[center][color=007fff][b][u]Azura[/u][/b][/color]
Level 2
Day 3
Location: The Land of Skyrim
[b]Experience: [color=orange]||[/color][color=black]||||||||||||||||||[/color] (2/20)[/b] 
Word Count: 568[/center]

Glad to find at least one other team member agreeable, Azura glanced at Vent in appreciation, though she did not support his choice to volunteer with a nod.  If the whole group did not depart on this detour, she could not in all honesty say who should go.  With so many unknowns present, hiding in every crevice between every rock and underneath the boughs of every tree, splitting up did not occur to her as a good idea.  If Vent went alone, furthermore, who was to say whether or not he could satisfy the Greybeards?  Azura did not understand the strange, artificial-seeming being as much as she would have liked, but in all aspects he seemed of a different bent than the magic-inclined nature of this world, or hers, for that matter.

A small jolt of surprise hit Azura when Piper suggested that she alone be the one to answer the call.  Though she felt capable enough in her own abilities, the songstress did not savor her chances on a perilous climb in an unknown land.  While Piper brought up some good -though rather flattering- points to support her hypothesis, Azura's doubts clung to her as close and chilling as the wintry air.  Without a conclusion, she looked to those who had yet to speak for some sort of consensus.

Until now, the soldier medic had not talked much, leaving Azura no reason to steel herself for his input.  After only a few sentences, however, her countenance grew steely indeed.  The accusation underlying Ruben's words did not go unnoticed for a second, and both the lack of understanding and lack of perspective that those words made plain rankled her with bitterness.  She knew the dismissal and contempt in his tone all too well, though never before had someone of his station used it to her face.

[color=007fff]“A soldier, through and through.”[/color]  Azura did not need to fight to keep rancor out of her tone, for there was none—only fatigue, for she'd stood atop these ramparts before.  Questioning her suggestion for dealing with the call from High Hrothgar was one thing, and since the plan going forward was open to debate that posed no problem in and of itself, but Ruben was attacking her character and ability.  Still, it wouldn't be worth it to try to correct him, and even if she cared to try she doubted anything would improve his impression of her.  It just couldn't be helped.  [color=007fff]“Next time,”[/color] she drawled, [color=007fff]“I shall be sure to abandon the worthless role of support and charge into enemy fire with my lance.”[/color]

Her dull look turned on he Boss next.  He'd made it clear that he valued her staying alive for the sole reason that he would have to take responsibility if she died, which revealed that more than one person present thought her useless.  A crushing feeling of resignation overtook her.  [i]So this is how it is.  I had thought it might be different.[/i]  The Boss made it abundantly clear that nobody would be deviating from the prescribed course, no matter the reason.  The nastiness with which he accompanied this assertion stung her to the core.[color=007fff] ”So be it,”[/color] she murmured, her acquiescence just loud enough to be heard over the whistling wind.  [i]Orders are orders,[/i] she mused.  [i]And what good are soldiers like us if not mindlessly following orders?  Thinking on our own to solve a difficult task using different means due to changing circumstances?  Foolishness.[/i]  Azura felt something bubbling inside her, an energy squirming to be unleashed, but she shut it out and prepared to move.