When Reseda inquired as to their departure, Griffin once again rose to his feet. He opened the pack on his belt and pulled a few small vials from it. Lifting his leg, he pulled a small dagger from a fold in his boot. It didn't look very threatening. It barely looked capable of cutting butter. "Reseda. Jade. If you truly wish to go forth, come to me. Ivy, if you wish to remain as you are and return home, you will go to Charlie. Be warned, Charlie may not bite, but I saw her pull a man's arm from its socket when he refused to part with a scrap of bread. It popped back into place with little effort, but that's beside the point."

Charlie reached into her own side pack and pulled a vial matching Griffin's. The dagger she pulled, however, was much more menacing. It was sharp, shiny, and looked ready to slice flesh open at the will of its Master. Charlie looked to Alice and gave a small grin, then to Ivy when the story was recalled. She shrugged, "He had it coming. That little girl was hungry."

Ivy very visibly gulped. With shaking hands and quaking knees, she went to Charlie. She wanted nothing more than to return home and if it meant following this lunatic for a while, she would have to do it. She had no choice.

~: psst. ..Someone go. ...Please :D :~

Jade watched Ivy for a few moments, then looked to Griffin. Something didn't seem quite right, earlier he had been told if they didn't comply they would lose their hearts and go to some place called the black city. Now he was telling Ivy she could go home if she wanted. Jade shifted on his feet, the dagger that Griffin held looked dull and useless, the dagger Charlie had pulled out looked rather dangerous. A flicker of annoyance passed over his features and he came towards Ivy, glaring at Charlie the whole way. Jade grasped Ivy by the wrist and pulled her away from Charlie. As he moved back from Charlie he gave her, Griffin and Alice an almost challenging glare. "Don't trust them. They won't send you home," he nodded towards Griffin. "That one told us if we didn't do this stupid quest thing that we would lose our hearts." He had stopped moving once he was, what he thought, a good enough distance from them and put himself in front of Ivy.

Without hesitation, Reseda moved to stand with Griffin. Her glance, shot at the other two, brought her just a little hint of pity. They didn't know how lucky they were to have been called to this. Then again, they weren't familiar with this kind of thing. So perhaps ... Perhaps they had every right to be frightened and uncertain. "What do you plan on doing with that Griffin?" Curiosity plucked up, the young woman shot out the question quickly without seeming to pay too much attention to the other questers.

Hearing Griffin speak Alice let out a small laugh. That had most certainly been an interesting time. Seeing Charlie's grin she flashed one back. Noticing the witch come forward she nodded in appreciation. She had guts and Alice liked that. Then hearing Jade's comment she frowned at him. "Don't tell her to not trust us. We're here to help you." Shaking her head she looked at Griffin, awaiting her orders.

Griffin rolled his eyes dramatically, "Pardon me for not elaborating, Jade. Damnit. She can go home if she does the quest. If not, she can stay here in the clearing until I arrange for some awful, ugly goblin to drag her, by the hair, to the Black City. How's that sound?" He shook his head and mumbled something akin to 'They don't pay me enough for this.' He looked to Reseda, "I plan on taking a few drops of blood, dear. Your index finger, please. I promise to be gentle."

Ivy looked like she was going to faint when Griffin explained further. She stayed behind Jade, her hands shaking.

Charlie rolled her eyes at Jade. She gripped the dagger and twirled it once or twice, waiting less than patiently for Ivy to make up her mind.

Glancing at the man Griffin was talking to, Reseda wondered why he just couldn't accept what was going on. This was a quest, and a rather special one at that. It was all the blond woman knew, but it was enough to warrant her acceptance of the rules. Holding up a hand she titled her head to the side she waited patiently. "I can't wait to see what this quest is, with such stringent rules." Looking over to the others, she bit her lower lip a little nervously. She didn't want to see them get hurt, and this quest really wasn't leaving anyone with a choice. The witch was there willingly, but these others weren't even if they'd been summoned in the same way.

Jade glared at them all, especially Griffin and Alice. "You kidnap us and threaten us to try and force us to partake in some quest that will probably only end up in all of us dying a horrible death in the first place. But you expect us to trust you. You people are insane." He glanced at Reseda, that girl was insane too. "You just snatched us out of nowhere, didn't even ask us if we wanted to come. You people are nothing but kidnappers and bullies." Jade was angry, but he was also a little afraid, still these people, they pissed him off so much. Acting like they had a right to tell him what to do, to force him to do things and prevent him from going back home. Though, he had already admitted to himself that being was already better than being home. He shifted on his feet slightly, remaining in front of Ivy.

"I didn't take you ANYWHERE! I am here to ensure that you, body and soul, are protected from whatever lies between you and your goal. So long as you stay with me, you won't die a horrible, bloody death. I would give my life to save yours." With the seemingly less than lethal tip of the dagger, Griffin punctured a small hole in Reseda's index finger. He gently squeezed three droplets of blood into the vial and replaced the cork he had removed before the process. He put the vial back in his pouch and looked down to Reseda's finger, "Suck the excess blood away, dear, and I'll fix it right up." Griffin looked up to Jade while he waited for Reseda to rid her finger of the extra drop of blood. "Did you ever stop to think that you aren't the only person who wasn't given a choice? I've endured hundreds, maybe thousands of these quests, and I never got to choose whether I wanted to or not. I came from the same world you did. I had a family. I had a life. And that was all taken away from me. So, please, spare me the song and dance. At least when you're done and your lesson is learned, you can go home to your life. Alice is the same. So is Charlie. They had families and lives where ever they were from. That was all ripped out of their hands. ..Listen, my point is.......suck it UP, CUPCAKE!"

Charlie watched the ground when Griffin explained that they were as good as prisoners in their positions. She cast a small glance at Alice, then looked back to the grass. She thought idly about how soft it looked and how nice it would have been to lay down on it. Anything to keep her mind off of the pain she still felt when she thought about her life back home.

Ivy felt a twinge of guilt, but she wasn't sure she could really believe his story. She stayed behind Jade.

As Griffin explained to Jade the elf let out a small laugh. That man had a way with words. Seeing the look on Jade's face made her smile. Then she watched Reseda come forward. She liked the witch, she was full of spunk. As Jade exploded Alice lost her smile and couldn't help the nasty look she gave him. The man didn't understand a thing and it made her want to punch him in his face. Then as Griffin started to speak Alice's gaze fell to the floor. Tears sprang up in her eyes and she quickly tried to stop them. She was still having a hard time about being ripped away from her home and people. Alice was still considered new here. Not being able to hold back the tears a few of them dripped don her face. Taking a deep breath she wiped them away just as a song bird landed on her shoulder and sang to her softly. A ghost of a smile appeared across her face and she petted the birds head softly with her finger.

Jade faltered for a moment, or maybe it was a few moments. He glanced around at the others, not really liking the expressions on their faces as Griffin spoke. Jade wasn't sure he could believe the man's story, but then again it did seem possible, and the other girl's expressions seemed genuine. Jade glared at Griffin. "You don't explain a damn thing to us, tell us we have to go on a quest, now you're pulling out knives and you expect us to trust you? Fuck that. I'm sorry, I'm not as crazy as miss dragon whisperer over there..." His glare shifted to Reseda for a moment, then back to Griffin. "I'm not going to blindly trust a bunch of strangers in some strange fantasy land." Jade was scowling, if these people had truly been pulled away from their own families and homes, then it should be easy for them to understand why he was so untrusting of them.

Reseda did as she was told but rolled her eyes a little after hearing the two of them beginning to argue. Really, they all had been taken away from their homes and their loved ones. Just because one person was miserable, didn't mean they all had to be. "Well you know what, you don't have a choice." Turning to him, the blond flashed him a serious glare before sighing a little and glancing at everyone else. What a mess this was. It seemed like she was the only one who actually, truly, wanted to be there.

Kasimir wasn't really sure where he was, or exactly how he had gotten here. He had been about to pilfer a fat wallet, and then all of a sudden he was standing here. In this grass. The green eyed blonde ran a hand through his long locks and sighed softly. Ah well. He heard voices, and looked in that direction. Some people seemed to be arguing. An amused smile on the German's lips and a hint of confusion was in his eyes as he came up behind a few members of that group. A female, lavishly dressed. Before her stood a blonde, obviously half french boy yelling at some others about trust and what not. Absently Kasimir noticed the dragon, and woman with the dragon. Dragons didn't exist, but he had always thought they might somewhere.

He came up beside the lavishly dressed female, his hand reaching out to give her bottom a gentle rub and light squeeze. Mm. Firm. Just the way he liked them, quickly Kasimir had moved though. His next target the blond boy. Kasimir's hand came up and smacked the boy rather hard in the back of the head as he moved to stand beside the youth. Looking at him sent a shiver down Kasimir's spine for only a moment though. Blond hair and green eyes. "Stop yelling, who cares if you trust these people or not. Just shut up and pretend like you do for a while until an opportunity for you to stab them in the back opens up." His voice held only a light German accent. Kasimir was shaking his head and now he moved towards Griffin, giving all the girls a lingering look as he moved to stand only inches in front of Griffin. "You in charge?" He looked this way and that for a moment, nodding towards the dragon. "Soooo obviously I'm in some kind of fantasy place. Medieval or otherwise, doesn't matter. Where's the harem girls? There has to be more than these four, yeah? And what about the treasure? Every good fantasy land has treasure and harem girls. Obviously I'm the dashing hero of this fantasy world so the treasure and harem belong to me, right? So I'll ask again. Where's my treasure and harem?"

When the back of his head was smacked, Jade winced. A shiver racing down his spine as he turned his head to meet the German's green eyed gaze. Jade blinked, dumbfounded. The man had quickly moved away, so even if Jade hadn't been so surprised by the other, he still wouldn't have been able to retaliate for the smack. Silently, Jade watched and listened as the German approached Griffin.

Griffin heaved a heavy sigh. It was moments like this when his true side really showed. He looked tired, agitated, and weak. "You know, most people jump at the opportunity. So long as they know we're here and they're safe." After tucking the dagger under his arm, he brought Reseda's hand to his mouth. He placed a gentle kiss over the cut on her finger. She would feel a sudden rush of cold, then numbness while the hole closed before her eyes. He gave her a curt little smile and took a step back. He looked up when Kasimir appeared out of the trees. His brow knit close together, but a look of realization came over his face. A last minute add-on, he supposed. When Kasimir scolded Jade, Griffin smirked, despite that he blatantly suggested stabbing Griffin in the back when he was oblivious. When he was approached, he slid the dagger back in its sheath. When asked if he was in charge, all he did was nod. Upon being bombarded with ridiculous questions about harems and treasure, an amused smirk spread across Griffin's face, "You are in a fantasy land, yes. You are correct about that. And yes, there are, I'm sure, more girls than these four. Harem girls? I don't know about that. Considering the situation, I'm more than sure it's possible. However. Tread lightly. That one has a dragon, Alice is a sure shot with a bow, and Charlie is a violent biter. Treasure? Probably. Who knows? Dashing hero? Seeing as how I'm in charge, I think, by rights, I get the title of Dashing Hero. Any more questions or are you ready to begin?" Griffin pulled the dagger out again and held a hand out to Kasimir, "Griffin."

Upon being groped, Ivy jumped and latched on to Jade's arm. She glared daggers at Kasimir, "You unmannered rogue!!" Ivy gave a little sigh and gave Jade's arm a little pat, "Listen. Maybe we...should trust them. Is there, really, any other option? I'm frightened. Probably just as frightened as you are, but what choice do we have?"

Charlie gave a little nod and her brow rose in amazement. She glanced to Alice and muttered, "Finally. Some sense."

Kasimir arched a brow. "Oh? Biting can be fun!" Though that look quickly changed to a thoughtful expression as Griffin continued to speak. "Dashing Hero, you?" Kasimir's nose scrunched up and he leaned so close to Griffin that their noses very nearly touched. His expression changed again, an easy but amused smile sliding across his lips as he leaned back to get out of the man's bubble of personal space he had so rudely invaded.

"Ah. Well. You are rather dashing, aren't you? That's alright, I didn't really want to be the hero anyway, I'm more of an anti-hero. Ladies like anti-heroes more anyway." That smile turned to a grin and he slipped his hand into Griffin's extended one. "Kasimir. Or Kas." He shrugged. "Honestly though, I'll answer to just about anything." He looked around for a moment. "Aaand just so we're clear, I'm not splitting any treasure I find with any of you people. Okay? Good!" Green eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement, and only a hint of wariness.

Kasimir lowered his voice to a whisper, "I'm awake, this isn't a dream?" He just wanted a confirmation. The German was an avid believer in fantasy. Magic, dragons, harpies, unicorns. He was sure they all existed. Somewhere. Still, being suddenly transported from the dull mundane world he was used to and put in this place, was the tiniest bit unsettling. It did make one wonder if they were sleeping or hallucinating. Kas was pretty sure he wasn't hallucinating.

Jade glared at the blonde German, watching him just as suspiciously as he had the others. For a few moments, as Ivy clung to him, he was silent. Listening to the things Griffin and Kasimir said to each other. Jade already labeling Kasimir as crazy or maybe the man was just an idiot. He tore his gaze from Griffin and the German to look at Ivy. "...Okay. Alright. Let's go along with them for awhile then." Jade frowned and chewed his bottom lip some.

~: Psst! Anyone else out there?:~