mcd900

"Thanks." Setting back down on the ground, he glanced at Nashwa, catching her hesitation for just a moment. "...You all right? Magic can only knit the wounds of the body, not the mind. Don't lose your focus, else you might make a hasty step... though, I hardly need to tell you that, I imagine." Now for the enemy. Jade had heard something around that corner, and now he needed to figure out where it was as well. Listen carefully, hear its motions... not only that, but sense the magic that drives the construct, animates it, ignore all else...perhaps there? Seilan Elthunder (S) Construct 12, Hit & Away to (5, 43).

Slumping in her seat, Lani sighed. She'd stretched enough, and it was too hot outside to get out of the cart just to stretch her legs. Not until they they had somewhere half-decently cool to go back to, at least. The ice was definitely helping, though. Alvira's flabbergastedness at being teased was certainly something to watch unfold, and she couldn't help but smirk slightly. It was something of a surprise that she'd willingly detached herself from the chief to go see what was going on; not only because of her obvious enjoyment at being close, but also how considerate she was being. Without a doubt, this seemed to be a positive influence for her, and for the chief too, though significantly less... developmental. "Mmhm. Like a whole new person." And especially with that kid... too bad I promised not to tell. She smiled, remembering Alvira's request.

Laniva had dozed off for this leg of their journey; even with her armor set aside, it was still warm enough that combined with the relative boredom of cart travel she'd nodded off a bit. The others' shenanigans with the ice were enough to wake her, however; and as she opened her eyes to Nyx rolling on the ground next to the ice, she yawned. "Mmrh... what're you all...? Oh." She stretched in her seat, feeling the fatigue of having hardly moved for so long. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she glanced over at Nyx as she asked Alvira her question. "You might not have thought so, but I don't think there's any arguing with the results... Someone's been happy recently."

It seemed something of an objective fact in this situation that it was better to be away from these things rather than in a convenient place to be hit by them. It would be foolish to stay near that one, half-active as it still was... Seilan to 6, 34.

Laniva jogged over from the other side of the clearing, having shouldered her practice blade; but by the time she'd reached the commotion, Aly and Sixteen had already slipped off into the cart to talk, and the most she'd caught of things had been the glint of a golden tail from across the way. The tail's unfamiliarity and the cry of "sister" was enough for her to puzzle together that there had been some kind of unexpected encounter, though, and the need to give the two some space was obvious enough. Where did she come from...? Sounded it like it came from the cart... is anyone even checking what we're picking up? Hahh... "...Hey, Chief. Everything okay in there?"

Laniva stood off to the side in the clearing wielding a practice blade, focused on her swordwork. The carts left little room for physical activity, and while she didn't mind the rough travel - she'd had enough experience in these kinds of conditions already - she had found herself wanting for a little more time, like she would have had back at base. Their travel had been unhampered so far, most likely thanks to the good route that had been chosen. It certainly made their job simple. Her thoughts started to wander a little, possibly from the calm mood in their camp, drifting to the dress she'd gotten in Eibar. It was still with her; she'd tucked it away deep in her things, not to be seen again until... until quite some time from now, to say the least. She couldn't really picture a scenario calling for her to wear it again, but maybe she was just lacking in imagination...

Laniva watched quietly as Alvira spoke to the child, raising an eyebrow slightly as she gave one of her scales to him. Before she could comment on it, though, she found herself dragged outside, faced with an increasingly flustered Alvira. "Okay, okay. I won't say anything. But... good with kids? I think it's more that kids are good with you." She shrugged slightly; she'd softened rather quickly entirely of her own accord, but she was clearly embarrassed about it already. No need to do so any further. "Hahh... Okay. Where next? I still need a new sword... and we have to go get my armor back too, because you ran out of the clothes shop so quickly."

It seemed today was quite the day for seeing new sides of Alvira; first her shopping cheer, and now her warm treatment of the child, Tonio, in the magic shop. It was fortunate that she was slowly getting slightly more comfortable wearing the dress; had she been wrapped up in self-conscious worry, she might have missed it. She could do with being like this more often... She raised a hand in greeting to Tonio, still somewhat meeker than usual from her change in attire. Glancing around the shop, there seemed to be a fair amount of interesting things... not that she could really know for sure, being not a whit magically inclined. That was fine, though; she was already letting Alvira drag her around the town, so letting her browse as she liked wasn't much different anyways. "I'll just be looking around... I'm not as much for magic as she is." ...Wait, did I leave my armor at the last shop...? Ugh, she dragged me out of there so quick I couldn't even get it first...!

Nashwa was... considerably upset; fair enough, given that she'd taken quite the blow, though he wasn't sure what to say, if anything. Nessraya seemed to have the situation well in hand, so perhaps it would be best to keep focused on the matter at hand - Nashwa certainly seemed to think so, quickly making her way towards the other end of the hallway. It would be best to keep pace with her; they'd need to keep fighting together in order to get through this. And given that these constructs were distinctly not completely immobile despite their best attempts, they'd have to keep moving quickly. Seilan to 3, 32.

"Past times...?" She cocked her head a little, quizzically. She was almost inclined to ask more, but the two of them seemed intent to focus on the rest of the group. "...I see. Well, um, thank you very much then... Maybe we can talk about that another time." Alvira had already paid for her clothes, apparently. Well, that made agreeing to go along with her that much easier... it was the least she could do, though after their shopping if she had left over perhaps she'd pay her back properly some as well. "Um... thanks, Gean... we can do some more shopping, if that's what you want, Alvira. I could use a new sword, the one I have now is already starting to wear out..." She'd left out responding to Alvira's comments about defending her... she didn't really even know where to start with that.

"Hahhh... I guess I can... I probably shouldn't be walking around town in my armor anyways. It should be safe here now..." She sighed, not finding any real reasons not to go along with Alvira's suggestion. "No other plans, besides... get dragged along by Alvira now, I guess." She walked over to the counter briskly, trying to regain some of her usual composure, and promptly nearly tripped over her heels, still not used to the feeling of walking in them. Her blush was showing no signs of subsiding, but regardless she finished awkwardly making her way there, sighing heavily at the end. "Okay... how much for, um... the dress, and the heels?" She still felt... some kind of way about the whole thing, but it was a good way to spend time with some of the rest of the Tigers, which was something she could do with more of. After all, it'd been Alvira's idea in the first place, so might as well humor her thoroughly...

There were a few others besides Alvira who met her as she stepped out - Gean, Miria... some other cat clouded she wasn't quite familiar with, but who looked pretty shocked nonetheless. She bristled slightly under the attention; they were saying good things, and it was nice, but it was... unusual, unexpected. "O-Oh, uh... h-hey, Miria, Gean... thanks..." There was a heat on her face; she couldn't see it, but she was pretty sure she was blushing, and rather fiercely at that, too. "I, um... Alvira picked it out, thank her, I just..." She was suddenly finding it quite hard to make eye contact with anyone right now. The floor, that spot over there, nothing particularly special about it - was quite interesting, though. She was really missing her armor, about now. This kind of thing was something she saw noble ladies on their way to some party or another wear around the castle; she never thought she'd be the one in it...

I feel... kind of exposed. And I have no idea how to walk properly in these... Laniva shuffled a little in the changing room, suddenly quite self-conscious; it was just Alvira talking to her now, but once she stepped out, who knew how many of the Tigers she'd be in view of... "Yeah, it's okay... I think I managed to get things on right. Mostly. I guess I'll... just come out now." She took a couple hesitant steps, fidgeting a little, trying to be mindful of how she was walking. It was a vast difference from her plate boots, and as she slipped out from behind the curtain she stumbled slightly. "Well... here I am. Don't... stare too long, you'll make me feel weird..."

Getting her armor off was the easy part; she'd done it what must have been hundreds of times. No, there was a bigger issue... This dress, isn't it kind of... daring...? I mean... it's practically... when am I going to even wear this?! Her train of thought on the dress was interrupted by Alvira finally poking the heels through the changing room curtain. She nearly dropped the dress in surprise; it had been so long that she'd alnost forgotten what Alvira had gone off to get. "Thanks... I'll be out in, uh, just a moment...?" She took the heels, hurrying to get them and the dress on. There were definitely a fair few people she hadn't been expecting to be here when she'd agreed to find something new for herself, but who knew when they were going to leave... It was looking like she'd just have to deal with it. Well, here goes...

"Sure, okay. My armor's going to take a little while, so you'll have plenty of time..." Laniva looked up at the noise to see five of the others making their way into the shop, but before she could so much as greet them, Alvira began her... somewhat roundabout... apology. She hadn't yet gotten a good look at the dress, but from the way she'd been talking she suspected that Alvira probably hadn't considered easing her into things at all. She gave the others a quick wave, then slipped into the changing room (hopefully) before anyone managed to get a look at what she had in her hands. It was probably a good thing she'd mentioned she'd been taking a while... in truth, she was rather well practiced at doffing her armor, but the dress was another matter entirely...

"A, a dress and heels..." It might have been a first for her... perhaps she wore dresses as a child, beyond her faintest memories, but heels, certainly not... "Well, if you think it'd look nice, I'll go with whatever you say. I'll... mmm..." She sighed, collecting herself. "O-kay. I remember some of the styles here from what people would wear back home, but I'm not sure what I like, really. So... you pick, and I'll wear it. Whatever it is. Because I really... can't pick, not by myself." Hmm... I hope I don't regret saying that... Her ears perked up a bit at the shopkeep's mention of her armor, realizing he was speaking to her. "O-Oh. Well... this and that, but if you mean just why we're in town, then that'd be work. We're doing some bodyguard work, and traveling fairly far to do it... er, but if you meant the shop, then that'd be just spending some free time..."

"How would it not be awkward...? Whatever." Alvira stepped out from behind the curtain, finally having finished. Her outfit fit her pretty well; the tights were a bit torn, but it was probably inevitable given her claws. "It looks good. Don't know if it's the kind of thing I'd wear, but... well, it's not for me. It's good on you. Tasha will love it, it's cute." She shifted a little, suddenly feeling out of place in her armor. "Hey... think you could help me find something for me? After you're done, I mean. Don't have to rush or anything, sort yourself out first, but... I don't really know what would be... good. So... yeah." Even if the place's wares were in the style of her homeland, there was only so much she knew about putting an outfit together. How much she felt like a fish out of water nearly made her nostalgic for the days of running everywhere in a tabard and old breeches for training...

"Oh. I guess that explains your mood lately..." She glanced at Alvira, poking her head out; she was certainly blushing a bit fiercely. "I... don't put a lot of thought into that either, she knows what she's doing, no point in... um, that doesn't matter." Sighing and fidgeting a little, she continued to whisper into the curtain. "That... I don't think... You being there would be... strange. And awkward. And... look, I managed before just fine. There weren't any feelings in it, I don't mind stopping, you just... do your thing." She was mumbling slightly, now; she glanced over at the shopkeep, hoping he hadn't heard any of this rather awkward conversation, and otherwise feeling all-around embarrassed. "It was just a couple of months, anyway... now that I understand I'll be fine. Was just bad before I learned..." She trailed off, sighing again.

Alvira poking herself out of the changing room answered some of the questions she had. "Oh. Sure..." She ambled over, leaning on the wall outside the changing room. "Anyways... yeah, she is. But... I don't put a lot of thought into it, not like that. Didn't really know anything about it before she explained it to me, and..." She was stumbling around the topic; it really was something she hadn't been brought up much around, or taught, or... well, she'd grown up around mostly humans, it was... different. "...well, anyways, the point is I can't, um... I don't know how to help you like that. So... y-yeah. I can still tell you what I think about your other outfits, not that I know much about that either..."

"My stuff...? Oh." Alvira walked off to change before she managed to reply; she stood there rather sheepishly at her realization of what she was talking about. She browsed briefly while Alvira was occupied, not particularly looking for anything, though it crossed her mind that something to be worn somewhat more casually might be useful... most of what she'd brought was quite oriented around its practicality. It was a little more than a little awkward for her to have brought it up so abruptly; sure, her intentions for Tasha were more than clear, and it was a somewhat related matter... but still, surely there was a better place, if not time? And... ostensibly as it might have been what they were here for, her slipping off to change without so much as waiting for an answer was a little odd. It wasn't a particularly grave matter, but... it was definitely awkward waiting even just the couple moments for her return.

"Sure, I suppose. Not sure how much my judgement's worth, but..." She shrugged. She certainly was quick at picking out things... or perhaps it was less so picking and moreso grabbing anything that might've held a scrap of interest for her? Either way, if all she were to do here were stand and give her opinion on how Alvira looked, it might be a good part of an afternoon... "...is that so. I can help you with... most of that. That last one, you're on your own." She was a bit surprised Alvira had managed to get that out with as straight a face as she had; it was unusually demure of her to say. "You go get changed into some of that. I'll find something I'm interested in while you do that. Probably."

Laniva stepped into the store, having been (willingly) dragged along by Alvira. The place and shopkeep seemed nice enough, and there were even clothes for Clouded; still, she was rather hesitant as she looked around. The problem was moreso her own unfamiliarity with shopping as somewhat of a recreational activity. Squireship left little time for idle entertainment, and where it could be had it was typically not of such a gentle sort. "Ah... sure. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks..." To be honest, she'd thought Alvira would have been a bit less... independent, when it came to the shopping. It seemed like she had some kind of idea of what she was looking for, though, and if not that she was certainly set on finding something. She drew back a little nearer to her, as she continued to search rather enthusiastically. "...Something catch your eye?"

"Whoa... thanks for the help there. I... think it was going to attack us no matter how we replied." Seilan glanced at the collapsed construct, inspecting it. "We, ah... neutralized it. It looks pretty sturdy, though... I have no idea what these things are capable of. Still, something must have... activated it? Perhaps there's some way we can disable them, or get them to leave us be." Perhaps that something on the ground, over there...? Seilan to 3, 27.

Laniva sighed; all things told, she'd gotten more than she'd given in that fight. It had to be someone, though, and all things told it was probably best that it had been her and not someone else. What she had done was rather satisfying, anyways; she hadn't killed the racist bastard herself, but she'd done her part and Aly... well, she'd sorted him out properly. Alvira was calling; she rolled her shoulders some as she walked over, shifting the weight of her armor. It was rather heavy for how much those arrows had still done, anyways... but that was something else entirely. "Shopping? Hmm... sure, I guess. I'm free." She was looking... quite cheery. Not a bad thing, but Laniva was rather unused to it.

"Ah... thanks. That was starting to hurt." Laniva to 9, 18.