Fantasy The Winged Kingdoms (Open for 1 More Member)

[Battychaichilla]

It was then that Eden River was given an urgent message regarding a dying relative. With a grateful adieu from all the royal members, she returned to the ship and was taken back to the Macaw District on a safe journey.

 

[ZackStop]

Warren was almost surprised, despite being right beside Wisteria, She hadn't noticed that he had taken any of her pastries. The suns rays couldn't possibly be enough to hide him from someone right in front of him. Weather She didn't notice him, or did without acknowledging him, Warren ended up with half a dozen pastries none of which were of the same flavor. "luck of the draw I guess." Warren through to himself, of course not complaining about it, just a happy coincidence, and perhaps it was the sign of a good day to come. It was then that Wisteria had gotten up and began to disembark the ship, being one of the last ones to do so, still seeming to be oblivious to what had happened. Warren had taken his time biting into a tart, as apposed to his first attempt that was a struggle to get down due to the sheer quantity of his chocolate filled bite. Once he realized however, that he had no good place to put them all, and couldn't possibly eat them in a timely manner, Warren chose to stuff them in his sack of few things, that had been slung over his shoulder during his excursion onto the deck. Warren stood and wiped his mouth clean of two and a half deserts worth of crumbs. Bother were perfectly sweet, less so was the scene he had begun to witness, but sweet nonetheless.

Two sailors squabbling over a misunderstanding, that was deliberately out of the captains sight. A familiar sailor who was a broadened, dispirited fellow, had a much smaller, confused sailor's shirt collar wrapped in him toughened mitts. Warren wasn't planning to stick around, but gathered that the much larger man had a book gone missing, and for one reason or another, decided it was the other man's doing. Warren looked forward and took a nice deep breath with a smile. he then strolled across to the other side of the boat, hardly a jog, but with an eager pace between his steps. He was the last to leave after all. Hopping up onto the rail of the ship, once reaching the other side, Warren leapt off onto solid ground like one plagued with madness. It was not an entirely graceful landing, but he did not stumble or fall over. Luckily he did no land on anyone and chose where he would go before taking the leap. Warren stood and looked at the excited crowd, the Royalty that came to see them into the Kingdom, and behind him were the other five. He scratched at his chin as though he were pondering something of a great deal, and paced forward with no destination, taking his time between each step. It was then that he heard his name being spoken clearly from the ground, one Gram Leonce. Warren turned to the unfamiliar face, he hadn't bothered learning anyone's name ahead of time, but the white haired young man clearly had. As Gram went on, Warrens face, that was previously a grin, had begun to relax into a more blank expression, one of perplex, but by no means a nasty look despite this turning out to be a lecture. However as soon as Gram began expressing his opinions on what had happened, the spiky haired fellow couldn't help wishing he had been born deaf. This of course was not the first time he had heard this, but he didn't express his exhaustion through words, but perhaps through his body language. Warren had no desire to cut Gram off. His head tilted back and his weight shifted off to one side, while his arms simply hung from him, as Gram began to finish up his speech.

Warren had been fairly evenly placed between his piers and the carriages near Royalty, so when Gram took his leave, he would have passed by Warren. Warren picked his head back up, and spoke up as soon as Gram was passing by, saying with an even tone, "Straight and narrow." He then walked towards the other four students with a small smirk, passing by Wisteria, then Kitty, Eden, giving the first two a small comment as he did for Gram, excluding Eden who was just given very unfortunate news, and would soon depart. "Airhead." "Mood swings." He gave Eden a mere glance, before stopping to look at Orpheus, standing some paces away. Warrens would stay silent for a moment or two, when his lips twitched, going from a well placed smirk to a somewhat evil grin, with the only thing leaving it being a sound that could be a small chuckle, mistaken for clearing his throat, or vise versa. Regardless, before he could make a proper comment, Warren was interrupted by a great bear hug given by the bubbly Barbara, letting out an 'oof' as her body came into forceful contact with him. "Well, hello there." he said, hardly timid about the sudden display, and slightly wheezed by the constriction of her tight embrace. Sometime after, when everyone had begun to choose their transportation, Warren felt he had to pick between a horse back ride, which he has never attempted, in hopes to maybe show off, or hop into an uncrowded carriage, to take a nap. He knew this would be a long and boring trip, so the latter was his final decision. He climbed into the carriage, accompanying Prince Takahashi, only to have plenty of room to lay down. Warren set his things on the ground, and let himself fall across the seat, placing his head underneath his hands.

 

[Battychaichilla]

Blackrose7 wildkittyatheart Sisyphus Happy ZackStop EldridSmith

Gabriella nodded in approval as Orpheus accepted a horse alongside her, but held no sort of judgement for Gram's decision. Her expression was mainly devoid of emotion while the students carefully stepped foot inside the carriages and settled beside their royal counterparts. The Swan Princess examined Orpheus from the side, and then glanced over at the ships now smoothly sailing back to its course. "Did you have an eventful journey, Orpheus? I hope you didn't get too seasick. I get seasick. It's not pleasant."

"Why don't you come into my carriage, my dear?" Jiro asked smoothly, offering Kitty a gloved hand as an invitation. "I promise, it's quite comfortable. We only provide the best for our Peacock citizens." He wrinkled his nose and narrowed his eyes as he made way for the Puffin candidate-- Warren-- but said nothing despite obviously wanting to. He simply grumbled something about at least having a lady in his carriage to enjoy her company.

Spear for one tried not to appear too offended when Warren had chosen the Peacock Prince's accommodations rather than ride with him-- though after peering up at the grander, and clearly more luxurious vehicle, he sighed and rested his elbow against the window to sulk.

"Wisteria," Daiki beckoned, giving the Butterfly candidate a gentle and friendly wave. "Why don't you ride with the Puffin Prince and I? The Butterfly Carriage perhaps isn't as comfortable as the Peacock's, but at least we'll offer better company."

"Rude!" Jiro called out from his carriage. "I heard that."

As Gram stepped foot into the carriage, Mercutio yawned without bothering to cover his mouth, earning a small kick on the knee from the Parrot Prince.

"Of course," Nik, the Parrot Prince, said kindly. He closed the door beside the Swan Candidate and made sure it was tight and locked. "I am assuming you're referring to the act of greeting? ...I told my sister that the lands here are more... formal, and less... touchy. Which tends to be the opposite of where we originated from."

"We give hug and kisses!" Barbara chirped. "We treat each other, as you say, family. Very warm. Not cold like here. We also give gift. I have gift for all of you! But first we must go to the big house." She held her arms out, waving them slightly. "The big house!"

"She means the palace," Nik explained apologetically to Gram. "We deeply appreciate all of you and we hope to learn from you as you do us."

Mercutio pressed his shoulder against the side, folding his arms in annoyance. "⬥︎︎⍓︎ ︎⬧︎ ⧫︎︎︎ ︎□︎⍓︎ ︎︎❒︎︎ ⬥︎︎⧫︎︎ ◆︎⬧︎? ⬥︎︎⍓︎ ︎︎︎ ︎︎ ■︎□︎⧫︎ ︎□︎ ⬥︎︎⧫︎︎ ⧫︎︎︎ □︎⧫︎︎︎❒︎⬧︎?"

Nik sent him a glare reminiscent of a parent about to scold a child. "︎□︎ ■︎□︎⧫︎ ︎︎ □︎︎︎︎■︎⬧︎︎❖︎︎ ❍︎︎❒︎︎◆︎⧫︎︎□︎."

Gabriella gently squeezed her horse's ribcage with the calves of her legs, politely requesting her beast to continue forward as the carriages began to move. It was going to be a long ride, but she seemed to stifle any discomfort that she may have had.

 

[Sisyphus Happy]

Orpheus' yellow orbs slid evenly over the scene, following Warren with something akin to interest. That little threat of laughter had him more than intrigued. Something so carefree had never entered his sight before, nothing with the same measure of effort, somehow, as carelessness. Even the others, the girl with the dainty basket from which Warren won his prize, had something like effort poised behind their actions, tacit, like a wagon wheel's spokes point to the place the axle is attached, but she cared deeply as well. Warren's spokes were certainly not pointing to the same thing, perhaps. Under his lower eyelids, the skin on his face tightened, but he was certainly staring at Warren and, well, there isn't a single expression in his repertoire which does not look intense or angry, and so most everything from the curve of his eyebrows and the stiff set of his lips indicated intensity and dissatisfaction. No, that's wrong, he has seen that sort of laid-back activity somewhere. However, tugging on that faint rope of memory, he pulled only a frayed end. He could not identify the sensation of familiarity. Strange, he mused, keeping his gaze locked on Warren while the man passed their fellow pupils. Even once he reached within a few feet of Orpheus, the angry little warrior maintained his gaze unflinching. A grin which promised malice in some way spread itself on the face of Warren and he coolly turned his head to the side. With a small, scarred hand he reached up and brushed some hair out of his face, effectively placing the hand in the way of his face so that those to his left wouldn't see him deliver a nonchalant wink to Warren's predatory expression. The rest of his face was cast in stone, the evidence of his intensity unchanged elsewhere on the face. When his hand passed, he walked out of the way of Warren, who was suddenly attacked from behind. Orpheus had no intention of being caught up in a battle with such a powerful bear-hugger, even with an (possible) ally.

Instead he turned to the refreshing image of his liege. Most people had the luxury of simply stepping up into the stirrups of the beasts. Orpheus had to reach up and grab on to some of the fixings of the saddle to give himself the height necessary to find the stirrups. Once he did, he pulled himself easily onto the horse in one swift motion executed with his left arm. Once he was up there, however, the stirrups were too far down for his feet to rest in them and a powerful glare crossed his face as he stared down at the damned devices. His posture straightened instantly when Gabriella addressed him and the glare departed on the ships turning around. For perhaps the first time, he had a neutral expression on his face. Though, those who knew him well would understand it as delight in his domain. She asked him whether he had an eventful trip and his eyes flicked to his right. The carriages were behind his head so he couldn't see them but it was clear he thought of them immediately for some reason.

"I was quite comfortable on the sea, ma'am," he replied stiffly, some nerves rising in his throat. Conspicuously, his pupils dilated inward, a reaction made clear by the lightness of the irises they pierced, "and the trip was quite uneventful... for the most part," he informed, his eyebrows falling into their natural, angry-looking position while his eyes trailed down toward the ground where they lingered for a moment before his eyebrows smoothed once more and his gaze returned to hers. This is an unusual development since, as Gabriella would know, Orpehus never looked a higher ranking soldier in the eye, even outside of duty. It is one of the facts cited by anyone who would have informed her of his appeal as a soldier. Unlike the charismatic Gram, he seemed to be built entirely of rules. His head snapped around to look at he form of the escaped Warren enter the carriage with an unhappy royal before turning back to her and blinking, awaiting her response.

 

[EldridSmith]

Gram held back a chuckle as he saw the face the peacock prince made when Warren took up an entire seat. Still he didn't feel sorry for it as Kitty joined him, he would have someone to talk to at least. Still if he tried anything on Kitty while engaged to his princess, he was sure the princess would cut off something... even if she didn't he, as a proud citizen of the Swan Kingdom, would. His attention soon moved to the next carriage as he looked out the windows. He felt bad for Spear some, as warren seemed to be a no good rotten man with no loyalties, ties, nor ability to follow the rules. How could a royal like Spear choose such an uncouth bastard? Gram was at a lack of words for such a thing. Still it was none of his business what the royals did... unless it damaged his kingdom's reputation of course.

He glanced back at the lavish peacock carriage with confusion, what was the point of all that useless decor? It served no purpose! He could understand the wild peacock's feathers were to confuse predators, but in civilization that was useless. He could understand the cushions for comfort, especially for women who were not battle hardened, but not the decor. Despite his best efforts however, a grin was released as the butterfly prince took a jab at Jiro. After the marriage between the two he would have to try and defend that man's honor... though likely not hard despite the efforts of the knights, they were rarely fond of outsiders who were not of military make, and the prince seemed the exact opposite. The poor man would have many a joke made about him since they would view Gabriella as the one with the pants on. Still that was a concern for another day, for now he would revel in such jokes.

Gram was appreciative of the fact the others were so willing to teach him of their culture, he would try his hardest to learn about them as to not make offense without intent. Nik inquired as to whether the princess prior greeting was the reason for this, gram's face turned a light red hue as he nodded. All the women he had been with were mentally different, they dressed like men most of the time, and while some had large chests, he really never noticed as he grew up with them thinking as if they were the same as him, a military person. To those he mentally designated as such he would never feel embarrassment around from physical touch, as all soldiers wrestled together, fought together, played together. It was normal, aside the other boys had all paired up with them putting up a secondary mental barrier. However he had no such things to hide his mental state in anymore, the princess, though younger than himself, was in fact a proper women.

The prince further explained the reason, it was strange to Gram, their culture was the complete opposite in terms of greetings. "I see, I apologize for recoiling earlier, such things are very new to me... and if I'm honest I don't think such a greeting would be easy to get used to unless it was from a lover, as that is who such things are traditionally reserved for here." He honestly explains. "Though I think a hug would be alright since that's something many people do with family, I could adjust to that in time." He says, his mind already thinking of a compromise so both cultures were appeased. Soon Barbara spoke up saying hugs were acceptable in their culture, indeed a good compromise was reached. She then mentioned a gift, which he was quite stunned by, a gift on the first meeting was unheard of unless it was a negotiation of sort. "I shall thank you for the gift ahead of time then, it is a surprising and welcome gesture." He comments, nodding at the explanation of Barbara's words meaning the palace. "No worries." He comments upon seeing his apologetic face. "Likewise, I am greatly looking forward to my time here." He stated before being confused by the foreign tongue the others conversed in. He felt out of place now, seeing as he had no way to track intel he didn't understand. Still he waited patiently for their conversation to end.
Battychaichilla