Fire Emblem on Forums: Tiny Steps (IC)

[kj1225]

Mercy nods at the summary of injuries incurred. He didn't really know how to deal with the apparent awkward nature of the mantis, but he hoped that maybe she'd be a bit more comfortable after some time working together. He takes a knee to look at the injury in question, before nodding to himself. Given it looked like there was little treatment given, he'd have to make sure there weren't any complications, but hopefully it'd be nothing a little healing magic couldn't fix at the worst.

"I see... Well, I'll be happy to tend to any lingering wounds but you'll most likely have to wait a bit longer. I didn't anticipate needing to heal anyone right now so my supplies are back where I've been staying."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"It is shallow... easily dressable. I would've myself... but I would need assistance to be sure it was done properly... would've healed properly anyway... probably be uncomfortable" She continued, honest to a fault. She wasn't a medical professional but she knew first aid well enough as was evident. She could've dealt with it if she was still out in the woods by herself. "Safety was more important... this could wait. Needed to be swift, get the others moving... that was the extent of treatment." despite her awkwardness at the least it couldn't be said she didn't get the important bits across. 

 

"Own assessment was that this could wait... hopefully correct..." Lotus tried to keep her cloak out of the way of the injury thought it was a bit difficult as the flowing leafy garment was meant to conceal her tiny frame. Her strange footwear did immensely help in that regard, as it gave more clearance for Mercy to get a look at the wound from below. Lotus couldn't assist much otherwise, most of her medical knowledge was strictly for survival situations. She knew little of how the magic worked ad was thus incapable of knowing whether or not it was within the scope of it's capabilities. 

[kj1225]

Mercy takes a few moments more to check for signs of infection before seeming satisfied and rising once more.

"I am inclined to agree with you on that. But, I would ask that you avoid waiting to tend to wounds unless absolutely necessary in the future. Untended wounds can get you very sick you know.... But I'm sure this won't be a problem as long as I'm around."

He gives Lotus a small smile and a thumbs up, hoping to make her feel a little better.

[ElfCollaborator]

On 7/22/2020 at 10:58 PM, RedMageCole said:

-snip-

 "Y-you're still humming it! I can hear you!"

[RedMageCole]

Pinecone immediately stopped once Faith yelled at him. For a brief moment, he didn't register it, before standing at attention.

 

"Please forgive my poor attempt at forgetting. I have not heard such a memorable... string of words before in my life!" Pinecone sounded like he genuinely did not know what a tune or even a song was. "It sounds like it might go well with dancing— I used to dance quite often when I was forced to go off-duty. It would help the time pass quicker! But right now, I am currently on duty, so I will stop. Once again, I'm very sorry."

 

...After a few moments, Pinecone briefly dips into red is for fire before straightening himself out once more. He seems to be struggling despite really doing nothing but just standing in one place.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

The tiny mantis only offered a nod in answer. She felt no further words were necessary, and frankly didn't have much left in her and ways of conversing. Lotus did take comfort in the fact heir medic seemed to possess a magnitude more experience than the ones she had to babysit a entire battle. She wouldn't need to teach another any lessons in battle. Further her own skill was reaffirmed. That perhaps was the more comforting fact, she still knew she could trust her own judgement... her own skills. This experience while harrowing, proved she was a capable warrior, clan be damned. 

[Powder Miner]

Bend chimed in, tangential to the conversation between Lotus and Mercy Harefoot.

"Hey, I have been in a battle before that! Just, uh, not against other bugs." 

 

And he'd been kind of mauled without managing to do much in the way of contribution, but they didn't need to know that.

[ElfCollaborator]

 
"It's just a song I made up. It's not that memorable....."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Lotus merely cocked her head towards a look somewhere between incredulous and confusion. She couldn't imagine him battling wildlife at all if bugs gave such trouble.  Perhaps the difficulty wasn't the main factor and fighting other bugs was more of a metal burden. It didn't change that she hadn't been aware of the fact. "I apologize for the mistake then... I was not aware... still, you are new to this. I can tell... Mantis live their entire lives fighting. We know a thing or two about it..."

Perhaps she was sounding too callous, it had only occurred to after saying it that perhaps Bend wasn't taking the honesty as it was meant. Mantis tended not to mince words, they were too busy doing it to their enemies. They felt it best to be honest about one's capabilities. But, perhaps she shouldn't apply that to others, at least, not non-mantis for certain. She felt herself tense up as she struggled to fix the possible transgression, pausing for a moment. "I don't... mean to say you cannot handle yourself I..." Lotus couldn't articulate her thought anymore past this, unsure how to proceed with her meaning clear ad not as if she was condescending further towards the Ant. So instead she decided to change the subject...

"What was that battle... with? Wildlife?" fighting, battle... that was a subject Lotus could do.

[Unlurking Sentinel]

"Ah, marauders."

As the conversation on competence ensued, Life-Recorder carefully stored the rolled up papers into her bag, save for one, and mulled over the delegation's news. It didn't sit right with her.

"Excuse me for asking, but were you able to glean a motive from the attack? You couldn't have had enough supplies to make even a successful raid worth the losses, especially once they realized they had to contend with two-to-three experienced combatants."

She then held onto the paper with the hand she used to carry the bag (It would certainly be useful to have been born with extra arms about now), and grabbed a piece of charcoal from a pouch sown onto the right side of her tunic.

"Actually, while we're at it, their appearances, names as well if known, would be useful as well."

[RedMageCole]

Pinecone blinked a few times.

 

"A 'song'...? Well, it was quite memorable to me! Tell me, do you have any more of these 'songs'?... Perhaps nothing from your craft so that they can be ones that I do not have to forget in order to keep you comfortable."

[Trash]

Nervously, the moth interrupted the talk of battles between Bend, the Mantis and Life-Recorder.
"W-wait wait wait. Are we going to be going into more battles? I-I've never been in a battle! Aren't they dangerous?"

[Aurorix]

"L-long-term process? Years!? You have to be kidding me here!" The bee girl starts panicking a bit,  "I... I already have some research findings though! Isn't there any way to speed up the process! I can't put my things on hold for multiple years! Especially when certain things only occur once every couple of years!"

[ElfCollaborator]

"You wouldn't want to learn my songs. I-It's not like I'm some kinda singer, or something, I'm a scholar, obviously...."

[Unlurking Sentinel]

Secluded-From-Illumination's fear of combat was overwhelming, but healthy regardless.

"We are not going into battles per se, but with our luck, battles will likely find us, and yes, they are dangerous. That is why the delegation sent from the Redoubt is here: to accompany and protect us on this most important of missions."

_{"Would've preferred a more experienced delegation, as I hear is normally expected, but..."}

 

The other adolescent scholar-to-be, the bee... perhaps her 'strong' reaction also should have been expected. Perhaps.

"If you can find the time to prove to enough scholars that your findings are immensely valuable, and that your work is worth supporting, then that will be enough. Until then, welcome to assistantship."

"Speaking of findings, I request again. The marauders. Names, Appearances, Reasons for throwing themselves on your spears. While your memories are all still fresh, preferably."

[Yours Truly]

On 7/27/2020 at 8:09 AM, Raindrop Valkyrie said:

Lotus merely cocked her head towards a look somewhere between incredulous and confusion. She couldn't imagine him battling wildlife at all if bugs gave such trouble.  Perhaps the difficulty wasn't the main factor and fighting other bugs was more of a metal burden. It didn't change that she hadn't been aware of the fact. "I apologize for the mistake then... I was not aware... still, you are new to this. I can tell... Mantis live their entire lives fighting. We know a thing or two about it..."

Perhaps she was sounding too callous, it had only occurred to after saying it that perhaps Bend wasn't taking the honesty as it was meant. Mantis tended not to mince words, they were too busy doing it to their enemies. They felt it best to be honest about one's capabilities. But, perhaps she shouldn't apply that to others, at least, not non-mantis for certain. She felt herself tense up as she struggled to fix the possible transgression, pausing for a moment. "I don't... mean to say you cannot handle yourself I..." Lotus couldn't articulate her thought anymore past this, unsure how to proceed with her meaning clear ad not as if she was condescending further towards the Ant. So instead she decided to change the subject...

"What was that battle... with? Wildlife?" fighting, battle... that was a subject Lotus could do.

Soggyshanks let out a hearty laugh as Lotus tried her best to awkwardly change the course of the conversation.

"They might be greenhorns, but the six of you went up against a small band of marauders, and each and every one of you lived to tell the tale, to me that counts for something."

"You're alright to me Bend, for a recruit."

[RedMageCole]

Pinecone tilted his head in slight confusion.

 

"Well! I wouldn't want to if it made you uncomfortable knowing that I knew. But at the same time, I enjoy the song for what it's worth!... So I suppose that again, I wouldn't want to like you said because I want to try and forget them..."

 

Pinecone definitely looks like he's in the middle of confusing himself.

[ctsun]

If Sting had thought the Redoubt was amazing, the University only made the Redoubt look small. Sting stopped to stare in wonder all around her before answering the spider as though she had just realised she was there.

"Dunno. They were all grumpy and mean and had the same face and kept on going on about stupid stuff like honour and stuff.", she paused for a moment as though it wasn't very important before being distracted by the next thing that drew her attention.  "Oooo~! Oooo~! I wanna try jumping off that blade of grass. Watch me run~! Watch me fly~! Weeee~!"

[Powder Miner]

"Yyyyep. Admittedly, it was just the one fight that I was in, but the damn thing was a rabbit." Bend sighed. "It went... worse for me than the fight with those Marauders, I'll admit."

That whole awful incident was as a matter of fact the source of several of the scratches on Bend's poor banged-up armor, and the source of a lot of anguish for him besides. 

 

He glanced at Soggyshanks for a moment.

"Hey, thanks. That's appreciated."

 

Then back to Life-Recorder.

"Uh, the names of the guys in lead were Shinywings and, well... Seeker-of-a-Dignified-Death. As far as I can tell, they were... trying to kill themselves on us, 'cause the Marauders are getting their shit pushed in. It's, uh... honestly, it was kind of fucked up."

 

Brilliant Deduction gave Secluded-from-Illumination a pat on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Secludie, but, yes. It's a long journey I have planned for all of us, into some unfamiliar places, so I expect we'll run into trouble more than once. That's why I really wanted to take advantage of the Redoubt delegation while I can get it."

"But don't worry! I trained in using a staff starting from when I was a kid, before I really was able to get into my projects here!" Boy, that almost seemed a world away, now. "I'll make sure everyone stays safe."

 

Finally, she addressed Stardust.

"Sorry about that... the Scholars' University is actually a pretty concrete organization! It took a lot of work and ingenuity for me to get where I am as fast as I did, and even then that was a year and a half."

 

One wasp leg was brought up to scratch pensively at her blonde hair.

"But maybe you can get useful experience of some sort on my journey?"

[Aurorix]

"B-... B-but..." The tiny bee looks about ready to cry at this point,  "What are we even going to do on this expedition? I don't think I'd be of much help even if I did go. I'm no good in a fight either!" Stardust begins shivering in her boots,  "I... I don't wanna fight again... never ever again!"  

[Trash]

Secludie made a unhappy noise at the notion of more danger. At the little bee's comments, SFI's heart beat at finding a comrade in cowardice.

"D-don't worry. W-we should trust Brilly t-to keep us safe! M-maybe you should stay near the back with me? Strength in n-numbers, right?

She offered the little bee a weak smile.

 

If- if she stays in the back close to me, perhaps she can distract any predators? Smaller prey is easier, isn't it?

[Aurorix]

"I-in the back? N-never! It's a common battle tactic to flank from behind! It is much safer staying in the middle! At least there are bodies all around to hide behind!" The tiny bee proclaimed keeping her arms close to her chest. Though it did make her feel more comfortable that she and Bend weren't the only ones at least a little afraid of combat in the group.

[Powder Miner]

Brilliant reached over and patted both of Stardust's shoulders now.

"I'm sorry that I can't promise you won't get into fights... but I'll make sure they go okay, okay? You won't have to be afraid with me around!"

"Or me!"

 

"As for what we'll be doing on this journey..." Her body suddenly practically jittering with raw excited energy, Brilliant Deduction dashed right out into the middle of the mingling group, and then twirled dramatically, her cloak whirling around her as she did.

 

"You all are going to be accompanying me on a journey that will change the face of the Scholars' Redoubt, nay, the known world, nay, even the world Outside!!!"

 

This was accompanied with a dramatic pause, Brilliant holding a very smug look on her face.

"During the last year, I made my brilliant deduction which gained me my name -- after finding enough examples of a strange set of symbols that kept repeating on ancient artifacts left behind by the vanished Humans! I had figured that they were some sort of way of holding meaning like on tablets' symbols, but they repeated and seemed to be mundane, so they were some way of keeping normal information... what I discovered is that they actually correspond to sounds! Through months of tireless experimentation with various sounds along with my wonderful assistants Curiosity and Life-Recorder, I figured out that these sounds together in fact make words -- those strange Human symbols everywhere were a way of putting language into physical form, all along! I call it... writing! It's an odd term, but the inspiration just came to me."

"Now, naturally this is all very revolutionary and will change the world for sure on its own... but in the middle of my looking through old Human writing, I found something very fascinating. Now, those who are experienced with scavenging or studying already know that the Humans could use magic... but from what I've read, it appears that magic the way that we think about it was only ever the beginning! It would probably be too overwhelming if I were to get into the specifics of what I've found out just now, but it seems there's extremely powerful magic out there that we could revolutionize the world with!"

"As for what I need you all for, well, I need escorts and assistants and traveling companions... we're going to be traveling a long, long way -- somewhere few bugs from the Scholars' Redoubt have been before! We're going to be going into the North, because some of the bugs there have been known to collect Human artifacts instead of raiding. I received a tip from an explorer up there which suggests that some of these places have collected a lot of fragile Human artifacts that would otherwise have decayed out of an admirable desire to make sure they are remembered, and I am sure that this includes their writings! If we can together find a tip on where to go from there, we will make the future!"

 

She settled down a little, but was clearly still quite pleased with herself.

"Now, I'm sure this is a lot of worldshaking and interesting information to take in, so let me know if you have any questions and I'll answer them."

[ElfCollaborator]

"Human magic?"
Diligence starts babbling to herself under her breath, looking around. The words 'revolutionary', 'pictograms' and 'tree growth' can be heard faintly under her breath.

"T-this is such a big thing to drop on us....w-what is this 'writing' like? D-does it look like our symbols? How do you know human magic works  that way?"

[Powder Miner]

"Mmhmmhmm, yes, I imagine this is all quite momentous. These are incredible discoveries, are they not?"

On Brilliant's shoulder, out of her sight (and as only the particularly observant could even catch), Curiosity made a very clearly over-exaggerated thinking expression at this.

 

"To answer your questions... this writing is something that you may or may not have seen yourself if you've ever come across any intact human salvage; there are a lot of lines and curves, but the shapes of the symbols themselves always seem to be the same. It seems to be something very formalized and precise, rather than the one-on-one representations that we use in our magic. But as for how I know about the greater magic... well, eheh, I'll admit that I'm working off of some scarce information, but I was going through and deciphering collected scraps of human writing in our basement and I saw one that talked about ongoing research on "theoretical magics that exist outside of known frameworks"... it's not a lot to go on, but if my plans go right, we should be gaining a whole lot more information about it!"