rokubiraijuu

"Rrgh, can't you move any faster??" The impatient call comes from a small and rather slight young man carrying a few heavy-looking ice buckets laden with finest wines. Though the heftiness of his cargo seems almost too much for a stick-like frame, it doesn't appear to weigh him down much. "With all these guests, it's hard to move around. Just put them down if you can't wait," the servant in front of him replies diffidently without even turning around to look at him. With a huff, Lenny sets the ice buckets on the floor and takes a moment to look around the room at all the people they're catering to. Banquets aren't anything new or rare at Coel's estate, but it always means more work than usual for him and the others. Stretching his arms above his head, he squeezes his eyes closed as aching muscles tense and his shoulders pop— "Lenny, go!" "Agh!" Grabbing the buckets again at the prodding of the servant behind him, he follows the now-moving train into the dining hall where they disperse in a practiced array to finish loading the tables.

It seems that the immediate danger is gone. They've cleared out the guards that stood in their way, and with Kite again with him, the situation doesn't seem so dire. Even the uncertainty that had taken hold of him in the chaos of the last fight and which had continued to plague him in the cell has released its grip on him, though something tells him it's only a temporary reprieve. Nevertheless, he decides to take it as it comes. As he waits for the others to finish their business, he maneuvers closer to the stairs leading out of the dungeons, pulling Kite to a gentle stop and idly checking the remainder of his equipment for any scratches or other damage they may have sustained. He hums a quiet, melancholic tune from the sands under his breath. Move to B15 and Hold.

Chills out for a long time. Waxes his bow, I guess. ( Hold. )

Hold.

Hold.

Char. Sheet:

"I'll finish him," Idei says to Rayne in response to her duel with the mercenary before her. Taking careful aim past the pegasus' wings, he fires at the man standing before the doorway. Attack Merc 3 and Canto to D12 ( if I hit ).

Move to C19 and chill.

Seeing more guards coming from the north, Idei spurs Kite into a canter after hearing the sounds of combat. Someone is wounded -- the girl from the cell, earlier. The one who had escaped with them despite not wanting anything to do with them. He's about to caution her to be more careful, but she's already gone by the time he gets there. Instead, he focuses his attention on the guard who had attacked her. E22, drive-by arrows at Merc 7, Canto to F22.

Move to H20.

Having retrieved the last of the items in the room, Idei turns to leave. Already, he can make out the voices of reinforcements from further down the way they'd come, and the last thing he wants is to be trapped in close quarters on top of a nervous stallion. With a kick to Kite's side and a clatter of hooves, he moves to regroup with the others. Move to N21.

"Ah?" The sound of a voice behind him causes Idei to turn around to see the pegasus knight, and he looks down at the contents of the treasure chest he'd opened. So these belonged to her, then. He'd been wondering about the sewing materials, and had thought that they'd gotten mixed in with the confiscated weapons. Seeing the concerned look on her face, he handles the equipment with care as he hands it over to her. One by one, they're arming themselves again, and would hopefully be able to better withstand whatever awaits them than they had before. He doesn't think they'll be getting a third chance, should they fail again. In exchange, he takes the new chest key off Rayne's hands. "There's only one thing to do with this," he remarks to himself, giving Kite's reins a pull to circle him around to Rayne's other side, drawing up beside Belros with a clatter of hooves on the stone floor. "Belros." Kite snorts as he slows to another stop, impatient with what he sees as dawdling. He's eager to bolt out of these barred confines and narrow hallways, and it's in every restless stamp of hooves and twitch of his muscles. "My weapons," he says, indicating the contents of the other's chest as he opens the last one. "Carefully. Kite may bite." Move to P-26, trade Belros for inventory, and open Chest.

The sudden strum of electric chords startles Kite, and he rears up with a high whinny. "Ah--!" Grabbing hold of the reins, Idei manages to hold on and calm the stallion back down, though Kite whisks his bushy tail once, temperamentally, in Cass' face in retaliation. "Good to hear that again," Idei remarks with a hint of a smile before spurring his mount into a canter. Move to R25 and open Chest.

For all his bluster, the soldier had been so loud when he'd charged at him that Idei would think he was more intent on putting on a farce than making a true attempt to injure him. How can a man who fights like that hope to become a skilled warrior? If he were a hunter, he would have alerted all the prey within five miles to his presence. Avoiding his strike takes little effort, and he can only give the man an unimpressed look as he laments his luck under his breath, not realizing it had nothing to do with luck at all. But before he can take a few steps back and ready his bow, the flash of an axe puts a brutal end to the man, and Idei turns to see the girl who had helped him. "Thank you," he says simply, giving a nod of acknowledgement. Just then, the sound of a shrill whinny draws his attention, and his feet are moving before he's conscious of it. A flash of dappled grey bursts from the newly opened doorway! There! "Kite!" With a scream, the stallion rears, kicking out with his front hooves, both wild with relief to be freed and fiercely angry at having been imprisoned. Thankfully, the guards had left the reins and saddle on him ( likely finding it to be far too much danger to try and take them off ), and Idei is able to reach out and grab hold of the reins before Kite can tear off and injure himself or someone else. "Kite, it is me. Shh . . . calm." Pivoting, the stallion snaps out at him, and Idei sucks in a breath as teeth clip the side of his hand. Quickly, he redirects the pressure on the reins to a gentle, indirect pull, turning Kite in a small circle. With his other hand, he strokes at the disheveled mane, rubbing circles beneath his ears. Above all, stay calm yourself. Horses are social creatures, and your fear and frustration will make it feel the same. Steadying his breathing, he keeps his grip firm but gentle as Kite tosses his head and shies back and forth, until finally the stallion's ears rise from where they're pinned back to his skull, and his snorting becomes less agitated. "You testy creature," Idei mutters softly, feeling his own heart beat slow. "Without you, I am nothing. And without me, you are frightened. Admit it." He gives Kite's neck another long pat before moving to his side, the stallion following him with his eyes. "Will you let me on?" He places a foot in the stirrup and presses some of his weight forward. When there is little protest, he pushes up, hovering there. Kite shifts to adjust his balance again, and Idei, sensing that he's settled down, slowly swings his other leg over, bow resting against his leg. He feels like himself again. Move to O22 and remoooounntt!

Marek is easily able to finish off the severely weakened pirate with a strike of his lance. The newly acquired steel sword weighs Akane down, almost critically, but she pulls through despite the new weapon and scores the final hit. Sinking to his knees, Naoki drops the slender blade in his hand, pulling his shaking hand from the fatal wound, wet with blood. He smiles weakly. "My own sword . . . has picked a better master . . . " The world spins out of focus around him, and he collapses to the ship's deck. Looks like I couldn't do anything after all. I'm sorry . . . everyone. Cheat Sheet:

[ ENEMY PHASE ] A smile settles on his face at Akane's words, like the look of someone who has reached a place of rest. I, too, have things I must uphold. But he also knows when enough has been done. "You face Naoki, and I will not run any longer. All-Mother, guide my hand one more time." Myrmidon 3 attacks Akane. The two exchange blows in a flurry of flashing iron, both taking sizable injuries, seemingly evenly matched. Archer 2 moves to J21 and attacks Herrman. Seeing the troubadour ride up, the archer takes aim, hoping to take out the Guard's healer. His arrow deals a significant injury. Pirate 6 moves to J22 and attacks Herrman. Seeing his chance, the sneering pirate moves to follow up on the archer's attack, downing the troubadour in one blow. Mage 2 moves to H21 attacks Arthur. Another blade of wind slices through Arthur's armor, severely weakening him. Pirate 7 moves to G20. [ ALLY PHASE ] Seeing that this blockade of enemies is keeping them from moving forward to board the adjacent ship, Noah bristles with annoyance. "Ghhrr, get out of our way!! Arthur, I've got him!" Move to H22 and attack Mage 2 with Iron Club. An unprecedented amount of power comes behind the boy's swing, and there's a momentary flicker behind his eye as he raises the club and draws it back -- a flash of a man, as though silhouetted behind him, with the same cocky but stony determination, the same mane of chestnut hair wild in the salted river breeze. He is almost feral in his single-minded rage, and the only difference seems to be years and a pair of golden eyes to contrast with the boy's heterochromatic ones. By comparison, the young boy is a spitting kitten to a stormy, street-wise wildcat, but the face, the expression, even the posture -- they're all the same. And just as that man had cut down those in his way before he had finally fallen, Noah swiftly dispatches the mage, the sickening crunch of solid iron caving bone spelling his immediate end. Turn 5 Marek's Imbue heals 3 HP. Cheat Sheet:

The worn-out bow in his hands isn't much, and it feels strange fighting without sitting astride a horse -- where's the agility? the mobility? He's never felt so limited. If Kite was nearby and still alive, he's sure he would hear it: the sound of men trying to subdue a stallion who does not like to be handled by strangers, in closed quarters. Move to O19 and shoot Soldier 4.

Hold.

"Belros." Though some paces away, the enclosed storage chamber allows Idei's voice to echo enough to be heard as he moves closer to the southern end of the dungeon hall. Up ahead, he can see two more guards stationed nearby; they don't seem to have noticed them yet, but it's only a matter of time. "We will cover you and fend off the guards. Be swift." Pulling one of the few arrows from the quiver, he notches the bow to ready himself, glad to have something to do with his hands and something to concentrate on. Move to P15.

"The Bloody Baron . . . " he muses for a moment before exhaling and shaking his head. "It's not my job to tell you what you should and shouldn't do. If this is the path you've picked, then so be it. I can understand what it's like, to want -- need -- to fight for your clan like that." He frowns, as if a dark thought just crossed his mind. "As an Onigari, we fight until the last warrior, so I have to admire that ambition. Here, I have a feeling this might help you." Hands dropping to his hip, he unbelts the second sword he'd had strapped there, and offers it to her. "It's nothing special, but it'll serve you well. It deserves a better master than me, who probably isn't long for this world, anyway. As it is, I still have to fight you and your knight friends here. That much can't be helped." Akane receives Steel Sword.

Move to N13.

Advancing further down the ship and trying to keep an eye on that inkheart Brandeau's men, his attention isn't completely on the skirmish happening in front of him. Already, more than a few of his warriors have complained about this whole thing, and it's not as if he doesn't have enough on his hands. To his surprise, a sole figure emerges from the clashing of iron and spells further down the ship, and his hand instinctively goes to his blade, expecting that someone had gotten ambitious and is trying to rush him alone. And maybe that is the case, but it's not the prospect of combat that surprises him, but rather the nature of the person approaching him. A glance is all it takes. An Onigari, among the knights they're supposed to take out? That . . . doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Then again, he's one to talk. And not just any, but a Nameless. A remnant of some catastrophe, no doubt. His expression darkens, but he doesn't sense any immediate threat from her; she seems more curious about him than anything else. He can say the same for her. "Because I need to be," he replies with the same forthrightness with which she had spoken to him. There's no need for mincing words between Onigari warriors. "The way things are at home, I have no other choice." His eyes flick down to the patterns woven into her kimono, and his tone loses its bluntness for a moment in acknowledgement of her suffering. "So you still fight, child of the All Mother. It's too bad we ended up on opposite sides."

Move to M9.

Arthur's strike cleaves through the mage's robes and heavily injures him, but the mage is able to fire back a wind spell that slices through Arthur's armor as well. "That looks like it hurt," Noah says with a wince. He's not too fond of magic himself, though both his parents had been proficient at it in their own rights. Apparently that gene got lost on him somewhere. "I'm sure you've had worse." Cheat Sheet:

Diving in from the air, Elise aims a shot at the mage, but he hears the whinny of the incoming pegasus and manages to narrowly avoid the shot, aiming a wind spell at the retreating knight as she flies away. Cheat Sheet: