Fandom Bravely Null IC

[InsaneAsylum]

The pirate queen gave Sheridan a falsely warm smile before answering.

“I’m glad you’re all hearing me out. Now, what I need is the Black Dragon’s Fang. You may have heard of it. It’s said to grant those who are pierced by it unimaginable power. The last I heard it was in possession of some old man in the northern lands of the Rivienne Kingdom. You all will obtain it for me. When you return I will give you back the young lord in one piece!”

She bent down a patted Otomo on the head as he began to stir. A look of shock crossed his face as he felt the ice beneath him. He turned his head to look up, seing the nobkes he gathered standing on the docks. His eyes then rested on Ina, slumped over unconscious. He reached out a hand towards her but the Pirate Queen planted one of her bare feet into the back of his head.

“I’ll give you all one month! How’s that deal sound?”

 

[Misuteeku]

Sheridan Sasaki
​

Sheridan just looked at the other few nobles that had attended Otomo's parley with the pirates before shrugging at the pirate queen. It was up to them if they wanted to accept it or not. They were, after all, a ragtag team of nobles that Otomo randomly had chosen. Most of them didn't know the kid and maybe didn't care what happened to him or not. The same went with Sheridan. While she did care about the kid, she wouldn't mind him being held hostage as long as he wasn't hurt. That was enough for her.

She followed kid's gaze towards the women who he referred as a whore. It seemed like the kid held fondness towards the women, despite his treatment towards her. Sheridan hated seeing kids cry, so as a measure to prevent that from happening she dug into her cloak. Taking out a talisman, she let out a soft sigh. The things she would do for kids. She would have to create more talismans after their missions was over and not to mention to repair the puppet dog's teeth since she saw the teeth were starting to get dulled. Slapping the talisman onto the body of Ina, she chanted with an incoherent language before stopping.

The Curse Of Undying was now in motion. It'll probably prevent her from dying for at least an hour or so, or something. She didn't spend too much time experimenting with curses or all of that stuff.

 

[HeyItsBanana]

Mason Arembur
Mentions: Gerran & Lan ( Arcanist ) Locke & Shaia ( The Black Knight ) God ( InsaneAsylum )​

There were two moments that confirmed Mason's enchanting had been performed accurately, though he wasn't sure if he should be excited for himself or terrified of what this power could be used for if demonstrated en masse. Watching Gerran fight was almost divinely ironic Mason realized as he continued to dedicate the largest portion of his focus on keeping the magical link flowing between the two of them. While he had spent his entire life dedicating himself to helping people, healing the injured, and assisting the downtrodden in any way that he could muster, his assistance was now being used to harm others. Mason knew he would have to be conflicted about this later, for if he lost concentration, he would surely become a liability. It was at this moment that a bandit started to make his move on the newly strengthened Gerran, seemingly unaware of the mistake he was making, at least until the metal of the man's shield struck his face.

Judging from the sound alone Mason was confident that the mans nose had become little more than a fine paste, and several of his teeth were either broken or removed entirely, and it was quite possible that Gerran had cracked the mans skull, an impressive display of skill even more so when done with such a casual move. Somewhere in the back of his mind Mason had heard the shrill note, though he was trying hard to tune everything out that he could, it was only thanks to Gerran that he was actually made aware of the incoming barrage of arrows, Gerran going so far as to step before him and deflect a few of the missiles that were late to the party. "Thank you." was all he could shakily say before he heard Lanthane cry out in pain. Still keeping the link between he and Gerran flush in his mind, he started to think as he cowered behind the previously upturned cart. Locke and all of his valiant comrades, as well as Lan's impressive potions were doing wonders at keeping the giant scorpions busy. Mason's gaze fell upon the arrow that had buried itself in Lan's shoulder, luckily there was another wagon near him as he could afford some cover before another volley was loosed.

Mason's eyes fell to one of the arrows that never made its mark, as he tugged on the shaft of the ammunition and freed it from the sand, he was met with a stunning revelation. Though he had never seen the arrowhead itself he had treated some of the wounds that it caused. The head itself was something wicked, a short corkscrew shape that came to an intimidating point accompanied by vicious barbs that resemble fishing hooks. The head itself was designed to fallout without much jostling, leaving the grotesque wound to bleed. Supposedly, before they were made more commonly available for hunting purposes, these were designed to cripple larger beasts that would then be tracked by the excessive bleeding the wounds caused when the arrows were removed. Nearly useless against anything that resembled metal armor, even the thick carapace of the scorpions were nearly impervious to them, these were designed to pierce flesh and Mason had seen their proficiency in this.

"But why are they trying to keep us alive?" Mason thought. These specially designed heads were often quite expensive to make properly, he could not fathom why they would be used against a band of what they expected to be simple merchants, then it dawned on him. "They knew," Mason whispered to himself in realization, "they knew the cart would contain at least a few nobles." Slowly he began to connect the lines, though he could be horribly mistaken and all of this could be chalked up to a coincidence, he did not have the time to dwell upon it any longer. "Lan," Mason called as loudly as he could, "do whatever you can manage to keep that arrow in your shoulder. You will bleed out in minutes if the wound is too deep and you remove it. I have a plan." He clenched the arrow tightly in his fist, remembering the woman who had not the moment to introduce herself, and scanned the area for her. When his gaze finally settled upon her Mason's knees buckled for between them lay at least forty meters of open ground, no cover to speak of, and an assorted littering of bodies and arrows. He was frozen in terror, but then he had remembers Gerran's act of heroism, and his feet began to move before he could stop himself. "Gerran!" he called as he ran, "I don't know how far away the enchantment will work from, please stay safe!"

His feet slid through the sand, and the young man stumbled on more than one occasion, an arrow sang by his head as he dove the last few feet behind the meager cover, nearly crashing into the woman. Gasping, filled with terror and little oxygen, he noted that the connection between himself and Gerran was taking much more of his mental processing now. It had even become difficult to formulate thoughts that weren't of the purpose of maintaining his link. "Take...arrow.." Mason said between labored breaths, "Aim for leg or thigh." He placed the missile into her hands and started rubbing his temples, speaking as well as he could, feeling as though his head was going to split open. "Hit guy with instrument." Mason knew he would not last much longer in this situation, he could not defend himself, but if they could even the odds and down the man who appeared to be leading this brigade, it may even the odds or even turn it in their favor. ​

 

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[div class=Heading][div class=header]Rin, Kaiyo, & Hiroaki[/div][/div]​

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All three Feurey natives were in the midst of battle when an omnipresent portal manifested above the bloodied uproar. Being at a distance, Kaiyo was the first to pay attention to the newly formed gateway. Below, Rin and Hiroaki were too enthralled in the heat of battle to turn their attention towards what would soon win them the battle. However, there was a peculiar sensation that inflamed fright onto the dock. Both Rin and Hiroaki felt it deep within their bones, their core reeling. Rin had just slain another pirate when one bested her from behind, nearly plunging a dagger into her side. Luckily, a sinister hand sprang from the portal and into the pirate's chest, ripping his heart from the rib cavity. Blood spattered across Rin's face as she turned, prompting her to scrunch her nose and wipe the liquid from her cheek.

One by one, the enemies were torn apart on the deck. The water closest to the dock and beneath the floorboards tinged pink as blood mixed with the saltwater. Kaiyo quickly reconvened with her comrades below, taking precaution to not step on any fallen pirates. Rin shifted her body to gawk at the 'child' who unleashed the hands. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm glad she's on our side," Rin whispered to her sister and dear friend. Hiro nodded in agreement, placing his swords in their proper place. "I wouldn't put your swords away just yet," Kaiyo muttered, her brows cinched together as she examined the dock. "I sense something."

But it was too late. A crystalized sword protruded from Ina's chest as she collapsed to the ground. Following a feminine voice, the trio gazed towards a pedestal fabricated entirely of ice. Perched atop it stood the Pirate Queen, and next to her feet laid the young lord. Rin's jaw tightened as she considered the situation; something uncharacteristic of the noble. She could use her magic, but there was a reason the other noble was not casting hers as well. Fighting now risked putting Lord Akai's life in danger. Rin's face lit up and then darkened as thoughts played through her mind. Well, he was a noble. Meaning, he could not die. But then there's the situation with the whole village becoming annihilated. Kaiyo and Hiro glanced sideways at Rin, both raising an eyebrow at her changing expressions. At this point, she had one finger pointing in the air, moving about sporadically from left to right then back to the left. Suddenly, she dropped her hand and pointed her weapon to the Pirate Queen after listening to her request.

"Look, you old hag!" Rin shouted, swinging her vermillion lance to and fro towards the Pirate Queen. Blood that had yet to dry flung from the sharpened edge. Hiro and Kaiyo immediately stiffened, glaring at Rin. "I don't know who you think you are, but you can't just waltz in here after commanding an army of pirates to kill us." There was apparent hostility in her tone. "And what kind of person uses their nephew as leverage," She spat, images of her own failed family prominent in her mind. She clenched her free hand, crescent-shaped indents from her nails appearing from the pressure.

"We'll do what you say, but I have conditions. The first is your nephew must stay unharmed. I'm talking one little hair on his head missing and I'll kill your ass, meet you at that damn crystal, and kill your ass again. Do you understand? Secondly, when we bring you this Black Fang or whatever, you must come alone; no funny business." Rin stopped only to take a breath. "Third, you must listen to the request your nephew has for you. And, my final request. This is the most important, so listen carefully." She paused again, her crimson eyes focusing on the pirate queen, ensuring she was paying attention. "I demand you supply us with food for this quest. Good food. Not some cheap food. I need to be fueled well for whatever we might encounter on this journey." Rin, satisfied, pounded her lance into the ground next to her, her lips tugged up in a content grin.

There was an awkward silence permeating the air around the trio as Rin stood rooted in the ground, proud of her requests. Kaiyo wavered slightly, dumbfounded.

"Are you serious?" Kaiyo retorted, pulling at her sister's hair. "We have this serious situation at our feet, and all you can think about is food?" Rin countered, pulling at Kaiyo's hair as well. "Look, I haven't eaten anything good in a while and-"

Hiroaki sighed heavily, blocking his comrade's words from his conscious. He let the two bicker, his hands folding across his chest. He kept watch of the Pirate Queen and continued surveying the surrounding waters for any sign of another ambush.

Interations: InsaneAsylum | Mentions: Misuteeku Entity.Eclypse
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[Entity.Eclypse]

InariThe search in the water was soon drawn to a conclusion as he noticed a slight rippling in the water, glancing up he saw a figure as something sped towards the rest of the group, his eyes followed the flying form as it collided with the woman from the previous day. He believed her name had been 'Whore' but that didn't quite seem right to him, perhaps it was and her parents had detested her. Looking at her form he watched her crumple to the ground after a moment before going still, her form was similar to the torn chunks of flesh that lay scattered among the bloodied streets before him. The thick red ichor began to flow off and into the sea, pieces of matter began to flow with the stream of blood. That which hadn't was little in the way of worry for him, turning his attention towards the others he could see that none of the others had been caught by the icy projectile. Thankfully the one who had made short work of the pirate crew, the child, had survived. A breath of relief escaped his lips to that fact, it was nice to know that he hadn't let someones child perish. In the case that he had, well that would be a terrible fate for the guardians to find out about. Shaking the thought from his mind, he looked to the other three who seemed intact as well.

Given the request from the pirate queen that was the most ideal thing for them to deal with, especially given that they would be traveling through Rivienne's territory. The next voice to come out, after the woman and the child's, had been that of another woman. This one wielding a spear as she spoke, seeming to wave it around in attempts to emphasize her point. She went as far as to punctuate her statement by tapping it against the ground. It worked to draw attention, just as well as it served to waste more of the energy that the group had. From behind his mask his eyes shifted to face the woman on the pillar once more, giving up on the possibility of taking Lord Akai back at the current moment all-together. Even if he had swam towards the pillar she could kill him by flinging another of the ice blades in his direction. It wouldn't be worth the risk, complying to her demands would serve them far better than attempting to combat what she wished for. With that he began to turn around and walk off, getting about five footsteps in before stopping and listening for a moment. The sound of water was louder, but he could still hear through it. So with that he began to keep walking, his pace slowed so that he could hear anything that they sought to inform him of.

The group had a month to retrieve this black dragon piece, given it's location finding a way in could prove problematic. Then again, the others could serve as something of a distraction. Given their powers with a blade and magic he was confident that they could even contest a defensive force. Though the truth in that had yet to be seen, all he'd witnessed was the slaughter of lowly thieves rather than armored guards. His footsteps continued as his ear twitched, still listening for any sound. Prepared to stop in order to catch it.​

 

[The Black Knight]

Amidst the roaring and racing about of the soldiers and bandits, Locke was catching his breath when he noticed Deadman Walking do some magic thing. What? He’s a mage? Locke thought. He did his magic thing on the large knight, and then Locke’s eyes near swelled out of his head when he watched Gerran practically shatter a bandit’s body with a single shield bash.

“WHAT THE-!?” Locke exclaimed. “He had spells to bestow us with godly strength and he didn’t tell anyone!?”

The sudden piercing whistle drew Locke’s and his party’s attention. Locke noticed the bandit on the wagon before he also noticed out of the corner of his eye, Hiro wobbling with disorientation from the assault to his sensitive ears. Locke raced toward him once he saw arrows speckling the sky. He tackled the demi-human into the shadow of the scorpion corpse and naturally searched for Shaia to see if she had kept close. The three had fought together since Locke found them on his journey and trusted their teamwork. Locke shoved Hiro beneath one of the scorpion’s legs to give him some cover as arrows clattered and pelted off the arachnid’s armor.

“This sucks. None of you guys know any spells?” Locke asked.

Shaia frowned at him. “Us, what about you?”

“I don’t know anything! You can’t shower them in arrows or something?”

“If I miss, then I will have wasted my energy.”

Locke glanced over at Hiro who was starting to recover. His ears were flat against his head and teeth grit in pain as he groaned a little. “’You all right, buddy?”

“Gravy,” Hiro growled as he shifted his shoulders up the side of the scorpion.

“I think I saw the leader. He’s the one who blew the whistle,” Locke informed.

Shaia happened to look around the scorpion’s tail-end and noticed Deadman Walking, not walking, but rushing toward her. “Is he crazy!?” she exclaimed.

“What? Who?” Locke questioned.

Shaia grabbed three arrows, nocked them, and fired them over Mason’s head. Her arrows collided with three others that could have potentially harmed the cleric before he dove under her cover. Shaia lowered her weapon and draped her arms around the panting mage, drawing him close to her bosom to keep his body beneath the scorpion’s thick and narrow leg as arrows pelted the sand around them. Locke and Hiro were silent, both staring with forced-straight faces as they observed Mason’s face smashed against Shaia’s breast and body held protectively between her arms and legs.

Take…arrow…

Shaia unlocked her arms from around him and took the arrow, inspecting the head curiously. She glanced back at the battlefield and noticed someone had dropped a smoke screen. While it gave her a disadvantage when it came to aiming for the whistle bandit from cover, it did give her the opportunity to obscure her movements.

“All right; I know what I’m gonna do,” she thought aloud. She then looked to Hiro. “I’m gonna draw fire.”

Hiro nodded. “I’ll handle the archers.”

Locke blinked and asked, “What about me?”

“Babysit!” Shaia exclaimed as she and Hiro both darted from cover.

Locke frowned briefly before his attention settled on Mason. He then smirked, “So…about that god strength spell…”

Shaia swiftly dashed across the sand, purposefully running in the open in a race for the grey swelling cloud. The arrows rained down around her. She had only a few seconds left. Hiro had been sprinting up the sand dune before he dropped to all-fours and swiftly scaled the sliding shelf.

Feurey, let my punishment be swift and spread like the flame, Hiro internally prayed. He wasn’t one to fight dishonorably, but after travelling with Locke, he learned that some tricks saved a life. His left hand clutched a handful of sand and upon emerging over the peak of the dune, he startled an archer. The archer stumbled backwards, trying to aim his arrow at Hiro. The demi-human tossed the sand into his eyes, causing the archer to recoil with a cry before Hiro brought his right fist hooking around to slam against his jaw. The archer’s head tilted, eyes crossed, and he went spinning to the sandy ground.

Hiro’s ears swiveled like satellite dishes, detecting the whistle of an arrow. The fox’s hand snagged the arrow out of the air, causing the archer who slung it to pale in shock. The monk didn’t hesitate as he raced toward his second opponent.

Meanwhile, Shaia was crouched in the screen concealment, moving swiftly and quietly. She even calmed her breath. She could see the silhouette of the wagon the bandit leader had stood on. Cautiously, she approached it and crouched next to it. She was too close, and she didn’t like it, but if she had tried anything from where she was, she wouldn’t have been successful due to the smokescreen.

Maybe I can make him surrender, she mused. She turned her shoulder to the corner of the wagon and peeked around it. There was a bandit crouched and taking cover. He hadn’t noticed her. This was her chance. Shaia turned the corner with the nocked arrow aimed at the bandit leader’s face. “Surrender!” she snarled. “Surrender before I lodge this arrow into your brain!”

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Rivienne

The rain of arrows continued relentlessly. The ring of archers around the fired arrow after arrow. Even when the cloud of smoke blocked their vision, they hesitated for only moments before continuing their rain. Fortunately for the caravan they weren’t able to directly aim at any of them, so the chances of getting hit with an arrow were a bit lower.

The bandit leader however, still had a mission to accomplish. He was never after the caravan for the supplies, he was here for the prisoners. Before he could move to get to the prisoner carts, he heard fenale voice go, “Suren-“ but without hesitation he threw a knife right at her. He didn’t stop there though, with an acrobatic flip backwards he launched another knife in her direction before speeded down the line of wagons was fast as he could away from her. The prisoners cart was only a few carts down, so he wouldn’t move far.

He was confident he’s have plenty of time to unlock the cart too, as he began to feel the earth tremble beneath his feet.

In an enormous explosion of sand, another scorpion rose from the desert sands. Several soldiers standing where it emerged were sent flying into the air before falling painfully onto the sand. This scorpion was twice as big as the ones before it. It was darker, spikier, and just straight up meaner than all the others. It let out a ear-piercing screech as it grabbed at a soldier attempting to flee it’s grasp. The poor lad was crushed in an instant. Two pieces of his bloody carcass were left lying on the sand as the scorpion charged forward at the front of the caravan where many a soldier were hiding below. The men shot each other a quick glance of fear before rolling out from under the wagon and running off.

The wet and groggy high pitched howls of a new combatant washed across the battle field. Bandit and footman alike turned to see what in gods name had made the disgusting noise.

Springing across the desert towards the battle were several armored knight riding atop the universally detested Ballistic Chickens. The shiny weapons armor of the knights conflicted heavily with the vomit green scales and lavender feathers of the bird mounts. Among these soldiers were two more nobles, both female. The bandit archers turned to try and fire at the chickens, but the knights were upon them in seconds, cutting down the archers as their formation curved around the battlefield to eliminate them. They were Rivienne’s elite knights, come to provide the caravan with support. Even the archers trying shoot at Hiro decided the better plan was to flee before they too were cut down or had their neck broken by a chicken’s beak. With the archers less of an issue, the nobles only had to focus they efforts on the remaining scorpions, primarily the big one. Of course the bandit leader was still at large as well, even with the archer woman on his tail.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Feurey

The Pirate Queen tapped her chin for a few moments, thinking over the young spear woman’s demands. She was only pretending to consider them.

“Why would I ever hurt my poor little nephew?” She asked aloud. She crouched down and grabbed Otomo by his hair. She pulled him up by her own face, and in her free hand created an ice sword in an instant. It appeared that she hadn’t even used a paper tag to do so. She then rested the flat of the ice sword against Otomo’s cheek. “He will perfectly safe with me, don’t you worry. Of course after a month I cannot keep any promises. Without a leader the Clans of Feurey will have no chance against the West! I already know he wants me to help prevent our people from losing their crystal. Did you all think I was ignorant?” She dropped Otomo back onto the ice and turned her back to the group.

“I’m sure this village will provide you with all the food you need if you tell them you saved them from me. Of course, you don’t look like you need to be eating much right now anyway... good bye!” With a sudden goodbye, a wall of ice rose behind the ice queen, blocking her off from the docks as she began back towards her ship, dragging Otomo along with her.

Ina groaned sleepily. She looked down to see the ice sword jutting out of her stomach. Her eyes widened in shick, but wuickly relaxed. Her expression became one of sadness. “I have no reason to live without Lord Otomo. Why are you keeping me alive?” She asked Sheridan in solemn confusion.

 

[Misuteeku]

Sheridan Sasaki
​

Sheridan proceeded to ignore the sharp tongued woman as she made demands to the Pirate Queen. If the Pirate Queen had more allies and ships it wouldn't of surprised Sheridan that much. Being crowned the title 'Pirate Queen' was no joke. She would scold the demanding woman if she was a more of an extrovert. Then again, she wasn't an extrovert and hardly cared if the people around her died. The women was dying right next to here was an example. In her heart, she didn't feel a single bit of compassion to save her. If anything that compassion came from the boy reaching out to her in the first place. If he was removed from the equation then she would-

Oh, the Pirate Queen was gone along with the kid. Constructing a wall of ice in front of her as she made her escape. Sheridan, again, could easily destroy the wall with a simple curse but that would just put her into needless trouble. With a sigh she grabbed the puppet dog, that was lolling its tongue out happily, and observed its teeth. They have been bloodied and dulled from the battle that had ensued. It would take a little money, which she didn't have, to repair the wooden dog's teeth. Placing the dog back to the ground, she started to leave the group. She would heed the Pirate Queen's advice and ask for a small fee from the villagers. That should be enough to repair her puppet.

She stopped when the woman referred to as 'whore' asked her a question. "If anything, you have to thank your lord for saving your life." Sheridan simply said as she didn't bother turning around. Social interaction was never her thing. While she use to enjoy her conversations with her madman of a caretaker, they had long since vanished. Being surrounded in a world within an enclosed room with puppets had that much of an expected effect. "I don't know you, and I didn't care to save you up until that point," There was a pause in her voice, "The kid seemed to be attached to you, so I decided to save you. That is that. You have an hour left to treat your wound. Whatever you do with that time isn't my concern." With that she departed to collect some fees.

Going over to the villagers one by one, she asked them for a small fee for assisting them in defending their town. They weren't convinced at first, up until the spotted her bloody. Reluctantly, they agreed to give her a small bit of money. After asking various other villagers for money, she looked at her cloak. It was indeed bloody from all of the bandits being dismembered by the hands of Demon's Buffet. With a sigh, she removed her cloak. Her auburn hair flowed through the air and her very traditional Rivienne clothing followed along with the wind. Her mentor often made her wear these kind of things. Always said that Fuerey clothing didn't go along with her look. Not that she cared enough to argue.

Throwing away her cloak into some random portal, that she had summoned with the use of Dark Magic, she closed it and proceeded to walk on. She received odd stares on her clothing as she did walk by. She would buy another cloak, but she didn't want to waste the money she had received from the villagers. Instead she decided to spend some time buying materials for her puppet. Taking out the unfinished bird puppet, she began to work on it as she waited the others to depart.

As she worked on the bird puppet, she frowned. The boy with the mask... She felt like he stared at her for a moment during the conversation with the Pirate Queen. Why was he looking at her? Though the conclusion came quicker than the question. It was because of her current form. She wouldn't fault him for that. Many that had visited the hermitage in the woods often had the same reaction. A lone girl living with an old man. It was a little... suspicious, she'll admit. Leaving it at that, she continued to work on the bird puppet.

 

[Takumi98]

Pilgrimage on hold, Vivian found this task just as important. These were soldiers in need after all-those who would give their lives to protect the people. That included royalty and the upper class, and wanting to do what she could she agreed and Ashe wouldn't have been able to change her mind if he tried, which he didn't causr he wasn't an idiot and knew where her ambitions and such lie.

Tome in hand, Vivian clung to her steed to keep from falling off nd potentially getting trampled, and once on the battlefield, she quickly dismounted to go to the nearest injured soldier to heal, her hands glowing a soft green as she did so. Rafa had stuck by her side with her blade drawn, while Ashe kept a vigilant eye out a step or two back, bow drawn tight and arrow knotched and ready to fire at a moments notice while the elites thinned the enemy numbers.

"Well, we arrived to quite a mess didn't we?" Rafa scoffed, earning a huff from Ashe.

"Battles aren't clean and simple, you especially fight dirty." He responded, earning a chuckled from his underdressed companion.

"You must learn to take a joke, good sir!" She teased in amusement, knowing that he'd rather be anywhere else sleeping while Lady Vivian was nearby doing something far safer like reading or whatnot. She found it rather unfortunate to run into the Scorpion Blades like this, but perhaps it was for the best she didn't end up on the other end of a Ballistic Chicken and was currently one of the proctectors of a child full of rainbows and sugar.

Who also had quite a bit of coin to her name as well, but that wasn't important currently. What was important was keeping said child safe and sound in this chaotic scene before them, else mother hen Ashe got pissy and blamed himself and her for something they had no control over. Luckily they had another noble with them to protect the child who wasn't as proficient with a blade in their group. She would give most of the nobles in her presence this, while out of her league, they were rather attractive.

 

[The Black Knight]

Shaia

The knife had caught her off-guard. What a naïve fool she was to believe a mass murderer and terrorist would surrender so simply. Before this mission, Shaia had mostly dealt with monsters and petty thieves who stole rather than killed. She felt the knife pierce her chest. A startled gasp unlike any sound she had made before left her lips and immediately her hormones exploded in defensive mode. As the bandit leader lobbed a second knife, Shaia could only manage whacking it aside with her bow before she stole back around the corner of the wagon. She clenched her teeth. Tears welled in her eyes as she stared down at the knife. She wasn’t too much of a fool to remove it, knowing it would cause her to bleed profusely. She was so stupid to have tried to challenge a thief so close. Grasping her chest around the dagger, Shaia felt marooned at the wagon surrounded by various factors that wanted to kill her. She was isolated from her team—from everyone and vulnerable. She focused on controlling her breathing.

Breathe Shaia. Don’t let Locke see you cry, the archer thought.

Hiro

With a hand planted in the sand and crouched low, the fox glared at the remaining archers and noticed the change in their expressions. They looked passed Hiro and started to flee. The monk stood and glanced behind him to see a cavalry of Ballistic Chickens. Hiro frowned and fled opposite of the archers. He jumped over the side of the dune and slid down the sand back toward the caravan. He hadn’t been wearing his armored disguise, and he wasn’t going to assume the Rivienne knights wouldn’t confuse him for the bandits. Afterall, he wasn’t Rivienne. As Hiro slid, he saw the sand explode in front of the caravan, and the mother of all scorpions announced her presence to the world. The fox scowled. Just when they thought the scorpions couldn’t get any bigger.

Locke

Locke had been watching the chocobo knights storming the caravan and grumbled, “I see. We were just the fodder to lure the guy out.”

Then a monstrous cry sounded and his blue eyes grew to the size of saucers, “What the gravy was that!?” He then recalled Shaia had went in pursuit of the bandit leader in the same direction he had heard the noise. Locke noticed the arrow rain had ceased and he made a motion to get up and once again leave Mason behind before he immediately remembered. He hesitated and pointed over at Mason. He ordered, “You! Stay behind me. We need to go backup Shaia.” He had no idea where Hiro was.

 

[HeyItsBanana]

Mason Arembur

Mentions: Locke ( The Black Knight ) Gerran ( Arcanist ) Vivian ( Takumi98 ) God ( InsaneAsylum )




Though the pounding in his head had subsided, Mason could barely understand the instructions of the seemingly competent fighter Locke. The connection of magic from him to Gerran made it difficult to get the proper words out, but Mason tried his best to explain the situation. "I can enchant a person or their items," His fingers rubbed roughly over his brow, futility trying to massage away the throbbing pain in his head. "Causing a variety of effects, speed or strength usually. I've never tried anything greater than a whole person however." An image of Gerran bathed in a coat of light appeared in his mind, his entire form was enveloped in it. "Whole person." The statement rung out strangely in his mind, as it was a voice not his own, but one he recognized immediately.

"You are over-exerting yourself Mason," Father Bartholomew's said with a laugh, "you command all of your mana into a single spell of healing to do a job that requires only a fraction of the effort." It was at this point he took a small needle and pricked his own finger, a scarlet drop quickly gathering above the minuscule puncture before he continued. "In your current state, you would nearly exhaust yourself healing a wound like this," Bartholomew held up his other hand and it began to glow with white magic, "but if you focus yourself, you can use an amount of mana appropriate for the job." As the Head Priest spoke the light coming from his hand steadily faded until it was collected solely in his fingertips, then only on one individual finger, he touched the uninjured and the other together demonstrating the point he was trying to make. "Your heart is in the right place child, but you need to learn how to control the flow of your mana instead of using enough mana to heal a whole person."

"I'm using too much again." Mason said to himself, a smile coming across his face as he silently thanked Father Bartholomew for all of the knowledge that he instilled in him. He focused on the connection that stood between him and Gerran, his entire form bathed in light once more. Focusing, Mason began to pull the mana back, restricting the parts of Gerran that it had access to. "Just the arms," he murmured to himself, "just the arms will be enough." Suddenly, and thankfully, Mason's focus cleared. He was still acutely aware of his connection to Gerran, but the grey pall that had been clouding his mind had subsided. "Gerran!" Mason yelled, "I've drawn back on the enchantment, it's strength now only lies in your arms, Locke has a plan and-"

There was an ear piercing screech unlike any that Mason had ever heard, he slammed his hands to his ears as the very ground around them exploded tossing soldiers and carts alike into the air as though they were made of paper. As the sand cascaded over the area a true monstrosity revealed itself, another scorpion of massive proportions. Though the other scorpions dwarfed even their own riders, this new foe made them seem like a toy that a child would play with. Luckily, with his mind clear, Mason was able to spring into action, drawing forth his tome once more. Locke had requested of him to follow closely, but he knew that would not be possible, Mason would do everything he could to assist the warrior, but following him would not be possible. Before Locke could make a mad dash, presumably toward his comrade, Mason grabbed his blade carelessly, gashing his hand in the process, there was no time to be careful. Wincing through the pain, Mason focused, "Just the blade, just the blade, just the blade."

"By the spirits of the earth who's metal we mine," as he chanted, light began to gather around Mason again, this time flowing directly from the page into the weapon itself, "please lend us your strength and demonstrate the mirth of your domain." The blade was nearly enveloped in light now, humming with a dull energy as the spell reached its climax. "With the mettle to rend your own home, grant this blade the might of sunder!" As he finished the incantation, Mason's body became like lead, he suddenly found the weight of maintaining both enchantments nearly overwhelming. He managed to stagger behind the cover that he and Locke were using a moment ago, admiring the now glowing weapon, though he could see it in his minds eye, the dazzling light truly was impressive in person. "Go," Mason said through gritted teeth, mustering what he could to speak, "Will only...slow down."

For a moment, as he turned his head and saw more forms cresting the nearby dunes, Mason thought it was all for naught. Convinced he would die here, he closed his eyes for a moment content to have at least seen a minute of adventure before he would perish. Though, the thought did not last long as he was assaulted by, squawking, which caused his eyes to snap open. These were no bandits, these were reinforcements, they had received aid at the dawn of their loss, and the tenacious Ballistic Chicken riders no less. Mason had the pleasure, or maybe it was curse, of healing units from a troupe of riders several times in the past. It was seldom that they lost a battle, and even more so that they came back from a skirmish unscathed. If they injuries they took were anything to go by, the damage they would cause to enemies would be several times worse.

He scanned the faces of the riders as they clashed into the fray, looking for anyone that he may know, though a few looked familiar one stood out as she not only dismounted her animal, but she was a child. A child who was using healing magic to aid those who had fallen but not yet left this mortal coil. It seemed as though she was being closely guarded by two others, which brought Mason a sense of relief. Relief, and shame, as here was a child, performing acts healing while he was stuck, tucked under a cart, doing all he could to maintain two separate enchantment spells. He tried to move his legs after getting down into cover, but he found they would not lift him and, not wanting to break his concentration, he resigned himself to maintaining those bonds. "Win or lose," he said with a chuckle, "I'm out of the fight. My hopes lie with you, Locke and Gerran, take them as far as you can."​

 

[Entity.Eclypse]

Inari, Dierdre, Thana, and Kaldr
Interactions/Mentions: InsaneAsylum (Pirate Queen), Misuteeku (Sheridan), FoldedPages (Rin, Hiro, and Kaiyo)Before he'd gotten much further the voice of the pirate queen rang out again, this time she spoke about the captive young lord. Inari could only assume that she would be taking him back to her ship, probably keeping him captive until he came of use to her. Glancing back he noticed the materialization of the ice blade, his eyes narrowed as a hand moved into his clothing to grasp another shuriken. When she released the young lord again, he noticed the comment made towards the woman with the staff. A small smirk came to his lips, at the very least this new employer had a sense of humor. Releasing a swift breath, almost in a huff, he had managed to still himself from chuckling at the comment. He assumed that the pirate queen had meant to rile up the girl who had commanded so much of her, a gutsy play for sure, but it seemed to have panned out well for them. A wall of ice had now removed his two new employers from his sight, with that the rag-tag bunch of nobles had been left to themselves. They were stuck in this together, each of them bound on this mission while a war loomed overhead. The woman with a sword through her chest appeared to be active again, even finding her voice once more, whatever magics the young girl had used were proven potent already. A glimmer of jealousy threatened to twinkle within him for such a thing, before the flames could grow he made note to crush out the ember. Magic had never been his forte anyhow.

His mind now returned to the situation at hand, they had a bit of leeway when it came to asking for supplies, he and his newly-acquired... comrades. He had failed in learning their names, perhaps the thrill of combat had stopped him from hearing them. Perhaps that was better credited to the wailing of whatever damnation had poured through that portal. Turning to his side, he opened his pack and began searching through it for anything he had run into short supply of. For the moment he couldn't think of anything that he had few of, though there could be something that piqued his interest in the village. Poisons perhaps? The thought of such an item being stored in the village prompted his inner curiosity, so he glanced back to the remainder of the group for another moment. Surely the hungrier ones group would be in search of rations, he had plenty to supply his fairly limited dietary intake, and the girl seemed to have her own quota. As he began to turn towards the village the sound of hastened footsteps approached him without the slightest sound of hesitation, his eyes were drawn to this immediately. The image of a white canine rushed towards him, trailing behind it by a little ways was the image of two girls. Upon closer inspection he noted that the wolf seemed to have something in a pouch held in it's mouth, and the familiarity of it struck him all at once. That was his dog... wasn't it?

As the wolf neared him and looked towards him, he instantly knew the identity. This was without a shadow of a doubt, his Kaldr. Something slammed into the earth beside his beloved companion, a spray of dirt and loose rock from the path fired up as the air blade connected with the ground below. Pursing his lips slightly he released a sound that would appear practically inaudible, possible heard as a the faintest of ringing in ones ears. Kaldr's ears perked up at the sound and she began to curve, her form pulling to the right ever so slightly before turning sharply to the left, at the end of this sudden curve she ceased her movements. Inari now stood between the two girls and Kaldr. One of them still seemed upset about the situation and continued barrelling forwards, the other stopped dead in her tracks with amber eyes opened wide. For the one who didn't stop, Inari suddenly thrust his hand outward in a chopping motion. Unfortunately for the Pinkish-White haired girl she was caught in the throat by this chop and reeled back with an unflattering "Kyuh-!" sound. As the girl on the floor began to try and regain her breathing she attempted to speak, but only raspy gibberish would come out of her mouth. The other girl, this one with white hair and amber eyes, dropped her blade and appeared as though she'd just seen a ghost. A reaction that caused the mask-wearing boy to cock his head to the side in confusion.

Kaldr simply lifted her head up to the side of the boy, pressing herself beneath his hand. One of his fingers scratched her behind the ear, earning a wag of the tail from the stark white being. During this time the reckless one had hopped to her feet, defiantly she put one hand on her hip and the other pointed directly at Inari's facial area. "You! Weren't you ever taught how to treat a lady! Did your mother discipline you at all?" She practically shouted in his direction before looking towards him in agitation, her cheeks puffed out as this child-like visage took over. The corner of his lip twitched ever so slightly, a mild irritation hit him, he shook his head to the question as the irritation began to fade. The girl looked dumbfounded, her finger curling slightly as her stature seemed to weaken from the wordless reply. Had something that mundane broke her argument? If so then it was kinda pitiful. The girl quickly became flustered as an irritated expression returned, the strength suddenly coming back. "Well if you think that means you can ju-!" Her argument was cut short as the other girl walked up and hit her atop the head, the girl sinking towards the floor as she held her head in pain. Her eyes shot up filled with tears at the other girl who looked down at her, "Dierdreee! What was that for?" She asked the other girl as the tears began to spill onto her cheeks. The other girl, Dierdre, shook her head towards her sister before looking to Inari with a slight smile.

"I'm sorry for the trouble my idiot sister may have caused you. She believes that all men are meant to be some variation of prince charming" She stated as her sister seemed to be preparing a retort, but it was cut off by the growling that came from Kaldr. Her nose crinkled up towards the siblings as her fangs still clenched the bag. "It's just that... your pet there, she took my sister's favorite snack- so we wanted to retrieve it. If I had known it belonged to you then I wouldn't have threatened it as I did." Dierdre continued before stopping herself to look at Kaldr, the apologetic tone was surprising given that they were trying to kill his companion moments ago.

Moving his hand from atop Kaldr's head down to her mouth the snarling ceased, she dropped the bag into his hand and he tossed it back towards the crying girl. She juggled it in the air for a moment before finally catching it and falling onto her back. Kaldr whimpered in contention but this was soon silenced as Inari produced a handful of jerky from his bag, instead she returned to silence as she was sated for now. "Y-you're giving them back to me?" The pink-eyed girl responded in disbelief, Inari's response was a nod before producing a cloth from his bag and handing it to her as well. She seemed confused at that as well, so he mimicked wiping his eyes and nose to which she quickly took the queue. "Thank you, I see you haven't changed since I last saw you. I'm sure Thana is thankful... though she wouldn't admit it" Dierdre responded to the actions, to her side Thana was now chowing down on the contents of the bag. From what Inari could see, it appeared to be a meat-bun of some kind. He returned his vision to Dierdre who smiled at him, seeming to be off in her own world now, and decided that he should probably go get some extra provisions since Kaldr would be accompanying him. He waved his hand to her, but as he was turning away the smiling girl gripped his forearm and hand with her own. His motion halted all together as Kaldr swung around and began to snarl at the woman, "Wait!" Dierdre's voice seemed to have a hint of desperation to it.

Turning to face the girl Inari stared forward coldly, so much so that goosebumps appeared on her arms. She stilled herself before continuing, "You helped us- me, out in the past. I want to thank you for that... for saving me from that man." Her voice quietened as she began to speak, her grip tightening on his arm as she seemed to reflect. Given the information she had given him, she was the girl that had been on the scene when he had killed one of his targets in the past. A moment later and her eyes looked back into his, seeming to shatter through the mask, "So I'm going with you, I can see you've had a run-in with the pirate queen. So you'll need people who can fight with you." She continued and the sheer resolve took him aback for a moment. Nevertheless he shook his head in disapproval, motioning with his free hand back to the other group he was near. They weren't very well acquainted, but given that they were united for a similar purpose, they remained the closest thing to 'allies' that he currently had. She shook her head arguing against the fact, her fingers squeezed tighter now and a dull pain began to enter his wrist as the bones were pressed together. "If I don't do this now... we may never cross paths again." Her eyes went downcast as she said these words, just as quickly as they left her mouth she lifted her head and looked into his face again. "I won't allow that. So you're letting me come with you!" to which Thana added "I'll come along too! Can't trust a man like you alone with my sister" her eyes narrowing as she looked at him.

Inari's shoulders lowered slightly as he heaved a heavy sigh, as much as he hated to do it, he nodded to approve their accompaniment. A sudden growling rang out, which caused Kaldr's to fall silent. The trio (Kaldr, Dierdre, and Inari) turned to look at the source, Thana, who sat with a flushed face. "Ehehe... I'm hungry" she proclaimed embarrassed, Inari hung his head before nodding off to the side, emphasizing for the two to follow him. Dierdre took over an appearance of confidence as she release his arm, Thana dusted herself off as she stood to her feet with the empty meat-bun bag in hand. A short-lived whistle and Kaldr followed alongside Inari, the small party then entered town and gained some of the supplies they would need fairly easily. Rations, enough for a decent sized hunting party as of Dierdre's suggestion; Basic Hygiene Supplies; and a spool of Silver Thread/Wire, which he had to put some funding towards. In the end Inari and his group had returned with enough supplies to help maintain themselves, and hopefully assist the others until their next stop at the very least. He returned to the dock area, which he had assumed to be the designated meeting spot as the young girl had returned here, and pressed himself against a nearby wooden post. Their supplied resting near him as Kaldr stood by them defensively. Dierdre and Thana sat in the grass nearby, Dierdre was cleaning her sword while Thana seemed to be weaving any wildflowers and tall grasses nearby into a flower crown.

After a moment he noticed that the woman from before 'Whore'? Hadn't so much as removed the blade of ice from her chest, given that she was alive with that fatal injury he assumed that she could survive removing it. Looking to the two girls again Dierdre glanced up from her blade, "Oh- you're probably confused about the sword. I'm a mage, but I learned to use a sword thanks to my father. Thana is somewhat capable when it comes to healing magic, that's why she doesn't carry a weapon." Dierde spoke before a thought struck Inari. He motioned for Thana to follow him as he walked towards Ina, Thana moved after him and immediately noticed the blade of ice. "By the divines- how are you?!" She asked in sheer awe of the impaled woman's ability to stand. Inari didn't waste time, bowing as an apology he reached forward and gripped the end of the blade. The first thing to hit him was the biting cold, Thana contested with a measly "Wait a minute! You're going to make it wor-" before the sound of flesh tearing broke free. With that he'd removed the blade and dropped it to the ground, whether it shattered or not wasn't his concern. Afterwards he turned to Thana who was already frantically removing paper talismans from her bag and pressing them against Ina's body. "Rivienne, Ventin, Feurey I ask your guidance in my assisting of this individual." Thana began, "Feurey, Grant your heat to comfort. Rivienne, your springs to purify. Ventin, your winds to help my desires reach the heavens. I ask you to grant me the strength to heal this individual, to spread your word." With that the talismans would begin to spew off a bright light and seemed to burn away with a holy energy. At this point Inari had left and returned to his tree again, Thana finished off her incantation now "By the grace of the Elemental Children... and my will, be healed. Amen!" While the incantation wasn't really needed to be that long, a prayer to the divines never harmed anyone. With that she would begin to pour magical energy out in attempts to heal he as much as she could.

Inari looked towards the others as he thought this whole thing over, they were either marching towards death or a promising future. Which it was though, he didn't have even the slightest clue.​

 

[Arcanist]

♕ Lanthane/Gerran ♕
Mentions: Mason ( HeyItsBanana ), Locke ( The Black Knight ), Vivian & Co. ( Takumi98 ), Nolan/DM ( InsaneAsylum )
​

Lanthane was sure their situation wasn't going to get any better, not after that other scorpion had rose from the sand and completley knocked away soldiers and caravans alike. He was lucky not to be caught under the caravan he took shelter behind, seeing as the scorpion had arisen with such force, it blasted away in another different direction, leaving him out in the open. Hurt and fatigued as he was, he couldn't go running off and hiding again, lest that scorpion snap his body in half like that poor soldier that was caught running.

Thankfully, for all of them when hope seemed so lost, the ear-curling shrieks of Ballistic Chickens came running to their aid - debatable noble steeds of Rivienne, in all honesty. Lan squinted to find several more armoured knights riding alongside them, with the exception of a group of four who didn't don the same armour. He had managed to recognise two of the riders as his sisters, another man riding alongside them, and another female. As much as he would have stood and gawked and eventually thought of a good opening to get himself alongside her, such pleasantries would have to wait.

Though the pain shot through his shoulder with the arrow still lodged in it, he reached into his bag once again, pulling out another potion with some indiscernable, almost white-blue liquid inside of it. Shaking it once again, until the liquid started to solidify into an almost crystalline structure, he threw it towards to the beast of a scorpion. He backed off somewhat to make some distance between him and the scorpion, watching the glass shatter and explode in the general vicinity of the scorpion, with tall shards of ice spiking out in all different directions towards the scorpion's legs, as if growing from the ground itself and not the glass bottle it had called home in.


Gerran had found himself occupied with taking down bandits, defending others from the vicious onslaught of arrows, all the while wondering where the hell the prince had galavanted off to. His anxiety for Lan's safety had been skyrocketing for the past while, even though he found a new task in protecting Mason when he could. He had little time to take in Mason's words after he had explained to him about his new condition, for a scorpion that could rival the size of a house had appeared, destroying everything and anything in his wake. The resolve to abandon his other comrades to look for Lanthane grew ever stronger, searching for him in between piercing the flesh of yet another poor victim, or shielding himself from an onslaught of arrows.

Though, an opening appeared. The onslaught seemed to pause, if for a moment, for he noticed the steeds of Rivienne and backup appearing, alongside another group of...mercenaries? No, not just that, but two other nobles, it seemed. Lan's sisters had joined the fray. And as his eyes scanned over the situation of the turning tides of battle, he noticed that idiot prince getting himself involved with the larger scorpion. A fool if I ever saw one... He grunted at the thought. Regardless, Gerran knew his place would be there with him, else Lan would be throw around on the talons of a scorpion. He'd rather spare him the first of many painful deaths then let him suffer it.

Finding Mason behind a cover with Locke not so far from his own cover, he shouted over to him, "Mason, I thank you for the aid! I need to get to Lan!" Though he didn't wish to leave Mason dawdling behind cover, he hadn't much choice in his own oaths he had made over the years. Gripping his weaponry and primary defense, he made his way over to Lan, who had just witnessed the fruits of his labour as spikes of ice stuck into the scorpion he had decided to target.

Gerran grabbed Lan by the shoulder - thankfully, his good shoulder, as he had only noticed the arrow lodged in his other one. The annoyance in Gerran surged further as he pulled back and behind him, preparing himself should the scorpion come after either one of them next. He looked to Lan and he commanded, "Find your sister! She can heal your wounds."

Lan couldn't help but chuckle a little as he gripped his shoulder, joking weakly, "Since when have you been so ballsy as to give orders, Gerran?"

Gerran found little amusement in the humour Lan was trying to inject into the situation, and he repeated, "Go, you damn fool!"

Lan was about to go and do that, run to his sister for some aid and relieve the ache he had developed - until his eyes landed on a familiar figure some distance away from them, at the prisoner caravans that accompanied them. Of course, grab whoever was inside and have them join the fray and use them as a means for the Bandit Leader to get away. He'd admit that was smart, but not in the case of the backup that arrived that could foil it. Lan struggled to open his bag once again to see what potions he had left, finding he had one more elemental concoction left; similar to the lightning one he had chucked earlier. He gripped it tightly, knowing he only had one chance to make this work for them.

Lan ran off towards the figure still loitering at the prisoner caravans, not caring if Gerran had witnessed him sprinting headfirst into danger once again. Preparing himself to throw the concoction, despite grimacing and feeling himself grow weaker with every moment that passed by, he let his adrenaline take over and will him to throw the concotion towards Nolan, hoping it would have the same effect and shock him - that is, unless he saw it first and managed to dodge it.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Sarah Grivois​

So far, everything was going according to Goldelle’s plan. The caravan had baited out the bandits and the soldiers within engaged them. Of course the soldiers were fighting a losing battle, giving the bandits enough confidence to stick around. But now, the bandits realized their mistake.

“We are here to assist you comrades! Stand strong and fight as we strike down these bandits once and for all!” Sarah yelled this out for all the battlefield to hear. Upon hearing it many of the soldiers crawled out from under the wagons, or turned to face the scorpion before them. They may not have been inspired by Sarah, but seeing the ballistic chicken riders arrive would inspire anyone.

Sarah’s chicken squaked with fury as it bit the face off of a poor bandit archer beneath it. Blood dripped from its beak as it was steered towards another bandit.

“Oh Viviaaaaaan! It appears Lanthane has gotten himself into a tight spot!” She declared, pointing towards Lanthane just before he tossed one his absurd concoctions towards who she assumed to he Nolan. Why was he fiddling with some prisoner cart though? Sarah didn’t think about it for too much longer as she turned her attention to the largest scorpion trapped in the crystals. With her tome in hand, Sarah closed her eyes. Her magic flowed swiftly through her, before suddenly being jolted out of place. Her chicken had begun chasing after another bandit, forcing Sarah to reign him in again. “Quit running around you dumb bird before I roast you!” She yelled as she pulled on the ballistic chicken’s reigns. It resisted for a few moments before Sarah managed to get it under control.

“This is why mages don’t ride these things!”

 

[Takumi98]

Vivian's expression of intense concentration softened for a moment after said concentration was broken by her elder sister. Finishing up her healing on her latest patient, she looked up. "On it!" She called back.

Patting the soldier she just healed onto his shoulder she smiled and said "I would suggest not getting up right away, and stay here for only a moment before getting back into the fray." With that out of thhe way she stood, keeping a firm grip on her tome.

"Ashe please cover us, Rafa come with me?" She turned to her companions, who each nodded. Shortly after she rushed towards Lanthane, hoping to reach him in time to heal him before he passed out-he looked about ready to. This made her frown, her eyebrows furrowed in worry.

Once at Lanthane's side, slightly winded from running as fast as she could, she'd place a hand along his arm and look up at him with her most stern expression. She wanted to scold him for putting himself in such a situation while injured, but refrained from doing so. "Lanthane, sit down, please." She requested, before pausing. "I can help you sit if you need it, but I need to get a better look at your shoulder." She added, her gaze briefly going to who she assumed was Nolan before returning to Lanthane. If his concoction wasn't successful, she was sure Rafa would try to converge on the eldest Grivois in a heartbeat if she wasn't doing so now, the young mage was currently focused on her current patient.

Rafa remained close by, cutting down a few bandits who were foolish enough to get too close, and evading them as best as possible while doing so. Upon getting to their destination, she quickly took on a stance and prepared to charge at Nolan if whatever Lanthane seemed to throw at him didn't work. She wondered who could be so important in those prisoner carts for the leader to be going through all the trouble? She hoped to get an answer to that after this, but given the church she had a feeling that might not be the case. At least, not for a simple commoner such as herself, anyway.

Ashe released arrows as quickly as he could onto a few of the scattered bandits within his range that he considered to close to his charge, before a squawk was heard nearby. Turning his head slightly to his right, he blinked at the sight of the ballistic chicken Vivian had been riding moments ago with a dead bandit under it, it's beak bloody and seeming to be eating...some body part he was sure was a finger or two.

Said ballistic chicken squawked again, before going off to find more bandits to try and take down. The redhead's gaze took a quick sweep of the battlefield, he could see Gerran, and if he squinted he was sure he could see a young man under one of the wagons; but he returned his gaze to the two nobles, the scantily clad theif, and the ex-Prince as he prepared another arrow and got closer in range of the small group, this arrow was for Nolan should he decide to try and harm Vivian. It was only to slow him down, but if it did happen to kill the young man, that'd be purely accidental.

Mentioned: Mason ( HeyItsBanana ) Gerran ( Arcanist ) Nolan ( InsaneAsylum )

Interactions: Lan ( Arcanist ) Sarah ( InsaneAsylum )

 

[Arcanist]

♕ Lanthane/Gerran ♕
Mentions: Vivian & Co. ( Takumi98 ), Nolan/GM ( InsaneAsylum )
​

Lan couldn't tell if his concoction had hit Nolan or not. In fact, he couldn't tell a lot of what was going on, for dizziness had grasped onto him, and he struggled to keep his vision on one thing at a time. He would have willingly let himself hit the sand below his feet, had he not felt a hand grasp onto his arm, a pair of eyes boring into his skull - certainly not a welcoming pair. The man blinked for a few moments at the young woman beside him, his cognition only alerting him to who she was; Vivian...which sister was she again? He found trouble trying to work that out, giving it became progressively harder to think.

Though, he hadn't much of a chance to think, given Vivian insisted he sit whilst she looked at his wounds. Any other time, he would have argued with her, but he suddenly felt compelled to sit down, much like he wanted to fall earlier. Lanthane nodded, though, dazedly, sought cover. Finding a rock big enough to shield them, he stumbled over to it, trying to keep his wincing to a minimum as he slid down to the soft surface of the sand.

As Vivian got to work on his shoulder, he grasped at anything in his clouded mind to start up a conversation with Vivian. Though, as he thought of the situation the two siblings were currently in, he couldn't help but chuckle a little as he asked, "So...they've drafted you into this too, huh?" Somehow, it didn't surprise him. The Church needed every last bit of manpower they could get their hands on - including mages like his sisters. "I hoped you would have been able to stay in the capital and at least keep up your magic there," he explained, trying his best to keep conversation up so he wouldn't fall unconscious. It wouldn't have been a good idea. After all, he'd be missing the fun of the battle.

Lanthane felt his eyes wander, wondering what the situation was with the rest of the battlefield. Though, as he did so, he noticed someone else that had been part of the troupe Vivian travelled in with. Lan squinted, watching as the figure dodged attacks, slashing at incoming bandits, almost as gracefully as the water of Grenouille flowed through. As skilled as a thief. He thought he recognised her. Vivian wasn't without her own protection and company in Grenouille, but he had never crossed paths with her or her comrades. As he watched for some time longer, he thought the heat of the desert warped his vision and his mind, but it appeared as though the woman was scantily dressed - probably for more maneuverability in her graceful actions. And there he thought he was simply getting a wonderful view of a beautiful woman before he kicked the bucket and found himself awakening back at the Crystal.

Lan had thought of asking Vivian of the woman's name, though, remained tight-lipped on the matter. He didn't want another pain in him other than the sting of the arrow through his shoulder.

 

[The Black Knight]

Locke paused as he felt something catch one of his swords. The dark-haired swordsman stopped and glanced over his shoulder to see Deadman grasping one of his blades and muttering some odd poetry. It had to be a spell! His blue eyes widened in amazement when the magic enveloped his sword. When Mason finished, Locke noticed his strength wavered. Locke whirled to steady him so that his fall wouldn’t have been so heavy.

Go…will only…slow down.

Locke released Mason and nodded firmly. “Thanks.”

The sellsword left the cover of the scorpion corpse into the bright sun. As he dashed across the glowing, tan sands, he had one arm swinging to propel his sprint, while his other was behind him, his hand grasping the hilt of one of his swords to steady his sword rack. Locke headed straight for the first wagon he saw and as he neared, he noticed a figure lying on their side, hat flapping in the breeze as it still clung to its string. His blue eyes immediately shrank to the size of beads. His breath caught and his throat tightened as the entire world seemed to slow around him and become mute. His heart knew who it was, but his brain hadn’t quite accepted it. It couldn’t be.

Out of the corner of his tense eyes, Locke noticed a galloping figure and his head turned in its direction. He saw Hiro racing toward him on all-fours, his mouth parted in a silent cry. He might have been calling Locke’s name. Behind the fox was a giant armored chicken and its rider, pursuing his friend. The sand rolled beneath Locke’s booted feet as he abruptly slid to a stop. His enchanted sword hissed and uttered a resonating hum as he drew it from its sheath. Locke charged toward Hiro, his expression stern and focused. In that moment, the sellsword couldn’t even think. He could only act. The chicken’s large head and scissor like beak were splayed to snap Hiro’s fox tail right off. As Locke and Hiro closed the distance between each other, Hiro dropped upon his shoulder as Locke’s shining blade swept over top of him to cleave through the thigh of the passing chicken. The giant bird screeched before its lowered head struck the sand and sent its back flipping over top of it. The rider was crushed beneath the force of the bird’s back slamming into the sand as it went rolling in a trail of blood and feathers across the plain.

Lying on its side and kicking, the bird continued to wail. The rider was either unconscious or dead, Locke didn’t know or care. The sellsword walked over to the thrashing bird and ended its misery with a downward slice from his blade upon its neck. As the chicken went limp, Locke gazed at the soldier’s helm and picked it up to hand to Hiro. Hiro saw the look on Locke’s face when he quickly donned the helm. The monk was trying to catch his breath as he followed the swordsman toward a wagon where he noticed a figure was laying.

“Shaia!” Hiro gasped in fright. It was the first word he spoke once he managed to catch his breath and it made Locke abruptly stop. The demi-human raced over to the archer, dropping to his knees next to her. He turned her over onto her back in his arms and saw the knife protruding from her chest. Streams of blood had spilled from her mouth suggesting internal bleeding. Hiro brought his hand to Shaia’s neck to check her pulse and when the monk’s head bowed, Locke’s eyes grew in disbelief.

Hiro sighed and dried some tear trails from Shaia’s cheek with his thumb. “She’s dead Locke,” he informed sadly. The monk set her body upon its back and folded her hands over her lap. He then combed her white hair until it was orderly with his fingers and placed her hat over her face. Hiro raised his right hand between his eyes. His thumb was curled into his palm as he prayed over her body.

Locke looked away from Hiro and Shaia over to the scorpion where Mason had taken cover. It was his fault…he then looked over to where Rivienne soldiers were fighting a scorpion much greater than the little ones that surrounded it. Locke then looked back over to Hiro. The fox was staring at him and his lips were moving.

Locke, what happened? Who did this?

Locke!

But he heard nothing. He heard only the rapid thumping of his heart in his ears and in his hands, he felt a chaotic heat as though lightning was coursing through his fingertips. Locke grasped the strap of his blade rack and removed it from his shoulder. The rack clattered loudly to the sandy ground as he abandoned it and the enchanted blade Mason had gifted him. Hiro stood as he watched Locke march back over to the downed chicken. There was a spear on the ground and Locke knelt to snatch it from the soldier’s stiff fingers. Locke rose and twirled the spear so swiftly that a cloud of loose sand rose and fell at his feet.

Hiro’s narrow fox eyes widened in surprise. When did he learn how to wield a spear like that? Without a word, Locke turned and walked down the opposite side of the wagons from Nolan toward the scorpion queen.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

The Clans of Feurey​

After the confrontation with the Pirate Queen, the oddball group decided to take up the Pirate Queen’s request. However, they decided to get supplies for their journey first. The town they were in was more than happy to supply them with everything they needed considering they hadn’t let the Pirate Queen annihilate them and their village. So, it took very little neogtiation for the group to acquire two carts full of rations for the road. The group decided to rest at a tavern before they got back on the road, and possibly have a little drink to relax after the altercation with the pirates.

The tavern was old but well maintained. Inside were many tables and a counter with stools. One could order food and drinks if they so pleased as well. There weren’t many people there right now. Only a handful of fishermen and merchants taking a break from their lives.

Ina wasn’t with them however, they had found a place for her to stay as her wounds heal. The white magic had stabilized her enough to keep her alive, but she would need a lot of time before she was ready to travel again. They would have to leave her behind for now, and maybe one day see her again. However, she was very thankful nonetheless.

They had been in the tavern for about ten minutes before three women entered the building. One had two sheathed katanas at their waist, and had a bright smile on her face. Another held a nodachi over her shoulder and had far more skin exposed than most would deem respectable. The last one, who stood in the middle appeared to only hold an umbrella she scanned the room carefully, ignoring the many eyes drawn to them. She frowned, and cleared her throat.

“I am looking for the Young Lord Otomo. Is he here in this village this evening?” She asked in a smooth well pronounced tone. She knew a noble when she saw one, but none of the ones here looked anything like Lord Otomo.

The bright faced girl’s eyes locked onto Sheridan. A wide grin spread across her face as she quite literally hopped over to her. “What’s a kid like you doing here huh? You can’t buy alcohol! Want me to buy you alcohol? Wait no Saishoa will get mad at me if I do... what’s your name? I’m Daini!” She peppered the small dark caster with questions and babbled on.

Meanwhile the scantily clad woman simply strolled over to the bar and proceeded to order herself a drink. She shot a warm smile over at Hiroaki before turning to accept the drink being handed to her.

 

[Misuteeku]

Sheridan Sasaki
​

For whatever reason, she found herself in, what was called, a 'tavern' along with all of the other Fuerey Noble. Not that it bothered her that much. While it was a very noisy place, she could work on her puppets. All she needed to do was curse herself, to become deaf, for a few hours. Though it was unnecessary at the moment. She had finished the bird puppet that she had been working on. Looking down at the small, wooden puppet, she had went through her observations. It was still in the testing phase, and much work needed to be done to improve it. She had inputted the memory into it, resulting it in taking flight. The bird puppet was able to fly like the other birds, but unable to keep up with them. Another problem was that the wooden bird puppet was thought as food by the other food. While it wasn't that much of a problem, due to the fact that it was made out of wood and it was able to defend itself, it would cause unnecessary damage to the bird.

Spotting another young woman coming to her, she stowed her small bird puppet away. There would be more time to adjust the puppet in the future. Shifting her attention to the girl with two sheathed katanas, she looked at her and then the other two. They seemed to be either more Nobles or allies of the kid given that they came here to look for him. Unfortunately for them, they had just missed him. Turning to the one that was talking to her, she responded. "You may refer to me as, Sasaski."

Sheridan paused at the girl's offer. "I would appreciate if you bought me, tea instead." She retained her neutral expression. Surprisingly, this body of hers had a huge tolerance to alcohol. Though, that was countered by the fact that she had a body of a child. Even if she had a high intolerance to alcohol, she would get intoxicated quicker than most people. That aside, she was somewhat use to being intoxicated. After all, her master often taught her by throwing curses at her. It was the along the lines of, "Better you than me," or something like that. Also alcohol tasted disgusting and she would rather prefer the soothing taste of tea instead. She would like to visit a tea house instead and see how it was in there.

The small girl thought to herself as she waited to see if the girl would order her tea. Should she inform them about the kid? It only took a moment before the response came into mind. No. While the kid was very much in danger, she would leave it to the others to explain that to them. It didn't matter who it was... No, it did matter who it was. Hopefully, one of the two males in their group would inform them of their situation. She found the glutton to be rather too boisterous for her tastes. She didn't know anything about the two, three if she counted the cute animal that accompanied them, and the last one seemed to have ill intentions towards the glutton.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Nolan Grivois​

"Listile really misses you ya know. Let's get you out of here and back to her befo-" Nolan was abruptly cut off by the blast of a lightning from Lan's concoction. He wasn't paying enough attention, and was now twitching and convulsing on the ground in the sand. His dagger lying blade first next to him. He was totally helpless for the time being. The prisoner he was speaking to, another blonde woman with odd markings all across her body, gingerly crawled to the edge of the cage and looked down at him with a worried expression. She wore what appeared to simply be basic tattered brown clothes, but the skin that was exposed was muscular beneath the markings. She wasn't just some random prisoner, she was some sort of warrior. However, her skin was pale and she looked sickly. The woman called out to Nolan. "N-Nolan? Where did you go? Aren't we going to be free now? Nolan? Nolan?" She continued calling out his name despite not receiving answer, her arms reached out through the cage in hopes to locate him.

-------

Sarah had finally managed to get her chicken under control, and was charging up a spell to tenderize the big momma scorpion, so so she had decided to call it. She closed her eyes, and visualized an invisible fluid wash through her body through her bloodstream.

The scorpion screeched in frustration as it struggled to break out of its crystal prison. It flailed wildly, making it difficult to approach.

Sarah continued charging her spell, a ball of fire resembling the sun began forming in the air above her. It crackled loudly and gave of an intense heat. Kevin squaked in alarm, but bared with it.

With one big effort, The scorpion managed to force itself free form the crystals, as it rolled onto its back and then back over onto its legs again. It turned towards the brightest target, Sarah and her growing fireball. It charged towards her, kicking up sand as it moved as fast as it could. It hadn't taken out enough rage yet, and clipping some people in half was the only way this scorpion would be satisfied!

Sarah was ready for this though. She opened her eyes, and pointed towards the incoming creature. From the fireball, several smaller shots of flame blasted forth. The shots pelted the scorpion in the face, continuing for several seconds before the barrage ended. When then smoke cleared, the scorpion was squealing and flapping its claws in front of its face in pain. The shell covering its head had been totally blown off or broken.

"I would deeply appreciate if someone were to kill this beast now!" Sarah called out with heavy breaths. She had put a lot of effort into casting the spell faster than she should've. Now she had to pay the price. It was a good thing Kevin would run if the scorpion got too close. Getting skewed by it's razor barb now would not be fun. How would she explain to everyone how she had died before Lanthane?

The chicken riders had sent most of the bandits running now. Only the scorpion and Nolan remained. However the chickens had no intention of getting close to the scorpions, and would sprint away if one were to draw near. Ballistic Chickens never went where they didn't want to if they could help it. Unlike the nobles, they didn't like diving into danger.

 

[The Black Knight]

[I got permission from the GM for this post.]

The calls of a woman from within one of the carts Locke passed caused the dragoon to stop. He took a knee and peered under the wagon to see across it to the other side at a man who was on his back and wrapped in a snare of magical lightning. The gods had never been so kind to Locke until that moment. Raising on the balls of his feet, Locke gripped the arm of the spear and stepped into a thrust. The spearhead passed through the side of Nolan’s neck as he convulsed on the ground and out the other side. Like a fisherman not wishing to let his meal escape, Locke rested his hand against the side of the wagon and pushed against it to help him jerk the killer’s body toward him. When he was close enough, Locke grasped a handful of his hood and hair and dragged him further out to his side of the wagon. Leaving his body on the ground, Locke stood over him with his foot resting on the speararm.

There was a look on the dragoon’s face that was foreign and alien. It was cold, insensitive and menacing, having been born in the trauma of seeing his best friend die to this trash. Locke made sure Nolan was on his back so they could see each other.

“I wanted you to see the face of the man who is drowning you in your own blood,” Locke explained. “You are gonna die in the same manner my best friend did. It is only right that you know how it feels to have your lungs fill with so much blood that it can only come out one way. I don’t know who you were trying to free in this cart, but by the sound of how she was calling your name earlier, she seemed just as important to you as Shaia was to me. I don’t know what you did to earn the wrath of the Rivienne Kingdom, and frankly, I don’t care. The only thing I know about you is that you made a grave mistake murdering my friend. You could have killed anyone else, and you probably wouldn’t be where you are now. But killing my people? This was gonna happen one way or another, and now I’m gonna watch you die.”

Hiro had found Locke and was surprised to see him with the bandit from earlier. The monk was holding the sword rack Locke had cast aside. Locke’s actions were disturbing and would not have gone without punishment if he were in the Crane clan. But at the same time, Hiro understood why the dragoon did what he did, and he found himself making no motion to stop him. Was it because he too was angry about Shaia’s death? Of course, he was. He was furious! Hiro’s fists tightly clenched and he bore his sharp teeth in mixed emotions: anger; pain; and disappointment. Deep down, the teachings were telling him to stop Locke, but his heart was saying let him be. Was this truly justice? This was another reason why following the sellsword was…interesting. It taught him things he would have never considered in his strict upbringing. The shrine tried to protect their clergy from such evil, but Hiro started to question whether it truly was evil.

The fox stepped toward Locke and rested a hand upon his shoulder. “We’re still immersed in battle.”

“I don’t care. I told you we were nothing but fodder to them. The weight of Shaia’s death is more than what they are paying us for this mission. If they want more from us, then they will pay us more,” Locke angrily declared.

The dragoon spoke only business, but Hiro knew the sellsword was hurting on the inside. This moment had changed him—actually, both of them. Hiro was uncertain if he would ever get the old Locke back, and he knew that if he ever attempted to return to the temple that they would sense his change. Being exposed to the unorthodox methods Locke used to fight and get his justice, they would detect it and he would be excommunicated. Hiro dropped his hand from Locke’s shoulder and continued to guard Nolan with him. In that sense, he and Locke were both hiding from something.

 

[Takumi98]

Vivian had been focused on healing Lanthane, blocking out the noise around them except for the words he spoke to her.

"Yes I was recruited, the fact that you care enough to not want me here to heal is sweet, you know." Vivian spoke as she worked to stop the blood flow and get the wound to stitch itself together.

"Having you healed and in better condition is more important at the moment, so I'm glad to be here to help. I have two capable friends at my side to ensure I stay safe anyway." she added, hoping to keep him concious as she worked.

She didn't take notice of Nolan's demise, too focused on her task at hand. That didnt mean her two companions hadn't..

Rafa had taken pause, eyes wide in surprise as someone on the other side of a nearby cart got to Nolan and dragged him to the other side. Lips forming a thin line as she moved to stand guard beside Vivian and Lanthane. Nolan wasn't her problem, protecting Vivian and Lanthane were her priority.

Ashe, upon seeing Nolan get dragged under the cart as if he were an unfortunate character in some form of horror story, glanced to his charge and her brother. He was at least pleased to see that Rafa had moved closer to the two, though had his attention drawn to Sarah shortly after the screech of the queen of scorpions. Noticing that her outer shell around her head was gone, he aimed for one of her many eyes and let loose the arrow reserved for Nolan.

He notched another arrow, in case the first happened to miss, and kept the string taught and ready to fire.

Mentions: InsaneAsylum (Nolan), The Black Knight (Locke)

Interactions: InsaneAsylum (Scorpion Queen/Sarah) Arcanist (Lan)

 

[Arcanist]

♕ Lanthane | Gerran ♕
Mentions: Mason ( HeyItsBanana ), Locke/Hiro ( The Black Knight ), Vivian/Rafa ( Takumi98 ), Sarah ( InsaneAsylum )
​

Lanthane growled as the wound in his flesh began to meld and stitch itself back together. He wondered whether the patients of White Mages should have been conscious for such a procedure. Although it was fascinating, and he would have given much of his attention to watching it, the idea hadn't struck him in the moment. He chuckled weakly at Vivian's comment, managing to reply, "Don't say I never look out for you...and I'm sure there are plenty of more poor souls who'd be dying for your attention as of right now." Of course, Lanthane wasn't fully aware of the irony of his statement. He couldn't help but quickly add, "But my thanks for choosing me." The urge to fall into sweet sleep's arms was growing ever stronger. He felt oddly intoxicated and fatigued, both at the same time. Even when he remembered there was a raging battle around them, and questions cropping up over the fates of the others he was with, what Nolan had gotten himself into...

Lanthane had managed to peer over the rock the two took shelter behind, searching for his brother. He was relieved to see he had been downed...yet, something seemed wrong. That mercenary from earlier, who caused that awful funk in the carriage, stood over him, with a spear...with Nolan's neck pratically skewered on it. If Lan could have gone any paler at the moment, he would have. Something in the man's gait seemed so much different than before...colder, more venomous. The prince understood the nature of the situation was to bring him back - either with them or the Crystal - but seeing a man that was his brother practically convulse on the ground like that...it made him wonder what would come of something like that.

Lanthane brought himself down again, pushing his back up against the rock. He remained silent, for he didn't want to draw Vivian's attention to something as cruel and horrific as that. His charming charisma had dulled in an instance with that silence, and those heavy thoughts inside his head. He'd have to think of a way to keep that up, at least until Vivian was finished with him...

...and he figured out a way as he noticed a figure approaching both Vivian and himself, and he squinted to get a better look at them. That was when he remembered he had seen her before - mere moments ago as she fought for her survival, and a few times before by his younger sister's side. Even in such a state, he couldn't help but let those sweet words part from his lips to address the young woman - a woman whose name he hadn't even the pleasure of letting roll off his tongue. Yet.

"Vivian, look!" Lanthane began, unable to help himself and his womanising nature. He had managed to raise his voice loud enough so Rafa would realise he was addressing her too, and continued on letting the words dance their way towards them. Or, so he believed. He probably sounded like a slurring madman common in the poorer parts of the city. "I didn't realise a beautiful guardian was sent to watch over us. Or perhaps she's to guide me back to the Crystal? Either way, it's a blessing to be in the presence of such a lovely lady..."


The idiot. A Fool and an idiot. Gerran would never understand what went through that man's head, but his actions only caused him to go and have him hide behind a rock with his sister being lumbered with him, probably just as worse for wear as he was on his eighteenth birthday. He would admit though, his irresponsible and foolish behaviour stopped Nolan in his tracks, sending him convulsing on the ground. He would have gone over and dealt with the man himself...had Locke not reached the First Prince first, and promptly dealt with him in his own manner. Gerran was no stranger to the violent ways of war, what battles could do to a man...but it hadn't meant it would never disturb him. He couldn't help but pause and reflect on what could drive what seemed to be a carefree mercenary to such actions...until he noticed Hiro beside him. And that they were missing a friend...

Sarah's shouting brought Gerran out of his foreboding thoughts, and his attention to the Queen Scorpion. It found itself caught itself reacting badly to a barrage of fireballs it seemed. More importantly, the shelling on its head had come clean off. It was an opening, an opening that the Princess was dying for someone to take...and very few he assumed was going to heed it.

With Lanthane already in the care of Vivian, and many of the other soldiers occupied or cowering, Gerran had little choice but to change his tactics. Perhaps Mason's enhancement would come in use after all...but until he could safely approach it and carry out any plan he had in mind, he'd have to make sure he wouldn't find himself skewered by that barb or its claws. With most of the riders returning from sending the bandits with their tails between their legs, it got him thinking - even if the Chickens disliked going near any form of danger...perhaps they could keep the Queen Scorpion distracted long enough for him to find an opening...

Turning back to Sarah, he shouted, "Grab the attention of the other riders! Keep the Scorpion's eyes on both you and them until I find a suitable opening!" If they could manage that, at least he could try and get onto the scorpion and target its weak spot...

​

 

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[div class=Heading][div class=header]Rin, Hiroaki, & Kaiyo[/div][/div]

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"Of course, you don't look like you need to be eating much right now anyway."

"-you don't look like you need to be eating much right now..."

"-don't look like you need to be eating.."

Exposed by the Pirate Queen, Rin slumped to her knees, her face flush with the soddened ground. A steady current of tears, concealed from the ones she fought beside, wettened her cheeks and further soaked the ground beneath her. "We're poor, okay, we can't afford anything but carbs." Rin proceeded to mumble barely coherent words, silently vowing to herself to decrease her riceball intake. Kaiyo merely shook her head at just how pitiful her sister's display was. Hiroaki, desensitized to the future scion of the Rat Clan's antics, quietly gazed upon her sorry form with a stoic expression.

Rin, too indisposed to notice others had joined their meager assortment of nobles and allies, continued to wallow. Hiroaki, however, sensed others nearing. Kaiyo glanced in Hiroaki's direction, signaling that she too realized the approaching figures. One seemed off and not quite human. Her intuition proved correct when a wolf joined their ranks. The beast was followed by what appeared to be two female twins. The ninja who aided against the pirates seemed to be familiar with the figures, allowing the two Rat Clan members to relax as best they could given the situation. A frustrated sigh escaped through Kaiyo's lips at the display of the twins and the ninja. "Great, more idiots," She whispered, rolling her eyes, and placing a hand on her pivoted right hip. Hiroaki closed his eyes, nodding once to silently agree with the woman. What the hell had Rin dragged him into now?

Somehow or another, the complete ensemble ended up in a tavern. Hiroaki and Kaiyo had Rin by either arm, practically dragging her body into the building. "But the old hag called me fat," She groveled. "Technically she didn't," Kaiyo pointed out, her face puckered with annoyance at the situation. When the two accomplished opening the door with only one arm each, a faint musky odor overwhelmed their senses. Their pupils dilated, adjusting to the dimness of the weathered inn. Besides their group, not many other patrons were accounted for. Rin, still being dragged by her companions, took a deep breath in, the aroma of freshly cooked fish exciting her taste buds. She instantly perked up, and Kaiyo and Hiroaki released their grip on her limbs.

"Oh, that smells amazing."

Grabbing her weapon from Hiroaki's back, she proceeded to the countertop to order the special of the day. To her surprise and merriment, the dish came out fairly quickly. Rin was practically drooling at the mouth, her stomach grumbling from the anticipation of a well-balanced meal. Sitting beside the young girl who turned the tides on their battle, she set her spear down, and, without hesitation, Rin began to shovel the food in her mouth. Kaiyo's lip snarled in disgust as she watched her sister. "I cannot believe you were supposed to be our next leader," She grumbled, approaching the bar top. A lone man was enjoying a drink. He was a bit too scrawny, and dirt soiled his face. Based on his appearance, Kaiyo believed him to be a traveling merchant. She also believed him to be an easy target. Silently, she sat beside the man, twirling her stool to face him. The merchant was unable to suppress his bewilderment, staring at Kaiyo. "Hey there, handsome," She hummed, a sinfully enticing simper adorning her facial features. The poor man nearly choked on his drink. "M-me?" He stuttered, glancing around. "Mhm," Kaiyo replied, running her pointer finger down the length of his upper arm. "Whatcha drinking there?" She asked, gazing at her moving finger before glancing up at him through thickened eyelashes. "Oh, uhm, it is a local brew." Kaiyo could tell the man was nervous. "Oh?" She responded. "It looks refreshing."

"Oh, it is! It's my favorite, in fact! I always order it when I come this way," The man stated, easily divulging unnecessary information to Kaiyo. It had always surprised her just how easily people revealed information about themselves. Nonetheless, he was loosening up. Jackpot, Kaiyo thought. "Oh? Then I'll definitely have to try it," Kaiyo pivoted her chair as if she were going to wave down the bartender, but the man stopped her. "Here, I'll get it for you. My treat." He then proceeded to order and pay for Kaiyo's drink. As soon as the drink was delivered, Kaiyo took the glass and began to walk away. "Thanks," She said, winking. The man was speechless, unable to form coherent words at what just happened.

Rin was halfway done with her meal when an unfamiliar man, most likely a fisherman who had one too many drinks, claimed the empty seat next to hers. The stench of alcohol permeated off his sweat-drenched skin and singed her nostrils with a sour smell. "Hey there pretty lady, wanna grab a few drinks with me then go back-" Without batting an eyelash, Rin reached up and placed her palm on the back of the unsuspecting fisherman's head. Then, without missing a beat, she bashed the poor man's head into the wooden table. His head ricocheted off the wood before his limp body slumped to the ground. Blood seeped and stained where nose and table collided. Humming, Rin promptly went to eating the rest of her food.

Meanwhile, Hiroaki had stationed himself in the center of the bar; a prime location to scout the establishment and have eyes on the door. He feigned blindness when it came to the unconscious fisherman beside Rin's feet. It was a situation he did not feel like addressing at the moment. Few came in and out, except for three very noticeable Samurais. All three members of the Rat Clan perked up at the naming of Lord Otomo. Rin, mouth full of food, called out to the one requesting his presence. "Sorry lady, but you're shit out of luck. His aunt, this so-called 'Pirate Queen,' took him hostage," The words left her mouth as if the two were having an everyday conversation. Her lackadaisical approach to the situation, however, was merely a front. In her heart, a painful ache gnawed at her subconscious for the young Lord. Despite this, Rin would never allow this weakness to surface.

Hiroaki, with his back inclined towards the wooden counter, pinched at the bridge of his nose, massaging the bony prominence as if he were trying to rid himself of a headache. A certain headache by the name of Rin. He wondered how, even with her vigorous training, her dialectic was anything but proper. Despite her shortcomings, Hiroaki would never hesitate to protect his dearest friend. When he opened his eyes once more, one of the newly pronounced samurais was beside him ordering a drink. He folded his arms and responded to her with a polite, but stern nod. "You three are looking for Lord Otomo? Why?" He was blunt and straight to the point. Everything that was unfolding around their group was strange, to say the least. He wondered how a simple boy could cause the wheels of fate to turn in such a strange direction.


Interations: InsaneAsylum | Mentions: Misuteeku Entity.Eclypse
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