Return of the Emblem Chapter Eleven: Unleash

[Snowy_One]

"Let me guess? To you, all that matters is physical might? If it's as strong as a rock it's to be respected, but if it's as weak as paper it's to be ignored?" grumbled Tia, wishing in the back of her mind that Rook was Robin right now instead of... well... Rook.

[Phoenix]

Your Bearings: Finding Them

"That's what we're hoping to find out," Reign replied, keeping his gaze on the floor in front of him. He, and a few others it seemed, weren't expecting the Dauntless to stop, at least not this soon after escaping the fortress walls. As a result, Reign, nearly fell over. He caught himself by using his right arm to brace against the wall. Once the wagon had stopped completely, he began to pick himself up. "No way we've made it back to the road yet," he assessed.

Outside, it seemed Reign's assessment was correct. They weren't on or even near the main road yet. Raquel had brought the Dauntless to a halt once they reached the group's farthest outliers. Around the same time, Gabbie began to steer Ringo down to land nearby, figuring it was safe to do so and that Connor probably wanted to investigate the state of the Dauntless as soon as possible.

Around the time Ringo landed, Raquel got out herself to check on Sandrock and Riley, giving the healers time to address those who were still injured. From what she could tell, Sandrock was back to normal, but Riley was on edge and fidgety. Retreating from the fortress had been in line with the horse's desires but now that they had stopped, he was becoming paranoid, again. Was the wagon going to catch on fire again? He just didn't know and that made the prospect of sitting around more not moving even more dreadful for him. "It's going to be okay now, Riley," Raquel began comforting him.

When the Dauntless stopped, Volga didn't have to play 'catch up' anymore and Shadrak was finally free to get down and find his bearings. "That guy is ... just overconfident," Shadrak began, hoping to offer a different take on the situation. "He probably thinks that just because he can blast holes in tanks, he's unstoppable, but he's not. And we didn't do that badly. Not a one of us is dead. Not one, meanwhile they probably lost like a dozen or so. Heck, the way I see it, he was just trying to make sure he didn't lose anymore men. He had to let us go or we would have killed him too. Pretty sure Sardis was injured too." Well ... that was certainly a different perspective. He didn't realize it just then, that he was contradicting himself with regard to Samael, but his intent was to help cheer up Mushirah, so that never really crossed his mind.

[Parrhesia]

"Nah, you don't have to be a good fighter to matter. Being clever's a good start... real, street-clever, not nothin' an academy can teach you. But most importantly, you've got to be brave, and loyal to your comrades. Loyalty's all we get in this world." The archer turned, slowly, in the saddle, as the horse steadied itself to a more reasonable speed. "And you know what else would do you some bloody good?" Quick as lightning, his hand shot out and backhanded Tia across the face. "Show some fucking respect to me after I saved your worthless hide."

[Snowy_One]

The hand struck a wall of water that had suddenly shot up from one of the many vials and flasks Tia seemed to have on her, blocking his blow entirely.

"If I hadn't showed up on the Dauntless manipulating stimulant-laced mist, something that took a lot of reading books to even learn could be done, to bolster you and everyone else, there is a very real chance we could have lost people in that battle. If you want my respect, you can have it, but you can't get it by backhanding fourteen year olds and demanding they respect you after the fact." said Tia, a very cold and hard tone in her voice. Then her face lightened up a bit, but not enough to be 'happy'.

"If I forgot to say 'thank you' though, I am sorry. It's been hard to think with the stress the mist-manipulation put on my mind and with the laser... I'm sorry Rook." she said, clearly trying to add in a fake 'happy' tone to her voice so obviously faked that even a deaf man could hear it.

[Parrhesia]

"Your respect isn't worth having," said Rook, bitterly. "Get out of my sight."

[ReformBlade]

If he could've seen the blank stare she gave him, he'd understand that Mushirah had doubts about his logic. That didn't stop her from cracking a smile for a moment, unsure of if he meant it or if he was just trying to cheer her up. "

in this situation is that... I'm still not good enough. Dad taught me what he knew, he said I was a smart one and all of that, but i'm certain he would've fared much better in his prime. I just need to figure out what really went wrong... but at some other point. Please... I want nothing more than to just wake up like this was all some ridiculous nightmare, be in my bed like any other day, but perhaps that is too hasty." She thought out loud, noting that they had slowed down considerably. "I don't think I'd ever be able to live it down if I honestly did just give up like that, even if the circumstances are otherworldly. I need more focus, something to actually draw on and look to, so I'm not just going into this like a bumbling child. I-I just... I actually killed a man today, just as a gut reaction." The very thought of that moment made her head spin for a moment, using Katrina as a grip at this point. "If... If I need to kill to keep on going here, I'm not sure if I should stay, but at the same time I think I've witnessed a bit too much for me to just walk away." It took the girl a good while to finally come out and say it, "I'd like it if you'd help me, in all honesty. Someone I can practice with reliably, help keep me focused, my head on my shoulders..."

[Snowy_One]

Tia shook her head in refusal. "So what? You can spend the next ten minutes not looking at me only to see me again when we stop again to set up camp for the night? Rook, if you have a problem with me, try talking to me about it instead of attempting to backhand me. I don't even know what I'm doing to you that's making you so mad beyond caring for my books. Even if you stopped right now and let me off, it's only going to be a matter of time before we're forced to work together again. And what will you have gained? A grudge against a teenage bookworm? You're an adult Rook! People like rubbing it in my face that I'm just a kid, but if that's true, then I'm supposed to look up to people like you to learn from. But if I'm an adult, stop talking down to me and treat me like an adult." she said as she waited for Rook to stop so she could get off and, if by some chance he tried to merely shove her off, she was ready for that as well, having readied her body for such a tumble.

[Parrhesia]

"Go fuck yourself," Rook cut her off midway through her soliloquy breezily as the horse slowed to a brisk trot, dismounting just as it came across the Dauntless. Knowing only that Marella had at least been picked up by one of the riders, he began scanning the area for her.

He wondered if everyone had made it. Would be a bloody miracle, but they sure seemed to believe that no man would be left behind, he'd give 'em credit for that much. Bloody hellfire, though, he was not being paid enough to risk his neck for this... he made a mental note to visit the paymaster. As soon as he knew Marella was safe.

Edited May 9, 2013 by Furetchen

[Ether]

The stop certainly came earlier than Faatina had been expecting, though she was glad for it, to be certain. Pulling Sharif up near the Dauntless, she turned her head to Axel.

"There we go. You should probably get her looked at before we move out again." The paladin suggested, her attention being drawn to a spat of infighting nearby.

"Is this really any time for that, really?" She asked, the kid spouting off some nonsense about kids and adults, which really had no place at the moment.

"Shit just went down, and we're all on edge. Considering how close some of us were to dying, I'd be pretty pissed at someone who was only worried about a few books, too. I get it, they're important to you, but y'know what? They aren't more important than our injured... use that energy of yours to worry about them." She continued, dismounting from Sharif as she did so.

"Respect is something you earn. And you sure as hell don't earn it by prattling off about something pointless like that at a time like this. Books are replaceable, kid. People aren't." She concluded, as she made her way over to the pair.

"Now then, either of you need to see a healer?"

***

"So this is where we stop, huh? Well, point me to anyone you want me to heal, I guess. I wasn't expecting that aureola, and I couldn't block something that big so quick... it's the least I can do." Kit mentioned, tails twiddling about.

[Parrhesia]

"I'm alright, Faatina," said Rook, grateful to have someone who wasn't a mage-freak to talk to. "Not sure about her, but if you see Robin she was pretty badly fucked up, and I dunno if help got to her. Anyway, I sure as hell ain't touching that cold fish again if I can help it."

[Snowy_One]

"Some smoke inhalation, few light singes, damaged clothes, but my biggest wound is the pounding headache I have. I don't recall staves being able to cure things like that though." replied Tia.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

They were at... wherever the hell they were stopping. Gar swung down from the top of the wagon. "Well that was a thing," he mused out loud. He sort of meandered over closer to Raquel because something was inevitably gonna come up involving her and he wanted to kill his boredom.

[Ether]

"Alright, good. Listen, the woman Axel has over on Sharif has some bad burn wounds... you're a water user, right? Think you can help cool her off or something with that?" Faatina replied to Tia, hoping to quell the arguing by putting the girl to work, before turning to Rook.

"We can find out once we get them to open up the Dauntless. She'll probably be in there, and there'll likely be at least one healer who managed to get in there too... in that case she's probably taken care of already, I suppose." She noted, as she began to walk towards the front, where Raquel was.

"So, Raquel. Are we just taking a minute to regroup and tend to the wounded, or did you have something else in mind?"

[Phoenix]

Dauntless: Interior

Reign glanced at where he thought the invisible woman's head was and said, "... I'd say try healing her but ... she'd have to be a bit more cooperative than this first." Noticing he didn't feel the top of her foot against him anymore, he put his hand where it used to be to check for it. Oh boy. "Wait ... did she move?" He tried to reach for where the rest of her leg should have been and ended up eventually touching her knee. With his hand obscured again, he at least knew she was still here ... though, he had a feeling she was up and aware again. Uh ... okay ... she's sitting up with her legs crossed, pretty sure of that, now. That means she's awake .... "She's ... definitely up now."

Dauntless: Exterior

Progress with Riley was somewhat slow, but coming along decently well. She didn't think she would be able to completely calm him for another minute or so. The best witness would be not being attacked for at least that long, she reasoned as she continued stroking his nose and speaking softly to him. She had finally managed it when Faatina came over and asked her what she was planning by stopping so early. It was pretty much what she'd first suspected. "Yeah, we should patch up before going any further, I think. Honestly, what I really want to do is march right back in there once we're all healed and try again but I know that's just insane ..." Her gaze fell to the ground as she concluded and she sighed. "I can't believe everything that just happened in there ..."

Meanwhile Shadrak continued trying to console Mushirah as best he could, somewhat addressing everything at once. "At least it was only self defense. They started this. Anyway ... reviewing the battle is always a good idea. If you know where you went wrong the last time, you can definitely improve. Just try not to get depressed about it, Mushirah. No one on our side died, after all. We're all alive despite what we went through and so we can all come back stronger, if not smarter. But yeah, I'll definitely help you out. We all ... seriously need to train more after this. Just name a time and place," he ended with a wide smile.

[Ether]

"I can't heal you if I can't see you, y'know. I need to know where your wounds are." The fox woman replied, looking the area the woman was occupying curiously.

'What is with Raquel and all of these strange phenomenon... is she some sort of magic for the obscure and the insane?'

***

"The fact that you aren't shows discretion.,. though I don't know how many people would follow you back in, after seeing what went down..." Faatina noted, before walking over to the merchant and giving her a quick squeeze.

"I don't think anyone could have predicted what happened in there, so you don't need to beat yourself up over it, okay? We'll make it through this, heads held high... and once we're in the clear, we can worry about what to do next, or release our steam... hmm, do they have bathhouses is Ursium? If they do, we should stop in at the next town, the water is great for stress relief, we can get a private room and you can let out everything you're keeping bottled up, for our sakes. How does that sound?" The paladin asked, with a friendly smile.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

Once they were stopped, Veronika decided to go over and address important business with Raquel. "I don't think a bathhouse is what we need right now," Veronika said, frowning. "I know this may be difficult for you Raquel, but we need to come up with a list of your family and close friends. The man who attacked the Dauntless did not seem the type to make idle threats. We need to at least warn them that there could be assassins after them and develop a plan for protecting them- that should be our current priority at the moment after reuniting with Weyland," she laid out. If getting Jethro or the emblem piece were within our means, the fortress would have been the place to do it. They're just too powerful...

Nadya

Nadya decided to occupy her time healing those who looked as if they were in dire need of it. That's what I get paid to do after all.

Connor

"Thanks Gabbie," Connor said quickly, running off towards the Dauntless which was unfortunately rather crowded. I want to assess the damage, but asking them all to get out of my way would be rude especially if they're injured... he thought hesitantly, moving towards the entrance.

[Snike]

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Axel said, before dismounting and taking Arietta off of the horse, and over to the Dauntless. Hopefully there would be someone to patch her up soon, as his elixir had run out.

***

So, the Dauntless came to a stop, and now the Kigenese girl was up. Oh boy.

"If you don't mind, could you become visible, at least long enough so that Kit can heal you?," Blake asked the area of space around where the woman was. "From what I've seen, we're not enemies, at least."

Grant still felt dizzy and just sat with his back against the inside of the Dauntless, hands over his head.

***

Obscure, yes. The jury is out on insane, however. Do not bother healing her right now, as I will handle that. Though, making Raquel aware that I am not harmful might be of some help. Unless you want to be unhelpful, in which case, carry on.

All of a sudden, a hooded man in a white robe appeared about fifty feet from the Dauntless, carrying what appeared to be some sort of staff in one hand and a light tome in the other. Strapped to his back was a single broadsword. The man paused for a moment, then moved towards the closest injured person he could find, ready to heal them.

[ReformBlade]

Aneda forced Hannah to slow down with the rest of them, not sure why there was even a remote need to slow down at their current juncture. "Seriously? What's this all about?" An angry grunt from Aneda was all she was gonna let out to show her frustration, she couldn't care any less about being more productive at the moment, more concerned with making sure her passenger wasn't gonna fall off and get herself hurt. "Marella, you still good?" she called behind, just noticing a ghost man up and healing Marella, a man she certainly had no idea about. "Uh, excuse me for the interruption but who the fuck are you?" she asked with clear agitation in her tone, and while her lance wasn't in her hand, Aneda was totally ready to throw a few punches in his direction if there wasn't at least an answer very quickly. Well actually, maybe I should wait until he's finished healing, then punch... but if he's healing he can't be one hundred percent bad... well that doesn't make him good either. Fuck.

Seeing Shadrak smile and being supportive of her made Mushirah feel much better, eliciting a true smile from her and a response, "How about... we discuss it over some food? i don't know about you but magic takes a lot out of me..."

[Ether]

'So... you finally show yourself, huh?' Kit thought at the no longer phantom man, as he appeared, and began healing some of Raquel's fighters. Immediately vacating the wagon and landing next to the merchant woman, Kit began to speak.

"See that guy who appeared out of nowhere? He seems to want to heal you guys, and well, I wouldn't suggest doing anything to aggravate him... you guys definitely aren't in the condition to call his bluff." Kit told the woman, as she herself walked over to the man.

"You don't look quite as I imagined you... but I suppose I didn't really have anything to go off of... why the sudden change of heart?"

[Snowy_One]

Edited May 9, 2013 by Snowy_One

[Snike]

"Not an enemy, so I would rather not be punched, thank you very much," the hooded man said, finishing up the healing as the fox woman appeared. "There. As for the 'change of heart' you mentioned, Kit, well, change of plans, especially with what Samael said."

Edited May 9, 2013 by Snike

[Ether]

"That guy seems to take his vendettas pretty seriously, doesn't he?" Kit responded to the man, thinking back on it.

"The fallen, Sardis... he seemed set on defying Samael, at least with regards to Jethro... say what you will about their command structure, as far as I can tell, the fallen would win in a fight.. Cassandra didn't seem thrilled at the prospect either... I suppose I don't really expect an answer, but I might get lucky... when they made that girl, they left Raquel's memories intact within her, didn't they?" Kit noted, her tails flicking about in their usual fashion.

"So someone like you must have plans beyond patching them up so they can leave faster... mind giving some insight into the workings of the mind of our still mysterious ex-phantom?"

[Phoenix]

Dauntless: Interior

"... I've been seen enough today," came the woman's reply. From the sound of it, she was sitting up, at about the same height as Reign. Before any response came, she added, "We aren't enemies, but we aren't allies either. You should focus on them."

Playing the neutral card ... well that's fair. A lone operative shouldn't take any unnecessary risks, though one could interpret waving off healing as a risk in and of itself. She must have patched herself up enough to get by for now ... though without abilities like hers, that would be quite a risk indeed, Reign mused. "So I take it you're not on either side of this Sardis business. Probably pointless to ask since you seem to enjoy your anonymity a great deal, but who are you?"

"I don't care about anonymity, myself ... but it's useful."

"I guess that's a 'no', then," Reign said, resisting the urge to sigh afterward. No need to imply anything here.

"... ... I ... wanted someone to tell me how my hair looks with these highlights in it. If you agree to give me an honest opinion, I'll put down this cloak for a few minutes."

Reign glanced at Blake, raising an eyebrow at the same time. She couldn't be serious, could she? Either way, her proposal made him think back to when he'd last seen her, during her attempt to combat the fire overtaking the Dauntless. Just his luck, he hadn't gotten a good look at her or at least not her hair. The things he remembered best about her were her face, the large print on her clothing, and of course her short sword, but none of that was helping him recall any highlights in her hair. Given how short her hair was to begin with, he was a little surprised with himself for not remembering right away. Had any of it even registered? He just didn't know.

Dauntless: Exterior

Raquel had almost cheered up, but Veronika arrived shortly after Faatina did and dumped a piping hot barrel of reality over her. Sure enough, they couldn't run around protecting everyone she cared about. That was inefficient and ... probably what they were expecting. It also gave them a horrific advantage in that any informants they had sitting around could report back, and then they could just target anyone else the group was too far away to protect. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure people she cared about were going to die. There were no tactics to flawlessly thwart Samael's plot against her. At least, she couldn't think of any.

"... I don't know ..." Well ... at least Riley had calmed down. "How am I supposed to protect anyone from that monster? There's my mother, Reina, grandparents, some cousins I haven't heard from in ages. It's not a small list even if I cut out the 'friends'." Though ... I guess I never had many friends, at least not after going to the academy. Kit wasn't far behind Veronika at least on the list of arrivals, and told her about the man who had suddenly appeared relatively nearby. Appeared? "Who ...? What's going on now?" Kit didn't stick around to answer either of those questions, so she was left looking confused for the moment.

"Wait ... you mean like lunch or something?" Shadrak replied, trying to figure out exactly what Mushirah meant. "I mean sure, if you really don't mind. I usually eat alone ... and not always by choice, hehe-..." He tried and immediately failed to laugh it off. "Forget what I said; I'm still recovering from those awful voyages."

[Snike]

"He escalated things quickly," the hooded man agreed, as he went over to his next target- a downed female warrior, who the man known as Axel was guarding. After waving off the lancer, the man in white went to work. "As for which one of those two is 'stronger', per se, it really depends on who hits first, if you have forgotten the aureola spell so recently. I have no idea what you are talking about, with regards to the emblem-wielder. Lastly, I would like a word with Miss Valcyn, however that can wait."

***

So the invisible woman was a third party, and didn't want to reveal herself, unless.... they reviewed her highlights? That was odd, and incredibly suspicious. Reign glanced at Blake, in disbelief as well. Good to see that he wasn't the only one surprised.

"... If you're serious, then agreed," Blake said, warily. "I'm no hair color expert or anything like that, but if it's an opinion you want, I can give it."

[Snowy_One]

With the new instructions from Tina to try and help out a burned woman, but no clue who 'Axel' was, Tia was left in the dark. Deciding to do something about it though as opposed to just twiddling her thumbs she decided to go out and ask someone. By sheer powers of luck, the first person she approached happened to be Axel himself.

"Excuse me, sir. Someone asked me to find someone named 'Axel' and to offer my services to try and help someone who got hurt in the last battle? Do you know who Axel is and where I can find the person I'm supposed to help?"