Preparing for departure

[Lance]

Lance scoffed when Luna mentioned her dislike of the Earl, smirking at Luna. "Sister, something tells me that we're gonna get along juuuuust fine." Lance cracked his neck and sighed, "If you want me to get the salt and save you guys a trip, I'll be glad to, I'd feel like a third wheel just following you guys around and having you do all the work."

Tharja smiled a bit when Aria complimented her home. "Alchemy isn't my forte, but I did my best, the foundation is solid Mithril, the transmutation spell to change the normal concrete into the more durable metal took months of practice. The wood, steel, and other materials were made with a similar transmutation spell, with a fusion rune holding them all together. This building could get punched by a troll and it would stay standing."

A man's voice cut in at this point, coming from a nearby staircase leading to the second floor. "What she's not telling you is that I helped her with the runes, she was never good at them." A man, Tharja's husband, came down the stairs, bowing to Aria. "It's an honor to meet you madam, I am Robin, Noire's father and Tharja's husband." Tharja shot a half-hearted glare at Robin for his crack at her rune making skills. "Heh, says the man that couldn't cast a simple firebolt spell without my help when we first met." Robin placed a hand over his heart. "Oooh! Your cruel words wound me!" Tharja walked over and pulled Robin into a kiss. "I love you..." Robin just smiled, "I love you too."

[Arin]

"Sounds like a good idea. If I recall, a bag of salt typically goes for 4 copper pieces." Arin fished out 4 copper for Lance before pointing toward the direction of the wainwright's wagon shop "Once you get the salt, head that way, once we get the wagon, we're riding westbound for the Fire kingdom." Arin took Celeste's reigns and started heading to the west exit of town, leading her and Luna toward the wainwright at the edge of the town's border, where a slew of freshly crafted wagons of all shapes and sizes could be found parked in a line alongside of the small booth near the main road. All of the wagons were fenced in, and only one exit was available for anyone to pass in and out of to get a wagon. Arin led the group as they made their way to the booth, where a scruffy old man sat, cleaning and sharpening the teeth on his saw "Excuse me, I would like to purchase a wagon for my friends and myself. We're planning a road trip to see some of the ruins."

Aria smiled and nodded in approval, crossing her arms under her chest. When Robin came down the stairs and introduced himself, she smiled and bowed in return "It is a pleasure to meet you, Robin, I am Aria. I must say, I am impressed with the craftsmanship. I myself simply prefer hard work and the occasional barrier spell to keep my homes from being demolished.""

[Tetsuya]

"Sightseeing ruins? What sort of idea is that to be doin'? Aughta be findin' a trade to be learnin'," the scruffy old man said in a gruff, scraping voice. Putting his saw away, he got up from where he sat, and turned to face Luna and Arin. "Yer muscles 'parently need some back breakin' work ta build'em up. But yer here fer a wagon, so what do Ah know. Youngin's these days, wantin' a 'venture 'stead of stayin' put like they aughta...." the old man commented while looking over the wagon they had. "Suppose ya wantin' trade that in fer somethin' bigger, eh?" he asked while eyeing both Luna and Arin up and down.

[Lance]

Lance nodded and took the copper, "Got it." Lance then began to look for a spice shop to buy the salt. The crowds had thinned somewhat, more than likely because the sun had begun to dip slightly, signaling that it was time to head for home.

Despite the smaller crowd, it still took Lance about 15 minutes to find a spice vendor. The vendor was an old man with olive colored skin and silver-grey hair, he smiled at Lance as he approached. "Ah, welcome young man! How can I help you?" Lance nodded towards a large bag of salt, easily enough for a month on the road. "How much for the salt over there?" The man stood up and grabbed the bag placing it on the counter in front of him. "I'd say...3 copper." Lance nodded and handed the man all four coins. "Son, you gave me 4, it cost 3 copper." Lance hefted the bag over his shoulder and nodded at the man. "Keep it, a little goes a long way after all." With that, Lance waved at the old man and walked off, heading for the wagon shop.

Robin chuckled, "Well, if I make something, I like to be sure that it works." Tharja snickered, "That, and by not buying the materials and just making them with Alchemy, we screw the Earl out of the land rights, because we didn't use "City Resources" to build it. no Taxes for us..." Robin laughed, "good point, and seeing as he's fond of treating starving children who are caught stealing like criminals...well, I think he has ENOUGH money."

[Arin]

Arin scratched his head when the old man started to lecture him about his lack of muscles, like the burly wainwright was sporting a decent pair of beefy arms that could easily bench press him with no trouble at all. Trying not to get on the man's bad side, he simply replied in a semi-honest manner that might suit the man "...I'm kind of new to the world, sir, I came from the human realm. I just want to do some sight seeing and get a good feel of the place so I can find my place in it. The hard work will come later." When the man started sizing up what they wanted by looking at them, he nodded in agreement "Yes sir, we kind of picked up a third and need to have a wagon big enough to travel in with our supplies."

Aria's aura fluctuated as the couple started talking about the earl, her temper starting to get the better of her "...Yes...The earl...I'll have to have a word with him about how he treats children who are simply fighting to survive..."

[Tetsuya]

"Eh, forener then? Ah swear, you lot get skinnier wit each new one. Fine, Ah got yer a wagon 'round here what will suit yer needs," the crotchety old coot said, guiding them a little further. He then stopped at a wagon that was two size larger then their current mobile storage holder. The wagon itself looked maintained, no splinters were sticking out, and the wheels and axle looked sturdy. "One o' the better ones ya'll will find 'round here. It's good fer eigh' silvins', five if yer tradin' in the one ya got right now." "That sounds like a good deal to me, Arin."

[Lance]

Lance entered the Wagon shop, bag of salt still perched on his shoulder. "Hey, I got the salt for ya Arin."

The girl that Lance rescued walked up to Aria, gently tugging her pant leg. "Ummm, Miss...I don't want to be a bother, but...maybe you should have Mr. Lance go with you? You, him and that nice lady were the only one's to help us...I want him to speak for us when you go give that jerk what he deserves." Tharja chuckled, a genuinely warm smile on her face. "Seems like the little ones have some new heroes."

[Arin]

Arin inspected the cart and he had to admit, the deal was certainly a fair one, almost too fair for such a good quality vehicle. Looking to Luna, he held his hand out for the bank pouch, fishing through it just as Lance finally arrived with the big bag of salt "Perfect timing, Lance, we were just about to close our deal for the wagon. Could you start unloading everything from the smaller wagon onto this one here? I'll help you out once I'm done." While Lance was busy unloading the small wagon and stocking the larger one with their supplies, Arin dropped 6 silver coins into the old man's hand "You have a deal sir, and here's an extra piece of silver for your generosity. I have no doubt you'll find a good home for this wagon here." After shaking the old man's hand, Arin walked over to start unloading the wagon as well "Luna? Could you get Celeste hooked up to the bigger wagon while Lance and I are moving cargo?"

Aria looked down at the girl she had been spending so much time with and smiled, waving her hand in a gentle scooping motion as the girl floated up so Aria could hold the girl in her arms "Oh, don't you worry about me little one. I know my way around big headed jerks like him, I've had many years of experience doing so. Besides, Mr. Lance has to leave town with some friends." She looked at the girl and noticed that she had a faint aura about her that was stronger than the other 9 children. Intrigued, she wanted to see just how special this child was, plus, she reminded her of Arin when he was younger "What is your name, child? My name is Aria."

[Tetsuya]

Luna handed Arin the bank pouch just as Lance arrived. "Yeah, I'll go ahead and hitch her while guys do what you need to. Come on, Celeste," she said as she unhitched the pony from the wagon. The old gruff looked over the new guy that came waltzing in, obviously not liking the looks of him. "Hold up, before any of you lot start movin' shite. You, young lad. You've the build of an army man. Are ya plannin' on causin' a ruckus anytime soon?"

[Lance]

Lance looked at the old man, not liking what he was implying. But, instead of being offended, Lance simply smirked. "Only if someone starts shit with me old man...you're not stupid enough to do that, right?" Lance smiled, but it wasn't a friendly smile, it was more like a "I really hope you're stupid enough to try." kind of smile, the kind of smirk that scared most people witless.

The girl giggled when Aria lifted her, and was a bit surprised when she asked her name. "Ummm...I'm Ciel. I've always liked my name, but I think yours is prettier Mrs. Aria." Tharja, upon hearing Ciel's awkward introduction, let out an uncharacteristic squeal. "This little one is just darling!" Robin resisted the urge to laugh, for all of Tharja's doom and gloom demeanor, she was a sucker for young children.

[Arin]

Arin, not liking the way this little debacle was turning out, walked over and roughly placed a hand on Lance's shoulder "Apologies sir. This gentleman is also an outsider, not even a day into his time here in fact. I've been entrusted by the Earl to help get him acclimated into society, and to keep him out of trouble." Arin looked at Lance with a serious glare, telling him not to start, and to let it go. He turned his attention back to the old man "I will see to it that he stays out of trouble, you don't have to worry about him."

Aria smiled at Ciel when introductions were made "Ciel. That is a very pretty name, you should be proud of it. Ciel? How would you like to come with me? I could teach you magic, you'll live a life full of travel and excitement, and you'll even have an older brother."

[Tetsuya]

Luna looked between the old man, and Lance when they sized each other up. She honestly couldn't tell if Lance was either thick headed, or just stupid for trying to pick a fight with a crotchety old coot. "Heh, ya army fellers always were thicker than molasses chilled in a cold box. Reckon that trainin' beats out sensible replies, otherwise ya wouldn't start nothin' with an old coot like meself.f An old coot too weak to defend himself, I might add," he said, before turning to regard Arin's comment. He then spit forcefully at the ground to the side at the mention of the Earl. "That 'Earl' can go suck the teat of a colt. He may be keepin' the town runnin', but his 'policies' on the less fortunate are cruel. Ah sure as hell didn't want 'em and 'is men tryin' muscle me off mah land. Sayin' Ah aven't paid me taxes. AH'LL SHOVE ME TAXES UP 'IS ARSE 'AFORE AH LET 'EM TAKE ME SHOP, DAMNIT!" He then began to hack and wheeze from his outburst, Luna having to calm Celeste when she got frightened by the outburst.

[Lance]

Lance scoffed, "Apparently this magical world hasn't mastered the one true magic: Sarcasm. Don't give yourself an stroke old man, I don't beat on Septuagenarians." When the old man mentioned the Earl, and his behavior, Lance's amulet, as it had done before, began to let off more magical aura. and the sharp wind that had occurred in the alleyway reappeared, blowing some papers around and spooking Celeste slightly. Lance looked at Arin, his tone a vicious growl. "That, fucking tears it. You and me are going to give that fat fuck a talking to, and if you don't like it, tough shit." Lance dropped the Salt bag on the ground and moved to leave the building, his temper now reaching a murderous pitch.

Ciel was quiet for a moment, a family, a brother? It was a dream come true, but..."I..I can't, my friends...I'm the oldest one of us, they need me to take care of them." Ciel's voice was dejected, it was clear that she truly did want to become Aria's adopted daughter, but she felt obligated to help her friends before she even thought of her own happiness.

Thankfully, Robin intervened. "Hey, Ceil...this house is pretty big, and your friends could really use some love themselves...you see, me and Tharja have been thinking about having more children, now that Noire is of age. And...well." Ciel's eyes widened, did they actually mean it? Tharja smiled, "We'd be happy to adopt your friends and make them part of our family, that way you and Aria can visit whenever you want." Ciel's eyes watered and she flew at Tharja, grabbing onto the woman's chest wrap and sobbing tears of joy into her shoulder. "Th-thank you so much! You-you just met us, and you're doing all this for us! I...I can't believe." Tharja just hugged the child close, cooing in a motherly tone. "Shh, shh...it's alright, you all deserve to be happy child."

[Arin]

Arin walked over beside the old man, supporting him until he was able to recover. Seeing all of this, caused by the Earl, Arin was starting to lose control of his temper, a smoky black aura slowly wrapping around his body. He reigned in his temper enough to regain balance in his aura, the smoky black aura now replaced with a glowing silver aura. Arin looked at Luna, all of the relaxed, cheerful attitude he usually had replaced with a serious, and highly annoyed expression "...Luna, please stay here with the pony and our supplies, and make sure this man's health doesn't fail from this incident...I want to have a word with the Earl before we leave, and I have to make sure Lance doesn't get into any more trouble than he's already gotten into..." He waited for Luna to either agree or argue, and he would simply stand his ground until she agreed, before leaving to catch up with Lance "......I never like that pompous fat jerk..."

Aria smiled when she saw how Tharja and Robin were so willing to adopt all 9 of Ceil's friends, the girl leaping from Aria's arms over to Tharja and clinging to her like a leech from the joy she was feeling. Her demeanor changed when she sensed an ominous aura coming from back in town, fearing the worst "...Ciel...Remain here with Mrs. Tharja and Mr. Robin...There's something I need to address back in town...When I'm all done, I'll come back to pick you up, you should take this time to say your farewells to your friends. Alright?"

[Tetsuya]

"Hmph, that's not fair, Arin! You're going to have all the fun when I have my own beef with that louse. I had to temper my anger just to keep from marching to his mansion, and strangle him with my own hands. I gave a gold coin to a little orphan girl earlier because she was all skin and bones. She looked like she had eaten anything in a long time! If you're going to teach that fat louse a lesson, then I am coming with you to give him a piece of my own mind!" Luna declared, firmly solid in her decision, and not about to budge an inch either way no matter Arin had to say.

The gruff old man sat himself on the back of an open wagon after his coughing fit calmed, eyeing all three of his 'customers'. A wide smile began to stretch across his face, and slowly started to laugh louder and louder. "Youngin' these days! Ahahaha! It never gets old, seein' you lot wantin' to change the world aroun' ya fer the better! Aaaahh, does an old coots heart good. When ya meet the bastard, give him a swift kick in the arse fer me! Tell 'em "Old coot Cotton is sendin' 'is regards!"