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Kieran rode through the streets, ahead of Leon, Isadora and Sain. Scanning the buildings he passed for anything out of the ordinary, getting more and more upset with the things he saw. Doors left wide open to reveal ransacked homes, broken glass littered the street, an abandoned toy left on the ground where a child had dropped it during the evacuation. "How dare someone do this to beautiful Melior, again!" He said, loud enough for the others to hear him. "I swear on my honour as the Deputy Captain Commander of the Royal Knights of Crimea that whoever did this will pay! It will be exactly like the time I faced that army of bandits with nothin---- AHA!" He cried suddenly, pulling on the reigns. Horse veered suddenly to the right towards what appeared to be a perfectly normal house, holding his axe in one hand near the head, Kieran only paused long enough to snatch the hand-axe hanging from his mounts left flank and slip it into a leather loop on his hip before leaping off his horse while it was still moving.

Kieran had spotted something that didn't make sense with the current scene, anywhere else it would have appeared completely normal, here however it was so out of place that it had convinced the red paladin to leap off a moving horse. A closed door of what had once been a shop of sorts.

The city had been evacuated by people who were leaving in too much of a hurry to worry about closing doors behind them and then ransacked by bandits who weren't exactly known for having proper manners. Every other door on this street was either left wide open or bashed to bits, this one however was closed and in perfect condition.

"I've found you scum!" He cried as he hit the ground and rolled forwards towards the door. "The Great Kieran, Deputy Captain Commander of the Crimean Royal Guard will punish you!" His booming voice was not only loud enough to alert anyone inside the small shop, but carried throughout the entire city. Coming up out of the roll into a sprint he roared a battlecry. "Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!" he hollered, smashing shoulder first into the door, both hands on his axe with the head positioned behind him.

The door didn't so much as fly open as it did explode. The hinges on the door proved to be strong and well made, befitting a shop, the wood however proved no match for Kieran's body which had the advantage of momentum and being clad in metal. There was a loud breaking sound as Kieran went through the closed door, leaving a Paladin shaped hole behind him.

Not bothering to waste time and wait to see who or whatever was on the other side, Kieran brought his large axe around in a might horizontal swoop, as he was still propelled forwards by his run about halfway into the shop. If anyone had come close to the door in order to investigate all the shouting, or was standing anywhere within a foot and a half of the middle of the room, they were currently in danger of "Getting hacked first and axing questions later"

~Valor is the contempt of death and pain.~

Wallace

Wallace, having been caught completely off guard, had been thrown off his feet by the blast. As he noisily regained his feet he grumbled something about bring too old for this sort of thing and then bellowed "Oi! Who the hell thought it was a good idea to blow up the building next to me! They're going to feel my steel inside of them!" He had actually been knocked unconscious for a few moments and missed the episode with the red paladin, who at that moment had smashed right through a door. "Wait? Is that Kent?"

Before he could think about it anymore he heard Amelia's order. Forgetting that the only members of the part of the army under his command were the officers who had followed him when he got lost he shouted to Amelia" I'll take my men and search the buildings!" With that done he charged off into the city brandishing his spear. "C'mon lads! We're going to check every building for more explosives!"

Kieran's axe barely missed preforming a nose job on the bandit he'd sent flying with his entry. With a loud whoosh it completed it's swing, but rather then grip it tight and ready it for another swing, Kieran instead relaxed his grip at the end of the swing. The shaft slipped through his fingers and lead by the momentum flew from his grip. If Leon, Isadora or Sain had followed through the door behind the paladin they would have crossed the threshold just in time to have Kieran's axe thunk into the wooden wall directly beside their head.

Swiftly and now with his hands free Kieran drew and threw his hand-axe at one of the bandits still struggling to his feet. The bandit of course had no chance of dodging and the axe thudded into his chest, knocking him back to the ground.

Kieran let out a loud whoop of triumph. "There's only six of you?" He cried, "That's not nearly enough to stop, Deputy Captain Commander of the Royal Knights of Crimea! The Great Kieran!" He roared, charging at the bandits with his fists raised. When he was close enough he twisted his body and threw out a vicious kick aimed at the stomach of the closest bandit. Kieran may have been unarmed but as he was armoured any strike the bandits took would be more damaging because of it.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly. The Shadow Guild were moving along as they should be, assembling the explosives and preparing the incendiary devices. The city was in an uproar, with soldiers running to and fro, finally funneling into buildings to search for the bombs. Not like it took them long enough to assemble! We caught them off-guard, I suppose. Makes sense it took them some time to coordinate their movements. Murphy adjusted his hood over his head and took off across the rooftops after ensuring that the bomb had been readied and the Shadow Guild unit, a short girl with buzzed blond hair, was moving according to her orders. They were to retreat once their job had been completed, after all.

Not that Drake expected much of them to return. Judging by his commentary before he had sent Murphy to Pentheus -- safer to send an intermediary than to arrive personally, after all, especially now that Murphy knew the same General that had tried and failed to kill him was also here -- he believed near everyone in Pentheus would die for the cause. Of course, the intent was for the Learanians to die with them.

Tyce had other plans, though. Murphy was more than happy to help with those plans.

Murphy peered into the distance, where he knew Viscen to be running. It was difficult to tell where precisely the aerial units were, but they were far into the distance; if they were approaching the city, they couldn't have changed directions more than a few minutes ago. Still accounted for. Things are still proceeding as they should... Murphy slipped through another two buildings on his way back to Tyce, aiding the Shadow Guild members inside with the assembly of the bombs before finally returning to where Tyce was observing the plan in motion.

"Sir." Murphy spoke up after a few seconds, long enough to allow Tyce ample time to adjust to his arrival. He adjusted his kerchief as he began to speak, returning his hands to his sides when he was done. "The arming process is going well. The Learanian efforts are coalescing more rapidly now, but their progress is still outstripped by the efforts to retreat." Murphy's eyes briefly glanced to the window to consider what was going on outside, then returned to the back of Tyce's head. "That is all."

Oh no! He's running straight at us with his fists raised! He is much too strong we must bow down to him!

...thought no one. Ever.

The bandits' initial surprise had been replaced with confidence. They thought they had gotten charged at by a squad, but it turned out to only be one man. And he had just willingly disarmed himself.

True, one of them had been knocked down, if not killed, but they still had a number advantage. The bandit closest to Kieran merely knocked his strike aside using his axe, and the other four piled on him, each of them grabbing hold of a limb. The last one snickered. "Ya fool! Didja think ya could just run headfirst into Drake's finest with only yer guts and fists? Think again, scrub!" He laughed as the other bandits joined in on the mocking. Unless something happened, and quick, it would be the end of Kieran, Deputy Captain Commander of the Royal Knights of Crimea.

There was no fanfare. No piercing cry. The King of Hawks dropped out of the sky like a stone, mad-eyed and shedding blood from his feathers. His wings snapped open, talons shredding several bandits as he skidded through the cobbled street to a stop.

The aerial troops were circling each other out in the field; it was impossible to tell them apart at a distance, and to maintain a count. So when the Hawk King slipped through the clouds in laguz form, he went quite unnoticed before dropping straight into the city. The bird, his feathers matted with the blood of bandits, threw his head back suddenly in a deafening screech...

And the laguz forces marching toward the city broke into a sprint toward the gates. About half his units remained well out, covering the laguz' flank and keeping Viscen's forces on the run, but the rest were now charging back toward the city to overtake it.

Tibarn's wings snapped open as bandits, struggling to recover from the shock of his arrival, turned on him, and he swatted them away before lifting off, sweeping low over the squat buildings of the port town, keen eyes scanning for Amelia as he dipped low, crashing through the bandit ranks each time he dropped into the streets.

"Move, go!" A rugged, slender man with a dashing hat and sun-bleached blonde hair rammed the door to a shop open with his shoulder, barreling out into the street near Amelia. He swung his arm at someone inside, and several men and women garbed like sailors hurried out, escorting a number of villagers who had been taking shelter in the building. "Go, get to the docks, I'll cover your exit! Keep getting people on the ships, out of the city, wherever you can!" The man immediately began running after them, drawing the twin blades sheathed at his hips, and then stopped to look back at Amelia. "... Oh, are you finally here to HELP?" he scoffed. "Better late or whatever. Let's--" He would have said more, but another explosion rocked the ground as flame and smoke rose into the air, and he pitched off his feet, then scrambled up, ears ringing, swearing inaudibly amidst the shell-shock tinnitus.

While the writer was quite baffled by what was going on in this thread recently, let's get back with the program.


Did that guy just... Isadora's mind trialed off when she quickly slowed down her horse and watched as the red-headed dolt rode pass her and the others. Did that idiot lose more than just blood? She told him to stay with the healer to recover and leave immediately afterward. Whether he was very brave and determine to save the city or he couldn't tell she had given him an order and he disobey. Although the Dame Knight have many issues on her hands, such as city going to be blown up as well as enemies looming around (not to mention, villagers hiding in fear in the town despite that the whole Learania team did a full search before explosion. Nice to make the Learania army looked bad like the Ylisse army), someone had to keep an eye on him. After all, he was just barely new into this world.

"Leon! Wallace! Rout out the enemies as much as you can! We can't let this city fall!" Isadora shouted as she snapped her reins and chased after Kieran.

Although he was out of her sight, she could hear him shouting out bunch of random fighting words across the streets. Well, with him shouting despite the villagers' screaming and building collapsing, it was thankful that he had a big mouth for the paladin to track him. However, she was curious did he ever keep his mouth shut if trying to ambush the enemy.

She had lost him when the red-headed knight didn't shout. Before the paladin could guess where did Kieran went, a loud explosion was heard. Isadora covered her eyes for a moment, thinking that the explosion was near her. But when she opened her eyes again, she saw smoke rising in the air a bit far from her. Hopefully, no one was near the explosion. This city was already damaged without the bombs exploding around. And as much as she wanted to go there and check the damage, she had to see find Kieran first. She hoped that Leon and Wallace were doing her commands and disposed the enemies as fast as possible before they had no city left to reclaim.

Before she could continue her mission, she suddenly heard some shouting from above. Isadora looked up, "What was-"

Just then, she saw a blur figure flying through the air. What the flux was that? There was no way it was one of Tibarn's laguz army that flew by or Vaida's flying brigade (speaking about her, the Dame Knight wondered if Vaida was aware about the situation when coming.) Whatever it flying was moving too fast from what she had seen. That could not be good.

Forgetting about Kieran, Isadora kicked her horse to follow the unidentified flying object. She could see that the blur began to descend, but moving faster as it headed toward the nearby building. When the object crashed inside the building, the Dame Knight slowed her horse down and saddled off as she saw the door to the building all broken and mashed. Unknown if there were enemies around or if that fallen object dangerous, she pulled out her sword and held her shield as she entered the building.

Smoke died down as the paladin looked around. Inside the room was bandits with the bomb on the other side of the room. Among them was Kieran. She wasn't sure how long had he been here, but she was thankful that she found him and being safe... Somewhat.

Before the paladin could say a word, she saw something stirring on the ground. On the floor was a man, bleeding from his forehead. Was that what flying around the sky? What was he thinking?

Suddenly, that man shouted at Kieran in a high pitched voice, shouting about who was extreme. The paladin wasn't sure if that man knew Kieran and if he came from the same world as Kieran. However, she had a sudden urge to slap her hand to her face. This was becoming more weird to her than she thought it was.

****************

"Damnit! Where the hell you went?!" Rajin shouted across the street as he searched for the blue cat. Before we could go any further, let's had a little flashback.

While the tiger was waiting for the Hawk King to say something (seriously, that bird was acting like a vulture waiting to get its meal from the dead), he saw something blur passing by. When Rajin looked up to see what it was, he saw it was Sunil... who was running toward the city where fire and explosion exploding inside. What the hell was that cat doing, heading back to that blazing town all by himself? Didn't that cat know he was going to get killed by the explosion, especially with fire spreading around? That cat should know full well that he's vulnerable to fire.

Just then, he saw a flicker of light flashes out. When he looked up to see what it was, he heard Tibarn giving out orders: half of the force to continue its mission to chase after the bandits, the other half came with him to the city. Rajin bit his lower lip as he tried to make a decision. He didn't want to go back in the blazing city since he was nearly burn the last time he went there. But then there was Sunil, who decided to head back into the city. Perhaps the cat was going back because of their comrades were in the city. Speaking about comrades, he wondered if Leon was okay or not. Surely, the knight would be okay with all his armor and-

Suddenly, another loud explosion erupted in the building, creating another cloud of dust and fire. But despite the explosion, the tiger watched the blue cat continued heading to the building. "Damnit..." Rajin cursed as his ears lowered down. As much as he didn't want to get burn, he really didn't want Sunil to get hurt.

Cursing his luck from going bad to rotten, the tiger changed his form and charged toward the building where Sunil and the comrades who entered earlier were at.

Cloud of dust were flying everywhere as the smell of burning gunpowder and fire lingered in the air. Mixing it with the dry scent of dust and debris, it was impossible for the laguz to breathe. His ears twitched as the building crumpled toward the ground nearby. Although it wasn't loud, it was still sensitive to the tiger's ears. He hoped he wouldn't go deaf if there was another explosion.

Unknown where Sunil went, Rajin ran down the street that has the least fire exposed in his humanoid form. If he knew that cat well, Sunil would be heading toward the other army to see if they were okay or not. But with fire spreading around, he wasn't sure if the cat would take that route or not. If that cat wanted to save his comrades, that cat wouldn't be reckless to himself, meaning he would take safe route to reach them... Right?

As Rajin made a left turn, he caught a scent of a human. Looking around, the tiger could tell that the scent was coming from a nearby building. He couldn't tell if it was an ally or enemies due to the mixture of gunpowder, fire, blood, and debris dust flying around. Whoever that person was, he had to check it to see who it was. He hope that it was an ally and not an enemy.

Although it would be logical to just trend carefully and see if anyone was in the building, there was no telling if another explosion would blow up. Having no time to be cautious, the tiger ran toward the building and gave jump, giving a flying kick to the door. Hopefully, whoever inside the building was not an enemy, setting a trap or prepare an ambush on him... Right?

~Valor is the contempt of death and pain.~

Wallace

In the midst of the chaos and explosions in the city Wallace's staff had lost track of him completely as he had rushed off into the streets. Somewhere in the city, this being Wallace we're talking about even he has no idea where he is, the bald general was covered in blood, brandishing a bloody axe, chasing a half dozen bandits down a street, and yelling at the top of his lungs "Face me you gutless cowards! Face the wrath of Wallace!" Rather unexpectedly one of the bandits turned around and started to charge Wallace. In an entirely unsurprising turn of events the bandit met a sticky end as Wallace slammed his axe through the man's sternum.

As Wallace pulled his axe out of the bandits chest, the other bandits ran into a building and shut the door behind them. Seeing this Wallace smiled and walked towards the door with his axe in a relaxed grip "Oi! Have ya finally grown a backbone ya villainous scum?" Reaching the door he kicked the door in near the bolt, "Or are you waiting to ambush me inside this door!? Gwahahaha!" Then he walked into the dark building with his axe ready to kill the next bandit he saw.