Welcome to Gaia! ::

((I wasn't reading any sarcasm from it, I just felt like I was picking up on something that wasn't there and that I was puppeteering Kael as a result. sweatdrop At any rate....))

There didn't seem to be much sympathy on the part of Rage as Rain raised his complaints about the bumpy ride. It was bad enough that he had failed at the one thing he felt he was good at and had nobody to blame but himself. Now he had people yelling at him on top of that, people who he had every reason to turn around and deliver a kick to that would make King Leonidas proud.

But doing things himself had caused this mess. He was going to need their help, and they were going to need his.

And so, he kept his mouth shut and his legs bent low, stopping to pick up Owle at the edge of the forest before heading towards the Firebrand. All he wanted was a shower and a moment to rest.

Rain, who's face was cortorted with pain, Opened one eye and a half, looking up at her. It took him a moment to process it, but would lift his left hand and wave off the offer. "Urgh... I... I'll be well enough, Ms. Songlady. I appreciate the offer, but

BUMP!

"NNNGNGGNNGnnnnnnnngggnggnnng..." he muffled a cry through very tightly gritted teeth. Lowering his head slightly, he would reply as best he could through those gritted teeth. "Yes please."

"Tch... pitiful." Penelope mused, holding the cheeks of an adult male orc between the clenched fingers of her right hand. Despite the height difference of a 12-year-old girl and a massive orc warrior, she was able to do so. Mainly because the orc was missing all of his limbs, and barely clinging to consciousness, and life.

"What meager, annoying resistance. I'll make sure this Dead Forest is the first to go when our master returns." Dissatisfied, she simply pushed off with her hand, making the upright torso of the mortally wounded orc fall backwards, landing with an audible thud and an angry, yet terrified, squeal.

"Cybil? Melinda? Finish it, and let's be off already. This amused me for all of five seconds, and I will not waste another moment in these blasted woods longer than I have to."

Melinda, on the other hand, had taken a bit more damage. She had been sliced once across the back, run through with a sword, and had a javelin piercing her left arm.

She had managed to critically wound all the orcs around her. The reason she had done so poorly was because she had hesitated. Because she didn't want to kill. But these green humanoids gave her no choice! No options, no alternatives, all they wanted to do was kill them, or something possibly more unspeakable! She... she had to punish them.

Right?

But, she had spared as many as she could. They would all live, all fight another day. She knew what atrocities they had committed; she could see it in their eyes, their souls. She had been deliberating over it philosophically, when her eldest sister gave her the order to kill them all.

Now, Melinda didn't like senseless slaughter. She still valued life to an extent, and hoped that maybe, just maybe, they would learn from their mistakes and become better humanoids for it. But when Penelope told you to do something, you did it. No questions asked.

She lifted her right arm, which had a barbed length of chain which had emerged from her palm. All at once, it was sucked within her body like a string of spaghetti. Bringing her right hand, clenched into a fist, to her chest, she would close her eyes for a moment.

Then, extending both arms outwards, dozens of spiked chains would burst through numerous locations in her torso, exploding outwards and ripping into the chest cavities of every single wounded orc within a 30' spread.

Panting, gritting her teeth through the pain, the unpleasant part came next, quickly reabsorbing the chains back into her body, the barbs tearing her flesh to bits.

She would wrap her arms around herself, doubling over in pain as she fell to her knees, tears falling from her eyes.

Reaching up, she pulled the crossbow bolt out of her skull, a droplet of blood, and perhaps brain matter, flowing out of the wound and down her face. And, just as quickly, it would 'rewind' itself back into her head, the wound closing up behind it.

After another moment, her color returned, her clothing returned to normal, and a bright cheery expression lit her face.

"Never better!" Cybil responded to her sister, before looking over at Melinda. Biting her lip for a moment, she hurried over to the brunette, kneeling beside her to help her return to her feet.

"You did great, Mel! Just learn to not waste any time dispatching your foes, and you won't get so hurt. Remember: They are all going to die anyways. You're doing the right thing."

Penelope would grin upon hearing the good news. Grinned so widely, she looked like a literal cat that was about to eat the canary. Turning towards the direction Melinda pointed, she began to walk without a moment's hesitation.

"Come, sisters. We head north."

Melinda and Cybil would exchange glances, before nodding in unison and following a few yards behind the silver-haired leader, the elder of the two helping the younger one walk.

A pleasure indeed, Mr. Mathadius.

Maximos said, with bright smile and a brisk shake of the hand. That smile was the Shadow's trademark of sorts. It was warm, and bright, and had a way of making an individual feel as if Maximos had known them for the better portion of his life, even if they were first meeting.

Taking a cue from the sway of the conversation, Maximos continued, his hand slipping from Quin's. There was a common thread here, a unity in the very lack of unity these people faced.

Strangers.

Maximos said, cementing his footing as the vehicle took to the air. His voice rising just above the whub, whub, of chopper blades. He would reach down, scooping up the cat in his arm, and moving her up to his shoulders, sort of silenting hinting for her to sprawl across for a steady grip as he wasnt going to be sitting just yet.

Strangers is what we all are.

He gestured, around the room with one wide motion of his right hand, the tattered bandages that covered the limb billowing in the stiff wind that seeped through the sliding door.

Save for a few of us who've met a few others, that ambiguity is what we all share.

His hand came back, sliding his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

But the world is about to become a very dark place. War is coming, sooner or later we all will face it. And as it rages, hopefully the lack we all share will be replaced with a camaraderie.

Maximos smiled, war and smiles in the same breath.

We may not know each others origins, abilities, or what have you. But, we are united in this fight. There are no true strangers in this Deathbox today, only allies.

It slipped. He didnt mean it to, he really didnt but it did. But with a certain grace, he continued letting his continuance act as a sort of recovery. Perhaps if he didnt point it out, they wouldnt.

And when it lands, we will hopefully be able to find the rest of our allies.

Maximos didnt feel like sitting. Though as Raven would notice, he did not shake. He had no fear. He stood tall and strong, even beside what injuries remained, his hunger, the shaky nature of the chopper ride, and of course his missing Sister. This was quite a different Maximos.