Lord of Azure Flame: Chapter 16: Fracture

[-Cynthia-]

"Associating blue haired people with the Lord of Azure Flame makes no real sense." Morgan said, raising her eyebrow at the man. "Anyway, if we're all stabilized, let's get moving."

[Dark Sage]

"I...I think Damian might be ok, if we get some more healers and if we're gentle with him," said Alf, wiping his eyes as images of Reika sprawled on the floor dead entered his head.

Now Reika is...I've been thinking about her lately. No! Keep focus. You can soulsearch later he scolded himself in his head.

"Aiya...Espyr...I'll go look for Tessa to try to fix him up further," said Alf getting up from the floor and giving Esphyr a quick hug before leaving to search for her.

[Ansem]

"Damian is injured. Your not gonna wait?" Helios asked Morgan.

Edited August 7, 2010 by Solf J. Kimblee

[-Cynthia-]

"Obviously he's injured, but this is a poor place to be ambushed. He looks healthy enough to be moved." Morgan said curtly.

[Ether]

The tears wouldn't stop. Aiya felt Esphyr's form come onto her. Felt the warm embrace.

Esphyr's lips were moving, but Aiya couldn't make out the words.

A second source of warmth. Another body.

Alferis.

The man was speaking to Esphyr, attempting to comfort the mercenary.

'Not just her.'

She could feel the man's arm support her as well. Aiya still couldn't make out the words of comfort, her mind was too unfocused, drifting throughout it's own expanses to attempt to escape the realism of the situation at hand.

A girl, no older than five years, runs through an alleyway. The scarlet tresses of her hair marred by dirt and... blood? Yes, blood, dyeing the locks a dull mahogany, and plastering them to the girl's face.

She keeps running. The dull knife in her hand is dripping with blood. There is a fresh coating, although it is plain to see that constant use has left a good deal caked on.

In her other hand, the loaf of bread is pressed against her chest as to not be infected by the trash that lines the alleyway.

'I hope he's okay... I didn't want to hurt him...'

The blood is that of a baker. The scene is fresh in the young girl's mind, and plays back through her vision, taunting her, reminding her.

"Hey, come back here! Give that back!" the man yells, as the girl swipes a loaf of bread from his store. The girl panics, and begins to flee.

"Finally caught you... who do you think you are?" The man bellows at the girl. He either does not notice, or does not care, that she is barely clothed, only wearing rags, and looks so weak she may collapse at any moment.

"I'll show you to steal from me!" The man pulls out a blunt object. It resembles a bat, and is covered in dried blood.

A look of terror crosses the girl's face as she backs away. Her back hits the wall, and the man advances with a cruel grin, flourishing the bat.

She does all she can think of. The knife moves quicker than the bat, and embeds itself in the man's leg first.

Tears stream down her face as the man yells. The knife comes up, and back down, roughly cutting the soft flesh of his stomach.

She realizes what she has done. She begins to flee once again.

The girl shakes her head to wave the thoughts away. She needs to eat, and that man was mean... she wouldn't be seen as evil for trying to survive... right?

There is no time to ponder it, as she feels an impact.

The girl falls to the ground, and the loaf of bread and knife both slip from her hands, and fall to the cold ground. the bread has fallen into a muddy puddle... it can't be eaten now.

She looks up at the other. He is a boy, looks to be about twice her age.

He is dressed in wonderful clothing. The fabric looks comfortable, and the colours are beautiful, now marred with a hint of dirt and blood.

"How dare you assault milord?!" The rough voice is from an armoured guard, who draws his halberd and begins to advance on the young girl.

The polearm comes down. An untrained baker is one thing, but an armoured soldier? The girl knows she will die.

"Stop."

The voice comes from the boy. While he looks young and pampered, his voice is strong. The guard stops his weapon, inches from severing the girl's head.

The boy kneels in front of the girl, and pushes her matted hair from her face.

"What's your name?"

"Milord! you couldn't possibly-!"

"Be quiet. Now then, what's your name?" The boy silences the guard with a stern voice, and turns back to her. His face looks inviting, and he is now wearing a smile.

"A-aiya..." The girl replies timidly, her voice barely a whisper.

"Aiya... where are your parents?"

"I... I don't have any..." The girl replies, downcast.

The boy's face shows remorse, and pity.

"I see. That's not good... are you hungry?"

The girl tries to deny it, but her body's reaction to the thought of food is obvious.

"You are. Then it's settled." The boy says, standing, and offering his hand to the girl.

"Why don't you come with me? I'll give you food to eat, and somewhere to stay... we may not be the same as your parents, but... I'll give you a family."

"Give me a... family?" The girl asks, cautious. Her eyes are beginning to water.

"You can trust me, Aiya. I saved you, didn't I? Come on, and come with me." he says with a smile, and pulls her up to her feet.

"By the way, my name is Damian. Damian Kleine."

Aiya shook her head. The tears were still streaming, and now Esphyr and Alferis were tending to Damian.

She heard her name mentioned, and the haze in her mind began to clear.

'Why am I just sitting here? I need to help!'

Standing up and moving forward, she was about to ask what she could do to help, when she heard Morgan.

"Healthy enough to be moved? Are you blind? Both of his legs are still bent in an impossible position, they're still broken! so is his arm! How can you even think he's well enough to move?" Aiya asked, turning to Morgan angrily.

Edited August 7, 2010 by Kleine

[Ansem]

"We can put him on a Wyvern and move. Would you rather we stay here?"

[Dark Sage]

"Tessa? Tessa? Dammit Tessa where are you!" he yelled, running frantically around.

Can't stop thinking about her he noted as he thought more images of Reika entered his mind.

Reika....I don't know why she keeps entering my mind. I don't know why.

Damian, you better hang in there, or else I'll have a few choice words to you about how Esphyr will take it.

[-Cynthia-]

"Lev, take Damian and put him on Krinkov.' Morgan ordered. "Mind the broken bones. Derek, you can take Dani and put her on your horse to ride. Aiya, take Katie and put her on Ulfhrahn. Viveka, take Pary." she said, gesturing to the unconscious figure at her feet. "Irina, go to the TISME building and get Cess and the Headmaster." Morgan said, clapping her hands.

[Phoenix]

The Young and the Restless

With Katie secured, the wyverns left the man alone and walked back over to the main group. Viveka quickly interjected once she was on her feet again.

Viveka: Wait, wait, wait. Shouldn't Aiya be taking Damian up on the bull wyvern? And what's with Katie going with-

Lev: I'm not very particular on such matters. Let's just get moving.

Irina: (I don't work for Morgan anymore. Why's she giving me orders? >_>')

Kiev came up to Irina and stood there waiting for her to decide what to do.

[Dark Sage]

"Tessa? Where are you Tessa?" he called out, until he saw her sitting with Arrin in the dark.

"Tessa! Glad I found you. Part of the roof of the inn fell on Damian, and Charlotte healed him, but he's still in very bad shape. Do you think you could help?" he said quickly.

[Snike]

Derek

Walking out of the rubble, Derek went over to his mare and strapped Dani's unconscious form onto Ann, before turning back to retrieve his gauntlets. Seeing Lev about to move Damian, the cavalier stopped him with a hand, and knelt down beside the fallen soldier.

"If you can hear me, Kleine, this is going to hurt, but after that, we'll have someone fix it up. Just bear with it," he said, getting a grip on one of his legs. Then, quickly, he forced the leg back into its' regular position, with a sickening crack, which came from his hands. Derek swiftly did it for the second leg, and the colonels' left arm, twisting it back. Done, the cavalier backed off, and let Lev lift the soldier, before collecting his helm and gauntlets.

"Anyone else need help?" Derek said, strapping on the gauntlets even though blood was trickling down his arms.

Edit: Oops: Adding stuff.

Edit 2: Added section.

Edited August 8, 2010 by Snike

[riariadne]

"Morgan?" Chase asked her. "You sure you're okay? I mean, you guys were inside and the earthquake was pretty bad. And you're sick."

Conrad approached Viveka. "If this earthquake really was the doing of the Lord of Azure Flame, we might need to call in back up... yet, at the same time, I'd prefer not to because of how many casualties we might take. Calling in reinforcements has it's ups and downs, but I'm honestly not sure. I'd like a second opinion here, and you're the person I trust most for that opinion."

[Ansem]

Karma

"Please...... dont hurt us......" The remaining bandits pleaded. "Bah." Karma spat. "I'll let you live only if you do something for me." The bandits exchanged looks. "Anything for you, just please dont kill us." Karma smirked. "There is a group that i want to destroy. There are a couple people that i cant kill. 2 mages with abnormal hair color, a nomadic mage, an archer, a thief, a soldier, a mercenary girl and an axe armor." One of the bandits eyes lit up. "You mean the crimson brigade?" He asked curiously. A huge grin appeared on Karma's face. "You know them, good."

Helios

"We need to get a move on guys. We waste anymore time and we can get ambushed. Crimson's, keep your guard up. Whatever you do, do not separate yourself from the group." He mounted onto his horse.

[Inactive Account]

"I can take a passenger, if they're able to hold on. Someone stable should go with Arrin," Kelas instructed, mounting up. "The demons are likely still here, waiting for an opportunity. We need to get out of here."

"I'm all right," Arrin protested quietly.

"I know," Kelas responded. "If you weren't, I'd make sure you were my passenger. Come on!" she called again. "Let's move out!"

[Phoenix]

OOC: Sorry, Lightning. I was asleep and stuff. Even if they do a timeskip or something, if this becomes a long convo, they should probably still finish it.

While Levski began moving Damian, Iso and Irina prepared to each handle their parts. Irina really didn't feel like flying all the way to TISME just to snatch up Cess and the headmaster, but she also didn't feel like coming out and saying that. She quickly mounted Kiev and took off in that direction. Meanwhile Iso held Katie in his arms and waited. He wasn't sure why the mounting arrangements had been so randomly changed, but he wasn't about to just roll with it if he didn't have to. He wanted to wait just a bit longer.

When asked about her opinion, Viveka sighed. What she was about to admit troubled her.

Viveka: You have no idea how much I want to call in the cavalry for this, General, but at the same time, we're dealing with ... the biggest threat the world has ever faced. I feel so helpless when I realize that a battalion isn't going to cut it. What's worse, if these crimson weapons are our only hope of defeating the demon king, then we need to hurry up and straighten this group out. I guess my opinion is that we need to focus on these people and pump them up wile we still can. I don't trust most of them, and they usually have no cohesion whatsoever, but if they're the solution to the problem, then it's our duty to Elysima to help them however we can ... ... and that means making them stronger. (and smarter though I doubt the latter is physically possible ...)

[Snowy_One]

"We need to move." said Esphyr, her tone drained; but not broken. It was clear that, once again, her attempt at healing had left Esphyr highly drained and weak, though not as weak as before due to Charlotte's aid as well. As she mounted up, she looked out at the sickeningly green sky, sending a shiver down her spine. A shiver soon accompanied by the cries of shock from the guards outside the city wall! The heard of sheep that had passed through earlier had been outside the walls of the town, peacefully grazing while the sheep herders had taken to a break. Yet during the short time, a pack of wolves had moved in upon the heard, scaring off the shepherds on guard to go and fetch the others. But when he had returned with his companions, the wolves had not taken one of the sheep to feast on. Instead, they had surrounded the flock and were facing outwards, snarling and bearing their teeth at a unseen threat; as if the sheep were cubs. In fact, the few rams of the flock had even taken up positions beside the wolves, glaring out with their heads lowered, searching for a unseen threat.

"Wolves, and sheep! They're protecting one another!" came the cry, a cry lost in the additional panic from the quake.

OOC: All the animals should be freaking out and defensive, if not outright paranoid.

[Ansem]

Helios' horse neighed and rose up, dropping Helios. "Ugh what was that for? Huh?" Helios looked around. All the animals were spooked. "Whats going on? Something is scaring the horses."

Edited August 8, 2010 by Solf J. Kimblee

[Snike]

Derek

"What the... WOAH!" Derek exclaimed, jumping away as Ann reared, nearly kicking the cavalier. Approaching the mare from the side, he began to whisper gently into her ear, "It's OK, Ann. Nothing's going to get you. It's alright...". Eventually, the horse calmed down, but still remained wary.

"... We should be going," Derek said, getting on Ann. "Whatever is freaking the animals out is probably heading our way."

Alex

All of a sudden, there was an earthquake, shaking loose buildings, and anything not attached to walls. Alex was caught of guard, and ended up sprawled on the floor of the balcony, as the aftershocks faded.

"What.. Was that..?" she asked herself, shaking after it. "... There's going to be mass riots, if the soldiers don't coordinate relief..."

Picking herself up, the woman ran into her room and quickly switched into her armor, before rushing out of the building, and beginning to coordinate relief efforts.

[Psych]

Cess:

Cess ran out of the school, the three golden rings now on his cloak. The earthquake had shaken the school, and shocked everyone. He ran to stables and grabbed Morrey, and ran to the inn to meet the others. Rita was still kneeling on the ground. "Make it stop. Please."

"It's okay Rita. The quake stopped."

[Inactive Account]

"'Something's scaring the horses', how astute," Kelas grumbled, jumping down from the saddle to pull yet another rearing horse to the ground. "I don't know, maybe the earthquakes, or that the sky's gone green? Maybe something's horribly wrong here? I calmed this lot down, but they don't seem to want to stay that way. Oh and there's a storm on the way," she added, checking the horizon, "and if it's natural, I'm a priest. We need to move out."

[Snowy_One]

"If that is what passes for sarcasm in the outside, I would much rather have not come to notice it." said Altion, pulling his own horse out of the stable. The animal was outright terrified as well. It's hooves dug into the ground as Altion was forced to literally pull the beast along outside. "Come on you stupid lout!" he hissed, trying to give a swift yank only to end up pulling himself off his own feet and flat on his ass. "Oh for the Goddess's sake, there's an unnatural storm! Wolf and sheep are standing side by side in fear, and you choose to go stubborn on me NOW you mule?!"

[Dark Sage]

Meanwhile back at the arena...

"THE EARTHQUAKE IS AN OMEN HOAK HOGAN! MARSHMALLOWS GUYS! IT IS A WARNING TO YOU HOAK HOGAN, THAT WHEN YOU CROSS THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR, YOU WILL FEEL THE AUTOBOTS OF DESTRUCITY GIVE YOU A CHASTITY BELT WITH SUPERGLUUUUUEEE!" shouted Gazaak, rampaging around the arena, three men dead at his feet, his axe bloodied.

"WELL LET ME YOU SOMETHING MEAN JEAN! YOU BETTER FINISH THE MATCH WE STARTED DUDE, CAUSE WHATCHA GONNA DO, WHEN I UNLEASH THESE 24 INCH MUSCLEMANIA ON YOU DUDE? HUH?" shouted Gomes, beating a fleeing fightmonger's skull against the wall.

"Run! The earthquake's got them on a rampage!" yelled the remaining fightmongers, several already crushed under the fallen rubble that the earthquake knocked on them.

As one of them ran out of the arena, he saw the group gathered together and shouted at the top of his voice.

"Run! The crazies at the arena have gone even crazier! They're going to kill you when they see you!" he screamed into the darkness.

Edited August 8, 2010 by Dark Sage

[Phoenix]

Irina

It didn't take long flying as fast as they could to reach TISME. She quickly landed right in front of the main entrance, and dismounted. Kiev looked around trying to figure out what the awful feeling was coming from. He couldn't quite tell. He only hoped that Irina would hurry and do whatever she was planning to do so they could leave. Irina ran straight into the building and began frantically searching for the headmaster, but she wasn't having any luck. Growing impatient, Kiev started giving off loud squawks to get attention! One after another they came, and they were not only loud, but after the twenty fifth squawk, it was starting to get annoying like he'd hoped. His plan was to lure Irina back out with annoying noises so they could leave sooner.

OOC: This is loud squawking. I mean really loud. Animals with superior hearing back at the inn could even hear this racket if just barely.

[Snowy_One]

Admist all the chaos and confusion of the earthquake, preventing the building from falling upon itself and making sure everyone was alright had taken priority at TISME. Already, the message was being spread for anyone who could wield a staff to take one and either heal in the school, or head out into the town to see what good they could do. The Headmaster, having not been seriously injured, had been lain upon a bench just inside the building; her face fully visible for all to see and prove an easy identification for any party members.

[Inactive Account]

"Yanking on the face of a terrified animal is not going to help you," Kelas sighed, catching the sides of Altion's horse's bridle and gently lowering its head to eye level. "At least act like things are all right, if you want the horse to not panic," she said, scratching the horse's neck. After coaxing the horse out of the barn, she checked to see that nobody else was having major problems, and mounted up again. "Again: Anyone need a ride?"