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

[Skaia 578]

The fighter that Raynor had been fighting didn't have much of a reaction other than shear disappointment as Alexis flew off away from him, leaving the fighter with just the stocky lizard rider he had been fighting thus far. Turning around, the man seemed to be only vaguely inconvenienced at this point, only to then receive a spear through him with his only response being, "aw now I'm freaking dead." 

Leon groaned once again as Alexis made her comment towards him, knowing that she was sure to not let up on his love life. All the same, he couldn't keep too distracted by it as there was an enemy in front of him. As the assist came from Ada, the bandit in front of him being pulverized by the dark magic and killed, Leon nodded at her comment. Without missing a step in his stride, Leon said, "alright Falcons, move up when you can." Without looking to her, he said, "Alexis, if you could come along too." With that, he charged forward, using a vulnerary to heal himself of his injures as he did so. Given the three enemies before him now, Leon pulled out his Steel Sword, getting ready to brace himself for the attacks. 

Meanwhile, behind the lead carriage the one bandit could be heard yet again. "Boss. I think uh-" 

"What!? What could possibly be the issue this time." Jeb, seemed to be entirely on edge as he was shouted at by the red haired man once more. 

"Well...um, so. There's a dark magic user. I think they're called Shaymins? I don't really know." 

The boss looked back to his fellow bandit saying, "well. There's three Jourans right? It's unsettling, sure, but that's not really - " 

"It wasn't a Jouran that did it though." The boss gave his subordinate a dumbfounded look. "Yeah, that uh, one girl over there. The dragon looking - purple haired one. Her,"  while the man pointed to Ada, being behind three spaces of cover Jeb didn't really see the woman. 

All the same, Jeb groaned saying, "wonderful. I guess this is how it ends boys, trapped between a traitor, lizards and a crazy pirate WHO I DIDN'T STEAL YOUR BOAT! WHERE WOULD I EVEN PUT IT?!" The man flailed his arms about as he yelled this, only for the bandit he was talking to to slowly turn back to face the party, wondering how his life had gotten to this moment. 

Meanwhile, three of the bandits didn't seem to pay much attention to this banter and instead moved their way to attack the falcon leader that had pushed forward. As the first of the bandits came at him, the boy was cut across by its blade, wincing a bit in pain but still pressing forward. The next of them, the fighter, moved towards Leon only for the swing of his axe to be parried away as Leon then went to strike the man in the gut with his blade. This, unfortunately, left him open to the axe of the barbarian that swung towards him. Grimacing in pain from both cuts, Leon still stood firm in place. 

Meanwhile, the fighter nearest Rona looked around. To his side there was a sword wielding Jouran girl who had seemed to just fell one of his companions. In front of him, a dragon riding girl who simply bulldozed through those that tried to stop her so far. And then behind him, a girl wielding profane magic that had just pulverized one of the other bandits fairly effortlessly. So, thinking himself already dealt with, the man raised his axe and struck at the Jouran girl, hitting both her and her wyvern with bug bite before receiving a brutal axe chop that nearly knocked him off his feet in response. 

The lancer Susanoo had been facing as well was not in particularly high spirits, panicked, in a daze and missing a lot of blood simply mindlessly and in rage stabbed forward again. In spite of his injuries, it had seemed that now of all times was for his lance to strike true, piercing the skin of Susanoo and causing blood to flow from the wound. This victory was short lived, literally, as the axe of the red haired man felled the lancer. 

As Leon was staring down the fighter before him, he gripped the hilt of his blade tighter before removing it from the gut of the man. Bashing his shield into him, the wind was knocked out of the bandit before Leon went for a final follow up thrust through the chest of the bandit. Pulling his sword out, he looked to the two bandits near him, awaiting the follow up from his other team members. 

Edda, meanwhile, stared at the purple haired girl as she fired off the spell from her tome. Before she said anything though, her attention was pulled back by the Jouran girl's complimenting of her. With a much more intense look in her eyes she said, "of course! I won't lose to common thugs." In spite of her looks and words, Edda's tone seemed to lack a certain amount of confidence. All the same, she rushed forward towards the axe wounded bandit as she tightened her grip on her sword. Stabbing through the man, he let out a final gasp before falling to the ground dead. Letting out a deep exhale, Edda seemed to nod as if congratulating herself. Looking to Rona, the girl seemed ready to say something but no words came out as her expression became more uncomfortable. Instead, she turned to Ada once again, looking at the strange shaman with a mix of confusion and curiosity. 

[LordCowCow 839]

Alexis always tried hard to not be distracted on the battlefield. But first with Leon's relationship with the adorable girl who Alexis couldn't help but watch run off, making sure she wasn't accosted on her way to healing, and now...this.

She let out a gasp as she saw Ada using...that magic. That terrible, unholy, dragon-born magic. Magic that Alexis was sworn to defend the world from. But the practitioner was one of Leon's companions. A lovely girl who seemed rather young to be practicing such a dangerous magic.

The Pegasus Knight knew what she had to do.

"Alexis, if you could come along too."

"One moment, Leon, I have a soul to save."

She swooped nearby the girl and called out to her. "Fair maiden, I must give you warning. The magic that you are using comes from a demonic creature! If you go down this path for too long it may swallow your very soul! I ask you to rethink this decision." She glanced over at the battle and cursed under her breath. "I must go now, but keep my words in your heart!" Then she swooped away dramatically.

She kept to the side, attempting to avoid the axe users, and went straight for the Mercenary. "Ganging up is it? How about I even the odds!" She called out. She thrust her lance at the man. Who raised his blade to try and block the attack. Only for it to get shoved into his face. Dazed, the Mercenary was unable to avoid Alexis's follow-up, which caught him in the chest.

"You keep strange company these days, buddy." Alexis said towards Leon. "What have you gotten yourself into..."

---

Rona was being worn down. She could feel it. Slowly but surely the damage was racking up and her attacks were slowing slightly. The bandit that attacked her left himself wide open. Rona should have been able to take advantage and finish him off but the blow she dealt to him didn't quite fell him. He still hung on and would have attacked again had their employer not gotten in the way. "Ahaha, good shot!" Rona said, trying to keep composure. "I would have taken care of him but I appreciate it nonetheless."

Looking across the field there were a couple others grouped nearby...and one who had attacked Leon. For a moment she considered going for him...but that would mean abandoning her mission to do what she wanted. So instead she veered towards the Fighter across from her. If she could keep those two from getting any closer....perfect.

"You two better stay away from him, I'm not letting you take one step closer!" She shouted as she brought her axe down towards the Fighter's skull. Hopefully she'd be able to finish this one off in one blow and redeem her mistake earlier.

The bandit brought up his axe to try and stop the attack, deflecting it slightly, causing Rona's strike to instead bury itself in the Fighter's shoulder. The damage done was severe but...it still wasn't a kill. Damn it.

From a relatively short distance away Alexis called out to her. "Awfully protective of him, aren't you?"

Rona didn't get the suggestion in the stranger's words. She shot out a, somewhat frustrated, "yes, of course. He's the commander after all."

Alexis raised an eyebrow at Leon. "Commander, eh? What HAVE you been up to, you scoundrel."

Before she could retort to this she saw the Fighter, with an angry swing, strike back and cut into Rona's leg. She let out a hiss of pain and refocused on the man.

Spoiler

Alexis: Moved two up from Ada, spoke, then moved 4 forward and killed Mercenary 1. She technically hit two attacks but figured I'd add some color to it.

Rona: Moved one left of Fighter 2 and attacked with Steel Axe. He's also counter target.

 

[Cheshire Toon 139]

Susano’o didn’t even flinch when the lance skewered his stomach. “That’s all you got?!” he shouted. Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth, and he spit copper and iron with every word. “One chance to kill a beast like me and you don’t even put your back into it?!” He wrapped one huge hand around the lance in his stomach, slowly pulling it free, while he caught the lancer by the throat with his other hand and lifted the man completely off the ground. 

When the bloodied lance was finally free, it fell from the bandit’s grip and stuck into the ground. Susano’o tightened his grip on his throat and lifted him higher. His feet kicked wildly, futilely, finding nothing, while the color in his face changed from scarlet red to a bruised purple. “I am Susano’o Kobayashi, the Bastard of the Ulei Tribe, the Bloody Bull of the Three Seas, and the Captain of the Ulei Yumi. Remember that, so you can tell those devils I’m coming for them when you get to hell. Now die!” Susano’o squeezed hard enough to collapse the man’s windpipes, then planted his heels and launched the would-be highwayman into the air behind him. 

The bandit flew high enough that, for just a moment, his body was of a higher altitude than either of the airborne Falcons. Of course not even someone thrown by Susano’o had to come back down eventually, as all things did, and come down he did, crash landing between the Falcon’s Archer and Healer, body twisted and contorted into an unnatural shape. 

Susan spat a mouthful of blood onto the grass, pulled a vulnerary from his waist and ripped it open with his teeth, then began applying it to the hole in his stomach. He was already stomping toward the sounds of his next fight as he did. “NO EXCUSES JEB! WHO DID YOU SELL HER OFF T--Copper Eagles!” Rounding the wagon brought him into a clear view of their wimpy leader and his big-boobed guard dog, who at that moment was clobbering a fighter with an axe. “Handlin’ that axe pretty well for having such huge weights on your chest, girlie!” He grinned lecherously, but he got serious quickly. “I don’t know if you’re here for a bounty or something, but leave that big ugly bastard Jeb to me. We’ve got a score to settle.”

He continued to stomp towards the bandit boss the whole time. 

[Blake 312]

Ada wiped her brow with a soft sigh, glad to see the tides of the battle seeming to shift in their favor. The ruckus in the area seemed to be quieter, other than a drunken pirate yelling about his boat and the 'copper eagles'. The advance was going smoothly, partially thanks to said pirate and the pegasus rider, and Ada welcomed a battle where no one nearly died.

But then the pegasus girl flew over to her, causing Ada to cock her head. Wasn't the battle the other way...?

"Fair maiden, I must give you warning. The magic that you are using comes from a demonic creature! If you go down this path for too long it may swallow your very soul! I ask you to rethink this decision." She glanced over at the battle and cursed under her breath. "I must go now, but keep my words in your heart!" Then she swooped away dramatically.

Ada just kinda stood there in stunned silence for a moment, but it was to be expected. Lots of people in Aeora were like this. The fact that Alexis knew Leon didn't mean that she would be understanding of her. The girl seemed to land near Leon, where she was headed, so it was time to show her more she wasn't going to like. Moving forward, Ada opened her hand and pulled the dark wisps from the air to it and fired it at the barbarian assaulting Leon, once again instantly killing them.

"I understand why you feel that way, miss," Ada looked at Alexis with a smile, "But I've been at this since I was a child, and I assure you, this magic is far from demonic."

Ada moves up 1, right 4, and attacks + kills Barbarian 2 with Dusk.

Designating Barbarian 3 for counterattack.

[Sethera 290]

"Let's get you patched up." Layne had said, before healing her. While the archer made a tiny grimace during the process, she didn't say anything, attempting to be strong like Rona. "Make sure the others know to fall back down here if things start going badly for them, I can't leave Rona and Edda, they're both still just charging forward. If you get hurt again, don't hesitate to retreat to me again." He gave the girl a nod, before running off closer to where the two he just mentioned were fighting. Yue didn't reply, mainly because she wasn't sure that she'd be able to follow through on any promise made, especially the last one.

Before the archer could start to move herself, she heard shouting from the loud man from the south, the one with the familiar voice. A second later, a dead body crashed onto the ground nearby. The archer let out a squeak of fright, cringing back from the following splatter of blood. She crept forward, following the others, but it looked like she was too far away to do anything right now. Which was probably for the better, as the sight of the man ahead with the bright shock of red hair was enough to cause her to pale and start to tremble in fear. "H-he's supposed to be on our side?"

Spoiler

Yue moves up one square and right four squares.

Edited June 20, 2019 by Sethera

[Kay Faraday 23]

---

Thud.

The body that Susan had thrown landed in a crumpled heap near him and Yue, a little wince crossing his face as he glanced away from the mangled corpse. He mumbled gently, almost as if he was stunned into silence, but Yue's reaction to the sight had snapped him out of it briefly. He quickly shook his head as he gripped onto the staff he was holding a tiny bit tighter, a little cough escaping him, "...Not on our side, just not against us. The others aren't too fond of him I don't think. I know Ada isn't. Just, uh, stay out of body chucking range of him, otherwise he might make some less than... Pleasant comments."

Layne gave Yue a quick nod, before turning off and making his way towards Rona and Edda once again. With the battle starting to converge onto the main path, Leon and his group were beginning to come back down, which would make his job a little easier... He rushed up and moved behind Edda, taking what little cover her could since she seemed to be relatively well patched up for the moment...

But he wasn't done, he quickly poked his head out towards Leon, "Commander, get over here! You need healing!"

During his callout, he took the moment to swap the staff in his hand out for the Mend staff, a little grin on his face as he did. The tip of the staff started to glow a soft white as he prepared a counter, just to be safe...

---

Spoiler

Layne moved up 2 squares and to the right 3, stopping behind Edda.

Swapped out to the Mend Staff and preparing a counter for Barbarian 2.

 

[Saikazo 241]

Raynor sighed to himself as he finished off his attack, killing the bandit in question. This job was getting done slowly but surely, even though there seemed to be some sort of commotion of some sort. There was only one thing to do again. He urged Gojira forward, and the two rode. They needed to keep going, Perhaps... perhaps they could get behind the boss and attack him, so that he would be pressured from both the front and the back.

There was Susan and all... and well...

"Sorry Susan, but that guy wants me dead or something for some reason, so first come first served!" He yelled back.

Still, he was curious now. Jourans had some sort of reward on them? Why? Did something happen? Edda wasn't willing to tell him, and he was sure that Rona wouldn't know either. So basically, he didn't know why this was happening, all he knew was that he must kill. He could work with that, but that didn't mean he liked it. He only hoped nothing too serious was going on.

 

---

 

OOC

Spoiler

He moved 7 spaces forward. There's like... nothing near him so...

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by Saikazo May Cry

[Skaia 578]

"I. Didn't. Sell. ANYTHING! Who would I even sell a boat off to?" 

"Well there are those- "

"NOBODY! Nobody wants a boat!" As Jeb cut off his fellow bandit, he seemed to keep switching between his two axes, not really sure what was the best thing to use as he stood paralyzed in the same spot. 

The two axe wielding bandits, however, were more keen to keep up their assault against the wyvern rider. Seeing that, in spite of her bravado that she was actually showing real signs of wear and tear from the attacks she had received so far, they were more spurned on to keep attacking her. Or, at least the barbarian was. The fighter was more delirious then anything else, and could only really think to swing at what was in front of him. As such, the barbarian swung first, striking true against Rona as her attention was taken by the fighter who had managed to cut into her and Cormag as well. While she had managed to kill him with a strike of her axe, she was then attacked once more by the barbarian. Emboldened by this, the barbarian was clearly ready to go in for a killing blow against her as he saw the Jouran girl nearly felled. 

Leon, meanwhile had sighed at his old friend's comments once more. "They're friends and work associates, I just happen to be in charge of them." As he was about to start moving forward, he then heard the comment of Susanoo, the pirate man he would have rather forgotten existed. Muttering to both Alexis and Ada he said, "much as I would like to just leave them to each other, let's keep going forward." It was then he noticed the terrible shape that one of his closest friends and work associates were in. With panic running clear through his eyes, Leon sharply shouted, "Layne, get to Rona!" Though he knew that was likely where the boy was already going, he couldn't help but shout out. 

Edda, meanwhile had swung her blade to the side before rushing forward and stabbing the Barbarian in the side. While the attack landed and the blade managed to strike through the man, it did little to deter his focus on the wyvern rider. 

[Kay Faraday 23]

---

Oh no. Rona took a hard blow there, much harder than anything else that's happened on the battlefield so far. It might not have been a single blow, but the onslaught of attacks from the bandits ganging up on her was enough to nearly take her down... They were lucky that they had managed to cull the numbers so that the onset of bandits ended where it did. Layne glanced around the plains to make sure there weren't any potential sneak attacks about to happen, before grabbing his healing staff once again and charging forward to rush up to Rona, flashing a quick thumbs up and a smile to Leon. "Got it, boss!"

Maybe the smile was overkill. But it was his job. Something as simple as a smile could sometimes give someone relief, after all, if the healer wasn't worried, they shouldn't be, right? That was the goal at least. But he didn't have enough time to dwell on if it was appropriate it or not, coming up to Rona's side, he lifted that staff up into the air, light collecting around the tip once again as he pointed it towards Rona, the major wounds around her body started to patch up, and even Cormag was getting some of his wounds healed up. It wasn't a full job, there were still some cuts and scrapes that passed through the process, but...

She was feeling more invigorated at least. And was much less likely to die too, which was always a bonus. He glanced around for a moment... He could try to sidestep a bit, but this was probably the safest spot to be, honestly. He let out a little sigh, relieved that Rona had been close enough for him to actually get to her this time. "We're almost done, I think. It looks like it's just those two and their boss over there left. I should be within reach if anything major happens again."

---

Spoiler

Layne moved right 4 spaces, swapped to Heal Staff 1, healed Rona for 23. She's at 25/26 health, Heal Staff 1 is 2 uses remaining.

 

[LordCowCow 839]

“Handlin’ that axe pretty well for having such huge weights on your chest, girlie! I don’t know if you’re here for a bounty or something, but leave that big ugly bastard Jeb to me. We’ve got a score to settle.” 

Rona supposed she was happy that the man was focused on her instead of the commander. She had heard worse than that before, she could handle it, and it wasn't going to stop her from going after whoever this "Jeb" was. She was going to kill any bandit that got in her way regardless of what the man said.

"Wish I could say the same about your own axe work!" Rona called out, unwilling to be cowed by this man, "I guess that's what happens when you spend most of your time in a bar."

She couldn't say much more after that as she soon was caught in a flurry of axes. She could barely even tell what was happening at one point, but she knew that she had killed one of them, and that one was still standing.

She was bleeding. A lot. A wave of dizziness struck her and she struggled to stay on top of Cormag. If she fell at this point it would be over for her.

But the enemy was right in front of her. She had to kill them. Even as her vision blurred and her body felt as though it were on fire. Cormag snapped at the bandit as he tried to take advantage and the Barbarian was forced to step backwards to avoid the beast's jaws. That's when Rona began to lunge forward.

Suddenly she felt a soothing glow around her. And her vision cleared up. Was this her second wind? Whatever the case she took advantage and swung her axe down and split her attacker's skull.

It was then she realized that Layne had healed her. A wave of shame went through her. Causing a nauseous feeling. "Ah, I would've been fine either way you know, these guys are nothing!"

Wanting to get away from the healer before he could notice how her hand was shaking she prompted Cormag to move forward and closer to the remaining bandits.

---

"I understand why you feel that way, miss, but I've been at this since I was a child, and I assure you, this magic is far from demonic."

Alexis watched sadly as the girl used the evil magic once more. "So she has been infected since an early age..." It was rather unfortunate. It would have been easier had the girl recently been taken in by the wretched magic. But she couldn't give up on her so easily. It was the job of all Aeorans to purify those who were corrupted by the dreadful dragon. "I understand that it must seem that way. It's a tricky and manipulative thing, but never fret, I won't let you fall into the darkness!"

She wondered, briefly, if that was what Leon was doing. Why he was traveling with her. Unless she had been wrong all along and THIS was the girl he fell for. Ah, a forbidden romance, how....juicy.

She shook her head and moved out towards her chosen position. She couldn't reach anyone just yet so she thought it best to find a spot where she could attack any of the bandits without having to worry about them surrounding her first.

"Leader of the bandits, I, Alexis Beller, daughter of the hero, Percy Beller, volunteer in the Faeus militia, commands you to lay down your arms and surrender!"

That was when she heard that man. That bull of a man. Calling for the leader's head.

Was he an ally of Leon's? It didn't seem he was an enemy. He appeared a lecherous, aggressive, sort. Usually that type wouldn't so much as register for her but....perhaps he had a hidden romantic side? But if that were the case what kind of person could possibly bring that out? She scanned the group as her mind became lost in this idea until it landed on the healer.

It was unorthodox, perhaps, but...it could work, could it not? It might be an interesting pair at least. A very interesting pair indeed...

Spoiler

Rona killed the Barbarian and moved to the other side of him, Mercenary 3 is her counter target.

Alexis moved 3 down and 4 to the right and has shipping goggles on.

 

[Skaia 578]

With Leon's fears being calmed as the healer went to go patch up the wyvern rider, she herself being successful in defeating her mark, there was only one more target that they had to converge upon. Seeing that there were only three bandits left, Leon began his march forward to go and take on the leader of this bandit group. 

The bandits, meanwhile, had seemed more surrendered to their fate then anything else. With the one bandit seeing Susanoo approaching at him, with a fury unchecked and an axe that would crave for blood were it alive, one of the sword wielding bandits simply sighed. Gripping onto it he said, "well, guess I might as well go die now." With that, he went to go fight Susanoo, striking at him once with his blade and managing to get a solid hit in. While he hit the man, he didn't seem very excited as his worst fears came true as an axe buried into him in retaliation. 

Meanwhile, Jeb, standing back there looked forward in the direction of the pegasus knight shouting, "and I'm Jeb! Leader of the bandits of this failed ambush! And I will not surrender! If I'm going to have some lunatic who thinks I stole his boat and be killed by an army of foreigners, I'd rather do it with an axe in my hand!" 

"Man that was almost inspiring boss." 

"I hate you." 

The other sword bandit looked to the one-eyed man atop the lizard, the shaman, the unassuming boy with the sword and the pegasus knight who had effortlessly skewered the others. "I hate me too." 

[Saikazo 241]

The wind blew as Raynor raced down the plain. With nothing in his path, it was a clear shot to the boss. They'd get that boat selling, anti-Jouran scum and punish him for his thieving and racist crimes. Punishment by death.

That seemed a little extreme but hey, he didn't write these rules, he just followed them. The only other option was repentance through repeated crotch violence, and frankly, death seemed better than that.

So he charged down at the sword bandit, hearing how the bandit hated himself.

"Maybe in your next life you'll become a respectable warrior instead of a bandit!" Raynor stated as he stabbed his lance right at the man's heart.

 

---

 

OOC

Spoiler

Raynor moved down to bandit 2 and attack. It's also his counter target if he lives.

Edited July 3, 2019 by Saikazo May Cry

[Blake 312]

 "I understand that it must seem that way. It's a tricky and manipulative thing, but never fret, I won't let you fall into the darkness!"

"You know, my father used to think like you," Ada looked at Alexis not with judgment, but with an expression of... understanding. This was nothing new. Sure, it stung, but... at least she wasn't being assaulted. "But my magic comes from my will. My knowledge. Not some children's story."

As the two spoke, Raynor had swung down, stabbing at the mercenary guarding this half of the cart being used as a blockade. While the mercenary had managed to keep the rider's blow from striking him in the chest, he still took a good stabbing to the side, causing the man to scream and clutch at his side as the blood began to spill. Ada flinched a bit at the sight, but walked past Leon with resolve, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't quite agree with what he said... but you don't deserve to die slowly. May you find rest."

Ada opened her hand and fired her magic at the fallen bandit, the murky shadow overcoming him in an instant. The man's body disappeared, consumed by the magic as Ada sighed, a lot to think about... but that was best left until the battle was over.

Ada moved right twice, past Leon, to attack Mercenary 2. Mercenary 2 is killed.

[LordCowCow 839]

Rona watched the Mercenary as he looked to be resigning himself to his fate. It was interesting to see that they didn't even try to retreat. They would have done well in the army. She remembered seeing many soldiers throw themselves at the enemy only to die and allow an opening for the more experienced, stronger, and to the rest of the army more important, soldiers to prevail.

Though from where she was standing it didn't seem like these bandits had any such elites among them.

The mercenary completely ignored her and went off to fight the pirate. Which was fine by her. She didn't have to worry about what happened to that man. Even if the bandit killed him it meant nothing to Rona. So she took off into the air and rushed forward.

Having Cormag hover his large body near the bandit leader. "It seems you've already given up. But if you still intend to fight, to try and injure my companions, then there will be no mercy for you. Maybe your death will be a sign to the other bandits. Us Jouraans are not an easy mark."

---

From the sounds of it saving this girl would be...tricky. It seemed that her father had attempted to. She wondered what kind of man he must have been. And how Ada had fallen into this path despite his efforts. Curiosity grew in her but she knew she had to focus on what was ahead.

Even if referring to the grand evil that was the dragon as a child tale did rub her the wrong way.

Shaking it off Alexis looked back towards Susanoo and realized the man had been attacked. "Excuse me, healer? It seems that man has taken quite the blow there. Perhaps you could help him?" She didn't mention the other reason for this. She wanted to see the large man and the healer interact. It could be the start of something incredible!

But if that were to happen she'd have to clear the path.

And so, lance at the ready, she took into the air. As she neared the mercenary she swooped down and thrust the lance into the man's back and through his chest.

He never saw it coming.

"Hello there, stranger!" Alexis said to Susanoo, "It seems you have some history with the people here. Why don't you get yourself fixed up before taking your revenge on that scoundrel of a bandit?"

Spoiler

Rona is two spaced below the boss
Ada is two spaces above Susanoo

 

[Cheshire Toon 139]

Susano’o narrowed his eyes at Alexis. He looked positively feral; his pupils had contracted into tiny, beady slits, and open and bleeding wounds littered his body from head-to-toe. “These are nothing,” he said, and spit a mouthful of blood into the grass. “Cold brew and a nap and ol’ Bull’ll be fine.” He hoisted his axe up onto his shoulder and trudged over the dead mercenary. “Don’t forget it. And don’t ever send that healer over to me, because I don’t want his magic.” He wasn’t angry, for once, just firm. 

“As for you… Don’t you ever fuckin’ stab a man I’m fightin’ in the back again, else I’ll rip those wings off of your flying chicken and beat you with them. Got it?” He snarled, his legendary temper returning as he left to go hunt down the bandit leader. 

That was all he had to say on that matter. The whole business left a sour taste in his mouth, and his damn arm hurt. He fished another vulnerary from the pack on his waist and started to apply it. “Are you lot deaf? I said Jeb’s mine! You can take his damn body for his bounty after I’m done with him, but I need him alive for now!"
 

[Kay Faraday 23]

 

---

 

Layne let out a small sigh, with Rona patched up, things were looking... Solid? Leon could probably use patching up, he's been in the heat of the combat since the start without any healing, but the usual fires aren't lit this time. Raynor was looking good, Rona was breezing her way through the combat fine after being healed, even if she initially protested...

"Excuse me, healer? It seems that man has taken quite the blow there. Perhaps you could help him?"

Huh? It was their new... Arrival, but only briefly. Before even waiting for an answer, she had flown off and made her way towards the last of the few remaining bandits... And right towards Susanoo. Ah. He understood why, the pirate was looking a bit worse for the wear and could use the help, but...

"It seems you have some history with the people here. Why don't you get yourself fixed up before taking your revenge on that scoundrel of a bandit?"

Well, seems like he would know what to do here in a second. He took a few steps forward, not committing himself towards the pirate's direction. Not everyone was that fond the healing arts, he knew that more than well enough to know that Susan might not be alright with it. And a few shared sea shanties wouldn't be enough to keep the pirate from killing him if he did something that offended him, he was sure.

 “Don’t forget it. And don’t ever send that healer over to me, because I don’t want his magic.”

He gave a nod in the pirate's direction, just barely hearing that. It might've not been... Hateful? Maybe just violent was the best word, but he felt like it was important to acknowledge it. He wasn't even sure if Susanoo would've seen it, especially since he went straight back into his berserking afterwords, but he wasn't going to push it on him. Unlike Rona, this guy could actually hurt him if he kept healing him. Unless it was vital to their success... He would have to avoid doing that here. Hopefully Susanoo always kept Vulneraries on his person.

---

 

Spoiler

Layne moved up 1 space and to the right 4.

 

Edited June 29, 2019 by Ralsei

[Sethera 290]

Yue knew that she was a liability here. Compared to everybody else she...just wasn't doing as much. She had had to get healed by Layne, and even that scary man whose hair looked like a rooster's crest was doing more than her. Even the strange girl, no, girls, were doing more than her. But I know, she thought. I know that I'm helping in my own way. And that's...enough, right? Maybe it wasn't, but... But I know I don't have to be the scariest or the strongest out there. I just gotta fight. That's all. One bandit at a time. Taking a deep breath, the archer moved forward, her steps soft and unsure. Until she was staring straight at the boss, a broken carriage between her and certain death. Trembling slightly, the girl took an arrow from her quiver and placed it on the bowstring. I can't mess this up!

To the sides, Ada took down a mercenary, and the angry man was shouting about leaving Jeb for last. Yue wasn't sure who this "Jeb" person was, but she wondered if it was the person she had in her sights. If that was so, then, she would have to apologize later. Not that I'll be able to kill him myself, she thought. But I can help.

She drew back on the bow to its normal length, and then continued to draw, until the bowstring looked to be at almost a perfect ninety-degree angle. She didn't use this art very often, as it really was hard on the bow, but here and now, at least she could be useful this way. "I'm s-sorry," she stuttered. "But you're a bad man. And bad men have to pay. That's the Iron Falcon way." With that, she let go of the arrow, watching as it made its way toward the boss of all of these bad men.

Spoiler

Yue moved to the right 5 spaces and used the Bronze Bow Weapon Art, "Longshot," against Jeb the boss bandit.

Edited June 30, 2019 by Sethera

[Skaia 578]

As both of the bandits had been felled by spear and spell alike, it only left Jeb on the defensive. He had resigned himself to his fate as a bandit boss, being the man that was supposed to die here and now mostly because that was the societal, nay the universal expectation of him. It was mostly what he signed himself up for as well when he started this life, and it wasn't like there was much out of it. He didn't really have any skills to profit from, any sort of life outside of this. Not that it was a bad life, it was profitable, he had managed to stay low and under the radar and managed to lead a group of men that never had to deal with the soldiers of Rastarn, the guards of Enta, or his sometimes tyrannical demands. It paid good money - or rather he made good money - and, outside of the life impending danger, had its share of good moments. So, if he were to die here, he would do so as a proud bandit. Who was honestly not sure how large a bounty he even had and definitely, "DIDN'T STEAL YOUR BOAT!" The last part he just shouted, almost seemingly out of nowhere, but it was all he could get out as a plain looking boy started to walk towards him. 

As he prepared his axe, an arrow from the side suddenly struck him, making this whole ordeal all the more unpleasant. With blade at the ready, Leon looked to the man and said, "Jeb, was it?" 

"What's it to you?" 

"I have one question for you. Are your men looking for Jouraans?"

"Every bandit this side of Aeora of is - well, except for me. I don't need that kind of fame on my back." 

"Fame?" 

The man looked at Leon with a confused and annoyed expression saying, "have you been living under a rock? There's a huge bounty to find one and turn them in. 'course, the goal was to find one. Where the hell did the other three even come from?" As he asked this, Leon deemed the time for talk was over as he charged forward. While the bandit seemed ready to intercept Leon's blade, what he was not expecting was the boy to instead smash his leather shield into his chest.

Being shoved back, Jeb felt the wind knocked out of him, only to see that now in a cruel act of fate, he was faced down with the very same Jouraan he didn't want to run into. The man's hands were shaking as he was gripping the axe, looking up slowly and seeing the full majesty of the winged scaled beast before seeing his rider. As if a demon on wings, Jeb was fully frightened at the sight and could only say, "you - you! -" before moving to slash upward with his axe, slashing both the wyvern and his rider. The attack had done damage, more than any other bandit could've hoped for but even that didn't seem to hurt the rider too much. And not nearly as much as Jeb was about to feel, as she herself brought her axe back down and crushed into Jeb's body. Jeb was very much on his last legs now, and it was more a matter of who would kill him rather than if they could. 

Edited July 1, 2019 by Skaia

[Blake 312]

"Have you been living under a rock? There's a huge bounty to find one and turn them in. 'course, the goal was to find one. Where the hell did the other three even come from?"

Ada had heard enough. Having thought that eradicating the bandits was the best idea, hearing him share this new information was... interesting, to say the least. And Susanoo wanted him dead, to boot... Maybe it was worth keeping him alive. Quickly rounding the carriage, she passed Leon, facing the bandit point blank. She hoped to catch him off guard as she spoke a quick incantation, throwing a smaller version of her basic spell at his ankles, hoping to injure him temporarily, with an amount of crushign that Layne could easily patch up.

"As much as that hothead wants him dead, it seems like we should at least get some information out of him first," Ada smirked, probably appearing cruel to the bandit, though it was more out of spite to Susanoo, "Isn't that nice, Jeb?"

 

Ada moves to below Leon, attacking Jeb with Shade. Attacking with non-lethal intent.

[Cheshire Toon 139]

Apparently the Copper Eagles were a deaf bunch. Susano’o itched for the throwing axe he usually kept on his belt, but he had left it on the boat and stubbornly refused to buy another one. Angry drunkard he may be, but he was at the very least a frugal angry drunkard. 

“Oi! I said he’s mine!” the Bull bellowed for the third time. For the third time, his cry fell on deaf ears. The Copper Eagles were certainly a bloodthirsty bunch. They looked the part of a feral wolf pack with how they were surrounding the bandit leader, who was already all but defeated. 

Susano’o started to sprint. It was a rather hilarious image to anyone watching; his mane shook in the wind, countless bits of jewelry and gear clanked and threatened to fall (and seriously, who actually carried around seven flasks with them?), not to mention the fact that he was so intoxicated he couldn’t actually keep going in a straight line. He wouldn’t have made it in if it wasn’t for the timely intervention of the teensy, tiny mage he had forgotten was traveling with them. The pirate hunter arrived just in time to hear Ada coo, “isn’t that nice, Jeb?” with her face twisted into a rather vicious smirk.

Susan flashed her a smile full of yellow-teeth. “At least one of you has some sense. Thanks for catching him, girlie,” he said, trying to wink at her but—as he was so drunk that the smell threatened to overpower anyone within five feet—looking more like he was having a stroke. “

His face contorted with anger after that and he grabbed Jeb and slammed him against the carriage. “Where’s my boat?” he demanded, pressing the tip of his Iron Axe against the bandit’s throat. “You better hope to the Spirits you know something or what I do to you is gonna give all these pups watching nightmares!”

Edited July 2, 2019 by Cheshire Toon

[Skaia 578]

Jeb, for his part, had all but resolved himself to being killed at the hands of this whacko ass band of mercenaries. This resolve, however, seemed to matter little as he was suddenly struck by a blast of dark magic that knocked him off of his feet. He was already bleeding profusely from both his axe and arrow wound, and despite the power that Ada outputted being smaller than normal, still definitely felt a few of his bones break underneath it. All in all, Jeb was a barely living mess, and now pressed between the cart, the devil on wings, the devil of the seas and the magical devil, he felt that he was pretty much damned at this point. As Susanoo had placed his axe towards Jeb's throat the bandit had no idea what to do. 

While dying was certainly easier at this point, it took a man of greater resolve than himself to push the blade in of his own volition. And knowing that telling Susanoo the same thing he had been saying this whole time was going to do very little good for him. There was a small problem, though. "I- I swear, I didn't have nothing to do with your boat. I- I didn't even see the person who did." The bandit gulped knowing he needed to pull some kind of rabbit out of his hat. "B-but, it's probably on the water - they probably took it by water - not land -"  as Jeb realized that all he did was confirm the person who stole Susanoo's boat wasn't a being of herculean physical prowess he doubled back saying, "the boss! I'm sure if it's not still at sea then it's with the boss...most stolen things that big go by him. He um...he's probably in Enta? He likes boats so he's probably at fault. Not me." 

After spewing all that out, the man then looked towards the others that were entrapping him. "Well...the hell do you all still want me alive for?" 

[LordCowCow 839]

“As for you… Don’t you ever fuckin’ stab a man I’m fightin’ in the back again, else I’ll rip those wings off of your flying chicken and beat you with them. Got it?”

"Actually Tana is a Pegasus, not a chicken, common misconception." Alexis said, brushing off the man's angry tone with a smile. Apparently there were people who were strongly against being healed by others. She'd have to keep that one in mind.

Seeing how well things seemed to be going with the leader Alexis decided to let her pegasus rest her wings and simply moved forward on the ground.

Deciding it was best to go around the opposite side of the carriage as the group with the boss she ended up passing by the only member of the group that she hadn't spoken with. A girl with a sword who looked somewhat out of place. One who looked to be Jouraan as well. Deciding that it might be good to figure out what was going on, she asked, "So you're with Leon's group? That guy is surrounded by pretty women nowadays. So much different from back home."

Edda looked at Alexis uncomfortably, and said, "I guess I am? Are you uh, friends with him?"

"Oh yeah we go way back. Childhood friends you could say. Or maybe rivals? He's so wishy washy about everything I can't really know for sure. When did you join up with this bunch? Seems he's collecting Jouraan's doesn't it?"

Edda looked between all of them and said, "yeah...it really does..." Shaking her head, she then said, "well, I'm not part of them - er, I didn't join them. They're just...taking me somewhere."

"Ah, guess you're an employer then. So..." Alexis's eyes flashed, "What do you think of the members? Any of them...catch your interest?"

Edda looked away, not really looking at the member and said, "they're whatever. They're pushy."

Alexis frowned. "That's no fun..." She glanced over towards where the boss was, overhearing some of the conversation. "Seems things are about wrapped up. It was nice to talk to you, er...what's your name?"

The girl opened her mouth, paused for a moment and then said, "Edda."

Alexis smiled at her, nodding her head, "And I'm Alexis. Alexis Beller." She then headed out once again, towards Leon's side. It looked as though the Jouraan girl and that large man with the axe that had called Tana a chicken were in position to kill the bandit. It wasn't really any of her business if he lived or died so long as he didn't cause any more trouble.

---

"Well...the hell do you all still want me alive for?" 

Now that was the question wasn't it?

Rona's blow hadn't been enough to finish the man. She had thought Ada would take care of him but it seemed that she intended to cripple him instead. Was this the truth of magic users? It was rather grim when you thought about it. Using such a thing to bring someone close to death but not quite there.

Either way the girl got off of Cormag and landed on her feet. She approached Susanoo, who was pinning down the man and questioning him, with her axe in hand. "I don't want you alive. In fact the moment this guy gets out of the way I'm prepared to end your miserable life."

Then she spoke to Susanoo. Had her companions not been at her back she might not have confronted him but with them watching she couldn't bear to back down. "Step aside if you're through with him. This man intended to capture me and my people. Someone needs to show his kind that this won't be tolerated."

There was an iciness to her voice. This all felt so wrong. She didn't understand why they hadn't killed him already. He was the enemy. He was a threat. Those who threatened their group needed to die. That was the way of things. So then why such hesitation?

[Blake 312]

Susan flashed her a smile full of yellow-teeth. “At least one of you has some sense. Thanks for catching him, girlie,” he said, trying to wink at her but—as he was so drunk that the smell threatened to overpower anyone within five feet—looking more like he was having a stroke.

God. Dammit.

Ada had expected this to infuriate the drunken asshat, but it actually pleased him. And now he was flashing her a disgusting smile. Sure, keeping Jeb alive was in their best interests for the time being, but her petty side really wanted to see Susan pissed off. Watch the scene unfold, full of Jeb's babbling, he asked a poignant question.

"Well...the hell do you all still want me alive for?" 

The shamn opened her mouth to answer the man, Rona had hopped off of her mount and stomped over, looking more determined than Ada had ever seen. With how much the wyvern rider threw herself into danger, it came as a shock that she still had more resolve. Or was it simply anger?

 "I don't want you alive. In fact the moment this guy gets out of the way I'm prepared to end your miserable life."

Definitely rage. 

"Step aside if you're through with him. This man intended to capture me and my people. Someone needs to show his kind that this won't be tolerated."

Ada shoved herself between Rona and Susan, taking a bit of a wide stance as she looked up at Rona, locking eyes. She felt the icy fury radiating from the Jouran girl, but she couldn't back down.

"Susanoo needed the information. And, more importantly, we need information from him. He's our only lead on whoever began this hunt, so killing him would only make things harder for ourselves... As for you," Ada glanced over her shoulder at Jeb, narrowing her eyes a little bit, "I would say I'm sorry about injuring you... but I'm not. I will say that our healer can definitely take care of the wounds I inflicted, but it seems only fair to me that you pay us with the information we need. Does that sound fair, Leon?"

[Saikazo 241]

It seemed that the group had won, much to Raynor relief. He couldn't believe that there were people that were willing to sell off other human beings for money. Sure, he killed people, but it wasn't like he ran around slaughtering and pillaging others. He rode closer to the others, listening to the conversation as he did.

"I have one question for you. Are your men looking for Jourans?" Leon getting straight to the point. Raynor liked that attitude on his leader for sure.

"Every bandit this side of Aeora of is - well, except for me. I don't need that kind of fame on my back." Jeb answered, causing Raynor to tilt his head. That was useful knowledge... still, he did allow his bandits to attack them, so it was best to kill him off now.

"Well...the hell do you all still want me alive for?" 

"We really don't. Perish," Raynor said coldly as he lifted up his javelin and spun it, lifting his arm in a throwing position. He then paused, thinking to himself. He didn't throw it just yet. Ada got in the way of an angry Rona (and to his dismay, he agreed with the suicidal wyvern rider)

"Susanoo needed the information. And, more importantly, we need information from him. He's our only lead on whoever began this hunt, so killing him would only make things harder for ourselves... As for you," Ada glanced over her shoulder at Jeb, narrowing her eyes a little bit, "I would say I'm sorry about injuring you... but I'm not. I will say that our healer can definitely take care of the wounds I inflicted, but it seems only fair to me that you pay us with the information we need. Does that sound fair, Leon?"

"Bull got his info, Ada," Raynor spoke up. "Jebby said something about Enta, so that's where Bull should head off to. As for us, I don't think we should keep him alive. Even if he wasn't after us, he sure didn't try to stop his guys from trying to kill us, and if we let him live, he'll probably run his mouth to the ones that wanna round up Jourans, and more than likely they'll send a unit far better equipped and organized than these bandits," Honestly, if there was someone able to put up such a reward, more than likely they had the resources to do it to. They just needed more eyes on the countryside to weed out Jourans. "You all better have a good reason to keep him alive or I'm gonna throw this javelin. I haven't had a chance to show it off, but I got a good throwin' arm,"

[Sethera 290]

The battle had finally finished. It was over. Yue slumped to the ground in relief. She was really glad that that was over. Battles were scary, and honestly, she could do without scary things. Speaking of scary things, the others were now questioning the scary boss bandit. It sounded like he hadn't been looking for Jourans, which was weird because wasn't he shouting about that at the beginning of the fight? But whatever the case may be, at least now they could figure out exactly what this man wanted. And what he knew.

The boss bandit began to talk about how the guy who stole the scary rooster man's boat was probably in Enta. Which...wasn't that where they were heading? Yue's heart sank as she connected the dots, listening halfheartedly to the others squabble about whether they should leave the man alive or not. I don't want to travel with such a scary man! she thought, and then glanced at the pegasus knight. Or with such a weird girl! She looked at Edda. Or the other weird girl!

"You all better have a good reason to keep him alive or I'm gonna throw this javelin. I haven't had a chance to show it off, but I got a good throwin' arm."

And now it sounded like Raynor was ready to kill the man. While Yue wasn't particularly for or against killing him, she did feel like the man was jumping the bowgun a bit. Also... "M-maybe he could tell us, w-where the other bandits are. The ones that are after Jourans." The archer shrank in on herself immediately afterward. "N-never mind, that was a dumb idea."

Edited July 5, 2019 by Sethera