scorri

Cinaed sighed again, looking over at Siorel and shaking his head. "Yeah. Renais is really impressive. She was scared of me, when we first met. So it's good to see her becoming braver. Though I think that was partially just her being afraid I would accidentally squash her or something..." He flopped backwards, laying out on the ground, staring up at the sky, tail uncomfortably squashed but he didn't try and adjust. "It's just. It's one thing to know something, another to actually experience it. I know that there are people out there who hate people like us. I saw that back in school. And I even knew that there would be people who would want to kill people like us just because we look different. But then we fought the Crows, and now knights! Knights of the realm who are supposed to be protecting people! Couldn't even put aside their hate to fulfill their duty, but rather just instantly assumed we were guilty. I knew going into mercenary business that I would kill people. I fight with my fists rather than a sword to try and negate that some but I still knew it would come, especially with my magic. But then I just. Casually snapped a man's neck. Without even thinking about what I was doing because I was mad." He shuddered, the memory pushing back up to the surface. "And. I knew I had a temper. It's why I started those little calming exercises with my fire in the first place. But to see it manifest like that... To lose control of my magic, of myself like that. Am I really in the right? Because right now I can start to understand why someone might call me monster." He closed his eyes, holding back, something. Tears, maybe. Shame, certainly. He flashed back to the talk he had had with Ingverd, back on the ship, where the man had scolded him for wishing that he looked different. Telling him that he was normal, that he was fine just the way he was. Contrasted with the last argument the two of them had had, where they both had walked away, tempers leaving a seemingly insurmountable chasm between them. He wondered if Ingverd would still think he was fine just the way he was if the half-elf had seen his display during the battle. "I don't regret fighting. Helping protect the people here. Don't take it that way. But. I don't know if I can be proud of my actions today. At least not right now. Maybe ever. If I have to become a monster to stop people..." He trailed off, unwilling to finish the sentence, knowing somehow that he was balanced on a cliff's edge and that admitting out loud the quiet thought that was dancing in his head might send him over the wrong side of that edge.

If he was being honest with himself, there probably was a small part of him that was tempted by her comment about throwing her out. It was just a brief temptation, immediately tempered by the horror that he would consider doing something that could hurt her like that, but it was there nonetheless. He wanted to be alone. To not have people checking up on him as if he might be a danger to himself when all he wanted to do was... What do I want to do? Just sit here feeling bad, panicking at what I did? Feeling sorry for myself? The distraction of considering throwing Siorel out had distracted him from his panic just long enough that he began to see sense in her words. He would talk to the Evokers the next day. And after all, he had been hit twice by pure weapons. That couldn't be helping his magical abilities. He slowly uncurled, looking over at the lizard next to him. "You're sure you're ok? That magic... Seeing you and Miria go down like that, it terrified me. And, well, obviously made me angry. I don't, think you saw it. I don't think Renais had managed to heal you by then but. I snapped his neck. The man who did this to you. I only remember bits and pieces of the end of the fight, but that I remember clearly." He shook his head, trying to keep himself from falling back into despair. Focusing on it wouldn't help. Focus on positives. "Oh, and I owe you a thank you. For helping Renais heal me like you did. From the pure weapons. That was really nice of you. I wish I could pay you back somehow." He was seated normally now, legs stretched out on front, tail behind, also staring up at the sky as they talked. As long as he kept focusing on other things, he would be ok. He had to be ok.

'No one else seemed to want to chase after you...' The words were soft, gentle almost, but they hit Cin like a brick. Of course no one else had wanted to come after him. Not after the show he had put on. Who would want to come chasing after someone that had just been a flaming pillar of rage? He sighed, shaking his head. "Mmm. I'll talk to the Evokers maybe. But not now. Maybe tomorrow." He paused, realizing what he had just said. "A-ah. Well, I'm not really supposed to publicly say that's who we're escorting but I guess I let that cat out of the bag earlier. And you're probably joining us anyways. If you still want to after everything today." He'd tried to keep her out of this, but she'd been so insistent. Fighting a fight that wasn't hers. And she'd been so badly hurt because of it. He knew it wasn't his responsibility to keep her safe. Knew she'd probably stab him if he tried to claim it as such. But he still couldn't help but feel like he should have done more to stop the light mage from doing all that he had done. He dug his fingers into his leg, the skin turning white, forcing himself to refocus. There was no sense going down that train of thought, not when it would just get him smacked if he vocalized any of it. "Siorel... You really should go back to everyone else. I'll be ok. I just need some time to. Think. I guess. And there's no need for you to waste your time just sitting here next to me, there's still a lot of people for you to meet. You don't need to worry about me losing control again, or anything like that either. I'll just not play with fire until I talk to Tio and Elisa." Hopefully she would finally listen. Being alone with his thoughts wouldn't feel good, but having her waste her time waiting for him to snap out of this would be even worse.

Cin flinched away from Siorel's touch, scared that he was going to explode with flame again, catching her in the blast. "I don't even know, what I did. I just remember anger. And then snapping that man's neck. How can they help me if I can't even explain what was going on?" He shuddered, pulling his legs tighter into his chest. "Why are you even here? You barely know me, surely there was something more important. Something better than risking coming near me right now. Just." He shook his head, finally turning his head again, just far enough to look at her, the fear visible in his eyes. "Why?"

"Didn't hurt... Ha." Cin stuck out his hand, still not looking at the woman. The small fire spell he used for his calming exercises popped into existence, slowly starting to change into the normal pattern of shapes before once again transforming into the scaled gauntlet. Quickly crushing the flame in his fist before it could go further, he laughed, a painful, bitter laugh. "I can't even control a single flame but sure I didn't hurt anyone. This time. And what happens next time? When I lose my temper and do... Whatever this is. I left nothing but literally scorched earth behind me this time. I was just lucky no one I cared about was in the way. Next time, well. I can't let there be a next time. But I don't know how to control it. So then what am I supposed to do? Just. Leave?"

Cin heard someone approaching, tensing for the words he knew was coming, the lecture on losing control, the scolding for running away, words of condemnation for his actions in battle. They were coming. He knew it. It didn't matter who had found him, surely they were shocked by the shameful show he had put on back in town. He couldn't even make himself look to see who had chased after him, curling up tighter instead, waiting for the words to come. I deserve it all and more. Whatever they have to say. That display... I'm lucky that I only scorched the ground and myself. But the words didn't come. And so he and his visitor sat there for a long minute in silence. He kept waiting for them to say. Something. Anything. To condemn him. But nothing broke the silence. So finally he snuck a glance, just long enough to see Siorel sitting nearby, tail wrapped around herself almost imitating his pose. Quickly looking away again, he mumbled, "Just. Leave me. I put everyone at risk with what I did. I'm just a dangerous hypocrite. You're safer back in town. I'm sure one of the others will introduce you to the Commander. So just. Go away."

Cin fled the village, finally skidding to a halt in a nearby cluster of trees, hands shaking as he fell to his knees. "Come on, come on, come on!" He pulled another fire spell out, floating above his hands. "Calm. Let your emotions go, just focus on the spell. On your control." The flame turned into a circle, a square, but again as it started to form the diamond, it flared, slowly starting to coat his arm in fiery scales. "No!" He flung the spell away, narrowly missing the trees to burst harmlessly in the air, as he fell backwards into a seated position, pulling his knees close and wrapping his tail around his legs as he started to shake. The memory of the fight flooded back, the actions he had been too angry to really realize he was doing. Effortlessly snapping a man's neck. Punching a man so hard he turned into a rag doll as he flew through the air. And in his anger, he had barely known who was friend and who was foe. He wrapped his arms around his legs with his tail, slowly pulling himself into a tighter and tighter ball, shivering. He didn't realize that tears had started to build up in his eyes as he rocked there. I could have killed someone I care about. And I was getting mad at Ingverd for the things he did when he was angry. Ha. Cutting off a man's hand, how is that any worse than snapping a man's neck like I did? What right do I have to get annoyed at him when I just snapped in the middle of a battle? I'm a danger to everyone here... His breathing rate was starting to rapidly increase as he sat there, left to his own thoughts about what might have been if Siorel hadn't called out to him.

The flames surrounding Cin only flared higher as his fist crunched into the lieutenant, sending him flying like a rag doll. These people had come into an innocent village, threatened the people living here, threatened his friends, all because they were the same kind of people that had stolen some weapon. Because they fit the twisted racist bias of these supposed knights, his friends were getting hurt, almost dying, to protect an innocent village from who knew what horrors. As the other enemies around him fell, his flames grew as he started to make his way towards the captain. Stone or not, the man would pay. '--nead!' A voice pierced through his anger. 'over... --turn these off? --Cinaed?" He turned, flames roiling in the fiery dragon shape, almost as if threatening to breathe fire on those around him. And there was Siorel. Perfectly ok. Nearby was Miria, back in her golden armor, seemingly no worse for the wear either. And suddenly it hit him. What he had done, what he had let happen. The flames vanished as he staggered, suddenly hit by the effort of unconsciously maintaining the spell now that his anger had been pushed back. He looked around him, at the scorched earth underneath his feet, and all the anger was suddenly replaced with shame. "I. I didn't. I'm. I'm sorry." The words escaped his mouth in a jumbled mess as he turned and fled the scene, desperate to get away before his temper flared again and he hurt someone he didn't mean to. As he stumbled along, he summoned a small flame, trying to run through his exercises. The flame changed to a circle. Then a square. But as he tried to form the next shape, the spell suddenly flared up, starting to form a scaled claw around his fist. "No no no no no. Come on! Focus and calm!" Cin to 3-10, and don't stop running

Cinaed braced himself as the Lieutenant charged, fists up, ready to feel the bite of a pure weapon once again. However, as the man struck, the flames around his body swirled, seeming to redirect the spear just slightly. Enough that he was left whole. A grin spread on his face, one echoed on the dragon flames. Looking up at the mounted man, he pulled a fist back, pausing just long enough to say, "See, I would always rather be me, even if I'm visibly the monster you think I am. That's so much better than being the twisted hidden depraved monster hiding inside of you. I'm glad to rid the world of someone like that." Cin elfire fists and punches the lieutenant into next week

Cin to 7-9 snap a man's neck (no fire added to attack) Cinaed turned as he reached his destination, ready to pincer the lieutenant like he and Siorel planned, and instead watched in horror as first Miria and then Siorel were downed by two monks. He let out a primal scream of rage as his magic burst out of every inch of his body, magic swirling around him in fiery spirals before finally settling down into a faintly glowing aura around him. The flames wreathed him and slowly twisted to form first horns, then wings, cloaking him in the fiery form of a full dragon. He strode forward, rage fully controlling him now. He grabbed the monk that had just attacked Siorel, hands around his throat and twisted until there was an audible snap. Tossing the body aside, he turned towards the lieutenant and screamed, "Come on and fight me yourself, you coward. I. WILL. END YOU!"

"Siorel, I... Be safe. Ok? That's all I ask." He didn't like the idea of her risking herself like that, he couldn't really express why, but he couldn't deny it to her either. She deserved to fight just as much as anyone else here. He just hoped she wouldn't get hurt. "I'll move over so that we can pincer him if he charges." Cin to 8-11

4-10, elfire the cav "Gean! Help me finish this one! And then. Uh. Wolf clouded, I don't know your name, but here, take these and get that mage. They should help do a little more damage than your claws." He held the iron knuckles he normally wore to the wolf boy 16 had rescued. Hopefully this would work. He hated exposing Gean to a pure weapon like this, but at least he'd softened the man up first.

Cin felt the blade cut deep into his side once again, a different enemy but the same weapon. He bit back the scream, barely managing to dodge the thrown javelin, before forcing his magic to light up his fists. "I. I will not. Be. Beaten. You racist assholes and your goddamned pure weapons. Will. Not. Take. Me. DOWN!" And he pushed forward, swinging hard into the mounted enemy in front of him. Cin sets his fists of fire and steel gauntlets the cav

The fighting was starting in earnest now and Cin wasn't about to falter just because of a bad wound, especially since it had been healed. Spotting Syndra in a dangerous fight with an axe user he quickly barreled in, but as he tried to cast the fire spell around his gauntlets like he normally did, the spell instead burst into sparks, flickering out almost instantly. He growled, but pushed forward anyways, slamming into the man with his fists. Cin to 7-12, steel gauntlet Fighter 1

Bladen hadn't really been paying attention to the newcomers, with it being unclear who all was a prisoner and who was an ally, but when Asami pointed out who might be a good person to talk to about the strange tome, he turned to look and instinctively flinched. A creature with an unsettling number of eyes on stalks was staring at him with all of those eyes, peering around anyone in between him and them. "Ah, err, right." He'd been about to ask her to come with him, since she seemed to know them, but his thoughts were interrupted by a kiss, followed by a request to continue to stay safe before Asami darted off. "A-ah. You too. I was worried but I'm glad you're safe." She ran off and Bladen sighed, staring at the tomes in his hands. "Guess I better go do this. Might as well go talk to someone with too many eyes. Just about tracks with today. Here Gaby, take a look at this tome to see if you can use it. I certainly can't." He tossed the strange light tome to her and then sighed. Letting his wings grow out to full length, not entirely sure why except it would be easier to get away if they were full size to start with, he slowly made his way over to the two new strange women talking with the general. Holding up the tome, he politely asked, "Excuse me general, but I found a strange magical tome during my time in this maze and Asami told me that one of the strangers with you might know what it is?" Gods he just wanted to be out of this place. He would give anything to be somewhere peaceful, just holding Asami without having to worry about anything else, but that was a fantasy for the foreseeable future from what he could tell, so he would just have to deal with it.

Cin to 10-12 "I'm. Fine. Thank you Renais." He was mostly not lying. The ache from where the blade had cut so deeply into him wasn't fully gone and he was now struggling with a combination of anger at the depths to which these enemies would stoop and shame that he had been so easily countered. He moved towards the front line, though not all the way to try and keep some of the group from worrying about him and called out again, "Remember, they have pure weapons and clearly aren't afraid to use them. We need to be careful..."

Cin grinned as first one, then the second fist collided solidly with the mounted man. The anger and frustration that had been simmering just below the surface had exploded, his normal gauntlets turned into full lower arm sleeves as he settled back into an offensive stance after his second hit. And then he felt it. He'd seen the sword sheathed at the man's side, but without seeing more of it, he hadn't realized just what it was. But as it bit into his side, just below his heart, he instantly could tell what it was as his flames instantly vanished. He collapsed to one knee with a guttural scream of pain, his vision starting to go black, the pain almost unbearable. No. Gotta. Fight. Stand up Cin. STAND UP! He barely staggered back to his feet, not sure how long he had been down. "P-pure... Pure weapons." He coughed, feeling the blood in his throat. Spitting it out, he staggered back a few steps, hand clutching the pulsing wound on his side. He could barely speak, he couldn't yell, but he had to make sure the others knew. "They're using pure weapons. C-careful..."

"Siorel, now is not the time, I. Please." He moved to the side of Siorel, not trying to step in front of her this time, but at least moving so she wasn't resting on him anymore. He was trying his best to keep an eye on both the men in front of him and the leader of the group talking to Ingverd and Commander Natalya, but he quickly found his whole attention drawn towards the further away conversation. He'd said from the start of this that they shouldn't be the first to attack. And he knew that was true. But once again, just as it had been with Rustal, his anger continued to rise, filling him with a flame that suddenly sprung into existence around his fists as the leader called Commander Natalya a bitch, threatened their lives, a war, and then told his men to search the wagons and the innocent locals. Before he even realized it, he was stepping forward, fists aflame, meeting the man moving forward towards the wagons, and he just watched, almost like he was outside of his body, as his fist swung forward, crunching solidly into the mounted soldier in front of him. "We are not some lesser beings that you can fucking push around like we're nothing. Just try us and you'll find we're not some pushovers that you can intimidate. We're not involved in whatever nonsense plot you seem to think we are, but we're not going to sit here and let you treat us like trash!"

"Siorel, please." Even if she could take care of herself, he was still better suited for the front line. He could easily take a hit if it came to that and-- "Yes I'm sure! We just met like three hours ago, I'm not." He looked down, realizing just how it looked right now before quickly realizing that looking down had been a mistake. He gulped, immediately looking away, focusing on the knight in front of him. "I'm not. Soft. I. Can we please focus on the situation at hand??"

"And as I said, we're serving the Evokers and you'll need permission before you start rummaging among their stuff." He was desperately hoping they wouldn't push further, he really didn't want to have to put hands on them first, but thankfully just then Commander Natalya appeared, letting him breathe a quiet sigh of relief. "Yes that is my commander, and thank you for being reasonable." Dammit, he had to get his temper under control. Making snide remarks at the man wasn't going to help right now. Why could be see and plan for the right way to act right up until he had the moment shoved in his face? This was just Rustal all over again. "Sixteen, go tell..." And she was off. Where was-- "Alvira, great, quick go-- W-what? No!" He suddenly realized his hand was still on Siorel's shoulder, and he quickly pulled it off, simply adjusting so he was slightly in front and to the side of her instead. "This. She's hoping to join us. Ugh. Can you go tell... The commander. That these men are hoping to search our wagons?" He glanced back the way Sixteen had fled and added in a quiet whisper, "And that Sixteen disappeared after realizing these men might be enemies? I don't think she fled but she might be planning something..."

Once the group had begun to gather, Bladen had awkwardly split off from Lucille, leaving her to find comfort from someone she actually liked, and instead set off to find the person he'd been searching for from the start. He'd talked briefly with Gaby, mostly to assure her that yes, he was fine, at least physically, and he'd spotted Xalrei and seen that she was fine. But the one he was really looking for, he'd finally spotted. Asami was standing near the center of the group, beside the Demon King and... a construct? But unlike the others it didn't seem to be hostile. He hesitated for a second but finally pushed on ahead, making his way towards her. Stepping up beside her, he gave her a smile. "Good to see you're not hurt. I can't wait to get out of here. I found chests full of arms. And legs. I mean, fake ones, clearly spare parts for the constructs, but do you know what it does to someone when they think they've opened a chest full of severed limbs? Ugh." He shook his head and then paused, remembering the other things he had found. "Oh. I also found a light tome, which you or Gaby could use, but then I also found some sort of book that I didn't recognize. I'm pretty sure it's magical, but beyond that... Any ideas?" He held out the strange spellbook he had found towards the fox.

"Giving details on the mission is not my job, however given the noise, I'm sure my commander will be along soon and you're more than free to ask her yourself. Surely you understand how it is, following orders from your leader and all that. I just don't want to get in trouble, lose some wages, any of that because I spoke above my position in the group." Not that Commander Natalya would ever do that, but this man didn't know that. Anything to keep stalling for time while hopefully Ingverd did the same and the rest of the Tigers got the chance to get out here. His grip on Siorel's shoulder tightened involuntarily for a second before instantly relaxing as the man lingered and then dismissed her. "Siorel, why don't you go try and find the others you met before. They should know where the Commander is so that she can come and answer these questions." He wasn't planing to release her, wanting to keep her safe right up until she agreed to go, but his plans got interrupted as the knight told some of the others to start inspecting their wagons. Cin instantly straightened to his full, impressive height, glaring at the man and the other knights, arms dropping to his side as he took a few steps to the side, positioning himself fully in between the approaching men and the wagons. "Actually, I think it would be best if you waited for my commander before you do anything with our property. She should be along soon with all the noise that is being made." And that messenger who ran off to the inn, but no need to mention that part. "So we can all just wait here until she shows up and you can ask her for her permission, alright?"

The demands from the man in front of him, combined with the louder announcement from the leader of the Altair Knights was enough to let Cin know that his worries had been right. They were here, looking for trouble, and blaming Clouded and monsters for it. He didn't know what or where Axios Hall was, but the thinly veiled promise that they would find conspirators here if people didn't cooperate was enough to set his back bristling. He spotted Ingverd heading for the main group of knights, which let him breathe easier. The man would know how to handle things, and would hopefully keep his cool so long as none of them were directly threatened. Not that he really thought they were going to avoid a fight at this point, but it would really help if they didn't start it. Moving up beside Siorel instead of behind her, he gently placed an arm around her shoulder, for all the world appearing as a friendly, comfortable gesture. In reality, he was preparing to yank her back the second things started to go bad, and get himself in between her and the knights, not that she needed to know that. Now as for this man, he had two options. One would be to listen to the orders that they weren't to discuss who they were escorting unless absolutely necessary. But on the other hand, that was the one thing that might possibly save them. "Well, Miss Siorel is correct. We just met today, and the group that I am a part of arrived today as well in those wagons, yes. You see, we're the escorts of the Evokers, on an important mission. I'm afraid they're currently up at the local lord's manor, but I'm sure they would be willing to talk to your leader when they're done, or if they made their way up to the mansion. It's a good bit of a walk though, so you all might want to start heading there sooner rather than later." He was ignoring the question of who the supplies were for, not knowing for sure if that was a trap or not. It felt like one, since they seemed to be blaming the poor Clouded boy with them as being a part of the issue and the supply caravan. "Who is that boy surrounded by so many knights? Surely he's not some grand conspirator. It looks like he can barely stand, much less cause a problem big enough to get you Knights involved." There. Maybe that would get some information. He had to be careful. Had to. Ingverd had been right. The petty Crows were not the worst they would face in the world, and he suspected they were all about to find that out.

"I, don't, Siorel, uhm." He was lost for words again, as she squeezed up against him, rubbing up against him, calling him a heater and wonderful. "I mean, I hope we can get along too, you seem really nice, but. We just. A-ah, wait!" Before he'd managed to get anything coherent out, she'd hopped away, heading towards the knights with a promise of a friendly talk to find out what they wanted. But that promise was accompanied by a hidden knife. "We really should wait, I mean, we don't want to... Dammit." He made his own, less graceful, way out of the wagon, quickly catching up to her thanks to his longer stride. "Look, just. Promise me you'll be careful? I'm pretty sure we're going to get wrapped up in all of this no matter what we do but I'm also certain our employers would prefer we avoid a fight if possible. Since a bunch of Clouded and monster mercenaries fighting with the knights of the country wouldn't be the best message to send... I don't like the looks of this any more than you do, but we can't be the ones to start things. Ok?"

Dance Recital Cin had almost fallen asleep himself, as he struggled to focus on the needlework in his hands. While the heat didn't affect him nearly as badly as most of the rest of the group, he couldn't deny that it did tempt him towards closing his eyes and enjoying a nap. But all of that temptation had vanished at the sound of horses coming through the gate and the call for the guards to pay attention because of the supplies and knights. He frowned, sitting up and looking around, spotting the well guarded caravan being escorted in, with a bunch of men surrounding a smaller furred figure at the front. He frowned, hands flexing as he looked around for Commander Natalya, suspecting that this caravan was their awaited supplies, and it seemed that it had brought trouble with it, if the avian guard's reaction was any indication. Suddenly, his attention was pulled away from the activity in the square as a soft, comparatively cool body flopped onto back, arms wrapping around him as someone squished into him. "A-ah, Siorel. Hi. Uhm." His mind had basically gone blank at this point, completely unable to focus, flipping between the rapidly approaching situation, her words, and the feeling of having her leaning on him like she was. He finally managed to settle on the safest of the three options, and nodded, trying not to babble too much. "Yeah, I think it's a combination of being half fire dragon and just being as big as I am, but a lot of people have commented before that I basically radiate heat. I think it's part of why I can deal with the cold so well and then I have my fire dragon half to thank for being able to handle the heat. It's pretty convenient most of the time, though usually people shy away from me in weather like this. Ha. Uhm." He forced his mouth shut before he could ramble on too much more, waiting a few seconds to make sure it was safe to talk again, before commenting, "It looks like we might have trouble though. Knights are coming in, it looks like they're trying to seize the caravan that has our group's supplies or something, with the way they're escorting it. You might need to delay that dance demonstration you had planned for the Commander, Gean, and the others..."