As Fred walked, he debated on what to do if Vitis attempted to inflict harm on Pythia. He wasn't carrying a gun, so he'd have to find another way to subdue him. Maybe he could telepathically call someone to help...

As he puzzled over this, Pythia's temple came into view. He slowed a little, motioning for Vitis to go first.

{Vitis nods at Fred before entering with a knock.}

Pythia: "I'll be right there."

{Pythia rounds the corner and sees Vitis, immediately frowning.}

Pythia: "Oh. Hello, Vitis."

Vitis: "Hey there, dollface."

Pythia: "Please don't call me that. So, what is it this time? Shot in the chest? Stab wound? Is Crowley about to die again?"

Vitis: "No, I'm fine. I'm here to warn you 'bout some trouble on the horizon."

Pythia: "Trouble? What trouble?"

Fred remained a short distance away outside the building, quietly eavesdropping. He hoped that whatever 'trouble' Vitis was talking about, assuming it even existed, wasn't about Armin and Dianne. Though he wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Vitis: "Well, I'm sure you've heard about yer necromancer girlfriend raising all kinds of hell up north, ye?"

Pythia: "So? Also, that was self defense, from what I heard."

Vitis: "Well, it's no secret that you can't fight people. Some of Sargon's old idgits caught wind of the fact that you two are friends, and are plotting to kidnap you to leverage 'ol miss zombie queen when she gets back."

Pythia: "What? Why? I'm no one to her! And I'm in this city, crawling with guards."

Vitis: "Regardless of what you say, the ten million squall bounty is some powerful motivation, one they'd take this kind of risk on."

Pythia: "The what?!"

Vitis: "Didn't you hear? The mayor of Agamidae put a ten million Squall bounty on her head, and now every bounty hunter, genocidal maniac, and sellsword on the whole damn continent is looking to cash in."

//Ten million squalls? How long has this bounty been in effect for?// Armin had not told Fred about this in any of their recent conversations. Forgotten, or not wanted to worry him? //The serpent is right. That's some motivation. And it makes sense that Pythia would be a target to use as leverage against Dianne. The two do seem to get along well.//

Vitis: "Look, Pythia, if I were you, I'd get somewhere safe right now, away from people. Run fast, and run far. This kind of money, is the kind that turns good folks cruel. Don't trust anyone, not your neighbors, not the guards. You know that one guy, what was his name, Fabio?"

Pythia: "You mean Frederick?"

Vitis: "Yeah, that weirdo. He used to be one of Sargon's. I'd watch my back around him."

'I can hear you, Vitis,' said Frederick coldly. He gave up pretending to be absent and stepped inside the temple. 'Tell me,' he said, looking straight at Vitis, 'how many of Sargon's past minions are plotting this? I thought that the majority of them were dead; there can't be enough left to pose a threat.'

(Quick, gimme some Sargon goon names. XD)

{Vitis turns to Frederick with a smirk.}

Vitis: "A handful. Mostly vampires, a dragon, and a werewolf. Old friends of yours, I'm sure."

Pythia: "Why tell me all this?"

Vitis: "Well, since you've saved my bacon so many times, I felt that I owed it to you."

(Dang. Specific goons, or just random names? XD)

'I'm sure a number that small can't possibly threaten anyone here,' said Fred. 'Though we should organise some kind of security around this place, if you plan on staying, Pythia.'

He glanced at Vitis. 'You seem the type who'd do anything for a handful of squalls. Aren't you after this bounty too?'

(Specific or random, whichever you want.)

{Vitis just shrugs.}

Vitis: "I'm more of a thief than a hitman. Besides, I'm not crazy enough to take on La Brujah."

{Viis then chuckles.}

Vitis: "Really? You think a handfull's no threat, whena handfull of you brought down the old man? Sure, buddy."

'I'm not entirely discounting them as a potential threat. But our taking down Sargon was different. We had Dianne on our side, for a start. I doubt these stragglers are that dangerous. But, as I said, we'll tighten security...'

(Random name ideas off the top of my head:
Percival, Tobias, Oswald, Reginald, Erin, Lorne, Ava, Rufus, Amber, Scythe, Ignis, Zero, Noctis, Quartz)

Vitis: "Ok, pal, but don't be surprised if some of your own guards might have the same idea. Ten million is a lot of money, and the king here hasn't explicitly said that he will or won't honor the bounty."

Pythia: "...Well...I need to stay here. Too many people need me. I can't just walk away."

Vitis: "Alright, but if a guy named Noctis comes around, refuse him. He's not coming in peace."

Fred wasn't surprised to hear that the king hadn't said anything yet. Knowing the man's paranoia of non-humans, it was entirely possible that he was considering honouring the bounty, allowing hunters to pursue Dianne as soon as she returned. Unless he officially said otherwise, this place wasn't safe.

'I have a few old acquaintances who I can trust to help out,' he said. 'They don't care about money, and they're not stupid enough to oppose Dianne anyway. I'll have them watch the building in shifts. And I'd advise being cautious about who you let in, Pythia. Not just Noctis, but anyone else who seems remotely suspicious.'

Pythia: "Of course. I'd appreciate anyone you could send."

Vitis: "Well, I got my one good deed in for today. I'll just be going then. Oh, and could you do me a favor? If you see Crowley, could you not tell him I was here? That bastard's so needy, he'll be all like, "Why'd you visit her and not meeeeee!? I'm the one who's grounded!" I really don't need to hear that right now..."

Fred raised one eyebrow, but nodded cautiously. 'I won't tell him. Though it's unlikely that I'll be seeing him anytime soon, anyway.'

//Is there any chance that Crowley might pursue the bounty?// he wondered. //He seems to love riches, and no doubt he's insane enough to try...//

Vitis: "Thanks. Well, see ya."

{With that, Vitis starts walking for the door.}

Pythia: "...Well, this sucks..."

(Now I kinda want to have Vitis visit Crowley. XD

Rook: "Who tf are you?"

Vitis: "I'm a friend of your son's. Can Crowley come out and play?")

Fred watched Vitis until he was out of sight. '...Well, I'd better go and contact my associates.' He glanced at Pythia. Another person might have said something comforting, but he wasn't really the comforting type.

'I'm... surprised... that these bounty hunters seem to have immediately chosen you as a target. I always assumed that you and Dianne were on good terms, but I wasn't aware that you were particularly close. Still, I suppose anyone she knows is a potential target.'

(Whitney: 'Oh, Rook, isn't that lovely? Crowley actually made some friends. :)'
Crowley: 'VITIS GET ME OUT OF THIS HEL.LHOLE')

{Pythia sighs and sits.}

Pythia: "Well, she does come over a lot to talk. I think she just needs someone to talk to sometimes, about her troubles. Someone who won't judge or criticise her, or isn't Ivy. I guess someone noticed that frequency and decided that we must be close. I think I'm mostly their first choice because I can't fight back."

Fred remained standing, looking a little awkward. He didn't do well at talking about emotions and relationships.

'You seem to be under the impression that she doesn't care for you,' he said slowly. 'Clearly, the bounty hunters think otherwise. And there's always a chance they're right. I'm sure that if I phoned her now and told her that you're being targeted, she would care.'

Pythia: "Oh, I know she does. She doesn't say it, but...I can tell. Don't tell her I'm being targeted. She has enough to worry about. I do care about her as well, but...I need to maintain my distance. My superiors wouldn't be happy with me if I openly associated with an acolyte of death..."

Fred raised his eyebrows. 'I see. I won't tell her, then. It's not like she can do anything about the situation anyway, being several provinces away right now.... Anyway, I suppose I'd better go and gather people to protect this place.'

{Pythia nods at this.}

Pythia: "Alright. Thank you, Fred."

{She then stands and walks with Fred to the door.}

Pythia: "Do let me know if you hear anything else from them, ok? And let everyone else know about the bounty. I'm not the only one in danger."

'Of course. I'll inform everyone who I know is associated with Dianne. And I'll keep you updated on her and Armin's situation. The last I heard, they were preparing to start the journey back home. They're fine right now.'

Pythia: "Good. the sooner they get back, the better. Also, keep tabs on the king's decision. That will affect a lot."

(Hmmm. I'm thinking about sending an associate of Paxton's to try to talk with the king and convince him to honor the bounty. What do you think?)

Fred nodded, and without wasting any more time, headed off down the street. He wanted to get people protecting the temple before night came, so he had a lot to do.

(That sounds good. Should we wait a bit before we have that meeting happen, or do it now?)

(Your choice, it depends on how much stress you want to put poor Fred through. XD)

(Aww. XD
Well, since Fred and everyone else only learned about the bounty today, let's save it for later. It's nice to have these occasional cutbacks to Vallis in between the more main stuff.)

(Ok, so now we cut back to the tundra?)

(Yep, you can start if you like.)

...

{Meanwhile, out over the tundra, it was afternoon, and Dianne was still comfortably asleep. Given that they wouldn't be stopping for two full days at least, she didn't see any better way to spend the time. Barnabas, on the other hand, was sitting in the passenger's seat, stroking his pet spider. and watching the tundra fly by.}

Armin awoke, blinking and yawning. After a quick glance told him that Dianne was still asleep, he climbed out of his bed and sat on top of the blankets. Having nothing else to do, he turned his attention to the only other person he could talk to.

'I'm guessing you're like the draugrs, and never sleep,' he remarked, looking over at Barnabas.

{Barnabas glances back at Armin.}

Barnabas: "Yup. Although, I kinda miss it. It was peaceful. Eh, now I get to prank people for a living now so...fair trade."

'You can prank people when you're alive, too,' Armin pointed out. 'Doesn't sound like a good tradeoff to me. I'd hate to never sleep again.' He eyed Barnabas contemplatively, while trying hard not to look at his enormous spider.

Barnabas: "Perhaps, but my pranking abilities surpass that of any mortal. Besides, when you die, and choose to sleep forever, you can't help anyone. Your pull on events is stripped from you. I prefer this alternative."

Armin shrugged. 'Yeah, I guess so. I just feel like I'd go crazy if I was forced to be conscious forever, with no break. Still, good for you, sticking around this long. If you'd stayed dead, then you wouldn't have existed to help us in Agamidae.'

//Dam.n, actually making an effort to be nice to him is painful...// he mused. //I kinda miss when I could just call him dog boy.//

Barnabas: "Yup, I'm just that awesome. What would you guys do without me?"

'Don't get too cocky,' said Armin warningly. As he spoke, Esme padded over, growling at him. Unsure if she'd been fed yet today, Armin pulled an apple out of the supply box and gave it to her.

'So, what do you think of Esme?' he asked. 'I sure hope you haven't been trying to scare her.'

(Lol, WiFi died.)

Barnabas: "Naw, the brat isn't afraid of anything yet. I'll try again when she's older. Honestly, I think she's cute. And she's certainly a lot more fun than you are."

{Barnabas reaches down by his seat and picks up a large glass jar. He then puts his spider in it and closes the lid.}

Barnabas: "Tell me, Armin, are you one of those jerks who just assumes werewolves are dumb animals?"

'Honestly? Kind of,' said Armin. 'I've fought werewolves who were /unbelievably/ stupid, so I've never really been given any reason to believe otherwise. I'm not trying to be a jerk. I'm just going off my personal experiences with them.'

Barnabas: "Heh. It wasn't like that back in my day. The wolves of Kynigos were gentlemen and scholars. Nothing like the riff raff of today."

{Barnabas sighs and looks off to the horizon.}

Barnabas: "...We've fallen so far from grace..."

'Yeah, werewolves are pretty rough and disorganised these days. I'm sure the society you came from was a lot nicer. I probably would have grown up respecting werewolves more if they still had societies like that.'

He gazed up at the ceiling, expression turning pensive as he recalled a werewolf from Sargon's army who he'd been on good terms with. She'd been Turned, though, not a pureborn.

(Ah, the one with the fur jacket, yes?)

Barnabas: "Armin....I know you're no scholar, but....do you know what happened to my people? I've been in a tomb for centuries, so I don't know."

(I don't remember whether I said she had a fur jacket, but her name was Harriet. XD)

Armin considered. 'Not really. Sorry. I never even went to school as a kid. I don't know much about the history of werewolves. As for your specific society, I don't think I'd ever even heard the name until you mentioned it.'

Barnabas: "Wait, Kynigos? That's a deity, not a society. Kynigos is the patron god of insticts, the hunt, and bestial ferocity. I was his acolyte. These tattered robes I wear are all that remains of my devotion to him."

'Huh, really? Kynigos is a deity? Hmm. Still never heard of him. Maybe he was never known in Vallis. Where did you live back then?'

Barnabas: "Oh, I lived on the coast, in a port town called Argos. I don't know where this...Vallis is, but I don't think it's close."

'Probably not. We're supposed to be travelling along the coast on the way back, aren't we? Maybe we'll come close to where you used to live. It might be unrecognisable to you now, though.'

{Barnabas shrugs.}

Barnabas: "Maybe. I think we're traveling in the right direction. I have no idea what happened to my city or my kin, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's all ruined."

{In the back, Dianne begins to stir restlessly, like she would when she has a nightmare.}

'Maybe, but we can keep an eye out for it. It'll be interesting to see if anything still exists there.'

Armin, seeing movement in his peripheral vision, turned to eye Dianne as he spoke. He wasn't sure whether she was dreaming or just being disturbed by the sound of their conversation.

Barnabas: "True. I'm not sure if there will be any trace of it left to see though."

{Dianne opens her eyes and awkwardly scrambles to stand, only to hit her head on the wall.}

Dianne: "Ow..."

{As she rubbbed the back of her head, she spoke up.}

Dianne: "Armin....Why do you suck a$s?..."

Barnabas: "Snrrk..." XD

'What?' said Armin, sounding both bewildered and mildly insulted. 'What was /that/ for?'

{Dianne blinks tiredly at him.}

Dianne: "Well, last I checked, if you murder your boss, you /don't/ make out with him after...disgusting..."

Barnabas: "...Dianne, are you ok? Are you still half asleep?"

Armin squinted, trying to make some kind of sense out of her words.

/'My/ boss? As in, Sargon? Don't tell me you're having a dream with Sargon in it, that's disgusting.'

Dianne: "Hey...don't call me disgusting...you were the weirdo who locked lips with him...Damn it, it's cold..."

{She reaches down and grabs a blanket to wrap around herself. Although she was standing, she was swaying a bit, clearly not completely awake.}

Armin pulled a revolted face. 'Urgh, thanks a lot. I reeeaaally wanted that image in my head,' he said sarcastically.

Noting Dianne's apparent unsteadiness, he stood up as well, cautiously reaching out to touch her shoulder. He knew not to touch her when she was having nightmares, but this was clearly different. 'Uh, I'm not sure you should be standing up right now...'

{Dianne took a step back at Armin's advance, squinting uncertainly at him and the truck.}

Dianne: "Armin...where are we?"

'Flying over the tundra, on the way home,' said Armin, looking more and more concerned. 'We just left Triticum's place this morning. Are you alright?'