1x1 Mage Roleplay (Private)

[Axl3433]

Kira Zeran was sitting at her desk in her tower. The desk was covered in various papers, books and journals, as well as all sorts of strange objects. Glowing rocks, intricate devices and other curiosities. All of them had been picked up by workers she'd had sent from the fortress to gather them. She told the rest of the council that it was to keep possibly dangerous artefacts out of the hands of the common people, but in truth she was interested in studying them herself. Considering the council was supposed to control all magic, she couldn't understand where they all came from, and she wanted to know.

She put down the artefact she'd been fiddling with, A rock with a strange, dull green glow that somehow seemed familiar to her, before she stood up and walked slowly over to the large window that looked out over the forest that surrounded the fortress. She was still getting used to being a magister. Despite it not being that much different from her old life as an apprentice, it self like an entirely different world to Kira. She was unnerved by the looks she got from the rest of the magisters, but that to be expected considering her predecessor had been murdered at a point where she was the only person to take over. She always had a feeling that her previous mistress, another magister, had had something to do with it, but she wasn't going to come out and say that. Something about her made Kira feel uneasy. She was a pretty good Teacher, but Kira couldn't help but think that was more to her motives than met the eye.

Kira went and sat back down at her desk, picking up a small mirror. She spent a few minutes checking over the tattoo's she had on her arms. They were created using a special ink she'd concocted using an obscure recipe in an old spell book she'd dug up. No one else in the fortress had approved of her using it. Some had even wanted her thrown out, since they considered it a very dangerous thing to use. She was essentially exposing herself to pure magic and there were concerns that it would have a long term effect on her mental or physical state, but she felt absolutely no effect from it. They enhanced her powers considerably, and she suspected that was why the rest of the magisters didn't like it.

She put the mirror back down and sat back in her chair. There were rumours around the fortress of some freak accident out on the outskirts of the kingdom and she was expecting a summons to the meeting chamber any time now to discuss it. She had no idea what was done in events like this, since the apprentices were rarely allowed in the main chamber, but she doubted it could be good. But until they actually met to discuss it, all she could do was speculate about it.

She got up again and headed down the spiralling flight of stairs down into the library that formed one of the floors of her tower. It was a massive chamber filled with countless books on any number of subjects. She began browsing the shelves, looking for any book that may hold a clue about the rumours. She was sure things like this had happened before, and she figured someone, if not the council then someone outside, must have kept records on it and that those records would probably be here since this was the biggest library in the fortress.

After browsing for a long time though, she'd found nothing. There were a few vague reports of commoners using magic, but there was never any comment about what the result had been or how it'd been dealt with, as if someone was intentionally covering it up. She took a couple of books on the subject from their shelves and carried them back up to her desk, where she sat and began reading. Someone would be sent for her in the event the council convened, so she had no worries about being left out, since her vote would be needed on any action that was suggested.
((it's not quite 1,000 words, but I'm still pretty proud of this))

[Blueberry Toast]

The large chamber was well lit, showing stately furniture more extravagant than was, perhaps, necessary. Not that anyone important enough to receive the audience of the Five Magisters of the Empire would have expected anything less, considering the only people who ever saw the Magisters—and lived—were the Nobility, who were the only ones apart from the Magisters and their apprentices, permitted to learn some magics...and the Nobles were no doubt accustomed to such extravagant luxuries.

Within this well-furnished room were three men, each older than the age of thirty at the very least, but none older than the age of forty-five, and each of whom was dressed in richly colored robes, over which were draped cloaks of black velvet trimmed with gold and red thread, the colors of the Empire. They stood around a large rectangular table, upon which was spread the map spanning their entire Empire, which, until very recently, had been steadily expanding beyond the borders established by previous Magisters. Around them were various servants, slaves, who went about their duties of cleaning with their heads bowed, terrified of punishment by the powerful Magisters of the Empire.

”Gentlemen... I am upset that you could even think to assemble without me.” the quite, idiosyncratic voice of Aria Hadrianus entered the soft murmur of private conversation going on between the three male Magisters already in the room. The men turned to look at her, a tall figure, though without a man's bulk. She, too, wore the luxurious robes of the Magisters, as well as their signature black-velvet cloak. Beneath the hood of her cloak, she smiled; it was a charming smile, sweet and gentle, but one that made the others feel uncomfortable, for therein the smile, there was no kindness. Her hand rose, and with a soft hiss, the many candles housed within the wall sconces dimmed with a sweep of her arm. ”No matter. I am here now.”

The room was suddenly plunged into darkness, as everyone's eyes took time to adjust to the so-suddenly dimmed light. When they were able, the others stared at her in silent contempt, and there was a long pause in conversation before one of the younger males spoke up bravely. ”For the purposes of this assembly, we must be able to see the map, Magister Hadrianus.” he said.

From the doorway in which she stood, the female Magister walked forward, the soft click of her slipper's heels echoed in the tall chamber. ”The firelight will suffice.” she replied crisply, walking passed him with a pointed glance. ”It is only the map after all. Name any part of our empire you wish. I will know where it is located.” Aria walked around the small gathering of men, and took her place on the right side of the table with the fire crackling behind her. There, she brushed one hand against the map, as she lowered her head to look at it.

”I assume the purpose of this assembly is merely to inform everyone of the outbreak of beasts on the eastern borders.” she announced. ”There is no need. I am sure that we have all done our research well.”

The other magisters turned to look at each other for just moments before one of them cleared their throat, and said, ”These are... but rumors, Magister Hadrianus. But we have all agreed that an investigation party must be sent to confirm whether or not these rumors are true. Magisters Scipio, Balbus, and I have already prepared a list of our finest minds and fighters to be sent east as soon as we are able.”

At this, she paused her apparent interest in the Empire map, and flickered her eyes upward to look upon the other Magisters. Her eyes lit up with false surprise, as if shocked that they had so suddenly made a decision. ”Magister Vespillo, I am shocked that you all have decided this without any consideration as to what my opinion of this matter might be.” she said, lowering her tone of voice to that of one just above a whisper. She straightened, leaning away from the table with the map, and raised a hand to stroke the long black strand of wavy hair that poked out from underneath her hood, allowing the tense silence to linger in the air.

”It was... an important decision. It was agreed upon that you and Magister Zeran would too agree that any threat to our Empire must be quashed before it has even the opportunity to begin.”

”Oh? And it was also by agreement by the three of you that it was all right to not even ask either one of us, then. My fellow Magisters, are we not equals? Did not our forefathers declare that all five Magisters were to share power over the Empire equally amongst ourselves?” she sighed, and then looked up, a look of mock-surprise on her face. ”Ah, yes. We are missing an individual amongst us tonight.”

Her hand reached out to grab a passing servant by the shirt, and he came to her with a small gasp at the force of which she'd jerked him forward. ”Dear man, I believe my appren—Ah, no. Of course. She is a Magister now, no? My fellow Magister, Magister Zeran, then, from her quarters, and ask that she kindly make her appearance here tonight. Tell her... we all await her here.” With that, she gave the man a small shove toward the door.

And he went, with a small stumble on the thick carpet thrown over the stone floor, probably thankful that he was alive...or at least whole and in one piece. Aria watched the man scurry from the chamber with an eerie shine in her eyes, as though she were looking upon something to be eaten. The cruelty of the Empire's Magisters to anyone below the Nobles caste was no secret. Though exactly what they did to their enemies, and those that opposed them was a mystery to anyone outside of the Magisters themselves. The only thing anyone outside of their secretive ranks knew was that the person simply disappeared forever. No one came back out of the Magisters' fortress who ever went in that wasn't a Noble. Not whole, at least, in one way or another.

[Axl3433]

Kira was still buried in her books as the servent finally made his way up the multiple flights of stairs. She looked up slightly as he informed her of the meeting and grunted a little in acknowledgement.
"Fine, you're dismissed" She said, not looking up at him. Unlike the other magisters, she had some repect for the servents, but it only went as far as not really acknowledging them in the first place. The servent left quickly and Kira spent a couple more minutes browsing her book. She came across a few entries that seemed to match against the rumors she'd been hearing, and decided to take the book her. She grabbed her staff from where it was in the corner, tucked the book under her arm and began making her way down the stairs.

As she strolled through the gardens, A raven flew down from a tree and landed on her shoulder. She reached up and petted it lightly on the head. The raven was named Razek, and acted as Kira's familar. She'd found an old spell that allowed her to tame, control and communicate with the bird. He acted as her lab assisstant, messenger and other roles as well.
"I fear we may be busy for a while now" She said, looking at Razek. He titlted his head and cawed at her, which she understood to be an agreement. She could understand other birds as well, but none as well as Razek. She liked to use animals for her studies, and one level of her tower was basicly a zoo, full of animals. Normal, magic and mutated. Animals were so much better company than most humans, and she was interested in seeing if animals handled magic in the same way as humans. She'd tried to teach Razek a few basic spells, but she'd not been succesful. But one day, maybe.

A short time later, Kira pushed the door of the meeting chamber open and walked in.
"Well, here I am. I'm guessing this has something with the rumors out on the outskirts of the kingdom" She said, taking a seat at the table. Razek hopped off and stood on the table by her arm. She knew he made the other nervous, but he was always useful for telling when something was amiss. Kira dropped the book on the table and opened it up at the page she'd closed it.
"Here. This about seems to match what we're looking at. Something about some kind of magic created mutants running amok. Convinently, the page telling how to deal with them is missing. Make your own conclusions about that" She said, pushing it towards the others

Kira looked over at Aria. She immedatly got the feeling she'd already missed some stuff that may have been important.
"Is someone going to fill me in? I feel like I'm being left in the dark here, and I don't like being left in the dark" She said, gently stroking Razeks feathers.
"Also, when am I to be assigned an aprentice? It's been a while now" She asked. Kira was interested in her studies, but it got boring after a while. She needed someone to talk to and teach, maybe to boss around slightly. She had a much more unconvential approach than all the other magisters, and she was eager to try and pass on the idea that there was more than one way to look at the study of magic. While she preferred the company of animals, with any luck she'd get an aprentice that was nice and quiet and just listened to what they were told. She'd need someone to help look after the animals and all that while she away on buisness.

[Blueberry Toast]

She looked over the door when it opened, and smiled faintly when her former apprentice made her appearance in the large meeting room. Neither of the women looked to be much older or younger than the other. This may have been simply because there wasn't many years between them. Aria had taken Kira on as her apprentice after the latter's former master had died, and at the time, Aria had only been about three years out of her apprenticeship. ”This guise of this assembly is to speak about the beasts out east.” Aria corrected, turning to gaze at the male magisters. ”The real point in question is the fact that they think it all right to make decisions without input from either you or me.”

She gave a small laugh, as grey eyes slid over to look at Kira without so much as twisting her body around. ”Should I prepare myself should certain individuals plan to usurp my place amongst the Magisters?” It was a rhetorical question, of course. She doubted anyone else in the entire empire was so sure about their place in the world. Even at the young age of twenty-four, Aria was sure that none of the other magisters were quite as...daring as she was...especially when it came to spellpower and spellwork. She had attempted spells and magics others around her age wouldn't attempt even in their daydreams and had come out of them whole...for the most part. It was this part of her that put the others ill at ease.

”It is an old book, no doubt. Missing pages are quite common for books as old as we Magisters possess. You must be aware that all of our libraries are filled with books dating back since the beginning of the Empire.” one of the older magisters picked up the book that Kira had dropped on the table. The other men moved closer to see the book. Aria was silent, as she observed the men. She was not concerned about Kira. The girl was bright, and perhaps a little reclusive, but Aria was quite sure that she was loyal to her. It was the men that left her just a smudge on edge. Throughout the entire Empire's history, there had been a very lopsided ratio of men to women magisters—that was to say, if the men could help it, many female apprentices never made it to the seat of Magister. The fact that Aria had ascended to the position after her master died, and then to have her apprentice somehow installed upon the seat had shocked Magisters Balbus, Vespillo and Scipio into silence.

They had never voiced their opposition, but it was apparent in their actions that they considered women in power to be highly unwelcome. Aria's lips pulled up into a smirk at her own thoughts.

”Yes, Kira.” she said lightly, addressing her former apprentice by first name, and never straying her eyes from the men. ”It is an old book. Doubtlessly, someone of old must have taken the page out for reference in research and had neglected to replace it.” In truth, Aria had her suspicions. It may have been a coincidence that the page was missing, but after years in a struggle for power both as a female and as a young female, she had learned that in the ranks of the Magisters, “coincidences” happened quite often... especially of the bad sort. However, even she, when she was a new Magister, had never openly accused the other magisters of conspiring against her; she had been careful to subtly and gradually establish her power over them first. Fear kept them in their places. All of them.

If Kira had any suspicions about the men, she would be wise not to voice it before them. Aria carefully shifted the conversation in a different direction. ”Prudent though it may be to send troops east to investigate, many of our commoners fear punishment far too much to even attempt a simple levitation spell. I doubt there would be a group large enough to create a horde of mutants.” she said. ”That aside, anyone on the edges of the kingdom should know that supplies from the capital travel too slowly to reach their location on time. Doubtlessly, their militia would not be so unintelligent as to wait for the Royal Army to come eliminate the threat.”

She looked between Kira and the other magisters, who harrumphed at her words. They were older and so had much more experience ruling the empire, she assumed were their thoughts .They didn't think she had a place amongst them, and certainly was not fit enough to rule due to her young age and, by extension, lack of experience. ”My dear woman, have you not read our histories?” Magister Vespillo gave his fellow male Magisters an exasperated look before turning to face Aria. ”With an empire as large and as great as ours, it becomes possible for even the slightest of threats to spread without notice. News from the outer edges of the Empire could take months to get here, by which time—had the beasts sentience enough to form an army—the enemy armies would arrive just days after the news.”

Aria gave a small shrug and an even smaller smile, and turned to look at Kira. ”And you, Kira? What is your opinion of the matter?”

”We must act, and we must do it now, Magister Hadrianus. There is no time for debate. The rumor we received word of came in weeks ago.” the male magister from before said hotly, slamming a fist down on the table so that the various ink pots and goblets of water rattled precariously over the empire map. ”We haven't any idea of how these mutants function, and whether their madness is communicable by air or touch, but if that is the case, then this plague may be spreading more rapidly than we can imagine. The five of us alone can not hold the line should these beasts breach our city walls.”

”The beasts on the eastern border, Magister Vespillo. Were the situation as dire as you seem to think, it would still take them months to reach our city walls, which are, as I might remind you, fortified by magic and manpower both.” Aria's voice remained light even as Magister Vespillo's tone became more aggravated. ”Enough time, I think, for full mobilization of the Royal Army.”

Aria's smile widened a little as she chuckled at her former apprentice's question. The other Magisters snorted and galnced at each other in annoyance at both women's lack of urgency given the current situation. ”Patience, Kira. You have just ended your apprenticeship; give yourself enough time to become accustomed to your duties. Taking on an apprentice is time consuming and requires a wide knowledge both of spells and ways to handle different kinds of situations should something go...awry.” she said with a nod. ”You will be given a list of potential apprentices when the time comes.”

[Axl3433]

Kira wasn't surprised to learn that the other magisters had been trying to take action without their support. She knew full well about the prejudices that ran rampent behind the scenes in the magisters court. It annoyed her so much, but she knew there was nothing she could do to change it.
"It doesn't surpise me. I doubt it's the first time they've tried to do stuff without our noticing" She muttered under her breath. She wasn't afraid of the other magisters, she was confident she could take them all.

She sat in her chair, silently listening to Aria agueing with the other magisters abut what to do. She had her own ideas slowly formulating in the back of her mind. She figured she had nothing to lose by voicing them, so she did.
"If you are worreid about the amount of time to move supplies and soldiers, why don't we use the resources avaliable in the area. There are several lords and barons in that area, and I'm pretty sure they've all got their own private armys. Why don't we use them? They're all pretty desperate to get their children into the court, desperate to get a taste of power. Let's send them a message saying that if they aid in investigating this matter, their children will be...considered for an aprenticeship here. We can use messenger birds to get the message out much faster then sending out runners" She suggested, sitting up straight in her seat.

Even if the magisters rejected her idea, She'd probably go through with it anyway to some capacity. With any luck, some of them would take up the offer, and it wasn't a bad idea to increase the size of the list of potential recruits. Maybe she'd find the kind of person she wanted. She knew that Aria was right about her not being ready for an aprentice, but she was confident she could handle it, it couldn't be that difficult. She respected Aria's opinions as her previous mistress, but she hadn't been that difficult an aprentice.
"If not for an aprenticeship, we could use more commanders for the fortress guards and regiments, especially after old Commander Archie passed away a while ago. The men need someone else to look up to, and having the nobles more in our favour will be useful. Besides, if something does go wrong in the investigation, it'll be much better to lose their troops than our own"

"Also, it may be a good idea to work on our information gathering methods. It seems awfuly out of date to rely on rumors that may well have spread across the kingdom before reaching us. Perhaps we should investigate some way to enchant animals to make them investigate for us. Animals are far better than us humans when it comes to traveling quickly. Maybe if we'd looked at somthing like this before, we wouldn't even be in this current situtation" She said, her mind feeling with thoughts she'd never realised before.
"I mean, we're forever dealing with people who practise magic illegaly and cleaning up the mess they create. Why have we never looked at a way of preventing this before it starts. Surely it would be easier to fix events like this if we didn't let them happen in the first place"

[Blueberry Toast]

Aria's lips twitched up at the corners at Kira's proposal, though she did not speak up straight away. Instead, she turned to look at the male Magisters, watching for their reactions, even as her own thoughts swam to the forefront of her mind. Had Kira perhaps proposed a faster solution to her lack of an apprentice? A small tremble passed through her body from the laughter that she suppressed within herself. Clever girl. Someday, she would learn to hold herself against these overbearing men without Aria's aid or intervention...though Aria's name would forever be associated with Kira for as long as the former apprentice lived, even if only because Aria had been her mentor.

”Now there is a sensible solution, gentlemen.” Aria said finally, nodding toward Kira. ”It also will do no harm to have... leverage on our side should the need for leverage arise.” she added slowly, carefully picking her words. Holding the relatives of the noble caste hostage within the fortress was a terribly foreign thing to do, but it was effective in ensuring that the nobles never betrayed them. However, the situation must always be handled tactfully and gracefully, lest the Magisters fall out of the Nobles' favor.

Oh, the nobles would understand why the children were being kept at the fortress, but no one dared or cared to argue. To have the opportunity to be schooled within the very walls of the Magisters' fortress was a high honor not even a quarter of the noble population ever experienced. See, of the one hundred children taken in by the Magisters, only twenty would remain within the fortress walls for magical education. It was common knowledge that each Magister only ever took in one apprentice each, but that it did not mean that they plucked just any noble child from their parents' homes. Rather, the Magisters took on a large selection of noble children, all ranging from ages four to seven to begin magical training and screening. From that larger group, the Magisters would select a small handful more to take on, and the rest would be sent home. From this smaller handful of students, the Magister would then proceed with the process of elimination until the brightest neophyte was identified and taken on as an apprentice. The rest unselected would be schooled until the previous generations of...rejects... and would go on to become instructors themselves.

Aria slowly lowered herself into a large, stately chair of warm-colored rosewood, and bent over the map once more. ”Yes, as I recall, Lord and Lady Umbra have just welcomed their third son into the world... Fortunate couple. Surely they can not miss a child or two, given that the boys would be provided with an opportunity to be schooled in magic.” Her fingernail tapped on the drawing of a wealthy city about three days trip from the eastern border. Aside from the fact that many nobles jumped at the chance to send their children the Magisters' way, Aria was sure that given their relatively close distance to the dangers of the mutants, the young parents could scarcely wait to ship their heirs out of harm's path. Some might see it as terrible, manipulating the people this way, but to Aria... if the situation had merit in it for her... then what reason was there for her not to exploit it?

”Well, I—Magister Zeran, Magister Hadrianus, surely the both of you women would--” Magister Scipio seemed to have had kept his silence too long, and blurted out his thoughts, only to find the logic inarguable.

With a small tilt of her head, Aria gave the man an expectant look. Magister Scipio was quick to avert his eyes from Aria's gaze, and instead, turned to Kira, whom he took to be the easier target, as she was the newest of the Magisters. ”Magister Zeran, surely you know that the private militias of our empire's nobility are not trained to investigate incidents of such magnitude.” he said sharply, and almost as though he were speaking to a servant, or reprimanding a young, naughty child. Beside him, the other male magisters nodded in agreement. ”To send them may, for all we understand, result in the transformation of the entire private militia into the very same mutants. As though an army of peasant mutants did not put us in a terrible position as it were!”

He sputtered, and finally fell into silence at the sound of Aria's soft laughter, and rounded on her to glare at her. ”I am so sorry, Magister Scipio, but the very thought of you even considering this to be a disaster of inconceivable magnitude tickles me.” she said, leaning back comfortably in her seat. ”But perhaps you are correct in that the private militias lack the knowledge required to deduce the exact cause of this mess.”

Here, again, the men shifted and turned to glance at each other pointedly. Nodding, Master Vespillo sat himself down into a seat and turned to look at Aria and then at Kira with a very stern look in his eyes. ”Even you admit that the private militia lacks the skills required to resolve this situation. As such, Magister Hadrianus, Magister Zeran, we request that you both give your approval to send someone within our own ranks alongside a group of the fortress mages to the border to ensure that the situation is properly handled.” he said in a very final sort of way.

Aria leaned forward very suddenly, causing the men to twitch visibly, and the hood of her cloak to fly back off of her head and pool around her shoulders. A tumble of black hair cascaded down to pool even on the seat of her chair, and pale white skin glowed gold with the light of the fire behind her. She half-glared at the men with now very much visible, and very unsettling translucent grey eyes that were very similar in color to the whites of her eyes. ”Why will you not even take into consideration Magister Zeran's suggestions?” she asked, her voice dropping an octave so that it now had a low, growl-y quality to it. She snapped her head around to look at Kira, and gave the girl a smirk.”Now you see the ridiculousness that are these assemblies, sweet Kira.” she said with more acid in her tone than she had intended. ”Just stubborn old men and their out-dated strategies attempting to overturn more rational courses of action put forth by their colleagues simply because they are women.”

”Please, calm yourself, Magister Hadrianus.” the youngest of the men stepped into the fray, and then looked to Kira. ”Magister Zeran, we can not help that some of the common filth in the outskirts of our empire believe they can practice magic with impunity. We have done all we can to secure our city here, and ensure that no illegal activities are in practice, but there is little we can do about what happens on the border.”

He paused, turning very slowly to face her completely, and added meaningfully, ”Unless, of course... you think it wise to send one of us to watch over them.”

[ooc: I think that by my next post, we should have the men manage to force both Kira and Aria out to the eastern border? What do you think?]]

[Axl3433]

((actually, I had a little something else planned))
Kira sat back in her seat and listened to Aria and the other magisters argueing over her idea. She hadn't expected a simple suggestion to cause this much trouble, or for the others to be so opposed to it, although she knew she should have been ready. She knew how right Aria was about their reluctance to accept their ideas. As soon as they mentioned about securing the fortress, she decided she'd had enough.

She knew it was probably a bad idea to go shooting her mouth off this earlier in her career as a magister, but she had a tendacy of speaking before thinking when she got annoyed, as she was beginning to now. Kira stood up with such speed and violence that she knock her chair over and it crashed to the ground, echoing around the hall.
"So, you're suggesting we simply sit here in our fortress while mutans run rampent across the east border? If we don't step in somehow, how long will it before these abominations are on the rest of the borders as well. I, for one, will not sit here while these things spread. If we let this go, eventully we may well find our selves surronded on all side by a legion of these things. I have little doubt the walls will hold, But what will happen when the food runs out and the morale of the men breaks? It is only a matter of time before this gets out of hand and when it does this fortress will become our blasted Prison, and I do not intend to allow myself to end in that position" She said, looking around at the men, but avoiding Aria's gaze. Kira knew that Aria was proba bly disapointed in Kira's allowence of her temper to get the better of her, but she was bored of being looked over.

"You want someone out there watching the investigation, then fine, I'll do it myself. You all clearly don't want my opinions or ideas's so I'll take them to someone who may actually listen. Since you seem content to sit here and wait for the worst to happen, it looks like it's up to me to act as the blade of this order and prove to the people that we are capable of maintaining a grip on this land. I will see to this matter, and when I return with my report, you'll see exactly where sitting behind these walls has gotten us" Kira grabbed her staff from where it was leaning against the table and turned to leave. But just as she reached the door, she stopped and turned to face them all one last time.
"And while I'm gone, think about how much else had been going on out there without our knowledge. As much as I'm sure we'd all love to be, we can't be everywhere at once. Who knows how many more incidents like this have gone on without our knowledge. Maybe I'll end up clearing out the entire kingdom while I'm out there" She said, before exiting the chamber, slamming the door behind her.

Down in the courtyard that surronded the tower, Kira took a seat on a bench beneath a large oak tree. She was already beginning to regret going off on that rant, but it was to late for regrets now. After that display, she knew full well that she'd have to go through with it, or she'd look to be even more unwilling to take action then the rest of them. She leant back in the seat and looked up at the sky through the branchs. It'd been years since she'd been out of the fortress for any length of time, and she had no idea of what to expect out there, but it couldn't be that bad, right?