Chapter 5: Driven, Determined, Drawn, Darkness

It was early morning in Hilton, the sky painted with the warm pastels of the rising sun, stars fading quickly, fleeing the growing glowing rays. A calm, tranquil morning. Almost.

"Ashton?" Claude stumbled out of bed groggily over to Ashton's bed, tripping on something and falling face-first into the mattress, sprawled right into an empty bed. "Brphmrn, whr ish Ashton?" he asked, getting up off the bed.

"Hrn.... a few more minutes, Nineh...."

Claude stood up and rubbed his eyes vigorously, looking around. Ashton's stuff was still here, including his swords, but Ashton was nowhere to be seen. Muttering incoherently, Claude dressed himself haphazardly, forgoing the headband, jacket, and dealing with his hair in favor of going in search of the missing swordsman.

He stumbled out into the hall, and headed for the lobby, where he found the innkeeper. "Have you seen a guy with brown hair and two dragons on his back?"

"Oh, you mean the guy out front of the Tav?"

"Er... thanks," Claude said, nodding weakly before trudging outside. He snapped quickly awake as the cold air bit into his skin and shivered. He'd never realized that seaports get so cold before dawn, the concept somewhat foreign to him. Shielding his eyes from the brightening sky, he looked around to see Ashton curled up on a barrel, chin resting on his knees. Gyoro and Urunrun looked almost as scarves wrapped about his neck.

"What the heck?" Claude muttered, walking over. He'd wished now that he'd worn his headband - his forehead was getting awfully cold, and it was instigating a mild headache. He stopped in front of Ashton, whose eyes were closed. "He didn't fall asleep out here, did he?"

At the sound of Claude's murmuring, as if in response, Ashton stirred, mumbling, "Hmm... what? Yes, I'll take another hamburger, Precis..."

Claude sweatdropped. "Um....... Ashton?"

Gyoro snorted, snapping awake faster than his other two companions, eying Claude warily until he recognized the blonde-haired, blue-eyed groggy swordsman before him. He snorted a small spurt of fire before insistently nudging Urunrun awake. Ashton opened his eyes as his two sources of warmth moved about above his head and made various noises from squawks to growls.

"Huh? What? Oh, Claude. Good ... morning?" He looked around, pulling his cloak a bit tighter about himself. "I'm... outside....?"

"Awrooo." "Awk."

"I fell asleep out here?" His eyes widened a bit, and then he relaxed a bit. "My, my, that was an oopsie." He looked at Claude and rubbed one eye. "Did you come looking for me?"

"Yeah," Claude said, folding his arms across his chest. "You weren't in your bed, but your stuff was still there."

"Sorry," Ashton said, sliding off the barrel. He patted it affectionately a moment, and then looked at Claude. "We'd better get inside before you freeze." They headed back in, Gyoro giving a grunt of approval as they entered the warmer atmosphere of the inn.

Ashton had already turned the corner and was in the door as Claude started to turn the corner, when he ran head-on into Celine. "Ack!" He blinked a few times and realized it really was Celine he had crashed into. "Er, sorry Celine."

She seemed a bit flustered and looked away. "Sorry Claude, I was just heading back to my room, that's all." She dodged around him and walked quickly to the girl's room. Claude stared after a moment, perplexed, then shrugged, and walked into the room. He noted Bowman was now up and about, getting things together. Ashton too, was getting his things together, and Claude went to his bed to finish getting dressed and decent looking before they headed out to sea.

~*~

"Is it me, or does Indalecio seem more irritable as of late?"

"Shh!"

The youngest of the wise men cringed visibly at the reply he received, hoping at least he wasn't about to get in trouble for asking something so simple. He could feel the cold stare of his elder through the expressionless visor, and was a bit worried about having to face said irritable person for this.

Ruprecht didn't relish that thought at all. He knew what Indalecio was capable of, and swallowed. "I didn't mean it in a bad way, Nicolaus. I'm just concerned about him."

"You shouldn't be concerned about him at all, and mind your own business as it should be."

Ruprecht frowned, and walked off, grabbing his twin-tipped lance on the way. He was most certain that the recent turn of events, and sudden realization they were years ahead of schedule and almost back to Energy Nede was to account for everyone's moodiness, but it didn't explain the growing tensions he sensed. Cyril's earlier stalking off after a brief talk with Indalecio left small traces of doubt in his mind. He preferred to avoid Cyril and his quirks when possible, but to see Indalecio so irritated as of late worried the young Wise Man much. What could possibly upset the most powerful person?

He continued wandering the empty halls of the Elurian Tower, and turned a corner to collide with Cyril. They stared at each other for what seemed near an eternity, studying each other for any sign of betrayal or emotion which would seem out of place.

Cyril broke the silence. "Ruprecht, what are [i]you[/i] doing wandering about right now?" The voice was dark and terse, sending a small chill down his spine.

"Is it wrong not to go out and stretch one's legs? Is there a law against it now?" he countered, his temper flaring as he gripped his lance tighter. 'To be able to run this through him right now.... no. I'm sure Indalecio would unleash his power on me, and I don't want that. Despite how annoying Cyril can be.'

Cyril snorted derisively. "Whatever. Next time watch where you're going." He stalked past, his steps staccato on the cold stone floor, echoing away as he put distance between them. He watched the older Wise Man disappear around another corner.

"Such an ill temper," he heard behind him, and whirled to see Indalecio standing there, leaning against the wall, shaking his head. "He'd best learn to control it, lest it finally consume him. He'll be ineffective in doing anything if he keeps this up."

"Why don't you do something about him then?" Ruprecht asked, letting his curiosity get the better of him, despite talking to the highest of the wise men. He hadn't become part of the 'information gathering trio' for nothing.

Indalecio chuckled slightly. "Hardly worth it as of now. We all need to be ready, in case someone tries something. Its enough I've heard from Shin that they are throwing everyone they can get on the northern borders of Lacour. And that someone of great skill is among them. That someone could easily cause us trouble later. And if more join them, we may have to deal with it ourselves."

"Come now, the Expellians can't be that powerful, could they?" Ruprecht idly wondered if that was perhaps the source of irritation for his superior - that they may have someone able to rival them.

"Apparently, they do have some skilled people. Bet this means nothing. We [i]can and will[/i] be able to stop anyone who dares to try and stop us. But, on the other hand, I have reports from Shin of overheard talk from some of those simple Expellians. The one at the north was the winner of a tournament of some form. And talk was there's another oddly dressed one about who came in second."

"Are you worried about the other?"

Indalecio grinned suddenly, and his eyes sparkled. "Always the ever curious, Ruprecht. Yes, just a touch. 'Oddly dressed' makes me wonder what we might have on our hands. And if they bring this other person to the lines, we may have a problem then - if they are from another world as I suspect. Especially should some others of equal skill start showing up there. I want you, Nicolaus, and also Jibril to go out into this world and find out all you can about people with battle skills." He paused, flexing his fingers slightly as his eyes traced an ancient design on a wall. "Find them, learn who they are, and what they can do. If they amass enough, they could be a threat to Shin, and if we lose Shin, we have to deal with them, and we're too close to Nede to lose our chance because of some meddling fools."

Ruprecht nodded. Of the three of them, he was the least suspicious looking, and knew as much that he would have to do the direct interacting necessary in such an operation. "Yes, Indalecio. I'll tell Jibril and Nicolaus, and we'll head out immediately."

He turned to leave and was a few steps away before he heard Indalecio add, "Oh, and stay clear of Cyril. He has no need to know anything."