Return of the Emblem Chapter Eleven: Unleash

[Phoenix]

Dauntless: Interior

Blake seemed to be going along with her for the time being. Well, if she was going to pull something, she would have had an easier time while cloaked, so at least the horrendous advantage she had over them was about to disappear. The sheer irony of what was just written was not lost on the author. Before long, tiny specs of light began to appear. They varied slightly in size and luminosity, but before long they had appeared roughly in the shape of the woman and she began to fade into view as they dimmed and eventually disappeared. As Reign suspected, she was sitting with her legs crossed, though admittedly she was more upright than he'd expected. Her posture looked rather precise and formal to him. Despite her appearing to have her hair critiqued, Reign's eyes were drawn to the blood red print on her clothing. It was partially obscured by actual blood, but it was the only clue he had really. It looked like an insignia, a symbol, or something to identify whatever group she might be working for, so it was worth committing to memory. He'd check out her hair once he was sure he could remember it ... or at least that was the plan.

"That isn't my hair. This is," she said, pointing directly at her bangs and staring at him blankly for a second. That caught him off guard, and while he was refocusing on what she wanted, her gaze moved over to Blake, and her hand went from pointing at her bangs to fiddling with them. She only spent a couple of seconds doing this, though. "I haven't been able to get any opinions since I got them done like this. It's inconvenient."

"Heh, I bet," Reign noted in an amused tone. He was tempted to ask her about the bloodied print but decided to wait until they'd fulfilled their end of the agreement. For now, he tried to think up a response about her hair and highlights. He liked them, at least on her, but he felt he needed more than that, something a bit more in depth or at least helpful. She likely wanted insight, not just a few thumbs facing up.

Edited May 9, 2013 by Phoenix

[Balcerzak]

Sinbad simply nodded at the gypsy when she'd informed him that anything more than a few minutes' wait and she was gonna get moving again. He wasn't sure if her assessment of certain doom if enemy pursuit caught up to them was pessimistic or realistic, but either way, getting in another fight at this point wasn't something he was looking forward to either, not without any pellets or powder, at least.

At about that time, Synthia in his arms asked, somewhat woozily, how many people had been injured. The cowboy had been about to answer 'Nearly everyone, darling,' which would then probably be followed up by something reassuring like 'Things'll be okay though, ain't the end of the world. We just gotta pick ourselves up and keep facing forward'. He didn't have the chance though, as the healer had replied before he was able. What she actually said puzzled him for a bit, before he started to wonder if the word 'casualty' was just gonna be another one of those words he would never remember how to sort which of its meanings was actually meant when it came up. Still, the cowboy supposed everything was fine enough in the end anyway, elaborating on the gypsy's description of the situation was unnecessary.

Despite it being good news, hell, probably way more pleasant than how his response would have been taken, considering he'd been indeed misunderstanding, the reply seemed to have upset the mage, as she took a slight jerk forward, then clasped her hands to her head. It was clear from context that 'the Dauntless' referred to the monster wagon, nothing else of theirs had been target of anything that would have fit the situation. Still, that were odd. Sinbad didn't reckon most people actually named their... whatever that was. Ya don't name a house, ya don't name a carriage, ya don't name a—remembering first Cuz, and then the other vessels he'd booked passage on, he stopped dead in his train of thought. Well, you do name ships, but that still seemed something rather a bit different than the issue at hand. Your everyday farmer, or fishmonger, or other merchant didn't name his cart when he took it in to market.

The cowboy's musing was interrupted when the long, red-haired horseman he'd saved from Colin, having caught up, clarified the situation slightly. The wagon was still intact, just worse for wear. It was something Sinbad probably should have interjected with himself, but it seemed he were just constatntly one beat behind at the moment. After submitting his correction, the bowman had also inquired as to why they had halted here, and Sinbad agreed with the gypsy's answer, chiming in, "Told the woman who had taken Connor to safety I'd try to keep the healer here, and myself, available to help out in case things went sour, and didn't want us getting too far ahead. This ain't by no means a permanent stop, but I expect a lot of things'll be crazy cause we were all departing in one hell of a haste there. A brief moment ta catch our breaths and reorganize if need be would probably be a right boon."

"Speaking of... how you holding up after your run-in with Colin there? I guess you seem ta be more 'r less alright, but you're not pushing yourself are you?" Sinbad directed a thoughtful query toward the new arrival, while this Dauntless of theirs was pulling up to a stop nearby. The gypsy healer was already moving to check on the injuried, leaving them mostly by themselves at this point.

The cowboy could also see, in the wake of the monster wagon, a few stragglers on mounts, and also at least one horse without a rider at all. Recognizing it as the wind mage's, Sinbad figured it might cheer her up to know it hadn't been left behind or killed. "Well look there, darling. Reckon your gal made it out of there alright, had the good sense ta tag along after all the other horses here. Still, given your condition it probably best you don't try riding on your own just yet. I'm willing ta take ya as far as ya'll are going today, unless you object."

Edited May 9, 2013 by Balcerzak

[Snike]

"You don't need to help anyone, kid. It's been covered," Axel said, gesturing to the man in white who was healing Arietta. "By who, I don't know, but he's apparently not hostile. Go find someone else to 'help'."

***

Blake chose to ignore the woman's outfit, at least, for the time being, and focused on her head, especially her hair and highlights. "Well, if you're going with subtle, or to match your eye color, the highlights look really good with your hair color and style. If you were looking for them to be a bit more noticeable, maybe try a darker purple? That would probably help."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Sure enough, things became interesting right away! With a nice little tune in the head, Gar listened in. "A bathouse sounds nice and all, but we're not going to Kigen and the other nations are just years--YEARS--behind them in glorious bath technology." Gar lightened the mood. "But putting that and whatever mysterious and no-doubt super-powerful being that's just arrived and we would be completely foolhardy to not genuflect in his almighty presence aside," Gar rolled his eyes so hard it actually hurt. "You may not have the resources to safeguard your family and freinds, Raquel but do you know anyone who does?" he asked.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"We probably can't reach all of them and guard them," Veronika admitted to Raquel. "What we can do is ask Weyland to send messages to anyone who might be a potential target. If I were you, I'd make a list before we reach Europa so they're warned as quickly as possible," she said to Raquel. It's much easier for me to remain calm about this than she is...helps that it isn't my friends and family I suppose. She kept an eye looking warily towards the strange incoming healer man, but simply decided to watch for the moment.

And the Winner is...Valdimarr

Sigrid and Erasmus rose to their feet with the rest of the crowd, their cheers joining the clamor.

"That was quite the Slaughter! Better than my last one!" Erasmus called our enthusiastically.

And so Valdimarr wins as I predicted...though not by as wide a margin as I had predicted. If Steinn had fought with this brothers against Valdimarr he surely would have won. But that does not matter now, onward to Valdimarr. "Come Father, we must congratulate Empress Urd on her son's victory," she said, lifting her skirts with one hand and grabbing her father's hand with the other, leading him through the crowd to the lower stands where Urd was located, surrounded by young Fallen Sigrid presumed were her children.

As the noise began to die down, Sigrid decided to speak up. "Empress Urd, I wished to congratulate you on your son's victory today. Corvus will undoubtedly have years of prosperity ahead with a strong Sovereign like Valdimarr. I am Sigrid of Clan Tarren and this is my father Erasmus," she said, curtsying.

"You are looking as lovely as ever my lady," Erasmus said with a bow.

[scorri]

Marella frowned slightly when the mysterious man healed her. There are others who need healing more than me... Sliding down from Hannah, she landed on her uninjured knee and slowly flexed her knee. Hmm, slightly stiff, but it will be ok. Glancing at the others, she walked over to the Dauntless and just leaned against it, keeping her weight off her right knee. Just because it had been healed didn't mean it was perfect. Better safe than sorry.

[Phoenix]

Dauntless: Interior

"I was trying to get them to match, yes," she replied flatly, though by that point she was fiddling with them again, this time with both hands. Reign was amused now, if only because this was the same person who just went toe to toe with Sardis and was also a living super weapon of sorts. At least, that's what Ursium would do with her if they could. And here they were, giving critique about her hair while she messed around with it. "Well whatever you do, don't make them any lighter. They look good the way they are, but if you go lighter, it's definitely going to start to clash. At least right now they're about the same tone as your eyes." Now to wait for an opening to ask about the print, and her name.

"Hmm ..." A little more fiddling and then finally she said, "Thank you both. This has been bothering me for a long time."

"... how long, exactly?"

"Seventeen days, eighteen hours," she answered, exactly.

Was now a good time? Reign wasn't quite sure if she was about to say something else or if Blake was, but he was definitely going to cut in if she tried to disappear on them. She seemed attentive and cooperative enough to hold on a moment if he asked.

Dauntless: Exterior

Only two names came to mind when Gar asked her if she knew anyone with the resources to help her, Lilith, and Weyland. The former was a worse idea the more she thought about it. Finally she just came out and explained why, or rather tried to. "Uhhh ... I don't ... I don't know how to say this but, I don't really want Lilith's help here. I mean I do, but I don't. Urgh ..." Raquel scrapped that attempt to explain her feelings on the matter and started over. "What I'm trying to explain is that I think Lilith could help us here but, I just don't think it would work out. I think she would just want to forget protecting anyone and go after the emblem piece I lost, but I lost it for a reason ... that girl was strong enough to take it from me by sheer willpower and she could probably do the same to Lilith. So ... I just don't see that working out. Weyland on the other hand is probably our best shot. I don't like asking him to put his people in harm's way but I don't really have a choice now ..." She explained herself calmly enough, but the sweat forming on her forehead and worrisome expression were telling a different story.

[spoiler=Underground Coliseum]Valdimarr may have been victorious, but his injuries were severe, even for him. Every entrance to the arena was opened up and two dozen fallen rushed in, all healers. They had to be ready to rescue the new emperor from the brink of death the instant the battle was over or risk all out chaos. Valdimarr was on his feet and trying to head for the nearest exit when the help arrived.

"My lord, please wait! Your injuries!" One of them pleaded but didn't touch him to try and hold him back. That seemed to be what they were all doing for the time being, most of them having grown accustomed to being violently knocked aside by tough elite warriors who had no interest in being handled.

"You people can fix me later; I don't give a damn about a few scars," he shot back, slightly slurring his words. "I need to ... take care of this before I pass out ..."

"Take care of what? Wait ... Ohhh no, not this again," the healer protested. "Please, listen, you have numerous injuries, all of them series, not to mention a missing hand. This is no time for victory mating!"

Valdimarr stopped in his tracks, then looked at the medic in disbelief. "Did you not see what the fuck I just went through back there?" he asked, pointing a thumb over his shoulder and toward the center of the arena. "I'm starving; get out of my way."

"My lord ... how much blood do you think you've lost?"

"... ttttwo pints ...?"

"At least five! We've been watching the battle closely the entire time, tracking injuries, blood splatter, and behavioral changes, AND keeping a very close eye on you in particular!"

"It's nice to have fans. I was beginning to wonder if you were just getting back at me for killing your favorite. Don't worry about my blood supply ... I can still get it up."

"I ... seriously doubt that, my lord. Please, at least let us address the bleeding and check your arm. You cauterized the wound but it needs to be looked at more closely along with the others. After that ... I suppose if you still need your 'sexual healing', we won't bother you anymore about it."

"Ugh, we can't do both?" Valdimarr inquired, looking dizzy and confused.

"We're in the middle of a battlefield," one of the female medics chimed in, "you're missing two limbs, covered in gashes, and a few thousand observers have their eyes on you right now including your mother and sisters, my lord. This isn't the time and it certainly isn't the place."

"First off, my father did the same thing or so he told me, so I'm sure mother understands. Second, I'm completely out of it right now, so I'd have to be dead to care any less," Valdimar shot back.

"My lord, our women are ... lowly healers, essentially commoners. I didn't think you were in such ... dire need ...? Surely you would prefer a noble woman or your fiancee."

"... I don't have a fian-urgh ... damn, stalling son of a ..." Valdimarr said, realizing he was losing consciousness. He then passed out and was caught by three medics, one male, two female. They slowly lowered him onto his back. Since he wasn't putting up resistance of any kind now, they went right to work. One of the outliers began signalling the crowd to keep them calm. The last thing they wanted was for people to think Valdimarr had just died. The signalling fallen didn't know whether Valdimarr was still alive or not, but he didn't want people panicking just the same. They could keep him alive as long as he hadn't lost too much blood after all.

Meanwhile back in the stands, Urd was waiting for Valdimarr's preliminary treatments to be finished. It was silly to let him wander around until they were at least sure he would survive his injuries. Reconstruction of missing parts would have to come later, though she was annoyed that he was so badly injured in the first place. The best forger around was Ragna Sanjana, also known as Architect Fervor, and she was a woman Urd hated, and quite openly at that. There were other matters to deal with first, however, mourning royal nestlings she could barely keep track of and numerous nobles trying to get her attention. Her guards stopped most of them, but several got lucky. Her custom was to let her guards act as a funnel so she could address everyone at a reasonable pace, and it hasn't failed her yet.

"I suppose I'll be hearing that a lot over the next few months, but I appreciate your sincerity," Urd replied to Sigrid. To Erasmus, she said, "You're too kind, both of you. Unfortunately, this isn't over yet. I still have two sons, and though one has earned the title of emperor, they'll want the other's blood. I don't see much prosperity for Corvus with Valdimarr's attention pushed toward Steinn. Perhaps I'm bias because I brought both of them into this world, but a feud between those two won't do us any good in the long term."

The other noble that had managed to get close stood by listening for a moment. The empress' opinion on the Steinn matter was interesting to say the least; not surprising but still interesting.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"I agree that Weyland is our best option at the moment," Veronika concurred. Weyland couldn't stop the Organization from assaulting his own estate though...how is he going to protect Raquel's relatives? she thought to herself, but figured such thoughts were better left unsaid.

Hail to the Emperor

Sigrid looked back casually before turning back to Urd, the medics seemed to be handling matters and she doubted Valdimarr wouldn't be able to pull himself together soon. "I doubt that Steinn will pose much of a problem. If he chose to avoid this ceremony so that he could hide behind humans instead, then he is undoubtedly both a weakling and a coward and Lord Valdimarr shall crush him with ease," Sigrid said confidently.

"I do fear for the safety of the captives Lord Steinn has taken though, especially poor little Siv Finnian. Humans can be so barbaric, as we all know," Erasmus said, frowning.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Unless taking Lilith's piece means both she and Griffon are suddenly without their vasili powers or are completely inferior to one person wielding even a portion of the emblem there might not be anything to worry about," Gar shrugged. "Then again I don't think any of us fully know so whatever." He shrugged again. "The best defense would be making sure they're never found in the first place. Far less putting anyone in danger that way. And if Weyland doesn't come through... well anyone else have any surprise allies waiting in the wings?" Gar's eyebrow popped up when he realized something though. "Huh, wouldn't Weyland's people technically be in danger regardless since you're kinda allied with him?"

[Mercakete]

Gabbie thought they should tell people about the fortress whether they ran into Wrathites or not. Norbert frowned at that. Personally, I'd rather avoid the military altogether until this all calms down at least... Never really liked them much. There wasn't much reason to stay in the air when Gabbie and Connor landed at where they were all apparently congregating, though. So, Norbert and Rizen landed among the others who'd just fled. It struck him just then just how many people they had with them. Not just that, but even simply how many mounts they all had. Merz, there's a lot of us... We're like some organized strike force by now. It's obvious, too... A giant wagon and all these horses... Even a couple wyverns! Not even normal ones! How are our enemies not able to track us...?

That thought left a grimace on Norbert's face. He wasn't entirely sure how long they were going to remain there, so he opted to keep in the saddle. As he walked Rizen around, Norbert noticed a man in a white cloak healing one of their group members. He didn't recognize him, but since he was healing them, he figured that somehow Raquel had managed to hire yet another person for their ever-expanding cluster of sellswords.

"She just can't say 'no', can she?" he sighed. He didn't even want to deal with this guy right now, so he carried on as normal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was odd for Gytha to be so consistently demoralized. First th' ship, then ev'ryone bein' so impersonal t' their own shipmates, n' now... No, this was probabla th' problem th' whole time. I'm just so different from 'em. I want t' be helpful... I'm...just not capable o' it, it seems...

It was then that Gytha felt something. Turning over onto her other side, the mariner beheld a single, blue eye looking at her. Maw had made her way back into the Dauntless after it'd stopped and was presently wanting to use Gytha's pillow as a place to lie down on. She was also worried that her primary protector might be ill. That wouldn't do.

It was her tail that Gytha had felt a moment ago and now, she couldn't help but smile at the feline. "Ahoy, Maw. Ye probabla don't like it here much, do ye? 'R d' ye even mind? Sure are a lot less rats in th' Dauntless n' on ana other ship we've been on."

Maw just blinked -- or rather winked, since she only had one eye -- slowly. "Heharr, aye, yer a hardy sort, aren't ye?" she quietly chuckled. Then, she heaved a sigh, simply admiring the cat's silver and black fur. Maybe...th' best way t' help Raquel...is t' not be around... Argh, I don't want t' quit over one incident, though. I'll just ask 'er later. Still don't want t' get up...

Confound it, the human still wasn't getting up. That spot looked comfy.

[roymbrog]

So they were just waiting up, and it wasn’t that something had happened out here. “That was a good idea,” Valter assessed. Raquel seemed to have shared it, as the Dauntless was slowing to a stop as it neared them. In regards to his fight with Colin, “I’m fine for now.”

“Liar,” Synthia muttered, crossing her arms. He was favoring his right side, and with the bloodstains on his left it was pretty obvious to her why.

Ignoring the mage for the moment, Valter turned to look at the horse Sinbad had pointed out. He had completely forgotten about the mare, and was a little annoyed with himself. The least he could have done was lead it out of the fortress. Though, he could take it for her now if she was going to continue riding with the other horseman. “You riding with him or me? I’m taking your horse, regardless.”

Synthia felt rather guilty about leaving Myra behind, even if she had been unconscious. The worst part was that she probably wouldn’t have realized it for at least another hour or two. Well at least the horse was intelligent, she thought… The mage was not opposed to the idea of riding with someone else though, especially since she still felt rather dizzy. For now, that idea was probably best. Under usual circumstances she would have just gone ahead and rode with Valter, but switching horses meant moving and that didn’t sound particularly fun right now. Not to mention if he was still sore it wouldn’t help much to have to hold her up if she went unconscious again. “I think I’ll stay here, since Sinbad doesn’t mind,” she replied, then to the aforementioned, “Thanks, but you don’t have to take me that far out of your way. If I don’t pass out in the next hour I should be good to ride my own horse, since she’s alright…”

---

Volga had stopped next to the wagon once she’d caught up, and lay down, planning to stay that way until they started moving again. She had already traveled a lot that day, in addition to the fighting, and was tired.

Meanwhile, Katrina was stirring, or not really stirring but spouting nonsensical nonsense. “Don’t… eat that wall… it’s made of frogs… zzZZ”

[Eail]

Well, things were currently interesting at the moment, Zach could tell from his perch on the Dauntless. Invisible woman, suddenly appearing man, and Kit's lingering presence. So much stuff happening, where to even begin, well at the very least Marella seemed to be doing better after the man in white healed her leg. She didn't appear to exactly be at one hundred percent quite yet though.

Hopping down to the ground he walked to the knight, leaning against the wagon like she was. "So, how's the leg feeling now Mar?"

______

Tired..... so tired....

The headache Luka had was vanishing slowly, but the pink haired boy was exhausted from the strain he had put on his body earlier. He needed sleep, he had to have rest or else there was a good chance he'd just collapse off of Rika soon.

When it finally seemed like they had escaped from the fort, and were a reasonable distance away he had his mount touch down. Slowly climbing off of her, noticing the worried look the pegasus seemed to have in her eyes. "I'll be fine Rika...just...tired."

Somewhat drooping from side to side, and looking rather pale, Luka asked "Could... could someone please take care of Rika for me? I think I'm about to pass out..."

[ReformBlade]

"Lunch, a snack, just something, anything really. Or maybe I just need rest." She frowned at his mention of voyages but knew better than to try and bring anything knew up regarding ships for the time being. Still a sore subject in her eyes. Volga's landing did two things to the magician, 1: it prompted Mushirah to notice that people weren't moving forward and came to a legit full stop, and 2: Made her tumble over while trying to hold Katrina up, resulting in Mushira twisting as she fell off with a yelp, landing on her back with Katrina on top. "Well! At least she didn't fall on the ground... I at least did one thing right so far, through my own doing I'll pretend, hahaha." It was a nervous laugh but something she enjoyed all the same. One thing she didn't expect was for the ground to as comfortable as it was, making her not really want to move from her spot. However, the katrina on top of her could make things potentially awkward. "Um... A little help would be greatly appreciated..." she halfheartedly said, trying to shove Katrina off of her while simultaneously trying to enjoy her comfort.

Aneda pulled her head back from the robed guy, a wild mix of surprise, anger, fear and maybe more anger at the realization that she didn't speak her intentions whatsoever, which meant... "Dirty fucking mind reader... Just who are you? Please cut the bullshit and just answer the question."

[Mercakete]

As he casually rode Rizen around, mentally checking to see if anyone was missing -- or at least anyone he knew and/or cared about -- he saw one of their pegasus riders come in for a landing. That's... Yeah, that's the guy with the pink hair. Luke or something. Norbert's brow furrowed with concern as he rode over and got a closer look. He doesn't look too good...

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked as he came to a stop near his fellow male pegasus rider.

Edited May 10, 2013 by Mercakete

[scorri]

Marella quickly smiled at Zach. "Oh, I'm fine. Just testing the knee, making sure it's all ok. How about you? All better?"

[Phoenix]

Dauntless: Exterior

Another thing Raquel hadn't considered; Lilith losing her emblem piece wouldn't affect Griffin in the slightest, or at least it shouldn't. There was still the issue of how either of them would address the situation. Raquel still wanted to charge back in and end this right now, but if Lilith solved this problem for them, she had a feeling she still wouldn't get her emblem piece back. What a ridiculous situation she'd found herself in. She wasn't surprised though. For her, Lilith was always bad news.

And then came yet another thing she hadn't considered. Weyland wasn't technically a friend, but he was definitely an ally, he and his security forces. Maybe that counted as far as Samael was concerned. That made the decision of whether or not to try and involve him easy enough. "I don't know anyone aside from Weyland, at least ..." The guy behind all of this is right back there ... I hate running away and preparing for the worst. The more I think about it, the madder I get.! Why can't we just take him right now?! Urgh ...

[spoiler=Underground Coliseum]"I'm not certain what Steinn will do after this, but he won't be able to oppose the new emperor directly now; the opposition he'll face will be too great ... and few voices will call for Valdimarr to let the matter be ... not that he would. Norn and the Finnian child must still be rescued, whether or not Steinn dies." Smiling sadly, she added, "I would go myself ... for my daughter's sake, however I still have many others to look after. I won't leave that to someone else."

"Don't worry, mother, Norn will escape on her own," one of the little princesses chimed in reassuringly.

Urd shook her head softly at that before explaining, "All it would take to restrain any of us is a strong cage, an intelligent guard, and a magic seal placed safely out of reach. I know that is what they've done to her if she's truly been captured. She won't escape without help from the outside." That caused the child to frown and lower her head. So much for that reassurance. "Valdimarr won't be in any condition to confront Steinn for some time, which means they'll remain prisoners ..." and with that said, she too frowned.

[Snike]

"Well, you've mostly answered your own question. I'm a 'dirty fucking mind reader' who happens to be healing your fellow mercenaries. Speaking of which," the robed man said, as he lifted his staff away from Arietta. "She's healed. Do you or anyone else here know anyone else who needs to be fixed up?"

***

"You're... welcome," Blake said, slightly confused. He then noticed the woman's uniform, and the blood on it. "That's a lot of blood... You wouldn't mind if we brought over a healer, would you, Miss...?"

[Phoenix]

Dauntless: Interior

"I would; don't bother," the woman replied, looking down at the cut. The wound was definitely closed, but not fully healed. She seemed more interested in the damage to her clothing than the blood loss. Of course, that was something she couldn't very well fix on her own.

Now seemed like a good time, Reign figured. She was poking around pretty close to that print. "If you don't mind me asking, what is that? The symbol right there. Does it mean anything or ...?"

She stopped fiddling with the cut and focused on the print in silence for a moment. "I'm not sure if ... you're allowed to know that."

Right, so she was definitely not working alone; he got at least that much from her answer. From the sounds of things, she definitely wasn't in charge, either. "Never mind, then. Do you have a name ...?" At that point he'd be more surprised if she answered than if she didn't, but he hoped she did.

"Ayano," she answered, her gaze meeting his shortly afterward.

Hmm, so her name isn't worth hiding necessarily, but her group's insignia may be. Why have it printed on her clothing then ...? Oh ... well I guess in her case, that's harmless but ...

[Eail]

"I'm pretty okay, can't say the same for my clothes though." The sage strained his head to see the back of his jacket, quite a hole blown in it. "Glad I have a spare."

"You, on the other hand, I'm worried about. That attack from Sardis could have killed you Mar, what the hell were you thinking pushing me out of the way and taking it instead?"

_______

"No...not alright." Luka muttered "Magical strain... shot... exhaustion. I really need to lie down for a while or I'm going to pass out." Looking at the other pegasus riding male he asked "Could you please take care of Rika for a bit?

[scorri]

"Oh, so because it could have killed me, that means I should have let it hit you? You were just as likely as I was to die. I'm not just going to sit there and let something like that hit you. My job was to protect you. I did a bad enough job at that as it was, but I will not just sit by and let you get hit. That's not something I can do."

[Eail]

"So you'd die in my place then? Mar you've got family still, even if you haven't talked to them in a while they're still alive. I don't have a family, hell I barely even know anyone outside of this group there's no chance at all that my life is worth more than yours. If you're determined to protect me fine, but if you die on me I'll never forgive either of us. You're special to me.... I can't lose anyone else.... not again." Zach trailed off.

[Snowy_One]

Outside the Dauntless Robin sat down, resting on the ground as she kept quiet and to herself, not even bothering to look up at others. Depression and worry buzzed through her head, made worse every time she reached back to feel the Dauntless which had just been hit by a laser that had almost killed her. Even as Rook tried to backhand Tia, Robin made no remark or motion beyond simply sitting where she was.

"I'm going to die." she thought to herself as she sat there. "It's getting worse and worse. Ever since that damned blade, my luck has been horrendous. Captured, fighting constantly, far away from home... no friends... enemies everywhere. Today I almost got killed twice in succession, once by a huge laser that probably wasn't even aimed at me. What's going to happen next time? Someone tries to shoot Raquel, misses, and hits a pigeon that lands in my mouth and chokes me to death? I'm going to die out here. All alone."

She curled up, bringing her knees in close to her body. "Everyone hates me. I am going to die and no one will care." A soft whimper came from her, but she kept her mouth shut. This was her problem and no one... no one wanted to deal with her problems at all.

[Mercakete]

That was no good. Luka sounded like he was about ready to collapse. "Yeah, you go ahead and take a rest. How well does your pegasus take other handlers?" Norbert asked. I might need help if she's as mistrusting as Rizen can be. Actually, getting Aneda to help out with this would probably be for the best in general. With Rizen and her pegasus around, Rika might be more comfortable.

[Parrhesia]

Rook half-sauntered, half-ran towards Marella, entangling her in an embrace before she could protest. "I thought you were dead out there," he gasped, breathlessly. "We... I thought you were gone, when the bastard came at you and you just... you saved our lives."

Pulling himself away, he tried to regain some composure and dignity, largely without success. "Anyway, glad to see you're on your feet again. Just what any of us'd expect, eh? Good lass. Now hang about while I discuss a massive raise for both of us, because fuck me for a silver piece if I let 'em send us into that ... that hellhole again on this chicken feed."

[scorri]

"You don't get it. And with that attitude, I'll be surprised if you ever do. I was doing my job. I saved you because if you'd been hit, there was almost no shot at you surviving. I knew that I had the best shot at surviving out of the two of us and so I got you out of the way. And if I die, I die. If I die doing my job, than I've done all I can ask." She paused, and opened her mouth as if to say more when suddenly Rook came out of nowhere and almost knocked her to the ground. The sudden shift of her weight caused her to land hard on her right knee, which resulted in a wince before she composed herself again. Grinning at the other man, she shook her head slightly. "Of course I'm not dead. You know me. Did you seriously doubt me? I'm almost hurt! And of course I saved you. I told you. I'll protect you. I owe you that much. Good luck with the money. Honestly, as long as I have enough to live on, I'm fine. You know that."