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 Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:35 pm
Aphrodite suddenly whinnied, looking up at the sky, dancing this way and that.
Charice knew all to well what that look meant, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to look up. But look up she did, and saw... arrows. Lots of and lots of arrows.
"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"
A bandit group having ONE archer was one thing. Maybe a dozen, at best. But this many? Seriously, where in the continent were they GETTING those bows!? There was no wood in Sentria! Even if they moved to the other countries on the continent--!
These bandits had to have been operating for a long, LONG time.
Either way, those arrows were fast, but Aphrodite was faster; the second Charice mounted, she picked herself and her rider off the ground with a few great flaps of the wings, then streaked across the dunes to, in a sense, "outflank" the arrow barrage. Charice kept her eyes squarely on the advancing arrows, letting Aph's "flight or fight" instincts do the driving. Would she need to use the Sonic Sword again? It seemed a shame to use a magic weapon so rapidly, even if it had saved their lives once already...
The arrows began thudding into the sand, but the pegasus outflew even the most outlying arrow by at least a good twenty feet... or so it looked, Charice couldn't tell. But she breathed a sigh of relief. That was too close...
B-but what about the others? Is anyone else going to come out of that okay? She looked about the dunes and could at least see two familiar faces--Sue and Ninian. But where was everyone else? She saw no familiar faces lying prone upon red-stained sand, so maybe they were all right... at least, so she hoped as she guided Aph to follow them. A frontal assault by a lone pegasus would be suicide--it would be best to stick with whoever she could fine.
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Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:04 pm
Now I'm stuck here
But I don't belong here 
~Ninian~Ninian heard the horn blast and automatically turned towards it, the sight of the volley of arrows and magic stunning her into immobility. Sue's call to relax snapped her out of it.
Sue's plan seemed the best they could do for the moment. Ninian could play helpless and scared; she'd spent most of her life that way. And even now, it wouldn't completely be an act.
"Let's go," she nodded.
Together nomad and dancer raced for the nearest sand dune, their steps seemingly hurried and panicky. Ninian kept Briseschal hovering over her head, waiting for the volley to hit. She thought she could see a pegasus flying above them, but then--
Then the arrows came.
Afterwards, Ninian couldn't say what had happened next. She remembered reaching the dune, looking up and seeing the arrows, and then--well she was sure that she had used Briseschal to protect both her and Sue by hitting the arrows, but everything had happened so fast--
Much was lost in the blur of battle, something she apparently hadn't gotten used to, even after the months spent in battle alongside--
But that had been a long time ago. And while in the middle of a rain of arrows and magic, thinking of such things--especially the past--would only get her killed. And so she used Briseschal to the best of her ability to protect herself and Sue. She hoped that if there really was a pegasus nearby, its rider would take it someplace safer before it was injured. Ninian knew how little pegasi liked arrows, and if one should happen to hit its wing, it would not bode well for either pegasus or rider.
Temporarily distracted by her concern for a pegasus who may or may not have existed, Ninian missed the arrow headed straight for her face, jerking her head out of the way too late.
"Ah!!" she cried, wincing in pain.
The arrow sliced right through the bandages, cutting a new wound into the already marred left side of her forehead. The bandages slipped, too lose to stay in place anymore. She jerked them off, keeping her left eye closed. If anyone could see her face now, they would see the faint scars that weren't quite gone, the bruising that still surrounded her eye, the eye itself not yet healed enough to open. But she couldn't exactly stop to bandage her new wound, not when doing so would only give her more injuries.
Finally, they reached the dune, and she ducked down low behind it, concentrating on the arrows still raining down. Despite the pain of her injury and the pounding of her head, she could not give up yet. I wanna be where you are
Maybe I'm not so far from home
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Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:19 pm
...They were running away. Really? That was their plan? Just run out of range of the arrows and hope the bandits didn't pursue? Yes, THAT would end well. Eventually, they'd come out of that fort to pursue, and with everyone divided, it wouldn't take them long to catch up on the Dancer and the Nomad Trooper. It didn't matter how strong they were; they would die, plain and simple.
She looked back at the bandit fort, watching as the arrows sailed through the air. The hot desert sun hit the shafts as they flew under her mount, giving each arrow a yellowish glint. A glint that, oddly enough, reminded her of... of...
Buttered toast.
Wait... buttered toast? Buttered toast... that was!
It all came back to her now--the storm of buttered toast. Ghis and the revenants, desperately eating back the storm. Watching Rhysman about to die at the hands of Buttered Toast Man. Being suffocated by arrows.
...It sounded crazy to Charice. Heck, it would sound crazy to anyone.
...But what if the arrows WERE buttered toast? What if Ghis and the revenants were simply "guarding the homestead", as it were? What if Rhysman was FEF, Buttered Toast Man the bandit horde? What if... what if the whole thing had meant that she was meant to come with them and save them, when doom seemed to draw nigh!?
A dangerous notion crept into the Falcoknight's head. But what about the buttered toast suffocation? Doing this is... why, it's folly! How can I possibly do anything against that fort? I'll bide time for ten seconds at best before I...!
Her face took on a new look of determination.
"No! I'm Charice, a Falcoknight of Sentria! No single arrow will fell me this day! Even if my dream said I died... dreams don't shape destiny!"
She took off, going solo, flying straight for the fort! Aphrodite climbed higher and higher, adjusting as she came closer to the arrows.
The thoughts rolling through Charice's mind?
I've got to be crazy. Insane for doing this! But I can't go back!
They flew very high now, the arrows unable to reach them--apparently, their bows weren't that strong. But their ballistae were, and Aphrodite banked sharply to the right as a powerful bolt blasted right past them, sailing into the sky. Apparently, the pegasus was still quite visible. Charice yelped as her mount turned, clutching a bit tightly onto the reins as she looked down.
Boy, was THAT a far way to fall.
But was it just her, or was there a lone figure standing among the dunes, doing everything in... his? Power to stop the arrows from hitting him? She couldn't tell. But she guided Aph to the right, slowly descending in a winding arc, a difficult target to hit due to both changes in elevation and direction.
There's someone down there, all right. Someone from FEF? She chanced another brief glance down at the distant Iris.
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Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:37 am
The second the barrage of arrows started and Joshua was on the move, he saw the nomad girl heading for what looked like a dune. "Good plan." He thought even though he was unable to hear what Sue had said he could still guessed what she wanted done.
"Akihi! This way!" He called back not checking to see if the mage was following. The cut on his forehead had now dripped blood in his left eye and Joshua was having trouble seeing, but ducking and diving under arrows he made it behind the dune.
A bolt hit the sand directly in front of Jaren kicking up sand into his face. "Yaaa!" He yelped leaping backwards and tumbling down the dune he had been standing on. Far away from the group and at the west side of the bandit fort, Jaren couldn't see or hear the others. "Hey Piers? ummm what do you think we should do?" He asked the man under the relative cover of the dune.
Then it was decided for him as he looked up and saw that pegasus knight from earlier making a mad flight through the arrows.
He charged back up the dune rolling waving his injured arm to check how bad it was. "Not so bad" he thought while yelling back to Piers, "I'm going to go help her!"
Jaren ran across the sand pulling the cow-hood over his face thinking to himself "I go through all that trouble to get the archers in the first fight and then she does this...... If she’s cute I'll forgive her.." As he ran with his injured arm he reached into his now very sandy cow-suit and pulled out the whistle he had made. It glinted in the sunlight as he raised it to his lips and blew as hard as he could. "MOOOO!" the whistle sounded hopefully getting the attention of a few of the archers as he kept running towards the west side of the bandit fort.
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Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:45 pm
I've been dreaming for so long... ... To find a meaning, to understand... • ◄AKIHI► •
————————————
Akihi saw the arrows flying and the magic striking from a distance. He nearly froze on the spot. Magic was no issue for him, since he had a high resistance, but the arrows? The arrows would cause some damage. He sidestepped away from a bolt, forcing himself to pivot on one foot as he tried to avoid an arrow. It wasn't the most smooth of movements, but it insured him another moment or two of life.
"Akihi! This way!"
The mage heard the familiar voice and ran for the dune. The arrows and spells kept falling and he did his best to avoid them.
By the time he reached the dune, he had nicks from arrows and his body shook slightly from being struck by a bolt. He leaned his back against the dune, looking to Joshua. "Wh-what do we do now?" Akihi asked softly, clutching the tomes and scroll close to himself. "W-we can't hide forever..."
———————————————— The secret of life... ... Why am I here to try again?
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Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:02 pm
There were others! Others that could lead the charge to close range and beat the cowards using those techniques into submission. This was good, for being alone would have put Sue and Ninian at a disadvantage.
Especially when one of the arrows just HAD to hit the dancer. Wasn't it always like this, where it would seem hopeless, absolutely hopeless until either a miracle or a last-minute hero came to the rescue? At this rate, the rag-tag group needed both to just survive. A... hero had some it seemed, in the form of the white wings of Charice. She was distracting the bowmen, perfect.
"Ninian, this way...." the nomad said, gently as possible as she now took Ninian upon Andre, speeding towards the voices of Akihi and Joshua. She used the Silver Sword to deflect any arrows along the way, which weren't many.
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Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:40 pm
"Get that pegasus! Don't let 'er near the fort! Archers, move it!"
The archers focused their attacks on the flying unit. It had the greatest mobility, and if it could get close to them, it would be their greatest threat. However, the ballistas and distanced magic remained on the farther away intruders. They would run out of ammunition soon, however, leaving an opening for the intruders to get even closer to their fort.
"Hm... What the-?!" An archer pointed out toward the battle field. "It's the cow! It's getting away!" The archer turned to the axe-wielding rabble behind him. "You heard our orders! Get out there, and capture that cow! We're having beef for dinner, tonight! It went to the west side, go out that entrance and head it off!" The brigands instantly took off, not protesting to the thought of capturing something that would fill their bellies full for once.
Suddenly, another shout came from within the fort. "We're out of ammo for the ballistas!" Another voice cried out, as well. "The mages used up their siege magic!"
Ali growled, furiously. "You useless fools! Get to the gates! You five go out of the east side, and come around behind the intruders, as they charge forward!"
"But Sir, how do you know they'll charge?"
"Shut it!" Ali spat at the brigand "Don't you worry... they'll have no choice."
Just then, another group of bandits appeared behind the group of intruders. "Aha! We've found them! how dare they push us back and try to take over our fort?!"
"Sajid, it looks like the fort is out of siege weapons!"
Sajid laughed loudly. "Well, then! Let's push em' forward and finish em' off! Get em'!"
"Yeah, let's get em'!" came the resounding cry from the group of bandits around Sajid. They then took off toward the intruders. The reinforcements that Sajid had been sent earlier to get, had arrived.
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Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 6:09 pm
So things were looking up for a minute. The enemy's seige weapons were running out, so that was a sign to charge, wasn't it?
Where did those reinforcements come from?! Sue thought as her head snapped from left to right. Now they were in serious trouble, being outflanked on both sides and left with no hopes of escape. What was there to do now? It would be different if Sue were by herself, she would gladly fall before being captured (what she endured from Bern was just too much), but there were others here.
There was Ninian, whom she said she was going to protect, and failed to do so. There was Akihi, the mage whom was Alihi's brother, someone she would hate to lose. Maybe the ... cow was important to someone too. Either way, they were all people who's lives she could not gamble with. To go on fighting any further would be the death of all of them. She'd have to surrender her freedom after all...
No, I can't, if I surrender, all my companions will be forced to, and that would be worse! Think... THINK! There has to be a way out, there HAS to be!
But no ways out were coming, and the overwhelming numbers were getting closer. The only good thing was that they were creeping into firing range and Sue had saved her arrows, but that wouldn't matter much if she were overtaken.
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Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 6:16 pm
So they're all on me? I'm a bit flattered. On the one hand, it meant she couldn't dare flying down to ground level. But frankly, their archers were rather poor shots; if they tried actually judging the situation, Charice was still fairly high and far away; only a few well-aimed shots got anywhere THAT close to her.
A faint smile came to the rider's face as a plan began forming in her head. This was still a dangerous thing to do, especially at this height; but they hadn't done much thinking to this point. Maybe, just maybe, this could work. And if it did... oh, man, would it be embarassing!
"Aph, fly directly over the fort."
Aphrodite understood the order and began flying toward the fort. As she closed the distance between herself and the archers, she increased altitude to make sure that the shots coming close remained few and far between. Still the bandits made their shots--by golly, they would bring that pegasus down! Aphrodite still came closer and closer to coming over the fort, and the bandit archers continued to increase their angles, desperately trying to stop her--
Aphrodite burst over the wall of the fort, and circled around high above them.
The bandits, being foolish bandits, fired.
The arrow volley launched straight up into the air; all Aphrodite had to do was beat her wings strongly to gain more altitude, safely guiding herself and her rider away from even the strongest-shot arrows.
The arrows reached as high as they could, but what comes up must come down... they turned around in midair, and started sailing back down into the fort! Screams ensued as the bandits' own arrows began to rain down.
Those who weren't fast enough to escape found themselves killed by Sentria's deadliest storm in quite some time.
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Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:56 pm
Now I'm stuck here
But I don't belong here
~Ninian~Ninian pressed her left hand against the gash on her forehead, the flow of blood starting to make her lightheaded. Sue pulled the dancer onto her horse, turning Andre and riding off across the sand. She thought Sue was heading for others in their group who were still hear--Ninian though she'd heard Akihi's voice amidst the chaos--but she couldn't be sure. Trying not to sway so bad she'd fall off the horse, Ninian shakily pulled a length of bandage from her pack, tying a hurried wrap around the wound. Later she would have to clean it to get the sand out before it got infected, but there was no time now to do that.
With blood still leaking down the side of her face, Ninian did her best to stay on Andre as they rode onwards, Briseschal wrapped around her neck so as not to fly away. For the moment, she couldn't see straight enough to block anymore arrows. She hoped Sue would be able to dodge well should anymore come their way.
"Need to . . . take cover," she muttered, forcing her vision to stay clear.I wanna be where you are
Maybe I'm not so far from home
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Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 8:05 pm
Need to . . . take cover..
Sue heard her friend she'd whisked away from the ground, and luckily, there was some time to take cover due to Charice's actions of causing the arrow rain on the fort side of the bandit barrage. Sue dismounted, offering her hand to the dancer quickly. "Dismount and hide behind Andre. He's provided me with great cover for many battles. Also..."
She took a blue elixir bottle from her pouch, and handed it to Ninian. "Take it... my friend. I'll hold them off as long as I can."
Sheathing the silver sword, Sue switched to her bow, now seeing some brigands within firing range. She'd been waiting for the chance to stick arrows in them, and with that brilliant scheme of the Watch's legendary flier, she could focus a volley of arrows on the approaching rear forces. Those at the fort would be stalled for a while, whether they bothered to bring healers or not.
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:50 am
"Of course we can't hide forever. I wasn't planning on it." He grinned. "We just have to wait for them to run out of ammo before we get closer." Joshua turned his head away from Akihi for a moment and saw something sticking out of the sand. "Hmmm" he said as he pulled the object out of the dune.
It was a wooden sword.
"Hey isn't this that Jaren guy's sword?" He asked Akihi. "Better hold on to this for him." He stuck the sword in his belt, looking up "Oh. Reinforcements" Standing up he looked at Akihi, "You ready?" He asked before climbing the dune. At the top he quickly scanned the sand and spotted a familiar figure on a horse "Nomad! Akihi and I will slow the reinforcements." he called out to Sue regretting that he didn't know her name. "Ill ask her later" He thought facing the charging mass of bandits.
"I trust you to watch my back okay?" He said taking his steel sword and holding it tight, he didn't want to use Audhulma. It wasn't worth it to use such a weapon on bandits.
Jaren made it to the wall safely. "Holy. Crap that was scary." He said panting for breath. "Now for the fun part." He muttered striding up to the small door. "Huh this must be an escape route or something." He thought, pressing his ear to the wood. He could hear shouts and stomps that were getting closer to the other side of the door. "All righty lets get this over with!" He said to himself reaching for where his sword should be.
It wasn't there. He must have dropped it when he picked up Marina and that weird dog picked him up.
"NOOOO!" He wailed, quickly coming up with a plan. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the hoof-gloves and slid them over his hands getting on all fours he took a step back from the door and blew the Moo-whistle again leaving it in his mouth so he could continue to blow it.
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 9:41 pm
I've been dreaming for so long... ... To find a meaning, to understand... • ◄AKIHI► •
————————————
With the arrival of the bandit reinforcements, Akihi's stammered question from earlier got its answer. He tensed, propping open Elfire while attaching the scroll and Excalibur to his waist with his robe's tie. Upon seeing Joshua climb up the dune, he almost screamed that he was insane.
Almost was the key word, though. He tucked the tome away and scrambled up the dune, making sure to move as quickly as he could. His heart pounded rapidly as he flipped through the pages of Elfire. This battle had stakes. One wrong move could send him to the grave or lead him to be captured. He stopped on a page with writing and turned to his companion, Joshua.
His smiled showed more confidence than he actually had. "O-of course!" Akihi stammered, finger resting on the page. "I-I'll cover you..."
———————————————— The secret of life... ... Why am I here to try again?
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:53 pm
"Here it comes! Get it!" The archers aimed higher, and higher, released arrow after arrow, but they lacked in results. After all, they were just riff-raff that had never been properly trained. Soon, the pegasus was directly over them, and they opened fire. They watched their arrows fly into the air, and miss once more... only to have them fly right back down, leaving only a few of the archers left alive.
The brigands who went toward the west entrance, soon reached outside, and saw the cow. "Heh heh heh... looks mighty tasty, don't it? Haven't had a meal as good as beef in a long whiles, I 'aven't. Let's get it to Feo, an let 'im see the meat with his own eyes." the brigand smirked. "Boss always did have a soft spot for food." The brigands then tied a rope around the cow's neck, and forced it into their hideout.
Meanwhile, the reinforcements that Sajid had come with were charging wildly. They were taking hit after hit from arrows and magic, but the group was fair enough in number to not be bothered too much by it. Soon, they were upon the group, and were forcing them back, toward the hideout gates. Sajid laughed loudly. "That's it, worms! Push em' back! Ha ha ha!" His reinforcements were dropping in numbers, but soon the intruders would be close enough for the bandits at the fort to attack.
 Inside the fort, the brigands who retrieved the cow had come and brought it before Feo. The large boss looked upon the beast in awe. "Ah, what a scrumptiously plump and pleasant creature...! This will indeed be a pleasant dinner." Feo looked at the bandits around him. "Hm, since you succeeded in bringing this beast to me, I shall allow you to have some of it, I suppose."
He stood up from his chair, and walked over to stand in front of the cow, and lifted the cow's head, under its mouth. "My, my, you shall be delici- ....Eh?" Feo looked underneath the head of the cow, and his eyes twitched a little. "I-is that a... string?!" Feo pulled the string loose, causing the cow suit to slip off of the boy, then pulled off the cow head. "WHAT IS THIS?!" Feo cried loudly. "THIS IS NOT A COW! WHY IS THERE A BOY IN MY COW?! THIS IS MOST UNPLEASANT!"
Feo stomped his feet, and paced around a little. He finally calmed himself then looked back over to the boy and his men. "... ...Fry him up anyway. We may not be able to eat him, but even our dogs have to eat!" The brigands then took the boy by the arms, and began to drag him off to be locked up, until later. "So disappointing! I'll never be able to eat cow again!" Feo shrugged, then went back over to his harem. "Oh well... maybe one of the intruders has a horse."
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:42 pm
The group was once again in bad shape in a matter of minutes. How could a tactical advantage turn into a misfortune so very quickly? Didn't this bandit congregation ever let up? Sue was trained to handle these types of brigands, they should all have fallen by now, despite their numbers. How was she to uphold her oath to Roy? How was she to ensure the safety of her tribesman?
Drawing out Miugre, she found the answer. She'd normally not 'waste' its arrows on this lowly lot, but the situation more than called for it. Now that the nomad was unmounted and allowing Andre to cover Ninian, she could move faster and aim a little easier. She spun the arrow first, Sue targetted the approaching horde with deadly accuracy, nocking and firing with great such great speed, the arrow sped through a good group of five.
The sacred weapon empowered Sue with greater speed, and it allowed her to nock another arrow in half the time it normally did. "I will never let you pass, I will never let you take me! I will be... VICTORIOUS!" she exclaimed, firing off another and felling another good group of the brigands whom had no time to react.
Now was not the time for mercy on her enemies, it had passed that line long ago when what they wanted to do with her, Ninian and the others became clear.
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