Masquerade Part 2: Army of Darkness

[Vestige]

"Not, really lookin' to get my ass kicked, more so do the ass kicking, but we'll see what fate has in store for me today," he said, chuckling to himself. "Guess I'll watch for now, I'll pay you when that other guy is done," he said, turning around and heading for the observation area. Might as well size up the competition. In the arena, he saw a rather gruff man holding an axe, and another man...also holding...an axe. Hey wait, isn't he? He's that Quincy fellow I think. Interesting. Haven't actually paid much attention to him. Guess this'll be a good opportunity for me to see how he fights.

Edited September 28, 2014 by Vestige

[charlie_]

Angus wasn't sure if he was meant to swat the tail away or not. He quickly decided against it, and began to shake Makin's shoulders lightly. "Come on boss, wake up! And try not to crush my leg please, I kind of need that if you want me around!" He joked, although he was getting slightly worried...

[Refa]

Sizing up his opponent, Quincy took out his Tabar and waited for an opening. They glared daggers at each other for several moments before Quincy spotted a moment of hesitation in his opposition. At that very moment, he leaped in for the attack, slashing Tim with his axe. His poor opponent was caught off guard and tried a clumsy counterattack, which Quincy quickly avoided with no effort on his part. Not wanting to drag out the battle any longer, Quincy put all of his weight into his next attack and knocked the hapless Tim unconscious with one finishing strike. That was it? Really? Quincy thought, a little disappointed after all of the hype. Maybe the next rounds will be more challenging.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Refa

[Nanami Touko]

Disturbed

Makin finally opened an eye to see who was disturbing her peaceful slumber, not getting too upset when she realized it was Angus, and getting a bit embarrassed that her tail was dragging his leg. "Stop that," she mumbled to the appendage, waiting for the rest of her body to listen before she sat herself up, lazily sliding her tank top strap back onto her shoulder and yawning. "Why'd you wake me up? I was enjoying that... These cushions are really soft..." The strap fell down again, but she really didn't care; she was just waking up and could definitely not be bothered to fix it. It was still on her so whatever no big deal.

"Did you need somethin', Angus?" she asked, as she yawned again. "I should jus' go back to sleep..."

Sara sighed. At least she was awake. If this Angus couldn't move her, then Sara could try to talk at her, or something.

Decisions, Decisions...

Valha sure got close, didn't she? It felt like yesterday she was pushing him into that river for making jokes, and now she was pressing her head against him. Feels so odd, in the best way. But there sure was a lot to do up town. He was actually surprised; he didn't know about half of all that. "You'd go there and leave me all by myself? How cruel." He laughed, not being serious in the least. "Well, honestly, I wouldn't mind going there, myself... Don't suppose you could come along whilst I get myself touched up? Unless that's dragging you around too much." And then there was food talk. Maybe I wasn't all that subtle. "Really? Fantastic. And here I thought you'd say no. Hah~" That lifted his spirits.

Then Edward hopped up behind them, staring. "So you're sure you're not his pet, or somethin'?" he asked, really curious. Ingverd sighed.

Slow Down

But was she? Wouldn't he like to know. "Huh. Sounds pretty selfless of them. I can kinda admire that." Not that I'd ever work for so cheap, but then again, I guess I wouldn't mind being nice, for a change... Well, that nice. I'm not always mean! I think... Then he said they weren't in a rush, so neither was she. "Alright. We can use our eyes for a bit longer, before I try and magic it up... I guess this place isn't all that bad, when you aren't getting mugged, or getting stared at... Well, I guess we're getting stared at, but I don't mind~"

Fighter Down!

Well, Tim fell over, and some of the crowd promptly clapped, some holding back their applause. It was just the first round, after all. Then, Tim got back up, and started walking himself away. If Quincy had gotten hit, he'd have felt the healing power of the Arena's sisters, their physic staffs at the ready to help anyone hurt for their next round. And speaking of next round, a swordsman walked out this time, readying his blade to fight against Quincy. He'd seen how quickly Tim had been dealt with, and was pretty ready to do his best to knock this axeman around. Whenever he was ready...

[Refa]

Quincy had dealt with swordsmen in the past, and he knew that the name of the game was speed this time around. None of that waiting around bullshit from earlier, he swiftly charged at the swordsman with all of his might...and just barely whiffed it. Before Quincy could step out of the way on time, James slashed at him with his sword. It was a glancing blow, but nonetheless effective at causing its intended effect, namely slowing Quincy down. Now this is more like it, he thought as before attacking again. His next blow was a solid hit, and even James' token retaliation wasn't enough to stop Quincy from dealing the finishing blow magnificently. Wham bam thank you ma'am, next round please.

[Oersted]

"Yeah, just about everyone treats them with respect and I don't think any of them have had anything other than sickness and age take them out. The best way to make it down here is to be a doctor honestly." All Lanos could do now was wait for Kadin to show up or for Vriska to use her magic to find the ghost. I mind though. Being eyed up here, where I grew up, feels so weird...

[Nanami Touko]

And Down They Go...

James fell, albeit slower than Tim, and after being healed once again, he picked himself up and walked off. A man in a chair, seated higher up than the rest of the crowd began to smile, as even the ones who weren't clapping started to do so, even quietly. The next man walked out, heavily armored, wielding a large lance. Perhaps he'd be able to test Quincy!

Medicine

"Maybe I should try to meet one, then. I could probably learn a thing about healing, other than the magic I've read. What about you, Maja? Want to learn some natural healing methods to go along with your staff?" Everyone really was staring at her. It felt pretty great. She rubbed her head up against Lanos' arm, watching a few of the people watching turn their heads or hide away. Wow, is this really that odd? These poor, poor people~

[Sandalphon]

"thanks buddy, you'll be doin' me a solid one." Vesta smiled as she fished some gold out of her wallet. This would be expensive and she would probably be broke after this, but she heard that there was a gambling parlour and an arena in town that she could make some dinero at. Still, it would be rather surreal being on the opposite side of the gambling operations, she reckoned.

Suddenly, she heard the other centaur address her. She turned around to face him, taking note that he was clearly not a fellow ponytaur. figured.

"Yeah, that would be the place," she replied, "I kinda got drunk and ended up join' a band of roving mercenaries on some crazy suicide mission to that scary monster-filled castle in the middle of the frozen wastes. Overall, not the worst mission I've ever drunkenly accepted, all things considered. Might be a good time, ya know."

[riariadne]

"What do you need me there for when you're gettin' healed? I'd just be sittin' there 'n watchin' with no idea about what's goin' on. Wouldn't really make for a very fun time, know what I'm sayin'? I'd just rather relax a bit on my own." Valha smirked knowingly a bit after. "Besides, I'm sure you wanna see me lookin' at my best for later on, don't you?"

Her smile vanished from her face when Edward asked about being a pet again. "Hey, I told you I'm not, knock it off! We're just close friends, that's all. Not everythin' is as simple as pets or whatever, got it?"

[charlie_]

He smiled apologetically. "Sorry for waking you and all boss, but wouldn't it be better for you to rest up in your room?" He glanced back towards Sara briefly. "Sara said that there might be some other guests soon, and they would be kind of confused as to why you're sleeping on the couch. It's not impossible that another big group like ours appears unannounced, you know?" And wouldn't it be more comfortable, anyway?" He just hoped she wouldn't just brush him off, or else getting her to move would be nearly impossible.

[Refa]

Quincy grinned at the sight of his next foe; lance wielders he was more than a match for. Taking the first strike, he slashed at Eric's arm. While it did make contact, Eric had leaped back far enough that it was not a significant blow. Using the increased range of his lance, Eric stabbed Quincy in the chest. Quincy grunted in pain. Thank the gods that this arena has healers, he thought to himself. Bearing the pain, he lunged again at Eric, with the blow this time making more of an effect (or perhaps it just seemed that way due to prior injuries). Eric desperately tried to counter, but even that didn't stop Quincy from delivering his finishing blow, an attack that would have been able to take out a fully healthy Eric in one hit. That was harder than I thought. Wonder who's next, Quincy thought as he was being healed.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Refa

[Nanami Touko]

Awakeness

Makin hissed and glared at Sara for a moment, before sighing and picking her armor up, making sure he strap stayed on her shoulder, this time. "Fine, fine... I've got something I need to go do, was just trying to get some sleep in before I went to do it." She started fixing the leather back over her clothes, and closed her eyes while she did. "I'll sleep in the room later, and I'll damn well need it, after what I go do. What about you, Angus? What's on your day planner?" she asked, cracking an eye at him. "In case you're curious, I'm off to go meet with the council, or at least as close as I can get. Need to speak to Cedric about that little sheet we found, and see if we can take on the job. Gotta make the money, and no one'll have more in Felson than a councilman."

Sara simply shrunk behind the counter again, sighing as if she was about to faint. Mercenaries never do change, I suppose... "Makin, you're too scary. Go do your things! I almost fainted, there!"

Makin chuckled. But then she thought... "You can come along, Angus, if you're bored. Could use the muscle in case something goes wrong. You're fairly intimidating."

Off to The Healer's

Ingverd gave Edward a small stare, obviously unnerving the boy. "Sorry! Yer just all close'n the like! Never seen that between a harpy an'... Not a harpy, other'n the nobles, alright? 'N they don't really treat 'em better'n pets, so... Sorry..." He fidgeted awkwardly, wondering what to say.

Ingverd almost laughed, simply sighing with a smile. "Don't worry too much about it, then, Edward. I just like Valha because she's Valha. Wouldn't matter if she had claws or hands. All the same to me." Though the feathers sure are nice... He pet her head, and kissed her forehead, before standing himself up. "Alright, you win. But you're telling me you can look even better? I'll look forward to that. You know the city, so feel free to choose the place, would you? I'll go get myself looked at, and see you later." He waved, and started to walk off. He was elated, at the moment.

Edward looked incredibly awkward. "Real sorry, miss Valha... I won't say it again."

The Rock

Eric put up a good fight, but he couldn't manage to best Quincy. The man sitting up above the crowd smiled, finally. He snapped his fingers, and the crowd stopped their clapping. Quincy got to feel the healing of the arena sisters this time, as the reason for finger snapping stepped into the ring. A man, covered in armor from head to toe, looking much like a centurion, approached. He held a massive shield, and wielded a club that looked far too large for anyone to use. If Quincy could overcome this, surely, he could overcome anything...

Edited September 29, 2014 by I have opinions

[Refa]

Quincy took a look at Havel before the fight and realized that this one was going to be tougher than any of the previous ones. Composing himself, he readied his axe and struck as soon as the round begin. His opposition was an armor knight, so ideally he'd be able to use his speed against him. The attack was a glancing blow, but before he could follow up on it Havel attacked. Quincy dodged out of the way and retaliated with two attacks of his own. However by doing so, he had left himself open to an attack, which Havel gladly delivered. The force of the blow left Quincy stunned for a moment; he'd never been hit by such a powerful attack before. Luckily, adrenaline was on his side and he used that to get his head back in the game. He lept forwards and slammed his axe against Havel's armor, slamming it in and repaying the damage that he'd just taken in kind. Before Havel could respond, Quincy knocked him unconscious with another blow to his helmet. Don't stop me know, Quincy thought as Havel left the arena.

[Oersted]

"I could probably take you to one if you really want to, they're not hard to find." Lanos watched as people started to turn their heads away from him and Vriska, wishing he could do the same. They're the lucky ones. It was getting harder and harder the ignore the girl attached to his arm now that he couldn't focus solely on finding Kadin. He wasn't going to tell her to let go because, other than drawing awkward attention to them, she wasn't really hurting anyone. Except maybe Maja, perhaps it was the reason she was being so quiet.

[algae]

That was... Strange. Good, but strange. Eye opening as the experience was, Sonia started to feel (slightly) guilty about sneaking in, though not enough to move from her spot. Not yet, anyway.

[riariadne]

Valha flinched a bit at Ingverd's kiss, caught off-guard by his directness. "I'll meet you at the inn later, okay? Hope you're feelin' all better soon, Ingverd!". She smiled at Edwards's awkward apology, ruffling his hair. "It's alright. Don't get yourself worked up too much about it, yeah? When you're always in one place, you don't get to see a lot of stuff out there sometimes, so it's just a new experience for you. I'm gonna be headin' off now, too, I think, but it was nice meetin' you, yeah? Don't get yourself in too much trouble if you can avoid it, okay?"

Valha stood herself up, and after regaining her bearings a little, took off and headed for the Upper Quarter once more. Along her way, she spotted what seemed to be a few of her companions on the ground, not far from the entrance. "Hey you three!" she shouted from above. "Don't be gettin' yourself in too much trouble, yeah?" she teased, then headed off towards the Upper Quarter proper.

A few minutes of poking around found Valha discovering the spa. She opened the door to the fancy-looking trapezoid building, looking around a bit hesitantly. Not having been to a spa before, she felt a bit out of place and was unsure how to proceed.

[Bluedoom]

" Monster-filled castle, huh? That's definitely a funny way to signup for a suicide mission but... tell me, what might be your commander's name? They must be pretty headstrong..." Ferdinand replied as his gut told him she was probably going to be his newest comrade. Ah, such a young one, signing up for her death sentence. 'Tis a sad story indeed.

[MRDRHAWK]

Kendeall decided that he was just a bit too bored to go without doing something at the moment. Having overheard something about a bare-knuckle arena, he decided to make his way over there to test his luck. After all, he could use the money.

[Sandalphon]

"Her name... it was mi- Makin Tiarn I think." Vesta replied, scratching her head. She recognised the facial expression that decorated his face anywhere.

It was the same facial expression Mama Clay wore when Vesta was shuffled over to her unexpectedly 15 years ago after she was caught stuffing stolen raw potatoes into her mouth.

It was the look at this poor little doomed thing standing in front of me, why this poor lil' critter should probably be dead by now face. Vesta was struck with the sudden urge to slap that stupid look right off his big ol' face, probably underestimating her because she was wee. The nerve!

Still, she abstained from indulging in this desire because of the creeping sensation that he was possibly involved with her current employer in some capacity. She did tell her about "mercenary looking people", afterall. Either way, it would probably be wise to try to get along with this guy.

"The name's Vesta. Strange name, I know. Who might ya be, sir?"

[Vestige]

Ophelia decided that staring at the guards was boring, so she meandered off to some far away place where the grass was greener, and the food was plentiful. Basically, she killed a deer and ate it. Because she was hungry. Let us all have a moment of silence for the family of deer who have lost a family member. And so, the cycle of nature continues to turn. Join us again next time on Animal Planet.

[Nanami Touko]

Because I'm Happy

Ingverd's walk back through the slums was entirely different from his entry to the city. He walked jauntily, almost a spring in his step, as he tried to hold himself back from whistling to himself. She said yes, "she said yes!" he vocalized, unable to keep his thoughts to himself. "Haha, this is fantastic~ I can't remember the last time I went serious for someone... I can't believe I waited so long to try doing so again! But I'm so glad I did... Hah~" He laughed to himself again, as some familiar faces came into view. "Hello, Lanos, Vriska, Maja~ Wonderful day, isn't it?" He smiled wide, and slowed his pace, if they had anything to say to him as he went by.

Elated

The man sitting up tall stood, and walked over to his tailing, as Havel was bested. His smile was ear to ear. He clapped along with the crowd, as the next fighter was sent out. This time, it was a mage. He spun up a wind spell, and then let it fall, as a taunt of sorts towards Quincy. The half-elf in question would feel healing magic flow into him again, as the match began. This would be a tough one...

Musical Theater

The next performance that came on was a bit... Different. A small group of men came onto stage, and began to sing, "♪God I dreamed there was an angel, who could hear me through the wall, as I cried out like in latin, 'this is so not life at all', help me out, out of this nightmare, then I heard her silver call. She said, 'just give it time, kid, I come to one and all,' she said...♪" It was a... Peculiar tune. Not unenjoyable, but of questionable subject matter.

Fight Like Gentlemen

The arena for fisty fightings was a lot less decorated than the weapons one. It was in a similarly constructed building, triangle roof, pillars and all. But there were no torches, or grand audiences. Inside, as Ken would find, there was a small counter, and a wide open space where two men were testing their metal, fighting against each other. A rather decorated man, wearing a suit and twirling a fine mustache waved Kendeall over. "Good sir. I assume you have come to our establishment to show your skill at pugilism. Shall I allow you into a few matches? The betting is one hundred gold."

Stress Relief

Valha was quickly waved over by the staff at the main desk. They were surprised to see a harpy, especially one so well dressed, especially on her own. But no matter! If she could pay, her gold was as good as anyone else's. "Welcome! Welcome~ My name is Susan. How can I help you, today? Shall we let you exfoliate yourself in some mud? Give you a massage? Allow you use of our jacuzzis? Work on your nails? Please, let me know, and I shall direct you towards your Relaxation Destination." Susan was definitely up on her customer service game!

And lo, did the child of that deer cry into the wild, as its mother was brutally murdered by a ravaging dragon! Such terror and fright! One day, it would have its revenge...!

Edited September 29, 2014 by I have opinions

[riariadne]

Valha was a bit overwhelmed by the available options, not really anticipating there to be as many choices available as there were. I don't even know what exfoliate means... She looked down at her hands for a minute, examining her nails and thinking for a bit. "Hmmm... one of the massages sounds pretty appealin'. How much will that be?"

Edited September 29, 2014 by Reinfleche

[Oersted]

Lanos was glad Valha hadn't decided to land, or recognized him for that matter. He still hadn't really calmed down at all, it was just that Kadin hunting and ignoring whatever the Hel Vriska was doing were really good distractions, and he wasn't ready to apologize. But it seemed he wouldn't have to as shortly afterwords Ingverd showed up happier than Lanos had ever seen him, on his way out of the slums no less. Lanos felt extremely confused and once again had nothing to say, this time out of politeness. He really didn't want to tell Ingverd that he wasn't having the best of days when the elf was so jubilant. That and after what he'd said back in Ward about not being bothered by returning Felson made him want to say it even less.

[charlie_]

"As of right now? I don't really know. I'm mostly done with my shopping, so I'm not sure what to do next. Maybe the arena..." When Makin asked if he wanted to come along, he thought for a second, before realizing that he didn't really have anything better to do. "Sure. I'll come along with you." He paused for a second. "Armed or unarmed? My best bow is getting fixed up right now, but I still have this thing I guess." He gestured towards the Short Bow, hoping that he wouldn't regret his trade with Ferdinand. There was always his spear, he supposed, but he didn't feel particularly confident in that.

[Xinnidy]

Maja had kept some silences as they entered the slums again. Despite her willingness to find Kadin, it was still a daunting sight. "Hum... If you can help, I'd be pretty grateful, Vriska." She only really had half her attention to their conversation, so responses were a bit delayed and triggered if her name was brought up. "Natural healing? Maybe. My parents wanted me to become a nun, so I'd probably receive tutoring on that, if I stayed home. Healing magic was always something they wanted me to learn first, though." Maja took a glance at the still-attached couple as the conversation snapped her out of her thoughts. They're pretty close, huh. Like I thought... "I'm... I guess now I wish I could've followed my tutoring more. There are things I can't heal well, like Ingverd's wound." She sighed.

And speak of the devil, Ingverd showed up not long after! "Oh, hello!" Despite having many things on her mind at that moment, Maja still brought herself to greet him with her usual upbeat tone. It was a fairly automatic act for her. "Well.. it's been a day! I don't know if everything that's happened was so wonderful, though..." She was a bit surprised Ingverd was so happy considering the theft this morning.