Fantasy A Sword to Wield with a Broken Hilt IC

[CasualTea]

Finally. The exchange of names. Even though the path to get there was never intended, his way of reasoning makes her out to be a total sellout. Of course, it still seemed like he had a stick up his ass, she didn't mind it anymore. He's got some claw marks too. While walking she spoke, giving her name all to easily only knowing that whatever information he could get from her would only be stuff from Dral. There would be hardly anything from Kharien or Penari. Unless her parents joined the rebellion and bragged about abandoning a daughter merely because she wanted to be a blade, then Faenor wouldn't know anything about her at the moment. "...Yona. No surname unfortunately. Probably for the best though." She couldn't remember her surname even if she tried. Even if she knew of it, she still wouldn't make it a part of her. Even though her parents were mages, she just hated the fact they abandoned her just like that and left her a gift so she could fuck herself with it at the start of her career.

"Well, good thing I never accept requests to guard someone's life. I'm only good at taking it." She said in response to Faenor's rating of her protection services. Even though, she did find in some small way that it was supposed to cheer her up a bit. Listening to him talk also gave her good information. Especially, the Hilt's name and that the Rebellion of Mages was still active. Not like she cared at all about the Rebellion. Of course, seeing how he was of noble stature and that he was in the Rebellion, he must be a pretty high ranking individual. She wouldn't be surprised if he decided to task informants to find out more about Yona. Since he told all of this, she'll just do the same. "I suppose you'd just call me a former enforcer of a syndicate from Dral. Called me a 'Zealot' and that's what they remember me by. Learned my magic in Kharien, but I believe you'd be a little pissed that an ex-Blade from Penari is helping you like this. As to how I got to this, it's complicated. I'll tell you the story another day if you really wish. But for now, we've things to do." She said assuming he'd want to listen, but also assuming, which was highly likely, he wouldn't give two shits. Time to complete this trade. "You know my name, so I must ask you yours. It's only fair." She asked ready to commit this name to mind. With this one's destruction pyro magic and her electro, she would expect that they would do most of the street sweeping in the group.

 

[The True Plague]

Of course his path of reasoning would make her out to be the most uncharitable thing he could. It's just how this works. To maintain his signature smugness, he had to believe himself superior. Thus, mentally, he downplays everyone to the least charitable interpretations thus allowing him to maintain his smugness, even in situations where he's basically monster chow if he didn't have the help he did. As for the parents thing... It wouldn't be the first, or the last time he's heard of parents abandoning their children. Be it children abandoned for joining the Rebellion, or disowned by parents for not wanting to. Mages are odd about such things... Nevertheless, he decided to remember the name. Yona. Perhaps see if anyone in the Rebellion has heard the name before shooting it off to the more secretive of their order.

"It it none of my concern whether you were once a Blade or not. Unless you still are, or seek to hunt down mages despite no longer being associated, that's more just an unfortunate piece of information." Look, he believed he had enough of a target on his back and enough enemies due to being an Elf Mage. No use making needless enemies with those who've broken off from the Blades. He was honestly more interested in the name of who taught her... But this wasn't exactly the time to be doing a get to know you session. Mostly he was trying to alleviate how awkward this was.

"As for my name... I, am Romulus Faenor, Scion of House Fae of Rhas, and one of many advisors to Algar Thaeno. Alas, no real spectacle to my training or gathering of knowledge to note. Nothing but a century of practice and honing."

CasualTea

 

[CasualTea]

"...Faenor, then." She said to affirm his name. The other stuff sounded irrelevant to her. However, the name Algar Thaeno was the only thing familiar she heard from his pompous introduction. If he was an advisor to Algar Thaeno, that's got to be high in the Rebellion's rankings. Of course, he had the fire power to be worthy of said rank. But doesn't that mean his job is to give advice to his leader then? Probably no wonder he can barely hold his own in hand to hand combat. It was either that or all mages from the Rebellion are like that, despite being a sort of combatant faction.

Yona didn't put much thought into this as they eventually gained a line of sight on the stables. The door wide open, looking like it was kicked in. Yona could only assume. "Fuckers got to the horses. Great." She said with dismay however it was soon replaced by a slight breath of relief being released. What she saw as she peered more inside of it was Sitra, the thief and her dog and another individual who looked to be a Blade. But besides all of them, there was another thing that came to view for her. "Huh. Never mind. Some of the horses survived. Mules too. Lucky." She said as she continued towards the stables, starting to hear Sitra's voice and making out her words as she drew near. "Guess we're resting here for a bit." She said before coming through the doors of the stables and dispelled her electro charge from her free hand and used it to wave at them. "Hey. Where've you two been? Or three, including the dog."

She made not a great entrance upon regrouping with some of her teammates. She'd ask where the Blade came from, but seeing as how nothing happened to the girls tells her that he was one to help them. Perfect. More numbers the better, plus it'd be good to have someone reliable in a fight rather than the thief. She also looked scared shitless too. Finally though, Yona moved to the inside of the stables where there was a pile of hay and began setting Faenor down. "Here, rest. It's not like the beds back at the house but it'll do for now." She said. "Fucking hell, you're heavy." She added before sighing. Once that was done, it finally hit her that she's been fighting in nothing but a button up shirt for awhile now. How indecent this must look.

She soon shook the thought of it before taking a seat to rest. She sat down next to Faenor, making sure to sit in a way that doesn't reveal too much by closing her legs tight and looking around for a towel or cloak just so she can cover herself.

 

[Goonfire]

The loud clash caused Hackel to freeze for a moment. The gust emerging from the church pushed against him, forcing him back nearly a foot, even when anchored down to cover Alterne. Hesitantly, he eased the girl onto the ground, feet first. He still ushered the girls along, ensuring his pace matched hers. It was a relief to see the demons had stopped pouring from the portals. Trusting that airhead and his impromptu partners would finish the job, he headed for the church.

Slipping in, Hackel could see the bloodbath. Even for a veteran Blade, the sight disturbed him. Then, he beheld the scene of the Hilt, battered and bloodied, lines like cracks emerging from beneath the choker. ‘What the... Worry about it later!’ he thought. Next to Anselm was a tall demon with its armor shattered. ‘Target spotted...’

Immediately, the bounty hunter leapt diagonally, casting his hook to catch and rip the rest of the armor from the demon. With a great pull and a little luck, he’d open it up to direct blows from the two girls. To better his chances of success, he used his momentum and twisted around to add leverage to his tug.

seasonedcat Firelie AriAriAbabwa

 

[Juju]

Tiria & Siv

---

Interaction: seasonedcat Idea CasualTea | Mention: The True Plague​

---

One moment Tiria was stabbing the monster and the next its head was rolling on the floor. She hardly heard the door bust open, or the footsteps of the approaching Blade. The last thing she noticed was a rush of air slashing over her head, and then the spray of black ichor.

Tiria stood in disbelief for a moment, clutching her shiv tightly and staring at the limp body of the monster. Her heart was racing, her mind lagging behind the situation. Someone was talking to her. A man? She didn't recognize his voice.

Then he grabbed onto her face, looking for wounds. Tiria thanked him by swatting away his hands and struggling away. "Get off! Off! Siv, where's Siv?"

Wiping the monster-blood off her face with a sleeve, she looked around wildly for her dog, and found him standing over the slain monster. There was a fresh bloom of red on his white fur, just over his right shoulder where the monster's claws had grabbed him. His two tails were puffed up, his hackles bristling, but she didn't really care about appearances right now. Tiria scurried over to her friend and checked the injury.

"Sorry buddy, that was my fault..." She muttered to him, parting his fur to get a better look at the scratch. It was bleeding, but it wasn't too deep. He'd be fine; the both of them had had worse. Siv was tough as nails, and cut the whole crap of feeling sorry for himself like most people. He didn't whine, he just looked at Tiria with his one good eye and licked her face. "Heh, that's right... can't be miffed, huh?"

She looked through her bag, searching for something to stop the bleeding, when she heard a heavy breath nearby. She was suddenly reminded of the horse she saved, who was laying in the straw with its sides heaving in pain. Rising to her feet, Tiria walked a little closer to the horse that had been attacked by the monster. Unlike Siv, the beast was bleeding substantially after the ugly monster had tried to eat it alive. It might actually bleed out if she didn't do anything.

Tiria turned around, hoping to find something, when she was stood face to face with Sitira. The girl started to ask about her health, worried that she'd catch a cold, but seeing her face only made a flame of anger rise up. Tiria's eyes narrowed into a hateful glare. "No. You can go away. We don't need help from a mage!"

She spat the word 'mage' like it was something bitter in her mouth. She turned her back to Sitra and continued to rummage around the stall, ignoring everything Sitra said. As far as she was concerned, if she told the blade where the others were he might feel compelled to rush off and help them. That meant Tiria couldn't use him as protection. So instead of telling him any information, she kept it to herself while looking for a bandage substitute.

The best she could find was a saddle blanket. She didn't care which one of her companions owned it (though faintly she hoped it was Faenor's), she simply plucked it from the rack and brought it over to the horse. Now that the horse was laying down, it didn't seem as scary. It's head was still enormous and its hooves looked like murder weapons, but Tiria tried to pretend it was just a large dog. She knelt beside the horse and pressed the folded saddle blanket against the wound. When it flinched, Tiria jumped back, but once it settled she pressed her hands onto it again. She felt warm, sticky blood beneath the blanket and cursed herself for ever agreeing to follow these mages into oblivion.

Speaking of which, two of her 'companions' entered the stables. Both were covered in monster bits and ash, though Faenor looked ready to keel over. Tiria was quick to notice the lingering lightning on Yona's hands and felt her stomach clench again. Just how many mages were there? She grit her teeth and pressed her hands onto the horse's side, hoping both of them would be gobbled up by monsters.

"Bugger off..." she growled in response to Yona's cheery greeting.

Siv sat nearby, licking his wounds.

 

[Idea]

• Coded
• Phone Version
• Semi-Coded

• Sitra​

  

  
  Well, it was only natural she would go take care of her pet first. Even back in Titan's Cradle people took care of their pets properly, but in her case it wasn't something born out of routine. The worry in her expression hurt to see, and so a certain feeling of relief did in fact wash over me as I witnessed the animal licking its owner. Even so, though, what if Tiria was hurt too! Even if the girl was willing to neglect her condition, I had just wound up running up to her without hesitation and panicking on her for a few moments. So, maybe I had some push-back coming just getting all up on her personal space like that, but well...
  
  Well, I certainly didn't expect that kind of glare.
  
  

  Flashback​

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  "Not here... Not here either... Doesn't seem like there's any here." I breathed a sigh of relief. Doing this on every town I passed by was just exhausting. Far better than the alternative though. I straightened my back and threw an arm up in the air and stretched it and my back both. My body felt jolted and relaxed at once. "Hnnnnnnnnn! Now that hits the spot. Maybe I can go do something fun today."
  
  Passing the time with a golem-doll (a tiny golem created with an earth spell, they could barely drag a basket, but they were adorable!) immediately sprung to mind. Hehe, maybe I might even get away with some pranks! It was hardly anything uncommon in Titan's Cradle, but the smile it brought to my face didn't last long as I turned to face the tavern tables, and the blood coating the blade of the man who walked in bragging about how he 'got himself a spell-spitter' and refused the employee's request to leave (cause he was dirtying the floor).
  
  It wasn't just that. If one paid attention, there were rumors about it anywhere one cared to listen.
  
  "He got one? You can swat a fly and it'll turn out to have some magic nowadays, won't it?"
  
  "And if you miss, you hit a monster."
  
  "Bet you they have something to do with what happened to the Hilt."
  
  The hilt. I heard of her, I knew she was someone important. I'd also been scolded for asking what happened... But it seemed she wanted peace with mages. A feeling, said scolder told me, that not that many shared, or so it seemed.
  
  "Or maybe what the Hilt did. Knew we shouldn't have trusted her or the bastards."
  
  "New one walking right back in to make the same mistake. Have you heard? Apparently he is accepting mages in his little expedition group. He is mad I tell you, mad, going within 10 feet of those monsterblooders without trying to lop their head off."
  
  New Hilt? And he was accepting mages? Expeditions were those things were you travelled with a group, right? To go do uh... something. I thought I had no more business with those papers in the walls, but just in case I searched them some more, and I found it: It said it right there. The hilt was forming a group, and everyone who was willing to lend a hand was welcome. Even mages. I needed to stay on the move, so that was good anyway, and maybe I wasn't the best fighter out there, but I could certainly swing a sword well enough for a guard-to-be and I had my spells too. What kind of people would be there? What was this wonderful place where I wouldn't have to be so worried? Maybe I would even find someone right for me. I clutched the paper. I had to go there! I had to join them!
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  
  The look in Tiria's eye seemed as though it pressed on me. It was like the cat I pulled out of a hole when I first left, that look of an animal standing its ground and readying it claws, weary after you hurt it -purposefully or otherwise. Worrying, startling, rejecting your very presence. I wanted to apologize, but I didn't even know what I could apologize for. Though admittedly this impression was tinted by the tone of her words.
  
  I stood up, and took a step back, then smiled at her with a pair of thumbs ups. Sure, it stung, but that didn't matter right now. I wasn't sure if she was hurt, but she HAD to be cold, so I was going to do something about that at least.
  
  "Got it! You don't need any help from me, so I won't. Sure is cold in here though. And I've got all these cuts... And fighting sure makes your stomach howl. So I'll just help myself there. And maybe I'll just get lucky and pick out too much. Silly, am I right?"
  
  Rather than rummaging around blindly, I went straight for the supplies we had on the horses we came in. I could always apologize later if I was taking something I shouldn't be. Food rations were easy enough to come about, I pocketed some at once to keep my hands free, especially since there was no guarantee there would not be another attack here. I shivered a bit coming close to the horses, afraid of what they might do since I wasn't sure how to handle them. I was as careful as I could not to hurt or startled them, but admittedly I did end up jumping in place a couple times when they started getting a bit more agitated.
  
  Next up I found some blankets, made sense to have some rolled up especially since we rode here from a colder region. Stuff to warm you up would a basic, of course. Then, right as I managed to pick out something that seemed like medical supplies of some sort, the two of them walked in: The woman who helped with riding the horse, and Faenor. A wide smile spread through my face, and I almost rushed out to go greet them, even half-raising an arm, but then I realized Faenor was leaning on the woman's shoulder, the two of them probably injured.
  
  I headed to them immediately, though more carefully than I would have with my initial excitement. I placed the medicine stuff and rations I took, both wrapped up in the blankets, near Tiria, and went to the woman.
  
  "I just had to go out to do something, then I got caught up with some hunting or something. What happened? Do you know where the others are? Those monsters were everywhere after that thing showed up in the sky!"
  
  
• Sitra​

  

  
  Well, it was only natural she would go take care of her pet first. Even back in Titan's Cradle people took care of their pets properly, but in her case it wasn't something born out of routine. The worry in her expression hurt to see, and so a certain feeling of relief did in fact wash over me as I witnessed the animal licking its owner. Even so, though, what if Tiria was hurt too! Even if the girl was willing to neglect her condition, I had just wound up running up to her without hesitation and panicking on her for a few moments. So, maybe I had some push-back coming just getting all up on her personal space like that, but well...
  
  Well, I certainly didn't expect that kind of glare.
  
  

  Flashback​

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  "Not here... Not here either... Doesn't seem like there's any here." I breathed a sigh of relief. Doing this on every town I passed by was just exhausting. Far better than the alternative though. I straightened my back and threw an arm up in the air and stretched it and my back both. My body felt jolted and relaxed at once. "Hnnnnnnnnn! Now that hits the spot. Maybe I can go do something fun today."
  
  Passing the time with a golem-doll (a tiny golem created with an earth spell, they could barely drag a basket, but they were adorable!) immediately sprung to mind. Hehe, maybe I might even get away with some pranks! It was hardly anything uncommon in Titan's Cradle, but the smile it brought to my face didn't last long as I turned to face the tavern tables, and the blood coating the blade of the man who walked in bragging about how he 'got himself a spell-spitter' and refused the employee's request to leave (cause he was dirtying the floor).
  
  It wasn't just that. If one paid attention, there were rumors about it anywhere one cared to listen.
  
  "He got one? You can swat a fly and it'll turn out to have some magic nowadays, won't it?"
  
  "And if you miss, you hit a monster."
  
  "Bet you they have something to do with what happened to the Hilt."
  
  The hilt. I heard of her, I knew she was someone important. I'd also been scolded for asking what happened... But it seemed she wanted peace with mages. A feeling, said scolder told me, that not that many shared, or so it seemed.
  
  "Or maybe what the Hilt did. Knew we shouldn't have trusted her or the bastards."
  
  "New one walking right back in to make the same mistake. Have you heard? Apparently he is accepting mages in his little expedition group. He is mad I tell you, mad, going within 10 feet of those monsterblooders without trying to lop their head off."
  
  New Hilt? And he was accepting mages? Expeditions were those things were you travelled with a group, right? To go do uh... something. I thought I had no more business with those papers in the walls, but just in case I searched them some more, and I found it: It said it right there. The hilt was forming a group, and everyone who was willing to lend a hand was welcome. Even mages. I needed to stay on the move, so that was good anyway, and maybe I wasn't the best fighter out there, but I could certainly swing a sword well enough for a guard-to-be and I had my spells too. What kind of people would be there? What was this wonderful place where I wouldn't have to be so worried? Maybe I would even find someone right for me. I clutched the paper. I had to go there! I had to join them!
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  
  The look in Tiria's eye seemed as though it pressed on me. It was like the cat I pulled out of a hole when I first left, that look of an animal standing its ground and readying it claws, weary after you hurt it -purposefully or otherwise. Worrying, startling, rejecting your very presence. I wanted to apologize, but I didn't even know what I could apologize for. Though admittedly this impression was tinted by the tone of her words.
  
  I stood up, and took a step back, then smiled at her with a pair of thumbs ups. Sure, it stung, but that didn't matter right now. I wasn't sure if she was hurt, but she HAD to be cold, so I was going to do something about that at least.
  
  "Got it! You don't need any help from me, so I won't. Sure is cold in here though. And I've got all these cuts... And fighting sure makes your stomach howl. So I'll just help myself there. And maybe I'll just get lucky and pick out too much. Silly, am I right?"
  
  Rather than rummaging around blindly, I went straight for the supplies we had on the horses we came in. I could always apologize later if I was taking something I shouldn't be. Food rations were easy enough to come about, I pocketed some at once to keep my hands free, especially since there was no guarantee there would not be another attack here. I shivered a bit coming close to the horses, afraid of what they might do since I wasn't sure how to handle them. I was as careful as I could not to hurt or startled them, but admittedly I did end up jumping in place a couple times when they started getting a bit more agitated.
  
  Next up I found some blankets, made sense to have some rolled up especially since we rode here from a colder region. Stuff to warm you up would a basic, of course. Then, right as I managed to pick out something that seemed like medical supplies of some sort, the two of them walked in: The woman who helped with riding the horse, and Faenor. A wide smile spread through my face, and I almost rushed out to go greet them, even half-raising an arm, but then I realized Faenor was leaning on the woman's shoulder, the two of them probably injured.
  
  I headed to them immediately, though more carefully than I would have with my initial excitement. I placed the medicine stuff and rations I took, both wrapped up in the blankets, near Tiria, and went to the woman.
  
  "I just had to go out to do something, then I got caught up with some hunting or something. What happened? Do you know where the others are? Those monsters were everywhere after that thing showed up in the sky!"
  
  
• 
  
  Well, it was only natural she would go take care of her pet first. Even back in Titan's Cradle people took care of their pets properly, but in her case it wasn't something born out of routine. The worry in her expression hurt to see, and so a certain feeling of relief did in fact wash over me as I witnessed the animal licking its owner. Even so, though, what if Tiria was hurt too! Even if the girl was willing to neglect her condition, I had just wound up running up to her without hesitation and panicking on her for a few moments. So, maybe I had some push-back coming just getting all up on her personal space like that, but well...
  
  Well, I certainly didn't expect that kind of glare.
  
  
  Flashback​
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  "Not here... Not here either... Doesn't seem like there's any here." I breathed a sigh of relief. Doing this on every town I passed by was just exhausting. Far better than the alternative though. I straightened my back and threw an arm up in the air and stretched it and my back both. My body felt jolted and relaxed at once. "Hnnnnnnnnn! Now that hits the spot. Maybe I can go do something fun today."
  
  Passing the time with a golem-doll (a tiny golem created with an earth spell, they could barely drag a basket, but they were adorable!) immediately sprung to mind. Hehe, maybe I might even get away with some pranks! It was hardly anything uncommon in Titan's Cradle, but the smile it brought to my face didn't last long as I turned to face the tavern tables, and the blood coating the blade of the man who walked in bragging about how he 'got himself a spell-spitter' and refused the employee's request to leave (cause he was dirtying the floor).
  
  It wasn't just that. If one paid attention, there were rumors about it anywhere one cared to listen.
  
  "He got one? You can swat a fly and it'll turn out to have some magic nowadays, won't it?"
  
  "And if you miss, you hit a monster."
  
  "Bet you they have something to do with what happened to the Hilt."
  
  The hilt. I heard of her, I knew she was someone important. I'd also been scolded for asking what happened... But it seemed she wanted peace with mages. A feeling, said scolder told me, that not that many shared, or so it seemed.
  
  "Or maybe what the Hilt did. Knew we shouldn't have trusted her or the bastards."
  
  "New one walking right back in to make the same mistake. Have you heard? Apparently he is accepting mages in his little expedition group. He is mad I tell you, mad, going within 10 feet of those monsterblooders without trying to lop their head off."
  
  New Hilt? And he was accepting mages? Expeditions were those things were you travelled with a group, right? To go do uh... something. I thought I had no more business with those papers in the walls, but just in case I searched them some more, and I found it: It said it right there. The hilt was forming a group, and everyone who was willing to lend a hand was welcome. Even mages. I needed to stay on the move, so that was good anyway, and maybe I wasn't the best fighter out there, but I could certainly swing a sword well enough for a guard-to-be and I had my spells too. What kind of people would be there? What was this wonderful place where I wouldn't have to be so worried? Maybe I would even find someone right for me. I clutched the paper. I had to go there! I had to join them!
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  
  The look in Tiria's eye seemed as though it pressed on me. It was like the cat I pulled out of a hole when I first left, that look of an animal standing its ground and readying it claws, weary after you hurt it -purposefully or otherwise. Worrying, startling, rejecting your very presence. I wanted to apologize, but I didn't even know what I could apologize for. Though admittedly this impression was tinted by the tone of her words.
  
  I stood up, and took a step back, then smiled at her with a pair of thumbs ups. Sure, it stung, but that didn't matter right now. I wasn't sure if she was hurt, but she HAD to be cold, so I was going to do something about that at least.
  
  "Got it! You don't need any help from me, so I won't. Sure is cold in here though. And I've got all these cuts... And fighting sure makes your stomach howl. So I'll just help myself there. And maybe I'll just get lucky and pick out too much. Silly, am I right?"
  
  Rather than rummaging around blindly, I went straight for the supplies we had on the horses we came in. I could always apologize later if I was taking something I shouldn't be. Food rations were easy enough to come about, I pocketed some at once to keep my hands free, especially since there was no guarantee there would not be another attack here. I shivered a bit coming close to the horses, afraid of what they might do since I wasn't sure how to handle them. I was as careful as I could not to hurt or startled them, but admittedly I did end up jumping in place a couple times when they started getting a bit more agitated.
  
  Next up I found some blankets, made sense to have some rolled up especially since we rode here from a colder region. Stuff to warm you up would a basic, of course. Then, right as I managed to pick out something that seemed like medical supplies of some sort, the two of them walked in: The woman who helped with riding the horse, and Faenor. A wide smile spread through my face, and I almost rushed out to go greet them, even half-raising an arm, but then I realized Faenor was leaning on the woman's shoulder, the two of them probably injured.
  
  I headed to them immediately, though more carefully than I would have with my initial excitement. I placed the medicine stuff and rations I took, both wrapped up in the blankets, near Tiria, and went to the woman.
  
  "I just had to go out to do something, then I got caught up with some hunting or something. What happened? Do you know where the others are? Those monsters were everywhere after that thing showed up in the sky!"
  
  

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Interacting With: Juju CasualTea The True Plague
Mentions: N/A
Might Also Want to Read: seasonedcat​

 

[Firelie]

Alterne Ember​

Last night I came to the Concursum, the space at the centre of the Mansus, which has been called the Chamber of Mirrors. From here the Hours may pass to any place in the Mansus. I saw the Meniscate rise in the cobalt glory of the Chamber's light, dancer-lithe, moon-bright, and she reflected my face in her own and this morning that is all I can see.​

---

Hackel finally let Alterne down. A surge of pain shot through her injured ankle as weight was put on it. Alterne tried her best to ignore the throbbing pain, there were more important things at the moment after all. Alterne gritted her teeth and ran into the church after Hackel, head down as she followed the thin line of light that only she could see. Guiding light filled her vision as she stepped into the destroyed church, and the sobbing voice of the voice in her head cried out "Fire! The fire! Burn it all to ash!" Alterne's heart sank at the order, she hated this part. With gritted teeth she steeled herself and pulled at her shackles. The chain clattered and clockwork began to spin up from within the ivory shackles. Pain shot through Alterne's wrists as dozens of small needles embedded themselves into her wrists. Crimson seeped into once invisible patterns across the white shackles, creating beautifully crafted patterns reminescent of wildfire. Alterne stumbled slightly as wooziness enveloped her. Still, she ran onwards, following the path of light towards the terrifying presence within the church. Fear seeped into her heart as she ran closer and closer to the lumbering monster. She wanted to turn and run, but she knew to disobey the voice in her head only brought her more pain.

Alterne stopped about ten feet from the monster and with labored breath held out her hands. "PH'NGLUI FM'LATGH VULGTMOTH FM'LATGHOR!" she screamed. The blood within her shackles lit up with sparkling orange. The blood seeping from her ankle burst into flame. Alterne prepared for the order to shoot to come through, the command to immolate this unholy beast, to purge it from this land. She waited, a modicum of excitement and hope filling her chest as she imagined blowing whatever this was to smithereens.

But no such order came. Alterne's guiding light flickered then disappeared as fear clutched at her heart. The adrenaline of the needles piercing her wore off leaving her with nothing but paralyzing fear. Alterne froze up mouth agape, head tilted at the ground where her guiding path once was. She went pale and screamed out in terror, uselessly raising her shackles at the gigantic monster in front of her. She tried to turn and run, but the blind girls foot caught on a lifeless corpse behind her. She fell backwards onto her back, whimpering as she tried to scoot away from the incoming spear.

Those involved: AriAriAbabwa Goonfire seasonedcat

 

[seasonedcat]

the stables quickly began to fill up, the majority of the group abandoning the gaping hole in the air and making their way to the building. Inside the two mages Faenor and Yona both had reached their limits, their mana storage near a complete empty, both experienced mages saving the last of their juice in case of emergency. The area smelt strongly of blood, the group injured along with one of the steads.

Borre found himself amidst this group, surprise rolling through him as the group increased, plus they all seemed to know each other. Were they part of the Hilt's group? He found himself frowning slightly at the thought of that knowledge. How much damage to the town had been caused by the mages among the group. He didn't offer too much mind to Tira's dismissal of help, he had seen many act the same in many situations, life threatening danger being the most common. As he went to offer more assistance he was made aware of the injured horse. His eyebrows rose as he quickly fell beside Tira before the horse.

"if you wouldn't mind a blade's help over a mage I could be of assistance to your friend here," he offered the girl a small smile as his hands hovered over hers asking for permission to help before he began, "I have been trained in medicine in my training." he added in hopes he could be of some help to them. He didn't bother giving the others help at the moment, focused on the dying horse than the simple injuries. He would attend to them if he could later.
Juju Idea The True Plague CasualTea
---
the town lay covered in bodies, some being the villagers, many being the massacred monsters who they had slain. The tear cast a dark light onto the group, its unsupervised self looking out on the town like a giant eye. The ground under it was rich with dead land that spread out, growing as it throbbed in the air.

past the tear a battle clashed in the church where bodies lay bloody on the ground. Anselm found his eyes blown wide as his allies rushed in, offering little hesitations to aid him, "and here I thought I'd be enjoying the party by myself." he offered, chucking wetly as blood trickled down his chin. His body shook as he font himself sliding down the spear he had been leaning on. His heavy heaving offering him no strength as he struggled to stand. For just a moment he watched in hopes of finding the strength to stand in the time.

Hackel's blade dug into the cracks on the armour, heaving a chunk off as he did so. When open he found himself staring at empty space that existed inside, a weaving of dark vines holding the armour together, all branching towards a pure black beating orb near the center of it's chest. It throbbed with a pseudo life, omitting a black light that ate away the light it touched.

despite this triumph, no attacks had been able to hit during Hackel's struggle, and he found himself being thrown off, a slash of it's blade gracing his chest as it threw him into the alter. The man rolled, the table knocking over with him and a candle falling over, the carpet he found himself laying on slowly going alight as he tried to recover.

The slash of Hackel danced over Alterne as she found herself falling over a body. Hackel's blood flew over her head and joined the blade as it grew slightly in size. The beast found itself absorbing more blood around it, it forming at the opening Hackel had made and forming a dark red cover for the hole, protecting it's insides again.

The beast then turned to Alterne, looming over the girl as it brought it's spear up and went to crash down onto her. "awe fuck-" came a breathy voice as Alterne could look up, a gust of wind blowing her hair around as she cowered. A few fat drops of blood fell onto her before floating back up to the beast.

Above her stood Anselm, his dark cracks or vines growing even more as he stood above her. His spear stood blocking most of the shot however, due to the slash type it had not been able to protect Alterne's whole body in time, instead he had offered his own body as the protection. A deep slash sat on his shoulder to bellow his breast, the other part of the enemies' blade being taut against the spear.

The beast quickly removed its blade, stuttering back a few steps as it offered what could be assumed a glare at Anselm. "I think that one's," Anselm heaved heavily interrupting himself before he continued, "gonna leave a real cool scar." he finished, offering her a bloody smile as his legs quickly gave out and he fell to his knees beside her.

the armor let out a sound similar to an annoyed huff, black smoke coming out of it's helmet as it did so. It was clearly getting annoyed by not being able to kill the group as of yet, but it also seemed like the group wasn't going to last very long with how things were going as of now. If anyone had any ideas, that would be great.
Goonfire AriAriAbabwa Firelie

 

[CasualTea]

Yona scowled at the thief's response. You really are just some child, huh? Well y'know fucking what...! She suppressed her anger towards her as there were bigger problems and concern. Dealing with the thief's prejudice towards mages wasn't worth it at the moment. This new blade, however could prove useful. As in, the just keep the thief in check. As long as she didn't have to deal with a lifeless meat sack and its furry bonus, then there would be no need to worry the rest of the party members. But she also wondered if he shared the same open prejudice towards mages as the thief does.

When she was being question by Sitra, her 'upbeat' expression was no longer present. It didn't mean she was totally angry at Sitra though, it's just annoyance due to the thief. "Well, we were just hanging out near the fireplace before the Hilt started rushing us to arms and those monsters started appearing. As to where they are, they're probably still in the church. Fighting..." She said before she started looking around the stables and investigating the horse from afar. She also noticed some traces of the dead monster that the thief probably killed. But was the stables actually safe? Yona started to get up, using her sword for support. Additional coverings will just have to wait.

"We killed most of the monsters, but not all of them. Especially the ones near here." She said. "Hopefully there isn't any lingering around." She then unsheathed her sword and used some mana to conjure a short blade. "I was going to ask you for your knife, but you still need it. But uh... Consider about sparing me some clothes just so I can cover up down here, please?" She asked Faenor before she started heading out. Before she did, she stopped in front of the thief and her kill. She scoffed but still offered a smile, though it was a very sarcastic one. It should be considered more of a smirk. "At least you're still useful." She said before she walked through the front, looking around for any monsters that were as small as the one that the thief killed. She wasn't going to use any magic and was just going take a look around the perimeter of the stables. Of course, she would want to peak around corners slowly to fully examine everything. The last thing she wanted was to encounter a monster who had the drop on her. She was tired, sure, but she can still fight like a Blade back from Penari. Though, some rules of etiquette she might have learned in swordplay might have left her. Dammit... There's still probably fighting going on right now somewhere else in the village.

What a busy night...

 

[Juju]

Tiria & Siv

---

Interaction: Idea seasonedcat CasualTea​

---

Tiria angrily pressed down on the horse's wound, her hands now coated in an ugly shade of dried crimson. Outside she could hear the howling of monsters, and see the sickening glow from the tear in the sky. Before she had felt fear, but now mostly she felt a deep tug of rage. This was all because of the mages. All they did was cause trouble and loss, no matter how good they claimed their intentions to be.

This town would not survive. She could guess by now the streets would be littered with corpses. Perhaps she would recognize some faces. The two girls, Snowy and Heckle were all unaccounted for. Maybe they had all been gobbled up already. If only it had been these mages instead.

Tiria refused to look at Sitra as she placed down the bundle of blankets and supplies. It made her feel sick to accept handouts, but she was in need of anything to stabilize these wounds. She opened up the blanket to find some travel supplies, no doubt packed by one of their party members before setting out on the journey. Thankfully a few bandages were among the items. Tiria picked up a roll of linen bandages and looked at the horse. She wasn't sure how to even wrap it around such an enormous beast.

As if noticing her hesitation, the Blade spoke up. Tiria pursed her lips, then nodded to his proposal of help. Blades were their own set of headaches, but she would choose a Blade over a mage any day. She shuffled to the side to give Borre some room and placed the bundle of supplies between them.

"I'm going to bandage Siv..." she mumbled, feeling tired now that the burst of adrenaline had faded.

With the roll of bandages still in her hand, she walked over to where Siv was still licking his wounds. She knelt down and rubbed his ear. "Hold still buddy, I'll get you patched up."

Tiria busied herself with wrapping the gauze around Siv's shoulder wound. She was not trained by any means, but she had quite a lot of experience in nursing wounds. While messy compared to someone with education on the matter, the bandage covered the wound and wouldn't fall off. It did its job, which was good enough for Tiria.

Just as she was finishing tying up the end, Yona approached. Tiria's shoulders tensed, her eyes narrowing.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and go somewhere else." She growled in response to Yona. "And put on some bloody pants, you harlot."

 

[AriAriAbabwa]

#B1E1CB
Interacting: Firelie (Alterne) Goonfire (Hackel) seasonedcat​

Home. Edelmira wanted to go home.

But that wasn't to be. Everywhere she stepped, her feet squelched—she dared not to look down—an eye-watering scent presented itself everywhere, and was seemingly more apparent inside the church. And, looking at the armored monstrosity before her, it was pretty clear why.

In the back of the impromptu group, Mira froze, clutching the oar against her chest in a hug. She felt unable to breathe; no matter how much she exhaled, hyperventilating at this point, air never seemed to reach her lungs. Even as Hackel struck at it fruitlessly and Alterne tripped over the bodies, she remained still. For a brief moment, Mira believed it was all a horrid nightmare; that she would awaken the moment the monster's blade connected with her friends.

But she never woke.

The beast swung... and it cut through flesh. Only, not her younger friend's—their leader, the Hilt, Anselm; he took the place between them. As he fell to his knees, Edelmira's oar swung forward.

Three gigantic bubbles formed: one around Alterne and Anselm, one barely wrapping around the beast's weapon, and another forming just kissing the surface of Hackel's helmet and floating to the ceiling. It would have quickly been found that the bubbles were not delicate in the least. It kept everything away from Alterne and the Hilt, and by stroke of luck the beast's weapon, too. One glance at Mira, and she was on her knees herself. Her breath flew unnaturally fast, pale-skinned and never blinking; horrified. "I'm sorry..." she muttered, voice breaking.

She couldn't think. The next second saw her rise to her feet again. The next saw yet another of the bubbles forming around Edelmira. In the next, she ran—out from where they came. Out of the church. Back in the rain, almost tripping with each step in the same manner Alterne had earlier. There was no way they were going to win against a beast like that, her instincts told her. She could only pray that her panic-fueled actions allowed them a chance to survive...

Everything was blurry; her gaze lowered, and she finally saw all of what made the floor go 'squelch' beneath her feet. Nausea was first to creep up. But she kept running, even if she had no destination in mind, nor if she was aware of if she made any distance at all. Mira met eyes with some of the cadavers; her heart beat did not stop rising. Her breathe only hastened. "I'm sorry," she blurted out again, less quiet but rougher on the throat. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Edelmira found herself in a sole, clear patch of mud, albeit surrounded by the motionless people. Everywhere she looked, there was bloodshed. What happened to the adventurous fairy tales that awaited? This wasn't fun! This wasn't... This wasn't anything like how it was supposed to be... Mira curled up, refusing to open her eyes to the sights again, taking what solace she could in the small bubble casted around herself. At the very least, it muffled the outside.

Then came the sobbing. An ugly, sniffling sob. A sob that brought Mira a myriad of hiccups and distorted breaths. She only muttered one thing: "Mommy..."

 

[The True Plague]

Once Yona was no longer supporting his weight fully, it was less setting him down and more him collapsing as his weight hit his leg again and reignited the pain. With a hiss of pain, he managed a bit of a disdainful utterance. "I'm heavy? Do you not lift? Could've sworn all warriors did strength training..." Or perhaps he's confusing dedicated training to the side effect of running amok in full armor and utilizing weapons on the heavier end of things again?

He'd huff, and he'd puff, closing his eyes as he allowed the recent actions to wash over him, and take stock of what's happening. Let's see... Potentially killed innocent civilians... Burned down homes in a rainstorm. Got attacked a few times, most likely would've died without the assistance... In perspective... Maybe humans are alright. Occasionally. When they're useful, to him. Though clearly not all, after all...

"Dain radag, ennas na- baw iuithi- an cin." (Silence beast, there is no use for you.) Anyone who so vehemently rages against aid, purely because the provider is a Mage, is no more tolerable than the monsters he's killed. He opened his eyes, purely to send a glare Tiria's way. Thankfully, it's highly unlikely anyone here actually knew what he had said. How many non-elves even know of Elvish, let alone know how to speak the language? No, he's likely safe in his hatred of the beast, and her dog as well. With a bit of an inhale, he'd turn his gaze to Sitra to speak again.

"As Yona said, we had simply been settling in for the night, when a tear opened over this village. Before we knew it, monsters had infested the place. I believe Anselm and the other three had gone to the church to see about helping anyone there. We got cut off by the monsters, and thus decided to draw their attention to us to exterminate them. Mostly successful, potentially a few stragglers here and there." Was he right? Potentially. At the very least, nothing new had shown up when they left.

"Most I can offer is the remains of my cloak. I'm in no shape to be rummaging around for specifically my belongings to provide you with clothing." With a bit of effort, he managed to undo the pinning of the remains of his robe. The once beautiful ankle length cloak was now marred with rips and tears, everything below the center of the back having been torn off. Dirt marred the once beautifully embroidered crest of his family, a burning tree, inlaid with golden thread. He'd offer it to her. "You could likely pin it as a skirt." Consider this repayment. Yes, he purposely is ignoring the blade.

Idea CasualTea Juju

 

[Goonfire]

Hackel coughed and gagged upon the blood-spattered altar. This creature had sliced into him, and he couldn’t tell how deep the wound went. All he knew was that it burned like hell. He steadily sat up to behold the girl fleeing in panic. The armored demon would hunt her for sport; it wouldn’t let her get away so easily.

Hackel needed to act, for if the demon didn’t kill him, the spreading fire would. His heart raced more at the thought of burning to death than being decapitated or impaled. He forbade it.

Wasting no time, the bounty hunter executed a bold plan. First, he wrapped his fist in the chain and dug the hook into his padded sleeve to secure it, after a fashion. Lining up a blow with the reforming plate, he silently charged forward. He was putting all his weight and momentum into one last blow, so he could smash through that mending patch. Once successful, that would allow him to rip out this monstrosity’s core and smash it—a brutal fatality, but also a risky move.

seasonedcat AriAriAbabwa Firelie

 

[Idea]

• Coded
• Phone Version
• Semi-Coded

• Sitra​

  

  
  Seeing the boy give Tiria his assistance, I gave him a nod and a light smile. It didn't come as easily as it usually did for some reason (I often had trouble keeping myself from smiling, it felt so strange having to make myself do it). It felt a little warmer to know at Tiria was accepting someone's help. Plus it was true that together they could help that horse and Tiria's dog friend. The chill crawled right back up my spine with Tiria's and that lady's vitriol towards each other, however, but fortunately or not my confusion at Faenor's words proved a distraction. He said something about a "beast" "there" "is" and "for you" but that's about all I got. When she taught me to cast my spells she was very strict about getting the tone and pronunciation right, so she taught me a bit of the language to help me learn, but it was only a little and I wasn't the best learner there... hehehe... Well, since he mentioned a beast Faenor was probably talking to or about the horse or maybe the dog. Maybe he had a present for them for their bravery later? He did sound a little grumpy, but it was probably just because he was injured. What a nice man he was! Aaaaaah, things felt a little warmer again!
  
  Wait... it felt warmer? It was true that I didn't feel as cold as when I was out in the rain, probably because we had shelter here, but even so I was still drenched but not as cold as I would think from being in stables with a door broke open (and not just in my heart either). Did I go through something warm at some point? I tried racking my brains, and indeed, an idea of what it might have been- and what I could do- began to form. But first, there was the matter of what Faenor and the lady (Yona? Was that what Faenor just called her? Well, she'd probably correct me if I got it wrong later anyway) were telling me. What made my heart sink a little was not the fact they had been fighting the monsters all this time, that much even someone like me could have guessed just the numbers that kept coming, but rather the very likely possibility that some of us were still fighting, while in the meantime I was just here having a conversation and licking my wounds like the dog.
  
  "So, the rest are still at that church fighting. And you came here in that state." Tiria would have also probably ended up quite injured if that blade didn't show up. I might have taken me longer to manage to get past the door, or perhaps I could accidentally injured Tiria as I tried to use magic to do so. The rest were likely injured as well, and those creatures could still be coming. Was there even a way to win, a way to stop this? But then, Faenor did say they tried to draw their attention and dealt with most of them. If that meant there would be less of them on the streets right now, maybe I was still in time to get there to help! Yona... 'Yona' even made a blade with her magic, so maybe they weren't going to be helpless without me here (not that I made that much of a difference anyway) and it reminded me of my plan from earlier... So I turned around, and rushed with my backpack to the horses again, crawling between them up to somewhere were they were close, and put my backpack on the ground.
  
  <Why don't you make yourself useful and go somewhere else> Tiria's words, though directed at lady (presumably) named Yona, rang in my thoughts. Yes, that was exactly what I was going to do, assuming my idea worked.
  
  There wasn't raining on us because we had cover.
  
  There was a bit of time since at least for now the monsters weren't here.
  
  I felt a bit warmer because of the animal's body heat.
  
  I tried feeding some magic into the backpack, hitting it a couple times.
  
  "C'mon, c'mon!" It didn't immediately respond, but soon enough, I saw it begin to shake, the magic flowing inside of it now that it met that bare minimum of warmth it needed to work again. I pictured a simple sword, and witnessed as one was slowly eeked out of the backpack. "Yes! Yes it's working! I need to make a bunch more, I probably won't get to on the way there... nor when I arrive."
  
  Another matter was whether I should make some for the others here as well. It wasn't that hard to produce the weapons with the artifact, then again one of them already had a sword, and one of the other three seemingly make weapons out of thin air with her magic, so they probably didn't need me to give me any (Tiria wouldn't accept any from me anyways), and the longer I took the less likely it was that I could get to the Church in time to give them any help.
  
  As soon as I had the backpack produce as many as I could afford to carry, knives and swords of various kinds, including one which was essentially a spear with the very long handle, but I'd learned the artifact was flexible so long as I could still frame it as a sword. I carried out the equipment, and looked at Faenor and Yona, and possibly Tiria and/or the blade as well.
  
  "I'm going then. Maybe I can still-"
  
  I didn't finish my sentence, cut off by a sight of someone familiar running, covered by some kind of sphere of water.
  
  "Was that...?" No time to think! I rushed past the other injured mages and ran out of the stables, keeping an eye out for any creatures that might be approaching but nonetheless most of my focus being on chasing that sprinting figure. I was right: It was indeed the girl who gave the Hilt that necklace! What was she doing here? Were they still fighting? Did they win or... don't tell me....
  
  I approached the sphere, feeling the stench of the corpses crawling up my nostrils. Awful didn't begin to describe it, and it was strange and maybe fortunate how the water sphere didn't seem to get contaminated with the blood. I reached out with a hand towards it, hearing a sound that was barely perceptible from within and I probably would have missed entirely if it wasn't so close?
  
  "Mommy?" The words that girl had spoken felt like they pierced my heart. Was she calling out for her mom? Was I misunderstanding something again? I walked around her, trying not to step on the corpses... Were those tears in her eyes or was I just seeing things distorted by the sphere? She definitely was keeping her eyes shut at least, and most definitely not for sleeping. Was there something I could do? Think Sitra, think! There had to be something! Using your brain trees for once! Hmmm... I began pushing out the corpses in front of the water sphere, using my spear 'sword' like a broom. I couldn't remove all of them of course, but if I just removed enough to clear the way, then when I crouched down my backpack would block the rest of the view. So I did, and tried to speak a bit louder (despite the potential danger) to make sure the girl could hear me. Meanwhile, putting on the brightest smile I could muster even in this situation. "Hey! Are you alright? Can you hear me? Are you sca- no I guess no point asking that. Of course you are. I don't really know a ton about what's normal, but I figure that is normal at least... I'm sure your mom would say the same. Anyway, just your eyes on me ok? Why were you running? Anything I can do to help you?"
  
  
• Sitra​

  

  
  Seeing the boy give Tiria his assistance, I gave him a nod and a light smile. It didn't come as easily as it usually did for some reason (I often had trouble keeping myself from smiling, it felt so strange having to make myself do it). It felt a little warmer to know at Tiria was accepting someone's help. Plus it was true that together they could help that horse and Tiria's dog friend. The chill crawled right back up my spine with Tiria's and that lady's vitriol towards each other, however, but fortunately or not my confusion at Faenor's words proved a distraction. He said something about a "beast" "there" "is" and "for you" but that's about all I got. When she taught me to cast my spells she was very strict about getting the tone and pronunciation right, so she taught me a bit of the language to help me learn, but it was only a little and I wasn't the best learner there... hehehe... Well, since he mentioned a beast Faenor was probably talking to or about the horse or maybe the dog. Maybe he had a present for them for their bravery later? He did sound a little grumpy, but it was probably just because he was injured. What a nice man he was! Aaaaaah, things felt a little warmer again!
  
  Wait... it felt warmer? It was true that I didn't feel as cold as when I was out in the rain, probably because we had shelter here, but even so I was still drenched but not as cold as I would think from being in stables with a door broke open (and not just in my heart either). Did I go through something warm at some point? I tried racking my brains, and indeed, an idea of what it might have been- and what I could do- began to form. But first, there was the matter of what Faenor and the lady (Yona? Was that what Faenor just called her? Well, she'd probably correct me if I got it wrong later anyway) were telling me. What made my heart sink a little was not the fact they had been fighting the monsters all this time, that much even someone like me could have guessed just the numbers that kept coming, but rather the very likely possibility that some of us were still fighting, while in the meantime I was just here having a conversation and licking my wounds like the dog.
  
  "So, the rest are still at that church fighting. And you came here in that state." Tiria would have also probably ended up quite injured if that blade didn't show up. I might have taken me longer to manage to get past the door, or perhaps I could accidentally injured Tiria as I tried to use magic to do so. The rest were likely injured as well, and those creatures could still be coming. Was there even a way to win, a way to stop this? But then, Faenor did say they tried to draw their attention and dealt with most of them. If that meant there would be less of them on the streets right now, maybe I was still in time to get there to help! Yona... 'Yona' even made a blade with her magic, so maybe they weren't going to be helpless without me here (not that I made that much of a difference anyway) and it reminded me of my plan from earlier... So I turned around, and rushed with my backpack to the horses again, crawling between them up to somewhere were they were close, and put my backpack on the ground.
  
  <Why don't you make yourself useful and go somewhere else> Tiria's words, though directed at lady (presumably) named Yona, rang in my thoughts. Yes, that was exactly what I was going to do, assuming my idea worked.
  
  There wasn't raining on us because we had cover.
  
  There was a bit of time since at least for now the monsters weren't here.
  
  I felt a bit warmer because of the animal's body heat.
  
  I tried feeding some magic into the backpack, hitting it a couple times.
  
  "C'mon, c'mon!" It didn't immediately respond, but soon enough, I saw it begin to shake, the magic flowing inside of it now that it met that bare minimum of warmth it needed to work again. I pictured a simple sword, and witnessed as one was slowly eeked out of the backpack. "Yes! Yes it's working! I need to make a bunch more, I probably won't get to on the way there... nor when I arrive."
  
  Another matter was whether I should make some for the others here as well. It wasn't that hard to produce the weapons with the artifact, then again one of them already had a sword, and one of the other three seemingly make weapons out of thin air with her magic, so they probably didn't need me to give me any (Tiria wouldn't accept any from me anyways), and the longer I took the less likely it was that I could get to the Church in time to give them any help.
  
  As soon as I had the backpack produce as many as I could afford to carry, knives and swords of various kinds, including one which was essentially a spear with the very long handle, but I'd learned the artifact was flexible so long as I could still frame it as a sword. I carried out the equipment, and looked at Faenor and Yona, and possibly Tiria and/or the blade as well.
  
  "I'm going then. Maybe I can still-"
  
  I didn't finish my sentence, cut off by a sight of someone familiar running, covered by some kind of sphere of water.
  
  "Was that...?" No time to think! I rushed past the other injured mages and ran out of the stables, keeping an eye out for any creatures that might be approaching but nonetheless most of my focus being on chasing that sprinting figure. I was right: It was indeed the girl who gave the Hilt that necklace! What was she doing here? Were they still fighting? Did they win or... don't tell me....
  
  I approached the sphere, feeling the stench of the corpses crawling up my nostrils. Awful didn't begin to describe it, and it was strange and maybe fortunate how the water sphere didn't seem to get contaminated with the blood. I reached out with a hand towards it, hearing a sound that was barely perceptible from within and I probably would have missed entirely if it wasn't so close?
  
  "Mommy?" The words that girl had spoken felt like they pierced my heart. Was she calling out for her mom? Was I misunderstanding something again? I walked around her, trying not to step on the corpses... Were those tears in her eyes or was I just seeing things distorted by the sphere? She definitely was keeping her eyes shut at least, and most definitely not for sleeping. Was there something I could do? Think Sitra, think! There had to be something! Using your brain trees for once! Hmmm... I began pushing out the corpses in front of the water sphere, using my spear 'sword' like a broom. I couldn't remove all of them of course, but if I just removed enough to clear the way, then when I crouched down my backpack would block the rest of the view. So I did, and tried to speak a bit louder (despite the potential danger) to make sure the girl could hear me. Meanwhile, putting on the brightest smile I could muster even in this situation. "Hey! Are you alright? Can you hear me? Are you sca- no I guess no point asking that. Of course you are. I don't really know a ton about what's normal, but I figure that is normal at least... I'm sure your mom would say the same. Anyway, just your eyes on me ok? Why were you running? Anything I can do to help you?"
  
  
• 
  
  Seeing the boy give Tiria his assistance, I gave him a nod and a light smile. It didn't come as easily as it usually did for some reason (I often had trouble keeping myself from smiling, it felt so strange having to make myself do it). It felt a little warmer to know at Tiria was accepting someone's help. Plus it was true that together they could help that horse and Tiria's dog friend. The chill crawled right back up my spine with Tiria's and that lady's vitriol towards each other, however, but fortunately or not my confusion at Faenor's words proved a distraction. He said something about a "beast" "there" "is" and "for you" but that's about all I got. When she taught me to cast my spells she was very strict about getting the tone and pronunciation right, so she taught me a bit of the language to help me learn, but it was only a little and I wasn't the best learner there... hehehe... Well, since he mentioned a beast Faenor was probably talking to or about the horse or maybe the dog. Maybe he had a present for them for their bravery later? He did sound a little grumpy, but it was probably just because he was injured. What a nice man he was! Aaaaaah, things felt a little warmer again!
  
  Wait... it felt warmer? It was true that I didn't feel as cold as when I was out in the rain, probably because we had shelter here, but even so I was still drenched but not as cold as I would think from being in stables with a door broke open (and not just in my heart either). Did I go through something warm at some point? I tried racking my brains, and indeed, an idea of what it might have been- and what I could do- began to form. But first, there was the matter of what Faenor and the lady (Yona? Was that what Faenor just called her? Well, she'd probably correct me if I got it wrong later anyway) were telling me. What made my heart sink a little was not the fact they had been fighting the monsters all this time, that much even someone like me could have guessed just the numbers that kept coming, but rather the very likely possibility that some of us were still fighting, while in the meantime I was just here having a conversation and licking my wounds like the dog.
  
  "So, the rest are still at that church fighting. And you came here in that state." Tiria would have also probably ended up quite injured if that blade didn't show up. I might have taken me longer to manage to get past the door, or perhaps I could accidentally injured Tiria as I tried to use magic to do so. The rest were likely injured as well, and those creatures could still be coming. Was there even a way to win, a way to stop this? But then, Faenor did say they tried to draw their attention and dealt with most of them. If that meant there would be less of them on the streets right now, maybe I was still in time to get there to help! Yona... 'Yona' even made a blade with her magic, so maybe they weren't going to be helpless without me here (not that I made that much of a difference anyway) and it reminded me of my plan from earlier... So I turned around, and rushed with my backpack to the horses again, crawling between them up to somewhere were they were close, and put my backpack on the ground.
  
  <Why don't you make yourself useful and go somewhere else> Tiria's words, though directed at lady (presumably) named Yona, rang in my thoughts. Yes, that was exactly what I was going to do, assuming my idea worked.
  
  There wasn't raining on us because we had cover.
  
  There was a bit of time since at least for now the monsters weren't here.
  
  I felt a bit warmer because of the animal's body heat.
  
  I tried feeding some magic into the backpack, hitting it a couple times.
  
  "C'mon, c'mon!" It didn't immediately respond, but soon enough, I saw it begin to shake, the magic flowing inside of it now that it met that bare minimum of warmth it needed to work again. I pictured a simple sword, and witnessed as one was slowly eeked out of the backpack. "Yes! Yes it's working! I need to make a bunch more, I probably won't get to on the way there... nor when I arrive."
  
  Another matter was whether I should make some for the others here as well. It wasn't that hard to produce the weapons with the artifact, then again one of them already had a sword, and one of the other three seemingly make weapons out of thin air with her magic, so they probably didn't need me to give me any (Tiria wouldn't accept any from me anyways), and the longer I took the less likely it was that I could get to the Church in time to give them any help.
  
  As soon as I had the backpack produce as many as I could afford to carry, knives and swords of various kinds, including one which was essentially a spear with the very long handle, but I'd learned the artifact was flexible so long as I could still frame it as a sword. I carried out the equipment, and looked at Faenor and Yona, and possibly Tiria and/or the blade as well.
  
  "I'm going then. Maybe I can still-"
  
  I didn't finish my sentence, cut off by a sight of someone familiar running, covered by some kind of sphere of water.
  
  "Was that...?" No time to think! I rushed past the other injured mages and ran out of the stables, keeping an eye out for any creatures that might be approaching but nonetheless most of my focus being on chasing that sprinting figure. I was right: It was indeed the girl who gave the Hilt that necklace! What was she doing here? Were they still fighting? Did they win or... don't tell me....
  
  I approached the sphere, feeling the stench of the corpses crawling up my nostrils. Awful didn't begin to describe it, and it was strange and maybe fortunate how the water sphere didn't seem to get contaminated with the blood. I reached out with a hand towards it, hearing a sound that was barely perceptible from within and I probably would have missed entirely if it wasn't so close?
  
  "Mommy?" The words that girl had spoken felt like they pierced my heart. Was she calling out for her mom? Was I misunderstanding something again? I walked around her, trying not to step on the corpses... Were those tears in her eyes or was I just seeing things distorted by the sphere? She definitely was keeping her eyes shut at least, and most definitely not for sleeping. Was there something I could do? Think Sitra, think! There had to be something! Using your brain trees for once! Hmmm... I began pushing out the corpses in front of the water sphere, using my spear 'sword' like a broom. I couldn't remove all of them of course, but if I just removed enough to clear the way, then when I crouched down my backpack would block the rest of the view. So I did, and tried to speak a bit louder (despite the potential danger) to make sure the girl could hear me. Meanwhile, putting on the brightest smile I could muster even in this situation. "Hey! Are you alright? Can you hear me? Are you sca- no I guess no point asking that. Of course you are. I don't really know a ton about what's normal, but I figure that is normal at least... I'm sure your mom would say the same. Anyway, just your eyes on me ok? Why were you running? Anything I can do to help you?"
  
  

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Interacting With: seasonedcat CasualTea The True Plague AriAriAbabwa
Mentions: Juju (everyone else in a way)
Might Also Want to Read: N/A​

 

[Firelie]

Alterne Ember​

"Last night in the Mansus I visited the Malleary, from whose fires one does not emerge unchanged. The Forge's light fell upon me and my heart boiled and when I woke my blood burnt within me so that I had to shed it in a cup before it overwhelmed me."​

---

Alterne wasn't ready for this to be over. Regret bubbled within her heart. Laying pathetically on the ground, cowering in a useless attempt to preserve her life. Was that really how she wanted this to end? Of course not. The world was indifferent to her plight, though. Whimpering and shaking Alterne whispered out a desperate prayer to the powers that were. The same powers she betrayed with her magical practices, she now sought out in her final moments. Pathetic. The time for thought came to a close as the spear of blood barreled down at the young Alterne. She opened her mouth to plead, but nothing came out. The hand of terror twisted the heart as Alterne felt the cold whispers of death creep up her spine.

When the cold touch of death failed to reach Alterne bewilderment coursed through her being. It was too soon for relief, but she should have been dead by this point. The guillotine fall of the spear that spelled doom had most certainly stopped. her concerns were put to rest as Anslem slumped over with a pained snarky remark. It all made sense. She was alive because she was saved. Again. Relief quickly washed over her, soon to be replaced by a sad self pity for her pathetic uselessness. Instead a most peculiar emotion washed over Alterne like a tsunami, lighting up the meager flame that burned in her heart and flowing out to every part of her being.

Anger. The feeling didn't align with the girls heart, and suddenly the mind was pitted against raw emotion. She didn't know why, but she was suddenly filled with rage. Alien feelings continued to wash over her and before she was acting. Her mind objected as her shoulders shrugged off her bag and pleaded for asylum as her hands reached for the bell clipped out the side. Alterne wanted to turn and run. Lay down beside a body and pretend to be a corpse herself until all of this was over. Her chest began to heave as scared confusion clashed against the unstoppable force of determined rage and spittle sprayed through clenched teeth. Alterne's hands worked feverishly on the intricate box as if they had minds of their own. "Save me..." She mumbled with seething anger stemming from shame. Hands opened up a flap towards the top of the angled side of the box followed by another mirroring it on the opposite side. Alterne grabbed the shackles with her hands and fiddled with them. She held them over the flap as blood flowed freely into the box through the open flaps, sparkling with stunning brilliance as it disappeared into the Sunbreaker bell. She repeated the process with the opposite shackle once the first was emptied. "...Don't need..." Alterne continued to mumble with an almost unhinged look upon her face. Sweat flowed like rivers upon her face as she worked. Her hands next reached into her bag and after a moment of digging pulled out a closed pouch. "...M-Ma'flagn..." The words forced themselves out of clenched teeth accompanied by dripping spittle. Alterne opened the pouch and suddenly the smell of rotten eggs was pungent in the air. She poured the contents into the bell and instantly it sizzled and groaned in response. Alterne closed the flaps and grabbed the chain affixed to the top of the bell. She turned to Anslem and guided by her newfound rage she hissed, "I'll show you how its done, you self-righteous prick!"

She began to spin the bell in a large vertical circle. As it began to spin something within sputtered to life and an orange glow emanated from the stylish slits in the metal box. With each circle the bell completed an otherworldly DONG rang out in the church and outward. A haunting tune filled the air as the bell completed each swing. "C' NG VULGTMNAH!" Alterne screeched in an alien tongue. Her voice was not aided by any magical components this time, just the screeching that only a developing youth could create. "MGEP YMG' YOG..." As Alterne began to chant the bell spinning at her side burst to life, whistling orange fire encompassed the metal shell as it spun. All across Alterne's body runes once burned into her skin sizzled as they burned once more, adding the smell of burning flesh into the mix of horrid smells. "...AH NILGH'NAHYAR MGEPAHNYTH..." Boiling blood dripped out of the chanting girls mouth, turning her words to gargled nonsense. "PH'NGLUI HANAH'F'NAHH!" The finishing of the incantation was followed by a high pitched whistling as she threw the box at the beast. The box flew through the air with unnatural speed, a ball of fire that cut through the protective bubble and continued forward, striking the monster in the chest in the crack in the armor, just below Hackel's hook.

For just a brief moment there was silence, then a terrible force broke loose. A sudden, violent kinetic energy that those who were not already braced would force back. In the same moment a ball of condensed orange flame lit up the chest area of the armor. The winter chill in the air was swept away and replaced with a singing wind, billowing outwards from the blast and filling the church with the nigh unbearable heat. Orange light filled the church and escaped from shattered windows into the bleeding town. Unnatural flame permeated and grew around the beasts chest, designed to incinerate even the hardiest armor. The bell continued to toll as well, with each fresh ring sending out another burst of force. Then, after just a handful of seconds, the violent burst of energy ended. The heat lingered a moment then was once more replaced by the freezing winds that blew in through the crumbled church. The light dissipated, and the scorched bell clattered to the ground, spent of its terrible energy. Alterne fell with it, overcome by panic, pain, and the sheer bloodloss she had suffered.

Related: Most people, really, but specifically Goonfire seasonedcat ( AriAriAbabwa (Kinda))

 

[CasualTea]

The little shit thief was starting to annoy her. What did she do besides cowering in a stable? All she did was kill one small fry. Now she's calling her a harlot, which she wasn't surprised that she knew what that was. She just scoffed at the response before she was about to head out. However, she stopped when she heard Faenor speak. She then heard him start ripping cloth which was the cloak he had. When he offered it to her as a skirt, she was actually surprised. She didn't think Faenor would actually give her part of something that was his among his possessions. Well, granted that it was ruined and dirtied, it was still something. She walked back to him and took the cloth with care and started putting it around her waist so it could be of use as a skirt. "Thanks, Faenor. Uh... I really mean it." She said as she was putting it on. "...Perhaps I'll buy you a drink later if we ever find a functioning bar." She added as a way of expressing her appreciation even though she already said thanks. Soon, she finished making Faenor's torn cloth into the makeshift skirt. The skirt only reached down a little above her knees so she can still run and move in it. Long skirts aren't her thing, not to mention she never really worn a ballroom dress before. But that's high society stuff. She's more suited to knighthood if she were to give herself some status. Other than that, mostly crime.

Maybe Yona will just rest in the stables a little longer before going out to patrol around the stables.

 

[AriAriAbabwa]

#B1E1CB
Interacting: Idea ​

Mira didn't know how long she sat, nor how much she wept or how much her heart rate spiked each passing moment. She only had the pattering rain against her bubble and the distant cries of the monsters to keep her company. She didn't dare to look around, but even as she kept her eyes shut, faces seemed to appear in the darkness. Twisted, tortured faces of the dead, perished while utterly terrified and left deceased with the same expressions. Was this really what the Scabbards fought against...? When were they going to drop in and save the day...? Just like in the story books her parents read; surely someone was on their way to end everything...

"Hey! Are you alright? Can you hear me? ...."

In an instant, Edelmira perked up at the familiar voice. Her gaze caught on the bright girl before her; a living contrast to all that surrounded them. She was one of the party members, but her name... what was her name? Regardless of the fact Mira couldn't recall it, there was the faintest smile to her lips as Sitra crouched in front of her. Though there was a slight flinch at the mention of her mother—Mira didn't think anyone heard her during her panic-fueled curling, and there was the shortest feelings of embarrassment.

But as the topic moved to Edelmira's circumstances, she frowned. The young girl shakily pointed at the church. "E-Everyone else...They..." She swallowed; her throat felt dry and clenched. "They might be dead, I think..." Then it all hit her at once, and Mira hugged herself tighter. She ran. She abandoned them; left them to die. Alterne, Hackel, Anselm... Would they, too, end up on the ground with the same petrified faces as everyone else in this town...? "I-I got scared—I didn't—I wasn't—!"

The youngest Scabbard curled up more as a faint commotion of bells and roars erupted from the church. Her eyes went fully wide, falling away from Sitra's own. Did the beast finish it's task? Was that it's triumphant energy emerging from the building? Edelmira began to hiccup, burying her face in her arms. "I-I didn't mean to... I'm sorry..."

 

[seasonedcat]

Borre worked quickly on the horses wounds, thankful for once that his family issues had lead him to pay close attention in every aspect of training. The horses wounds were deep, but if the beasts will was strong enough it could survive this as Borre thanked the twin that there was stitching needles amidst the medical supplies the hilt had packed.

he only paid light attention to the others words, his main focus directed to the horse or if the child were to give him more info on something. He was very aware of the fact that there was a high chance everyone in the room was a mage, minus the stable kid at least. He snorted lightly at her comment, his eyes crinkling in a sort of pride at the kid's strength even in this situation.

as he began to bandage the horse his face tinted into a frown at the comment in elvish, he had picked it up after it was a language of quite a few citizens, though he provided no comment other than a swift glare/glance at the elf. He could of course recognize the man as one of the big mages in the rebellion.

he finished off with the horse, whipping the blood on a towel that had been packed as he turned to the stable kid, "she should make it through the night, she is a strong one. After that its a swift road to recovery from there." he offered her a smile before moving to ruffle her hair before deciding to avoid it for now as she appeared to dislike touches.

he eyed the injured mage before huffing out a sigh as he picked up more supplies and moved towards him, "so I assume you are with the hilt, what inspired you to start caring for the safety of others, I didn't think you lot had it in you." he offered grimly before he moved towards him with the supplies, "either way you are injured I can help you, unless your famous pride prevents even that." he offered as he stood near him, hovering lightly as he hoped that he could help the mage if possible. He didn't bother with the woman he was speaking to at the momment, as the wanted mage was in far worse condition.
interactions Juju The True Plague CasualTea |
----
the church hung heavy with the stench of blood as the creature let out an angered cry as its weapon lifted into the air. It let the weapon lose its shape, the bubble filling with blood that was once its weapon. It then rushed to try and form a new weapon from the blood of its injured, Anselm crying out as the blood began to rip from his injury.

however, the creature was out of time, as in its unarmed state, as steal rushed into the forming plate on its chest, tearing through the hardening 'flesh' as if it was mushy wax. As Hackel hacked away at the plate, its throbbing core glared back at him, though the thrashing of it to throw him off prevented him to manage to line up the perfect hit at the core.

thankfully, however, this time his attack was not alone. The box tossed through the air like a ball of fire that it soon became. The fiery object clunked against the interior of the armor, falling into its pelvis and then there was a moment of silence. The creature in panic quickly tried to reach into itself to pull out the foreign object. It couldn't manage to get it out in time as the box burst, the interior of the creature ignited in bright flames that scorched its soft inside flesh and dashed out of its holes, dashing towards Hackel along with the burn of heated metal he grasped.

the creature burned for a moment, its screams echoing through the air that held sharper than a sharpened knife. Its screams died in a gurgle of noise as the armor fell off its bones leaving only scorched flesh as it fell to the ground, its core turning to ash as it did so. From there there was quiet, the bubbles popping with a tiny noise as they fell to the ground with a sharp noise amidst the silence. The bubble with the blood also burst, the red liquid slamming onto the ground and mixing the ground with puddles of irony red.
interactions Goonfire Firelie |
--
the scream echoed through the streets as the group all did their own quests. While in the center the tear shuddered for a moment before it sputtered out, closing as if the skin of the world had never been torn. The sun gently pierced the sky as natural light once again took its hold on the earth. Was it over? The final silence was far from a blessing. How many had they saved? How many had they killed? Would it even matter to some as in the end they had lived? Either way the silence continues to haunt the air.
Juju The True Plague Idea CasualTea AriAriAbabwa Firelie Goonfire

 

[Idea]

• Coded
• Phone Version
• Semi-Coded

• Sitra​

  

  
  "Hey, hey, don't look down, don't look away, just at me. You can see me right, through this uh... water...thing? Look at my eyes, look at my smile, you don't need to look anywhere else!" It did break my heart to hear those broken sobs from the girl, even as she struggled to point towards some building off in the distance. Even so I did everything I could to keep up my smile, I wasn't sure how to exude that warm assurance that things would be fine that I used to know, but right in the here and now there was a scared girl in front of me. Thinking bad thoughts was bad right now, moreso even if they showed in my face. So I needed to keep smiling. I wanted to badly to just jump in there, and manners be damned give her a big, tight hug! In the first place, I wasn't sure I could get past her bubble though. I didn't know what kind of spell it was, nor how strong, so even if I hadn't just been running around, fighting and getting tired and wounded, I still wouldn't necessarily be able to use little arsenal to break through. So although I couldn't get close to her, I did those little things I could do instead. I kept smiling, I nodded, and listened carefully to what she had to say. Even when she didn't have anything more to say and the silence fell between us. I gave her one final nod, and a pair of thumbs ups.
  
  "Thank you for telling me. You got caught up in something scary, so you just couldn't think anymore, and your legs got running before you even knew what was happening. It's probably still scary... and just as scary to think about the things you regret doing. So you know, what?" This time time I didn't give her a smile, but a grin. "Just don't think about it! It's normal to get scared! it's smart to get running from scary things! And it's good we got to hear what is happening and where. There's no need to think, there's only a need to do. So I'll go hop over there and see what I can do. You..."
  
  I crouched again a bit, and pointed in the direction of the stables.
  
  "There's a nice sword guy over there, he just helped Tiria, killing some monsters and all. Faenor and the horse lady are there too. You just go over there when you're ready, and maybe you can help uhm... Protect the horses until we're back! We'll need them to keep going, right?"
  
  After standing back up once again, I unsheathed a pair of swords I'd just made earlier, while I made use of the heat from inside the stables to get my backpack working again. I look at the blades, then at the direction the girl had pointed me to, and took a deep breath. Whatever she and the rest of the people were facing over there was probably not something I could handle, but hopefully, they were at least still alive and I could help ensure that state of affairs remained that way. Not using dwelling on thoughts about the danger of the bad possibilities though, it would help nobody to stand around philosophizing. They were fine. They were absolutely fine and just needed me to go over there and give them a little nudge. Yes, that's how it was, no doubt could be had about it.
  
  "Alright, I'll be going now." I winked at the curled up girl. "Wish me lu-"[/color]
  
  At that moment, some loud high-pitched sounds spread out from the direction I was pointed to, forcing me to cover my ears with my hands whilst still holding onto the handles of the swords.
  
  "What was that?!"
  
  It didn't take but a moment for things to grow even stranger, as the strange thing in the sky vanished, without a trace. My previous reluctant determination sunk as it gave way to simple confusion.
  
  "I....uh... what... I don't... " I couldn't form nor words nor thoughts.
  
  
• Sitra​

  

  
  "Hey, hey, don't look down, don't look away, just at me. You can see me right, through this uh... water...thing? Look at my eyes, look at my smile, you don't need to look anywhere else!" It did break my heart to hear those broken sobs from the girl, even as she struggled to point towards some building off in the distance. Even so I did everything I could to keep up my smile, I wasn't sure how to exude that warm assurance that things would be fine that I used to know, but right in the here and now there was a scared girl in front of me. Thinking bad thoughts was bad right now, moreso even if they showed in my face. So I needed to keep smiling. I wanted to badly to just jump in there, and manners be damned give her a big, tight hug! In the first place, I wasn't sure I could get past her bubble though. I didn't know what kind of spell it was, nor how strong, so even if I hadn't just been running around, fighting and getting tired and wounded, I still wouldn't necessarily be able to use little arsenal to break through. So although I couldn't get close to her, I did those little things I could do instead. I kept smiling, I nodded, and listened carefully to what she had to say. Even when she didn't have anything more to say and the silence fell between us. I gave her one final nod, and a pair of thumbs ups.
  
  "Thank you for telling me. You got caught up in something scary, so you just couldn't think anymore, and your legs got running before you even knew what was happening. It's probably still scary... and just as scary to think about the things you regret doing. So you know, what?" This time time I didn't give her a smile, but a grin. "Just don't think about it! It's normal to get scared! it's smart to get running from scary things! And it's good we got to hear what is happening and where. There's no need to think, there's only a need to do. So I'll go hop over there and see what I can do. You..."
  
  I crouched again a bit, and pointed in the direction of the stables.
  
  "There's a nice sword guy over there, he just helped Tiria, killing some monsters and all. Faenor and the horse lady are there too. You just go over there when you're ready, and maybe you can help uhm... Protect the horses until we're back! We'll need them to keep going, right?"
  
  After standing back up once again, I unsheathed a pair of swords I'd just made earlier, while I made use of the heat from inside the stables to get my backpack working again. I look at the blades, then at the direction the girl had pointed me to, and took a deep breath. Whatever she and the rest of the people were facing over there was probably not something I could handle, but hopefully, they were at least still alive and I could help ensure that state of affairs remained that way. Not using dwelling on thoughts about the danger of the bad possibilities though, it would help nobody to stand around philosophizing. They were fine. They were absolutely fine and just needed me to go over there and give them a little nudge. Yes, that's how it was, no doubt could be had about it.
  
  "Alright, I'll be going now." I winked at the curled up girl. "Wish me lu-"[/color]
  
  At that moment, some loud high-pitched sounds spread out from the direction I was pointed to, forcing me to cover my ears with my hands whilst still holding onto the handles of the swords.
  
  "What was that?!"
  
  It didn't take but a moment for things to grow even stranger, as the strange thing in the sky vanished, without a trace. My previous reluctant determination sunk as it gave way to simple confusion.
  
  "I....uh... what... I don't... " I couldn't form nor words nor thoughts.
  
  
• 
  
  "Hey, hey, don't look down, don't look away, just at me. You can see me right, through this uh... water...thing? Look at my eyes, look at my smile, you don't need to look anywhere else!" It did break my heart to hear those broken sobs from the girl, even as she struggled to point towards some building off in the distance. Even so I did everything I could to keep up my smile, I wasn't sure how to exude that warm assurance that things would be fine that I used to know, but right in the here and now there was a scared girl in front of me. Thinking bad thoughts was bad right now, moreso even if they showed in my face. So I needed to keep smiling. I wanted to badly to just jump in there, and manners be damned give her a big, tight hug! In the first place, I wasn't sure I could get past her bubble though. I didn't know what kind of spell it was, nor how strong, so even if I hadn't just been running around, fighting and getting tired and wounded, I still wouldn't necessarily be able to use little arsenal to break through. So although I couldn't get close to her, I did those little things I could do instead. I kept smiling, I nodded, and listened carefully to what she had to say. Even when she didn't have anything more to say and the silence fell between us. I gave her one final nod, and a pair of thumbs ups.
  
  "Thank you for telling me. You got caught up in something scary, so you just couldn't think anymore, and your legs got running before you even knew what was happening. It's probably still scary... and just as scary to think about the things you regret doing. So you know, what?" This time time I didn't give her a smile, but a grin. "Just don't think about it! It's normal to get scared! it's smart to get running from scary things! And it's good we got to hear what is happening and where. There's no need to think, there's only a need to do. So I'll go hop over there and see what I can do. You..."
  
  I crouched again a bit, and pointed in the direction of the stables.
  
  "There's a nice sword guy over there, he just helped Tiria, killing some monsters and all. Faenor and the horse lady are there too. You just go over there when you're ready, and maybe you can help uhm... Protect the horses until we're back! We'll need them to keep going, right?"
  
  After standing back up once again, I unsheathed a pair of swords I'd just made earlier, while I made use of the heat from inside the stables to get my backpack working again. I look at the blades, then at the direction the girl had pointed me to, and took a deep breath. Whatever she and the rest of the people were facing over there was probably not something I could handle, but hopefully, they were at least still alive and I could help ensure that state of affairs remained that way. Not using dwelling on thoughts about the danger of the bad possibilities though, it would help nobody to stand around philosophizing. They were fine. They were absolutely fine and just needed me to go over there and give them a little nudge. Yes, that's how it was, no doubt could be had about it.
  
  "Alright, I'll be going now." I winked at the curled up girl. "Wish me lu-"[/color]
  
  At that moment, some loud high-pitched sounds spread out from the direction I was pointed to, forcing me to cover my ears with my hands whilst still holding onto the handles of the swords.
  
  "What was that?!"
  
  It didn't take but a moment for things to grow even stranger, as the strange thing in the sky vanished, without a trace. My previous reluctant determination sunk as it gave way to simple confusion.
  
  "I....uh... what... I don't... " I couldn't form nor words nor thoughts.
  
  

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Interacting With: AriAriAbabwa
Mentions: Juju seasonedcat CasualTea The True Plague
Might Also Want to Read: N/A​

 

[CasualTea]

As Yona just finished fixing her new skirt, she heard a scream that did not sound human in any shape or form. Assumingly, a monster's scream. A scream of death? War? She did not know. However, soon after that scream ended, she saw the stables alight a little. She looked outside and there was sunlight. Its light blinding her for a moment before her eyes adjusted to the contrast. It took her a moment before she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is it over...?" She mumbled as she felt the morning rays on her face. However, she was still cautious. She took up her polearm and went out of the stables, just a few feet from the entrance. She looked around to check if the surrounding area had no monsters lurking about. Sure, the sun has blessed this land once more and the sky was not clouded anymore, but remnants could remain. She walked back inside and let out a sigh. "Morning arrives. No sleep though..." She grumbled before sitting next to Faenor, her polearm dispelling itself and she set her sword next to her. She leaned against the wall as fatigue and the results of having not slept caught up to her. But she had to remain awake. The aftermath was coming. She knew she let her run amok out of control. Though it seems she has to put her guard up fully against this boy. Non-mages in a stable with other mages. Not a very good situation. Even though he offered help, he still had his prejudices. Either birthed from his own or of Faenor's group? So badly she just wanted to close her eyes and let it all blow over. But she knew all too well that the world doesn't function like that.

 

[AriAriAbabwa]

#B1E1CB
Interacting: Idea @StablesPeople ​

Edelmira bobbed her head up to keep eye contact with Sitra. Words flew at the child in rapid pace—she picked up the gist of them all, but what comforted her more was Sitra's own presence. Mira remained silent for the most part, opting to nod and wipe her eyes behind the safety of her bubble. Sitra pointed to a worn stables. People were there; Mira didn't catch the names.

"Thank you..." was all she could mutter before finally rising to her wobbling feet. She was about to speak again before the sounds from the cathedral cut both of them off. At that point, the young Scabbard was already hurrying to the direction of the stables.

The scurry there seemed to whiz by in seconds; she didn't know if she ran or not, or if panic had driven her like when she ran from the church.

But soon enough, she reached the damaged building, only hearing muffled grumbles inside. She walked around the walls, finding the ajar doors.

Edelmira peeked her head around the entrance. And, at the sight of familiar faces, her countenance shriveled up of any remaining composure. She ran inside, still wrapped in her magical bubble. But after a moment's realization, she popped it. "G-Guys..." That was the only word she could utter before her throat clenched up as if choking, and tears returned in a flood.

She wailed; one of the earliest and loudest sounds to break morning.

 

[Goonfire]

Seeing the box alight, Hackel recoiled. The fiery explosion lit his sleeve on fire and pushed him back. While on the floor, one could hear a panicked, gurgling holler. The bounty hunter frantically slapped at the flames until they sputtered out. A sigh of relief hitched in his throat as the throbbing pain of his wound returned. The adrenaline was dying down, but he needed to soldier on and carry Anselm away from the burning church. He couldn’t help staring at those cracks on his neck and crawling closer on all fours. Just what the hell was this boy, exactly?

All seemed quiet, which made the weary warrior cock his head to peer outside. The morning light now flooded the streets, illuminating the aftermath of last night’s massacre. It was quiet; maybe the others would come looking... if there were others. “Can you stand?” he whispered to Anselm, offering his arm while kneeling beside him. Lying prone was a bad look for anyone, especially the leader.

seasonedcat Firelie

 

[The True Plague]

Faenor managed a non-committal nod to Yona's promise of a drink. Be polite Faenor, even if you expect nothing but grain water. Honestly, it'd probably just be better if he declined, given he's got exquisite taste with drinks... But at the end of the day, this is a group effort. Even if you think them to be beneath you, it's best to at least wear a polite, if vacant smile when dealing with each other. "I'll hold you to that promise then, Yona." With that said and done, he turned his gaze to the approaching Borre.

Great, a Blade. Why must they always exist? They're absolutely idiotic, and this is only shown by the questions asked and their quality. "What, do you think the monsters merely ignore mages?" He'd raise a brow here. "Because they seemed more than happy to ignore our comrades to swarm me and Yona here. This is just as much a fight for Mages as it is for Blades. The people we care for are not any less in danger than the ones you do." His condescension was slipping through a bit, but cut him some slack. He's injured, high strung from a life or death situation, and quite simply lashing out to establish some control over the fact he's technically at the mercy of a hated faction.

"That said, I can accept your help, so long as you don't view this as a Blade helping a Mage. I'd rather not have my injuries worsened through a veiled hatred." He allowed himself to relax a bit, even as the inhuman scream rang out through the air. To him, that signaled the end. Either they're gonna die, or whatever made that sound is now dead. Which means he doesn't have to worry about it anymore. "Sleep is overrated anyways, Yona." Says the Elf, who'd kill for a nap.

CasualTea seasonedcat

 

[seasonedcat]

Anselm felt his head floating lightly on a river, each gasping breath he produced shook his boat lightly causing it to sink a little more. Thankfully for him though this helped him feel as if his pain was also floating and ignore the absolute agony his nerves were screaming in. His boat got rattled again when his blood was ripped from him as he threatened to sink completely, a pained noise throwing from his lips as his vision blackened.

Through eye lids coated in cotton he looked over at the voice of Hackel who had seemingly finished the fight, it seemed like he had blacked out for a second there since he couldn't remember the fight ending. He offered the older man a light laugh as he tried to pull himself up. His limbs looked like they didn't belong to him as he struggled to even lift the uninjured arm. He gurgled out a chuckle at him, "not really to be frank." He said in an attempt at light heartedness as he head sawm in the murky water now? To be honest he didn't know how much longer he could stay awake. Coughing up some blood on himself he spoke again,

"Is... Is everyone else okay?" He manged as his conscious drifted. At least if that was the case they wouldn't lose anyone important. After all even in the end he couldn't do anything to fight that beast. All he did was fail again, thats all he could ever do. His eyes shuttered as he began to lose focus. "If this is the end for me, can you at least try to finish this shit idea of a quest. I dont think the world has much hope without our mess of a group." His slight smile fell with his words as his eyes shut. His shuttering breaths continued but he losing a lot of blood and he needed medical attention.
Firelie
---
Borre let out a sigh, "of course, how could I forget, you wouldn't have helped any other way." He let out a chuckle at the man's words. Of course the other woman there was another mage, why else would the man associate himself with them,

"Well its good that you mages are finally doing something other than destroying peoples lives." He relaxed lightly at the man letting him help him, feeling glad the other man would not take dying over his help. He approached the other and began his work. He tried to be as gentle as possible and avoided touching the other as much as possible as Faenor already seemed uncomfortable with him before when he was just standing there. He did need to gently remove some of the others overclothes when needed, gently moving them and silently waiting for the other to give the okay. From there he was able to continue stitching and bandaging.

"I dont care much of the politics behind your whole rebellion, what I care for is the innocents who are slaughtered in the cross fire. For the soilders you don't hesitate to cut down because they represent the other side. For all the destruction you have brought to this world. You don't care who dies, you think this is nessisary. You send young mages to die for a cause they hardly understand and then you all wonder why we think of you as monsters. Have you ever shown yourselves as anything but?" He stopped talking there as he tended to him. He did not intend to harm the other, rather the opposite.
The True Plague CasualTea

 

[CasualTea]

"Shut the fuck up, you donkey." Words spoken by Yona who was in no show about to hear the preaching of a Blade that she would have considered her comrade if she had not had that incident back in Penari. "Blades and Scabbards also have some dirt on them. When they find a mage who is just trying to live their life, what happens? Torture, discrimination, a reformation which is probably the most back shit woods there is. You want to talk about politics? Fine." She soon sat up, a fatigued glare already forming towards the Blade. "These people just want to live their lives comfortably with magic as a possible tool they can use to survive. A cure for disabilities. But if you want to talk about death, then give them freedoms and rights and there wouldn't be any more death. Their cause is simple. They want their rights. Of course, some more deserving than others and how they're doing it isn't right either but what us... I mean, the Blades, do isn't very pretty either. And they're pretty much forced to commit such acts because of how we respond." Yona soon starts getting up as she felt her anger take over, a whole spew of emotions she had kept bottled up over the years coming forth and bursting open.

"If there is a rebellion, then I wonder who it was who caused such a thing to exist. It wasn't them. It's the Blades and Scabbards. They made them. Pressured them. They are the ones who struggle. All you ever did was sit in a lofty chair and followed the Scabbards like blind sheep." She continued aimlessly. "Everyone and anyone is capable of destroying people's lives. You really have no fucking idea what a non-mage can do to another. But I can offer you a glimpse of hell on Earth." She then clenched at her sword, as if she was about to strike the boy in front of her. "Blades and Scabbards can be monsters too. I can definitely allow you to feel it."

She soon stopped suddenly and noticed the Scabbard girl in her bubble magic. She seemed panicked which made her rage wash away to more of concern. Eventually though, she broke into tears and started crying like a child. It took her a moment to process what was going on before relaxing her grip on her sword and set it against the wall of the stables, letting out a sigh. Obviously, she was scared. It sort of reminded her of when her childhood friend, whom she considered a little sister, used to have nightmares and run to Yona's room in the middle of the night. She scratched the back of her head as she awkwardly looked at the Blade, said nothing before proceeding towards the Scabbard girl. She then gently wrapped her arms around the girl, offering a warm embrace as she patted the back of her head. "...Hush, it's okay. You're okay now." She spoke softly, ignoring whatever comment would come her way from either the Blade or the thief. Maybe even Faenor too. He might tease her about this later on or something.