[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/e345a640-6f5c-47dc-a2b8-3adc8382b2a0.png[/img][/center][hr]


Schrade could accuse Earthshaker of being dramatic all she liked, but there wasn’t any denying the Rule Keeper had taken a beating for an ultimately fruitless assault upon the Giga Miseria. If she was looking to scrounge accolades from the muck left in Schrade’s wake she could have argued her efforts had saved countless civilian lives and kept the pressure of the tengu off the others, as there was more trying to maul her then was collectively descending upon the club.

But if there was one commonality between leader and rule keeper, it was that neither gave a single shit for unearned glory.

Her grumbling faded as she staggered to her feet and followed their intrepid leader. It was a slow march, letting the chill wind caress at raw skin still red from corrosive bile. One could have called it peaceful in the wake of fighting for their lives, a slow march onwards like the gentle plodding of night towards the dawn. Drawn inexorably together, the Detention Club fell into Rei’s wake. 

Earthshaker’s cloak returned to her with a flutter of magic as Nyxia remarked on her battered state, and the Rule Keeper could only exhale as she pulled her hood up to mask the worst of the beating. 

[color=orange]”The Giant couldn’t hurt me. But I couldn’t hurt it either, and the birds didn’t have any issue trying to melt me from every direction.”[/color] It was a small mercy that they were wary from splashing each other or there would have been nothing to stop them from simply burying the Magical Girls in bodies and melting them in a torrent of spittle. 

She didn’t say much more to Nyxia before the club was hale and whole, most of them battered and bloody but still intact. Besides Oros, but with her unique anatomy it hardly was worth noting. 

What was worthy of attention was Rei deigning to explain herself. Their glorious leader had a near aversion to such frankness, and though it was a mild relief to hear such confidence. 


[color=orange][i]If it was only Ashbringer I’d even believe her.[/i][/color] She winced and crossed her arms, pulling the cloak closed around herself in discomfort. Could even Rei know Sink Queen was already aligned against them and Ash would be hunting for more friends? Somehow she doubted their leader’s seeming omniscience in that regard.

Fortunately she didn’t linger on the sword hanging over all their necks and turned to, perhaps most shocking of all, welcome Hizuki in full to the Club. Earthshaker harbored no doubts towards Hizuki’s earnest desires, but the Rule Keeper hadn’t considered Rei would be as accepting either. 

[color=orange]”Welcome to the Club, Hizuki.”[/color] The words were interrupted only by a cough, the tanned Magical Girl sagging under her cloak. A slain Giga Miseria brought with it an upswell of power that would suffuse the city’s resident Magical Girls, but that didn’t erase the strain she put herself under trying to blitz the Giant.

Nor did it blind her to the bruises around Hizuki’s neck and the stilted apology Shatterscape gave her. 

[color=orange][i]Later. I’ll take to her later.[/i][/color] Roche thought, eyelids heavy as she swayed gently against the chill wind. [color=orange][i]I need to sleep this off something bad.[/i][/color]