Máire’s boots hit dirt just a pace away from rat, her stride closing the distance in an instant as her hand swung out to clap him on the back, spurring him back into motion. “Aye, you’re a right master of the art,” she announced with absolute lack of sincerity, several of the swords fading into dust and returning to her bloodstream. “Now keep moving before the rest of the swarm stress tests that delusion!”

She sprinted down the corridors at Rat’s side, keeping one eye on the drive frames raining debris down upon them. [i]As if the monsters weren’t enough of a problem to get through.[/i] Her other eye she kept on the messenger, alerting him to dodge when necessary, or pulling him out of the way herself. Máire’s swords flew ahead in formation like fighter jets, clearing them a path through the increasingly concentrated beasts slavering to get through the wall. The frames had funneled the swarm away from the town’s gates, leaving them to attempt scaling the sheer steel walls surrounding it. Unfortunately, that would have to be [i]their[/i] way in, too. 

“Templar! Up!!” Máire called to the shapeshifter, grabbing Rat around his midsection as she thrust one of her blades up toward the top of the wall. “Hold tight,” she advised, before the invisible connection between herself and her manifested weaponry sent them hurtling skyward. Out of the corner of her eye, Máire noticed Rat was still clinging tight to one of her swords, swinging it desperately at the creatures around them. 

She could’ve smiled at that.

[hr]

Ugh, what a mess they’d made. She was [i]definitely[/i] buying new shoes later, budget be damned. Abel could suck hers, quite frankly. Even if coming down here [i]had[/i] been all her idea, against his advice. “We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile Dollar,” “the hunt is too risky, Dollar,” “Its not our problem, Dollar,” “leave it to the actual Rogues, Dollar,” “we’re just making trouble for ourselves, Dollar,”  “we’re not even getting paid for this, Dollar.” 

Nerd.

Dollar stepped over rubble and splattered hydra, careful not to stumble and twist her ankle on any of the slick liquid coating the area. Ick, it was all sticky! She swore, if this stuff stained- Well, anyway. She glanced over to the side for a moment, taking in the image of good ol’ Alex Brickhead jammed half inside an oozing monster neck, then mentally filed the memory away to never bother her again before turning her attention to the real reason she was down here.

To save someone. Because she was a goddamn hero, god damn it. 

The Haze pulsed in thick, red veins all across the little battlefield Miss Knight had made for herself, some of them stretching maybe twenty feet away if Dollar cared enough to measure or do math. Oof. That was some real shit this upside girl was doing to herself, huh? Dollar hadn’t seen anyone piss out Haze like this in… 

Well. Let’s not dwell on such things. There’s some goddamn hero stuff that needs doing, god damn it!

Dollar swatted the Haze away as some of the tendrils reached out toward her, like lightning jumping to a ground. She drew up next to the Templar girl, placing a hand on her immaculately well-dressed hip and quirking her lip in thought as she gazed down at her latest beneficiary. Did she know this kid? She seemed kind of familiar, though Dollar couldn’t really place it. Oh, well. All these mages kinda bled together after a while.

“Really got yourself in some trouble, huh dumbass?” Dollar asked the unconscious girl with a sigh. She crouched down, her fingers reaching out to brush ever-so-gently over that dorky ass helmet the kid was wearing. “Don’t you know what kind of attention you’ll draw to yourself like this?” Dollar sighed again, a bit more gently this time.

“Y’know, normally I charge for this kind of thing, so I hope you appreciate my special service.” Her hand moved lower, toward the center of the girl’s back where the Haze was thickest. It wrapped itself around her hand, writhing up her arm and whipping out at Dollar’s face, leaving a burning smell in the air and cracking down on the ground around her. Sheesh, what an attitude problem. Kids these days, honestly. Still, she supposed if nothing else, it meant the girl was energetic. 

Dollar stretched out her fingers, forming a straight line from her wrist to her nails as the Haze continued to lash around her. Hungry and angry as it ever was. It really did have such an attitude problem. “Try to be more careful, next time, alright?” she asked the girl again, knowing full well it wouldn’t be heard. 

She could feel the Haze writhing about the area, grabbing for the hydra, the ground, the air, the idiot meathead wrapped in sushi over on the side. It would calm on its own in time, some weeks or months or years later, if those other mages didn’t show up to beat it into submission first. But Dollar was here now, could feel the Haze now, could hear its petulant tantrum now. 

So she slashed her arm out to the side, and cut it all away.