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Everything posted by rokubiraijuu
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After his eyes adjust the sudden light, he blinks, lowering his arm from his face to see the cell doors opened, and weapons scattered in the middle of the holding area. Who had done this, and why? "Wait—" But the others have already begun to move, taking advantage of the sudden turn in fortune to arm themselves. He hangs back for a few moments, frown deepening. What if this is a trap, fashioned to look like a chance for them to escape? But he doubts the others will listen to him; they're just about beside themselves to dash out. Not that he can blame them; he's been eager to leave this manor ever since they first arrived. With no other sensible options, he too makes his way out, thoughts on Kite as he selects the bow, worn out and frayed, from the central pile. A nomad warrior is no warrior without his horse. His knowledge of how to fight with a bow on foot is rather scant, and already he misses the fluid mobility granted him from horseback — that extended sight-line, the ease with which everything seems within bow-shot. Steeling himself, he follows after the others. Move to O6 and take Iron Bow.
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The impact of Marek's spear spells a quick death for the hapless soldier, who didn't even get a chance to strike back. As he falls, the spare glaive he had been carrying falls out of his hands. [ ENEMY PHASE ] Pirate 5 moves to I23 and attacks Rokan. Seeing the Knights make their way forward, one of the pirates moves up to strike, but Rokan manages to avoid the axe's jagged edge. Pirate 6 moves to K22 and attacks Marek. ( . . . ) "Oh, you're kidding me." Hanging his head, the myrmidon several paces back exhales heavily after watching the two pirates rush ahead -- only to bungle it up, one getting seriously injured in the process. "It figures this is what happens when you bring on people like this." "Naoki, now?" Raising a hand, he waves off the rune cannon mage's question. "Wait until they get a little closer!" But since half the men stationed here are already going in, it doesn't make any sense for the rest to hang back anymore. He'd told them this is what'd happen -- these bloodthirsty sea rats weren't going to listen to him any, not with souls as gunked up as that. "All right, move in! Surround and overwhelm them; don't let them get by!" Archer 2 moves to J22 and attacks Marek. Moving forward at the command, the archer takes aim and fires off a shot, wounding Marek more. Pirate 2 moves to L23 and attacks Marek. Taking advantage of the archer's distraction, the next pirate moves in, climbing aboard the starboard rail and lashing out at Marek, felling him in one blow. Mage 2 moves to H22. Myrmidon 3 moves to I19. Pirate 7 moves to H16. [ ALLY PHASE ] "Looks like a lot's happening over there. Come on Arthur, we can't just sit around lookin' pretty!" Moves to G23 and attacks Pirate 5 with Hand Axe. The hand axe whirls through the air, striking the pirate unawares and wounding him heavily. TURN 4 Cheat Sheet:
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With Cadence doing most of the talking, Idei's content to sink back into quiet, to his own thoughts. He's always been aware that, as someone who comes from a vastly different set of traditions, he's not always fit in on the mainland where things move so much faster, where everyone is always in a rush and no one has time for anyone else. His hand moves in a slow, sweeping motion over one leg, as though there was a bow resting there, tracing an invisible curve. He doesn't understand why the others bother complaining, or passing judgment on the former thief. Regardless of the reasons why they had joined the Guard, they're all here now, and have a responsibility to each other. If they didn't like that responsibility, they're always free to leave. "I will fight with you so long as I am here, with no regrets," he says -- to himself, to Belros, to everyone within earshot. It applies equally. "It's my duty."
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"I don't think he was using us," Idei says quietly after having been silent up to this point. He had been barely listening to the conversations buzzing around him, but Belros' story had caught his attention. All of that struggle he'd shown in the last battle . . . and he'd ended up here again. Almost losing everyone -- in the same place, even. How futile he must feel. Except -- no, it's not futile. He hadn't lost everyone this time. He'd come out of it alive. They all have, so far. Idei sits up straighter and finally stops picking at the callous on his finger, which has started to bleed. "In a situation like that . . . there are things you just have to do." He looks over at Belros. "When you came out of that, the only one left. You couldn't just let that go and move on, right?"
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After a while, the confusion from the troubadour's spell had worn off. But his own uneasiness hadn't. It had been hard to tell where one had begun and the other ended. Did one's emotional state influence magic like that, make it worse? What does he know. He has nothing to do with his hands — no arrows to fletch or even twirl between his fingers. No bow to polish or restring. His hands itch for something to do, and so he's been sitting near the back of his own cell, breathing through his mouth and picking absentmindedly at a callous on his knuckle. The space is only just big enough for him to take a few steps and turn around in, enclosed by dank stone and cold iron. It feels like it's been a lifetime since he's seen the open sky, felt a breeze on his face or the ground give under his footsteps. When the soldiers had confiscated his weapons, they'd taken Kite with them, too. No small feat, that, with such a testy stallion, but whatever pride he could have felt in the hope that Kite would bite or kick a few of them on the way out is dampened by the fear that they'll choose to kill him rather than deal with the trouble. As others begin to awaken and talk amongst themselves, Idei remains still, a half-shadowed figure sitting cross-legged and staring at the silhouettes of bars. Myrdwyn's screaming and clanging, Emilee's earnest voice, Cass' rumbling complaints — it all comes together into a backdrop of white noise that fills the hollow of his skull.
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Not awake enough yet to be alert for the incoming strike, the archer doesn't react quickly, and a single blow of Arthur's heavy blade is enough to crumple him to the deck. "Hmph . . . well, it still worked and nothing bad happened, so looks like I'm fine for now," he replies, full of jovial energy. Cheat Sheet:
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Rationally, the moment he had turned to Cass and asked him to go with him, he had known that he was choosing survivors. A decision placed in his hands, determined by the whim of a second. With the enemy forces rallying and surrounding them, closing them in on all sides, there was simply no way that those who remained behind would survive, not against those odds, and definitely not in the state they had already been by the time he'd left. He'd wanted to save one — even just one. Or was it even anything so noble? What's to say he hadn't desperately needed someone to come with him, to shoulder the impossible burden of survival with him so that he wouldn't have to come out alone again, with the knowledge that he had turned his back? Maybe he had instead sought, selfishly, to protect himself, as though being able to say he had saved even one could mitigate the guilt of having abandoned three. Whichever the case, he had known in his gut that he couldn't be fast enough. Yet a small part of him had still hoped against hope, and so when he rounds the corner once more, breath harsh and raw against the back of his throat, eyes wide and searching, the reality of the trio of slumped figures against the floor hits him like a physical blow. He freezes, locked in place. He should be there with them. But this time, he isn't running away. ( Isn't he? ) He's come back, like he said. ( Would they ever know? ) Yes, he did. He'll prove it. Move to C12 and attack Mage 5; Canto to C10.
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[ ENEMY PHASE ] Myrmidon 2 moves to H26 and attacks Rokan. Rushing in, the myrmidon takes a strike at Rokan, his sword leaving minor injuries. Pirate 7 moves to F13. At the head of the boarded vessel, the stationed swordsman watches the group advance from the damaged rear. "So they're trying to board and fight their way to the pier." He gives a weary but approving huff. "I can respect that." It isn't like they have too many other options, considering the blast from the rune cannon. Speaking of which. "Margo, don't fire until they're in range!" he shouts to the mage manning the cannon, receiving a brisk thumbs-up. He turns back to look down the length of the boat again. A clattering behind him catches his attention, and he turns, expression souring visibly at the sight of the waterlogged rat climbing aboard. "Why are you moving? I told you all to stay where you were." The pirate merely sneers at him, picking up his axe. "Who cares? I don' follow yer orders." He spits on the wooden deck. "Think yer the boss o' me, grassie? Boss told us to get rid o' the knightly types who'll be coming up this here boat, and that's what I'm gonna do." The swordsman's jaw shifts slightly, but he otherwise maintains composure. "Well, if you want to go in and get yourself killed. Watch where you're swinging that axe, at least." "Heh, sure. Thought they said ye lot were speedy, though. I'm sure ye'd be quick enough to move outta the way." Turning back around, the swordsman exhales slowly. People like them are no better than toxin. "Soldiers, hold your places!" he calls. No need to have the rest of them going rushing stupidly in there. "Hold the line and let them come to you. We have time." If they're in a hurry to get to the capital, then they're the ones in a rush, after all. Resting a hand on the hilt of his sword, he breathes out through his nose, mumbling to himself: "Naoki, what've you gotten yourself into. . . " Remaining enemies hold. "What's this?" Off the side of the two ships locked in combat, overhead shadows darken the waters far below. Wide wings buoy wyverns up on air currents from the warm river, numbering four in total. "That's . . . the Queen's Knights! Weren't they sent to Lorelle . . . ?" "So they were. It seems they received word of the attack." His gaze settles on a large, crimson shape. "And Marek's among them too, and Erce." His own wyvern, a comely cornflower blue female, gives a low rumble. "You remember Erce, Flail?" "Was he part of the Dragoons, Sir Rahal?" "Yes, before you joined us. Marek is young, but he was very talented. No one was surprised to see him become a Queen's Knight." Turning his attention to the rest of the battlefield, he purses his lips slightly. "Pirates, too. So they made that choice after all . . . we will have to see how it serves them." "Should we help them?" Sitting up in his saddle, he turns Flail, guiding her once more over the pier and towards the castle. "No. With Griffith and Karl safe, we have a new mission. They'll have to fight this one on their own. Our pursuers aren't far, and we have the princess' request to fulfill. Don't fall behind, men." [ ALLY PHASE ] Noah moves to F25 and attacks Archer 1 with Iron Club. "You snooze, you lose!" Noah strikes out with his newly acquired club, dealing heavy damage to the asleep archer, who jolts awake on impact. TURN 3 Rokan's Imbue heals 5HP. Marek's Imbue heals 1HP. Cheat Sheet:
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It isn't quite the same. There's no blinding sand cutting at his face, clotting his mouth. There's no screaming wind. Just the sounds of battle, of hoof beats sharp and loud on a flat, hard surface, not at all like the softened thuds across the dry steppe. It all feels very unnatural — the setting, the situation. A warrior never runs away from his enemy unless it's a tactical move. Is this a tactical move, or is he leaving the others to die? Kite moves, largely unguided, and now as the commotion fades down the hallway behind him and he's no longer so closed in, his ears prick forward again, eyes losing some of their wild panic. He tosses his head, neighing loudly as he rounds the corner beyond the archway where the other half of their team is rushing to meet them, seemingly having already realized that something is going wrong. The shrill sound of Kite's call jolts Idei back to the present. " . . . We need help!" Every moment he wastes could mean a life. "The Captain and the others are back there!" Rescue Cass and Canto to D8.
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The knight falls, unbelievably, arrows protruding from where he'd somehow managed to strike true. He stares like he can't even believe it. Everything feels slow and far away, but he knows it's not. He knows he has to keep fighting. Any moment could be his last — a lance to his back, a stray arrow — His own name catches his attention, and he turns to see something red moving around to behind him. Cass? Relax, man! He sees the places where the magic had struck, where pale burns are already forming. He stares at them. It's another kind of electricity — familiar; Cass' guitar — that brings him back to focus a little. The sounds come back, and he blinks hard. The voices are close by again, no longer like he's witnessing everything from underwater. Think straight. Right. Cass is right. He needs to think straight. What comes next? They have to fight their way out, to the last man. "I can't abandon th— " Sensing his rider's mounting distress, Kite finally panics. With a violent toss of his head, he screams, rearing and kicking out at anyone nearby. Only years of horsemanship keep Idei on his back, and he has to wrestle as the stallion bucks and thrashes beneath him. "Stop! Damn horse — " He needs to get away from here. The enclosed space; the claustrophobia of bodies and walls — they'll both go mad if this keeps up. The others! The others of the Guard; they'd been with them! He looks quickly to the far corridor, then turns to Cass, reaching out a hand while trying to steady Kite with the other. "Cass!" he calls out over the chaos. "Come, we'll get the others for help!" It's not abandonment. He'll come back. He'll come back for them; he will.
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So much happens all at once that it's difficult to keep track of everything around him. Enemies come further down the corridor — the stench of plated iron and blood — and he pivots Kite around, tries to warn Belros of the incoming attack, only to feel himself robbed of voice as he's too late. No! The spy collapses to the scarlet-slick stones beneath him. Is he . . . ? Then, a cracking boom of thunder magic detonating nearby, and Kite rears with a shrill neigh. With a cry of alarm, Idei has to hold on as tight as he can to avoid being thrown from the saddle. Cass! He's not sure if he spoke that or just thought it. Before he knows it, more are upon them. Kite's hooves touch ground again, slip on the smooth stone. He turns, seeing Helena, face ashen with pain, fire off another Meteor spell, and the Captain's sword swing harmlessly by a mage's robes. With a lurch, it hits him: this is it. He can't win against these odds. They can't win against these odds. His fingers find the feathers of another arrow, draw it from the quiver mechanically even as his heart lodges itself in his throat. It feels unreal, but he'll keep shooting. He'll keep shooting until they're overwhelmed. Until it's all over. Attack Armor12 with Iron Bow.
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"Belros!" There's a note of trepidation to his call. It's not the blast of wind magic striking the spy that has him alarmed; rather, the nomad's attention is on the soldiers coming up from the lower room that they had put out of mind. There hadn't been enemies there that he remembers — they must have come in through doors, or . . . He turns to look ahead again, watching one of the injured knights drawing close around the corridor too — hoping to chase them down before they can retreat, it looks like. It doesn't really matter where the other ones had come from. What matters is getting out of here alive. "There are more behind us. They will be on us soon." It is as his father had shown him once: only pursue the targets in front of you, and you leave your back wide open for an arrow to the spinal cord. "You should tend to your wounds, and then we should retreat." Move to C19 and shoot Armor 5.