[center][h1][color=red][u]G R A V E S[/u][/color][/h1][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][hr][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent]  • Tʜᴇ Dᴜɴɢᴇᴏɴ • [/center][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][hr][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent]

Graves stood in stoic silence, softened eyes cast over the rest of his newfound companions. A number of them stepped forward to say their piece on the matter. With each voice that rang out in those damnable halls, the inner gnawing of doubt and fear began to slowly quiet. Elian's words held a heavy truth to them. No one there was anything special. Not really. They hadn't logged on earlier that day expecting to be shoved into a life or death situation with no hope of escape. If they knew what they were getting into, it was likely none of them would've came. Yet here they were, all the same. Graves understood her fear. Hell, he held it within his heart all the same. The tank let his arms drop from his chest, taking a singular foot forward. He was intent on moving to Elian's side, to make the healer feel better in some respect.

Or, he would have, if not for the intervention of Tiferet. Their resident fiddler was alongside the healer, a confident, reassuring hand upon the woman's shoulder. What Tif said was true, too. The only way their party was getting out of their was through the monsters; sitting back and waiting guaranteed nothing, other than the same fighting that would come for them whether they moved through the dungeon or remained where they were. This wasn't about heroics, like Elian said. This...this was about survival now.

[color=red]"Elian?"[/color] Graves spoke her name in the hopes of getting her attention. [color=red]"I'm gonna keep you safe. I promise."[/color] The Blood Knight spoke with a confidence he didn't have. Faux though his courage may be, Graves meant what he said. He'd keep their healer safe. It was his job, after all. No different from any of the other dozen times the tank and the dancer worked together. Well, mostly. There was one difference: they were playing for keeps this time around.

The bounty hunter's shaky, cold hands returned to cross over his bare chest. The crimson eyes of the bulky warrior turned away from Tif and Elian, moving over to where Sky was...well. Sky looked like she was losing it, to put it lightly. The fire mage was laughing hysterically while hot tears ran down her cheeks. Just looking at her, it felt like someone had punched Graves in the gut. [color=red][i]'Damn..'[/i][/color] Once more, the typically prickly man felt...compelled...to move. To speak, at the very least. Protecting people was second nature to the tank. But how could he protect them from [i]this?[/i] There wasn't an ogre to fight. No horde of goblin archers to knock down. It was the fear of death that weighed on them all; something no weapon could hope to harm.

Thankfully, Sky was stronger than she looked. She was able to get a handle on her emotions and swallow the pain, at least for the time being. Graves held his gaze upon her. He listened, and he understood, but...Did he agree? The fire mage spoke of a world they all wanted to return to. Of things they missed out on by being stuck in this dreadful place. Yet Graves felt a nagging in the back of his head. A question that would never find it's way to his lips.

[color=red][i]'Do I have anything to return to?' [/i][/color]

Andrew had a fairly mundane life. He'd always thought the hand fate had dealt him was shitty. His family couldn't care less about him. He had no real friends, if he was honest with himself. Life was a cycle of waking up, going to work, then coming to home to play Pariah until he was too exhausted to continue. Pariah was the only place he had found any real joy. Everything else he did was, in essence, a way to continue to feed into his gaming habits. That didn't...that didn't mean he wanted to be locked up in here, though. He didn't want the threat of death constantly dangled before him every time he logged on; and he definitely wasn't going to let any of these other people be caught up in here because of his inaction.

Burdened by questions he really shouldn't be worrying about at a time like this, Graves's attention was quickly grabbed by the sound of Rael's voice. His eyes flickered over to her, narrowing into daggers as she outright [i]insulted[/i] everyone for being afraid. No, that wasn't it. Rael was trying to make them feel better...in her own 'special' way. Graves didn't know how he'd missed it earlier, but the pipsqueak was [i]smiling.[/i] She spoke with a confidence befit a warrior. Behind her courage, Rael had a point as well. They'd managed to handle the ambush without serious injury; the same threat of death had hung over them then, too, even if they didn't know about it at the time. If they could adapt to that attack, why couldn't they do the same to everything else that lay ahead? 

Graves's hands steadied. The devouring teeth of terror found no purchase in the iron hold of his heart. Everyone had made their decision. They all knew what had to be done. Sitting around here and moping wouldn't help anybody. They had to clear the dungeon to get out; so that's what they were going to do. The Blood Knight found a smile breaking out without his consent. [color=red]"You're a real bastard, ya know that?"[/color] Graves chuckled, his foot slipping underneath the shaft of the halberd upon the floor in front of him. With practiced ease, he kicked the weapon up and caught it in his waiting hand. "Anybody else feel like makin' a speech?" He asked, shifting his gaze around at the others. Orchid and Altissma were quietly huddled together, looking just as afraid as the rest of them. Landon and Mirage were fairly quiet, too. [color=red]"Then how about we get the hell outta here?"[/color]

The bravado that had once characterized Graves's interactions with the rest of the party returned to him. He knew they were all still apprehensive- all but Rael, anyway. Probably afraid, too. But they had collectively decided to move forward, so there was no point in dragging their feet and crying about it anymore. 

With a sigh, the tank gave a short nod and raised his voice. [color=red]"Alright everybody. Back in formation, we're moving. Orchid!"[/color] Graves shot a serious look at the man. [color=red]"You and 2Chainz watch our midsection. Keep your eyes peeled for any ambushed from above or below,[i] got it this time[/i]?"[/color] Graves didn't know those two well, but he hoped they could be relied upon in a crisis. 

Turning his eyes toward their damage dealers, the Blood Knight addressed them as well. [color=red]"Mirage, Sky, Landon- kill anything before it gets too close. We'll keep you covered, just make sure everything fuckin' dies, got it?"[/color] They were the lynch pin to the formation. If the backline ever fell, none of the rest of them had the damage to deal with a horde of monsters descending upon them. It was the job of the tanks and the healer to make sure they stayed alive long enough to make sure the monsters fell.

Graves looked next to the pair of supportive casters. Tiferet was holding up surprisingly well. Probably better than Graves was, if...he was honest with himself. Most of his confidence was a flimsy facade meant to make the rest of them feel better. In all honestly, Graves was probably closer to Sky's reaction- breaking down into tears- than Rael or Tif's. Somehow, however, he kept up the mask. [color=red]"Fiddler, Dagger-ears. You two stay right behind me, okay? I'll make sure you're safe."[/color] Graves looked between the two, but his eyes were mostly on Eli when he said that line. [color=red]"Just keep us all up. That's all you gotta do. It's just another dungeon, right?"[/color]

Finally, Graves looked to Rael. She was the only one who looked like she had her shit together. Whether that was her hiding behind an impressive mask or the fact that she was just impossibly brave, Graves couldn't tell. But her ability to remain calm, or at least fake it, caused Graves to naturally rely on her more than the others. [color=red]"Pipsqueak,"[/color] He addressed her with a grin.[color=red] "I'm counting on you to watch the rear and to fill in any gaps in our defense. If anything gets through, you peel back to deal with it. You can do that, right? 'Course you can."[/color] Graves dropped a hand from his halberd, the larger tank quickly went to ruffle the little ball of angst's hair. [color=red]"Oh, and don't call my party members dummies- that's my job. Now! Let's move, people! We don't got all day." [/color]