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

[Sethera 290]

Yue nodded to Layne, feeling warmed at the thought of being needed. At being useful. "I-I'll do my b-best!" As she ran, she listened to what Leon said with some trepidation. This wasn't good. If they really were the Sky Knights, which they might be because pegasus and Sky Knights just went together like bread and butter, then didn't that mean they'd get labeled as traitors or something?

Still, no matter how fast they were, their pursuers caught up to them in no time, calling them stuff like "criminal scum," and "treacherous bunch." Which was not only really mean, but also just plain rude. Which meant there was no hesitation whatsoever on Yue's end when Leon told them to get ready. However, Rona seemed to have other plans.

"If...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."

"N-no way!" Yue shouted, though for another person it would be considered normal volume. "Th-there's no way we're leaving any of you behind. R-Rona, you're...uhh..." she trailed off, blushing as she realized what she had been about to say. You're an important person to me, so I can't just let you fight alone. No, she could never be that bold. The girl shook her head. "You're members of the Iron Falcons, and Edda is a client. Leon taught us to stand by each other, and we can't let a client get hurt either. So...don't say such sad things," she whispered the last sentence.

Determined, she moved into the nearest thicket and began stringing her bow for battle.

Spoiler

Yue moves down 1 square and left 3 squares.

Edited December 16, 2019 by Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

[Blake 312]

Ada had refused the ride from Raynor gracefully. Without her full robes, the sun was eating at her a bit, but at least she wasn't overheating. And maybe Layne would be able to help with the sunburn it gave her. How anyone thought she was Aeoran with such fair skin was beyond her, but she couldn't help but grumble as she watched Edda climb on Gojira. Sure she got ahead of herself sometimes, but it didn't warrant that kind of aggression.

But that had to be set aside. For now, this pompous paladin and his unit stood between them and their goal. And, yet again, she seemed to be excluded from the "northerners". Fine. It would just be a bigger surprise when she revealed her magic.

"If...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."

Ada grit her teeth as Rona said her piece, ready to give the girl a piece of her own mind, but she was shocked to hear someone beat her to it.

"N-no way!" Yue shouted, though for another person it would be considered normal volume. "Th-there's no way we're leaving any of you behind. R-Rona, you're...uhh..." she trailed off, blushing, then shaking her head. "You're members of the Iron Falcons, and Edda is a client. Leon taught us to stand by each other, and we can't let a client get hurt either. So...don't say such sad things." 

"... She's right, you know." Ada sighed and rubbed the back of her head, trying to calm herself down, "Besides... Aeoran, Jouran, who cares? We're a group. We need to lean on each other, not run off or fight. Not to mention, I'm a devil like you, whether they know it or not."

Ada followed the wyvern rider, standing side-by-side with her, keeping her tome hidden until the moment she needed it.

Ada moves left four times, then up once.

[Kay Faraday 23]

 

---

 

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.

 

---

Layne moved down 2 and to the left 3 spaces. Time to wait.

Edited December 20, 2019 by Kay Faraday

[Saikazo 241]

In the end, only Edda accepted the ride, which was alright. Raynor would have to babysit them a little more, but it was a small price to pay to make sure no one fell behind. So they ran, doing their best to escape the knights that pursued them. Soon however, they had to stop and fight. That was ok with Raynor though. When they stopped, he climbed on top of his mount, slowly and carefully picking up Edda and placing her on the ground.

"Sorry, but I need my buddy back," Raynor explained as he slipped back into the saddle.

"Falcons, get ready." 

"You got it," Raynor took out his lance, gripping it and getting into position. It was time to take on an unit of armed guards, people that were out for their blood. It wasn't like the other times with monsters and bandits. They wanted the Jourans dead and were trained well enough to do it. The thought scared him some, seeing as he fell to a skeleton not last night, but... at the same time, he was excited. New day, new battle, new results.

"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." Rona spoke up, causing Raynor to raise an eyebrow.

"N-no way!" Yue called out "Th-there's no way we're leaving any of you behind. R-Rona, you're...uhh..." she trailed off, blushing, then shaking her head. "You're members of the Iron Falcons, and Edda is a client. Leon taught us to stand by each other, and we can't let a client get hurt either. So...don't say such sad things." 

"... She's right, you know." Ada sighed and rubbed the back of her head."Besides... Aeoran, Jouran, who cares? We're a group. We need to lean on each other, not run off or fight. Not to mention, I'm a devil like you, whether they know it or not."

"Yeah, no. That ain't happening." Layne shook 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."

"Besides, back when I offered ya the chance to split from the group, you turned it down, saying Leon needed you at his side," Raynor stated with a grin. He didn't blame her, the odds didn't seem to be the best, and she tried to save the others. But remembering her own declaration should strength her resolve... he hoped. "Now's not the time to take back those words. Let's get going!" With that, Raynor and Gojira began to move forwards, the two readying for battle. "Go ahead and line up!" He yelled excitedly at the enemy. "This Jouran's going to kick your asses and move on to become a legend!"

---

OOC

Spoiler

Raynor moves forward 2 spaces.

 

[Skaia 578]

Leon was put both more on edge and calmed by the posture his fellow company members, Alexis included, took up against the Sky Knights. And, while Rona seemed keen to keep herself as a diversion, like all the rest of his company members he was not about to let her just act as bait. He knew that she was strong, and Leon had always had faith in Rona's ability to dive in and come back out, yet this time it was different. These were neither bandits nor mindless beasts. They were men with the ferocity and knowledge to ensure that once they caught her they'd never let go. And though she seemed to be fine with that ending, there was no way Leon could agree with it. So, rather than repeating the sentiments of everyone before, Leon simply walked up and took a ready stance for the enemies as they came forward. 

The Paladin, meanwhile, had simply stayed his ground. Nodding his head, he said, "so it is death you have chosen. Very well. Men, forward!" As the man shouted this, the cavaliers and pegasus began to move forward, though despite the gravitas of the way he spoke, did not seem to directly engage. Instead, one group seemed keep to move further along their flank, while another simply closed the distance without actually engaging the group. As some of the other cavaliers began to move forward, the paladin simply raised his hand, the lot stopped as if waiting for something.

[Sethera 290]

Yue felt her heart warm at hearing that the others felt the same way about leaving Rona behind--it just wouldn't happen. Rona was too precious, an important comrade. It wasn't the Falcon way to leave somebody behind. Even Raynor, new as he was, agreed with them on that.

Smiling, the girl continued to watch the approaching enemies, still partially obscured by the thicket. That's quite a lot of people. The smile slipped from her face, legs shaking, knees knocking together. But she had to be brave. She would be brave. Brave like an Iron Falcon, like Rona. I want to run... But she couldn't. This was her chance! Her chance to help Rona instead of the other way around. Her chance to show Rona that she wasn't always a scaredy-cat. She could be brave and strong too!

Even if she felt like flattening herself to the ground and covering her eyes, she couldn't do that. ...Could she? Maybe just a little bit? Just for a while, anyway.

The girl shook her head, catching sight of a flash of white out of the corner of her eyes. Glancing up, she saw Alexis, a lone speck of white sitting in the opposing thicket. Alone. Everybody else had gathered on this side, leaving the pegasus knight to fend for herself all the way over there.

Something about that just didn't sit right with Yue.

She didn't really like Alexis. The girl was too loud, too flashy, a bit like Layne, but even worse. That last battle had warmed her to the healer a bit, but Alexis was an unknown, a stranger. And she always got too close for comfort. Layne at least stayed outside her personal bubble.

Still, that didn't mean she wanted the other to fight alone.

The girl looked over to Rona. So brave, but flanked by so many of her allies. To Alexis, also brave, but standing alone.

Yue wanted to show off to Rona. To show the wyvern rider that she didn't need to sacrifice herself that way. They were all there for her. But...no matter how much the archer wanted to fool herself, Rona didn't really need her, did she? She had Leon, and everybody else.

The girl looked down, biting her lip as she stared at the ground beneath her shoes. She didn't like it, nor did she like her, but this was something Rona would do, right? Help somebody in need. So, maybe, by doing this, even if Rona didn't see, or care, she would still be doing something the other girl would be proud of. Yeah.

Nodding her head, Yue stood up from her half-crouch, and started to run. Not toward the enemies, nor away from them, but toward Alexis.

This is probably better anyway, right? The archer consoled herself as she ran through the grass. This way I can reach both sides if I need to. She tried to ignore the fact it also meant both sides could reach her. Her stomach churned in fear, but she had to keep running. Running, at least, was something she was good at.

Spoiler

Yue moves up 5 spaces.

Edited December 26, 2019 by Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

[LordCowCow 840]

Rona hadn't expected them to actually do as she said. That didn't stop her from being frustrated about it. It just didn't make sense to her. One sacrifice to ensure survival. That's all it would be. Even if they tried to follow it would've given them a chance to gain some distance. Yet now they all had followed. Worse still they weren't even in defensive formation.

She had hoped to lure out one of the enemies but they were much smarter than the bandits from before. Which to her meant one thing. She had to take the fight to them. If they managed to surround even one of their more frail members they were done for. The only way out of this was to hit the enemy fast and weaken their numbers. Had the others kept back she could've waited for the enemy to come to her but now...

With a war cry Rona and Cormag took off. She would focus on the flying enemies. If she could bring them down, even if the others were forced to retreat, they'd have a much easier time without the pegasus knights pursuing them.

She hung a left and went straight for one wielding a Steel Lance. "The skies belong to wyverns, I'm here to show you that!" she declared as the two met in the air.

The two flew towards each other. Cormag wasn't entirely agile but with a simple move to the side the two passed by each other. The pegasus, more nimble, doubled back and tried to ram their lance into Rona's side. The girl brought her axe to the side and struck the lance tip. Knocking it off to the side and leaving the rider open.

Cormag shifted mid-air, placing Rona slightly behind the Pegasus Knight, and she brought her axe down into the rider's back. They cried out as the weapon bit deep into them. Rona pulled back fiercely and the rider fell off the side of their mount. Collapsing to the ground. Dead on impact.

---

Alexis was almost amused at how things were set up. Some of the enemy were coming her way, yes, but all of the others had gathered around Rona. "She certainly is popular isn't she?" She said to Tana, patting the pegasus to calm her. She could feel the mount under her shifting anxiously. Alexis knew that Tana didn't like just hovering here while so many foes were coming close. She also knew that Tana didn't like fighting against other pegasus. But it's how things were going down so the rider had to assure her mount. "It'll be fine, girl, we'll get through this."

She noticed Yue approaching and cast a small smile her way. Still, she had to be sure the enemy didn't notice her. "Alright you lot, think you got what it takes? Let's see if you can manage to clip my wings!" She stuck her tongue out and urged Tana back. Keeping her movements to a minimum but moving into position right on the far end of the thicket. Let's see those cavaliers try and reach her and get stuck in the brush. That'll make them sitting ducks. And Alexis was pretty sure it was duck season.

Spoiler

Rona moved one down and four right and attacked Steel Lance Pegasus, hitting, killing. Pegasus 1 counter target.

Alexis moved one right and one up. Pegasus 5 counter target.

 

[Kay Faraday 23]

---

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 moved down 1 space to try and... Reposition into a slightly safer spot? It might not really be safer, but maybe!

[Saikazo 241]

Fight the Knight

The enemy had begun to mobilize, to push forward with their attack. There were a lot of them, yes, but Raynor was no longer worried. His doubt, his fear, he forced it down as he stood on his lizard's back. He would blaze the trail forward, open a path to victory, like the ones before him had. Gojira raced down the field, their target being very clear. The rider folded his arms in an act of complete confidence as he charged at his opponent.

"Are you ready, guy?!" He called out to his opponent. "Put your war face on!" With that, he crouched into a stance, pulling out his lance. "This fight is mine!" He called out as the two approached, Raynor thrusting at his opponent's chest. He knew his range with his lance was much better than the man's reach with his sword, that his thrust should reach his opponent before the solider had time to block. He was as good as dead.

So he slightly directed his focus. He had rushed by someone in his drive for battle, and they stood parallel to each other. Raynor kept his focus locked on the man. He wouldn't be blindsided by this solider, no way in hell!

---

Spoiler

Raynor moved to number 7 and attacks, making number 8 his counter target.

 

[Skaia 578]

As the fighting had broken out, Leon watched as the Falcons had drawn the first blood, charging at the forces of Rastarn. With Rona felling one of the pegasus knights almost immediately and Raynor taking a good stab into one of them, the front line of their foes seemed to be injured but still standing strong in the face of the mercenary company. This didn't last long, however, as Ada first stepped up. Wielding what little remained of her dark tome the girl fired off two dark, smoky blasts of magic towards the lance wielding cavalier in front of her. With each blast of dark smoke landing with great impact, the horseman was easily disposed of.

With the opening created by Ada's attack, Leon soon stepped in and with a swift slash of his blade the boy brought it into the unsuspecting pegasus knight. Blindsided by the strike, Leon was able to not only get a good cut in, but he had managed to sweep his whole blade through the body of the rider, felling them. 

With the goading of the one pegasus knight to the side, the one with the steel lance looked to the others. He figured that while not much of a threat on her own, he shouldn't just leave the rider unattended, either in a position to flank or to retreat. But, not wanting to devote too much to just one person, the knight looked to two of the pegasus knights and said, "you two, handle it." With two of them flying towards her, one lagging behind, the first pegasus knight charged right at Alexis and managed get a good stab into her. He was, likewise, stabbed by an equally painful strike from her lance. 

Meanwhile, the paladin amidst them glared towards Ada as she had preformed her magic. "A traitor and heretic all in one. Very well. Men, you know what you must do to fell the menace that has found its root in our homeland!" As the man spoke, the rest of the soldiers seemed to steel themselves as they began to maneuver around the party. In spite of each member of the falcon having a mark, they would soon find their opponent was not quite as easy to read. With both the pegasus knights moving around the two mounted riders, they both moved to strike at both Leon and Ada with their lances.

Both of them were not fortunate enough to avoid this attack, and they both felt the sting of spears go through them. Leon, however, had it much worse as the pegasus with the steel lance charged him from the side, blindsiding and stabbing into his side. Being shoved by the momentum of the attack, Leon was knocked off balance momentarily, though managed to regain his footing, breath ragged but still able to fight. 

Meanwhile, the two cavaliers had elected to not attack the lance wielding Draytter. So instead, the two struck at the axe wielding wyvern rider instead, both of their swords finding purchase against their foe. Though it didn't amount to too much, Rona would still feel the stinging of both blades, especially the steel blade as she was struck by it. Raynor wasn't entirely safe either, as one of the other cavalier that had been off to the side had charged at him as well, slashing at him and meeting similar success to the ones that had attacked Rona. 

Though the group was likely able to hold off their current foes, things seemed to be taking a turn for the worst as the infantry was slowly making their way up and yet another group of cavaliers seemed to be circling around, waiting for their opening. 

[LordCowCow 840]

Rona's blood was pumping. She could barely focus on what was going on around her. It was almost as though she wasn't even there anymore. She was just on another Jouraan battlefield. Fighting the Aeoran dogs. Surrounded by the enemy. All she could do was keep attacking. Keep killing. That was what she was made for.

She was hurt, she thought, when did that happen? The blades of the foes in front of her were wet with blood. Her blood. Yet she didn't even know when they had injured her.

The girl was about to attack when she realized that there were still Pegasus Knights incoming. About to break the line. She remembered her goal from the start. Slay the flying units. Allow the ground troops to deal with the others. Her fight was elsewhere.

Cormag let out a roar that caused the cavaliers to hesitate for just that moment that let her break from them and head towards a different group. Over the head of her comrades, who weren't all Jouraan's she remembered with a start, and on her way she cleaved the head off a pegasus rider that was threatening the commander.

Her breathing was ragged and her head was swimming as she heard a noise, a melodic voice, and a surge of energy shot through her. The other Pegasus Knight was nearby and they had just turned to see their comrade being felled by the Jouraan. With a shout Rona surged forward and, Cormag ramming into the smaller flying mount, buried her axe in the chest of the rider.

This was battle. Plain and simple. Her mind was startlingly clear. She only had to keep killing the Aeorans for her commander.

Spoiler

Rona moved between Pegasus 2 and 4, got versed, killed them both. Counter target Pegasus 8.

---

Alexis shook her head with a wispy smile. Looked like trained soldiers were harder to trick. At least she managed to get a couple of their attention. Better yet it was the air troops. Though she'd rather face off against the cavaliers, for Tana's sake if nothing else, it would be good to thin their numbers to make the battle easier on the others. And even better yet... "Hey, Yue, wanna be a dear and take care of that one?" She called out towards their archer.

With a shout she took advantage of the wound she inflicted on the opposing Pegasus already. The opponent was fast but she was faster. Before they could recover from the lance in their side Alexis thrust forward and buried the lance higher, into the rider's chest.

She winced as the soldier toppled off to the side and gave the now riderless pegasus a pitying look. "Sorry, wish this could have gone differently." She muttered. It still felt wrong, fighting her own country's soldiers like this, but she had to do what she thought was right.

She really hoped she wasn't taking the wrong side this time.

Tana advanced forward towards the edge of the thicket. She wanted to stay back but if she strayed too far from the main group she wouldn't be able to help at all.

Spoiler

Alexis killed Pegasus 5 and moved two forward. Counter target 6 but hoping for Yue to take it down.

 

[Sethera 290]

"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."

"I-I will," the archer called back, feeling a little warmed by the other's concern. Yeah. Layne was nice. She finished running over to where Alexis sat atop her pegasus, having just finished spearing a fellow pegasus knight. It was an odd sight, to be sure, and for a second, Yue wasn't sure which one was Alexis and which one was the enemy. However, she realized which one a second later--Alexis's pegasus had a slightly more bluish tint to their feathers while the enemy's was more reddish-purple. Not to mention the barding was a bit different. The enemies were all adorned in silver and red armor. That could also be the reason the pegasi themselves had a slight red cast to their feathers.

The girl finished her run toward the other, settling into the thicket just beside Alexis. She nodded in response to the other girl's words, and quickly aimed at the remaining enemy pegasus knight. Letting the arrow fly, she watched it just long enough to make sure it had hit--and taken the enemy down as well--before turning back to Alexis. "B-be careful," she warned. This person was almost as reckless as Rona. But Rona was equally strong and amazing enough to get out of trouble, and this girl wasn't. "Layne said if you get hurt to fly over to where he is," she pointed back at the cleric. "He's our healer." They'd already, technically, been through a battle together, but it was still good to make sure she knew. Especially if she was going to end up fighting separately from most of them.

[Kay Faraday 23]

---

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...

---

Layne moved up 1 and left 2, used Heal Staff 2 on Leon for full HP. Then he moved up 1 more with Exit Stage.

[Saikazo 241]

So far, everything was going well. However, things wouldn't stay this way for long. The one he attacked had ran off, and some new person came and attacked him. That really mad the rider mad! Who just ran off from a battle?!

"Coward! Get back here!" Raynor yelled at the top of his lungs, shrugging off the attack of the new enemy and generally ignoring them. Raynor clenched his weapon and went to chase after his old opponent, but as he moved, a few things caught his eye. There was an enemy behind him the whole time attacking their leader, and his enemy that had ran away had a clear shot at Layne. Where they trying to take their healer out of the equation? Well, he wouldn't let that happen.

He moved closer to Layne, while at the same time attacking the enemy behind him right into their side. Then then turn and watched the enemy that fled from him "Come and get it!" He yelled once more.

 

---

OOC

Spoiler

Raynor moved down one and one to the right and attacked Cavalier 3, and makes Cavalier 8 his counter target.

 

[Skaia 578]

With Rona managing to break through some of the lines and Alexis and Yue managing the sides, Leon moved back to help keep their formation stable. Though he wasn't quite strong enough to fell the cavalier in one strike, his slash had managed to wound the rider enough that Raynor was able to finish him off. As Leon then felt some of the pain radiating across his body fade, the boy looked back and said, "thanks Layne." Ada, meanwhile, didn't feel comfortable advancing forward and was already wounded herself. So, playing it safe, the girl simply healed what wound she got, waiting to see what would happen with the rest of the enemy formation. 

The cavaliers, now all having assembled and with infantry support on the way all seemed primed and ready to strike. With a wave of the Paladins hand, he simply called out, "everyone. Charge!" With that, the group had begun to move into formation and constrict around the mercenary company. The two pegasus knights that were facing down Rona kept to their tactics and roll and decided that fighting the incredibly bulky wyvern rider was not the wise course of action. Though the boy with the staff was clearly in their range, the two seemed hesitant to strike, before deciding against it. And so, the two split off and went to attack both Leon and Ada. With Ada being pierced by a Steel Lance, the girl grimaced, before bringing up her Dusk Tome and firing a blast from her Dusk tome into the face of the rider. The rider seemed to tank it well enough, though was still clearly hurt by the attack. Leon, meanwhile, was also struck by the iron lance before responding with a strike from his sword as well. The mercenary and the pegasus knight had seemed to have a clean exchange of blows, and though Leon was injured he seemed to be coming out ahead in the duel. 

The two cavaliers already on top of the group had continued to strike at Raynor, converging on him from two different sides. While each of them had managed to get a good slash into him with their swords, Raynor was still not in immediate peril from the cavaliers. As a result, Raynor was also able to strike back at the cavalier with the iron sword, plunging his lance into the side of the rider, causing the man to gasp in pain before looking ready to continue his attack against the draytter. 

Rona, meanwhile, was starting to have much less success. Though she and Cormag were naturally bulky, Rona would start to feel the weight of the axe she was using slow her down. With two cavaliers making their way towards her, the first of them was a lance wielder, stabbing once at her with success and then once more. The stinging pain from each attack was then only doubled up on by the next cavalier wielding a sword, slashing twice into the girl. Though none of the four attacks did much damage on their own, Rona would start to feel the damage from the wounds rack up.

Edda looked with fright clearly on her face as the Aeoran troops continued to strike at them, unsure of what their odds and shaking as a result. She was caught off guard as a cavalier made its way towards her, and with his steel sword struck at her. The girl winced in pain as the attack struck her, but the sword didn't seem to harm her all that much. The cavalier seemed to be on edge as he looked at all the people they were fighting, wondering just what these Jourans were made of. 

Edited January 12, 2020 by Skaia

[LordCowCow 840]

"Layne said if you get hurt to fly over to where he is,"

"Worried about me? Ain't that sweet." Alexis said with a smile. The smile faltered for a moment as she felt the burning pain of her injury. She had underestimated the opponent. Stupid of her. They were trained soldiers after all but she hadn't thought that attack was going to be that swift. She supposed she'd have to take up that offer.

"Nice shot by the way, you really don't miss do you?" She looked over towards the group again and shook her head. "I'm gonna have to remind Layne how to strategize. You guys sure do go wild don't you?" She wanted to just use a Vulnerary and not bother with the healer but... "Suppose I have to go try and pull them out of this aren't I? Hope that healer of yours is quick on his feet. Wish me luck." She gave Yue a wink before taking off at high speed.

She raced towards the nearest Cavalier, the one who had struck Edda, and thrust into his side before he even noticed her coming. With a grunt she pulled the lance out. The soldier swung his blade weakly at the Pegasus Knight. Leaning back, Alexis pulled back on Tana's reigns and the pegasus deftly avoided the attack. Alexis finished off the Cavalier then with another thrust through his throat.

---

She was injured. Badly. It was hard to keep her grip on the heavy Steel Axe. But the enemy was still standing. She had to keep fighting. Even in this state Rona realized if she kept swinging that axe around like this she'd wear both it and herself out. And if either of them ran out of strength then she was done for.

So she swapped out for her lighter axe. A true warrior can slay with even the weakest of weapons. So she should be able to take down a few of these Aeoran dogs. Otherwise what was she even here for? She was a Jouran warrior, superior fighters in every way, after all.

With a battle cry she had Cormag ram the nearby pegasus. Then she swung the axe in an overhead swing and cleaved through the rider's head. Blood spurted out into Rona's face as the girl pulled the axe out. With a grimace she turned to look at the Cavalier that had attacked her earlier, glaring at him with her bloodied face.

Spoiler

Alexis moved one to right of Cav 2 and killed them. Cav 7 counter target.

Rona killed Pegasus 8, Cav 1 counter target.

 

[Sethera 290]

"Worried about me? Ain't that sweet." Alexis said with a smile.

"Th-that's right. Layne worries about everybody," Yue stammered. Even if she didn't want him to worry. She stopped what she was going to say next at seeing the smile slip from the pegasus knight's face.

"Nice shot by the way, you really don't miss do you?" Alexis shook her head. "I'm gonna have to remind Layne how to strategize. You guys sure do go wild don't you? Suppose I have to go try and pull them out of this aren't I? Hope that healer of yours is quick on his feet. Wish me luck." She gave Yue a wink before taking off at high speed.

"W-we don't need you to pull us out of anything! That's what Rona is for!" Yue shouted after her, but she wasn't sure if the girl heard her or not. Sighing, the archer began to head over to the others as well, though her pace was much slower than the others, being on foot. Sometimes I wish I had a mount like the others, she thought. Oddly enough, despite her affinities with animals, she had never had one of her own to ride around on. Mounts were expensive, and after leaving her tribe behind, she had little money of her own with which to buy one. She did have some experience with riding animals though, but they had all been wild, friends she had made in the forest near her home.

The archer was pulled from her musings at seeing Alexis attack an enemy cavalier. Thankfully, she was near Layne, so if anything went wrong...though now that she looked closer, there was somebody else who needed help more than their newest ally.

"Rona!" Yue increased her pace. I'm not going to be fast enough to make it...am I? Her eyes started to water. I just hope...nothing bad happens to her.

However, in the end, she did manage to run far enough. Taking out her bronze-colored bow, the archer aimed it at the nearest cavalier, pulling the bow back even further, to where the angle of the string was almost ninety degrees, aimed straight at the sky. Only then, did she fire, watching the arrow soar through the air and embed itself into the enemy. It was a long shot, but I did it!

Spoiler

Yue moves down and left to the space directly to the right of Alexis. She then attacks and hits Cavalier 1 with a Longshot from her Bronze Bow.

Edited January 15, 2020 by Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

[Saikazo 241]

Well, there was a bit of good news, and a bit of bad news. The good news was that the group could in fact handle the people that they currently were dealing with. The bad news was that more people were coming, and that could spell bad news for everyone else if they were flanked. They would need to funnel them, have them focus on one spot and pick them off instead of letting them overwhelm the others.

"Oy! You all wanted a Jouran? Well come and get me! Unless you're too cowardly to face me like warriors?!" He taunted to the approaching group as he attacked the Iron Sword wielding cavalier from earlier with his lance. "C'mon, show me the strength of your precious Rastarn!" he took a deep breath, preparing for the fight ahead. Now wasn't the time to falter. Now he needed to be stronger than ever!

---

OOC

Spoiler

Raynor attacked Cavalier 8 and makes 10 his counter target.

 

[Kay Faraday 23]

---

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 moves left 2, heals Rona to full with Heal Staff 2, leaving it with 32 uses left. He then Exits Stage right 2, up 1.

Edda verses Layne so he can move again, he uses Mend Staff 1 to heal Alexis to full, leaving it with 18 uses, then Exits Stage right 2. Pays 1 HP to ready a counter against Cav 1 with the Mend Staff 1 just in case.

[Skaia 578]

Running past Ada and to Rona's side, Leon went to cover the wyvern rider's flank as he slashed forward at the pegasus knight once again. With his blade plunging into the chest of the rider, Leon pulled back as the rider fell from his pegasus and the mount, in a panic, flew away. With the space being clear, Ada went to go back up Raynor, who had just been successful in killing his own target, and pulled out her shade tome. Firing a blast of dark magic twice at the steel sword wielding Cavalier, each one managed to impact into the side armor of the man and sent him flying off of the horse, lying dead on the ground. 

The troops of Rastarn were now fully on top of the Iron Falcons, with only one squad being unable to close the distance. Firstly their was the cavaliers attack Rona. Wielding a lance, the cavalier to her west was not keen on continuing to slowly chip away the wyvern rider. Especially as the group had a some strange Jouran mage nearby as well as the  pegasus knight that had rejoined the main group. Moving past Rona, the cavalier looked between the two Falcons. On the one hand, the man was here more to capture and kill the Jourans then anything else, and she was certainly a priority target from what he had seen her do. However, he would be lying if he wasn't a little spooked by how ridiculously durable the other two Jourans they had been attacking were thus far. And so, opting to take what he felt would be the more productive route, charged Alexis and stabbed his lance into her side. While he was met with great relief that she didn't seem to be half as hard to kill as the wyvern rider, he was met with a great deal of pain as Alexis skewered her lance into his gut. The man wasn't dead yet, though he certainly didn't look all that lively. 

The cavalier to Rona's side, meanwhile, kept to his post and kept to keeping the wyvern rider boxed in. Even if a sudden arrow from into his side was causing a great deal of pain to him, he had his job and was going  to stick to it. Getting his sword ready, the cavalier slashed at Rona again, though this time the girl was not slow enough to make a follow up strike nor was she unsuspecting of his attack. Bringing her axe up, the girl struck at the cavalier. Unfortunately for her, he was ready for this and ducked under the swing of the axe, causing it to swing wide and against air. To add to Rona's troubles further, the man with the steel sword had charged forward, swinging at her and causing a significant deal more of pain as the sword cut across her. 

Thankfully for Rona, Leon was now at her side and so from where she was they could not simply box her in again. Unfortunately for Leon, this meant he was well in the path of attack yet again. With sword in hand, the cavalier charged Leon and struck the boy's shield, forcing it down, and then bringing his sword back up to smack Leon in the face with the flat of the blade. Though stunned, Leon was ready for the cavalier, and slashed across the cavaliers stomach. Ada, as well, was not safe from combat as one wielding a lance merely charged forward and skewered it into her. Ada, as well, was prepared for this attack and with one hand on her tome and one hand conjuring a dark sphere of magic, launching it at and stirking the cavalier with it as well. 

It didn't take long for someone to come and check Raynor once again. With the two mercenaries nearby, they both charged the man with their blades at the ready. Jumping up, the two of them in perfect synchronization struck with a cross slash combination attack which, while impressive, didn't amount to much more than what the cavaliers had done. However, while Raynor was dealing with these antics, the mage nearby thought he had finally had his chance to shine come up. Seeing Raynor's injured body from the repeated attacks, the Mage walked forward and opened his Elfire tome. As the tome glowed, the man conjured a rather large fire ball and hurled it at the draytter. With the flame orb exploding against Raynor, he would feel a great deal of searing pain and the mage had felt a surge of pride as he had managed to take down one of the menace's front liners. Unfortunately for him, Raynor, while very close to it, was not down and in fact still standing with his lance ready. 

[LordCowCow 840]

"W-we don't need you to pull us out of anything! That's what Rona is for!"

Is that so? Alexis couldn't help but smile at that. Maybe she wasn't trying hard enough in that case. Or, more likely, Rona was trying too hard. Alexis glanced over at the Wyvern Rider and winced at what she saw. The girl seemed to be swinging with such a savagery that she appeared to barely even realize what was going on around her. It was true that the girl was impressive, able to withstand multiple foes, but how long would that last?

Especially with that Archer approaching. Alexis shook her head and realized what she had to do. "Sorry about this, but if I let that guy get closer this is all over." She then had Tana rise up and dive towards the cavalier in front of her. The soldier raised his weapon, prepared for her, but Alexis turned to the side and sailed right on past.

Instead she headed for the small formation beyond. She hated this. Diving into danger like this just didn't work. But if the reinforcements joined with the cavaliers she wasn't sure they could hold.

The Archer seemed surprised as Alexis came towards him and tried to ready an arrow. He just barely moved from Alexis's initial attack, which grazed him, and wasn't able to stop her follow up attack which caught the archer in the chest and killed them.

---

Rona wasn't sure what was happening anymore. There was just a press of bodies around her and steel flashing. Blood spraying. Was that her own? Maybe. She missed an attack. Stupid. She couldn't afford to miss. She had to do better. The enemy was all around.

Focus, focus, aim for the weakened ones. Take them down. Less enemies meant less chance for counter attacks. It was basic, simple, she just had to...

There.

The cavalier that she had missed was looking overconfident despite having been struck by an arrow. Rona could see they were leaning slightly on their left and used that to rush them and take a large swing on their weak side. Rona was rewarded by her axe biting into his neck.

Rona was breathing heavily. She wasn't sure she wasn't going to drop her axe next swing. But even if she did she'd keep going. If she had to she'd tackle the next cavalier off their horse.

Spoiler

Alexis moved to the right of the Archer (green 1) and killed them. Lancer 4 counter target

Rona killed Cavalier 1 and Cavalier 9 is counter target

 

[Sethera 290]

There had been a couple close calls with the two reckless members of their group. Ada gets hurt a lot too though. Really, just everybody seemed to love to charge on in except for Yue, Layne, and Edda.

Even after telling Alexis to be more careful, the pegasus knight decided to charge forward again. "Sorry about this, but if I let that guy get closer this is all over." She then divebombed the enemy archer.

I guess that makes sense... Yue knew, as an archer herself, just how vulnerable flying units were to them. Normally being up in the air provided them a bit of protection from weapons, but for an archer, it was as easy as shooting down clay birds. Which, come to think of it, wasn't that easy, but it was still easier than trying to hit a clay bird with a sword. And if you put an arrow in the right spot...say, a wing, then that could mess up the mount's ability to fly enough that they'd come crashing to the ground.

Yue usually tried to target the actual people though. It wasn't the animals' fault that their riders were bad guys, after all.

Speaking of mounts... The archer set her sight on the cavalier just in front of her, switching her bronze bow for her iron one. It was a little scary, being right in front of it and all, but she couldn't bring herself to hide behind Edda or Layne either. So instead, the girl took aim and fired from where she stood.

Spoiler

Yue stays in place and attacks Cavalier 7 with her Iron Bow.

[Skaia 578]

Though they were slowly getting pressed in, Leon could feel that just as the Falcon's ranks were starting to waver so too were the ranks of the sky knights. Slowly but surely they were managing to push the sky knight's back, and though their situation was dire and their own formation was starting to crumble underneath the pressure, Leon was not one to give up just yet. And so, gripping his blade tighter, Leon slashed again, knocking the cavalier's blade aside. With opponent now wide open, Leon did a slight upward to slash his sword through the side of the cavalier, dropping the man off of his horse and causing the creature to scatter. 

With their being a slight opening in the wall of cavaliers now, the pegasus knight terrorizing the back line of enemies, Yue having just shot down another cavalier and their two Jouran front liners still not having fallen, the commander of the sky knights took stock of the situation. With a grunt, he then shouted out, "men, fall back!" The remaining sky knights looked surprised by this command, but as they looked over and noticed the all too serious expression of their commander they slowly backed away from their quarries. "In the interest of those who remains lives, I permit you to keep your own today, traitors and villains though you are."

Leon felt uncomfortable by the whole situation, both in continuing to fight and also it ending with the sky knights just retreating. Yet, as he locked eyes with the commander and the cold intensity that seemed to be behind his gaze, Leon knew that this was for the best for now. He couldn't allow everyone to stay in such a precarious situation nor was he sure he could actually match the enemy commander if he  had actually joined the fight. So, putting his hand up and ushering everyone back, he said, "Falcons. Stand down and move back." 

[Sethera 290]

Yue was relieved to see the cavalier that had been staring her in the face go down after her attack hit. She loosened her grip slightly on the bow, fingers trembling. She had enough experience she could still shoot with a certain amount of accuracy even if her arms shook, but she tried to keep herself still when she fired the arrow. Thankfully, it hit.

The archer felt the breath leave her body in a whoosh when she heard the enemy commander shout for his men to fall back. If she had been relieved before, she was doubly so now. After he called them traitors and villains, she wanted to protest, but couldn't summon the courage to open her mouth. From their perspective, they were traitors and villains, but it wasn't like any of them, except maybe Alexis, were actually part of the Aeoran army or anything, so she wasn't sure what the big deal was. Unless he was talking about them being citizens of Aeora, which Yue wasn't sure she was. Though she'd lived there for a bit now, so maybe?

Leon then put his hand up and called for them to stand down and move back too. Which was good. It took until he spoke for Yue to realize that he could've ordered them to keep fighting, which would've been messy. The girl was about to step back when she realized something. I'm already standing at the back. Or I'm the closest to the back out of anybody right now. She ended up taking a few awkward, shuffling steps backward anyway. I'm just making sure.

Edited January 25, 2020 by Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

[LordCowCow 840]

Rona didn't understand. They were retreating, running with their tails between their legs like the dogs they were, but they weren't pursuing? Rona had started Cormag forward to chase them down and finish them off before they could get too far away. But Leon had ordered her to stop and let them go.

"They're right there! We can still..." She said, turning towards him in disbelief. Then, realizing what she had done, she lowered her head and followed it with "I didn't mean to question your command."

That's right. Even if the order didn't make sense to her she had to follow it. She just wasn't used to being ordered NOT to attack. She could only hope the commander had something in mind.

She looked around at the others and saw how weary they all looked. Cormag himself was looking rather worn from the battle. She still held onto her axe and, reluctantly, as the enemy soldiers disappeared into the distance, she put away her axe. Which made her feel much better as the heavy weapon was stored instead of having to lift it more.

"When do we move out?" She asked, not willing to relax for even a moment.

---

"Whew, that's a relief." Alexis said as the soldiers retreated. She slumped up against Tana's neck and winced as the wound in her side made a burning sensation through her body. But had they really done that? Fought, killed, Aeoran soldiers? And for what? She looked at the Jourans in the group and frowned. Sure, throwing them to the wolves didn't feel right, but on the other hand was she really going to go up against her own country for them?

It wasn't as though she knew most of them, beyond Leon, and while she wasn't in the army proper she still had ties to them. People she knew, people Leon knew, were part of that army.

She grunted and righted herself on the back of Tana. "I hate to say it but we don't have much time to rest. Especially if they have a larger group nearby. As soon as that Paladin gets reinforcements he'll probably be after us again."

She had no idea what Leon was thinking challenging the Aeoran army like this. She stared at the young man. Practically drilling a hole through his head with her eyes. She hoped he knew what he was doing.