As Rainbow watched everyone’s interactions (or lack thereof) with Hazel, he wondered if anyone was going to do anything about the threat to the city Marrathew had [i]just[/i] described. Humans were strange sometimes, but if they weren’t going to do anything, he would; this was Captain John’s beloved hometown, after all. The rablin then snuck over to the scroll that Sara had set down, walked a little ways away so Hazel wouldn’t see it, and opened it up. The scroll was a complicated, beautiful mess of druidic words; all at once he could feel an old, natural and familial power. This was a spell that Rainbow knew was far beyond his ability to make, and yet he knew he could cast it as easily and intuitively as he could walk. With the power of the scroll, the rablin was [i]certain[/i] he could go inside the Great Oak, defend it from the gnomish threat, and ensure that the coup’s ringleader would never be able to attempt such an action again. [i]How[/i] Rainbow could comprehend all of this was beyond him; the rablin had never even read a scroll in his life, let alone one as incredible as this. But he did know that this wasn’t the time for idle thinking - this was the time for action. Based on Sara’s tone with her and listening to Caleb’s still-ongoing conversation with Kayden, Rainbow knew this Hazel woman was trouble, so he decided to be careful. Using a subtle illusion spell, he made the scroll invisible so he could keep it on him without anyone noticing. He was going to talk to Sara about what to do next, but his rablin ear heard something that caused him to look at Caleb - first the boy was slapped and yelled at by Kayden, then he was grabbed by the witchy woman. Seeing the latter made him livid, and at this point, everyone else was paying attention to the scene as well. Rainbow was going to act, but Sara beat him to it. “Roger, could you please make sure Caleb is okay?” Sara asked in a tone of barely restrained contempt, “apparently I need to show [i]that thing[/i] what happens when they mess with my family.” “Of course,” Roger responded, almost feeling pity for Hazel as he checked on Caleb’s wounds and re-dressed some bandages that were impacted by the slap. Knowing that Caleb was safe, Sara walked away in the witch’s direction. Awkwardness hung in the air immediately after that; apparently nobody knew what to say. Nobody except for Rainbow, who had become even more irritated at the whole situation. “Are you all [i]kidding[/i] me right now?” Rainbow asked with contempt, “the city’s in danger and you’re all just standing there? Caleb’s hurt, so I get that, but this is the best you can do? The Captain would never-” “Wait,” Caleb said with alarm, “what’s going on?” “Some dumb gnome and his friends are trying to take the city,” Rainbow matter-of-factly responded, “we have the means to stop them, but it’s all for nothing if we just stand here.” Caleb stood up. He knew what the right and knightly thing to do was. “Then let’s get going then.” Roger spoke in response. “Caleb, even if it were safe, you’re still injured. The potion would-” he cut himself off after that, looking like he immediately regretted what he just said. “What does it do? Will it help?” Caleb asked with a fierce determination. The skeleton doctor sighed. “It won’t heal you - those kinds of potions don’t exist. But it will delay your fatigue. Basically, it will let your body pretend your wounds don’t exist for a day.” Having heard what he needed to know, the boy drank the potion right away. “We should get going,” Caleb told Rainbow, feeling newly energized as the drink started affecting him. Rainbow smiled and nodded. “Yeah, but you’ll need a weapon though.” Looking over at the twin swords hanging over the mantle, he then asked “could you grab those swords for us, Jake?” The Nieve adults were startled and confused, but the rablin had noticed the kid sneaking in and hiding behind the drapes a little while after Caleb got slapped. Jake, to his credit, did not hesitate and swiped the blades from the mantle immediately and started running in Edward’s direction. Caleb and Rainbow, figuring out where Jake was going, followed him as well. The group of three was joined by Flower, who perched herself on Caleb’s shoulder and had been resting on the azure couch before that. “Edward, we need to get going!” Caleb loudly yelled at the hippocampus, who was just finishing drinking a blend of salt and water. Edward complied, bending himself so the two boys, bird and rablin could get on him. The Nieve adults tried catching up to them, but they were too slow and Edward successfully rode away. “Where are we going?” Edward asked Caleb. The boy pointed towards the big oak tree they could all see in the distance; the hippocampus nodded and went in that direction as Rainbow explained the situation again for Edward’s benefit. --- Back at the Nieve household, Roger gathered his medical supplies. “Mary, Marrathew, please watch Skyla and Kayden. I need to make sure those two boys are alright.” Sara’s children nodded, so Roger took his leave. Leaving with him was Ribbon, who knew where she needed to be as well.