"He's one of the crew you lost, yeah?" Namura asked, settling down into the sand. Social interactions such as this one were uncomfortable, but she was starting to feel a little guilty about threatening to feed Lero to a herd of roaming tigers. As the people who had "civilized" her had once pounded into her skull, stuff like that was "not nice." "I'm, uh, sorry?"

Lero nods to Namura, "He was." He raises his glass to the lake and drinks, "Knocked off the ship by a longtusk that the assassin summoned forth as we crashed. He saved the captain..." He looks to Namura, "You learn it's a dangerous occupation early on. If the ship goes down, you all die. You live your life like it'll end tomorrow. Nothing bothers you unless it's immediately life-threatening. You can't control what happens around you, you can only make those around you feel like they matter. That they're your crew... your family."  

Azi looks at Namura "We can make no such promise, why would we go to them?  You should probably not promise things you cannot deliver on."  Turning back to the robot "Now that you know we are not a threat what business do you have with us? If you wish to provide us with aid we would almost certainly welcome it, but I will need to confer with the ranking officer of this... umm... deceased ship. Perhaps you could stick around for a bit, or come here yourself?"

With that Azi will go try and Flag down Flux, and the captain.  "We have an issue, it seems we've garnered the attention of a local population. Flux are you satisfied they are not consulate?"

Time Hop: "Azi, they are elves like you and I," Namura frowned at him. "How many of our kind side with the Consulate? Besides, I've heard of them before. I don't know this part of the woods very well, and they can help me get my bearings and figure out where to go from here." The elf then left Azi to join the search party on the beach, which brings us to now...

"We've all lost family," the ranger replied to Lero after taking another sip of tea. "But, at least that means you had one. We'll kill some Consulate scum in his memory."

Lero takes the last sip of his tea and thanks Duncan, "What was the commotion about up there?" He pours some more water on his burns.  

"I saw the thopter and thought the worst, that we were under attack by the Consulate," Namura shuddered a little. One did not live a life like hers without growing paranoid. "It turned out to be a nearby elf settlement. A friendly one. Once the people on board are ready to go, we'll make our way to them. I do not want to spend the night next to this giant target."

Feeling confidant that the burns have been soothed, Lero wraps the bandages around the most effected areas and puts his breeches back on. "I'm not sure the Captain will so easily be convinced to leave the ship. But it makes sense for your group and the dark site crew to go." He looks the ship over, "But even with the repairs, the ship isn't going anywhere without a huge supply of aether. She may be convinced if only to refuel the ship." He straps his belt on and adjusts his sheathes, "I'll have a talk with her."  

"There's a chance Azsixi got a message out before she died," Namura said pointedly. "If she did, they know exactly where this ship is. I'd rather this hunk of metal be blown from the sky without you on it. None of your lives are worth going down with your ship, or whatever."

Lero grins, "Well Namura... keep talking like that and I might start to think you don't hate me." 

He makes his way towards the ship, glancing back at Namura before climbing the rope to the deck. Once there he seeks out the Captain to see what she has to say.

"I don't hate you," the ranger mumbled into her tea. "That's one of the reasons I don't trust you."

She finished up her own tea, and the short rest, and thanked Duncan again. Namura returned to the ship, seeing if she could get everyone ready to leave. She didn't know who she was looking for, or really what she was doing. The elf wandered around the deck aimlessly, no longer feeling like she was in control.

"Well, I wouldn't expect the elves to know the confirming response to confirm there aren't consulate in the area, but the elves aren't generally fans of the consulate either."

The servo's return to their positions, one on Flux's shoulder, the other on Flux's thopter, as Flux thinks for several moments.

"We should certainly go, but we shouldn't go along the path there. Perhaps we should follow it several metres to the side instead, just to be safe."

After the combat and missing that last spell because of letting feeling get the better of it and observing the exchange of Namura and Lero, Kraithee keeps quiet until they arrive and finish the little tea rest and joins the others just when Flux points out exactly what it was thinking: I agree with Flux, we should travel to the outpost the thopter spoke of but we must be careful for as Namura points out, Azsixin might have sent a message to whoever she worked with.

Almost as a second thought: This site might be a Consulate outpost waiting to ambush us and might be the ones responsible for the Feral Cats sent to kill Azsixin; they know a Renegade code, but that is the reason traitors and spies exist: to find out codes to prepare an ambush. We should ask the captain where this thopters came from.

Turning to Flux, "I did not realize we were so lost.  I was taken aback by Namura's sudden appearance and then commitment that we would all trek to this village.  I would have rather discussed this first before suddenly being told we're going there and then running off to have tea." With a smile on his face, "the stories seem to be true about elves outside of Ghirapur.  Such free spirits.  Bossy free spirits, but still free spirits." He'll turn and give a quick bow to the thopter, "If we decide to head your way then we will speak again then"

Azi takes a look around at the fallen crew, seeing as most seem to be moving and non of the living seem to be severely injured anymore he'll make his way over to where the rest of the renegade party is sitting. To Namura, "I do no appreciate you appearing so suddenly from the forest and issuing commands. Not all of us are from these woods, and I was still feeling out the situation."  He'll sit down on a log near the fire and continue, "But aside from that, you may have made a decent plan. Assuming this ship can no longer move we should leave it here.  If it can be repaired though and we intend to use it to return home, we should not leave it here unguarded. I am not sure we have enough people to guard unless we make camp here. If we have any other way to get home we should leave the ship to be returned to nature." 

As the thopter whizzes into the air, it gives a quick response. "I will arrive by nightfall with a small escort and some proper food for you and your crew. We will discuss the details of what has happened and why you are here then." After that, it disappears into the treeline, heading northeast along a stream of aether.

Arial can be found in her quarters, sitting on her chair, massaging her temples. Her desk is cluttered with maps and various other paperwork, and several items have been tossed about the room. Seeing Lero, she smiles, relieved to see him still alive. "Looks like you at least made it back. Has everyone returned? I just received word from Benjin of that thopter from Fhestrynn coming here. Sounds like they're coming to us." She shifts position in her chair, reaching for a silver cup with a rich brown liquid inside. "The Renegades didn't give me any names of their contacts in the elven cities, should things go south, but it seems that is our next step forward." She stands up, reaching for her daggers, and begins heading towards the door with a focused look. "Where is that dhaerow, Azsixin? I have a few uhh... sharp words for her."

"She was ambushed by two ashen cats and they killed her before we could capture her," Lero says as she stands to leave. "I have her things though, and thought perhaps one of the artificers could look them over." He stops her from leaving with his hand out slightly, "Have you had a chance to talk to the rest of the dark site crew? The renegades vetted for these people, they must have known each other."  

"By the way, it sounds like we're going to have some company here soon.  I requested they come to us and it seems they have obliged. We should prepare for a potential attack though, just to be safe." Azi will proclaim as he partakes in some of the tea.

She pauses before reaching for the door, crying out and throwing her daggers into the wall. "So we have nothing?! A saboteur came aboard -my- ship, wrecked it, and I don't even get the satisfaction of paying her back, because some filthy forest critters killed her?!" She screams, and slumps into her chair. Taking a few deep breaths, she closes her eyes before responding. "I spoke with the other darksite crew as I sharpened those daggers. They're a nervous bunch, and quick to talk. None of them seemed to know each other personally prior to the journey, but they do know she joined the Renegades a few months back. Something about her parents being killed, blah blah blah. The classic story anyone would believe..." She sighs, and finishes the rest of her drink. "What do we have to work with? There must be answers amongst her belongings. Bring them up, and grab that aetherborn, Flux. He seems to know a surprisingly good amount about stuff, for only being a few months old. Hopefully you can distinguish between the two of them: they all look the same to me."

The sounds of woodworking and pounding finally subside, but a few minutes later they hear a shout of glee. "Best scrap job ever!" There is some clapping. Buama hauls herself up onto the deck with a grin on her face. She looks around, but realizes Elto is still in the engine room. She strides that way and disappears below.

"Hey, Elto." Her voice is chipper as she calls out. "I actually got that hole fixed though some of the interior wall covering that doesn't matter is ripped out to make it happen. How goes the repair here?"

She knows they will be moving out soon and there was contact with elves nearby. As for when and how, she did not know those details. All that mattered was going when she was told to. Until then she would put in her best efforts so they could get the ship off the ground once they had aether. Hopefully they could get aether at the darksite and find a way back to get the ship back for a proper repair. If things worked out that they couldn't, at least she tried her best to make it a possibility. Once she knew how Elto was doing, they could tell the captain where they were at for ability to fly again. Some things they would have to do without to help fly and the rigging was one of them, being the most fragile and some of it ripped off in the descent.

She could hear the cook banging around in the kitchen, but she could smell something he was prepping for dinner. That was rather reassuring though last she had looked a couple hours ago while tearing some boards off a wall outside the kitchen, it had been a disaster zone with only a small dent in the mess.

Lero understands her frustration. He felt it earlier and it ended in him snapping at Namura before they headed off into the woods to find the assassin. "We'll get answers, Arial. We always do." He leaves her chambers to fetch Flux and explain the situation.

"Flux," Lero approaches him in a hurry, "The captain would like a word with you, if you don't mind. We have need of your expertise." He gestures to the hatch that leads below deck.

"But if I am the most knowledgeable and useful in a I given situation, why would I not take charge?" Namura responded to Azi. "I know what I am doing. And I know that this elven city is at the very least friendly to our cause."

The two elves listened to the thopter, and Namura thanked the controller behind it. The mechanical object was strange to say the least, but the ranger was working towards being more open to technology. It didn't mean she liked the blasted thing.

"Leaving someone onboard this ship is a death sentence, it's a giant target that we have to assume the Consulate knows about," the ranger crossed her arms as she spoke, any hint of the softness that Lero and Duncan had seen earlier gone for the moment. "I know these woods better than anyone, but I don't know every last corner of this place. We are much farther south than I anticipated. Without some help, I would not be able to get us to the dark site." With a sigh, Namura began to scan the area for some food. Killing beasts made her hungry. "Azi, if you are not prepared for an ambush every second you remain in the employ of the renegades, then you will find those seconds quickly come to an end."