[center][color=#008b8b][h2]Fionn MacKerracher[/h2][/color][/center]
[hr][@ERode] [@Psyker Landshark]
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He'd have to ask if they could drop the constant formality at some point. Honorifics were all well and good in certain situations, but being a peasant from Velt raised to the knighthood for his ability, rather than by virtue of his birth, the constant sirs and dames and such were starting to get grating. The presence of the master smith and his crew of apprentices and servants (among all the others in the keep), all of whom would likely be somewhat shocked if the formalities were entirely dropped in their presence, notwithstanding.

[color=#008b8b]"Or to carve through a man's armour as easily as I could drive my knife through butter?"[/color] he rhetorically asked back, his tone level but with a clear undercurrent of disapproval. [color=#008b8b]"I wouldn't make light of the title he called himself by. The man was proper beastly, like; I'd heard tell of the [i]Terror of the Red Flag,[/i] the [i]Three-Hundred Man Slayer[/i] with the free company, but I didn't have a name to attach. Seeing him in person..."[/color]

Fionn rolled his shoulders slightly uncomfortably, giving one last look at the bardiche before setting it against the wall. [color=#008b8b]"It's a rare man who makes me feel small. Rarer still can wield a blade like that. Then you consider that he went in bare-chested, and even with only one hand was still mounting an effective defence against [i]three[/i] of us, even if only for a short time? I've little doubt the reputation was well earned."[/color]

And yet he didn't fight like a man who intended to achieve his goals. He should've expected that this disquiet would return, even after the effort he'd done to push it away on the return trip. Thinking too much about Jeremiah and the fight, however, brought it back quite easily. [color=#008b8b]"There'll be a lot of work before any of us—excepting the First and Youngest, of course—can singly match up to his level, I think. There might have been some things I could try were I fighting him alone and uninjured, but as it was, it seemed most prudent to take advantage of the situation, force him onto the back foot, keep him unable to attack back. Eventually Gerard put his point between Jeremiah's ribs, and before he could lash out one last time the captain did the same from the other side as I moved to constrain his blade."[/color]

How much to reveal of his inner thoughts, though? What reaction might it be met with? From Renar he was certain he'd receive some understanding, but Serenity might prove more of a risk. Still, if he was going to work alongside them so often, he might as well put a bit more trust in both. [color=#008b8b]"His removal is a worthy achievement, I think, but I don't feel much satisfaction in it. Even if he was singularly focused on revenge against the order for defeat suffered in the past, he did not fight like a man who [i]wanted[/i] or [i]planned[/i] to win, nor did his band, and I have trouble reconciling his reputation with his actions."[/color] He nodded at Serenity, once.

[color=#008b8b]"Dropping the tree. Unleashing the griffin. Endangering his forces and cutting himself off from them, with no heed to the concept that the captain wouldn't be similarly cut-off, that her forces might join her far sooner than his might him. The show of going in with no armour...even trying to send a message by killing or breaking the captain, whether he ultimately won or lost, doesn't seem to fully fit. No doubt, in some way, he wanted to express his sense of superiority, but I can't help but wonder that he might have just been trying to choose how he died, in some corner of his soul."[/color]

A concept that, unsurprisingly, did not help Fionn feel in any way good about the success he'd helped to achieve, protecting the captain and Gerard while enabling them to finish off such a foe as Jeremiah. He shook his head. [color=#008b8b]"But, enough of my reservations over the results of that particular part of the battle. What of yours? And more importantly, [i]what were they even trying to do jumping on that griffin?"[/i][/color]