[center][color=#008b8b][h2]Fionn MacKerracher[/h2][/color][/center]
[hr][@HereComesTheSnow][@VitaVitaAR][@Crimson Paladin][@6slyboy6]
[hr]

With a small nod at Amy's renewed good spirits, Fionn had been about to ask Fleuri to join him searching some of the outer buildings of the fort before Fanilly ordered them onwards towards the main keep instead. With a shrug, he fell in with the rest of the group instead, holding his sword ahead of him to light the way. While night had yet to fall, the moon rising through the sky and the sunset's fiery hues signalled that it was coming very near, and the long shadows the fortress and its buildings cast were close enough to night to merit the extra light.

The scent was the first thing he noticed; while he didn't have Tyaethe's supernatural senses, even at this point the stench of blood was suffusing the air more and more. Indeed, around the entrance of the keep proper it had spilled out to the dirt itself, not to mention that which had found itself upon the walls. The corpses were just within, heaped upon each other like the bandits they'd put to pyre scarcely a month before. He looked to his left, toward one of the buildings along the outer wall, and could see a similar spill just outside it. He reached out to tap the knight next to him, pointing over at the building. [color=#008b8b]"Let's fan out a bit. Fleuri, let's go che—"[/color]

"Nothing but corpses."

He could've sworn he felt an ear twitch at those words. [color=goldenrod]"Hey, Fionn."[/color] He turned to Gerard, his sword arm dropping even as the other knight's rose, his and the captain's both. [color=goldenrod]"Alette the Shark and her band— They don't operate this far south normally, far as I remember. Closer to your side of Velt, right?"[/color]

"Surrender. Now."

Fionn groaned, leaning against the clean wall near him and putting his head in his free hand. [color=#008b8b]"Of [i]all[/i] the places..."[/color] He cursed under his breath, before pushing off the wall and glancing over at the young woman who'd just stepped out to the group. Sure enough, the face hadn't changed much—livelier looking in the eyes, sure, and obviously sharpened a bit compared to when last he'd seen her—and the gear wasn't dissimilar from what he'd expect. Still, the subtle changes all over were proof enough of the years that had passed since last he'd spoken to the girl.

[color=#008b8b][i]"Alette."[/i][/color]

He strode through the dispersing group, pushing on past Fanilly to stand between her and the blue-haired girl. [color=#008b8b]"You know better than to just walk on out like that. And what's with the hair? I've told you a thousand times to braid it if you're going to wear pigtails like that, and by the Goddesses, put on a bloody [i]helmet."[/i][/color] He glanced down again, critical eye going over her equipment to check more than just the fit.

[color=#008b8b]"What happened to that knife I gave you when I left?"[/color]