Garden Of The Abyss

After a few minutes of the sickening speed, figures appeared on the magical monitor that displayed what sat directly below the vehicle. 

"I see...a carriage and a few on horseback going down the trail. Oh! That's her, no doubt!"

Without any hesitancy, Sai reared the handles guiding the metallic device down, bringing the entire thing down to the ground in a hurry. 

"I'll handle this--it's my mission after all...and he's not exactly capable right now."

Calling dibs on greeting the princess and her group, passing by the vermilion-haired companion of his who was sprawled out on the ground, Sirius brought himself to the exit of the vehicle as it landed. 

"What in the world is that…?"

Peeking her head from the window of the lavish carriage, Getrude witnessed the sleek, steel vehicle land in front of her desired path. 

The side door opened itself, soon revealing Sirius who was breathing heavily from the entire ordeal that transpired within minutes. 

"G-getrude…! It's me, Sirius, we're here to escort you!"

"Escort? I wasn't told of anything like that…"

Muttering to herself, the knight stepped outside of the carriage, ignoring Damien who attempted to halt her from stepping towards the unknown vehicle. 

He was less than an inconspicuous looking figure at this point; covered in bandages of his own, though not nearly as gauge-laden as his red-haired friend. 

"What's the meaning of this? Why didn't I hear anything about it?"

Before Sirius could answer the question of the stern, hard-boiled woman, his eyes lingered to the tall, muscular man sitting atop a horse he looked far too big to ride. The golden, long-hanging locks and bored-looking eyes were too much to ignore. 

"Noah!"

"Oh...Sirius? Long time."

The man didn't seem all too excited, simply scratching his head as he stayed atop the horse's back before yawning. 

Well, he hasn't changed in the slightest, Sirius thought. 

"Answer the question."

With her hands on her hips, Getrude further pressed the man for answers as her indomitable, royal irises didn't leave much in the room for excuses. It was different from what he expected from someone who was supposed to be a princess. 

"Beatrice sent us. I thought she sent you a letter?"

"...She did not."

Hearing the answer given, Getrude placed her gauntlet-covered fingers against her chin before letting out a sigh. 

"Anywho, we're not in need of any assistance. We've taken preparations to make sure nobody knew where we were going--"

"That's not the problem. Lemasdale was attacked."

"Attacked?"

Curious as to what he meant, Getrude looked at Sirius carefully as Damien finally caught up to her, standing beside her and adjusting his hair in an attempt to look proper. 

"Yeah, we think--no, we know it was Belmon."

"Belmon?! You mean--"

"Mm. The "Forgotten Kingdom". That Belmon. They used husks to attack Lemasdale...I'm afraid they succeeded in that regard. We've handled the brunt of it all, but there's still more out there."

Finishing Damien's thought for him, Sirius nodded his head with words spoken close to his chest. It was obvious that such words sounded like a far-reach at best to any sane person, but he pushed the truth as best he could. 

"We already lost someone today. Please, just accept our help."

Bowing his head down to Getrude, he was stopped as she placed a hand on his shoulder, bringing his gaze up as she gave him a slight, reassuring smile. The sincerity from the man's voice was crystal clear, that much was enough for the knight captain. 

"I...I think I understand the situation. Well, not really, but I trust the judgment of an Outlander."

It was a mystical sight in and of itself to him; the proclaimed ally of the Outlanders was a much different person than he had expected. While she was hard-boiled and cautious, she was also almost to discern the truth seamlessly--making her judgment impeccable. 

"What about our horses?"

Damien asked nervously, looking back at the equestrian creatures waiting patiently behind them. As if hearing their existence be mentioned, one of the stationary horses with beige locks neighed out, shaking its head as its nostrils flared up. 

"They'll fit onboard."

"How…?"

"Just trust me."

It went much smoother than he expected, leading the party that had been riding alongside the princess aboard the mystical ship. 

Knocking on the hunk of the vehicle, Sirius' signal gave Sai the go-ahead to take off once more. 

"You'll get used to that."

Sirius assured them as he witnessed them all hold their stomachs from the vehicle rising back into the air, lifting itself into the domain of the clouds. 

"Shit...They really got him…"

For the first time to the knights, Noah showed genuine emotion as he knelt beside the laid-over body of the lost Outlander, running his fingers through the boy's soft locks of hazel. 

"Yeah…"

"Did the bastard who did this pay? Did he?"

"Well, Sora told me he ripped his head off so...Not enough."

"That piece of shit should count his blessings that I wasn't there then."

It wasn't an idle threat made from just pure emotion, Sirius knew full-well that the tall, aloof man at his core was a beast of his own. 

Even if he is a bit absent-minded, he's an Outlander. Losing one of his own is an unforgivable crime, Sirius thought. 

Sirius couldn't bear to look at the lifeless body of his comrade, keeping his arms folded against his chest as he kept his gaze on the steel flooring below. Even in all of his aloofness, Noah took notice of that pained silence from the usual frivolous man, wrapping the body of their fallen comrade in his jacket and taking him into a different room. 

"Shouldn't be so many eyes on you when you're like this, kid…"

Noah whispered to the now cold body of his lost comrade, his obsidian irises glistening over with the prospect of tears, but never leaving. 

Approaching the quietly sulking man, Getrude placed her hand over her heart before speaking. 

"I'm sorry for your loss, truly. It's because of me that…"

"Don't. If anyone is at fault here, it's me. Just...Yeah." 

Her words of reassurement only pained him further as he shook his head, finding no outlet for the contempt burning up inside him. 

"By the way, who are these guys with you?"

Sirius lifted his gaze, trying to distract himself from the very concept of the grief that plagued him, looking at the two who stuck out like sore thumbs from the knights and Noah. 

From their garments, he could at least decipher that they were adventurers--and by the peculiar animal ears atop their heads, they were demi-humans. 

Hearing her existence finally be recognized, the short, vibrant-looking girl with pink and blue hair that stood out incredibly bounced in place, her fluffy, cat-like ears twitching as she smiled brightly through her sparkling irises. 

"Member of the Cat's Paw guild and loyal subordinate of the Tersndel family, Luna, the Nekomancer is here!"

Doing a peace sign over one eye, the girl presented herself with utmost radiance, much to the dismay of every other single person standing in the room who looked at her as if she were a complete maniac. A fist smacked her in the back of the head, belonging to the stoic-looking man with similar cat ears belonging to a head of bright, crimson locks that ended in a ponytail. 

"Read the damn room, idiot."

Muttering through his teeth, the man drove the words into Luna's head as she teared up, sniffling and nodding her head as she caressed the spot that had been bonked. 

"Forgive her--like Luna, I am of the Cat's Paw guild and an ally of the Ternsdel family; I am Malune Paleon, at your service."

Placing his hand covered with a dark-brown glove over his chest, the crimson-haired demi-human bowed politely. 

"...It's fine. I needed that, really."

Sirius smiled small, placing his hands on his sides before forcing a powerful exhale through his lips--then slapping his own cheeks. 

"Alright, get it together, you!"

Now all of their eyes locked onto Sirius as if he was the odd man out, who was now smiling with red cheeks bearing the imprints of his hands. 

"Sirius Federov, at your service!"

"Where's the kid?"

Feeling his stomach return to its rightful place, Sora asked quietly as he seated himself down on one of the seats implanted into the room of the cockpit. 

"I put him in one of the guest rooms. He went straight to sleep, kid passed out like a behemoth."

Nikko answered with a smile, fixing his hair that had been frizzled up from the blazing speed previously. 

"So, I'm guessing we're not heading to the Hollow Order anymore, right? I mean, the princess being on board and everything." 

"You're the captain, right? It's your call at the end of the day."

Leaning back in his seat, Sora kept his eyes shut as he relaxed his bandage-covered body, letting out a sigh along with his less than pleasing words to Nikko's ears. 

"...It's a different story when we're talking about the princess of god-damn-Mastorn here, you know? Straight to Grandeuve we go, Sai. I've always wanted to see those sky-high trees myself, anyway."

"Aye, aye, Cap'n!"

Running off of an overflowing mana now, Sai was happy to find an excuse to further expend the plentiful resource from his body. 

However, something suddenly made itself known in front of the mana-display before Sai's eyes, "Urr...Hey, Cap'n, you might want to see this."

"A bird?...It's got a letter in its mouth."

As Nikko squinted his eyes to inspect the enigmatic creature hovering in place purposefully in front of the vehicle, Sora pressed himself up against the monitor formed of magical energy with wide eyes. 

"That's Hopwoffle!"

"...Hopwoffle?"

Sai and Nikko repeated in unison, puzzled by the peculiar name that left Sora's lips, let alone the fact that he recognized the pale feathered creature. 

"That's Beatrice's familiar!...Why the hell is it here now of all times? Bring it in!"

Sora jabbed his finger against the pilot's arm a few times, causing the sharp-toothed man to wince before swatting the Outlander's hand away. 

"Alright, alright!"

Controlling the magical mechanics of the mystical device by some movement of his hands within the tubular controls, Sai opened up an entrance on the ceiling of the control room, watching as Hopwoffle disappeared from the view of the front display before entering through the ceiling entrance. Landing on Sora's shoulder, the tall avian dug its talons into the man's skin a bit too rough. 

"Gah! Dammit, just give me that damn thing!"

Snatching the letter tucked between the bird's beak, he unraveled the parchment before placing his eyes over the neatly-written text. 

"What's it say?"

"...Shit. Looks like we're going to the Hollow Order after all."