Octo

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude couldn't help but feel satisfied after she'd turned the Houndmaster into a sack of quivering innards. The rotter really was a nuisance, and it felt good to explode something that could feel it and be praised for her violence. She supposed all could be forgiven against a force of irredeemable monsters whose occupation was the unilateral massacre of anyone they came across.

Maybe that was knighthood.

A shiver ran up her back when the creature unexpectedly took its final bow, and she readied to explode it even more before it fell as quickly as it rose. Gertrude grit her teeth.

"Sodding creep," she muttered, ceremonially thrusting her arm up into the air as Fanilly declared victory. She wanted to stay and receive even more praise, but had a feeling she'd be chided if she failed to see Rolan to the wounded before their condition turned. Not that she cared for the small fry any.

"Even I'm a bit impressed with myself," she replied to Rolan smugly as she took off, "did you see that bleedin' worm? Of course you did, you shot at it. Bugger practically blotted out the sky. What would everyone have done without me? Might've even taken Rozenalt if we didn't give that one to Tyaethe."

Gertrude's grin widened as they touched down near the injured vanguard forces.

"Ah... that's what this is. The miniature mosquito can't well give you a tongue-lashing if you're tending the wounded. She's probably ready to go off... if she even remembers your interference. Maybe she went so mad that all she saw was blood."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

A smug, self-satisfied grin crept up on Gertrude's lips.

"Well, if you're offering it, then I'll take the extended praise later," Gertrude answered Rolan in a tone that sounded as if she thought she'd won something, "anyways, no telling what the poison did or didn't do, but it was an impressively won fight that made use of our efforts. I'll gladly add Rozenalt's slaying to my list of accomplishments."

Even though Gertrude didn't really do anything directly, her smug expression indicated that she was comfortable putting her name on this one. That expression faded, however, when the Houndmaster began regenerating and transforming regardless of her intercession. That cheeky bugger.

"Oh, sod off," Gertrude grumbled as the abomination howled, taking its hideous, disturbing new form. She didn't know if she'd ever seen anything quite so abhorrent. It was like looking down at a particularly large, grotesque, rampaging insect. Well, there was only one thing to do with insects that earned her ire.

"That's what I get for trying to be clever. Aye, mistress, I'll get back to my specialty!"

Gertrude gripped her broom tight, and raised her hand.

In an instant, a bombardment of forceful, pinprick fireballs rained down on the fell beast, just small and precise enough to not catch her teammates. If Rolan gummed up its joints, then Gertrude made wider movements all but impossible for the creature while providing damaging, explosive judgement.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude allowed herself a rare smile. It wasn't necessarily that she enjoyed the killing, though she did at that, but the felling of that great flying worm emboldened her. She was the last person anyone would accuse of low self-confidence, but she wasn't sure she could have done it in one hit before. Did she get stronger?

Then Rolan piped up, and Gertrude was forced to consider that she probably only got the clean hit due to the smoke and flame Rolan had provided. Otherwise, the creature would likely have evaded a little better. Perhaps she was stronger, but the backup wasn't entirely unhelpful.

"Haaah? Is that it?" Gertrude shot back, obviously displeased with the man's reaction to her amazing magic, "you can cower, if you'd like. It's not every day someone is treated to front row seats for my unparalleled spellcasting and not also dead."

Though Gertrude's words were displeased and argumentative, she slowed at Rolan's request so that he could take his shots. They'd proven their air superiority by felling the worm, and she doubted many more creatures would want to challenge them after the display. From her vantage point, she could see the entire battlefield (at least, what wasn't obscured by foliage) and determined that each fight seemed relatively close but still in their favor. Rolan had pretty quickly determined the standout in the Houndmaster, due to the sheer numbers he commanded. He was shameless in using this advantage, but at least prideful or barbaric enough to get into close quarters.

This would likely be the decision that saw him slain.

While Rolan worked on the hounds, Gertrude looked for an opportunity. Once again, she didn't have the aim for something purely destructive. Fleuri and Fanilly were sticking to the Houndmaster, which was the correct decision, but it put them in the line of fire. Then again, damage wasn't their problem. It was numbers and regeneration. Rolan was on numbers, now...

Gertrude held her spell. The next time the Houndmaster received a crippling strike, Gertrude would hit the wound with a Crystal Prison. By covering the injury over in ice, she figured, it might keep him from grafting using the few mutts that might break through. At least long enough to fatally wound him.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude didn't really expect any heat from Rozenalt because of how in his face Tyaethe was, but apparently he had enough room to launch some tendrils at them. His mistake. Any focus not on the Vampire was a tally on their side. As far as Gertrude was concerned, that bolt had set the fight in Tyaethe's favor twice. Once for the hit, and once for Rozenalt's reprisal. She just hoped Tyaethe wasn't too prideful to seize the advantage. She could already see an angry Vampire in her future, but what was one more old lady yelling at her because she thought she knew better?

Gertrude had some confidence that Rozenalt's attack wasn't an insignificant one. She wasn't foolish, but she also wasn't unskilled. Normally she would have tried to eradicate the thing before it became a threat, but Rolan had already fired at it. If his concoction didn't destroy the tendrils, it would at least make them easier to see coming. The man acted quickly, if nothing else. Well, at least she wouldn't have to waste her spell on them.

It was a little handy to have such support.

"Sodding-!"

And it came at a good time, because the gigantic flying worm that leapt at them from the woods was probably the better target for the spell she had been chanting. Thankfully, she was in the midst of speeding up after Rozenalt's attack. She didn't know how fast or maneuverable the beast was, but she'd hit it with everything she'd been storing right from the jump before deciding how to evade further.

She'd flown straight into a bloody Dragon's mouth. This maw did not scare her.

After Rolan exploded a bottle of fire in the beast's face, Gertrude used the obscuring flames as cover to take her shot.

"Meteor Light," Gertrude roared, grabbing her broom white-knuckled as she accelerated and flipped around in the air. An immense beam of light shot forth, aiming to pierce the beast diagonally from bottom to top along the length. She didn't know where the organs were, or even if the creature had them, so she'd get as much of the insides as she could while entering and exiting through flesh.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"Oh, sod off," Gertrude grumbled in response to Fanilly and Rolan's appreciation, almost imperceptible through the howl of the wind as they rocketed through the air. Gertrude steered sharply away from the oncoming horde of vulture-hags, only to realize that they had already been shot down by another party. But was it a third party, or a member of the first two? She couldn't say, but it made her wary. At the very least, Rolan didn't seem too concerned. Perhaps it was an ally she was unaware of.

Anyways, it wasn't like she wanted to help Fanilly specifically, she just wanted to win. It ticked her off that she was being thanked for her self-interest, but there really wasn't time for extra clarification. With most of the crones off their back, Gertrude had the opportunity to keep steady and allow Rolan to loose a bolt towards Rozenalt. Gertrude couldn't, for the life of her, tell who was winning that bloodbath. She could only guess that the victor would be whoever had more resources. More cards to play. And in that sense, she'd have to go with the smug blackguard.

Well, the other smug blackguard.

That is to say, not her smug blackguard.

Rozenalt.

But if she counted the Roses among Tyaethe's cards... they may as well be cheating as hard as the original Roses did in their card games. What sort of idiot would insist on intentionally playing with less from the start? It didn't make sense-

Dammit, she was starting to appreciate people. She'd need a stiff drink after this fight. Her eyes shifted back to Rolan. Gretchen had already started chanting, and Gertrude had a feeling that a powerful spell would be required judging from the movement to the north.

"I'm more than happy to engage in some gratuitous killing, though I'm not sure if the party to the north is numbers or size. Ah, scheiß drauf, either one will require some real firepower. Load up something that explodes."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"Bloody..." Gertrude grumbled as a slew of vulture-hags emerged from the trees. Of course it couldn't be that easy. If she focused purely on evasion, she'd be safe, but she wouldn't get anything done. Nothing for it but to deal with them, though she didn't want to waste the spell Gretchen had been chanting on a bunch of crones.

Thankfully, she wasn't required to make that sacrifice. She had backup, which she'd completely forgotten about despite the fact that he was riding with her. Rolan let loose with a curious mixture that caused large plumes of black smoke amidst the hags. Normally this was the sort of non-kill-stuff maneuver that Gertrude scoffed at, but she was learning more and more that abilities that didn't directly kill people could be useful too.

The crones would need to get out of the smoke, some hanging right and some left, which corralled them into a couple of nice groups. One which Gertrude would blast, and the other which Gertrude would gain distance from.

"Not too bad," she said more to herself than to Rolan, though the meaning was clear. She grabbed the broom which served as her focus tightly.

"Astral Lance!" she called out as her spell shot forth and skewered a few crones in the left line. She could have used something stronger and gotten more of them, but her other spell was nearly complete.

For once, it was not a pure killing spell. Normally Gertrude would have gone for fire, but the environment made that a difficult prospect. She liked explosions too, but with all the trees, she was likely to kick up a good amount of non-discriminatory shrapnel. The melee was large and confused enough that she was likely to kill an ally if she wanted to rain down pure destruction.

She hadn't really razed anything since having to work with other people. Simple solutions fell to the curse of consideration, and she was left needing to think about things. Too much thought lead, invariably, to rumination on her personal troubles. That is why it was a blessing to have a certain ancestor, even though he ran off and evidently didn't raise his kids right.

Her solution for this particular conundrum was...

"Crystal Prison!" she shouted as Gretchen completed the chant. In a wave like a stone dropped into a pond, the members of The Hunt surrounding Fanilly slowed to a stop. Crystallized. It had occurred to Gertrude that probably the best thing she could do was ensure freedom of movement for her allies, and Fanilly wasn't reaching her potential just surrounded by small fry.

Even Gertrude understood that mobility was one of Fanilly's strong suits, and if she could maneuver more freely, she could use the judgement she had been honing to be where she was most needed.

"Don't disappoint me, mistress!" Gertrude called down as she rocketed over the captain's head. For once, less a jeer than a call to action.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude snorted, and side-eyed Rolan when the man spoke up.

"Flying into anything less than a sodding dragon's maw should be fine, but only a mad bastard would ask me to do that."

When Fanilly requested some basic enchantments, Gertrude obliged. One by one, she took weapons in hand and imbued them with magic. Enough to pierce the natural resistances that some creatures had to mundane weaponry. In this case, fey. It was a bit plain, but it would have to do at a moment's notice. It was frankly bizarre that they'd all come as far as they had without any runic enchantments. They were rare and expensive because it wasn't a common skill, but the carving process itself required more time than money.

As someone with that skill in the Roses' employ, she would have to offer her services once this battle was over and done with. If taking on the goddesses-damned Midnight Hunt was the sort of thing they'd be doing going forward, they'd have to be better equipped. Not that any of them expected this particular turn.

Hell of a first job.

---

Gertrude let out a sigh as the Midnight Hunt approached. She needed to collect herself. The deathless safety net was gone, and while she was confident about her chances in the air, the Hunt presented quite a force. Rozenalt, four generals, and a countless number of magical creatures with no fear of death. Thankfully, the larger threats didn't seem to have any immediately recognizable ranged options, and the other knights were already fighting over which they'd get to do battle with besides.

Daft bastards, all. But they were skilled daft bastards that had just survived legendary training. They'd probably be able to keep the generals busy, which meant she could focus on maneuvering, keeping a shield up below her just in case. One good thing about flight was that you could control the vectors through which you could be attacked, and therefore spend less mana and concentration on defenses.

She was in a good position, despite overwhelming odds. Not that she'd ever let anyone know she was nervous.

She took a seat on her broomstick, beckoned Rolan, and took to the skies as Tyaethe burst through lines of terrifying creatures in order to reach her goal. She'd known the woman for only a short time, but given everyone else's reactions and her own impressions, this behavior was an oddity.

Well, one more distraction.

Gretchen had already started chanting, though she was all the way back at Candaeln. It freed Gertrude up to speak, and made her seem like significantly less of a threat.

"Try not to fall," Gertrude warned Rolan, "because I can't guarantee I'll catch you. We can take it easy as long as they've got other targets and my shield holds. For now, you should be able to concentrate on your shots. If things get rough, I may have to speed up. In that case, be prepared to brace."

With that warning out of the way, Gertrude grinned smugly.

"Enjoy taking advantage of the magic of flight. A marksman should be so lucky! Just direct me if you've a position you'd like to get to. Weep at the novelty, if you must."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude had waited for an opportune moment to interject with her own request to contract with the Moonlit Queen, but the moment did not come before she was shunted out of the fey realm. The Duke's wits along with a meaningful trinket against the defeat of a legendary villain was obviously far too weighted on one side, as far as bets went. Did the rest of them have no ambition? They could have asked for more! Gertrude seethed.

She was cute, too. At least a headpat...

Gertrude kicked at a nearby tree before they had to march off. She fumed all the way up to Rolan's approach, and glared daggers at the man when he spoke up due to no fault of his. She clicked her tongue.

"Fine. You can ride with me, if you'd like," she growled, having already jousted a dragon with a man she hated. Next to that, carrying around an archer would be nothing. She'd just have to adjust for mass.

"You annoy me the least of the cads, anyways," she admitted to Rolan as Renar approached. Probably because Rolan had barely spoken to her. Those were the days. She smirked as Renar said his piece, and tilted her head.

"We might be in trouble if I wasn't certain the blood-sucker had evolved her style in the hundred-something years since their last encounter. Rozenalt will surely be dazzled by her new techniques," Gertrude gibed, her experience with Tyaethe's fighting style being their most recent encounter in which Tyaethe had flung herself at the opponent until it had stopped moving. Her mockery probably hid the envy she had for a person who had the raw physicality to just not have to worry about enemies or techniques.

That woman made her so angry.

"But yes, I understand. If we get a good shot, it would be a waste not to take it," Gertrude added, an air of seriousness entering her voice for once, "in fact, I should probably add a quick enchantment to... actually, I should probably enchant everyone's weapons. Don't have time for runes, but a short-term buff would improve our chances."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"Yeah," Gertrude mumbled as Gerard aptly pointed out the dance Trudy was performing, "it's the Csárdás."

She didn't know whether to feel some sort of rural kinship with the oaf in this moment, or to be mad that he knew she was as caked in mud as he was. You never could quite wash it all off. That's how she'd made him earlier, at least. Jeering at Gerard for being a gussied up farm animal was tempting, but the area on that particular spell would be just as unkind to her.

Oh, who was she kidding? She was angry at him. Apparently, so too was the Moonlit Queen. Gertrude snorted as Gerard began glowing. The amazing technicolor oaf.

The lout got it too, but Gertrude was decidedly less keen on his transformation. Now they shared a hair color, and that grossed her out. Interestingly, these weren't the only shifts to the ambient magic in the air. Tyaethe was positively glowing at the mention of their task being to defeat the Midnight Hunt and Rozenalt, who she'd apparently had a grudge against. It was downright uncomfortable for Gertrude to be near her. She hadn't known Tyaethe long, but felt it was novel to see this much passion from the woman. Normally she'd pat Tyaethe on the head, but it would probably make her a little sick to get that close. Instead, she shook her head.

"Come off it," Gertrude addressed Tyaethe, rolling her eyes, "it's obvious you want to have a go at him. The mistress isn't going to give you small fry duty. Isn't that right, mistress?"

Gertrude grinned smugly at Fanilly, as if daring the woman to contradict her.

Trudy began contorting back into a broom, which she gently took into her hand as the scoundrel stepped forward. As was too often the case, he had the right of it. As was too often the case, she would refuse to ever admit this out loud. Of course the stakes would need to be defined before they set off as well, but that would come after they defined a win and a loss. They were dealing with a fey, so these things needed to be made clear.

As for the stakes, Gertrude felt it wouldn't be too bad to have the Moonlit Queen herself. The question was how to phrase it without getting smote like the two dunderheads.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude questioned silently why she even talked to Fionn. Free information, sure. Though she hoped he'd be smitten with a bald head for his insolence, Gertrude's gut told her that the Moonlit Queen would be amused. She seemed a fanciful sort, and altogether unbothered about her guardian's defeat.

Gertrude was proven, of course, to be correct in this assessment. If that was the case, then it would likely prove more treacherous to be boring than to stand out. The trick was not to stand out too much, which either the other knights picked up on or they were just dreadfully dull by default. Since Gertrude was the only smart person here, she'd assume the latter.

But that left her in a spot. I can do magic? I'm good at exploding things? I'd show you if I didn't want to ruin your pretty little enclave? If she were to interrogate the purpose of the question...

Their best chance was to entertain, if they wanted the woman to listen to them. And that meant standing out, as opposed as Gertrude was to drawing the fey's attention. She sighed, and released the broom from her hand.

Gertrude's broom twisted and contorted, splitting and splintering and segmenting, the straw smoothing and weaving until...

A miniature wooden Gertrude doll appeared, hands on her hips.

"Trudy, we've been welcomed into this glade. Show the Moonlit Queen a little dance, would you?"

The doll looked away, obviously embarrassed.

"Get at it, you daft bint. The lady wants to be entertained."

The doll rolled her eyes, and started doing a fun little traditional Thalnish peasant dance. Not usually a proper courtly exposition, but certainly more entertaining than anything the nobility got up to. Despite being a cute little dance, the act on display was impressive magically for its acuity and spontaneity. There were probably a few ways to replicate this trick in other ways, but none were so accurate and efficient as literally having a portion of one's soul contort the object it was bound in to its most familiar shape and begin to dance.

Arken would likely either find it impressive or borderline impossible, but she could deal with that later. Gertrude had determined that they'd likely need a show to catch the woman's waning attention, and she wouldn't suffer her first real task as an Iron Roses employee to be a failure.