[center][color=seagreen][h2]Duncan MacTyr[/h2][h3]??? — Dirt Road[/h3][/color][/center][hr][hr]

[b]"Uh... Well, I'm pretty sure you can't tell elevation apart when everything level, so I guess we'll go... That way?"[/b]

[color=seagreen]"Works for me,"[/color] Duncan concurred with a shrug and a bit of a snort as he followed after the most-likely younger man, though minding his pace so as not to get too far ahead of Hikari who, by default, had a bit of a shorter gait than either of them to say the least. [color=seagreen]"All aboard the heel-toe express; next stop... [i]damned if we know."[/i][/color]

Honestly, there wasn't much to fault in that logic; any way forward was still [i]progress[/i] at this point. And, even [i]if[/i] they happened to run into some kind of obstacle along the way, as long as they had the road as a landmark, they could always just... [i]turn around and go back the other way.[/i]

All that aside, it was still a [i][b]damned[/b][/i] fine day out. And the simple act of [i]walking—[/i] without a cane, his feeble bones or the constant ache from times long past— was... [i]surreal.[/i] [b][i]Pleasant.[/i][/b] Something he hadn't up until that very moment realized he'd been missing for [i]decades[/i] now. Post-mortem hallucination or otherwise, our armoured old man couldn't find it in himself to protest [i]too[/i] much about the hand he'd been dealt since waking in a grassy field in full plate and accompanied [i]by the pair of his fellow survivors who'd apparently been [b]resculpted and clothed by some apparent cosmic plastic surgeon.[/b][/i]

That last thought [i]did[/i] linger in Duncan's head for a few seconds. And again, his free hand began to travel back up to his helmet to check if anything had changed—

[b]"...There's fighting further down the road, Be careful."[/b]

...And down the hand came again.

[color=seagreen][b]"What. How—?"[/b][/color] He asked flatly, head turning slightly toward the taller man for a half-second before connecting the dots himself.

[color=seagreen][i]'Oh, right. [b]Fox Ears.[/b] That's pretty handy.'[/i][/color]

Instead that free hand found it's way to the hilt of his sword as they continued forward, until the trio came upon the cause of the steadily louder and louder disturbance; a group of apparent bandits attacking what appeared to be...

[b]...A caravan of [i]Knights[/i] and [i]Maids.[/i][/b]

Quietly, Duncan cast a quick look back Hikari's way, then down at himself before taking a deep breath and uttering a single word;

[color=seagreen][b]"Nuts."[/b][/color]

And out came the sword with a calm, measured draw. As old and worn-in as his armour looked, but also [i]just as strangely comfortable.[/i] in his hand, something he again filed away in the back of his head as he took two paces forward, both taking in a more clinical view of the carnage before him, and began paying more attention to his peripheral vision, casting his visor from one side to the other ever so slightly to not give away that he was checking his flanks.

One last time, he cast a glance down at the weapon in his hands with a narrowed glare. 

Duncan was no stranger to hand-to-hand combat; in fact, he'd made a name for himself with it in places like Ortona, Falaise and the Scheldt. It was the whole reason he was handpicked to do the kinds of things he did in Korea.

But...

[i][b]That was a [u]very[/u] long time ago.[/b][/i]

Still, his eyes came back upward as he spoke; a cold, surgical calm in his tone.

[color=seagreen][b]"Both of you, start backing up. Don't get separated. Steven, get that sword out; whether you use it or not, it's a barrier between you and anyone trying to kill you."[/b][/color] He said, checking his shield one last time. [color=seagreen][b]"If things start going south, you grab Hikari and you [i]run like [u]hell.[/u]"[/i][/b][/color]

With one last exhale, he raised his weapon.

[color=seagreen][b]"Am I understood?"[/b][/color] 

Sure, he'd mentioned watching eachother's backs earlier. But this was something else entirely from spooking off some wayward predator. And quite frankly, [i]Duncan had already lived his life.[/i] He was far less concerned about his than those of his companions. 

[@PKMNB0Y][@Raineh Daze]