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Jaeko answered, not taking his attention of Soilen- She seemed to have something important she'd need to say, in a moment.

"Made it."

Assassin had decided that he preferred walking to Chocobo. There was something about these birds that put him at ill ease. Perhaps it was the fact that his steed had attempted to nibble away his 'clothes'.

But he had made it with the rest, and he sat at attention, waiting for Siolen to go ahead and say whatever it is she had to say.

Jaeko's answer had not been one that Petty expected, and his expresion made this plain to see.

"Y'what?! Pull t'ot'er one."

While Petty and Jaeko had their discussion, Idran heads over to Siolen.

"So, what's the plan now? I mean, we can't just wander around asking people if they've seen random petrifications or whatnot, and we don't really have anything else to go on."

"Jin's our best bet," said Siolen, "He should know where to find this mage person, and our captive here will tell us where to find Jin. If he knows what's good for him."

Said captive shivered slightly, setting his chocobo to shifting nervously in response to its rider's mood. He seemed too cowed to do anything other than cooperate fully.

"Although I'd like to alert the Guard," Siolen continued, "bringing them out in force would be likely to attract attention." Though she'd been giving some thought to the situation during the ride, it seemed she had yet to decide on a final course of action.

Silvanus had stayed quiet during the trip toward town. As had typically happened to him during these situations, Fabelia was the one drawing his attention.

When they stopped, however, Silvanus kept near Siolen, if only to hear the plan. When she mentioned the guards, Silvanus shared his own opinion.

"Thing is, will bringing guards in to help us even be necessary?"

Pulling both his shotguns from their places within his coat, Jaeko offered them to Petty to see- If he looked, he could see grooves along the tops of the guns, seemingly so they could be fit together. As he offered his guns, he also gave his oppinion-

"Might want to make sure they're nessessary before actually, y'know, getting them. Too much commotion won't get us anywhere."

Petty looked the strange, unfamiliar devices over, not paying much attention to anything else.

Siolen nodded, considering, "Alright then, we'll leave the chocobos at a stable near the gates and check out Jin's place on foot." So saying, she heeled her chocobo forwards and set off for the gates.

Assassin nodded again in agreement. At this pace, the job may be going quicker than he had assumed.

This thought in mind, he attempted to do the same as Siolen. No, the Chocobo he had been assigned to was nibbling at his 'clothing' again. What was it that was so damned irresistable about it?

He batted at the bird's beak slightly, trying to push it forward further.. and got a slight bite for his troubles.

This may take a while..

Noticing Assassin's difficulties, Idran rides up to him, intending to give him a bit of help with his chocobo.

"Need some help? I might not be an expert, but I've used a few chocobos in my time. I could give you some pointers."

"Any assistance would be appreciated." Assassin nodded as he stepped away from his Chocobo, which let off a slight 'Wark' and turned to him, eyeing his selective clothing style once again.

"This bird is refusing to allow me to get back on.. seems interested in these for some reason." He idly fingered one of the countless rags that bound together his outfit. "If you have any idea..."

"Hmm, that is odd. Unless you've been rolling around in seed or something like that, I don't see why he'd do that. Maybe he's just curious."

Idran dismounts his chocobo, and walks over to Assassin's, patting its head.

"You want to switch birds with me? Mine seems fairly well-behaved, and this one doesn't seem to like my..."

As he speaks, it begins nibbling on his own coat as well.

"...well, at the very least, it won't be able to reach it while I'm on it's back."

"That would work for me.. I very much appreciate it." Assassin nodded as he looked to Idran's Chocobo, praying that this one would not aim for something else. Such as his eyes.

Its beak was large enough to take an eye, or two.. how ominous.

Assassin thusly waved a hand towards his ex-'boco. "Should you really want to trade, it is all yours."

"All right. Glad I could help."

With that, Idran hops onto Assassin's former Chocobo. He prods it into motion, and follows Siolen down to the town gates.

Assassin managed to hop onto his own after a bit of effort. This one didn't seem to care so much about what he was wearing, and actually moved forward..

Well, he had to edge it in the right direction, as it seemed to be determined to head in the opposite direction. This lasted only a few moments, and soon enough, he was following Idran's lead, after Siolen.

Riding quietly, Jaeko simply kept to himself, allowing Petty to continue looking over his guns.

Silvanus just kept his mouth shut after his question. Prodding his chocobo into motion, he set off himself, following Siolen's lead.

Just HAD to get yourself involved in everything, eh Silvanus?
Listen, Fabelia, I don't care what you would have done. Just because you have some bond to me doesn't mean you're in full control. Besides, the job's still not done.
Yeah yeah, whatever.

The group made their way down to the city without any other major incidents, pausing to drop their chocobos off at some stables near the gates. From there, they followed their somewhat unwilling guide to a large building on the outskirts.

It was a three story building, seemingly an inn. At least, that was what the sign proclaimed it as - the Silver Crown. If it was indeed silver, then it was the tarnished sort, battered and run-down.

Not the sort of place that would attract a high class clientelle.

Petty had long since handed Jaeko back his weapons, although the thought of tossing them over some sort of ledge had occurred to him, deciding instead to vow that he'd get real good at enchanting one day, and make his own magic bow.

"About time we found somewhere t'lay our heads down." he said to no one in particular, making a mental note to keep his money pouch tied that little bit tighter around here.

Jaeko gave the building a glance. Then another. "You sure? This doesn't look like it's a really classy kinda place. I don't know about you, but I don't like bugs coming out of the matress when I lay down."

"Come on, ain't t'at bad, I'm sure." replied Petty in the inn's defense, although he was having his own doubts about the sanitary conditions of the place now.

Looking at the building, Idran speaks up himself.

"...Yes, if this is the only option, I'll head back to my house for the night."

"Look, it's Jin's bloody hideout," the prisoner said, in a tone bordering on exasperated. "He's got his room on the second floor and most of the guests are here to get their orders and the like."

Jeako's look changed to one of slight embarassment. Under his breath, he muttered- "..Oh, yeah. I knew that." He took a minute to adjust himself, then spoke louder. "Now I guess we go in and talk to him, right?" He took one of his pistols out, making sure it was loaded, then looked around, begining to speak again. "Shouldn't be too hard. I don't know of many people who'll keep quiet after getting a bullet in their knee."

"And if he's one of those quiet ones, I'll find a way to get him talking."

Silvanus, who had kept silent until now, bore a tone of extreme confidence in his voice. "Still nothing, mind you."

Assassin looked at the inn silently. He had no real issue to take up with it... if the issue called for it, however, he would rest outside, as he was accustomed to.

Upon hearing this information from the prisoner, however, he nodded and calmly began to walk towards the front entrance. "Well, then. If this is where we are heading for, why waste time?"

Petty bit his lip, feeling just a little bit stupid.

"Let's just get in t'ere, aye?" he said, eager to move on and leave his embarrassment behind him.

Muttering to hmself, the prisoner led the way inside. The interior was quite a good match for the exterior, grimy and ill-lit. Most of the patrons in the common room were bent industriously over their drinks, seemingly occupied with the serious business of getting drunk.

From behind the bar, the tender regarded them with a flat stare, engaged in polishing a glass. Given the likely quality of the drink and the appearance of the rag he was using, this may have been a lost cause.

"Charmin' place, t'is..." the archer muttered under his breath. He was all for a good drink, but this place somehow managed to fall well below his standards.

Assassin briefly wrinkled his nose (a gesture mostly unseen due to his 'ecletic' style of clothing) and took a few glances around, attempting to place what was giving him a sense of unease about this place.

He wasn't able to nail down anything specific, but the feeling manifested and continued... he looked to the bartender, hoping that he could provide some sort of greeting.

Meanwhile, Idran stays in the back of the group, waiting for another to step forward and get whatever information this bartender may have on their petrifying friend. Not that good with this type of situation, he decides this is the best course of action for him to take.

The bartender's greeting consisted of a brief grunt of "What'll it be?" Clearly they were dealing with a master of conversation here.

Jaeko thought a minute...It may be a good idea to ask this guy what he knew...But then again, it may not be. He walked closer to the bar, and lowers his shades, looking over them at the bartender, and began to whisper. "What can you tell us about the people here?"

A single raised eyebrow was the initial answer to Jaeko's question. In addition, one hand was extended, palm out. It seemed Jaeko would have to pay for any information.

Jaeko narrowed his eyes a bit, causing the silver glow to intensify. He didn't like the idea of paying the man for information about a criminal, but it seems that's the way things worked around here. Quickly fetching a couple Gil coins from a pocket, he dropped them into the mans hand. "We need any information you can give us about a man named Jin. Or a mage of some sort that might be staying here."

Seeing that Jaeko had taken care of things, Silvanus glanced to the others again.

His eyes narrowed as he turned back to Jaeko and then to the bartender. His right hand raised to head level, as Silvanus menacingly pointed that hand's index finger at the bartender.

His eyes remained narrowed during all of this, which perhaps meant suggesting a threat if the bartender tried to deny their request.

"Jin, eh?" the bartender said, after sweeping the coins out of sight, "Got some business to discuss with him, eh?" From his tone, this was nothing new. "You're in luck - he's in today. You'll find him on the second floor, third room on the left. Don't know anything about any mage, though."

Next to Silvanus, the prisoner spoke up softly, "Look, I've brought you here. Can I go now? I don't care what you do to Jin, I just don't want to get caught in the crossfire."

Assassin watched the scene with a bit of resentment. "There's no need to cause further hostility. Such would only slow down an already complicated mission."

Noting the prisoner's apparent desire to leave them, the ragged man simply looked at him and slowly shook his head. "Involvement with such forces should bring about some form of punishment. Considering we've brought you to relatively safe, civilized grounds, to release you would not insure your stopping of criminal actions, regardless of your lack of loyalty to this Jin."

He brushed a scrap of cloth out of his right eye. Bah.

"All I need do," the prisoner said, keeping his voice low, "is give one shout and you'll have the entire room down on your heads. I don't think you want that, so you're best off just letting me go."

It was difficult to tell whether or not he was bluffing.