Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sin heard an explosion go off in the distance. Quickly, the fighter climbed and hid in a tree for fear the inhabitants of the camp would see and blame him. In seconds, the people began coming out armed and armored, ready for a fight. Well, this should be interesting. What better ways to make friends than through battle?

"Something's coming!!"

Alihi's eyes widened slightly, turning to the dancer. "What is it--"

The sound of an explosion cut her sentence short. Was that--

"What's that?"

She immediately turned to Amara, hiding her panic and worry from the small child. Amara didn't need to know. Amara shouldn't know. Amara shouldn't get involved... "I'm... not sure." Alihi finally replied, choosing her words carefully. "It's nothing for you to worry about though, okay, sweetheart?" The tactician gave her daughter a bright and confident smile.

The expression fell as soon as Amara was a good distance away. She ran a hand through her hair, sighing. Now, let's go through what you know, Alihi... There was a big, purple explosion sort of nearby. Big, purple explosions are bad and are most likely caused by dark magic, unless there is some other way to make that kind of effect. Unknowingly she started to pace, taking a few steps to her left, turning around, and then taking a few steps to her right. We don't know if it's friend or foe, though. It could be Rei trying to get our attention for some reason. This is possible, since I haven't seen him. Or another dark magic user could have gone through The Door and is trying to signal us. Also a possibility, though not as likely. The third possibility... Suddenly, she stopped moving. It is a foe, fighting someone or something.

She shook her head slowly. Thinking wasn't getting her anywhere useful at this point. "We should probably go check it out, though..." The tactician said calmly to Leon, trying not to betray her feelings. In truth, she was fearful; if something was going on, they shouldn't just allow them to waltz on over to where they were and attack! Not everyone can fight... She thought with worry, glancing over to see Amara drawing pictures in the dirt with her finger, completely oblivious to it all. It wasn't just Amara, though. There were others in the camp who were too exhausted to fight, or were weaponless in the first place. "Not everyone should go, though. Something like a fifty-fifty split of those who are able to fight."

As more people gathered, her voice raised slightly in volume, loud enough to show that she was serious about her idea but quiet enough to not be like "HEY WE'RE OVER HERE ATTACK US PLEASE :D". "Think about it for a moment! Some people haven't arrived here yet, some that I know I saw at the festival, even if it was for just as I was walking by with Amara!" Alihi paused, making sure she had the group's attention before saying one last thing.

"They could be under attack right now by the source of the explosion!" She fell silent for a few moments, hand resting on the hilt of the rapier. "... But if you insist on waiting here, be my guest." The tactician turned away from the group, about to head off on her own...

... When Leon called and told them to advance forward. She resisted the urge to slap her forehead as she turned to Jin. "We advance and stop them. Simple as that. We can't let them harm the ones who can't fight. The stronger the blow the better, obviously." Her eyes closed for a moment.

... Stay safe, Amara. I'll be back.

(( ... This turned out so much longer than I intended it to be. Hmm. <<;; Doesn't help that I had to edit and re-write and stuff. ))

Jumping down from the tree, the Hatarian stayed in the shadows as he followed the battle group to the location of the mysterious explosion.

Shinon heard the explosion and turned his head towards the explosion. He heard Leon shouting orders. Looking around, Shinon placed himself beside Jin. He smirked at him and said, "You ready to take on these fools?"

Blossom gripped her sword tighter in her hands. Jin hadn't really noticed her, but she didn't mind that too much. It was more important to focus on making sure everyone near the manor was okay. "We're coming...!" Blossom whispered. She picked up her pace, her small form blending at least somewhat into the darkness as she jogged and crushed the grass below her feet with her boots.

Ninian squeezed Roy's hand once before standing. She walked to Alihi before the tactician could get too far away.

"Miss Alhi, I'll stay here and watch Amara," she offered, knowing the mother wouldn't want her young daughter anywhere near the fighting. "Roy's still asleep, and I don't want to wake him just yet. And . . . Nils hasn't come back yet. Maybe he'll come back here, I'm not sure. I'll stay with those who don't or can't fight, if that's alright."

She was trying not to panic, trying to keep calm, but her babbling alluded to her frantic state of mind. She didn't know where Nils was, and he could be hurt--but she didn't want to think about that possibility.

[[Lazy. |D]]

Blossom yelped at the sudden sound behind her, but she relaxed when she turned and recognized the person who had spoken. "You...! Vika, right?" Blossom asked. She lowered her sword, suddenly buckling on her left knee. Her leg stung again; aftereffects of that poisoning... even if it'd been removed, the muscles there were still a little weak. "Are you okay?" Blossom asked, leaning on her sword to keep herself fully upright.

[[Still lazy shut up]]

Blossom looked to her leg. It was starting to feel better now, but then again, it was earlier, wasn't it? Maybe the strain from pacing and then running did this. She looked back to Vika. "Uh... it got Restored, so there's no poison left, and it was healed, but... I guess my muscles haven't really gotten back to normal yet..." Blossom gingerly stepped down on her left foot, winced a little, and leaned on her sword again. "I'll be fine. Really."