Meeting of Fate [Open/Ask to join]

Edge had seen too much in his life to be unaccustomed to death and the images that accompanied it. Still he couldn't bring himself to look at the mangled body before him, nor to take a deep breath and inhale the smell that threatened to nauseate him. She had been here, down an alley that was usually reserved for the butcher's scraps, for quite a while, at least a day, with no one aware that her disappearance was a permanent one. The wounds - if you could call her injuries wounds - indicated that her murderer had been something far more vicious than a human being. Edge couldn't exactly tell one feral monster's work from another, but his best guess would have been a dog, or something else with a long snout. Along with the two ninja that had come across the young woman's body, Edge stood over her, arms folded, feeling as if he should do something but not knowing exactly what. So he continued to stand, a cloud of silence pulled over the three of them. What was there to say? "One of the merchant's daughters?" He asked, though he knew already that she was. A rhetorical question at least helped to set things in motion again. "It would seem so, your highness."

If all of these creatures had been visiting the city just for a chance to see the reconstruction taking place, Edge would have had no problem with them. Instead, every drooling, bloodthirsty beast within two hundred miles had decided the best time to visit the nearby kingdom of Eblan was when the outer reaches of the castle and the village it watched over had enough holes for a dragon to snake its way inside. The attacks from these creatures on innocents were spread out just enough that trying to put an end to them for good appeared to almost be an impossible task to completely bring them to an end, yet they were frequent enough to have the majority of the civilians panicking, especially in the merchant's district where the majority of these attacks were happening. Edge turned his eyes away after glancing the body again, letting them rest on one of the troops beside him. "Make sure the family's informed and have some of the attendants at the castle clean the body. If they can't afford a funeral, tell them the royal house will fund one and provide whatever arrangements they wish to make for her burial, as well."

Receiving a nod from the ninja, who made his way out of sight, Edge turned and began walking from the alley, the other man falling in over his shoulder, matching Edge's pace. "The two of us are going to go monster hunting." Edge had quickly learned that four-fifths of his job involved keeping mass panic from erupting whenever something went wrong. Considering the people of Eblan were all....well, mostly....intelligent, strong people, that job hadn't been a difficult one until this monster infestation had broken out. Now even Edge felt like tearing his hair out from his boiling emotion at these monsters. Not that he'd ever really tear his hair out, mind you. No one wanted a bald king, anyway. "If we're after them all, my lord, we'll need a few more men." Edge turned and looked over his shoulder at the ninja. "No, we're after the one that killed that girl. To entertain ourselves, we can kill any other monsters insane enough to try to attack us in a butcher's back alley." "But one's like finding a needle in a haystack!"

Edge turned towards the ninja, a slyness to his eyes. "Well, who would know more about a needle in a haystack than a ninja?"

---------------

The two hours of hunting that followed soon after were fruitless. Both Edge and his companion, plus one additional feminine member to their little party who had been on the losing side of a fight with a crawler who had been interested in leaving her post to help (and heaven knew Edge needed a woman around him today), had only run across a few smaller creatures that mostly spent their time ravaging vegetable patches instead of human beings. The two, and then three, had worked their way around the edge of the merchant's district and back around nearly to where they'd started from, seeing nothing that would have had any interest in tearing apart a human just for the meat or the sport of it. Still, Edge would keep looking - slaying the monster that murdered their daughter was the least he could do for the family of the victim, especially since when he'd been cooped up in the castle the last few days without the luxury of actually going out to hunt some of these monsters down himself.

But he didn't have to drag the other two around with him, especially since nothing worthwhile had happened to keep them motivated. As he stepped towards the corner of the building while they scouted out the area, Edge addressed them. "The two of you should head back to the castle and grab something to eat. I'll keep searching for another hour or two." Despite knowing that both of them would have loved to go back to the castle, Edge waited for the protest, and it came. "Your highness, why don't you head back with us? We can send out more men to pick up where we left off." "And what if you stay and find the creature? We don't want to see any monster get the better of you." Edge shook his head, frowning a bit at the vote of no confidence. He'd let it slide - she was a rookie. An attractive rookie. He turned his gaze their way. "No, I'll keep up the hunt and catch up with you a bit later." The two looked to each other for a moment, wavering on whether to stay or go, before they began to leave. He folded his arms over his chest as they began to leave, his voice causing them to pause for a moment. "Oh, and if I encounter the monster, no need to worry...." He passed the female a wink. "I'll make sure I dazzle it so well I'll come back without a scratch."

Edge had always found himself driven to action in these sorts of situations. Strange motivations? Maybe. Wrong motivations? No, he wouldn't say so. Seeing a bloodied teenager serving as a damned monster's meal likely would have have led anyone to do exactly what Edge was doing - if that anyone had a soul, at least.

Only a few moments had passed when a young girl, possibly ten years old, rushed past Edge as he dropped to the ground. Though she looked frightened a moment and let out a yelp when his feet hit the ground, she quickly recovered and looked....even more afraid of whatever she'd been running from. Edge could hear a ruckus up ahead, squinting concerned eyes in that direction. "What is it? What are you running from?" He asked her, trying to make his tone as comforting as possible. The girl jabbed a chubby hand in the direction of the noise. "There's a firey dog loose in the square! It wus knockin' things over an' runnin' people off!" Almost beaming inside with the good chance that her 'firey dog' could be his killer monster, Edge reached down and put a hand on her shoulder. "Run straight home and tell your parents! I'll see to the dog." Edge instructed her, heroically, and took speeding off in the direction of the sound of chaos before him.

The hound wasn't hard to find, considering that screaming women and angry, yelling men made a bread-crumb trail away from the scene of the creature's crime. Edge came up behind the hound, which seemed to be completely enamored by something on the other side of the square that Edge could not yet see. Bringing his hands together, Edge quietly spoke the word "Frost.", the spell forming itself a moment after. Though passionately yelling out a spell for casting seemed like the fun thing to do these days....Edge was used to being a bit more subtle. The icy spell lashed out at the hound, making a pretty impressive display of cooling off the beast's haunches and forcing it to let out a howl. Only seemingly annoyed by Edge's attack, the creature furiously looked between Edge and who or whatever was on the other side of the building that blocked the king's vision. As a silent retort to the creature, the King of Eblan squinted his eyes to focus and brought his large shuriken into both hands, crouching into a fighting stance.

Whomever the hound had been staring down could thank Edge later for being such a timely semi-distraction.

Words - 1569
Tagged - Rydia? Someone else who runs up at the right time?
Muse - ...Good, obviously.
Outfit - Kingly stuff to start, then into his ninja attire
Notes - ...I was doing so well until the end....[/size]

Edge's confidence in the rage-filled gaze of the monster may have seemed completely and totally unwavering, a hand twirling one of the twin shuriken and his mostly-concealed face no more worried than the rest of him. Knowing well how dangerous these flame hounds could be, however, wondering how he could take one down on his lonesome with his distinct lack of strong spells. Edge would prefer not to return to the castle as tonight's meal, cooked a little more well-done than most of the nobles preferred. They truly could be some damned pampered fairies when they wanted to be. Times like this, he could use a strong magic-user at his side. A strong, beautiful magic user...with green hair and.....other features worth mentioning....and who happened to have access to powerful ice-oriented creatures of myth.

Ahem. Focus, Edge. Focus.

He made his move. Sweeping his right arm forward, Edge released his shuriken with a practiced skill towards the beast. The monster gave a howl while the weapon sped towards it, attempting to lunge out of the way but finding itself clipped in the shoulder nonetheless. It turned its eyes down, angrily heaving its chest at the pain in its shoulder. As soon as the hound looked back up, Edge was upon it, a flurry of blades and quick-hitting spells that had him disappearing, reappearing, and every other kind of appearing possible. He succeeding in landing an impressive number of blows before the creature struck out in response, sending Edge propelling himself off of the hound's head and sailing feet-over-head back to land where he'd started. Fair enough start to the fight, Edge thought. Anytime he could get that close to one of these monsters without his cape catching on fire, he would count it a victory. Speed might have been a game-changer......but speed mattered very little when it came to streams of flame.

To his credit, Edge's eyes had not wandered from the hound during his entire assault, and they still refused to waiver as he caught his breath and drew his second katana (as, at this point, both shuriken were firmly wedged into the ground near the hound). Edge primed himself for another assault on the creature, preparing to cast Tremor, as it seemed like the best idea that would come to his mind to stay unpredictable. However, the spell that hit the hound certainly didn't look like Tremor. It looked like something Edge had no idea how to cast. Knitting his eyes a moment, Edge watched the spell wreak havoc on the hound and found himself idling, too surprised by the sudden attack to really take advantage of the opportunity to strike again.

His eyes searched the area, which he initially believed to be empty. But once his eyes caught a glimpse of the origin, Edge could have been confused for having completely forgotten about the hound. Oh, he knew it was still there, itching to have him as its afternoon meal. For now, however, Edge found himself caught in a trance, even as the voice of the being his eyes wouldn't pry loose of reached his ears.

Well....huh.

Edge barely even registered the little girl running up to Rydia for the moment, so gripped by the fact that the green-haired summoner was right there. Here in Eblan. Helping him fight. And he found himself trying to think of a good, flirty line as a comeback, but nothing really came to mind. Wow, he must have really been out of practice.

No, no, not out of practice. Just accustomed to the boring palace women....he didn't have to work that hard to please them with a line. Rydia was tougher.

And finally, Edge's sight returned. His eyes darted between the summoner, the girl, and the hound just before the creature made its move. He processed the information quickly, his legs already churning as Rydia stepped in the hound's path. Every sound was amplified, from Rydia's voice to the pitter-patter of the hound's feet. His own breathing sounded like a throbbing in his ears, and with every breath that passed Edge cursed himself for starting to move too late. But as hound closed on summoner, Edge realized one very important fact.

He was a ninja.

Launching himself towards the hound, he extended his arm and shoved his katana out before Rydia. The hound's momentum found it impaling its own snout on the sharp edge of the blade, and the king of Eblan held strong. Edge's momentum didn't serve him much better, considering he crashed right into the side of the hound's head and went skidding off into the ground, but for all accounts, his little interception had worked perfectly.....aside from the fact that he was now on his back, robbed of one of his katanas (which was still stuck in the hound's face), and mere feet away from one of the most vicious monsters he knew. A vicious monster that was already tearing his way in pure, feral fury.

Words - 881
Muse - Good!
Notes - NO DIALOGUE!?[/size]

Attempting to get to his feet and properly defend himself, Edge discovered there was yet another issue he should have added to his previous list - his wrist, belonging to the hand that had impaled the beast's face on his katana, seemed to refuse to work without sending a burning pain shooting up his arm. He tucked the wrist up close to his chest and winced. Okay, so he'd technically have to fight the hound off with one hand tied behind his back. He'd done as much before - part of his training as an heir of Eblan. Of course that training had been against human beings that didn't necessarily want to kill him - Edge doubted the hound had the same sympathies. In fact, after pawing at the blade in its face a bit and pacing angrily, the beast turned back to face him with the same snarl as before. Edge would have mumbled incoherently to himself at the turn of events, but he actually couldn't think of anything to say. Instead, he spared a glance over his shoulder at Rydia at the sound of her voice, ensuring that both she and the girl were still intact.

And the beast charged on cue just as Edge looked back towards it.

Snapping to action, Edge managed to force himself briskly up onto a knee and sheathed his lone katana, using his good hand to produce a dagger from inside his jacket. Taking a moment to line up his aim while the hound lumbered his way, Edge flung the dagger, backhanded, at the hound's eye. Edge knew he'd hit his mark when the creature yelped and turned its head to the side in pain. Unfortunately for Edge, the hound continued bounding towards him distractedly, and the king was forced to plant on both hands - the good and the bad - and shoved himself backwards so he wouldn't be stampeded. A muffled grunt escaped his clenched teeth, but there was no other indication that he was actually hurting. Edge didn't mind having an injury or two tended to now and then, especially if there were a number of shyly kind white mages around, but as there was not a single one around he'd prefer to keep up appearances for the time being.

Ice magic crashed against the slowed hound in a brilliant display of power, with Edge having to cover his own face to keep the shards from catching him in the eyes. He finally turned to watch the brilliant summon-y performance put on by his female comrade. Ahh, just like old times. Except....Edge was usually standing and fighting actively back then, instead of barely propping himself up in the street as the temporary audience to Rydia's spectacle. Not that Edge disliked the view he had of that spectacle. He only wished he'd bothered to pick up a few healing spells from Rosa when he had the chance....if he even had the aptitude for those spells....so he could re-involve himself in the action. Though Shiva and Rydia seemed to be handling things just fine themselves. Edge spent the next few seconds feeling useless, watching as the hound finally collapsed under the assault, until Rydia's footsteps approached him. He turned to look up into her face, turning his neutral expression into a wide grimace-grin as he pulled his mask down, taking her hand with his good left which made him end up sideways as he got up; his right hand remained protected against his chest.

He stared into her eyes for a few moments just to enjoy the fact that she was here, in the flesh, in his kingdom. Give the king some credit - he was managing to keep his gaze on her face instead of....slightly lower. The hound was clearly forgotten for the time being. "You never even thanked me for anything before." He commented, the grimace part of his expression disappearing. "If I was to argue that you were the one ignoring me, I wouldn't get far, would I?" Needless to say, arguing was the last thing on Edge's mind.

Words - 718
Muse - Epic!
Notes - He's trying! He really is![/size]

Edge watched quietly as the summoner spoke with her summon, Shiva, and the latter simply disappeared. He supposed he would never get used to the whole summoning thing, but in a good way. It kind of amazed him, and Edge wasn't all that easily amazed. After Shiva, one of the beautiful creatures he'd had the opportunity to fight with today, had taken her leave, Edge’s attention turned fully to the remaining beautiful creature who had helped him to his feet. ”As I recall, you had plenty to say whenever there was a need to deflate me.” The edges of his mouth curled up in amusement, remembering a few times especially that she’d managed to shut him up and get him to listen. Not even Cecil could manage to pull that off, and Edge had the utmost respect for the current foreign king. ”Or was that your own personal way of seducing me? I can never tell with you,” he added, with the slightest shrug. He hoped he would someday figure out the summoner standing for him, but he doubted today would be that day of enlightenment.

Seeing that Rydia had noticed his bum wrist, Edge dropped it to his side, deciding that as it dangled there that it would have been a great relief if it just fell off and dropped on the ground beside him. When it came to injuries like this, Edge developed something of a double standard. On the one hand, he liked to be the focus of attention, though not as much now that he was king and he nearly had more attention than he wanted. On the other hand (likely the painful one), Edge didn’t like anyone to bother tending to him when he was ill or hurt. Now, that rule was typically thrown out the window when one of the aforementioned attractive nurses happened to be tending to him. Rydia, as amazing of a nurse as she might have been, didn’t need to bother herself with teeny tiny injuries like Edge’s wrist on her first visit to Eblan. Edge could practically hear his mother shaking her head in amusement at his pride, saying how badly he needed someone around who could keep him from killing himself when she was gone.

So Edge kept the attention off his wrist for the time being by keeping up the banter from his side of the conversation. He knew he wouldn’t get anywhere trying to convince Rydia that she had ignored him, so he tried another tactic completely. ”I had a perfectly good reason for ignoring you,” he assured her, folding his arms over his chest matter-of-factly. If she didn’t either bust out laughing or slap him after his next comment, Edge would know he had her right where he wanted her. And no, he was not getting his hopes up. With a thoughtful look, he continued,”You were obviously trying to tempt me, and I couldn’t afford to be tempted just yet. I had a kingdom to rebuild, after all.” He straightened his shoulders, obviously proving that he’d taken the moral high ground during the wedding. ”But I’m happy to say I can make up for it now that you’re here in Eblan. The new and improved Eblan, at that.” Edge finally broke into a wide smile. Of course, standing here in the middle of the market district, as the citizens slowly began emerging from their homes and businesses, didn’t seem like the right situation to hold such a conversation. He hadn’t even invited her to the palace just yet.

Holding his tongue about that, Edge noticed her looking to his wrist again. ”It’s fine. Probably just….” He held out the thought as Rydia moved her hand over his and he felt that familiar sensation of parts mending that he couldn’t see with his own eyes, ”….sprained.” As the glow dissipated, Edge looked up from his wrist back into Rydia’s face, not having to vocalize his thanks. It was projected from his eyes. Flexing the wrist a couple of times and surveying the damage to the square as she changed the subject, Edge nodded. ”You’ve been missing out on the party until today. All these monsters really know how to liven up the city.” He might as well laugh as cry about it. ”What’s the occasion, anyway?” he asked, turning back to the green-haired foreigner. ”Decided you couldn’t go any longer without seeing me?”

Words - 740
Muse – Good!
Notes – Liked it until the end, then I got borked. D:[/size]

”I may just have to take that as a challenge. Ninja, remember? We pride ourselves on knowing all the secrets,” Edge responded to the summoner, with a confident grin. Most of the women in his life these days he could read like a book. First, there were the noblewomen, who had all been set upon him by the rich patriarchs of their families in order to attain a stake in the Geraldine line. They all had as much book learning as any woman could ever want, but in Edge’s experience, they were all dumber than dirt. Of course, women composed a solid portion of Eblan’s military, as they typically made outstanding practitioners of ninjutsu. Most of them, however, were more married to their work or attached to some of their fellow warriors. And finally, the women who were genuinely a joy to be around were apparently of too “low birth” for Edge to associate with them without an advisor or noble breathing down his neck or shoving another one of the annoying or boring women into his face. Obviously, that didn’t stop Edge, but it sure managed to keep him unsettled…and led to his mind wandering back to a certain summoner with many of the best qualities and few, if any, of the flaws possessed by the women mentioned. And the sad part that she would never be the type to throw herself at his feet, though he suspected she appreciated him more than she let on. That, and people telling him to forget about her, had been what had and would always make Rydia a challenge.

Casting a glance over his shoulder to the hound, which was being inspected at a safe distance by a number of children and a few adults, as well, Edge supposed there was no need to give any warnings. The beast was down for the count. Besides, a small number of ninja had arrived in the area (only Edge noticed them) thanks to the ruckus and would keep an eye on things. At ease about the situation and glad no one needed him at the moment, Edge’s gaze quickly returned to Rydia, who was, as expected by his last comment, laughing quietly. Ahh, no blushing. Too bad, he thought he might have gotten her a little bit there. He laughed a little himself as she presented her counter-argument. ”Your mouth says one thing…” Edge glanced down at her outfit, shrugging a bit. ”…but the outfit disagrees. And that is definitely not a complaint from me, just so you know.” Needless to say, he’d always been fond of the whole mage sort of outfit. They were always very…boobs. Rydia’s own spin on the same outfit wasn’t any different.

…Okay, he could look back up at her now. ”Ahhh, so you did miss me?”, Edge responded to her, contentedly. ”See…that wasn’t so hard to admit.” Though wanting to feed his ego continue on with the subject of her missing him, Edge tempered off the charm ever so slightly for a moment as she went onto explain she had something of importance to discuss with him. Nodding to her, Edge gave a quick glance at the vicinity, then took a step towards her, placing his hands on her arms. ”Surprisingly, this isn’t what it seems like. Honest,” he assured, stepping shoulder-to-shoulder with her. ”But you might want to close your eyes and hold on.” Whipping his cape forward as he mumbled a few words in an older language, Edge took his own advice and squeezed his eyes closed as a sharp light sprung up and engulfed them. A moment later and he felt as if he were being placed down onto the ground. As he dropped the cape and opened his eyes, Edge glanced to the area around him. Perfect! He’d ended up right where he wanted to – just on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by trees and lots of…well, nothing much else, really. Just nature.

He rubbed Rydia’s shoulder a bit to let her know that the trick was over, asking, ”How’s this do for a little privacy?”, and beaming at his success. Giving her all the time she needed to be amazed (but in no hurry to pry himself off of her), he wondered if any advisers would have a panic attack once his ninja told them that their king had disappeared with a strange woman. Oh well, they could spend their time worrying – Edge would only be gone for a while…he supposed. Unless he could turn this into a romantic trip through the woods…

With the assumption that he wouldn’t get anywhere with Rydia until he’d heard what was on her mind, he spoke again. ”What did you want to talk about?”

Words - 869
Muse – Pretty good.
Notes – I half like this and half don’t. [/size]

Edge could not contain himself any longer, and unravel gave him the proper opportunity to unleash his first proper pass at Rydia. To serve as her official welcome to Eblan, of course. He had only been warming up for his big finish. Nodding to her robes, a mischief flared up in Edge's eyes. "'Unraveling your secrets' happens to be exactly what I had in mind," he said, somewhat quietly, with the cockiest grin that had crossed his face in a while. Yes, Edge would say the line was his best in quite a while, though even his best lines didn't quite seem to achieve Rydia-quality these days. A shame. Oh well, no one could blame him for the effort. Well...no one aside from Rydia. He prepared to duck for the upcoming slap, just to be safe. Ducking wouldn't actually work if she opted for a spell instead, but Edge felt confident that she wouldn't go quite that far. ...He hoped.

He opted to keep the lines about her outfit to a minimum for the rest of the conversation, lest Rydia decide that she should go with a more conservative outfit in the future. He certainly had no argument that she dressed more nicely than the local females. Then again, the locals had reason and practicality on their sides, being either ninja or townsfolk who needed to protect themselves from the sands of the nearby desert. Edge wasn't so convinced of the practicality of the typical feminine mage robe, but who needed practicality when there was so much skin to be seen?

Not Edge.

But, yes, Edge knew by the tone in Rydia's voice that there was business to take care of. Still a king, if an unmarried king. With them both in the little oasis outside of the front of the city, Edge was of the opinion that they could express how much they had missed each other later in the day so long as he could keep his advisers from rushing into his room every ten minutes or so, a challenge that rivaled even Rydia herself.

Stepping up behind Rydia as she took in her new surroundings, Edge opted to explain the place a bit. For the most part, Eblan stuffed more shoes full of sand than it provided shelter from the sun. "This oasis is actually a pretty well-kept secret. Just well-hidden enough by the city walls that travelers can't see it. Only those who know where it is actually come here." Folding his arms across his chest, he looked to the trees, remembering games of hide and seek he had played with his father and some of the ninja trainees. Ninja hide and seek. Yep, they could pass a lot of time with that game. Edge remembered bringing quite a few young women out here from time to time as well. Best not to mention that to Rydia and spoil the moment. "My father told me he brought my mother out here before they were married," he commented quietly, pulling a powdery leaf off of one of the nearby plants. He rubbed it in his hands a moment before letting out a chuckle. "He always did wonder if she fell more in love with this place or with him."

Still toying uselessly with the leaf, Edge propped himself up against one of the trees, putting his listening cap on and giving Rydia chance to finally explain what she was so concerned about and likely looking as thoughtful as a king for the first time since laying eyes on the green-locked summoner. He wondered somewhat why Rydia had come to him with a question about something that sounded magical in nature, but Eblan did have plenty of resources, with the library and all. Regardless of these things, Edge preferred figuring things out for himself. Rubbing at his chin a bit as he mulled over Rydia's words, Edge started fitting together a couple of puzzle pieces about these "weird swirling masses" she spoke of.

"I can't say I actually know what you're talking about, but...the creatures were coming out of the...uh, portals?", Edge asked rhetorically, quoting one of the words she had used to describe her swirling masses. It wasn't too much of a stretch for him to believe what she was saying, because he'd seen far too many crazy things over the past year for a bunch of swirling masses to be a surprise and Rydia had never tended to exaggerate. "That could explain why all these monsters have been haggling Eblan."

Though Edge stood there thinking for another few seconds, he'd already made his mind up about what to do next. Naturally, he assumed Rydia would go along with it. Anything she knew to be dangerous she'd probably agree to without argument anyway. "Alright then," Edge said as he started to pull his mask back over his mouth and walk past the summoner with some purpose in his step, "let's go find one of these swirling masses of yours. We still have some daylight to work with. I'm sure you'll want to come along, unless you finally agree that the kids should stay behind." He raised his eyebrows in the slightest mockery. Rydia certainly wasn't a mere girl anymore. "Think you can retrace your footsteps back to the last one you found?"

Words - 994
Muse – Ehh.
Notes – Sorry, I just couldn't get this to go right. [/size]

"I'll find a way," Edge assured the summoner, "I always have. Your secrets are as good as mine already." Edge supposed his words would have been a nice set-up for some slightly disturbed cackling, but the way he'd spoken them, they were more matter-of-fact than anything else. Naturally, Edge believed with a little bit of hard work he had the ability to accomplish whatever he wished. Even unraveling secrets of a Mist summoner whom he barely knew outside of the life-or-death experiences they had encountered and..well, the bits and pieces about her strange past he'd picked up from her, and at times from Cecil, Rosa, or even Kain. It never occurred to him to think that they hadn't really had the time to just know each other. His brilliance had caused him to miss a perfect opportunity for just that at the wedding. Nice work, Edge.

Regardless of his stupidity at the wedding, Edge knew that he'd pulled the right move bringing them here, to the oasis. His dad might have been proud of this. Besides, Edge suspected his parents would both have approved of his determined pursuit (could he call it pursuit if he hadn't trailed along behind her yet?) of the green-haired Mist summoner. Who wouldn't approve of Rydia? "I did learn more from him than just ninjutsu," Edge finally, spoke, smirking a bit. "You don't think I was born this charming, do you?" His father had actually tolerated Edge's...women-loving ways because he had been forced to admit he wasn't all that different back when he was a prince with no wife. He hadn't waited until he was twenty-six to actually fall for a woman though. But Edge still had his good looks, no problem.

Not that they would do him any good against magic-casting, physically imposing monsters. Those were the monsters Edge liked the least, especially when they were popping out through magical masses without rhyme or reason. Scrunching his eyebrows in thought, Edge tried to figure out just exactly what they could be dealing with, but nothing would come immediately to mind. After all, if Rydia knew what these monsters were, she could just call them by name, and she had no reason to have any less understanding of the various monsters on this wide world than he did.

Despite his concern, Edge couldn't help but let out a loud, heavy laugh at the pedo-bear comment. Ah, it felt good to get a heavy laugh out after all this...kinging. Lately, all of the issues arising with these monsters kept him feeling constantly stressed. Plus, Edge had, due to Eblan's wariness of Baron, been playing awkward envoy tag with Cecil and Rosa - the only real interaction he'd had with anyone he could call friend. Having someone around to just talk with was something he'd needed ever since Cecil and Rosa's wedding...and if he'd been allowed to pick one person to visit him to just chat with, Edge would have picked Rydia every time. Ha to his advisers who claimed he was chasing a dream! Not only had Rydia always been much more than a dream, but she had come here on her own account. No chasing involved!

"Okay, okay...so you win this round. Barely," he ultimately admitted once he'd gotten the laughter out of his system. "But honestly, aren't you technically, like, nine years old? I remember someone mentioning...what, accelerated growth in the Feymarch? I can't help the facts." Okay, so maybe 'accelerated growth' wasn't quite the right term, but he knew she had apparently grown to be ten years older or so while she was there, over the course of a few months real-time. Secretly, Edge was glad that Cecil's little group of heroes hadn't found him until after Rydia's change. Knowing her beforehand would have been....awkward.

He listened to Rydia's directions, still walking but turning off towards a different set of trees as he did so. “Then we need to head...north. We’re basically standing off the southwest corner of the city,” Edge reported, pushing some of the foliage out of the way and revealing the sandy desert ahead that looked like a completely different world from the oasis. He still thought that whichever ancestor had come up with the idea to build a city in the middle of a desert was out of his or her mind. Not to say Edge hadn’t grown up to appreciate the desert, but a human being could only deal with a few billion grains of sand at one time. Obviously Eblan wasn’t a big tourist attraction. How would they even attract people? Come see the ninja of Eblan! Just take a right at the three hundredth sand dune, you can’t miss it!

He stepped aside to let her lead the way, but kept close unless one of the masses popped up and spat a monster out at them. That was Edge's excuse, at least. Remembering he'd lost a katana to the flame hound's face, Edge shifted the empty sheath around his back to get it out of the way. Opting that they shouldn't walk to this portal in complete silence, Edge opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, and then turned to Rydia. "How are things at home?"

Words - 990
Muse - Great!
Notes - For some reason I finished this last night and forgot to post it. XD[/size]