[i]For a moment, time seemed to freeze as Fortune felt as if he was watching the scene before him as if he was a different person, witnessing events while two different realities presented to him that were offering him two different paths upon which he could tread. The first saw him standing upright, his chest plate coated in the spiky metal that was the sign of the arrow making contact with it but clearly perfectly fine. The other saw he kneeling on the ground, fighting the urge to clutch at his arm as the liquid metal washed over it like a crawling tide with what appeared to be nothing but pure agony radiating off of his body. The only difference that he could see between the two... was where some of the splinters from the crossbow bolt had flown. Both paths were valid and could exist independently of each other... With grim resolve, Fortune made his decision before the frozen moment of time finally came to an end.[/i] ......................................................................... The impact of the bolt against his armor was thankfully little more then a glancing hit then striking him dead center; The design of his armor and the angle that the bolt itself had hit had helped deflect it away. The shattering of the tip however rang clearly through the air as Fortune allowed a moment of panic to seize him as the shards went flying while fate and luck battled over the course of the future. The awful keening, shearing sound of metal being rent filled the air as some of the shards started to spread its dangerously magical payload across his breastplate but failed to properly breach it. [s]The good fortune ended there. As several shards splattered against his left hand, Fortune tried to reach over and unbuckle it and pull it free before the metal had the chance to properly spread... but was forced to pull his right hand away or risk it being covered as well since the metal had simply engulfed his gauntlet to quickly to have even had a chance to undo the buckles, let along pull it free. He quickly lost the ability to move his fingers or even flex his hand as the metal locked it into position... and then his vision turned white as it seeped through and made contact with his skin, all other senses over ridden as pure agony hammered its painful nails into his brain as Fortune discovered the hard way what it felt like to have molten metal poured over your hand and lower arm. As he fell to his knees his mouth was opened in a soundless scream, the sheer pain more then enough to choke whatever cry he might have filled the air with. He didn't know how anyone else would respond to his pain as it was too much for him, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he collapsed forwards as the blissful blackness of unconsciousness claimed him.[/s] .................................................................................. Fortune blinked as he watched the splintered shards of the head of the crossbow bolt miss his left gauntlet by inches, landing harmlessly against the ground. For a moment he couldn't help but shiver, his right hand grasping and running over his left as a phantom pain the likes of which he had never felt before (even when his body was being ravaged by plague) caused him to twitch his left hand out of reflex. He didn't know why... but he suspected that he had just narrowly avoided a very nasty fate and he had to thank the... Damsel for it. Witch didn't seem to suit her anyway. Glancing over to the girl that he had just risked his life to save, he quickly noticed two things; The first was that some of the splinters had still managed to find their target, but it was only a limited number and the issue of the spikes that the metal seemed to create when it had coated something enough was taken care of by the woman (he didn't know her name) pulling her shirt away from her skin enough that the spikes didn't make contact with her. The second was that she was [i]really[/i] cute... Shaking his head as he fought down the sudden blush that threatened to burn his cheeks, he softly and nervously asked "A-are you alright?" before remembering the situation that they were in. Sheer rage overcame Fortune as he turned to glare at the two 'knights' that had made an attempt on the Damsel's life, a growl escaping his throat as he demanded with surprising conviction "STAND DOWN NOW BEFORE YOU DISGRACE YOURSELVES AND YOUR MASTER FURTHER WITH YOUR DISGRACEFUL, COWARDLY AND THUGGISH BEHAVIOR FURTHER!" Taking a deep breath, he quickly followed up at a somewhat more softer yell "These 'extra's' are with me. If you [i]dare[/i] try to attack them again, I will end your disgraces on all bretonnian knighthood myself. Is that understood?!"