Raineh Daze

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Zeke Malina

Now that they were moving away from the bizarre clown… thing, there was plenty of time for the thief to think over everything that had just played out. Oh, it was clear Esben was buying them time – either planning to make his own escape or hoping that the group would be able to come back and rescue them later – but that was hardly interesting. Important, certainly; especially if they decided that it was time to mount a rescue before there were reinforcements. His skills would be much more useful there, along with the little ninja that had been so unexpectedly agitated.

But the tension in the group… some of it was strictly professional; the Edreni swordsman for instance with all his breakdown of their obvious risk. Though that was another interesting connection that Zeke had to wonder about; there was a feel of black magic about him – weaker now than when they'd met – that seemed oddly similar to the one they were running from. Better to ask about when he wasn't being a rearguard. The little Viera, too, only seemed to have a professional interest…

But the Skaelan officer, there was something interesting. A lingering feeling that maybe both of them wanted to say something more? Something that there wasn't time for, or that they didn't know how to put into words?

Now wasn't the 'right' time to ask about something like that, but it was probably the most fun. Éliane would be the least guarded for it just from the worry alone. Slip back just a bit to be in easy conversational range, just far enough away to have time to avoid being shot if she took it badly.

"So… I'm thinking you should probably ask him out when he gets back? Very stupid, very heroic – and he's not bad looking at all. Why, you never know who might take an interest~"

Did he put too much emphasis on that last part? Ah well.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Zeke Malina

The redhead watched the negotiation with almost perfect disinterest, given away only by the knife still playing between his fingers – but in the end, his attention was entirely on Esben, smiling once again but undeniably curious. "So, do all of you simply lack self-preservation? Or do you not feel fear at all?"

Though he didn't seem eager to stick around and wait for an answer, already balancing precariously on the edge of the roof, "Well, you heard the man-demon-clown thing, we should get going."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Royal Box

"It might be more comfortable, but the heart is kind of important in vampirism—"

And then Gertrude loudly repeated her words from the hunt.

The pronouncement was followed by absolute silence, and everyone's gaze tracking immediately over to the paladin in question. A paladin that, even without Gretchen leaning on her chest, was steadily going almost as red as her eyes from the sudden attention.

"D-Dame Tyaethe, is this all true…?" Elisandre asked, unable to keep her voice from creeping towards the excited rather than simply scandalised.

"I–I don't know!" were the first words out of the vampire's mouth, against all odds, and the princess's brow was already furrowing in confusion, "I couldn't really see him! I just remembered what was going on the last time! Well, what Cyrus said was going on to start…"

"Ooooh," the princess nodded, even though she didn't really get it. Maybe Rozenalt was particularly hard to see? Or… well, the vampire was short, maybe that was the problem.

Fortunately, Maletha spared her any more immediate interrogation over the all-but confirmed crudeness by wondering about the second thing Gertrude had brought up: "Umm… did Tyaethe really look that scary? She looked so nice when we were playing…"

Haizea gave a happy little hum and leaned into the ruffling, tail swishing, "Are you sure? Everyone we talked to said that it was too strong to do anything about… would your Auntie really know better than the college?"

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Zeke Malina

The redhead slipped up onto the roofs as easily as any of the rest of them, not seeming to have done much on the path this far – yet still that knife was slick with something that might have been blood at some point, and the mystral gave Rudolf an exasperated look. "Of course I know Dispel, that's too useful – but not for this."

A minute twitch to indicate the strange jester thing that he had no idea about, and was only marginally more equipped to deal with than any of the common soldiers.

"Sanctuary… if it's not been overrun and defiled by now, we'd need to take a detour south."

Sword and Dungeon: An Adventurer's Guild-based Fantasy RP

Team Farm

Fletcher's guide around the farm was terse and not altogether replete with information – some information on when this field or that field had been used, or what it was being used for (when it wasn't altogether obvious from the animals or crops present), but Pete's question about the woodland made the man pause and let out a thoughtful hum.

"Aye, my land goes around the woods – wouldn't say it's mine, you know what old woods are like," he answered, looking at the nearer copse. Small, yes, but old and heavily overgrown, nestled between the fields and left untended as a small stream dove through and out. Something that could have easily been removed for more space if needed, but as the farmer said – "Don't want to make the People angry."

---

Liliane and Corinne

The first skeleton came out, drawing the eye of the two hundi least involved in the ongoing goblin slaying, and—

Liliane winced as her wife let out a piercing shriek. She'd been so glad that they had run into goblins, but now she was regretting it. Random bandits were much less likely to have a necromancer on retainer, and the moral difficulties were much less of a problem than a squishy mage freezing up and just staring at the oncoming skeletons.

"N-Ne t'approche pas de moi…"

Definitely not going to calm down and help out.

Which meant Liliane had to do her best to make it easier for everyone else. The simple way would be to trust in the others, rush through the skeletons, and find the mage. They couldn't be that far unless the goblins had some necromancer savant on hand, not with this many.

But that would mean leaving Corinne completely with comparative strangers. Surrounded by undead.

The complicated and inefficient solution it was; Liliane fell amongst the oncoming skeletons in a dizzying blur of daggers. That it was skeletons made it much more of a problem for her; these weren't weapons made for cleaving or breaking; even the comparatively fragile structure of these undead was something that she didn't want to test her blades on for too long. It just wasn't how they were meant to be used and forcing it was a bad habit.

Instead, Liliane found the joints. As easily – no, more easily – than on a living opponent, weaving through where ligaments and tendons should once have been and disrupting the magic currently binding the front wave together. Arms, legs, spines – it didn't matter, so long as they were unarmed or fell. For the moment.

After all, the pile was still shifting, each body trying to pull itself back together – it would certainly make for easier cleanup if anyone wasn't confident in smashing into the horde, but it wasn't finishing them.

@VitaVitaAR@ERode@Octo@Rune_Alchemist@Animal@Psyker Landshark@Eisenhorn@The Otter

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Royal Box

"How did you have a grudge with Lord Rozenalt?" the prince's head swivelled to his other side – and the increasingly awkward-looking vampire with Gretchen attached to her chest. He almost immediately looked away again, cheeks pinking, but it was enough for Tyaethe to force herself somewhat into the conversation… briefly.

"Sescille and I were bored and we thought fighting the Midnight Hunt sounded fun," she grumbled – same story the Iron Roses had heard, "So Cyrus came along and we tried to finish him without being dragged into faerie. We couldn't do both."

There was a moment of awkward silence, soon filled by the sound of Haizea's giggling.

"Oh, so the Bloody Lord's monstrosity in life got reflected by his form in death!" Elisandre was quick to go back to the main story – perhaps still fascinated, or maybe not wanting to think too hard about famous knights picking an absurd fight because they were bored , "And – you mean it? You'll tell everything?"

Of course, Maletha looked a bit nervous, clinging to her sister tighter at the mention of how Rozenalt had become some skeletal monstrosity…

It was probably a good thing that Tyaethe hadn't added "and his armour was full of blood".

---

The vampire, for her part, seemed keen to ignore being told she should have a crush or lie, and was happy to take the interruption as an excuse to ignore it without needing to insult anyone. "You can actually hear that? You're right, I've run into some other people…"

She frowned, but then shrugged, "It's not a problem now and vampirism can't be cured, so I don't need to think of anything else. Haizea, though…"

"There's no hole!" The hundi cheerily replied.

"No, but every time you exert yourself it starts beating even more erratically."

@Octo

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Zeke Malina

"Well, we got this far, but sneaking across is out," the mage stated, as altogether obvious as it was. He was probably looking at Rudolf, but it was hard to say – after the surviving soldiers had proved capable of at least making it this far along the rooftops, the glare was gone and it was getting harder to get a read on him. That, and it was hard to tell where he was looking when his eyes seemed to always by shut.

"If it's a matter of fighting across, getting a bit scratched is fine…" That at least was more useful, "Well, as much as any scratch is. Hasn't seemed contagious~"

"But I was more interested in getting out than working out where they came from. If anyone starts dying, maybe it's best to just leave them."

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Zeke Malina

"Ah, forgive me, I didn't realise any of our surviving Skaelans had any idea about the current state of the city. By all means, if you want to fully trust their memories as more than a map, be my guest," despite the airy tone, the sarcasm couldn't have been any thicker.

Zeke stretched, producing a familiar-looking knife and spinning it around his fingers, "You shouldn't compare my skills with little Miina's. We haven't met in years and I barely knew the basics myself…"

Then some of the tension was gone, that easy smile in place instead, "But lucky for you, this was too important not to pick up. Cura."

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Zeke Malina

The wreckage of the crashed ship lay strewn about, and in and around it were bodies in various states of death: everything from very definitely in too many pieces to "actually, this guy might be alive if someone can do something". A certain red-headed mystral was not among those, instead perched – seemingly not much worse for wear than after his initial flight – on one of the slightly more intact pieces of wood.

It seemed his sister shared more than just general looks; the body language being every bit more feline than their warrior cousin. Ears flat, tail tight, and concerningly tense and low.

"Well, you wanted to look at Solitude, now you can do all the looking you want, and you even brought back a tour guide," he spoke up once it was clear that there were other survivors – namely, the Kirins, "I would show you the way out, but Valheim's going to have closed that exit, and I don't think all of you could cross the rooftops so easily. We need to get going somewhere fast, all this meat is going to get swarmed…"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Royal Box

There was a tangible pause, a moment of calm where both Maletha and Enrich got an identical look of dread. Then it broke, Elisandre practically vanishing from her seat and letting out an alarmingly high-pitched noise as she closed the gap to Gertrude. "It was the Bloody Lord Rozenalt, truly? Oh, I knew that all the stories were grounded in fact but—"

"Was he like the stories? Red haired and in red clothes? Oh but he couldn't have been wearing clothes, not as a leader of the Midnight Hunt, so red armour instead? Did he say anything? It would have been such an opportunity – ah, please, you have to tell me everything!"

The eldest princess was practically vibrating in place, her interest in their foe almost palpable even as her eyes kept drifting over to the beleaguered vampire across the seating, eager to interrogate her for everything.

"I could scarce believe the original knights would find themselves in a battle against the Midnight Hunt," Enrich managed to find his voice, drawing them up haughtily, "To get caught by them would be utterly foolish. How could the order possibly have a score to settle?"

---

"Propriety?" the vampire hissed, face red. Maybe from the other sister, but they were in the presence of royalty and one of the local religious heads, it should have been – not that Haizea seemed to care, just humming happily and nodding before looking out of the box at where preparations seemed nearly complete, "And no, I don't fancy anyone here! It's just always like that!"

Sure enough, listening to it more didn't help make it any less odd. There was definitely consistency, insofar as the beats themselves seemed to be a rather persistent lub-dub-dub, albeit rapid, more often than not… and, well, incapable of regularity in the normal sense. But, just on the edge of hearing – and maybe slightly more apparent with how insistently it still beat as a condition of vampirism – there was a near endless hiss.

@Octo