Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Phoenix]

Peggy B: Performing Live at Chousokabe

The party really needed to do something about that, and so Faatina rode up on Shariff hoping to deal the killing blow. It was a little risky with how agile the enemy was but even if she missed, someone else could follow up. Keeping the rider on defense gave them room to maneuver and reduced the risk of someone else getting taken out.

Faatina attacks Pegasus Knight B! Rolls 2,1,6

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3813845/

MISS!

Pegasus knight B counters! Rolls 5,1,2

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3813846/

HIT!

No damage, -1 skl

Well that was a good idea. Instead of just sitting around and guarding Chelsea, who was more or less safe at this point, Gabbie decided to back up Faatina and do just as she did, try to kill the pegasus knight or keep her on the run until someone could flank her.

Gabbie attacks Pegasus Knight B! Rolls 4,5,1

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3813847/

MISS!

Pegasus Knight B counters! Rolls 1,1,2

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3813849/

MISS!

Faatina hp 11/15

Gabbie hp 21/21

Pegasus Knight B hp 1/18

And nobody got hurt that time.

[Snike]

There was this tenacious little pegasus that seemed to refuse to die. Well, Grant threw a bolt at it, and only got a scuff on his shoes to show for it.

[spoiler=Roll]

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3813851/

2,3,4 = miss!

5,4,5 = Autohit! 7-8 = 0 damage! SKL -1!

Grant 16/21

Peg B 1/18

[Phoenix]

Once a bolt flew right passed her head, the pegasus knight had had enough. She was one misstep away from having her head taken off and her steed was both the one doing the stepping, and the one that was the most confused. Seeing that Suzume and Bobby were as good as captured, the pegasus knight took to the sky and made her escape by flying over a nearby building and into the city.

"Urgh ... she got away," Faatina muttered.

Gabbie sighed, feeling much the same way. "Alroight, let's head back to the Leverager and help the crew fight off the rest of the rebels. This isn't over just yet; we've still got some action ahead," Gabbie reasoned. With that, she turned around and headed back toward the ship. It was sudden, but at least she wouldn't have to deal with all of the mourning just yet. Faatina, noticing the violence still going on there too, followed along atop Sharif.

Of course they didn't have as much action left as they thought they might, as Bogdan's orders to fire the main guns finally bore fruit. The cannons went off and the smaller ship was decimated. Since the ship was packed with explosives, the spread of flames eventually set off a spectacular explosion, ripping open the main deck and sending men flying in all directions. One went sailing just over the Leverager's main deck and onto the docks, dead and broken. "... holy shi- ..." Gabbie was speechless. They had literally blown up the enemy. Just like that.

The Leverager had caught fire, but some of the men had been preparing for that and were already up on the masts fighting the flames. "Finish them off!" Bogdan ordered, and just like that, his men began to rally and shoot at anything that was still moving on that flaming sinking vessel. It might have seemed cruel to some but, they weren't messing around anymore. These people were going to die. This was a night of vengeance.

VICTORY

Old Point Total: 551

New Point Total: 597

That explosion ... was spectacular. "Are they all dead?" Bobby quietly asked Suzume when he saw flames rize up over the enemy ship, the Leverager.

"Don't look anymore, Bobby. Don't look," Suzume instructed, gently forcing Bobby's head down with her own.

[Mercakete]

It seemed that the fight on their end was finally over, though the ex-pirate was still bleeding out. Gytha herself was still a bit tired, but she'd be fine. That was when there was a massive explosion. "By Leviathan!" she exclaimed, jumping in surprise at it and whirling around to face it. Barnabas was staring in horror at the sudden burst of firelight and smoke. Gunshots continued to ring out, too. He knew what that meant as far as what was happening to those who were on the ship. As to what would happen to him, well, he was about to find out.

"A'right, Barn, time t' be intraduced t' yer new captain," Gytha informed as she hauled him up onto his feet. He was pretty weak by now. He'd lost some blood to be sure from that sword wound Gytha have him in the fight, so she was basically dragging him along. Once she'd gotten onto the ship, the first person she sought out was Captain Bogdan...and she found him right where she thought she would. Barnabas kept his head bowed. He didn't want to look at the Leverager's captain.

"Ahoy, Captain," Gytha greeted. She decided to leave it at that for now.

[Snike]

So then the Leverager lit things up. Literally. The smaller enemy ship was consumed in an explosion caused by the Leverager's main cannons. There were probably very few survivors remaining, and, lucky as they were, they were probably not going to last long.

Enough about the Leverager. There were things to be done. First, to answer Valter's question.

"John, Sophia, and Lia all passed away," Blake said, with a frown on his expression.

He paused, then began to shout to all the mercenaries. "Alright, if the healers would patch up the heavily wounded for now, that would be great. Anyone unwounded should be either bring the unconscious back to the healers or bringing said unconscious people up to the Prometheus. If anyone would care to try and find any sign of John or Sophia's remains, it would be appreciated. I'm going to go bring Raquel up to the Prometheus myself, but I will be back shortly." And with that said, he turned back to the mercenary and the boy.

"And you two are going to come along with me," Blake said simply, before he began to move off. "Come on."

***

Explosions, explosions, everywhere! It felt like a land war's battlefield after that rebel ship blew. Grant put away his bolts, and just stared at the wreckage.

"Sounds like I'm not going to be getting off this port any time soon," he remarked.

[Mercakete]

Well, this was the first time he's heard the news proper. John, Sophia and Lia... Who's Lia? Hm. Well, I guess she was with us. Probably came along with Zach after that fight at the manse. But John and Sophia... They're dead? That was downright shocking. John was so tough, though... I... Wow.

Blake gave the call for the injured to be treated and the unconscious to be brought back to the Prometheus. Apparently Bobby and Suzume would be coming with them. Part of him wanted to protest that, but it was better than the two dying. Dying... I...just can't believe it...

[-Cynthia-]

Nika

Veronika went up to deal with the remaining enemies, but the pegasus knight fled and the child and remaining mage seemed to be in custody for now. I wonder if this is wise... she thought to herself before mention of John, Sophia, and Lia's deaths were made. So it is true then...

"Some of us should bring the bodies of our fallen back to the Prometheus one they're found. We can't linger here too long, there might be additional reinforcements on the way," she said, her voice breaking a little before she ran off towards the Leverager.

Nadya

Nadya occupied herself with healing the unattended wounded like Robin. I'm not botherin' with the dead ones- what's done is done. she thought to herself grimly.

[Snowy_One]

As the other members whom had been hurt or killed were moved, Robin made no response. She was clearly not DEAD as her chest was rising and falling with the intake of breath into her lungs and there were even small twitches of movement, but the clear and blatant hoof-print on her head told exactly why she was not instantaneous to revive. Indeed, she was lucky to have not suffered any lasting damage, but for now, she was out like a light.

[Eail]

Zach

It.... was finally over? The fighting was done?

'Good, I don't think I could take much more of that, that stab wound feels like it didn't heal all the way, and I feel so tired....'

Gazing over he decided on a wall that looked comfortable enough. Taking a seat against the stone and allowing himself to catch his breath for a moment. Zach could catch up with the others when this was all done.

Luka

Oh dear, now that the fighting was over there were certainly a lot of wounded people to tend to. Making his way from group to group Luka tried to heal up every injured person he could, focusing more on those that might have life threatening injuries before the lesser things. Hopefully everyone that was still alive could be saved.

His first target was the other pegasus riding male, whose name, much like the rest of the group, he didn't know. The man appeared to have been hurt pretty bad in the fight by a mage. Channeling the power of his Goddess, Luka healed the wounds that Norbert had received, putting him mostly back in good health.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Eail

[Mercakete]

Norbert recognized the pink-haired guy from before as he rode up to him and then he applied his staff. Norbert felt the remainder of the tenseness in his muscles and the burns from the electricity fade, but there was also another problem. "Aaagh, hold on!" he protested as he sat up -- now able to, though it still hurt. That arrow was still stuck good and deep in his side. He didn't want his flesh to close over that and seal it in there, though he was unaware of the cauterizing the arrowhead inside him had already caused. "Don't you think we should remove the arrow first?" he asked. Agh, this thing hurts... I'm glad I can move better again, though.

[Phoenix]

The Best Clock Sounds Are the Ominous Ones

Reign was dozing lightly on the cot he'd picked out for himself when he heard the rumble. He recognized that type of explosion and resulting shockwave. And entire ship had gone up all at once. He opened his eyes in shock. "... if Raquel isn't aboard and we aren't out at sea right now ..." cutting off his thought, he hopped out of the bed and grabbed his coat before heading up to the main deck. The Leverager wasn't in sight, but he knew where to look, and there was a bright orange glow coloring the night sky from that direction, along with plumes of rising smoke. A lot of Delan's crew was looking at it from the edge of the ship as well.

"Where's Raquel?!" he asked those close by. They didn't answer right away, so he had his answer and quickly bolted for the loading ramp. "Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, DAMMIT, why does this keep happening to me?!" Once he was at the bottom, he took off toward the chaos. Along the way, scattered groups of guards began to join him along his route. He was outpacing them easily since he wasn't wearing armor at first, but slowed down to make a rather important inquiry. "Hey, what's going on over there?"

"A ship battle from the looks of things!" the guard replied, wondering why this random guy was heading there as well.

"What? That's all you know? Where were you people?!" Good question. How come the bad guys always found a way to subvert security before every battle?

"The governor's estate was attacked. The commander panicked and called in just about everyone. The governor's son was injured but by the time we arrived, the situation had been handled, and then we get a call about a disturbance down at the docks. Then there's this explosion!"

"Oh my god, it's the rebels! Again!" Reign fumed.

"Rebels?" The guard wasn't sure if the man meant the Tracean independence faction, or the Neviskotian separatists.

Reign decided to pick up the pace again and ran on ahead.

"Hey! Get back here! It's not safe that way!"

Sure enough, Reign ignored him. If it was safe, he wouldn't be going, after all.

Aftermath Aboard the Leverager

There were black patches all over the main deck where grenades had exploded, and over a dozen of Bogdan's men lying near each one. Those not putting out fires were ruthlessly shooting down at the rebels wading in the water, throwing weapons and debris at them, and shouting down cruel taunts. Lev and his squadron landed back on the main deck once the bulk of the rebel ship had sunk. Bogdan oversaw the whole thing until Gytha arrived with a prisoner.

Before Bogdan could ask who the man was, a peeved crewman approached with his pistol at the ready and tried to blow the captive Barnabas' head off. Bogdan raised the man's wrist just enough so the shot would miss, and then after the obscenely loud gunshot, he asked "Who's this?"

Lev meanwhile saw a lone man and a whole bunch of guards coming and so moved into position to protect his interests. Hopefully the Dark Utka could hold out against whatever they were facing a little while longer. "Bogdan, I'll deal with the guards and clear this up," he explained as he and several of his men made for the loading ramp. The guards met them at the bottom, in fact if not for Lev and his men blocking the way, they might have charged up onto the ship by the dozens.

"Oi, what happened here?!" the guard asked, demanding the information.

"No 'good evening'? Whatever. There was a skirmish. There isn't much collateral damage beyond bits of shrapnel here and there," Lev replied.

Reinforcements for Nothing

Reign veered off and ran into Gabbie and Faatina just before the guards reached the Leverager. "Hey! Where's Raquel?!"

"Unconscious," Gabbie said a bit blankly.

That was ... not what he wanted to hear. "If you're not going to protect her ... then don't let her come out here!"

"Hey, don't look at me. Connor's my onl-" "Save it for someone who gives a damn!" Reign cut her off before continuing on, scanning the area for Raquel as he did. He saw Veronika first. No surprise she was well off, but he quickly spotted Raquel as well and his fists tightened. "Why does this keep happening ..." He saw another body next to hers and grimaced. He could tell she didn't make it. So not only was Raquel down, but at least one of their allies had died in the process. Lia, the very girl they took down the cultists in Tremere to rescue had been lost in battle against the rebels. Shadrak was going to see this as a good thing, he figured. Reign shook his head and knelt down over Raquel, picking her up carefully from the ground. That was it. Mission accomplished. He was heading back. He would have gladly helped with Lia, but only had two arms at the moment and so silently bid the girl farewell before setting out.

The guards quickly ran up and surrounded Raquel, Reign, and Lia's body, however. "... are you seriously going to do this right now ...? Seriously?"

"Just wait here a moment." the guard ordered.

Front Line

Shadrak looked around, not seeing anyone else that was going to die, and when Blake started barking orders, he sighed. That was Veronika's job, not the roster guy's. The news about their casualties wasn't what he'd expected. John, their strongest defender, dead. Sophia, one of their agile and smart healers, dead, and the artificial girl with enhanced physical abilities, dead. How did this happen? John he was the saddest about, because he was one of their best fighters and his joining preceded his own. He would have been a valuable asset going forward. Then there was Lia ... he saw her fallen form over by Raquel. He thought she'd only been knocked out, but she was struck down fighting for Raquel. That was ... such a waste! As much as he hated artificial life, this was a complete waste. All they'd gone through to liberate her and give her a new life or something, and she was struck down here, by the rebels of all people. Lia was a mistake in his eyes, but she was a mistake willing to fight for them and maybe ... maybe that was a redeeming quality. Maybe that was reason enough to let go and count her among his allies, present and deceased. The more he thought about it, the more it pained him. It was such a huge slap in the face to come to this only after she had passed. She'd never know that he was any different. Shadrak wanted so badly to go over and kick the living daylights out of any surviving enemies, even if he had to settle for Bobby, but that was just a bit too petty even for him. He needed a distraction, something to take his mind off of this. He couldn't handle taking Lia back to the ship, or any of the others for that matter. it was just too much for him right now. He first checked up on Katrina since she had been a big help to him. "Are you doing okay? I ... just remembered, I never got your name, Miss ..." His voice was a little weak from his sadness.

When Blake told Suzume and Bobby to follow him, she slowly stood up, helping Bobby as she did, and trying to keep her close enough to him to shield him from anyone who might try anything if she let her guard down. They were all ready to kill them a few minutes ago, so she wasn't taking any chances. Before they began setting off however, a different and much larger group of guards came in from the east; the previous group had come from the north. More important than the guards, though, was who was with the guards. Keichi, Rin, and Iori were leading the pack, and just behind them was Fyodor, limping along, but capable of outpacing the whole group. "Master Fyodor ...?"

"Is he the dragon?" Bobby asked.

"Yes, Bobby. He's the one that taught me how to protect people with my magic," she quickly and quietly explained, hoping not to draw too much attention to that. She wasn't sure how long their captor was going to wait before asking them to follow again, but she really wanted to speak with the elder dragon. Being a hostage, she was probably not coming back to this place any time soon, if at all, and if she got the chance, maybe she could get Bobby out of this situation altogether ... maybe.

"Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait!" Keichi yelled repeatedly until he was close enough to speak to people from the group and be heard. "What's the situation here?! What's going on?!"

[Snike]

Before he could make it too far, naturally, the guards began to pour into the port. Where had they been for the whole bloody fight? But no, their timing had to be inconvenient, to say the least.

"The situation is all clear, sir," Blake said, as a guard asked what was going on. "We just had a bloody battle with the Neviskotian rebels. My allies and I were able to rout the enemy, but we suffered some casualties. Were the port authorities otherwise occupied? I saw no guards around before or during the battle."

[Mercakete]

Gytha decided to get right to the point. "He was with th' ground attackers. Ex-pirate. He's bleedin' out, but I thought ye could maybe learn somethin' from 'im since his side o' th' story might be different than any ye captured from th' sea. ... Which appears t' be none. No loss if he dies, bloody pirate. Says his name's Barnabas."

The ex-pirate in question still wasn't looking up. Someone had just about shot him a moment ago -- he knew that sound. I'm as good as dead. No getting out o' this one. He still kept quiet, though. The last thing he wanted to do was say something stupid.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Mercakete

[Eail]

Zachary, The Unshakable Rage

Zach atleast felt as though he had managed to catch his breath and relax for a bit. Yet.... something wasn't right still, he could see out of his eyes that... Reign? Was carrying a form that looked a lot like Raquel in his arms. Yet there was another fallen figure that was near where she had fallen. It was far too small to be an adult, that only left one possibility out of this group.

'Lia? She must have gotten hurt bad if she's sprawled out like that. But... why isn't anyone helping her? Why are they just all going by?'

Getting back up onto his feet with a bit of effort Zachary started to make his way over to the artificial girl. His sight still a bit blurry from the hits he had taken during combat. The blood had stopped flowing but his face still had a good portion of the life fluid on it. When he finally was able to get close enough to Lia to see her clearly the sage's heart stopped for a second. Blood.... so much blood....

'Lia.... no.'

Dropping to his knees Zachary took the artificial human into his arms, uselessly trying to get a response. "Lia? Lia! Come on answer me Lia!" Staring into the girl's lifeless eyes, his own were starting to water up. Tears falling down his face as the man tried to get her to live. "Lia, please no..." He knew it was no use, she was dead and there was nothing he could do. Sniffling with his tears still streaming Zachary set her back down on the ground, closing her eyes so he wouldn't have to look at them any more.

A few moments passed of staring at the body in silence..... then he broke.

An anguished scream filled the air of Port Chousokabe, the sound of a man that had lost control. "NO! NO NO NO! WHY!" Zachary screamed over and over again as his face became scrunched in anger, face turning almost as red as the blood that stained it due to his rage. "Why her!" He yelled as he pounded his fists into the ground, venting his rage until his hands were bloody and raw from the act.


The blows soon stopped, leaving only a broken shell of a man there. Sobbing his heart out over the body of a dead girl.

Edited April 18, 2013 by Eail

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika attempted to make her way onto the Leverager, but her way was blocked by the local guards at the bottom and Lev's men further up the ramp. "Looks like the crew of the Leverager won, given by who's on board," she said, after surveying the ship from the outside. "I don't think our aid is needed here-we need to get back to the others," she said to Gabbie and Faatina, biting her lip as she turned back from the ship.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

His attempt to kill the Pegasus Rider went just as poorly as trying to slay the bard. Like, what the hell! He was so disgruntled it lived that he wandered off and let that wyvern rider following him deal with her. Probablly a bad idea because not long later he saw her flying away. Like enough isn't gonna get heaped upon me. Bah. Gar scowled. Might as well make what I can up. He blended into the darkness to hunt for any other surprises that might be waiting in store for this chance--when everyone else was resounding with victory--to strike. There were none.

Instead, the sounds of explosions and screams of anguish filled the night air. Jeez who died. Oh right. Gar kept his patrol for a few more minutes before returning to his own gear near the Leverager which hadn't exploded so that was good. He flipped down his hood, replaced his belt, his coat and his cloak. He was back to normal. Which was more to say than everyone else of course. Well, they were all normal people so it was to be expected.

[roymbrog]

The list of dead was spoken out, and Valter looked like he was about to totter from his horse either from blood loss, shock, or some combination of the two. How did this happen? More importantly, how did they let this happen? Were they just that negligent?

Blake started giving out orders, but the horseman was in no condition to carry any of them out. Useless. That was a good word to describe himself right now. He could barely make it down from his horse, much less help with the aftermath. He leaned against Phyllis while trying to stanch the bleeding with his good hand, and laughed bitterly. “We’re a mess, aren’t we?”

-----

The one remaining enemy fled, and Katrina looked around for something else to kill, only to remember that there wasn’t. The battle was over. The swordsman she had helped earlier started barking off orders, but neither that nor the exploding ship managed to affect her by this point. She had already curled up in a tearful wreck between Volga’s wings. The shaman came over to check on her, which was a nice gesture, but there was probably little he could do to help. “ It’s K-Katrina. N-No, I’m not ok,” she managed to stutter out. “John is dead… And I’ll have to tell his parents how their son died, killed by the fucking rebels. What did he ever do to anyone?”

Volga whimpered. Her rider was sad, but she didn’t know why. Nuzzling her wasn’t helping, and she kept pushing the wyvern’s head away when she tried to lick.

-----

Healing… right… That was something Synthia could do right now. Anything to keep her from having to think at the moment, really. She began making rounds, but Nadya and Luka had gotten to most of the wounded already. She eventually arrived to Valter and his shoulder wound, which she just stared blankly at for a few seconds.

Valter scrutinized her for a moment. Was she alright? “Synthia?”

That seemed to at least get her attention, but instead of answering immediately she snapped the end of the arrow shaft. She could feel the head poking out the other side. “Please, don’t make me talk right now…” she said, and winced as she forced the arrow through. She healed the wound quickly, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t painful.

The horseman knew that had to happen, but wasn’t prepared for it when it did. “Gah! Warn me before you do that!” The pain quickly receded, but the area was still extremely sore and his arm numb. Those were merely minor inconveniences; there were much more important things to worry about right now. “Please, just tell me, are you alright?”

She was trying to keep it together, really. This might have been too much to deal with at once. It was obvious she was trying not to cry by now. She didn’t see the point in lying about it. “No…”

Valter pulled her into a hug. “I don’t think any of us are.”

[Phoenix]

Leverager

Bogdan wasn't sure what they were going to get out of an ex-pirate, but maybe Barnabas might surprise him. Bogdan had taken enough abuse from the rebels to not have any probably teaming up with the imperials to take them on in force ... but they could use a reprieve first. "Get him patched up," Bogdan ordered. To Gytha he said, "That was considerate of you. Thank you. If your people captured anyone else, let me know, please. It's not just important to us, but to the empire as well."

Navy Men

Lev's answers weren't satisfactory, and for good reason. Lev was trying to deflect the guards from the ship that had just blown another ship right out of the port, which was needless to say ... difficult. The guards wanted to impound the ship until they completed their investigation, and that was something Lev didn't want to chance. It might have wasted most of their resources to coordinate and execute this attack, but he didn't want Bogdan and his men to get whittled down and killed off after all the work they did for the empire. They deserved to get paid and spend that pay, not die in a foreign port on a soggy wet night.

Tensions rose and the guards demanded that Lev step aside and let them speak to Bogdan, but that wasn't happening. "Tell your commanding officer to butt out. I understand your situation and your obligation, but if you push this, soldier, I will hurt you in ways you haven't dreamed of yet. This ship was commissioned by the empire and she's under my jurisdiction."

"You can't do this!"

"Take it up with my superiors," Lev answered.

"What's your commanding officer's name?!" the soldier inquired hurriedly. That seemed to be the only workaround here.

"Admiral Fuckov."

"... ... ... lies."

Gabbie and Tina

Gabbie delayed a bit, sighing from the realization that she was probably going to be moving at least one of the bodies. "Gabbie, are you coming ...?" Faatina asked.

Too depressed to get on her about using her name too early, she replied, "Yeah, yeah, c'mon, Ringo." The two of them began following Veronika, Gabbie on foot with Ringo in tow, and Faatina atop Shariff.

Master and Student

As Fyodor drew closer to the scene, the guards came out in front of him to make sure he wasn't too close to any unfamiliars. He still noticed Suzume, though. "Oh goodness, child, what are you doing in a place like this?"

Suzume lowered her gaze in shame. "Losing a friend."

Meanwhile Keichi addressed Blake. "There was trouble. The governor's home was attacked and the threat was heavily exaggerated. We thought the imperials were attacking in force to try and remove the governor from power. We couldn't allow that, even if it meant leaving half of the city undefended," he explained.

Reign and Raquel

The guards wanted to interrogate the nomad a little, but the other mage's arrival complicated things. Not a one of them was stepping any closer to silence him during that breakdown. Something terrible had happened here as if that wasn't obvious enough; the unconscious woman in the nomad's arms, the deceased one beside the distraught mage, these people were hurting. "We need testimonies, you understand, don't you?"

"I wasn't here for her," Reign answered coldly.

Not sure what he meant, having not seen him on the way to the scene, he asked, "Explain. What happened?"

"I woke up to an explosion, came here and found one of my best friends unconscious in the street. There are plenty of other people who saw the whole fight. You can talk to them if you need to know more, but I need to get her indoors and make sure there aren't any other wounds. This isn't the time or place."

The guard shook his head, agreeing somewhat but being annoyed at Reign's aggressive response. He nudged his head and the other guards spread out giving Reign room to pass. He didn't waste any time and began heading back to the Prometheus at a hurried but careful pace. He'd return once he knew for sure that Raquel was going to be alright, but with any luck, most business here would be taken care of by then.

"Hey you," the guard spoke to Zachary this time. His turn. "Did you know this girl? What happened? I'm sorry for your loss, but we need a to know what happened here as soon as possible."

Shadrak

"He didn't do anything to deserve it. Those people were just sick, insane, and they got what they deserved. John's been avenged ... but I know that's not enough in and of itself," Shadrak replied. He knew better than to try and rush this. The wounds were just too fresh. He decided instead to sit down near her and wait it out. Meditating didn't seem like the most polite way to handle the situation, but he was upset too and needed to gain his calm. He needed to get some clarity. But first, a prayer, Oh Lord of Consolidation, Lord of Truth, Lord of Wisdom, hear my plea. Our allies have fallen and braved untimely deaths. They deserved more and they deserved better for their bravery and their valor. Deliver them far from this, someplace better, someplace kinder. Reward them for all of the good they accomplished ... and ... and tell them I'm sorry. Give them new companions, ones stronger and kinder than I was. Give them everything they ever lacked in this life, Lord Truth. That's my ... that's my plea.

Though Shadrak's face looked calm and vaguely tranquil at first, by the middle of his prayer several tears had begun to fall. Try as he might, it was that much harder to focus on meditation and calm himself.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Phoenix

[-Cynthia-]

Team Shadowkat

While heading back, Veronika saw that a few guards had approached and were questioning some of the group. I suppose after a battle like that there would be questions... She didn't particularly feel like answering them though and she saw Shadrak and the wyvern rider woman from before near the unmistakable corpse of Gil. She walked over towards the pair tentatively and there they were- John and Sophia's bodies.

Both Shadrak and the rider seemed quite distraught and Veronika barely maintained her own composure at the grisly sight. "You knew John from before didn't you? I'm...sorry this happened. I know my words don't mean much but...he was a good man and will be missed. I never got to know him as well as I liked- John never talked much about himself," Veronika said, her voice heavy with regret. "I know the grief is still near, but would you...mind taking his body back to the Prometheus for us? I'd like to do some sort of service later, but he's rather heavy with all the armor...I don't think we'll be able to do anything for Gil," she said, her voice trailing off as she picked up Sophia and held her in her arms. She saved my life before...and I repay the favor by leading her to her death. I'm the one who insisted we go on the Leverager... she thought to herself, turning away from the other two.

[Mercakete]

"Hmm..." Gytha thought back to just before she boarded the Leverager with Barnabas as said ex-pirate was escorted away. "There might still be some on th' docks that're still alive but were cut down. Ye could check those. We mighta captured two others, but I'm not sure. Blake was o'er there last I saw."

[Balcerzak]

Sinbad had been holed up belowdecks while the storm had raged. Partly in that he didn't see no reason for to be getting wet, when that would accomplish naught, and partly in that it weren't no bad idea to make sure his horse were comfortable. Truth be told, the best of worlds would have seen them weathering it out on dry land and then boarding the ship, but Captain Delan had made circumstances very clear. The cowboy's passage was not the priority deciding factor of when they would haul off. And that was just. After all, Captain's boat, Captain's rules.

Speaking of which... Sinbad gave Hatsune one last reassuring rub on the flank before turning. Probably should be up topside for this, he reckoned. Spittin' were distinctly frowned upon in enclosed areas, but over the rails? Hell, as a man were certainly allowed to lose his sick off the sides, what from the motion of the ocean and all, well then there couldn't be possibly no harm in most anything else goin' over the edge, now could there? From the sounds of things, it even seemed to him that the rain may have actually finally finished dying down. No better time.

It was then, just as he'd finished the rub and was about to make his way to the main deck then, that it happened. A low rumbling noise from hmm, which direction were that actually? He may have gotten a bit turned around belowdecks, and first time on an unfamiliar vessel, but unless he was mistaken that had to be from off further down the harbor. Well, if that don't just add another thing to his list to do up topside.

Climbing out of the hold into the open air, first thing Sinbad did was don his hat (it being downright unpolite to wear one inside, and he figured ship were near enough to count as far as that were concerned). A bunch of the ship's crew had gathered around, staring at an orange glow and plumes of smoke, while one fella seemed to be dashing off down the loadin' ramp like a bat outta purgatory.

Curious, but not yet invested, he sidled up to the nearest sailor, and asked, "What exactly you reckon cause that? ...And this gonna put a kink in the departure plans?" While waiting for the reply, he fished around in his belt pouch for a pinch of chew, and started pondering his options. If there was time, maybe it wouldn't hurt to check things out. Then again, this weren't exactly his jurisdiction. Getting in the way o' local law weren't usually appreciated.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Balcerzak

[ReformBlade]

Mshirah wasn't sure what just happened, still trying to process all the information in a hectic environment, but what she did know was that there was no one happy here at the moment.

Davod kept silent, the grief still evident on his face as tears streamed down his cheeks. I told you not to get attached. I wasn't being a dick, I just didn't want this to happen, but now it's too late... People around you tend to die, an- "I know..." the man whispered. He was starting to feel a little sick and as such he wasn't paying much attention to anything around him.

Aneda felt a need to step in when one of the guards started talking to Zach, questioning him. "Look, sir, give him some space please, he's not in the best of moods. I can answer for you if you'd like? There was an incident here, some friends were attacked, and then an explosion. I wasn't here when it started but I sure as hell was here to finish it. Who is the person you ask? She's Lia. The girl had trouble speaking, had a kind heart and what seemed to be a fierce loyalty.."

[Snike]

Wait, there was a dragon with the guards? Blake had no idea how he missed that, but now that he did notice, he tensed a little. The last thing he needed right now was for that to come out, and, to be quite honest, the swordsman had no idea what abilities dragons possessed, beyond their combat prowess.

Interestingly enough, the dragon knew Suzume. He would have to inquire about that later.

Before any more could be said, a loud scream belonging to Zachary, the thunder sage filled the air. He had found Lia, the Ursian was guessing. He let out a weary sigh before responding to the guard.

"I see... Well, we will cooperate with you, sir, but, if you don't mind, could we try to do this in a timely manner?" Blake asked tiredly. "We just lost a few people, and almost everyone else is grieving, wounded, exhausted, or some combination thereof. Prolonging this will only cause more of the to break down, so, really I just want to get them away from here as soon as possible, for everyone's sake."

[Snowy_One]

A soft moan came from Robin as she rolled over softly, a groan of pain escaping from the archer girl as consciousness started to be regained. Painful, painful, consciousness.

"<What happened?>" she asked as she sat upright, rubbing her brow and feeling the imprint of the skull before repeating her question. "What happened?"

[roymbrog]

Synthia had eventually returned the hug and managed to regain some of her composure, or at least enough to continue her job for the moment. Mercy knows how long that’d last, though. “There are still people to take care of,” she said, pulling away.

“Right, right…” With all the people having breakdowns it was a relief she wasn’t or... something. Valter and Phyllis followed as a very subdued Synthia walked over to Bert.

It looked like Luka had already healed him, but there was still an arrow sticking from his side. It looked rather deep. Synthia knelt down and gave it a light tug to see how stuck it was. It didn’t give at all, meaning it was probably barbed. “This is going to hurt… Valter, do you have a knife?” He handed her one from his belt, and she turned to Luka who was still nearby. “Hey, I’m gonna need you to heal this as soon as I remove the arrow.”

-----

Shadrak’s sympathy was noted, and she could see him crying over there, but that didn’t really help her situation at all. The bodies were right there.

“I should’ve been here…” Katrina lamented, still blubbering on Volga’s back. She had known the rebels were after the Leverager. Hell, she should’ve stayed with the ship in the first place. If she weren’t so focused on finding a safer way home maybe she could’ve stopped this. Yes, she was grasping at straws by this point, but she was convinced that she had been a part of this somehow.

Veronika came over and expressed sympathy, and while that was also noted, Katrina’s guilt wasn’t going anywhere. The bodies were literally right there, and now she was being asked to move John’s. “I can...” she said, looking up. It was the least she could do for him, to have a proper sendoff later.