[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/zQXUPoA.png[/img][/center]

There was some irony. Just a little bit.

That the knights of a formerly-Mayonite order, rushing up to the defense of their precious, naive knight-captain, all wielded nothing but bladed weapons. Amongst the five squared up upon the cart, there was but a single shield to be shared between them all.

Serenity let out a bark of a laugh. Bemusement at Fanilly’s words. Rushing ahead, but unable to offer anything but an order for someone else to deal with it. Pathetic, but dwelling on such things in the midst of an ‘ambush’ was meaningless. She could already hear it now, the swaying, the cracking, of the branches overhead. It had been an easy presumption to make. With all the Iron Rose Knights helmed up, their vision would be hampered, their ability to see above them, in particular, rendered non-existent.

[b]“Ha….”[/b]

In her youth, she had played a game with the older children of the House. They would pelt her with fruits, vegetables, and she would strike them away with her practice sword. Silly fun. Martial diversions.

The bandits were slower than that. Larger than that. More predictable than that. Falling with the tragic weight of overripe fruits, unable to even engineer for themselves an arc, a spin, a twist.

Serenity drew her sword, deepened her breaths, and swung with honed instinct.

One bandit dropped to the ground and collapsed, his half-severed leg giving out from under him. Another blinked numbly at the fingers he was suddenly missing, before a third flick of the Arcedeen scion’s wrist sliced open the side of his throat and ended his miscreant existence before he could let out a cry.

There was already good reason not to [i]jump[/i] in battle. There was even greater reason not to [i]drop down[/i] if you couldn’t guarantee your landing.

And if she could do this with one hand, surely her compatriots could do better with their single-handed devotion to violence and bloodshed?

[b]“Don’t forget, Gerard,”[/b] Serenity chimed, her shield hoisted up as she delivered a merciful blow on the one-legged bandit. [b]“True elegance is found only with pinkies out.”[/b]