AURELIA

~~~~~

I looked out at the village center. A silver dragon was talking to a young man with blond hair. I tilted my head aas he turned around.

Oh no.

It can't possibly be... Him?

The man walked into the fabric shop and the silver dragon turned and saw me. Her usually confident face had a look of fear. Except. Was she looking at me? I slowly turned around and gasped. The green dragon was on the roof. He, with a puff of smoke, pounced on me. 

I screamed.

~Celestia~

There were two options currently. Approach it or run. Approaching it could result in being caught, perhaps even by some people of Catastrophe, while running away could possibly alert the said noise. 

Really, approaching was a safer bet, to at least know what she was running from, or if it was the squirrel or something else. So cautiously, she peeked through the bushes, and spotted a man. And even worse, it seemed like he was a part of Catastrophe's army.

So now, running seemed like a pretty good option, with Celestia's fight-or-flight instinct starting to kick in. But she held her ground. Maybe if she transformed into human-form and tried to approach him, it could turn out better. She could try to disguise as...a mysterious person offering information, but that likely wouldn't pass, especially with someone with Catastrophe. Another way was to appear in need of some help. However, both options were rather dangerous. Either way, she had to do something before the soldier spotted her.

Celestia, sighing, transformed into human form and approached the man, bracing what was to come. 

-Edwin-

Footsteps approached the bush Edwin was hiding in, and he looked through the gaps in the leaves. They appeared human, with silvery hair fading to dark purple. Edwin had two options - hide, and let this person (whoever she was - for all Edwin knew they could be a member of the Resistance) discover them as one of Catastrophe's soilders, or reveal himself, which would likely give him the upper hand. So Edwin stood up and said, with a sigh of mock relief, "Oh, thank Kyngdom! I thought you were one of Catastrophe's soilders."

Edwin watched the person's gaze shift down to his uniform. "Oh, right." Edwin offered a slight chuckle and a self-deprecating yet charming grin, and lied, "I deserted. I realized that I no longer supported Catastrophe and the way he went about doing things, so I decided to leave, and hopefully join the Resistance." He shrugged.

He was tempted to ask her if she was a member of the Resistance herself, but he didn't want to seem too invasive and have her suspect him. He decided to ask a slightly less risky question instead. "Well, now you know why I'm wandering around the forest. What about you?"

Aurelius

~~~~

Aurelius sighed. He urges his horse, Milla, to go on to the nearest stable. He's arrived at the village of Morrows. After tying up her up, he begins to walk around and find out what he can find out. A silver dragon walks up and huffs.

"Can I help you?" she says. Her large body swells high above him in confidence.

"I need to know where an Aurelia pur Betei is. Have you seen her?"

Her confidence shatters and she becomes timid.

"W- well, I've never known that she was a- a Nobyl before." She gulped and stood taller. "Last I saw she went into that fabric shop over there. Probably for another cloak."

"Thanks." He turns to go. "Oh, and what is your name?"

"Adhers," she blurted out. Aurelius waggled an eyebrow.

"Adhers?" he smiled.

"Well, my friends call me Addie" she said quietly, looking down.

"Nice to meet you, Addie." Aurelius winked and started toward the shop. "Tell me if you see her! Or you can tell my friend. He's the green dragon, Nik."

Addie looked up, clearly scared, and turned toward a cottage on her left. She gasped. The green dragon was on the roof behind a blond teenaged girl. Aurelia. But Addie didn't pay any attention to Aurelia. Her eyes lit up and a gutteral growl was emitted from her throat as she stared at Nik.

~~~

Aurelius hummed a tune. Today was going to be okay. He would get Aurelia arrested, send her to prison and then he could live in peace knowing that he did his job. His tune died. It was his sister. Of all things to send to prison, his sister.

He shook off his guilty thoughts, pushed open the fabric shop's door, and walked to the check-out. An overly-excited woman in a red dress and several bracelets on her arms stood behind the counter. Her bounciness wore off when she saw his coat.

"Hi. I'm looking for a girl named Aurelia pur Betei. Have you seen her?" Aurelius asked.

The woman narrowed her eyes and fiddled with her bracelets. 

"I don't know any Aurelia pur Betei's, but," she paused and opened her eyes. "I do know an Aurelia Whipple. Now there's a nice woman. Nothing like a Nobyl." her eyes narrowed again. "Are you a Nobyl?"

Aurelius cringed. He regained his posture and smiled a tight smile.

"That's classified." he said.

Suddenly a piercing scream echoed through the village and Aurelius ran outside. 

Nik had jumped on a blond girl and was preparing to take her away.

"Wait! Nik!" Aurelius pounded the ground and jumped on Nik.

Nik growled but permitted Aurelius on his back. As Nik flapped his large wings, Aurelius caught a glimpse of the girl. Oh, snap. Somehow, she was loose in Nik's grip.

Then she dropped.

She screamed and flailed wildly. Aurelius grabbed her hand before she fell too far. He pulled her up and she smacked him halfway across the face, then quickly clambered up behind him.

And they were gone. 

-Edwin-

The woman hesitated for just a moment before saying, "I basically stopped by to see a friend."

Something about her answer seemed off to Edwin. She didn't seem to be lying - Edwin had trained himself to pick up on common tells of lying - but that didn't mean she wasn't withholding some of the truth. Edwin's fingers twitched at his waist, where his sword Annwn was sheathed, but he didn't grab the hilt. 

"Oh, are you familiar with the area, then? Could you point me in the direction of the nearest village? I need somewhere to stop for the night."

Maybe going into a populated area wasn't the smartest decision, but Edwin needed to change out of Catastrophe's uniform. It was already drawing him way too much attention. And besides, he hadn't had a decent meal or a good night's sleep in days. Or a shower, for that matter.

You're too soft, Eddie, he could practically hear his sister saying in that condescending tone she always took with him. 

But she wasn't around now.

Perhaps the Resistance attacking the outpost had been fate - a chance for him to make something of himself, instead of always living in Edyta's shadow. And Edwin had always been one to take advantage of the chances he was given.

~Celestia~

"Oh, are you familiar with the area, then? Could you point me in the direction of the nearest village? I need somewhere to stop for the night," the soldier replied.

The nearest village to stop for the night?, she thought to herself. What if he's doing something else there, like gathering up reinforcements to attack me? But what else could she do?

"There's one up north," Celestia replied. "It's quite crowded and busy, so there's bound to be someplace you can stay." It was a good place to say, as even if the soldier would do something there, there would be too many people for him to do anything...bad, perhaps. 

Celestia wasn't sure if she'd regret asking this, but she did anyways. "Well, is there anything else you need to do in the village?" 

Genivieve's POV

~~~~ 

I was going to go crazy. Aurelia is gone. Shiri is trying to speak to one of the older dragons and another younger dragon is pacing around. NO ONE IS GOING AFTER AURELIA! I run off into the woods and bump into two people. One is a girl and has amazing silvery-dark-purply hair and the other is a man and clearly part of Catastrophy's army. I growl and feel the hair on my neck stick up. The man backs away a little bit, but the girl steps forward and reaches out to touch me. I sniff her and calm down. She pats my head and runs her hand down my body. I shiver. She has a cold feel, but is very calm. The man says something about leaving and the girl nods but beckons for me to follow her. I bark softly. She smiles. They are headed to the village and as they are walking, the man tries to converse with the girl. He looks to be about 20-ish and sort-of athletic. Every time I begin to watch him he looks back at me and shudders. Hmm. I wonder why. Then he whispers something that my acute ears can't pick-up. The girl looks at him then at me, and shakes her head. He looks down at me again. I try to smile. His face contorted and he looked confused. Oh, well. I'll follow them for a while and see what's new. I sniff the girl once more and something new comes up.

I'm so sorry for the late (and kind of short) response! I haven't been on the CB much lately because of a family reunion. :/ I'll hopefully be more active now, though :) 

-Edwin-

"There's one up north," the woman said, a slight wariness creeping into her voice. "It's quite crowded and busy, so there's bound to be someplace you can stay."

"Why, thank you, ma'am!" Edwin replied, offering a charming smile and hoping he wasn’t overdoing it. “I really appreciate it.” 

The woman didn’t seem to buy it. She added, "Well, is there anything else you need to do in the village?" 

Edwin shrugged. “All I need is a place to stay the night and a warm meal.” After a moment, he asked, “Are you headed there as well?”

I hope you had fun at the family reunion, @pangolin!

~Celestia~

The soldier simply shrugged. “All I need is a place to stay the night and a warm meal.” He paused for a moment, then asked, “Are you headed there as well?” 

Celestia thought about this for a moment. She wasn't originally planning to head over there, but maybe it would be a good idea to...keep an eye on this soldier. Although her wolf senses told her to let it go and flee as soon as possible, her human side told her to stay and find out what the soldier was doing there.

"Maybe I am," Celestia answered vaguely. "Just to, you know, check out what's going on there, perhaps," she added. 

She then realized that she had never caught the soldier's name. But obviously, knowing it wouldn't be to help get acquainted with him, but to perhaps...learn and gain more information, just in case it was necessary."I believe I didn't quite catch your name," Celestia said. "Would you mind if I ask you?" 

Thanks! It was fun - I got to see two of my younger cousins for the first time, so that was really nice. :)

-Edwin-

The woman replied, "Maybe I am. Just to, you know, check out what's going on there, perhaps." 

Edwin fought the urge to draw Annwn. He could tell the woman was on to him - whether she suspected that he was still allied with Catastrophe or just thought he was acting strange, he couldn't tell, but he decided to go along with what she was saying. Just in case.

"I believe I didn't quite catch your name," Celestia continued. "Would you mind if I ask you?"

Edwin wasn't about to give his full name - the Chaparrals were a well-known name, thanks to Edyta, and to share that bit of information would basically be revealing his loyalty to Catastrophe - so he just said, "Oh, not at all! I'm Edwin. And may I inquire your name?"