Fire Emblem: Curse of the Goddess [IC/PG-16/Not Accepting]

[Asriel Dreemurr]

"Oh. Sorry Link!" Edrick exclaimed as he noticed how close he'd come to skewering the Galtean soldier. Not that it was hard to notice, given the resounding "gong!" the shield had made when he struck it. He really needed to work on the whole accuracy thing now that he thought of it, what with the half-stunned thief being able to dodge out of the way.

 

"Ha! Too slow!" This thief was really becoming an annoyance. "That's what you get...fo' messin' with the great pumpkin, wait no. I mean Linus."  Edrick would have laughed at that assertion, were it not for the sudden sensation of a sharp blade parting the muscle on the underside of his right arm. Well, that would be a problem. Still, he could worry about how bad he was bleeding or not once the fight was over. For now, his opponent had gotten right into the perfect place for him to make sure the thief wouldn't be moving while the others struck him.

 

"Too slow, huh?" Edrick mocked as he removed his right hand from the haft of his spear, and grabbed firmly onto Linus' arm just as the thief was turning his head to shout something at Penelope. Once he'd grabbed hold of his quarry, he yanked back with all his might to pull the lighter man into him. In the same motion, he threw his body forward above the waist and made to smash his forehead into the bridge of Linus' nose. After all, he might as well make use of the extra hardness and mass that the armored headband he was wearing provided.

[Alaina]

Things were going for Alois as about as well as he expected. When he swung at the thief, the foe proved to be quite the nimble man. As such, his axe had sailed past the man, Alois realized something very late into his swing. He had put far too much force into his swing, and had been a bit clumsy on it to begin with. As such, when the axe connected with nothing but air, Alois had continued to follow through only to then realize that his axe was making its way towards the silent library guard's neck. Upon noticing this Alois muttered a quick, "oh f***," before trying to pull back on his swing as best he could. Managing to not decapitate his ally, Alois stumbled back a bit from the recoil of it, and then let out a quick breath in relief. However, getting his head back in the fight, what Alois thought going in here was quickly recognized. 

 

Alois's style of fighting wasn't the most accurate, nor was it all that fast. And going up against a man who was both nimble and used a lightweight and slender weapon like his sword, well it was just a recipe for disaster for the boy. However, the thief before him didn't really seem like he was going to be the biggest issue at the moment, as he seemed to clutch his now bleeding face and toppled over in pain. It seemed that the blast of wind that Pene had done did a number on the man. With the man in pain, it seemed to be up to him to bring the thief down now, swinging his axe blade at the man in order to put him out of his misery. Of course, if the man was still able to react properly, Alois was most likely to miss him, though even if this hit failed, he figured the petite princess would be ready to follow up and take him down with another of her wind magic things. 

 

[spoiler=Tldr]

Alois attacked thief D. 

 

 

[King K. Azo]

Asura stared at the thief he had stabbed. Was it worth killing these people? Was this going to fulfill he thirst for battle? He was just killing desperate people, not a warrior. He craved for a real battle... Like the monster he was. He pulled his sword out of the body, the blood glistening in the sunlight.

 

"Cat be more careful. Link, Asura, keep focused on the leader." Asura nodded, his grip tightening as he turned to face Farm Boy battling Linus, who apparently a great pumpkin. Farm Boy did land a pretty good headbutt, something to be proud of. If only they could save that moment and replay it over and over.

 

Asura turned to the leader after Edrick's headbutt, attempting to swing his sword into his side. At this rate, he would probably be hurt very badly, but not dead. Hopefully. He wasn't sure if he cared at the moment. He felt like a bully picking on people weaker than himself. He didn't like that feeling.

 

[spoiler=To make a short story even shorter]He attacked the leader.

 

[JessicaMuddy]

 

 

Sure, Tari wasn't the brightest, and sure, her recklessness got her stabbing at a trained thief with an arrow, but she knew when she was in trouble. Before escaping that trouble though, she had to quickly bend her body this way and that to avoid being gutted.

 

"Cat, guard the archer, quick. Else she'll be flanked." She followed immediately, and even took a blow for the now-useless girl, almost stumbling backwards into her.

"Look at that, Tari. A woman following orders without fear, and even taking a blow for some mercenary she just picked up. We don't even know each others names!"

"Tari, don't leave yourself open." The archer didn't need to be asked twice. As much as she loved to ignore the fact, Tari knew the center of a battlefield was no place for an archer, weapon or no. She glanced down at her sheathed bow, then surveyed the area around her, noticing a gap between Cat and the thief she was fighting, and the wall parallel to them.

 

Tarizo scurried along the gap, and prepared to escape the mess of the fight, but glanced at the face of the girl who saved her as she was passing. The face wasn't one that enjoyed the thrill of the battle, nor was it one that looked particularly encouraging. The girl was dead serious, fighting hand to hand combat with a ruffian that could cut her open any minute.

 

Tari scrunched up her face, then yelled at the thief attacking her female ally. "Hey mate, I'm not letting you shank any of us! Take this!" And with that Tari charged the man, swing one foot backwards, then forwards at an incredible speed, right for the family jewels.

 

 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Tari almost follows Penelope's orders, then decides to instead go for a groin kick on Thief C (from the left).

 

 

[Sethera]

Gunther moved further into the alley, noticing the thief had turned the corner and to the right, out of his view.

 

Meanwhile, Edrick's headbutt had done the trick. Linus was already disoriented, and that latest attack caused him to blink and see stars. Which left him wide open for both Penelope and Asura's attack. While the wind spell had been aimed for his sword hand, Edrick's maneuver caused it to hit his side instead...the same side that Asura aimed at. The combination of the two attacks ended up being too much for the leader, and he toppled over, almost cut in twain.

 

Edrick would notice a small blue vial fall from the leader's pouch. An elixir, it was known as a miracle drug that could bring one back from the brink of death. Because of its value, it cost more than a common man could make in a year, so only nobility could usually afford them. The number of people who could make them were also scarce, as they required special ingredients and a high amount of skill in potion-making. Looking at Linus, one would realize he didn't seem the noble sort, and must have obtained this vial through some other way, as his profession indicated. There looked to be enough elixir in the vial for one mouthful.

 

The other thieves froze at the fall of their leader, faces paling. The one next to Alois didn't seem to notice it however, but his worries were immediately cut short by one swing of the fighter's axe. That left only two: the one that had attempted to attack Tarizo and the one Catriona was fighting. Both of them seemed to have lost their nerve.

 

The one next to Catriona turned to retreat. However, he was stopped by Tarizo's kick, causing him to double over in pain. Instead of taking advantage of that moment, Catriona watched him solemnly, wary for a sudden trick. And she was right to be wary, as at the same time he rose, he maneuvered his knife up and toward her throat, barely stopped by her sword. Instead of holding that position, the thief crouched down, grabbed his second knife, and ran up toward the city hall, heading for the alley.

 

Meanwhile, the other thief started to run the other way. However, he found his path barred by a young lady on a horse, a newcomer attracted by the noise. Angrily, he swiped at her with his knife, edging to the side in an attempt to get past.

 

At this moment a trio of thieves who would look familiar to Gunther as the ones who had retreated earlier rushed out of the northern alley, bows ready. One shot at Tarizo, grazing her in the leg, another shot at Link, knocking the hat off his head, and the third shot at Alois, landing an arrow in his side. They paused when they noticed Linus' status, but continued fighting regardless.

 

[spoiler=OOC]

-Gunther moves right, and tracks where the thief retreated.

-Edrick headbutts Linus.

-Penelope's wind attacks hits Linus in the side instead of the sword arm.

-Asura's attack does the same, and this combination is what kills the leader.

-Alois kills Thief D.

-Catriona Waits.

-Thief C attacks Catriona after getting kicked in the groin, and then retreated.

-Thief A finds his path blocked by a newcomer...

-Three reinforcement archers appear.

-Archer A attacks Tarizo, hitting her in the leg.

-Archer B attacks Link but misses, knocking his hat off instead.

-Archer C attacks Alois and hits him in the side.

 

Note: I forgot there are some sprites that are more than 30 pixels high so the newcomer (I wonder who it is hmm) is a bit tall for this map but let's just say her horse is what is making her so.

 

 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

 

 

Penelope froze as she saw what happened to the leader. She knew that her wind was dangerous, and that its cutting power was its major advantage over other magics. But this? This was just horrifying. Especially given she hadn't even expected to land a blow there.

She backed away, bumping into the wall behind her. She slid down to a sitting position and stared at her hands.

 

Gunther, upon seeing Penelope's state, started towards her. But then the new enemies appeared and forced him to pay attention to them. Archers weren't the most defensive of foe but they could easily turn a victory into a defeat with a single well placed shot. He knew it would be too much to ask Penelope to give orders so he had to make a decision on his own. There was little point in guarding this alley with the reinforcements here now.

Taking a deep breath, Gunther surged forward, taking position next to Alois, putting him right next to two of the archers. He thrust forward at the one who had attacked Link, with a shout that was more to fight back his nerves than anything.

He saw that Alois had been injured. What would Penelope do...think like Penelope, think like Penelope... "Alois if you're hurt, that woman over there, she seems to have a staff, and these thieves don't seem to be on her side, perhaps she could help?" Even he was surprised by the, relative, commanding tone in his voice.

He knew it might leave Penelope open but if anyone tried to attack her, he was close enough to protect the girl. Especially if Link closed the gap...

[Alaina]

With the man paying absolutely no attention to him, Alois's axe had found its mark swift and true, burying itself in the body of the thief and managing to slay the thief. Dislodging the weapon from the man's body, Alois looked over to see that everything else down the alley was going alright, only to then turn his attention to the new array of thieves that had appeared before him. The instant Alois had seen them, though, it had already been too late. The thieves were proficient with bows and made that skill known, as Alois felt an arrow lodge into his side, sending an immediate wave of pain through him. Gritting his teeth, and letting out a sharp grunt due to the pain, the young fighter felt a surge of rage through him as he yanked the arrow out from its place. Gripping his axe tighter, he was ready to pay the archer back twice fold, when suddenly his sight on the foe was obstructed by some much larger and much more metal than he. 

 

Almost about to barrel past the man, the, very surprising, decisive tone coming from the flower faced knight had stopped Alois from doing so. Instead, snapping back to his senses, he let out an annoyed "tsk," before looking to the girl he was mentioning in question. "Fine," his voice still clearly annoyed before finishing with, "but teach 'em a lance is sharper than an arrow, will ya." Getting his axe ready for the thief near this new supposed healer, Alois first called out to the bigger princess. "Snow White, cover for me." With that, he rushed downward towards the thief and struck at the man with his axe blade. 

 

[spoiler=Tldr]

Alois attacked Bandit A with his iron axe. Should be under where Cat currently is. 

 

 

[Asriel Dreemurr]

As it turns out, headbutting the leader was a good decision. Between leaving him well and truly stunned and pulling him closer, he'd brought the man right in the perfect place for Penelope and Asura to leave him almost as a corpse in multiple pieces. Raising his spear, sticky with the blood of the man he'd skewered, into the air he gave a triumphant cry before something caught his eye. That small blue vial rolling out of Linus' pouch was snatched up in his right hand and momentarily examined to confirm it as what he thought it was. Nodding his head, he slipped the elixir into his ever present backpack where he could keep it safe.

 

After that, a cursory look around told him that the fight was going reasonably well. Of course seeing Penelope collapse against the side of a building was concerning. As was seeing both their new Archer and Alois take arrows in them. That was something he would have to handle. Well, apart from dealing with the thief who tried to just run past him...and stop as they found a woman mounted on her horse. Edrick couldn't just leave him be, even with Alois rushing in, and so before he set himself on a charge for one of the archers he reached out and delivered a fierce kick to the thief's leg. Hopefully that would make sure he didn't move too much for Alois' coming attack.

 

"...but teach 'em a lance is sharper than an arrow, will ya." The farmer laughed as he heard the man's request, and flashed him a grin as they passed each other by on their respective charges. The one that had put an arrow in the axeman's side was not exactly in easy reach, with both another archer and the armored hulk of Gunther in the way, so Edrick instead elected to punish the one that had crippled their archer.

 

"Inera, I offer you this one!" He shouted as he let his momentum carry him forward and thrust his spear roughly towards the middle of the reinforcing archer's body. If he hit, he didn't think that his target would survive. If he missed...well he wasn't just stopping so he might bowl into the man anyways.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

“Ran out of money already…? Dang, I really should’ve planned my finance better.

 

My my, I really did spent a lot the last few nights, huh?”

 

A blue-haired girl looked at the content of a pouch she was carrying with a disappointed expression on her face. Repeatedly having her hand exploring the opening to see if she still had any coins left there, the girl ended up being disappointed again and again before she managed to reassure herself that she was pretty much had been thrown into the abyss of poverty right now. The girl sighed. It would not be the first time that she ended up with barely anything, and while she was quite sure that she could survive without doing anything too drastic, the blue-haired girl of course missed all the luxury that she used to indulge herself with.

 

Of course, the easiest way to get money aside from selling her emergency reserve gem would be to orchestrate another scam, but that would require her to actually find someone that would be an easy target. And…quite annoying to admit but so far during her time in this place, she had failed to find anyone matching that description. Of course, she also heard about the news of a certain merry band of travelers hailing from Galtea, led by the kingdom’s two princesses at that. She considered whether she should try doing anything about that rumor, but she later decided to ignore it for now. She had no lead to get to them anyway, better just think about them more if she could actually find a way to confirm that rumor.

 

Leaving the inn after she gave her best smile to the innkeeper, the blue-haired girl went towards the stable where her horse stayed during the night. The white stallion was clearly had been given care throughout the time it was there, though it looked like it was ready for another adventure. Seeing her horse doing well, the girl’s smile widened, and she grabbed her pocket to get a few sugar cubes as a treat for her partner.

 

“Miss, where are you going now?”

 

“Shut up, it’s none of your business.”

 

Beat.

 

“Well uh, I mean, I guess I’ll just go to wherever the winds take me. Yeah, that’s definitely where I’m going next.”

 

Flashing him a smile as she hurriedly left the stable without paying any attention to the caretaker’s reaction to her, the blue haired girl decided that she should venture the town for one last time. In her mind, her intent was to look around for any opportunities to get easy money she could pinpoint before leaving the place for good and continuing her way to Pontus. Going there was always a backup pla of hers. As much as she could not give a damn to the worship of Inera, she always considered to join a church there for a while when she had absolutely no way to sustain her carefree lifestyle anymore. And hey, she could even learn more about magic over there, so that’s something to look forward to.

 

Deep in her thought as she ventured the streets on her horse, some noises startled her enough to pay more attention to the environment. It was that of a ruckus, and the girl swore she could hear the sound of metal clanging. If there’s a fight breaking out…then maybe she could get some money from healing the victors! With that in her mind, she rushed towards a nearby alleyway as she sought out the source of the ruckus-

 

And it seemed that her luck made it so that the source of the trouble came to her instead. A thief, she could smell them from a mile away, was apparently trying to run away from the fighting happening on the stairs before her, and she was in his way. Of course, this rustled his jimmies. The thief feebly attempted to attack her horse with a knife, but the girl steered the horse away a bit so that his swing only made a light cut to the horse’s leg, nothing she couldn’t fix later. She quickly repositioned herself to continue blocking his exit afterwards.

 

It seemed like the group that was fighting had noticed that thief, and went in to attack while the thief were occupied with her. The young man with an axe that didn’t look like the usual axemen came swooping in first as soon as he noticed the thief, swinging his axe towards the thief. On the other hand, the plebeian with the spear that were really close to the spear instead decided to attack a faraway archer. Though, the girl swore she could hear him saying some praise to Inera.

 

Perhaps she could use that as a way to gain this group’s favor? Her flair for the dramatic ignited, she pulled her horse’s girdle and made its front legs took off from the ground.

 

“Evildoer, your time is up! In the name of our Mother Inera…” The hooves went down hard on the thief before her. Whether it hits or not is another matter, but the girl was more concerned on making a good first impression first.

 

“I, Ciela Celestinia shall smite you!”

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Ciela came, notices the thief, manages to mostly dodge the thief’s attack, and had her horse attempt to stomp the thief after Alois attacks.

 

 

 

---

[JessicaMuddy]

 

 

When three more people enter the fray, Tari frowned. But when she saw they were archers... her smile lit up immediately.

 

As she began to move towards one of the bow wielders, one fire an arrow at her, but being able to see the shot coming from several meters away, she moved to the side, letting it only graze her leg. She shook off the pain as she continued to move, deciding to deal with treating it later. As she got closer to the opposing archer, she extended her arms, and as she was face to face with the girl, she took hold of the bow. She clenched the bow with white knuckles, and continued to run in an attempt to tear the weapon out of the girl's hands.

 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Tarizo grabs Archer A's Bow and continues to run into the square above, hoping to tear it out of the archer's hands.

[King K. Azo]

Asura sighed to himself as he looked over his handiwork. Just another face that fell to his blade. He looked over to Penelope, who seemed to be... Taking it badly. With all her attitude, it was hard to remember she was actually very young, with no battle experience. He might have felt bad... If he hadn't been killing since he was very young.

Looking up, he saw that a new woman had entered the battle. Was she friend? Foe? He wasn't too sure... But it wasn't his place to determine that. However, these three new archers were enemies for sure. One shooting off Link's hat proved that point. He gripped his sword and started to run, staying low to the ground. His sword scrapped across the ground, causing sparks to fly.

He only hoped they didn't shoot his legs as he ran.

[Hakima]

---

---

Link had been sure that he could handle this fight. He had been wrong. His instincts had carried him into the fight, following Penelope’s orders wordlessly, but he had hesitated at the last possible instance. Instead of running Linus, the leader of band of thieves, through with his sword, he brought his shield up and smashed it into the back of his head. It was effective, drawing the gang leader’s ire away from Edrick long enough for the boy to recover, but Link knew that if something went wrong it would be on his shoulders. He had wasted the opportunity to it all quickly.

 

Everything became much more chaotic after that. Penelope ordered him to focus on boxing Linus in, and so he did just that, but in the process he let a thief slip by him that promptly stuck a knife in his back. It made quick work of his tunic, but his chainmail held and turned the blade. Link winced, and in the moment it took him to steel himself and focus on Linus again, the thief had moved and Edrick was charging him with spear leveled. He barely had time to bring up his shield and brace himself before the lance hit home on the front of the shield, the force of the blow actually pushing Link back a few inches, his heels digging into the stone beneath his feet in an attempt to hold his ground.

 

Winded, and still reeling, the Galtean Soldier had barely recovered from that ordeal before Alois’ axe almost lopped his head off when the fighter’s swing went wide. He seemed as surprised as Link when he managed to avert taking his head, muttering something under his breath, but when Link opened his mouth to assure him that it was fine, a scream cut him off.

 

It was a familiar scream; pained, terrified; the scream of a dying man. Link saw that it was the thief that had struck him a moment before, clutching his split open face and trying in vain to staunch the bleeding. He was young, too young, and Link knew his kind. He probably only lived as a thief because he had nowhere else to go, no family or anyone to turn to.

 

Ithome could be a brutal place to live.

 

He didn’t realize his hand was shaking until he almost dropped his sword. Link willed his grip to tighten, but all he could see was the boy on the ground in front of him. No, don’t happen here. Not now, please, he begged himself, but it was in vain. The sound of the clamor around him faded away until it was a distant ruckus, and all he could hear was that scream, over and over again, coming from his allies and his enemies. The thief on the ground wasn’t there anymore, replaced by a dying Pontic soldier staring whose gaze was locked accusingly onto Link.

 

“. . .” Link tried to force out words, something, to assure himself that this wasn’t real, but his throat had closed in. He couldn’t breath, and he couldn’t do anything but look on at the dying soldier. Finally, he managed to tear away from the sight and shake his head, but when he opened his eyes again, the Pontic soldier had been replaced with a hauntingly familiar face. A woman from the Garou regiment that had been there when Link was a recruit. She’d had a son at home, and she had looked after him because he had reminded her of him. She had died on a patrol, when he wasn’t anywhere near her, he knew that for a fact. . .

 

But when she croaked, “You killed me”, Link believed her. He furiously tried to snap himself out of it, fighting back the tears that burned unshed behind his eyes and the bile at the back of his throat. This wasn’t real.

 

And then, Link walked up to the soldier on the ground. No, that wasn’t possible, he was right here. He couldn’t be over there if he was RIGHT HERE. The Link standing over the soldier raised his sword, and he held it strangely, but the intent was clear.

 

Link fought to get control of himself, to force himself to move, to save her, but he couldn’t move an inch. Without a sound, the sword of the Link standing over the soldier fell...

 

And then Link was back in the streets of Ithome, and Alois was standing over the thief, casually pulling his ax from the body and looking around. He missed Link, or he would have noticed the man frozen, staring at the body, with his arm still trembling and sword hanging dangerously close to the ground. “N-no. . . Why would you. . .” No one was able to hear Link his voice was so quiet, barely a whisper drown out in the battle.

 

Link turned, feeling like the world was moving in slow-motion, in time to see Asura’s sword and Penelope’s magic hit home and almost tear the man in two. Link had seen worse, he knew he had, but it had been a long time and he’d never looked so closely at what a man’s entrails looked like.

 

He was thankfully broken from his state of staring by an arrow nearly killing him, taking his cap off of his head in a lucky break. Link almost wished the arrow had flown true, but he couldn’t afford to dwell now. The fight had escalated in the brief moment he was in his mental lapse, apparently; Penelope was pressed against the wall, looking put out, with a newcomer having entered the fight on a horse.

 

Link forced himself to ignore his rampant emotions, locking them away for the time being. Duty first. The rest of the fight should wrap up quickly. Alois and the newcomer could handle the thief, and she was apparently a healer, so they would be fine. Edrick could handle an archer, and Gunther and Catriona would deal with the two that had shot him and Alois. The only thing left for him to do was make sure the younger of the princesses was okay, both physically and emotionally.

 

Tightening his hold on his sword, and making sure to keep his guard up for stray arrows, he approached Penelope. For a brief moment, he stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Finally, he asked, “Are you okay?”

[Sethera]

Penelope sank to the ground, in a state of shock after her latest attack. Gunther, seeing her state, moved toward her, but changed his mind at the last minute, prioritizing her safety over any comfort he could offer.

 

Lances were heavy weapons, and the ones used by knights more so than most. Because of that, their accuracy was poorer than most other units, and Gunther was no exception. So it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume he would miss. In fact, against a lightly-clad, speedy archer, one could expect him to miss. Except he didn't. His lance struck true, though it lacked the strength to follow through and didn't leave a fatal wound.

 

Afterward, Gunther recommended Alois to the healer. The fighter tsked, but jumped down the stairs to land below Catriona, asking her to cover for him. Nearby, Edrick kicked out at the thief's leg. He missed, but the kick had done its job of distracting the thief enough that Alois' own attack hit home. The axe slashed straight through the man's right arm and took it off near the shoulder. Meanwhile, Edrick's own charge resulted in a miss, but the bullrush did its job and knocked the man down.

 

The newcomer, a blue-haired girl astride a horse, pulled the girdle, causing the horse to rear. As the hooves came down, barely missing the thief, she shouted praises to the goddess, echoing the farm boy. This caused Catriona, who was currently heading to Alois' old spot, to pause and frown. Another Pontic, she thought. Just my luck...

 

Tarizo, meanwhile, shook off the pain in her leg and ran at the opposing archer, avoiding Edrick while grabbing her bow in the process. Distracted by Edrick, the opposing archer didn't keep a tight enough grip on the bow, and it ended up being wrested out of her hands. Turning her head slightly, her eyes widened when she noticed a swordsman rushing straight for her. Though it seemed he wasn't focused on her, and rather her companion archer, the one who had shot at the green-clothed guardsman.

 

Said guardsman was having a tough time of it. During the whole fight, he had been in a state of semi-awareness, his ghostly blue eyes unfocused, pupils dilated. The loss of his cap seemed to awaken him, and he moved toward Penelope, asking after her safety and/or state of mind.

 

Catriona paused in her movement, seeing Link had things in hand. She was no good at comfort, nor would she know what to say. Her first fight, she had slid to the ground and vomited, hadn't she? She had been alone except for the gutted body beside her, but she remembered the meal afterward, one of her friends fed her pint after pint of ale, and later, when she woke up, she had vomited again, but for different reasons. She took a vow to never again take to drink, but broke it soon after her next battle.

 

And then killing became familiar, a pattern she went through over and over again. There was a certain routine to it that comforted her. Or rather, the repetition of it was something she could fall into, like a familiar cloak. A part of her knew that wasn't right, but it was normal. Her normality differed from a civilian's normality, though. And then there was Link, who went the other way. His mind was tattered, ravaged by battle. The other soldiers would make fun of people like him, but on the inside, their hearts were fearful, wondering if they would be the next to snap. But he would still probably be better at this than her, so she would leave this to him. Because she was pretty sure alcohol wouldn't be wise to imbibe at this time.

 

She would run for one of the enemies instead. Glancing at the battlefield, she saw that Edrick and Tarizo seemed to have one in hand and Gunther's foe was on his last legs. There was a fleeing thief, but she paid little attention to him. If he had lost the will to fight, there was no reason to chase after him. No, her target was the last archer, the one who had fired at Alois. Running forward, she found her path blocked by the injured archer, who had chosen to fire at Asura. Blocking the attack with her sword, she retaliated, and watched the man stagger back with a bloody arm.

 

Meanwhile, the third archer, who Catriona had originally targeted, moved next to Tarizo to fire at Asura, but fumbled the shot. On the other side, the thief couldn't move from the pain of having his arm chopped off.

 

[spoiler=OOC]

-Penelope is shocked into inaction.

-Gunther attacks Archer B.

-Alois moves past Catriona, asking her to take his place.

-Edrick kicks Thief A but Thief A sees that so he misses.

-It does distract Thief A enough that Alois manages to hit and chops off his arm.

-Edrick attacks Archer A, misses, but knocks him down.

-Mysterious stranger misses her attack with her horse but her shout does attract attention.

-Tarizo pulls the bow from Archer A and runs past.

-Asura runs at the archers.

-Link Talks to Penelope.

-Thief C continues to run away.

-Archer A is unable to fight because she's on the ground without a bow.

-Archer B moves to fire at Asura but Catriona blocks it and retaliates.

-Archer C moves next to Tarizo and fires at Asura but misses.

-Thief A doesn't do anything because his arm is chopped off.

 

 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

---

 

Gunther hadn't expected his attack to hit. He almost felt proud of himself until he realized that the Archer had only been wounded, and had even moved to attack someone else. With all the armor he was wearing, he was unable to pursue. Luckily Catriona was able to protect Asura in time.

He noticed the thief that was fleeing and shook his head. He looked so young, scared, and he was doing this kind of work. Gunther felt a sudden surge of thankfulness that he was where he ended up and wasn't still stuck in that terrible city. He likely would have ended up dead or like one of these thieves. Granted with how things had been going he wouldn't be surprised if he ended in the grave sooner than later.

 

He was now left with a dilemma. He saw Link go to Penelope, which indicated to him her state was even worse than he had imagined. However there were still several enemies. He couldn't leave either princess on their own, and he couldn't trust the Pontic to be able to help finish this up. Gunther hesitated, unsure what to do, hoping for some indication...

 

"Cats rely strongly on body language to communicate. A cat may rub against an object, lick a person, and purr. Much of a cat's body language is through its tail, ears, head position, and back posture. Cats flick their tails in an oscillating, snake-like motion, or abruptly from side to side, often just before pouncing on an object or animal in what looks like "play" hunting behavior. If spoken to, a cat may flutter its tail in response, which may be the only indication of the interaction, though movement of its ears or head toward the source of the sound may be a better indication of the cat's awareness that a sound was made in their direction.

Facial marking behavior is used to mark their territory as "safe". The cat rubs its cheeks on prominent objects in the preferred territory, depositing a chemical pheromone produced in glands in the cheeks. This is known as a contentment pheromone."

 

Penelope stared at her hands and rattled off random information in her head, focusing on that and only on that. Not even when Link approached and spoke to her did she stir at first.

But then she looked up at him. "Did you know a cat's posture communicates its emotions? Most say it is best to observe cats' natural behavior when they are by themselves, with humans, and with other animals."

She spoke this matter of factly, but there were obvious tears brimming in her eyes and she was struggling to stay in control of her emotions.

Looking up at Link seemed to remind her where they were. She didn't want to think about certain aspects but it was true that they were still in a battlefield. She looked about and realized...no, they weren't. This wasn't a battlefield any longer. He saw her companions going in to attack and her heart began pounding. "S...Stop!" She shouted, stumbling over her words at first. "Fall back, don't fight any longer."

 

Gunther paused upon hearing her voice. Don't fight? That didn't seem right. He wondered if this was a strategy, or it was because of her state of mind. Either way, he couldn't bring it upon himself to refuse. He moved closer to the girl and kept an eye on the archers. Neither lowering, nor raising, his weapon.

[Hakima]

---

---

Staring down at the shellshocked princess, Link—not for the first time—wished that his swordarm could deal with inner demons as effectively as it could physical threats. She reminded him so much of Ilia, the little girl that he had grown up with back on the farm, when life was simpler and his biggest worry was how long he could escape Rusl'’s watchful gaze to ride Epona through the pasture. He felt the same need to protect her as he had Ilia, too, but now the task seemed so much more daunting than it had when he was young. When he had daydreamed in his spare time on lazy afternoons, watching the clouds drift by, of being a hero and beating the bad guy with the stick he had called a “sword”.

Teary-eyed, Penelope looked up at him and recited a strange fact about cats. Link was stunned by the absurdity of such a random thing being on her mind, until two things occurred to him; first, she was saying it was a way to distract and herself, and second; her sister and the namesake of her nickname had a few things in common. Now that he thought about it, the eldest princess did share quite a few traits with felines. Which was rather ironic, as she had once been a member of the famed Wolves of Galtea.

Penelope broke through his ruminations with her shaky call for a ceasefire. Link did a quick mental check, to make sure that her order was sound, and was unsurprised to find he agreed with it. This wasn’t a battlefield, and even with the results so far, they weren’t trying to completely eliminate the enemy (it wasn’t a war). The few thieves left standing were scared, fumbling their shots with shaky grips on their bows, and looked ready to flee. The only thing left was to play damage control.

Still, Link was unsure how to proceed. Penelope still seemed to be in a fragile state of mind, and even though he was still feeling sick himself, his first priority was making sure that furthered damaged her mental state. He looked to Catriona and Gunther, his other superiors, hoping they had some sort of guidance to offer him. Whatever kind of orders he was searching for, he didn’t find them. Deliberately averting his eyes to the mangled corpses, he did his best to put himself in Penelope’s position. Was this the first time she had killed someone? From the way she’d reacted, he would guess so. What had he done the first time he had killed someone?

Talked with a grizzled soldier who told him that, eventually, it would pass. It hadn’t, and so he had sneaked away from the barracks once everyone had gone to bed, careful to avoid those on guard duty, and gone to the stable to cry on Epona’s shoulder for the rest of the night. Something told him that wasn’t an option here, and even if it was, Epona was no longer around to bear the burden of someone crying on her shoulder.

Link steered his mind away from that dangerous territory. What could he tell her? It didn’t get easier to take the life of someone else, at least it hadn’t for him. Maybe he was the exception, and something was wrong with him, because he didn’t see the others struggle like he had, but he didn’t want to tell her something that wasn’t true.

The green-clad soldier looked at Gunther, waiting to catch his attention, then nodded once he had. He hoped it conveyed that he was confident in the princess’s decision, that the fight was over. Guards were close by, and he didn’t imagine it would be hard to get the remaining thieves to surrender. Then, to reiterate, Link soundly put away his sword and shield, and took a step toward Penelope, holding a hand out to help her up. He made sure to angle himself in a way to block her view of Linus’ body, so that she didn’t have to look at it again.

 

It was over.

[Alaina]

Swinging his axe down with a great deal of force, the wounded fighter had managed to cleave off the thief's arm, sending him into a great deal of pain. While the person who he was tasked to see about getting his wound treated had failed their attempt in putting the thief down, he was still in a pretty prime position for the fighter to end it all right there. Readying his axe to bring it down in one final swing, he then heard the shaky voice of the littler princess telling them to stop the fight. Alois looked back and had a bit of a confused and agitated look on his face at the order. The thieves had picked the fight, they had aimed to kill each of them, and they were just fighting back to make sure that they didn't die in the first place. Looking back to see that others were already disengaging, though, Alois then looked back to the man before him. The one armed thief was clearly writhing in pain, and didn't look at all like he was in any position to continue. Was the boy still pissed at the thieves who were fighting them? Yes. Was he still just in the swing of fighting to the death against these people? Probably. Was there any point in killing a man who already couldn't fight back? Probably not.  But Alois clicked his tongue in annoyance as he came to the realization of what was going on here. 

 

Having to think about what he was going to do next meant that his decision was only getting increasingly more weight to it. And the heavier it became, the less appealing the idea of just killing the man became. Which meant that the fight was pretty much over. But just ignoring the man wasn't an option. "I've never heard of a one armed thief before, and I don't think you'll be making legends of that any time soon," Alois said, his voice clearly both condescending yet also serious. "But if you think you're still into this whole thief game thing, then," he bent down, his voice becoming quieter yet more serious. "I suggest you use today as a reminder for thieves who pick fights." Alois wasn't all that threatening in appearance nor demeanor, yet even now, he figured that the man's own state and the things that had gone on here would detract from that. Yet even with going the intimidation route, Alois still felt unsatisfied, and gave a headbutt to the man to further incapacitate him.

 

Rubbing his own forehead from the attack, he stood back up and looked at the woman on the horse. He then realized there was a sharp stinging sensation in his side, remembering that he had been shot there...and it hurt. With flower face's guess, she was likely some kind of healer and Alois wasn't quite caring of any sort of magic that might've been behind it, so long as she was able to get the job done. Addressing her he said, "hey you. You wouldn't happen to be able to close this up here would you?" Alois asked, directing hand towards the wound the arrow had left. 

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Though his charge had failed to drive the tip of his spear home to finish the archer off, he had managed to knock the man to the ground. Better yet, he hadn't even fallen on top of him this time! Before he could move to finish off the archer, though, Tarizo ran by and decidedly got in the way of things. Not that he had reason to be upset with her, given she was snatching the man's bow away. So Edrick gave her a firm nod and turned his attention to the helpless foe before him.

 

"It's not quite so much fun when someone else is about to send you to the Goddess, is it?" He inquired of the man upon the ground, though he did not give him a chance to answer. The fight was still on, and he couldn't afford this man possibly pulling a knife out of his boot and making them regret it. So he stepped forward and brought his booted foot down on the Archer's neck to finish him off. Sure it wasn't necessarily quick, but it wasn't much slower than a chest wound. 

 

Looking up from that grisly business, Edrick saw that the others were in the right place to handle the other archers, but they still had another of the sword-wielding thieves to deal with. Well, that just made it easier for him to decide on his next target. So he once more leveled his iron lance and set to running, deftly stepping past Catriona and hopefully avoiding the ire of the archers around her as he rushed off to catch the thief in the back. He was already envisioning it, running the coward through from behind and putting and end to him before he could bring any more reinforcements to the scene of the fight, when a voice cut through the din of battle and broke his concentration for just a moment.

 

"S..stop! Fall back, don't fight any longer." It was Penelope, apparently having grown tired of the fight, ordering them to put an end to the hostilities. The young Pontic was decidedly not happy with it. After all, the thieves had come down here with the specific intention of killing him in retaliation for how he had embarrassed their boss when he'd tried to steal Penelope's coin purse. Then when his companions had come to aid him, the thieves had only called in reinforcements to kill them as well! They didn't deserve to get to live when they would have taken all of their lives! They deserved whatever fate Inera saw fit to deliver them to when they fell! 

 

Yet, he couldn't make himself kill this one after Penelope had ordered...no, that wasn't an order. After she had pleaded, begged them to stop fighting. So he took his left hand off of his lance, and as he came within reach of the thief he reached out to grab him by the collar of his garment.

 

"You aren't going anywhere." He said in the most threatening voice he could muster, his accent coming thickly to the fore as he planted his feet against the ground and yanked back on the thief's shirt in the hopes of knocking him off his balance and hopefully onto the ground before him. "Be thankful I'm listening to someone more merciful than myself."

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

The girl looked at the downed man before her. Her attempt to stomp him earlier failed, but it was not a big deal. The thief was bleeding heavily from the stump where one of his arms used to be, and surrounded by her and the axeman, his fate was pretty much sealed. The girl could hear about the one of the girls on the distance, perhaps their leader with how she dressed, told the rest to stop the fighting, but for herself, she felt that it was not something that any of them should heed, not like this. A desperate plea like that shouldn't constitute as an order. The girl continued to stare on the thief, and realized what about him that made her feel an especial bitter feeling ever since she arrived here.

 

She could've been that man.

 

The girl thought on the fact that she probably would have ended similarly like him, not that she's too far off from that fate already, had she was a little bit less lucky. To live in that state, and to end like this, that would be unacceptable. That would not be a fate she would ever wish to anyone, but she couldn't really spare any pity for those who already succumbed to it. They had chosen to be the dregs and the trash of society...in a way, just like her right now.

 

"hey you. You wouldn't happen to be able to close this up here would you?" Oh right, this was supposed to be a battle.

 

"Are you just too much in pain to finish him off?" A brief pause. "In that case, I'll go treat your wound Just stay still there."

 

A hint of frustration was there on her voice. It was a wonder that this time she could speak like that without stuttering or having extended pauses, especially after her previous thoughts. But perhaps, the girl chose to ignore the thief and her own current condition again, as always. With little regard to anything else, she moved forward without really being bothered by the fact that her horse might've stepped on the downed thief. Without stepping down from her horse, she examined the arrow wound on the axeman's side, and just as she was going to heal him, she noticed that the one that issued the command to retreat earlier was actually closer than she thought. So, the girl dismissed the axeman for a bit before moving to a position that would make it easier for her to see the group's supposed leader. There was still some distance between her and the leader, but probably she could still hear her voice from here.

 

"You know that these thugs won't really do much good if you let them go, don't you? Thugs to the core, this place'll be better without them.

 

Nevermind your reluctance, are you the leader of this group? I'm a wandering priestess in training, you can say that, and people said it's best for me to get into a group of mercenaries as part of my training.

 

Granted...this group...feels quite too rag-tag to count as a mercenary group, so I assume you're something else entirely."

 

The girl never really minded on whether she was acting or talking rudely. That's just how she was, and she never really felt the need to sugarcoat her words instead of just saying what she had in her mind. If it's insensitive, if it hurt their feeling...well, it's their issue. It happened too much for her to keep saying sorry whenever it happened, but realizing that it's probably best for her interest to stay in her group, she decided to try salvage the situation a bit.

 

"Oh, right. I was going to do this." She turned a bit to look at the axeman again, and after assessing the wound a bit more, raised her staff and channeled her magic towards that wound to heal it.

 

"Might not look that much, but healing's my forte. As long as any of you has any shred of life flowing through your vein, i can fix you up. Not even the most expensive elixir holds a candle to the holy magic on my palms.

 

The name, as I have said before, is Ciela Celestinia. Guess I was a bit blunt earlier, so in that case, I'll offer my service for free this time as an apology.

 

Pleasant to be in your group's presence."

 

---

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Stepped on thief A with her horse as Celia tried to heal Alois, but decided to talk a bit to Penelope in the distance after going to Alois' side square before healing Alois.

 

 

[King K. Azo]

Asura charged at the archer, ready to cut them to ribbons, when Cat went to take care of it. Well, seem he didn't need to kill them. However, a different archer decided to fire, but fumbled the shot. They could be a threat... He turned to them and ran full speed, closing the distance and thrusting his sword at their eye. They would ever be a threat again...

"S...Stop!" The Book Worm Princess suddenly shouted, stumbling over her words at first. "Fall back, don't fight any longer." Asura heard those words and stopped his sword thrust, the tip stopping barely centimeters away from the archer's eye.

"You're lucky she called me off...," he stated as he drew the sword away from the archer's eye and sheathed his sword. "You live another day. Don't waste it," he stated as he turned to head back to the group. It seemed the battle was done, after all.

[Sethera]

 

"S...Stop! Fall back, don't fight any longer." Penelope's voice rang throughout the area.

 

Catriona paused. She noticed the others seemed to have stopped fighting anyway, though Alois and Edrick left parting gifts before they retreated. All right, she thought. Truthfully, there seemed little point in continuing, and she took no enjoyment from the battle.

 

Meanwhile, the newcomer, whose appearance reminded the lord of Malu'kai. Malu'kai who had left their party shortly after arriving in Ithome. Apparently the troubadour had had problems with Edrick, and had considered their part done after saving Catriona in Pontus. Regardless, they were gone, along with Meifing, who had left the group, and seemed to melt into the town. Where that tricky shaman had disappeared to, Catriona couldn't say, but she wished her luck regardless.

 

This second troubadour seemed to have mistaken Penelope as the sole leader of the company, but Catriona didn't care to correct her. No, at the moment, she was watching over the thieves, making sure they wouldn't pull anything. Though one of them was knocked unconscious and the other one was trembling in fear, eyes fixated on Edrick. However, her attention did turn to the girl when she started to cast healing magic.

 

"Might not look that much, but healing's my forte. As long as any of you has any shred of life flowing through your vein, I can fix you up. Not even the most expensive elixir holds a candle to the holy magic on my palms.

 

The name, as I have said before, is Ciela Celestinia. Guess I was a bit blunt earlier, so in that case, I'll offer my service for free this time as an apology.

 

Pleasant to be in your group's presence."

 

Catriona's eyes sharpened. "If you are a healer, may I presume you are from Pontus?" Malu'kai was an exception to the rule, but most of those who knew the healing arts hailed from the snowy northlands. And then she remembered her manners. "Ah, excuse me. I am Catriona." No last name. It wouldn't do to herald her lineage from the streets. She really should think up an alternate name to use when she wanted to go undercover. Something close enough to her actual name she wouldn't think twice about answering to it. Perhaps...Catria? Yes. That should work. Still, it was too late to use it for this situation.

 

However... she took a second glance at this "Ciela" person. That hair...it can't be. The princess had been quite young when she heard of the downfall of House Mirrahel, but she had taken quite an interest in them after hearing about their former power. One of the facts she had remembered learning about was their iconic hair color. A deep, cobalt blue, the color of the sea they lived by. Except the whole family had died out for various reasons or another. So it was impossible for this girl to be a scion of that house, or even a distant relative. If anything, it was just coincidence. No, more likely she came from Pontus, especially given her...abilities.

 

With a soft patter, the archers fled the scene, taking advantage of the group's inaction to head for the alleys. Catriona didn't stop them. There was no point in fighting an opponent who had lost the will to fight back. The lord started to clean her blade with a soft cloth she kept on hand, confident she wouldn't have to use her weapon again anytime soon. As her eyes swept the scene, she noted the townspeople start to approach, which wasn't surprising. After all, their battle hadn't been exactly quiet, and it had been in the main thoroughfare. It would make sense that the citizens would be curious about this. However, the dark looks they wore set her on edge.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

---

Gunther braced himself as the girl rode up to them. She seemed friendly but he couldn't be quite sure. She was a healer, which often meant a connection to the Goddess. Thankfully their previous healer had shown Gunther that it was possible to not worship while still healing, so he wouldn't stop her for now. He was still more concerned about Edrick, who was seeming more and more like a crazed zealot after this battle.

 

"You know that these thugs won't really do much good if you let them go, don't you? Thugs to the core, this place'll be better without them.

Nevermind your reluctance, are you the leader of this group? I'm a wandering priestess in training, you can say that, and people said it's best for me to get into a group of mercenaries as part of my training.

Granted...this group...feels quite too rag-tag to count as a mercenary group, so I assume you're something else entirely."

 

Penelope looked at the girl with a confused expression and Gunther worried she was too out of it to properly respond. She had seemed even more shocked at their allies aggressive and vicious demeanor during this battle. They had stopped attacking, and Penelope was shown to be right in her decision, but they each in some way seemed to be...on the edge of aggression.

 

However the direct manner of this girl seemed to catch Penelope's attention. "Ah. Leader." She paused. Technically she wasn't, but this girl didn't need to know that, right? "We are a mercenary group of sorts, if you'd like to travel with, as long as you're pulling your own weight, feel free....My name is Penelope, and this is Gunther. If you need anything and I am not around, ask him, he'll be happy to help."
Gunther smiled weakly, used to being volunteered for this sort of thing, and the girl went off to help Alois. "Listen, Penelope, are...Penelope?" Gunther looked to the girl in time to see her sway in place.

"I'm alright. Just a little...faint." Penelope clutched at her chest. Her heart was beating irregularly, and it felt as though bile was rising in her throat. Gunther followed her gaze to notice that she was once more taking in the battle field. The severed arm, the mutilated body of the boss, even the expressions of her companions.
Gunther frowned and offered his arm, which Penelope gingerly took, leaning against his side instinctively.

 

The knight looked around at the townsfolk who had started to gather, and kept Penelope by his side as he moved towards the others in their group, trying to gesture towards them to gather up near the pair. Penelope's proximity seeming to give him the confidence to do a simple, non-verbal, command. He didn't like the thought of them being separate at this time.

[Hakima]

---

---

Link frowned at the horse-mounted newcomer. She reminded him of the spoiled noblemen back at the border, who had just graduated from the Knight Academy and looked down at the other soldiers—the commonfolk, farmers and the like—as if they were nothing, just because of their blood. He had seen a lot of people like that, before he joined the Garou Regiment, and real war more often than not didn’t suit them.

 

His eyes narrowed when she began to chastise them for letting the remaining thieves live. Who is she to decide who lives and dies? Link thought, though he said nothing. Everyone deserves a second chance. He had spoken with some of the street rats he had taken in, not long after he had joined the city guard. None of them had told him they loved what they were doing, and they had all echoed the same reasoning when he asked why: to survive.

 

He bit his lip and looked away from the noble girl (or at least well-off girl). It wasn’t his place to judge someone else for their decisions, even if he thought they were despicable. She introduced herself as Ciela after that. Link couldn’t stifle the fearful awe on his face when she healed Alois’ wound by waving her staff, the cut knitting back together in an instant. So that was the power of the infamous Goddess’ magic… He had never seen it in person, only heard of it in ghost stories around the campfire. Did that mean she was Pontic?

 

Regardless, Link watched Princess Penelope stumble and manage to catch herself at the last second. Gunther, close to her, frowned and offered her his arm. A crowd of onlookers were gathering around them, citizens from what Link could tell. It would be bad for them if they stuck around long, and Gunther seemed to agree, directing them with a look to group and leave.

 

Link unpinned his cap from the wall, throwing the arrow down, and returned it to the top of his head. He had been a nuisance in the fight, so he could at least be useful here. He walked close enough to Catriona that he could say, in a quiet voice under his breath, “I’ll distract the crowd. You all should get going. This won’t go over well with the rest of the guard.”

 

Then, without waiting for a response, he walked away from her and began to gather his confidence. He was sure he was going to need it for what came next.

 

Ignoring the bodies as best as he could, and trying to act like he didn’t hear the whispering of the crowd picking up as each second passed, Link cleared his throat. “This is official city business,” he said in the gruffest voice that he could manage, trying to sound like the Guard Captain did when ordering them. “Move along. More guards will be arriving soon, and I suggest you make sure you aren’t here when they do.”

 

Spirits, he wanted to throw up, and now his throat hurt from overuse and forcibly deepening his voice.

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"If you are a healer, may I presume you are from Pontus?"

 

Oh, there's the one that looked more like the leader. Granted, with the similarity between the girl of earlier, and the older one that just addressed her now, it seemed that they're related. Sisters, perhaps? Wait...wouldn't it...

 

"You can say that. A woman on a mission, that's what I am."

 

"Ah, excuse me. I am Catriona."

 

Catriona. The blue-haired girl pondered the name for a bit. The name felt pretty familiar, it was as if she had heard it years ago. Or at least, a name with a similar sounding structure. Catria? Sister of Palla? Didn't seem to stray far from that, or maybe that name was really Catriona, hard to recall. Of course, it would've been years since she heard that name, if ever, so she probably wouldn't be able to pinpoint just who the silver-haired-

 

Oh.

 

Ciela's grip on her staff tensed as she felt Catriona looked at her weirdly. Their group seemed to not be in good relation to anything-Pontic, but the way she looked at the blue-haired girl made her worry. The rumor she heard on the streets was right. Silver hair, sister, the kind of commanding aura of a royalty, the name, it's hard to mistake. Ciela never actually met any of them beforehand, but despite of everything, she did get some education on the Noble Families, and what was left out from her studies was filled out by her own effort in information gathering. The pieces seemed to fit each other well to give the picture of the two princesses of Galtea standing before her.

 

Of course, her main concern right now was whether Catriona would be able to figure out the blue-haired girl's actual identity right out of the bat? Of course, officially...well, officially the girl named Ciela never existed. The dirty little secret kept out from the world, there's no way that she'd be recognized as a part of her family aside from her hair, and she could just say that the cold weather of the snowy mountains of Pontus gave her the blue hair, or some other excuses. Being known as a Pontic and treated as a nuisance would probably be better than connecting herself to those people again. The silence continued for a bit with the two sides didn't exchange any words as they continued to analyze stare at the other side. However, a voice broke the awkwardness.

 

"Ah. Leader." The younger of the silver-haired girl started to speak. Ciela smiled to herself as she realized that she sounded pretty similar to herself. "We are a mercenary group of sorts, if you'd like to travel with, as long as you're pulling your own weight, feel free....My name is Penelope, and this is Gunther. If you need anything and I am not around, ask him, he'll be happy to help."

 

The girl...Penelope, was definitely still shaken from the battle earlier. Too bad Ciela wasn't really someone that could heal mental wounds, but that aside, the knight Gunther comforted the girl as CIela continued to look at them from atop of Remy. Penelope's words which all but officially accepted Ciela into the group was what she needed. Traveling with them, either with how they'd put a distance between her and them due to Ciela's perceived...Pontic-ness, or just due to the fact that the two most influential members of the group being probably part of the royal family, it didn't seem to be a prospect that'd make the trip ahead looked too enjoyable, but they did look relatively well-off despite having what looked like some plebeians on their ranks. So, as long as Ciela could ensure living to the next day by being in this group, it'd be fine.

 

Of course, there was the immediate issue of the commoners that watched the entire battle unfolded from the sidelines, and now showed themselves more overtly as the main clash had ended with the remaining thieves fleeing. Would they call the city's guards? That could be an issue. The green swordsman decided to go ahead and try dealing with the situation though, and while whether it worked or not was not something that could be seen just yet, it's something.

 

“This is official city business, Move along. More guards will be arriving soon, and I suggest you make sure you aren’t here when they do.”

 

In the meantime, Ciela was still staying on her current position, and decided to address Penelope again.

 

"Anyone else you think needs to be healed?

 

Don't want someone suddenly falling unconscious while we're inevitably running away from this city, no?"

 

---

[Alaina]

After Alois had dealt with his thief and asked for healing, the expression across his face became one of confusion and annoyance as the girl on the horse seemed to be incredibly frustrated with him in not brutalizing the defenseless unconscious man. While it was true, that he was hurt, he was willing to show her that the pain wasn't stopping him from doing anything, and more than willing to demonstrate by knocking her straight off her, high horse. Though he didn't, simply awaiting the girl to heal him as she had said when she...walked away from him. 

 

Alois wasn't sure who this blue haired girl that came right the funk out of nowhere from was, but she was already someone that Alois wasn't sure he wanted to have to deal with during the coming days. Which given the talk she was having with the little princess, it seemed inevitable that he would have to. As the girl looked back to him, with some sort of expression of realization as she realized that she had something else to do. That being, that Alois still had an arrow wound and she had completely forgotten about this. Of course, his feeling towards the girl only worsened, even though in the end she did whatever it was that let her use a staff as some magic mending tool and fixed his body up. While the boy had a smile on his face directed towards the girl, it was not at all genuine as his voice was less thankful and more flat as he said, "thanks for the help."

 

With that all taken care of, the boy looked towards the rest of the group to see that both sides had entirely disengaged and the fight that had escalated incredibly rapidly died down just as quickly. Looking around to see that the ground was a sight he was sure none of them wanted to keep seeing, it was clear that the people of the city were taking notice of it as well and wanted to see what was going on here. Alois did not want to stick around, and thankfully their new found guard ally decided to help them in any way he could to let them leave the scene, the blue haired healer was less than helpful in making the situation less worse for them. As she asked if any of them needed any more healing, before implicating them further as murderers or something, Alois said, "yeah, I think your head might need a bit of it." With that, he walked closer to the knight and princess, giving a hand gesture directed away from them, as if to say that he was certainly fine with going and leaving the scene. 

[King K. Azo]

​Asura kept an eye on the newcomer. Yes, she seemed reasonable enough, but... something felt... ​off ​about her. Maybe it was the way she spoke? He wasn't sure... he wasn't even sure if he was a good judge of character. He couldn't seem to judge his own right now. He shook his head as he noticed Gunther was trying to motion for them. Oh yeah, Penelope didn't take to the battle to well... it reminded him of his first time. It didn't matter how much training he had...

 

The blood glistening off the blade, the way the life drained out of his opponent's eyes... he had made him sick to. He remembered being unable to sleep for days, the nightmare repeating over and over every night. That had been over 13 years ago. Now, he was so jaded to it. He could cut down an army and not batter an eye.

​Maybe this was why he lost sight of the stars... maybe this was why others saw him as a monster to be kept under control. And the more he thought about it objectively, the more he was being to believe that maybe they were right...