[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/231110/8d749d906d93af45726a04f7ecf5f219.png[/img][/center][hr]Navigating the crowd felt like fighting against the ocean; Jannick could barely make it a few steps before he was jostled this way or that, flinching violently at every unexpected touch as if they were all a new opponent. Sometimes he was right; as he searched for his Scion, he was set upon several more times by masked suspects, melting in and out of the crowd like ghosts as they tried their luck against the Templar of Wind. That said, he might as well have been Officer Weber again: aside from his armour, which saved his sorry hide more than once in the scuffle, his near-total lack of command over his element made Jannick easy to mistake for any other cop on the Veradis beat. Fortunately, he’d been selected as a Templar for a reason, and his opponents, while zealous, were little more; but while he fended them off well enough to keep himself alive, he wasn’t making any real progress. 

Soon, the doors burst open and the cavalry arrived, but the relief Jannick would normally feel from the arrival of backup was deadened by the desperation of his situation. It was all he could do to stay standing under the attackers’ oppressive assault, let alone protect his Scion, who was nowhere to be found. And without the magic on display by the other Templars who could actually do their jobs, there was little he could do to tip the scales in his favour; sick to his stomach at the prospect, he was struggling to hold his own as he waited to be rescued. 

But rescue did come in the unlikeliest of forms: moments after Dame Irina’s arrival, Hollyhock burst through the crowd, grasping for Jannick’s hand and pulling him toward the bright new exit. Jannick’s heart jumped; for a second, he almost thought she was another attacker. He didn’t need to hear Holly’s message; as if willed by the Mother, he saw a path open up to the doors and broke into a sprint in that direction, his gauntleted hand like a vise on Hollyhock’s. He was surprised by her speed - or rather, her lack of it. Normally, Holly propelled herself around like a hurricane, but on their now-opened path he soon felt himself overtaking and then all but dragging her behind him. He had no time to worry if she was injured or to question her over the problem; he had only the mind to charge out of the ballroom and down the road, following Irina’s orders with all haste. 

As the pair left the blinding light of a ring of utility vehicles shining their headlights into the ballroom and disappeared into the darkness on the road, Jannick could still hear the popping of gunshots all around them. Mercifully, that shameful chorus was soon drowned under the drumbeat of hurried footsteps and his own laboured breath. 
[hr][@OwO]