The wind felt cold, and Ha Neul's eyes felt irritated and dry as she strode upon her flying white maned companion, the Pegasus. The creature seemed to have an appearance as something descended from the very heavens itself. Ha Neul had much experience riding on horseback numerous times in her previous world, and had also participated in mounted combat upon them, but a flying horse, now this was an entirely new concept for her. Her heart raced wildly with anxiety and paranoia as she inexperiencedly and rather clumsily maneuvered through the winds. Her eyes squinted quite strongly in response to the speed and wind, barely able to perceive her maneuvering through the skies. 'The Hand'; even though she had agreed to join it's cause, she was honestly still trying to figure out what it was all about in her head. Could a good cause truly prevail in this corrupt world of humanity?

She circled around the grand airship port city of Karith; the higher levels, the middle level, and eventually the lower levels. As she swept around the grand, highly esteemed and beautiful city, the awed gazes and pointing of it's varies citizens could be seen, especially among the younger children. Once she'd reached the lower levels, however, she found herself feeling immediately nauseated due to the intensity of strong mist it's alchemical waste. The Pegasus also immediately gave a violent snort in response to it's descent to the lower levels, and so Ha Neul quickly re-directed the reigns to fly back upward, out the unbearably intoxicating area. In her ascension, she spotted a few citizens through the thick mist of the waste. A greatly sympathetic heart came upon her, as she shortly observed the citizens carrying out their daily lives and routines. People actually lived and carried out their everyday lives there, despite the great hazards associated with the alchemical mist in the lower level, and children actually were growing up there. It was a great tragedy for her, yet there was not so much she could do about it. She was a foreigner in this realm. Additionally, Karith was not her home city, to be in a position to advocate against such things. Examples like these were how life worked in the human world, that was how it always had worked, even oftentimes in her own previous world.

Suddenly, she caught a vague view of something else in the sky, something that was definitely not one of the many airships of the city; something with wings. Her eyes widened a bit with surprised, as she observed the vague view of another winged creature sweeping through the skies. "Heavy armored woman? Here of all places?" She mumbled to herself, as she immediately re-maneuvered the reigns in order to pursue the additional flying creature of the skies. The vague figure eventually managed to land somewhere, however it would be some time before Ha Neul would get there, as she was quite a ways away.

After quite some time, she eventually landed, albeit clumsily and violent; She was still getting used to this whole flying thing. The Pegasus's hoofs scrapped strongly into the dirt as it struggled to come to a complete stop after such an abrupt command to land, which jerked Ha Neul forward, almost sending her flying forward off the Pegasus onto the ground. In the process of this, she immediately turned her head to the winged creature she'd previously and vaguely seen in the skies, and a look of both surprise and bafflement appeared on her face. This was not the same mount of the heavy armored woman she met some time ago. It was quite different, very different. In fact, "What in the world is 'that'?" She spoke aloud, her inner thoughts making a vocal declaration. The Pegasus mimicked the same facial expression as it's owner, as if in this moment they were of one of the same mind, both surprised and pondering upon the same issue. In this, she had taken notice of it's owner at all.

The landing had officially been complete chaos. Not only had it been violent and clumsy, but now additionally, in the midst of her inexperienced landing, the odd creature had suddenly and unexpectedly acted on it's own natural instinct, and attacked Ha Neul's and her mount. All the events were happening so quickly and suddenly, that it was difficult for Ha Neul to react, or even perceive clearly what exactly was happening. The glass-breaking scream before the kick had greatly disturbed and distracted Ha Neul, throwing her off guard, before the creature's hind legs kicked both her mount and herself to the ground.

There were powerful mixtures of feelings in the midst of all these events; surprise, bafflement, disturbance, and adrenaline. While the creature had been called back, Ha Neul quickly and unexpectedly found a sword to her throat. A feeling a anger and embarrassment came upon her, which had only increased in intensity as the man whom had seemed to appear out of nowhere, additionally spoke his statements of assertion. As a soldier, she felt completely dishonored and disgraced by the whole ordeal. Not only did she had a sword to her throat, but she additionally verbal dominance asserted over her.
In the midst of the entire confrontation, Ha Neul had glared at the man with angry eyes. As he pressed the blade further, her heart had beat even faster; not of fear, but with even greater anger and adrenaline. She had a great desire to fiercely retaliate. The statements themselves had only been fuel to an already burning the fire inside her heart. Although the situation was obviously hopeless, and she seemed rather helpless, the fighting spirit within her still felt a need to prove itself somehow, even if it could only be done so with angry stares and defiant eyes.
Yet today, she had not died. The man had sheathed his sword and allowed her to regain her composure. Somewhat surprised by the action, yet still rather angry and embarrassed, she used her arms to press herself up, as she slowly rose up from the ground, and dusted herself off. Her mount also began to rose itself up from the ground, albeit more slowly and with a additional stumbling. Examining the creature as it slowly stood, Ha Neul did not recognize any grievous wounds. Both her and her mount had a few cuts, scratches, and bruises from the whole ordeal, but nothing fatal or grievous.
Rubbing her throat due to the confrontation, she glared at the man in silence for some time, before she finally had answered him, communicating her obvious feeling of hostility towards him.

Folding her arms, she finally began to speak, "If I wanted to surprise attack you." She began, "I would have done so from one of the trees or bushes around her, rushing and charging a blade through your stomach in the cover of the darkness." Pausing, she let the statement settle in, "If I wasn't inexperienced with flying, you wouldn't have been able to do that, either."

After finishing her statement, she glared at the man in silence again for another few moments, before continuing once again, "And to answer your question; No, you do not know me. And to my unfortunate disappointment, I don''t know you either. There are very few people who freely roam the skies on mounts, and even fewer people who do so in an area like this, where there are so many available airships and convenient sources of flying transportation to easily board." Looking upward, she communicated that she had drifted into a deep thought before her next statement, "Yet, out of those few people, you are unfortunately not the one I was looking for…" She finished.

At the man's tough talk in the beginning, her eyebrow twitched with angry irritation again. "The nerve on him.." She thought bitterly to herself.

At the second statement, about not bonding with her partner, however, her irritated expression had changed and even softened into an expression of slight bewilderment. She hadn't 'bonded' with her partner? What exactly did that mean? She contemplated on this for a moment, as she had glanced at her Pegasus. Would she trust a wild beast with her life? No, she couldn't see it. Beast were unpredictable, like this dreaded bird-like creature that had just kicked and attacked her to the ground. Still, even so, she'd kept the statement in mind for future contemplation. Perhaps he may have had a point. The other duo in front of her and her Pegasus looked to be very much of one mind, although they didn't speak the same verbal language.
As the male redrew the sword, Ha Neul had felt a immediate impulse to retaliate, however, in the midst of that impulse, his next statements had completely caught her off guard. Ha Neul's eyes widened, communicating obvious surprise, as a name rung out the man's mouth, and repeated back within her head, 'Hakon'. What did this man know of her, and how was it possible? The second name, Ha Neul didn't recognize at all, however, the first name was plain and clear to her. She gazed into his eyes as he spoke. He had a certain inner fire about him, as his natural instinct to protect them suddenly arose. What was his relationship with them? So perhaps, the fact that she had also seen him flying on a mount, was not as much of a coincidence as she'd previously though. Her angry and irritated expression now gone, as she had learned a bit more about this man, she now gazed at him with calm and deeply meditative eyes. " 'Assassin'? She finally repeated back, after some time of silence, as if the comment were some sort insult for her.

She had much questioning to do with this man, however, there was certain issue that needed to be addressed first. The man had crossed the line. That was now twice that he'd placed a weapon at her neck; it was time for him to learn a lesson. The man, while enthusiastic and zealous, wore no noticeable armor or protection of any kind that Ha Neul could see. As he had made his profession clear, Ha Nuel concluded she wouldn't let herself be threatened by some metal worker who was not even a soldier. The man had the clear distance advantage, with a blade directly on her throat, surely. The problem was, however, was that he was so busy glaring at her, that he had not been paying attention to something else; his lower body. While continuing to stare at the man calmly in the eyes, something wet eventually fly in the direction his left eye, something unexpected, something disgusting; 'spit'. In the midst of the flying liquid projectile, her left leg threw a strong swooping kick toward his right leg in a effort to trip him and knock him on the floor. His lack of attention to his lower body, and the fact that it was still dark, would be her allies. The kick itself would also be quite heavy, as the additional weight of her armor would also be hitting his leg along with the added force of her kick. However, the intention would not be to break any bones, but simply to trip him and send him flying to the ground. In the midst of both these actions, she immediately leaned her upper body slightly backwards, in order to additionally ensure that there wouldn't be any 'accidental cuts' on her neck in the midst of his fall. She rather appreciated her life, and wasn't too keen on accidentally losing it. 

As the Gryphon closed in for her neck, Ha Neul's hand quickly motioned behind her, preparing to draw a sharp surprise for the creature. Yet, at the command it's assaulted master, the gigantic bird like creature abruptly stopped it's aggression, just like that. It was something rather fascinating, to witness how compliantly the giant bird like creature heeded at the man's command, despite the fact that he didn't seem like much of an intimidating figure. From first impression, the creature seemed nothing more than a wild and untamable beast, incapable of any form of comprehension whatsoever, yet, the blacksmith was proving that such ferocious animals were capable of being tamed, and even loyal. Indeed, they did seem to hold a bond with one another, which far exceeded the bond between Ha Neul and her Pegasus. At the man's inquiry and frustration of whether Ha Neul's action was necessary or not, she provided him with a pleased smirk in response, communicating her great feeling of gratification. Her facial expression said it all; Yes, it was necessary.

At the blacksmith's further statements, however, Ha Neul found herself rather surprised. Had she really been gone that long, to have not been aware of such grave news? Could The Hand have fallen apart so quickly, during the time she had been away from service? Yet, if his statement was true, it now would make more sense as to why Ha Neul hadn't seen or heard much activity from the Hand for quite a while. With a sigh, she took a moment to contemplate further concerning the grave news, before finally forming a statement. 

"I told her that there could be no goodness in this world." Ha Neul spoke, "There is far too much corruption." Turning her attention back to the beast still hovering close to her neck, she wrinkled her nose a bit, highly disapproving of it's meat stained breath. It was making her somewhat nauseous. As the apple flew to the Pegasus, the winged horse stared at the morsel somewhat hesitantly and bewildered for a few seconds, before eventually giving in to it's natural instincts, and helping itself to the unexpectedly thrown morsel. It had been a long flight, and a tough day,

"I am Ha Neul," She eventually answered, "And I work for myself; I was invited as a Hand Member by Hakon herself, blacksmith. Yet, i've been on a hiatus for some time, in order to pursue my own purposes for a while. I was looking for Hakon, in order to return back to full service of The Hand." After a pause, she stared at the blacksmith. Upon her battle hardened facial expression, something rather rare would begin to show upon her face; hints of worry. "…Is what you say really true?" She eventually made to courage to ask, somewhat hesitant about hearing the answer.

At the blacksmith's reply, the worried look upon Ha Neul's expression grew. "A month?!" She exclaimed, rather surprised. A multitude of numerous possibilities crossed her mind, as to what could've happened. The man's words concerning the rules of this world were quite true, even if people feared to admit it; if evidence of someone's survival wasn't found after at least three days, the common conclusion was that they were most likely dead, the majority of the time. Yet, Ha Neul had also remembered the strength of Hakon. The armored woman was no pushover when it came to combat, and therefore Ha Neul also found it quite difficult to accept that Hakon could possibly have been dead without the slightest trace, so suddenly and unexpectedly. Yet, such a disappearance, nonetheless, whether they were dead or still alive, was no doubt a strange one. It definitely would not prove to have a positive affect on the morale of the other members of The Hand, and neither the stability of the entire organization as a whole. 

She stood in silence and deep contemplation once again, as the man had continued further statements. At his approval of her re-entrance into the service of The Hand, her facial expression softened somewhat. "Thank you…" She lowly spoke after long silence. Joining the man's gaze into the sky, she continued, "I believe that they are still alive too." She agreed. "But this is without a doubt a very strange occurance." 

Various contemplations regarding how the rest of the members of The Hand would react if their disappearances continued on for much longer, began to worry her. Most of the members were battle hardened adventures, yet without a clear threat to fight against, and without any sort of guidance or direction, many would eventually become nothing more than self-righteous swordswingers, acting upon nothing more than their own personal greed and arrogance. At this rate, it would truly only be a matter of time before everything would fall apart, and some of the members would begin to walk more unrighteous paths, straying away from their original morals. With another sigh, she folded her arms, momentarily looking back at the blacksmith. "What should we do?" She questioned, finding herself quite lost for an obvious solution to such a complicated issue.