A Sweet Distaste

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The Vroldafn sun shown down harshly as Azazel stood aboard the deck of the Níðhögg, watching as the many Cinders he had gathered went to work now that they knew that they were safe for the time being. Some carried steel sheets and supplies to repair damage to their massive ship while others worked in the gardens harvesting whatever food had survived the last attack. He let out a sigh of relief as he watched, glad to finally have a moment to breathe even if he had no idea how long that may last. He'd convinced Guan-yin to help them for now but the deal wasn't sealed just yet even if they seemed to be on friendly terms.

"Sir, the hull on the port side of the ship suffered the most damage. It'll probably be a few weeks at the least before I would call her airworthy again. That's if we can get that engine that blew back up and running again. If not, we'll need to replace it and who knows how long that could take?" One of his engineers spoke from behind him.

"And what about the wounded? No one was hurt seriously, right?"

"No, not that I know of but I haven't been near the med bay since we started repairs. I could see if one of the doctors could give you a full report?"

"No, that's fine. You have enough on your plate. I'll swing by and visit them before too long. If anyone is hurt I should be there to check up on them." Azael said, dismissing his engineer before hearing someone yelling to him from further down the deck.

"Hey, someone that's not one of ours is coming toward the ship! What should we do?" A woman wearing grease-stained coveralls asked.

Azazel waved, doubting that whoever it was could be anyone sent by the Toranku unless Guan-yin had sold them out but he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and went to meet whoever it was himself.

The lady of the Gloompond estate and Mt. Blackrock walked out from one of the cavernous systems which littred the mountain, and that was when she saw the grand ship Níðhögg. It was an impressive vehicle, but she considered the use of it for an organization primarily focused stealth and hit and run missions. Wouldn't such a colossal ship only impede such tasks? But thena again, there might just be times where brute force was necessary. She just hoped its presence wouldn' be too obvious and draw the attention and ire of the rest of Ashvattha.

She neared herself to the ship when she noticed that a man was walking towards her. She had seen the reports from Guan-yin. The leader of this group was someone going by Azazel, and by the descriptions made, this man could not be anyone but. He possessed some distinct Calco features, yet the lack of the remaining features like scales made his heritage obvious. *A hybrid indeed. Maybe Calypso could make a friend in him.* She joked to her self. She stopped ion her tracks some few meters away from him, letting the man come to her.

Azazel approached the small, crimson-haired woman at a normal walking speed. He took the time to take her in, trying to read her as his steps brought him closer to interaction. Stopping just short of arm's length, he smiled. Her attire seemed odd to him and yet far more practical for their current environment. "I was told this place would be secure. If Guan-Yin's words are to be believed you're probably someone she expected to be here at some point or another.I'm Azazel Gage in the case that you didn't already know. May I ask to what I owe the pleasure? I don't know the country all that well so perhaps it's normal to find pretty girls wandering the desert? But even if that was the case I wouldn't think many of them would be human."

"A pleasure, Mr Gage. And no, such an occurrence would not be the most common sight, especially as far as humans are concerned, but a far more common one is the traversing of one's own realm and home. I am Delores Gloompond of the House of Gloompond and its current reigning lady." Delores spoke with a curt bow. "These are my lands and, in a way, this is my mountain. So I came to reassure myself that all accommodations are in order. The queen is most intent on seeing to that you are given the right means to care for your own, as was agreed upon. The men have given me reports but they are still Calco, and as such may not care too much to see everything in order for a more human organization."

Azazel returned her bow, "Forgive me if my comments had come off as rude. As for the accommodations, everything has been going as smoothly as I think it can. We took some damage when we left Toranku airspace that could take some time to repair but it's going better than I'd expected thanks to having access to the materials you and your people have provided for us." Azazel said, taking a step forward as he felt a bit more comfortable now that introductions had been completed. "I genuinely appreciate you taking the effort to come and see that we are well taken care of and I apologize for intruding on your property. I was about to go check on the med bay, to see if there is anything to be done there and make sure everyone is okay. Perhaps you'd care to join me? If this becomes a long term thing it might be best not to remain strangers?"