Heirot

Rai tapped on Soran's head. "Hey! I'm still up here!" Rai said, since Soran wasn't paying attention to her anymore. "Soran! Play with me!"

"Oh, were you up there?" Soran said blandly as he bent over to separate the logs in the fire and then began picking up the disassembled tent stakes as Mizuki took them down, giving Rai quite a ride.

Rai giggled as she thought she was going to fall off, with Soran bending and reaching. She laughed, holding on to his hair and head as he let her ride on his shoulders.

Siren, had flown up to her resting spot again, pretending to be clearing it out. She had decided not to be so nice anymore. It was time for revenge. When Soran bent down to pick up a tent peg, Siren flicked one of the tree's nuts down at him, hitting him sharply in the rump, since she didn't want to accidentally hit Rai. Each time he bent down she would flick a nut at him, then turn away and pretend to be doing something else.

OOC: *cry* why am I still a peasant? *pout*

OOC: lol. I dunno >_> take that up with Soran and Emora^^

IC: Mizuki had finished the roll and started to roll up the tent tarp and the bedrolls. The pikes were bound up with the tarps and loaded on to the saddle of one of the horses. When they were done Mizuki strechted her muscles and watched as Blade idolized Soran by trying to mimick him picking things up. She giggled softly.

Soran was checking the site to make sure everything was packed up when yet another small object bounced off his lower back. This time, however, he hadn't been bending over... He looked up at Rai suspiciously, but she looked innocent. His gaze turned immediately to Siren, catching her just as she was readying another projectile. "I know you're eager to be back on horseback, so we'll move out right away," he told her smoothly, climbing up into the saddle with Rai still riding on his head, then lifted her down to sit in front of him.

Blade noticed Siren flickering Soran with things and he got the impression that his 'father' was angered by it.

"Nononono," he babbled as if he was yelling at Siren. "Do da daadee! Bu ba dosh de dada!" This made Mizuki laugh harder. "Sowan!"

Even the prospect of soreness from riding again wasn't enough to kill the smirk on Siren's face at her prank. She glided down from the tree, much more gracefully this time, and went over to her horse, stroking its muzzel then climbing up.

The act was a little more painful than she anticipated, but she tried to cover for it by looking away from Soran. Time for another fun trip on horseback.

OOC: "'cause you're a God, and I am not, and I just thought that you should know..."

OOC: hahahaha! Take that, peasant!

IC:

Soran looked at Blade awkwardly as the child spouted out proclamations of "Daddee" along with a tirade of gibberish, uncertain how to deal with that title, but impressed by the child's loquacity. He turned his attention to Mizuki as she laughed in her musical voice. She struck him as fresh and beautiful, the rising sunlight catching her hair. It seemed like an odd thought to have, and he set it aside to analyze later. "Ready?" he asked her in his normal even voice.

"One...second..." She managed to say around her laughter. When she finaly regained herself, she grabbed Blade and hugged him. "It's okay sweetie." She said but she was still giggling. Smiling, she turned to her pack on the horse and rumaged around for Blade's sling. After tying it around herself, she slipped Blade down the back of it, checked it to be secure again, then climbed up on her horse. Blade cooed and she nodded to Soran.

"Alright, let's get going." she said.

"Daadaa!!" Blade cooed down to Soran.

Soran waited till Mizuki was mounted, uncomfortably ignoring the title Blade kept placing on him, and they moved out, following a trail Soran knew that led through relatively easy and safe terrain. The ride that day went smoothly, and the only interruption was a stopover for lunch. By the time they came into view of the Hepian city gates, the sun was just beginning to set. The city felt the same as always as they rode in, buzzing with activity as merchants packed up their stalls for the night and a few shady characters ducked in and out of alleyways.

Despite being a relatively dangerous city, it was normally quite orderly, but it was hard to tell from an outer glance how much that had changed since Soran's departure. He had been responsible for keeping a certain vague type of order in the city before he'd left, and something about the city, whether it was the lack of any children at all in the streets or the fact that people latched their doors quickly behind them when they walked into their buildings or a whole combination of such things, felt more feral than before.

Regardless, the familiar city was a welcome sight to the rogue as he and the others rode down the main street. The sight of all the familiar buildings and alleys stirred an unexpected excitement in him. He looked back at Mizuki and Siren, seeming pleased through his iron expression.

OOC: New thread in Hepian "Forgotten Enemys"