Miletus Roleplay

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Chazz recovered quickly from the fairly light hit and was able to balance himself easily. His reaction was to swiftly drive his elbow into Makari's chest.

Darast could feel Raphael's healing spell taking effect immediately and relief washed over him. "Raphie... yer such a good guy, y'know? Such a good guy..." As more of the pain went away, he continued, "That Tarian though... He's straight up evil, showin' up outta nowhere... tryin' to kill me and sayin' stuff like 'none of ya will survive'..."

After Elyse left the room with Tarian, Nadina went back to her bed and sat on it. She watched Raphael heal Darast; one elf tried to kill him, and now one was saving him. It seemed weird to her. Why hadn't any elves tried to save her father? She hugged her legs to herself and continued to watch in silence.

As Airon tranced in his room, he suddenly became aware of voices out in the hall. He came out of his trance just as Elyse and Tarian entered the room. He had to stare for a second before he could process what he was seeing. Elyse was holding a sword to Tarian's back and both looked pretty angry.

"Wha...? Uh, what's going on, guys?" he asked.

The ride to the temple had seemed impossibly long, but everyone felt like a huge burden had been lifted after the clerics patched everyone up and stabilized Chazz. The mood on the ride to Orios was a lot more optimistic and even though Chazz hadn't woken up yet, his odds were a lot better than they previously had been.

Arriving home was an almost surreal experience for Casimir. There had been so many times that he thought he'd never be there again, but in the end, Chazz had kept his promise and got the boy home. His face absolutely lit up when he realized that he was finally home to stay.

Makari hadn't seen the house in thirteen years, but it didn't look much different from the day he'd been forced to leave. It seemed a lot emptier, though. He'd never been there without his sister and he knew she wasn't coming back. A bittersweet smile crossed his face as he followed Azrael inside, telling him where he could set Gabriel and Chazz up to rest.

Azrael placed Chazz on the couch, as he didn't want to risk trying to get him up the stairs. He then told Makari to let him know if anything changed before taking Gabriel up to Casimir's mother's bedroom. He was unaware of what had transpired there, so the room didn't seem unsettling to him. "How are you doing?" he asked his brother as he helped him into bed.

Makari tried to get Casimir to go to bed and rest as well, but the boy insisted on waiting for Chazz to wake up first. Makari understood exactly how he felt, so he didn't push the issue. The two sat together, waiting for the man to regain consciousness.

When Chazz spoke, a smile spread across Casimir's face. He was so relieved that the man had woken up. "Chazz... you're finally awake. How are you feeling...?" He then realized that Chazz had asked a question. His smile only grew wider. "We're home... in Orios. Thank you..."

Makari chuckled when Chazz tried to sit up, shaking his head. In spite of that, his facial expression showed just how elated he was that his friend was finally conscious. "Just relax, Chazzy... you took quite a hit back there." He smiled. "Like Cas said, we're in Orios. We got them back." He eyed his friend's wound. "You'll want to stay still for a while. Do you need me to get you anything?"

Elyse raised an eyebrow at Tarian when he started to protest what she was doing. "This is mild compared to what you were doing," she replied tersely. "You're lucky we're not like you."

She then realized that Airon was speaking and didn't see any reason to spare him the details of what his brother had been doing. He'd find out sooner than later anyway. "For some reason, Tarian was trying to kill us," she replied as she finished tying the elf to Valtteri. "Raphael and I found him with his sword at Darast's throat."

Valtteri had managed to remain in his trance throughout the talking, but he came to when he felt his ropes being jostled. He'd never had a dream before since he didn't sleep, but he could imagine that what he awoke to seeing was what a nightmare would be like. "What the hell is this about?" He glared between Tarian and Elyse.

Gabriel was very happy to finally reach the house so that he could finally rest. He was exhausted and in pain. Knowing that Casimir and Makari must have been happy to be in their old house again, he gave them a smile before Azrael helped up the stairs. "Thanks, Az..." Gabriel said with a small smile after his brother had helped him get comfortable. His eyes were still a bit red from crying, though. "I'm... okay. Kind of tired. Az... thank you. Thank you so much... if it weren't for you, I... I was going to..." He shuddered at the thought.

Chazz just stared at Casimir, letting what he said sink in. "Home... so this is..." The smile on the boy's face said it all. Going home was all the boy had ever wanted from the start, and finally he was there. It was all over now. On top of it all, Casimir was thanking Chazz. "Cas..." He couldn't help but smile himself. "You're welcome..." He was just happy that he had been able to make it possible.

Chazz hadn't even noticed Makari at first. His friend looked more happy and relieved than Chazz could remember seeing him before. "No, it's all right, Makari... thanks." He glanced at Casimir, who he had just recalled asking how he felt. "Well, I can move... so I guess I'm all right..." The pain was unlike anything Chazz had felt, but he didn't want to mention that. He would probably listen to his friend's suggestion, at least for a little while. His mind was getting clearer and Makari saying that they 'got them' made him remember what had happened. Chazz's eyes widened slightly as he remembered the spear being shoved through his stomach. He also remembered the state Casimir was in when they found him, and he immediately looked at the boy again. At least he seemed to be a little better, but his condition was still serious. "Wait... what are you doing here? Why aren't you in bed?"

Tarian just glared at Elyse and had no choice but to allow her to tie him to Valtteri, who he pointedly avoided looking at. He chose not to comment on the explanation Elyse gave to Airon, and only glanced at the tiefling when he woke up. "Hmph, now this is a new low... tied to a beast by these vermin like I am some sort of animal. I should have disposed of them sooner."

Raphael was happy to see Darast's wounds healing nicely, especially since a couple were quite deep. He just smiled when the paladin said he was a good guy. His expression quickly became solemn as the man continued. "Oh... oh m-m-my... I knew h-he had... he had a grudge, but..." Raphael shook his head, his eye twitching. "You helped him, y-y-you... do not des... deserve this..."

"Tarian!" Airon exclaimed, distressed. "This is how you'd treat people who've helped us so much?! After everything we've been through?! I thought you had a tiny bit of a soul in there somewhere but apparently I was wrong!" After Tarian was tied to Valtteri, Airon got off his bed, went over to his brother, and punched him in the face. He then stormed out of the room.

Bard had slept through most of the commotion, however Airon's yelling finally woke him up. He went out into the hall just in time to see Airon storming down it. "What happens?" he asked. All he got in response was a shove as the elf passed by.

"Ya can't reason with... evil..." Darast replied. "It's just the way it is. Ya can't even begin to understand it." He was feeling quite a bit better now, so he decided to try to sit up. He felt a bit stiff as he did so, but he managed to get himself into a sitting position. "Thanks, Raphie. Yer a real friend."

Azrael was glad to see a smile on Gabriel's face after everything. Nothing made him feel better than knowing that his brother was going to be safe now. "You don't have to thank me. I couldn't forgive myself if I let anything happen to you," he replied. It was rare that he was so open, but he'd come so close to losing Gabriel that he needed to let his brother to know how he felt. "You'll never go through anything like that again."

Both Casimir and Makari were relieved to hear that Chazz's condition seemed completely stable. It would be a while before he was fully recovered, but it didn't sound like there were any alarming complications. When Chazz asked Casimir why he wasn't in bed, the boy felt that explaining himself would be a bit embarrassing. "Well... I was just about to go to bed," he managed, not really answering the question.

Makari just grinned. "He didn't want to go to bed until he knew you were okay," he explained to Chazz. "I don't think he realized you'd be so worried to see him up, though."

Casimir's face grew warm and he started to stand up. "I... think I should probably go rest now--"

"Yeah, okay, I'll help you get up the stairs," Makari replied, winking at Chazz. He and Casimir obviously cared about each other a great deal and Makari found it amusing that they were so awkward about expressing it.

He helped his nephew to the room the two of them had shared when Casimir was really small. The boy was obviously overjoyed to be back home and Makari was glad to be there with him. "It's gonna feel really good to sleep in your own bed, huh?" he said as he helped his nephew into bed.

"Yeah, it really is," Casimir agreed with a smile. "Thanks... for everything, Makari."

"Hey, it's no problem. If you need anything, I'll be around," Makari replied, returning the boy's smile. "I guess I should go let Az know that Chazzy woke up." He also wanted to check in on Gabe. "You should just get some rest."

With that, he left Casimir to rest and went across the hall. He drew in a breath before knocking on the door to his sister's room. He almost didn't want to go in there at all, but he knew that avoiding her room wasn't going to bring her back. It wasn't long before Azrael let him in and being in there hit Makari harder than he'd expected. It didn't look any different from the way he remembered it being, but even with Azrael and Gabriel inside, it felt empty.

"Makari?" The sound of Azrael saying his name brought him back.

"Oh, what?"

"I asked if you needed something."

Makari hadn't even heard the question the first time, but he shook his head. "Oh, no, I just wanted to tell you that Chazzy woke up," he replied before going to Gabriel's bedside. "And how are you doing? You're already looking a lot better. You're pretty resilient!"

Azrael was relieved to hear Makari's news. It seemed the sorcerer intended to spend some time with Gabriel, so Azrael figured it was a good time to go see Chazz. "I'll be right back," he said to his brother before making his way downstairs. Sure enough, Chazz was awake. "You look like you're doing a bit better," he said, checking Chazz's injury before taking a seat in the chair closest to the couch. "How do you feel?"

Elyse thought Airon's reaction was entirely justified. She gave Tarian a disapproving look and double checked to make sure the ropes were secure before leaving the room. As far as she was concerned, he and Valtteri deserved each other. She made it into the hall in time to see Airon shoving past Bard. She felt a bit bad for their new companion; there had been nothing but chaos since he'd joined them. "I'm sorry if you were woken up... it's been a hard night." She decided to just tell him what was going on. "Tarian attacked Darast with the intention of killing him. I think he planned on killing all of us... or at least all of the humans in our group."

A satisfied smirk crept onto Valtteri's face when Airon punched Tarian. He was able to gather what had happened from listening to the elf's reaction and it sounded like Tarian had done the most idiotic and unncessary thing he could possibly do. Valtteri knew that he was tied up for killing people, but he hadn't done it for no reason. He shot a glare at Tarian when the elf made his remarks. "Sounds like you are an animal to me," he replied. "People don't go around attacking other people for no reason."

Chazz hadn't known just how worried Casimir was about him. Before he could think about that any more, though, Makari continued. "What? I'm not worried..." he responded a little too quickly. To make things worse, Makari winked at him as he took Casimir to his room. Chazz just sighed.

Gabriel's smile got bigger as his brother spoke. "You're so nice... I'm really lucky to have a brother like you..." He knew that Azrael meant every word. Gabriel didn't even want to think about what the man's life would be like if he was gone. "You always try so hard to protect me... I don't blame you one bit for what happened, either..." Azrael probably knew that, but Gabriel knew it wouldn't have stopped him from feeling responsible if he hadn't made it in time.

Makari then entered the room and seemed really distracted at first, but he soon approached Gabriel's bed. "Okay," he replied to his brother before giving Makari a big smile. "Hehe, I guess I am. I'm not doing too bad... with some rest, I think I'll feel pretty good. You did a really good job today, Makari... you really saved little Cas!"

Chazz heard someone coming down the stairs and looked to see Azrael emerge. Gabriel must have been up there and was probably doing well, or else his mentor wouldn't have left. The man must have been worried about Chazz, as he checked his wound almost immediately. "I'm... all right." Now that he was more awake than before, the pain was more intense. He winced as he shifted to look at Azrael more. "I can't believe I let something like this happen... it's just pathetic." Azrael had taught him so much better than that.

Tarian said nothing to his brother and recoiled a little from the punch. Airon wasn't that strong, but it still stung. He was glad to see Elyse leave the room, but was considerably less pleased about his only company being Valtteri. Now Tarian couldn't even get away from him if he wanted to. "I could not expect you to understand anyway. You lack the intelligence."

Raphael had to agree; he didn't think he could ever understand how someone could decide to do something so horrible, with seemingly little remorse. "It's no... no problem. I am... s-s-sorry this h-happened to you, but... b-b-but at least the wounds w-w-were not t-too s-severe..." Having done everything he could, Raphael stood up. Darast wasn't moving the best yet so he helped the man back to his bed. "I... will l-leave you to rest n-n-n-now, Darast... good night..." He had no desire to see Tarian after that scene, so he went back to his room.

It was a long night for everyone after the incident. Raphael couldn't get what had happened out of his head, so his trance wasn't quite as restful as he wanted. Tarian didn't end up trancing at all and spent the time he wasn't throwing insults at Valtteri thinking of a way to escape. It didn't seem like it was going to happen, though. Morning came and all he could do was wait. As much as he hated it, he was at the mercy of those humans now.

Bard's eyes grew wide at what Elyse told him. "But why would he do a thing like that?" He'd seen and heard things while he'd been travelling around as a bard, but never anything like someone turning on their own travel mates like that. Elves and humans were so strange. He just shook his head, and since there didn't seem to be anything else to say on the matter, he wished Elyse good night and went back to bed.

Airon couldn't bring himself to go back to his room, even though he felt terrible leaving Valtteri there with Tarian. He just couldn't face his brother. He left the inn and sat out behind it, miserably wishing that he could just disown his entire family.

Darast thanked Raphael after the elf helped him to his bed. He looked over and saw Nadina sitting on her bed, staring at the floor. It was a bit of a bloody mess where he'd been laying. "Ya should try to get some sleep," he said to her. "I know what happened is upsettin', but ya gotta try."

She seemed to snap out of it when he spoke to her. She looked at him, gave him a small nod, then laid down on her bed. He couldn't tell if she was actually sleeping or not, though. Darast found that even though he was exhausted his mind wouldn't let him sleep. The events of the night kept whirling around, and what could have happened haunted him. Once again he was unable to protect anyone and had to be saved himself. He was grateful for it, but he felt like a failure. Eventually he started dozing in and out of sleep.

"That's the spirit," Makari replied to Gabriel with a grin. Gabriel then praised his performance in the battle. "Aww, thanks... it would've been better if that cleric chick hadn't driven me out of the room." He scowled, shaking his head as he thought back to being compelled to run outside. "But Az got them good in the end, just like always!" He couldn't help but smile when Gabriel mentioned Casimir. "I'm glad we could get him outta there," he replied. "He's pretty stoked to be home, too. He didn't want to go rest until he was sure Chazzy was okay, though."

Hearing what Gabriel had said to him before he went downstairs meant a lot to Azrael. He'd known that his brother wouldn't have blamed him, but hearing it out loud after everything was sad and done made it easier for Azrael to forgive himself for what had happened.

Chazz told him that he was okay and Azrael supposed he was probably in the best shape he could be in, given the circumstances. He shook his head at what the half-elf said next. "These things happen," he replied. "There's no use dwelling on it now. Everyone got back safely; that's all we can ask for." Normally, he'd be annoyed with Chazz for charging into battle so recklessly, but in this case Azrael understood exactly why he did it. He'd done something similar himself.

Elyse couldn't answer Bard's question with any certainty, so she'd just told him she didn't understand it herself. She returned his good night and went to bed, but didn't sleep much. All she could think about was what could have driven Tarian to try something like that. She knew it was because of their race, but she couldn't wrap her head around his way of thinking at all. It was also because of people like him that her fiance had disappeared without a trace years before.

Valtteri hated every second that he had to spend tied to Tarian in that room. His presence made it impossible to return to his trance. The elf's insults were getting under Valtteri's skin more than usual, too. Valtteri often shot back with his own, but by the end of the night he had settled for just glaring at Tarian when the elf spoke and fantasizing about all the ways he could mutilate the guy's annoying face if he wasn't tied up like this.

By the time the sun came up, Valtteri was ready to rip Tarian apart. He impatiently glared at the door as if it would make someone from the group come to get them moving sooner.

Gabriel sort of recalled Makari running out of the room, but he had been a bit too distracted to figure out what exactly was going on. He knew that the man wouldn't have just abandoned them, though. A big smile came to his face when Makari praised Azrael's performance. "Az really is the best!" Gabriel was happy to hear that Casimir was so excited to be home. His expression became more amused at the next thing Makari said. "Hehe, is that so? He thinks so much of that guy... it's so cute! And it seems to be mutual, too, after what happened with Cas' dad... they've been through a ton of stuff together, haven't they?"

Chazz had kind of been expecting a scolding about the stupidity of charging blindly into battle; he had probably even gotten one similar to that before. However, Azrael's response was more gentle and understanding than that. "Right... that's true. It could have gone much worse..." Chazz didn't even want to think about the possibilities. "I guess now we get a chance to relax, with the boss gone... and we won't be dealing with any more clerics."

Raphael awoke from his trance early and got ready to get moving again. After everything that happened, he just wanted to get back to the city, which was close enough for them to reach on foot that day. Unfortunately, with the way the elves had been dealing with humans lately, he doubted neither Valtteri nor Tarian would receive much punishment, especially Tarian. Raphael knew that Elyse would be ready soon, so he headed to the room where the two violent group members were being held.

"Um..." Raphael peered in the door and saw that Airon wasn't there. He hoped he wasn't too far. The expression on Valtteri's face scared him and Tarian didn't even look toward him. Raphael's face started to twitch."I... I th-th-th-think we are... um... l-leaving soon, s-s-so..."

Tarian glanced at Raphael briefly. "Good. The sooner I am released from this torture, the better," he said as if Valtteri wasn't even there.

Darast awoke in the morning and felt slightly rested, but he'd definitely had better days. He got himself out of bed and did some stretches in an attempt to make himself feel more human and less like he was made of lead. He then went and got Nadina up, who looked none too happy about it. He started to head toward the door but then realized that he'd slept in his bloody clothes and the blood was all over him, including in his hair.

As he went to get a change of clothes and wash up, Nadina left the room with Yuki. Out in the hall, she could hear Raphael and Tarian talking in one of the rooms and she wanted nothing to do with them. She decided to go outside and take in the surrounding nature.

Airon had managed to get himself to trance after a while and was just coming out of it when he saw Nadina and her wolf walk by. He pushed himself against the inn and curled in on himself, trying to become invisible.

He then remembered that Valtteri was stuck inside with Tarian and figured he should go talk to his friend. He waited until Nadina was out of sight, then left his spot and entered the inn. He went to his room and found Raphael was in there along with the pair who were tied up. "Morning Raphie, Valtteri," Airon said, blatantly leaving his brother out.

Bard had had a pretty good sleep, considering the circumstances. He hadn't been directly involved in the events of the previous night so it didn't bother him too much. He retrieved his hat and made sure his elf disguise was correct, then left his room. Out in the hallway he started to play a little tune on his lute and whistled along with it.

Makari just grinned at Gabriel's response to what he said about Azrael. Those two were extremely close and he knew Gabriel thought the world of his brother. His grin only got wider as Gabriel started talking about Casimir and Chazz's relationship. "Oh yeah, they adore each other for sure," Makari replied, "especially after that whole disaster. Meh, Cas is so much better off with us anyway... especially because Chazzy takes such good care of him."

His expression became a bit more serious when Gabriel said that the two had been through a lot together. "They've both been through way too much, from what I know. Hopefully this is the end of it all." He chuckled. "This kinda calls for a celebration, huh?"

Azrael nodded grimly when Chazz said it could have gone worse. He could think of many ways that could have happened. "Yes, that's right," he replied. "It seems like you'll all have plenty of time to recover. What do you plan on doing after this?" Azrael didn't doubt for a moment that Chazz would choose to stay with Casimir and Makari, but he supposed he should ask anyway.

Elyse was a bit alarmed when she awoke and saw that Raphael was gone. It had taken her forever to fall asleep and she was afraid she had overslept and was now holding everyone up. She jumped out of bed and hurried out into the hall, where she saw Bard playing his lute. He was the only one there, so apparently some of the others were still getting ready. She greeted him with a small smile, but didn't say anything so as not to interrupt his playing.

Valtteri shot a harsh glare at Tarian when the elf spoke. When he shifted his attention back to Raphael, his gaze hadn't softened at all. He only nodded in response.

Just then, Airon entered the room and greeted everyone who was worth greeting. "Good morning," Valtteri replied, though his tone indicated that so far, it wasn't good at all. "Did you manage to get some rest?"

Gabriel smiled and nodded when Makari said that Casimir was better off now. The boy definitely seemed happy, and from what Gabriel knew about his father, he never would have felt this good with him. He loved to see how much Chazz had become attached to Casimir. Gabriel's face really lit up when Makari mentioned having a celebration. "Ohh... that's a wonderful idea! You and Cas are finally home... and everything's over. I could definitely go for a big meal... a feast!" Gabriel was really liking the sound of this idea. "I think everyone could use one... we've been travelling around a lot."

Chazz nodded; he knew that Casimir and Gabriel would definitely need a lot of time to heal both physically and mentally. They had obviously been terrified. Azrael's question wasn't something Chazz had thought about in detail, but he already knew the answer. "I think... I'm going to stay here. I don't exactly... have anywhere to stay now, with the rogues gone... and I doubt Makari and Casimir would object."

Raphael flinched when he saw the look on Valtteri's face. He was extremely uncomfortable in this situation, and his foot began to tap as his face continued to twitch. "G-g-g-good morning..." Raphael replied to Airon. It was good to see that the elf hadn't taken off or anything. "Um... s-so you should, sh-should all get ready... um... q-q-quickly." With that, he left the room to finish gathering his things and was soon ready. Raphael saw Elyse getting ready to go as well, and offered her a small smile to hopefully lighten the mood.

Tarian looked up at his brother when he entered, his fists clenching slightly when Airon completely ignored him. He looked away and started trying to move and pull Valtteri along. "Waiting around will not help anything. We need to get going now." Tarian wanted to get to the city as soon as possible, where he knew he'd be able to go free again if his family had any say. Then, he would never have to see these humans again.

"Yeah, some, maybe," Airon replied to Valtteri. He looked at Raphael when the elf said they should get ready quickly, then scuttled out the door. His discomfort couldn't have been more obvious if he'd had a sign stuck to his forehead. Before Airon could do anything his stupid brother decided he was leaving right that second.

He stomped his foot and said, "Can you at least let me get ready first? You're such a jerk!" He then ran to the bathroom and slammed the door.

Darast finished getting ready and went out into the hall check on the others. He saw Bard playing his lute and Elyse and Raphael were out and about, then heard Airon yell and slam a door. He tracked the noise to the room where he found Valtteri and Tarian tied together. He glared at the pair of them.

"What's goin' on in here? Ya can't go two seconds without upsettin' someone, can ya?" he asked them, clearly irritated.

Bard returned Elyse's smile and without stopping his playing and said, "Good morning. I trust sleep was well." He smiled at Raphael as well, but was disturbed when the commotion happened. He stopped playing and watched as Darast hurried by. "Never dull moment around these people."

"Hell yeah, a feast would be great," Makari agreed with a grin. It had been ages since he'd had a good meal and he was sure the same was true for the rest of them. "We could get a turkey or something and go all out!" He was practically drooling just thinking about it. Suddenly, he screwed up his face. "I dunno about letting Cas handle much of the cooking though... the rest of us are okay, I think. I know Chazzy is." His friend's omelette had been the best of the bunch by far. "Heh, you know him and Az are gonna be looking forward to this just as much as the rest of us."

Azrael wasn't surprised at all by Chazz's answer. He thought it was the right choice; he'd made Casimir his responsibility and Azrael knew that being separated from Makari had been hard on him before. "I see... well, you could all benefit from taking it easy after this." That was his way of expressing his approval.

Valtteri watched Raphael leave the room. Before he could even process the fact that Airon had responded to him, Tarian was pulling on the rope. Airon apparently took exception to his brother's hastiness and abruptly ran off. Valtteri remained planted firmly in place, not obliging Tarian's desire to move. "Good job making sure everything goes to hell before we even get going. That must be the only thing you're good for."

Darast entered the room then and Valtteri had no desire to see or hear him. He blamed them for the commotion and even though it was Tarian's fault, Valtteri didn't need this holier-than-thou paladin going on about it. He suggested that Darast go fuck himself with his sword before moving without warning after standing so firmly in hopes that Tarian would lose his balance.

"Yeah, it was, thanks," Elyse said, though she'd actually had far more restful nights. "How was your night?" Before he could even answer, there was a commotion and Elyse just watched it with a sigh before giving Bard an apologetic smile. "It's usually a lot duller than this..." By 'duller', she of course meant infinitely more pleasant and less stressful.

Gabriel smiled widely. "I haven't had turkey in forever... this'll be great! I'll help out for sure." He could recall Chazz cooking before when they were in the rogue group together, and the food was really good. Apparently Casimir wasn't quite as skilled, but Gabriel supposed he was only young. "Ohh yeah, I can picture Az's reaction now..." He made a serious face. "'We don't have any more pressing matters to attend to'. But inside, he'd have a big smile... and Chazz would just copy him, of course."

It wasn't very often that Azrael suggested taking it easy, so Chazz knew that he must not have had a problem with his decision. "Yeah, we all have some recovering to do... I think this is probably the best course of action..." He shifted, unable to find a comfortable position. The wound in his stomach was definitely going to take a long time to heal.

Later that day when Makari visited Chazz again, his friend told him about the plan he and Gabriel had discussed. Chazz told him that he had no objections to the idea, as they had more than enough time to prepare a meal like that; it would just need to wait until Chazz was better. However, he actually found the idea of a celebration feast exciting, and a hint of that may have showed on his face only briefly. He was looking forward to finally having a relaxing, enjoyable meal with everyone.

Over time, Chazz's wound healed slowly until he felt well enough to be up and walking around. There was still some pain, but nothing compared to what he had felt before. Going to the market was too much activity for him, so he had to leave it up to the others to gather the ingredients for the meal the day he convinced them he was well enough to cook.

When all the food was placed in the kitchen, Chazz looked it over. "This looks big enough," he said, eyeing the turkey. "It's going to need to cook for a long time, so we should get started on that as soon as possible." He had found a pot he thought would be large enough while they were gone. "This needs some water in it-"

"I can do that!" Smiling, Gabriel took the pot and then trotted outside, heading for the well.

"All right, then..." Chazz hadn't been expecting such an enthusiastic response. "I'm also going to need someone to cut up these onions and the celery while I make the stuffing." He made sure not to look at Casimir.

Tarian just sighed when Airon yelled at him and took off. His brother's behaviour hadn't been the best, but he knew that once he got him home their parents would have a word with him. They would understand Tarian's actions. He glared at Valtteri when the tiefling commented on the situation and he gave the rope a sharp tug.

When Darast entered the room, Tarian wasn't in any mood to listen to him either. It was the only thing that he and Valtteri seemed to have similar feelings about. "Just leave us-" Tarian started to speak but was caught off guard by Valtteri suddenly moving. He quickly lost his balance and fell to the floor face-first with a thud, only barely able to try to break his fall with his hands. He knew he would be feeling an impact like that for a while. Tarian grunted in pain as he slowly sat up, immediately casting another glare up at Valtteri, though it was much more dangerous this time. "Hmph, enjoy yourself while you can," he said as he started to get to his feet. "When we return to the city, you will not have that luxury."

Raphael finished up getting ready to go and it seemed that the others in general weren't too far behind him. He knew they all would want to leave that inn. Valtteri and Tarian didn't have much preparing they could do while tied up the way they were, anyway. Soon, Raphael would be home, but he didn't know how much he was looking forward to it.

Darast just glared at Tarian and Valtteri as they went about their antics. He almost wanted to laugh when Tarian went face first on the floor, but he figured he should stay stern. He then ushered the duo out into the hall so he could try to get Airon out of the bathroom.

Airon was sitting against the bathroom door listening to what was going on outside. He heard Darast approach and then say, "Hey Airon, ya wanna come out? I kicked those two out if it makes ya feel any better."

"I still have to travel with them," Airon grumbled. "And go back home where I'll get yelled at for being mean to my dumb brother."

Darast crossed his arms. It did sound like a pretty crappy situation. "What if I help ya try ta explain to them what happened?"

Airon sighed. "It doesn't matter. Where do you think Tarian got it from? I'm the weirdo around those parts." He ran his hands through his hair, frustrated by the whole thing. Then a thought hit him. "Wait. Why do I even have to go back there, anyway? Why don't I just stay with you guys? And Valtteri too?"

"Uh, well..." Darast said. He wasn't entirely sure what to do. Help a kid and his evil friend run away from home? Or make Airon go back home? He knew he was supposed to help those in need, but where would he take Airon? "Airon, I dunno... Would ya be happy goin' back to Bahamut's Temple with me? Or Valtteri? Yer friend really needs ta be brought to justice fer all he's done, too. I just dunno if it's somethin' we can do."

The paladin's answer made Airon's heart sink. His one chance was escaping him. "Fine! I'll just stay here in this bathroom forever! It's better than going back there!"

Not knowing what else to do, Darast left the room with an exasperated sigh. He found the others out there and said, "I can't get him outta there. He's pretty upset."

Gabriel's prediction of how Azrael and Chazz would react had made Makari grin widely. In his opinion, it was pretty much perfect. Sure enough, that's exactly how Chazz reacted when Makari told him about the idea. The guy had tried to play it cool, but Makari had seen the excitement flicker behind his eyes.

Azrael had reacted similarly. He told Gabriel that he was fine with the idea, but he actually found himself looking forward to the meal. He was also happy to see that Gabriel was in good enough spirits to want to do something like that after everything he'd been through. Unlike Chazz and Azrael, Casimir didn't even try to mask his enthusiasm for the idea. It had been so long since he'd had a good meal like that and he couldn't think of a better way to celebrate finally being back home.

As everyone started feeling better, they selected a day for the meal. Azrael was a bit skeptical that Chazz was as well as he was insisting, but he supposed the man was old enough to make his own decisions. Cooking wasn't a particularly strenuous activity and they'd be dividing the work amongst the five of them anyway.

Casimir, Azrael, Makari and Gabriel picked up everything they'd need at the market and returned home to begin preparing the meal. When they arrived, Chazz was already in the kitchen getting things ready. Gabriel rather eagerly took off to get water. Azrael simply shook his head. His brother was obviously feeling a lot better and it was great to see him back to himself.

Chazz then said he needed someone to chop vegetables and Makari couldn't help but grin when his friend avoided Casimir's gaze altogether. The omelette disaster had told them everything they needed to know about the kid's cooking skills.

Unfortunately, Casimir didn't seem to get the hint. "I could do it," he offered.

"Nah, we want to keep this meal cannibalism-free." Makari quickly picked up the knife before Casimir could. "I'm on it, Chazzy."

Casimir didn't understand what Makari was talking about and simply awaited further instructions from Chazz.

Valtteri watched Tarian fall, a look of satisfaction on his face. He briefly fantasized about stomping on one of the elf's limbs while he was down, but thought better of it. It would only end poorly for him, especially with that paladin standing right there. Tarian all but threatened Valtteri as he stood and the tiefling rolled his eyes. "I'm so terrified," he said dryly. In actuality, he knew that Tarian could make good on his threats and was absolutely dreading getting back to the city.

Darast ushered them out of the room then. Valtteri waited impatiently, sucking in his cheeks and avoiding everyone's eyes.

When Darast came out, he informed them that Airon had no intention of accompanying them. Valtteri couldn't blame the elf after everything that had happened, really. Normally, he'd go in there, but with Tarian attached to him, it just seemed like a bad idea. He shot a quick glare at his attachment; all of this was his fault.

"Oh no..." Elyse sighed. It was easy to see why Airon was upset, but holing himself up in a public bathroom wasn't going to resolve any of this. She glanced at Raphael; he seemed to know Airon, so she wondered if the two of them would be able to coax him out of there. Airon wasn't bothered by Raphael's tics, at least. "Maybe he'll listen to us... he's more familiar with Raphael, if nothing else."

She made her way to the bathroom and lightly knocked on the door before entering. "Airon? I know things are bad right now, but staying in here isn't going to fix anything." Even though her words were quite firm, her tone was soft.

Chazz was kind of relieved when Makari accepted the job before Casimir could try to. He knew exactly what his friend was referring to. "Good. I prefer food that isn't blood flavoured." He turned his attention back to Casimir. The kid was looking at him expectantly. "I need you to handle as little of the food we're going to eat as possible. You can clean up the parts Makari's going to cut off that we can't use. Keep your fingers away from the knife," Chazz instructed as if he was talking to a child.

Gabriel opened the door and walked inside with the big pot of water. "Wow, this is heavier than I thought it would be..." He got it to the counter. "Isn't this the biggest turkey you've ever seen, Az? I guess we should wait for stuffing before we put it in... but it should fit. Me and you can put it in together when it's time."

Tarian only continued to glare at Valtteri as the two were forced out of the room. He stood facing away from everyone in the hall. His brother really needed to stop being so damn slow so they could get to the city before being attached to this creature made Tarian lose his mind. However, it turned out that Airon didn't want to leave at all. Tarian heaved a weary sigh. He noticed Valtteri glaring at him again and gritted his teeth. His attention shifted toward where Airon was. "He knows he must go home," he hissed. It was completely pointless to prolong it.

Raphael frowned when he heard what Darast had to say. Airon was always so upbeat, but obviously the recent events were really hard on him. He could definitely understand why. "Um, I... I h-h-hope I can help..." Raphael really wanted to try, so he went with Elyse, ignoring Tarian's comment.

After Elyse entered the bathroom, Raphael peeked in behind her. "I... a-a-am s-sorry, but we must ret... return to the city. Your p-parents will only... will only send someone t-t-to get you." His foot was tapping nervously and he didn't like the noise it was making.

Airon knew that after Darast left others would come for him. It turned out that Elyse and Raphael had decided to give it a try. "Going back there won't help anything either!" he replied to Elyse. "I'm the one who's gonna get yelled at for giving my brother a hard time!" Then when Raphael spoke, he said, "I know... But what if I hide really well? They'll have to search the entire Elven Territory to find one little elf, after all!"

Darast stood out in the hall with the rest of the gang; he passed the time glaring at Valtteri and Tarian. Bard stood off to the side and watched the three amusedly. "Why do you all travel together with so much hatred? There should be laughter and story telling!" he said.

Casimir scowled when he realized what Chazz and Makari had been inferring. "I wouldn't cut my fingers off," he insisted. "I've used a knife plenty of other times." Chazz then gave him a task to do, once again making it sound like him going near a knife meant the loss of his fingers was imminent. He just sighed pointedly and, after getting a bowl to collect the inedible bits, made his way over to where Makari was chopping vegetables.

Makari had heard the way Chazz was talking to Casimir and couldn't help but snicker to himself. His friend worried about that kid way too much. Of course, Makari knew he'd deny it until his dying day. "It's not so much that Chazzy thinks you can't do it," he said casually. "It's just that he'd be sooo heartbroken if you got hurt. He's not gonna risk it even a little bit." He grinned, sneaking a glance at his friend.

Azrael had been removing the giblets from the bird when Gabriel returned. He nodded in agreement with what his brother said. They'd managed to find quite a big turkey. "It will definitely fit," he assured Gabriel, eyeing both the turkey and the pot. He nodded again when Gabriel said they could put it in together; it probably would take the two of them. "I take it you didn't run into any trouble getting the water?" He recalled that before running into Chazz, Casimir had apparently nearly been mugged.

Valtteri was focusing all of his energy on ignoring both Tarian and Darast. When Bard spoke up, he glanced at him briefly. "No, there shouldn't." Laughter and story telling from this group would probably be just as annoying as the hostility. He only dreaded to think what kind of stories Tarian and the paladin would come up with and Raphael wouldn't even be able to get a story out of his mouth.

Elyse sighed. In a way, it was a good thing that Airon didn't want to go back to his family; they were obviously horrible influences if Tarian was a reflection of them. At the same time, they couldn't just leave him there and she knew he must have known that. The antics she'd seen from him, Casimir and Nadina during their travels were making Elyse start to reconsider wanting children, or at least teenagers. "You've seen what's going on lately," she reminded him. It was apparent that his family was an influential one. "Your disappearance could end up being used as a pretense for more attacks on humans."

"Yeah, sure," Chazz replied to Casimir sarcastically, but not too loudly. He supposed cutting things up was probably the only thing that went right with the kid's omelette that time. Casimir seemed to be done complaining and decided to do his job, so Chazz got some bread to cut up for the stuffing. Before he could start, he heard what Makari said and looked at his friend just in time to see his grin. "Hey, I think none of us here want to eat food with chunks of that kid's fingers in it," Chazz retorted, as bad at covering up his defensiveness as ever. "They're probably dirty." He went to work cutting up the bread into little pieces.

Gabriel smiled at Azrael's assessment. He knew the turkey was going to be just delicious. His brother's question seemed a bit strange, but he supposed there was always some danger in cities. They had even contributed to it before. "Nope, it was no problem! There weren't that many people out, actually, for whatever reason." He thought it was sweet that Azrael was so concerned. He noticed that some potatoes were out for the meal next to the man, so Gabriel got a knife and went to work peeling them. Hearing the other three interact made him smile even more. "I think it's really nice that they'll be living here all together. Look at how well they get along!"

Tarian kept his back turned to Darast, but he could almost feel the paladin's eyes on him. He just wanted to be out of there and he was growing very impatient with his brother. "I do not want to hear anything from you people." The only exception was hearing them threaten Airon to get him moving, which he would do himself if he weren't tied to Valtteri. He glanced back at Darast. "Why must we waste time like this? Just drag my foolish brother out of there."

Raphael had to feel bad for Airon. He knew what it was like to dread going back to his parents and sometimes he just wanted to hide as well. However, he knew it could only end badly. He nodded in agreement with Elyse. "I a-a-a-apologize, Airon... but... but you must c-consider that. Y-y-your parents would find... f-find any reason start a-attacks on humans." Raphael's own parents were the same way, so he knew very well how Airon's parents would react. "If... if... if you want, I c-could g-g-go to see y-your... your parents with you." Raphael hoped to be able to defend Airon somehow, but it was possible he would get too nervous to say anything. However, the elf's parents couldn't ignore someone of Raphael's position.

Bard paused for a moment after Valtteri's rejection, but then said, "It is okay, I can start and then you feel you can join in too. Maybe I shall start with a joke! What is best method to carve wood?"

"Ya realize that draggin' him out would only make it worse, right? We can't force 'im to do somethin' he don't wanna do," Darast replied. "What's so hard 'bout treatin' him like a person and not some kinda pet?"

Airon pouted as he listened to Elyse's and Raphael's argument. "I hadn't thought of that..." he said. "I don't want to make them do even more stupid things... Fine, I'll come along." He got up off the floor, opened the bathroom door, and walked out with a look of defeat on his face. "It's a no-win situation with them, isn't it? If you wanna come with me that would make me feel better, Raphie."

Casimir couldn't tell if what Makari was saying was true or if his uncle was just trying to get a rise out of Chazz, though the boy could easily recall Chazz being upset by him being injured on a few occasions. Either way, he didn't have a chance to think about it too much; Chazz had taken the opportunity to pick on him. "What? No they're not!" he retorted indignantly. "I just washed them. You're the one with bad hygiene here anyway." It was Chazz who had been puking out of windows, after all.

Makari's grin only grew wider as Chazz immediately tried to deflect. "Yeah, yeah. None of us are cannibals. I'm sure that's exactly what you were getting at." He didn't even try to hide his laughter at Casimir's flustered response. Those two would never change and Makari found their bickering hilarious.

Azrael was glad to hear that Gabriel hadn't run into any problems and continued his work. He heard the argument break out between Chazz and Casimir and both Gabriel and Makari seemed fairly amused by it. "That's an interesting way to get along," he replied to Gabriel, but in reality, he agreed with his brother; he thought that this was the best arrangement for all three of them. After everything they'd been through, a secure, low key life was just what they needed.

Valtteri sighed as Bard carried on in spite of what he said. The weird elf told him a joke and Valtteri supposed there was no harm in humouring him a bit; he was being civil, if nothing else. "Beats me. What?" He didn't exactly sound eager to find out.

Elyse smiled, glad that Airon understood the situation. She didn't want to discourage him from leaving all together, though. The Rithil family apart from Airon and Ezra and what she'd seen of Raphael's parents had shown her that the entire city was toxic. She hoped she'd be able to get Ezra away from it.

Lost in thought, she didn't notice that Airon had actually left the bathroom and was still looking in that direction.

Chazz threw some bread chunks into a bowl and then turned toward Makari with a grumpy look as his friend laughed. "Yeah, that's what I meant!" He then looked to Casimir. Chazz supposed he did recall the kid washing his hands, but he was more concerned about the last thing he said. "And just what do you mean by that?" He was aware that the kid was insulting him, but he actually didn't understand where he was coming from. "I probably bathe more than you do."

Gabriel kept his eyes on his work but he could easily hear the bickering. He tried to keep the snickering quiet so he wouldn't distract them. "It's the perfect way to get along. The more they argue, the more they like each other!" Grinning, Gabriel glanced toward the three. "And they won't just say it. That just makes it even cuter!" He knew Azrael wasn't one to call anything cute but Gabriel liked to think that deep down, his brother saw just how adorable things like this were.

Tarian sighed huffily and looked away from Darast. "I do not need a human to tell me what I can and cannot do. If he actually had sense , this trip would have been infinitely better," he said bitterly, and then glanced at Valtteri. "That filth would have been left behind."

Thankfully, Airon listened to them, but Raphael couldn't be happy. After what had happened the night before and knowing what Airon had to return home to, the situation was sad more than anything. "I... a-a-am sorry, Airon... I wish th-there was... was... was s-something else we could do. But I am... I am happy to h-help y-y-you." Raphael then noticed that Elyse was looking into the bathroom, so he looked as well. There wasn't anything particularly interesting. "Um... Miss Elyse? Is... s-something... something in there?" It didn't seem like she was actually looking at anything.

Bard grinned, completely ignoring Valtteri's lack of eagerness, as he replied, "Wittle by wittle!" He then began to laugh at his own joke as if he hadn't even been expecting the punchline.

"This trip would've been infinitely better if ya didn't have to make it so difficult," Darast shot back. "Well, it would've been better if Valtteri hadn't gone and killed people too. Ya both are similar in that way, really, bein' difficult and all that."

"Thanks Raphie, you're a real friend!" Airon said. He was glad to have at least one elf on his side. He then noticed that Elyse was staring into the bathroom, so he looked in at exactly the same time as Raphael did. "Uh, I don't see anything..."