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 Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:49 pm
 "Yeah, I'm fine." Eiji answered back, waiting a few more seconds before continuing, "I'm quite the durable fellow, aha,ha,ha." Eiji's size made for a more sturdier body then some of the more lean lunarians, or at least as far as academy students go. He knew well he couldn't speak for everyone. Eiji watched as another unfamiliar face, which has became quite a popular trend, entered the group. The woman seemed to know Kiran, as her actions and emotions expressed. That was a bit of a pleasant moment even though he knew neither of them, knowing that someone you knew survived. What a happy thought indeed. "We seem to have a little party forming." He chimed happily as he propped his hands against both hips. Why stay all humdrum and serous? Of course the situation is serious, frightening and extremely upsetting but some time's acting as such only feeds the atmosphere. There's a difference between being quietly respectful and quietly panicked and worried. He had decided as long as he was around others he wouldn't add to the sorrow and serious tone. For one, that's not his style. Second, that despite beginning to think only the dead were left he was going to be positive, or at least attempt. With more and more death turning up the less desirable it is for living souls to be out and about: it's not a preferable sight or put themselves out in. The air around everyone was heavy enough as is. Sumu's ears flicked to and fro, not particularly with a purpose but to at least keep alert just in case. Not being able to contribute any he scanned the crowd. What more can a cat really do?
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 1:17 am
It was a flurry of chaos back at the household. The night watch was cancelled and all scouts and watchmen were being deployed across the city. The aviary was emptied and household was scattered with the feathers of the birds that were on duty. Mu Ying could hear a heated exchange between his Father and Mother as he donned a set of darker coloured robes to head out for duty. Xue Ning was perched by the window sill, watching him docilely. The final hasty adjustments to his attire were made and then Mu Ying gestured for Xue Ning to hop on.
The door slid open, revealing his parents. Mu Ying knew that look on his father's face. His mother couldn't take it and had left. They've all heard of the incident at the Cherry Tree Hill and there was no doubt of the possibility of a backlash from the nobles. Nothing was said between the two men as they parted, but there was already a silent consensus.
12 , 13 ....
The young man gripped the short sword his father had entrusted him with as he walked down the main street. Death was not foreign to him, but walking amongst it was. The numbers felt bigger now that he was there to witness it instead of simply watching from his high tower. Fear had crept in – all he could do was count the numbers. His mind wasn't sound enough for analysis now.
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 9:52 am
 Kiran smiled lightly at Eiji's response. It was good that man wasn't hurt.
He had barely heard the mumble of his name before he was suddenly swept into a tight hug. "Sara!" he exclaimed in surprise and patted her gently on the back. All the while as he checked the bodies, he had been praying that he wouldn't come across one that he knew. It was a huge relief to see someone he knew, alive and well. He hoped everyone else that he knew was the same, though he had yet to find anyone else. His arms squeezed gently around her, thankful that she was all right.
Yue. At her name, his chest suddenly felt tight. Yue had been a good friend of his since they first met, even though they fought for opposite sides of the war. He never could think of her as his enemy, even when they fought once. "I haven't seen her," he answered, shaking his head. He wished he could give her a better answer than that, but other than the people around them, he hadn't seen anyone else. "Other than Eiji here, I haven't seen anyone." He knew that wasn't the most comforting of answers. "She might have gone to Cherry Tree Hill, though. I heard rumors that something had happened over there." Of course, he had no proof of Yue's whereabouts, but he could hope that she, too, was somewhere safe and sound.
Kiran glanced toward Eiji. He wouldn't say this was the happiest little party, being surrounded by the dead, but at least none of them were wandering the streets alone now. It had been rather unnerving, when he allowed himself to think on it, to be walking in the quiet street usually so bustling with life but now death hung over it like a thick blanket. "Well, it's probably better to travel together for now," he said, leaving the "because who knows if the people that did this are still lurking around" part silent.
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 6:15 pm
It was just their luck that Lestari had bumped into someone Sara knew, but considering the girl was a priest, she probably knew a bunch of people. It was comforting to know that at least now if anything happened, they'd have a bigger group and Sara had someone else to back her up; someone who hadn't promised to run away to safety if anything happened. Les eased the tension in her shoulders, they seemed to be looking at the dead bodies too, as if looking for someone they knew. She on the other hand, would rather not look. She knew her mother had made sure everyone at home was safe, and Les didn't really need to worry about anyone else.
“Glad you aren't hurt.” Glad you aren't some crazy person either. If this guy had been some loonie who had wanted to hit her back, something might have been started in the streets. “I don't think we should be idling in the street, even if it safer as a group, we should always be moving.” Too many dead bodies, it made her feel far too uncomfortable for her likings, it gave her the willies. It's not like she was about to admit it though, never look weak in the face of an enemy.
Lestari's eyes had only glaced over the woman, not even picking her out as a threat in thr crowd, far too many others looked guilty.
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Legend of Lunaria Captain
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 6:30 pm
"Pardon me - but could I perhaps have some assistance?"
The voice came from the hooded figure standing just a few feet away from the rest of the crowd. She came closer, brushing back the cloth, and sheets of glossy dark hair fell across her shoulders and back. Batting pale green eyes, she sashayed nearer, to the young Lunarian with the seafoam colored hair.
"Good afternoon," she purred, draping an arm across his thin shoulders, her gaze flickering towards the three or four others standing nearby, as well as the white haired young man who happened to be passing by. "May I borrow you - and the rest of you as well?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 3:58 am
 Sara could not help but show some disappointment in her face, where was everyone? Where would they be if not here...? She looked to the side a little, telling herself yet again she had to be strong. By the looks of things her and Kiran were the most experienced of their fractions, it should be them taking the lead... but surly he would be a lot better at that role than her, she still struggled with giving orders and making decisions on her own.
Before any other word could be spoken they were interrupted by a woman who had approached them. Admittedly it was not someone who Sara recognised and she seemed strangely calm considering everything that was happening around them. However, she was asking for help and she for one could not turn anyone away that needed it.
"I can not speak for the others, but I will help any way I can. What do you need of us, m'lady?" She asked, at the moment she felt like the world was spinning out of control, however maybe this was something that she could actually be one use with. Sara had always been too trusting, always been one to wonder into situations without thinking about the consequences and it had got her into a lot of trouble before.
However right now, all she wanted to do was help.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 11:48 am
Kiran glanced around the street. His gaze drifted from face to face, not recognizing anyone in the crowd, noticing a man with long white hair last before he returned his attention to the group. He didn't see anyone that looked suspicious among what few living people that wandered the street. "You're right. We probably shouldn't stick to one place for too long," he agreed with the blue haired woman. Perhaps if they kept on the move, they would run into other people that he knew. "I'm sorry. I don't believe I caught your name. I'm Kiran."
He looked over as a new voice spoke up. He hadn't remembered seeing this woman when he scanned the crowd, or at least, she hadn't stuck out in his mind, instead blending in with the other faces that he hadn't recognized. He gave a friendly smile as she approached their group. When she draped her arm about his shoulders, Kiran didn't shrug it off rudely, though it felt awkward to him having this strange woman with her arm around him. Who was she?
"What can I," He paused to glance at the others in the group, especially the two who not yet spoken up as Sara had already offered to help the woman. "We?" he questioned, unable to speak for the group. "Do to help you?"
It might be foolish to offer help to a stranger without knowing anything about what that person wanted of him. But Kiran figured sometimes to get information, it was necessary to put his own life at risk. This woman might just be an innocent passerby seeking help from the first strangers that she met on the street, in which case helping her wouldn't cost him anything more than his time. But what if she knew something about these murders? It might be worth it to go along with what she wanted if they could get some information out of the interaction.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 1:52 pm
Eiji still believed traveling together as Kiran suggested sounded like a good plan. Who knew what could happen next and traveling alone would not have been the wisest of choices. Though the female lunarian had a valid point herself. If the mastermind behind all this is working with others even being in a small group standing idle might not be the best. If anything that would make a more noticeable target. He kept his thoughts to himself. "Pardon me-Sumu's ears twitched about and his head suddenly turned towards the voice as it began to speak. As of now he remained quiet and kept a normal outward appearance but Eiji could feel his feline body getting tense draped upon his shoulder. "Sumu..?" Turning his head to look at the cat his eye caught the lunarian approaching them. "I see someone's becoming quiet the ladies man huh there, Kiran? Haha." But putting jokes aside having never met any of the new faced in this group before he could only assume they all knew each other, including the new woman who made herself comfortable on Kiran's shoulder. The woman requesting for assistance didn't seem out of the ordinary but her posture and attitude overall seemed a bit off. Eiji's first natural instinct is to take the load from someone if they needed assistance with something; he replied happily right after the other woman accepted. "I'm the same as them. Count me in! If anything I'd be more then happy to help." He replied with a slight bow. Best to make himself useful in times of need. He debated adding that she should leave everything to the group but he refrained. Maybe he'll mention it later, should any of the others decline.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 7:10 pm
 Lestari's eyes briefly left the crowd to look at Kiran as he introduced himself. “Lestari, it's nice to meet you Kiran.” She said quickly, her eyes going back to the crowd, it was hard for ehr to forget her curtsies. At least one of them agreed it was dangerous lingering here in the middle of the place, she was beginning to get twitchy. Les's eyes lingered on the white haired Lunarian in the crowd as he moved towards them, he seemed like a beacon of light amongst the crowd, she watched him with an amused expression.
Of course, lestari didn't notice the woman until she actually spoke to them, Lestari turned her head in her direction, cursing herself silently for getting distracted so easily. She wanted help? Les wasn't really sure she wanted to help her, she already felt like she was working pretty hard right now with Sara. It seemed like Sara was just as ready to help a random stranger as she was her friends, Lestari groaned, then she would also have to follow along with her. “Where Sara goes, I go.” But she wasn't totally sold on the idea, Lestari liked to avoid work like one avoided the plague. Maybe she would be able to get away with simply standing on the sidelines.
In any case, the woman didn't seem all that right. She seemed to know Kiran, by the way she just sprawled herself all over him, because that's what it looked like Lestari. Though Sara knew Kiran, so maybe there wasn't something odd and Les was just being paranoid. Being surrounded by chaos and dead bodies tended to do that to normal people right? Riiiiight... Everyone else seemed to be comfortable helping her, it would hopefully give them a good excuse to get moving and get off the streets, or maybe send them off to their doom. It didn't matter now, Where Sara went today, Lestari followed.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 10:57 pm
 Mu Ying's grip on the sword tightened as he heard the woman's call for assistance, loosening it slightly as he turned around to look at her reveal herself from under her hood. He didn't recognise her, then again, his job wasn't the sort where he would have an opportunity to meet many people. Mu Ying furrowed his eyebrows, feeling conflicted if he should lower his guard if only just a little.
His eyebrows raised when the woman oh so casually slid her arm over the man with seafoam coloured hair – a man called Kiran apparently. Based on his reaction, it was apparent that he was unfamiliar with her, as were the rest of them from their responses. Borrow them. A rather peculiar request to ask of strangers, and an eclectic mix of them no less. The young man decided to remain wary but cordial.
“I too, will offer my help Miss.”
In normal circumstances, Mu Ying would have regarded his compliance to be nothing short of a stupid move. Yet a lone woman requesting for help in the middle of the Main Street that was full of death was what he would call, a special circumstance. Perhaps she might know something about the wanton massacre around them; the possibility of obtaining some information was a reasonable trade off for his better judgement and safety.
Approaching the small crowd of five, Mu Ying nodded respectfully to each of them and then waited for what the woman had to say next.
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 1:52 am
One gloved hand touched a bruised cheek. Van hardly noticed the subtle swelling that was growing across her left cheekbone, neither did she have the time to look in the mirror to notice that said cheek was slightly more purple than usual. This had nothing to do with the violet scales that dotted her face, and everything to do with the scene that the Fighter had just left behind at Cherry Tree Hill.
The majestic tree was no more. It not even a shadow of its former beauty now, charred black, its branches reeking of death and malevolence. Though the bodies hanging from the remains of the tree had been identified as Noble Retainers, Van couldn’t begin to guess who of the Legionnaires would make such a reckless statement. The Fighter lowered her hand, moving it to cover her mouth as her mind moved forward at lightning speed, asking questions that couldn’t be answered. She needed a drink.
Main Street, the fighter soon realized, had also seen more than its fair share of chaos. In a moment of carelessness, she’d managed to walk straight into a street fight. Barely escaping with the bruise on her face, Van noticed now that the stench of rotting bodies was never far off. She had yet to identify one of the bodies she passed as someone she knew, but perhaps this was because she still preferred to be kept in the dark about such matters. Death was not an unfamiliar concept to her now that she’d become a Fighter, but death on the grand scale of war was something different entirely.
Van did not notice at first, the crowd of familiar faces on the street as she passed them. It wasn’t until a decidedly different, compelling voice broke into her consciousness that she felt the urge to turn around. The Fighter noticed that a woman had emerged from the hooded figure she had passed earlier, and was now beckoning a group of young Lunarians for assistance. Taking a few steps back toward the group, Van raised her hand toward Kiran and Sara in a silent greeting, noting with some satisfaction that they seemed much more mature than when she'd last seen them.
The Fighter leveled her violet gaze toward the previously anonymous woman once again, and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Perhaps it was because she’d just come from the Tree, or perhaps it was the result of Van’s ever-careful nature, but she was not inclined to be very trusting at the moment. “Madam,” she countered, her tone confident and authoritative, “May I ask what it is you need assistance with?”
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 4:06 pm
Sara smiled, yet another burden had been lifted from her heart. Van was okay, she could not contain her smile after seeing the purple eyed beauty. Everything was going to be okay, everyone was going to be okay. She reapeted the words in her mind over and over but she still could not beleive them, she would not rest until she found Yue... she would not rest until she found...
As the others all agreed to help the woman Sara remained silent, she still felt uneasy. After so much death a vile feeling was left behind, like a hand wrapping around her throat. At times like this, she wished she was not so in tune with the dead, she could feel their confusion. She could feel their hurt. Her hands lifted to cover her ear fins, in a attempt to block out the sound of the spirits, she knew that she did not actually hear them with her ears... it was just instinctive. For a moment she looked like she was in slight pain, she felt so sorry for them, her heart bled for them all. She would fix this, there had to be a way to make this right.
Then she heard something, she turned around to see what it was, long hair flicking behind her as she moved. Maybe someone was still alive. She looked at the rest of the group and backed away a little, pale eyes searching for any signs of life. Her hand was over the scar that the assassin had left behind on her breast, fingernails ever so gently digging into her skin. Please, let someone be alive.
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 4:24 pm
His green eyes glimmered, reflecting the death that he was surrounded with. There was no escape from this scene, this nightmare which drew the taste of copper into the mouth of even the strongest man, which averted the eyes of seasoned killers. The urge to vomit was excruciatingly overwhelming, but the captain refrained and instead paused, steadying himself with a strong grip upon the building beside him. It was as if this were some terrible parody. Main Street, always so cheerful, was now a scene of both death and destruction.
Bataar swallowed the bile that was rising much too quickly for comfort and straightened up, rubbing the red lines that had appeared on his palms and taking a moment to pick out a splinter before walking on, his large hand straying to the hilt of his sword as he attempted to reconcile himself with the realities of war. He shouldn't have been surprised-- not with the way the war had been going. It was brutal in the first place, and it was only going to get worse before any sort of improvement. It wasn't the most comforting thought, but it provided the most in the way of truth and Bat needed a dose of that every now and again.
He had had his eyes on the ground, making sure of his footing and avoiding the scenes of horror as much as possible, for surely this sort of thing only belonged on an actual battle-ground. He was, then, confronted by surprise upon looking up-- surprise, mingled with instant relief.
"Sara." Bat hadn't meant to whisper, but the sound of his voice was indeed soft. The soul conduit stood before him now, looking more breakable than ever in the midst of all of this confusion and he wasn't sure what to do. Someone like this shouldn't have to face such scenes of gore-- it wasn't right. The Mongol was over-estimating Sarangerel's sensitivity once again, but he couldn't be blamed for such a minor crime at a time such as this.
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 4:52 pm
He was okay, he was okay. She could hardly believe it. Everyone seemed to be coming to her, turning up one by one, Yue would not be far behind. She did not know that she could be this happy, not when surrounded by such a scene. Yet she managed it. She wanted to run up and kiss him, hold him tight and tell him how worried she had been. Then again, another small part of her wanted to tell him that he should be in bed, he was still ill. The conduit knew she should not do either, this was odd, her and Bataar had never been together... around other people, in truth she did not know what to do.
What a time to be thinking about this.
She pushed all thoughts to the back of her mind and turned to face him, a warm smile painted across her lips, however it still held a little sadness, it was impossible to be completely happy given the circumstances. She was used to seeing dead bodies... but this disturbed her, maybe he knew why this had happened. He was a captain after all, he must know something.
She stepped forward a little more, meeting him as he came to approach the rest of the group, her hand still over her scar. She looked up at him with her pale eyes, he seemed stronger, more like himself. Lately she had only seen him in bed, weak and fragile. Yet now in his furs, he was the hero she remembered. He was still a little thin, a little pale but... he was himself. Thank goodness for that. "Bataar, I should have known you would turn up sooner or later..." She stated tilting her head to the side slightly, her tone a little lighter than it had been... she felt safer with him here, she always had done. She stood close to him, looking around to the rest of the group.
.... and the woman who had asked them for help.
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 5:59 pm
Kiran cracked a smile at Eiji's joke, though the idea of being a "ladies man" was rather foreign to him. He could explain Sara hugging him as they had met before and were both friends of Yue. It was out of relief to find each other still alive and not among the dead. But the woman with glossy dark hair and her pale green eyes batting at them? Kiran had no explanation for why the strange woman had chosen him to drape her around. Kiran had never met this woman until just now.
The group had offered to help the woman, even the man with long white hair who Kiran didn't recognize. Whether he knew the man or not mattered little. Another hand would always be helpful. Especially if this woman planned to lead them into some sort of ambush, they would need all the allies they could get. He shook the thought out of his head. Perhaps paranoia was creeping into him and clouding his judgement because of all the death that he had seen that day alone. But he still believed it best to be wary and remain alert for any sign of betrayal.
His attention drifted aside when he caught motion out of the corner of his eye. Kiran turned his head and smiled when he saw Van with a hand raised. She looked older and more mature since their last meeting, and the time between had only added to her beauty. A small fraction tension melted from his body to see another familiar face among the living. Yet another familiar face turned up when Kiran noticed Bataar making his way to join the group. "Van! Bataar! I'm glad to see you both," he said with another melting wave of relief. But what of the others? He hoped to find them safe.
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