Reunion in Marrowbrook (Phoenix City Chronicles)

'We are at the cemetery on the hill, Cerys,' Brother Light's voice sounded moments later in the nekomimi's head, 'It seems we have a bit of a mystery on our hands. Please hurry.'

Looking around, trying to make out some of the signs on the roadways, he spots a directional sign that gives cerys the general direction of the cemetary, and oddly enough the road was on lead him directly to the cemetary.

At this he began to shadow jump towards the cemetary, to see what all he needed him to hurry up about.


After a minute or so of hopping through the shadows, noticing how far he was out of the town, he arrived at the gates to the cemetary,

'Well now only to find them in here... great, having to deal with a cemetary at night, not exactly my cup-o-tea i would say...'

Giving a slight shiver from the cold,

'Well standing here aint gonna find them, might as well start the look for them.'

Marrowbrook Cemetery was remarkably broken down for being in such close proximity to an active town; an ominous sign of the times.

Brother Light and Nevara weren't far inside, but before they had time to respond to Cerys approaching, he saw what they were talking about for himself. Laying on the ground before them, Kage's katana was missing its owner.

Looking onward as he was hopping through the cemetary, from stone coloumn to stone coloumn, seeing them in the fog he heads over to them, noticing they were looking down on the ground as he neared.

'What are they looking at there, could it be the girl the bar people said came here earlier... or something else.'

As he came upon them, he noticed that what they were looking at wasnt a body, but an object, to be precise, it was Kages sword they were looking at.

'Well i guess this isnt a good sign... without this hes pretty much defenseless... and if its here where is he at.'

Looking up to them as he hopped near them,
"Brother Light, do you have any idea on where he might be... this is a new area for me so i dont know what he could be up to."

"We believe he may have been spirited away," Brother Light explained, "And if this is the case, our comparatively dull senses of smell will make following his trail impossible at this point. Do you think your nose might have better luck?"

Looking at him as he mentioned spirited away, made him think of the time when his Molly was possessed in a graveyard before.

"Well i can try to see if i can get a trace of him, but only having met him for a short time, i dont have too much to go on, and with that sword, theres nothing that would capture his scent... its just a metal sword and metal sheath...'

Giving his best, Cerys tried to remember Kages smell and started to walk around the area trying to get a trace to a direction he went off to.

Cerys, with his heightened sense of smell and excellent tracking skills, managed to pick up on what little scent there was in the leather grip, but the trail led only one way - out of the cemetery - and, upon closer inspection, the footprints he found lead toward, not away from, the sword. It seemed that Brother Light had been correct; Kage's trail went cold at the moment he dropped his prized blade.



"Did you find anything?," Brother Light inquired at length, not at all familiar with how tracking worked.

Looking back at him with a grim expectation, knowing what he was about to tell him would be in itself a bad news,

"Well seems that his trail of scent leads to the blade and nothing else... the footprints lead up here to the sword, the scent leads up to the sword, but after that... nothing. Im afraid his trail leads up here with nothing else but the sword to mention he was here, and now hes not."


Trying his hardest, he tries one last time, with the same result from before, the scent of Kage dissappears with the leaving of the sword in the midsts of the cemetary.


"Well i guess that if in any case we should bring his sword with us incase we find him again, we can give him his weapon back, since he will more than likely be useless without it."

"Agreed," Nevara spoke at last, "If Kage Manako has been lost without so much as a trail to where he might have gone, it is impossible for us to rescue him until more information has been gleaned. He is a trained warrior and knew the risks when he agreed to come on this venture. The town of Marrowbrook, on the other hand, will be defenseless without us."

"Although it against my code to leave a fallen comrade behind, it seems we have no choice," Brother Light shook his head sadly, "Shall we then?"

Retrieving the samurai's weapon from the ground, the disheartened priest left the cemetery, the others following him back to town.

The next morning, Tal woke up to find the Cellus was still resting beside him, and had barely moved at all except to snuggle closer to him.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the grasslander monk slowly inched away so as not to wake her and stood, tying his robe more securely as he walked to the window and greeted the rising sun.

Cellus woke with a start, looking around wildly, experiencing the disconcerting sensation of waking up in a foriegn bed. She blinked into the light from the rising sun for a moment, before clutching her head in pain, "What happened?" she groaned, "I remember the drinking contest... and then... its all fuzzy..."

"Having difficulty walking, you were, so carried you to a place of rest I did," Tal replied quite honestly, while leaving out the details of her amorous behavior while under the influence.

Still holding her head with one hand, Cellus stood slowly, still managing to smile brightly at Tal, "Well, thank you, that was very nice of you," she let out a little giggle, "I hope I didn't act silly," she said moving to stand next to her fellow grasslander.

"Appears, it does, that our friends are assembling outside," Tal motioned to the window, glad for an opportunity to change the subject before things became awkward again.

Sure enough, Tal was telling the truth; just outside the pub, Knuckles, Nevara, Cerys, and Brother Light were standing to the left of the entrance and talking about something amongst themselves.

"Wonder, I do, why Burk is absent from this gathering," Tal rubbed his chin in thought.



As if on cue, Burk threw the door open and walked in with that big, goofy grin of his, "Morning guys! Hope you slept well!"

Cellus turned her bright smile on Burk, "Good morning!" she said, "Feeling the effects of last nights 'fun' as well?" she asked, lightly stepping up to Burk and giving him a quick hug.

"Nah," Burk grinned wider and hugged her back, "I was, but Brother Light fixed me up earlier. Gotta admit, that Knuckles McDaniel drinks like a demon!"



"Hai, that he does," Tal smiled, then gestured to the window again, "Tell us, would you please, what we've missed?"

"Oh, that," Burk nodded, a little more serious as he spoke, "I guess Kage's gone missing; all they found was his sword, and that was in the graveyard. Eveyone's pretty much in agreement that we can't wait to pay Grassroot a visit any longer, although Nevara wasn't too keen about traveling during the day. As soon as you guys are packed, we're off to see the wizard."

Cellus gave Burk a mock salute, "Righto! We'll show this guy not to mess with us!" she said, a look of determination on her face, "I just need to get my bag..." she paused, rubbing her temple, "Umm... where is my bag?"

"Took the liberty, I did, of bringing it up alongside you," Tal smiled and handed her the leafy green napsack she carried around.

"Oh, thanks hun!" Cellus said with a smile, taking her napsack from Tal, and skipping out the door, "Let's get this show on the road," she called over her shoulder.

"Graduated to pet names already, I see," Burk grinned behind Tal after Cellus was headed down the stairs.



Tal closed his eyes and huffed indignantly in response, "Know what you are getting at, I certainly do not. Perhaps, more ale in your system, you have?"

"Doesn't take ale goggles to make you two a good match," Burk placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Someday, I hope to be the best man. See you downstairs pal."

As Burk ran downstairs after Cellus, Tal puzzled over this for a moment before following them.

Outside, the town was notably brighter in the day, but that eerie presence remained, and the morning air was as chilly as the evening breeze.



"You guys ready to roll?," Knuckles nodded their way as they came out the door.

Cellus nodded emphatically, wincing slightly at the ache it caused in her head. "I'm ready if everyone else is," she said, eyeing Mason, his arm in paticular, "Is your arm better?" she asked.

"Dun worry about it," Knuckles grinned and showed her the hand, which he'd firmly wrapped with fighter tape, "I break stuff harder than that with my bare hands."

"To be stupid, one must be tough...," Nevara smirked.

"Wait a minute!," Knuckles crossed his arms, "I resent that remark!"



"You resemble that remark," Burk playfully punched Knuckles in the shoulder, instigating a punch game between them.



"If... everyone is ready?," Brother Light stepped between the two, "There will be plenty of things to destroy at the castle."



"Hai," Tal nodded, "Save our strength, we must."