[color=96C8A2][h3]𝓠𝓾𝓪𝓻𝓮𝓵[/h3][/color]
[@DracoLunaris] [@Lunarlors34][@Lucius Cypher][@Spriggs27]

Far sooner than he had anticipated, and very much against his wishes, Quarel found himself locked in another battle of attrition.  This time, he battled to stay attached to the toad that now unwillingly held his prized weapons.  At this stage, it didn't seem at all possible that what few individuals remained of the original group could turn the tides and kill this toad.  He would more than likely be going for a swim.

He didn't bargain on a spear flying out of nowhere to embed itself in the toad's cranium with a meaty, almost sickening [i]shlork[/i].  The weapon's point pierced its brain, and through the critical wound its life seeped out in an instant.  In an instant the monsters lost all remaining vitality and sagged, like a puppet whose strings had been cut, or a large waterskin, to the ground.  Dazed, Quarel let go of the fresh corpse to stand on shaky legs.  On the short but unstable trip to its mouth, he processed that two individuals that appeared to be half-orcs had arrived to save the day, but he had his priorities straight.  Without any hesitation he climbed back into the toad's slimy maw, and there worked for about a minute to find and loosen his knives.  When he returned to the sunlight, he looked as proud as he did exhausted.  He sat down to listen to Jiang's 'congratulations', and the introduction of the newcomers that followed.  That said, his focus wasn't all there.  The toad experience had taught him one thing: that he couldn't rely on his fellow wannabe-adventurers.  With that, his stake in the new career plummeted.  In the hardest of times, the poorest of the poor and the weakest of the weak might have nothing, but they could still have one another.  Here, that just wasn't the case.  Furthermore, he couldn't rely on the more experienced succubus or centaur wasting their time trying to get him up to speed, and he couldn't rely on strangers coming out of nowhere to lend a hand when he needed it most.  There was only one thing for it.

Digging in his pockets, Quarel produced the money he'd taken from Yuji only minutes ago, and dumped it on the ground.  “Hey.  Sorry to disappoint, but this just ain't for me.  I've got other stuff I gotta do, and I can't see any kind of future here.  I mean, I almost lost everything in less than ten minutes.  If either of you ladies ever find yourselves stuck in the rough part of Axis, find someone with the Nightcrawlers and tell 'em Quarel said you're alright.”  With a great effort the strigiforme stood to his feet.  He glanced at Anemone, Capala, and Rita, the only others who remained aside from the half-orcs.  “Couldn't really see what you guys were up to, but, uh...good work?  You lived.  I hope you keep on living.  Have a good one.”

Were he standing, Quarel might have taken a slight bow before turning to leave, but he needed some more time to recover.  Instead, he reclined onto his back, staring up at the sky with eyes of burnished gold.  Would he ever, as every wingless bird dreamed, reach the sky?  It rose to such a height.  Yet, he was not perturbed.  [i]The sky should be high.  Maybe not as an adventurer, but one day I'll have the power to reach it, and if it were any easier it wouldn't be worth it.[/i]  A long road lay ahead of him, one without much hope.  With the Nightcrawlers, at least, he knew he wouldn't be walking it alone.