“Right then, first thing’s first,” Ranzal declared as he picked up the quill he’d found and double checked the tip before dipping it into the ink, already building a mental map of what Urahara would need to know to get to the Capital. “We’re here, in the Mistholt.” he said as he scrawled a quick ‘x’ nearly on the edge of the paper he’d found, then sketched a slightly wobbly line south-east until he scrawled another ‘x’. “If ya follow the path out, you’ll find Rovetelle just on the border.”

Urahara hummed and leaned a bit further over the table, tail twitching and one claw tapping lightly against the tabletop. “I take it that’s the only way out?”

“Unlikely,” Ranzal answered before anyone else could. “But we just got here, and the Mistholt was impossible ta map before his highness cleared it out.”

“Cleo, do you know any other way out?” Euden asked as she came to join them.

Cleo pursed her lips then shook her head. “Sorry, but I don’t… I don’t really remember anything. I haven’t left the forest in a long time.”

Ranzal shrugged and dipped the quill back into the ink. “Don’t matter none, Rovetelle’s where the fun begins,” he reassured absently, debating how many paths he wanted to offer Urahara; the dragon struck him as a cunning being, the sort who would appreciate multiple routes in case of trouble. He squinted at the paper, mentally mapping out the straight route to the Capital, and then triumphantly leaned over to scrawl a larger ‘x’ in the approximate location. “Here’s the Capital,” he told Urahara as he circled it. “Ya can’t miss it from the air if that’s how ya wanna get there.”

“I have a feeling that should be left as a last resort,” Urahara said with a small, wry smile. “Especially if I want to be stealthy.”

“True.” With that confirmation, Ranzal reached out to sketch a rough approximation of the direct route, marking as many towns as he could remember with dots of ink along the way; a few quick triangles to mark mountains, some squiggles for trees, a thick scribble to mark the river, and he had a very basic map drawn up. Another pass and he’d marked a route through the mountain’s foothills. A third and he had another that swooped further south and then back up along more mountains to reach the Capital that way. “Might be a couple small hamlets I forgot, but ya can’t miss the Capital if you just keep on any of these routes. It’s right around the foot of this mountain chain, backed against this river. There’s only one official gate in on this side, so if that’s guarded—”

“Which it shouldn’t be,” Euden cut in with a frown, then sighed and shook his head when his sister nudged his side. “Sorry, Ranzal. The gate should have guards to watch for trouble, but they shouldn’t be stopping anyone. If they are then something is really wrong.”

“That’s why I’m going to investigate,” Urahara said with confidence, then drummed his fingers against the table as he stared thoughtfully at the sketchy map; whatever was going through his head, Ranzal couldn’t catch a hint of it beyond the edge of calculation that flickered in the dragon’s odd red- and gold-streaked grey eyes. “Is there another way in if that one’s blocked?”

“You’ll need to go over the wall, or round back and in through the river,” Ranzal answered immediately, beginning to sketch a rough outline of the city on a fresh portion of the paper. “Not sure if there’s a best place, really. I never noticed any obvious points when I was there.”

Euden held out his hand to Ranzal. “I… might know another few ways,” he said hesitantly as he accepted the quill and dipped it into the ink then began to add his own sketches onto the map. “If you can get up on the cliff over here, there’s a bridge that leads into the city, close to the palace. It’s a place where a lot of nobles live, though…”

“So I’ll be immediately caught if I’m noticed,” Urahara finished with a nod. “I won’t be, but thank you for the warning.”

“Right. Okay,” Euden said, clearly forcing himself to refocus. “Zethia, could you help me? He’ll need to know the layout of the castle and grounds. Those are patrolled just like the noble quarters are, so we’ll need to do our best.”

“Right, I think I know some ways around that you don’t,” Zethia agreed as she leaned over the map with Euden and set to it.

Ranzal crossed his arms over his chest and straightened up a bit, absently rubbing thumb and forefinger together as he examined Urahara while the dragon was distracted by the twins; he’d seen many confident and overconfident men during his time as a mercenary, but his instincts were telling him that this dragon wasn’t the latter. For as showy and dramatic as his fight with the maybe-king had been, and as awkward as he seemed to be at having a tail, everything Ranzal had so far seen pointed towards a person who knew his abilities intimately.

If they’d met before this chaos, he’d have invited Urahara to travel with him for a time, even if it meant traveling with the man’s little cousin as well, Ranzal decided with finality; Urahara was everything he looked for in a mercenary partner — competent, capable, and no-nonsense when it mattered — and Ishida didn’t strike him as useless, just wounded and uncertain of his place, which made sense if the other had just been rescued.

(Which was troubling.)

(This was Alberia, the land of dragonblooded royals and the Ilian Church.)

(Who — or what — had dared to capture at least two dragons?)

(And would they try to recapture them?)

Ranzal frowned as he considered his options; he couldn’t leave Euden’s side quite yet, but he had no doubt that they’d be traveling just as soon as Urahara returned with news. If he spent a bit of time asking around with his contacts whenever they stopped at a town, he might be able to drum up an answer before the lingering question came back to bite them at the worst possible moment.

Forewarned was forearmed after all, and it looked like Euden’s determination had swept Urahara up just like it had swept him up, so the dragon was likely to remain with them for a time even though Euden had already forged a pact with the Windwyrm.

Well, at least he knew he could count on Urahara to help him protect the young prince and princess.

He had a feeling he’d need all the help he could get.