Kay Faraday

That bit of cover he was given by Raynor was appreciated, but he wasn't really sure how much he could do with it exactly... The field was wide open, and it made it hard for him to consider the best way to position himself around his allies. Almost no matter what he did, the enemy would be able to flank around and get to him with enough time, he just had to hope that he could avoid the worst of their attacks. Layne took a deep breath with Alexis swooping in to attack the nearby cavaliers, that would make it much easier to heal her now that she was close by. The real concern was Rona on the frontlines. He could make his way back, sure, but it was a risk all the same... There was only one thing he could really do here, "Edda! I'm gonna need your help here in a second. Our frontlines are starting to get worn down." Layne didn't wait for a response though, he held up the Heal staff in his hand as he dashed pass Ada, the light from the staff growing brighter as he stopped besides Rona, "Let's get you patched up! There's another wave coming it looks like, but we're getting there!" The light started to surround their wyvern rider, wounds slowly patching up as the worst of her injuries were given a chance to speedily recover, the pain from it hopefully calming down enough to give them more than enough time to take on the coming soldiers as well. Layne gave Rona a quick finger salute before dashing right back to where he had been before, taking a step up to Alexis as he took a deep breath. "Almost time... Edda, if you please...!" He grinned as he pointed a finger over to their resident miracle worker, waiting for that strange chanting to happen all over again. The rush of energy that came from her was more then welcome, especially now that he needed to patch up Alexis too. He made a quick change though, swapping out the Heal Staff for the Mend Staff. It began to glow as well as he pointed it directly towards Alexis, letting the light start to surround her next as he grinned, "Let's get you patched up next." The process started up all over again, wounds stitching back together and weariness easing up from her body. Layne took a few steps back as he looked back over the battlefield, if he stood where he was at, it was vulnerable to being flanked by too many enemies. He couldn't afford to get left behind, but... Taking unnecessary risks wasn't something he was particularly fond of right now.

Layne could only watch as the carnage started up all over again. The commander rushed forward to take on a Pegasus Knight off in the distance, seeming to get a firm strike on it, causing it and the rider to fall to the ground. He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, before watching as the others began their own assault. The small military force collided with them, a few falling without any issues, though they definitely seemed to be taking a bit of a beating in the process. Leon in particular seemed to hurt from the attacks he took, and Layne started to run forward as Leon retreated back just a bit to strike at a Cavalier near them. He held up the wooden staff in his hand, the light building up on the end of it as he pointed it towards Leon and ran up behind him. Soothing light rained down onto him, patching up the worst of those wounds to start reinvigorating him all over again, preparing the commander for the next wave of combat, "Alright, we're making progress! Let's keep on pushing forward, if they keep coming slowly like this, we could do it..." Layne glanced around the battlefield, there were some cavaliers ahead of them still, so he had to be mindful of how close he was to them, he didn't want to give them a chance to sneak up on him while he was distracted. He took a few steps up as he glanced up, Yue and Alexis were looking a bit beat up as well, if he could reach them, that would be nice, but for now... He would have to focus on what he could actually get done. And that was to patch up Rona as quickly as he could. He just needed to catch his breath for a moment...

Things were... Beginning, to say the least. The enemies were moving forward, they were gonna have to do their best to hold their ground with the oncoming wave of troops. It was heart pounding, the thrills and chills of combat were normally there, but this was something different. This was a full blown army, this wasn't a ragtag team of bandits, a few criminals who had to be captured... This was a whole lot more serious. "Yue! Make sure to come back if you get hurt. Things are gonna be hectic and I don't know if I'll be able to come after you. Make sure the new girl knows to come to me too." Layne didn't have much else to say and just gave her a brief nod before turning his attention back to the oncoming troops. Whatever they were supposed to do to survive here... They would have to do it. Layne wasn't ready to die here and he doubted that anyone else among them was ready to lay down and roll over for this army. He started to move, running towards the area of cover that Yue had left to give himself a bit of 'safety' of sorts, but he forced himself to stop just short of it. Taking a look over at the front lines of the enemy army, those Pegasus Knights were getting closer and closer. If he hid in the woods, it was pretty likely that they would be able to reach him before long... But maybe he could avoid their attacks. He shook his head quickly. That sorta of idea would get him in trouble fast. He wasn't built to take a single hit. He stayed just shy of entering the forest, ready to dash into it if he needed the cover, a low sigh escaping him as he readied himself for the clash to begin...

Layne closed his eyes as he tried to pay attention to what Leon was saying, but it was a lot more... Complicated than he had expected. But he got the end of it. They were in trouble again, and while he wasn't the sole cause of it, he had certainly pushed them into this position. He nodded his head as he opened up his eyes again, taking a long look ahead as he did, "Right, that's definitely not something we wanna get involved in, I get it." "though I was aware there was one filthy northerner amidst our people, I had not expected three and to be so flagrantly parading around our country side no less." His face scrunched up almost immediately, that kind of talk definitely did not sit well with him. It wasn't surprising to hear it after the fact they learned before. Still though, it wasn't something he was really happy to hear about all the same. Layne tapped the staff in his hand against the ground as he took a glance back, that army was definitely a little bit menacing, it was enough to make him nervous about their chances of succeeding here. No matter who was against them though, they had a job to do and places to be. "If you keep going back you can get out of here. They would stay here to try and take me and you could have time to get away. There's no reason to stay here and get caught up in this." "Yeah, no. That ain't happening." Layne shook his head, about to speak again, but Yue and Ada both beat him to punch. He let out a little laugh as he nodded his head, "They're right. We aren't leaving anyone behind to suffer this alone. Besides, they wouldn't settle for that from the sounds of it. They would hunt us down, that guy sounds pretty dedicated to his job." Layne hefted up the staff in his hand as he propped it up over his shoulder, watching as the group began their movements. When Yue ran towards the thicket, Layne started to move towards Rona and Ada, trying to get into a decent position where he could reach them... And still have a decent spot to retreat to. Once he was positioned, he took a deep breath and waited for the army to come for them.

"this could not get any worse." More clearly he said to Layne, "I certainly hope I'm wrong but-" Of course it wasn't going to be smooth sailing, that was just an unreasonable hope. He had hoped they would at least have a few days of peace to recover from the stress of their last fight, but of course they weren't going to be quite that lucky. Whatever that was up in the sky, it wasn't going to be something that they should mess with most likely. They had been attacked every step of the way... And it seemed like they weren't going to get any breaks from the onslaught of enemies. Rona had taken up a sorta defensive position between the two groups, as if she was preparing for them to attack. She usually did this sorta thing, that wasn't surprising in the least, and at least it gave them an opportunity to react, since she could warn them, hopefully. Leon had pulled out a map to consult, Layne slowly peeking over to get an idea of what they were looking at. The area obviously wasn't familiar to him, but it gave him a better idea on the lay of the land they were in as he closed his eyes. "We'll go to the Mella Valley. I'm not sure how much of an advantage it might give us, but we can still make it to Enta through there. Falcons, prepare yourself for the worst, and let's pick up the pace."" "Mella Valley it is. Whatever that flying is, you definitely sound like you don't wanna be confronted by it. Let's get out of here..." Layne took a little glance around, rubbing at the back of his neck for a moment as he tried to get his bearings. Before he could spend much time though, a quieter voice spoke up. "I-I can...um...lead the way." "Oh thank goodness. Lead the way, Yue. Get us out of here!" Layne pointed off with his staff as Yue made her way towards the front of the group, running after her suddenly as they began to make their way towards this valley. In the process though, his hand had gripped the staff, fidgeting around with it as he glanced back at Leon, "What exactly are we running from, though? It's clearly not just... Bandits like last time. We could handle that easily... So what is it?"

"Well, I'm not a musician either, but I can say that this is pretty faithful to the original." Layne let out a little chuckle as he closed his eyes briefly, "It is, huh? It certainly sounds nice. It's impressive." Faithful recreations were hard enough to do when you were a dedicated musician, he knew that much, so the fact that she was replicating it accurately was fairly interesting. He closed his eyes for a moment, stretching his arms up into the air lazily, before opening up his eyes as he heard Alexis speak up once again. "Don't worry about that. All it takes is a bit of practice. But I suppose some have it easier. I take it none of you have ever heard Leon try to sing before." He let out a loud laugh as he tilted his head back, shaking it for a moment as he did. "Leon, singing? I don't think that's come up since I've joined, at least. It's definitely not something I've heard." Truthfully, the idea of Leon singing wasn't something he could quite put together in his head, it seemed just a bit... Strange. It seemed to have distracted her from her brief conversation with Yue, though he wasn't entirely sure why the other girl seemed so flustered... But then again, when was he ever sure about it? His arms stretched up into the air briefly as he took a glance forward, his eyes narrowing just a bit. There was a song going on in the background once again, but his focus on it was... Fleeting, to say the least. His eyes narrowed as he tried to take a look ahead, Rona had started to fly ahead of the group, which wasn't entirely odd on it's own, but it seemed like there was something ahead of them, in the sky, that wasn't her. His hand grabbed at the staff at his side almost instinctively, tightening on it as he shook his head, "...We might have trouble up ahead, it looks like Rona has seen something. I think she's flying towards it. It's in the sky, but I can't tell much more besides that it's flying."

"What, feeling homesick? I suppose at least it's something I know. I can already hear it now. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget. For better or worse." Layne raised an eyebrow, a small hum escaping him as he did. He can't say that title was something he was familiar with, but from the way their newest member talked, it definitely wasn't something she didn't know. He stretched an arm up into the air, pondering saying something to keep things from getting a bit too serious, but she had already begun the song it seemed. With the music in the air, Layne let out a small hum and closed his eyes. He was never the best when it came to music. The meaning behind it and what was actually going on always seemed to just fly over his head. And that was definitely happening right now. Sure, it sounded upbeat and all, but it didn't register that much to him beyond the tone of it, what was the meaning to it? His hand tensed for a moment as he frowned. He knew his musical talent had never been... Exceptional, but he thought he could at least decipher the meaning of things. Maybe he was wrong there. He didn't say anything though. Mostly because he didn't want to risk interrupting anyone else's enjoyment of the music. His hand let go of the staff against his waist as he took a deep breath, watching the path ahead of them as he did. "It sounds nice, in any case... I guess I don't have as great of an ear for music as I hoped." He trailed off slowly, letting out a deep breath as he did. His eyes closed for a moment, before opening back up as he resumed the marching. It was a long walk still.

It was a lengthy process to make sure that everyone got patched up properly, though it was definitely rough to make sure that Rona didn't slink away at the very end. Everyone had their own little quirks when it came to being healed, Yue wouldn't sit still, Rona tried to run away from healing, Leon didn't seem to react at all to it. Sometimes he had to wonder if Leon was even real. The rest of the healing was pretty easily done, Ada was in a rather rough shape once they got back to the camp, but that was nowhere near as bad as what had happened to Raynor and was easily healed up as well. She'd be walking again by the next morning, by his estimation at least. Whether she would or not was kinda dependent on if she wanted to actually try to. ___ The long walk was beginning again. The night of rest was appreciated, though how much rest he got was kind of up in the air. He was still on edge a tiny bit from the fact that Raynor suffered such a huge wound yesterday, and the thought of things going downhill had been on his mind during most of the evening. If he had been a little faster, they could've avoided that situation entirely... The group had come across a river, and while Layne could technically swim, he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to take a risk like that at the time. He wasn't exactly the strongest in the water. So he waited for the eventual ferry across the river, a little sigh escaping him as he closed his eyes a tiny bit, his hand rubbing at his neck as he was eventually ported across the river, one of the last ones to get across. He had to do better. "Hey, you know what we could use? Some marching music. Hey, anyone got any requests? Shout em out and I'll try and nail it." Layne perked up for a moment, music was always a great way to pass some time. Yue didn't seem to have any real suggestions when it came to what to play, and... To be fair, he didn't really have much in mind either. He tapped at his cheek for a moment, glancing over at Alexis as he hummed, "Somethin' festive, active. We can't get too bogged down in sad songs! We made it through last night after all, that's worth celebrating!"

"It seems that beast wasn't as frightening as it looked! not that I was worried to begin with! I knew we could bring it down." The beast fell, that was the important thing. Layne took a heavy breath as he stumble down to his knees, a deep breath escaping him. His staff planted firmly on the ground as he leaned against it, closing his eyes for a moment, before he finally spoke up to Rona, a small laugh escaping him as he nodded his head, "C-Can't have been that bad of a monster if it fell to a little bap, yeah." He hadn't even been hit by it. Why it felt like he was hit by a truck now, he wasn't so sure. It felt like all his energy had been sapped from him and his legs wobbled as he started to stand up once again. There were people to check on. Ada might still be injured, Rona and the new girl both had been fighting that thing head on, so he would need to check on them... Rona had already left though, he would have to corner her at the camp to make sure she wasn't seriously injured. "Well I'm sure glad that didn't happen during the fight! Not too shabby eh? I think next time we could do it even faster." Layne laughed as he stood up again, "You think so? Maybe it would go better when we know what's going on and aren't blindsided by it. We were... A man down..." He trailed off, mentally slapping himself as he shook his head quickly. He vaguely heard mention of a ride back to the camp, but he was already running off in the other direction, "I gotta check on Raynor!" He ran off on shaking legs back through the forest, making his way as quickly as he could towards their fallen comrade, rummaging around in the pack on the side of his waist to dig for supplies. Things that weren't as quick to help during combat, but still... Carrying them gave him some comfort, there were some times where magic wasn't always the best solution to one's problems. Once he had found where Raynor fell, he set off on trying to find the wounded part of the man, not to mention his mount. Most of the blood seemed to be coming from his chest, and sure enough, there was a large wound there. He started to clean it up with a cloth and some water, working at it slowly to get a better idea of what was wrong. It was a slow process, between cleaning the wound, a little bit of magic to jump start the healing process, and some vulnerary salve going over the wound to hopefully bring it back together, but the last thing he did was pull out some dried herbs, a little grumble escaping the cleric as he examined them. Normally he would want to add them to some boiling water and have that drunk as a tea, but... With desperate times. He stuffed some of the herbs into Raynor's mouth, hoping that he could ease them down steadily as he worked, mumbling to himself, "Come on, come on... Can't have this..."

"Uh, guys..." Layne glanced back at Edda, before following her gaze down to where the approaching zombies were coming from. A nervous look crossed his face as he watched them shambling towards the group once more. His hand brushed across his cheek as he shook his head quickly, patting at his cheek to try and snap his attention back towards the threat that was in front of them. The actual big enemy. The one that might just wipe them all here and now. Ada made the first blow at the beasty, the sight of it being held down and subdued for the time being causing Layne to let out a relieved sigh as he closed his eyes. That was a moment for them to breathe. At least, it was until the other two nearby flew right in to start bashing right at the monster. Alexis managed to get off without taking any real damage from it, but Rona was less lucky. The flier took a rough hit as the hound-like creature retaliated, the cleric's hand gripping the staff tighter as he tossed it back on his back. Around his waist, a band holding another one was quickly undone as he grabbed it and started to charge forward. The staff didn't glow. As Layne charged forward, his grip on the staff altered as he threw it up, grabbing the bottom of the shaft to that the bulkier head of it was pointed towards the beast. He grabbed at it with both hands as he ran forward, there wasn't much in the way of finesse with what he was about to do as he called out, "Beast, devil! Get... Away!" His charge ended with him right in front of the phantom-ish beast, the head of that staff coming down rapidly, right along the head of the beast. He wasn't even sure if that would be enough to buy any amount of time for the others to finish it off, but he was prepared to do this. The beast didn't seem to be attacking the same as the rest of them, the damage wasn't done in bites and scratches, if the injury on Rona was anything to go by... He can tank at least one of them, this time.

"Make sure Tana is patched up okay? We're going in after this. That unholy beast is gonna go down." Huh, a requested heal, that didn't really happen much to him. Usually he had to scramble to catch up to the people that needed healing the most. It was a bit of a pain to make sure no one was too roughed up generally... But hey, he was here so he could heal the pegasus while he had the chance. The light from the staff started to fill the air once again as he lifted it up, pointing it straight towards Tana and Alexis, a low sigh escaping him as the familiar relief washed over Alexis... Though the wounds were definitely more on her mount. It was patched up steadily, a deep breath escaping Layne as he nodded his head, "There you go, one quick patch! I gotta go take care of our shaman now, I'll be back! Don't get too injured!" His voice had that usual air of cheerfulness to it, but there was a slight edge as he took a quick step away from Alexis and made his way down the field again. It wasn't long before he felt himself running out a breath, waving a hand in the air towards Edda as he did, "Yo, can you do that... Thing again? I gotta get us all topped off..." He took a deep breath as he waited for Edda, the feeling of refreshed vigor running through him as he gave her a quick thumbs up, before running off down towards Ada next. The light from the staff started to build up once again as he pointed it towards Ada once he was next to her, the light from it surrounding the wounded Shaman as he took a deep breath, "Man, I'm all over the place this time. But we're almost done, yeah? Just a tiny bit more! ...Ignore that the last obstacle is huge and scary, though."

"I thought I was doing pretty well actually!" Layne laughed as he started to catch his breath, stretching his legs a bit as he stood up straight once more, "I mean with making me chase after you... I wasn't sure I was going to make it!" He grinned as he gave her a thumbs up once she mentioned backup coming from behind, a little sigh escaping him as he rubbed at his neck a tiny bit, "A-Alright, just don't go too much farther! Gotta be able to ca- There she goes." She took off before he got a chance to finish his sentence, the grip on the heal staff tightening up as he watched Alexis fly off over the creature in front of him. He was prepared to attack if he had to do it, but with Alexis giving him a heads up there... "To your right." Layne was able to duck towards the side, giving Rona more than enough room to swoop on in and take the hound out before he had to attack it. He took a deep breath as he did, almost worried that he would get crushed as Cormag swooped in, but he managed to clear it and keep enough room for Rona in front of him as he watched her start to attack and destroy that hound, "Thanks for the cover! I don't know how far I can go right now, I need to wait for Ada to catch up so I can heal her. You look good to go for now... If you get hit, come back as fast as possible!" That was the plan, at first. Layne really wanted Ada to get caught up and healed, but while she managed to start moving towards them, there was more conflict still going on up ahead. "...Looks like that won't happen though." Alexis had gotten herself into another fight, which wasn't surprising, but it looked like she had taken a fairly heavy blow, so with a quick glance back towards Ada, Layne started to run past Rona. It was another mad dash towards the Pegasus Knight as she seemed to be examining her own wounds, he didn't know if she was trying to get them covered up or what, but he didn't really have time to think about it. There was a thicket up ahead that he could use as some form of cover just in case of anything approaching him, so he dashed straight into it as the staff he was holding started to glow once more. The light washed over Alexis as he took a deep breath, poking his head out just a bit to try and get a better look at the monstrous enemy they were about to face. He was way too close for it for his liking, whether he could dodge it or not was entirely up in the air...

Everyone knows zombies aren't actually real! The only supernatural phenomenon with any backing are spirit mediums.

Layne watched as the others began to run forward... Or fly forward, in the case of Rona and Alexis, wincing lightly as he watched them rip and tear their way through the battlefield. The amount of remaining zombies and beasts was slowly lowering, while off in the other direction, it seemed like Leon and Yue were able to keep Raynor safe while the man was down. The rest of the battle though, it was getting a bit more dangerous each time they moved forward and closer towards that beast. Layne gripped at the staff in his hands as he mumbled to himself, closing his eyes for a moment as he turned to Edda, "Let's go, if you can do that... Thing, again, I would appreciate it. One of them flew really far ahead and I need to be sure she's okay." He quickly ran forward as he gave her a wave to follow him, the cleric not wasting anytime as he dashed towards Rona. The staff in his hand had already begun to glow with the warm light as he lifted it up into the air, a small sigh escaping the cleric as he pointed it into the sky. Relief began to wash over the injuries on her body once again, the worst of them starting to patch up enough to dull the pain, while he took a brief step up and glanced back towards Edda. It was rare that Layne would heal someone without making even a passing comment, but considering his focus was back towards Edda, it probably wouldn't be a surprise. When she caught up, Layne heard a faint sounding coming from Edda as he raised an eyebrow. He wasn't even sure what she had said, but sure enough, it felt like the will to move was returning to him once again. He grinned to Edda, giving her a little wave, before turning on his feet and dashing upwards once again. The forest ground wasn't entirely even, there were roots that he had to avoid tripping over, but he dashed all the same towards Alexis as the staff he was holding began to glow once more. He watched as the worst of the wounds started to close once more, though the blood wasn't so easily washed away. Layne exhaled with a deep sigh, catching his breath as he started to slump over a tiny bit, his hands shaking a tiny bit as he wobbled lightly, giving a single, offhand comment between his breaths. "You're almost... As bad as Rona..."

Raynor fell. He had thought he could make it back in time and heal him, get things going on towards the rest of the fight, but no. He was too late to properly patch up Raynor. While he was here, he could at least take the time to patch up the worst of those wounds to keep the fallen ally from bleeding out during the rest of the combat, but... I screwed up, my priorities were all wrong. He winced for a moment as he looked at the crumpled body on the ground in front of them, this was the first time someone from the group had actually gone down like this in front of him. There had been close calls, there had been accidents, but to see him be hit to ground like that was... "don't worry, I'll handle the zombie over there and keep him safe. Make sure to keep everyone else healthy. keeping pressing forward to the phantom!" Layne shook his head a tiny bit as he glanced back to Leon, giving him a quick look as he nodded his head, "Stay safe. If things get bad, call for us. We have people who can get to you quick for backup. We'll try to get this done quick." With the way things were right now, it wasn't safe for them to start running forward to try and attack... Or for him to run forward to heal the others, in this case. Right now, the best he could do was heft a new heal staff up into the air, letting light shine from it onto Ada as he mumbled, closing his eyes as he did, "You heard the man, let's keep going." Layne quickly turned to where Yue was standing, the sight of their archer on the ground making him wince as he did. He called out before he started to make his running start after Ada, "Yue. He's going to be fine, I promise. I'll make sure of it as soon as we clear this area of monsters. We're all going to make it out of this, like hell will I let him die. The sooner we get through this, the sooner he'll be on his feet. Keep going!" He really didn't have room to be talking this confidently. There was nothing to say that he could bring Raynor back from the brink at this point, there was nothing to say that Raynor wasn't dead, he wasn't close enough to get a good look at the man, but... He'd deal with that another time. Hopefully. Hopefully Raynor would be fine. He took off after Ada next, it wasn't much of a pep talk, but he didn't have enough time to stop and comfort her properly. The light from the staff was fading as Ada ran off, but once he was back into range, the heal took place and patched her up, hopefully getting the worst of the wounds...

It was hard to tell if Raynor was going to be alright here, honestly. Right after getting him patched up, he was immediately attacked by a zombie and a hound. The hound, thankfully, was decimated without any trouble, but that zombie was still up and kicking right up until Leon had taken the initiative to slice it into dust. It was hard to tell if ANY of them were going to be alright. Layne was thankfully saved from the horror of being munched on by the hound, but that was only because it decided that Ada had looked like a tastier snack. If things had been slightly different, it was equally likely that he wouldn't have gotten off so easily this time. Layne whistled lightly as he started to duck and dodge his way between the others, passing Raynor with a quick wave, "I'll be back to patch you up soon, don't go too far!" Ada needed to be healed soon, but it wasn't critical enough to the point where he had to deviate from his original plan. There was someone here that, if he didn't get to them now, he might not get a chance later. The Heal Staff was hefted up into the air one final time as the glow of light from it began to surround Rona, seeping into her body to patch up the worst of her wounds and reinvigorate her for the next wave of oncoming enemies. He was about to start speaking, but the heal staff in his hands began to disintegrate into the wind, dust flowing towards the ground a bit as he shook his head. He gave a sad look towards the staff briefly, but quickly started to speak, his voice going a mile a minute as he did, "Phew, just made it... We've got more coming in from both sides Rona, it looks like the new girl there got separated from us, maybe try to get her to come back over towards the main group so we're together. Gotta run!" He gave her a grin and a thumbs up, before promptly rushing back towards Leon and Raynor, "Alright, ready for the next wave!"

"you do not! Hurt! My! Friends! You got that?" Layne could only blink as he heard that... Well, it could only be described as an outburst. Yue was so quiet normally, it was kind of a relief to hear her actually refer to someone in the group as a friend, even if it might not be the best time to think about it. With that creature falling without a fight, the rest of the battle going on around him seemed to be progressing fairly well. Raynor was a bit bruised and could use some patch up, Rona had taken down one zombie and one was left standing in front of her... "trykk videre!" Things were just getting stranger and stranger. He had no idea what that chant was or why Rona was able to almost immediately take down that next zombie, but he wasn't going to complain about it. But what he was going to complain about was that strange, annoying hound that was within striking distance of Ada... And himself. He winced for a moment as he glanced around, everyone else had their hands full... But this wasn't a person who could be easily distracted by someone who shouldn't be fighting taking a swing at them, the chances of him being able to get a good hit on a wolf was pretty low, it wasn't weakened at all, it was best if he left it for someone else to try and take care of, sadly. Instead, he lifted up the Heal staff once more as he started to run forward, making his way past the hound as quickly as possible, dashing towards Raynor as the light of the staff started to surround the injury, soothing the pain at least enough to keep it from distracting him as Layne whistled, "One hell of a bite on these things, yeah? Don't let it get to you, looks like I might be next on the menu." He grinned for a moment, his eyes nervously shifting towards the not-so-far hound as he tried to keep that grin on his face. He turned a bit towards Edda, that strange chant lingering in the back of his mind, but at the moment... He had to get ready to dash, Rona needed healing too, once he caught his breath, he could run over and get her patched up next...

"What a waste of a perfectly good bear," the shaman puffed her cheeks out and crossed her arms, "Though it's probably fine for the mounts..." "Eh, I'm starving. I'm not about to let a chance to eat go to waste. It's probably fine." He waved his hand in the air lazily as he mumbled to himself, a little sigh escaping him as he tilted his head up to look to the sky. The quiet evening was at least almost over, and he could get himself ready to drag down towards that river once everyone else had gone to bed for the night. "everyone, get yourself ready!" Layne flinched as he heard Leon call out, quickly turning towards the call to get a good look at what was there. The monstrous creature caused him to scowl a tiny bit, this was supposed to be a quiet evening, not one where they had to fight for their lives yet again. He scooped up the healing staff propped against the log beside him as he stood up, preparing to dash off after Rona once her change had begun. He started to run after her, making sure to stay relatively in the middle of everyone as best as he could, while it seemed things were quickly accelerating. Yue had started to run towards the combat to attack herself as well, they were going at least. It wasn't going to do any good for him to stay in one place. He quickly took up a spot where he felt mostly safe. There was one stray enemy that might get to him from here... But the fact that he could run to pretty much anyone from here would have to make up for it if he was attacked. Plus, they could easily get back to him too. [Spoiler Title] Layne moved to the right two spaces and up three. Positioning!

"I'm counting on it." That shouldn't have made Layne nervous, but it did. Keeping everyone alive was a stressful job, everyone was on different pages most of the time. And that wasn't even taking into account that Rona... Well, Rona didn't help matters. His face darkened for a moment as he nodded to Leon, before turning his attention to the fact that Yue and Rona had returned. The bear was going to take some time to prepare, but the sheer amount of meat meant that no one was going to go without some. Even if it wouldn't be the most amazing thing in the world. The food prep took a better part of the evening to cook once they had gotten it set up, and Layne took a portion of it for himself, slowly breaking the meat down into smaller, thinner strips... It was definitely a slow process though, considering that the meat was tough to chew in the first place. A hazard of bear meat, what can one do? He hummed lightly to himself as he started to nibble on bits of the meat he had stripped off, watching the others for a moment. A little laugh escaped him as Alexis started to inch her way towards Yue, that was... Definitely going to end well. But his thoughts were drifting back towards the fact that... Apparently, they hadn't been the ones to kill that bear. They had just stumbled on it. He wasn't entirely sure what that was going to mean for the group, but it was enough to make him a little antsy.

Leon nodded, his own expression becoming a bit solemn as he said, "well, your worries are not yours alone. This whole bounty thing has kept me on edge for awhile, and I can't say walking through the country side has made me feel any better. But well..." The trailing off there caused Layne to let out a small sigh as he rubbed at his neck, "We'll figure it out, yeah? No point in obsessing over it right now, we need to rest for the night. And figure out why the bounty is up in the first place. Maybe we can learn a bit from Edda, if she'll talk to anyone." He smiled lightly as he shrugged his shoulders lightly as he said that, he knew it was a long shot. She wasn't very interested in talking to anyone, at least not for any extended amount of time. Whether they would get any information from her was... Uncertain. "But, I'm the leader, so there's no point in you worrying about if anyone gets hurt. That fault will be mine alone. However if they are, I'll be looking to you to make sure everyone's healed just fine." Layne let out a little snort as he shook his head, "Don't carry all the responsibility alone, you'll drive yourself crazy trying to do that. We'll be here to help you out with anything that crops up." He smiled in return, poking his tongue out slightly as he gave a brief wink, "Don't worry, I'll make sure everyone stays healthy to the best of my ability. Can't let anything happen on my watch."

The quiet of the night was... Nice. After spending the day dealing with those bandits and then getting to know their new 'friend', it was nice to just sit down and close his eyes. The music going was a nice touch, though it ended before too long, leaving Layne to stare up at the sky once his eyes opened up again. The fact that the entire day felt like it was stretched out over the course of a couple was really causing fatigue to settle into his body, but he quietly pushed himself up to a sitting position either way as he let out a soft sigh. He brought a hand up to his head to brush along the back of it gently, a low yawn escaping the cleric as he shook his head slightly to try and shake off the approaching sleep. As much as he wanted to just collapse and rest for the night, there were still things he would have to do. There was the need to get washed up in the river for the day ahead of them, if only for his own sanity. But then Leon seemed to address him, luckily enough he was actually conscious and not dozing off to sleep on the log like he had been. "Well, I suppose it's better than keeping things dull around here. So, how're you holding up from the trip so far?" The cleric stretched for a moment as he yawned out, his hand rubbing along the back of his head again as he looked up at the sky, "The trip isn't the hard part of things. Though keeping clean is definitely a lot more annoying. It might be silly to say it, but I was really hoping we would have an easy job this time." He clasped his hands together over his lap as he leaned forward a bit, a small mumble escaping him as he glanced aside, grumbling lightly, "I mean, it's partially my responsibility we're out here, you know? Bandits are nothing new, but what they were saying has me worried. If there's some kind of bounty and someone gets hurt..." He trailed off a bit, sighing gently as he shook his head, "We're already in it, so there's nothing to do and no reason to keep focusing on it, but it keeps on popping in my head now."

The woods were not a comfortable place to be. Let alone at night, when things were starting to get dark and... Uncomfortable. Camping had never been one of Layne's strong suits, even when he was traveling with the tribe back in Yon'Lou. Sure, he hadn't been on many big expeditions before getting moved away... But it was still something he wasn't that great with. The fact they had to stop wouldn't be that bad, if they weren't trapped in the woods. At least there was a river nearby. Layne would have to do some looking around the banks to make sure that it wasn't too fast moving to bathe in, that the water was safe to drink for them... A variety of things, really. There was a lot to do in order to properly set up the camp, and he wasn't exactly much help in getting tents and all set up... But he would try anyway, before running off to do his own thing for the evening. He could certainly use a dip in the river, anyway. "I-I'll go hunting...if we need food that is." Layne blinked for a moment, before rubbing at his neck lightly, "...Whatever you bring back, I can get cooked. Stay safe out there, Yue." Camping might not be his strong suit, but he can help cook at least. There were sure to be some useful greens around that could be used... Or maybe they had some supplies that could work too. He was almost lost in thought as Rona went over to join Yue... And a sheepish look crossed his face. It probably wasn't a good idea to let her go off on her own, that was definitely true. Why didn't that occur to him? ___ Layne had rushed his way around the campsite, doing his best to provide help in setting everything up... And finally, he just plopped down by the campfire for a moment to relax. His eyes closing as he fell over onto his back, looking up at the sky as he closed his eyes, a little mumble escaping him. He barely even registered that there was someone else at the fire... Or that they had nearly fallen into it before he got here. Right now, he just had to rest. The music coming from nearby had just barely started to register as he laid there, a low sigh escaping him as he just listened to it. It wasn't like anything he would have heard back at the monastery, the hymns there were all fairly standard. This was definitely different. A low mumble escaped the cleric as he sighed, "...It's a nice tune..." Music wasn't something he had the most experience with personally... But he certainly respected it.