Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Upon hearing about the kidnapping, Raven retreated to the hidden meeting room behind the main hall's fireplace. Built just a few months before, the place was air-tight with no windows and no way for anyone to go in or escape without being invited or guided out by Raven or his party. But today, the general sat alone inside the confined lantern-lit place. All the while, everyone else was waiting for him outside and trying to figure out what exactly was going on in his head.

Anxious feet tapped the floor, and quiet murmurs filled the silence the rest of the way. Everyone had their doubts about the current situation; some wished to chase after the king's guards that very moment, while the rest wanted to wait and find out more about them before doing anything. But which camp of people will their leader favor? Nobody knew, and thus quiet took hold after the initial conflicts settled. But it didn't last for long…

"Are we just gonna wait here?" Aradin complained, kicking himself off the wall that he'd been leaning on.

Looking around with his hands in his pockets, he was trying really hard not to let his emotions get the better of him. Yet with the thought of June being taken away knocking on his mind, he couldn't help but continue to complain.

"The longer we wait, the further those bastards will take June!"

"Shamisha's with them too, jackass…" Bumping his side with her shoulder, Linkle reminded him that it wasn't just June that had been taken. Even so, tunnel-visioned into thinking only about June, he took another step forward to get closer to Amedith and the others.

"We should be leaving now," he tried to convince the others, but was swiftly ignored as it was clear that he wasn't thinking straight. "I'm a scout, I can probably find them if they're still in the city or the coast–"

"Shut up!" Moving forward, Regalia growled in Aradin's face before grabbing him by the collar. Pulling him upwards, she bared her teeth while grunting like a hound trying to intimidate a rival. "If you're a scout, then act like one and stay put for orders!"

Pushing Aradin to the wall behind him, the demi-wolf glared at him as he barely caught himself from falling. Lifting his head with a hint of hurt in his eyes, Aradin stared right back at the demi-wolf and replied.

"Y-yes…Ma'am." His tone was respectful, but his intentions were anything but. The anger was still reflected in his eyes, and the target at least temporarily had shifted from the kidnappers to the second in command. "I guess we can wait for them to get away and then start our hunt."

"What did you say?!" Rushing towards him with balled fists, Regalia was ready to bash his face in, but before her fist made contact with his skull, the dainty fairy Will-O fluttered off of Lily's shoulders and stopped the wolf by getting in between them.

Her arms spread wide, she stared angrily at the wolf like a mother does her child.

"No, you said it yourself. We wait for orders, even you!" Getting up close to her face, Will-O flicked Regalia's nose. While she winced at the strike, the fairy mother added. "Don't fight, we have enough problems as is!"

It wasn't often that the fairy shared her thoughts with the group, and that's exactly what made Regalia take the situation at least a little more seriously. After all, if even Will-O had to speak up, then she knew that the group was falling apart thanks to their own incompetence in communicating properly without a threat of violence.

"And you kid!" Quickly turning around, Will-O leaned towards Aradin, her small butt all pushed back. A stern finger tapped on the scout's temple, making him feel like a child being reprimanded by a mother. "Tan is getting Raven's coat, that's all we have to wait for. Let the general in the meantime!"

"She's right," with flicking eyelids, Aradin's head turned to Amedith. Getting closer as well, the magus added with his left hand, squeezing his right arm joint. "You don't want to disturb Raven when he's trying to get back into being a general."

Stopping in front of the scout, Amedith kept his head up to match Aradin's gaze.

"Trust me, not even we–his family wanna go in there right now." Nodding his head along, Amedith glanced sideways as he turned his head around. Looking over to Mel, Aria, and Erika, he watched them bobbing their heads in affirmation to his words. "Still…"

Quickly turning back around, Amedith huffed a sigh and placed his hands on his hips while looking up.

"If you're not convinced yet, then give him ten minutes, and I'll talk to him if he doesn't come out by then." Unsure, the scout stared at the magus, his eyes wandering about randomly and his expression contorting with fear about what might happen to June if she were not found quickly.

Feeling a gentle hand by Hannah on his shoulder, however, that anxiety eased a little. Glancing at her, he forced a weak smile and finally responded.

"I'll wait…" And with that, the conflict settled once more, but what exactly was going on in Raven's head? Why had he locked himself in that room, and what kind of a plan was he about to come up with? At least those were the questions bouncing around in everyone's head when, in reality, the warlord wasn't thinking about anything at all.

Instead, he was sitting in silence and peering within himself to contain that monster slumbering within. He was trying and trying, but tonight it was of no use at all, for a line had been crossed the moment those strangers put their hands on his soldiers and one of his girls.

He'd lost enough during the last war, and he didn't plan on losing another soul if there was the slightest chance to prevent their deaths. But death takes a toll, for a life is only equal to another, and that monster within Raven wanted not just one but two souls for every person the king's guards had kidnapped.

"Master Raven, I have your coat," Tan whispered while knocking on the door from the other side.

'Time to go and teach these bastards a lesson.' As soon as the wolf hide coat was placed onto his shoulders, Raven wasted no time and took Amedith with him to get revenge on those sorry bastards that were about to die. Aradin protested to join the hunt, of course, but leaving the gathering and preparation of the next war in his and Regalia's hands, Raven left the city of Athenia on a hunt for which he would be remembered from tonight onwards.