory 1 How To Succeed In The Family Business Without Really Trying

"If your battle plan is working, its a trap"

- Flowerfist the Fair after being ambushed by Precoursors 12 years before Arendelle Founding

14 Feburary 2052

Arendelle

unknown District

Sunrise

Taris paced outside her fathers study, her heart was hammering, she had learned news from the Shadowlings, her fathers most trusted soldiers. News of her mother, Kethend, and where she had been all these years. Almost a hundred years Kethend had been gone, trapped apparently, in a place called Aaetherspace. But now, thanks to the Shadowlings, and the Parrot Eclave, Taris had information, and none of her siblings knew it yet!

This was sure to put her in good with her father. She hoped he'd be in a good mood after getting the information. At least, she hoped. But she didnt know just how good of in her fathers faver this news was going to put her. She was looking forwards to a hearty breakfast for once though. Taris took a deep breath and knocked twice on her fathers study door. At his word to enter she did so, her fathers highbacked chair was watching out the window at the sunrise, not that he liked the beauty in it, but sometimes, just simple meditation on what Kethend enjoyed, sunrises were her favorite thing in the morning, watching the sun burn away the morning dew

Taris stepped into the study and closed the door then stepped up to her fathers desk and dropped to her knees, eyes averted to the floor, Because she was the runt of the five children, Taris had learned the hard way to never look directly at her father unless he said to do so. She did however speak "Papa,... I... It... It concerns Momma..." She started to say. She faltered, she had no idea how to tell him the good news, they knew where Kethend was!

Or rather, Taris knew where her mother was! Thanks to the Shadowlings, and her overhearing them. Not even her brother knew, hell, her elder twin sisters were still BEDRIDDEN and she found this info simply by being ignored by the Shadowlings. They never did listen to her or speak to her much, but now they would!

There was an uncomfortable silence as Draco blinked slowly, for a moment, letting himself feel the warmth of the sunlight upon his distorted face before putting the illusion back, and losing all feeling once more. He turned his chair. "Rise and look at me, child...now speak." He leaned forward, his usually stern face soft for once; perhaps it was the sunlight and memories of his beloved that softened his tone. The normally booming, marrow-shaking voice was gentle and soft, almost whole.

"Do you know where your Mother is?" He asked her

Taris stood as instructed, looking directly at her father she forced herself to stay calm and not flinch. she was expecting her fathers wrath, but, him being gentle wasnt expected and it scared her. "Yes" She said simply. "Momma is in a place called Aaetherspace, body and soul." She was scared, he'd want to know how she had come across that information even before her brother and sisters! So she said once again, keeping herself calm, "The Shadowlings you sent to search the Mythic Realm, they ignored me like they always do, and I overheard them speaking in the foyer downstairs, they were arguing over who to tell you the news of where Momma is. So I chose to tell you, and since they ignored me and didnt really look my way nor care that I overheard..." Oh it was the pits for those four for sure! She never took her eyes off her father, now heart hammering so loud she was sure he could hear it but she forced herself not to look away until he told her to do so.

Again there was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds while Draco processed what he had just heard, his eyes visibly zoning out, and a shaky breath being let out as he was flooded with memories of his love. The idea of her being within reach again, he felt warmth inside again. Slowly his lips peeled back into a genuine smile, and he stood, phasing through his desk to embrace his smallest daughter in a hug. "Well done, Taris, Daughter of Kethend, Pride of Draco." He gave her a new title, and kissed her forehead before smiling and stepping back letting her process what had happened for a moment.

"You deserve a gift... one worthy of your news..." he spun around and thought for a second before smiling again, turning to look at her over his shoulder. "How proficient are you with your Shadow magic?" He asked her, his voice a little sterner now, wanting an honest answer fast.

Taris was stunned, her mouth hung open as her father took her into a tight hug. Then placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. How to react and not be a dork was going through her head nine different ways before he seemed to sober up and she closed her mouth. iPride of Draco/i Did her father just give her a title ? Yup

She scrambled mentally very briefly for a proper answer and not look a total fool before saying quite truthfully. "Whenver I can I practise with it, Papa, I never stop. It is as strong as I can make it, but its not strong enough to outlast my brother or sisters. But Momma taught me too. I can be sneaky." She took after both her parents, her mother taught her how to be sneaky, and her father taught her, well briefly, her shadow magic. So her strengths came from both her parents. Sneaky Shadows were a good thing. A very good thing

He considered her words for a moment before turning. "Form an independant shadow on the ground beside you. One with no body." he said calmly, hands behind his back, watching his daughter. "Now; give it a body; it doesn't matter what it looks like-Male, female, skinny, fat, muscular, whatever." he watched again, smiling once she'd done as told. "Now; bring it to life. Form a ball in your left hand, and place it into the shadow's heart. Slowly." he instructed. Once she was done he smiled wider. "Now; breathe life into it; use your Shadowfire. Blast it as hard as you can."

Taris did exactly as her father instructed, word for word, leaving nothing out. Until he sdaid to use her Shadowfire. In her fathers study ? Was he serious ? But seeing his calm demanur look as he watched her she nodded. And with a very deadly gout of shadowfire brought her own Shadowling to life, a tall almost rail thin creature dressed in black and dark red, no medals to speak of, yet like her fathers Shadowlings, but she'd worry about that later. She stared as her Shadowling came to life. her father had given her a gift, He taught her personally on how to make her own Shadowlings ? Ontop of that a new title, and he hugged her.

And all she did was overhear and get ignored by her fathers own Shadowlings. they always looked down on her, heck even her brother, Jr, looked down on her, at least when he was in his growth spirt phase long ago she picked on him. He looked so goofy then, but he didnt have his own Shadowlings yet now did he ? Nope.

She turned to her father. Once again unless told otherwise she remained standing. "What will you have me do Papa ?" She asked him

"Give him a name, tell him his purpose in life." he said as the creature knelt before Taris. Draco chuckled. His own first Shadowling looked similar; his name Winston. He could be seen wandering the corridors at his leisure, delivering treats and goodies to Draco's children as if they were still hatchlings. Winston was their caretaker when they were but hatchlings; as he was gentle and kind, unlike the other Shadowlings Draco had made.

As of this moment, he was applying more healing wraps to Sutri and Nasty, soothing them with his whispering voice and gentle touch. He didn't have any medals, himself, but then, he did have a very nice ring, one that Draco gave him personally when he became the family care-taker.

It wasnt easy, a name for her first Shadowling, as she got stronger in her Shadowmagic she could make more, but she wasnt going to worry about that just yet. She just made her first one, and could wait a bit. But a name was an important thing. her mother had taught her that. A name defined a person, who they were and what they did, why they did it as well. To her mother she wasnt just Taris, she was her mothers last child, but she was the first named so said her fathers first shadowling Winston. Taris was the first to be named, but apparently nearly didnt hatch had it not been for her father waking her up inside the egg with his voice

But a name was important, It wasnt something she could just whip up out of the blue, and when her Shadowling dropped to one knee before her she had to really think. what could she name her first shadowling that couldf both inspire fear of herself, and her parents, her linage as a whole ? Finally she spoke after a long moment, the shadowy creature had gained a bit of weight, wasnt as thin, more muscluar, "Zendu" She said. cobalt eyes lit up at the name placed upon the shadowy creature, Taris' first Shadowling, not entirely a servant, but he could help her get shit done that was for sure. She also had one of her fathers older {and much dumber} Kobolds, Fluffy... who was somewhere in the massive house

"Good... now his purpose. Tell him. What is his purpose in life." Draco said, moving to sit down again as he phased through his desk. Zendu's cobalt eyes stared up at Taris, but they were empty and lifeless still; waiting.

Taris turned as Zendu looked directly at her, she faced her creation directly. "To serve the Shadows that created him, To seek means to follow the orders given, to improvise, spy, learn. But above all, to serve the Shadows that birth him." She said simply. She meant her shadows, after all her magic had brought him to life. She now had a means to wreck what the Enemy had built!

But then there was also her brother to worry about. Wont that be fun. Speak of the devil, there was a sharp knock at the door, one she recognised, Oh shit.

Draco smiled, Zendu nodded before standing, and finally speaking, his voice weak and whispy, like the wind on a cold winter's night, brushing gently past the ears of someone unexpecting, and alone. "Yes, my master..." his eyes gained a sense of life, and purpose, and he smiled weakly.

Draco let out a curt grunt when the knock disturbed the moment, and Jr. walked in. "Father! I bring news on Mo-" Jr blinked at what he saw, Taris, with a Shadowling of her own?

"Your dear sister has already informed me of your Mother's Location, and has recieved her reward. You, on the otherhand, forgot to kneel before your father before speaking..." Within a heartbeat Draco was behind his son, mouth inches from his ear. "I suggest you leave, Jr. I'm not exactly happy with your behavior as of late to begin with. Or have you forgotten?" he growled.

Jr. stumbled and turned, his emerald eyes with a mix of emotions as he looked at his father and bit his bottom lip, dropping to a knee and gulping. "I... I'm sorry, Father... I'll... leave now." he said, and leave he did, but not before shooting a glare at Taris. He opened the door and was about to slam it when a Tendril from Draco's sleeve coiled around his arm.

"Slam my door again and you'll be reattatching your arm without Winston's help." Draco said, not bothering to look at his thus far good for nothing son. At least Brutus made good beer and sent over a keg or two every now and again, drunken fool. Draco sighed and then smiled again at Taris. "You should go. Introduce Zendu to Winston, and find yourself something to eat. Tell the cook you are to get a double serving tonight." he said, putting a hand on her shoulder before moving back to his chair and facing the sunrise again.

"Now, shoo." he said, waving his daughter off. Back to being her not-so-Dear-Old-Dad.

Taris dropped to one knee, her left fist to the floor as she bowed as her father turned to face the sunrise again, letting her get going, she had things to do. And Zendu had a mission to amcplish. "yes Papa. As you say." She stood without a sound and gently closed her fathers study door behind her as Zendu preceeded her. Her mind once more reeling madly, Her father had given her a title, didnt that require a crest ? Maybe, she'd worry about that later, but first thing was first, Zendu had to meet Winston. She instructed Zendu on where to find her sisters bedroom where Winston was before going to find the cook

With Zendu gone to see Winston, Taris went down the hall and turned a corner, and walked face first into her brothers neck. Jr was strong for their age, and not just magic wise. But phsyically as well, So the force of her walking into him dead on sent her sprawling to the floor. "Ow!" Taris chirped. her father was enjoying the sunrise, thinking of Mother. And she gave him good news concerning Momma. So bumping into her brother told her not to disturb her father no matter what happened else it sour his happy mood

Jr growled and turned, rubbing the spot where she slammed into him practically while glaring down at her. "Well if it isn't Mrs Daddy's Pet." He growled, ignoring the hypocrisy of his statement; since he was going to do the exact same thing to gain favor with their father. "You happy? Hm? Being able to create your own Shadowling?" He growled, picking her up by the coller and pushing her into a corner.

Taris grunted something, then gagged as her brother picked her up by the throat and slammed her into a corner of the hall. Her magic wasnt as strong as his, but she did make a good Shadowling, one who could serve, and protect her. But Zendu was with Winston by then, so she was alone. So she could only rely on what her mother taught her. Reacting fast she raked her hand on his, her Shadows werent as strong, but they did pack a punch. "Papa's Shadowlings ignored me, I overheard them speaking of where Momma is when they argued of how to tell Papa. How did you get the information ? The last thing I wanted was to cross Papa like you did!" She was already poltting a path around her brother. without Zendu, or her father she was on her own. She wasnt going to dare interrupt her father's morning again

"Besides, you forgot the protocol" It was force of habit with herself, she had always learned the hard way never to look at Papa without being told to do so by him directly. Taris just went and didnt speak until spoken to, execept that morning when the Shadowlings ignored her. But now they wouldnt. "If Mother is in the Aaetherspace; what now ? Do we keep beating each other up or work together to figure out a way to bring her home for Papa so he can be happy again ?" She already dreaded what her sisters were gonna do to her when they found out

Jr. tightened his grip on his sister and snarled. "I spoke to one of her Kobolds! I was there!" he growled. That's how he knew. "That was my information to give to him; my gift to recieve! Not for you, runt!" he rumbled. He then lifted her up, using the wall to help his effort in keeping her up, not aiming to choke her but scare her.

"Don't talk to me about protocol, runt, or I'll break your toes, one at a time." He growled. An empty threat. Truth be told, Draco Jr. Was mostly all bark and no bite, using his status as "Jr." to do as he pleased.

Of course he had to slam her into the corner, with a curtain. her mother had taught her to use her surroundings, not just her abilities. So as her brother raised her against the wall, she grabbed the curtain rod and brought it down, hard, right on her brothers upturned face as he held her. At this point, even though it was an empty threat,, which she did not know at the time, she simply wanted out of his viselike grip! "How could you have gone there ?! The Portals are too weak for any to cross, Not even Sutri or Nasty can get to the Mythic realm without papa opening the portal for them to go through!"

He dropped her and clutched at his face briefly before smirking. "I have my ways..." he said, before returning to his disgusted look and growling, and then turning to leave.

"You're just jealous that Momma always favored me, and Papa favored the Twins over you or Brutus" Taris grunted as she caught her breath as she hit the floor on her feet. Boy that was a wrong move. But before her brother could advance on her to grab her throat again she held the curtain rod ready. Ready to whack him senseless if she had to. She was smaller than her brother, that made her weaker, but it also made her much faster

Jr. Turned and snarled, low and long. "She favored the weak one because Father would have left you to die otherwise." He responded with a growling smirk. In truth, Draco wouldn't have done that; and in fact would have taken Taris under his wing himself if Kethend hadn't been so adamant about it. But they didn't know that.

Taris stared at her brother, he went for the throat dead on, but not with his hands, but with his words. She smirked. "That's not how Winston says it, he says that Papa's voice kept me from dying inside my egg and that you thought he was Momma!" yeah being the runt had its perks, and drawbacks. Of which being doted on and picked on where the daily thing. Her voice though had a hint of amusment, it was true, Jr had htached and fell out of the nest at Papas feet, screaming up at Draco the word MOMMA as loud as his tiny lungs at the time could scream

Another low growl, followed by a Tendril shooting up and slapping Taris across the face. "At least I didn't almost die in my egg." he said.

Taris didnt flinch, her brothers tendril left a neat long slash across her face, the tendril left three marks on her face along her brow, with the third mark trailing down her right eye to her jaw. She felt her vison blur and put a hand to her face, coming back with blood. She was tempted on the spot to retaliate but kept her cool as blood trailed from the new cuts. Finally she said simply. "I was wrong. You're not jealous. You miss Momma too. Papa has the two of us working together to find Momma, and we did, but I got the reward and you didnt, so." She lowered the curtain rod, letting it drop to the floor. She waited to see if her brother would strike her again. Draco had them working together to find their mother, and they did. But Taris got the gift

Jr paused again, but did nor said nothing. He shook his head and went off down the hall, grumbling to himself. He wanted no part in this anymore. He wanted his mother...he wanted to rest.

At that same moment

Arendelle Castle Rooftops

Meditation was good for the soul, it always was. But when Mark came across the information that someone was seated upon the rooftop of the castle at the sunrise, he had to investigate since Anna hadnt been up there recently, well, since he arrived actually. More like since he had returned to Arendelle. From what Mark understood Anna used to hang out on the rooftop of the castle for hours watching the ships in the harbor as a child. But now, there was someone standing on the pennicle of the castle rooftop. Someone who had evaded his Assassins he had posted on the walls and along the guard gates and each guard post, the guards were changed every four hours to maximise alert and ready soldiers at all times

Upon reaching the pennicle of the rooftop, Mark indeed saw a single woman with long black hair, she was dressed in black robes, and her face was covered in a strange mask that revealed one eye but covered her right eye and nose in clearly black and what had to be purple wires and still showed skin enough to see a mask there, yet her bright amber hazel eyes watched his every move in the predawn moonlight. Mark drew his sword and settled into a soft light footed stance, the woman before him never went for her weapons but her amber eyes seemed to glow as she watched him carefully. For a brief moment it was quiet, the sounds of the water far below the castle was heard, then he attacked, the sword whistled and the woman ducked out of reach, easily blocking the next strike and then ducking under his swordarm and stepped around him. Mark nearly lost his balance on the roof as he twirled around to face her

Spinning about she grabbed his swordarm as he swung at her and he bounched backwards from the sudden movement with her hand striking his swordhand a step or two before striking at her again while she had her back to him, Whack, whack, clonk! Bang. Each strike was blocked as he aimed first at her left side from behind, first one, then the other as Mark spun with his own back to her, with his back to the strange masked woman however she anaged to keep her back to him as he reached her her mask strings, missing completely she finally she struck twice lightning fast, Mark hopped backwards a few paces. Now the woman was letting him get a good look at her masked face

Mark snarled and ran at her, since he was between her and her way out, the water a hundred meters below. He struck, again she blocked easily, his arm went high, she went low, smacking twice at his chest but bouncing back as she struck his armor. He struck again, she grabbed his arm, pulling it down, holding it the two danced while they fought over the sword, Mark tried to swing at her with his free hand, she ducked, still holding his sword arm she span them apart skillfully. Letting him get another good long look at her face before she broke away from him, now between him and the roof edge, and then she did something that made Mark blanche in disbelief. turning and jumping off the rooftop.

Marks eyes went wide, He chriped out something, and ran for the edge. As Mark ran to the edge he never saw the woman hit the water in a clean smooth dive, a Leap of Faith if he ever saw one. But he was confused. Whoeever the woman was knew his methods and stances. Knew his strengths and weaknesses. She used no weapons, yet he recognised the hilts at her hip. He remebmered those hilts. There were three hilts, one of them a slitetto he'd thought he'd lost, the other two hilts were a pair of Daggers, Daggers that were his mothers own prefered emerald green weapons, they were the same two daggers he remembered cvlearly because his mother had them on her belt in his sisters bedroom, and she had then given them both to his sister and the siltetto to him when the Templars tried to kill them as children twenty years ago; Who was that dark haired woman ? How did she know his every move ? The answer was simple, talk to Blackmane, or Snowfeather, either one could help figure this new question out.

Aerndelle

Castle Council Room

Twenty minutes later

As the nobles began filing into the council chambers of the castle, which was near to the Throe Room but without her parents leading it Elsa refused to use that room, it was mostly a gallery of paintings recently given to the Queen. Of the many council members, a third of them entered with a bird on their shoulder, or on a walking staff, or similar. A woman had been in the room waiting for the council to be in session. Spending the night searching the stars for a brief moment with Light left Asaca planning her next move. Kanwar still wasnt known to be in the kingdom and if Kalda's reincarnation found out his ancient teacher was also in the kingdom, it could lead to a very bad thing. So the less known about Kanwar the better.

Normally standing an even 9' tall, Asaca had taken a more human like height of around six foot four. Any smaller, she mused, and her weight to strength raito would totally fuck up pretty much anything around her just by her moving. So she settled at six foot four inches, which left many a dent in the many doorframes of the castle, and surrounding buildings. Most of the time, for a Dragon like her. her normal form was Kajiu sized, absolutely huge. and deadly. But lately her dragon size had been much smaller, about the size of a 727 jet

"What do y'suppose this meeting will be about?" one noble asked another.

"Can't say; ever since my wife got that damn bird I've got no sleep."

"You too, eh?" Another, with a bird perched on his head said. "This one likes my head for some reason."

"Well if you washed your hair it probably would stop that."

"Fair enough. Bastard..."

Mark turned to Elsa as they waited in the next room. "You remember what you must discuss with them, yes?" he asked her, his armor gleaming gently in the sunlight that entered through the window as he walked over to her. His hood was currently down, and his hair was tied back, though a few bangs hung in front of his forehead, hiding one or two scars. His Silver-ringed eyes took in her form; was it him or was she getting prettier? Blinking that thought away he smiled, and awaited her answer.

She'd grown a lot since he arrived in Arendelle; mentally and as a leader, not just as an assassin. And while he noticed physical changes as well, he kept those to himself, unless it meant her hair smacking him in the face when they sparred; in which case he called her out on it.

"Spending, recently liberated districts, the renovations in those liberated districts, restructreing of the council... you look like you've been through a lot" Elsa said in reply as if rattling off a list; try as she might, she couldnt get the red out of her dress. So she tried green, it helped, for the most part until Mark fainted at least, then she stuck with the red from that point on. Little did she know he had been through a lot, that morning, before sunup. On the castle rooftop.

She looked through the crack in the door, using a snowflake to see a bit she saw a noble walk in with a colorful bird on his head nesting there as if it were a birdnest. "if I didnt know better I'd say that noble got a new hat recently" she pointed to the 'screen' the snowflake formed, showing the guy taking his seat near a woman in dark purple and light pink. "Who is that ?" Elsa asked, pointing to the woman, a woman she had never seen before, Pale purple eyes ringed in brilliant white were watching around the room carefully.

Mark noticed and chuckled at the man with the bird on his head, and then upon seeing Asaca, he patted Elsa's back gently. "An old friend. Here to help." he said calmly before smiling at her. At her comment of him being through a lot he gave her a gentle smile and a shrug. "I'll be alright; it's you I'm worried about; with me not around as much who knows what could happen." he said, his hand landing on her shoulder again, well, more like her neck. His thumb gently caressed her jawline before he let out a soft chuckle and pulled his arm back.

"Well I hope the Queen will have something important to say; she ain't called a council meeting in quite a while." the councilman with a bird on his head said.

Around him, councilman agreed, and one of the birds squawked "Important!" before being silenced by a cracker.

"Well, your sister, Serenity I believe, was kind enough to be of help yesterday, though the birds didnt take too kindly to have a slightly delayed breakfast. that little truck of hers sure kept Olaf busy. When she tried tyo explain to me what it was and how it worked, it kind of went over my head" Meaning Serenity's RC truck, Slicer got around, and sometimes it was like it had a mind of its own even when Serenity controlled it. However now that Olaf had, in a way, met it, he couldnt stop chasing it with Sven. Then when he was hugging the little ghostly colored car thing it was constantly struggling to get out of his arms

She took another look towards Asaca, at the words an old friend from Mark she briefly, ever so briefly, recalled seeing a woman dressed iexactly/i like that, but somehow looking much larger. Maybecause at the time when Xeir first met Asaca was only minutes after her birth. "She looks familar. I cant place her though." It didnt matter it was almost time for the council to begin, still a few more council members left. And almost all of them had a bird.

In the council Chamber Asaca watched every man and woman that entered carefully, those with a bird had her undevided attention, however it was the arrival of one of the councilmembers, a woman, with a starkwhite cocatoo on her shoulder, entered. Almost right away the pale purple eyes focused on the bird, but that was not her target, the bird was harmless, as it was, for all intents, Petunia herself; a gentle, albiet, harmless, and pretty much uesless in a fight for any of the Eagle Empire.

The woman Petunia was with however, Asaca turned her attention to. Where had she seen that woman before ?

Mark nodded. "You almost ready? The Councilmen don't like to be kept waiting I hear." he said softly.

The woman what Asaca's eyes gazed upon looked plain enough at first; but it was those bright colors splashed across her clothing that eventually would give away her identity as the current Leader of the Parrot Enclave, Nadia. From the open window towards the top of the room, Ulnaus let out a few chirps as he preened at his feathers, the massive bird's eyes glowed, and one of Mark's own eyes glowed as well. Mark was using Ulnaus to channel his Eagle Vision, and get a literal bird's eye view of the room below.

The door opened and Mark entered just after raising his hood. "Ladies and Gentlmen of the Council, and curious Citizens of the Kingdom, your Queen: Elsa." he gestured to the door, and waited for her to come out while the room erupted with clapping and cheering, all of which would quiet down as she entered, as they all greeted her with a bow, before resuming their clapping.

Elsa simply nodded to Mark when he asked if she was ready. She smirked though, councilmen were all upstarts, people she had to keep a wary eye on at all times. She stepped out when Mark said her name amid the clapping and cheering, she took her seat at the head of the table. Why they used a council room and not the throne room Elsa had made clear in the past when she had been asked. Among the things to be discussed that morning was the current state of the kingdoms economy, the recent rise in renovation spending within the kingdom, and finally, well, the recent fights in the streets. Pretty much pitting soldier against soldier

When she sat down she began to speak. "It has been some time since we last convined a Council; and since that time things hace changed within the kingdom. Most of you have noticed recently we've begun reopening shops, stores, and renovating buildings for those needing homes." She said

As Elsa spoke, Asaca kept her eyes on the councilwoman dressed in loud colors. Whereas Petunia was a demure plain white cocatoo, thew woman she was with was everything but demure and unasuming. Asaca easily identified her as a member of the Eagle Tribe, but she couldnt place her role in the Parrot Enclave as yet. the sheer amount of clothing the woman wore however soon gave away a position of power.

Mark stood close to Elsa, his hands behind his back as he observed the crowd, with both his eyes and Ulnaus's, and eventually, both also came to focus on the woman from the Parrot Enclave: Nadia. As Kai came forth to serve Elsa some tea, Mark vanished from sight, using the cover of Kai's passing to use a Transport Array to stand at Asaca's side.

No one noticed.

"Do you see her?" he asked in Draconian, whispering silently.

Asaca nodded, with Kai providing a brief distraction Mark had slipped away, but Kai wouldnt be there for long. "Yes, a white Cocatoo upon her shoulder." Asaca replied just as silently. "She is of the Eagle Empire, I recognise the stature, but who she serves, or who she is, I do not know just yet" Asaca then observed carefully what the woman, a higher ranking councilwoman at that, was doing. Sadly, it wasnt that woman to speak but of the Councilman with the parrot nesting on his head.

"As of now, the number of fights going on in the streets of the districts is rather alarming." The man said, stepping forward to be heard. "The people, while grateful of the liberations of their districts, are becoming rather...ill, at seeing the damage done to bodies of both friend and foe alike in these street fights. Is there no way to contain them so that the citizens won't have to see such bloodshed?"

Mark grunted and moved back to his spot beside Elsa; this was a question he could answer. The Transport array faded and he had Ulnaus chirp lightly to get the attention of the Cocatoo; the larger bird seeming to want to play with the smaller one.

"Allow me to answer that, my Queen." At her nod he stepped forward, into view from behind Kai, and cleared his throat. "I understand the want and need to keep the eyes of the citizens from seeing what is happening; I myself hated what I do when I first started. Unfortunately, I'm afraid there is no open way to go about doing as you suggest without lowering our presence in the districts, and putting them at higher potential risk for invasion by the Templars once more." he said

"Invasion by Templars!" The bird upon the man's head squawked.

"No good!" another squawked.

Ulnaus screeched lightly, providing a distraction.

Elsa smiled first to the reaction from the parrot atop one of her councilmens head, and then nodded to Mark in thanks. She had no exact way of wording her answer regarding the fighting in the streets. "Master Wolfe says it correctly" She said simply. "Though I think we could try to aim for nighttime liberations, to minimise the number of citizens in the streets at the times of the fighting." A nod, followed by a unhappy squawk from the walking birdnest before their attention was again taken by Ulnaus above.

Petunia however reacted with "Cracker or I go" To which the woman whose shoulder she perched on gave her a very dirty look, Petunia squawked in her face loudly and took off, briefly alightling on Elsa's desk, preened her feathers, and then headed for the open window. Another sudden squawk came, this time from Ulnaus, as a sudden arrival of another much larger bird bird caught his eye a ways off in the kingdom flying around, looking for someone.

Asaca kept her eyes locked on Nadia, the woman she had no idea of the name of until she raised a hand to speak and Elsa spoke. "Yes, Nadia ?"

"All of that's well and good; but what of the renovations? They will proceed slower than normal with the upcoming winter. How do you intend to combat that problem?" she asked, her accent was not one of an Arendelle Native, but of an Parrot Enclave native thick and clear. Mark's ears twitched and Ulnaus chirped again as he puffed up slightly, the bird looking for someone coming closer. He let out another screech and took off after it, to intercept it and keep it away from the palace for the moment until the meeting was done.

A single one of his massive feathers drifted down and landed in Mark's outstretched hand. He examined it and smirked. This would make a fine quill to write with; he'd have Aunt Blackmane take it for the moment, slipping it into one of his coat pockets.

Nadia cleared her throat, and stepped forward. "My Queen. How do you intend to keep Renovations on schedule with Winter approaching? The wood will rot, and the metal will crack with the ice." she said.

Whoa, Elsas ear twitched, oy that was a bit shrill, yet, well, it was an accent Elsa had never heard, normally the districts elected their councilmen and women, and apparently even though Nadia wasnt a Native of Arendelle, she got the spot, somehow. ofr course it was the bird atop the one councilmans head who squawked, "Loudmouth!" To which he shut up almost on the spot because a cracker was within sight and he started munching as the man he nested on said under his breath "two words; eat this"

Asaca visibly flatted her ears to her skull as Nadia spoke, Parrots were always shrill. It was a natural. She remained seated however as Elsa spoke. "Most of the wood is treated for it. the metals can be forged later, or at any of the current blacksmiths. The main matter now is most of the renovations were on the outside, what is inside needs cleaning out and also rebulding within." She was then thoughtful, she wanted to restructure the council, put those she trusted with her life in it at the higher ranks. But first.

"Out of seventy one districts in the Kingdom there are only nineteen currently liberated and under our control. One of them is the former Whitehall District. Now put to its proper name, Wolfe." Elsa said

"But there is also the matter of some of the recent fighting your highness." Said a upper ranked councilmember, he detailed a recent fight wherein Anna of all people was at the center of it. "Should it be known publicly that both our Queen and Princess are taking part, even if at risk of their own safety ?"

"Anna... was in a fight ?" Apparently Anna hadnt told Elsa that.

Mark let out a small chuckle of the notion that Anna was in a fight, however that chuckle turned into a full blown laugh for a moment. "I pray for mercy for whoever fights the Princess..." He said, composing himself quickly. He cleared his throat. "As for the knowledge of the Queen and her sister publicly fighting against the very people who have been oppressing their subjects, I feel that it would be better for public morale if it was well known that Elsa and Anna were both actively fighting against the Templars." he said.

"As for the metals you speak of, Nadia, the Wolfe Forges themselves can produce the metals all throughout the winter as well as store them so that they will be safe. If it would put your mind at ease, I will have some trusted Assassin Craftsman hard at work all throughout Winter, making the metal and also cutting it and welding it for future use."

"Provided I be given the location of these forges, I would be happy to oblige." Nadia countered

"Then the forges will not be lit. Anything related to my Clan falls directly under my discretion. And I'm afraid only those I can trust with my life or better yet the Queen's life will know any locations of any hidden Wolfe Vaults or Forges. I will offer again; I can have the metals made in the Wolfe Forges. What say you?" Mark countered her counter

Nadia narrowed her eyes at the only known Wolfe survivor. She didn't just size him up, she probed him. Felt his power, his strength and his emotions. Her only advantage was in Magical power but with that armor of his, none of it would matter. She'd lose if she fought him directly. She then cleared her throat and smiled. "Yes. We have an agreement Master Wolfe." she said. She'd get back at him later, perhaps...slipping something into a drink of his that would make him lose all tolerance for alcohol.

Mark grunted and nodded. From Ulnaus' eyes he could see the other bird, bigger than he was, being rather annoyed by his pecking, the beautiful Silver feathers glaring sunlight off of them and making it difficult for the sarker colored bird to see. Cutting off the connection, Mark let Ulnaus figure it out by himself. He was dumb, but at the same time, he was smart enough not not have died yet.

With that, he looked to Elsa, if any further things needed to be discussed, now would be the time to bring them up.

Elsa had to smile at the thought of mercy from Anna, she sure nailed Hans... she sobered up on the mere thought of the young man. "Becauyse of the length of time since the last council session, and many districts have been liberated. I have come to the conclusion that, for so large a kingdom, the council is to be restructured." A low murmur went through the assembled men and women. unhappy squawks were also heard.

"It will not happen in the way you fear, far from it, out of seventy one districts, only nineteen are liberated. And there are twenty three members of this council. What remaining four among you have yet to have their distrct liberated ?" Four different councilmembers, three women, one man, rtaised their hands, they were all on the lower council, and only the man, the same guy with the parrot, on his head, was one fo those four. He wasnt the only one with a parrot though, one of the women, a young woman by look of her, whome Asaca could clearly denote as a Sparrow, had a parrot with her.

Elsa nodded, "It is settled, your four districts are to be liberated next." She said, much to the now much happier council.

A councilmember raised her hand, the same young woman with a parrot. and spoke simply, her voice, clearly not that of a native, but one who had been there a long time rang clear. "Last night, a district, Toshalok, was liberated. Residents reported hearing the sound of harps or laughter of children during the night, but upon arrival this morning in the sunrise, they found nothing but golden paved stonework within the core of the district. Is it known of what occured here ?" the Sparrow, known simply as Lee, seemed unassuming enough, but then Asaca trusted the Sparrows as messengers. Hell Asaca trusted Sparrows more than Parrots as it was, but she had to smirk unseen as her handiwork was found that morning. All eyes turned to Mark at those words, of what happened last night.

Outside over the Kingdom, two massive birds were having a fit. One of the, quite larger than the other, beautiful silver feathers glittering in the sunlight kept clawing her talons at Ulnaus, who was pretty much dwarfed by the much larger silver bird. Annoyed shrieks came from both birds. But amazingly, no matter how hard Ulnaus tried, he couldnt pull a feather off the much larger bird, but he was forcing her downwards. Finally the larger eagle turned and dove straight for a fountain. Ulnaus hot on her tail. With a flick of the tailfeathers however, the much larger silver bird suddenly shot straight up, just a meter before slamming into the fountain at the speed of sound.

Mark blinked from under his hood. Oh boy. He didn't know Asaca's handiwork would leave traces; let alone traces that would last this long. 'Okay Mark...Bullshit protocol activate.' He thought to himself as he cleared his throat.

"I liberated that District myself; I forced the Templars to play the harps and paint the stones in the ground before they left. I figured the best way to keep them out would be to humiliate them utterly." He was a damn good liar, it helped that his mother and aunt were Snowfeather and Blackmane, specifically; though the latter made it impossible to keep secrets, the former was a little more lenient, but still bloody hard to lie to or keep secrets from.

It was a good thing Mark was great at keeping a straight face too, though secretly under his hood he was glaring daggers at Asaca, a sort of "What the fuck?" to her as to why she didn't tell him this would happen.

Outside, Ulnaus screeched as the larger bird suddenly dove, diving after her, folding his wings in to let gravity do the work. Ulnaus was not a smart bird by human standards; and by bird standards, he certainly wasn't the most physically agile. But what he lacked in brains and agility, he made up for in sheer strength and persistence. Persistance enough to completely forget to pull up, and strength enough to plow dead through the fountain, through the ice of the courtyard, and leave a massive hole in his wake, and then remain under the ice for a good few seconds before dragging himself out, and retreating to wherever it was he went before Mark had the magical fortitude to keep him present the whole time; likely the Mythic Realm, with a puff of bronze smoke and a single soaked feather on the ice.

Mark blinked at the commotion outside, and his head tilted a little as if he were hearing grave news when Ulnaus vanished from this realm. "Well...Fuck." he said plainly in Arabic; as if he were saying it in a conversation. He hoped no one else there knew enough Arabic to know what he said, and would dismiss any questions as to what it meant, saying it meant something along the lines of "Good luck" or something of that sort.

It was a good thing Mark was a damn good liar. After all, he'd read the book.

When the look was thrown her way, Asaca could feel him looking at her, she just gave him a 'what ?' look back at him as if nothing was amiss. However when mark opened his mouth she put her head in her left hand and rubbed her temple. Ok, hopefully some of these Nobles were stupid enough to believe that. Lightfire was a strange magic, it sounded like harps, but the results were nothing short of a miracle. Her eyes went briefly to the window as she too heard the noise before seeing a silver bird fly past. OK, where had she seen feathers that silver ?

Elsa raised an eyebrow, OK, that was... odd. She let the matter drop however as Lee seemed to nod and take it at face value as the Parrot on her shoulder leaned to her ear and whispered something. The young woman nodded and spoke anew "Very well, what shall we do then with the stonework, aside from the district wishing it to become a fountain of gold stone ?" Elsa breathed a sigh of relief when Lee spoke, it saved her a grilling of Mark, which was sure to happen.

But it was true, it was impossible to keep secrets from Blackmane, she had her ways of finding the truth, even moreso than Car Key, yet the latter found out something of one of the Assassins that not even Blackmane knew, or did she and not tell her own secrets ? It didnt matter. Not yet anyway. But, there was also the problem of his sisters, the tiger twins most in Egypt called them when they were growing up. Serena had a means, like Blackmane, to find out secrets, and even though Serenity was Marks confandante it was Serena who blabbed to her mother of the girl Mark was seeing at the time when he was a teenager.

But this secret, and the lie that went with it, seemed to hold enough water to let the nobles think it was the truth, however it was Lees question of what to do with the golden stones that Asaca's mouth pretty much went slack and she lost control of her lower jaw as it hung open, make a fountian, out of lightfire'ed stones ? Impossible! unles you were a Light Dragon, or Light, or herself, or Kanwar, it wasnt exactly possible to move those stones... at all for a mortal.

But then again, Mark wasnt a mortal... anymore. Asaca knew him as her former Captain, Kalda.

'Shit...' Mark thought. 'More bullshit to throw onto the pile.' he then licked his lips and continued to answer that question as to what to do with the stones. "Cover them, for now. Once the surrounding Districts are liberated, and it is safe to do so, I will personally see to their cleaning, and if that's not possible, removal and replacement." he said. He truth be told didn't know what to do with them.

"Are there any further questions? Or shall we adjourn this council meeting?" Mark asked, hoping for the love of Light that there would be no more questions.

"Just one" Came a new voice, that of one of the Higher ranked councilmen, "There is a report here" he set a paper on the center table once he reached the floor to speak, "A report filed this morning, to my desk. those stones, that area, Witnesses report seeing a dragon." if Asacas eyes got any bigger they'd fall out of her head as she stared mouth agape, thankfully none looked her way or really saw here where she sat using the shadows to mask her presence. Dragonshit she'd been seen by normal mortals in her true form!

Kai entered however, and with him was a yong woman, dressed in black and silver armorlike cloth, long white hair like a cranes feathers framed an angular face; though there was no mistaking who the newcomer was, Asaca smiled slightly seeing the Eagle Princess. the black and silver armor was like lace in some areas of her clothing. an eagle in flight upon her breast, she stood tall and regeal as Kai went to Elsa's side and spoke to her. "A young lady wishes to see you. And Master Wolfe. Says it concerns something of an old friend. She also seeks a place to sleep for tonight"

Elsa regarded the newcomer carefully, hawkbrown eyes stared directly at her. Apparently ignoring mark, but then Mark was busy bullshitting his way out of trouble. Hey he read the book too, After all, the Art of Bullshitting iwas/i a bestseller after all. After all, Nobles lied every few seconds anyhow. Elsa nodded, "Very well, show her a room, get her what she requires, when this meeting is over I will see her." Kai nodded and once conferred with the strange newcomer they both left. However all the nobles in the room saw her, and only three of them recognised her right off the bat. Nadia, Lee, and the Parrot

Princess Fang had arrived.

Mark waited until Princess Fang had left the room, which gave him ample time to come up with his next gem of an answer: "The Templars were spreading hallucinagenic drugs through the air of the District; I saw the Dragon too, and upon trying to fight it, decided my time was better spent burning the tower to the ground." he at this point was making one hell of a conscious effort not to laugh at his own bullshit, and was doing a damn fine job, biting his tongue and keeping a straight face the whole time.

'If I have to bullshit one more answer it's going to start to smell in here...' he thought.

"If you saw it then it makes eight witnesses" the Councilman said, he handed the paper to mark, his own name was on it. Terrence Filos, and the sad part was, there werent any drugs in the councilmans system. It was at this point that Mark wanted to flip the table over and end the bureaucratic disaster but decided against it. "the witnesses that reported this to my desk this morning, but if you saw it and focused instead on liberating the district, why are there no bodies ?" there had to be bodies, if a dragon had indeed been there, what happened to the bodies of the slain ?

Finally Elsa raised a hand, "Perhaps our guest can explain ?" She said simply, all eyes turned to her, then to Mark, as if asking Mark to introduce Asaca, then again what name had she used. Wait, did she use a different name other then Asaca ? It didnt matter, Mark had pointed her out as a old friend, and Esla mentioned her as a guest. At that point, anything to save Mark a screwing over. The councilmen and women looked between each other confused, they had a guest with them and didnt know it ? They counted off everyone there, there was none else in the room. But they had infact missed but one. Elsa nodded to Mark, as if asking him to introduce Asaca, who was in the corner, rubbing her temple gentle before sighing to stand up and step into view

"May I present the Lady Asaca; who comes from a far off land in the East.' He said, gesturing to Asaca as she stood and came into view. "Please make this end quickly; I'm dying here." He whispered in Draconian, knowing she'd be able to hear it.

"You are not dead yet, Kaal... relax." Asaca replied softly as she passed him to step to the table and took the report from the councilm,an, reading it over. Seven witnesses. then Mark reported drugs in the air. She read the report over, smiling thoughtfully, each witness had a convoluted notion of just how big she was in the courtyard, some saying larger than a house, others saying larger than a ship. One saying larger than the castle. but that was impossible for her to actually become in the Mortal Realm anyhow.

Elsa figured that if Asaca didnt see the dragon, Marks words were true. Finally she spoke, her voice one of wisdom. "Master Wolfe's words ring true, I was there in the place the fighting occured to aid him, but I saw no dragon in the darkness." She held the paper up, confusion written on her face. "These witnesses you report on here say different sizes of the creature, if it was a Dragon, the size the witnesses report would be all uniform, but some say the creature was larger than a house, one says larger than the castle. I can assure you, where I come from, no dragon is reported to be that big. It just isnt possible." She cast a look towards mark ,seeing him sigh in relief. Well, so much for that report.

However it wasnt going to last as the Council was soon to ajurn, and for the moment, Marks holy bucket of bullshit was holding just enough shit to hold water. Lee nodded, she agreed apparently with her own bird. "I agree, I will send men to cover the stones to keep them safe from prying eyes until nearby districts are cleared of... Templar influence." The Parrot threw a look towards Mark, a nod towards Nadia, just barely seen from the loudly colored bird. the Parrot was pretty much saying 'Her, she's the leader of the Enclave here!'

Mark caught the look of the Parrot, and smiled in response to its nod; he knew, and in Draconian, he relayed that to Asaca now that she was done helping him bullshit the pile of bullshit into a glorious pile of bullshit with some makeup and a cherry on top.

"Very good! Now then, a final word or two from our Queen, and I believe we are done!" he said, clapping his hands together and turning to look to Elsa; the smile on his face both convincing, and also begging her to either kill him or finish the meeting quickly.

Elsa smiled, there were no forthcoming questions, other than a next meeting date and concerns for the restructuring of the council, of which Elsa was not going to worry about at that moment; once the next four districts were liberated would she worry of it. She nodded and stood. "Until the next four districts are liberated, this council is ajurned. However, I will not consider or worry of the restructure processes at this time, I have other more pressing matters to worry about. You each manage your own districts that are currently liberated. Manage them well." Elsa then sat back down, slapping her hand on the desk before her she said simply. "this Council is ajurned until the four Districts have been liberated. Dismissed" She cast a look towards Mark, as if asking him, what it was all about. Though she didnt see it, his eyes were watching Nadia carefully as she left the room

Asaca turned to Mark then, since he was on the other side of the room, the councilors going by him to get to the door, she flicked her fingers towards him, as if wanting something from him, what she had given him the night before, her seal, he had it. She was tempted to use her magic and pull the thing to her, but chose against it, it was bad enough seven people, common mortals at that, not even Templars, saw her true form.

Mark held a finger up to Elsa as if asking her to wait before he moved to Asaca, catching her gesture out of the corner of his eye. He sighed and withdrew her seal, handing it to her from between his middle and index finger. "Thank you... for coming, and for saving my ass back there. Don't know how I can repay you for that." he said, patting her shoulder before giving her a nod.

He returned to Elsa, and sat in a chair next to her while leaning back into the chair as his armor vanished and he lowered his hood, brushing back his hair and letting out a deep breath. "My god...that just wouldn't end..." he groaned.

"I agree" She said, she watched softly then as the last few council men left the room, leaving only Lee, her parrot, and Asaca with Mark and Elsa in the room as Asaca went to the door and made sure it was locked with them inside. She nodded to the two Assassins outside the door to keep watch as Elsa turned her sights on Mark. "What was that all about ? You're not the type that has enemies play music when you take them down. I too heard the sounds of harps playing, but... I cannot say if I saw a dragon, or an old friend lighting a tower signal fire"

Oh dear

Mark didn't bother really changing his expression; he was tired after that, and in need of a good drink. "You're right, I don't make my enemies play music or paint; I just kill them." He said. "As for the Dragon; well... I saw one; but she was helping me; and as for the corpses, well...you know how well we Assassin's can hide bodies." he said, shrugging, as he let his head turn to look at her with a tired smile. "I lit the fire and killed the captain, the Dragon part... yea... I honestly can't say. Last night was a bit of a rush..." he then stood and moved over to Elsa, and kissed her forehead gently.

"Now then; there's something I must attend to in the courtyard; I think Ulnaus has finally lost his mind, and then... I'm going drinking. After a council meeting like that... whoo man... not fun... I'll talk to you later!" he said, waving as he turned and headed out to the courtyard where Ulnaus had crashed into the Ice. Using his Eagle Vision, Mark watched the scene unfold, the silver bird three times larger than Ulnaus pulling up at the very last second, allowing Ulnaus to slam into the bountain and ice behind it, and rolled his eyes. He would let Ulnaus rest for a few more minutes, and summon him again before he began drinking.

Elsa smiled as he kissed her, Mark always made her smile when he did that. She nodded as he explained what he did and saw the night before. So a dragon iwas/i in Arendelle last night, She smirked at mention of hiding bodies. "You know I am not that strong, yet. I can barely keep my feet when Anna drags me across the kingdom" It was truie, Elsa very nearly left impressions of herself in castle doors the last few days when Anna dragged her to breakfast as it was.

"It sounded like it" She said when Mark mentioned Ulnaus losing his mind, it was possible. She waved him off then, he wanted to drink after a meeting like that, she wasnt going to stop him. As he left Asaca had strangely preceeded him out and was nowhere to be seen, leaving lee, her Parrot, and Elsa in the councilroom together. But if Asaca had made no move towards the demure young woman, then Mark didnt have to worry about it either. Though marks words lingered on Elasas mind, he said 'she' The dragon was female ?

Arendelle

Talz District

After dinner

Shortly after the Council Meeting

Asaca was on the street in an alley trying to figure out just how to get rid of her handiwork when she felt a presence behind her, it was Mark, "You did a fine job of keeping peace back there." She said simply turning to face him, he wasnt happy, she crossed her arms in thought. "Lightfire'd stones will be heavy, give me tonight to clear them out. Or make the fountain proposed." She said, or rather, she tried to say that much when Mark had her in the corner. Confusion on his face. He had her by the shoulder and held her against a wall.

"Gold bricks? Harps?" He was more confused than angry. "Asaca...what the fuck even is Light Fire?" straight to the point it seemed, and after that storm of bullshitting the council, he needed to let off some steam; cursing and drinking were inbound in the near future.

"Will you relax ?" Asaca simply asked before she herself relaxed after Marks sudden appearance and holding her to a wall. She took a deep breath, how to tell him... "Lightfire is my weapon of choice, golden energy unlike any other. Only certain dragons have it." She said, "In some cases it can beautify a location or target, completely roast a target into gold dust, or freeze a target in its tracks to be thawed out later. On stones, metal or similar it turns it into gold. To some it is simply gold painted stone. Which in this case it is, mosiaclike tile actually." She tried to comprehend exactly what he was asking in terms of the harps. She sadly had no idea how to explain it and only said "I guess it is what it sounds like to others. To me it sounds like I'm belching fire" Well that explained a lot

He let out a deep breath and released his shoulder. "Fuck, man...I need a drink..." he groaned under his breath as he turned away for a few steps before turning back to her. "Alright then...that's fair enough. Now then." he took a deep breath. "Nadia, or whatever her name was...she's a Parrot, right? Bright colors and all?" he asked.

"What about her? She means well I can see that much...but what if she does something stupid? How will I handle that? How do I handle that? What if she doesn't mean well?" he asked; not expecting the answers to come in that particular order, but it might help if they did.

Asaca nodded, "yes, Nadia is her name, from what I could gather, the cocatoo on her shoulder is harmless" yeah, like Petunia had ANY combat skill outside of shitting in someones breakfast on complete accident. At Marks snicker at mention of the white cocatoo she waved him off, not bothering to ask for why he laughed she continued. "From what the Parrot and Sparrow both told me, nadia is the leader of the Parrot Enclave here in the Mortal Realm. She answers to I think Tilr or someone else. But I'm not entirely sure. She is a planner and plotter sure, but most of the time her plans reveolve around open air markets, and easy means of escape"

She thought a brief moment and then said "If she does try something stupid, its normally pretty subtle. and also unexpected. Most of the time it will involve buird shit. Lots of it. Noew, if she does mean well as our Parrot friend within the Enclave states, then we wont have to worry. Though from how it sounded your own feathered friend may have some problems with certain birds larger than he" She meant the silver bird that flew into town, Princess Fang was a good three times larger than Ulnaus was, not to mention twice as smart

Mark nodded along. "Got it, watch out for a shit load of...shit..." he shook his head and snapped his fingers at the mention of Ulnaus, the big oaf appearing on the ground next to him, looking good as new, but with a sort of scar on his beak, since he did land face first into that fountain. "Yea...he's not the smartest out there." He said, patting the big bird's back before he spread his wings and took off, chirping away.

Mark sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright, well...thanks for the info. If you need me I'll be out drinking." he said, waving as he turned and walked towards the district he had in mind. He lowered his hood and sighed, muttering to himself the whole time as he went down the road, and vanished into the crowd of people.

Nobody paid attention to the parrot as it flew in the window. Most tossed her crackers, which she gladly took as needed. before long however all attention was off the parrot and onto other things, allowing her to fly off into the room behind the counter and transform into her human appearance, like all members of the Eagle Empire, the Parrot Enclave could transform into humans as needed. It was strange in a way, but nobody much bothered to ask about it. Quickly changing clothing, Nadia wore a simple bar owners outfit and prepared her speical drink for a certain man she ensured to be there. After all, who wouldnt pass up a chance at cornering a templar in a game of friendly cards ?

As promised, Mark showed up, and in the corner was a Templar, who instead of getting up to fight, waved Mark over for a game of cards. Poker to be exact. Looking at Nadia, and not realizing it was her, Mark ordered two drinks, and sat across from the Templar. There was an uneasy silence while the man opposite Mark shuffled the cards, and dealt.

Mark scowled. "You deal this shit?"

"I did, didn't I?" apparently the Templar, who for now will be known as Jeremy, didn't deal himself a good hand either.

"Fuck man...gimme three." Mark put down three bad cards, got three new ones, his face became grim and solemn. Jeremy did the same, and his face was likewise hard to read.

"Loser drinks?" Mark offered as the huge mugs were brought to them, Mark's of course containing whatever Nadia had in store for him, and Jeremy's being just straight Whiskey.

"Sure." Jeremy said. They put their cards down. Winner, Jeremy. Mark scowled and took a swig, smacking his lips a bit at the taste but not complaining. He shuffled the cards, dealt, cards were drawn, and set down; Mark wins. Jeremy drinks. Jeremy shuffles, deals, loses again, drinks. Mark lost pon the third deal. Mark deals the fourth, wins, then when Jeremy deals, loses. Mark deals again, and once more loses. His vision is starting to get a little wobbly, but he continues.

Then he goes on a winning streak, and Jeremy needs a new mug, then Mark loses five in a row, then Jeremy, then Mark, then Jeremy twice, then Mark again.

"King me" Mark places his cards down.

"We're playing Craps you dumb fuck." Jeremy slurs, his eye twitching as his cards fall out of his hands.

"Yea? Well...y'know what?" he paused for a bit then stood. "I gotta pisshh...don't go anywhere I'm kickin' your assh when I get back."

"You wish" slurred Jeremy

It was then a struggle just turn out of his chair let alone get up and stand, and once he did, Mark sat his ass right back down and hung onto his chair for dear life before finally standing, and half dragging a foot and half stumbling towards the bathroom, accidentally goes into the ladies room, comes out with a smirk, goes into the mens room, is in there for Light knows how long, and then comes back to sit at his table, slamming his hand down on it, waking the snoring Jeremy.

"Alright...w-whosh turn ish it?" Mark's comprehension of what he was doing was slipping away quickly...that was damn good whiskey though...

The slap on the table startled Jeremy so much so that he quickly shuffled the cards, adn they went everywhere and some of them in Marks face directly before jeremy managed to only catch all of two {a two of diamonds and a Queen of Hearts but he swore it looked like a pair of kings} At this point both men were past blind drunk and going into new levels of drunk to the point where jeremy saw six of Mark and tried to deal the two cards he had and nailing the guy behind Mark with both cards dead in the kisser

Jeremy then made to get up from his chair, only to not do so well as someone, in this case a certain parrot, who was watching from the safety of the overhead beams within the tavern, had tied him to the chair by use of his belt, Jeremy took one step and the chair went with him. Freaking the poor man out he turned one way the chair went the other, he went the other way the chair did vice versa, Finally giving up {and at an entirely differnet table} he sat down and when he went to pick up his cards {it was another poker table} He ended up scooping up someones roast beef "Theshe aint m'cardsh, I dont remember drawin' a ashe of beef" he slurred ass he had gravy between his fingers and a carrot sticking out of his nose

Mark on the other hand was too busy laughing his ass off at a joke he told the guy next to him even though he couldn't even actually start the joke becuase he was too busy laughing. He had said something along the lines of "H-hey guy...eh man..." and then started to giggle like the drunk he was. There was about one or two more drinks left in his mug, though he made no motion to go for it.

By that point poor Jeremy had somehow managed to sit himself back where he belonged, next to his and Marks original table, now reaching for a third deck of cards after somehow getting gravy on his shirt Jeremy ended up slugging a totally innocent bystander, who in turn fell like a sack of weat to the floor. Of course that didnt sit well with the others in the building who regarded the two drunken men with careful eyes as Jeremly giggled stupidly and rolld off his chair, doing something extremely stupid such as, mooning the entire dinning room as he completely lost his pants to the chair

"Son of a bitch..." someone said. A beerbottle flew across the room and narrowly missed Mark's head, and then all hell broke loose as the men and women alike all tried to make their way to beat the snot out of the two drunks, Mark still laughing histerically and managing to dodge everything thrown his way just with drunken swaying and the like. Jeremy...not so much.

Two men tried to stand Mark up so they could take a swing at him, sadly when they reared up to swing, Mark ducked giggling and both men promptly knocked each other senseless with two soild WHACKS dead to the faces. Both men sank to the floor as a pot was chucked, a pot of somthing slammed into the wall as Mark ducked down to pick up his cards as poor Jeremy was nailed dead in the back of the head with a potted plant, the plant stayed on his head like a funny hat, which Jeremy pointed at seeing himself in a nearby mirror, he stasrted laughing, then got a motuhful of beer and ended up gargling

In his drunken stupor Mark fell onto his side, hyperextending the knee of the woman who was trying to kick him while he rolled onto her leg, causing her to fall, another man caught her, but apparently didn't realize where his hands were and then got decked by another woman, who then got tackled by her boyfriend so that she wouldn't kill anyone. Getting up, Mark looked at his hand, four fours and an ace. "Huh..." He climbed his way back up onto the table and laid down his hand.

"Ffff-four of a kind...bet'cha can't beat that." He said. Jeremy got slugged again, and Mark laughed, picking up his mug and lifting it in victory, moving it towards his lips to drink.

Jeremy smiled with broken teeth he raised his own drink {which was somehow nabbed from a guy who was about to throw it at someone else] and raised it in a toast to Mark before starting to knock it back, only to have it slapped out of is hand and flung across the room towards the door as a black haired beauty stepped in and stared, the mug of beer shattered against the doorframe and Georgina snapped her head to look at what hit the door beside her. She smirked and looked around before seeing Mark, completely slammed out of his mind, drinking.

Weaving her way through the thhrong of patrons having at each other in the best possible no holds barred bar fight mother of them all she managed to get to Mark as two burly men were about to drag his ass out the back. She knocked both men senseless and when she got Mark to his feet, he breathed in her face, she coughed and let go of him, letting him drop back to the floor laughing. man that breath... oddly smelled good. What was he drinking ? She looked around, amid the chaos around her of a barfight she seemed to have time slow around her as she took one shot of the beer. Dang that iwas/i good...

"Oi...what y'doin' droppin' meh like dat?" Mark stumbled up to his feet, first hitting the wall behind him, and then leaning forward against Georgina, head on her shoulder as he just sort of drunkenly hugged her. "What're ye do 'ere?" he slurred, leaning back and looking at her with squinted eyes.

Georgina smirked, though when mark suddenly hugged her drunkenly asking what she did there she faked it and started leading him out of the bar. Of course it also meant getting smashed with stuff, thrown food, broken bottles shattered and sprayed lirure of them both as she half dragged mark through the throng of people as poor jeremy lost not only his pants but his shoes, wallet and shirt, at least he still had his underwear on, which had the huge red cross of the Templars on it, though to those less in the know, it looked like typical American Red Cross underwear.

Of course by time Georgina had gotten through the barfight, she herself had become slam drunk asnd also completely soaked in various drinks, and she knew in the back of her mind somewhere that returning Mark to the castle in that state, hell returning Mark to his mother, Snowfeather, in that state would end up with her own ashs up next to her sons own on her mantle at home chose instead to take Mark to her house in Arendelle instead. She dragged Mark up to the door, fumbled with her keys for about a good minute before the two of them fell into the house, she kicked the door shut, struggled to her feet, then all but dragged Mark to bed.

On the way to the bed, Mark practically slammed her into the wall and liplocked her, his alcohol-fueled lust driving him, giving him slightly more control over his body though consciously he was gone. Clothes began to fly left and right on the way to the room, and the door shut with a slam, giggling from both parties heard feightly from outside, giggling that turned more passionate...

The home was inviting, and with his drunken state, why wouldnt it be ? Yeijia lead him to the bed, And as darkness ensconced himself outside, the level of life increased within the home...