Fire Emblem: Soul of Heaven [IC/PG-16]

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Rona felt pain. So much pain. Her body was screaming at her and she had to focus just to stay on top of Cormag. The faithful Wyvern had even kept her from harm from one of the skeletons. Her breathing was getting heavier...however, oddly, she felt more focused than before.

 

She was almost calm. Perhaps she was delirious. The stress, the pain, the high amounts of fighting she had done. She pushed her body to its limits. It could be catching up to her...but it didn't matter.

 

There was only one thing to do now. Either she finished this foe or they would likely kill her. There wasn't anything simpler than knowing your next attack determined whether you lived or died.

 

Taking a deep breath and clutching her axe she moved forward, swinging her axe down, aiming towards the skeleton's skull. She would shatter it and destroy this fiend once and for all...or she would fall here.

[spoiler=OOC]Rona attacks the boss skeleton. If it dies she'd target Skeleton A as her counter target.

 

[Blake]

Leon had felled both of the bandits that were near him, giving Ada the briefest moment of relief. As she let her breath out, she saw Sand Shark appear and clash with Leon, questioning him. She took a quick swig of her vulnerary, preparing, because she couldn't get a clean shot. But as she swallowed, one in particular stood out.

 

"But what's a man like you doing with someone like them?" 

 

"I am not Jouran!" She yelled, fire in her eyes. As she did, she started to press forward, only to notice Leon forced back against her, barely standing. Looking over his shoulder, she saw the lance in his stomach, clenching her teeth. With as much force as possible, she tried to pull Leon back as she stepped back, pulling him off of the lance.

 

"Get behind me, Leon! You're in no condition to protest or play the hero!" She growled, her tome open and brimming with dark magic, casting aside her tattered robes, "Just get out and bring the others for backup! I can hold the choke point!"

 

[spoiler=OOC]Ada moved down 2 spaces, using her Vulnerary once more.

 

Counterattack: Sand Shark the Chosen

 

 

[Yui]

---

"funk! Ow! Mother of magic, what is wrong with you? I wasn't even doing anything. You think I'm going to kill you or something? Oh look at me I'm the big scary thief with a puny little dagger, I'll take on the girl shooting darkness from her finger tips no problem. Oh, Shepherds this hurts."

 

"O-Oh, well, I'm just kind of used to everything I run into in a bandit-infested area trying to kill me and my co-workers. My bad." This was awkward. Cassia had made it awkward. Maybe she was a bit too hasty in throwing her knives at this thief.

 

"Listen, I just wanted the funking chest. I can like, get what's out of there for you if you just let me live and leave here."

 

"I can open it myself," Cassia insisted, waving off the suggestion with her hand. If another thief had trusted Cassia to open the chest for them, she'd definitely take off with the loot first chance she had. She wasn't about to trust a fellow thief in a way that she wouldn't expect one to trust her. "You should probably just go, but thanks for the offer hun. There should be a healer out in front of this fort if you can wait for him and his group to finish their fight." Then Cassia looked at the knives now stuck in her fellow thief's side. "And um... you can keep those knives, I guess. For your trouble. Or something. Sorry again about that. I'll buy you a drink if we happen to meet up again!"

 

And with that, Cassia started toward the chest. Who knew what kinds of loot would wait for her in a bandit fortress? They had a knack for taking whatever they could, so really, it could have been anything! And it's all just a matter of popping this lock open. Let's get down to business.

---

[spoiler=OOC]Cassia moved three spaces to the left and got to work on locktouching that chest. Or however that works. I don't play Fire Emblem.

 

[King K. Azo]

Raynor took a good look at the three skeletons surrounding the suicidal wyvern rider, and made a quick assessment. As an Axe wielder, her weapon was suited to take on the lance, but the one with a sword put her in the most danger. With his lance's reach, he was better off killing (or was it re-killing?) that thing off. 

With a battle cry, he rushed to the walking bonepile with a sword, thrusting his lance at its head, hoping to penetrate its skull and make it drop for good. Then they could get inside and wreck the place until they found his friend. He only hoped they weren't too late.

 

[spoiler=OOC]He moved to the right of Skeleton C and attacked. Assuming the bones will attack Rona, so just focusing on attack

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"...Seriously, Cassia?"

 

Leon and Ada were probably busy being shanked by bandits now, and Cassia scurried off to take treasures? Couldn't that happen at the end of the battle or something? Aleithe sighed as he decided to approach the thief that Cassia left behind. The thief was definitely injured, though why didn't Cassia finish them off? Oh right, the thief begged for their life. Should he finish him off? That might be for the best. But...he's not attacking anyone now. But he might attack Cassia or himself or Ada or Leon if left unchecked. This was harder than expected.

 

"Alright. I will let you live. Drop your weapons here, and I will let you get out of this place. Any signs of hostility towards any of us will end up with your head rolling on the floor."

 

Did that sound intimidating enough? Aleithe was unsure, but if he didn't have to kill an already defeated foe, that would be for the best. While he waited for the thief's response, he raised his voice enough so that Cassia might hear him.

 

"Cassia! Loot the treasures later, and go cover for Leon and Ada! They'll still be here once we actually defeat the bandits anyway!"

 

---

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Moved one space on top of the thief, asked the thief to drop their weapons. Designated the thief as counterattack target..

 

 

 

---

[Alaina]

Though Leon was bleeding heavily, and the opponent before him was entirely unscratched, the mercenary was not deterred in the slightest. Gritting his teeth, he seemed ready to continue fighting, though, he had heard Ada's voice behind call out for him to retreat. Looking back, he saw that the shaman had retreated further into the hallway, and looking forward, he could see that there were more bandits coming towards them. Though he didn't want to back down from his opponent, he knew that he stood no chance in a three on one. Taking a quick hop backwards, Leon created some distance between him and the lancer, before backing up a bit more, applying the vulnerary onto his wound. As it began to close up, and he felt revitalized to fight once more, he had stopped in front of Ada once again. As the leader of the Falcons, he wasn't about to let the others get harmed in place of himself. Besides, he felt like he couldn't hide behind someone else here no matter how they asked. 

 

Tapping his lance to the ground, the bandit leader waved his hand to the others as he said, "don't interrupt me here." Walking over to Leon, Sand Shark brought his lance up, and seemed to momentarily focus. Looking like he was about to do the same attack as before, the bandit quickly lunged much faster than before, stabbing his spear into Leon's side. Coughing up more blood, Leon's hand grip tightened as he thrust forward with his own sword, stabbing into the bandit leader's side. As the two pulled back their weapon, Sand Shark grimaced in pain as he held his lance back up, still on guard.

 

The thief, meanwhile, still seemed incredibly annoyed and in pain, as he pulled the knives out of his side. "N-no problem Red. Thanks for the gift. Really." Looking over to the woman with the sword he said, "whoa, no need to get so hasty there." Dropping his dagger and, newly acquired, knives to the ground, the man held his hands up in surrender. Meanwhile, Cassia would find her skills in lock picking to hold true for this chest as well. Managing to pop the lock open, Cassia would be able to lift the chest open and find a bottle that appeared to be water that gave off a small violet glow. On the front of the bottle was merely the word, "Purity." Cassia would be able to recognize this strange liquid as pure water.

 

---

 

The skeleton leader was ready to strike again, lifting up its axe to counter as the wyvern riding girl went to dive towards it. Looking to strike the girl and fell her, it was not as fast as the girl, as she had managed to strike first. Bringing her axe down on its helm, the blade buried its way past the metal and through the skull itself. As Rona's axe continue to move through the skeletons body, the bones eventually scattered apart under the weight of the attack.

 

Meanwhile the skeleton with the sword next to Rona took its opportunity to swing the blade at her, striking her injured self with its gnarled sword, only for a lance to then drive itself through its skull. While the skeleton was not finished, it certainly seemed to be barely able to hold itself up.

 

The skeleton with the lance, meanwhile, jolted forward as an arrow struck it. Turning around, the skeleton walked towards its new foe, thrusting its lance at the small archer girl. Without much grace, the lance had still managed to find its mark, striking into the girls torso and dealing a significant amount of damage to her. 

 

[spoiler=OOC]
[spoiler=Round 7]

Leon uses a Vulnerary and heals 10. Leon has 12 HP. 

 

Sand Shark attacks Leon for 9 damage. Leon has 3 HP. 

Leon counters for 9 damage. Sand Shark has 16 HP left.

Skeleton C attacks Yue for 9 damage. Yue has 8 HP left. 

Skeleton A attacks Rona for 1 damage. Rona has 4 HP left.

Rona counters Skeleton A and misses.    

 

 
[spoiler=Map]
 
[spoiler=Outside]

[spoiler=Inside]

Orange: Thief
Blue: Lancer
Red: Fighter
Yellow: Mercenary
Gray: Skeleton
 
Black Square: Pillar
Gold Square: Chest 
 
Victory Condition: Defeat Bosses

[spoiler=Fighter Stats]
HP - 20 
Str - 6
Mag - 0
Skl - 5
Spd - 4
Lck - 5
Def - 3
Res - 0
Equipped with Iron Axes

[spoiler=Mercenary]
HP - 19 
Str - 6
Mag - 0
Skl - 7
Spd - 5
Lck - 3
Def - 3
Res - 1
Equipped with Iron Swords

[spoiler=Thief]
HP - 18 
Str - 4
Mag - 0
Skl - 6
Spd - 6
Lck - 6
Def - 1
Res - 3
Equipped with Iron Dagger

[spoiler=Sand Shark the Chosen]
HP - 28 
Str - 8
Mag - 0
Skl - 8
Spd - 6
Lck - 6
Def - 5
Res - 2
Equipped with Slim Lance, Iron Lance, Feather Charm (+1 AS when attacked, +3% Avoid)
Skills: Challenge (+10% to Hit when not adjacent to Ally) 
Foe seems more skilled with weapons than the others.  

 
[spoiler=Skeleton Stats]
 
HP - 18 
Str - 6
Mag - 0
Skl - 3
Spd - 4
Lck - 0
Def - 3
Res - 1
Skeleton A is equipped with a Wight Sword, Skeleton C is Equipped with a Wight Lance

 
Player Stats
Item Stats
Weapon Arts 
Active Combat Log
 
As always ask me if you have any questions or concerns. 

 

[Blake]

Ada watched as Leon ignored her, instead taking a defensive stance right in front of her, now standing on the tattered remains of her robes.

 

"Leon, I said get behind me! Don't be a big damn hero!"

 

As Leon silently ignored her once more, the boss advanced, dueling with Leon. Both landed a blow on each other, though Leon came out worse from the exchange, almost as if he was. Gritting her teeth, Ada returned her Shade tome to her hip, grabbing and opening the Dusk tome. She began to wordlessly chant the incantation to get the spell prepared... But then it changed. Speaking more quickly and angrily, the ancient text she read caused the air around her to grow tense, what remained of her clothes and the tattered robe on the ground began to rise around her, along with rubble from the dilapidated building. Even her hair began to unfurl and rise up, waving in the pocket of air pressure she had created, an angry look in her eyes. Casting her hand over Leon's shoulder, she spoke the last word of the ancient text, shooting a solid ball of darkness at Sand Shark, held in that form by the pressure exerted by her upgraded magic.

 

"Fine, then! If you're going to play the hero, finish him off!"

 

[spoiler=OOC]Ada uses Dusk's Weapon Art, Pressure, on Sand Shark. Designating him for counter attack.

 

[Sethera]

Yue let out a soft scream of pain when the lance ripped into her torso. Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts! Her mind literally could not process anything beyond the immediate and obvious...that it hurt. Spirits. She was never good with pain. Everybody else seemed so much tougher and nothing seemed to faze them. Why was it only she that could never handle it? It was unfair.

 

Gritting her teeth, the archer stepped to the right, setting her bow. I have to make this count, she thought. It's a longshot, but...maybe I can end the fight more quickly then. Fingers flying, grasping onto the string with more pressure than she normally put, she barely noticed the increased pressure on her gloves, the thick material and the calluses on her fingers protection enough to prevent sores. "Spirit of darkness, guide my arrow so that it might find purchase in this unending darkness," she muttered. Taking a breath, she breathed out, letting the missile soar while absorbing the recoil, which was much stronger than what she was used to. Something in her stance must have worsened her wound, as the blood started to gush more thickly.

 

Immediately afterward, the girl sank to the ground, bow almost dropping from numbed fingers. "Ow..." she groaned quietly.

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Yue moves a space to the right and uses Longshot against Skeleton C.

 

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"whoa, no need to get so hasty there."

 

"Stay here then. Do not think that you would be able to stab me in the back and get away easily."

 

Cassia seemed to focus more on the chest now rather than going back immediately, and so Aleithe sighed before turning around, rushing towards the corridor again. Ada and Leon had been considerably pushed back now, and Leon in particular was in a terrible condition, barely helped with the vulnerary he just used.

 

"Leader! Let me handle this. Please find a good position to rest yourself."

 

At the very least, Ada was looking healthier than before. She was still ragged and the wounds seemed to still be there, but she was fine for the most part now. Aleithe was glad at the sight, although it started to remind him of his worries about the outside group. Particularly Rona. Layne was thankfully there, but Aleithe wondered about whether it was a good idea to not keep an eye on her so she didn't get herself killed with her recklessness.

 

"How many enemies are back there, Ada?"

 

---

[Ralsei]

Layne flinched as he heard a cry of pain from nearby, his eyes widening as he quickly turned to Yue. He cursed underneath his breath as he saw the blood that was gushing from their injured archer. He growled a little bit as he gripped onto the staff in his hand tighter, rushing forwards to move next to Rona and Raynor as he hefted his staff up into the air, "This ends here!"

 

The light that began to build up around the tip of his staff burst outwards, before he directed it towards the Skeleton that stood alone. His hand gripped around the Heal Staff as he glanced around, a little mumble escaping him as he held the makeshift weapon tighter. The flash of light rushed towards the undead abomination, hopefully getting the kill on the last remaining foe...

 

Too close. Too close, everyone is falling apart. I have to get to work, I have to get... Yue!

 

His attention turned to their archer, trying to get a quick gauge of how bad her wounds looked, a little groan escaping him as the sight of the blood still gushing forward burned into his mind. He glanced back to Rona, her similarly injured form making him pause as he winced lightly, his hand scratching at his cheek as he took a deep breath. He might not have the time to do heavy repairs, they had to find the other group still, but...

 

"Rona, Yue, both of you stay close, we have to find the other group, and you're both injured still. Rona, try to, uh, not rush ahead, so that we can stick together. We don't know what the inside looks like right now."

 

---

 

[spoiler=OoC]

 

Layne to the square under Raynor and next to Rona, attacked the Skeleton with Disrupt.

 

HP is at 13/17.

 

Heal Staff 1 is at 19 uses remaining.

 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Rona looked back at Yue as she screamed out in pain. "No!" The girl shouted. She wanted to help her, but there were still enemies nearby...She had managed to slay the strongest of the skeletons but she had let one slip away to attack their archer.

Even as Rona watched, though, Yue managed to defeat the foe. Rona was shocked at how strong the girl must be to fight so well after taking such an injury.

And, in her surprise, she didn't even notice how Layne, once more, felled the last skeleton. She was relieved, if ashamed, how the battle came to a close.

 

"Rona, Yue, both of you stay close, we have to find the other group, and you're both injured still. Rona, try to, uh, not rush ahead, so that we can stick together. We don't know what the inside looks like right now."

 

"You're right, Layne." Rona said. "We don't know...but that's why I must go. I can reach them quickly and they could be in grave danger. Yue is more injured than I am, I assure you, tend to her. I'll be right back."

 

She didn't truly believe that but...if something happened to Leon while she was struggling out here it would be her fault for leaving him. She had to know...she had to be sure he was safe.

 

And so she had Cormag fly as fast as he could to the gate. Once there he dismounted, reassuring Cormag even as she stumbled. The doors weren't locked it seemed and so she simply pushed them open and stepped inside...

 

She saw the others, fighting in a nearby hallway. "We finished off the weaklings out there. Need some help cleaning up?" She shouted, sounding a lot more confident than she felt.

[Alaina]

The skeleton continued to move towards Yue, trying to approach her once she began her retreat. However, the girl was quick on the draw, and with skillful use she managed to fire yet another arrow from her bow at the skeleton before it could cover any meaningful distance. The arrow flew true, striking the skeleton in the head, dislodging it from its next and causing the creature to fall to the ground. The other skeleton turned towards to look at both Jourans, seemingly indecisive on which to actually attack. It didn't need to make the choice, however, as a pulse of light flashed from behind the two. As the raw magic struck the creature, it too broke apart, falling to the ground. 

 

If the others so wished, they would be able to enter into the fort. 

---

 

Sand Shark had waited for his opponent to strike back at him yet again, though looking behind him he saw the air start to ripple around the dark mage. Getting ready to avoid it, he was caught off by the speed at which the rippling orb of dark magic flew at him, and was struck dead on by it. Grimacing, the man let out a large scream of pain accompanied with a cracking and snapping noise, as the raw force of the attack caused him to stumble backward and buckle at the knee. Barely able to keep himself up, the once confident man was starting to realize what a terrible situation he was and seemed ready to retreat. Not wanting to give him the chance, Leon stepped forward, blade at the ready. Sand Shark looked at his opponent's weapon, and attempting to parry the blade as it came at him. However, Leon's blade stopped short in a feint, followed up with mercenary leader stepping forward and bashing his shield into Sand Shark's face. While the attack wasn't terribly powerful, Sand Shark had already been on his last legs and the attack was strong enough to drive the man backwards. Falling to the ground, Sand Shark lay there motionless with his eyes ever open.

 

The two bandits behind were shocked at the sight, and looked towards the foes that did it. Seeing the barely standing, bloodied and heavily breathing figure of Leon with the heavily robed, injured yet seemingly still perfectly able to fight, figure of Ada behind him, the bandits merely dropped their weapons and surrendered to the Falcons. While Leon still needed to be sure if the others outside were fine, his body wasn't exactly cooperating at the moment. Yet, he heard a familiar voice resound from the opposite direction he was facing, assuring him there was nothing left to be done here.

 

With the fighting done, Leon looked back towards his two team members who had voiced their concerns in his fighting, saying, "sorry...I...got a bit....carried away..." There were large pauses to try and catch his breath between each of his statements, before he finally dropped his sword onto the ground and fell to his hands and knees, barely able to keep himself up.

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Layne used Pulse and hits the Skeleton twice for 2 damage each. That skeleton is dead. 

Ada used Pressure on Sand Shark for 15 damage. Sand Shark has 1 HP. Ada has 19 HP left. 

Leon used Shove on Sand Shark for 2 damage. Sand Shark is dead. Leon has 1 HP left. 

 

So, the map is completed.

In plain view of Leon and Ada is the still intact Feather Charm earring on Sand Shark. 

 

For now, all you guys have to deal with is what to do with the remaining bandits and tending to yourselves. 

 

The chest on the opposite side of the map is still there, and there is a door to a basement near there. The basement itself contains a bunch of crates, two chests, and a few cells. Most of these cells are empty except for the giant lizard, or Salamander, occupying one of them. 

 

Since the map is over you don't really need to worry about game mechanics now.

 

As always, any feedback, comments, concerns, critiques, etc. are welcome. 

[Blake]

"sorry...I...got a bit....carried away..."

As Leon began to fall, Ada pushed herself forward with what energy she had left, catching him. Weakly pulling him up again, she held him tight, shaking herself.

"You idiot! You almost got yourself killed! If you had just gotten behind me, you wouldn't be knocking on heaven's door right now!"

As Aleithe and Rona approached, they would find the shaman in only undergarments, with her robe in tatters between her position and the hallway. Shoving Leon into Rona's arms, she turned back towards Sand Shark's corpse.

 

"Take him to Layne. I'm going to make sure the other bandits aren't going to give us any trouble..."

 

Moving forward, she prepared her spell once more, before kicking Sand Shark over. Shooting him in the chest once more to be sure, she felt satisfied that he was dead, and the other bandits weren't moving to avenge their boss. Satisfied, Ada turned to leave, only to notice the charm on his ear. She leaned down and removed it, marvelling at how it came out pristine from the fight. Tucking it into her waistband, she began to pick up any pieces of her robes she could, grimacing. It seemed no one had died, so she could think of it as her robes taking the place of someone's life... But it still upset her to see the robes she saved up for, took care of, and prided herself on left in tatters.

[Sethera]

Yue's internal monologue of painpainpain was interrupted by their resident healer, Layne. "Rona, Yue, both of you stay close, we have to find the other group, and you're both injured still. Rona, try to, uh, not rush ahead, so that we can stick together. We don't know what the inside looks like right now."

 

"Oh...okay," she whispered softly, her voice drowned out by Rona's confident voice.

 

"You're right, Layne." Rona said. "We don't know...but that's why I must go. I can reach them quickly and they could be in grave danger. Yue is more injured than I am, I assure you, tend to her. I'll be right back."

 

"U-um..." Yue cringed. "Maybe? I don't know, you should probably check on Rona too--oh she's gone," she trailed off, glancing at Layne, and then realizing she was alone with the loud man and the scary man. "Eep!" she squeaked, then blushed. "I-I...think we should follow?" her uncertainty pitched her voice to a soprano's height on the last word. Shuffling in place for a few seconds, she soon fled after Rona, ignoring the blood seeping from her wound, staining her clothes.

 

When the archer entered the fort, she noticed the pillars holding it up, along with the dead bodies of the bandits sprawled along the ground like fallen arrows. The floor was pitted in places, freshly spilled blood adding splashes of color here and there. Quickly running past the scene of battle, she lifted the edges of her hanfu to prevent it from getting any dirtier than it already was. In the distance stood a figure that started to wobble like a willow withe, before collapsing. Her keen eyes picked out a familiar shade of brown hair atop a face as white as a ghost.

 

"Leader!" the silver-haired girl cried, concern raising her voice to that of a normal person's everyday volume. "Are you...ugh," she crouched over, holding her side, before slowing to a weary hobble. Her steps slowed as she saw the extent of the mercenary's injuries. "Oh no," she moaned. "D-don't worry, Layne should be here soon. I hope." She muttered the last sentence to herself.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

She saw Leon collapse. Nothing else. Not the bandits, nor the other Iron Falcons, the room itself hardly existed in her mind. She only saw that her Commander, the one who saved her, had collapsed and was bleeding from serious wounds.

 

Rona didn't even realize she was moving when she found herself standing above Ada. The girl said...something, which all sounded like buzzing in Rona's ears, and the Jouran found herself with Leon being pushed towards her. "Commander!" She gasped out. "I'm sorry I was so slow! Come on we need to get you healed up."

 

Her first instinct would be to pick him up. However her own injuries made that difficult. Instead she gave him her support and they slowly made their way towards the entrance. "Layne is...right over there, Commander. He'll fix you up." Rona said. Though it was almost more to herself than Leon.

 

Yue was there...but not Layne, not yet. Yue was saying something to Leon but Rona couldn't hear any of it.

 

She just had to...keep going, not fall, not pass out from her injuries, and get him to Layne and then it would be alright...

[Yui]

---

Success! Cassia popped open the lock, then opened up the chest to see her prize. She expected riches and treasure. All things considered, she felt a bit left down, especially given she'd ditched the other Falcons to get it. Just a bottle of pure water. Back in the direction she'd come from, it sounded like the fight was dying down. She heard voices, namely Ada's, then Yue's. If they were speaking, and there wasn't any fighting, that must have meant the Falcons had won.

 

A bit of a shame I wasn't there to see it end myself. Oh well. I'm a thief; not an assassin.

 

Loot in tow, Cassia headed back toward where the rest of the team was. Leon was injured pretty badly, but it didn't seem like he was dead. That was a relief. She was no dear friend of his or anything, but it wouldn't have sat well with Cassia if he'd died because she ran off to get some treasure. She opted to give them some space. Best to let Leon breathe and get better.

---

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"I'm sorry that I weren't much more of an use for you this time, Leader."

 

Aleithe only said those words as Leon was being supported by Rona outside. He was feeling upset that he was unable to prevent his leader from suffering this much wound, but at the same time, he felt glad that Leon showcased himself as a true leader, leading from the frontlines as a leader should be. Everyone was safe and sound. The remaining bandits had surrendered. Their convoy was safe, which meant that Chitose and Reina weren't hurt. Aleithe sighed in relief. In the end, they were victorious without any casualties. Maybe Layne would start up his show to lift up their mood sooner or later, though Aleithe ended up walking alone throughout the now-empty fortress.

 

He was unsure about why, but something about the situation made him upset.

 

---

[Ralsei]

Layne blinked as Rona began to run off, a little gasp escaping him, "W-Wait, you're still injured too, I need you to...!"
 
He groaned a tiny bit as she disappeared into the bandit's lair, his eyes filled with worry, before he turned to Yue, "A-Alright, you're hurt too, so you need to take it easy..." He was about to start tending to her wounds before the injured archer spoke up, causing Layne to pause as he blinked a tiny bit at her...
 
"I-I...think we should follow?"
 
"E-Eh? You're too hurt, you need to wait. I'll go after... Yue!" He let out an exsaperated sigh as she followed after Rona now, his hand gripping hard around his healing staff as he looked over to Raynor, "L-Let's go!"
 
He chased after the archer, a little huff escaping him from the 'exercise' he had been getting over the course of the fight, a little groan escaping him as he stretched, before seeing a few figures starting to walk towards him... 
 
Leon, supported by Rona, with Yue's injured form slumped over not too far away from them. The sight of the three injured people made him gulp before he quickly rushed over to them, before suddenly barking out, "Rona! Yue! You two stay here, do not run off again! I can work on all three of you at the same time, if you run off..." He grumbled a tiny bit, his hand brushing his hair behind his ear as he puffed, "J-Just don't do it! You're giving me a heart attack."
 
With that said, he began to examine Leon's body, a little mumble escaping him as he took a deep breath. He pulled a bag from over his back as he took out a small waterskin,  a cleaning cloth, a little spool of silk thread and a needle... Before taking a deep breath as he started to clean the wounds on Leon, Rona, and Yue's body. It was slow, it was tedious, and it probably stung them as he stitched the wounds together, but...
 
"The good news is, none of you should have any lasting damage, since I was able to get this done quickly, but... You're gonna hurt for a while, and it may scar. Especially on you, Yue, you took a pretty hard hit with that one blow... But you'll all live."
 
He began to pack up his supplies, before pulling out bandages to work onto the others, not letting anyone escape as he mumbled softly, pulling out the Healing staff to being the final few steps, some light clerical work as he sighed, "The stitches should be able to come out in a day or two, since I can accelerate it with magic, but... The rest of the blows were bad. Can you all stand now?"

[King K. Azo]

Raynor didn't say anything as the last of the skeleton monsters disintegrated from everyone's attacks. As Rona charged ahead blindly, he remained quiet. The snow fairy rushed ahead as well, causing Raynor to be silently confused. This group... wasn't very organized, was it? While that normally wouldn't bother him, it seemed that there was no one that Rona respected enough to listen to, so she would continually rush into battle for... glory? The thrill of a fight? No... it just didn't seem right. What was with her?

 

"E-Eh? You're too hurt, you need to wait. I'll go after... Yue!" The healer tried to talk some sense into them, but the two girls just blindly rushed ahead with Rona leading the charge... despite the fact the leader clearly told them that they were to wait for the snow fairy to tell them to go in. This group was more disorganized than he was! 

 

"L-Let's go!" Raynor was snapped out of his thoughts as the healer ran in. 

"Are things always like this?" He asked as he followed. Inside, he saw that the leader was injured, which was sad and stuff, but one quick heal fixed that. "Did you guys find anything while in here?" He asked, cutting to the chase. He needed that info. Hopefully, his friend was still here.

[Alaina]

Though he was heavily injured, Leon was still able to move on his feet with the help of Rona. Walking around, the boy heard some of the others say things to him, though both his vision and hearing was blurred and impaired and he could barely make out what was being said. He wasn't quite aware of his surroundings, and only really moving because something was directing him in that direction, though when Rona had put him down, he merely stopped, lying on the ground barely conscious. As he had lied there, his senses slowly returned to him as a rush of healing slowly passed over him. Opening his eyes back up, he slowly lifted himself up, feeling a pounding headache and soreness across his body, seeing that the wounds that he had sustained  were gone and only holes in his clothing showed any signs that damage was there to being with. 

 

As Layne asked if he could stand, the man slowly brought himself back up onto his feet, clear effort being exerted as evident by the expression on his face. All the same, he managed to stand back up, saying, "thanks Layne. Sorry for giving you so much work, but - " he coughed a bit, before saying, "but I'm good now. Really." Looking over to the others, he then became fully aware that Rona, Yue and Raynor were also here. A look of surprise crossed his face as he said, "oh, right. You're all here." He looked to Rona asking, "you guys managed to fight your way inside here?" 

 

Meanwhile, the other bandits that Ada had been keeping a close eye on simply just looked at each other awkwardly, unsure of what to do from here. Their first instinct was to flee, but as the girl punctuated her position here by blowing open a hole in their now dead leader's chest, they stood there, silent and clearly afraid. The thief, continued to sit in the corner, being entirely boxed in and only more so as more people walked into the building. Raising up a hand, he said, "I know you're all busy being alive and stuff, but uh, can I go now?" Leon looked over to the man, entirely confused as to who he was supposed to be before he said, "hey, I didn't do anything. I didn't even want to be here. Take it from the red head and blonde chick if not from me."

[Blake]

Ada raised a brow as the two bandits seemed to cower in the corner, as if she couldn't see them plain as day. Admittedly, she thought they had fled when she had shot their boss' corpse... But this worked out in her favor.

 

"Hey. You two. Where do you store your loot and prisoners?" She dramatically opened her tome without the incantation, glaring at the pair, "Lead me to it and we'll let you live. Sound fair?

 

"Y-yes, wh-whate'er you say ma'am! Please follow us to the basement!" The first of the two stuttered, motioning for his companion to follow along. When either of them looked back, they would find Ada following along with the same glare, tome open. She knew full well that she couldn't counter them instantly like this, but counted on their superstition to keep them compliant. The shaman took note of the others' voices in the distance, glad to hear Layne's among them. Knowing the others would be alright, she nodded to herself, arriving at the entrance to the basement.

 

"... You two, in first. I trust there are no traps."

 

After a short descent, Ada found herself in a dark room, barely lit by candles. Fresh looking crates, empty cages, and a couple of chests filled the room. She took note of a ring of keys on the wall. She picked them up and examined them, but the second bandit quickly informed her that they were not for the chest, only for the cages. Leading her deeper, the two bandits looked over their shoulders nervously, watching the witch behind them. They led her up to another large cage, with a reptilian creature locked inside of it.

 

"This here lizard is all we got, other than them chests! We were gonna sell 'er, but, uh..." 

 

"... We'll give 'er to you for our lives?"

 

Shooting them another dramatic glare, Ada spoke icily to match.

 

"There are no humans down here?"

 

"Wot? We're not in the business of kidnappin'!" The second bandit angrily quipped, his comrade pulling him back in order to take over.

 

"That's to say uh... the Desert Riders aren't kidnappers. Prisoners are one thing, but even we have some honor, y'know?"

 

Ignoring the two's further comments, Ada stepped forward to the caged creature. Without any sort of fear in her, she reached out, gently rubbing the underside of the lizard's maw, a gentle smile on her face.

 

"A Salamander... Probably about Nils' age. You must be Raynor's friend. Maybe I misjudged the guy."

 

As the lizard responded to her touch, Ada rubbed her a little more, before moving to unlock the cage. With the Salamander freed, she turned to the bandits, barking an order at them, her tome now brimming with darkness.

 

"Go find the tall man who's missing an eye. Tell him his friend is waiting for him in the basement. And send the red headed thief girl down here, too."

 

As the bandits obeyed in fear, Ada turned back to the unnamed beast. She continued to stroke his head and chin, smiling to herself, memories flooding back. 

 

"What a pretty boy you are..."

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"you guys managed to fight your way inside here?"

 

Rona nodded in response. She must have been pretty out of it when Layne healed her because she hadn't realized at first what he was doing. It still felt odd being healed after a pitiful performance. At least Leon had been healed first. That was all she could ask for.

 

"They were no match for our strength!" Rona told Leon. "Even the skeletons who entered the fray later were struck down. Though that is where Yue sustained her injury..."

 

The girl wondered then what she should be doing next. As usual when there wasn't a battle going on she didn't know what to do with herself. At first she considered watching over the surviving bandits but Ada had taken them somewhere. She would follow but...surely the magic user knew what she was doing.

 

She still wasn't sure how to feel about her. Magic wasn't often used by those under her father's command. He considered them weak. However all that Rona had seen from Ada's magic so far was how powerful it was...

 

The Wyvern Rider had decided against following Ada and so she was back at square one about what to do. She looked around at the others and her gaze lingered on Yue. The girl had froze up and when she did finally fight she had gotten injured. Such a thing would be punished were she one of her father's soldiers. But that wasn't up to her, it was up to Leon. But he didn't know what had occurred so should Rona give a report? But what if Yue heard about it and was upset?

 

Rona once more decided on non-action. Though she realized soon she was staring at Yue for longer than necessary and forced herself to look away. The thief in the corner was also none of her concern...so what was she to do? She knew how useless she was outside of fighting. But if she lingered too long perhaps her companions would notice, too...

 

"I shall check on Cormag, he must be lonely out there." She said suddenly and marched out of the building to where her Wyvern, currently sitting and starring at the door, likely trying to tell if she was alright, waited.

[Sethera]

Yue whimpered while she was being healed, staring up at Layne with watery eyes. She tried her best to grit her way through it, to be tough like the others, but...it was hard.

 

"The good news is, none of you should have any lasting damage, since I was able to get this done quickly, but... You're gonna hurt for a while, and it may scar. Especially on you, Yue, you took a pretty hard hit with that one blow... But you'll all live."

 

The archer let out a pathetic mewl at that comment. She wasn't a stranger to scars, and it wasn't as if she was vain about them, but...they usually meant that she got hurt, and as she tried to avoid getting hurt, she hadn't had the opportunity to experience them that often.

 

"The stitches should be able to come out in a day or two, since I can accelerate it with magic, but... The rest of the blows were bad. Can you all stand now?"

 

While Leon stood up at that, Yue remained sitting, not feeling up to doing anything at the moment. This whole battle was one big disaster for her. Leon had given her some responsibility, and instead of giving off a good showing, she had just frozen up. She was useless.

 

Their leader seemed to notice them at that point. "Oh, right. You're all here." He looked to Rona asking, "you guys managed to fight your way inside here?"

 

"They were no match for our strength!" she replied. "Even the skeletons who entered the fray later were struck down. Though that is where Yue sustained her injury..."

 

The archer winced at that, wondering if it were possible to sink into the earth and remain there. Or just...disappear. That sounded wonderful right about now. She started to slowly slink away from the others, blanching as she almost bumped into the enemy thief, and quickly scooting away from him as he started to ask if he could leave.

 

And now Rona was staring at her. Oh spirits, she probably thought she was terrible too! Yue looked down at the ground, feeling her heart clench. The plucky wyvern rider was so amazing, so brave, such a contrast to her. Why couldn't she be more like her? And why did she have to mess up in front of her too? There couldn't be a worse person to fail in front of, aside from their leader.

 

A pinch, and she winced. Chang'e glared up at her, as if reading her mind. "Oh, were you watching, Chang'e?" she whispered. "I did really, really bad, didn't I?"

 

The rabbit shook its head, then seemed to imitate keeling over.

 

"Yeah, I killed one, but the others did so much better. And, it was a skeleton," her voice grew distressed. "I killed another monster," she finished morosely.

 

Yue drew her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, and trying her best to think happy thoughts and happy scenes. Like moonlight over water, or the gentle susurrus of the trees, or of...feeding Chang'e.

 

"Oh, you're hungry, are you, Chang'e?" she mumbled, grabbing a carrot from her pack and giving it to the bunny. As she watched him eat, a tiny smile formed on her face.

[Alaina]

Leon was glad to hear from Rona that they had managed to force their way into the fort. He hadn't actually thought of what they would do about the bandits that they diverted away from this area, so it was good peace of mind to hear that he didn't need to. "Good job. I'm glad you were all able to make it past the enemies safe and sound," Leon said with a small smile on his face.

 

With that out of the way,the only thing left to do was examine the fortress and see what they could find before leaving. Continue to stretch himself out, wincing in pain as though his wounds were healed they were still made sore. Looking to the thief, Leon merely gestured him away, as Cassia, who he assumed the thief meant by the red haired girl, hadn't said anything contrary to the man's statement. Snapping his fingers, pointing at the group, he said, "cool. Thanks for letting me live bud. Hopefully we never have to see each other again." With that, the man walked away, leaving through the side entrance. 

 

Leon then looked to Rona as she mentioned going outside, the boy merely saying, "alright. Make sure he's fine as well." With that out of the way, Leon looked around to note that a few other members of his team were currently missing. Wondering where they were, this was partially answered as a duo of bandits walked over to him, seemingly nervous in their mannerisms. One of the two began saying, "the uh, the-" as Leon looked directly at them, their nerves seemed to grow even more as the other forced out saying, "the dark magic girl uh, wanted a um, red haired thief and man who was...missing an eye? To go down to the basement." 

 

"Cassia, Raynor," he looked to the two, "I think they mean you. Go see what Ada wants." Looking back to the other bandits, Leon glared at them. "As for you two. You know what happens when you steal and harm others now right?" The two nodded frantically, "then leave. And never give me a reason to fight you again." With that, the bandits attempted to scurry off as fast as they could, though were met with a slight road block they needed to walk around through the front. Seeing the Jouran girl, the two attempted to walk as slowly and discretely, however impossible that would be past the girl. The two gave each other looks, as if having a secret conversation between each other in regards to what they were seeing, but slowly kept trying to not agitate the Jouran or her Wyvern as they walked forward. 

 

Thinking if the duo tried anything on their way out, Rona and Cormag would be good enough to deal with them, Leon had turned his back to them. Instead, he kept looking around the fort, only to see Yue huddled against a wall. A bit worried if the task he assigned her to this mission was a bit rough, and if she was reeling from it, the boy walked over and said, "um, Yue, are you uh, doing alright there? Sorry for putting you on the front lines like that." Seeing that she was feeding her bunny, he said, "oh, is um," he briefly paused, continuing to forget how exactly to say its name and merely said, "is he doing fine too?"

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"It's getting harder." Rona admitted to Cormag, out of earshot of the others. "It feels...like the level is being raised and I'm falling behind. Do you think I have a place here still?"

 

Cormag seemed about to respond, in whatever way he could, but his attention shifted to over Rona's shoulder. He bared his fangs and growled threateningly at the two bandits who were approaching.

Rona looked over her shoulder and, when she saw the pair, turned and grabbed the handle of her axe. Either they had been let go or no one had noticed them leave. The former was...odd, to her, and she would have expected them to be killed. Though Leon was rather unusual so it wasn't impossible.

 

"What are you doing?" Rona called out to them. They were unarmed. Even she would be able to dispatch them if they attacked, right?

Especially with Cormag looking over her shoulder, growling at the pair.

 

"oh y-you know. You just uh, you just don't see a uh, Jouran and their winged ba-, wyverns 'round these parts."

 

Were they...afraid? Of her? No, it was Cormag they were afraid of. People seemed intimidated by him for some reason. She wrapped her arm, the one without the axe, around his head and patted him. "What does that matter? And why are you not in chains?"

 

Did they do something to get away? Suddenly Rona felt nervous. What if they were more dangerous than they looked? If these two had escaped and she lets them go she would've failed Leon.

"W-well, you know uh- um," the one looked to the other as if asking for help.
The other, also nervous, said "well, the boss really wanted to find a Jouran, and uh, yeah, they aren't really plentiful around these parts. Uh, as for the uh second part, the uh...brown haired one said we were free to go if we didn't do uh...bandit stuff, again."

 

That was it? Leon let them go...because they said they'd be good? There was a limit to mercy...Rona shook her head. Was that why Leon allowed her to stay? Was he being merciful? She felt cold all of a sudden and she had to put on a brave face to not look weak in front of these two. "Fine." She said sharply. "Get going before Cormag gets more upset."

 

The bandits scurried off and Rona stared at the ground. Once more pondering the day that Leon had saved her life.